{Bump} 36 Weeks

Warning: as this is a post about pregnancy there may or may not be some "lady business" talk.

My face in this picture pretty much sums up how I feel right now:

I am so tired! This past week I have had two false alarms. Such a TEASE!

Thursday evening my contractions were 5-7 minutes apart for an hour, then 3-5 minutes apart for 45 minutes and then they went to 2-3 minutes apart for 30 minutes before I decided to head to the hospital.

They had me on the monitors for 4 hours with contractions 2-3 minutes apart and had to send me home because there was NO progression.

Friday evening I lost my "plug". (Can't believe I just wrote that...Eeew)

Saturday evening the baby dropped.

Monday(yesterday) I had contractions all day and then in the evening they picked up to 2-3 minutes for 2 hours and were much lower than on Thursday night. I headed back to the hospital 

and after an hour was sent home...AGAIN.

Blarg.

Apparently I am having a crap ton of useless, but perfectly timed, contractions that have done NOTHING!

Nothing, that is, except turn me into a freaking basket case who has had to do

the Labor & Delivery ward "Walk of Shame" twice now in one week:

Get dressed, look around to make sure you have all your belongings.

Was I wearing a bra?

Walk down the long, brightly lit hallway hoping nobody sees you with

yesterdays mascara smeared under your puffy eyes.

Wait for the elevator just outside reception, which takes FOREVER considering its 2AM.

Walk out the door, past the same people who buzzed you in after hours, avoiding their looks of pity.

Climb into your cold car and drive home to cry yourself to sleep.

I know that I am early, but with all these signs of labor, I am just tired of the guessing game.

Just FYI:

My daughter was born at 35 1/2 weeks and was 6lbs 10ozs.

My son was born at 37 1/2 weeks and was nearly 8 lbs.

So for me, having the baby now would be perfectly normal.

Oh, and with each of those pregnancies I did not feel a single contraction until I was in the hospital in active labor...so this whole contraction thing is new for me.

 

{Bump} 33 Weeks

Yep. Here it is!

The {bump} at 33 weeks.

Don't let the cheesy grin fool you...I am in some PAIN!

Backache, burning sensation on my ribs and BH contractions that take my breath away all throughout the day. If the practice ones hurt this bad I am TERRIFIED of what real labor is going to be like with this one;) I have heard from several friends that it is a 3rd pregnancy thing. Explains why there are so many families with only 3 children, huh?

I have gained exactly 15 pounds so far and all of that has gone straight to my belly.

I think this boy is going to be about 12 pounds.

Oh. My. YIKES!

Yep. I went there. Bare belly for your enjoyment.

I have had people tell me my belly looked fake to them.

It is, in fact, quite real. 

I am seriously wondering if they got my date wrong or if there is a secret agent twin in there who can copy his brother so well that the ultrasounds can only pick the one kid up.

Cuz, I mean, dang. Just look at me!

I don't see how I can make it another 7 weeks. Pray for me! ;)

My husband will look at my belly and then start busting up laughing.

It's a good thing I like him.

28 Weeks

28 Weeks with baby #3

I am now in my third trimester and with that starts my favorite part of pregnancy:

RIB SKIN BURNING! 

Yep. It feels like a curling iron is sitting on the skin over my ribs,

and the flesh below is painfully numb. Anyone else ever experience this?

I have had it with all 3 of my pregnancies. Ice packs are my best friend right now. 

That is an icepack in an Ace bandage. I rock that at the grocery store.

By the afternoon I usually have a heating pad on my back and an ice pack on my ribs.

Makes this instinct they call "nesting" a little difficult;) Heh.

I do it anyway, but pay for it later.

Last night I cut out the pieces for a "Mary" costume that I am making for my daughter(she is going to be Mary in our church's Christmas video) and not only did it take me twice the time, but I practically cried the whole time.

Oh the things we do for our kids! Am I right? <--- Rhetorical question.

This is my view at 28 weeks.

See the stains? Yeah, I thought about photoshopping those out, but then I didn't;)

Ha! I figured most of my readers are moms and would get it.

The thing I am really enjoying right now is feeling and watching the baby move. I have been feeling him since week 10, but now the movements are so strong that it takes my breath away (with both pain and joy). I dream about who he will be and what he looks like. I love him so deeply already and know that all my suffering will be worth it...he is worth it.

 

19 weeks and feeling alright:)

I have my ultrasound in two weeks...

hopefully the baby cooperates so we'll be able to see what we are having!

I am feeling pretty large, but so far I have only gained 5 pounds. 

This is my view. Toes are gone already...

I am finally getting to the point where daily life isn't kicking my butt anymore

and I can actually be a little productive.

The last couple days I have been working on a few projects.

One involves yellow paint and my Purdy;)

Oh how I LOVE my Purdy!

Hopefully they will be completed soon and I can share them with you:)

Lazy Sunday Morning...

It is Sunday morning and instead of being at church, which is where I want to be, I am at home. Yesterday kicked my butt so hard that I woke up exhausted, with every muscle in my body heavy with soreness. Is that even a word? Oh well. What did I do yesterday? I went to a baby shower for my friend Tammi, went to the mall to get soap(on the Saturday before school starts...OMG I wanted to hurt people), and then went to a house warming party at Patrick and Bethany's house, all while working on my current project of growing a small human being.

School starts tomorrow...Brooklyn starts first grade! We are all so excited because we got a great teacher and are looking forward to what this new school year will bring. I'm going to cry tomorrow, so hopefully I remember the waterproof mascara and my big sunglasses:)

31 Weeks

That's right! Only 9 +/- weeks to go until we get to meet our baby boy. Jon had a dream two nights ago that made me laugh and then shudder:

When our son is a toddler, he's gonna look like Chuck Liddell with a buzz-cut mohawk and goatee, and his nickname is "Tank"

Oh man! So now we are calling him Tank. With how hard he kicks me in the ribs and hip bones I am thinking this nickname is spot on.

Ahhhhh!

I'm starting to freak out a little...

• I am having a baby in 11 weeks +/-
• We have so much still to buy for him.
• Wondering if he will be early like B or make up for that by being late.
• He has to come out somehow **shudders**

I know it will all be worth it once he is in my arms.

1 in 500

I had a doctors appointment on Tuesday and was told that I am growing right on schedule. The nurse listened to the baby's heart and his heart rate was around 128, which freaked me out until she told me that anywhere between 120 and 160 was "normal". Whew!

Dr Rodgers asked me if she had talked to me yet about the baby's heart......the ultrasound showed a bright white spot on one of the heart valves, called an Echogenic intracardiac foci (EIF). She told me that this white spot was a soft marker for down syndrome and that it increased my odds of having a child with downs from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 500.

The tears that I tried so hard to hold back came flooding out as she said that she knew that we would not "do anything" about it, but that we could probably still do an amniocentesis to find out for sure. I asked if knowing now would mean there was something we could do to fix it and she said no. I told her that the amnio was not an option for us then...the baby either has it or he doesn't.

I sobbed all the way home. What parent wants to hear that there may be something wrong with their child? I prayed out loud as I drove home, still sobbing, and told God:

"Lord, I know that I can handle having a down syndrome baby; that you would not give me more than I could bear. I love this child and will take him in whatever form you choose to give him to me. I would rather have a normal healthy baby, but if you decide to give me one with downs I will love him just as much."

So now what? Now I learn as much as I can about down syndrome...and we pray and wait.

23 Weeks

23 weeks down, 17(ish) to go!!! Sweet! The baby is moving more and more, but Jon and Brooklyn have not been able to feel the kicks yet. Hopefully it will happen soon, because I think that will help them both to feel more connected to this baby.

Nausea has been replaced with heartburn.....even a small sip of water can give me heartburn. I have great energy in the beginning of the day and then crash by early afternoon....I have told Jon and Brook that if they need something done to get me early or they will be out of luck.

Here is the bump at 23 weeks.

Today I took Brooklyn to the river trail, where I walked and she rode her bike. We started at the Sundial bridge, went to Jump River park where Brook got to play for awhile and then we made the trip back to the bridge. It was such a lovely day.....the sun was shining bright and there was a wonderful breeze that helped to keep us from getting too hot. Brooklyn really enjoyed herself and got much more confident in her bike riding skills.

Brooklyn loved riding her bike across the bridge

Brooklyn and Mommy...what a fun morning!

I crashed hard when we got home and ended up being in pain and had to lay in bed all day long....I guess I may have overdone the whole walking thing:) It was worth it though for a special one on one day with my favorite girl.

Oh Boy!

I had my "official" ultrasound yesterday afternoon. Jon was too busy to go, so I picked Brooklyn up from school early and off we went to see the baby again....two days in a row! Oh yeah!

The technician took the measurements of the head and leg bones, as well as tons of other pictures that I could not decipher. I told her that the doctor had said she thought it was a boy and asked if we could find out for sure. She started panning around and was able to say with certainty that the baby is in fact a boy....he was very proud of himself and kept turning to show it to us.

Here are some pictures of our baby boy:

Hurray for same day appointments!

AIM got approved and my insurance became effective last Saturday, the 23rd, but with it being a holiday weekend I had to wait until yesterday morning to even get to talk to someone about setting up my first doctors appointment. I took Brooklyn to school and then called to set up the appointment praying that they would be able to get me in sometime next week. They happened to have a cancellation that afternoon at 4! Sweet! Jon and Brooklyn got to go with me and we heard the heartbeat and saw our baby for the first time...it was amazing. The doctor asked us if we wanted to know the sex of the baby and when we told her yes she started searching. It was pretty obvious that it was a BOY! Oh man were we excited! She said that she couldn't guarantee anything but that it sure looked like a boy to her...she said we would know more when we had our "official" ultrasound appointment at the Imaging Lab.

The baby is healthy and Dr Rodgers is sticking with October 17th as our due date. She said the only thing that concerns her about me is the fact that Brooklyn was born premature, but other than that everything was great.

This morning at 7:30, I called to set up my "official" ultrasound at the lab fully expecting to wait a couple weeks and was told that they had a cancellation TODAY at 1:45! So excited!

18 weeks

Today marks that I am 18 weeks pregnant. I am really tired all the time and yet I have this urge to clean and organize everything in sight. My body and my brain really need to have a family meeting and figure this out......either let me rest without the guilt or allow me the energy to get stuff done.

Today was Brooklyn's school jog-a-thon....it's a fundraiser that they do every year. I volunteered to help and was there setting up while trying not to fall asleep on my feet. Brooklyn's class came out and they lined up at the starting line-so cute! The start gun was shot and off they went in an all out sprint around the track. I stood on the side cheering them on until I felt little arms wrap around my waist...where it used to be anyway. Brooklyn was crying and was too tired to run any longer, so I grabbed her hand and walked the rest of the time with her. After her class finished, I walked her to her classroom, went home and fell asleep on the couch until it was time to pick her up from school.

Approved!!!

Thanks for all the prayers friends! I got a call yesterday from AIM and found out that they had approved me....Yay!!! Before I can get an effective date though we need to pay in full the remaining balance from our miscarriage last year. It took me almost a year to get them to cancel my coverage and find out that even though we discovered a miscarriage on the FIRST day of my coverage we were going to have to pay the entire coverage fee. Grrrr! Now they have changed the policy so that if you miscarry in the first trimester you only pay one third of the premium.

So that is what we are waiting on now......for us to come up with an extra 650 dollars so that we can pay for our miscarriage and THEN I can go see a doctor about this baby.

Please be praying that God will provide that money for us.

17 weeks

17 weeks pregnant and I don't feel any larger than I did a few weeks ago. I have gained only four pounds because I still can't eat. Food just doesn't taste good to me so I have to force myself to eat. When something sounds good to me I will drive across town to get it because it is so rare right now.

I find out Monday if I have been approved for the AIM program......I am so nervous.

Several people have been asking if we are going to find out the sex of the baby and the answer to that question is "Heck yes!" I want to know.

Then they ask if we have names picked out yet. "Nope!" Names, like food, are just not appealing to me right now...so the name Apple is definitely out. I am hoping that once we know what this little one is, we will be inspired in some way. I like meanings of names, but that's not the sole criteria for a name for us. I think we will probably do the list thing we did when we were pregnant with B. Jon made a list, I made a list and then we traded and crossed off any names we vetoed (FRIENDS reference) as well as any names that were on the most popular name lists for the prior three years. Maybe this time we will dump out all of our scrabble letters on the table and just roll with whatever is in the tiles......that may just work.

Evil snack lady

Yep, that's me! That's how I feel right now.

Today was my turn to bring snack for Brooklyn's soccer team. I have been back to first trimester all-day sickness for over a week now and was praying all day that the rain would continue so our game would get cancelled and I could just sleep. No such luck. I got up and washed and cut up apples for the 8 kids on our team as well as a few extras for siblings and put them into individual baggies for the half-time snack and then I packed juice boxes and fruit by the foots for after the game. Brook and I got there early and I carried the cooler and my camp chair across the field to where our game was going to be and got set up(Jon was on an appointment and was going to meet us there).

Half time. I pull out my hand sanitizer wipes for the kids to clean their hands before snack and then reach for the bags of apple slices to pass out. I hear someone say "Come get your snacks" and see the kids line up at another parent who is passing out gogurts. What?!?!?!? I was really confused and I asked why he had snacks because it was my day....okay so "asked" may not be the right term. I'm pregnant and sick and reluctantly fulfilled my obligation and someone else shows up with tubes of yogurt....I probably came off a little aggressive. The coach said that someone would have to bring snacks for Monday and I said that it wouldn't be me; today was my scheduled day and I brought it.

After the game the coach tells me that she saw the dad wipe a tear from his eye. Now I don't really know how much of that is true and how much was the coach teasing me, but I felt really really bad at this point. Then I felt mad that I felt bad about it. IT WAS MY TURN TO BRING SNACK! How hard is it to look at a schedule and know when your date is? So then I get in the car and just start bawling. Now this man and who knows who else thinks that I am just an evil raging snack freak. Great.

Mommy/Daughter Date

Today after school I took Brooklyn to Chuck E Cheese, just me and her. We had such a good time together playing games and just hanging out. Our favorite games to play were the fishing and Skeeball....she totally kicked my butt at Skeeball. I think the skeeball skills that my own Mother possesses skipped me entirely and went straight to Brooklyn. I am still working that one out in therapy.



After that we went across the parking lot to the Sweet Spot and had some yummy gelato and sherbet. It was GOOD!

Today really made me think about just how much our lives will change when the baby gets here in a few months....no more going where we want when we want to. Life as we know it will never be the same. That realization smacked me in the face today.....big changes ahead.

16 Weeks + 1 Day

I forgot to write yesterday.......I would blame it on pregnesia, but I was just busy.

So let's see......this last week was pretty good until Wednesday and Thursday when I got nauseous and had the metal taste in my mouth again. Blech! I was in the office sitting on the floor with my head on the chair just crying to Jon "Two and a half weeks of bliss and I am back to this!!!!" and then I just broke down sobbing. Today I am feeling better, but food does not appeal to me so I have to make myself eat. I have gained only 2 pounds total and that has me a little worried, but I am taking my prenatal vitamins and eat fruits and veggies when I can. I am counting down the days until the 11th when I find out if I will be approved for the AIM program so I can get to a doctor.

My skin is a wreck right now....I have dry patches that won't go away no matter how much water I drink or how much moisturizer I slather on my face. I have never had dry skin until this pregnancy. I have two new broken capillaries and blemishes that just won't heal. Neat. On top of all that I have a darker pigmented circle on my forehead between my eyes and another at my hair line that I have been told should fade a few months after giving birth. Double Neat.

On a happy note, I have been feeling the baby move more and more each day and I can feel him/her getting bigger and stronger.....it is such an amazing feeling. I lay as still as I can and wait for the tiny little bumps and then I just smile. I am really looking forward to when Jon can feel the kicks too.

Keep Praying!

I just got off the phone with someone at the AIM program and found out that they received all my new paperwork and that a decision will be made by May 11th. I can call after 5pm to find out if I am approved. Please keep praying people because we REALLY need this!

Thanks friends!

15 Weeks

I just read my post from 2 weeks ago about how miserable pregnancy is and thought to myself:

"Who is this whiny person and what is her problem? Pregnancy is awesome!"

Thank God for the second trimester!!! I have not been nauseous and the metal taste is mostly gone. I have to marvel at how quickly I have forgotten the misery of a mere two weeks ago.

I have energy again...not a ton, but more than before. Also, my aversion to coffee is over! Yay! I am drinking a caramel macchiatto right now. Mmmmmm!

I got a letter from AIM yesterday that said that we didn't make enough to qualify......WHAT?!?!?! So I looked at our profit and loss and saw that somehow I had our tithe as a business expense. Preggo-brain! I wrote a letter of appeal telling them of my mistake and begged them to look over my application one more time. Now I am praying like a maniac that they will see it for the mistake it is and approve me.

Please pray people!!! We really need this insurance. Mama needs an epidural:)

13 Weeks

First Trimester is over! Yay! One down, two to go.

Nausea is mostly gone, and the exhaustion is manageable right now. I just have to remember that if I do alot one day to expect to be on the couch for the whole next day.

Food still doesn't really sound good to me. I have an icky metal taste in my mouth that makes eating unpleasant......one side affect that I had never heard about but it is in the preggo books.

I have still not gained a pound. That will change soon I am sure:)

My skin is already itchy and uncomfortable and I have been slathering on Belly Butter like a crazy person.

I don't think I am cut out for pregnancy. I have my moments where I marvel at the incredible miracle that is forming within me, but then I remember just how miserable I am. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to be having another baby.....i have incredible joy about that, it's just the process that is so hard on me. I am just praying that it gets better in this second trimester:)