#SecondChildProblems

Unfortunately, I believe the title of the post may just be the story of new Baby Ramm's life.

I just counted them, and by this point in my pregnancy with Elliot I had posted a whopping TWELVE times.  Twelve.  I think for this poor kid I did the announcement of his being, and then the next blog post was possibly about Elliot's birthday?  In my defense, when I was blogging about my first pregnancy, I didn't have an Elliot running around being three (hello sass!).  This pregnancy has also just been all around harder.  The first trimester I was sick as a dog on a daily basis, and though it has petered out some, I still have morning sickness every once in a while in the third trimester.  I have also been super exhausted.  I am way more tired this time around.  I think it is maybe because I am older?  Who knows.  At any rate, this pregnancy has made me feel that it is unlikely there will be a Baby Ramm 3 in the future.  (Remind me of this in about a year, when I will start getting ideas.)

Paradoxically, this pregnancy has also seemed fast.  I feel like the months are just flying by.  I can't believe we are almost to the end of September.  Only twelve weeks to go!  And that is IF he stays put until his due date.  We are not ready!!

Anyway, as I alluded to above, my fear is that this new Rammelsberg, though dearly loved, is already experiencing what all second children the world over know to be true: mom and dad are TIRED.  You know that saying, "when you have more children your love doesn't divide, it multiplies"?  If only that were true for energy!  So, in the event that he ever comes across this blog post and decides to read it, I want to at least acknowledge the ways in which he is getting the shaft, in the hopes that he will know I know, that I am sorry, and that I love him very much.

• The nursery is not so much the crown jewel that Elliot's was, as it is the office converted into some kind of space that will fit a crib, a changing table, and a rocking chair.  New coat of paint?  Nope, we're good.
• First Christmas you say?  Well he's going to be somewhere around two weeks old, so I don't think presents will be necessary.
• "Erik, do we need to take a birthing class again?!!" "No, we'll just find something online."
• Oh, I guess we need to figure out where that infant car seat is, maybe give it a wash.
• Speaking of washing, how do you bathe a newborn again?  Or swaddle one?  Or deal with his umbilical cord?!  How did I forget all these things in just three years?!!!!

Le sigh.  I am sure this hashtag will be used frequently as the days and years go by.  We love you baby boy Ramm.  Please don't hold it against us.  Instead, do what all second children the world over do: blame it on your sister.

Hello Due Date!

And good-bye due date!  Thanks for stopping by.

Well, the impossible has happened.  Not only have I made it to my due date, even if I went into labor right this second she likely would not be born until tomorrow.  I was so sure she was going to be early!  And when she wasn't I figured she was going to be exactly on time.  Wishful thinking... Apparently, she is like her mama and has a tendency to run a little late.  Not only is she not here yet, she has not made any indication whatsoever of her intentions to come out today.  Last Thursday we had a dress rehearsal (false alarm or dress rehearsal? Jury's still out...) because I had contractions 4-7 minutes apart for over an hour, only to discover that I wasn't even dilated (until right before we left the hospital when I was at a 1!), and since then I have been having them on and off, usually in the middle of the night.  But today, nothing!  We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so hopefully by then we will know a little more.

So what have I been doing all this time you ask?  Being SOOO bored.  It turns out waiting for a baby is the most boring thing a girl can do because a) you are so excited for the baby to come it is hard to focus on other things and b) even when you can focus on other things you either do not have the energy to do them or your feet get too swollen right in the middle of doing them and you have to stop.  So I have been spending my days reading, taking naps, working on the baby book, watching Netflix, and playing old school Nintendo.  Erik and I just discovered Yoshi's Cookie and it is good for at least a few hours of entertainment per day.  Erik has been studying for his nursing test and applying for jobs, so during those times I have to find ways to entertain myself.  Today, in an effort to relieve my boredom, my Mom took me out to lunch and then on some errands.  It was preggo's choice, so we went to Zips.  I had a hankering for some fried food, don't judge.  Then, in an effort to get labor going, Erik and I took Toast on a long walk.  So far it hasn't worked and now my back is killing me and my feet are huge!!

That is what I have been up to.  And I know what all of you hard-working blog readers are thinking: "I would love to have that kind of free time!  Why is she complaining?!"  You are absolutely right.  And although I complain, I am also incredibly grateful to have all this time to rest and hang out with Erik before our little couple becomes a family of three.  I also really enjoy all the sleeping in!  But I am just really excited to meet her, and let's face it, there is a maximum capacity in this belly and we have reached it!  I am now too big for even Erik's t-shirts...which is why I will save you all from the shameless belly shot.

Hopefully you all are having a lovely Baby Ramm due date day.  Hopefully next time we talk I will be showing you pictures of my sweet baby girl!

Extreme Makeover: Baby Edition

Well it is my third day of maternity leave and I have already done everything I can think of to do to prepare for baby, so I thought I would update the blog.  No, baby has not arrived yet.  At today's doctor appointment he said he has doubts that I will make it to my due date (woohoo!!!) which is next Wednesday.  So it could really be any time now.  And while I am a bit apprehensive about the actual birth part (random freak-outs, waking up in a cold sweat thinking about it, etc.) I am quite ready to be done being a preggo.  I am dying to have control of my body again!  And while I am aware it will not be quite the same as it was before (the doctor dropped a "well you have gained quite a bit of weight, yet all signs show the baby to be of average size" for no apparent reason today), it will be nice to wear shoes that are not flip flops and be able to paint my own toe nails again.

But in the mean time, I thought y'all would like to see what we have done with the baby's room!  I know, many of you have seen it in-person already, but some of you live far away and might be curious.  We put a lot of work into it so we have to show it off as much as possible.  

First, the before pics:

Obviously, it was a baby boy's room before.

Here's one of Daddy putting some things together:

Toast was being a good helper, as usual.

And finally, I give you the finished product:

As you can see, she's going to need more books to fill out her book shelf!  Hint, hint...

Girlfriend has more clothes than she knows what to do with...and don't get me started on the shoes!

Alright Baby Girl, ready when you are.  See you soon!

The Waiting Game

This morning I had a heart to heart with Baby Girl, letting her know I would really appreciate it if she made an effort to come on out today.  Her response: "Don't rush me, Mom!" and then she punched me square in the bladder.  Unfortunately, the doctor confirmed Baby's sentiments.  Apparently, I am not even a little bit dialated yet.  I guess her head is right there, locked and loaded, but other than that, it doesn't look like it will be this week.  "Maybe next week though!" says the doctor cheerily as she is bounding out the door.  Poo.

I know what you are thinking.  Yes, it is still early.  As of yesterday I am officially "full term" though, so that means she could come any time.  And I would like it to be this time.  I now know what all those mommies in the last weeks complain about.  This is literally the most uncomfortable I have ever been.  And there is no relief!  I could probably deal with it ok if it were just the difficulty sleeping, the achy hips, heartburn, and having to pee constantly.  But the swelling...it is just too much.  It is, by far, the worst symptom I have.  And for whatever reason I have it worse than the average prego.  I have it from my toes all the way up my thighs.  Oh, and let's not forget my other limbs.  I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring in a month, I have a hard time bending my wrists, and my upper arms are about the size of an average person's legs.  I've tried everything.  I even went swimming last night, which was formerly my "miracle cure."  Nothing.

So, since there is nothing to do about it and I am likely not going to get my wishes to meet the bambina today, I have decided to focus on the following GREAT things about being pregnant:

1. People always want to buy you food.  Not only that, they are willing to go out of their way to get whatever it is that you are currently craving.

2.  If you arrive to some kind of function late (as I often do...oops!) and there are no seats left someone is always willing to give up their chair for you.

3.  This may not apply to all pregos, but for me at least I have a "get out of grocery shopping free" card.  I had one particularly bad grocery shopping experience a couple months ago that left me physically and emotionally drained and ever since then Erik has taken on that chore!

4.  The Grandmas (my mom and my mother-in-law) are always fussing over me, making sure I am comfortable and not over-doing it.  I suspect this is more out of concern for their precious grandbaby, but I'll take it!

5.  You can indulge in things like pedicures without feeling guilty over the cost because really, what else are you going to do?  You can't reach your toes!

6.  You get fabulous hair and nails.

7. And perhaps the best perk:  When you announce you are going to take a nap, no one looks at you like you are some kind of lazy hobo.  In fact, they applaud you for making such a great decision for your baby.

Ok, now I feel a little better about my situation.  Although, I won't be sad if she changes her mind and decides she is ready to come tonight!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

We had an overwhelming amount of support while we were waiting to hear back about baby's heart situation!  Thank you everyone, so much!  I hope you all saw the quick post on Facebook after the appointment that everything is ok.  I finally have time to write more in-depth about the whole ordeal.

So, we went to see the specialist last Wednesday.  The ultrasound lasted about an hour and a half and they were able to get a good look at all her little miniature organs.  It was pretty amazing actually how close they could look at everything.  Seriously, what did our parents do without these things?  She was still being a stinker and hiding from the ultrasound, but apparently she was no match for this equipment.  The great news is they were FINALLY able to confirm her great vessels were developing normally and it does not appear anything is wrong with her heart!  So the game plan, for now, is we will be able to have a normal, healthy birth when she is good and ready to come out.  There was one little problem they noticed while they were all up in her organs: she has a little fluid around her kidneys.  The doctor said it was abnormal but not unusual and he did not seem overly concerned but he wants to keep an eye on it.  Unfortunately, that means another ultrasound in a few weeks.  I can't believe some women only get one ultrasound per pregnancy!  They need to start a punch card for us I think.  We would be pretty close to a free one at this point.

The silver lining is we get to see lots of pictures of our silly little nugget.  She was being especially playful on Wednesday.  The above picture is her profile with her little feet up by her forehead.  They were having a difficult time counting her left toes because I guess she was holding her left foot in her hand way up by her forehead :).  I think she got Erik's long legs.  And we might have a gymnist on our hands!

Thanks again everyone for all your prayers and support!

Complications...

Check out this scowly alien baby:

Ok, that's the last time you get to call her that.  We know, this picture is weird looking, but we're hoping that is just the nature of the ultrasound picture and after she has had a little more time to grow she'll come out cute as a button.  Or, as Erik puts it, not all babies are cute, but all babies are precious.  Just for the record, I think she is cute in this picture.  And I think that thing that looks like an eye glaring is not really an open eye, but some weird thing with the ultrasound picture, because if you look below it, it looks like her eyes are closed and she is sleeping.

Well, the purpose of this post was not solely to present Baby Alien Rammelsberg.  Unfortunately, we have discovered some potential complications.  I have been debating about whether to blog about this or not and finally decided we would rather have more people knowing and praying for Baby Girl.  So here's the situation:  At our 20 week ultrasound, the doctor could not confirm the little bambina's great vessels of her heart were developing properly so he scheduled her for another ultrasound at 28 weeks after she had time to get a little bigger.  We were told it was probably nothing and they just could not get a good picture because of her position.  Last Friday, we went in for the 28 week ultrasound and he still could not confirm proper development.  In the scariest conversation I have ever had with a doctor, he explained what could be wrong and referred us to a specialist.  The worst case scenario is that she will have to be born a little early in Seattle and then whisked off to heart surgery right after she is born.  The best case scenario is that there is nothing wrong at all.  He did say that all other signs point to nothing being wrong.  She is growing just fine and has good vitals and all that, and if she had some kind of congenital heard defect she would likely be much smaller than she is now.  And then he left us with this gem of advice: "Don't lose any sleep over this."  Yeah right!

So we are just asking for your prayers that everything turns out to be just fine.  We are doing our best not to worry.  The appointment with the perinatologist is scheduled for next Wednesday, which coincidentally is my birthday.  I am hoping for a really great birthday gift of a bill of clean health for the bambina!  We will keep y'all posted on the results.

I think we have a professional hide-and-seeker here!

Just a quick update for Baby Ramm fans (or to keep all the family informed at once):

Yesterday we had a 17-week check-up appointment and everything looks good.  Baby Ramm was being naughty as usual and was hiding from the doctor and her dopplar.  However, in this case Mommy approves because that means they had to wheel in the ancient ultrasound machine to make sure everything is ok and we got an extra look at Baby R.  I can't believe how much she/he has grown!  And what a little mover and shaker!  She/he is taking full advantage of the recently acquired long limbs and was kicking around like crazy.  In three weeks we get to go in for our 20-week ultrasound and that means finding out gender :).  Hopefully...

In other news, we had a visit from this little monkey last night:

May I introduce our preparation for Baby Ramm?  This is Aniiah and she is my cousin's 5-month-old.  So...my first cousin once removed?  Let's just call her my niece.

She is the best baby!  Always smiling and being adorable.  Erik is absolutely in love with her :).

Toast, on the other hand, has some reservations.  It is also good practice for him to get used to a baby.  I think it will be ok- at one point they were actually cuddling together on the boppy pillow.