Quick update

So the chiropractor visit didn't work quit the way I'd planned. I had been having contractions that weren't getting worse, but that were staying consistent at 6-8 minutes apart. Then I went and got an adjustment and would you believe that all the contractions, braxtons hicks...everything stopped! Apparently it just wasn't time. That was on Monday and I spent the entire week feeling great and getting a lot done.

My doctor's appointment was today and I was seriously expecting no progress to report, but low and behold I am dilated to a 3! However, I am still only 70% effaced which is the only hold up. So Dr. Ott stripped my membrane to see if that would help a little. We'll see!

Easter!

Here are my two cute kiddos in their Easter wardrobe ready for an Easter egg hunt!

In between conference sessions we took a walk to the temple. They got sunglasses in their baskets and Allie absolutely would not take hers off for anything. Ooooh! Aren't they sweet? If only they would always be this nice to each other!

After a trip to grandma's house they got more candy of course and these cute galoshes. They have both been wearing them ever since! Allie's are pink with polka dots and Tate's are firefighter ones. Very cool and helpful when they are watering the garden!

And we ended up returning our adopted dog Milo. He was a good dog (but he did shed and I plan on writing a strongly worded email to the site that listed Jack Russel Terriers with the non shedding breeds!) The problem was he loved to escape any chance he got and poor Tayden would have a full blown anxiety attack whenever it happened. It was seriously not healthy and so when I brought up the option of letting Milo go to another home where he couldn't run away Tate was so relieved and has mentioned a few times since he's been gone about how nice it is not to worry about Milo. Not having a dog right now is perfectly fine with me.

Just a quick update. I am 37 weeks, but only measuring at 35 because baby is practically in the birth canal, she's so low! As of Friday I was dilated to 1 cm and 70% effaced. Since I've been positive for Group B Strep with my other two we are just assuming that will be the case this time as well. One problem is that I will need 4 hours worth of IV antibiotics before delivery and chances are I won't have that much time. So the doc said that if by this coming Friday I've progressed but still not in labor they will try to get things started and just have me hooked up to the IV. I really don't want that. I'd like to go on my own since he also said that if things do go quickly then the likelihood of the baby getting anything goes way down too. So I've been doing everything I can to go into labor and so far I've had lots of contractions that don't go anywhere! But I just went and got an adjustment which has proven successful to put me into labor within 24-48 hours on two out of two labors. So any day now!

Getting ready for baby!

I've been feeling the need to really get ready for this baby lately. At the same time I've also been hording my own time because I know I won't see much of it for a few months. So this last weekend I decided to ride up with my mother-in-law to Salt Lake for a baby shower for Alex's cousin (she's due 4 days before me) Alex would be home with the kids and I could have my last get away. We stayed at grandma Wilcox's house and really just had a huge girls weekend with girl ranging in age from 15 to grandma's 29 1/2 and holding ;) It was fun and a much needed break. The kids didn't suffer too much without me either. They had Daddy's undivided attention and got to go to the movies and make cookies. My hubbies so great!

But as soon as I got home Sunday night I started having contractions which were painful enough that I couldn't do anything during them, but most of them not bad enough that I couldn't talk. They stayed like that until Monday afternoon! Never getting worse, never getting better and consistently 3-5 minutes apart for a day and a half!

Tuesday morning though, I felt great. In fact I think I did a full days worth of cleaning in just a few hours. And when Alex came home for lunch I made him rearrange our bedroom just so I could vacuum under the furniture and so we could fit our big sofa chair in there so I'd have someplace to sit while I nurse. He just shook his head and laughed at me, but did it anyway! I haven't gotten him to repaint the base boards yet. (Okay so I'm nesting a little).

By Tuesday afternoon the contractions started back up again only worse. But yet again, they never progressed. My amazing little sister Amanda with her 16 month old little girl came over and gratefully made us dinner and got the kids ready for bed since Alex was at school. Alex was prepared to rush me to the hospital to have a baby and Amanda was ready to stay the night with the kids, but I told them not to worry nothing was happening tonight. And I was right. By 11:00 that night the contractions were nothing but harmless braxton hicks.

I feel fine today but am very anxious and annoyed at all this back and forth. Of course I called my doctor on Monday and he didn't seem worried at all. I am 36 weeks which seems really early to me, but I guess we're in the safe zone now so if I go into labor it's okay. I have a doctors appointment on Friday so I'd better be dilating and effacing or something after all that.

Actually I'm not quit ready to have this baby. Even though I took care of a lot of things on my to do list I just would prefer for her cook a little longer and enjoy Tate, Allie and our little family just the way they are right now. I'm very excited to meet our new little girl, but for now I'll just put Alex and the kids to work to fulfill my nesting instincts and relax until she's ready.

Tate started soccer last week! Although his face doesn't show his excitement he had so much fun. It was a little more like a swarm of 5 years old chasing a ball than actual soccer, but they did good. His soccer team is the Colts. It's not part of an actual league because they are 4-6 year olds. So they just go every Wednesday and practice and then they scrimmage with another team. Mostly it's just to teach the kids some basic skills and rules and to have fun. I think we laughed just as much as we cheered! Go Tate!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Last night we went out to dinner to Olive Garden for my birthday. I highly recommend the stuffed chicken marsala! So yummy! 26 doesn't feel much different than 25 but I'm excited for everything 26 will bring anyway. One exciting thing will be our third child and we still have not settled on any names.

We know that her middle name will be Lynn after Alex's aunt who died suddenly the week before our wedding. You'd think it would be easy to pick something that goes with Lynn, but alas we cannot agree on anything. So I am requesting a voting on some of the names we've considered (and I won't even bias it by telling which ones Alex or I like more). Let us know which ones are your favorites and maybe that will help us decide.

Here are the names in no particular order:

Cambree/Kambri Avery

Sophie Kinlee

Harlee Maddison (Maddie)

Kayla Tessa

Leah Jaicee

p.s. Tate just requested that I let you know that his favorite is Sophie!

Meet Milo

My kids (but mostly my husband) have been bugging me about getting another dog since we had to put down Oscar. My constant response was a resounding NO! I am having a baby in 6 weeks and cannot take care of or train a dog. Finally this morning Alex of all people would not stop talking about how much Tate needed the responsibility and how his fondest memories of growing up was with his dog and on and on. Total guilt trip! So I compromised. I said that we could consider getting a dog but only if it was a small dog that did not shed, was already housebroken and good with kids. I even threw in there that it had to be a boy dog since it would be Tate's and that it would have to be cheap. I figured we'd never find a dog that met that criteria for the price I was thinking and that I would be safe for at least another year.

So we spent the morning going to "petting zoos" letting the kids look at all the animals at Sue's pet palace and the pound. I was sure I had won when Alex said we should go to Petco really quick before heading home. And what did we find when we walked in? A male Jack Russell Terrier, which doesn't shed, is a small dog, 5 years old, already housebroken and was sent to the shelter because his owners were moving. He is vaccinated and nudered and only 30 bucks! The woman went on and on about how great he is with kids and other dogs and his only down fall is that if he gets loose, he runs. Great!

So we have a dog. (Sorry it's turned). He's actually really good and very mellow. He does like to beg for food and thinks the couch belongs to him, but I have to admit he's really cute and my husband and son are very happy boys. And the moral of the story is: hold your ground until after the baby is born or you'll get exactly what you ask for at exactly the time you don't want it!

J/K His first day here he was great so hopefully he just kind of fits right in and it turns out to be not a big deal at all.

Baby bump 33 weeks!

Humongous belly! Although everyone says I don't look that big I feel huge and this picture Tate took for me seems to agree. I had my 32 week doctor's appointment last week and have had no more contractions to speak of. And other than the occasional hip popping in and out of place and some heart burn I feel great.

I've also been debating a lot about how I want this labor to go. And I've decided that I'm going to do this unmedicated. Yes, that all natural! I gave a lot of thought to this and since both my previous labors went very fast up until the epidural slowed me down I figured that my chances of this labor being fairly quick is pretty good. Plus with Allie they over medicated me with the epidural and my right leg was dead and I had no...uhh...control of my faculties for hours after the epidural was removed. That's a very unsettling feeling.

So I've been asking around and getting some fun natural labor stories and plan to go the library and get a book or two about some techniques. Wish me luck!