27 weeks, 4 days!

Wow! 26 weeks!

It's been a while, and I thought I would get on here and let you know all is still well. I start my 2 week appointments next week, and am excited to also see another "picture" of Matthew in utero.

The boys are excited about being big brothers, and we are starting to prepare for our new addition.

I'll get a new "bump" picture up here soon.

I've been working on the boys scrapbooks lately. You can check those out on my facebook page if you haven't already. I'm excited to have both of them done since I'll have another one to start on soon. I also plan to get my wedding pictures scrapped, and all of our "family" picture taken after the boys were each a year old. I have a lot to catch up on.

I hope everyone is doing well. Drop me an email or contact me on facebook to chat. :)

21 week update

These updates seem to be getting further and further apart lately.  A lot has happened in the past couple weeks.  The big news is that we will be welcoming Matthew Gabriel Ozuna in November 2010.  He’s still charting bigger than average and kicking me from the inside like he wants out now.  I spent an afternoon in Labor and Delivery last week because I started getting braxton hicks contractions every 2-5 minutes if I was standing up.  The doctor has decided that these are not “doing” anything and that I need to rest when they occur.  I’ve also found that as long as I wear my maternity belt, it seems to be keeping me from having them.  I am still able to work out and play tennis, so that is wonderful.  In addition, we found out that his kidneys are slightly dilated, and so they are watching him via ultrasound to make sure that irons itself out.  I will be having at least 2 more ultrasounds because of this.  One at 28 weeks, and one more at 36 weeks.  On a positive note, I did find out that it seems my ovarian cysts have gone away. 

18 week update

Wow, 18 weeks pregnant already??  It’s going by sort of fast.  I can tell my body is going to start thinking that time is crawling though.  I’m constantly sore and tired and cannot sleep already.  YUCK. 

In other, not so whiny news, I have my ultrasound appointment for July 14.  If we can, we will get the ultrasound sooner…but right now, that’s as good as it gets. 

I’ve gained a total of 16 lbs. so far.  That’s much better than with my other two pregnancies.  My first pregnancy I had already gained 20 lbs., and with my second…I lost count.  It was much more.  The little bit of exercise that I’m getting and me being more aware of what goes in my body must be helping…at least a little. :) 

My doctor seems to think that because I carried sort of in the middle with both boys, and because of the size of my previous pregnancies, that this one will be carried REALLY LOW.  Apparently I will be quite uncomfortable.  Lovely.  Especially since I’m already unable to sleep because I get up 3-4 times to pee each night and try to find a more comfortable way to sleep that doesn’t make my shoulders, arms or legs fall asleep.  Looking forward to it.  REALLY. :-P

Oops…I went back to whining.  Sorry.

The baby’s heartbeat was at a strong, but elusive (due to all it’s movement) heartbeat in the 140’s this time.  That’s much more like my boys heartbeat.  I’m confident this is a boy, guys. :)  We shall see soon!

16 week Belly Picture

Getting bigger!!!

Pregnancy Update 15-16 weeks

I just started my 17th week!!  Almost halfway there!!  I had my first Braxton Hicks contraction for this pregnancy yesterday.  As you can imagine, it kind of freaked me out.  I never thought it was normal to get them before late pregnancy.  Apparently you can start feeling them as early as 15 or 16 weeks and as long as you don’t get more than 4 an hour, you are okay.  I only had 1.  I drank a lot of water and figured I should rest today instead of playing tennis.  I did a lot this week.  Tuesday I walked our Parade of Homes for about 2 hours, Wednesday I got my butt handed to me in Cardio Tennis and had to stop after 45 minutes because I was getting to hot.  Thursday I played about 2 hours of doubles tennis.  Friday I cleaned house for a couple hours (bathrooms, vacuuming and stuff).  I was scheduled to play doubles again this morning for fun (not league play) and decided to skip it since only really good men had signed up.  My friends were not able to.  I guess that’s God’s way of telling me I shouldn’t play today.  This afternoon we plan to walk Parade of Homes again anyway, so I’ll get a little exercise in from that.  Anyway, no more contractions, just lots of movement from the baby.  So exciting!  Still haven’t gotten Nicholas to feel it yet.  If he were quieter and more patient, I think it would happen.  Maybe in the next couple weeks.

Ed is on his last weekend night call EVER!!!  He was super busy last night, so hopefully it dies down tonight.  If it does, he plans to have me come in and him and an OBGYN resident are going to do an ultrasound on me so we can see the sex of the baby!!  So excited, but trying not to get too wound up in case they are busy and cannot get me in.  Literally they could call me and by the time I get up there not be able to do it if they are called on a case.  I’ve really got to keep and open mind so I am not disappointed. :)  Wish us luck!!!

Soccer Star

With both boys, I felt their kicking “bubbles” at around 14-16 weeks.  This time around is much different.  I’ve gotten bigger much faster, and I swear I started feeling “rolling” in my uterus around week 9. 

I’m now 16 weeks along, and 3 nights ago, I felt baby really give a good kick.  I was laying in bed with my hand on my abdomen.  All of a sudden my hand moved!  I got Ed’s hand and told him, “Feel this.”  A couple seconds later baby kicked again.  “Yep, I felt it!” 

Now, this one is measuring bigger…we’ve discussed that before.  This is all beginning to convince me that we’ve conceived a soccer star.  This kid can kick!  It will be crazy to feel him/her in about 20 more weeks. :)

Week 12-15: Pregnancy update

Crazy month that has gone by!  I’m bigger, the baby measures a week big (even though my dates are rock solid) and my feet are already swollen (something to do with 106 degree weather).  My husband is FINALLY home! 

This measuring big thing is weighing on my mind.  For those of you who don’t know, my last baby (Ernie- 3yrs) was a whopping 9 lbs, 11 oz.  I’m only about 5’4” and normally around 136 pounds, so that is a big baby!  I had him normally with drugs, and my new OBGYN is freaked out that my last OBGYN did not do an ultrasound to find out how big he was.  Granted, those things do have a 1 lb. error both ways in weight…but at least I would have known the baby was measuring over 8 lbs!  So, this time she is having me do several ultrasounds to monitor the baby’s weight.  If she does one at 36 weeks and discovers an 8 lb baby in there at that point, we might have to consider some things like C-Section, early induction, etc…  I am of the opinion, I will worry when I get there, but I am also a planner.  This means I am thoroughly researching it now, and having all the info in my mind to ask questions once the time comes (if it comes).  Better prepared than sorry.

That’s the update! :)

Drama in the ER

On May 13, I went in the hospital.  The problem started a couple weeks ago in the form of what I thought was “round ligament pain.”  I knew it was early to be having it, and if you had not looked at my belly lately you’d think I was crazy, but with my belly being so much bigger than in past pregnancies, I just took it in stride.  I had this achy pain on the right side of my stomach and it followed up my bikini line to my back.  It would come and go and almost felt as if I had a muscle in my back trying to knot up.  You know that pulling feeling?  Anyway, I’d lay down on my left side and it would go away until I started getting up and going again.  No big deal, just lay down every 30 min or so, right?  Right.  It started to progressively get worse and tylenol and heating pads were no longer working.  Tuesday, after work, I went straight home, ate and laid in bed.  This time was different.  It was not subsiding.  I googled, “Is Round Ligament pain supposed to hurt this much?” and to my surprise found out that round ligament pain is short and stabby pain that goes away within seconds after laying down.  This is not what I had.  I called the doctor and they immediately told me to go to the ER.  I was in pain, freaking out about the baby and bawling.  I called the first stay at home mommy friend that I could find that had only one child, and she immediately came and got me.  She also took on the task of taking care of Christian.  I don’t know what I would have done without her.  Doc was in Dallas.

 

We got to the ER and my pain had subsided.  Every time I got up to register, urinate, get blood taken, see trauma nurse, my pain got worse.  Finally it would not subside again and it was so awful that I was crying again.  The nurse that took my blood told me that we needed to get a formal ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy was not ectopic.  This freaked me out even more.

 

After waiting in pain for what seemed like an eternity, and frantically texting my friend to come sit with me, and calling my husband while in pain and crying so I could have him fly home, I finally saw a doctor, and the morphine kicked in.  The first thing we did was look for the baby, and there it was!!  Kicking, and sucking it’s thumb.  That was an immense relief.  I knew I could get through this ordeal now.  I had a thorough ultrasound and they discovered 2 cysts on my right ovary.  One of them had ruptured.  They suspected that this was the only problem, but they had to rule out appendicitis as well, and felt like the pain was too intense to only be the cyst.  I was in the ER all  night (no open beds) and admitted the next morning to the hospital.  I stayed that night and was released the day after that.  Once I started eating and drinking (over 55 hours after coming to the hospital) and my pain was under control, I left the hospital.  I have been fine ever since.

 

My mother in law came and stayed with me for all of May until now (the first week of June) until Doc could come back from Dallas. (he had to go finish his rotation)  He’s back now, and today they left and went home.  I’m feeling more normal now, and hope to be on here more often.  It’s been a wild ride. :)

11 Week Belly

Wow, this is crazy stuff.  I just ate, so it’s probably a little more pronounced.  I can still fit into my prepregnancy jeans…just have to leave the belly unzipped…so although I’ve gained a little weight, most of it is in my belly and not my butt.  This is not like the last pregnancy.  I gained everywhere…of course I also ate like a horse and didn’t workout at all.  Should be interesting to see how it progresses.

Week 11 Update:

This has been my first week without any naps!!  My house is almost clean!  I’ve been working on it a little at a time since last Tuesday, and it’s coming along very nicely.

I’ve gotten my energy back, but I’ve started with other pregnancy-related symptoms.  I'm now experiencing this lovely thing called “Round Ligament Pain.”  I always wondered what the pain was…never really hurt before.  I guess it gets worse with subsequent pregnancies because now I feel it if I stand too long (like I can only clean for about 30 minutes and then I have to take a break).  It’s an odd feeling that starts with a pain in the groin area and goes up the bikini line finally ending in the lower back.  The only thing I can equate it to is the feeling that you get when a muscle is knotting up in your back…you know that pressure you feel before it starts hurting like crazy?  That’s the feeling.  It’s a dull pain…very achy, and annoying.

Other things going on…I’ve got a mysterious rash.  My friend Kristy says she swears I had the same thing with the last pregnancy, but I don’t remember.  It’s not too bad…just itchy enough that I need to use hydrocortizone, but not so itchy that I’m going crazy over it.  It’s got nothing on the post-partum pupps rash I had with Nicholas and Christian. 

I’ve gotten my beef appetite back.  I was craving hamburgers the other day, and sweets are not turning my stomach anymore.  I’ve gotten bigger in the belly.  I need to post another picture.

I am pretty sure I felt the baby move this week.  We’ll see if that is what I felt or not…time will tell.  I felt it a couple times this week, but not this weekend.  Maybe it was in my mind…and then again maybe not.

I’m scheduled for my first ultrasound on May 27.  I’ll post pictures. :)

Week 10!! Double Digits!!! (and other stuff)

We are finally into double digit weeks.  So excited!  I’ve been doing great even though my nausea and indigestion came back ALL last week.  I don’t want to jinx myself again, so I won’t tell you how I’ve felt today (although if you see my facebook status, you will know). ;-) 

I don’t really have much more to say on the pregnancy right now, but there are other things going on.

We are officially 2 months from the end of medical residency!!!!  This is awesome as once it is over, my husband will have “normal person” work hours.  He will start his Pain Medicine fellowship in July and exactly one year after that we are DONE!!!!  9 years of hard work and finally finished!!  YAY!

I scheduled a pool party for Doc for his birthday.  A perk of working at our athletic club is I can rent the pool for the cost of lifeguards for the 4 hours.  It will be really inexpensive as parties go, and we can have lots of fun.  I cannot wait until July is here.  I’m so excited for it to finally present itself to us.

After almost a year of kindergarten, I have found out that I could have picked up Bert from my car on days when it was rainy or really dusty.  I feel kind of dumb now, but am so glad to know this for next fall when baby is here and I have both the baby and a 3 year old to take in the building.  That is so not happening!!!

I cannot believe that I am almost the mother of a 1st grader, a 3 year old and a newborn!!  That’s a crazy life right there.  Wouldn’t trade it for the world.

 

Countdown to Ultrasound/heartbeat day:  25 days

Week 9

I’ve been blog-lazy lately, and to be honest, it has felt good.  It has been a great week, and my husband has just left again for work.  Luckily, Grandma will be coming in about a week to stay for a little while and keep us company while helping me out.

I’ve made it to week 9, officially.  Apparently the baby is now considered a fetus, and has webby hands and feet (according to pregnancy.org).  I’m feeling great this past week.  I’ve had the nausea/indigestion thing in spurts, and my last bout was over a week ago, so that’s great. 

I had my first doctor’s appointment and got my blood tests back.  Everything is looking great so far.  We haven’t yet heard a heartbeat or had an ultrasound.  That will be at the end of May. 

I’ve started to eat red meat again (in moderation) and have kept it down.  I haven’t eaten a burger again, but all in due time, right?  I’ve had a cup of coffee or two this week, and 1 coke.  They have been WONDERFUL!!! 

Today I went shopping on Motherhood Maternity for a couple things, and they are sending me a $50 gift certificate to a restaurant too.  That shall be fun.  We are planning a trip to Dallas in June, so we can use it then.  I should be set on maternity clothes, if I can ever fit in them.  The tummy fits, but the butt does not.  I’m definitely not complaining, although I would be if it were not for my belly band. 

Doc and I are considering not finding out the sex of the baby.  I’m not sure if I can do it.  The more I think about it, the more I just want to know.  We do have two names picked out for the baby, whatever it may be.  I’m excited about both names, but am keeping them to myself for now. 

I told Bert the names and he did not approve.  He apparently prefers “Lightning” or “Curley Shirley.”  You’re right when you think, “WTF?”  Kids are funny that way.  Ernie has 3 babies in his belly that he helps grow by eating “candy” and “dessert.”  I think to myself, Man, if only I could grow my baby on a diet of candy and dessert!  Must be nice!

The doctor gave me the go ahead to exercise AS MUCH AS I WANT!  No heartrate monitoring or anything.  She said, “Listen to your body.”  I did, and it told me to play tennis on Tuesday, arc train and weights (very light) on Wednesday, and play tennis league game on Friday night.  I had SO MUCH FUN!  I just hope I can play pregnant tennis through the summer.  That would be cool.

As always, I’ll be very careful.  Baby is always first.  Did I mention that baby seems to like Mexican and Sushi right now?  Only cooked sushi for me (even when not pregnant), but last night was GOOD!

Well, not promising anything in the blog department  between this week and next.  I’m going on a partial blog strike for the moment.  I will share one little cute thing my 3 year old said the other day.

“Mommy, I loved going to the park lasterday.”  So cute!

Week 8

Today is the start of week 8 of my pregnancy.  Week 8 has made itself known already.  Yesterday right after lunch I started feeling nauseous again, and finally had a slight reprieve this morning at around 10am.  Shortly after (by lunch), my stomach was up to no good again. 

I love to eat.  It is a challenge to eat small meals many times a day.  I’m used to eating 3 meals and 1-3 snacks a day, but I cannot do an entire meal.  I’m eating sandwiches 1/4 at a time.  If I feel good, I eat some more.  The problem with this is that I feel constantly hungry, but when I think about eating or smell things, I feel nausea come on. 

Other than my newly acquired eating habits, I’m doing well.  Strong smells are not my friend right now.  I actually dread going into a restaurant to eat.  The drive thru is my friend.  I also found out that Pine Sol is not a good smell right now when I had to mop the bathroom floor at work.

I’m about the same size as last week.  The belly is still popped out.  I’ve gotten a “belly band” from Motherhood Maternity and that is an awesome invention.  It is allowing me to wear all my pre-pregnancy clothes without buttoning them. 

I’ve still been tired and taking a  nap every afternoon.  Thankfully working at the nursery is conducive to that nap schedule as I get home everyday by noon.  I’ve not been bothered by the smell of diapers so far, but then I haven’t changed a really bad one yet either.  We’ll see what happens there.

I’ve been using Palmers Cocoa/shea butter on my tummy and boobs.  I did it religiously the first pregnancy with almost 100% success in keeping away stretch marks.  I did not keep it up with the second pregnancy and I have marks on my tummy to show for it.  Now, either the cream works, or the fact that my second child was 1 1/2 lbs heavier than the first made the difference.  Either way, I’m applying this stuff religiously again, just in case.

My tummy has been itching a little from time to time, and I’ve felt some slight round ligament pain already.  It’s very quick to pass, and it’s very mild so far.  I’ve had some lower back pain as well, but again not too bad and quick to pass. 

My first doc appointment is on Monday morning.  I have off work until Tuesday (yay!) and am hoping to have a great appointment.  I will only see the nurse on Monday, so I doubt that they will do anything more than patient history and blood tests.  Shoot!  As I was typing this I realized that I never had my records transferred from my old doc to my new doc.  I guess I’ll do that on Monday after my appointment.  Crud!!  I guess it’s not a huge deal.  Better late than never, right?  (I had a professor in college who would exclaim “Better never than late!” when a student walked into his class late.  People hated it, but I always thought it was funny.  You can guess I was never late.  He was also my favorite math prof.  Had him for 3 or 4 classes).

Anyway, that’s how I’m doing and hopefully the nausea won’t get any worse.  I might talk with the nurse on Monday about it just in case I need to get a script later on.  Right now it’s doable.  Of course, my husband might not agree.  He doesn’t see any reason for me to suffer with nausea at all.  He says, get some zofran. 

Week 7!!

I’m so happy right now.  Today (Friday), is officially the first day of my 7th week.  Now while I realize this doesn’t completely get me out of the danger zone, I do feel a certain amount of relief that I have passed the 6 week mark where I lost the last pregnancy.  I’d like to say that I was carefree now, but unfortunately that is not the case completely.  I’m still a little nervous about this pregnancy.  My symptoms this week have been occasional cravings, constantly swollen belly (mostly from bloating, but even when I don’t seem very bloated I am noticing my belly is bigger.  3rd child effect, perhaps?), and slightly uncomfortable boobs.  Oh yeah, add the additional 4-5 lbs. I am seeing on the scale too.  I’ve been able to eat almost anything, although I am still avoiding hamburgers and corn.  I’ve gotten my sweet tooth back.  I’m working out 3-4 times a week still, but I maintain a heart rate under 140, and do stuff that is not too taxing on my body.  My tennis league starts next Friday, so that will get interesting in the next month or so as I grow out of my only tennis skirt and struggle to find something to wear on the court that does the job and yet doesn’t freak anyone out.  My pants are getting tight already.  If I had access to my maternity clothes, I’d be going through them already I think.  Unfortunately I have to wait until my husband comes and visits since all the clothes are in the attic.  While I would climb around up there, I cannot get the stairs down by myself without being creative if I’m not pregnant.  Not trying while pregnant.  Not worth it.  So, for the next week I will continue to “dunlap” over my pants that are getting too tight and try as much as possible to wear my workout clothes (which are also getting tight). 

The working out must be working though, because I gained 8-10 lbs by my first doc appointment with both of my other pregnancies.  What can I say? I gain a lot of weight while pregnant.  One would think that I am just eating and eating, but really I think I’ve not really eaten anymore than normal.  Not sure where this weight is coming from. 

Well, you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Haha! Buda Belly!

This is what a third pregnancy is like at 7 weeks.  You look further along than you really are.  My stomach popped this past week.  Crazy!! (and I am not arching my back—just standing straight.  I got a little booty on me too)

Henoch Schonlein Purpura (HSP) and My Crazy Day!

What a crazy past few days! 

This is potentially a wordy post, so I will try to limit myself as much as possible since I have to pack for our trip tomorrow.  Yesterday, after Doc left for his latest away rotation, we took the boys to Bert’s field trip at the local park.  An easter egg hunt and snacks ensued.  We had a great time!

Got home and pulled off Ernie’s socks and shoes to find little red bites on his ankles forming right along the line where his socks ended on his ankles.  I asked him if it hurt or itched, and he said no.  I figured chiggers and went along my way.

Fast forward bath time, I am cleaning Ernie off and his red “bites” are now the size of nickels and his ankles are swollen.  I panicked a little, but called my husband who finally picked up the phone.  Explained to him the new find on his ankles (I had mentioned to him earlier the “bites” I found) and he told me to take him to the walk in clinic. 

Got to the clinic, and their computers were down.  I forgot my insurance card at home and they turned me away until I could produce the card.  Called Doc back and he called his friend who graduated med school with him.  Doc H said to bring him up to the ER and call him before I got there.  He’d see us.  Doc H is a pediatrician who runs the pedi-ER.  He’s very reliable and great at what he does.  He cared for Ernie when we had to admit him to the hospital when he was only 2 weeks old. 

Doc H told us that he has HSP.  (you can read about it on the HSP link)  I won’t go into detail other than to say that his rash that he has will get worse before it gets better, it involves swelling and arthritic pain of the joints, and lasts about 6-12 weeks.  He has to have urinalysis tests for a while to have blood in his urine ruled out.  He can also get colicky stomach pain with it (thankfully he hasn’t gotten that).  The rash started on his ankles and is now starting to appear on his elbows as well.  It doesn’t itch, thank goodness.  Oh, and only 15 in 100,000 cases are found each year.  CRAZY!!

He appears to have a mild case, which 95% of them are.  This can recur but mainly occurs in childhood and to boys. 

He had no blood in his urine today (yay!) and his blood count was normal (yay!).  He did have protein in his urine that indicated HSP and his blood tests confirmed it.

The cause of all this???  It is a reaction to an infection.  Guess who has strep throat AGAIN?  I didn’t even know it!!!  Ernie tested positive today, and we now have him on meds.  If you remember correctly, I think I posted that he was sick just a month ago (then again, maybe I didn’t.  Don’t remember).  He had strep throat then too.  JEESH!

Now, another kicker? 

I’ve been drinking after him ALL WEEK.  Guess who’s going in for a strep swab tomorrow morning before we leave for our trip?  Also, our pedi was nice enough to also swab Bert too.

Whew!

These past two days have been crazy. 

Pregnancy update: Week 5

Well, I’m still pregnant!  Next week is the week it all ended last time.  I’m a little nervous.  In the last days I have been doing better, but lately I’ve had all kinds of crazy pregnancy symptoms.  The first thing was my nightmares.  Crazy, scary, worry-filled nightmares.  The only thing I can figure out about them is that in some way, they all related to loss.  I’m thinking my previous miscarriage worry is haunting me.  Doc was out of town in Hawaii on conference when it all started happening, but as soon as he got back, my nightmares went away.  I’ve now had 4 nights of wonderful sleep.  Unfortunately he leaves again next week.  Hopefully they won’t come back.

I’ve had crazy cravings and aversions this week.  For instance, one afternoon I craved raw spinach leaves.  I had two full bowls with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  It was WONDERFUL!  I ate them rather quickly as it was at about 4pm, and I was trying to tutor at the same time.  About an hour and a half later, Doc cooked hamburgers and the smell was bothering me a little.  I didn’t realize that it was the smell of the hamburgers until I took a bite.  Fortunately I did NOT get sick, but my stomach did turn a little and I had to leave the boys and Doc to eat their hamburgers by themselves while I stayed in the bedroom somewhat shielded from the odor.  Another day I had to eat fish sticks with Bert and Ernie (Bert’s choice for dinner on Sunday).  I decided to open up a can of sweet whole kernel corn to go with it, and gagged on my first spoonful.  Needless to say, Corn and hamburgers are not on my nice list.  They are rather naughty to me right now. 

In the past day or two I have not noticed any nausea.  I’ve gone back to eating whatever again.  I’m waiting for it to strike again.  I’ve added sweets back to my diet.  (the sight of them made me nauseous until the other day). 

Other things going on?  I’ve been TIRED!

My house is a wreck!  Flylady flew right out the window!!  I’m still doing my dishes daily, and then I take a nap.  After work, everyday.  That was usually my cleaning time each day.  Whoops!  I guess I’ll get it back in order later.  Right now, a girl’s got to have her sleep!

I’m still thirsty all the time, boobs still hurting, etc…

All good signs, right?  High hormones = good pregnancy.  So far, it’s been good.  Nightmares, Nausea and all.  Bring it on!  I’m ready for it. :)

Pregnancy Update: Week 4

These last 2 weeks have been nerve-wracking at best.  I’ve “known” I was pregnant since a couple days after I ovulated, but I found out for sure last week.  I’m 4 weeks now, so it is really early.  I’ve been praying for lots of morning sickness since I figure morning sickness = lot of hormones = healthy pregnancy.  I’m thrilled to be pregnant, but so nervous this one will turn out like the one in December.  I wanted to keep track of my pregnancy, and figured a blog post here and there when I feel things are different might not drive you all too crazy.

So, keep in mind this post is more for me than for you.  I’m being selfish here, but it’s my blog…so…. ;-)

I was so excited that I got nauseous today on canned corn!!  That’s big hormones, right?  Nausea in my 4th week?  That’s good!  You are all thinking I’m crazy at this point, but I am NOT going to complain one darn bit about morning sickness this pregnancy.  For that last statement, I’ll have the worst morning sickness known to man.  I’ll live through it. 

I’ve never had morning sickness really (a little nausea here and there..usually followed with food and it goes away).  So really, I’m due.  If you had morning sickness at all, I’m sure you’re wishing it on me right now for being one of those girls who can have two healthy kids with no throwing up.  It’s not fair, I know. 

Other symptoms I’ve had so far have been dizziness, weepiness, lots of peeing, sore boobies, afternoon nausea and being TIRED!  The dizziness thing is something I know how to work with since I also tend to get really dizzy (almost to the point of passing out) when I don’t weigh enough.  I remember having this problem with all my pregnancies.  It does hit me much faster and more often, but I know that wherever I am I must sit on the floor if I get this way.  Otherwise I get the shakes and black out.  I’ve always been this way, but not much anymore.  Just now, since the pregnancy began.  I’ve taken to a daily nap lately.  I’m so lucky that I have a wonderful kid who will let me nap when his brother is napping.  Thank you so much, Bert.  You are such a great 5 year old.  The only problem with the nap, is that I then stay up too late.  I am hoping it will correct itself since I will be back to waking up at 6am tomorrow morning.  Goodbye spring break.

These next few weeks (until I get passed that 6th week mark that I miscarried on last time) will probably be a little freaky for me.  I’m super nervous, but like everything else, I’m facing it head on. 

Thanks for your support, bloggy friends! :)

An Update of Us (Long time coming)

I hope this finds you all well and happy!  It’s been a while since I have posted on this blog.  An update for us:

Nicholas: He has been playing basketball every Saturday morning for a little over a month.  They played yesterday and had their first win!  The kids were all very excited and happy to finally beat another team.  Nicholas attempted 3 shots, but didn’t quite make them.  The fact that he attempted 3 shots is BIG!  He also assisted in another goal by passing to the scorer.  He was very proud of his performance and even Daddy got to be there to see it!  Nicholas is also trying out tennis.  We are getting free tennis lessons for him courtesy of my job.  There are some wonderful perks even if I get paid minimum wage.   He’s been a little shy at the two lessons he has had.  He’s agreed to try it 3 more times before deciding whether or not to keep taking lessons.  He is doing great when he’s there and he’s excited and has a lot of fun, but he has a kneejerk reaction everytime I say it’s time to go play.  I’m not gonna force him, but I figured that he might just need some extra time like he seems to for other things (including basketball).  I hope that he will stick with it.  He has great hand-eye coordination and it would be a more “individual” sport for him.  We’ll see what happens.  In other news, Nicholas learned to tie his shoes this past week!!!  We slowly worked on the process for about a week and a half until he had it down.  He learned it in steps and is SOOOOO proud of himself!!  Nicholas continues to do Awesome in school and he’s making major breakthroughs on his temper tantrums.  I’m really proud and I’m seeing a lot of progress lately.  He’s growing up into such a nice young boy. 

Christian:  Christian has been coming to the Falls with me every morning while I work in the nursery.  He’s made many friends and loves to play with them everyday.  He’s getting so big and still giving me lots of trouble with eating.  It is not unusual for him to skip dinner altogether 4-5 times a week.  He’s not losing weight and the Pediatrician says this is normal.  I’m sneaking veggies into his applesauce and he drinks juices that have veggies in them.  I figure he’ll come around sometime.  He has also been potty training.  He’s able to do everything but poo on the potty.  He stays dry most days.  He wears big boy underwear and has just learned to pee standing up.  He’s very proud of himself!  He turns 3 next month!!  WOW!!  We are having a birthday party for him this month since Ed will be out of town in April and May.

Ed:  He’s been busy as usual.  He’s got only 3 1/2 more months of residency.  He went to Houston for the month of February.  He’s going to Hawaii next weekend for a conference to present a poster.  He’ll come back for a week and C’s party, and then he’ll be going to Dallas for two months.  The first month (April) he has two room hotel accommodations.  He also has the weekends off, so we will be visiting and he will be coming home on the weekends.  In May he has to come up with other accommodations.  We are excited that he will be home and done soon.  Starting in July his hours will be more along the lines of 40-50 hours a week with weekends off for the most part.  We are siked about that!  We’ve started to attend church every weekend at either my new church, Victory Life Baptist, or at the Catholic church.  We will hopefully be able to split weeks once he’s more available on the weekends.  He’s also going to take tennis lessons this summer so he and I can play together.  We want to have a couple of things that we can do together, and thought this was a good one.  Eventually we will take up golf too.

Me:  I’ve stayed busy these past months working at the nursery at our Gym.  I enjoy it quite a bit.  We have babies through 4 year olds this time of year since the bigger kids are in school.  There is one little girl who keeps me on my toes because we have to watch to make sure she’s not climbing things and falling down.  She’s just added biting and slapping to the list this past week, but we’re working with her on it.  Luckily she bit me (not too hard) and not another child.  She’s kind of stuck on me like a magnet, so when I was holding another baby she got a little jealous.  She’s only 13 months old, so she’s still learning that it hurts and it’s not acceptable.  I’m the only worker that is there every morning M-F, so having the other workers throughout the week be different people kind of mixes the week up for me.  I started tennis lessons (for free!! WAHOO!!!) with our tennis pro about 3 weeks ago.  We do an hour lesson once a week and I do it with 3 of my coworkers.  I’ve been signing up for Saturday Mixed Doubles, but I cannot do it for a couple more weeks until N’s basketball is over  because of the time conflict.  Once basketball is over, I’ll be found playing tennis every Saturday morning.  I discovered that I love playing the net.  I’m sure that once I start playing back I’ll discover that I like it too, but for now that is what I have been doing.  I also take a Cardio Tennis class every week on Wednesday.  This is a great class because it is cardio intensive tennis drills.  I had to leave the last class early last Wednesday because I pulled my Quad.  It is healing and we are taking a break spring break anyway since the tennis pros will be out of town.  I figure I’ll be ready to start back in another week.  I’ve also been working through a bible study with the Lifegroup that I’ve been attending on Sunday.  We are starting a section in fellowship and when I started going I caught the tail end of the section on prayer.  I’m starting from the beginning on my own, but also doing the sections done in my group as well.  In addition to all this, I’ve picked up scrapping the boys again on the computer.  I put up a new page under Christian’s Album on my facebook page in case you didn’t see it.  I’ll keep posting my work there.  My goal is to one day be able to take all those files and compile a scrapbook for both of them.  There are many services where you can send them the files and they will print them and bind them in a book.  I’ll be excited once I can get enough pages to do that for them.  I figured it would be an exciting present for both of them.  My other blog, Life’s Ups and Downs…and My Place in it All has taken off a little more.  I’ve recently begun participating in a writer’s workshop that is weekly.  Each week I post on the given topic and we (the other bloggers participating) can all read/comment on each other’s posts.  It has been fun so far and I’m getting some new readers and commenters.  My other blog continues to be a source for me to be myself.  Sometimes I vent and other times I celebrate things in my life.  Sometimes I just comment on things I see being done and other times I cry there.  It’s been a great way for me to get things off my chest and be honest.  I don’t really have anything to hide, so I invite everyone there. 

Well, this has been our life lately!  how are you?  comment and let me know, or just email me and tell me how you are doing.  jennozuna@nts-online.net

Nicholas's first basketball game. :)

Our first basketball game. Nicholas is playing Lubbock Christian Athletic Association basketball for 4, 5 and 6 year olds. This is his first time to play, and I am his asst. coach. Our first game was this Saturday. They did pretty well. The video here is of clips from the game. We hope to get better video at our next game next Saturday.

I wrote another post over the basketball game here. Check it out. :)

Enlightened…and Proud

I’ve been in this game of medical wife for 8 long years now.  In all this time, I would sometimes stumble upon a great story that another wife had heard about or from her husband and how it all hit home and made the long hours (both at work and away from family) worth it.  Yesterday, that moment finally happened to me.

Last week, Doc came home and mentioned this rough case about a little girl who had gotten a peanut in her lung.  She was a little over a year old.  He didn’t mention anything else, other than they were able to take care of her and that she would recover.

Last night, a friend emailed me asking if Doc was available to do her anesthesia during her due date.  She was telling me how her husband, a third year med student, was raving about Doc.  I emailed her back to answer her question, and curiosity got to me.  I asked her if her husband had recently worked with Doc, or if he had just heard that he was doing a great job? 

Today, she emailed me back to tell me that her husband is in surgery right now and that last week he was in a case when Doc was taking care of this little girl who had a peanut in her lungs.  She then said that her husband told her, “[Doc] did awesome.. like he was the one who kept her alive" during the procedure.  My modest husband left out a crucial part of this picture for me.  I’m just glad I got the info from someone else.

Hearing this makes me happy.  First, I want to say that I am love to be at home with my kids and only work part time.  I cherish all the moments I get with them, including the ability to be involved in all the important things in their lives.  Some people react when they hear that I have a husband that is a doctor and that I stay at home like I live some entitled life.  They don’t realize that we barely make more than the average teacher.  Yes, someday we will make more, but that’s not been our life in the past 8 years.  Instead it has been the accumulation of huge debt, and the absence, many times, of our husband/father.  We love our lives and would never change a single thing if we could. 

Second, it makes me realize how important my staying home is to our family.  Guys, I get to work at home to make our home life as quiet and organized as possible so that my husband can go out and save lives!!  How exciting is that?  I’m so proud to know that in supporting my husband and his dreams of a medical career, that I am also enabled to indirectly help him save lives!!  Children’s lives!!

I celebrate that and hope that all of you out there who do for your family feel that exhilaration in doing so.

Next on my list? Pick up the kid from school! ;-)

It’s Many New Things For Us This New Year!

Wow! A lot of things have been happening lately!  We spent Christmas with our families.  The boys had a blast playing with cousins and spending time with their grandparents.

Ed is back at work.  Nicholas started school today.  Christian started staying home with me everyday.  I started a new job on Monday.

See, I told you…crazy times!!

Work is work for Ed.  The one bad thing is that his January schedule is, for lack of better words, SUCKING.  He is going to be gone for 3 months this spring, plus this month has him working nights for almost a week and a half (spread out over the entire month).  He’s got 3 days off this month.  YUCK.

Nicholas was excited to get back to school today.  I think he missed his friends.  He was all smiles going back today, and all smiles when Daddy picked him up. (Ed worked a night last night, so he was home this afternoon).

Christian is super excited because he is no longer going to parent’s day out.  He liked it, but he and I liked having him home more.  Since I will be working in the mornings at the nursery, he will come there with me instead.  He gets to play with the other kids while I work, and then he gets to be home with me the rest of the day. 

Speaking of my job, I started working at the nursery at our gym.  I am loving it.  It’s quite therapeutic to rock sweet babies to sleep and play with all the kids all morning.  Right now I am there MWF from 8 or 9am to noon.  Soon I will probably be there M-F 8-12.  This is exciting to me because I will be able to lessen my tutoring in the evening to just a couple hours a week.  That means ALL my work will be done before noon, and what could be better than getting paid to play with my own kid and a couple others?  I’m siked about it.

As I am writing this, the boys are playing their new “Carnival Games” Wii game.  I love it because both boys can play together and they enjoy it.  Soon I will be putting them into bed so I can go tutor for 2 hours.  Ed is out with friends watching the Longhorns play Alabama for the title.  Go Horns! 

Tomorrow is another school day (and work day for me).  I am looking forward to it!