And waiting...

I am shocked to have made it this far in this pregnancy. Since starting to have contractions at 24 weeks, then being to the hospital three times starting at 28 weeks, then being in the hospital in pre-term labor at just shy of 35 weeks. I am shocked. But, good for Leo! I am glad that he has had more time to grow and develop. Last night, I thought it was time. I was so tired when we put Olivia down for bed that I went to sleep at 7. Contractions woke me at 9 and they were the worst I've had so far. They came every three minutes for about two hours. I took a shower during this time and warned Nicholas to get some rest. I couldn't sleep. By 11, though, the contractions started slowing down. My last timing was 6 minutes apart at 11:40, and I fell asleep. I was up again at 12:30, but they were 8 minutes apart. Today they are just coming randomly again. Oh, Leo! I'm ready!

In the mean time, Nicholas put together the double stroller, and Olivia loves her seat.



And Olivia's concentration in painting took on a whole new level the other night.

And waiting...

Leo's head just isn't descended enough, Dr. Chwe said. That means that labor could be long, which could lead to c-section, and since there is no reason to induce, we aren't risking it. That's okay with me since I want what is best for Leo and for me. I am only a tad disappointed. My next appointment is Wednesday of next week, which was my original due date. Here is a picture at 38 weeks exactly. Do I look bigger than last week? Still eight lbs shy of the 32 lbs I put on with Olivia. I'm slamming the whole milk, though!



In other news, Olivia has discovered several new words including "important", "treasure", and "tennis". I let Olivia hold my keys in the grocery store and I told her that was an important job. Now whenever she sees the keys, she says, "I hold Mama's keys. Important job." Whenever we read Thomas's ABC book, where "I is for important", Olivia says, "Hold keys. Important job." She also found a picture of a treasure chest and wanted to find one. So, I put some jewelry in a box and let her decorate it with markers. About once a day now, she says, "Treasure!" Here is a picture of the treasure box.



And, on such a happy note, I know what I want Olivia to wear for the photos with Leo! I'm so excited that these fit now!

Still waiting

Dr. Chwe has me on his calendar to be induced on Friday, but if my cervix hasn't changed since my appointment on Tuesday, he's going to cancel it. Although the risk of a c-section is small, he doesn't want to take the chance of inducing and causing one if my body isn't ready. That being said, he thought the likelihood that my cervix would be "favorable" is very good. We'll see. I'm calling Mom on Wednesday with the news, and if I go in on Friday, she will come Thursday to be here with Olivia. I'm ready!! My bags are in the van, and have been for a while. The diapers are out of the package. The sheets are on. Ready!

In the mean time, I've been walking with Olivia to the playground (or wherever) as much as I can. Here are some photos:

Riding the big girl swings:



Riding the dolphins:




I think that Olivia is finally understanding that Leo is coming. She looks in my belly button and says, "I see him!" Yesterday she brought me a peanut butter cracker and tried to feed it to my belly button. She said, "Baby hungry." Hilarious!

"I drive! I drive!" and "I help! I help!"

This is what I hear whenever we approach the van now. Olivia loves to pretend to drive the car. She says, "Fast, fast." And then, "Whoa!!!" She likes pressing all the buttons, turning on the lights, using the steering wheel, and in general just being a ham.




Olivia is always "helping", too. I'll say, "Olivia, I am going to go get dressed now." She'll say, "I help! I help!" Here are some pictures of Olivia helping Daddy. Our solution to not having a guest bedroom anymore was to move my part of the office to the built-in bookcases and put a sleeper sofa in with Nicholas's part, making it more of a den. Here is Olivia helping Daddy move my desks out. (Incidentally, Nicholas brought the sleeper sofa home today and it doesn't fit through the hallway to the office. ARGH!!! So, we have a couch and a half in the living room and half a couch and a chair in the "den." Our curved sofa was two pieces, thus the 1/2 couches in two rooms.)

Waiting on Leo

We made it to 37 weeks!! Full term! Hooray!!

The bad news is that it doesn't look like Leo is ready to come anytime soon. Don't get me wrong, I am still having contractions everyday, I have a hard time sleeping at night, and I am so ready for Leo to arrive, but Dr. Chwe said Wednesday that I am no more dilated and that Leo's head is not far down. I asked if I could be induced at 39 weeks because I am just so ready and so miserable at least part of every day. Dr. Chwe said that was fine and we could talk about it more at my next two appointments. Tentatively, the date is January 27th if Leo hasn't come before. So exciting!! Even though I have gained ten less pounds than with Olivia, I am still measuring big! All my T-shirts are barely covering my belly now. I thought I would add a photo for comic relief.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday

It's been rainy here, so we have been trying to have an "activity" everyday. Here are photos from my phone:

Sunday: We went to Barnes and Noble for a decaf latte and chocolate milk, and some play time with the Lego set and the Thomas the Tank Engine train set.




Monday: We hit up CHOM and Olivia loved being the tug boat captain.




Tuesday: We played in the rain for two hours this afternoon, getting totally wet, changing coats and hats twice, and having loads of fun.

More December photos

I just took some photos off my phone. Here is Olivia on the trampoline with Abby while we were visiting in December. Olivia, obviously, LOVED the trampoline!



Here is Olivia feeding the chickens some oats one cold morning.




And here she is hugging the Rudolph toy that sang and kind of danced. I need to get her something like this!