6 more days

Hallelujah!  Being able to say there are just days left feels awesome!  I just have to say that despite my anxiousness to meet this precious little baby and move on from pregnancy life, I have to express my gratitude and thankfulness for this pregnancy.  In comparison it truly has been an easier and more enjoyable pregnancy, and I have really felt pretty great throughout the entire thing.  I know that my efforts to eat better and exercise have made a difference, not toting around an extra twenty pounds.  As I carried my 30 lb two year old up the stairs last night, I found myself breathing a little harder once I reached the top.  I thought how difficult it would be to carry that extra weight non-stop.  I will have a 6 week break from the exercise as I recover from the c-section, but I know if I want to get my pre-baby body back I will have to keep up the hard work.  Jared started the P90X exercise program a couple weeks ago, and I think I will join him when I get the go ahead.  I am so excited to have this baby.  I am so curious to see what he will look like!  Will he have a full head of hair like Porter did?  Will he be a big baby like Porter was?  Will I be able to nurse him?  Am I ready for exhaustion?  I am planning on staying in the hospital for four days this time... solely to reap the rewards from our Aflac Insurance.  I have mixed emotions.  I know that I will miss my little Porter terribly, and will want to be home seeing him interact with our new baby.  But I also think it will be nice to have time to bond with this new baby, try and figure out nursing without a lot of commotion, and be catered to by the wonderful nurses.  So crazy to know that one week from now I will have a tiny little baby in my arms again.  I am blown away at how little newborns are... I saw a baby at church yesterday and couldn't believe how tiny he was.  His mother said he was two months old, and huge compared to his 6lb cousin that was just born.  What?!  Well, here are some random updates about the end:

• Heartburn is more frequent.  Only once a week or so, but ouch!
• Can't see by looking, but realized I have a little bit of swelling in the legs when an indentation stayed for 30 minutes yesterday.
• Baby movement has decreased... I'm sure he's crammed in there.
• Most uncomfortable feeling is the back aches.
• Still feeling pressure.
• Skin on my tummy is hurting... I'm hoping I don't get stretch marks during this last week!
• Baby always has the hiccups!
• Still love ice chips.
• Scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast is still my go-to breakfast.
• Trying to decide on baby's name... hoping that seeing his little face will be a deciding factor.  (Tried to get Porter to name the baby by:  pointing to Porter "what's your name?" Porter;  pointing to mom, "what's my name?" mommy;  pointing to dad, "what's his name?" daddy;  pointing to mommy's tummy "what's his name?" baby brother.)
• Despite all these, I still have energy to: cook dinner every night, keep up on the laundry, keep a clean house, work in the yard, plan weekly date nights, and go on fun outings with Porter.  That's got to tell you something, right?
• Oh yeah, at my last doctor appointment today I was measuring a week small and the doctor asked how big baby 1 was- 8lbs, 11 ounces.  His prediction for this baby is 7.5 lbs.  My prediction, 8 even, maybe a little under. 

Here is my latest and final baby purchase to be ready! Love it!

And here are some shots of Porter during his 1st days.... ahhh!

2 Weeks Left

Have you ever googled ways to self induce labor?  I have recently.  I am too chicken to do any of it.  But I find myself willing my body to do something like have my water break or something.  It isn't listening to me though.  Last week when I went to the doctor I told him about the contractions and pressure.  It happened to be the only week they planned on checking me since they already had to do the strep b test.  He said I was dialated to a 2 and 50% effaced, but the reason for the pressure was that he could feel his head already!  Apparently he is way down there.  Sometimes I think I look like I am walking as if there is a head between my legs.  My back aches a lot these days.  Saturday I got a lot of housework done around the house.  Everything cleaned.  My windows washed inside and out, weeds pulled, yardwork done, floors swept and mop, vacuumed, laundry done.  It has been my goal to just keep the house in order so that when the time comes I will leave a clean house.  But there are some days when I don't feel like bending over to pick up the toys.  And I don't.  But the day usually doesn't end before I freak myself out that THIS would be the day my water would break and I would have to leave a messy house... and it gets me off my butt.  Last week I took the entire week off from the gym.  During that week I took Porter to the dinosaur museum, and I took him swimming twice.  It was workout enough for me.  When I went to the doctors last week I was really dissapointed and frankly nervous about my weight gain.  I had reached 30 lbs, which is what I thought I would gain all together.  It is still possible, since last time I weighed the same the last three weeks, and according to my pregnancy book is normal to weigh the same the last few weeks.  I am trying to eat better, and today I forced myself to go to the gym.  If there is one last goal in this whole thing it is to not go over that number.  I was excited when I went to the gym to learn that I lost two pounds!  So if I am careful I think I can still get away with my goal.  It would be much easier to achieve if I just went into labor today.  :)  I've thought all along that my stomach was so much smaller than it was last time.  But, I don't feel "small" anymore.  I feel big.  Yesterday at church I wasn't feeling the best.  I sat in sacrament and didn't fight my child like I normally do.  He was singing songs and talking loud, and I didn't even care.  I just ignored him and listened to all the testimonies.  Then he managed to squeeze past me out of the pew.  He went to the bench in front of us and played peek-a-boo with the lady sitting there.  Again, I didn't want to move, and I didn't.  "He's fine," I told myself.  And I believed it.  Until, he started to walk back and waved at us and said "Bye".  I then knew I was in trouble.  I got up to get him and he ran as fast as he could to the back of the room, turned right and went back up the chapel on the opposite side.  He can run fast, and there was no way I was going to run after him now or ever, but especially now being 38 weeks pregnant.  He ran up to the stage, across the chairs, and started jumping down the stairs.  Jared and I were giving evil eyes to each other, willing the other to go get him.  I won.  There were chuckles all around me, and even the bishop made a comment when he was closing the meeting.... I was embarrassed.  Any way, I am officially ready for this little boy to come.  I am ready phsycially, emotionally, etc.  There is something about the last couple weeks when you know it could be "any day now" that makes it go by so slow.

4 weeks left!

Yesterday marked the "four weeks left" milestone.  I am getting really excited to meet this precious little baby.  For the first time it is starting to feel like it is close by.  Last week I started having contractions, both Braxton Hicks and some real, painful ones.  But luckily it only occurred once or twice during a day.  This week it has gradually increased and I have contractions quite frequently now.  It seems I at least have them once every hour, but sometimes there will be times when three will come during a 5 to 10 minute interval.  With time, they are getting a little more intense and a little more painful.  Sometimes I find myself holding my breath waiting for it to pass, and have to remind myself to breathe.  For the most part this baby has sat lower than Porter did, and I haven't had too much pain in my ribs.  He does however cause some pain down below, it just doesn't seem normal that he be so close down there.

• Still able to work out consistently, and am enjoying it!
• Have not been eating the healthiest, in fact, I have a big appetite.
• No swelling.
• Weight gain, 24 pounds - compared to 39 pounds last time at this point.
• Cravings - ice chips!  (Note: iron level came out normal... guess I just like it!)
• Have to pee constantly.
• Can still cross my legs without troubles. (I remember last time not being able to for some time because my belly was in the way!)
• Next week move to weekly doctor visits and get "checked"... dreading it.
• Planning on packing a hospital bag soon... just in case something happens.

7 weeks left

**I started this post on Sunday, the 7 week left mark, but it has taken me a while to post pictures so now it's more like 6 weeks left, and these pictures were taken today... closer to the 6 week mark.**

Seven weeks left in the pregnancy.  I am starting to "feel it" now.  I notice myself grunting after bending over to pick up toys for long periods of time, and it makes me laugh sometimes.  It takes a noticeable effort to get my big pregnant belly out of bed multiple times during the night.  I have projects going on around my house, and I get frustrated that I don't have the energy to get as much done as I want to.  Granted, I still have good and bad days.  Sometimes I can tackle the world and get a million things done in a day, and the next every move seems like a chore.  But for the 1st time I'm starting to feel my limitations.

• wedding ring still fits
• still no swelling!  i am so thankful....
• tried on two of my favorite pairs of jeans today (the pre-pregnancy ones) and not only could i put them on, i could zip and button them!  i am hopeful that maybe i will fit in old jeans after delivery!
• 2 scrambled eggs with slice of whole grain toast is my "go-to" breakfast.  it is the only thing that keeps me feeling full until lunch time.
• i haven't spent the last two weeks eating strictly or working out regularly.  i can't seem to do the same things at the gym anymore, and racing porter through the house is starting to "count" as a workout.  wanting to force myself to be good and push through these last seven weeks, but still haven't gotten there.  (sigh...)
• weight gain is 13 pounds less than pregnancy 1 at this point.  so far i am on target to have a normal weight gain.
• biggest craving is ice chips, especially the yummy ice from cafe rio and sonic.  i discovered sonic sells bags of their ice for 1.49, and now i eat 2 cups full of ice every day.
• all my long shirts that i wear are getting too small, and the real maternity shirts make me look like a boat.  need shirts that fit.
• had 1st painful set of contractions on friday--- it was a result of running a few blocks to the energy solutions arena, and up multiple flights of stairs to make tip-off for game 6 in the playoffs.
• am officially set up with my doctor and the hospital to deliver the baby on monday june 21st at 7am!  exciting!
• i can feel this baby so much more predominantly than i could with porter, when he moves my stomach becomes completely deformed.  jared says it looks like i have an alien in me.  all i have to do is put my hand on my stomach and he will move away.  i am blown away at how close he feels- there is so little between us!

23 Weeks Pregnancy Update

I feel really, really good. And that makes me so happy and excited every single day! I have continued on with my exercise and diet plans. I have been going to the gym every day, and it has been great! I also started a food journal, where I write down every thing I eat. It has been very helpful for me. Knowing that I have to write down everything I eat, prevents me from snacking because I don't want to write down something more for that day. It also helps me to choose more nutritious meals. I started my no sugar fast with the intention of doing it three weeks or so, but I am cheering for myself to keep it up the remainder of this pregnancy. I have a book called "Your Pregnancy, Week by Week" and it tells you all about you and your baby's development on a week to week basis. It includes what your weight gain should be by that week in your pregnancy. I flipped through each week, and read that at 30 weeks you should start gaining one pound every single week until the end of your pregnancy. I have gained nine pounds thus far, and have calculated that even if I gain one pound per week the rest of my pregnancy I will gain a total of 25 pounds, which would be 1/2 my weight gain from last pregnancy. I know I have to keep working hard at exercising and maintaining a healthy diet to stay on track. Because, if my pregnancy goes the same way than my future holds swollen feet and legs... and water weight is weight nonetheless. Something I have discovered that I found interesting- I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was starting to get the leg cramps at night. Jared read that it is caused by a deficiency in some type of vitamin or something. Well, since I have started eating lots of fruits and veggies and exercising, I haven't had one single leg cramp! Who knew? A not so fun discovery I found this week is that I am allergic to the Cocoa Butter Stretch Mark Cream. I put it all over my stomach for the first time this week, and broke out in a rash. Odd because I was able to use it last time. I will have to look into what else is available.

• food cravings- fresh fruit, squash, bagels
  
• can watch the baby roll across my tummy
  
• jared can feel him kicking around
  
• sleeping- i can sleep on my back again! i am actually way more comfortable sleeping now.
  
• clothes- wear mostly all maternity pants now, and lots of workout pants!
  
• weight gain- nine pounds
• energy level is good!
  
• working out daily, not eating sugar
  
• appetite has increased! i have to limit my portion sizes, and say no to frequent snacking!
  
• i, still, feel fantastic
• i do actually still have morning sickness occasionally, but thanks to my medicine it hasn't been an issue. this is a bit surprising since morning sickness ended at 16 weeks with porter, but luckily it hasn't been an issue.
  

pregnancy update

last night i was feeling pretty sorry for myself. i was sick almost all day, and finally was reallllly sick last night. i was a big baby and cried. i told jared that i hate being pregnant. i joked with my family about my stomach sticking out after thanksgiving dinner, but now its almost a week later and it hasn't gone away. i didn't eat THAT much. and between yesterday and today, it has seemed like my meds weren't working quite like i am used to. so i guess what i am saying is the combination of getting sick and getting fat really depresses me. i've got a couple girlfriends nearing the end of their pregnancies and i am reminded that the entire thing stinks. my friends, i am not one of those girls that love being pregnant. i hate it. i just need my girlfriends that are at the end of their pregnancies to go ahead and have their darling little babies so i can be reminded of the outcome, and not of each crummy stage.

this morning i curled up on the couch in my pajamas and went through a baby name book. it lifted my mood. we had porter's name picked out before we were even pregnant so we've never gone through the name picking process before, really. it was fun. i emailed jared all the names i picked to see which he liked. he is convinced it is a girl this time. i came across a girl name that i hadn't considered before that i really like, and luckily it was one he likes too. but, unlike him, i was feeling like it's a boy today. boy would be easier- i have everything. girl would be funner- i get to shop. i am excited because i am finding out what it is in about two weeks. i am so glad i will know before christmas. i'm just a tad impatient, that's all.

well, i don't want to be too depressing, so i will lighten the mood by sharing this holiday YouTube video with you. i think it is pretty funny. thanks, sarah for sharing it with me. i laughed right out loud at this one.