Baby #2: 41 Weeks

Tucker,

You are one stubborn child! I have a feeling we are going to have to read all the books on strong-willed children in the future....

I had an ultrasound on Monday at a specialist's office. Though I know ultrasounds, especially this late in a pregnancy, are not very accurate and can be off by quite a bit, but it was still a bit unnerving to find out that they guess you to already weigh 9 pounds! Which considering Trenton was 8lbs 3oz, it really isn't THAT much bigger than him; if you do end up being 9 pounds. Pretty much my conclusion of the ultrasound though was that you are a fat, short little dude with a big head. :) Your head and abdomen were measuring big, and your femur (for height) was measuring small. Even my midwife said your head felt "pretty big" last week...Don't worry though, Trenton had/has a big head and a big belly too. Though I am pretty sure your head is going to be bigger. According to the ultrasound you were in the 97th percentile and the specialty doctor recommended an induction by no later than today (Wednesday, at 41 weeks and 1 day). By the time I was done with the ultrasound, it was already too late to call my OB office to talk about the results, so of course Monday afternoon I was upset of the likelihood of an induction. So in order to sulk in my sadness, I stopped at Pasta Bella and picked up a big slice of red velvet cheesecake and ate away my sorrows after Trenton went to bed :) Now either I was sadder than I thought, or you were really in the mood for cheesecake too, because I have never been able to finish an entire slice of their cheesecake in one sitting. Until now. But hey, it was delicious!!

On Tuesday, I was able to talk to the OB at my doctor's office and after reviewing my ultrasound, she said I didn't need an induction right away! She recommended I not go past 42 weeks though so I do have an induction scheduled for Monday morning. Now let's just hope I don't need it! She also wants me to go into labor naturally because I am at risk for a failed induction with you being so big. I definitely want to avoid a c-section. Plus inductions scare me as well with all the stories I hear about Pitocin contractions being extremely painful. She also said I am at risk for your shoulders getting stuck, but she reassured me that we will try everything and every position imaginable to get you out naturally with (hopefully) as little tearing as possible.

I had an appointment with my midwife this afternoon to talk more about my ultrasound and such. But first, I got a wonderful prenatal massage from a new friend this morning and she focused on all the labor-inducing pressure points :) So hopefully that will help convince you to be born soon! At my appointment, my midwife stripped my membranes to hopefully get things going as well. She said if it is going to work, then I will go into labor within 48 hours. But of course no guarantees. I was a bit nervous since some people said membrane stripping hurt. But it actually didn't! It wasn't even uncomfortable. So that was a plus. She did have some trouble with it though because she said your head was on top of my cervix so it was difficult to strip. This is my favorite midwife at my practice and she happens to be on call at the hospital this weekend, so it would be nice to have her during my delivery.

I also had a fetal non-stress test today. The poor nurse spent about 10-15 minutes trying to get the machine to pick up your heartbeat but you were not having it! You kept moving from side to side and once she finally got a reading, you would kick so hard that you moved the monitor off. See....stubborn little boy! :) You never did like getting your heart rate taken though. It's like you can sense the machines and "run" away. Silly baby. But you passed your NST with flying colors and everything looks perfect :)

At Daddy's work, a bunch of co-workers have had a betting pool going about when you would be born. There were about 25 people that have taken part in this bet and all but one are out. Everyone gets mad when they see Daddy walk into work because they know you are not born yet. They are all pretty upset with us :)

At least I know this will actually be my last tummy picture since you will be evicted on Monday. I hope you decide to move out before the eviction goes into effect though :)

Baby # 2: 40 Weeks

Tucker,

I never thought I would be making this post, but apparently you are pretty comfortable in there! Maybe you just prefer the October 21st due date rather than the October 14th due date. I hope you are born before next week though! It's really hard to not let it get to your head when so many people tell you that the second baby tends to come sooner than the first. That is definitely not true with you! People also keep telling me that the second labor tends to be shorter, and also that tearing doesn't typically happen, or at least not as bad, the second time around. I REALLY hope these last two things are true though. Especially about the tearing since that is one thing I have been very nervous about.

The past couple weeks I have had some horrible tailbone and hip pain and unfortunately the chiropractor did not help. It was so bad that just walking or moving in general was really painful. Thankfully I discovered the heating pad helped a lot. Too bad I had to have it on practically 24/7. But hey, whatever works! The pain has also caused some spasms in my lower back and hips, but the heating pad has helped with those also, thankfully.

Whenever your future wife is pregnant, please remember that pregnancy brain is a real thing. And it seems to be worse with the second kid. It's ridiculous really. I have locked myself out of the house and car twice and also parked in a reserved parking spot at work. The place where I have worked for over three years...

I decided to take my maternity leave early this time, so Monday (the day beofre your due date) was my first day of being a stay at home mom! We would love to have you join us though, but for now it has been a fun couple days just doing nothing and playing with Trenton all day. Oh, and sleeping in! Since Trenton doesn't wake up until 9am, and I always woke up at 5:45am for work, I can't be more excited about the sleeping in part of being a stay at home mom :) I really hope you are a good sleeper too!

At my 40 week appointment today, you have dropped even lower into my pelvis. Last week my uterus measured 38 weeks and this week it measured 35 weeks. So that is exciting. You are in a good position for labor and birth too. Now we just need to convince you to be born! We don't want to have to evict you now....

Hopefully I won't need it, but we scheduled an ultrasound for next Monday and a non-stress test on Wednesday, along with my 41 week appointment. We all hope you decide to make your debut before then, but if not, it'll be fun to see a picture of you. I'm really hoping you are born this week so hopefully I can feel up to taking a family trip to a pumpkin patch and/or going to a Halloween festival. We don't have any costumes for either of you, but that's okay, it would still be fun. Our church also has a baby dedication coming up in just a couple weeks, so we would love to be able to attend that and dedicated you and our family to the Lord as a proclamation to raise you in a godly home. So get to movin' little man! :)


The picture is a bit blurry for some reason :( oh well.

Trenton: 21 Months

Trenton,

You have grown SO much the past three months! I thought you grew a lot for the last post but nope! You turn 21 months this month; almost a two year old! Your baby brother is also due to be born any day now, so we will post again once that finally happens J

 

Silly Things:

-If there is water (or any liquid) on the floor, usually from you spilling your sippy cups, you splash around in it and then lick it up...weird kid

-We went to the mall one day and came across some stupid things strangers say to parents about their toddlers:

            -“Is that his natural [hair] color?” –no….we dye our one year old’s hair…..

            -“Oh he is signing ‘more’. That means he wants more.” –why yes, stranger, we are his parents. Where else do you think he learned sign language?

-We are convinced that sometimes you just say you are hungry just because you know we will get up and get you something to eat. Because almost every time we are sitting or lying down and you try to pull us up and we don’t comply, you immediately sign “eat”, even if you just ate an entire meal 5 minutes earlier and we KNOW you can’t possibly be hungry again that quickly.


Changes in Life:

-You started daycare in August. The first day was rough, but by the second day you didn't even want to leave! It was a very proud parent moment :) You only go three afternoons a week, so it's not much, but all the teachers and kids love you and you love them. Every time I go to pick you up, it takes forever for us to actually leave because you have to show me all the cars and then the bikes and then the "big kid" room. You starting daycare was a bit stressful for me though. Not only was I afraid of you bringing home every illness imaginable (you actually only got a cold once), but no one can take care of you like Mommy and Daddy. But we knew you were ready (along with us not having any choice) and you have definitely proved that to us. Unfortunately the end of October is your last day of daycare since I am now on maternity leave and not bringing home as much money.

-At the beginning of October, after I picked you up from daycare, I asked if you had fun at school today and you said, “School??? Hahahahahaha”. I’ll take that as a yes J and when we left, all the big kids wanted to give you a hug goodbye. I think you’re a popular little dude J

-You are absolutely obsessed with cars. You actually don’t play with any other toys anymore. Only your cars; and you have to have multiple cars with you. It’s actually pretty amazing how many cars you can maneuver and pick up in those little hands of yours. You have recently become addicted to the Disney’s Cars movie as well. You don’t even want to watch anything else anymore and freak out if we try and change it. I used to love that movie; but after only a few days of watching it non-stop I am already starting to hate it...

 

Memories Made:

-We got to go to the beach finally! We spent the weekend with Uncle Kasey and Daddy's friend from work, Angie, and we went to Hilton Head and Savannah. You have become a little daredevil though and definitely changed since last summer's beach trip! This time you kept wanting to walk further and further out into the ocean. A little too daring for my liking sometimes J. We didn’t let you go out too far though because there were a lot of jellyfish and so many people were getting stung L. You also had fun digging in the sand this year, and also thought every toy you saw was yours and tried to steal other kids’ toys….

-Daddy always said he would never let his kid dictate what was watched on TV. That he was the adult and the kid would just have to deal. He was always so adamant about that too. So naturally I couldn’t wait for that day to come where you made him watch some cartoon. Well, that day came at the end of August! And of course I laughed and pointed it out that he was just proven wrong J You started crying because Daddy wouldn’t let you watch the Barney or VeggieTales theme songs. Now you have dictated the TV way more because we just don’t want to deal with your fits sometimes. L

-Over Labor Day weekend we took you to this really cool kids indoor gym thing called HippoHop and you had so much fun! It was filled with cool bounce houses and obstacle courses and push toys for the littler guys like you. Daddy got his own workout too since he was the one who had to go with you through all the obstacle courses and jump houses J You saw a little girl in the Under Twos room that was probably around 9 months and you were very interested in her. You would walk up to her slowly and keep saying “baby”. Then one time you walked up to her and gave her a big hug! It was by far the cutest, most precious thing I’ve seen you do and it just melted my heart. Plus it gave me hope and confidence that you will be a fantastic big brother soon J you are so sweet and loving and I hope you use that gift to bring glory to God one day J

 

Big Moments for You:

-Over Labor Day weekend your vocabulary jumped tremendously and now you talk ALL the time! Apparently “carcar” means Barney. We spent 5 minutes going through different cartoon pictures and you crying at each one because it wasn’t what you wanted and I didn’t understand you. Then I finally clicked on Barney and you got super excited. But of course you only like the theme song so I had to start over and over again……

-“A-boss” means applesauce; and some of your favorite things to say are “Aww man!!” and “Oh no!!”” You say oh no with such concern on your face and it is so adorable. Ice is also your new favorite snack so you are always asking for it saying “Ice!! Ice! Pease? PEASE!!!!!” silly boy. Even since Labor Day, your pronunciation has gotten so much better.

-You are so curious (and can be annoying). Everywhere we go you ask what everything is by pointing at it and saying “huh??” and I mean everything. From lights to every single item in the grocery store….. J

-I can’t believe how much of a toddler you are becoming. You are no longer my “baby” (though you will always be my baby). You talk so much and run around all over the place. You also roll all over the ground playing with your cars.

-You finally learned how to shake your head yes and it is so cute. It’s very exaggerated and slow.

-You’ve started to love Daddy more and want to always be around him more and more. We knew this day would come eventually where you chose dad over mom, I just thought maybe it would be a little bit further down the road J Daddy isn’t too sure he likes it after all though haha you follow him around everywhere and are always wanting to play with him. I love listening and watching you two play together. It just melts my heart.

-On my first day of maternity leave, I was giving you a hug and kiss before Daddy took you to school (aka daycare), and you did not want to stay in my arms long after. You immediately reached over for Uncle Kasey and then signed “I love you” to me. I was shocked and kind of sad that you don’t need me as much anymore, but also so proud of you for growing into an independent little boy.

 

My Observations and Hopes:

-Whenever I take you with me to the doctor and my midwife listens to Tucker’s heartbeat, or actually just touches me in general, you get so protective of me and start crying and reaching for me. I think you have a lot of protector instincts in you and this is something I hope we can help you grow and turn into something good for your future and use it to help those around you.

-I am so grateful that we have such a healthy and smart little boy. I am part of a large group of mamas on Facebook and sadly I encounter many stories of children with cancer or other life threatening diseases, or even death. I pray that you stay this way for a very long time. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and heartache these other parents go through to watch their babies in pain. I look at you, almost two years old, and think, how could something so small and precious have something so big and horribly wrong growing in their body? I cannot imagine being in their shoes. I am so grateful for your health and safety, Trenton, and I hope we can remember to never take advantage of it.

 

Trenton, next time I make a post, you will be a big brother!! I hope it is soon J We are so excited to finally become a family of four.

 We took some maternity/family photos and this is one of my favorites :)

 

 

 My two favorite men :)

 

 

You and Daddy jumping in the bounce house at HippoHop! I think this is what made you love to jump on the couches and bed now too. You need your own trampoline

  

 You just love to show me the bikes at school

 

 How to Eat Ketchup 101....

 

 

 Daddy took you to the Touch a Truck event and you loved it!!

 

 Daddy had to take you to the doctor one day and the doctor gave you your first lollipop

 

 We had our own Touch a Truck event in our street since they have been doing construction. We have tractors everywhere and we spent the evening walking around and playing on them.

 

 Look at that face!! You and swings....

 

Daddy took you on the train at the mall too. And you haven't stopped talking about it since :)

 

 

As I was posting these pictures, I am realizing that I need some more pictures of you and I together! Hopefully we can work on that and get other people to take pictures of us together.

Baby #2: 38 Weeks

Tucker,

I think we figured out why you seem so much more active than Trenton was at this point in time. At my 37 week appointment my midwife determined that you were posterior, so you were facing my belly button instead of my spine like you should be. So (in my "professional" opinion) I was able to feel your kicks and punches much more since your hands and feet were outward. But my midwife did tell me the BEST kept secret of pregnancy though. Seriously, the best kept. I wish I would've known about this a long long time ago. In order to get you to turn around, she recommended getting one of those pool ring floaties and sleeping on that with my stomach in the middle of the ring. The most amazing thing ever to be able to sleep on my stomach again! It's been glorious. And of course I told all my mommy friends who are excited to use this secret as well. Not only have I been able to sleep on my stomach, but after just a few days, you have turned! I know you were facing my right hip yesterday, but I think you are finally turned all the way around today! You have also dropped lower into my pelvis so I can breathe a little bit easier and also am able to twist and stretch my back now that you are out of my ribcage. So good news for us :)

You are measuring exactly 38 weeks which makes the 14th your due date. But of course we all are hoping you decide to make your appearance a little bit early. I decided my last day of work is going to be the 10th though. So if you do come on or after your due date, I get a few days to experience what it's like to truly be a stay at home mom to just a toddler. I am hoping I can take Trenton to a couple meetups with my MOPS group (that I haven't been able to attend this year yet unfortunately). I am looking forward to my last day of work very much. Plus, once you are born, I will be able to finally attend my MOPS group!

For the past few weeks my feet, and even my hands some, have been so swollen. Mostly my feet though, to where shoes barely even fit. It's horrible. I have even resorted to wearing slippers around my office. Shhhh! Don't tell. But Aunt Stephanie, Sherry, Grandma Kathy, Great Grandma Norma, and Gigi all got me certificates to make the perfect spa day and I've been saving them for this special occasion. Last weekend I was able to spend the afternoon pampering myself and it was pure delight. I got a foot reflexology (which helped tremendously with the swelling), facial, and massage, then went and got a manicure and pedicure. I haven't felt so relaxed and relatively pain free in 8 months. I was even able to finally vacuum and mop the house when I got home, since I couldn't even remember the last time we mopped. But then I got in trouble by Daddy for potentially doing to much and putting myself back to where I was. Oops :) You have such a wonderful protective Daddy and I do love him so much!

We keep wondering what you are going to be like. What you will look like, what your personality will be like, who you will be....It's hard to not compare at this point in time because we only have Trenton as our only experience as parents. But we know you are you're own little person and we can't wait to see who you will become.

We can't wait to meet you, little man! Please come; any day now :)


Love Always,

Mommy