12 weeks old!!

Yet again I'm shocked to be posting yet another update. Macie is now 12 weeks old!! She is very alert, she's actively trying to check things out and she loves it when I sit and talk to her. She's very entertained by the chaos that is our home. I recently discovered that she falls asleep the easiest when the tv is going. I think she likes the noise. If it's too quiet she seems to wake up more. 

Anyway, Macie is perfect in her development. She rolled over this last week which was exciting!! I caught her in the act when i came back to the room after getting something in the kitchen. I was able to get some pics of her rolling over! So fun. These milestones never get old! :) I sure do love her and her siblings are loving her so so much. Especially Joey. He is absolutely in love with Macie. It's been so much fun!! I'm finally starting to get things down a bit. I still have my rough days. It is what it is. All of it is a blessing though!!

As far as my postpartum health... I've been at a stand still with my weight loss. I'm a little irritated because my new birth control pill caused me to gain back a couple pounds, so I'm working hard to get rid of it and some. I have been eating very clean, including a lot of lean protein. I also started insanity.... Oh Heavenly Father help me through this. The title really says it all. I'm hoping and praying I can get through it and be so glad it did it. I really want to be comfortable in my own skin again. So we will see how it goes. I will post *cringe* before and after photos to document any noticeable change. 

Anyway, all is pretty well on this home front. I'm currently tending to two sick kiddos and trying to kill the sickness that was kindly shared with me too. Hopefully it's short lived. This is the second year in a row that I've been sick right before thanksgiving... Last year I managed to catch pertussis... Which, if you've never had it, be thankful for that!! It. Is. Miserable. So I'm thankful I'm not as sick as last year for sure. 

I do hope everyone enjoys their thanksgiving festivities!!! I know we will... If I can still walk next week anyway. Haha. But really..... 

Here are some pics of Macie baby!! 

My fun facts tag...

Well, I was tagged to share ten interesting facts about myself. I normally don't participate in these types of things... But I decided to suck up my "this is silly and I don't want to" attitude. So here I go...

1. I have never had wisdom teeth. 

2. My mom thought for sure she was having a boy when she was pregnant with me. She only picked one name: Anthony Raymond... Hence the small switch to "Toni Rae" when I was born. 

3. I have terrible luck with cell phones and kitchen appliances... If anyone will get a lemon, it would be me. 

4. Boots are my favorite thing to shop for. 

5. Skinny jeans stress me out. I can't stand them. I don't care if other people wear them, I just can't stand how they fit. I can barely handle wearing them with boots. 

6. I do not have a green thumb and I do not particularly enjoy gardening. I will pull weeds and tell Jeff which flowers I want planted where. That's it. 

7. I thoroughly enjoy extreme weather. When I was a kid, I wanted 

I chase tornados for a living. 

8. I love all things pregnancy and birth. Call me crazy, but I love the experience and empowerment that comes from natural birth. 

9. Jesus is my savior and I rejoice in that daily! 

10. I have never been able to French braid. I do not have a knack for styling hair. 

There you go friends! :)

2 months!!

How has time just flown by? I really can't believe we are into November, and I have a two month old baby girl. She was so tiny and new just yesterday... how did I miss everything? I'm sooo thankful that I have the ability to take pictures of my children as they grow and learn... and especially because they change so quickly.

Macie has grown so much, and oh how she's changed. She weighed in at 10 lbs 6 oz and she was 22.5 inches long at her 8 week check up. Her newborn clothes are starting to shrink.... she's kind of funny because she's my only baby to outgrow her pants before she outgrows her onesies... typically my babies have short stubby legs and a long torso. Macie seems to have longer legs and a normal size torso. But I don't know. That could change. So we're starting to add more three month clothing to her wardrobe, which by the way was very overwhelming to sort through. This little baby has more clothes than all of us. Seriously. The sad part is that I even went through and purged some of it because I simply don't have space for all of it. Between getting Annie and Maddy's baby clothes as well as getting new clothes as gifts, she now has more clothes than she'll probably be able to wear. I am soooooo thankful!! This is such a great problem to have!!!

As far as her development goes, Macie girl is right on track. She smiles (she first smiled at me when she was 6-7 weeks old), coos, and kicks her little feet when she's excited about something. She loves to look at faces, watch the flashing/colors on the TV, and she loves when her siblings talk to her. She loves when anyone talks to her really. She's such a sweet little pumpkin. Macie is by far my most cuddly baby... so that makes it very difficult to set her down. I would hold her all day if I could. As a result of being held 75% of her day, she hasn't really had much tummy time to practice her attempts at rolling over. I'm thinking I should probably encourage some more tummy time at this point... she needs to strengthen her neck so she can lift that big noggin and start rolling over. I think Annie rolled over at 8 weeks old, however she also was a lot closer to her due date than Macie was... so maybe that plays a small part in things. I can't remember when Joey rolled for the first time... I don't even remember when they're "supposed" to do these things... 3-5 months? They all develop in their own time so I'm really not too worried about when she does everything. Just as long as she does it all. :)

Anyway, my post-partum health seems to be kind of shaky lately. Literally. This anxiety I've been battling has been difficult to deal with, and I'm just now realizing how much I've just been adapting to it. I'm slowly learning how to deal with it. I'm trying really hard to find some time to myself, and I'm really trying to get better sleep whenever I can. By "better" I mean getting to bed at a decent hour whenever I can... That's difficult because I have to choose between time to myself and sleep... both are a must. It's hard trying to do everything when I'm by myself so much. I really don't know how single moms do it all. Being a stay at home mom is extremely hard, and it's pretty easy to forget yourself, your value, and it's easy to feel really unappreciated at times. So I've been working hard and maintaining my focus on the fact that I'm very needed, very loved, and very valued. Doesn't fix my anxiety about everything, but it's slowly getting a bit easier. Part of it has to do with Macie sleeping about 4 hours between nighttime feeds now. Hopefully things will get I've recently started jogging on my treadmill. I think it's helped a bit. I feel better, and I know it's a must. Especially since I've plateaued with my weight loss. I've lost almost all the weight I gained with Macie... only a couple pounds to go. But I'd like to tone up and lose a bit more weight so I can be back to where I'm comfortable. I'll get there. Anyway, other than that I'm hanging in there. My blood work yielded some weird results two times in a row... So I had an ultrasound on my kidneys and bladder to make sure all is well there. Everything came back normal so that's good, but if things are still off in a couple months I'll be headed in to see a specialist. 

All in all, I really can't complain too much. I'm sure it sounds like an awful lot of complaining, and that's never my intent. I am so grateful for everything I'm blessed with. I am thankful for every moment I get to spend with my children. It isn't always easy, but I realize that even those difficult times are a blessing too. I'm simply sharing where I'm at... I'm not going to sugarcoat anything. Too many moms make things look so peachy and perfect all the time, when in reality, there is no mom that has it that easy all the time. It just doesn't happen.

One super positive thing, breastfeeding is still going beautifully. Macie has yet to have a drop of formula which is super pleasing to me. Not only for her health, but also for my bank account. That crap is pricey. I'm still learning all the time... I've recently learned some new things about milk storage which would have come in handy before I had to throw out half of my frozen milk stash. :( Super bummer since a good portion was the "first milk" which is basically liquid gold for Macie. Super sad. But she's still getting breast milk and that's what matters.

Anyway, here's to month three!! Thanks for reading friends!! God bless!! 

Ps- here are some more new pics of our sweet girl!! 

Macie's birth pictures!

I got Macie's birth pictures back today! They were absolutely phenomenal. I will cherish these photos forever. My friend and photographer, Amber (Tres Birds Photography) captured the moment beautifully and tastefully. I can't even express how much I love these photos. To relive that incredible moment has been so fulfilling to me. Anyway, here are my pictures. I can't stop looking at them!

Macie Lee's Birth

August 31st, 2013

3:35 am

The nurse who delivered Macie. She was absolutely wonderful! I never would have known that she was a new nurse.The best part, her name is Faith!

Our first moment together. 

This moment was absolutely unforgettable. I was so amazed at what I had just done and that I had a beautiful baby girl in my arms. There were so many emotions running through me, I was laughing and crying at the same time. It was amazing.

The room was filled so full of sweetness. There wasn't a person in the room who didn't have a smile on their face. 

A special moment. Totally lost in time. 

No words for this one.

Our doctor on call arrived. She was soooo nice. I love that everyone just sat and enjoyed the moment with us.

I'm in love with this picture. 

Auntie getting a good look at her new niece!

Tiny wrinkly feet!! 

That hat... LOVE!!

Grandma and Macie.

Auntie and Macie.

6 weeks

I can't believe our baby girl is a month and a half old already!! It's going by too fast. She's grown so much! I'm not sure about her weight as of now, but I'd guess she's about 9lbs now. She's definitely getting longer because her newborn pants and sleepers are starting to get a little small length wise.

As far as development goes, she's starting to become more alert. She loves to look at faces, and she is starting to smile at us every now and again. She has the cutest dimples!

Aside from her development, she's been breastfeeding wonderfully! This is the most successful I've ever been with breastfeeding. I'm proud to say that she has yet to have a drop of formula! She has received all nourishment from me. I have to say, it feels great to bypass the formula aisle.

As for why we have been successful? I think it has a lot to do with less stress regarding my baby's health, more confidence as a mom, and we haven't really used a bottle very much. We also waited quite a bit longer before introducing it... She also hates the bottle and tolerates pacifiers. She uses pacifiers when she's eaten so much that she throws up but still wants to comfort suck. Needless to say, things are going well and it feels great to know that she's getting breast milk only.

Now that a little time has passed, things are starting to get a bit easier. It's been tough on me getting through this transition simply because of Jeff's work schedule. It has really taken its toll on me physically since I'm up with Macie throughout the night and up during the day with the big kids, but we are getting through it. I try to take naps when I can and relax when there's some down time. I'm slowly finding balance.

I also saw my Dr recently about an insomnia issue. It definitely stems from a hormonal issue which has left me dealing with a number of funky things. But with a few supplements and some medicine I've been able to find some normalcy with my body. I've also started a new birth control pill which has seemed to help a bit. Praying for a bit of relief in the coming months, but all in all I don't have much to complain about. I'm very thankful for my beautiful children and my wonderful hubby.

One thing I have to note, is that the chiropractor is an amazing tool in the life of a fussy baby. Seriously, after a couple of weeks with a pretty unhappy baby, I finally thought to take her in and it made a huge difference. She had a small kink in her neck and back but he easily manipulated her spine back in place. As a result, my fussy baby is now a happy girl! She's eating better, she's sleeping better, and she will even take a nap in her own bed so I can get a few things done. Its been great! So, if you ever have a fussy baby, take him/her to see an experienced chiropractor! You won't regret it!

Anyway, that's about it for now. Hope everyone has been enjoying their week. God bless my friends!

One month!

I'm finding it hard to believe how fast this month has flown by. It's really crazy. Part of me is a little sad because I feel like I didn't have enough time to enjoy the newness of our new baby... but at the same time I'm anxious to really get the hang of everything... This transition has not exactly been easy for any of us. Not to say that we don't absolutely adore our new little princess, it's just been hard to get the hang of juggling three kids, spending time with my husband, taking care of my house and putting food on the table. It's tough... Not to mention, I'm also our baby's food source.

Yes... breast feeding. Not as easy as one would think. It is very much a challenge, and there are some very frustrating moments. I've had a particularly difficult time in the past, and I really wanted to be successful this time. I read a lot more about it and decided I needed to seek help from professionals. As of today, Macie has been exclusively breast fed and now weighs 8 lbs 3 oz. This is a HUGE success for me. Might not seem like a lot to others, but at this point with my last two babies, they both had their first bottles of formula because my supply dipped. Reasons for that are partly my fault and partly due to circumstances that were out of my control. Regardless, it's been going very well, and I could not be more pleased! The lactation nurse told me she was very pleased with Macie's weight gain, especially because she wasn't latching exactly right. She also has a high pallet, which causes me a bit more discomfort, so she was very pleased with our success so far. I do hope to continue to breast feed at least until one year... maybe a little longer. We'll see how it goes. I just don't want to have to spend any money on formula... and it will help me to feel better about my past unsuccessful attempts with nursing my kids.

Anyway... I'm not going to lie. I'm having a tough time. I'm not even going to play it off like I'm transitioning like a super mom. It's pretty dang hard getting the hang of much of anything at this point. I'm so incredibly sleep deprived right now... Between insomnia, a baby waking up every two hours, and having to be up all day with the kids, it's safe to say I've been wearing thin. I'm trying so hard to sleep when I can, but it's downright difficult, and as a result, I'm not only mentally exhausted, I'm physically exhausted which has manifested itself in several different ways. So please, friends, pray for me to find some sleep. My body needs it badly.

One thing I'm struggling with in particular (aside from sleep issues), is the fact that my house and living quarters can no longer be as perfect as I'm used to having them. I can't mop every day, nor can I vacuum as much as I like, my bathroom isn't as tidy as I like it to be, my kitchen counters have clutter (one of my biggest pet peaves), it's hard to keep my laundry under control and there are always dirty dishes that need be taken care of. Jeff says I'm OCD when it comes to how clean the house is... yes... I admit it. I have an issue... so naturally when things aren't exactly right, it causes me stress which I'm really trying to work through. I can't do it all, and that's okay. I just need to accept it and move on.

Anyhow, that's about it for an update. My kids are adjusting slowly, but very well surprisingly. They definitely have their moments, and I feel like a terrible mom more often than I used to. It seems like I have less time to play with them and enjoy them which is very hard on me. I feel like most of the time I'm disciplining, scolding, and refereeing because they fight like cats and dogs lately. And some nights, I'm counting the minutes til bed time. It didn't used to be like that. Makes me sad, but I know it will pass as time goes on and we get into a better rhythm with things. It's funny, I should have expected this. I've had two kids before Macie, and it felt the same way. (Except for when Joey was born... I just had first time mom adjustment issues when he was born).

I hate to sound like a whiner, or a complainer. That is not my intention in the least. I am so incredibly thankful for my three beautiful blessings I call my children. I am thankful for my husband... I'm truly thankful for everything I have. I know that I am blessed immensely. I'm truly just being honest... giving the raw truth about the transition to being a mommy of three. I absolutely love my kids, but it is a tough job being a mommy to three small kids. I'm not a super hero. I'm the average mom, and I'm being honest when I say it's hard and I've had a tough time. I'm grateful, but I'm so worn out. Please pray for me to find some rest and that my body can get back in order like it needs to be. Thank you friends for following me! God bless you all!

4 weeks!!

Time is just flying by. Seriously, at the end of every day I'm just shocked at how fast my day went. I'm also shocked when I sit and look at how I managed my day.

Some days I feel like I had no time with my big kids... I haven't been able to play with them as much or even get sufficient amounts of cuddles in. It's tough on me and I know it's tough on them too. Hopefully we'll find a little more balance with that in the coming weeks...

The toughest part about it all, is that miss Macie Lee does NOT like to be set down ever. Period. Rightfully so, I mean, I carried her constantly for the first 37 weeks of her life... that's all she's known. It's a scary world when you can't see much, you can't move very well, and you have limited ways to communicate. But honestly, because she's so very attached and loves me soooo so much, it's hard to maintain normalcy when I only have one hand to do everything with. Admittedly, she does have to cry for a few minutes on occasion before I can settle in and focus solely on her and her newborn needs. People get pretty judgey about that. Go ahead. I've decided to make a conscious effort not to care about what everyone else thinks of my methods of parenting. Transitioning to three kids is hard work. (Every transition is a challenge, but it's a different set of challenges every time). It's a lot to handle, my plate is full, and I'm learning to divide myself among THREE babies now. Not just two... THREE. AND my husband requires my attention as well!! Sometimes, I have to make sure my big kids are occupied first before Macie can get my full attention without me trying to scold and mediate between my older babies because things have turned into a mad house. It's just tough. I love love love that the Lord has blessed me with these three precious children, and I wouldn't change a thing. But I'm here to tell all of you, it is tough.

So there you go. Mommies, soon to be mommies, mommies adding to their pack of kiddlets, friends trying to become a mommy: IT'S TOUGH... So don't beat yourself up. Have a good meltdown. Cry a lot. It really helps. You will feel like a crappy mom at times. It happens. We all go through it. If you say you've never felt like that before, you're lying to yourself. I have had so many women who've told me they're having a hard time and feel like a failure. It's okay to feel that way, but know that you're not a failure. I struggle daily... asking myself if I'm doing enough, if I've shown enough love to everyone, if I've been maintaining my home enough, if I've cooked enough... At the end of the day, I am enough. I might not feel like it all the time, but my kids still love me despite my screw ups, melt downs, freak outs, fits, crying, etc. I'm enough, and you are too. God designed us the way He did for a reason, and I'm really trying to learn to appreciate the way He designed us to be as mother's. We all love our kids, and we all want to do what's best for them. So here's to doing our very best, here's to messing up sometimes, here's to feeling lost. Here's to all the mom's out there who parent differently than I do. Let's build each other up, friends.

Anyway... end rant... at this point post-partum, everything is slowly getting back to normal. I won't tell you all where I'm at with the weight loss part of it. Let's just say that breast feeding has served me well this time. :) I am definitely feeling like my body is getting back to normal. My body still feels fatigued for sure, but I've healed very quickly this time. Still healing, I'm sure, but it seems like it's gone way quicker, and I do think it's because of my awesomely easy delivery.

Anyhow, like I said, breast feeding has gone VERY well this time. I've exclusively breast fed Macie for four weeks now. That might not seem like a huge accomplishment to some, but for me that's HUGE. My other two were both on formula by this point, or in Annie's case, supplementing because my supply was low and wouldn't recover. That was due to a variety of reason, some my fault. Having done a lot more research on successful breast feeding and implementing some changes in my habits, we've been very successful thus far. She did have one bottle... I gave her 3 oz of pumped colostrum the other day because she had a cold and I wanted her to get all the nutrients and antibodies from it. She took the bottle very well once she realized she got something from the nasty plastic nipple. It hasn't affected my supply whatsoever, and I'm getting quite the surplus of frozen milk in the freezer this time! Yay!! So... yeah. It's going well, she seems to be gaining weight. Not as quickly as the other two, but she was so much smaller than my other babies and she isn't getting formula baby chubs like they did.

But yeah... there you have it. How we're doing after the first 4 weeks with three babies. Doing as well as expected! Thanks for reading my friends, thank you for caring, and thank you for all of your prayers for us as we're transitioning, and thank you to those who've been so helpful to us. AND thank you to all of our lovely friends and family for the awesome gifts you've given little Macie. We are so blessed to have such generous friends and family. God bless you all!!

Our first three weeks...

Since my due date has come and gone, I've been reflecting a lot on the last few weeks... and even still on my delivery.

Something I've come to realize is that labor doesn't have to be crazy painful... Maybe I legitimately lucked out and the pain was really not as bad as last time. But I truly believe that learning to get yourself into a deep focus on relaxation, you allow yourself to go with the contractions rather than fighting them. That can make a huge difference in the level of pain you experience during labor. I'm thinking that my intense focus and relaxation was probably why the lady at the front desk took her sweet time checking us in. Nobody realized how close I was to delivery... Not even me! I took us all by surprise! I really think that I experienced far less pain this time than when I delivered Annie. I did not fight my labor with Macie whatsoever, and even pushing wasn't as painful. It was more work than anything else... I don't remember experiencing an intense amount of pain during the pushing stage, and that was truly amazing to me... even in the moment I remember thinking that it hurt worse last time. Obviously I'd be lying if I said it was completely painless, but for some reason it was far less painful than my last delivery. The contractions felt worse than the pushing stage, quite honestly!!

SO.... here's to all the moms out there about to give birth... My best advice to you if you're attempting a drug free delivery, don't fight your contractions. Focus on enjoying them... Ina May said it so perfectly in her book when she said something to the effect of, "You only get to experience labor so many times in your life, might as well enjoy it!!" Basically, try and keep things light. Don't worry, you will have moments of panic, that's normal, but it really does help you to relax if you focus on enjoying your labor! Also, it's a good thing to practice relaxing every muscle in your body before you go into labor. I found this REALLY helped me a lot. When I labored that last little bit in the car, I focused on literally turning into a blob. Relax yourself into a blob-like state... Seriously it works. Anytime I noticed myself tensing up anywhere, I noticed my level of pain increasing... so as hard as it was sometimes, I made myself relax wherever I was tense. Practice this!! It's very beneficial. Otherwise, just pray and encourage yourself. That's important too. Oh... And read some books! I highly recommend "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth," as well as her other book "Spiritual Midwifery." They are very hippy-ish reads, so remember that going into it, but they have so much good information packed into them.

As far as our first three weeks have gone, let me just say that I'd be lying if I said it's been easy on us. It hasn't been ridiculously difficult by any means, but I've really had a lot of challenges... mostly with making sure I relax, don't overdo it with the housework and taking care of the big kids, and getting enough sleep. Oh yeah... and that part about my kids really acting out.

Don't get me wrong, my kids aren't being total terrors, they just aren't themselves and that's to be expected. Joey has taken on an "authoritative" type role with his sisters... It's great that he takes it upon himself to help me, but sometimes he's been a little too helpful. Like when it comes to disciplining Annie (which usually ends in a big brawl, some time in "time out," and even some toys being taken away) or when he decides to help with the housework (which usually ends in a bigger mess for me and a very irritated mama which makes me feel like crap because he was only trying to be helpful)(poor guy... bless his sweet heart!!). Anyway... Joey absolutely loves our new baby, but he really needs to let mommy handle the parenting. Annie however, while she absolutely adores our new baby, she is clearly struggling with sharing her mommy. Totally understandable, and I expected that. I just didn't expect it to be so hard on me.

That's a whole other struggle... my emotional stability. Yes... I'll say it... I may have been a little unstable at times and can snap very quickly and easily. I try to remain calm and patient, but it really irks me when I'm feeding the baby and all hell breaks loose when there's nothing I can do about it and Jeff isn't home. Not fun... and then I feel terrible for over reacting and turning into a basket case. My poor kids. They are so forgiving of me. I just love them so so so so so much, and it hurts when I feel like all I do is discipline and say "no" all day long.

There are parts that have been easier for sure... obviously caring for baby. I have a lot more patience for that this time around, and I feel very confident in my ability to care for a newborn, so that helps a ton. I have also found it easier to transition because I recalled a few things to expect to happen again. For example, feeling like I'm neglecting my older kids. Going from total attention on my big kids, to almost complete attention on baby sometimes hurts my heart and I feel like I'm ignoring my other little loves. That really really hurts, but remembering that I felt like that last time and everything turned out totally fine has really helped me to cope. Also, when I was pregnant with Annie, I worried so much that I was taking away the special time I had with Joey and giving it all to Annie.. Then I also worried for some reason that I wouldn't have the same affection or relationship with Annie. That...my friends.... Is a ridiculous thing to worry about. None of those worries were worth my time, because no matter how many children you have, you truly love them all the same. Your heart just grows each time another baby is born. It's incredible. Soooooo anyway...remembering those things and going through the transition last time definitely helped me prepare for a smoother transition this time.

All in all, I really can't complain. Yes, it's been tough, I'm absolutely exhausted all the time, there isn't enough time in my day, my house work has taken a back seat, and I'm struggling to keep up with the cooking. Oh yeah, I'm lucky if I can get a shower by 1pm anymore. But... There are a lot of things that have been easier just since I now have a bit of experience under my belt. Practice makes perfect, that's for sure.

Breast feeding is also going a lot better this time. Macie has not had a bottle yet which is a huge accomplishment for me, and she seems to be getting plenty of milk from me which absolutely wasn't the case the last two times I've been down this road. I'm feeling very good about things, and I hope we can make it another month before trying a bottle.

Anyway... That's where things are at for us. Going fairly well! Still taking it one day at a time. Hopefully we will continue to find more balance in the coming weeks. In the mean time, I will continue to bask in the blessings that God has given us, and just enjoy life! Thanks for reading my dear friends! Hope everyone is having a blessed beginning to this wonderful fall season!

PS- I apologize for any errors or funky auto corrects. I'm on my phone because my computer is always dead.

Macie Lee's Birth!!

I am still having a hard time believing that I have another baby girl in my arms right now!! At 3:35 am on August 31st, 2013 an intense sweetness filled the delivery room as I brought a beautiful baby girl into the world!! She was 6 lbs 8 oz, 19.5 inches long, and wow did she make an entrance... A lot of people have been wanting to know the details, so I'll lay them all out now.

Not going to lie, everything about this delivery caught me by surprise. People are going to think I'm ridiculous for saying this, but part of me felt a little cheated initially because I hardly had time to process that I was even in labor until it finally felt real to me about 30 minutes before Macie was born. Also, I was not at all expecting to start labor until at least week 38-39... My doctor did tell me that he didn't think I'd make it to 38 weeks, but I really thought he was going to be wrong about that. Needless to say, I was very caught off guard when it really did happen that early!!

I had spent so much time in the months leading up to that moment, just preparing and praying... and envisioning how I wanted everything to go. For some reason my anxiety about giving birth again was extremely difficult to handle. The one thing I prayed for consistently was that God would bring me faith. Faith that He would have His hand on us, and that He would bring me peace and comfort that everything would go perfectly as planned. Why I was so anxious about it? I have no idea. But He sure brought me faith... not only in Him, but literally.

So... sometime around 1:15 am on the 31st, I woke up feeling a slight "trickle" and I thought maybe I was peeing... or that maybe my water was breaking. As I walked to the bathroom, it became evident that I didn't have much control over keeping this fluid in... Confused by the small amount and the fact that there wasn't any more leaking, I called Jeff and told him that my water may have broken, and to be ready to leave work in case things started to pick up soon. I called his mom (Jill) and sister (Jamie), unsure of a course of action at that point. We decided to go ahead and call labor and delivery to see what to do since SUPER mild contractions had started about 25 minutes after I suspected my water had broken (around 1:40 am). They started out about 20-30 seconds long and about 1.5 minutes apart. They were so mild that they required no focus or attention whatsoever. (I was literally standing up in the bathroom doing my hair while having these contractions). When I made the call, the nurse wasn't quite sure what to have me do other than to wait it out, see if contractions started coming on stronger, longer, and closer together, or if more fluid started leaking... I told her over the phone when I'd have contractions, so we both thought maybe it was still pretty early if it was indeed labor... and typically when one's water breaks it will continue to gush out during a contraction or when baby moves. That did not happen for me at all because Macie's head basically acted as a cork which was why I was so confused as to whether or not my water had broken.

I got off the phone, called Jeff and his mom and told them I would wait for about 20-30 minutes (until around 2:15am-2:30am) and see where things were. Well... needless to say I decided if things were getting real, I better get my crap together. So, after doing my hair, throwing stuff in my bag, getting things out of my car, and tidying up a bit, my contractions started becoming more noticeable. By the time I had everything together they were stopping me and demanding that I at least breathe through them. A great sign that labor was beginning... however, their timing was still so off. They lasted about 45-50 seconds at that point, and were about 2 minutes apart. Mine were getting longer, stronger, and further apart... weird... nothing like my previous labor.

At about 2:25 am I decided it was probably time to get checked out, despite my desire to wait it out for contractions to get into a more regular pattern. They were definitely uncomfortable and required some focus, but they weren't anything like I remember them being when I was deep in the throws of labor land with Annie. Regardless, I felt like I needed to be safe and get antibiotics going (I was GBS+ this time), and I think everyone else felt better about going in as well. With my last labor being around 4 hours, it was a good idea to be cautious. So I called Jamie and Jill and they arrived a few minutes later. Jeff's dad also came up to stay with the kids so we didn't have to wake them up, which was soooooo awesome!!

So off we went... I sat in the back seat with Jamie, who was a wonderful personal assistant... making phone calls, timing contractions, giving directions, she was awesome! We got about halfway to Monroe before the contractions started getting pretty intense. They weren't super consistent yet (they were getting there), ranging from 4-5 minutes apart I believe, but they were consistently around 90 seconds long. I had also noticed a bit of nausea and shakiness... that gave me some anxiety because I hate throwing up, especially in the car, and ESPECIALLY in labor. At that point, I decided I didn't want to be checked for dilation because I didn't want to be disappointed if I was only 4 cm and that uncomfortable already, and I didn't want to introduce bacteria to the baby if my waters had really broken. When the water bag is no longer in tact, contractions are typically stronger than when the water bag remains intact, so that made me nervous that I was in for a longer more intense labor this time.

I continued laboring by leaning over the back of the seat on my hands and knees, breathing through the contractions, all while focusing on relaxing every muscle that I could feel getting tense. Tension=pain... This really helped a lot... made things manageable. By the time we got outside of Monroe, I could feel the baby's head descending which caused a lot of pressure. I felt this more and more with each contraction. I was really starting to get a little nervous that my labor would drag on and the pain would get unbearable... so I prayed that God would have mercy and make the delivery a quick one because I was starting to doubt my ability to birth naturally at that point. (Classic signs of transition by the way). I think since I was so focused on the job at hand and staying relaxed, I was unable to recognize how close I really was to being done.. I was shocked at how much better I was at staying relaxed this time.

When we pulled up to the maternity center, Jeff was waiting at the door, and I think Amber (friend and fabulous photographer) was there waiting too. It got a little foggy at this point because things got really intense crazy fast... so my account may not be completely accurate. I grabbed my phone, got out of the car and raced through the doors in order to beat the contraction that was coming on... I may have had a mild melt down because I didn't remember where to go at that point and I didn't want to have a contraction right there in the lobby, but a nurse came out and I bolted over to her. I totally forgot we had to check in, so that kind of pissed me off a little bit that we had to stop. (Just as a reference, we checked in at 3:29 am). I felt really bad for the lady at the desk because I got a bit snippy with her.

After I made it through a couple contractions and scribbled on a consent form, they asked if I needed a wheel chair. Ignoring her question, I just asked for a room number... So Jeff answered for me and said we'd better get a wheel chair. Again, I asked for a room number... as she told me, I saw someone with the wheelchair coming down the hall in the distance, and I did not feel like waiting. I asked the nurse where to go and I was gone. I went in, hopped up on the bed, had a really tough contraction, and then the nurse asked to check me and see if she could monitor the baby for a minute. I was reluctant to say yes, but I felt a lot closer at that point so I consented to the cervical check. Sometime in there, I asked for a shot of nubain and for someone to run me a bath so I could maintain some sanity. It was really getting intense... Monitoring didn't really happen at that point, and when the nurse checked me and said I was at 7 cm, I was slightly irritated. I also decided that laying on my back was totally not happening... I could feel the baby's every move and it made the contractions far more painful. So I flipped back over on my knees, leaned my head against the back of the bed, and continued focusing on relaxing and letting the contractions do the work for me. It felt ten times better that way.

Not more than a minute or two later, my body started pushing... which was crazy because the nurse had JUST told me I was 7 cm... So somehow I went from 7 cm to complete in just a minute or two. So... I pushed. Nothing was ready, and I'm pretty sure there was a lot of scrambling going on behind me, but as the nurse asked me to try not to push, out came her head and soon to follow was the rest of her body.  So, at 3:35 am (6 minutes after arriving at the hospital!!) we had our second baby girl! Most amazing feeling of relief ever in my life. I think I sat there on my knees for a second, completely in shock. Macie had the cord wrapped once around her neck, so the nurse unwrapped the cord and I think she rubbed her down a bit to get her to cry and start breathing before handing her up to me. As soon as I had my baby Macie in my arms, the only thing I could do was laugh and cry at the same time... I could not believe that had just happened so fast. Seriously, nothing was set up, there were two nurses in the room, and no doctor in sight. It was awesome! A very beautiful moment! I loved that they let us just sit and soak in the moment before checking me over after birth.

Seriously, looking back, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. It was too much to process in the moment, but it was great having the opportunity to allow everything to happen completely naturally and to be able to do everything I needed to do to make myself the most comfortable. It was my birth center type experience in a hospital. It was truly amazing. I had so much love and support in the room, and that made it so much more special.

After a few minutes, the doctor came in and examined me. This part was not at all fun. Since I have a history of excessive blood loss, they decided to play it safe. The nurse gave me a shot of pitocin to keep contractions coming and to help keep my uterus nice and firm. After the placenta was delivered, the doctor had to remove a clot which was very painful, but as soon as she had the little bit of bleeding under control I was able to relax and enjoy our new baby.

As soon as she left, the nurses got everything all cleaned up while we all got a good look at our little princess. It was such a sweet time. I will never forget how crazy awesome that night was... Quite a story indeed. God was sooo good to me. He truly answered my prayers for mercy... as well as my prayers for faith. Not only did my faith grow in Him, I found out later that the nurse who delivered Macie was named Faith. I couldn't believe how crazy awesome that was. That delivery could not have gone more perfectly.

All is perfect in our little world right now. It feels like Macie has been here forever. Can't imagine our family without her. The kids are really loving their new sister! Joey is very excited about her. Annabelle was a little unsure about her initially, but she warmed up to her very quickly and is such a great sister. I feel so incredibly blessed to have had such a great birth experience. I'm just so in awe of how God designed our bodies to bring these precious tiny humans into the world. It's absolutely amazing to me. Almost two weeks later and I'm still enjoying this birth high!

Anyway... there you have it!! Macie Lee's crazy awesome birth!! Thank you, friends, for following my updates and being so excited with me. It's so much easier to get through pregnancy and birth knowing you have so many behind you who love and support you. I'm truly grateful for everyone who helped me throughout the last 9 months, but I am the most grateful to God for bringing me through my third pregnancy with good health and a healthy little baby. I am so incredibly blessed. Thank you for reading my friends!! God bless you!!

PS- Stay tuned for my delivery picture post!! Don't worry, I'm not posting graphic images... just the modest ones, as well as the first pictures of our little Macie Lee. SO excited to share them!! :)

37 week update

Well... at this point, our baby watch is now in effect! :) So exciting!! I cannot wait to meet our little peanut. It's hard for me to believe that it's already that time in my pregnancy. It really has flown by so so fast and it's very bittersweet. I've truly enjoyed this pregnancy the most out of all three. I've been super healthy, my weight gain is still under 15 pounds, and despite a couple of discomforts I've had to deal with, I've felt really good.

I still have my little worries that I'm trying to let go of... the first being that my platelets are still low. Apparently my doctor has it in my chart to redraw at delivery for some reason unknown to me. I totally forgot to ask why, so that will be something to ask at my next appointment (with a different doctor)(Dr. Hyde for those of you who might know him)(My doctor is going on vacation next week... of course). Dr. Cook did give me a little piece of mind and told me he didn't think my platelet level would cause a problem during delivery. So that made me feel a little better that no intervention is necessary for that.

Today's appointment went pretty well. Baby's measuring perfectly, still head down, and heart rate was nice and strong. Couldn't be doing better in that respect! I'm growing a very healthy baby here. Baby's still up pretty high in my rib cage right now though... so I'll be doing my best to try and coax the baby down up until delivery.

I've started to notice my braxton hicks contractions getting increasingly uncomfortable lately... and I have made a bit of progress, so that's all good stuff! I'm currently 3 cm and 50% effaced. Strangely enough that's exactly what I was at the same point in pregnancy with Annabelle... down to the day even! (I'm glad I recorded everything about her pregnancy! It's nice to have a reference point.) So needless to say, (and it's not a guarantee, obviously) I'm thinking that things may pan out to be similar to my last labor and delivery. We will see. Every pregnancy and delivery is different, so I'm not getting my hopes up for anything at all, including more progress before labor. While it's really nice to progress a bit before labor starts, women can still have very quick deliveries even without a lot of progress prior to the onset of labor. I also want to note, I know there are a lot of opinions about being checked for dilation before labor begins... I'm well aware of my option to forgo these exams... especially since they've only ever offered to check my dilation. It's never been forced on me at all. Personally, I just like to know where things are at. I'm well aware of the fact that it really means nothing until labor starts... it's just a personal preference and that's okay. I'm very aware of all the pro's and con's to these exams, I simply just like to know.

So anyway... Jeff and I decided since my progress happens to be the exact same as last time at this point in pregnancy, it would be extremely entertaining if this baby decided to arrive exactly when brother and sister did. They were both born 6 days early, on a Tuesday, at 7:50 am. So weird! Oddly enough, if this baby were to arrive 6 days early, that would also fall on a Tuesday. It would be crazy if that happened again.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll update again in a week. Thanks for reading, friends! :)

Week 35

Although I'm not technically 35 weeks until tomorrow, I decided to post an update now since there won't be much to update on next week... considering I feel completely confident that I'm measuring perfectly and baby is doing just fine.

Recently I started noticing more frequent and stronger braxton hicks along with a few indicators that my body might be dilating. Both of these things are completely normal at this point, especially for third time moms, but when I started having more and more unusual aching back pain accompanied with some leaking fluid over the last couple days, I decided I better get things checked out today... especially since we're going on a short camping trip this week. (My pain was not crazy bad or anything... just enough to irritate me I guess). SO I called the on-call doc and she said to come in... of course. And the whole way I was kicking myself for calling because I felt silly and ridiculous... like I was probably just thinking into it too much.

When I finally got there, they got me right in and had me on the monitors... of course. Baby looked perfect, just as I expected, but they were fairly concerned about all the "contractions" I was having. They were the same braxton hicks I had been having, but they were consistently about 5 minutes apart... I felt minimal discomfort from them except for very mild cramps and mild aching in my back. I know what painful contractions feel like, and these were not even close to being painful.

They ended up running a couple tests and checked my cervix to make sure the braxton hicks weren't causing too much progress. I have not been the least bit concerned about early labor, or that baby would even come before 37 weeks, and I'm still not too concerned about it. But as of now I'm dilated 2cm, which is perfectly okay. My body is surely getting ready a little earlier this time, but baby's birth is definitely not imminent. My cervix was still completely closed at this point in my last pregnancy, so I was a little surprised to hear I had progressed at all. But, women do walk around like this for a while sometimes. I just hope baby hangs around at least for another 4 weeks. That would be ideal for me so I can have everyone present for the birth. I have to admit, it is kind of exciting that things are slowly starting to happen... Makes it feel real that baby will be here in the next month or so!

Anyway... they were very glad I ended up coming in though. They discovered I have a nasty bladder infection which they are treating with antibiotics. The dr said if I had waited a whole lot longer it likely would have caused an assortment of issues and spread to my kidneys which would have been very unpleasant. Sooo needless to say the discomforts I've noticed lately were from the bladder infection and should subside soon. I really didn't have much to complain about in the first place, just wanted to be sure that my symptoms were normal before we left town. Glad I went in and now I can enjoy the trip a little more comfortably. Everything pregnancy and baby related is still going quite well. I feel great considering I'm getting so far along now. Thankful for each and every day, and each and every moment of this experience. Anyway, thanks for reading friends! I'll update at 37 weeks. :)

Weeks 33/34

Well, I'm blogging from my phone... Unfortunately. My MacBook charger bit the dust so we have our phones and an iPad... Not my favorite pieces of technology.
Anyway, we have been super busy on the home improvement train. We painted the trim in the kids room, repainted the walls, and put up some really nice chair rail trim to separate the two paint colors. We liked it so much that we applied the same concept to other parts of the house. We have one wall left and our bedroom to do. Otherwise it feels great to have fresh paint throughout the house... As well as freshly painted trim and doors.
I'm not sure at this point if I've found extreme motivation, extra energy, or both. I'm leaning more toward extra motivation since I know it will be way harder to get this stuff done once the baby comes. Either way, our house feels and looks so nice!
Anyway, baby updates... Baby is steadily growing and getting more squished. I am really enjoying this part of pregnancy. Sure, there are normal discomforts that accompany this part, but I love feeling the baby move and feeling little feet in my ribs... As weird as that sounds. Baby also has a very consistent schedule, at least that I have noticed... As soon as the kids are up and Jeff gets home, baby is kicking away in there. baby is also very active in the evening when the kids have settled into bed. Hopefully this schedule stays when baby is born. Other than that, baby is doing perfectly fine in there and weighs roughly 5 pounds at this point. Baby is also head down at the moment and measuring perfectly.. Dr was able to feel the baby's head and bottom at my last appointment... And we even heard/felt baby's hiccups when my Dr checked the heart beat. So cute!
All in all, I am feeling great. I am starting to experience a little swelling here and there so I have had to watch my salt intake. I have also noticed a bit of mild heartburn if I eat or drink anything other than water within an hour before bed. Not much else to update on... Still watching my weight. I have gained about 12 pounds at this point, which is great. No complaints there. My Dr is pretty pleased by that.
I have to say, its pretty cute how excited Joey is getting. About a week ago, he told me the baby could stay in longer. So I asked when baby could come out, and he told me that when the school buses start coming back then the baby could come out. That probably sounds super random, but it was really sweet that he said that. A few months ago when he asked when the baby could come out, I wracked my brain for something to say which would help him understand when that point in time will be when baby is ready to be born. Since he doesn't yet understand seasons or the concept of extended lengths of time, I told him that the baby will be born in the fall... And the fall time is when the school buses come by our house again. So I told him when he starts seeing school buses again, then it means that the baby will be born soon. I couldn't believe he remembered that! It was so sweet that he remembered what I said and is already keeping his eyes open for the buses. So cute!
That's about it for now. Next appointment is in two weeks, then I start weekly visits! Its all coming up so fast! Thanks for following me, dear friends!

Just a sample of what we did... it's continued into the hallway, and we did the same thing in the kids' room but with a different shade of tan. I absolutely love it!

Just a little belly pic... 34 weeks 4 days. Excuse the workout attire... and the umbilical hernia. I've been trying to stay active in order to help baby get into the optimal position. I'm also hoping that if I keep up with my exercise I'll make a bit of progress before labor begins... that proved helpful last time. 

Weeks 31/32

Really nearing the homestretch now!! I'm finding myself doing all sorts of preparatory work around the house... I've been obsessing over every little thing in my house lately. The carpet, the appliances, the back deck that needs built as well as new front steps, the yard... But I'm not going to lie... for some reason I've fixated the most on the interior paint and now I'm stressing about repainting the interior of our house. Having lived in our home for over three years now with two small children and a huge destructive dog, it really needs to be redone, especially since the sellers picked such a light color to paint the whole interior of the house with. We've done our best to keep it well maintained and cleaned, but it just hasn't been enough... especially since our primary heat source in the cold months is our wood stove. So needless to say, with all the hussle and bussle around the house plus the smoke from the stove, it really needs some TLC. Sooooo I've been searching and thinking and pondering and eyeing different color palettes and none have appealed to either of us... Until just recently, that is. I saw a picture of this super cute room on pinterest. The had white floor moulding and white chair railing separating two paint colors on the wall. So basically we took that concept and applied it to the kids room to see if it was something we wanted to do to the whole house. We decided to keep the top color the same since it's a nice off white color (we just touched up the scuffs and repainted all the trim and floor moulding), and for the bottom color we went with a paint called "hot chocolate." It turned out amazing... so amazing, in fact, that we decided to apply the same concept throughout different parts of the house. I can't wait to get started with it!! It's a lot of work, but the end result is totally worth it.

Anyway... that has nothing to do with baby or me at all. Things have been going fairly well. I'm definitely feeling more and more pregnant as the days go on. I can really tell I'm nearing the end now as my lower back is starting to get pretty achey and I tire out more quickly... Other than that and mild sleep issues, I've been doing pretty well lately.

I'm still watching what I eat, and I'm slowly pinning down foods that cause me pain and discomfort. It's nice to know precisely what causes my gallbladder to react. So far I know for sure that any kind of meat (particularly beef or even turkey burgers with added fillers) (not including chicken or ground turkey... I do fine with those), anything super greasy, red onions (weird... but it does cause me pain), and most cheeses minus mozzarella.. So really I'm not AS limited as I originally thought. Just have to stay away from those few items. I'm thinking that this cautiousness with my diet has also helped a lot with my heartburn issues I typically have with pregnancy. I haven't had heartburn at all since the beginning of my first trimester... which has been awesome!! I usually have it really bad, so it's been great not having to deal with that.

Recently I have added a few changes to my nutrition... I've been praying and doing a lot of careful research on this blood disorder I've developed during my pregnancy. Given my anxiety about things I try to stay away from google. I do suspect I had this with my last pregnancy as well, but I could be wrong. In order to increase my platelet count by my 36 week blood draw (to recheck the situation), I've added more vitamin c to my diet through juice, and lots of fresh fruit... I also started taking an alfalfa supplement. I did a little reading and found out that a lot of midwives will have some moms start taking it a couple months before delivery in order to help prevent excessive postpartum blood loss. I couldn't exactly find evidence that this is effective for someone with a low platelet count, but regardless, it has a lot of vitamin k in it which helps blood to clot better... and it's good for baby because I don't do vaccines at birth. Joey had the vitamin k shot but he required medical attention and we had a few personal reasons for doing so in addition to his medical needs after birth. So I'm really hoping that between the careful attention I've paid to consuming enough vitamins via supplements and natural food sources, I'm praying that this will really make a difference and I will have at least shown some improvement by my next blood draw in 5 weeks. My chiropractor said to try to get these nutrients through raw food sources as best as I can... which I've clearly been doing in addition to the alfalfa. Anyway, if my platelets don't increase by 36 weeks, I believe that my doctor is planning to try some medication to help with it before the baby arrives. He might not feel it's necessary though... we will see. So for now, I'm praying that I've reversed it naturally before my next CBC.

As for baby, all is perfectly well. I had my 32 week visit yesterday and everything was as perfect as can be. Baby had a healthy heart rate and I'm still measuring right on target. My weight gain is still nice and slow. I've gained a total of 12 pounds at this point. I'm pretty pleased with that!

I've now graduated to two week visits now! Crazy how fast this is going by. Seriously, thinking that we only have a month and a half until the baby is here is just mind boggling to me. I feel like I have so much to do still. I really don't have that much to do, but I really feel like I'm forgetting something really big that needs to be done.

Anyway, not much else to update on. I'm still really enjoying my pregnancy, and I'm trying to soak in every moment. It's going to be over so soon! I sure hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful summer we're having! God bless you, friends!!

Week 28/29/30

It's so crazy how fast time is flying by!!! Oh my goodness, we could have a baby in our arms as early as the end of August... which is only 8-9 weeks away! However, I sure hope baby stays put until at least the 17th of September (one day past my due date)... but I'm not going to hold my breath. Both of my kids came on their own 6 days early, so this one may decide to follow suit... but it would be ideal if this baby decided to plan his/her birthday in our favored window of time. The time in which my due date falls has become somewhat of a busy crazy time for everyone involved in the birth of this wee one. Jamie will be out of town in my 37th week, so baby would do well to stay put during that week... and today I found out that my doctor will be out of town during my 38th and 39th weeks... so it would be perfect if baby waited until 17th-19th so everyone including my sister can be around. BUT... it is what it is. Baby is going to come when he/she is ready, and we'll just have to be okay with that! :)

As far as my pregnancy goes, everything is going pretty well. My platelets are a little low, so I'm going to try a few dietary changes to try and get them up before I'm tested again in 6 weeks. I really don't want to worry about it, nor do I want to take medication for it. My weight is still at a perfect spot which makes me super happy. I think I've just now hit the 10 pound mark. I suspect my weight will probably start to increase in these last weeks as I retain water and baby starts to gain more weight. Either way it's still my goal to gain no more than 7 lbs in addition to what I've already gained which puts me at ten pounds less than when I delivered Annie. Healthy weight for sure!

Baby is doing really well, measuring perfectly. My dr has no concerns as far as my little one goes. We had a 3/4D ultrasound on Jeff's birthday, and that was really fun! Baby wasn't as cooperative as my other two were, but I suspect that's because the baby was really sleepy. We could all tell that baby just wanted to rest and snuggle in for a while. I have to say, this little one has quite the personality already. I thought for sure this little one was just a super active baby who just had more trouble entertaining him/herself in there. Not the case... baby was actively moving around during the ultrasound, but we could clearly see that baby was just trying to find the snuggliest position in which to sleep! This makes me hopeful that I'll have another snuggly baby. Annie enjoyed being tucked in snugly in her own bed rather than being held constantly... Joey would have been happy in my arms 24/7, but clearly that's a little difficult to do. So I really hope this baby likes snuggling a little more than Annie girl did. She's just super independent, and that's okay!

The one interesting thing we saw during our ultrasound was that baby was in the same position as Annabelle during her ultrasound. At first baby's feet were by my ribs, but by the end of it, feet were up in his/her face. I also got a great picture of baby sucking on his/her big toe! JUST like at Annie's ultrasound!!! It was crazy!! Baby also really enjoyed putting the cord in his/her mouth. I suspect this one might be my first binky baby... but we'll see. I wasn't planning on using those since my other two didn't like them, but I may change my mind. It was really a lot of fun to see our baby's face and compare the ultrasound pictures to Joey and Annie's. Baby seems to have a very sweet personality already. I just can't wait to hold my precious tiny baby!!

Anyway, things are still going really well. I'm still having lots of braxton hicks, and they're definitely increasing in frequency and intensity which is great. Just means my body will be nice and ready when the time comes. I'm starting to get worn out a little easier now, but all in all I feel like I have the most energy out of all three pregnancies. Maybe it's just that I'm forced to manage my time and energy more efficiently? I don't know. Either way, I've been prepping and getting things ready and figuring out what to buy before the baby comes. I'm also soaking in every minute of this pregnancy that I can. I'm really enjoying having this baby all to myself right now. It's a little hard for me to share when my babies are born... I've had them all to myself for 9 months that it's sometimes difficult to let other people have a turn. haha

Here are some pics from our ultrasound!

My chubby little pumpkin

Baby's profile

Baby was turning away so here's a good one of his/her shoulder.

Baby sucking on his/her big toe!

Hands in face.

Grabbing his/her wrist

Cute little hand!

26/27 week update

It's been a busy couple of weeks. I feel like I've been on the go constantly... partly just to get the kiddos out of the house so Jeff can get some good quiet sleep, but we've just had a lot going on it seems. I've been trying to slowly weed through all the baby clothes and baby items to see exactly what we need. I made a registry for the things I knew we would definitely need... mostly things like diapers, wipes, cloth diapers, bath stuff, burp cloths, receiving blankets... things that tend to get worn out after the use of one baby. It's nice, I didn't have to spend a ton of time registering for things because we have almost everything for a girl or a boy. Way easier this time!! I did actually register for an ergobaby baby carrier and infant insert, as well as a new space saver high chair... both of which we decided to purchase right off of my registry yesterday. I received a coupon from babies r us for 20% off of my entire purchase, so we hopped right on that and bought the things we suspected nobody would want to fork out the money for. I'm so glad we did!! We saved a ton of money, and I basically got the $25 infant insert for free!! Good deal for sure because those were some of our big ticket items. I have to say though, it's tough taking Jeff and the kids with me. My husband may or may not really enjoy shopping for Annie. She even scored a princess potty chair due to her daddy insisting that she needed it and would be successful at potty training if she had that chair. It was definitely a hit. She promptly drug it out of the bathroom this morning, placed it in the living room (all while saying "it's so heavy! it's so heavy!"... where she learned that, I have no idea but it was so cute!!) and sat down on it for a good several minutes. She loves princesses, so I have to say, Jeff suggested a good purchase.

Anyways... I'm now heading into my third trimester!!! YAY!!!! I am so excited to meet this little peanut. I'm more and more excited every day... I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by. I'm really focusing on enjoying every single minute of it... even the moments of discomfort. I just remind myself that it is such a blessing that I even get to have this experience, and that there are women out there who would do anything to experience all aspects of pregnancy... the good, the bad, the ugly. Personally I think it's mostly good... Yeah there are things that aren't the most fun, but I really can't complain because I can always think of something that would be way more miserable.

A couple of days ago I took my glucose test for instance... WOW. That's all I can say about that. I walked in expecting a nice quiet getaway from housework, playing mediator with the kids, and cooking/cleaning up the kitchen. Not so. When I entered the clinic, I was welcomed by a thick wave of tension being emitted by all these other pregnant ladies taking their glucose tests. You know, I get it's not the most joyous experience in the world, but make the best with what you have!! We are ALL hungry, we are all probably a little thirsty from now having our fluids limited, and I'm pretty sure none of us enjoyed the super tasty beverage we had to suck down in less than five minutes time, but it's not a bad enough experience that we should convince ourselves we're in a bad mood over it. Sheesh!! So I get in there for my first blood draw, and as soon as it was over, the lady put me in this room with only one other woman in it... let's just say I definitely knew why as soon as I sat down. This lady was probably the grouchiest of all of them. So, I plopped down in my chair with a smile on my face, a book in hand, and chuckled at how ridiculous it all was. For real ladies... the glucose test is not that bad. They make it sound way worse than it is. I'd love to go into detail about the things I heard the other women say, but it's just too ridiculous to repeat... haha.

So, with that all said and done, my results came back perfectly normal. Even my hematocrit levels were great!! What a relief, because I was very concerned that they had dropped given my recent diet change.

Speaking of my diet... I've been slacking on logging my food, but mostly because I've been slacking on eating. I'm just not hungry enough to force all that food into my body. It's terrible, and I try my hardest to make sure I'm getting all my nutrients, but I can't over stuff myself and make myself sick!! So I've been slowly phasing things back in. I can still drink milk, eat a small piece of low fat cheese, and use a small amount of cream cheese. Lately I've eaten half of a small chicken breast to see how I do with that, so far so good. Ground chicken works great for me too!! I've not had any beef or pork though, which seems to have cut out most of my issues. However, I did eat a turkey burger the other day (no bun, no mayo, no cheese... just lettuce, tomato, and ketchup) and I ended up with a mild reaction to that. Definitely not my worst attack by any means, but enough to make me uncomfortable. So this week I'm going to try ground turkey... I suspect there may have been something other than just ground turkey in that turkey burger, so we'll see how I do with the ground turkey I purchased. Anyway... that's about it. Still trying really hard to eat a lot of dark leafy greens, protein, fruits and other veggies... grains... etc.

As far as baby goes, all is well with my little womb tenant. Growth seems to be happening at a rapid rate, which is awesome! I'm loving every minute of feeling our sweet little baby moving around, and even seeing the movements on the outside! I'm at the point now where I can see and feel different body parts starting to poke out here and there. It's super fun! That's probably my favorite part of pregnancy. It's kind of a game with this baby because when I push gently on the limb that's poking out, baby will move and push back somewhere else. My belly button hernia has also been a source of entertainment for this little tyke... the minute I push it back in baby just pushes it right back out. That gets a little uncomfortable, but whatever. It's to be expected I suppose. Baby definitely has her/his schedule all worked out in there. From what I've noticed, baby is most active in the morning and evening, with little spurts of movements during the day here and there. I'm hoping that since this one seems to have the most consistent schedule, that perhaps it will be easier to get the baby on a good sleep schedule when she/he is born. We'll see though.

As for me... I'm doing pretty darn good right now. I've had a little more energy this last week, and I just feel healthy. Perhaps it's all the time I've spent outside in the sun? Maybe it's the fact that I already have a flip flop tan? Who knows... But I'm doing really well. I still haven't gained any weight, which is perfectly fine and completely okay for me. Before I became pregnant with this baby I had hoped to lose at least 10 pounds... So I pretty much started out with 10 pounds of baby weight. I was still only a few pounds from my pre-Annie weight, which was good, but that meant that I really had to be careful this time about my weight gain. So... from start of pregnancy to now, I'm still at the 8 pound mark. This honestly makes me super happy because most of my clothes still kind of fit me... and it's also quite the ego boost when people make comments about it... for instance, yesterday at the mall, a sales associate at the mac counter informed me that she didn't even realize I was pregnant until I turned to the side. Seriously, that made my day, because for some reason yesterday I was starting to feel like my belly had grown a ton over night.

Other than that, things are going pretty well. I'm having a lot of braxton hicks contractions, and they are very slowly increasing in intensity. Some of them have been mildly painful. From what I hear, this is pretty normal. Also, given my experience with Annie, I'm pretty confident that this is just how my body works. Sometimes I'll have pretty regular braxton hicks, but never for longer than an hour and never getting stronger, longer, or closer together. I feel like that's just how my body does things so it can be fast and efficient at bringing the baby into the world when it's time for baby to be born. My doctor is well aware that I'm just one of those people that experience a lot of them, and he's not concerned in the least. I'm pretty confident I'll know when to get checked out if they start to feel different.

Anyway... not much else to update on. My next appointment is in two weeks... and then I think the one after that is when I start going every two weeks. So crazy!! Baby will be here sooooo soon!! Thanks for reading, friends! God bless!!

Foodness.

Today, I fell off the healthy food train. Oh well, right? I didn't have an attack, which is great. I didn't eat anything that usually triggers it. We stopped at the mountain view diner after a doctor visit this morning... where we shared some fries and the kids ate some chicken. I had been craving some fries and ranch, so that made me super happy! I ate my usual for breakfast, english muffin with almond butter and some pineapple. I had a glass of milk after that, drank my coffee... (then had fries for lunch... shame shame...) I really wasn't that hungry today. I didn't snack at all... and when I did it was because I forced myself. So for a snack I had pineapple. For dinner, I had left over lettuce wraps and had a couple chia shots to finish.

Tomorrow will be better.

About my dr visit... It brought me a lot of relief! I've had a lot of trouble with my right hand in recent years. After carpal tunnel surgery, and wrist arthroscopy surgery (for a really big cartilage tear), I have had yet another issue with my hand. I've noticed a lot of pain near the base of my thumb in the last couple of months. Usually just when I grip things, turn my wrist in certain ways, or try to pinch things... basically movements that put pressure on the area. I went in today and discovered I did not actually injure my hand!! Good news!! But I do have some sort of something that ends with tenosynovitis. (The only part I remembered). It has to do with the tendons on that side of my hand. This can be due to pregnancy, lifting Annie all the time... repetitive use... whatever the cause, it's treatable right now!! I'll be going back to hand therapy (for the third time), and hopefully it will go away after baby comes. So yay! Good news.

25 weeks

Not much of an update this week. Still continuing to work on my diet change... yesterday was a pretty good day, minus one cheat. For breakfast I ate steel cute oatmeal with brown sugar and blue berries, drank a glass of milk after, took a chia shot with OJ, had a cup of coffee... snacked on fruit throughout the morning. For lunch.. I can't remember what I ate. I know I had a protein bar and a fiber bar somewhere in there, with some fresh veggies. For dinner I had two cups of spinach with a homemade cucumber cilantro dressing (super yummy) and had a side of yellow squash sauteed in sesame oil with fresh minced garlic. Then I had a small serving of peach cobbler. So yummy. Today I had an english muffin with almond butter, blue berries, a glass of milk and a cup of coffee. For lunch, I will make a smoothie with black beans, kale, spinach, mango, banana, strawberries, chia seeds, and rice milk. I'll probably throw in a protein bar (mostly nuts and seeds, but packed with protein!), as well as some fruits and veggies to snack on. For dinner I'm having lettuce wraps made with ground chicken. There's my day of food!

Anyway, pregnancy wise, I'm finding a bit more energy these days. I suspect it's because I've been taking unisom as needed, as well as getting more nutrients I may not have been getting before. I'm still struggling to get to sleep and stay asleep some nights but it's getting better.

I'm honestly a little surprised that my weight hasn't started climbing since I've changed my diet. I feel like I'm constantly eating to get enough of everything baby and I need. I still haven't gained anything in quite some time. I'm so totally fine with that!! I've hit the 8 pound mark and stayed there. My dr is not the least bit concerned... in fact he really wants me to keep my weight down. Fine by me!!

As for baby... I have a very active and very responsive little baby in there. During the day I don't feel quite as many kicks and punches, but I suspect that's because baby sleeps most of the day because my constant running around lulls him/her to sleep.. which makes for a lot of fun "bonding" time in the evening. I can now feel little limbs poking out now, which is so fun to me!! That's my favorite part of pregnancy. I love being able to see where my baby is, and feel little hard spots where something is poking out. It's pretty fun lately because whenever I push lightly on my belly where he/she is bundled up, baby pushes back. It's been kind of a game. I just love it! I'm thoroughly enjoying this part. According to my weekly pregnancy e-mails, baby weighs a little under two pounds at this point and is roughly 13.5 inches long! We're getting there! :)

Other wise... not much else happening right now. I have my two hour glucose test on the 12th (yuck). It's so boring... but at least this time I have a smart phone and will remember to bring something to do. I'll probably stop at Ben Franklin on the way there and pick up some yarn to make hats with while I wait around. We'll see. Anyway... thanks for reading, friends!! :)