Thunder cats are go!!

Well I was super late posting last week as in I didn't. Whoops! I was planning that I'd update tomorrow after our sono and doctor appt. but this little guy had other ideas!!

I've had a "feeling" over the past few days that it was going to be soon. Call it mothers intuition but I had a good feeling today that we were looking at very very soon certainly within the next few days. So I spent all of today straightening up the house trying to get ready.

Matt's mom came by to visit on her way to the beach and since I had appts tomorrow morning she was going to stay to watch Abigail. Everything always works out. We went out to dinner, came home and Matt put Abigail to bed. I was laying down as I was somewhat tired myself, go figure, when I heard a "pop" sound. I didn't think much of it. Figured he kicked me hard enough I could hear it. A few minutes later I realized it wasn't so much a kick as that was the sound of my water breaking.

SOOOOOO....... Here we are in labor & delivery. Not having many painfully consistent contractions just yet but I had to get some antibiotics so I don't get to do the whole labor at home thing.

We are excited that it looks like we will be adding another unique birthday to our brood. Abigail is a"pi" baby on 3/14. And this little guy is gonna be born on 11/12/13!

Here's hoping everything goes smoothly! So far so good. Must say hospital beds are just not comfortable and my biggest pet peeve is they won't let you get out of bed if your water is broken.

I think I may still be in shock that this is actually happening! I was ready but still seems like we weren't ready! It's all super exciting and we can't wait to meet baby boy!!!

:-)

36 Weeks!

Happy Halloween! 

Okay, I can really now say it is SO CLOSE! We are less than 30 days away from our "due date" and if we are on anything similar to an Abigail schedule we are talking more like 2 weeks! 

So lets see what's new and exciting this week....

Had our 36 week appointment on Monday. Everything is looking good. Both of my doctors are very petite so they have small hands so she couldn't tell much when she "checked things out." She did say he was certainly head down and pushing, which I couldn't agree more! So we are set to continue our weekly appointments from here on out! I scheduled 3 more and said if he isn't here by then - we are gonna have to figure something out! 

I asked about the on call schedule and what it looks like and her best suggestion is to tell this little guy to come during the week because they are always on call during the week but they do switch every other weekend with this other practice. So fingers crossed we do not have a baby this weekend, the weekend of the 16/17th (which is mom's prediction because of the full moon) or the end of the week during Thanksgiving as the other practice is covering Thanksgiving. We shall see!! 

Size: We could be considered a Honeydew Melon or a head of Romaine lettuce.....

Movement: Well, he continues to have his acrobatic moments and his quiet moments. Mom tends to freak out over quiet moments but as I sit here and type he is kick, kick kicking away and just a few hours ago I was nervous he wasn't moving enough! 

Cravings: The few cravings I had have somewhat subsided. Halloween candy seems to be in abundance in this house! Thank goodness it better all be gone tomorrow or I'm giving it away! 

Oh - I did make these pumpkin cookies (from a box) for our tailgate the other day and they were amazing. Even MORE amazing with cream cheese icing on them. Yup, I've had too many of those! 

Projects: Well the nesting did begin. On Sunday, Matt and I (mostly matt) emptied the garage of practically everything we had in it which was a TON and put up 2 new shelves and reorganized and threw a bunch of stuff away. It was amazing. The garage looks amazing and I don't feel like we need a shed quite as much as I did before, which is also good!  

I had a wonderful babysitter (Thank you Bugala) on Tuesday and so I got to do a lot of organizing / cleaning so I am feeling like we are more ready than we had been. PLUS! we are getting the carpets cleaned on Saturday, which I am SO excited about! I am praying that all the little stains come out and that I can stick to our new no shoes rule and try to enforce the new eating / drinking down there (which will be extremely hard!) 

How am I feeling: Oh, well, I think the pregnancy complaints are less this time around but slightly different. I can say THANK GOD I do not have the sciatic pain I did with Abigail (knock on wood that can hold off for the next few weeks). With her it was so bad it would literally bring me to tears. This time its the pressure that is killing me. I keep reading that with second pregnancies the babies don't drop as early as they do with first pregnancies so the moms don't have so much pressure - not sure who made up that little lie but its a bad one and very very wrong. 

So, sadly my clumsiness had me take a little fall about a week and a half ago. Not a huge deal no belly involvement at all, totally 100% landed on my knee. Well, that knee is still quite tender, I can't kneel on it and it almost feels numb, which is strange. So hoping that gets better soon. 

Last random strange occurrence my ankle is a bit black and blue and somewhat tender to touch. Absolutely no problem walking on it doesn't feel like a sprain, just very random. 

Abigail's Week: This kid continues to have the best weeks! We enjoyed another Halloween event last week, went to the Nature Center, enjoyed the MD Homecoming Football game (during which Abigail took a NAP), did some shopping on Sunday, Monday we had a fantastic sprinkle for mommy & baby brother with our mommy's group, yesterday Abigail got to spend the day with Bugala and today was yet another fun Halloween Event! 

There is always something Abigail does to amaze me and it was today after our event. We got home and I was trying to get her to take a nap. She was extremely tired and a bit cranky so I was rocking her a bit on my lap. I was having a bit of a mommy hormonal moment thinking how my little girl is going to be a big sister....tear, tear. So I said to her you are going to be such a good big sister. "Yea mom, I know." Matter of fact, spit it out like she's known that for ages. Tears gone, insert mom trying not to laugh. Nap time was quickly becoming unsuccessful so I told her she had to play quietly and have some quiet time in her room. She usually falls asleep after about 20 minutes. Well, I got busy and didn't get a chance to go back and check on her until she started calling me and so I figured well maybe she did sleep. I get up there and asked if she took a nap to which she responds "no mom, big girls don't need naps." OH MY! So I quickly said, well big girls do need naps, mommy is a big girl but she needs naps too! Hoping this is not a permanent idea in her mind! She still NEEDS naps! As evidenced by her meltdown this evening after not having had a nap today. But here she is 2 1/2 and knows she is going to be a good big sister and that she is a big girl and doesn't need naps. Missing my baby!! :-( 

But a super big Thank You!! To all of my wonderful Mommy friends! They threw me a wonderful sprinkle for Baby Boy and we got lots of cute and useful items!! This kiddo much like his sister is going to be one lucky little man! Abigail got a new baby doll so that she can take care of her baby, while mom is taking care of the baby and she loves it! 

Playing at the Nature Center

Row, row, row your boat

Attentively waiting for instructions at the Halloween event. 

She was sleepy when we first arrived at the tailgate  

Got her second wind to have some fun and play in the car

Made it through a bit of the 1st quarter! 

Then promptly fell asleep until the start of the 2nd half! 

Playing with Mr. Potato Head

Being silly with Mommy

Mommy's Halloween shirt! 

Peek-a-boo! We are ready to meet you! :-) 

35 Weeks!

35 weeks.....35 days!! So close yet there are days it seems soooo far!

It has been an exciting and busy week! We had 2 doctors appointments last week, I met one of the new doctors to the practice. Luckily, she seems nice enough a bit flaky but I think that was more her adjusting to the differences of how things are done at this practice, so no biggy.

Abigail & I hosted a Halloween crafty party for our mommy group last week. It was lots of fun! It did wear this momma out! But I am super glad we did it. The kids had a blast and it is so much fun to see them do crafts and play together.

This past weekend I went to a baby shower for a friend who is due about a week after I am which was loads of fun!

Things that have changed this week:

He is very low but occasionally (like right now) he pushes his butt way up into my ribs and the only way I can get comfortable is to attempt to sit semi-reclined to get as much space separation as possible. Easier said then done, especially when Abigail would like to play! :-)

I am clumsy. I mean seriously clumsy. On one hand, I am glad I can recognize this and try to adjust accordingly but I really still have things I need to accomplish and this clumsiness is not helping!

I packed a bag (sort of). I feel like we were extremely overpacked for Abigail so my goal is really a bag for me, a bag for baby and the camera bag. Now that I say that, I can't forget to bring the big sister bag I made for Abigail and I need to pack Abigail a bag as she will probably stay at Bugala's depending on when this little guy arrives!

Size: A coconut!

Movement: There is not much room left. Luckily he is head down. However, his big ole butt still manages to flop from side to side and can make for some pretty uncomfortable moments!

Cravings: Well, the Halloween candy is out and that isn't good for mom!! I can say I am looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner, which could be a complete flop depending on when someone decides to make his entrance! As we get closer to Thanksgiving my plan is for an early thanksgiving meal if he hasn't come yet, just in case!

Projects: I think we can say that the baby boy room is done! Most of everything is put away and certainly if he were to come tomorrow we would be fine. The next project is to do some re-arranging in our family room so that we can move some baby stuff around. We are also getting the carpets cleaned in 2 weeks which I am SUPER excited about AND mommy is getting a new stove for her birthday! WOHOOOO!!! Its gonna be a gas cooktop, an electric oven and beautiful and shiny! Very, very excited about this!

How am I feeling: I'm feeling pretty good. Had a clumsy day or two last week but a great weekend! I had an early surprise 30th Birthday Party as my birthday is November 23 and there is a pretty good chance, I will be a bit busy. It was so nice of everyone to come out and help celebrate. I can say I did wish I could have had one of those tasty margaritas!!

I think the next few weeks we will try to fill with some mommy pampering time! I have some gift cards to get my nails done and get my hair done! That will be amazing!

Abigail's week: Abigail has a pretty awesome social life and she is an extremely social child. She partied at mom's birthday party until 10 pm no problems! Other than waking up too early the next morning for mom and dad she was a trooper! Last week we went to Bounce U which has indoor bouncy houses for kids. They do different times for different ages and it was a bit crowded last week but this week was practically just our group and they had a blast. She is becoming more adventurous and is learning how to climb up things all on her own, which is great because mom isn't allowed to help her right now! It is also great we have some mommy friends who are happy to help her. We had the Halloween party last week and this week looks to be pretty busy with lots of fall fun!

We went to Butler's Orchard today and had a great time. The kids got to pick out mini pumpkins and apples to take home. We went on an awesome hayride and then we visited with lots of the animals. I am thinking we may have had such a great time that we might head back this weekend with daddy and get one more Abigail centered event in before life changes drastically! :-)

Abigail helping mommy decorate for the Halloween party

Abigail and her buddies 

My cutie and her crush! These 2 are a riot

Orange Pumpkins and Banana Ghosts 

Candycorn Vegetables! 

Mummy Pizzas 

Love that smile! 

Playing football with daddy

My favorite 2 people! 

Hayride at Butlers Orchard

Picking our pumpkin

One of the better shots we have of these guys! They are sitting still! 

34 Weeks!

A few days late, we've been super busy the past few days / I'm getting pretty tired and unorganized and we are still fighting computer problems so that makes this whole process much more difficult! :-)

6 Weeks left, 42 days.......OH BOY!!!

I think I am finally starting to get a bit anxious / nervous that we aren't quite ready / it's right around the corner! I started making lists the other day. Daddy's list was pretty long, but he has tackled it spectacularly!

We had a sonogram this morning and my oh my has he grown! They measure things like the size of his head and abdomen and a few leg or arm lengths to see how he's growing. Well we are 34 weeks and his head measures a lovely 37 weeks 3 days! OH MY! They estimate that his weight is about 5 lbs 7 oz.  Just to point out - Abigail came out at just over 38 weeks, weighing 5 lbs. 3 oz! SO, in comparison, we have a big boy here. Since our last weight estimate 4 weeks ago, he has gained 2 lbs!!! If he continues to gain 1 lb every 2 weeks we are looking at over 8lbs of baby!!! :-)  I had started drinking a protein shake in the mornings just because I really don't eat a lot of meat so I am never sure I get enough protein, I think that has helped a bit with his weight gain.

We got to see a 3D picture of our little guy. While it was "neat" to see facial features I don't actually think this is my preferred viewing method. It just showed so much more detail that you couldn't always decipher and it made me nervous that something was wrong. I don't know how those people tell the difference between some of the things they are looking at. Sometimes I wonder if they are just guessing!

He is still very much head down and its way down. I said a week or so ago that I thought he dropped and I would have to say for certain now that he has. My breathing is MUCH better and my bladder is MUCH worse. Trade offs I guess!

We have another Sono appointment in 4 weeks but time will tell if we make it that long, that would be 38 weeks and Abigail came at just over 38 so we'll see!

I have a regular OB appointment tomorrow but those can be quite boring other than hearing that magical heartbeat. I do get to meet a new doctor in the practice. Hopefully I like her as she is already rotating into the call schedule for deliveries.

Size: Depending on where you look we could be a butternut squash or a cantaloupe

Movement: I really am amazed at what a difference movement is based on where your placenta is located. With Abigail my placenta was in the front of my stomach so movement was much more muted. This time we do not have that so movement is so much more noticeable. I was sorry I couldn't get my video camera out fast enough the other day, I was sitting on the couch and he was moving so much you could see the punches and elbows he was throwing. It was so entertaining and of course I was the only one around!

Cravings: Still bagels and PF Changs! mmmmmm Changs spicy chicken! :-) I have been enjoying some spicy foods lately.

Projects: I made a few lists and we are tackling them. I am attacking mine much more slowly than daddy does his. He has powered through a lot of his list this past weekend, which I think means he needs a few more things added to his list! ;-)  But in all seriousness I couldn't do it without him and he has been super super helpful.

How am I feeling: Wide awake when I should be sleeping. No clue why! It stinks. But for the most part this past week has been quiet. There were a few busy days of laundry and baby prep and those wear me out and start up my sciatic pain but it is nothing compared to what it was with Abigail, so no complaints there.

Abigail's Week: Hmm...sick and rainy. We still don't know if she had a cold or if it was allergies. I finally took her to the doctor and she seemed to think allergies. I'm not entirely convinced. Guess we will have to ask Grandpa Mauriello what he thinks. She is on the mend tho and cannot wait to see her friends!

The weather here last week was awful to say the least so on top of not feeling great, we were pretty much stuck inside because it was raining non stop for about 5 days! We needed the rain but I think we all would have preferred if it had been stretched out a bit over a few weeks.

I have looked at our calendar and the next 3 weeks are packed full of fun events with our friends, doctors appointments and somewhere in there we need to fit in some baby prep and maybe a bit of rest. We'll see how that goes!

Abigail cut a jack-o-lantern with her daddy this past weekend. She had a blast. Thought it was the coolest thing ever. I think she is really going to be into the Halloween thing this year. She got her first run at wearing her princess Sophia costume today and was very happy. She wasn't so happy when mommy wouldn't open every piece of candy she got. So that could be interesting! :-)

A Huge for baby brother! 

See Mommy, I have a belly too! 

Pumpking carving with daddy. On the excitement scale this was  a 10 for Abigail. 

Ridin on my Trike! 

Happy Girl carving pumpkins with daddy! 

33 Weeks!

Another busy week here! I typically prefer busy to not, so no complaints here (just yet anyways)!

Here are a few things I've learned this week:
* My belly is in the way of putting on my shoes! 

* I should not be pushing around a heavy cart at Costco
* My rings REALLY don't fit anymore
* I think he has "dropped," seems early but it is giving me some extra breathing room tho it may also be part of the reason putting on shoes is quite difficult! 

Size: A Durian Fruit

Movement: He has had a quiet day or two but thats always followed by a very active day or so. I am hoping on our quiet days we are doing lots of growing! The other night he kept me up for quite some time. Of course I had to get up for one of my trips to the bathroom and he proceeded to get the hiccups and I could not go back to sleep. He has had quite a bit of hiccup episodes lately.

Cravings: Bagels, bagels and more bagels! So I stocked up and am enjoying some bagels!

Projects: Well things are slowly starting to come together. Doing more laundry and going through all of the essential baby stuff to see what of Abigail's we can use for baby brother. We attempted to put up the curtains this weekend but mom failed on buying the correct size! That's what I get for buying the cheaper set of curtain rods! Back to the store I will go. I did feel rather proud of myself for finding some clearance diapers at Target! Wohoo! Every once in a while they will put the boxes on sale that are starting to fall apart. Nothing wrong with the diapers, its just the boxes are not holding up. So you save a few bucks on a box, which can add up!

Progress!! 

I think the traveler theme has turned out quite well. The wall decals are super cute! 

How am I feeling: This has been a pretty good week. I don't think I have gained much weight since my illness a few weeks ago, so while I personally don't mind that, I still want baby boy to grow so we'll see what the doctor says next week.

Abigail's Week: Well like I said we had a fairly busy week with several park trips to enjoy the last few drops of sunshine we could get! This weekend we had some friends over to watch the MD game and Abigail was so excited to play with mommy and daddy's friends that she refused to take a nap! (shocker) So come 7 p.m. she was falling asleep on the couch, which was quite funny to watch. Somewhere along the way last week, she got a runny nose, which we are still fighting. Abigail has it, daddy has it and now Bugala has it. Mom is praying she gets a pass on this one! On Sunday, Abigail went with Daddy to the park while mommy did a bit of shopping for baby brother and Abigail.

I think I have collected enough "stuff" for Abigail's big sister hospital bag. I ordered a big sister bag the other day which should be arriving soon and I can then put everything together. Bugala got Abigail her very own digital camera. She has really been enjoying taking mommy and daddy's phone and trying to take pictures on her own so we figured this would be a good gift for her. I got her a bunch of little activity things to do while she is visiting at the hospital and I know she will love having her very own "purse"

Just the other morning, Abigail told me that she needed to bring her Teddy to the breakfast table because when baby brother comes he will get Teddy, it was so cute and very sad at the same time! I assured her that we will get baby brother his very own Teddy and she could keep hers. She seemed relieved but has been very attached to teddy this week.

I still have not entered the "panic" phase. I don't know if I will or not. We have 7 weeks to go but if he makes an early appearance like his sister did, we could be looking at more like 5 weeks. Neither is an extremely long period of time but for some reason November 26 sounds like it is ages away which I think is why I am not really panicking about anything just yet. I remember one thing with Abigail that always made me think "Oh my its coming so soon," was when you would buy something at the grocery store that had an expiration date close to your due date. Well, we are there. I have several things that expire pretty close to our due date so it must not be that far off!

My one big goal before baby boy arrives is to make a bunch of freezer crockpot meals so that I don't have to think about cooking dinner for a while. It's hard enough with a toddler running around to figure out what's for dinner, I can't imagine trying to figure that out with a toddler and a newborn. So fingers crossed I can reach that goal!!!

Next weeks fun: Another sonogram and doctors appointment! I am SUPER excited to see what his size / weight looks like now! I feel like he has grown quite a bit over the past few weeks. Plus, I really am just hoping we have more like a 7-8 lb baby and not quite as teeny tiny as our princess was at 5lb 3 oz.

We haven't seen much of the puppy lately. He's still here but feeling very much neglected. 

He can always seem to tell when I'm pregnant and he begins acting up quite a bit. 

She so cute! But then she got the idea that the pumpkin should be compared to mommys belly! 

Kisses for baby brother! 

Hugs for our baby! 

Last fun day of summer at the park! 

Dinner outside in the beautiful weather before it disappears! 

32 Weeks!

This belly is getting pretty big! 

This was a pretty uneventful week! Which is fantastic when you think about it! No more trips to L&D and no more sickness in our house. The big pitfall of the week has been the computers in this house seem to be on the fritz! So that makes doing some things more difficult than I would like.

When my computer seemed to be going down I was petrified that I would lose all of my pictures so we went and bought and extra hard drive and moved everything over, at the time I thought it was a bit of a pricey solution and maybe we should have just moved everything to Matt's computer, but when his computer randomly lost its brain over the weekend it was the best money I have spent in quite some time! 

Baby boy has been doing some growing - at least that's what it feels like! I appreciate that he is in the "head down" position but my torso is just not long enough at times for the room he is commanding. So I am constantly getting some pretty hard pushes right near my rib cage. 

Size: This week we are a nice squash! At this stage he is probably 15.2-16.7 inches long and weighs somewhere between 2.5-3.8 lbs. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess he weighs a bit more than that as our estimated weight 2 weeks ago was 3.5 lbs. I am hoping that he weighs a bit more than his sister did! I am anxious to see what our estimate is in about 2 weeks! 

Movement: Constant! All the time. Abigail has yet to feel anything. Every time I try to get her to feel my stomach she gets distracted too quickly. Plus, he tends to be a bit shy when it comes to people putting their hand on my belly, but bring out a doppler or monitor at L&D and he puts on a great show! 

Cravings: My appetite still doesn't seem to be quite as good as it had been but we're working on it. I would LOVE something other than PB&J, like a nice turkey sub but for now we will try to hold off a few more weeks! Sadly, sweets have been on the rise too, which isn't the best of things to be eating so I need to work on that! 

Projects: Daddy finished painting in baby boy's room this weekend and it is clean and ready to be put back together! Mom started washing clothes this weekend so we can put those in place and have things ready. 

How am I feeling: This week has been pretty good. I am trying to pack in as many fun filled Abigail adventures as I can over this month so that when I reeeeallly slow down I won't feel like we've done nothing this fall. 

Abigail's Week: It was a pretty good week! The weather was wonderful. The mornings were a bit chilly but overall perfect fall weather....this week however, not so nice! It is back up into the 80s which to me just doesn't scream fall but I'm sure we will head back to reality soon. 

We had a few park trips this last week and with the beautiful weather this past weekend it was perfect for a trip to the zoo!! (Thank goodness we made it before the shutdown!) Today we made a trip with friends to the National Children's Museum, which is always a good time...... Indoor contained spaces are a favorite of mom's these days! 

Mommy's project for the next few days will be working on getting the baby room ready! Lots to do to make sure we have that ready and I also need to start working on packing a bag. I am more worried about a bag for Abigail than myself. But I guess we could put mine on the list too. I don't feel the need to be so over prepared with a hospital bag as I did with Abigail. A change of clothes and a toothbrush and I'll be just fine.

Daddy finished Abigail's chalkboard in her room - She loves it! 

We went and watched while Daddy got a haircut. She was so excited about the process, especially the music playing that she could dance to! 

We made a trip to the zoo last weekend. She had a blast! 

More zoo fun

Abigail was people watching while Daddy checked out the elephants 

Fun at the park! 

This is what happens when mom leaves the room for 5 minutes! 

ELMO at the National Children's Museum 

Driving the food truck

Firefighter Abigail!