Silly things to remember about Bruce

He only likes to pee in the backyard...yeah...weird. He asked to do it one day and now thinks he has to.  We have at least established that other "eliminations" have to take place in the potty, no matter what Kaya (the dog) does.  Little boys still do that in the potty...Boys are weird.

He says "don't a-get" all the time.  He's really saying "don't FORget", but it is usually interpreted as "don't get" which makes him very confused...and us.

He LOVES his baby sister.  He's very sweet to her...almost all the time.  Except this morning, when she was crying and he was tired of it and I overheard him say "be quiet or put your head down, if you don't do it I'll do it for you."  Um, what?

He has a very strong love for instruments and a very good memory for names.  I bought him a shirt with a drumset on the front.  He loved it and remarked, "this is my 'Ray' shirt".  We had no idea what he was referring to and upon questioning more he told us, "um, you know, like the drummer at my wedding."  He was referring to my sister's wedding, also known as his wedding, in which she had the very awesome Walt Wilkins and his band.  None of us could remember the drummer's name, but I looked it up and sure enough it's Ray!

He can remember "movie" quotes as well as his dad.  Every day he speaks in multiple movie quotes (or TV) and we have to figure out where on earth it's from.  Its humorous and strange all at once....again I say, boys are weird.

And as I'm typing this he's eating a frozen waffle...no really, frozen as in straight from the freezer.  I have no idea why, he told me he likes it that way.  And he sure did eat the whole thing.

Today, one year ago...

I finally got a very very faint second line on the pregnancy test!  So faint, I wasn't completely sure I wasn't just making it up!  We were at Greg's sister's house in Arkansas so they got to know first and then we drove back through east Texas and shared the news with our friends the Bowers.  What a great memory, can't believe it was only a year ago and now we have our little cutie!  Four months old, rolling over, and keeping life interesting!

Bruce's funnies...

Here are a couple of Bruce-isms from the last few days.  Today at lunch he was talking about thunder and Bruce told my mom he was "scared a little."  He then asked her if she was "scared a big."  I love the way their brains work...makes sense that you can be scared a big if you can be scared a little!

In the car I was asking about church and what he learned.  He was talking about Jesus and we started talking about how it was because of Jesus that we'll get to go to heaven someday.  He was very curious about how Jesus was going to get him there.  I was trying my best to explain in 3 year old friendly language and he was getting frustrated.  He finally just said, "I think Jesus will just get me there in my carseat, it's okay Mom."

My favorite thing he does is start every sentence with "Iiii hink..." translated to mean: "I think"...and then he spills out his theory on what's going on.

Of course there are more that I can't think of, but I'm going to try and do better about updating these things!

Mr. Bruce

Yesterday was the memorial service for my very special friend's father.  I have been so emotional about the whole thing ever since I found out.  I keep putting myself in her position and her mom's position and my heart just hurts.  When she told me that he'd passed away, the only things I could think of to say were that I was praying for her, and that my heart hurts for her.

The memorial yesterday was beautiful.  I cried a lot.  Thankfully Bethany did not.  She was all wrapped up in the Moby wrap and slept the whole time.  Greg and I spent the three hour car ride home talking about it.  How beautiful the service was and how inspiring it had been.  We talked about how being there motivated us to be stronger in our faith and stronger in our marriage.  Seeing how many people were truly impacted by this man's life was incredible.  Hearing how humble and loving he was, was inspiring.  I would venture to say, that in my coming years, yesterday will be a day I look back on as something that reshaped me as a person.

I'm so thankful for my friend and for the life that her dad gave her.  I'm so thankful that he played a large part in shaping her into the special person that she is.  I am also thankful I had the opportunity to know him only briefly and that his life will continue to bless many more generations.

Swallow Study

Whelp, looks like Bethany gets to go for a swallow study on Thursday.  She started showing some signs of the same things Bruce had/did.  Bruce used to aspirate fluid, hold his breath, and then have to be stimulated to start breathing again.  Well since Bethany's been home we've already had to stimulate her to start breathing multiple times.  She'll either be eating, choke, and then hold her breath and start going blue...or post feeding, she'll cough a bit, choke, and hold her breath.

She's been by Greg or my side pretty much every second, so it hasn't been a huge deal.  That and we were already kind of fine with all of the "blue baby" stuff...but I did bring it up with the pedi when we went for her first visit.  He was concerned enough that he felt we should go through with the swallow study.  We'll see what that shows and go from there.  Bruce had the swallow study done when he was in NICU, it showed he had silent reflux, so that's what I'm guessing is going on here too.  Hopefully we just get prevacid or something and NO monitor.

Other than that, life is going pretty well around here.  I'm mostly recovered from the csection and Bethany is doing great feeding and sleeping and all that.  She's actually sleeping between 5-8 hours at night, but of course I'm not because I keep checking on her!  She's in a co-sleeper right next to the bed so at least it's easy to check on her.  Bruce is still adjusting, we're still dealing with LOTS of whining, but he is getting better.  He definitely loves Bethany and wants to hold her all the time...we also just bought his "big boy panties" (his words)...we'll start the potty training process soon.  Yay.

Bruce-ism's

I need to document some of the cute things Bruce has been doing...since I currently kind of want to stick him outside and shut the door.  Oh man, the whiny-ness might kill me.  Seriously.

This morning Bruce walked in the bathroom and told me he needed a quarter for the toilet.  When further questioned he told me he needed to make a wish.  Apparently toilets are very similar to fountains or wishing wells.

When Bethany cries, he comes running and asks "what's up baby?  Why is my baby crying?"

He keeps wanting to "carry you me" AKA carry Bethany...it's hard explaining he's a big boy in one breath and too little to hold her in the other.

His two new words of the week: "adiculous" and "atusting" AKA ridiculous and disgusting.  Both words have been used multiple times...in the correct context.  No idea where they came from!

While on bedrest there were multiple episodes of Toy Story watched.  Bruce now likes to pick up his foot and tell me it says Andy on there.  He has also picked up a few quotes such as "I have good news and I have bad news." "I'm calling you a 'wire'" (liar) "If the boot fits" and one that we're not sure where it came from: "Um, Mom, I'm double booked tomorrow."

Beth's Birth

I actually get to write an UN-eventful birth story!  Bethany arrived March 23, 2011 at 14:14 weighing in at 9 lbs 6 oz and measuring 21 inches at 38 weeks.  I got to the hospital Wednesday at 11:00 having not eaten anything since midnight and waited and waited...they were behind.  I finally got prepped for surgery and headed in.  Right before they were getting me ready, I totally freaked out.  I was getting super scared for the spinal and having a mini panic attack.  I told Greg we were done having kids...and then I actually had the surgery...

Yeah, it's not that bad.  The spinal is seriously not that bad...the actual pain is about 5 seconds.  And they give you all these warnings about pressure and such, but again, not that bad.  Recovery, not so great, but manageable.  For any future c-sectioners, here are my tips:

1) Seriously, it's not that bad.
2) Make sure they do the catheter after the spinal.
3) Ask for a binder (or bring your own) and wear it as soon as you can.  Seriously, makes a WORLD of difference.
4) Ask your nurses to write on your board the next time you can take your pain meds.  They won't come and tell you it's time, it's up to you to ask and stay on top of it.
5) Take all pain meds offered and take them at the right times, don't wait until you're in pain....that's with one caveat, I will NEVER take morphine again.  I itched and itched for 2 days after that stuff, NOT fun.
6) Seriously, it's not that bad.

Having Bethany in my room was incredible.  I had no idea it was supposed to be that way.  It was so fun having her there!  Getting to feed her soon after birth, getting to hold her all day, letting guests get to see her, all the stuff I didn't get to do with Bruce.  By the time Saturday came around, I was ready to get home and see my family.

Bruce is adjusting well.  He LOVES Bethany, but is definitely acting out.  He's not really had specific jealousy issues, but he has started referring to me as "my mommy" and he is having way more fits then he used to.  He's getting better though...

And as for me, I'm recovering.  Still in some pain, but getting markedly better every day.  I've completely weaned off all narcotic medication and now just take mega Ibuprofen.  Also, I am officially below my pre-pregnancy weight.  Yay!  Nursing is going well, Bethany sleeps a lot so she has to be woken up to eat, but otherwise, life at home is going well.  I will enjoy my 10 weeks off from work!

Here are a few pictures:
Before:

 First picture:

 Bruce is a big brother!

 Arriving home to our sweet sign!

 Bruce getting to hold her:

It has been an eventful week!

I went Wednesday for my 37 week appointment.  I was scheduled for a sonogram and an appointment.  I was already prepared for the "holy cow, your baby is huge!" talk that I would get from the sonographer (she was measuring over 10 lbs and the sonographer said she thinks that was even on the low side because she couldn't get all the measurements as big as Bethany was).  I got that all the time last time with Bruce.  I was not prepared to hear her say, "whoa, her heartrate is really high, I think the dr might make you deliver today!"  Of course Greg was not with me because he had stayed home to watch Bruce...I told him not to worry about coming because it should be a pretty routine appointment...should have known better!

Next comes waiting FOREVER in the waiting room with "chatty cathy" telling me all about the wedding of a mutual friend.  I really didn't care about the wedding, and it was just an annoying conversation...especially since I was typing out emails to my parents on my iPad, texting my sisters on my phone, and emailing work on my blackberry all while trying to act somewhat interested (AKA be polite) to this lady sitting next to me.  They finally get me back in a room and take my blood pressure and it is super high.  I did tell the nurse that it likely had something to do with the fact that the sonographer had just told me I would probably be having a baby that day...she agreed to let me lay down and come back and take it a bit later.  When she came back it had gone down a lot, but was still really high.

Then comes in Dr. Askew.  She's concerned about the blood pressure and more concerned with Bethany's heartrate.  She then tells them to get me all hooked up to the non-stress test machine.  I get all hooked up and Bethany's heartrate continues to hover in the 190's...but she is moving like crazy.  Eventually she settles down some and her heartrate goes back down to the 160's/170's.  And then...I get forgotten about.  I'm sitting in a little closet (AKA NST room), in what basically looks like an dentist's chair with stirrups just waiting and waiting.  Luckily Bethany saved the day by getting hiccups which were so loud on the machine they remembered me!  Askew made it back in, agreed to let me go home as long as I promised to be on STRICT bedrest.  Yay.  Oh well, at least I got to go home!  I also had to do the 24 hour urine collection again.  Yay.  Again, just glad I got to go home. She also said we'd move the csection date up to 38 weeks instead of 39.

Then yesterday (Friday), I called the office because I realized they never actually scheduled my csection...they just scheduled my followup appointment on the day I was supposed to have a csection. The nurse was pretty rude and just brushed me off saying they'd call me back, I pushed her and made her guarantee someone would call me back that day.  Well then I started realizing I wasn't feeling great and took my temperature.  I had a low grade fever, and I took my BP again and it had gotten pretty high (167/90), and I had the dull headache and squiggly eye things.  So I called the office again and they told me to head over to labor and delivery.  I first took a shower (in case Bethany was making her grand entrance), we got Bruce all dropped off at Mom's (she came back early) and got all checked in at the hospital.  They got me all hooked up to the machines.  Bethany's heartrate looked good, my BP was high but not outrageous, and I still just had a low grade fever.  I was having contractions, but not steadily.  Askew came by and we chatted, she said she was happy to deliver her today if I wanted.  I did not.  I do not want to do the NICU thing again if we can avoid it.  Ultimately we spent about 3 hours at the hospital, but the good news is they sent me back home.  I also felt better because we got my csection all scheduled at the hospital and I'm all ready to go!

So, very long story to say: Bethany will be making her grand entrance on February 23rd at approximately 1:00 pm!  (all assuming I don't go into labor...)

Still here, still pregnant...

I'm almost to the 37 week mark, just a few days away! Can't believe it's getting so close! The plan for now is still to go to 39 weeks (March 2nd). I go Wednesday for an ultrasound to look at her weight again and we'll go from there. I'm definitely feeling d-u-n...ready to have her and be done with work and all that. I guess that's the only silver lining in the mandatory bed rest from last time around! At the same time I guess it might be better to wait a little longer since my parents decided to take a trip to Germany and don't get home until right at the 38 week mark! Yes, interesting timing! Oh well, will post more after Wednesday!

Thanks to those of you who came to my shower. It was a lot of fun, and I was very touched by your thoughtfulness!

33 weeks and friend's new blog

Whelp, I had my 33 week appt today.  Things went SUPER well! Blood pressure was completely normal!  Who'd have thought? I was super happy and so was Dr. Askew.  I also had an ultrasound before my appointment to see how big "baby Beff" is (how Bruce refers to her).  She's apparently not wanting to be shown up by her big brother.  She weighed in at 6.5 lbs...and she's breech and I still have technically 7 weeks to go.  The breech part is no big deal since I'm having a csection anyway...it just explains A LOT in terms of what I'm feeling.  It also explains the enormous amount of pressure I'm feeling and why its so dang hard to bend over.  The 6.5 lb part is pretty par for the course for my babies, but still...yeah.

Dr. Askew said as of now she wants to let me go to 39 weeks.  I did then remind her that Bruce was almost 11 lbs at 37 weeks and told her I did not want to be setting any new San Antonio records for huge babies.  She laughed and agreed that we could consider going earlier if we needed to.  That being said, I am officially on the calendar for a c-section March 2nd.  I like March 2nd, the birth date being: 3-2-11.  Kind of fun.  I think I might not be so fond of it in a few weeks...may be thinking a date starting with a "2" sounds a lot better!  Oh well, we'll just see how it goes.  I also showed her the picture of my "hotdog feet" from my blog back in the day.  That was only a few days away from where I am now...and I am no where near that this time!  Yay!  Overall, a great day and great appt.

In other news, my friend from high school started this fun blog: http://dinnerparties101.com/.  She has lots of cute ideas for dinner parties, decorations, food and such.  I'm excited to see where it goes.  She also has a fun giveaway for you wine drinkers out there.  Feel free to go look around!

Update

Life is going well, we've all calmed down a lot since the holiday's.  The pregnancy is still moving along fine.  I'm 32 weeks tomorrow so only 7 weeks until c-section date!  I had a slight scare the other day when I hadn't felt the baby move all day.  I drank a Dr. Pepper, waited a while longer and called the dr.  They told me to head to labor and delivery...it is kind of annoying that that's their default response for everything.  My former dr would at least just have you come on in and not do the emergency room route.  Oh well, we got Bruce dropped off at my mom's and headed towards the hospital only to have her start putting on a big show...belly moving all around and all that...so all the panic for nothing.

My blood pressure was actually only in the high "normal-ish" range the other day at the dr...so the pre-eclampsia is still holding off.  I also haven't had nearly the swelling of hands and feet like I did with Bruce, but I guess there's still time for all that!  I'm still measuring 3-4 weeks ahead so I have an ultrasound next Thursday to get a size estimate.  I do have to laugh a little at those...they never seem to be that accurate.  I mean I know they tell you there's a variance of up to a pound, but they notoriously seem to be really wrong.  I mean they were really wrong with Bruce...had him a whole pound and a half less than he was the day before he was born!  Oh well, still happy to get to have another U/S...it seemed like I had tons with Bruce, but not nearly as many this time.  That's okay though, I'm kind of enjoying the lower level of panic this time around.

Things around the house are good, Bruce is so funny.  The things he comes up with crack us up all the time.  He got a new Little Tikes truck (like the Cozy Coupe, but a truck) from my brother in law for Christmas and it is definitely a hit in the house.  The other day he told us he was going to "pick up chicks" in his truck.  We know where he learned that, but still funny that he associated his truck with his "Uncle" Tom's truck... Poor kid is being hit hard by this crazy cedar we're having, we went to see Dr. Gulde yesterday and he was cracking me up.  First, he's been asking to go see him for a few months now...I told him we had to at least wait until he was sick!  Then he was so excited when he came in the room, you'd have thought it was his long lost best friend.  Ran right up and climbed in his lap, I joked with Dr. Gulde that we were working on his shyness... Well turns out he has an ear infection, but after our long string of ear infections this is the first one in a long time, so that's good!

Other funny things he's told us recently: "Mommy, I spilled my boogers"  referring to his dripping nose.  "I just don't wike (like) it..." referring to whatever it is he doesn't like (socks, carseat, food, the couch, and other random things). Putting on his "wobble goggles" to "take a closer look" like Scott in Imagination Movers. Greg telling him they should call Auntie "L" and Bruce yelling out "Ohhhh Toooodles" to bring a tool.  And there are more, but I wanted to get down a few so we don't forget them someday!