The swelling is oh so pretty

So, yesterday I posted that my hands and fingers were very swollen. Well, i am glad that I took my rings off.

My finger are so swollen that they are actually tingling. And, you can still see the indent where my rings were.

I am drinking so much water, thinking that that might help the issue. I guess it will be the #1 thing I bring up to the OB on Thursday.

I really hope my feet are not next :(

And....the rings are off

The past few days (Ok, maybe a week or two) my rings have been getting tight. My fingers have been getting swollen, and by the end of the day, they look like little sausages.

I kept my rings on my entire pregnancy with Cora. And, I am kinda annoyed that I can't with this one.

But, it got to the point where I thought it was possible that I would soon have a problem getting them off. I figured - take them off now, to avoid getting them cut off.

I am wearing them around my neck, on a chain that I wear all the time.

I wear my rings 24/7 - so it makes me sad not to have them on :(

On other notes: I have totally popped. I went from not showing really, wearing regular clothes to pop pop pop, I totally look pregnant. Of course I am wearing maternity clothes now, so that might be why it is a little more obvious - but I think it is beyond that.

This will be about a month before I popped with Cora. Which I guess should be expected since I just was pregnant with Cora.

Maybe I will even take a picture lol

I go to the doc on Thursday, just a routine visit, no scan or anything. Couple more weeks and I will be in the 3rd trimester - wow.

A post of Pics

I just took these pics a few minutes ago - was trying to catch her crawling, which she is quickly mastering.

My goodness, she looks SOOO much like my husband - like I did not have any DNA contribution at all. Makes me wonder what the new baby will look like.

Oh - and do you see it????? Yup - she is sprouting some hair :)

Finallly in Maternit.y Clothes

I am 23 weeks today :) and I finally whipped out my maternity clothes from last year. I can still wear my regular clothes, including my jeans. But, I do have a tiny baby bump. Most would never even know that I am pregnant unless I tell them - that is how much I am not really showing. Like I said, I do have a bump - but to most it probably just looks like a fat roll lol.

I pulled out the maternity since 1) my jeans started to get slightly tight and 2) all of my summer clothes from last year are maternity clothes.

So, not only have I been wearing my regular clothes, but I have been sweating in long pants lol.

I don't know if it is the cut of the pants and shirts, or what - but I feel like I look a lot more pregnant in the maternity clothes. i could be just that I feel like I can embrace the belly, even though most of it is NOT baby LOL

Maybe I will even treat myself and get a few new pieces (shhh don't tell the hubby)

22 weeks and 9 Months update

I could have made two separate posts, but not really enough for each one, so I thought I would just combine them.

I am 22 weeks pregnant - wow, that was fast. I can totally feel the baby move now. It went from totally nothing to totally obvious. I still think it is really cool that you can feel a baby moving inside of you.

I keep having dreams (and thoughts) that the baby is a boy. Guess we will have to wait a few months to find out.

Cora is 9 months old now. And, she is officially crawling. On the day she turned nine months, she kinda went forward about an inch or two - basically enough for me to say that she is getting it.

Well, in the last few days she has really mastered the going forward. She is still pretty slow at it, but she gets where she want to go. Look out world, here comes Cora :)

Cora - 9 Months in Pictures

Every month, I take "posed" pics of Cora to see how big she gets from month to month - really can't believe the changes.

Here are just 2 pictures, one from the 1 month, and one from 9 months. She went from this tiny little thing - to a baby that totally fills up the chair.

The chair, by the way, was a chair that was given to Frank on his 1st birthday. :)

Cora is 9 months old!

Cora turned 9 months yesterday (wow, where has the time gone) and we had her 9 month appointment today.

She is:
23 pounds - 97%
30 Inches - above 97% (AKA off the chart)
Head is at 90% (don't remember the measurements though)

I thought she was going to weigh more, I threw her on the scale at Lil J's visit about a month and a half ago and she was 22 something then. I thought she was going to be 25! She seems so heavy.

She is wearing 18 months in most of her clothes, but has 2 outfits in that size that no longer fit.

I forgot to take her monthly pics yesterday, so I will take them after naptime today.

She has finally figured out how to kinda crawl forward. She was able to get where she wanted, either by rolling, or skooting backwards. But, it was like her arms and legs could not communicate with each other. Yesterday, on the day she turned 9 months she was reaching for a car, and she went about 3-4 crawls forward. And, yes - we were mean and kept moving the toy away hoping she would crawl more.

The biggest issue now is most of her summer clothes are dresses/etc -so her legs gets stuck. Guess we will be tucking her dress into her fancy pants while we are at home lol.

Change of Plans - he is NOT coming...

It was set, he was coming. We started making arrangements to the bedroom, already started the process to get him registered for school, already looked into summer options for him, etc

But, yesterday we got the call, we would only be a "last resort" home for him.

We knew his grandma lived in our town (small town too); but it turns out, his mother is living with the grandma. We actually ran into grandma at the grocery store last year when he was with us.

And, for reasons I can't get into, they feel it would be unsafe for him to be in our home considering that his mother lives 3-4 blocks away.

We totally understand, in fact - we would have a lot of restrictions on because of this, and would make a lot of modification to our shopping, etc. At 12, we would normally allow him to walk to a friends house, this would not even be a possibility

I would hate for his mother to see us in town and then follow us home.

They were OK with the Grandma in town, but not the mom.

Plus, since he is almost 100% sure going to adoption. And, they feel it would be hard for him to move on knowing that his mom lives 3 blocks away.

We are sad, we emotionally prepared for him to come. Colin is really disappointed, but understands.

We are not even being considered as a "last resort". I hope he does well in his new home.

I Guess Cows are Funny

I guess cows are really funny. Of course she was totally cracking up BEFORE we got the camera out. But, we still got some great giggles.

We are taking the placement

See my previous post for some of the details.

After a long chat with Colin and my husband, we decided to take the placement of the 12 year old boy.

It is the right decision for our family, even though we have said in the past that 4 children would be a lot.

I am still waiting on a call from his caseworker, who will give me the knitty gritty. BUt, he will proabbly be coming next week.

Now, I need to come up with a nick name for him

We might be crazy

We might take another placement.

Last year we did respite for an 11 yr old. It is a long story. But, we were called to see about possibly having him come live with us. Might be short term, could be long term.

Since he has been in care for a year, his case is an adoption case - just like Lil J's case. Parents can still work a plan, so it is not a guaranteed adoption thing.

That would make 5 kids in our home (well, 4 now and 5 with the new baby in the fall), and Colin would have to share a room - which he is OK with.

Lots to think about, lots to consider. If we say we are interested, it is not a guarantee that he will come. There are a couple of other fost/adopt families that have expressed interest as well.

Will be having a long conversation with the hubs tonight.

wow - are we crazy????

20 Week u/s update

Had the 20 week u/s last week. Everything looked OK, except one minor thing. The baby has bilateral pyelectasis. Basically, both kidneys are full of fluid (dialated).

The doc said it is very common, 1-2 in 100 pregnancies, and usually goes away on its own. I have to have another scan at 28 weeks to check the progress.

She told me what could cause it, what could happen if it did not go away on it's own.

Of course I googled it, got lots of info. Some scary, some not so much. I am not gonna stress it.

20 Weeks Pregnant

Wow - 20 weeks pregnant as of today. Considering the fact that both of my deliveries came early, I am MORE than 1/2 way through my pregnancy.

We have our "big" u/s tomorrow. And, no - we are not finding out if it is a boy or girl. I am excited to see the baby again, and I am hoping that everything is well with the baby.

At my big scan last time is where we found out about the umbilical cord problems. Issues that turned out to be a non-issue, but still needed extra monitoring.

I am still in my regular clothes, nothing maternity. I am only showing if I wear something really tight (which I never really do). If I pull my clothes tight, you can see a bump. I did not start showing until around 27 (ish) weeks with Cora, but I can already tell that I will show much sooner this time around.

At my appointment tomorrow, I will be asking for a Rx for my heartburn/acid reflux. I have always had bad acid reflux - but is get REALLY bad during pregnancy. Last time I lived on tums, this time I tried out the pepcid complete - which is supposed to last 12 hours. Well, I barely make it 2 hours before I have to supplement with tums. I am hoping a Rx will help.

Good news! I have been doing really well with the throwing up. I hope I do not jinx myself, but it has been weeks since I got sick. I threw up my whole pregnancy with Cora, and was getting sick this time around too. But, seems as though that only lasted a few weeks. Yay me.

I will update again tomorrow, hopefully with some cool 3D pics :)

Memorial Day 2010

We had a relaxing day yesterday. We really did nothing. Some swimming in the little pool in the yard, grilled up some chicken, just a good relaxing day.

Colin actually agreed to sit for a few pics. I always get pics of the two little kids, but Colin hates pics and will hardly sit for a few.

I thought it would be too much for him to wear something patriotic, but - I will take what I can get lol. I really can't wait to show Lil J's face.