Snow Day

The past couple of times that it's snowed, the kids really haven't had a chance to go out and play. Some of that is due to living in an apartment, but the main reason is because with my low iron levels, I couldn't stay warm for anything and therefore, we didn't go outside much. Yesterday, we had a good three inches or so fall to the ground and it was quite a bit warmer out. Got the kids bundled up, went over to Grammy Sheba's (Kara) house and let them loose. They had a blast. I have such good memories growing up of all the times playing in the snow and I don't want my little ones to miss out on that. They had a good time and Dayson took a good nap afterwards (which I'm thankful for).

He loved throwing the snow up into the air to watch it come back down. His only problem was when he did it right over his face. As you can see, he wasn't impressed.

Making a little house in the ground.

Her first snowman of the season. The snow worked really well for packing this time around.

She loved the sound of the snow when she ran in it.

Kara's neighbor came over and ask if she could take a picture of the three of us together. That was really sweet of her. You can never have enough pictures of you and your kids. I have to remind myself of that on occasion since I don't like to get out from behind the camera very often.

39 Weeks

I honestly wasn't sure if I would be doing a weekly post again or actually posting about a new addition to our family. So many people have been saying that this past week was the week and maybe I started getting my hopes up a little. I should know better though. After my last two pregnancies going past the due time, why should this one be any different? There's still a little bit of time though :-). I'm still guessing that we'll have a February baby and I'm totally fine with that. It'll be nice for all of us to have our own birth month.

Litl B is waiting to greet the world! He/she continues to build a layer of fat to help control body temperature after birth, but it's likely he/she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his/her skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 39 Weeks 1 Day

Total Weight Gain: 9.5 pounds - I know, it's gone down again...I'm honestly eating as much as I can so I'm still not sure why this keeps happening. It's very discouraging. I want a healthy baby and hope that it's getting the nutrients that it needs from me.

Maternity Clothes: I pretty much wear the same 2-3 shirts all the time now. Nothing else covers the baby bump anymore.

Best Moment This Week: Hearing Litl B's heartbeat and knowing that all is going well.

Gender and Name: Getting so excited to see what little miracle God has given us. Can't wait to share the name too!

Movement: Litl B keeps trying to stretch and shift, but it just doesn't work as well.

Food Craving: Still nothing...

Sleep: So far this past week ranks up there with the most lack of sleep I've had yet. Just getting ready for the long nights ahead is what I keep telling myself.

Symptoms: Aside from the lack of sleep, I'm just dealing with the usual end of pregnancy stuff. Soon though, this shall pass.

What I miss: Being able to jump up quickly when needed. Now I have to kind of roll or rock just to get on my feet.

What I'm Looking Forward To: To labor beginning, ending and having Litl B in our arms.



38 Weeks

I have a praise! My iron levels went up! I'm still considered anemic but my levels are at a point to where we can do a home birth. We're so excited! Thank you to all who have been praying for us, it has really gotten us through this trying time. I'm still continuing to take extra iron and doing all my supplements to help keep the levels up and will probably continue for a time after the baby is born.

At my last appointment, my midwife was pretty sure that I would go into labor before my next appointment which is this coming Wednesday. I'm still thinking that I will go late, at least I tell myself that so that I don't get my hopes up. BJ is a little disappointed that so far the baby hasn't come today. He really wanted me to share a birthday with this little one. Me on the other hand, I'm ok with it. If this little one needs to cook a bit longer, I'm all for that.

Litl B has really plumped up. He/she weighs about 6.8 pounds and is over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He/she has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his/her hand for the first time! His/her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.
Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If he/she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If he/she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he/she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after being born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 38 Weeks 1 Day

Total Weight Gain: 11 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Looking forward to the time when I'm back in my regular clothes. It's hard when even your maternity shirts don't even cover you completely anymore.

Best Moment This Week: Getting the news that my iron levels were up.

Gender and Name: Getting so excited to see what little miracle God has given us. Can't wait to share the name too!

Movement: Still having lots of wiggles and startle reflexes. Funny when that happens.

Food Craving: I guess I just don't get cravings...weird...

Sleep: Can't wait to sleep more on my stomach or in what ever position I want.

Symptoms: Just the typical ones that most women get at this point in pregnancy.

What I miss: Not bumping into everything that I pass. Poor Dayson's head is always right in the way. I frequently hear throughout the day "ow" every time he connects with my belly.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Having Litl B.

37 Weeks

Full term... the words almost every pregnant lady looks forward to. Assuming my iron levels have gone up (find out Tuesday morning), I can safely have this baby any time with my midwife. I'm so thankful to have reached this point. I've really wanted to enjoy this pregnancy, and at times I have, but it has taken such a toll on my body this time. Maybe just this one time I'll have a baby that decides to come early...only God knows that detail. In any case, we're so close now. The end is in sight.

Litl B is now considered "full term," even though the due date is three weeks away. If I go into labor now, his/her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though.)
Litl B weighs about 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss Chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if Litl B's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 37 Weeks 3 Days

Total Weight Gain: 10 pounds. It's hard not to be discouraged seeing that number drop again. We figured that due to my body having a not so grand reaction to all the iron and different supplements I'm having to take, that is probably the reason it went down again.

Maternity Clothes: Looking forward to the time when I'm back in my regular clothes. It's hard when even your maternity shirts don't even cover you completely anymore.

Best Moment This Week: Can't place my finger on one exact moment, but I can say that I survived the week and so did the kids.

Gender and Name: Getting so excited to see what little miracle God has given us.

Movement: Seems to be slowing down now that I'm truly out of room...at least I feel like I am.

Food Craving: Just want to have a normal meal.

Sleep: Had one good night of sleep this past week. All the other nights aren't even worth talking about.

Symptoms: Still dealing with the anemia issues. I'm amazed at how quickly I will get exhausted. Some days, aside from being a mom to two children, just getting the dishes in the sink washed and the laundry done is about all I can accomplish before being completely wiped out. It's a weird feeling to not have the energy that you are used to. As I walk around our apartment and see all the little details or even some of the big things that need cleaning, I start to stress out knowing I don't have it in me to get it all done. BJ has been helping out which is such a blessing and he's always reminding me that it's ok to have clutter around, we'll get to it when we can. I'm trying to just relax about it all.

What I miss: Breathing normal. On top of having a hard time breathing because of Litl B sitting up high, I found out that anemia can actually make it difficult as well. This too shall pass...

What I'm Looking Forward To: Having my next baby appointment. Praying for some good news.

Christmas Program 2012

Realized that I never posted about the kids Christmas program at church (its only been a month...oops). This year, both Iyana and Dayson were able to participate. Iyana wasn't nervous since she's been doing this for a few years now and actually enjoys getting up in front of people. She'll say that she doesn't like it, but once it's done, she wants to do it again. Dayson on the other hand, we didn't know what to expect from him. Being as active as he is and seeing how he was while they were practicing standing in their positions, I had visions of him being the one to be jumping all over the stage and being pretty much the class clown. To everyone's surprise, he actually stayed in one spot when the time came to get up there and sing. Could it be that he had a little bit of stage fright? All the kids did great and we enjoyed a wonderful show of them celebrating our Lord and Savior.

Here's just a couple of pictures and video's from the day.

The kids did a lot of practicing and did so well.

Not the best picture I could get of him, but the only one where he was sitting still for two seconds.

 

 

And one last picture not related to the Christmas program but taken on the same day. Here's our Christmas family picture. Hope everyone had a very blessed day celebrating Christ and what He has done for us.

 

36 Weeks

I just need to make it to Friday (37 weeks) and then I can have this baby with my midwife. Anything before that or after 42 weeks would require us to go to the hospital. Also, assuming I can't get my iron levels up (I'm really anemic right now), I'll have to deliver in the hospital. I'm not against doing that (we had Iyana there), I've just got my heart set on a home birth. It's so weird to think that this baby could come at any time now. It's been a long wait. At times I wondered if we would ever get to this point, but now that it's here, it's kind of crazy to think that our family is going to be growing to five. I'm excited and a little nervous. It's always so fun to get to know your new little baby. Will he/she be another blondie, another very active child or maybe a quiet thinker, will he/she sleep through the night at an early age? So many different possibilities that I can't wait to find out.

Litl B is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He/she now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He/she is shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered the body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected the skin during his/her nine-month amniotic bath. Litl B swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, which will form the contents of the first bowel movement.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 36 Weeks 2 Day

Total Weight Gain: 12 pounds! It's not exactly something that most people would be excited about seeing on the scale, but this made me happy. What has made me not so happy is I'm pretty sure since my appointment last Wednesday that I've gone down again. I'll see when I go in this week.

Maternity Clothes: I've got several maternity shirts that are starting to get short . Not to mention, because my belly is so round with this one, my pants don't want to stay where they're supposed to. Frustrating...

Best Moment This Week: Having a great baby appointment visit. Aside from being severely anemic right now, everything with baby is going very well.

Gender and Name: Names are picked out and the clothes are all ready. Now it's just the waiting game to see what gender Litl B is.

Movement: I'm pretty sure this one is going to have quite the startle reflex. Twice now in the past week, BJ has come up to talk to the baby or make a funny noise, and Litl B jerks and startles while inside me. It's quite funny though I don't know how much more I can stretch to accommodate these times.

Food Craving: None...still too much heartburn.

Sleep: What's that? My body is definitely preparing me for the long nights ahead.

Symptoms: Still having braxton hicks. The main concern right now is getting my iron levels up. I'm taking a lot of different things to help that out. It can be emotionally draining trying to make sure I get everything in for the day and when I take things. I can't eat certain foods with it all and I have to take the different things at certain times. Can be very confusing.

What I miss: Being able to eat what I want when I want and not having to worry that it's going to affect anything I'm taking.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Having this little one in my arms.