Swollen

This morning I woke up with some swelling in my face and hands. I've been experiencing more swelling in the pregnancy than my previous two, and so it always puts Tyler and I on alert, as we don't know what is normal and what isn't. My blood pressure is usually on the low side, which is reassuring. I spoke with his mom this morning and she suggested I just take it easy and watch things for a few days. I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and he said everything looked fine, and I have another one of Tuesday so hopefully that'll confirm the same thing, but it's hard to know if I should be worried in the in-between time. It's weird to have swelling, because it makes me feel like someone gave me collagen implants in my lips or something. Tyler doesn't really notice it, which is relieving that it's not as obvious to the outside world, but I feel so funny when I talk. I feel like my lips are huge and my cheeks are so puffy that my eyes don't open all the way. Tyler's been a bit nervous for me. I've been keeping it pretty low-key today and sitting with my feet up most of the day, drinking lots of water. Gets pretty boring. I can't imagine what people do when they are put on bed rest. I mean, there is only so much TV that a person can stand. Plus the fact that I spent so much crazy energy yesterday working on my house and then have to see it all come apart in a few hours of me with my feet up and my kids with boundless energy today...sigh. I'm about 2 weeks away from my due date. I just have to keep telling myself, "I think I can, I think I can!"

Nesting

This is what I have accomplished today:

• woke up (that's a big one, because I didn't have a great night sleep and was out partying with my girls until 1:30am)
• got ready
• emptied the dishwasher and filled it
  
• cleaned my kitchen
• organized my pantry
• vacuumed (which includes tidying up all the toys)
• washed the floor
• washed all the bedding and put it back on the beds
• organized my husband's closet
• fed kids
• took care of a vomiting/diarrhea filled girl
• chatted with my mom for 30 minutes
• blogged
• hung out on facebook and caught up with some friends
• searched on the internet for some glasses and hairstyles
• played stickers with Max

And it's 3:15pm. And I've been bored a number of times.

Where Have All The Good Movies Gone?

Tyler and I seem to be in a bit of slump with regards to our home entertainment choices as of late. In the past few weeks we have watched what seems to be an endless parade of bad movies. It started with a viewing of the movie "The Spirit", which he thought was interesting in concept, and I thought was just plain awful. Cheezy, bad acting and just an all around terrible execution. I was lost to the highlights of this movie the moment Samuel L. Jackson picked up a toilet from the 'bog' that he and "The Spirit" were wrestling in, and shoved it over the guy's head. I was in an out of consciousness for most of the movie from that point as there didn't seem to be anything worth keeping my attention. We also watched the movie "Push" recently which was possibly the WORST acting I have seen in a very long time. It was disappointing as the concept of the movie had great potential, but failed miserably. I didn't even bother staying up for this one and let Tyler finish it on his own...he tells me I wasn't foolish in that decision. Lastly, we decided to watch "Land of the Lost" the other night. Now, keep in mind that I am typically not a Will Ferrell fan to begin with, but we thought, what the heck? Our first mistake. What has happened to movies these days? Can anyone make a recommendation that won't leave us feeling we've wasted our precious 'kid-free' evening hours?
On a brighter note, we did watch the movie "The Invention of Lying" the other day and found it odd, a bit risqué at parts, but over all funny and enjoyable.

I felt like getting ready to pregnant again for the third time was a snap. I had two previous pregnancies under my belt that had gone smoothly and I felt pretty comfortable with what to expect. I'd also had a girl pregnancy and a boy pregnancy and felt relatively the same through both, so I figured there wasn't much that could surprise me. This pregnancy has progressed, for the most part, along the same path as the last two - except for a few instances, which have actually surprised me a great deal, caused some concern and left me thinking...will I ever do this again? It seems foolish of me to even mention some things, because for the most part, I think I'm pretty blessed when it comes to pregnancy and birth stories. I haven't had difficulty getting pregnant, I don't have to deal with morning sickness, and my labor stories are pretty straight forward - with the exception of Lucy's being incredibly long, but with nothing major to report. But I figure, this is my story - and although it's probably simpler than a lot of other people's, I still want to remember it. And although I don't deal with the same things other people deal with, I still have my concerns and stresses and complications and they are just as valid as anyone else's. Ok, after that long introduction to this post, here's the deal (or should I say, here's the differences in this pregnancy compared to my previous two that cause me to go...hmmm?)
First of all, and this probably comes as no surprise to anyone who has had multiple children, my body remembered what it was like to be pregnant SO much faster this time. I felt like I was showing so much sooner, but fortunately it helped me to remain the same size for quite a bit longer and I was able to work out maternity clothes fairly well. I only have 2 weeks left and now even most of my maternity clothes are getting too small, but I definitely do not want to buy more for the last 2 weeks, so I either squeeze into what I've got, or just wear 'comfy' clothes - which usually consist of stretchy pants and Tyler's shirts. Not very flattering, so it doesn't do a lot for the ego.
Second, and probably most concerning (and this second will probably slide into third and forth, as they're all pretty related to each other at this point). About a month ago (January 10th, actually, because it was my mom's birthday) we were at my parents for birthday dinner with my mom and I started to get a migraine headache. Migraines are not new to me, as I've been getting them since I was about 14. I've always attributed it to having dental work done around that time, but now as I look back, I realize it's probably due to the fact that I was just starting to menstruate at that time and my hormones were probably going crazy. Anyway, I always get classic symptoms. Blurred vision for about 20-30 minutes and then the onset of the massive headache. If I take something quick enough, I can usually take the edge off the headache. I'd had a few other migraines throughout the pregnancy, so when this one started, I wasn't surprised, just a little frustrated. I took something, and then sat on the couch to hang out and let it pass. Well, things went a little differently this time. I got the usual blurred vision, but it lasted longer than I expected. But then, strangely enough, my left arm and tongue started to go numb. Numbness was a new symptom for me and it felt weird and obviously concerned me. I stole away for a few minutes to talk to my dad about it, as he has a lot of experience with migraines too. As I had been sitting on the couch dealing with the blurred vision and numbness, my sister asked me to tell them a cute story about Max that I had previously posted on this blog and as I tried to relate the story, my mind had a hard time focusing. I could think of all the details in my mind, but different words kept coming out of my mouth. I kept trying to say blue, but it came out black every time. My family laughed at me, and I laughed it off too, but in my mind I was concerned because it just felt weird. It's like I couldn't control it. We decided to take my blood pressure with my dad's blood pressure monitor and it all checked out ok. Anyway, I was again surprised to be hit with a second round of blurred vision, which was also a new symptom, and then finally the headache came. I had a doctor's appointment with my OB on Wednesday and decided I'd take it easy and talk to her about it then. Anyway, Tyler and the kids and I packed up and I went home to lay down. I had been out late on the Friday night with some girlfriends and figured it was just due to being overtired.
As I explained these details to my OB, she became very concerned and told me I needed to speak to my family doctor immediately and it sounded like I had had a mini-stroke. She told me to really watch myself and she told me to cut out everything in my life that was unnecessary. Not quite bed-rest, but she would go to that if needed. She also told me that if I started to get a migraine again that I should immediately go to the hospital and that I needed to take it easy until we could safely get this baby out. My kids were with me in the appointment so she spoke in very hushed tones so as not to disturb them - which only disturbed me more. She's a bit of an alarmist, and I've had experience in dealing with her in my previous two pregnancies, so it didn't surprise me that she was concerned, but hearing the word 'stroke' is always a scary thing. I appreciate her thoroughness, but at times I think she's a bit much. Anyway, I was a bit scared and overwhelmed and called Tyler after the appointment to fill him in. What is it about talking to your spouse or your mother that always brings on the tears. I can be perfectly collected and fine and then I hear their voices and I fall apart. Anyway, Tyler had to try and console me over the phone and said he'd talk to some of his doctor associates to get some more info and details. By the end of the day, I was feeling better and he filled me in on the info he was able to round up. Chances were that it was just a hormone related migraine and that we had nothing to worry about. I took it in. Not really sure who to believe - I felt ok, but a little worried and wasn't sure if my worry was necessary or not. Tyler seemed relieved at his colleagues assessment and seemed to put it out of his mind. I decided to try and do the same. About two weeks later as I was making dinner, another migraine began to set in and Tyler had me sit down and relax while he finished preparations. This one ended up being a typical migraine and was over with fairly quickly. I decided I should probably make an appointment with my family doctor, to fill him in on what was happening, in the near future.
Third - Since then, I have had some swelling in my ankles, as I have previously mentioned, and in the last few days a bit in my hands and face. It's subtle, but I definitely notice it. In my hands it's not too much, because my rings still fit me fine and in my face it's obviously not enough that people are looking at me weird. But I notice. My lips feel funny. Like they're bigger. It's really odd. And for the most part I've just felt a little 'off'. I finally went to my family doctor yesterday and relayed all the information. They checked my blood pressure, urine, and checked the baby and all looks good. Blood pressure is a little higher than usual, but nothing to be worried about - and he felt the same way about my migraines as Tyler's colleagues do. Hormone related. Not a stroke.
It's one of those things that just sticks in your mind, and I know I'm fine, but I don't like thinking that that was a possibility. I try to take it easy, but I don't do a lot of 'extra' stuff, so I don't feel like there is a lot that I can cut out.
Forth - I"m incredibly uncomfortable. Tyler tells me I have a short memory span, but I really don't remember being this uncomfortable before. Sleeping is so difficult these days. I wake up all the time to turn over and I get cramps and pains through my back and belly all night. It's annoying and tiresome. Yesterday and last night were particularly uncomfortable and it makes it hard to think that I have two more weeks left. My baby's don't really come early (or haven't in the past) so my hopes of being done soon are pretty much out the window.
Anyway, this is not meant to be a complaint blog, but more just a record of how I'm feeling. I try to keep a journal for each of my kids, but blogging and journaling are becoming a bit of a joint venture now, so these details are mostly for me and my posterity - as well as a reminder in a while when I start thinking about getting pregnant again that it isn't all peachy like I always seem to remember it being.
I'm stressed. I take it out on my kids sometimes, which stresses me even greater. I want to be done being pregnant, but the thought of dealing with what's on the other side of pregnancy stresses me too. So for now, I'll just let it be.
Oh, and fifth - I weigh the most now that I ever have. Fun! My skin is breaking out like crazy (probably due to the copious amounts of chocolate I eat due to my stress) so I'm pretty much feeling awesome about myself. Yup - that's it.

Motherhood

Why is it your children always look the cutest when they're sleeping after you've fought and gotten frustrated with them for the previous 2 hours before they went to bed? Better question: why is motherhood so full of guilt? Tonight I was feeling awful and my kids were driving me CRAZY! I had to go out in the terrible fog to a presidency meeting, which can only happen on wednesday evenings because my presidency is so busy, that's the only time all of us can get together - but of course my husband has Young Men's then, so that means my kids have to join me at my presidency meetings. This means they have to play in the nursery while I attempt to run a meeting and then get home and in to bed late, because of said meeting. It's stressful and I don't like Wednesdays as a result. Tonight, my kids decided to interrupt my meeting every 2 minutes with some anecdote or to tattle on the other or just to be noisy and frustrating. We got home and I finally got them into bed after all the comments such as: "I need a drink" or "I'm too tired to put my own jammies on" or "I don't want to say prayers", were dealt with. And now I look at them fast asleep and get frustrated with myself that the last moments of the day that we got to spend together were spent in frustration. And then I think, "what if tonight is the night I go into labor, and when they wake up in the morning, I'm not here and their entire world will have changed while they were sleeping, and the last moments they had with their 'mom-of-two' before she became 'stressed-out-tired-mom-of-three' were stressed out and tired?" Of course only mothers think this way, but it's still the thoughts that are nagging at my mind tonight as I sit alone while Tyler is at stake basketball. So now I will sit and watch mindless television for a few minutes before I go to bed alone because Tyler won't be home until somewhere near midnight and will be too wound up from playing basketball to be ready for bed until somewhere near 1:30 - and I just can't handle being a guilt-free mom tomorrow if I stay up that late tonight.

Hodge-Podge

This post is a bit of a hodge-podge catch up, as I finally downloaded the pictures off of my camera from the past week. Over the weekend, one of Tyler's former co-workers was in town from Ontario, so we spent a bit of time with them, hanging out at the Ship & Anchor on Thursday evening for a delicious burger (while my awesome sister babysat my kids) and then at the zoo on Friday, before they flew home. We had an awesome time. The kids and I took a few minutes to stop in the new Dorothy Harvey gardens that are now complete. It smelt amazing in there and the kids enjoyed looking at all the different flowers. Both commented that the tulips looked pretty but didn't smell very nice.
We had also made a point of getting photos of the kids done on Thursday morning. I was really good at getting photos done of Lucy during her first year of life, and since then, not so much. I'm pretty great at taking pictures with my own camera, but it's nice to have professional photos done to capture them when they're washed and pressed and looking all dapper. I think they turned out pretty well. The best part was, to get Max to make a decent smiling face, we asked him to say something funny, and he kept coming out with lines from his favorite movies. "I think that jello gave me a fake phone number." We've created a wall of fame of sorts in our home now as Tyler has begun his pre-baby nesting phase. I thought I was the one who was supposed to be nesting, but Tyler has been laying in to project after project. It's been pretty nice.
Speaking of projects - our bathroom is now complete. Floor is laid, washer and dryer stacked, cupboard installed (with shelves and doors), and we decided to move our tiny medicine cabinet mirror to the side wall and hang a larger mirror, so there would be less competition in the mornings. I must admit, I love it and spend a lot of time in the bathroom now...tidying, folding laundry...just any excuse I can muster to be in there as it is now the nicest room in the house. It's amazing how a little reno like that can motivate you too. I have no desire to have any sort of junk on the counters and have kept the bathroom surprisingly clean all week. It's been great. I wonder if that feeling will last?
On Sunday we spent the day hanging out at my parent's house and Tyler helped my niece with a school project. She had to create a chair that could support her weight out of only newspaper and duct-tape. Once the project was done, he had a blast creating all different types of chairs and tried to see how much weight it could support. Here's Max in a hammock style chair, hanging between two dinning room chairs. That one didn't last long.
And a pregnancy update: I have been feeling rather uncomfortable these days as we approach the end of this pregnancy. 37 1/2 weeks. Sleeping at night has become difficult as I am so uncomfortable and have to wake up every time I want to change positions. I usually sleep really great from about 11pm - 3am, and then from 3 - 8 I'm tossing and turning (with great difficulty) every hour to hour and a half. My ankles (or cankles, as I have now started to call them) have started to swell and if I'm on my feet too much, by the end of the day my shins are aching. I've noticed some swelling in my fingers and face in the last few days as well. Love it! A swollen face is the best! I feel really anxious and ready to be comfortable again, but at the same time am nervous about having 3 kids, so I'm definitely torn about how quickly I want this baby to come. I know that I feel this way every time, and think to myself "any day now" and my track record is to be right on time or even a few days late...so that could make the next 2 1/2 weeks really long. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, where I will be discussing a few other concerns I have with him, so we'll see how that goes.
I guess that's all the updates for now. At least that's all the pictures I have.

How 'bout

If I had to describe my kid's favorite game in two words or less, I would call it the "how 'bout" game. They spend all morning cycling through hundreds of different "how 'bout" scenarios. Right now they are playing, "How 'bout we pretend to be mom and dad when they were kids and used to play together", but the list has also included the following:
How 'bout -

• we ride our motorcycles to school with our backpacks on?
• you were a baby named Tyler and I was your mom Janielee?
• I be Mack the puppy, and you be Kari?
• we have babies that are growing up and now they are 2 and 4 just like us?
• the bad-guys are coming and we have to use our guns to chase them away?
• we go to the zoo and see the monkeys and you be one of the monkeys?
• I have a baby in my tummy and you're the doctor who measures me?

They have been playing for about 2 hours and I have heard the phrase "how 'bout" every 2-3 minutes as it is time for the game to change.

I have just one question:
"How 'bout they stay best friends like this forever and always want to play together?" I hope so.