Pain

I really need a full night of rest. That would mean a break from this pain, which is absolutely incessant. Something always hurts. Eating makes me sick 95% of the time. So not only am I hungry all the time because I can't keep anything down, but I hurt more because of all the vomiting.

I weighed in at 161 today. Still 12lbs off of my pre-pregnancy weight, which, let's face it, I'm never going to reach. Ok, I might reach my pre-pregnancy weight, but nowhere close to where I should have been. Not that I'm really complaining about not ballooning. Honestly, dealing with the extra weight I'm already carrying is enough. I just worry about whether Hunter gets enough nourishment. This is a tough enough pregnancy and he's been exposed to meds that in a perfect world he wouldn't have been and I don't want there to be any other reasons for him to be low-birth weight or pre-term. As much as the thought of being pregnant for a day longer than I have to galls me (1.5 weeks until he's viable) I want everything to be perfect for him and it's going to be hard enough for me to take care of a baby without dealing with a premie who could need to be in the NICU. I know that, I tell myself that, but I still want this pregnancy over! I'm so thankful to have my family here. There's my side, who has no other grandchildren and therefore can liberally spend their free time helping me out (and of course, how else would they want to spend their time?), and David's side, where everyone has kids so my resource base is pretty much endless. The in-laws having a nursery will be extremely convenient when my brother has band practice. And my mom is actually changing her work plans so she'll have more time to help me out. Instead of working as an office manager this year she's only putting in as a tax preparer so her hours will be lessened and more flexible and she can take time off to help me move. I think I'm going to be quite spoiled by the time I move back to Colorado. I can only hope by then I'll be pain-free and will be able to expand my friend circle. I miss having Hedy and Kristin around the corner, like I miss having Sarah across the hall. It's a haul to get out here and most of my friends are on tight budgets, so driving out to see me all the time gets expensive.

I'm wondering if it's normal to feel uncomfortable around other people's kids. I'm perfectly alright babysitting, and I was fine working at the daycare, but when the parents are standing right there I feel awkward engaging too much with their children. Even Becca, especially since we aren't around to have gotten to know her very well. I don't know what she likes, if she'll like me, what if I do something Jennie doesn't like? Maybe I'm really just afraid of doing the wrong thing and would prefer not to have witnesses to my mistakes. Hmm. Hopefully I won't be so shy with my own baby.

An Appointment

I finally got an appointment made. Instead of worrying about my records with Dr. Hucker I called Dr. Chadwick's office and was given an appointment on July 1st. Yay! I wish I'd just done that in the first place. I'll have an ultrasound that day too.

I feel like getting ice cream.  Gator's bound!

Bump Bump

Hunter has been kicking almost non-stop today. Maybe it's the weather, or maybe he's rocking out after listening to Will's band earlier today. They have this really great song that is yet nameless. I enjoy them much more in person, I have a hard time listening to recorded screaming. They're really good though.

I am going totally crazy adding things to my baby registry at BabiesRUs because you get that discount right before your baby arrives on anything left in your registry, and the more I add the more I will get a discount on if I choose to purchase it later. Still, I registered for a lot of doubles. I need to clean it up a bit. And on a lot of things I'm really not picky. A cloth diaper is a cloth diaper. I wish I could just write cloth diapers without picking a brand. Oh well.

Tomorrow is Father's Day!

Illinois

I am home! I left last...Saturday. Friday. Saturday. Yes. I got in Sunday evening. The drive wasn't that bad. I left about midnight on Saturday and drove a solid half before stopping for a nap. I only slept for an hour and a half or so but it gave me the second wind to get through the next 7 hours. Overall it took about 14 hours of driving. Not too bad, considering I do not speed. The pets did exceptionally well. Now I just need to find homes for the two cats that are currently locked in a room downstairs so that no one can accidentally let them out. Integrating the dogs hasn't been going extremely well, but we're working on it. Hopefully they'll start to get along soon.

I did my first load of baby laundry. I was going through my bag of baby stuff and found urine on the collar of the overall set I got at Disney World. Obviously I wasn't happy, but it washed out perfectly well, and I washed everything else Mom and I had because why not? I have several blankets, an assortment of clothes, some toys, and some diapers and wipes. I've ordered a Bundle Me from BabiesRUs because they're on sale. I also got a bunch of baby shower gifts. I picked up quite a bit for Hedy and Ryan, kind of as a thank you for watching our pets. I also got a couple things for Jessica so I'm prepared for her shower. I got a couple other things for Hunter, but I don't remember what they are off hand. Some more clothing, I think, and maybe some towels? They were all in the clearance section, that's the only place I've been shopping for myself yet. I actually got him a Christmas onesie because it was half off and I'll only wind up buying something at Christmas is I don't get it on sale now. 

Registry links, for anyone who is interested:

Kaboodle Baby Registry I LOVE Kaboodle. I can rank my picks and include anything from any site. There are quite a few things on this list that are available only online, and not from BabiesRUs or any of the major chains, so please, if you're thinking about purchasing something online, take a look at this registry and some of the neat stuff available off the beaten path.

What a day!

As everyone is aware I've been attempting to leave. Today is the last day. I had a doctor's appointment and received a referral to Barnes in St. Louis. I got all of the issues with David's car taken care of. I jumped the dead battery, filled the empty tire, jumped the dead-yet-again battery, put in gas, and gave it a bath. You wouldn't guess it's the same car, it looked that bad when we started. And when I got home from all of that I stepped out of the car to a rain of feathers. I looked up, expecting to see a bird molting. Instead it was a hawk picking its kill clean. Fun. The last of the laundry is done, the car is mostly packed. I need to collect the trash and recycling, and Carrie has said she'll put it out for me next week. The bathroom should be scrubbed a bit, to be on the safe side, as should the counters. I need to throw out the perishable food. The Jeep should probably get an oil change, if I can manage it, but that will depend on when I decide to leave. Otherwise I'll compensate when I get to Illinois. I might sweep. I need to empty the litter boxes. I really need to stop messing around on the computer and do these things, but this won't take that long.

I don't have that much room left in Tonks. Necessity is requiring that I travel extremely light, because the dogs will take up the majority of the backseat and the cats are traveling in a dog kennel that take up the majority of the trunk. I have some room to pack in on top of the kennel, but I would much prefer to leave that space empty. So that leaves me with the passenger seat and whatever space I can take on the floor and around the dogs. I'm more worried about forgetting something important than anything. Baby Stuff. Boots for David. Tv and xbox and bag of stuff to mail to David. I should crawl into the attic and grab the box for the tv. I need to gather shoes and toiletries. And yes, I will be referring back to this blog to remember everything. The steady stream of free thought is actually helping me think of things.

Good day!

I had an amazingly good day today. I was able to go to Wal-Mart and WALK my shopping. I went to Best Buy, BabiesRUs, Auto Zone, and the car wash too. And I've been able to do laundry and trash. Big steps closer to being able to leave. I have a last minute appointment with my pain doc on Friday and with luck I can leave afterwards. I should have plenty of time to get ready tomorrow.

In baby news, my belly feels huge but it doesn't look as big as it feels. I can definitely feel Hunter move. I'm going to have to get used to using a name instead of "the baby." I don't know how anyone mistakes this for anything other than baby movement, because the feeling is entirely distinct. I bought a belly support band thingy today though, on the off chance it might help one of the aches I have. Everything feels big and uncomfortable though. I can still sleep without inconvenience though, by which I mean my half side/stomach position has been working. Don't worry, I know the huge is still to come. My friend Hedy is all baby belly and she looks humongous. She's less than a month from delivery, so there's still some time for that to come, but who knew a baby would take up so much room? I'm ready for it to be over now, so I can go to Cleveland. Maybe with luck I'll have another good summer. I could appreciate that very a lot (she put out to any stray gods paying attention). But whenever I get optimistic I have another bad day and the dream is deflated. Still, close now. Every day is one day closer.

Oh, and Hunter is breech, which means nothing at this point. I am curious though, as I was breech and had to be turned and both my mom and my uncle were breech, so there seems to be some sort of a family trend. Plenty of time to turn still, although if he doesn't much better that we're planning a c-section because we know we need one than suffer through hours of labor and need one then.

It's a boy!

And apparently it's really obvious. There was no doubt there, and I asked.

I hate thinking up titles

I weigh 157! That means I've gained 4lbs, though I have about a 5lb fluctuation, so I guess I'll have to hope it's a trend. Baby is getting bigger! I've had the inkling that I was going to pop soon for a little while now, I just didn't know if I was interpreting how I felt correctly. But I was right, my uterus is huge and the baby definitely shows now. I can feel movement sometime too. It's pretty cool.

I have been extra nauseous lately. I don't know what's up with that. And it lasts all day. I'm cautious about eating because I have no idea what will stay down. Last night I threw up all liquids, so everything is game. It can stop any time now.

I'm several steps closer to being able to leave. I have several calls that still need to be made (or I left a message). I'm slowly collecting everything that will be packed. Very slowly. I'm doing the bare minimum possible to get out of here. Everything is pretty much going to stay the way it is, for better or worse, dirty or clean. Anything that would cause problems by being left to sit will be dealt with, but nothing else is important enough to fret over. I can sweep my floors when I get back. If I was capable of doing it now I wouldn't have to move in the first place. And I'm packing the bare minimum. Anything that can be replaced in Illinois will be. I'm not going to bother bringing it. Not worth worrying over. This is roughly the equivalent of packing your car while fleeing a volcano. Luckily enough my stuff will be here when I get back. At this point I need to pack clothes for David, empty the fridge and the pantry of everything perishable, and get the trash out, which means collecting it from various trash cans and surfaces. And then packing the car, once I hear from Marla, one way or another, and hitting the road. Could be any time then. I've only been saying that for weeks, I hope it's soon now.