Snippets (38 weeks)

Baby girl, this has been an eventful week. Two doctor appointments. Two trips to the hospital. Bed rest. Whoa.

At my doctor's appointment last Friday, it was noted that my blood pressure was high. My doctor wasn't overly concerned about any immediate danger, but she was concerned enough that she wanted me to come back again on Tuesday.

So I went back on Tuesday. My blood pressure was higher. At this point it was high enough that I was sent to the maternal assessment center at the hospital to be monitored and to do some tests on me and the baby. Thankfully, there were no signs of pre-eclampsia and baby was looking great. My blood pressure went back down and I was sent home with no restrictions.

The next day at work, I started feeling light headed. I went down to the blood pressure monitor, and the reading freaked me out. I called the doctor's office, and they told me to go back to the hospital. Once again, while I was there my blood pressure went down. I was sent home, but told to take it easy. I couldn't go into work, but I could work from home.

I went back to my doctor for my regular weekly appointment. My blood pressure was once again really high. They checked the baby again, and she is still doing great. Since the blood pressure is my only issue and that the bed rest at home was helping keep it down, I was put back on bed rest until Tuesday. No more work for me until after maternity leave. If she doesn't decide to come on her own, I'm pretty certain the doc will recommend getting induced, since I'll be 39 weeks.

So she's not here yet, but her birthday is likely just days away! Stay healthy baby girl, we can't wait to meet you!

 J.B.

10 years later

I don't have very many memories of meeting the important people in my life. My parents, my sisters, my friends -- either too much time has past or I didn't realize the significance of the moment while it was passing.

However, there is one meeting that is so deeply etched in my mind that I can replay it in my mind as if it just occurred last night. It was ten years ago.

I was sitting on Heather's bed talking to Megan trying to convince her to join us for a night out at Stargate.

I heard him walking up the stairs and before I even saw him, I was telling Megan that "Hot Dave" was here and that she should definitely come over.

He walked into the room. He was wearing a Northwest Airlines t-shirt, a black leather jacket, and a Corona hat.

I doubted him, but he was right. Even though his hands are bigger than mine, the lifelines etched on each of our hands match.

Somewhere, deep in my subconscious, I knew that this was a moment to remember. This man was my soul mate. Within the next ten years, he would become my best friend, the father of my children, husband, life partner.



 J.B.

Snippets (37 weeks)

Full term. We made it. Now we need to start getting serious about things like installing the car seat, getting bottles washed, etc. Because we only get to work on these projects on weekends for the most part, and there are only three weekends left until the due date. One weekend my husband will be out of town and another is Owen's birthday weekend, so our weekends before baby are already busy. Although worst case, Dave could install the car seat before we drive home from the hospital, and we probably won't try bottles for several weeks anyway.

At the last appointment (36 weeks), we had an ultrasound. It is crazy how big the baby is compared to the 20-week ultrasound. They put the wand down and boom, there is the head, or boom there is the foot. There is no way they could get the whole baby's body in one shot like they could do a couple of months ago. We had the ultrasound to double check the baby's size, since even though Owen was born healthy, he was tiny. But good news. All measurements are right on track. The weight is estimated to be over 6 pounds and 61st percentile. (Owen was less than 6 pounds at birth, so it's good that this one is already that big....and kinda crazy considering we still have three weeks until the due date). Fluid levels are good. My measurements are right on track too. The baby and I impressed the doctor with all the measurements being so spot on. I'd like to think the only thing that isn't spot on is my weight -- I've already gained the same amount this pregnancy that I did with Owen. However, considering this baby is already as big as Owen was at birth, I guess my weight gain is ok. And it's not really out of control either -- especially considering the number of trips to DQ we've been taking. lol.

J.B.

September Snippets (22 months)

The month of September flew by. For most of the month, we kept things pretty low key. Between the pregnancy and my allergies, I didn't have much of a desire to do too much. But we still managed to have some fun. Here's a bit of what we did, and what Owen is up to.

• Swim lessons. Owen and Daddy started swim lessons in September. Have I ever mentioned that Owen loves the water. He still does! The hardest part we've been struggling with during swim lessons is keeping him focused on the lesson for the full 30 minutes. We've learned he does much better if I'm not there watching. He'll make it through 20 minutes, but then just wants to get out to see me. So it's kinda a bummer not to go watch, but if it gets him through his lesson, I'll make the sacrifice.
• John's farm. We took a day trip down to John's farm. We had a great picnic lunch and Owen enjoyed hanging out with his Great Aunt Ann and eating all the delicious food. I'm pretty sure he ate a whole quart of freshly picked raspberries -- or would have if we let him. He also enjoyed the graham crackers (aka snacks) that Ann brought especially for him. And he had to make sure he had the most comfortable chair. 
• Trains. Owen's friend Liam's birthday was at a train museum. Owen LOVED it. Trains are one of Owen's favorite things. He got to see and go in a lot of trains. He even got to see a big Thomas train. We bought him a little Thomas train to take home.
• Apples. We enjoyed lots and lots of MN grown apples. Of course, Owen has no problem eating a whole apple (and half the core). He'll often come into the kitchen when I'm cooking or cleaning, and say, "apple, apple." 
• Words. Owen's vocab continues to grow. He mimics singing songs and likes to repeat words. He loves saying things like Mama's car or Dada's bike -- everything is Mama's or Dada's. He even often calls us Mamas or Dadas now.

 J.B.

Snippets (34 weeks)

Sometime in the next 3-6 weeks, a baby girl will be joining our family. That's like a month, people. We're slowly getting ready. We need diapers, but the clothes have been washed and put away. We have a bassinet, but it still needs to be put in its spot. We need to re-install the infant car seat. We've bought new pink receiving blankets and a video monitor. Owen is getting ready too. Last week he stopped sleeping in the crib and started sleeping in his big boy bed. He'll pull out a bottle out of the cabinet to tell me it's for the baby.

We need a name! We can't seem to figure it out the right name for our girl. We don't like crazy names, but don't want a common name either. This is the first time we've struggled with names. We've come close a couple of times. The name has been my biggest stress this week -- especially as I'm realizing how much time we've had to pick a name and how little time we have left.

As the pregnancy is coming to an end, I'm trying my best to make the time to just treasure this pregnancy and our new baby girl. It seems our life is pretty chaotic right now, so sometimes it's hard to find those moments. I love feeling the kicks and watching my stomach roll around. While my body has been more uncomfortable throughout this entire pregnancy with Owen, I try to remember that this could very well be my last pregnancy. The kicks and the hiccups and the stomach rolls are something I may never get to experience first hand again. So this is it. 

We're looking forward to meeting our baby girl and to touch her toes and smell her new baby smell. We're excited for Owen to finally understand what the baby is all about. We're looking forward to being a family of four. We can't wait to meet you, baby girl!

 J.B.

August Snippets (21 months)

• Last week, Owen pooped in the toilet for the first time! Dave and I weren't even considering potty training Owen yet, but perhaps he is more ready than we think. That night, I went to the store and bought a potty chair. Unfortuantely, there hasn't been a second successful attempt -- yet.
• This month we took a vacation to visit Dave's family in North Carolina. Owen loved spending time with his cousins, aunts, uncles and Pappy and Grandma! We spent a day at the ocean -- Owen's first time really spending any time in the water. He loved swimming with Dave and I as well as having the chairs at the shoreline, so he could kick the waves as the came up to his feet. We spent another day at the aquarium. It was a short, but fun trip.

• Owen usually calls Otis by the name, Puppy; Cooper (Coops) by the name, Oops; Gracie by the name, Kitty.
• Owen recognizes my parent's neighborhood, and yells out, "Papa's house" when we turn onto their block.
• We celebrated 22 months by getting Owen's first haircut. He tried so hard to be brave for mama and dada, but a few crocodile tears slipped. So long baby curls, hello toddler!

• The word "no" has finally made its way into Owen's vocabulary. Morning conversations with Owen often go like this:
• “You’re going to go see your friends today.”
• “No.”
• “Don’t you want to see your friends?”
• “No.”
• “Put your paci in your crib.”
• “No.”
• “It’s time to put your shoes on.”
• “No.”
• “Do you want me to get your neck?” (tickle his neck.)
• “No.”
• “Do you want your train?”
• [silence] (hasn’t quite figured out the word for yes yet.)
• Owen's understanding of language keeps growing every day, and it's really remarkable to watch. He follows instructions when he wants to (brushes his teeth, leaves Baba and paci in his room, puts trash into the garbage). He is also starting to put two words together at a time -- some examples: Dada bye-bye, bike loud, Papa house, Dada bike
• He got new shoes for fall, and he loves wearing his socks and shoes.

J.B.

Snippets

I haven't posted in a long time, but Owen is at an age where he's developing and changing so much every day. I need to keep track of all the cute stuff he's doing. Otherwise, I'll forget it. So here's a couple of cute things he does.
He hasn't figured out the difference between nouns and proper nouns. He refers to most men as Dada. He refers to almost all women as Mama. He refers to kids as Manna (after his cousin, Amanda). Little boys are Maa (after his buddy Max at daycare), or else they're babies.
Owen calls himself the baby. He loves looking at the pictures and videos on my phone, so he can see the baby.
Bananas are no longer his favorite food. Now he loves Teddy Grahams, crackers, Chipotle and any kind of berries. And naturally, he wants to eat or drink whatever is in my hands.
Owen loves planes.
Owen recently started singing along with songs. His favorite is "Yeah, yeah, yeah" by GB Leighton. He also likes "Drive By" by Train and was also singing an Usher song that I hadn't heard before he was singing along to it.
That's enough snippets of life with Owen for now. It's crazy how adorable I find him to be. After he goes to bed, I find myself looking at the pictures in my phone. I sit and wish that he was still awake and goofing off with Dave and I. The boy makes my heart swell every day, and I just can't get enough. J.B.