Things I Wish Doctors Would Quit Saying

"That can't be right"

Straight from my doctor's lips during my Monday check-up after doc measured my belly to record the amount of growth. A second measurment verified the first. I was measuring 3 1/2 weeks ahead. Nothing to do but wait and see. I am still shocked by my lack of swelling in the feet department so far. Maybe they won't grow another 1/2 size this round? No back pain and no carpal tunnel yet either (which became so painful with Patrick and ended up requiring injections to finally rid the last of it from my wrists). No itchy rash all over my belly. So far this kid is going a lot easier on me than his big brother.

Monday's check-up was followed by an ultrasound Wednesday. Since Tom has been swamped with work and this ultrasound was meant to quickly check the location of the placenta, I invited my mom and Tom's mom to accompany me for the sneak peak. After verifying everything was as it should be, the ultrasound tech offered to run to a nearby room and borrow the 3-D imaging! Yippee. I had not had a 3-D done with Patrick and now I am addicted to looking at this little photo printout of a face that I already love. Unfortunately, it won't be posted to the blog since the image also clearly shows my placenta and insides and is a little too weird to have plastered on the internet. But trust me, the little guy is as handsome as Patrick.

And today-I finally got off my duff and took Patrick to Picture People (forgive us E!) for some portrait photos that I meant to have done at Christmas. One perfect photo of P emerged and I will try to track down a photo scanner at one of my neighbor's houses so I can upload the image. I was surprised my how unrushed we were compared to my Target photo experience which sucked.

This weekend Tom and I are celebrating the completion of all of our hardwork in the nursery (and in the office) by taking a break from any household chores-HELLO R&R. Family time is much overdue.

So have a great weekend, all six of my followers, and more pictures will be posted shortly...

Coffee, Midnight and Misc. Thoughts

I had some extra caffeine at 7:00ish Saturday evening because I was fading but DETERMINED to finish painting the trim in an otherwise completed room. Pan to the finished room, the clock that says 12:15AM and a wide awake woman and her belly blogging because she can't fall asleep. My husband is asleep. He can fall asleep in 30 seconds flat-not exaggerating here. And he can fall asleep anywhere-the couch, the floor, the bed, a chair. But apparently I misjudged the needed pick-me-up dose of coffee, so here I am.

Milestones this week for our family- Patrick told me he pooped for the very first time. Usually I catch a whiff of something and when I question the pooper I get a strong denial. Sorry if you find this disturbing, but it was big news in our house.

A roofer, God bless him, made a house call on a Saturday to check out our leaking addition roof. The good news-an ice guard system installed on the roof should prevent future leaks. The bad news-they can't install it until spring. We may have to live with the occasional drip drip until then. Anyone have one of these systems installed? I'd love some feedback.

The Christmas tree is mostly put away, but sadly I still have a lot of decorations to box up. Does the fact that my storage bins are doing double duty as drip drip collectors beneath my leaky ceiling count as a valid excuse?

Baby is good (at least to the best of my knowledge). Still just one in there despite what strangers at the grocery store and people at my husband's workplace are speculating. Doctor's appointment Monday and ultrasound on Wednesday. Ankles fluctuating, but good today. No problem sleeping, minus the twice a night trips to the bathroom.

Off to try sleep one more time...

When the Man is Right

I fully admit that when it comes to the paint game, my husband was absolutely right in this case- all I wanted was the perfect soft, pale yellow for our newly stripped walls, so I returned from the paint store with a sample of "Cream Puff". Put said sample on the wall and thought to myself that it was too bright. I had made this mistake in our living room and we are now living with a room that is a few shades brighter than what we were going for, but not horrible. So I shifted gears and looked two shades lighter on the paint sample chart and decided to go in blind and just get "Apple Core". Note to any future painters out there: a coat of Apple Core looks EXACTLY like cream paint. No yellow tint. Oddly, it also looks exactly like our hall color, Hazelnut Cream, which I thought would be a little more tan, but isn't.

So back to Home Depot and I returned home with Cream Puff which looks perfect on the walls and is exactly what I wanted. And it was my husband who said all along to go with Cream Puff and that Apple Core looked like off white.

So for posterity, you were right, honey.

A Little Redecorating

Stop by and check out our new indoor water park-lots of fun for the kids (at least Patrick who loves sticking his hands in the nasty water dripping from our ceiling).

It started yesterday when I suddenly became aware that the melting icicles outside were sounding particularly loud-too loud. Sure enough, the roof over our addition off the kitchen wasn't handling all the melting ice well and water started coming through the light fixture and then the ceiling. Today is day two of dripping, and I am not sure what can be done to stop it as long as the gutters are a solid block of ice.

My attempts to toddler proof the area were futile against Mr. Houdini.

27 Week Belly (Almost)

With arrival of the third trimester, fatigue is returning. Or could it just be all the manual labor, particularly the sanding which seems to go on and on? Either way I have taken to sneaking a nap when Patrick goes down. Most importantly though, my feet have miraculously not turned into hideous elephant hooves (yet). I'd post a picture of my foot I took while I was pregnant with Patrick, but frankly it is disgusting and no one should have to see it.

I'm late again in posting my photo for week 26, primarily because I really didn't go anywhere this week and looked frumpy. Today though P and I trekked downtown to visit Tom for lunch, so I was forced to shower and shave. So I am just counting this one as being early for week 27.

I also guiltily admit that I have been withholding numbers. I am doing MUCH better than the first time round, but not as well as I had hoped. I started at 153 and am currently at 180 with 13 weeks to go. That's 27 lbs to date, so I am estimating I'll wind up around a total gain of 40lbs (compared to 61 with P). Is there a ray of hope for a vaginal delivery somewhere in those numbers?

Nesting

I have been extremely anxious lately about the lack of progress (up until today) in our future nursery. Neither Tom nor I had ever stripped wallpaper, and we weren't sure what to expect. But with the help of babysitter to wrangle Patrick, Tom and I started clearing out the room at 9AM this morning. I took charge of Patrick at 1:00 while Tom plugged away until 4:15ish when we had to break for dinner (a fabulous Turkey dinner prepared for two weary workers). I resumed at 7:45, and by 10:30 was just about there.

While the room is now empty while we work on the nursery, the rest of my upstairs is in chaos. Uggh. Thank goodness this is the ONLY room with the red paper and it happens to be the smallest bedroom.

Bye, Bye red!


And this is all that remains to remove Sunday...

(and this)

I really can't explain this need to complete the room so quickly-I don't remember being this way this early with Patrick. Overall, stripping not so bad and I got a good arm work out out of it.

25.5 Week Belly Photo

I had my routine monthly check-up today and the nurse had me step on the scale. She glanced at the number, then stopped mid-stroke as she was about to log it on the chart and asked me to step back up, thinking she had read the scale incorrectly. Nope, there was no error, just a TEN pound weight gain. My doctor didn't seem concerned since she measured the belly and said I was right on track as far as those measurements. Still, my hopes of having a vaginal childbirth experience are diminishing...My ankles are still just showing slight swelling, but enough where my cute black boots aren't quite so easy to get on. Time to shop for new black winter shoes.

(Note the change in scenery for this photo-it is out nursery-to-be, and that red wallpaper will be what Tom and I tackle this weekend. It must come down!)

Guess the Pack Rat

It is common knowledge in this household that one person, more than the other, has a hard time letting go of sentimental things. Your eyes do not fool you, these t-shirts (which are merely a sampling) are from the mid 1990's and have been sitting in a drawer. In a dresser, in our future nursery. Should the culprit being reading this, I think it is time to part ways...

My Lips are Sealed

I know a secret-a big, great secret that I am excited about, but can't share yet. No, there is only one baby in this huge belly, and the secret doesn't pertain to me anyways.

It makes me smile though, thinking about it.

The Pohl's Rockin' New Year's Eve (at least until 10)

This year, my sister and her family accompanied us to Seven Springs where we have rung in the New Year the past few years. Her boys are 10 and 5 and Patrick loved the constant entertainment they provided, as did Tom and I.

My nephews had never been skiing, so Uncle Tom gave them their first official lesson. The 10-year-old did so well, Tom took him up the ski lift to the beginner hill which begins at the back of the condo. I was able to capture a quick picture before they headed down-and Nathan did great!

Patrick is way to young to hit the trails, so instead mom made this snowman. The only problem is P is completely freaked out by the snow. We couldn't get him to sled ride and he didn't want to put his feet on the snow. On the flip side, he loves putting on his snow boots and can't get enough of wearing his mittens. Sometimes he'll walk around the house for ten minutes wearing them, even though he can't pick a single thing up.

I feel like my belly could have been the base for our snowman. This is going to be another BIG baby.

New Year's Eve ended for me at 10:00. I was tired and with no alcohol to spur me on, I called it quits, but not before we welcomed in the New Year...

Note that Tom removed his 2011 glasses at the last minute.


And on the first day of the new year, we had a lazy afternoon. Don't daddies make the best parking lots? That's it-nothing crazy to report. Now project nursery begins...