Today is the Day!

I've been up since 3:30am anxious and excited about what today will bring! I so wish my Mom could be here but I have to share her with my baby brother who is graduating from high school this next week in Dallas, Texas. Mom will be here a week from today...I'm not going to lie, I'm holding onto a little glimmer that maybe, just maybe she will be at the hospital today but I know that is just wishful thinking on my part. Anyway, I'm going to miss you Mom but I'll be thinking of you.

Quick Baby Update

We made another trip to St. Luke's last night, this time for my blood pressure. I had a doctor appointment this morning and the bottom line is we are inducing this Sunday, May 31st at 9am instead of Wednesday. I'll keep you posted!

Date Is Set...

We ( I say we because my whole entourage was there) had my doctor appointment yesterday and set a date to be induced. Next Wednesday, June 3rd is the day unless Joel decides to come before then on his own. Of course I wanted Monday but Corey and the doc both agreed that Wednesday would be better for both of them because of work, a golf game and a dinner. Good thing I'm such a good sport and am always doing what works best for others!

I've had gestational hypertension with all 3 kiddos so I had another non-stress test yesterday, baby passed with flying colors, as always. Doc seems to think the baby is big. Corey is predicting 8+lbs (his reasoning is "you're so big", he better mean my belly), I have no idea but I'm sure he'll be bigger than the girls. I'll be induced at 38 weeks 4 days, I cannot imagine how big he would be if we went all the way to 40 weeks. I was only 2 cm dialated so I was a smidge disappointed that I wasn't at least a 5 or 6. I was hoping that since I have 2 already this process would go faster. I'll go back for another check up this Friday, I think this will be the final check up before the baby gets here. So here's to one more week of being pregnant! CHEERS!

Tomatoes

Happy Memorial Day! Since we don't live in Columbia anymore there was no parade to go to. We should have went to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery this morning for the memorial service but we didn't know about that either so maybe next year.

Corey's Grandpa came over this morning and planted tomato plants with the girls. They girls had a blast and thought it was really great! Now they each have their own plant that they can nurture and take care of compliments of Great Grandpa! Thanks again Grandpa!

Long Week

Ugh this has been a super long week (so I really do not have an excuse for not updating). I'm so glad it's finally Friday...and Corey has a 3-day weekend. We have much planned for this weekend! We have friends coming to stay with us, we are headed to the Cards vs Royals game tonight, probably Six Flags tomorrow, Corey's Grandpa's B-day Party on Sunday and then finally rest on Monday!

I have a doc appt this morning so we will see what that brings...hopefully Joel! Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Sent Home...Just Practicing

We took a trial run to St. Luke's last night. Since the baby will be here soon we had to see exactly how long it would take us to get there and what to expect, right? What better time to do this than 10:00 Friday night!

Seriously, I had my doctor appointment yesterday morning, all went well. Baby Joel is vertex, doc did a quick scan during the non stress test and I got to see (with my own eyes) that he is head down! Doc told me that I definitely would not go to my due date and that 38 weeks is our magic number, unless of course he decides to come earlier. So it looks like he will be here around June 1st (only about 2 more weeks).

I felt crappy yesterday afternoon and by 7:30 last night I was having (painful) contractions every two minutes. After about 1 1/2 hours of this I called Jamie and asked her to come over and sit with the girls. By the time she got there the contractions had eased up but we figured since she was there we might as well go and see what was going on.

Got to the hospital...NO CONTRACTIONS! Stay there for about 2 hours, hooked up to monitors, get checked (1 cm dialated) and then get sent home. As soon as we are close to home the contractions start in again...for the rest of the night. WTH? The nurses told me that since this is my third I can expect to feel much more and it will be more intense and that I absolutely did the right thing by coming in...I still feel kind of stupid but whatever. I guess everyone has to do this at least once in their lifetime, right?

This experience has inspired me to get my crap together as I realized last night how unprepared I am to go to the hospital. I never got around to making that list I talked about so I guess that's what I'll be doing this weekend.

When we were leaving the hospital last night we peeked in the nursery and saw a ton of babies. During the day you're lucky if you see one but since it was midnight they had at least 10 little fresh from heaven babies snoozing away wrapped up like little burritos. It was so sweet...plus we ran into our friends from church who had their baby yesterday (she was due on 5/24 so about 3 weeks ahead of me, I bet she's feeling good right about now)...sometimes waiting is the hardest part!

Nesting???

I'm at home today waiting for the FedEx guy to deliver my new (and free) Medela Breast Pump. Since they require a signature I have to be here and have no idea what time to expect them. What better to do today than nest. Does this mean we are close? Who even knows? I went to the doc on Tuesday, bp was good but the doc seemed to think Joel was breech again. Seriously, how can they even tell. This is my 3rd child and I still have no idea what end is what! I've been praying like crazy for him to be vertex, I'm imagining him vertex, trying to sit up straight and give him plenty of room to do his thing, I'm going to go see a chiropractor next week about some acupuncture, etc, you get the picture.

I got some of the baby gear out of storage and am in the process of cleaning it up. I'm working on putting the finishing touches on his "crib" and washing clothes. I also figured it would be a good time to get it in gear and start getting the hospital bag packed. I'm going to make a list for Corey so that he can throw the last minute essentials in for me if I need them. I figured if he doesn't have a list he just might end up bringing me a strapless bra and pantyliners to the hospital (don't think this hasn't happened before).

Here are a few pictures of what I've been working on. The first one is the beautiful baby blanket that Gigi made for her new grandson along with the baby dedication outfit that she got for him. The next pics are of his "crib" which still needs some finishing touches but it's off to a good start!

Recital Costume Preview

Mother's Day Thoughts

First off, I hope all the Mother's had a great Mother's Day. I've been catching up on blogs this morning (been up since 4:45am) and I feel prompted to share my thoughts regarding certain holidays.

This is probably the first year that I haven't made the mistake of going into Mother's Day with "great expectations". I am not saying that my hubby isn't awesome but I am saying that my expectations have been so high in the past that I didn't truly appreciate all of the effort that my family put into the little things that made the day special.

Last year Corey and I got into an argument on Mother's Day because he didn't make me feel special all day, every second of the day. Sure he took me to Panera for breakfast, bought me "dead" flowers (not his fault, he tried), got me a card and chocolate covered strawberries, cooked dinner, cleaned up and let me relax all day. This wasn't enough for me though because I had seen the credit card statement a few days earlier and saw a charge to Tiffany's so all day I was waiting for my little blue box. By the end of the day when it didn't show up I was livid. I didn't let on that I knew about the Tiffany's gift, I just pouted, made him feel bad and told him he really should be giving me presents on Mother's Day to express his love to me for being the mother of his children. Of course, he went off and put me in my place and then I ended up feeling bad for being so ungrateful.

This year I decided to work on my grateful attitude. First off I prayed that Mother's Day would be a good day and that my expectations of the day wouldn't be "over the top" and that I would appreciate the thougthfullness that my family put into the day. So my Mother's Day started Friday with chocolate covered strawberries from The Candy Factory! My family took me to Heaven Scent donuts before church on Sunday, the girls picked out a Happy Birthday Card for me (evidently Corey tried to get them to pick out a MD card but they insisted on the card with a cute dog on the front). After church Corey grilled for the family and cleaned up afterward, I took a nap and we watched Bride Wars. I had two requests for the day, that the girls and Corey clean up and organize the playroom and that Corey hang pictures up for me for Joel and in our bedroom. I almost lost it during the playroom cleaning up but for the most part I maintained my composure and Corey promised to hang my pictures one day this week without complaining. I only played the "Mother's Day" card a couple of times with the girls when they wanted to watch Disney Channel, I made them watch Bride Wars instead.

I truly feel that Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day are completely overrated Hallmark and jewelry store holidays. In fact the commercials and ads irritate me so much during these holidays. If the only time you can think about your parents or significant other is on these "obligatory" holidays then I feel bad for the receiver. I certainly wouldn't want a gift because someone felt obligated to give me one. Sure, we recognize and honor our parents with a small token of our appreciation for them on these days but we also honor them on the "non-obligatory" days of the year as well. I'm sure our phone calls, visits, cards, and gifts mean more to them when they are not expecting it then when we are forced by the pressure of the day to do something (let me clarify to our mom's real quick that we did put a lot of thought into your MD gifts to make them special for you and we were happy to honor all of you).

So if your Mother's Day wasn't all that you wanted it to be and more I just encourage you to be thankful for what your husband and kids do for you all the other days of the year to make you feel special. It's the little things that are done out of love for you on an ongoing basis that count.

PS - For all of those inquiring minds, I did end up getting my little blue box about 3 weeks later last year on our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

Happy 31st Birthday Big Daddy! We love you!

34 Weeks & 5 days Update

First off, this picture is for you Mom, you know how much I love having my picture taken when I'm pregnant so enjoy! Had my doctor appointment, bright and early this morning and the BP was still up. This meant a non-stress test, blood work and a fetal growth ultrasound. The doc is speculating that I am not preelcamptic but that I have the high blood pressure gene and pregnancy makes my bp go up. He ordered all of these tests to confirm his theory. We shall wait and see.

Joel looks great, his head is measuring 38 weeks now. He is no longer breech, overall I measured 35 weeks and 5 days so about a week ahead and he is estimated to weigh 6lbs 1 oz...give or take. I got to see some great shots of his cute little face, it was almost as if I could make out his features perfectly on the grainy screen. Joel is so active, he would hardly be still long enough for the tech to get his measurements. In the meantime I am going on bp medication 2x's a day and am going back to see the doc on Tuesday. He said he really wants this little guy to cook for at least 2 or 3 more weeks and if we can control my bp with medication then this will be possible. I've definitely been having contractions this week which is something I did not experience with the girls until I went into labor.

So after all the "drama" of the tests this morning we headed to Columbia so the girls and I could get our hair trimmed (it was Ash's first haircut) and check on our rentals. It was just a quick trip since this is Corey's b-day weekend and we have plans tonight and tomorrow and have to get the girls to Corey's parents tonight. However in the "quick trip" we got to have a slice of Shakespeare's pizza for lunch and I got a box of dark chocolate covered strawberries from The Candy Factory for Mother's Day. I got a whole pound this time so I was more than willing to share with Corey and the girls, I even let Aly choose the biggest strawberry. What a nice Mommy! I'll post pics soon. I've gotta get the girls packed for the night and try to make myself over for the date with the hubby. I'm just so physically exhausted all I really want to do is lay around!

34 Week Baby Update

I had my 34 week doctor appointment yesterday and was told to get some rest over the next couple of days and I have to go see the doc again this Friday. I had been having contractions all day, pretty regular, every few minutes, but I wasn't doubled over in pain plus my blood pressure was elevated. We also determined (the doc & I) that the baby is in a traverse position which means side to side. I guess we are making progress since last time he was breech, he just needs to keep moving himself down. The doc speculated that my contractions were being caused by Joel's position, he said it's not easy on the uterus for the baby to be in that position and quite uncomfortable for mom...you think? So that's that. The girls and I are headed into the MOD office for a meeting this morning and then once we get back home it's laying around on the couch watching movies all day with the girlies. Here's to trying to relax!

More Rations...

Shampoo, conditioner and body wash top the list! Aly recently started taking her own showers and insists on doing everything herself. I got in the shower the other day and noticed that the brand new body wash container was 1/4 gone. According to my preggo books I may be the size of a "small hippo" right about now but I know it doesn't take that much body was to clean my body.

Evidently in the bath last night Corey found her shampooing her hair with a baseball size mound of shampoo in her hand. He totally went off and insisted on showing her the appropriate amount of shampoo and conditioner that she should be using...I hope he took into account that she has a lot more hair than him!

As I am witnessing how much the girls waste now I cannot imagine what it will be like when they are teenagers. Good thing we are having a boy! Instead of Corey buying stock in Visa and MasterCard he should buy stock in the Kleenex brand. I'm not even going to get started with personal hygiene, make-up, hair products, etc. Did I mention that I took the girls to the dermatologist this week and had to buy them $72 cream for their dry skin (that was my co-pay after insurance paid their $150...yeah, $225 for skin cream) and the lotion they have to use on their bodies is $13.99 and not covered as an FSA expense. And to think I thought diapers and wipes were getting expensive.

As I am buying all this stuff for the girls I'm thinking I need to take a bottle of shampoo or a few extra rolls of toilet paper over to our parents house every time we go over to make up for when we where kids or at least to compensate them for when are kids are over at their houses.

I've already started buying the girls generic kleenex for their bathroom, hopefully shampoo, conditioner and tp are not next. Any guesses on our next set of rations? I'm thinking toothpaste, hand soap and electricity. The girls are constantly leaving every light in the house on and I keep finding globs of toothpaste in the sink (the globs are another one my parents will appreciate). It's a good thing the girls are so darn cute!

By the way, did you notice that I am up way too early for a Sunday morning? Ah, Braxton-Hicks, gotta love them!

Rations

I'm talking about toilet paper. I posted a while back about how I could not believe how much toilet paper we go through in this house and I certainly don't think that we can blame Corey! After witnessing the girls using an obscene amount of tp we decided to have a little talk with them. Corey took them in the bathroom and counted 4 squares and showed them what it 4 squares looks like "that's all you get" he said. He then proceeded to tell them that if we caught them using more than 4 squares that he was going to take it out of their allowance and they would be buying the toilet paper. I had to turn my head to keep from laughing in front of them because this is totally something my dad would have told us girls when we were growing up!

Aly is taking to the 4 square challenge quite nicely. We were using the restroom at Target today and she counted off 4 squares after she did her business. How nice of her to save Target money...they can afford it with their cheap tp, it's not as if we don't spend enough there already!