Home Stretch

13 more days!

My c-section has been scheduled for Thursday, 2.2.12, at 7:30am!

I'm excited because the doctor who I wanted to perform the surgery is going to be able to even though it wasn't her day on-call.

I just got off the phone with the anesthesia nurse at the hospital and we went over what happened with my last section. I was pretty nauseous and sick during the last procedure, so hopefully this time will be MUCH better!

I've started getting all my lists together of what needs to be done in the next 2 weeks. Just about everything is already done...it's mainly packing my bag and getting everything together for EJ.

I really want to spend a lot of time with EJ over the next 2 weeks before her little world is changed forever. I'm going to miss her like crazy when I'm at the hospital, but I know she'll be in good hands with grandparents and they'll bring her to the hospital to see us.

I have told her that she may NOT start walking while I'm in the hospital!! I realized the other day that if she starts walking when I'm not there and I'm so emotional from having the baby....mommy will not take that news very well and will probably melt down from her little girl growing up too fast! :)

I'm sure EJ will look like she's about 4 years old when she comes in to meet the baby. *sniff,sniff*

I really can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by!

Morning at the Office

EJ got a "laptop" for Christmas. She sits at her little table with her little laptop and juice and it just cracks us up!

It's her little morning at the office. :)

What I'm Loving

It's been a while since I posted some things that I'm loving right now. I started thinking about it the other day and I finally have time to get a post written about it!

1. This is definitely a weird pregnancy love thing! Usually 7-Up reminds me of having the flu, but for some reason these days I'm loving Diet Cherry 7-Up!

2. Sperry's. This is usually a love or hate for people. It took me a LONG time to decide that I would go with this look. The comfort won me over immediately, but the look took a while for me to get used to. Since being pregnant and hauling around a toddler, these days I prefer comfort over anything! These have been worth every penny this pregnancy!

3. I sometimes call this "My Precious". Oh, how naive I was to think I didn't want a k1ndle. Instead, I wanted to hold a bulky book in my hands and so I put it off for years. What a mistake! I've owned my k1ndle touch for less than a month and I'm in love!! Plus, I love that there are free books on the k1ndle store every day! I've even downloaded the ESV Bible and use this at church. Since it's lighter than my Bible, it's easy to toss it in my purse. (Yes, I felt extremely weird the first time I used it in church...but I've gotten over it!)

4. Love, love, love this!! The Cuis1nart Keur1g coffee maker. This little machine is amazing!! I love that it has a feature for instant hot water. Hot tea, hot chocolate, and hot apple cider without waiting for water to boil. I love the My-K cup as well for coffee. Love this!! Plus, it's pretty on my kitchen counter :)

5. I love candles and this is one of my favorite scents. My mom gave me this scent last year and we burned the entire candle in 2 weeks! It's that good! She gave me the same scent again this year and we're taking our time burning it :)

Baby Shower

Phew! We had a busy, busy weekend!

My sister, my cousin, and I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law on Saturday morning. It was a drop-in shower at the clubhouse in my neighborhood.

We didn't have a theme, but the colors were mainly pink & green.

Last week we completely changed the entire menu that we had planned over a month ago, but it was the right decision. Our original menu consisted of a lot of brunch foods, but we decided to go lighter and thankfully we did because we still ended up with a lot of food at the end.

We had two food tables set up on separate walls. This table had fresh pineapple & grapes with fruit dip; vanilla yogurt with granola & dried fruit; and a topiary made with blueberry & chocolate donut holes.

My aunt made the ribbon topiary that my SIL took home for the nursery.

Cute cake that tasted amazing!

We had cherry limeade to go with the pink & green theme. This is the yummiest punch and I love to make it when I have a lot of people over.

The other food table had mini ham & cheese with poppyseeds buns and pink & green chocolate covered pretzels. 

Yelena opening her gifts.

36 Weeks Update

We are SO very close to meeting our little girl. And I think she's ready to meet us! There are times I feel like she's going to pop right through my skin because she is definitely running out of room!

I had an ultrasound this morning to check her size. My mom came with me to watch EJ and it was fun to have her there to see the baby as well. The baby is weighing in around 6lb, 8oz. I was a little surprised because EJ weighed 6lb, 10 oz when she was born. I know it's not definite, especially since they told us a few days before I had EJ that she weighed over 7 lbs.

Little baby girl finally moved to the head down position. She was really, really low! The tech had a really hard time getting a look at her face since she's so far down, so we didn't get any pics of her face this time. We did find out that she has hair. Little pieces sticking out off her head :)

I decided this past week that I'm going to have a scheduled c-section instead of trying for a VBAC. After much thought, prayer, and advice from other moms who have been there, we really felt this was the best choice for us. I told my doctor this morning and she said we can pick any day from February 1 -8. I'm going to wait to see what dates they have and which doctors are on call before we make our decision. I do think 2.2.12 would be a fun birthday though.

I'm pretty excited that I've only gained 16 lbs! My doctor was really happy with that number and so was I! I think I gained around 30-35 lbs with EJ. I can tell a HUGE (ha!) difference this time. I'm not swollen or puffy, but I do have the cooler weather to thank for that...I think.

2.5 weeks to go!!

GD Update

I wanted to do a quick update on the gestational diabetes for my own memory.

I went in today and was talking with the nurse about how easy this pregnancy has been even with GD.

I am on 56 units of insulin (10 at dinner & 46 at bedtime - 5 injections total for the day). At this point last pregnancy (35 weeks), I was on 156 units of insulin! I was doing about 15 injections each day in addition to the 4 times I pricked my finger to test my sugars...I was a living pin cushion!

This time has been SO much easier because I'm on the medication Metf0rmin. I'm hoping they keep me on the medication after I deliver because it has been shown to really increase your milk supply as well. Since I had such a difficult time with EJ, I planning on begging the doctor to keep me on the meds :)

I go back in 2 weeks for my hospital orders (the paperwork that tells the hospital how much insulin I'm on and what my diet is).

We're getting so close...only 4 weeks to go!

15 Months

This post is a few days late, but better late than never!

EJ,

You are 15 months old!! How time is flying! This time next month you will be a big sister(or a fews days from it!)...crazy! You are still so small to us :)

Every morning you wake up and look more and more like a little girl instead of a baby.

Here's what you're up to...

You have 11 teeth...and 2 more are coming in. You have started smiling really big, cheesy smiles that show all your pearly whites.

You wear size 12 month & 18 month clothes. Size 4 diaper.

You weighed 21 lbs at your doctor sick visit two weeks ago.

You sleep from 7:30pm - 7:30am. You are still taking two naps; one in the late morning and one in the late afternoon. I hope you keep this up after the baby arrives!

You have to have your baby bear ("babeeee beh") & rabbit ("rah-rit") with you when you sleep ("nigh-nigh").

You still aren't walking on your own yet, but yesterday you took 3 steps on your own! I guess walking is your New Year's resolution :) So many people tell me to be thankful that you're not walking yet because you will be all over when you do. However, mommy really wants you to be able to walk on your own by the time your little sister arrives...I think.

You love our dog, Bella. Every morning we get her out of her crate and put her outside. You say "bell-ba" over and over and then bang on the back door once she's in the yard.

You love to play with your tea party set. You bring me the pot and tea cup and then "pour" me a cup of tea. It's so sweet!

You LOVE music! You dance & sing anytime you hear music. You've started banging on the piano too. Daddy sits you on his lap and you play a concert and sing for us every night. He puts a hymnal out and you "play" a song then turn the pages and "play" another.

Your favorite phrase is "wow! wow! WOW!" You use it all the time and it's always in the correct context. It really makes us laugh!

You have gotten picky about food, but you love scrambled eggs, yogurt, waffles ("waf-wahs"), and grilled cheese ("gill cheese").

You try to repeat any word we say. Two weeks ago, you actually said your name!!! Ashley was at our house and she heard it too. You only said it once and I don't think I would have believed it if Ash hadn't heard it as well. It was clear as a bell and we were SHOCKED!

You love to go to nursery at church. Every Sunday the nursery workers say how great you are and how much you love to play. It makes us so happy!

We've been telling you that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy. You have just started coming up to my belly, poking me, and saying "baby". I know you don't have a clue what we are talking about and your world is about to be rocked, but it's so precious!!

Speaking of baby, you got a little mommy set for Christmas and it's so fun to watch you be a little mommy. You love to push your baby in the stroller, then you put her in the swing, and feed her with the spoon and bottle. Then you get bored and start trying to drink out of the bottle :)

Every morning when I have my coffee, you sniff the air until I let you smell what's in the mug. Every time you smell it and then scrunch your nose up and shake your head no. Every time.

EJ, you are such a joy and Daddy & Mommy love you so much!! We are soaking up these last few weeks of having only you to ourselves!!