Today is the big day

The ultrasound is this afternoon! Itchy thinks I cursed us because I made a comment about the baby keeping it's legs crossed and us not being able to find out.

I tallied the votes (not just the comments because more people emailed their votes in) and boy is winning 9 to 4.

I'll update tonight.

Update:

It's a boy! Stowa is going to have a brother.

Told ya so

Itchy bought Stowa a tee ball set. She caught on pretty quick. Now she can't hit very far but she does like to try. Even though it's an outside toy, the two of them having been playing inside. Whatever.

The other day it was so nice out that we took it outside to play. Itchy was doing most of the hitting. He kept hitting the ball at the house. I asked him not to. Didn't want to deal with broken windows and all that. Itchy swore that the plastic ball hit with a plastic bat wouldn't break the window.

Yesterday after guilting Itchy into playing with us outside (apparently he'd rather watch college baseball on tv than paly with his kid) he was hitting the ball around.

Guess who has a broken window now?

Dizzy

I think Stowa is working toward a new nickname. Dizzy. Spinning in circles until she falls over is her new favorite game. She does this over and over. It's hilarious. And a little nerve wracking. Watching her spin and fall is funny until she falls a little too close to the tv stand. Or until she falls and the thud from her head hitting the hardwood floor echoes through the room.

20 weeks

I felt like a damn fool taking belly pics when I was pregnant with Stowa but it's kind of fun to look back at them now. I really wish I had taken one last picture on the day I went into labor. Oh well. I decided to take pics again this time around. Here's the belly at 20 weeks.




Notice the lovely pink wall behind me. It makes my eyes hurt. Hopefully by the next time I take a belly picture (in 4 weeks) those walls will be a different color. It all depends on how quickly Itchy gets the room cleaned out.

Waving at strangers

For the last two weeks the city has been tearing up the street in front of our house. My kid has enjoyed watching this.

She figured out pretty quickly that if she stands on the couch and waves, eventually one of the guys out there working will glance towards our house and see her. Most of them will wave back to her. Which makes her entire day. Once one of them waves at her, nearly all of the guys will wave at her.

Today they are busy repaving the street. Stowa has been standing on a stool next to the window watching them. It smell gross so we've haven't been outside much. Guess who was POUNDING on the glass to get their attention? Yep. That would be my kid. Awesome. But it worked and they all waved at her.

A during picture

The backyard improvement project is going to take some time but we've gotten a few things done. Grass has been cut, patio furniture is outside, and the sand and water table is ready to go.


I'd like to add some flowers to add some color but I think Stowa would just pick them. I may try to do it anyway. We have a few tiki torch things to help with bug control but I'm not sure where they should go.

We'll add a pool when it gets a little warmer out. The turtle sandbox is sitting in the garage until I decide where I want it to go.

It's not a huge change but I think it looks better though!

Before pictures

Ok, here are a couple of before pictures of the back yard.
This is a picture of the "eyesore" my neighbor wants torn down. As you can see, the entire house and both garages are in tough shape. They need some TLC. But since we just rent this place, it's not really something we're interested in doing.

Backyard improvement project

I've decided that this summer is going to be fun. We can't quite afford to buy the boat we want so we're going to make do with what we can afford.

This is the first time we've had a backyard. You just don't get a yard when you live in an apartment. While Itchy isn't thrilled with the idea of yard work, he's just going to have to suck it up and help with it.

I took some before pictures. I'll add those in later. Since we've had so much rain it's been difficult to get everything done. Today we put together a table, chairs, and umbrella. Itchy also cut some grass. It started raining before he could start on the back yard.

Is it a sister or brother?

We'll find out soon enough. The "big" ultrasound is coming up soon.

When I was about to find out with Stowa I did a post about my symptoms and stuff so people could guess. Here are the Old Wive's Tales that I found with Stowa. I'll go ahead and use the same ones this time so we have something to compare to. My answers for Stowa are in purple. My answers for New Kid are in green.

Here are some of the OWTs:

1. If the hair on your legs is not growing any faster during your pregnancy, it's a girl
My hair does seem to be growing faster (boy)
Hmm, my hair doesn't seem to be growing any faster (girl)
2. Boys are carried low, and girls are carried high
I'm carrying Stowaway in my uterus, is that high or low? (?)
Sorry, I still don't get this. I can't tell if I carry high or low. I just look fat. (?)
3. If your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy, you are having a boy
I'm hot all of the time (girl)
I'm cold (boy)
4. If you had morning sickness early in pregnancy you're having a girl
I had morning sickness (girl)
I had terrible morning sickness but it started late (boy)
5. If a needle on a thread held over you belly moves from side-to-side, it will be a girl -- if it moves in circles, a boy
The needle does not move. At all. (?)
I must be doing this wrong. It still doesn't move. (?)
6. If you are craving sweets, it is a girl -- craving salty, it's a boy
What does sour mean? (?)
I'd have to say that I lean towards salty right now (boy)
7. If your baby's heart rate is below 150 beats per minute, it's a boy -- above 150, it's a girl
156 bpm (I'd say this is pretty borderline, but we'll go with girl)
160 bpm (girl)
8. If you are having headaches during pregnancy, it's a boy
Headaches nearly everyday (boy)
Only the occasional headache, not sure it's a pregnancy thing (girl)

So the results for Stowa were 2 votes for boy, 3 for girl, and 3 undecided. Results for New Kid are 3 boy, 3 girl, and 2 undecided.

Itchy thinks it's a girl. He had a dream very early on and New Kid was just a miniature version of Stowa.

With Stowa I initially thought boy, but after a while I thought girl. I thought my intuition was broken. Deep down, I really believed she was a girl. Could just have been wishful thinking because we had girl name but no boy name.

As for me, I would guess girl. This pregnancy has been very similar to my pregnancy with Stowa.

My side of the family is hoping for a boy. We've got nothing but girls on my side. My parents had three girls. Both of my sisters have had girls. Stowa is a girl.

Itchy's side of the family hasn't voiced an opinion as far as I know. However, we don't talk to them much. Itchy's side is full of boys. His parents had three boys. Both of his brothers have a son (his oldest brother has two step daughters as well). I know FIL wants this to be a boy. In his opinion, boys are better. He was disappointed that our first born wasn't a boy.

So what do you think?

I'll just go ahead and apolgize now

Now that the cat is out of the bag and everyone knows about the baby, I'll probably be talking about the baby a lot. Sorry. I know it's kind of boring when it's not your kid.

On a funnier note, today is the first day of the summer that I dressed Stowa in shorts. She is not happy. She keeps trying to pull them down so they cover her entire leg. I don't think it's because she's cold. It's plenty warm here. I just keep laughing at her. Awesome parenting over here!

New Kid's nickname

Stowa and New Kid just doesn't sound right. As someone pointed out, Stowa #2 isn't right either. This baby needs a cool nickname.

Stowa's full nickname is Stowaway. We found out about her just before leaving The Island. She was a surprise. I jokingly announced that pregnancy by telling people that we had bought a Stowaway back with us. Easy.

This baby? We told our immediate families with a T-shirt. I sent pictures to my family and in that stack of pictures there was one picture of Stowa wearing a "I'm the big sister" shirt. We went to visit Itchy's family and had her wear the shirt when we had everyone together. My family got it right away. Itchy's brother read the shirt out loud and didn't get it. His dad didn't get it either. But his dad has this annoying habit of calling the cousins brother and sister. My sister-in-laws both got it right away though.

Unless I want to call the baby t-shirt I can't really use that announcement story for a nickname.

Give me some suggestions!

Neighborhood gossip

I met my neighbor lady yesterday. She was full of neighborhood gossip and was happy to have someone to share it with.

There are only 5 houses on this block. One is the local fire warden's office with an upstairs apartment. Then there's our rental house. Crazy Dave rents the next house. There's the abandoned house. And Grandma Gossip's house.

Grandma Gossip's first words to me were "do you own this eyesore?". She was referring to the crap shack of a garage in our backyard. Apparently she has been harassing the city council to get it cleaned up. She'd like to see it torn down but if the owner won't do that, he could at least paint it and make it look presentable. I told her I'd take care of the weeds growing behind it. She seemed happy about that. She was also happy that someone was finally taking care of the yard. She's been watching us clean up and is happy with our progress. She reminded me that we needed to mow. Soon. She also offered up all the rhubarb that we could ever eat.

Then she told me about the abandoned house. The owners fell behind on the payments, packed up their clothes and took off for Vegas. They were apparently potheads and that's why they couldn't pay the bills. They had a couple of friends come over and take what they wanted. She suggested that I walk around their yard and see if there is anything I wanted. No thanks. She also told me that the day they moved into that house their kid was playing in the street and was hit by a car.

The fire warden causes no problems but the people upstairs are trouble. They come and go at all hours of the night.

Crazy Dave has something mentally wrong with him and she suggested that we stay away from him. He hasn't always been like this but now you just can't tell when he's going to flip out. The woman who owns the house had to move out because Crazy Dave is/was a drug dealer/user. She tried to evict him but he wouldn't leave so she is currently renting another house in town.

Is it too early to think about Halloween?

Some people might think it's too soon but I've decided what Stowa is going to be for Halloween! I just need to find costumes for Itchy and I that will go with Stowa's.

Last year she was an adorable gray and white kitten. A friend of ours knit her a little hat with kitty ears and I made the rest of her costume. It was adorable. She didn't really want to cooperate but I managed to get a couple of cute pictures. All I can say is that she had better be more cooperative this year.

This year for Halloween Stowa is going to be a Big Sister!

It worked!

I complained about all the rain and it went away! At least for a little while.

Friday night it was nice enough outside for us to have our first backyard fire. We discovered a fire pit in our backyard after the snow melted. After the storm we had last week that nearly knocked our tree over, our landlord came over to cut down part of a tree. This meant we had lots of firewood.

Stowa got to have her first S'more! She was pretty impressed.

And now today we have 60 degrees and sun. We've been outside a lot today!

I need the sun to come back

We've had rain all week. I'm sick of it. Stowa wants to go outside. I want to go outside. We've been out as much as possible, but the rain keeps coming back.

We have big plans for the summer. We're going to need the sun in order for these plans to work. We're getting a pool (just a cheap plastic one). I got Stowa a lawn chair. Itchy and I have looked at patio furniture. We're going to build a patio at the clinic (since the addition we wanted to do is way to $$). Stowa and I are looking for a kick ass water table to play with.

We need sun to do these things and actually enjoy them.

Update #something

I forgot how many updates there are. Whatever. Cuddles is doing better.

His neck is healing nicely. He is off all the meds. He's eating and drinking, but not nearly enough. He would usually get about 1/2 cup of food a day, split into 4 small meals. Now I think he eats about one of those servings throughout the day.

He looks and feels skinny. He also sleeps a lot more than he use to. Sad.

Patches is still being pissy with him. I swear that girl is just a bitch. She hisses at him every single time she sees him. She mostly hangs out alone in the pink bedroom. She's totally neglected right now. Her hair is in a horrible state. I think I'll probably have to shave her once she quits acting all pissy at me.

I don't know. I think Cuddles is going to be ok. It's probably just going to take a long time to get him back to normal.

Thanks to everyone who helped with this one and listened to me whine.

Update #3

Cuddles still isn't eating on his own. He'll eat if Itchy is hand feeding him, but not if I try. And not on his own.

Last night and early this morning he started vomiting again. Itchy noticed that he kept going to the litter box but not doing anything. Itchy took him to the clinic today. More radiographs to make sure that there is nothing obstructing him. Nope. Nothing.

His neck is healing nicely though. I guess that's good.

Anyone have any suggestions? We're not really sure what to do next.

Update #2

Cuddles is home. Despite the puss oozing from his bandage this morning, the infection isn't bad at all. More of a dermatitis than anything else. We'll keep him on antibiotics and some topical stuff, but that's not really going to be an issue.

The feeding tube was removed. That was easy. Didn't even need to sedate him. He behaves very well in the clinic. He's lost a little weight, but nothing terrible. He was 12 lbs when he had his dental about a month ago. He's down to 10.6 lbs now. It's a much more appropriate weight for him. Anyway, I brought him home and the second he was out of his kennel, he started scratching at his neck. E-collar for him. Then I went to lock Patches away and she attacked me. She lunged at my feet. If I wouldn't have had shoes on, my foot would totally be bleeding. Have I told you how awful she has been since we've been dealing with this? She's lucky to be alive right now.

Now we just have to wait and see if he eats tonight.

Cuddles update

Things are getting better. After being in the clinic last week to get IV fluids and ultimately his feeding tube, he developed an upper respiratory infection. Not a big surprise, but kitties with URIs don't like to eat. Obviously this wasn't going to be helpful.

He got the feeding tube in last Tuesday and by Friday morning, the medications he was on were working. He started to show an interest in food. Wasn't eating it, but he would pick up a piece of food and sort of taste it. The tube feeding continued. By Saturday he would actually eat small, small little bits of canned food. His URI was getting better, he was still congested, but I got out the humidifier and that seemed to help him a lot. Itchy and I kind of thought that he'd probably be eating more if the tube weren't there. It's pretty irritating and makes swallowing feel weird. However, the tube had to stay until we felt like he had significantly improved. No sense in taking it out only to have to put a new one in.

Sunday he was eating a bit more. Even ate a little dry food. Congestion was nearly gone, but he was still snoring very loudly when he slept. His attitude seemed much better. He even had the energy to play with Stowa!

On Monday he seemed a little more tired. Didn't have much interest in food again. And I noticed a smell. That distinct smell of infection. Gross. It's coming from his neck. Itchy didn't want to take the bandage off but he ran to the clinic to get more antibiotics (he had just finished a round of Clavamox on Saturday night). Our plan is to take Cuddles back to the clinic tomorrow and hopefully removing the feeding tube. Itchy is going to discuss it with the other doctor first. At the very least, the bandage needs to be removed and the incision will need to be cleaned up.

I'll try to update tomorrow once Cuddles is home from the clinic.