Took me a while to write it... (TMI)

Long story short, 3.5 weeks ago, I ended up in the ER.  I'd stopped taking Zofran (thinking that Gabe's nausea started getting better at 20'ish weeks and was pretty much totally gone at 7'ish months) and had been six days "off the stuff."  But then I felt worse and worse and worse and finally took a pill at 3/3:30 on Thursday.  And puked at 6...and again at 7...and again at 8 (this time, it caused several contractions, but I could tell when they started and they ended up going away, so I figured it was all good).  Thank *goodness* Yost got home just after that.  I tried sipping a bit of water and went to bed (and would take a small sip of water each time I woke, because I could tell I was dehydrated, but still felt REALLY bad).  Then I woke up at 2'ish and ran into the bathroom to puke...only to wake up on the floor.  I'd passed out.  But I still had to puke.  I *tried* to call to Chris (who'd finally come to bed at midnight or one or whatever), but was too afraid to get on my knees to puke in the toilet.  I ended up crossed legged on the floor, afraid I was going to pass out again, puking all over myself, the floor, the dirty clothes, etc.  Poor Chris tried to help, but there was nothing that could be done...  So anyway, once I was done, he helped me get my puke-covered body into the shower...Okay FINE.  I also puked so hard that I'm pretty sure I peed myself.  Thanks for making me say it out loud, you mean-farts!  Chris helped me into the shower and stayed close in case something happened again, and he also cleaned up my vomit by the time I got out.  Then we struggled to get everything ready (me dressed, him and all of his work gear ready to go, the animals squared away, and finally get Gabe up...poor child) and went to the ER to make sure everything was fine.  Fester was/is fine.  They never said anything about the contractions and pass out'age, save that it was probably from the strain of pregnancy, then puking and dehydration and had no hints to make sure it doesn't happen again (save for continuing to take my drugs).  So they monitored Fester for a while, pumped me full of fluids (felt MUCH better) and gave me a liquid zofran then sent me on my way.  Poor Hubster still had to go to work after absurdly small amounts of sleep.  Gabriel and I ended up back home and pretty much lazed (and dozed) in front of the tv watching Disney movies all day.  I'll be honest: it took me about two weeks to recover...and I'm still utterly terrified of puking pretty much all the time (worse than before).  But I guess I'm extra glad that Fester's doing well and seems so strong (and sometimes mean...like when I'm about to puke and he goes frickin' nuts and flails his entire body everywhere making my stomach feel even worse).
So I'm almost to 30 weeks and just started weaning off of zofran again.  I figure we'll just see how it goes.  I really *shouldn't* be that nauseous anymore.
Ooh!  And due to the fact I can finally eat again...and eating more carbs this last week, I'm finally almost up to a positive four pounds.  Be jealous.  Be very, very jealous.  We shall see if it happens like Gabriel's pregnancy...where I gain pretty much all 30 lbs in the last three months.  That would be...funny?

Cravings

So with Gabriel, the only things that stood out in regards to food was Blue Powerade and French Bread...but I didn't consider them cravings.  They were simply some of the only two things I never ever threw up and didn't make me feel horrible when I ate them (while still keeping up my caloric intake to keep me from losing more weight).  I normally like these things even when I'm not pregnant.

With Fester, I haven't had anything weird (like pickles and ice cream; NASTAY), but!!! I have been liking peanut butter/chocolate things a lot more than I normally do.  Normally, I like PBC things, but now I really *like* them.  Specifically, the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I make.  So yummy!  Normally they're just good, but not good enough where I'd make three batches in three months.  Anyway, just throwing that tidbit out there.  I've also had the normal things.  I've eaten some french bread.  I've like gum b/c it settles my stomach.  And York Peppermint Patties/Andes Mints (which I normally love, but are extra awesome b/c they normally help settle my stomach as well).  But the peanut butter/chocolate things is the only thing that's normally just good, but is now uber great!

Finally there!

According to my weight the last three days, I'm finally back up to my pre-pregnancy weight (and it only took me to 21/22 weeks)! 
I'd like to send out a big thanks to peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, both delivered and frozen pizza, Andes Mints from Yost and Tierney, the amazing don't-throw-up-drug Zofran, and Halloween candy.  Without you fattening fellows, I'm pretty sure I'd still be at a negative number.
AND, I think, thanks to Ann for encouraging me to walk the half-marathon, which has made me either take a nap or be in best almost every day since by 9:30 b/c I'm so worn out.  I've pretty much been too worn out since then to do any real exercise at all (even though my body's not sore).  Yea?

20 wks - saw baby fester kick

WOAH!!! I thought it was all in my head before, but now I'm sure. Sucks to be you, Christopher Roth Yost. I just saw the baby move. From the outside. Too bad no one's here but Tigger, and he was just mad I woke him up. UGH. Seriously, though: Isn't 20 weeks too early to see a bump bump bump from the outside? I'm not even sure I felt Gabriel this early, much less saw him...

By now, I think everyone knows...

By now, I think everyone knows that I'm pregnant again.  I'm *almost* halfway through this pregnancy and all seems good.
I've decided this past week that I'm 95% sure that it is, in fact, the baby I've been feeling moving about.  With Gabriel, I remember feeling more like it was butterflies, etc.  This time, it feels more like bubbles popping and/or being flicked from the inside of my belly.  I could be wrong, but I don't remember feeling such "obvious" sensations this early the last time. 
Yesterday, Gabriel and I were reading the weekly babycenter post on Baby's development and when we were done, Gabriel said that he wanted "to read more about Baby Fester" (what we started calling Baby in this last week when I realized it would be almost another month to figure out the sex).  After reading next weeks post AND the following week, Gabriel kept wanting to read more and more and more about Baby Fester (and got upset when I told him we should wait to read more...the posts are about Baby's development this week, so if we get too far ahead, it's confusing).  I'm still not sure he "gets it" that there's actually a baby in the uterus in my tummy, but he is acting more interested.  And yesterday, we DID see him lifting up a friends shirt to try and "feel the baby in there."  Sigh.  Life is so confusing when you're two. 
Which brings me to:
We're having some serious trouble with boy/girl=his/her and are/is distinctions.  I figure when Gabriel and I have a 15 minute discussion about how he's a boy b/c he has a penis (to which he'll argue that he DOES have a penis, but he's a girl), he just doesn't quite "get" that boys also don't have uteruses (what's the plural of that?) and therefore can't have babies.  (I didn't even get into the fact that a three year old, whether boy or girl, can't have a baby.)
It's cute, though.  And it's great to finally have a bit of energy back.  I'm still on meds for nausea, but I'm *almost* back up to my starting weight (woot woot) and it's gotten better to the point that *most* nights (after the meds wear off), I feel pretty decent'ish.  Woot woot?
I'm now at the point in pregnancy where I'm trying to take hold of all obsessive tendencies so I can get as much done as possible b/c I know once Baby Fester is here, I won't get half of this stuff done for months and months.

2 year old conversations that rock

I don't remember how it came about, but we were in the bathroom this morning brushing/flossing/washing faces/LO drinking water from the sink out of an Easter egg, etc and this convo happened:
Me: You're such a big boy.
LO: No. I'm not a boy.
Me: I'm pretty sure you are a boy.
LO: No, mommy. I'm not a boy.
Me: Do you have a penis?
LO: Yes. I do have a penis.
Me: That means you're a boy.
LO: No. I have a penis. I'm not a boy.
Me: *sigh*
Numerous minutes later when I thought we were on to something new.
LO: Mommy, I have a penis. I'm a boy. *followed quickly by 'oh look a distraction'* ROAR. That's a lion.
My child is weird. I like it.

I think we're done (don't read if squeamish)

There was a LOT of controversy over this article:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20120521,00.html
Generally, my opinion is that each parent should do what's best for their children/their family.  I have no problem with moms who choose to formula feed, chose both, or choose to breastfeed.  I figure YOU know what's best for yourself, your child, your family.  Generally, unless your kid is hurting my kid, or unless I feel you're abusing your child, I feel like you should do what you feel is best.  I have no problem helping out/saying what I see when asked, but I see no point in judging other parents for raising their child differently than mine when they're doing what they think is best.
Point being, I've known a great many women who breastfeed, and numerous who choose to breastfeed beyond a year.  What they are NOT thinking is "oh, I'm such a better mom than you are because I'm still BF'ing my kiddo.  I'm so much better than you and so is my kid."  While I know the photo and title was meant to sell issues of the magazine, I REALLY hate that this makes it seem like a) moms who choose extended breastfeeding are freaks and b) think they're better than other moms.
Very few people know, but I was an ext bf'er.  Up until about maybe a month'ish ago.  My experience was as follows:
Before I gave birth, I was hoping to breastfeed for about eighteen months if I could make it that far.  But I viewed BF'ing as a marathon.  Small workable goals to achieve.  (2 weeks, 4 weeks, two months, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, etc; I figured that just focusing on the next small goal and reevaluating when I met each goal; WAY less stressful than trying to focus on 6-18 months when you're three days in and struggling; no matter what, I figured I'd try my best and be proud of whatever I was able to do; I'm not anti formula.)  I went back to work within two weeks of giving birth for several reasons.  We had issues with breastfeeding and I had to pump more than average (once before work, three times during a normal day, and once at night; this is in addition to direct feeding).  I also had to take supplements to keep my supply up.
Anyway, there were lots of things that were  a struggle, but we made it to 12 months.  Gabriel was still very attached to BFing and I still enjoyed that one-on-one time b/c I was working full-time and saw very little of Gabe awake during the workweek.  So we kept going past 12 months.  By the by: I don't know why Americans are so tsk tsk'ing of women who choose to feed their kiddo formula when they're young infants, but all of the sudden things flip-flopped when Gabe was 9 months and people started tsk tsk'ing me that I was "still" breastfeeding (grossed out looks, asking if I was currently trying to wean, wondering when I was going to be done, underhanded comments, etc).  Very odd.  The AAP even suggests breastfeeding for at least 12 months, so I don't know why people seemed to get skeeved out that I was breastfeeding an 11 month old.  Weird. 
By the time Gabe turned about 18 months (yea for reaching my goal), our lives changed drastically...  Hubby got a job and flew across country for job training.  Gabe went into daycare while I was still working full-time (this was his first experience with daycare in any form).  Gabe and I ended up living in three separate places before we even moved to New Location(during which time we lived pretty minimalistic lifestyle b/c most of our stuff was in storage).  And after a few months in daycare, I became a stay at home mom.  So there were a LOT of changes during that time.  You could tell there was an effect on The Little One.  He started waking up at night again (not an issue since we did sleep training at 9 months).  And he started waking up ALOT.  He may or may not have stopped eating for a while there.  It was very slow progress in getting him to eat anything again, much less eating a full meal.  During this time, I was SO grateful that he was still BFing.  He refused to drink anything other than water from a cup, so for a while there the only nutrients he was intaking was a few grapes (or similar) a day and breastmilk.  The only other time he'd gone through an anti-eating phase, it was when he was 14/15 months old, when he refused to intake anything other than berries and breastmilk, which lasted all of a week.  This phase lasted much longer.  Hence, I was grateful (although it did also take a toll).
Once we got settled in New Location, were living with Hubby again, and got into a routine, I figured things would settle down a bit.  They did, but not much.  I started limiting BF'ing b/c I needed some "me space."  It was what was right for me and my family.  I truly believe that.  So we limited BF'ing to sleeptimes (could only BF right after he woke up, right before naptime, and right before bedtime).  After a while of this, I ended up cutting him down more.  If I ever wanted to have a day away, I wanted to make sure he would fall asleep with others for naptime (and b/c I just needed more of a break), so we cut back to morning and night.  These really weren't THAT big of a deal.  There were a few days of confusion when he was learning the new rules, but there weren't any uber tantrums.  At some point after the last cutback, I figured I could maintain up to twice a day for a while longer so we stayed there.  And he started requesting it less and less.  Then he stopped asking for mornings almost ever...and then he started being so tired at night (and it helped that Chris started putting Gabe down more so he was getting more used to not having "nursey" each night).  At some point in the last month, he stopped asking and hasn't since. 
So I guess we're done.  It seems weird, as it's been a blessing, but also my ball and chain for the last 2.5 years.  I'm glad we had that time.  I'm glad I was able to give my kid the nutrients he needed, even if it was a massive struggle sometime.  I'm glad I was able to comfort him during the months he was uber stressed out.  And, honestly, I'm glad we're done.  I enjoy sitting and reading him a book goodnight, or singing him a song goodnight now.  And I'm glad I didn't have to fully force a wean.  I may have led it a bit, but he ended up making up his mind when to fully stop.

My Kid Totally Talks Now

For those who didn't know: When Chris went across the country for job training, Gabriel sorta stopped in a lot of ways. He wasn't a fan of eating (anything), he stopped saying new words, he stopped sleeping through the night, etc. Things are getting back to normal now and, even though he was still only saying about 15 words at almost two years, he's now repeating just about everything and has phrases he loves. This post is to try and keep track of/remember some of the cute things he says.
He also now loves the ABC song (although he gets distracted half of the time...or starts singing like Caitlin Millis and mumbles through the letters/words he doesn't remember).
He counts as well...but needs guidance as he likes to skip from two to seven (I think it's his favorite number b/c he'll "count" up to twelve and then start again at seven and go over and over and over and over and over and over and over...you get my point)

• One minute
• Pee-tae-toe
• So sorry
• Here go [insert whatever item he doesn't want to have to hold anymore]
• How ah dooning (how are you doing)
• You okay (half of the time he's very worried about the person he's asking...and half of the time it's because he was just mean and is trying to make sure his mean'ness had an impact)