33 & 34 Week Update

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where did the time go? Here I am again, still pregnant, still large.

How far along?
35 weeks and 2 days. I am late posting again. I have 34 days left and only 13 days until she is full-term.

Baby is the size of...
a cantaloupe! I type the exclamation point, because, Nikki, I actually have a cantaloupe in the fridge at this very moment. Remind me to take a photo with it!!!!

At our third trimester ultrasound (I'll explain later), she measured approximately 5 lbs and 12 oz. That was a week and a half ago (uh-oh!). The tech said that the measurement could be off, give or take a pound. Take? Okay...Give? Um, that is even scarier. But, honestly, if the baby is supposed to gain a 1/2 pound a week, then it would put her right around 8 lbs, 12 oz. That is only 3 oz more than Lucy. It could be pretty accurate!

BabyCenter.com says that she should be approximately 18 inches long and 5 lbs.

Symptoms:
I am pretty tired. My lower back has started hurting on and off too. I think it is Olive pushing on me, or her position; because, it literally comes and goes, with no specific activity. I have also had a few headaches again. Perhaps I am not drinking enough water...

I have been able to avoid swelling for the most part. It hasn't been too bad; but, I am noticing that it is getting worse. I anticipate only getting more and more swollen as my due date approaches. Yay for puffy face!

Oh, and Braxton-Hicks. Yuck. All the time!

Anything New?
Well, at my last doctor's appointment my doctor asked me if I would be up for another ultrasound. She wanted to check my amniotic fluid level. She wasn't too concerned; but, thought that I looked big and wanted to make sure. When we asked more about the possibility of a high level of amniotic fluid, she brought up some scary possibilities - like Olive not being able to swallow, which indicates developmental issues, or when my water broke the possibility of the umbilical cord going into the birth canal first, which could cause it to become pinched. She tried to make it seem like no big deal though, not yet anyway. We were "just checking it out" for now.

By the way, don't Google high levels of amniotic fluid. It's scary.

So, we had the ultrasound over a week ago (33 weeks). The good news was that Olive had fluid in her bladder and kidneys! It indicated that she could and was swallowing! Whew!

That was a relief. Now, I just worried about the measurements. I had Googled and saw that if the four areas between my uterus and the baby were over 25 cm total, that I was high. So, I told Heath to keep an eye on the measurements. We both tried. I saw one measurement of 18 and one of 15....not so good. Heath claimed he thought he saw a 13 cm! Hopefully we were really off and didn't know what we were looking at.

I tried to get some information from the Tech. She wouldn't give me any...which kind of bothered me. It made me think that I do have too much fluid. So, I have a doctor's appointment TODAY, when I can talk over the results with my doctor. I am anxious.

New with Heath?
He finished classes!!! Yay! Everyone should hop over to his Facebook page and congratulate him. He worked so hard. Now he is present again in our house, physically and emotionally (and mentally)!  He finished just in time to celebrate our anniversary. :) He also finished just in time to assist me with my "Things to Do Before Olive Arrives" list. He has been really great about helping me nest. :)

New with Lucy?
She went on the potty at DayCare! Then, that night, she went on the potty at home! Both were without bribe or fights! I hope this means that our path is promising and she is finally coming around to the idea.

Otherwise, she is growing like a weed and saying "the darndest things." She has been playing a lot with her baby dolls and understanding the relationship between babies and Olive. :)

Anything else?
Not really. I have been thinking a lot about that ultrasound and the results. I will be happy when I can talk to Dr. B about it. I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

3D Ultrasound

Well, I don't have all of the pictures ready for you guys yet; however, I wanted to share what I do have. :)

First things first...yes, it is still a girl. :) And yes, there is only one baby in there. It was confirmed.

Here the little beauty is:

Sorry about the quality of photos. Since I don't have them downloaded yet, they are pictures of pictures...

Olive cooperated much more than Lucy did a couple of years ago. Here are our other favorites:

The umbilical cord kept getting in her face.

This one isn't as clear either, because the umbilical cord. However, we loved that is showed her hands up by her face. :)

Again, it's a little blurry and you can see the reflection off of the picture.

So, if you were wondering...YES - she looks like Lucy!  We all thought so and she is super chubby, or so it looks. :)

What do you think?

I will get more to you soon and share a little more about the visit. It was a fantastic day!

Keep cool!

29 Week Update

This post will likely be short, since not much has changed in the last week or so. Here I am again...

My hair is down! What? Yep, that is me and my hair is really getting long. It's so long that I can barely stand it being down in this heat!

How far along?
I am 30 weeks and 1 day (a little late again on the update). I have 69 days left and only 48 days until I'm full-term.

Baby is the size of a...
butternut squash. Or, in my terms, one of those gourds that hallow out in the fall and you can make a birdhouse of them. :) Olive is approximately 15 inches long (probably more like 13), and 3 lbs! She should start gaining about 1/2 lb a week from here on out. That would put her around 8 lbs, which is right on.

Symptoms:
I am still achy, uncomfortable, excited, and above all - HOT! It is so flippin' hot! I sweat just sitting here...if a third child is in our future, it will NOT be a summer baby! Plus, did we pick the hottest summer in years or what? Gee-whiz.

I am just carrying so much lower this time. Everyone thinks that means the ultrasound technician was wrong and I'm really carrying a boy. I think it is a testament to how awful my abs were and that my uterus just flopped out there, with nothing holding it back! We will see this weekend at our 3D ultrasound who is right. :)  Anyway, carrying lower is much more painful, or at least in my experience. It stresses my pelvis and lower back; I didn't have the same aches with Lucy. I get up from sitting on a hard bench or the floor and can barely walk for a few steps. I'm like an old person! Eh, maybe I am old...

Anything new?
Not really. We got Olive's sleeper in. Isn't it cute. Heath and Lucy put it together.

It looks just like the picture. It really folds easily too. I think it was a great purchase for us!

New with Heath?
Either Heath is very intuitive or I complain like crazy. I think the latter is probably more true, no offense to Heath. He has been super helpful this last week. I made supper and he even wrote on our board, "I love you because...you cooked supper even though you were tired. - Thank you!"

It was sweet. He has also pampered me pretty well. I imagine that with him start up night classes again (6 weeks, two nights a week), that I will be a little bit on the back-burner again. But, I understand. We are all excited for that MBA to be done in August! :) I'm so proud of him.

New with Lucy?
She still acts excited about Olive in theory. But, when it comes to Olive's things vs. hers, that is another story. I think she will have a hard time sharing things; she hasn't ever really had to before. I am still 100% positive that sharing her daddy will be the biggest problem.

Oh, and one a cute note, she tried to put a diaper on my belly the other day - "for baby Olive."

Anything else?
The biggest new item will be the 3D ultrasound. Prepare for a post about it and pictures on Facebook. :) I am so excited. We are going to see if she is still a girl and see if she looks like Lucy at all. I can't wait! Here is what Lucy looked like:

Let's hope we get a good picture like that of Olive...and that Olive is still an "Olive" and not a boy! haha. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world; but, we would have to do a lot of shopping.

Oh, and for the few in the family, we will also be verifying that only one baby exists....crazy people...haha.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Ultrasound Pictures

I thought I would share the rest of our adorable ultrasound pictures of baby girl #2. I will also post them on Facebook; but, I wanted to share them with family who do not have an account.

As I mentioned yesterday, I am not usually very good with ultrasounds. So, I totally understand if you don't "see it." Being there and having the technician tell you what everything is makes it a lot easier. Nevertheless, I will try my best at describing them...

Oh, and I should mention that we had an ultrasound tech that loved little, baby feet. Who doesn't? But, seriously, she took a lot of pictures of the feet. :)

Here was our very first foot picture. You can kind of see the heel, just to the right of the word "foot." The toe bones are really easy to see. :)

This one is a little creepy. It is the baby laying on it's side - forehead to the far right. The eye socket is dark and you can kind of see the profile. The hump to the left is the body, or what looks like a baby belly. :)

This was our best profile picture. I don't know how you couldn't see this one...with a little fist ball to the left. :)

Here are some more cute, little feet! :) They are side by side, which the tech. said was unique to get a photo of. The baby had her legs crossed too at one point, lounging. :)

Another picture of the feet - this time they are in a "walking" form. 

Okay, this one is the creepiest. It is supposed to be the face. Which with these ultrasounds always looks like an alien face. :{ I'm not really sure I can help you out with this one either. The baby is supposed to be looking at the camera. And, the top of the head is on the right.

Here is a forearm and hand. The elbow is the pointy thing on the left, bottom. You can see the arm bones and the hand bones. She was waving them around like crazy too!

And, finally, here is a hand. With Lucy, we never got a clear look at the fingers. This little girl was showing off her hands and feet like crazy!

I have a few others, like the "Girl Parts" ones I showed you yesterday. I also have one of her foot and her big toe. Her toe is totally taking over the picture! If you are familiar with the "Harmon big toe," then you should find this comical.

The "Harmon big toe" is a dominant gene in our family. The big toe has a particular shape and is...well, big! It seems like it is bigger than the average big toe. haha. My dad's and mine are more prominent than most. I got made fun of a lot about it in high school. It isn't very feminine or pretty.  But, poor Lucy got "the toe." It looks like baby girl #2 may have it as well. haha. The toe continues...

The 19 Week update will be posted next week. Hope you have a great weekend everyone! :)