31 weeks.

How Far along: 31 weeks, 4 day

Baby size: Somewhere in the neighborhood of about 4 pounds, so says the ticker.

Total weight gain: +14 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: I really can't get enough, but I am still not sleeping well. Between having to get up to pee at least once a night, and having the stupid body pillow between my knees, and my sciatica...ugh.

Best Moment this week:  I got to meet a nestie IRL on Sunday, so that was pretty great! And we got our tax return so we paid a lot of bills and went grocery shopping and stuff. The best moment was totally my date with C at the Melting Pot. OMG. Fondue. LOVE. And it was so wonderful to just get to spend some alone time with my husband. :-) We don't get dates too often, so when my dad and stepmom gave us a gc for our birthdays it was such a treat!

Movement: Yeah, she's very roll-ey. I swear she has corners. She also really likes sticking her butt out.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: Still lots of BH contractions, but I haven't needed cramp bark for a couple days, so that's nice.

Belly button: Confused. It's kinda flat but with an umbrella top.

Cravings: Chocolate. Strawberries. Fondue. Ice cream. Meat.

What I miss: Bending over, not walking all gimpy because of my sciatica. Being able to bend down and stretch my back out. Sleep. Not having to have a pillow between my knees at night.

Stretch Marks: Yep. The rash seems to be mostly gone for now. It's only a matter of time before it comes back with a new batch of stretchies, though.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything.

What I am looking forward to this week: I have a 32 week ultrasound on Thursday, and an appointment at my midwives' on Friday. Wohoo!

Then and Now- not too much difference, actually!

29 weeks with J

29 weeks with L

Yay for babies!!

Best of luck to my friend C over at Seeking a Sibling, whose twins have decided to enter the world today! Yay for babies! And yay for her (hopefully) being able to pee with abandon very soon.

30 weeks. Don't panic.

How Far along: 30 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: Somewhere in the neighborhood of about 3 pounds. I believe it, with the way she throws herself around in there.

Total weight gain: +14 pounds. I seem to gain about a half pound a week.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: I really can't get enough, but I am still not sleeping well. I've had to resort to taking a benadryl most nights just so my itchy belly doesn't keep me up.

Best Moment this week: Watching "Where the Wild Things Are" with J and C. Mostly it was just very nice because J was all snuggly with me for most of it, even if he did talk through the entire movie. What a fucked up movie, though. I mean, really. WTF. However, it was still better than when J told me that my butt is very big. Granted, he was comparing it to his because I *don't* fall in the toilet... but still.

Movement: Yep :-) All.The.Time.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: Fun trip to the MWs to monitor contrax that were every 10-15 minutes on Wednesday. They're still about 2-3 an hour, but I'm taking cramp bark tincture (gag) now, so that helps tremendously. I'm taking the Herb Pharm one, if you're interested, since that was the one that I could get that was just pure cramp bark.

Belly button: Confused. I think it's happy with it's current nose-like innie-outie state.

Cravings: Oranges and chocolate. Not at the same time. Ooh, and strawberry jello with whipped cream. Yum.

What I miss: Same stuff as last week, adding "sleeping on my stomach" to the list. Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining easily. Feeling like a normal person. Being able to reach things in cabinets/the sink without my belly getting in the way. Deep, all through the whole night sleep.

Stretch Marks: Yep, complete with the rash. Dammit they itch.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything.

What I am looking forward to this week: I have an appointment on Friday, to followup on my contractions from last week. My FFN (fetal fibronectin) test was negative though, so that's good.

Book Review "The Dogs of Babel" by Carolyn Parkhust

The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was every bit as good as I remembered. I was doubting myself after having read "Lost and Found" by the same author, which was mediocre at best. The Dogs of Babel is deeply disturbing and very sad on many levels, but still speaks to the optimism inherent in human nature. This is not a "read every few months" kind of book, but it is definitely worth revisiting. Even though I'd read it before and knew the story, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book.



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29 Weeks. Yowza.

How Far along: 29 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about 3 pounds. I believe it, with the way she throws herself around in there.

Total weight gain: +13 pounds, holding steady.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: I really can't get enough, but I am still not sleeping well. I've had to resort to taking a benadryl every night just so my itchy belly doesn't keep me up.

Best Moment this week: Helping J with his "valentimes" for his friends at daycare. He even insisted that the dog should have one. Also made some further improvements on the kids' room this weekend.

Movement: Yep :-) All.The.Time.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: More frequent BH contractions, generally every 15-20 minutes in the evenings. I am going to bring it up at my appointment on Friday. During the day they're more mellow, more like 1 or 2 an hour.

Belly button: Confused. I think it's happy with it's current nose-like innie-outie state.

Cravings: Chocolate. Ice cream sundaes. Steak.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining easily. Feeling like a normal person. Being able to reach things in cabinets/the sink without my belly getting in the way. Deep, all through the whole night sleep.

Stretch Marks: Yep, complete with the rash. Ugh.I never got these red ones with J.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything still, including weight gain, cravings, and the scariness of my naked belly.The way this child wiggles instead of punching and kicking; she's got a very different personality than her brother.

What I am looking forward to this week: I have an appointment on Friday, when I will be 30 weeks and 1 day. Holy moly.

Also, fun fact: the belly is now large enough that the motion-sensor sinks at work detect it. Awesome.

Book Review "The Irrsistible Henry House" by Lisa Grunwald

The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a really, really sad story. It basically begins in a "practice house" where young women in the 20s-60s learned to be housewives and cook, clean, and care for babies. The psychological damage done to these babies by never being allowed to form any constant attachment for the first 2 years of life is really quite sad. The main character still goes on to lead an interesting life, and the author does a brilliant job of discussing a boy's/man's perspective in the world where he's missing the ability to truly love anyone. I think it's a fascinating part of 20th century history that is rarely even mentioned, so I'm glad I read this book, but it was really very disheartening to think of all the children brought up in these houses and then adopted out.



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Book Review "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

I read this book as an audiobook. The print version is very striking, and I recommend at least looking at the print version if you are going to read it as an audiobook.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a very intense book. There were war stories and terrorist attacks. The perspectives are odd and well developed. Overall this was a very, deeply sad story. The three different readers did a wonderful job of presenting the different people in the book; I especially liked the woman reading as the grandmother. I don't think I will ever read this book again, but I am glad I read it. There were some odd parallels with some other books I'm reading, so that was kind of strange. This was absolutely a more graphic perspective of 9/11 than I'd previously experienced. There were some disturbing and very graphic descriptions of WWII as well, which was also quite hard to hear, especially since they happened to come up while I was eating.



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28 Weeks!

How Far along: 28 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about 2 1/2 pounds.

Total weight gain: +13 pounds (though it's anywhere between 10 and 13, depending on the day)

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I miss deep, restful sleep though. C actually asked me last night how I can sleep with such a wiggly critter in my belly. I said "Not well." The problem is that most of my sleep seems to be in REM rather than deeper sleep. I am a tired Tena.

Best Moment this week: Getting the kids' room reorganized, and seeing J get so excited about his little sister who "is comin' soon!" according to J.

Movement: Yep :-) All.The.Time.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: None, really, though BH contractions are getting more frequent. Not timeable, but at least one an hour generally.

Belly button: The top is still working it's way out. It's *lovely*. It kind of looks like a mouse nose or something.

Cravings: Donuts and chocolate. And ice cream. And nachos. And just Mexican food in general. Oh, and steak. *drool*

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining easily. Feeling like a normal person. Being able to reach things in cabinets/the sink without my belly getting in the way. Carrying J around without my belly protesting. And, as of this weekend, being able to reach the bottom of the washing machine. I guess I no longer get to transfer things to the dryer...darn.

Stretch Marks: More have joined the ranks. And my midwife confirmed that it is, in fact, PUPPS. Fucking hell. Not much to be done about it, I just can't use anything scented *at all* on my belly or it make it worse, including soap. I can use hydrocortisone cream and take benadryl if I can't sleep from the itchies. The benadryl helped a bit, it seemed a little better the next morning. I've gotten some recommendations from a friend though that I'm going to try. This rash is not pretty, and it's spreading. Last week it was about a 2 inch patch on each side of my belly. Now it's about 4 inches on either side. I may post a picture, if I'm feeling like grossing people out. Not here, though.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything still, including weight gain, cravings, and the scariness of my naked belly.The way this child wiggles instead of punching and kicking; she's got a very different personality than her brother.

What I am looking forward to this week: C's birthday is today, so I'm making cheesecake tonight. MMMmmm. Also, 29 weeks on Thursday. *Gulp*

I also get to go for appointments every 2 weeks now, and I have an ultrasound scheduled for 32 weeks to followup on my low-lying placenta. I wonder if some women just have them more than others? I had it with J too. I'm not even a little worried about it, since they move up, and I get to see my girl on a fancy schmancy ultrasound at the consulting OBs office instead of a cheapo Kaiser one. *happy dance*

And He's Potty Trained.

J, not C. I mean, of course C is potty trained, but I am talking about J. At just shy of 3 years and 1 month old, he is 100% potty trained. It's amazing. I feel like we're wasting pullups at night because he's been dry every night for the last 4 nights (and more than 4 naptimes), but they are too flimsy to reuse. He has occasional accidents, but he can ride in the car for 2 hours and not pee in his pants. It's amazing. Really, it was not as hard as I expected. I thought potty training would last for months and months, which it sort of did, but not once we began in earnest. I knew J was ready. He could hold it, and he'd tell us that he needed to pee, but then if we said we were taking him to the potty, he'd say "No, I'm just going to pee in my diaper." Frustrating? Yes. I even requested a book from inter-library loan on finding the right method for potty training your child. We haven't gotten the book yet. I may still read it, but I'm not thinking it's going to tell me much since we're pretty much done. Our tricks?

1. We waited, probably longer than we had to, before giving J the diaper ultimatum. We told him on Friday January 21 that we were packing up his diapers and there would be no more (however, that weekend we had a lot of parties and things to go to, so he did wear a diaper a couple times that weekend) other than at bedtime. We let him pick out some special underwear (he picked Yo Gabba Gabba, because there are monsters and a robot, though he's never seen the show). By Monday he was mostly diaper free. On my birthday (Saturday 1/29) he was 100% accident free. He did have some power struggles with Daddy on Friday, and he ran around "with his butt hangin out" (i.e. sans pants and underpants). Sunday there were a few accidents, but we were at his cousin's house and there was a lot of chaos, so we ended up setting a timer for every 40 minutes to make sure he went pee in the potty. No more accidents after that. He had one incident at daycare on Monday where he pooped in his pants, but that was it. No accidents since then.
2. Skittles. Apparently they make great potty treats. 1 for peeing, 2 for pooping, a bonus treat for washing his hands.
3. Upping the ante. Let him pee on the big potty (standing up). Still refusing? Offer him a target. We use a square of toilet paper, but I have torn it into creative shapes (ok, a heart, or a circle) as added incentive.
4. Give him things to do while he's pooping. J gets bored in the bathroom, so he actually has gotten so that he brings his frog potty out to the living room, sits by Daddy (while C is on the computer) and hangs out while pooping. I figure we'll work on getting him to stay in the bathroom at some point, but for now, it's all good. If anyone has ideas (he's vetoed reading books) I'd love to see them!