36 weeks - Resting & Birthing Day Decisions

Had my 36 week appt with the Birthing Center yesterday! Which means...that I can officially deliver there now! Suuuch a relief!! 🥳 I am still measuring slightly big (37 weeks), Christian's heart sounded great, and he is still upward/I'm carrying high. I also did the Group B Strep test, turned in my Birth Plan, and I got to make some Birthing Day Decisions (if I want him to have eye ointment, the vit k shot, circumcision, etc.) 

We are SOO excited for him to arrive! Only 25 days til my "guess date". The twins may explode from excitement before then though. In 5 year old land I'm sure the last 8 months have felt like a lifetime, plus some, ha ha. Everywhere we go they tell people about their baby brother who will be here soon, what his name is going to be, and how they're going to help with him. It totally melts people's hearts. The girl who waxed my brows today was totally dying over how adorable and good the twins were. 

I am still having to take it easy because everything pretty much causes the contractions to start. But the kids and Blake have been helping with house work, food prep, etc. And my Momma will be here in 8 days!! 🥳 The twins fav thing to do is empty the dryer and fill it. They have a contest to see who can pack the most clothes at once to our bed, ha ha. Usually Claire wins because she is an adorable tiny ant and has always been able to lift and hold large amounts of stuff even though she is so petite, ha ha. Love these sweet kiddos SO MUCH! 

Will keep you posted! I am still guessing he will come before he is due but we will see 😍 My face, legs and feet have finally started to get that classic pregnancy swelling look. But I believe the dandelion tea is helping with that, it is great for fluid retention and a million other things 👍

35 weeks - Hello, Braxton Hicks!

Well we made a "just to be safe" trip to the birthing center yesterday! The last few days I started having contractions. Most were 5 to 7 mins apart, but some were 2. And I was having more than 6 per hour and they were all lasting more than 20 secs. So they/I wanted me to be seen to be sure all was ok and he wasn't making an early debut, ha ha. I also woke up with a lot of pressure in my nether regions and was like, hmm! So we went in to be safe. My blood pressure and baby's heart all checked out great. And the midwives said even though my cervix is already nice and soft (early softening is really common after 1st babies), everything is still nice and closed up. I'm not even dilated to a 2, so that's great! We are app hoping he can stay in there for a couple more weeks at least. Another day at the VERY least because I'm technically not considered officially 36 weeks until tomorrow (11/21). And you can only deliver at the birthing center between 36 and 42 weeks (due to their accreditation - meaning they take insurance so they have to follow certain guidelines, making it so they cannot deliver anyone before 36 weeks or after 42 + 1. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've kind of been stressing about this. But we will be fine, stay in there little guy!! The longer he cooks the better. If I were having the twins they'd be born today, so crazy. They were born healthy at 36 weeks and needed no medical interventions, so I am not really too awfully nervous about him coming sooner than 40 weeks. But I would really love to finish this hypno birthing course and to get a few more things done around the house. The latter may prove to be difficult since I'm supposed to rest and avoid anything that causes the contractions, which is pretty much anything, ha ha. But my Momma will be here in about a week, so that'll be so helpful! The kids are thrilled she is coming to stay a few weeks before I'm due. And us too! I love her company and it'll be so stress relieving to have help with the twins, house work, and to not have to worry about finding a sitter for the kids when I go into labor (nightmare with all of our food allergies! Makes me and potential sitters nervous). Blake has been working 60+ hrs a week, so our house work has been suffering some, lol. Anywho, the midwives said that the contractions are likely Braxton Hicks along with how he is positioned. He is still head down but is kind of diagonal. They said his positioning alone can cause contractions and discomfort in some women. They said they have had women come in thinking they're in labor but it is just actually because the baby hasn't fully descended downward into birthing position so it causes contractions. So they said hopefully I'll be more comfortable once he comes down more (called lightening). Both he and my cervix are still up quite high, but that's a good thing overall!

I've been keeping my stress at bay with the awesome Hypnobabies affirmation and hypno tracks. This program is seriously awesome you guys!! Not only do I sleep like a freaking rock now, but I am in the section of the program now where you teach yourself to put yourself into self hypnosis. I was skeptical, but it works! Last night I did the Deepening Your Hypnosis track and as I was coming out of it (you count up to 3), parts of my body were numb! So I can now see how women are having pain free, natural, 8oz un-medicated births. With more practice I am confident that I will master it and be able to induce the numbness when and where I need it during my birthing 👍 Only 29 more days to go, let's see how far we can make it!!!

Our latest fun/cuteness...we made some cute and easy Christmas tree ornaments in home Kindergarten, the twins like to think they can still fit in the Bumbo, we mailed our letters to Santa (his elves left us delicious Honey Patties in the mailbox after taking their letters), we've been wrapping gifts and getting them under the tree (less for me to do later!), and reading lots of Christmas books! Cam is obsessed with the Little Drummer Boy song (by "Trash Groman" - Aka Josh Groban 🤣🤣) and Clairebear loves anything nativity related! So I was so happy to find these cute books at our local Costco, they love them 🥳 

PS...my belly pics make me look so much smaller than I am, it's crazy!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, hugs! 🦃 

We are ready for Christmas AND a baby!

So, Christmas is absolutely my favorite holiday of the year! Not only because it involves many exciting things like Santa coming (SO MUCH more fun when you have kiddos!), buying and receiving thoughtful gifts, decorating the Christmas tree, listening to holiday music...but it also is the time of year when I most feel the spirit of the Lord. I am so grateful for our knowledge that families are forever and that we can be forgiven of our sins. Being pregnant this year has definitely made me more emotional, but that's ok! I have teared up hearing the twins sing their favorite song (Little Drummer Boy), watching them decorate the tree, and squeal when the baby's Christmas stocking was hung today. I have always heard that people born in December hate the fact that their birthdays are so close to Christmas/on Christmas. I don't know if if our little Christian will mind or not, but I have to say that I am SO EXCITED to be having a baby near Christmas!! I believe this will be the best Christmas yet. Best ever. 

I tried hard to find the baby a stocking that also had snowflakes on it that wasn't the color of another one we already had and finally found one. Yay! I absolutely LOVE our stocking sign. It looks so amazing with 5 socks on it! I added that extra nail today, got his sock on there, and was just like, "this looks just like it should!" Love this tiny little man so much already. I am really hoping the baby can fit in his stocking when he's born. That is what we are likely going to put him in, along with a cute little holiday beanie, to show him to the twins for the first time. They have always said they want to "open him like a present!" but I don't really want to put him in a box, ha ha. So hopefully the stocking will work out.

Blake has only had 2 Thanksgivings off in 8 years. Plus, we have so many food allergies that we don't usually do much, or anything at all, for that holiday. This being the reason our tree is already up and the house decorated 🤣 I am so excited to hold (and smell!!) a beautiful new baby on Christmas!! If he isn't born late that is, ha ha. We will see if he comes on, before, or after the 19th. Not knowing is kind of stressing me out but it'll be super exciting no matter what! Can't wait to rock and nurse him in my new swivel glider too ❤ Thanks to my Mom and Dad for going in on it with us! Fits perfectly in our baby/school room.

Happy Holidays everyone!!

34 weeks - A much needed trip & a baby ninja!

We had a blast in Utah and Nevada over the last few weeks with family! We played in the snow, saw family and a sweet friend (finally got a pic of us and all our miracle babies!), went on a picnic, we enjoyed trick or treating and a family Halloween party, a cousin's birthday party, I celebrated my 21st birthday (👍🤣), the kids played til they were ready to drop, and they got to go for a jeep ride and collect chicken eggs. So many fun things! Was such a relaxing and MUCH needed trip before baby comes. I was going absolutely nuts because I had been couped up in the house at home for four months because of that dang body rash. My poor kiddos didn't get their normal fun summer, but luckily it is starting to cool down here in AZ. Hopefully I'll be able to be outside more soon. The heat (anything over 80 to 85 degrees) still flares up the rash on my chest, groin and shins. Bothers me for days afterward still unfortunately, so being outside just isn't worth it. 

Can't believe I am 34 weeks!! Where has the time gone?! It is already November and that just blows my mind. I have 6 weeks left to go, if I go full term. I still have a feeling they're off on his due date and he'll be a little early. But we will see! I have been monitoring my blood sugar for about 4 to 5 weeks now and will see if I need to continue or not. We noticed that things like not getting enough sleep, hot rice cereal, and sweet potatoes elevates my blood sugar. Nothing that warrants insulin by any means, but my fasting sugar should be 95 or under and I've had some at 110 or so when not sleeping well. The rice cereal was really elevating it, should be under 120 after 2 hrs and I was getting some after breakfast results of 160s to 190s. But as soon as I quit the cereal it hasn't happened again thank goodness. They said I'm like on the cusp of having gestational diabetes but it isn't anything to be concerned about. It's a good thing I've been sugar and flour free for 2 years now, I bet I would have developed full blown gestational diabetes if it weren't for that! So grateful I found Bright Line Eating and got healthier. 

My back is absolutely killing me, ha ha. I want to pull it out, give it a good whip/shake and make it straight again 🤣 I don't even want to know how bad my back would have hurt with the twins. I'm pretty big I feel like right now but I was definitely bigger with the twins. Being 6 yrs older has also made a difference. We would love to have another baby after this if it is possible but I'm kind of worried how my body will handle it. I'll be almost 40 if they are 2 yrs apart. Plus, I've developed new food allergies/sensitivities unfortunately. We are hoping they go away after Christian is here! Can't have corn, avocados, watermelon, sunflower seeds or oil, and oranges. So odd! Anyways. I am starting the Hypnobabies course tomorrow. I didn't end up doing it while out of town so I'll need to get a move on it. I'm excited to learn how to better manage/tune out birthing and labor pains! 

Our sweet baby boy is over 4.5 pounds now and over 18 inches long! He now swallow approximately 1 liter of amniotic fluid per day, so crazy! His eyes have been fully functional and responding to light for awhile now, has a full head of hair if he has any, he is receiving important antibodies from my body right now to help protect him after birth, and he is packing on the weight. I have been having such periods of hunger, ha ha. Like I need to eat every 1.5 hrs some days. I can only fit so much at a time now because all of my organs and lungs are being crushed, ha ha. But it is better for my blood sugar to have multiple small meals a day rather than 3 big ones, so it works out. His adorable little room is ready, just need to hang a couple decorations. While in Utah we were able to go through all the baby stuff we gave my parents awhile back that we didn't have room for. We brought home a baby swing, single stroller (it'll be fun yet weird to not use a double twin stroller this time around!), the twin's Pooh Bear walker, Cam's blue Bumbo, and a cute little rocking horse. 

We are all SUPER excited to meet this little guy! He is becoming quite the little ninja. Some of his movements/jabs are starting to hurt, ha ha. The kids are excited to be able to feel him move so much now though. Their faces and giggles are hilarious and so cute. Not gonna lie, the end of pregnancy/birth anxiety is setting in like crazy lately 😬 I hope and pray nightly that he will make it here safely and that I will have a quick labor/birth, and healthy recovery. This isn't gonna be a little 4.5 to 5 lb baby like the twins, ha ha. So I feel like it is going to be a whole different ballgame. I can do it though!! Positive thinking goes a long way! I just hope I make it to 36 weeks so that I can deliver at the birthing center. Fingers crossed! No signs yet of anything possibly happening sooner 👍 Keep us in your prayers though ❤ I will try to be better about posting now that we are back in town 😀 We didn't have a cell signal or internet for part of our trip, ha ha.