38 Week Update

Had another OB appointment yesterday morning and all is still well with our little man. My appointment was at 8:50 am, so I was in and out in about ten minutes, since I was the first one in the office. No weight gain since my last appointment, which I was very happy about. Tummy was measuring 37 cms, so I've grown a bit since last time. Blood pressure was good, and the baby's heart rate was sounding beautiful and healthy as always. My GBS swab came back negative, so that was a huge answer to prayer! It means no IV while in labour, but more importantly, I'll have the option of going home after 24 hours if I want, which I do. My own bed is so much more comfortable than the hospital ones! Plus there's no nurses poking at me in the middle of the night to check my vitals if I'm home. ;)

I go back again on the 9th if I haven't delivered by then. I'm praying he decides to come out tomorrow, that way we can bring him home and show him off for Easter. But we'll see what happens. He'll come when he's ready, and I'm doing my best to be patient!

Everything is Cuter with Pigtails

When I was pregnant with Shaela and we found out she was a girl, I was so incredibly excited! I envisioned fancy dresses and cute tights and adorable hair bows and pigtails. And while she doesn't mind being dressed up in fancy clothes, when it comes to that adorable head of blonde hair, she HATES having it touched. It's a struggle to get it combed after bathtime most nights, let alone to get her to sit still so I can put any sort of embellishment in it. Xavier loves to have his head rubbed and his hair played with. Shaela - not so much.

However, this morning before church I was bound and determined to put her in pigtails for the morning! It literally took two of us to do it. We let her hold her baby and then Jared held her arms/her head still so I could quickly comb it up and get the elastics in. We finally got them in and she was screaming "Want it! Want it!" - meaning that she DIDN'T want them in. So I figured I probably shouldn't push my luck and try to get some clips in there with the pigtails. We managed to get her out the door and into the van without her pulling them out, but I wasn't expecting them to last through church. Thankfully, she got distracted by all the toys when we got there and she left them in long enough that I could snap a few pictures of her with them when we got home. 

She's so incredibly beautiful. But Jared and I decided that anything she does is ten times cuter with pigtails in her hair! 

The Nest is Officially Ready!

So I admitted about a week ago that I haven't been feeling much in the way of 'nesting' this time around - and it's true. I've been supremely tired so far in this last month of pregnancy. But, despite my almost every day naps, I have still managed to get a lot of stuff done in preparation for our baby boy's arrival. I've got a few meals made and in the freezer, the house is relatively clean - as clean as it can stay with two other munchkins making constant messes! :) And the baby's clothes are all washed and put away. The change table is stocked, and the new crib skirt and valance have been sewn and put up in the nursery. (A huge thank you to my mom for helping me sew them!)

We also purchased some vinyl letters to stick on the wall for the baby's name - this way the other two can't constantly knock them off the wall! So in the pictures below, please ignore the giant white square on the wall above the crib - it's there because the name is under wraps until Mr. Baby decides to make his appearance.

No, the dresses are not for the baby! There's no closet in Xavier and Shaela's room, so we have to share.

 And here is the inside of the change table, all stocked and ready to go. We have a few disposable diapers on hand for that first week of meconium poos - but once they're all gone, we'll be going cloth all the way! (You can see the inserts and covers stacked behind and beside the itty bitty Pampers.)

Nothing Like Getting My Hopes Up!

So, last night before I went to bed I was kinda feeling like something might be happening with Baby Boy. I told myself I would not go into labor overnight again (Shaela was an overnight labor and I was so exhausted by morning!). So, I went to sleep only to awake an hour and a half later with what felt like contractions. After laying in bed for half an hour I decided to get up and see if it progressed into anything. It didn't. I was up for an hour and while I did have the odd contraction, after folding some laundry and eating a piece of toast, things slowed back down and I was ready to go back to bed. Thankfully I slept the rest of the night, hopeful that I would wake up to some contractions today. 

Unfortunately - nothing. :( Other than the odd Braxton Hick, which is definitely not a sure sign that labor is impending anytime soon. I am still two weeks away from my due date - so I'm not horribly surprised....but nothing like being up for an hour in the middle of the night to get your hopes up!

Baby Boy, just so you know, we're ready for you whenever you decide to come out! :)

What is This Nesting Instinct They Speak Of?!?!

So I will be 37 weeks tomorrow which means I am considered full term and baby can come any day now! Usually by this point in my pregnancies, I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off - making meals, cleaning the house, organizing the nursery. They call it 'nesting' - basically preparing your 'nest' for your latest arrival. However, this time around what do I feel like doing??? 

NAPPING!!! 

That's right - I have been feeling exhausted all week, with little energy to do any sort of preparing for my little bundle of joy to arrive. Thankfully, I have a lot done already - the change table is stocked with cloth diapers and wipes, the rocking chair has been moved back into the nursery, the crib is set up ready to go. I have made a few meals for the freezer and the house is mostly clean (as clean as it can be with two other kids running around making messes each day!). So, I am not completely freaking out that I don't have energy to do much right now. Maybe the urge to do more will kick in next week.....

If not, at least I'll be well rested whenever Baby Boy decides to come out! :)

36 Week Update

Well, Saturday marked the 36 week mark for me! For those of you that don't do the week thing - that means 8 months - and only one more to go! I had a doctor's appointment last Thursday and found out why I've been feeling like a beached whale lately - my tummy grew 4 cms in 2 weeks time! I was a little shocked! Thankfully, I hadn't gained any weight, though - which means that Baby is growing but I am not getting any fatter! :)

His heart rate and my blood pressure were both fine, so all is well. I go back again on March 30th. Was supposed to go on the 23rd, but we're in Brandon that day for Jared's work and that's the only day that week that my OB is in the office. So I have to skip that appointment and wait one more week.

As for how I'm feeling now - well, let's just say I'm starting to get pretty uncomfortable. Baby Boy decided to drop over the weekend so I have an intense amount of pressure on my bladder and he's now putting crazy amounts of pressure on the pinched nerve in my back. It's loads of fun, really!!! However, I have decided that I won't be horribly impatient this time around. With Shaela, I REALLY wanted her to come a week early - Jared was off for reading week, I was miserable. It made perfect sense. And then it didn't happen and I was so diasppointed and frustrated. So, I decided that this time around, while I am hoping he comes early enough for us to take him home over Easter weekend, I will not be grumpy and complain if he doesn't. He'll come when he's ready. :)

Whirlwind of a Day

Well, this was supposed to be our busiest day of the week this week by far. It's ended up being not quite so bad. Normally, Wednesday is our gymnastics days but this morning Xavier decided he didn't want to go. We've had a busy week so far and a few shorter nights of sleep, so I think he was just feeling tired. Which was fine. We stayed home and ate pancakes for breakfast. :)

This afternoon, however, we were double-booked. I had a dentist appointment and Shaela had her two year old check up. Jared came home from lunch in time for me to leave for the dentist and then got the kids dressed and took them to the pediatrician. Apparently Xavier threw a fit after Dr. C. left the room because he wanted to get a check up too! Silly kid. I'm glad he was so enthusiastic about it! Shaela was very talkative until it was time to get weighed and measured. She wasn't such a fan of that. She is now 34 and a half inches tall and weighs 28 pounds. Above average for her age, but not huge - I think it's around the 75th percentile.

Once we all got home, Jared had to scoot back to work for an hour or so. He should be home within the next half hour and then I need to start making supper...I'm thinking pizza. Thankfully this evening we have no plans other than to hang out at home and enjoy each others company. Except for the laundry I need to fold and put away.

Happy Birthday My Not-So-Baby Girl!

As also mentioned in an earlier post, our beautiful daughter had her second birthday a few weeks ago. I still like to call her "Baby Girl" - it's been her nickname since she was born. But, she is not so much of a baby anymore, and is turning into the quite the rambunctious little girl.

This year was a bit exceptional in that we had not just one, but two parties for her. Her actual birthday fell on a Wednesday, so we always like to do her parties on a weekend, when my family can come in from out of town. However, with my mom's worldly travels, the first weekend we considered wouldn't work out - and the next weekend was Mom's surprise party. So, we decided to have supper here at home during the week with Jared's family - and we celebrated with my family while we were at my mom's for her party (that was a busy weekend!). 

Now, two parties meant twice the work for me - as in two cakes! I decided for the first one to go simple. Pink fondant with green writing. There was only going to be a few of us, so I didn't want to make a massive cake and end up throwing most of it out. The second one, I contemplated doing Diego, since Shaela LOVES him (I think it's her first official crush). But, with preparations for Mom's party also happening at the same time, I just didn't have the energy for that. So, for her second cake, I opted for a ladybug. The only thing he was missing was antennas. I had planned to buy some black licorice to use for those and forgot....but he still looked pretty cute! 

Now, a few weeks later, I still can't believe that it's been two years since Shaela was born. She is such a joy in our lives and brings many smiles throughout each day. She loves to mimick her big brother, she can take him down when she needs to, which is hilarious to watch given that she's so much smaller than him! She loves her baby dolls and playing tea party, and is already becoming quite the girly girl - she oohed and ahhed the loudest over all the pretty clothes she got for her birthday - much more so than any of the toys! She is sweet and caring, and so polite. I love her to pieces, and no matter how big she gets, she'll always be my "Baby Girl"! 

At her first party - waiting to open gifts

Her new Dora chair from Grandma Folkerts - this one was a bit hit too!

"Ooooo - SHIRT!"

Getting ready to blow our her candles.

The first cake.

Yummy!

Opening gifts at her second party.

More excitement over new clothes.

A new sweater from Mom and Dad.

The second cake.

Happy 50th!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a few weeks ago, my sisters and I threw a surprise party for my mom for her 50th birthday. It was so much fun to plan - except for the tiny little glitch of getting her out of the house. We filled my step-dad in on the festivities and told him he had to take her out for supper so that we could set everything up and people could arrive while they were out. The only problem is that she normally drives school bus in the afternoons, so we theoretically would have had a good hour and a half while she was out doing that to start getting things ready. Turns out, the day of the party was an inservice, so no bus driving. She was going to come home in between cleaning and going to town to meet my step-dad...but we didn't know when. She ended up deciding to go straight from cleaning to supper, so things were a bit rushed when we finally all arrived at their house. But, we managed to get balloons blown up and hung, streamers put up, and most of the food we had planned made and set out by the time they were on their way home. My younger sister had made a monstrous cake depicting Mom laying on a beach in Mexico (the travel bug has bitten her in recent years and she's gone on a hot vacation for the last three winters). 

People started arriving, we put out the finishing touches....and then we had to wait for the birthday girl to arrive. We figured she'd realize something was up when she saw all the cars in the yard - but driving up to the house, she just assumed that my older sister was having a party. It wasn't until she was IN the yard and recognized some of the vehicles that she figured out it might be for her. She was super shocked to see so many of her friends and family there - and to see my younger sister and I (we both live a few hours away). It was great to see the look of surprise on her face, and we had a wonderful evening sharing with her the 50 Reasons She's the Best Mom Ever. Reliving her childhood and ours with a slide show of pictures, and playing a few games and opening gifts. 

She's the best Mom in the entire world and we were so thrilled to be able to celebrate with her!

And I have now realized how much I enjoy planning events like these....maybe in another life (or when my kids are older) I'll consider it as a profession - it's a ton of fun!

Life...

I really need to get better at updating regularly on here! :P It's been a busy few weeks in our household. We planned a surprise 50th birthday party for my mom. We had TWO birthday parties for Shaela. Jared and I decided to switch to cloth diapers. We've been doing oodles of bitty blue laundry in anticipation of our newest arrival. I feel like my belly has almost doubled in size in the last week....well, not quite. But I'm feeling rather large and starting to get uncomfortable! I promise I will do a longer post with pictures of the b-days parties soon - hopefully this weekend, since we have no major plans!

Until then, rest assured we are still alive and kicking - just very busy! Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday! :)