A Way-Overdue Update!

I absolutely cannot believe that I have not updated this blog in 2 months. Life has been so busy, and I just never seem to find that little bit of extra time I need to come on here.

I am 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant. Where has the time gone? I am getting so excited to find out the sex of this little one (although I am 99.9% positive it's another boy) and to meet him/her. On the other hand, this is my last pregnancy, so I'm a bit sad that soon I will no longer feel pokes, jabs, rolls, and kicks all day long.

I am feeling good...much better than I felt at this point in my pregnancy with Ethan. Last Thursday, the perinatologist put me on oral medication at bedtime to help control my fasting sugars. I was on the same medication with Ethan, but about 5 weeks earlier. I had a few high blood pressure readings, but they have come down to a more manageable level, so no bedrest for me yet. I am hoping to avoid bedrest entirely this time around, but we'll see how it goes. I'm taking it one appointment at a time. At my last OB appointment (35 weeks, 6 days), I was dilated 1 cm and 25% effaced. My next appointment is this Wednesday, so I am hoping for a little more progress. I don't know if my doctor plans on inducing me early due to the gestational diabetes, but I do know they won't let me go past 40 weeks, so I only have 3 more weeks to go MAX! I have a perinatologist appointment Thursday morning with an u/s to check the size of the baby. Three weeks ago, the little one was 5 pounds, so I am guessing he/she will be a little over 6 pounds this week.

I have gained a lot less weight this time around. I started out 10 pounds heavier this time, but I have gained 27 pounds at 36 weeks. With Ethan, I had gained about 44 or so at this point. I am hoping to only put on a few more in the next few weeks since I started out heavier. I am hoping to get back to a "reasonable" size faster this time around, although with Thanksgiving and Christmas, that could prove to me difficult! My plan is to allow myself to throughly enjoy Thanksgiving since I've been eating so strictly on the gestational diabetes diet, and then I will buckle down and start getting the weight off.

One of the best pieces of news I have to report is that I finally found daycare for the children!!! I had set aside the daycare issue for a bit after the other one fell through. I checked Craig's List earlier last week and came across a promising listing. I e-mailed the woman and she said she would have space for both children. After several e-mails back and forth, we decided that we would meet on Saturday morning to discuss further details. Well, in her e-mail, she mentioned she had a son named Clayton. The name rang a bell and I remembered a little boy from the park where I had taken Ethan a few weeks ago, and his name was Clayton. Ethan had played with Clayton that day, and I had chatted with his Mom for a few minutes while Clayton rolled a ball to me across a picnic table. I asked her (in an e-mail) if this could possibly have been her, and it WAS! What are the odds???

Anyway, we met and she is wonderful! She is a former teacher and is only planning on having 4 kids total in her care. She has a preschool curriculum for ages 2-5 that she will be using with Ethan, and the best part....she is 1.09 miles from my house!!!! Her rates are on the higher end of home daycare, but still loads cheaper than what we would pay to put both kids into KinderCare, where Ethan is now. I am dropping off a deposit for Ethan on Wednesday, and we plan to start him there the first or second week of December. We would like him to stay at his current center for a few weeks after the baby is born so we don't disrupt his routine too much.

Joe is on the search for a new job. He likes where he is, but they have recently taken away his company vehicle. With a 55-mile one-way commute, the extra cost of gas (plus the wear and tear on the car) is hurting us. He'd also like a pay increase since he is way underpaid for what he does, and with the addition of a second child, the money is much needed. Hopefully, he'll find something promising soon.

I think that's all the updating I have time for right now....lunch is calling!