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!

Colbie Callat Concert

Alex bought us tickets to the Colbie Callat concert like 2 months ago for my birthday (my b-day's not for another couple weeks) but it was so fun. We sent the kids over to grandma and grandpas for a sleep over and spent a great evening together.

The concert was excellent. The guy who opened, a Justin Young who is also in her band was amazing. And in the middle of the concert when the stage manager came out to hand her a guitar she all of a sudden goes, "This is Andy. Hey Andy why don't you sing for us" I thought she was kidding, but this 5 ft. nothing guy with a beard all of a sudden busts out with Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" and he was way good. It was hilarious!

And Alex is so sweet because the next day while I was at woman's conference he went out and did a ton of yard work so I wouldn't be tempted to. (And probably so I'd quit griping about it) It was rainy and cold and the poor guy got the worst cold. I'm sorry honey, but thank you! What a stud! This is the kids building houses for their worms. We've had so much rain and with all the weeding have unearthed a bounty of night crawlers. Tate insisted on building them houses, but Allie kept stealing his worms to put in her house.

As far as baby news goes, there is no news. Which is good. I've stopped having contractions and the braxton hicks have even all but stopped. Of course I haven't done any vigorous mopping or weeding so that's probably helped. I have a Dr. appointment on Friday and I hope he'll do another ultra sound just to check. I'm really curious how big she is because she feels like she is as low as she can go and still can reach those little feet up into my ribs.

A trip to the hospital!

On Thursday I was feeling really energetic and after all the rain we've been having the weeds and grass in the flowerbeds was out of control so I decided to do some weeding. I handed Tate and his buddy Jack a little shovel and rake and I grabbed a hoe and went at it. Alex came home and told me to quit it, that he would do it on Saturday but that he had a ton of homework. I assured him I was fine, though I kept seeing the frustrated looks and hearing the exasperated sighs from the kitchen. I finally did quit when I started feeling crampy and exhausted.

I must have been nesting because Friday morning, even though I still wasn't feeling good I swept, mopped, did laundry and cleaned bathrooms. By then however I knew I had to be done. The cramps were feeling more like contractions and I sometimes had to stop whatever I was doing to wait until it passed. I knew I had over did it so I confined myself to the couch as much as I could with two kids and did nothing except drive to the park later that evening and sat down while the kids played. The "cramps" however would not go away and they hurt! Finally that night after the kids were in bed I gave in and told Alex that it felt like I was having contractions...and that they had consistently been coming every 2-4 minutes nearly all day. Although I defiantly told him all I needed was a good nights rest and I'd be fine he dialed the doctor's office and handed me the phone threatening to call his buddies on the fire department to come help him wrangle me to the hospital if I didn't comply. Fine!

The lady said she'd have the on call doctor call me back. An hour later there was no call and I went to bed. I was awakened at 11:30 by a call from Dr. Ott (who happens to be my doctor). I told him what was going on and that even though I was able to sleep through them I was still having contractions. He told me to head to the hospital. "Right now? As in...tonight?" Yep. So after calling Alex's mom to come sit with the kids we got to the hospital at midnight. They hooked me up to the monitor and sure enough I was having contractions and my cervix was thinning. (Yes Alex, my overprotective husband was right and his stubborn wife was not. Thank you honey!) We were forgotten for a couple of hours while two babies were born, but then a little after 2:00 they gave me something to stop the contractions and sent me home. By 3:30 the contractions did stop and I finally went to bed.

The next day Dr. Ott called again informing me that according to the urine sample I had some small kidney stones that apparently are a common cause of pre-term labor. He ordered lots of fluids and bed rest for the day and as long as the contractions didn't return and I took it easy I wouldn't have to come back in on Sunday to get checked out again. Mrs. Macho here decided to do as she was told. Well....almost. I did after all have a concert that night. Don't worry, the kids spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa and I slept and vegged all day until it was time to get ready for the concert. It went great too!

Ever since then, even something as small as sweeping the floor (a daily must in my house) making dinner and carrying Allie around for a minute gives me cramps. I might go crazy doing nothing, but having a baby 8 weeks early is not exactly an option I want to deal with. With that being said, anyone read any good books? I'm going to need something to keep me occupied and off my feet.