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Enjoying this pregnancy

I consider myself VERY fortunate. I’ve had such an easy pregnancy. I have nothing really to complain about. So I won’t.

I’m to the point where my belly is round enough that I think it’s obvious I’m with child and not just eating too many cookies…though I still haven’t been asked by strangers when I’m due, or what I’m having or any of those things.

When I catch my reflection, I’m surprised at how round my belly is. It isn’t that big yet — probably just a little bigger than I was at this point when I was growing a Johnny.

But I don’t feel big at all. I feel pretty normal.

A week or so ago, I did feel big and sorta achy and I knew I was about to grow some. I did, and I feel better!

It feels best to sit on an exercise ball or tailor-sit on the floor. These are good positions for me to sit in, because based on how my baby is moving, I think she is transverse right now. That’s sorta like laying in a hammock. Not a doable birthin’ position. She’s so active that I’m sure she’ll move head-down eventually, and I’ll do what I can to help her with that.

I have Braxton-Hicks contractions and have had them for at least a month. Love these! It’s exercise that I don’t even have to think about. It’s automated. And it helps me to better detect where the fundal height is, and based on what I know, I think I’m measuring right where I should be.

Too frequent B-H and I know to go to the bathroom, get a drink, or sit down for a little bit.

So yeah, the mid-second trimester is treating me well. And the whole thing is treating me well. I know that I should be thankful, and I am.

Sometime mid-September, I should be starting my Hypnobabies home study. I’ll be in the early third trimester at that point. The course is 6 weeks long and you’re supposed to keep on practicing until the birth, so many moms start around 25 or 27 or 30 weeks or so.

I’m just not really in the mood for that yet. I’m in no hurry to get this baby out. I am absolutely looking forward to meeting her and cuddling with a tiny newborn and seeing Johnny as a big brother…but. But I’m just enjoying this pregnancy bit too much. I don’t want to rush the next phase on.

Plus, I know what’s coming. I know that labor will be work. I know that newborns are demanding little things, and toddlers are too — but my toddler can tell me what he wants, feed himself a cracker, and play with cars or look at books without much help from me.

So maybe part of why I’m like, “oh, this birthin’ stuff can wait” is because I’m a little nervous about how upside-down life will be in December/early 2011. It’s going to be busy. I will be tired. I don’t wanna rush those things.

I know that I can handle it and I know it’s going to be ok. But still…yeah.

So I need to think about tiny newborn clothes and the expressions they make and how warm and cuddly they are. And how I get to be a mom to a little girl. And all the fun we’re going to have!

We still don’t have a name for this little girl. We’re back and forth on our top two choices, and we’re both unsure if either option will actually work. We don’t have middle names. But, we’ve got some time yet so hopefully we’ll work it out.

In a few weeks once I hit the third trimester, I’ll start drinking some of that yummy red raspberry leaf tea, which I’m convinced works wonders to strengthen the uterus and make it more efficient. And maybe around that time I’ll start to get motivated to get in the birthin’ mindset.

Back from our Indiana trip

Our trip to Indiana went really well! Johnny was fantastic in the car. On our way over, we only made one stop (which is incredible considering a toddler and a pregnant lady were on board!). Johnny slept through much of Ohio and was reasonably happy.

And on the way back, he was able to nap and didn’t fuss much. It was a completely different experience than we’ve had for previous trips where he’d scream inconsolably and wouldn’t sleep much. Whew.

Our first stop was to Shane’s brother’s house in Indianapolis to visit Shawn and Whitney. This was our first chance to see their house and it was really cute! While there, I was able to take some engagement portraits for them. Whitney was happy with them, so that’s all that matters. There were some technical problems with a lot of photos (white balance issues, exposure problems especially!) but she photoshopped some to make it better.

We got to see portions of Zionsville (adorable town!), and two parks. It was a quick visit, but nice. The weather was stupidly hot and humid and I whined a little too much about it. 100+ degree heat index? For real? Knock it off, Indiana.

Then, we headed south to Bloomington to see Shane’s parents.

Johnny was so excited to see his Papaw, whom he had just seen in Pittsburgh a few weeks prior. He seemed to still remember them which was nice!

We enjoyed some afternoons at some of the area’s parks. The weather cooled down some while we were there so it made it much nicer to be outside. Shane and I stole away to La Torre for a shredded beef burrito (I really want to know how they make their sauce! I could drink it.).

I was worried about keeping Johnny out of trouble, since Shane’s parents have so many antiques and stairs and all sorts of interesting things for a toddler to explore/break/hurt himself on. He’s old enough where he sort of gets what “don’t touch” means, but he didn’t really understand “don’t touch anything that doesn’t belong to you.” So he needed some chasing. But it was fine and nothing got broken (that I know of) and he only got a few standard Johnny bonks — bonks that could have happened anywhere. It was a nice visit!

Then we went north to see my parents in West Lafayette. We first stopped in Brownsburg to visit my grandma and great-grandma. I knew my great-grandma wasn’t doing well, but I didn’t know how poorly she was doing. When I saw her that Wednesday, she had been bed-bound for the past few days and wasn’t able to eat or drink anymore.

She was still awake at times and though her vision and hearing weren’t good, she could reach out and grab my hands.

I went back on Thursday with my mom and sister, basically to say good-bye. I read her some Psalms and some from the book of John. I didn’t know if she could hear everything I said, but I hoped she was comforted somewhat.

Back in Lafayette, Shane and I went to Little Mexico Too (spelled like that, I think). They have the best salsa. We also stopped by my old neighborhood and Johnny played at the playground. We tried to watch some airplanes flying around, but there was only one. Slow day.

While there, we also made a stop to the Columbian Park Zoo which has free admission. It’s a really tiny zoo and only has a few exhibits, but hey it’s free!

My great-grandma passed away early Sunday morning while we were in town. Shane really needed to get back to Pittsburgh for work, so he went without me and Johnny and we stayed so we could attend the visitation and funeral.

My great-grandma was 99 and almost a half. It was really great that I was able to know her and introduce her to my son a few times. Not many families get to have five-generation photos!

Johnny and I were at the visitation for about an hour and then went to my grandma’s house so he could nap. He hadn’t napped all day and the dude really needed to. So while he was asleep, I sat in the family room and read from my great-grandma’s Bible which was on an end table.

I’m finishing up the Bible in 90 Days reading plan, and that day I was reading 2 Corinthians.

The next day at her funeral, the minister said that my great-grandma had many favorite passages in the Bible, and one of them was 2 Corinthians chapter 5, which he read. I thought it was neat that I had just read that passage the day before, in her own Bible.

I have a lot of good memories of her and will miss her, but I know I’ll see her again.

My dad brought us back to Pittsburgh on Friday and I’m not sure when we’ll be back in the Hoosier state. Probably spring/summer 2011. Traveling with two little ones will be interesting!

Johnny’s sleep

So ah…I’m not really sure how to explain this. But Johnny’s sleep is going really well! There was an adjustment period once he went to his big-boy bed, and then there was the excitement of having both sets of grandparents visit us in July (at different times) so I wasn’t working on his sleep too much since I figured it wouldn’t really matter.

His night light guy (a Tyke Light) broke, just like the first one did. But he doesn’t seem to mind. In fact I’ve checked on him before and he’s had it turned off. So maybe he likes the dark?

For the past four nights, we’ve done our short little nighttime routine, I put him in his bed and walk out of there. He’s wide awake. And he stays in bed and goes to sleep without further help.

What. The. Huh?

He’s matured a lot! That’s all I can come up with. He’s finally reached the point in his development where he is able to put himself to sleep.

He knows that I am still nearby and I will come if he needs me. Or, he’ll come find me (usually the case). Sometimes he will sleep all night in his bed and other times I will wake with him standing by my bed. I’ll either pull him into bed next to me and he goes right to sleep, or I walk him back to his bed and he goes to sleep in a few moments.

Now, he’s going to bed a lot later than I’d like. It’s usually between 9-10 p.m. But, Shane gets home sort of late most nights and by the time we finish dinner, it’s like 8. So if Johnny had a strict 8 p.m. bedtime, he wouldn’t get much daddy time. I think daddy time is more important.

Shane’s workload should chill out in November. Also in November? Daylight Saving time ends! So we’ll fall back an hour. A boy used to going to sleep at 9 will suddenly be tired at 8, but he can’t tell time. So he won’t care (hopefully).

We will try to work on earlier sleep before then anyway, but DST is my backup plan.

I know that our upcoming trip to see family is going to screw with his sleep. He may take a few steps backward, but I’m confident we’ll get him readjusted when we get back.

There were times when it took three hours to get him to sleep at night, only to have him wake up again in an hour. I wish I were exaggerating. I thought he’d never sleep well. So it’s really nice that he’s finally to the point where it doesn’t take much from me!

Onto the New Testament

I completed the Old Testament over the weekend and now I’m onto the New! Well…sorta. I decided I wanted to break up the Psalms and Proverbs reading because of their poetic nature. I couldn’t focus on 12 pages at a time of Psalms.

I have finished Proverbs, but I’m about a third of the way through Psalms, reading a few chapters each day. So I guess I’m not technically finished with the Old.

So anyway, this is probably the first time I’ve ever read the Old Testament. I’ve read much of it before — many of the stories and people were familiar to me. But I know there were plenty of books that I’d never read.

It was a hard read for me. There were books that went smoothly, but a lot of it was a challenge. The genealogy lists, the prophets, the people who would just plain not listen to God — it was hard! I think plowing through it at a superfast pace was so helpful though.

Next time, I will have more perspective. And I will know which areas I want to study in more depth.

I’m on Day 70 of the reading (of 88…there are 2 days for “grace” days to get to the 90 days) so really I should be done by the end of August.

I’ve read all but a couple of short books of the New Testament before and I know this will probably go smoothly. I love the writing style, the stories and most importantly, the good news!

After I finish, I will map out what I will study next and how I’ll go about it.

On weaning

I am so thankful for the 18 months he was nursing. It helped his health tremendously, I had numerous benefits, and it was a nice bonding experience for us both.

When I was pregnant with him, I thought, “I’d like to make it to 6 months and then we’ll see what happens.” And then when he was born and I was having initial trouble, I said, “I just want to make it through this week, and we’ll see what happens.”

Fortunately our problems went away.

By 6 months, nursing was so convenient that I had no interest in weaning, and he had no interest either. So I thought, “Let’s hit the AAP recommendation of 12 months.” I knew that if we did, I wouldn’t have to ever give him formula.

So his birthday came and went and people started to wonder when he’d get off the boob already. I wanted to just give it some time, because I knew neither of us were ready.

Almost immediately after I found out I was pregnant with his baby sister, I noticed a drastic drop in my milk supply. Johnny seemed to notice, too, and it seemed frustrating to him.

Due to hormonal changes, his initial latch just plain started to hurt. I couldn’t do anything about it — it just happens to some moms.

Though he didn’t quite seem emotionally ready to wean, I knew it was time. I didn’t want to be resentful of it all.

I stopped offering to nurse during our normal times (which, by 15-16 months, was just before bed, just before his naps, and usually when he first woke up). Sometimes during the day he’d nurse just because he wanted to, or if he fell and hurt himself and needed comfort.

I would try and distract him with a sippy of cow’s milk, and I’d hold him in the rocker and just cuddle. I made sure to have on a shirt that wasn’t easy for him to pull down. Sometimes he’d be fine with those substitutions, other times he made it known that he needed to nurse, and we did.

There was a 24-hour period where he didn’t nurse and I thought…wow, we’re done. But nope!

He cut 4 molars and all bets were off. He nursed a ton during that time, and I figured it was a temporary need so I indulged him. Plus around that time, he moved to a full-size bed since he could climb out of his crib (and hurt himself). That’s a pretty big change for a little guy.

After his teeth were in and he seemed a little more used to his new sleeping arrangement, I tried my “don’t offer, don’t refuse” strategy once more.

I really wanted to persist this time, simply because I was frustrated with the pain of the initial latch and I wanted to wean.

By now, he was 18 months old.

It worked fairly well, but there were times when I said “no” that he seemed all-out devastated. He’d look at me and ask, “Why?” I couldn’t explain it in a way that he would understand. So he cried and was so sad. It makes me sad to even think about it now.

So sometimes I nursed even when I didn’t want to, but not for long. We’d nurse for 5 minutes or so and then I’d give him a sippy cup and rock with him instead.

The last time he nursed was July 3, at 18.5 months. We were at a drive-in theater and we were watching Toy Story 3. He was getting really restless and rowdy and I wanted to keep watching, so I offered and he was like, “Yay!”

But that was it.

He does still ask to nurse sometimes. Last night, he said some long rambly sentence that went, “Mama, somethingsomethingsomething NURSE somethingsomething ok?” and he was pulling at my shirt. He didn’t seem sad, but he did make it known to me that he still remembers and if it’s an option to him, he’d like to take that option.

Poor guy!

I sorta laughed and he laughed too, and I tried to tell him that mama’s milk is all gone and that he is a big boy now, and then I read him a book. Cuz he likes books.

I don’t know if he will forget he ever nursed by the time his sister is born. We’ll see what happens!