38 weeks

Two weeks to go! Baby Heartbeat is at least 7 pounds now (more like 8 probably), and I am getting huge! My belly is way bigger this time, and so uncomfortable. Thankfully we're finally starting to recover from our nasty sickness. I'm still stuffy, and Andy still has a cough, but we have a little more energy now. We've been working really hard at trying to get everything ready for the baby to come. This week we got all of the birthing supplies ready, and we went shopping at Target for some necessities and finishing our registry. I even installed the baby's carseat base in the car. All that's left to do is scrub out the birth tub and fix the toilet. There are a few more things we'd like to get done, like organizing the utility room, but that's not a must-do.

This past Wednesday at the midwife, I had my Group B Strep test done. She asked if I wanted her to check me while she was in there, so I said go for it. Apparently I was already dilated to 2-2 1/2 cm, 50-60% effaced, and really soft. It's great that I'm so far already this time. Maybe labor will be a little faster/easier. I've been reading up on Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and watching More of the Business of Being Born in the last few weeks to get all prepped for labor. I'm getting excited, because it was such an amazing experience last time. Most of all though, I just can't wait to meet this new little person.

My blood pressure has still been really low, like 90/56 or so in the mornings. It has made me pretty tired and light headed/out of breath. I'm trying to up my sodium intake to see if that helps. And the stomach muscle on my left side is really giving me problems. It hurts really bad when I bump it or when I cough. I think it has been tearing a little bit. That's just something that I'll have to deal with for now and try to repair with physical therapy after the baby is born. I'm just hoping it doesn't affect my labor too much. I haven't been able to do much walking since I've been so sick. But hopefully I'll get to a few times this week and next week. So many people think the baby will be here early, but we'll just have to wait and see. My birth team is all on call and ready.

Changes this week: My shirts are all way too small, and my maternity pants don't like to stay up anymore! I think I might start just wearing my yoga pants while I'm at home. I'm 9 months pregnant, so that's a pretty good excuse. :)

Link to Ruby's 38 week post

Easter and a slow recovery

 Well, this last week has been a doozy again. I didn't take many pictures because I've been really sick with the nasty RSV that we all got. But thankfully the fog is lifting and I'm starting to feel better. We had a bunch of people help take care of us by bringing dinner and watching Ruby for me. That was so helpful! Today I was able to at least get the house semi-clean and get a few things ready for baby just in case he/she decides to come early.

Easter this year was pretty low key. We went to church, but just had risotto at home for lunch because I didn't feel well and didn't want to spread it. It was special though. Ruby looked for her Easter basket in the morning before church, and really liked it! She got some books, a few new choo-choo train track pieces, and some Easter eggs with Annie's organic bunny crackers inside. She comes up to me several times a day and says, "I wanna have one Easter egg."

Yesterday Ruby said her first full prayer all by herself. It went like this, "Dear Jesus, thank you for the chairs and the table and Mommy and Daddy and Ruby and Baby Heartbeat and Aunt Becca. Amen." She says it in this quiet high little voice. It was so cute and precious!

Ruby and Daddy had lots of fun dyeing Easter eggs on Friday. She kept saying, "It's so pretty!"

 She's really into her Bible stories. We read about Jesus dying on the cross on Good Friday, and she keeps wanting to see that again. So I make sure to talk about Jesus raising from the dead too.

 Snuggle time with Daddy during a movie.

 Pretty Easter clothes.

 I came around the corner and she was reading a story to Daisy Duck.

 Driving the car! Thankfully we have a few more years before this will really happen.

 Double fisting. This girl really loves her breakfast.

 My shelf! Ignore the messy house. It was an absolute disaster for a few days.

 We went to Ruby's friend Hannah's birthday party yesterday after our midwife appointment. Ruby found this stethoscope and wanted to hear baby heartbeat again.

 She had kind of goopy eyes last night and woke up with them a little bit swollen. I was afraid she had pink eye, but I'm pretty sure it's just 

37 weeks

Woo! Three weeks to go. I'm at what they used to consider full term, but the terms have changed recently. I believe it's now early term, and actual full term isn't until 39 weeks. But Baby Heartbeat's organs are all developed, and it would likely do just fine if it was born now. I had lots of Braxton Hicks this morning, but I also drank a big cup of red raspberry leaf tea, so that's probably why.

I've been doing my evening primrose oil and easy birthing formula again. I think that helped with my labor with Ruby. It really feels like it's getting close now. There's so much to do still though! Which brings me to talking about the second worst week ever (last week was officially the worst). After we got home from the hospital with Ruby, Andy and I went to birthing class with Amy, our doula on Monday night. That ended up being great. We got to practice mock labor, which I really think will help as far as getting mentally prepared for birth. The bad news is that I started getting sick on Wednesday. And I mean really sick. Thankfully I didn't get the fever that Andy and Ruby both had, but I'm so congested at this point that my face just hurts. My sinuses are completely clogged on my left side, which is very painful. I took a Tylenol tonight to try to relieve it, and I think that has helped, but I can't really take much else. Andy's still really sick too and has a nasty cough that won't go away. Needless to say, our house is a disaster since neither of us has any energy to keep it clean right now. And having a toddler around doesn't really help with the messes. :)

In other news, I had my midwife appointment on Wednesday. I thought I had been having low iron and that's why I've been tired and out of breath, but it turns out my blood pressure is just really low. I think it was 88/56 or something, which is really low even for me. They said to take Bragg's Liquid Aminos every day and that should help. I'll get some at the health food store tomorrow while Andy's at the dentist. We haven't gotten out all week, so that's why I haven't gotten it yet. Hopefully that will help. It's really bad in the mornings and I have no energy and am light headed usually. Pregnancy is tough.

I also think that my stomach muscle on the left side has been tearing or something. It hurts really bad in this one spot, and that happens to be where Baby Heartbeat's bottom is all the time. Ug. I'll just have to deal with it and hopefully it will get better after it's born. Can't really do much about it now. I'm doing my Group B Strep test at my appointment this Wednesday. I'm hoping it's negative and maybe they'll check to see if I'm dilated at all. I think last time I was dilated to 1cm or something at this point, and was about the same until I went into labor. So it doesn't really mean anything yet. The baby will be here soon!

Changes this week: I'm getting really huge. And sleeping horribly because of being sick, but otherwise not too uncomfortable in bed. That's been nice. I've had to pee at night way less this time than last time. I think I drink more water in the morning and not as much at night.

Cravings this week: I can't taste a thing right now because of my congestion, so even if I was craving something I probably couldn't satisfy it. :(

Link to Ruby's 37 week post

Scary RSV...

 Our poor girl got RSV this week on top of another cold she had a few weeks ago. It ended up being pretty scary! On Saturday evening we took her over to Guesly's house to check her out because she was breathing pretty rapidly with retraction. He admitted her to the hospital here in Stayton.

 She got an x-ray and iv. The iv part was horrible; it made me cry. She hated getting it.

 So once we got to her room, she got hooked up to iv fluid and antibiotics for her ear infection and lung infection. And she was hooked up to monitors that said she wasn't having enough oxygenation in her blood. So we had to keep oxygen going. We tried to get some sleep, but I could not sleep. I'm thankful to the Lord that I was awake, because I looked at the machine at about 12:30am and her heart rate was above 200. I called the nurse immediately and she had a high fever as well. The nurse called Guesly who decided we should transfer her to Doernbecher at OHSU in Portland. It was pretty scary. Thankfully they were able to get her fever down and that helped.

 We waited around for an hour or so while the pediatric team came down from Portland. When they got there, they sucked a bunch of mucus out of her nose with this vacuum thing. There were at least three people holding her down to do it, but thankfully it really helped her breathing. After that she got in the bed and she and I rode up to OHSU in the ambulance with Andy following. She ended up needing a little more oxygen in the ambulance.

 We got to Doernbecher at about 3:30am. By that time we were pretty tired. The doctor checked her out and we were able to get a little sleep. After that her fever never came back. Her cough was pretty bad and she had trouble breathing still.

 She and I ended up sleeping in a fold out chair together for an hour or so since she wasn't liking her crib. With Baby Heartbeat, Ruby and I, it was pretty crowded. The next morning we asked for a hospital bed instead of the crib, and that worked a lot better. We were pretty much confined to our room since RSV is so contagious. And all of the doctors and nurses that came in had to wear face masks, gowns and gloves.

 Sleeping in the morning.

 She started feeling better Sunday morning, but was still not breathing as well as they liked. We ended up staying that whole day and one more night. On Sunday at some point she was able to be off of her monitors, which was nice because she was able to move around a lot more.

 Grandma Patty brought a fun toy for her to play with. She loves it.

 All of her stuffed friends.

 Sleeping on Monday morning. She slept a little better that night.

 Feeling better. She liked playing with the water in the sink.

 Praying at breakfast on Monday morning. What a sweet girl. We got to go home right before lunch, which was great. We're thankful to the Lord that it wasn't worse than it was, and she's going to be just fine. She's been improving every day. On Tuesday I took her to see Guesly, and he gave us a breathing treatment to do every night, which helps with her coughing.

 Sweet girl waiting for Daddy to come home.

 Pony tail!

 Selfies.

 She wanted me to push her in her dolly stroller.

 She uses my belly as an arm rest when we read stories.

 Building choo-choo train tracks with Daddy.

 Making art out of yogurt.

 She hiked her pants way up after she saw me pulling up my maternity pants. What a goof.

 She likes to sit in boxes.

She loves her train!

Unfortunately yesterday I started getting pretty sick, so the last two days have not been so fun. And Andy still has a pretty nasty cough, so we're a house full of sickies. Hopefully tomorrow we'll all start doing better.

36 weeks

I was 36 weeks yesterday, but didn't get a post up because we were in the hospital with our Ruby girl. :( At least I got a picture taken! We are home now and she is resting well. We're getting so excited to meet Baby Heartbeat soon! I've still been really uncomfortable, and after the zoo on Tuesday I was not doing well. My whole body ached and I could barely stand up to do the dishes. I was pretty short of breath for most things too, so I really thing I have low iron. I got some iron pills and took it, and that made me feel a lot better.

On Monday the midwives came for our home visit. It was pretty short because we've done it all before. :) We just have to arrange getting the birth tub here and we'll be good to go. On Saturday I had my baby shower! It was wonderful. Not only did we get lots of nice baby things, but everyone also said some really encouraging words to me. I've been feeling a little down and tired lately, so it was nice to hear about how Jesus shines through me as a mom to Ruby. And that I'm doing a good job. Andy says all of that very often, but it was nice to hear from other people too. Now we have a big pile of baby things to put away. And a lot of inventory to do of things we still need. We got some gift cards for Target, so that will be very helpful.

Saturday night Ruby was really really sick, but I will save that story for Thursday's post. We're all exhausted though from two nights in the hospital and just need rest. We went to one of our doula Amy's birth classes tonight and left Ruby at home with Aunt Becca. It was great to get in the mindset for doing labor soon and to be able to focus a little bit on this baby.

Changes this week: Getting huge. I'm feeling a little better after starting iron. I also have started my easy birthing formula and evening primrose oil. Hoping and praying for a labor as smooth as last time!

Cravings this week: Chocolate tart I made for my birthday but haven't gotten to eat yet. :( Maybe I'll have some friends over for dessert later this week.

Link to Ruby's 36 week post.

The zoo and a fever

 I think this week has been the worst week we've ever had. Andy's been really sick since Sunday with a fever for two days and a cough, and just today Ruby has gotten the fever. It's also Andy's last week of Greek, so he has had a lot of assignments, reviews, a paper, an exam, etc. I've been pretty miserable with being super uncomfortable and not sleeping hardly at all. After the zoo on Tuesday my whole body was aching. Blech. And yesterday was my birthday and I did pretty much no celebrating. But such is life. I hope next week will be better! Tomorrow is my baby shower and my mom and sister are coming up tonight, so that will be a nice distraction. I told Ruby that we were going to eat the chocolate tart I was making with Grandma and Aunt Cindy, and she looked at me with furrowed brows and said, "You need to clean the house." Haha. Not going to happen. Sorry Mom and Cindy. :)

 Napping. She has been having trouble falling asleep for her naps the last week or two, but when she does nap, she naps for a long time.

 Silly girl.

 She's getting so tall!

 Playing with her new bath crayons (a gift to her along with one for the baby).

 Another sweet sleeping photo.

 She tried taking my pregnancy photo on Sunday. It didn't exactly work.

 Coloring on Mommy's drawings. With no shirt on. :)

 Playing choo-choo train tracks. Or as she says it, "Choo-choo wain tacks."

 Holding our friends' newborn girl. Getting some big sister practice in!

 At the zoo on Tuesday with our friends! It was a lovely day, and we did a lot of walking. She had lots of fun. I asked her if the wart hogs were pretty or ugly, and she said, "Um, pretty."

 Watching the orangutan.

 Up close and personal.

 She loved the giant fish.

 With Karley and Hannah looking at the elephant. They're doing construction on a new big elephant enclosure, and she really liked seeing the tractor. And the helicopter that flew overhead. Go figure.

 There were two baby lions sunning on a rock with their mom. So cute.

 The kiddo's! Josiah, Karley, Ruby and Hannah.

 And back at home feeding her chickens a snack.

 I got a box in the mail, and she climbed right inside.

 And then licked her whipped cream beater in the box.

 She started her fever this morning. She didn't eat much at breakfast and I was wondering why, until I felt her forehead. It's been up to 101.9 so far, and she's had it all day. No fun.

 She took a nice two hour nap this morning.

 We've watched a few movies. She really liked Cinderella.

Holding her pretend egg. Silly girl.