The kid is sick :(

Yesterday (Monday) we went to our Mommy and Me playgroup. We came back, and Evan took a nap.
When he woke up, I noticed he was warmer than normal, but I assumed maybe it was because of the way he was sleeping, and because the house was getting warm. So we did lunch and he ate as much as usual, though he was acting a bit cranky. Once I got him out of his high chair and we went to his bedroom to play, and he was clingy and cranky, I noticed he was still feeling rather warm. So I took his jacket off (one of those thin ones that come with outfits) and I took his temperature. Was I surprised when the reading was 101.9F! That was as high as I’d even seen it. He’s gotten 100.3F or so with teething, but this kind of freaked me out, and I called the pediatrician’s office right away. Yeah, yeah, perhaps that was a bit much, but this was the first time he actually had a fever.

The receptionist wasn’t concerned at all, but said she would have someone call me anyways. I calmed down and decided to be proactive instead of just freaking out and holding Evan. So I got rid of layers in his clothing and gave him Tylenol. Then I gave him a lukewarm bath, and that helped a lot. I took his temperature again and it was 98.6F, so I put him down for a nap. He took a good nap, and in that time the nurse called me (almost 2 hours later, which I was not too happy about) and said if he still had a fever, to bring him in the next day.

When Evan woke up he felt hot again. I took his temperature again: 102F. He got more Tylenol, another bath and dinner. He slept through the night no problems, but in the morning he was hot again. We took him into bed with us, and unlike every time we do this, when he’s all over the place and jumping from one to the other, he just lied down and stayed there. His temperature: 102.4F. Needless to say we started getting ready to take him to the pediatrician’s office.

So after a bit of wait (we were there before the doctor got there), the pediatrician finally checked him out. Since Evan had had a cold the whole week prior to the fever, and is still congested, it looks more like an infection. A cold gone bad, so to speak. So he prescribed antibiotics. We’re still treating his fever with Tylenol and baths, and he’s getting antibiotics. Let’s hope he feels better soon.

Pregnancy dreams

I’ve been having crazy, bizarre dreams. Last night I dreamt Bear was born, and it was only me and DH there at the hospital room. Bear was fine, breathing, but not crying, and I was trying to wake her up. She was small and thin, more like a small person than a baby. DH was trying to weigh her, and she was just over 6 pounds.

Anyways, the point is that I think I’m starting to worry about her being early. Like, really early. Especially since she just dropped. Evan didn’t drop until week 36! I know that doesn’t mean much, but still.

So Bear, stay there for at least 6 more weeks. But let’s make it eight for good measure!

First steps

Tonight, Evan took his first steps. He was walking between DH and I, and most the time he would just launch himself towards us, but a couple of times he actually took a couple of steps. The most he did was take four steps from me to Daddy, all by himself.

Of course, that’s not to say he’s walking, but these are his official first steps. His balance is still lacking and he walks like a drunk sailor most of the time, even when we’re holding his hands, but he’s getting there. We’re so proud!

31 weeks

This week it was just me and the Bug. DH was out of town for training, so it was challenging to be the only parent on call. But the big pregnancy related thing is that when DH saw me again, he immediately said Bear has dropped. And the last couple of days of the week made more sense. I had some really low cramps on Thursday morning, I felt really sore since about 4 am, and they lingered until after noon, but were gone after that. And since then, I’ve been making more trips to the bathroom. I just have the sudden need to go sometimes, like after I bend over to grab Evan or a toy, or put him down.

Another thing that I keep getting is BH contractions. But I got them all the time with Evan too, so I just try to drink some water and go on with my day.

Bear has been active as always. And she’s been getting a lot of hiccups in the past couple of weeks. I love feeling her move around.

30 weeks

Thirty weeks, 28 pounds. Not too bad. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and things are right on track. My belly measures exactly what it should for 30 weeks, and Belly Bear kicks every time they try to listen to her heartbeat. She's a little feisty girl!

At this point last time, I was 26 pounds over and Evan was measuring a whole week ahead. Perhaps Bear is a bit smaller so far, but still right on track.

I'm still in the same level of uncomfortableness. I've been having a few rough nights when I just can't get comfortable, and no naps. When people tell you upon looking at you that you look tired, that's bad, and I've been getting that this week.

And next week will be exhausting since Josh won't be here. So it'll be me, Evan and the dogs for a whole week. Fun times in the big city!

Friends

I know my blog posts a couple of weeks back were a little blue. As you know, I was feeling rather overwhelmed and you got to hear all about it. Well, I'm still quite overwhelmed, but I now have friends (yay!).

I met another mom through one of the baby groups I go to, that also happens to be a neighbor. She lives a block away from our house and has a beautiful baby girl. We pretty much clicked right away and have been hanging out a bit since.

Also, another mom from another group has been very friendly, and I've opened up with her about how overwhelmed I've been feeling. She has offered to take Evan to give me a breather or to get together and let our kids play while we chat. I might take her up on it next week, since my dear husband will be out of town for work.

Slowly but surely, I feel like I have a support system outside of my husband. As I spend more time with some of these moms I feel less alone in this path. And I feel that if at some point my day is not going well, I can call someone and make my day better just by leaving the house to hang out with someone that gets it.

So I'm still not sure how I'll survive those first few months with a baby and a toddler, but at least now I know I will.

Transitions

Once Evan turned one and we moved into our house, we decided it was time to make a few changes. First, we decided it was time to stop giving him formula and start him on cow’s milk. He’s had cow’s milk with his cereal almost from the very beginning, but when we tried milk alone, he wasn’t that into it. Also, his stools got a bit loose. So we did more of a transition, we started mixing a bit of milk with his formula, and increased it by an ounce every couple of days. And it worked; he’s been on cow’s milk for almost 2 weeks now.

Then we decided to take the next step: the sippy cup. He has been using it to drink water, but he hasn’t been too keen on drinking milk from it. So we started with one meal at a time, and now he only has the bottle at the end of the day, the last feeding before bedtime. Honestly, I could probably get rid of that one now and he would accept it, but I think at this point I keep giving him a bottle for my own sake.

He’s growing so quickly. I’ve never called him “my baby”, but suddenly I am. And he’s not a baby anymore, he’s a toddler, a big boy, almost a kid.

I guess he's not the only one going through some transitions here.

29 weeks

Ten weeks to go. Probably ten pounds too.

I had a realization today. I’ve gained probably 27 pounds by now. Add the 24 pounds Evan weighs, and that’s 51 extra pounds I carry around a significant part of the day. No wonder my legs feel the way they do!

I was reading back on how I felt at this point in the pregnancy with Evan, and I realized that I was not as uncomfortable as I thought. I thought I was swollen and uncomfortable already at this point last time, and that considering I’m not too uncomfortable, I was doing quite well this time around. Turns out, the best is yet to come. I now know this time around has been a little more difficult, if only because for my leg. It throbs and feels hot, and it’s starting to be painful more often than not. So, obviously I’m looking forward to the next 10 pounds.

I also realized I was going through a similar thing at this point last time: bad hydration. Last Tuesday I woke up and I had a lot of BH contractions. I feel them very often, but this time it was more often than usual. I wrote a post referring to the same thing back then, and it was that I wasn’t drinking enough water. So I need to stay on top of that, it’s really uncomfortable to get so many contractions while caring for Evan.

I’ve enjoyed this week of pregnancy a lot. I’ve been paying more attention to Bear’s movements, and I’m amazed by how strong our little girl is already. Sometimes it’s like she’s dancing samba in there! And sometimes her movements are sweet and gentle, and I can tell she’s just shifting to make herself comfortable. It’s starting to feel more real for me: we’re having a little girl, and she’ll be here in 10 weeks.

Our big boy

Last weekend we went to a county event called Block Play. Basically, it's a series of different types of blocks that are set for kids to learn different things. They are set up in different "stations", and you get about 10 minutes per station before moving on to the next one. They explain what the focus of that particular set of blocks is, what kids can do with it to learn different things according to their stage of learning, and then let the kids play as they want with your help.
Evan enjoyed it very much, though he didn't really get what he was supposed to do with many of them, and he got distracted once or twice with stairs and with going back to the previous set of blocks. Still, since that little activity, something clicked in his mind, and he has been far more interested in getting good at a couple of toys.
The shape sorter is one of them. He has one like the one below (but not pink). It's basically a bucket you can open pretty easily, and he usually uses it more like a bucket to put the pieces in and out.
We did a bit of sorting but only with square blocks, but he remembers and is now trying to put the pieces in through the sorter top. He doesn't always get it right, and sometimes he's trying to put it in the right slot but the piece is sideways so it won't fit. However, he's trying and figuring it out.

Another one he's good at now is this:

The stacker. He still gets the order wrong, and he doesn't get them in all the time, but he has successfully done the whole thing a few times. We didn't have this one with us for a couple of months (it was packed with the rest of our things), but now that he found it again, he loves it.

Other things he's into: remotes, TV, and cell phones. Remotes are toys, obviously (or so he wishes, he doesn't get to play with them but sure tries)(and no, we don't want to get him a toy remote). TV is interesting, of course. He loves watching daddy play Wii, or watching sports with him now that we have DirecT.V again. all the colors and movements are attractive. And cell phones. He grabs daddy's phone and puts it up to his ear. Very adorable, but he doesn't get to that often either (and no, we don't want to get him a toy phone either).

It's amazing how those 40 minutes we spent playing with blocks helped him make so many connections! We're loving it, he always plays with a smile on his face... until we take something away, that is. Obviously.

28 weeks

28 weeks, 11 weeks to go. This week has been of uncomfortable sleep. I had my OBGYN appointment yesterday and lo and behold, I have gained 26 pounds so far. I think I'm gaining 40 pounds again... Oh well, might as well enjoy it. All looks well, I had my 1 hour glucose test and should know it I need further testing in a couple of days. I'm crossing my fingers for a no. We won't be able to officially schedule the c-section until about a month before because there's no way to schedule the OR so far in advance, but so far we're in agreement that May 20th is the preferred date and quite likely the one. So we'll plan accordingly.

I've been a bit more tired, with a bit more shortness of breath, very emotional.

Ah! Almost forgot, big development. My belly button is half way out. This is a major because my lovely husband was expecting it to pop with Evan's pregnancy, but it didn't. So he has high hopes for Bear to make it happen. Considering we still have 11 weeks to go, I think he's going to get his wish. It's very shallow, and the top of it is pretty much out. Half way there, Bear, to make daddy happy! She's going to be such a daddy's girl... :)