Baby #2: Pregnancy Week 38

Baby Growth:

I'm growing my own pumpkin for Halloween and she is going to have the cutest face!

• She may have about an inch or so of hair already. Hopefully!
• She's slowly shedding that white goo on her skin (called vernix caseosa) but you might see some of it at birth.

Symptoms: Other than being uncomfortable and SUPER tired I haven't really had any other symptoms although contractions would be nice (only because that would mean something is happening) I have noticed my feet and hands get swollen more often now when I've been standing too long or get really hot. Also I'll occasionally feel a pain on my left side of my lower back/booty, i assume she is just siting on a nerve.

Movement: still moving quite a bit even though I feel like there can't be anymore room in there. I can feel the heel of her foot poking out of my side every so often.


Dr. Appt: Last Thursday I had my 37 week check-up. I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Good news because I was never effaced with Lillian until after 40 weeks. Today I had my 38 week appointment and no change in dilation but he did say she had dropped which is progress. I can't really tell by looking at my belly that she dropped but I can breathe a little easier. So not much has changed and I know I could still be 1 cm up to 41 weeks like I was with Lillian but I have hope that Adeline will like to make her debut a little sooner. She is just snug as a bug in there for the time being.

Weight Gain: I weigh in the mornings before I eat breakfast and after I pee so I have been hovering around 35lbs. By the time I got to my doctor appointments in the afternoon (after lunch and snacking) it may or may not be 2-3 lbs more than that :)

Moments:
I really thought today might be the day. Not because I felt any contractions but I had a great day playing and laughing with Lillian. She gave me some super great snuggles and I just thought if this is her last day as my only child it was great!

 Tonight I was also surprised by our rockin' awesome neighbors with a small shower for Adeline. I thought it was just a girls night in and was still confused even after I walked through the door and they said surprise. How blessed are we to find this neighborhood and make so many great new friends in the short time we have lived here. I only had one picture from tonight but we played a cute game of Baby Jeopardy. Way better than most typical baby shower games. And surprisingly I didn't win. lol Here was the game board. They got most of the answers from my blog or Kevin.

Adeline's Nursery

This past weekend Lillian went to Nana and Papa's house for a few days and Mommy and Daddy got some things accomplished around the house. In particular, we finished setting up Adeline's Nursery. I think the only thing we are missing is a shelf over the changing table. The pictures aren't the best quality I had terrible lighting and had a hard time focusing with the lens.

don't mind my blue lips, I had a blue pop Italian ice cone from Brusters :)

Have the baby's hospital bag packed, now to pack mine...

Doing the Dad thing. I put this together by myself for Lillian and knew Daddy would get it done much faster so I left it for him. 

peek-a-boo

angle from the door

Lillian slept in her swing a lot since she spit up soooo much. We will see how often this gets used with Adeline. 

Another angle. 

My Husband and Best Friend

I was going to post this yesterday but didn't finish.

I don't think I have ever written a blog post about how Kevin and I became a couple and eventually husband and wife. So what better day than today, our 8TH wedding anniversary! Many people experienced the start of our relationship and a few have heard a shortened version but if you haven't then here you go. If you don't care then quit reading now so I don't waste your time lol.

Dating:
I don't actually remember the exact day we met or when we went on our first date. What I remember is going to Uplift (summer church camp at Harding University) before my senior year (2002) with our youth group. My best friend Kinsey went to but stayed in Arkansas with family after camp so I had no one to ride back the 9 hour drive with. I for whatever reason rode in the church van versus the bus and Kevin happened to also. I don't remember if we started chatting it up while at Uplift or if it all began on that ride home but that was the beginning. Fast forward a few weeks later at a girls bible study I told Kevin's twin sister and a girl Kevin had previously dated that I was interested in him. She must have told him because we started hanging out more at church and youth events but I totally played it cool. ;) I was still a tomboy had tons of guy friends, had never dated anyone, only been to one school dance with a friend of a friend. Kevin would come to my softball games and even though I acted embarrassed or pretended like I didn't know him I was glad he came. One game he came and I wouldn't go say Hi afterwards and my parents got mad at me and told me I had to go say hi since he came to support me. I know I was mean. lol but for some reason he still liked me and kept coming. Some time that fall we went on a date even though I would never call it a date in front of anyone. lol He piked me up at my parent's house after a garage sale we were having. I don't remember where all we went but remember eating dinner at Fudruckers (I don't think those are even around anymore but it was a burger place). The one thing I remember about our date was us laughing so hard about some kids sitting near us. One walked by us then another then another and it took us a second to realize they were triplets and they looked exactly alike. Guess you had to be there. :) We went on a couple more outings usually with friends but never actually said we were dating. Come March of 2003 and we went on a youth ski trip. There were only about 8 of us that went and some kids from another church but on a ski lift on Snowshoe mountain in West Virginia we finally decided to put a title on our relationship.

Our First Kiss
Kevin may have tried to kiss me before this and I pulled away but our first kiss happened on my 18th Birthday! We had gone to dinner and then to cosmic bowling. Funny story about that was Kevin was only 16 at the time and Georgia had a curfew of 11pm for new drivers so we actually had to go back to his house to get my car and I drove us to go bowling. After bowling we went back to his house and sat in my car and talked awhile. Eventually he just leaned in and kissed me. Pretty good birthday gift if I do say so myself wink:wink.

My birthday! He actually been over at my house earlier that day before I got home from school and had flower petals in my parent's house with a scavenger hunt. He also had my sister put something in my locker that morning. 

The Break-up:
We dated the whole summer and broke up the day I went to college. Kevin is a year younger than me; i know i know, I am a cougar :o) and he was, at the time, two grades behind me. He was actually at Harding with his parent's dropping his sister off for school so we had our goodbyes and it was hard. We broke up solely because I had never dated anyone else and needed to see and experience college on my own. We stayed super close friends and he came and visited me a few times even though I dated other guys there. When I broke up with my first college boyfriend I actually called Kevin and he made me feel better. Over Christmas break I told him I was pretty sure I wouldn't find another guy to date. We didn't immediately go back to exclusively dating but I didn't seek out any new guys that spring semester. By that summer (2004) we were dating again. He ended up skipping his senior year of high school and did a joint enrollment at Harding with me.

This was taken the night we broke up

Our Engagement Story:
Kevin's Mom made us a scrapbook of our engagement story and had us both write our version of the day. It may be hard to read from the picture but you can zoom in.

grass stain from kneeling to propose!

The "Ugly Apple"

A year later and lots of wedding planning we got married on September 15, 2007.

This post is long enough so I won't go into details of our wedding but it was wonderful and the last 8 years have been  even better. We get along so well and are great at communicating. We may raise our voice now and then but have never been in serious arguments. I am so thankful for the Husband Kevin is and continues to be each day. He is a godly man who provides so well for his girls. So thankful for his perseverance while I played hard to get. ;)

Baby #2: Pregnancy Week 36

36 weeks as of September 9th!
Didn't take a picture maybe i'll remember tomorrow and come back and add it.

Baby Growth:

• She's getting closer and closer to being able to breathe on her own.
• Her skin is getting smooth and soft and her gums are rigid.
• Her liver and kidneys are in working order.
• Circulation and immune systems are basically good to go, too.

Symptoms:

- heartburn 

- still having trouble falling asleep or back asleep if I wake in the middle of the night.

- At the point where I have to pee every hour. I try not to drink much before bed so I won't have to go potty in the middle of the night.

- fingers and foot are swelling a little more. surprised I can still wear my wedding ring but more often I have been taking them off. My ring finger is also raw looking where my rings sit and will itch occasionally.

Movement:

- still moving quite a lot which is good. My doctor said if I start to notice her not moving or significantly less to give them a call. He said she will move less the more she grows and less room she has but any concern to call. 

Weight Gain:

As of this morning I am 34lbs above pre-pregnancy weight which is less than last week so maybe I've hit a plateau! 

Doctor Appointment:

I had my 36 week doctor appointment today. My blood pressure was 110/60 and baby girl's heart rate was 145. Doctor said numbers look good and that she hasn't dropped yet but she is head down. I can feel her legs kicking me in the right side. I had to be tested for the Group B strep and even though my doctor doesn't start checking you until 38 weeks he went ahead and checked and said what I figured... no progress. Which was actually good to hear because if he said I was 1 cm dilated I would have gotten my hopes up and been at that for 5 weeks like I was with Lillian. Here's to hoping maybe next weeks appointment I'll be like a 4! :)

Thoughts:

As much as I would love for her to come early I know it is better for her to keep growing. Plus we are not ready yet. Yes technically all we need is a few diapers, onesies, and momma's milk but it would be nice to have everything done before she gets here instead of trying to finish and organize things with two little ones running around. I plan on packing a hospital bag this week and nag Kevin to hang curtains in the nursery and get the car seat out of storage. Any other organizing will just be a bonus!

Baby #2: Pregnancy Week 35

So I fell behind and haven't updated since week 32 so I'll try and remember what all has gone on but the most important thing is I'm still pregnant no baby yet...

35 Weeks!

p.s. my arm looks huge! That's why I like to always wear something with sleeves. That'll be my first set of muscles I target after baby is here!

Baby's Growth:

-Now, her hearing is fully developed, and she responds best to high-pitched noises.

- She's about 17.2 to 18.7 inches. From here on out, she won't get much longer, but she's plumping up.

-You’ve reached 35 weeks, and your uterus has grown about 1,000 times its original size, a number that might sound exaggerated to everyone else -- but to you it probably feels more like a million.

Symptoms:

-Heartburn hasn't been as bad lately but its still there

- TIRED! I have had multiple nights where I can't get comfortable to sleep and I toss and turn all night. Lately, I have had problems falling asleep. We are talking like 2 hours after I get in bed. Or a few nights where I may actually fall asleep at 10 like I should but I end up waking up at 4am and can't go back to sleep until 6:30 and thats about the time Lillian starts to wake up. 

- My feet and hands have started swelling occasionally. 

- I had a couple days where I wasn't sure if I was having contractions or not since I didn't really remember what they felt like with Lillian. I have had Braxton Hicks quite a bit and those are usually higher on my belly but these low ones had me worried at first.

Movement:

- Moving strong and I always feel her the most on the right upper side of my belly. I think it might be where her feet and knees are. 

Weight Gain:

- I think I am about 35 lbs above pre-pregnancy weight so I would love to stop here but according to The Bump I should expect about half a pound a week leading up to the baby's arrival... 

Doctor Appointment:

-I did have an appointment last Thursday for my 34 week check up. I haven't had any issues lately so I don't ever have questions and my doctor said you are easy you should have 5 more. I was like no thank you! This one was not nearly as fun as my first child so we will have to see what the Lord has in store for our future family but hopefully it won't be 5 more! Baby's heart rate was 153 and this time I measured right at 34 weeks instead of 2 weeks ahead like I had been. 

Thoughts: 

I am over being pregnant! I don't know if it is because it has been the summer or if there is no mystery in pregnancy since this is my second but I am looking forward to having her here with us outside my belly! I know people say it is easier when they are still inside the womb but bring on the challenge of having her out. I over being so huge I can't stand very long and bending over is impossible. But really I'm super excited about finally meeting her and getting those sweet baby snuggles even if they are at 3am. I'm not sleep well right now anyways so I might as well have a sweet face to look at than having to stare at Kevin's beard! :) 

Blessing: 

Our church through a shower for Miss Adeline last week after church. My mom and sister came down and i forgot to really take any pictures but it was such a blessing to see so many (many who I have never met as we haven't even be members there more than a year and a half and there are about 1500 memembers) who already care and love this sweet girl and will be there to help us raise her and teach the love of Christ and our Heavenly Father. 

This was my corsage made by one of my hostesses. it is a paci, a bow, and two pairs of socks!

A few more pics below my sister got on her phone:

Moments of the week:

Well since it has been 3 weeks since I updated I'm sure there were lots of moments. We have been busy but one sweet moment this last weekend was Lillian playing with her baby doll and wrapped her in a blanket then put her in the crib and said "shh...Shh.." I think she is just as excited about baby sister as we are and I hope she feels that way once Adeline is here. She is always wanting to touch my belly and always tries to feed my belly her food or give Adeline a toy. She even shared her stickers from Kroger with baby sister.