36 Weeks 1 Day

Well, we made it past the day I was hoping to make it. Elias was born at exactly 36 weeks and this whole pregnancy I have been hoping to just pass that one day. Now I am officially 36 weeks 2 days and by the NICU's guesstimates Eli was only 2-3 days shy of being able to breath on his own. So I am feeling really good about where we are at, even though I know every baby is different and this one could still have issues if born too early.

I had my 36 week appointment yesterday at 36 weeks 1 day. My doctor came dancing into the room that we had made it this far and said I have done a remarkable job :) Made me feel really good after enduring 6 weeks of bedrest!

Everything is still looking good. Baby had a heart rate of 145 this week. Things are definitely starting to progress though and I am feeling it too. My doctor said I can start doing some more stuff this week but that she wants me to mostly take it easy until I hit 37 weeks on Wednesday and then I can resume all normal activities! I asked her if she was still thinking I would make it to about 38 weeks and she wasn't quite as confident in her answer this week. She said she thinks I will progress quickly once I get my legs back.

I am even starting to have more and more signs that labor may be approaching soon. Last night I had a few bouts of contractions that were strong enough to wake me up. I was really glad they didn't result in labor because all I kept thinking is how tired I was and how I didn't WANT to have to go to the hospital right then! I am still really warn out today and hope I can at least get a little bit more rested before labor comes (hahaha!)

So for now we just keep waiting and wondering when this kid is going to make his or her appearance. We are taking care of all the very last minute things. Have a list of last minute things to grab for me, and last minute things to grab for the kids and dog. I worked on Easter stuff today just in case and still plan on wrapping Malachi's Birthday presents today (even though we're still a few weeks away from that) just to be ready for everything thrown at us in these coming weeks. I would also love to get the house a little bit more spic and span but that will have to wait until I get to 37 weeks.

Thought I would throw a little last time belly shots in here and comparisons. This is my belly comparison from 8 months to 9 months. I can definitely see that baby dropped somewhere in that timeframe!

And my comparison from 35 weeks with Eli to 35 weeks with this baby. As different as I have carried this whole pregnancy, the belly pictures look almost identical at this point.
So there you have it. I am a ticking time bomb. Labor could start at any time or like my doctor phrased it "watch, this one after all that resting will need a crowbar to come out."

Snow Day 2012!

As tends to happen around here, we get about one small snow day every year. I have been waiting in anticipation these last few months because I really wanted to see what Malachi thought of the snow this year. He hated it last year.

Well, we got into March and the weather started becoming really nice and unseasonably warm. I could get used an early Spring so I decided I would prefer an early spring to snow any day. But, as it turns out, spring was just teasing us and we got a late snow this year. As much as I was annoyed, I figured we had better make the most of it so out came all that snow gear we bought just for that 1 day of snow a year and out we forced the kids at 8 in the morning (it was melting fast!) to check out the snow.

Malachi had no desire to wear gloves or a hat. He didn't seem to mind how cold the snow was on his hands. He loved eating it and kept saying "mmm" - silly kid.

Eli pretty much hated it and had about the same reaction to it that Malachi had last year. Oh well buddy, you'll be throwing snowballs soon enough!

It was a pretty short lived adventure in the snow as Daddy needed to go in to work, but hey, we at least have a little bit of picture proof that it did snow in March 2012.

35 Weeks!!!

Today I hit another huge milestone for this pregnancy! 35 Weeks!!! It is a huge relief to be at this place, but of course I want to make it a few weeks longer. From here my next goal is to pass where we made it with Eli - so 36 Weeks. After that I would love to reach official "full term" status at 37 weeks and then would be thrilled to meet my own personal stretch goal of 38 Weeks! Anything is possible at this point, but just very thankful to be where I'm at and out of the major danger zones now.

I had another appointment today in which we found out that I am still not having any change - yay! I tell you, bedrest has really worked well for me. We went from a very scary reality at 30 weeks to seeing no change and baby actually moving up and out of the pelvis in the 5 weeks I have been on bedrest. Even though it has been miserable to lay on bedrest I get huge satisfaction out of knowing that I have done what I have needed to do to protect this baby!

Today everything was looking good. No sugar issues, no blood pressure or heart rate issues. Guess I was just having an "off" day last week. Baby's heart rate was really great in the 160's and based on my doctor's guesstimate we are looking at having a bigger baby this time than Eli's low birth weight which usually means a healthier baby too!

So the plan has been to take me off bedrest at 36 weeks but my doctor today mentioned possibly leaving me on it until 37 weeks. I about lost my mind at this point because I am so ready to at least have a few days of enjoyment before this baby comes and lets be honest - bedrest is a huge pain! She feels if I stay on bedrest until 37 weeks that she can get me at least close to 38 weeks which is a really great gestation. Of course in my mind I am thinking, I haven't had any change in 5 weeks so I don't expect to instantly go into labor when I get my legs back. But I trust her, and I trust that she must be thinking that I may go into labor quickly after I get off bedrest, and my ultimate goal all along has been to ensure that my baby is healthy and leaves that hospital with me this time. So I will press on and do whatever it takes.

I go back in another 7 days and we will see if she is comfortable with that gestation and me going off bedrest and we will also see if we're still holding steady! Today I am relieved to have made it this far and ready to conquer a few more weeks of waiting!

Another Year Older

Today I am another year older! I'm now the ripe ole age of 26, officially approaching those late 20's!

I feel almost like I should be a whole lot older than I am though. If I try to think back on all that has happened in the 8 years I have been with Peter, wow we sure have had a lot of life experience in a short amount of time and even though we always claim we are going to slow things down, that never seems to happen!

I feel very very blessed as I enter into another year! My life seems to have come together in a perfect way over these last few years. I couldn't help but feel so lucky as Malachi came into our bedroom tonight with his big grin, jumped on our bed and told me goodnight and blew kisses at me before running out the door with his elmo in hand, saying night night as he closed the door behind him!

Or little Eli and how he wanted to maul my birthday cake and how Malachi was feeding Eli cake from his finger. Or how cute Eli looks walking around the house in his diaper - such a little guy with a lot of spirit. How when he smiles he looks just like his daddy! So many special memories just in this day that I want to hold on to forever!

Even the lil one on the way apparently wanted to share in his or her own way wishing me a happy birthday by kicking and wiggling ALL DAY LONG! This has always been an active little one, but today was even crazier!

And of course my husband who is always the rock of the family. I am so blessed to have him as my husband! I couldn't have picked a better partner for life!

So today, I just feel blessed. I have 2 beautiful and healthy baby boys that make my heart melt. I have another precious little baby set to arrive any day that I am already deeply in love with! There have been some tough years leading up to this point in my life, but right now I have everything I could have ever wanted!!!

34 weeks 2 days

Today I had my 34 week appointment. 34 weeks is a marvelous milestone to reach as from this point on most babies only need a very short nicu stay (if any).

My appointment actually went really well. It started with them saying I had a lot of sugar in my system - yeah eating a brownie with breakfast probably caused that. They weren't too concerned since this is the first time they saw that. Then my blood pressure was high and my pulse rate was high. That is a little odd for someone already on strict bedrest but again, my doctor didn't seem concerned at this point with that.

Then it was time to see what was going on. I told her how I have been having a lot of pelvic pain and pressure and that I also had a bad bout of contractions. She mentioned giving me something to stop the contractions but I think decided against it after she saw how good I am doing! The baby has actually shifted positions and is no longer super low which I had told Peter yesterday that the baby must have moved some because I can now feel his/her butt near my ribs, which before it was down by my belly button. This is really good news for now and nothing to be concerned about as the head is still low, just not really low causing me a lot of discomfort and making things change. I have also had no other changes and she said bedrest is really working for me!

She sounded very optimistic that I should make it to 35 weeks. I asked what would happen if I did go into labor and she said she would probably try to stop it with some magnesium but she feels comfortable if I can just make it to 36 weeks letting me deliver. So because bedrest is working so well, she decided to keep me on it until I reach the full 36 weeks. I am okay with that as I am really starting to think having a baby that avoids the NICU is a possibility! I actually had no idea how scared I was until she told me all this good news and a huge wave of relief came over me! Like maybe we can even make it to 37 weeks or 38 weeks!

She also did decide to run another FFN. The results of that remain positive so I do still need to be careful. I go back to see her again in just 5 days and hopefully the news will still be good!

Smallish Update

There really isn't very much going on at all these days. Bedrest has kind of put a damper on the blogging. But I know I need to post an update on what the boys are doing these days before I forget.

Eli is changing and growing everyday. He is a pro walker now and really wanting to run like big brother. He is also a pig. Seriously, that kid non-stop eats but he must have his daddy's metabolism because he's still my little peanut. He is very obsessed with balls and throwing things! He can always be found with a ball in his hands and boy does he have an arm. He's hit me hard in the face with toys a few times! His other obsession is pillows. He can often be found stealing my pile of pillows from me. He's so cute that I tend to let him! And he can be found saying his favorite word, over and over and over again! The boy loves to raise his hands in the air and yell "touchdown" at every opportunity!



Malachi is growing so much! I imagine he is understanding probably 90% of what we say these days. He definitely has an independent streak. Almost every morning he runs away from me when it is diaper change time. I give him the option of a timeout or to come over and get his diaper changed. More days than not, he will climb right up into his timeout spot and take his timeout. He is definitely strong willed in that sense! He also really likes looking at books and reading! He has all of his letters down and can recite the ABC song along with several other songs now. He is really close to being able to count to 20. He's so darn smart, but colors, well they are just not his thing apparently. In the last photo he is showing me his "red" M&M! He'll figure them out eventually :)

But really he is quite the sweetie. It is almost like he can sense the change in the air because he has really been sticking close to me the last few days and wants lots of cuddles. So for the last year Malachi has had a huge Elmo obsession. We've been having some major breakthroughs on getting him to like Disney and Mickey and Minnie! We told him if he's going to go to Disneyland he better start liking Disney :) So now he plays with Mickey quite a bit and he actually has a big crush on Minnie! Whenever he sees her he says "minnie" with the cutest little voice and smile on his face!


One of the funnest things to watch is the boys becoming buddies! Sure, they have their moments and definitely fight but they are also getting along really well. Eli copies so much of what Malachi does. It is really fun to watch them when they do sing along videos because Malachi really has the moves down and Eli watches Malachi and is picking them up really fast now! They are very cute to watch!

And finally a little baby update. I'm going to be really honest and say that things are tough. I am in a lot of pain because the baby is so low. Truly, this is not easy at all. I am constantly worrying about the health of the baby and wondering how much longer we can even make it. I have two boys who are totally out of their routine and a husband who has to do twice as much work! I seriously don't think people understand how difficult this is on a family. So if you ever have a friend on bedrest, be sympathetic to them - it's hard on the family! Last night I almost ended up in labor and delivery. I was having contractions steadily 2-3 minutes apart. They were pretty good contractions at that. I had Peter get me some water and chugged it and tried to wait it out. I was really scared as we really need a few more weeks of baking if possible. It came time for Peter to go to work and it was hard to debate whether he should go or stay and take me to the hospital. They were starting to space out a little bit by the time he needed to leave so he left me with my phone by my side just in case. Fortunately they finally faded away, but it was still pretty intense there for awhile. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and I am very eager to hear how things are going. I am trying to stay calm and keep the stress level low but I am just not feeling that this kid is going to bake for that much longer. I sincerely hope I am wrong though.

So, hopefully I will have an update sometime tomorrow and hopefully things are holding steady!

33 1/2 weeks

Well I am finally starting to see the end in sight! This was my 8 month picture that we took about a week ago. I am way bigger than I was with Eli (but still at about the same weight). Kind of crazy how different each child can be carried.

If I took a picture this week I would look totally different as my belly has definitely dropped in the past week! And boy can I feel it too (ouch!).

So as we are quickly approaching that awesome 34 week mark, we figured it was time to get our bedroom set up for baby. 34 weeks kind of enters that grey zone where there is a chance (might be slim though) that if I delivered baby could come home from the hospital with us. Then of course as we hit 35 and 36 weeks it reaches that 50/50 stage with everyday increasing the odds that we will be bringing baby home. So I figured it was time to get the pack and play all set up for our bundle of love. Complete with tiny diapers, wipes, burp rags, and plenty of extra clothes!

I thoroughly enjoy getting ready for a new baby in the house! I mean, even though this is the 3rd time in 2 years it is no less special than the 2 times prior! Every new baby is such a huge blessing to us!

Sweet little baby, I can't wait to meet you and snuggle you and find out if you are another son or my first daughter! I can't wait to see if you have dimples like your daddy or are born with even more hair than Elias was! Of course my daily prayer is that whenever you choose to enter this world that you will be healthy and able to stay with us the whole time! I can't wait to meet you and have you in the bed right beside me at night!!!

We are hanging in there with the bed rest. I am getting more and more uncomfortable but I definitely can see the light at the end of the tunnel, whether my doctor releases me from bedrest this week or makes me wait another 2 weeks - we are almost to the finish line! The last few things we have to take care of before baby comes is get Peter's to pack his bag (hopefully this weekend) and hopefully next weekend get the 3rd car seat installed in the car - my oh my, a few years ago I NEVER would have believed the back seat of our car would be FILLED! Full car, full house, full hearts!!!

Malachi's Photo Album

I love scrapbooking! Over the last few years I have changed over to digital scrapbooking and I have to say that I love digital scrapbooking even more. It just feels so much easier to sit down and organize my pages and the printed books look AMAZING and I don't have to worry about wear and tear over the years on it.

I have found it pretty easy to stay up to date with everything since going digital and have been able to keep up on a family album and the individual albums for the boys. I have had Malachi's first album done for quite some time but we have been waiting until it fit in our budget to order it.

Today I was able to get myself off the couch for awhile and go through and make a few final changes and get it sent to be printed. I can't wait until it gets here! Here are just a few of my many favorite pages in Malachi's Baby Album:

So many sweet memories put into this book!

Not Sure

Not sure what to title this post because it is so random.

Today was a rough day in general. Malachi woke up cranky and I woke up tired. Throughout the day Malachi's mood didn't really improve which I know this change is hard on the kids too. It is hard that mommy can't be as mobile with them as I once was. It is hard on me too, I actually hate it. I hate that when I stand up to get more water or go the bathroom that Eli clings to my legs begging me to pick him up. I still do as much cuddling as I can with them on the couch, but I know they would prefer that I were more mobile. Tonight I was in the shower when Malachi went to bed and apparently it broke his little heart that he didn't get to tell me goodnight. So I went into his room after I got out (he was wailing) and read to him and sang to him for awhile. I just feel so bad that they need me and I can't be as involved as I would like.

Then there is the whole doing what is best for baby. I don't want to sound at all like my boys aren't important, but in this moment getting through these next few weeks pregnant IS the most important thing. Today was the first day that I actually thought I may be going into labor and it was really scary. I was having lots of pelvic pressure. Since I had an epidural when I was in labor, I never really felt an urge to push or anything, just this slight pressure type feeling and that is exactly how I felt today. Like any slight move and my water would break and the baby would just fall out (oh, if delivery were THAT easy). Then at dinner tonight I started having contractions and by the time I finished dinner and started timing them they were about 2 minutes apart for probably 40 minutes total. I was already very well hydrated so I just laid on my left side and they started to space out. When I got home I took a very quick shower and the whole time I was having contractions. Fortunately things have calmed down now but I am just praying this little one is not trying to come out too soon.

In other stuff, we made it through month #2 of the year and our focus on our finances. We actually had a pretty good month financially (besides medical bills, man are FFN's expensive!) We got our state refund this month which went straight into savings and we also started the process to refinance our home and lock in a much better interest rate which will definitely help our budget every month! We are on target to reach our savings account goal very soon and even put some extra in for our trip to Disneyland this year. We had decided we would not be making our yearly trip to Disneyland to save the money this year and well we got an opportunity we just could not pass up. My parents have been on a wait list for 2 years to get into The Grand Californian Villa's (which are literally just steps from the park entrance) and their request finally came through! So free accommodations steps away from the park, all 3 kids still getting into the parks for free, only 1 kid requiring an airplane ticket - it really isn't going to be that expensive for the week so we had to jump on it (not that it took us any convincing)!

So this year getting back on track with finances really seems to be going well after a rough first month. We still have areas that we need to improve and tighten up on but I am feeling very optimistic that we will get there soon! Going to feel great to complete baby step #3!!!