He's Here!

**Same post I put at at my other blog, but keep reading here even if you did there. You guys get the link to newborn photos!*


So sorry that I haven't had time to update my blog. I've been a wee bit busy.

Jonah Benjamin was born at 5:26PM on March 26th. He was 7 lbs 3 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. (Can you believe how tiny he is compared to my last big baby?!! I still can't.)

He is an adorable little baby. We can't get enough of him.

Sorry that I don't have any photos loaded on my computer yet to share. You'll just have to take my word for now that he is beautiful.

Or you can go see our newborn photo session from the hospital at www.bellababyphotography.com and enter in the password:tmil0326schmunk. (I wish she'd gotten some with his eyes open. He is one of the most alert newborns I've ever seen!)

We are still in the hospital. He had been really healthy and well, then he developed jaundice. They chose to treat him under the bili lights for a day. We should be able to come home tonight as long as his numbers stay down. So far so good. Just seeing how he's doing out of the lights now. I'm glad he's back in a room with me now. We don't foresee any problems and should leave this afternoon with him.

I had a great delivery and can't wait to share about it. I was in a long labor, but when he decided to come...boy did he! It was a wild and crazy ride...that my OB didn't make it to!

But that's for another time. I'm feeling great and doing well. I haven't had any problems...unless you count my swollen stumps that I used to call feet/legs. Geesh!

That's the update for now. I'm sure I'll have more photos and things to share as we go. 

Baby Day!

Tomorrow morning is the big day! Despite our attempts, I did not go into labor this weekend. So we go with the induction tomorrow bright and early. I'm hoping that the baby will be here before lunchtime.

I am a tiny bit nervous, but mostly just excited at this point. I'm still supposed to be taking it easy, but it's been hard to do that today. Just knowing he'll be here tomorrow anyway has me finishing up stuff around here. To be honest I haven't had much to do.

My bag is packed and ready to go. I will add my toiletries when I finish getting ready in the morning and we'll be off. My mom is on her way here. She's staying the night, so she can get Zachariah onto the bus in the morning. We'll be leaving too early to see him. Then she (or someone) will go get him after school and bring him to the hospital.

I have to say that the one thing (other than meeting the baby) that I'm looking most forward to is introducing him to his big brother. Zachariah has been so excited this whole pregnancy. It was nice to spend his last day as an only child with him at home (snow day) today. He really doesn't know what's coming, but he's thrilled about having a new baby. I know he'll be a great big brother, and it will be fun to watch the interaction.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate them as I go in the morning too. I will be updating here when I can, but I'll be able to post on Twitter and/or text some of you pretty quickly after he comes.

No Baby Yet...But Soon!

I had a feeling that I was going to have the baby this week. So far, I haven't but I will have him early next week. At 39 weeks, he'll be born just like his brother was.

It's been a strange week. My blood pressure has been up most of the time since my appointment last week. When I called my numbers into the doctor's office, they put me on bed rest. On bed rest my blood pressure is fine, which is what we were hoping for. But it seems any time I'm up doing things, it rises. For now until the baby delivers, the best thing for me and him is to stay in bed or on the couch laying down and resting.

At my appointment Wednesday we did want I didn't want to do earlier. We scheduled an induction. I knew it was coming, and I think with my on bed rest and not much progress going on it's time. So next Tuesday morning, I'll be reporting to the hospital bright and early. And I know that the baby will be delivered by one of the two doctors that I've been seeing regularly, so that's good. (Lucky for me the 3rd in the practice, who I met once, is on vacation.)

I really didn't want to go through another induction. But it ended well last time, and I did have a pretty good delivery. I know the end result will be fine. I was a little disappointed that I haven't progressed in a week. In fact this doctor thought I was less effaced than Dr. K said last week. Boo! And being stuck on bed rest, I can't do too much to try to get the baby out. It doesn't stop me from hoping and praying that I'll go into labor before Tuesday!

I appreciate your thoughts and prayers at this time. Bed rest is quite boring. And I'm big and uncomfortable (and a bit grouchy today). But I'm trying to just enjoy my last few days (ahhh!) of pregnancy. And I know it's all to meet this beautiful little boy.

I will definitely put an update on here as soon as I have the opportunity after the little one makes his appearance. I will most likely update Twitter first, because that's easy to do. If you aren't on there much and really want to be in on the news right away, email me your number if you'd like a text update. I can add you to my list.

By this time next week, I should be sharing pictures of my beautiful new baby from home!

The Birth Plan

So, now I'll tell you about my birth plan discussion with my doctor. (Sarah, I'm seeing Dr. K at Women's Health for Life. I'm thinking that's who you had for your last birth. I've also seen the newer Dr. C there.)

I printed out a simple birth plan from BabyCenter and just marked some things that are important to me. I'm a pretty easy-going person, and I understand that birth requires some flexibility. I'm good with that. But there are some things that I would really like to have happen. Some because I missed out last time, and others because I feel they are important.

With my first pregnancy I was induced at 39 weeks with elevated blood pressure and knowing I was having a large baby. I had a pretty good birthing experience. There were a few things that I missed out on, that I'd rather have had. I found out before I had Zachariah that the doctor would not let me hold the baby after I delivered. He would pass him off to the nurses to clean and assess, then eventually give back to me. That's just the way he did things. He was very sterile/surgical about delivery. It was probably 10 minutes or so before I finally got to hold my baby after only having a brief glance at him.

Discussing this with my current doctor went really well. She agreed that I could have the baby flopped on me right away. She said we could hold off on all cleaning and major baby checks for a while. We would have plenty of time with the baby right then and could even breastfeed immediately.

Getting a great start on breastfeeding is really important to me, because I had a difficult time before. Zachariah was born with an infection, which lead to a week long stay in the special care nursery. This started off a bad nursing relationship. He was too sick at first to try breastfeeding. And my supply never really came in good. It was a battle for months.

I'm hoping by more bonding time with the baby right away, we can get off to a great start. And my doctor is all for that! Hurray! I'm also feeling better, because I tested negative this time for Group B Strep. I did have GBS with Zachariah, and that's likely what caused his infection even after receiving antibiotics during delivery. Because I had this happen before, I will be treated with antibiotics as soon as I arrive at the hospital for delivery. But I feel better about our chances of having a really healthy baby by testing negative this time.

The doctor agreed that I can push as I need to instead of being told, unless circumstances are different. She's willing to let things progress naturally as possible. After experiencing labor through pitocin before, I'm hoping everything can happen as naturally as possible this time.

Then after discussing all this, she said she would even be OK with letting me grab the baby as he's coming out and pulling him up onto myself if I'd like to do that. I would love that. I told her that would be great. Assuming I'm feeling decent as he's being delivered that may be a possibility. How neat! I never even thought about that possibility  And since Matt doesn't want to cut the cord (the thought grosses him out), she said I could do that too. I'm a little concerned that the baby may come out quickly, and I wouldn't be able to grab him. But that's OK. I won't have my heart set on it. I just know Zachariah came out quickly in one push.

I can't wait for this birth experience  I'm sure hoping that I'll go into labor on my own, so I don't have to think about being induced. At this point she thinks I'm good to go to about 41 weeks. I have already made a little progress too. At 36 weeks I was thinning and baby's head was right there. Last week I was almost 1 cm. This week I was definitely 1 cm, 80% effaced, and baby's head was right there. The baby is definitely down. I'm hoping with this progress, when I do go into labor it will go quickly.

I think I'm more ready to have the baby after this last appointment than I was before. Plus I've gone into major nesting mode in the past two days. For now I'll wait and prayer for a good delivery, healthy baby, and great breastfeeding with this baby.

38 weeks!

I am officially 38 weeks pregnant today. I can't believe how fast this is going. And I'm very excited to be meeting me new little boy very soon. At this point I know it will be no more then 2-3 weeks. It is a little surreal.

I had my checkup with the OB yesterday. Things went pretty well. They were a little concerned at first, because my blood pressure read 140/100. Yikes! That's high for me, especially since I'm on medication for previous blood pressure concerns this pregnancy.

Everything else looked good. The baby's heartbeat was normal. My urine sample came back with everything normal. And I am experiencing no other symptoms to indicate blood pressure (or really preeclampsia) issues. So after waiting a little while, the doctor rechecked my blood pressure. It was back to normal and even a bit lower in my left arm. Because everything else was good & it was fine now, this set everyone's mind at ease.

I'm under instructions to rest for an hour every day. Check my blood pressure occasionally and call if it goes up like that & stays there again. Otherwise, we'll wait another week and see what happens. It did earn my a non-stress test (NST) to check on the baby though. So we were at the office longer than planned. Fortunately Matt's job is pretty flexible for things like that, and he was able to stay with me. The NST results were good. I'll have an appointment in a week & another NST scheduled then too.

Before I left the doctor wanted me to talk game plan. She said at this point she wants to have an idea of what we'll do if I go over my due date. She doesn't want to pressure me into rushing into things, but just wants to know my thoughts. Being due around a holiday makes it a little odd too, but we've made no plans for Easter this year. I'll either be waiting on baby, in the hospital or have a newborn at home. Too much  to try to think about doing anything else.

I should mention that the doctor is fine with my going to 41 weeks too. I'm happy about this, but it's so different than last time when I was induced at 39 weeks (because of elevated blood pressure & a big baby). She doesn't think this baby will be quite as big. And I agree, I don't think he's as big as Zachariah was.

And we also talked birth plan at this appointment. I'm pretty easy going, but there were a few things I wanted to have done if possible. Mostly about mommy/baby bonding immediately after birth. My doctor with Zachariah wasn't into that, and I feel like I really missed out. This doctor is all on board and in fact added her own thoughts. I am so excited. I was really happy to hear her ideas, but I think I'll save that for another post.

Size-wise

Yesterday was the 36 week ultrasound for a size check. It went well. Zachariah was able to come along to see his little brother. He loved it. He was amazed at hearing the heartbeat (and seeing it too), watching him breathe, but most of all he liked seeing the little ones squirmy hands and little feet. It was fun to share the wonder with him.

The ultrasound went well. The baby is doing great. All his parts check out. We even did a confirmation that it's a boy. It is...we saw those parts. (Makes me feel better about those clothes that I already washed. LOL) He is head down, which is great. I already knew he was. I can feel his head low in the past week or so. And I get very uncomfortable pressure and sometimes slight pain when he's really down there. (Something that I didn't experience before.)

His head measured him at about 6 lbs 12 oz. He's going to be a good-sized baby. This we had expected. But his femur length measured him a bit smaller. I forget exactly, but it was around 6 lbs 6 oz there. Pretty average for 36 weeks. It looks like he may just have a larger head. Zachariah did too, but I didn't have any problems delivery him.

I asked the doctor what she thought about the size and everything. (Before the appointment I was worried they'd try to rush me into delivering early due to size.) She said she's not concerned. She's guessing he'll be able 8-9 lbs by my due date. There is no rush or worry about his size, but she wouldn't want me to go more than a week overdue.

I was so relieved to hear that. I didn't even make it to my due date last time. I had an induction at 39 weeks due mostly to size. So I was a little excited to hear that (assuming everything is still great), I could actually go a little over.

The doctor explained that most times second babies are a little easier to push out and their heads don't get as squished on the way out. She said this will most likely not be the case for me. Since his head looks a little big, he'll probably need more time pushing to get everything out. This is not a concern, but just something that is likely to happen. No big deal to me.

I had an internal exam too. There is no dilation yet, but she says I'm thinning. With all of the pressure I've been feeling, I would not have been surprised to be dilated. Sounds like it may not take long though. And she could feel the baby's head. He really is down low. This didn't surprise me either, because I feel him down there. When he's wiggly, it can get really uncomfortable.

And the best news is I have permission to go into labor at any time now. I am on the high side for fluid (not too much though), so if my water breaks it will be a lot. But if my water breaks or I have regular contractions, I can just go with it. And I can get checked at the office or chose to go straight to the hospital. She said walking a lot or anything else I want to do to get labor going is fine at any time.

While I'm not ready quite yet to have this little guy (ask me again in a week or two), it was surprising and reassuring to hear this. I feel good knowing I'm in the safety zone and ready for delivery. Things are moving in the right direction. I'm hoping with the baby's position and pressure I've been feeling, I'll have a smoother delivery. I really just want to go into labor on my own without any other "help". I know he'll come in his time, and I can't wait to meet him.

It's amazing how much calmer and prepared I feel after this last appointment. It was good to hear that things are going so great. My goal is to keep that up and deliver a very healthy baby boy in the next few weeks.

Quick Update

Tomorrow I have my 36 week appointment. I'm not quite 36 weeks yet, but I will be on Thursday. The plan is to have an ultrasound done to peek at the baby and get an idea of his size.

From the beginning my doctors were worried about my having another big baby. I'm not that worried about his size, because I didn't have any problems delivering a big baby before. But maybe this will ease their minds. I'll be interested in hearing what they say about his size, one way or the other.

According to babycenter.com a baby at this gestational age will weigh just under 6 lbs. I'm guess he's at least 6 lbs or more by now. I don't feel as big as I did last time. I'm probably about the same, so it's hard to tell.

I do know this little guy has been hanging out low. He pushes down on my pelvis often now. Or I feel a lot of pressure down there when I stand up at times. That's a little uncomfortable. I don't remember that from last time. I'm hoping it means we'll have this one a little earlier, but on his schedule. It's not that I'm ready to have a baby this early. It's more that I don't want to get to so close to the end that I have to deal with induction or other such things because he's getting too big.

So, what do you think? Am I going to hear this is another big baby? I'll let you know what I hear.

Cute Baby Things I Made

I do have several more things crossed off my list now. I didn't anticipate getting these done this early. I already had everything I needed to make things, and I had to get the sewing machine out last Saturday for something anyway. I figured I may as well make use of it.

I have completely worn myself out working on all of this. But it has been so much fun to sew some cute items I needed for the baby. At this point I have finished 3 receiving blankets, a car seat cover, and 6 burp cloths. The only thing left is a couple of nursing cover ups. I have made these before, so it won't be too difficult. However, I need to take a break to get other things done first.

Tomorrow my mom comes to help paint Zachariah's new room. He's chosen the color "brick red". I'm not a fan of red, so I really hesitate. The color isn't too bad, though, and it will be in his room not mine. Once we get the painting done, we can start moving his things into the room. That will be a BIG step. That means soon we'll be able to get all of the baby's things set up in his room. About 5 more weeks until his arrival!!

I won't make you wait any longer. Here are pictures of my craftiness:

Car seat cover

Front view with cute, little polka dots

Peek-a-boo! Owls on the inside. Love!

Owls with polka dots

Fleece receiving blankets

Cute pirates

Soft, fuzzy, light, big & two-sided

Outer space

Burp rags! This is my favorite material- robot cotton with matching robot parts flannel on back

Getting There

*Oops, I didn't hit publish on this post last week.*

I really should go back to that post from a while ago and check out my to-do list. I know that some things have been crossed off, but I also know there are many things yet to be done. And if I look at it too long, I know I'll get discouraged. And I'll probably add to it. So, I won't bother.

Let's just say that things are getting done. I've had a few days of extra energy and motivation when I've been able to tackle some of the big things. Most days I don't have energy at all. It stinks, but I know that's just how it goes when you are 8 1/2 months pregnant. Some days I still can't believe it. A quick look down brings me back to reality, though.

So, even though the big project (the great room switch) could have been done months ago, it's not yet. My original goal was to have everything moved by Christmas. Ha! We're already past Valentine's Day and approaching Zachariah's birthday now.

But...the good news is we might have Zachariah in his new room by next weekend. I have most of the old office (his new room) cleared out. I have thrown away a lot of things, donated a lot of things, and have a lot of things in boxes that need to be sold. The big bookcase is now in our room. The cabinet is mostly cleaned out. Most of what is left in the room is baby stuff that will go to Zachariah's current room.

My mom is coming to help me paint next week. We'll paint Zachariah's new room and start moving stuff in as it dries. I'm hoping Matt & I can get the rest moved and have him settled by next weekend. Then we can start setting up baby stuff. The baby's room needs painted too, but I'm less concerned about that at this point. If we have time and it happens, great. If not, no biggie for now. I have the pack & play in our room already for when the baby arrives. He'll sleep in the bassinet insert in that for a while anyway.

Other than feeling the time crunch and wanting to get everything done, I'm doing well. The pregnancy is progressing nicely. I have been seeing the OB every two weeks for a while now. They are simple and quick appointments. We will have an ultrasound done in 2 weeks. This is mostly to check for size (they think I'll have another big baby). And then I'll be seeing the Dr. every week. We'll start discussing birth plans and all that fun stuff. It's coming so soon!

Routine

I had my 32 week check up with the OB yesterday. Have I mentioned that I've seen the same OB for the last 4 appointments now. I like her. She's laid back and a little quite. But she's nice and takes time to talk when needed. The practice I'm going to this time (my OB with Zachariah left town about a year later) has 3 doctors and several nurse practitioners  I've now met all the doctors (the other two only once each, but I liked them both) and the one nurse practitioner I've seen several times. I've seen so many people, though, that it feels nice to have a little consistency with this doctor. We haven't discussed the birth yet, so we'll see where she stands on some things that I want to ask about.

So, today I am 32 weeks pregnant. I can't believe that I'm already that far. Only 8 weeks or less to go. On one hand, I'm excited to meet this new little guy. But mostly I'm not ready yet, so let's not rush this thing.

My appointments have been really routine and uneventful. They are just checking normal things, like weight (I have finally gained a few pounds), blood pressure, urine, fundal height, and baby's heartbeat. Since everything looks good for now and I haven't had any big questions, the appointments go quickly.

In 4 weeks I start going to the doctor every week until baby is born. Hard to imagine we're that close. They also talked about an ultrasound at 36 weeks. I forgot to mention it to this doctor and haven't scheduled one yet. We'll see what she thinks. I'm betting she'll want one at some point there to check for size. Although this particular doctor is the only one who hasn't said anything about the size of my first baby. Maybe she'll be a little more laid back about it. I just know it's likely I'll have a large baby, but it doesn't scare me. I had a good delivery last time, and his size didn't cause any problems. Time will tell.

I have made very little progress on my to do list. But it's all still stuff that I need to work on. Plus I often think of more things that would be helpful to have done. I'm sure I'll need to enlist help of family and friends to get it all done. Thank goodness I have caring people in my life who have already offered.

My To Do's

I feel like I have so much to do before the baby's arrival. The problem is that I don't have the energy to get much done. The closer we get, though, the more these things bug me. So I'm going to start a list here. Maybe I can update as I go. It might help to have a little accountability.

1. Switch bedrooms - This is a big project and involves other small projects to get there. We are taking a room that has always been an office/spare room and turning it into Zachariah's bedroom. Lots of cleaning out, selling furniture, storing things, getting rid of things, etc. Once we get Zachariah in that room, then we can start getting his old room turned into the baby's nursery.
2. Paint - I'd really like to get Zachariah's room painted before we move him in. Then paint the nursery too. (My mom will help, but I don't know if it will happen in time.)
3. Paint changing table - I just bought a used changing table, but it's really light & the crib we have is dark. Doesn't match at all, so I'm thinking of painting the table. Maybe in a blue/gray color combo to match the nursery decor.
4. Sell old toys and such - I have a box off things that came out of Zachariah's room and the office that need to leave my house. I donated a bunch, but have a box of "sell-ables". I need to get them listed and out of my house.
5. Get out baby clothes - All our baby clothes are stored. I need to get them out, go through them, and wash them.
6. Make baby items - I have fabric to make a nursing cover, car seat cover and burp clothes for the little one. I want to get the nursery ready, so I have somewhere to put everything when it's made.
7. Clean my bedroom - It just needs it, but I also have to clear out a corner to move a large bookshelf in from the office. Plus pretty soon I'll be setting up the bassinet in there too.
8. Finishing buying diapers & prep diapers - I only have a start on my cloth diaper stash. I know what I want, but I'm waiting to see if I can get a sale on some of the others I want to get.
9. Prepare a few freezer meals for quick fix after baby is born - We're pretty blessed with friends, family, and a church that will provide meals for a little while when we bring the baby home. But I think it would be good to have a few things handy for those hectic days, maybe after Matt goes back to work. I don't worry about food when he's home, because he's a great cook. And that's one big way he helps me out when I'm busy with baby.
10. Get a big brother/new baby gift - I think it would be nice to let Zachariah pick out a stuffed animal or something to give the new baby at the hospital. And maybe something from the "baby" for Zachariah. Ideas??

I'm sure there are more...many more things that need to be done. But these are the big ones for now and the ones that are bothering me. I know things will get done. And the ones that don't, I'm choosing not to fret about. We have the basics for baby. He will be fed, changed, and have a safe place to sleep. The rest really won't matter in the end...but it would be nice to be ready completely. (It would make me feel better at least.)

Showering the Baby

I am 30 weeks pregnant now. Things are going well. Nothing notable happening, and for that I'm thankful. He continues to be a very active, squirmy baby. I can't wait to meet him and see his personality unfold.

I can't believe I'm going to be a mom again. The chance to carry this precious baby inside for 9 months (10 technically). Then I get to hold him, snuggle him, care for him, nourish him, and love him. It's been a while since I had my own little one. And there was a long time when I thought I wouldn't get to experience this joy again. I can't describe how it feels to be so blessed with this baby.

Some of the ladies at my parents' church asked if they could have a baby shower for us. I grew up with these ladies and still seem them a few times a year at least. I have to admit that I was really excited that they wanted to do this. So much fun to get to celebrate this little baby. We had a bunch of showers the first time, but no one had mentioned one this time. I was a little sad. So it was really fun to find out that we are having one.

I don't need lots of things, so it's not about that. But it is fun to feel like this little baby is getting his own time to be loved and honored before he is born. Plus there are a few little things that we still need. I did end up making a baby registry on Amazon.com and at Walmart. (Links in case you're curious what I registered for. :D) I think my Amazon registry is pretty inclusive and has the things I need/want. At the last minute we decided to register at Walmart too, because most of these church ladies don't shop online. And the only store in their little town is Walmart. It was hard to find as much that I really want there, but we found a few essentials that would work. Then maybe I can order some of my must-haves from Amazon that we don't get later.

I'm starting to feel the time crunch. I just want to finish moving the bedrooms around. Then we can set up the baby's crib. And I can get all the baby clothes and other items out of the attic. Once I can go through boxes and see everything I still have, I know I'll feel better. There's always more to do.

Been a While

So it's been a little while since I've updated this blog. Let's see. What have you missed? (Well nothing, honestly, if you're on Twitter as much as I am!)

*We had a great Christmas with family. We of course were traveling. Most of our family live within half an hour or so of each other (including extended family), so we're the ones stuck traveling.

We spent Christmas Eve with Matt's parents, sister & brother-in-law, and my niece & nephew. They are 1 & 2 now and so much fun. We don't see them nearly enough, and the kids are changing so much. But it was fun to spend an afternoon/evening there with everyone. They are the closest to us (distance-wise) and about halfway to my parents' house from here.

After that we spent Christmas Eve night with my parents, sisters, their husband/boyfriend, and my nephew. Easton (my nephew) is two and a ball of energy. We didn't see him much that night, because they got there late and past his bedtime. Poor guy was cranky and tired. But it was fun to wake up Christmas morning with him and watch everyone open presents together.

The rest of Christmas day we divide between Matt's extended family & my extended family. We have 3 places to go all about 1/2 hour drive apart. So it was a busy day driving from here to there, eating at each place, opening presents, then on to the next. We ended the night back at my parents' house & stayed the night.

*We ended up rushing home the next morning because of the winter storm that was quickly moving in. It was worse at our house when we got home, but we got home before the worst of it hit. We spent the rest of that week mostly being stuck in our house because of the multiple snow storms that hit us. We played with new Christmas toys, relaxed, read, napped, and enjoyed being together. It really was a nice break for several days.

*New Year's Eve we invited some friends over for an early ringing-in of the new year. It was a fun kid-friendly party. The kids played well together, the adults chatted and caught up with each other, and of course there was lots of food that we all enjoyed. Everyone left by about 10:00. I was so tired, but I did manage to stay up to ring in the New Year with Matt & Zachariah. We fortunately got to sleep in the next day.

*On Jan. 2nd I had my 28 week OB appointment. It went fine, but we ended up talking about how I was feeling. I had gotten sick just a little while before I went and still didn't feel good. I had a feeling I caught what some of our friends had around Christmastime. Ugh. Matt was starting to feel bad too. I went home from the appointment, threw up again, crawled into bed and stayed there. Within an hour Matt was home from work sick too. He camped out on the couch. Zachariah was at school and we prayed he didn't have it too. He normally gets off the bus about 4:00, but at 3:30 I got a phone call from the school. He'd gotten sick as they were packing up for the day. I had to pull myself out of bed to go get him. Fortunately I made it to the school & back with him. Then got sick as soon as we got home. We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening trying (but failing) to keep down gatorade and taking turns running to the bathroom. No fun.

I was close to having to go back to the doctor for fluids, because I hadn't kept anything down for quite a while  I decided to wait until morning to see how I felt. We all slept well and no more sickness during the night. Whew! We were all worn out and tired the next day, but we were over the worst of it. Thankfully Matt was able to go back to work and Zachariah back to school that Friday.

*Sunday night I had terrible cramps/aches/pain in up and down my left side. I had a hard time sleeping & woke up feeling that way too. I put a call in to my doctor's office to see what they thought. I was having hemroid problems too & wondered if the two things were related. I wasn't too worried, because I otherwise felt good, was eating & drinking, and the baby was moving like normal. The doctor decided I needed to come in. By the time I was seen that afternoon the pain was mostly gone. After talking to her it wasn't the type of pain or in the right spot to be anything major like kidney problems or anything else. She was reassured after talking to me and checking the baby's heartbeat too.

*I haven't had any problems since then. And I've been feeling great. Other than Zachariah getting sick again early Sunday morning (this week), we have all been good. His was short-lived this time and he was in school yesterday. I hope we've already had our share of illness, because I'm ready to move on.

*Tomorrow I have another OB appointment. I'm in the 3rd trimester now and being seen every two weeks. I'm sure this will make it got quickly. I'm not ready for the baby to come quite yet. We still have a lot to do to be ready for his arrival. Slowly we're getting there.

14 Weeks to Go

That statement right up there shocks me. For some reason this week when my 26 week newsletter from BabyCenter rolled in, the most shocking part was seeing 14 more weeks to go. That seems like to little.

And it should make sense to me that time will fly now. It always does in the 3rd trimester (which I'm only 2 weeks from). And I know how fast it always seems to be from the first of the year to Zachariah's birthday at the beginning of March. It sneaks up on me every year. I think I'm ready, then it's here so soon. This little one is due at the end of March, so why should it be any less sneaky of a date.

The big deal this week was going to take my gestational diabetes 1 hour glucose test. I think I told you about them making me do this really early on. I didn't make it through the test, because I couldn't keep the liquid down. They gave up on that, used my fasting blood sugar number (I still don't know the number & am really curious...I think it's probably not high at all) and decided to put me on a blood sugar medication anyway. It's supposed to help regulate things. Still all my doctors seemed to think I was at a high risk for gestational diabetes. They look at my size, age (I am quite a bit older than I was for my last pregnancy), and the large size of my first baby. This all makes them think gestational diabetes...even though I did not have it last time either.

I was really nervous about doing the test, mostly because I didn't want to deal with having gestational diabetes. (I know plenty of people who have had it, and it's not a big deal. I just didn't want one more thing to worry about, you know.) So when a local number I didn't know popped up on my phone later in the day, I figured it was the doctor's office. I was surprised they'd have results that quickly. I was afraid to answer.

I did answer. It was the doctor's office, they had results. A nurse informed me that they got my lab results. Everything looked good, but I'm a little anemic. What!!?? That's it! Whew! That was a big sigh of relief. I took iron supplements last time, and it's not a big deal. I can deal with that. Yay for no gestational diabetes! You can't believe how relieved I was to hear that. It also kind of wants me to say "Ha ha, told you." to all of my doctors. (Is that bad?)

You'll also be happy to know that my last OB appointment set me at ease about the elevated blood pressure. I am taking medication for it, and apparently now that I'm on it they can still increase it by 6 times (!) before I'm maxed out. Good to know, and it relaxes them and should help the rest of the pregnancy.

So, it looks like things are going well. I'm glad to just have some calm and nothing to worry about. Well, that is unless you consider getting bedrooms switched and ready and all the other things I have to do in the next few months something to worry about. For now I won't.

The Name Game

*Updated to add another of my newest favorite names.*

After reading Sara's baby name post today, I kind of want to talk names a little more for our little guy. Sara is due exactly 1 day before me (and my last ultrasound actually dated me one day ahead), so now I feel really behind.

A little family naming history and thoughts:

I should state up front that most of the names I discuss are one's I've thought about. Matt has not approved or vetoed my list yet.

Matt and I have a difficult time picking out names. We tend to agree more quickly on girls' names, but obviously that has never helped us. I remember going back and forth just like this last time. So far we've both thrown out names that the other mostly shoots down. This has gone both ways. And every name that Zachariah has mentioned, one or the other of us has said no. (It's pretty cute watching Zachariah get involved in the discussions. We've tried to explain that we likely won't rely on his opinion in this matter, but it's fun to hear what he has to say.)

I'd say that our naming style leans towards traditional/biblical. I know when most people see our names- Matt(hew) and Sarah, plus our son's name- Zachariah, they think biblical/religious. That was never our intention. We truly just fell in love with the name Zachariah without really thinking about the religious connotations. That said, we are a Christian family who is very involved in our church, and of course knowing this name has some biblical significance was a nice bond. But I'm not against other names. However, I feel we will have to stick with traditional/biblical, so this name will fit with our strong Zachariah.

Matt's name is Matthew Charles. Charles is his father's name. His brother's middle name is the same as his father's middle name. Our first son is Zachariah Matthew, in the same sort of tradition. If I followed that tradition, our second son would be named Firstname Charles Lastname. While I wouldn't be against honoring Matt's dad like this (or Matt for that matter), I feel like I'm leaving my dad out in the mix. Plus Matt's sister gave her son the middle name Charles, so the name has been honored in the family already.

I wouldn't mind honoring our fathers, but feel I'd have to do both. My dad's name, Mark, just doesn't work well with our last name. They both are 1 syllable and end in "k". It just sounds too abrupt to my ears. If I use Charles Mark Lastname, it honors both dads and flows better. But that means our son will have the same First and Last name as my father-in-law. It's not a bad thing, but I think it would be a bit confusing. Plus Charles isn't a name I would normally choose for my baby.

At this point my preference is that the baby's middle name be after someone in my family. It would either be Mark (after my dad) or John (after my only deceased grandfather). I'm leaning towards John.

Names that have been mentioned:

Here are some names that I've considered for first name position. I'm not completely in love with all of these names, but they are starter ideas.

• Carter
• Ezra
• Harrison
• Isaac
• Isaiah
• Joel
• Josiah
• Tyler
• Lincoln
• Nolan
• Simon
• Peter
• *Daniel

So far Matt has said no to Joel and Josiah. He doesn't like anything that sounds like "Joe". He thinks Ezra (which was one of my first favorites, but I'm losing it now) is too "girly" sounding. Most of the rest he hasn't said anything, or I haven't share with him yet.

Zachariah's current pick is Leo. I don't mind it, but Matt doesn't like it at all.

Matt's pick is Johann. Johann Peter to be exact. While I didn't think badly of it at first, it's really rubbed me the wrong way. It would be pronounced "Yo-han", and I think that would be a little too "uppity". He was looking at names in his German heritage like Johann, Franz, Conrad, and some others. I said no to pretty much all of them.

How we name:

This list is not the end. I have a feeling it's only the beginning. I really want to pull some more ideas and thoughts out of Matt. I don't have any strong favorites at this point. I'm hoping we'll com across a few that work for us.

With Zachariah, and with this one too, I didn't want to name the baby until I saw him. We went into the delivery room with 3 favorites, which all worked with Matthew as the middle name. Last time our list was Jamin, Zachariah, and Ryan. We both agreed on all of them, but the first was my pick and my favorite. When he was born one of the nurses said, "What are you going to name this big boy? He needs a big, strong name." I knew right away she was right, and Jamin just did not suit him at all. He was a whopping 9 lbs 11 oz and needed a sturdy name. Zachariah just suited him.

I'm glad that I waited to meet him to make the final decision. Otherwise we would have scrambled to choose something else since my top choice didn't work.

We did not tell our family or friends all of our favorite names. I remember throwing a few of our ideas out to my mom, but I never gave any indication of what we might choose from those. It kept the opinions down. So when our baby was born, we presented them with the name at that time. It was his.

I'd like to take the same approach this time. I would like to have a few top names or name combinations (if we don't completely settle on a middle name before that). Then I want to name our baby when we first meet him.

Opinions:

OK, I've shared a LOT here. I think I needed to get it all out. Out of the names I've mentioned what do you like? Or do you have other ideas based on these here? I'd love to hear them. I'm open to anything.

Personality Preview

I'm curious about something. This is my second pregnancy, so of course I compare it to my first.

This baby boy is very squirmy and wiggly. He's been this way since the first ultrasound we had at 12 weeks. He didn't completely cooperate for our 20 week ultrasound. And as soon as I started feeling him wiggly and kick inside, at about 15 weeks, I haven't stopped feeling him.

Day and night this little guy is moving. Fortunately he's not big enough (or maybe strong) enough to wake me up at night with his movements, but if I'm awake I feel him. I tried to sleep in Saturday morning, but was rudely awaken by a baby bouncing on my very full bladder. I literally jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom (good thing it's not far).

When I was pregnant with Zachariah, I felt him often. But he didn't squirm all the time like this. He seemed then as a laid back, relaxed baby. And he pretty much lived up to that after he was born. It's funny, because I felt like I already knew his personality. Zachariah is still a pretty laid back kid. He takes things as they come and really has been a pretty easy child to parent.

Does that mean this one will be my active, rowdy boy? (Are we in for it this time?)

What has been your experience with how a baby "behaves" in the womb versus their personality after they are born? I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this matter.

23 Weeks

The belly...it's getting BIG!

*Obviously I'm bot blogging every day in November. The beginning of November was crazy for us. We've spent the last 3 weekends in a row traveling back and forth to my parents' house for various things. This will be the first weekend we're actually staying home.

*For those who have been waiting on pins and needles (ha!), I do apologize that I didn't post the BIG REVEAL yet. We are having a BOY! As much as a little girl would be fun, I'm kind of relieved that it's another boy. I feel like I know boys now. And I kept all of Zachariah's clothes (out of all things that I actually kept), so we're all set there. Since Zachariah was born in March too, the seasons should line right up for us.

*I've been dealing with some pregnancy problems. I really haven't talked about them much, though. At my last appointment my blood pressure was up a little. This concerned the doctor. She started me on medication and sent me home with instructions to check my blood pressure twice a day. Even with the medication my bp was still up a little. So they increased my meds. That helped a little, but it still was not as low as she wanted. Now I'm on a double (from where I started) dose. My bp is better, close to where it should be, but not under it all the time like she wants.

The scary part was at the appointment when she explained some things to me. She started me on the meds right away, because they can't start them after 24 weeks...and that's where I'd be by the next appointment. And if it continues and doesn't regulate, I could be diagnosed with preeclampsia. (I know a little about it, but I've refused to google & research it. I know it will stress me out more, and I don't need that right now.) If I am diagnosed with that, I'm looking at bed rest as early as 28 weeks. That is what scared and upset me.

I never had issues like this last time. I am 7 years older this time. And I weigh more this time. I think my body forgot how to do this. For now I'm doing what the doctor tells me, trying to eat better (that's been tough this month), and just trying not to worry too much. In the end I want a healthy pregnancy and a healthy little boy out of this. That's really all that matters.

*Other than all of that I am feeling good. I have more energy now (which still isn't a lot), and it feels good to not be sick. The baby is growing and developing well. And I'm already 23 weeks today. I can't believe how quickly this is going.

*We are still working on the big room switch-over. It will get there. I think we have most of the necessities for the baby. Eventually I will have Matt draw the clothing out of the attic, so I can sort and wash. I think I'll wait until we have the rooms switched, though, so I have somewhere to put everything. I ordered our first diapers (Black Friday sales). I need a lot more, but it's a little start. I wanted to get a few different kinds/types to start with. I also ordered some cute baby legs (another good sale) and can't wait to put them on our little guy.

Vote Here...Boy or Girl?

Today is election day. I hope that everyone who can gets out to vote. I was able to vote early, so my vote has been counted. Even if you're canceling out my vote, I would love to see that you voted. GO VOTE!

Now, let's do something more fun. You can vote right here.

I am 19 weeks pregnant!(20 on Thursday) Tomorrow is my big ultrasound. We will be finding out whether we're having another boy or a girl. Most of my family has a strong leaning towards girl, but maybe that's because we already have a boy.

I wanted to do a gender reveal party with my family, but Matt spoiled that idea when he informed me yesterday that he will tell everyone at work when he goes back in after the ultrasound. So we will just tell everyone right away, I guess. I still have a strong urge to not find out. Mostly I'm doing it because Matt really likes to know, and my family is so excited to know too.


What do I want? I honestly don't care either way. I've had so much fun being the mom to a boy. I was completely unprepared for a boy the first time, but now I wouldn't change it for a thing. (I grew up with two younger sisters & always babysat for girls). So I know what it's like and what to expect with a boy. Plus I still have all his baby clothes...which is a TON. That would help and we wouldn't have to buy much more.

If it's a girl, it will be fun to have one of each. This is especially true, because this might be our last baby. It would be nice to have another female in the house, as I'm outnumbered now. And all the cute girly clothes would be great! (I'm sure I'd spend way too much on clothes!)

So, either way is fine with me...really!

What do I think it is? By now in my last pregnancy I knew that I was having a boy. I'd had a dream a few weeks before our ultrasound that we had a boy. I couldn't get over the idea, and I just knew it was. I was right.

This time I don't have that strong of a feeling. My guess is girl. That is mostly based on how this pregnancy has been pretty different from the last. I was very sick and for longer than last time. Only in the last few weeks have I stopped taking my anti-nausea medication. It was a rough start. So, no big reason to thing it is a girl, but that's my official guess.

What do you think? This vote is way more fun than the political ones. What is your guess for me? Boy or girl?

If you want to ask questions to help you decide, you may do so in the comments. I'll answer them there for you. Then when we know what we're having, I'll be sure to announce it here for you all to share in our happy surprise. :D

Thinking About It

Here we are already in the 4th day of November. (How did that happen?) I'm sure most of you have noticed that it's National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo. I know several of my blogging buddies are doing it again this year. I have participated in it every (or is is almost every?) year since I've had this blog.

There are years that I just haven't blogged much here, but I still find that it's fun to participate in NaBloPoMo. It's a good challenge to blog every day. It helps me reconnect to my bloggy friends and meet new ones. Since I've actually been blogging here a few times a month lately, I'm thinking this might be a bit easier this time.

Still it's blogging every day for a whole month. I'm already behind. I posted one other time this month already, but I missed two days now. I will probably backdate some short posts to catch up. Then I'm going to give this a try. I believe every time I've participated before, I completed it. This time I'm a little nervous that may not happen. But you'll be kind and understand, right?

Goodness knows I'll have plenty to write about anyway. I'm almost 20 weeks pregnant, so exciting things are coming up. I also need plenty of advice and help getting prepared for this baby. And...we have our big ultrasound reveal this week. Then we can talk baby names a bit. (I say a bit, because I normally hesitate to share. I like to keep names to myself.)

I think I'll have plenty of things to say this month, so let's get this show on the road. Are you doing NaBloPoMo? Will you join me? Be sure to comment if you are, because I want to be sure to follow along and comment on your blog. Here we go!

Trick or Treat

All of our Halloween activities were the week before Halloween this year. This worked out really well in our favor, because it was nice and warm. It was almost 80 degrees, and that was in the evenings when we were out and about. So much better than on Halloween, where we had cold temperatures and snow on the ground the day before. Brr.

Normally we let Zachariah choose one activity to participate in for Halloween. It's not a holiday that we go crazy about here. Our church did it's 3rd annual Trunk & Treat. This is always a fun event, and Zachariah's chosen one for the last 3 years. He chose this right away. We went early and had a good time. They had about 1000 kids (that doesn't include parents) come through that night. They have decorated cars that hand out candy in the parking lot, then inside (it's a gym/activity center) they had snacks, drinks, and bouncy houses. It was pretty fun...for him. We just follow him around, doing whatever he wants to do.

However, this year Zachariah somehow (if he just weren't so darn cute) talked us into taking him Trick-or-Treating too. Since the weather was nice and we had nothing else to do, we decided to let him go. This is the first time that he's ever done door-to-door trick-or-treating. You see, we live along a fairly busy street, no sidewalks, and not many young kids in our neighborhood. It's a good neighborhood. We've lived here for 11 years, but we've never once had a trick-or-treater come to our door. I always leave the porch light on, and I always make sure I have some kind of candy in the house. Even though no one comes here, there is a housing development behind us. The road to it is a few houses down from ours, and we often go back there for walks. There are sidewalks, children, and they do participate in trick-or-treating. So we headed that way and let him walk around for about an hour.

Between both of these events, we were tired. Zachariah had a plastic pumpkin brimming with treats. He really hasn't gotten into the candy big time. (He won't.) But he has managed to eat all of the Reese's cups already (his favorites), and he had 1 or 2 a day for several days.

It was fun watching him have a good time this year. And I'm already thinking about coordinating a baby costume to his next year. Fun! Shaggy & Scooby Doo. Darth Vader & Yoda. So many possibilities. And the baby will be too little to care.