Bigger in real life

To make up for the super weepy cried-for-days keepin' it real selfie, how about a fuzzy bathroom selfie of my preggo eggo? Yes, that's my toilet in the background.

Here I am at 29 weeks. 

Helloooo third trimester! 

Summer Solstice

Well, there are no sandy beaches or cousins in Arkansas, but we do have an abundance of natural springs and good friends, here.  We took a picnic lunch to Blowing Springs Park and met up with the Gulbransens and Zebleys on Wednesday.

This place is incredible and conveniently located 5 miles from our house and within walking distance from the girls' elementary school.  There are campsites and picnic areas, dozens of trails, caves, a pavillion and park area, but the main attraction is the natural spring that flows from the cave.  It is clear and shallow and full of creepy treasures for the kids to discover.

 
 In no time at all, the kids had a nice collection of crawdads and salamanders.  No, we weren't Arkie enough to take the crawdads home and eat them via crawfish boil, but I've heard they're actually pretty good.  Eh...pass. For now.  Give me a few more years in the south.

 Quincy caught in a pick.

Reese with one of her best friends, Madi.

We'll probably end up calling this picture, "How Corbin got Giardia".  Hey, Ozarka bottled water comes from around here, doesn't it?   So that's basically the same thing, right?  Right?  At least the water he was drinking was clear...

 Or maybe I'm the one with giardia. ;) I got nauseated and threw up all over the bushes right before lunch.  Corbin and Cole followed me up the trail and just stood there, staring at me.  Seriously, they couldn't look away. Cole was like, "You're puking?  That's your throw up? You feel sick?"  Luckily, there is an awesome cold breeze that flows from the cave and we sat in the shade and managed to stay nice and cool and I felt better pretty quickly, but still...third trimester and still tossing cookies in public?  Classy.  This pregnancy has definitely been my most difficult and reminds me a lot of when I was pregnant with Reese.  But hey, she turned out pretty perfect so at least I know I'm cookin' up a good one.

 Corbin and Cole: always together and always up to something.

 Mission accomplished. They caught a rock.

We continued our Summer Solstice celebration on the way home when we all stopped for half price milk shakes at Sonic.

I made a yummy pesto veggie pizza for dinner with a bunch of the goodies from our garden.
I'll post the recipe soon.  Happy Summer!

Don't you DARE say "bed rest!"

Was exactly what I said to my doctor at my appointment yesterday when he told me I'm already dilated to 1cm at only 28.5 weeks along. 

He promised he wouldn't say bed rest, but that's where I'll end up if I've progressed at all when I go back in a couple weeks.  I always have Braxton Hicks pretty early on, but they've been a little out of control lately.  He said that if I have more than 4 in an hour (which happens all the time) then I need to sit until they stop or slow to one or two an hour.  But if I have 6 contractions in an hour, then I need to sit and spend the next 24 hours on bed rest. Any more than 6, then I have to go to the hospital.  

So I did what any rational woman would do and scheduled for my cleaning ladies to come back. Hey, last time they were here was 3 months ago, and I promised myself a quarterly housekeeper until after the baby comes, so that's right on schedule.

I really am taking it pretty easy. We only left the house today to go grocery shopping, and other than that, all I did today was put away our suitcases, launder all the bedsheets, and sit on the sofa reading 1000 animal books to Corbin while the girls cleaned the bathrooms and had a wild dance party on a makeshift stage in their bedroom.

Anyway, the baby is measuring perfectly and sounds great. Blood tests revealed that I'm anemic again, which explains why I feel lightheaded and have crazy restless legs, but aside from that and the occasional pukey time (Let's just say I left my mark a few choice places in California) I'm feeling ok and am just excited that our baby boy will finally be joining our family!  

My doctor thinks that he will be here super early, but that he'll come on his own and be totally healthy so we don't really need to worry, we just need to make it another 6 weeks.

"Excuse me?  Uh, did you just say six weeks? Like s-i-x?" I replied, wide eyed.  I feel like baby will come early, just like my others have, but I was thinking maybe 2 weeks early...not 6 weeks early! 

He said that after 35 weeks if I go into labor, they won't do anything to stop it, because the baby is already a healthy size by then and everything will be fine. 

Fine except for the little fishing trip Aaron scheduled for the first weekend in August....just 4 weeks before I'm due.  If my dr thinks 6 weeks from now is a possibility, then 8 is even more likely!  I have a feeling I'll pretty much panic when he leaves town and sit with my feet up and legs crossed until he is home again!  For the record, I love that Aaron is taking a trip, btw. He never does anything for himself and he deserves a vacation from responsibility where he can just relax and enjoy doing something he loves with his dad and brothers.  I totally support him going...just a little nervous about the timing, now.

So things are progressing a little more quickly than expected, but our baby guy is healthy, well cared for and definitely well fed.  I'll post another update in a few weeks.  We had planned on taking a mini road trip with the kids somewhere for the 4th of July/our anniversary weekend, but we aren't so sure now.  We've definitely ruled out the gulf coast idea, and flying was always out of the question, but Dr. Hannah thinks it's fine to drive somewhere as long as it isn't more than 4 or 5 hours away, and if I'm not contracting, of course.  I'm always contracting, so unless that eases up in the next week, we'll most likely stick around or go someplace pretty close.

Baby Got Back!

I'm home.  Did ya miss me? (eh...don't answer that).  I have loads of catching up to do and no energy to do any of it.  Hopefully, I'll be back to blogging regularly soon. 

Let's talk about church, today, for a minute.
Do you know how many people pointed out how big I've gotten "in just two weeks"?  A lot.

California tacos were good to me, friends.

Some of my favorites from church today were how I've "blossomed", "popped out", "grown a whole baby in two weeks", and "brought back a melon with me from my trip". Of course, no one meant to be mean, but it did get a little old by the end of the 2nd hour and I wanted to hide and/or burn my dress (I'd eat the watermelon first, of course).  I am thrilled to be pregnant, but 10-12 more weeks of commentary on nothing but my girth and due date?  I might wear earplugs next week.
Friends beware: to the next person who says, "look how much you've grown over the last two weeks!" I plan on replying with, "I know! You too!" and I'm gonna give your belly a lil' jiggle, too.
We had a super great vacation in Ca.  The girls haven't stopped crying for Grandma's house and their cousins and aunties and Coco and it is sickeningly hot here, but I am still really happy to be home.  I love visits with my family, staying up late talking, laughing, eating good food, and watching countless skits the kids put together.  But there is just nothing like sleeping in your own bed and living your normal routine.  I missed my little home and totally welcomed back cooking dinner for my family, putting laundry away, bathing my babies, and our bedtime routine.  It was great to be away, but just as great to come home.  Sign of a perfect vacation?  I think so. Also, in spite of the humidity, my hair was totally good to me, this morning, and that's always a welcome surprise.

Another great surprise to come home to? A freshly mopped kitchen, clean dishes, a vacuumed living room and groceries in my fridge (complete with a fresh batch of frog eye salad and a carton ice cream in the freezer).  Thanks, Kasey!  We rolled in at midnight after 13 hours of traveling and the last thing on my mind was the fact that the fridge would be totally empty in the morning.  Kasey had us stocked with the basics, and as an additional surprise, the top shelf was full of veggies and eggs from our yard----which she took care of while we were away.  Coming home from a long trip has never been easier. It takes a good friend to know how happy it would make me to come home to a clean house after preparing myself mentally for visual evidence of Aaron living up the bachelor life in it for a week. You win a gold star for friend of the year!

Anyway, I have 1,000 (literally) pictures to go through, 5 suitcases to unpack, and 3 children suffering miserably from PVLDS (post vacation let down syndrome).  Sooo the blog will have to wait a few more days while I come up with some big fun for the children and wait for my ankles to return to normal size...or return at all....right now, they are hiding underneath a layer of puff that won't fit into the cute shoes I bought in Santa Cruz last week.  

But I just couldn't let today go by without expressing appreciation for Aaron, because he's pretty much the greatest thing that ever happened to me.  My children are dang lucky and even though they don't need me to tell them what an awesome father they have, I'm posting it anyway.  Children: you have yourselves one excellent daddy.  He is present, patient, kind, fun, compassionate, hard working, thoughtful, spontaneous, calm, funny, and most importantly, he loves the crap out of you kids.  I couldn't have asked for a better man to raise a family with.  Throw in his beautiful face to make up half of the dna of our offspring and we scored ourselves some ridiculously good looking kids.  Bonus!  

The children made glittery cards for Aaron and fixed him breakfast in bed.  He is enjoying a bike rack that he picked out for the van, and we surprised him and had his BYU diploma matted and framed (finally) for him.  
Aaron, we treasure you and are grateful for the way you love, guide, and provide for our family.
Happy Father's Day to you, and to Grandpa Hal and Grandpa Rob!  We love and appreciate you all!

In case you didn't know these things:

1) One-ply toilet paper shouldn't even exist. 
I bought it on accident and it is a total joke. 

Or as Aaron says, "this is the toilet paper they have in Hell."
2) According to Quincy, "if a boy gives you a flower to put in your hair, then he is your boyfriend (what the?! What are they teaching her at that preschool?) but only if he is as handsome as Justin. Mrs. Lewis says we can get married when we are older but right now he just has to be my boyfriend."

3) The wait time at Bentonville Pediatrics is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes for a scheduled appointment.  Oh and Corbin's ears are both infected again.

4) Reese's ears, however, are not infected...but she put on a good enough show for Aaron this morning for him to gain a boat load of sympathy, the Quetzalcoatl blanket (reserved for sick days and special events in our house) and his permission for her to stay home sick from school.  My diagnosis was similar to Dr. A's.  She assured us at Corbin's appointment that Reese is quite healthy and quite the actress.  She was required to take quite the nap and do quite the list of chores when we got home from the doctor.  At least they only charged me for Corbin.

5) "Daddy" = Aaron, and "Dad" = grandpa Hal.  For the last week, Corbin hollers for "Gwamma" and "Dad" and follows them everywhere like a curious puppy. Super cute. It was a little embarrassing/creepy when I was in Lowe's with my dad and Corbin was calling him "Dad", though....so we started to push that he actually call him, "Grandpa". 

Now he just calls them both, "Gwamma".  My dad isn't really thrilled about that nickname, either, but considering that my girls both called my mom, "Grandpa" when they were two, it's only fair that he take one for the team.

6) Tonight, Reese asked Aaron if he's "jealous that Mommy's parents are here to visit us".  He laughed.  He's pretty thrilled to have someone else around to hold crazy Mommy's hair back while she pukes, fetch snacks for her ridiculous food cravings, and check things off her never ending to-do list.

7)  My hair was not designed to be braided.  It just doesn't work. 
8) Speaking of my hair, I despise the (too purple) color and have an appointment for a cut/style/color on Saturday.  I'm tempted to chop it short, but I have one fear that keeps me from doing just that:  I'm turning 30 in one week.  What if the haircut is terrible? I already don't have my own body right now, I definitely cannot rock my 30th birthday with an unflattering "mom haircut".   So I'm keeping it long for a while longer.  But what to do with it?  Send ideas for style/color soon.  I grew my bangs out and sort of hate it, so I'll probably have them cut, unless someone has a brilliant style suggestion that will fix them.

9) The fence gate is done, done, aaaaaand done. Hallelujah!  Thanks, Dad!  I sleep better at night knowing Corbin cannot sneak out again. (That's right, I said again. Mother of the year!)

10) Aside from maxi dresses (saving grace) maternity clothing companies are all sharing the same slogan this year and my guess is that it sounds something like, "We hate pregnant women".  Dear Motherhood, Mimi, Old Navy, and the rest of the lot: Pregnant women want to be comfortable, not sexy. Sexy is how we got pregnant. That part's taken care of...now we just want to get our elastic waist goin' on and sport fabric that doesn't make us sweaty.
11) Reese got some test scores back and she is reading at 2nd grade level.  She was satisfied with this assessment and told us with confidence that "2nd grade will be better than 1st grade."  I sure hope so.  This year wasn't the greatest as far as class/teachers go and I hope she'll have some different kids in her class next year.  There are 20 days left of school and she is ready to close the door on 1st grade and not look back.  I admire her for her perseverance in a few lousy situations this school year.  She maintained a good example for her peers and made it through with a positive attitude.  I am so happy that she will be home with us for summer break soon! I just love that girl and last summer break was just not long enough. 

12) Another sign that Reese is ready to move on to bigger and better things is that she ditched the training wheels and taught herself to ride her two wheeler like a champ. She now cruises around effortlessly and we are so proud of her.  Way to go, Reese!  You can do hard things!  

13) Aaron played in a stake basketball tournament on Saturday and made it to the semi finals.  Go Aaron!  I wish we'd gone to cheer. I love watching him play sports and it also would have been a really good excuse for eating junk food and making a few cat calls.  He had a lot of fun.

14) The weatherman here raps the news.
No seriously.  Not like those Autotune remixes, he actually made up a rap for the 10day forecast. 
It isn't good....which is actually kind of disappointing since I love me a good rap.  

Also, tonight regularly programmed television was briefly interrupted for "BREAKING NEWS".
Wanna know what the breaking news was?  10 second film coverage of an airport landing at XNA with the alleged new Razorbacks coach on board. Yep, breaking news.  Hopefully the new highest paid state employee will live a higher moral standard than the previous head coach did. 

15) I made eggs this morning and they were still warm when I cracked them open.   It made me happy to know how fresh our breakfast was...but it was also kind of freaky to hold a warm egg in my hand.  Sort of like sitting on a warm toilet seat in the winter.  It's super nice to not have your buns freeze...until you think about why the seat is warm in the first place. 

20 Weeks

The night before my ultrasound, I had three dreams about a baby girl. Well of course I was dreaming about a girl, Aaron and I have been convinced that this baby is a girl since the first time he popped popcorn and it sent me running to the sink to throw up. We went into the doctor appointment yesterday with our minds already made up: we were right and Reese and Quincy were wrong. We just knew that they guessed it was a boy only because they wanted to even out the boy:girl ratio in our home. We, on the other hand, have experience in this sort of thing. We are the parents and obviously guess better.

Ha! It was Aaron and I who were wrong!
Behind that baby bump is our baby BOY!!!!

We already love him like no baby has ever been loved before.

Two little girls and two little boys.

I am absolutely aware of how perfectly blessed I am.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude and I still can't believe I am so lucky to be living my life.

Things that make me smile

Reese and Quincy just sat with their hands on my belly for the last 30 minutes feeling their baby brother or sister kicking and wiggling away. Every movement sent them into hysterical fits of laughter. I hope this little baby has a sense of humor, because he or she is going to be welcomed into a very giggly world.

Waiting, Springing, and Hoping

I had my first 24 hour stretch without throwing up! This is incredible news, to us. Even though it was a short lived break, and on Sunday, the yuckies returned (and returned, and returned) it was a break. Almost 2 full days where I kept all of my food down. Before Friday, I hadn't had gone a full day without throwing up in over 8 weeks.
8. solid. weeks. of vomit.

And even though I've yet to see a repeat of that glorious puke free day, we know it is near, and we have hope.

We are so grateful to my mom for coming out to help.
I think it freaked her out a bit to see that we weren't kidding about how sick I was. Sometimes, people will see me at the grocery store or something and say, "Oh, I'm so glad you're feeling better!" when in actuality, I just threw up in my car, or the produce aisle. (yep). She got to see the Big Brother version of my life and the 24 hour life feed wasn't exactly glorious. The week that Aaron was out of town could have been a disaster without my mom. She was so helpful, and her visit provided me with some much needed rest and hope.

Even though I still have some really icky days, I feel like I've turned a corner. More puke-free days are on the way, I just know it....and pretty soon, there will be more healthy days than sicky days. And until then...well I have one great husband, 3 great kids, a bunch of wonderfully reliable friends, and one very compassionate Savior whom I know I can rely on to give me strength and relief anytime I call on them for help.

Here's to week 15, hope, and the very good people in my life!

I sent my mom back to California, today.
The drive home from the airport was beautiful and inspiring.

3 cheers for this beautiful spring. I am not blind to, nor without gratitude for the gorgeous scenery developing outside every window of my home.
The crocuses are up and the pear trees are popping popcorn all over NWA.

Spring has been lovely.
...But I've lived here long enough to know the full potential beauty of an Arkansas spring.
The redbuds are just baaaaarely starting to show color.
The tulips are up, but not open.
And those majestic dogwoods that will soon be frosting every lot in the village, defining the true arrival of spring, haven't even bloomed, yet.

Every bare tree is a message from God, "Oh, you think that's nice? Well, just wait 'till you see what comes next. You know what comes next, so just be patient, Meg. Be patient and hope. It gets even better."

I'm still working on the patience part, but we are definitely springing with hope in the Willy house.

Stuff that ain't fo sissies/I'm spent.

Unless you have acually suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum yourself, you truly cannot understand what it is like. You just can't. Wishing for sickness to get better does not translate into ingratitude for this baby, and I would do it all 150 times again, because even though it is hard, it is worth it.  Here is my reality:

Every day, my schedule goes as follows:

4:15 Aaron's alarm goes off. I make a mad dash to the bathroom and throw up. Crawl back into bed. Eat some crackers or a piece of toast.

6:15 Get Reese ready for school, pack her lunch, and send her out the door. Throw up in the driveway or on the lawn while we wait for the bus.

6:45 Eat a bagel and cream cheese and a juice box. Read and then pray that today will be better or at least different than the day before.

7:15-8:15 Sleep

8:15 get dressed, take Quincy to school. Pull over on the way home and throw up somewhere along Lancashire blvd and then throw up again and again for another 1-2 hours when I get home. Lay on couch with a bowl and watch Spirit or Toy Story with Corbin. On the days I don't have to drive anywhere, lie on the sofa and do absolutely nothing and don't start throwing up until I have to sit up and do something.

11am Eat Breakfast #3. Take Zofran. Turn all the lights off because Zofran may help keep food down, but the nausea never goes away, and Zofran causes headaches, light sensitivity, and anxiety attacks.

12:00 pick up Quincy from school. Throw up Zofran. Take another dose.

12:30-3 eat lunch, nap Corbin, set Q up with a quiet activity. Sleep on the sofa for 2 glorious un-nauseated hours. On a really good day, take advantake of this time and go to the store, or take the kids to the sand park. When I feel great, I REALLY feel pretty great and try to make the most of it.

3:00 Reese gets home, homework, snacks, think about what I could eat for dinner.

3:15 Bring on the Zofran headache....

4:30 - 6:30 pm = sick sick sick. Aaron brings home dinner, and swoops in like a knight and feeds the children, gives them much needed attention, and helps get them into bed. Dinner gets eaten and thrown up multiple times.

7pm finally keep another dose of Zofran down. Eat a bagel and cream cheese or something equaly bland and boring.

8-9:30 pm, I usually feel pretty great. This is definitely the best hour of my day and the only time I will get anything accomplished.

10pm-12pm moan and grown on the sofa and run to the kitchen sink every 30-45 minutes. Feel extreme gratitude for Aaron for helping keep life running around here. Sip a bowl of chicken broth, eat 5 crackers, drink some gatorade.

midnight: collapse into bed, somehow exhausted, as if I done anyting other than lay around all day.

This has been our daily routine for the last (count em) 7+ weeks....except I didn't get any Zofran until 3 weeks ago.

Now, throw in a round of RSV, several ear infections and a burst ear drum, strep, pinkeye, midnight kid puke all over the beds, a lice scare at Q's school (luckily, we didn't get it, but that's probably because everything in our house was basically boiled when she got home), excess saliva (so gross), pregnancy incontinence and then of all things, I got a sinus and ear infection this week.
So it hasn't been hard because friends haven't offered to help with playdates...they've totally offered, my friends are awesome. Luck and good health just haven't been on our side long enough to send the children anywhere, this month!

I had to quit teaching my older preschool class because it was just too hard to load up on enough Zofran to stay well for the 2 1/2 hr class for two days in a row. I'm managing the other class fine for now and openly admit that I simply love it too much to give it up entirely.

My mom arrived Wednesday night, and witnessed the horror show that is my puke(/pee my pants) schedule and we couldn't be happier that she is here to help.

I've managed to keep hydrated enough to stay out of the hospital, our baby is healthy and growing, I was well enough to make it to church on Sunday and have a few good outings last week, and for all of that we are grateful beyond words.

This is my 8th pregnancy in 8 years. You would think that each one would get easier, but for me, they don't.

Tonight, all I did was stand up, and I immediately (like, immediately) started throwing up. It was like watching Saturday in reverse.

I don't know why it is so much work for me to have a baby when it is so much easier for other women. I also don't know why those women will see me throwing up in a trash can or a bathroom or a parking lot somewhere and feel compelled to tell me how easy their pregnancies were and how "this never happened to them". Why, ladies, why? Be useful, go get me a paper towel...and some clean underwear...and second (or third) lunch.
And don't ask me, "why did you decide to have more kids if being pregnant makes you so sick?", or tell me that my wishes to feel better mean I am ungrateful for this baby. And don't assume that I have any kind of control at all over how I feel, cuz girl....you don't know my life.

Anyway, obviously want this baby very badly. The effort to have him or her here began a year ago and has involved a terrible miscarriage, a lot of heartache, and a lot of waiting. It only seems fitting that the entire process will be filled with trials and opposition until he or she arrives. We are thrilled and terrified and happy and grateful and already madly in love with who Aaron has decided must be a sassy-pants little red-head daughter to be giving me so much grief already ;)

Seriously, we will be SHOCKED if this baby is a boy. But then, we were already shocked at the first ultrasound when the dr told us there is only one baby in there, because I am bigger than I was at 20 weeks with the last pregnancy, and sick enough for 10 babies.

My mom got here on Wednesday and she has been a life saver. I've already thrown up one less time for every poopy diaper of Corbin's that "Gwamma" has changed ;), and she's held my hair back a lot more than anyone should ever do in their life. We're enjoying each other's company, too, of course, and the hours I felt really good (or was drugged up into believing I felt good) we've gotten out of the house and enjoyed. Aaron will be gone all next week for work. I would seriously be panicking if my mom weren't here to take care of us!

Anyway, that is our life right now. This post is whiny, but I don't really care. I never post how I really truly feel, and maybe if I had written a play by play of my pregnancy over the summer (where I also spent several weeks throwing up, so FYI, it's absolute bull when a dr tells you that being sick is a sign of a healthy baby. just sayin'.) we would have been better prepared and not foolish enough to actually believe that we understood what our "worst case scenario" hypermesis scenario looked like. We had no idea just how bad it could get!

Some days do seem like it is getting better. Corbin was most definitely my easiest pregnancy and I quit throwing up by about 17 or 18 weeks, so we have our fingers crossed that relief is just around the corner.

Thanks, Mom, for still being my "Mom" and giving my husband, children, and girlfriends a much needed break from being my caretakers (I have a whole other post for them coming soon) and for never having anything but positive things to say about another baby joining our family. We are pretty super incredibly happy, too.

And also, thanks for making sacrifices and enduring the not-easiness of pregnancy one last time, 30 years ago, so I could be lucky enough to call you my Mom, today. I am grateful for you, and well...wasn't I totally worth it? ;)

While I was sleeping

The children were documenting their neglect on film.
I woke up to several 4-8 second "Blair Witch Project" blurry video clips of what my vagabond kids saw as they ran wild and unsupervised through the house, this morning.

And there I am in the videos in all my uneditied glory, totally sleeping in the background--- with a puke bowl on my lap.
Hey, at least they can entertain themselves creatively?

Please don't call CPS.

I get the last cupcake.

since this is a private blog, a little update for those who might be wondering...

We lost the baby. I'm having surgery in 7 hours, not looking forward to it at all. The recovery from the last D&C for a miscarriage took weeks, was horrible, awful, what nightmares are made of.

I'm handling the situation fine, considering I just spent nearly a trimester being sick and tired with no reward ;), and grieving appropriately. I am strong. I am ready to do it all over again. I am 100% optimistic about my family growing again. I feel love and support. I feel grateful. My friends and family are angels. I feel hope as a dear friend of mine is bringing a beautiful baby into the world tomorrow, so even though I have the sadness of a loss, there is great joy to be felt and there will still be a sweet little baby to celebrate and make tomorrow a wonderful day.

Anyway, it's been a long week and we really are just ready to move on. God has blessed me with an iron will and I know I have all the strength and support I need to get through the next week.

"I Said I Wasn't Gonna Lose My Head, But Then POP! Goes My Heart..."

My doctor put me on "pelvic rest" today.

pelvic rest. seriously. It's a real thing.

What the ?

They didn't laugh like I did, when I thought she was telling a joke.

The nurse then rattled off a list of a million activities I am not to participate in until my 20 week appointment the first week of January.

She mentioned no more exercise a few times.

I laughed (again) at the thought of me doing anything that could be considered exercise lately. My muscles are so underused that I can't even keep from peeing my pants when I throw up. Does that sound like hard core muscle control to you? At least I know I have plenty of support from Aaron. He clearly feels that we are in this together... Together, we polished off an entire bag of chocolate covered peanut butter cookies, and fought over who had to get up off their butt to answer the phone and find the remote while we watched the Biggest Loser finale in our "fat pants" the other night. That's true love right there.

No exercise going on in this house, Doc. Rest assured.

But the rest of the list... no lifting, running, stretching, standing for long periods of time, wrestling with kids, wrestling with Aaron, working, swimming, carrying children, laughing, smiling, breathing...

Basically no doing anything but staying off my feet and "taking it easy", and just being grateful I'm not stuck on bed rest.

Question:
After hearing the list of no-no's...how is "pelvic rest" any different than bed rest?

Question:
How is this possible for anyone with two young children?

One more reason my 20 week appointment can not come soon enough! I am grateful our post Christmas plans did not get canceled. Staying at Grandma's is like visiting a bed and breakfast, but with really awesome toys.