Ultrasound at 18 weeks

18 weeks today! We had the ultrasound on Wednesday. I had to wake Reece up from his nap to put him in the car to go to the appointment. Poor guy. As I put him into the carseat, he was saying, "Bed. Night, night. Sleep!" He was NOT done with his nap! I thought he would fall back asleep in the car, as he has done in the past, but not this time. He dozed off a few times, but every time the car stopped he would wake again. On the freeway, he saw a FedEx truck with the letters big and bold on the back of the truck. He said in his very sleepy voice, "R for Reece!" I told him that was close, that they were letters, but there was no R. We picked up Ethan at work. Sometimes he walks to the appointments, but it was so windy that he preferred a pickup!

We waited in the waiting room for the ultrasound, and I had to use the restroom. I should not have because when we got into the ultrasound, the baby was too far down in my pelvis and didn't have as much room to move, so the tech couldn't get all of the measurements she needed. So she told us to go to the appointment with the doctor and chug lots of water to fill my bladder back up, then come back when my bladder was full. So Ethan left to go back to work because all of this was taking too long! So we waited some more, went to the appointment, she sent us back to the waiting room after a very short listen of the heartbeat and that's about all, and we waited some more. The tech came and got us again, and she got all of the organs and measurements that she needed. By this time, I had to GO! I told the nurse that I was either going to go in a cup, or an accident might happen! She rushed me to a room and did the pee test, and we were off...almost 2 and a half hours later. And it was rush hour downtown Indy. And Reece and I were hungry! What a day.

Baby is measuring about 1/2 pound which is right on track. All is well in the womb! It was so neat to see the baby...it makes things more real! The profile is so different than Reece's ultrasound profile!

Baby's arm and ear

Baby's Feet

Profile

Baby Cheered Me Up

I am in the midst of a bad cold...you know, the kind that keeps you up all night long coughing no matter what you do (drink water, cough drop, sleep sitting up, etc.). I haven't gotten a decent nights sleep in probably 5 nights now...and Ethan probably hasn't either. Last night I moved downstairs to the couch at 4am so I wouldn't keep him up!

So, when Reece went down for a nap yesterday, I thought I'd try to take a nap too, being as exhausted as I was. I was almost asleep, and a coughing fit hit me. That tickle in my throat would not go away! I propped myself up in bed, trying to go to sleep in between coughs. At one point, I almost began to cry because I was so frustrated! And then, I felt the little *poke* *poke*. Baby has been moving around in there, but I haven't really been able to feel it from the outside yet. This time I could! I sat and felt the baby poke me for about 10 minutes, and the coughing calmed to where I finally drifted off to sleep...only to be woken up 20 minutes later by Reece's waking up and humming. Baby was trying to cheer me up...well, baby was probably saying, "What's going on here!" But it cheered me up anyway.

Reece has been humming and singing all day basically! He does at meal times, during play, waking up, going to sleep, riding in the car...it's so sweet! He can sing, "Wheels on the Bus" and "Night Night Baby," and can hum "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," so far. My mother in law says, "A singing baby is a happy baby." Reece must be a happy little guy!

Just Another Day...

Just another day....but each and every day is wonderful in it's own way!

I took Reece to the library to see Ms. Bobbie sing with her little guitar...or ukulele...I'm not sure exactly what it was! But she was very good with the kids and sang songs about being polite and nice to others, and how to eat healthy and all kinds of fun songs. Reece almost fell asleep on the way there so he was a bit chill during the whole thing and just watching the other big kids and what they were doing. He did bounce along to the songs at times. Then we went to pick out our books and CD's and were on our way home.

Last night Ethan went to play basketball and was gone as I was putting Reece to bed. Reece said, "Dada?" a few times as I was putting him to sleep, and Ethan got home before he went to sleep, so I took him back downstairs to see daddy. Then we did the whole bedtime routine over again with daddy there...he missed him so! Tonight he cracked us up because he was being so animated and laughing at the starfish in the book we were reading. They are hidden on each page, and sometimes peeking from behind something, and Reece just thinks this is so funny!

On Sunday, Reece was keeping time with the song leader by moving his arm along with him. It was so sweet! I was trying not to giggle because he looked so serious, and was really trying to do it just right.

As for baby #2, I felt him or her move from the outside tonight as I sat on the couch. Just a little poke, poke, poke. Just letting me know baby is there!

Counting, Cooking and Costumes

I'm not sure, but I think Reece could be the smartest boy ever :) He's already speaking in full sentences...minus a conjunction word or pronoun here or there. An example of a few sentences he has been saying lately...

"The sun is bright...sun in eyes."
"Bring the bowl outside."
"It's a little/big/itty bitty bus."

He also knows most of his colors and a few shapes. He's into sizes and comparing things. We have found that he is beginning to grasp the concept of counting, but his favorite numbers are 8, 9, and 10...so he usually just says those when counting. But the other day Ethan said, "One, two, three, ____" and stopped, and Reece filled in the blank and said, "Four." Then Ethan said, "Five..." and Reece said, "Six." Pretty great!

I have been letting him up on the step stool while I cook lately, so he is now OBSESSED with bowls, spoons, and pans and pots. He wants to sleep with the pot, bring the bowls outside, upstairs, downstairs, in the car. Which we do not let him, and he usually cries about it! He pretends to pour things into the pans and stirs to his little hearts content. He went through a phase like this around a year, and now is back to it. He says the pan is "hot" and blows on it to cool it down. He offers Ethan and I bites of his "soup" (that's usually what he makes). Now if I could just get him to do dishes without making a mess!!

Today we went hunting for a costume. I tried a few on at Once Upon a Child. A chicken and a dragon...both had hoods which he DID NOT like! So that ruled out anything with a hood which leaves only superheros...which he does not know who any superheros are yet. So, I think we'll just use what we have and not spend any $$ and he'll be a farmer with overalls, plaid shirt, and a John Deere hat. Voila!

Dada?

Boy will we have 2 happy campers here when "dada" gets home! Ethan was gone for about a week and Reece and I were in Michigan during that time. There were other people around and we were on the go a lot, and Reece was a tad younger, so I don't think Reece realized as much that daddy was "gone." But he's only been gone for a day and a half, and Reece goes to the front door and says, "Dada?" Then he hears the washing machine make a noise that sounds like the garage door opening and says, "Dada!" and runs to the garage door. He is really anxious for daddy to come back! He's the one that wrestles and plays chase when he gets home! Mommy just cooks and cleans the house and folds laundry and is busy a lot! That's right, I'm all work and no play! Just kidding. I stop to play amid the cleaning and such...but I'm just not daddy. But I'm okay with that. Speaking of daddy coming home, he could be home within a few hours, so I've got to get the kitchen floor mopped and vacuum before he arrives...gotta run!

Sleepless in Indianapolis

Crazy things have been happening in the family!! My sister, Emily, had an appendectomy last week, then my mom broke her foot on Sunday while we were visiting, and now my brother-in-law has a stomach bug...I'm beginning to think I'm next!

I'm currently writing this blog because I cannot sleep. Ethan is out of town to California, and that always makes me a little restless when he's gone. We went to the store, and on the way home I said, "We're going home!" Reece said, "Home....dada!" I told him dada would be home tomorrow...which means nothing to a toddler. We miss daddy when he's gone!

The sleeplessness could also be because I had soda tonight at dinner, which I have not had caffine due to the pregnancy for a LONG time!! (Probably 3 months at least) My body is probably freaking out. But the soda tasted so good with the creole food I had at Yats! Yummy! Come visit me and I will take you there to eat, and you will love it! Ethan thinks it's too "authentic" which for him means there are too many unidentifiable objects in the food, or objects that he doesn't like. But I loved it! Reece tried some of mine and kept saying, "Hot!" which for him meant "spicy!" Wish I had leftovers to eat in the middle of the night when I wake up hungry!!

Sleeplessness could also just be a pregnancy thing, but I've been pretty exhausted lately, it shouldn't be an issue. Perhaps I have too many things running though my brain such as...what color to paint Reece's new room when it comes time? When do we move him to a new room/bed? How is the labor going to go this time around? (I've been watching too many episodes of "A Baby Story" on tv...I cry every time a baby is born just because of the amazing-ness of it, but at this point it might be partially due to the fact that I'm thinking about the pain!) Is it a boy or girl? And on and on I could go...

I have been craving and eating pickle, tomato, cheese and miracle whip sandwiches....YUM! I cannot get enough. Still cannot tolerate/don't want coffee, much to my dismay, but it's just as well. Can't say that I'm really craving anything else in particular...just healthy foods in general. For a while I was on a Penn Station sandwich kick.

Reece had his first whole piece of candy this weekend...I let him have a tootsie roll pop...and the flavor was banana! I hadn't heard the news of a new flavor! I despise all things banana flavored...but Reece loved it to the tootsie roll center. By the end he had sticky all over, but boy did he look like he enjoyed that sucker. We made sure to brush his little teeth really well that night!! He also went through the dark woods with a large group of kids to trick or treat at my parents house. Some of the people handing out candy jumped out and said boo! None of it phased him! He was cool as a cucumber. What a guy. And he said "Thank you" to everyone who put candy in his little pumpkin bucket (which used to be mine when I was little). Boy, does he love that bucket. Anything pumpkin these days, he loves.

Well, I'll try and get to sleep now. Wish me luck.

Quickening

At 14 weeks, I think I felt the "quickening" sensation of the baby moving! They say it could be gas, or it could be the baby moving. Well, I think I have a better understanding of what the baby moving feels like from the first pregnancy, so I'm pretty sure it was the baby. It happened while Reece and I were singing a song together. When asked what's in mommy's belly, Reece says, "A baby" and kisses my tummy. He is so sweet. He will be a great big brother! He sees me on the computer and asks to see "Nolen." So I bring up the photo program and show him pictures of Nolen, and he says, "Awww...Nolen! Baby Nolen." and tries to kiss the computer screen. He loves babies already...and wishes he could see Nolen more often!