What NOT to say

Here are some things you a non pregnant but well meaning person should avoid saying to a pregnant lady in your life:

"WOW  you look like you are gonna pop any day now!"
Uhhh great thanks,  I still have  more than 7 full weeks to go.

"Well you look like you're due July first!"
Thanks again,  that is a full four weeks ahead of my due date

"You look really tiny,  are you sure there is an actual, healthy baby in there?"
Yup,  I am sure

"Oh wow,  your ankles are really swollen" 
No they aren't actually, today is a good day.   Why are you looking at my ankles?

These few comments all pertain to my size and appearance.  You are not a medical professional.  You do not know my weight gain or fundal height.  My midwife,  who measures these things at each appointment does.  She is tracking them.  She assures me that everything in the measurement department is as it out to be.    This is my second baby.  Things may look bigger or smaller than you expect them to but your comments don't make me feel stellar and don't lead to additional conversation.  And really, why are you looking at my ankles?

A few more comments:
"You have to go to the bathroom again?"
Uhhh actually yes, yes I do.  There is someone the size of a melon snuggling with my bladder.  Do you know what that feels like?

"I can see that you are pregnant, but that doesn't mean that I am going to let you cut me in line" (This was said on a fairly hot day at a public restroom that was relatively crowded).  It should just be noted that I did not ask if I could cut or not.  I did not make assumptions.  I was just standing in line,  minding my own business and trying to not pee on myself!

"Baby care items are located over there" (said by a drugstore worker when I entered the store)
Obviously a pregnant lady is only there to buy diapers and wipes and other baby related items.  I positively do not need any items for personal care, greeting cards or any thing else you sell.

"Does the baby enjoy that food?  
I don't know if she enjoys it or not, she hasn't said. But as soon as she lets me know, I will tell you.

Planning a second birthday

As I anxiously await the arrival of our second daughter, I am also in the process of planning a celebration to honor Madison as she is about to turn 2! It makes me think back to where we were two years ago and makes me think about where she is right now, a month shy of her second birthday.

 Two years ago I was pregnant with her,  probably just as uncomfortable, irritable, and anxious as I am today.  Two years ago I had no idea of the amazing person that she would become.  Two years ago I really was not sure how labor and delivery would go, what kind of mommy I would be or how such a tiny person would totally rock our world.

Madison is awesome.  She is a very caring and compassionate toddler.  She notices when people are upset and takes very good care of her baby.  Her baby doll goes everywhere with her and that doll is well fed and never sitting in a stinky diaper for very long.    Madison is also incredibly smart, she seems to be constantly making connections between people and events.  She tries her best to retell events or stories.  I think (though I may be biased) that she has a longer than average attention span for children her age.  She loves animals and loves to read.  She is affectionate, often cuddling with one of us or blowing kisses, or kissing the pictures of animals in her books.  She is pretty easy going though can be a little shy with other people or in unfamiliar situations. There is not a day that goes by that I am not amazed by her thinking, by her little personality.  She routinely makes us laugh and we can't get enough laughter from her.

Madison is getting ready to be a big sister.  I know it will be a transition for her, but I am curious to see how she will react to the tiny human.  I am curious to see if those loving and nurturing tendencies will carry over.  I am curious to see what she will teach her baby sister and excited to see how much more mature she looks  next to the baby.

I hope that she enjoys her party and the time with the extended family.  I hope I can find a way to make the celebration reflect just who she is and I am excited to plan a special time for her before such a big change takes place.

Mommy blogger?

I never really thought of myself as a mommy blogger.  But I am a mommy and I have a blog.  These days, I use my blogging energy to write about my children: either the one boarding as a uterine passenger or the the one making me laugh throughout the day with her antics.  Does that make me a mommy blogger?

Some of the other blogs I read that are also written by mommies have features that my little old blog does not have.  Some feature photos of the children,  some feature give away contests. Others focus on product reviews and some have advertising and lots of links to recommended websites. Some blogs out there are poorly written and others read like best selling novels.

Recently though, it has come to my attention that some "mommy bloggers" are actually making money by writing their blog.  This is somewhat baffling to me.  How do I turn a simple blog into income?  Where does the income come from exactly?  How often do I need to actually blog to make said income?  I am pretty sure that I need more followers than the 4 I currently have.    I could probably spend some time and energy jazzing it up a bit, but where to go from there and is it even worth it?

Funny things about being pregnant while caring for a toddler

Pregnancy is different for each woman.  Women come into pregnancy with different expectations, at different stages of life and  have different reactions to the physical and emotional changes.  This makes sense, right?  What I did not realize was that being pregnant while caring for my older daughter would make this pregnancy more interesting and humorous to say the least.

A few weeks back I must have taken on the pregnancy habit of moaning or groaning when I dropped something and I drop things all the time.  Any of you who know me outside of the blogosphere know that I am a pretty clumsy person.  About a week or two ago,  Madison dropped something and made a groaning sound, pointed at the dropped object, groaned again, and said "mama".  She cracked herself up with this routine for several days.  If that wasn't enough, she also started making the groaning sound when she saw me drop something.  

Apparently I did not learn from this though.  I continued to be pregnant and clumsy which means that I continued to drop things and as anyone knows, it gets increasingly more difficult to bend down and pick stuff up.  ( I will pick up anything I drop that might be dangerous to her, like sharp objects or choking hazards, regardless of I am feeling at that moment).  So I guess I started dropping things, Madison continued to notice and at some point along the way I said "Daddy will pick that up later".  Now when there is something on the floor ( a toy she dropped, a piece of prechewed and then rejected food, etc) she points at it and says "daddy" with a huge smile across her face. She is just imitating me and my bad behavior, but remains pretty good about cleaning up her toys when asked.  

Finally,  we are working hard to end her diaper days.  As any one who has ever gone through this process with a young child knows,  this means lots of trips to the potty.  More and more frequently, I am the one who needs to go when I am taking her!  She uses the potty, does her business, and immediately points to me, makes one of the two or three potty signs and points to the toilet.  She will stand there while I do my business,  often make a few more potty signs and point to the toilet paper when I am all done.  Sometimes she even claps when I finish!  We wash our hands and move on and then repeat, usually within an hour.  While I am excited about her progress in using the potty,  I am even more appreciative of the moments when I have the opportunity to do my business in peace and solitude!

Start of the 3rd trimester

Thankfully we have made it this far. When I told Greg recently that I wasn't feeling well, he told me that there is only 12 more weeks to go, it's just one more trimester babe!  i don't remember his exact words but they upset me at the time, even though I know he is just trying to supportive and encouraging.

I feel like the first trimester is coming back.  I am nauseous more frequently and I am super exhausted.  I have other ailments too of course but I do not want simply list my ailments and call it a post.  For now,  I am just quietly celebrating the arrival of the third trimester and praying that things go as smoothly as possible from here on out and that the little bean can be healthy.

Is it July yet?

I am very anxiously awaiting the arrival of July.  The midwife assures me that I am healthy and that the baby is healthy.  Good news.  However, being pregnant and keeping up with a toddler is somewhat challenging.  There are days that I feel like everything from my lowest rib to my knee is either hurting or stretching.  Those are the days when Madison seems to be her most energetic.  Those uncomfortable days are the same days that my energy is even lower than normal.  In general, it is getting more difficult to pick her up as I struggle to find a comfortable position to hold her. 

Some days,  I feel like I am just letting her down and that feeling is worse than any of the physical discomforts associated with pregnancy.  The other day we were outside, soaking up some beautiful spring weather.  She was excited to use her bucket of chalk as it just recently rained and the walkway appeared magically clean from  her previous drawings.  The cushion I normally use on hard surfaces was nowhere to be found.  I kept trying to get on the ground, to sit on the cement walkway with her and draw with the chalk.  No matter what I did though, I couldn't find a position that I could stay in.  I tried squatting down or sitting in several different positions to no avail.  Meantime,  she just kept handing me piece after piece of chalk and pointing at the bare walkway.  Her disappointment was nearly palpable.  I kept trying to find a workable position but started with some pretty intense cramping.  She really believed that maybe if she brought me the perfect piece of chalk that I would simply sit on the walkway, doodle with her and enjoy the day.  It was in that moment that I felt like a complete failure.  That I was letting down one child because of my own physical limitations, or that I was letting down Madison so that I wasn't causing stress to the little one on the inside.  

Tears streamed down my face as I tried to help Madison find another activity that we could both do together.  Thankfully, Greg appeared at that moment and was able to easily sit on the cement and draw with Madison.  She was content at last.  I still felt pretty bad about the whole thing.  Greg assured me that Madison still loves me and that I am trying my best with her.  He had other encouraging and kind words too, but most of them were lost to sobbing.  

After a good night's sleep, I was feeling better, more energized.  I found the cushion and spent a good portion of the next afternoon making sure that walk way was well decorated with drawings.

A whole month?!?!

I really do not know what happened. I kept thinking that I really should get online and update the blog. I kept thinking that and time just slipped away. So here are a few quick updates:

Decreased the anti vomiting medicine to just once a day. I don't feel any better or worse. The first few days were pretty rough and I still feel lousy in the late afternoon. That's just my "fading fast" time I suppose. With Madison, I would get home from school, eat a snack and then immediately nap for a good solid hour whenever I could.

Back to my starting weight plus ( as of this past Friday) a few extra pounds:)

I had my first prenatal massage of this pregnancy last week and it was amazing. For a few hours, I wasn't sore or achy. There are not a lot of massage therapists in my area who are actually certified in prenatal massage. I feel lucky to have found the right person for me during this time period. She does not use the table with the belly cut out of it and instead uses lots of pillows. The belly hole table freaks me out. Her information is here in case any of you are interested.

I hope to sign up for a prenatal yoga class soon or get back to walking regularly. We had a burst of warm weather a few weeks back but since then its been seasonal or cold and I haven't felt like walking

So far we are at an impasse for naming this little one.

Okay well miss Madison is up singing from her nap. Hopefully another whole month won't pass without an update