28 weeks!!!

All is well on the preggo front. Had a midwife appointment this week. Everything looked good. Gained about 15 pounds thus far. Blood pressure was super low, which is not that uncommon for me. Hard to believe I have 12 weeks or less left. It's flying by. We are still undecided on baby names. Although even if we figure it out we don't tell until he is born.

This week I also started my 3rd job. This week was basically just orientation. Next week I start easing into things. Always nervous about initial start ups and trying t figure things out. Once I do figure them out, it's not so bad. The paperwork side is always the most stressful at figuring out, simply because there is just so much to do. And I do have somewhat of a limited time frame before I take off for the baby. But I will be jumping back in as soon as he is 6 weeks.

I need to start preparing for the boys party next month! And don't even get me started on my birthday next week. Seems it has slipped my mind almost completely. Oh well, it's not one to stress over. Plans are simple to just go out and eat somewhere with the family.

And so it begins... again!

Official first day of school is tomorrow for the kiddos. Ryker is also starting a new preschool on this day as I start orientation for my part time school based therapist position. I will be doing that 3 days a week and continuing to do my private practice and contract stuff. I am also in the process of trying to get my (LADAC) Licensed Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor licensure. One of the contracts that we have may be going in the direction of only using this licensure so I am trying to finish up what I need to, to get it.

Pregnancy is going well. I am currently in my last trimester at 27+ weeks right now. Time is flying by. The ladies in my church are preparing for our 2nd annual Women's retreat at Lake Ft. Smith this year in Oct. I will be 36 weeks at this time, but still hoping I can go as I had a blast last year. I have asked my sister to go as well in case I just happen to go into labor, Steven doesn't want me driving down there and back by myself.

The heatwave has died down some, which is making it bearable to go outside now. Fall is just around the corner. Another big thing happening is today is my 12th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe I have been married 12 years. That is 24 years between the both of us. ;)

Pain!!!

Last night I woke up to some pretty bad pain in my abdomen and left side of my back. It never fails that labor is the first thing that comes to mind. However, I wasn't feeling any contractions so I figured maybe I was getting a bug. I was up a few hours because I couldn't sit still and be comfortable. I finally went back to sleep around 6 something. A couple hours later I awoke to the pain, this time right above my bladder on the left side. I knew then that this was probably a kidney stone. I had one when Gage was a baby in Colorado while attending my cousins wedding. It hurt like labor. I eventually passed the one today around 2. The pain went away but then my stomach started hurting like it did the night before. I believe because I took an unnecessary gas pill when I thought the pain was gas. Hopefully this will be the only one that I have. They hurt so bad and nothing helps it.

Coming together...

Besides the excessive over the top heat from this summer, it has been pretty laid back. Due to the issue with the IFS contracts being taken from the business I contract for, I have been mostly not working. I say mostly because I have actually had some private practice business, which is awesome. I have however been putting resumes in at lots of different places in hopes to come into some more work. My hope was to find something part time so I could continue with the other counseling contracts and private practice. I was however applying for full time positions as well, just in case. Sadly there just isn't a lot of counseling jobs out there right now. What little there is I have applied for.

I had times of doubt though, like many Americans at this time in our economy. I kept praying and still am. Adding to the stress, yesterday I was contacted by Ryker's babysitter stating that due to the fact her husband was applying for out of state dental school programs she had made the decision to not take on anymore kiddos, including babies. We knew that next year we would have to find another provider but this caused us to panic as many places don't take infants and those who do usually require many months of being on a waiting list. I also knew that many don't offer part time and are very expensive. Steven did some research and found out the nearest one to our house had an opening for Ryker's age and could take the baby at 6 weeks and they had a 3 day program. We went and checked it out today and Ryker really liked it. It literally is only 1 minute from our house. I was driving to Farmington to drop Ryker off and we live in Springdale. This made my drive to work most days about an hour long. It was comforting to know that he was taken care of though, and that I will have to get used to him going somewhere that I don't know the people, but we did do our research and there was no complaints or investigations done here and it is a licensed DHS approved facility. So I am little more relieved about that. I guess I am not so worried for Ryker right now because he is older, but I never liked putting my babies in daycare.

Today I get a call from the outpatient director at Vista. I did inpatient there before quitting last year to do the contracts. I had been talking with her about doing some part time stuff and because I was expecting I would have to take off when the baby is born. She tells me today that there is a school based position that I could do for 3 days a week and the school ironically is in Bentonville, which is where Steven and the other kids go. Very ideal. She says if need be this could turn full time after baby is born if I need it to. Right now I am excited I can do the part time thing and still continue with my other stuff. Plus it is school based which is a plus for me. I like working in schools, I got to do some with the contracts we had. Plus this is just one school and I can get situated there.

So hopefully, I will be starting that up soon when school starts. It was very nice to get much of the summer off to spend with the family and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm of course still praying this all works out and is what is best for me and the family. I am also very blessed to get to stay inside on most of these excessively hot days. This summer heat is crazy. I hope we never see another summer like this again. Please God!