22 Weeks

Well, we are more than half way there! It's crazy to think that we now have LESS time than I have actually been pregnant. Does that make sense? The first 20 weeks just FLEW by! It gives me a bit of anxiety to think of how fast this next 18 weeks will go... if we even have 18 weeks. Who knows if Reese is going to take after her big brother or cook a little bit longer?

We are sooo not ready for her arrival! Well, we are ready in the sense that we have a bassinet, crib and car seat so worst case we'll take those out of the garage the days she's born (well, I won't, but we'll find someone.) We still have to move Jaxon into his new room and I want to rearrange Reese's room (Jaxon soon-to-be-old room). I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the idea of organizing TWO rooms. But, thankfully in 2 1/2 weeks I have a 3 three week break from school and guess what I will be doing?

Since we are more than half way, I thought I would do a little update on the pregnancy so far.

Actually, not much to report really. If it weren't for my growing mid-section and achy back I would forget I was pregnant. It truly has been another easy pregnancy. Thank goodness!

The last time I wrote about the pregnancy I had yet to gain weight, well people, those days are long gone! This baby likes to eat! Reese is always hungry! (That was a lot of exclamation marks) I am positive that I have gained at least 5 pounds since my last check up 2 weeks ago. Hey, when else in my life am I going to be ok with gaining 5 pounds in 2 weeks?

About 2 weeks ago someone asked me if the baby was moving a lot and honestly, no she wasn't. Compared to Jaxon, who I started to feel at 16 weeks, Reese barely moved. This person-who-shall-remain nameless, called her lazy. Reese was not going to put up with that! Literally the next day or so she made her presence known! I think she is going to be a party girl. She sleeps all day and starts to rouse around 8:00 pm until around 5:00 am. Super. As long as it is simply an in utero thing, I'm cool.

She is already a Daddy's girl. The first day I felt she was kicking strong enough for an "outsider" to feel her, I told Brian to bond with his girl. Jaxon would stop the minute Brian touched my stomach. Not Reese. She followed his hand. Each time he'd place his hand on her she would give him a little shout out. So sweet. She doesn't feel the same about her big brother or grandma though.

The progestrone shots are going well. Actually they don't hurt as much as I had thought. The first 3 weeks were rough, I'm not going to lie. The days following the shots were not fun. It was had to sit or lie down and sometimes it even hurt to put pressure on that leg. On the 4th week I started taking Juice Plus vitamins. Seriously, I think they are magical! Ever since I have been taking them, the after effects of the shot are totally bearable! Now, the shot itself hurts like h$#!. If you've never had a progestrone shot, you can literally feel the medicine seep into your muscle. It also doesn't help that Jaxon watches and says, "Does it hurt? Does that hurt, Mom? Does it hurt now? Do you want a lollipop?"

If you are interested in Juice Plus, check out Nicole's blog... she is my Juice Plus dealer :)

I only have 15 shots left! I can do it!

My latest belly pictures....

Notice the growth is one short week?

LOVE Jaxon kissing his baby sister.

For those of you that may have comments about how "large" I am, my belly measures the right amount for as far a long as I am. I measured 21 cm at 21 weeks, which is where I was with Jaxon.

That's all folks. :)

Ready to Help!

Jaxon is SOOO ready to be a BIG brother. Actually, he already says that he is. He asks me almost on a daily basis, "Mommy, what are we going to do with this baby?" The first time he asked was one of those days when I was actually thinking the same thing myself, "What are we going to do with TWO kids! How will we split our time?" So I said to him, "I really don't know Jaxon." He responds, "MOOOOM, we are going to give her a bottle, we'll change her diapers, we'll tickle her and we'll give her kisses." Talk about melting my heart and putting a mom at ease!

Honestly, I am seriously amazed with this child and the words that come out of his mouth! Now when he asks he doesn't even let me answer. He just rattles off things we'll do (more like he'll do)... teach her how to use the frog potty (he'll even help her sit up since she won't know how yet), teach her to talk, teach her to pedal a tricycle, feed her, hold her, read her books....

Needless to say, he's ready.

Ms. Courtney (one of Jaxon's teachers) sent me a picture of Jaxon playing at school.

Oh yeah... He's ready!

In Two Weeks...

In 2 weeks we find out what Baby Pearson is! So excited. We can finally either stop arguing over boy names or go with our ONE choice for a girl. It's so funny because when we were expecting Jaxon it was the other way around. So maybe that means we're having a girl??

Now that we are 2 weeks away, I want to know what you think! Boy or girl? Pink or blue? On the side panel you'll find a Baby Poll. Take a minute to vote. You have until August 9.

For those of you who need a full picture before making such a crucial decision, here are a few facts about this pregnancy:

* I had morning, evening and middle-of-the-night sickness for the first few weeks of pregnancy.

* I have gained one pound to date.

* I have had no cravings :( I actually am eating less now than I did before being pregnant!

* My body temperature has been much colder than ever (100 degree days don't seem to bother me like it does others)

* My feet are colder (for those of you who were at Mary's shower)

* The Chinese Conception calendar says I'm having a girl.

* The needle over the palm goes in a line, which means boy.

* And of course the all-important belly picture.

Now that you have a complete picture.... VOTE!

Happy Friday to Me?

This afternoon, after a morning full of energetic kindergartners, I came home to find a FedEx package waiting for me. OOOO. What could it be? I didn't remember ordering anything. What a nice surprise. Well, my excitement quickly faded. I opened the package only to find this....An envelope full of shots.

Shots? you ask yourself. Yes, shots. And not the "good" kind as in Tequila, but the kind that will cause me pain ( I suppose the other kind of shots cause pain too).

Let me fill you in. Since Jaxon was a preemie (6 weeks) my OB would like to prevent another pre-term baby. Why? Jaxon has turned out just fine thank you very much. But as the say, "Each day spent in the womb is better than a day in the NICU". So, I must have progestrone shots given to me weekly starting next week until December 19. FIVE months people!

Can't say I'm looking forward to that. Brian is all too willing to give me the shot. Hmmmm. Luckily, my insurance covers the cost of a nurse coming to my house to inject me. We'll see how that goes. I'm less likely to curse at her than I would be to Brian and she's less likely to get pleasure from it as Brian may.

My Loot

That says 22g needle. Not sure how big that is?

Looks pretty big to me

We'll see how this goes. I'll keep you posted.

Never Say Never

So if there is one thing I have learned in my 32 years is "Never Say Never".

Ten years ago my friend Heather wanted to introduce me to her friend Brian because he thought I was cute. I said, "Nope. Not interested in dating anyone right now." Yeah. We all know how that ended.

Six years ago, Brian's employer told him he would have to relocate soon. He said sure, but he would not move to Albuquerque. Yeah. Where did we spend the last 5 years?

While living in Albuquerque our Tucson friends and family would ask when we'd be moving back. "Not anytime soon, if ever.", we'd say. Oh yeah... that one came true, too.

When I found out we were moving back I said I wasn't going to work. I was going to stay home, run Get A Grip for Brian, volunteer at Jaxon's preschool, have playdates with friends. What's that? Ami & Mary twisted my arm to going back to teach kindergarten with them! (It took a lot of twisiting :) )

And a month and a half ago I wrote this blog (Maybe Baby? Maybe Not). Going on and on about how we weren't going to have any more kids. One was enough for us. Well, God had other plans.

Oh yes, people, I hope you are all ready. There will be another Pearson gracing our presence soon! There was nobody more shocked than Brian and me.

The fourth member of our family is due to arrive on January 8, 2012. I'm 12 weeks along. It's been an emotional roller coaster, to say the least.

Not having planned it, actually, having had a mind set of no more kids, will throw you for a loop when it does happen. I thought we were free of diapers, bottles, baby food, strollers, diaper bags, teething, colic and all of the other "fun" stuff that comes with a baby. plus I felt terrible that there are couples who try so hard for a baby and it just doesn't happen for them and here I am, not necessarily asking for another one with a baby on the way. Needless to say, it took a few weeks for us to get excited. Plus the thought of months of sleepless nights, was not at all exciting.

Then, we had our first ultrasound, at 8 weeks. The doctor saw something on the ultrasound that made us VERY nervous. My experience with doctors making "noises" has not been good. She said she wanted me to have another ultrasound in a few weeks to take a closer look at what this thing could be. As you can imagine, I was a worried. You don't want something to be wrong with the baby you are just getting to know. So, Brian & I had to guard our hearts (yes, I realize I sound a bit like Kasey from Ali's season of The Bachelorette). We needed to prepare ourselves for the worst. Hope for the best, expect the worst. Maybe not the best attitude to have, but it's what we did.

As those 4 weeks moved on, and my belly started growing, (Oh yes, it's became round and big quickly) Brian and I got a bit more excited. Thinking about Jaxon as a big brother made us happy. We think it is going to be great for Jaxon, in a lot of ways (he needs to learn that life doesn't revolve around him). Then, I started looking back at past blog posts, and our picture albums. Seeing Jaxon's chubby little face, his milestones, his excitement made me thrilled to be able to experience all of those firsts again. And sure enough, we have fallen in love.

See that belly! It's getting hard to hide.

Thankfully, things have turned out for the best, so far. We had the second ultra sound last week and the baby looks absolutely perfect! I am so in love with this precious little thing. We could see his/her fingers, nose, mouth, ears, spine. So amazing. Her/his heartbeat seems so strong. The doctor said everything looks good and is on track.

Honestly, how cute is this new little Pearson going to be?


The top yellow word says "head" the middle one says "belly" and the bottom one is "spine"

Jaxon seems totally ready for a new baby. When I told him I had a baby in my belly he said, "What kind is it? Is your belly going to get big like Mary's?" And that was it. He seems to want a little sister and keeps calling the baby a girl. He does want to name her "Dorie", so that'll be interesting if it is a girl. He's even ready to give his crib to the baby so that he can have a big boy bed.

So now we wait a couple more months to find out if we'll be buying pink or handing down blue.

Maybe Baby? Maybe Not.

It's only day 5 and I am already running out of things to post! Yikes! So after much thought, I stole a post idea from Ami (are we surprised really? ) The other day she wrote about having, or not having, more kids. I get this question A LOT!! Are you having more kids? Jaxon needs a little brother or sister. When's baby #2 coming? Don't you want to try to have a little girl? I'm not going to lie, I get annoyed. I mean, that's kind of a personal question. What if I couldn't have anymore kids? Or what if I've been trying and failed? I know people mean well...

Anyway, I'm not opposed to the idea of having one more, but you see I would have wanted to do it when Jaxon was younger... 12 months, 18 months, maybe even 24 months. But I couldn't. The doctors specifically and adamently told me I could not get pregnant until January 2011. This is due to the radiactive treatment I had due to the thyroid cancer. I guess a baby with 3 heads is never a good idea. So the idea and desire was put on hold.

Well, as that date got closer, I started thinking... maybe.

But then I kept thinking and maybe not.

I would love for Jaxon to have a playmate and someone to complain about his crazy mom and demanding dad to. Someone to support him if, God forbid, something happen to one of the both of us. How unfair is it to Jax to have to be on his own while cleaning out our house after we have passed, or to have to decide whether to pull the plug or not. I know, I am morbid, but I've had the thoughts.

It would be easier for me to tell Jaxon, "Go play with your brother while I make dinner." Instead of feeling guilty that he's playing by himself.

He is such a good little boy, he would make a caring, sweet brother.

I loved being pregnant. I also was a cute pregnant lady :)

But then I think, Jaxon is 3 (in 3 days... sniff, sniff). He would be 3 1/2 + by the time a baby was born. I wanted my kids closer in age.

We sleep through the night.

It is so much easier to go places now... no bottles, strollers, diapers, pacifiers

We love to travel and it's just more cost effective to buy 3 airline tickets as opposed to 4.

when it comes times for extra curricular activities, going to 1 is much more feasible than 2.

Jaxon was such an easy baby, a good sleeper, a good eater, it would surely be jinxing it to have another one.

Plus, there is no law that says we need to have one more baby. If we lived in China we would be perfect!

And the list goes on... for both arguments.

I know a lot of you will shake your heads and say all kinds of things about how a big family is wonderful and I am sure it is. But I love my little family. And if we were meant to have another one then it'll happen, somehow, those swimmers have to be determined!

And is are the questions going to stop once I have 2? Then it'll be are you going to have 3??