39 Weeks Pregnant

Today I am one day shy of 40 weeks! I must say I am very surprised to still be pregnant! I really thought all those abnormally frequent Braxton Hicks would mean an early labor. And then finding out I was already 3 cm dilated at 38 weeks was just icing on the cake. But, little Gracie is just not ready yet.

I went to my 39 week appointment on Tuesday. I was still 3 cm (this time a full three instead of just barely three). My cervix had moved foraward though, but that was about the only change. I'm weighing in somewhere between a gain of 18-19 pounds (it fluctuates a good bit these days, yesterday I was 19 pounds up, today only 18)... I scheduled an induction for Monday and after a lot of consideration, I called and cancelled it. It wasn't long after that my phone rang and it was Dr T himself. He said he needed to see me for a 40 week check up on Monday since I cancelled the induction (I'd figured that so I had already scheduled an apt for Monday) and that he didn't want me going past 41 weeks because the placenta stops functioning as it should, etc. Well, I turn 41 weeks over the long Memorial Day Weekend so he said at the latest he would let me go until Thursday, May 27th. So most likely I will be induced on Thursday, unless of course Grace decides to come on her own which I am really hoping she does!!!

For the past week or two we have been walking a LOT, plus I'm still doing my aerobics class at the gym. I've been drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea, bouncing on the exercise ball... all the old tricks to bring labor on and this sweet girl is just not budging.

Here are a few pictures from some of our evening/afternoon walks this week (39 weeks)...

38 Weeks

I am 38 weeks, 4 days pregnant today. That is the exact day that I gave birth to Caden. I went to visit Dr T two days ago and things are looking really good. She is head down (yay!) and I am about 3 cm dilated. I must admit that I question whether she was ever really breech the 2nd time. He only ever felt my belly to try and guess and honestly, the lumps and places I feel kicks and bulges haven't changed a bit in the last few weeks. None the less, I was relieved to see that little head on the ultrasound screen on Tuesday! :D

I'm feeling really good. All of those strong and frequent contractions I've been having for the last several months have seemed to diminish now that I'm ready to have this little girl. I'm not sure what's going on. I'm happy to know I am at least 3 cm dilated already, but I have this feeling that Gracie isn't coming any time soon. I've been trying all the old wives tales (at least the ones I can tolerate as I don't think I will be drinking any castor oil anytime soon) and she is still sitting up so high and I just don't feel like I'm about to "pop." I'm actually feeling better now than I did a few weeks ago, haha. I still have zero swelling (that has a lot to do with the heat which today might be the first day we hit 90 degrees so we will see how long that holds out), the arches of my feet haven't fallen like they did with Caden, I barely waddle (or at least I don't think I do, not all the time that is), I'm far from miserable, etc...

I've gained around 18 pounds and I'm proud to say I'm still going to the gym 3 days a week. Plus, now I'm walking every night to try and meet my sweet daughter sooner than later! Below is a comparison picture from my pregnancy with Caden. Gracie is on the left, Caden is on the right. I was 38 weeks 1 day with Gracie and 38 weeks 3 days with Caden (the day before I was induced). I have fun comparing my bellies....


And then here is a picture of Caden making me laugh. The boy hates having his picture made but couldn't resist jumping in a few with me. Not the most flattering picture of either of us, but I feel like it gives something to compare the size of the belly to.... :D

37 Weeks

I am exactly 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant! I'm definitely ready to meet my little girl and things are definitely getting more uncomfortable but I would by lying if I said I was miserable. Sure, miserable compared to "normal" but compared to most other pregnancies (and even mine with Caden) I'm far from miserable. This has been a very easy pregnancy. I really only feel about 7 or 8 months pregnant, and I suppose there is a reason for that as my teeny tummy is only measuring about that size. I'm not swelling, bloating, or anything like that. My complaints are few, but here they are none the less:

Grace is putting pressure on nerves that cause sharp shooting pains to go down my thighs. This only happens occasionally (like every 4 or 5 days) and once it starts to happen it will last an hour or so at most. She's letting me get pretty good sleep at night these days though, so I'm grateful for that. It's not the most comfortable sleep, but it's at least sleep! I'm still having a lot of contractions, although some days are more intense than others. I have had hours where I will have them every 10 min or less and then they just kind of go away. It will be hard to tell when I do go into labor I think until I get to the point where they are pretty painful. Dr T said to go to the hospital when contractions are 10 min or less... when I told him that was "normal" for me he said to make it 5 min or less. About the only time I "waddle" or have any major discomfort is when I'm having a contraction. Other than that this pregnancy has been very easy on my body.

I've finally picked up on gaining weight. At 36 weeks I had still only gained about 16 pounds, but in the week since I've added 2 more to that making my grand total 18! I'm much happier knowing that I'm closer to the 20 pound mark. I will say that a good bit of that weight was because I started eating a lot more, but I hope it helps Gracie to put some weight on as the doctor and nurses are all saying she's going to be a "small baby." Wish I knew exactly what that meant... small as in 5 pounds, or small as in 6 pounds? I just want her to be healthy and strong.

My belly is still quite small. Last week (at my 36 week appointment) my belly measured 32 weeks. Dr T said it was nothing to worry about b/c the number was going up (I was measuring 31 weeks at the previous 34 week appointment). Today I only measured 30 weeks. That has me a little worried, but the nurse said it was okay. I forgot to ask Dr T if it was okay because I distracted him talking about Grace's position when he came in the room to see me.

Last week, at 36 weeks, Dr T was feeling on my belly just checking the size of Grace when he said he thought she might be breech again. I was hoping for a confirmation of that today, but instead he just felt my belly again and said that she still felt breech and that we would do a scan next week (at 38 weeks) to get an exact position. He told me if my water breaks to get to the hospital immediately because with a breech baby the cord could fall out and that would be very dangerous for Grace. He also said that depending on the scan results next week he would be willing to try and turn her, but that it's very painful and not very successful... The good news is that she still has time to turn head down again and I'm hoping and praying that she will. I know that if she doesn't then there is nothing wrong with having a csection, but my heart is really set on having another vaginal delivery and so I'm having a hard time being content with whatever happens...

34 Weeks

Went to the doctor today and Gracie is no longer breech! The nurse said she would most likely stay that way, and then Dr T came in and said not to get too excited that she could be breech again tomorrow because it's still "early days." Ha, ha! I'm going to try and focus on what the nurse said, but I also realize that ultimately God is in control of it all and he knows what is best for both Gracie and me and I am learning to "be content whatever the circumstances."

In other news my belly is still measuring small, although the nurse wouldn't share exactly how small (and I didn't press for answers). Dr T said that as long as there is consistent growth each week (which there has been) then it isn't something to worry about. I've gained 14 pounds so far (with Caden at this point I was around 25). Everything is looking good!

I took a quick picture today and compared it to my 34 Week picture with Caden. The difference, to me at least, is staggering! I'm 34 weeks with Caden on the left, and 34 weeks with Gracie on the right....

32 Weeks Pregnant

Well, I'm actually almost 33 now. :D I can not believe how quickly this pregnancy is flying by!

So, the latest.... I'm still feeling pretty good. Things are definitely getting more difficult and I'm having quite a bit of Braxton Hicks contractions these days. The nurse old me at my appointment yesterday I just have a "sensitive uterus" or something along those lines. That some people only feel the occasional BH but I lean more toward the category of people that feel quite a few. She said it was a good thing b/c it means labor should be shorter as all the BH are just prepping and strengthening my body for delivery. I feel them most every hour, usually one to two an hour. But when I'm exercising I get them much more frequently. The doctor said as long as they go away they aren't a concern so...

And yes! I'm still going to the gym! I'm very proud of myself actually. I can't believe that just over a year ago I NEVER went to the gym and now it's just such a part of my life and our weekly routine. I'm having to tone things down more and more these days, especially with all the contractions. I get 90% of my workout from moving my arms rapidly to make up for the fact that I can't do the jumping and such because of my placenta.

Which leads me to some good news! At 20 weeks I was diagnosed with a low lying placenta (marginal placenta previa). In most pregnancies as the uterus grows the placenta moves up and away from the cervix. The good news is that I had an ultrasound on Tuesday of this week and everything looks good! So I've been cleared for a vaginal delivery. Except that on Sunday night in my sleep "Baby Girl" did a flip and she is now breech. On Monday I woke up and just felt different. My belly looked different and I had this thing in my right ribcage that really bothered me, especially when I sat down. The ultrasound on Tuesday revealed that she had firmly planted her head in my right rib cage.

My hearts desire is to go into labor (preferably at the gym, that would make me proud for sticking to it to the end, lol) and to have a normal, uncomplicated vaginal delivery. I was induced with Caden so I really want to see what it's like to go into labor on my own this time around. BUT, if my little sweetie doesn't do a flip then I will be having a scheduled csection. I can only lay my requests before the Lord, and pray that I would be content whatever happens.

We decided to do cord blood banking this time around and we signed up and ordered our kit. I suppose in a few weeks I should start looking at packing a hospital bag. I can't believe we are only about 6 weeks out!

At 28 weeks I measured 28 weeks, but at my 30 week appointment I still measured 28 weeks. This week I'm not sure b/c the radiologist called the nurse with my u/s reports so I forgot to ask. I must still be measuring close to the right size or she would have said something. At the ultrasound I measured two days ahead and she weighed 4 pounds 3 ounces already! Her heart rate was 132 I think. As for weight gain, I'm most proud of this. I had the nurse consult my records and at 32 weeks with Caden I had a gain of 23 pounds! At 32 weeks this time I'm only up 13!!! Well, and the difference between the numbers is even larger. I started at 132 with Caden and at delivery was at 162, so I gained 30 pounds. However, I started this pregnancy at 124.5 pounds so several pounds lighter, and I now weight 137 (136.5 some times... I usually only gain about a 1/2 pound every two weeks or so and it fluctuates for several days in that 1/2 pound window).

We had a 4D ultrasound (at 29 weeks) last month as well. She looks similar to Caden but not quite the same, however I will say that it is so hard to tell in those ultrasounds. I honestly would have been fine not to do one this time around, but because I did it for Caden I figured I owed it to my little girl as well. We really didn't get to see much of her because her head was down (only two weeks before she flipped breech) and her face was buried in my uterus so we only saw a few profile glimpses. She got the hiccups and we saw she had a teeny bit of hair. Then at my 32 week ultrasound the tech saw a lot of hair. She said she has quite a bit for only being 32 weeks. I'm already dreaming of hair bows!! :D

We are still working on a name, but we have narrowed it down to two choices: Gabrielle Kate (Gabbie) and Grace Elizabeth (Gracie). I think we have decided on one of those two but I'm not quite ready to make that announcement yet.

28 Weeks

I have safely arrived in my third trimester! I can hardly believe it! This pregnancy has really gone by so quickly. It has been an easy pregnancy, but Caden's was pretty easy as well. I know that as I near the end my energy level will diminish and things will get more uncomfortable, but I'm hopeful that it won't ever get too bad.

My belly has really changed a lot in the last several weeks. At 25 weeks I noticed it really start to grow and by 27 weeks it had grown a lot. It seems now that it gets larger every day. Her little kicks have become increasingly stronger. Just in the last few days I've really started to feel feet or hands moving around in there and pressing against me. She is supposedly just over 2 pounds and about 14 inches long now! That is just crazy to think about! She still doesn't have a name. It's actually becoming a source of stress for me that my sweet little girl STILL has no name. The list of "possible names" is pretty long, but there is still nothing that has really made my heart go "pitter patter" when I think about it. One of my favorites is Grace, but here in the South it seems every other little girl is named Grace so that kind of makes it less appealing. I never thought naming her would be so difficult.

At my 20 week ultrasound I was diagnosed with a Low Lying Placenta. I had this same thing with Caden (and it's apparently very uncommon to have it two pregnancies in a row). What that means is that the placenta attached very close to, but not covering, the cervix. In most pregnancies it corrects itself, but if it doesn't then a c-section is the only way to deliver the baby. I've had to tone down my exercising to no jumping/impact but other than that everything else is normal. And yes, I'm still going to my step aerobics class three days a week AND I'm still on the step with one riser, which was a goal only up to 6 months and I'm still on it at 7! I have a feeling though that I will be toning it down to just the step on the floor in the near future as it's getting harder and harder... mostly though it's the pressure on my bladder that makes me uncomfortable, lol.

I've gained 9 pounds so far, which is a good bit less than I put on with Caden at this point. With Caden I gained right at about 40 pounds. I'm hoping I don't gain that much with this little girl because if I do that means I'll have to put on 30 pounds in the next 3 months!

Just for fun here are two pictures, one from each pregnancy from around the same time frame.... I'm definitely carrying a bit differently... Can you guess which is my belly with Caden and which is my belly with Baby Girl?

I can see a big difference, not so much in size but more in the shape of my belly and the way I'm carrying (I notice a difference in where my belly button is in each pregnancy). The picture on the left is Caden (at 27 weeks). The picture on the right is Baby Girl (at 28 weeks).

A Belly Picture, finally...

So, I found a little space on my hard drive to squeeze in just a few pictures from my completely full 1 GB memory card, lol. Neither of them are great, but here they are none the less. I took this picture during our Potty Training Weekend. I love the M&M smear on his lips and how he was sitting.... the pic is a bit dark, but it still captures his sweetness... he moved about 1 second after I took it so I'm glad I caught this sweet face, all covered in M&Ms and just as happy as can be watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....

Caden is just such a little boy now. He cracks us up all the time. I've started writing down funny things that he says and I want to start posting them (and just blogging in general again). Blogging was therapy for me at one time and I really miss it! Here are just a few cute sayings that come to mind:

Every night at dinner we pray... over the last year Caden went from eating through the prayer so waiting for us without eating, to shoving in a bite of food while he squinted his eyes and put his hands on his forehead, to eventually asking to pray. These prayers are often precious! The very first time he asked to pray was about a month ago (about 28 months old) and after examining his plate (I had made burritos), he said,

"Dear God, Thank you for Taco Bells.... Amen."

After that night Caden pretty much prays for our meals every time. One morning we got up and cooked a big breakfast together as a family and Caden prayed, thanking Jesus for every item of food on his plate (eggs, toast, jelly, grapes, etc).

Lately Caden's prayer sounds something like this...

"Dear Jesus, thank yous the food..... Thank you Caden's undies dry and go pee pee in the potty.... thank you blessings....... Amen."

Last night Caden was warned and then deliberately disobeyed while I was cooking dinner and so he was given a spanking. During his prayer he threw in something about obeying God and spankings.... I can't remember the exact wording but I remember John and I looking up at each other from across the table and holding back laughs.

Caden knows about things that I have no recollection of teaching him... for example, a month or so ago Caden looked at me and said, " Mom Mom (his new word for me), what happened my trucks? They need batteries." I have no clue how he knows about batteries and what they do...

One of our Monday Morning Outings lately is to go to the Barnes and Noble story time after my gym class. After the story they do a craft. Caden doesn't quite have the pronunciation of that word down yet and yells out often, "Mommy I go to story time and I do crack! I do crack Mommy!" Lovely....

This next story is a little on the "too much information" side of things.... I apologize before hand ........... As we neared time for potty training we started announcing every time we went to the restroom so Caden would come watch and learn.... At first he complimented me for going... "Mommy go pee pee in potty! I so proud of you!!" Then after a few weeks he decided to change up his compliment.... Sticking his head between my legs to look into the potty he said, "Mommy!!! It so beautiful!" What was really great was when he started making these loud announcements/compliments in public restrooms... lol.

Caden is very much into make believe play now. It's really fun to watch him have conversations with his little action figures and dolls and to really make his trucks do an activity (complete with sound effects). He loves to pretend to have meals at his table/kitchen he got for Christmas from Gdaddy and Nonnie, too. Last night he was making me eggs. Caden gave me a spatula to eat my eggs with and I asked him for a fork. He went searching for one and when he couldn't find one he said (and I quote)... "I have a GREAT idea! Here's a spoon!" What drama and where did he learn "i have a great idea?" lol.

In other news with Caden.... as this is turning out to be a "catch up" blog post... we potty trained him a few weeks ago! He did SO great! I'll try to blog more about it later but it was so much easier than I ever thought it would be! We even took a road trip to Nashville just for fun one week after we trained him! That is how well it went.... we had no worries about him holding his bladder at all and he stayed dry all day long.

As for me, this picture is about 1.5 weeks old now and I swear my belly is twice as big, at least it feels that way. I had no belly at all, just a teeny bit of pudge two weeks before this picture.... That one is far from edited (my 17 week picture) and this one (21 weeks) is only partially edited (hence the shadows on the white and splotchy areas)..... but I knew that the chances of me ever going back to FINISH editing this picture were slim to none.. I've pretty much forgotten how to use photoshop and it took me forever to re-learn how to do the few simple things I did do... so here it is... Baby Girl (possibly Kaycie Grace as that is the favorite name these days) at 21 Weeks:

21 Weeks Pregnant

I'm so far behind in my blog I experience anxiety every time I log in at the thought of trying to catch up. Our camera broke so we have very few pictures from the last few months AND my computer is so full of pictures I don't have any space on my hard drive to add new ones. Yes I have an external hard drive but I still feel this need to put everything on CD.... I might have to just bite the bullet and put all my pictures on the external hard drive and leave it at that... what do you guys do to back up your photos? I need to make it a 'resolution' to print 10 photos for each month.... that way if everything crashes I'll at least have some memories to cherish forever.

So back to the pregnancy... I'm feeling pretty good these days although I will be honest and say I'm not enjoying this pregnancy like I did Caden's. With Caden I loved every second of being pregnant, this time not so much. Maybe it's because it took me 2 years to get my "body" back after having Caden and then I got pregnant... I'm going to go with that excuse. :D I'm still on the small side compared to where I was with Caden at this point. I've only just recently moved into maternity pants but can still wear my old jeans with a belly band too. I've only gained 4 pounds (4.5 on bad days, hehe) but you would think I'd put on more judging from the size of my belly bump! It just took off about 3 weeks ago and I look obviously pregnant now. My belly button hasn't popped out all the way just yet but it's on it's way there!

We found out at 19 weeks that we are having a little girl! I am SO thrilled and John said that he didn't realize until we found out it WAS a girl that he was really hoping for one! We're having a terrible time with names... my initial favorite was Gabrielle (call her Gabby/Gabbie) BUT I keep thinking that name, as much as I love it, just doesn't sound like me or something.... Plus we can't think of a middle name to go with it. I love the old traditional names, but none of them have that "wow" or "cute" factor that Gabbie has. Examples are Kate, Caroline, Elizabeth, Hannah, etc. Recently, John and I were looking at the name book before bed and saw the name Kaycie and we both really liked it. So that looks like a contender these days, too! It we chose that name it'll be Kaycie Grace. We still have plenty of time to decide I suppose, but I can't help but feel the pressure!

A few days ago as I was falling asleep I felt the baby moving around a lot! It was the first time I really felt her moving around more than just a little thump or kick here and there. I put my hand on my tummy and felt her from the outside for the first time... John joined in and got to feel her moving around, too! He never got to experience that with Caden as I'd only felt the first flutters when he left for Korea.

At my recent ultra sound appointment they diagnosed me with a low lying placenta/marginal placenta previa. I had this with Caden, too. Just means at this point I had to stop jumping/jogging during my aerobics class, which I had already cut back on the high impact stuff significantly. Now I do my jumping jacks one leg out at a time... I feel so stupid especially because I HAVE the energy to do them the right way, but babies safety comes first so...

I've been looking at crib bedding and having the hardest time... I couldn't take my eyes off the little girl stuff when I was pregnant with Caden and now I can't find a single thing I like and I can't stop looking at how cute the little boy stuff is! Go figure! I have decided that I'm going to order the same exact crib set we got for Caden (it converts to a full bed and will be 'lifetime' furniture for him and eventually her). I still love it and it is very simple and traditional and doesn't have anything that will make it go out of style. My only delima is do I order it in white or stained, dark (warm dark) wood? Will she still like her white furniture when she is 14 years old?!? Any advice/opinions out there?

All in all things are going great! Maybe at my next update we will have nailed down a name, ordered a crib, purchased crib bedding, and started clearing out the room that will be her nursery!!

17 Weeks along now...

I'm currently 17.5 weeks pregnant and thought I'd take a few minutes to write a few notes about this pregnancy before I forget everything, lol. This pregnancy has been so different from Caden's in just about every way. When I saw that second line on the pregnancy test my first thought was that it was a girl (and with Caden my first was that it was a boy). I'm not 100% convinced but with all the differences in this pregnancy I'm definitely still learning toward team pink. I would love a little girl, but would be thrilled beyond words for Caden to have a little brother. A few more weeks and we'll (hopefully) know one way or the other!

The first trimester was different for me. Right at about 5 weeks (it's like clockwork) I got very bloated and swollen looking in my belly, but after about a week or two it disappeared and the lovely allergies showed up along with some nausea this time around. I never had nausea with Caden other than the first few mornings (when I thought I was getting John's stomach bug). With this little one I had bouts with morning nausea but none of it was awful, just enough for me to ban eggs from being cooked in the house and then I'd lay on the couch for about 15 min and I'd be fine. I'd get occasional episodes throughout the day, but nothing consistent and some days were worse than others. I remember thinking that life would be great if I felt just a little bit worse b/c then I'd have an excuse to do nothing for feeling so bad, but unfortunately my nausea wasn't bad so bad I couldn't function. lol.

I continued to exercise 3 days a week, although I felt more pressure in my lower abdomen and had to modify my exercises starting around 8 or 9 weeks. I've continued to modify what I do as it feels necessary, but I still try to hit the gym at least 3 times a week! I started this pregnancy off weighing less than I have in years! Less than I started off with Caden by several pounds. It's been a little bittersweet for me because I finally lose that extra weight the month before finding out I was pregnant. My starting weight was 124 this time... we'll see if I feel up for sharing the ending weight, lol. As of right now I've gained zero pounds, which has me slightly worried because based on my eating choices I should have gained lots of weight! Maybe it's the exercise this time around, who knows. I'm definitely not complaining though.

With Caden I had to move to maternity pants at around 11 weeks, but so far I'm still in my pre pregnancy clothes right now. However, in the last few days my belly has finally decided to pop out and I've had to pull out the belly band and much prefer sweats over blue jeans, so I think I'm finally going to play catch up for the small belly and non-existent weight gain up to this point.

I've felt a few flutters here and there starting at around 14 or 15 weeks although it has not been consistent at all, but I also don't have near as much time to just sit still like I did with Caden (who I felt at 17 weeks).

It was this week (17) in my pregnancy with Caden that John left for Korea. So from this point forward all the changes I go through will be new to him!

I did take my first belly picture this week, but my computers operating system is at 0% so I have to do some cleaning before I can load them to the computer...

All in all things are going great! My next appointment is Dec 29th at which time we'll schedule the big ultra sound! I can't wait!

Exciting Announcement!

I have not announced this exciting news on the blog yet... We're EXPECTING!! I'm currently 14 weeks along and feeling great! Caden talks about the baby in "his" tummy all the time... we're just gonna keep working on trying to get him to understand over the next several months. The first trimester was pretty easy although very different from Caden. With Caden I had no nausea at all but horrible allergies. With this baby I've had both allergies and nausea. The nausea would come and go though and was never an all day thing and the allergies... I broke down this pregnancy and took some Pregnancy Safe medicine for them and they went away!!! I'm still going to the gym three times a week although I've had to modify my workout a bit already. I still don't look pregnant and I've actually only gained .5 pounds so far. Very different than with Caden (who had me in maternity pants at around 11 weeks!!). We're all very excited! Here is a picture from the day I told John. I asked him to meet us at Bridgestreet (we were living with my parents at the time and I wanted him to know first) and put a little shirt on Caden that said "I'm the Big Brother!"