My Son

Here are just a few of the MANY pictures we've been taking of Hunter the past few days. I will hopefully have his birth story posted soon. It's long and fairly dramatic but he's here and that's all that matters. He's also currently in the NICU but should be totally fine, however any extra prayers you may feel like throwing our way would be greatly appreciated. We are madly in love with this little guy and can't wait to take him home.

So happy that he was finally here. 

Friday night, we were both very tired after our little adventure.

Love that face.

Daddy is obsessed with his little boy. They are best buds already.

He's already had most of these wires removed and is making huge progress. 

We went down to the NICU to celebrate at midnight on New Years Eve with Hunter. He couldn't wear the little onesie I bought him but this was close enough.

Introducing...

Hunter Kristian-- Born-12/30/11 4:51pm 7lbs 12ozs ***I promise to post pics and more info later but trying to post from my iPad and it's not cooperating!

40 Weeks- Last Update!

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 40 Weeks!!!! Fully Baked! 

**Christmas morning- Holy cow I'm HUGE!**

Last week I posted a bare belly shot which was taken 1 week before delivery, here is a side by side comparison picture of me with my mom one week before I was born. We were basically the same size pre-pregnancy and the same age. 

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com the baby is the size of a small pumpkin...yeah an 8+ pound pumpkin!

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Looks like I'm going to end this in the 35 pound gain category which is good considering I started off very small and seem to be having a good size baby. I actually didn't gain any weight this week despite all the eating I did for the holiday.

Maternity Clothes: Now that I'm working from home until he comes I'm just wearing leggings and Kristian's shirts

Gender: BOY!

Movement: Still feel him throughout the day though I think he sleeps more, probably saving his energy for the big moment. My in-laws were able to feel a few kicks during Christmas which was fun. 

What I miss: not constantly wondering if every feeling/twitch/pain I'm having is labor starting.

Sleep: Still sucks though last night I decided to sleep on the couch since my constant getting up, tossing and turning have been keeping Kristian up as well and surprisingly I slept great. I might try sleeping on the couch again tonight. 

Symptoms: Contractions and cramping though nothing consistent or regular enough to go to the hospital for yet. Also, feeling a lot more nauseous which is the worst. 

Cravings: Sweet Tea from McDonalds. Drinking it right now in fact. 

Doctor's Appointment: I had my last official doctor's appointment yesterday and I made Kristian go with me so that he could meet the doctor that will be doing the induction and ask any questions he may have. It appears I've gone from a fingertip to 1cm dilated in a week and I'm 80% effaced. The doctor was even able to feel the baby's head!! Since I was finally dilated he was able to do a Membrane Sweep to try to kick start labor...FYI it hurts! So far it's just made me feel very crampy but I'm hoping I might be more dilated.

The plan right now assuming he doesn't come prior, is to go into the hospital tomorrow night to get a prostaglandin gel applied to hopefully help me start to dilate and contract more. They will monitor me for a while and depending on what happens I may get sent home for the night and then will go back in Friday morning to start the Pitocin.

Best Moment this week: Getting to spend Christmas with our families rather than in the hospital which has been my fear for the past 9 months. I can't believe next Christmas I'll have an almost 1 year old son!

What I am looking forward to: Getting labor over with and holding my sweet baby boy this weekend!!!


*I'm not sure if I will be posting again before the baby arrives so any thoughts and prayers you want to send my way would be greatly appreciated*

D-Day

Today is my official due date and so far this kid continues to be quite happy where he is. We made it through the holiday weekend, including 3 family gatherings, lots of presents and even more food all baby free. We saw Kristian's extended family last night, most of whom I haven't seen since I've been pregnant. Everyone got a kick out of seeing and rubbing my big belly.

Now the countdown is in full effect. I have until Friday to try to get this baby moving on my own and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that at my last doctor's appointment which is scheduled for tomorrow there will have been some progress made.

Come on baby boy, we can't wait to meet you!!!!

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from my family to yours.



39 Weeks- Still pregnant

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 39 Weeks (1 week or less!)

Since this could be my last update before the baby comes I thought I would finally show a bare belly shot. Enjoy! haha

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com the baby is the size of a mini watermelon! Mini my ass, this kid is huge!

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds (my doctor is predicting bigger)  (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +35 pounds approximately. I haven't gained any weight since last week which is good.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity and those are running small. I have very little options nowadays.

Gender: BOY!

Movement: Still movement though he seems to move mostly at night now rather than all day long like before. When he does kick it hurts. I predict this kid has huge feet like his father.

What I miss: feeling normal.

Sleep: Sleep? What's that? I actually hate bedtime because it's just frustrating for me at this point.

Symptoms: If it's a pregnancy symptom I pretty much have it. I feel like crap 24/7 and I'm just over it, pregnancy was cool but I'm done. As scared as I am of labor, it's inevitable so let's just get this thing over with already.

Cravings: Nothing. Anytime I eat I feel sick and if I don't eat I feel sick. It's like the first trimester all over again with about 30 other symptoms now thrown in the mix.

Doctor's Appointment: As of Monday at my 39 week appointment there had been no change or progress. Still only a fingertip dilated which is basically nothing. He did offer to induce me this week so that I could be home by Christmas but after hearing I still wasn't dilated I decided to hold off. I really don't want to be induced and if they try to before I even start dilating it's a longer process that I fear will likely end with a C-section. As much as it sucks I'm going to try to wait it out and continue to hope my body at least starts the process before my induction date to help things move quicker. The doctor is also predicting this kid is in the 8-8 1/2 pound range! Just a reminder I'm 5 feet tall and weighed 105 pounds pre-pregnancy so yeah that huge for me. If I can make it through the weekend I'm going to really ramp up the home induction techniques Monday (i.e. spicy food, walking, sex etc.)

Best Moment this week: Finally finishing Christmas shopping (though we still need to wrap everything) and being days away from having my little guy.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting my son at some point in the next week!

Still

Still pregnant.

Still uncomfortable.

I think little man is planning to stick this out until the bitter end which would be ironic considering basically everybody, including myself, was convinced he would come early.

I have my 39 week appointment this afternoon so we'll see if any progress has been made. I'm not too optimistic and at this point I'm hoping he'll hold off until after Christmas this weekend anyway.

This past weekend I really did a whole lot of nothing. We went out to dinner Friday night for what is probably our last date night for a while and were in bed by 8:30pm. Yeah we're party animals huh?

Other than that I laid around the house and tried to enjoy my last weekend of pure laziness. Assuming he doesn't come in the next few days we'll be pretty busy this weekend with family celebrating Christmas.

**Funny story from dinner on Friday-- I went to the bathroom (I basically live in the bathroom nowadays) and there was a woman in there with her young son and daughter. I estimate the son to be around 4 years old. After I went into the stall I heard the little boy ask his mom "Mommy why is that lady so fat?" and her response "She's not fat, she has a baby in her belly". So yeah. That's where I'm at right now, out of the mouths of babes!