Kaya and me!

Well, today is officially the very last day of Kaya and me time before the baby is born as Grandma is flying to Nashville as we speak. I had intended to take her to school for part of the day allowing me to get some more done around the house, but I decided that we both needed a full day just the two of us before this little one comes and changes everything, lol.

This morning we spent about 1.5 hours outside playing (link to pics below). The weather was BEAUTIFUL!!! Kaya cracks me up!! She is so full of energy and ideas.. and her imagination is running all the time. I love having all of our conversations and watching her expressions to things! She is SO my daughter too!!!!!! Between some of her ways of doing things, her attitude and the way she copies me all the time... poor kid! Actually all of those things make me very happy because I love to see my influence in her, the good and the bad. There is one pic of my glass and bowl of pretzels on the front porch railing. Well, Kaya saw me do this and had to copy (see next pic of her glass and bowl). She continues to blow me away with her ability to put together 28 piece puzzles (real jigsaw puzzles with regular pieces), organize everything by shape and color, her huge vocabulary, and how well she does with the Memory Match game. Smart cookie..... she will out smart her mama in no time.... already does, LOL.

The plan this afternoon was to go to the park, but the rain came and a change was needed. So.. we got in some indoor fun including some time in the bounce house (see last pic). As I am typing this post, Kaya is manhandling Blackie and Violet.. another good photo op, LOL.

We will be leaving when Mark gets home to head to the airport to get Grandma! Kaya is SUPER excited!!! Then I have my OB appt at 8:30 in the morning. There will be talk about inducing... one way or another, LOL.

Enjoy the pics and the rest of the day!!!!
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Kaya and the Tulips

Well, I took this pic yesterday and it was a bit windy, lol. My tulips look so beautiful!!!! Thanks Grandma and Kaya for planting them! They survived below freezing temps multiple times and snow.. hardy little things! Yes, the pic is big and cut off a little... so what, I like it!

Almost back to a normal pregnancy...

Well, Dr Ross said after tomorrow, they would not use any medicine to stop my labor if I go down that road again. Yeah! I was happy to hear that news. I had sugar in my urine though which he did not like seeing since I had eaten 3.5 hours before the appt. I have to fast for my appt next Wednesday and get my blood drawn. So... yet another surprise potentially awaits!! Oh, I am still 1 cm! LOL I think I will be that for awhile... or not. At any rate, I am happy that I avoided going into labor over that last week! I will take that small victory for now!! Of course, as time goes.... I am getting bigger and more uncomfortable!!! It will not be too long though.. so again, I am enjoying the rest, peace and quiet for now! Oh, I am enjoying some good time with my first baby too... as we all know time alone with her will be harder to get soon as well!

Bed rest, sick and Spring!

Well, I am on day 7 of bed rest and I am going insane!! Not really. I have some bored moments, but really I am enjoying the peace and quiet.... knowing that will end soon, LOL. All three of us are sick with a cold or something... just annoying more than anything. We are taking Kaya to the dr this afternoon after my OB appt. Hoping she does not have an ear infection.

My tulips that Grandma and Kaya planted a few weeks ago are blooming!! They are SO pretty! I LOVE tulips!! It makes me feel like Spring for sure. Mark planted his tomato plants over the weekend and it looks like they might have died, opps. It might be doing those over again.. oh well. I have a list of things I want in the garden... and I think we will have most of it, thanks to Mark's parents sending us some lemon cucumber seeds that we cannot find here.

What else is going on?? We had a really good Easter! We went to an egg hunt on Friday (much to Mark's protest as the bed rest nazi, lol). Then Saturday night, we did our Easter dinner of ham, mashed potatoes and such. I was more active on Friday and Saturday than I should have been and paid for it Saturday evening. I almost went to the hospital again after having some good sized contractions for over an hour straight (8 in an hour, than only a few the next hour). At any rate, I learned my lesson... maybe the doctor is right with this whole bed rest thing, lol. Grandma has booked her flight for 4/1 (next Tuesday) with the note that I HAVE to wait to have the baby until she is here b/c she wants to be the one to bring Kaya to the hospital to meet her baby sister/brother. Yes GRANDMA! I will do my best, LOL.

Well, I have my OB appt at 11am.... so I will update after we get back from that later this afternoon (might be after Kaya's appt too). Happy Wednesday!

Hanging out at Stonecrest!

Well, I was bored last night, so I decided to go hang out at the hospital, LOL. Yeah right! Around 3:30 yesterday afternoon, I noticed a little spotting, so I called the drs office (with the persistance of Mark). I picked Kaya up from school and went home. We had not been home for long with the nurse called and said they really preferred I go to the hospital to get checked out. In the car Kaya and I go (as Mark was just about to leave work so he just met us there). Nothing like driving yourself with your 2 year old in tow to the hospital when you might be in labor, LOL. Uncle Chris came to the hospital to get Kaya. Poor kid did not understand why she had to leave and why she did not have her baby sister (as she calls the baby) with her.

Once in L&D, they checked me and I was still 1 cm, 70% effaced (had not know the % before). The nurse was thinking the spotting was from the exam on Monday. Oh she asked if I had sex between Monday and yesterday... I laughed at that one!!!! She got me hooked up to the fetal monitor and said she would check back in 30 minutes. Well, she came back after 15 minutes and said Dr Ross wanted me to have a shot to stop the contractions (during that 15 mins, I had 3 good sized contractions that were the strongest ones I had felt thus far). I had just been telling the nurse that I have been contracting since Saturday, but they were not painful just pressure and uncomfortable. When the nurse came in the room, she said "You might just have written yourself a ticket." I replied "NO!" She gave me a water to drink saying that dehydration can bring on contractions. As I am thinking... what else can I do that will bring on contractions, gessh!! I don't think I was dehydrated... not as hydrated as I should have been but come on!! Well, the shot worked well with slowing the contractions and gave me the shakes, lol. Dr Ross came in (Mark and I thought it was pretty awesome that he came in personally) and said this was false labor but I needed to be careful. He then gave me a little lecture (not really, just drs advice) about the likely condition of the baby if he/she were born now. He said there was a 90-95% chance the lungs were fully developed, but the baby would be skinny and likely not respond to brestfeeding so well b/c he/she would be less responsive and agressive with feeding. Not that I have thought over the past week that everything would be fine if the baby were born now, but I still needed to hear that from my doctor. He said that technically if the baby were born now, it would be premature. There is just something about that word that really hit me (again, not like I haven't been thinking about that.... but for your doctor to say it, it just seems worse). He said one week or even two weeks would make a huge difference. He let me go home cautiosly. Both him and nurse said they very well might have seen me again last night, but lucklly they did not! I actually slept pretty good last night (thought I would be up most of the night as I have been most nights since the weekend).

The whole thing was so odd. Why did I have those stronger contractions while I was at the hospital?? Mark thinks it was my bodies way of forcing me to slow down even more. I am on complete bed rest now. No working, no driving... just taking it easy. Which I really had been doing when I was home this week. The whole going to work for a few hours was probably not the best idea. Oh, I am drinking more water too. I can't help but feel that some of my actions or lack there of (yeast infection I ignored for over a week, not drinking enough water, working when I really felt I should not be) have contributed to the potentional premature birth of this little one, but ultimately I really don't think that is the whole picture. Today is the first day of Spring and the first day of full bed rest... I think that is approraite! I am going to take things very easy so I can keep myself at home and not in the hospital yet!!! I might get bored out of my mind and go nuts... but at least I will be nutty at home, LOL.

Broken nose?

Last night, I was sitting on Kaya's bed while Mark was getting her pj's on. Then Mark was lying her down on the bed and something happen... Kaya came down hard on her bed right onto my nose. She started crying because she whacked her head on my nose, lol. I was crying in pain too.... if was painfully funny all at the same time!! Good times! The bridge of my nose is pretty sore today... bruised a little, but never any blood. It is stuffed up and all. At any rate.... I am just adding it to my list of aches and pains right now!

Baby Update

As of my appt yesterday morning, I had NOT dialated any more. I was having a few "baby" contractions (more than just braxton hicks). Oh, now I have a bladder infection.... good times!! The NP said she would let me make the choice for now about working part time or not at all. I chose to work part time (4 hours a day) as I think I might go batty if I don't have something to rack my brain on right now, lol. I will working 12-4 for now.... awesome hours if you ask me!! My next appt is next Wednesday... which is when they are hoping I can make it before going into labor. After that point, they are ok with letting nature happen. I have been feeling more contractions off and on... nothing consistant... just enough to alert me each time and wonder if this is "it". I just watched "A Baby Story" episode where a woman felt her first contraction at 1:30am (about the same time I felt my first one with Kaya) and on the drive to the hospital at 6:00, they were 2-3 minutes apart... then she was 10cm by the time they checked her at the hospital at 6:45am! Holy crap! That was her first baby too! That is the kind of story I do NOT need to remember right now!!

March baby?!?!?!?

Yes, you read that right... there is definately the possiblity that we will be adding another March baby to the family! Between Mark and my familes, we have at least 6 bdays in March already, lol.

I had my 34 week OB appt on Thursday and after the NP measured my belly, she asked "Have you felt a lot of pressure low lately?" and I replied "YES!". I then told her I feared I had a yeast infection... so that made her mind up to do a vaginal exam. Confirmed the yeast infection.... also confirmed I was 1 cm dilated (yikes) but the most alarming part was that my cervix had thinned out "a lot" in her words. She then asked "How long were you planning to work?" and I replied "Unitl 4/4" and she said "That is not likely". That was the first moment where I went "CRAP!" as I was thinking 'I am SO not ready for this YET'! She wanted to hook me up to the fetal monitor to see if I was having contractions. After 15 minutes on that thing, I was NOT have real cotractions just good braxton hicks. After all of that in front of her to make a decision, she asked me again what I did at work and then had that 'hmm, what do I do' look on her face. I was thinking 'sersiously, I cannot be on bed rest now!!' She did say that if I went into labor at 36 weeks, they would not try to stop labor at all... just let nature run its course. But she wanted to see at least 2 more weeks with this baby in my belly. Oh, then we discussed my past delivery with Kaya and how I labored very quickly for my first birth. With Kaya, I had my regualar appt on 10/10/05 (3 days past my EDD) and I was 0 cm, cervix barely thinned out, baby still very high... so they said they would induce in a week. I went home that afternoon thinking 'there is no way I can go another week!'. Then in the middle of the night, labor started all on its own. I went to the drs office at 10:30ish and ws 5 cm!!! Holy cow was what I thought... especially considering I didn't even know I was in labor for sure because pain was not an issue at all at that point. At that point, I went home, lol (which people think sounds nuts) b/c the contractions were not consistent and I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible. I ended up at the hospital around 2:30... Dr Cragun checked me at 6:00.. I was 8 cm.. he broke my water & I got drugs (definate pain after he broke my water)... then at 7:00, I was ready to push. Kaya was still a bit high up, so we stopped for a bit... then at 8:50pm, I was introduced to my sweet Kaya as Dr Cragun announced to myself, Mark, my mom, Mark's mom, the nurses and other drs in the room that "It's a Girl"!! Then the first words out of my month were "She is tiny" and Dr Cragun responsed "Ohh, not really"... that is another story though, lol. She still is the smallest baby born between my mom's 6 grandkids. This new grandkid might blow Kaya out of the water though if he/she is early!

Pause for a moment to reflect....... With my entire pregnancy and then L&D with Kaya, I was just blessed beyond words (as mentioned above)! My only real hurdle was that I was Strep B + so I had to have antiobitics before she was born. Then this pregnany, I have been even more blessed. The pain so many talk about that occurs with your second and other pregnancies from your ligments and such having stretched once, so they stretch faster... not really an issue for me. I have also had little issues with leg cramps and my siatic nerve (which were worse with Kaya). I would say, I feel like I am just way more uncomfortable and bigger this time around... but if that is the worst I can say... I am a lucky girl. All of this said..... I really, really have enjoyed this preganancy more than mine with Kaya. Most of the time with Kaya, I had nerves about all that could go wrong. This time, I feel like MUCH more relaxed thus able to enjoy it more. So.. Thursday morning, I found myself a bit sad thinking about the end of this pregnancy coming sooner than oringally thought.... then throughout the day on Thursday, I was just a roller coaster of emotions... between "OH SHIT" to "I can't wait to meet this little one". Thursday night we went out to eat.. as the three of us were walking with Kaya in the middle holding both of her hands as she always does.... I said to Mark "I am a little sad knowing soon it will not just be the three of us"... more emotions. I know I will miss the times where myself of both of us together are able to focus only on Kaya..... but at the same time, I cannot wait to see the light in Kaya's eyes when she meets her baby sister/brother for the first time!! When you ask her where that will be she says "at the hospital"... smart kid. She remembers everything about the tour of the hospital we took a few weeks ago and talks about it a lot.

OK... So, I went to Bunco Friday night as I said to everyone "I will not miss that", lol. Then Saturday morning early, I thought I started feeling contractions. I woke up in a little panic and began packing a bag for the hospital (one of those items among others on that to do list, lol). After a few more 'contractions', I woke Mark up and he called the drs office. I got in the shower... just in case, lol. The nurse that called back wanted me to just lay down on my side and see if the contractions went away. Other the course of the morning with rest and following the rules (not hard to do considering I got home at 3:30 from Bunco, lol), the contractions did stop. Then I wondered if there were really contractions or not. As the NP said the other day, the thing she as must concerned about was how thin my cervix was (is).. and that all I need is to have contractions and then I will be in full labor in no time. Well, I felt a few more contractions this morning, but again they have seemed to go away. My appt is at 8:45 tomorrow... so we will see. When I left work on Friday, everyone was like "We won't be seeing you on Monday", lol. I guess we will find out soon enough. Mark still keeps saying "no, you have to wait until 4/1... not another March baby", LOL. Oh, the love and support of a man, lol. This morning, he said 3/19 would be good though.... then each of our kids would share the same date of the month with our bdays (mine 3/11 and Kaya 10/11... Mark 4/19 and little one ?).

Watch it.... I will got two weeks passed my due date!!!!!!!!!! Only God and this little one know the outcome..... and I am just a participate in the show!!

"Is my baby sister here??"

Gotta share this story! It is TOO cute!! Last Friday, Grandma and Kaya washed baby clothes. I guess the whole time Kaya kept talking about all the clothes, bips, etc being for her baby sister... as she was trying on the clothes, bips, etc as well, lol. She kept askng Grandma when her baby sister was coming. Then the door bell rang and she said "Is my baby sister here??" as she ran to the door. Well, it was the FedEx man, LOL. Oh... if only the FedEx man could bring her baby sister/brother!!!!!!! Kaya seems to talk more about having a baby sister... but a baby brother has been mentioned too. Mark is convinced it is a girl. I change my mind daily, LOL. We will all see soon enough though!!!

Grandma, snow, swingset, birthday, surprise, wow hubby, spring time... oh MY!!

Grandma has left the building, lol. She came Friday 2/29 and left Sat 3/8. We had a really good visit... despite my crankiness, lol. She did a TON of stuff around the house and outside.. most notibly she washed baby clothes and put away and planted a bunch of tulips in the floor bed around the mailbox the Mark and herself created.

Yes, snow. This past Friday night (after a little bday celebration for me... where cheesecake was involved, YUM) we went to bed and woke up Saturday morning to a good 2 inches plus of snow! It snowed a lot of Sat morning as well and more would have stayed around if the ground had been colder. Grandma and I went to get a pedicure and by that time... there goes all the snow. Kaya did have fun playing in it for a bit, but she kept asking for a snowman as she remembers the snow in Iowa, lol.

We bought a swingset last week (something I decided would be a neccessity this summer with a newborn and Kaya). I thought for sure it would take more than Sunday to put that thing up.... but nope, Mark (with help from Chris in the afternoon) got the thing up and it is awesome!! Kaya is all about "Kaya's swingset" as she calls it, lol.

Well, I am offically 30 now!! I do agree with others.. 30 is not bad really. I am happy to be out of my 20's for sure! Like I mentioned above, we had a little bday celebration last Friday while my mom was still here. Mark made me a cheesecake (which he has never done). He got me an iPod docking station, sweet!! Then yesterday, my co-workers decided to sporut a surprise baby shower on my bday! I was SOO surprised!! That is a hard thing for me too.. I usually push and push about things and find out, but I was really surprise and felt so lucky! We got a lot of awesome stuff.. especially the diapers, lol.

That gets me to "wow hubby"... which is mainly from Mark going online to Babies R Us last Monday to plan our registry b/c the baby shower invites had already gone out for work stating we were registered there... which we had planned but not gotten to yet. So, Sat on our way to the airport, I said to Mark we should stop at BRU on the way home to register. Mark said "ahh, you have to wait until Tuesday before you can do that". I was like "WHAT?" I tried to get more out of him... no go. All I could think was that his parents or he was getting me something like a double stroller for my bday... which I was a bit like "that is a bit odd". Well, then yesterday, I figured everything out, lol. Anyway, I was pretty impressed that not only did he go online and do the registery without my input, but he picked out stuff I would have picked too!! I thought the whole thing was pretty dang sweet!!

Today felt like Spring was for sure here!!! It was beautiful, as was yesterday!!! Next to Fall time, Spring is the best!!! I am so looking forward to this Spring and having this new little one... I will have my Fall baby and Spring baby.... I could not ask for anything more!!