Its Been a Week!

Wow!! I can't believe its been a week since Matthew was born! I am SO sorry I didn't get a chance to post details right away, my sister didn't bring her laptop to the hospital so it had to wait. Then when we got home, it was difficult to have time to sit here and write a post since most of my free time is in the evening and my sister's son went to bed around 7 each night. The computer is in the guest room so I couldn't go in and write a post while Caspian was sleeping. My sister went home yesterday though (miss them already!!) so I wrote a couple posts in retrospect as if they posted on the correct days lol! We are doing great a week later btw, I can't believe its already been a week and a day (I know I have already said that, but still!!). And Jimmy is an official 2 and a half year old today too, my little man is growing up so fast! Matthew will be right behind him. *Sigh*

Its funny, Matthew looks a lot like his brother and daddy from the side, but more like my side of the family from the front. It will be interesting to see who he favors more as he grows.

Thanks to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers and comments so far, I will be working on answering emails in the next couple of days! Hopefully now I will be able to get back into a groove and post more regularly.  Thanks for sticking by me everyone!!

Welcome Baby Matthew

Matthew Adrian was born July 12th at 2:54am. Weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and measuring 21 & 1/2 inches long, he came into this world without the assistance of any drugs or interventions.

My water broke at about 5:30pm Sunday while we were at a restaurant, luckily right before we ordered any food! I was sitting there looking at the menu when I felt something a little funny and then a little gush. I said "Uh oh" and my sister looked at me and said "Nuh uh!" and I grinned at her and she ran out to the truck to get something to help me out. Poor hubby was just sitting there wondering what was going on then I told him and the waitress came to get our order. I told her that we were going to have to leave because my water broke! She looked surprised and I felt really bad that I made a mess lol! My sister gave her a big tip though and off we went, after I finally made myself stand up that is (there is a lot of fluid in there!!). We drove home, got my bags, I showered real quick and Jim's mom came over to babysit Jimmy and Caspian, my sister's little boy. Then we headed to the hospital and got there around 8:30pm. I still wasn't having any contractions so the nurse had me start walking. We walked for about an hour and the contractions started in no time. Then I had to start using the breast pump (sorry if TMI lol) to help keep the contractions going, which wasn't a problem because they kept up strong! I had to have 2 rounds of antibiotics through an IV because I was GBS positive then after that it wasn't long before I got to get in the jacuzzi and was in transition. That part is a bit blurry =) but I know it didn't take too long after that before I got back into bed and was able to push (the on call dr. didn't do water births) I had been really wanting to push while I was in the tub but that last centimeter of dilation was STUBBORN!! After a few pushes, Little Matthew made his entrance into the world right before 3am. Such a little sweetie he is! He looks a lot like his brother and daddy, but I can definitely see my side of the family in him, a lot more than in Jimmy. He is doing very well, just had some bruising on his face because of mommy's excitement to meet him, and he is turning into a champion nurser.

We are home now so I will try to post more pics soon. Thank you all so much for all of your kind thoughts and prayers, we are so thankful our little one turned head down and was able to be born naturally. God is GREAT!

We Have a Baby!!!

Still Waiting....

Here is a baby update, sorry to keep you all waiting!!! My sister is staying with us to help out and we've been busy getting things in order and running last minute errands, etc. And the computer is in the guest room so its a little difficult to get online ;-)

Ok, so I had my appointment on Wednesday and the ultrasound showed the baby is head down, praise the Lord!! Everything else looked wonderful. Baby was measuring about 9 lbs but apparently it can be off by a bit so we shall see. I was only dilated about 1 cm, but we know that can change quickly, especially with baby #2!

So the plan is to proceed with our natural birth plans. If nothing happens I will have another dr. appt. on Wednesday. So far no plans to induce and a c-section has not been discussed. So we are playing the waiting game!

I pray baby comes soon, I am so ready to be able to hold my sweet little blessing! Thanks so very much to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers. I will try to post an update as soon as one is available. My sister is going to bring her laptop to the hospital so I will make sure we post SOMETHING to let you all know if anything happens. Have a great weekend!

One Week Left!!

What? The baby is due in ONE WEEK?? Yikes! I went to the dr. yesterday and actually remembered to ask him if my actual due date was the 7th or 10th and he said 7th so that means one week from today we could have a new addition to our family! Wow! I can't believe it is almost time!

So the dr. appt. went pretty good, the baby's heart rate is good, my blood pressure is good, everything looks fine except for the fact that the baby is still BREECH! Argh! So if by next Wednesday the baby hasn't come, I am scheduled for an ultrasound to see how exactly the baby is laying. My doctor does do breech deliveries, he even said he liked doing them (thank goodness for 30 years experience!)! But the baby has to be frank breech (bottom first) and the shoulders have to measure small enough to fit through my pelvis (obviously!). So that will be checked at the ultrasound. Otherwise, if the baby is a different type of breech, we will schedule a version (where the doctor will try to manually turn the baby) and I will be induced if it is successful and deliver so the baby (hopefully) doesn't have time to turn back around. Last option.....c-section. Eeeeesh, scares me to death!! I have never had any type of surgery before, do NOT like needles, the idea of being cut open, etc, etc....but if that's what needs to happen, that's what will happen. I am a big girl and the baby's safety comes first!

So....I guess that is it for a baby update this week! I am feeling pretty good, sleep is a bit uncomfortable with my hips starting to hurt and it is quite difficult and a little painful to turn over in bed. And the getting up every hour or so to use the bathroom is annoying lol! But otherwise, I am still trucking along ;-)  I even took Jimmy to the library this morning to see one of the summer kids programs. He had a blast watching the magician that put on a show about undersea animals, he even had a cute dolphin puppet that squirted water! That got the kids going. Also, tonight Jim and I took Jimmy to our local dairy farm that is open to the public. They have goats to feed, all kinds of family activities like putt-putt and batting cages, kids activities, a restaurant and an ice cream shop. Jimmy had a blast and loved feeding the goats. Here is a pic of daddy showing him how to feed them.

 The next time we go we will have two little ones to tote around, it is still a bit unreal to me! Well, I better get going. I will try to give updates if anything happens! =)

One Month to Go!

Wow, I can't believe I only have one more month until our new little bundle of joy arrives! On one hand, I am wanting this month to fly by because I am so tired and sore and having trouble sleeping comfortably, etc, and I want to meet our new baby! Then on the other hand, I am starting to feel overwhelmed that I have SO MUCH left to do before the baby comes! Only a couple of things really HAVE to be done, but there are a lot of things I would like to do. I have pretty much everything I need from when I had Jimmy so we are pretty much set, I just feel the need to get some little "extras" for when baby arrives. I have not, however, started to nest. I never did with Jimmy and I really hope I do this time. I need that burst of energy and motivation to get some deep cleaning/organizing done! I have a dr. appointment next week and then they will be weekly after that. I am still working on my birth plan and I have to meet the pediatrician who will be doing the hospital visit for the new baby. Our family dr. doesn't do the hospital visits so I had to find someone to do a one time newborn screening. I had a good recommendation so I feel pretty confident about this dr.

My last dr. appt. went well, another quick one, but he said the heart rate was 136 and the baby had dropped a little. The baby has been getting the hiccups regularly and movement has become a little more restricted. I can see little bumps moving across my belly when the baby moves, it is so neat. That feeling never gets old!

Here is a pic I took on my cell phone of my almost 36 week baby "mountain," that ain't no bump lol!

Oh and as far as names go, I have a couple I like, but we won't "know" what the right name is until the baby arrives. All the names I liked for girls last time don't sound right this time so I had to figure out new ones (or one really, I am so picky!). And boy names....ugh. I like 2 and Jim doesn't like either of them. Soooo....we'll see what happens! Let me know if anyone has any suggestions =)

Baby Update! 32 Weeks

I had my 32 week appointment today, everything went great. Except for the part where little Jimmy decided he wasn't going to listen to me....when we first got to the dr. office, I was in the bathroom and I had to, ya know, provide a urine sample, and SOMEONE decided he wasn't going to listen to mommy and stay put, so he opens the door. Its one of those doors with the lock that unlocks when you open it from the inside, wish it was a separate lock!! OY, talk about a Not Me! Monday moment! Then once we were in the exam room, Jimmy decided he would once again turn the lights off and climb on the chairs and once again NOT LISTEN to mommy!! Arrrggghhh!! Its kinda hard to talk to the dr. when you have a 2 yo running around like a crazy child. Luckily this was just a regular visit where the dr. measured my belly and listened to the baby's heartbeat. I think Jimmy will be going to his grandma's house for the next visits though, its getting closer to the due date and I am not going to have him opening the door while I am getting checked to dilation or anything lol! I tried not to provide too much TMI, but this IS about pregnancy! ;-)  

Oh and the dr. had a hard time getting a good heartbeat reading because the baby would not stay still! He did finally get a good reading and he said the baby is very active!

Ok, time for a belly pic:

Annnd...I just realized I am wearing the same shirt as in my 28 week photo lol! Check it out and you can see how much I have "popped" over 4 weeks!  I am also getting a couple more stretch marks, booo!! Not to make anyone hate me lol, but last time I only got itty bitty ones above my belly button. Well....I am a little bigger this time around and I am getting more of those pesky lines showing up =(  I will say that I got horrible stretch marks on my thighs last time, that is my real problem area, not fun! Alright, that's it for now, I will try to post another update in 2 weeks after my next appointment.

28 Weeks!

Wow!! I am in my third trimester! Sorry I have been so lax with the updates, when I was pregnant with Jimmy I made sure we took a pic EVERY month!! But this time around I guess I got lazy. Poor baby #2 =( Everyone always says you take tons of photos of the first and then it dwindles with each one after....I am starting that early!! I am sure I will be taking a bazillion pics when he/she arrives though =D

So I had a dr. appt. today, this starting my every 2 week visits. Everything is great according to the dr. I remembered to ask about the heart rate when I was there 2 weeks ago. At my previous dr. they told you the heart rate, but my new dr. never says what it is, just if it sounds good or not. So I have to remember to ask what it actually IS. So of course I forgot to ask again today, but on my first visit it was 160 and after that they were around 154-58. I think the last appt. was 156. And my dr. said that the baby is growing very well...hmm.....yep, sure seems like it to me!! I feel like a blimp and I still have 3 months left!! Are we sure its not TWINS?? lol  I have been looking at belly pics on babycenter.com though and I think I am pretty average compared to the others due in July. But still...

Here is a baby bump pic. I know some of you have been wanting to see, so here ya go!

I will try to do better with updates, even though there prolly won't be much to tell, assuming all is going well. Oh and tomorrow we go to the hospital for our orientation/tour of the natural birthing center. This is a different hospital than we went to with Jimmy and I am super excited to have a jacuzzi available this time!! Hope I actually get to use it. I will try to post an update about the center tomorrow night or Wednesday. TTFN!

Baby Update - Ultrasound!

I had my ultrasound today! I am about 20 weeks and 5 days along, with a due date of July the 9th. In the ultrasound the baby measured a little bigger with a due date of July 7. So we will see! We did not find out the gender, we like the suspense lol. Actually, I am planning on trying to have this baby all natural just like I did with little Jimmy and having the surprise of whether it is a girl or a boy is something I can focus on during labor. It gives me something to work towards (you know, besides getting the baby out! hehe). And we really don't care if its a boy or a girl as long as he/she is healthy! Doesn't make a difference to us one way or the other. Though I will admit (have I already?) that I would love to have a girl this time around, Jimmy would be so sweet with a little sister and I am actually itching for some pink! Did I really just say that?? Eeesh. And I have a name in mind for a girl, but no clue for a boy (ok I do like a name for a boy, but Jim is not too excited about it...maybe I can get him to change his mind...)!

Everything seemed to go well, we got to see all 4 chambers of the heart, kidneys, all the arms and legs are accounted for and the nostrils and lips look good =D. The placenta is anterior and it was not too low. With Jimmy it was low so I had to get another ultrasound around 32-34 weeks to make sure I didn't have placenta previa (which I didn't) so it looks good to go this time. Alright, so without further ado, here is our little sweetie:

I had to include a face shot, but I have to be honest, they always creep me out. Too alien-ish for me! But I love that face nonetheless! =)  My next dr. appointment is on the 8th so look for another update and a baby bump pic around then. Have a great night!