Sick Baby

Well, Judson has his first full-blown cold. He's actually getting over it now. He has been so, so sleepy. A few days ago, I fed him and then sat him on the couch so I could get dressed. When I came back, I found him in the exact position I had left him, only he was now asleep.


Poor little guy... He fell asleep mid-stretch.


He seems to be on the mend, with only a cough left. It was a little scary for a while and we thought it might be RSV, but a trip to the doctor alleviated our fears and confirmed that he just had a cold. We were so thankful to God for just a cold.

We survived his first cold and even made sure to record it in his baby book. Hey, every kid needs to know when they had their first cold! You never know when that info might come in handy...

Judson with Randall's bear

Randall was home sick last week with an ear infection. He wasn't actually sick and could have gone to school, but the school won't give over the counter pain meds without a doctor's consent. If I'm going to go to the doctor to get a consent, I might as well get an antibiotic, which we were trying to avoid. But, we ended up having to go to the doctor anyway because the pain was just too much for us to try to let the infection clear itself up.

The Sunday before, Randall had bought a teddy bear from the AWANA store. He felt that, even with the 10-15 stuffed animals that live at the foot of his bed, he needed yet another stuffed animal.

Judson agreed with him.

Randall gave Judson the bear to "hold"...


And it looked like he really was holding it.


He often clenches his fists and pulls them to his chest, but it looked like he was clinging to the bear. So sweet!


Then Randall wanted to hold Judson and was making funny faces to get him to smile.


Sometimes sick days can be a lot of fun!

39 and 40 weeks and counting...

Well, I forgot to take a 40-week picture, so I'll just post my 39-week picture and my 40-week update. How's that for confusing?


Yesterday was my due date, but I was pretty sure it would pass without any excitement. It did. Tomorrow I'm scheduled to go in at 5 am to be induced. I'm not looking forward to that, but I am very much looking forward to meeting this little guy.

This has been such a good pregnancy and I thank God for that. A friend called this morning and asked how I was feeling and I said, "Well, unfortunately, I'm feeling great." I wish I were feeling contractions or other pains to signal a baby coming on his own, but I'm not. I am, however, thankful that I feel great. The swelling in my ankles has gone way down and often is non-existent--thank you, Jesus! The heartburn isn't fun, but it's not miserable. I'm not sleeping great and turning from one side to the other takes way too much effort, but that's normal at this point, I know. Basically, I think I could go another week or two and be just fine. I remember with both boys feeling like I was "so ready" at this point. But, I have a lot of energy and feel very relaxed.

I'll probably need that energy for the labor ahead, too. My doctor said that I am not dialated any more than I was last week and I'm not effaced at all. Basically, my body is not ready to go into labor. I asked her if we should wait another week or so (like we did with Russ and Rand) and she said she didn't think I would be any more ready in a week. When I went in to be induced with Randall, I wasn't dialated or effaced, either. Maybe 50% effaced, I can't remember.

So, she said we can pretty much expect the same kind of labor with this one as I had with the other two. That means pitocin and many hours of waiting.

But, since this pregnancy has been so good and I exercised for so much of it, maybe it'll go quicker. Maybe. We'll see.

But, it doesn't matter either way. God is in control and He'll give me the strength to make it through. All that matters is that we have a healthy baby boy. The rest will pass.

I'm thankful for family and friends and for the chance to get to experience this exciting time with all of you!

Tonight, we're going out to dinner with my family to celebrate Judson's coming. I'm going to try really hard not to pig out on Butcher Shop burgers and fries, but I can't make any promises.

Where, oh, where has my little blog gone?

Wow, it's been almost a month since I last posted! Busy and lazy, those are my excuses.

I think I'll just do a quick recap of the last few weeks and then try to get back on track.

* Had my sonogram and found out that we're having a peanut. An alien peanut. And only one alien peanut. I meant to upload my sonogram pictures to FB, but after I scanned them, I couldn't find them and I was too lazy to do it again... But, I have now found them!


Cute little alien peanut, don't you think?

* Met with my doctor a week later, had a great appointment and a great chat with her, and she confirmed that my due date is November 16th. Which, basically, means that a week or two later, we ought to have a baby. Pitocin is not my friend.

* Had a garage sale over a month ago and then took leftovers to a friend's for another one. Made lots of money and yet still came home with junk. How'd that happen?

* Went strawberry picking and got lots and lots of strawberries! Made lots of yummy stuff! Post coming someday.

* Went to my nieces' (Julia and Ally) dance recital, oohed and aahed over all the cute little girls, got teary-eyed watching my nieces and then thanked God that I only have boys.

* Had a decorator friend from church, Jennie, of Ooh La La! Decorating, come over to give me some tips on making my livingroom arrangement look intentional and not accidental. *grin* She had lots of great ideas! Here are a few of her ideas:

Starting with the wall that the front door is on. I got the personalized name sign pictures from DeSIGNS by Rene'. She had all our first names and even our last name!


Next, the bookshelves along the hallway wall. I'm going to get the "Rinehart" thing rematted so it matches the room colors better.


Piano area next to the bookshelves. Russ was practicing piano and Jennie (not the one that helped me decorate, although their names are spelled the same way *grin*) was listening.


Then our new TV and entertainment center and the random window seat-like thing.


And, last, the arrangement on top of the computer desk.


I have a wall that I will be putting my cross collection on once I find it in the storage shed out back. We took them down when we had our house listed so everything looked less cluttered and now I can't find them... Once I finish everything, I'll take a whole livingroom picture.

* Then a field trip to Sci-Port with Randall (had to miss my last MOPS meeting--bummer!), a field trip to the Tyler Zoo with Russell and Russell's field day. Whew! Busy week! Separate posts coming.

* Tonight is Share Night at BSF and my last night in the evening class. I've decided to switch to the day class because I can bring the baby with me and not have to worry about leaving him/her home with Slade on Monday evenings when he needs to be doing school work.

And, now we're caught up. Posts with more pictures coming soon!!

Doctor's Visit

Well, the doctor said he's going to have to amputate.

Just kidding.

So, now anything I say will sound good since anything is better than amputating. :-)

I went to the doctor today and I have a skin infection, aka cellulitis. He doesn't know if it's from a spider or just an infection that got in a mosquito bite or scratch or something. He said he doesn't want to play around when it comes to skin infections, so he's treating it aggressively, as if it were already a full-blown staff infection. He's pretty sure it's not a staff infection, but better safe than sorry.

He did a culture (no lancing!) and sent it off to be cultured... or whatever it is that they do to cultures.

Then, when the doctor asks, "How do you feel about shots?" you know it's not going to be good. As far as I remember, I'd never had a shot in my butt. As of today, I've had two. Ouch!

Okay, it wasn't really my butt, more my lower back, upper hiney area. "The fatty area" the nurse said. Excuse me?! Thanks a lot.

So, one shot was a steroid to help with the swelling--and it has helped. The swelling has gone down by about 50%. The second shot was an antiobiotic to help clear up the infection.

"So since I'll be getting an antiobiotic shot, I won't need to take antiobiotics?" I asked.

"I didn't say that." Oh.

So, I have a 7 day antiobiotic that he wants me to take for 10 days just to be sure. I also have a topical cream that goes on 2-3 times a day.

I'm also supposed to change my sheets and wash them in hot water, separate from any other laundry. He's not playing around. I appreciate that. I just don't appreciate that I just changed my sheets 3 days ago. Rats.

Dr. Wright laughed when I said Christy and I had e-mailed a picture of my knee to an ER doctor friend. He is an older doctor and said he's just about seen it all. Back in his day, the doctor came to visit, said, "Take two of these, and call me in the morning." Now, we just e-mail the doctor for the same advice. :-)

So, no swimming for a week and I have to go back again next Thursday for him to check and see how things are looking and doing. I appreciate his caution and that he is being agressive in his treatment.

So, now I must go elevate my leg, put a cool cloth on my forehead, moan a little... Oh, wait, what's that? That's right, Slade's not here. It won't do me any good. Oh, well, I guess I'll go paint my toenails. :-)

'Night.