Pre-emergent reading skills-
Bren will sound out the letters in a 3 letter word in the right
order but doesn’t seem to be able to hear them form a word
together yet.
Identifies common signs and graphicly designed words- For
example, the McDonald’s arches and can choose “Tarzan” (in a
junglish font) out of a list of previews on his Pooh’s Heffalump
Movie dvd.
BTW, he has mastered the use of the DVD remote control and has
been able to move around on his little dvd player for some time
now.
He also says “let’s try again” when he or anyone else messes up. 😀

28w5d. I saw the Nurse Practitioner since my OB was on vacation this week. She is currently in my OB’s old office. BP was 138/74- nice to see 70s again. I measured at 30 weeks- just over 1 week ahead. I knew it went down!!! Urine was +1 again for protein. :/ Not too concerned… I was told +1 is okay but it IS the step before being concerned. I seem to either have highish BP OR a slight protein amount each visit now- they flip-flop. Sigh. Gained 13 pounds… rofl. I had to go check my weight on my OB’s scale and there is a 7.5 pound difference between the 2 scales!!! So I really gained 5.5 pounds. Still, quite a feat in 15 days! Go me! Total based on my home scale is 11 pounds. NP was very nice and calming. She said it’s fine that indentions from socks and crossing my ankles, etc. take a long time to return to normal. I go back on June 19th at 3:30. I asked for 3 weeks this time so we can go to the beach and then visit the in-laws and she didn’t have a problem with it.
*****
Little Gym was tonight. The last of the parent & child sessions. The first half was the same ole story except that 2 or 3 times a teacher interacted with him and he would actually respond and once even walked the high beam with one of them at her suggestion. DH and I tried to stay on the red mat side of the room when the class was doing a group activity. I was happy that Bren joined the class there when the balls came out and practiced throwing and kicking them beside all the other kids and parents. His first red mat activity!!! So a bit of success today. We’ll be gone for the first 2 child only sessions so who knows what’ll happen when we get back to Little Gym and he goes solo.
*****
A little Bren-bit to share:
Bren can now count to five using his fingers! It’s neat to see him bend his thumb abd pinkie in to make a 3. I wonder how high he counts out loud now… last I remember it was about 15.
His current favorite shows are Pooh’s Heffalump Movie and Tarzan. He has shown a small interest in coloring with crayons on plain paper. Can’t get him to color in a coloring book though he loves to paint. Still obsessed with flashlights and loves his blocks (similar to Duplo blocks but these are easier to take on and off). Still plays with the weirdest things- right now it’s the pump type spout off a lotion bottle.
Sadly, there has been little interest shown in using the potty lately.

This is why not a single stranger has noticed I am pregnant (pic from 27w2d, little over a week ago).

My boobs are in a neck-to-neck race with my belly and I just look really, really fat. For comparison purposes, let’s review.

This was from 15 weeks. Belly does not stick out much further now but look at the width difference!!! 🙁 Waaaah.
Other melons are growing at the H household. Here’s one. I much prefer watching it grow, lol.

Yes, it is not a feel good day. My butt-hip hurts so bad I can’t even sit without pain. Started the night before last when I picked myself up and scooted over in bed crab-walk style instead of being the proper preggo girl and rolling out of bed and rolling back in if I wanted to be 3 inches more to the left.
For some good news- I haven’t had an utterly exhausted day in about a week. Baby boy should be approaching 15 inches and 3 pounds now. I can also feel my uterus much better now when I lay on my back. I measured 3 weeks ahead at my last appt and I’ll betcha I don’t go up a full 2 weeks this time. In fact, I bet I measure 1 week ahead instead of 3 now. We’ll find out tomorrow. Haven’t weighed myself in forever so that’ll be a surprise as well. Just please oh please let my blood pressure be normalish so I can get 3 weeks between appts and go to the beach and the in-laws for some R & R.
And I can’t leave a pic post without a pic or two of Brenny-boy.

We had a craft day recently… Play-Doh cars

…and paper butterflies (thanks, Family Fun)

Read something last night that interested me… it’s not the epidural that makes you itch so horribly but the extended relief drugs they add to it for when the epidural wears off. Perhaps a different drug would be better if I had to go that route….

28w0d. Not bad, not bad… even beat last time!
Fasting: 91 (cutoff-105; last pregnancy 94)
1 hour: 158 (cutoff-190; last pregnancy 175)
2 hours: 127 (cutoff-165; last pregnancy 138)
3 hours: 111 (cutoff-145; last pregnancy 129)
Very pleased- GD is a good reason to argue me into a c-section!
So why am I so freakin’ tired all the time? Not iron, not GD… what’s left?

Bren: “More poo-poos mama! More poo-poos!”
Me: “Okay.” Dutifully trots off for required items. Maneuvers pregnant self onto floor beside toddler son with a groan (or four). Peeks in corner of diaper. “Bren, there’s no poo-poos!”
Bren: Places hand over mouth in coy manner. “Just joking, Mama!”
*****
Know what’s good? Eating a banana cm by cm with a spray of whipped cream on each and every bite. Heh.
Actually feeling almost normal right now. Painted with washable poster paints and made an accordian folded paper butterfly with Bren.

While grocery shopping today I ran across jumbo artichokes- and they were humungous and so devine looking! I’ve only ever cooked artichokes once before… I remember the water in the pot ran out and I scorched part of them, lol. That was probably before we were married. Other than that one time and a very dim memory of trying a leaf off of one as a child, I don’t think I’ve ever had cooked fresh artichokes. I love ’em on pasta and in pizza in fancy restaurants but to cook one myself seemed… daunting.
It’s so not.
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000262how_to_cook_and_eat_an_artichoke.php This page explains how to cook and eat an artichoke with lots of photos.
This is what I did:
Place 2 inches of water in very large pot. Heat to a boil with some minced garlic in the water.
Cut off the top of a jumbo artichoke- where once cut, some of the purplish center shows. My artichoke did not have pointy leaves so I didn’t clip them. Cut off stem. Peel all the stringy stuff off the stem and add the articoke top down and the peeled stem to the boiling water. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Steam 40 minutes and then check to see if a large outer leaf pulls off very easily. If not, back in the pot for 10 more minutes and check again. Our artichoke was big enough to require 60 minutes of cooking.
Once cooked, remove from water and set on a plate to cool for 15 minutes to 1/2 an hour. Eat leaves as directed on website- by scraping the insides with your teeth. When you get down to the fluffy hairy part, take a fork and “mow” it off at the base of the hair. The bottom is the artichoke heart and the best part of all! Mmmm!
One jumbo artichoke feeds about 3 adults as an appetizer or side dish. Serve with a dip made from mayonnaise and a little balsamic vinegar- it was awesome (and I hate mayo!)! Forget any dip made with butter!

Wanna know how to restart a dead fire when you plan on grilling? Throw a handful of matches over the hot coals in utter frustration and watch the tiny tips explode into flames… and relight your coals! LOL.
In other news…
The 3 hour GTT is under my belt, thank God! I am so glad that is over and done with!!!
7 pokes- 4 in the exact came spot since it was “lucky”. I can take the bloodletting- it’s the glucose drink that makes me sicker than a dog. Rarf!
Puh-lease let me pass this. Finger pokes 4x a day plus going to a strict food menu does not appeal.
Blood pressure was 124/82. The way I see it, xxx/70s = great!, xxx/80s = good enough, xxx/90s = we have a problem.
Got to see some bee-utiful newborns in the nusery. Oh, my arms ache to hold my little boy! 😀 I cannot flippin’ wait!!!!!!!!!!!!
And to leave you with a smile- Brendan’s version of “scoot over” is scoober!

After a good sized crowd last month, I was the only one who showed up for the LLL meeting this time!! I am usually uneasy in situations like this but it was good. I kept my hormones in check (amazing!) and we had a good 1 1/2 hour talk. Basically, I got out all I fear might happen and got some good advice for every step of the way.
And I got to see her nurse her toddler girl who was absolutely adorable and a great tension breaker.
I am pretty prepared to have another baby and breastfeed again and I am curious how it’ll all play out this time. If I get my VBAC and can get out of the hospital in a day or so I’ll be much better off than in the intrusive and interfering hospital. If I have to endure 4 days post c-section again with nurses without a clue I may go mad!!! I am telling you this though- I will walk out of the hospital with my bare butt hanging out of a gown before this baby gets a bottle. That’s where I draw the line. Make me supplement with a liitle formula- fine- but I do it MY way.
Jen’s Wishlist
OB doesn’t give me a hard time about VBAC choice
Blood pressure stays in check, no other serious issues
Evidence of further dilation/effacement/engagement at every visit starting at 36 weeks
Labor starts naturally sometime before due date when I am well rested
Labor 80%+ at home in calm atmosphere
VBAC w/o drugs that’ll make us drowsy or me itchy
My own OB attending the birth
Opportunity to immediately BF for as long as we need
No tight frenulum issue
Baby born healthy
Baby who wakes for feedings
Baby who isn’t frustrated immediately upon trying to feed
Nurses who’ll leave me alone to do what I need to do
Lactation Consultant confirms breastfeeding success within 24 hours
Someone other than DH to care for Brendan when we need them to
No one pushes formula in any way
No sudden supply issues or prolonged pumping rituals