Down to the wire

Well here we are, probably the last 4 days of this pregnancy. I'm trying to decide if I'm more excited to get it over with and never have to do it again or if it's a little bittersweet and I'll miss never doing it again. I'm leaning toward the first option because honestly I just want to sleep in some position other than on my side. Don't misunderstand me, pregnancy is fun and exciting and everything, but all good things must come to an end. I definitely don't want any more kids, but there is something to be said for the whole growing a baby in your body thing as creepy as that is when you really think about it. Anyway, I go tomorrow to decide what my options are for evicting the tenant that just won't leave :-P We are at 41+ weeks now and they really don't like for you to go over 42 weeks because of potential problems. I'm thankful that the midwife has allowed me the full length of time given our delivery choice of not having a repeat c-section (we hope). Things are progressing toward the whole labor thing, but obviously not very much or I wouldn't be writing this post. We are hopeful that labor will begin spontaneously before any kind of induction method is used, but I think that Henry and I are just ready to get it over with and inducing is still better than a c-section which is better than lots of other things that could go not according to plan. We have all the bags packed, everything is ready to go, Christmas shopping is done, heck, I even filled and plugged in the wipe warmers. Now we wait, more, and see if he will be a November baby, or a December baby. Sooo never thought that was an option... :-P ~Kellie~

Movies & Pregnancy

Groundhog Day the movie, that's what this pregnancy is starting to feel like. I'm all for letting nature take it's course and I know that he will get here when he gets here and I'm ok with that, really I am, but every morning I wake up and my first thought is that I am still pregnant and that nothing has changed. No "signs" of labor, no specific end in sight, just more of the same. I get over this after I've been awake long enough to get busy but it kinda sucks to wake up and think that every morning. I'm thankful to have at least one more day to get things done. There's always something else to get done.

I also feel like I'm in the movie Alien, and I'm sure that all of you who have been pregnant can relate to that. It's kinda weird to harbor another human in your body. As cool and amazing and miraculous as it is, there comes a point when you realize that they are fully capable of functioning on their own and much like the college student that won't find a job, it's time for them to move out. I have felt more elbows and knees and feet in this pregnancy than I think I ever have before. I swear yesterday morning I felt his butt overlapping the bottom of my ribs and it was not a pleasant feeling. It literally took my breath away and Henry can vouch for how high his little bottom really was. I had a dream last night that I could see and feel his knee in the middle of my chest, not pleasant.

For all of those who say "you're all baby", I'm gonna have to agree with you. Though I am not physically huge, I feel totally full, overinflated, & waaay too firm. My skin is stretched so tight that I can't even move it, and I'm pretty sure that I have horrible stretch marks around my belly button which is something new. I've had stretch marks since Colin, but they've always been limited to my hips, sort of an odd place to get them in the grand scheme of things. I guess my butt had so much extra skin that my belly borrowed from it, who knows. I also had a dream last night that he was born and weighed 8.4 and was 22 inches long. Folks, that's a big baby.

I said above that there was no specific end in sight, and that's true to a point. My "due date" which I've already said was more like the "use by" dates that they put on milk was 4 days ago. I don't place alot of faith in those guesses of arrival/time expiration, but it doesn't help the frustration of STILL not having him here on the outside. It kinda feels like waiting on the mail to arrive with an awesome package, you get mail every day, but the way cool package still isn't there. ACK! Anyway, I have an appointment with my midwife on Wednesday at my 41 week mark. If he's still not here by then, and it's looking like he won't be, she will set a date for me to be induced. As against induction as I've been in the past, I really don't care anymore. It isn't a c-section and I'm tired of feeling like turkey.

Speaking of turkey, we're hosting Thanksgiving this year because I really thought I'd have a baby by then and wouldn't want to travel 2 hours a week-ish after he was born. It seemed like a good plan to have dinner here, I could go to bed if I needed to, everyone could come see the baby... oh the best laid plans. I'm still going to LOOK like a turkey by then and with him nested up in there, there's going to be less room for me to gobble dinner. Oh I'm soooo punny! :-P My mom brought dressing yesterday because she's not going to be able to make it for dinner because my dad won't be able to travel due to a knee replacement. It's in the freezer and I'm so tempted to just heat it up and sit down with a serving spoon and stuff myself because honestly, what's more comforting than dressing??? Anyway, I feel a little better now and I can always go back and read my own blog and pretend that someone else wrote it and that they really understand how I feel . I'll keep everyone posted on delivery, but until then I leave you with a picture so that you can understand how I feel. I'm not sure if seeing the picture makes me feel better or worse, but you can at least have a good laugh at my expense. ~Kellie~

In case I don't see you before then, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Not sold in stores?!

When Henry and I were expecting Kinsley, we decided to get her an animal from Build-A-Bear. We also decided that it would be a family outing and something special that the boys could help us do to prepare for her. They of course wanted to get her the camo bear, but we convinced them that she was a girl and that a girl might prefer something a little more... girly. Her bedding had little bunnies on it so we ended up choosing this little flop eared bunny. While they were stuffing it, the boys got to choose little red satin hearts to put inside. Their instructions per the stuffing person were for them to hold it in their hands and make a wish for the baby before putting the hearts inside the bunny so that it could be finished getting stuffed and closed up. It was so sweet, and honestly I cried in the store. Henry and I added a sound heart that makes a beating sound when you press it.

We decided that we would keep this tradition rolling with Henry and we've been searching for the right animal to get him. We checked the website and saw one that we liked and when we cruised by the store in the mall one day we discovered that they didn't have it. I think that they had had it, but they were out by the time we decided to get one. Anyway, that was a month or so ago and the pressure is now on to wrap up details. We checked the site again. They actually had the original one that we wanted, but then we saw one that we liked a little better. I'm still kinda stuck on the first one, but I think this one might be a little more fitting for him. See that little green paw print on the pic? Yeah, that means that you can ONLY get it online and NOT in the store. :( I called the local B-A-B store and asked them about this. I told the super excited girl who answered the phone my predicament, and it turns out that you can request them to send you the animal unstuffed so that you can take it to the store for the experience. I was sad that the "economy" shipping said that the delivery date was 6-9 days because honestly I'm not sure I have 6-9 more days before he's here. I could have upgraded the shipping but then it would have been as much as the animal which is stupid especially considering that he is lighter than usual because he's not stuffed! Anyway, I'm not sure if we'll get him in time to make a family outing to the store before Henry gets here. If not, I'll just send Henry and the kids to the store for some cool dad time or I might possibly go as well with Henry wrapped in the Moby and totally enclosed to form a germ barrier. In any case, the kids will get to make him a cool animal that he can keep and it will be a neat experience for them. I'll try to take and post pics of the "stuffing party". -Kellie-

All Things Baby Henry Part III- Maternity Photos

I got our maternity pics back today and I just have to share some. These were taken by our neighbor, Suzanne DuBose, who has gotten into photography. If you're doing photos at home, you just don't get more convenient than that. :) I tried not to repeat most of the ones we had done with Kinsley so that we have fresh new photos. So here they are, our maternity photos for baby Henry.

I could not decide which of these to post so I'm posting them both. We somehow manage to always get one amazing photo of us with each maternity shoot. 

One would ask, "where's Kinsley?" She was choosing not to participate in this picture so I'm calling this one "Me and All My Boys".

 Yay! She decided to join us. We only got her to sit with us by telling her to watch the butterflies that were thankfully flying around.

 

 Hint: One of the pumpkins above and below is not really a pumpkin, but a pumpkin poser!

Because I didn't want to be too blah and have all of the pictures serious, we painted my belly orange and added a mustache face to match the kids' shirts.