Gifts for the Baby

This month one of my greatest friends threw me a shower for our new little baby boy to be. It was a wonderful day filled with friends and family. It was in Rockwall where my friend Lisa lives. A lot of people made the drive and we got great gifts for our new little bundle of joy. Thank you to everyone who came and shared this special occasion with me. I wish we would have gotten a group picture but it went by so fast that we didn't get a chance. I am putting some of the pics of me and my fam and friends that I remembered to get taken. The one with me and Blake and his shirt is a little blurry, but I am posting it anyways. It is so cute! I am never good about remembering to take pics. Maybe that can be my 2010 New Year's resolution. hehehe Blake even got a big brother t-shirt and he loved it. His Godmom, Godaunt, and Godgrandma got him a really cool toy too. He is gonna be such a great big brother. He went around the room giving everyone hugs for all the presents they gave to his brother. So sweet! A piece of advice for some of you who are expecting...never wear a skirt to a baby shower when you are as large as me! LOL I spent a lot of time having to crop the pictures because there was a little peep show. hehehe Thanks Carly!

It has been a month!

Time really flies. It just seems like yesterday I updated the blog, but alas, its been another month. At least I am still holding to my New Year's Resolution about updating monthly. :-) Let's see. Last time we talked I was put on bed rest. Well, I am off now and back at work. I am lucky that my administration is very helpful and 'reminds' me to be sitting. Krystal also works at my school and frequently reminds me that I need to be sitting when she walks by my room. I need the reminders because I get so caught up in teaching I forget and then I regret it. Even my students remind me. I have not had the tightness much lately so I think I am out of the woods on that.

Now I am on bed rest for another reason this week. STUPID SWINE FLU! Yes, I have the luck to get the swine flu while pregnant. I will spare you the details, but after taking all of the drugs I can while I am pregnant, staying in the hospital last Friday and Saturday, I am not better a week later. I started getting pneumonia so they put me on an antibiotic to stop that progression yesterday and I started feeling a little better today. I actually slept for three hours straight this afternoon which is longer than I have in a week! I am not allowed to go back to work until at least Monday because my immune system is so compromised not to mention I have no energy to take a shower much less teach for 8 hours. I didn't like what the doc said at first, but I know she is just looking out for me. It would be a waste if I went and caught something else on top of this junk. The one thing I really learned about my OB through this is that he is a dedicated doctor. He admitted this was new territory for him because he doesn't usually deal with pregnant women with swine flu (Lucky him) and he and his nurse have been trying everything to help me that they can. When I was in the hospital, he came in on Saturday to check on me. I asked the nurse if he usually comes in and she said no. That is going above and beyond. His nurse has also called to check on me several times daily and they have tried to help me as much as they can. I will be writing a wonderful thank you card when the baby comes. Just when I think my doc and his nurse can't impress me more, they do. I would recommend them to everyone! Dr. Greebon at Women's Specialists of Plano is the best and his nurse Justine rocks!

The person I worry most about right now is Blake. He took it very hard when I was in the hospital and while I have been sick in bed. He comes home everyday and asks if I feel better. I told him when Mommy gets better, we are going to have a Blake and Mommy day very very soon! I miss my big boy! Here is a picture of him sleeping with his favorite transformer Bumblebee. The minute he comes in the door, he looks for his transformers. Very cute!

I don't want to miss a thing!

It was a stressful week to say the least. I started having pains in my stomach on Monday. It just felt like a growth spurt because it was so tight. I didn't think anything of it and I figured it would go away. Tuesday it got worse. I was laying on the couch after I got home and the pain was not letting up. It literally felt like my belly button was going to pop open and expose the baby. Even Scott could feel how tight my belly was. Wednesday it was even worse and spread to my back. I decided I should probably call the doctor because I didn't think growing pains lasted this long. I was told to come right away so of course, I was freaking out. I left school almost immediately and drove to the doc. Probably not a good idea since I was hurting and crying I realize now, but who else was gonna drive me. After the miscarriage last year, I did not want to go alone so I called Scott and he met me at the doc. Everything started going through my mind. What if's are not always healthy ones I must say. Scott was able to calm my fears and tears by the time I saw the doctor. We saw the doc right away and he said that my options were bed rest or meds. I don't really want to start medication to stop preterm labor if I don't have to right now so I just kept looking at Scott. My doc is so good and saw my hesitation that he gave me another option. One I can actually live with for now I think. He said to try the bed rest until Monday. If the pain goes away, I can try to go back to work on Monday. If the pain doesn't go away, then we will talk on Monday. I figured I could live with bed rest until Monday because after all I am Positive Patty so I think everything will work out by Monday. I am convinced that I will be able to go back to work on Monday pain free. Now if I can just convince my body of that everything will be great. I spoke to the doc yesterday and told him I was feeling better so I am allowed to try on Monday. If the pain comes back though, I have to be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. That is a LONG 10 weeks! But I will do whatever it takes to make sure this baby makes a healthy and safe entrance into this world of course.

I think the hardest part of that option is that I am going to miss out on Blake. I really was upset because I have NEVER missed anything of Blake's. I have been to every game, practice, swim lesson, karate class, etc... I have always been there even when I am sick or whatever. I have never missed anything. This weekend of course was to be his first blastball game. I am the assistant coach of his blastball team again this season. (Yeah. I know. Looks kinda dumb now huh, but when I signed up I was ok.) I was going to miss out on that. Thank you rain for raining that game out! LOL Every year we take him to the balloon festival and he was so excited to go this year. He had been talking about it all week. He was telling his teachers and friends at school. I was super pumped to go with him because he is such a joy to watch and I like the balloons too. I had to miss it last night and stay in bed. :-( He got to have a Daddy and son outing though so I am looking at the bright side of course. I am going to have to miss his swim lessons tomorrow morning so I am bummed about that. I know I have seen probably 30 of them, but it doesn't matter. I want to be there for ALL of them! I am his mother. Blake was super cute when we tried to explain to him that Mommy had to stay in bed and couldn't go to the balloon festival. I told him the doctor said Mommy had to stay in bed. He was gonna make a compromise. He said, "Well. Then Daddy can stay in bed and Mommy can take me to the balloon festival." That was so sweet! I am not usually the favorite, but it meant a lot to me that he actually misses me not going. :0) Anyways. They had a great time. I will get to see it next year I keep telling myself. I am also missing my MIL's birthday party in VA today. I was looking forward to that this weekend too. But I am stuck in bed. ;-( At least, I have had some wonderful friends visit and call. I had a friend deliver food, books, and movies yesterday. The fifth grade team made homemade meals for me. Isn't that so thoughtful?!?! Today, another friend came by and brought me lunch and they each kept me company which was great. I have a few more friends who plan on coming by this afternoon. I should probably catch a nap now then huh? LOL

I just don't want to miss anything else so please God, let me be able to go back to work and life on Monday so I don't miss a thing!

Night with friends

I was talking to a friend last night and she was telling me how much she appreciates that even though I am a mom and busy all the time that I make time for my friends. I had never really thought about it before, but I guess I try my best to for my friends and me. I then told her that I think having friend/adult time is very important to me. I believe making time for myself and enjoying my friends makes me a better mother. I also think having time with family and friends is important for Blake. He loves spending time with his aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, and grandpa. (We really have no shortage of sitters. We are SO lucky.) He enjoys his time just as much as I enjoy my outings. I remember a time where I felt guilty about getting a sitter so Scott and I could go and do something. I don't know when that changed, but I would guess when he was no longer breakable in my eyes. :-) I was so worried about leaving him when he was younger, but pretty soon I could tell he loved seeing his family. I also realized how important the bond that he was developing is to him. When Scott and I decided to have children, we made a deal that we would try to have a date night at least once a month. We have been pretty good about it most months. I think it is important that we get this time to ourselves as well to work on our marriage too. Sometimes we spend our night out with friends and others we do a date alone. This past weekend we went to Joe T. Garcia's for dinner and Billy Bob's to see Clay Walker. I am 28 years old and have lived in DFW my entire life. I had never been to either place. Of course, I wait until I am 7 months pregnant. LOL It was a great time and I didn't get too tired. I watched people dance and have a great time just talking with friends and listening to music. I even danced with Carly who is a great dancer! She decided I needed to get out onto the dance floor because my hubby doesn't dance. (It doesn't bother me. I knew it when I married him and those people at Billy Bob's are serious dancers!) Let's just say I was winded after the first time around the dance floor and couldn't walk after the second. LOL It was so funny really! She didn't believe me. hehe It didn't even really bother me that it was pouring rain and we had to walk a long way to get to and from the door because the valet was full. It was a great night. Let's be honest. I won't get a chance to do that for a while once the baby comes. Thankfully I took two naps that day so I would make it until 2am! I hadn't seen that time in 7 months. LOL

Blake's first day of Pre-K

This Wednesday was Blake's first day of Pre-K. Blake picked a Transformers backpack and lunchbox for the occasion. He was so excited that I don't think he slept much on Tuesday night. We got up in the morning and Mommy and Daddy got him ready and took him in. Blake's teacher's name is Mrs. Berry and she couldn't be nicer. She was welcoming to Scott and I and very nice. Blake walked in and immediately felt at home. Scott and I watched him for a few minutes and spoke to Mrs. Berry. She told me to call her and she would call me and not to worry about a thing. She really was welcoming and inviting and it was very appreciated. I kept my tears in check the whole day on Wednesday. I felt at ease somehow. I even peaked in on him later that day. :-) He didn't seem to miss a beat. He was ready for school and his excitement was contagious.

I had my first experience of packing a lunch that I won't soon forget. I wanted to make sure everything that we needed to take his first day was all together so we wouldn't leave anything behind that morning. Blake and I put his name on everything and packed his lunch. I put his lunch inside his backpack and placed it by the backdoor so we wouldn't forget it the next morning. Then I went back to the paperwork to see where I needed to leave his lunch the next morning to be refrigerated at school. Here is the mishap... I made sure I knew where to leave the lunch in the morning to be refrigerated, but I actually didn't put it in there all night! I got it out of his backpack and school and realized my mistake. Scott giggled at me. I couldn't believe that I had actually looked up in the paperwork to find where to put it to keep it cold as school but I didn't do it myself that night. Must be pregnancy brain. hehehe I was able to take the lunch home to remake and Blake was still happy as a clam. Scott found the whole experience very funny.

Back to Blake's first day. He had so much fun! He got to play on the computer, read books, had circle time, and they went outside. Mrs. Berry said he loves to learn and tried to soak up everything they talked about. I saw evidence of this because he told me all about all of it when I picked him up. She said he wasn't sad until it was nap time. I believe its because he didn't want to stop playing. hehehe It might be the new place too. They went outside on the playground and Mrs. Berry was playing with Blake. She was trying to get him to chase her and he told her, "Mrs. Berry, its just too hot to do that. Maybe tomorrow." LOL I wonder where he heard that. hehehe Mrs. Berry said he made her laugh all day long and he was so sweet. He had a great day and couldn't wait to go back on Thursday. I picked him up early on Wednesday during nap time. It told him we needed to grab his backpack and he said, "Mommy, we can't forget my transformers lunchbox too." That choked me up a little. His is just so big! When did my son start worrying about his lunchbox! I knew the day would come, but he is till and always will be my baby. Scott took him Thursday morning because we are practicing for the real thing next week. He came home talking about all the things he did. I got a little bit more sad today so I broke down and called Mrs. Berry to check on him today. She told me all about what he had done and said that he was having a great time. They were eating lunch when she called me back and we got to have a great talk. She is so nice to talk to and I think she truly enjoys her job. She has the love of teaching that I wish all teachers had. She has put me at ease every time I spoke to her and I feel like we have a great communication going. She said that he listens to her directions and does everything the first time she asks. She said she wasn't used to this. I was shocked that she was talking about Blake of course because he doesn't do that for us. LOL I guess no kid does that for his parents though. :-) I think he is enjoying school. I am glad that Mrs. Berry has already noticed his love of learning. He wants to know about everything. I think he fits very well into her class. He told Mrs. Berry that he was going to get a pet frog and name him Max. He has been asking us for a few days and I am trying to talk Scott into it.... We will see.... :-0

Finally some good news!

Blake had his annual VCUG on the 6th. This was the first year that Scott couldn't go with me so I was very nervous. Since I am pregnant, I was not allowed to be in the room with him during the test so my Dad was nice enough to go with. I think Blake really loved have Papa there because he has such a calming effect on all of us. (When I start to freak out about something, I just call Dad and he sets me straight. :-)) The results were not what I had hoped when I spoke to the doctor on site at the hospital. She said that one of Blake's kidneys had not grown in the year and that his reflux had gone from a 1 to a 3 on the left side. The right side stayed a 3. I was very upset. I had thought since last year he got better that we would be able to continue that pattern and he would be growing out of it. I started hearing the alarming words the doctor had used about everything and might as well not even tried to sleep the next four days because it did no good! Well come to find out, all that on site doc did was make me have a few sleepless nights for nothing! On Tuesday, we had our visit to Blake's kidney doctor and I was set completely at ease. Blake's doc has been his doc since he was an infant and he is very well known and seasoned in this field. He came highly recommended by many doctors not just our pediatrician when this whole process started. He looked over the scans from the VCUG and told me that I had no reason to worry. Blake was doing great and his kidney was not small for his age. It was just the right size and there was no reason to be alarmed! He also told me that since Blake was not done potty training at the test last year, that he had expected the grade of reflux to increase because he is holding it longer now. Completely normal! He also told me that Blake has a great chance of growing out of it since he has had no infections at all. He took Blake of his medication and said that we will watch him from now on. We don't even have to repeat that stupid test anymore. (We have to put him under every year for that. Not fun.) He said as long as Blake doesn't start having infections that he won't even consider surgery. (I am so relieved. I had the surgery and it was very painful. I was 18 even not 4.) He also gave me more good news. I had a doctor tell me that the second child has a 95% chance of getting the condition since I had it and Blake had it. The doc said it is more like 60% and boys are much more likely to grow out of it. I know 60% isn't that good but its not that bad either. Much better the 95%! I am officially counting my blessings. I went into that office on Tuesday expecting to be scheduling surgery and I walked out being able to tell Blake he didn't have to take the yucky medicine anymore. YEAH!!!! Now let's just keep our fingers crossed that he stays healthy and has no infections. I have faith though. :-)

All good things come to an end...

I am so bummed to see this summer come to an end. There have been many exciting things happening and I have gotten used to being able to rest. Blake has been growing in front of my eyes. He actually came up to me this morning and spelled balloon and told me that we need to take a hot air balloon ride with Mommy, Daddy, Trixie, and him! I couldn't believe it. He can also spell jeep, cat, pig, pie, corn, cake, radio, and some other ones that escape me. He is so super smart. He starts preschool on Wednesday and we went to meet his teacher today. Mrs. Berry is her name and it took me a long time to convince him that it was Berry not Mary. LOL He loved going there today and didn't want to leave with me. That's a good sign I guess. He started karate a few weeks ago and he loves it! I think we will start the new baby on it as soon as he is old enough. It has taught him so much in such a short amount of time. We love watching him each time. We are about to get very busy because of all of Blake's activities. We have Karate on Monday and Wednesday nights, then blastball starts on Saturday's again in September, and swim lessons start again on Sundays at the end of August. He begged to do all of these things and we want to encourage him to try everything while he is interest but I may be living in my car soon! LOL I have a very sweet story to tell that happened this week too. Blake wanted to do potatoe heads so we were building them. He sometimes likes to build the family so we were building Mommy, Daddy, and Blake like usual. Then he realized he forgot a member. He wanted to add his baby brother too. So sweet! It melted my heart. He calls him Luke but we haven't decided on the name. Blake likes that name though and won't hear of any others. Scott and I are tossing around a few but no names have stuck yet. We will see but he may have the nickname of Luke from his big brother. hehehe We went to the circus yesterday and we had a blast! Blake loves the elephants! He was actually trying to talk me into letting him have a pet elephant at home. All I could think of is how much they must poop! I don't know how I convinced him but he finally gave up. Thank goodness! I don't know what I said but I should prolly try to remember so I can put it in my mental file for later. I am sure the subject will come up again because my child is nothing if not persistant. heheh I hope to take some pics Wednesday morning of his first day of Pre K and I will try to post them soon after. :-) Here is a couple of my kiddo at the circus. He kept telling Scott and I that this was the best day of his life. He also said we were the best too! So sweet that little boy of mine. Oh and a pic of him in his adorable karate uniform! He has already earned several stripes for his outstanding performance during class.