Last Belly Picture

We're off to the hospital in about an hour. Here's the last picture I'll be taking of my belly!


So, I'm up to 164 lbs this morning. I gained 45 lbs this time! I'm 6 lbs less than when I had Carter but only put on 40 with Carter.

By the way, waiting for a 12:30 pm c-section stinks when you can't eat or drink anything. I am SO HUNGRY! Hopefully I won't pass out!

Pool Jumping

Here are a couple videos of Carter jumping into the pool today.

A couple of notes:

• Carter had already jumped in about 50 times before these were recorded so he was getting tired and not jumping as far from the edge as we like. Also, he was starting to get artistic with his jumps (notice how he was holding an arm with his hand as he jumped).
• Carter insisted on wearing his Crocs, probably because the concrete was really hot today.

Double Trouble

My mom got here today since we're only a couple of days away now from the arrival of the baby. She brought with her a new toy for Carter ...


It's the Take-A-Part Truck like his airplane from Brian's parents. Now Carter is double the trouble with two drills!!!


He can get away with almost anything with this cute face!

38 Weeks & 3 Days Appointment

I had another appointment today - my last before the baby will be here! It was another long one - 3 hours! Luckily Brian was there to take care of Carter when I was busy with baby stuff.

The ultrasound was first as usual. The baby didn't seem to grow as much this past week. He measured ONLY 9 lbs, 7 oz. He was 9 lbs, 4 oz eight days ago. The ultrasound tech said instead of slowing down that last week's measurement was probably a little high and this week's might be a little low. His measurements gave him a gestational age of 41 weeks and 4 days.

After doing measurements, the ultrasound tech checks a handful of other things, like the heartbeat, the heartbeat in the cord, and the amount of amniotic fluid. One of the main things she does is the biophysical profile (BPP) test. This test checks the amount of amniotic fluid, muscle tone (movement of the baby's arms and legs), general movement, and breathing movements. She wasn't seeing the baby practicing breathing so she had to watch his chest via the ultrasound for 30 minutes because babies usually do this at least once every 30 minutes.

Well, after 30 minutes, he hadn't tried to breathe. So I had to do a non-stress test to ensure everything was okay. This just involved me being on a fetal monitor for about 30 minutes. The results of this plus the amniotic fluid measurement were good so it was decided that everything is okay. The baby had some big movements a couple of times and knocked off the heart beat reader. I had a couple of contractions while on the monitor and got to watch that measurement go from 30 to 120.

Last week my doctor said she was tentatively scheduling a c-section for this coming Monday. She was in a bit of a hurry and I didn't really get to ask her any questions. Brian and I put together a long list of questions last night and I was looking forward to getting lots of answers so that I felt more prepared going into the procedure.

Well, my doctor left to go do a c-section while I was having the ultrasound and was not coming back for the day. I was really disappointed but there's nothing I could do about it. I got to see the other doctor in the practice who I've met only once before. She did an okay job answering our questions but I would have felt better asking the doctor that is actually going to do the c-section the questions we had.

Even though my doctor thought a c-section was our best option, this doctor seemed to think we'd be okay trying for a vaginal delivery. But she also said it was pretty much up to us. This is when I really wished my doctor was there so she could see the current measurements and give us her opinion. I know she's overcautious sometimes, but I also trust her. We decided that since she recommended a c-section last week, we were going to stick with that.

I wasn't sure my doctor had actually scheduled a time for the c-section so the other doctor had to go look it up. She had and we're doing the c-section at 12:30 pm on Monday. I can't eat before the procedure so it's going to be a long morning!

We asked several questions about the procedure and feel pretty good about everything. The only negative is that we found out that the doctor on call this weekend is a male doctor that's not part of the practice and who we've never met before. This was the situation for Carter's birth and we have a feeling I'm going to go into labor this weekend and run into the same situation as last time. We'll see!

My other measurements were:

• Weight = 163 lbs
  
• Blood pressure = 100/60
• Dilation = 2+ cm

Checking In

Not much going on here. I'm still pregnant and we're now just sort of waiting for the baby to arrive. There's still plenty of stuff on my to do list, but I've gotten the majority of stuff that needed to be done before the baby arrives completed. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so hopefully we'll know more soon about a scheduled c-section.

We're still trying to get to the pool as much as we can while we still can. Carter and I went to the pool on our own yesterday and then went with Sarah and Mary Grace and Amy and Caitlyn today. Here's a picture of the kids from today ...


Sarah also sent me this picture of Carter and Mary Grace from last week ...


Carter is getting better and better in the water. He's able to push off the steps and put his face in and get to me. I wouldn't call it swimming yet, but he's occasionally moving his arms and legs to propel himself to me. It's a start! Hopefully Brian will be able to take him a lot while on paternity leave and on the weekends because I'd love for Carter to continue to get closer to swimming.

It's still hot here (in the mid-90s everyday) so we'll be going back to the pool again tomorrow!

Nursery

Here are the pictures of the finished nursery. I still want an area rug for that room but haven't found one I like.

I plan on putting either newborn pictures of the baby or pictures of Carter with him in the frames above the crib.


I'm going to put the baby's handprint and footprint in the frame sitting on the bookcase and hang it above the bookcase.


The corner with the crib, bookcase, and glider (the hall door is to the left and the door to the bathroom shared with Carter's room is to the right).


The changing table / dresser (the door on the right is the door to the hall).


I had these pictures hanging in the nursery when Carter was in there too. They are photos that I took at the Knoxville Zoo.



The closet next to the changing table / dresser is filled mostly with clothes.


This is the closet on the other side of the dormer next to the bathroom. It's filled with toys, diapers, and various other baby stuff.



The dormer area (the swing is just there temporarily - it'll probably get moved downstairs when the baby arrives).


Views of the room from the door to the hall ...



And from the corner by the bookcase ...

38 Weeks

Here are some belly comparison photos:

Today, 38 weeks along ...


And a picture from June 12th, 36 weeks and 6 days ...


I don't think the circumference of my belly is getting much bigger, but the length of it is. The area below my belly button is expanding. I guess this is the only area the baby can find to spread out into!

I'm still feeling good. I am getting worn out easily right now though. It has been so hot (in the 90s everyday) and chasing after Carter all day is a lot harder than sitting at a desk at work like I did when pregnant with Carter. I still need to catch up on sleep. I had such good intentions of going to bed early for the last month of this pregnancy but if anything I've been going to bed later. This week though is going to be my last chance to sleep since a c-section is on the horizon for next Monday. I'm considering taking a bit of a break with blogging to help get to bed a little earlier so if I disappear it doesn't necessarily mean the baby has arrived!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Brian! I definitely know that Carter loves having you as his daddy because whenever you're around, he prefers you over me 100% of the time. He wants you to be the one to carry him or read to him or whatever. And he knows how to say "Daddy". He says it ALL THE TIME. I can't remember the last time he said "Mommy", "Mama", or anything resembling "Mom". He loves you a lot (even more than the dog!).

I wasn't being very creative this week and couldn't think of a craft to do with Carter to give to Brian. So, instead, I made a photo collage at Walgreens using pictures of Carter and Brian and of Carter when he was doing something with Brian. I think it turned out pretty good ...


We had a very low key Father's Day today. We felt like this could be our last weekend with only one kid so we had better take advantage of it and get as much done around the house as we could that we've been putting off the last few months.

Our main project was getting some more stuff hung up on the walls in the garage and off the floor. Carter has tons of summer water toys that were starting to pile up. I also finally hung up pictures in the nursery. Not all the frames have pictures in them yet, but I'm waiting until the baby is born to fill some of them with pictures of him, his footprints and handprints, and his birth statistics. I'll try to take some pictures of the nursery tomorrow to post.

We did lots of other little things and feel a little better about being ready for the baby to arrive! We finally have our bags for the hospital packed too!

More Pool Time

We've been spending even more time at the pool the last few days.

On Thursday we had Amy and Caitlyn over for almost 3 hours to swim. We had the pool to ourselves for the first couple of hours. I think people are either over the pool already or the kids in the neighborhood are going to summer camps. It's really nice though when we can still talk across the pool when the kids want to play in different areas.

Caitlyn likes to give kisses and Carter will when he's in the mood. The kids were sitting on the side of the pool and kissed each other on the lips (both willing participants in the kiss). It was very cute. Caitlyn decided to give Carter another kiss but Carter was over it so after planting another one on his lips, Carter proceeded to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. Also cute, in a different way!

Brian and I took Carter to the pool for a little while before dinner tonight. Again, the pool was almost empty (just a couple of women that sat on the edge of the pool the whole time we were there). The water was so warm! We had a thunderstorm come through earlier that cooled it off some and it was actually warmer to be in the water than out and wet.

Carter got to show off to Brian just how confident he's getting! This video (which I split into two since Blogger doesn't let me upload large videos) isn't the best, but it shows off how happy Carter is in the water at least!

Carter was loving drinking pool water today. We were trying to get him to stop, but when he'd step off the stairs, he'd go under with his mouth open. When he came back up, instead of spitting out any water in his mouth, he'd swallow it. Sometimes he'd even say "hhhmmmmm" (trying to say "yum").

Carter figured out "wall crawling" today (this is when you move your hands along the wall when you can't stand to get from one place to another). Mary Grace does this a lot, but today was the first time Carter did it on his own.

This morning we worked in the yard for awhile. Carter was trying to copy Brian and help him mow ...


Carter really wanted to play with his water table (it was really hot outside) so I just put him in a swim diaper that was in the car (along with his Crocs) rather than go find swim trunks inside the house. He looked silly but luckily no one can really see us at the top of our driveway except for our one neighbor and they weren't home.


Doesn't Carter look tall and skinny in that photo? He usually looks short with a big belly (kind of like me right now)!

After we put Carter down for a morning nap, we had way more excitement than we had planned for. Our trimmer stopped working on us last weekend so Brian decided to try some of the troubleshooting fixes suggested in the manual, one of which included replacing the fuel because there may not be enough oil in the mixture.

When Brian was transferring the gasoline between two containers, one started to tip and when Brian tried to catch it, he covered his face in gasoline. A lot of the gasoline got into his eyes and burned very, very badly.

I had no idea what happened but Brian was in a lot of pain trying to feel his way around and get me to help him out. I got the hose running and Brian started flushing out his eyes. I ended up calling poison control to make sure we were doing the right thing as Brian was thinking he was going to go blind because his eyes hurt so bad!

Luckily after rinsing his eyes for about 30 minutes, Brian was mostly better. Our house still smells a little of gasoline from the short run Brian eventually made up to the shower to get the rest of the gasoline off of him. Thank goodness Carter was sleeping during all of this so I was able to help Brian out without worrying about the little guy!

Water Required

As I've mentioned several times, Carter is obsessed with the outdoors. But it has been super hot here this week so the only way I'm letting him spend time outside is if it involves water.

On a side note, I don't think being pregnant now is any worse than if I weren't pregnant. It'd be hot either way. People always make comments about how bad it is to be really pregnant in the summer but I think it would still feel miserable outside if I wasn't lugging around this belly!

On Monday we had Sarah and Mary Grace over to play with our water table and in the kiddie pool. And yesterday and today we had them over to go to our neighborhood pool. We actually spent 3 hours there yesterday - it was so nice!!! The water is warm yet still refreshing and we're getting to work on our tans.

Carter is getting better at keeping himself upright and his head out of the water with the help of his swim vest. He's been playing on the pool steps and just walking off the last step he can reach. He'll sink initially but come back up quickly and as long as he kicks some he can move the foot or two he needs to to reach something to hold on to. It's not much, but it's progress.

Unfortunately Sarah and I haven't been able to get out our cameras when we're all playing in the water so we don't have any cute pictures of the kids to share. This is the best I have ...

Carter not wanting to wait to get in the water yesterday so I could take a picture ...


And eating a peanut butter cracker today before swimming ...


Hopefully I'll get some good pictures soon to post!

Couponing

I decided last week that I wanted to try out couponing (I know, I'm officially a dork). Not just clipping a few coupons in the Sunday ads and mailers we get but actually getting stuff for almost nothing. I started looking at a few blogs dedicated to this and am completely hooked (at least for this week). I never knew there were such good deals on things I normally buy!

For example, I stopped by Target this morning before my doctor's appointment and got this stuff ...


For a total of $3.09.


Plus I have a $5 rebate for buying 3 Scrubbing Bubbles products. So even with the cost of a stamp, I made $1.47. Granted I spent something on the envelope and printing the coupons, but this is stuff I'm going to buy anyway (or at least equivalent to what I'd buy normally and just a different brand) and at worst, I got it for free.

The downside right now is that I don't know what I'm doing and am spending a lot more time than I have looking at all these blogs and printing coupons. I should be doing stuff like packing my bag for the hospital during Carter's naps or once he's in bed, but I'm addicted. Brian probably thinks I'm crazy, but he has admitted that I am finding some good deals.

However, this will probably all cease in a week or two when the baby arrives!

37 Weeks & 2 Days

I had another OB appointment today. Carter and I went without Brian this time and he did excellent when I was occupied with the ultrasound and doctor. It was another long appointment today - 2 hours. At least a good portion of that time was spent in the waiting room so Carter had toys to play with.

The ultrasound showed that the baby is doing just fine. The fluid amount is good and the cord is holding up fine. As expected, he's still growing a lot. He's up to an estimated 9 lbs, 4 oz. That's a gain of 13 oz in 6 days. His gestational age though was only 38 weeks and 1 day this time (last week he was 38 weeks and 5 days). The tech measured some different parts of the baby this time (like his thigh bone) and got some smaller measurements. I think he's going to be a short Buddha! No matter what, he's big.

My doctor was a little hurried today and I wasn't really prepared with questions so we didn't talk long. We did decide that a c-section is the most likely way this baby is going to be delivered. She was telling me that all doctors have faced the situation where the head will be delivered but then the baby's shoulders get stuck. At that point there's no going back and you have to break the baby's collarbone or arm to get it out and you risk long term damage such as paralysis. My doctor doesn't want to risk this and neither do I. So if she feels like there is a reasonable chance this could happen, I'm 100% on-board with a c-section. I have another appointment with an ultrasound next week on Thursday so we'll see how big the baby looks then. We have tentatively scheduled a c-section for Monday, June 28th.

However, I am 2 cm dilated now so the baby could decide to come at any time. If that happens soon, we may still attempt to do a vaginal birth. After I left, I realized I should have asked more questions about how we'll make this decision. I always bring in my list of questions but never ask good ones about stuff I'm not prepared for!

My weight is still good - 161 lbs (up 1 lb from last week, 42 lbs total) and my BP was 112/70. I'm feeling pretty good still considering how big I am.

Oh, and we still don't have a name. We're going to be forced to pick one soon!

Hi and Bye

Carter just started saying "hi" when he waves hi yesterday. And now today he started saying "bye" when he waves bye. For some reason he seems so much more grown up to me now that he can say these!

Carter also impressed me today with his building skills. Carter and Dominic got these Take-A-Part Airplanes from Brian's parents when we were at the cabin a few weeks ago.


You use the drill to take the screws out and the plane ends up in several pieces. Then you can put it back together.

Brian helped Carter take the plane apart a few times and put it together, and then Carter started doing a lot of it himself. Brian would put two pieces together and then Carter would find a screw, put it in, and drill it into place.

Carter was able to take apart the plane almost on his own. Brian would just hold the plane in place while Carter located a screw and used the drill to remove it.

Carter also knows that there are 2 different types of screws and that he has to change the drill bits. He can't get the bits on by himself, but he seems to know which one he needs for each part of the plane. It was very, very impressive.

Now I just need to get videos of all this stuff!

Carter's Room

We finished getting everything hung up on the walls in Carter's room today. We're finally done with it. I still would like to get him a little table and chairs and hang up some bulletin boards in the dormer area to dislay artwork, but that can wait for now.

Before we moved Carter to his new room, we used it as an extra room for everything that didn't go somewhere else. We have a guest bedroom so this was our second guest bedroom with a futon. We kept a lot of our books and my camera equipment in this room. It wasn't very full or decorated because we had never gotten around to it.

Here are some pictures of what the room used to look like ...




One of my projects for Carter's room was painting three canvases to hang over the crib that match the elephant crib sheet. I used leftover paint from the stripes we painted on the walls to paint the canvases. They look homemade, but I'm really happy with how they turned out considering I have absolutely no artistic ability.



We got Carter a little chair about a month ago. My intention is for this to be Carter's reading corner.



I made this picture in Photoshop with all of Carter's birth statistics. I'm not very creative and can't take credit for the design. I got the idea from someone that sells something similar online.


I split our books between Carter's bookshelf, the nursery bookshelf, and a basket downstairs. It looks so empty now!


Carter's handprint and footprint from when he was 6 weeks old ...


The corner next to the crib ...




The corner next to the bathroom door ...




We keep most of Carter's toys that are in his room in the dormer. I haven't figured out the best storage/organization solution for this area yet, but this works for what we have out right now. I keep some of Carter's toys in his closet and a lot of them are downstairs. I try to switch them around every few weeks to make them seem new again.


Here are some pictures showing larger sections of the room ...