Well, we had our first trip to Labor & Delivery on Friday of last week and hopefully it will be the one and only trip until the big day is here! Luckily, we were back home shortly after arriving but it was a bit too close to how Emma came into the world for us! I woke up Friday morning exhausted and with some pretty sharp pains very low in my stomach (like where you get menstrual cramps) but it was only on the left side, so I was assuming it was round ligament pain or "lightening" as Jackson drops lower. Finally, after about an hour the pain went away so I decided to head into work anyway because of how much time I have already had to take off because of doctor's appointments.

Jackson ended up being pretty quiet the rest of the day, all through the morning, after breakfast and even after lunch which was out of the norm for him so I started to get worried. With Emma, I stayed at home from work one day and ended up calling the doctor because I hadn't felt her move much that day. They told us to head right to Labor & Delivery and that's when we found out I had pre-eclampsia and they started the induction that day. So, after trying to get Jackson to move more and drinking cold water, eating something sugary, and even leaving work and laying down for a while, I made the phone call to my doctor's office knowing where we were headed. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, we were making the phone calls to the parents to coordinate things for Emma and Shamus and we were off. And just like with Emma, Jackson started moving up a storm pretty much as soon as I got hooked up to the monitors! What a stinker! But this time, my blood pressure was okay and I didn't have any protein in my urine so we were okay to head home.

Apparently, I still am not drinking enough though (this is getting ridiculous) because the nurse asked me if I wanted some water (after knowing we were heading home) and I said no thanks, but about 2 minutes later she came into the room with a tall cup of water and said "I brought you one anyway." Dang. I was more nervous about sitting in rush-hour traffic on the way home after drinking a big cup of water but down the hatch. Turns out, I was actually having contractions that I couldn't feel every few minutes (they were pretty regular too) but once I drank the water, they stopped.

So although we were relieved to be headed home, I was also very frustrated that here we were again, right after things had settled down, worried and not knowing what was about to happen. I am now definitely to the point where I just want to be holding our new baby because at least then, we won't be so on edge and certainly because of what happened with Emma, and because of having pre-eclampsia with your first baby and being more likely to have it again with your second baby, I am very nervous and constantly worried and looking for signs this time around. But, although I am VERY ready to have this baby, I am also thinking about the fact that this could very well be the last time I am pregnant ever. So with 3 weeks left, I'm trying to enjoy it as much as possible. Despite the back aches, swelling, contractions, lack of sleep, and inability to move at a normal pace. :)

But, we were home by 6:30PM Friday evening and had a good "practice run" with having my mom pick up Emma from school, coordinating with Shamus, etc for the big day, so I think we are ready!

We also made some more progress on Jackson's room this weekend (and by "we", I mean The Painter Lady, ha)! We ended up hiring Ann once again to help us with Jackson's room for a couple of reasons. The first being that she painted almost our entire house a few years ago (because we have some open areas that are two stories, etc that we couldn't do) and we loved what she did. The second being that if it was up to us to paint stripes, it would not only take 3 weeks, but would end up all wavy or crooked. :) So this way, we got the painting done faster, maybe not exactly cheaper, but we love it! We actually had a couple other things on our original list for Ann to paint (bedroom, bathroom, etc) because we were going to do a few small remodeling things, but that was right before Shamus's surgery hit our budget, so we put the painting on the back burner. Plus, my mother in law (Hi, Meredith!!!) is an amazing painter and always willing to help us with some home projects during visits so we figured some of the other things could wait.

So here are a few pictures of how things turned out! I took these pictures with my phone so they are pretty dark but you get the idea. :) I'm waiting for the room to be a little more finished before breaking out the big photography guns. (I'm only about $50 away from my Speedlite that I have been dreaming about so I'm thinking I may just have to splurge since I got the rest of the money through Christmas and Birthday presents and have been waiting for months!!) :)

I ironed one of the curtain panels that we have but decided that its a bit much to have two panels on each window, and one on each window wasn't doing it for me either. So I am going to return two panels, and make a valance out of the ones that we have already! Other than a few small things, like hanging a little shelf and getting some pictures hung, we are all set for baby!

Now, I just need to figure out what to hang on the walls! Since Daddy is such a big baseball fan and has been dreaming of being able to teach his son to play baseball, I am thinking about doing a little photo-shoot with baseball themed things. Wes has a ball and glove that I can take pictures of, and we got a super cute baseball "All Star" outfit that I could take some shots off too, but I think I need one or two more things.

A Little Bit of Everything...

Well, to save time and simplify the number of blog updates I was planning, here is a post about a little bit of everything. :)

Today I turned 36 weeks pregnant, so officially 9 months! My due date is exactly one month from today! Wow! I have been feeling relatively good lately, still feeling like I shouldn't complain given everything that we went through a few weeks ago, but it sure is getting harder by the day! Wes now has to consistently put my socks on for me, and I officially had to retire the high heels. Oh man! I have gained just about 28 pounds, so still not terrible, although I am certainly feeling the effects of the weight whether its walking up the steps (add on a toddler and thats an extra 50 pounds pretty much) or just being on my feet. So far sleeping is touch and go. Some nights are horrific, coupled with heartburn, muscle pain, and going to the bathroom 1,000 times, but the good part is, is that some nights are still pretty good! I have also been having more and more Braxton Hicks contractions, much more so than with Emma (at least that I can remember). Although they don't seem to be doing much yet because at my doctors appointment yesterday, I hadn't made any progress. DOH!

I definitely feel like I hit a growth spurt from 35 to 36 weeks and hopefully that means that Jackson is following along! Here I am at 35 weeks (left) and today, at 36 weeks (right).

Jackson is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (in theory) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. Jackson swallows both of these substances (eewwwww), along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of his first bowel movement. At the end of this week, Jackson will be considered full-term and he is still in the head-down position.

We still have some work to do on his room but here is what it looks like today, a big mess! :) It was looking more like a nursery a few days ago but since we are painting strips on the top part of the walls, we decided to hire a professional to do that part since taping isn't exactly our strong suit when it comes to painting ha! So all of Jackson's furniture is moved into the middle of the room, curtains aren't quite ironed or hung yet, but all the furniture is put together, clothes are washed and put away, organizer is built and filled with goodies so we just need some stripes and a baby!! I haven't yet gotten around to what kind of "decorations" will be in his room, but that can wait and maybe give me something fun to do in my last two weeks.

Daycare was also closed this week because of President's Day so Emma and Mommy had a special day at home together! Although it started off a little rough with a cranky baby (I think those two year molars are about to make an appearance) we ended on a fun note after an exhausting trip to Barnes & Noble. It was a good thing that I decided to take Emma's shirt off before we started finger painting because little Miss Sunshine decided that she needed to paint her belly! Good thing this paint is awesome and wipes right off, no matter how long it dries on something!

Needless to say, directly after our painting fun, Emma went right into the bathtub! She loves the bath, so much so that Mommy can tend to get bored waiting for her to be ready to get out (normally during the week its a bit quicker before bedtime but once and a while I'll let her stay in there for as long as she wants haha). So this gave Mommy some time to play with her camera! Man, I really need to get my Speedlite!!

Dear Emma...

Dear Emma,

I was sitting down the other day thinking about how your world is about to get turned upside down with the addition of your new baby brother. but found myself thinking more about how excited I am to see you become the amazing big sister that I know you will be. You're only 19 months old right now, but have been handling all of the changes and stress right along with Mommy and Daddy. You are absolutely amazing and Daddy and I couldn't have asked for a bigger blessing in life. You and your baby brother are our entire world.

At 19 months old, you are one of the funniest people I know. You are incredibly smart, have a vocabulary of who knows how many words, have 16 teeth, and are a tiny little peanut in the 5th percentile for weight, and 25th percentile for height. Whenever we go somewhere together, I am constantly stopped by strangers commenting on your amazing blue eyes, and just overall how cute you are.

You have an incredible personality and are already so much like Daddy it's scary! You have the most expressive eyes I have ever seen, and you make me laugh every single day. You already are stringing together multiple words and have numerous three-word sentences, and continue to have a love for anything related to animals and books.

Daddy and I are incredibly lucky that you chose us to be your parents.

I can't even imagine what a great big sister you are going to be to Jackson. I can already picture you teaching him animal sounds (because animals are your favorite thing in the entire world right now), telling him all about your puppy, Shamus, and your kitty, Arby and reading him books, just like you try to read to Mommy and Daddy. And I am sure there will be many times where you just plain teach him how to get in trouble. Ha!

You continue to have this incredible love of life and haven't changed since you were born as one of the happiest and easy going babies that I have ever known. Of course, you have your moments, and that's not to say that you aren't incredibly sassy, but that's exactly what Daddy and I love about you.

Just one year ago, we were about to start your first ever swim lessons, and today, you are learning your colors, sounds that letters make and continue to amaze your parents.

Mommy and Daddy love you with all of our hearts and we will continue to do so for all of eternity.

 

Love Forever,

Mommy

Peace Out NSTs & Fluid Checks!!

Jackson passed his Non-Stress Test (NST) with flying colors again this morning and my fluid checked out as well and was back up to 13.5, so we got the okay from the doctor to stop the twice a week testing unless something changed!! Woo Hoo!! What a relief!!

So now, instead of three appointments each week, I am down to my one regular appointment with my doctor which I can handle! Shew! I just have to keep drinking lots of water, rest on my side whenever I can and go back on March 10th for another growth sonogram. At that point though, I'll be 38 weeks and practically ready to deliver any day anyway!