Pictures from family time last weekend

We have a party with some church friends scheduled for tomorrow, but tonight I feel like posting some pictures from last weekend. We had a ton of fun with family.
(I actually had to Photoshop JT in the above picture because he disappeared when the timer flashed, but it worked out.)
John hanging out with JT.

Camille running as usual.

Davina and I on the front porch.

It was a beautiful day for pictures.

John hung out on the couch with the kids before bedtime.

it didn't work...

Today the hospital called at 1:00 to move the time for the external version up to 4:30, and then I was supposed to be there at 3:45 for all the admittance things. We got there on time and I got hooked up to IV and answered a ton of questions. They monitored the baby's heartbeat and my contraction for over 20 min. I didn't have too many contractions and they weren't that big. Baby's heartbeat was usually in the 140's.

By the time we were done with everything and ready it was 4:45. Too bad the Dr. and Midwife didn't show up until the original time of 5:30. It was quite boring in the room (John actually fell asleep in the chair while we were waiting for the Doctor). When they did come we went over a bunch of procedural stuff, I signed some forms and they oiled my belly up for movement. They used an ultrasound machine to check baby's position and monitor his heartbeat. The doctor and midwife pushed hard on my stomach to move him. The first time they tried, they turned his head down a little bit and then he jolted it right back up. They tried again but he didn't move much. The third time they were trying they stopped and checked the heartbeat and it had gone down significantly so they decided to stop. So...it didn't work, he is still breech.

The procedure was painful for me, but more in an very uncomfortable- need to use my breathing and relaxation techniques type of way. I didn't cry or anything. I am pretty sore right now especially on the top of my stomach where they were pushing on his head.

After that was done they monitored baby's heartbeat and my contractions again for about a 1/2 hour. It was cool to see that when my stomach was tense and I felt short of breath that my contraction numbers went up (so it was obvious I was having a contraction). John and I timed them and they were around 8 min. apart (and not painful). By the end of the time I was hooked up the contractions were less intense. Also baby went to sleep after all the craziness of the version, but he needed to show a significant "awake" movement and heart rate before they took me off monitor, so as soon as he woke up and started kicking again we were able to leave.

I was actually not to stressed throughout the entire thing. I am disappointed that it didn't work, but for some reason I kind of thought it wouldn't work even before we went in. It was worth a try. I guess the next step is to see if he flips on his own, or to schedule a c-section for 39 weeks sometime. More on that later.

By the time we were finished, I hadn't eaten in over 8 hours (because I wasn't allowed to) so we got some food and then came home. I could tell in John's face that he was disappointed too. He came home early to install the car seat "just-in-case". When we were eating tonight I asked him if he was sad. He said "yeah, I wanted it to work, or a baby" He is sooo excited to meet baby and he saw him kick a lot in my belly today. He is going to be an awesome dad.
He took a few pictures of me today. Maybe I will add one to this post tomorrow:)
Before we left: 36.5 weeks:)
At the hospital monitoring baby's heartbeat and my contractions.

External Version scheduled for TOMORROW!

I saw my midwife again today. Baby is still breech and at 36 1/2 weeks, it is more unlikely that he will flip on his own. I knew that we would be scheduling an external version for 37 weeks, but the doctor at my practice will be going on a vacation during my 37th week, so they decided to push it up to before he leaves...which means it is happening TOMORROW at 5:30.
Here is what Frank Breech looks like:

Here is what External Version means:(from babycenter.com)
"Babies who are still breech near term are unlikely to turn on their own. So if your baby is still bottom down at 37 weeks, your caregiver should offer to try to turn your baby to the more favorable head-down position, assuming you're an appropriate candidate.

This procedure is known as an external cephalic version (ECV). It's done by applying pressure to your abdomen and manually manipulating the baby into a head-down position.

ECV has about a 58 percent success rate in turning breech babies (and a 90 percent success rate if the baby is in a transverse lie.) But sometimes a baby refuses to budge or rotates back into a breech position after a successful version. ECV is more likely to work if this isn't your first baby." More info HERE.

Other things about the procedure: It will take place at the hospital, I will be hooked up to IV, and baby will be monitored by heart rate and ultrasound. They will give me a muscle relaxer- which might make me jittery. If the baby is in distress they will need to do an immediate c-section. My midwife put me at ease a little by saying that she hasn't seen that happen in her experience. If the external version works and baby flips, we are on track for a regular delivery when he is ready to come. If it doesn't work, they schedule a c-section for 39 weeks.

I feel a little like a deer in headlights right now. I got the call as I was picking up some things from Target today. My mind was racing so much that I forgot to pick up the pictures I ordered. John's response was a giddy "oh my goodness".

Other things about my appointment: I am measuring right on, I gained 1/2 a lb. and I tested positive for the Group B strep test, which means I will need antibiotics from the hospital before I have the baby. (10-30 of pregnant women test positive for it) more info HERE.

In other pregnancy thoughts, I had a horrible night on Monday night. I had a wrenching pain in my mid-lower back on the right hand side. I was pretty sure it wasn't labor pains, because the pain spread to the abdomen- but it wasn't a crampiness that came and went. I spent a lot of the night groaning and trying labor positions to make it stop hurting. Finally I took a nausea pill, and used a heating pad which seemed to help. Yesterday I took it VERY easy, and today I feel pretty good. NO IDEA what that was all about.

OK, well...time to pack my hospital bags just in case I need to stay. OH MY GOODNESS.
I hope the external version works, but if it doesn't it won't be so bad. I'll try to post again soon to let you know how it went.
Here is a cute picture from the weekend:

Baby shower and family

Cherry and Davina threw an awesome baby shower for John and I this weekend. We had a ton of fun and got a lot of stuff we needed. Here are some pictures:
The cake was beautiful:



Cherry made the party favors-

John got to open 2 presents. One was a "Daddy's Diaper Duty Device" tool belt with all kinds of goodies in it:)


Another was things from his childhood to pass on to our little guy. Can you believe he wore these?:)


After the shower a few of us stuck around and played some croquet and enjoyed the nice weather.


I was very glad Chad (my brother) and his fiancee Christine could come. We had a great time.



THANK YOU Davina and Cherry for the awesome time. I hope to do another post tomorrow about the rest of our visit with family.

35 weeks- a "couple" of photos

I have thought about getting pregnancy photos done professionally, but I really haven't felt good enough to think about it seriously.

I brought my camera to church because John became a member in front of the congregation today. Yeah! Congrats to him. Everyone already considers him a member and has for 5 years, but it is official now. I didn't take any picture of that, because I didn't want to be distracting...but we did take a couple of pictures together afterwords.

We had a friend take a few pictures with our camera, and I edited them with Photoshop to give them some pop:) (I realize the shadows are not ideal, but they aren't too bad.) BTW- I got this maternity dress for $1 at a garage sale last week. I think it is kind of cute.


I tried a black and white one, but I'm not sure. Plus it was really bright looking into the sun:)



We had a great day. John became a member at church then went to TGIFridays to celebrate the end of John's semester and his grades, me getting into grad school, and everything else in our lives. We talked about babies, nicknames for baby, discipline of kids, our plans for the week, and celebrities in weight loss commercials:) After that we picked out some geraniums and petunias for our house at Lowes. We planted them this afternoon. I am exhausted, but it was worth it.

34 weeks and Twinz day

I just realized I haven't posted about 34 weeks yet.
It has kind of sucked. I have had a lot more pain in my upper stomach (the baby pushing up against my ribs), and it makes me REALLY nauseous when he moves a lot. Wednesday I took a 1/2 day off school and was frustrated to the point of tears because of how crappy I felt (nausea, stomach pain...). The last two days have been better, but I have still felt some pain. I'm pretty sure they are not contractions, just growing pains and "baby pushing up against things" pains. Part of me hopes he flipped during those painful movements...but that may just be wishful thinking.

On the other hand, it is getting closer to the time we will have a baby! I have started having dreams during the night about having a new baby in our house...and a few about how he is born- but those have odd twists and are pretty crazy:)

Now...the best part. It was Twinz day at school today. My friend Ami volunteered to be my twin and stuff a ball in her shirt to look pregnant. We decided to go as pregnant hockey players:)


People loved our costumes, and some of the younger kids in school thought she was having a baby too. Kudos to her for dressing up like the pregnant lady:)
There was also a little fair at school where each class ran a booth and all the kids had a lot of fun!
My class ran the donut eating contest again, and it went great. Luckily the weather was 60+ and sunny for that part of the afternoon, because 2 hours later it started pouring and it has been raining all night.

I'm in love with....

...back rubs and relaxation exercises during childbirth classes. They really calm me down and make me feel sleepy.
...cinnamon toast crunch and special K cereal mixed together before bed. Strange, but not a horrible craving to have.
...rubbing my upper belly right below my ribs. I'm pretty sure baby's head is pushing up against my ribs OR my ligaments are stretching there a LOT. OW!
...Friendly MONSTERS. I have been surfing Etsy for cute monster things every since my sister showed me what she made for baby the other day. The theme of the nursery is officially monsters (even if I will have a lot of other random stuff thrown in there).
Here is the onsie she made:
She calls it her pirate monster:) Even after looking at all these other monsters- the pirate monster is still my favorite!
I doubt I will actually buy anything even though I love all these things...but they are so fun to see (and with some of them you can only buy the pattern). The other fun part about monsters is that people make up their personalities:)
Here is what I found. Click on the words for the link where it came from:
Monster dolls

Monster baby toys

Monster baby shoes

Monster finger puppets

The caption for this next monster is: droo can't decide if the glass if half full or half empty, or if there is a glass at all. droo seeks advice.

Monster outfits

I'm also trying to figure out if I can create some canvas wall art of monsters using some of the ideas I have found. Here is one idea if I make it smaller:
This is adorable too:

Click on THIS link or the picture to see the activities inside:)
Oh for fun. Off to do something more productive now...like sleep.

Garage Sales and 33 wk apt.

I went to some garage sales this morning and found some great deals.
I saw this Melissa & Doug Monster Bowling set in a magazine a while back and thought it was so cute. Then I found the whole set today at a garage sale for .50! (I looked online and new it is $25) I love it!

I also got a shelf with pullout type drawers that has days of the week on it. I can turn the drawers around to be just plain fabric too. It looks so cute and will come in handy for storage.

I also found some short sleeved maternity tops, a waterproof mattress pad that covers the crib mattress, a few clothes and burp cloths for baby, and a lamp for the baby room. Oh, and I got a baby bathtub for free:) I wasn't sure if I would use one, so I never registered for it, but hey- if I can get it for free I will use it.

33 week apt.
They say I am very healthy because my blood pressure is great. My belly measured right at 33 weeks along. I didn't gain any weight this time again, so they are making me eat more. After last time when I gained a good amount of weight I cut back on MAKING myself eat before bed and being sure I had a lot of protein, but I guess I will start that up again:)
Baby is still breech but has time to flip. At 36 weeks if he hasn't flipped they will decide if they want to try and manually flip him. Baby is moving around a lot (I guess just side to side and moving his hands and legs a lot). John felt baby when he was most active the other day and got the biggest smile on his face.
It seems like if he is not moving I want him to move so I know he is still doing good, but when he moves a lot (especially at night) it makes me so nauseous and I want him to stop moving:)
I asked my midwife if I could take my nausea medication during labor because I envision the pain making me even more nauseous. She said YES and they could even give it to me through IV!

I am ready to meet our little man. I really need to pack a hospital bag and write up my "birth plan" which is really just a few ideas that might be nice if they happen to go that way:)

33 weeks

I made it to 33 weeks. I have started experimenting with my non-pregnancy spring/summer clothes to see what still fits. It means trying a few outfits on in the morning, but I have found a few to put in rotation.
Yesterday was LONG, I was busy from 7:45am-9:30pm. Today I was happy to be home by 5pm. In childbirth classes we went through labor stations and I had to stick my hand in ice and water for a minute or longer while we practiced breathing techniques and labor positions. It was really cold (John even stuck his hand in the water with me on the last time). I learned that when I am pain I tend to talk fast,groan and look for distractions. John tried to distract me with information from his history class that he was studying for his finals, but it wasn't exciting enough for me:)

Other Random thoughts:
I bought some smaller baskets from Walmart and put them in my changing table (the big one is from Goodwill). I washed a few of the pants, onsies, and other random things that don't get hung up and put them in the baskets ready for baby.

I have had a few days where I really just don't feel that good (still nausea), but some days I feel better (and the pill helps it!)
I go to the Doctor again on Thursday, so if anything changes in my status, I will probably update it then.
I really want to work on writing my birth plan, but at night most of the time I am too tired. Maybe when school is over in 2 1/2 weeks:)
Baby has been moving/kicking a ton lately. A few friends from school got to feel him kicking during our CPR class.
I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL! It probably isn't that big of deal, but I was accepted into the Educational Technology program at UNC. I plan on taking one class at a time at first (especially with a new baby), but I think it will be good for me and offer a little more job security:)

Field Trip at 32 weeks:)

Should I go on a field trip over an hour away from school while at 32 weeks pregnant? I say- hey why not? Others were more skeptical. Once I told them I wasn't staying overnight on the aquarium floor everyone was better about it.
SO... went on the class trip with my 8th graders to the Zoo and to the Aquarium this week. I organized the whole thing, I thought I should go:)
Last year I had an amazing time and was able to stay overnight in the aquarium with the kids. (see that post HERE.)
This year I went to the zoo and the aquarium restaurant, but slept at home before continuing the rest of the trip the next day. It was snowing when we got up in the morning and I was imagining the worst, but it just ended up being cloudy and a bit cold at the zoo- not too bad:)
Here are some pictures from the day. I cropped out all of the kids because of school rules. The big animals were great, but it was easier to get pictures of the small animals during the educational class we took.


This morning (Saturday) I considered going to some garage sales to find some baby stuff, but I felt very nauseous and looked at my big mess around the house (John and I have been working a lot lately) and decided to stay home and clean/rest. It was worth it because I took the best nap ever.

Insurance Tangent: Skip it if it sounds boring:)
I looked into insurance for baby again on Friday. I understand that you can't get insurance for the baby until they are born (and have a SS card). I also understand that baby is covered under my insurance for 30 days after he is born- but I don't want to be shopping around at that point in time. I want to get quotes to find out if it would be better to get baby individual insurance instead of putting him on my group plan. I'm pretty sure individual insurance will be cheaper for a similar plan, but the insurance companies won't even give me a quote. Before they could even talk to me about it they made sure I was less than 60 days until due date. Then they said I could call back when I was 30 days until due date or less. WHAT? Babies come early sometimes! (Not that I am planning on that, but I am saying it could happen). I also looked into a lot of state funded insurance and find out we make a little bit to much money to participate in those. I also didn't enjoy trying to have my questions answered by the state funded insurance call center. (I was on hold for a long time and the person I talked to didn't speak clear English and wasn't very friendly) Under the state funded insurance we wouldn't even be able to apply until the baby didn't have any insurance (after the 30 days) and the application takes 45 days to process so I'm kind of glad that option doesn't work for us.

Only 3 weeks of school left till summer! I know it will be a crazy 3 weeks, but it will be worth it.