Pregnancy #2 Update

It's been a while since I posted about being pregnant, so thought I would do a quick update! I am now almost 37 weeks... meaning I've made it more than three weeks farther than I did with Tyler. Hooray! Here are some highlights and lowlights:

Lowlights

• My last post talked about my nausea subsiding... unfortunately, starting about a week after that post (the beginning of July), I started throwing up again daily. The good news is that it has typically just been once each morning and then I am fine. I can handle that. MUCH better than the beginning of the pregnancy.
• I was excited thinking that I wasn't going to end up with acne all over again like I did with Tyler. Well, it showed up. It's all over my back and chest, and even a little on my stomach. I call it acne, but one of the nurses from the hospital said it was PUPPPs, which is described as a rash that some women get during pregnancy. The nurse said something about it being really itchy, which it is! I feel like I am always itching my back or stomach and the itch just doesn't go away. I looked up PUPPPs on the internet, though, and the pictures that it shows are much more disgusting looking than what I have, and I don't have stretch marks (one positive thing!), so I'm not totally sure. In an case, I hate this acne/rash. I can't wait until it is gone. With Tyler, it stuck around for months after he was born. Hoping this goes away more quickly this time.
• My blood pressure has started to creep back up again. I have been to the hospital three times in the last two weeks for additional lab work and monitoring. So far, my labs have come back okay (no liver or kidney issues), so that's good. My doctor doesn't want me to get as sick as I did with Tyler, so it sounds like she will be inducing me early, but not sure exactly what that means... except for the fact that she has put me on bed rest until this baby comes. Um, do you know how difficult "bed rest" is with a not-quite-two-year-old!? I know that it's good for the baby to continue to grow and develop on the inside, but I'm almost looking forward to being induced and having him join our family. I have a doctor's appointment on Monday, so we'll see what she says!

Highlights

• In my last post, I mentioned I would be having my glucose test soon... Well, I had it and it came back positive :-( That meant I had to do a 3-hour glucose test, staying at the doctor's office for the entire test. The reason this is in the highlights section is because the 3-hour test came back negative! No gestational diabetes here. Note: It's probably not a good idea to drink orange juice on the morning of the glucose test, even if it is before the required time you aren't supposed to eat or drink anymore. The yogurt with chocolate chips probably didn't help either.
• With Tyler being born about the same time of year as this kiddo will be, I didn't have a lot of stuff to get. All I really needed to do was wash some clothes to be ready to welcome our little boy home. We've got a new room all set up for Tyler, but we won't worry about that transition yet (from a crib to a full-sized bed!). I'll plan on keeping our baby in a cradle next to my bed for a while... unless he is as noisy a sleeper as Tyler was, then we might need to figure something else out :-)
• I think we have a name! I'm pretty sure his name will be Bradley. That was Matt's top choice when we had Tyler, and I'm getting used to the name. I've been trying to call him Bradley when talking to Kylee and Tyler so that he won't just be "baby" when he's born. We'll see how that goes!

And here's a bump picture! I am definitely bigger than when I had Tyler... but I am guessing Bradley is already at least twice the size Tyler was when he was born!

Kylee's First Soccer Game... Ever!

Kylee started soccer this week... with her first practice on Thursday and her first game today! She was pretty excited for the game! She did so well - we were so proud :-) She had a couple of really good stops at goalie and she also made a goal for her team. Her smile after making the goal was priceless - I wish we had captured it! I'm sure there will be more of those, but for now, enjoy a few pictures of our budding soccer star.

 

POST Graduation

Last summer, Matt decided to apply as a patrol officer with the City of Boise. After a several months long application/interview/background check process, he was offered the position! We were all so excited for him... but next came months of training. Matt started his training in March with the City of Boise (3.5 months). Next came 10 weeks of Idaho POST academy - Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training. I remember when the background check person asked me if I was okay with Matt going to POST... I of course said yes, and honestly didn't really understand why he asked me. Well, at the time, I didn't realize that POST is 10 weeks long, and Matt would only get to come home on the weekends! He had to report Sunday evening and would get to come home Friday evening... even though POST is just a few miles down the road! We couldn't go visit and he couldn't leave. Let me tell you, it was a long 10 weeks! I think it might have flown by for Matt, but for me and Kylee and Tyler, we were counting down the days until it was over.

Matt learned a lot at POST and overall I think it was a really good experience for him. Part way through the academy, the almost 50 people in his class (from different agencies all over the state), voted Matt in as class president. That meant, among other things, that Matt got to speak at graduation! He gave an awesome speech, and the POST director commented that in the 10 years that he has worked at POST, Matt's speech was by far one of the best he has ever heard (keep in mind that there are quite a few academy groups to come through POST every year!).

Needless to say, we are proud of Matt and his accomplishments up to this point. We are so happy that he is happy and enjoying his new job. He just finished his second week of FTO (field training), where he drives in a car with another officer. He will wrap up his FTO the end of November and then will start on his own in December.

Here are a few more pictures from POST graduation: