Daily Owen: 5.31.2014

It got really quiet this morning and then I found Owen in my makeup...making himself pretty for the day!

Daily Owen: 5.30.2014

Just sittin on blankie eating popcorn....chillin. 

Daily Owen: 5.29.2014

Owen was so excited when I came home...sadly, not so much to see me but to play in my car. (Note: apparently he had been playing in the mud. Hates when his hands are dirty but I guess face is no biggie!)

Daily Owen: 5.28.2014

Our neighbors are pouring a driveway so Owen and I spent literally about an hour outside watching the big trucks.... Later we went inside and got to put on the new "shoes" poppy bought him. Needless to say, Ochee had a pretty good day. 

Daily Owen: 5.27.2014

Today marked our trip home to Seattle. The day began at 2am when Owen refused to sleep again for 2 hours, then was up at 6. Bah! Sleep regression?! Who knows. 

But we played at grandma and grandpas this morning (first picture is of Owen demanding a diaper change), took an early nap, then headed to the airport.  Owen did pretty good on the flight considering we were on the plane for freaking ever because we almost took off and then a passenger had to be let off the plane. Really bizarre. Owen was a lite fussy but ended up getting in a half hour nap, then at the end of it all we got to ride on a bus which made his whole day. 

Was a great trip but always feels good to be home! 

Daily Owen: 5.26.2014

Last full day in Kansas City was a good one! Started off with brunch with Uncle Jon and Margot (where Owen tried to poke poppy's eyes out while we were waiting), naptime 2.5 seconds after dropping Jon and Margot off which turned into a 3 (!!!) hour nap, playing with grandma while mama and poppy snuck 9 holes of golf in, and cookies like a big boy to end the day (while doing his new "OEO!" thing, complete with arms over head. Hilarious!)

Pregnancy Round 2: Week 24.

Week 24. 6 months. We can do this! I think to myself only 3 more months (this makes me feel awesome). Then I realize, it's still probably 16 weeks out and I think a big old huge BAH. Whoever said that pregnancy only lasts 9 months lied. And probably just to make pregnant women feel better about it. Nice thought, but DUMB. Still being at 6 months is a pretty notable milestone. And really? MIND BLOWN when I think that I have been pregnant for HALF OF A YEAR. Holy crap. That just doesn't seem possible- 1) That I have been pregnant for that dang long and 2) That it is already almost JUNE and HOW?!

Pictures:

Week 24 side view.

Week 24 with Owen! Just for kicks. I don't know if I'm carrying different or not with this monkey... you can be the judge. 

Week 24 front view. 

Week 23 side view.

Week 23 front view.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. Just huge. Embarrassingly huge. I mean really, I guess I am just one of those people that feels REALLY self conscious about it. As in, wherever I go, I just think "BEHOLD THE BELLY" and that everyone is staring. I do not know why. I think I feel bigger than I really am but it's just awkward. I know this is a constant from here on out, and I also remember the second I pushed Owen out and looked down and could see my feet and it was like a bloody miracle (also, my cankles had virtually disappeared in a matter of hours... MAGIC!) I felt like I was practically a supermodel when I looked in the mirror after giving birth to Owen and didn't resemble a small tanker truck anymore. 

We traveled this week to Kansas City to see my parents and it will be the last 'big" trip we will take pre-baby. Traveling wasn't that bad this time being pregnant. I think that was partially due to the fact that this baby doesn't seem to be sitting right on my bladder like Owen was (thus no 40000 times to the bathroom during the flight) and also, I didn't really have a whole lot of time to think about being pregnant and traveling since I was the mom of a toddler in an airport (also: WOW and also: there is no WAY IN HELL I would ever do that alone with two, IE: Christmas). 

How I'm changing?

Whelp, thanks to pushing Owen out of my hoo hoo plus the way this new kid is sitting on my bladder, I currently am having issues with "leakage"... IE: if I sneeze or, as in the case this week, exert too much effort hitting a golf ball. Now isn't THAT awesome?! I had issues with incontinence directly following Owen's birth (well, several weeks after) when I attempted to run. It was actually quite scary as I thought it was blood at first, but nope, turns out I was just involuntarily peeing myself. Well, that problem has now returned with a full fledge (larger) baby inside of me. He/she may not be sitting right on top of my bladder, but somehow the whole 1.5 pound thing is enough that if I am even just slightly full of liquids and something happens (read: sneeze, swing golf club, laugh, etc), I pee myself. Why didn't anyone ever tell me how glamorous being a mom would be? I might almost be depressed about it if I didn't see the humor in it, mostly because I know that a zillion other moms can relate and there is just not a damn thing you can do about it. SO THERE IT IS. 

What I'm eating?

Too many cookies. Welcome home. 

Weight I'm gaining?

BAH. I made the mistake of weighing myself this week. I guess it wasn't really a mistake per se, but my weekly weigh in just happened to be very depressing. The scale said I gained FIVE POUNDS in a week, from 137 to 143. WHAT?! This was before taking a shower. I tried again after I took a shower and I was 140, which I will take. I am just going to think that our scale had a freak out moment and ignore the 5 pound mishap. 

How I'm sleeping?

Let's just say that Owen is way too excited to be at Grandma and Grandpa's so Justin and I are tired. Very, very tired.  

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is 12.5 inches long or the size of a piece of corn and weighs 1.25 pounds. Um, that means my kid is a FOOT long?? No way.

-The baby's respiratory system continues to grow and develop in preparation for breathing even though for now most of the oxygen still comes from the placenta.

-The baby still has translucent skin but that will change soon.

-If the baby is born, he/she is officially considered viable if born (meaning it would live).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

Nada. It occurred to me this week that we haven't bought one single thing for this kid, not one. I don't count the car. I'm wondering if we should maybe really think about this in the coming weeks and try to get just slightly prepared. You know, maybe even just remotely consider the carseat, packing a bag for the midwives, getting some freaking diapers. Probably. Which, oh yeah, then leads me to panic, HOLY CRAP we are having another baby. And so then I procrastinate. It's a vicious cycle. 

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

I kind of referenced this above, but I remember writing last time I was pregnant about how it was hard to travel while pregnant. I've decided this time that it's not really THAT bad to be pregnant and travel. What really sucks is to be pregnant and travel with a toddler: WHOLE DIFFERENT BALLGAME. 

Daily Owen: 5.25.2014

Playing with grandpa and the little car (the car continues to be a huge hit!)

Pregnancy round 2: week 23.

Here we are again: 23 weeks and again a little belated as I'm currently just shy of 26. At 23 weeks pregnant with Owen, we were in Hawaii. Ahhh. That sounds so nice right about now. I guess the days of a 'babymoon' become mitigated once you have a baby. Wahhh.

23 weeks side shot.

23 weeks front shot.

AND new this week: GOODBYE belly button. See you soon [sad face].

22 weeks. What the heck happened in a week?! 

22 weeks front.

How I'm feeling?

I guess I'm feeling pretty good. I just feel so HUGE this time around. I mean, like 400 million times larger than last time. I've said it before and I'll say it again- I feel like I should be just a few DAYS from giving birth not weeks and certainly not MONTHS. I have the hip pain that started up around this time with Owen and like I mentioned before, I already stopped running. Still working out, walking, and hiking but it's a little bit more sporadic and sometimes efficient in an effort to work it in between everything else. 

I get asked a lot if this pregnancy is different than the pregnancy with Owen and my answer is a resounding YES. I wouldn't necessarily say it is harder, it's just different. I feel bigger, more uncomfortable, was sicker, etc. I'm not quite sure if this is just a function of being more hyper aware of being pregnant this time or if it's a function of chasing a toddler and not having the time to put my feet up (so to speak), but it just is what it is. I didn't ENJOY being pregnant before but I also don't remember being so blatantly miserable in a variety of ways with Owen. Looking back at blog posts, I think I was but thanks to mommy/birthing/newborn brain, I blocked it out. Good news is, I think the same is bound to happen with this one, too. 

How I'm changing?

See above. My belly button conceded the fight this week. I went from innie to outtie. Boo hoo. From looking at pictures from last time (from Hawaii), my belly had not quite expanded as far yet and I still had my belly button ring in. There would be no hope of that ring still being in this time! 

What I'm eating?

I am craving the weirdest thing this week and I just can't get enough of it. It's the "diet" I was on when I was breastfeeding Owen from about 2-4 months and he had massive green poops (meaning he was having a sensitivity to something in my diet). Anyway, to try to help him out, I had to cut out virtually everything from my diet and existed on ground turkey, spinach, quinoa, hemp oil, and sea salt. Every meal. All day. Seriously. And now that is all I'm craving. I literally eat it every night and would eat it every morning, for lunch, snacks, etc., if I could. Weird, right? 

Weight I'm gaining?

137 pounds this week, which is the same as I weighed last week. Zero gain this week, I'll take it! 

How I'm sleeping?

Really nothing to complain about in this area at all, surprisingly. I know this might be a cruel joke because time is ticking to where I won't be sleeping at all. Cue someone's evil laugh...  

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is about 11.5 inches long or the size of a large mango and now weighs over a pound (so it grew .5 inches and gained .1 pound this week? Sheesh. And sidenote- logistically, I am still boggled by the fact that something that big is in my stomach).

-The baby is picking up it's activity and as it gets bigger, you feel it more often and more intensely (NO KIDDING. He is big enough now, that you can actually see my stomach move as he/she moves. It's pretty funny.)

-Blood vessels in the lungs are developing to prepare for breathing and the hearing is becoming more keen

-The pancreas is kicking into gear this week also

-Good news this week is that the baby is ALMOST to the point where he would have a fighting chance of surviving if he were to be born this early.

-Mostly the baby continues to grow and grow and is moving all about (seems like this will be the constant until birth).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

The kitchen project continued and was finished this week. It was really FOR the baby but it was one of those things that needed to be done BEFORE the baby so I'll count it. Thank GOD that is over. Now we have a few other big projects to do before the baby gets here. (Also: wish us luck). 

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

How did I forget about pregnancy paranoia? OH.MY.GOSH. One night this week, I literally could not go to sleep and had Justin go in to Owen's room about 15 times because I was SURE that Owen's curtains were going to catch on fire (they are right by the heater), and his whole room would bust up in flames. Literally, I was so freaked out by this thought and consumed with it, that I was practically in tears. Irrational, yes. But at the time, it felt very real. Thanks pregnancy hormones, just thanks. 

Daily Owen: 5.24.2014

A rainy day in KC meant breakfast with a good friend (CJ), followed by going to see uncle Jon's two new kittens (where Owen scared the crap out of them by waving a broom at them). Naptime then playtime with grandma while mama and poppy went to a wedding. I would say the little guy is having a lot of fun out here!

Daily Owen: 5.23.2014

Another day in the Midwest! Shopping this morning (started a little late as the turtle partied from 2-5am last night....ugh), then naptime for O while mama and poppy worked out, then we were supposed to have dinner plans that got cancelled last minute so instead we went to the park! Owen of course found the biggest slide ever and mastered it. Came home, had dinner, poppy and grandpa went to the golf course and Owen decided to ride a little car right off the deck and did a nice face plant onto the concrete. Luckily, he is ok but has a nice shiner! And almost gave mama a heart attack. Not the first time and won't be the last. Boys! 

Daily Owen: 5.22.2014

Playing with the new favorite toy (how do we get this home?!) and then seeing a bus = day made. 

Daily Owen: 5.21.2014

Another fun day! Visited grandpa at work, went in to Kansas City where we played around and then ate at Fritz's where there are trains all over and a train that even delivers your food (this was a BIG hit),played in a pool outside with grandma while mama and poppy went to workout, then ended the day by going to a huge kids sale where Owen scored a car that he absolutely couldn't part with (and just liked to push). I'd say it was a great day for Mr. O!