First Comes Love...

Well, here we are on the evening of your due date.  I'm sitting on a birth ball as I type, swaying my hips in time with the constant contractions I've been getting for about an hour now.  I'm not really in labor yet, and I'm sure I'd be jinxing myself to call this early labor, but I can assure you, you are doing your best to make progress and join us very soon! I went to my 40 week appointment today and you are head down again (yay, and thank you!) and I'm about 2.5-3cm dilated, so that was all good news.  I'm so excited to meet you soon and am so ready.  Like I've mentioned, I had a huge to-do list that I've pretty much completed, so I'm feeling very comfortable and settled at this point. These bigger Braxton Hicks contractions began on our way up to Bellingham a week and a half ago and have been pretty consistent most days.  I was sure while shopping with Grandma last Monday afternoon that I was going into labor walking from Nordstrom to ...

This past Tuesday marked 37 weeks for my baby boy, and as the title says, he's full of energy! With all this energy has come some excitement.  For one, he decided after being in a breech position and kindly going head down again at 36 weeks, he would flip back this past week.  I went in for my appointment on Tuesday, and unbeknownst to me, he was transverse. Grrrr.. My doc has been super laid back about interventions, unnecessary testing, ultrasounds, etc, but we decided it was best to help him find his way back down.  Just in case of early labor.  So off I went to L&D that afternoon to have a version (the same thing I had with breech George ).  I could hear him moving everywhere on fetal monitoring for the first 20 minutes.  When Dr. Howard arrived she decided to take a quick ultrasound peak before beginning.  Low and behold, what was once a head sticking out my left side was now a head just inches from vertex.  So instead of a full ve...

Another month, and more growing bump! Wednesday I turned 28 weeks, which puts us in the 3rd trimester and the thought of being on the home stretch has me so excited to meet you! I have yet to go through your brother's clothes, take out any baby stuff to examine or fix, or even start shopping for the new car seat we need (the one I used with Abigail and George molded in our new shed...Grrr).  But it doesn't discount how excited I am to hold you in my arms  (in what I hope will be) a mere 12 weeks! The fatigue has not gone away, but I haven't been sleeping great (lots of achey hips at night; a lovely side effect of subsequent pregnancies) so that may be a big contributor.  I just ordered a 2" memory foam topper and I hope between that and massage therapy, I am able to get some relief. Massage therapy...oh, the things us Moms have to endure  ;) In pregnancy related news, I was reading the blog yesterday and realized I had posted about the end of my 2nd Trime...

Hi Bun,  Welcome to your first Month of Bump post! To think you will be here in 14 short weeks blows my mind (I'm late writing this).  Each pregnancy moves along faster than the last, and needless to say, yours has been a flash before my eyes.  Every two week appointments start this week (usually not until next month, but since I need a shot of Rhogam at 28 weeks, we're starting early) I'm feeling great but have been tired.  Usually my desire for naps subsides around 16 weeks, but at 25, going on 26 weeks, I find myself tired most days and in need of a nap or extra sleep at night.   Old age, I guess  ;) However, I still have opportunities to feel young when out and about without your siblings.  Other Moms will often give me that enjoy-this-time-before-that-bump-becomes-a-baby look or sweetly ask, "is this your first?"  Each time I try to contain my giddiness as I say, "nope, it's my third!" I'm feeling older, but I must loo...

Yesterday Kevin and I went to our 20 week ultrasound.  Everything looked great and the two questions still lingering in my mind were confirmed. 1) Yes, it's a boy! 2) Nope, I'm not having twins  :) I've heard it a million times: with each pregnancy you pop a little sooner, but when I was in maternity pants at 12 weeks, I thought surely there must be two in there... Here are some pictures, if you'd like to see. During George's 20 week ultrasound Kevin admitted he'd almost fallen asleep, so I will admit: I had a hard time staying awake this time  :) But we did get to see him in 4D ultrasound which we've never done before, so that was really cool. So fun! After our appointment we went to breakfast at Salish Lodge and took my first Month of Bumps picture. (cue shrills of excitement from everyone eager to see belly pics for the next 4 months!) Before taking the picture I (lovingly) assured Kevin that yes, we would be taking...

Baby Boy! Here we are a week into knowing your gender and things are starting to feel so real and right. I had a doctor appointment on Friday and everything is going really well.  You were moving around a ton (the nurse kept moving the doppler to find you again!) and your heart rate sounded perfect around 150. This week we received our first congratulatory card and I put it on the mantle.  It's a darling reminder of your pending arrival and makes me excited each time I see it. We haven't told George about you yet (he's still so young, so we'll probably wait until late summer), but Abigail adjusted perfectly to the news of a baby brother. "Oh!  A brother? Okay!!" And when I asked her if she had any name ideas, she suggested Papa. Thankfully she's not in charge of naming you :) As I mentioned, we're about 95% sure we will be naming you Benjamin, so I've begun calling you Benny when talking to Abigail.  She can't say it clearly, s...

We had a delightful time celebrating Easter this year and two things in particular made it extra special: Hosting our families, and surprising everyone with a gender reveal! Since Spring isn't a busy season for us, I found it really relaxing and enjoyable.  We had baskets waiting for the kids when they woke up, made it to church early in our Sunday best, and had lots of time to prepare for family coming in the afternoon. We decided a while ago that finding out the gender of this baby would be fun to do in front of all our family.  And since we knew we wanted to start the traditional of hosting Easter, it was the perfect time to share this news. As some of you may remember, we're notorious for Easter surprises :) So I talked to the baker at our local QFC who took the sealed envelope we'd received from our doctor to made gender reveal cupcakes for us!  The idea is that you bite into the cupcake, and on the inside is a huge dollop of pink or blue frosting. ...

The news is spreading quickly, so it's time to announce it officially: I'm pregnant and due September 8th! We found out New Years Eve morning and are beyond excited to meet our newest little one.  We will be finding out the gender soon but would be thrilled either way. I would adore having another baby girl (I suppose that's my preference), but I think having two boys close in age would be pretty amazing, too. And I can't wait to see what George will be like as a big brother (he adores babies!!) Some friends of ours had a baby last August, and even at 11 months old, he loved going up to her to make silly faces or rock her in her car seat as she slept.  I know people say that being a middle child is a tough gig, but I think it's pretty cool: you have a big sibling to look up to and a younger sibling who looks up to you; a perfect, and very important, sandwich position. As for Abigail, she's really excited this time.  She constantly asks how baby i...

So here we are, the day after your due date, and I'm still pregnant.  You seem to be taking after your sister, which is fine so long as this "sleeping-in" indicates you'll be as good of an Earthly sleeper as she is :) We've had so much fun anticipating your arrival this past month! We hired our doula,  Brenda Bancroft  and have loved getting to know her.  I've been keeping active with lots of long walks, hauling toddlers, laundry, groceries, car seats, and what-not all around God's great earth, going to acupuncture each week, drinking lots of labor tea, and taking time to simply relax and enjoy these last few magical weeks. I am so ready for you to be here (!), but I will surely miss our pregnancy. Since you'll be sleeping downstairs , I organized three drawers for you in our room: one with girl clothes, one with boy clothes, and one with lots of cute yellow / white outfits.  Lucky for us, you have two boy cousins and Auntie Anne was generous ...

There's an old wives tale that a sudden change in barometric pressure brings the babies. Could   this be my ticket?  Only time will tell!

I come bearing great news:   the baby has flipped!! We went to our 38 week appointment today and Dr. Harvey confirmed Baby's head is down and that I'm 1cm dilated and 50% effaced (for those who like the details)  ;) I feel incredibly happy and humbled.  These past 2 weeks have been an agonizing process of obsession, tears, and worry, so I feel extremely grateful for such good news. I'm in a total state of awe at my body and Baby's ability to do what needs to be done in such a timely fashion. So thank you to everyone who sent well wishes our way.  We are so grateful for your love and support! We're ready when you are, Baby  :)

Alright Little One, we need to talk! Things have been going great.  You've been treating me well, getting good grades at your doctor appointments, and being a fun, easy pregnancy, but we had a hiccup on Monday that we need to discuss. You flipped breech. Not cool. While driving home late Saturday night I felt a huge movement (this was big enough for me to start Googling "early labor signs"), and come Monday morning, Dr. Koala thought you may have flipped.  Low and behold she got the ultrasound out to confirm, and it was true; you're full breech. I can't say I'm surprised (I'm really not exaggerating when I say you move all the time! ) but I'm hoping you flip back before our next appointment this coming Monday.  I think you may have turned back as I was driving out of the parking lot after our appointment, but I can't tell for sure.  I can however confirm that you've moved around about 110 times since the appointment, so who's to ...

Hi Baby, Summer is here, and it's a hot one!  I can't say it's any worse being pregnant in the heat; I'm sure everyone with no A/C feels miserable at times.  When people ask "how are you holding up in the heat" , my first thought is usually, " the same as you!" but to be polite I entertain them with a good long eye roll and an  "oh, you know... just another joy of pregnancy" type response.  It seems to be what people are looking for  :) You continue to be very active; moving around so much as I try to sleep and eagerly waking up in the morning, ready to start the day.  It feels like you're crawling which is unlike the kicks and body rolls I remember last time.  I think you'll be an active one, and even if you are a chill kid, you will still go down as my most active pregnancy to date! Naming you while not knowing if you are a boy or girl continues to be a challenge.  There's something strange about making such a concrete...