The Dentist.

I've always loved going to the dentist. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was the free goodies, the missed school, or all the personal attention. Perhaps a combination of it all. Nowadays, while I do my best to make sure my daughter is excited about going I experience a bit of terror at the prospect. Not for my checkups, but hers. 

See, we made a big mistake between the age of 1 and 2. We allowed our beautiful daughter to develop a juice box habit and faltered at the regular tooth brushing. We knew it was wrong but it was oh so easy and made her oh so happy. These are not good excuses.  Her teeth looked lovely and white on the front and so  we remained ignorant of the decay that lurked in places we couldn't see. 

Flash forward 6 months from her first dental checkup and we're fighting the decay as hard as we can. Brushing twice a day, (brushing a toddler's teeth once a day is exhausting, twice is almost impossible but we try!) a fluoride gel every night, flossing, seeing the dentist every three months for regular checkups, the works. Today was her first cleaning since last July. 

Waiting to be called.

Exploring every inch of the waiting room.

Honestly? She was a star. A perfect child. I'm not sure I can brag on her enough. She was calm, patient, cooperative. The ideal patient. The plaque scraper tool, the spinning electric brush, the flossing. She did it all.  I'm pretty sure the hygienist even told her she was the best two year old she'd ever seen. (The best folks! Could be that they were just glossy platitudes designed to make mom and baby both happy - in which case it worked.) There was a bit of a fail when they tried to take x-rays. Jessica just couldn't get the white card to stay in place in her mouth but I'm pretty sure that's because she has a teeny tiny mouth and I'm not blaming her. They said they'd try next time. 

She still has the decay on the back of her front four teeth and two tiny cavities in her top molars but the rate of decay seems to have slowed down substantially. Dr. Kornstein said that he'd need to put her under general anesthesia to fix the front teeth but that it would really just be for cosmetic reasons. He also mentioned that any crowns he put on the front teeth were doomed to fail because of her bite. This was quickly followed up with an "if it was my daughter I'd see how long we can go before they need to be pulled and hopefully we can get close to when they'd fall out naturally." There we go. Better. I'm all for avoiding hospitalizing my daughter! He said there'd be no concern about spacing of the new teeth coming in and that we could fill the molars in office at some point since she is so cooperative. 

I had a mini heart-attack when I thought he was advocating full surgery. It's hard to hear that you've failed your child. After all, it's not Jessica's fault she didn't brush her teeth twice a day when she was one and half. Or that her Mommy gave her snack trap filled with cheddar bunnies everyday and allowed her one or... erm two of those evil boxes of juice every day. *hangs head in shame*

At least we'll know better for second baby. Poor 1st baby. ;)

15 weeks.... tomorrow!

Oh my gosh... I'm so exhausted, my head aches and I seem to be allergic to my house. Obviously a repercussion of my poor housekeeping skills.

• Our duvet needs to be sent out for dry cleaning since my parents pets visited. I seem to be allergic to both. 
• All the air filters upstairs need to be changed, but I've been forbidden from climbing ladders and Mark hasn't been getting home until late recently. Plus we'd probably have to actually buy replacement filters before we could change them, huh. 
• VACUUM. yeaaaaah... you're supposed to actually do that aren't you. 

If I stay downstairs I just sneeze, but if I head upstairs it's full-blown head cold time, which makes going to bed rather bothersome. Can just being pregnant make you more sensitive to pet dander and dust mites?

Baby/Mummy stats:

Baby seems to be doing some major renovating. I'm sure my waistline has exploded exponentially in the past couple weeks. I'm not too worried because I've only actually put on 2lbs since I got pregnant, so I'm relatively confident that the expansion is all down to baby and not that chocolate cake I HAD to make last week.

We got out First Tri Genetic Screen results back this week. They were delightful. It screens for Downs and Trisomy 13 and 18. Honestly I have no idea what we would have done if the results weren't great but if you know Mark and I, we're nothing if not well informed. The risk is at 1 in greater that 10,000 which is as high as their scale (at this particular office) goes.

Our next appointment is January 31st and then the gender identifying scan will be shortly after! Less than a month till we find out if Meatball the second (that's a really bad name isn't it?) will be a boy or a girl. Jessica and Mark both threw a spanner in the works last night when they both gave me a negatory on the boy name I thought we'd decided on ages ago. This should be interesting. (I think Jessica's main complaint is that it's a boy's name and she's adamant that we shall have a 'baby girl just like her.')

My first bump shots last time didn't occur till week 16 so you'll have to wait another week before I show you just how large I look this time around.

I haven't thrown up since Tuesday morning although I'm still nauseous 24/7.

Sleeping is almost impossible. Can't fall asleep easily because of the allergies. (I should really just clean.) Can't STAY asleep because I have to wake up at least twice, sometimes three times to pee. Can't get comfortable because I can't sleep on my back anymore and my back/hips seem to ache no matter what position I'm in. I seem to sleep better during the day when I'm NOT supposed to be asleep. I'm looking forward to Mark's parents arriving next month so I can take midday naps on purpose!

Happy that heartburn hasn't started yet!

Jessica is still incredibly excited and includes the baby whenever she talks about us as a family. Example: We're going to the park. ---> Daddy and Mummy and Baby and me will all be there! She's started kissing my belly too, which is rather awkward since I'm sure it's still just 98% fat, but she's cute so what are you going to do?

She says she would like to name the baby, 'Baby Girl.'

and how do you feel?

Every time I open my mouth and hear myself utter the words, "I make a really bad pregnant woman." I want to bite my own tongue. Sure I've got it rough. 
Sleeping is uncomfortable and I wake up with the sheets in a tangled mess. 
My blood sugar drops in the middle of the night and I wake up with the jitters. 
I throw up every other day or so.
I'm exhausted. 
I'm nauseated all the time. But really..? It could be so much worse. 

Have you heard of Hyperemesis Gravidarum? Read about it. Before I was pregnant the first time I didn't even know it existed  but it does and I am thankful that I don't have it. (It's amazing how many people I've met who've never heard of it either.) I don't have to deal with an incompetent cervix , a condition requiring bedrest and/or surgery. There's an entire slew of medical horrors and complications that I don't even want to think about. Really, I've got it easy. 

I could be doing this without an amazing family and wonderful friends. I've got support and I've got love, so throwing up a few times a week really shouldn't feel like such a big deal. 

I think I feel like I'm so bad at this because I've only ever seen amazing women go through awesome pregnancies. The first pregnancy I ever experienced was my friend Sarah's. If she hadn't started to look like she was hiding a bowling ball under her shirt you'd never have known she was pregnant. She took it all like a star. Sure, towards the end it was obvious she was ready to have the baby on the outside rather than the inside but that's completely expected! 

Cue a move to Raleigh where the Mom crowd I've been hanging out with are exercise regulars. I don't think I can even count how many women announced in class and then continued to workout up until the month they were due. I can remember not being able to tie my own shoes by 6 months last time.... oh my gosh. I was blown away. Perhaps I should go look for pregnant friends at Krispy Kreme rather than the gym?  ;)  Have I mentioned that I'm already getting winded just going upstairs in our house? Not a good sign for the future. 

I'm attempting my first class back at Stroller Strides on Wednesday. I've not been since I got pregnant. I'm rather worried that I'm going to puke or pass out in the middle of class. Thankfully Wednesday's instructor is one of my best friends. I'm sure she'll forgive me for any mid-class bathroom disappearances. 

All that said.. I AM pregnant. Therefore dealing with a pregnant woman's hormones, so please forgive me if when I whine every once in a while. I'll try not to overwhelm you with stories of where I puked last and how horrific it was ;) (Honestly, you may not want to ask me how I feel because there's no way I've got it together enough to just say, "fine."  I'm going to regale you with my lastest misadventure. Please, only ask if you really want to know.)

the explanation.

The blog has been languishing without an update for months...

Maybe you've noticed that you haven't seen me around playgrounds or social gatherings...?

Maybe when you did see me I looked a little green...?

Perhaps I was running to the bathroom. 

You've probably already guessed why (or you've had a conversation with my 2 year old who can't keep a secret.) 

The morning started off on a less than enjoyable note but steadily got better as the day progressed.

OB appointment at 8:30am.

Up at 7am. UGH. 7am is too early for anything. Jessica has been sleeping till 8:30 recently so I've been spoiled. I hop in the shower and try to wash my hair, in the process of rinsing out the conditioner and I have to leave the comfort of the warm shower to puke for a while. This, of course, throws off my entire timetable. I no longer have time to blow dry my hair, let alone get back in the shower and get the rest of the conditioner out!! I braid my hair back and shove a furry hat on my head. It's 39 degrees F outside for goodness sake!

Arrive for appointment. No wait. Things are getting better. Blood pressure - ideal. Great! No weight gain from my 8 week appointment. Even better! In to see the doctor and get to hear the baby's heartbeat. A perfect 160. Wonderful. Head home again, toddler still asleep. AMAZING. Back to bed for 40 minutes. 

It was a double appointment kind of day. Afternoon scan scheduled for 1pm. Heartbeat still 160, all measurements look good and baby is estimated at 14 weeks. Thankfully, Mark has this week off so we were all able to go together. Jessica included! She was a bit confused by the bouncing blob on the screen but I think she got the idea. Honestly, the pictures she sent us home with leave a little to be desired. We were there and can barely make out what we're looking at. Apparently one (in the words of the ultrasound tech) "an adorable shot of the baby cupping his face with his hands." Yeah... I can't see it. (I'll post the photo after I locate our scanner... I think it's on the 3rd floor somewhere....) 

She's decided that she wants a baby sister "just like her" but that she'd be happy with a baby brother as long as she can have one of each. We tried to explain that there was only one baby in there, she was adamant that there were two... one on each screen. Well yes Jessica, your infallible logic does make sense. There was a screen for the doctor and Daddy to look at and another for Mummy. Thus two babies. 

Lunch with my beautiful girl and my lovely husband AND I got to pop into the salon to get my bangs trimmed back in. [After 10+ years of training myself to say fringe I know feel a bit silly whenever I say bangs. Like someone is going to look at me and say, "HUH?"]

Now I think I might see if I can persuade my wonderful husband to entertain the kiddo while I go wash my hair!! :D