Baby #3 Week 35

Yay for 35 weeks! This was my last post with the twins so next week will be a completely new place for me! Thankfully I am still feeling great and not ready to have this baby yet. Towards the end of the evening I'm definitely moving slower but all in all everything is really good!

I had a Dr. appointment on Tuesday and learned that I gained some weight and my tummy was measuring a little big (35 weeks at 34.5 weeks). I got to see my primary doctor, who I hadn't seen since the very beginning. He is definitely my primary for a reason. He is so calm, kind, and reassuring. I told him about the specialist asking about diabetes and he actually apologized because he thought it was rude. He told me that I have a gained a perfect amount of weight and passed my diabetes test with flying colors and not to worry about the size of this baby.

We started talking delivery options and thinking that planned c-section is the way to go. After talking with Jay we are thinking that we want to push it out to 39.5 weeks instead of 39. This gives us an extra weekend to get things done. I know that babies come on their own time but having this little plan makes me feel a little more in control (which we all know I thrive on). I'm heading back in at 36.5 weeks to start the lovely "manual checks" for labor signs and to firm up delivery plans.

We are trying to finish the nursery this weekend. We haven't spent a lot of time on it during the week because we are staying up later with the gorgeous sunshine and then tiring out once the kids go to sleep. We did purchase a shelf for the closet and I got a few things organized. I'm planning to do all of the laundry tonight and get all of his clothes hung and diapers put away. I've also got to put some hours in at the sewing machine to applique and monogram a few things for baby.

I'm going to spend some time this afternoon looking for hardware for Shep's dresser. It came with these plastic casters that are hideous! I've convinced Jay to do two more projects before we call it a day. He's making a toy bin and shelves out of reclaimed wood that we have leftover. I'm so excited to see how these projects turn out. I love how this nursery has so many personal touches. My nursery projects for the weekend include white-washing the pallet wall, waxing the crib, and painting this really cool mirror I picked up at homegoods the other night. I have a feeling we'll be cutting it close between getting all the fabric sewn and completing the finishing touches!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Friday, March 14, 2014

How Far Along: 35 weeks 

Pregnancy Countdown: 35 days until due date!

Size of babies: A Coconut. The baby weigh between 4.2 to 5.8lbs and should be between 17.2 and 18.7 inches long.  I'm guessing S is measuring at a good 6lbs by now

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm up 4 pounds. I didn't weigh myself last week so I'm guessing I've gained it in the past two weeks which is fine by me. I was hoping to stay under 25 but looks like it'll be more like 30. My total right now is 24 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes: Yes, I have around 3 tops that fit. It is so hard with spring weather. I don't want to buy any more clothes but can't really wear my sweaters anymore.

Gender: Boy- Arthur Shepherd Carroll

Movement: OMG a ton! He is nuts. Jay finally felt him going crazy and was all how do you sleep with all that going on? 

Sleep: Back to sleeping really well. Not waking up during the night at all :) LOVING IT! This is crazy but I am still halfway sleeping on my tummy! I tried doing this at Jay's mom's house when we stayed a few weeks ago and couldn't. Our mattress is super soft and I'm thinking that is the only way this works for me. We've been talking about getting an new firmer mattress but will definitely be waiting until we are DONE having children :) 

What I miss: getting out of my seat without round ligament pain. It has been intense! Also wine.

Cravings: Last night I wanted proscuitto soooo badly! I have a serious love for that stuff but only the really good ($30/lb) kind so I only buy it when I really want a treat!

Symptoms: Not too many. I have contractions at night that will stop me in my tracks but none are consistent. I need to use the restroom more frequently and I've got a lot of pressure happening on my hips and pelvis. 

Best Moment this week: Watching Holden love on baby Shep. He always points to my belly and says baby and will randomly run up and give my belly a hug and a big kiss! On the contrary, Emma Cate is terrified of my belly and stays as far away as she can!

Baby Shep Update

We had an ultrasound for baby Shep yesterday afternoon. I ended up taking the day off work to get some things done around the house prior to the ultrasound. I met Jay at the doctor and we were sooo excited to see our little guy! With the twins, we had ultrasounds at least once a month (add in kidney stones and preterm labor and we had them almost every two weeks). With Shep, we've only seen him a few times as a tiny tiny thing at REACH and then once when we had our first appointment with the OB and once for the anatomy scan at 19 weeks. The scan yesterday was for growth and to check on Shep's kidney. Unfortunately, baby Shep was looking in towards me and the only picture we got was an "I'm STILL a BOY" shot. I was a little sad we didn't get to see this sweet baby's face. The ultrasound was long and complicated and a little scary. We quickly realized we were there for medical issues and not to see our cute baby suck his thumb or wave to us.

I'll start with growth. Shep is measuring at least a week ahead. His belly is measuring two weeks ahead and the ultrasound tech asked me if I had gestational diabetes! The doctor didn't seem as concerned but he is also super chill (we'll get into that later). Shep is also totally breech with VERY little chance of turning. My plan for VBAC is 99% out the window. The plan is to schedule a c-section but we'll talk about that once I get to 36 weeks. Shep is currently weighing in at 5lbs which is crazy to me that he could possibly weigh more than Emma Cate when she was born (the weight can be off by 15% either way).

As far as Shep's kidneys go, the left kidney is looking good. The right is unfortunately still swollen with fluid and doesn't appear to be functioning. The ultrasound tech took lots of photos of the renal artery and it doesn't appear that blood is flowing to the kidney. Both the Dr. and ultrasound tech said it could just be a positioning thing because he was laying on that side. I'm saying a prayer that that is true but not holding my breath.

I consider myself to be a very strong person. I can't change the hand I've been given, I can only accept fate and move forward. I like to know everything I can about any issues that arise (infertility, my mom's cancer, preeclampsia, etc.). I don't like surprises. I want to be told flat out what is going on and not hold onto false hope. I was really disappointed in my doctor yesterday. When he talked about Shep being breech, I asked if there was a chance he could still turn. He was like yes, it could very well happen but you may want to start preparing for a c-section. I'd rather him tell me "seriously, there is a tiny chance but pretty much you're going to have a c-section". He is very sugar-coaty (like my new word?). He was also the doctor that my mom saw when she first found a lump in her breast. He told her it was probably nothing but was going to send her for an ultrasound to be sure... probably nothing turned out to be stage 2 cancer. We spoke with him about the kidneys and after hearing a pretty blunt (but appreciated) take on it from the ultrasound tech, we were amazed at how he conveyed his opinion to us. After he left the room, Jay said "seems like Shep will be totally fine and there is really nothing wrong with his kidney". It made me so mad that the message the doctor conveyed made Jay feel like that. In actuality, he is sending us to the maternal fetal specialist asap to have them take a look and having a pediatric urologist in the delivery room. I could be wrong but you don't normally do those things when you think a problem is no big deal... Ugh I am just so frustrated with the lack of info. I know doctors don't want their patients to worry but as a mom I worry way more with less information than I do with more. Tell me worst case scenario. I appreciate that. At least then I can prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

Enough gripe, now onto how we are doing. In all honesty, I'm not that concerned about Shep's kidney/quality of life. Like I stated before what will happen will happen and we will handle it like we would handle anything. I love this baby sooo much and have 100% faith in God that he will do what is best for our family. I trust that God wouldn't give us anything we weren't capable of handling. I also trust that Shep will be a happy and healthy little big boy but if he isn't, we will love him just as much :) Please keep this sweet baby boy in your prayers and also please pray that at the next appointment, we will get some much needed answers.

SUYL- Infertility

It has been a while since I've linked up to talk about this topic. Infertility was such a huge part of our lives and even after 2 (almost 3) kids I still think about it all of the time. We have been through clomid, IUI's, Failed IVF fresh transfers, and IVF frozen transfers (all of our posts are tagged with keywords). We now have a set of 20 month old twins and a baby boy on the way due in April. I consider us so fortunate that we have this family. It wasn't easy getting to where we are today. I am still baffled when people tell me how *lucky* I am to have had boy/girl twins and how I need a hobby because we got pregnant with our third so close to the twins (he was a very planned frozen transfer btw!).  If people only knew what went into bringing these children into our lives. I also know what it is like to have a IVF transfer fail. And I still feel a bit of sting when I think about our sweet baby boy that was transferred with another frozen embryo that didn't make it. My mind is always thinking about that last little frozen embryo we have sitting at the fertility clinic just waiting for us. I still feel a pang of envy for moms that have "surprise" pregnancies. That get to announce their pregnancy to their husband in a cute way instead of waiting on pins and needles for a beta test result number.

Infertility was devastating. I can still feel that pain of seeing a negative pregnancy test and thinking that I would never ever have a child. Infertility was pretty much the whole reason I got into this blogging world. I googled everything and found so much comfort in reading other's stories. I feel like God allowed us to suffer and grow through infertility in order to help others. Since going through the whole process myself, I've had several friends that have had to deal with this diagnosis. I don't want this to come out wrong because I would NEVER wish infertility on anyone but I am so thankful that I can help those who are navigating the tricky waters of infertility treatments. I am soooo happy for these mamas that have all come out on the other side. I am happy to be a sounding board, a person to text to talk about best ways to give a shot, to go through those the scary first beta test, and to pray that those numbers keep rising. Please email me (jayandanni at gmail dot com)  if you have any questions about our journey or what its like to go through this process. I am so happy to help anyone that needs it. I made a very conscious decision to share this part of our life on my blog in hopes that someone who reads it would find it helpful.

Philadelphia

The weather outside was pretty yucky when we got up on Saturday morning but we had plans to head into Philly for the day. The kids woke up and Pop Pops brought out the toys he had purchased for them. I seriously cannot imagine my Dad cruising the toy isle at Target! The blocks and the push toys were huge hits though.

We headed straight for Reading Terminal Market. If you are in Philly, you have got to eat here! It's hundreds of booths of delicious, non-chain food. It's crazy and busy but fun. The kids and I enjoyed gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. The kid's sandwich was called the "Little Shepherd"! How appropriate. I didn't take many pictures because we were trying to navigate the market and keep up with the babies! Everyone else enjoyed cheese steaks. We also got home delicious donuts to go. The line for the donuts was 30 minutes long! 

We headed to the Please Touch Museum next. This place was amazing. The kids could have played for hours and hours. We were all exhausted when we left. They had so many fun exhibits. This is is MUST do if you are in the Philly area. 

my kids find slides wherever they go. 

This was an area that simulated nature and was marked off for kids 3 and under. They had it staffed and it was so nice not to worry about big kids trampling my babies. Holden loved this goose! 

They loved the piano but didn't weigh enough to make it play so Gigi and Pop Pops had to help a little.

This area was set up like Goldilocks and the three bears. Emma Cate was trying out the littlest bed. 

There was a beautiful solarium area with an indoor carousel. The babies had so much fun on their first carousel ride. 

Daddy even hopped on with Emma Cate. She was in heaven! 

They had an Alice in Wonderland maze set up and the babies loved the tea party room. Emma Cate and I sat and had tea for a while. Gigi bought her a tea set for Christmas but lost it before she was able to give it to her. It's definitely on the must find after we saw how much sweet girl enjoyed her tea party.

this was her smile face

this child has zero personality... zero

This was the main street exhibit. They had a little house set up. The babies loved sitting on the front porch and vacuuming in this area. What is with my kids and vacuuming. They certainly did not get that from their mother!

They LOVED the hospital area. Holden was pretty obsessed with the MRI machine. I thought they were sooo cute in their doctor scrubs. I am dying to get some dress up items soon to add to our collection.

Emma Cate headed to the nursery area of the hospital to rock the babies. Fingers crossed that she'll be a great big sister.

We were putting the babies in their cribs in the nursery and Emma Cate did prayer hands. We do this every night before bed and it is the sweetest thing. She also screams AAAAAA Men! When we're done praying.

Gigi was demonstrating how to feed the baby.

Holden kept trying to feed the belly button... we've got a few things to learn over the next 9 weeks!

She picked up the stethoscope and said Hey! We'll have to work on how to use our medical devices... :)

Listening to Gigi's heart

Holden loved the construction area. The wheel barrow was a little big for him but he kept trying to get it upright. 

They had a huge kids grocery store and both babies loved shopping with their carts.

on a mission.

this picture makes me laugh. my little postmasters

They had a shoe store set up and as soon as we walked in, Holden took off his shoes and put his foot in here... a sign your mother may buy you too many pairs of shoes.

again, we turn everything into a slide.

driving the trolley in the transportation area. 

mom, this monorail is not like disney.

showing off our gymnastics skills

So this is kind of funny to us. My Dad always talks about Wegman's. It's this grocery store up North and he is obsessed. They really do have everything. We went there for dinner and had a smorgasbord of sushi, mac and cheese, Chinese, prosciutto wrapped mozzarella, fruit, and salads. 

They also had this giant gluten free section plus an organic section 5 times this size.

We came home and had dinner and the babies were off to bed. We had a great time watching the Olympics and hanging out with my mom and dad. We had a hard time finding pacis for bedtime that night (we had pacis EVERYWHERE, in bags, suitcases, etc.) and were worried about not having one for the train ride to the city the following morning. My dad also noticed that we were out of wipes. He is so funny and took pictures of the wipes I use and the pacis and headed to target to replenish our stash. He came home and asked me how long ago I had purchased the wipes because he couldn't find the 80 count that I had, only the 72 count. He is so funny like that. I would have never noticed the count! He also bought two sets of pacis, one for 6-18 months and one for 18-36 because he didn't know which ones the babies would prefer.