Enjoying Life Everyday...

...One Day at a Time

Thursday, July 14, 2011

41 week pictures

I'm feeling rather large these days. I looked back from two weeks ago, and sure enough, I'm much bigger! He is healthy and that is all that matters. I'm content to wait for him at this point and have accepted that we will likely be induced. In the meantime, I'm staying really busy and sleeping as much as I can!


A shot with no shirt:


And dressed:




AJ got to hear his brother's heartbeat and see him on an ultrasound yesterday. They tested for fluid levels and we also had a non-stress test (which is just a test to make sure he is responding well when he moves and such inside). Baby boy is perfectly healthy, so we can stay pregnant a little longer. I'm so thankful for that. I'm so thankful for everything right now!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Still Pregnant!

Well, tomorrow we will be 1 week 'overdue'. This baby is comfortable and does NOT want to come out! Despite the awful heat, I'm still feeling really good though, so that is good!

Tomorrow we have an ultrasound and a Non-Stress Test. If all goes well, we can wait a little longer for him to come. I am trying to avoid all interventions possible. Almost 50% of Pitocin inductions end in c-section. While my end goal is to have a healthy baby, I am fully aware of how much harder pitocin is on a baby. Contractions are too close together and intense and cause the baby's heartrate to decrease, causing more and more interventions and eventually leading to a C-section for fear of the baby's health. Eventually, if he doesn't come on his own, I will have no choice but to accept a pitocin induction. I have come to terms with that because I know that going over 42 weeks pregnant can also be harmful to the baby and create more complications. I'm 100% sure our due date was between 7/6 and 7/8, so I know we have a limit.

I have had timetable contractions twice since Sunday. On Sunday they lasted at least 6 hours (that is when I went to bed) at around 8-9 minutes apart. I was able to fully function through them and actually did! We went to the pool, grocery shopping, I cooked dinner, talked to my mom, played with AJ, put AJ to bed, and hung out with my awesome and patient husband in those 6 hours. When I woke up int he middle of the night, they already passed. Then Monday morning something happened that I won't discuss on here because it's really TMI. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night with timetable contractions, but this time they only lasted 1 hour or so--at least from what I can tell since I was sleeping through them. So that brings me to today. Nothing yet and I'm at work. The false labor is not fun!

In the meantime, I'm trying to relax, stay calm, and enjoy my last few days being pregnant. I'm enjoying time with AJ as well. We have been going to the pool and hanging out a lot together. I'm trying to soak in the one-on-one time with him right now. I've been keeping myself busy still working in the office two days a week, cooking a lot, keeping up with laundry, and playing as much as possible with AJ. It's helped to keep my mind off of being SO pregnant :). Yes, it is frustrating, especially with the false labor, but I know you can't rush this. My body knows what to do and I just have to be patient and think positive. I'm so thankful for the support I have surrounding me.

John has been my rock throughout everything these last 9 (10) months. He is so supportive of my choices, has been patient through my hormones, and just been there for me. I love how he talks to the baby and gets so excited for our life as a family of 4. Recently, he has reminded me to relax. He gives me a hug and tells me everything will be fine.

My mom has been an amazing support system. She herself had two natural births--me being overdue and David being pitocin induced. I talk to her every day and she is so encouraging and supportive for me. I'm excited to have her a part of this birth.

Finally, my inspiration for my choices this pregnancy--my best friend Lauren. Lauren is such an amazing mom and has inspired me to study hypnobirthing. I love hearing her very encouraging and inspiring birth story. I am so thankful I have her to discuss my practice and everything else. She reminds me to stay positive and happy!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Due Date

So it appears unless a miracle happens that we won't have another due date baby! Tomorrow is the longest I have been pregnant :). That is kind of cool to say actually. It's odd..I could be pregnant until July 18th. I haven't talked induction yet with our midwife, but that is about the cutoff they let you..just a few days shy of 42 weeks.

Technically speaking, we had three due dates. The first based on our last menstrual cycle was July 3rd, but I know I have longer cycles then most and I know when I ovulated by about a day or two and July 3rd was too soon. The second due date we were given based on a growth ultrasound was JULY 8TH! Then a week later, due to complications, I had to have another ultrasound that said July 6th. With all three dates, we compromised on July 6th. I am actually hoping that they move my due date tomorrow to July 8th so I get two extra days until induction. I do NOT want to be induced and I'm not 'over' this pregnancy yet. I still feel great and am active still, so while I want to meet my little boy, I am not really in a rush to induce. I believe firmly that he will come when he wants to come. We have no complications, so I would wait as long as he wants to.

Thanks everyone for your calls today (I have received a lot). It is so nice to have so many people thinking about us! Most woman get annoyed, but I'm not. I love that I have so many people that love me enough to call me to see how I am doing!

But with all that said, hopefully my next post will be about the baby and not about being pregnant :).

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A scary pool day

Well, we certainly know how to make things interesting. If you remember, just a few short months ago, we had firefighters at our house for a grill fire. Now we had 'first responders' to the pool for AJ. Sigh.

First let me say that AJ is ok...but, we had a very scary day at the pool on Sunday. Our pool is really awesome I must say. It isn't a community pool (you pay to become a member) and there is one big downside that I won't get into on here, but...we love it. It has a very large pool, a very large baby pool with a massive playground area in the water, a nice big sandbox, some water slides, and an area we call the 'sprinkler system', which has different sprinkler areas (like a shower, fountain type things, small buckets that dump water, etc.--none of it is in standing water, it's all drained). We usually get to everything on a visit to the pool. AJ always wants to jump from area to area, he LOVES the pool.

So Sunday we are enjoying a beautiful day at the pool and were there for about an hour and a half or so I would say. We had already hit most of the areas and always go to the sprinkler system after the sandbox to rinse off any residue sand. AJ was having a blast, as were we. He was hopping from sprinkler to sprinkler. I wish I had photos to better explain myself, but I don't and couldn't find any online either.

There was one sprinkler that shot up at an angle. AJ loves to sit on it as it shoots up--most kids there do the same thing. As he was going to sit on it, he lost his balance and fell back and hit his head. He started to cry immediately. I was standing right next to him and picked him up. John came over to console him as well. Within seconds of me picking him up, his body went completely limp, his head buried into my chest, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head--essentially, he passed out.

We ran over to the nearest lifeguard to get help with him in my arms. He woke up as soon as we got there and with a stranger looking over him, he started to cry. The lifeguard blew the whistle and within seconds we had another lifeguard in the stands, and two others to assist with AJ. I think the commotion of not knowing where he was and having these strangers looking him over was too much, because he was a mess crying. We took him over to the first aid station, but he DID NOT want anyone but John or I to look or touch him. I took him to the potty to calm him down, which seemed to work. By the time we got back to the first aid station, two sheriffs and an ambulance had arrived.

AJ was curious with the police officers and the paramedics, which seemed to keep him content. They took his vitals, looked at his head, and asked him questions. His vitals were great and he was answering questions just fine. He also had not even a bump on his head. They asked if we wanted to take him to the hospital, but since the only thing the hospital would do would be to watch him, we decided with the paramedics not to take him and instead they told us what to look out for. They were specifically looking for a concussion, which they didn't think he had.

What we think happened was a combination of it being REALLY HOT, AJ not really drinking much water while we were there (unless you count him trying to drink pool water :)), reaction and losing some breath, and then the commotion of me picking him up and such--creating just a loss of blood to his head for a minute and he passed out shortly. There are some children that hold their breath when they get upset to the point that they pass out, so it's something similar to that I guess.

Anyway, we left the pool and played it safe the rest of the day. AJ was his usual hyper self by the time we got home. It was as if nothing had happened. We didn't put him down for a nap because we were nervous--even though the paramedics say that we could put him down and just check on him from time to time...it still made us uncomfortable.

So all is well now, but it was scary! AND...the commotion didn't put me into labor, so I'm thinking nothing will!

Monday, July 4, 2011

AJ's Birthday weekend

I must be nesting my blog, and I just realized that I didn't post any pictures of AJ's Birthday weekend! It's been over a month--I'm terrible.

Anyway, we celebrated his birthday party the day before his birthday, at a place called Sports Bounce. It is a VERY fun place for kids--but I think John enjoyed it too much himself. He kept saying afterwards, man, that was an awesome birthday party!

Here is Daddy and AJ waiting for AJ's friends to arrive:


And me and my little man:




AJ greeted his friends. We had about 16 kids attend.



AJ and his best friend from school, Lucas, sliding down the slide. They are so silly together, and inseperable.



AJ sliding down another slide. They also had a lot of bouncing stuff too, but it was hard to get some good shots of the kids inside.



After the bounce play time, they took a picture of (most) of the kids on a big inflatable chair:


AJ's cake. Wegman's made a really good cake. The entire sheet cake was gone! Which is good because in year's past we have had too much leftover! I should also mention that AJ picked his cake theme out this year.






After Pizza (also really good), AJ blew out his candles with some help from his cousin Roman. The boys are so cute!




After Sport Bounce (which was great for a very pregnant mommy because they did EVERYTHING!), we had a small group over for food and drinks. I didn't take many pictures though, but trust me when I say AJ had a GREAT time with the kids that did come.


The next day was AJ's birthday! He woke up and we had breakfast at IHop together. It's a tradition to go out to eat for birthdays-unless someone wants a homemade breakfast REALLY bad!


Afterwards we came back and AJ opened up gifts from mommy and daddy:




We later went to the pool (the day was EXTREMELY hot). The pool was PACKED and not so much fun for us, so we left to go take naps. After nap, we spent some time playing before having our own little family of three celebration. We went to Wegmans and everyone picked out what they wanted for dessert. We came back home and ate dinner then we sang to our three year old. He loved it and really enjoyed his cupcake! Here is his blowing out the number 3:



I can't believe we have a little man on our hands! AJ: Mommy and Daddy have enjoyed every moment of watching you grow. We are so proud of you!

Girls Night Out

Clare organized a girls night out to celebrate our impending arrival. The night was fabulous. It was just my closest friends eating at a fabulous resturant in Old Town Alexandria, called Majestic. The food was amazing--I can't wait to go back. Here is a photo of us girls! I have some very beautiful friends and a beautiful mom and sister!




Thanks to everyone for celebrating with me and a special thanks to Clare for organizing it. I love you all!

Happy 4th Of July!

The 4th of July has come and almost gone and no holiday baby for us! Nonetheless, we are trying to enjoy our last few days (hopefully) as a family of 3. This is from the other night--John had some leftover fireworks from last year. AJ loved the sparklers, but HATED the fireworks. He said "get me out of here, get me inside!!!" I held him inside (as well as our dog, who also hates fireworks while John enjoyed the 1 firework he set off.


Happy 235th birthday America! I am proud to call myself an American and am thankful for every man and woman who has fought to ensure our freedom!