3D sonogram at 32w4d!

Saturday, at 32 weeks and 4 days we went for a 3D/4D sonogram. A couple months ago, Lisa sent me a link to a Living Social deal for this sonogram package for just $47! The same ultrasound costs $180 something dollars at my doctor's office, so this was quite a steal. And, it really makes me wish we had found a deal like this for Addisyn and Alyse's 3D pictures.

Her little hand

The place was really nice and clean, and the tech was very friendly. Little baby gummy was her typical self and spent most of her time hiding from the camera. Either she had her hand in her face, or the placenta would get right in the middle of everything. After spending a few minutes tapping on my belly, having me turn on my side,  and having me press in in specific areas of my belly, we were finally able to get a couple of clear views of her face. And, boy! She sure does look like Alyse. All the way from her cheeks to her toes!

Little piggies!

Even though this is number three, it is still just so exciting to see the little babe moving around inside my tummy. Sure, I feel her all the time but to see her WHILE I feel her movements is just absolutely amazing. It's really just something you can't even describe. We watched her yawn and move her hands around. It surely is a little miracle.

Addisyn and Alyse both were excited to see the whole thing on the big screen that they had set up in the room. Addisyn especially. In fact, when I told her what we were going to be doing that afternoon she was ecstatic and was kinda disappointed once she learned that the baby wasn't going to be coming out (yet!) and that we were going to get pictures of her INSIDE of mommy's belly. She just can't wait to meet her new little sister. Alyse on the other hand, isn't too thrilled. Whenever someone mentions the baby to her she will get real quiet and give the silent treatment. Poor babe. I'm sure she will adjust well once the baby is actually here and that she can physically see her. At least that's what I'm hoping!

Sucking on her wrist 

Anyways, "little" Gummy is just like her big sisters and is measuring big in the weight department. 4 pounds and something ounces. Going by weight, it would estimate the due date at December 8, instead of my official due date of December 18. Just one more sign to show that there really is a good chance she will be coming early. Selfishly, coming at the beginning of December would be awesome so that things could settle down before Christmas, but of course we only want that if she's going to be perfectly healthy and ready at that point. Only time will tell.

32 Weeks!

Eeeek. It's so scary to think that my due date is only 8 weeks away. What's even scarier than that is that Addisyn came at 38 weeks (6 weeks away) and Alyse came at 37 weeks (5 weeks away). Now, that really puts things into perspective. I'm starting to get quite anxious which is a combination of nervousness and excitement.

I am feeling back to my normal self after the flu, thank goodness. I was worried that it was going to steal any and all energy for the remainder of the pregnancy, but luckily that didn't happen. Ever since being sick though I've noticed the braxton hick contractions starting up. They first started while I was sick and have been occurring pretty much every day. Especially in the evenings. The other night, I actually woke up because of a couple of really strong ones. I started to get nervous because these particular ones were quite sharp where all the other ones were just a dull/tightening feeling. Those couple in the middle of the night though surely got my attention. And, they also made me question what in the world have I gotten myself into AGAIN?!?! I had forgotten about labor feelings, and those little braxton hicks started to bring back some memories. Will most definitely be requesting that epidural upon admittance just as I did with Alyse. Not trying to earn any medals or backpats here ;)

Alyse was sick over this past weekend. Just some random fever that caused her to be extremely clingy, irritable, and whiney. She also woke up just about every hour crying for no apparent reason for two nights in a row. As soon as I went in to help her she would settle down and lay right back down to sleep. Luckily, the fever is gone though!

Doug got down the newborn and 0-3 month clothes from the attic. Took a day to wash and get all of those things sorted. I forgot the annoying sound of snaps drying in the dryer. Holy cow, so loud! And I totally did not realize how many clothes we have. Oh my gosh! May have to invest in a few more warmer items, but we really won't be going out anyways with a newborn so we can probably make do with what we've got. I'm already uber paranoid about germs and there's no way we will be exposing baby gummy to any more germs than we have to, especially with her making her arrival right in the worst part of germ season.

Nothing else exciting is happening. The girls are getting their 2 and 4 year old pictures done tomorrow and then a 3D sonogram for baby Gummy. Hopefully she will cooperate and we'll get a good view of her face. I'm also curious to know how she's weighing in. I'm crossing my fingers that she isn't toddler size yet and crossing everything else on my body that she isn't as big as Alyse was.

Influenza, Farm, and Drag Queens!

Influenza A. At 30 weeks pregnant. Not fun. Tuesday evening, I started with a headache which eventually led me to not feeling well all over. That night I tossed and turned with hot sweats and cold spells. I'm positive I was running a fever and it was still there in the morning when I woke up. As the day progressed I was noticing I had zero energy. I also had this achey/sore feeling over my whole body along with a terrible headache. Most people probably would chalk that up to my pregnancy finally catching up to me (and for a moment I tried to convince myself that was what was going on) but by the late afternoon the chest pain started. My chest was so unbelievably tight it literally hurt to breathe. The thought of a heart attack crossed my brain (way to freak myself out). It was time to seek advice from Dr. Google and with my initial search of flu symptoms, EVERYTHING that I was experiencing was on the list. I wasn't suffering from all the possible flu signals, but everything I did have was on there.

Now, normally I would let things run their course, but being 30 weeks pregnant gave me concerns. Especially because Dr. Google was also kind enough to provide information about how the side effects of the flu could be quite dangerous to a pregnant woman as well as to call 911 for any chest pains. I skipped the ambulance and it was off to Centra Care. After telling the "real" doctor there of all my symptoms he seemed to be concerned over the chest pains as well. He said he was going to run an EKG (he said he also heard a faint heart murmur) but before doing so he was going to swab my throat to test for strep and swab my nose to test for flu. While I was waiting for the nurse in the procedure room for the EKG the doc came in and said that the flu results were positive and that was indeed the cause of the chest pains. So no EKG for me. Instead, I was sent home with Tamiflu and a Z-Pack. The Z-Pack was precautionary just incase any bacteria were to get in my lungs which could be very dangerous to baby Gummy. I normally wouldn't be so keen on taking a precautionary antibiotic but figured it was the best to do in this circumstance to protect the little babe.

The next couple of days were rough. I was exhausted and achey. I luckily didn't have the runny nose and cough that often accompanies the flu. But the other symptoms were bad in themselves. I spent as much time as possible on the couch/bed resting. The tamiflu made me sick to my stomach and reminded me of my early days of this pregnancy lol. Luckily, I had some Zofran leftover and called to speak with the pharmacist to get the ok to take it with the other medication. That did the trick.

I'm sad to say that being sick caused me to miss Addisyn's very first field trip which was on Friday. Doug was able to take Addi and Alyse instead. They went to Green Meadows Farm and from all their stories and the pictures it sounds like they had a great time. Wish I could have been there though.

By Saturday, I was feeling much better and actually had a bit of my energy back. I was so glad too because we had reservations to go to Hamburger Mary's to celebrate Zoe's birthday. We had this planned for a few weeks and I would have been so bummed to have missed it. It was nice to enjoy a dinner and great show. Always fun to laugh and Hamburger Mary's is so laid back it would be hard not to have a good time there.

Leigh claimed that he was the father ;) lol

I also cancelled by 3D sonogram appointment that I had scheduled for Saturday. I wasn't sure how I'd be feeling so instead of waiting to see, I rescheduled just to be safe. Will be going in two weeks! Tuesday I will be 31 weeks! Thursday, I have my check up at the doctor! It seems like time is just zooming by. In one way I'm so excited to meet baby Gummy and hold her and snuggle her. But in other ways, I know that the sooner she makes her arrival the faster she will grow and not be a teeny baby anymore. Babies are so bittersweet. Regardless, preparations are almost complete!

(almost) 30 week pictures

First off, whoever said that stay-at-home-moms sit and do nothing are on crack. I'm sure I've accomplished more today that what a lot of people who were "working" did. I'm tired. Pre-school, ultrasound, ballet classes, grocery shopping, 4 loads of laundry, cleaning and sweeping the entire house, tending to the kids, and scoring 100 essays (so far). Umph.

Anyways, I had my appointment last Thursday and was measuring "big" in the fundal height so my doctor had me come in today to see the baby's actual measurements through ultrasound. This is pretty much the exact. same. scenerio. as it was with both Addi and Alyse. I was halfway expecting it to happen within the next few weeks anyways since with both the other girls I started measuring big around 30 weeks.

We FINALLY got a decent profile picture of little Gummy (for anyone not in the know, Gummy is the new name that Addisyn has given to the baby. She's all about originality!). She's head down and facing my back. Perfect position for delivery. Of course there is still plenty of time for her to move, but I'm hoping she stays put. She's also measuring within a week of my due date, so just like Addi and Alyse did she's just measuring big from the outside. Her actual measurements are right on track. I'm not sure how big she is pound-wise, just that her head and body are where a baby of her gestational age should be. So, looking good.

Not the clearest, but here she is face up. The bump is her nose and it looks like she's picking it! haha!

Megan came along with the girls to get a look. We were able to clearly see that Gummy is in fact really a girl. Really, no question. Crystal clear shot. We also saw her opening and closing her mouth with her tiny hands up under her chin. It's always fun to get a look.

I actually have another ultrasound booked at a 3D boutique on Saturday afternoon. I made this appointment a month or so ago, timing it just right to hopefully get some good shots of her. So we will actually be getting two looks at her in less than a week's time frame. It will be interesting to compare her 3D pictures to Addisyn and Alyse's. I'm excited. Hopefully we will get some better shots that what we got today.

I now have bi-weekly appointments at the doctor, so my next actual appointment will be at the end of next week. As of tomorrow, I will technically only have 10 weeks left and that's if I even last that long. We just finished up the girls' birthdays and I'm already trying to get Christmas ideas together and shop a bit here and there. I definitely won't be shopping come December, so this will be the first time ever that I've started Christmas shopping so early. I've bought a few baby things here and there and I'm just putting them away for Santa gifts :)

29 weeks!

29 weeks is already here. I can say that I'm finally starting to actually feel pregnant (the only other time was being sick and gross those first couple months). Sometimes I feel like there's going to be some sort of alien baby ripping through my stomach to invade the world. Weird, I know. But I've had dreams about it and sometimes the pulling of my skin really feels as if that is about to happen. Then there's the heartburn. It gets pretty bad. Bad enough to where the next time I'm out I'm buying some Tums. Water even triggers it. They're not kidding when they say heartburn is rough during the third trimester, because it was literally as soon as I hit the third trimester, hello heartburn.

Big event for our little-miss-two-year-old-Alyse today. She went pee pee in the potty for the very first time today! Kinda/sorta all on her own! The past few days she's been leaking through her diapers. We're talking an hour after being changed there will be a puddle on the floor. I don't know if she's just randomly become a super pee-er OR if it's because I bought a small pack of Luvs to get us through until the "good" diapers ship. I think it might be a combo. Anyways, I've been cleaning up pee from the floor because of that, so on a whim I put her in a pair of training pants this afternoon. Told her not to go pee pee in them and if she had to go to tell mommy so that she could sit on the potty. Maybe half an hour later (and after several trips to the potty chair) she started crying and saying "pee pee." And, there it was, a puddle on the ground. Cleaned her up and then got her in a new pair of pants. A few minutes go by and I hear her and Addisyn screaming and clapping and looking into the potty. I go and check and sure enough, a nice little pot of pee. Alyse was ecstatic and so proud of herself. We made a big deal, flushed it and told it "bye-bye," and then she was able to get some m&ms. Afterwards, she stayed dry for a bit, but then peed in the pants again after dinner. Hey, it's a good start though. We'll see where it goes! Not going to push anything! :)