36 Week Appt.

So the status is 2cm and 60% effaced. However, she said most likely I won't go into labor in the next week. So YAY! Hopefully I will have a "full term" baby (at least 37 weeks) this time and not have to see the inside of a NICU!

She also said she doubts I will go the full 40 weeks. But who really knows! Saturday, May 5th would be good for me :) My calendar is free that day except for a Cinco de Mayo party :)

All of a sudden I feel a huge rush to do everything. The days are going by SO FAST. I only have 4 more work days left and trying to cram everything into those days is crazy!! I'm sure something will get left not done...hopefully it's not my toenails (pedicure) this time!!!! Until next time....

Less than 5 Weeks Left!

This is truly the home stretch!! I'm ready, but I still can't believe it's APRIL. I really don't have too much to complain about but this has by far, been the hardest pregnancy of the 3. First trimester was plagued with just that "gross" feeling and extreme fatigue (but no puking or anything horrible!). Second trimester was glorious!! As soon as the third trimester came, I hit a major wall. I had long bouts of contractions that would last hours at a time. I felt more tired than I did in the first trimester and if that wasn't enough, I caught a cold and nasty, nasty cough that had me coughing in 3 hour spells during the night!! It got so bad, my OB had to give me codeine cough medicine--all that coughing was not great for the baby. That lasted an entire month.

Fast forward a few weeks--I was just minding my own business and had to sneeze...most PAINFUL sneeze of my life! I thought I had broken a rib. Every time I moved, the pain was so AWFUL! At night, I had to CRY just turn my body over. I finally decided to ask my physical therapist friend to take a look at it. Apparently, I tore some ligaments between my ribs and there was lots of swelling between certain ribs. Went to my OB the next day and he told me exactly the the same thing. He said it was most likely from all the coughing last month and the sneeze was finally the last straw! I can handle pain, but my concern was that there would be NO WAY I'd be able to push out a baby in my condition! I could hardly sit up in bed!! However, my OB assured me it was nothing an epidural wouldn't cover :) So that was a relief.

Last Friday, my PT friend taped me and did a little PT and ever since then I am SOOOOO happy to say it's been getting MUCH better. He is seriously a miracle-worker...and free, too! :) Now it's just remembering to "take it easy."

Last weekend, I got my third trimester burst of energy and we did some massive cleaning, purging and getting ready! The kid's rooms are all complete, clean and organized, the new crib set up, baby clothes washed, bags packed, diapers ready :) This weekend, we celebrated Easter and Scott's confirmation and now it's just waiting for baby!!! Based on Will being 4 weeks early, it could be any day now!!

The pic above is literally 1 of about 3 pictures taken since I've been preggo. It was taken this weekend-35 weeks!

Overwhelmed!

Usually when I am "overwhelmed" it is synonymous for STRESSED!! Too many things to do, not enough hours in the day, type of stress. And believe me, I have been feeling that A LOT lately!! This weekend, I have to say that I was overwhelmed in a positive way, for once! I was completely and utterly overwhelmed by the love and friendship I am surrounded by.

After church on Sunday, our friends surprised Scott and I with a baby shower!! I didn't expect this at all, considering it's our third child and all! I was actually so surprised and shocked that I started getting all misty eyed knowing what everyone did to pull this off!! I know, preggo hormones do crazy things!! But most (maybe ALL) of my friends who live close by have waaaaay busier lives than I do...more kids, more activities, stressful jobs, travel schedules, you name it. They are a BUSY group. The fact that everyone was there (husbands and all-to support Scott!!), made everything even more touching.

It was a great day and it was nice that Baby #3 will have some NEW stuff vs. all the "third child" hand me downs!!! We got stocked with diapers for awhile, too! I started putting everything away and things actually, FINALLY seem "ready" at home. Brookey has a brand new room, things are organized....but more on that later...

Hello 3rd Trimester!!

Although there is lots of confusion over when the "trimesters" actually start and end, I just do simple math: 40 weeks/3 trimesters and voila! Roughly 27 weeks is the third trimester in my book. It's also exactly 3 months until my official due date (May 13th). Not much excitement going on since the contraction episode a few weeks ago. Here are some random thoughts as I enter the home stretch:

1) I had forgotten how much I LOATHE, HATE DESPISE maternity clothes. With the exception of some side-ruched maternity t-shirts (which are somewhat cute), I've pretty much banned "maternity clothes" from my wardrobe. 1-2 sizes bigger in pants, nice, flowy shirts that are popular right now and my Bella Band are pretty much what I am sticking to. I'm NOT busting out my panel jeans until 9 months or the seams split on my regular pants :)

2) Speaking of 9 months, I have a good intuition that Baby 3 will not stay the full 9 months. Based on how I feel and my previous pregnancy (one month early), I am guessing Baby 3 will be a late April baby. Let's hope it not any earlier.

3) I'll post belly pics at some point. I realized I have NO pictures of myself preggo with Will. His baby book has a place for a picture of "Mom Pregnant" and I couldn't find anything to fill the space!

4) Continuing to work vs. staying at home is definitely weighing on my mind right now, but I am not making any decisions until this summer. I really have the most ideal job situation imaginable. 2 days a week, I get to be a part of the school where all my kids will eventually go, doing a job I love. But then there's major stress when the kids get sick, Scott travels, hectic mornings and just the sheer energy it takes to keep up with school events and homework, etc...working doesn't seem worth it. Plus, with Scott's new job NOT working from home--there is an additional challenge. I am not a person who gets bored at home with the kids. I have structure and we always find fun things to do. I like the fact that on the days I stay home, I have so much more energy to devote to my family. But I love my job! SIGH--it's such a tough call. No decision is perfect!!!!

25 Weeks & Contractions

Things have be chugging right along with this pregnancy--the 3rd trimester is just around the corner and I have been feeling great. I went to the Dr. last Friday and everything was just fine. Last night I started feel contraction-like pains around 8:30pm. Being this is my third baby, I definitely think I know the difference between good 'ol Braxston Hick contractions and "real" ones.

It felt like exactly like early labor with both the other kids...about 10 min apart, didn't go away. Finally at 10:30, Scott made me call the Dr. Of course the kids were sleeping peacefully and the thought of having to get them up and drive them in L&D in the middle of the night or waking up one of my friends to come over was pretty much the only thing keeping me from calling earlier!

Dr's advice: take a hot shower and have a glass of wine!!! Apparently wine can relax the uterine muscles. Well, I was shocked beyond belief, but it WORKED! Within 15 min, the contractions stopped and I was finally able to fall asleep.

I have to say, that was a HUGE scare. Of course, as this was all happening, I was Googling everything from what drugs would stop labor to how many babies survive at 25 weeks. Google is a real bit&* sometimes :) Since I was technically "preterm" with Will, I'm at risk for going into labor early again. I am just praying Baby 3 doesn't make his/her exit for another few months!

20 Weeks

We're at the halfway mark and this trimester has been FLYING by. It's a big difference once you start feeling better :)

Since I could only have one person with me in the ultrasound room, Brookey accompanied me this time! It's an old hat for Scott and he doesn't want ANY details whatsoever except to hear the baby is fine. So Brookey came with me and was fascinated by the process. It was nice to have her participate more this time since she was a little too young to care last time around.

Everything is "perfect" with the baby, thank goodness. 10 fingers and 10 toes, all the heart chambers, brain development good :) Most people think the 20 week ultrasound is the "gender finding out" ultrasound, but I take it much more seriously. It really is an anatomy scan to check and see if the baby has been developing properly. I'm always super nervous vs. excited at any ultrasound. So getting this over with was a huge relief for me!!!

The ultrasound showed the baby was measuring right on time for a May 13 arrival, however my uterus (AKA: my gut! lol) is measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule!! Yikes. I definitely don't feel huge yet and I can still "hide" it with certain outfits. But I've switched to new jeans and I can actually fit into "small" maternity t-shirts. The "explosion" is about to happen, though. Just enjoying the next few weeks :)

A cute little foot and toes :)

First Big Relief!!!

Here's the latest of Baby 3, flipping off the the camera for your viewing pleasure.

This picture was taken for the NT Scan, which is a screening for Down's Syndrome (among other things). My stomach was in knots yesterday. Almost 3 years ago the same Dr. told me that Will (then, "Baby 2") was high risk for Downs. Obviously, everything turned out fine but needless to say, I WAS NOT at all excited about this appointment.

This experience was MUCH, MUCH better, the Dr. telling me that "everything looked more than perfect!" Now, those are words I want to hear!!

This appointment wasn't all peaches and cream, though. Other words that I didn't want to hear at this appointment: "So you're Advanced Maternal Age....do you want an amnio and genetic counseling?" =SIGH= Advanced Maternal Age (AMA!!). Oh, well. I guess I have to face the facts!! I told the Dr. to please not check that box on my chart because my due date is FOUR days after my 35th birthday, but he didn't buy it. "Sweetheart, you gotta draw the line somewhere." I gotta find a new Doc :)

Here are some more shots from the ultrasound. They even showed me the 3D version which completely FREAKS me out. I really don't need that much information :) But I have to admit, it was pretty incredible. It really is a miracle from above!!

Little Hands--they could count the fingers and toes, even at 12 weeks-amazing!

He/She already knows how to pray!! I was told there was no way you could tell the gender from this shot or at this point.

Lost in the Fog...

It's not that nothing fun has happened in the last few weeks, but I've been in a total "first trimester fog" that I haven't had any energy to post!!! Literally!!

About a month ago, I was feeling great, just a little tired. I was swearing up and down it was going to be a boy because this pregnancy was soooo easy....just like it was with Will. I should have never opened my mouth, because two days later I was falling asleep at noon and going to bed for the night at 7:30 and feeling like I was going to puke 24 hours a day (i haven't once done that...yet).

I am nearing the 11 week mark and keep thinking this has to be nearly the end of it. Let's hope, otherwise there are going to be some people (family members in particular) that may be kicking me out of the house.

But all the hormones aside, our family is THRILLED to be adding another family member to our crazy mix. As with Brooke and Will, we won't be finding out the sex or releasing any names :) Brooke is ecstatic with "whatever God gives her" and Will is dead-set on having a brother. I don't think either Scott or I have a "preference"....maybe if there had to be 51% of me on a certain sex, it might be a boy for the simple fact I just think boys are a lot more simple, overall. But honestly, I would be soooo happy if I could give Brooke a sister, too...so it will work out no matter what!

Hopefully, I will coming out of this FOG soon and start feeling like a normal, productive member of society.....