36 weeks

I am 36 weeks which means we are going to have a fourth member to our family in 2-3 weeks! CRAZY! I can't believe how big my belly looks in this picture. Marc says it looks like there is a watermelon inside. :)

Here is my 37 week picture with Eli.

My appointment last Friday went well and I feel much better after Marc and I had a long conversation with Dr. H about her recommendations with Hailey being breech. Only 3% of all babies are still breech by term (37 weeks) so I am certainly in the minority at this point. My doctor is a great communicator who is very experienced with external cephalic versions and made me feel much better about it all. We talked through each scenario with her and all of the options and risks. ACOG is the professional OB/GYN medical organization that makes recommendations for health care issues for women and I found this as a summary of their position statement on external versions:

"The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) states that all women with breech fetuses who have completed 36 weeks of gestation should be offered an attempt at version given there are no contraindications."

The risks are lower for both mom and baby with a version compared to c-section so to me it is worth a shot even though the success rate is only about 60%. There are some things that make it more likely to be successful and fortunately Hailey and I both make good candidates for a version as long as there is still enough fluid inside when they decide to turn her (which they will check with an ultrasound that day). 

I read through countless studies and articles last week, prayed a lot through the options, and in the end, feel comfortable with our decision. We will probably set a date for the external version at my appointment this week to be done sometime between 38 and 39 weeks. If it is successful, then I will be induced that day (there is more risk if you go home after a version versus just staying in the hospital where the baby can be monitored until delivery); if it is unsuccessful, then I will have a c-section that day. Dr. H said that the last three moms she had scheduled versions for presented to the hospital the day of the procedure and their babies had already turned on their own to the head down position. I am still hoping and praying I have a smart girl who figures out which way the exit is. :)

I found this video online that shows an external version being done on a mom. If you can't tell from the video, this one was successful and mom looked pretty comfortable through it all.

I hope this info helps anyone else out there dealing with a similar situation!

And, just for fun, here are a few pictures of Eli tonight after his bath when we tried on his suit for my sister's upcoming wedding. It fits well now but I am afraid it will be too small in 2 months so we will probably get the next size up. Doesn't he look handsome??? He kept trying to pull the tag off his sleeve. :)

Week 32

Somehow this pregnancy has flown by. It is hard to believe that we are less than two months away from having a newborn in our house again. I can't wait to meet her and see what she looks like and find out what her little personality is like! She is very active most days but based on the direction of her kicks (down LOW) I can tell she is still breech. It is those low kicks and her growing size that have lately made me feel like I live in the bathroom. :) I have been getting up usually twice a night to go to the bathroom which seems to be adding to the fatigue. Marc called last night (he was on-call) and I told him I was getting ready to go to sleep. He replied, "But it is only 8:45... you must be REALLY tired." I do feel pretty tired these days. I have been resorting to some easy meals for dinner (ie. roast in the crock pot for dinner tonight!) and propping my feet often.

We are slowly chipping away at the study that is going to be Hailey's room. I am so thankful we are not changing the wall color because I can't imagine when we would find the time to paint it. The furniture will be arriving in 2-3 weeks and my parents are coming in a few weeks to help get the room situated. I know it will all come together in time and frankly, I just don't have any energy at this point to feel any different. Ha! I hope to start working on a canvas painting for her room this weekend which I am looking forward to.

I have my next OB appointment on Friday. I was measuring about a week or two ahead last time that I saw the nurse practioner so I am anxious to see if my doctor finds the same thing at this appointment. This week I passed how much weight I gained with my pregnancy with Eli but I am still on track for my 30 lb. goal with this pregnancy. I have craved sweets like crazy this time around which makes it more difficult. I am constantly thinking about dessert and icecream!

Week 32

And just for fun, here is Eli after dinner tonight enjoying some yogurt. Some days he is really good with his spoon or fork and other days... well you can see for yourself. I do have to brag on him that he ate three baby cooked carrots tonight AND some mashed potatoes. It was almost too much to handle! I am really trying to offer him only what we are eating to encourage him to try new things and so that I don't get stuck making more than one meal a night. It is slowly starting to work with the vegetables and main dishes (still no luck on the fruits). He seems to be much more eager to try new things if we try it at the same time with him. :)

Week 25

I am 25 weeks today! It is crazy to think that in as little as three months our new bundle could be here. I am getting more and more excited about meeting her. :) I am also starting to feel a little anxious about getting her room done. I know there is still plenty of time to get going but I felt like we already had most everything done on Eli's room at this point (we also found out for sure that he was a boy about a month earlier so that is probably part of the reason). I am trying to just RELAX and know that the baby will arrive and be perfectly content whether her crib skirt is ironed or not. Ha!

Overall, I am feeling really well at this point. I can definitely tell my belly is growing a lot and am starting to feel some of the stretching especially after I eat a big meal. :) She has been moving a lot over the past two days and seems to be changing positions now so I hope that means she is getting uncomfortable and ready to flip. She was laying sideways last night and I thought I was going to burst! I have started calling her Hailey (or Haley, we still haven't decided how we will spell it) when I talk about her and although Marc isn't ready to commit 100%, I think that is going to be her name.

We are trying to teach Eli about the baby that is in my tummy but he is totally clueless. He occasionally says baby when we see a little baby in public but he also thinks "baby" is a name for a stomach or belly button. If I ask him where the baby is he lifts up his shirt and points to his belly button. It is so funny. I want to get him a baby doll to practice with over the next few months but Marc didn't share my enthusiasm over that idea. :)

Here is a recent pregnancy picture. This was taken on our trip last week when I was 24 weeks.

This was my 24 week picture with Eli. Looks like I am still ahead this time around. :) I think I weigh 3 or 4 lbs. more right now than I did at this point with Eli but my stomach looks SO much bigger to me than that! I guess we will find out in a few months if she is a bigger baby.

It is time for this pregnant lady to head to bed. :) Good night to all!

Father's Day

Tonight on the way to the grocery store K-Love was doing a special on fathers. It was so interesting to hear all the different psychologists' perspectives on the role dad's play in a child's life. There was one in particular who was speaking about how a father's relationship with his daughter affects her future relationships with men as well as her relationship with God. He said that if you had a loving father growing up you should feel blessed. I feel blessed... very blessed. I love my dad. He has always been someone I could count on to give me good advice and I have utilized him a lot over the years in that area!

I had really wanted to make today special for Marc. I knew that he would have to round at the hospital this morning but was hoping we would have most of the day with him. That unfortunately wasn't the case. Marc has worked SO much this weekend. He worked from 6am on Friday morning straight until 3pm on Saturday and then came home and slept to catch up from no sleep the night before. Then he worked today from 6am to 3pm. If you are counting, that is over 40 hours in a weekend which is a lot. He is worn out. Now he has a patient in labor at the hospital and will likely have to go in tonight to deliver her and then be back at the hospital tomorrow morning at 6am. So, I had to adjust his Father's Day a bit. Since he couldn't enjoy breakfast with us this morning I made him some of his favorite banana nut bread last night while he was sleeping and put it out for him to have this morning. I got this recipe several years ago from Southern Living and Marc REALLY likes this bread so I knew it would bring a smile to his face.

I made the one on the right without nuts so Eli could have some since we haven't introduced him to any nuts yet.

Once Marc got home he opened up his presents. Eli had made Marc something at school and then he opened up the gifts we bought. He got a mirror for his bike so he can see Eli when he is the bike trailer (our neighbors recently gave us their old one for free!) behind him and some new Nike pool sandals for our upcoming trip. I think he loved them all and Eli enjoyed helping him open everything up.

Eli gave Marc a bag of peanuts and a cute card made like a shirt that he worked on at school.

After such a long day we decided to do something easy for dinner that the whole family would enjoy so we headed to Pizza Hut. We have a really nice dine-in one by our house that is never very crowded. Eli wasn't in the best mood tonight (yes, he is sick again with fever and probably has another ear infection) so we were glad to find that we were the only ones in the restaurant. :)

Eli has another battle wound on his forehead. He hit the corner of one of his stackable blocks and.. well you can see who won. :)

Here is my 22 week picture! Getting big in the belly. :) Baby girl is moving a lot and her kicks are getting much stronger. I still think she is still breech because the kicks are really low. I bought her first two outfits this weekend which was really fun. I have ordered some fabric samples and plan on getting the nursery figured out in the next month!

Eli is going to have...

...a baby SISTER! We found out today (or confirmed!) that our next baby is indeed a girl. We are so excited and loved getting to watch her move around on the screen. She is currently sitting complete breech, but she still has plenty of time to flip. She weighed 15 oz. today and was measuring a week ahead. She looked great! I must admit that I have spent the last 14 months drooling over little girl clothes whenever I would go somewhere to buy Eli something. The baby girls section is twice as big as the baby boy section at my favorite department store and now I get to shop on both sides. :) We are just so thankful that this baby looks very healthy. What a blessing! Here is her profile picture from today. She had her feet pulled up to her head with her hands so it was hard to get a great picture!

We are going to work on her name more in the coming weeks. Just like with Eli, we know what her middle name will be but are still thinking through the first name. My middle name and my mom's middle name is June (it was also a family name on my mom's side before that) so that will be her middle name. We have thought about Hailey or Hannah for a first name. I think picking out a name is the most stressful part of a pregnancy! So many factors to think about. :)

But, to balance that stress out is the stress-free fun of decorating a nursery. I LOVE this part! I have started looking a little bit at colors and fabrics (since we thought it was a girl from the last ultrasound). I also know I want to paint something special like I did with Eli's room. I love looking at the canvases that I made when I put him to bed at night. They are nothing too special but make his room so personal for me. I remember being very pregnant and sitting on our living room floor painting each of these three canvases.

Eli had an appointment today with an otolaryngologist to look into his recent ear infections (and constant runny nose!). Marc and I know how important conservative antibiotic use is so it is crazy to us how many antibiotics Eli has needed to be on in the last year. Last weekend Eli became sick AGAIN so I took him to a walk-in clinic to get seen since Marc was on call. The doctor noted on his exam that he had a right ear infection so Marc and I decided it was time for him to see the specialist to get some suggestions. We know this time is very important for his language development and hate it that he probably can't hear well because of all of the fluid build-up behind his ears. The doctor today felt like Eli could be having more problems with his adenoids than anything else and decided to take an x-ray today of his neck and said we will go from there. Hopefully, we will get some answers soon. I want this sweet boy to feel better!

My latest adventure has been working on our budget. Every few months I get really motivated and re-work how we are spending our money to see where we can improve. Marc and I have always desired to be good stewards of what God has given us and try to make a conscious effort to see where our money goes each month. We unfortunately spend Marc's entire salary after taxes on student loans (depressing, I know) so it is even more important that we use my salary wisely. I have a few friends who have recently been talking about The Grocery Game. So, when I realized recently a large portion of our money each month goes to groceries, toiletries, and diapers, I decided to give it a go. I am only one week in and still trying to figure it all out, but I think it is going to be a great resource for us. It takes some time right now to figure out what we need and where to find the coupons but I think with time it will get much faster! For example, a box of Pampers wipes at Walgreen's is normally priced at $3.99 (which is why I never buy wipes there!), but this week they are on sale for $2.50 each and through the grocery game I found a $2 off manufacturer coupon so the wipes became $0.50. Can you believe that! That is nearly 90% savings. How easy is that??? I will update in a month how things are going, but I am hoping my desire to save in this area becomes permanent and not just a phase. :)

Well, it is time to get dinner going. :) Have a great night!

Week 17

So everyone says that your first child gets way more attention that any that follow because everything is a first for you. Well, I must admit that I have not been taking belly pictures as diligently as we did with Eli and I am sure that will probably be the case with a lot of other things as we go along. This baby is however very LOVED even if I forget to stage its growth through pregnancy. :) Here is a picture of week 17. I am not even going to put up what week this looks like with Eli. All I can say is that at my next ultrasound I might still be looking for that second baby in there. :) In all honesty if I suck my tummy in it pretty much disappears so I think it is really the muscle laxity from the last pregnancy.... or so I will keep telling myself.

I got Marc to squeeze me in an ultrasound on Friday at his clinic (partly because I am paranoid about my belly size and partly because I want to know what we are having!). I am hoping the baby will cooperate and we can see what he/she is. If not I will have to hold out until our 20 week ultrasound. This baby is a mover like Eli was so we will hopefully get a good show. :)

Bye-Bye First Trimester

I am 13 weeks this week! For a medical mind, second trimester is a great place to get to because your risk of miscarriage is so much lower than in the first trimester. :) Of course I always find other things to worry about, but I continually try to trust God more and worry less.

The last two weeks have been very different this time around. Instead of the nausea and gagging disappearing, they have become a little worse. I really don't get sick much, but I have such a sensitive gag reflex to lots of smells and tastes. I really feel pretty good otherwise! I had Marc take this quick picture of me tonight after dinner. I wanted to compare it to week 13 with Eli so I added that one below. However, I think my current belly looks most like Week 19 with Eli!!!

I have my next OB appt. a week from this Friday. Then the appt. after that we should find out the sex of the baby and we can't wait!!!

Ultrasound and Party Decorations

I had an ultrasound today called Early Screen which is something new they are doing to check for down syndrome and other trisomy disorders. Everything looked completely normal which is always great news to hear. It was so fun seeing the baby move around on the screen! He/she looks so much more like a person from the last time we took a peek. You could see all the facial features and the arms and legs. We got a few great profile pictures to share with our family this weekend. The technician still couldn't find that other baby in there making my belly get big so fast! I actually haven't gained but a pound or two but this belly is showing for sure. People ask me everywhere when I am due and I am only 12 1/2 weeks. Ha! I do love being pregnant though and look forward to the next few months with this belly (especially when the baby starts moving!). :)

I have been getting ready for Eli's party over the past week or two. I cleaned all last weekend only to find that after our new windows were installed this week I would need to re-clean everything because of all the dust. :) I plan on getting the food together on Friday along with the rest of the decorations. We are doing a monkey theme party with teal, yellow, and brown for the colors. My mom found these cute plates in a magazine and I had his invitaiton designed based on them. She also had a cake made at a local bakery in Arkansas that is going to match everything else!

It is going to be great fun having both of our families in town to celebrate with us along with some of our friends. Marc's family is coming from Illinois and Texas and mine are coming up from Arkansas. Eli is one very loved little boy. :) I will put up some pictures after the party. Have a great weekend!

Surprise!!!

Do you notice anything (other than Eli's look of uncertainty)???

We are really excited to be sharing with everyone that we are expecting Baby #2 the end of October! I have waited all week to post on the blog because I wanted to have my first appointment this morning before we made the announcement official. Everything is going great and I will be 11 weeks next week. I had a really easy first pregnancy with Eli and this pregnancy has so far been great as well (maybe another boy???). We feel very blessed and are excited to be adding to our family. Eli and his new baby brother or sister will be 18 months apart which will be so much fun (and busy of course)!

We made our first pregnancy announcement with Eli really special for us and our family so I wanted to do something memorable for this one as well. I had this cute shirt made on etsy by myemmybaby and it was just perfect for the big news! I went to Tulsa last weekend to meet my parents for a shopping trip, and Eli was wearing this shirt when we arrived at the hotel to meet my mom and dad. It was just priceless seeing their faces as they read it! I had told them a few months back that Marc and I were ready for number two, but I think it was still a big surprise that they weren't expecting. :) They are really excited though! :) We skyped Marc's parents and brother the next night with Eli wearing this shirt. They eventually noticed the big words and then were able to read the rest. They are so excited as well. I finally sent the rest of our siblings and close friends an email with some pictures of Eli in his "big brother" shirt. So, after today, the news is out.

Marc and I are coming up on our 5 yr. anniversary this summer, and this week we booked an anniversary trip to a resort in Jamaica. Hopefully, this pregnancy will go as planned because I will be 5 months pregnant when we go! We haven't taken more than a weekend vacation since our honeymoon so it will be lots of fun to get away before life gets much busier. :)

I can already feel the warm sand between my toes. :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!