Dad's prospective

Gwen: this girl has developed quite a personality over the last few weeks. Between teething and her cold, she has not been in the best of moods. She is getting fairly demanding and is not afraid to tell us 'no' or 'stop', especially when her diaper is getting changes. She has also gotten fairly good at the remote control. She knows that it works the TV. Sometimes she will hand it to us and ask for "Blue Clue" or "Daba Daba". Othertimes she takes matters into her own hands and knows then up and down button. She also knows that if she presses "OK" several times it often brings on "Moose", her favorite character on Noggin. Hopefully she doesn't turn into a couch potato.
All in all, were trying our best to keep Gwen happy as she has had tooth after tooth coming in continuously and we want her to feel loved when the next baby arrives too. We both think that she has been a bit out of sorts and possibly knows that 'something' is coming. Maybe she's been listening to mommy belly too much.
About one week to go and the pressure is on. Laura has had this amazing list of "things I'd like to have done before the baby arrives". Now, every husband has a 'honey do' list, but this one has a due date and is always getting longer. The real trouble was that I had my own list and none of them were on hers. This has left me exhausted. Not to mention, I'm just about to send out my dissertation to my advisers!
I have had plenty of time to get ready for the baby, in terms of getting the house, cars, etc. ready, but very little time to get myself ready for #2. Well, when Gwen came I told myself that I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I guess that the same is true this time. I also don't have the same problem as Laura, as I'll actually get more of Gwen's attention now that mom is busy with the new baby.
All I can ask for is that this baby will be as wonderful as Gwen. If I can't have that, I'd still be happy with a health baby.

Less than a week - maybe....

So, I think we're down to 6 days until my estimated due date! And I'm really up in the air as to when Tiny is going to make his/her grand arrival. I don't feel anything going on with my body that would indicate that the baby is coming soon; then again, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I went to my 39 week check-up yesterday. It was quite uneventful. My midwife had actually been called out for a delivery - since they are short staffed due to one of the midwives being on vacation this past week and another is on maternity leave herself (she's due the 15th). So the nurse just did the basic check-up. She didn't tell what my blood pressure was, other than it was good. And the baby's heartbeat was in the 140's and is still growing perfectly. She didn't assess where the position of the baby was, and I was hoping to ask the midwife if she thought the baby might be engaging into my pelvis more - since I've been having a lot more pain when it comes to walking - but the nurse couldn't/wouldn't do that. That was the extent of the appointment though; I was in and out in less than 15 minutes!

This is a picture of Gwen having fallen asleep on my belly - too precious!

Gwen had her 15 month check-up yesterday. Other than having a slight cold, she's great! She's still under 20 lbs - weighing in at 19 lbs 11.6 ozs, and she's almost 31 inches long... So, I think the corresponding percentiles are 10% for weight and 70% for height - tall and skinny (she'll love that as a teenager). The doctor was fine with that though, she just says that's the way she's meant to be :-) I also talked to her about Gwen possibly having silent reflux, since Gwen coughs a lot when she sleeping, or shortly after lying down. The doctor thought that was probably the case, and offered to put her on some antacids. But I asked about TUMS for her, since it's more natural and not chemical based, and she said that would be fine.... So, Gwen is really happy now that I'll share my TUMS with her :-)~ She always wants one when she sees me eating them (like candy), due to all of the acid reflux I have from the pregnancy! I really hope the TUMS work though, since I'd like to stay away from prescription medications. Anyways, I'll post next week after my check-up.... or, maybe, just maybe, sooner with the arrival of Tiny! Until then, here's my 39 week belly shot :-)

August is here :-)

So, another Friday has gone by - so that means I'm one week closer my due date! I think I'm just happy to make it to August. I didn't want a July baby for some odd reason. With Gwen, I didn't want an April baby either - I wanted my May baby, and now I want my August baby :-) I'm strange, I know. Anyways, my appointment this past Friday went well. My blood pressure is still behaving at 112/78. The baby, on the other hand, was not behaving! Tiny was kicking up a storm, I thought the baby was trying to come out through my belly button when the midwife was checking for the heart beat. Now that, was behaving, Tiny's heartbeat was between 138-144 bpm, and still measuring perfect for being 38 weeks. I've been bad with taking a belly picture. I'll take at least one more before Tiny comes - promise ;-) Gwen has been loving on my belly lately. She loves to lay her head on it and give it raspberries - she's so cute! Well, this coming Friday both Gwen and I have appointments. Gwen for her 15 month check-up and me for my 39 week - so I'll have a lot to update with on Friday!

Full Term!

Well, 37 weeks is considered full term when it comes to pregnancy and babies. In my personal opinion, I think full term is as long as you're able to cook the baby! So, while I can say that I'm starting to feel like I'm ready to be done with this pregnancy, I'd still love for the baby to have as long to cook and grow as possible! I had my appointment yesterday and every was good. My blood pressure was 110/80 and the baby's heartbeat was 148 bpm. My midwife confirmed that the baby is indeed head down. When she was finished listening for the heartbeat the baby got feisty and started kicking, and she pointed to the point on my belly where it looked like I just grew an apple, and stated that that was definitely a butt! Anyways, I have my next appointment next Friday. I didn't manage to get a belly bump picture for this week - but I'll try again for next week.

Brian and I are really trying to get things tied up and finished around here, because we both figure we'll be wrapped up with family for a while in about three weeks. The den is finally going to be finished this weekend! Which I'm super happy about, so whenever we sign the papers to the house we can put the carpet right in without worries! There's still one more layer of paint to put down on the walls, and Brian still has to sand the door and the ceiling; then on to painting the trim and doing touch-ups.... So I'm really hoping we'll get that done this weekend! Anyways, til next week.....

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.