Just writing to say...
I'M IN LABOR!!!
This morning, we went out for breakfast, came home, and decided to go for a nice little walk to Elliot's favorite park. One block away from home, I realized we forgot Elliot's shoes and went back to get them while Aaron waited with the stroller outside. I walked through the back door and felt a little POP, sure enough... my water had broken. I called Aaron inside and started running around the house like a crazy woman, throwing things into my hospital bag {which I hadn't even STARTED packing}.
For some reason, I really did not expect to go into labor this early. I was starting to think maybe this baby was going to stay in there for the long haul! Boy, was I wrong!
Please pray for a safe/smooth delivery and healthy baby! ♥ :)
How far along? 35 weeks.
Baby’s Size: a butternut squash- 17.2-18.7 inches & 4.2-5.8 lbs.
Total Weight Gain: 32 lbs... yikes! I really don't think my face is as fat this time as it was when I was pregnant with Elliot, though. My belly seems much more round and centered. Maybe that's where all the weight is going ;)
Bellybutton: Out out out.
Stretchmarks: a few more have appeared on my belly itself- where I did NOT have any stretchmarks when I was pregnant with Elliot. They are small, and light... and I pray they stay that way and don't get too much worse.
Maternity Clothes: Nope!
Gender: a little brother.
Movement: Not as much movement lately, I think he's running out of room in there. Sitting is SO uncomfortable because he is constantly pressing his butt up under my ribs. It's really painful!
Sleep: Not as great lately, hard to get comfortable and I have to get up to pee 4+ times a night, usually.
Symptoms: braxton hicks, insane pressure down below, ribs feel like they are going to crack, lower back pain, heartburn, swollen feet/ankles/calves/knees, I CAN NOT SIT STILL... you know, all those typical glamourous end-of-pregnancy symptoms :)
Food Aversions: none
Food Cravings: sweets- ice cream, chocolate chip muffins, cookies, etc.
Best Moments this week: Elliot laughs everytime he sees my bare belly (if I'm changing, etc). It's SO stinking cute. We went for a long walk (which we haven't been doing as much lately) to the park Wednesday and I really enjoyed watching him climb all over the jungle gym. He is growing and changing so much, I can't believe I'm about to start fresh with another little one. Time truly flies, I'm going to try to enjoy every single stage of this new little baby's life.
What I miss: when my feet didn't look like I had elephantitus.
What I am Looking forward to: Meeting this baby boy and {dare I say it?} NOT being pregnant anymore. I realized today that I have been pregnant for almost a year and a half of the last three years. Wow!
Milestones: Full term in only TWO weeks (what the what?) and less than 5 weeks until my due date. Guys, I'm having a baby either this month or the beginning of the next- whaaaat?!
You may remember my post, weaning + bedtime routines which I wrote back in the end of March. It received a fantastic response with plenty of tips, hints, suggestions, and kinds words, which I really really appreciated. I promised to keep you all updated... so this is me keeping that promise. Better late than never, right?
I've decided NOT to wean him right now, after all.
That's probably not what you expected to hear, right? Well. Let me explain my thought process.
• Elliot only gets a bottle two times a day. One before his nap, and one before bed. Sometimes he gets a third, if he takes an afternoon nap, but he has been dropping that habit lately. It only takes him about ten minutes (or less, if he's super tired) to lay in my lap and suck down his milk, and then I lay him down to sleep {WITHOUT the bottle}- whether he's awake or not. He's figured out that bottle = sleep, and he doesn't cry anymore, even if he's wide awake when I lay him down. He just gets it.
• He happily drinks water, milk, and occasionally watered down juice out of his straw sippy throughout the day. He will also drink out of our water bottles and cups.
• It's not like he's walking around with a bottle hanging out of his mouth. He's also not sucking on it throughout the night in his crib. I understand the concern about dental hygiene, but I really doubt that drinking from a bottle for ten or twenty(ish) minutes a day will cause much harm.
• Elliot's world is about to change in a BIG way, with the arrival of his baby brother. I'm already anticipating some serious difficulty with him adjusting to sharing his mama. I won't be able to hold him as much, and he will constantly be competing for my attention. So, in my mind, why throw in another change right now? If it comforts him and helps him to still nap and sleep normally, even with the addition of his little brother, I'm okay with him having the bottle a little longer.
So, what have I decided to do? I'm not going to bother trying to wean right now. I think, once his baby brother is a few months old and Elliot has adjusted, we will try it again. At that point, he would likely be 20+ months old, and more capable of understanding. In fact, I think we will opt for the tough love method- one day, when I'm feeling brave enough, the bottles will simply disappear. If he asks or looks for them, which I'm sure he will, then I will just explain to him that he's a big boy now and big boys don't have bottles before bed. Instead, we will rock and read stories. Will it be tough? Probably. But I know we can do it.
Who knows? Maybe he'll wean himself naturally before then. He has already shown signs- sometimes he falls asleep after only a few sucks on the bottle, or (if we're out) he falls asleep without it. My original plan, had he been able to breastfeed, was to let him wean himself naturally. Perhaps he will let me know when he's ready.
No matter how hard I try, it seems like I am not able to blog consistently every day. Sorry for that. I usually get things done on the computer at night, but lately I've been so drained and exhausted that I pretty much crash on the couch the minute Elliot is asleep. I feel ready to pop!!
So, what have we been up to?
Well, Elliot has been getting better at entertaining himself, particularly in the morning. Lately he's been finding more exciting things than toys to play with, like boxes...
He also likes to carry his blankets everywhere, especially in the morning.
... and he's been busy making messes while I'm cleaning/organizing/trying to get things ready for his little brother's arrival. Aw, how nice of you, Elliot!
I am 34 1/2 weeks pregnant and I've been working on the nursery. We rearranged things, added some new furniture, and hung some new things on the walls this weekend :) I'll post some pictures soon!
I had an OB appointment yesterday, and I'm happy to say that little brother has FLIPPED! I used some of the tips/tricks in the following article:
If you are pregnant, you must read this!
Optimal Fetal Positioning For a Better Birth by Doula Momma.
We also saw on ultrasound that he is thankfully not posterior and his head is fully engaged, as low as it can go. Hopefully that means I won't have terrible back labor this time. But we'll have to wait and see! My cervix is very thin, and my OB was nervous to check me because she thought it might break my water. Sooo, I have no idea how dilated I am. But that's okay. Either way, this baby will be here soon!
Can't wait to meet you, baby brother! ♥
... I'm having some serious doubts about the name we chose for this baby boy... even though I'm almost 34 weeks and we decided ages ago.
I really want to love Sullivan. It has a lot of meaning to me. It is my maiden name, a name that I was proud of and loved. I'll be honest- I was actually a little sad to wave goodbye to my maiden name and take my husband's name when we got married. I thought it would be a neat way to carry on the Sullivan family name- and apparently, so do a lot of the Sullivans!
BUT no matter how hard I've tried, I just can't picture calling a baby, or child, or even a teenager Sullivan. Sully, yes. I looove the nickname Sully. {It was my nickname in high school + college track & cross country} But Sullivan just sounds so clunky and long to me. I'm not sure if it's because it was my former last name or what... I thought I would get used to it over time, but I haven't. Every time I refer to this baby, I call him Sully, and I feel like I should love his full name as much (if not MORE) than his nickname. Some people have suggested just naming him Sully, but to me it isn't strong enough to stand alone as a first name, particularly for an adult in the business/professional world.
As time passes, I've been thinking worrying about this more and more. I feel a little funny changing it because it took us SO long to finally agree on a name, we've already announced it, it is already up on the nursery wall. At the same time, I'm just not 100% sold on the name.
The name that is growing on me more and more (which we ALMOST chose instead of Sullivan) is Emmett. Yes, it is similar to Elliot- which was the main thing holding me back before. Buuut, at this point, I'm just so happy to have a name we both agree on and love... and I actually really like how Elliot & Emmett sound together.
His full name would be Emmett Sullivan- so my maiden name would still be in there.
Hmmm... decisions, decisions!
How far along? 33 weeks 3 days.
Baby’s Size: a honeydew melon- 17.2-18.7 inches & 4.2-5.8 lbs.
Total Weight Gain: 30 lbs... well on my way to gaining 45 pounds again this pregnancy, like I did with Elliot. That's fine by me, as long as I lose it as easily and quickly this time!
Bellybutton: Out. :) Aaron is always poking it.
Stretchmarks: a couple more small and faint ones around my belly button :( Surprisingly, none on my butt this time around! I guess it did all it's stretching last pregnancy, haha!
Maternity Clothes: I {still} haven't bought any maternity clothes, isn't that nuts?! I'm just wearing my regular shorts, and my longer shirts and dresses.
Gender: all boy, as we all know. :)
Movement: Oh yes- and he's definitely still breech. His head is always under my ribs and it drives me INSANE. It's incredibly uncomfortable, especially when I'm sitting down.
Sleep: I've been falling asleep on the couch every night by 9 before dragging myself up to bed. We've been busy, it's been hot, and I've been exhausted. So I'm sleeping relatively well- other than waking up to pee.
Symptoms: plenty of braxton hicks, lots of pressure, SUPER swollen feet/ankles, lower back pain... I'm just not comfy these days. I love being pregnant but I'm pretty much over it now. Excited for the next few weeks to pass so I can meet my baby boy and NOT be pregnant anymore!
Food Aversions: Are you kidding me? EVERYTHING looks and sounds good these days...
Food Cravings: ice cream, ice cream, ice cream. And chocolate. Even in the morning! Don't worry, I don't eat any that early... but I certainly do think about it!
Best Moments this week: Aaron randomly turned to me a few days ago and said, "I can't wait for Sully to be here." We're generally so busy right now with Elliot and just... life... that we don't just sit and talk about his upcoming arrival the way we did when I was pregnant with Elliot. So it was really cute to hear him randomly say that. :)
What I miss: I'm ready to start running again, to get my body back, and to be able to sit comfortably.
What I am Looking forward to: OB appointment next Monday, and we are also going to finish up shopping for the rest of what we need for Sully. It's so exciting to be buying "little baby" things again!
Milestones: Only four weeks until full term, and seven weeks until my due date!
We're alive. I swear. We have been SUPER busy and I just haven't had the time or energy to blog lately. Soo, let's play a little game of catch up, shall we?
Elliot finally got better... and then got sick again. He was better for about a week, and now he has another cough and nose full of green snot. I don't know if it's allergies or some kind of bug that he just can't shake... but it's driving me insane.
My sweet baby boy turned 16 months old.
It has been hot here in Texas so we have been spending most of our time outside. Elliot wouldn't have it any other way!
Elliot started WALKING!! He went from only taking a step or two to walking clear across the room, or around the pool, etc... in one day. I suspect he was just fooling us all along.
Elliot has become a collector. Every time we go outside, he walks around collecting sticks, bark, flowers, grass, etc... as much as he can fit into his hands. Then he insists on bringing his collections home with him. It's pretty darn cute.
I am 33 weeks pregnant. Where has time gone?! It feels like I took that pregnancy test just days ago! I've been having a lot more contractions and some intense pressure lately. My feet, ankles, and knees are also swelling really bad now, like they did in the last weeks before Elliot was born. I'm fairly certain that he is going to be bigger than Elliot was. His movement is SO much stronger (and more painful!). I also think he is mostly transverse/breech. He seems to always be pressing/driving his head into my right ribcage, like Elliot did. It is extremely uncomfortable, especially when I'm sitting down. I'm always wondering if Sully is planning an early arrival, like his brother, or if he is going to stay in there for the long haul.
The final, BEST news ever:
Aaron is now not deploying until October! Which means he will be home for the birth and first months of Sullivan's life (the months he missed with Elliot). It should also give me plenty of time to adjust to caring for two babies and establish a good routine. I am SO relieved!!
I know I haven't been blogging- no time. Here's an updated list of my poor Elliot's symptoms:
- fever finally gone after 4 days
- red, puffy eyes gone.
- 2 ear infections
- cough
- runny nose
- diarrhea- the WORST. We've gone through nine diapers already in the two hours that he's been awake.
- RASH- this is new. Red, splotchy rash over his belly and back. Popped up out of nowhere yesterday evening, doesn't seem any worse this morning.
I'm thinking he may have Roseola on top of the ear infections. He seems to fit all the symptoms, especially now that the rash has appeared after his fever finally went away. That would actually be relatively good news because usually they get better shortly after the rash appears.
My poor baby!
Elliot has had a thick runny nose for weeks now. WEEKS. At first, I thought it was just a cold. Then, I decided that it was probably allergies, because allergy season is in full swing here in Texas and I've been feeling pretty crappy lately thanks to my allergies.
Friday he started running a temperature that slowly turned into a high fever, and he also started having diarrhea. Yesterday, he was completely lethargic and out of it. He was even exhausted after waking up from his THREE AND A HALF HOUR nap! His fever had broken, and it was HOT outside, so we decided to head out to the river where Elliot would have a nice distraction {he was super fussy just hanging out around the house}. Well, he didn't want to play in the water, explore the rocks, eat smores, or do ANYTHING, really.
After a little bit, his fever returned and he was just laying in everyone's laps looking quite pathetic and miserable.
... and before long, he just konked out right in the midst of all the noise and activity.
We packed up and headed home. He was just burning up. BURNING UP! Of course, I couldn't find our thermometers {somehow Elliot had managed to lose both of them} and none of our neighbors happened to have one, either. So after some debate, we decided to give him a quick lukewarm bath, followed by the bottle he was begging us for, more Tylenol, and we put him to bed.
He slept fine until about 3am, when he woke up screaming because his fever had spiked again and his sheets and clothes and... everything... was covered in poop. I stayed up with him from 3-7 before he finally fell asleep again. The minute he woke up we headed straight for the ER to find out what the heck was wrong with our little man.
Turns out, he has an ear infection in each ear, and the doctor was concerned because he was also showing a lot of flulike symptoms. In her words, he "looked" like the flu with his high fever, red eyes and cheeks, runny nose, and his poor sore bum. Sooo, we were sent home with medications and are supposed to head straight back if he gets any worse.
One of the hardest parts about being a mama is when your little love gets sick and there's nothing you can really do about it other than try to comfort them. :( Hopefully he feels better soon!
