5 Weeks Old

And my "little" guy is 12 pounds, as measured in the buff at the hospital yesterday. I love the fact they have a free infant scale there.

I'm 5 weeks old! 

Here Aaron  is at 5 weeks old, wearing Team Monster!

Here is his sister, wearing that same onsie when she was exactly one month old.

Emma is Three!

Sometime in the middle of our big trip to see family, Emma turned 3 years old. I can't believe the last 3 years went by so fast!

This year she has been obsessed with Toy Story, so for her birthday she had a Toy Story themed "party." I say party in quotes because we were supposed to be at Grandma and Grandpa Lewis's house, but we got stuck in the blizzard in Nebraska and stayed 2 nights in York, Nebraska at a hotel. Luckily we had the party supplies with us,  and the manager of the hotel let us have a mini-party there. 

Daddy went to the Wal-Mart, which was open, and got a Christmas cupcake cake for her birthday since the Toy Story cake was in Chicago. :) She still had fun -- there was a little girl at the hotel who was the granddaughter of the manager, and she and Emma played. She even got a gift for Emma! It was a really fun day, even if we were stuck in the snow.

How my big girl has grown.... our hands at 3 years and 3 days old. From the picture below, at about 3 weeks of age. 

It's going to be a pretty amazing Christmas. I think we're so lucky to have the two kids we have, and I'm so grateful to be celebrating the holiday with them. 

One Month Old

Not sure where the time went, but my big boy is one month old today. He was amazing on the trip to Kansas, and didn't even seem to notice the giant blizzard.

Here he is, taking a nap on Daddy's chest. 

I'm one month old! I don't know how much he weighs, but I would guess it's close to 11 pounds or more. He doesn't fit in his newborn clothes anymore, and we've already gone up a size on the prefold diapers. 

My Sleepy Boy

And one more video.... he was very sleepy in Daddy's arms.

Emma Sings to Aaron

She's such a good big sister. Poor little guy -- he had some bad gas and struggles getting poo out today, and every time she sang to him, he settled down. It was amazing! I guess he's heard her voice enough in the womb that it's comforting to him. We got a little bit on video.

14 Days Old

Today my "little" guy is 14 days old! He's had a bit of a rough day, cluster feeding (growth spurt!) but is settled down for the night.

He also got his first mail today!

I forgot to mention that his umbilical stump finally fell out today, while I was out running some errands. I don't remember when Emma's fell out but it doesn't feel like it took this long! Glad it did though -- it was getting a bit stinky. :) 

Doctor Visits

Aaron's 13 day Check-Up:

At birth, his weight was 8lb, 5oz.

At d/c from the hospital, his weight was 7lb, 14oz.

At his last appointment (5 days old), he was back to 8lb, 5oz.

Today, at 13 days, he was 9lb, 5oz!! Way to go baby boy! They said he was 22 inches, but there's no way he grew 2 inches in 13 days. :) Breastfeeding rocks.

His umbilical stump is still there, doc said it should fall off in the next few days. He's trying to hold his head up, even though he really shouldn't be yet.

Emma's 3 Year Check-Up

Big girl weighed in at 29 lbs (35%ile) and 37.5 inches (75%ile). I mentioned her random snoring, and the doc checked her tonsils, which were a little red and swollen. They did a swab, and it turns out she has strep! So she's on antibiotics for a little while.

All in all, it was a really good visit with the pediatrician. Aaron goes back at 2 months, Emma goes back at 4 years.

On a side note, I'll be donating to the Mother's Milk Bank of Central Ohio, and I'm really excited about that. I should easily be able to get over the 200 oz that they request. Since I haven't donated blood for a long, long time (and that's one thing I always enjoyed being able to do), I think this is an exciting next step for me.

Five Years Ago

I was waiting to miscarry my first child.

I can't believe it's been 5 years. My heart still breaks when I think about our first little one. At 8w1d we had an on-time baby with a strong heartbeat. 10 days later, we went to the ER and found our little one was gone. 3 days after that, I had a D&C.

Have I healed? Maybe some. I don't cry every day, but I do think about that first baby every day. Those were the only ultrasound photos of a loss I had kept, and it was the loss that shattered my innocence. Little did I know that my heart would keep breaking over and over and over again.

It's been 6 years since we started trying to have a baby.

5 years since our first loss.

3 years since Emma was born.

Almost 1 year since our last chemical pregnancy loss.

And 12 days since Aaron entered our lives outside my womb.

I'm glad the roller coaster is over. As I listen to my new son squirm around, grunt and cry, watch him taking in the world around him, and enjoy the sight of his big sister cuddling with him in the morning, I know the pain was worth it. But boy, was it hard. So very, very hard.

I miss all 9 of my babies, no matter how long or short those pregnancies were. Each and every one of them were desperately wanted and loved. I wish I knew what they would have been like, had they grown up. I wish I could have named them. I hope they knew how much they were loved, even in their short presence here on earth.

No matter how much time goes by, and how busy I get with my two amazing kids, I will never forget. Ever.

11 Days Old

And we're settling into a nice routine. I don't know how I got so lucky, but Aaron is a fairly "easy" baby when it comes to reading his cues. Either I am experienced now, or his temperament is different, or a combination of the two. But he's really adjusting well to the outside world and Emma is adjusting to him.

Here he is at 8 days old... not very happy about his picture being taken. I plan on taking a picture with him and the bear for a while -- I wanted to do something similar with Emma, but just totally forgot with all the sleep deprivation. I have to say, I'm sleeping better now that he's out than when he was in. I had such bad sciatica that I never slept more than an hour and a half, even with the Ambien that the OB prescribed. With him, there are nights I actually get 3 hours of sleep in a row.

We got our tree this past weekend, and Emma was very excited (although it was "too cold" when we were picking it out and she didn't want to stay). She helped decorate the tree. It's an odd mish-mash of decorations but that's ok. It's like the trees of my youth. 

And here's our first family picture. It's the best of the bunch, which isn't saying much. I look a little bloated, LOL!  I have lost 20 pounds from my highest weight pregnant, and have another 30 to go before I'll feel comfortable. I'd actually like to lose 40 more, that would be 20 below my pre-pregnancy weight and more down to where my body feels ok. But we'll see -- breastfeeding will help. 

We're excited to see family soon! Hopefully we'll have lots of pictures to share from Kansas and Illinois. 

In One Week...

The world has changed a lot! I feel pretty good, but have been over-doing it every day. I really need to remind myself that just a week ago, I was actively trying to push Aaron out into the world!

*On Tuesday (the day after we got home), we all went out for a couple of hours shopping.

*On Wednesday, we went to the grocery store. We shopped while Emma played in the little play area that the store has (and it's supervised, which is awesome).

*On Thursday, we dropped Emma off at daycare (she goes one day a week) and then went to the pediatrician for Aaron's first appointment. Then we ran out to Bed Bath and Beyond and got some new picture frames for our new family pictures (when we get them taken). I also did 3 loads of laundry.

*On Friday, we went to the park for an hour and then later on, went out and got our Christmas tree.

*Today, we went and ran some errands at Sam's and WalMart (we got the Toys for Tots toys that we get every year), and I raked and bagged the rest of the leaves in the back yard.

Yes, I think I might be over-doing it.

Pictures

40 weeks (and yes, I was in active labor when I took this picture).

Going home! Outfit courtesy of Cousin Heather and my talented friend Heather

Hello world! 5 days old. 

At 5 Days Old

Aaron is back up to his birth weight of 8lb, 5oz (he was 7lb, 14oz when he left the hospital). Is eating and sleeping really well.

Emma is stepping up to her role as big sister. She's good at stroking his hair, patting his back and bringing him a paci when she thinks he needs one. :) She's also gotten to feed him once, which she thought was really neat.

I hope to add some new pictures later on this evening!

Aaron's Birth Story

It's already a little foggy, but I'll try to put everything down before I forget it.

At 2:30am on Aaron's due date, I had my first contraction in the middle of the night. I didn't get too excited because it didn't seem that strong and didn't last that long. Around 3:15am, I had another one, and the next one around 4:00am. About that time I came downstairs and fiddled around on the computer because I couldn't sleep, and then fell asleep around 4:30 until 6:30am. At 6:30am, I noticed I was having more contractions, but about 10-15 minutes apart. They were lasting between 20-30 seconds apiece, but inconsistent. At some point mid-morning, I had bloody show - got really excited, but the contractions stayed inconsistent even with that.

I am grateful that Aunt Ann had come to be with us, and she and Emma were getting along very well. After lunch, Ann took Emma out shopping and I labored at home for a while. Joe started keeping track of my contractions, and they were between 5-7 minutes apart, and lasting 55-60 seconds. By the time Emma & Ann got home, they were stronger and coming closer together. At 4-ish I was in enough pain that we decided to head to the hospital. I hugged Emma and Ann, and we headed out.

Luckily at home with the ball, I was able to labor without much significant pain but I was feeling pretty icky. So from first contraction to getting to the hospital, it was 14 hours.

Sadly enough when I got there, the nurse who checked me (who never introduced herself) said I was only 2 cm dilated. Which is exactly what I've been for the last 3 weeks. So she hooked me up to the monitor and said she'd be back. What she didn't say is that I needed to be hooked up for at least 20 minutes, if not longer, to get a "baseline" (whatever the heck that was supposed to be). I was pretty miserable at this point, and finally I told her I needed to labor OUT of the bed, not laying flat on my back. I was getting some bad back labor pains too, which was odd since Noodle was facing the right direction.

Finally they let me get out of the bed and I labored for a while, but again was feeling really bad at this point and started to ask if I could walk around. She finally un-hooked me and Joe and I made exactly one lap around the hallway/nurse's station before I came back and asked her to re-check me. I was 4cm at that point, so she said they could admit me. She took forever to get my IV in, and then they took me to a room down the hall.

I asked for a birthing ball, but the one they brought me was half-deflated, so that lasted all of one contraction. I was really having some horridly strong contractions, and by this time was asking for my epidural. What they didn't mention right away, but did later on was that they wanted an entire IV saline bag in me before they'd even call the anesthesiologist. Joe was trying to help by putting pressure on my back, stroking my hair, etc, but I was begging for the epidural. I was crying and moaning so loudly, and I have no shame to admit I about ripped off the arm of the hospital bed, rocking back and forth so hard when I was laboring. At some point my legs got really weak and I even dropped to the floor a couple of times.

Finally -- 30-40 minutes after they moved me to the room (about 2 hours after we got to the hospital), the anesthesiologist made it in and got the epidural in to me. I didn't realize it at the time, but they kicked Joe out of the room during the procedure. That bothered me after the fact, but I also know I was in a lot of pain to not even notice. Once the epidural was in, he gave me two immediate boluses of the medication, and the contractions started to be more tolerable. I was still pretty miserable though. And I started shaking... violently and uncontrollably. I wonder if it was part fatigue, part epidural, and just part hormones. The nurses brought warm blankets, and as I calmed down from the pain, it helped.

Joe came back and and held my hand, stroked my hair and talked me through the worst of it at this point. I remember another anesthesiologist coming in to give me a 3rd bolus since I was still feeling a significant amount of pain and discomfort. At that point, I was still moaning pretty loudly with contractions -- Joe put on some music for me, which helped, but it was still painful right around my buttocks and back. The original anesthesiologist came back and said he could give me a 4th bolus, which might or might not work, but that they had given me "a very large dose of epidural, larger than normal" so he wouldn't guarantee anything. I said that was fine, and glad I agreed because the 4th dose took all the pain away. I couldn't feel anything from the waist down, but that was totally ok at that point.

Then it was a matter of time. I was still having great contractions, and it didn't take any time at all to get up to 10cm. They called the OB resident, who broke my water and then the nurses had me do a couple of trial pushes. When I made great movement getting him down, they called the OB on call from the practice (Dr. D'Angelo) and she headed in from home. I started pushing around 9pm, and thought he was moving quickly but he really was coming down slowly.

One difference between Aaron's labor and Emma's -- the nurses and Dr. D worked at stretching me with each contraction and push, and he really made good movement (all things considered). I think what took so long is that my contractions slowed down, so they ended up giving me pitocin to speed things along. This time I had them bring the mirror on the ceiling down so I could see what was going on. It was amazing to see his head get closer and closer with each push. And then finally, at 10:54pm, with one gigantic push, his head came out and the rest of him followed. They laid him on me and let the cord stop pulsing, and then Joe cut the cord. 20 1/2 hours of labor from that first contraction.

While they were cleaning him up, I noticed that his cry was wet-sounding. They had called the NICU nurses just in case because Dr. D saw that there was meconium around his head when I was pushing. I'm glad they did -- he was struggling to breathe, even though he pinked up well and his O2 stats were fine. We did some skin-to-skin time which helped a little, but he was still pretty raspy. So the NICU nurses went back and forth about taking him up, and finally made the decision to take him up to the unit. Thankfully enough, on the elevator ride up while using the CPAP, he seemed to fully recover. Joe texted me from the NICU and said they were going to keep him and monitor him, because they had already alerted the staff. The respiratory therapist, at least 6 nurses and the NICU nurse practitioner were all working together to make sure he was ok.

In the meantime, Dr. D. knew my history and checked to make sure the placenta came out fully. She worked to get some membranes out that had stuck, but she really did a great job making sure I wouldn't have any complications. I didn't lose that much blood, in my opinion, and the placenta and umbilical cord looked really healthy. Yes --I asked to see it! Although I couldn't see much in the little container that they had it in.

I had to stay down in the labor and delivery for 2 full hours before they took me up. After Joe knew that Aaron was ok, he came back down and stayed with me. We got settled in our room, and then around 2am I finally got to go in to the NICU to see my son. He tried to nurse but was too sleepy, and then around 4 am they called me again to try and feed him, and he latched on like a champ.

He got discharged from NICU around 2pm the next day (11/25) and stayed with us for most of the day and night. I had them take him to the nursery twice, just so I could try and get some extra rest.

Before I forget -- we had wheeled him down around 2pm directly from NICU to our room. Not 2 minutes after he was in our room, Emma and Aunt Ann came to visit! I caught it all on video, even though we didn't know exactly when they would come. Emma was so sweet with her little brother, and then she got distracted by the hospital snacks and the fact that the TV was on (Football Sunday). They left after about 45 minutes, but it was good to see them.

Even though by Ohio Law, we had 48 hours, I really didn't want to wait that long so after lunch on Monday the 26th, we bailed. All the paperwork was signed, and we gathered up our things and left. I felt a million times better physically than I did after Emma's birth -- I think a sign of a better labor/delivery process, and the fact I didn't have a big chunk of placenta still stuck in my uterus. Overall the nurses were great (with the exception of the ones in triage), although it wasn't really the "cushy" hospital that everyone makes St. Ann's out to be.

About 2 hours after we got home, Aunt Ann headed back so she could be there for Uncle Kirk's surgery (reconstructive ankle). She's my hero -- she really was amazing while she was here, and we're so grateful to have had her for the time we did. We've had a wonderful couple of days with him home. He's a good sleeper so far, a great eater, and just sweet. Emma has done a great job adjusting too.

My milk came in today, I'm tired but not totally exhausted, and we're finding a way to make our new family of four work together. Joe has the name of a good urologist who will do the vasectomy, and we're totally done.

So this is our family. No longer do I need to try to conceive, worry about ovulation, time intercourse, freak out about miscarriage, or panic when I bleed. We can focus on just experiencing our little family grow. :)

Pictures to come!

Emma meets Aaron

Emma's little brother

Meet Aaron:

8lbs, 5oz of trouble. He spent the night in the NICU because he was working a little too hard to breathe--his O2 sats were fine, but his respiration rate was too high. By the time they wheeled him up to the NICU, though, he was fine. X-rays showed he had some fluid in his lungs that took a while to clear. So we're just waiting for him to be discharged from the NICU.

40 weeks!

We made it! And like his sister, I woke up in the middle of the night on EDD with some contractions. It was 2:30am when I felt the first one, 3:14am for the second.... they're about every 30-45 minutes. So not often, but strong. I hope this is the real thing -- I didn't really want to be induced! :) I'll keep everyone posted.

Big girl is growing like a weed

A quick Thanksgiving post/update.  We're still waiting for Emma's little brother to join us--he seems determined not to be early.  But if he's not out by Sunday (the 25th, 1 day past due), we're going in to induce.

You'd think the yummy turkey, cornbread pudding, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, or rolls would have enticed the little bugger, but no luck yet.  We're tempted to try standing in a Black Friday line, just to tempt him into coming out at an inopportune time.

Or maybe standing in line and spilling a cup of water in front of everyone & pretending that it's Noodle's water breaking, just to see if that'll get us moved up to the front of the line.

The big reason for the post, though, is to share some surprising Emma news & post a picture.  Just for fun, we measured Emma today, and found that she's grown more than an inch in the past two months.  Our big girl is up to 38" now, and by our marks & dates on the wall, she has grown about two inches since July.

And without any further ado, a picture of our soon-to-be-big sister, playing in the leaves as we were raking with Aunt Ann on Thanksgiving Day (a balmy 62 degrees at picture time).

The Last Week

This is the last week I will ever be pregnant. It's bittersweet -- I've enjoyed being pregnant and love feeling Noodle inside of me, but it's been a challenging pregnancy physically. We'll never get pregnant again. But it's ok, our family is complete now. We're excited to meet Noodle.

I'm 39w1d in this picture above. He's definitely dropped from the prior week even more-- my sciatica is better, but he's on my bladder big time! Last week at our OB appointment they estimated his weight to easily be over 8 pounds -- he's a big boy too. 

OB appointment on Wednesday, and I know she'll induce me next Monday if I haven't gone into labor before then. I think I will -- I'm feeling like it's time. Aunt Ann will be here tomorrow, Joe's job interview will be over tomorrow afternoon, and I really don't have any urgency to be "home" on Thanksgiving. We can always cook the turkey later. 

Emma has been such a big girl helper. She helped me make home-made cinnamon rolls on Saturday, helped clean up, and just generally has been such a sweet kid. She's almost 100% potty-trained too, which has been really nice. I can't believe she's almost 3 years old! 

I may get one more chance to post, but if not, next time I do -- our Noodle will be here! 

Mommy - Daughter Night

Before Noodle comes, I wanted Emma to have a special night alone with just the two of us. So we splurged (after Joe and I culled through lots of things we aren't using and did a big Craig'sList, Freecycle, and Amazon-ing and got a little money) and I reserved a night at a hotel that had a kid-friendly swimming pool, free breakfast and big beds. It also had a mini-fridge, which was perfect. It wasn't too far from home, but far enough away that it felt like we were getting "away" from home.

Emma was so excited! She couldn't wait to pack, and she talked about it all week long. We packed swimsuits, clothes, snacks, drinks, and some movies to watch. We went Saturday afternoon, got there and settled in, and then went down to the pool area -- which had a slide and some other things. Here she is, posing on the bed.

We don't have a king-sized bed, so this was really a special little treat for the two of us (especially as huge as I'm getting). Unfortunately the pool area was SO loud (between the fountains they had and just a loud ventilation system), she covered her ears and didn't want to stay very long. So we went back up, dried off, got in our PJ's (around 5pm or so) and then watched movies. We ordered pizza in, and snuggled. It was heaven. 

Both of us crashed around 9pm, although it was a rough night. The heat/air system was also horribly loud --it woke both of us up every time it turned on, which was about every 30 minutes. So finally at 2am, I turned the entire system off. Then we got some good sleep, and snuggled most of the night. This is what I got to wake up next to..... who wouldn't want to snuggle with such a cutie. 

Daddy drove up and joined us for breakfast, and also brought some ear plugs that were safe for the pool. So we went back down and were there for another 40 minutes or so before she decided she was done. It would have been nice except it really started to get crowded. But overall, what a wonderful night and special time with my little girl. 

It was 70 degrees today, sunny and gorgeous. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful day -- last one we'll have for a while, as the temp is going to drop and it'll rain all day tomorrow. But we got a chance to rake leaves, and Daddy mowed the lawn for probably the last time this year. Emma crawled into a pile of leaves and said she was a "squirrel." So here's my squirrel girl. :) 

I'm exhausted, but happy. I don't know if I'm going to make it to 40 weeks this time -- I'm 38w1d today, and was 2cm dilated on Wednesday, and started losing some of my mucous plug today (sorry for the TMI). I'm ready to meet this little guy, but I want him to stay in there until at least the 15th, Aunt Anne can't make it until after then!

Halloween

Emma had a great time with Halloween this year. On Tuesday the 30th, we went to one of my nursing homes and she dressed as a ladybug. She had been a sock monkey earlier at the zoo, so decided she wanted her "other" costume. On Halloween night, she did the ladybug costume again. She had a great time, and came home with a huge bounty of candy -- despite it being cold, windy and rainy.

We let her eat 3 little packages of smarties, one package of twizzlers and one tootsie roll. Then at 3:30am on 11/1, she started throwing up. Poor thing! We thought she had over-done it on candy, but she proceeded to puke 6 more times and have some diarrhea. I think she caught a stomach bug at the nursing home. She's all recovered at this point. You'd never know she was going to feel bad by the great time she had!

Here's my Halloween "costume" -- I'm a pumpkin (ha ha ha).

Here's my ladybug! Chewing on her Tootsie Roll. Silly girl.... she wouldn't really stay still for my camera, so this is the best picture. 

It's been a really, really long time since I uploaded any videos, so here's my ladybug in action. She's such a ham. I've got lots of videos but just haven't uploaded them since it takes so long to get them up to YouTube.

37w2d

Technically, I'm full-term! Although I still want Noodle to stay in there for a couple of more weeks. I really am trying to enjoy the most of my last pregnancy.

Here I am at 37w1d with Noodle.

For reference, here I am at 38 weeks with Emma. I'm definitely much bigger, in my opinion (and heavier too) this time around.

Coming To The End...

Can't believe that we're in the home stretch now. Today I'm 36w2d, and many people (although not the OB) think I'm going to go early. Possibly because I'm feeling massive. Here's a picture for you to judge for yourself.

Sorry for the dirty mirror. It's really the least of my worries! We have to put together the bassinet and re-arrange our bedroom to make sure it all fits, but other than that, everything seems ready. Noodle's room is ready, the diapers are washed, the toys are out of the crawl space, and Emma is really excited. 

We had time to go to Hallowzeen in Cincinnati last weekend to visit our friend Mary and her daughter and husband, and then this weekend we went to Boo at the Zoo in Columbus, and met another friend and her daughter and triplets there! Emma fell in love with her daughter and they held hands the whole time. It was adorable.

We'll trick-or-treat at one of my nursing homes tomorrow night, as long as the weather isn't too nasty (thanks Hurricane Sandy) and might not do much for the actual Halloween. 

Between now and my EDD (11/24/12), I need to finish getting my classes ready for my substitute, catch up with grading, do a million things to wrap up my professional obligations, and pack my hospital bag. I'm grateful to Aunt Ann, who has agreed to come out and watch Emma while we're in the hospital. 

I think we're going to get to meet this little guy. As much as I've enjoyed being pregnant (although the sciatica is killing me -- not sleeping well and in PT to try and get the pain down), I'm ready to be done and just focus on being a Mom. 

October 15th

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I'm grateful to have the living child that I have, and incredibly grateful to be pregnant with our second, but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't forget the 9 babies that I have lost. I miss you, little ones.

October

October is one of my favorite months, not just because it's my birthday month, but because the weather changes to fall and it feels more comfortable. This time around it's a good month because it means we're nearer to meeting Noodle in person -- although I'm physically very uncomfortable, I'm trying to enjoy these last 6 weeks (or less).

Some pictures to share!

Here I am at 34w1d

My big girl and I on my 40th birthday! She's "helping" me eat my carrot cake (e.g., eating all the icing and leaving the cake for me). I can't believe she's almost 3 years old now! 

YAY!

A little TMI, but Emma pee-pee'd in the potty 8 times today!! She got to wear undies and she had no pee-pee accidents. The poo decided to sneak out on her twice, but still... we're thrilled. I think she was excited too. 8 stickers on her pee chart!

Domestic Times

We've had a run of very domestic things around the house. Our tomatoes finally ripened, so I started canning. This is the first batch, and I now have 10 quarts and 2 pints of tomatoes in the basement.

I've also been sewing -- which has been really nice. I finished up a scrub top for Cousin HaHa, and with the left over fabric from that, I made Emma two skirts! She loved them, so I found more scrap fabric and made a third skirt. Then I decided she needed an apron, so I found an easy pattern and made her an apron and matching chef's hat. She loves it!

She's been helping me cook and bake, and she even wants to help with dishes. It's adorable. I love my little helper girl so much. She's adjusting well to being home with Daddy, although the one day a week in daycare actually seems to be throwing her for a loop. It's such a big change, especially with Noodle coming soon.

Speaking of Noodle, I'll be 32 weeks along with him this weekend. I have no idea where the time went! Here I am at 30 weeks. And yes, looking tired -- I've got some bad sciatica and am not sleeping much. But it's worth it. He's our last. We're definitely never going to try again. The pain of losing all those other babies was just too much.

Kansas Trip

We just got back from a fun trip to Kansas... the trip itself was rough, but the visit with Grandpa Miller, Uncle Chuck, Aunt Bobbi, Uncle Rich, and Cousins LaLa and HaHa went awesome. Emma got to pet a baby cow and help bottle feed it, chase some chickens, get up in multiple tractors and honked the horn in the combine, and rode in Grandpa's Rhino (wearing her Sunday dress, by the way). On the way home, we also stopped by the World's Largest Ball of Twine (see pictures below) and went up to the top of the St. Louis Arch. My daughter has NO fear, that's for sure.

She really enjoyed herself, and once again, I was wishing we were closer to Kansas. I miss my family tremendously. Everyone enjoyed feeling Noodle kick and seeing me pregnant. I only wish my Mom were here to see me.... she would have had such a blast with all of us this time.

Cincinnati Zoo

Cousin HaHa was in Cincinnati for a tennis tournament, so we drove down to see her and got to hang out at the zoo with her for most of the day. Emma was really, really, really happy to see her Cousin.

Growing, Growing, Growing...

Our garden is finally producing! We have beans, some tomatoes, yellow squash, some zucchini and we finally got a little bit of broccoli. Emma was really proud of her bounty.




And Noodle (and subsequently Mommy) is growing. We're at 24 1/2 weeks in this picture, 25 weeks tomorrow. Viability! I'm so thrilled. He's an active little guy.

21 Weeks! And Cousin HaHa

So Cousin HaHa (Heather) came to visit us for a whole 2 weeks. Emma absolutely fell in love and worshiped her cousin. She just loved having her here, and misses her very much. We had a great time. Here they are, coloring a picture together.

Cousin HaHa also got to see the baby! Little Noodle is a BOY! We're thrilled and beyond excited. I have no idea what to expect, so I'm sure it will be a very interesting experience.

Today I'm 21 weeks along... only 3 weeks until viability. Emma has gotten to feel her little brother kick a few times, and she really enjoys knowing she is going to be a big sister.

I may not do a whole lot of posting, but I'll try my best. Things are very hectic but good. The garden is growing, we did some landscaping around the house, and have generally done some re-organizing. Life is good.

Big Girl Loves the Zoo!

Emma pretending she's a turtle at the Cincinnati Zoo

Emma hugging the Polar Bear at the Zoo