The Surreal Life

Surreal doesn't even begin to explain how this feels tonight. It's 10pm and I need to be wraping up the night and heading to bed...because our alarm is set for 4am-a disgusting hour if you ask me. At four, we'll stumble out of bed. Jeff will stumble; I'll do the roll onto my right side and let my body slide out of bed move that I've perfected over the last several weeks because any movement more aggressive than that just doesn't happen at this point. So right now I've revisited the hospital bag I've packed over the last few weeks, which is fortunate because I discovered that I had packed two pairs of pj pants and zero tops. Now, there are 4 shirts in there which is overkill, but at least I'll have options. Another surreal thing...not having a clue what will fit you in one, two, three and four days. Last time I packed a hospital bag I planned on being in the hospital approximately 24 hours...not four days. Quite different when you are there that long. You need toiletries and other junk. Then add to it packing stuff for Noah and we've got some serious baggage sitting in our rooom.

Back to surreal...we know what will happen tomorrow but it doesn't take away any of the weirdness of all the planning and prep work that we've done so far. So strange to have this super important, miraculous event nailed down to the day and hour of our choosing. We'll report to the hospital at 5am and I should be in surgery at 7 as long as I don't get bumped and there aren't any other delays. Once Noah is out, I'll get to see him and then Jeffrey will get to go down to the nursery with him and show him off to the family while I'm still in surgery. I have no idea how much time is added to my surgery because I'm getting my tubes tied, though I can't imagine it's very much. After that, I'll head to recovery where I think I stay for a few hours. Then, I'll be moved to my postpartum room where I'll stay for the rest of our time there. Anyway, that's how we think it goes...last time was such an unexpected blur so we barely remember it. This time just feels so planned, but I still feel like there are way, way too many balls in the air right now.

I think that tomorrow morning when I wake up at the ass crack of dawn, I'll do my hair. I'll even put on some mascara and lipgloss - maybe some color to my cheeks. Hell, the result has GOT to be better than this, right? :)

We dropped Connor off with Grammy & Papa Barnes tonight and it was kinda bittersweet. I asked him who he was going to get to meet tomorrow and he immediately said Baby Noah. I can't even fathom what it's going to be like for him to visit us at the hospital tomorrow and throughout the weekend...to see me in the hospital bed all folded over and broken-like. I think I'm more worried about it than I need to be, but I just don't want to scare him.

Well, it's 10:30 and I'm going to lay down. Tomorrow will fly by and I'm hoping Jeffrey catches most of it in pictures for us! I asked him tonight if he's comfortable using the camera. He looked at me in a very annoyed way, so I'm going with a Yes. Good night everyone - we'll have updates as soon as we're able to so stay tuned!

Love,

The Barnes Family of 4 - Jeff, Linds, Connor and Noah!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Since I'm not sure if I'll have an opportunity to get a Nearly Wordless Wednesday post up this week...either I'll be making last ditch efforts to get work/life handled before Friday or maybe we'll already be at the hospital...I decided to get it done ahead of time and pre-post it.

we've really been working on potty training over the last two weeks. Connor has never really been driven by the discomfort of a wet diaper, the "big boyness" of pullups or underwear, or the allure of the sticker chart. He loves his sticker chart, but let me say that we started it months ago and he's filled up 3 of those suckers. I don't know what happened but suddenly he's just more into it. So, we broke out the underpants for school and the week went amazing. Two days, he had an accident but the other three, nothing! dry all day! Tuesday when I picked him up he was dry and in the same Lightning McQueen underpants as he was when he got there so we got ice cream. Bad news? When we got home and he climbed out of the carseat he was soaked. Oh well. Over the course of this weekend, he hasn't had a single accident except when he fell asleep today before I could get a pull up on him for nap. Not bad :)

we've been breaking out baby stuff for Noah's arrival and came across the bouncer/walker thing that Connor looooooved as a baby. We cleaned it up and now Connor uses it as a soccer goal, basketball hoop and then I found him like this. My kid is weird.

he wandered into our room tonight like this. Underpants? check. Batting helmet? yup. Batting Gloves? of course. Bat? always.

Week 39 Update

Three days! :) Noah will be here in three days and this never-ending countdown will be over. I think it may be time to consider moving to an hour countdown...72 hours as of now. woohoo.

I'm 39 weeks along today and scheduled to deliver Noah in exactly 72 hours. Holy crap peeps. I got the first twinge of nervousness about surgery today. Connor's was so different...I labored for so long that when they told me that they needed to section me it was such a relief. This time I'm just strolling in, asking for some pretty serious surgery...oh, and please tie my tubes while you're in there. k.thanks.bye.

Last night after Connor went to sleep, Jeff and I were watching How I Met Your Mother and it struck me as odd somehow. I asked him if he found it strange that in just over three days we'd be having Noah and tonight we're just sitting on the couch watching some tv show. He said nope so I moved on. I still think it's weird, though I can't decide why. It's not like I feel like we should be doing some uber-important life affirming stuff while we 'prepare' for the way our world is about to be rocked but still. I don't know.

I had my very last prenatal OB appointment yesterday, marking that it's nearly Go Time. The appointment went well. My BP was good, and Noah's heartbeat was at 120...totally within normal range and finally slowed down to a resting point which is good. Connor and Noah both had fast heartbeats all through my pregnancies...no wonder Connor is so wild and I'm convinced his brother will be the same. I gained 2 pounds since last week so I think that puts me up three pounds overall. I'm ok with that. He checked my cervix and I'm still at a zero which I'm good with. I've been torn with wanting to deliver as scheduled and wanting to be done with the heartburn, swelling, soreness of my ligaments (seriously, so sore) and constant peeing. My doctor is pretty sure that I'll be delivering as scheduled this Friday.

My tummy is huge, seriously huge. People who don't see me for a week marvel at my belly. If I'm being honest, it really isn't that big, but it's just so solid and kinda cool. It feels big though...getting in and out of my car has become difficult. Jeffrey nearly peed himself at one point this weekend and made me get out and let him drive for fear that I would slam Noah into the steering wheel if I had to hit the brakes too hard. Probably not a horrible idea to be fair.

My hospital bag is nearly 100% packed, sans the few items that I'm still using daily like deodorant, contacts, glasses, slippers and a few random things like phone charger, camera charger, etc. I figure even if I go into labor myself I'll have time to grab those items on our way to the hospital. I have a list of "last minute items to grab" so we shouldn't have an issue there. Noah's baby bag is all set as well. We have clothes in a few different sizes so we should be ok whether he's tiny like his brother, medium like me or huge like Jeffrey. Connor's overnight bag is packed too. He'll be staying with my amazing mother and father in law for a couple days and my sister in law Sarah for a couple days so we had to pack plenty of clothes and stuff for him as well. This is a lot of packing. We seriously, honestly did 14 loads of laundry this past weekend. Fourteen flippin loads of laundry. There's so much of Connor's clothes that we're keeping for Noah and it needed to be washed...plus all the new stuff we purchased or were given...plus getting my stuff ready for the hospital. It was crazy amounts of laundry.

Amazing news?!? Connor...potty trained. I'm calling it official. He's had a couple accidents in the last week, but really done amazing. He's gone the past four days without having an accident except one that was our fault because we let him take a nap in his underwear instead of forcing him to put a pull up on. The adorable thing? We'll be playing or doing something and he'll just get up, wander into the bathroom and go all by himself. For some reason he hates pulling his underwear and pants up by himself but hopefully he'll get over that. I'm really hoping that he doesn't regress after Noah arrives, but I know that's somewhat likely. Any parents out there have suggestions of ways to avoid it? I always said that my goal was to not have two sizes of diapers in the house at one time and I'm Sooooooo close! My only thought is making a big deal of him showing Noah how he's a big boy and goes in the potty. I need backup plans for sure and I've got nothin!

I am sure I've put this before but since this is my last weekly update I'll be posting I figured I may as well post this again. We have to be at the hospital at 5am for prep stuff and then my delivery is scheduled for 7am. That two hours in between is time spent doing some blood work, filling out some paperwork, getting an IV, meeting with the anesthesiologist and my own doctor and who knows what else...not eating or drinking anything I know for sure. I have a friend Lisa who is an L&D nurse at Chandler and she'll be waiting for me in recovery so that's a nice thing.

Well, that's about it from here. It's just a waiting game at this point and we're good if it happens between now and then but better if he holds out for Friday. The planner in me crosses my fingers that Noah will be patient and arrive when he's supposed to. The mom in me knows that he may just come tomorrow to spite me. :) Have a great week everyone and I'll be updating as soon as there's anything exciting to report!

Flashback Friday - Labor Edition

It's hard to believe that one way or another this time next week Noah will be here...we'll be a family of four...Connor will have a little brother...our little family will be complete. It's shocking to think about, but we've got to think about it because it's literally right around the corner. Whether Noah waits until Friday at 7am or comes on his own terms he'll be here a week from today. Holy moly, right?!!? The undeniable timeframe really has me remembering what it was like when Connor was born just over three years ago so I thought it would be fitting to post a few stories and pics of his arrival. Not the actual arrival...though I do have a few c-section pics for anyone interested :) but pics from right before and right after. They are way, way down at the bottom of this post.

My first contractions occured on Friday the 13th of April, 2007. I kept a baby blog during my pregnancy with Connor and this is the entry about that evening:

After weeks of wondering what contractions would feel like I got my answer! Friday night I started having mild contractions that felt like my tummy was in knots and that Connor was moving around like crazy. Not so much pain as tightening and discomfort-enough to catch my breath, but that's really about it.

We called the nurse at my doctor's office who told me that these are early labor contractions and to be sure that we had our hospital bag packed! That caused both excitement (Linds) and a bit of panic (Jeffrey)! She made sure to follow that up with a warning that I could head to the hospital that night or it could still be a week, so...four days later I'm still having the contractions and still waiting for them to get to the point that we make that trip to labor and delivery!

Well, those contractions continued for several more days. Seriously...they got more and more painful as the days went on and I still find it completely rediculous that I had contractions for 6 days. Of course-the contractions Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday were Nothing compared to what I got hit with on Tuesday and Wednesday...the day Connor arrived...at 11pm! From Connor's baby blog again here's a posting from after his arrival:

Hooray-the day we've been waiting for finally arrived! Connor Keith Barnes made his debut this past Wednesday, April 18, 2007. He arrived by c-section at 11:08 pm, weighing 6 lbs 2 ounces and 19 1/4 inches long...a tiny little guy! Such a relief given how huge Jeffrey was at birth!

I'd been having some pretty horrible contractions all Tuesday and Wednesday and Wednesday night around 7, they were about 2 minutes apart and mom and I made that long-awaited drive to the hospital. Jeffrey met us there and serious labor came fast. For those of you who want the details, let me know so we'll spare those who do not! I will say that I went from 1 centimeter to 6 centemeters in about 20 minutes so it was quite intense and the epidural that came was a welcome relief about 5 days in the making!

My doctor did come and talk to us and said that because of several factors, they needed to go ahead and get me to the OR for a c-section. I think I surprised them when I said, No problem, sounds good, let's go! We didn't care how he got here, we just wanted him here and safe! So, about 45 minutes later Connor was here and our little family was started!

Since I'd had a c-section which is considered pretty serious surgery, we got to stay extra time in the hospital to heal and rest before going home. It was great to be able to have the nurses there to prepare us for what we were about to do! They helped us learn about nursing Connor, and all about how to take care of our new pride & joy!

On Thursday night, one of the nurses told us that Connor's bilirubin count was at a point where he was considered jaundiced and needed to spend 24 hours in the nursery under the lights to be sure it kicked it out of his system. This was pretty tough having him away for an entire day when he was still so new, but we knew that he needed to do it to get better. We were able to go down and visit him while he spent time in his little "tanning bed". After the 24 hours, he was all better and able to come right back to the room with us. This only lasted a short time though, and he was back to the nursery for his circumcision. I'll spare everyone the details, but just know that Connor handled it like a champ and slept through the entire procedure!

It's absolutely amazing that Connor already has such a personality and clearly knows his likes and dislikes already. He likes laying on mommy's chest after he eats and will gladly spend hours and hours sleeping there. He does not like being swaddled and having his arms tucked inside the blanket-he's been able to break free from every swaddle he's been put into so far! He's great at making eye contact and will just stare at Jeffrey and I forever and we just can't tear ourselves away from those big, dark blue eyes-he's just beautiful! Just like mom and dad he's got tons of hair-he's already in need of a haircut! He loves sleeping and eating. Even though he's so tiny, he's putting away between 40 and 50 mL of food at every feeding and will surely catch up to other infants soon. He lost about 4 ounces before he left the hospital, but we're told that's normal and we are sure he'll gain in back super quick given his love of food:)

It was absolutely amazing to be able to hold this little boy that we'd both been waiting so long for. He's beautiful and if you haven't had a chance to visit him, please do! Jeffrey is taking this next week off from work so we can help each other adjust to this new, wonderful phase of life:) We have our follow up appointment with Connor's pediatrician tomorrow and are looking forward to that. I have posted a few photos on here of Connor's first few days and there will be many, many more to follow. We're still trying to settle back in at home and will be sure to continue to add photos as we are able to.

Thank you so much to our friends and family who were there through the entire experience this past week and weekend. This was so special because you were there to share it with us. Connor will know how blessed he was to have all of you visit him on his first few days of life-thank you again!


Strangely, I cannot help but notice here how much my blog is different than it was three years ago...I would have totally, totally, 100% given way more details than I did then. Maybe because it was our first, maybe because I was super new to blogging, who knows. I barely talked about labor, or the epidural, or the sleeping pills I was prescribed...and I didn't even delve into how much the c-section effin hurt or the reasons they decided to section me. lol. no fear friends...this time will be different! :) As an FYI, anyone who wants to read the old blog can find it HERE. I stopped doing it when I started up with this one and am still deciding if I should import them over to this blog or what...well, that's a decision for another day.

Here are some pics of the day Connor Keith arrived:

i think we took this before we were told that I needed to have the section. not a stellar photo, but probably our last pic taken as just a "married couple"...not yet "parents" :)

this is when i was being wheeled into the OR. Ironically, probably the best pic I've taken in my life.

jeffrey right before we went in for Connor's delivery. He still has these scrubs and will be wearing them when Noah arrives as well. Hopefully...unless they won't let him wear them because they aren't sterile. damn. wrench in the plan. fail.

this is immediately after Connor was born. you can tell because he'll still all gooey and bloody. i have minimal recollection of this moment, seriously.

love this pic. looking thrilled with being out in the crazy bright lights!

when i first saw this pic i was like...when was this taken? it didn't even occur to me that everyone was gathered outside taking pics when i was still in surgery. I love, love this photo. proud dada with the thrilled grandparents!

I think he's a day or two old here...so flippin teeny

hanging out in his plastic crib, chillin with Pepper and his iPod.

You can see the little velcro tabs on his head from his sunglasses he had to wear under the billi lights for his jaundice. I think he stayed in the NICU-type nursery for a couple days.

Heading home from the hospital!

this is what back pain looks like...

LOL. I'm doing good, but by the end of the day the back is not pleased with Noah and I. I've been taking a belly pic once a week to send to Katy and a few others who I don't get to see enough. This is the 38 week belly photo.

38 Week Update

I'm still pregnant and that's all there is to it :) It's good news, as I'm just not ready to walk away from my office yet and Jeffrey has a really important week at work next week. We're hoping he just hangs on and arrives as scheduled, although my discomfort has increased greatly over the last several days. Nothing huge, just slight discomfort.

I had my 38 week appointment yesterday and all is well. The pound I lost last week is now back but didn't bring any friends along with it so I'm ok with that. My BP was good and Noah's heartbeat was strong at 140 again. The nurse said he felt pretty good sized when she was getting his heartbeat. I talked to the doctor about what to do if I ended up going into labor before my scheduled time and shared my goal of not feeling a single contraction. He laughed and said that as soon as I start feeling them come on I need to drink some water and see if they subside or not. If they don't, I'm to head into triage once I get them consistently. Contractions and when you head into the hospital is such a subjective thing so I hope that either my water breaks or that I just wait until my scheduled time so I don't have to make the judgement call...even after having a child and deciding when to head to the hospital I'm still not positive. Dumb. Now, let's talk about water breaking...I'd love to avoid this too unless it happens when I'm strategicially placed on a toilet. I wear dresses nearly everyday because of the lack of a waistband...I really don't want my water to break while I'm in a dress. I imagine it happening while I'm walking across the gym to pick up Connor at school...or maybe while I'm walking into Starbucks. That's how it would happen to me. In public or in front of children.

I asked my doctor to guestimate on Noah's size. I don't know why I even asked...this guess is almost always wrong...my last dr guessed that Connor would be 7 1/2 and he barely broke 6lbs. My doctor told me though, that he'd guess by how solid my tummy felt that Noah was about 7lbs now and would likely be 8lbs if I made it to the 28th. Amazing. I cannot even imagine an 8lb baby but I guess we'll see! Doesn't really matter how large/small he is since they are cutting him out and I'm not pushing him out! Ugh...just thinking about the recovery is enough to make me cringe right now. I just remember peeing for the first time after surgery, trying to take a shower for the first time a couple days later and just trying to adjust the way I was laying/sitting in the hospital bed with the pain of the incision. I'm going to stop trying to remember now and just focus on meeting Noah! I'm going to post a few pics of Connor's arrival this week for Flashback friday, but here's our first family photo when Connor arrived...

Not a stellar photo of anyone - This pic was taken at 11:20pm and Connor arrived at 11:08. Connor is still all wet and puffy, Jeffrey has a giant surg mask on and I'm wrapped up in about 7 blankets because I was so damn cold.

By the way, can I mention how much I love being told that I'm "all baby" and that I don't look like I'm full term yet? It really does depend on what I'm wearing though and at what angle you see me. If you see me from behind, I don't look pregnant...catch a profile shot of me and bam! ginormous. I am happy though that my face and arms didn't explode with lovely pregnancy weight gain.

Friday my ankles swelled up like crazy. I blogged about this yesterday so I'll spare the repeat. They've been a teeny bit puffy this week but nothing at all like Friday. My God, it was disgusting. Serious. I felt like I had ankle weights on and I kinda looked like I was wearing flesh-colored puffy socks. Not cute. By the end of the day my lower back is hating me and so is my heartburn. It's funny that all these pregnancy symptoms go away the very minute that the baby is born...like they don't gradually go back to normal, they just disappear. Odd.

That's about it from here. Made a bit more progress on the hospital bags for Noah and I...got the breastpump out...and well, that's about it. It's the strangest feeling living your life not having any idea if you'll be in the hospital with a brand new addition later that same day. Exciting as hell, but also tough to wrap your head around for a planner like myself! Thanks for checking in on the Barnes family :)

Just another manic Monday...

Today I'm being positive. I'm typically an optimistic person, with a large dash of sarcasm and cynicism mixed in. :) It drives me crazy when someone is constantly a Negative Nancy...I have a few coworkers who are beyond guilty of this syndrome.

My Sara comes back today!! Sara is my intern who helped me out during the summer and then again during xmas break...we are so lucky that she's coming back to be me during my maternity leave. I think it's crazy that expectant moms have enough to worry about with complications, trying to stay healthy, facing 8 weeks off with zero pay, etc. and then to have to worry about finding someone to do your job while you're out--Forget it...too much stress. Luckily for all involved, Sara graduated last week and doesn't start her new job until August so now she gets to make some money over the summer instead of day drinking and lounging by the pool for 8 months...oh, sorry Sara. Anyway, she starts today which should significantly cut down on my anxiety. I'm still not comfortable walking out of the office and away from my overwhelming job today, but at least she's here and ready for a refresher course! One step closer.

Also, Connor is wearing big boy underpants to school today for the first time. He did great this weekend with the underpants and didn't have a single accident while he had them on. Our plan yesterday was to put him in a diaper during his nap since that's not really a controllable time but he fell asleep early and we didn't have a chance to change him. He had a few trickles in there, but really not bad at all considering the kid consumes so much water during the day. Two minutes before Jeff and Connor left the house on the way to school today, he peed himself. Connor, not Jeff. So, not a stellar start but maybe the pressure got to him :) I'm hopefuly for a better day!

I have an OB appointment today at 3:15 so I'll be taking off an hour early this afternoon to get there. I'm officially 38 weeks along tomorrow which is just crazy-talk to me. I know I've said it before, but I swear...the first two trimesters just crawled by this time and the last couple months have just zoomed past me. I cannot believe that my countdown is at 11 days today. Yikes!!

This weekend was seriously unproductive until the final few hours. I had a low key weekend planned already but had to bail on a friend's bbq that I was really looking forward to. Friday night my ankles swelled up so huge that I sent a pic of them to Carly asking advice. They were disgusting. I would post the pic here but I just can't bring myself to do it. Anyway, I was having some intense headaches, paired with the ankles and some very, very painful lower back cramps so I decided that no matter how much I wanted to get out of the house and see some of my XO friends I needed to stay put and stay off my feet.

We finally left the house Sunday afternoon. My nephew Kaden had his confirmation and while we didn't attend the mass...2 hours, no thanks...we did meet up with the family after for the reception and celebration. Still can't believe they do confirmation this early, odd. Then we visited Papa and Tashi so that Connor could give her his Mother's Day gift he made her. After that we went and got some small size onesies for Noah in case he surprises me and ends up being more Connor sized (6lbs) than Jeffrey sized (10.5lbs). please. Most of the onesies we have for him start at 3mos and they are just huge! The size estimates they give on those are just way, way off. Newborn is typically 5-8 lbs and they were all way too big on Connor at 6.2 so we ended up having to get premie stuff for him so you just never know. Noah's hospital bag is packed for the most part...a few outfits in a few sizes and we should be ready to go. I still need to get new tubes for my breast pump but learned that you now have to buy them directly from Medela and then they have to ship it to you which is lame. Oh well, at least I didn't wait until the last minute to get the new tubes. Oh wait... :)

Ok, I've got 15 minutes before Sara arrives at my office so I'd better get serious about looking like I haven't been slacking all morning. Hope it's a great day for everyone!!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

I picked up Connor from school on Friday afternoon and found out that one of his friends Samantha had gone home that day with a pretty serious fever. That evening, Connor, Jeffrey and I were playing basketball in his room and all was well. After we stopped, Connor and Jeff were sitting on the couch and Jeff mentioned that he was burning up. I dismissed it thinking he was just warm from playing but then remembered Sam and we took his temp...101ish. Super. This kid runs really low like I do so anything above 100 is a fever in our house. I took it again 15 minutes later and it was already up to 103 and he was just laying there on the couch. We can never, ever get this boy to lay down on the couch so something was obviously up. It's amazing how well you come to know your kids and when they aren't themselves. That obnoxious addage of "you'll just know..." has some merit I suppose.

It was 7pm Friday night so we decided to head to Urgent Care so that we could get him on the mend at the beginning of the weekend. Working parents can agree that there is nothing worse than your child coming down with something on a Sunday afternoon and knowing that the week is up in the air. There is a great Peds Urgent Care by our house that is quick and the drs are great so we arrived and were seen in about half an hour. During the half an hour, his fever climbed and he puked on the floor of the lobby. That's just how we roll. He kept saying that his mouth hurt and we just thought he was talking about his teeth since we're pretty sure he's getting his 3 y.o. molars or whatever the last ones are. He was so exhausted that he slept through most of the exam.



The dr woke him and checked for strep, ear infections, and everything else. Turns out he had Herpangina. Say it out loud please. Yes, the word sounds like a combination of herpes and vagina--totally unrelated I was assured over and over though. Apparently, it's an incredibly painful throat virus that causes very high fevers and blisters in the back of the throat. He told us that there had been a little girl in earlier with a 106 temp! Scary. Connor's virus went into an ear infection too, but only in one ear thankfully. We've been so lucky with ear infections. I think he's had 3 in his life and so many kids, myself included, are cursed with them constantly. They gave him a couple suppositories and an otter pop and he was feeling better within 20 minutes. They kept an eye on him until he was done with his popsicle and we were on our way to fill the Rx. By Saturday afternoon his fever was down almost completely but we stayed super low key all weekend just to be sure he was ok by Monday. Since we didn't leave the house all weekend there are all kinds of random pics to share!

rockin the big brother shirt, or the "baby noah shirt' as he calls it. love.

this is the swelling i'm dealing with. it's not horrible, but i'm not loving it. my left ankle/foot is a bit swollen, but you can tell (maybe?) that the right ankle is worse. i'm sure i could lessen the swelling by putting my feet up more and cutting heels out of my wardrobe but hey, whatever.

we found these letters and numbers in connor's old room when we were getting it ready for noah. i got these at a baby shower before connor was born and never even opened them. geez. he loves them. you can see we had to get creative with his name since you only get one of each letter/number. i guess we like names with N and O so we'll have to get a second set for Noah!

because he was sick (really looks sick, right?), we were doing anything we could to get fluids down him. He got to have all the juice he wanted and he got to drink it out of a real cup...not a sippy...hence the joker juice stain on his face.

I dressed up as a Dr. for halloween several years ago and bought a toy dr set for a prop. It's Connor's now and he really likes it. Recommendation to parents out there...let your kids get a doctor set...it helps when they go in for their own appointments because they know all the equipment. we've even let connor bring his set along to appointments and it really helps!

please ignore my shorts. please. they are comfortable.

the scissors in the dr kit also double as haircut tools in our house

honestly not sure what's going on here...

37 Week Update...Update!

No productivity with my cervix. Holla! My doctor knows that I am hoping to make it to my d-day so I halfway expected him to jokingly pop his head up and tell me I was at a 6 and shouldn't get too comfortable at home.

In other news, Noah's heartbeat was super strong at 140 and it was great watching Connor listen to it and know that was his baby brother in there. I think it's really starting to sink in for him, though we'll see. My GBS test came back negative which is great since I was positive with Connor and that means this time I can avoid the rounds of antibiotics before my surgery. My blood pressure was perfect at 120/80 and Noah and my uterus are more on schedule now which means no need for another ultrasound. Great news as well! When I asked my dr about my weight gain for that week he laughed and told me that I was actually down a pound from last week...hilarious. I have no idea how that happened but I am positive it was a fluke and I'll be back up a couple or so next time.

Next week I have my 38 week appointment on Monday afternoon...getting close now!

37 Week Update

37 Weeks along and now I can actually say I'm full term. I swear the last month has flown by unlike the rest of the pregnancy! As of today, I have 17 days left until Noah's scheduled arrival. Yikes.

At home, we've been getting ready bit by bit. Sunday night we tackled a huge, huge laundry backet and another under bed storage bin of Connor's clothes. I've been dreading this for a couple reasons. First, we kept everything from Connor. Some of these onesies were so nasty, so nasty. Anyway, we kept them...because they were his. I knew it would be horrible trying to sort through them to decide what goes and what stays. Second, I'm really not big on the idea of hand me downs. Not at all. I feel like second born is going to have enough "second baby stigma" and could at least have all their own clothing! But, this just doesn't make sense when Connor has some clothes he barely wore, or didn't honestly wear even one time. I felt like we were on that awesome show on TLC...damn what was it called? The British guy hosted it and they took over a family's home and made them clean out a disgusting room that would make the people on Hoarders: Burried Alive groan. They had to divvy the items up in three piles: Keep, Toss, Sell or something like that. Anyway, we had a "Keep for Connor" pile full of sentimental outfits and items, "Keep for Noah" full of perfect or near-perfect items and a trash pile of items way too disgusting to keep for any reason. We have more to go through and then need to wash any "keep for noah" stuff but progress is progress. With just over two weeks left, we'd better get in gear.

I'm feeling the same, pretty good. Sleeping is getting even more difficult, but I swear that's just the body's way of practicing for when you have a newborn and you're lucky to get 3-4 hours of sleep a day. I still haven't had any contractions and Noah is still moving like crazy so I'm hoping we've got some time still. I wore heels today which I'm positive will be a mistake. The height doesn't bother me, but they feel really tight today. (I also brought a pair of flip flops that are safely tucked away in my purse in case an emergency shoe swap becomes necessary.) Um, I found a couple dresses in my closet that I haven't worn in forever that are just easy wearing with stretch so I've got a couple more options to get me through the next couple work weeks. I haven't purchased any maternity clothing this time around, just making do with the few items I bought when I had Connor, some dresses sans waistline and some creative hairtie work with pants! I refuse to buy anything new at this point...I'm way, way too close and will have zero use for it again. Here's a pic of me stretching today's dress to its absolute limit :)

17 days to go...the belly does not lie!

CLEAN SWEEP! that was the name of the TLC show. Ahhhh. :)

Two of my best, best friends Dawn and Ashley surprised me with a huge bag of wonderful gifts for Noah...including receivers, onesies and other little outfits, sleepers, bath supplies, hooded towels (cutest thing ever on baby...) and wash cloths. If you've had a kid you know that while the adorable shoes, hats, pacifier holders and other items are fun to buy and receive...the above items are the hard-core can't get enough of them items. I swear after I had Connor I shopped for other peoples baby showers with a whole new purpose!! Clearly, so do Dawn & Ash because they loaded me up with the necessities. Thanks ladies :) And last week I met up with Jill for lunch who gave Noah the cutest, flippin owl blanket. I love it so much!

According to my trusty emails, Noah is probably about 6 1/3 lbs at this point and maybe 19 inches. This is a bit bigger than Connor when he was born. The guessing game of baby size makes it really tough to pack his hospital bag...we had no idea that Connor would be so small so everything we brought to the hospital was at least 4 months ahead of him...Jeff had to run out and buy preemie stuff for him to wear home. This time we're going to bring a few things in a few sizes. We'll see--Jeffrey was 10.5 lbs so you never really know what we'll get!

I have my 37 week doctor appointment tonight so I'll post an update with any details that come up there. I'm just hopeful that I didn't gain another 7lbs :) I could handle one or two lbs...but seven?!?! Hopefully when he checks me, he'll tell me that there's no action in the cervix area and that as far as he can tell Noah is happily hanging out for 17 more days. That's the goal, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

Thanks for checking in on the growing Barnes family! Have a great Tuesday.

21 days and counting

yup, 21 days to go

Cramps, Names and other randomness

Something I really love about blogging is the randomness and I haven't been keeping up with my end of that for a long, long time. Sometimes something will happen and I think, oh I totally have to blog about that this minute...but then it's lego time or I'm swamped at work (all the time) or I should go to bed or whatever. Today the randomness overwhelmed me and I want to blog about it.

Three things at the moment:

1. Yesterday a coworker asked me if I'd had any of the blindingly painful leg cramps so often associated with pregnancy. I told her nope and then woke up this morning at 4-something with said blindingly painful leg cramp. oh.my.god. it was so horrible i nearly barfed. it's 7:45 now and I can still feel where the cramp was in my right calf. I 100% blame my coworker for this happening. She called in sick today and I'm positive it's because she knew this was going to happen. See you next week buddy...

2. Why is facebook chat not working at the office anymore? Blah.

3. My name was so, so overplayed when I was a kid. I remember in college too that there were 5 Lindsays in my sorority. I remember my parents telling me that there were a couple other Lindsays born in the hospital the day I was born and I still wonder why they didn't consider that a sign. Anyway, we like names that are somewhere in the middle--not 'three other classmates with the same name popular', but normal enough that you can find it on that personalized pencil rack at the grocery store. you get me? I didn't know another Connor, or know someone who knew someone who knew a Connor but low and behold once our Connor arrived it was everywhere with kids. Then we choose Noah. I don't know a Noah. I've heard of a couple Noahs out there but still very uncommon as far as baby names go. Today as I'm driving to work hoping that my driving leg doesn't spasm on me while on my way, I hear that the Social Security Admin has announced the top baby names of 2009. Eff me. Noah is #9 on that list. Top ten?? Not thrilled about this. Being a trendsetter is disappointing.

Lindsay's Wishlist

It's too late to strongly subtly hint to Jeffrey that something from this site would make an amazing Mother's Day gift since Sunday is just two days away. I really dropped the ball on this opportunity now that we (nearly) have our two kids and our baby making days are done. I love birthstone jewelry, always have but I had to hold off jumping the gun with Noah just in case he arrived early as an April baby...now that the possibility is gone I think it's safe to order up the emeralds!! Here's my connundrum...I am not totally in love with our family birthstones...together. I'm garnet, which I love. Jeffrey is emerald, also wonderful and also Noah's. Connor is diamond, boring. Don't misunderstand, me likey diamonds but what I'm trying to say is that everyone has diamond jewelry but I just don't feel like it's very, well, birthstone-y. PLUS...did you notice that our family birthstones are very Christmas-y together? Yeah, well I did.

Regardless, I love this site, The Vintage Pearl. I've always loved personalized stuff, monograms, etc. and this site just speaks to me with all the family jewelry now that our little family is just about complete! Here are just a few items that I'm currently lusting over on this site. There are lots of other great shops with similar offerings. I really love this hand stamped stuff right now.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Not too many new photos this week. We had a much slower-paced weekend so there wasn't much excitement going on. Saturday we slept in, relaxed in bed for a while (all three of us!) and then made our way to visit our friends Ashley and KC who just welcomed their 2nd child, Lucas on April 17th. They have a daughter Claire who is a few months younger than Connor as well.

Connor and Claire playing nicely with each other so I had to get a couple pics. Connor was oddly quiet and passive around Claire. It was funny to see him let someone else call the shots!

Then he rode her bike around the house when she went down for a nap! LOL.


Here's baby Lucas :) - you really do forget how teeny they are when they are so new! I just kept thinking holy crap, we're going to have one of these in just a few weeks Jeffrey!

This weekend we are pretty low key as well. Friday night we have zero going on so we'll try to keep it that way. Saturday morning I have the drop off for The Chi O's Cleaning their Closets Charity that my alumnae group put together during the month of April. I think we have something awesome like 25 bags of clothing for UMOM, a great local organization you should check out. I'm really proud of the turnout! Jeffrey and Connor will be at swim lessons while I'm dropping off the items with some other alumnae. Sunday is Mother's Day! I know it's obvious but this day has so, so much more meaning to me since I became a mom. We've always celebrated it because of my mom, but it's just a whole other level when my kid(s) can be involved! My mom is coming over for lunch and I think I'm going to put together a little craft project that she and Connor and I can do. I'll be sure to get plenty of photos of the day for next week!

36 Week Update

We're getting close now...and it's freakin me out! I'll get to more of that later though.

I had my 36 week appointment yesterday and do you remember here when I said I really felt like I've gained some serious, no joke weight since my last appointment? Um, confirmed. My doctor seriously asked me "what have you been eating?". I laughed but then realized that I was totally right. I'd spiked. He joked at first that I'd gained 10lbs since my last appointment but then told me that I had actually gained 7lbs...in two weeks. Holy crap fatty mcfatterson. That's nuts. That means that I'm now exactly the weight I was when I found out I was pregnant. I lost a bunch of weight and now I'm gaining it back. I know it's a good thing, as for a while they were concerned with me not gaining enough, but geez can't I find a happy medium?!? It's completely our eating habits over the last two weeks. Jeffrey has been working long, late hours so that he'll be all set when he takes time off and we've just been grabbing food wherever we land while out running errands. That stops now. It's so expensive too.

Noah's heartbeat sounded great and although I forgot to ask the actual BPM, it was strong and loud. I think this was the first time that they've put the doppler on my belly and had the heartbeat sound immediately. He's always hiding and swimming around so that they can't get a good read easily. Connor was at this appointment and we asked him what the noise was. He smiled and said "that's baby noah" and then continued to color.

Otherwise, the appointment went well. I asked him about a procedure I'd been hearing about where you go in for a quick appointment and come out with no more periods. I'm already getting my tubes tied when Noah's delivered so I figured why not go for gold here. No more periods ladies? Yes please. Anyway, after mocking me for a while about being 36 weeks pregnant and asking about a procedure like that he agreed I'd be a great candidate but that he'd prefer to do it in the office after Noah is born so that my 'schedule' is back to normal. Fine, fine. I went home with some reading materials and I'm going to delve into it whenever I get a free moment. Has anyone had this done? Ablation is the general term, Novasure is the specific procedure I'd do. I'd love to hear feedback :)

I still haven't had any contractions which is great news. Noah's movements are just so different than Connor's were, I swear. Connor's kicks and punches would catch my breath a bit...since it's already so effin difficult to breathe but Noah, my god. All he has to do is move and I'm near tears. It's painful, seriously. I feel like he's punishing me for not having any space in there! :) It's enough to double me over in pain. He finds a spot that makes me cringe a bit and then continues to burrow into it-I swear he's trying to get out through the side of my body. Super. Carly's husband Bobby laughed at us this weekend and said, "oh so THIS one is the rambunctious one?!?!". He knows Connor well so found it funny that there could be a child more energetic than Connor. Hilarious.

Since we're 36 weeks along now, Noah should be just about 6lbs and about 18.5 inches long. It's still crazy to imagine him 6lbs since that's what Connor was when he arrived. I can believe it though...this kiddo feels huge. At this point, he should be putting on an ounce per day. Maybe I can blame my weight spike on him being large? Maybe? Yes, we'll do that. Now I feel better. The number of days left is just crazy...23 days left. I want to make one of those paper chains you had in grade school to count down to summer vacay or a holiday...the one where you tear off a link per day? Let's see...apparently his brain is developing a ton right now, he's practicing blinking (and probably winking as our first came out a giant flirt), and has mastered the whole sucking reflex.

I'll be considered full term at the end of this week so I can really go anytime. Logistically though, I really need him to hold on until his scheduled time. Puhhhlease Noah. I'm just so swamped at work and Sara, my amazing intern who will be working for me during my leave doesn't even graduate until May 14th. I'm so incredibly panicked that he's going to come early and she won't be here yet. Seriously panicked about that. Ugh, and everyone tells me how that's "not my problem" but guys, it is. No one else at my company knows how to do my job and that's bad news when it means that houses won't close without my job getting done. Ok, stopping the work tangent now :) but I'm still really, really worried about it so everyone keep your fingers crossed that we'll hang in there until 7am on the 28th, k?

My list of to-dos isn't clearing out too well. I got a robe. That's pretty much all I feel like I've accomplished. Fail. I've been to both Target and Walmart and totally struck out in the slipper department. My friend Jamie found some owl slippers online that she was going to surprise me with but they didn't come in my size--bummer! I'm seriously just going to buy the next pair of slippers I find. I give up, they are just slippers. Otherwise, I got a bunch of Michael's coupons from Ashley so I'm going to get Noah's flippin letters this week. My plan is to find some cute scrapbook paper in a couple styles and glue it to the front of the letter and the sides of the letters will be painted navy. I think that sounds cute and I'll probably use a chocolate brown ribbon to hang them. I also really want to get a head start on Noah's announcements so that they are ready to go when he arrives...I'll just stick the photo in there, and order them up. My hospital bag is still basically full of toiletries, some socks and that's it I think. I'm going to stick a couple books in there tonight. It's tough to have it packed since I'll want things that I use daily like the camera, my ipod and other stuff that can't just be stuffed away for a few weeks. Maybe I'll just stick the chargers in there for now so that no matter how drained the items are I'll be all set. Why am I worried about silly stuff like this? Oh, and it just occured to me today that I need to get a bag packed for Connor. His own hospital bag of sorts I suppose. Since he'll be staying with Sarah and my wonderful in-laws for the 4 days we're in the hospital he needs to have clothes, diapers, underwear, etc. all set for go time. I want to get him a few surprises too so that when he comes to the hospital to visit he'll have little things there for him.

Oh, that brings me to the bestest news ever. Chandler Regional lifted their RSV restrictions on Thursday. Wonderful news!! I can't imagine spending the 4 days or so in the hospital without even getting to see Connor and really couldn't even think about not getting that family photo of the four of us in the hospital bed. Now I don't have to worry about it. :) I was so thrilled when I got the email from our friend Lisa who is a L&D nurse there. Yippee.

Oh, so last week my office threw a little shower for Nakeia and I. It was eventful to say the very least. After eating a bunch of food (did someone say weight spike?) and opening up some generous gifts, Nakeia snuck off to the bathroom. She came back in a few and pulled me outside...her water broke! At her shower! At this point, Nakeia was about 4-5 weeks behind me in her pregnancy so she was about 31 weeks. I shoved her off to CRH where they tested and confirmed that it was actually her waters and that she hadn't just peed herself. They admitted her and hoped to keep her son, Keion, in for 3-4 more weeks. No luck though, and he arrived this past Sunday night at 6pm. He's a healthy, strong little guy at 3lbs, 9oz. He's completely breathing on his own, completely off all meds and doing amazing. Nakeia was released from the hospital yesterday and Keion will probably be there another 3-4 weeks I guess. I just cannot imagine leaving the hospital while your baby was still there, so sad. But the great news is that he's doing so well! Here's a pic of Nakeia and I just moments before her water broke, and a shot of her little family in the hospital just moments after Keion's arrival.

Since both babies are boys, we were all instructed to wear blue so i think it's hilarious that Nakeia wore bright, bright pink :) Hey, when you're pregnant you wear what fits that day and make no apologies!

I think that's it for now, wow these posts are getting lengthy recently. Have a great rest of the week and remember to cross your fingers that Noah holds on for atleast two more weeks!!

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