P3 Pregnancy: 37 weeks

Well, we have made it to “Full Term!”

I/we are so ready to meet baby sister!  Everything has lined up very well for us…my work is caught up, and I found out that leaving before Christmas break (if needed) will NOT be a problem and I will be paid for the 3 week holiday.  On top of that, that 3 weeks won’t even count towards the 12 weeks of FMLA allowed.  So officially, I could have like 4 months off to take care of our little monkey.  Realistically, we can’t afford that (because it would be all unpaid) but it’s good to know I could do that if the need arose.

Here’s a 37 week picture, taken on my phone (very grainy!) by Shelby.  Large.

Speaking of work, we have 1 more week before we are out for Christmas.  The kids have 2 weeks of school left.  Yesterday we got ALL of the Christmas presents wrapped.  The kids shopped for all their aunts and uncles after school and both helped wrap all of  those too.  Feels so good to be ready yet now, again, I’m bored.  haha.

I have no clothes left that fit.  The shirt above, bought last week, is the ONLY shirt I have that covers my belly completely.  The pants are the only pants I have that fit me (though they are becoming very uncomfortable on the belly too.) 

At my 37 week appointment, my doctor did an “internal” check and said I am 1 cm dilated and 50-60% effaced.  I have NEVER been any amount dilated before going into labor.  With both Shelby and Coleman, my water broke and even at that point I was only a fingertip (not even a cm) dilated.  So this is exciting.  I am having contractions every night, some worse than others.  If I time them, they are definitely coming within the realm of when they tell you to go to the hospital (10 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute, for 1 hour) but they still always let up.  I am not sure how I will tell when we really SHOULD go but I figure I will just finally know.  Doc said that one thing is to make sure they are getting worse---more painful.  They have been getting a little painful some nights but not too bad.  I am just glad they are working at doing something (the little bit of dilation!) instead of just being a pest.

Now the next date I’ve got my sights set on is Sunday!  We will be having a big cold front move through and Dr. Walters said that those big drops in barometric pressure really do always result in more women going into labor/water breaking/etc.  She said especially when it rains.  Bring on the cold front and precip!  It’s all a waiting game now so I am having fun trying to “plan” and grasping at little hopes that it may happen soon.

This will be quick:

weight gained so far?: 36 lbs in 37 weeks. 

sleep?: As good as can be expected.  Lots of bathroom breaks.  Lots of dreams about going into labor.

best moment of the week?: It’s been a good, low key week.  Nothing stands out but it was a great week!

Miss Anything? I am actually very bored and useless feeling.  I miss being physically able to run errands, or do whatever I want.

Movement:  Lots!

food cravings?: Not really.  Can’t eat much at once.  Always hungry, but nothing sounds good.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but emotional. :) 

looking forward to?: Meeting Molly!

Christmas at home

This year we got out our Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving.  Normally I don’t do that but we’ve been in “Get everything done” mode so it just made sense to get this done before hitting 36 weeks.

We didn’t put out as much as we normally do (which is not a lot…)  Mainly just the tree, nativity, and stockings.  Normally the kids have their own trees in their rooms but since they are sharing a room now, there just isn’t room.  Hopefully next year we’ll be in a bigger house with space for all our little trees!

Shelby put out the nativity.

 

The boys put the lights on the tree. 

He really was a huge help!

Then I helped unwrap/pass out ornaments while Shelby, Cole, and daddy put them on the tree.

The completed tree!!

 

Shelby liked comparing her handprint to this wittle one from 2007.

We also got our Molly stocking in and it is happily hanging from the mantel.  Our Elf, “Elfert” (named by Coleman) decided to check it out one night.

A Shower for Molly Rose

My longest best friend Kelly threw a beautiful baby shower at her home for little baby sis.  You can see the gorgeous invitation that she framed for me here in the picture:

We were so glad to have Nana travel to be here.  We were definitely missing Seester Millie though!!

Molly & me with Nonnie, Molly, and Gram.  There’s plenty of motherly love in this family!

Big sis was so excited about this shower for her baby sis.

Kelly (and her mom and mother-in-law) made it all so beautiful.  Cake balls and cute little baby booties with nuts.  How cute are they?!

Ready to open presents.   The brown paper box is a homemade gift straight from Molly’s aunt in Espana.  So cool!

Shelby helped open all the gifts.  I am not sure it’s possible to take a good picture while opening gifts.  I must have been gabbing away the whole time.  :)

We were blesses with so many thoughtful and personal gifts from our friends and family.

This is Molly’s quilt made by Gram.  Beautiful!!

We already call her Molly Monkey.  Nana found a red and pink sock monkey for her room!

This is a growth chart hand-painted to match her bedding (from Nana).  Etsy is awesome!

This is us opening the Spain box.  Shelby made us save it for last. :)

Aunt Millie made us a special sign to hang on her hospital door announcing her birthday, weight, etc.  It is so beautiful and special!  We already have it in a special spot on her wall, ready to grab on our way to the hospital!

Of course there were tears when I read the card, because I just wanted Mill to be there with us!

The thoughtful hostesses even got big sis and big bro their own gifts.  Shelby takes this fashion notebook to school everyday and she and her friends love it!

Thank you to all who were here to celebrate our little P3, and all who were here in spirit from afar.  What a beautiful afternoon it was!!

P3: 35 (and a half) weeks

Pictures at 34 weeks, 6 days…Thanksgiving day 2012!

I never updated after my 34 week doctor appointment.  We had the sonogram and Daddy was able to be there too.  The sonographer felt on my belly with her hands, saying she just wanted to guess what position she was in.  She said she thought she was probably in the same position with her head up by my right ribs.  I sort of agreed, since I (again) hadn’t felt any huge flips or thumps.  As soon as she put the device on my belly, she said, “Nope, I’m wrong!  Her head’s down here!”  Right where it was supposed to be. :)  Good girl, Molly!

They don’t check their weight/size again so soon, so she just looked at her heart rate (high 130’s) and watched for some “practice breathing,” which Molly didn’t really want to do.  We had waited in the waiting room for 45 minutes, where she was kicking and moving like crazy, but by the time we were in the room, baby was sleepy!  She wouldn’t move much for the sonographer, but after some prodding on my belly, she finally did some practice breaths that satisfied her.

Next, we went right into the doctor’s appointment, which was completely uneventful.  “Yay for head down…How do you feel? …  any contractions?  (yes, nightly) … any leaking?  (no) … cramping?  (not much…)  blah blah blah… See ya in 2 weeks!”  One great thing to note is that I still have great low blood pressure and no swelling at all.  My ankles are still very much visible. :)

This week starts our weekly OB visits, every Thursday.  Also, if I were to have Molly at the same gestation that Coleman was born, it would be this Thursday!  That’s very crazy to think about, though there’s really no reason to believe she will come that early.  Although I am completely uncomfortable and READY TO HOLD HER in my arms, it would really be best if she stays in there for at least 1.5 more weeks for her health (to be full-term at 37 weeks) and at least 2.5 more weeks for my work and financial convenience.  If I have to go on maternity leave before our Christmas break (which starts December 15th,) that will just complicate lots of things.  I try to keep that in mind during my 18,000 huge efforts to roll from side to side at night, and during my 4+ nightly bathroom visits.  :)

But we are ready, whenever she decides to get here.  Our Christmas tree is up (pictures coming soon,) her room is ready (pictures coming soon,) her clothes are washed, the hospital bag is mostly packed, and Shelby and Coleman’s Christmas presents are all bought (they need to be wrapped.) 

Our countdown to Christmas paper link chain is hung in the living room.  29 days!  Coleman really wanted to do a countdown for Molly, but it’s hard to understand that we don’t know exactly when she’ll be here, so we can’t count down to it! 

weight gained so far?: 31 lbs in 34 weeks. 

sleep?: Not so great.  Lots of rolling from side to side (which is a big event) and it’s almost impossible for me to get comfortable.  Lots of bathroom breaks.

best moment of the week?: Spending quality family time with our sweet family for Thanksgiving…we got to travel to Nana and Papa G’s house in Powderly, where there was 100% relaxation, conversation, food, and football!  And of course, tractor rides for the kids.  We got to skype with Millie and Luke in Spain, and found out that they will be coming home for CHRISTMAS!  And for MOLLY!  We are so excited that they will be here to share this special time with all of us!!!!  There was also some great family-of-four time for the Pecks.  We went to the Fort Worth parade of lights the day after Thanksgiving (pictures to come) and then on Saturday had a family date to see Wreck it Ralph followed by lunch and a stroll around downtown Fort Worth.

Miss Anything? Yeah, I miss almost everything :)  We are having some great weather and I wish I was out enjoying it more.  I feel pretty useless and lazy lately, but Jeffie is great at reminding me that I just need to relax and remember that I’m 8 months pregnant and should be doing less than normal.  :)

Movement:  Lots of movement that I am cherishing, the one thing I’m sad about being over with soon.

food cravings?: Well, I just made a batch of amazingly crunchy chocolate chip and reeses pieces cookies.  I must have been craving that. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty happy.  A little “blah” and useless feeling…very anxious. 

looking forward to?: Being done with work (temporarily) in 3 weeks.  Molly’s birth day!

Green Extreme Soccer Fall 2012

Shelby decided to play soccer on a team with some of her school friends this season.  It was closer to home for us so that made the weekly practices so much easier!

I didn’t take many pictures this season.  And we missed team picture day. 

I caught the 4 GVE Gators on the stands one day (Corbin, Shelby, Bella, Rylie)

and a couple of Sissy on the field:

The end of season party was at Cici’s:

Halloween 2012

Halloween was on Wednesday this year.  On Saturday evening, the city and our church had their Halloween festivals/Trunk or treat.  I’m glad we had a couple of nights to dress up and show off these awesome little costumes.

Saturday, Daddy and Poppy took our little cheetah and Captain America to the festivals while Nonnie and I stayed home and cleaned out Shelby’s closet.  But first, I took pictures of our little characters!

 

 

Daddy let me talk him into taking the camera and getting a few shots from their nights out at the festivals.

I think Buddy is having fun here :)

 

Then on Halloween night we got to dress up and do it all again!  This time Mommy went to, and we walked around our neighborhood trick-or-treating for about an hour.