4 weeks to go...

Well, I had my 36 week check-up yesterday. So that means 4 weeks left! I'll be on weekly appointments from here on out (although, when I scheduled my next appointment, the lady thought I said four weeks and not one - so I have to call and correct that mistake on Monday). But everything went well at the appointment. They said there was nothing to be concerned with, my blood pressure was good and the baby's heartbeat was in the 140's. Tiny was being very active for the midwife again, and when she was trying to determine if the head was up or down, she got 'hipped' to let her know that her probing wasn't appreciated :-) my doctor's office doesn't do internal checks, because for the most part it doesn't tell them anything, other than the fact that my body is preparing.... but part of me wishes they would because I'd love to know if my body was preparing. With Gwen on her original due date there was nothing going on - so, for some odd reason, I'm thinking that my body is doing the same thing - waiting til the last minute to start preparing for birth! Anyways, I'll stop in next week with a 37 week update and maybe I'll have another baby bump picture to post :-)



The other big thing we did this week was tour the hospital. I can't say that I'm thrilled with the place. There's one room with a tub for me to labor in - so if it's occupied I'm out of luck, and that's one of the things I really enjoyed with Gwen, and I think it helped with pain management a lot during labor. Also, there's only semi-private rooms :-( Although they give everyone their own room if there's room, but they start doubling up if there's more than 20... and the rooms are so small!!!!! I think I might be considering leaving early or AMA if it comes down to it! I guess that really depends on how well the delivery goes and if me and baby are healthy to leave soon after the birth. In all reality, I'd love to stay the night and get to know the new little person a little bit before taking them home to meet Gwen, but I'll forgo that if I have to be stuck in a room with another mom and their screaming baby ::sigh:: time will tell though!

Summer Time

Where is the time going? Some days seem like they take forever, whereas others just slip away! Gwen just turned 14 months old a couple of days ago. She's really been having fun trying to communicate! She has always loved to makes noises, but now she's a little chatter-box and it is hard to keep her quiet sometimes. It is hard to think of all the words that she tries to use, but I'll give it my best effort: mama, dada, kitty, kida (kitty's name), peek-a-boo, baby, bye-bye, hello, balloon, ball, doggy, bark, meow, down, more, that, don't bite..... I know there has to be more, but I can't think of them! Also, in the last month, she's gained three teeth, and I think there's another one about to cut through within a day or two! I was shocked this past weekend when I was feeling around to see if any teeth were close and there were already two more than I knew about - she got in two of her upper molars.... so now she's up to 9! Another thing she has been trying, is using utensils. Of couse she can't manage to hold them right, but she gets the concept of what they are used for, and gives it her best try. She's growing up too fast!



I had my 34 week check-up today. Everything seems to be going well. My blood pressure is still a good 120/80. They had trouble getting s stable heartbeat on the baby, since the little alien was doing sommersaults while the midwife was trying to hear the heartbeat, but she guessed it to be in the 170's. I go back in two weeks, and from there on out I'm on weekly appointments. I've been doing fairly well, my energy flew out the window, but I'm managing to keep up with Gwen for the most part - so I think that's good enough for now :-) The house is coming along. We still have just the den and entranceway to finish up with mudding and sanding. And while I don't have a lot of energy, I would really love to get those painted before the baby comes, because I know it'll be a while before I find the time to get back to it. The pool has been open for about a month now, but sadly enough, it really hasn't been warm enough to go swimming in. Brian has dared the cold more than a couple of times, but as for me and Gwen, we've only gotten in once. We hope that changes here in the next couple of weeks!

Vacation

So, Brian and I decided that we deserved a vacation before #2 joined our family. We headed down to the Outer Banks (North Carolina) for a week to relax with some of our friends from college. Gwen got to experience the ocean and the sand for the first time. I think she really enjoyed it too! Although, she ended up getting sick at the beginning of the week and was teething at the end of the week - she was still a trooper (except for in the car on the way down!).

Before the trip, I had a prenatal appointment. My midwife said that all looked and sounded well! I passed my 3-hr glucose test with flying colors, my blood pressure looked good, the baby's growth was prefect to date, and it's heartbeat was about 150 bpm - so she gave me the go ahead to travel 10-12 hours each way in a car - ugh! So, unlike Gwen, I avoided the sun and the ocean as much as I could - but, come on, what do you expect from me?!?! Over all we had a good time and Gwen got to visit with a lot of people that she hasn't seen in a while - including her cousins in Maryland - which I really think she enjoyed spending time with :-)

I had my 32 week appointment today. The baby is still growing on par and the heartbeat was between 142-146 bpm. They also tried to determine if the baby was head up or head down, and just like Gwen, the butt and the head feel the same, so they weren't able to tell, but based on where I feel the baby's hiccups, I believe that the baby is head down. My next appointment is in a few weeks - so I'll update further then.

On a side note, the house still isn't ours, but... they are at least moving forward with the process again - so we hope to hear something here within a week or two. Also, I'm an auntie again and Gwen has another cousin :-) My sister just had her third baby on June 15, 2009. She had her third boy, Rylen Joshua, he came into the world at 5:51pm weighing 7 lbs 1 oz and is 19 inches long.

Happy Birthday Guinevere!

Our little princess just turned one! Can you believe it - I hardly can! She had a fun birthday, and we made sure that she didn't have any reason to cry at all that day! She got a lot of fun toys from all her family, and she loves playing with them all.... I just need to start rotating them about so she doesn't get bored with any. Unfortunately, the day after her birthday she had to go to the doctor's and get some shots :-( at least the doc was kind enough to give her a book on the way out :-) Gwen weighed in at 17 lbs 15 oz - so she's still a tiny, but man can she pound the food down! And she measured 29.25" - so she's still growing like a weed.... everything else checked out great :-D



I had my 24 week appt. today.... and everything is measuring and sounding great with #2. The heartbeat was a good 158 bpm, and the baby was wide awake, kicking the heck out of me to get that darn doppler off my belly.... I have to laugh because Gwen was the same way - she hated whenever they'd use any type of ultrasound on her - she'd always kick the crap out of me - so it's looking like #2 is going to be a lot like Gwen! I think I'd like that a lot :-) if not, I guess that'll be alright too ;-) My blood pressure was a beatuiful 112/68 - let's hope it decides to stay that way over the weeks to come! Anyways, this week ends my 2nd trimester - so we'll be on the last leg of the pregnancy from here on out! My next appt. is in two weeks and I have the dreaded glucose test - ugh! So I'll try to get on and update then.

In the meantime, I've been a painting fool - I'm trying to get the rest of the house painted before I'm too exhausted from this pregnancy to do anything! But, I'm down to two rooms and a hallway and a handful of trim work - so if you're bored and have some free time - feel free to stop by and help ;-) Brian is trying to stay a step ahead of me and finish the mudding and sanding in those two rooms and hallway! I'll try to have pictures of the finished rooms the next time - expecially of Gwen's big girl room :-)

Ultrasound

Well, I finally had the 'big' ultrasound for baby #2 (after being canceled on a couple of times - grrr...). Everything looks great! The doctor still has to look over the scan pictures, but from what the midwife could tell me from the print out sheet of the ultrasound, the the baby looks normal and healthy - yea! That's all we can ask for, right? Now, I know we said we weren't going to find out the gender - but, same as last time, we went in there with are minds undecided.... so, we figured - why not let #2 decide if they want to give their gender away - so when the ultrasound tech was scanning to check for gender she found...... that the baby's legs were crossed! So, like I mentioned in the last post - you will all have to wait til August til find out! Brian and I are both just as excited with not knowing - we both like the surprise! Other than that, my blood pressure is still in the good range (110/70) and the baby's heartbeat was a good 148 bpm.



Gwen is still the sweetheart that she always has been. She's starting to let me hold her hands and walk her around more - which she refused to do until about a week ago. But, she's mastering her balance at standing alone and I think she gained some confidence to start walking with us! Other than that, she's learning more about cause and effect with certain things, and she's figuring out where certain things belong - like my sunglasses - they belong on my head, and she demands that they go 'on my head' whenever she sees them lying around! She really enjoyed her visit with her cousins (the twins) a couple of weeks ago, and was happy just to sit by them or watch them run around - I can only imagine that she wishes she could be a big kid just like them already! Her other set of cousins will be visiting her next week, let's see how she responds to crazy Caden when he comes rolling in :-)



Brian is still plugging away at the thesis - making slow, steady progress.... all we can both hope is that his advisers will let him defend and graduate this summer, before #2 decides to grace us with his/her presence! We have no further word on the house - we're still waiting to hear back from the bank. In the meantime we're fixing up what we can, and I plan on painting the remainder of the rooms just as soon as the temps stay above 60 so I can open the windows and let the rooms vent! I'll be sure to post pictures when they're finished! Anyways, I'll post again after Gwen's next check-up and my next doctor's appointment!

One month closer....

So, it's been a pretty uneventful month in the Borawski household. We're all just waiting for Spring to stick around so we can get up and get out of this house and enjoy some nice weather! Everyone is doing well after being sick for a good part of the month. Poor Gwen had her first ear infection - which I don't think bothered her that much, but she did require some antibiotics to get rid of it. I had her into the doctor's again today for her weight check - she's gained almost a pound in 5 weeks! So the doc was happy with that and we don't have to go back again until she's a year old - yippee! Other than that, she's up cruising around the furniture. She's starting to push things now, and walk behind them - she was unsure of this at first, but now she finds it to be a challenge that she has to overcome! I try to walk her a little each day, but she thinks that it's bouncy time when I hold her hands like that - needless to say, we don't get very far, so I'm glad she's starting to push and walk with some of her toys - otherwise I don't think she'll figure this walking thing out for a long time!

I had my 16 week check-up last week for #2. Everything seems to be going well with the tiny one. The doctor had a hard time finding the heartbeat again - but he said it was because the baby was flipping around a lot. He spent a good 5 minutes trying to get a stable heartbeat - he caught it for at least 2 seconds before the baby moved again - so he never got an accurate heartbeat count.... Anyways, my blood pressure was good and I'm still measuring right on track with how far along I am. We have the ultrasound appointment scheduled for the 31st of this month, along with my next check-up. And to answer everyone's question about finding out the gender..... well, I guess everyone is just going to have to wait til August to find out :-) Sorry! I think Brian enjoyed the surprise too much the last time - especially after the marathon labor and delivery - it was a good way to end it! And we're keeping the names a secret as well, unless you're someone that is also having a baby and we don't want to compete for names with you!

Anyways, I'll be back on at the end of the month or beginning of next with an ultrasound update! And, of course, a Guinevere update!

9 months old!

Our little Gwen turned 9 months old on Wednesday - I can't believe it! She's growing up so fast! She's had a busy week this week - we had a friend visit from Penn State, and then we went to the library for lap time - where she got to see a lot of crazy toddlers running around, on Thursday we went to see the midwives for a mommy and new baby check-up, and then today we went for Gwen's 9 month well-baby check-up!

#2 - this is what Brian has taken to calling the next baby - is doing well and growing on par. They had a hard time hearing the heartbeat with the doppler, so they had me do a quick ultrasound to make sure the baby was ok. The little thing was just flipping around so much that they couldn't get an accurate reading! My blood pressure was great too - everything else went well. The pregnancy so far has been a breeze, it's following the same pattern as it did with Gwen - so could this mean another girl? I guess we'll have to wait to find out - I personally don't have any intuition telling me boy or girl yet, but then again - I didn't have those feelings until I was 2/3 of the way through cooking Gwen! This time around it's Brian's decision if we're going to find out the gender - since I got my way last time with not finding out the sex - but only by default since Gwen had no intention of presenting herself at the ultrasound! Brian is being indecisive about that decision.


As for Gwen's appointment she weighed in at 16lbs 4.4oz and is 28 in. tall. They are a little concerned about her weight because she fell off her normal curve. They want me to supplement her with formula to see if we can bring it up a little, or at least keep it stable... she's not losing weight, she's just not gaining as much as she was. So we go back in a month so see if it has improved. Other than that though, she able to due all the crazy things that a 9 month old is suppose to do and then some! Gwen's starting to really enjoy standing. She was very cautious in the beginning and would only stand up next to a few things - but now she'll pull herself up on anything. She's still being cautious about furniture walking - the legs just aren't working the way she expects them to, so she'll move a little if the object she's holding moves a little, or she'll pivot and move to something that's really close and that only requires one footfall for each foot. She's getting bored with things a lot more quickly, so I'm having to move her to different areas of the house with different toys throughout the day so she won't get grumpy with me! Sleep is slowly becoming better - she's going to bed at 8pm and while she might wake a few times to fuss, I'm not going back in the room til 6am - if she wakes sooner, Brian has been really good about going in there and soothing her back to sleep - if I go in she gets mad that I won't nurse her and then she won't go back to sleep at all. I'll be back to update on the next prenatal appointment - which will be in 4 weeks, and give a report of our Gwen, but until then, here's some pictures....