Walking and Waiting...

It finally sank into my brain that there is always the potential that I could go into labor after my due date. I've had my due date in mind as the longest that I would have to wait but after my last OB visit, I'm thinking I better set my mind to working on going into labor. :) I looked at my blog posts from this point in my pregnancy with Lucia and I was actually a bit more dilated and a bit more effaced at my 38.5 week apt. than I was last Thursday. On top of that, my OB said at least one week from last Thursday which would be only 4 days before my due date. Those few things have made me super motivated to walk walk walk myself into labor. I don't know if that is really possible, but I'm going to give it a solid try. So, starting last Thursday, I have been trying to walk at least a 1.5 mile loop around our neighborhood and, when I have time, make it two 1.5 mile walks during the day. Fingers crossed for an on time labor/delivery!

Lucy-isms

And for some funny Lucy thoughts...

1. When I lay down in bed with her to read, I use one of her stuffed animals to prop up my belly. The other day she told me that she needed her baby at dinner. I told her that she needed to wait until she finished her food. She responded with "but Mama, I need baby to prop up my belly!"
2. "Oh mommy, it's sunny outside. It's such a lovely day"
3. Every time she poops, she looks in the toilet and assigns an animal name to her poop: dinosaur, alligator, snake, rhino...
4. She saw a Thomas the train pillow at the grocery store today and said "Mommy, can we get that Thomas? He loves me so much!"
5. I was greeted this morning by "Can I have some candy please?". Not good morning. Not nice to see you Mom...
6. At the U/S last week, Pat was trying to tell her what body part we were seeing on the screen like his head and arms. She said, "but daddy, wear are his shoes?"
7. Last night we had lasagna with spicy sausage in it. Lucy stuffed a nice big bite of the sausage in her mouth, her face started to contort a bit and she said "Oh no, my mouth is getting sick!"
8. This morning she pointed at my belly and said "Is brother nudie pants in there?"
9. We were walking into the house from the garage this morning and Lucy was ahead of my holding open the door while I took my shoes off. I guess I was taking a while and she said "Come on buddy"

38.5 Week Checkup

I had my 38.5 week appointment today with only 11 days to go until the due date! My OB was back in the office, so it was nice to see him again. I just feel very confident in his skills. Sadly, though, no grand cervix news to report. I am still hanging out at about 1cm dilated and 1/3 effaced. He told me that he expected I would make it at least to this time next week before going into labor. That news really isn't a shocker, though, given my due date is still 1.5 weeks out. I am just crossing my fingers that the little guy isn't late! For now, I will enjoy his crazy kicking and trying to grab his little foot that keeps trying to poke out of my right side. My next appointment is next Friday, so hopefully I'll get the "any day now" news at that appointment. It is nice to know that I can just chill for a week and not get all worked up about every little contraction thinking it could turn into labor contractions.

It is a beautifully sunny day here, so I can't complain at all. Lucy is napping and I plan to take a nice long walk with her when she wakes up. I'll just do my best to soak in as much Lucia and Pat time as possible over the next week and be grateful for our little 3 person family. They are certainly a crazy lot of fun to be around. I love to sit back and watch the crazy unfold every evening when Pat gets home. Lucy eats up all of the attention and tossing around she gets from her genuinely awesome Dad. We are both so lucky!

I also managed to make an enormous pan of lasagna this afternoon to freeze. That will be great to have around after my mom heads home and we start thinking about having cereal and oatmeal for dinners. :) Cream of Celeriac Soup is on the list to make and freeze for tomorrow. Too bad we don't have a stand alone freezer in the garage!

Harvest Festival

Did I mention that I LOVE fall in the North West!?! I think that this year is even better because we can fully enjoy all of the cheesy kid activities that come with fall time too. This weekend we went to a Harvest Festival with our friends Lauren and Ian and their daughter Eden. It was supposed to be a nasty rainy day but, as you can see from the pictures, it turned out to be mostly sunny, warm (for fall), and completely beautiful! We had a great time and Lucia was begging to go back before we had even pulled out of the parking lot. It was a hit for sure and so much fun to spend time with our good friends.

The festival had all of the tacky classics: pony rides, a mini train ride, chickens running around with their crazy feathery heads, kettle corn, apple cider, little shops full of awesomely kitsch fall decorations, and pumpkins everywhere!

Here is Lucia riding the little ponies like a pro. This was probably her favorite. Please note the intense focus that this activity takes. This is serious business people!
Lucia and Eden on the ponies
The mini train was truly mini! I wish that I could have fully captured the train car that Pat was in with the two girls. I have not idea how he managed to get in there and then out again. He took one for the team for sure. On top of the cramped quarters, this was no smooth ride! Maybe I should have kept riding it and gone into labor. ;)

A very pregnant me and my friend Lauren who I love to death! She is holding her pretend pregnant belly if you can't tell.
Our little family! It is so awesome to know that in a few short weeks, we will have another little head in our family pictures!
Lauren and Ian being creepy in the foreground and Pat being creepy in the background.
All of us together!

37.5 Week Ultra Sound

We had our ultra sound on Thursday that the doctor had ordered to check on our little guy's growth. It was pretty interesting to see him seriously smashed in there. At the 20 week ultra sound, you can see him flopping around and you can see nearly half of his body on the screen at one time. Not so this time around. :) The poor guy looks like he is in some pretty cramped quarters. The ultra sound tech tried for a while but couldn't get a decent profile shot of him. The best we got was little glimpses of his face literally smashed against the placenta. Dude needs to get himself out of there soon! Anyway, I would post pictures but we have one looking up his nose (not super exciting) and one "gender" shot as the tech. put it. It was still great to be able to see him in there even with the tiny cramped movements.

The great news is that he is growing just fine! He measures where he should, so my uterus measurement is small just because he has dropped so far into the birth canal. The U/S shows him weighing in at 6lb 7oz so far with 2.5 weeks to go. Looks like my OB is right, he will weigh around 7.5-8lb at birth if we make it all of the way to the due date. We are so grateful that our little man is doing well in there. My next appointment is on Thursday which seems like a million years away. Somehow it will come though...

37 Week Appointment

I am officially full term!!! When I was pregnant with Lucy I was under the impression that it meant that she would pop out at any minute. The logical part of my brain knows that is not true this time around but there is still the pregnancy influenced part of my brain that thinks maybe....just maybe. :) Anyway, I went in for my check up today at 37 weeks and 2 days. I am annoyed to report that it was disappointing. First, I had to see a PA because my doctor is on vacation until my apt. next week. Nothing against the PA at all but I know that she doesn't see women at this stage of pregnancy very often, so she was not quite as informative as my Dr. who has been delivering babies since the beginning of time (25+) year. Have I mentioned how much I love my doctor! The basic annoying stats are that I am still only about 1cm dilated and maybe slightly more thinned. Not a terrible amount of progress over the last week which I suppose I expected but was hoping to be happily surprised (thanks pregnancy brain). The more annoying part, however, is that the PA was slightly concerned about my belly measurements last week and said that she would be watching them. I'm not sure what exactly she measures. I think that it is either the uterus or the baby from my pelvis to his bum. The measurements were low again this week, so she is sending us in for a precautionary ultrasound tomorrow morning. I tend to think that it is overkill and that he is just riding REALLY low which he is, but of course I don't really know what I am talking about so we'll see. I am very very excited to see the little man on the big screen, so that part is very fun but I would much rather not go in at all and not have the concern looming in my hormonally charged head. It messes with me a bit because I start thinking about all of the possible complications. The other daunting thought is that my doctor won't be back to review the results with us until next Thursday. One week at this point is a very long time to wait. I may call in on Friday to see if another doctor can review the results and at least give us some information. That was a lot of rambling but I really do think that he is fine in there. His heartbeat has been great and was again today and his movements have been consistent. We'll just be praying for good news and the safe arrival of our little boy very soon!

It's Pumpkin Time!

I think that I have started to become a true Northwestern girl. I'm definitely not all the way there yet but there are signs. The first being that I think that fall may be my new favorite season! There are things that I will miss out on this year because of being pregnant like September hikes on the higher elevation trails and roadside apple cider but next year...next year. Anyway, there is much to love about fall already this year. I absolutely love the pumpkin patch! I must have gone at least a half dozen times last year and I am two visits in already this year. Who doesn't love tromping around a big field full of bright orange vegetables! This particular pumpkin patch is awesome because there are so many other lovely and tacky things to enjoy: pumpkin cookies, roasted corn, hay rides, kettle corn, apple cider, fresh corn and apples to purchase, and a corn maze!

Kristen, Hayden, Lucia, and I hit the pumpkin patch last Thursday on a gloriously sunny day. It was perfect! Lucy was afraid of getting her hands wet...what to do with that child! She loved the animals and crazy pumpkin people though.

She did manage to pick up a few pumpkins. Super cutie with her rock star glasses. ;)
The two little people by the entrance
Look! I am even wearing shorts and it was Sept. 29th!

Then Pat, Lucia, and I hit the farm again on Sunday. Lucy knew the ropes this time around and we just followed her as she jumped from one activity to the next. She was not concerned about the wet pumpkins this time around, so we had a lot of fun in the pumpkin patch looking for baby pumpkins which she then carted around the rest of the farm.

Lucy's favorite display. She talked to the queen pumpkin for quite a while.
Classic shot. I think that we have the same one from last year.
Wow....that is a giant belly! 3 weeks to go people!
And me trying to keep my pants up which is hard to do given the giant belly. :) I spent the whole day hiking up my pants. It's an attractive look I assure you!
My two favorite people in the whole in a sea of tiny pumpkins (the large pumpkins are in a field on the other side of the corn).