Pregnancy Diary: Week 37

I take back what I said last week about being fine with going past my due date. Oy. That pretty much describes how I am feeling these days. Tomorrow (the 14th) officially marks my 37th week, and I give my full permission to this babe to come as soon as he wants after that. I am so much more uncomfortable this time around, it's ridiculous! I look, feel and sound like a giant pig when it comes to getting out of bed in the morning. Using only my upper body (because my abs are MIA) to push myself up to a sort of side sitting position, I slowly scootch my way towards the edge of the bed. All the while I am grunting and groaning, and my pelvis is making these popping noises. Now that can't be good.

Once I am up and running waddling it gets a bit easier to maneuver myself around. Although, picking up toys has turned into kicking toys in the general direction of where they belong.

Aside from the achyness, I am feeling pretty well. I really would like to make it past Thanksgiving. That way I can eat all I want, let my stomach hang out, and no one would be of the wiser. Doesn't get much better then that!

37 Weeks Pregnant with Samuel

Pregnancy Diary: Week 36

Getting down to the wire here! One more week I will officially be full term, and will have the go ahead for a home birth. Everything still looking good at my appointment this week. Measuring a little small, but I have been continually growing and gaining weight. That's all that really matters. I had my first little taste of heartburn (for this pregnancy) last week. Almost made it through with none! (We had some friends over, and I was eating yummy food too late. That's what did it!)  By this time with Will my shoes were a bit snug, and my wedding rings were stuck. But so far, I have had no noticeable swelling. My rings still slip right off!

Sam is quite the active little guy! Hopefully he will calm down once he is out here. His head is down, down, down and causing his mama quite the discomfort. These past couple of days have been pretty tough dealing with even more than normal lower abdominal/pelvic pain. My midwife was saying it is typical to be achier earlier the second pregnancy. Praying it subsides soon. Going to take a hot bath, and hopefully that will help!

I got all things baby/birth related finished on time. Now focusing on getting all things Christmas done before baby comes! I have a feeling that this guy is going to surprise us early. Not that I am getting my hopes up or anything. I was 4 days late with Will, and was perfectly fine with it.

I am kind of sad that this pregnancy is almost over. It all went by too fast. I am trying to enjoy every moment he stays safe inside my womb, yet it is sometimes hard when it gets so uncomfortable. I am very much looking forward to meeting this little one though. Wondering if he'll have his daddy's pretty blue eyes or if he will match his brother and mama with big brown ones. Wondering if he will come out looking huge like his big brother did or if he will be a bit tinier. That day will come soon enough though. For now, I will try to savor these last few moments as a family of 3.

36 Weeks Pregnant with Samuel

And His Name Shall Be Called...

This is the first time I (we) really had to think about what to name this second son of ours. Will was easy. It was a "Wanna do the 3rd?" "Yeah, sounds good." kind of thing.

We'd had an idea of a couple boys names we liked, even before I was expecting. But when we got prophesied over back in January of this year, we new exactly which name we would choose for our next son. I'd like to share a little bit of the transcript from our presbytery:

"Do you guys have any kids?  One kid?  Get ready for more!  Because the Lord says, “I'm going to bless your household with multiple children.”  Multiple children.  Particularly, do you have a son?  Well, there’s another one coming, and this one’s going to be a real daddy’s boy.  He’s going to be attached to you, brother, like (white on rice?).  So, get ready for this one.  And he’s going to follow in his father’s footsteps, and God’s going to raise up this young man to be a prophet in the house of the Lord.  So, be ready.  I don’t know when.  It’s your timing or God’s timing.  But it’s going to happen, and he’s going to be a prophet so be ready for this one."

It was just amazing hearing those words from God! This child hadn't even been conceived, yet we were getting a glimpse at Gods wonderful plan for his life. I got teary eyed hearing it. Which, for me (not pregnant) is big.

Now, no one (but us) knew at the time that we were already planning on trying to conceive the very next month, and just about 2 months after those words were spoken I got pregnant! Although he didn't specify that our next child would be this son he spoke about, I was never very doubtful that it wasn't.

One of the names we liked for a boy was Samuel. Once we heard those prophetic words, it was a no brainer that Samuel would be the name for this second son of ours.

It took us a bit longer to choose a middle name. I love the idea of using family names, especially surnames. I've never been the type to just search through a baby name book, and pick a name that sounds good with no personal meaning to it. Many people had their opinions about what name to use, but I never let that sway me. As long as Dean and I agree on a name, that's all that mattered. There were some good options mentioned, but none really stood out to us. But, we have finally come to an agreement on a name for our son, due to arrive in just a few short weeks! And his name shall be called....

Samuel Leonard Eaton! (Samuel meaning "His Name Is God." Leonard meaning "Brave As A Lion" and is also Dean's mothers maiden name.)

Birthday Boy!

I can't believe my baby boy is 2 today! Although he does have many moments of being whiny and stubborn, I wouldn't say it is terrible. This is such an adorable age! I have definitely become one of those moms who thinks that everyone loves hearing about all the cute things my child has done as much as I love talking about them. For that, I am sorry. I just can't help it!

As I have mentioned before, I have failed miserably at keeping up with Will's baby book. So, I will take some time now to document what he is up to these days!

He loves to play at the park; The big slides, swinging high, hanging on the monkey bars and dropping into your arms. He loves kicking and throwing balls in the backyard and in the house. He loves to stack anything and knock it down. He loves jumping off the couch into a pile of pillows (or onto daddy)! He loves watching videos of things crashing and exploding. He loves doggies and kitties, cars and trucks. Veggie Tales.

He still doesn't have a huge vocabulary, but it's the cutest thing hearing him talk when he does! He knows where a lot of his body parts are, and Dean claims he knows the colors blue and green.

Still doing great on the sleeping front. He has his little routine at night: He will go into his room, turn on his sound machine, turn off the light, and come out to say goodnight to Bob, all his toys, and kiss daddy goodnight. I'll sit in the rocking chair, and he'll climb onto my lap. Resting his head on my chest, belly to belly. He still has his binky's. He will mostly just hold on to them, but sometime will have one in his mouth. He has never been one for lullaby's; It would just distract him. He will usually figit for about 5 to 10 minutes, trying to get comfortable. If possible, he prefers to have his cheek resting on my bare skin, and will pull at my shirt to try and accomplish that. Sometime he will zonk right out, but I usually end up laying him down in his bed awake, put on his blanky's, kiss him on the head and tell him I love him. He'll respond with a "yeah" and the sweetest "bye" you'll ever hear. He sleeps right through the night until about 7:30am, and still takes a great nap.

He hasn't showed any signs of wanting to potty train. I used to say that I would never have two in diapers. Yet here we are! But actually, I am glad I didn't put in all that effort to train him, because his time in the cast would have just shot that all out the window.

He had his 2 year check up this week. Measuring in at 35 1/2 inches (70th percentile) and 33 lbs (90+ percentile). The doctor called him overweight. Ha! Maybe I am blind to it, but he just doesn't look fat to me! He is even losing his buddha belly. I say it's all the muscle he has. Doc said he looks great! She wasn't worried about his lack of talking at all.

It is so much fun looking back at his 1 year photo's we took, and seeing how much he has grown! Here are some cute comparisons:

I remember having a tough time getting him to crack a smile at 1 year old, but this time all we had to say was, "Smile Will!" and we'd get this winner of a face.....

And yes, that is a black eye you see. His first day walking on his own after getting his cast off, he got his feet all twisted up while at the park and smashed into a metal railing. He was quite the site limping around with his swollen, purple eye. Such a tough guy!

I love my little man so much! Happy 2nd Birthday, Will!

Pregnancy Diary: Week 34

I am just loving these Autumn days! As much fun as Summer was, I am not missing it. I am having a tougher time with the heat this time around, and this cool, crisp weather is perfect! Usually by this time the furnace would be up and running all day. At bedtime the knee socks would be pulled out along with long pants, and a sweatshirt. Occasionally warming up the sheets with a blow dryer before creeping in. But now? The socks are off. Tank top is on, and pants are an option. I sometimes wake up sweating! I don't remember this being the case while pregnant with Will. But, I am notorious for being cold, so I am enjoying this while it last.

I really have no complaints. Getting a bit more achy these days, but nothing I can't handle. The babe is in good position; Head in my bladder, feet in my ribs. I reached my cringe weight this week :-/ It's been nice getting back to the gym after having 6 weeks of nothing while Will was in his cast. I workout at the YMCA where I used to work (and occasionally still do) in their Childwatch. One lady is adamant that I have "dropped" since she saw me last week.

"Oh no, I was just never up to begin with."

"No, you've dropped."

"Ok, if you say so."

The lady janitor (who knows me) is pretty certain I am much smaller then I was with Will.

"You are much smaller then you were with Will."

"Oh no. I've gained just about the same, and am measuring right on track."

"No, you're definitely smaller."

"Ok, if you say so. I mean, you do know best."

Oy. I need to learn to just smile and nod.

My sister and I had a lot of fun doing a little amateur maternity shoot a couple weeks ago. Here are some of my favorites!

 

Pregnancy Diary: Week 32

Not too much going on over here these days. At an appointment with my midwife this week she asked how I was doing, and I had to stop and really think about it for a second. "Hmm, I'm doing pretty well. I think." Mentally going over the checklist: Achy? No, not right now. Gotta pee? Well, yeah. Hungry? Nope, I'm good. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm doing well." Everything looked great. Belly's growing on right on target. Weight is being gained. Baby's moving. Heart rates were good. Definitely a low risk pregnancy.

The first time being pregnant you are aware of everything!  It's all so new. Scary. Exciting! This time is so different. Time has flown by! It's kind of a going with the flow, been there done that mentality. Not that I am any less excited about this new baby of mine. If anything, I am more excited! Much more relaxed knowing what to expect. Isn't it amazing how you forget about how labor really felt? In the throws of laboring and pushing out Will I was convinced that we would only have one child. But now I am actually looking forward to labor! I look at it like a challenge against myself. Try to do it even better then last time. Maybe not scream as much.....

Slowly, but surely, I am getting my house in order. Really trying to plan ahead, and would like to have all baby/birth related items taken care by then end of this month; leaving November to complete all Christmas related things before baby comes. Google searching "hospital sized sanitary pads" and "waterproof plastic mattress cover" is the extent of excitement around here.  

Thankful to have some sunny weather, so we can take walks and go to the park. Looking forward to getting back to the gym once Will is up and walking. When he was in his cast I got so achy from carrying him around, that the last thing I could do was workout. Don't worry mom. I won't be running marathons or jumping lunges. Just a nice ride on a stationary bike, and some light weight training will do me good.

So here we are at 32 weeks. Ignore my face. I was concentrating.