I Neeeeeeeeed Motivation!

I have so much to get done in the 18 days before the baby shower!  AHHHHHHHHHH!  I have to get on it!  I didn't have any coffee today, but I went to bed at 8:30pm last night!  lol  Let's see what I can do!

So, after weeks and weeks of my husband saying he absolutely did NOT want a 4D ultrasound, he asked if I wanted to do one on Tuesday!  Of course I excitedly said YES!!!!!!!!!  He previously didn't want to "ruin" the "surprise" of what the baby looks like.  But he gave in and the look on his face was priceless as he was looking at his first son actually created by him...  I wish I could have taken HIS picture while we were there.  lol  I love him! 

But, onto the fun, here's some of my favorites out of the 30 or so pictures we got. 

 

Here's a face shot, his hands are to the side and his feetie's are to the right, he frequently had his hands and feet up in his face.

 

His little feeties crossed

 A foot in his face

 yawning!  This one shows a little better just how chubby those little cheeks are!  I LOVE it!

 His hand on his face and smiling!  :D

 

Another face shot!

I absolutely can not wait for him to be here!  Before I was really enjoying just being pregnant and not really in a "rush" to get him here.  Now that it's so close and he's so big, making me SO uncomfortable, I'm ready for him to be here.

I'm 33 weeks today.  At this ultrasound I was 32.5 weeks and the tech estimated him at 5lbs 9oz, she said usually it's 8oz off so more like 5lbs.  That goes right along with the estimate from our doctor at our last two appointments as he and my belly were measuring 5 weeks AHEAD.  Even though some how I'm 1lb LESS than what I was before I got pregnant.  And yes I eat, quite a bit!  lol  I just crave salads a LOT, and fruit.  We used to eat fast food quite a bit and I don't crave that at all.  I'll crave a good burger here and there, but from a restaurant not a drive thru.  And I crave a good steak pretty much daily!  lol

Ultrasound tech said he's pretty much out of room and very squished, she doesn't think he'll go all the way to when I'm Due because of that fact.  With my Nolyn it was kinda the same.  He ran out of room at 39 weeks, my water broke and he came out 9lbs 6oz.  This baby's much bigger earlier, and the hubby and I as well as the doctor are hoping for him to come at 37-38 weeks.  Due to the fact that this baby is so much bigger, the doctor thinks I may have a problem delivering a child that would be 10-11lbs at due date.  Not that I couldn't do it, but the baby can get hurt on the way out, and I could suffer quite a bit of damage.  With Nolyn there was quite a bit of damage and I lost quite a bit of blood, so damage worse than that I'd like to avoid if at all possible.

So, that said, we will be doing everything possible to get that baby to come the day I hit 37 weeks.  at 37-38 weeks we're looking at closer to a 8-9lb baby, and The doctor and I are both confident that I can deliver that vaginally without problems.  But, 39-42 weeks would probably be a c-section.  The doctor's leaving it up to me at this point if we get to 39 weeks.  

On the up side we're both completely healthy, which is good because we're healthy, bad because I absolutely can not be induced before 39 weeks without a health reason.  lol  

At least we'll stay busy the next few weeks.  I'm working on the playroom and getting the house ready for the baby shower, baby shower's in 3 weeks and we'll be trying to get Mr. Chubby Cheeks out in 4 weeks.  Almost done! :D

Picking up speed...

Man, it's been a rough two weeks.  Maybe it was just the 3rd trimester kicking my booty finally.  It was like no matter what I ate, drank, did, I was EXHAUSTED.  This little man was sucking the life out of me! 

Luckily, today I was feeling a little sluggish and then finally I got with it! 

Our office was a complete WRECK!  I don't think I took any before pictures, I'll have to take some at least once I get all the crap OUT of it. 

Long story short, we moved into my childhood home and my parents moved out and into their motorhome when the economy took a dump.  My dad was in construction (Iron work) mostly residential and yeah it sucked.  So, they moved into their RV ($100,000+ Diesel pusher with 4 slide outs, yeah, they're not exactly "roughing" it) and they stay in the back yard (3 acres), and travel from time to time.  So, when they moved out they got *most* of their crap out... except the attic, garage & office.  So, we cleaned out the garage cause it still had some of our leftovers from moving in it (moving over 2 years ago!  lol), and it was just a mess.  My dad comes up for random stuff and leaves stuff out everywhere cause he'll be in a hurry and it just stays... well... out everywhere!  lol  

So then there was the office.  The floors had been ripped out (old nasty carpet), and it's just been plywood since we moved in.  But, my dad owned his own business and ran the office out of, well, our office....  So, even though he hadn't been "working" besides a job here and there for quite some time, it was a big mix of my stuff, their stuff, plus all the stuff we have no room for in the kitchen (cause we have like no kitchen or pantry really and it SUCKS!).  So, once I got pregnant, I knew the our extra playroom was turning into baby central and we would need to convert the office into our playroom.  Honestly, I've been SOOOOOO excited about this.  I can't wait to have a good organized space JUST for the kids, toys and learning.  Especially since I've considered the possibility of homeschooling the boys next year (maybe just one of them). 

So, in order to turn this into a room of FUN, I needed to get everything OUT!  HA!  Sounds MUCH easier than it actually is!  This room also has a build in kind of desk my Dad created attached to the wall surrounding the whole room, all but one wall.  And shelving on two walls... ugh, it's a pain. 

So I finally bought big plastic bins with lids and got to it today.  I've got pretty much everything organized into the bins, just a little bit left but still VERY exciting!  lol I'm hoping that this weekend I can have everything out and get my Dad or Husband to rip the desk out so I can start painting.  I want to Paint (one wall dry-erase paint, one wall chalk board paint, one wall metal for magnets and one wall will be painted I'm not sure on the color yet, and paint the ceilling white-it's blue-whatweretheythinking?), I want to put up new blinds (faux wood, horizontals), a new ceilling fan (the current one is brass and oak and ugly! :D), Also since we're currently walking on plywood floors, I want to put down Carpet Tiles....  I'm opting for tiles because well, kids are MESSY, The thought of being able to pull up a badly stained piece and put a new one down sounds amazing to me!  I don't plan on doing much "messy" art, we're going to build a paint station outside, but still markers, crayons, chalk, glue... that can end up pretty messy with up to 8 kids doing it at once!  lol 

Anyway, I Can't WAIT to get past the organizing and moving out of the room phase and get to the fun stuff and start really watching it come together! :D

To: Big Brother & Bigger Brother, From: Littlest Brother

So, I know some people do older sibling gifts when they have a baby. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea.  But, what to get them?  My kids are totally obsessed with their baby pictures.  Aiden has a baby book from his adoption (the first 3 months before we had him) that his previous foster mom gave us, it's nothing fancy, just a binder with pictures and notes in page protectors, totally basic, and he LOVES it!  He's obsessed!  I had to put it up because it was all in chronological order and he started taking pages out and it was frustrating so before he ruined it (since I don't have copies) I put it away, out of his reach. 

For Christmas there was a special on Photo Books, it was buy one get one free.  So, I decided to make the boys each a book of each of their pictures from their soccer season.  The were so excited.  I think they were more excited about those than their new iPod Touches!  crazy!

So, I thought, hmm.... I should make one for the boys of their birth/1st year of life!  What an awesome present from their brother, especially when they visit him at the hospital for the first time and they can see all the pictures of what they looked like when they were that little.

So, Shutterfly.com was doing a 50% off special for mothers day and I jumped on it.  The second I started I was like uuuuuuuugh, my photos were so unorganized.  Dates were all pretty close though so I tried to keep it mostly to "months" instead of exact dates.  Wow, we had a lot of pictures. 

Nolyn's book ended up with so many extra added pictures that even after 50% off with a ridiculous like $9.00 shipping charge, the total was like $40!  Nuts!  Way more than I spent at christmas.  But I used their scrapbook layout stuff and that I think was an extra $5.  But I love it!  I can't wait for it to come and then it's going to be SO HARD not to give it to them!

I still have to do Aiden's but I need to scan the pictures out of his book from his previous foster mom so he can have some newborn pictures too. 

I also saw such a cute template for a pregnancy Journal type of Photobook and I think I should probably start working on it before I forget everything!  lol! 

I Knew this day would come...

...The baby has officially found my ribs.  And not just kicking, like getting body parts lodged in them.  Joyful!  Counting the weeks!!!!!  lol

So, I'm sorry but what in the world is up with TV these days.  It's just not good for a pregnant person at ALL.

First watched the duggars see their baby with no heartbeat on the ultrasound and the babies funeral.  :( 

THEN, on long island medium the lady was doing her channeling stuff and the persons husband was talking to her.  Of course he's talking about the things his small children say about him or do to remember him.  Ugh, the thought of kids losing their father so young.  Made me so sad, my poor hubby... I literally started balling saying "I don't want you to die" on the couch next to him (no he's not dying, not that we know of).  He was like "uuuuh, babe, I'm not gonna die."  Poor guy, as he teared up himself. 

and last but I'm sure not for long...  Make room for multiples yesterday.  The husband and wife had problems getting pregnant, the husband gets in a car accident and dies. In the hospital the wife requests his sperm be removed and saved.  Time passes and she does invetro, bam, Quadruplets.  Of course the whole family is over joyed because it's part of their son coming back but uh... the thought of 4 kids that will grow up without their father is so hard. 

So, uh... don't they realize pregnant women watch these babies shows!  Geez!  Way to start a cryfest! 

In other news, spring break is on it's last few days... they go back to school Monday (thank goodness cause I'm exhausted). 

The hubby has a Jeep event for work on Sunday and I'm SOOOOOOOOOO excited cause he's taking the boys with him and this prego will be catching up on sleep and probably cleaning floors.  I can't wait! 

almost 75%!

Pregnant that is!  I'm 29 weeks, 3 Days. 

Pregnancy is going amazing.  My last appointment was last monday and to sum it up....
Blood pressure, perfect.
Total pregnancy weight gain, 3 lbs.
3 Hours Glucose Test results, Passed all 4 blood draws.
Baby has a good heart rate, but gigantic head (no surprise if you've ever seen mine or my other son), and measuring 3-4 weeks ahead at around 3 lbs (also no surprise as my other son was 9lbs 6oz at 39weeks).

I'm a little nervous about delivery a baby any more gigantic than my last.  The 2nd son is supposed to be an average of a half pound bigger.  I must say, delivering 9lbs, 6oz last time was definitely miserable.... 20 hours of labor including 2 hours of pushing and ending in an episiotomy that was as long as it could possibly be.  ouch!

So, basically the doctor and I both are hoping for a 37-38 week delivery.  He will induce me at 39 if it comes to that.  The doctor does not think it will and he said he will do what he can to help get things moving.  If I wanted a C-Section, he would do one, but I prefer to try natural like before. 

What else?

Spring break is in full swing....  For me that means 5 kids with me all day for the next 2 weeks.  Ugh, I'm exhausted already.  Today was the first day, we did the park, then came home for lunch, watched a bit of a movie while the smaller munchkins fell asleep, older boys went outside to play while I watched and after an hour in the sun we were all pretty hot and ready to go back in.  But, 1/2 of the sleeping munchkins is still sleeping so we're now watching "Hop" 'til everyone's awake. 

Tomorrow the hubby's off work so I think he's going to take in my tahoe to get checked out and we'll probably have a super messy day of fun... mud, paint, play dough, slime....... ooooooooh the fun!  lol!

Wed-Friday will be filled with the park, beach, birch aquarium, then next week we'll most likely do the same kinda thing all over again. 

Hopefully everyone's good and the rest of the week goes smoothly! 

We're having baby #3!!!

Yup, I'm pregnant!

We are so excited!  More excited today after a stressful week... well, stressful few weeks I guess.

First, spotting started...  spotting which continued for 16 days.  

At our first appointment at 6 weeks, the baby was measuring at the right size, but no heartbeat.  So there was our first stress.  So they did some blood work and wanted me back in 2 weeks to hopefully see a heartbeat on the ultrasound.

Spotting was still going on at this point.

Then the spotting stopped finally the Tuesday before my next appointment....

So, 2 weeks later (this last monday), we went and yay!!!!  There was a heartbeat... BUT, then there was the blood results.........
Growth hormone.... crazy high...
Progesterone....too low.. :(

I've known people who have lost their pregnancies due to low progesterone. 

The doctor likes to see a number around 15 or more.
Below 10 is dangerous.
I was at 7. :(

If that moment in the office wasn't scary enough, the doctor sent me for more blood work, and said to come back thursday...

That was it?  No progesterone prescription?  It's possibly been low for 2 weeks and now I'd have to wait 4 more days and have no idea what's going on or what's going to happen.  What if I lost the baby before the appointment?

Ugh...  that was a horrible 4 days.  Every cramp I was running to the bathroom to make sure there was no blood.  And I had pretty much banned myself to the couch to make sure I didn't do anything else that could help the chance of a miscarriage. 

So, Thursday came... yesterday.

I got more and more nervous as we headed to our appointment.  We finally got called back and of course the wait was longer than normal.  They put us in the ultrasound room again.  We waited... and waited...

The doctor finally came in and this time checked the blood results first...

He did a bunch of other tests that all came back normal...

Then the growth hormone...  Crazy high again...  It was at 90,000 at 6 weeks, and it had went up to 150,000 at 8 weeks.

Then for the progesterone.......
.
.
.
.
.
.
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It DOUBLED!   All on it's own!  It went to a 14.5! :D  The doc said anything close to 15 is good and it's obviously going up on it's own.  So he sent me for blood work 1 more time to make sure it's still continuing to rise.  and I go back before thanksgiving.  :D

Oh and ultrasound again... our little bean has at least doubled in size from the 2 weeks before, and I saw arms! :D  It was quick, just to check the heartbeat which was still beating away :D 

Ugh, what a relief. 

This is our last baby (so the husband says... he he he....), so we're hoping for a girl, but if we do end up with a 3 boy clan, it won't be the end of the world, we just want a happy, healthy little munchkin. 

And oh how I am enjoying my day knowing baby is ok... 9 weeks tomorrow! :D 

Have the most amazing news!!!!

But I can't tell you you :D

I know, I know... suspense, suspense!  lol

I should be able to tell you the good stuff like Tuesday???

Hope everyone's week is as blessed as mine and I hope you all have a fab weekend!

Cupcake Sandwiches

Last year I brought these for my Son (Aiden's) Kindergarten class.  Super cool Idea!  A little messy though.  I saw this idea on the Betty Crocker website.   


Simple Idea, you use the tops of the cupcakes.  You have to really overfill the cupcake pan so that they go over a good amount, enough to have a good top to cut off.  I added food coloring to the mix as well as the frosting and voila!!!!

 

I think they would have been more sturdy had I cooked them more, but I like them super moisy and almost goey!  

Maternity - Newborn Shoot w/ The White Fam Bam!

I am SO lucky to be surrounded with beautiful friends to take pictures of!  I got to take pictures for the gorgeous Lacey, her fiance Greg (or GDub as we like to call him), her daughter Carly and The soon to make an appearance Gehrig!  First we did pictures early on in pregnancy for her baby shower invites...

Then we did pictures again one week before induction!!!

 

And this weekend we did pictures of the little man at a little over 2 weeks old!  I must say he is NOT fond of the paparazzi!  lol  But I still love him anyways, we made it work!  lol

In our few hours together, I think I definitely captured the many moods of Gehrig!  Oh how I miss having a newborn in the house.  I'm pretty sure if I don't get pregnant soon I'm gonna go NUTS!  EVERYONE around me had a new baby or is pregnant.  ugh....  Someday... someday... hopefully someday before my other kids are 18!  :D