Today I had my "first" prenatal appointment. It was just meeting with a nurse and going over my history. And she told me stuff about the office and general stuff.
This office is about a million times more friendly than my previous practice. The nurse who talked to me assumed that I'd be going to the birthing center again. And was not surprised or shocked when I told her Ben is still breastfeeding. Or that if we have another boy, he'll be left intact.
She talked about all the tests they offer, but didn't push about any of them. They offer the nuchal translucency ultrasound at 12 weeks. I told her we won't have that one, but we'll do the 20 week scan. I won't be having an abortion if the kid has Down's or whatever anyway, so it's kind of a waste of time and money to do a test that early. There are a few other tests we won't do, too. I will be doing the Group B Strep test, since I was positive with Ben. I'm not sure if I'll do the GD test this time. I did with Ben and it was just a waste of time. I have no reason to believe that I will develop GD. That's still pretty far down the road though.
She gave me the order for the first blood and urine tests. I want to make sure my iron level is OK because I've been getting more dizzy than I think I should be.
She asked if I wanted a script for prenatal vitamins. I asked if I could just keep taking what I have and she said that's fine. I bought them when they were buy one get one free, so I have a ton left.
I told her why I was switching doctors and she seemed very sympathetic. And a little like she wasn't surprised when I told her the name of the practice. I wonder if she's heard this story before. It wouldn't surprise me.

I emailed the doula who was with us when Ben was born about helping this time, too. Her family is moving to Colorado in December! :(
I'm disappointed that she won't be here. She did give me names and email addresses for two other doulas. I will probably email them tomorrow after my appointment.
Despite this gross morning sickness, that is way worse than it was with Ben, and being tired all the time, being pregnant still doesn't seem all that real yet. Even though it's just getting my history and probably ordering some blood tests, I'm hoping after the appointment tomorrow it'll be more solid for me.
I'll be showing before I know it! I really can't wait to FEEL the baby. That's the best part, even when you're getting kicked to hell and back in the middle of the night.
We're going to find out the sex this time.
I hope Ben doesn't have too hard of a time adjusting to having a sibling. I hope having spent so much time with the twins will make it a little easier.

Ben seems to have settled into a pattern. He goes to sleep around 9. Wakes around 6 for a nurse. Goes back to sleep for an hour or two. This is fine with me!

Ben is at the kitchen table coloring, so I'll update quickly.

Like with Ben, I have all day long sickness. I'm not throwing up, but I feel dizzy and gaggy most of the day. Some times are worse than others. Darrell toasting poptarts really, really bothers me. The smell, I mean.
I joined a due date community for March 2010. Then I made a due date community for Spring 2010 for people planning natural births. And also planning to parent more naturally. I decided to do that because it gets tiring, arguing with people about things they don't know about or haven't researched. Circumcision is NOT cleaner, breastfeeding does NOT make your boobs sag, giving birth in a hospital, for a normal pregnancy, is NOT safer. And you know, do what you're going to do, but at least be informed about your decision and don't go around spouting off myths and statements that are not facts and can't be backed by research or statistics, or even common sense. /rant

Cassie has been here for almost a week. (MIL's dog.) I'm sick of dog hair being all over the house. I've taken her outside and brushed her twice. Globs and globs and globs of fur come out and never stop coming out before I get tired of brushing her. I saw some birds picking it up the other morning. :) Terra's all nice and little and has short hair. I doubt we'll ever get a long haired dog.

I have Tori's bachorlette party planned, but I have to make sure of the date of the shower before I can plan the date for the bachorlette party.

Ben's into playing with cars and coloring this week. Night weaning is going really well.

Darrell had his dentist appointment and he didn't have any cavities either! I guess we won't be paying a lot to get our teeth fixed. :)

Apparently I'm productive today. While Ben napped I hung diapers on the line, weeded in the front flowerbeds, and made banana bread.
The bread is cooling now and I can't wait to slather some butter on a nice thick piece!

Ben should be up from his nap any minute now. A couple things I forgot to include about him in the last post:
He's finally getting more teeth on the bottom. Right now he has, on top, four front teeth and two molars. On bottom he has two front teeth and is getting two molars. :)

Last night I started running his bath. He came in and started saying "bubble, bubble, bubble." I asked if he could say please and he said, "PWWWWWEEEEEEEEEE!" So I dumped some bubble bath in. I left him standing by the tub and went to his room to get his night diaper and a shirt to sleep in. I hear *SPLASH*. Run into the bathroom. Yep. There's Ben. In all his clothes and shoes, sitting in the tub. I laughed. Then I told him that he can't bathe with shoes and clothes on and got him out to get him undressed. This also means he can't be left alone in the bathroom while the tub is filling up!

I think, this being my second pregnancy, I'm a lot more aware of what my body is doing this time.
Yesterday I had my first bout of morning sickness. With Ben I never threw up, I just constantly felt like I was going to. At. Any. Minute. That's how I felt yesterday. It started right before we went to the grocery. (Yes, excellent timing. Psh!) Riding in the car was not pleasant. While shopping, it wasn't too bad. A good way to save money may be to do grocery shopping when NOTHING looks good! ;) Then we got to the coffee aisle. I almost lost it. I covered my mouth and nose and got the heck out of there!
I can't breathe through my nose when I lay down. Which means I wake up with the driest mouth possible. Increased blood flow for the win!
If I hadn't been pregnant before, I never would have known the nose thing was because of pregnancy. The morning sickness I was expecting. Blah.

I got my dress for Tori's wedding. I'll be just over four months at their wedding. I might need it let out a little, but I might not. If I wasn't pregnant I'd need it taken in, so we'll see how much that extra room accomadates my probably just barely showing bump. The David's Bridal people said the closest I can take it in to get altered is three weeks before. I think I'm going to call a little alterations place and see what they say. NOT going to David's for hemming and letting out, if I need it, would probably save some money too.

Tonight we're taking Ben to fireworks to see how he likes them. Yes, up WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY past bedtime. It might mess up our nice night weaning progress. We'll see. I hope not!

Ben has been bringing me toys to nurse. So far just his big rubber duck, Chacha (his Webkinz chipmunk), and a stuffed Elmo. I'm wondering what will be next though.
It's hilarious! He signs "milk" so I lift him into my lap, along with whatever toy he's holding, and lift up my shirt. Instead of latching, he puts the toy to my boob. Then he checks to make sure the mouth of the toy is on the nip and laughs hysterically when he sees that it is. After he lets the toy have some milk, he gets some for himself. :)

The dentist was not bad. One lady looked at my teeth first then said we'd get x-rays and the dentist would do an exam. I told her that I wasn't getting x-rays and she looked at me like I grew an extra head. I told her I'm pregnant. She said, "oh. congratulations." Psh. Anyway, I had a LOT of build-up behind and below the retainer on my bottom teeth. I've been having pain there and she said it's probably because of that build-up.
Then I went to have my cleaning done. That lady was very nice and talked about her sons and how fun Christy is and just stuff. She kept apologizing for hurting me. It didn't really hurt all the much though. After the cleaning was done the dentist came in to have a look. He was also very nice. I don't know what was up with that first lady. Anyway, I don't have any visible cavities and he actually said my teeth look very healthy. I'll get x-rays once this kid is out. And I have another cleaning in January. They said Darrell and I should bring Ben in with us, that way when he has his first exam, it won't be so new. They do kid exams when they turn three. I'm really happy with how things turned out.
I'll probably be a little sensitive for a couple days, but that's ok!

Ben pretends to sleep sometimes, now. He lays down like he does for bed, on the floor or couch, and makes SNORING noises! It's hilarious! The first time he did it was at my parents' house. He's been doing it more and more often since then.

I'm wondering how soon Terra will know that I'm pregnant. When I was pregnant with Ben, she slept almost every time I slept, and curled up right next to my belly. :)

I'm filling out the paper work for my dentist appointment tomorrow and wondering why in the world the dentist would need to know if I've ever had night sweats, veneral disease, psychiatric care or allergies to dust.

I knew there was a chance I could be pregnant. On Wednesday and Thursday last week my stomach felt a little off. Like upset, but not really. I was having friends over Friday night and didn't want to be drinking if I was pregnant. So, I waited until Darrell came home and then I took a test.
When I took the pregnancy test, Darrell was in the bathroom with me. Ben was napping. I peed and told Darrell we had to wait a few minutes, set it on the counter, stood up and turned around. I leaned down to pull my pants up and ended up looking right at the test as it ALREADY read positive and said, "OR I'm pregnant!"
A few minutes after that Darrell high-fived me and said, "our fertility is AWESOME!" :) His reaction to this pregnancy was much different to when I told him I was pregnant with Ben. We weren't expecting to be pregnant with Ben. It was a complete surprise. (Not that we didn't want Ben. He just showed up a little earlier than planned.) This one, he was hoping for.

Sweet. Darrell's computer is broken and we've probably lost about two years worth of pictures. At least.

ETA: There's a very, very small chance we can get the pictures. Darrell ordered a new motherboard. It should be here sometime next week. It's a slim chance, but obviously we'll take it.
Otherwise, we've been given the name of a computer recovery company. Those pictures are worth the $1,000 plus it might cost to get them back. They include: Ben's birth, our last pictures of Cooky, our first pictures of Terra, holidays, birthdays, my tummy shots from my pregnancy with Ben, everyday boring snapshots... in short, our entire lives for the last two years.
I will be absolutely heartbroken if we have lost these forever.
BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS!

What did Darrell get me for graduation?

( Find out here! )

I need to get on writing thank yous from graduation.
Candi's wedding is coming up and I'm getting excited for it!
We've started looking at toddler beds for Ben.

1. I think Ben is growth-spurting. At least, I hope he is! Because he was mega-brat most of the day. He hardly slept last night, which means I hardly slept last night. And he ate a TON this morning. AND he's been nursing as much as I let him. As in, if I'm sitting down, he runs over and frantically signs "milk" at me. I've taken this oppurtunity to teach him to say "please." Right now it sounds more like, "pwee." :)

2. Ben made his first phone call today. I left him playing quietly in the living room and grabbed a quick shower. I came back into the living room and noticed that my desk chair was pulled out and my phone was not where I had left it. (Ben has figured out that my chair is on wheels and if he wants to get onto it, all he has to do is pull it away from the desk. I should probably start closing my laptop and putting my phone some where else.) I checked recently dialed calls and saw that he had called Tori about ten minutes before. Pretty much as soon as I got in the shower! I texted her that I thought he'd called and I was sorry. I knew she was at work. She called back a while later and left a message that yes, Ben had indeed called her and talked to her for a while. Then she hung up and called back and he ANSWERED and talked to her some more! Hahahahaha! How funny is that!

3. Local ladies, who is better? Horlacher or Guy. I've heard that both are good. Right now I'm leaning towards Horlacher, but doesn't Guy have midwives? (I haven't been to the GYN/OB since my 6 week check-up after I had Ben. And I'm NOT going back to that practice.)

4. Michael Jackson. Yeah, he had a strange life. Do I think he should be respected for his music and such? YES. It's a hard thing, to separate someone's art from his life. For example, I find it hard to watch movies that have Tom Cruise in them. But I think that the art should be appreciated for what it is, not what things the artist did in his or her personal life. There's no denying that MJ changed music, music videos, and dancing. There are a lot of amazing things today that have come about from his influence.

Some of you have seen these already, but I got the disc from Monica and wanted to post some here:

( Pictures! )