June Strawberry Festival!

I realized that I never shared these photos from last year's trip out to the farm for the Annual Strawberry Festival! (it's the same farm we go to for pumpkin picking and the Bunny Festival) Owen was 15 months and LOVED it last year. He rode the big blue tractor and picked lots of berries. He wasn't walking yet and I can't believe he was crawling through the patches, but indeed he was.

The festival is one day only the first weekend in June and Jeremy made it home from work in time to go again this year. Mama was smart and dressed Mr. Owen in a RED shirt this time. We rode the big blue tractor out to the patches again and Owen was a great helper picking the berries. We also picked some sugar snap peas, but the crop wasn't quite ready yet and Owen ended up eating the two handfuls we picked before we even paid! We ate Amish donuts, fed goats at the petting zoo, Owen played on the wooden tractor and we had lots of strawberry-flavored treats. An awesome way to kick off some summer-time fun, family-style!

26.5 Weeks Pregnant: Memories of a scary time

Today was another OB appointment, and I have had a rough week. This is the exact time we found out that I was in preterm labor with Owen so every little ache, pain and contraction this week has been sending me into anxiety and tears. Jeremy was on call every other night this week, getting slammed, so we didn't really see him at all and it left lots of extra slack for me to pick up.

Owen and I waited almost 1.5 hours to see the doctor this time, and thankfully Owen was so well behaved. He ate snacks and watched Curious George on the ipod. When the nurse came in to see me she told me that I failed my 1 hr glucose tolerance test. The cut off was 135 and mine was 137. Since I have reactive hypoglycemia, I'm already at risk for gestational diabetes on top of ALREADY having a high risk pregnancy. She told me that I need to do the 3 hr test, which requires you drink the glocola and then wait in the lab for THREE HOURS to have your blood drawn. Owen came with me for the first one and waited the hour, but three hours with a toddler is NOT happening. I told her Jeremy doesn't have a day off for a few weeks and they said that until I have the test I have to check my sugars with a meter 4 times a day. On top of that, I tested postive for Group B strep, and while it is just an overgrowth of natural flora it's dangerous for the baby and I'll need to have IV antibiotics during labor and delivery.

All of this news was a lot for me as I was already pretty upset anyway. When the doctor came in, I burst into tears and told him how worried I am about bedrest/preterm/ doing too much. He came right back into the room with an ultrasound machine and measured a perfectly normal cervix (with of course, more tears from me...)

He told me I am doing a great job and that my body is holding onto this baby. He said that if my body wants to contract in the evening to just drink water and lay on the couch. Contractions can be normal and as long as they stop, or don't get increasingly painful, I'm okay. I'm still getting my shots so that is another thing working in our favor. He assured me that I'm not going to "make" myself go into labor by carrying Owen, doing laundry or just being a Mama. It made me feel a lot better.

So while some of the news was less than ideal,  what Jeremy reminded me of later is that what I pray for the MOST is a healthy, full-term baby and right now a long cervix was exactly what we needed to see. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers... I'll breath such a huge sigh of relief in ten weeks.

Memorial Day

Daddy was on call for Memorial Day but he was able to join us for an hour or so out at the fountain for some cooling off.

Jeremy taught Owen how to do a somersault at home on the carpet and O is still getting used to the idea that you cannot just bend down and do one where ever, when ever. When we saw him like this we were like, "NO! No not here!" and he gave us a very confused look but decided to play in the water instead.

Happy Memorial Day!

A Night Away

One of my fears about having a second child is that I've never left Owen. I've left him a few times for 4 hours and ONCE for 8 hours. Never longer. Never overnight.

I didn't want the arrival of Baby Brother to be the first time I'd left Owen overnight so when we received an invitation to Jeremy's co-resident's wedding in Maryland, we asked Doda Kelly if she would be willing to take on an extra boy overnight. Kelly and Andy live in DC only 45 minutes from where the wedding was so Jeremy and I dropped Owen off for a sleepover and then headed to the wedding.

When we walked away I had to choke back the tears even though Jeremy said, "You can cry if you want to, it's okay."  --- but our boy? Just waved goodbye.  A few minutes later Andy texted us a picture of him rummaging through toys with Graham and Ben that said, "Already exploring!! No crying; doing fine ;)"

As we were getting ready, we got this message....

"Second cob of corn... he's an eating machine!"

The wedding was beautiful and it was outside at a secluded mansion. The ring bearer was about 2 and right after he walked down the aisle he lost it. He was screaming and wet-noodling all over the the ground while his mother embarrassingly escorted him somewhere less -- public. Jeremy and I looked at each other with that 'been there. done that." look and breathed a sign of relief when a text came in showing us what OUR boy was doing right at that moment....

"Ice cream and playground!!!"

We knew our little one was having MUCH more fun without us (and Doda Kelly let him have AN ENTIRE ICE CREAM SANDWICH while we usually give him half ;)  Aunts are supposed to spoil their god-sons and Owen was thrilled!)

I was actually very calm and thankful for the texts that read, "Bathtime... complete success! Owen doing fabulous"   and even though I started to get worried around bedtime I finally got a text that said he went to sleep (after asking Doda Kelly to read him a BA-ZILLION books) no problems.

Meanwhile...

Jeremy had LOTS to drink with his co-residents and danced the night away. I was having lots of contractions that night, so I didn't dance. And I was the designated driver and while I couldn't drink, his co-resident did hand over his cake and chocolate covered strawberries so that made up for him drinking my champagne and my shot of Colombian liqueur.

The way home at 12:45am was actually very comical as Jeremy tried to get me to drive the WRONG WAY down a one-way highway in the middle of nowhere and then repeated this the entire way back to our hotel, "Wow, I SHOULD NOT be driving." --- Um... YOU AREN'T DRIVING!!

I laughed when I woke up and saw this message,
"Owen slept through the night w/o waking up... actually he's still sleeping. God you guys are lucky... our kids have been up since 6:15..."

Owen apparently slept until 9am (per usual) even with the entire house awake around him. And we got an adorable picture of him eating his breakfast

When we arrived he didn't even look up from playing to acknowledge our existence. Kelly and Andy said he was perfect with no crying the entire time. I was so proud of our boy and so proud of myself for finally leaving him. Obviously the separation issues are now mine and NOT his, but I'm glad I did it.

Owen talked about his fun night the entire way home and even told me the next day that Doda Kelly didn't give him any dinner... only ice cream sandwiches!  Good thing I know better ;)

Our Last Day at The Beach

Family Vacation: Our Priorities

This has been a challenging year for our family, our loss, Jeremy's schedule, new pregnancy with a difficult first trimester. On top of that Owen stretching his toddler wings and giving us a nice big dose of his independence. Our time together, the three of us, is very limited.

Jeremy gets 4 days off per month. Those days go by quicker than you can imagine and are filled with things we HAVE to do like car inspections, apartment "stuff" (seal the windows for winter, hang a picture here or there, grab the window AC units and install them) but mostly we try to save his days off for fun together. Still, it's hard to do.

Three weeks (completely unscheduled, random weeks that we rarely know about in advance) out of the year (and a few days around Christmas/New Years) Jeremy is ON VACATION. It is the ONLY time that we don't have to wait while he answers his pager, or sit in the car while he runs into the hospital (even on his days off) to see a patient.

We made a decision that any extra money we had at the end of each month would go into our savings account and spent on time together. Our trip to Hilton Head in October was such a special time for us. The weather was perfect, there weren't crowds and we relaxed the entire week enjoying each others company.

We drove away from the island wanting nothing more than to plan a time to go back. Jeremy was given a week off in April, but he pushed for it to be moved to the first week in May so that we could enjoy some nice weather at the beach. It was approved a month prior and we scrambled to find a place to stay.  We knew this would be our last vacation until the December holidays, because his fall vacation week will have to be used when the baby comes. We also knew it would be our last trip as a family of three and while we are bursting with excitement to welcome our new addition it was nice to just cherish our firstborn a little and wonder how different things will be when we visit the beach next spring.

Owen could not have been happier the entire time, despite a small cold he caught on the way there. He played in the sand with his Daddy for HOURS and absolutely loved everything about the ocean and the beach.

This was a very special trip for the three of us, and one we will remember for a long, long time.

Read more about our Babymoon on Kveller.

25 Weeks Pregnant

We had another cervical ultrasound on Friday and it looks like things are still measuring 3.8-3.9 which is great. That was my last routine ultrasound and from here on out they will monitor me every two weeks with digital exams/ultrasounds, based on symptoms. The doctor told me that while bed rest is absolutely not on the table right now, I need to watch my activity and listen to my body. Any more than 4 contractions in an hour and I am to call, period. Medication is still an option should I need it and I'll stay on the progesterone shots until 36 weeks (11 more shots and counting...)

As we get closer to the 26-27 week mark where things got scary last time around I find myself questioning every pain and every step I take. Should I have walked up those stairs with the laundry? Should I have struggled with Owen in the grocery? I'm terrified but trying to push aside those fears to be hopeful.

Bringing another little boy into the world safe and healthy will hopefully be another of my most sacred accomplishments as a mother, but it won't come without worry while we wait. Please hold us in your thoughts and prayers.

Hilton Head: Shannon Tanner Concert

Spring and early fall seem like the perfect time to visit Hilton Head. This time, Nana and Papa met us for part of the week to enjoy the wonderful weather and some fun beach time. Owen was so happy to see them and we all enjoyed the time together.

Peak season was just about to get started  and it was the first week for an outdoor concert right on the Harbour without the crowds. Shannon Tanner is a great performer and I think the adults laughed just as much as the kids. O is a shy guy so he stayed back with us and watched the other kids up front dancing and singing. I can see us enjoying these concerts for years to come.

 Dancin' FOOL

Papa does the sprinkler dance

HAPPIEST. PICTURE. EVER.