34 weeks (almost)

Tomorrow is 34 weeks!

Over the weekend, my sweet friend Emily (who was my maid of honor at my wedding) threw a little baby shower for me. It was so fun!!! Having all of my favorite girls in one room celebrating my sweet Baby Sam was so wonderful.

Baby Sam got lots of cute things. I absolutely can't wait (well, I will) for him to wear all his cute clothes and use his blankets and bibs and everything!!!

Tomorrow is also 31 days and counting.....

and just in case you remember this post, check out this almost empty bottle of pills!!!

This week I have a follow-up with Dr. Fancy to finalize the c-section date and aspirin plan. And I also have a check-up with my regular OB. And the Big Sister starts preschool two half days a week. I have a feeling the next month is going to fly!!!!

It's been a really long road to get from Emma to Sam and I find myself overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness. When I got married to my sweet husband I didn't cry. When I had Emma I didn't cry. Now I can't make it through an episode of A Baby Story without totally crying. On my list for baby & hospital essentials? Waterproof mascara. :)

33 Weeks!

33 weeks!!!

5 1/2 weeks to go!!!



38 days!!!!

Wahoo!

this good thing

Tomorrow, unless we find out differently from Dr. Fancy, we are only 6 weeks away from meeting our Baby Sam!!! Sometimes that feels so close -- but sometimes it feels forever away!!! And in waiting, sometimes I find the time to worry. But then I read something like this.

(This is in the Old Testament, David's prayer to God. Totally not a prayer about having a baby -- but I think it still relates!)

2 Samuel 7:28-29
"Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever."

MY TURN, MY TURN!!!!

Today Baby Sam and I are 32 weeks along! :) :) That sounds like a lot all of a sudden! He should be about 5 1/2 pounds now and nearly 17 inches!!! Wow......

The last one of my friends who was pregnant ahead of me just had her baby a few days ago. Now it's my turn!!! :) :) I have a ton of friends who are due after me and it's fun to be the next one to have a baby! Trying to be patient.....

My mom got me a few things from Old Navy to hold me over for the next 6 weeks. I'm wearing a cute new shirt today and I love it! But when I look at the actual shirt, I think to myself, Wow, this shirt is really huge. Haha! Sam, you are totally worth it!!!

And since I'm here and blogging, I might as well give a shout out to my wonderful husband, who not only deep cleaned our bathroom yesterday but is once again at HEB getting our food!

This weekend I am going to (joyfully) waddle my way to my 10 year high school reunion! should be fun!

Fancy-Schmancy Doctor (Alternatively Titled: Hooray for Sugar!)

Our Baby Sam -- 31 weeks!

(Can you tell that is his cute little face lookin' at ya?)

Today was my visit with the perinatologist that I was referred to by my OB. He was VERY nice and answered all my questions despite being in a big hurry to get from the satellite office to the hospital downtown for an emergency c-section!

The entire appointment, which began at 2 and we assumed with waiting would take hours, was over and we were in the car by 2:20! We had an ultrasound to fill those minutes, and it felt good to have a very specialized doctor looking over every inch of our baby boy.

Dr. Fancy said our boy is just over five pounds, so by the time we deliver at 38 weeks he'll be well into the nines. Sounds about right for a baby of ours! He said everything looks great. He even listened to the baby's heartbeat through the umbilical cord and said that it sounded clear -- and that there didn't appear to be any obstructions (blood clots) in there. He said he does not anticipate a problem with the placenta (MTHFR-wise) and that everything looks good!

At the end, he did say that the placenta was "a bit low" and actually called it "mild placenta previa". I don't really know what that means, other than that the placenta is near my cervix and could cause some bleeding if I went into labor, but he said it is so mild that other doctors might not even consider it worth calling "placenta previa" at all. And he was not worried one bit. But tomorrow I am planning on calling my nurse to get her take on it -- since googling it would be a big mistake. :)

Dr. Fancy also said I'd probably need to stop the baby aspirin at least 10 days before my c-section, and then start it up again for 4-6 weeks after, for my own benefit. He said our baby would NOT suffer any blood clotting consequences for being off the aspirin because "the aspirin lasts as long as the life of a platelet" or something like that. He also said it would be okay to double up on the Folgard (folic acid) -- that might have been my idea. :)

Long story short, our baby boy is looking GREAT, the new doctor was wonderful, I go back in 3 weeks to make a "final decision" about the aspirin, all the while continuing with my regular OB appointments. Oh, and the doc's parting words were, "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" I said, "Boy. Do you agree?" And he said, "Oh yes. It's a boy!"

Since our appointment was so short, my brilliant plan to have Travis go pick up Emma from his parents' house (where she had been napping and playing) turned into the "It's only 2:30 -- he has to go back to work" plan. So I went over to his parents' house where Emma was napping to get my own little nap. My mother-in-law had everything ready for me!!! A bed, a laptop, a TV, a FAN, and a very yummy snack!!! She is so sweet. Thank you, Sugar!!!!!!! :) :)

And this is why....

....I get the following comments.

"Are you sure there aren't TWO in there?"
"WHEN are you due?"
"You must be miserable!!!"

That's one big belly!!!!! I'm 31 weeks along (tomorrow) and above is a current picture of me. :) And if you look closely, you can see my new best friend -- the box fan. We are inseparable!!!

And just to clear things up -- YES, there is only 1 in there. Yes, I'm not due til October, and NO I am not miserable. Big and swollen and hot? Perhaps. ;) But the thankfulness trumps all possible miserableness.

Oh! And tomorrow, as I hit 31 weeks I will ALSO be celebrating a 7 year wedding anniversary with one sweet hubby!!!! <3

LESS than 8 weeks to go!

I have to admit that 8 weeks sounds like a really long time to me, but when I think about what was going on 8 weeks ago, it feels like just yesterday. Needless to say, I can't wait!!!

I had a checkup yesterday and everything is going just great. :) I asked my doctor if I needed to stop the baby aspirin (which moderately thins my blood) before my c-section, you know, so I would be able to stop bleeding at some point. He gave me lots of possible answers but in the end has referred me to a maternal-fetal-medicine-specialist for a 2nd opinion about my delivery and post-partum care.

He said baby aspirin stays in your system for 4 weeks, so I'd have to stop 4 weeks before my c-section. At that point, some people go back on the Lovenox (which majorly thins blood) because that can get out of your system in one day -- so I could take it up until September 30th -- and then have the baby on October 1st. He says there are, of course, risks to being on Lovenox, like getting in a car accident and having too much bleeding because the blood is so thin.....but that's not really very likely.

So, now I'm waiting for an appointment with a new doctor -- but I'll stay with my regular doctor after that for the rest of my pregnancy. I wonder what I'll find out?

I can't wait to meet our little boy!!!!!

Jumping Beans

Did you ever have one of those tiny boxes of "jumping beans" when you were a kid? Here's a little video of my belly, Baby Sam, and a container of Chickfila Sauce. :) Much of the movement is my breathing, BUT you can see the little Chickfila container bouncing around if you watch closely!!


In other news, today is thirty weeks!!!!! Whoa! I have my first of the every-2-weeks OB appointments later this week. Yesterday, we took the big sister to the sibling class at the hospital. :) It was sooooo fun. When she saw the brand new (less than 2 hours old!) babies in the nursery she was thrilled and danced all the way down the hallway back to the elevator. :)

When the big day is here, we have 2 special presents for her. One is a boy baby doll (hard to find!). Clothes were even harder to find! I ordered a custom fit knit baby hat for the doll on Etsy and it cost about $2. haha. Now I'm going to get the lady to make a matching blanket. Also, she is going to get a beaded bracelet with her name on it and a charm that says "big sis". I sure hope she knows how special she is!

And here's the only belly shot I have right now! This is my belly barely fitting in a booth at Chuck E. Cheese's. hahaa!