36+ week OB appt.

Great news! This kiddo has decided to cooperate after all! Sometime over the weekend, he flipped completely - and at my appointment today the NP confirmed he is definitely head-down. Hopefully he will figure out that is the way out and stay that way!

Overall, everything looks fine. BP was 120/70, and I didnt even look at the number on the scale (since it is after Christmas, that is probably a good thing!). Aidan's HR was a healthy 145, and I'm still measuring about a week ahead, like always.

They did my GBS test (group B strep) and I should have the results next week. NP confirmed I am starting to dilate already, close to 1cm, 50% effaced.

Back again in a week, the countdown has begun!

34+ week appointment update

Well, I have good news and bad news.

First the good news. BP is great, and no weight gain this past 2 weeks - YAY!

And now the bad news. The NP examined me, and said she is 99% sure this stubborn little boy is in the breech position. Obviously the only way to know for sure is to do an ultrasound, but that is her guess right now.

So we have a plan. At my next appointment I'll be 36 1/2 weeks, and if he still "feels" breech on exam, we will do an ultrasound then. If it confirms him as breech position, she will give me the option of either doing an external version http://www.aafp.org/afp/980901ap/coco.html or just going ahead and scheduling a c-section delivery. She said the reason for this is that by 36-37 weeks, the baby is usually big enough to settle into his "final position" and that he won't have room to turn head-down on his own by this time.

For any of you not in the medical profession, or who don't know what a version entails - it is a very painful, manual attempt by the MD to turn the baby into a head-down position by forcefully moving the baby on the outside of the Mom's abdomen. Not fun! And doesn't always prove successful, either. So we'll see what happens! I'm trying to stay positive and not worry until they give me something definite to worry about.

In the meantime, all of your good wishes can be directed into some "Flip over Aidan!" vibes, that would be great!!

Holiday Photos!

A quick shameless plug...

We braved the photo studio mayhem that is December with a 2-year-old to get our family pictures taken for our Christmas cards, as well as a few photo gifts for family members. We decided to try a new place that came highly recommended to us from a few friends - Portrait Innovations. Forgive me as I devote a quick paragraph as kudos for their amazing facility and service, but this was the best experience we have had with a portrait studio EVER! A huge, spacious waiting area, complete with comfy sofas and chairs, toys for the kids, bathrooms, and drinking fountains. The photographers were wonderful, considering Ava is a tough cookie in the smiling for strangers department. And the best part - the speed at which your photos are ready! If we had been willing to wait, our photos - from 3x5s to a 10x13 that we ordered - would be ready within an hour! And photo greeting cards, ready within 3 hours! That is service you just can't argue with. I highly, highly recommend them to anyone looking for a pleasant experience with family photos that doesn't want to spend a fortune. Their locations can be found at www.portraitinnovations.com Ok - my commercial is over! Carry on.

Our first big snowfall!

Ava and Daddy made several "snow people" out in the front yard this past weekend after we got several inches of good heavy snow!

It's that time of year

Time for decorating the Christmas tree, wrapping gifts, and baking holiday cookies. Ava has been enjoying every minute of it lately. She is Mommy's little helper, taking the wrapped presents and putting them under the tree. And of course, taste-testing the sugar cookies, to make sure everything is "just right"! Just a few pictures of our little ham from the past few weeks...

32+ week appointment update!

Yawn.... nothing new or exciting. A pound or two heavier, BP was fine, baby's HR was 141. Still measuring about a week ahead. I must have looked tired today, because 3 separate office staff people asked me the same question "Are you feeling okay?" with a very concerned look!

Where's Ava??

On most mornings, after a long peaceful sleep, this is the scene I find when walking in to Ava's room to get her ready for school. Sound asleep, snoozing underneath a pile of her stuffed animals, blankies, books, and other things. Sometimes she is *so* determined to stay snuggled in her bed, she plays the part of a teenager on a school day... completely ignoring me, maybe opening one eye to look at me and then roll over. On those days, the only thing that gets her moving is "Ava, if you hurry and get dressed we can watch a few minutes of SpongeBob!" and with that, she is usually up!!

30+ week Dr's appt. update

Wow, over 30 weeks already!? Time is flying by! All looks well with this little soccer player in there. Not much too exciting to report. Measuring more closely on schedule now, only 1 week ahead instead of over 2. BP 116/60. Yawn... Oh and those contractions that are happening on a daily basis? Perfectly normal, as long as they subside with some rest, which they always do. Other than that, just 10 weeks to go to meet this little one!

Ava is SO vocal lately, she tells anyone that will listen "I'm a big sister!" She also knows baby's name now too, so she talks to the belly and says hi once in a while. We're not sure how much of this she really understands though - I'm sure she has no idea what is going to happen when we actually bring this baby home with us!

All Bundled Up!

It's that time of year again in the midwest - time to get out the warm winter coats, the hats, the mittens. Luckily Ava doesn't mind getting bundled up - as long as everything is *pink*!!

School pictures.... Memories to remember!

That time of year again... fall backgrounds, long sleeves, apples and pumpkins. I know in several years I'll look back on these pictures and laugh. At Ava's pale blond hair in its awkward in-between stage (and her refusal to wear any sort of ponytail or clips in it!), the way her left arm is sticking out the wrong way of her sleeve, and of course the class picture, where it looks like my child rides the "short bus". That's my girl. But pictures preserve what time takes away... and these pictures really captured my little girl the way she is, the stubborn goofball that melts my heart daily.

a quick update...

No gestational diabetes!! YAY! My OB's nurse called me last night, at 8:30pm on a friday night, to give me my test results, and I was terrified to call her back for fear it was bad news, but it really wasn't.

The update is that I am (still) anemic. She started to say "Well, we just need you to start taking an iron supplement..." and I stopped her and said "I was anemic at the very beginning. I've been taking an iron supplement since May." She paushed, said "Oh." and all was quiet! I guess I'm just not "responding" to it. No problem, she is calling in a prescription supplement that is supposed to be better. We'll see - anything with the potential to give a girl more energy is a godsend when they're 7+ months pregnant, and chasing around a 2-year-old daily!!

28+ week Dr's Appointment Update

I had my 28-week checkup today seeing Dr. Box, my OB. On the agenda was my glucose-tolerance test to screen for gestational diabetes, and bloodwork to check for anemia.

First of all, I'm no newbie to this - I remember it when I was pregnant with Ava not too long ago. And I remembered hearing moms around me warning me about the dreaded glucose test (which, for those of you who arent familiar, involves drinking a very sugary drink pretty quickly, then getting blood drawn an hour later to check your blood glucose levels to determine your reaction to the sugar). Everyone said "Oh gawd, that stuff you have to drink was awful!" And then I had the test - and I thought "Maybe I'm crazy, or I just have one hell of a sweet tooth!" The drink really wasn't that bad... like an icy cold orange Crush soda. Yum!

But this time around... holy moly, what happened to my orange soda?? The lab tech has me sit down, and she runs to get the sugary drink and comes back and hands me a very medical-looking 10 oz. plastic bottle, which I soon discover is not-quite-cold-enough fruit punch flavored CRAP. It tastes very sweet, very medicine-y... it took all of my "I-just-fasted-for-8-hours" grit to choke it down. Blech. I miss my orange soda. Sigh...

My OB did my checkup... I gained back the few pounds I lost at my last appointment (damn Halloween candy!!) but my weight gain is still on the low side, which is great for me. My BP was on the higher side for me, 130s/80s, so she just said we will keep an eye on it. Baby is still measuring several weeks ahead, so maybe that is just how he is going to be! And I've been having contractions already, which I never had with my first pregnancy. After some quick instructions to take it easy, and stay hydrated, I got a clean bill of health and I'm free for another 2 weeks.

Oh yeah... and a blood draw. Really not bad at all, thank goodness I have decent veins! So cross your fingers for decent blood counts and NO gestational diabetes!! I should have results by early next week.

The crib is done!

Finally, no more cardboard box in the corner of the room, no more packages of bedding in the drawers just waiting to be washed... the crib is put together and done! It really wasn't much work at all, in all honesty - getting the pieces out of the gigantic box they came in was the hardest part!

So the final piece of the puzzle is complete... a comfy bed just waiting for Aidan to join our family! Hopefully he will love his sailboats themed room as much as we do!

And an update!! We took down Ava's crib in her room yesterday and she slept in her full-size big girl bed last night for the first time! She did wonderful, after the inital shock of walking into her room at bedtime and shrieking "My crib?! My crib!?!" She wasn't crazy about the idea of sleeping in her big bed, until we showed her that all of her animals, blankies, pillows and favorite toys were there with her, and then she was ok with the idea. She snuggled in, and we didnt hear a peep out of her all night! SUCCESS!!

26+ week dr's appointment update

Today was Karin's 26 1/2 week dr's appt. All is well, luckily the migraine headaches have subsided!! BP was perfect - in the 110s/60s range. Aidan is still measuring about 2 weeks ahead, as he has been for the past several visits. If this continues later on into the pregnancy, the dr. suggested we may do an ultrasound to check out his growth more closely, and possibly move our due date up, depending on those results. But besides that, no news is good news! And here starts the every-two-weeks appointments from here on out... the joy of the 3rd trimester. Next appointment is Nov. 7, for some blood work and a gestational diabetes screen.

Our day at the Children's Museum!

All dressed, with her backpack, and ready to go!
Exploring at the water table.

Playing with the dinosaurs.

Checking out the underwater coral reef exhibit.

Looking at the trains.

Watching the trains go by.
Making a new friend!

Digging in the "rocks".

Good to know she has a career to fall back on as an excavator!

Building a giant Mr. Potato Head in the games area.

Checking out the cool dinosaurs with Daddy.

Through the tunnel she goes....

There she is!

More dinosaurs!

Oooh robots!!

Awaiting our baby boy...

We are making progress - Aidan's room is all painted, and the border is up! We've also got the valance up and the furniture in... in these pictures you can see his dresser, chest of drawers, and rocking chair. All that is left to do is put the crib together - And of course, start filling those drawers with tiny little boy clothes. That should be no problem, considering Karin has started shopping for Aidan already!

A room fit for a princess!

Ava's bedroom is coming together! Karin got the room all painted, and the border put up, and then we moved in Ava's big-girl bed. We kept the same "surfer girl" theme that she's had, so that we could keep all of her room decor like her lamps, rug, valances, etc. Not much left to do except to put up her pictures and wall hangings! We've decided to wait to do that until she is in her bed and we've taken the crib out of the room, so that we can arrange the furniture they way we want to keep it for a while.

Ava's beautiful big-girl bed... that she is completely boycotting for now! She did nap in it once, for about an hour, before getting up and asking to sleep in her crib instead! Now she sleeps in her crib that is converted into a toddler daybed... we're hoping to just let her take her time, and transition when she is ready.

The kids' bathroom is finished!

Finally - the bathroom is finished! We wanted to wait and find out the gender of baby Whetzel on the way, in order to pick out a theme that would be most appropriate for two kids sharing the same bathroom. The jungle animals have been a hit with Ava so far - she loves pointing out all the animals, and she loves to make monkey noises!!

Define "Spoiled".....

Here is Ava in Toys 'R Us.... checking her list to make sure we got everything! Life doesn't get much better than this now, does it?

A perfect day for a zoo trip!

We took Ava to the zoo this weekend for the first time - she LOVED it! The weather was perfect, and she was so excited pointing out all the different animals. It was a great day all around.

Checking out the polar bears

Ava loved the meerkats! She kept banging on the glass, waving to them, and having her own little cute conversation with them!

Ava attempting to climb in and join the zebras and the ostrich - good save Dad!

Saying hello to the llamas!

The cool underwater shark exhibit.

Ava pointing out the sharks in the "hands-on" tank where you can pet them.