Things Are Not Much Better

I called the doctor yesterday when I couldn't stop being sick and they changed my nausea med to something called Zofran, which from what I read says it's for chemo patients. I hope this isn't their only relief from the nausea chemo causes becuase it doesn't offer much releif to me. But I think I might be having migranes which makes me sort of upset because my head has felt better than it has in years here lately. It's beginning to be a bit depressing. I've been at home two nights alone now because Sid has been out at the fair. We are closed tomorrow and Friday for the end of Fair Week and Sid and I are suppose to go out to the Fair Cabin and stay all day tomorrow. I hope I feel like it because I know he's sad going out there without me. Anywhoo, maybe things will be better as the weekend arrives. The new kids at the center will start on Monday and we are moving classes and such then, too, so I don't have a choice but to get better.

If I Ever

stop throwing up and being nauseated all day long, I will be so thankful. We did not go to the fair cabin on Sunday because I got up throwing up and I wish that Sid had gone on because I know he wanted to, but he didn't. We went on Monday afternoon and NeNe fixed Spagetti. It was oh so good. But after we ate, I all of the sudden got so dang tired I thought I could fall over and sleep right there. Sid brought me home (he's been extra good) and I went straight to bed and slept until I woke up this morning to throw up. I'm thinking of calling the doctor because something's got to give. This nausea/throwing up thing is ruling my entire days and nights. I either feel really, really bad or I feel good and am afraid to do anything to ruin it. If you've never had "morning sickness" before, you have no idea what you missed out on. Count your blessings.

I go back to the doc on August 12, and will be 18 weeks then. They told me at my last appt that the next ultrasound would be two visits from then, which would make me be 22 weeks before the ultrasound to find out the gender. It's killing me, I want to know. Mainly because I'd like to have a name and also because I'm not motivated to work on the nursery yet and I think it's because I don't know what it is yet. I have also passed up the temptation to buy clothes and such, I think it's a girl as you all know, but Sid's so determined that it's a boy and so I don't want to ruin it for either one of us by buying things that aren't really for what it's going to be. I know that I will be happy and so will Sid no matter what this baby is as long as it's healthly. I was just looking on my cousin's blog and she had a baby a few weeks ago. She had posted his 4-D pictures and those things are just amazing. I hope they offer them here in Mississippi but I haven't heard anyone talk of it yet. So we'll see!

On a brighter note, my birthday is coming up, so Sid took me to get a pedicure yesterday afternoon. I think that contributed to my sleepiness as the night wore on, but it sure does feel good and it's so good to get all that stuff of my feet since I can barely reach them to put lotion on. Sid gets a pedicure with me, but I think that's great. Most of the males that make fun of him do so probably because they don't have the nerve to go get one, too!

Satruday Night at the Neshoba County Fair

 

 

Maggie and Bo showed up, unexpectedly, to go to the fair last night. And I was oh so excited. The funny thing is my husband worries me sometimes. To get into the fair you either buy a week long wrist band that costs $30.00 and you wear all week long or you can buy day pass wrist bands at $15.00 each. This year's wrist bands are white, which sort of make them look a bit like hospital bands, but anyway, Sid rigged up some "fake" wrist bands and that's Bo and Maggie sporting theirs. I really couldn't believe it worked. But with the $30 bucks they saved from not buying a wrist band, we visit the casino after leaving the fair last night.

The other picture is a just a random shot off the front porch of the fair cabin that I took last night.

Yesterday

Ok, so I have to admitt, I DID go home to spend time with Erin AND my baby sister before they both go back to school. I am very homesick for some reason right now. Maybe I want my Mama right now, too. I don't know but I am.

And I forgot to take my medicine yesterday that I'm suppose to be taking everyday to fight off the nausea and I've been throwing up ever since I got home last night. It could be nerves about the Praxis in the morning and worrying about how I will weather the fair that started today. The heat index is suppose to be 110 over here through the weekend and into next week. I don't do hot when I'm not pregnant, much less when I do fell like this. I don't think people understand just how uncomfortable I really am at this point. Either that or they don't care! But Sid and I have already discussed it and I don't have to go at all to the fair if I don't want to which does make me feel much much better. He's been so nice through all this.

I do miss my fam though! I miss everybody really!!

Oh, and Leslie and Chris are expecting #2!! She's due around March 5th. They haven't told Erin yet so if you should see them, don't ask Erin if she's excited. We are just now excepting that we'll love and take care of Aunt Bah's baby even if it is a boy! She's gonna let my baby sleep in her old baby bed, until she finds out she's getting a new baby too!

This Past Weekend

So I haven't had time to write about this past weekend, but Sid and I went to Alabama for a much needed and eventful weekend. Well, I say eventful, we had so much fun being with the family, and were busy, but it wasn't hectic. We didn't get there until about 7:30 Friday night and went straight to Erin's house. We visited with Chris, Leslie, and Erin and Leslie and I compared pea pods. We spent the night at Mom and Dad's because Sid didn't want to miss breakfast at the new place. Last time we were in Oneonta, him and Mom and Dad went to eat at Charlie B's for breakfast and didn't even tell me they were going. So this time, I made sure I was up and ready. It's like Shoney's buffet but more home cooking. The biscuits aren't as good as NeNe's. As a matter of fact I didn't even eat one. But they have all kinds of meats, fruits, cereals, made-to-order omlets. If you can eat it for breakfast, it was there. So we enjoyed that with Mom and Dad.

Then Dad and Sid went to town to get some parts to fix the lawn mower and worked on it. Mom and I went to Wal-mart to get stuff for cooking supper. My birthday is August 2nd and I won't see Mom and Dad again before then so Mom cooked up both my favs. We had beef tenderloin cooked on the grill, hashbrown cass, mac and cheese, salad, and yeast rolls. My gosh it was good! And of course Sid mixed up some of his famous Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream. Chris and Leslie were going to Ruth's Chris for their anniversary but Erin was there with us, as was Maggie, Bo, and Pap-Paw. Mom also made me a birthday cake. We actually ate pretty early and Maggie and Bo had a party to go to for some friends that were getting married. So me and Sid hung out with Mom, Dad and Erin. We piled up and went to Dad's office to get some things and to storage, which it seems like we do at least twice each time we are in town. haha!

Sunday morning Mom showed us some stuff in Oneonta we hadn't seen in a while before church and of course after church we had lunch at Cafe on Main, another of Sid's O-town favs. I didn't want to leave because it had been such a plesant weekend and was getting a little homesick. Leslie called and wanted ice cream since she missed out the night before so Sid went to fixing it again. We spent the afternoon with everybody but Will (the Deer Expo was in Birmingham so he was there all weekend long). Boo!!!

Anyway, we left out about 4:30 and got home later than Sid would have liked but he was nice enough to let me stay and visit Sunday afternoon. We did have a blast and it's made me miss my Mom and Dad lots!!! I'll be going home tomorrow, Wednesday, after work to spend the night with Erin and spend some time with her on Thursday before school gets started back. So I'm looking forward to that. And to the next trip home when everyone is there.

Thanks for a great weekend Mom and Dad!!!

I take the Praxis on Saturday here in Mississippi at MSU Meridian Campus, so wish me luck!!!

Baby's First Picture

 









Technically this isn't the first picture of our baby, but it's the first picture where you could see body parts. We are taking dibs on the gender since we'll find out at the next ultrasound. So, what do you say?

Our Baby

Is a shaker and a mover. He/She was moving all over the place today when we had our ultrasound. And we got to hear the heart beat. We got a good look at his/her head and all the features, the eyes and nose, the arms and hands, and legs. But none of the private parts. So we'll have to wait until week #20, the next ultra sound, to find out the gender. That's ok, we can wait. Well, we'll have to I guess. But I was AMAZED at how much flip-flopping that sucker is doing. I've been telling Sid I could feel it moving, but not really thinking that's what it was. Apparently it is! And then we heard the heart beat. Everything is looking good. They didn't really change the due date per say, but everything this time was measuring at around Jan. 13th, which would hit Maggie's original wedding date on the nose. Guess we'll see what happens in the end.

They put me on some medicine last Monday when I called to tell them how sick I was. So I've felt much better this week. But they said that some women get sicker instead of better and apparently that's what is happening in my case. Not good! But the good news is I've only been really nauseated one time and a little nauseated one other time since started the medicine so it does help.

Not much else going on. We are going to Alabama this weekend to see my baby girl, who I haven't seen since May....can you believe that???? I'm so ready to get my hands on her. haha!

Several Note-worthy things

First of all, I didn't feel like myself when we were at the beach with Maggie and Bo and apparently that worried my baby sister. So she tells my mother that she was worried about me since I didn't feel like doing much. And of course, I get the "this is not a lecture, but" spill from Mom. Now, coming from anyone else, I'd have taken offense. But two things, it made me feel good that Maggie was worried about her big sister and my mom has been in my shoes 4 times before so I'd say she knows a little about pregnancy and all that comes with it. So I can't fault her, nor can I ignore her advice. So Mom tells me I need to be mindful of "not doing much" and get a little excercise and keep my enegery level up. This, coming from a woman who birthed 4 beautifully healthy babies, but only ONCE, yes ONCE, had a bout with nausea. So I try to tell her that yes, she has been through this more times than my mind can fathom, but she hasn't the slighest idea what it feels like to feel fine one minute and be spewing your lunch the next. So forgive me if I don't "keep my energy level up." But, I have had quite the scare this weekend. Yesterday morning, I could feel my heart beat in my head and in my stomach and this made me more nauseated and even more dizzy. The nurse at my OB's office tells me it's my blood sugar that's making me dizzy and to be sure and eat crackers and such in between meals. But it's not possible to eat anymore crackers in a day than I am already eating. So I don't think she's right. I got to feeling yesterday like I might be having blood presure problems. Having the wonderful husband that I do, he went and got me a blood pressure cuff and I've been monitoring it off and on since yesterday. I guess it finally dawned on me today that it's not high like I figured it would be since I could feel my heartbeat in strange places, but it's actually really really low. It's my heart rate that's high. I just took it a little bit ago and it was 103/69. But here's the kicker, my heart rate is 104 beats per minutes. Is this normal?? I think not. Should I call the doctor???? The book says that my heart rate will be elevated due to the baby's heart rate. At last count, the baby's heart rate was like 172 beats per minute. So will this be something I feel all the time until the baby is born????

All that aside, I did somethings today that I haven't done in a while. Well, not counting the throwing up in the middle of trying to watch a movie earlier (I thought we'd be over that part for sure by now, so what's up with that???) I actually did some things that made my husband very very happy. He said he guesses he'll claim me today! haha I helped him clean up around this house, actually even worked up a sweat. Now that we have our new furniture, we have some humungo pieces of furniture to dust. So I got that done. AND, get this. I am cooking!!! Yes, me, Barbie Whitehead. I have a Cindy Self Hashbrown Casserole in the oven and boy I can't wait til it comes out. YUMMY! Let's just hope it stays down.

Sorry for the Delay

But there hasn't really been anything exciting to blog about lately. Life is just normal. I haven't felt good this week, and thought that with the turn of trimesters I would begin to feel somewhat better. WRONG!!!! Hopefully better days are ahead and I don't mean to complain because I know my efforts will be fruitful in the end.

I suppose I should begin to tell you all about the Neshoba County Fair. It really isn't even something I can put into words for the inexperienced fair goer. But it's termed "Mississippi's Biggest House Party" when in fact it should be called "Mississippi's Biggest Porch Party".

So picture this, acres and acres of campers and cabins piled in on top of each other, with each person's porch on the front and back of their cabin touching the next person's porches. A huge horse race track with cabins circling it. A big midway with carnival rides and fair food booths. A big concert stage set up at the arena. Horse stables and barns. All of this in one HUGE location where the ENTIRE county moves from their houses for one whole week in July out to what they call the fair grounds. I've never seen anything like this in my life, nor do I expect you to unless you live here or visit me during the fair. Last year was my first fair and it was an experience, although I must say it wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be.

Let me explain Sid's family's cabin, which belongs to his grandmother Williamson, NeNe's mother. It's two stories. Downstairs, you have the front and back porch, the kitchen, and the bathroom area. Upstairs you have one huge room with enough beds and bunk beds to sleep about 20 people. The whole family sleeps in this one huge room together. And from what I can tell, even though they all vary in size, this is the make-up of the majority of cabins.

It starts on Friday and ends the following Friday. There are varying entertainment events each night - the rodeo and concerts by big name people. Of course there is always the midway with the regular carnival rides and game booths that most of us are used to experiencing at the county fair. There are real horse and buggy races. The beauty pageant. The first Saturday is flea market day, which is the equivalent to Homestead Hollow for those of you at home. All kinds of things that I probably don't even know about.

I'll post events as they happen to sort of give you the feel because it's kind of unbelievable. But this year, we aren't spending the night out at the fair grounds, for many reasons. Mostly because I'm not sleeping good as it is and I know I won't sleep good out there. But I also have to take the Praxis the first Saturday of the fair and Sid and I both have to work. So we'll be out there to eat at night and visit, but we'll be making our way back to East Haven Drive when it's bedtime.

Sid's other grandparents have a camper that they've already put in so we've been out there visiting tonight. It's even unbelievable to me that people are out there staying like this is their vacation spot. To many people in Neshoba County this is their vacation. I'm used to beach condos and places in the mountains for vacation spots. NOT some big field with a bunch of old cabins and alot of people I don't know all visiting with one another. I'll know more people this year, but it's just not home if you aren't born and raised here. Maybe eventually it will feel like home to me, but I doubt it!!!

Visit the website for pictures and to read more about this year's fair. It's really something!
http://www.neshobacountyfair.org
And actually I just noticed that if you'll scroll through the pics in the photo gallery you'll eventually see pic with a little of Sid's cabin in it. It's the pic that has the sign hanging up over the road that reads "Sunset Strip". On the left of the pic, you'll see a yellow cabin with a sign hanging from it's upper balcony that says "Happiness is a Posey Fair". Obviously that's not us. But then you'll see the cabin next to it with some people sitting on the porch. That's not us either and if you could read the sign you'd know it because it says "Ponala's Playhouse". The cabin next to it is cut out of the picture but the edge of the porch is there, with a yellow dump-truck toy sitting on the porch. That's the porch of Sid's family's cabin. But at least you get the idea of our the location of their cabin.

I Can't Think of a Fitting Title for This Post

This morning, as I lazily sit here and eat my Cheerios, I checked the news on foxnews.com. I'm not sure why this is just now being posted as a news story. But in a world where I can personally say I take everything for granted, including my freedom, I am reminded that there are men and women out there fighting to make sure that I remain free and can raise my child in a free world. There are men and women out there who unselfishly give of themselves to do what the rest of us cannot do. And I thought this story was one I should share. Yes, I am a bit more emotional than I would be under normal circumstances, but things like this just make me stop and be thankful of the world I know and the world I hope I never have to know.

Here is the link to the www.foxnews.com story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,376243,00.html

And you can get to the you tube video from that story, but here's the you tube link just in case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfK2BQCIIes&eurl=http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/03/us-navy-seal-mi.html

I noticed that this man was not married and had no children. This especially made me sad for him, knowing that he apparently gave his life to his country and his fellow men and did not know life as the rest of us know it on a day to day basis. He did, however, leave behind a mother, father, sister, and nieces and nephews. How many of these kinds of stories are day to day stories for these battle-men that you and I never hear about. There has to be a whole bunch.

When I see the prayer list from church or I get an email asking me to pray for soliders, I stop right then and I say a prayer for their cause, their families, their safety. But do I ever think of them again until the next time I look at the church prayer list? Of course I don't. I can't imagine, can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have a brother, sister, dad, or husband away fighting like that. I can't imagine what these people go through. But I can promise you that I will not forget them again after watching this.

I've been following the story of the little 12 year old named Brooke from Vermont who had been missing since the end of June and was found Wednesday night, dead. According to the stories I've been reading and the newscasts I have watched, she apparently was tricked by her uncle as he abducted her and took her to be initiated into a child sex ring. This story is sad and I know many of you are probably thinking it's bizarre for me to be following it so closely. But what gets me is the kind of life this child must have lived before she was killed, being around family members like this. There had to be some issues somewhere along the way and I just can't imagine children living in that kind of environment. Of course, I followed it to begin with because I wanted her to be found alive and safe. Early reports said she was meeting someone from myspace. But reports now indicate that the uncle hacked into her myspace account and posted the fake postings so it would "appear" that she was meeting a stranger. Again, surely if my brother or Sid's brother was involved in something like this, we would know something was up, but apparently this little girl was in day to day contact with her uncle and ended up dead because of it. I just can't imagine.

Maybe I should just stop reading the news. But yesterday, there was a story of a dad who had put a cage in the back cab of his pick up and kept his children locked in the cage everyday while he was at work because he didn't have a babysitter. WHAT???? What goes through people's minds that make them think something like that is even remotely ok to do???? I can't imagine. The story said that the children had already been removed from the care of their mother, that's why the dad had them. I just can't imagine what these children lived through on a day to day basis. What they must have felt being locked in a cage like that in their dad's truck. And the only way he was caught was because he was at a gas station and a by-stander heard the cries of the children coming from the back of the truck and saw the dad push their hands back inside the cage. The person called authorities and the man was arrested before he left the gas station-Thank God!!!! The man had put a piece of ply-wood up on the back window of the truck so no one could see inside, he knew what he was doing was wrong. But he still choose to do it. I just can't imagine.

But what I can imagine is how thankful I am to know peace and love and support and happiness. I don't suppose I'll stop reading the world news. It's real life things that happening all around us. But in a place where I'm enjoying life to the fullest, I won't forget these stories of real human beings who don't know life as I've always known it. Or these service men and women who so freely give so that I don't have to, so that my family doesn't have to, so that my baby can be born with it's daddy here.

The 4th of July!

Well, we are the beach. Thank goodness!!!! This is a much much needed break away from life. Maggie and Bo are here and the weather isn't too good right now. BUT, it's still the beach none the less. The ride over was really good and I've felt pretty good up until this morning. I think I might have just slept a little too long.

Sid and Bo have gone grocery shopping. And Maggie's still snoozing. I'd probably have already dozed off for a morning nap if it didn't sound like the people upstairs were throwing a golf ball on the floor-CONSTANTLY.

Anywho, I hope everyone enjoys the 4th this year. At a time in our world when there doesn't seem like there is much peace anywhere, we still have our freedom here in our little corner of the world. And I am more thankful for that now than I've ever been in my whole life.