Oh My Goodness!

Boy was I wrong! My second-born is a monster! lol Not really, he's just bigger than I thought. On Monday he weighed 13lbs. 14oz. and was 24 inches long. That puts him in the 92nd percentile for weight and the 85th for height. I figure that Matthew has until Benjamin starts walking - after that he better watch out. He might want to be careful about how much he picks on "little" brother ;o)

He's Here, and 8 Weeks Old Already!

Sorry...a little late with the birth announcement here! Benjamin Christopher was born on May 4th, 2008 at 3:46pm. He arrived after a short 3 hour and 15 minute labor. There was no time for an epidural or pain relief of any kind. Ouch, is all I'm going to say about that! He weighed in at 7lbs. 10oz. and was 20 inches long. He is quite the chunky little guy, though. At 2 weeks he weighed 9lbs. even and was a whopping 22 inches long. His 2 month checkup is in exactly one week, so we'll see how he's grown. My official guess: 11lbs. 8oz., 23.5 inches. He's a big boy.

I've been back at work for 3 whole days now, and it's going well. I'm handling it better this time around. I miss my boys, of course, but I think I'm just emotionally used to being away since I've been working since Matthew was 8 weeks old. The 7.5 week maternity leave was nice in that I got a break from work (which had been getting way too stressful) and I got to spend a lot of time with my husband and children. But it's nice, in a way, to be back to the old routine. Anyway, I just wanted to update in case anybody does still read this thing anymore! lol Here are a few pictures of the new addition...the first one was meeting his brother in the hospital. Second one after we got home, and the 3rd one was him a couple of weeks ago.

Another Week Down...

I'll be 38 weeks pregnant tomorrow. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon and found out that I am now 3cm dilated, 70% effaced and baby Ben's little head is at a -2 station. I was 3cm, 100% effaced exactly one week before I had Matthew, so maybe soon? It scares me to think that I might go into labor before this weekend, when my inlaws are coming to town. The plan was to have them here so that they could watch Matthew when I went into labor and then help my husband out while I am in the hospital. But they can't come until probably Saturday or Sunday, so if Benjamin decides to make his entrance before then, I'll have to call my mom and hope that she can get here before he does! It's a 2-2.5 hour drive (my labor w/Matthew lasted only 6 hours, remember). I know that things will turn out OK no matter what happens. Benjamin will be born whether or not Matthew is with his grandparents at home or with my husband and me at the hospital. But I really think the former situation would be better!

Anyway, just an update. I can't believe I'm so close to meeting my 2nd son :o)

Almost Full Term!

I'm 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant today, which means that in 2 days Benjamin will be considered "full-term." Which just means that he is basically ready to be born (although he still would probably be better off "cooking" for at least another week or two). I'm prepared to go up to my May 14th due date, if not beyond, but I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that he decides to be a bit early, like his brother! Anyway, as you can see, I'm just about stretched to the limit:

Which will not stop me from doing fun stuff, like going to the zoo! Although it does make me walk a bit more slowly :o)

Just a Quick Update

It's been a while again (although not nearly as long as last time I went MIA), so I thought I'd at least do a brief update on my life! The pregnancy is still going well. I am now 28 weeks, 5 days pregnant, which actually equals out to somewhere between 6-6.5 months. It seems, however, that I am more like 10 months pregnant. I'm getting bigger faster this time around (although I haven't gained quite as much weight, oddly enough) and I'm already getting little kicks/punches to the lower ribs. My pelvis sometimes feels close to normal and other times as if someone has been pounding on my pubic bone/hip bones with a hammer. Some nights I sleep wonderfully, most nights I have a bit of trouble, some nights I want to cry because I'm so tired and yet can't get comfortable enough to fall/stay asleep. I think this 2nd pregnancy is taking a little bit more of a toll on me, but I wouldn't swear to it because I honestly can't remember the little details about my last pregnancy. It was 2 years ago, afterall, and we mothers are programmed to forget lest we never do it again and therefore doom the human race to extinction! :o)

Matthew is doing well. He's almost 21 months old - very close to turning 2! He's become rather fascinated with ducks here recently, along with Tigger & Pooh and, to a lesser extent, Mickey Mouse. He's also been backsliding on his potty-training. As people who have actually read this blog before might remember, we started very early with him. He was pooping in the potty more often than in his diaper at 13 months. Now, however, my husband and I are changing more poopy diapers than we'd like. Matthew gets that he's supposed to poop in the potty, but he just doesn't seem to realize that he has to let us know when he has to go potty in order for us to get him there! He'll poop in his diaper and give no indication that he has done so until we start to smell it. Then when we ask him if he pooped in his diaper he'll say "no no, mad!" which is what he always says when he does something that he knows he's not supposed to do. I suppose it all means that he's just not quite ready to be completely potty-trained, but it sure is frustrating! Especially when we're going to have another butt to diaper in less than 3 months now. Oh well - guess we pretty much knew what we were getting into this time, so we can't (or shouldn't!) complain :o)

That's about it for now! I'll check in again later. Maybe even with a pregnant belly shot (oh boy for you!) and an updated picture of Matthew. He's quite the handsome little devil, in my not so humble opinion.

It's a Boy!

Yep, that's right, our ultrasound yesterday showed that we are now the proud parents of 2 little boys. We're thrilled and I think it's great that my boys will have each other to grow up with. I have included pictures of both of my sons :o)

Long Time No See!

Wow, did I ever slack off! Just got busy, I guess, and time sure does fly. Anyway, new news...I'm pregnant again! Almost 16 weeks, actually, so this isn't really new news :o) Things are going well with the baby as far as we know, but I have been miserable of course. I've been on my anti-nausea medication since I was about 6 weeks pregnant this time around, but unfortunately it hasn't taken the nausea completely away like it did when I was pregnant with Matthew. It has stopped me from throwing up most of the time, however, so that's good. And I've actually felt pretty good the past few days, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I continue to do so. In exactly 3 weeks and 1 day we are having our ultrasound and hopefully finding out if baby #2 is a boy or a girl. I'm torn on this one. I think that it would be nice for Matthew to have a little brother only 2 years younger than him, and yet sometimes I think it would also be nice to have a daughter. Especially since I'm not really sure that I want another baby after this one (although it's entirely possible that we will have one)! Anyway, I don't get to chose so I really don't worry about it too much. We haven't even picked names. That will be done after the ultrasound.

Matthew is doing well. He's almost 18 months old now and ornery as ever. People aren't exaggerating when they talk about the trials and tribulations of having a toddler. He is also a very lovable and loving child, however, so we forgive his tantrums and constant need to do things he knows he's not supposed to do :o) We had a good Thanksgiving weekend - I enjoyed the time off of work immensely (I won't get into the details because it's a long story, but work has been much more of a pain in the ass and constant source of stress for me than anything else lately). Now I'm just looking forward to the 11 (!) full days that I will have off for Christmas/New Years. After that there is no vacation in sight until Easter, but no need to think about that yet :oP I'll leave you all (if there is anyone who still checks up on me!) with a picture of Matthew helping to put together the Christmas tree a couple days ago and a promise to *try* to check in more often. 'Later!