This is it...

This is my last post before being a Mommy of TWO! It's really hard to put into words everything I'm feeling. Anxious, excited, nervous, happy, sad - you name it I'm feeling it!

First, I'm so grateful to Jamie for being such a WONDERFUL husband - especially through this pregnancy. Although I think my hormones have been somewhat in check, he may tell you otherwise. :-) More importantly, he's been such a big help around the house and with Sean when physcially I just couldn't do things. Although he says two is his favorite age for kids, I remember him with Sean as a baby like it was yesterday. It still makes me tear up when I picture him holding Sean for the first time - Sean looking up at him with those big brown eyes. Jamie looking down at Sean with pure amazement. Ugh, hold on... have to get a tissue...

Tomorrow we will welcome Nathan to our family. It truly is hard to imagine loving anyone more than we love Sean, but I know we will. Thankfully parents do or Jamie and I wouldn't be here! :-) (No comments Elaine...) I wonder what he's going to look like (me MAYBE??) - will he look like Sean as a baby? How big will he be? Will he have lots of hair? Will he know how much he's already loved?

Then there's the other side of me... will Sean know we still love him more than ever? Will he know that no matter what happens, we will ALWAYS be there for him? Will he know how Nathan will look up to him and at some point in his life think, "I want to be just like my big brother?" Will he know how blessed he is to have a sibling?

It's so crazy how families fall into routines, and here, in less than 24 hours, ours will change for... the better. Such an overwhelming, emotional time. I pray that everything goes well tomorrow, and I THANK GOD every day for my AMAZING family!!!!

Baskin and Robbins

In a last minute effort to take full advantage of eating what I want (somehow it's just not as cute when I'm shoveling my face and NOT pregnant), we went to Baskin and Robbins last night after dinner.

Much to my surprise (and delight), there was some kind of Firefighters charity event and all scoops were just 31 cents! Come on, how great is that?!? Just in case you were wondering, I did limit myself to two scoops, and in my defense, they were smaller than normal scoops. ;-)

The best part was that the firefighters were there with their truck and let the kids "explore" it. They also had fire fighter "hats" and "badges" for the kiddos. Sean didn't really like the hat, but thought it was really funny on Daddy!

Anyway, here is a picture of Sean in the truck. He was trying to put the seat belt on - he was ready for his first fire call!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Saturday was Mom's birthday (I'll be nice and leave her age off of the post)! As per our family tradition, the birthday person gets to pick where to have dinner (and what kind of cake/dessert they want). Mom chose Minnechi's - and YUMMMMMMMMY! It is always nice when we can all get together (Stones/Caspers/Lances). After dinner, we headed back to Mom and Dad's for presents and Lemon Cake (courtesy of Elaine). Of course a little sugar right before bedtime for the boys is always fun! Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Grandma and Sean



Grandma's cake



Jamie and Sean enjoying Elaine's yummy cake (Sean even wandered over to Mom's plate and kindly "finished" her serving as well!)



Sean being cute!



Uncle Rick scratching Sean's back




This video is the funniest thing... Rick would use the back scratcher on Sean and then stop. Sean would kindly hand him the next back stractcher/massager to use! Sean probably sat there for 20 minutes... it was too funny!

38 week check up

Technically my 38 week check up isn't supposed to be until tomorrow. But thanks to some contractions that started around 5:00 this morning, it got moved to today. The nurse wanted me to come in for a non-stress test (NST) to see if I was contracting. Once again, the contractions proved to be non-productive, so back to work I went!

Dr. Dillard was kind enough to go ahead and do my appointment today so I don't have to head back tomorrow. The consent forms are signed and I'm ready to go for Friday (unless my water breaks before then). My blood pressure is up just a little (134/78), but still well within the normal range. The baby's heartbeat ranged throughout the testing from 140 - 165, so still good and strong. I'm still hanging in there with normal nine-months pregnant aches and pains, but have really started to swell in the foot/ankle/leg area. It's always interesting when your doctor even says, "OH MY!" as she looks at what was formerly known as my feet/ankles. Of course she recommends staying off of my feet as much as possible and elevate, elevate, elevate!

Only two more days of work, so hopefully I can make it... I'm on the home stretch!

37 Week check up

First, let me wish a Happy Birthday to Aunt Wendy! We hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

Today was my second to last doctor's appointment until baby's birthday!!!! Not too much new to report... everything is still going really well. The baby's heartbeat was 136, I've lost track of how much weight I've gained, but I think it's around 20 pounds now (which is really good since I gained 40 with Sean!), and my blood pressure was still nice and low at 120/72!

Other than swelling (which has set in full force) I'm doing pretty well. The end of the day is hard for me - I just am so exhausted and sore, but I know it will all soon be worth it. The doctor did advice to cut back on salts, which of course now makes me want to eat only salty things! :-) The baby is still transverse, so he seems to be quite comfortable in that position (which makes for a funny looking belly), but that doesn't prevent him from boxing my bladder every five seconds!

They did hook me up for another NST (non-stress test) today to make sure I wasn't having contractions that I just wasn't feeling. After 20 minutes on the machine, they had to come in and "wake the baby up"... that got him going so we sat and monitored for another 30 minutes. No contractions and his heartrate was good.

I think Sean is starting to sense that things will be changing soon... he's very much been all about Mama lately (which of course "Mama" loves!). I am so anxious for him to meet the baby - he's going to be so great with him - I just know it!

Next Wednesday (April 29th) is my last appointment. They are going to have us sign all the forms that day so that when we go on Friday (at 5:30 a.m.) we will have that all out of the way. In some ways I'm SUPER ready for this pregnancy to be over, but in a small way, I'll miss the miracle of this wonderful baby growing inside of me. Childbirth is truly a miracle - how do people not believe?!?

Baby/Sean update

Last week began my weekly appointments with the doctor... plus an added trip due to some contractions. All is well with the baby (still transverse, but healthly) - I was having some irregular contractions, but they are considered "unproductive". I go back this Wednesday and then one more appointment the following Wednesday... then, it's Baby's birthday!!! All-in-all, I'm feeling pretty good. Swelling has set in and I feel like I have a bowling ball between my legs, but what do you expect when you are 37 weeks pregnant! Yep, that's right - today I am officially full term! So, if the baby comes on it's own (although it would still be a c-section), he should be a-okay!

At my Wednesday appointment, my blood pressure was still excellent and the baby's heartbeat was a strong 166. Monday, I had ketones in my urine, but Wednesday they were gone (as was the possibility of a bladder infection). So, minus the normal aches and pains (back, etc.) of pregnancy, I'm plugging right along!!!

Last Thursday my friends Amy and Heather threw me a "shower" at Olive Garden for some friends from church. It was a lovely time! I even had the pleasure of some non-church friends join us (thanks Kelly and Beth!). We are truly blessed with so many wonderful friends (church, work, school) who have so generously blessed us with new things for the baby! I truly didn't expect it with a second child, but we have truly appreciated each and every thing that has been done!

Sean is doing really, really well! His appetite continues to increase and we're hoping this means a growth spurt is around the corner. His language seems to increase and improve daily, and he is constantly cracking us up with his phrases, giggles, funny faces, and "Good job Mama!" He's starting to count and get his ABC's, although we still skip quite a few - but hey, he's trying! He is also doing really well on the potty (at school)... at home he still likes to sit on it with his clothes on. :-)

Hard to believe in just over 10 days he'll be a big brother. He is going to be an amazing big brother, but he will ALWAYS be my baby! I promise I'll post more pictures of the cutie pie soon!!!!

Long time no post...

Well! It's been a couple of weeks since I have posted... lots to report!

First... Happy Belated Easter! We had a wonderful Easter with my extended family! It's been so long since we have all been able to get together, so it was truly a nice treat. My friend Aubrey (whose husband is in Texas already - she'll be going him upon her graduation in May) was able to join us. She is truly one of the family!

Second, last week brought us a little scare. Dad was admitted to the hospital due to dizziness and confusion, but quickly got better (thankfully). I think he was just trying to beat me to the hospital! Just kidding! Actually, I'm very thankful, as we all are, that everything was okay. All tests have come back normal thus far, and they were even able to confirm he has a brain! He has a few more tests that will be performed over the next couple of weeks. We hope those come back "normal" as well, but we would love to know what caused his episode. Regardless, he's back to work this week and remaining healthy!

Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers for Dad. We truly appreciate it!

The world's cutest Easter Bunny

Whether you still believe in the Easter Bunny or not, how can you not believe in this Easter bunny??? :-)

Airplane with Daddy

So kids like to play airplane (you know, where you lie on your back, put your feet in the air and let the kiddo balance on them? Well, this picture goes to show you no matter how old you are, some kids still love to play airplane!!!

34 week update

Today was my 34 week check up/sonogram. The baby still looks super healthy, so we're SO pleased! He has moved a little and is sideways in my uterus with his shoulder or arm presenting first (this is called a transverse lie). She said that since he is measuring big, and I'm getting further along in my pregnancy, he'll probably be stuck that way - so it's a good thing I so have a c-section scheduled.

I did ask if he did happen to move, would cancel the c-section. She said that since I delivered a small baby with third degree tearing, they would not risk me delivering naturally with a larger baby. WHEW! Baby is measuring 36 1/2 weeks (2 weeks and a couple days early), but his belly is measuring 38 weeks! That kind of freaked me out at first, but he's measuring in the 69th percentile for weight. I can handle that! To put things into perspective though, Sean always measured one and a half weeks early. Um, yeah - not so much!

His heartbeat was a solid 147, and my blood pressure is 120/60 - still nice and low! I go back again on the 15th and then start going every week (a total of 3 more appointments before his birthday!!!). We're less than a month away now... hard to believe!