Week Eleven

Written August 15th, 2015.

One week to go until we announce the impending arrival of Nugget 2.0!  We’ve chosen our method, we are working on getting all the pieces into place now.

Survey:

1. How big is baby this week? A Lime!  Mmmm margaritas.  
2. Weight Gain?  I don’t want to talk about it, is it seriously still the first trimester?
3. Do you feel that it is a boy or girl? Maybe thinking it’s a boy, about 42% of the time.
4. Are you wearing maternity clothes yet? Nope but wearing the hell out of my fat jeans.
5. Do your wedding rings still fit? Yep!
6. Weird cravings this week? Still with the sushi/asian foods.  Plotting to get some hibachi at some point this weekend.
7. What do you miss most? Now Margaritas. 
8. Movement? Nothing yet!
9. Sleep? Would still like more.
10. How are you feeling?  Hungry, but not as exhausted.
11. Things I cried about this week.  Mom’s sweet physical therapist came by to tell me how well my mom did and how happy she was that she was going home…I burst into tears.  I wasn’t even that upset/sad/happy/whatever.  
12. Best Moment this week. Mom came home from the hospital.

Week Ten

Written August 9th, 2015

We’re just trucking through these weeks over here.  I remember my first trimester last time slowly crawling by.  The time between the first two appointments seemed like an eternity and every day dragged it’s feet from morning to night.  This time, it seems to be flying by.  I keep pushing sleep off until, “tomorrow” or “later” or “someday” but maybe powering through the exhaustion works better.  I spent most of my first trimester with Ike working overseas, I would get up, drag my butt to work, think about sleep for 9-11 hours, and then go back to the hotel and go straight to bed until morning.  I think I averaged over 14 hours a night.  Hmm, those were the days.

Survey:

1. How big is baby this week? As big as a strawberry.  Almost as long as a AA battery.  
2. Weight Gain?  5-ish pounds
3. Do you feel that it is a boy or girl? Not sure yet.
4. Are you wearing maternity clothes yet? I tried a pair of maternity pants one day last week, but we’re really not there yet, back to the safety pins.
5. Do your wedding rings still fit? Yep!
6. Weird cravings this week? I’m getting on the classic pregnant lady ice cream train.  Ike is joining me.
7. What do you miss most? Coffee. 
8. Movement? Nothing yet!
9. Sleep? No problems but would like more.
10. How are you feeling?  Still a bit queasy now and then, but definitely better than a week or so ago.
11. Things I cried about this week.  Isaac yelled at me about being mean to him.  I cried and he felt bad, even though I was totally being mean to him.  
12. Best Moment this week. Dad came to visit and we told him the news.

Week Nine

Written July 30th, 2015

Guess what?! We have a due date!  Finally. March 7th, 2016 is the projected arrival date of Nugget 2.0!  That makes him/her about 9 weeks old right now, so my guesses weren’t that far off after all.  Go me!

Survey:

1. How big is baby this week? An olive (a green one I guess? Because the black ones are sort of the size of a kidney bean…)
2. Weight Gain? about 2 pounds
3. Do you feel that it is a boy or girl? Not sure yet.
4. Are you wearing maternity clothes yet? No, there’s definately an increase use of safety pins though.
5. Do your wedding rings still fit? Yep!
6. Weird cravings this week? Not really.
7. What do you miss most? Cold Sandwiches. 
8. Movement? Nothing yet!
9. Sleep? So-so.
10. How are you feeling?  Busy! The time is flying by!
11. Things I cried about this week.  In the rehabilitation center for my mom, in front of the medical director.  Whatever it worked, they got insurance to pay for additional days.
12. Best Moment this week. Ike giving the new Nugget a kiss goodnight.

 

 

Week Eight?

Written July 22nd, 2015

Still not sure how old baby Nugget 2.0 is even with a trip to the OB last week.  She said he/she was just too small to get an accurate measurement yet, so she booked me a follow up ultrasound (woohoo!) this week to hopefully provide a real due date.  Her guess last week was 6 weeks and 4 days, which would put me just shy of eight weeks right now.

Survey:

1. How big is baby this week? A gummy bear! (or kidney bean)
2. Weight Gain? about 2 pounds
3. Do you feel that it is a boy or girl? Not sure yet.
4. Are you wearing maternity clothes yet? Deciding if it is too soon.  Wow pants are tight.
5. Do your wedding rings still fit? Yep!
6. Weird cravings this week? Eggs and Pancakes, for dinner.
7. What do you miss most? Wine 
8. Movement? Nothing yet!
9. Sleep? Getting better now that Isaac has taken over the night shift with Ike.
10. How are you feeling?  Still super tired.
11. Things I cried about this week.  When we sat in traffic for an hour on our way home due to construction, which turned out to be only orange cones setup everywhere and an empty police car, not a worker in sight!  
12. Best Moment this week. Seeing the little blip on the ultrasound monitor, can’t wait to say hi again tomorrow!

All in all, mostly I’ve been incredible distracted this week with other life stuff, but we are just as excited about this new little one cooking up big and strong to run around with his/her big brother.

 

Week Seven-Ish

Written: July 14th, 2015.

Still estimating this week, but hopefully this is the last cloudy titled entry, I’m finally going to the doctor on Friday.  Woohoo!  Hopefully we can get a peek at the new Nugget 2.0!

I’m not gonna lie, this has been a tough week.  There were some pretty epic breakdowns.  Hopefully they were contained to only involve Isaac, but to be honest, I am not so sure how good I am at hiding anything ever in general.

Let me just say a few words on being tired.  I thought when I was pregnant with Ike, that I was tired, so tired.  Then Ike was born and OMG new level tired right over here.  Then I went back to work; work and Ike is so super tired!  But at least there is coffee (in moderation).  Now?  I am pregnant tired, work tired, and chasing a toddler-who-still-doesn’t-sleep-through-the-night tired.  What level of tired am I at now?  Oh and bye bye to the coffees.  I have resorted to a personal mantra that I chant to myself all day “Don’t fall asleep, don’t fall asleep, don’t fall asleep!”

Survey:

1. How big is baby this week? A kidney bean, maybe, possibly still a blueberry.
2. Weight Gain? …
3. Do you feel that it is a boy or girl? Not sure yet.
4. Are you wearing maternity clothes yet? Nope…although…no…not until we have at least reached the double digits.
5. Do your wedding rings still fit? Yep!
6. Weird cravings this week? I seem to have gotten control of the sushi feigning this week.  However, there were some tears when Isaac finish the pasta salad without my knowledge.
7. What do you miss most? coffee, tea, coke, anything that may have a spec of caffeine! 
8. Movement? Nothing yet!
9. Sleep? What’s that?
10. How are you feeling?  Tired, crazy, tired, crazy-tired.
11. Things I cried about this week.  Being to crazy tired.  A few times.  And the pasta salad.
12. Best Moment this week. When my dear hubby let me take a three hour nap on Saturday.  After I yelled at him for eating the pasta salad.

 

Week Five or Six

Written July 7th, 2015

This post is part of a series of weekly updates on baby Nugget 2.0.  The first  weeks will be published daily until we are caught up to the present.  This post is ambiguously titled because I had a broken phone and I can’t remember things and I still don’t have a doctor’s appointment for another two weeks.

Survey:

1. How big is baby this week? A lentil bean, or maybe a blueberry.
2. Weight Gain? None so far, unless you count the 5 pounds I gained when we decided to start trying to get pregnant again.  I don’t so, zero.
3. Do you feel like it’s a boy or girl? Not sure yet.
4. Are you wearing maternity clothes yet? No but yoga pants are very comfy these days
5. Do your wedding rings still fit? Yes
6. Weird cravings this week? Still with the sushi, idk what this kid’s deal is.
7. What do you miss most? Coffee, and also wine.  
8. Movement? Nothing for a while I guess, only indigestion.
9. Sleep?  Ike doesn’t let me sleep, but so far the new Nugget is pretty reasonable.
10. How are you feeling?  Pretty good, no morning/afternoon/night/all day sickness as of yet…A little tired, I took an awesome two hour nap on the floor of my new bedroom before the furniture arrived.
11. Best Moment this week. Moving. Not moving day, but the day after.  Unpacking Ike’s room and figuring out where the bunk beds will live.

Additional ramblings.  The house is coming along nicely.  We bought some outdoor furniture pieces this weekend and I am looking forward to many many family dinners on our beautiful deck and lots of little birthday parties at our backyard “park”.  Mei visited us last week and was very impressed about the “park” that we now have at our house.  It’s a small park, but a park nevertheless, according to her.

Week Four or Five

Written: June 29th, 2015.

This is the first week that I am actually aware that there is a baby growing at a furious pace inside my belly.  This post is the first in a series of weekly updates on baby Nugget 2.0.  The first several weeks will be published daily until we are caught up to the present.

Why is this post titles four OR five?  Because I don’t know how far along I am.  Why?  I already have pregnancy brain.  Obviously.  I am a semi responsible person though, and I am fully aware that I cannot remember things.  That is why I track my cycle via an app on my phone.  However, my phone died on my trip to DC, remember?  I never got around to creating an account with the app so all the data was gone.  So here we are ,we four, maybe five, or maybe 12 or something I don’t know.

Survey:

1. How big is baby this week? A poppy seed, or possibly a sesame seed, definitely not a watermelon yet.
2. Weight Gain? …
3. Do you feel that it is a boy or girl? Not sure yet.
4. Are you wearing maternity clothes yet? Nope!
5. Do your wedding rings still fit? Yep!
6. Weird cravings this week? Sushi.  Normally, I hate sushi.  This week I have had sushi THREE damn times and I am already looking for someone to go with me for some more at lunch today.
7. What do you miss most? COFFEE 
8. Movement? Nothing yet!
9. Sleep? Like a baby, one on TV or in a book not a baby like my child sleeps.
10. How are you feeling?  Moody
11. Things I cried about this week.  Two opened ketchups and four discarded syrup bottles.  
12. Best Moment this week. When the second line appeared.  Then when the digital readout said “pregnant” because the second line was so faint I needed to be sure.

Well baby Nugget 2.0, so far only mommy and daddy know about you, but we are both thrilled about adding you to our growing family.  We just purchased a nice big house for you and your big brother to grow up in and we cannot wait for the two of you to become partners in crime.  Be careful though, your brother is a biter.

 

And then there were Four (but really Seven!)

It started, as they say, with a twinkle in his eyes.  And lo and behold 4-6 weeks later that twinkle became a tiny blip with an even tinier little heartbeat.  A life.  An unbelievably small, but ever so real little life.  A small, tiny, but ever so real life that changes everything.

My sweet little Ikey was the most happy and lucky surprise that showed up nine months (exactly) after our wedding day.  He has made our lives together so much more than we could have known on that perfect rainy night nearly three years ago.  He has been a whirlwind of learning and fun and excitement and we knew it couldn’t stop with him.  We wanted a mad house full of running, playing, and screaming happiness.  So this time, we planned.  We agreed, we bought a bigger house, we put away some cash, and we are preparing for a new baby in just six short months!

We called Ike “nugget” the whole time he was in the womb.  Isaac called him that the very first time we saw him on the grainy ultrasound machine.  It stuck and some people still call him that, even though he much more the size of an oversized turkey at this point.

So naturally, the first picture we saw of this little one, reminded us of a the once tiny (but now huge) nugget that grew into Ike.  Nugget 2.0, new for 2016.

A twinkle, a heartbeat, a new little nugget to add to our happy, blended family.  We are so looking forward to meeting you very soon!  Don’t be alarmed by all the commotion around here, you will get used to it.  There are so many many people around to love you.

PS You’re big brother might need some time to warm up to you.  He may or may not take every opportunity to jump, sit, and step on you already.

Adoration of the perfect little big head

On top of this beautifully, perfectly round, slightly larger than average toddler head is the most exquisite mop of curly brown hair.  I just love every single strand.

Ike is stopped all the time for strangers to marvel over “her” beautiful hair and features.  And he has gotten a few comments along the lines of “but he’s pretty enough to be a girl” when they are corrected.  It all generally goes back to that hair.

Some of Ike’s hair curls into perfectly spiraled ringlets a la Shirley Temple.  Some of his hair creates more of a big halo around his ears and eyebrows.  And in true little boy fashion, some of it just sticks straight out wherever it pleases.  The whole look borders on illegal cuteness (you know in my humble opinion).

We’ve gotten some questions about when we will cute his hair, to which I always quickly respond “NEVER!”  Because who could take away such beauty from the world?  Something as beautiful as Ikey’s long locks.

Ponytailed, headbanded, or wild and free.  Ike loves his beautiful hair and we all do too.

I suspect we will be resurrecting the “will you cut his hair?” question soon.  As Isaac and I are expecting Ike’s baby sister this coming March.

And the answer will still be “no, I am not cutting his hair”.  At least not until he asks to cut his hair, because if anyone’s opinion matters more than mine in this, it is his (maybe).