#boymom

Since I'm actually on the blog.  I'll post a video that we find hilarious!  This was a week or so ago.  I found E hitching a ride with his big brother!

These boys never cease to amaze me and usually provide a good dose of daily laughter with their antics!  I can only imagine what the future will hold around here with these 2 brothers!

The Camp Gyno

So, since this blog was all about infertility and TMI moments, I thought I'd share what my RE's office posted on their Fb page tonight.  Maybe this has made the Today Show and talk show rounds already, but my TV viewing is restricted to Bubble Guppies and my DVR'd shows.

I thought this was hilarious and deserved to be shared with a crowd who could appreciate it!



I die.  Seriously, this is so funny to me!  But it also makes me laugh that there is apparently a monthly box of treats geared towards anyone and anything now.  Why didn't I think of that?!  At our house we don't get a box of kiddie treats ala Citrus Lane, but we get a box of pup treats from Wag In A Box, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa B.  And now, you can get HelloFlo.  Redic.

makes me laugh

I'm on cycle 2 post E.  My first one lasted 37 days and I never saw a positive OPK.  But I shall continue just so we can know with 100% certainty we really need to go back to Cinci to make Baby W3.  So, I'm about to run out of my OPKs.  I've been using Target brand.  And its made me laugh the other times I'm bought them, but today I thought I'd share.  Do you see what comes with the OPKs?  A teeny tiny little plastic cup to pee in.

Cracks me up!  They couldn't afford to give a bigger cup?!  Needless to say, I usually trash the one that comes with the kit and use my own plastic cup that's slightly bigger.

If I were having a regular cycle, I should get a positive OPK sometime this weekend.  I'm not holding my breathe!  We've had a baby overload this summer with a few more to come between now and fall.  Since we are using these to see if we can make a baby on our own, we're ready for #3 if we were blessed, but if we can't on our own, RCW has agreed to have a legit conversation about heading back to our RE once we return from our vacation in late August!

Dogs, Falls and Quiet Babies

Last week RCW was out of town, again.  I've gotten pretty good at the single parenting thing with the boys and the pups.  But one thing I'm not good at (yet) is first aid.  I'm the kid who never had a broken bone, never had stitches.  I married a man who probably went to the ER every other year and that extended well into our courtship and marriage!  Our boys are rough and tumble.  Our dogs are high energy.  We've also encouraged the two to interact.  Thus begins the story of last Wednesday afternoon.

I was feeding E his afternoon bottle.  C was happily playing on the floor in front of me.  At some point he decided he wanted to play with Sonny, our youngest male husky.  These 2 are buds and play together often.  C throws a ball, Sonny chases it.  Sonny chews a bone and C grabs for it.  On this particular afternoon they decided their game of choice was tug of war with a rope toy.  Unfortunately, C was on the losing end of that game.  He fell and hit his chin on the corner of his IKEA table.  Now, C falls a lot.  See above, he's rough and tumble!  This time though, he was screaming bloody murder.  He wouldn't get up.  He just sat on the floor, screaming, crying and I saw his chin was bleeding.

Video of C and Sonny playing. 
Not the Wednesday in question, but just to give you an idea of their friendship.

E had just finished 6 ounces in a matter of minutes.  He hadn't burped yet, but C needed his momma.  E's car seat was sitting right beside us on top of the dog's cage where I left it when we'd come home from our morning out and about.  I immediately put E in the car seat so he'd be semi upright to help his reflux issues and went to C.  I scooped C up and rushed him to the kitchen counter where I grabbed ice and paper towels for his bleeding chin.

I then started speed dialing RCW.  Did C need stitches?  Did I need to pack up everyone to go to the ER?  How do I know when a cut is bad enough to need stitches?!  RCW wasn't answering his cell.  After the 5th or 6th time getting his voicemail, I called our pediatrician.  My question was, "My toddler fell and cut his chin, HOW do I know if he needs stitches?"  The nurse's response was, "Take him to local children's hospital, they'll have glue to use, not stitches.  Good luck.  Bye!"  That was NOT the answer I needed.  I did not want to load everyone up if C didn't need stitches.  I called RCW again.  Nothing.  I started texting him pictures.  Nothing.  I called my very best almost sister in VA who had dealt with stitches on her little a couple years ago.  Nothing.  I called a very dear momma friend in TN with an 18 month old little boy.  Nothing.  I tried RCW again.  Nothing.  I was about to call my brother who had just taken my nephew for stitches last week when I remembered I had a work cell number for RCW. 

I dialed and a man answered.  I was 99% sure it was RCW and I just went off a mile a minute.  "Where were you?  Does C need stitches?  He fell.  It won't stop bleeding?  Why didn't you answer your $!*%ing phone?!  Help me, help me, help me!"  Somewhere in a far corner of my head I wondered if it was RCW who had answered as their work cells are pretty communal.  Thank goodness it was my hubs!

He apologized, his personal cell had been switched to vibrate in his pocket.  He looked at pictures and said C didn't need stitches.  Then he said I'd been making the situation worse by constantly putting ice and paper towels on and off of it.  I wasn't letting the blood clot.  During the good 15 to 20 minutes of trying to find someone to tell me if he needed stitches, the cut never stopped bleeding, which was what was freaking me out the most.  He said to get a bandaid on C's chin, turn on an episode of Bubble Guppies and put pressure on his chin and call RCW back if it had bled through the bandaid after the 20 minute cartoon.

I scooped up C and headed back into the living room.  During all of this E had been quiet.  I mean, he was cooing and making his baby gurgles, but never once cried or fussed.  At some point during all of it, I actually thought to myself, "Thank God E is behaving right now so I can take care of C.".  

As C and I turned the corner back into the living room this is what I saw...

Yup.  My quiet happy 3.5 month old was hanging off the edge of the dog's cage by his head.  (!!!!!!!)  No, I had not strapped him in.  He often sits in his carseat and hangs out.  Actually, he does it 2-3 times a week at MyGym.  Had this ever happened before?  No.  Nothing like it.  Now I was really thanking God and counting my blessings that E hadn't fallen to the ground.  E and I had someone watching out for us that afternoon!  RCW doesn't fully believe E did this on his own.  RCW's theory is that one of the dogs jumped up to look at him since he was sitting on top of their communal cage and tipped the seat and then E wiggled, scooted and kicked his way toward the edge.  We'll never know what happened, but I'm just glad this Wednesday afternoon didn't end up at the ER with a bumped baby head, or worse!

After I snapped a picture, I mean come on, I had to document the little dare devil's antics or no one would believe me, I got E settled into a safer seat while I tended to C's chin.  By the end of our Bubble Guppies episode, all was well with both boys.  E was ready to cuddle and drift to sleep and C was rocking a bandaid on his chin and back to playing.  And this momma learned not to trust E in his carseat on top of anything without being strapped in and what constitutes stitches or not!  Just a fairly normal day around our house!

Scaling a 6 Foot Fence With a Toddler on Your Hip

Yup.

The title of the post, it happened today.  It was my real life.  It was one of those moments where I wished I had a reality crew following me around to capture the insanity.  If I could have figured out how to take a selfie while climbing over our 6 foot privacy fence with C on my hip, I would've.  I'm sure it was a sight!

But let me back up to the beginning.

This morning started off fine.  We all went out to run errands.  Michael's, Target, Post Office.  We got home and got E fed and down for his afternoon nap.  I decided since its 95 degrees here today I'd take C out to our above ground backyard pool before his lunch and nap.  We got ready and headed out the back door.  And in hindsight, let me just say thank God I took my phone!  I only brought it to a) know what time it was and b) possibly snap a picture to send RCW.  C and I splashed around and had a great time, but then his bottom lip started to shiver so we got out and came up on the deck to dry off.  I noticed the dogs were going bonkers at the back door, but didn't really think anything of it.  Sonny and Loucie typically jump up and down at the back door.  When we're out, they want out and when we're in, they want in.  We dried off and around 12:30pm I began to gather our stuff and come inside for lunch.  I turned the doorknob and it wouldn't budge.

I tried again.  And again.  And again.

You see, our back door is the kind where you have to unlock it to open it.  The doorknob HAD to be unlocked in order for us to come outside.  But now, the door was locked.  The only thing I could guess was with the dogs jumping they had a one in a million shot to lock the door and lock us outside.  I begin to slightly panic because I was locked out of the house with C and E sleeping inside (thankfully I had the monitor too so I knew he was fine).

I called RCW, who is out of town working today.  Frantically, I began to tell him I was locked out and help me and how was I going to get back inside?  I was stuck in our back yard!  Because you may recall I'm paranoid and our 6 foot tall privacy fence, which has 3 different gates, are all secured with a lock.  A lock that only opens with a key.  A key that was inside the house.

RCW mentioned me climbing over the fence.  I just laughed.  How the heck was I suppose to climb over a 6 foot fence?  Does he know me?!  But he mentioned it because he usually hides a key to the Tahoe on the Tahoe and thought if I could get out of the yard, to the Tahoe, find the Tahoe key, open the Tahoe to use the garage door opener to open the garage then I could pop the lock to the kitchen door from the garage because RCW has popped open that locked door before.

Then he asked if I had really pushed and pounded on the door.  Yup.  And yup.  So hard I was worried I was going to break the glass. 

Then he told me we had 2 options - 1) break the door in and have a broken back door or 2) call a locksmith.

At this point I was searching the deck for anything I thought I could use to break in the house.  Ya know, the old credit card trick?  I have a super old ghetto phone.  It has a flimsy back battery cover.  I thought maybe I could use that to pop the lock and get inside.  I accidentally hung up on RCW while getting the back cover off.  And thinking I'd just pop the lock, I mean RCW has done it before with a credit card, I could too, I started jimmying the thing in the door.  I was pretty proud of myself for even thinking of this idea and getting it wedged into the door.  I kept wiggling it up and down.  And at one point I hit something and I thought to myself it was weird because it felt like the deadbolt was locked, but how could that be?!  I called RCW back to tell him what was going on.  He explained how to do the trick, but I wasn't having any luck getting the door open.  He told me to keep trying and he was going to call a locksmith.  As I kept trying I ended up wiggling the cover so far into the door, I couldn't get it back out.

There went that grand idea.  

Next up, getting out of the yard.

I didn't want to risk getting C out of the yard without me so I thought the safest bet was to lock him on the deck with his climber slide and some balls.  Thankfully, our deck has a gate with a lock so he couldn't get off of it!  I locked him up there and went down to the fence.  I pulled over a patio chair from beside the pool to stand on.  As I stood there and looked over the fence I was very hesitant.  Then I decided to bring another patio chair over and put it on the other side of the fence to step down on to.  6 feet is a long jump when you aren't exactly athletic!  It was also at this point that I was super annoyed we hadn't brought the pool ladder to the back yard because hello, a ladder would have been helpful as it stood taunting me beside our house on the other side of the fence.

I climbed into the chair.  I then carefully balanced my foot on one of the fence's horizontal support beams and pushed myself over.  Have you have climbed over a fence?  You know that moment when you're straddling either side?  Its like what the heck, why did I do this?  Oh and please remember I'm doing this in a freaking bath suit without shoes on!  I got both legs over and felt around for the patio chair to steady myself.  I was done and I was out!  Hurray! 

I called RCW.  He told me I shouldn't have done it and left C on the other side especially since a locksmith would be at our house within 5 minutes.  But oh well, here we were.  Where was the Tahoe key?!

He told me where to look and lo and behold it wasn't there.  It had been removed when we were hooking up hitches and things to make the trip back to VA in May and never been replaced.  

Now I was in the front yard.  My 10 week old was locked inside.  And my 16 month old was locked on the deck in the back yard.  But a locksmith was en route!

I told RCW I could use the pool ladder to get back over the fence and get C.  I pulled it over and then wasn't sure what to do next.  The pool ladder wasn't high enough to do much and I didn't have the support beams to use to climb back over.  RCW suggested I dangle the ladder over the fence and climb up and down that way.  So I did.

And at one point I was sure I was going to break something - me or the deck - because as all my weight was on the ladder it started to wobble since it was just hanging over the fence and nothing was touching the ground.  I got back into the back yard - hurray!  All the while C was either playing happily or watching his crazy momma.  I collected C, the baby monitor and C's towel and went back to the makeshift ladder escape.  

This time I wasn't sure what to do.  I wrapped the baby monitor in the towel and wedged it in between fence posts.  I had my cell phone shoved under my boob in my bathing suit so it wouldn't fall, especially since it was currently missing the back cover.  I had C on my hip.  Luckily, he's old enough to understand 'hold on'.  So he held on to me and my bathing suit, pretty sure there may have been some flashing going on during this escapade, as I held him with my left arm and climbed up onto the wobbly hanging over the fence ladder using a patio chair for a boost with my right arm.  Again, I reached the top with C and just wasn't sure what to do next.  The ladder was shaking under me and I had C grasping to me.  I didn't trust myself to be able to climb down without hurting one or both of us, so I made the decision to lower C by his arms into the patio chair.  I'll go ahead and admit, the chair wasn't on steady ground because our yard is full of bumps and mounds and while C was perfectly fine, he did slide off the chair onto the ground and started to cry.  I quickly climbed down and scooped him up.  As I was consoling him that he was fine, I heard a man's voice.  I turned around and a young guy was standing in our side yard.  He said, "Ma'am, are you locked out?  I think your husband called..."  Um, yes.  The lady in a bathing suit with a toddler climbing a pool ladder over her 6 foot fence would be the one on the street who is locked out.  But thanks for checking!

After the fact, here's a picture of the fence and make shift escape using the pool ladder and patio chair, which fell during my final escape!

By the time we got to the front door, C had stopped crying and I was just happy someone was going to get me back inside our house!

He told me it was his dad's company, but he helps out.  He said this to explain that it may take him a few minutes to pop the locks on our door since he wasn't the expert, but still learning.  Within a couple minutes and few wiggles and jiggles and accidentally turning his tools the wrong way, he had unlocked the front door's doorknob.  But, you guys know me!  The deadbolt was locked too.  He started messing with the deadbolt and just couldn't get it.  He said it was really rusty and asked if we used it frequently.  I told him everyday, to which he couldn't believe how stuck the lock was.  I told him that RCW had mentioned if we couldn't get in the front door, he could break into the Tahoe and we could open the garage and he could pop the doorknob on our kitchen door.

He kept trying the deadbolt, but eventually said he'd try the other route.

He got different tools and was able to unlock the Tahoe.  However, because he essentially broke into it the alarm started going off on the Tahoe.  But we got the garage door open and he was able to then pop the lock on our kitchen door pretty quickly.

We were back inside!  Yay!!

I thanked him profusely and we said our goodbyes.  Once inside I looked at the backdoor.  The door that started this entire mess.  And sure enough, there was my phone cover almost on the inside AND THE DEADBOLT WAS LOCKED!  I don't have a clue how the dogs managed that task, again one in a million.  I checked on E, who was sound asleep and gave C lunch.

Showing deadbolt locked, phone cover wedged in the door and DSLR on deck.  Good thing we still have our old point and shoot so I could document evidence of the fiasco!

E happily sleeping through all the excitement!

C eating lunch unfazed by our adventure.

All in all, both boys were totally unfazed by today's adventure.  But from now on I'll take my house key with me whenever I go outside and any future babies better watch out since apparently its my thing to get locked outside while my baby is inside!  (Go here for the story of getting locked out of my parents house when C was just a few weeks old!)

Time to Play Boy or Girl!!

Today I am 33 weeks pregnant!  We have 7 weeks, or less to go!  Eek!  I'm so ready and excited to meet Baby W2.  But I'm also trying to savor these last few weeks of just having C and being a momma to 1 as well, but that is a post for another day.

As we found out that RCW's sister is having a girl at the end of June, we are all anxiously waiting to find out if Baby W2 is a boy or a girl....

Just like with C, we've set up a website where you can enter your guess on sex, birthday, weight and length and you can even let us know who made the guess. And if you guess correctly on everything, you'll get major bragging rights from us!  My sorority sister, who also is our go to for cakes and cupcakes, guessed almost everything right on cue for C.  She told me when she brought C's birthday cupcakes that she thinks its a boy again this time.  Just putting it out there!

Here is the link to the site: http://www.expectnet.com/games/BabyW2-2013 - I had issues when posting this with C so in case there are problems and it takes you to main page, just type BabyW2-2013 into the search box on the upper left of the screen to find our page. Sorry!! Or try clicking the box below, it seems to be working - at the moment!

And here is some background info to help you make your educated guesses!

We'll start with a personal history:

I was born on December 20, weighing in at 8 lbs, 12 oz and measuring 21 inches long. *Updated from info from my mom: I was due on December 13 and didn't want to come out. When she went for her weekly appointment on December 20, the doctor induced her.*

RCW was born on September 3, weighing in at 9 lbs and measuring 21 inches long. *Updated from info from RCW's mom: RCW was overdue and if his mom didn't have him by her next scheduled appointment, they were going to induce, but he arrived before induction was necessary. Albeit, still later than his due date.*

C was born on February 15, 2012 at 38 weeks.  He weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 20 inches long.  His due date was February 29, 2012, but we had to induce 2 weeks early due to preeclampsia.  From the induction, there was a placenta abruption which lead to an emergency c-section as C's heartrate was not stable and declining.

Baby W2's official due date - 40 weeks from my last period - is April 11, 2013. However, we have scheduled a c-section for Monday, April 8, 2013 at 11:30am.

RCW believes Baby W2 is a girl, just like he thought with C.  I have been telling myself its a girl, but my gut from the beginning of the pregnancy says boy.

Now for the Old Wive's Tales:

1. Carrying High or Low - High is a girl, Low is a boy. - Baby W2 is low! - BOY (same as C)

2. Heartbeat - 140+ is a girl, under 140 is a boy. - Baby W2 has been all over the place!  The last few appointments, the heart rate has alternated each visit between 160 and 140!  It wants to keep us on our toes! Here are the numbers and dates: September 14 - 180 bpm, November 1 - 150s bpm, November 30 - 153 bpm, December 6 - 150s bpm, January 8 - 164 bpm, January 21 - 140s bpm, February 4 - 160s bpm and most recently February 18 - 140s bpm. That is an average bpm of 154 which would indicate... GIRL (same as C) (side note: C's average bpm was 154 when I did this in January 2012 too!)

3. Sweet or Salty - Sweet cravings mean its a girl, salty ones lean towards boy. - I have been all about some sweets!  Lots of sugar and then a lot more!  Chocolate, anything chocolate, even just chocolate chips, is my chosen poison. It is actually pretty out of control!  When I don't want sweets, I want carbs.  Salty is not in my vocab right now!  GIRL (same as C)

4. Mayan Legends - Legend has it that the Mayans determined a baby's sex by looking at the mother's age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it's a girl. If one's even and one's odd, it's a boy. - My age at conception was 29 and the year of conception was 2012, so odd and even means BOY (same as C)

5. Key Test - This is one for a friend to try, place a key in front of your preggo friend and ask her to pick it up. If she grabs it by the narrow part, she's in for sugar and spice and all that. If she picks it up by the round part, it's snips and snails. - I placed our house key on the table.  Left it and later walked by to pick it up.  Just like with C, I picked it up by the big round part.  I'm pretty sure a lot of these are habits that have nothing to do with being pregnant with a boy or girl or not! BOY (same as C)

6. Pimples - They say baby girls steal their mom's beauty, so if you're breaking out its a girl, if you're clear of zits its a boy. - My face has been breaking out.  Nothing horrible, but noticeable to me.  This in addition to higher heart rate has made me think maybe it is a girl!  With C though I had breakouts on my neck, shoulders and back! GIRL (different from C)
 
7. Wedding Ring Test - Pop off your wedding ring and tie it to a string. Hang it over your belly. If it swings in a circle, a little guy's in your future. If it goes back and forth, you've got a girl. - Just like last time, I put my wedding band on a piece of yarn and hung it over my belly.  My ring started swinging in a circle! BOY (same as C)

8. Morning Sickness - If you had horrible morning sickness in the first trimester, or still do its a girl. If you didn't deal with nausea, its a boy. - So to be honest, I had some nausea in the very early weeks, but my RE and RCW and I believe that is because my HCG numbers were so high since we had a vanishing twin.  Once my HCG levels evened out, I didn't have any morning sickness BOY (same as C)

9. Mathematical formula - Age of the mother when she got pregnant + her month of birth + month of conception = if result is odd it is a boy if it is even it is a girl. - My age at conception 29 + my birth month of December 12 + conception month of July 7 = 48. 48 is even so GIRL (same as C)

10. The Gypsy’s Formula- Age of the mother + the month in which she got pregnant. If result is even it is a boy, if it is odd, girl. - I'm assuming age of mother is like all others and means age at conception so 29 + month of conception being July 7 = 36. 36 is even so BOY (same as C)

11. The Oil Test- Pour a few drops of oil on the top part of the belly. If oil drips quickly it is a boy. If it drips slowly, it is a girl. - I did this again this time.  With C, I said it dripped really quickly, I wish I could remember.  This morning it seemed to slowly roll down.  I tried with 4 different drops, all in different locations and it each one seemed pretty slow to drip down! GIRL (different from C)

12. Nature’s language - It is believed that nature communicates with humans through forms. In this case, if the mother’s womb is round, it is a girl. If it is pointed, it is a boy. - Just like with C, I'm still not really sure what this means! My belly is super round and I don't notice any pointedness so we'll assume GIRL (same as C)

13. Sleep Position - Pay attention to which way you lay down in bed tonight. If you prefer sleeping on your left side, you'll have a boy. Right side, girl. - With C I gravitated to sleeping on my right side, but this time, while I still flip flop back and forth often, I prefer to sleep on my left.  BOY (different from C)

14. Soft or Dry Hands - If your hands are dry during pregnancy, you are having a boy; soft - expect a girl. - My hands have been super dry, but it is winter and I feel like I'm doing a lot more dishes by hand this year than last (thanks sippy cups!).  But I really have noticed how dry my hands are and putting on lotion all the time.  BOY (different from C)

15. Food Cravings - Your favorite pregnancy foods may tell you what sex the baby is. If you're craving citrus while pregnant, you're having a girl. - While I sometimes want grape juice with a passion, I have not been craving citrus or fruits this round again which points to BOY (same as C)

16. Graceful or Clumsy - If you feel as though you're gliding through the day, you'll have a girl. Stumbling? It's a boy. - Just like with C, I don't think I'm very clumsy, although I don't know that I'd characterize myself as graceful either! I haven't fallen or tripped or dropped much of anything though so we'll say graceful and GIRL (same as C)

17. Face Weight Gain - If your face gets fuller, it means you're having a girl. - Since the heart rate and pimples pointed to girl, I kept waiting to 'explode' everywhere else.  That hasn't happened.  My mom actually told me she thinks I've gained less weight everywhere this time than I did with C.  Thus, no face weight gain.  BOY (same as C)

18. Mood Changes - If you're experiencing pregnant mood-swings, expect a baby girl to arrive soon. -I feel like I'm repeating a lot of the same answers I had with C, but I am an emotional person.  However, I have definitely had many more emotions.  I cried 3 out of 4 days in RVa for various reasons - C was crying, we stayed later visiting family that I thought, it was Valentine's Day, it was C's birthday, we left my parents late.  Bucket of emotions that usually involves tears!  GIRL (same as C)

19. Baby Weight - If you're carrying baby in front, its a boy. Is the baby weight spaced all around your middle, like your hips and rear? It's a girl. - I feel like I'm all belly this time around.  My belly looks so much bigger this time than with C and we still have 7 weeks to go! BOY (same as C)

20. Model Your Hands - "Show me your hands" Have someone ask to see your hands. Note the position of your palms. If you hold your hands palms up, it's a girl. Down? It's a boy. - Nothing has changed in a little over a year, I still show my hands palms up! GIRL (same as C)

21. Toddler Advice - Get baby advice from a nephew or friend's little boy. Notice how much interest he shows in your belly. If a toddler boy shows interested in your belly, you'll have a girl. If he ignores you, its a boy. - Neither our 3 year old nephew, nor our friend's 2 year old son, or even C seems to care at all about my belly.  I remembered this tale from before and have paid close attention to C.  He could care less! BOY (same as C)

22. Stress Test - Think back to when you conceived your baby. Which parent was less stressed? A child tends to be of the same sex as the parents who is less stressed at the time of conception. - Neither of us was very stressed during conception because it was our first go back.  I'd say RCW was less stressed.  He was sure we'd get pregnant since we were using the same protocol as what worked to conceive C.  So that would mean BOY (different from C)

23. Dream Meanings - Are you having any dreams about baby? Are they predominately about a baby girl or baby boy? If you dream about having a girl while pregnant, you will wind up having a boy and vice versa. - All of my dreams about the baby have been a baby girl.  ALL OF THEM!  Thus, that means its a BOY (different from C)

24. Breast Size - Using a mirror, or your husband, judge if your breasts are the same size or if one is larger than the other. If your right breast is larger than the left while pregnant, you having a girl. If the left is larger, it's a boy. - This is verbatim the answer I wrote for C...Ok, some TMI but my right boob is bigger than my left all the time, pregnant or not. Thus, not sure how that applies here. But since right is bigger while pregnant (sadly, the left while growing hasn't caught up!) we'll put down GIRL (same as C)

25. Location in uterus at early ultrasound - It has to be around an 8 week ultrasound. If transvaginal baby on the right - boy, left - girl. If abdominal baby on the right - girl, left - boy. - So here is my 8 weeks exactly transvaginal ultrasound from the RE. Babe, just like with its heart rates, wants to keep us guessing as it appears to be pretty much in the center of it all!  Looking at it though, I'll give that its a wee bit towards the left.  And that means
GIRL (different from C)

 
26. Daddy Weight Gain - If the baby’s father puts on weight during pregnancy - it's a boy. - RCW has gained some weight.  But just like with C, I don't believe its sympathy pounds.  However, he does think he's eating more because I'm pregnant.  So since I didn't give him this round with C, I'll give it to him this time! BOY (different from C)

27. The Pendant - Swing a pure gold pendant over the pregnant belly. If it swings back and forth, it’s a girl. If it swings around, it's a boy. - Using my gold cross I used with C, I held it over my belly.  It immediately went back and forth.  I even tried making it swing in a circle and after a rotation or two, went back to back and forth.  GIRL (same as C)

28. Beach ball or Watermelon? - If your belly resembles a beach ball, it's a boy; if your belly is more of a watermelon shape, it's a girl. - I feel like my belly is a beach ball.  It is SO round and poking out there.  I can't reiterate enough how different it feels from C's pregnancy in terms of size, but I think a lot of that is just from being a second, very close to the first, pregnancy! BOY (different from C)

29. Hairy Legs - If the hair on your legs is growing faster than before you were pregnant, it's a boy. If it isn't growing quicker, it's a girl. - Randomly, despite being winter and being a SAHM now (sorry RCW!), I don't feel like my hair is growing very fast and I can go longer between shaves. GIRL (same as C)

30. North or South Pillow - If you sleep in a bed with your pillow to the south, you'll have a girl. If your pillow points north, you'll have a boy. - We haven't rearranged furniture so its the same as it was with C, technically our bed is on the east end of the house, but I sleep on the north side of the bed so we'll go with north. BOY (same as C)

31. Cold Feet - If your feet are colder now that you're pregnant, it's a boy. If they aren't, it's a girl. - Despite feeling hot most of the time, my feet have been colder.  Sitting here right now, my feet feel like ice blocks!  Driving back to RVa, my feet were freezing.  In bed, they're cold and I try warming them up on RCW! BOY (different from C)

32. Heel of Bread - If you prefer the heel of a loaf of bread, you're having a boy. If not, it's a girl. - I can't stand the heel of bread, ever.  I really don't know how people eat it!  Although RCW does so I won't throw it away and waste it! GIRL (same as C)

33. Is Grandma Gray? - If the maternal grandma has gray hair, it'll be a boy. If she doesn't have any gray hair (natural or dyed), it'll be a girl. - My mom is gray as gray can be and sadly passed this early gray hair thing on to me!  I have more gray hair now than I did with C! BOY (same as C)

34. Chest Development - If your chest has been increasing dramatically since becoming pregnant, it'll be a girl. If not, expect a boy. - My boobs have acted the exact same this pregnancy, they've grown a little bit, but nothing crazy!  I don't know if anyone besides me or RCW would even notice the slight increase. BOY (same as C)

35. What Color is your Pee? - If your urine is a dull yellow color, it's a girl. If you have bright yellow pee, expect a boy. - While RCW argues this is a silly one because it depends on how long you go between potty breaks and how hydrated you are, I do feel like I've noticed my pee being a bit brighter.  Perhaps this momma just needs more water in her diet and not so much chocolate! BOY (different from C)

36. Growing Nose - Has your nose spread during the pregnancy? If so, that points to a boy. If your nose hasn't changed, it's a girl. - Just like how I haven't gained much weight anywhere else, I also haven't had my nose spread.  Thank goodness! GIRL (same as C)

37. Orange Juice - Are you craving OJ? If so, it's a girl. If you have no desire for it, it's a boy. - I have not wanted OJ at all this pregnancy.  I've wanted grape juice and apple juice, what does that mean?! BOY (same as C)

38. Headaches? - If you are getting headaches while pregnant, it's a boy. If not, it's a girl. - Sadly, I have had quite a few headaches this round, which is surprising.  We thought once I made the decision to stay home, I'd have less stress and less headaches.  Not the case unfortunately.   BOY (different from C)

39. Chinese Gender Prediction Chart - According to legend, the Chinese birth gender chart is based on statistics taken from women inside the Forbidden City during the Ching Dynasty. Around 700 years ago, a Chinese scientist discovered the birth gender chart buried in a royal tomb. The original gender chart is now kept in the Institute of Science of Peking. Supposedly, it’s 99 percent accurate! However, there are 2 charts when Googling online. Here are the charts with links and my results. Chart 1 = GIRL (same as C) and Chart 2 = GIRL (different from C) The same this time around - For C, Chart 1 said girl and Chart 2 said boy.

40. Baby Psychic, Cheri22 - One of the big reasons I've thought boy all along was because of our psychic reading from back in April 2011. Cheri22 predicted a boy. She was right with my friend, Brandi over at Our Journey, who just had Miss Savannah. But she got it wrong with Kate over at Elefantitas Alegres, she told Kate, boy, but Kate has a little girl.  Cheri22 told me we'd have a boy and then a girl.  BUT she told me the boy corresponded to July and the girl corresponded to September.  September didn't play a role in Baby W2 at all, but Baby W2 was conceived in July!  However, we'll go with her prediction of a boy then a girl...GIRL (different from C)

To keep score - out of 41 possible old wives tales and myths here is the tally.

BOY - 23 - 56.0%

GIRL - 18 - 44.0%

And to add it all up for you and for me in terms of what was the same or different from doing these with C and Baby W2.

Same as C - 27 with 14 pointing to BOY and 13 pointing to GIRL.

Different from C - 14 with 9 of those pointing to BOY and 5 pointing to GIRL.

And what does all of this mean?!  Not much really, except I do believe my pregnancies have been pretty similar with almost all regards.  Now, take a second and go make your educated guess on what you think Baby W2 is!  Just like with C, your name and answer will end up in Baby W2's baby book!

We can't wait to see what everyone thinks!! Seriously, click this link: http://www.expectnet.com/games/BabyW2-2013, right now and make a guess. Again, if the link doesn't work, from the main page, just type BabyW2-2013 into the search box on the upper left of the screen to find our page.

First Time in the Swing

A little background first.

My brother sent us our nephew's hand me down swing back over July 4th with my parents.  It was too hot for it back then, but since we got back from the beach and the days have cooled down I've been begging RCW to hang it up.  As I've mentioned before C's witching hours are around 4pm to 6pm so I thought a good distraction would be going outside, which he loves and swinging.  Fun for him, the dogs and no crying for momma! Win all around! RCW kept putting it off, but finally with a free afternoon due to a crazy work schedule for him, I came home this afternoon to find him hanging the swing!  Yay!!  I watched him tie up the rope and asked, "Are you sure its safe?"  To which my darling husband who weighs a good amount more than quite a few C's held on to the rope, lifted his legs off the ground and swung back and forth.  With nothing breaking, he said to me, "Are you satisfied?"  I had to agree yes, him hanging from the rope without falling or breaking was satisfactory.

RCW went to get C and ran a few errands while I did some school work.  When they got home, I gave him his 5pm bottle and then we all ventured to the back yard to try out the new swing.  RCW pushed while I took pictures and videos.  C loved it! 

 
He loved it even more when we turned the swing around and he could see us pushing him.  I started pushing him and playing with him and RCW grabbed the camera to film it.  His laughs are contagious!

Did you watch the video?  If not, watch the video!  Its only 1 minute long.


*****

Ok, so then yea.  Swing fail.  Parent fail.  Don't use rope.  RCW will be buying chains this weekend to rehang the swing.  C is perfectly fine.  I caught him before he hit the ground and he was strapped in tightly.  Only one side broke, so even if I hadn't caught him, he wouldn't have hit the ground, as RCW said, "He would've just been lopsided for a second."  If you can't tell, we have a giant gazebo type thing in our yard where the previous owner had a hot tub.  We just have a giant open structure.  It was perfect to hang the swing from.  But the little yellow ropes that came with the swing weren't long enough.  RCW hung rope and hooked the swing's yellow rope on to it with the provided s hooks.  Oops.  Again, he'll be getting some chain to hook it on to this weekend and we'll try again.  And what do we all love?  My look at RCW, who is still filming of course.  The look of "WTF?!", but also nervous laughter of "I can't believe this just happened!"

And if that parenting fail isn't enough for you, yesterday while I was changing from work clothes to taking care of the baby clothes, C went from sitting in the middle of our king size bed to "thud!".  Yup, within seconds I'm guessing he lunged forward from sitting up (he's trying oh so hard to get the crawling thing right now), ended up on his belly and rolled a couple times to where he finally rolled right off the bed and face planted onto a carpet full of husky hair.  

We're going 2 and 0 this week!  Lord help us when there are two of them running wild in this house next year at this time!

Momma Fail

Momma fail.

Sorry C!  

In the mad rush that is life, I forgot to send C to school with extra outfits despite the nice note his teachers left for me last Wednesday afternoon.  And honestly, it had been weeks since he had needed an outfit change!  He usually has 3 extras at school and it took a good month to go through those.  But of course, the day I don't send in a new stash, he needed a wardrobe change.

They didn't have any extra boy outfits.

But his shirt is right, he is mommy's dream come true!

But what makes it even better and apparently caused the teachers to laugh is that on the day that C was wearing a girl's onesie, was the one in a million day that RCW picked him up!  He apparently walked in and the teachers all started to giggle and told him to look for his daughter.  RCW wasn't as amused. 

So there ya go, my mom fail for the month.  Honestly, I'm impressed it was just the 1!  So tell me, make me feel better, what screw ups have you encountered this summer.  Don't be shy, I know we all have them!

The Hunt for a Jenny Lind

If you all couldn't tell I'm pretty obsessed with having photos taken of our family and C.  We have already bought a package deal with Little White Whale Photography to have pictures taken of C at 6, 9 and 12 months.  Then, perhaps I'll calm down and just do yearly or bi-annual pictures of him.  In addition to loving me some photo shoots, I also love looking for ideas on Pinterest.  And getting creative after seeing ideas on the blogs of yall too!

Do you guys read Darci over at The Good Life?  I honestly don't even know how I found her blog, but I've been following her since before her 'mini' was even created.  I love her writing style and her sense of style.  I email her often to ask about things and I'd like to think if we knew each other IRL we'd be friends and lets our boys have play dates.  

Anyway....Darci did a project for her little J a while ago.  It involved finding a Jenny Lind high chair and spray painting it orange for his first birthday.  I loved it.  Orange is kinda RCW's color and if you couldn't tell from C's 3 month photo shoot we've been smitten with the color for him too. So seeing this orange high chair made me want my own.  Now.

A couple weeks ago I started the search.  How hard could it be?!

I went to Craig's List and typed in Jenny Lind High Chair and one popped up that someone wanted to sell for $25 and they lived about 15 minutes away from us.  Easy peasy!

Until I got the email back that it was already sold.  

Finding this high chair became my mission.  I was searching CL in Louisville, Lexington, Western Kentucky, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.  Nothing.  Then I started searching all over Virginia because certainly my parents would go pick it up for me.  Nothing.  Then I started looking in North Carolina, maybe we could pick it up on the way to the Outer Banks later this summer.  Nothing.  At one point, I did find one located about 20 minutes away from the hometown of a coworker in North Carolina.  I knew my coworker was going back home this summer, perhaps she could bring it back for me.  But even then, when I emailed the owner of the high chair said someone was coming to look at it tomorrow and she would let me know.  Sure enough, the next message from her was "its sold".

RCW and I spent 2 weekends scouring yard sales around town.  While we didn't find a Jenny Lind high chair we did find Jenny Lind style cribs, cradles, beds and changing tables.  Of course, right!?  

One day driving to work I saw a large sign for an Estate Sale.  I was anxious all day and after picking C up from school, we headed down the twisty road to the estate sale.  I pulled up, left the car running with my sleepy C in the back seat and told the man sitting in a garage I was looking for something specific, a Jenny Lind style high chair.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  (I get that often!)  I elaborated, "A Jenny Lind style high chair, from the 70s or 80s, you know like what you put a baby in to feed them?!"  He finally spoke telling me he knew what I was referring to, but this estate sale was an online auction.  People were coming to pick up what they had already purchased, not to buy things.  So then I felt like the stupid one.  But in my defense, perhaps the large sign on the side of the road should have read: "Estate Sale Pick Up" with arrows instead of "Estate Sale Auction - Furniture! Antiques! Collectibles!"

RCW encouraged me to keep searching CL and to put my own 'wanted' post up.  So I did.  I posted in Louisville and Richmond.  And much to my surprise the same day I posted, I received an email that someone in Louisville had a Jenny Lind high chair that needed to be refinished and she would sell it to me for $8! 

WHAT?!

So last Friday after C's 4 month check up we headed to this stranger's house where she was going to leave the high chair on her front porch and we were to leave the $8 under her doormat.  It was exactly what we were looking for and because I was so excited and thankful, we left her $10.  I actually offered to pay her $25 or $30, which is the going rate and she declined.

So now we have this lovely high chair in our possession and the real fun begins.  What color do we paint it?!  If we had a girl, it would be easy - PINK!  But with our little man I'm just not sure. We will use it for his 12 month pictures with a smash cake - you have all seen them on Pinterest.

While I know what I want for his 1st birthday pictures, I don't have a clue what theme I want for his birthday.  For me, its still a bit early to be planning that out.  So I don't know a color scheme or anything, but want this high chair painted asap so I can swoon over it and maybe even use it with him in every day life!

Our options are:

Copying Darci and going with orange.

Source

Sticking with the aqua theme of C's nursery and what we used for everything involving 'Baby W'.

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Or going with a tried and true boy vibe with a bright dark blue, this particular one is called peacock blue.

Source

 

 

So what are your thoughts? I know no matter what we choose pictures and birthday fun will be fabulous for all!  And whichever color we go with, I'll just tie in to whatever theme we decide on later in 2012.  Do you have a favorite?  Because right now I'm just torn.  I love them all!

Do you have a Jenny Lind high chair?  Did you know they were so popular for such purposes?  And seriously, please comment and tell me which color you like best!

How to Scare A Mom

RCW likes to mess with me.  Have yall already figured that out?  And I'm pretty easy to mess with and scare too.  A loud noise, not even sneaking up behind me, but nonetheless surprising me, peeking through a window, door crack or shower curtain; these all elicit a scream from me.  With C in the house, I've had to rein in my blood curdling scary movie screams, but he still gets me.  Often without even really trying.  I am just a big scaredy cat.

Yesterday, C's school informed us it took him 45 minutes to drink each of his bottles due to the new Plum Organics fluffier rice cereal we're putting in them.  Instead of cutting the nipples, I decided to go out and buy some medium and heavy flow ones instead.  You know, we'll need those slow flow nipples for babies 2, 3 and 4!  C and I went first to Babies R Us and I don't know when I'll learn my lesson, but our local BRU never has anything we want or need.  Its a nightmare trip each and every time because they aren't locate very conveniently to our house.  To give credit, they did have medium flow wide based Nuk nipples, but I wanted to pick up heavy flow too, just in case medium didn't work.  And while there I learned that Nuk made a 'y-shaped' nipple for thicker flow, which sounded like what we needed for his rice cereal bottles.

So C and I left BRU and headed back towards our house to the closer shopping center that boasts a Target and Wal-Mart side by side.  This center is located near RCW's office too, which was great because he was getting off early yesterday.  I texted him that I wanted to 'divide and conquer' because I didn't want to lug C into both stores alone.  He texted back that while he would be leaving earlier than usual, he had gotten tied up.  Some naughty words may have been thought since this wasn't how I pictured my Wednesday afternoon in the first place and I had already been to 1 store with C.  But alas, a mom's job is never done, nor easy!

C and I went to Wal-Mart first.  Usually, I'd go straight to Target, but this is a mega super ridiculous Wal-Mart and 9 out of 10 times they have what I want to find. So in we went.  Straight to the baby gear and within seconds I found the heavy flow wide based Nuk nipples. Sadly, the y shaped ones were elusive.  But C also got a new toy - an Oball football that he already loves grabbing onto.  We went to the express checkout line, that wasn't very express.  It was finally our turn and I pried the football out of C's fingers and as I was putting it on the register, I heard a man's voice say, "What a cute baby you have!"

I didn't think anything of this since people comment on C when we're out and about.  And I was in the middle of trying to check out and get out of Wally World.

Then in my peripheral vision I noticed a large figure wearing a baseball cap standing dangerously close to C (who was in his car seat in the shopping cart).  My 'momma bear' instinct kicked in, but before I could harm anyone or make too big of a fool of myself, I realized this shady man standing too close to my son, was his father!

RCW got off in time and came to find us.  But decided to have some fun at my expense and 'sneak' up on us.  He's just lucky I did scream or hit him before realizing it was just our 'Daddy Goose' loving on the little man!

PS: The rest of the afternoon entailed RCW taking C home while I went to Target baby free.  Target didn't have the y-shaped nipples either, but did have both medium and heavy flow.  Moral of the story: go to Target or Wal-Mart first before BRU if you're in Louisville!  We tried the medium flow first and C did great with it during his 5pm, 11pm and 5am feedings.  Here's hoping when I pick him up this afternoon, his teachers found that same to be true for them!

Does your husband like scaring you?  Any funny stories to share about those scares? Or am I the only gullible fearful wife out there?

Do you have a tissue??

I'm working late tonight as its Reunion Weekend at my campus so RCW is picking up C from school.  I texted him this afternoon to ask if he had the babe yet and he told me he was on the way.

A few minutes later I got a text from him saying, 'Do you have a tissue??'

I freaked out - why?  Was something wrong?  Had C hurt himself?  Had someone died? Was the rash on C's face out of control?  WHY did I need a tissue?!

I texted back saying, 'Why? What's wrong?'

He responded with this picture saying, 'Cause I have a little booger!!'

Thanks for freakout session, hubs!

Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

Diaper Celebration

It was a rough Tuesday night for us. RCW is sick with a cold and I'm super emotional about my maternity leave coming to an end next Thursday. Since RCW was sick and coughing and C still sleeps in our room, RCW slept in the guest room.  And it was good thing, not just because we wanted to keep a lock on his germs.

C went down at his usual 7pm bedtime.  But was up at 11:30pm, 1:30am and again at 3:30am.  I fed him at 11:30pm and he took a full 4 ounces of formula.  At 1:30am he only took 2 ounces before falling back asleep.  At 3:30am I didn't think he wanted food, I think he was just fussy so I popped him in the bed with me and held him and the pacifier in his mouth while we both drifted on and off until Rick got him at their usual 5am  'Daddy-Son Breakfast Time'.  

Then I went back to sleep for real until I heard C calling for his 8am feeding.  When I went to get him, this is what I found! 

 

RCW called it his 'diaper celebration'! 

I'm so thankful that even with hard moments and long nights, I have an amazing husband who doesn't just help with diaper laundry, but makes me laugh too!