Theories

Every mom has her theories or intuition while pregnant. Since we are coming up on the anatomy scan Friday, Jan. 29th, I guess we can speculate on 'why' this is a boy or girl.

First my cravings and feelings with Nora.

1. NO morning sickness, not even a tinge.
2. NEVER tired, kept my energy the whole time.
3. Craved fruit from the very first week.
4. Repulsed by chicken for 17 wks.
5. Carried high the entire pregnancy. I actually had people tell me I was going to go 2 wks late based on the bump not dropping. Nora arrived on her due date.
6. Betas - Beta with Nora was 67 at 10dpo, 290 at 12dpo....some speculate that girls raise betas faster.
7. Movement first felt at 16w1d.

This pregnancy.

1. Some morning sickness, not that I ever threw up but felt fluish off and on from 6wk to 13wks.
2. TIRED! This could be due to chasing Nora around
3. Insomnia from wks 8-11. Seriously, staying up at night until almost 1:30am and still not being tired.
3. Craving red meat, chocolate, and general junk food. The chocolate is the strongest craving and there isn't a day that 2 chocolate things are not eaten.
4. Repulsed by Italian cheesy pasta dishes, pizza is ok(see craves junk food).
5. My hair isn't oily like usual, I'm a wash everyday person but now I can go two days.
6. Beta - 30 at 10dpo, 90 at 12dpo.....hmmm little lower than Nora's.
7. Movement first felt at 16wk6d.

My general intuition is stumped on this. If you go by the signs/symptoms this pregnancy is completely opposite of Nora's which would point to a boy. Crazier things have happened so I'm trying to stay open minded. Either way we will love this child, just might take mental shift if it's two girls for us instead of girl/boy. I would LOVE to have a boy, like any other woman one of each seems perfect. Of course, I have other reasons for wanting a boy.

1. I come from a family of girls, my dad had 3 girls, 7 female cousins, and 2 sisters. It would bring me such joy to me to watch him interact with the 'boy' he and mom never had. To teach him about hunting, fixing things, baseball.....all the things dad did with us girls anyhow.
2. I have PCOS. It's carried on the female genetic. The journey to have Nora was so emotionally painful that I cringe at my daughters' having to travel that road. Needless to say I will be there if/when Nora is diagnosed.

That's pretty much it. Everyone can start the speculation and we will find out for sure soon.

Trying to decide

I'm having trouble deciding what should be my 100th post. I have several things in 'draft'...stay tuned.

My MAP sucks!

All these people have been visiting and somehow it's not recording it ON the map.....frustrating. Ok, add Connecticut to the list not being represented on my map. I want to know who's in Austin too, that could be family or friend.

Lawrenceville, GA, United States	Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:00:11 -0600
Woodstock, GA, United States	Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:12:58 -0600
Rex, GA, United States	Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:06:51 -0600
New Salisbury, IN, United States	Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:41:47 -0600
Austin, TX, United States	Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:32:48 -0600
Lawrenceville, GA, United States	Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:43:08 -0600
Evansville, IN, United States	Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:32:56 -0600

Potty Train Laugh of the Day

She's killing me with laughs but making me so proud all at the same time.

In an effort to find SOMETHING to entice her to potty train, we went to Target today and got a special potty. It's a princess chair that sings music when kiddo goes potty.

Before nap went great, we sat we peed, we clapped, got m&m's and congrats from Mimi on the phone. She was very excited. I'd pretty much let her run around the bonus room naked from the waist down so she could sit at a seconds notice. Brave I know but it worked and I own a steam cleaner.

I figured after nap we would try the same thing. Stripped her down and off I went down the hall to the nursery to take care of sorting through the baby clothes. (Getting rid of 5 diaper boxes worth....the nesting has commenced)

Me: Nora how ya doing
Nora: ok, mommy
Me: Did you go potty?
Nora: NO!!!

I see her wandering around the bonus room playing with various toys for the next 10 minutes or so. I was sitting in the doorway to the nursery straight down the hall. Nora wandered into our bathroom with her blue plastic cup we use for watercolor painting. As she comes back out I ask her,

Me: Nora do you want water to paint?
Nora: No mommy. It GROSS, I throw away, I clean up!
Me: Ummmmmm, what? What did you throw away?
Nora: It GROSS seeeee! Come here mommy, come here.

In my head I'm thinking 'What the heck is she talking about?!' I get up and go down the hall. Nora leads me into our bathroom by the finger and points at the trashcan.

NOOOOOOO!

Ah yes, my kid had poo'd in her potty, collected it in a cup and thrown it away.

Nora: See, it in trash can!

I think I stood there in disbelief. Do I reward her for this? Is it worthy of 3 candies? She did clean up and was awful proud. Parental debate of the day.

Sidenote: Rich thinks she needs a new name 'Dances with Poop' I think this is poo incident number 3 in the last 8 months.

Baby Report

I figured some may be wondering the status...

Currently 17 wks down, 23 to go

Weight gain - 4-5 lbs, it depends on the day of the week

Tummy - not really showing much, just look like I've gained a few.

Baby - Last scan in the Houston ER showed baby to be measuring 3 days ahead of the June 25th due date. Heartrate was 147.

Workouts - tennis once a week, walking 3.5-4 miles 3 or 4 times a week.

Any hint of morning sickness I had is now gone and is just replaced with exhaustion if I do too much in one day. (Hard to manage not doing to much with a toddler. HA!)

Gender/anatomy scan: Jan. 29th.

Names: UGH, we are getting there.....

Girl: Gwen Alexandra seems to be the front runner right now...keep ya posted
Boy: ummmm, ya no decisions there other than middle name to be Alexander

The Alexander/Alexandra are paying homage to Rich's Greek heritage.

Thoughts for the New Year.

My mom sent me this email last week that just said so many things to me. I wish I could figure out how to post the beautiful pictures that went with...So here goes, ponder on these for the new year.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in Doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you're sick. You're family and friends will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month
6. You don't have to win every argument, just agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone, it's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's ok to get angry with God, he can take it.
9. Save for retirement, starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past, so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's ok to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, then you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry, God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath it calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful
18. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
19. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
20. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion, today is special too.
21. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
22. Be eccentric now, don't wait for old age.
23. The most important sex organ is the brain.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so called 'disaster with these words, "In five years, will this matter"
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who he is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life, show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative, dying young.
36. All that truely matters in the end is that you loved.
37. Get outside everyday, miracles are everywhere.
38. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd take ours back.
39. Envy is a waste of time. You already have everything you need.
40. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up for life.
41. Yield.
42. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.