Healing is In Your Hands...Christy Knockels

Today marks week 12 for me.  Yep..officially 3 months and although I have felt significantly better lately...this morning has not been so great.  Even though I'm not thru with morning sickness (and am starting to face the fact that I never will be done) I can only think about a wonderful song that I heard a few months back.

I was driving home from work one day when this song played on the radio.  During the time, I was in the midst of the worst morning/noon/night sickness.  I had NEVER in my entire life been that sick and honestly didn't know if I was going to make it through.  This song spoke to me then and has brought me to tears ever since.

Although I was struggling withy my own issues, I know that there are people out there suffering much worse things than me.  So to those of you reading...I hope you find some encouragement in this song...no matter where you are in life.

P.S. - I felt the baby kick last night....and for some reason...it made throwing up this morning just a little bit easier.

10 week update

How far along? 10 weeks (well tomorrow)
Total weight gain: Surprisingly nothing.  I must have lost a bit of weight being sick because when I had my first appointment on March 1st, I was at my "pre-pregnancy" weight.

Maternity clothes? In them for the most part.  Even though I have not gained any weight, my stomach suggests otherwise.  I heard this happened with the second, but didn't think it would happen that fast.  I can get away with a few things that are not maternity, but they are not as comfortable at the end of the day.

Sleep: Some nights are good, some nights are bad.  Depends on the 2 year old more than the baby in my belly.
Cravings:  Donuts from Duck Donuts and sadly...that's in the OBX.  That and my grandmother's pizza bread (which I hope my sister will make one day)
Best moment this week: I took Bella to swim classs and on the way out we ran into some people we have not seen for a while.  The woman immediately asked if that was a "baby bump."  I was very happy to have someone notice that I was pregnant...and not just fat.
Movement: At times I think yes, but I think it's a bit too early for me to feel movement.
Gender: Well....I initially thought boy....but the other day I got a strong feeling it was a girl.  We will have to wait and see.
Labor Signs: Thank God NO!  That would not be good.
Belly Button in or out? Still very much in.
What I miss: Days without throwing up.

Weekly Wisdom: Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Milestones: I'm not quite as sick as I was a few weeks ago.

Favorite Moments: When my hubby wants to "hold" the baby at night and simply holds my belly as we lay in bed. 

This was taken at 8.5 weeks, but I have not changed much from then.

My Crazy Week

Well....this week has been one of "those" weeks.  Yep...the kind that you wish away, hoping in despiration that it will just end so things can get back to normal. 

I am in fact pregnant.  (I am announcing it here, however I'm still not ready to make it facebook public.)  Horray!  After 9 months of trying...and several blood tests later...we are finally expecting baby number 2.  We couldn't be happier.  However and that's a big HOWEVER....I'm sick.  Oh so sick.  Like...never been this sick in my entire life!  I've missed several days of work and my poor husband has been doing everything while I just lay in bed.  I've gotten drugs from the doctor....those didn't work...so I had to go back and get more.  I now feel like the most medicated pregnant lady ever, but as long as I can function right?

Anyways....my husband and I are very excited to extend our family and are looking forward to meeting our little one in October of this year.

On top of me being pregnant and sick....my poor husband hurt his knee playing soccer on Tuesday night.  So...he is off work for the rest of the week..is hobbling around and I had to get him in to see my boss (who is an orthopaedic surgeon)  My boss sent us for an MRI last night (which graciously my father in law took Phil to) I'm staring at the cd right now, which hold the results, just hoping it's good news.

So..now that my husband can't do much around the house and neither can I.....I'm contimplating hiring a cleaning lady because my house is well....a MESS! 

So....all in all...I'm ready for this week to be over.

Before I go....I'll leave you all with a glimpse of our new addition, which I think is a boy. Not too much right now...but that little white spec is actually a heart that is beating at 120bpm which is exceptional.

(I'd just like to say I am almost entering my 8th week and my pants are already getting tight.  I know they say with your second, things happen quicker..but I really didn't expect it to be this fast)

What does one do with a nephew?

This weekend was a rather busy one for me.  My wonderful, and only sister, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy at 9:15pm Friday.  This is the play by play of what happened.

On Thursday, my sister had her last doctors appointment in which they decided to induce labor....FINALLY!  Although she was only 5 days past her due date, since she was induced with her first child, they decided to go ahead and induce this one.  So...Friday morning...I prepared myself to work from home so I could take care of my niece.

My sister called the hospital at 7:30am, but they told her to call back at 10.  Well, right before 10..my sister called me asking for signs of labor.  I told her just to call the hospital at 10, but not to tell them anything because they would probably make her stay home.  So..low and behold, they actually took her at 10.  I rushed from work (grabbing my computer without the cord), stopped and got my daughter and raced to my sisters to get my niece.  (All of this was done within 30 minutes and it should have taken me at least 45.  Speed much? Me? Never! (insert sarcasm))

I spent the day with the two kids who were so good and allowed me to work the rest of the day at home so I didn't have to loose a day of work.  (Thank God for this perk)  Dinner came and went and still...no baby.  Finally at 9pm I got the phone call....she's pushing.

Now...I live about 20 minutes from the hospital.  Given the situtation, I just prayed I'd get there on time.  Well...God was on my side because I didn't hit one single red light the entire way.  I raced (again speeding after my husband just told me to be careful) to the hospital and made it there in about 12-15 minutes.  I wasn't there for 5 minutes before my brother-in-law came out to take us in to see my sister.  I made it!  Phew!

My nephew weighed 7lbs 11oz and wasd 21in. long.  He looks just like his daddy....although we think he has my sisters lips.

I thought that it would be hard for me to see him.  My husband and I have been trying for another baby since my sister started trying...only she got pregnant and we have yet to conceive.  So..I thought that I would be sad that I was not in the hospital with her as we would have been due 2 days apart if we had gotten pregnant together.  But I wasn't....I didn't shed one tear.  I was so happy to hold my nephew and I was so proud of my sister.

He is so sweet...and so perfect....and I forgot how tiny they are!  Oh my goodness...so tiny.

And the best part is his name...Michael Robert.  Michael is after our brother who passed away at 3 days old and Robert is for my dad.

I love him to pieces...and here he is...just a few minutes old.

A sick toddler or a sick husband....what is worse?

For the past two weeks, my toddler (like many others I'm sure) has had a drippy nose.  Be it the 2 year molars that are still fighting their way through her poor sore gums or a cold....my little, cute-faced kid constantly has dry, crusted snot on her face.  :(  And yes....she picks at it (ooops...did I just write that.)  The worst part is when I pull her hand away from her nose, she then thinks its a game and shoves that little finger of hers even  FURTHER up her nose, giggling the whole time.  Oh....and watch out because if you are not paying attention....that cute little kid will hold her finger to you and say "boo-boo" and after you kiss it....she sticks it right back in her nose.  Yep...she just tricked you into eating her buggers.  GROSS!!!!  (yet I do laugh hysterically when she does it to her grandparents)

Having a sick toddler is tough.  It's very hard to judge how they are feeling and when they don't have a full range of speech yet...it's hard for them to tell you what's wrong.  I have to say...Isabella has been a trooper through this and has rarely complained, which I am very grateful for.  I've had to get up almost every night with her just because she wants to snuggle.  I'm at work everyday...but that's fine.  This is a stage and I'm going to enjoy the snuggling while it lasts.

Well....along with having a sick toddler, I have a sick husband.  My hubby spontaneously took me out to Bone Fish Grill on Tuesday night.  It was awesome.  We had a marvelous time just the two of us.  Well...that night the cold hit him.  The poor guy was asleep for maybe 30 minutes and then he just couldn't sleep.  He finally went downstairs at 2am and started watching movies.  At 4am, our daughter needed a little snuggling..so he came upstairs and took her from me since he was already up.  Poor guy ended up pulling an all nighter and still managed to go to work and work a full 10 hour day.

That following night...he slept fine.  Although the poor guy is so stuffed up..that he snored ALL. NIGHT. LONG!!!  You know what that means...yep..no sleep for me.  Ugh....then last night...again...he couldn't sleep.  I got up at 3am to answer Isabella's screams and again..he was gone and the downstairs light was on.

So...I don't know what's worse.  Feeling bad for my child or feeling bad for my husband.  My husband never complains and just carry's on like normal.  Poor guy.

Here's to hoping that the colds are gone before Christmas....and that I don't get it.

Christmas cards or Holiday cards....

Well....I'm a little behind on my Christmas cards this year.  No...I did not have a holiday photo shoot...but I did take an adorable picture of Isabella at Thanksgiving...so score!!!  Since I heard about the free christmas cards on Shutterfly, (which can be found here)...I figured that it would be a great time to get moving on them.

Last year was the first time that I used photo cards for my christmas cards.  It was so nice for everyone to see our growing family.  This year...just Isabella will be on the card, but for those people who don't get to see her everyday....it will be a wonderful surprise for them to see how much she has changed.  This is a tradition that was started and I don't think I want it to end.  I just can't decided....do I pick a "Merry Christmas" card or a "Happy Holidays" card.  My favorite cards are the ones that are simple.  The reason behind that being that since I get so many wonderful cards every year...I like to keep them on my fridge so that I can see all my friends beautiful faces throughout the entire year. 

So far...I have these three picked out.

One

Two

and Three

So....now I just have to make the decision.  Either way....I'm sure they will be perfect!

A morning of drama....all thanks to the iphone facebook app

My morning routine goes like this.......the alarm goes off, I grab my phone and check the weather and then check my emails (which are usually junk) and then check facebook. It’s my “get your rear up” routine. Then…since I am now fully awake…I read my bible and then get in the shower.

Well…this morning..I started said routine and when I got to Facebook…I read a note that a friend had posted about how she is in the hospital in need of a kidney transplant or she will die in 10-14 days. You can imagine the shock that I felt as I sat there, reading it several times over…looking for where she stated this was about someone else. I couldn’t find it and called Phil, crying hysterically.

When I got to mom’s….she knew nothing about it…but said to text message one of our pastors. So I did saying “Just read (insert name) facebook. Does she really need a kidney transplant?” No answer.

When I got to work…I tried calling her sister to get some answers….but alas...she didn't answer her phone. At this point…I’m pretty frustrated and VERY upset…still trying to hold back the tears (which was not working well.)
Finally, I got on the actual computer to re-read the post again…thinking I HAD to miss something. Sure enough…the computer showed that she posted someone else’s note in hopes that she would be able to help another mother. My friend is NOT dying and is OK.

So…I had to text the pastor again…who wrote back (who I'm sure thinks I'm insane) "Glad you figured it out before I called her." I also called said friend and left her a message telling her what happened in case she gets similar reactions from other people. Apparently…the app on the phone doesn’t read the same way as the internet and BOY OH BOY did it cause an uproar with me!

So…I now HATE facebook (although will still be the sucker who continues to use it to see other people’s pictures) and am in desperate need of a nap because I’m getting everyone’s cold now and I’m just drained from crying.

The sad part is…there is a woman out there who is dying….who has two small children and a husband…and I just pray God gives her someone who can help her.  If I had her blood type...I would.


The end.