Week 23

Well. I got the stomach bug. 

It was awful.

That was last week.

This week has been such a struggle to get back on the "wagon" of life. My husband has been working super long hours, we had my birthday and Becky's 5th birthday... By the end of this week I desperately needed a break. I went out with some friends to celebrate and it was much needed. I can't keep forgoing being in communion with others because life is hard. It is cathartic to gather together and spending those two hours over dinner chatting with other moms heaped healing waters on my thirsty soul! It is worth making time for even if I feel like a potato. 

Today is Becky's celebration day. We got her a fresh market cake (mom, please don't try to make a healthy cake the kids ask now HAH) and invited some of her little friends over to sculpt with clay and enjoy some playtime. 

We put the crib together. I added more things to my registry as a mental to-do list. We brainstormed some names.

I like Primrose. My husband hates it, so it is basically off the table. He likes Esther, which I think is pretty. Possible contender. I like Rose or Aleta or Alette for a middle name but we haven't talked much about middle names. I would love to call her Lettie for short (I love that name from Howls Moving Castle). He likes Gwendolyn, but I do not. It reminds me of the wicked witch? I have no idea why. But it is not on my list. So. I don't know what her name will be yet but as she is hardly ready to make a debut...we still have plenty of time to argue about it. We never agree on names. It always works itself out by birth time...somehow.

I need to figure out, somehow, a new normal for this pregnancy. And remember to have some discipline in my life.

Last week was hard. I wonder what next week will bring?

Week 22 (too much vomit)

Last week was a blur. After a wonderful vacation, we had normal life resume and it was hard! I am still having trouble waking up early and then on Friday both kids were vomiting. They started after we drove back from an event! I hope we didn't get people sick, but literally there were no signs until, 10 seconds from home, both kids threw up. 

Vomit is my least favorite part of motherhood. I threw both kids in separate showers, threw everything I could find that had vomit on it in the wash and spent the next 30 minutes cleaning the car. I also called my husband because I needed help. As I was stripping the carseats, he pulled up and then he proceeded to spend 2 hours scrubbing, mopping, bleaching and vacuuming the car. That is how bad it was. It was AWFUL. 

Today our car still smells like vomit. It is disgusting and I have to drive an hour to Charlottesville for a dentist appointment tomorrow. I plan to cover my car in baking soda overnight and then apply EO to it before we leave bright and early in the morning. 

Becky seemed fine after her one throw up. Reuben however woke up at 11am and vomited all over his room. I put him to sleep on the floor on a camping mattress and we spent the next hour detail cleaning his room. Piles of laundry were surmounting at this point.

I think it was food poisoning? We recovered all day Saturday where there was blessedly NO MORE THROWING UP but Brian had a horrible stomach ache and low energy. I guess the three of them ate something that was bad? I can't think of what it was! I eat most things they do but have been perfectly fine, thank God! 

We skipped church on Sunday. I feel bad about it but one, I don't want to give germs (if we have any) and two we are exhausted and I'm still doing laundry. 

Anyway, on Saturday I found out I was having a girl! The kids made me a wonderful card. I thought it was a joke. I have felt so strongly that it was a boy. I even thought I saw a penis on the ultrasound at 14 weeks or whenever we had the first one. It took me all day to come to terms with it. Another girl?! We are having a girl!! I thought it was a boy. I knew it was a boy! I have never been so wrong LOL. I am still adjusting.

It's a girl! Four more months to go. 

Also this week: I completely smashed my phone. Need to figure something out because my phone is how I take pictures for my blog. Guess I'll pull out the DSLR?

Updated "Need" List

• Baby clothes at least to 6m size in the home and swaddles
• Baby Wrap for mom and carrier for dad
• Aquire crib from friend (picked up but not assembled) [thanks Hilary] 
• Sids alarm (I plan to not sleep with this baby you can laugh with me later)
• Baby play mat
• Loads of non-cloth diapers and wipes
• Dock-A-Tot (Facebook marketplace?)
• Breast Pump
• High Chair
• Baby Swing [thanks Heather]
• Postpartum/Birth Kit

And I made a baby registry. So many cute things! 

Week 20

Our week of Christmas Vacation was wonderful. No one had covid, no one was sick (well, Becky had the 12 hour stomach bug one night but that was so short and Brian dealt with it...I was lucky he was still up and let this pregnant lady keep sleeping) so I guess that one person was sick...but what a restful amazing vacation!!! The best one we have had in a while. 

Christmas was wonderful, we attended church, visited my parents, saw my mother in law, exchanged gifts and rested. I feel like we had a good balance of rest and family time. All through the week we read books, played video games and board games, cleaned rooms, played with presents and even took turns napping. My husband got me some great gifts (gifts is my love language). I received yarn for sock knitting, a purse, chocolate, and we got a joint gift of FF12 for the switch, which has been really fun to replay. I also got new bed sheets which I told him was not very romantic but I suppose 10 years of marriage makes it acceptable. 

We had the oddest weather (as did most of us in the United States...) The first three days of Christmas vacation it was freezing. Overnight when I woke up to pee (pregnancy...) I saw it was 4f at 2:30am. I put more wood on the fire. Frost grew on the insides of our windows! Then we ended the week with 60f days and summer clothes. And next week looks like wonder weather with each day estimated at 50-60f! When it was freezing cold one door on our car wouldn't work. Seriously. We had to wait until it was above 20f to be able to close it. Crazy! It never gets that cold here...very rare. Was interesting. Maybe it will happen again next year?

When I was reading comments on a YouTube video I saw someone in California was complaining it was in the 30s there. I had to laugh. This is probably what people from Canada and Alaska think of me marveling at the teen temperatures we had!

Pregnancy wise things are going okay. I have started testing my blood sugar to bring in a week of numbers on the 5th. My fasting is "high" (they want it below 95) and it's around 96-98 when I check in the morning. Hopefully this is not a problem. Baby is doing great, I feel lots of movement this week, squirmy squiggles and I am still on the keto diet. And soon we find out what we are having and I will have more ultrasound pictures to share! I think my fasting is "high" for one, I don't sleep through the night, and two, feet-on-the-floor phenomenon is a real thing. It happened last time. 

How was everyones week? I am grateful we didn't lose electricity with the crazy weather. I am grateful for good health, a warm fire, and a husband who pitched in! Here is to the next term of school...our next vacation will include me birthing this baby and all the wonderfulness that is postpartum...