prenatal appointments

26 weeks

Gavin has pretty good odds of surviving on the outside now but of course he'll be cuter and chubbier if he bakes longer so there's no rush!

mommy:

pregnancy insomnia (4am wake up every time I have to rotate sides)

heartburn a couple of times but still hardly ever

that bun in my oven is making me warmer (never had this problem with Mia's pregnancy since she was born during a -7 degree freezing cold blizzard day. Of course my old office mate, Sarah, would claim my flip flops and tank tops in the winter of Mia's pregnancy were an equally valid indicator.)

appointments:

2/17 glucose/iron. . . had the tests taken, no word on the results yet

2/24 met with Christy. . . here are the stats:

I was almost 29 wks pregnant

fundus at 28 cm

my weight: 131.4 (a grand total of about 14 lbs gained so far)

my blood pressure: 108/68, pulse is 76

Gavin's heart rate: 140 bpm

Gavin weighs about 2 lbs

Almost 29 weeks . . .

and a new shirt for the new (and last) trimester!

In preparation for our homebirth we will be ordering our homebirth kit soon including items such as sterile underpads, gauze, alcohol pads etc. I also need to get serious about reading my birthing books if I am going to do this whole natural birthing thing again. I have been so busy writing this grant though that I am lucky if I get to bed before midnight let alone exercise or prepare mentally like I should be. Sigh!

On a happier note, Mia seems to really be getting into the big sister thing big time. Here she is in the shirt her Bubbe got for her.

When we cut off a link from the Gavin countdown chain we count the remaining circles 9, 10, 11 . . .and she adds a big ". . .more weeks until Gavin is here!" at the end.

She also includes him in many conversations and asks to look at my belly more often and even kisses/hugs my belly more.

30 week belly kiss

next appt: St Patty's day then every 2 wks thereafter!

Mia update

Random morning cuteness.

Although after waking up Mia will sometimes read books and entertain herself in her room for upwards of 15 minutes; she has recently taken a liking to running straight into our room and cuddling with us in bed for awhile before cutely requesting, "mommy stand up, I'm huwwy (hungry)".

Potty training:

Mia is still doing well with potty training. We have on average 1 accident per day at daycare and about the same at home. At home the problem is definitely because she likes to do things on her own and if we merely suggest she may need to sit down (after obvious bladder full fidgeting) she says "no" adamantly even though she may have an accident the next minute. So we let her decide when to go and only give gentle reminders, which typically leads to a bit of leakage on her way to the potty but all in all she's doing great and even went on a public potty (Starbucks and a highway rest stop) with her Dora potty insert twice recently.

Singing:

Mia continues to amaze us with her love of singing and has now incorporated "Rosy Cheeks" from Mary Poppins into her repertoire. It is so cute to hear her say "no warts" and "disposition". She has even started to sing songs that she knew some bit (Doe a deer. . . ) with more detail. Instead of getting stuck on "Sew I need a pulling dress" over and over like a broken record player now she can sing many more of the verses. I love to hear the way she thinks the words in a song go. Like, "I'm putting up my baby bumble bee".

Misunderstandings:

The other day Mia and I were playing Win Lose or Draw on her dry erase board and she was getting everything I drew right (car, rainbow, circle, etc) so I told her, "Mia you won!" and she corrected me, "no, I TWO" hahaha I nearly choked on my own laughter!

It happened again! I wanted to have a race with Mia (she loves this game: I say, "ready, set, go" and we run across the room together) and asked her if she wanted to race and she said, "OK". I told her I had to run to the restroom and I'd be right back. When I got back she was at the dry erase board saying, "common mommy erase". It seems she thought I said ERASE when really I wanted to have A RACE.

Funny Phrase:

Mia has been saying "oh my goodness" a lot lately.

Favorite things:

Mia loves to "play clay". She goes through phases and although clay is consuming her right now her past loves have been "dress up" with magnetic wooden dolls, fake food play in her kitchen, and coloring (which is right behind clay right now).

Miscellaneous:

Mia is big on reminding us to cover our coughs whenever we slip up. Who knew a little girl who never remembers to say please or thank you would catch on so eagerly to cough covering.

visit to the Michelsons

We recently (2/12/11) visited Nichole, Ben, Alex and baby Chase for the first time since Chase was born. We got in at 2pm and left around 8pm. It was a great visit. We played games (Monopoly- Alex won! and Kerplunk- I lost!) and had dinner (pasta with veggies), Mia had a bath (Alex helped), and Mia and Alex watched a bit of TV. Of course there was a lot of time for snuggles with our new family member. Poor Chase has some tummy problems right now so he was having some trouble sleeping and giving his parents a run for their money but we all took turns holding him and he seemed to really love his Uncle Dave. Finally, after a bath by mommy he crashed hard so his parents could get a little break. I can't wait to see him and Gavin playing together as they will only be around 5 months apart.

Here are some pictures from our recent visit:

Mia and Aunt Cole feeding their babies

Aunt Stacie and baby Chase (8 wks old)

Chase sitting on top of his cousin Gavin (in utero still)

My handsome new nephew!

Cousins (Alex & Mia)

All of the cousins together

and everyone is looking in the same general direction

(this shot was harder to take than it looks)

Mia looking at her new baby cousin

Alex sweetly showing Mia a "baby game" on his iPad

Saying goodnight to Uncle Ben and Aunt Nichole