Debbie Downer

I've been in a bad mood the last 24 hours.

I found out my Nana's husband passed away yesterday and I've been sad. He was a wonderful man and I always enjoyed his company. Floyd was very special to my Dad. So I'm sad, for my Nana, my Dad and the rest of his family who I know must be really devastated by the loss.

I've also reached the point of never-finding-a-comfortable-position in this pregnancy. I've noticed (as have several other people) that I seem to be carrying Ella lower than I carried Betsy.

Yesterday I misunderstood where some on-campus training was, and I ended up walking across campus. I told Ben I walked two miles through the snow, uphill both ways, for training (ha, not really but it was probably a mile round trip and I was super-swollen yesterday afternoon).

And I think my baby is growing hair this week...because for the first time I have heartburn! I never had it with Betsy (and she was born with a good amount of hair). Maybe Ella will be like me and come out with thick, dark hair.

At night I go between our bed and the guest bed trying to find some comfortable position...and poor Ben, he never knows where he's going to sleep. Last night I was laying vertically across our bed and he walked in the room and asked "Am I sleeping in the guest room?" and I said yes.

Last night Ft. Hood had artillery practice and it sounds like thunder which terrifies poor Madison. Twice she jumped into our bath tub and couldn't get out and I had to go get her and bring her in bed with me. Finally she slept curled up against my belly, at one point she was scared she she hugged me in my sleep. She put her paws around my neck and hid her face in my hair. Poor little one. Also while walking around the bed to get her from the bathtub I ran into the dresser belly-first. I have no sense of my size anymore. I guess I'll be investing in a night light this week!

So my being Debbie Downer is over. Now that I've complained about this once I'm required to move on and focus on good things. Have a good day everyone!

Betsy and William play pictures

This weekend was the 50th birthday bash for our city! There were several country music bands, including Robert Earl Keen. We hung out from 4 pm to 9:15, when the pregnancy discomfort got to be too much and we headed home.

Betsy and Will played at the party from about 4 to 6:30 then Grandma took them back to her house for swiming, dinner and play time with her and Paw Paw. The girl was WORN OUT when we picked her up at 9:30. She was crashed out on Paw Paw and slept while we brought her home, put her in PJs and put her straight to bed. She slept 12 hours and didn't awake until I went in at 10:30 this morning to get her. Not only that, she still took a 3 hour nap today! She must be growing, she's in a fantastic mood when she's awake she just seems to need some extra rest on the weekends!

Betsy LOVED the live music, the lemonade at the part and especially the snow cone Daddy bought her.

Things I'm looking forward to...

While I'm crazy about Christmas, the Fall is my favorite season of the year!

Here are some things I'm looking forward to!

- My baby 'sprinkle' October 2nd
- Our church's Fall festival October 16th
- Halloween October 31st (can't wait to see Bets in her costume!)
- Betsy's Sesame Street second birthday party November 7th
- Veterans day November 11th (day off!)
- Putting up my Christmas tree November 11th
- Thanksgiving
- Meeting my nephew Hudson late November or early December
- Meeting Ella (hopefully) late November or early December

Not to mention all the great college football and pro football games every now and then!

Super Sean media sightings

My sister is dating Mr. Popularity. It's hard to believe these two have been dating for almost two years! I remember Lauren telling me all about him in the Fall of 2008. What a great guy, smart, talented, great work ethic, and most importantly he's great to my baby sister. If you can't tell we're really proud of Sean's accomplishments (my Mother is the self proclaimed President of the Sean Bedford fan club).

I saw this article on Katie's Facebook page (Sean's mother) and thought it was all about professional athletes...until I saw number 17 on the list!

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/feed/2010-09/smart-athletes

Not just brains, but he has a sense of humor too. Someone at GT made this video and I love it! I watched it four times and each time I watch I find something new to laugh about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaHl4dKGwOc

How could anyone not love that kid!

Cousin Dyan's Wedding!

Dyan is my second cousin and she is the sweetest girl ever. Dyan and I had fun hanging out when I would visit Florida and she's always smiling and has a kind word for everyone. We are the same age, and we enjoyed the same things growing up, we were both active in our sororities and even were president of our respective organizations at the same time!

I really wish I could have attended her wedding, but with my pregnancy complications last time the doctor strongly discouraged (gave the stink eye when I mentioned it) me traveling in my last trimester. I stole some pictures from Little Lauren's Facebook page so the family who reads the blog can see my cute family, and how beautiful Dyan's wedding (especially the bride herself) was!

Medical Weirdo

I had to take the three hour glucose test yesterday as I failed the one hour test on Friday. No big deal, I passed this round. I even got a call from my doctor (not her secretary or nurse) with an 'attaboy' for getting the test done so quickly and passing.

I've gotta tell you guys, I'm a little tired of being a medical weirdo. This was incredibly apparent to me (not just because my doctor told me about eight times in a 30 minute appointment that my body does weird stuff) but because I went to visit our friends Amy and Matt Blackburn and meet their 12 hour old daughter Kizzie yesterday. Of course I checked Kizzie out first, and she is beautiful, but then I couldn't stop looking at Amy because she looked so...NORMAL. She looked great. My first inclination was to check out her ankles and they were so tiny, I just couldn't believe it. I didn't look anything like that after I had a baby. Not to mention Amy was going home that night, just 24 hours after baby was born, because she was in good enough shape to do so.

I was a ball of swollen gross post delivery. I know every woman is different but in a way it's nice to see what normal people look like after they've had a baby. To be able to compare myself to that and know what's not OK. It helps the second time around that you know what things should feel and look like, but I need to be honest with myself about how I'm doing and when I need to bring things up with my doctor. My doctor mentioned they would likely keep me around for an extra couple of days to monitor my issues...at least I know what I'm facing going in.

Sous Chef

Per wikipedia: The sous-chef de cuisine (under-chef of the kitchen) is the direct assistant of the executive chef, and is second in command. This person may be responsible for scheduling and substituting when the executive chef is off-duty. The sous-chef will also fill in for or assist the chef de partie (line cook) when needed. Smaller operations may not have a sous-chef, while larger operations may have several.

Ben is most certainly the 'executive chef' in our kitchen. Betsy has decided she wants to be Daddy's little helper in the kitchen, so she has earned the title of sous chef. Today she stirred and measured and made (pretend) cupcakes.

If I had a title in the kitchen it would be the taste-tester.

28 week doctors appointment

I'm 28 weeks pregnant today, so I start week 29 tomorrow! 8 weeks until I'm full term, 11 weeks until my due date.

This morning I did my glucose testing to check for gestational diabetes. I did not have GD with my last pregnancy and I'm certainly hoping I don't have it this time! My weight gain was a little over 2 pounds for the month, and my blood pressure was low. I'm on track to keep my pregnancy weight gain under 25 pounds, which is what I've been shooting for.

I haven't many contractions this month, just 2 or 3 all month. I told my doctor I've cleared my calendar for the rest of the pregnancy, I'm not traveling, I'm not hosting anything, and I've been taking several breaks a day at work per her recommendations. She was SO encouraging about these changes and said she's glad I'm taking good care of myself. My doctor said this is the best I've looked in several months.

I'm measuring one week ahead, last appointment I was measuring 1-2 weeks ahead. This is normal for me and the doctor said this is fine.

My only questions for this appointment was about after delivery, if she planned to give me Lasiks to help me get rid of my swelling. When I was re-admitted to the hospital one week postpartum with Betsy my diagnosis was severe postpartum pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia changes the body's physiology and causes your body to retain water. Most women retain water for 6 weeks after giving birth but their body can get rid of the fluid. My body didn't react this way. The swelling caused pulmonary edema, and congestive heart failure. This means my body cavities filled with fluid and my heart enlarged trying to get rid of the fluid. Something else she told me is that taking Pitocin while I was in labor contributed to the fluid retention. I was given Pitocin to speed my contractions since my water broke when I started labor. The hospital wants you to deliver within 18 hours of your water breaking. I never knew this about Pitocin, and it is really commonly administred.

I knew all of this, but the point my doctor wanted to make is it's not the swelling that made me sick, it several contributing factors. For this reason she couldn't answer my question on how we'll treat my swelling as it will matter what kind of shape I'm in overall! I admitted that I assume it's a given that I'll have pre-eclampsia and she agrees it's very likely. Before we left she assured me that she'll monitor me very closely this last trimester, I might spend an extra day or two in the hospital, and that I'll likely have some extra postpartum appointments to make sure my blood pressure doesn't become an issue while I'm recovering.

I'm so glad to have good communication with my doctor, and to feel that she cares and knows my case history so thoroughly.

Big Girl Betsy

Betsy is looking more grown-up these days! This weekend she helped Daddy with the yard work, dressed up and played ballerina.










Ben mowed and edged the yard, and Betsy helped by sweeping up the grass.