..a little bit of everything..

I got to hang out with my Dreama Bean today.  Actually, I was supposed to hang out with my friend Josh, but I totally forgot and when Dreama called to say she'd be close, I jumped on it!  I don't get to see her enough. It was a great visit.  We went to Steak 'N Shake and chowed down on the best burgers and topped it off with an excellent milkshake.  In the process I accidentally skipped out on Josh, but we'll meet up tomorrow and Tim will hang out too. In the end, it all works out!  That's good though, because Josh just got accepted to the University of Hawaii (wooo-hooo) and we need to get some time in with him.  Golly, he and I have so much to catch up on.  Dreama and I got a little over a hour to fill in all the blanks. 

Here's my lovely Dreama Bean!  I think I posted a year ago about her graduation.
 
Jim and Valerie, Tim's friends first, came over last night to bring us a loot of baby items.  It was a great visit!  They got us a Jungle Baby Bath that came with a few bath toys, Jim apparently picked this bad boy out... he went bananas over it, a ton of clothes, the coolest pacifier (ever), a stain stick (it's supposed to work wonders and I hope it does), baby shampoo, the softest blanket with cute polka dots around the edges and a brochure on cloth diapers!  The brochure was cool because the diapers listed held our interest in the beginning but gDiapers won because of their overall pros versus cons.

I haven't posted belly pictures because I stink at taking them, but here are a few:

17 weeks

19 weeks, 3 days

I really do need to pick one top, probably a white one to show the belly better. I can say that I am super excited that it's getting bigger and I'm starting to look pregnant, boy do I feel it!  I think that since I am able to feel pregnant, I should look it too so people can sympathize. I will try to be more punctual with the photos though.  I need to document all about this pregnancy and the ones that will follow.

Tim had his big Senior Capstone presentation last night and invited Sehara and I to go.  Okay, he insisted that his immediate family be there.  We supported him fully, and he totally did an excellent job, and I'm not just saying that because I am his wife.  He had a clear objective and went about to explain it.  Just excellent.  He was able to answer every question that was asked by his professors during question/answer time, and sounded intelligent doing it.  To be honest, only about 3 other presentations were good.  Jim's was great (and relevant), and their friend Brenton's was funny (but didn't target anyone there due to it being about surfing).  I didn't know the other girl and already forgot what it was about-- oh, grocery bags!  These are Technology majors, so their interests range from here to waaaay over there.

Chewing Is SO Exhausting

I have had a really lousy few days.

It started Thursday morning at work.  I started feeling lightheaded while cooking, so I went to the bathroom because it is so cool in there, took off my hat and rolled up my pants.  Unfortunately, there were customers and I was needed up front.  This isn't anything new.  Nearly everyday that I work, I feel lightheaded.  I usually end up snacking on something in reach and I gulp down Sierra Mist, but that day, it was starting to get busy.  Who eats tacos at 10:30 a.m.? Gross.  Oh well.  So I am up front and it hits me again, only stronger.  I was about to take money from a customer but I turned around and called for my manager.  I knew it was serious this time and I had to get to a chair.  While turning, I grabbed a taller counter and called again and tried making it around the counter to the chair and then everything fuzzed out.  The only thing I remember is excruciating pain on my bottom ( I guess even while passing out, pain can be felt).  I woke up on the ground with someone holding me and a different manager kneeling right in front of me calling my name over and over again.  I think she even opened my mouth and poured a drink down- fruit punch.

They called the ambulance, and then tried to find my husband's phone number (with no luck), until I somehow pulled my cell phone from my pocket.  The ambulance seemed to take forever.  They finally arrived when I started understanding reality.  They ruled out a head injury from lack of blood and my ability to respond to questions correctly.  I was helped onto a stretcher and they wheeled me right out of there and took me to Pattie A Clay.  They decided to go there because my OB/GYN is in Richmond.  I think that's why!

It was so scary.  They had to put an i.v. in my arm and took a little blood out.  It was testing that blood for glucose levels is when they decided that's why I passed out.  It was measured at 77, and the EMS guy said it needs to be around 90.  So he injects that stuff straight into my i.v., connects all these little patches to my body to monitor my heart (just in case).  Then he waits until we pull up to the hospital doors and pricked my finger: my blood sugar measured 147. 

Ugh, they wheeled me into a curtain area, took some more information, made me sign something, wished me luck and headed out leaving me with a bunch of new faces.  The lady nurses starting stripping my layers off and connecting more little patches to my whole body. Whew, and that's when Tim got there!  I was so relieved to see his face!  He was so good while we were there. Completely supportive!

The E.R. doctor came in and told us that having a heart problem is one of the reasons people my age pass-out and that he needed to rule that out, but most likely it's because I'm pregnant and my glucose levels were low.  He asked what I was having and I told him we found out yesterday it was a boy.  He seemed to think that because we had the ultrasound the day before, the baby was fine, and then he walked away.  Our mouths dropped to the floor.. Tim asked the nurse if we could please hear the heartbeat to be sure and she told us that she didn't know if the doctor had planned on doing that.  Well, he told her that we were requesting it, officially.  They brought in the Doppler thing that had the ears from a stethoscope, so while the nurse could hear, we couldn't.  She told us the heartbeat was at 160 bpm (the day before it was at 170) but we understand that it can move up and down for various reasons.

An hour or two had already gone by at this point.  The nurse's aid also came in and put another needle in my other arm to draw some more blood.  They came back after a bit and said that my glucose level was down to 69, so the doctor was ordering me to eat a meal there.

Not only this, but I MADE the doctor check my tailbone.  It hurt too much for it to go unchecked.  They didn't want to and I suppose it's because they couldn't do anything about it anyway (although he did tell me that he could prescribe some vicodin and that narcotic wouldn't hurt the baby, to which we quickly responded with a "NO").  He checked and said that it was probably just bruised.

We were there from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  We got out of there and I called my mom.  I told her that we were just going to pack our bags and be on our way in less than a hour and we were.
This morning, oh. my. goodness. it was so bad.  I still can't even kick my legs, or bend my head to sneeze because the pain is so bad.  The only relief I can get is from sleep.  I've basically slept the day away.  To top that off, I am allergic to cats and my parents have three, so I couldn't even open my eyes this morning.

I have to eat more, that's the problem.  It's just that chewing is so exhausting and I don't have an appetite.  I only eat when I get hungry and it doesn't take much to fill me up.  Tim has now been hovering over my every meal and making sure I eat every bite.  It's too much work.  It just is. A solution is to drink the protein shakes and I do enjoy drinking quite a lot.  My diet mostly consists of non-sugary drinks and that's the problem, along with not shoveling food in my face all the time.  Seems my body is running out of reserves, and it's just time to bite the bullet and do it.

GUESS WHAT IT IS!!

Well, there is no mistaking!!  IT'S A BOY!!  My scanner is in Ohio, so I improvised with my phone.

No mistaking there!

 

This one is sideways! Oops!

  

Our Baby is totally relaxed!

Excuse all the shadows on the photos, the sun is shining through the window.  Of course, we don't have a name picked out...:)

A New Perspective?

Maybe so... I have never really been good at answering the phone and texts and I honestly just thought that was one of the things that made me who I am, but today I overheard my manager talking to Charter Foods people, in no way about me, that he couldn't stand when people don't answer the phone and that it was just plain rude.  I hope that's not what people think about me when I don't answer because I don't do it to be rude.
Actually, my personal philosophy is that I have my phone on me for 2 reasons: Sehara & Tim.  Now this has to extend to include my family because they are paying for it... BUT if I'm at work, driving, at home, on a date (okay, this list includes all of my time) then I don't feel obligated to respond.  I will glance at the phone every now and again to make sure Sehara's school/daycare or Tim hasn't called so I DO see when other people text or call me but by the time I get off work, I'm driving, getting Tim and kids, cooking, etc., and I just don't remember to check it again.
Tim is so much better at it.  He EVEN answers calls from unknown numbers.  So, sometimes, it's just best to call him.  
I'm going to try to work on this.  Maybe I do need to connect more with family and friends.

**I wrote this last night, but this morning I thought of another new perspective: Tim.
Sehara has been my number 1 priority since I was pregnant with her. Always.  To this day, granted I've only been married 2 months and with Tim several more months than that, I still say that she is #1, then I catch myself or think about it later and realize; you know, Tim is my priority too and how unfair that I have promised him to be by his side forever and he doesn't get that spot.  Fact is, he simply can't take it alone.  Seems that (as of right now) they have to share.  So, my number 1 priority is my FAMILY.

Oh, crap.  Hold on... isn't God supposed to be #1?  Oops, well... (haha) let's just make it clear that other than Him, my family is ( I don't know if this is a true statement because I am working on it).

I'm So Tired

I haven't ever really had a hard time sleeping before, normally I'm just fine and I thrive on 5 or so hours but dang... I wake up all the time throughout the night and now it takes a while before I can even fall asleep due to restless leg syndrome.  To top that off, I had the craziest baby dream last night, one that I won't share because it was too darn sad. Ugh, oh well.

Fortunately for me, I have been reading a friend/acquaintance's blog almost since she first made it and she is the biggest researcher on things to buy. She has inspired me to really think about a lot of things, even if I don't have the resources to implement them, i.e., better foods, baby stuff, green ideas.  She talks a lot about gDiapers, has for years, literally.  They are a "hybrid" diaper, so to speak.  I want to go with more of a cloth diaper for the rest of my babies and as of right now the best option is this wonderful gDiaper option (I have been obsessively comparing them to other brands for months!).  I can say this: I will not use disposables!  Not only are they not the best option for babies skin, they are way more expensive than cloth diapers and create too much waste.  To each her own though.  I used them with Sehara and never thought twice about it.  We have discovered that the cost for these diapers is a lot up front but compared to overall money spent on diapering, for all children, it's nothing. 

I can say that if anyone is looking for baby gift ideas, this is what I want...;)  {This being only one option as there are teeny, small, medium, and large size gpants too AND USED IS JUST AS GOOD).  They are really cool.  There is the gpant (sizes T, S, M, L) and a snap-in liner that goes with it (the liner is not plastic and is breathable for baby's bottom and it protects the gpant from getting wet/dirty).  There are three options for inserts (inserts absorb pee/ hold poo and lay on the liner): gcloth inserts (size S, M/L), the gflapper (more soft & natural cloth), and the disposable insert.  We plan on using 97.33% cloth, and using the disposable for traveling only.  I'm pretty excited about it.

Ok. 'Nuff about that.
My little brother Michael surprised me today.  He put on his facebook status that "whoever like this will get rated out of 100".  Not that anyone should be rated, but I liked it anyway.  He puts on my profile "100+". Aww!!  I adore my siblings so much.

Happy Monday!

You know, Monday used to be my absolute favorite day of the week!  I woke up at 6:30 to get Sehara (and roommate's kiddo) up and ready (okay, really, they get themselves ready, I just stand there and make sure they are on schedule) and I felt really good. Wow...I haven't felt this awake since my last semester in college. Seriously.  Maybe this will continue?

Well, I have good work news!  After arguing a few more times with my manager AND acting like a 5-year-old and ignoring his every word (works every time), he FINALLY apologized to me and I to him (for the ignoring thing, lol) and he has treated me with respect since.  Now, we've only worked one day together in this week and I'm prepared to take into account mood-swing days--on both parts and other days like that, but I will not accept disrespect and being talked down to.

I have today off and I have no intentions of going anywhere near there today, or answering the phone if they happen to call (not likely because they know how sick I have been lately), DECLINE!!!


I tried changing my name on my bank account today and it turns out that I am not able to without closing it.  This is all because I opened it when I was 17 years old and my mom had to be on the account as the adult.  If I change my name on it, she has to sign a card too, and if I try to take her off: I can't.  I have to close that account and open another one.  I can't put Tim on it without him there (duh), but I wouldn't be able to anyway because my mom's on it too.  SOOO, they said in order for me to change my name for now I had to promise to close the account when I moved.  Well, that sucks but I suppose it's for the better.  There isn't even a branch in Ohio so I'll just have Tim put me on his account at his credit union (I hear they're better anyhoo).


Another big thing happening is that we have been looking into more healthy foods.  Like is organic really better for you or what are GM foods, and do they really impact a persons health, or even- are just regularly grown fruits and vegetables just as good as organic?  Then there is the environmental aspect and animal rights aspect, but those aren't as important to us as what we're putting in our bodies and our children's bodies, though it is a factor in deciding (and it's still important, of course).  Tim sees the animal rights debate in another light though: his perspective is that if people go to jail for dog fighting, then why aren't the industries getting in trouble for the way they treat animals?  I started watching Food, Inc. to see if it would be worth a family viewing, and I think it is!  It's just a start though, we have so much more research to do to figure it out.  Public Library, here I come!!

I got my baby back yesterday from the beach.  That little girl came back with some color on her!!  She was so pale and looked almost sick mostly due to seasonal allergies but the little beauty is making a comeback.  I really missed her.  So much in fact, that I made all of us cuddle last night.  Tim wasn't thrilled but he complied (secretly I know he was happy to have her here too).  She spent the 30 minutes before bedtime showing us all the shells she collected and the activities she played.  :)

Speaking of babies, I took a 17 week picture but it didn't turn out well so I'm not posting it.  I have found that I love to wear dresses right now.  I can't take this one off just yet, I adore it and it feels so good on my body.  I think I felt the little one moving last night, or something of the sort.  I've been feeling flutters (and I'm pretty sure it's not gas, maybe) and there was a stronger jab last night.  I also believe that my uterus is almost to my belly button but it isn't really sticking out much, maybe a back baby??  I hope not because that sounds like it hurts.

I'd like to post more on my relationship with Tim, and how we're adapting to each other but that will have to wait for now.  I promised him I would take his lunch to campus and eat with him.  Maybe we'll go in the newer Fee Glade and sit? :)

Sickness

My mom took Sehara to the beach for spring break and just in time, too.  A day after she's gone I started feeling a tickle in my throat and for me that means Strep Throat -8 out of 10 times.  That night was horrible.  All night I kept waking up because my throat was on fire and I must swallow when I sleep because that was the worst feeling EVER...and I had to work the next day.  Great. 
So, Thursday Tim wakes me up to take him to work and ugh... I felt like crap.  A little later I had to go in work as well.  I got there and they took one look at me and basically told me to leave and go to the doctor.  I went home and called the doctor, and they got me in.  Turns out, being pregnant I can't do much except lay down, take Tylenol and drink buckets of water if it's a virus.  The strep test came back negative but they sent if off to the lab to be 100% sure.  My doctor told me to stay in bed for two days.  At this point, my throat feels almost fine so I know it's not strep; which means it's the virus. {insert great news-- I still weigh in at 124/125 lbs, even though I look 130-135!!!}
I don't know how I made it to Richmond yesterday and I definitely don't know how I made it back to Berea, but as soon as I picked Timothy up I was done.  I couldn't even walk by myself.  The worst part was getting hungry because I know that if I don't eat when I'm hungry the chances of me throwing up increase significantly. 
So the night passes and I wake up with no sore throat and my face felt fine (it hurt like crazy from pressure) but the only problem was my head and now my husband is sick.  I can't sit up without my head spinning, can barely roll over.  When Tim gets sick, he just gets a little sore throat and a huge headache, even when he had the swine a few years back.  That was at 8:00 a.m., and now, at 4:00 p.m., we are to the point where we can sit up. :) Seems it is getting better.  I have really strayed from taking any medication since I found out we were expecting, but the Tylenol was a must today.  My OB/GYN actually said "no" to it during the first trimester, but we're in the clear now.
Anyway I keep spacing out and I'm getting incredibly hungry again so... until next time.