Just a Little Update

Finally get to see a doctor tomorrow! I can’t wait to finally meet the man that will probably be delivering our first born child! I hope he’s cool. He is Phyllis’s doctor too so at least we know someone who uses him and likes him. That’s comforting, but I am anxious to hear his views on things that are important to me. Plus it’ll be nice to hear the baby’s heartbeat again and just find out that I’m still healthy!

We got our WIC last week. It wasn’t nearly as hard as getting Medicaid and all that was. In fact, I loved the people there and the whole system. We get a ton of milk, which is good because lately I crave it all the time and I drink milk a lot. We also get lots of juice and eggs, plus a pound of cheese, some peanut butter and cereals. It’s not tons of food, but it is food we go through a ton of, so it saves us a lot of money.

They also set me up with a free breastfeeding class! I am so grateful for that. We can’t really afford to take any classes so we are utilizing all the free resources we can find. We are touring Labor and Delivery tomorrow, and I will be sure to ask plenty of questions.

Another thing WIC offers is a breast pump. So now I don’t have to worry so much if I run in to problems. I know they will be there to help. If I need a hospital grade pump even, they will let me use one!

I’m just very impressed with WIC and all they do and offer. It’s way more than free milk. And maybe it’s because I am so in to nursing and so excited to nurse that I am so impressed with WIC. I just never knew that that was what they were all about! I can’t believe we waited so long to check them out! But after the hassles we went through with the State Health office, it’s a wonder we ever gave it a chance!

I am feeling good overall. I have some weird pains in my abdomen lately and I am not sure if it is my belly growing. Another reason I am excited to see the doc tomorrow!

We have also become night people almost completely. I know the weather all over the country pretty much has been dreadfully hot lately, but here in Texas, dreadfully hot means 100 degrees plus. And here in Sanger it means hot wind. I guess the lake provides us with a daily breeze. Can be nice some days, but some days, it just blows the hot air around! Lately it’s been the later! I cannot get my energy up during the heat to accomplish anything, so I often find myself cleaning and doing laundry at midnight! We do work from home on WebPages, so time is on our side. But I miss being up in the mornings. I just can’t stand the day time heat right now. I’ve come to realize that this is ok and I don’t need to stress myself out trying to be up in the day time if I can’t get things done. I feel better going to bed at 4am knowing I accomplished a lot throughout the night than going to bed at midnight feeling like I did nothing but lay around too hot to move all day.

The kitties sure are happy here! The bird bath outside is starting to attract more than just wasps and the kitties sit at their window and squawk at their new friends! It’s so cute.

The garden is a little out of control! Andy is outside right now pruning our wild ivy. It grows like crazy and we’re running out of places to plant the clippings. We may have to get some pots and start planting them inside. They’d make nice gifts if they grow. I don’t know that it’s the right kind for that though. We are giving some to our new upstairs neighbor. He likes plants. He doesn’t live directly above us but next to and above. We are still lucky enough not to have anyone directly above. We’ll see how long that lasts though. There seem to be people moving in all over the place.

Our garden is also quite overrun with wasps. Andy hates them but after looking them up on the internet found that they eat the bugs that eat your plants so we do need some around. However, we think we have far too many. I’m thinking we should look in to some kind of trap for them. Even if we managed to catch half of them, we’d still have plenty left!

Our flowers that were huge tall stalks are beginning to open as well. There’s only one open now but when we have more, we’ll take some pictures.

Our new ivies are also starting to grow. Again, we’ll take pics when they start to bloom their own leaves.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. No pictures yet. We have some I just don’t have them ready. Just trust me when I tell you my belly is bigger than it was last week! And we’ll take some more garden pics this week too.

We love you everybody!

Good News!

Good news on the diabetes! The nurse called and said I am fine – good actually. Not too surprised, but extremely grateful. Thank you for all the prayers and positive thoughts – keep ‘em coming, we still have a ways to go!

I haven’t gotten my paperwork from Medicaid, but they assured me over the phone last week that I would be switched to my new plan on the first. I sure hope so because I have a doc appointment on the first, and I would really like to meet the guy that will be delivering my first born! It’s a bummer to have to go through all the same questions about sections and inducing and episiotomies that I already went through with one doc, but hopefully this one will agree with my view also. If for some reason I don’t get my papers from Medicaid, I’ll call them before the appointment to make sure they’ll see me. I have a fear that something will go wrong. I’ve gone a month already without a check up and I think I’m fine but it’d just figure that something will stop me from seeing him next week too!

I do feel fine, good actually. I am getting much bigger, can’t sleep for long at a time and breathing is getting harder! I’m at 30 weeks which is only 10 weeks away from the due date. So from anytime in 8 weeks from now, he could be here. Or he could wait another 4 weeks after that! I hope he doesn’t come early, but also that he doesn’t wait too late! I feel him kicking more; actually it’s more like a rolling. He rolls around in there and I can see something pushing out sometimes. Of course, I can’t feel him at all right now because I ate too much for dinner! One thing is for sure, my stomach is getting smaller. Probably nature’s way of starting the return to eating normally at the end of the pregnancy! :D Maybe not – somehow I have to eat more while nursing than while pregnant!

I also found my first stretch mark! Don’t worry, I won’t update you all with every single one I get, just this first one. I was nervous about them, though I knew I’d get them since I have some from just growing up. I do use creams and things to hope they aren’t too bad. But I saw some pictures of women with fresh ones and they are kind of scary at first. Yet something to be proud of at the same time – a Badge of Honor! So I was looking forward to getting some. Though it was still a bit of a shock to see the first! It’s funny too because it’s on the bottom side of my belly – right by my appendix scar – and I couldn’t tell for sure in the mirror if it was one. And I can’t exactly look down and SEE the underside of my belly right now! So I had to get out the trusty hand mirror and sure enough, it’s a little badge! Andy was not only sweet about it, but he was excited about it! He views life like no one I have ever known. He doesn’t get caught up on silly physical earthly things but sees the bigger picture at hand. And he views me as more than just the wife he loves now, but also as the woman who is carrying his first son. And hopefully more to follow (not just sons though!). It’s incredible to be so un-judged and accepted and loved by him. He’s the greatest guy I’ve known!

My weekly readings about the baby for the week say he is about 3 pounds. This guy may be a little bigger since he was already over 2 pounds at 25 weeks. He’s all done making except his lungs are still developing and he’s getting his fat, he just needs to “bake” a while longer to pull all that together. His eyes are opening and closing and he can see light and dark. He can hear not only my voice but outer voices and noises as well. His daddy will call to him and sing to him sometimes. So cute! And I still read to him every night. I really enjoy our special time together already. Can’t wait to see his face, it’ll make me get into it even more!

I hear he’ll stop moving so much in a few weeks as he runs out of room, but I hope not too much. That’ll probably freak me out even though I know it’s coming!

We finally got pics of the garden. I put them in the next blog post so don't stop scrolling down when you are finished looking at the pics in this one! We just cut and planted some of the vines again a couple of days ago in hopes they’ll grow to cover the whole thing. It is getting harder for me to bend over forward right now though! We couldn't have done any of it without Grandma Phyllis! She not only brought plants and cuttings and seeds from her garden, she also helped us with the initial plant to get all the cacti and ivy in the ground and get them all started! And she let us use her tools!

It’s so fun to see what we’ve accomplished and Andy and I really enjoy working on it together.

It’s kind of metaphoric for what is going on inside my body and what we will do together as we grow this child as well.

My new dress! My mom helped me pick it out from Motherhood with a giftcard she gave me. I love the way it feels and looks. I can look fancy and feel like I'm wearing a big Tshirt!






Tyler finally got a haircut! It's been in the triple digits here lately and he was getting very hot in all his fur. Now he's a frisky kitty that likes to cuddle again! And doesn't he look tiny?






Who wouldn't want to rub that bald pink belly?








Here's the brothers trying to fit on the rocker. Tyler as you can see takes up so much room Thunder had to try and fit in where he could!






Tyler crawled up next to me while I took a nap. I'm not sure how he fit there! I was holding him when I fell asleep but aparently my hand moves to hold the baby belly!






29 weeks along. I swear it looks bigger in person! I do try and suck in a little for the pictures! ;)





The next post has all the garden pictures so keep scrolling down!!!

Garden Pics!

Here's our neighbors yard and a pretty good representation of what ours looked like when we first moved in. There were more dead bushes that Andy pulled out too.






Then thanks to Grandma Phyllis! We now look like this! This is the front. There are cacti and ivy. We are trying to get the ivy to grow but it's not doing too well. We're going to plant more if these don't take.






This is the cactus we have planted all over. Phyllis brought these from her own that grow in her backyard, which she has worked so hard on. Her cacti are HUGE and these are their babies! We have them all across the front too but they are hidden by much of the ivy.




A bush we saved. This one was about to die but we've been taking care of it.







Our little tomato plant that is trying so hard to grow! We hold out great hope that it'll keep growing so well even if it doesn't fruit. This also came from Phyllis's backyard!






This picture is supposed to be turned - sorry I missed it! Another bush we're saving. Phyllis brought us the decoration to serve as a way to hold the bush up and keep it from dying. Seems to be helping - it looks so much better than when we started.





Right in front of our door. The ivy is so wild it looks like a jungle! There're also some big stalks of flowers that are about to grow flowers buds! Phyllis planted the flowers by just scattering some petals around, I can't believe how they've taken off! And she brought the ivy from her front yard!




More of our jungle!








The jungle didn't grow so well over on this side so this is where we've planted some new ones that we cut from our own. You could say these are third generation ivy!







New bird bath. This is pretty much right in front of our living room window where the kitties sit and look out. We didn't want a bird feeder because we want the birds to eat the bugs. This is just to get them to come hang out here!




Our new ivy plants around the corner. Hope these do well!








Close up of a cactus my mom gave us. She gave us two of these and we didn't get pics of the other one. He's planted with our basil plant in a planter on the porch so we can take him with us! But since she gave us two we thought it'd be nice to let one grow here.





A flower plant that was originally in a pot on our porch but wasn't doing too hot. Still seems to struggle but we're pulling for it. If it flowers again the flowers are the same color as the top of the cactus and they're right next to each other so it'd be pretty.





Close up on the big stalks of flowers out front in the jungle. These are so close to blooming! We'll take more pics soon as our new ivies start to grow!

Diabetes Week

First of all thank you again for the overwhelming show of support for this child and our budding family! It has been quite emotional for me to see how many people have generously given gifts for the baby. It makes me realize how many friends we truly have and how much love there is in the world. And it makes me feel good about bringing a child into this world. It’s a harsh place and it’s good to know in spite of it all, there’re still people who love you and think about you! This baby will be born into more love than he’ll know what to do with spread all across the world! Thank you all!

Had kind of a scare this week, I got my gestational diabetes results on Tuesday. They called to tell me I was slightly elevated. They like us pregnants to be below 140 and I was 147! A bit frustrating for sure! So I had to go back to the office for the 3 hour 4 stick and draw test. The nurse I spoke with asked if I could come soon and I said of course I’ll come tomorrow! I don’t want to wait to find out any longer than I have to about this one. If I need to give up my one soda a day, I need to know now! And btw – it’s not always a caffeinated soda, I drink mostly fruity sodas with an occasional caffeinated one.

Anyway, she asked that I be fasting so no food after midnight and come in at 830am for the test. What a nightmare! That was the worst part. I couldn’t get to sleep. My belly felt empty like a cavern and started burning and I was too afraid to take even my Tums for fear of throwing off the test. I ended up finally getting some restless, nightmare-filled sleep from about 3am to 730am.

The only good thing was because I couldn’t eat breakfast, I got ready pretty quickly! I wore the new dress I got from Motherhood with a gift card my mom had given me. She helped me pick it out too! Unfortunately, we were too tired to take pictures, but I’ll take some the next time I wear it, probably this weekend. I love it it’s so soft and comfortable and yet pretty!

Andy was sweet enough to get up with me and drive me to the office. I don’t know my way around the Denton very well yet. He dropped me off and I called him after I went back for my first draw and asked him to return at 12.

I brought a bag of things to do with me. I planned to find recipes for the week and make my grocery list, but I was so hungry and couldn’t stop thinking about breakfast, that not much was looking good for dinner, so I gave that up. I read some stories in my Mommy Wars book, a gift from my father Lee and some of my breastfeeding book, a gift from Andy’s mom, Phyllis. I also read in about 3 of the magazines they had there, walked over to the Women’s Center to check out where the baby would be born. I ran out of time so I couldn’t stay and ask if they gave tours yet, but I will see soon. I even had a chance to talk with their insurance office lady about calling my Medicaid plan for a referral. I spoke with Medicaid Monday and they said the doctor’s office could call them for a referral. After about 48 hours, we’d know if they could see me. She said they’d call that day so I should hear about both the test results and possible doctor visit this month on the same day.

I got drawn every hour on the hour after drinking the sugary soda drink, which really didn’t taste that bad. The tech was very nice and good at sticking, so I’m not all bruised and sore. It overall wasn’t a bad experience, I was just so tired. And I am nervous about the results. I was very close on the last one though so hopefully I’ll be in range this time! Keep me in your thoughts!

By the time it was all over, I was so sleepy! But too hungry to think so we went to Denny’s which was the best breakfast ever. I ate the Original Grand Slam and then half of Andy’s pancakes, too!

Then home and back to bed!

I did do some research about the gestational diabetes and it’s not the worst thing that could happen and quite common. I was surprised since I feel I am pretty healthy but apparently that has nothing to do with it. I’ll just have to increase protein intake and decrease carbs. And be a bit more consistent with my walking – which I should be doing anyway! But it’s hard enough to watch the diet when I’m hungry every few hours. And the result if I don’t watch it is a fat baby! Not cute until AFTER they are born! Fat babies are much harder to get out the natural way if you know what I’m saying, so my chances of having to c-section or being induced early are greatly increased, neither of which I want. I need every last moment to prepare for this child. It’s taking me forever to get this place in order!

The summer seems to be beating me down. It is so hot here in the afternoons, I can do next to nothing until the sun goes down. And I can’t go to sleep early and get up early, it just isn’t happening. Especially when Little Andy (as I call him now) is always up and kicking at 2am! I am seriously considering staying awake at night when it’s at least a livable temperature and sleeping during the days. I’m really having a hard time getting a schedule I am comfortable with. I know it won’t matter once baby comes since I’ll be on his schedule, but until then I can’t find a rhythm. I feel so in limbo!

This week has been strange because of the surprise test and I feel like I’ve lost half the week even though it was only one day. Of course I took a nap that afternoon and then slept 12 hours almost straight through (one cereal break and many potty breaks) last night!

The fears are starting to enter my mind. There’s too many to list them all but I will say this. I just wish I knew that the labor and delivery would be ok and when it would be exactly. I’m nervous about the anxious waiting of “any day now” and the surprise interruption. I’m scared of the labor not going how I want and having to get medicated or worse c-sectioned. I’m just not interested in missing any of this!

I’m scared he won’t be easy to breastfeed.

I’m scared he’ll be a picky temperament. I wonder what he will be like! What kind of personality. Will he be just like one of us or nothing like either of us? I just can’t wait to meet him! And mold him finding out what he likes and encouraging it in him.

Andy and I talk everyday about what is important to us in raising this baby. I’m still scared about the moments we didn’t expect and the times we’ll disagree. But we’ve made it very important to keep our love for each other and this family the number one first and foremost thing in our hearts and minds!

Thank you for coming along with us on this journey this far. There’s still a long way to go so stick around!

Here’re the pics for the week!

Whiney-Butt Raven was actually cute this week! He's lying with a gift from Phyllis that though intended for the baby to come, has been adopted by the babies we already have!






Hard to believe this little sweetie wakes us up with loud craggly meows every morning isn't it?







Here's dress from Phyllis also I wore one day last weekend. It is too small in the top! Or maybe I'm too big... Next time I'll put up pics from our trip to the waterpark and you'll see what I mean! I am wearing a tank under this so I can still wear the dress just unbuttoned. It's a good comfortable weight in this deathly heat!




What am I looking at?













More of the tiny puppy! He's hiding in the grass. This grass is not that tall either!







Look at his comparison with a shoe shot!








His sweet little face! They decided to name him Tazz, as in the Tasmanian Devil!







Look out he'll get you!








He loves to attack snadles and feet. Well, hey, it's all he can reach!








I swear this shirt still fits dammit! It may be ripping a little on the inside, but that doesn't mean it's too small!







Daddy's so excited about the baby! And I can't believe my belly is bigger than his head! He has a big head. I imagine the baby kissing him back from the inside!

New Doc and More

OK. I fixed the Wildflowers.com registry. I apologize to anyone that could not access it. I had it set to private for some reason. Now you should be able to go to
Wildflowers.com
And search for Lea Goin.
Thank you to everyone who has already responded. We really appreciate all the love and support!

I’m officially 28 weeks, which means 7 months along and only 12 more weeks to go. I could go any time from about 10 more weeks on but I’d rather he waited the full 12 more or maybe one extra! As long as he doesn’t get too big!

We had an appointment to see our new OB last Friday in Denton. He’s my mother-in-law, Phyllis’s also, so he came recommended, and he accepts the Medicaid plan I will be on. Unfortunately I will not be on the plan until August 1st!! So they couldn’t see me. Well, they could have but it would have cost us $125 that we do not have to spare right now. The good news was their in-house lab is a different company and accepts more Medicaid plans, so I did get my glucose test done. I seriously doubt I have the gestational diabetes but it was my last day to have it done so I wanted it just to be sure. I am trying to go buy the book as much as I can.

I spent all afternoon while at the docs on the phone with many multiple Medicaid hold lines trying to figure out what had happened. It was a little traumatic, but I didn’t know it would take so long for the plan change over to take affect.

Now I have to wait until August 1st to see him. But I feel like I should see a doc at least once before then. Or at least know that if anything comes up I can go to a certain hospital. Without trying to explain too much of the highly convoluted system of state help, I am not on any particular Medicaid plan, I will be on AmeriGroup, I was on Parkland Health First, but now I am in transition. But I am still covered by Medicaid. Certain docs and hospitals only accept certain plans. I am going to call the Medicaid Helpline (and probably sit on hold half the day!) tomorrow to see about at least finding a hospital I can go to near here if it comes to that. I feel great and don’t think I’ll need to go for any reason, but with something this delicate, I don’t want to risk it.
I also would like to see a doc before August 1st. Just to hear the heartbeat. My mom let me borrow her old stethoscope, but I have only heard a little rushing fluid twice, and I think it was the cord not an actual heartbeat. I keep trying though! I’ve checked my blood pressure and I’m good there. The only other things they do are check urine for sugars and proteins and measure the belly. Oh and weight. I could do without that right now! The last weigh in had me up to 151! That’s over 25 pounds of weight gain.

It really is surprising to me how much my body has changed. I was in so much denial. I read books that talked about spreading thighs and thought, “not me,” and here I am with a bigger butt and thighs. My thighs are rubbing together! Not something I am used to for sure! Andy has assured me it will go back if I want it to after the birth. I just hope so. I am looking forward to taking the baby out for walks multiple times a day. The funny thing is I’ll have to increase my caloric intake even more for breast feeding, and ironically, I’ll lose weight better that way. And I know I shouldn’t be too concerned about such things as long as I am eating healthy and taking my vitamins and whatnot, but I can’t help it. With how big I feel like I already am and I have almost 3 more months still to go! How big could I possibly get?

Andy and I are really enjoying our little garden outside. We have all kinds of plants from Phyllis’s yard, and we water every day. Our complex has just recently fixed their watering system and water a few days now which lightens our load but we still like to go out and check on it. We have found two frogs out catching the crickets and June bugs! I love it. Those things are annoying and the frogs are a huge help. Our cricket population has greatly reduced! And the frogs are so cute. They sit so still they look like garden trinkets! We saw one tonight but then couldn’t find him again. Our ivy however is getting so big it’s very possible he was hiding in it. I was wondering for a while if he was pregnant with how big his belly was getting, but he has been eating an awful lot of bugs! Still, it’d be so neat to have baby frogs!

Everyday I get the bare minimum done around here, dishes and cleaning and whatnot and tell myself, tomorrow I’ll get some other great project at least started. Yet nothing ever seems to get done beyond the minimum. I manage to keep the apartment clean enough to live in but I wish I could do more. Even right after I wake up in the mornings I feel so tired I have to pull myself out of bed. Not impossible seeing as the kitties are waiting for their breakfast and won’t let me go back to sleep till they’ve had it. I’m back in first tri land of tiredness! It’s different this time though. It’s more like a physical exhaustion than a sleepy, and I will fall asleep accidentally without having to really lie down, just sit down! I don’t see how moms do it. I guess I’ll find out if we get pregnant again!

I’m just so lucky to have a husband at home that can help me with things when I need a break. And someone who is so excited about having this baby. I broke it down for him tonight. I said we have about 2 months until the time comes when it could be “any day now.” His eyes lit up! He can’t wait to meet his son. He’s got so many great plans and talks all the time about things he’ll do. We both do. It’s going to be so different around here. Right now I think we both feel so in transition. Like we don’t know what to do with ourselves, we just want our baby to play with. But I remind myself to enjoy these last weeks. They will be the last time I won’t be a mother yet.

I am reading The Chronicles of Narnia to Little Andy every night. Big Andy enjoys it too! I do too for that matter. I’ve only ever read the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before and the rest of the stories are very good also. I feel him kicking sometimes while I read but mostly afterwards when I am settling down to bed!

Phyllis, Andy’s mom and Ken got a new puppy! We went and saw it last Saturday and he’s so tiny! He’s barely about 4 pounds and will only double in size. He’s super sweet and rolls on his back to play. He seems very well behaved also though they said he was a little sick and usually more playful. It made me want a baby even more. Andy thinks he wants a little puppy now and wants to trade in a couple of our cats! (not really) I told him he’d have a much better playmate soon enough!
Here are the pics of the puppy Phyllis sent us. We meant to take more but of course forgot the camera. We’ll see her tomorrow and may get some then.
As for pics of us… Next time! :D

Can't tell how tiny he is!

What a little sweetie pie!

Here you can tell how small he is. He's so small he gets lost in high grass! Such a good puppy!