2 weeks from today is my due date!!! Maybe this will be my last weekly post???
First thing I want to mention is an update on Mr. Rusty.
Thank you to everyone who is praying for him as well as for our family!!!
He had his biopsy this morning and we should know the results late next week sometime. The wonderful news is that the Dr said the biopsy went well and that he did NOT SEE any evidence of tumors (which are the obvious signs of cancer).
Obviously it could still be prostate cancer but it would be much worse news if he had seen obvious cancer like signs.
The pathology reports will give us much more details but we are all feeling a sense of relief because we know that most likely it’s not a worst-case-scenerio type news. Please do continue to lift our family up as we wait the report!
Also be sure to enter the giveaway going on right now for a FREE Halo SleepSack! A winner will be chosen Sunday 🙂
And if you haven’t yet entered the Leo Baby Pool I would HIGHLY suggest getting those guesses in! You can enter it here!
I also wanted to add that most likely when the time comes Instagram will be the first place and news about labor and the baby will be posted so make sure you are following me there if you aren’t already 🙂
Baby Growth:
Leo is weighing around 6.8 lbs and is over 19.5 inches long (length of a leek).
It’s so crazy to read those stats and think the baby is STILL in my belly b/c you see newborns all the time with that weight and length 🙂 I can def feel every inch of those 19.5 inches too. Child is OUT of space 🙂
Pregnancy Symptoms:
First I want to talk about a non-pregnancy related issue and that’s my foot!
I blog about my foot because it’s part of my journey and that’s what this blog is about. My personal experiences! When I blog about it I don’t really expect any response.
I mean I assume the foot posts are downright boring for most of y’all!
However, I continue to get email after email from people who have experienced similar issues to mine!!!
While none of them have had a conclusion to the situation, it does make me feel much less alone in all of this. And so many of them have it MUCH worse than I do. It helps put it in perspective for sure!
Awhile ago Crocs was on Zulily so I decided to order several pairs for myself. Y’all I am SO pumped!
They all (finally) came in and now I have several cute pairs of good support flip flops and even some BOOTS!
These are cute AND have much more support than other boots I own. I feel SO much more optimistic about finding footwear to accommodate my issues!!!
When I tried on my boots this little model had to come out in some of her own to show off 😉
Okay back to pregnancy symptoms from this week! And get ready because there were a LOT!!!
Zach had basketball both Tuesday and Thursday nights and on Wednesday he had to travel to Columbus for the day.
So basically I was a single parent for those three days! Which is NOT easy at this stage in the game…especially when my husband was hardcore about me “taking it easy” so I wouldn’t go into labor while he was gone.
Bad combo! I did the best I could though and the kids were AWESOME!
I explained to them that the baby could come at any time and that I wanted to be super careful so hopefully the baby wouldn’t come while Daddy was away.
They understood and played so well together and it made my life so much easier!
Another way life was easier? I let Britt skip bath and had Kye take his first “man shower.” He took a shower all by himself and bathed himself and everything.
Needless to say he loved it and it saved me from having to bathe him 😉
Zach made the point to me that he thinks the stress of him being away really causes me to feel worse. And I agree.
I am SO nervous when he’s not nearby. Thinking of going into labor without him is very terrifying. Now that he’s not going ANYWHERE else I feel SO SO SO much better and truly like I’m ready for Leo whenever Leo is ready for us!
My melasma is def super bad…which I expected. I get dark spots anytime I’m pregnant (pregnancy mask is another term for it).
I knew being a summer baby that it would FOR SURE happen so I’m jus loading up on the concealer to help it. I hate that I look like I have a mustache due to the discoloration but I know once the baby comes it goes away a good bit and I know there are products to make it completely gone too if I doesn’t fade on its own so I’m not stressing it.
Several times this week I noticed I lost some of my plug.
Saturday morning I lost some, then some more on Sunday and some more today. It’s thick enough for me to know it’s the plug but it’s not a TON at once or anything and some of it has been tinged brownish.
Since my appointment last week my pain “down there” has been worse.
I thought maybe it was from the rough check…but since it never stopped I guess it’s just the new norm for me now. Over the weekend it was literally painful every step I took!
My lower stomach hurt, my groin area hurt, my legs hurt. I did buy some tucks pads and keep them in the fridge then put one in my panties (on top of a liner) and it did help relieve a lot of the pressure and pain.
Of all my pregnancies, this one has resulted in my stomach being stretched the tightest. I’ve never had pain and tenderness the way I do this time.
I’ve also NEVER had a belly button like this. Oh my gosh. I posted this to a group I’m a member of and had someone suggest I may have a hernia since my belly button is so large and sticking out so far. I asked Stacy about it yesterday and she said it’s fine!
The main concern though with my belly is my old piercing.
I took out my belly button ring 10 years ago but the hole never fully closed.
It’s never been an issue in the past while pregnant but this week I noticed it was painful (not just to the touch but painful even without touching it). I looked at it and say how red it was in the area between the two holes (and yes, the fact that I can SEE the bottom of the hole is so gross!).
I was FREAKING out worried. I’ve heard of it ripping and do NOT want that to happen! I read several sources that said to apply a lot of vitamin E oil or olive oil so I did that like a mad woman and, thankfully, the pain stopped and the redness subsided.
Zach felt the area and does think there is still some give in the skin and I read that usually the skin continues to stretch to accommodate it and that ripping is actually very rare (although mega bloody and super painful if it happens…so obviously it’s something I def want to avoid).
Moral of the story is: if you don’t have your belly button pierced…don’t do it!
Saturday night I experienced something I’ve never had happen. I was dead asleep and woke up with my mouth filled with vomit. I mean how does that happen?!?! SO SO gross.
I also have noticed I’m starting to drool at night too. And an issue I thought I was gonna skip this pregnancy is here…calf pains.
I had them SO BAD with Britt throughout most of my pregnancy. I’ve been thankful to avoid them up until this point! I’ve been trying to drink more water and to also stretch them often.
They have been hurting non-stop since mid-week though. I took both magnesium and potassium last pregnancy to help the issue so I added those in with my daily vitamins.
I’ve also been taking sudafed and it is also helping my ear issues and some congestion I was having. Zach said I’ve started snoring and breathing mega loud at night so I’m going to take them at night before bed as well because I’m sure it’s from that!
Every night that Zach was home we practiced relaxation which makes me feel SO MUCH better about labor coming! I’ve also been using my birthing ball to sit on whenever we watch tv in the evenings.
And, since I’m now 38 weeks, I am taking two evening primrose oils each morning.
I may also try inserting them (Last pregnancy I used a tampon applicator to do it and it worked well). I read it helps prepare the area for labor and lowers chances of needing an episiotomy.
With Kye I had to have one AND I ripped the rest of the way. That was NOT a fun healing process so avoiding having that again would be smart!
I take a LOT of vitamins haha along with the 2 sudafeds, 2 evening primrose oils, the magnesium and the potassium I am also still taking folic acid, prenatals, omegaplex, calcium plus, and probiotics! This week I did decide to stop drinking my daily Spark.
I figured I would stop drinking it until the baby comes so that way it’ll REALLY work haha. I drink one every day and figure it has probably lost it’s true working magic by now?!?!
Zach always says I’m addicted to it but I have not had a SINGLE issue since I stopped drinking it. No headaches or anything! So I def don’t think it has that same “caffeine addiction” effect that coffee or soda has!
I’ve noticed a lot more leakage going on “down there.”
On Sunday I leaked through my panties and a pair of jean shorts and was concerned that it could be amniotic fluid. I layer down for 30 min and it stopped so I felt a lot better about it and it did slow down a good bit on Monday.
I had Stacy check it yesterday and she said it’s just normal stuff going on. I’m typically a big “leaker” anyways at this stage in pregnancy so it’s the norm for me for sure!
Early Thursday morning I woke up b/c of the dog and when I woke up I felt SO SICK. I’ve never really had heart burn or indigestion but that’s for sure what I was experiencing!
I ended up staying up until 4:30 because I couldn’t go back to bed. I was worried I’d throw up! I took Tums for the first time in my life and I guess they helped!
I had a good bit of burping going on but nothing else. We did eat rather spicy food Wednesday night which is rare for me so maybe that caused it?!?! I haven’t had it since, thankfully but do plan to try to drink a small glass of milk each night as I know that’s supposed to help!
After my appointment yesterday I was a little freaked out! Stacy mentioning that she thinks delivery will be soon made me nervous! The only REAL concern I have about going into labor now is that Lindsay, who is going to do my birthing photos, is out of town until Wednesday.
Awhile back I asked on FB for anyone who would be willing to be her back up and have a list of sweet friends who volunteered but ideally I’d really like a photographer in there with us, ya know?
I got my butt in gear yesterday and reached out to SO MANY people! I now have a solid list of two professional photographers as well as two friends who have nice cameras and skill sets similar to mine that I know would all do a great job.
I feel WAY better now about it for sure although I’m still hoping to have Lindsay be the one there! I’ve been looking so forward to her experiencing it with us!
At this point I feel very at peace with everything. I pray every time we have family prayer time for the health of this baby and for the overall blessing of a wonderful birth experience.
I’m not pumped for the pain but I know it’s temporary and I trust that the Lord has this handled! I still have moments where I get scared and where I get sad about my mom but overall I think I’m in a good mental place about it all.
I’m not feeling frustrated or overly miserable but I’m also not feeling like I want to stay pregnant forever either.
With Kye I was BEYOND over it at this point and with Britt I was in NO hurry to have that baby!
This time I’m just truly leaving it up to the Lord and Leo 🙂 Whenever it’s time, it’ll be time!
I do plan to start trying tricks and such next week. I am getting my nails done Monday and my hair done Tuesday so if Leo doesn’t arrive by Wednesday the natural labor induction tricks will begin!!!
Weight:
Gained 2 lbs this week. Oops! Now I’m at 28 lbs total. Like I said last week I’d like to avoid hitting 30 lbs if possible. But with plans to try to eat all my favorite foods this week it may not happen haha!
Gender:
I mentally have been practicing saying both names 🙂
The kids and I talk about the baby all the time (the baby has even now been talked about more than Disney World!).
Kye always talks about all the great things about having a little brother.
And I do think he is at an age where he will TRULY appreciate a little brother whereas Britt is too young to fully grasp how awesome a little sister would be for her.
Although she does say she wants it to be a girl!
Zach said he is 100% at peace about this being a girl. Which I’m SO thankful for. His apprehensions about another daughter def worried me and caused me to be nervous about the moment the baby is born!
—–> Read why we don’t find out the gender while pregnant here!
Maternity Clothes:
I went through my closet and pulled out a few of the dresses and such I haven’t worn (or haven’t had pics of me wearing) to try to wear before the baby comes!
Movement:
At this point I can tell Leo has dropped a little. I feel the two hard spots right above my belly button but lower than I felt them last week.
I’m not sure if those two hard areas are the butt? Feet? It shouldn’t be the knees right b/c that would be a sunny side up baby? I have no clue!
But I still feel a decent bit of movement. It’s back to being more intense when it happens simply because he or she is out of space!
Sleep:
Zach slept on the couch a couple nights this week and resorted to sleeping upstairs last night.
Last pregnancy I slept upstairs. I LOVE that bed!
But this time, with my foot, I’d rather not be climbing up stairs!
I think every pregnant woman gets to the point where sleeping separate is kinda a necessity. I’ve had to do it all three pregnancies. I do NOT like it though.
I talked to Kye about it so he would understand why. I told him straight up that I’ve been snoring and bothering Daddy haha. Maybe the sudafed at night will make it possible for us to sleep together again 🙂
Cravings:
No real cravings this week. I’m still loving the vanilla wafers.
And Zach and the kids surprised me with breakfast in bed on Saturday morning! I got to sleep in until 9 (which was AMAZING) and woke up to these adorable, sweet pancakes 🙂
Things Accomplished This Week:
Well. I have reached the point of BOREDOM. Like literally I am now going through and unsubscribing from email lists. Seriously! Who ever has the time for that?!?!
After my little concern last week where I thought I might have been in labor I now have all my bags 100% packed and ready to go for the hospital! I plan to write a post about everything I packed 🙂
I decided to be more organized this time and I did a small tote for the delivery room, a larger bag of my stuff for the stay, and a diaper bag with stuff related to Leo in it 🙂
—-> What I pack in my hospital bag
Saturday Zach went into the attic for me and got down all my childhood toys.
We packed them away years ago. And I’ve been wanting to get them down and go through them as I knew I had some stuff in there that Britt (and Kye!) would enjoy. It was SO fun going through it all! I’m SO thankful I have so many things saved!
We found my Little Tikes doll houses and ALL the accessories. We cleaned them all but I’m kinda waiting to let the kids play with them as it’d be a great thing to introduce when Leo arrives so they have something new and fun to do.
We did go ahead and let them enjoy these Disney stuffed animals 🙂 I bet some of this stuff is probably worth some money!
I ordered all my blog books for 2013 a couple weeks ago and they arrived this week!
The kids and I enjoyed pulling out the books from when they were both born and we went over their first pictures and such. It is so fun and so neat to look back at those precious memories.
I’m SO thankful for this blog and for the blog books. It’s awesome to have a hard copy of everything I’d written and I love how easy they are to reference.
If we’re talking about something I can go grab one and find the entry to show the kids and they love it! I used The Cutest Blog On the Block. The process itself is MEGA easy but their website is kinda awful. You can typically always find a 10% off code though!
This week I also finished up all the meals I wanted to make in advance! I organized our deep freezer and now have a spot to store up all my breastmilk. I pre-made over 30 meals total for our family!
I also have a post that will go up with all the recipes I used. Being such a planner and knowing what the baby’s schedule will roughly look like I knew I needed meals for a good 3-4 months for us.
Evenings are tough with nursing, especially since my babies tend to be slow nursers. By having meals prepared in advance Zach or I can just easily heat them up at dinner time rather than one of us having to try to cook a full meal.
I called our insurance company and got a FREE Medela Pump in Style Advanced! I love, love, love my pump (I used the Medela Freestyle) but figured if it’s free why not get it to have in case I need a back up?
I’ve heard that over time the pumps can stop working as well and I’ve had mine since 2008 so that’s a real possibility!
In each baby book I always like to include a letter to the baby from mommy and daddy.
I wrote my letter this week! I also went ahead and bought all the kids school supplies and have them hanging on their hooks in the garage ready for open house (which isn’t until Aug 8th!).
Today I went ahead and wrapped all of Zach’s birthday presents (which isn’t until Aug 7th haha). I’ve also gotten all the stuff I want to sell in the kids sale priced and tagged and ready for drop off (Aug 2nd).
I have all the Facebook albums caught up through June AND have blog posts drafted to have me completely caught up to the present day. That means I’ve edited all the pics, and uploaded them, and have them in the posts…I just have to add the words!
Zach’s grandmother and aunt came and deep cleaned the house for us yesterday! I’ve NEVER had someone else clean my house but Zach agreed to let them do it!
There are several things that needed to be cleaned (ceiling fans, blinds, dust in high areas, etc) that I just can’t do and I feel so much better knowing those areas are taken care of!
I have also booked our little family beach trip for October, booked our ski trip for December, and have contacted a ton of people regarding our 4th of July stay for next year.
Seriously! I am pretty amazed at myself at this point with everything I’ve accomplished 😉
So basically if Leo doesn’t come soon…I’m probably going to start getting pretty BORED haha!
Since I’ve finished reading Babywise I think I’m going to try to start reading The Baby Whisperer Solves All of Your Problems because I love to combine the two with my kids and could def use the refresher!
What I Miss:
No leg cramping!
Best Moments of the Week:
That I did NOT give birth while Zach was away!!! Now that he’s home “for good” I feel SO MUCH better! Obviously, today’s news about Mr. Rusty is a HUGE blessing and stress relief as well!
The kids and I spent a lot of time together this week and I tried the best I could to cherish them and enjoy them and really talk to them since I know I’m going to be distracted a lot when Leo arrives.
I have been doing my best to prepare them and explain to them what to expect. I think the transition will go very well! Since the house was getting cleaned yesterday we went to a movie together!
Our local theater does $1 kids movies on Tues and Thur during the summer and they were both so excited. The both wanted to hold my hand during the movie and I just soaked up that sweet loving!
Kye is especially excited about the baby’s arrival. He is my planner (he gets it honest!) so I have been trying to do my best to prepare him for what will happen.
It’s hilarious to me that he STILL hasn’t asked HOW the baby will get here?!?!
I’ve told him that the baby will decide to come at any minute now and that Mommy may hurt some and that it’s okay because Mommy hurting is a good thing and it means the baby is coming!
We’ve talked about how he could wake up from naps/night sleep and have someone else here with him if Mommy and Daddy had to go to the hospital. He loves to practice with Britt when they will make the BIG announcement to everyone!
On the way to the movie I told the kids that if Mommy felt like the baby was coming we may have to leave early (I had just left my appointment and Stacy saying it could be soon made me nervous about how soon!) so they didn’t need to get upset.
Kye literally got tears in his eyes and said “Mommy I’m just crying because I am SO excited to have my OWN baby! I am ready for the baby to come NOW! I am older now (in comparison to when I had Britt I assume) and I am so excited!
And when it does come I’m going to just cry cry cry!” It makes my heart truly so, so happy and is such a blessing to me to hear his excitement!
He also worked on his “Super Sibling” book from the sibling class at the hospital this week! He sat in the baby’s room with a little table and filled in all the areas in the book.
One section asked for what he thinks we should name the baby and he told me he wanted to pick two boy names and two girl names.
He would ask me how to spell them as he thought of them.
Then he also drew what he thinks the baby will look like. He drew several different options since we’ve talked about how neat it will be to see if the baby is bald or has hair 😉 So precious! (and hilarious as well)
Kye and Britt love to play doctor and Britt likes to now pretend that she has a baby in her belly and Kye checks on her baby 🙂
They also CONSTANTLY play babies and carry around their “babies” wrapped up in the hospital blankets.
They love putting them in the baby swings and Kye likes to give instructions on how to properly swaddle haha here’s a video 😉
Casey and Carter came to hang out some yesterday (which was such a blessing to me! I went to her house Sunday for some ME time and hanging out with her def helps me feel less bored!) and Kye is just SO amazing with him.
He wanted to hold him and love on him and even went through his toys and books and gave Carter a truck to keep and a book to keep. How precious is that?!?!
Truly my favorite thing of this week is seeing the excitement and anticipation of the kids!
I know there will be tough times. I know they will get frustrated with having to be quiet so much, with how much of my time will be spent with the baby, etc.
But I also know they already LOVE their little brother or sister so much and it makes all the concerns about labor and life with three truly fade into the background 🙂
Questions/Concerns:
- Zach talked to his mom about helping with the kids for school so that is yet another HUGE stress off my shoulders 🙂
- I’m nervous about labor and the emotions surrounding it!
Goals for this Week:
- Have a baby…or, if not, just work on my tan! 🙂
Belly Pics:
I got this dress at Goodwill…and it was half off so I only paid $3. Couldn’t resist snatching it up! Maybe these will be the last pics?!?!
Notes from Past Pregnancies:
You can read my 38 week post with Britt here!
You can see how I looked at 38 weeks pregnant with Kye here!
I did have Kye during this week…I had him a couple days shy of being 39 weeks! Britt I didn’t have until 3 days before my due date. So who knows when Leo could come!
I felt (and looked) REALLY good last pregnancy at this point. I remember that feeling and I remember truly not caring when the baby came.
I loved being pregnant! I feel bad that it’s not like that this time around. I’m def over being pregnant and ready to feel comfortable again. And don’t like the way I look AT ALL.
It’s interesting to read Britt’s post and see that “pelvic floor pressure” is a sign that labor is near.
THAT is what I’ve been feeling this week I bet! It says it’s very painful “down there” I’ve never had it during past pregnancies but I am for sure this time!
I am really, really hoping my water breaks this time like it did with Kye. Since my pregnancy is so similar to my one with him I’m hopeful maybe that will happen for me too.
It is just so nice to KNOW “okay I’m for sure in labor” rather than having the guessing game like I did with Britt! Either way though I’m feeling excited! It’s SCARY to have NO CLUE when it could all happen…but it’s also super, super fun 🙂
That color suits you SO well… You look stunning!