Induction Date Has Been Set!!

I had my last sono appt. this morning.  Evan looks great.  He's still measuring huge!  Right now they are estimating him to be 7 lbs, 10 oz.  So he's 1 pound over where Em was when she was born!  And there is still a ton of fluid around him.  The sono tech joked that when my water breaks, it's going to be a ton because of how much fluid I have.  Let's hope if it breaks, it happens at home! 

The dr. measured my belly and now it's measuring small - 35 weeks.  She said I'm just hiding a big baby in there somehow.  She also did an exam and I'm now 2 cm dilated and his head is super low.  At least I know all these contractions I have felt are doing something.  So that makes me feel good.  Besides that, I got some good news and bad news.  Good news is. . .she's letting me be induced on Tuesday, June 12th.  WOOHOO!!  That's 2 weeks from yesterday.  So based on his weight growth potential, my guess is he would be 8.5 lbs if I make it until then.  Woah!!!   The bad news is my dr. is out of town starting Monday, the 4th - Sunday, the 10th. After all I've been through, I really want to make sure my dr. can be the one that delivers me.  With that said, I'm praying that he comes on his own by this Sunday (she's on call all this weekend).  Oh and my parents and brother are out of town Wednesday, the 6th - Sunday, the 10th.  So it really would be in everyone's best interest for him to just come by this weekend. 

37 Weeks

•How far along are you? 37 Weeks.  I am officially considered full-term now!

•How big is baby?: Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard).

•Maternity clothes: All maternity clothes.

•Gender: BOY!! Evan Michael Baxter.

•Sleep?: I've been sleeping pretty well this week.

•Best moment this week?: Being able to fully enjoy a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend.

•Movement?: It varies each day now.  Some days he still moves a ton and other days he's pretty quiet.

•Food cravings?: Fruit!

•Food aversions?: None really anymore.

•What I miss: Being comfortable, not feeling huge, being able to move around easily.

•Symptoms: Just being super uncomfortable, contractions, back pain, peeing constantly, heartburn, and in the last couple of days there have been a few times where I get a shooting pain down my legs.

•Milestone: Making it to full-term!  If you had asked me 12 weeks ago, if I thought I would make it to this week, I would have said no.  Evan is more than welcome to come at any time now!!!!!!!

I have a sono appt. tomorrow to check on the fluid level around Evan.  I'm hoping we'll get a good weight estimate too.  I'm sure he's still on track to be big.  My guess now is around 7.5 lbs.  We'll see how close I am.  I'm also hoping I'm making some progress and am dilated more.  I'll update after my appt. tomorrow.

Just for comparison, here I am with Em at 37 weeks.  It was 37 weeks exactly that my water broke with Em.  This was taken right before we headed out the door to the hospital.  Pretty sure I look terrified.

And here I am again with Evan.  Maybe I'll get lucky and this will be my last belly pic with Evan too.  I can hope anyways!

And of course, I can't go without showing Em's belly pics.  She was on the phone though and was getting upset with me that I was talking.  This is her telling me to be quiet because she was on the phone.

Proud Mama

I may be biased, but I think I have a pretty smart 2 year old on my hands.  :)  I had to show her off!

She can count to 10 in Spanish.

She can count to 20 in English (although she did skip 15).



And just because I love hearing her sing.  This is a song she sings with her Daddy.



Memorial Day

We had a pretty low-key day today.  This morning Shawn and Em washed the cars in the driveway.  I think Em may have enjoyed playing in the water more than washing the cars.

After Em's nap, we headed out to run a few errands.  We told Em if she was good while we ran errands, we would make a stop for a fun treat.  Lucky for Em (and Mom and Dad), she was good so we stopped at DQ for some blizzards.  Yum!  She and Daddy shared theirs, but Em kept telling us that baby Evan (that's in her tummy) ate her whole ice cream.   Pretty sure that's going to be my excuse now for everything I eat.  :)

Memorial Weekend - Sunday

Still no baby (big sigh). . .

Yesterday afternoon we headed over to my parent's house to go swimming for the first time this year.  They just re-did their whole patio area and it looks so nice.  My dad heated the pool up, so it was nice and warm! 

Shawn and I were curious to see how Em would do swimming this year.  Once again, she loved the pool.  Unfortunately, she still has absolutely no fear of the water.  She totally thought she could swim, which was a bit scary.  Luckily we convinced her to wear her puddle jumper about half the time. 

We had a great time swimming and visiting  I'm looking forward to many more days swimming over there.  But hopefully, the next time we go, Evan will be here and can go swimming too!! 

Rockin' the bikini

Cousins

Natalie (4), Emily (2), Lauren (6)

Memorial Weekend - Saturday

First off, for those wondering. .still no baby.  The BH contractions have definitely gotten more frequent and intense/ painful over the last several days, but they aren't at all regular. 

After running some errands Saturday morning, we spent most of the afternoon outside enjoying the nice, hot weather.  Shawn set up the sprinkler for Em and she loved running through it.  He even made a water slide at one point.   

 

Watering her tomatoes

  

Showing off her tomatoes



Back to Reality (1st Day Off Bedrest)

I was so excited to be off bed rest today and back to work.  It felt great to finally be back to a normal schedule.  For the first time in 77 days, I just felt "normal" and that's all I wanted.  It was fun catching up with everyone at work and having people around me.  :)  In a way, it felt like I hadn't been gone for 11 weeks. 

Getting ready this morning still took quite a bit of energy, but I'm glad I did so much this weekend.  I think it helped prepare me for today much better.  Sitting up all day was probably the hardest.  My lower back hurt really badly all day.  I just don't think my body is used to having to support all this weight in my stomach.  Hopefully, this will get better each day.  I still had some contractions today, but for the most part, they weren't any different than before I went off my medicine. 

It's just a waiting game now until I go into labor.  I still hope it will be sooner rather than later.  I'm not sure my stomach can stretch much farther!  But in the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy being a "normal" pregnant lady again.  :)

36 Weeks

•How far along are you?  36 Weeks!  I still can't believe I finally made it to this week!

•How big is baby?: Look at my belly! He's a big boy!

•Maternity clothes: All maternity clothes.

•Gender: BOY!! Evan Michael Baxter.

•Sleep?: I'm not sleeping well at all. Either I can't fall asleep or I fall asleep easily, but am wide awake around 5:00 or 6:00.  And I'm still getting up every 2-3 hours to pee.  It also doesn't help that for the last week or so, Em has been waking up around 4:30 each morning.  :(

•Best moment this week?: Is there any doubt about my answer on this one?  Getting off bedrest!!!!!

•Movement?: It's still slowing down a bit.  When he does move, it's really uncomfortable.  He just feels so low.

•Food cravings?: Still fruit and popsicles.  Shawn cut up a pineapple and a bunch of strawberries this weekend and I can't get enough of them!

•Food aversions?: None really anymore.

•What I miss: Being comfortable, sleeping well, not feeling huge!!

•Symptoms: Just being super uncomfortable, contractions, back pain,  peeing constantly, heartburn, and in the last couple of days there have been a few times where I get a shooting pain down my legs.

•Milestone:  Finally making it to 36 weeks!!  My dr. won't stop labor from this point on.  If he's on the same time table as Em was, that would mean he'd be here in exactly 1 week.  Oh how I hope, he has the same plan!!

And just for comparison, here's a picture of me with Em at 36 weeks. 

Me with Evan at 36 weeks.  It definitely looks bigger to me!

And of course Em had to participate too and take her belly pics.  She decided to do a few different poses this time too.

Weekend Recap

We had a fun weekend and even though I was technically still on bed rest, I cheated a bit.  :)  Friday, Emily had family picnic day at school.  We had to pack a lunch for her.  Usually they serve lunch for us, so we had a bit of a hard time figuring out what we could pack for her.  Most of the food Em likes is hot, so we had to get creative.  Shawn made her a tukey and cheese sandwich in the shape of a heart, some apple slices with yogurt dip, cheetos, and milk.  She told us she just picked out the cheese and didn't eat her sandwich.  Totally doesn't surprise me.  :)  Shawn also bought Em her very own lunch box to bring her lunch to school in.  She was so excited about it and seeing her carry it made her look so big to me!  Unfortunately, Shawn wasn't able to attend the picnic and neither was I.  I would have loved to have gone, but I knew there was no way I could sit down outside on the ground to eat.  Next year, we'll make it up to her!

Friday night our friends, Court and Grant, brought pizza over for dinner.  We had a good time visiting with them!  Court's pregnant too, so it was fun talking about all things baby.  :) 

Relaxing outside before Court and Grant arrived.

Saturday is when my cheating began.  :)  I had a hair appt. that afternoon.  I figured I better get it done now before Evan arrives since who knows when I'll get the chance once he comes.  While I was at my hair appt, my parents came over and picked Em up to take her to see my niece, Natalie's, dance recital.  From what I hear, Em had a great time watching the dances.  I think she's looking forward to signing up for some dance classes of her own this fall.  When Em got home, her and I spent some time playing in the backyard.  She wanted to have a "picnic", so we set down a towel and just enjoyed laying outside.

Sunday was another fun day!  I actually did some shopping (not online shopping!).  Knowing I was going back to work this week, I wanted to pick up just a couple of things to get me through the next few weeks.  So I headed over for a quick trip to Target and Old Navy.  Shawn took Em to run some errands too and then stopped by the new splash park they built in our neighborhood.  I'm hoping to check it out soon too.  Sunday afternoon after Em's nap, we headed over to my brother's house for dinner.  My parents went over too and we celebrated Mother's Day and my mom's birthday. 

Overall, it was one of the best weekends I've had in the last 11 weeks.  It totally lifted my spirits to get out of the house and it made me just that more excited to get off bed rest, officially, on Tuesday.

Bedrest Weeks #10 and #11

Finally, I have made it to the end of bedrest!!  I survived 77 days of laying down!  I'm really not sure how I did it, but I'm so glad it's over.  I was looking back at my calendar and in the last 36 weeks, I have spent 77 days on bed rest, taken 77 doses of Procardia, have had 11 sonograms, 13 NST's, 4 trips to L&D, 3 terbutaline shots to stop labor and 1 round of steroid shots!  I'd say that's more than anyone should have to deal with during a single pregnancy.  And although the end of bedrest has come, I still have 4 more weeks to my due date.  :(  My worst fear now is that after all of this, Evan decides to get comfortable and hang out until his due date.  I'm beyond uncomfortable now.  Even though my bedrest didn't officially end until today, I cheated a bit this weekend.  By the end of the day on Sunday though, my whole body was so sore!  Just sitting up in a chair kills my back.  I'm more ready than ever to get back to work tomorrow and live a "normal" life again, but the thought of possibly having to make it 4 more weeks is tough to think about.  I just don't ever remember being this uncomfortable with Em (either that or I just blocked it all out).  And I have noticed the contractions that I've had in the last week or so have been a bit more intense.  They aren't so much painful, but they are definitely more uncomfortable.  I stop the Procardia today too, so I'm just not sure what to expect as far as contractions from here on out.

I had my last NST appt. this morning.  I couldn't have been more excited about that.  NST's get old very quickly.  I had 2 big contractions that I felt, but other than that, all looked good.  I had to laugh this morning as I went in for my appt. though.  After going anywhere from 1-2 times a week for the last 11 weeks, they have gotten to know me really well in the office.  The receptionist greets me as soon as I walk in the door.  And today when the nurse called me back, she gave me a high five and said "36 weeks - yay!"  I think they all understand that this has been tough on me.  The dr. did an exam and I was still about the same as last week.  She said between 1-1.5cm dilated and still 75% effaced.  I won't lie, deep down I was hoping for a miracle and she would tell me I was much farther.  Oh well, I was only a 1 when my water broke with Em at 37 weeks, so we'll see.   I asked the dr. what she thought my odds were that I'd go into labor quickly and she said it's really too hard to judge.  She said she doubts I make it to my due date, but said that she could also see it being a couple of weeks away.  I go back next week for a sono.  She wants to check the fluid level around the baby.  I also want to ask her then about the option to induce at 39 weeks.  She gave me this option with Em.  I didn't have to take her up on that option with her, but I can confidently say that should I get the option this time, I will be taking it!

In the big scheme of things, bedrest has proven to work for me.  It has kept Evan safe and sound in my tummy for the last 11 weeks and I am unbelievably thankful for that.  While in no way was it easy, in the end it was worth it and for that reason, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

So for now, it's back to reality tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes.

35 Weeks

•How far along are you? 35 Weeks (only 35 days to go!)

•How big is baby?: Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon).   Again, we all know Evan is bigger than this.  My guess now is that he's around 6.5 pounds.

•Maternity clothes: All maternity clothes.  I've found that some of my maternity shirts are even starting to get a bit short.  That's never good!

•Gender: BOY!! Evan Michael Baxter.

•Sleep?: I've actually been sleeping pretty well this week (aside from getting up 20 times a night to pee).  I'm just exhausted by the end of every day.

•Best moment this week?: Knowing that this is my last week of bedrest!!  Also, getting some fun gifts for Mother's Day and also some monogrammed gifts for Evan, from my friend Courtney.

•Movement?: He's slowed down a bit on his movement.  I think he might be starting to finally run out of room in there.  Although he was still a very busy boy during my NST on Monday.

•Food cravings?: Still fruit and popsicles

•Food aversions?: None really anymore.

•What I miss: Just being comfortable.

•Symptoms: Not sleeping well, being very uncomfortable, braxton hicks contractions, and awful heartburn (pepcid is taken daily now).  One good thing I've noticed about being on bed rest - I have no swollen ankles this time!  It was around 35 weeks with Em, that my ankles started to swell (although it was probably because I continued to wear heels every day to work).  Not this time though.  Hoping that doesn't change when I get off bed rest next week.

•Milestone: Making it another week with Evan safe and sound in my tummy. Also surviving my TENTH week of bedrest! Only 1 more week of bedrest . .please hurry!!!

I had an NST appt on Monday.  It looked about the same as it did last Thursday.  Still just 1 big contraction and several small ones.  I'm still only 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced.  I was actually hoping that I might be dilated a bit more.  I don't want him coming before I hit 36 weeks, but now I'm starting to worry that after all this bed rest, he's going to decide to get comfortable and hang out until his due date.  I'm just getting so uncomfortable and knowing that he's on the bigger side, I'd like him to come sooner rather than later.

I go back to the dr. next Monday and that should be my last appt before getting off bed rest!  It will be back to reality on Tuesday with no bed rest and I'll be off my contraction medicine.  Mentally, I'm so ready to get to get back to my "normal" life,  but physically I'm starting to worry about about how my body will handle it all. 

Random Ramblings

I had several people ask me about the cradle that I posted a picture of in my "day in the life" post.  Here it is again.

Yes, it is sitting on our treadmill right now.  And no, I don't plan on keeping it there (I don't think).  I'd like to move it over to my side of the bed once he comes, but for now, it keeps it out of the way.  I thought it was so funny how many people noticed that.  :)  And there is a story behind the cradle.  My mom bought this cradle for my oldest cousin when she was pregnant with her first child.  All 3 of her kids (my cousins) used it, my 2 nieces used it, as did Emily and now Evan.  I love that it's been in the family and keeps getting passed around.  We'll just have to wait and see who uses it after Evan.

My mom came over for lunch yesterday and brought me and Evan lots of surprises.  My parents were so generous and I'm pretty sure I don't need to worry about Evan not having enough clothes now.  :)  He got a Moses basket stacked full of clothes, socks, bibs, hats and blankets!.  I loved looking through it all and had so much fun putting it all away.  I'm loving little boy clothes!!

And in case you don't believe me, here's a shot of Evan's closet now.  It's definitely filling up.  And he's got clothes in his dresser too.



As I mentioned in a previous post, Evan's hospital bag is all packed.  I changed some stuff out once I got the clothes from my mom.  :)  But I think he's all set now.  My bag is packed too, with the exception of toiletries.  Other than that, we'll just need to grab the camera and video camera and we'll be good to go.  It feels good to be more prepared this time around!

Several months ago, I had ordered a birth announcement print for Em's room.  I had been wanting one forever and just kept putting it off.  Then once I got it, it was just sitting in her closet until I found the perfect frame for it.  Well, that frame arrived today.  I love how it came out.  We're going to hang it above her bookcase in her room.

I want to get a birth announcement print for Evan's room too whenever he arrives, so I went ahead and ordered a frame for his room too.  I really love these frames. . .we might need to find places for a few more.