An update...

My current stats on 7/30
Gestational age: 30 weeks, 2 days
Weight: 26 pounds
BP: 116/72
Fetal heart rate: 135 bpm
Measuring: 32+ weeks
Fetal movement: Constant twists, turns, kicks and punches. Some times are particularly painful. Baby is not as high as Claire, so my ribs aren't taking the same beating, but baby likes to stretch out and take up as much space as possible so I often feel it moving in 4-6 places at once. And the little hands... they are already good at tickling.

Yesterday I went in to meet with the OBGYN. She was a new doctor that I'd never seen before, and I liked her. She went over all of the possible risks/pros/cons of having another VBAC and had me sign off on the liability papers. Not much has changed in the past four years since Claire was born, but the fact that Claire was a successful VBAC bumps me up to over an 80% chance of this baby being successfully born that way as well. (Seems SO much better than being at this point with Claire and wondering if the 50% chance was worth the risks). We honestly haven't talked much about any other option. I know they doctors would be happy to do a repeat c-section for me at any time (a bigger pay check for them, right?), but I really feel like I am in no hurry to get baby out and would like to do so as naturally as possible. We will have a back-up cesarean scheduled in case I don't go in to labor, but we will plan that as late as they will let us. It isn't scheduled yet, and even when it is, we won't be sharing the date... so no need to ask.

Nothing much has changed in the last two weeks. I did find out that my thyroid numbers were slowly creeping back up, so they changed my medication dose again. I also found out that I am anemic, so I started on iron (just today) and will be upping my intake of iron-rich foods.

Questions we are getting a lot these days:
1. Strangers often ask: Do you know if you are having a boy or girl? I don't... still. But it is getting harder and harder for me to wait. I don't think I will have another ultrasound before the birth, and that is probably a good thing. I don't think I would have the self-control to not sneak a peek.

2. Any names yet? Still working on it. We have so much other stuff going on and lists of things to do, that the whole naming process has taken a back seat. Some day this baby will have a name, though it might not be the day that he/she is born.

3. How do you feel? I guess I must be looking really pregnant because I've been getting this question... a lot! I honestly feel good. I mean there are things that are bothersome, funny aches and pains, and I'm pretty tired. It is usually easy to fall asleep it isn't as easy to stay asleep. In general though, I can't complain.

My next appointment isn't for another 3-4 weeks. Have I mentioned how nice it is that my midwives are so laid back about this pregnancy? Getting to the doctor every 1-2 weeks is just a lot of work... Plus, who wants to get weighed that often? =)

And for those who care to see the belly... this was taken (by Grace) about a week ago.

Weeds...

Our yard is nothing to be proud of, but we can grow some killer weeds. Check out this thistle that Merrick pulled the other day. It was over 9 feet tall... no joke. Who knows how long it had been stealthy hiding behind our cherry tree. 

 

Subs, Salt & Straw...

**Update: It was brought to my attention that the pictures from this post didn't show up. Hopefully they are working now. 

Today after church we decided to head into Lake Oswego to play in the fountain. The kids chose Big Town Hero for lunch, so we took their sub sandwich and headed to the park. I wasn't feeling hungry at the time, so opted to wait until we got home to eat. Little did I know that there just happens to be a Salt & Straw stand in the parking lot of the park we went to. It was my lucky day. So, while my family ate a relatively healthy lunch, I opted to have a double scoop of hand-made ice cream... chocolate with gooey brownies and almond brittle with salted ganache to be exact. It was an excellent choice on my part.

 

 

 

 

 

And she's off...

After a week of practicing on her balance bike, Claire officially became a two-wheeled rider this afternoon. The bike she is using isn't great so she's a bit wobbly, but Merrick stuck close and she had no spills. Now we need to practice breaking and turning. Just the minor things. =)

 

 

A new tradition...

A few months before school ended a few moms from Grace's class thought it would be fun to have a mother/daughter camp-out this summer. We put the date on our calendars and have been waiting in anticipation ever since. My sweet friend, Wendy, offered up her backyard for the grand adventure. Her wonderful husband was present and waited on us and served us all night long. It was one of the most relaxing and fantastic nights I've had in a long time. 

The set-up (we added one more tent, but didn't end up using it).

The girls enjoying their dinner - hot dogs, homemade mac n' cheese, fruit, veggies, chips and guac. A feast for any six-year-old.

Amy & Linsday ended up not being able to come at the last minute, so we snapped a picture to send with our get well soon messages. 

And no camp-out is complete without s'mores!

I was pretty happy with this set-up. We had all sorts of toppings for our s'mores. My personal favorite of the night was salted caramel and dark chocolate (with the graham cracker and marshmallow of course).

   

The whole gang - seven moms with their sweet 1st grade girls. 

While breakfast was being made the yard seemed pretty quiet. We went to investigate and found the sleepy girls cuddled together watching Saturday morning t.v. 

Breakfast in the sun.

When the girls were finished, the moms moved in. Egg casserole, cinnamon swirl bundt cake, fresh fruit, mimosas and coffee. 

I am so thankful for this group of friends that came in to our lives this past year. I couldn't have hand picked a better group of friends for Grace or myself. We are looking forward to many more school activities, summer activities and times spent with these friends. Thanks to Wendy and Darrin for hosting... We can't wait for a repeat next summer! 

Pancakes and Ramona...

On our first "real" day of summer break the girls and I met some school friends for a fun-filled day. You would have thought the 5 classmates hadn't seen each other in months (rather than two days). 

We started our morning at Slappy Cakes where we chowed down on pancakes, Stumptown coffee and other yummy breakfast goodies. From there we took the kids over to the Beavertly Clearly statue park to play. We really had a great time and are looking forward to many more summer get togethers with these friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday dinner...

For Grace's birthday this year my parents took her (and me) to Benihana to celebrate. Grace had a lot of fun being spoiled by her grandparents, watching the dinner show, and eating her steak and shrimp dinner. This might just become a new tradition for the three of them!

It has been hot...

You won't find them complaining about the heat. These girls take after their mama and love the sun! We do, however, have a difficult time keeping the upstairs of the house cool enough for them to sleep comfortably. We've found them in a few funny positions in the past few weeks. Claire sprawled out in nothing but undies. Grace surrounded by various ice packs and frozen teething rings dug out from the depths of our freezer. Silly girls.

 

The park...

Going to the park has gotten so much easier lately. Claire is almost 100% self sufficient. She can traverse the monkey bars, climb up any set of stairs or ladder, and most recently has figured out how to get on and start swinging from a dead stop.

On Saturday night we had two extra girls with us for the evening. We decided to take them all to the 53rd Street Park to blow off some steam before bed time. The four of them seemed to have a really great time playing at the park, in the sand and in the fountain before heading home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An update...

It seems like it has been forever since I last posted about baby... well, it has been an entire trimester. Oops. Everything so far is going great. Not much to report on a daily/weekly or even monthly basis. For those who care (and for my records) here's a little baby update.

My current stats on 7/12
Gestational age: 27 weeks, 5 days
Weight: 23 pounds
BP: 120/70
Fetal heart rate: 150 bpm
Measuring: 32 weeks
Fetal movement: Constant twists, turns, kicks and punches.

Today I went in for a quick visit with my midwife. Everything seems good. I passed my glucose test with flying colors, but found out that I am anemic. I'll start on an extra iron supplement tomorrow... something I never needed to with the girls, but it isn't a big deal. My next appointment is in 2 weeks and that is when we will meet with one of the OBGYNs to talk about my past c-section and the various risks involved with a natural labor and birth after cesarean. Other than that there seems to be no issues that we need to be concerned about.

A few things to note from my second trimester:

Sometime during the 19th week Merrick and the girls were feeling baby moving. By week 20 we were watching my belly roll as baby moved. I've said it all along, but this kid is strong! It was also around this time that I got the all clear from my endocrinologist. My body seems to have responded well to the medication and my numbers regulated to where they needed to be for that trimester. I'm still having blood drawn every 4-6 weeks to manage the thyroid and the medications, but we are happy with the results we've been seeing.

In week 21 I had my first contraction. Nothing serious, just braxton hicks, but it was nice to hear from a friend that her braxton hicks started earlier with her third pregnancy as well. These have continued for the past 7 weeks - not too strong or painful, but pretty uncomfortable since they make it difficult to breath. I've had as many as 6 in an hour, but usually only 15 throughout a day.

Questions we are getting a lot these days:
1. Do you have a gut feeling on baby's gender? Um, no. I sure don't. Merrick is leaning towards boy (which was my first feeling at the very beginning), but we don't really know (obviously). Most of this pregnancy is mimicking Claire, but my first two pregnancies were a lot different, so I don't think that really means anything.

2. Any names yet? Um, not really. We have a girl name that we both like a lot, but we haven't really firmly decided one way or another. Boy names are just hard for us. We've had a few good recommendations and a few really bad recommendations.

3. How are you doing with the heat? Well, I should ask the same of you. It's hot, right? We're all hot. Sleeping isn't fun, but we crank the a/c and I turn my fan on full blast aimed at my face. I've only slept one night downstairs when it was just unbearable. For the most part I am finding ways to stay cool, or to cool off, and I really don't mind the heat. I love summer and love the sun. I am really, really glad that I don't have a nursing baby that needs to be skin-to-skin right now. That just seems too much for me. By the time this little monster makes his/her debut things will be cooling down and we'll all want something warm to snuggle up with. The timing really is good.

Soccer camp...

Both girls have been in soccer camp this week. It was sort of a last minute thing, but since I figured out that Claire could piggy-back on Grace's camp it seemed like a good thing to do. 

They have seemed to have a lot of fun. It is amazing the little bits of improvement you notice over the course of a week. Grace got her "report card" and was given pretty good "grades" from her coach in all of the various skills they had been working on. She was especially lucky because Sophia signed up for the same camp. It has been a lot of fun to be spending time with Shannon, Sophia and Lincoln again this week. We don't get to see them much during the school year, but summer is a different story! Twice this week the big girls decided (on their own) to coordinate their outfits. It was cute hearing them plan what they would wear the next day. 

 

 

 

 

Claire, though only three, seemed to be pretty advanced for her little group. I think it helps that she has watched Grace play all last season and then she played indoor soccer this spring. She's probably had a lot more time with a ball at her feet than the other three and four year olds in her camp. She has also done really well with the different skills - passing, dribbling, shooting, ball control, etc. She loved her coaches and LOVED the fact that she was doing the same thing as Grace and Sophia (they even had the same coach!). Her camp wasn't as long as Grace's, so I always stayed for the whole time, though she was very vocal about the fact that I didn't need to be there and that she could do it all by herself. I'm glad to see this little bit of confidence in her. Every day when she was done and ran back over to me, she was just beaming. At one point she grabbed my face and said, "My camp was just so SO fun!"