Weight

I had my 18-24 week check up this morning. Everything is fine except my weight. I gained 8 pounds since my last appt 6 weeks ago. That's way more than I should have. I know I let myself go while I was in NY & then I've been so stressed that all the comfort foods are what I've been craving. I didn't mention to the nurse practitioner how stressed I am with the situation I'm in right now. I guess I should have. I should have asked her for recommendations on counseling. I don't know why I didn't think of that until after I left. I realize that I'm probably eating badly because I'm stressed. I always do when I'm stressed.

It also doesn't help that I haven't been walking like I was. My friend & I were walking at least 2-3 mornings a week but we haven't gone once the entire month of Sept due to my traveling & then Ava being sick. I need to start walking again.

Yikes, I really can't believe that I gained so much. Now I feel like I have to really focus & try to eat healty this month since I want to be able to enjoy myself on the cruise at the end of the month. I really hate weight.

Level II Ultrasound

I'm not sure if it's good news or bad, but they want me to come back in next week for a level II ultrasound. My nurse practitioner said that they need a better look at a few things. She didn't like the look of the contour of the head & they want a better view of the kidneys. She told me that my AFP results came back just perfect but they just want to make sure that everything is okay. I'm really pretty nervous about it. I'm not sure if it's a big deal or not, but I hate the thought that anything could be wrong. I had to make the appt for 8am on Wed morning since the only other option was on Thursday during my work day. Since I'm in the middle of budget season & already taking Tuesday off for jury duty, I just couldn't figure out how to juggle it all around so I asked for the Wed appt. That means leaving the house at 6:30am & most likely taking Ava with me. Edward will have to leave work & meet me in Oakland. They said it's okay to bring Ava as long as Edward was there, which they recommended anyhow since I may need support if something is wrong.

At least I have a legitimate excuse for jury duty this time. The dr. said that I'm to tell them that I'm having a complication in my pregnancy & I have a scheduled appt the following morning that I was told I cannot miss. I sure hope they believe me.

It's a Girl... Maybe

Well, we didn't get a very affirmative confirmation this time around. The ultrasound tech says she thinks it's a girl. Maybe a 70% chance. She came to that conclusion because she didn't see "anything extra down there." She seemed liked an old pro at it, so I was surprised that she couldn't give us a more definitive answer. With Ava, they were able to point out the three lines that means girl. She wasn't able to show us that. I guess that sometimes with boys it's too early at this stage to see anything. I have a drs. appt. next week so I'll have to discuss with her. Neither Edward nor I felt she gave a firm enough answer to plan for a girl. We're both thinking she's probably right, but we're not going to go out & buy more girl clothes. I guess we might not really know for sure until this baby is born afterall.

18 Weeks

I realize that this is not a very flattering picture, but I haven't posted any bump pictures at all this pregnancy due to my being depressed most of the time & not really being in the mood. However, in the spirit of hopefully finding out the sex of this little one tomorrow, I figured I should go ahead & let you all see how big I'm getting already this pregnancy. There is definitely no hiding the bump anymore! Any last minute guesses now that you see what I look like?!

Girl or Boy?

The big ultrasound is on Monday. I keep flip flopping between hoping for a girl & hoping for a boy, but I think I'm leaning towards boy. Edward says he KNOWS it is a boy & refuses to even discuss girl names. I think since he's acting that way it will be a girl. I love the idea of Ava having a sister that close in age to her. But I come from a family of girls so I think it would be fun & interesting to raise a boy. I guess we'll find out on Monday. Anyone care to tell me what they think this little one might be?

Still Alive, Just Busy

I'm still here, just a bad blogger these days. I still haven't uploaded our pictures from NY yet. In fact, I still haven't even unpacked from NY yet. Ava is finally feeling better. She got over the illness & I think she's finally feeling better from all 4 molars coming in at once. Yesterday was a rough teething day.

I've been working a lot this week to catch up from vacation & then sick baby. I think I'm finally feeling caught up at work now. I'm looking forward to tomorrow so that I can see some of my mommy friends & just relax a bit. Maybe I'll even try to do some laundry & unpack finally. No promises though.

Back but Life's a Mess!

We got back on Wednesday night from NY only to have Ava come down with 103 degree fever yesterday. We thought something might be wrong on the plane since she was so content to just sit & not try to run around. Yesterday was actually very relaxing since she just wanted to sit & sleep all day. Her fever came down last night & she seems fine today.

I haven't even had time to unpack, let alone upload the pictures from our trip. They're coming though. We really had a great time & I HATED leaving. I've been trying to adjust to being back & dealing with the FIL situation, but I have to admit I'm not handling it well. Edward is actually heading down to LA tonight & coming back tomorrow morning because he has to drop something off & pick something else up from his friend, and it has to be done by tomorrow. That unexpected trip didn't help me when I'm already feeling miserable about everything. I hate being left alone with his dad overnight.

That's all I have time for now, but I'll try to get pictures up this weekend.

Just a Quick Note from NY

We're having a wonderful time in NY visiting my parents. We've had a full house here with my older sister & her husband here & my little sister & her boyfriend here. It's been a never ending string of visitors but we're loving it. We must have had over 25 people here yesterday coming & going all day. I forgot how wonderful it is to have so much family in town.

Ava is just loving being at her Grammy's house. My mom is spoiling her rotten. She's been going to the park every day, taking walks to all my different aunt's houses (my dad has 9 brothers & sisters & 5 of them all live within a 4 block radius). We just met my oldest sister's new husband this trip & he already LOVES his new niece. He actually took half a day off of work tomorrow so that he can take her to the zoo. The rest of us are going as well, of course, but it was all his idea!

Today we're hanging out with my sis Kim & her boyfriend before they head back to Florida this afternoon. This afternoon we're hoping to see some friends then we're heading to Syracuse to hang out with my cousin & her husband tonight. We're always so busy when we're here, but in a nice relaxing way. I'm already getting sad that we only have 2 days left. I wish we had at lease one more day. I hate the thought of going back to reality.

31 Hours & Counting

In 31 hours I will be sitting on a plane next to a squirmy one year old about to take off for NY. I am so happy & excited about this. It's obviously a MUCH needed vacation. I don't think I've ever needed a vacation as much as I truly need this one. This is the first vacation I've ever taken where I'm just glad to get away from home. Usually it's to get away from day to day life, but this time it's to get away from home.

We already have so many people lined up to see. Two new babies, my favorite cousin's new house, aunts, uncles, cousins & friends. I'm just so excited to go home. We rented a car this time so that we can feel free to get around without my parents.

We had a difficult time with the car seat situation since they wanted an extra $50 bucks to rent a crappy car seat from them. After weighing all our options, we decided to go with the most complicated way possible. My cousin who has a 4 year old & lives 5 minutes from the airport is going to meet us & drop off her extra car seat. Once we get to Auburn, we'll switch that one for my friend's extra car seat & I'll return my cousin's to her when I go to see my other cousin's new house. Then, on the way back, my older sister & her husband have the same flight to Philadelphia as us, but we can't fit all 4 adults, Ava & all that luggage into the car, so my dad is going to drive them to the airport & we'll give him my friend's car seat to bring back to her. Did you follow all that? I can't believe we're doing all that to save $50. Although, that $50 could get us the soda cards on our cruise in October!

I still have tons to do at home to prepare for the trip. We got new luggage yesterday cause they were having a good sale at Macy's. It'll be fun to pack tomorrow with new luggage. I usually like to have my house clean when I go on vacation so that it's clean when I get back. This time though I'm not sure what I want. Edward's dad will most likely just mess the house up while we're gone anyhow, but my BIL & his wife are coming to stay with him while we're away so I want things clean for them. I mopped last night & did a deep clean of the bathroom the other day, so I guess it's not too bad. I'm also so excited because they are going to paint my living room for us while we're gone as my birthday present.

Oh ya, and I turn 29 in just 2 days! I get to celebrate my birthday with my family in NY so I couldn't be happier about that!