33 Weeks

Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 33 Weeks. . .a little over 6 weeks to go!
Size of baby: 17.5 inches and around 4.5 pounds!
Movement: She’s still really active at times, but I can tell it’s getting cramped in there!
Sleep: I think I would be sleeping better if it weren’t for this nasty cold!
Cravings: Ice and lifesaver mints
Symptoms: All of them. Pretty sure I’ve rounded the corner and the next 6 weeks are probably going to be miserable.
Best Moment This Week: Getting more things marked off the to-do list!

So, getting a summer cold in the last weeks of pregnancy is not cool. In fact it takes miserable to a whole new level. Take your normal icky cold symptoms and multiply it by 100! Sore throat, congestion, coughing and headache. . . the only good thing is that I don’t have a fever. It’s just a common cold. And everything I read, just says to “hydrate and rest”. Really? That’s it? Isn’t that easy for a doctor or book author to say?! Here in the “real world”, it’s just not that easy! I am drinking a TON of water, and it seems like the only noticeable effect is my having to run to the bathroom even more often, which I honestly didn’t think was possible! And for the rest part, well it’s not easy to do when I need to go to work and there is so much to do at home. Plus, whenever I lay down or even lay back I can’t breathe! There are some over the counter meds I can take, but they aren’t doing me much good either. And Benadryl, that normally doesn’t effect me too much, will knock me smooth out! So it’s either be miserable or be in a coma! Great options, don’t ya think?!  Poor Stratton has it too. Although he doesn’t really act like he feels too bad, he just has a continual runny nose. Unlike me, he has some good meds that are really helping clear his congestion up. Plus it has rained a little, so maybe that is helping too.

Last week was a busy one. I started feeling sick around Tuesday, I figured it was just allergies. I had a massage on Tuesday afternoon, and the lady that did my massage was struggling with allergies, too- or so she thought. Thursday evening I had dinner with Amber and later that night it rained for the first time in forever, so I thought that would probably help. It didn’t. I ended up going home from work on Friday early to rest. I had an awful headache and really thought it best for my co-workers if I took my crabby, sick self home! Jarrod and Stratton went to the farm Friday afternoon to work on a trailer Jarrod had bought. So, of course Stratton didn’t want to come home and he ended up staying the weekend with my mom and dad. Which worked out good, I actually felt much better on Saturday, and did laundry, cleaned Stratton’s room, reorganized all his toys and got rid of a bunch of stuff, we put the last few things up in Arden’s room, I cleaned it up, whew! And then Saturday afternoon we decided to venture out to the mall, I needed to take some stuff back after the shower last week. But it wasn’t long and I was tired!! We went and ate supper and then headed back home.

Guess what?? Sunday I felt awful. I should know better right?! Just because I felt better on Saturday I shouldn’t have done so much. You’d think I would be smarter than I actually am. But when I feel good it’s hard to stop! It’s a vicious cycle! We got up Sunday morning and went to church in HR, had lunch with my grandparents and mom and dad and then we headed back to Jonesboro in time for Exaltation at the Fowler Center. It was good, but Stratton was in a mood! I’m so glad we don’t have theater seating at church! Those chairs were just too much of a distraction! Anyway, we made it through with only one minor injury. Stratton knocked his forehead/eye on one of the seats and it looks like he’s been in a fight now. But what else is new? The boy is constantly sporting a shiner from some incident or another!

Monday, I woke up and just felt horrible. Like a train had hit me. I decided to stay home and rest for the first part of the day and see if that helped. I took some cough medicine and some tylenol and went back to bed and slept till 10:30am! I got up and went to work and so far I’m feeling somewhat better. It’s funny when people ask how I’m feeling. I honestly don’t know anymore! I am starting to forget what it feels like to not be miserable! Haha! Most of the time I just tell people that I’m feeling good. And I guess I should quit complaining.  After all, as Kristen so nicely pointed out to me, I am getting to experience the misery of the last 6 weeks of pregnancy for the first time. Apparently, it’s completely normal to be this miserable! So, hooray for being normal.

The rest of the week and weekend actually doesn’t look too bad. I’m getting my hair cut and colored for probably the last time before Arden gets here (that’s weird). I have a baby shower for a friend on Sunday, but other than that I am hoping we can just take it easy at home. We don’t have anything planned for the next several weekends (intentionally, just in case. . .) I’m hoping we can just enjoy the last few weeks of being a family of three! 

32 Weeks

Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 32 Weeks
Size of baby: 17 inches and around 4 pounds!
Movement: Lots of activity, and I think it’s funny the way my stomach “rolls”!
Sleep: About the same. Most nights are long and not very restful.
Cravings: Sweets
Symptoms: Pretty much the same. I am really thirsty all the sudden!
Best Moment This Week: Setting the tentative date for Arden’s arrival!

 

I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday. Everything looked and sounded good. I gained another 5 pounds, which brings the total so far to 23 lbs! We talked about the symptoms I’ve been having and some of the pain, I got the impression that it’s all normal and I should get used to it! More or less, I’m just going to have to deal with it for another 7 weeks. The good news is that it all sounded completely normal to her, and she wasn’t worried at all. She did explain in more detail how my pain pain and tightening stomach could very well be contractions, and I needed to be aware of them and if they started to be more frequent or started coming and going with a pattern to let them know. She said that if that were to happen the first thing they would do is send me home to bed and tell me to really hydrate for 24 hrs, if things got worse or didn’t improve then they would bring me in.  

We talked about options as far as her birth will go. We are opting for a scheduled C-section over the VBAC. I just can’t see myself going through what we went through with Stratton again, only to be sent to the OR for a c-section anyway. It was so hard on me. Plus, there are added risks since I’ve had a c-section before and a recent surgery, so I just feel better about a c-section delivery. Unless I go into labor early, we are shooting for September 12th to be her birthday. I was really hoping for it to be on Friday the 6th, so Jarrod wouldn’t have to take as much vacation time off, but Dr. Smith’s OR day is on Wednesday morning, so I guess we will just have to deal with it. It will be nice for both our kids to have birthday’s on the 12th, though.

My next appointment will be on August 21st, I’ll be 35 weeks then (Yikes!) and she will do an ultrasound so we can see about how big she is and what position she is in. She told us that if we made it to our next appointment she would be pleased! That made me nervous and really put things into perspective for me. It’s all starting to get REAL. After my next appointment they will be more frequent, too. I am glad she isn’t wanting to see us every other week right now. That two and a half hour trip to Little Rock and back is getting tougher on me!

After my appointment, we met Steven (one of Jarrod’s college buddies) for lunch and then did a little shopping. It was so stinking hot! My car was reading 110 degrees at one point! I am so ready for fall weather!

Arden’s baby shower!

Sunday afternoon the church hosted a shower for us. It was so nice and there was an awesome turnout. Honestly, I am so humbled by everyone that came! I didn’t realize people liked us so much! Ha! The decorations were cute and they really had spent most of the time and energy on the food and drink (hmmm, someone knows me well!). They had the cutest pink punch in cups that were rimmed with hot pink sugar! And pink lemonade mini cupcakes, white chocolate covered strawberries, dipped pretzels. . .all super yummy!

Hostess: Julia Bristow, Lori Fitts, Tara Coker and Christy Phipps

Love this picture because it shows you what happens when my friend Lori is around! She is so funny and can always make me laugh.

Stratton went with us. I asked him and he said he wanted to go. I’m glad he went and was involved. When my mom asked him before we left what you do at a baby shower he told her “open presents and eat cake”. Yep. That’s pretty much it!! He was such the big helper. He helped me open gifts and pass them around and then would line the unopened ones up at my feet. He enjoyed the snacks and punch, too! I tried to get him to play with some of the pink dolls and he said “That’s for sister!”. He was so good the whole time!

Telling Gigi a big story, I’m sure!

Sitting with Nan having some punch.

Look! Not everything I got was pink!

Ok, the difference between a baby girl shower and baby boy shower is now evident to me. At my church shower for Stratton we got very practical things. Loads of diapers, wipes and bath stuff. Bottles, pacis, and other essentials. However, at Arden’s shower we got clothes!  Lots and lots of clothes! I guess everyone likes to buy the cute stuff for a baby girl! We only got 2 small packages of diapers and two tubs of wipes! Isn’t that crazy!! I also got a lot of monogrammed stuff, bibs and burps cloths and blankets, but not many plain jane everyday ones. Again, I think everyone likes to buy the fun, cute stuff!! Which, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that stuff too!! I am so excited at all the pink!!

Just some of the clothes from the shower.

Other fab stuff!

It was a fabulous shower and can’t even begin to describe how thankful we are for our church family’s generosity! We are just so blessed!

Stratton’s last 3rd birthday party

So Friday we had a doctor’s appointment. Stratton first told us he wanted to go- over and over and over- then on the road almost to Newport he suddenly decides he wants to stay in Searcy with Nan and Pa rather than go to the doctor with us. {Of course!} So we drop him off [literally] on the side of the road! Margie met us and picked him up. So he stayed with them and played and went shopping while we were in Little Rock. We stayed in Searcy Friday night and had birthday for Jarrod’s dad, whose birthday is on the 27th. Then Saturday afternoon Margie and Terry had all the Searcy folks over for Stratton’s birthday. Of course my camera battery died. I only got a couple with my crappy phone camera. We had a fun time visiting with Jarrod’s side of the family. Whew! I think we are finally done celebrating little man’s birthday! He got WAY too much stuff and ate WAY too much birthday cake over the last couple of weeks!

Super cute backhoe cake!

31 Weeks

I am going to really try and do this every week now that I am getting close to my due date. Just 8 weeks to go!! I hate that I didn’t keep better track of things when I was pregnant with Stratton!

Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 31 Weeks
Size of baby: 16-17 inches long and weighs about 2.5 to 3.8 pounds. Roughly the size of a pineapple!
Movement: Still feeling lots of kicking and moving about
Sleep: I have gotten more sleep in the last week than I have in awhile. I had a friend tell me she read that if you put a bar of soap under your bottom sheet it’s supposed to help with RLS. I think that’s completely ridiculous, however I am desperate so I did it! Guess what? It seems to be helping?! Don’t ask me why!?!
Cravings: Chocolate and cokes (I drink the caffeine free ones)
Symptoms: Nothing new here.
Best Moment This Week: Stratton’s excitement showing his sister’s room to visitors.

The whole time I’ve been pregnant I’ve almost dreaded the 30 week mark. That’s when things really seemed to go way down hill when I was pregnant with Stratton. Here I sit at 31 weeks going about my daily life almost normally. I am surprised how quickly the time has gone by this time, and even more surprised (and so thankful) how different it’s been this time around. We had our Summer Meeting at work last week, and when we were planning it back in February I remember thinking that I probably wouldn’t make it to the meeting, I’d probably be on bed rest again. And as I began to make plans for the meeting I left myself off the agenda since I was so unsure. I just can’t believe that I made it so far! I am still getting weekly progesterone shots and they must be working! I will get those for another 6 weeks. At 37 weeks I will be considered Full Term and won’t have to have them! Yay! I will be glad when they are over! They are so expensive and just a pain in the rear- no pun intended!!  They actually haven’t been too bad. Brandye is really good at giving them. She normally drops by on her way home from work on Tuesday evenings.  I usually don’t feel a thing. Sometimes one will sting, but for the most part they’ve been painless. However a day or two after the shot, I get a knot and the injection site gets really ichy! So if you’ve noticed me itching my hip a lot that’s why! It drives me crazy! And the anti-itch stuff doesn’t work! It’s been good for Stratton to watch, too. I think he’s way less scared of shots now that he’s seen me get so many. And he knows why I am getting them and will tell you it’s “to help make his baby sister bigger and stronger”. He gives me (pretend) shots, too sometimes!

Last week and the weekend were pretty rough on me. I am feeling the pain from over-doing it. When I got home last night I really tried to rest as much as possible, but you know how it is with a busy 3 year old. Resting just isn’t in their vocabulary! We did get Stratton to bed on time- for the first time in almost a week! The sooner he goes to bed the sooner I can! But I couldn’t get settled so I ended up staying up and reading. It seems like I can fall asleep pretty easily, but after about and hour or two of sleep the restless leg starts and I don’t get back to sleep till around 2-3am. I usually get up and walk around and sit in the chair and read. It’s exhausting!

This week isn’t going to be too bad, I hope. I’m busy at work, I am starting to prep everyone for my absence and having others come in and work on projects that are usually mine alone isn’t easy! If you know me, you know I don’t like help, I’d rather just do it myself and get it done “right” (aka- the way I like it to be done!). Well, at the moment that’s just not an option. Ugh. Strangely enough, the months I will be out are some of my busiest! I didn’t plan things very well! It’s just hard for me to turn over all my responsibilities and job duties to someone else!

The weekend ahead will be another busy one. We have a doctor’s appointment in Little Rock on Friday morning. I’m sure if I feel up to it we will do a little running around and shopping after that. Then we are planning on staying in Searcy Friday night and having Stratton’s birthday party with the Searcy crew on Saturday. Hopefully we will be able to get home Saturday night before it gets too late. And Sunday afternoon is my baby shower at church! I am SO excited!

Stratton’s 3rd birthday party!

We used the fellowship wing at church for Stratton’s birthday party on Saturday and it worked out great!

The bouncy houses were a surprise for Stratton!

Mom did a great job on the cake- it matched perfectly!

I didn’t “go-all-out” on the decorations, since I knew once he saw the bouncy houses, it wouldn’t matter anyway! He had been talking about wanting a John Deere Party for months, so we did some decorations in that theme, and my mom made the cake! I was surprised at how much he did take notice! I think the first thing he said when he walked in was “Hey!! Those are my John Deere Lunch Boxes!”. I had used them to decorate the table!

We brought Stratton in about 30 mins before everyone got there, so he could see it all and I couldn’t wait to see his reaction to the bouncy houses!

He said “What are those?!” when he saw them, he was SO excited!!

He got to play on them by himself for about 20 minutes. He was in heaven! We had about 8 kiddos, not counting the 2 babies and that was perfect! I think they all had a big time! I wish I had gotten more pictures, but I was probably trying to get the food ready! We did convince them to take a break to eat (for a second) then they went back to playing. Then we had to convince him again to do presents and cake! Then back to more playing!!

Cooper and Sutton wanted in on the present unwrapping!

He got A LOT of great presents! Many of which were John Deere Tractors!

Pretty sure his favorite by far was the HUGE combine his Pops and Gigi got him.

Cake Time!

Stratton and his buddy Sutton enjoying dessert!

The kids took turns holding Parker! Haha!

Stratton LOVED his party so much! It was worth every penny we paid for the bouncy houses and every minute of pain (and swelling) of being on my feet! He was just the sweetest kid that night! Thanks to my mom and dad who came up early on Saturday to help us setup and decorate. He told us he is ready for his next birthday already! Haha! How do you explain to a 3 year old how far away a year is!! He may be ready for the next one already, but I sure wish the next year would go by MUCH slower!

Stratton’s 3rd Birthday!

After work/school we took Stratton to Chucky E Cheese (his choice of course) for his birthday!

Then we went home and he got to open his presents from us and have a monster cupcake!

I can’t believe he is THREE!!!

Just a few pictures from the past week. . .

Taki napping with Stratton

This heat is just unbearable!! So if we are outside Stratton is usually in the pool or the sprinker!

He’s trying to sit on the sprinkler. . .

. . . I bet that felt good?!

Yes, he just has on undies. He was soaking wet and he hates to be soaking wet- he’d rather be naked!

Drying off with Daddy.

Can you believe he’s almost 3?! Just 2 more days!!

And to mark the occasion, he is officially on the Valley View Pre-K list as of yesterday!? This time next year we’ll be getting ready to send him to school?! I can’t even think about it right now!

30 Weeks. . .a crazy week!

Pregnancy Stats:
How Far Along: 30 Weeks
Size of baby: Almost 16 inches and around 3 pounds! Picture a head of cabbage!
Movement: She is most active right around lunch and 7:30pm. Then again around 10pm and pretty much ALL NIGHT! She has also started really turning funny and making me really uncomfortable. Sometimes she gets under my ribs and I can hardly breathe, other times she moves to where there is lots of pressure in one spot on my back- ouch!
Sleep: I’m not sleeping well at all. I’m doing good to get 4-3 hours.
Cravings: Strangely, I am craving more sweet stuff all the sudden, but my appetite has gone way down! It might be from the heat, but I’m just not hungry at all in the evenings. I make myself eat, of course, but it’s hard to eat when your not hungry!
Symptoms: Same ole’, Same ole’. . . back pain, tiredness and allergies! (Which I can’t treat because I read that antihistamines can contribute to RLS, ugh! )
Best Moment This Week: When at a store looking at night gowns, Stratton grabbed a size 14 pair of pink and white panties and asked if we could buy them for his baby sister! I told him those were for big girls not babies, and he of course argued with me. I guess I should be thankful he is thinking about her?! Haha!

I was off work for the 4th last Wednesday-Friday! We went to the lake Weds, Thurs-Friday Stratton stayed with his nan and pa at the lake. So, Thursday I had a girls day out! I met some friends for lunch then me and Amy did some shopping. Friday Jarrod and I slept in and then we went to eat lunch and ran some errands. Jarrod ended up getting called into work around 2pm. And then Jarrod’s parents brought Stratton back early so I didn’t get all my running around done. But Stratton and I did run to Target and then my mom and dad came up and took us out to eat and then they took Stratton home with them, since Jarrod had called and said it would be in the am before he got home, so that when he did get home he could sleep. Saturday Jarrod got home around 6:30 am and slept till almost noon. Then we went and grabbed a late lunch ran a few places and then Jarrod went back home to rest and I went and got a pedicure. Saturday night we did pretty much nothing, I got a lot of stuff around the house done while Jarrod rested. Two 21 hr days within a week really took it’s toll on him! Especially in this heat! Sunday we went to HR to church for their gospel meeting and potluck. We hung out and my mom and dad’s house afterwards for awhile so Stratton could nap. Then it was back to Jonesboro just in time for church again. So pretty much Stratton has been with the grandparents since Wednesday. I think we are in for a rough couple of days!! I was glad to get the time off from work. We did a lot in Arden’s room over the last few days. I will post pictures when we are done. We ran into a few issues, what else is new. So, it’s not all quite done just yet, but getting very very close!! I even did a load of her laundry. I will probably pack our hospital bags in the next week or two. Can you believe it’s that time already?

This week is going to be a crazy one. Jarrod was off today, since he will go on call tomorrow and have to work Friday. He has been so busy lately, it’s just crazy. I feel bad for Stratton, he really misses his daddy when he is working like he is right now. I am super busy at work too, as our big summer meeting is Thursday and Friday. I’m trying really hard to pace myself and rest, but it’s hard when there is so much to do!! Stratton’s birthday is on Thursday so we will try to do something fun just the 3 of us Thursday night, if I’m not exhausted. Then his party at school will be on Friday, he told me a couple of weeks ago that he wanted popsicles instead of cupcakes at his school party. So I think I will send popsicles since Friday is “water day” anyway! And then his BIG family/friends party will be on Saturday!! I can’t wait!! I have rented 2 small bouncy houses, and it’s going to be a surprise! He’s been talking about having a John Deere party for months, but I’m not going all out with the decorations or anything since I think once he sees the big surprise that’s all that will matter!

4th of July at the lake

Stratton's first time out on the lake! He and Jarrod rode the tube and drove the boat. He loved it! He liked swimming in the lake and I'm constantly surprised at his love of the water, he's a natural!

Brain Washed??

My grocery list was on my Armor Notepad- He was holding my list for me and said “look mommy” and pointed to the helmet logo “Start Strong, plant ARMOR!”. Then we got him to do it again on Jarrod’s phone.

11 weeks and counting

I've officially made it to my 3rd trimester. Yay! It really seems like the last 2 went by really fast! Since I will have a scheduled c-section around 39 weeks, that really only leaves us with a little less than 11 weeks to go if I make it full term. And so far so good! However, I'm not one of those gals that loves to be pregnant anyway (I actually know a few of you are)but it seems like things just start getting hard during the last 12 weeks of pregnancy . . .at least for me. I am so thankful that we have had such an uneventful and healthy time so far! I'm hoping and praying that continues! And I try to enjoy this time since it will probably be the last time I am pregnant, but it's hard when your miserable! I'm not going to go into details but the lack of sleep and constant back pain is wearing me down! And the sweltering heat doesn't help! But again, I'm so thankful that I'm not on bed rest and dealing with gestational diabeties this time, so I should quit complaining!

Stratton has been giving us a hard time lately with a new phase of fits. Theses new meltdowns can be triggered by the most ridiculous stuff! We have (by trial and error) found that letting him go to his room and letting him cry it out works best. There is no rationalizing with him when he's that upset. I just hope this passes before the baby comes! Oh and during one of these fits in the past week he actually screamed at me to "Mind my business!". . . Just where does he get the attitude! Oh, he got it adjusted that day for sure! But it just wears me out!