Thursday, May 21, 2015

Potty Training


Carter is 3 years 2 months old. Over the past year or so we have tried and failed to potty train him several times as he just wasn't interested. This past Sunday we decided it was time to try again, and this time I made a sticker chart for him. I hadn't tried this in the past and wasn't sure how it would go.

Well it's working! He had 2 accidents on Sunday, 1 Monday morning and as of this morning (Thursday) hasn't had an accident since then. So he has gone 3 full days without an accident now, including being completely dry when getting up the past 3 mornings. He has also gone poop a couple of times on the toilet. I'm so proud of him!! He was obviously finally ready and it just clicked.

We have this Cars potty which can be taken apart and used on the toilet as well. We have been using it on the toilet as I want him to get used to the big toilet. This potty also comes with a button that makes sounds. I deliberately didn't install the button as I thought it would be too much of a distraction for him though. The yellow part that sits on the toilet fits really snuggly on the toilet, which I like. 

Image result for cars potty

We also have this Cars seat that goes on our upstairs toilet. It just sits loosely on the toilet seat, so it slides around quite a bit. Fortunately Carter has gotten used to it moving and can adjust it as needed. However, I would recommend something like the above which actually clips into the toilet seat and doesn't move.

Image result for cars potty seat
Carter tells us most of the time when he has to use the potty and other then helping him with his clothes he insists on doing everything else himself. Getting him to wash his hands after has been quite the challenge though! He used to love washing his hands, but I think he is sick of having to wash them so often now. But hey, if that's our biggest challenge with this I will take it!

Here's hoping he continues to do well. I'm so happy to be done with diapers, at least for a few months until our next little baby is here. 

- Amy





Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Pregnancy 4.0

I can't believe it's been 2 and half years since I've posted on my blog. Ooops! Time flies when you're having fun! I'm currently 20 weeks into my 4th pregnancy. I took one round of Clomid in December 2014 and here we are on this amazing journey again. Again, we were completely shocked that the Clomid worked with just one round. I have taken Clomid 4 times and become pregnant each and everytime! It's my miracle drug!

As expected I'm already on medical leave. We had planned for this happening so we were prepared and were not surprised. Around 11 weeks I started to notice braxton hicks contractions and began to get the heavy, pressure feeling I had experienced in my pregnancies with Carter and our twins Chloe and Zoe. These symptoms gradually got worse until 15 weeks when I also started to experience painful cramps and a small amount of spotting. I visited the ER and was reassured that my cervix was closed and everything looked ok. I haven't experienced anymore spotting since then thankfully.  I then saw my obstetrician a few days later who put me off on medical leave.

At this point everything is going well. I can't do too much as I feel so much pressure when I stand for too long. I am shockingly only having about 5-10 braxton hicks a day. At 20 weeks 3 days into my pregnancy with Carter I was already having TONS of braxton hicks. So here's hoping they stay few and far between. We had our anatomy scan last week on April 27th and found out that my cervix was measuring 3.9cm which is great for me. The ultrasound tech isn't allowed to say much about the scan so I will find out if everything looks ok with baby at my OB appointment this afternoon. We found out the sex of the baby, and the only people that know what it is are myself, Ralph and Ralph's sister. We are not telling anybody else as both of our parents don't want to know so we are trying to keep it a secret for them.

I have been able to feel baby moving since just before 12 weeks. It started off feeling like little flutters then around 15 weeks I started to feel little nudges. I now feel baby moving all the time, little kicks, punches, nudges, rolls and I love it. It's truly the best part of pregnancy. I can't help but smile every time I feel this little one.

I will be starting progesterone suppositories within the next week or so. I took these during my pregnancy with Carter. Whether they made the difference in me making it full term with him or not we will never know. However we have decided it's just not worth the risk not taking them. My obstetrician seems fairly optimistic that I won't need to go on bedrest this time. I really hope I don't have to, but am ready and willing to do whatever I need to do to bring this baby home safe and sound.

Hopefully I keep up with this blog a bit more often. Carter is already 3 years old and continues to be the light in our lives.

So handsome! :)


- Amy