+ 4 days

Well, we've had some contractions all day, but nothing regular or painful, so I'm really not too worried. If we weren't headed in in the morning anyway, then I'd be getting really excited, but I doubt anything too exciting will happen before we have to go in anyway. But if it does, I went ahead and finished off packing/repacking the bags and making my list of last min. "throw in the car" items like my pillows and stuff.

Josh is feeling better this afternoon. This morning/last night were NOT fun with him...meltdown after meltdown and screaming hysterics...but he finally ate a little bit this afternoon after sleeping in the recliner upstairs with me for a nap this morning, and after that, and some more antibiotics, he's been acting much more "normal Josh", so we're pretty happy about that! Yay!

Other than that...we're headed in tomorrow at 0600, and as my sister gets updates tomorrow, she's promised to post them on here, so if you want to know, DON'T CALL ME! Just check on here, or if you're on the promised list, you'll get a call as there are updates available or when Sam's born! We promise not to neglect anyone on purpose or anything like that. Shannon and Caren, we're not calling when we go to the hospital unless we go in unexpectedly at this point...if you don't hear anything, assume everything's going more or less as planned, and you'll hear at some point, ok?? My cell is going to be left with my parents, NOT in my room, so if you call, you won't get me, anyway...unless it's after the baby's born, and you will surely have heard by then anyway. Just so everyone's clear on this. I will not have the phones ringing while I'm in labor this time...this time we have a choice!!

Anyway, sorry if that was a little ranting, but I just wanted to make it clear to everyone that we're not withholding information, we'll call when there's info to give, or you'll have to check the blog all day! Feel free to comment all you want on here or FB or email, and we'll get back to you when we have a chance. AJ's also promised to post updates/pix on FB and possibly on here as well, so just keep watching!

+ 3 days...and a little...

Well, just wanted to pretty much post an update about our little family dramatics here. Josh is better...we managed to get a Dr. appt. today about noon, and before that he had slept several 2-3 hr. intervals through the night, not waking up very much b/t each one, usually just enough to whine and fuss a little and either be moved or tucked back in. Then he got up and ate some toast and had some juice/pedialyte late this morning, and perked up some and ran around and stuff for a little while. It was nice to see our normal little boy back again for a few min.!!

We didn't see "his" dr. but the man we did see was very nice, grandfatherly type and gave him a sucker** and told me he had an ear infection in his left ear, and that his right was pretty red in one part. Then he let me look in the otoscope and showed me what he was talking about. We got some meds for him and after a LONG drawn out melt down, finally got home, where he had another meltdown, which ended in him falling asleep watching Snoopy on the couch. When he woke up he was more his normal Josh self, and had another few times this evening of fairly normal play time. He also ate some ham, banana, and animal crackers. Yay for keeping food down! He's still had some fever, but he responds more quickly to the meds now, and hopefully that will be gone by tomorrow after he's been on the antibiotic for a full day.

Sam has shown very little sign of wanting to be born before his "eviction" on Wed, but we'll keep you posted if something does happen!

+ (almost) 3 days...

...well, still no Sam, but I feel like I know the reason...Josh got really sick today...fever of 102 and throwing up and just very very icky. He was ok with Grandmom this afternoon, but this evening/tonight he only wanted Mommy. If Sam had been here already, either we'd still have been in the hospital and my parents would have had to deal with him alone and I would have felt horrible, or we'd have been home, and Sam and I would have had to stay away from him completely, so Sam wouldn't get sick! And I still would have felt horrible...not to mention just recovering from the whole giving birth thing.

So all in all, I feel like God knew that this would happen, and that's why he held Sam back, so that we could take care of Josh without worrying about Sam getting sick, too. I'm going to try to get Josh an appt. for tomorrow to check whether this is an infection, or just a stomach bug, or what, and just be sure he's ok. That way, if it is an infection, he can get on antibiotics and be on them awhile before Sam comes home, so everything's safe and healthy for Sam to come home to.

Anyway, just wanted to post that news update...Josh seems to be doing better, we've been alternating b/t Motrin and Tylenol all day, and his fever was down to 99 a few min. ago, so it's definitely working. I'm just hoping he'll go ahead and go to sleep now, and get a good night's rest, and be done throwing up!!

+2 days...

...and still no signs...just so you know. We are planning to (I think) stay home today, till church tonight, and let AJ and Dad get some DIY/home improvement type projects done, and let Josh have the opportunity for a nap at least, and then go to church this evening.

My wonderful Mom got up (couldn't sleep last night, apparently) and put a brisket in the oven this morning, so we can have that for lunch today...yay!

But there's not really any news to post...nothing with Sam...like, really, nothing, not even any contractions or anything! I think if it was up to him, he'd stay in there forever! Thankfully, there are others involved, to help him make the right choice and be born by Wed!

+ 1 day...

and still nothing! Sam's lower down today at least, but nothing else...not even any contractions, really. And don't tell me to walk, people...we walked all over downtown Charleston yesterday afternoon, and if anything, he moved the wrong direction that afternoon/evening. Today Mom and I went and hiked around downtown Summerville, and still nothing to report at this point! Just so ya know...we've also played at Rolly Pollies twice this week, and I've been still chasing Josh and stuff, so we're trying, people, really!!

However, Josh opened his geotrax train from his Nana and Grandpa today (a big brother present) and he LOVES it!!! He's been playing with it off and on all day! We stopped at Toy's R Us and picked up some track to put it on (it will run on the hard floors, but not on the carpet, and he really wanted it on the carpet. We decided to invest in a small set of track for it). He really loves it!

He also got a pots/pans set and a food set from his GG and my parents, and he's loving those as well! We're kind of doling out the presents, one a day till Sam actually makes an appearance, so we'll probably open the other one from Grandmom and Grandad tomorrow...or maybe the one from Great Mamaw! He's swimming in big brother presents!!

D Day...

...And nothin'!! I'm starting to think he just wants to stay in there forever! I guess he's nice and comfy, but he needs to realize that his Mommy is NOT nice and comfy, and that we all really want to meet him!

We went to the dr. today, and there's no change...of course...and I told the dr. that we needed an inducement date for before Wed, if possible, as that's when my parents are supposed to leave. The best she could do was to get me in ON Wed, but having that safety net/deadline makes me feel a little better...just knowing I really WON'T be pregnant forever! I'm supposed to go register and get started on Pitossen around 0600 Wed. morning if Sam's still being stubborn. I think Mom and Dad are gonna try to change their travel dates if he doesn't come before then, so that they can be here not just for the birth, but to enjoy Sam a couple of days!

Anyway, the reason this is being posted so late is that Mom and Dad and Josh and I went to walk around the Battery and downtown a little after the appt. and didn't get away till mid afternoon.
We had a lot of fun, and when I have time to download their pics (I didn't have my camera), I'll post some pics of Josh climbing on cannons and cannonball piles! He had a really good time, and is still just eating up the attention of his grandparents!

That's pretty much the news. Pray that Sam will be born before being forced out...that just doesn't seem like it'd be fun for anyone, but at least he'd be born, right???

1 day left...

and still counting. I did talk to a lady at Rolly Pollies today who told me that both of hers came on their due dates, and so that was mildly encouraging...hopefully he'll decide he wants to be like his brother and be on time or something!

I had some contractions last night, and this morning, and a few scattered through the day, but still nothing consistant enough to time or count. So we're planning for dinner tonight and all...

My parents got in yesterday afternoon, and Josh is just eating up the new audience! He wants Grandmom and Grandad to do everything with him, not Mommy or Daddy!! He's gonna have a rude awakening when his brother gets here to steal some of the attention away from him!! He's already regressed some with the potty training...two accidents this morning alone...and it wasn't just a little bit, it was a full bladder both times!! Usually if he doesn't tell us in time, he'll stop going and just have a little wet spot that frequently doesn't even require new pants (only new undies), but today it was all out there...very frustrating.

We also went to Rolly Pollies today for open gym and he hit a kid, pushed another, and had all kinds of sharing issues with so many kids I felt like I was constantly telling him to share and say sorry to this or that child. I can tell he's feeling the stress, and probably "showing off" for his grandparents some, too. But I really wish he wouldn't...

Anyway, that's all for now. If something exciting happens, my sister Jenny is going to be our guest blogger and post updates and stuff until we can get around to it ourselves, so be on the lookout! He has to come out at some point, or so I keep telling myself! I just hope it's SOON!!!

2 days left...

So we're getting closer...no signs Sam's ready to come out yet...but we're hoping his Grandmom was right, and that he was just waiting for them to be here in town before he decides to make an appearance. They get in mid afternoon today...can't wait! It's been almost 3 months since we saw them last, and we're excited for them to see the new house and stuff!

Nesting update: Thanks to my wonderful husband, our bathrooms are clean, and the crib is raised up to the right level again (we had lowered it for a friend's baby to sleep in a couple of weeks ago), and I just need to put the now clean sheet back on and the bumper back on. Need to put away the rest of the laundry, and clean the kitchen. I got out to Walmart today, and got a humidifier, and hope that it works so we won't have to get up and steam Josh in the bathtub at 2 am anymore...really hoping this takes care of our problems! The waking up everynight for an hour to try to get him to stop coughing needs to end...poor thing, he's so allergic to Charleston in the Spring!! I think it's starting to get to me, too...I keep sneezing! Maybe I'll sneeze Sam out one of these times...lol!

Anyway, that's pretty much it for now...I need to go get Josh cleaned up from lunch and put in bed to see if he can get some nap in before his grandparents get here this afternoon.

3 days...more like 2.5, really...

And he better get here by his due date, or he's gonna be in TROUBLE!! I gave him his ultimatum, he's had plenty of time to prepare for this deadline...now we just need to see if he's an overachiever or not!

OK, so I'm mostly kidding about that...but we told Josh to be born on his due date, and he was, so now I've got expectations!!

Nothing so far, y'all...and we've tried almost everything I've been told...anyone got any original ideas to try??

Maybe Mom's right, and he's just waiting for his grandparents to get here, in which case, he'd better be born tomorrow!! That was AJ's bet anyway, so I guess that means we'd get to keep the baby pool money! Lol...I just need him to get here, so I can become a (more) normal me again! I'm so sick of being psycho lady around here!! Poor Josh is reacting to me half the time he's naughty, I'm sure, but I just don't seem to have enough patience for everything going on right now! Something's gotta give...

4 Days left...

And still no sign of Sam!

Obviously we got through our day of fun on Sat. (I have very pretty toenails now...so do Sandy and Anne-Marie!!), and yesterday (sorry, Sheree, you haven't won the "baby pool").

We went to the grocery store yesterday to be sure we have enough food for when Grandmom and Grandad (my parents) get here day after tomorrow. Then we proceeded to do not much the whole rest of the day...well, I did...a couple loads of laundry, and helped AJ finally get our swords mounted on the plaques he made for them. They look really nice!! He did a great job! And they passed the "Can Josh touch these?" test...no, he can't! Well, not without a stool, and we've been very careful to tell him not to touch, but not make too big a deal out of it, lest he decide that Mom and Dad are once again curtailing all his fun!

He also had a nap yesterday, which improved all of our outlooks, and so did I. Unfortunately, last night Josh woke up several times b/c of this stupid cough! And I slept like a top...exhausted, but kept waking up and turning over and over and over...
I can't wait till that's not hard anymore!!

Anyway, today the plan is to get a couple of small chores around the house done, and maybe go to Walmart to get some copies of the house key made, pick up the lettuce I forgot yesterday, and maybe look for something appropriate for a two week old (I really hope he's at least that old by Easter!!) for an Easter basket. I have all of Josh's stuff, but had kinda forgotten Sam would be here by then, too...it occurred to me that I need to get him a basket and a couple of things to go in it, probably...if only for fairness' sake...or photo ops!

Anyway, we'll keep you posted about any progress (or lack there-of) on Baby Sam...keep checking the blog to be updated on almost every detail in our lives currently!

5 more days...

We still have no baby Sam here...well, technically he's here...he's ALWAYS here...but not able to see the world, still.

We'll see what today brings. Yesterday AJ and I dropped Josh at a friend's house and went shopping for an hour or so, and then had lunch at Moe's (local burrito chain...yum, yum, yummy!!), and then AJ dropped me off for my pedicure and girl time, and went to get Josh. We had lots of fun yesterday...it was so nice to be out without Josh!! Not that I don't love my kiddo, but sometimes I feel like we're almost as conjoined as Sam and I are at the moment!!

Anyway, while Josh didn't nap, and after he finally got up, I decided to finally do some of the items on my list...cleaned out the freezer, fridge, kitchen counters, and we hung up the sword on its special mounting board that AJ made with his new dremmel tool...it looks great...only one more to go!

But still no Sam...we'll have to see what today brings. I do need to vacuum a little, and go to the store, but otherwise, we're just kinda marking time...I don't have a lot left on my list to do!!

6 days and counting...

OK, I've decided to steal an idea from friends of ours who are expecting their baby any day as well, and post everyday so you know there's nothing (or something!!) going on! That way, if you check the blog everyday, it will tell you what you need to know.

OK, so with 6 days to go, I feel like Sam's still aboard for awhile...we'll see. So far we have two people out of the official Baby Pool for the date...and if he stays in much longer, we'll have to see how huge he grows! I'm a little worried he's going to be big...I so wanted another tiny cute petite little baby, like Josh! We'll have to see how it goes...

OK, we'll try to post a sentence or two (or have someone do it for us!) if something exciting happens. Otherwise, I'll try to remember to do daily "nothing's happening" posts for you.

My dream

I had this dream three times last night/this morning before waking up the third time to an awake Josh and having to get up. Just as well, b/c everytime I woke up, I figured out it was just a dream and was VERY depressed. The first time I woke up after it, I actually thought it was real...

OK, so here's how the dream went: I'm downstairs, sitting at the computer, like I was last night, being a little sad b/c Sam is still up high, and it feels like he's never gonna get here...and then all of a sudden I feel like I have to push, and someone is there to hold me up, and I push one time, and he's born, and safe and healthy...and then all of a sudden I was at home, or all my sisters/parents/family was somehow here...not sure which, but they were here! I realize now, typing this that it seems incredibly unlikely, but I saw him and held him and stuff...he even sprayed me when he peed the first time, that's how real it was! I actually thought for about 3 seconds when I woke up to AJ's alarm, that it was real...but then I realized I was still pregnant, and the truth sank in...I was so sad, it was like having him taken away again! And as if that weren't bad enough, then I proceeded to have this same dream (slight variations, and never as real) two more times this morning!! What's up with that? It's kinda tortuous, which I realize sounds very dramatic, but seriously, this dream felt REAL!! And I'm waiting and waiting to meet this little guy...and I want to be sure he's ok, and let the doctors check out his heart and see what's causing the problems and stuff...I'm just ready for him to be here, and only about 1/3 of the reason is b/c I'm sick of being pregnant...I just want to see him and hold him and make sure he's healthy and ok.
Anyway, I think these dreams should be limited to once a pregnancy or something...at least once a night, I mean, come on!!

OK, done complaining now...I'm gonna post some pics today, I promise...I know it's been forever and all I've done lately is ramble. So check back tonight or tomorrow morning for a more interesting (hopefully) post with pix of Josh.

Murphy's Law

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong!!
Well, this seems to be true in our lives today...

Let me explain...it all started when I was headed upstairs to grab Josh after he did NOT take a nap yesterday afternoon. I had spent a relaxing couple hours on the couch, eating lunch, dozing, and talking to Shannon while watching Gilmore Girls on DVD.
So I got up after saying goodbye to Shannon to go grab Josh out of his room, and on the way down the hall from the living room to the stairs, stepped in something...wet...VERY WET! I looked down, and there's a HUGE puddle in the bathroom, spilling out into the hallway and laundry room next door. Keep in mind, we have lino in the bathroom and laundry room, but wood floors in the front hall (outside the bathroom/laundry room) and carpet on the other side of the wall from those two rooms. So here's all this water, and me, a week and a half from my due date, and Josh up and crazy upstairs, and AJ's at work...at least he's not on a trip!! (Not for lack of the schedulers trying, though...different story, though.) So I called AJ as I run to turn off the water in the bathroom and grab the towels we had downstairs. He said he'd come right home (this was about 3:45 or so in the afternoon, so he was headed home soon anyway), and I started mopping up. I determined that the water was off, and that it was indeed coming from the toilet...nothing stopping it up that I could see, so at least it was mostly just water, nothing too gross to clean up. I collected first all the old towels, but that wasn't enough, so I started grabbing ALL the towels in the house, and wringing out the ones that were already soaked in the sink. Yikes! All this time, Josh is yelling for me to come get him out of his room. I called our neighbor, to see if she could loan us some old towels, and maybe watch Josh for a little bit, but couldn't get hold of her. Then AJ got home...and we kept mopping and wringing towels out...it started getting slightly better...and we put some of the wet towels in the dryer, thinking if we could get a few dry-ish, it might help us mop up, and we'd worry about getting them clean later. Then the dryer wouldn't start...so we start troubleshooting...well, AJ did, I was still mopping and wringing. He couldn't figure it out, and by this point was starting to get really annoyed. So finally I convince him to go get the book and look up what the problem could be. Turns out, we didn't have the door closed firmly enough, so it wouldn't start...stupid, stupid, stupid!
Anyway, we got that fixed, tossed half the towels in the dryer, and half in the washer, and with the one or two we have left, we start mopping again...it was almost dry, or at least there weren't huge puddles in the floor anymore, so we were starting to feel better, although AJ was stressing about the water that got under the floor boards that we couldn't soak up very well.
Then our neighbor called back, and said bring Josh over and I'll give you some towels, which by this point, wasn't exactly a huge deal, but getting Josh out of the disaster zone for awhile sounded like a good idea. So he went over there, and I collected some towels from her, and came back to find the water pretty much all cleaned up...so we finished a few more details, and I went back over to grab Josh, who didn't really want to be nice to anyone that day. (He had some "disagreements" with Sydney that afternoon...poor Sheree, thanks for dealing with my grumpy, ornery kid!!)
OK, so fast forward a couple of hours to dinner time...I just finished making our dinner, and had everything set out on the table, Josh in his chair, and AJ says..."Why is the carpet wet over here?" That's right, the stupid water seeped through the walls and onto the carpet in the next rooms!! The floors were wet all through the dining room and along the front wall and floors of the library (our front room)!! So as Josh starts eating, AJ and I go back for the now dry towels just out of the dryer, and start soaking up the water out of the carpet...and start panicking about how much this is going to cost to fix and all of that sort of thing, of course. So now AJ's ticked again, even though he'd finally calmed down some after getting the water cleaned in the other side of the house...and it was a very silent dinner...well, as silent as can be when every 10 seconds you say something like, "Josh, don't throw your chicken!", or "Noodles belong in your mouth or on your plate, not on the floor or the table!", etc...you get the picture.
He did finally eat, even a couple of bites of broccoli, which is a first, so I gave him his dessert, and then we did the clean up and go to bed act, which of course took forever, since he knew something was going on, and was stalling.
But anyway, it's now the next morning, and it looks like we've soaked up as much as we could, and that it's pretty much dry now. So hopefully the green today won't be us finding mold, but just normal St. Patty's day stuff! lol...ok, not that funny, but we're really hoping not to have to immediately be ripping up our floors/carpets and replacing them while either waiting for or dealing with a newborn.

So that's our story...it was an extremely fun day yesterday afternoon...but at least no one got hurt or anything, right? Although I think I managed to somehow bruise my hands with all of that soaking/wringing...
Anyway, have a great St. Patrick's Day, and enjoy your green irishness, everyone!

News about Sam...

Well, there's really no news to report...I went to the dr. today, and she was very nice, but told me that nothing has changed from last week. Argh...however, I didn't expect anything since we've been trying to keep him in there this last week, b/c AJ was gone, and my parents were both away from home and wouldn't have been able to get here easily. However...They're both getting home this weekend, and AJ's here and I believe officially on "Baby Box", so we're gonna start going for long walks and jumping on the trampoline at Rolly Pollies and things like that in these next few days...I want Sam out...I don't sleep anymore, and it's really hard to do anything and I just plain want to meet him!! Plus, the sooner he's out, the less he weighs...and I'm thinking that's a good thing, at this point!! He's quite big enough!

The dr. also wanted to put me on the moniter to watch Sam's heart rate and make sure there were no contractions and good fetal movement and all that, so they hooked me up, and waited...and waited...and Sam was sleeping, so they gave me some apple juice to drink...and we waited...and waited...and then they brought in this little tool that makes a loud vibrating noise (doesn't hurt or anything, but makes a loud noise) and put it on my stomach and pressed the button...and Sam just about jumped out of my skin!!! Poor thing, it was probably equivalent to someone starting a jackhammer next to a sleeping baby...REALLY startled him!! The nurse's comment: "Whoa, you should have seen that!! He really jumped!!" Or something along those lines...anyway, after that, it only took about 10 min. to get all the movement they needed to confirm he's just fine...I could have told them that, but, no, they have to scare the kid halfway out of me...but the wrong way! Then he tried to get away from the scary noise by trying to hide in my hip...not comfortable!

I was also wearing a moniter for contractions...and while this was all going on, I sat and watched the numbers on that one tick up and down very regularly...but not very high...stupid Braxton-Hicks!! But the dr. and nurse didn't even mention them, so they must not have been anything even to comment on...sigh...

After that we went out to an Indian restaurant to get some lunch...YUMMY!!! Even Josh ate some Chicken Tikka Masala! And Naan...and some other random stuff, including the very yummy Basmati Rice...made a complete mess, but he ate! It was really cute to watch him munching on his naan! Mmmm...comfort food...I always forget just how much I really love Indian in between visits to eat it! I just wish they were closer to us!! Then we could get take out more often!!

Anyway, that's the latest...hopefully next week sometime we'll have more exciting news to post...at least that's what I'm hoping!!

Sam update

Hey everyone. Just thought I'd post a baby update. I had a Dr. appt. this morning, and it turns out that I'm 1 cm dilated, but zero effacement. Apparently this order of things is fairly normal for second babies, so there wasn't any concern about anything. However, on Sunday we had a "scare" when I realized during the church service that my unpainful contractions that I'd noticed every now and then all that day were VERY regular...coming every 5 min, but lasting only about 15-20 seconds and still not painful, just noticable. I never really had "false labor" with Josh or even very many Braxton-Hicks, so I didn't really know if these were "real" or not. But obviously, they weren't, as Sam has not made an appearance yet. After resting, drinking a lot of water, and having dinner, they tapered off. I've only had a few every now and then since, and not enough of them to count, so that's good. The reason it was so scary, honestly, was because AJ left for a trip the next evening. We were worried about him trying to get out of it if the contractions didn't stop, or having him miss Sam's birth!! Very stressful, but it worked out.

Anyway, the midwife that I saw today said that she thinks I should make it just fine till AJ gets home next week, but wouldn't make any bets on anything past that...maybe just b/c she didn't want to give us any kind of guarantee, but I'm still kinda hoping Sam's a little early, so he doesn't weigh too much...plus I'm just plain sick of being pregnant!! I'll be very happy to have him weigh around the same as Josh did when he was born...I would NOT complain about another baby under 7 lbs.!!!! But we know God has this under control, and we're trying to just wait patiently for His timing and will as to Sam's health/size/etc.

No new pix of him this time, but we have appts. made for the next two fridays, so we'll see how many more appts. we actually get to. Anyone else want to place a "bet" (no money, just an "I told you so, haha I was right" bragging right to anyone who's right or close!) on timing or weight?? Our community group is actually doing a betting pool on these!! I think that's hilarious! Anyway, I'll keep you updated with anything new that comes up...I'll even try to remember to have AJ bring the laptop to the hospital in case we can get internet there so I can post right after Sam's born! I may also see if one of my sisters or friends will post something when we call to say we're headed to the hospital. I stole that idea from Jessica, crazy devoted blogger that she is...I have to keep up!!