20 Weeks... Halfway there

Twenty weeks, hopefully slightly more than halfway (but not too far). I feel enormous, I've gained more weight than I care to keep track of at this point. We are all very excited and happy. Our little BOY is a very active participant in my daily routine. He loves kicking. A few times I've been able to feel him on the outside. Mack is very excited to be a big sister, but every time he's kicking she isn't interested. Had the big 20 week anatomy scan today and everything looks perfect. He's still a boy. He weighs 13 ounces and is measuring about 4 or so days ahead. I think it might be time for an early gestational diabetes screening. Mack's had a cold the past few days and woke up last night crying. After visiting the potty and returning to bed she had a coughing fit and vomited all over herself, her bed, the bathroom. Yeah, wonderful surprise at 3am. At least she's willing to sleep in her bed and has had only two nights of not waking up in her own bed in the morning. She's started every single night in her bed. She's definitely on the right track!

16 weeks

Here I sit, 16 weeks in. My beautiful daughter asked me to snuggle. I'm thankful for this as I've had a few more Braxton Hicks today than I usually do so I'm sitting with my feet up. Tomorrow is our big sneak peek gender ultrasound. We won't know the results for another 3 days. I'm feeling pretty good. Still in that awkward fat or pregnant stage and since I was overweight to begin with I can't say if I'm carrying high, middle or low. We had an OB appt Monday which went well. Mack got to "help" the doc find FHTs and even watched them draw my blood. We're finally leaving for vacation next Thursday and I can't wait to get a break from work, carting Mack here and there and just the stressors of every day life. One whole week with no contact with mainland USA and I am thrilled! The last few weeks have been very stressful and seem to be sorting themselves out. I worry if I made the right career decision last year and quite frankly going to this paramedic class here over 3 months might put me over the edge trying to juggle child care plus being in my 3rd trimester for most of it. I truly hope Savannah posts their dates so I can have a fair shot at that option instead of dragging that mess out longer than necessary. Oh and we have the SIM lab next week as well which I can't wait to put behind me for the year. Sounds like last year was pretty tough and I hope I can nail it. Josh is doing an extraordinary job dealing with the bank as we try to refinance the house. His efforts are amazing to keep me from going absolutely insane and feeling overwhelmed. I probably don't tell him that quite enough.

Last week's bump photo... size of an orange, with help from my lovely assistant.

12 Weeks

I am clearly not doing a good job keeping up with this blog thing. It is set as our homepage and I'm reminded every time I open Safari that I haven't written in it lately. I'm now 12 weeks pregnant. Mack is overjoyed to be a big sister although I'm certain she doesn't really know how all of this is going to truly affect her. She was so excited at the "baby doctor" the other day when we got a sneak peek ultrasound because they had trouble finding fetal heart tones. She literally crawled up on the ultrasound table with me so she could get a better look. Our next appointment is Monday in which we have our first trimester screening, and *hopefully* a sneak peek at genitalia. I won't be making any purchases on this ultrasound as it's so early, BUT it would be nice to see what an educated guess could be. I'm feeling pretty well. I don't want to eat anything I have to make- go figure- so we've been eating out a LOT. I've gained almost as much weight thus far with this baby as I did the entire time with Mack. That's probably not saying much as I only gained 12 with her anyway.

Exhausted

I am not exactly proud of the fact that I managed to take two naps a work yesterday, sleep through the night (good sleep with weird, crazy pregnant dreams) and take a nap this morning and I am still exhausted! Mack has been a grumpy pants today and seems to have a cold. She only wants to eat "stick" and milk and own't eat any real food. After letting her boycott lunch I made noodles with cheese on them for dinner which she has eaten almost all of them. Other than being simply exhausted and impatient, I am still feeling well. I am 4 weeks and 3 days so far but have known I'm pregnant for 8 days now. Mack likes looking at "pictures of the baby in mommy's belly" which is the album of her ultrasound pictures and to talk to the "baby in mommy's belly". We are doing rather well keeping this a secret so far except for a few close friends. Can't wait for family portraits next week when I can finally use them to show our families what's going on with us!

Flight Nurse

My proudest professional achievements to date is becoming a flight nurse. I never really knew how badly I wanted to do it before but now that I am doing it I can't imagine doing anything else. It is one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs I could imagine. I have the needs for immediate gratification and I get that. I enjoy the challenge of making decision that can truly make the difference of someone surviving or not and to what extent. It is rather intimidating and makes you think about a lot of things. I have learned many things since I've started: 1) Your safety comes first, then your partner/pilot, then your patient. 2) When in doubt, don't go. 3) Even if you don't follow the protocol word for word, make sure what you do is a least reasonable because we are hired to think and make educated decisions. 4) Small community hospitals can be VERY scary. I've met some great people along this journey so far. This starts with the folks I spent 10 days with in Denver to the folks I work beside every day. There are some very seriously smart people in this field and I aspire to be one of them (in about 20 years or so because I have a lot to learn!) Back in March we had to make a precautionary landing. Of course, we were patient loaded and it was a really scary situation. We ended up in a field in almost a foot of mud. Everything ended up being completely fine but things like that will definitely make you think twice. If you really love the job, you get back up on the horse. I'm glad to say I'm back up on the horse. I had a rough few days after it realizing how scary what we do actually is, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Wow how the time flies

So, apparently I haven't been in here since before I went back to work after having Mackenzie.... almost 3 years. Yes, Mackenzie will be 3 in just a few short weeks. A lot has changed since the last time I wrote in here. Let's see... Josh turned 30 :-) Last October we gained a nephew- Kolebe. In November I travelled to Denver, CO to orient for a new job. I am now working for Air Methods/ LifeNet SC as a flight nurse. We finally got to meet Kolebe in March when we went home to say goodbye to my Mammam. My Mammam was an incredible woman. She was never afraid to speak her mind, she was always cleaning (to the point that Pap would yell at her), a fantastic cook and loved me like there was no other. She left some of the most amazing gifts. She spent most of her married life compiling memories of her and Pap into two books that she presented him for their 50th Anniversary. I have absolutely loved reading the details of their lives together. They truly were in love. Along with this, I've been able to work on our family tree which was something I always intended to show her, but I guess I can't now. She kept lots of interesting papers like her hospital bill from one of many miscarriages, the deed to their home, the permits for the electrical wiring and many death cards form funerals. I also received her and Pap's wedding and engagement rings. I had her engagement ring resized and rhodium coated so it's white gold and for our anniversary (fifth) Josh had my promise ring and her anniversary band combined into a very beautiful new ring for me. I think about her often and suddenly feel better about anything that's stressing me out.