Ups and Downs

Slowly I am adjusting to my new ways. I still feel somewhat useless sometimes and lazy even though I know I'm not being lazy by choice. It's hard for me to just put my dishes in the sink and walk away waiting for someone else to clean up or to know I can't unload the dishwasher full of clean dishes. We are managing.

I am so thankful for my incredible hubby who has changed his name to Mr Mom lately. He cooks, cleans, does laundry, takes Jackson here and there, does bath time and bedtime every night, etc! Jimmy has never minded doing all the daily activities with Jackson. He loves spending time with his son. I just know it must be hard working all day and then doing everything at home too. We also would not have survived these past 2 weeks without Nana and Papa! They have been so helpful with Jackson and with cooking, grocery shopping and taking care of me!

I'm not into daytime TV so I have been reading a lot, which I love. I always love a good book but normally never spent enough time actually reading. I have also gone in phases where I want to be on my computer a bunch and then I don't touch it for days. The Dr. said I can sit in my office for a little bit in order to catch up on some of the paperwork and bills. It's nice to know that I can somewhat keep up with that. I have other random projects that I seem to never have time for normally so hopefully I can at least do some of those during my downtime.

The other evening it was amazing outside - low humidity and the temp was probably in the 70s. After dinner Jimmy and Jackson went outside to play and I decided to go out too and just parked myself in a chair and watched Jackson have lots of fun playing. And we had yummy popsicles :) Such a great night! It was so fun that all of a sudden we realized it was 8:45! Jackson was up way past his bedtime.

p.s. Yes, he is wearing just a diaper... he got red popsicle all over his shorts so I just took them off.

Jackson headed to the lake with Nana yesterday for the rest of the week. I was a whole mix of emotions. In the end I was so upset that I could hardly say goodbye because I didn't want to get him all upset and I was already tearing up. He was so excited to be going to see Papa and to go to the pool. I didn't want to ruin it for him. So I've been sad. But he is having a blast and I have had lots of rest time and finished another book :)

Weekly Photos

I have been so bad about posting my weekly belly photos. I think its crazy to look back already and see how much my belly has grown. And to see how much Jackson has changed each week.

 26 Weeks

28 Weeks while in the hospital

Bedrest

So, I'm only on day 4 of being on bedrest at home and it's been really hard! I'll take being home with my family over being in the hospital any day but its still been tough. I'm not exactly a type A person but I do like things neat and tidy and I always find something to be doing. Whether its cleaning up, crafting, blogging, catching up on accounting work for the business, etc I rarely ever just sit around and completely relax. Now, there are the occasional nap times when I do just sit and watch a tv show or read a little but those are pretty infrequent. It's just not my nature.

So to be told I have to be on bedrest and can only get up to go to the bathroom or get something to eat and/or drink is super hard. I can't stand to look around and see clutter and piles of things that need to be put away. I want to be able to sit in my office and catch up on work stuff because I hate to be behind on it. I have crafts and things I was going to start working on for Jackson's big boy room. I had been really into finding new recipes and cooking and baking recently.  And there is always laundry to be done and folded and put away.

Let's not even get into how useless I feel knowing I can't hardly care for Jackson by myself. He can come sit on the sofa with me but that's about it! I can't sit on the floor and play with him, can't pick him up or carry him, can't take him outside to play, can't go upstairs to do bath and bedtime with him.

Of course I want to do everything in my power to keep this baby growing in my belly for as long as possible. 28 weeks is much much too early to meet this baby. We have had a baby born premature and there is nothing worse than leaving the hospital while your baby is still there in the NICU. So I will do what the doctors say but its going to be tough and I'm just hoping it doesn't get me down and depressed.

I am trying to come up with projects I can do while sitting on the sofa and I am sure I will spend a lot of time reading. It's hard to think I have at least 6 more weeks of this. The doctor says I will be on bedrest until at least 34 or 35 weeks. Its a good thing Jimmy and I already had a getaway and we had our beach trip week before last!

28 Weeks

I was 28 weeks pregnant on Monday and had been feeling pretty good! We went to a makeup music class on Monday morning and Jackson got to play the violin.

Later in the afternoon we went to the dr for my 28 week appointment. The ultrasound of the baby looked great. When they checked my cervix via ultrasound it measured too short. It should be around 3 or 4 cm at this point but it was 1.4 cm. When it gets closer to 1 is when you start dilating and progressing with labor. They hooked me up to the contraction monitor and I was having contractions so I was ordered to head to Northside Hospital to be monitored more closely. They gave me the first dose of steroids to help develop the baby's lungs in case I did in fact deliver soon. I also began taking meds to relax my uterus which would help reduce the contractions.

Luckily Papa happened to be here and was able to stay at home with Jackson while Jimmy took me to the hospital. Grilled cheese and grapes for dinner. Nana drove in from the lake and got there just before it was time for Jackson to go to bed.

 My view that evening from the hospital room

Nana and Papa sent me pictures of Jackson for the next couple of days

 French toast for breakfast

 My breakfast. I would have rather been eating french toast with my sweet boy :(

 His "cheese" face! He is such a goofball!

 I had a cute little visitor on Wednesday :) He tried to steal my Cheetos but I didn't let him!

On Thursday morning I had another ultrasound to check my cervix and it was up to 1.7 cm I was allowed to go home on full bedrest and I had another appointment scheduled for the next morning.

 So happy to be home. We were snuggling on the sofa after he woke up from his nap.

I am so thankful that I didn't start going into full labor. We need to keep this baby inside growing as long as possible! Thank you to Nana and Papa for all the help with Jackson. Jimmy has been amazing too. He has been super busy at work and yet still spent plenty of time with Jackson and also came to spend time with me every day. I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers from our friends too :)

Big Boy!

Jackson climbed out of his crib many months ago and I was sure we were about to start the transition to a big boy bed. It was a hectic week and we never wound up taking the rail off his crib that week. He never climbed out again and was content in his crib so we left it alone for a while. When we got home from the beach last week I knew we needed to start the transition since we would be needing our crib for the baby in a couple of months. We took his front rail off on Sunday and he was super wound up and overtired when I was putting him down for his nap. I feared this was going to be a horrible transition. He didn't want to sit still and read books and I was getting frustrated.

We wound up reading a couple books and then I told him he was such a big boy and would be sleeping in his big boy bed now. I tucked him and George in under his blanket and left the room. I was sure he would get up and play in his room rather than sleep. But he laid there and went to sleep. When he woke up after his nap he even stayed in his bed until I came in! I told him how proud I was of him for sleeping in his big boy bed!

That night we followed the same sort of routine and I continued to make a big deal out of him sleeping in his big boy bed.

He usually kicks his blanket off by morning. He stayed in all night and waited for us to come get him in the morning after he woke up :) We are off to a good start. The plan is to stay in this bed for another few weeks or a month and then he'll move into a queen size bed in his new big boy room I am putting together for him.

Back Home

After a super fun week at the beach we got back to our normal activities at home.

 Playdate with some friends. They were putting on a puppet show for us!

 My helper at the dematologists office

 Lunch at the pool one day

 Playing at the pool with friends

 Blond hair, blue eyed cuties!

 At Fritti for a night out with some friends

We had a fun and busy week after the beach. It's always tough getting back into the groove after having been on vacation.

4th of July 2013 - Part 2

Since I take way too many photos I thought I would break up the posts. Here are some more fun pictures and moments from the second half of the week.

He was "surfing". He would stand on the kickboard and wait for the waves to come up. He probably stood there for 15 or 20 min!

Mmmmm... We got crabs one night for dinner. They were delicious :)

Tired boy after a long fun day

Playtime outside after dinner. My friend Lindsey came down from Jacksonville for a couple days with her boys Cameron and Luke.

Ashley and Avery

Cameron and Avery

 Jackson and Avery. He loves her! Ever since the beach he keeps saying "Avry pool? Avry pool?" I think he wants to go play with Avery soon.

Silly boys underwater!

 Wearing mommy's sunglasses

 Checking out a crab on the beach

Such a wonderful week at the beach! I love the memories we create with our sweet little family. I am so very fortunate :)