I know, I know, call me crazy, BUT...

I miss being pregnant! Ha ha! My friends think I'm crazy because I don't hate being pregnant all that much (except the first trimester and the very last few weeks). Anywho, I already miss feeling the baby move inside me and the excitement of waiting to see what he or she looks like! I think the thing I love most about being pregnant, though, is the knowledge that I am doing something VERY important. I get to spend nine months trying to be as healthy as possible so that I can bring a healthy human being into this world that will (hopefully) contribute to it. To me, that is more satisfying than anything. And call me a ham, but I also like the attention you get when you are pregnant. I love the way doors open for you and strangers almost always smile! It's like a pregnant belly can brighten the world around it! ;)

One thing I really truly don't miss, though, is the exhaustion. I hated that I didn't have enough energy to play with Conner the way I wanted to. I hate depending on other people to help me do the simplest things. I am so glad to have my energy back and be able to take care of my kids the way I want to. Ooh, and I had a very small glass of wine the other night and it was DIVINE!!!

So even though I miss being pregnant, I also don't!

Ha ha!

Belly Picture- 39weeks 5days

Once Raphael and I realized I was in labor, but before I painted my toenails, we took this last belly picture of me real quick. Please excuse my hideousness...it was like midnight.

Seriously, am I the only person in the world still pregnant?

I think everybody that I knew who was pregnant (aside from Karin) and all celebrities gave birth this past week. Even those who were due after me! I'm ready today...got the whole house cleaned yesterday and my hair is washed and straightened and looking good...sooooo anytime now would be good! My contractions actually tapered off lately, so that is not a good sign! Although, with Conner, everything started and ended within 24 hours, so maybe this baby will be the same. I never had one single warm-up contraction with him...just the labor. So I'm just patiently waiting over here...getting a little bored. I have nothing on my calendar right now because I was kind of planning to have a baby.

News...or No News

I know a lot of you have been wondering...

I went to the doctor last week on Thursday and was not dilated at all. He said the induction for this week wouldn't be a good idea. But, since I don't give up that easily, I scheduled my appt this week for today instead of my usual Thursday. I was actually kind of optimistic that I would be dilated and he would schedule me for tonight because on Friday night I felt the baby drop into my pelvis. Then on Saturday night, I was having mild contractions all night. They sort of tapered off on Sunday, though, but I still had them off and on sporadically for days. Well, when I went to the doc today, I was actually starting to dilate, but just barely (not quite 1cm). He said he still didn't feel comfortable with induction, so alas, there is no induction scheduled for tonight or tomorrow. He did try to "help" me along up there when he checked me, but I don't think the chances of having a 9/9/09 baby are looking very good. I am a little disappointed, but I am also kind of relieved about not being induced, because I really prefer to just go into labor on my own.

So, we'll see! I am still having contractions, so you just never know. Like my doctor says, it could be tonight, or it could be two weeks from now. I'll keep you all posted.

Holy Crap!

I went to the doctor this week and we had a little discussion about inducing me a week early. Since Conner was born on 7/7/07, I thought it would be cool if this baby was born on 9/9/09. My doctor agrees it would be cool! But he has a few concerns we will have to discuss this week. You see, the hospital only allows elective inductions at 39 weeks. I will be exactly 39 weeks on 9/9. So if they won't check me in until that morning, it's possible the baby may not arrive until 9/10. Plus, if my cervix is not ready for induction, then it could really take a long time. So he is going to do a little lookie-loo at my next appt this week and see how I'm progressing. If my cervix looks ripe (eew), then he is optimistic about inducing me.

SO, that got me pretty excited! I may have just a week and a half left!!! But then I totally panicked! OMG, I might have two kids in a week and a half! As if one isn't hard enough! I am totally freaking out. How on Earth am I going to manage to nurse and care for a newborn AND give Conner the attention he needs as well?! He is already full-time on his own. This mom business is not for chumps, man.

But, I am happy to report that I'm almost completely caught up on my list of things I wanted to do before baby comes. My freezer meals are stacking up and I have done a good, thorough cleaning of the house. I even dusted all my blinds! This week I will go get my car washed and put both carseats in their new locations (don't ask why the car has to be washed first, it just does). I will also set up the playpen in our bedroom and pull out the baby swing and bouncer.

Aside from those little things, though, I think I will focus on spending some good quality time with Conner. I'm sure there will be times when I will look back and miss the one-on-one time we've had together. Sniff!

Belly Picture- 35 weeks 2 days

I am sucking in and tightening my stomach pretty good here!

Well, this baby is now making me pretty tired. That would explain my exhausted-looking eyes in the picture. The heat doesn't help either. I am so ready for summer to be over. I can't say that I'm completely ready for the baby to come out yet, but I am glad it is drawing nearer.

I'm pretty sure Conner is going to totally hate his new sibling at first! He is such a mama's boy that I don't think he will like sharing the attention one bit. The adjustment will probably be pretty rough for a while, but as with everything else, we'll figure it out eventually. He will get plenty of one-on-one time with his daddy, that's for sure. And I'm sure my family will take him out to do fun things occasionally so he feels special.

I've been stocking up my pantry and freezer a lot lately to prepare for baby. I've also been making extra freezer meals and storing those for when he/she comes. I don't want my family to eat take-out and junk food every day afterwards, but I know I won't have the time or energy to cook, either. So far I've stocked away a lemon chicken casserole, a shepherd's pie, two servings of goolash, two loaves of banana bread, and 6 blueberry muffins. My goal is to have at least two weeks worth of meals prepared before baby comes! Then all I have to do is defrost them and pop them in the oven and we'll have a healthy meal to eat! And with all the stocking up of my pantry, I won't have to make any big grocery store trips for a while either! I can just send my husband occasionally to pick up milk or eggs and fresh fruits and vegetables.

I've also almost got the baby's room ready- well, as ready as it can be without knowing the sex. He/she will sleep in our room for about a month anyways, so we'll have time to finish it up after the birth. I've already stocked up on diapers and lanolin cream, so we're good to go!

Dr. Appt

So I went to the gyno today for my 33 week check-up. Everything looks good. The only drama I have going on in this pregnancy right now is the fact that for the past 3 visits, my baby has been measuring two weeks ahead. That doesn't mean he/she will be born earlier than I thought because my dates are accurate. It means that this baby could possibly be bigger than average!!! CRAP. Conner was 8lbs and he never measured ahead. So my new nickname for the baby is gigantosaurus rex.

I am not going to complain about the impending doom that my vajayjay may face, though. If my biggest problem is that my healthy baby is measuring on the large side, then I don't really have any problems.

Uuggh-

Do yourself a favor and don't look through old pictures of yourself when you are 7 months pregnant.

I came across this little beauty today that I had never seen before...


I was about 19 years old there, and clearly much blonder and tanner than I am now. But what depresses me the most is how skinny I used to be...I look like I weighed about 95lbs in this picture. Uuggh, thanks for making me look fat now, tramp...would it have killed you to eat a cheeseburger!

Aaannnd, here I am now...

Well, actually I'm fatter now...this picture was taken a week and a half ago.

Sigh.

Baby Names:

Ok, so I was under the impression that the boy name we had picked for our baby was sort of private...I had been diligently doing my part to keep it to myself, even under extreme pressure from friends and family. Apparently my husband and I were not on the same page (as usual) because a week ago when we were vacationing in Tennessee with family, one of my relatives asked us what the name was going to be if it was a boy, and he blurted it out without hesitation!!! So, apparently we are sharing now!

If we have a girl, her name will be Grace, which is the name of my hubby's mom, who passed away almost 20 years ago.

If it's a boy, the name will be Logan. An interesting little tidbit- we agreed on the name after watching X-Men in our room at the bed and breakfast back in May. Wolverine's name is Logan.

Love,
Jacque :)

HAWT!

Me and one of my best friends (Karin) a few weeks ago. She is also preggo and due in November. I think I would have been about 30 weeks here, so there you go...my belly picture! And no, my butt hasn't grown to match my belly, it is just the angle and the dress. Honestly, I promise! ;)

Second Trimester

Compared with my first pregnancy, I have hardly talked about this one at all on my blog! The curse of the second-born has already started!

Things are going really well here in the honeymoon trimester. The ugliness and despair of the first trimester is but a distant memory now, and the discomfort of the third trimester has not descended upon me yet. Life is good! The little baby inside of me is strong and moves quite frequently, especially after I eat sweets. :)

I started having braxton hicks contractions about a month ago. They became pretty frequent about two weeks ago and I started to get a little bit nervous, but they eventually faded away and now I only get like one a day. This is new to me because I never had a single contraction when I was pregnant with Conner until the day I went to the hospital in labor.

In some ways this pregnancy has been very similar to the last one, but in other ways it has been so different. They are similar in the fact that I am carrying the same way and have had no major complications. But the differences are what lead me to believe this baby is a girl.

First was the sickness...and not just the fact that I was more sick, but it was also a different type of sickness. When I was pregnant with Conner in the beginning, I would start to feel sick at about 5pm every day, and it would last until I went to bed. It was like a routine. Smells didn't bother me at all. This time around, I could smell everything and unfortunately everything absolutely disgusted me. My husband joked that I should take a part-time job as a luggage sniffer at the airport because he was so amazed at the things I could smell! Unfortunately to me it was more of a curse because anytime I smelled something bad, I would get sick. And the sickness was all day, not just at night. And now I gag whenever I brush my teeth, which didn't happen last time, and doesn't happen to me normally.

I crave completely different foods...this time around it's mexican food and seafood that I want most. Last time it was fruit and cheese.

My skin looks the best it has ever looked since before I hit puberty, whereas last time I was a greasy disgusting mess with a bumpy rash on my forehead.

This time I am constipated (like most pregnant women usually are), and last time I had almost the opposite problem! I think I preferred the opposite problem.

My boobs have already grown this pregnancy (don't get too excited, they are still small!), whereas last time they didn't grow at all until after the baby was born and my milk came in.

And last but not least, this pregnancy is most different because I already have a child to take care of. I don't get to spend hours sitting in my cubicle at work with my feet kicked up while people offer me food all day and ask me how I'm feeling. I don't often spend time thinking about what this baby will look like or worrying about all the things that can go wrong. In some ways, it is better to be a veteran and to know that in all likelihood everything will go just fine. To know that I will love my baby whatever he/she comes out looking like. To know that even if my child has a ginormous head, my body will more-or-less recover. And to know that no matter how difficult it is to bring home another infant and get into a routine, we will all eventually adjust and will forget what it's like not to have two of them around.

I just hope that this baby will know that I love him/her, even if his/her scrapbook has about half as many pictures as Conner's does! Which reminds me...I'm overdue for my 25 week belly picture. With Conner, I tried to take belly pictures every week...now I just shoot for once every five weeks. I guess I could just re-use the ones I took with him. My belly pretty much looks the same! ;)

Belly Picture- 20 1/2 weeks