So I took a break..

Well, it's been a long long time since a blog. Since then so much has happened. We moved from SC to MI. We moved directly in with some good friends, and put our stuff in storage. After I had a confirmed job, we found an apartment, so we only had to bother them for a month. Before we moved to the apartment, Justin got a job. We moved the stuff out of storage, some to our parents, some to my sisters, and most in the apartment. We lived in the apartment for almost 8 months, and now finally moved into our house and got all our stuff here. In the mean time, I also taught one class for two quarters ( 10 weeks classes ) at Baker College as well as my full time job as an online middle school math teacher. Also, we are going to be having another baby girl in July! (The due date is August first, but since Lindsey was almost 4 weeks early, we're going to just make an educated guess that she will be early too.) So that's the summary of our last 10 months. Just a few things. We like to keep it real, real busy!

We are glad to be settling finally. Lindsey is going to be 2 years old in less than a month. She's finally going to have a nice birthday party with more of her family. I realize she didn't understand the first one anyway, but I did, and it was nice, but Lindsey deserves so much better. She is such a big girl. She talks so much, makes up songs. Today she made up a song, "lalalala, nananana, (gibberish), Mama, Dada, Lindsey, Baby Sister, Puma, Mickey". No idea why Mickey is at the end since she doesn't even really have Mickey stuff, or watch it anymore..?? She has a love for dinosaurs and knows the important ones. She is getting closer to being potty trained. She is still too busy to stop if she's having fun to tell us before she goes. She will go if we take her and she has to. Problem is, she's always busy. This kid has yet to lay down and fall asleep on her own. She laid her head down once for 15 minutes. It was a record. I took a picture. We have found a way to get her to fall asleep before 9pm. If she doesn't get a nap, it literally takes 5 minutes for her to fall asleep, but the few hours in the afternoon are a bit touchy.

Eating out with everyone! She was so happy to be with here Papa Pudge, Grandma Julie, Aunt Tina, Un Chris, Uncle Zach, Aunt Chelsea, and her Mama and Dada of course. She hated when everyone had to leave.



We have a few things we want to accomplish before the baby. We want Lindsey to get rid of the pacifier, become potty trained, and sleep in a toddler bed. She was using it only at night, but she got sick a lot this fall, (Thankfully she has been MUCH better) when she went to a real daycare for the first time. The pacifier helped us all to survive, so it became a habit. Now she's obsessed with it. She asks for it and does not stop or forget about it unless there is something very good going on. Like a dog in the yard, and only that lasts for a few minutes. The potty thing is what we are starting to work on tomorrow. We're going underwear all day while I have spring break here with her for a week. The toddler bed, well, I don't know. I like sleeping right now. It will all be over in a few short months, so maybe we will try it in one more month. Potty first? Sure.

This new little girl is at 22 weeks today. She is already pretty crazy with the moving. She likes to kick or punch at her sister, whenever Lindsey is sitting on me and seems to be squishing her. We only have one set of ultrasound pictures, and as soon as the scanner will connect to the computer again, I will get on that. Poor 2nd child. Already being neglected. I can totally relate to her though (since I am the second child of course), so I'll make up for it later. We are currently working on names, so that really is what I should be doing right now instead of updating this. I do miss writing though. Maybe now that I don't teach that night class I will be able to find time to do this once a month or so. Or I'll finish unpacking our stuff. Either way!

Here is one picture the explains the sillyness. We have never told her to do this ,or done this before. 

Thanks all for being sweet and reading this. Have a great day/week/month, or year if I don't get on here until then. :)

So.. I never write on here anymore

It's true. I never write on here. It's because school has been crazy, and oh yeah, I have a baby! She's so cute. Almost 6 months old! I want to say, "I can't believe she's that old!", but then I can. Yes, it went fast, but not the first 3 months. Those were the rough ones, but now she's sleeping 10-11.5 hours a night, laughing, and smiling like a crazy! She loves her veggies, and hates plain rice now. She hasn't tried fruit, so that'll be the next fun thing. Still not a lot of time, but wanted to update this with a few pictures.

 Seriously, how cute is this?!

This shirt says, "Daddy's little Pumpkin" on it.

I think it's true. She loves her daddy.

They're both silly.

We were all cheering for the Detriot Tigers.

I love my family : )

Things are going well with Lindsey, Linds, Little, Bunny, or Bun Bun, whatever you choose to call her. Would write more, but I want to play with her right now. Later!

Finally an Update, I know, I know.

Yes, I realize it has been almost 10 weeks since our baby was born, but it's all been a blur. As those of you with children can relate. Also, I keep thinking about writing this and then something will happen, or I'll just want to talk to my baby. Finally, though I have gotten the strength to write the story. Let's start with the week before our baby girl was born.

April 19th - One week before baby - I took the day off to take Justin to surgery for his kidney stones. They were too large, so he had to have out patient surgery. I was already on modified bed rest, so we were both in rough shape. I worked the next day trying to save up as many days as possible for the baby, but didn't feel right so I called the doctor and got in. He told me with everything going on I was under too much stress, so he put me on real bed rest for Thursday through Monday. Everything else checked out, and he said, "I don't see you having the baby this weekend just yet." The rest of that week Justin was recovering, and I was still having those Braxton Hicks contractions. Luckily, Justin and I throw things to each other across the house regularly, because there was as little getting up as possible. Thankfully, we had some good friends bringing us meals, and Justin finally had no pain by Sunday. He still had Monday off just to be sure he was pain free, since it would have been impossible for him to teach with that pain.

April 25th - Monday - Finally we completed everything for baby. We put all the batteries in everything, packed Justin's bag (mine had been packed for weeks), made a list of all the last minute stuff he would grab for me (make up, hair stuff, etc.), and put the car seat in the car. All this was completed and we sat down at 7:30pm. I was still sleeping down on the recliner couches, but Justin had went to bed upstairs since that was better for his surgery. I probably fell asleep by 10:30pm.

April 25th - 11:30pm - I wake up and my water breaks. Don't worry, I made it to the bathroom. Couches are still okay! I knew you were worried. I finally make it upstairs, tell Justin what happened, and he asks me if I'm sure. Yes, this I am sure about. We drive to the hospital, and on the way I have my first REAL contraction. Yeah, I still have not forgotten them.

April 26th - about 12am - Check into hospital. Contractions every 5 to 7 minutes. All the games and distraction stuff we had packed never came out of the bag. I mean you can't really concentrate on a card game when they are that fast.

       6am - I ask for an epidural.
       8:45ish - Finally I get the epidural. They tell me to relax and take a nap. "You have a few hours" they say.
       8:55ish - I say... I think I have to push now. Yep. Time to push. No time to nap.

       9:22am - Lindsey Ann Wolfe was born!!!!!!!!!! 
      

                                               5 pounds 9.2 ounces 18 1/2 inches long

                                                                   Meeting Daddy

                                                     Meeting Grandma and Grandpa V

                                                            First Family Photos

                                                               Recap
Lindsey was due May 21st, she arrived April 26th in perfect condition. She was 4 days away from being full term.
            
Justin had his surgery exactly one week before Lindsey was born.

I told the doctor on Wednesday I didn't feel right and had her the next Tuesday.

The doctor told me he didn't expect me to give birth that weekend. He was right. My water broke on Monday.

            The last 9 1/2 weeks have been quite crazy. Lindsey had her first shots a week ago and is now measuring at 21.5 inches and is 8pounds 10.5ounces. She is smiling now and it is so great. The longest she's slept at night in a row is 6.5 hours. That happened once. She is pretty good at going right back to bed though after she eats. Most of the time.

                                              Meeting Aunt Kristina- Gotta LOVE her face!

                                                                     Smiley baby!

                                                              I love my Lindsey:)

                     

           

So close to being a Wolfe Pack

I’m really not sure where spring break went. I definitely thought I would have written during spring break, but I did other things and then it was over.

 The week before spring break I had a horrible night.  I had 2 hours of sleep and then I started to get contractions every 3-5 minutes, and about every hour a painful contraction, which was what worried me. I was 32 weeks 2 days at the time, so I was quite concerned, and deciding whether to go to the hospital or wait it out is the hardest decision ever. I already had a doctor’s appointment that day, so I rearranged it for morning. It did slow down in the early morning, and when I got to the doctor’s everything seemed to be fine and all tests good. The doctor said that since I’ve had the regular contractions so often to probably not count those, but come in again when the painful ones started to have a pattern and get closer together. No problem.  I did get to see baby girl again though. J_ She was weighing an estimated 4 pounds 2 ounces. Today I’m 34 weeks 4 days. Since babies gain about ½ of a pound per week these last weeks, she should be about 5 pounds now.

32 weeks 2 days - She looks like me. I know.

Yesterday, I had a regular check up again. Since I’m now suppose to be having contractions the doctor was not concerned about the ones I’ve been having, and they haven’t been as bad as that one night either. I am measuring between 1 and 2 weeks larger, which I really thought it’d be like 4 weeks, but apparently I’m a normal huge and I'm no doctor! The doctor said to continue to do nothing extra until the next check up in two weeks, and of course to call if I had some concern before then. He said if she was to come right now they probably wouldn’t do much to stop it, since she’s passed all the milestones of development. We, of course, want her to make it to 37 weeks to be safe, so two weeks from this Saturday we will begin to convince her to get out! I’m sure it’ll work. Children always listen to their parents from the start, right?! HAHAHAAAA…ahh..

Spring break was in the perfect spot. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it much further with teaching.  I realize people go to work each day for long stretches of time, and I could totally do it, but I once in awhile need a break from my students, (I truly do love them(okay, most of them), not sure why most of the time) and most importantly they need a break from each other.  We hadn’t had a break since our snow days in January. When I say I could make it, I’m saying a teacher in-service or work day is a break for us teachers. Even when working it’s not the continuous alertness that emotionally drains you. I was so thankful for that nice long break. I did so much here at home. Baby’s clothes are cleaned and hung up, room organized and most importantly all the stuff needed for baby is put together. We are lucky enough to have great friends here, who also have great family members. They came over for lunch and first of all fed us, then they helped put together; 2 swings, the stroller, the pack in play, a shelf, and the glider. Thank you to Susanne, Collin, Lissa, Jeff, Lissa’s parents Kathleen and Kevin, and her siblings, Peter, Andrew and Anna!  After they left we finished baby’s room by hanging everything up and it’s almost all ready! Just a few more things to wash and hang and we’re good to go!

Along with the goal of 37 weeks, I need to try to get in a few more weeks of working (13 days to be exact) and I’ll have enough sick days to get me through the school year. We’ll see if it happens. Each day it gets a little harder. My back hurts when I sit too long, my feet hurt if I stand at all (which I’m not supposed to do anyway). I am feeling giantly huge. I don’t recognize my face in the mirror and my feet and hands decided to start swelling a lot the last 2 weeks…so after the 37 week mark the money doesn’t even matter! Wait.. it never really did or I would have done something besides teaching.. right!?

Baby’s so large now that when she moves it really does keep me awake at night.  I can’t quite tell what is hitting me, but I keep trying to figure it out.  Justin doesn’t yell at me when I poke at her anymore. This is probably because he can see her poking at me from across the room now. He even poked at her once.

Justin has been so great with all of this. Turns out he can cook things pretty well. Our usual agreement is I make the food and he cleans up, but now he does everything. He’s pretty amazing. NBD. J 

Today I’m 34 weeks 4 days, so in Week 35.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-35-weeks_1124.bc

Some days I think of how this pregnancy has been so stressful and crazy and annoying with all these little things, but then I have to remind myself that nothing has been wrong for real. I'm so lucky to just have little bumps in the road, and overall be fine. As long as baby girl is fine in the end then all the other crap is worth it.

32 Weeks!

Things here have not been boring. That's for sure! I meant to write on this last weekend, but I did not get to it. Instead I did nothing. Here's why.

I had a ton of contractions again last Sunday. No pain just tightness, but they felt stronger than what I have been having. Ever since I had that scare the last time, I have contractions a lot, but mostly when I move around. This time they were about every 10 minutes while I was laying down. After the first hour, I took Unisom and Tylenol, as the doctor said to do, and still had them the second hour. I was about to call the on call doctor if the third hour was the same, but instead I fell asleep. They kind of continued throughout the day, but I don't even count the ones when I move since they occur so often.

I called the doctor Monday, and went in. Everything is completely fine. Baby's not coming just yet, or wasn't coming on Monday, but I was tested for how often and the length of the contractions. They wrapped a senor thing around me, and baby girl kept trying to kick it off. She was seriously kicking that exact spot. She has good aim! I did get to see her again! She is finally head down, and she had one foot up by her head. She was also hiccuping. She's so active! She definitely was the cause of every contraction that happened. I had about 4 contractions in about 15 minutes, and they were lasting about 40 seconds each. The doctor said this was a lot, and if they got to be 60 to 90 seconds in length they would definitely need to be worried. She put me on modified bed rest, so I can go to work, and do as little as possible. When I'm home I am sitting with my feet up. No laundry, cleaning (I'm real sad about these:), no grocery shopping, etc. Basically no moving if not necessary. Work has been great. They let me park as close to my room as possible, and everyone is very understanding and supportive. I couldn't ask for better people at work. (I can only ask for more sick days, or short term disability to be offered, but that's a different argument!) I go back to the doctor Monday. I feel fine, but it just causes me to worry. Should I go to the hospital, or am I just fine? That's the hardest and most annoying decision.

Baby girl is moving around like crazy. Some nights she kicks and/or punches so hard at me that I jump, forgetting in my half asleepness that I have a baby growing in my stomach. Then I try to move, and I remember! haha! It is difficult to move these days anyway. I now sleep in the recliner of the love seat downstairs, which has really helped my back pain and hips. Justin sleeps on the couch next to me. I kind of made him. I didn't want to sleep downstairs by myself! Plus he likes sleeping on the couch anyway. He's fine. He's been very great about doing everything  this week. Let's be honest he was doing most stuff around the house anyway, but now he's had to step it up a notch and even do the cooking. He pretty good at it too. He probably wishes I didn't know that now! I'll ask him to do it more often!

We have such amazing family and friends! We are so lucky! Thank you to everyone who has gotten us stuff before and recently sent us stuff. It's super sweet! It definitely makes me feel like we're not the 1000 miles away that we are! (I'm not saying anyone has to send us anything, so please don't think that if you're reading this. I'm just appreciative of everyone. Sorry if I have forgotten someone. I'm very forgetful lately as well.)

                  Thanks Kimmy and Bill for the awesome glove and cute sweatshirt! Thanks Jerrine for the onesie with penguins on it!

 Thanks Courtney for the socks, booties and book! Thanks Auntie Kate for the dress with sweet matching shoes!

 Thank you Aunt Arlene for the handmade baby picture book and afghan!

Other developments are baby girl's room.

 She now has girl clothes! Thanks to my mom and a coworker who has given me her hand me downs.

We bought this chair from a coworker of mine for a good price. We might still get a glider depending on how much we still need from the registry after our work showers. (Thanks mom for the giant caterpillar!)

The most recent stuff from the student comments is mostly that I'm huge. They tell me how big I am. I just say thank you. The funny conversation I did have with a student was about my eating habits, since I am always eating, it tends to come up.

My student asked me one day,

"Mrs. Wolfe, why do you eat that unhealthy stuff all the time?"

I was quite confused since I usually eat pretty healthy, and if I don't I usually hide it from my students, because I'm embarrassed to eat junk in front of them. I'm embarrassed mostly because I pick on them for the constant eating of chips and junk...for breakfast..that's again a different story.

 "What unhealthy stuff?" I asked.

 "That colorful stuff that has crunchy brown stuff."

"You mean the trail mix with dried fruit that I have every morning?"

"Yeah, that. Why do you eat that? Isn't that bad for you and the baby?"
This student was so sincere too. I explained to her how that actually was healthy. See, I teach way more than math everyday!

Here's what will happen during week 33, which starts tomorrow.

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-33-weeks_1122.bc

One more week until spring break!
The doctor said to be ready for her to come early, like 35 or 37 weeks. Hopefully we can make it to 37! I'll keep you updated!

Time is flying!

I'm really not sure where the last two weeks or weekends have gone. I'll try to recap them quickly.

Two weekends ago, right as the students left my classroom my cell phone rang. I had it on waiting for the doctor to call back, otherwise it would have been on silent. It was the alarm company. It was real confusing. The guy kept coming in and out and asking if I knew this lady, he said my mom's name, so I said yes. Then he said someone had opened the back door of our house and the garage. He asked if I wanted the police called. I said yes, because no one should be home yet. (The whole time all I could think about was if someone broke in they better have not let out our cat Puma or they would die. Just sayin.) He was like, wait I thought you knew this lady. Yes, I said, that's my mom, wait.. I finally put it together.. she's there? Yes, he replied. I then told him not to call the police, but I was still pretty suspicious, since it's 16 hours of driving for my mom to get to my house. I hung up and called my mom's cell phone right away. Sure enough, her and my dad were there, and they had kindly let themselves in, forgetting or not really caring about, our alarm system. It definitely is a good story though! What a great surprise! :)

We had a wonderful weekend, full of shopping, my dad putting up a new ceiling fan, eating, my mom cleaning for us, eating, and just being us.

Mom and I getting ready to shop.

Mom and I trying on clothes in the dressing room. We like to match.

Sunday, dad, mom, and I, in our new clothes from the successful shopping day before. (Not dad, he napped while Justin did school work. There was no shopping for the boys.)

Finally, a picture of the three of us. Turns out we haven't had one all together since Christmas.

It was a great weekend. I hate that it ended. I almost cried, but I kept thinking, "Don't cry because it's over, Smile because it happened." I used that quote in my speech at high school graduation, so I'm going to start listening to it since it's been 10 years.


This past weekend went by really fast. I felt really tired Friday, and I was asleep by 10pm. I was still tired Saturday and not that hungry (this is weird for me, pregnant or not), that's when I realized it. I was getting sick. I don't do the sick thing much, so when I do it's confusing for me. By Sunday I realized I was definitely sick, and it was not just allergies. I thought about calling in today, but it would have been more annoying to get everything ready for a substitute to come in. That, along with me saving all my sick time for when baby girl gets here made me go in. After I finally got going it wasn't too bad.  I just had a sore throat. I'm going to bed right after I am done typing this, so I'll be fine tomorrow.

Besides that I had a check up last Wednesday. I finally do not have a UTI! It's pretty exciting! I will still drink the cranberry juice twice a day to prevent another, but I feel much better knowing that it's gone. This doctor (I have 4 that I rotate around in the office) also said that if exercise causes the Braxton Hicks then I shouldn't do it or should slow way down. This makes me sad.  I have already slowed way down. I wanted to stay more active, but basically if I do any legs lifts or walk pretty much at all, I can get a contraction, or a bunch. Oh well, a few more weeks here and I'll be in the clear. Then I'll have to exercise a bunch! I mean I can't afford more clothes. This is what will be my motivation after the baby is born.

Here is my train of thoughts... 3 weeks after this week is over is spring break, then a week off to get everything finalized, then 3 weeks after that it will be May, and in May baby can come any time:) So really I have about 8 weeks until baby could be here! Crazy!

Today I'm 29 weeks 2 days.. so week 30. That's right almost 3/4 done...75%, whichever you prefer.

Week 30
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-30-weeks_1119.bc

Here is what I look like this week:

I feel baby girl moving all the time these days.

The name is still being worked on, so no updates on that.

Oh, one last note. Here is what I look like when we finally find a place in SC with shamrock shakes. VERY HAPPY ABOUT THIS FIND:)

Good day!

Measuring ahead!

Well, I had an unexpected doctor’s appointment this week.  The good news being that I’m measuring a week ahead, so at 28 weeks, instead of the 27 that I am. This will only be good of course if she will come just a week or two or two and a half early. Here’s why:

 I went to the doctor, because I had all the symptoms and another UTI (look up if not sure). I haven’t shared this yet on here, because it’s not very nice. I have had this pretty much the whole pregnancy. These are very easy to get when pregnant. I am on an antibiotic for it, but they can’t give me the good stuff, because, umm… I’m pregnant. It’s not that painful all the time, but mostly just makes me nervous. I mean you never want complications, and this is known to cause preterm labor. I have been drinking cranberry juice twice a day too. I did ask the doctor if I could take the supplements, and she said only if the pill says 100% cranberry and nothing else, so we’ll be looking for that tomorrow.  I will blame the cranberry juice on the extra weight gain. I mentioned that to the doctor, but she said I was right on track with weight gain and wasn’t that big. I feel huge, of course. Then she was like, “let me see”, and she measured me. “Oh”, she said, “maybe you are big. You’re measuring a week ahead”.  This is when I said I wouldn’t mind if she came at 38 weeks (instead of the 40), and the doctor said, “Even 37 ½ weeks would be good.” If the doctor says it, who am I to disagree?!

Girly Clothes

Baby girl finally has a real amount of girl clothes! I have some great coworkers. She now has some cute hot pink pj’s. (Thanks Staci!) I also have a bag full on hand me downs from another coworker. I still have to hang them all up and see what the closet looks like with some more pink. I’m very excited and so thankful! I have been good about not splurging on clothes just yet.  

Comments

I still have some interesting things being said to me.  It’s hard being around so many different people. Everyone is so sweet though. To my face at least! Most adults will ask me how I am or how I’m feeling, which is so nice of them. Some teachers will ask if I need anything, which is also very comforting to know they are there for me. Some teachers are just realizing that I’m pregnant. It’s pretty obvious now.  

The comment I still don’t care for however is, “Mrs. Wolfe, you’re so huge. I can’t even believe it.” -Why do we have to state the obvious in such a way.. you know?

I think this was a compliment. Not sure. “It looks like you have a basketball up your shirt. Like when people pretend to be pregnant. That’s exactly what you look like.” – So I guess I’m glad it’s only my stomach they see getting bigger.  We’ll pretend that is it.

One situation was when I was explaining something,  I was standing and pointing and turning, and this student started laughing. I could tell it was at me, so of course I couldn’t just let it go. I had to ask. “What is so funny? Seriously, what?”  He finally responded, “Ms. Wolfe, it looks like you have a balloon in your shirt. Like you don’t notice anything is wrong with you until you turn sideways. It’s hilarious.” – Wrong with me. Okay.

Kicker – Or something

Well, baby girl has been kicking like crazy. It may even be more of a lunging, if that’s possible in there. It’s like sometimes she’s slamming from side to side. My Braxton hicks contractions have went way down, thankfully. I think it may have been a growth spurt or something, I swear.  One night I felt like my stomach was expanding and about to explode, and after that night I have felt much better, and bigger. I can’t believe she will be here in 10 to 13 weeks! Each week I feel calmer and more relaxed, just knowing she is more developed puts my mind at ease. Especially after all those contractions that week had me feeling scared.

We're still working on the name. I just can't commit to one just yet. Justin can't either, so it's not just me. We're now in between two names. Still not sure if we'll share, or if we'll even know before she arrives.

Today I’m 27 weeks exactly, so I’ll tell you what will happen in week 28 that starts tomorrow:

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-28-weeks_1117.bc