Hardings have BIG heads

All is well with baby boy. and me. 

30 weeks is where we are now. crazy isn't it?

The ultrasound went smoothly again, this baby has a big head! 

his head is measuring at 34 weeks while the rest of his body measures at about 30 weeks. 

I'm feeling good- the only thing I could complain to the doctor about is the reflux. So he FINALLY put me on a prescription. off the lame zantac and onto Nexium. You can add a whopping $211.99 to the post below for that medicine.

Insurance is a good thing. Thankful for it every day. 

There are many things I'm starting to complain about though, to my husband. 

I feel huge and squished inside. which I am...all squished inside. 

My main complaint lately is not being as flexible as I was even just a week ago. I can't bend and pick up the toys 100x a day. so my floors seem to have toys scattered way to much which means I'm living in a cluttery house. which means unhappiness. 

Its probably all hormones and nesting feeling kicking in. I'm working on being content with what I can do, and letting go (making Nate do) what I can't. :)

And of course, making the kids step up too. 

30 glorious weeks....

only 10 more to go. or 9. maybe 8?

the bad news and its side effects

What a valentines day this was.

I did get to spend a lovely day with the kids spoiling them with all sorts of love compliments, pink heart pancakes and valentine shirts. But It was quite a stressful day for my brains and insides. There were two reasons really...(one for me and one for my friend but I can only talk about me here)

First thing in the morning my doc's nurse called and informed me that they received my blood scores from the appointment a week before and I was showing low level lupus activity.

I guess low level is better than high level, but I haven't had any level in years. I haven't had a flare or anything since my major flare that got me all diagnosed. So this came as quite a shock. and of course, is quite disturbing.

He put me on 5 little mg of prednisone to see if it will quiet down and in 2 weeks (well in a few days now) I'll get my blood re-drawn. and I so pray my lupus is back where it belongs.

Lots of thoughts in my head... like What if they can't get it under control like last time? Does this mean no more kids for sure. What if they increase the prednisone and I have to stay on it for a LONG time again.(oh my fattness) To me- the two worst things in life is chemo and prednisone. ok, maybe not the worse worse, but pretty darn close.  I hear the word prednisone and automatically want to rebel against it like a 13 year old teenager.

I'm also baffled because I feel pretty good.  But, I guess lupus can be triggered from stress. and I just got home from quite a trip. It was fun but the opposite of relaxing. It was hard work (as I was by myself) and exhausting. In fact I had gotten home that morning at 3am. and woke up at 8 to go to the doctor. On top of that my kids were sick, and I hadn't had sleep in like a week. I felt like crap at the doctor- but exhausted crap not lupus crap..if that makes any sense.

now that it has been a week and a have I have calmed down some... ok a lot. mostly because I feel great. I haven't had joint pain or any other signs of a lupus flare.

The prednisone has made my life complicated though...it is the love of my life- isn't it?
Two of the side effects that has taken hold of me are insomnia and stepping up my already heartburn problem.
between the insomnia, heartburn (and sick kids) I haven't really slept in a week. I have gotten in a few naps.
I had a 24 week appointment and now have meds on top of my meds to deal with the side effects. Quite the pill cot-tail. I'll take a picture of all my pills in the near future

Soon enough I'll be back in for the next blood draw and we will see if the prednisone has worked its wonders. It better has.

long awaited

Enough utlrasound pictures for ya? naw, maybe we should throw in another sheet.

The long awaited 20 week appointment has come and gone. I stressed a lot, for some silly reason, about whether or not to find out the sex. In the end it didn't really matter- when the tech moved down to the lower region of baby's body to measure femur I saw, I what I hoped was an umbilical chord....and something else round. (I wanted a girl) but wha la! we have another boy. It's so good we are having a boy. I'm excited for Jack to have baby brother to play and look after. The whole girl thing was purely selfish. to read more....click here

I feel really good right now. I am a PERFECT stage. I'm not so big that everything hurts and simple chores are complicated to get done. but I'm not sick to my stomach and laying around on the couch all day either. (not that I'm up to par) I have a feeling that until I get to that giant size the pregnancy is going to fly. But we know how slow that last month goes by.