Baby #3 |38 and 39 Weeks|

Musings on the Weekly Photo(s):
– swelling. so. much. swelling. I don’t know whose legs those are, but they’re not mine.
– I really need to figure out what wordpress is doing to these pictures…
– At least there is one picture where Reese proves my kids wear regular clothes sometimes and aren’t either naked or in a princess dress all the time.

Marination Time: 39 weeks

Fruit of the Week/Size of #3:
This week she is the size of a pumpkin or mini watermelon (6.2 to 9.2 pounds and measures about 18.9 to 20.9 inches)

-We had our growth/position/fluid check ultrasound and they had her measuring in the 40% at 6.6 lbs at 38 weeks.

Movement: Yep and she was perfectly positioned at the ultrasound so yay for not having a breech, transverse, or posterior baby. Finally.

Cravings:
-nothing really

Symptoms:
– lots of braxton hicks
– I lost my legs/ankles this week thanks to the ridiculous heat/humidity we got all the sudden. It’s not a pretty situation so she can come out now.

Labor Signs: still at home so nothing that’s sending me to the hospital yet. At least not when I wrote this post.

What I Miss:
– having a full range of motion, but I can deal with it for another few days at this point

Sidenotes/Highlights
– She’s still a girl! I still have people stopping me everywhere to tell me it’s a boy, but now I have 2 ultrasounds that say otherwise.
– Her room is almost done and I’m pretty excited. It might be my favorite of the 3 nurseries…
– Pretty sure she has a name now… the middle name might still be up in the air. I think we’re going to wait to announce it until she’s here though I’m kind of over people’s opinions this pregnancy, but that could be a whole post of it’s own.

Baby #3 |35-37 Weeks|

Musings on the Weekly Photo(s):
– I don’t even know anymore… my posture is kind of terrible in week 35.

Marination Time: 37 weeks

Fruit of the Week/Size of #3:
This week she is the size of a head of romaine lettuce (18.9 to 20.9 inches and weighs 6.2 to 9.2 pounds)

Movement: Yep.

Cravings:
– none really…

Symptoms:
– I’ve done pretty well as far as swelling goes, but we ate really bad over the weekend so I think my sodium was crazy and by Sunday night I had elephant legs. Anyways, it’s back to normal now.

Labor Signs: starting to have some, but nothing that’s about to send me to the hospital

What I Miss:
– Same as usual, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel so it’s not so bad anymore.

Sidenotes/Highlights
– I’m still measuring behind and at my last appointment they couldn’t figure out how she was laying so I have an ultrasound set up for my next appointment. It’ll be nice to see her and to double check she’s a girl because no one believes she’s a she. Really… it’s annoying.
– I’m making some progress in the nursery! It probably won’t be finished until after she gets here, but all the work will be done and I’ll just have decorating type stuff to finish up I think.

Baby #3 |33 and 34 Weeks|

Musings on the Weekly Photo(s):
– there isn’t a 33 week picture… and I’m pretty excited to have something other than a number on my chalkboard

Marination Time: 34 weeks

Fruit of the Week/Size of #3:
This week she is the size of a butternut squash (4.2 to 5.8 pounds and 17.2 to 18.7 inches.)

Movement: She’s still either transverse or breech, depending on her mood, so I have feet coming out of my sides pretty regularly and it hurts.

Cravings:
– sushi. I had a weird sushi experience and I couldn’t finish eating it. I didn’t want it at all for a while, but now I want it again.
– guacamole. I make it every. day. If I don’t eat it for lunch I make it at dinner even if it doesn’t go with our meal at all.

Symptoms:
– heartburn
– can’t breathe when I’m laying down
– I guess I’m nesting. I cleaned the baseboards the other day and I decided that they needed to be painted. Right then. My kid doesn’t have a room, but my baseboards look so nice.
– I don’t feel hungry much and I’m full pretty quick.

Labor Signs: none yet, but the BH contractions have definitely picked up

What I Miss:
– Being able to sleep our normal way. Usually, I sleep on my stomach and David has one leg kind of over me… I don’t know if that makes any sense. That’s super uncomfortable right now obviously so we’re both annoyed with our sleeping situation. He can’t complain too much though because I’ve at least stopped using the snoogle.

Sidenotes/Highlights
– The walls in her room are painted so I can actually say that I finally started the nursery.
– The girls came to my appointment last week and my super sweet midwife let them use the doppler and took pictures for me. I’m not usually a fan of showing off a pregnant stomach, but the pictures were cute. Clearly the bump hasn’t seen the sun in a long time.

Baby #3 |31 and 32 Weeks|

Musings on the Weekly Photo(s):
– Totally normal to have blue chalk hands on my clothes and again with the yarn hair.

Marination Time: 32 weeks

Fruit of the Week/Size of #3:
This week she is the size of a head of lettuce (2.5 to 3.8 pounds and 15.2 to 16.7 inches.)

Movement: Yep. So the other day I felt her do this huge roll which was really unpleasant and I told David I felt like she was trying to stand up. She was moving the rest of the day and most of the night and at my appointment the next day the midwife said she had turned and wasn’t head down anymore. She might have already turned back because today I’ve felt some pretty strong kicks in my ribs, but I dunno what she’s doing in there.

Cravings:
– sushi and ham.

Symptoms:
– I’ve got a couple of spots where I’ve gotten these spider veins on my legs and the other day Reese said, “mommy, why do you have spiders on your legs.” Fingers crossed these go away.
– I’m officially doing the roll off the bed move otherwise I’m just not getting up

Labor Signs: none yet…

What I Miss:
– energy… I actually asked my midwife to check my labs to make sure I wasn’t low on iron or there wasn’t some magic vitamin I could take to make me a little less tired, but that’s just life with a 2 and 3-year-old when you’re super pregnant I guess.

Sidenotes/Highlights
– Last Saturday a couple of my friends took me to lunch and we had a little “sprinkle.” Loved hanging out with them and we were all kid-free (except for Erin who has a newborn) so that made it that much nicer.

Baby #3 |29 and 30 Weeks|

30 weeks

Musings on the Weekly Photo(s):
– The girls wanted to be in a picture and they wanted to show everyone their yarn hair.

Marination Time: 30 weeks

Fruit of the Week/Size of #3:
This week she is the size of a zucchini (15.2 to 16.7 inches and 2.5 to 3.8 pounds)

Movement: Yep

Cravings:
– sushi. I just get veggie rolls or tempura veggie rolls, but I want it all the time.
– ham. Weirdest thing ever because I don’t like ham. Right now though I want it with eggs for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch.

Symptoms:
– the heartburn this time around is crazy. I got it a few times with the girls, but I basically just carry around a bottle of tums this time.

Labor Signs: none yet…

What I Miss:
– I’m getting very particular about what I will wear so I miss when everything was comfortable and it was easy to decide what to throw on. I don’t want to wear pants for some reason so I guess it’s good it’s warm and I can wear shorts. Anything that touches my stomach has to be super soft and comfy or it’s a no go.
– Playing with the girls is harder.

Sidenotes/Highlights
– My sweet friends from MOPS had a surprise shower for me today at our leadership meeting. They’re the best 🙂
– I’m in 30s so let the final countdown begin.

Baby #3 |27 and 28 Weeks|

27 weeks

28 weeks

Musings on the Weekly Photo(s):
– just ignore the outfit in the 27 week picture… I had to go help with the children’s program at my bible study and I was just thinking comfort… and find something long enough to cover my butt.
– 28 weeks… Kennedy learned how to draw people. So we draw ALL the people. She drew me up there too, but I’m covering it up. She has a very well placed circle in the middle of my stick body and she said, “and here is mommy’s big belly”

Marination Time: 28 weeks

Fruit of the Week/Size of #3:
This week she is the size of an eggplant (1.5-2.5 lbs and 13.6-14.8 inches)

Movement: Yep. She finally kicked Kennedy this week and the look on her face was priceless.  We talk about the baby all the time, but seeing her move made it that much more real for her I think.  Now she’s getting impatient and she wants this baby out now…

Cravings:
– Not really.  More sugar than before, but I think it’s for the quick energy because I’m getting tired.

Symptoms:
– I want to cut off my legs most nights between the cramps and the RLS. We shot a wedding last weekend and I woke up in the middle of the night and both legs were cramped down through my toes. It was the toe version of that scene in Scary Movie with the “take my strong hand” guy. I had to drag myself to the bathroom and fill up the tub to put my legs in so they would relax.

– My stomach is getting itchy sometimes. I haven’t been good about putting much of anything on my stomach this time around. I got the Burt’s Bees Belly Butter or whatever it’s called, but I just use it randomly.
– My ankles are getting a little bit swollen at the end of the day sometimes.

Labor Signs: nothing just the regular BH contractions

What I Miss:
– Clothes. I’m pretty anti maternity clothes except for pants and I try to just use my regular clothes and then buy some stuff in bigger sizes for the most part. I’m at the point now though that my regular size stuff is getting too short/small. It’s just a much easier process to get dressed when you’re not trying to cover up a basketball.

Sidenotes/Highlights
– I’m almost done with the girl’s room so I can finally start thinking about the nursery.
– I’m in the 3rd trimester this week so my appointments are every 2 weeks now. It’s funny how inconvenient I feel like these appointments are this time around because I remember being so excited for them when I was pregnant with Kennedy. One of the midwives really annoys me though so that’s probably part of it.

Reese’s Birth Story

Reese made an entirely different entrance than Kennedy did, but it was perfect all the same. {You can read Kennedy’s birth story here and here}.

I mentally decided that Sunday, the 10th, was the best day for Reese to be born. Not kidding. My dad would be in town so he could drive my mom up to Tallahassee {she was in an accident and is still weird about driving} and he’d be able to see Reese, my sister would be back in town from her work trip so she could help with Kennedy and be here for the delivery, and it was the weekend so my mom could spend the whole next week with us. Everyone agreed, but we didn’t actually think she’d listen.

Saturday night, we finished the very last part of the nursery, her dresser. We went to bed and I woke up Sunday morning at about 5:30 and I felt like I had cramps, but assumed I was just uncomfortable like I was every morning at this point. At 6:30 I decided that they weren’t getting stronger, but they were actually consistent and about 5 minutes apart so maybe they were contractions. I got out of bed and starting doing stuff around the house just incase.

Kennedy woke up around 7-7:30 and we started our day just like normal. David woke up not much later and I told him I was having contractions, but they weren’t strong and I wasn’t sure yet. I called my mom around 8:30 and told her the same thing. We decided I’d call her back in an hour and figure out if they should make the drive or not. So, I took a shower and decided that they were getting a little stronger and still not going away so I was having a baby that day.

I called her back and told her to start driving and when my sister landed she texted me and I told her to come over when she got home. At this point it was about 10:30 and I was still just uncomfortable so we went outside and played with Kennedy.

My sister came over around 12 and I finished packing my hospital bag and I basically wandered around the house doing the most random stuff like fixing the comforter on our bed. I also started complaining that the second labor was supposed to be faster than the first and mine wasn’t looking any faster. I decided that I wasn’t going to go to the hospital for a while because I didn’t want to be there for hours like I was with Kennedy or get there and not be far enough along to get admitted. I told Lauren she could go home to take a shower since we thought we had some time, but not long after she left my contractions went from 5 minutes apart to about 2 minutes apart. So, I called her and told her to come back sooner than later and I called my parents to see where they were. They were about 30 minutes away so I was going to try to wait, but once my sister got back to the house I decided to leave so the contractions weren’t unbearable in the car.

We got to the hospital around 3. I checked in and they brought me back to triage to get checked. As it turns out, I was 6cm, 90%, “head super low.” They monitored me for a few contractions and we waited in triage while they got me admitted and assigned a room. My mom and sister were on their way, but we all assumed we had a few hours left still.

We got in the delivery room a little before 4 and the nurse wanted to check me again. I was 7.5cm and she said “if we break your water you’re having a baby.” I told them I wanted her out so they called my midwife to the room. My contractions started coming almost one right after the other at this point and I had to walk and sway side to side to get through them. While I waited, I just paced the room. As every contraction started I would tell myself “its work and not pain” so I could stay focused and get through them.

My mom and my sister got to the room at about 4. I was still waiting for Sheridan, my midwife, so they helped my through a couple contractions and while I was standing there I felt like I needed to push.

I told the nurse and she told my I had to get in bed. I told her I didn’t want to, because I thought I still had a while and she was going to make me stay there during contractions, but she made me. Sheridan got there right about the time I got in bed and broke my water. I heard her say meconium and my immediate reaction was to say, “again?!” I had really hoped that I would be able to hold Reese right away since I wasn’t able to do that with Kennedy. About as soon as she broke my water I had a huge contraction and Sheridan told me to push, but I don’t think it hit me yet that it was actually happening so my sister said, “she’s right there Mel” and she was. The notes say that I pushed for a minute. David and I were in the delivery room for about 20 minutes and my mom and my sister were there for about 10. I never expected it to happen like that.

Reese came faster than anyone expected and the room wasn’t even fully setup. Sheridan cut her cord and ran her over to the NICU table to suction her lungs, but the NICU nurse hadn’t even made it to the room. She was doing really well though {with an 8 and a 9 apgar} so they brought her over to me after just a few minutes on the NICU table and I got to meet my baby girl for the first time.

I had a one stitch tear like I did with Kennedy, but Reese had a really rough delivery. Her whole face was bruised and literally blue. You would have thought she wasn’t breathing, but her little lips were as pink as could be so we knew she was OK. She was also super swollen and just about every little blood vessel in her eyes ruptured. I felt so bad for her, but by the next morning she was looking much better. Our only other trouble was that she had a hard time getting warm. Her lowest temperature was 97.2, but they let me keep nursing and doing skin to skin instead of putting her in the warmer and by the end of the night she was right where she needed to be.

I had a natural birth again, just like with Kennedy, but it was so much different this time. The best part was that I was so aware this time. With Kennedy’s delivery I was SO exhausted by the end that my memory of the actual delivery is really fuzzy. I can remember this one like it just happened… except now it’s pain-free.

Kennedy Meets Reese

Hi! I’m checking back in and so far, I think we’re all doing really well! I know Reese is only 4 days old and this could change as she wakes up more, but right now, she’s a total dream. I’ll post more about all the how we’re doing stuff soon, but she is so content, very go with the flow, and so far an answer to many prayers.

Today though, I wanted to post some pictures of Kennedy meeting Reese for the first time. I’ll post more details when I do her birth story, but my baby girl got really beat up during the delivery, so yes, she really is blue and swollen and it’s not your eyes or the monitor. She also had a low temperature for a few hours after delivery that they were monitoring so we were doing lots of skin to skin. So, that’s why we didn’t take many pictures with her out from under the blankets.

I promise, no newborns were harmed while shooting these pictures

Sorry for the weird crop, but we also didn’t think about pulling my shirt down so you know, I cropped my just-had-a-baby stomach out of the pictures for you.

and a couple black and whites because I love them

It was kind of hectic since we got moved to the recovery room a lot later than we expected and we were getting close to Kennedy’s bedtime, but she was so incredibly sweet with her. My only regret is that we didn’t get a picture of all 4 of us, but I think we were all more worried about watching Kennedy with Reese and didn’t even think about it.

My girls finally met, after months of dreaming about it, and it was a good, good day.

A Little Introduction

She’s here! A little early, but not a moment too soon!

She was born at 4:10pm on 11/10/13 weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 20.5 inches long.

I have some seriously cute pictures of Kennedy meeting her little sister and her birth story to post, but first… her name

She and I are both doing great and should be home sometime today {the sooner the better… I miss Kennedy like a crazy person}.

5 on Friday

This is the 39 weeks and 2 days pregnant version… sorry if it’s whiny.

•one•
I’m way too emotional. I feel like I could cry at any minute for no reason.

•two•
This week I’ve let Kennedy watch more TV than I probably have her whole life combined.

•three•
The water management people picked this week to turn off my water randomly every day from 9-5. Don’t they know I need to wash every pillow, sheet, curtain and rug in my house? You need water for that!

•four•
I’m so torn between wanting her out now and wanting to wait a little longer. I’ve hit that wall and I’m so tired of being pregnant, but I also have a few more things I’d like to get done and let’s be real… the labor… I’m dreading it.

•five•
I’ve already decided that my after-delivery meal is a cheeseburger from 5 Guys. Please and thank you.