Happy Halloween!

I made Clara's costume and was very glad when some people guessed she was Pink Panther. I wasn't sure anyone would figure it out. She loved her costume and was just giddy when she saw herself in the mirror after I put on her makeup.

I must say I didn't think I'd get one more year of picking her costume, but I suggested PP and she was on board from the get go. She watches a couple of episodes every night before bed, so PP is her favorite right now. We decided at the last minute to go to trunk or treat up at our old church. We had a lot of fun catching up with friends we hadn't seen in a while.

I told Clara that we would have to go through her candy and pull out the ones with nuts and she was totally ok with it. On the drive home, she pulled one out and asked if it had nuts. When I told her yes, she handed it to me and said, "Here Mommy, I got this one for you. " She was fine handing over a whole handful to me. She also told me on the way home, "I think we should go trick or treating when we get home so I can get some more candy for you, Mommy." That right there is true sacrificial love.

Thirty-Seven Weeks

You know what that means....... Full term, baby!!

I'm 131 pounds and baby is about 6 1/3 pounds and over 19 inches long. It's lungs should be fully matured, so we're good to go whenever it's ready!

I had my appointment this morning and she wasn't planning on doing an exam but she let me talk her into it. I've just been so anxious to know if I've made any progress. She said I'm really thinned out and 2-3 centimeters but my cervix is still posterior, so I've got awhile still.

I'm really uncomfortable when I walk for too long. I threw up my dinner several nights ago. I'm still sleeping well, relatively speaking, but I'm really sore in the pelvic region when I go to get out of bed. Still having plenty of contractions and feeling lots of movement. I'm having an extreme amount of difficulty putting on shoes and socks. And I'm starting to get nervous!!! That about sums it up I'd say.

Here's my last belly picture before Clara was born. I'm 37 weeks here. I think I may be a little bigger this time around.

The Pumpkin Post

Clara chose the face she wanted on her jack-o-lantern in case you're wondering what on earth we carved into the thing. Chris bought a little game on his xbox that lets you choose eyes, a nose and a mouth to customize your pumpkin. Clara's had a lot of fun making different faces on it. So we had her make the one she wanted to carve on her pumpkin and she chose a mouth that looks like the Pringle guy's moustache. She says it's a Pawpaw mouth.

She wanted nothing to do with the insides again this year, but we finally managed to talk her in to scooping some out.

The baby wanted in on all of the fun, so it got a nice paint job for Halloween. When I pulled my shirt up to start painting, Clara told me my belly was "beeful". That's my sweet girl.

Thirty-Six Weeks

Baby is about 6 pounds and over 18.5 inches long. It's starting to shed now.

I'm feeling pretty good. Actually, I do good as long as I get a nap in. I haven't felt up to cooking at all though. By the end of the day I'm just pooped and can't stand in the kitchen long enough to cook a meal. That and nothing sounds good right now. We've been eating out a lot.

My sweet tooth has hit me full force. It happened before I had Clara too. I cannot get enough sweets. Thankfully my heart has been cooperating, so I haven't noticed an increase in skipped beats since I've started downing the sugar. I'm thankful also that we've entered candy season.

The baby is still quite active and as I mentioned in the post about my appointment, it's really low down. Pretty much every time I stand I have to pee. It's also started to get up in my ribs more. I can't imagine how uncomfortable this must be for shorter women. I'm tall and have a long torso and this baby is out of room. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it without a stretch mark this time. My skin seems to be stretched to the max already, so I'm preparing myself for waking up some morning with stretch marks. There will be much sadness on that day.

I'm sleeping well most nights until around 4:00 when I wake up and can't get back to sleep. I'm usually up for 1-3 hours before I'm able to fall asleep again. When I wake at other times I have no problem getting back to sleep. One great thing about this pregnacy has been the complete lack of charlie horses in my legs at night. I had a lot of them when I was pregnant with Clara and had to wake Chris several times to help me. The calcium/magnesium I'm taking has the added benefit of preventing the charlie horses, which has been a most welcome bonus.

As for preparations, I've almost finished packing my bag and Clara's. We've been working on the chair rail in the nursery and have hit a few snags. Hopefully it will be completed this week. I've washed and put away all of Clara's newborn clothes. When I pulled them out of the attic, about half of them had spit up stains. And not just small ones either. I don't know if the heat up in the attic made them worse or what, but I couldn't believe I would've kept them. They looked terrible. I put stain remover on them and soaked them in oxi clean and washed them twice and was able to salvage the majority of them, so that's good.

I'm totally unprepared in the clothing/blanket/burp cloth department if it's a boy, but that's ok. That just means I'll have a mandatory shopping spree!

All Better!

Well, Clara hasn't run a temperature all day!! I am just giddy, let me tell you. Please pray she stays that way.

I was telling Chris yesterday that perhaps this mild bug was a blessing for our family. I really did overdo it Friday night. On Saturday, I ran to Wal-Mart and Kohl's while Chris and Clara were at breakfast. I could barely get in and out of the Jeep and I had to stop a few times, grabbing the belly because of pain way down low. There was so much pressure it felt like baby was going to fall right out.

The cashier at Kohl's seemed rather concerned while I was in line and told me to go home and rest, which I happily did. We had planned on finishing the chair rail in the nursery and then going to Haunted Homestead out at the nature center on Saturday, which would have required a lot of walking.

So I think Clara got this bug for one of two reasons: 1.) to keep me home and rested so I make it to 37 weeks or 2.) to keep me from catching something more severe, like maybe something going around at church this morning.

I don't know of course, but whatever the reason, I thank God that it hasn't been any worse!

The Inevitable Happened

Clara is sick.

She woke up this morning feeling fine, but seemed a little more whiney than usual. Nothing too unusual for a three year old though. When she and Chris got back from breakfast, she was burning up. She didn't eat anything at breakfast and he said she acted terrible. Sure enough, she had a fever of 102.

She said she felt fine, but she was very lethargic. I wanted to see what the fever would do, so I waited to give her anything. She watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch. We didn't think to put a pull-up on her, so now the couch cushion needs cleaning :( When she woke, the fever had gone up to 103, so I gave her some Motrin and got her into a cool bath around 4:00.

She was not happy about the bath at first, but after only a few minutes she was feeling better. She was talking, laughing and playing and stayed in there for half an hour probably. Chris was going to get some stuff at the store and she even requested chicken and french fries. I thought for sure I was going to have to force her to eat something.

Her fever went down to 99.5 and stayed down most of the evening. She's felt fine all evening and her appetite came back; she gobbled up her chicken and french fries. Her fever started going back up as bedtime approached, so she just got some Tylenol. I'm praying she wakes up right as rain. She's had no other symptoms, so I hope it's just that weird fever illness she's had a couple of times this year.

I know everyone and their dog has been sick recently, so has anyone had something that started out like this and developed other symptoms later on? I'm paranoid about swine flu of course, but it seems like she'd have more symptoms by now if it were the flu. Am I wrong?

Hocus Pocus Pops

We went to the pavilion tonight for a free Houston Symphony Orchestra performance called Hocus Pocus Pops. It was a nice chilly autumn night and I'm so glad we finally got to attend a concert.

I may be going into labor soon after all my trips up and down the stairs to the bathroom. As soon as I headed back up to the lawn, I'd feel the urge to go again. It'd be comical if it weren't so darn frustrating.

We can always count on Becky to bring the glow sticks. A concert just isn't a concert without glow stick necklaces!

Just Like Daddy

Clara came up to me after eating a hershey's kiss with a big smile on her face and asked, "Mommy, do I look like Daddy?" Not sure if she's referring to his facial hair or if she's calling him a slob. It could go either way.

Prenatal Appointment- 36 Weeks

Yesterday was my appointment and all is well. I am 128 pounds and measuring 34 weeks, so a little on the small side this time.

My exam was a little humorous. She had a hard time locating my cervix. I promised it was there last time I checked. It was very uncomfortable as she went about her search. It seems baby's head is really low down and she was having to reach over and behind the head to try to find the cervix. She really couldn't even tell if I was dilated yet. She said I might be a centimeter, but that I won't be going into labor in the next week since the cervix is still that far back. That was good to hear. I was afraid I might have already started dilating and I have to be 37 weeks to deliver at the center.

Chris and I were supposed to attend a "survivor course" one night last week. It's for those not having their first, just to refresh our minds and also to be informed on how things will go at the birth center. The class got cancelled, so the midwife just went over everything at my appointment yesterday. So now I feel fairly confident in how things work. I can't believe this baby could possibly be here in just a couple of short weeks!

2 of 2

We took Clara in for her second allergy test this morning and it was also pure torture for the poor girl. I took her up to Chris' office an hour before so he could put the lidocaine on her back. I wasn't supposed to because of the belly. Then we went to Party City to kill time and get her Halloween makeup.

She started wincing and yelling, "ow, it hurts!". I looked and she didn't seem to be having a reaction. I assumed it just felt weird, but she assured me time and time again that she was in pain, so we headed to the party favor and candy aisle where she picked out some suckers and groucho glasses. (Chris says I'm a sucker; I say he wasn't there.) That was enough distraction before it finally started to take effect.

I told the nurse how she reacted and she said it feels kinda like icy hot. Well, no wonder she said it hurt! I specifically asked and they told me on Monday that it wouldn't painful. Can't say I was happy they didn't prepare me for that so I could prepare her. I assured her it wasn't going to hurt, just feel funny. Now I'm just a big 'ol liar. Oh, and I'm not "beeful" anymore. That's what Clara told me yesterday when she was crying and I was trying to reassure her about today's appointment. The girl knows how to pack a punch; she goes straight to calling me ugly!

When we got there and the nurse went to take off the plastic, her whole back was red, which I guess is normal. It looked terrible though. She did well until the nurse with the ouchie things came in and then she was ready to leave. She got 6 injections for the things that were negative on Monday. She didn't flinch much for each of them, but the tears were flowing already.

Then she also got three more of the ouchie things and an extra two pricks for good measure and she freaked out at each of them. Chris said she probably was reacting more to the pressure and just being in freak out mode than actually being in pain, but she could've fooled me.

Once the reactions started, she was screaming and flinching again and again it took several minutes for her to calm down. The nurse came in after ten minutes to take a look and I asked what was what. To my surprise, they were only testing for 8 food allergies. The other two sets of pricks were weeds and mold. I asked about the fruit since last time she said the doctor wanted her tested for all fruit and she went and looked on the computer and they were listed on Monday's paperwork, but not today's.

She said they could still do them and both Chris and I were like, "Nope!" So Chris asked Clara if she wanted to do more ouchie things and she said she'd prefer not to, so that sealed the deal. I guess since she reacted to so many environmental things on Monday, the doctor wanted to test for some more. I was slightly peeved since the whole reason we came in to the allergist in the first place was because of food reactions, not environmental. I hate that we put her through all that to tell us she has lots of allergies that she doesn't actually have any symptoms or problems because of.

The nurse brought us a folder full of info on eliminating allergens from the home and injections and all that good stuff, so we were prepared for a battle with the doctor. Neither of us wanted to put her on daily meds or injections if she doesn't have any problems. We were sure the doctor was going to insist, but surprisingly he said the same thing. He doesn't see any need until she starts exhibiting problems.

Her back lit up on all of the weeds, but all molds were negative. The only injection that she reacted to was cockroaches. She was tested for the most allergenic foods, which are milk, corn, soy, wheat, egg white, peanut, fish, and nut. Egg, peanut and fish were all 4's. We were told not to give her raw egg, so no mayo, meringue or ice cream, and to limit cooked eggs, meaning I need to learn to substitute. We'll see. Egg is in everything! She's already allergic to peanuts which eliminates the easiest way to get a little protein in the girl, now I've got to get rid of the eggs too! She loves boiled eggs. Fish and peanuts are right out. He doesn't want her to have any.

So now anything I cook for my entire family mustn't include chicken, egg, fish, coconut, pineapple, banana, avocado, peanuts, nuts or chocolate. (Or mushrooms, just because I don't like mushrooms.) And others as Clara has reactions.

After listening to the doctor, all this allergy stuff is still just as clear as mud to me. It's so obvious that they just really don't know and it's all just a guessing game. He said that even though she's not having problems with environmental stuff right now, this test is likely predicting the future and she'll have more and more problems as she gets older. They could change though and she will probably have more food allergies later on.

I did appreciate that when she does have some problem that we believe is brought on by allergies, that we're to take her there instead of her pedi. Like when she was coughing every night for several months last fall. The pedi didn't think she had anything, but I asked her to swab her anyway and she had a sinus infection. The allergist said that's exactly the type of thing to bring her to him for. She may start to have more health issues like headaches or chronic bronchitis, gi stuff, etc. He said the pedi. might not be quick in determining whether allergies are the underlying cause. We have a prescription for an antihistamine to use as needed right now and he said to give it to her when we visit Pecos.

He did say to cover her mattress and pillow, and getting carpet out of her room would be good, but I don't want to go overboard here. She didn't have any indoor allergies show up, so I don't want to go all allerphobic (That's a word, right? If not, it should be.) trying to protect her from all the evil things out there in nature. We'll just deal with things as they arise and try not to react until there's a reason to.

If you made it to the end of this post, wow. I wish I had a prize to give you.

Maternity Pictures

I got the web-sized digital images from my maternity session back today. I love how they turned out (at least the ones where I'm not looking at the camera). It's too bad I can't post my favorite one; I'm kinda topless with my hands covering what needs to be covered. I love it though!

I had Chris and Clara wait in the car watching a movie for the first few minutes while I took my individual shots. I'm glad I did because I know Chris would've been making me laugh the whole time. It was hard enough not to smile or laugh because I felt really silly with my hip swung out, shoulders back and boobs out. It' amazing to me that the poses look so casual when they were anything but. I was tired after this session!

Clara's Bad Morning

I took Clara to her first of two allergy tests this morning. I'm no expert, but even I could tell the girl has a few allergies before the nurse told me the results.

This was only environmental allergies too. We go back on Wednesday and they'll test for food allergies. They'll also retest the ones that were negative today.

Clara was just slightly traumatized by the whole ordeal. We prepped her for what was going to happen, but I didn't know she'd have to lay on her stomach for 20 minutes before the nurse read the results. I also didn't count on how badly she was going to be hurting if there were lots of reactions.

The nurse quickly left the room right after administering the "owie things" only pausing long enough to tell me to keep her lying still for 20 minutes and to fan her back because it would probably be itching. She was screaming and thrashing, completely trashing the paper on the bed. I was almost lying on top of her trying to keep her on her stomach. She kept that up for probably 5 minutes before I was able to calm her down with the promise of a trip to the toy store. (She's the proud new owner of a Belle doll).

After 20 minutes, the nurse wiped off the allergens. Poor thing. I didn't realize the stuff was actually just sitting on her skin the whole time. Then she got some cream and we were good to go. She still hurt and whined for a good 15 minutes or so. A trip to Daddy's office brightened things up for her, especially since he swung by the vending machine for some cookies before coming out to see us.

The reactions are rated between 0 and 4. She had several zeros, a couple of 2's and the majority were 4's. This is news to me because I've never considered her to have terrible environmental allergies. She gets a stuffy, runny nose in the spring when everyone else does, and I do believe there's something in Pecos that gets her everytime, but other than that, she really doesn't seem to have problems. She got 4's on all but one tree I think. Half of the grasses were 4's as well. Dogs and cats were 0's and there was one dust mite that was a 2.

So, Chris will definitely be going back with us on Wednesday. We had already planned on him going, but now I know for sure I need him there since she knows what to expect. For the second test, we have to cover her back with lidocaine and then tape plastic wrap over it an hour before her appointment.

If I'm not mistaken, they'll be doing this same prick test for foods and then injections to retest for the ones that were negative today. I could be mistaken though; they weren't real clear on that. They said to expect to be there for 2 hours. Ugh. But we will get the results and actually be talking to the doctor when it's all over.

Pumpkin Patch

Finally, the Judd's did something worth blogging about! I've been waiting for a blogworthy event for quite some time now, as I'm sure you have too. (You're probably tired of hearing about my crippled, incontinent dog and the weather.) We went to the exotic pumpkin patch this morning and the weather was perfect.



This little joey was nine months old. They didn't have one out hopping around this year, but this one was more than happy to get some lovin' while cozied up in her pouch.

The owner told us that the baby camels would suck on your fingers if you let them, thinking (and hoping) that your finger was a bottle. Sure enough, Chris stuck his fingers out and they just sucked and sucked.

Then the camel rides started. I knew they had age and weight restrictions, so we asked the owner if Clara would be able to ride without us (me being pregnant and Chris being not so interested). She said she'd be glad to ride with her.

When it was Clara's turn, several moments of excitement ensued. They had put Clara on, and as the owner was climbing on the back, the camel stood up. Apparently the handler wasn't stepping on the camel's front leg which prevents them from standing. It was halfway standing when the owner fell off the back, falling several feet. We were all kinda stunned and making sure she was alright and it was a little weird to look up and see Clara 10 feet in the air all by herself.

I didn't get a picture of her on by herself because everything happened so fast. The lady was fine, just got the wind knocked out of her, but of course we felt bad since she was doing us a favor. I'm afraid the handler might be out of a job after that little incident; she was not happy with him. They were having a difficult time getting the camels to walk. They just wanted to go back to their pen, so they would just lay down and refuse to stand up. Clara probably went up and down seven or eight times. They tried getting on the other one too to see if he'd do better, but no such luck. They put them up right after Clara got off because they just weren't going to cooperate. She was second in line, so she got lucky to even get a ride. And she got to ride two of them!

Clara did so good; even when things got hairy she never got scared. She just held on tight and enjoyed the ride.

When we went to pick out our pumpkin, Clara came across this little monkey wandering around the patch and was able to catch him long enough for a brief photo op. This is Isaiah by the way. He was so cute toddling around with his big monkey belly sticking out.

Clara's Wish List

Grandma wanted some ideas for Clara for Christmas, (and me too since I have no idea what to get her.) So yesterday I asked her what she would like for Christmas and her birthday. This is a list you get from an almost four year old who doesn't watch commercials.

a dark purple bow
some more candy
another new book
maybe another sheep
some of the My Little Ponies I don't have

It took her a long time to come up with this list. I then pulled up the Toys R Us website so we could get down to business. She quickly got the hang of it.

Rain Rain Go Away

I had so many grand things I wanted to do before baby gets here, but the weather just refuses to cooperate. We wanted to do one, maybe two more trips to the beach house and I really wanted to get a camping trip in.

Actually, the beach house is a bust now because Chris' co-worker whose parents owned it, just divorced and it belonged to his step-dad. It probably wouldn't have worked out anyway because of Dingle's current state. I can't see having someone watch her when she's having so many accidents and is on daily medication. The incontinence pill is working great now; she hasn't had an accident since Wednesday night.

It's rained the last few weekends, so no camping for us. I really wanted to take Dingle on one more camping adventure since the dogs enjoy themselves so much. Since we couldn't go camping this weekend, I had hoped to go to the pumpkin patch if the weather cleared enough. We were all set to go right after church because it looked like the rain might stay away until later in the afternoon, but nope. It rained all during church. Hopefully next weekend we'll be able to go.

I also wanted to go to all of the free concerts at the pavilion, but so far it's rained on all three this past month or so. Friday was Swan Lake and I think Clara would've enjoyed it. I really hope it clears up for all of the fun outdoor Halloween stuff coming up.

Alright, I'll stop complaining now. I do love that I've not had to water for weeks and the cool rain is soooo much better than the sweltering heat, that's for sure. And all of the rain has forced me to stay inside and clean. I've done a fairly thorough cleaning of the kitchen and our bedroom and I've only got one short wall left to paint in the nursery. Slowly but surely I'm getting everything ready for this little one.

I'll leave you with what I believe is Clara's first non-airplane or boat lego creation. Can you guess what it is?

Thirty-Four Weeks

I'm 126 pounds and the baby is 4 3/4 pounds and almost 18 inches long. It's skin is smoothing out, lungs are maturing and now it's just fattening up for the big event!

This baby is keeping me on my toes for sure. So I had the yucky feeling last week. This week I've had all new fun. Sunday night I started feeling short of breath. By Monday night I think I was on the verge of a panic attack from not getting a single good deep breath in all that time. Even when I tried to take one, my lungs couldn't quite fill up all the way and it was a very frustrating feeling. I finally just had to go to sleep so I would stop thinking about it.

I woke up Tuesday and although I was still breathing shallow, I was more calm about it and was able to ignore it for the most part. I was able to get an occasional deep breath too, so it was definitely better than the day before. By then my diaphragm was sore from trying to breath deeply.

That night around 6:00 my heart started racing again. Shallow breathing is bad and a racing heart is bad, but put them together and I felt like someone was suffocating me. My heart didn't slow down until I went to bed at 10:00, but when I woke during the night, it had slowed to normal.

Wednesday I was normal all around thank goodness! I was more tired, but that didn't surprise me. It was a good thing I felt better, because we had a pretty busy day planned. I had maternity photos taken that morning and Chris took off work so we could do some with the three of us. I'm so excited to see how they turned out.

Then we ran up to Chris' work for a few minutes, got some lunch and went to Sears to look at televisions. Ours finally pooped out on us last week. After that, Chris accompanied Clara and I to her first allergist appointment and he got to witness first hand how bad she's been behaving in public lately.

We went back to Sears to pick up a tv and then home for pizza with Glenn and Becky. Glenn was called on again to come assist Chris in getting the tv inside and set up. It was like Christmas morning for Chris.

Soooo, after a full day on Wednesday, I think I overdid it yet again. I had a bit of a stomach ache and headache and was pretty tired yesterday, so I took it easy. Doing great today though! Now it's just the rain that's raining on my parade. With all the excitement this week, our fridge and pantry are slowly becoming bare. I had planned on going to the grocery store today, but I'm not too keen on grocery shopping during a downpour.

Oh, and one more thing for this week. I had two baby dreams in one night. For the first time, I dreamt about the actual birth. It was calm, exciting, quick and perfect and I had a boy again. Only problem was I gave birth to Max as a puppy. But my birth was fast, and that's what counts! The other one was pretty boring in comparison, except that Danielle had a baby that same day.

I think the reason I finally dreamed about the birth stems from a conversation I had at lunch after ladies bible class that day. I just happened to sit at the "natural birth" end of the table. There were four ladies who all have had a natural birth (and me, who hasn't had one, but will soon), and the conversation centered around everyone's experiences. They are all excited for me and said I'll love it. It's amazing what a little positive reinforcement and encouragement will do to ease a person's mind. Not that I've felt particularly scared or anxious about it. Our culture just doesn't do a whole lot to embrace or encourage natural birth and since it isn't the most popular choice, you don't tend to hear all the wonderful birth experiences there are out there. So thanks ladies! I have all of you to thank for helping me envision the perfect birth of my sweet little Max.

This Never Happens

Dingle Update

The pills Dingle is taking for her incontinence seem to be helping somewhat. She's still had some accidents, but there have been far fewer of them. The weather might share in the blame though. We've had rain pretty much all week and the dogs don't like going out to do their business when it's raining. Can't say I blame them.

I'm not sure the anti-inflammatory is helping much. It really is heartbreaking to watch her walk now. The weird thing is she still doesn't seem to be in pain. She and Max even roll around playing together at times. I do think Max knows something is wrong. He and Dingle have always been buds. He's been moping around some lately and just seems sad. He's going to have a hard time when she goes.

I had "the talk" with Clara last week about Dingle getting old. I explained that her legs were going to start hurting more and more until she wouldn't be able to walk and then she was going to die. She looked sad and said, "Oh" and then she perked up and said "We can take her to the doctor!"

I told her that the doctor can't help her anymore because she's really old and everything dies when it gets really old. I said that when Dingle dies, that means she won't live with us anymore; we'll just have Max and Zoe then. She was sad and said "oh" again. And then she got excited and said, "We can make her a bed like Snow White!"

Man death is hard to explain to a three year old! There was more to the conversation, but I think she gets the gist of it. I just hope she's not the one to find Dingle "sleeping" one day. I still remember when I was very young and I went to pick up a sleeping kitten off of the sidewalk at our house and it was flat on one side. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't want to be the one to find her either.

Thirty-Three Weeks

I'm 125 pounds and baby is now over 4 pounds and over 17 inches long. I can't believe how close it's getting. I've got so much to do still!

I had been feeling great. I was cooking dinner, keeping the house cleaned and felt good the whole time we were gone to Pecos. Then this past Monday hit. I took the last bite of my breakfast and then threw it all up. Through all the nausea and dry heaving of the first few months, I never actually threw up. I'm still not sure why I did, but I thought maybe it was the vitamins, so I'm taking them at night now.

That happened right before I took Dingle to the vet, so I had to sit for an hour and a half at the vet completely drained of all my energy....... with Clara who has been pushing my buttons lately. I forgot to bring something for her to do, so she entertained herself by trying to lick the metal exam table and crawl around on the nasty floor after being told repeatedly to stop. I gave her a little lesson on worms and she straightened up for a while.

So anyway, I've felt pretty yucky every morning this week, but it eases up in the afternoon. I'm also a lot more tired. I think my stomach is out of room and this may just be the new norm for me from here on out. I'm just glad I had a few weeks of feeling good.

I'm still sleeping really well. I think I'm sleeping better now than I was a few months ago. My sides aren't killing me anymore and I don't have to switch sides all throughout the night. My shoulder has stopped hurting too. There are some nights that I don't even have to get up to pee. I do wake between 4 and 6 most nights and can't always get back to sleep easily, but it hasn't been too bad. I slept well all the way up to the end with Clara, so maybe I'll get lucky again.

There has been one area that I've not been so lucky in. I had to go buy bigger underwear this past week. Tragic. I never had to go up a size with Clara, but my undies were starting to cut off the circulation so it was time. My clothes are all fitting more snugly this time. I wore my regular pants without a problem all the way to the end last time with just a rubber band around the button. All my bottoms are much tighter and my shirts are all getting too short. I'm having to wear the belly band to keep from showing off the belly.

I don't look any bigger this time around, nor have I gained more weight. Maybe things have just shifted or perhaps I'm carrying differently. A boy maybe? Speaking of, I did have a dream last week and it was a boy. I was carrying him around church on my shoulder and he was just the calmest baby, never crying. Maybe this time I'll get lucky and get a quiet and content one. I'm crossing my fingers.

Still have the skipped heartbeats, but I've gotten used to them, so they aren't bothering me much anymore. I've been wishy-washy on going to a cardiologist, but have decided not to at this point. I did have a couple hours of a rapid heart rate last night. I've had that while pregnant with Clara and when not pregnant and it's not too worrisome, just really annoying. It finally slowed down when I burped. On an interesting side note, my heart didn't skip at all while it was racing.

Twice when I've gone to get out of bed, I've had a horrible pain just to the right of my belly button. I'm assuming it's a pulled muscle, but man does it hurt! This baby is moving like crazy now. The constant motion almost makes me feel sick sometimes and I've actually yelped a few times when it gets a little out of control in there. The baby has had the hiccups a couple of times this week and there are times that I can feel the entire length of a leg spread across the top of my belly. That stuff is so cool to me.