35 weeks

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.
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35 weeks - woohoo! Chase is still staying warm inside the oven. I'm trying my best to give him a comfy little home so he'll want to stay there for a while longer. I am thrilled to be to 35 weeks though...will be even more so if I reach 36. We can only hope!

I am feeling much better after a couple day bout with the stomach flu. It went through everyone in our house and was not fun, but as with everything else, we survived. I am getting pretty uncomfortable as I near the end of this pregnancy, a lot of which I blame on bed rest. It's amazing how much the body can ache from just laying around. What I would give to be able to go on a walk or climb up and down the stairs right now. Another week and I'll feel comfortable going off bed rest. I can't wait!

I am going to cheat just a little this weekend. Some close friends and family are throwing me a mini-shower this weekend and I am really looking forward to it. How's this for cuteness? It's being called a "sprinkle"! It will just be a fun little get together at a yummy local restaurant before the little man arrives and I am housebound for a bit. And heck, maybe I'll get a diaper or 2. I sure hope so because "buy diapers" remains on my list of to-do's that I haven't been able to-do!

Other than that, nothing has changed from my previous update. I have an appointment with my OB tomorrow. Not sure I even want him to do a cervical exam this time. I feel like all that poking around up there might start to stir things up! Wish me luck!

Here are the 35 week belly pics. Everyone is saying I look big. I don't really see it and truthfully, I don't feel that big. But, I will say that I do believe I am carrying a hefty one. The nurses keep making up nicknames for him (such as Goliath, Mammoth, Giganto, Arnold, etc.) Hmmmmm....

If he has remained in the 75th% like he was measuring at 3 weeks ago, he probably weighs over 6 lbs. at this point. About twice as heavy as Addison was when she was born! I'm happy he's so big...might make things a little better for him if he does come early (mostly in the maintaining body temperature category). Fatten up, little guy, and keep learning that suck/swallow/breathe skill. That's a big one!

Bath

It's been ages since I've posted a bathtime picture. Tonight she wanted some taken of her when I was taking one of her bed (see below post). How could I resist?

Big Girl Bed

I've been meaning to write about Addison's transition from crib to big girl bed for over a month now. At first, I kept forgetting (with the holidays and all) and being on bed rest for the past 3 weeks hasn't allowed me to be up and about to make her bed in order to capture a decent picture. Lucky for us (sarcasm), Addison puked in her bed the other night, which forced us to change the sheets. Not that I don't change her sheets often, just not usually more than once a week!

This evening, Dustin put her regular set of sheets back on and did a nice job making her bed. I will say that making the bed look "neat" with those guard rails that make my eyes want to bleed very sore is a challenge! And somehow, the minimal amount of loveys, animals, and blankets that were once in her crib seem to be multiplying now that she is in a big girl bed, which makes for a little bit of a "messy look". :)

So, it was December 20th that we made the change, very much on a whim. For the previous few weeks, she had been climbing out of her pack-n-play anytime she was sleeping elsewhere. She spent the weekend of the 18th-20th with her grandparents and performed the Houdini act at both naps and bedtime each day.

Though she hadn't climbed out of her crib yet, she had made a couple of feeble attempts, so we figured it wouldn't be long before she really learned to do it. In addition, we were thinking of moving her out of the crib before the new baby arrived to make for an easier transition (and so we could re-use her crib mattress!) Fortunately, her crib was convertible and makes for a beautiful full size bed. Even better, the manufacturer of her crib bedding (Dwell Studio) also makes duvet covers for beds, so we didn't have to make a single change to her room decor.

She's done well in her new bed and has only come into our room once (which scared me half to death, but was incredibly sweet because I woke to her happy little voice saying "Hi, Mommy!" And it was 6:30am, so at least it wasn't that unreasonable!)

She has also stopped going to the potty in her bed (like she was doing in her crib), but now has a major obsession with panties - meaning when she is wet she calls out for us and wants a new pull-up/diaper. Sometimes she does this even when she isn't wet because she isn't happy with what she has on (i.e. she wants a Dora pull-up instead of her Elmo diaper or a Princess pull-up instead of Dora.) I've never seen a girl so picky about her undergarments! She also calls out for us when she has to poop, which is great because she has been consistently going on the potty for weeks now, but it does sometimes interrupt her/our sleep. I am sure once she is completely potty-trained, things will be better. In the meantime, we're very happy with how easily she has transitioned.

Quote of the day

After reading Addison's sign language book and asking her if she will help me teach sign to her little brother:

"Yes! Open Mommy's belly?"

Update

I just wanted to give a short status update. Facebook is not responding to my desperate pleads to re-enable my account. I'm not sure what to do at this point, but it's incredibly frustrating and making it very hard to provide updates for those who might care.

So, the blog it is.

I am 34 weeks, 5 days and Chase is still tucked away in my belly. This is such wonderful news! I did spend a good portion of Sunday in the hospital being pumped with fluids and anti-nausea medicine thanks to the stomach flu, which I contracted from Addison who woke up with it Thursday night/Friday morning.

On that note, I would like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to the parent(s) who brought their sick child to The Little Gym last Wednesday. Thank you for doing this because not only did you give my daughter and me the stomach flu, but also 2 other little girls and their parents. This is how I know it came from TLG. That, and I can do the math. (I always have a very good suspicion as to where Addison picks things up.) So, thank you, parent(s) of sick child. You've made a very hard month even worse.

I mean, I really don't get it. If your child is sick, leave them home. Why infect dozens of other children? Because you want a damn medal for your kid? It's just not fair. Addison has missed out on her fair share of activities due to illnesses and I would expect other parents to be just as responsible with their children. Guess not. Instead, my daughter and I end up violently vomiting (amongst other not so pleasant symptoms) and miserable. Then we spread it to Grandma, who already has her hands full caring for us and her other Grandchildren. Fortunately, Daddy hasn't gotten it...hopefully he doesn't! We can't lose Daddy in the line-up, too!

Rant over. Sorry 'bout that!

As you can see, I'm feeling pretty crappy. I don't cope well when I am sick. On the plus side, at least I am confined to bed, anyway.

Ironically, today is Addison's due date (2 years ago). I was joking to Dustin the other day that Chase must have gotten confused and was thinking today was his due date. Fortunately, it seems as though the talk I gave him has helped him clear things up!

My next doctors appointment is Friday. Assuming nothing happens before then, I will update afterwards. Thanks for thinking about us!!

The Little Gym Show Day

The fall/winter semester ended at The Little Gym last week and just like in the past, they put on a "Show Day" during the last class of the semester.

My friend, Tara, took Addison for me. I didn't want Addison to miss out and I think Tara enjoyed seeing the little munchkin in action. Fortunately, one of the other moms took some shots of Addison for me! I am very blessed to have so many of my friends and family who have come together to make this time a little easier on me. All of these seemingly small favors are more meaningful than anyone could imagine.



Walking on the air track


Accepting her medal. She now has 3 to display in her playroom!

"Take it easy. Really, really easy."

Those words came straight from my doctors mouth today at my appointment, right after giving me his best educated guess as to when this baby would be arriving. (more on that in a short while)

I was having contractions throughout the night and early this morning, then periodically throughout the day (though I think I was trying to ignore them so I didn't keep track of how often they were occurring).

The first thing they did at my appointment (after weight, blood pressure and urine sample) was to hook me up to the fetal monitors, something Chase and I are becoming quite familiar with. Dr. Dustin was there measuring my contractions, which were HUGE and FREQUENT. I was having contractions that were at least 3 times the size of any previous contractions and they were occurring every 1-2 minutes. My doctor came in after about 5 minutes, saw the strip and immediately took me off the monitors to check my cervix. I think, given these contractions, he was expecting me to be dilated.

However, much to my delight, I am still not dilated. On the less bright side, I am 75% effaced. The problem with this is that the more effaced one is (in other words, the thinner and softer the cervix becomes) the easier it is for the cervix to dilate. I was only 20% effaced a week ago, so my cervix has effaced a decent amount since then. It's only a matter of time until dilation occurs.

After the cervical check, I asked my doctor the question that I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to. "Dr. Landon", I said, "Be honest. When is this baby coming?" "Kristi", he responded in a calm and empathetic manner (which I appreciate), "I will be very surprised if you are still pregnant in 2 weeks. If I were to give you my best educated guess, I would say that there is a 50/50 chance you will have this baby within a week and a greater than 75% chance you will not be pregnant 2 weeks from today. BUT, I've been wrong before." I have a feeling this man is rarely wrong, but am really, really, really, reeeeeeeaaaaalllly hoping this is one of those times!

In response to my question about what I can do to prolong this pregnancy, he said "Take it easy. Really, really easy."

Well, I have that one covered. The rest is out of my control.

So, I am feeling defeated, sad, angry, scared, frustrated, and anxious. But, I'm so incredibly grateful that we have made it this far and that Chase seems to be a nice size. The longer he can stay in there, the better. Tomorrow will be 34w 2d, exactly 3 weeks further along than I was when sweet Addison was born.

I will continue to update with anything new. Oh, and if you are one of my Facebook friends, it appears my account has been hacked into because FB suddenly disabled it this morning. I am working on getting this problem fixed, but haven't had luck thus far.

Muscles and Messes

Addison started another new class this week called Muscles and Messes. Of course I couldn't attend the class with her (maybe one of these days!) so my mother-in-law, Debbie, was gracious enough to take her. That was after first taking her to the dentist for me where she got a clean bill of health and Debbie was able to feast her eyes on Dr. Jake. Ooooh la la! :)

Anyway, Debbie said that Addison had a great time at class and even came home with some pictures for me to live through vicariously!

This is a platform that swings and the bin contained beans and such with containers to scoop them.


Smearing shaving cream on the windows. I hope she doesn't start to think this is going to be allowed at home!

I guess she really liked this sit and spin type of contraption.

Now this looks like fun. I wouldn't mind doing it myself! You swing on the pendulum and drop into the balls!

Teeter-Tottering with one of her instructors.

Trampoline

The grocery cart had water bottles with colored water and sparkles in them.

This class and the music and art class are offered by the county as part of their Early Intervention Program. Because of Addison's prematurity, but more specifically because of her diagnosis of RDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome) at birth, we are eligible to participate in three of these specialty classes each year....at no cost to us! I haven't ever enrolled Addison in any of the classes because since before she was a year old, she was completely caught up to her age group and has since advanced beyond many children her age who were born full-term. (Brag, brag, I know. I'm her mother..it's my right!)

So I've felt that enrolling Addison in these classes would take away from a child who could really benefit from them and to be honest, I was a little embarrassed to have my developed and completely "typical" child attending a class where there would be children with disabilities. I didn't want people to look at us and wonder what the heck we were doing in a specialty group and not accept us because of it. (dumb, dumb, dumb mommy. how could you ever be so naive and ignorant?) Now don't you go judging me! Honesty is a virtue!

A few months ago, Addison's EIS asked why I have never enrolled Addison in the specialty classes and when I gave her my reason, she encouraged me to not focus on the fact that Addison doesn't "need" these classes but rather what she could gain from the experience and just as importantly, what some of the other children could gain from having Addison in class with them! At that point, there were no ifs ands or buts. Addison was enrolled.

In these classes are children who seem just as typical as Addison, children with speech delays, children with gross motor and/or fine motor and/or sensory delays, and children with Downs Syndrome (as a matter of fact one of Addison's new friends, Grace, whom she met in Art and Music and has really taken a liking to has DS), to name a few. I think it's a wonderful environment for Addison to be in and I am proud of the different learning aspects that she will benefit from in class. I regret ever being so close-minded and wish I would have started her in these amazing classes a long time ago! Lesson learned....

Happy Birthday, Miss Avery!

One of our sweet little friends turned a year old today and we wanted to wish her a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We hope you have a wonderful birthday, Avery. Knowing your momma, it's sure to be nothing short of perfect!

34 weeks

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

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Nervous about preterm labor? Who's nervous? Ha!

I was certainly encouraged when I read those last two sentences (in bold) this morning. 34 weeks is a huge milestone and though I do think Chase would need some time in the NICU, it gives me great comfort knowing that there most likely wouldn't be nearly as many challenges as we had with Addison. Also, I am guessing that Chase wouldn't need any breathing assistance and would just be considered a feeder and a grower.

Our best guess is that Chase is already probably close to a pound more than Addison was on the day she came home from the hospital. My doctor is estimating that he is over 5 pounds at this point. Unbelievable!

I was feeling pretty good prior to yesterday, with bed rest seeming to go by pretty quickly. I was beginning to feel more optimistic with each passing day (and of course continue to sing my praises each morning that I wake with little Chase still inside). But yesterday threw us for another loop and really brought my spirits down.

I woke at 6am with contractions (the first that I could actually feel without someone telling me that I was contracting). Dustin and I waited for our friend to come over to be with Addison and off to the hospital we went. I was having contractions every 2-4 minutes and was eventually given Terbutaline to try to stop them. Though they didn't completely stop, they became more irregular - occurring every 2-10 minutes. The Terbutaline made me jittery and caused a headache, but other than that it wasn't so bad.

Because I also reported leaking fluid over the previous 24 hours, they ran 3 different tests (including a fern test) to see if it was amniotic fluid. Fortunately, it wasn't....thank the Good Lord!

It turns out the increase in fluid is being caused by an infection (but that infection is not causing these preterm contractions).

The good news is that my cervix is still closed. I am 70% effaced but these contractions have yet to cause dilation. My doctor told me yesterday that if the contractions I was having did dilate my cervix, there wouldn't be anything more he could do to stop labor. So, hearing that I was not dilated made me want to jump for joy!

I was sent home after a few hours and told to continue bed rest (though I never presumed there was an alternative). I had contractions again throughout the night and early this morning, but those now seem to have subsided. My uterus must have a serious beef with me!

On a positive note, I had a fabulous experience in L&D this time around. My doctor was attending, which I know made all the difference. I was in a triage room within a minute of checking in and my doctor was in my room 2 minutes later. Even better, we didn't run out of toilet paper AND my nurse, Beth, was able to get an IV in on the FIRST TRY!!!!!!!! Such a difference from my last visit to the unit....

I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow. I'm not sure what the appointment will entail...we'll see. I really don't want this baby to arrive any time soon. I would like another 2 weeks, at least. And if I make it past 36 or 37 weeks (God willing), I will feel comfortable resuming normal behavior. I hope I get that chance. There are a few things I am itching to do before the little man arrives!

Thanks so much for your continued prayers for our son. I know God hears them!

Hopefully these aren't the last of the belly pictures I'll be posting!

Monthiversary Onesies

I've been working on a project this past week and with the help of Dustin's mom and mine, I was able to complete it! I made the designs last week and Dustin's mom got all the materials for me. My mom helped me transfer the images this weekend. This is the first time I've ever done an iron-on transfer. It was fun and easy!

Thanks to the joint effort, Chase has a onesie for every month through his first birthday (0 - 12 months)!


A few closeups

Feeling...

Today, with her sweetest look of empathy, that resembled something like this,

Addison said "How you feeling today, Mommy?"

Little Angel, where do you come up with these things? Mommy is feeling great because I get to be with you!

Frosty

Central Ohio began to thaw out last week when temps finally reached above freezing...even getting up to 40! (((heat wave))) This means that all of the beautiful snow that once blanketed and left evidence of the bunnies and deer that traipse through my backyard is almost gone.

As I mentioned in the previous post, my mom was with us this weekend and she and Addison played outside for a while yesterday.

They were able to salvage some of the remaining snow and make a snowman...a first for Addison!

They were very thoughtful to make it right in front of the window by where I have been "resting" this weekend. I think my body might actually be leaving an imprint in the sofa, by the way!

Anyway, I enjoyed watching and snapping pictures, which didn't turn out too bad considering I was photographing through glass and a screen.

Giving Frosty his carrot nose

They used one of Wrigley's scarves. He ended up with 3 arms...

...and 4 eyes. He's a special snowman.

Introducing our dog-scarf wearing, 3 armed, 4 eyed Frosty the Snowman!

Music and Art

Addison started a new music and art class last weekend. We signed her up for Saturday mornings to give Dustin an opportunity to attend a class with her. We also thought it would be a good time for them to get out of the house while I got some things done to prepare for Chase's arrival. (Turns out all I can really do while they are gone is lay around!)

My mom has been here the last two weekends helping out and has had the opportunity to go to the first two classes with them. They took the camera with them this week so I could see what they do.

The class is held in a preschool classroom so while they wait for everyone to arrive, the kids are allowed to play with some of the toys. Both times, Addison has gone straight for the babies. No surprise there!





The activities this week included playing with water balloons, which Addison ended up popping, thus drenching her clothes!

They also painted with watercolors. Addison loves to paint! She and her Grandma F. just made a huge mural the other day. It hangs in her play room with all the other masterpieces she is most proud of.

My mom thinks that she looks like a typical preschooler in this picture. I just can't believe my baby is getting so big. I've tracked down a couple of preschool programs in the area that take children under 3, so she will probably be starting that in the fall. I planned to attend open houses this month as registration begins in February (and I've heard the best ones go quickly). DOH! Another great plan that bed rest has foiled!

Music time....Addison's favorite!

Streamers

Sticks

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Bells (her favorite part is putting things away)

High five for her teacher, Miss Pat.

When they got home, Addison came running down to where I was laying to show me her artwork!