All Good!

Went to the doctor yesterday afternoon and met the doctor from the practice that I hadn't met yet.  He was okay, but I like the others better.  I measured 34cm which is 3 weeks ahead, but still only 1 week outside normal and they won't do an ultrasound unless its 2.  So if I were 1cm bigger, I would have gotten to see the baby.  Then again, I am big enough... I love the comments at school, "Oh wow, you popped out there didn't you" "Haha, you are starting to waddle" "When are you due? ... Oh, you still have a ways to go"  Gee, really, I need these comments.  My self image is disorted enough as it is without others' input!  I'm trying really hard to take it all in stride... I just want to meet the baby!  I did have a pleasant thought though, if I'm measuring 34 which is 3 weeks ahead, maybe he will come 3 weeks early... I'd be 37 weeks so it would be considered full term.  Then again, school gets out on June 4th so I would only have 3 days off.  I don't know why I spend time thinking about it, he will come when he is ready!

Nursery!

The floors are varnished and they look great!  All the furniture is in place, the crib is put together!  Well, its almost all in place.  I got home from an exhausting field trip yesterday to find that my wonderful husband had put everything just where I wanted it!  He has worked so hard!  But last night, he went to work and I was sitting in my glider in the nursery and I had rearranged the living room and decided a couple things needed to be moved around.  I tried to do it myself... I put pads under the legs of the armoire to make it easier to move, but it just didn't happen.  I managed to get it in an awkward position where I couldn't move it at all.  Go me!  So I am waiting until today to take pictures and I will post tomorrow.  That's if Danny gets it moved... I'm not going to push it.  Poor guy worked 9pm last night to 7am this morning and has to go back in at 2pm and work til 9 tonight.  Craziness!  My mom is coming down Friday and if the weather isn't bad we are going to have a garage sale... bulk trash is next week so anything that doesn't sell goes to the curb.  Nothing is coming back in this house!  She is also bringing the baby bedding.  I don't think she will have the curtains done yet....  I found a great deal at kmart.com for the rug, crib sheets and a mattress pad.  They will be here by next Wednesday.  Now all I have to do is get a couple more essentials and some decorative things and everything will be ready!  Less than 9 weeks to go! (Hopefully less... but not too much less!)

Great friends= Great weekend!

Caleb and Lindsey came to town on Friday.  When they finally got to our house (they went to IKEA first and ended up in rush hour traffic), they took us out to eat.  I then drove them to Walmart so I could get the rest of the ingredients for the fabulous food I planned to cook them the rest of the weekend.  After I asked Lindsey which kind of biscuits she preferred, she looked at me funny and asked why I needed to know.  I said, well, if I'm going to make breakfast, I want to make sure I get what you like.  She looked like she had seen a ghost and said that she thought I knew that they were just here for the day.  Uh no.  Caleb was supposed to work in Texarkana at 6am Saturday morning.  Thankfully, he got someone to take his shift and they were able to stay until Saturday night!  We went to the Water Gardens in Fort Worth, talked and ate.  It is so good to spend time with them.  Sunday morning we actually got up and went to Sunday school and church!  I was very proud of us.  We drove to Irving to meet Stephanie at her parents house and had a good visit with her and her parents.  I love spending time with their family!  The girls are getting so big!  They have grown since the wedding.  It is hard to believe Steph and Bryan have been married for almost a decade, Kamryn is about to turn 9 and Lauren will be 5.  Where did the time go?  I know when our baby comes time will fly by even faster and I will just want it to stand still so I can savor every moment! 

Please pray for us tomorrow... it's kindergarten field trip day.  One kinder teacher is 36 weeks and I'm 31 weeks and we get to walk around the Ft. Worth Zoo all day.  It sounded much more fun when we decided on it three months ago!

I need a miracle!

I started today off on the wrong foot and have not been able to turn it around!  I got stuck in traffic on 35 and was 10 minutes late to work.  The students have been horrible all morning and my aide is on my last nerve. Its only 10 am!  I do not understand why anyone who does not like or understand kids with special needs would take an aide position in a special education classroom.  She is always asking me what is wrong with them or getting mad cause they don't "get it".  First of all, they are five and six years old so their attention span isn't that great to begin with.  Second of all, they would not be in my room if they did not have severe developmental delays.  So that is what is "wrong with them."  It isn't their fault.  They will be perfect on a task one day and the next look at it like they have never seen it before.  That is the nature of special education. You teach, reteach and then reteach some more.  Eventually, they are able to retain the informatin, but it is a process.  A very long process that requires a lot of patience.  My aide does not have any patience.  She has started clicking her tongue when working with them.  That sound drives me nuts.  I am in a room with one students who hums all the time, another who screams randomly and that is the noise that gets to me.  She ends every sentence with "okay".  She holds grudges and does not know how to let things go.  I am probably horrible for posting this but I needed a place to vent.  Otherwise, I might not make it through the day!

Springtime!

Things have been great the past week!  I got off bedrest, blood pressure is back to optimal.  I've only gained 5 pounds so far!  We have made a ton of progress on the baby's room... and by we I mean Danny!  The floor is completely sanded, now it just needs to be varnished!  Danny has painted around all the trim, now he just has to do the roller over the main parts.  My mom is working on the baby room bedding.  I'm getting excited!  The baby has moved down... sometimes it feels like he is trying to push himself out! 

We are also cleaning out our house and purging everything we don't use and don't need.  My mom is coming down the first weekend in May and we are having a garage sale.  It is amazing how much crap stuff we have accumulated!

Danny's parents came down last weekend.  We had a good visit.  It was nice to see them without doing stuff all the time!  Just relaxed and enjoyed the company.  Caleb and Lindsey are coming down this weekend so it will be another great weekend!

Great news!

I'm okay and baby boy is okay!  We are doing so much better!  I don't get winded unless I walk a pretty good distance and I only cough occasionally.  YAY!  The relief of knowing that the small pneumonia infection had no effect on the baby and that the z-pack will be enough to cure it is wonderful news!  The doctor was concerned with my wheezing so he said to continue to use the inhaler as needed.  It is most likely very acute asthma which is only showing up because of the insane allergen levels and because the baby is pushing up on my diaphram.  My mom came down to go to the appointment with me while Danny continued to search for a job.  We had such a good visit!  Hopefully, that was the last complication and we will have smooth sailing from now on!

On a completely different note:  are there any of you out there with room in your homes and hearts for two little girls?  One problem with being a teacher is there are often kiddos you would like to take home, but of course, you can't.  Well, a few weeks ago, we got a new student.  A five year old little girl who has been in the system for too much of her young life.  She is the sweetest and cutest thing!  She doesn't come alone, she has a three year old little sister (just as cute, but I've heard can be a handful!)  Danny and I would love to take them in, but with our financial situation and one of our own on the way, we just can't.  These girls deserve a loving, stable family!  I want to help them in any way I can.  I have had kids I have wanted before, but they have never been up for adoption before.  It breaks my heart to know that the longer they are in the system: 1. the less chance they have of being adopted; 2. the more they will lose their innocence; 3. the more their hearts will harden and they will become jaded.  All I know is that if this time next year, when we are more stable, if they are still up for adoption, we will see what we can do to adopt them ourselves.  In the meantime, I am going to try my best to find a good family for these sweet little girls!

Its not preeclampsia, not bronchitis...

Well, Thursday after taking my blood pressure, I called the nurse who talked with the doctor who wanted me to stay home and rest through the weekend and come in on Monday.  Ok, bedrest for a weekend, I can handle that.  Thursday night was fine.  Friday morning I started coughing a little, but nothing terrible.  By Friday night, I was miserable.  I didn't sleep at all on Friday so Saturday morning I called the doctor to see what would be safe for me to take and not raise my blood pressure.  The doctor on call was one of the other doc's from the practice who wanted to know why they didn't have me come in on Friday.  He wanted to be on the safe side and asked me to go in to Labor and Delivery and get checked out.  I go in and my blood pressure and everything is fine.  They are concerned about the chest rattling cough though.   They take my blood oxygen and it was only at 94% (supposed to be higher than 97%).  So they give me a breathing treatment, tell me I have bronchitis, and write me perscriptions for an inhaler and a z-pack.  Then they still want me to come in Monday morning.  So yesterday I went to my regular OB who listened to me breathe and sent me to get a chest x-ray and gave me the number of a pulmonologist  to call and see this week and to come back on Friday.  All good to go back to work, blood pressure is fine and the bronchitis is most likely bronchitis, the x-ray is just to make sure.   No such luck.  I was about to call to set up the appointment with the pulmonologist when my OB called me.  The chest x-ray came back and I have pneumonia.  Fabulous.  She made me an appointment for today at 1 for the pulmonologist (I am probably spelling it wrong, I just don't care right now!)  I am scared to death to go to this appointment.  Everytime I go in something is worse than we thought.  I also made the mistake of reading about the complications of pneumonia and pregnancy.  Huge mistake, I know better.  I am so thankful everytime this baby kicks me because it reminds me that he is strong and healthy and that everything will work out.  Please just keep us in your prayers!

Mixed news...

Danny goes to the hotel today and to MEPS tomorrow.  There was a misunderstanding about his paperwork that took a day to figure out and fix.  Tomorrow, he will have his physical and swear in to be an official Future Soldier! 

The part I am conflicted about is when he will go to Basic.  Financially, we do need him to go as soon as possible.  It would mean almost doubling our household income, plus the baby and delivery would be covered under military insurance so we would get the HUGE deductible back that we've been paying over the last 5 months (it was paid into an escrow account at the hospital... they don't want you to not pay so you pay before services are rendered).  I know it would make Danny very happy to go in sooner just because he has wanted to join for so long.  He has worked so hard to get into shape and was getting discouraged when he wasn't being rewarded for it.  BUT, I had gotten used to the fact that he would be here for the baby's birth.  He may very well miss it and we will have to deal with that.  It will be better for our family in the long run.  Its the not knowing that is really driving me nutty. 

Yesterday the doctor called me and wanted me to check my blood pressure because I have had a little swelling.  I've done it twice this morning, the first time was the highest mine has ever been at 145 over 91.  Mine is usually normal or low.  I just had the nurse take it again and it was 141 over 78 so it is going down at least.  I'm still waiting to hear back from the doctor.

On a happy note, here are some pictures from Easter weekend!

Note to self: Don't stand next to your size 4 mom when you're plus-size and 7 months pregnant!

My now much thinner husband Danny and me!

My side of the family... everyone has continually lost weight while I continue to gain...

My parents, happily married for 32 years!

Sorry the pictures are a little fuzzy... I had to save them to my phone from my facebook album so that I could email them to myself to get them on here.... apparently that isn't good for quality!

We have a date!

Danny went back to the recruiter on Friday and finally got to reserve his job!  He signed up for infantry (scary yes, but it is what he wants to do) and a 6 year contract.  All the jobs open July 19 were full (go figure), so he will ship out on August 10th and actually start basic on August 20th.  He should be done November 26th so I guess our first family Thanksgiving will be at a hotel in Georgia.  I am so happy for him and us and proud of him!  He has worked so hard and it is FINALLY paying off!  He goes to MEPS on Wednesday.  This is the part I think is hilarious... MEPS is located in downtown Dallas.  We live about 5-6 miles from the federal building where he has to go.  The Army is paying for and making him stay in a hotel on Tuesday night in downtown.  That's a good use of government money.  I guess that is how they make sure people show up.  Anyway, so Tuesday night I will be by myself and who knows when he will be home on Wednesday.  I'll update when I know something new!