The J's: 04/13

4/27/2013

Dear Jimmy,

Dear Jimmy,

It's me.... your Mama. Just wanted to say hello and tell you that I love you. I always have and I always will. I love how active you are... you have the cutest little kicks. And you seem to know when I need some reassurance that everything is going OK in there. You're supposed to meet us all in 6 weeks but I am not sure you're going to wait that long. I've been having contractions (Braxton Hicks) every ten minutes for the past 5 days. I think you may be trying to get out, but I probably thought that about Jaylee, Jennibelle and Jackson. Speaking of, your sisters and brother are so very excited to meet you. Jackson talks to you every day and thinks that you can see out of my belly button. Jennibelle likes to rub my belly and loves when you kick her. Jaylee is excited, though she's not too lovey dovey with you, quite yet. I know she'll be all over you once you are born. They think it's neat that you'll be born right at the end of our driveway. I guess that's a good thing, since we don't have a car to fit all of us in yet, anyway!!! I'm super excited to meet you and see your beautiful eyes and to smell your new smell. I can't wait to rock you to sleep and sing a song to you... we'll have to figure out which song is "our" song. I'm also nervous about the day we meet you... not for you, but for me. Heaven forbid things go array, I just want you to know that I have enjoyed this pregnancy so stinkin much. I remember waddling down the stairs after I found out you were in there. I remember feeling you kick so early in the pregnancy. I remember when the Dr said that we might lose you because my body was out of whack... I remember she sucked the air out of the room and I could hardly breathe. I remember seeing your bits and pieces on the ultra sound and being so ecstatic that you were a boy... my mind instantly filled with the childhood you and Jack will share. I remember them telling me that your ultrasound looked perfect, and I felt relief... and pure joy. I just want you to know that you mean the world to me... you will be my baby, from here on out. Jackson has been fantastic and I know that you will be just as great!!! See you soon...

4/22/2013

Invincibility

You've either got it, or you don't.

I thought I had it, but I don't.

I want it...

INVINCIBILITY.

Sure, I was short of breath for two weeks and joked about having PEs.

hahaha...

"Screw You" said life!

"The Drs don't know what they are talking about" I told Jason just 3 days ago, in regards to diagnosing me with Gestational Diabetes.

"Screw You" says my glucometer, with readings in the 180s.

I've been doing my Lovenox shots myself in my love handles for the past few weeks, trying to give my belly time to heal. Things were going beautifully... not a sign of injections anywhere on the love handles and the lumps and bruises were fading on my belly.

"Screw You" says my body as I woke up this morning with 3 large bruises on my sides... back to letting Jason stick me in my belly.

Aaarggg... some days just aren't your days, I guess!

I've been feeling real well the past few weeks. This pregnancy as a whole has been fantastic... I've had a few symptoms that stick around for a few days, but then I'm back to feeling good! In the beginning, I was sad for a few weeks, which brought on the pregnancy test. Then I was short of breath, but the clots quickly resolved. Then I had a lot of pelvic pressure during the week of running back and forth to Hospice, which resolved as soon as life slowed down. A few weeks ago I started with night time reflux, which is now controlled by Prevacid. Last week I had two days of Sciatica coming and going, but now it's gone. Now I'm just learning how to control my sugars with diet. I will say that I'm starting to get tired again, but I am 30 weeks now, so I'm not surprised.

Jim Jim is doing well... growing and VERY active. I don't know if it's a boy thing or that it's just my fourth pregnancy so I am more in tuned, but I started feeling him around week 14, I think. You can see my belly flutter when he kicks. His 3D ultrasound pics have him looking like Jackson's twin, except Jason says he has a bigger nose.

At 35 weeks, I'll change from Lovenox to SQ Heparin, so I'll be ready for surgery on June 10th. If I go into labor before that, I'll have to have general anesthesia, since it won't be safe for an epidural. (Man, do Drs have a lot to think about and take into consideration when doing what they do!!!). I was going to donate my own blood, in case I bleed out too much, but now my high risk OB says "no" because I'd have to be off of my blood thinners for 2 days. She says there is plenty of options to control the bleeding, before I would need a transfusion. Jason offered to donate, but that could eventually screw up kidney donation for Jackson many-many years from now.

BTW... Jackson does seem to have some sort of INVINCIBILITY. For all of his gloomy prognosises, he is doing fantastic. He had a Endoscopy Scope with biopsies last month. He handled the medical personnel, the anesthesia, and the scope itself great. One biopsy came back questionable for Celiacs, but after four blood sticks, his blood work showed to antibodies for Celiacs. YAY!!! So, other than some controlled reflux, it all looks good. Amen for good news, though it would have been nice to find a reason for his aversion to food. Thank God for Pediasure!

4/21/2013

Liounis Cousins

All grown up!!!

Alyssa, Jenn, Lisa, Mandy (with Morgan), Lauren, Meg, and Steven

Jenn, Laura & meg at Laura's shower

Easter... Just a Month Late

I remember why I blog so frequently... because when I don't, I don't remember anything!

Easter was fun... Jennibelle was definitely the MOST excited... we all know how much she loves candy! I worked until 6 am, and when I got home she was awake and ready for baskets!!! We watched Morgan sing at church and then went to Mandy's for dinner. Poppop was at an outage and Nan was home with Mommom Moore, so it was different than our "normal" holidays. It was fun though. We had painted eggs earlier that week, which the Easter bunny was nice enough to hide. We went to an Easter Egg hunt at a local church where a helicopter dropped the eggs... fun but freezing! Layla had us all over for an Easter Egg Hunt/picnic. And we had TWO egg hunts at Mandy's!!! The kids enjoyed every single one of them!!!

The rest of the pix must be on my other SD card...

The Girls' Baby Shower

I threw a surprise party for Jaylee and Jennibelle today before Baby Jim Jim comes out.

They were surprised, and had no idea what was going on when they came into the kitchen!!!!

Jennibelle was overly excited!!!

We had hot dogs, kielbasa, mac n cheese, potato salad, fruit and gold fish with a punch that looked like a yellow ducky bubble bath (Darn... I forgot to take a picture!) Marianna and Katrina made cupcakes for us!

Then we had a piniata, played outside, played "Name the Dirty Diaper", opened some gifts and designed onesies/burp cloths. It was very busy but also very enjoyable.

And the Onesies...
I expected everyone to do the same thing, but every one was pretty different!
Such a fun activity that I recommend for any shower.
I picked up onesies at yard sales and a friend brought over some burp cloths... none were in perfect condition and the kids just covered up the stains!! Thanks to Debbie and Kate for ironning, since I don't even know how to turn an iron on!

KATY - mustache man