almost time

I'll be at the hospital in less than 24 hours getting ready to welcome the mystery baby into our arms and lives. I can't believe the time has already come. That afternoon in September when we learned about this baby seems like so long ago - Theo was barely 6 months old. So much has changed since then. At the same time, it feels like this pregnancy has zoomed by.
I'm ready to feel normal again. I'm ready to tie my shoes and bend over. I'm ready to get up off the floor and out of bed without feeling pain.  I'm ready to wear pants that zip.
I'm not ready to get only stolen moments of sleep here and there. I'm not ready to spend 50% of my day breastfeeding. I'm not ready to look at my jello belly that used to hold a baby and wonder if it will ever be normal again (the answer is no). 
Ready or not, here he or she comes.
The next time I blog, it will be as a mother of 2.
Wish me luck,
~c~

birthday/mother's day weekend

I don't mind having my special days lumped into one fabulous weekend.  Not one bit.  It just means having a whole weekend all about me.  :)

Thursday I started off my weekend by taking Theo over to his friend's house and watched the two little boys and their girlfriend playing on his friend's new playset.  These babies are all just weeks apart and it has been an amazing journey so far to watch them grow together.  I can't wait until we can overhear their little conversations and arguments and see the products of their imaginations while they play.  We sit around and marvel at how much they can do now and how grown up they are (and they can't even really talk yet, aside from a word here and there).  I'm so thankful I had friends that were pregnant pretty much the exact same time that I was.  Not only was it great sharing our pregnancies, our babies have bonded us for what I hope is a very long time. 

On Friday, Theo and I played, relaxed, ran a couple of errands, and when the hubs got home we met another family of friends for dinner to celebrate my birthday a day early.  Theo, predictably, threw everything from toys to food on the floor, which drives me insane.  I don't know if scolding him reinforces or deters the behavior so unfortunately, I'm very inconsistent.  Sometimes I pretend not to notice so that he won't feel like he won a reaction out of me.  Other times I tell him "no" very sternly.  Being wishy-washy is probably not the best approach...

Saturday we woke up to rain.  Surprise, surprise, surprise.  I keep waiting for the April showers to end but apparently they are over a week late in getting the memo that it is now MAY.  I had a haircut scheduled for 9:15, so we were up and at 'em bright and early.  I'm very happy with the results!  As always...I  haven't had time to upload any pictures (yet) but I plan to do that soon.  After my haircut, we went to the outlet mall for a bit in search of plain, solid colored 12 or 18 months onesies with no luck.  I'm so frustrated by this!

I got these adorable shortalls for Theo to wear this Spring and Summer:

And I want to get this 5-pack set of Carter's onesies so that he can wear the solid colored ones underneath:

Is that too much to ask?  Everywhere I look, they either don't have them or they only have them up to 9 months.  I saw them in 12 and 18 months a few weeks ago.  I see them online now.  I just want to go to the flippin' store and buy them.  I guess I'll have to order them online, but I refuse to pay shipping for baby t-shirts.  Anyway, once I went on a mission to find these shirts, I realized that it's nearly impossible to find PLAIN solid-colored onesies for babies.  Everything has some kind of print on it.  What's up with that?  Okay, rant/tangent over.

After failing at the outlet mall, we went to my in-laws for a birthday dinner.  Pork chops, a mock-up of my favorite salad (the Summer Berry Salad from Paradise Cafe), asparagus, and angel food cake with strawberries.  What. A. Feast.  I was one happy girl with one full belly.  I could have just eaten the salad.  I have been craving cold, sliced strawberries for the last couple of weeks.  I think I've eaten about 4 pounds of them...this baby is going to come out with strawberry seeds on its skin.

Sunday, for Mother's Day, we went out to lunch and did a little shopping (after waking up again to gloomy skies).  Biggest gift of all was that Theo actually slept until just after 9am.  I couldn't believe it.  That never happens.  I took a little nap in the afternoon and then went to the grocery store to stock up on freezer and microwave friendly meals for the first couple weeks after the baby is born.  While I was lying down, a couple of things happened.  The sun came out and I got this picture from my hubby:

Here he is in the non-striped version of the Osh Kosh shortalls.

Isn't he just the cutest?  Truth be told, my hubby's not too shabby either.  I think one of the best gifts you can have as a mom is a great dad for your kids. 

I told him to hold off on my Mother's Day present this year, because I want something special with both of my babies' names from Lisa Leonard Designs.  Have you heard of this lady and seen her work?  She does some of the cutest jewelry I've seen in a long time.  Big fan.  Big, big fan.  Here are a couple of her pieces that I like a lot, to give you an idea.  And they are completely customizable! 

mama necklace

rain or shine (so glad you're mine) necklace

You get the idea - but there are several pieces that I just love.  Super excited to find out in 3 short days if my necklace or bracelet will have 2 little boys' names or a boy's and a girl's name on it. 

happy monday,

~C~

37 week check-up check-in: my last prenatal appointment

Ever? It's kind of weird being at the end of this pregnancy, knowing that I'm full term now, that the baby could come at any time and be perfectly fine, and that I may never be in this spot again.  We haven't decided for sure if we'll be done at two or if one more child will complete our family. Right now (at full term) I'm pretty much feeling I could be completely content with two children.
Who knows how I'll feel when this sweet, tiny baby turns into a little toddler that no longer wants to be held. One thing I know is that you can't just keep having babies in hopes that one will stay a baby forever.
Regardless, I've been feeling okay...kinda. I guess as well as you could expect to feel at this point. I finally got desperate and filled my prescription for 5 of the Ambien CRs to see if they would help me sleep. I don't know if they are worth $5 apiece, but I have probably slept a little better overall since I started taking them.  
My blood sugars are still good - I only had one high one in the last week. They have been better this time around than they were with Theo. My weight gain I kind of missed because it was a different scale this week and it was the kind with the slide-y thing. I'm pretty sure it was the same as last week or maybe +1 lb.  Blood pressure was 100/60. Heartbeat was in the 130s and my stomach was measuring between 36 and 37 weeks. No change with my cervix, so it doesn't look like I'll be going into labor on my own or anything before next Thursday. One never knows though! 
The only thing that was new/interesting/different from last time was that I had an ultrasound and the baby's estimated weight was 6lbs 8oz. If that is accurate, then this baby should be about the same size Theo was at birth by next Thursday (7lb 1oz). Luckily (or hopefully I guess I should say), the estimates have been a little high lately according to Dr. D. We want a smaller (or at least narrower) baby this time.  The ultrasound tech didn't give away any clues as to the gender, so that was a relief. If I was her though, I would totally look so I could have a "I know something you don't know" party in my head. I bet she looked.
Since I'm not scheduled to arrive at the hospital until 10am Thursday, I'm starting to think the baby might not arrive until Friday the 13th!  By the time I get admitted and IV'd and all that, I'm sure they won't start my Pitocin until 11 at the earliest.  Of course I'd gladly accept a less-than-twelve-hour labor, but I'm not counting on it with an induction. Everything right now is based on speculation and all I can do is cross my fingers and hope for a smooth delivery that results in a healthy baby.
In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my 31st birthday tomorrow, my 2nd Mother's Day on Sunday, my last 3 days of work until August (it might be a bit of a stretch to say 'enjoy' at this uncomfortable stage), and my last few days of having a busy little low-maintenance baby in my belly.
Have a great weekend!
~C~