A Close Call

Thankfully, I am home this morning able to write this post! My blood pressure was so high at the doctor yesterday that he almost admitted me to the hospital for a few days of bed rest. But since I had the same issue with my first pregnancy, he opted to put me on meds and do fetal monitoring. As long as the meds get my pressure down and the baby is doing fine, we can avoid hospitalization.

The good news is that we did some monitoring yesterday (an AFI for those in the know)and this little guy is extremely healthy and strong. The goal is to have the baby on the monitor for 15 minutes with the heart rate increasing when he moves. Well, he wouldn't stay still and moves around so much and so strongly that he was off the monitor when he moved.

The other good news is that right now I only have to go for monitoring once a week. I went twice a week with Ella and while it is reassuring to know everything is OK, it seemed like a bit much.

Now if only the doctor could find a way to give me some more energy!

The Dairy Monster

Ella is a lover of milk -- it is her preferred beverage of choice. She'll drink water if I force at least most of the time after pitching a gigantic fit and she has never taken to juice. Here is my issue: according to the pediatrician Ella should have no more than 3 servings of dairy a day (that's the recommendation for all of us), which means 3 glasses of milk a day. Ella would happily drink at least twice that each day. I could only offer water, but then I am concerned about dehydration because we live in an extremely dry climate and it is till relatively hot outside (high 90s). The bottom line is this: is it really awful if she drinks more than 24 ounces of milk a day? I know I don't want the milk to replace food, but it doesn't seem to (she eats the same as any toddler her age).

Honestly, I never thought I'd be obsessing over my kid drinking milk.... if you know anything about this, I'd welcome suggestions or information!

29 Weeks and All Goes Haywire

We headed to the OB yesterday for our monthly appointment and sure enough my blood pressure was through the roof. Pretty much exactly the same time that it shot up when I was pregnant with Ella, but I was really hoping it would stay normal this time around. The issue with high blood pressure during pregnancy is not only do they medicate you, but you also have to go to the doctor twice a week until you deliver. Since we have one vehicle and are in the midst of a very busy marching band season, adding two doctor appointments a week will be less than easy! Not to mention that these visits are not covered under our general OB co-pay (they are actually "diagnostic tests" so they have a separate co-pay). The blessing in the whole fiasco is that since we're planning to deliver a week early anyway, we only have 2 months of extra visits and co-pays!

In addition to the blood pressure issue, the baby is measuring big despite the fact that I actually lost 2 pounds since last month so we will also have a growth ultrasound soon. That is the one good thing about my pregnancies -- I don't gain much weight. With Ella I only gained 15 pounds and lost 25 pounds total after she was born!

Ransomed

We opened our weekend mail tonight. I received this from my middle sister... I can't stop laughing!

(Her birthday is in February and I STILL HAVE HER B-DAY CARD and gift here. Sitting right next to me as I type. She has been to Vegas, Mom has been to Vegas and I have been to Michigan (where she lives) since February. Yet here it sits.)

My Birthday

I had a birthday last week -- Wednesday to be exact. I intentionally avoided blogging about it. I avoided phone calls all day long. I refused to check my email. It was a rough day and I just wanted it to be over. I had seen my hubby for exactly 3 hours the day prior and would see him for exactly 2.5 hours on my birthday and that was only because he skipped an important errand to come home (with cake and flowers in hand!). I was exhausted physically and tired of dealing with a toddler who was under the weather.

I peruse a blog occasionally of a young mother in her mid-20s of 4 small kids. She is in the midst of that 20s "what am I doing with my life and who am I anyway" phase. She thinks she feels this way because she is putting her life and dreams on hold to raise kids. I didn't have my first full-time kid until I was in my 30s and I can assure her and anyone else feeling that way -- it's normal, kids or no kids (at least that was how my 20s were for me!).

So I happen to be in love with my 30s and my birthday (always have been, always will be). We went out and celebrated last night and it was wonderful. An adult meal followed by two hours of conversation, just me and my one and only, in a coffee shop in a bookstore. Just lovely.

And the cake? Perfect. Chocolate, swirls, bright colors -- all my favorite things in life. He said he saw it and knew it had to have my name on it.

Just Plain Tired

That's me right now. I am exhausted. I don't remember being this tired at this stage of pregnancy with Ella, but Mitch says I was and I'm sure his memory is better than mine (since he had to pick up all the slack!). Since I don't have energy for anything, my blogging has obviously taken a back seat to things like feeding a child and bathing. I have even stooped to a low of using Sesame Street to keep Ella distracted for an hour every morning -- something I swore I'd NEVER do!

Ella had her first time "helping" in the kitchen over the weekend -- she helped Daddy make pizza and loved every minute of it! Unfortunately, I was too tired to hunt down the camera to get some photos.

I am hoping with more rest I will feel better soon!

Going Low Tech

Our cell phone contract is up in October and we've been debating whether to stay with Verizon, our current provider, or switch providers. Last night I brought up another possible option -- cancel our service with Verizon when our contract is up... and go without.

Two years ago we opted to downgrade from two phones to one (and cut our cell phone bill in half) and really haven't missed the second phone. I'm at home all day and my husband has a work phone I call him on. We purchased a pre-paid Tracfone for $20 (including 60 minutes)to use in the car and when we need another phone. We keep that current by purchasing around $20 worth of minutes every 3 months or about $6.60 per month. We've had no issue with getting a signal and use it for emergencies or when we're apart (I took the Tracfone to Michigan with me).

We kept the Verizon service only because my husband talks to Sarah for at least 8 hours each month and her mom also has Verizon so it was a "free" call. But for at least a year he has been calling the home phone instead. We have 450 minutes with Verizon for just under $40/mo making those minutes $.08 each! There are much better deals to be had in the world of long distance. None of our family is on Verizon so we still end up using peak minutes (unless we call on weekends).

Our thought is to cancel the Verizon phone, get another pre-paid phone so we each have one, and try out services like Skype to get the best long distance deal possible. Our cell phone has really become more of a convenience than a necessity. If we find we're spending too much elsewhere, we can always sign up again.

If you have any long distance suggestions, I'm willing to give anything a test run!

Happy Labor Day!

I am so grateful for my husband who, instead of taking the weekend off after working a 15 hour day on Friday, worked his tail off around the house and maintaining our one vehicle! After taking me out for a beautiful dinner, the next day he took Ella with him to get tires balanced and rotated and left me home, alone for THREE HOURS! It was heavenly!

I hope you had the day off and enjoyed it as much as I did!