Baby Update

I went to the dr. today for my weekly check up. The good news is that the baby has turned (yay - no breech baby) & that I am dialated to a 1. Not much, I know, but after almost four weeks of contractions, I'll take what I can get. Dr. Fowers told me that IF I make it to 39 weeks he'll likely just start me b/c of how big my other babies were. I didn't argue that one!

Another weekend, another project!

Well, this past weekend we started trenching so Travis could put in 2 more secondary water bibs so I don't have to drag the hose all over the entire yard. Right now all we have is one tap out front. We've hooked 2 hoses together so I can water everything I've planted & it's a huge pain in the butt & takes about an hour to water every night. The kids spent Friday night at Trav's mom & dad's house so early Sat. we were out working hard.
Here are a few pix of what my yard looks like now - a virtual ankle breaker for both kids & myself!


This is where our only secondary water tap is - out front & right on the edge of the property.



Going across the entire backyard.




This is our little garden. I managed to get all my flowerbeds & the garden weed free before it got too hot in the day.


One of my flowerbeds.

Kankles

Ok, I know I've said it before, but here is proof that the kankles are here & they're here to stay for what seems like for ever! They first appeared about a month ago so when I say it feels like forever, 2-3 months of this feels like FOREVER!

For those that are unfamiliar with a kankle: A kankle is what used to be your ankle but is now so large that you can't tell where your foot ends & your leg starts. Yes, it hurts to walk on, especially first thing in the morning. No, I cannot wiggle my toes. Yes, it hurts to bend at the former location of my ankle. Once you develop kankles, Travis will begin to call you Pregosaurus to your face. Ah, the joys of pregnancy & motherhood!!

These pix were taken at 12:30 am. I haven't been on my feet any more today than on a normal day but I didn't sit down & take it easy all day either. Unfortunately, when I wake up in the morning, it doesn't look much better than this.

Now I understand!

Here is my picture at 35 weeks...depressing to look at but then I realize I'm 35 weeks so I'm totally on the downside of things!
I titled this post "Now I understand" because the other day while I was at the store with a girlfriend, one of the women working in the store had walked past us once & on her way back stopped & said to me, "Oh honey! How much longer do you have left?" To which I replied, "5 weeks". This kind woman then tells me, "Oh sweetheart, my daughter isn't due for 5 weeks & she isn't nearly as big as you are!" I realize that this woman didn't mean that the way it sounds. So, with a smile on my face, I kindly told her, "Well, I have really big babies. My last one was 9 lbs 4 oz & he was early."
It's a good thing I have a sense of humor about how humongous I am! Many people have been kind enough to tell me, "I don't think you look that big." It's ok folks, I know I'm huge - I've outgrown my maternity clothes!!

Weekend Camping

Despite my better judgement, we went camping Friday night & came home Saturday afternoon. I say "despite my better judgement" because I know how stressful going camping with 2 kids can be and since I'm supposed to be trying to get my blood pressure to go down, well...I just didn't figure it would be a fabulous idea to say the least. We had a really good time though!
We headed up Blacksmith Fork Canyon around 5 pm Friday night. Travis made the comment that it looked like deer hunting season because there were so many people already camped out.
In spite of all the people, we kept driving & went up Left Hand thinking there would be something up there. Word to the wise: if you are 9 months pregnant, DO NOT go up that road very far. I thought for sure Travis was going to put me in labor! I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about 2 1/2 weeks & was having them again as we drove up the road. On top of the contractions, the baby was kicking pretty regular & my seatbelt kept getting tighter & tighter with the more bumps we hit.
Eventually we came to where we could turn & go to Right Hand or go toward Old Ephraim's grave. We went toward Old Ephraim's Grave & kept driving. (Those that know the area know how long of a drive this is!) The kids were troopers for the entire ride (probably a good 1-2 hours) but Samantha kept asking if we were there yet!
Finally, we took a "road less traveled" & found a spot that we could make work. We got to dig our own fire pit & Travis used the shovel as a machete to make room for the camping palace but, we got everything set up pretty quickly.
Travis was really good to let me sit for most of the setting up process & after everything was set up, I climbed into the back of the truck (yeah, imagine that one) & put my feet up because they were swelling - again. The night wasn't too cold & the kids did really good sleeping in their own sleeping bags on their own air mattress & not in the middle of us! It wasn't even too cold this morning.
My thought process this morning led me to the conclusion that if Travis was going to insist on our going camping, I was going to insist on getting some rest & trying to remain stress free. I spent a good share of the morning lying down with my feet up & kept telling myself I was doing a good job & that my blood pressure would for sure be down when we got home.
We packed everything up & headed home around 3 or so this afternoon. We came out Temple Fork Road & headed into Logan. Travis decided we'd stop at his mom & dad's house before we went home. The kids had napped all the way out of the canyon & were pretty excited to see Grandma & Grandpa when they woke up. And, since Grandpa had the sprinklers going on the lawn they had the great idea to run through the sprinklers (great way to wash off some of that camping dirt)!
After having dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's house & even letting mom & dad get a nap in, we headed home. I was curious to see what my blood pressure was because I thought I had done such a great job of remaining stress free for the last 24 hours. HA! My blood pressure was 144/88 when we got home. The dr. told me at my last appointment on Wed. if I hit 140/90 they were going to be a lot more concerned about toxemia. So much for a relaxation attempt!!
Oh well, we had a lot of fun & like I told Travis: "If dirt is any indication of fun, Nash had a blast!"

Baby Update

I went to the dr. today for my 35 week check up. He said that my blood pressure is up so they will be keeping a closer eye on me for toximea. Two weeks ago my blood pressure was 110/60 & today it was 136/76. He said if it gets up to or above 140/90 that's when they really start to worry. So, we're good in that area.
I told him that the dr. I saw a month ago had said she might want to do another ultrasound because I was measuring so big. He looked at my chart & said that he too is measuring me about 2 cm bigger than how many weeks I am but since that's consistent with my history that he really isn't too worried about it. He said that measuring +/- 2 cm is within the normal range. If I was measuring +3 cm then he'd be more concerned.
He said that he'll do another ultrasound if I want him to, but that if he does it that he wouldn't do it until I got closer to my due date. Why? Well since I'm at least 3 weeks away from his lungs being completely developed that even if they looked & saw that yes he's going to be 10 pounds there's nothing they could do about it for at least 3 more weeks.
He did say that if he does another ultrasound & it looks like he's going to be closer to 11 pounds then I might want to consider a C-section. Then he reminded me that ultrasounds are +/- 10% (that's a full pound). He also told me that they did a study with dr.'s who had at least 4 years private practice experience, ultrasounds & mothers to find out who is most accurate on predicting the baby's weight. Guess who was the most accurate....yep, moms. I told him I'll be incredibly surprised if he's less than 10 pounds - on the other hand, I'd be shocked if he was bigger than 10 1/2 pounds.
And last but not least, I told him I've never made it to 39 weeks before & he said, "I hope you don't. Not with as big of babies as you've had because you tend to have bigger babies the more you have & boys are usually bigger than girls." That's always comforting!
So, now we're set until June 30th when we go back. Actually, the dr. wanted to see me back in a week, but the dr. I saw today is out all week next week & all the other dr.s are booked solid next week! I told Travis I think we'll do well to have one show up to catch this kid!! He wanted to know if the dr. misses it if we get a refund. I told him I don't think so!

Grass!! And a few other things!

Well, we inherited a 1/4 of a palette of left over sod. Who knew that such a small amount of grass could make a person so excited! Even the kids were jumping around on it! Travis said he figures we need 6 full palettes to do the entire yard -- that's still $600 for grass. I just hope we can inherit a few more left overs!! In the picture it looks like there's still a bunch of sod to lay but, our new grassy area doesn't extend too much farther than what is already laid.


A week ago Sunday we rode up right hand fork so Travis & I could shoot our guns. Here are a couple pix of the kids.
We actually had to wake Nash up after we were done shooting so he could use the bathroom!

Have you ever met a kid that looked more like his dad?
















Sammie girl:
















About 2 weeks ago we were out at my grandparent's house in Hyde Park. These pictures are of the kids in the leather shop with Great Grandpa Russ poundin away on some fabulous leather treasure! I remember spending hours doing the exact same thing when I was a kid!

33 Weeks

Well, I'm only 33 weeks but I look like I'm 53 weeks! And, two weeks ago at my dr.'s appointment, the dr. I saw was kind enough to point this fact out to me (like I hadn't noticed). She politely mentioned, "You're measuring kind of big." To which I said, "Yes, I know. I've already gained as much weight as I did the entire time I was pregnant with Nash." I then kindly informed her that he was 5 days early & still weighed 9 lbs 4 oz. (Travis told my mother I give birth to toddlers!) She was then nice enough to tell me that, "If you keep measuring so big we might need to do another ultrasound, just to be sure." Yea, thanks, I hadn't noticed I was as big as a house, but yes, I am in fact only 33 weeks pregnant & not 53 weeks pregnant like I look & my son will probably weigh 10 pounds! Not to mention the fact that I no longer have ankle bones & I'm too fat for my maternity clothes so I had to buy a few things from the plus size department at Kohl's the other day! Although, the good news at the dr. today was that I have in fact only gained 1 pound in the last month! Guess that makes up for something, right?

Anyway! I went to a Grocery Smarts thing with a girlfriend tonight. When I left I asked Travis if he'd make Nash's bed & clean up dinner. When I got home I was sitting on the couch talking to Travis when I realized how quiet it was. So, I asked him where Nash was. Then I caught a glimpse of Nash out of the corner of my eye. Yes, he is in fact very much asleep. This was too perfect of a kodak moment to pass up!

Kids!

Well it would seem that nearly cutting his thumb off recently just isn't enough to satisfy or slow down my son. Today he tried to gouge his eye out. He was playing in his bedroom with Samantha when all of a sudden I hear him start to cry. I'm thinking, great Samantha's being mean again. By the time he makes it from his bedroom to the kitchen, his eye has bruised on the eyelid & just below his eye & is swollen half way shut. Yea. So, I picked him up & tried to get him to quit crying. Meanwhile I call my mom to ask if she thinks I should take him to the dr. since it was his eyeball he landed on this time. So, we load into the car & head to instacare. I told my mom if it had been his head I wouldn't worry about it so much b/c he smacks it so many times a day that it hardly phases him at all anymore! (She thought I was rotten.) So, we get to instacare & the dr. basically tells me that since his movement is fine & everything looks ok cosmetically that even if he had fractured his face that there was nothing they could do for it. He told me to keep an eye on him & make sure that he doesn't lose the movement of his eye (being able to follow a finger without moving your head kind of thing) because with that kind of an injury the swelling can push the optic nerves forward & into the fracture where they get stuck & then they have to do surgery. Lovely! He then assured me that the chances of that happening are about one in a million (why mention it to a mother then?!). The dr. did say that he did bruise his eyeball & that's why it bruised & started to swell immediately (broken blood vessels filling the space with blood -- all kinds of great things a mother wants to hear!) So, it sounds like he's just going to have a narley black eye this time (luckily). I tried to get a picture today but only had my phone camera & it didn't take very good pictures so I'll try again tomorrow! I'm starting to think I should wrap the kid in bubble wrap before he gets out of bed in the morning! Thank goodness for health insurance & AFLAC!!

As if we hadn't had enough drama & excitement for the day, Travis & I went & took the concealed weapons permit class tonight. My poor mother had all 4 grandkids for about 4 hours (anyone that knows all 4 kids knows what a handful that was!). Travis thinks I should carry while I'm at school. Can't say I disagree so much as it being close to SLC (not to mention all the school shootings you hear about these days) but, I just don't know how I feel about a bra holster! Guess we'll have to wait & see when it gets closer. If I have to walk through a metal detector (don't think I will) every day then I won't carry at school for sure! It was interesting to go to though. The guy that taught the class did a good job (made the four hours go by pretty quick). And, since they were doing the fingerprinting cards while we were there, I had them do the one I've been packing around for about 2 months to send to the Idaho State Office of Edu. for my Idaho license so now I don't have to pack my kids into the jail with me to get fingerprinted! Travis was skeptical about how they would fingerprint him (what with the missing tip & all). Well, they did it, they just inked what they could & said "Ah, they'll figure it out when they look at your card." I'm sure that was reassuring for Trav! Oh well!

Projects...

Ok, I'll admit I've been a slacker on my blog. But, we've had some nice weather when it quits raining so I've been outside! Here are some pictures of what we've been up to. I finally figured out if I take the step stool I have in my kitchen outside, I can weed a little bit easier! I know we probably won't get grass this year, but at least I'll have some flowers!

This is out in the backyard. You can't really tell on the picture, but Travis has dug a trench & put in some 2x10's to partition off my flowerbed. I planted all these hostas last Oct. & wasn't sure if they'd survive or not since we had deer in our backyard all winter. And, I'm happy to announce, the fern I thought had died has finally got green showing! Travis is mad at me because I "ruined the tree." I told him I didn't even touch the tree! All I did was stuff underneath it. He was quick to point out that under the tree is the best part of the tree. Oh well. Guess I can't win that one!






This is up against the back of the house. You can actually see the partition in this picture. This flowerbed isn't finished yet. My mom gave me some hollyhock starts that I've put in along with about 6 strawberry plants & 1 yucca plant. I am hoping to get a bridal wreath start from my grandma to put in at the far end when the rain finally stops again!
















This is our attempt at a garden this year. We've put this along the west side of the house. We've got 1 watermelon plant that Samantha picked out at the greenhouse & had to have but I think has died, 1 pumpkin planted that I'll be surprised if it sprouts, 3 tomatoes & 2 pepers (thanks mom)! I figure if nothing else, at least we gave it a try!














This is our front yard. The dirt pile has gotten considerably smaller. And, now it is all in one place instead of a small mountain over the entire front yard! I have another flowerbed against the fence & a long one against the entire front of the house & one down the side of the driveway. Travis hasn't made it to these flowerbeds yet, but they are on the list to be partitioned off soon!






Another view of the fabulous front yard!


As you can see, we've been busy. Hope it's raining less where you are!