5 weeks

i took this pic last friday but just got around to uploading it. i already have a pooch that sticks out farther than my boobs, ha! oh well, it's worth it in the end. even if at 5 weeks my jeans are so snug that i change into elastic waisted pants as soon as we get home from school/errands!

compared to 5 weeks with peanut, i'd have to say that it's not too bad. after all, this is number 4!

pregnancy

lets be honest, while i am always extremely blessed with healthy children, i am not usually blessed with easy pregnancies.

while pregnant with bubba, i had morning sickness from five weeks all the way until twenty-one weeks. and when i say morning sickness, i don't mean nausea. i don't mean queasy. i don't mean that i felt sick. i mean that for over 15 weeks, i threw up every.single.day. i threw up in the morning, noon and night. i could eat everything in sight or nothing at all and still throw up. all the hints about eating crackers early in the morning? yeah, didn't work. sipping juice? nope. lots of protein? uh-uh. load up on carbs? nice try. nothing i could do stopped it, so i just went with it. i worked part time, excusing myself several times throughout the shift so that i could pay homage to the porcelain throne. it became, dare i say, normal. then at 21 weeks, it's like someone flipped a switch. i felt awesome! i felt like a whole new person. i could eat (and boy did i eat) and not get sick. i craved buffalo wild wings and indulged every thursday night like clockwork.

until 29 weeks.

at 29 weeks, i went for a regular appointment and my blood pressure was 152/99. they had me rest for awhile and it was then it was 148/97. i had developed PIH, or pregnancy induced hypertension. we'd been noticing that my bp was on the rise, little by little, at each appointment. but when it reached these highs, dr p didn't want to take any chances. i was put on bedrest from that appointment until the day i delivered...8 weeks total. every single week i had either an ultrasound, a protein urine test or a non-stress test. luckily, despite a few scares, everything turned out fine.

i was induced at 37 weeks and 3 days and delivered bubba, a healthy 7lb11oz baby boy. shortly after delivery, i passed out. two or three times, i passed out. i had lost a lot of blood and i had a lot of stitches (over 20). my bp returned to normal and within 24 hours we were released from the hospital. in the upcoming weeks i ended up with an infection, which was more painful than labor itself but once it subsided, i was great.

 ---
in august/september of 2006 i went shopping and while trying on clothes i felt, fat. i didn't buy a single thing that day because i wasn't happy with how anything fit. i was pissed, to be honest. on the drive home i was trying to think about what it could be. i had previously lost all of my pregnancy weight from bubba, i was back in my old clothes yet now they were fitting tight. i was fat. and i was just so tired. and i was peeing, a lot. the "uh-oh" thought entered my head and i was thinking. i was on the mini-pill, i was pumping milk for bubba, and i hadn't had a period, yet it seemed that i might be pregnant.

turned out, i was 6 weeks along with pooks. definitely a shock but we took it in stride. a few days later i woke feeling like death. yep ''morning'' sickness again. i got lucky though, with pooks i only threw up every.single.day until about 15 weeks. it was a vast improvement. being considered ''high risk'' after my pregnancy with bubba, i did get more frequent ultrasounds and protein tests. around 33 weeks an ultrasound revealed that my amniotic fluid was low. this resulted in upping my fluid intake, and being closely monitored for the remaining 4 weeks of my pregnancy. on my birthday, a full 3 weeks before he was due, pooks granted us with his presence, weighing 6lbs 5oz. i delivered him completely natural with no drugs or pain relivers and it was amazing. i didn't pass out, i didn't tear, and i didn't need a single stitch.

fast forward to april 2008 when surprise, surprise i had fallen pregnant again. we had just started talking about trying for another when my period was a no show. overall, being pregnant with peanut was by far, the easiest pregnancy. i did have morning sickness and i did vomit. a lot. but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been with bubba and pooks. in fact, i was positive that i was carrying a girl because i felt so different. i was sick until maybe 12 weeks when it wore off.

the only noticeable difference with this pregnancy was the physical pain that i was in. i would get horrible side pains, which was actually all my scar tissue (from endometriosis and previous surgeries) tearing as my uterus grew. it hurt like hell and was scary too! at the time we were living in the ''city'' but I kept dr. p as my ob/gyn so it meant driving 2 hours for every appointment. it was worth it, but tiring. b ended up getting a new job, thus bringing us back home. nothing is rougher on a 8 month pregnant chick than moving....with 2 kids nonetheless! i had contractions, a lot! by 35 weeks i was dilated to 3cm and having contractions every day. i had to drastically increase my water and rest whenever possible, but we did it and just 19 days after moving, peanut made his arrival. almost an entire month early! (due on dec 13th but born november 19th). i successfully pulled off another completely natural childbirth and peanut weighed in at 6lbs 13oz.

so how am i doing now?

well, it's still early. i'm almost 6 weeks pregnant with sweetcheeks as i type, and so far, i feel great. i do get really tired and mid-afternoon i nap as soon as the boys are asleep. but other than being tired, i feel awesome! i have quite the belly already and while it's somewhat frustrating (i mean afterall sweetcheeks is the size of a sesame seed!) i know that it's for the best. and this is my fourth pregnancy in four years so really, what can i expect?

i'll try to get a belly pic up soon, i know that some people really want to see one. but for now? the kids are napping and i gotta go jump in bed while i have the chance!

toddler approved, tasty tuesday

i thought that i would use todays ''tasty tuesday'' to talk about toddler approved snacks that don't include m&m's or cookies :)

 

my boys are almost 4, 2.5 and 15 months old, please use common sense & only give these snacks to kiddos who are old enough. 

generally speaking my kids love to eat almost anything. their all time favorite (at least for pooks) are fruit snacks.

now while they are kinda sugary, i'm okay with them for several reasons. first, they are a light snack and won't ruin dinner. they are about 10 pieces in each pack and one package contains 100% of their daily value for vitamin C, they are 80 calories and fat free. they are made with real fruit juice, so overall i can't complain too much. plus they are super easy: just tear open the package and go. we keep quite a few in the diaper bag!

coming in a close second is: any type of fruit with a dip. usually strawberries, apples or blueberries. now while they love caramel dip, it is high is sugar so i limit it. usually we use all natural vanilla yogurt.

it's just a little bit sweet and the active cultures help keep 'em healthy. bubba just uses his just as dip, while peanut and pooks dip and then eat theirs.

now there are quite a few snacks that are appealing, not necessarily because of the nutrition but because of the educational value. yep, snacks can be fun! take for example both of these: cheez-it snacks and nabisco alpha-bits:

 

sure my kids are too old to play scrabble, even the junior version, but they love looking and talking about all of the letters! now i'll be honest, peanut could care less, but bubba and pooks are really recognizing their capital letters (bubba knows all of them!). these aren't really nutritious but they aren't horrible either are yummy and fun.

other popular snacks are:

• smoothies--made with yogurt, frozen strawberries, bananas and a little bit of honey.
• trail mix-- made with peanuts, raisins (or crasins), peanut butter chips, cheerios, pretzels and chocolate chips
• pretzels--plain or dipped in peanut butter
• crackers topped with cheese

i hope this post gave you at least a couple suggestions to help out with your toddler. please share any ideas or common snacks that your kids enjoy in the comments section of this post. i'll then add them to this original post for us to look back to later!

who you callin' peanut?

peanut went to the doctor today for his well baby visit and everything checked out perfectly! he is right on track developmentally (even though he STILL won't say mama) and even ahead in other areas (drinking out of an open mouth cup). his head circumference was 19.25 inches, his height was 30.5 inches and his weight was....22 pounds 2 oz! i thought for sure he was over 25lbs, i mean peanut is getting heavy to carry but in actuality that is only a 1 pound more than he weighed at his 12mos appt. overall he is in the 25th percentile for both height and weight. while this may seem little to other people, this is big to us. (hello, at bubba's 3 year appt he was in the 8th percentile for height). the little stinker had to get 3 shots (one from his 12mos that i delayed) and only cried for a split second each. he was more than content to exchange a few needle pricks for a big blue helium filled balloon. he has to get one more shot at his 18 month check up and then i believe he is done until age 5!

49 degrees

was the temperature last thursday afternoon. not only was it 49 degrees but there was no wind. now if your neck of the woods is anything like our neck of the woods, this is practically a heatwave! i was so excited to let the boys play outside that i could barely wait for their naptime to end. now while it was nice out, i still made them wear their winter hats, simply to keep their ears warm. they were out there for over an hour and thursday night, they went down for bed without even a peep. i ♥ being able to let them run off all that excess energy. this makes me SO excited for spring and summer!

 bubba (looking way to old for my liking)

all 3 (and yes, i realize peanut is trying to eat chalk)

  pooks, not wanting his pic taken

peanut enjoying his racecar

see, he knows how to use the chalk the right way!