Update

Well I officially made it through this week of fieldwork YAY! That was our big goal since now if I went this weekend I would only have to make up 4 days after the baby was born, what a stress relief since I feel that is do-able, not fun, but do-able. Well I had some drama on Monday, well technically Tuesday morning and I got in trouble from the sister for not sharing, but basically put I thought my water broke since I woke up in a puddle at 2am. So I thought ok here we go, we made sure we had everything packed, we woke up my parents to let them know, we gathered our little sleeping princess into the car and headed to the hospital. Well they set me up to test to see if my water had broken ( I was waiting for the results before I called my friend who offered to take Linnea once we got to the hospital.) Well it sure was hard for a little two year old to sleep in a hospital room with her brother's heartbeat on the monitor, her mommy all strapped to machines and nurses doing weird things to me :) Ok so once again the tests came back NEGATIVE for amniotic fluid. I was so grateful when that happened at 28 weeks, but at 39 I kept thinking what the heck else am I supposed to think a big puddle of water is? So I have decided my little monkey inside of me likes to make me wet the bed :) I guess all the bacteria and other stuff that you have when your pregnant can mask the smell of pee so we had know way of knowing what all this stuff was. So we walk in the door at 5:15 am put Nea back to sleep and my alarm goes off at 5:20...time to wake up and go to fieldwork. Needless to say I was a zombie, but they were nice and let me go home at 12. Now that it is Friday I am grateful I was able to finish this week, but at the time I had mentally gotten to the point of preparing for labor and coming home with a baby I was not a happy camper when I left without a baby on the outside. Well I did have a doctor's appointment today and he is for sure on his way soon I am dialated to 3 cm 80% effaced and he is at -1 station, which was clarified by the doctor as halfway down the birth canal....so yay I haven't dialated for four weeks past a 2 and so now a little bit of progress is being made. Pretty exciting. I know he'll be here next friday since I'm getting induced so we'll just have to see if he waits another week!

"Exceptionally Low..."

Well I went to the doctor today for my check up so I thought I'd update. ( I didn't update last week because the doctor I saw was a putz and told me absolutely nothing) New doctor comes in all bright and cheerful and asks me with a lot of excitement, "since you're so close would you like me to strip your membranes?" I quickly said no way, and went on to explain that this little guy needs to stay in as long as possible due to school. So he said he could understand that and we proceeded with the check up. He told me I would have a lot of pressure as he checked for the baby's head since baby's heads are clear up there right.... about two seconds later his eyes get big and he says "Your baby's head is exceptionally low!" So of course that gets my attention and I ask what does he mean by that and I am told "you might not want to hold out for your due date, don't be surprised if it's earlier than that!" Ok Linnea came 5 days early so in my mind that is all I have to go on so it's not a huge surprise, but now our prayers have changed to please just let me get through this NEXT week of fieldwork because then at least I would only have to make up 4 days instead of two weeks! Anyways I am still at 2 cm, I forgot to ask how effaced I was and he forgot to tell me, but I guess we'll see what the next few days bring for our little guy and our family. I can't believe how fast it has gone I don't feel ready. I know I'm a second time mom, but I think with each new addition I'm going to feel a sense of being unprepared and nerves! I feel like there is still so much cleaning and organizing to get done before an infant that needs all my attention joins our family and here I can remember thinking "O it's still months away" well now it could be days to just two weeks!!!! Here we go!

Life is sweet!!!

Our St. Patrick's Day dinner, we hate corned beef so we just had roast beef and cabbage :) Linnea liked her little shamrock!

Just our sweetie getting ready to go to church

Well I thought I would update the blog since it's been awhile. Our life has taken a turn for the better I feel like, not that it was bad before, but for a while there I felt sad. I felt extra guilty due to more hours at fieldwork, I felt Linnea was almost depressed and thought it was because of a new baby and I felt Derek was stressed with issues at work and with school. The last few weeks however I have come to appreciate our little family so much more. Linnea has been pretty sick and has an ear infection. Now that that is all under control she has been the sweetest little girl and I fall more in love with her each day! Anytime I stand up and grimace due to the wonderful comforts of being 9 months pregnant she runs over and says "you ok mama?" with the most genuine concern I think a person can have. She cuddles with me everyday when we get home and thankfully I feel that she is beginning to adjust to the thought of "her" baby. The last few days she actually pats my tummy and will say baby or just pat it. She told me that she is going to help me give the baby a bottle and binki. A few weeks ago all we got out of her was "no baby" or "no boy" I still feel that she will have an adjustment when he arrives, but I am very grateful for her tenderheart and know she will love her brother so much even if it takes a little time.

Derek had his 25th birthday on Saturday and I am so grateful for him. I don't know how I ever landed such an amazing person. He is so calm and patient and the extent of him being stressed is saying " I'm kinda stressed, and would like a hug" he is such a good daddy and so encouraging to me to meet my goals with the childbirth, and school and work someday. He wants more than anything to see me at home with our kids which I am so grateful for because I know when he gets the chance to go full time in school he will be so dedicated so he can get finished also.

Fieldwork is almost over, I have two more weeks to go and then I can say see ya school...I never want to go back :) I hope that our little man stays in, but at the same time I am not stressing about it anymore I can't help it when he comes and I know that I was prompted to go to school and also we knew it was the right time to have another baby so the Lord will give us a way to finish all of our goals. I am pretty sore most days because he is dropping so of course it puts more pressure on my back and lower body, but it's not too bad. I'm really excited for him to come and have a little newborn in our house again. They are so precious and I do miss the baby stage. Well life is wonderful and I am so grateful for all the blessings that have come into our lives over the past few months and even days. I've truly noticed the Lord's hand in helping us get through school, deal with finances, help Linnea through her difficult days and so much more.

Count Down

Well the count down begins...I had my 36 week check up yesterday, I can't believe we have four more weeks and we'll have this little guy here it has gone soooooo fast, I still hope that I can finish with my fieldwork, but I feel like he might come a few days early, not a whole lot, but I am not sure if I'm going to make it to my due date, but we'll see. I'm scheduled to be induced on the 22nd, so he'll be here either before then or on the 22nd of April. So the check up went good they say he is measuring great size wise...the stats

dialated at 2cm

60% effaced

The baby is head down so he's in a great position. I feel better pain wise in that general area, I still have the discomfort, but it's bearable. Sleeping is a whole different story as most of you who have been pregnant know at this point if you don't have to wake up three + times to pee it's a good night. With both my pregnancies I have gotten restless legs really bad and this little guy has caused not only my legs to cramp, but also my toes and hands! The doctor told me yesterday that the hand cramps are cause of carpal tunnel since I'm swelling, but it should go away after he's born, so last night I was up for 45 minutes walking off a foot cramp :) it is all so worth it though, I can't wait to hold our little man and kiss his adorable little face! I have a feeling Nea is going to have a difficult adjustment. I feel that she may sense something is going to change, she has been quite clingy to us and a little bit more emotional, but I'm sure some of that is just the age she is! I'm so gratefull that I get to be home to help her adjust and that is the main reason I am hoping I can finish my fieldwork so I can be home and not have to keep dropping Linnea off somewhere else, luckily though if I come just a few days early Derek said he will take the week off and stay with the kids while I finish so at least they'll be with one of their parents! We are about 99.9% sure his name will be Hayden, we can't decide if the middle name should be Derek or maybe Swen after my great-grandpa!!! Well I'll keep updating over the next four weeks and let everyone know when this guy may be coming!!!

All Natural...hmmm

Well this post may be a TMI post, if you feel that way then my suggestion would be to not read it :) So the last month and a half I have been having and experiencing a lot of the symptoms of Pubic Symphysis...as far as I understand it is a little cartilage or ligament that connects your pubic bone to whatever ( I need to brush up on my anatomy again) anyways when you get prego sometimes you get too much relaxin hormone and it relaxes too much...the issue that you have is when you actually deliver the baby it can break or snap if you don't have your legs placed properly. The symptoms consist of a lot of pain when walking, rolling over in bed, getting dressed, walking up and down stairs...check check check. I go to the doctor tomorrow and I'm going to talk to him about it and see what he thinks. This actually happened to my mom when I was born. They didn't know she was having a dysfunction until my big head came out and she was crippled for a few months after not super fun, since I broke hers. Well the things that doctors recommend is not getting an epidural during delivery so you can be in possible different positions and so you can feel if your legs are getting pushed too high to help avoid breaking the ligament, or c-section, but who honestly wants surgery if you don't need to have it? SO...I have been thinking about it, about not getting an epidural...I had a fine experience with Linnea and the epidural, it made me sick, but I was pain free. I went awhile without medication last time, but I do know it hurts so I have some fear about the "real" pain of actually getting the baby out. I feel though that it would be worth it to avoid not being able to walk for 3 months after, although it still is no gurantee since my mom had me natural and hers still broke (of course they didn't know about it beforehand). I have started my mental game to overcome a lot of my fears because I KNOW that if I mentally am thinking well if it hurts too much I'll just get an epidural, then I'll get the epidural cause thats what I did last time. I've talked to Derek and explained how if I did it natural there is no sleeping and hanging off to the side for him he needs to be right there helping keep my mind off things. I have a great video from a nurse who works with natural delivery, I got it when I was pregnant with Linnea and she talks about all sorts of different techniques and options, but especially focuses on the Dad's part in helping with pain management. I have had some wonderful cousins give birth without pain medication...so any advice would be appreciated. I am interested to know what the Doctor will say about the whole situation tomorrow.

The Room is Complete!!!!!

This is a picture of Linnea's room shortly after we had finished moving in....everything was the same when we started changing the room except obviously the baby swing and the crib was gone....I think it's changed a lot

And now the after room for boy and girl :)

I had a hard time taking pictures good enough to get the full effect of the new look to Linnea's room, but it is monkey/jungle theme and we have monkeys hanging all over the room and we want to make a cute saying starting with "two little monkeys..." and make it go all the way around the room, but we haven't come up with a cute one yet....we think it turned out great for a girl and boy room on our budget....my mom made the cute valance and we found the dresser for a great deal at RC Willey and I busted out some hidden crafty skills and made the book sling for Linnea.

Bullying Experience...grrr

Well I had to post little Linnea's first experienc with a bully....and my first real urge to physically slap a child :) So I got off my fieldwork super early so I decided to take Linnea on a date for lunch so we went to good old Chic Fila however you spell it. Things were super fun they gave her two ballons she got fresh squeezed lemonade the sugary works for a kid! Then she wanted to go to the playset since it had a floating car that she wanted to play in so we went in for a little while to go play. Things were fine and then I noticed this little boy, probably about 6 took her book from her that she got in her kid's meal and he ran away. Of course Linnea looked at me and kinda got upset so I walked back over to her and the kid came back, I said to him "will you please give her back her book" his snoty reply was "NO!" and he ran away again. This upset Linnea even more so we walked away and I told her sometimes kids aren't very nice. He eventually came around us again and Linnea reached for her book which he didn't give to her and I said out loud "Don't worry Nea, he's just not being nice so we don't need to play with him." When he heard me say that he held her book out for her to take so I smiled and said "Thank you" and then the little brat snatched it back and laughed...luckily his mom saw this and made him give it back...phew. So Linnea went back to playing and about 5 minutes later this kid was back in the play area. It was like he instantly singled my little tenderheart out. she was trying to climb up the steps to get to the top of the playset and he pulled her legs down so she was on the ground and then Karate chopped her neck on BOTH SIDES!!! What the heck he didn't just hit or push her what kind of kid Karate jobs another kid in the neck!!!!! I was up there so fast since Linnea was of course balling and confused, luckily for that little stinker his mom had once again seen the whole thing and angrily said she was so sorry and pulled him out of the play area!!!!! I wonder though if there might be some issues with the kid since as soon as Linnea started screaming he covered his ears and started rocking...so either he knew he was in deep trouble or hmmm maybe some spectrum issues. I was so mad! I've never watched Linnea be singled out by a kid like that, I've watched her push, hit and be pushed and hit, but man when your kid is just minding their own business and they get picked on it sure ruffles me and breaks my heart at the same time! All I knew to say to Linnea was that we don't hit people and that boy was not being very nice. It was sad every time she looked at her little kid's meal book on the ride home she would say "he hit?" kinda like a question so I would repeat that yes he hit her and it wasn't nice....grrrr life experiences!!