Husbands, oh husbands... and the MORON OF THE DAY Award.

So, first let me state that I have done some dumb things in my lifetime.  I'm not perfect either.  Today though, this post is dedicated to my husband.  He receives the title "MORON OF THE DAY" today! 

Here is a little story for ya'll....

My husband joined Crossfit about a year ago.  He loves it, he is obsessed.  I kinda like it too because it puts him in a better mood.  Plus, I get a husband that looks like this  (YUMMY!):

http://www.crossfitintegrity.com/sunday-june-19-2011-athlete-profile-austin-cangelosi/

Crossfit is expensive though... and with two kiddos in our home soon, we are going to have less time.  Hubby decided he wants to build a home gym so he can work out when both kiddos are in bed.  I am cool with that.  In an effort to collect some funds, I suggested selling some of our sporting goods on Ebay or elsewhere.  We have skis, snowboard, etc. that we obviously don't need in Charleston, SC! 

He listed my BRAND NEW (used like 3-5 times) skis, boots, and bindings on Ebay.
They sold for $150... fine, whatever, not a lot, but its money.
He didn't charge any shipping.
Packaging material and shipping? $200.

IS ANYONE DOING THE MATH?!  Yea... hubby just "sold" my skis for -$50.

FAIL.

Hi there... I'm 8 months pregnant. 32 Week update.

Wow, what a crazy 8 months this has been.  Gosh, I wish I could say its been easy.  I wish I could say that this pregnancy has been healthier or different than my first.  I haven't blogged in quite some time because I don't want to be all "I'm vomitting dark clouds and lightning bolts all over the internets". 

Here is the "rundown" of my shit-storm pregnancy:
Approx. 16 weeks - got put on insulin.  6 times/day.  Lots of shots. 
Approx. 19 weeks - We found out ITS A GIRL!  Miss Lyla will be the new baby sister and Chloe is going to have a BFF for life!
Approx. 20 weeks - I started therapy.  I have been unmedicated for my anxiety/PPD issues all pregnancy, but some sh*t hit the fan and I had a bit of a breakdown.  With the advice of some e-friends, I met with a therapist specialixing in Post Partum issues.
Appox. 24 weeks - I was sent to the hospital for premature labor.  Layed there for a day, things subsided, and I was sent home with instructions to "take it easy".  "Taking it easy" is really freakin hard with a full time job, a toddler, a house, etc.
Approx. 31 weeks - My BP has gone from a steady 120/80 to 144/90... right on the verge of being too high.  I started a modified work schedule and now work from home on the couch on Monday/Thursday.  I also start bi-weekly NSTs and ultrasounds.  Should be an interesting next few weeks...

So, thats what you missed!  I am currently at home with the feet up, on the laptop, trying to stay calm and keep that BP down!

I am 32 weeks... 8 months pregnant.  There are only 5-6 more weeks until I start my full time leave and have this baby.  I am so freakin excited.  I want to meet this baby and resume life so badly!  I feel like things will be "normal" again once she is outside my belly.  I cannot wait to have two little girls to snuggle!

Now, I am in full time nesting mode.  I NEED to have the nursery done, laundry washed, hospital bag packed, and food in the freezer.  Its really strange that the body tells you to get things done when it needs to get done.  It also worries me that all these nesting signs this early might mean I will go into labor early.  For now, we are taking each day by day and trying not to worry about making it to full term.  I have a great team of doctors, a therapists, and now even a doula to help us get through this. 

I just keep chanting:  Just 5 more weeks, 5 more weeks.  I can do this for 5 more weeks.

More updates later.... lots more. 

buildasign.com review and discount!

So, pardon my disappearance, but I have been one busy pregnant lady!! What have I been doing, you ask? Well, one of the big things I have been working is building our cloth diapering business at Cloth Diaper U! My business partner and I started our shop a bit ago and since then, we have been trying to promote and get our name out there.

I was contacted by www.buildasign.com and asked to review some product for them and I jumped at the chance, because what small business doesn't need a little bit of help?!

Build a Sign offers a ton of products so I had trouble picking just one. They carry everything from magnets to giant vinyl professional banners. Its a great website for business use, but also great to create custom birthday banners for birthdays, kids sporting events, etc.

I created a vinyl banner for a cloth diapering event. I was able to create the banner in literally 5 minutes which was great!   I worked with Melissa and her customer service was AMAZING.  Seriously, she answered my emails in literally under 5 minutes and was so very helpful in giving tips and answering questions.  The final product turned out great as you can see:

Moral of the story?  Use these guys for your next event!  Use the code "DOUBLEDOWN" for 10% of your order!   I know you will be happy with the results.  You can also find then on facebook and follow for special dnews and discounts here:  www.facebook.com/BuildASign

In case you don't believe me... Chloe approves too!

I'm alive! And I'm in second trimester!

My goodness, I have been awful at updating my blog!

Everything is actually going quite fine.  I got diagnosed with THE DIABEETUS again.  Wilford and I are good buddies.  We do a dance remix together every time I check my diabeetus blood sugar numbers. So far, I am only on oral medications, but soon I will end up on insulin. The bigger the baby gets, the harder it is for me to control this. I'll let Wilfred tell you about it:



I am deathly tired. I am in second tri now and I am still exhausted. I am guessing that this won't go away. My kidney function blows. I had to take a 24 hour urine scan and I failed at 9 weeks pregnant with a 363. It's supposed to be under 300 to not be pre-eclamptic. My OB thinks that I will have some permanent damage unfortunately.

In GREAT news, my BP has been stable and I have weaned off all of my heart medication. My oB thinks I will need to go back on as the pregnancy progresses, but for now I am heart med free! Woot! I love that they can track my natural BP instead of being medicated all the time.

Weight wise, I am still at -2 lbs. Because of my diet, I end up losing weight while pregnant. I am ok with that. I am sure I will start packing it on soon, but I would love to get away with under 20 lbs! With Chloe, I gained 17.

My belly is much bigger than my last pregnancy and totally a wierd shape... here you have it:

For comparison, here is the belly shot of #1
Chloe in my bellah at 13 weeks

Why I told my boss... and other fun stories.

First, happy 6 weeks to me!!  Woot woot!  I won't bore you with "how big is baby" pictures or scientific statements about how my baby's heart is now pumping blood.  **yawn**  You can read all that stuff in every other pregnancy blog or if you are really overzealous, you can head to thebump.com.

So, I am still pregnant.  That's the first good news!  My ultrasound is in 6 days and we will get to see itty bitty tadpole and that little flickering heart beat.  I am excited. 

As far as symptoms go, its not been a bad ride so far.  I have had some nausea and have definitely been more tired, but other than that, I think being a mom of one already doesn't give me the option to dwell on first trimester aches/pains/etc.

I was going to hold off on telling people.  I had good intentions.  Of course, one morning when I woke up with a belly resembling that of a woman that is 4 months pregnant, that all went to hell.  My body likes being pregnant.  My stomach remembers it well.  And... last Thursday I rolled into work like this:

I shit you not, I am not pushing my stomach out.  In fact, I can't suck it in any more.  I did not just eat the ENTIRE Chinese buffet.  That's all me... and my bloat.  My wonderful mom made fun of me.   She laughed. She also went so far to say I am showing early because I have twins or triplets. Nice mom, nice.

So, when I walked into work rocking that belly, I had to spill the beans to a few.  My boss, unfortunately, is the president of  the company.  So, he knows.  And so does HR and my team.  After multiple **side eyes** at work, I am sure most of the company knows.  I will fully spill the beans after our ultrasound.

It wouldn't be THAT obvious, but I went on Weight Watchers in December and managed to lose 15 pounds.  176 to 160.2!  While I am still down at 160, I think the weight has shifted straight to my belly.  While other portions get skinnier and that parts gets bigger, it makes it VERY hard to hide.

Today, I am wearing a mu-mu.  Seriously.  Leggings, a big baggy dress, and flats.  Someone asked me this morning if I was wearing my pajamas.  AWESOME.  I also forgot to put on makeup.  Who forgets to even look at their face in the mirror in the morning?!  I showered, blew dry my hair, brushed my teeth, and walked out of the house.  I noticed when I got to work that I look like a hot mess.  BRAVO, Jenn, BRAVO.

Nervous. Happy. Excited. Scared.

Blog followers, I have been hiding something from ya'll and I hate doing that. This blog is honest. So, while I am terrified that it's early, I am going to crack open the sparkling cider and a bowl of pickles and celebrate.  I am pregnant.  I have taken 3 tests and I am trying to stop and just chill the hell out. 

11 DPO - two tests.  FMU.

Today's Lunch - best pickles EVER!



 So.... that's where we are!  I am 4 weeks pregnant today.  I am scared this won't last, but we are trying to stay positive.  I have all the classic symptoms - I am tired as hell, starving, and I could eat everything in site. 

My first ultrasound is March 2nd so I am going to keep things "quiet" on facebook, etc. until then, but we have already told immediate family.  They know about my m/c or c/p or whatever you want to call it.  They are so super supportive.

This month, I've gotta thank the "magic" travelling Clear Blue Easy Fertility monitor.  It is passed from mommy to mommy on the private message board I am on and I was blessed to be next in line.  One cycle is all it took.  Its truly magic.

So anyways... I am full of "ifs" right now.  I am scared.
What if this pregnancy doesn't last?
What if I get as sick as I did last pregnancy?
What if I go on bed rest?
What if I can't work?
What if my PPD comes back?

Its scary.  I am counting down the minutes until my first ultrasound.  I think then I will be able to relax a little bit.



I'm pretty sure I kicked PPD's ass...

I am not going to lie, the first year of Chloe's life was HARD AS HELL.  It wasn't her fault - it was mine.  She was an easy baby for the most part, but easy baby or not, when PPD takes over it doesn't matter.  You can go back and read all my rantings about PPD because I don't even want to relive them in this post.

I do want to say - I am now a KICKASS MOM!  Seriously.  I work full time, I cook a homemade meal each night, I keep my house clean, I keep my baby fed and happy, I run a business part time selling cloth diapers, and usually I can even keep my husband fed and happy!  WOW. 

Last year at this time we were eating frozen meals that my husband had to cook, a house keeper was cleaning my house because otherwise I would hyperventilate, and I had to leave the room when the baby cried. 

Medication, time, and patience from my husband... thank god for all of them!   I think the worst is over now.  Do I still have anxiety and bouts where I feel like my world is going to crumble because I just can't handle it all - YES.  But, I know my triggers.  I can feel when things are going slowly downhill.  I know how to pull myself out of that deep deep deep ditch that made me stay in bed in pajamas, unshowered, crying and cuddling my sweet baby for 48 hours straight.  That's not me anymore. 

I am rocking this.  I am rocking this MEDICATION FREE NOW!  I love being a mom, a wife, an employee, and a friend.  I love knowing that we are such an awesome and strong family. 

I posted this on facebook today, but I will post it again:  I love that my husband and I FIGHT over who is going to take care of Chloe. 

We clamor to the stairs and race to be the first to give her a bath.  We split story time and sometimes read two stories so that each one of us gets a chance to cuddle and snuggle before bed time.  We spent the most amazing weekend snuggled on the couch, under a blanket, watching cartoons with the wee one.  She alternated laps every 10 minutes (her own doing) so that she could get equal snuggles from everyone.

So PPD... I kicked your ass.  And if you even TRY to come back again for theoretical baybee #2, I am ready to kick your ass before you even begin.  You  messed with the wrong momma.