LAST prenatal appointment...!

I had my very last prenatal appointment for this pregnancy today. Extremely bittersweet, but SO exciting! (:
I kind of talked about my induction a bit with Dr. Lunt & also got checked... I am almost 4cm now & 70% effaced. We're all set to go in on Friday. Not sure what time yet, because they call when they are ready for you to come in. Dr. Lunt told me it will most likely be around 6:30. Which I *think* that's probably the time for shift change, so that's why they call around that time. Crossing my fingers they call earlier, rather than later! (:

I still can not believe I am only going to be pregnant for 2 more days! Ahh, can't wait to meet this sweet baby! ♥

38 weeks!

8 days left with this big 'ol belly! (:

Yes, that's right only EIGHT days! I had my 38 week appointment yesterday & we have FINALLY set the date for me to be induced... if the little miss does not come on her own by next Friday, May 6th... she will be getting evicted! (: Ahh, soo crazy to finally know that I will FOR SURE have a baby in my arms by a certain day. I am still almost 3cm dilated, but 80% effaced now. I had to have an NST {Non-Stress Test} because I have not been feeling Miss T move a whole lot lately, really only when I poke at her because I get scared. I sat there with the monitors on for a good 5 minutes with zero movement what-so-ever. Which is definitely not normal for this little babe when she has the monitors on her. Usually she is ALL over the place - last time we didn't even have to do the full time, because she was moving so much. Not this time. Her heart rate was also staying verrrry consistent {they like it go to up & down, not stay the same} So the nurse went & got me some water & a capri sun to see if that would help to get her goin. I drank the water & her heart rate did start to fluctuate a bit, but she still did not want to move at all. So I drank the capri sun & still the same thing. I had a contraction {wasn't painful, just the kind that takes my breath away!} & her heart rate dropped a tiny bit, but it picked right back up & she was fine, so they weren't worried about that. Finally, after about 20-25 minutes of being on the monitors, she started to move some more. After the NST was done, they wanted to do an ultra sound to check the fluid, just to make sure everything was okay with that. Everything looked good with the level at 9.7cm! That is even higher than it was my last ultra sound, a couple weeks ago! So apparently this stubborn child just wanted to be lazy for a few days & give her mama a nice scare ;) All is good, though & she can bake for just a little bit longer! (:

Gettin' stuff ready!!! (:

We are finally getting around to getting everything (Okay, definitely not everything... just what we can!) ready for the baby! (:

Here's the crib that Ry just painted/restored!

BEFORE:

Yes, those are BITE marks from Brans, haha.

AFTER:

All set up in her room! It turned out really good. Now we just need to get some bedding for it!

Her bag is all packed for the hospital! (: It took me longer to pick out bows to match everything (and each outfit/pajama/onesie has about 3 that can go with it, haha. Hey, I like to have options ;) than to pick out her clothes, blankets & everything else that is in there! haha

All of her stuff next to her bedroom door, ready to grab when we head to the hospital! (although now the car seat is strapped into the car, so we don't have to worry about that!)

Her swing!

Beddy in our bedroom! It's the same one we used for Brans, except I put a pink sheet in it to make it a little more girly ;) I even stocked it up with diapers already! (:

And I just love this dress that I got her, so I had to post it ;) haha, sorry it's kind of blurry!

Everything stacked up in the closet! Can't wait until we get her bookcase shelf & dresser/changing table so I can actually organize everything

Okay, so I still have lots more to do, but this is the progress so far ;) I will hopefully be able to order the dresser/changing table combo sometime within the next week. I will probably have to put off the bedding for a bit longer, but she will only be sleeping in there for naps for quite a while, anyways & probably not for the first month or so. All of the other stuff will be done randomly, I'm sure. The book case, curtains, her name above her crib, pictures on the walls, ect. I really wanted to have everything done before she's born, but we got a bit of a late start on it & there were more important things to get before we worried about her room. (the stroller, car seat, clothes ect.) But it's nice to finally have everything we need when she comes home set up! Now I just need a baby to put it all to use ;)

FULL TERM! (:

Gigantic 37 week belly! (:


Ahh, it feels so good to of finally made it to this 'safe point'! I know that she still has some good bakin' to do, but I would actually feel okay if she were to come out now. Not that I necessarily WANT her to, but I know that she would be just fine if she was to come anytime now! (: (unlike 10 weeks ago when we first learned about the low fluid!)

I definitely feel like I am FINALLY ready for this little lady. I mean, I still have fears & my nerves are going crazy. It's gonna be really weird having 2 children to take care of. I think that is what I'm most nervous/scared about. I never ever want Bransyn to feel left out, or like he is being replaced, so it's gonna be hard balancing my time between the two of them. I'm prettty sure I've already forgotten how to take care of a newborn, as well. haha, I'm so used to my big boy! It'll definitely be a challenge getting used to caring for a toddler & a newborn, but hopefully I will get the hang of it quick! But I honestly can not wait to finally have them together! (: I am seriously so anxious to see Bransyn's face when he see's his baby sister for the very first time. Ahhh, just thinking about it gives me butterflies! (the excited/love kind, not the nervous kind :) And although I am really looking forward to giving birth again (is that weird? I thought it was the most amazing experience ever! haha) I am still so nervous. I don't know how it's gonna go, or what to even expect, since every birth is different. But I keep picturing that amazing moment when my precious baby is handed to me & I get to look at her for the very first time.
Those are pretty much the two things I am still scared/nervous about. (:


But those are normal & I'm sure everything will be just fine, so I am reallly hoping these next 2 weeks just FLY by! I am so ready to be able to sleep comfortably, with no pain. Although, I still won't be sleeping through the night, haha. But waking up to feed, burp & change a cute little baby is DEFINITELY better than waking up to pain! (: I will gladly take that trade ;)

37 week appointment!

I had my 37 week appointment today & let me just say I am extremely surprised at how quick I was in & out of that office! Waited in the waiting room for maybe a little less than 10 minutes, waited in the room for maybe 20... I was out of there before I hit the 'hour-after-my-appointment' mark! I believe that's a record ;) haha, Anyways... on to the important stuff (:
Heard baby's heartbeat... 130bpm. He measured my belly & I totally didn't catch what the measurement was :( But I'm sure it was either still at 36, or 37 since I have been staying on track with the measurements. I gained 2 pounds in a week. BLEHHH. Not really what I wanted to see, but oh well. I drank a lot of water today... that has to be why... ;) haha. I decided to have a cervical check again, just to see if I made any progress in just a week. Well, sure enough I did! Last week I was at 2cm & 50% effaced & today I was *almost* a 3 & 70% effaced! Yayyyy for progress! (: (: That still doesn't really mean I will go into labor anytime soon, or on my own at all... but I LOVE that I am actually making progress this time, & I really, reallllly hope it will benefit me while in labor! (: I go back on Wednesday & for SURE get to set my induction date, if this babe hasn't come on her own by then (which I highly doubt she will. I have stubborn children, remember? But that's okay, the more bakin' she can do, the better ♥ )
That's my update for today! Sooo exciting, I know ;) haha

Not the nice relaxing family Sunday I had in mind. . .

Warning: Very lonnnng post & you might get bored (: haha

So yesterday, I was really looking forward to having a family day, go to the park or something, since we only have a limited amount of time left with just the 3 of us. Ry had to work ALL day Saturday, so we lost 1/2 of our weekend together. Brans woke me up at about 10am. I decided to get up with him, since Ry has been really good about letting me sleep in lately. He needed a turn (: Started out like a normal day. I got Mr. B & myself some breakfast. After I was done eating, I noticed that I was having trouble breathing. Which is normal. I'm 36+ weeks pregnant & this baby is so big now, that she's just pressing everything up to make room for herself, so my lungs are quite squished. I have been dealing with this lame symptom for months now, I'm used to it. Or so I thought. It seemed to be REALLY bad this time. Like no matter what I did, I just could not get enough air. I was taking extremely deep breaths & still didn't feel like I was getting half of what I should of. I tried changing positions frequently. I would lay on the couch for a few minutes, go walk around for a few minutes, sit super straight up on the computer chair & mess around on facebook to get my mind off of it. Nothing seemed to help at all. Ry woke up at about 11:30. He knew from the look on my face that something was wrong. I told him I was just having trouble breathing, which he too knew was normal. I told him it was pretty bad today & I didn't know why. He asked if I wanted to go in, but I said no because all they're gonna tell me is it's normal. So he told me he was gonna run to the store real quick to get some eggs. I remember him going out to the garage to start his truck. I think he was in the kitchen for a minute before that, & at that point, I remember barely being able to breathe at ALL, like I literally felt like my airways were the size of a needle. But I was so focused on getting myself to breath, that I didn't yell for him or anything. So he went out to pull the truck out of the garage. By this point, I was breathing so hard, I was apparently hyperventilating. I remember feeling my head get super tingly & my face went numb. Then to make matters worse, I hear Bransyn run over to the garage door & open it to see where Ry was going. I started panicking, because I literally could not stand up, yell for help, or anything. I was scared that B would go out into the garage & Ry wouldn't see him & something terrible would happen. Luckily, Ry did see him & brought him back in. He was standing in the kitchen for a minute (I was on the couch) & it seemed like foreverrr until he came over & saw me struggling to breath. He was on his way into B's room when he noticed how I was breathing so hard & crying, & he asked me if I was okay. Obviously, I was unable to answer him. He didn't really think much of it I guess (um. how could you not, when you see someone breathing so hard & clearly having trouble? haha) When he came back out, he kept asking me what was wrong. If I was okay. What the deal was. I kept trying to tell him that I couldn't breathe, but I guess I didn't do a very good job of it. I remember trying to point to my chest & neck, to try to 'signal' what was going on, since he clearly did not understand that me breathing super hard meant that I couldn't breathe. He kept asking me if he should call 911, cause he didn't know what was going on, or what to do. I tried to tell him no, because I really just needed help getting my breathing normal. But I didn't do too good of a job with that, either. haha. It frustrated me, because in my head, I had no idea how he couldn't understand what I was trying to tell him. I totally felt like I was making everything clear, but I think I was hyperventilating too much & apparently having a panic attack. So. He called 911. After a minute, I was actually glad he called, because I literally felt like I was going to die. I have NEVER felt like that before in my life & I hope I NEVER have to experience that feeling again. My head felt SO tight & numb, my chest started to feel really heavy & I thought that I was going to stop breathing altogether. An ambulance came to the house, along with a fire truck (not sure WHY, there was no fire? haha) and about 80 guys. They tried asking me what was wrong, but again... I couldn't make it clear. I just kept pointing to my chest & my throat, signaling that I couldn't breathe, along with trying to actually tell them... but with the way I was breathing/crying/hyperventilating/panicking, no one could understand. They got the oxygen & put the mask on me. That did help a bit, even though I was still breathing extremely hard. They also brought a few things in to check my vitals & BP. They kept trying to talk to me, but I couldn't say anything back. Then they kept telling me that I needed to try my hardest to calm myself down & take a deep breath of the oxygen through my nose, hold it for 4 seconds then let it out. I'm not really sure how well I was doing with that, once I was finally able to feel like I could breathe a teensy bit, I kept feeling like I was going to pass out. I remember fighting it a few times (I am like deathly afraid of passing out) & the EMT's telling me to stay awake when I would start to lose the fight. I *think* I managed to stay conscious the whole time. I finally stopped hyperventilating & came out of the panic attack. I was able to breathe a bit better, although still having trouble. I don't remember everything that went on, I was just so focused on staying calm & getting enough oxygen, and also making sure I was feeling the baby move & not having any pains. They finally asked me if I waned them to take me to the hospital. I said no, because although I was still having trouble, I didn't feel like I was going to die anymore. Then they said that it would probably be best to go make sure the baby is okay, because they didn't have to equipment to check on her with them. After they said that, I agreed. I definitely wanted to make sure my baby was okay! So they brought the gurney in & got me strapped onto it. I felt soo bad, because although Ry was able to keep Bransyn occupied in his room the whole time the EMT's were there, I'm pretty sure he saw me get wheeled out on that thing, I remember him saying 'mommy' but no crying, luckily. I was kind of out of it at that point. So there I was in an ambulance for the very first time, somewhere I have always tried to avoid. I felt soo alone & kind of scared, even though I had the EMT's back there with me. I wish there had been someone else at the house to take Brans, so that Ryan could of rode with me. But I did feel a little bit better, right after we turned out of our street, I saw Ryan & Brans following right behind us, so I at least knew Ry would be at the hospital with me. I only felt better for a second, though, cause then I was told that they had to get me hooked up to an IV, because the hospital requires them to already be in by the time you get there. AWESOME. As if I'm not already scared of stupid IV's, I have to get one while DRIVING?! I tried to talk them out of it. I BEGGED them not to do it, but they 'had' to. Ick. I couldn't tell you how many times they tried to poke me with that stupid thing & I would pull my hand away. That ambulance was SO shaky, why would they try to poke me with a needle in there?! I finally just let them, because I knew I wasn't going to win. And I was definitely right... that was THEE most painful IV I have ever had in my life. I could feel everyyything. I'm pretty sure the guy that did it was still in training. So fun. It hurt like hell *excuse my language* and I guess he stuck it too far in at first, so they had to pull it out a little bit. They kept saying to me, 'see, that wasn't too bad!' I wanted to punch them. It still hurt, even after it was in. (which was on the side of my hand, like an inch under my thumb. I have a ton of bigger & better veins they could of stuck that thing in, why they chose that one, I have no idea! So we finally got to the hospital & one of the guys kept cracking 'jokes' trying to make me laugh. I pretended to, just to make him feel good. They got me in there & into a room where I got hooked up to the monitors. They found baby's heart beat pretty quick. After listening to it for a second, the lady that hooked me up says to me 'Oh, you must be having a boy! Definitely sounds like a boy!' .... uhm .... well ... no, I am not but thanks for making me worry about my little girl coming out with an extra something, now! After that, they got me hooked up to that little thingy they put on your finger & the blood pressure cuff thingy. (I know medical terms sooo well, right?) Everything was looking normal, my heart rate was just fine, my oxygen levels were just fine. So they took me off of the oxygen. I wish they wouldn't have, it was helping me to not feel like I was suffering so much. But my oxygen levels still stayed between 97-99% without it. I just had to *feel* like I wasn't getting enough. After a few minutes, everyone left the room. And although I love being able to listen to my baby's heart beat, I was kind of lonely. About 10 minutes later, Ryan finally came in! I had been wondering where he was at, but I had no phone, so I couldn't call him or anything. Luckily, his parents were already in town, so they were able to help out with Brans. He stayed with me for awhile. Nothing was really going on, except still monitoring the baby. After awhile, he went out in the waiting room for something, I forget. But his mom came back instead of him. I guess they had some leftover food & Ry was hunnngry (: haha. So his mom stayed & talked to me for a bit. I told her what happened. Then the Dr came in to ask me what happened. I explained everything. He informed me that the difficulty breathing thing is normal (duh, I knew that) & that it probably just got reallly intense & I started panicking, then hyperventilating, which caused my head to go tingly & numb, and for me to feel like I was going to die. He said that he wasn't concerned about any kind of sickness, such as pneumonia, or anything in my lungs, since the difficulty breathing was my only 'symptom'. So we decided that an x-ray wasn't necessary, since I'm still pregnant we don't want to do that unless we absolutely have to, so he just wanted to get some blood, just to make sure everything else was okay, since there's really no explanation as to why it was so bad. After he left, Ryan's mom noticed my horrible IV. Which, I forgot to mention was all bloody. I was like 'Oh yeah, gross huh? they just HAD to do that in the ambulance & it KILLS' She couldn't believe that they did it while driving. Then we noticed that nothing was even going through it. Like the fluid was alll through the tube, but it wasn't going into my body at all & there was no 'drip' coming from the bag. So she went out & got someone to come look at it & see if it was still necessary for me to have one. I love that she did that (: haha. So someone came in, looked at it & was like 'Oh, that doesn't look like it's even in right!' Well duhh, it wouldn't hurt like that if it was! ha. So he got some kind of injection thing to check it with, NOO idea what it was. But when he did it, it hurt so bad! Then he was like, oh yeah, it's bad. We'll have to take it out & re-do it. AWESOME. Just what I want, to be poked again! But it was nice to finally have that thing out of my hand! After a while, she went out to the waiting room & Ry came back in. We sat there for awhile. Just talked & stuff. Hospitals take FOREVER. Then the phlebotomist (or 'vampires' as I like to call them ;) came in to do my blood work. Gah, more pokes. Luckily, this lady was MUCH better at her job, than the sucky IV dude was. I hardly felt anything beyond that first poke. I think she took like 5 viles. Then we waited. Annnnd waited. Forever. Finally, like an hour later the Dr came back in & told me that all my blood work came back normal, which was definitely good. So I figured at that point I was good to go! But of course not. Hospitals take forever, remember? So we waited for probably another half an hour before they came in & discharged me. I was pretty excited to be getting out of that place. Then I realized... I had no shoes. I totally forgot about them when I was being taken out of the house. So Ry asked someone if I could get some booties. And we got to wait a bit longer for them to find some ;) haha. FINALLY, get got out of that place. And Ry took me to get some ice cream, since I was such a trooper ;) Except he just reallly wanted some ice cream. haha. Fine with me, I had been craving a snickers shake for daysss.
So that was my latest adventure. I am actually pretty embarrassed that I had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital, because of a stupid pregnancy symptom. I still have NO idea why it was so bad, & I really hope it never gets that bad again. Feeling like you can't breathe is one of the WORST feelings ever. Especially when you're worrying about your little baby, wondering if they are being affected by it at all. So, I just hope that these next 2 1/2 weeks FLYYY by, so I hopefully don't have to go through this again! (:

36 week belly!

{ignore the superrr cute stretchies that I just loooove so much ;) I hope you caught the sarcasm? haha}

This week I am feeling... well, 36 weeks pregnant. Very large. Very sore. Very DONE! haha

I have been thinking a lot lately about the things I will miss about being pregnant after his baby is born & things that I won't miss.

I will miss:
• feeling her move inside of me, for sure.
• my belly, even though I am soo over it at this point, haha.
• napping when Bransyn naps.
• sleeping through the night. {aside from tossing & turning. I don't even have to get up to pee :) }
• having alone time with Bransyn.
• wondering what she's going to look like. {it's kind of fun to imagine what she's going to look like!}
• using my belly as a 'table' when I am eating something in bed, or on the couch ;)
• Bransyn giving my belly kisses
• getting away with eating whatever I want ;)
• tums. those things are delish, but I never get heartburn when I'm not preg.
• ultra sounds.
• listening to her heartbeat inside of me.
• having SUPER clear skin, without doing anything special.
• going into her room & just sitting there staring at all of her stuff, imagining what it's going to be like once she's here.
• only having to get one child in & out of the car.
• the special bond that only I have with my baby.



I will NOT miss:
• tossing & turning alll night long, because I'm in so much pain.
• the waiting game.
• not having anything to wear, because literally NOTHING fits me anymore.
• getting worn just from taking a shower, or walking across the room.
• making weird noises every time I try to bend over.
• swollen feet. {although, I'm glad they aren't as bad as they COULD be}
• not being able to breathe.
• feeling sick/nauseous at random times.
• the need to eat wayyy too much.
• wondering what she's going to look like.
• wondering what she's going to be like.
• wondering how Bransyn is going to do with her.
• little hands/feet/knees/elbows running down the side of my belly.
• having a butt in my ribs.
• thinking 'maybe I'm about to go into labor!' every time I get a teensy cramp.
• braxton hicks contractions.
• sciatic nerve pain.
• bruised ribs.
• craving wayyy too many sweets.
• getting dizzy spells.
• running into everything with my belly.
• a weird looking, super outtie belly button.
• my itchy belly.
• not being able to stand up without a struggle.
• heartburn. {even though I don't get it THAT bad, it's still annoying!}
• only being able to sleep on my sides. I can not wait to sleep on my back & stomach again!
• waiting forever at the doctors office.
• staring at an empty bassinet every night & morning.
• feeling like I have to pee reallly bad, but only going a teensy bit. haha
• having no energy to do anything.
• being tired ALL. THE. TIME.
• having issues getting in & out of cars.
• taking 10X as long to sit up in bed, because my belly is so huge.
• the numbers I have been seeing on the scale lately.
• people telling me I am 'huge'
• feeling self conscious.

36 week appointment!

Today was the first day I had an appointment & no ultra sound in weeks! Bittersweet. Made me sad, because I just LOVE seeing my fabulous little lady on there, but happy at the same time, because now there is no need to have the ultra sounds anymore! (:
Anyways, this appointment was a bit more, uhh... shall I say eventful than my previous ones. We did all the normal things {including me waiting for EVER. I swear, if I didn't love my Dr's so much...} Heart rate was at 140bpm... perfect. My belly/uterus is measuring right at 36 weeks... perfect. Baby girl is still head down & ready to come when it's that time... perfect. Annnnnd I only gained 1 pound in two weeks... perfect! (: Then I got to do the super fun Group B strep test. If you're a mama, you know what I'm talking about & that when I say 'super fun' I really mean one of the worst 15 seconds of my life. If you don't know what that is... leave it that way, truuuuust me! (: haha Then I got to have a cervical check. JOY, I just love them! haha. I found out that I am already 2cm dilated & 50% effaced. I was SHOCKED. I neverrr progressed that much with Brans. I was at a 1 with him for 5 {maybe even more, I didn't start getting checked til 36 weeks & that's when I was at a 1} weeks. The day I was induced, I wasn't even to a complete 2 yet. Luckily, this doesn't really mean I will go into labor anytime soon, since women can be at a 3 or 4 for weeks at a time. Of course, it doesn't mean that I won't either! So now I feel like I'm gonna get to play the waiting game & see if my body decides to go into labor on it's own. {doubt it, though! HA!} I really do not care to go on my own any sooner than 39 weeks, though. It would be PERFECT if I suddenly went into labor the night before/day they plan on inducing me ;) haha. I also wouldn't mind if I dilated more on my own {but not go into labor} so that I'll possibly have a shorter labor, cause I had already progressed so much before labor started? ;) wishful thinking!
So that's my update about my appointment, everything definitely went well! I am super excited that I have no more than THREE appointments left until I get to meet this sweet little bundle! Eeeeek, THREE WEEEEEKS!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

April showers bring May flowers! (:

A couple scenes from my baby shower:

{warning: i don't have the best pics, most of them turned out blurry or too dark... forgot to turn the flash back on :( if anyone has any pics from the day, can I get them, please? it bums me out that soo many of mine didn't turn out :( }

A few decorations.

Thanks to my seeester for making my cute banner! {minus cutting out the circles... i did that ;) }

All of her ultra sound pictures! (: Annnd, the middle name voting jar!

Yummmayyyy!

Foooood. A preggo's best friend (:

The suuuper cute diaper cake that my amazing aunt Carrie made! {as if she didn't already do enough!}

The cute cupcakes I made (:


My mom only got pictures of the diaper game, haha.

Looove the look on manda's face! hahahah

Yeahhh, the ONLY 'dirty' diaper you will ever find me sniffin'

everyone was so grossed out at how real they looked, haha

Opening presents!

Ryan's sister made 3 super cute car seat covers!

Cute outfits!

Diaperssss! Don't mind the fabulous look on my face.

My aunt Carrie also made an amazingly cute car seat cover! ANNND, it's reversible! (: (: I looove me some reversible baby gear!

I was DYING over these adorable giraffe print sockies with ruffles at the top (: SO cute!

Bigger diaper bag... definitely gonna need this! haha

Voting on baby girl's middle name: Mae or Ella?

Counting up the votes. . .


Annnd the winner is. . . . .

. . . .

ELLA! (:
Some people didn't understand why we did this. So for those that it never got explained to: Ryan & I have been having a reallly hard time deciding on the baby's middle name. We were pretty set on it being Mae, but then I realized that I reallly liked Ella as well. So I asked him which one he liked better & whichever one he liked, would be it. Well. He liked them both & couldn't choose between them, either. haha. So we decided to have everyone vote on the name they liked most. Even though her first name is still a secret (: It was pretty dang close, I think Ella only won by 2 votes!


Anyways, I had such a great time! I am sooo happy & thankful to everyone that showed up to celebrate my sweet little baby girl! {especially the ones that traveled to get here!} I seriously can not thank everyone enough for coming to support us & show how excited they are & love this little girl. And also for all the WONDERFUL, very much appreciated gifts everyone brought! I love everything we received & can not wait to put it all to use! Just seeing everything gets me SO much more excited for her to get here (:

I want to thank my sister Amanda & my aunt Carrie for throwing me this baby shower & putting everything together! Amanda helped with all the decorations, getting invitations made & sent out, helping with a bunch of 'behind the scenes' stuff & keeping track of everything for me. And Carrie for putting SO much time & effort into everything she did! She put together the cutest little booklets for the games, that had to of taken forever! She organized all the games & got everything ready. And also made a super yummy lunch for everyone (Which I'm sure my grandma, and my other aunt's-Tammy & Pam helped out with, as well! So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! to them for doing that, too!) I was thinking just do some yummy fruits & dips {great, now I am craving fruit & dip!} but they got stuff for sandwiches, made a pasta salad, {craving that now, too! ahhh, SO good!} got chips AND still did fruit and dip! It was soo delicious & I think I ate just a bittt too much of it ;)
I just want to make sure everyone that was involved in making this day so special for me, especially Carrie, {cause like I said, she definitely went above & beyond to make everything perfect!} knows that I appreciate everything SOOO much! I feel so incredibly blessed that this was put together for us. I seriously can not thank everyone enough!!! ♥ It really was so wonderful being able to celebrate this new baby, because she definitely deserves to be celebrated ;)

Maternity Photos ♥

Here are a few of the Maternity photo's we had done earlier this week, @ 34w 5d! (: I absolutely love the way they turned out, thanks to Amber, of CarlyGracePhotography! She did an amazing job & I can not wait to see how Miss T's newborn photo's turn out! (:

{there are more on facebook... i just had to pick a few fav's to put on here}

34 week checkup!

I had my 34 week check today! First, I had my ultra sound. Things are looking MUCH better, fluid-wise. My last ultrasound, the level was at 8.2cm. Today, it was at 9.4cm!!! It went up an entire centimeter and MORE! That is the most it has gone up the entire time. It's still a teensy bit on the low side - they usually get concerned after it gets under 10cm, but this is SO much better than the 6cm it was at a little over a month ago! Annnnnd, some more good news... SHE FLIPPED! Yayyy, she is FINALLY head down. I had NO idea, I have not felt any huge movements that would make me think she flipped. The u/s tech got started & when she was at my lower abdomen, she said 'There's her little feet, right in here face'. I was like 'WHAAAAATTTT?! She flipped?!?!' haha, I was so shocked, but soo excited! Now she just needs to STAY that way! I got so excited over those 2 things, that I forgot to have her check her size & to see if she has any hair yet. Which now I'm pretty bummed about, because at my doctor appointment after, I was told that everything looks so good now, that I won't need anymore ultra sounds, unless I notice a decrease in movement.
After my u/s, I had to have a NST (non-stress test) It was very different from the ones I had twice a week with Bransyn. They hooked me up to the monitors & had me push this button every time I felt her move. And boy did I have to push it a lot, haha. She was going crazy, the lady that was in there with me was just cracking up the whole time, cause my belly was just movin' alll over. She moved over 50 times in less than 10 minutes. They didn't even make me go the full 10, cause she was responding well (: So that went good, as well!
After that was done, Dr. Lunt came in to do the checkup. Baby's heart sounded amazing. My belly is measuring RIGHT ON still. He gave me the OK to be off of bedrest/restricted activity, but I still have to take it easy, meaning no exercising or straining myself. But since the fluid levels are going up & she is moving around enough, he doesn't see the need for me to alwayssss be down. Ahh, I wanted to jump up & give him a hug right there! haha, 6 weeks was enough for me (:
I'm so glad everything is looking better, it's such a relief! I will have my next appointment in 2 weeks, when I am 36 weeks. I get to do the SUPER fun group B strep test annnd, he will also start checking me for dilation. I'm not excited about those, but I am kind of curious if I make any progress by that time, even though I want her to stay in until 39 weeks! (:

33 weeks!

6 weeks left, wooohoooo! (:


This little miss is a night owl, just like her mama! She isn't too active during the day, which scares the crap out of me! I can't tell you how many times I have considered going down to L&D to get a non-stress test to make sure she is okay. Usually I'll just poke at her, or move her around a bit & she'll start moving, so I know she's okay (: But anyways, she gets REALLY active at night! Usually around midnight-1am. Maybe it's a good thing I can never fall asleep until crazy hours, cause I just get woken up by her movements, anyways (: haha. I always heard that their sleeping patterns are similar once they are born, so I am preparing myself to be up all night with this one, haha.
My clothes are not fitting very well lately :( The jeggings my mom got me for Christmas fit me SO well up until about 2 weeks ago, I thought they were gonna be the perfect pregnancy 'jeans' but lately, they are super snug. And I'm not meaning on my belly. Like on my thighs & bum. SO depressing. But what else can I expect? I have been on bed rest for the past month & a half, so I'm bound to gain some fatness when all I am doing is sitting & laying around most of the time. But that's okay, that just means I will have more motivation to take the kids out on nightly walks! (: I miss our walks!
All of the 'pox' on my belly are gone! (so random, but the 'PUPPP' pregnancy rash I get, are bumps that kind of look like chicken pox, haha. So I started calling them my pox, lol. easier than saying 'My pregnancy rash bumps' haha) My tummy still gets a little bit itchy sometimes, but it is not even close to how it was before. (and doesn't even TOUCH the itchiness I experienced while pregnant with Brans!) I'm hoping it will stay away the rest of my pregnancy, but I'm not counting on it. Stupid thing shows up whenever it wants, haha. Still so worth it, though, as much as it sucks!
I have been in a lot of pain lately :( My sciatic nerve is reallly bothering me again, & it's on BOTH sides of my bum now. My lower back has also been acting up. And, there is a spot, kind of on the side of my back (happens on both sides) right below my bra strap that will hurt pretty bad if I lay in a position for too long. Very rarely, it will randomly start hurting, but luckily it doesn't happen too much! All 3 of those call for a LOT of tossing & turning at night. It is super hard to get comfortable.
It's pretty tricky getting out of bed. I can not wait until I can just sit right up, then stand. Right now I pretty much have to roll to my side, push myself up & wiggle myself out of bed. I don't know how Ryan doesn't laugh at me every single time, haha. I would.
I can't eat as much as I was before, which is probably a good thing! haha. I know the baby is definitely getting what she needs... kid's growin' like crazy! But I feel full a LOT quicker & for a LOT longer. Sometimes it drives me crazy, cause I'll eat a meal, then like 4 or so hours later, I'll realllly want some kind of snack, but I'm still too full to eat anything!

32 weeks {& appointment!)

32 week belly! Yayyy! 5 more weeks until this little lady is considered 'full term'. Although I would very much like her to stay in until 39 weeks, I will be so happy when we reach that 37 week mark! (: It seems like 5 weeks is nothin' this pregnancy! I swear the weeks are just flying by lately, which is both good & bad. Good, because that puts me further along in the pregnancy & closer to meeting this sweet little lady. Bad, because we are so not prepared quite yet! haha
Anyways, I've been feeling okay this past week, pretty much the same as last week. Aside from this horribly annoying pregnancy rash on my belly! (I didn't get it with Brans until 39 weeks & those 2 weeks were WAY too long to have it... praying it doesn't get that bad this time or I just might go insane! haha) I swear it is the worst 'side effect' during pregnancy... I would rather puke all day every day then be this itchy!
I had my 32 week appointment today & everything is looking good. Baby's heart sounded great & my belly was measuring perfect! I haven't gained any weight in the past 2 weeks (actually lost a pound... don't know how I managed that! ha) which is fine by me... I've gained enough already! haha. So that went pretty well, besides having to wait for OVER AN HOUR past my appointment time to be seen, when there wasn't even anybody in the office! Can you tell I'm really annoyed by this?! haha. I go back in {a little less than} 2 weeks, on the 30th for my appointment and an ultra sound. They also want me to do a non-stress test, not exactly sure why, she didn't tell me & silly me didn't think to ask! I think they just like to have them done when there are fluid issues & you're further along in the pregnancy. I remember the ultra sound tech mentioning something about that awhile back.

Anyways, that's it for now... everything's looking good so far! (:

32 week ultra sound

I had my 32 week fluid check today. 2 weeks ago the fluid level was 7.6cm, & today it was at 8.3cm. Not a huge change, but I'm just glad it's going up, even though it is verrrrry slowly going up! ha. She is still doing very well, she's measuring 4 days behind now instead of just 1, but the tech told me that is still completely normal & she is growing perfectly. According to the ultra sound, she measures about 4 1/4 pounds (I know this isn't always accurate, & the tech told me she could really be about 1/4 pound smaller, or bigger... she's just in that range right now :) She is still breech, which is still making me nervous! I'm going to try everything possible to get her to flip, because I would REALLY like to avoid a c-section! My Dr. told me that it is still very possible for her to flip up until the day she is born, but gosh, this little lady is just too dang comfortable in this position! Oh, and yes... she is VERY much still a girl ;) I had her check again, because I keep hearing stories about mama's having multiple ultra sounds confirming girl, but baby comes out a boy! haha. But she got a pretty good between-the-legs shot & it is quite clear she's all girl ;) I don't have a way to scan the pictures into the computer right now, or all of you could see for yourself, haha.
My next appointment with Dr. Lunt is on Friday, so we'll see where we go from there (: As of right now, I'm still on bed rest/restricted activity. Joy ;)

31 weeks.

Here is my GINORMOUS 31 week belly! (:
It is super itchy lately, which is no fun at all!
I hate sleeping lately. All I do is toss & turn all night & it seems like I only get about 20 minutes in one position before something hurts.
I can't eat as much lately. If I eat 3 meals a day, I am HATING life by bedtime! For the past few days I have been eating breakfast, then either a small snack for lunch, then dinner, or I'll eat lunch & just a small snack for dinner. Crazy, since just a few weeks ago, I was out eating Ryan & every one around me! haha. I guess it's not a horrible thing, though... maybe I won't be AS huge after she's born now ;) haha, of course, as long as baby girl is getting what she needs, I don't care how huge I am.
I have a hard time getting up from a laying or sitting position 98% of the time. Sometimes I even have to roll over on my side to stand up.
I waddle most of the time.
I am getting some back pain & I think my sciatica is coming back

Even though every single thing I just listed is me complaining, I honestly couldn't be happier to go through it! I am SO happy that I am still pregnant right now & that I will most likely get to be for 8 more weeks! I will GLADLY deal with all of this uncomfortable-ness for 2 more months (: I am so excited to meet this little girl, but I know I am going to miss everything about pregnancy the second she is out, just like I did after I had Brans. (:

Labor & Delivery... Take Two.

Around 2 pm today, I got lunch for me & Bransyn. I started eating my noodles, & couldn't even eat more than a few bites, cause I just wasn't feeling very well. I layed down for a while, thinking that it was maybe just a stomach ache, or something & that it would pass. I tried to not say anything, or act sick, but Brans is so sweet & said to me 'Aw, mommy you sick?' Not sure how he could of known that, but I thought it was so cute! After about 15 minutes or so, I started to get a crampy feeling in my lower abdomen. It would slowly start moving all the way up my stomach, & turning into a sharp pain more towards the top. It would stop after a minute, then come back a few minutes later. I layed there for a while, trying to see if it would pass. Brans could apparently tell I was in pain, even though I tried SO hard to not let him notice & he asked me 'you okay, mommy? what's wrong, mama!' haha, so sweet! Anyways, It started getting worse, so I decided to call Ryan, cause I didn't know what else to do. He told me to call my Dr to see what it could possibly be & what I needed to do, then call him back. I didn't know what to say to the receptionists at my Dr's office, so I called my mom & explained to her what was happening. She told me to do the same thing. So I called into my Dr's office & luckily they had a new recording machine that gave me the option to talk to a nurse, instead of a receptionist. (I HATE explaining things to receptionists... they always tell me they're not sure what I should do... uhhh, how bout you do your job & ask the doctor, or someone else who knows?!) BUT, the nurse did not answer. I did leave a message though. I realized that it was a possibility that it could be contractions, so I decided to time them to see if they were regular at all. By this point, I was only getting the cramp feeling, it wasn't going up my stomach anymore. But, I also started getting lower back pain every time it would happen. After timing them for about 20 minutes, I realized that I was definitely having contractions & they were only 6-8 minutes apart! I called my mom back & told her that I was pretty sure it was contractions & she said that's what it sounded like. I got one when I was in the middle of talking to her & couldn't even talk through it! I told her I was gonna call Ryan to come home, & call into Labor & Delivery to make sure I wasn't jumping to conclusions by just showing up there. After I hung up with her, I called Ry, told him I was prettty sure I was having contractions & he told me he was on his way. I called into L&D, explained everything & they told me to come in right away. Ry called Amanda on his way home to see if she could come watch Brans while we went in & they both got to the house at the same time. I got another contraction as soon as they both walked in the door & they could definitely tell I was in pain, I couldn't talk to either of them, or stand up to go out to the truck yet. After that one ended, me & Ry headed out. I had one more on the way there. Once I got there, I went to the front desk & told them they told me to come in. One of the nurses just looked at me & was like 'You look like you're in pain!' ha, well yes I was. They sent me into one of the rooms to get hooked up to the monitors. The nurse was telling me to undress & put the hospital gown on, but right in the middle of her explaining it, I got another contraction. Luckily there was a chair right next to me, cause I wouldn't not of been able to stand much longer! After that was over, I went & got changed & gave a urine sample for testing. I got into the bed, she hooked me up to the monitors & took my blood pressure, vitals & temp. She said that I couldn't of had better numbers! It took her a minute to turn the monitors on, & I had one right as she hooked me up, but it didn't register since the monitor wasn't on yet. She asked me a bunch of questions, then told me they were just gonna watch the monitor for a while & see how everything went from there. Luckily, I'm pretty familiar with how the monitors work & what everything means, since I was hooked up to them a lot with Brans. I KNEW I was having contractions, but they didn't seem to be showing up on the monitors. But I did pay attention to baby girl's heart rate when I was done having each one, & it always stayed steady which was a good sign. After a while, a new nurse came in & asked if I was still having pains cause nothing was showing up. I told her yes, so she adjusted the monitor a bit to see if it would help. Sure enough, my next one showed up. Ry kept telling me 'it's at 20... now 30... holy cow, it's almost to 40', as I was almost breaking through the bed rails cause I was squeezing them so hard! We just kind of hung out in between the nurses coming in the check. The contractions did start to slow down a bit, I went from having them every 6-8 minutes at home & when I first got there, to only having about 3 an hour. I'm not sure why they suddenly started slowing down, but I was JUST FINE with that! After a while, the nurse came back in & did the fFN test. (A test they do to see if there is a chance you could go into labor within the next 2 weeks. A negative is a negative, but a positive could be either positive or negative) She said that she talked to Dr. Lunt & that's all he wanted to do at that point, & we would figure out what to do after the results came back for the fFN. That took for EVER. After about an hour & a half, a new nurse came in (shift change) & told me that the test came back negative, which is exactly what we wanted! She also said Dr. Lunt was on the floor & was going to come in & talk to me. When he got in there, he went through the fFN results with me again & explained more of what it was. He decided to check if I was dilated, just to be sure everything was okay with that. I am not dilated a single bit, so that is really good! He explained what I should do if it happened again & we talked about some things for a little bit. He said that it's hard to say WHY I was having contractions, there are a number of things that can cause them. It's really frustrating to not know what causes something so serious. Kind of scary. I definitely know it wasn't from being too active, or over working my body, since I am on bed rest. I know it's not from dehydration, since I drink PLENTY of water. I'm just glad I did not go into full-blown labor. He told me I was good to go home, but do not ever hesitate to call or go back in if it happened again, or if I had any other concerns. The nurse told me she was going to get my discharge papers & be right back. As soon as she came in with the papers, I was having a contraction, she looked at me & walked back out. She came back a few minutes later with the papers for me to sign, & told me that she could tell how much pain I was in so she was having Dr. Lunt get me some medicine before he left. I am always VERY hesitant to take any kind of medication when I'm pregnant. I haven't even taken a tylenol this whole pregnancy, it's only been prenatals & iron supplements. She asked me if I was okay with taking a loritab. At first I was like, eh no I'll just deal with the pain. Then she told me it would help me relax & that should help stop the contractions. So I gave in & told her I would take it. She asked me if I wanted 1 or 2... I told her 1 would do, don't want to take more than I need! haha. So I took that, then went to get changed back into my clothes & left the hospital! I still had a bit of cramping & a bit of pain in my lower abdomen, but not nearly as bad as it was when I was having contractions. Not sure if it just wasn't very intense in the first place, or if the pain medication helped with it, but it was nice to not have to hold my breath to get through the pain! haha. Everything has been okay since then, I am just praying it doesn't happen again, cause who knows if it could put me into labor next time! I swear my kids just like to stress me out! I was soo relieved after my Dr appointment yesterday, she just had to give me another scare. Such a little turd, but yet again, I am glad she is not making her big debut yet!
Nine more weeks, baby girl. I know you can't wait to meet your mama, but you gotta keep cookin'.... and STOP SCARING MOMMY!!!

She has been doing amazing since we left the hospital. She was moving around pretty much the ENTIRE time we were there (didn't like the monitors on her, just like her brother) so I'm sure she was worn out & slept for a while after we left. But she has been moving like a crazy girl for the past few hours! I'm hoping she will finally decide to FLIP! (: (:


So there's my 2nd L&D story for this pregnancy. I am reallllly hoping my next one will be her birth story in May! I won't be upset if I don't go back to that place for 2 more months ;)

30 week ultra sound & appointment!

Ahh, I can't believe I am already posting about my thirty week appointment! This pregnancy seems to be just flying by! I am both happy & sad about that. Happy, because that means I am only nine, yes that's right nine, weeks away from meeting my sweet baby girl. But sad, because this could very well be my last pregnancy :( I want to be able to enjoy everything as much as possible, because I know the moment she is out, I am going to miss all the movement & hiccups.
Anyways! Back to my appointments.
I had my ultra sound first. She started by getting all the baby's measurements to make sure she is still growing right on track. She is measuring 29w 5d, which I am 29w 6d. So that is absolutely perfect. At my ultra sound 2 weeks ago, she was also measuring just 1 day behind, so she is growing steady! After she was done getting all the measurements, she checked the fluid. 3 weeks ago the fluid was at 6.5cm. 2 weeks ago it was at 6.9cm. Today, it was at 7.6cm. Still not a huge difference, & it definitely should of gone up more, especially since I went 2 weeks on bed rest & a gallon of water every day between ultra sounds. She told me to just continue what I've been doing. Soooo, still on bed rest & tons of fluid! In other news, she is STILL breech :/ And in yet another crazy position. haha. Her head is up top, right below my right ribs. Then her body goes over to the left, her back curves down, like around my belly button & her bum is on my cervix again. Then her feet go up into her face. haha. Definitely does NOT seem comfortable, but she seems to like it since she won't move :( I've been trying to talk her into flipping, but it hasn't worked quite yet. I also had the ultra sound tech check to see if we could see any hair yet. Luckily there was a pocket of fluid around her head, which is needed to see hair, & she doesn't have any yet :( I'm sure she still has time to get some, if she's even going to, but I was still kind of bummed that she doesn't have any yet! haha. I hope she comes out with a full head of hair like her brother did! If not, I'm sure she will still be super adorable! (:
I went to my Dr appointment right after my ultra sound. He listened to hear heart - 140 BPM, measured my uterus - 29cm, and talked to me about the results from the ultra sound. He said that even though the fluid is still pretty low, it is a good sign it's not getting any lower & it is stable. He is pretty confident that I will be able to make it to 39 weeks, because her growth is still perfect! As long as the fluid level does not get down to or below 5cm, which he says isn't likely since it has been going up. (: I was able to let out a huuuuge sigh of relief! He said that if by chance the fluid level DOES drop, they will admit me to the hospital, get me hooked up to IV's to help with fluid & give me the steroid shot to help develop the babies lungs faster. He would try everything possible to help keep her in as long as possible. I am glad that I don't have to worry about it at this point, though! (: He also talked to me about her being breech... he said that 25% of babies are still breech at this point in the pregnancy, but only 3% stay that way! So there is still plenty of time to get her to flip... I just hope she will stop being stubborn & do it already! haha.
So things are looking good at this point, I will just continue with restricted activity & make sure I drink my gallon of water every day. It's a pain in the butt, but like I have said a million times before, SO SO SOOOO worth it for my precious baby! I will do whatever it takes to keep this baby safe (:

Look what came today. . .

We have a double stroller! Ahhh, I can't believe I'm actually going to NEED a double stroller!

I'm super excited, cause this stroller can do SO much! You can change the seats 6 different ways and also take the back seat off & attach an infant carrier! I'm so excited to set it up & test it out, but it's going to have to wait... I have NO idea where we will store it until one of the closets in the baby's room is cleaned out!



I also got a bunch of clothes that I ordered from Carters! Ahh, this just got me SO much more excited for her to be here! (: