35 Weeks!!!

Physical development is now almost done, but the "finishing touches"- most important, filling out with protective baby fat-are still underway. This week the average baby is about 18 inches long and weighs around 5-1/4 lb pounds.

The liver is starting to function, processing waste. Your baby's liver needs to get ready to break down bilirubin, a byproduct of red blood cells. (If it can't do this effectively by the time your baby is born, bilirubin may accumulate in the blood and cause jaundice.) The kidneys are also well developed now. Now your baby may be feeling some of your Braxton-Hicks contractions, even if you haven't noticed them yet.

This week I haven't felt that great. I've had a lot of contractions which is causing an irritated stomach. I am also fighting a cold/ sinus infection which brought along a 2 day headache. Finally, today I started feeling better! Today I feel like Baylor is putting more pressure down low. My swelling comes and goes. If I'm up moving around it happens in my face, hands, and feet, but it seems to all go away once I'm settled in bed. I think that's about it.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween today!

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Ashley and Me at our first house. My dad built our first house!

Today, October 30th would've been Ashley's 29th Birthday. We all miss her so very much. I bet she's having a blast with Daddy this year! I know Baylor would've loved his Aunt Ashley!

34 Week OB Appointment!

I received a good report today. My blood pressure was better. My height of fundus (top of my uterus to the top) measured 33 1/2 today. Not to far off since I'm 34 1/2 weeks. Once you drop I think the height starts to decrease and when you have a different person measuring you the measurements can differ a little. I gained 1 pound since last week. They hooked me up to the monitors to listen to Baylor and see if I was having any contractions. I had a couple contractions and Baylor looked great! The blood in my urine is finally gone. He did check me because last night I had rough night with contractions which led to an upset stomach. I have not dilated, but he said I may have thinned out some. I'm going to increase my brethane to try and get the contractions to decrease more, especially on days like yesterday. I also had to do my Group B Strep test. I should get the results of that next week. If it is positive I will just have to do a round of antibiotics before delivery either IV or oral I'm not sure. That's about it besides some questions we had for him. He did say to the two of us, "I did tell y'all that pregnancy is 40 weeks not 34, right?!" We head back next Tuesday for my 35 week appt. Then the following week (36 weeks) is when the weekly appts were suppose to begin so we are getting near the end.

So November starts in 4 short days. Eek! That means Baylor will be here SO soon. I'm guessing anytime after the 15th. Term is considered 37 weeks. I will be 37 weeks on November 13th or 14th. Still 37 weeks is early for a little boys, but if he wants/has to come early I would feel more comfortable after that point. Fingers crossed anytime before that he would probably need some assistance from the NICU and we don't want that if we can prevent it! Who knows he might start to behave now and give his mommy a break and take his time. I guess we'll just wait and see!

Post #3! Baylor's Bedding!!!

Baylor's bedding came in last week and I thought I would share some pictures. We still have a lot of decorating to do, but everything is starting to come together. JavisDavis did a great job and we couldn't be happier with how it turned out!

Zoo Boo!

Jonathan and I went to Zoo Boo with Tab, Meribeth, Riley, Grayden, and Granna tonight. We all had a great time. We enjoyed the perfect fall weather!

34 Weeks!!!

I'm running a little behind on my weekly pregnancy update, but I've been dragging around here! Here is what my baby journal says is going on with Baylor this week-

Your baby isn't ready for a formal debut: most measure just over 17 inches and weigh under 5 pounds. But survival rates for preemies at this stage are good, largely because the lungs are now more developed and in rehearsal for breathing outside the womb. Combined with the strengths of modern prenatal care, babies born too soon but who have made it this far can usually beat the odds and grow to live healthy normal lives.

The fingernails and toenails that are growing can be long enough at birth that you'll need to put little mittens and booties on your baby's hands and feet to prevent him from scratching himself.

As for how I'm feeling at 34 weeks:
-I usually fall asleep around 10 pm and I'm back up around 1-1:30 am. I then go back to sleep around 3-5:00 am. I guess my body is just preparing me for motherhood!

-My belly button is still really shallow, but some evenings the top half of it pops out.

-My belly seems to be growing really fast these days.

-Baylor is still really low sitting on my bladder. It hurts to walk at times from all the pressure down there.

-I am still on a chocolate milk/regular milk kick.

-I get in frequent nesting moods. I just wish I had the energy and permission (Dr. D) to finish once I start.

-I am still having frequent contractions. Some which are uncomfortable and a lot that are not.

That's an update on how I'm "feeling" right now. I must say that even though there are rough days in pregnancy I absolutely LOVE every minute of carrying our sweet boy. I'm so ready for him to be here (when it's time), but I already think about how I'm going to miss feeling him in belly.

Happy Birthday Tab! 2nd Post of the day!

Today was Tab's (my brother) 24th Birthday. We celebrated by going out to dinner at Ruddle's. Then we went back over to their house for cake and presents. We had a good time celebrating. Happy Birthday Tab! I hope you had a great day!

Pumpkin Carving!

Almost done!


He loved his pumpkin!

Riley and Grayden's Pumpkins!

The Blackwell's Pumpkins! (Meribeth, Tab, Riley, and Grayden)

Carving Pumpkins is hard work!

Sweet Boy!

Thursday night Tab, Meribeth, the boys, and her mom were carving pumpkins so we decided to stop by and visit for a little while. Of course it was already past Grayden's bedtime so we didn't get to see him, but they said he had a good time. I took a few pictures to share!

33 Week OB Appointment!

I'm sorry I'm just now posting about my appt yesterday, but it ended up a lot different than we expected. Let me start from the beginning. When we got there we had to wait a little while so of course I was going back and forth to the bathroom (lovely bladder). One trip back I ran into Dr. D we spoke and I headed back up front. When they called us back they didn't have an exam room open yet, but got us to sit in the back and they went ahead and checked my blood pressure and asked me the usual questions. One of the things they always ask is "have you felt the baby move a lot?" I told the nurse that I had felt him, but over the last 24 hours it seems like it was not as often as usual. She told me they would hook me up to the monitors for a little while and see how he's doing. Once we got in the room they hooked me up his heartbeat was great. He still only moved like once, but they were not concerned. His heart sounded good. When Dr. D came in he said well he looks good on the monitor, but I heard your BP is horrible. I had no clue sometimes they tell you what it is, or they will check it again so I know it's high, or I ask. This time the nurse didn't tell me and I didn't ask. He said it was 151/95. That was the highest reading I've had. Dr. D also said the first thing he noticed when we spoke in the hall earlier was that my face looked "puffy." Then he looked at the machine and said your also having contractions. I think you need to be in the hospital. I said, "no you don't." I seriously did not believe him, but he wasn't joking. He wanted me to go over to be monitored, get an ultrasound of Baylor, and do a 24 hour urine collection on me to check from protein. I did have a trace of protein in my urine at the office and he just wanted to make sure I was not getting toxemia (pre-eclampsia). He felt like like all of my symptoms came on fast and it would make both him and I feel better if I was in the hospital and not at home worrying. Of course after this I started having more contractions. These were obviously brought on by stress. He also said he thinks Baylor is moving more than I'm feeling, but bc of my contractions and the hardening of the uterus I am just not feeling him as much. I felt good about Baylor and was pretty sure he was going to be fine. I then asked Dr. D if I could run home first and he said I could. We headed home packed some things (I know we should have already had one packed) and headed up to East.

After 26 1/2 hours later. I'm home. My BP is back down. The swelling in my face and hands I still have, but the swelling in my legs and feet has gone down a lot. My 24 hour did not show protein. The ultrasound showed a VERY active little boy moving around. He is now weighing around 5lb 1 oz. The tech confirmed how low his head is and showed us his head of hair. It was so good to "see" him again. He has grown so much since we saw him at 28 weeks. I am now suppose to be in bed, but I can get out of the house once a day if I want to go to dinner or go do something. I have my weekly appt with him on Tuesday and we will see what happens then. Baylor was also measuring 34 weeks at the office Tuesday when they measured me. If he can just hold off a couple more weeks I think he will be just fine.

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers. They mean so much to Jonathan and I. It was so weird to think as I was being wheeled out today that the next time I'm being wheeled out we will have our sweet little boy!

Pumpkin Patch X's 2!

Me (8 Mos Preggo) with the Hubbs!

Trying to keep the boys warm!

Yep, he wanted to eat the corn!

The Blackwell Family!

Riley milking Mae the Cow!

Racing Ducks!

That's right this weekend we went to 2 different pumpkin patch's. First on Saturday afternoon me, Jonathan, my mom, Tab, Meribeth, Riley, and Grayden loaded up and drove to Clanton to go to the Pumpkin Patch. We went to this one last year and had a great time so we decided to head back up there this year. The only problem was it was FREEZING! We knew it was cool in Montgomery when we left, but by the time we got there and walked around for what was close to a hour we couldn't take it anymore. We were all so ready to go so I went and got me a funnel cake (yummy) and we left.

Today Tab, Meribeth, me, Jonathan, and Lauren ( family friend's daughter) headed to the Pumpkin Patch in Union Springs. It was a lot closer and the weather was a lot nicer. It was still pretty cool, but the wind was not near as bad. The boys had so much fun. They played in the bounce houses, big inflatable slide, fed the animals at the petting zoo, milked Mae the Cow, road on the cow train, did the corn maze, played in corn cribs, raced water ducks, and went on the hayride down to the pumpkin patch. We all really enjoyed our day. It's nice this time of year because it seems like there are so many fun things to do that you can't do any other time during the year.

I took a lot of pictures so I better start uploading them. Enjoy!