39 Weeks- The Waiting Game

My brother was curious about how big my belly is, so I took this snapshot and sent it to him on Friday- it even surprised Anthony and I!  Even though my belly looks and feels massive, I have gotten a lot of comments from people that I do not look like I am about to give birth in one week...so this is a blessing!

I have felt pretty good over the last few days and the only difficulty I am having is WAITING!  We are so excited for Carter to arrive that it is hard not think about it every minute of the day.  I can tell the rest of the family is anxious too...we can't wait to make that phone call to each of you!  I have tried some of the tricks that are rumored to help labor along (spicy foods, pineapple, evening primrose, walking) but nothing yet.  I guess Carter will come when he is ready.

We are trying to stay busy to keep our minds preoccupied, so we did some hiking this weekend.  Lima got her first hiking backpack- not sure she was excited about it at first, but once we got her and Sadie out on the trail on Saturday, she didn't seem to mind.  It's nice that she is our little pack mule and can carry their water, poop bags, treats, and maybe our keys and cell phones.  The weather was so nice that we hiked again on Sunday at Thunderbird.  We decided to give the doggies a rest so just Anthony and I went.  It was good for us to have some time with each other since I am sure it will be rare in the near future.

Other than hiking, we hope to spend time with family and friends over the next week so we stay busy.  Our next doctor's appointment is on Wednesday, so we are hoping we will know more then, but for now...we continue to wait!

 

37 weeks 4 Days

Yesterday we went in for our 37 week check up and ended up with a surprise visit to the hospital.  On the way to our appointment I was telling Anthony that I was having some stronger cramping than usual.  I thought it may have been contractions, but it felt different than what I had felt before, so I was glad that we were going to the doctor.  Right away when she went to listen for the baby’s heartbeat, you would tell she had a different look on her face and the heartbeat sounded slower than what we had heard before.  She confirmed that I was contracting and that the baby’s heartbeat was about 115 so a little bit on the low side.  I was also now dilated to about 1 ½ cm and about 75% effaced, so there was more progress since last week.  She was concerned that Carter could possibly not be responding well to the contractions, so she walked us right over to the hospital for a Non-Stress Test.  They monitored Carter and I for a couple of hours and were able to establish Carter’s heart rate at a baseline of 115-120 and rising when there was movement, which is a good thing.  Only if they had seen his heart rate drop when I was contracting would they be concerned (and yes I got to walk around Labor and Delivery with a sexy hospital gown and socks!).  Since Carter and I weren’t in any harm and even though I was having regular contractions, I definitely didn’t look or feel like I was in labor, they discharged us.  Anthony and I decided it might be best to start driving around with our hospital bags just in case! :)

Carter Loves Ice Cream

 

This weekend Marian hosted Gina's baby shower (Brandon's mustache bash!).....she was glowing and gorgeous as usual.  When I was making the cake pops, Lima felt a little left out of the party, so I decided to include her and let her grow her own mustache- HA!  Not sure she was a fan :)

Ok, so I know you have all heard how much Carter loves ice cream.  I've been wanting to capture it on video because it really is wild what he starts to do when I eat ice cream.  Anthony camped out with the video camera and was able to catch some of it!  P.S. don't mind the Kardashians in the background :)

36 weeks

 

I can't believe we are less than 4 weeks away from Carter's arrival!!  We started back up with our Childbirth classes at Arrowhead Hospital where we will be delivering.  The classes are informative, but more reiterating what we've already read about...but it is helping to sink in all the information.  We also are officially driving around with a car seat- HA!

   

 I started having contractions this week which is a good sign that my body is getting ready.  The doctor also confirmed this week that I am 50% effaced- not dilated yet, but since I am effacing there is progress!  By the way...no one warned me (or Anthony) about these exams.  I won't get into details here, but OUCH!!

   

I have been a little more tired lately, but we are still finding time to get some family hikes in.  Last week we took the doggies out twice for 3 mile hikes and they did awesome!  Sadie and I like to take naps after our hike, but at least we are staying active. :) 

 Carter has had some days where I think he is having a wild party in there!  He is moving so much it is uncomfortable at times, but then he tires himself out and rests the next day so I get a little break.  I have also noticed that I can't be on my feet for very long or they start to look like marshmallows.  Our company had our National Sales Meeting last weekend, so I was on my feet more than normal and had to be dressed up for some of the events- thanks to the gift cards to Destination Maternity I received on my birthday, I got a really cute purple dress for our Awards Banquet.  Clothes are already a struggle when you are pregnant, so dressing up is a pain- it was nice to feel good in what I was wearing.

As the big day is approaching we are getting excited and hoping the labor goes smoothly.  Once we are sure it is the real deal, you’ll be hearing from us!  Love you all and thank you for all your support!!

P.S.  Green Tea Lattes are my new favorite treat...I wish I would have discovered them 8 months ago!!

Holidays with the Creel Nest

So much has been happening over the last few weeks that it has been hard for me to keep up with our posts! :)

First, we said our goodbyes to my Mom who completed her move to Tennessee.  She was staying with us for a couple of weeks while she finished her work here.  She is now settled in her new home in Tennessee and we can't wait to visit her!

A few weeks ago, the Creel family attended a wedding in California so we watched Camden and Nixen for the weekend.  It was great practice for Anthony and I and we quickly realized what parenting tricks we lacked (like having your wipes and clean diaper readily accessible before taking off the dirty diaper!).  We had a lot of fun with them going to the movies, taking them to see Christmas lights, and a trip to the fire station!






The very next week was Christmas and we spent Christmas Eve with the Creels.  We attended the Christmas service at CCV with the family and then enjoyed Mexican food and opened our gifts.  We decided to keep the gifts low key this year and donated half of our gift limit to St Mary's food bank and a little girl who was in need.  I really enjoyed being able to give back and hope this becomes a tradition every year.

Christmas morning started with opening our gifts to each other.  Anthony and I decided to exchange homemade or handmade gifts only this year.  I gave Anthony a Christmas ornament that had our ultrasound and pictures of my belly on it, a t-shirt with our 2012 workout slogan on it, and a fat tire beer glass (okay so I cheated with the glass, but I think it was his favorite gift).  Anthony had a necklace made for me with Carter's name on it- I think I've worn it every day since- I LOVE IT!  After we opened our gifts we headed to Squaw Peak to attempt one last summit during my pregnancy.  It was a beautiful morning and a great way to celebrate the holiday....and I made it to the top! 



Later in the day we headed to my dad’s house to spend Christmas with the Venard family.  We had a delicious dinner prepared by my dad (he is an amazing cook!) and spent the rest of the evening playing games.  As usual, my throat was raw and ears were ringing from shouting the whole night :)  When you put a group of Venards in one room, the rule seems to be that the loudest one gets heard.

Between the Christmas and New Year’s holiday, we had our last ultrasound appointment.  Carter is definitely healthy and the doctor estimated his current weight to be 5 lbs 6 oz....if he makes it to the full 40 weeks, they anticipate his weight being almost 8 1/2 lbs.!  We were happy to know that he is healthy and got to see his chubby face.  I am still very fortunate that I have had an easy pregnancy- no restless nights, backaches, swelling, or Braxton Hicks...YET.  The countdown is here!!

Carter yawning

We rang in the New Year at Gina and Chris's house.  It was a nice evening with the family having tamales and playing Left, Right, Center- Anthony won the game and took home a nice chunk of change for diapers :)  Although we didn't stay at Gina's until the New Year, I did stay awake until midnight!  We spent the first day of 2012 hiking as a family (we brought the dogs with us) and preparing Carter's room.  Now that his room is complete, we are SOO excited for him to be here!!!



I've been reflecting on how awesome 2011 has been and how much I am looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us.  We had A LOT of new beginnings and great memories in 2011...Anthony got a new job at Charles Schwab, we had our perfect wedding and honeymoon, we got pregnant the first month we started trying, I have had a healthy and easy pregnancy, I started a new position at Stryker Sustainability, Gina and Chris got pregnant a month after us and have had a healthy pregnancy, Zach living with us, a trip to Tennessee, and lots of hiking together.  2012 will be another year of new beginnings and we can't wait!