Almost Done...

incubating this baby girl! I'm so excited!
I'm excited to meet her and see who she looks like and for her to be out so I can get my body back to normal in a few months.
I'm so anxious for her to come out so that I don't hurt anymore. I hurt every single day. I don't know how my belly has gotten any bigger than 2 months ago, but alas, it has.
I'm totally nervous for her to come out though because, um, hello?! 4 kids! Craziness.
I'm nervous about how I'm going to handle the following situations (with 3 crazy boys running around as an added bonus):

• a new baby
• a GIRL baby (keep in mind that pretty much all I know is boy, boy, boy)
• nursing (because I've only ever really nursed one of my kids)
• nursing with 3 crazy boys running around (just had to throw that in again)
• school starting (Scott has meet the teacher on August 10th, school starts on the 11th, Ben has meet the teacher on the 13th, preschool starts on the 17th, and I'm not technically due until the 19th so she could come at a very inoppurtune time)
• being able to attend appointments that have been made (Ben has a neurologist appointment on the 25th for his headaches, plus all the dr appts the new baby will need)
• Ben's birthday (which I somehow have to plan) is on September 9th (which he happens to share, or close enough on the 10th and 11th, with 2 cousins).

Plus I have to fit in, with all of my own business, going to a double birthday party for my niece and nephew on July 31st and another birthday party for another niece on August 14th.

PHEW!
That was exhausting just writing it all out!


On the other hand:

• I have finished her room (just have to hang the curtains and her name)! I will post pictures if my camera will take them.
• We have enough clothes, diapers, wipes, shampoos, hats, socks, etc. to make it through the first few weeks! (We have enough diapers to last a few months actually, thanks to a kick ass diaper party we had last weekend!)
• Officially I have 1 week and 1 day until Baby C will be considered full term!
• I'm not on bed rest anymore which is a relief!
• She is growing like a weed!
• We've had her name picked out for 4 months now without changing it! (which is a miracle, trust me)
• I've only gained 22lbs. Horray!

This week seems to be going by rather smoothly... I hope that didn't just jinx myself. But nonetheless, it's true... my mom says it's a sign that Baby C will make her arrival very soon.

I agree.

Nesting... on Bed Rest

I think that is an oxymoron. Nesting on bed rest that is. How the heck am I supposed to be getting anything done for this little girl if I'm not supposed to do anything!?

It's very very frustrating.

I was put on bed rest two weeks ago. Supposedly for 6 weeks total. That means worst case senario I have 4 weeks left to my sentence. BUT, with any luck I will be given parole for good behavior. I go to the Dr. tomorrow. I have an ultrasound scheduled to see if my cervix is changing at all and to check on her size. Two weeks ago she was measuring a few days bigger than I am, but the amniotic fluid was a little bit low so now I have to have that checked every two weeks with the ultrasound also. I was told to drink lots of water (duh) and to take a warm bath everyday. Well... my bath tub is on the small side and I am not. SO I concluded that a warm swimming pool should work the same way, right? Right, so that's what I'm doing, but we don't have a pool so I'm trying for every other day right now. I guess we'll see.

I had some odd swelling of my feet and ankles over the weekend. It was really sudden and very painful. It felt like my legs were on fire. So I had to go into the hospital to have it checked out. They needed to monitor my blood pressure. All and all everything was fine and I went home an hour later. And from that hospital visit they concluded that I hadn't dialated anymore than my previous visit. Almost at 1cm. So that's good. Anyway, I go in tomorrow and I have some hope that he will tell me I can do more than go to the bathroom and make a sandwich. :)

My boys are having a really hard time with all of this too. It's not just me. Their attitudes have gotten significantly nastier. Not only with each other, but in response to others too. And that just pisses me off.

His Name is Ben!

Ben has more care and concern in his little body than I have ever witnessed in a little 3 year old boy. He talks about how you shouldn't do something that will hurt yourself. It's kind of funny. Oh and by the way, how the heck is he still 3!? I always feel like he's 4. He looks 4, he acts 4, and he just seems like he's 4. I have to think about how old he is whenever someone asks me.
He's hilarious though. We have a lot of nicknames for our boys. Ben's main one is Benja. He hates it. He yells at us whenever we call him anything but Ben. He throws his arms down at his side, puffs out his chest and lips, sticks his nose up in the air, and yells "DON'T CALL ME THAT! MY NAME IS BEN!" or he says "MY NOT ______! MY BEN!" Because he doesn't understand how to use the word "I" instead he says "my". And whenever I try to correct him, he tries to fix it and ends up saying, "I, my can't" instead of "my can't" or "I can't," he mixes them.
He starts preschool this fall. I'm so excited. He's going to love it. He's been asking to go to school since Scott started last year. This next year is going to be hard, but really great. I'm hopeful anyway.

Low Rider

This baby of mine likes to ride low. I mean L-O-W. I'm so excited for her to be here. Not that I can't wait because I can. She needs more time, I need more time, my house and the whole family need more time. But I am so excited. She is going to be wonderful. We call her by her name all the time. (But I'm not telling until she's here) We talk about her like she's already here. She's going to be so loved and spoiled and cared for and doted upon... just like every girl deserves.
We had a bit of a scare with her. It wasn't really scary, just a stressful situation and a worrying time. During the ultrasound when we found out she was a girl they found something unusual in her brain. They found little cysts which might indicate a chromosonal abnormality, such as Downs Syndrome. So we had to have a few different tests to see what it was all about. I had a special blood test and a couple of "Level 2" ultrasounds. Level 2 ultrasounds are just a little stronger. Well after a few weeks of worrying the results were in and everything seems normal. We went back after a few more weeks to see if the cysts were being absorbed and they were, so that's good. We truly won't know for sure that she's okay until she's born and we see her, but it doesn't matter. She's going to be perfect whether she's "normal" or not. I completely believe that my Heavenly Father won't give me more than I can handle. And if it ever feels like too much, I know I can turn to Him and it will all be okay.
But anyway, she's a low rider... and whenever I really do go into labor, she just might come out in less than a couple of hours. Or like my father-in-law says, she might just fall out. lol

Zac turned 2!

Zac turned 2 in April. He's so far ahead of my other boys at this age. He talks all the time. He's ready for potty training, in fact, he asks to pee in the toilet everyday... not everytime, but everyday at least once. We are starting next week. He is sleeping in a big boy bed now. Oh how I love him. He makes everyone smile when they see him. He's so playful and loving. He's such a cuddler too. He loves to give hugs. But at the same time, he's meaner than the other boys were. He thinks it's funny to beat up Ben. He laughs at Ben whenever he cries about getting hit or bumped or anything. He's kind of a punk. But he's also really tenderhearted. If he's in trouble, he puts his head down and figdets with his hands and then starts to cry. It's really cute. He's also curious about the baby in mommy's tummy. It's funny, he asks to see it all the time. And whenever I say "ow" about anything he assumes it's the baby's fault. He says "baby owie". Oh but he has a word that he uses for everything too. Anything he doesn't know exactly what it is he calls it "hoanay."