I really am pregnant.

I haven't been very good about taking pregnancy pictures this time around. Not sure why. I may have lost the ones I did take when I crashed my hard drive so maybe it doesn't really matter. But here's the latest - 37 weeks today! Let's see if we can have ourselves a baby next week!

We are so excited!

We are happy to announce that we will be having a baby! On Thursday, I was able to hear the heart beat and they squeezed me in for a quick ultrasound, so I got to see the active baby growing inside of me. I told the kids when I got home so they were very excited. It is always so reassuring to hear and see the baby to know (for now) things are good.

Why?

The last weeks are so hard. 9 days until the due date... Will she come early? Will she come late? It's hard to believe this is the 8th time I'm doing this and I still get so impatient. And yet, life will be so different once she's here, I'm not sure I'm ready. I have lots of things to keep me busy and I probably wouldn't think so much about it, except that she has run out of room so any movement is obvious, and my aches are ever present.

Think positive. It's usually fun to feel her move around, and having the other kids share is awesome. We have picked a name so we all know what to call her. I am still able to get around, do all the things I need to do, and things I want to do. I'm healthy and I haven't fallen down the stairs so, really, things are just fine.

Me at 34 weeks

Just thought I'd toss this in, you know, to keep a record of all that is my life. I'm getting bigger, baby wiggles a lot, and we are excited to be in the last little bit before she arrives! I'm ready to have a baby that comes earlier than just a few days... but I'm also prepared to get into the beginning of October before she arrives. Either way, healthy is the best!

20 weeks and counting...

Here I am, at 20 weeks...

We had our first ultrasound on Thursday and I took all the kids. Kevin was unable to be there. We all enjoyed seeing the baby move, hearing the heart beat, and seeing everything growing normally. The kids all went in saying/wanting a boy. I was ready for anything healthy! It was nice to agree with the ultrasound nurse when she said, "It's a girl." This one was certainly not shy. Most of the kids enjoyed being there and I was so happy to see her moving and doing well. Now on to the naming game!

Profile.

Arm and hand (fingers pointing down)

3D face with hands and arms infront

Head down at the bottom right, with hand right in front of the mouth.

Hand and fingers with knees

Feet, legs, knees, belly and arm.

Not sure why blogger loaded these pictured in this way. They should all be turned to the left 90 degrees. Oh well. So there you have our latest and greatest!

40 weeks and 6 days

Tomorrow will mark my 41st week (approximately) of this pregnancy. That will be the longest I have ever gone. I had an NST today and an ultrasound to check some things. The baby was very active and everything looks good. They started out saying, "You have lots of options..." Then it came down to, "You can induce tomorrow morning or Saturday morning." They don't want to see me go much later because of the possibilities of the baby dying. So, we have a 9:00 a.m. appointment on Saturday if I don't go into labor on my own Friday. On one side, I'd like to go into labor on my own. Seems to work better for me. On the other hand, I'd like the controlled environment and best chance of epidural with the induction. I guess we'll see. Either way I'll have a baby this weekend and that's the best part!

Due Day!

Yes, I've made it to my due date once again. Not uncommon for me. Actually, it's really the norm. Now we just see how much past the due date this baby wants to wait. I keep expecting contractions to start but they don't and may not for several more days. Oh well. I know she'll come soon because she can't stay inside forever.

The newest issue is that I fell on the stairs this morning and landed really hard on my tailbone. I have limped around all day. The most painful is when I go to sit or get up from sitting. I can't bend over - so no more touching my toes from a standing position. I'm nervous now for the after delivery when my bum is still healing and I have to take care of a newborn and 6 other kids and a house and husband and furnace and cooking and so forth and so on. I take comfort in knowing I'll heal and try not to focus on how long it will take.

It looks like...

we are having a girl!


Yes, it's about time we make it official. I'm 20 weeks along and we are all excited for the new little one who will join our family in February. I had the high risk (I'm over 35 years old) anatomy ultrasound today and everything looks good. It was awesome to see our girl moving so much, her little heart beating and all that stuff. I am disappointed in the pictures because they really aren't that great, but they'll do.

This is what I look like. Pay no attention to the smile (that I just pointed out), I was trying to get Emily to take the picture for me.

It has been a different pregnancy for me. I haven't been sick but I haven't felt great either. I never feel like eating but I'm always hungry. The kids were all able to see the dating ultrasound that I had about 5 weeks ago so that was fun. We all enjoyed hearing the heart beat and seeing the baby move. So just thought I'd let y'all in on it!

Prego pictures

So here I am. This first picture was taken January 19 and I was probably 16 weeks along. This is when the bump was finally visible to others.


This picture was taken on Tuesday (2/2) and I was 18 weeks along. Bump getting bigger. I think I have probably added more weight to the back side but we won't focus on that.

I'll post more along the way. It was weird to me that I was almost 1/2 way through but now I'm still only almost 1/2 way through so time seems to be crawling now. I hate that part. I guess I should get busy with the other kids school stuff and then time will pass quickly and I won't even be able to keep track and then it will be the end before I even know it. Crazy.