You guys. It was gorgeous here this weekend. We finally had SPRING.
Both Saturday and Sunday were beautiful. And it was refreshing. It made me want to get up, get out, and do things. It’s amazing what some 70-degree temperatures and sunshine can do for your motivation.
We spent a good chunk of both days outside. That’s all Nora wants to do these days. “Play outside?” she asks the minute we pick her up from daycare. (And she spends time outside at daycare, too, so it’s not like she’s deprived.) She can’t get enough of the great outdoors. I just wish she was a little better at independent play out there. Inside? She can keep herself busy. Outside? It depends. Sometimes she has complete A.D.D. out there; she moves from one thing to the next and nothing can keep her entertained for long. Hopefully she’ll get the hang of it as the spring/summer goes on. :)
I took my camera out with us on Saturday evening and snapped some of my favorite recent pics of Nora. Well, they are the only recent pics of Nora, really. Aside from a couple of belly pics, these are the only pics I have in my April 2013 folder! It’s insanity. My appendix seriously stole my April from me. But I’m reclaiming my MAY! And JUNE! And JULY!
This is her new favorite outdoor game. “Drive-thru window” with Daddy. Only with Daddy. Mommy is not allowed to order.
Daddy cracks her up. Love her infectious giggle.
Those bangs. They are thisclose to being long enough to make it back into her ponytail. If I wet her hair when I put it up, they’ll actually stay back in the ponytail holder for a little bit, but as they dry they work their way out and back down into her face. And my girl is not very tolerant of barrettes. We’re almost there!
I felt a lot more like my normal self this weekend. Warmth and sunshine, in addition to being great mood boosters, are apparently also great healers. I even started a project—Nora’s bathroom. Well, the kids’/guest bath. More on that later this week, maybe, but it felt good to be making some progress on the “pre-baby” to-do list. It’s not a huge project, but a facelift nonetheless. Once the bathroom is done, it will be time to set sights on the nursery! Eeek!
To make the weekend even more productive, I also packed away the majority of Nora’s cold-weather clothes. It felt great because of the “spring cleaning” aspect, and the whole “out with winter, in with spring!” thing. But I also always get so, so sad to pack away the things I know she’ll never wear again. Even when I so look forward to putting her in all of the cute new stuff. Seriously bittersweet, this “growing up” stuff. (Oh, and don’t worry, she doesn’t have THAT many clothes. I know the bin is huge. But it is holding last year’s winter and summer clothes, too.)
The 10-day forecast looks amazing. We woke up to rain and gloom this morning, but we can’t complain because the rest looks so good. I see a lot of good moods in my future. Hopefully it stays that way. Lord knows we paid our dues with this long-ass winter!
I hope you all enjoyed your weekends as much as we did. T minus four days until the next one!
Obviously, I fell way behind in my pregnancy “journal” thanks to my lovely appendicitis. I guess I could’ve made more of an effort to keep up with the weekly photos during that time, but let’s see… the first week (week 23), I was in the hospital on an IV drip, and couldn’t even get out of bed by myself (and um, wasn’t even wearing pants). The second week (week 24), I was home, but was wearing pajamas 24 hours per day, wore no makeup, and only showered every other day at best.
Needless to say, I didn’t feel much like posing for belly pics.
I do have a 22-week photo to share that I never had the chance to post. I took it on the day before I woke up sick, which started the whole appendicitis ordeal.
22 Weeks PregnantAnd here I am now:
25 Weeks PregnantAt this point, I am feeling OK in my recovery. Still somewhat sore, still somewhat weak. I can eat completely normally now and not pay for it with horrible gas pains, so that’s good at least. My incision has healed, but man, it is ugly. About 4 inches long with lovely staple marks running like train tracks down each side of it. It feels bumpy to the touch, and the tissue underneath it is hard (scar tissue?). I’m nervous about what’s going to happen to it when my stomach grows and stretches as it will inevitably do over the next ~15 weeks. But I also know that there is really nothing I can do about it, so… I’m trying to let go of the worry and just hope that my body will do what it has to do.
Oh, and on an unrelated side note: It is absolutely NOT warm enough here to be wearing sleeveless tops. I wore a big, flowy, open sweater over that tank top today, but when I wore it in photos it disguised my belly and just looked weird from the side angle, so I took it off. :)
I am feeling a lot of baby movement these days. I forgot how weird it felt. Even after I had Nora—up until I got pregnant again, in fact—I would feel what I called “phantom kicks,” and it always made me slightly nervous because I was thinking, Ohmygod, I better not end up one of those women on “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant.” But now that I’ve experienced real movement again, the “phantom kicks” are sooo not the same. When the baby really gets going in there, it is actually a little bit uncomfortable… sort of like the feeling you get in your stomach when you ride a rollercoaster. And it absolutely keeps me away if I’m trying to sleep.
Speaking of sleep… *sigh* It’s not great these days. I am up once a night to pee, which isn’t terrible (yet), but I have a really hard time getting comfortable. During my pregnancy with Nora I became a back sleeper for a lot of the time, but at this stage it is uncomfortable to sleep on my back. I spend every night rotating from side to side with a body pillow between my knees, and it’s just not conducive to great rest for me. My sleep issues started with the appendicitis and were exacerbated by my time in the hospital and the pain I experienced. It just hasn’t gone back to normal since then.
Overall, I am suddenly feeling BIG. I know I’ve got a long ways to go still, but my stomach is definitely there now. I am acutely aware of the fact that I’m pregnant now, if that makes sense.
I say nightly prayers with Nora, where we go through our immediate family members and individually bless them. “God bless Nora, God bless Mommy, God bless Daddy, God bless Grammy…” etc. etc. We’ve now added “God bless the baby in Mommy’s tummy” to the list. :) Nora will remind me if I forget, too. It’s really cute.
I am so freaking sick of my wardrobe. Most of my real maternity clothes are SUMMER clothes, since by the time I was this pregnant with Nora, we were into early June. We just need the weather to warm up so I can wear all of that stuff! I do need to do a little bit of shopping, though. I need another pair of work pants, for sure, and a few new tops would be nice. I just need to find the time/energy to shop a little.
Speaking of time and energy, we’re trying to get back on track with the projects we have on the list for pre-baby. We’re starting with Nora’s (well, the kids/guest) bathroom. I’m hoping I can will myself to start some work on it this weekend, because otherwise I’m going to start to panic a little. Too much to do, too little time.
15 weeks to go.
I returned to work yesterday. It felt really strange after being out for nearly 2.5 weeks. Since starting my full-time career after college, the only other times I’ve been out of work that long (or longer) was when we got married and went on our honeymoon, and when I had Nora and took maternity leave. It was nice to be back, but weirdly, it’s going to take some time to get back up to speed on stuff. I mean… it was only 2.5 weeks. But I guess I never really think about all my team does in that stretch of time. Things change quickly. Everything that I was working on before I left had to be finished up and out the door while I was out, so… I’ve got nothin’. That won’t last long, though!
I had my follow-up appointment with my doctor (my OB, not the surgeon) on Friday morning and all looked fine so she cleared me to return to work/normal life activity—within reason. I still have to take it slowly. I tire easily, and I get sore if I do too much. It’s all about listening to my body at this point.
I was officially down 4 lbs. by the doctor’s scale… and that was after I had already been back to eating for a week. Given what I’d been through, my doctor was not at all surprised, but told me to try to get in some extra protein if I can. Now that I can REALLY eat again, I wouldn’t be shocked if I gain it back easily, but we’ll see. Other than that little concern, my incision was good, baby’s heart rate was good. It sounds like we can finally put this whole ordeal behind us now.
It’s weird because now it feels like the baby’s due date is right around the corner. When settling back into work, I’m now looking at the calendar and thinking, “Damn, only a little more than three months and I’ll be out again.” It’s crazy, but makes sense—I basically lost 1/3 of the month of April to my blasted appendix.
And just like during my first trimester, I’m tremendously thankful for my iPhone, because I have not picked up the real camera since before my surgery. At least we have iPhone photos that documented these last few weeks, and to get a few good snaps of Nora. I have to make it my mission this week to bust out the camera and get back into a groove again.
Life. It just keeps going.
I feel behind.
Toddlers, man. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.
There’s always something that’s a challenge, right?
Right now, we’re dealing with a bit of a doozy. The problem? We can’t do anything nice/special for Nora without paying the price—in the form of attitude, screaming, and/or a full-fledged tantrum.
Playing outside? Awesome, but then it’s a huge battle to get her back in. Even at daycare, we’re told.
A trip to the park? Lovely. Until it’s time to leave, that is. That results in a scream fest that could very well bust ear drums.
Allow a cupcake after dinner? She’s delighted. Until she demands another and we say no. We get the “I’M TOO MAD!” stomping-of-the-foot attitude for half an hour afterward.
It was nice out tonight, so we took a ride to get out of the house (God, I’m so bored!) to get some ice cream. We were a happy, peachy family of three. But when it was gone, Nora demanded more, and when we told her that it was gone and it was time to go home, she first got the attitude and further tried to demand her way. Then Michael picked her up and she did the high-pitch screaming. Then he went to put her in her car seat and she arched her back and made it nearly impossible to buckle her in, all while telling us how mad she was.
What gives, kid? This makes us never want to do anything fun with her ever again.
Once we were home and she had calmed down, I talked to her about it as we were getting her ready for the bath. I told her, “You need to tell us ‘thank you’ for the ice cream.” And she did. The thing is, Nora is usually really polite. She “pleases” and “thank yous” for almost anything we do for her. We have to remind her about “please” on a regular basis, but she almost always says “thank you” without prompting. For handing her a spoon. For complimenting her artwork. For helping her do something.
So why can’t we get a “thank you” when we do something special??
I’m hoping that this period of ungratefulness is something that is a stage and just goes away with time. We try to explain it to her, like “If you act like this when it’s over, we’re never going to do these things with you again.” And “Don’t you want to come back for ice cream another time? You need to be a good girl and say thank you. When the ice cream is gone, it’s time to go home.”
But is it something they just learn? Do they eventually learn to appreciate the treats, or is there a better/more effective way to teach this concept to a 2-year-old? I see other children walk away peacefully when it’s over or time to go home. When will mine do this?
The problem is that there doesn’t seem to be adequate consequences for the behavior. I mean, the greatest punishment is making her leave, or refusing to give another cupcake, or whatever. We’re not giving in and giving her what she wants, so I guess we “win”… until next time, when we’re in the same position.
We’re heading into warm weather, and my favorite seasons of the year. We’ll want to do a lot of special things, especially leading up to the baby being born. But it’s hard when the fallout hardly makes the added joy worthwhile.
On Saturday morning, the surgical resident came into my hospital room before the sun (as usual) during her rounds. As she did her normal check, she mentioned, “We’re hoping you get to go home today.”
Music to my ears!
I still had to go through all of what had become my morning routine—meds, blood draw, additional stops in from OB docs—but several hours later, I got official word that yes, I was going to be sprung from the hospital. Finally.
The on-call doctor from my OB practice came in to double check that I was ready to go home—that I felt ready—and of course, I said yes. He said that at this point, there wasn’t anything they could do for me at the hospital that I couldn’t do at home, so he agreed to discharge me to finish recovery in my own house, with my family.
Oh, and after persistent begging from me and persistent asking from my OB doctors and nurses, the surgical team finally agreed to let my staples come out. HOORAY! The OB resident removed them for me right before I got dressed to leave. My incision immediately felt better.
Michael and Nora were already at the hospital with me to have breakfast together, so we immediately started packing everything up and getting ready to go. Once I had discharge papers and instructions in place, and transport came to get me with a wheelchair, we were on our way. I was happy to bid farewell to my hospital room, that’s for sure. I hope to not be back up there until it is for a much more joyful reason—to welcome our baby.
At home, I promptly climbed into bed for a solid three-hour nap with no interruptions. Yessssss.
Nora was excited to have me home. It’s a little hard for her to understand that I can’t do everything I normally do—and that I have to lie around a lot—but she’s a good sport. On Saturday night, Michael took her up to get her ready for bed. I ventured upstairs while he was reading her books, and as I walked in her bedroom door, Nora looked up with a smile and simply said, “Mommy’s back.”
Best feeling ever.
I had been home all day, but there was something about reinserting myself into her bedtime routine that was clearly very meaningful to her. I eased myself into her bed to lie with her as Michael finished the book, and Nora repeatedly leaned over to give me hugs and kisses out of nowhere. And when she wasn’t hugging me, she insisted on holding my hand while she listened to the story. It gives me tears to think about it, even still.
Since then, recovery at home has been OK. I am still pretty sore, but I’m getting better at getting around with each day. I’m pretty cooped up—it’s not easy, nor do I really have the energy, to go on errands or anything—but it’s obviously worlds better than being stuck in a hospital room. I can’t drive since I’m still on pain meds. And, the doctors pulled me from work for this week, too, so my only “job” right now is to heal. I have a follow-up doctor’s appointment on Friday and I expect to be cleared to resume most normal activities at that point.
My stomach has been getting better, too. On Saturday, and even early Sunday, I was still experiencing a lot of pent-up gas pain—I think my stomach was readjusting to handling food after being on a break for eight days! But I’m spending less and less time in discomfort, and the amount of food I’m able to consume is returning to normal levels. I’m still trying to be careful about eating things that are too rich or greasy, but I did have chicken enchiladas that my mother-in-law made us for dinner last night, and I seemed to do fine (and they were GOOD).
Speaking of no food for eight days, I weighed myself on Sunday morning just to see, and I was down about four pounds from the last time I weighed myself at home (Wednesday 4/3, the day before I started experiencing the nausea/vomiting/pain symptoms). Given how long my body was deprived of anything, I was surprised it wasn’t more. Then again, I had already been eating for two days again (so probably had already gained some weight back), and I don’t know if I may still be holding onto extra fluid with my abdominal swelling. So who the heck knows? It’s probably not a very accurate measure. At any rate, it will be interesting to see if I “catch up” at some point or if I’ll be a few pounds behind where I should be for the remainder of the pregnancy. The growth ultrasound showed the baby is fine and growing like it should, so really, it doesn’t much matter.
Looking back at the whole experience, I still can’t believe that this happened to me. It just goes to show that you never truly know what life is going to throw at you. Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, this was minor compared to what some people go through, but holy cow. I’ve been doing some reading about appendicitis and pregnancy, and have since learned that when my appendix ruptured, the risk of death for our baby increased from 3% to approximately 20%. That is terrifying, and I’m so glad that we didn’t know that second statistic at the time.
Going into surgery, I was in excruciating pain and had been doped up on drugs, but I still remember being acutely aware of the fact that I didn’t know how this was going to turn out. I listened to them monitor the baby’s heart rate right before I was put under, and then, as I was brought out of anesthesia, I listened to them try to find the baby’s heartbeat again. What relief I felt when I heard that sweet sound.
I’m thankful for whoever was watching over us that day. I’m glad that although I didn’t have the easiest go of things during the process, I still ended up falling into the majority who have positive outcomes. The alternative is unimaginable. I’m counting my blessings and praying that they continue!
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
