Weeks 37 & 38: Just Keep Swimming

This photo (37 weeks!) was taken in what will be our new master bedroom in a matter of weeks! As usual, we snuck in for a self-guided tour that Sunday, and while the kids played a really loud game involving running in and out of a closet, Steve snapped this belly pic for me.

Here's the house, too!

As you might have guessed from the photos, the house and I are now roughly the same size.

This week the kids started school at their new elementary. Gracie is in third grade and Charlie has just begun kindergarten. Thankfully their days have been repeatedly, "great" and "perfect" respectively.

Grace also had her birthday on Wednesday. I was feeling so crummy that I honestly thought I might give birth (these two girls shared the same due date, so it would have been kind of awesome for them to share a birthday!) but obviously that did not happen. Instead we had Panera, Steve took the older two to a trampoline park, there was a gift-opening bonanza, and we finale-d with a Cold Stone cookie dough ice cream cake. :)

Dr. Appt

My most recent doctor's appointment was quick and to the point. Quick urine sample, heartbeat check (130's), mashing my stomach to find baby's position, and then checking my progress toward labor (4cm dilated, 60% effaced).

Also, I found this SUPER CLOSE parking just for me! YES!

And Dr. Olvera gave me the basic details of induction day--we're to arrive at the hospital at 4:30am (WHAT?!), I'll get started on the induction medications (and I can "get [my] epidural WHENEVER I WANT") and she expects to be on hand to break my water by 7am. So we'll see how that goes.

Keep Swimming

We're in "just keep swimming" mode.

A few days this week we've been convinced we'd be holding this girl by the following day, but NOPE. I feel terrible. Baby has dropped (yay!) which means (a) I look a little more hilarious because she looks more like a giant beer-belly than a pregnancy bump, and (b) I am dying of pain in my pelvis. Sorry to say pelvis. I'm also very nauseated again, which is not my favorite. And tired. And lots of other unpleasantries are going on, which are supposed to mean labor is coming but so far have not produced actual labor. *facepalm*

My stomach is so big that it's getting hard to drive the car! Ha! Tip-toes for gas & breaks, and I am constantly adjusting the seat so baby-girl doesn't have to snuggle the steering wheel.

This is my favorite dress. :)

Juliette is a doll face and lets me take a nap in the morning while she watches PBS snuggled up against me. She snuggles me pretty much wherever I go.

I don't wear makeup, I DO get dressed, and I am mostly laying down.

And we've started ordering groceries through Shipt. They shop for and then bring the food TO YOUR HOUSE, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate NOT having to waddle painfully through the store dragging all my feelings (and Juliette's, too) along with the grocery cart. AND that when Steve is home, he can hang out with me instead of grocery shopping. It is a marvelous invention, and I am thankful for technology this pregnancy!

I've started making myself daily to-do lists again. They are super basic, and include things like "Wash Juliette" or "Do the dishes." Wunderlist makes a little happy "ding" each time I check something off that makes it almost worth it to do the work. ;)

Steve's been working every day. I've been getting up with the kids (in the dark--boo) to get them ready and off to school. We are both disheartened and exhausted down to our bones, as is typical in these last few weeks of pregnancy. We've been putting the kids to bed and then climbing right into our own bed by around 8. This year has been full of stress and new beginnings and change, and we're just sort of sucked dry. So bedtime at 8 is great.

I'm resigned, but I would love your prayers if you are a prayer. Steve needs them, too. We're okay, we're making it, but that extra bolstering up of love and help would be a real gift from heaven in this last week of waiting. Thanks for being there for us. :)

xo,
Jamie

Week 36: Minimalist Nesting and a Dr. Appt

36 weeks: 58 inches tall, 46 inches around. I won't make it to legit sphere, but I might be able to get to the 48" max circumference I reached with Charlie. Only time and my measuring tape will tell.

Minimalist Nesting

Apartment living has made nesting pretty basic. After we did out buying bonanza because all our baby stuff ended up stashed in the back of a storage unit (which we can't access until the end of September), things sat around in boxes for a while. Then on Saturday we woke up to a cozy, rainy day and Steve said, "Want to put together all the baby stuff?" :)

I'm a teeny tiny bit sad that I haven't been able to make a nursery for this sweet girl yet, but at the same time it has been a huge relief to just focus on what we really need/find useful as we've prepared for her arrival. And it was still super fun to get everyone in on assembly and setup. The kids were really excited.

They started by unboxing the pack'n'play on my side of the bed in our room.

Charlie took his job as mobile-assembler very seriously and did a good job. He's dexterous and loves building things. :)

Then they all helped put together the stroller and checked out the car seat.

...at which point Juliette turned to me and sternly demanded," Mom, get your Betsy out. GET YOUR BETSY OUT!!!" and I wished I could follow her instructions.

We pulled out the Boppy, and Squish showed us (with no prompting) exactly how she would hold her baby sister when she was born. She looked like she could really see the baby, and it made Steve and me melt into absolute puddles.

And then her beloved Pluto got a turn, too.

When Steve had assembled the baby swing (our final assembly-required piece) everyone descended upon the baby items with their stuffed animals to make trial runs.

So now we know that miniature elephants, dogs, and foxes can all thrive in our baby's environment, which seems like a good indicator that the newborn weeks should be okay. ;)

Dr. Appointment

I've now officially graduated to weekly visits and *ahem* paper gowns, which means we are totally in the final countdown! I vacillate between being overjoyed that the days are ticking down, and trying to ignore that the days are ticking down but not yet over. So far ignoring seems to be working better for me from a mental health standpoint. ;)

Here are some flowers outside the doctors office for you to look at.

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for ages now--some quite painful, most happening in the evening--but that's just kind of how my body rolls during pregnancy. So I was very surprised (and happy!) to discover that I'm already dilated to a 3! While I'm still hoping not to deliver until induction day (for the sake of figuring out logistics with three kiddos and Steve's job!) it is nice to know that discomfort isn't for nothing. Plus, less work to do on delivery day, right?

Baby girl is head down, heartbeat in the 140s, and at next week's appointment, we get induction details! That really makes it seem soon. Just a few more details (emergency early-baby-arrival babysitter, packing my hospital bag) to go, and we'll be about as ready as we can be.

Symptoms and Such

So... pregnancy is not pretty. It's just not. I'm just going to say that I am uncomfortable, nauseated, and dealing with other (familiar) pre-labor symptoms that the baby girls in my life have given me in the past. And in addition to that, my poor burdened pelvis is killin' me. Charlie-pregnancy-level sharp and dull pain. I will not miss this stage. But at least this time around, I know I can get through it.

Aside from the not-pretty stuff, though, a lot of my symptoms are pretty funny:

• Fat fingers and cankles are a thing now. Actually, my swollen fingers started in NC, where I upgraded to a bigger (fake) wedding ring. When we arrived in Texas (read: even hotter) they got EVEN FATTER, and I had to get an even bigger, even faker ring! Cankles this time come and go. If I have a day with a lot of rest/keeping my feet up, I have some ankle definition. If not: tree trunk legs.
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• Sleep fighting... Okay, not legit Ron Swanson sleep fighting. But my sleep is definitely weird now that I wake up so often in the night and can't sleep as hard as usual. I snore. I hear things in my dreams (not real things) that jolt me awake. I talk in my sleep (mumbo jumbo non-words) and sometimes accidentally wake myself up talking. And this morning Steve said I was taking swings at something with my arms. Totally unconscious. From what I remember of that dream, it was because I was mad at him for buying himself a ticket to a Jason Mraz concert without inviting me.
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• Loose joints. For the last few weeks, things just sort of slip out of my hands. Soap. Silverware. Whatever. Like my muscles just give up for a second because they're tired of doing all the things that muscles have to do. It's both annoying and funny. Mostly funny.
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• Eating all the ice. I stand in front of the freezer multiple times a day eating ice pellets straight from the bag of Sonic ice we keep in there just for me. It is literally the equivalent to me right now of eating a warm brownie straight from the pan. I cannot explain it, but since it's actually good for me to be doing stuff to stay hydrated, I'm grateful for it. Also, it is serious euphoria. So strange. But so wonderful. I also enjoy my Sonic ice in a glass, sometimes with apple juice or water, or sometimes just eaten with a spoon. Yep. Like a crazy person. But it makes me so happy.

And one thing that hasn't happened--this might be the strangest of all--I'm not crying. I mean, occasionally I'll get a little teary over something cute on TV, or have a good bawl over my helplessness as a nearly-spherical human who can't get out of bed without ratcheting up three or four times to reach sitting position. But I'd say all my cries thus far have been not only rational, but also reasonable.

So... that's weird.

But I am still basically having-a-good-attitude-about-feeling-miserable. So Steve requested I make a really sad face at him for one of my belly pictures. :)

This guy keeps my head on straight. ;) He's got the best sense of humor, gives good hugs, and is very good for pregnant-woman morale.

And let's wrap up this week with some of the things people have said about my belly this week. There has been some belly touching, but these Southern ladies are so cute about it that I mostly don't even mind.

Things People Have Said this Week:

Lady at church: "Is this your first?"

Me: "No, our fourth." :)

Her: "Oh! Well this isn't your first rodeo!"

Lady in elevator after OB visit: "That baby's gonna be bigger than you are! Bless your heart!"

#texas!

The Fourth Doctor Visit, Or: IT'S A GIIIIIIIIIRL!!!

Well I was wrong. Again.

I think I have consistently been wrong now about the gender every single one of our kids!

But we are so, so, SO excited to welcome a third little girl into our home!

Steve's parents were in town for a whole week last week, and luck shone down on us because I'd made our gender scan appointment for the last day they were in town. That meant they got to find out at the same time as our kiddos, and that was really fun!

The two older kids had both guessed we were having a boy, and while Charlie dearly loves his sisters, we were a little concerned that he might feel let down not to be getting a brother. Steve came up with the brilliant idea of upping the ante from "just" cupcakes to a balloons-in-a-box announcement for the kids, so on the way home from our scan we picked up some Dewey's cupcakes with pink sprinkles and a bouquet of pink balloons to stuff in a moving box. The kiddos were excited and nervous to open it!



*PHEW!*

Totally good reception from everyone, including Charlie (who exclaimed, "It's beautiful!" as the balloons came out of the box), and everyone was thrilled to carry balloons around for the next hour, too. :)

And eat celebratory cupcakes...

The doctor visit itself was super fun for Steve and I. We spent the first ten minutes with the sonographer, looking over our baby's cute profile, watching it move, and seeing healthy beautiful kidneys and heart chambers and all kinds of miraculous things that have been growing while I've been nauseous and napping. It really is totally jaw-dropping to see how a perfect little person can form without me doing much more than resting up and taking a multi-vitamin.

When it came time to find out if it was a boy or a girl, however, baby had other ideas. She stayed firmly tucked in a ball even when we poked and prodded her, and wouldn't move to let the ultrasound tech find out her gender. We actually had to leave, have a quick (scheduled) visit with my doctor (peed in a cup and asked a couple questions), and then come back to try again.

The second time was a charm, and the babes cooperated so we didn't have to wait another 4 weeks to find out! After being split on our guesses (I said boy, Steve said girl) we were still both pretty surprised this little bun was a girl!

At home with Steve's mom and dad we pored over her ultrasound pictures and popped in the DVD so Mimi (that's Steve's mama's chosen grandma name) could watch a replay of the ultrasound.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures. :) First, her profile with her little head tucked to her chest.

Then there's her little foot (right above the word "FOOT"). Seriously. Baby feet are the cutest.

And another profile shot with a clear view of her adorable nose. :)

Also--the final moment that I knew Charlie was cool with being surrounded by sisters came yesterday. I told Juliette the baby in my tummy was a baby sister.

Charlie responded, "I like baby sisters. They're more cuter." <3

...

Stats (as of doctor appt):
Weeks pregnant: 18 weeks, 3 days
Baby's fruit/food size: Soda can (9 ounces, 6.5 inches)
Net weight gain: 6 lbs
Doctor visits: 3
Cups peed in: 4
Blood draws: 3
Ultrasounds: 5

11 Weeks, and the Second Doctor Visit.

On the Friday that was our 11 week mark (2 Fridays ago), baby and I went to the doctor. We peed in a cup, per usual, and then had a follow-up ultrasound to check on the healing/progress of my hemorrhage. (Which is just the most terrible sounding word, isn't it?) The technician said she thought it was looking a little better, and my doctor agreed.

The sonongrapher also checked on baby, who looked somehow much bigger and more baby-like than even just a few days earlier when I went in with Steve. Baby kicked a few times (I couldn't feel it, but I saw it), and I fell in love. Amazing to see such a tiny little person moving like that.

Afterwards I met with Dr. Pollard (who delivered Juliette) for an exam and PAP, and a little Q&A. I was surprised that I really didn't have many questions for him. A lot of the first trimester junk is pretty familiar by the fourth time around, so I really only needed clarification about the bleeding. He said it is fairly normal, and that they usually resolve by themselves. He couldn't give me a time frame as to how quickly that might happen, because every pregnancy is so different. I'll be honest--I wished he could give me a little more than that.

There were house cleaners(!) at our house that morning (we Grouponed some housekeeping in preparation for putting our house on the market--which happens next week! AH!) so I called Steve to find out what he and the kids were up to. He'd taken Jules and Charlie for second-breakfast at Panera, so I joined them and ate a chocolate croissant and a glass of milk. Then we went to Target together--my first trip to Target in almost six weeks because I basically hadn't felt well enough to leave the house unless required by school drop-off--and picked out some towels and stuff to spruce up the house for showings. At one point in the middle of the bathroom decor aisle, Steve hugged me and said he was so glad to see me standing up. It was an event. :)

When we got home, we walked all through the house and admired everything the cleaners had cleaned. It was like fairies came to our house. Grown-up magic. ;)

Stats (as of dr. appt):

Weeks pregnant: 11 weeks, 0 days
Baby's fruit size: Fig/Kumquat
Net weight gain: -2lbs
Doctor visits: 2
Cups peed in: 2
Blood draws: 1
Ultrasounds: 3