Redirecting Blog.......

Well since my surrojourney has ended I feel like I have nothing new and interesting to add to this blog. I do however still want to show off my kids and share info about our family life so please feel free to visit our old blog. It was left hanging for a long time while this blog was up and running but now I promise to try to keep it more up to date. (Just give me a bit of time to catch up on it!)

So, here it is. Come see us soon!

www.carsongavinmorgan.blogspot.com

Thanks again for following along on our journey.

Journey is officially compete!

Yesterday we shipped off the final supply of breast milk- another 200 ounces which brings this journey to an official end. The total donation amount was 1,250 ounces which isn't bad if I do say so myself. I was actually sad to see my milk go because it meant closure for me. I am finally enjoying cocktails again of course but now I feel like I am no longer doing a good deed. I know its time to get my life and body back in order so being done with pumping is a good thing, I just wish I could have done it for a little while longer to help out those poor preemies.


I am emotional today too because my baby is getting her big girl bed later this morning. I can't believe I will no longer have a crib in the nursery room of our house. It has been there for the past 7 years and hasn't moved since. We have had three beautiful babies share that crib and I have so many memories that its hard to see it go. (Well not actually go, because I am keeping it in the basement forever!!!!) But packing it up means not only are we are done with babies in our household, but that our "baby" is no longer a baby. :( Time goes by way to quickly in life the minute you become a parent. I wish I was home today to be able to see Morgan's face when the new bed arrives and to put her down for her nap myself for her first time sleeping in it. Darn work!


We are leaving for vacation next week to Florida and I am really looking forward to spending 9 days with my hubby and kids without responsibilities. I can't wait to see the kids so excited, happy and loving life. I feel like a kid counting down to Christmas! The anticipation is making me crazy!



I don't have any updates on Luke. I assume things are going fine and that he is most likely growing like a weed. It's hard to believe he will be 9 weeks old already tomorrow. Hopefully he is happy and healthy and letting his parents get at least some sleep. :)

Latest Updates

Well we are about 6.5 weeks post delivery and I am feeling great still. Of course I would be happier if I could just make these last 10 pounds disappear but other than that I am good. I have managed to narrow down the pumping schedule to just twice a day now- once in the morning and right before bed. It is kind of sad because I am only freezing about 8-10 ounces a day now compared to 50 ounces a day before but my goal now is to ween off pumping before my vacation in a few weeks. Last week we shipped another 500 ounces of milk so that brings my current donation total to 1050 ounces! YIPPEE!! I was thrilled to hit over the thousand mark! Way to go girls! :) And now I am sure I have another 200 ounces or so in the deep freezer so within the next couple of weeks I will send off my final shipment and be officially done with all pregnancy related activities. So sad!

Last week I had my 6 week post-partum check up. Everything went well except for the 75 minute wait at the Dr.'s office before being seen. That was crazy! But Dr. L finally appeared and he said I have healed fine and I am very healthy. (And Chubby!) Ok, he didn't say that but I am sure he was thinking it. He asked if I was ready to be pregnant again and I think I surprised him when I said "YES" right away. He said I was made to be pregnant and I do it so well! How nice. But then of course I broke the news to him that my hubby will divorce me if we have another baby so I guess I am officially done with being pregnant. I guess I will never say never at this point. You just don't know what life will bring.

Our summer has been good so far. The kids are enjoying being out of school and spending time outdoors as much as possible. We are getting very excited about our family vacation in a few weeks to Orlando, FL too. It will be so much fun to have no responsibilities for 9 days! Can't wait!

I haven't talked to R lately, just over emails but I know they are very busy with Luke and his big brother. She has told us what a great baby Luke is and how he is already sleeping 7 hours at night. Wow! We were never that lucky! Way to go Luke! What a good baby. Hopefully we will plan a visit with them sometime soon.

That's it for updates. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

More, and more and more MILK!!

Yesterday we shipped another cooler full of 300 ounces of "gold"/breastmilk to the Indiana Milk Bank and believe it or not, there are still 150 ounces in my deep freezer.


Here is what we shipped yesterday.





Al is going out of town next week again to California so I am going to have a skip a week of shipping the milk since I won't have his help picking up the dry ice. I hope my freezer can hold 2 weeks worth of milk! I need to start figuring out how to cut back soon though because I want to be done pumping before our family vacation in 6 weeks. It's way too much work to bring a pump on a trip! Not fun. So, I have only a few more weeks of power pumping and then my good deed is done. I am going to be sad about that. Plus, I am enjoying the 500 calories a day being burned just from sitting on my rump, pumping every day. That is definitely helping! I have 10 pounds left to go which unfortunately doesn't seem to be going anywhere. I can go back to the gym again in another week and a half so hopefully that will start helping more.

Here are the latest pictures of our angels for their annual birthday photos. Carson- 7 years, Gavin- 5 years, Morgan- 2 years.

Here is a picture of Luke from last week sleeping like an angel. What a cutie!

GOT MILK?

Well that is what I have been up to lately. Three weeks ago today we were in labor and every 4 hours since then (on average) I have been a pumping maniac! I have pumped over 500 ounces of milk in 3 short weeks and am quite proud of my lactation abilities! :) We shipped our first cooler of frozen breast milk on Tuesday which had 250 ounces in it and the rest remains in our deep freezer. I am so happy to be able to provide that to all those preemies in need. Here you go babies! Be strong!

Ok, enough milk talk. I am feeling really good. I started walking and doing some Wii Fit this week in hopes to shed some pounds. Unfortunately, the bleeding is still here, but the pain is gone now so that's good. Sorry Al, three more weeks!

Yesterday I had a quick visit with Baby Luke and R and was amazed at how different he looks. He is starting to fill out more and has so much hair! It was hard to tell in the hospital because it was matted down and then of course he had the newborn hat on most of the time. He looks like an identical miniature version of his Daddy. Just amazing. He was sleeping most of the time while I was there but I got to hold him a little bit and he opened his eyes for me. It was really nice to see him and so surreal to think about him being in my tummy just 3 weeks ago. Wow- I am still in shock. I feel like this whole journey was an out of body experience. It's like I was watching from afar- and not actually going through it. Surreal is the only word that can describe it.

Our kids are doing great with it all. They haven't been sad at all about not bringing a baby home. They have known all along what was going to happen and they are totally fine with it. Morgan calls every baby she sees lately "Baby Luke". Carson told me this week that I am "finally getting skinny again" which was nice. They have all adjusted totally fine like nothing ever happened. I am sure they will be excited to see Luke again soon but for now, they are just busy enjoying their own lives (without a screaming newborn in the house!)

I have had more thoughts over the past couple weeks about pregnancy in general and how I miss it and also have thought about wanting another one of our own someday but I know that is just a fantasy. No way would Al go for that! I know we are done and I'm pretty sure I am done with surrogacy/ pregnancy but you never know.................. Now if only I can talk my sister in law and cousin in law into it so I can live through them this time!

A week ago today..........

It is hard to believe that last week at this time I was nervously awaiting the news of whether or not the induction was going to happen. I have been reliving the entire day in my mind over the past couple days and still can't believe it all happened. (Way too fast if you ask me!) Luke is a week old today. Today is a special day for him too because it's his Bris ceremony. We would have loved to be part of it, but our little guy Gavin has his preschool graduation today at exactly the same time so unfortunately, we can't be at the Bris. Good luck Luke!!! I am sure you will do great!!!

I am feeling really good. Still have not been sad at all about being apart from Luke. It is so hard to explain.......... yes, he came out of me, but was never part of me. He was theirs all along. And I am happy they have him to hold, care for and love. I do look at his pictures quite a bit but they do not bring sadness, only happiness because I helped give him life. He is truly such a cutie and I can't wait to see more pictures of him and watch him grow up. I do miss being pregnant.... (WAIT, DID I JUST SAY THAT OUT LOUD?) I know, I am NUTS! It was just a week ago that I was miserable but its amazing how quickly your mind forgets that. I guess I need to just focus on my next goal- losing weight! So far I have lost 15lbs which I guess is ok, but that means I still have 15 more to go which is not going to be easy- especially when I am not allowed back at the gym for 4- 6 weeks.

I have talked to R quite a bit since last week. Luke is doing really well and is back up to 8 lbs (just one ounce shy of his birth weight). She said he is a really good baby! His big brother doesn't really know what to think of him yet, but soon enough they will be best of friends.

Pumping is going great! It still hurts like hell for the first minute or so each time but hopefully that will go away within a week or so. But the good news is, I am up to about 85 ounces frozen already which isn't bad for one week! I have been setting the alarm to wake up 2 or 3 times a night to pump depending on the timing. My goal is to pump at 10pm each night and then only have to wake up at 2am and then pump in the morning when I get up at 6:30am but sometimes the timing of that doesn't work and I have to wake up an additional time. Luckily Al has been very helpful and has been getting up at night with me to take the milk downstairs to the fridge and bring up new bottles. That allows me to crawl back into bed that much quicker! I feel great every time I freeze another bottle. And I of course am enjoying the "bigger" benefits of breastfeeding. :) Al is enjoying that change too but too bad he can't do anything about it for 6 weeks. Poor guy!

I am not sure how much longer I will keep up this blog considering the big event has already happened and I know I am not that exciting for people to continue to follow just for the heck of it. We'll see what happens. Maybe I will continue it for a couple more months to continue to update everyone on how Luke is doing as well as myself.

Introducing........... Luke Andrew!

Sorry it has taken me a few days to update. I will try to recap the birth story here and share with you all as much as possible- although I am sure it will be difficult to put into words what an amazing experience we went through this weekend. I am still pretty much in a state of shock that this actually happened and that we helped bring a perfect little boy into the world. So here goes..........

On Friday, we arrived at the hospital at 11am for a scheduled induction. (Thank you Dr. L!!). By 12:30pm I was hooked up to an IV, had the monitors on and started a little bit of pitocin. I was already having contractions every 3-5 minutes when we got to the hospital and was 4cm dilated. R & S came to the hospital shortly after and we just hung out in the delivery room waiting for more to happen. At 2pm, I was up to 5cm dilated. I was not suffering at all yet but the nurse suggested I get the epidural right then because the sooner I did that, the sooner they would break my water which would speed everything up. So I went ahead and got the epidural at 2:15pm. It was not nearly as bad this time going in as it was with my daughter Morgan. This guy was good!! By 3pm, I was between 5-6cm dilated. Unfortunately, the dr. was not able to come and break my water until 4:40pm so things moved a little slower than expected. At 6:30pm, I was 7cm dilated, 90% effaced and the baby was at 0 station. The dr. said he will come back in an hour or so to check on me and I said "It is not going to take an hour- this part will go by fast!". I was right, because a half hour later, the contractions started seriously hurting in my back and I felt like I needed to push NOW!! By 7pm, I was complete and ready to go. I was so nervous at this point and suffering a bit with the contractions but I was so excited at the same time. The room was packed with medical staff- I think there were like 7 of them in the room. The Dr. said everyone wanted to be there because of our special circumstance with the surrogacy that they wanted to be part of the experience. Speaking of the medical team, I was absolutely spoiled with the best nurses possible! I still can not believe how wonderful they were and how well they took care of me and supported me. I really wasn't sure how the staff would treat me as a surrogate but they were AMAZING! Every single nurse told me what a gift I was giving and they actually said I was the talk of the floor! I joked at one point with the nurses that they were all just coming in the room to see if I had my teeth! (Surrogates have a bad reputation to be white trash!)

Back to the delivery.......... So we started pushing just after 7pm. At first (just like my own 3 kids) the baby was OP- face up. Dr. L helped turn him while I was pushing. Unfortunately at one point, the baby stopped turning and I was pushing his head out sideways- transverse. Then Dr. L gave me an episiotomy to make more room. When I finally pushed his head out, Dr. L had to unwrap the cord around his neck. Al was great as always coaching me and supporting me during the pushing. Then I had half of his body out and Dr. L stopped me from pushing because one of his arms was stuck. I actually felt his arm being pulled up and out of me. Very strange sensation for sure! Then, at 7:27pm, Luke Andrew was born! He was 20 3/4 inches and weighed 8lbs, 1 oz, which is almost a full pound bigger than our largest baby who was 7.2. Luke had a full head of dark hair and long fingers and toes! His daddy cut the cord right when he came out. I didn't really get a good look at Luke at that point due to all the commotion and also because the Dr. was still working on "fixing" me back up. Once Luke had all his tests done, his Mommy and Daddy got to hold him and then it was my turn. I couldn't believe how cute he was. And- couldn't believe how BIG! He looked absolutely perfect. No cone head at all! Seeing the look on R & S's faces and the tears in their eyes is something I will never forget. It was all worth it for that.

After the delivery, Luke and R & S stayed in my room with me for a couple hours talking about the experience of it all. Luke never made a peep the whole time. R & S brought champagne and gave me a beautiful silver bracelet from Tiffany's. WOW! That was so amazing of them. I love it and will cherish it forever!

By 10pm, Al and I were moved to a recovery room and we finally got to eat! I was starving!!!! I also ordered a glass of wine from the hospital but it tasted horrible so I only had a couple sips. Bummer! On Saturday morning, I spent some time in R & S's room visiting with them and Luke. Again, he never made a peep. What a little angel baby! Zara from Family Source came to visit us all too and she brought me flowers and a beautiful musical photo box. That was so sweet of her!
Al brought our kids to the hospital in the afternoon to see me and to meet Luke. It was so cute seeing their faces look at Luke through the nursery windows. I think they were very proud too! Grandma and Grandpa took the kids home so Al and I could have our celebration dinner at the hospital before checking out- 23 hours after delivery. I was ready to get home!

I talked to R on Sunday and they were able to bring Luke home in the morning on Mother's day. What a special gift on her very first Mother's Day. I felt blessed as well to already be home with my kids too. (Plus, it was my baby's 2nd birthday!) Happy Birthday Princess Morgan! It is hard to believe only 2 years ago, we were at the same hospital delivering Morgan and had no idea what was yet to come 2 years later.

I started pumping a few hours after delivery and have done so every 3-5 hours since. It is going well but of course if very painful right now. I know it will take a couple of weeks to get past that so it will be worth it in the end. So far, I think I have 4 bottles frozen which isn't bad. My milk hasn't officially come in yet, but I feel it coming!

I am feeling amazing emotionally. I have not cried at all. I never felt like Luke was mine so holding him just made me proud- not sad. I feel lucky to have done something so amazing in my life that I will always be proud of. I completed a family. How many people can say that? Thank you R & S for trusting me with your son for 9 short months. It went by so quickly and even in the end with being uncomfortable and with the pain of labor- I can say- IT WAS ALL WORTH IT! Your son is beautiful and is such a gift to us all! He will always hold a special place in our hearts.

See the video montage below with some pictures of the birth day!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We are leaving for the hospital!

Everything is all cleared for the 11am induction! I am soooooo nervous right now! I hope all goes smoothly! I cried saying goodbye to Carson this morning and I am sure more tears are coming when I kiss Gavin and Morgan goodbye in a few minutes. :( I know I won't be gone long, but I will still miss them!

Wish us luck. Can't wait to see what this little kicker looks like! I know R & S are very anxious and excited!

More updates to come.

YIPPEE!! There is a plan in place!

My doctor visit went much better today. (No tears from me this time!) I am officially 3cm dilated now and still 70% effaced. The dr. was happy to see more progress since we met 2 days ago. He said everything is very favorable for delivery and oked for an elective induction for TOMORROW!!!!! WHOOO HOOOO! The problem is, we are not guaranteed at this point that the hospital will be able to accommodate me. It will all be up to the number of other deliveries happening tomorrow. I am supposed to call the hospital at 10am to ask if they can get me in for the 11am induction. If so, I will go to the hospital right away, get my IV in, start pitocin and then will most likely have my bag of water broken- oh and of course- get an epidural. After that, the Dr. thinks things will happen very fast based on my progress already. Now if the hospital is too busy at 11am, they could ask me to come later or they may say they can't get me in at all and in that case we would be pushed until Monday. AGGHHHH! That would be horrible!

My fingers are crossed that everything works out for us to go in tomorrow late morning or early afternoon to start the induction. I am hopeful there will be a baby by dinner time. :)

Of course there is always still a chance that I will go into labor on my own today or tonight since I have been having minor contractions all day again. But, I am hoping we can hold out for tomorrow so it is easier to arrange babysitting for our kids. I will keep my legs crossed until then!

40 Weeks and no baby yet!

I was up again quite a bit last night with more back contractions from 1am-5pm off and on. Some of them seemed to be on top of each other but never strong enough to kick me into actual labor. So instead, they just kept me uncomfortable and awake last night for no reason. I am happy to have another dr. appointment today at 11am to see if anything else has changed over the past 2 days and also to discuss the light at the end of the tunnel...................... induction. I will update later with more news.

Fetal Monitoring

What a horrible afternoon I have had! Since I woke up this morning with more pelvic pressure and sciatic pain down both legs, I decided it was time to get into the Dr. today for an exam. So, I left work and went in for my 2pm appointment. I had a few contractions while in the waiting room. At 2:40, we were all told that the dr. was called into an emergency delivery and we would either need to reschedule our appointments or wait until he got back. So then I told the nurse the reason for my visit and she took me back. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor for 45 minutes to track the baby's heart rate and movements and my contractions. Everything looked good. I was contracting throughout the 45 minutes but not super strong ones. Then at 3:45 the Dr. finally came back and was able to check me. I am still only 2cm dilated (which made me burst into tears) but I am 70% effaced. He tried to reassure me that the effacement means more than the dilation and said that I have made progress and the head is down very low- which explains the pain. He said everything is very favorable for delivery and said the actual delivery will go faster since I have already effaced to 70% and the head is so low. He said to keep my regular appointment scheduled for Thursday with him and if things don't happen on our own before then, we would discuss a possible induction sometime over the weekend. I do not want to be in the hospital on Sunday!!!!! (not because it's mothers day but because its Morgan's birthday!) It will break my heart not to be with my baby girl on her day! So, I am hoping and praying that something happens on its own tonight or tomorrow! I need it! I am emotionally and physically spent at this point. So- 2 and a half ours out of work, I will be working from home later this evening to catch up. So frustrating!

More Contractions but no baby yet!

So the contractions have continued on and off since Friday morning at 3am! Friday afternoon and evening, I had a few more back contractions before bed and then we were up most of the night from midnight until 5am timing out contractions. The crazy thing is they were 5 minutes apart most of the time but they would only last for about a 1/2 hour and then stop completely for an hour or more. Then Saturday during the day, we decided to go for a long walk which did nothing. I called the Dr. office Saturday morning and told them what has been happening with the contractions and they told me to lay on my left side and drink fluids. I did that for as long as I could handle it but it was SOOOOO boring! The dr. also said not to call until they are consistent contractions for a full hour. I am just worried with all of these contractions I am having- I don't want to be late getting to the hospital! I NEED THE EPIDURAL!

So last night I went to bed and was up again at 1am for 30 minutes with contractions every 5 minutes and then they went away until 4am and repeated the same thing with contractions every 5 minutes for about 35-40 minutes. Then of course, NOTHING!

Over the past 2 days I have also been experiencing a constant pain in my lower back shooting down both butt cheeks (sorry TMI) and into my legs. The dr. office said this is the position of the baby being so low and sitting on my sciatic nerve. Fun, fun, fun. I am so ready for real labor. BRING IT ON!

Contractions- When will they be the REAL ONES??

Well I was up last night at 11pm, 2am, 4am and then 6 this morning for pee trips. That is crazy in itself, but I was also up from 3am-4am for the hour straight with lower back contractions. I was actually planning everything out in my mind from getting up, taking a quick shower, calling my mom to come over and of course calling R & S. The contractions weren't painful, just bothersome so I didn't wake up Al yet. I kept thinking I would wait until they got worse. At 4am after an hour of basically laying there, I got up to walk around a bit (and pee again) and decided I would lay back down to try to get some rest. Then- the contractions completely stopped!

So this morning I get up come to work and attend a marketing meeting for 3 hours and sure enough- right before I am scheduled to speak, the contractions start up again. They were about every 10 minutes, in the lower back again- but much harder this time. I managed to make it through my quick presentation ok (during a contraction!) and then excused myself to go to the restroom. I wanted to walk around a bit to see what would happen and also wanted to text Al to give him a heads up. Of course, after I walked around.......everything completely stopped again.

These contractions are just teasers!!! We'll see if anything starts up again but it has been over an hour now since anything has happened. Guess it's time to get back to work now!

38 + Week Dr. Appointment Update

Well I just got back from today's weekly visit and I am thrilled to announce there has been progress! I am now 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Yeah! I am thrilled to hear my cervix is half way done thinning out. The dr. basically said "Ok, be sure your bags are packed TODAY- just in case!" That was fun to hear. I know it could still be another week or more even, but I am hopeful that my body is preparing for an early delivery....... like maybe this weekend! :) The dr. also said the babies head is very low now which is a change from last week too. How exciting that we are this close!

On Sunday, we met R, S and Baby B for lunch for a get together before the baby arrives. It was so nice to spend time with them again! We know it will be awhile before we can get together again since they are about to become EXTREMELY busy with 2 babies under 1. I am really glad that we had Sunday to visit though. The names are still up in the air for the baby but I think it is narrowed down to 2 or 3 options. We'll see what they choose once they see his face and hairy head! :) Just kidding- although I am convinced this baby will have a full head of hair with all the heartburn I have been getting daily.

My mom is back in town tomorrow night sometime so hopefully delivery will hold off until Thursday at the earliest. Also, my oldest son Carson is home sick with an ear infection today so I really don't want to go into labor until he is feeling better. Sick kids need their mommy's so I want to be here with him!

My next dr. appointment is not until Thursday, 5/7 because the dr's are not in next Tuesday. (Which I am sure means that will be the day we will go into labor!) I am very hopeful we won't make it to that appointment! Fingers crossed.

Braxton Hicks??????

Well last night I was a bit worried.......... my lower back/ tailbone had been hurting all afternoon for some reason and by the time I finally sat down to relax for the night I was noticing what I am guessing was Braxton Hicks contractions in my lower back again. Does this mean I will have another posterior delivery? I am pretty sure so! I was kind of scared to go to sleep because I kept thinking this was going to turn into labor. I even had a dream that we had to leave for the hospital at 3am but I have no idea who came over to watch our 3 kids since my mom is out of town this week. Luckily, by the time I woke up this morning the pains were gone. My lower back still hurts but it is a constant pain today, not coming and going so I know its not contractions. I did go to the gym yesterday morning but I didn't do anymore more than usual so I am not sure what would have caused the back pain. Maybe the baby has just moved down further and is sitting on my tailbone.

Let's just hope we can hold off for another week until my mom gets back in town!

37.6 Week Update

My Dr. appointment today went well, although there are no real changes from last week. I am still at a "strong" 1cm but the cervix has not started thinning yet- therefore no effacement. The Dr. said it is more typical for dilation to occur first before effacement with prior pregnancies so hopefully by next Tuesday I will be more dilated. The babies heart rate was 147. The group b-strep test from last week came back negative so no worries for that during delivery. Also, they were able to draw my blood today at the office and are sending it to the blood bank today for the tests so hopefully they will approve me by the end of the week so pumping can begin at any time! :) I am so relieved I didn't have to go back again to Quest Diagnostics for the testing. This was so much easier!

Now we wait again until next week for more updates. Here is the belly shot from Saturday.

17 DAYS TO GO!

Well I never did get around to updating the blog last week so here goes my very long list of updates.....


Easter weekend was extremely busy with visits to both Grandparents houses and early celebrations for Gavin's and cousin Jacob's b-days. The best part was we finally got to meet our new nephew Eric who was so darn cute! It was so nice to hold a newborn again! He is such a sweet baby. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and doing the 3 different egg hunts over the course of the weekend.

The kids insisted on taking off their shirts while painting Easter eggs!

On Monday night, we took Morgan for her first official haircut. She did so well!!!!! We just got the back trimmed because I am hoping it will grow out and thicken up. I just had to include these pictures because she looks so darn cute!

Last Tuesday was Gavin's 5th birthday. It is so hard to believe our little boy is 5 years old. We went to dinner that night and then to glow in the dark mini golf and arcade so he had a fun time.

Also on Tuesday I went to my first pelvic exam. I was happy to hear I was dilated to 1cm already (which I know means nothing but at least there is something going on) and the head was down. My cervix was soft, but still thick. I talked to the Dr. about my lower back pains I have been experiencing on and off and she confirmed they are probably real contractions just getting my body ready. That is exciting and luckily they are not painful yet. I am looking forward to seeing what changes- if any, will happen at tomorrow's appointment. Tonight Al and I have got to make a point to pack a hospital bag so we can be ready to go! I have been putting it off because it is so hard to put things away that I know I will need before then (like the only 2 pairs of pj pants I seem to fit into these days). But, I need to at least pull something together just in case.

On Friday I went to Quest Diagnostics to try to the get my blood drawn for the breast milk donation screening and unfortunately, they wouldn't do it without dr's papers so now I need to try to get those tomorrow too at my appointment. It is crazy how many hoops I have to jump through to give something good away! Hopefully the tests can be run tomorrow at the Dr. or back at Quest so I can stop stressing about that last thing. I am planning on pumping right away in the hospital because the milk bank wants everything- even colostrum. My milk will most likely be used at NICU's with preemie babies who weigh 2lbs or under. I am so happy I can help more babies.

I will add more updates tomorrow or Wednesday about my appointment tomorrow and will add another belly shot since it might be the last. I am feeling good- just huge! Sleep is no longer enjoyable. I am peeing 2-3 times a night, my heartburn is waking me up night and coming almost every day. My maternity jeans are tighter than tight! Welcome to the last couple weeks of pregnancy! And I can't wait to get back to my normal eating habits when things actually sound good! Lunch time is so hard for me since nothing ever sounds good! I made a trip to Jewel this morning for more honey fruit and walnut chicken salad since that is the only thing I like these days and of course they were out. I almost started crying to the deli counter lady. How could they do that to me?????? So now I guess its another long week of PBJ's for me. AAAAGGHHH!

R & S are ready to go- although the final name is still undecided. At least they have narrowed it down to a few at this point. And of course, baby "B" started crawling just in time to bring a newborn into the house. :) I am sure they are getting very anxious for the big day to arrive. I hope and pray everything goes smoothly for all of us. I am definitely getting nervous! I want everything to go perfectly and hope that I am as strong as can be- emotionally. I feel good now- and ready to go.

P.S.- For those of you who noticed..... I had to remove the black and white baby ticker on the top right of the blog because for some reason when I logged in today, it said I only had 9 days left instead of 17. Was that a sign?????? I couldn't correct it so I just deleted it.

4 weeks to go!

Yesterday's dr. appointment went ok. My blood pressure was perfect still and I only gained a pound over the past 2 weeks which I guess is good news. I was measuring right at 36 weeks which was just a few days a head of schedule. :) Unfortunately, "THE VEIN" has continued to spread up and down on my leg so the Dr. ordered me to have an ultrasound on both legs just to be safe. So yesterday afternoon I was able to get in for a 40 minute ultrasound of both of my tree trunks- I mean legs. Thank god it was a woman technician!!! Luckily, there were no clots showing and everything looked normal so it is just a superficial varicose vein that has taken over my lower extremities! Hopefully it will go away after delivery. Please, please, please!

All appointments will be weekly from this point forward. Next one is set for Tuesday, 4/14 (Gavin's 5th birthday!!!!). That will be my first internal pelvic exam and strep test. Wouldn't it be fun to hear that my cervix is already making changes? Wishful thinking! We'll see what happens next week.

I am still working on the breast milk donation project to see how to go about this. I am starting to stress since we have less than a month to go and I don't know how long the screening process takes to get approved for donation. I have sent a couple different inquiries to milk banks and have not heard back yet so I guess I need to try to find time to make more calls this week. Al dug out my breast pump last night and washed all the bottles and attachments so at least that will be ready to go when the big day arrives. Sometime soon we'll have to actually take time to pack our hospital bags too to get ready. It is kind of strange to not have to pack any baby related items this time around. But at least that will leave more room in the bag for me- with books, magazines and snacks! I just wish we could plan for the delivery day so we could prearrange babysitters for our own kids. This isn't going to be easy considering the boys will still have school to get if its a weekday. I am sure this will continue to stress me out until it happens. Let's pray for a weekend so it's easier!!!

Latest Updates

Well I made it through my very long work week and trade show last week and now can finally breathe again. Amazingly, things went pretty smoothly and I didn't have any backache or leg pain from my 3 days of running around and standing on my feet. My only complaint was that my feet hurt but I am quite sure that had nothing to do with the pregnancy!

So, now to back track with last weeks dr. appointment updates. The appointment started off really bizarre because I walked in on an old lady peeing in a cup in the bathroom. Obviously, she forgot to lock the door. It was horribly embarrassing! I am sure she was even more embarrassed than me but it was shocking to say the least! Then the appointment got worse because I found out I gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks. How is that possible? I thought the six pound weight gain last time was a lot in a month but this was even worse- 2 pounds a week! What the heck?

At least we had some good news........ I was measuring slightly ahead of schedule which made me giddy! I know it means nothing, but if there is a chance it means something..... then I am all for it! My blood pressure continues to be fine and still no protein in my urine so no complications which is good. Today we are looking at 38 days left- approximately! Whooo hooo! Also, the Dr. said if I did happen to go into labor now- they wouldn't stop it since I am past 34 weeks. How exciting is that?

On Sunday, R & S and Al and I went to the hospital for a tour so they could see what to expect. We had a great time together and I think we are all getting pretty excited that this will happen soon. I wasn't sure how I would feel emotionally walking through the hospital again which holds so many great memories for me with the births of my own 3 kids, but I was totally fine. I was excited and happy and joked about drinking my wine after delivery! My plan will most likely be to only stay one night in the hospital as long as I am healthy to leave that soon. Now I need to focus on finding out more information on donating my breast milk. I know the NICU at this hospital does not accept it but some do so I have to start my research. The hospital said they would store my milk during my stay there in the nursery cooler which is really nice.

We go again for the next Dr. appointment and weigh in on Monday, 4/6. We are not sure if that will be an internal exam or not. I am guessing no since we will be just shy of 36 weeks then. But I believe after that appointment, it will be weekly visits until D day!

That's it for now. More to come after Monday's appointment. This journey seems like it flew by- and now we are at the home stretch. It is amazing how everything worked out. I am hopeful for a smooth, pain free, and enjoyable delivery. Bring on the epidural!

50 Days and Counting!!!!

Can you believe that is actually what the ticker says? That sounds much better than 7 more weeks! I can't believe it! Here is my latest belly shot at 32 weeks.

On Sunday, my sister and mom came over so we got to spend time with Baby Taylor. What a beautiful and sweet baby she is! The kids had fun holding her again- even though Morgan isn't smiling at all in the pictures.

This one is the following day but I love Morgan in this outfit and just had to add it. Plus- she is actually smiling here.

Sunday afternoon we had a nice visit at R & S's house with R's parents and two of their best friends. It was so nice to get to spend time with everyone and get to know each other better. Unfortunately, the little guy slept the whole time so no one was able to feel kicks during the visit. Darn it! This coming Sunday is our hospital tour with R & S so they can walk through and see how it will all happen at the hospital. It will be very exciting for all of us!

Al is out of town this week which of course means one of the kids gets sick and sure enough, today I got the call (during my lunch meeting) that Carson had a fever at school so I had to leave early from work and left 1/2 of my lunch at the restaurant to pick him up. It is so darn nice outside- I just wish he was feeling better so he could enjoy this weather. And now tomorrow he has to miss school too because of the 24 hour fever rule. That will be his first missed day of school EVER! He never missed a day in Kindergarten or 1st grade so far which I was so proud of. Poor guy! Hopefully it is a quick bug for him like the rest of us had.

And now for the latest news............we want to welcome our newest nephew into the world, Eric Charles who was born on Friday, 3/13 at 6pm weighing 8lbs, 4 ounces, 19.5 inches.

We can't wait to meet you Eric!!!