32 Weeks, 4 Days

Wow. This is how far along I was when Richie was born. And here I am, still pregnant, without any signs that I am going to have this baby anytime soon. Tomorrow we enter no-man’s land = the most pregnant I’ve ever been. Ever.

I’m down to only 4 more 17p injections. I have a Dr.’s appointment this afternoon, where we’ll do a Fetal Fibronectin to see if I won’t go into labor in the next two weeks. And then we wait!

My prediction? This baby will come right after 37 weeks. That’s less than 5 weeks away. Yikes!

Things I still need to do:
• Get Richie moved into his big boy room
• Get art for Sylvie’s room
• Install the car seat bases into our cars
• Pack baby’s bag
• Pack my bag
• DEEP CLEAN OUR HOUSE
• Get pack and play set up
• Wash Sylvia’s clothes
• And more that I’m forgetting.

If you didn’t see the pile in one of our closets or the ultrasound picture lying around, you would probably NEVER know that we’re having another baby soon! Second babies do kind of get the shaft!

My Experience with 17p (so far...)

I don't think I've really gotten into my medication yet. I'm on 17p injections to try and prevent another pre-term birth. I say "so far" in the title because even though I've been taking them for 14 weeks, I still have about 6 or 7 more to go. And a baby born now would still be a preemie. So, fingers crossed that they keep working!

Eligibility
At the Dr.'s office, I keep being told that I'm the "perfect" candidate for this medication - 32-week preemie, no known cause for the prematurity, and now my 2nd baby. I did have to have a consult with the Maternal Fetal Medicine Center doc in order to confirm the eligibility, but lucky for me, I was approved and my insurance pays for all of it.
I do not get the home nurse visits, but it doesn't take too much out of my day to swing by the MFM clinic to get the shots once a week. They get to know you once you've been there every week for 14 weeks! (And sometimes twice a week - I had to go for 2 additional ultrasounds, as well! One comprehensive Level 2 at 18 weeks and a Fetal Echo at 24 weeks)

First Impressions
I was TERRIFIED of my first shot. I do NOT like needles or shots and I had heard that these are bad - thick serum, thick needle, you know, basically my worst nightmare. Was it bad? Not really. I hyped it up in my head way more than it was.
They did have to keep the needle in for about 30 seconds after the injection to make sure that it didn't ooze back out, but it wasn't a bad injection at all. I was pretty surprised! They hold your skin taut, so that the medication follows a "Z" formation. My injection was given higher than I've read online - upper hip area, almost.

Side Effects
Minimal in the beginning. I'd say for the first 10 injections or so, the only side effect I had was a headache the night of the injection and the next day. And it was a manageable headache - I never even took medication for it.
The past month or so, they have been slightly worse. I haven't noticed the headaches as much, but I have been SO SLEEPY the day I get my injection. As in, can't keep my eyes open no matter how hard I try. I asked my Dr. about it and she said that progesterone can have that effect and so she wasn't that surprised. Great.
Another side effect I have now is itching. The injection site can become really itchy, but I've noticed that if they give me my shot lower than the upper hip, the side effects are worse.

Pain
The shots still don't hurt that much. HOWEVER, as mentioned above, if they give me my injection lower on my booty, the side effects are worse and they HURT so much more. If they give it to me in my preferred area (again, higher up, almost hip-level), it aches for about 15-20 minutes afterwards and then I don't feel it much. I did notice last week, though, that when I walked, it ached on that side for the next couple of days. New side effect? I hope not.

Does it work?
So far, so good! Let's pray that it keeps this baby cooking!

Crazy Dreams and SO TIRED.

I am so tired. All the time. Probably the baking a human being thing, but I also think the medication I’m on might be contributing. Either way, all I want to do is sleep and I’m having more and more trouble getting up with my alarm clock.

This morning, for instance, I had the craziest dream about William and Kate and Pippa Middleton. First, it was William and Kate’s wedding. I was Kate (somehow) in this wedding. The tradition was that the brother of the groom would wear a mask and escort the bride to the front in order to “trick” the bride into making a mistake. Harry is super-hot, so that was tempting, but as Kate, I would not be dissuaded from my true love Williams. That is, until they hired actors to walk down the aisle as William at different ages. When he got to the front he was at a super awkward and ugly age. As Kate, I was like, “Um, I might be rethinking this.” Then they made him look good, so we got married.

From here, I no longer was Kate, but became Pippa. My duties were to watch the newlyweds AT ALL TIMES. And they kept trying to lose me. They didn’t want to be watched 24/7. It was a security thing, I guess. And this is when I incorporated my alarm clock into my dream. Every time the alarm went off, that meant that Kate and William had escaped again and I had to go find them, which meant I needed more time.

This particular dream happened not too long ago. I've had just as crazy ones since then, but none that I remember quite so clearly. I may be losing my mind :)

Jess and Fred - 5 Years Later

We were married on August 12, 2006.
In the past 5 years, we have:

- Bought a house (technically happened 2 months before the wedding, but close enough :))
- Fred changed jobs twice
- Jess changed jobs twice, including switching companies
- Lost Baby #1 in 2007 (Saddest time)
- Lost Baby #2 in 2008
- Lost Baby #3 in 2009
- Had Richie!!!! The joy in our lives - Sept. 2009
- Found out we are having #2 in Feb. 2012! :)

A lot changes in 5 years :)

Smokers Are Jokers

I have some strong opinions about smoking. I think it's disgusting. So gross. And I judge smokers. A lot. Now, I generally don't care that you do it as long as there are two main criteria met:
1. You don't do it around me.
2. You don't do it around kids.
Actually, #2 is more important than #1.

Women who smoke while pregnant make me want to punch them in the face and call social services. I know, I know, back in the 50's pregnant ladies smoked all the time. But hello, it's 2011. 60 years have passed and YOU KNOW BETTER. And if you can't give up something for 9 months for someone who is helpless and you're supposed to love more than anything, then you suck ass.

And if you smoke around kids you should be shanked. All I can ever think about when I see that is their poor pink healthy lungs that are being exposed to all the cancer. I can't handle it and I'm an adult. Kids deserve better than that.

Now, if you want to judge me for judging smokers, go ahead. I'm judging you right back.

Rant over.

Happy Earth Day!

Ways I'm going to try and help the planet:

• Buy more eco-friendly cleaners


• Try and use our cloth diapers more (we have the g diapers, with both cloth and paper inserts. Richie isn't a huge fan, but I think I'll try to force them on him more...)


• Carpool. We already do this! Yay!


• Recycle. Already do this, too. At work I'm kind of the recycle-crazy-lady. People know better than to throw away their plastic bottles if I'm around. I have eagle eyes for spotting them in people's garbage cans.


• Use a water bottle instead of disposable cups. I'm hit or miss on this now. I'll try to be more hit than miss.

GO EARTH!

Uh-Oh

I have baby fever. BABY. FEVER. Is it because it's spring?
Maybe all those zoo babies I'm going to see tomorrow will help. OR, it will make it worse. I guess we'll see.

Are You Ready?

For another baby, that is. Answer: Not really. But will I ever be? No, we’re not pregnant again. No announcements at this time. But I’m getting there! I think the time is right to start to try.

But, I bet that this will be me:



Am I freaked out that this may be a long process? Yep. Am I freaked out that it might not be? You bet. I cannot image having another baby, but I also cannot imagine life with only one. It’s a strange stage of life.

I have a feeling no one is ever 100% prepared for bringing another new life into this world. You’ve just got to be as ready as you’ll ever be and charge forward! Deep breaths – and keep your fingers crossed that this isn’t a two-year process like it was for my Roo!

Updates!

I feel like I need to start by saying I’m sorry to the one or two people who read this – it’s been a long time! I’m ready to dedicate the time it takes to writing regularly. Ok? Ok. Stick with me.



Richie updates: Growing and growing and growing! Richie LOVES toddlers. He is such a mover and a shaker and he gets to be so busy and active in toddlers. He is loving the nicer weather, too. He has a lot more words these days. Granted, if you don’t pay attention to what he’s pointing at or playing with, you may not understand them, but he’s trying! What I love right now is that he is counting! It’s only to two, but it’s adorable. Other words he is saying: Ellie, Pete (iiT), eat, more, up, Bye-bye, duck, dog, Mama, Dada, Joe, Grandma, Lola, Tita, All Done, night-night, book, the end (eee en), shoes, socks, and Elmo (also called La-La). I think there are more, but I can’t remember them. He also does a LOT of animal noises and can identify a lot of animals, too.




Richie LIKES baths, running, dancing, songs, Elmo (times a million), Cookie Monster, Mac and Cheese (“Ack an chisth” – my best phonetic spelling of how he says it), oranges, cheese in general, stickers, Duplos, walks, the dogs, BOOKS, and his monkey.

Richie DOES NOT like being redirected, not being able to stand on chairs, broccoli, going to bed, wearing his winter coat, getting buckled into his car seat, or getting his diaper changed.





As for us, not much new to report. No, there are no siblings for Richie on the horizon right now, even though I feel like I’m getting the side eye from people who are on bump watch or something. Nope, just pudge  But I think #2 will be in our near future.
That’s the latest and greatest!