Week 38

Ok, so I'm going to be more positive if it kills me!  :)  Week 38 has had it's "ups" and "downs", but the "downs" are obvious and can be summed up in a few short phrases: little to no sleep, drastically limited mobility, roller coaster emotions (Danny still attests that has nothing to do with pregnancy)...basically, I'm still pregnant!  BUT...the "ups" are much more interesting to write, and I'm sure read, about.

First of all, Johnny and I are still looking good!  All my exercises have been profitable, and I managed to get the little stinker facing the right direction.  Yay!  At my last appointment as well as the appointment I had this morning, I measured at 40.5, and he is a good size yet not humongous!  Good to know, considering he's blazing a new trail here...

We had our birth preparation meeting (or dare I say party!) on Saturday, and it was a wonderful success!  We had lots of yummy food, which is a must for any gathering I'm a part of!  Turkey wraps, fruit, fruit dip, and Cowboy Caviar adorned the island in our kitchen, and midwives chattered about this birth and that.  I absolutely LOVED the midwives that Ali has chosen to assist in my birth, and am excited for when we all get together again.  We spent so much time laughing, and it was so great to feel the excitement that they had for me and my baby.  I was literally on a high for the rest of the day.  Danny, the girls, and I went out that day and got a little more of the shopping done, and needless to say we were exhausted at the end of the day.  But it was such a good day!

During my appointment today, we talked about the newborn screenings and some of the things that are routinely done to a newborn, such as eye antibiotic and vitamin K administration.  I'm learning so much!  We have a lot of decisions to make still, but I love that I'm making all these informed decisions.  I know I haven't gotten to the birth yet, but I have loved this experience so far.  I can't imagine what would ever make me use an OB again!

I know I was hoping for not too many more entries, but I imagine we've got another 2 or 3 ahead of us...so until then... :)

Week 37

Ok!  We're technically full-term!  Yay!  That is the only reason I was able to muster a smile for this picture.  :)

What energy I had this week was spent preparing.  Danny, the girls, and I did almost all the necessary shopping on Saturday.  We ordered Johnny's dresser, got all the needed towels and linens, onesies and socks, nursing pads...almost everything!  The only things we have left to get are a bouncy seat, bath, wrap, some outfits from Mommy and Daddy, clothes for labor, and nursing bras!  

The goal was to have everything in time for our birth preparation meeting on Saturday morning, but I'm afraid the last bit of shopping will have to be done Saturday afternoon.  But by the end of this weekend, we should have everything ready for whenever Johnny wants to come!  I inventoried the birth kit, and sterilized the scissors for cutting the umbilical cord.  I laundered all the blankets, towels, and sheets.  We set up the crib and got the pad and sheets on.  Danny and I even met with Beth on Tuesday night and went over some techniques for handling labor.  It was so helpful!  

I have to admit, however, that I'm feeling the slightest bit of trepidation.  As I've been preparing for Johnny's arrival, meeting with Beth, and continuing to read labor books and watch birthing videos, it's becoming more and more apparent to me that I'm going to actually have to do this!  And any time now!  It's no longer an abstract thing that is months down the line.  It should be right around the corner (hopefully)!  I'm confident that all is going to go well, and that when all is said and done it will have been the most wonderful experience we've ever had.  It's just that I'm realizing that for as much as I know about birth and labor, I have NO idea what it will actually be like for me...how long or how hard.  I only know for sure that it will be the most difficult thing I have ever done.  And I have no choice but to do it!  I'm sure it's set up that way for a reason... :)

I'm really looking forward to our "birth party" on Saturday.  I've been working up a menu of appetizers all week!  And just think...any time now these weekly pregnancy posts will stop, and the greatest post of the year will announce Johnny's birth!

It's hard to be mad...

...when the girls are supposed to be sleeping, and you think they've been asleep for twenty minutes or so, and you open their door to find this:

Yet somehow, as parents, we're able to dig deep and be at least a little perturbed.  Until we get the lights out and the door closed behind us, then we just smile at each other and enjoy knowing how much our girls love each other.

Week 36

36 Weeks...36 weeks...you would think that I would be happy about that, but it still seems too far away from when this baby is likely to be born!  That's right folks.  I've hit the wall already.  I'm so done being pregnant, with who knows how much longer to go.

On a brighter note, how cute is this?

The girls wanted to take a picture of their "baby Johnny" too!  I think Claire is getting pretty excited to meet her little brother, and I know that Sophie is starting to feel a change.  Though I can't say she's happy about it.  She has gotten incredibly clingy...always wanted to be with me.  But not just next to me.  She's got to be held, or sit on my lap.  You know, all the things that aren't so possible in my current condition.  :)  But I'm confident she will just love it when her baby brother gets here!

So, at this point it's a little pointless to go over Johnny's supposed stats.  He's just getting bigger now, and there's no telling how big he actually is.  He's still pretty active, and I'm hopeful that with all the "cat-cows" that Ali wanted me to do, as well as me being more conscientious about how I move, that he's in a better position.  At least, that's what I'm telling myself to deal with the pain!  The pubic pain, though not as acute as it was last week, is still ever present.  On top of that, I feel like Johnny has started to drop, and that has added to the pressure downstairs. :)  There are even times, when he's moving around, that I feel so much pressure I just hold my breath and wait for my water to break!  It's a new sensation for me.  Like I said, I'm hopeful that means he's dropped and started to engage.  But who knows?  I guess we'll find out next Saturday!

We're still working on all the preparations for the birth, and we're making progress.  While I was in Utah, I ordered my birth kit and the AquaDoula.  Ali brought my birth kit with her when she came last week, and I'm excited to go through it and inventory everything.  We bought the needed receiving blankets, and I washed them all last night.  I can't believe how small they are!  We still have quite a bit of shopping to do, which we plan on getting finished before next Saturday when we have our birth planning meeting with Ali and everyone else that will be present for the birth.  And we've got an appointment with Beth for next Tuesday evening to go over some labor techniques and get some practical tools to use.  

All that having been said, I know intellectually that we're getting pretty close to Johnny's inevitable arrival.  But I'm having the hardest time keeping a good attitude!  It seems like it was this way with Sophie too...the whole last 3-4 weeks of her pregnancy I basically spent in tears!  I haven't done as much crying, but I spent too much time feeling despondent and sorry for myself.  I'm doing my best to push on true, and to keep smiling. :) But even Danny came home from mutual last night and said "I don't mean this to sound the wrong way, but even I'm getting tired of people coming up to me and saying how huge you are!"  Seriously!  

I'm trying to recognize that all too soon, Johnny will be here and I will no longer feel him kicking inside of me. And really, pretty soon my child-bearing years will be behind me.  I shall try my best to enjoy it while I can! :)

Week 35

I know it's been about 4 weeks since I last posted for this pregnancy.  I have my reasons, though!  These last weeks have been spent in Utah, and we were so busy I barely kept track of where I was at anyway.  But the biggest reason, and I know this is going to sound stupid, is I couldn't take my picture in the same spot as all the other ones!  I have this thing for continuity.  So, even though we had been in the car for 6 hours, I was happy to take my 35 week picture in my same ol' spot.  Even Claire got in on the action!

I'll do my best to quickly recap the last few weeks.  Mostly, things have remained the same, with both Johnny and I getting bigger every day.  He's remained very active.  The first weekend that I was in Utah, my Mom felt so bad about how uncomfortable I looked that she bought me a maternity support belt.  It makes such a difference!  After a couple days of wearing it, however, I started to have some really bad back pains.  Bad enough that I started to wonder if I was experiencing back labor.  I'm still not sure, but I think it was mostly the support belt.  Turns out, it works best when I'm up and about...and not so much when I'll be sitting.

I still have done well keeping my swelling at bay, and for the most part remained comfortable during my stay.  Admittedly, it got increasingly harder to be pregnant with each passing week, but at this point that's expected. Time kept on passing...

We did have one little incident, right before we left to come home to California.  The day before we had planned on leaving, I had been experiencing menstrual cramp-like pains throughout the morning.  I chalked it up to having done too much the day before and tried to ignore it.  I had already determined that they weren't regular contractions.  I went swimming, and that relieved some of the discomfort, and then headed off to a much anticipated prenatal massage.  The massage was wonderful, though I was still big and pregnant when I got off the table!  Shucks.  I went back to my Mom's and was so relaxed I started dozing on the couch a bit.  After about a half hour, I realized that I was consistently waking up from contractions.  I starting timing them, and sure enough they were exactly 10 minutes apart.  This kept up for over two hours, and then started to fizzle out.  I went to bed, but was still in quite a bit of pain, and consequently didn't sleep at all.  I spent the whole night fighting what felt like Restless Leg Syndrome throughout my entire body.  And I had the most awful pain on the right side of my incision.

I called Ali first thing the next morning, just to make sure that she felt okay about me traveling, and to keep her up to speed.  I've kind of been lectured already about not calling her when I have concerns, which doesn't sound like me at all! :)  She wasn't so much worried about the contractions as she was the pain in my right side.  We decided it would be best to go get an ultrasound to check on the integrity of my uterus around my scar tissue, and to have a vaginal check to verify if I had dilated or not.  So we booked a hotel room in St. George (deciding to take the trip home in two legs), sent the kids to Jenny's to play, and went to the hospital for the first time in three pregnancies (besides to deliver)!

What a colossal waste of time!  First of all, I couldn't stand the smell of the labor and delivery ward.  The very sight of the room, with it's bed and adjoining bathroom, made me anxious with memories of immobility and pain.  It was quite a surprise for me to feel that way!  But both Danny and I were immediately glad that we have chose to have Johnny at home.  And that was only driven closer to home by the lack of care and attention we received there.  After being in the bed, hooked up to electronic fetal monitoring, for almost three hours, we were dismissed to go home without the ultrasound.  I did get a rather brisk vaginal check which determined that my cervix was closed.  At this point, Danny and I were so ready to get out of there we didn't argue to get the ultrasound.  And as it has turned out, I haven't had the pain since.

We got home a couple of hours before my scheduled appointment with Ali.  The appointment went great!  I am still looking good, and Ali was again amazed by my amazing blood pressure. :)  When we checked on Johnny, Ali was satisfied with his heart rate and his growth.  Actually, it seems as though he still has plenty of room to grow!  He's not a small baby, but he's not overly big either.  I was actually relieved to hear that!  The one thing that was of concern was his positioning.  He was dangerously close to turning posterior.  Ali suggested some cat-cow yoga poses to encourage him to rotate his back to the front of my belly.  I did them as instructed, and woke the next morning with the most debilitating pubic pain I've ever had!  I made it until 10:30 before I called Danny sobbing, and asked him to come home.  I couldn't move!  Luckily, he was able to come home and help.  I spoke to Ali again, and she said that the pubic pain was actually a good sign that Johnny had rotated like we wanted.  She prescribed the maternity support band again, and though the pain is still there, it isn't not nearly as bad.  We're pushing on true!

So, according to babycenter.com, Johnny should be weighing in at a hefty 5 1/4 pounds and over 18 inches long.  I'm assuming Johnny is closer to 6 pounds. ;)  We have our birth planning meeting on the 24th of July, and we determined that I only need to make it to July 28th for Ali to be comfortable delivering the baby.  I'm making a huge mistake, and hoping against hope that I go early.  I suppose we shall have to wait and see!

The Fourth of July

It seems like we got a whole weekend of the 4th this year.  With the actual day falling on Sunday, seems like we made sure to celebrate on Friday, Saturday, and Monday...not to mention a little fireworks show on Sunday.  :)

Friday was our Call family day, which we of course spent cooking-out and swimming at the school.  We had lots of yummy food and the pool was perfect!  Everyone was able to be there, except Robbie and Kris who are still in Ohio.  Kenny even brought his date (dare I say girlfriend?) Suzie and her two boys, Braxton and Taven.  

On Saturday evening, we ate a wonderful dinner of grilled chicken and dutch oven potatoes at Grandma and Papa's house, and David and Camillia were able to join us as well!  We had to take the opportunity to get some pictures of the three girls.  Here was our attempt:

We also made a delicious dessert, but unfortunately that had to wait until Sunday.  :(  But, Sunday came soon enough, and we celebrated our nation's birth with a few fireworks and that delicious aforementioned dessert!

Claire got a little nervous once the fireworks actually started, but once Papa showed her how to "control" the fireworks with her special 4th of July magic wand, she was just fine.

Sophie preferred the "ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand" approach...

After fireworks, it was time for a classic American dessert re-worked.  Behold, the Frozen Banana Split Square!

I didn't take a picture of ours, but trust me, it looked equally as delicious and tasted even better!  It was a wonderful 4th of July weekend.  We are so grateful for our freedoms, and those that fight both at home and abroad to ensure those freedoms.  It's a privilege and a blessing to live in this promised land.  God Bless America!

The Rest of the Fun...

Obviously, the girls and I had a wonderful time in Utah!  You can tell we were busy, since I had no time to blog our activities while we were there.  But we're home now, so let's review:

The Call family has something of a tradition.  Every Sunday evening, they go over and visit Danny's Grandma Call.  A handful of the local Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins do the same.  It's a great opportunity to see everyone, and we always love to visit Grandma!  The girls and I were lucky enough to get to go, and we all had a wonderful time.  The girls particularly loved playing with their cousins...

We continued to spend the weekdays as we had the first week.  The girls got to go to school every morning with Grandma Call, and we would spend the afternoons either relaxing at Grandma Call's, or going swimming with Isabelle at Grandma Candy's.  It was so wonderful!  And, of course, we looked forward to Danny's arrival on Thursday, July 1st.

Thursday was a special day for another reason as well.  It was the 7 month anniversary of when Rachel died, and I was feeling lucky that I was actually in town to go and visit her grave.  Claire and I went and picked out some flowers and went to visit Aunt Rachel.

It was the first time I had the chance to go and talk to Rachel without my whole family around.  I'll admit, it was mostly crying.  I miss Rachel so much!  Especially being home during the summer--it reminded me of last summer when Danny and I lived with my Mom, and we had so much fun hanging out with Rachel.  It was a good opportunity to teach Claire a little more about the Plan of Salvation, and it was really very cathartic to spend some time crying at her grave.  Hopefully the next picture we take there will include her headstone...

Danny finally got to Grandma's house, and it was SOOO nice to have him with us again!  It was quite the fiasco getting him here, though.  He was set to land at 11:58 pm on Thursday night, but delay after delay had him actually getting into Salt Lake at around 2:00 am instead!  We got back to Grandma and Grandpa's around 3:00 and finally got to sleep around 3:40.  It was a short night, when the girls came running in to see Daddy at 7:30 the next morning!  Danny and I were so tired!  We went outside to let the kids play, and saw this:

Grandma up in the tree!  Now we know where Sophie gets her antics from!  :)

Then we got to spend some more time visiting with Uncle Justin and Taija.  Unfortunately, Aunt Toshi was out of town.  But Danny and Justin had a great time catching up.  It's crazy what four years has done to these high school buddies.

This was four years ago, at our wedding.  Justin and Toshi had just been married two weeks:

And this is now:

Bear in mind that both Toshi and I are expecting again!  Toshi is expecting their first son, Luke, in late October.  

We also got to celebrate the Fourth of July in Utah, and those events will be covered in a separate post.  Moving on... :)

We decided to spend our last Sunday in our old ward in Orem.  We had so much fun visiting with friends and going back to where our family began!  After church, we headed over to Mikey and Karie Peterson's to visit. It was so wonderful to see them again!  So wonderful, in fact, that I didn't even stop to take a picture!  Sorry!

Next we headed to dinner at Bishop Carrier's house.  We just love that man!  He made ribs, just for me, and we ate our fill!  The girls were kind of melting down at this point, so we didn't get to visit for long.  But it was just as wonderful visiting with the Carriers...hence no pictures! :)

We spent Monday getting ready to head back home.  In between preparations, we spent time swimming with my family and eating lots and lots of yummy fruit (with fruit dip, of course!).  Then my Mom took Claire and Isabelle to see "Seussical the Musical".  Claire had so much fun!  She kept talking about seeing Cat in the Hat, and something about a bird pooping.  I don't know what kind of things Grandma Candy is exposing these children to!

It was a wonderful three weeks!  It was admittedly hard to come home, though we were missing our home and friends here in California.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful families!