On the verge...

...of having this baby. :-) went to the dr today. Still had my consistent contractions, that have gotten a little more intense now that I am off my meds. These contractions I don't feel. Then the ones I actually do feel are much bigger and have increased since being off the meds as well. Of course all the action happens at night. Last night I thought we were for sure going to the hospital but I toughed it out and made it through the night. My dr said today that if I look the same on Friday as I did today, then we are having the baby Friday evening at 5:30. So excited. Hopefully I make it until then...and I'll be a few days shy of 37 weeks! So crazy!! I see my high risk dr on Thursday, and if he sees anything then maybe we'll be having this baby Thursday! Of course, if for some crazy reason I make it to friday and I look great on the monitor then the delivery will be postponed. Until next time....

Finally a post with a few pics...and it's not all about pregnancy. =) Well I guess I'll start it off with a quick pregnancy update and move on. Below is a pic of my ever expanding belly at 35 weeks. This weekend I will be 36 weeks and I still can't even believe it. Sunday evening I will be taking my last pill of medication that has been keeping my contractions under control...at least we think it has been. My dr told me to have a big breakfast Monday morning and then wait and see what happens. If nothing happens, then I can eat lunch and dinner(this is because I'm having a c-section). Tuesday morning, same thing, big breakfast and then I have a dr appt at 10:30. So it'll be interesting to see if this little guy makes his debut soon, or decides to stay put. =) In the mean time, God has given me the patience I needed and I have been enjoying these last moments of being pregnant and gaining more weight, waking up to pee 5 times a night, the horrible back aches because my weak core can't handle these boobs and this belly. My dr told me to still respect bedrest this week and then I can disrespect it starting this weekend. =) SOOOO thankful for how far we have come....

 Last weekend we had a day of fun. Or I should say I got to be a part of the day of fun. My family has continued to have days like this, I just got to come along this time. The kids played, the adults played(rally car) and then we had dinner and watched Supercross. I haven't been able to watch the girls ride in a long time, so it was fun to see.

We have SO been enjoying this ridiculously nice weather with lots of bike riding. Our little Devan finally decided to go without her training wheels. The girl has been able to ride without them since she was 3, but she didn't have much interest in riding. She asked that her training wheels be put back on, so her Daddy obliged. After a couple weeks with them on, we talked her in to taking them off again. Since she's about to be a big sister and all, she agreed. And off she went...keeping up with the big kids like a pro! =) Next up...taking the training wheels off her motorcycle.

We loved the 4 day weekend we just had. It was a much needed break from school for Taylor. So far this week she's had a better time at school. Danny and I have started looking in to a few other options as far as school's go and are super excited about it. We are going to continue to pray about it, and I'll share more when and if we decide to go in a different direction. Think that's about it for now!!

The latest...

...real quick. Went to the dr's today. Everything is pretty much the same. Last Thursday I got switched back to my dose of meds I was in before taking them every 6 hours instead of a bigger dose once a day. Have been feeling a little better since then. There was def. a little more action on the monitor today at my appointment today, which I am sure is due to me being on a lower dose. I take my last dose of meds sunday night. So come monday morning I will wake up and be drug free and anxiously await labor day. My dr seems pretty sure it will be very soon after I stop the medication. So looking forward to what the next week holds for us!

Baby stats from my high risk appt last Thursday: maverick measured 6lbs 1oz. They think he has a lot of hair!! And he was sucking his thumb!

Where to begin....things have been tough around here. Real tough. On all of us. We are at the end of one journey, anxiously waiting to begin the next. I have wanted to break down several times lately and give up. I've wanted to say that I can't do this anymore. But before I can get to that point, I am very quickly reminded that I can do this, but not alone. I need my God. Because with Him, I can do all things. Taylor has been having an especially hard time lately. She does not like her teacher at school and has been having a hard time academically. School does not come easy to her at all, so it's something she has to work extra hard at. Which is not a bad thing, she can't be naturally good at everything she does. :) but shes hard on herself. She gets easily frustrated. She's not an easy one to teach, so we get easily frustrated as well. My worst fears about school have come true. Taylor is gone all day at school, and then comes home and we sit and do more school work to help her with all the stuff she doesn't understand, which ends up with tears, cause she gets frustrated. Then it's dinner time, shower time, and bedtime. And that's pretty much how everyday goes. I'm sure it's just a phase, but it's been hard. Aside from all the school issues, we've been having emotional issues with her as well. She's very sensitive to begin with, but there have been tears about everything. Don't need to get too detailed about this, but lots of tears pretty much sums it all up. And it's hard because I don't feel like I can totally be there for her. I feel like with everything going on at school and with everything going on at home, that she is carrying the weight of the world, but she's only 6. I think it's a lot of different emotions for her to be dealing with all at once. It's hard to watch, because she is 6 years old and should be loving school and should be smiling more. She shouldn't be crying this much, and be this sad. Im hoping the arrival of her brother will be a smooth transition for her...And the rest of us.
It has all been worth it though. I don't regret our decision in any way. None of us, including my dr's thought we'd get this far. It's amazing,it truly blows my mind. One of my nurses mentioned something about does this make me want another one cause we've gotten so far. No way!! It's made me think about God's plan. I've sat here thinking that this should've been done for me when I was pregnant with devan. I should have been monitored this closely with her, and maybe she wouldn't have come so early. But then if that were the case, if I was going through all this the second time around, we probably would not have gone through it again a third time. So I'm thankful for everything. I would not go back and change a thing. Now I anxiously await this little guys arrival. I'm not gonna lie, I'm more anxious about this c-section than any of the others. I just pray that everything goes smoothly.
My appointment yesterday was fine. My dr thinks the second I go off my medication that I will go into labor. My uterus was very irritable yesterday and that's being on a strong dose of meds. Tomorrow at my high risk appointment we will discuss what that dr thinks. Will he keep me on the meds till 36 weeks? Will he take me off at 35 weeks? Hopefully his arrival date will be somewhat planned. It being my 3rd c-section and all. My dr doesn't want me contracting a lot, and he wants to have a good assistant for the surgery. SO yes, that leaves me a little anxious feeling...But God is in control.
Looking forward to meeting this little guy! Cannot wait to bring him home and start our new life as a family of 5! Hopefully I'll have some exciting news tomorrow after my dr appointment! Stay tuned...

God is good....

...even if we hadn't made it this far, God is still good. But we've made it!! 34 weeks!! Got my final round of steroids this weekend for the baby's lungs. I have an appt tomorrow and see my peri on Thursday. Looking forward to Thursday's appt to see how big baby is measuring. He should be close to 6lbs...which blows my mind! :)
I will ask my peri when exactly I'll be going off the nifedipine. I'm pretty sure when I go off of that it will be baby time. I would be very surprised if he still stays put. I'm on a pretty hefty dose of the medicine and still have irritability and by the end of the day I start contracting pretty good. So we'll see! Should be an exciting next couple of weeks!

Setting new records!!

Well, we've made it to 33 weeks!! Never have I been this pregnant before. Kinda funny being in new pregnancy territory, not knowing what to expect, and it being my third pregnancy. Remember how I said before that my favorite part of being pregnant was being able to feel the baby move? Well that was before when the biggest baby I had in me was a sweet 4lb baby girl. Those sweet movements have turned into take my breath away painful karate kicks and stretches from an over 5lb brute of a boy. I know 5lbs is no where close to being a brute, but in my world it is. :) instead of this little guy being in the correct position like most fellow 33 weekers he has decided to stay breech. Therefore kicking and pushing on all my lovely lady parts. I swear, sometimes I feel like he's gonna kick his leg through and be dangling out. Sorry, TMI. So back to the unchartered pregnancy territory...does this only get worse as he gets bigger and stronger? Or do they kinda mellow out and not move as much because they start running out of wiggle room? Anyways, I have a dr appt tomorrow and prob another one on Thursday. Towards the end of this week I will get the steroid booster shot, which I believe I have to go to the hospital for. Think they will monitor for a little bit afterwards because I think the shot can trigger contractions. And since I'm already have contractions being on my meds, wonder what it will do to me...? Today would be a fun day to have Mav because it's his daddy's birthday! Happy birthday Danny!!! Xoxo until next time....

Oh my....

...as if I couldn't get any more confused this pregnancy. Went to my high risk dr today. Good news, baby looks awesome. He measured 4lbs 14oz. Big boy!!!! That's big, considering how far along I am. Anyways, the confusing part was that I have funneling again and my cervix measured 2.1....which means it is thinning. Both of my dr's did not seem too concerned. The thing is, last time I had funneling and a shortened cervix, I was sent to the hospital for steroids and I ended up being in labor. And I don't feel it!!! SO I guess I just sit here and wait. Wait to see if I make it to tomorrow morning where I will go see my OB again and get hooked up to monitors to see if I'm contracting, to hopefully have some peace of mind over the weekend. So, still on this emotional roller coaster. Tuesday's appointment was awesome, everything looked great, thought I was gonna sail through another week. 2 days later, things look different and now we're on our toes again. Lesson in all this...trust in the Lord and lean not on my own understanding....or else I drive myself crazy! :) to be continued...

Blogger Challenged and Preggo Pics

It amazes me how challenged I am when it comes to this blogger design thing. Actually, it scares me more than anything because I am already falling behind in technology. I have just spent over an hour trying to figure out how to get rid of certain templates and I just can't figure it out. So I'm stuck with a weird looking blog. Whatever.

Had a great dr appointment yesterday! Cervix feels great and I had practically no irritibility. Best I've looked on the monitor in a long time! Continueing to stay doubled up on my medication and bedrest. I see my high risk dr tomorrow so I'll find out how long he will keep me on meds. My OB said once I hit 34 weeks, which is in about a week and half, I'll be able to have more freedom. Being able to get up more and do little things here and there. So that's something to look forward too. =) If things keep going the way they are, I'm gonna have to start getting prepared to bring this baby home with me! I don't know what to pack in the diaper bag to take to the hospital!? Some clothes and diapers?? We'll have to get the carseat ready and put the base in the car. The thought of possibly bringing Maverick home with us kinda freaks me out. I'm gonna feel like a first time mom. Ok, I might be getting ahead of myself a bit here, we still have a few weeks to make it through to get close to that point. But, it is kind of exciting thinking that that could be a possibility.

It is so weird to think that soon we will be a family of 5. We are going to have 3 kids!! On our way to my dr appt yesterday Danny and I were talking about how humbled we feel. We are so blessed and don't feel like we deserve any of it. What an awesome God we have. It has been SO neat to look back at what God has done in our lives over the past 8 years that we've been married. He has always provided for us. ALWAYS. In the good times and the bad. I was on the verge of tears on the drive home from my appointment just thinking about how for so long, we thought that we shouldn't have anymore kids. The dr I had with Devan told me I should be done. It's neat to look back at our journey that got us to where we are today. It took 3 1/2 years for our dreams of getting pregnant again to come true. But they did. And it was all in the Lord's timing and plans...not ours. I thank the Lord for finding the new dr's that I did. What a difference to find dr's who are positive and encouraging and willing to do what it takes to give you the most successful pregnancy possible! I have beat the "statistics" that say when you have preemies, they'll just keep coming earlier and earlier. So thankful for that....

Anyways, here are some pics from the beginning to where we are now....they are nothing fancy, totally ghetto. I hardly have any pics from when I was pregnant with the girls, so i wanted to make sure I took a few more this time.

**2 1/2 months**

**3 months**

**4 months**

**5 1/2 months**

**almost 7 months**

**8 months**