A Radom Update

Life here has been hectic to say the least. Joe took an extremely heavy school load this past quarter so that this coming quarter, the one in which Hannah will be born in, he could take a rather light one. The past 12 weeks have been an insane gasping of staying above water for all in our little family- happily tomorrow marks the official end of this crazy schedule.

In the beginning of January Joe's computer's motherboard decided it was time depart us, but luckily "my" new laptop had just arrived (thanks Daniel!) and quickly became Joe's. The timing of the new laptop couldn't of been better, however it did mean for me that in the last 12 weeks blogging, email and facebook and all other things computer related had to be reduced to iphone sized portions and abilities.

L is doing great, and the sassitude, dare I say, has significantly abated. She still has her moments, but on the whole the easy child that we are so use to has been back (!!!). The other day she surprised us with doing some simple subtraction, and then latter pointed to a map and said rather confidently "That's Africa". The list of things she knows has grown exponentially in the last twelve weeks. However, I have to give credit to her wonderful preschool teacher who has an amazing curriculum and an amazing ability to teach through creative play and problem solving. The kids just think they are having fun playing whereas everything they do is geared for learning. I guess it is simply learning the way children should learn. (Also, I have to say that three hour break once a week has been my lifesaver!)

Hannah is doing, I guess, well. She is a ninja princess who never quits kicking, rolling, punching-quite a different experience from caring her very gentle older sister. And although she is measuring on the small side this little miss is painfully strong! I have woken up a few times due to the pain of her strength and have even had to sit down to endure it.

Yup, just like with L I am measuring two weeks behind, and just like L the ultra sound is showing her in about the 30% for weight. My doctor keeps assuring me her size is nothing to be worried about as I just have small babies. For I am on the right track for weight gain (oh how I wish the weight would go to the tummy and not the lower half) and everything else appears to be healthy. Well kind of, Hannah is also extremely low, like in the go position low, and my cervix has started to shorten a little (the average length at this point is 2.5 cm and mine is measuring 2.4 cm so nothing too worrisome). My doctor says she wouldn't be surprised if she came a bit early and although I am not on bed rest or even partial bed rest I am watching my activity level. Sadly this means no more gym dates with the elliptical, which in turn means the thighs make take up a size previously unknown to this body-however larger than life thighs seem like a small price to pay if it gives a full term baby.

I have sort of been struggling with feelings of a pregnancy failure. I think anyone who has had a small baby understands what I mean. L was 6.3 and I got so many comments on her size. Sometimes I just wanted to answer the strangers' rude remarks with, "And why yes I did do heroine all throughout my pregnancy. How did you know?" And measuring small while pregnant leads to similar rude assumptions, "Are you sure you are 8 months?" "Is everything healthy?" "Is your doctor concerned with your size?"

With Linnea I had so many weeks of morning sickness (22 to be exact) that I gave up exercise early on, and created the bad habit of eating whatever I could when I could. Which latter resulted in doing things like eating four scones in a row, yup almost a 100 grams of fat in one sitting. With L I had severe acid reflux that started at 18 weeks and lasted till the very end. I never was able to get a medicine that actually relieved the acid reflux and I spent many a night vomiting stomach acids. I always felt guilty that I didn't eat enough healthy foods, that I wasn't active enough, that I didn't sleep enough, etc, and maybe that was why she was only 6.3.

So with Hannah I have done everything differently. I measure my water intake like crazy, I have been very careful in eating healthy, I have continued cardio and yoga but moderated it for the pregnancy, I have made sure to rest, to sleep and to stay relaxed even with this hectic schedule. It helped that I never really got morning sickness this time around as well as only moderate, easy to control heart burn. I have done everything one is suppose to do when pregnant, and yet it is turning out the same if not worse. It just makes me feel like a failure. The baby is small, yet I am chubby everywhere but the belly, and worse my body and the baby seem to want to make an early appearance! How can this be? Grrrr.

On a more pleasant random note I am really happy with the way Hannah's nursery is turning out-doing kind of a shabby chic theme. I think I should have it done in the next week or at least almost done. I also got L's big girl room finished, minus a few decorating details that should be complete this weekend. I will try to post pictures of L's room soon, cause I am really, really happy with it. I found a bed and nightstand on craigslist that I sanded down, added wooden decals and painted that turned out excellent. I got her the Pottery Barn Kids bedding that she had wanted on a steal of deal, as well as a few other unheard of PBK bargains. My mom came up and repainted L's room as well pained a whimsical tree with birds that turned out perfect. I really love L's room, and more importantly she adores it. I have really been enjoying the decorating and craft projects that the girls' rooms have given me.

Well it is getting late so I should really be off to bed. Hopefully I will post pictures of L's room soon.