All about Riley

I haven't posted a lot about my little man lately, but I've been wanting to. He is at an age where I find myself saying "I'm going to miss the way he says...." Eventually his grammar and pronunciation will become correct. And it will hurt me a little when that happens. Perhaps I could home school and keep all of his cute words the way he says them now? ;)

And so...a little about Mr. Riley:

Coming is: Come-meem.

Sleeping is: Seeping.

He screams barking! at the dogs when they are barking. Telling them to be quiet, as I so often do. :)

Pizza is pronounced: Fot-see. We don't know why...I have gotten in the habit of calling it fotsee myself. :)

My husband loves cars, and his love has rubbed off on our son. Riley adores cars. Plays with them all the time (along with his trains) and pays attention to any car driving or parked that he sees. He can identify a BMW, Volkswagen, or Audi. He can pick out a van as something that his Grandma drives. He knows his favorite cousin, Connor, often rides in a Yukon (he picks them out regardless of color, by pointing at one and saying "Connor?"). But, by far, his favorite car is a BMW, which he calls simply W. I drive a Volkswagen, and for some time my husband has been driving BMW's. Mr. Riley will often get upset if we are taking my car. He would prefer to ride in a W any day  Doesn't matter the condition, or year. If it has a BMW emblem on it, he's a fan. Today my husband traded the BMW for an Audi, and he (my husband) dreaded telling Riley. Last night, he said "Riley isn't going to be happy." We have a little car snob. :) Riley and I went for a walk the other day, and we passed by 3 different BMWs. I know this because somebody pointed them out to me as we went by. ;)

He really doesn't want Mommy to take pictures of him. He will put his hands up in front of his face, or whatever is in his hands at the moment to prevent me from getting a good shot. 

But I take a lot of pictures so I sometimes get a decent one of the kid. :) This was at a mini park by our house. He spent most of the visit running and yelling "Go! Go! Go!"

I know there are a lot of other things he does that are cute. But I can't think of them at the moment.

14 weeks

This photo was taken 14 weeks and 1 day. :) (added after posting...)

On Thursday I had an appointment with my midwife. It wasn't anything too exciting. Just a physical exam, ahem, of my lady parts. It is always a bit uncomfortable, but I really like my midwife so it wasn't so bad. She is going to be perfect for me and Jamaal. I had remembered her telling me at my last appointment that I would need to do a 1 hour glucose tolerance test at this appointment. But I wasn't 100% sure. So I had a bar with only 9 carbohydrates and some water as I was leaving in the morning.

Turns out I had the opportunity to take the lab slip and do it at my convenience, but I decided to get it over with. Since I had prepared myself, and had a babysitter for the booger. I chose fruit punch this time and it really wasn't that bad. Though I did get terrible heartburn. I took zofran beforehand, but didn't even think about heartburn. Next time I'll remember. ;)

Since I have issues with my thyroid she also wanted the lab to draw my thyroid levels. Just to be sure all was fine. The person who drew my blood used a very large needle and it really really hurt. I was a bit annoyed. It hurt the rest of the day, and that has never happened to me before. He could have used a smaller needle.

I celebrated with some sushi followed by a trip to Costco afterwards. :) It was lovely.

Friday afternoon I got a phone call from my midwife I passed the glucose test. Very exciting. Of course I will have to repeat the test again later on, but I'm glad to know I can eat some carbs right now. Unfortunately it wasn't all good news. My TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was low. It was 0.24 and the normal range starts at 0.45. So it is quite a bit low. But the nurse that filled out my requisition did not check the box to also check the T3 and T4 levels. These are the free hormones, the TSH stimulates their release. So, in theory, a person could have low TSH but still have adequate hormones  However, we will have to have a redraw to make sure the levels are okay. Otherwise I will have to take some thyroid medication. (And that means some more testing of my levels I'm sure.) So fingers crossed they are normal. I've never had a problem with my levels before. At least that I remember. I feel like my TSH was on the low side with Riley, but we didn't need to do anything. We'll see. I'll go get my levels drawn next week. She said she would call me with the results once she had them.

I've decided to be more active. Because I have been gaining weight a bit too fast for my taste. I only want to gain 25 pounds total and I've already gained 8. Blech. I really wish food wasn't so good!

In other news I got a phone call last night from the fraud department at my credit union. Someone had stolen my card (or card number) and had made purchases on my behalf. I still had my card (it is now shredded) so it leads me to believe they had stolen my information from some online account. I'm really annoyed that people do this. I feel violated. But I'm glad my credit union has a fraud division, and they realized it wasn't me. They were able to charge $1400 to my debit card. $1000 at Macy's and $400 at Victoria Secret. They apparently attempted a few other places like Best Buy but were declined. They have a $2000 limit (or is it $2500?) set on our debit card purchases per day so that is probably why it was declined. And also why the fraud division was alerted. So on Tuesday after work I will have to stop by my credit union to get it all straightened out. And to get a new debit card. I'm a little sad, because I have had the same pin for the life of my debit account and should probably change it now. I have no idea how they were able to use my card without physically having it. Because it appears it wasn't an online purchase. Who knows. It will all work itself out in the end.

13 weeks

Today I am 13 weeks. I have officially begun the 2nd trimester. It is surreal, because it seems to have flown by (although I remember thinking it was taking forever around week 6 or so). I am finally getting some of my energy back, which is a wonderful feeling. But it also helps that Riley has been waking up at 0930 or 1000 some days. I definitely appreciate it when that happens. :)

I have some fears for the future, especially once the babe is born, because Riley never slept. And I just don't know how I would be able to function with two tots to look after. I just keep hoping that this baby will know how to sleep. We'll see though.

Some gripes:

- I got the bill for the lab draw they did at the start of my pregnancy and I am floored by it. $696.30 for the labs alone. (Thankfully we have insurance so it only cost us $211, but still. It is frustrating.) It is even more irritating that $300 worth of the tests were for a tox screen. Ahem. I could have told them the results of that one. Absolutely zilch. I don't even think I've had Tylenol in the recent past. (Oddly enough Tylenol is often included in toxicology screens.) Even testing for Hepatitis C was a little uncalled for. However, I could have been exposed to it at work, so I would have let that one slide. Needless to say I'll be paying closer attention to what they draw from me in the future. If there is a baby #3, I need to remember this.

- Today some sciatica pain has started up for me. I'm not thrilled that it has started this soon. But I know women out there will sympathize with me. I need to find a chiropractor, I've been saying this for years now, but I just don't know who to trust.

- I have nothing to wear. Nothing, that looks appealing on me anyway. I feel frumpy in my maternity clothes, and uncomfortable in my normal person clothes. I'm a little sad that most of my maternity clothes are too big, even the jeans, because I was smaller when I got pregnant this time than I was when I got pregnant with Riley. Right now I'm wearing a skirt and shirt, and feel okay, but it is freezing out there! What I need to get are some leggings/tights, I'm going to go on Amazon after this to search for some.

- I'm hungry again. I mean, eat what is in sight, if food isn't in sight, find food and put it in my sight, all day long, hungry. This happened with Riley and I gained way too much way too fast, and ended up with gestational diabetes. I need to get better at being careful. Today I bought some foods at Trader Joe's that will hopefully help me. (Like fruits and vegetables and Greek yogurt. Fage is my favorite. And some frozen foods for Riley and I to have for dinners instead of thinking about fast food.) I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to be better.

- Heartburn is starting yet again. So far it has only been at night, but I'm sure very soon it will be a 24-7 issue as it was with Riley.

Some positives:

- The nausea is nearly gone. Okay so it wasn't as bad as other women's experiences with morning sickness. I never lost my cookies. I was able to eat through it (though many times it was cheese and crackers or something bland). But it was incredibly uncomfortable to be gagging and dry heaving out of nowhere. (Not to mention making people around me uncomfortable.) Sometimes I wished that I could puke, just to make it stop, and to have some relief. But instead, Zofran saved the day. Around week 9 was the worst, and I took Zofran nearly every day. Smells can still trigger it, but it is nothing like it used to be.

- I've already mentioned that my energy is coming back. But it is a positive. I finally feel like doing something else other than sleep or sit.

-Since week 8 I've been showing. Now it is quite prominent, not necessarily something a stranger might point out, but my family and friends can see it for sure. It is definitely the best part about being pregnant, looking pregnant, feeling pregnant. I have to be honest, there have been times where I've forgotten that I am pregnant. :) Pretty soon that will be a little bit tough. I swear I've been feeling the bean doing flips, but I'm pretty sure it is just peristalsis. ;) I can't wait to have boxing matches with the little booger.

Random post from December that went unpublished.

Random post I had started but not finished in December. I want to post it simply because I want to remember some of this. :)

November 25th & 27th, 2012
I had some slight spotting and cramping so I was sure I was going to start my period soon. You see, if you remember from this post we had decided to wait before having another child. I put Jamaal in charge of using condoms, but he chose to not use them a little too soon. When I thought my period was going to start, I got a little sad, because while I agreed to wait, that pocket in my heart was yearning to be filled.

December 4th
I rode the bus to and from work. On the way home, I felt nauseated. To the point where I was looking for a place that it would be safe for me to expel my stomach contents into. (I decided upon my lunch box, if you were curious.) It was then I realized that it had been a week since I thought my period was going to start. So I went to the dollar store and bought 9 tests. Turns out I only needed one. :) but secretly I've used 3 just to make sure. 

December 5th
I called to make an appointment with my midwife to see about an ultrasound to check for my actual due date. But it could be anywhere from July 29th to August 6th. I have the unfortunate predicament of feeling like I'll have this baby early as well (Riley came 2 weeks early). But I just don't feel like I'd be that lucky. Especially with a summer baby. :) I'm feeling queasy off and on. But also feeling hungry a lot too. I feel like I am about 3 months pregnant right now, I am so very bloated. It makes me just a little nervous for it to be twins. (knowing my luck they would be both boys.) ;)

I'm thinking we will tell our families on Christmas. And everyone else later on in the week. :)

(We ended up telling our family at Riley's birthday party. And everyone else around Christmas time.)

Some News

I cannot wait to post something about our news, so here it goes: We're pregnant.

Today we had an ultrasound and meet and greet with my new midwife (my old one had the nerve to move to North Carolina for her husband's schooling. RUDE! Haha.) She was really nice, observant and made me happy with my choice. She's not too preachy, and really seemed interested in my past. She had obviously read over my chart before meeting with me, and had made notes that I would need testing for Gestational Diabetes earlier (since I have a history of having it with my first pregnancy) as well as some testing of my thyroid. It was nice to see that she cared about me and did not just go with the standard protocol. So, I hope I am lucky enough to labor during the day or when she is on call.

How I'm feeling.

Nausea
This time is a bit different. (okay so after reading all of my early post from my first pregnancy, I have realized that I did have some nausea with Riley. I apparently have blacked that bit out of my memory, because I honestly thought I had absolutely NONE. However, I can tell you that it was quick to leave with the last pregnancy.) Last time, I would have a wave of nausea that would make me want to get to the bathroom, but it would pass before I would make it there. This time, I gag and dry heave periodically. It is worse when my stomach is empty. It is weird because it hits me very suddenly. And sometimes I feel some acid rise up with the gagging. It is those cases that make me worried I'm about to lose my cookies. Fortunately, my MIL received a prescription for Zofran after her foot surgery, that she never used and has given them to me. So I have been able to take a couple (only needed it twice so far) to make sure I keep my food in my belly. I really don't want to puke. I talked to my midwife about this today, and she said it was fine if I take it when necessary. Food is good to me, most of the time, but I'm pretty picky. I really am having a hard time cooking because things dont's sound good until they are made and in front of me. I've been eating out a lot, which is not good for me, I know, but when I am able to look at a menu and pick something out, I can find something that sounds palatable.

Exhaustion.
One of the very first symptoms I had was exhaustion. It is a bit tricky to be able to sleep when your toddler has other plans for you. But I've been lucky, and have napped at the same time as Riley, or he has stayed the night at his grandparents' houses for miscellaneous reasons, so I have been able to sleep in some days. It isn't as awful for me, as it was with the first pregnancy, because I am used to a certain amount of being tired. That's what kids do to a parent. ;)

Body Image.
This time I've felt ginormous already. At 9 weeks, I feel like I'm showing. Like last time, my clothes hide my belly well. But there were times where I actually thought there were two babies in there, because I felt so huge. My pants still fit though, so that is good. I'm guess it is bloating that I'm seeing. But I have not gained anything thus far. (I actually lost a couple ounces from last time I went in.) So I'm happy about that. :)

Gestational Diabetes.
It is early yet to be diagnosed with anything. But I'm sure I will end up having GD, since I was diagnosed with my first pregnancy. However, this time around I am doing things a bit differently. I'm not drinking a Frozen Coke from Burger King everyday. Haha. What can I say? I had a craving, and I impulsed on it. I am conscious of every carb I put in my body, but can I be honest? Carbs taste good. They are what I want right now. Proteins are good too, but only if they go with a really tasty carb. Like, tonight for example, I had me some chicken teriyaki and rice. It was wonderful. I made sure Riley helped a lot with the rice. And he did, he ate about half of it, but I really enjoyed my meal. I pulled out my blood sugar monitor and have been testing myself the last two days, just to see how I'm doing, and I'm in fabulous control right now. Sometimes I go as high as 112 after eating, but before eating I haven't been higher than 90. Even after having ice cream, I've had really good sugars. Anyway, I'm going to remain hopeful...and will have to test twice at least this pregnancy, once at 20 weeks (and if I pass that) again at 28 weeks when they test everyone else. Hopefully, I'll be able to control myself to keep my sugars down, but I'm not going to completely deny myself carbohydrates while I can tolerate them. I plan on checking my sugars once a month or perhaps every couple weeks, just to see where I am, but will not lose sleep over it. At least not right now. 

And of course, I am super excited about being pregnant with my best friend Jessie! It is so funny that we were able to make it happen, and I'm glad that my baby will have a friend about the same age. :)

Tomorrow I am meeting up with some friends, and two of them don't know yet. So I will post to Facebook at the end of the day. Until then. ;)

The Lunch Date

Today I decided to treat myself to a lunch date with my toddler. It was a bit silly, now thinking back, to go to Costco at just before noon on a Saturday, but I decided the hot dog was worth it. :) Also, I had no reason to go shopping there, as I just went earlier in the week, which makes it a bit easier to wait in line, not having to worry about a cart.

But still...with a wiggly toddler you begin to worry about things like: will he scream and shout? will he become limp like a noodle and refuse to use his legs? will I be able to eat my dog in peace?

At Costco, they do not have high chairs for the wiggly ones. Just benches and tables. So, it is tricky to keep them corralled at times. But today, little Mr. Riley was on his best behavior. He walked when I asked him to, he stayed nearby, he used an appropriate toddler voice, he only once got down from the bench, but got back up when I asked him to. It was like magic. All of my fears, were for no reason at all. He was a perfect angel for me. And I was a little sad, but proud at the same time. He's growing up, and of course I want him to, but sometimes I wish we could just freeze time and live in this moment.

Another mommy, wearing an infant, and her toddler had lunch there too. But she was in charge of a cart, so had to sit on the end of the table opposite of me, by the walkway. (I chose the end next to the wall, so I had only one exit point to cover.) Her son, walked down to our end of the table, staring at Riley, chomping on his lunch. She might have known he was there, or perhaps it took her a while to react, realizing he was safe where he was. But I took the opportunity to tell Riley that he was being naughty. He needed to stay with his mommy, and listen to her. I waited to say this until the toddler was on his way back to his mom (or perhaps just back for more food). I've heard a friend say this before: it seems if someone else's child is acting naughty, your own children act a bit better, because they are embarrassed for the other child. I am just happy when it isn't my child setting the poor example. :) However, I had planned an exit strategy if my babe didn't behave. I would pack up our food and go, and eat in the car. That being said, the roving toddler I mention, wasn't being obnoxious, he was just not staying still. I'm not exactly sure why she didn't put him in the cart to eat, if for no other reason than to chain him down. But of course, it is not my place to judge, she had her reasons. And I'm sure one day it will be me with one child that won't sit, stay or listen. (actually I'm sure that has happened to be before already.) :)

Anyway, he ate pretty good too, and I wasn't expecting that either. I didn't think he would like my hot dog, so I got him some pizza, which he ate about equal amounts of both. So that meant I was able to have some pizza with my hot dog too. He saw someone with some frozen yogurt, and he was pretty excited saying "Cream! Cream!" And I told him, if we were still hungry, we would get some, but of course I was way too full after lunch for some frozen yogurt, so perhaps next time. Lucky for me, he had forgotten by the time we were leaving.

The magical lunch date ended with the following: as we were walking to our car, I hugged him and thanked him for being so good. I asked for a kiss, but had to steal one, because he didn't want to give one willingly. He giggled and wiggled, and as I was getting ready to put him in his seat, he started fighting yelling "No! No!" He did not want in the car. He flailed his arms about, which promptly met my face, and I was knocked straight back to reality. We aren't out of the tantrum phase yet. (And one could probably argue that we will never be out of that phase, at least while he is still living under our roof...) It was accidental, but I told him to be nice to mommy and settle down. And he did.

We next went to Safeway for a couple groceries, and upon arriving home, he started to scream in his car seat. He does this a lot actually and it is quite the pain. Most of the time it is while riding in the car, but sometimes he will do it when he is upset or tired at home as well. Today, I said: "Riley, why are you screaming?" And he stopped, and said "Sorry, Mommy." And that was that. I laughed and said thank you. Perhaps we are on to something here. :)

Just an update

I haven't posted in a while. 

Not much has been happening around here. I kind of decided to have a low-key birthday for Riley this year. Just the family is invited. Last year was a huge party, and a lot of stress, and while he had a blast, it isn't something he will remember. So we will just have a cake with the grandparents and his aunt and uncles (and cousins if they aren't too cool for us yet.) ;) Next year, maybe, we'll have a bigger party for him. Also, last year he got a lot of toys, it was a bit ridiculous. We had to give some to the grandparents, because there was just too much for him to play with at our place. I love to get fun gifts for kids, so I totally get it, but there is only some much time in a day for playing. ;)

Tonight, Riley went pee pee in the potty for the very first time. He has been asking to go potty a lot after diaper changes, so I put him on the toilet and he sits there looking in the bowl, playing with his belly button and talking about bubbles. Sometimes he sits there for 45 seconds sometimes only 15 before saying "All done" and trying to get down. I'm not really pushing potty time right now, because he is still young for it, and I don't want to stress him out, but if he asks to go, I'll let him. Tonight he asked after his diaper was changed, and it was almost immediate that he started peeing. He started laughing, he was so excited. I kept saying good job and cheering. But I thought to myself "now what?" I hear about moms using M&M's and jelly beans as rewards, so was I supposed to give him one for going? Maybe is this it for us, will he be easy to potty train? Or did we just get lucky this time, and he just so happened to have to really go? It is too early to tell yet. I'm not fully ready to believe he is ready to train, but we'll see how it goes. 

This weekend will be a busy one for us. We have a birthday party on Saturday and another on Sunday. Unfortunately, I have to work on Sunday, so I won't be able to go to that party, but my sister-in-law will be taking Riley for me. It is a 4 year old's party to a movie theater to watch Cars. Riley loves that movie, (well he prefers the second one...but he will sit through the first one too.) Kind of. He never really sits through a movie unless I'm holding him down (like to get him to go to sleep.) I hope he enjoys himself. :)

Sunday my parents return from being in Australia and New Zealand. I cannot wait to see them again. I talk to them nearly every day so it has been pretty hard. Riley is going to flip out when he sees them, I think. :)