Still Here, Still No Baby

On Friday the doctor tried to strip my membranes and did somewhat I think. I was still 1-2cm and had softened but still not thinned out like I need to be. She did say she didn't think that I would make it til my due date. Over the next few days had my show and continued losing my plug. Every single day I think it is going to be the day but somehow wake up in the morning still with child! I have tons of pains and have had contractions but nothing regular. I am anxious for him to get here but at the same time will miss how things are. It is a whole new stage in our family life. Hopefully I will have something exciting to post soon. Otherwise, I have a doctor's appointment on Friday.

38 weeks

37 weeks

Latest Appointment

Last week I started having these shooting pains of baby j pressing down and just period-like cramps so was hoping something was on the horizon. Yesterday I had my appointment. The fluid is down to 15 so that's awesome! I don't need to worry about all of the scary stuff like cold prolapse. He is way head down and he kept kicking her doppler off my belly.

I gained a pound, so that puts my total up to 24, not too bad according to the doctor. I asked to be checked, she said they normally don't under 38 weeks but since I was having these cramps she offered. I am a 'good 1 cm'- so somewhere between 1 and 2 centimeters. But still thick and high, ugh!

With Vincent at my 38 wk appointment I was 1 cm and 25% and went into labor in the next week. She said that each subsequent labor is half as long as the one before and since Vincent was so quick when it happens, it'll happen fast. I sure hope so.

Oh, also Baby Julien is weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz as of yesterday which puts him at the 51% percentile so not big at all YAY!!!!!!!

I'm really anxious to have the baby already and don't think I can wait until June 1st so maybe I'll try all the old wives tales after today. Jeremy has tickets to a concert that he's been wanting to go to so we'll have to wait til tomorrow to walk and eat pineapple and all that haha!

36 weeks!

Fluid is the same as last week's....the ultrasound tech said that around 35 weeks the fluid goes down to let baby know it's getting close to time! There are four pockets that they measure fluid in to get the AFI (amniotic fluid index). If she just counted those my fluid wouldn't be a worry but since there is that 10 cm in front it makes it an actual higher amount of amniotic fluid than the afi would indicate. He is still head down but now his back is on the left side, it's been on the right the last three or four weeks.

I still need to get weekly ultrasounds. Monday I will be 37 weeks and then anytime after that I'm good to go. I think he will be here soon though!

35 week picture

35 weeks

The doctor's appointment this week went great! The fluid is measuring at 20cm which is again the high limits of normal but isn't anything to be concerned about, that's what the doctor said. I met her this week, glad to finally have the met the three who may be delivering this baby!

Weight gain wasn't too bad, about 20 total.

Baby is still head down yay! The doctor said baby may still be early since the fluid is pretty high but he may stay put too so it's just a waiting game.

Jeremy & I bought some of the hospital bag stuff this week, we gotta start getting it all together!

We finished the baby's room. My mom and Jeremy painted and I moved way more than I should've but it's all together now. I'll have to get some pictures up.

His name is decided but a secret so no one can nix it!

Today the girls from my dad's office thru me a little shower/lunch. It was nice just talking to the girls and eating pizza. They got me some cute outfits and some of the basics that we need like baby shampoo, mittens, diapers, onesies...but if anyone still needs any ideas or is dying to buy baby ****** anything here's is our still need list:

diapers
wipes
booties/socks
onesies (0-3 months mostly)
gowns
sleepers

We have all of this big stuff, it's just the little things that we need and 0-3 month clothes. Jeremy is getting really excited, it's cute to see. My guess for due date is.........may 23rd. Any other guesses?

34 weeks

My fluid measured less this week at 16cm, but the ultrasound tech said she saw 10 cm of fluid in the center, and they only measure four side pockets, so it really could be up to 26cm and they are telling me 20 is considered normal. So still on the high side of normal.

They told me a lot at this appointment. Basically, lots of fluid means that the baby is secreting a lot more. Which means he is bigger and that the placenta is bigger. The fear is that I can only hold so much fluid and so then am more likely to have my water break earlier but also that when it does break it could send the cord down which would be a very bad thing. So basically it is just a wait and see thing. I get ultrasounds every week now to check the fluid, which is stressful but then again lets me see our baby boy on a weekly basis.

I got a cd of my 3d pictures from the doctor's office today and some of them are so cute, I have to post them.

The name has been decided but is being kept confidential so no one can negate it : )

33 weeks

Had another ultrasound this week. My fluid is still on the upper limits of normal, it is at 24.1 and anything above 25 is HIGH, 5-25 is considered okay so I am relatively high. My blood work came back and nothing is wrong with my enzymes or liver so who knows what this pain is from. Hopefully it will just go away after the baby is born and it is just a side effect from all of the growth going on coupled with the previous surgery I've had. Also, GREAT NEWS, baby has flipped so he is now head down, yay! And now I can totally tell that he is head down haha! He is still a bigger baby! They want to keep doing weekly ultrasounds to monitor the fluid levels but I like getting to see him every week so I'm not complaining. I like this doctors office so much better, in some ways its less personal as its a bigger practice but they are so much more attentive and friendly! The pictures from the ultrasounds aren't that great, he's been hiding lately!

We've decided not to do a shower, it was in the works but I just don't think I'm up for the whole event. We are getting pretty well prepared, the main thing left is clothes. We have tons of 6 month stuff but not much before then. Hopefully this big baby will make his appearance before June!

32 weeks!

31 1/2 wks

So much to update! I decided to switch doctors at uhhh....31 weeks. But it has been wonderful so far. I switched to Dr. Kramer's office at East Valley Women's Medical Group. It is right by my house and now I will be delivering at Mountain Vista Medical Center instead. I have been having some bad pain on my upper right side and I got blood work and an abdominal ultrasound. They also wanted to do another ob ultrasound so I got that done today. The baby is in the 66th percentile so a little bigger than average and when Lorena measured me today I was measuring at 36 weeks! But she said that could be attributed to my more than normal amount of amniotic fluid. Apparently it is at the very high side of normal. So I spent quite a while at the doctor's office today but got some good news and got to see the baby! I have to go back next week for another ultrasound to check the fluid levels again and to get my blood results. Also, the baby is still breech, he hasn't flipped yet and his head is right under my right ribs so that could be the source of the pain?!? Just in case anyone wanted to know every little thing about the baby : )

Vincent

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Vincent's Little Brother

We are continually working with Vincent to help him understand about his little brother. He now knows that his little brother is in my stomach and not his. He knows the hospital where his little brother will meet him at. There are just some aspects he doesn't quite understand.I asked him if he was going to bring his little brother a toy at the hospital and he responded "Yes, I am going to bring him my toy kitchen".I think he is expecting his little brother to be about the same age as he is. But if you ask him his little brother's name there is no negotiating. His little brother's name according to Vincent himself is ............

HARRY POTTER TEETER TOTTER OPTIMUS PRIME

4d ultrasound

This past Saturday we had a little family adventure. Jeremy,Vincent, Laurie (Jeremy's mom), my mom, and I all went to get a 4d ultrasound. Baby Boy (sorry no name yet) was amazing. It was crazy to see actual pictures of him like that. It's amazing technology!

He kept playing with his feet and had them up by his head almost the entire time. He has the chubbiest cheeks and some lips on him : ) The woman doing the ultrasound kept talking about how big he looked for just 29 weeks. Vincent was only 7 lbs 3 oz so lets hope this boy isn't too much bigger. Just got us all real excited for him to finally get here! Anyways, hope you like the pictures! Oh yeah, I'm pretty certain it's a boy now!

Third Trimester!!!!

Things are moving along good with the baby. I'm officially in the 3rd trimester, yay! I feel like last pregnancy I just skated through and this time the pregnancy has really affected my daily life. I have real bad sciatica that creeps up basically anytime I lift anything, not even heavy things...I mean anything. It's so much fun feeling him move, although Jeremy still hasn't felt it. The baby's good at hiding, but I think it could be from the anterior placenta?!?

I'm just at 27 weeks now and according to the doctor at my last appointment, I am measuring two weeks ahead. Hopefully he at least lets me finish up the semester. We are in the process of painting the baby's room, just to a lighter yellow. I think it will really match good with some of the other stuff we already have. We also got a really cute cradle at once upon a child that fits perfectly on my side of the bed.

Names are still a struggle, always are I suppose! I have more pictures but my computer isn't downloading them from the camera from some reason. So once I figure it out, I'm sure I will have quite a few. I'm also getting a 3d/4d ultrasound on March 14th for my birthday so we'll be able to get another look at him : ) and make sure it is a him haha.

** Oh yeah I almost forgot I gained three pounds last month which is definitely down from the month before but I'm still supposed to watch it! Ugh!!!! I figure as long as I keep my total weight below like twenty five I'm all good! So my total is at 12 right now.

Things are still going good, I had a crazy night last week where I thought something was wrong. I was feeling the baby move but it was so low and so strong! It seemed to be so frequent, but lately the baby has given me a bit of a break : ) My latest concern is that I have gestational diabetes, I take that test at the next appointment so I guess we'll find out soon enough...I think it's me just being paranoid. Here's a picture of me at 24 weeks

Belly Picture

Here are some of the most recent pictures from last week, @ 23 weeks

Baby Stuff!

Well...Jeremy's mom wanted to buy some of the big baby stuff and we totally made out!

We got a double stroller



A pack 'n play bassinet



A swing



And a diaper bag : )

22 wk appointment

Well, I'm 8 lbs up from last month, this totally shocked me seeing as I had only gained 1 lb in the previous 18 weeks!So now I totally have to watch everything I eat, she only wants me to gain 6 more pounds and the baby still has to gain that much so I'm totally screwed! Oh well, all worth it all worth it all worth it. Just gotta keep repeating it lol!

Baby seems to be doing well so far! I registered for baby stuff so that got me kind of excited, although I still can't see it happening. I know I feel him move and talk about him and go to the doctor, but it's hard to see him being a part of the family. To bring him home and actually have a newborn again, I feel like it's been more like 10 yrs not 3!

21 1/2 weeks!

Things are going good. This last weekend we moved a bunch over to my parent's house and I lifted entirely too much because Jeremy couldn't lift much either with his back being how it is and I've been paying for it ever since. I'm having sciatica all the time and sleeping has become increasingly difficult. Other than that things are good : ) I feel the baby all the time now, at least 10 times a day or so which is exciting. Its like I went from feeling nothing to everything!

We have another appointment on Monday which are always fun, seems like its been forever since my last one. My belly isn't too big yet, but I have a wider belly rather than a basketball like one usually. It's still hard to picture our family turning into a family of four, it's always just been the three of us so its so hard seeing a newborn in the mix, but it will sure be exciting. We've waited quite a while for this.

Baby Likes To Dance

I've really starting feeling the baby a lot this week, this is probably the first time I've definitely known it was the baby. Right now he's relentless so I had to write about it. It's a feeling like nothing else. I know I'll miss it once he's here. I'm 20 1/2 weeks so more than halfway there : ) I can't believe it. Still having a very hard time with names, but I'm sure it'll come. I didn't chose a name for Vincent til the last month or so. I was going to get this bedding set from babies r us but was having a hard time rationalizing how much it was going to cost, so I found this bedding on ebay brand new for $50. Here it is. We're going with the moon and stars! On a side note, I found the box full of Vincent's old new born clothes, Yay!

Official 18 Week Ultrasound & OB Visit

We had our 18 wk appointment on December 29th and in the last four weeks turns out I lost 1 lb bringing my grand total weight gained to 1 lb. The dr. isn't worried about it though. I did a blood test for the triple screen test. We got in for our 18 wk ultrasound on New Years Eve. Vincent went with us and when he saw the screen he yelled out 'that's my baby'.

The ultrasound lasted a while probably about 40 minutes. It was cool seeing all the different parts...the brain, the heart, etc. When it came to the gender, she said that she saw 3 lines which indicated girl. Shocked, I told her about the other ultrasound we got and she double checked and said that now HE was just showing it off. So he is a boy! It was crazy though because if I hadn't gotten that earlier ultrasound we would think we were having a baby girl! They gave us a cd of all the pictures and a dvd of the whole ultrasound. Here are some of our favorite pictures!

Early Christmas Present!

I decided that for Jeremy, I would go and do a surprise early ultrasound since now a days you can find out the gender fairly early. I went to a place in Chandler that does 3d/4d ultrasounds and just got the gender discovered. I went with Chani and they told us 1000% it was a boy. This was quite the shock for me! We had been thinking girl. GIRL GIRL GIRL. Jeremy loves baby girls and insists we will keep having kids til we get that girl. But once I heard boy it just clicked. Now we would have two boys, I was so outnumbered but in a great way : )

We went to target and I found a layette set of elephants & stars. It was so cute! On the top it just said thank heaven for little boys. I also started the new baby's scrapbook and put in the pictures we got from the ultrasound. When Jeremy opened it on Christmas, he looked so confused and just said 'it's a boy? I thought we didn't know yet. How do you know' We got it on tape and it'll be fun to show the boys someday! Here is a picture from the early ultrasound and a picture of me around Christmas time!

End of the First Trimester

The First Trimester has always proved to be a tough one for me. I get incredibly horrible heartburn & acid reflux. I don't have morning sickness as rough as some others, but it is still a constant and continues thru the pregnancy for me. At the end of the first trimester I had gained two pounds. Here is a picture of me at 12 weeks.

Jeremy couldn't go with me to the 14 wk appointment as he had a doctor's appointment at the same time, but Vincent went with me. We got to listen to the heartbeat and Vincent covered his ears. The 14 wks appointment was fairly uneventful. But at least I was 1/3 of the way done!

First OB Appointment

Somehow I knew I was pregnant this time even before the tests. I had some sick feelings and thought I had some sort of infection which is often a sign of pregnancy. I was still so petrified of losing this baby too. We said we were going to keep it a secret but I'm not very good at that. My mom & dad already knew, and I told my sister. Jeremy told his mom. And I told the girls at work. The doctor wanted to wait until I was 10 weeks along to see her which seemed years away.

Finally our first appointment came. On November 3rd, 2008. I gave a ton of blood and they ran some tests. She gave us the due date of June 1st, 2009. She told me I needed to watch my weight with this pregnancy and only gain about 15 pounds. She did a quick ultrasound and we were on our way. It really eased our minds when she said that since we had made it to 10 weeks, the chance of a repeat miscarriage was down to 2-3%.

We're Pregnant

We had been trying to have another babe for quite a while. When Jeremy & I got married Vincent was about a year old and we alread were missing the baby stage. We got pregnant in February of that year only to miscarry in April. It was a really hard time. I never knew what a loss you feel with a miscarriage. It took me a long time to recover physically but eventually we decided to start trying again with no luck. A year went by. In August we decided to start charting where you measure you temperature and other physical symptoms to find out which days are perfect for conception. In the second month of serious charting we got our positive pregnancy test. After months of negative pregnancy tests it was shocking.

I first took a cheapo pregnancy test and saw the faintest line. I had always thought with this pregnancy I would think of some cutesy elaborate way to tell Jeremy, but I was so shocked by this faint line I had to show him to see if he saw it too. He said he did, so I called my mom. She had known about our struggles and was just as happy as we were.

Being still somewhat in awe of the whole thing, I took another test with no result (i.e. a negative result). I was crushed. Did I get a false positive? That would be devastating. So I ran to the store and grabbed the expensive pregnancy tests, the clearblue digital ones. I took one before bed, but it came up with an error reading. Apparently, I don't know how to take them very well. Then I woke up at 2 o'clock in the morning and took the second test in the box and the words came up PREGNANT. It was official!