24 Week Update

I see the little lady on my sidebar ticker got larger today, ha! I'm not entirely sure how accurate 24 weeks is. According to my NFP charting I'm 24 weeks, but that was a completely wonky cycle for me, so I'm not entirely confident in my charting that month. According to the ultrasounds, I'm 25 and a half weeks along. My appt. last Thursday was a LONG one, and all my appts. from now on will be also. I had my appt., my usual monthly ultrasound with the doctor, he checked my cervix, then I was sent down to have another ultrasound with the tech to get precise measurements of my cervix, then I had another appt. right away with my doctor. The good news is that I am not dilated at all, and my cervical length is normal! This is great news considering that I was dilated and in pre-term labor with Isabella at 24 weeks! The not as good news - some days I'm having a lot of contractions, and the baby is low and "in position". My doctor is not too worried at this point though, so no bed rest or medications yet, yay! Since my cervical length was so good, he decided not to do the pre-term labor test yet. If anything has changed in 3 weeks, I'll be getting steroid shots to develop the baby's lungs faster.

He also told me that if I make it until then, he'll be inducing me 2 weeks early. The reason for this is that my labor with Isabella went insanely FAST (from 4 cm to having her out in 15 minutes!)! He wants to make sure I get to the hospital in time. He was telling us about a patient he just had who delivered her baby just as they were pulling in to the hospital parking lot! I know a lot of people don't like to be induced or have a scheduled delivery, but I am more than okay with it. Having that fast of labor was scary, and it's something that's been on mind lately, hoping I can get to the hospital in time, especially considering Monte's mom is the one who will be coming to get Isabella, and she is 1 and a half hours away. We also live 20 miles from the hospital. I can't believe I only have 3 months to go! Please, please pray with us that this little baby doesn't take after big sister, and decide to make too early of appearance!

This and That - Time Flies Edition

I turned the big 3-0 on Sunday, yikes! I can't believe I'm no longer in my twenties, boo. :( We went home to my parents for the weekend to celebrate my nephew's First Communion. It was great to see everyone, and we all went out to eat on Saturday night to celebrate my birthday. Following the weekend at my parents, Isabella and I went home with my sister and her family to stay for a few days. Our girls had a BLAST playing together, they are both three, and you can tell how much older they are getting, as they now just go off and play together without even needing us around! My sweet little nephew is now 8 months old, and is a very easygoing little guy. My sister and I and the kids all went shopping one day, which was great fun, and the rest of the time was spent talking and baking while the girls played in a big princess tent in the basement.

We've had really nice weather up until this past week, the amount of wind we've had lately has been insane! And now there's a chance of SNOW tomorrow, yuck!

Monte was gone on a trip for work a few weeks ago, thankfully my mom came out to keep me sane while he was gone.

We're looking forward to a visit from my mother-in-law tomorrow. She'll be staying with us overnight, and staying with Isabella while I have my OB appt. I'm almost 24 weeks, which is the point that I went into labor with Isabella for the first time, that makes me a tiny bit nervous, I'm so glad I have an appt. tomorrow! I can't believe that right now I'm only 10 and a half weeks away from the point when I delivered Isabella.

Isabella is SO excited about this baby, she can hardly stand it! She talks about it all the time, she's going to be a big helper.

My energy levels I had the other week have definitely dropped off! I have two more closets to clean out, then I will have gone through everything in the house. I really want to get it done, and am determined that I will get it done, but don't have much of a desire to do it anymore. I'm starting to feel more fatigued, like I was in the beginning, and have been resting when Isabella takes her naps, which drastically cuts down on my "getting stuff done" time.

And that's about all I've got for now!

Meet Gertrude

Isabella LOVES her babies, that's for sure! She was so excited when I told her that her baby "Gertrude" could now be her outside baby. Gertrude comes everywhere with her when we are outside. As you can see, Gertrude loves to be a passenger in the Jeep . . .

Gertrude loves going down the slide . . .

And she loves to swing . . .

But I think Gertrude's favorite thing is being pushed around in the stroller for her daily walk around the block!

22 Weeks

Isabella cracks me up in this picture, I didn't even know she was there. She's apparently showing off her belly too! I feel like I've blimped up . . . everywhere . . . lately, bleh . . .

Isabella wanted her picture taken with Daddy, too.

Workin' Hard

I'm not sure what it is - second trimester bliss, nesting, or just in the mood for spring cleaning, but I'm sure that I have never felt this energetic in my life!! Despite having intense pelvic pain again this pregnancy, and feeling like my tailbone is about ready to fall off, I am getting tons accomplished. So far this week I have cleaned out the car, cleaned the garage, including organizing the outside toys, cleaned out all my laundry room cabinets (which is one whole wall), cleaned out most of the kitchen drawers and cabinets, cleaned out my closet, dresser, and even the dreaded, dusty under the bed area, washed, ironed, and hung back up some of my curtains, and I will not stop until I've cleaned out every closet/ cupboard / drawer in this house! So far I have thrown away about 6 garbage bags of junk, and sacked up 3 big bags of stuff to donate to our church rummage sale in June. I feel like I need to make more room before the baby comes, and I'm hoping, in my haste, I didn't get rid of too many of my clothes just because they don't fit me right now! I got rid of a huge black garbage bag of clothes! In addition to that I'm finding myself doing things that I normally do once a week, like scrubbing the floors, about every other day. I just can't get my floors clean enough, people!! I can't even stand having dirty clothes in the hamper right now, and am finding myself washing one shirt at a time as soon as I take it off, what a waste, somebody stop me!! This is so not me, usually I seem to let the laundry pile up, or think the floors can go just one more day (or two, or three) before being scrubbed. Anyway, I better get back to work, the hallway closet is next, as well as washing windows outside. And I'll leave you with a few pictures. I'm not the only one tidying up around here, Isabella has been "helping" me clean inside, as well as helping Daddy get the yard in tip top shape.

They got a few things planted in the garden.

Resting on the porch afterward.

Halfway there!

I'm 20 weeks, which is the official halfway point. Though, as I said earlier, I will be SHOCKED if I go the full 40 weeks! I'm praying to make it to 36. They took detailed measurements of my cervix, and it is within the normal range for right now, *whew*! At my next two appointments they will be doing the fetal fibronectin test to determine my chances of going into pre-term labor. We got to see the baby in action on the ultrasound, he or she was very busy swallowing amniotic fluid, that was neat to see. The ultrasound tech said only about 1 in 10 get to see that. Also, when Isabella was a baby, and also during her ultrasounds, she ALWAYS had at least one of her hands touching her face (usually covering her eye), it appears this baby has the same tendancy. :)

Easter

We had a very nice Easter weekend at Monte's parents. Just one of Monte's sisters was there, but Isabella still had a blast with her two cousins that were there.

Isabella in her pretty Easter dress, with the purse great-grandma bought for her.

Family picture. Me at 19 weeks. I had a neighbor tell me recently that I looked big for how far along I am. Of course that sent me into a hormonal crying fit later. I probably shouldn't let it bother me, but it REALLY does. Maybe I am a little on the big side, but I don't think I'm HUGE, this is one of the first maternity shirts I've worn.

Easter egg hunt.








Blowing bubbles with cousins.