It has been a long time

I am so behind on this. As A gets older and is constantly doing new awesome and amazing stuff, I fall more behind on the blog. Anderson is 2 years and 4 months and seems to be passing through the toddler phase so fast and becoming a kid. We haven't had too many terrible two fiasco's yet, and the ones we have are usually at home, so I am grateful for that. Anderson is talking up a storm now. I was a little worried at first when other kids his age were already talking pretty well, and A wasn't. But now there is no stopping him. It is so fun to hear him answer you and repeat some 3-5 word sentences. Now I really have to start watching my language. Luckily even though I have let a few curse words slip, he has not repeated them yet. It is so neat to see Craig and my traits in Anderson. But it also turns my hair grey when A acts exactly like his mother, stubborn and strong willed. He has also began helping with absolutely everything. And if we forget to ask him to help with something and he sees we are doing something, like filling up his water glass, opening the front door, or sweeping, he almost has a meltdown since he wants to help so much. I hope he keeps this up and starts doing the dishes soon, we need some help there! Like always we are having so much fun with him. With Anderson being able to converse more with us it is so much easier to figure out what he wants. We are heading back to Texas this summer for our summer vacation and time to visit family. I am going to totally take advantage of my parents being grandparents and have them hang out with A as much as possible! I love being with my son of course, but I will take some free babysitting any time so that I can hang out with my husband for some adult time.

Almost 2 years!

It has been a really long time since I last wrote on here, but really there is not much to update, we are pretty boring. But I will give an update a shot.

I cannot believe in a little over a month I will have a 2 year old, what?!?! How did this happen, where did the time go. It seems like yesterday I could hold him with just one arm and when I put him down, he actually stayed in the same spot. Now I get tired holding him after a few minutes and he hits the ground running/climbing/jumping when I put him down. Looking back on older pictures it is just amazing how much they change in such a short amount of time.




We are just enjoying everyday as it comes, and we seem to just roll with the punches on what Anderson does. Haven't really found any discipline tactic that seems to work on him, so this may end up bad! But for the most part he hasn't gotten into too much trouble yet. He is just one crazy little boy that loves to play inside, outside, with the dogs, with his cars and trains, and with his food.



Like I said, we are pretty boring. Next post will be after the holidays. Anderson and I are travelling back to the States, to Texas and Kansas, for our first Christmas back since being in Grenada. Hopefully we will get some snow in Kansas and get a picture with Santa. Here are a few more pictures until next time.

Play Time

My day consists of waking up as soon as the sun comes up, around 6, since Anderson cannot seem to sleep in when the sun is up. Then we sit in the living room and watch some of a Disney movie before breakfast. After breakfast I usually get led by my little man into his room to play with his cars. We play a lot of cars lately. Anderson's favorite thing to do now is run his cars down his Fisher-Price car ramp over, and over, and over, and over. In between the cars going down the ramp we read books, look for lizards outside with the dogs, slide down the slide Craig made, and then back to cars.



I am loving this age so far. We play a lot and there have not yet been too many meltdowns. He is always grumpy though after his nap, and I am the same way. I know I need my sleep and not happy if I don't get enough (which I still don't get enough of). Luckily, Anderson sleeps great over night, but that waking up for 6 for me is not what I prefer.

Anderson still has not really said a word I understand. But he sometimes sounds like he is making a sentence. He will say a string of words, and I can tell he isn't just repeating the same word, but I cannot tell what he is saying. Sometimes I think I hear a word come out, but never really sure. I think he has said bear and one time it sounded like baseball, but doubtful that he actually said that big of a word. Hopefully he is just a late bloomer on talking and that there is nothing wrong with his speech.





On a sad note, we had to put one of our dogs down due to lymphoma. We found out the diagnosis a few days ago and decided we didn't want her to suffer at all and went ahead and put her down. I had to do all this by myself since currently Craig and Anderson are in Texas for the 4th. Even though Craig got Bonnie before I met him, I have been with her for almost 8 years, so it was tough. I am not sure if Anderson will notice that she is gone when they get back since Bonnie did not let Anderson interact with her that much.

Amazed

I am sure every parent goes through this same amazement of what your child does, but since this is so new to me, I thought I would write about it. I am simply amazed every day how much Anderson is learning. Even though he has not yet said a real word, he somehow can understand almost everything we are saying. Here are a few things he has done that simply amaze me.




1. We have a water cooler for drinking water since sometimes the water here is iffy. Now when his water cup is empty he will take his cup to the water cooler and place it on the little ledge for us to fill up his cup.

2. We give him a bath almost every night since he loves to play outside and gets really dirty and sweaty, plus it is a great start to his bedtime routine. After his bath at night I hang up his washcloths over the shower rod to dry out for the next bath. During his bath, once he feels he is done playing and ready to be done, he points up to the wash cloths so I know to finish with his bath time and clean him off.

3. Whenever he is ready to eat his breakfast, lunch, or dinner, he walks over to his high chair and wants in it. Or if he forgets it is time to eat, but I mention those words, he will go over to the chair too.




He has pretty much mastered the pointing at what he wants or at least in that general direction for us to figure it out. He is trying so hard to talk, he babbles a lot and will grunt, but no words have really formed yet, but I think he is close. I have a feeling his first word is going to be "woof" because every time the dogs start barking at something outside, Anderson has to go out, and start barking with them. He doesn't actually bark, but he goes "uhh, uhh". It is quite funny.



Like I said, I am sure every other parent has already been through this, but I am just so happy to see him learning and understanding the world around him. We are having such a great time with him, but it is really exhausting, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

No longer a baby, now a toddler

I am sorry it has been so long since I last posted. There is so much that has happened in the past few months. We now have a 1 year old! It is so hard to believe it has already been a year since he entered our lives and changed us forever. We went swimming for his birthday party with some friends. Anderson always has a great time in the pool. Even though he has no idea it was his birthday, it seems like he had a great day. I made some cupcakes, but he was not that interested in eating it. (It will be really weird if he does not like sweets since both Craig and I love sweets. Also, I have tried giving him juice, which he does not prefer either.) We gave him a few bites of the cupcake and then he threw it on the floor for the dogs to gobble up. Feeding the dogs from his high chair is one of his favorite things to do.

Christmas here was pretty uneventful. We went to a local resort for a lunch buffet which was not that great. At least we went with some good friends and still had a good time.

We moved in the middle of December which was pretty much a nightmare. We found out we have A LOT of stuff. We moved to a smaller house since it is WAY cheaper in rent, but now we don't have room for all of our stuff. We are still slowly trying to find a place for everything. Luckily we have friends here with extra space where we can store some of our things. It was also really hard moving with a toddler. We could never really work as a team, it always had to be one of us working, packing, or cleaning, while the other made sure Anderson wasn't in the way. But now that we are all moved in, this place is turning out to be great. It is on the ground unlike the previous place, which now there is no fear of Anderson falling off steps. We have a view of the ocean and a great breeze, you can't ask for much more.

Okay, so now after writing some of our happenings, I am realizing even though I haven't posted in a while, I really do not have much to say. We have just been keeping busy chasing Anderson around and enjoying the holiday break.

I hope everyone has a great new year!

Running around like a mad man

So Anderson is full on walking now, sometimes speeding up to a slow run. It is amazing how much ground he can cover in a short amount of time. Who knew those little legs could move so fast.

His favorite way to pass the time away is to walk around the entire yard, walk in the dirt under the house, and walk up and down our driveway. We learned that you never try to pick him up when he is playing downstairs because he will throw a fit. For some reason he always needs to be carrying something in one of his hands while walking. He will pick anything up to use, a piece of grass or a pointy stick (his favorite thing to find). The only bad thing about playing in the dirt is that there are a lot of rocks for him to chew on. He thinks it is pretty funny to put a rock in his mouth and chomp down while running away from us as we try to get it out of his mouth. He is really sneaky too about eating rocks, sometimes you don't realize it until it has been in there a while, which is kind of scary.

He knows how to climb upstairs and knows how to get off of our bed (which is on the ground) and out the door safely, but he has not mastered going down more than one step.

His personality is really coming through now. He is such an active little boy and doesn't like things like dogs or us standing in his way. He barely takes the time to eat or sleep during the day since all he wants to do is play. He laughs a lot, which I love, and will look at me when he knows he is about to do something wrong and then smile. The best sound in the world is him laughing when Craig tickles his side with his beard. Anderson also likes to get his way. He has already started a short tantrum and new noise expression when I take something away from him that he cannot have or pull him away from the dog water bowls he loves splashing in. I have a feeling the terrible 2's are going to be really bad!

Even though he is quite a hand full, we are loving every minute of it. It is so much fun to interact with him, make him laugh, and cuddle with him in the morning. We are so blessed to have such a great little guy! Hopefully I can still say that when he becomes a teenager.

Chasing the little one

Welcome to the next step in parenting, chasing after a crawling baby. Sometimes he is ninja like, one minute he is right next to me, the next he has made it completely across the room to the dog bowls. He enjoys trying to get the dogs, which they do not enjoy as much. But, Sorrel, the youngest dog, also Grenadian, has started to play with him some. It may actually be she is just trying to get away from him, but Anderson loves it either way. Within a week of him learning how to crawl, he also started pulling himself up on whatever he can. So not only do we have to watch where he goes, now we have to watch and make sure he doesn't do a face plant into the tile from higher up. Luckily he has sort of mastered simply falling on his butt from standing, but we still have the occasional fall followed by a loud thunk and then crying. Hopefully he doesn't get too battered and bruised.

We have not totally baby proofed the house, but we are working on it. Craig installed all the cabinet door locks in the kitchen, placed plug covers, and tried to hide our computer wires. And somehow he still finds ways to get into trouble. I am a little worried that he is going to be just like me. Anytime we take him away from a trouble spot, which he thoroughly enjoys, he makes a fuss or growls. Craig believes that those reactions are exactly like me. My parents always said I was a stubborn little shit, and now karma is a bitch.

In some ways I wish he would just stay in one spot when we put him down, but I do love seeing him smile while crawling up to his toys, after the dogs, or up to one of us.

6 months

I am 2 weeks late on posting this, but I cannot believe I already have a 6 month old. Since the last post Anderson had his first plane ride, first trip to Texas, visiting friends and family, sitting on his own, eating solid foods, and attempting to crawl. So we have definitely been busy.

Anderson and I headed back to Texas at the first of June to meet the grandparents, great grandma and his cousins. The flight to Miami went well, but once we arrived it kind of all went downhill. The gate we were flying out of kept having a fire alarm go off and there were fire fighters in full gear there checking it out, so that was not comforting. We were also delayed due to heavy storms involving lightening. Then our gate ended up changing, but they were not able to announce it due to the fire alarm. Luckily I kept noticing people leaving so I went to ask myself. I ended up walking to the other gate with the flight crew and one of the pilots. Once we got to the next gate we found out we were delayed some more. Then, once we finally boarded the plane, while Anderson was crying his little head off since it was bedtime, we find out all flights out had been canceled due to weather. So we had to head on over to the hotel in the airport and get a room for the night. We were not able to get our luggage so I could not use any air conditioning while sleeping since I did not have any pajamas for Anderson. The next morning I had to go check in and poor little man was freezing while were waiting in line to check in. Luckily a couple let me go ahead of them so we could get done faster. We finally made it to Texas after losing a day of vacation.

Visiting all the friends and family was great but overwhelming. So many strangers at once did not go so well. And he was totally thrown off his routine and was not taking his normal nap times. Luckily he was still able to sleep through the night.

Heading back to Grenada was an even worse time then coming to Texas. I gate checked the stroller in Dallas and placed it under the big blue sign that says LEAVE STROLLERS HERE. But once I got to Miami, there was no stroller on the plane. How do you not load the stroller on the plane? I was SOOOOO mad. I had to lug him around the airport and he is not a tiny baby! They were hoping that it might make it on the next flight, but of course it did not and I did not end up getting it in Grenada until 5 days later. Also, when I arrived in Grenada, one of my bags was lost and of course it was the bag with all my clothes in it. I received that bag 4 days later.

Anderson was a pretty good traveler, he was able to sleep some and the passengers next to me liked to keep him entertained. But I do not ever want to travel with him by myself until he gets much older!

Anderson is now eating solid foods for one meal a day, and seems to love everything I give him, except peas. He has eaten mangoes, papaya, bananas, apples, pears, carrots, peas, and sweet potatoes. I hope he keeps eating like this and does not become a picky eater.

Before this post gets way too long I am going to stop writing and hopefully post again soon.

Jumping Around

Anderson absolutely loves his jolly jumper. We can just put him in it and he at least stays in it for 30 minutes or longer, what a great invention.



We go in tomorrow for his 4 month check up and vaccinations. I am anxious to see how big he is. He seems like is growing so much. I know he is getting bigger since it is putting a huge strain on my back. Picking him up and carrying him around is absolutely killing my back. The aches and pain started in my lower back, now it has moved up my entire back. So far no pain relievers have helped. We used biofreeze last night, which is amazing, and it felt good while I was sleeping, but once I was on my feet again and lugging him around, the pain returned. I received a massage as a gift, I really need to cash in on that. I also need to check out the chiropractor by our house.

I think I was able to get him to laugh yesterday. It wasn't a full giggle or continuous laugh like we may do, but it sounded a lot different than his usual squeals of delight. Randomly he just started to laugh after I changed his diaper and I was playing with him on the changing table. I had my head down kissing his belly and he laughed. I was able to keep him going for a little bit and trying yelling for Craig to come hear, but he stopped soon after. I was no longer amusing to him. Even though he smiles a lot, for some reason we are just not that funny!

He has started to grab at absolutely everything, especially my hair. Even when I have my hair up, he finds the back of my head where the hair does not fit into the ponytail and has fun pulling it. This is not a good thing since my hair is falling out big time from postpartum hair loss. Hopefully that ends soon because hair is everywhere! He also has started putting everything into his mouth. He is really fond of this little stuffed cow. He likes to chew on the tail and butt and it gets soaked quickly. I may need to look into washing it at some point.

Growing up too fast

I am sure I have already said this a thousand times, but Anderson gets more and more fun to be around everyday. They just grow up so fast, and if you blink you miss it.

He is "talking" a lot more now, especially after his morning nap. We can have an entire conversation about who knows what. I pretend I know what he is saying, but obviously I have no clue. I really wish I knew what was going on inside that pretty little head. We are on a pretty good schedule right now. He has been sleeping from 8pm - 6am, and only occasionally wakes up either at midnight or 3am every so often to eat. He then takes a morning nap at around 8 and his afternoon nap around noon. Sometimes he can stay up until his bedtime, or he will take another nap at around 5pm.

We have several play stations to try to keep him entertained, a play mat, a walker, and a bouncy chair. Soon we will be getting a jolly jumper, which I hope he will enjoy as well. He loves when we take a walk outside, either just around the yard or on our daily walks. He also LOVES watching the dogs. He will just stare at them laying on the floor or follow them with his eyes wherever they go. It will be interesting when he starts crawling to see how he interacts with them. Right now Clyde is still indifferent to him. He doesn't ever want to get that close. But we can tell that he wants to protect him. Sometimes at night I have caught Clyde sleeping in Anderson's room. And one night when our neighbor was shooting his pistol to kill an iguana, Clyde went to lay by Anderson's crib. I think he knows he is part of the family, but he still wants to keep his distance for now.

We just took our first family pictures and I cannot wait to see all of them. You can check out a sneak peek of them at www.shaefferphotography.blogspot.com. It was a lot of fun and Anderson did pretty well. Can't wait until he gets a little bit older and will do what you say for the pics (I hope). But Lexi did such a great job trying to keep Anderson entertained and she was able to get him to smile some and actually look at the camera.

I am back at work now and not really enjoying it. I like staying at home with Anderson, but luckily school is almost out for the summer, so I don't have to be here too much longer. Craig is doing great as a stay at home dad. I have definitely noticed that Anderson really loves his daddy. I find this both great and sad. Only sad because I am jealous of the time I am losing with him during the day. Sometimes when I come home I feel like Anderson doesn't remember me or did not miss me at all while I was gone. I am sure he has no idea what is going on and still loves me no matter what.

This is such an adventure, and we are loving every minute of it!

3 months old

It is amazing how much Anderson changes week to week. We see him developing and learning new skills every day (of course we think he is so advanced). He smiles a lot, which I cannot get enough of. He has been batting at and grabbing toys, sort of walking in his walker, and rolling on to both sides. He has gotten better at tummy time, lifting his head up for a long time and actually staying on his tummy for a while. At first he would get upset and cry when he was on his stomach. But as I am typing this, he just fell asleep during tummy time. I have started baby signing with him. He won't be able to sign back anytime soon, but hopefully knows what is going on and he can soon tell us what he wants before he speaks. I am really excited about it. Every morning I do the ABC's and he just stares at my hand while I am signing, so hopefully that is a good sign.

He is growing so big. Some mornings when I pick him up I swear he is bigger than the night before, like I can feel he is heavier and longer. He has grown out of a lot of clothes, and some of the clothes we got he never even got to wear. I am so glad we received used clothing from friends so we don't feel bad about him growing out of them.

Last night he slept in his crib and own room for the first time. I of course did not get much sleep worrying about hearing him and just worrying in general. The monitor we have works great, but I still got up everytime I heard him, which I know now I just need to let him sleep. A couple times in the night when I went to check he was wide awake, I gave him his pacifier and he went right back to sleep. I am going to work on just letting him figure it out on his own, because I know he can. Also, Craig built a UT longhorn mobile to hang in the crib which Anderson loves looking at.

We are having so much fun with him and each day only gets better. We have been trying to go on walks everyday to get me back in some sort of shape and keep the dogs in shape. Anderson seems to love our walks. He just looks around everywhere at the trees and sky. He has fallen asleep a few times, but mostly he is so content with taking in what is all around him.

We are going in on Thursday to apply for his US passport. The US requires so much information it is ridiculous. I am surprised they don't make me sign it in blood and hand over my first born son to get it. I have to give locations and dates of everywhere I have ever lived, all our marriage info, when Craig and I first met, and Craig's divorce info. I am really not sure why a divorce decree is needed since that has nothing to do with our child. Like I said they need a lot of information. We are going to look into getting the Grenada passport as well, which surprisingly is really easy to get, I just need to get the paperwork.

2 months old

I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated this, haven't really had much time to sit down and write. I cannot believe we already have a 2 month old (he is actually 9 weeks old today). Time really flies and he has already changed so much since he was born. When looking back at his first pictures he looks like a completely different baby, it is so strange. He got his first set of vaccinations the other day and that was sad. The doctor had me try to breastfeed to kind of trick him to think we weren't doing anything bad, well that didn't work. He still cried and was not fooled when I switched him to the other side to get the other leg. But he made it through just fine and both Craig and I were able to comfort him and settle him down.



He has started to smile a lot, knows when we walk by him and enter the room, focuses his eyes on our face and everything around him. It is so neat to see a little bit of personality forming, cannot wait to see who he takes after more, for our sake I hope its Craig! My parents have told me many stories of how stubborn I was (still am) and I hope he doesn't get it from me, but it runs in the Tiller line so I am not sure how much of a chance he has of not getting it.



It is crazy how much you can love some little thing that only eats, pees, poops, cries, and sleeps. We cannot get over how beautiful he is and how much we love everything he does. Even when he cries, he has the cutest cry ever, you can't help but to say aww and even laugh. At first it only seemed like he wanted me. I guess since I was supplying all the food he could not be bothered with anyone else. But now he has turned more into wanting to be with daddy, which I love, but secretly wish he was still a momma's boy. It is great seeing him love Craig so much though, I am so glad they have a great bond going. I know he still loves me though, since I still am getting up at night to feed him. We also dance together which always calms him down.



For the most part he is a great baby. He really doesn't cry all that much and we are getting better at knowing what he wants. He has started sleeping 6-7 hours at night and the night feeding is usually only 2 oz. So I am hoping he is starting to get where he won't need to wake up to eat, I can dream I guess! I can't wait to move him into his own room and crib. Right now he is still in the bassinet/pack n play in our bedroom and I still hear him every time he moves around and makes noises even when he is asleep.

Every day seems to get better and better, this is such a fun time!

The Arrival of Anderson West

Beware, this is going to be a long one. I am a little late posting this blog, but that can be expected, dealing with a newborn is tough work. I was induced on Dec 30, 2009 first with a pill that dissolved on my cervix at 9 am and then pitocin at 3 pm. Anderson finally arrived at 6:27pm weighing 7lbs 12oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. The doctor broke my water at around 3 pm, came back at 6 to check on me, and within 30 minutes Anderson was out. It took a total of 3 pushes to clear his head and then one more got him completely out. The delivery part really wasn't all that bad since it went by really quick. The contractions part is what really sucked. They do not have epidurals here, so I did it naturally with no drugs. Not sure if drugs would have helped the contractions, but I wish I would have had something to help me out. The pitocin made my contractions right on top of the other, I rarely had a break. Also, his shoulders were pushing against my abdomen constantly and it was really hard to tell if a contraction was over since the pressure was painful.

Of course it was all worth it when he came out and we saw his beautiful face and heard him cry. I received plenty of stitches since I went so fast, the midwife never had time to help stretch me out. I told Craig on one of the head pushes that I knew I ripped!

I had packed a bag to take to the hospital based on several lists I read about what to bring. I guess I need to make a new list on what to bring to a Grenadian hospital, we were so unprepared. I didn't bring any diapers since the US list said the hospital would have plenty, well they didn't, only one. Craig had to run to a little store to get some for the overnight stay. Also, I did not bring a blanket to wrap him up in, luckily someone had left one and we borrowed it. I did not bring a bath towel either, so the midwife had to find me a towel to use after my shower. And one last thing, I was not able to find maternity pads for the heavy flow after wards and the only heavy flow ones did not really do the job. I kept bleeding through and onto my clothes and onto the bed with white sheets. I also did not bring enough change of clothes. So now I know for next time to come way over prepared.

In the overnight hospital room they have an air conditioner, which stayed off most of the time since the nurse thought it was too cold in there for Anderson. Meanwhile, I am drenched in sweat trying to sleep dying of heat stroke. Anderson had on a onesie, footie pj's, a blanket, and a hat, yet they thought he was too cold. He was probably getting heat stroke too!



Since we have been home with him for over 2 weeks now, it has both been tough and wonderful at the same time. Luckily my mom got here to help when he was 2 days old, and just left yesterday. I am so glad she was able to visit us and really appreciated not having to do any dishes and laundry.

He wants to eat constantly and has now started not wanting to sleep during the day, he always is fighting off sleep. Since I am nursing, it has been tough keeping up with his constant demand of wanting to eat. I would really like to pump more so that Craig could help with feeding, but Anderson rarely gives me a break and he really doesn't leave any milk for me to pump in between feedings. Hopefully he will soon get tired enough to sleep long enough so I can get some more sleep. Craig is getting plenty of sleep, lucky daddy. He never wakes up at night when he cries or makes any noise. I wish I could sleep through all those noises that are not cries!

Hopefully we will both figure all this out soon enough. We both love him so much, even when he cries, he is the most precious and beautiful boy ever!

One week overdue

Now I have gone one week past my due date. If I do not have this kid by tomorrow, I will go in on Wednesday morning (Dec 30) to be induced. I really do not want to be induced by drugs so I am hoping our child stops being stubborn and comes out on his own. The problem is the Tiller side of the family is known for being quite stubborn and I am afraid he is taking after me!

I cannot believe we are really about to have a child within a couple days at the most. We are totally ready though, I cannot wait to meet him. I had another ultrasound the other day to make sure he was still doing well and we were able to see his beautiful face pretty clear. It looked kind of scrunched though since his head has moved down into my pelvis. Also we found out that the estimated weight is 8lb 7oz!!! I really hope that is an over estimate because having an 8lb baby naturally is going to hurt. He seems to be doing great inside of me, good movements, heart rate normal, breathing normal, I guess that is why he doesn't want to come out.

Well my next post should be pictures of us and our new addition, stay tuned!

Less than 3 weeks left!

I can't believe the big day is almost here. I am officially full term now and this boy could come any day! Everyone has been saying oh this is so exciting, aren't you excited, and my answer has been a hesitant yes. I am really excited about having a child, but the process I am about to go through with no drugs has gotten me a little scared. I know many women before me have survived, lived to tell about it, and even had more than one child this way, so I should be okay. I just hope it goes smoothly.

Last Sunday while taking my blood pressure I started talking with my midwife about the delivery part and my blood pressure read high. She made me change the subject and redo the test and then it was fine.

I am definitely getting to that uncomfortable stage. I am waddling when walking and all that pressure from sitting to standing takes me a minute to get used to. Laying in bed is not easy and rolling over from one side to the other takes at least a minute or two and it is slightly painful. I am not sure if I am still sore from getting up and down off of a low beach chair or just all my muscles and ligaments are getting so relaxed that my lower abdomen and hips area just hurt when used.

I registered at the hospital the other day and paid almost all the cost up front for delivery. The package includes a day at the hospital, the basic drugs and vitamins they give, and delivery, which costs $1500EC (about $560US). As long as nothing goes wrong or they do not need to do anything else besides the basics, it is really cheap. But even if I have to have more things done it will still cost way under the amount it would at home.

Latest Ultrasound - definitely a BOY!

Craig and I went to get an ultrasound this past weekend at the hospital. Our doctor wanted to see if he had flipped from breech to head down. He is head down as of right now, hopefully he stays that way. We also know for sure now that he is in fact a boy since we saw his little testicles! I will now know not to believe the crazy wives tales on gender.

With the measurements of the head, abdomen, and femur, I was calculated a due date of December 18, which is not far off from the original December 21. Also he is an estimated weight of 5.7lbs right now. The doctor told me today that he thinks he will end up to be around 7 1/2 to 7 3/4lbs, which sounds like a good size to me. I definitely don't want him to get much bigger since I am doing this naturally!

We saw a really good picture of his face, with his little hands by his head. Craig thought it looked like he had chubby cheeks, but I was not able to tell.

I cannot believe I only have five more weeks to go! I am starting to get a lot more excited, but also very nervous for the labor part itself, I hope I make it! Craig thinks I am tough, but I am not so sure about that.

The baby movements are more rolling and just pushing out on my belly and less of hard kicks or punches. From the looks of the ultrasound he has some room in there, but it is getting to be tight quarters. One of my friends here mentioned that I went from being a little pregnant to looking really pregnant (thanks). I am going to have Craig take another picture today for all to see.

I am still not sleeping that well, rolling from one side to the next is getting tougher. I cannot sleep on my right side too long or my leg goes to sleep and my left side is not as comfortable. I cannot wait until I can sleep on my stomach again.

From here on out I am just meeting with my midwife and will only include the OB if problems arise.

Baby Shower

I had my first and only baby shower yesterday. Thanks to everyone who threw it for me, I had a great time. I got to be in an air conditioned apartment, which was awesome, surrounded by great friends and ate great food. We played games, which I did not win, and after one of the games I am really anxious for my next ultrasound for gender confirmation. One of the games was figuring out old wives tales on gender. According to most of them, I should be having a girl. Hopefully they are indeed incorrect, and I will find out for sure this coming Saturday when I go in for another ultrasound. I really hope the ultrasound at 20 weeks was in fact correct since I am really happy with the boy name we have picked and all the blue clothing that was given to us.

Since Craig and I have already purchased almost everything we needed for the baby's arrival, at the shower I received two of the most important baby items we did not have, diapers and baby wipes. This was a great gift, I do not think you can have too many of these items. I also received some cute books, small toys, some onesies, and a really really cute fireman themed outfit with bib. I almost cried when I saw this because it is just too precious and our little guy can take after his father. One more big item we got was a baby swing. This was really unexpected, I was going to buy the swing from my friend, but graciously she gave it to us for a present. I definitely need to go by the store and get some thank you notes!

I think I have begun to nest. Today I decided to wash everything in Dreft, started packing my bag for the hospital, and stowed all the diapers and wipes in their place. Now if only Craig would finish building the crib, we would be set.

Months without Drinking!

As many know, I like to drink beer. But since becoming pregnant I have had to refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages. I know some say that some alcohol is okay, but with all the things that can go wrong with a baby, I do not want to introduce anything that might affect the baby. I wouldn't say I was a big drinker, but every weekend at least I did partake in several alcoholic beverages. Giving that up has actually been easier than I thought. I think if I was at home in the land of plenty and the land of huge beer selections, I am sure I would be having a tougher time at this. But since here in Grenada there is only about 5 choices of beer, none of which compare to my favorite wheat beers, it hasn't been so bad not drinking.

Some days though I really could go for a frosty one, but I stick to my water instead (definitely doesn't have the same affect). Not drinking does have some good sides though. I haven't had any hangovers, my liver likes me a lot more, it is safer driving, and less money spent on beer. My husband does seem to be making up for my lack of drinking sometimes though! I have not asked him to stop drinking, he can have his fun, but I did tell him that once we get around my due date, he cannot drink or can only have 2 max since he will be the one driving to the hospital. I think that's pretty fair.

I can't imagine if you were actually allowed to drink while pregnant, how many more bathroom breaks you would need. I feel like I am going all the time right now, the baby seems to be pressing on my bladder, possibly even jumping up and down on it. And then to add the effect of alcohol, I don't think you would ever leave the bathroom!

I cannot believe I only have nine more weeks to go, nine more weeks of no drinking. I have made it this far, I am sure I can get past the home stretch.

What a Relief

I went to the private hospital on Saturday to undergo the three hour long glucose tolerance test. I had to fast for at least eight hours and then drink an entire glass of sugar water when I got there. This test requires more glucose than the screening, so instead of drinking 50 grams, I had 75 grams. The blood guy said they perform the test by drawing blood every half hour for 2 1/2 hours, meaning five sticks in my arms. I really only have one good vein that you can easily see, and you can only stick that so many times. So now I am still slightly bruised from all the blood draws.

I got my results right away but I was not sure what they meant. They seemed high to me and I was afraid I had developed gestational diabetes. But luckily, I took my results into the OB today and he said it was good news and my results were normal! So I guess I am just growing big in the belly area, but at least it is not because the baby is too big. I am still going to try to cut down on the sweets since they are not good for us anyway.

Baby Tidwell seems to be doing acrobats in my belly sometimes. Last night you could feel him move from one side to the other, Craig was able to feel him too. It is funny, some days he moves all day, and the next not so much. He must just wear himself out some days. Craig believes he is already acting a lot like him (I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing!)

I can't believe I only have 10 weeks to go, but it still feels so far away. I am actually really liking being pregnant and not sure if I want to give that up any time soon. I only wish there was an invention that would allow me to sleep on my stomach, I really hate sleeping on my side. It seems like almost every hour or two I have to flip sides because my arm has gone to sleep or my shoulder is aching.

Meeting with OB

I met with my OB today. I had to get directions from two different people to make sure I knew where his office was. There are no signs and the outside just looks like a large building or house. There was absolutely no one waiting to see him and I was able to walk right in for my appointment. Dr. Lendore, my OB, is a very nice person and really seems to know what he is talking about, so that is really reassuring. He was also the OB to one of my friends down here so I know what to expect. The dr. filled out a large fold out card with my information on it and details of today's visit. I now have to carry around this large fold out card with all my medical records from here attached to it to every dr. I see. I guess since I am seeing both him and a midwife I am in control of my records instead of being just at the dr.s office. But I do find it sort of strange.

I heard the baby's heartbeat on the Doppler, he said it sounded strong. He was kicking around while the dr. was feeling my stomach. He has changed positions since I was last seen, now he seems to be on my right side with arms and legs out to the left. When he measured my belly I am measuring larger than I should corresponding to how many weeks I am. I had a glucose screening test too early he said and I need to redo it to make sure I do not have gestational diabetes. My midwife had thought my level was fine, but I guess you cannot be too safe. So now I have to drink that sugar water again and wait an hour to see if my level is okay. If not then I must do the three hour test and possibly go on a diet, ugh! Hopefully it does not come to that. I am really hoping there is something in the genes because my mom said with my brother, her first child, she went through similar things that I am, showing late, and then one day, pop, a belly. I do not have any other signs of gestational diabetes, so I really hope I do not have it.

I am also going to get a test to check for antibodies in my blood. I am O negative and Craig is O positive so there is a chance the baby will be O positive as well. We won't know until he is born, but I guess they can screen before hand to see if there are antibodies present to see if I need the rhogam shot.

He decided my due date is December 21, so that is what I am now going with. So close to Christmas, sorry baby!

On a side note, my mother booked her ticket to come down here from January 1 to January 16! I am so glad she gets a little over 2 weeks to spend with us and the new addition (as long as he does not come too late).