Four more weeks... or is it?

I had my 36 week OB appointment today and I'll be back each week from here on out!

I love my ob, she is so laid back and just real. She's young and still pretty new, but you wouldn't even be able to tell, she is so calm and confident but she doesn't treat you like you don't know anything. I feel like we can ask her questions and she doesn't feel like we are attacking her intelligence or anything. She just answers what she can tells us if she doesn't know or if it's not a concern.

I can't really say that about any of the other dr's in the same office. I've seen them all at least once, since any one of them could be the one to deliver me, it just depends who is in the office or on call at the time I'm ready to deliver. I would LOVE it to be my ob, but I know the chances are slim.

I'm ok with that because I know that God is in charge anyways. He has the whole thing under control and I know He will take care of His baby and me no matter how things happen.

With that being said, at my appointment today I had my first cervical check where the dr does a quick internal exam of my cervix to see if I've dilated or progressed yet. At the first check I really was expecting her to say that I was 1, maybe 2 cm** if anything at all! I was thinking I've still got four weeks left so there's a lot of time for all that labor stuff...


If I remember correctly at my first check with Little Lady I was all most at 2 cm and I stayed that way for about 2 weeks. Then I went to 2.5 cm or maybe 3 cm. By my 40 week appointment I was 3.5, almost 4 cm dilated and I went into labor and gave birth 2 days later...

**(10 cm is fully dilated and when you push, in case anyone is wondering what this all means!)

Today when the dr checked me she said I am already "a good 3.5 cm"! I was shocked. All I could do was laugh and ask 'Are you serious?!' I have felt like this pregnancy has been a breeze compared to the first one and even this progress has proven that to be the case.

I may not go in to labor in 2 days, in fact I'm really hoping it's another week AT LEAST {Stud Muffin is hoping for another 3 weeks, bless his heart}. But if I am already 1/3 of the way there and I haven't had a painful contraction, I'll take it!! I'm even hoping for another couple of cm before my next appointment on Thursday!

But in all seriousness, she advised us to be prepared just in case. She said that if I were to go into labor at this point that they wouldn't try to stop it. If the baby were to be born at 36 weeks in most scenarios he or she would be just fine. {37 weeks is full term so I'm not that far off} If anything they would do extra monitoring on the baby and there's a chance they would have to give him or her oxygen. I would rather avoid all that extra stress and wait another week, where the hospital would consider the baby healthy and most likely just fine.

So the plan is for me to take it easy this next week and try to hold off labor if at all possible. I'm really thinking that shouldn't be a problem since I haven't felt much for contractions besides a few Braxton Hicks and they are few and far between.

But I'll take the Dr's orders and just do my best to rest! ; D

P is for play.

I had to show off a project I put together for the new baby!

It's a texture play mat! Each "pie" piece is a different material: fleece, bumpy fleece, satin, terry cloth, velour-ish, and 3 cotton pieces with print.

On most of the "pie" pieces there are elements that baby can explore, feel, tug or just drool on :).

I'm particularly proud of myself given that the project was labeled 'intermediate' and the directions were very vague. I had a few bumps and hurdles, but I finished it less than 4 hours! 

Now we just need baby to get here so he or she can play!

Until then...

Big sister doesn't mind breaking it in!

And while we are on the subject of play, Little Lady is one who plays hard. She doesn't show fear for anything it seems. When she starts getting hyper she is twirling around the room or throwing her whole body up against the couch and bouncing off. She loves it and it only gets her going more!

In the last couple days she has managed to, shall we say earn, a few 'battle wounds'....

The one under her chin she got while playing in the nursery at church on Sunday. They said she had a run in with the mat and it left her a pretty good mark!

She also has a scrape under her eye that she got from practically throwing herself off of the couch in one of her hyper spells. Just moments before she fell I was thinking how rowdy she was getting and that she was probably going to fall, and then not even moments later she went face first on to the floor. :( 

Niether boo-boo seems to bother her too much but she sure looks pretty beat up. What can I say she's one tough little girl!!

Wordless Wednesday

Beautiful for Me

Every girl young and old has to face her own reflection

Twirl around, stare it down

What's the mirror gonna say

With some luck, you'll measure up

But you might not hold a candle to the rest

"Is that your best?" says the mirror to the mess

But there's a whisper in the noise

Can you hear a little voice

and He says

Has anybody told you you're beautiful?

You might agree if you could see what I see

Oh

'Cuz everything about you is incredible

You should have seen me smile the day that I made you

beautiful for me

If it's true beauty lies in the eye of the beholder

What my life and what's inside to give him something to behold

I want a heart that's captivating

I wanna hear my Father say

Has anybody told you you're beautiful?

You might agree if you could see what I see

Oh

'Cuz everything about you is incredible

You should have seen me smile the day that I made you

beautiful to me

Close your eyes

Look inside

Let me see the you that you've been trying to hide

Long ago, I made you so very beautiful

So I ought to know you're beautiful

Has anybody told you you're beautiful?

You might agree if you could see what I see

Yeah

'Cuz everything about you is incredible

You should have seen me smile the day that I made you beautiful

You're so beautiful

Beautiful for me

So beautiful for me

Has anybody told you?

This song by Nichole Nordeman, I can't listen to it with out tearing up. I hear it and I think of my baby girl. She comes to my mind first. And I want so badly for her to grow up knowing how beautiful she is to her King. That He takes delight in her and He even sings over her.

In this world, where our daughters will be urged to grow up too fast, encouraged to be sexy at such a young age and to live up to a standard no woman can or should have to live up to, I want my daughter to know who made her.

And that He made her beautiful.

The LORD your God is with you,

He is mighty to save,

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

34 weeks

Throughout this pregnancy I've only been doing updates by the month {or as close to as possible} and that was simply because I didn't want to commit to weekly updates on top of taking care of Little Lady. But I was thinking that I would like to try and update every two weeks now, the same as my OB appointments are now. We'll see how well I'm able to do that....

I also thought it would be fun to post my belly pics from when I was pregnant with Little Lady, just for a little fun and comparison sake!

Here I am with Little Lady {I was 33 weeks in this picture but it's close enough!}:

And here is my belly pic for The Sequel this week:

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 34 Weeks

Size of baby: 17 in and 4.5lbs + 

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  Gained 14+ lbs {since I was in the hospital for my appt I didn't get weighed this week.}

Maternity Clothes: I pretty much feel like being in my pj's all day! I dread getting dressed each morning because the only thing that is comfortable is comfy clothes.

Gender: It's a surprise!!

Movement: Oh yes! I can tell it's getting cramped in there!

Sleep: Crazy and random dreams have been waking me up in the early mornings and then I have trouble falling back asleep because I lay there and think through the insane dream I just had!

Symptoms: Crazy dreams, heartburn and reflux, tire easily, frequent bathroom breaks.

What I miss: Being able to do as much activity with Little Lady. And when she wants to cuddle it gets a little tricky, she trys to get comfy but my growing belly just gets in the way :D

Cravings: Most of the time I lack an appetite. I'm still really hungry but not too much sounds good to eat.

Best Moment this week: Having Stud Muffin finally home for good from his training.

What I am looking forward to: Working on the nursery and spending quality time with Little Lady!

Pregnancy update and other things.

The last two weeks have been INSANE for us!

1. Stud Muffin has been away for a 6 week training and he finally graduated last Thursday (Sept 9)! I was so proud of him and his commitment over that time period. I know it was extremely difficult to be away from his family for so long and we certainly missed him!! On top of the pressure of being away from home for 6 wks, he was busy doing homework every night {to include 20+ pages of reading a night, 3 speeches, several papers and even more tests}, community service tasks, and he volunteered for the flag team where he was responsible for retreat and revillie. He even had the honor of being a part of the POW/MIA ceremony at his graduation dinner. I was so excited to be able to attend his graduation dinner and honor his accomplishment.

And then that night he surprised me with a room at the Broadmoor Hotel and we had a wonderful time away, just the two of us! Little Lady got to have a fun sleepover with some friends who are like family to us. :D

This was the view from our room:

Let's just say this place was WAY out of our league but it sure was fun to live in luxury for just one night. I don't think I could take more than that of some one always opening the doors and carrying your bags.

2. The second big thing this past two weeks was we, Stud Muffin and I, both had to work for 4 days for an inspection our base was having {we are both in the Air National Guard}. This was difficult for me because I'm a stay at home mama and I love being with my baby girl! I was certainly glad to have that over with and now I have the next 3 months off while I have {and recover from having} this baby!

3. On Monday I woke up feeling nauseous and actually threw up several times during the day {one not so pretty time happened to be in the car, while driving} and then on Tuesday, same thing. On Wednesday morning I had thrown up 4 times and couldn't keep anything down for the life of me, not even taking Zofran would help. Not even clear liquids. I knew I was drying up and would need to get fluids ASAP. I called my OB office because I wanted to avoid going to the ER and having that charge if at all possible. 

When the OB finally called me back, she instructed me to go to the Labor and Delivery unit at the hospital and have IV fluids given to me. When I got there they hooked me up to the baby heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor. The baby was fine, but I was contracting, mostly because I was so dehydrated. They got a quick flowing IV hooked up and started pumping me with fluids as well as a good dose of Zofran. I finished one bag and they got a second one going. After the third bad had almost emptied and the contractions had pretty much subsided, they decided to release me. 

The nurse took out the IV and and got my release paperwork together and I got back into my street clothes. As the nurse was reading the paperwork to me I started to feel nauseous again and even got a few sharp pains in my stomach {not contraction pains}. I told the nurse and she asked me what I wanted to do. Since I had spent the last four hours sitting on a slab of rock they call a bed in the triage room, I just wanted to go home. {Keep in mind I had driven myself there. Stud muffin had stayed home with Little Lady}. She it was up to me and that she would get a wheelchair to take me down and out to my car. We proceeded to go down the halls of the hospital and I was praying I could make it home with out losing my stomach again.

We didn't make it. I moaned and she ran to the nearest door to get a bucket. I managed to hold it in until she returned but she turned the wheel chair back around and took me back to the L&D unit. Luckily she took me to an actual room where the beds are at least lightly cushioned... There I was put back on IV and given another dose of Zofran. My OB happened to be in {by this time it's 10pm} doing a delivery so she came in to check on me. She perscribed me some Ambient so I could sleep and she said she'd be back in the morning to see how I was doing. {My OB office is in the hospital.}

After they gave me the Ambient I was out! I remember a nurse coming in once to scan my arm band because they we giving me Pepcid through my IV. I had heartburn really bad from all the throwing up. I was wishing I could hook up an IV of that stuff at home since I've had heartburn this whole pregnancy! I didn't wake up til around 8:30 {which is sleeping in when I'm usually up at 6:30 with Little Lady!} and I felt really groggy. My Ob came in shortly after and said that I could try some clear liquids, slowly. As long as I could keep those down with out a hitch I would be able to go home, if not they would keep me until I was able to keep something down. So I had a little apple juice and some jello and then some chicken broth. I kept it all down so I finally was able to come home!! I just spent yesterday recovering and resting since Stud Muffin was able to stay home again. And today I feel so much better!

And that's about it for us {as if it wasn't enough ;P}

I'll post a 34 week update and Little Lady's 14 month update sometime this weekend.

Less than two months to go!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 32.5 Weeks

Size of baby: 16 inches long and weighs 3+ lbs 

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  14 lbs total.

Maternity Clothes: Yes. I am usually in a skirt or dress or lounge pants. I did just splurge and buy a pair of Gap maternity jeans because I know that I'll probably wearing them even after the baby is born.

Gender: It's a surprise!!

Movement: Oh yes! Almost all the time but especially when I lay on my side.

Sleep: This depends on Little Lady... but I have started waking up even if she doesn't just to go to the bathroom.

Symptoms: Crazy dreams, heartburn and reflux, feeling winded easily, frequent bathroom breaks.

What I miss: Being able to sleep on my stomach! I missed this really bad when I was pregnant with Little Lady and it's starting to be the same this time. My hips start hurting after sleeping on only my sides.

Cravings: Not too many specific cravings anymore and I'm so grateful to be able to eat just about anything I'm hungry for with this pregnancy, unlike the first one.

Best Moment this week: Spending time with Nana and then getting to spend a 3 day weekend with Stud Muffin after being apart for 2 weeks!

What I am looking forward to: Working on the nursery and spending quality time with Little Lady!