DIY carpet cleaner for poopy situations... literally.

I'm writing this blog for any other mommas out there who might find themselves in the same situation I found myself in at 615 a.m. this morning.

You are never on top of your game at 615 in the morning.  I don't care who you are.  I don't care if you are a morning person or if you had 18 hours of sleep previous to waking up at 615 in the morning.  You aren't fooling anyone.

If you are anything like me, you went to bed *early* for the first time all week and for some magical reason, the universe decided to let you sleep for 6 or 7 hours straight.  But then, the universe strikes back.  You find yourself being woke up from a 1/2 sleep nursing daze by your 22 month old holding his hand out. 

In this 1/2 sleep nursing daze you are in, you don't notice anything in his hand.  You pat his head and tell him to get off the bed.  You lazily roll yourself out of bed bringing the baby with you.  You tell your generous husband who is offering to get up with the kids to go back to sleep since you have been half awake since 530 when your 3 year old came into your room trying to sneak into your bed.

Oh how you will regret turning down his offer.

You will then notice your 3 year old sitting on the stairs.  The carpeted stairs.  You will then notice your 22 month old pointing at something on the stairs.

Then it happens.  You smell something.  Crap.  I mean this literally and figuratively. 

THERE IS POOP ON YOUR STAIRS.  And not just one stair.  And not just a turd.  I'm talking squishy, nasty mushy poop on multiple stairs.

Honestly.  You control your instant reaction (which is, of course, yelling WHAT THE HELL!!!!!) and then carry your poop smearing child to the bathroom so the squishy, smelly glob of doom doesn't spread even more past the top of the pajama bottoms.  You toss said child into the shower while continuing to yell "WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!" in your head but verbally just telling your child you disapprove of this wake up call.

Then you realize... how the devil do you get this poop off the stairs?  You don't have a carpet cleaner (something you are finding that with 3 young kids you should really invest in) and you have no idea how to get this s**t off the carpet.

Here it is.  Tried and true. 

DIY Carpet Cleaner
1/2 qt hot water
1 TB white vinegar
1 TB dish soap
generous dash of peroxide
5-6 drops of Tea Tree Oil

Get as much of the squishy, smelly glob of doom of your carpet as you can with toilet paper or paper towel or if you are a crunchy, natural sort use a prefold.  Whip up this simple little recipe and use whatever you have to scrub to get the rest out.  I used an old toothbrush.

That s**t is off the stairs and now that you have had some coffee, you are feeling a little better. 

Ada's birth story

On Monday the 10th, I had my 39 week apt.  I was measuring 39 weeks, baby's heartbeat was at 162 and I was still 4 cm dilated.  Let's just say my doc was getting really antsy about inducing.  I mean REALLY antsy.  He knew that I wanted to go into labor naturally so I could have my element of surprise so he didn't push me.  He stripped my membranes and we started discussing options for inducing.  I decided to wait a couple days to see if stripping my membranes would do anything.  He said he was available any day I wanted to induce and would even call us early in the morning one day and tell us "Today is the day! Come on in!" so that I could have my surprise birth day and still be induced.  Ha, that is how much he wanted to induce.


Tuesday morning I was making breakfast for the boys and a gush came.  My water broke naturally with Dexter so I know how much amniotic fluid comes when your water breaks and this wasn't enough.  It wasn't a tiny amount since Dex said I peed my pants but not enough.  This was when I noticed I started losing my mucus plug.  I called Max and updated him but nothing happened the rest of the day.  I chalked it up as peeing my pants.


Wednesday morning I woke up super early and lay awake until Max got up for work.  I got up with him and figured I would take a nice long shower without kids hollering at the door.  While in the shower I felt another gush and the rest of my mucus plug was out.  Again, I told Max to treat it as peeing my pants.  I sent him off to work and went about my morning.


I got to thinking about what IF my water had started breaking and it had been past 24 hours.  I called Max and asked what he thought about calling Labor and Delivery.  We knew that if I called, they would just tell us to come in so they could check us and if my doc knew that we were in the hospital being checked, he would just keep us there.  I ended up calling and of course, they said they wanted us to come in so they could check.  After more discussion with Max, we decided we were ok with going into the hospital knowing that we would end up staying there and being induced if my water hadn't broken.


Max left work to come get me and I made arrangements for the boys.  I also got some stuff done around the house so the place was decent for my mom while she stayed here with the boys.  We dropped the boys off at Max's sister's and we were off.


We checked into the hospital and was shown to our room.  Remember, I wanted a water birth so that was the room we got.  The nurse told us that when she talked to our doc he said "She's staying!  Ruptured membranes or not she's staying!"  Ha, we knew he would say that.  When they checked me it turns out I did indeed pee my pants and my water was in tact.  So we started the inducing process.  They checked me and I was 5 cm at this point.


For me, this means getting hooked up to the penicillin for four hours before anything happens.  I am a particularly bad stick, which I told them, but no one ever believes me.  One hour, three nurses and multiple bruises later I finally had my IV in and we started the penicillin.  This was roughly around noon.  At this point, we just hang out.  Watched some TV, Max ran some errands and putzed on the internet.


I noticed at this point that contractions were coming more regularly than they had before.  Nothing serious but enough that I think if we hadn't been in the hospital already, baby would have probably come either that night or the next day.  The nurses commented a couple times as well how my contractions were starting to pick up speed.  Nothing that would count as labor though.


At 3pm the doc came in and broke my water.  It was easy and took about 2 minutes.  He said he would be back around 5pm to check on me and see how things were going.  It took about 15 minutes before I started really feeling the contractions.  They got strong very quickly.  The nurse was in and out getting stuff ready and she wanted to go over that information packet they have.  She was getting nervous though that things were going too quickly so the packet was forgotten.


The contractions were painful of course, but nothing horrible.  I kept pacing the whole time not stopping during contractions.  Once it got to be too much to move, I just stayed by the counter in front of the TV and just gripped the counter.  I felt like it was 1000 degrees in there so I didn't want anyone touching me so Max got out of having to have his hand squished.  I asked at what point women normally go into the tub and the nurse told me generally around 8 cm.  I thought I was a long way off from this so I wanted to wait even though she and Max kept asking if I wanted to go in the tub yet.  I thought I would have lots of time for the tub.  Mind you, this was about 45 minutes after my water broke.


At 4pm they wanted to start my second dose of penicillin so they checked me before hooking me up to that dog gone IV machine.  I was 8 cm.  We started the tub and I got hooked up to the penicillin.  Once the tub was filled enough for me to get in I got out of my skivvies and was about to get in the tub when I had what felt like a 10 minute contraction.  Oh man they were painful at this point but I hadn't had any reservations about going natural at this point.  Finally, I was able to move enough to get myself hoisted into the tub. 


By the time I got in the tub it was like 430pm.  I had about 30 seconds before more contractions and it felt really relaxing for those 30 seconds.  This was the only time, the ONLY time I thought, "I can't do this!"  Once the contractions started I needed to push.  I mean seriously needed to push.  I told them this but the nurses said I needed to try to hold off a little bit since they just checked me and I was 8 cm.  They didn't want me to tear if I still had some cervix left.  Let me tell you, there is no way on God's green earth that I wasn't about to push.  I think for 2 or 3 contractions I tried not to but after that I didn't care anymore.  I pushed. 


Things get a bit fuzzy at this point but I remember them alerting my doc to get down there as I was hollering that I was pushing.  It was during this particular moment I felt the baby.  I was on my knees in the tub leaning against the side of the tub and once I yelled, "baby!  baby!" the nurses finally took me seriously and started running around.  One nurse asked me to try and turn on my back and I yelled at her "NOPE!  NOPE!  NOT HAPPENING!".  Another nurse was yelling into the intercom, "GET THE DOC IN HERE!" as another nurse reached down and was honestly holding the baby in.  She said it was because they didn't want me to tear with the baby coming out so fast but Max and I are pretty sure it was because they wanted to see if the doc could get there.  Let me tell you, holding a baby in your birth canal for any length of time is not comfortable.  It's funny how the pain is gone, just gone when you are pushing and back when you aren't.


Either way, the nurse was holding the baby in and everyone was screaming for the doc when finally he arrived.  The nurse had just said that the next push the baby would have to be delivered so either way, baby would be out.  Max says that while the doc was getting his gloves on the nurse moved her hand and 2/3 of baby's head popped out.  Doc reached down in the water and one push later baby was out.  It was 4:44pm.


I can't even tell you the relief I felt when baby was finally out.  I have never experienced anything like it.  I was still on my knees facing the tub wall and the baby came out behind me.  I didn't see the baby come out or feel it.  I heard the doc lift the baby out of the water and said, "Here Max, tell us what the baby is!"  Max wanted to be the one to announce it but hadn't had time to tell the doctor so what a nice surprise that he let Max tell me.  I heard Max say, "It's a girl!"


She was finally here.  Our beautiful little girl. I had to maneuver myself to my back and do some leg lifting to avoid the umbilical cord  but finally she was in my arms. 


It's amazing the difference the water birth made for her.  She didn't cry at all!  She was very alert and was looking around.  We sat in the water for a little while and still she didn't cry.  It wasn't for another half hour that we would finally hear her cry.


One hour and 44 minutes.  That is how long my labor took. 


If we would have waited until my water broke naturally I doubt we would barely have made it to the hospital.  My doctor said, not even 5 minutes after she was born, "and this, Jessie, is why we are inducing you at 39 weeks for the next one."  I suppose he is right!


A girl. She terrifies me with the thought of future hormones but my, oh my, how I love her.  I love to stare at her and smell that wonderful newborn smell.  I miss her when she's actually down in the swing and love to use my wrap to carry her with me all day.  Her brothers love her so much.  They shower her with hugs and kisses.  I am one lucky lady.

39 weeks

This week has been a very stressful week.  I think God made a very good plan in keeping this baby inside of me until we got some house issues taken care of.

Our electric started going haywire to the point where barely anything worked.  It took two days to get it figured out and a visit from the electric company.  (Who at this very minute are updating the transformer outside our house.)  Then, we started having a problem with our sewage and nothing was draining into the septic tank.  We haven't been able to laundry for a little while again and it go to where we couldn't shower or flush the toilet.  My dad came and saved the day and got that up and running so now we have the ability to use water and we have electric.  Thank goodness our house is heated by propane so we didn't have to worry about getting cold.

My husband was a saint through all this... dealt with everything calmly while trying to keep me from freaking out as well.  He made many trips into the cold and running around the house without complaining.  I married a good man.

All this may seem like it has nothing to do with my pregnancy but it does.  If baby would have come out I would be writing a very different story.

My 38 week appointment went well.  Baby's heartbeat was at 153 and measured 39 weeks.  My cervical check showed that I am still 4 cm dilated and am still roughly 70-80% effaced.  I have been having tons of contractions, constant Braxtons and those sharp little twinges in my cervix.  All show that baby is getting ready.  I know I have dropped as well because I can't see my belly button anymore and I haven't had heartburn all week. 

Other then that, we are just waiting.  I'm not good at this waiting game... I want to meet my baby!

38 weeks

Another week closer to baby arriving!

I don't have much to report.  Since everything is ready, we are just in a waiting stage.  Our 37 week appointment went well.  Baby's heartbeat was at 140 bpm and I measured 36 weeks.  My cervical check showed I was 4 cm dilated and still about 70% effaced.  This was good news!  Progress but not tons of progress like my 37 week appointment with Simon. 

We asked a lot of questions about the treatment options for GBS and were able to make a plan that allowed us to go into labor naturally but still have Momma and baby covered in the antibiotic department.  This made us much more relieved about the whole thing.  How exciting to be able to go naturally like we did with Dexter!  Knowing that every hour could be when something starts.  My water broke with Dexter and then I started contracting but it could be the opposite this time.  I'm so excited!

The heartburn has been horrible this week.  Horrible, horrible, horrible.  I wake up every night with it and can't fall asleep for quite some time.  I  can't wait for the heartburn to be over with.  I only get it when I'm pregnant so knowing I am 2ish weeks away from not feeling this for a long time is getting me excited.

Other than that I am just trying to stay in the moment and relish every last bit of my pregnancy with my little Cookie.  Every movement is precious and every hiccup is adorable.  Even the kicks and jabs that hurt I'm taking in stride knowing that soon I won't feel them anymore.  As much as I want this baby to come out and meet us, I also want to enjoy these last little bits of time with Dexter and Simon.  I know Dex will adjust fine to the baby but I'm a bit worried about Simon.  So any additional time to lavish them with my love and attention is good.

Did I mention that I am STILL stretch mark free!  How amazing!  They didn't even come back in the spots where I got them with Dex and Simon.  I still haven't had very much swelling either.  This has been quite remarkable as I was horribly stretch mark-y with both boys and horribly swollen.  I guess another indicator that this could be a little lady?  Who knows! 

This weekend we are going to start doing some natural ways to get labor going.  I am trying to talk Max into a trip to the MOA so we can do a lot of walking and perhaps get the boys a present from the baby.  I don't do spicy food but we will see what other things I can find on the internet to get labor going.  I see that a lot of people have guessed the 2nd for when the baby will arrive.  Time will tell!  I hope so!  2-2-14 sounds like a great birthday to me and fits in with my love of even numbers :) 

Time to Guess

I think it's fun to guess stuff about the baby :)  I might be the only one but oh well.

I think Cookie is a girl.
I think she will either come Jan 30 or Feb 11.
I think she will be 7 lbs 9 oz and 19 in long.

If you are the type to base your guess off stats or previous children, I have included some things midwives tales are based off of for all kiddos.

Cookie:

-Heartbeat has averaged around 150 bpm with the highest being 176 at 10 weeks pregnant and the lowest being 136 at my 32 week appointment.
-I have carried Cookie neither high nor low but right in the middle.
-Cookie has always measured right on track for his/her due date.
- 36 week appointment was almost 3cm dilated and 70% effaced.


Dexter:

-I carried him low.
-He measured on time.
-His heartbeat averaged in the 150's.
-36 week apt was 2 cm dilated 50% effaced.  37 week apt was 3 cm dilated 75% effaced.  38 week apt I measured about the same.
-My water broke naturally at 38 weeks 2 days. 
-My labor took 7 hours.
-He was 7 lbs 2 oz and 18 in long.

Simon:

-I carried him high.
-He always measured large.
-His heartbeat was always higher... in the 160's to 170's until the very end.
-36 week apt was 2 cm dilated 50% effaced.  37 week apt was almost 6 cm 100% effaced.  Was same at 38 week apt and again when I was checked a few days later.
-I was checked into the hospital the day I turned 39 weeks and they broke my water.  No Pitocin needed.
-My labor was exactly 4 hours long.
He was 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 in long.

37 weeks

*I am mildly horrified at how I look in this picture and am only using to save time since I will be too lazy to write this blog later.  Your welcome.*

3 weeks until due date.  The chances are more likely that baby will be here in 2 weeks... Obviously that doesn't mean it will happen that way but the chances are more than likely. 

This week was ok.  I came down with a nasty bad head cold and that really rocked our rhythm.  I haven't been sleeping well because I can't breathe and I have had horrible heartburn again.  Tossing and turning in your third trimester is more grunting and heaving.  We had a lot of couch time this week because of this cold.  Well, as much couch time as a 3 year old and two almost 18 month olds will allow.  Since they have come down with a version of this cold as well, we all have been enjoying some extra movie time and earlier nap times. 

I'm losing track of what I'm talking about.

Cold.  Yes.  So with the addition of the chest/head cold and the baby being so large, I am having a hard time getting a nice deep breath.  I miss being able to take in as much oxygen as my lungs can hold and letting it out.  I'm waiting for the baby to drop so I feel that sensation of finally being able to breathe again but I think this cold wouldn't allow for that to happen anyway.

I have been  having so. many. Braxton Hicks contractions.  Anything I do makes them come on.  Coughing, sneezing, laughing, etc. all makes for a good bout of Braxton Hicks.  I have been having regular contractions here and there as well.  Yesterday I had quite a few.  I woke up to a very strong, painful contraction and spent the whole day with Braxtons coming every few minutes to every 5 minutes.  When I took a shower at nap time, I had 5 real contractions right in a row.  They weren't as painful as the one I got in the morning but enough to blow out a little extra breathe in the midst of them.  They stopped once I got out of the shower.

This reminds me, I had my 36 week doctor appointment.  Baby's heartbeat was at 144 and I was measuring at 37 weeks along.  I had my cervical check and I am about 3 cm dilated and was 70% effaced.  I know a lot of women are in labor when their bodies are at this point but my body doesn't work that way.  This means almost nothing.  My appointment was on Monday so my next appointment is this coming Monday and we will see what progress has been made.

Much to my dismay, I tested positive for GBS again.  This was expected but still disappointing to happen.  It means I will be positive for every pregnancy.  Max and I are extremely against having my water broken again to buy us the 4 hours necessary for the penicillin (which is what we had to do with Simon) and want to go into labor naturally.  We are trying to determine the best course of action since we also are very against our newborn being on antibiotics straight out of the womb.  There are natural ways you can treat GBS but is sounds like they need at least 2 weeks to see results and I don't think we have that time.  I am so bummed about this.  I am happy though that Max and I are in agreement to let labor come on naturally this time.  I guess I can only hope that my labor will last longer than 4 hours from when I enter the hospital. 

We got to take a look at the water birth room and ask the nurse some questions.  I feel much better now that I have a visual in my head of how things are going to be set up.  One less thing in the unknown category.  I am trying to to be scared of the pain but it's natural and I can only just tell myself to relax and what will be will be.  I can do this.  I am made to give birth.  The pain is only for a small period of time and I will get to meet my baby.  Uffda.  Men have it so easy.

We are ready for baby.  Hospital bag is as packed as it can get, we have some freezer meals cooked and ready for post baby, the kids bag is packed in case Grandma wants to keep the kiddos at her house instead of coming to ours, the car seat is decked out in all manners of warmth so baby doesn't freeze in these frequent sub-zero temperatures.  This weekend will be devoted to cleaning the house so we can bring baby home to a cozy, clean environment.  Normally I would take on all the cleaning as I do a better job of it but Max will have to do a good part of it as some of it is tedious, bending over scrubbing work.  Too hard on this gal's back.  While he is scrubbing away, I will make some more wool diaper covers for our wee little one.  We plan on disposables in the hospital but as soon as baby is home s/he will be in cloth.  So we need those bad boys. 

Alright, I think this is long enough.  Until next week!  Maybe :)

Song of the Spirits by Sarah Lark and The Pianist in the Dark by Michele Halberstadt

Song of the Spirits is the second book from Sarah Lark.  It is the telling of the next generation from her original book The Land of the Long White Cloud.  Since I read and enjoyed her first book I wanted to read this second installment as well. 

 

Both books are very long.  Even I took a few days to read this book and that is saying something.  I had a bit of trouble getting into this one at first but once I got to know the new characters and got to revisit some of the characters from the first book I enjoyed it.  Seriously though, it is long. 

 

The first book spans over a long period of time but this second one devotes itself to the passing of a few years.  There were moments where it felt like it was dragging on but then there were moments where I couldn't wait to see what happened. 

 

Amazon review here and here is the review from the first book.  I am not sure if I ever wrote anything about that one.

 

The Pianist in the Dark took some getting into.  By the time I finally got the jist of what the story was going to be about I was surprised to find I was almost halfway through already.  This was a short book and not one of my favorites. 

It takes place way back in the day with Austrian society and talk of the Empress and what have you. The premise of the book sounded good and since it was free at the time I downloaded it.  I wish we could have had a bit more detail and a little less vagueness.  I honestly whipped through this book in just a couple hours and wasn't sad when it was done.  Either way, I read it through and since I like to keep track of what I am reading in case of any *gasp* Kindle malfunction here it is.

Amazon review here.

35 & 36 weeks

 

Forgive me again... I was too lazy to write last week.

We are nearing the finish line and all my thoughts are mostly devoted to preparing for the baby, how life will be after the baby is born, do we have a little girl or a little boy in there, etc.  We mostly have everything ready.  I have a short list on our chalkboard right now to complete and once that is done we are completely ready! 

I was looking at the calendar last week and it suddenly hit me that the possibility is there that the baby could be here as soon as next week.  Some women have their babies at 37 weeks and what if that was me?  I started panicking.  Obviously I realize I am at the end of my pregnancy but I didn't really think of the end end... you know, the part where the baby actually comes out and you take it home.  I kind of just got used to the idea of being huge pregnant and figured I'd be like that for a long time.  I mean, seriously!  I am having a baby in the next few weeks! 

Baby is doing well.  My weekly emails tell me that s/he is fully developed and is now just gaining weight.  My belly feels much heavier and my movements are much slower.  Getting up off the floor requires some work and since I love my baths so much, getting out of the tub is quite a chore.  I haven't had to yell for Max yet :)  Nighttime has become pretty uncomfortable.  I move around a lot in my sleep and it is so hard to even roll over.  I want so badly to sleep on my stomach or even my back that I wake up sometimes on my back and my legs and hips are slightly numb.  That is not good.  Too much pressure on my spine and that vein they are always talking about.  I chide myself and grunt while turning on my side again. 

My body is in labor prep mode.  My hips are spreading in preparation for birth, my boobs have gotten huge (well, for me) so they can hold all the milk my little love will need and I'm exhausted all the time again so I can store up energy for what's in store.  In reaction to the hormones racing through my system my face has broken out again.  This baby is lucky I love him/her otherwise I would have quite a hard time with the acne.  My face has also started getting plump and squishy like the Pillsbury doughboy.  This happens every time at the end so it is to be expected although not appreciated.  Surprisingly, my feet haven't swollen at all.  I can't believe it but it's true!  My feet were pretty large at the end of Dexter's pregnancy and were gigantic and cracking and bleeding at the end of Simon's pregnancy so to have my feet looking normal and fitting into all my normal shoes is quite impressive.  Go feet!

If I am going by comparison, I can tell this baby will be a bit shorter than Simon was.  Dex was 18 inches and Simon was 21 inches and I always felt Simon kicking high up in my ribs.  This baby doesn't get that far up.  S/he sticks their butt up to create lumps a lot and you can see an elbow make its way across my belly.  I will miss these movements even if they hurt at times. 

The baby gets the hiccups a lot and it really rocks my belly.  If I'm in the tub the water quakes all around me with each hiccup the baby has.  Poor little bugger probably hates those strong hiccups. 

Heartburn is incredibly frequent although not with the ferociousness of that one week.  I still crave sweets above all else and I even beat my husband in eating anything laying around that has a sweet flavor.  He has the ultimate sweet tooth and is baffled at opening a tin of bars and seeing I've already eaten most of them.   Whoops!  I only have myself to blame for my weight gain this month.

Speaking of which, my 36 week doctor appointment is on Monday.  You know what this means... the dreaded GBS test.  The test itself isn't dreaded but the result is.  A lot of how my labor will play out will depend on if I am GBS positive again and so I am praying, pleading and begging that I be negative this time.  I don't care one iota if I go to 42 weeks as long as I am GBS negative.  I suppose we will find out.  I will have another cervical check again to see if I have started dilating and effacing.  With both Dexter and Simon I was 2 cm/50% effaced at my 36 week appointment.  I'm all stretched out now because of the boys so I would have to be 3cm/50% effaced to be the same this time.  I'm excited for my appointment to see if we have some progress or if baby is happily tucked in tight. 

That's all I have for you today folks... I would rather be on the couch relaxing, watching my new chick flick I bought myself and eating something sweet.  So that is where I am headed until nap time is over :)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Left Drowning by Jessica Park

Any story based during World War II and Nazi Germany is basically a surefire sad book.  I don't know why I'm so interested in this time period but I love books based in this time period. 

My mom went and saw this movie and asked me to read the book.  I'm always game for a new book so when I went to buy it I was surprised to find Amazon telling me that I had already purchased it.  Low and behold it was on my Kindle just waiting for me. 

This book was sad.  Very sad.  It took me a minute to figure out the beginning because the story is narrated by Death and Death's point of view.  Once I figured that out, the book was very good.  The storytelling was original and had a different set up than normal.  "Death" gave previews about the end without actually telling the details and still made it seem vital to have told these previews. 

I really enjoyed it... as much as you can enjoy an incredibly sad book.  And the end, OH the end.  So devastating.  My pregnant hormones almost made me cry a bit.  That's saying something.  If you enjoy this type of book I highly recommend this book. 

Amazon's link here.

This was another book recommended to me.  I didn't even read what it was about because after one person recommended it to me, others did as well so I just went ahead and read it.  It helped that it was only $0.99.

Well... this book was good.  A very easy read with heartbreak and love.  I thought this was a young adult book but let me tell you, this book has some raunchy parts.  I was not prepared for this and when I reached the first scene I was very surprised.  I never read Fifty Shades and I'm sure it's not in that category but reader beware there are a few dirty scenes.  With details.

The storyline itself is very good though and I enjoyed it.  I could have done with less details on certain parts but I still enjoyed the book.  This is a good book if you are looking for a mindless book to read.

Amazon page here.

34 weeks

I counted how many days until my due date.  42.  42 days.  42 short days.  6 short weeks. 

This week was plagued by some nasty bad heartburn.  The worst heartburn I have ever had in my entire life.  Granted, when I was pregnant with Dexter and experienced heartburn for the first time EVER I didn't even know what it was.  Max kept trying to tell me it was heartburn but I didn't believe him.  So, I will rephrase.  The worst heartburn of all three pregnancies.  It felt like waves of acid crashing into my esophagus the way waves crash onto a rocky beach.  The spray traveled up and into my mouth.  Oy vey.  It was bad.  The heartburn was particularly horrible at night.  I had to sleep sitting up which is extremely difficult if not impossible for me.  The trouble is I cannot STAND Tums.  Honestly, its the texture.  That chalky texture.  This isn't a pregnant thing but a normal thing for me.  Any candy resembling that texture like Valentines Day hearts or Sweet tarts I can't handle.  I was so close to actually taking a Tums it was that bad but I refrained.  That is how much I hate that chalky texture.

I got a mild case of the flu this week.  That was no fun.  Who likes to puke?  Honestly its one of the worst feelings.  And I tell you what.  Once you have had two kids and are giant with #3, there is no way you are tossing your cookies without peeing your pants a bit at the same time.  That might be TMI but its a fact.  You don't even have time to think about crossing your legs like when you sneeze or laugh really hard.  Dang. 

The baby had moved into a nice position for a few days in there.  I woke up one morning feeling particularly small and light.  I didn't waddle anymore.  I didn't have nearly as bad of back aches.  It was great!  Max said I didn't look any smaller but I sure felt like it.  I don't know how the baby was positioned but I sure liked it.  I could tell when the baby shifted again because I felt huge again.  Funny how their positions affect you so much. 

We got a big thing checked off the to-do list which was getting Simon switched out of the crib and into Dexter's room.  The first night was pretty rough and he got out of bed a lot but finally around 430am I figured out that the nightlight was too bright for him and once I turned it off he didn't get out of bed at all.  It has been 4 nights now and they have been equal in rough nights to great nights.  Nap time goes pretty smoothly as well although naps are much shorter than what they used to be.  Simon could be counted on to sleep at least 2 1/2-3 hours and now it's just over an hour.  You can imagine how this tired, sore Momma feels around 7 now when I have two whiney kids.  Everyone is adjusting.  I just have to tell myself these things take time.  What's the point in getting any sleep now when once the baby comes I won't get any then either.

Since this weekend will be FREEZING I plan to spend some time in the nursery and get things ready in there.  Put the clothes away, raise the crib back up, organize all of the too small clothes from Simon that I have just piled everywhere.  I'd like to get our room situated with the pack and play near the bed so that is all ready.  I  might as well put the infant seat in the car since I don't have the energy to take 3 kids anywhere.  What else... find my breast pump and make sure everything is rearing to go in that department.  I think that will wrap up most projects!  Throw in a little sewing and Cookie can come anytime!  Well, I'd rather Cookie wait until 37 weeks of course but I meant we will have everything ready.  I think even the kids are ready for the baby to come.  They both understand that right now the baby is in my tummy but soon the baby will come out. 

I can't believe I am 27 years old and will have 3 kids 3 years and under.  Max and I are on crazy pills.  Oh well.  I'm so excited!

6 weeks left!