39 Weeks

Officially 39 weeks. I'm starting to take bets on when I'm going to deliver. :) I'll update you on my recent midwife appointment and then refresh your memory of my last delivery. But first... Here's a picture of my 39 week kankles... Please enjoy and yes, you can poke fun... I know their lives will be short lived.

So my appointment went good. I'm measuring big apparently and Winni (my midwife) says that she thinks the baby will be 8 lbs then she said "more on the 8 side, less on the 7 side". I'm not entirely sure what that means, but when I was pregnant with Zeke, my midwife was absolutely convinced I was going to have an 8+ lb baby, but he ended up being 7 lbs 15 ozs. Close, but not quite 8! You can start guessing size too. Zeke was 20 1/2 inches long.

When I delivered Zeke I had him 2 days before my due date. This time, I'm due on June 30th... I was checked today and since last week having no progress, I'm now dilated to 1.5 and my cervix is much softer, but still no effacement. Give me your guesses!!!

The sweetest brother

I have to write this down because I never ever want to forget, but I feel super hazy on the details.

Today Ezekiel and I were sitting on the couch together (he was sad because he fell off a chair). He was snuggling with me and then started talking about "brother". He touched my belly, then looked up at me and said "out?" I said, "out what?" he said "open, door?" "brother?" then he just looked at me... I thought about what he was trying to say and asked "Zeke? Do you want me to open a door on my belly to let brother come out?" He said "ok" with his eyes lit up with excitement. Unfortunately, I had to tell him that his brother would let us know when he was ready to come out. I can't just open a door to let him out yet. But, when he does come out he would need lots of kisses from his brother. Zeke's response. "ok" with just as much excitement.

What a sweet boy.

37 Weeks

We went in for an ultrasound today because my midwife couldn't find a shoulder (on the baby) to determine if he was head down or breach... Today we discovered that he is head down and in position... That doesn't mean that he has dropped or anything, it just means that for now, he's in the right spot. Which is wonderful news.

My intuition is incorrect... He is most definitely a boy. There is absolutely no doubt. =) Zeke is going to have a little brother which is absolutely perfect.

It was the most amazing thing seeing him at this stage. We got to see him sticking his tongue out and drinking in amniotic fluid (which is normal! Just in case anyone was worried). He has the cutest chubby cheeks and sweet plump lips just like Zeke. We got to see his eyes as he looked up toward strange contraption moving around on my belly... He seems so sweet! I really liked seeing him in there. I guess now he seems more like a little person to me and less like a growth on my belly. I can't wait to hold him and give him lots of kisses. I absolutely love both of my sons!

First belly picture

36 weeks 2 days with baby #2

I realize we've been slacking in the picture department this time around (thanks for the prompting Beth). We are having issues uploading pictures to our overloaded hard drive at the moment so this was taken today through the bathroom mirror with my cell phone as you can see. =)

36 weeks

I just had my midwife appointment yesterday and she still isn't sure that this little guy is head down or not. So we're having an ultrasound next wednesday to check for position. I'm excited to see him again, but I really wish he was obviously in the correct spot so I can feel more like labor will be on time or at least still at the birthing center instead of the hospital. Otherwise, she said that she thinks he's average size for this stage in the game. She couldn't find his heart beat... partly because of the position, but he was kicking the whole time so we know he has one. =)

In other news, the fence has almost completely enclosed the back yard. It's definitely not finished, but soon Zeke won't be able to escape... We're pretty excited about that. We put gravel and weed block down where the patio will be and spread some more grass seed on the grass in the back. The new little trees in the front yard are doing surprisingly well too!

=)

What a week!!!

Last week we discovered yet again that our sewer was having issues... sick. My Dad came over while Nate was at work and dug up the whole line which only went about 25 feet before veering off into our neighbors yard!! argh! Anyways, the whole pipe was broken at about every 2-3 feet so it was easy to remove. Nathan worked on it all afternoon and evening Friday and after lots of frustration and some amazing muscular skills... And my dad coming to the rescue after the parade, the sewer is working again.

While Nate was working Zeke and I to the Ski to Sea Kids Parade on Cornwall. Zeke LOVED it! He did so good! I strapped his camp chair across his shoulder and he carried it all way the to cornwall and all the way home by himself. Then he sat through the entire parade which was about an hour long. I was so impressed! I can't wait for the grand parade this weekend.

Saturday Abby threw a Baby Shower for our second little guy we're expecting in June. It was so much fun and Jesse is such a great cook! Thanks so much you guys for hosting a great shower.

Sunday we had a BBQ and a workday with my family instead of a baby shower. It was amazing. Everyone worked so hard! The whole area in front of the shed where we are putting the patio has been cleared out, the dirt was taken away, the sewer ditch was closed up, the corners of the fence on the south side of the house are in place and thanks to Jesse we now have two cute little trees planted by the road in front of our house. Heath grilled the burgers and corn and Zeke had a great time with his little cousins. Thank you all so much for all your hard work! It was so much fun to see you all and the changes made in our yard make me feel 100% better about how it's going to be once our little guy arrives. =)

The pregnancy is going well... I'm a lot more uncomfortable this time than I remember being when I was pregnant with Zeke, but I think that is because at the last midwife appointment, Winni wasn't sure if he was head down or head up. He is spine to spine and kicks like it's his sole purpose in life! He is so active! I have a feeling that he is breach because of the kicking I'm feeling, but I could be wrong. We'll find out more next week on his position. Otherwise, things are fine. I have tons of braxton hicks all the time. My feet are starting to swell a bit since this weekend which is a bummer. I was hoping I would avoid that stage. I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow so only 2 more weeks before it's safe to deliver with a midwife and 5 weeks till the due date.

Nathan is still working! Yay!! I know that seems strange to say, but there have been so many lay offs at his work this year that we've been hanging on by a string for over a month. At this point (as it has been for the last month) he has work through next week and then hopefully they'll find more after that. Jobs are coming in, just really slowly so any prayer you say for us would be greatly appreciated. We know that God takes good care of babies and we know we'll be fine, but it's hard only knowing a week or two ahead of time if you still have an income.

28 Weeks and officially in the 3rd trimester

Pregnancy update for the masses:

Things are going well. Wednesday I had my midwife appointment and the only "issue" is that I'm anemic... I already knew this because I've been pretty sluggish and tired and weird things make me feel faint. I'm working on a solution though, I have some gross iron drops and I'm trying to eat super iron rich foods and I can definitely feel a difference.

I'm not sleeping well, but this has been pretty constant in my second trimester. I get pretty exhausted right around Zeke's nap time (I know I should nap when he does, but i get so busy!).

My uterus is measuring right on now which is great considering that it's been measuring big at my past few appointments. Now he's getting pretty settled in I guess. I am feeling almost constant movement these days and am pretty ready to meet this guy. I realize I have 12 weeks until the due date still, but I'm pretty done at this point.

Ezekiel is doing great. He's been having some days where he is pretty off, but I think I'm realizing that its because he's teething. If I give him his teething tablets he gets pretty sweet, pretty quick. I love that kid so much! =)

I'm pretty sure we have settled on a name for baby 2. =) I've told a few of you, but I don't think I want to make and announcement until we are sure, or maybe even until he's here (I know, I'm mean for keeping you in suspense!). We're still working on middle name ideas... It's been pretty tough to find one. We'll figure it out in time... I hope!

Midwife appointment and other adventures

This morning Zeke and I met up with Jolene and Kaden and went for a walk/hike to Whatcom Falls Park. It was pretty fun! Zeke liked the waterfall and got to play on the slide and on the swings! He had a great time. Unfortunately on the way home, Jolene got a headache and Joe was called in to the rescue. I hope you feel better Jolene!

Zeke and I stopped at Haggen and Starbucks for a treat and then headed home. Once we passed Woburn St., Zeke decided that he wanted to walk, so he walked all the way home! That's over a mile of walking for the little guy! He did awesome! He was walking and running, jumping in puddles and asking his favorite question "whats that?" He heard frogs and birds and made friends with a cat and a couple dogs on the way home. He did great by staying close to me and never running out towards the street. I'm so proud of him! He's growing up way too fast.

In other news, my midwife appointment was today. I'm measuring a little bit big and my midwife said that she felt a walnut sized calcified fibrous tumor (tumor meaning it's a foreign growth in my body... nothing serious). She said that 40% of pregnant woman get them. Sometimes they're in the uterus and sometimes they're outside... Mine is outside and on the top of the uterus. She said that there is nothing to worry about, it just happens. The heartbeat is strong and he's kicking all the time! I'm a little anemic, but hopefully that will be remedied with some extra iron supplements. All is well!

We also found out this week that my insurance doesn't cover home births. Which was pretty hard for me to swallow at first, but we decided to go with the Birth Center instead of paying an arm and a leg to stick with the home birth. I'm starting to get excited about having it there... Mostly because it's pretty much exactly like giving birth at home... it's just someone else's home. I don't have to clean up after and if it's the middle of the night, we don't have to wake Zeke up, we can just have Grandma & Grandpa Allen come over and sleep on the couch while we're out. There are definitely positive points to doing it at the Birth Center rather than at home.

The results are in...

We had our ultrasound yesterday and our baby is measuring perfectly for the due date of June 30, 2010. The baby has adorable feet and was moving around ferociously.

And now to the info you've all been waiting for...

Drum roll please...

...

...

We're having a:

We're really excited about Zeke having a little brother and he is too! He even tries to say it by saying, "brober." it's so cute!

We have a secret...

What's your best guess? » create free polls

Tags : baby

We'll let you all know as soon as I get a satisfactory number of votes. =)

Or as soon as I can't stand to wait any longer!

Thoughts

Here's a picture for kicks... We haven't uploaded any since we've been back so this is one of me and my crazy kid at the Honolulu Airport.

Life update

Lately I've been thinking a lot about motherhood. Wondering why I haven't found my place yet... (part of that could be because I'm pregnant and more emotional/hormonal than I remember being when I was pregnant with Zeke... could that mean girl??? Who knows). I have been thinking a lot about the things that I can't do now that I have a 1 year old and am pregnant with baby #2.

I can't run

I can't go out with my husband whenever I want

I can't shower in peace

I can't eat everything I want to eat

I can't have my 1% no whip mocha from Starbucks

I realize that with all this focusing on what I can't do, I'm missing out on the things I can do... or at least, not enjoying them as much as I could.

Here are some things that I can do:

I can go for bike rides with Zeke

I can take Zeke for walks

I can shower my son with hugs and kisses :)

I can try to be organized (this is my biggest problem area)

I can be thankful that we have a roof over our heads and food for our bellies.

I can still get comfort drinks from Starbucks, just no coffee.

I think I'm going through pre baby blues... I don't know if there is such a thing, but I'm mostly pretty down in the dumps. The best times for me are the times I get to be outside. I think I feel like I'm different than most Moms because of this. I have a hard time relating to other Mothers that I know because I have a hard time crafting, I don't read books as often as I'd like, I'm not organized as I should be at home, I really hate doing dishes and the proof is in the pile currently sitting in my sink. I love going for adventures. I love hikes, I love walks through downtown, I love biking, I love running and I want to be able to share the things that I love with my kids. I think it's difficult looking around at other Moms feeling like maybe I'm not giving up the right things in my life. Maybe I should give up the things that I love and focus more on things like crafts and cooking (and actually doing the dishes). I believe that my lack of productivity has a lot to do with my being outside too much. I remember when I was a kid I would go outside on my bike and attempt to ride as far away as possible so I couldn't hear my Mom when she called me to come back in. Of course I was to scared to actually ride that far away and I always ended up hearing her, but sometimes I pretended I couldn't because I really loved the outdoors. Maybe it's because I'm avoiding the dishes?

This week, Zeke and I have been sick. It started with Zeke, then it passed to me. It's been a bit of a struggle because the weather has been so mild to be stuck in the house so much has been tough. We have gone for walks the past few days just to get some fresh air, but it's hard feeling sick and taking care of a sick kid. Tonight for the first time in a week, I'm going to attempt to go to the gym... I'm still a little sick, but no fever just a head cold I think. I also won tickets to the Upfront Theatre for this weekend so Nate and I were able to get a babysitter (thanks Jem!) and are going to go on a date for the first time in forever!

In other news, the pregnancy is going well so far. I am 18 weeks and a couple nights ago Nate actually felt the baby kick! It was like a ninja kick to the abdomen soon after Nate put his hand there. He actually pulled his hand back and said "whoa!!" in surprise after the ninja kick. I'm glad he felt the baby so early. With Zeke I don't think I felt his kicks until after I was 20 weeks and it was several weeks later for Nathan. I think it was a pretty special treat for him. :) I also feel like my belly popped out yesterday... I actually thought for a while that I could feel it growing... strange, but today I'm obviously bigger. I've still only gained 10 lbs... I gained that weight right away so I was pretty nervous about how much I was going to gain with this one. I think I'm safe. Nate and I have our anatomy ultrasound February 10th and I'm pretty excited to see our little ninja. I was having a hard time a few weeks ago and started trying to convince myself that we should find out if we're having a boy or a girl. I feel a little better about not finding out again since we started talking about baby names, but I'm still a little bit undecided. I really liked having the big surprise revealed when Zeke was born, but this time I almost feel like I would rather be a little more prepared. We'll see... knowing us, we'll probably still not find out until the end, but if we choose to find out instead, we'll give you an update on February 10th.

That was a whole lot of rambling. If you made it to the end then thanks for listening. Again, I'm pretty sure this is all emotions from my overflowing hormone bank that seems to be taking over my life. I just wish it wasn't so hard to feel victorious and try to overcome when my hormones are kicking my butt!

This one speaks for itself :)

Due: June 30, 2010

We're so excited and really thankful that we get to take care of another wonderful little blessing!