Thoughts...

Just thought that I would record my last thoughts before having this sweet little girl tomorrow.  I have to say that except for the beginning, with the nausea and guarded emotions, this has been a great pregnancy for me.  Of course there have been some days that are exceptions, but for the most part, I have felt really good.  I have slept great pretty much up until now, my back has not hurt like it did for the entire pregnancy with Rylan, and it went pretty quickly.  I really can't complain about anything.  I have loved the patience and understanding of Dr. Cole and have had good vibes about everything from the beginning.  Of course I have no idea what the outcome will be of this labor and delivery experience, but I trust that God has put me in the right hands and will take care of me no matter what.  As Scott our pastor said at church this morning, life is not perfect.  We will all go through trials and tribulations that are in place for a reason.  I trust those words and trust that I am in God's perfect and knowing hands.  He will help me through and I can give all of my worries and anxiety to Him. 

Thank you to all of you that have been so supporting.  I have received so many hugs, phone calls, and texts, not only today, but in the last couple of weeks.  There are so many people that are praying and have supported me throughout this experience and I feel so truly blessed to have all of you in my life. 

We have about as much completed around the house as possible and will be heading into the hospital at 10 tonight.  Looking forward to meeting our sweet girl and sharing her with you all. 

Love.

Whew! What a week!

It has been an interesting week to say the least.  Last Wednesday was my appointment with Dr. Cole and I was still feeling pretty good.  It was a busy day, I call it crazy Wednesday, with two meetings at St. Peter's, swimming lessons...  Thursday rolled around and after nap, I just felt miserable.  I pretty much stayed in bed the rest of the day.  I was having a lot of contractions both Thursday and Friday and was getting pretty nervous because Dr. Cole was out of town for the weekend.  Thank goodness things seemed to calm down a bit by Saturday and I made it through the weekend.

However, we have had a little house catastrophe going on as well.  A little master bathroom shower fix has led to a gutted shower down to the studs.  It definitely needed to be done, but the timing really couldn't be any worse.  This goes against every nesting extinct possible!  Thankfully, Jason is allowing us to hire someone, because Handy Jason could do it himself, because time is of the essence.  They will actually be starting tomorrow and we are going to have them upgrade a few other things while they are redoing our shower.  Fun times!

We are really excited and I am SO looking forward to Grandma and Papa coming so I can hand over some of the stress to them :).  Rylan has had a countdown going since about day 10!  Every day him and I have the discussion about how many days, usually right in front of Jason, and then he turns to Jason and tells him exactly what we just discussed.  It is pretty cute!

Next time we post, I am sure it will be from the hospital.  Please keep us all in your prayers for a safe and healthy delivery for Mommy and Baby girl, a better experience for Daddy than round one, and a smooth transition for my favorite little guy in the whole world. 

My buddy!

Keeping me company while resting in bed feeling under the weather. <3 him!

38 Week Update

Today I went to see Dr. Cole.  I usually go on Thursdays, but she is going out of town tomorrow for the weekend, so I had to go in today.  I'm keeping my fingers, legs, and toes crossed that baby girl stays in until at least Sunday night, because then we are guaranteed to have Dr. Cole deliver her.  There is no reason to believe at this point that she might be sooner.  She did drop a little and I am about 1cm, but my cervix is still thick she said.  Dr. Cole did an ultrasound and there is plenty of fluid and baby girl is in the perfect position so no worries there!  Here's to taking it easy the next four days!

I think we are ALL ready!

Tuesdays are usually our free days.  We never have much going on, so Rylan and I usually enjoying hanging out in our comfy clothes, doing some small tasks around the house, and just relaxing.  Today was no different, although I had a pretty good nesting urge.  Part of it was due to the fact that the cleaning ladies are coming tomorrow so of course I need to straighten up so that they can actually clean, but I think part of it was the nesting urge as well.  The weather has been really nice the last few days, so Rylan and I started our "cleaning day" outside by the pool.  We worked on watering plants, killing fire ant mounds :), and simply putting things away and where they belong.  We moved inside and started working in the nursery closet, making sure that everything was ready...again.  We spot cleaned the couch, washed the pillow covers from the couch, watered inside plants, cleaned up the guest room for company, gathered our stuff for crazy Wednesday, and were just busy bees.

The nursery provoked something within Rylan that continued throughout the day.  He retrieved baby Jeter, Jason's Cabbage Patch kid from when he was little, and took care of him all day.  We had to change diapers, put him in the carrier and push him around in the stroller, and feed him.  I was also told that I had to read a book to baby Jeter and Rylan would turn the pages, so that we could put him down for a nap.  And of course baby Jeter had to sleep in the crib with Rylan's puppy and baby girl's big doll.  It was very precious and made my heart smile.   After my shower today, Rylan also continued the nurturing by hugging and kissing my belly and wanting to rub lotion on his baby sister.  Could he be anymore sweet?  I am sure that I will be shedding many tears over the next several weeks, probably years, watching the bond that they create.  My heart is definitely full and I am very excited to meet our princess.

Hilarious

Christina Aguilera came on the Grammys and Ry says, "wow, she's fancy like my girlfriend." I ask who his girlfriend is and he tells me "Taylor Swift." Love it! Where does he get this stuff?!?!

37 Weeks

Well, nothing has changed again.  Our little princess is happy and snug in my belly...snug being the key word.  There are definitely some stretches going on in there that do not feel very good at all.  Yoga is getting more challenging every class, but we only have 4 more left.  I will continue to do as much as I can without hurting myself because like I have said a million times before, I think it is the one thing that has really helped me feel so great during this pregnancy. 

The only bothersome news today was that I tested positive for GBS, Group B Strep.  This is not a dangerous condition for me and normally would not even be treated, but can be dangerous for the baby if not treated.  Fortunately, because they test for it and know that I am a carrier, the hospital will treat me with antibiotic during labor so that hopefully it will not be passed on to her.  Dr. Cole also said that the nursery will want to keep her for at least the full 48 hours before releasing her, to make sure that she is okay.  I am also assuming that means Dr. Harry, our pediatrician, might want to see her a few more times than normal in those first few weeks.  Just one more thing to add on to my prayer list.  Thank God for God!  I feel some comfort in knowing that He will always take care of us and to trust Him no matter what path we may be taken down. 

Sibling Class

It has been a little hectic around here lately between the cold weather, ice, and a sick little boy.  The end of last week brought the city of Houston to a standstill with over 800 accidents in less than 12 hours due to black ice on bridges and overpasses.  This city is just not equipped to deal with freezing temperatures.  Therefore, we spent a couple of days inside due to the conditions outside.  Then, late Saturday night, Rylan spiked a fever of 103.7.  It continued throughout Sunday, peaking at 104.1, but decreased with Motrin until he was due for another dose.  You could tell he did not feel well though because he basically slept on and off all day.  Fortunately, he woke up with a very low grade fever on Monday and sometimes had none at all.  He felt much better as well.  It seems that there is a strain of flu going around here that was not covered in the flu shot.  Fortunately in our case, it did not last very long and seemed to be symptomless, besides the fever.

I debated on taking Rylan to the sibling class, but because he did so well on Monday, I decided it wouldn't hurt anyone or anything.  I am so glad that I did because it proved to be very worthwhile.  Rylan really enjoyed it and asked when he could go back.  There was one teacher and about six other siblings.  Rylan was the youngest by a couple of years.  They watched a video about taking care of newborns, answered some questions from the teacher immediately following the video, diapered, fed, and swaddled a baby doll.  At one point, the teacher asked the kids to go find something off of a cart in the back of the room that babies could eat and on his way back Rylan said, "Mommy, you have to be really careful with babies because they can only drink milk from a bottle or from Mommy's breast."  I apparently missed that part in the video.  He obviously did not.  Glad he will be prepared somewhat for that one!

Toward the end of the class, we took a trip up to the third floor, Labor and Delivery.  I am positive he will be telling Grandma and Papa which floor to go to upon arrival at the hospital.  The kids were able to look at the newborns through the windows and then visit one of the L&D rooms.  I thought that was a wonderful idea, especially for smaller kiddos like Ry, so that they are not scared when they go visit Mom in the hospital.

Jason had a work dinner that evening and could not attend, but when he got home, he asked Rylan what he had learned.  Rylan told him, "first you have to wash your hands before you touch the baby, then you need to cover up the baby when she is sleeping."  I really think he is ready.  I know he is ready for Mommy to play with him more.  My lack of energy lately has made for a lazy and guilty feeling Mama.  It takes a lot for me to get through the day and to do any little task...18 more days!
 

Roller Skating

Not easy at 36 weeks, but we had fun!

Foot moving :)

36 week update

Rylan and I just finished up at Dr. Cole's. Our little princess must be as snug as a bug in a rug :). No progress yet and Dr. Cole said she is completely stretched out. She had a hard time getting a good measurement of my uterus because of how much she is stretched out. Silly girl! I can feel that for sure!

~sarah~

Sent from my iPhone

Sprinkles!

This past weekend was lots of fun for me!  On Saturday, Cata and Kim, threw me a little sprinkle at a very yummy lunch spot in the Heights called Andres' Patisserie.  I felt like I was in Paris all over again with all of the yummy quiches, crepes, and pastries.  I had a great time with Alechia, Audra, Cata, and Kim.  It was nice to be able to have an intimate lunch with my friends without the usual chaos that surrounds our life with little people.  I received some super cute outfits, diaper cloths, socks, and some other little things for the princess.

On Sunday, Kristen threw me a surprise 'Sprinkle' at Pinot's Palette.  I knew we were going there to have a girlie afternoon with the neighbors, but I did not know that it was going to be for me, nor did I know that Laura and Ashley were going to be there.  The setting was very fun!  It is a place that you go and paint an already chosen picture on a canvas with the guidance of an instructor.  The instructor pencils in the basic outline and then you follow her directions for the paint.  We all kind of did our own interpretation and colors, so it was tons of fun!  I received some super cute things as well for the princess along with some much appreciated practical diapers and wipes!

Love my girlies!  Thanks ladies for the great weekend!

'Sprinkle'

Cata made the cutest cupcake washcloths for my baby girl 'sprinkle.'

Mousekersizing

Today was our first dentist appointment at Mommy and Daddy's big people dentist, Dr. Artaza!  Right away, the hygienist wanted to take x-rays on the machine in which you bite down on the plastic piece and the machine orbits around your head.  That did not go over well.  Rylan was scared and cried, so we skipped that part...I don't blame him.  However, he did awesome once the cleaning started.  He even allowed Laura the hygienist to floss his teeth and "paint" on some fluoride with a Qtip!  The TV in the ceiling proved to be a great thing!  Go Diego Go!  By the end of the cleaning we tried the x-rays again, with some bribery (a new car), and no tears! Proud Mama!

Watching Diego at the dentist

First dentist visit!