33 Weeks

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday and everything was fine. My uterus is measuring right on for April 17 being my due date. I always hope she will say I'm due sooner, but no! My blood pressure was 90/50. I think that's pretty good for getting two little boys out of the van, into the stroller, into the building, then entertaining them for 20-30 minutes before being called back. Also, this week Canon decided to spill cheerios on the floor and stomp them into the carpet right as the doctor walked into the room. Yes, that was fun! Ducky3's heart rate was 138. If I didn't have pictures saying she is a girl, I'd still be convinced she's a boy! Her heart rate is exactly where the boy's were. I guess we'll only know for sure once she arrives.

On the day-to-day side of things I am feeling very cramped. I think this baby is stretched out from my left hip to my right arm pit. She is taking up my entire abdomen. I think she might be a bed hog on the other side of this belly. I have been having at least a few contractions every day. The other night I had two that were 10 minutes a part, then nothing. It is still way to early for her to come, but I am hypersensitive to all the weird things I am feeling. I think my emotions are evening out a bit. I am not crying at the drop of a hat, but I can explode that quickly. So, I may still have a little balancing left to do. 

So, here are the pics I promised. NO LAUGHING!!! But, if you are feeling fat on day, just glance back at these pictures and you'll feel great about yourself again! Enjoy!

^This is what I look like normally. If I were to see you in public, or on most days, I am wearing black. I am not morbid or depressed, but I look much smaller in black!

^This is what's hiding under that black shirt! It is also a good reason to NOT get your belly button pierced. This is also a picture of my one noticeable stretch mark that I received while pregnant with Canon. I would not have gotten my belly button pierced if I knew it would look so ugly!

^Here I am breathing out to give you the full effect of the boulder.

^Here I am sucking in! Ha, just for laughs!

While loading these pics I thought I'd share some other pregnancy thoughts with you. I can not get enough of the calendar these days. With having 3 possible due dates, I am scheming and thinking of all the possible days this little one could be born. With the 3 due dates and Boaz being born 3 weeks early, I have about 6 weeks to work with. Today I am 33 weeks according to my last due date. According to the due date I first thought, I am 35 weeks. Either way, we will be putting the car seat in the car next weekend and my bag will be packed next week. When Boaz was born the only thing I had ready was Canon's bag and a typed list of what I needed to pack. Labor is not the best time to pack that bag! So, if April 4th is my "real" due date and Ducky3 comes as early as Boaz did, she will arrive on March 11th. If the 17th is my "real" due date and Ducky3 comes late like her big brother, Canon, she will come on April 19th. The trouble is that Albert will be gone for two weeks right in the middle of this "Due Period." So, if any of you are looking for some laughs, you're welcome to come and stay with us during that time! Ha! Albert's Dad and sister are each going to come for a couple of days while Albert is gone and I am still figuring out what I'll do during the other days. So, the real  concern with the time that Albert is gone is that if my due date of the 17th is correct and the baby comes as early as Boaz, she will be born on March 26th. This date is right in the middle of the time Albert will be gone. I am anxious to see God's timing!

Get Your Guess On!

Ok friends and family, it's time to get your guess in! Ducky3 is well on her way and I hope she comes sooner than later! Here are all of the stats to help you make the best guess. Please leave your guess of her birthday and weight as a comment or send an e-mail. Maybe we'll actually do a prize this time!

Canon was due August 17
Born August 19
9 lbs

Boaz was due January 14
Born December 22
7 lbs 2 oz

Ducky3 is due April 4, 11 or 17 (the Dr. is going with the 17th)
born ???
weight???

Driscoll's new book

Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. Not only that, but they are also giving away five subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine and a copy of their Bible Study Library software! Enter to win on the Bible Study Magazine Mark Driscoll page, then take a look at all the cool tools they have to take your Bible study to the next level!

Book Release

Albert and I have grown tremendously over the last several years due to the teaching of Pastor Mark Driscoll. I have listed Mars Hill Church's blog in my side bar, along with The Resurgence blog. Pastor Mark writes on both of these frequently. Driscoll has released a couple of books over the last couple of years and has just released another. Along with this book, the publisher is starting a Bible Study Magazine. We already have a few of Driscoll's books, but would love to have this new one, Vintage Church, for free. So, check out these two web sites to find out a little more info. biblestudymagazine.com/driscoll ; Logos.com 

Who knows if I'll win, the book is worth every penny of the cost, but it's worth a shot!

A special night

Albert and I were actually able to go on a date without having family in town! Friday night was a "Dining out" for the squadron. This is a 98% mandatory event that we all have to pay a small fortune to attend. But, let's face it, we would not have gone on a date if we weren't forced to. Not because we don't like dates, but several other reasons. It's a hassle to find a sitter, the boys were sick all week, and Albert was busy with work all week. We are more "home-bodies" and probably would have preferred a semi-quiet evening popping popcorn and watching a movie with the boys. But, we had a great time!

It was a semi-formal event, so Albert wore his dress blues (which are black) and I wore my only semi-formal maternity dress. My sweet mom-in-law sent me a shawl from Mexico to borrow. It worked perfectly. Though, I'm still not quite sure how you're supposed to wear a shawl. Several of the girls had one on and only one girl seemed to really know what she was doing with it! that made me feel much better! So, we got dressed up and went to the Grand Ballroom at a fancy hotel downtown. I can't remember the name of the "restaurant" but it was delicious! There are a lot of ceremonial things that take place and the guys cut up a bit. We had a wonderful time.

Upon arriving home, we found that Canon had thrown up in his bed. I am somewhat thankful that we did not hear about this until we were home. My Sunday school teacher and her teenage daughter were watching the boys and fully capable of handling the situation. But, if I had known about it while we were out, I would have been worried. They were a huge blessing though and took care of the boys perfectly. They even cleaned up all of the dinner dishes!

So, here is a picture of our first date since October...... maybe. I know we went on one in June and our friends watched the boys sometime before Christmas, so maybe November. Any who, we had a blast!

A fun morning

Today is supposed to be my "clean house" day. So, this morning I was putting away the laundry that has been folded since Tuesday and got side tracked by Boaz's clothes that are too small for him. We are having some friend's babysit tonight, and I want the house to be clean for them........ why did I feel the need to put his clothes away today??? Anyway, as I was getting bins from the shed I noticed a couple of Canadian geese in the grass across the street from our house. *side note: It was 10 a.m. and all of us were still in our pjs. So, I ran inside and told Canon to put some shoes on. I put some pants and shoes on, grabbed Boaz and some bread and out we went. I was sure the geese would fly off, but as soon as we started throwing bread in their direction they liked us! Canon and I stood in the street throwing bread towards them for a while. One would eat and the other would straighten his neck out and keep watch. Boaz wanted to have fun too, so he asked for a piece of bread. I thought he might try to throw it, but he ate it instead! Canon needed a bite to eat too. Thankfully the geese did not come up to the pieces of bread Canon had thrown until after we came back inside the house. I was a little worried that they would attack us. But after finishing our bread Canon and I decided the geese must be from the zoo. They definitely have been fed by people before, but know to keep there distance!

32 weeks

I meant to update sooner, but time just sneaks away these days! So, I will try to give a little pregnancy update each Friday. I'm sure that I will fail, but that is my goal. We'll see how it goes.

Last Monday, almost two weeks ago, I had a doctor's appointment. Everything was fine. According to the doctor's scale I have .5 lbs until my "I don't want to weigh more than this" weight. According to my scale at home I have 3-4 lbs until then. My best conclusion is that I am going to weigh more than I'd like to weigh. At least I know that I can loose the weight. There are just some numbers that you don't want to see on the scale though! My belly is getting nice and big. I hope this doesn't mean Ducky3 is going to be big like her oldest big brother was. I think Boaz's size (7 lbs. 2 oz) is much more ideal. I'm only really feeling Ducky3 move when I am sitting down at nap time, relaxing in the evening or going to bed. I think my mind just must be preoccupied the rest of the time. That or my movement rocks her to sleep the rest of the day. I do feel her sometimes in the middle of the night when I get up to go to the bathroom. I think we might have to do a little work on her days and nights when she gets here. 

I've been having a bit of lower back/upper rear pain. It comes and goes and sometimes is extremely painful. I also have shooting pains in other areas. This could be round ligament pain. I had this with Boaz and thought it was my cervix getting prepped, but I was probably wrong. This is also very painful and both areas of pain will stop me in my tracks. Thankfully neither area hurts constantly and I am usually able to continue on with the task at hand within a few minutes. Ducky3 has also brought on some lovely pregnancy rash. She is exposing my body to all the parts of pregnancy that my boys spared me! It just makes me wonder what she'll be like on the outside!

I think that's all for now. I have an appointment on Monday. Dr. Nightingale still says I'm due April 17th. As of right now, I hope she is right. Albert's squadron wants him to be gone until April 1st! Please keep us in your prayers regarding this time frame and Ducky3's arrival. I am a little more than nervous about him being gone. Check back for more pregnancy info and maybe a belly pic next week.

The Octuplets

I just have to write something about this situation. There is a special on Dateline, so I might chat a little while they are interviewing her. Enjoy!

I think it is interesting that this Nadia's mother would not speak to Dateline, that seems a little odd. 

........ commercial break .........

Ok, back to the mother, Nadia. I read an article on her situation the other day, it was very interesting. My heart aches for her. She has been called all sorts of terrible names by people who do not even know her. I must admit that I do think she has a problem, a problem that a lot of women have. It seems that she has turned her worship, worth and life toward children. It seems that her need for children is really a distortion of her need for Jesus Christ. I don't think this is an uncommon issue among women, others just don't have a spotlight on them like this lady. 

........... back to the show ............

She had 6 children in 5 1/2 years. That would make me crazy being a happily married mama! I have to wonder if she would be given the same attention if she were happily married and having children in this time frame. Here is the question that offends me, "You have six healthy children, what would possess you to want another baby?" Again, I have to wonder if she would be asked this if she were married and having babies naturally. Our society certainly things six kids is more than enough. Heck, they think three kids is only acceptable if your first two are the same gender. And, if the third is the opposite, well then you must be done and tying the tubes! 

I have to wonder why the doctor harvested so many eggs to begin with. I totally understand why she did not want to throw any away, but again, why did they take so many to start with! She says that 6 embryos were implanted each time she went through IVF. Now they are questioning her for not "selectively eliminating" any of the babies. Again, if she was willing to throw a baby away, wouldn't she have done it before the implantation instead of after the babies started growing? The way the other people are talking about Nadia makes her sound like a baby hoarder for wanting to give all of her babies a chance at life. Ah, my thoughts are all over the place about this. 

Okay, that's enough commentating. I think we've all spent at least a few minutes thinking about this mother's situation. Like I said before, I think she is suffering from a problem that we all have. We are all created to worship the one true God, Jesus Christ, and we all turn that worship to sinful things. In this case it is having children and being a mother, for me it is often what people think of my parenting. The real issue here is not baby hoarding, but a heart issue. I think we should all be praying that this mother and all women who want children will first seek the will of our Father and have peace in His will.

(hope this makes a little bit of sense!)

Pregnancy Update

"Pregnancy Brain" is something that I claim from the first knowledge of pregnancy through the first few months post-pardom. I certainly am dealing with it now! I seem to have missed an entire week of pregnancy. All last week I was thinking that I still had one good week of reclining and propping my feet up. I think I even told a few people that I would be 29 weeks last Friday. Well, yesterday I looked at the ticker on my blog and found that it says I am 30 weeks. I quickly opened my calendar, while laughing, and found that it also says I am 30 weeks. Where did my 29th week go???? Now I have to start my exercises and should lean back anymore. I was prepared to indulge myself for another week before getting to work and starting to feel a little tense and nervous. 

The exercises I do are not intense, they are just to hopefully help Ducky3 face the correct way. I will do whatever it takes to help this baby face the right way, so if you have any tips please leave them in my comments! Back labor is not my friend and now that I am more knowledgeable, I will avoid it if at all possible. 

I have been thinking the last couple of weeks that when I hit 30 weeks I will start worrying/preparing for labor and actually allow myself to think about it. Now that 30 weeks has jumped in my lap, I am nervous! I don't think I want to go through labor and delivery! Ducky3 seems to think she can climb out through my hip bone or belly button and I am sure that would be easier! I just have felt very panic stricken the last couple of days. I have on my calendar to pack my bag at 34 weeks and also install the car seat, but obviously I need to check my calendar a little more often! Also, I could always be 32 weeks right now if my original due date is correct. Ahhhh, it's coming so quickly!

Ok, I will calm down. I do have a few fun pregnancy newbies to share with you. I think I have a bit of a pregnancy rash. I have not had this previously, so I'm not certain this is what I have, but I do have extremely dry patches of skin and it is quite annoying! Also, I think I've experienced a bit of "round ligament" pain. Whatever the pain was, I hope it doesn't come back! With two toddlers to chase after, the less the pain and discomfort, the better! Ducky3 has decided she would like to put her feet in my throat and hold onto my hips. I feel her movements around the outside of my belly. I don't see or feel much around my belly button. I'm hoping this means she is facing the correct way, but we shall see! 

My stats update is as follows: I am currently 2 inches smaller than when I delivered Boaz, weigh what I weighed at 27 weeks and 4 days, but I started out smaller this go around. As for my pregnancy with Canon; I weigh the same as I did at about 20 weeks and my belly is about the same number of inches around for weeks pregnant. So, I guess I am gaining the inches similarly to Canon and the pounds similar to Boaz. I always have a max weight that I don't want to see on the scale, but I think I'm going to pass it this time. With Canon I went 4 pounds over and with Boaz I was right on. Maybe if I ate a little less chocolate it wouldn't be so difficult to stay under the line!

I have an appointment tomorrow, so I'll try to update all of my stats again. I am pretty sure my uterus has grown a lot in the last few weeks, so maybe she'll tell me that my first due date seems correct! In that case I'll be packing sooner!

If you have a dog....

there are a few items that you MUST get! Ok, maybe you don't have to have them, but they have certainly made our dog owning experience much more enjoyable. And now I will share them with you!

• A crate or kennel. Our dogs have slept in a crate almost every night of their lives. This is also a great "safe place" for them that the kiddos are not allowed in. It also works well as a timeout spot for the dog when I am about to lose it.
• A Gentle Leader. This has done wonders for our walks. We still look like the circus, but at least we can all get a little exercise! You must picture our double stroller, two dogs on the right side and a pregnant lady. It's no wonder we get strange looks and frequent laughs, but we have to keep the pounds off one way or the other!
• The Fur Buster. This brush is perfect for dogs with an undercoat or long hair. I was shocked at the amount of hair that came off of Piper the first time I used it! I am hoping it will really cut down on the hair in our house this spring and summer.
• A Chuck It. This is Piper's obsession. I love it because I can throw the ball for her without ever touching the ball. Also, I don't hurt my shoulder trying to give her a good run. This thing works with very little effort and wears a dog out quickly!
• A second dog. This might sound crazy, but having a second dog has made a world of difference for Piper. Just by adding a playmate, Piper is less demanding and enjoys more entertainment and exercise. Yes, the vet bills, dog food and heart guard have increased, but the demands on me are so much less that I count it as worth it!

So, if you are looking to get a dog or have one that is driving you crazy, these are a few things that have greatly improved our relationship with our k9!

.....

So, I'm just wondering, when did February get here and who gave my belly permission to grow at an unreasonable rate?