stick a fork in me, I'm done!

Ding! 40 weeks!

Today's news:
* 3cm and thinned out

* dr said "he's right there"

* ultra sound showed good fluid levels and a squished baby

* non stress test came back good and his heart rate did what they wanted it to do - go up and down at least 3 times in 15 minutes. I was contracting a bit but didn't feel it.

* induction set for 5am Monday March 22nd if no baby before then. She again said I'm inducible and that she hoped that she wouldn't need to use pitocin to get my contractions going. Apparently pitocin is what makes induced labor harder - it makes the contractions stronger and closer together than natural labor I guess. So hearing that she thought I wouldn't need that is good news. She hopes that the meds used to soften and dilate the cervix will be enough to get my labor started.

Having an induction set puts me strangely at ease. Being such a planner I really find comfort in knowing that there is a date set and an end in sight. Don't get me wrong, I won't sleep a wink on Sunday night!

whew, made it past the 13th!

I wouldn't call myself a superstitious person at all, but I was really worried about giving birth on the 13th! Every seven years there'd be a Friday the 13th birthday. And you know once you say something like "oh I have a really strong immune system, I don't usually get what every one else has" and then a couple days later you're sick? Had that happen just a few months back. Anyway I had said "I really hope he's not born on the 13th" more than once. So when the 13th came I was a little nervous that I might have jinxed it. So I wake up on the 13th to 4 missed calls from my mom... which is not like her at all. Apparently she thinks I'll forget to call her if I go to the hospital. Anyway, four missed calls just making sure I wasn't in labor. After those calls AND me saying I didn't want to give birth on the 13th I decided it would be best for me to camp out and do photoshop tutorials and watch movies and move as little as possible!

Now we've made it past the 13th and I'm more than ready for him to come! Let's get moving Carter!

38 and counting!

Come out come out wherever you are! We are now in the single digits waiting for Carter's arrival. 9 days as of today. At the very least we know we will have a baby in 16 days. (due date the 18th and they'll induce before 41 weeks)

37 and 38.... look the same to me

fringie!

I finally finished my fringie! It was very time consuming. From cutting all the yarn - heck even getting the yarn untangled and cut to my specific size was tough! There has to be a trick to unraveling the yarn. The yarn that came in balls were super easy, but I got some that were in a big loop and man those were tricky.

Anyway I cut up 10 different colors of yarn and tied them on to a braided strip down the middle. I started tying on one at a time and then had a brilliant moment that I could tie on more than one at a time. Went a little faster then! And I bet if I wasn't 9 months pregnant it would have gone much faster too! Big bellies and sore hips hindered my progress some.

Anyway, here was my inspiration. I went online to buy one to find out they were 85 dollars!

Figured I could make my own for way cheaper! My pics should look better next time. Didn't realize my camera was set on florescent white balance. Oops.

My inspiration definitely has some more funky yarns but hey it's my first time! Plus I have no idea where you buy those funky yarns.

Letters

Letters are done! Not sure how I feel about them yet....

HOLY SH*T!

Pardon the title but OMG. See for yourself:

37 weeks - full term & HUGE!

Have you gotten over the initial shock yet?? Here's a progression
5 weeks

12 weeks

14 weeks

17 weeks

20 weeks

24 weeks

28 weeks

31 weeks

34 weeks

37 weeks (the blue shirt definitely makes it look smaller than the white tank top)

And look how cute! Joe has been making fun of me for how excited I am to see Carter in swim trunks and then we saw these at Target. I couldn't resist. I cannot wait to see him playing in the sand in his little swim trunks!

FTT

FTT stands for..... FULL TERM TOMORROW. I'll be full term tomorrow! Normally I would have said I was full term on Sunday but at my last dr appointment she told me that I should really be going by the March 18th due date and not the March 21st due date. Especially since I've been measuring 2 weeks ahead for quite some time now. So going off 3/18/10 as his due date, I'm 37 weeks tomorrow! WOOZERS!

Carter is estimated at just over 6lbs now. She said that if I go to 40 weeks she thought he'd be right above 8lbs. His heart rate was 130-150s and he was moving around like a mad man! He's so big now that when he moves my entire stomach moves. It's so crazy to watch. I keep trying to get a video of it but I swear he knows as soon as I pick up the camera. Just like when Joe tries to see him moving or feel him he stops (unless it is the hiccups! which he gets all the time) He's definitely got a little defiant personality! As soon as we want him to do something he stops.... I wonder where he gets that from. It's definitely not his momma! :)

In other news the girls from work had a baby shower for us this past weekend. They totally spoiled Carter and I with lots of good food, great company and some really sweet gifts. And I really wanted to move in with Heather for a while as I slept SOOOO well at her house!

Being back in Phoenix and at our Gilbert house was nice too. Driving down we got off the highway to stop at a gas station and I rolled down the windows in the "girls car" and both Kody and myself were sniffing like crazy! Phoenix smells so good in the spring! And Joe had a great realization this past weekend - he still loves our Gilbert house and can now see us staying there for a while. When he told me this I had to give him a look and laugh. I've been saying that all along!

Other than that I'm trying to take it super easy this week so Carter stays put and I can make it through another weekend in Phoenix. Dr wasn't too thrilled with me going, but really even if I went into labor in Gilbert it wouldn't be that bad. I have doctors down there who have seen me for more of this pregnancy than the Flagstaff doctors. I figure if I bring the hospital bag I won't go into labor. Makes sense right?! We're really hoping we get our house rented this weekend and we can check that off our list! After this weekend we're pretty ready for Carter to come at any time! Although maybe I should start telling him to come this weekend just so we can insure that he doesn't!

Pics to come soon. Belly is HUGE, I feel huge, etc. The letters above the crib are finally done so I'll get a pic of those too!

34 weeks!

I spilled an entire can of coke on our brand new keyboard yesterday and my space bar is SUPER sticky. Need to get a new keyboard. Anyway wanted to post a new belly picture. Could it get any bigger??? Look how much bigger it is than at 31 weeks! Yowzers!


31 weeks

34 weeks

Carter's Room!

We've made some serious progress on Carters room! We haven't hung his name above his crib for a few reasons - first I am still missing the last R, plus I'm not so sure how I feel about the dots. I think solid color letters might look better. Those curtains and curtain rods may look familiar as they were in our living room in Gilbert. Since we cannot use them in our living room in the rental we thought they'd look nice in Carter's room. Yes we know they are hung very high, but again when we got them we had 9' ceilings now we have 8' and who knows what we will have in the next house bla bla you get the reasoning behind hanging them high.

Carter's room is probably the nicest room in the house now! I think we were both a little sad we weren't doing his room in our forever house - his room would have fit in perfectly in our Gilbert house! Living in a rental is definitely not as fun as having your own house but such is life. Either way we're pretty happy with how it turned out!

Looking in from the door to the right

Looking in from the door straight ahead

Looking in from the door to the left

Changing table/dresser

Crib

Bookshelf

Standing by the closet looking out toward the door

Closet

doctor visits/miscellaneous updates

1/26/10 Appointment
I haven't been very good about updating on my doctors appointments lately. Last week I had a routine appointment pushed up because I had been having some headaches with blurry vision. Those two things are symptoms of preeclampsia - a serious pregnancy condition that can be fatal to both mother and baby and the only cure for it is to deliver the baby. Other signs are puffy hands and face, elevated blood pressure, rapid weight gain and protein in your urine. Because of my headaches with blurred vision they wanted to get me in and test my blood pressure and urine - thus my routine appointment was pushed forward a few days. (At this practice they do not test a pregnant woman's urine at each appointment - in Gilbert they did) My blood pressure was great and there wasn't any protein in my urine sample. I am not puffy or swollen and my weight gain has been steady. All of this was great great news! The doctor and I discussed my previous migraines and decided that the headaches and blurred vision were probably just my pregnancy version of a migraine that didn't fully progress. Good news! I'd rather have migraines than preeclampsia!

I measured slightly ahead at 34 weeks (was 32 weeks at the appointment), Carter is still head down and his heartbeat sounded great! He was estimated at 4.5 lbs.

2/2/10 Appointment
Because of the headaches/blurry vision they wanted to see me again in a week to retest my blood pressure and what not. Tuesday night Joe and I went back to the doctor and everything came back normal again! We met Dr Ray and we both REALLY liked her. She was our favorite doctor so far - from both Gilbert and Flagstaff. She was super friendly and really spent some time talking with us - from everything about labor and delivery, my next appointments, their practice, concerns, etc. Carter is still head down, butt in my right ribs, and his heartbeat sounds great! Dr Ray estimated him to be about 5 lbs. I am still measuring slightly ahead at 34 weeks.

I'll go back again in two weeks and have my group b strep test. After that appointment I'll be doing weekly appointments as I will be a month from Carter's due date! I still cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going! I'm 33 weeks now and if he comes early, like I think he will, we could have a baby in a matter of weeks!

Hospital Tour
We also did our hospital tour last Friday. They ask that you come in between 32 and 34 weeks to preregister and tour the labor and delivery rooms as well as the postpartum area. We spent some time going through medical history, my pregnancy, insurance stuff, etc. All the nitty gritty details on our pasts they now have! We also discussed what my preferences were in regards to labor and delivery, what the processes are, where the baby sleeps, etc.

Seeing the delivery room was a little surreal. It was weird to think that the next time I would be there I would be in labor and Carter would be born! Of course Joe made sure to keep the mood light and asked the nurse if confetti and balloons fell from a panel in the ceiling. If anything I know I can count on him to keep the mood upbeat!

We didn't know how much time we would be spending in the hospital but were told that if everything goes well we'll only be there for one over night. This was fine by me! Get me in and get me out and back to my house and the comforts of my own stuff! Don't get me wrong the hospital was nice enough but not a place I'd like to spend a lot of time.

Also at this hospital there isn't a nursery per say. Not like you see on tv or in the movies where there is this large room with babies lined up and a big glass window for people to view them. At Flagstaff Medical Center if everything is going well with myself and Carter we will all share a room. Also dads are allowed 24 hours a day and are not considered a "visitor". There is a little pull out for Joe to sleep on. So given all goes well the three of us will all be in the same room!

Aside from all of that everything is going really well! Some days I'm ready to be done being pregnant - but it really depends on the day! Some days I describe myself as a walking whale, and others I feel completely fine. Still loving prenatal yoga. I sleep SOOOO much better after yoga! Carter's room is now painted and we're making serious progress up there! Other than all of the above nothing else to report!

31 weeks and starting prenatal yoga...better late than never!

28 weeks in the green, 31 weeks in the blue. Not seeing a huge difference. Although I am happy to see that perhaps my butt has stopped growing! I think it actually looks a bit smaller at 31 weeks versus 28 weeks. Lets hope that is true and not just the picture! From the pictures my belly doesn't look much bigger but it definitely feels bigger/heavier. My poor belly button is nearly flat and is pretty tender these days. I am hoping that it stays flat and doesn't pop out! There are enough things in my near future that have me worried, I don't need add my belly button popping out to the list :)

The main reason I say my belly feels bigger is that I can definitely tell a difference in my mobility lately. When we sit down on the couch to watch TV it is much harder to get OFF the couch! In yoga yesterday we worked our "ab" muscles. I had to laugh. What ab muscles?! Aren't those the muscles that help me sit up and get off the couch? Aren't those the muscles that help you bend at the waist? I can definitely say there is no bending at the waist these days :) Rolling to the side and pushing myself up or waiting for Joe to get up and give me hand - that is more accurate these days. Either way I got a kick out of working my ab muscles. Both Carter and I thoroughly enjoyed prenatal yoga. We did a monkey dance, some stretching and balancing and some great moves to get him off my bladder. After class I felt better than I have in a long time - I had forgotten how much I really enjoyed yoga. Flagstaff has a huge + on its list now - the time to do prenatal yoga! Thanks again Mom for making it possible! I cannot tell you how good I felt afterward and how much I look forward to going again. Both for the yoga and to hopefully get to know some of the other girls in class as well. I'm pretty sure Joe was really happy I went to yoga too because I came out with such a better attitude and felt so good. He's even offered to drive me there and pick me up (because of the downtown location/tricky parking) On Sunday's it's a no brainer for him to drive me and on Thursdays I'll drive to his jobsite and he'll drive me to yoga and then pick me up after. Another benefit to a smaller town is that everything is close together. Yoga is 10 minutes from our house (max) and Joe's job site is right in between. Namaste!

Fun baby day!

Yesterday was a fun filled baby day! To start with I started my DIY project - wooden letters that spell out Carter's name that we're going to hang above his crib. I went to Michael's to get the letters and pick out the paint. I probably stood in front of the paint area for an hour. I am AWFUL at picking paint. When we paint Joe picks the paint color because 90% of the time my colors turn out horrible. So picking 5 different colors was semi stressful!

(They only had 1 "R")

I got started painting and was pleasantly surprised with my paint choices. They actually matched the bedding and looked good!

Jen J was providing creative consult on this project and at first we didn't have each letter as a different color, but as the project progressed it looked better with each letter a different color. So then the decision was what color would the last "R" be? Orange. So I went out and picked out a 6th color! And picked up a mini "R" so I could see what it would look like.

Now I have to add the decorating touches to the letters. The plan is this:
C - plain green
A - teal with orange accents
R - plain yellow
T - brown with green dots
E - plain light blue
R - orange with teal accents

As I'm finishing up this project and discussing my next steps with Jen J the dogs start barking like crazy and the delivery man drops off some stuff. I look outside to see 3 huge boxes on my front porch.

Joe and I have a rule that if something comes for the both of us that we wait until we are both present to open the boxes. (This rule was put in place around our wedding when boxes would come and Joe would open them without me) So these three boxes are screaming at me to open them. I call Joe and tell him my situation and he gives the go ahead to open them.

Box 1 - stroller from my parents
Box 2 - pack n play from Joe's parents
Box 3 - baby play mat from Joe's parents

I then spent the next few hours opening everything and putting it all together. Joe got home from work just as I was finishing up.

Stroller

Pack N Play
Tucker really liked the smell of the pack n play and just had to roll around on the mat.

Baby Play Mat

Joe was pretty impressed that I got everything put together before he got home. The pack n play was tough though. Putting the newborn sleeper together was a struggle but I got it! As soon as Joe came home he started pushing the stroller around the house and turned on the music for the pack n play.

Our second birthing class was last night so we didn't have much time to play as we had to head out the door. We did some relaxing techniques and stretches in class and then watched a video on birth. It showed a few live births. I could have done without seeing the live births. I don't think seeing them has helped me in anyway to feel more prepared or less anxious. The births didn't bother Joe as much but seeing the placenta really got to him. After they showed the placenta Joe went to the "bathroom". After class he told me that seeing the placenta freaked him out and he had to go walk around a bit! I will admit it wasn't the most pleasant looking thing - looked like a big blob of blood colored tissue. Joe then asks me "aren't you freaked out about the placenta?" Me "Um no, I'm not worried about the blob of mushy tissue coming out, I'm more worried about the baby with bones coming out!"

Flagstaff Doctor Update

I had my first appointment with the Flagstaff doctor today. She was very nice and informative... maybe a little too informative! We did all the usual first appointment talk and talked through my pregnancy thus far. Then she had me up on the table to measure my belly and feel for Carter's position. Carter is head down with his back coming up my right side, his butt in my ribs, and his legs going down my left side. At my last appointment he was transverse so this is good news. Now we'll just have to see if he stays in the head down position. The doctor told him he was doing well so we'll see if that helps!

After the position determining she measured my belly and said I was right on track and that she estimated Carter to be 4.5 pounds. At the time I was like "oh cool! They've never told me how much they thought he weighed." The more I thought about 4.5 lbs the more I started to freak out a bit. The pregnancy books say about 3-3.5lbs at this point. Then I read online that the baby gains between 1/3 and 1/2 pound a week from here on out. I'm 30 weeks, so by 40 weeks I'd have a 9.5 lb baby. If I'm honest that number scares the shit out of me.

I am half Van Thiel and Van Thiel's have big babies. But I am also half Lund and Lund's have smaller babies.

But in an effort to keep things positive I have heard that bigger babies are better sleepers. So I'll go with that for now and see what she says in two weeks about his size. From here until 35/36 weeks I'll see the doctor every 2 weeks then from 35/36 weeks on I'll be going in weekly.

We also talked about delivery dates. I told her both my brother and I were both early - she said that family history doesn't really have anything to do with when I'll deliver. Sadly. I wouldn't mind going early especially if I've got a chunk in there! As far as induction they will schedule an induction between 40 and 41 weeks if I have not delivered by then. She also said if I was 39 weeks and really uncomfortable and my body looked like it could be ready soon that they would discuss an induction then if I wanted to. But from what I've heard an induced labor is harder. So for now I'll just cross my fingers for going early!

Carter's heartbeat was great at 151!

Enough medical stuff! Now on to the fun stuff. We've decided to go the DIY route with the letters for Carter's name above his crib. I found some cute hand painted letters online but they are $22 PER LETTER. That is just insane when you can buy the letters for 3 dollar/letter at Joann Fabrics and then paint them yourself. So I am going to do a DIY project and try it out! Jen J helped me plan out the colors and design - she's way more creative! This is what the plan is, we'll see how I do!

Baby stuff galore! (thanks Nana & Papa)

Having a baby is kind of like getting married. Stuff is constantly being delivered to your door :) Yesterday we got the swing and today we got the JJ Cole Hat and the JJ Cole Bundle Me. Both the hat and the bundle me are made of the same material as the Sleep Sheep - SOOOOO soft! Now the only thing left to arrive are the clothes you ordered. Carter thanks you and says to stop looking at the registry!

We put the swing together last night:

It has: 10 songs and 3 nature songs, different seat positions to allow for head to toe swinging or side to side swinging, a domed mirror above the baby with clouds, stars and animals that circle above, and removable toy bar. There are 6 swinging speeds and volume control also.

Then tonight I put the JJ Cole Bundle Me in the car seat. It looks so soft and cuddly in there - and warm too! It will be so nice not to have to deal with big snowsuits or buntings or whatever they call them.

It has slots for all of the harnesses to go through and then an elastic strap to secure the top/bottom of the bundle me to the car seat.

The slots in the bottom of the bundle me allow the harness to come through but also allow the newborn car seat insert (came with the car seat) to be in there as well.

Looks warm and cozy!

Happy New Year!

Its been a while since my last post - but forgive me, we were just slightly busy! I cannot believe it's 2010 and the year that our first baby will be born! Well technically 3rd baby since we count Tucker and Kody in our kid count, but our first without a tail and fur :)

We've set up Carter's room a bit. It was actually the first room we put together! We've had all this stuff just sitting around in Gilbert so it was nice to finally have a place for it. And we put together the recliner! Love it!

Here are some pics of his room and some close ups of the Twilight Turtle and Sleep Sheep for you mom :)

Looking in the door - to the right is the crib and chair

Looking in the door - to the left is the dresser and where the mirror is sitting will be where the big teddy bear goes.

Dresser/changing table and the twilight turtle!

Close up of the Twilight Turtle. Cute huh mom?

His crib and the Sleep Sheep - the softest little stuffed animal I've ever felt. Also I've heard from other moms that the Sleep Sheep is a miracle for getting babies to sleep

Photo taken from the closet looking toward the door - for perspectives sake

And Carter's baby blanket!

And now I'm 28 weeks (29 tomorrow) but I don't think my belly has grown much over the past month. My butt on the other hand.... dang it!
My 24 weeks and 28 weeks & Joe's 28 weeks

belly close up