The weekly report

This has been a week of many emotions, it started with surprise, moved to nervousness, then came disappointment and some embarrassment and guilt, moved on to frustration, and has ended with confusion and great expectations.

Early Sunday morning (we're talking 2am) I went over to the hospital to get checked out for some unusual spotting. I knew I had been having contractions most of the day, however they weren't painful and I hadn't paid too much attention to them. When I checked in they hooked me up to the monitor to watch the baby's heart rate and see my contractions. Sometime around 6am the doctor came in to check me out, and measured me 5cm dilated and 50% effaced. He also checked on the contractions I had been having throughout the night, and labeled me in labor. He told me to get ready because this baby was coming that very day. (That's where the surprise, and then nervousness first kicked in).

It was decided to set me up with 2 rounds of antibiotic, and then they would break my water around noon. We made the appropriate calls to friends and family, made arrangements for Lexi, and Katie (my mother-in-law) got a flight out to Austin. A few hours later they came back and noticed my contractions had slowed considerably. They also must have finally found my regular chart and realized I was only 35 weeks, and that they could and would not break my water. The doctor still held firm that I was more than likely going to have the baby that day on my own.

Throughout that day and night my contractions came and went, and I didn't progress past a 5, however I did make it to 80% effacement. After 36 hrs of the same stats, they decided to go ahead and send me home. I was disappointed, and also felt embarrassed and totally guilty that we had Katie fly all the way out here, and there was nothing to show for it.

I spent the week on my feet, walking a lot, and willing the contractions to come so that Katie's trip would not be in vain, alas she returned home this afternoon and little Brooklynn is still kicking around in my tummy. Odds are I'll go into labor tonight, right? I've had lots of contractions throughout the week, however they always go away sooner or later. That's been a little frustrating. I've looked at several websites and have been able to check off every sign that labor is imminent, however nothing substantial is happening with these contractions. And I'm finding myself rather confused about the whole situation, however we're excited and expecting this baby soon...perhaps.

We did have a fun week and are much better prepared for the baby's arrival, whenever that may be. Our freezer is stocked with yummy dinners, Lexi and I spent some quality time with Grammi, and we even have diapers ready for Brooklynn. I can't thank you enough Katie for coming and being helpful and supportive regardless of the situations!

I'll hit 37 weeks on Sunday so should those contractions never return, we'll discuss induction in just a few weeks. We'll keep you posted and will certainly be posting many pictures when the time arrives!

About as crafty as I get!

I really wish I was more crafty, and I'd really like to be interested in sewing, scrapbooking, or knitting...I just don't think my mom passed on any of those interests. I actually was into scrapbooking until I figured out how to do a digital scrapbook, now that's all I'll do. But I did want to do something cute with the new baby's room before she arrives, so I painted our old changing table, bought some cute baskets to help organize her stuff, and ordered some cute vinyl stickers for wall decorations. I love the chocolate brown and pink combo for her room, and I have some cute curtains and a picture with those colors that Matt will have to put up when he gets home :)

As you can see, we are officially going with Brooklynn, there is no backing out now that I have it plastered on her wall :) A lot of people say they need to see the baby first, well I think the baby looks really different newborn, vs at the end of week 1, so unless you are going to wait it out the first week to see what they'll really look like, your just guessing anyway! Plus I really like picking our name early on so I can start thinking of her as a person, like when she kicks me in the morning, I think 'Good-morning Brooklynn' or if she is kicking late at night, I think 'It's time to sleep Brooklynn'- just makes it a little more real for me.

The thoughts of a 3 year old...

Lexi got a puzzle of the US for her birthday, with each piece being in the shape of that respective state with a few pictures of the places of interest. We were putting it together the other morning and talking about who we knew that lived in the different states. On the Utah piece there is a picture of the Salt Lake temple and Lexi asked if that's where we got married. (She learned that moms and dads get married in the temple in nursery a few months back). I told her yes, Mom and Dad did get married in a temple, and then she wanted to know if she could get married in a temple too, which I told her yes she can.

She then wanted to know if she could marry Gwen (a new friend she has found in nursery). I told her no, she has to pick a boy to marry in the temple, and I said Harrison is a boy (Gwen's brother), and so is Ian, Zach, Jacob, and Kaden. She then asked if Ned was a boy, I told her yes he is, but she can't marry him because he is married to Lynnie. She seemed to think about it for a second and she said, "Alright, I'll marry Ian in the temple." And for the rest of the day she kept reminding me she was going to marry Ian, and even let Dad know when he got home later that evening.

So there you have it, Lynnie-if you are reading this, Lexi has officially decided that's her plan so watch out :) Her personality sure is starting to show, and it's amazing to me to watch her mind work and decide things on her own. She has decided that dinosaurs and spiders are scary and will randomly take off running, letting me know a dinosaur is coming. She also likes to hold imaginary animals, and share them with me. She'll make a fist and let me know she is holding a pig, and keep that fist until she hands the pig off to me. Crazy little thing huh? But she sure makes me smile... that is when she isn't wreaking havoc in the nursery :)

Last Birthday Post!

So maybe some of you are sick of birthday posts, and maybe some of you haven't had enough :) But this is the last of what I'm gonna post. A few more videos of opening presents, and a few pics of our trip to Chuck-E-Cheese. Lexi is still talking about her big day, and what she is going to do on her next birthday!

This place had a giant room with cartoons where you eat, it took a lot of reminding to get Lexi to eat anything while the cartoons were on.

Playing Skiball, my favorite :)
Basketball with Dad, scoring's a little easier with his height!

On the carousel. So this is me at 8 months pregnant...see my dilemma?

More Pictures & 1 Video

Ok, Here are some more pictures and a video, I do have lots more, but any of you bloggers know how long it takes to upload a video, so give me a break :) I'll do a few more in the morning...stay tuned...

First present of the day, still in her jammies!
Presents from Jo Mamma and Jo Papa!

Just a teaser...

Lexi's 3rd birthday was yesterday, wahoo! We had as much fun as a girl and her parents can have! We've been getting packages in the mail for the last couple of days and I've been making her wait until her birthday to open them. We've also been talking about her birthday on July 10th for months now, so she woke up ready for the big day.

I let her open one present in the morning, and then we had to wait for Dad to come home for the rest (mean mom, I know!). The present she opened was a pack of Disney movies, so I let her watch Cinderella while she ate breakfast.

Then we went off to a gymnastics class. She LOVED gymnastics, it was pretty much a free for all with kids aged 18 months-5 yrs, and they let them jump on the trampolines, dive into a pit of soft blocks, and balance on low beams.

After the 'class', we went to the grocery store, she has been eyeballing the cupcakes in the bakery for a while, and I told her she could pick some on her birthday so that's what we did.

After lunch and a nap, Dad came home and we opened the rest of her presents and ate some cupcakes, and then went to Gattiland (it's just like Chuck-E-Cheese) for dinner and more fun. By the end of the night she was all played out, and came home to finish her movie and head off to bed.

It was a great day for her, but I do feel a little sad that we couldn't do a little party or something. We just couldn't think of more than 1 kid (who is presently in Michigan) that could celebrate with her. She's making friends quickly in nursery, but who don't know their names, nor who their parents are, but there is always next year!

I have more pictures and video that I will be posting soon, here is Lexi with her cupcakes, wearing her Tinkerbell dress that Jo Mamma sent her.

4th of July!

We had a particularly fun 4th of July this year. We went to the Round Rock parade, which was a good time. It was a small community parade, mostly local businesses, cub scouts, and karate clubs, but Lexi really liked waving her little flag and wishing everyone a happy fourth. Plus they threw out tons of candy, which it took Lexi a few minutes to get the hang of beating out the bigger kids to collect, but she figured it out quickly.

After a good afternoon nap we headed up to Georgetown (the city just North of us) and met up with some of Matt's friends from work for a BBQ. All the couples had kids and Lexi made good friends with this little boy James. They hung out in the wagon for most of the evening, and begged a few rides of Dad.
The city had a small carnival (very reminiscent of Taylorsville Dayzz), so Lexi got to choose two activities, she picked the jumping house and the airplane ride. Both were way too much fun.
She put her arms up tall on the airplane and flapped like a condor (she's convinced any bird with big wings is a condor).

Then we watched the fireworks. We stayed long enough to take this picture and then we bailed to avoid the crazy traffic that would have been inevitable should we have stayed for the finale.

Complaining

Ok, here is the truth, I just do not gain pregnancy weight very well at all. I don't have any problem gaining appropriate (perhaps slightly inappropriate) amounts of weight, it just seems to go every where except my tummy, so really I'm sporting the chunky monkey stage till I'm just about done with the whole pregnancy. The whole situation makes me very angry, just ask my husband.

Case in point, I walked into a store today and asked a salesperson if they sell nursing bra's, 'Sure we do' says the nice woman, 'But we really shouldn't measure you until about 3 months prior to having the baby' After that I was thinking the lady wasn't so nice and almost growled at her when I told her I'm having this kid next month (maybe sooner than that with all the contractions I've been having lately). Also met a guy from Matt's work over the weekend, he was fairly surprised that I was pregnant at all, and almost fell over when I told him how far along I was, kept repeating 'wow' first to me, then Matt, and back to me again, all I could think was 'shut-it mister.' Last week I went to buy paint for a crib, the guy asked me if it was for Lexi, and I said no, it's for our next one coming in August, and he asked me where I was getting the baby. Seriously people!

Now I bet most of you are thinking, what's wrong with not looking pregnant, well if I had only gained 10-15 lbs, or could still fit into any of my clothes I wouldn't be all that upset about it. It's the not having anything fit, and no obvious pregnant belly to justify the chunkiness that gets me down. I always hoped for that cute basketball belly just poking out in front, but no such luck, I just fill out everywhere else....