28 Weeks 4 days

I had my 28.5 week checkup today. It's hard to believe that we have entered the "2 week visit period" of this pregnancy. The check up went perfect. My BP was excellent at 100/60 still and I'm measuring perfectly. I'm still having the Braxton-Hicks contractions but they are not worrisome like the ones a few weeks ago as they are very sporadic and we know there's nothing underlying that's causing them. So, for right now - I'm growing, swelling and uncomfortable. And have about 11 more weeks to go...yikes! :)

Little Ms. Alyssa is still down VERY low and VERY breech. The intern who is studying under my OB had a hard time nailing down the baby's heartbeat today. She could hear the baby moving and I felt her so we weren't concerned but after the intern did some "palpitating" she found our princess who remains about as low as a baby lying sideways can! The intern said the heartbeat was good and strong. And as usual, she laughed that Alyssa can always punch or kick right on the doppler.

Dr. Becker said things are progressing excellently. He questioned if I'd made a decision about VBAC vs. scheduled c-section yet and I told him I'm still undecided. Dr. Becker was definitely cool about it and has explained both sides of the decision thoroughly. It's really just up to me and Dave to figure it out... Who knows? I've heard the good, bad and ugly with both. I was told I have a 40% chance of failing with VBAC since I had "failure to progress" when induced with Andrew but there were so many variables that when discussing it with Dr. Becker today, he told me that there is no way to know or ever know why Andrew didn't want to enter the world without "assistance" (aka c-section). And I know from experience that laboring forever and ending up with a c-section is the worst way to have a c-section. But the recovery from a c-section isn't the most enjoyable whereas a VBAC would more than likely have an easier recovery.

Sigh... decisions, decisions. :)

But the Blessing is that we have a healthy baby girl in my belly and a wonderful and healthy baby boy here already! :)

Big Boy Shaving

One of David and Andrew's "rituals" is to shave together.

Of course, Andrew has a razor with no actual blade but the time of lathering up and shaving together is so sweet and both my boys enjoy it!














































These are definitely the times that memories are made of!

The "Happy Birthday Banner" is complete!

After several evenings and messing with her banner here and there, I finally wrapped up our little girl's Happy Birthday Banner today. I was ready to get it wrapped up as I figured, once her name was done with that much work - it wasn't changing. (I say that and watch the hormones kick in and I end up changing her name... haha!)

It's funny...I was convinced I wouldn't be a sparkly, blingy type of baby girl mama, but the more I get into doing things for her - the bling in me seems to come out! Note that I am still not into frilly lace and all that yucky stuff, but I'm definitely getting more into the swirls and whirls of girly-ness :)


Now I hope to be working on her nursery stuff very soon!!!

Rocking Out... Christmas in August?

So we really weren't celebrating Christmas in August... Andrew just really wanted to wear his Christmas jammies the other night. (He's 3 1/2 ... I leave it at that!)

But he decided he was going to have a little "jam session" while we watched our favorite summertime t.v. series, America's Got Talent.

Because I think he's the cutest thing ever, I had to snap some pictures of him making silly faces with his other biggest fan, his Daddy :)

Awesome Follow Up Report

Yesterday, Aug 11th, we had our follow up sonogram at the OB's office. They wanted to see if the choroid plexus cyst had resolved and also to check the placement of my placenta.

We were ecstatic to see that the cyst had resolved in our baby girl's brain and that my placenta was marked as "grade 1" which meant that it is still low - but out of the way. WOO HOO! :)

In addition to the wonderful news, we were able to watch our baby girl yawn, get the hiccups, and hide her face (I think she's a bit camera shy).

She is currently 2 lbs 4 oz, which is in the 55% percentile (I have to admit, I'm still surprised they have percentiles on babies when they are still in utero!!)

We also saw that she looks JUST like her big brother:

The sonographer also confirmed what I have been saying all along - that she is REALLY low. She apparently has a fear of heights and refuses to move upwards. So as of now, she's hanging out breech-style and causing her Mommy to make about 20 trips a day to the ladies room. (Which in my opinion, confirms that girls ARE more high maintenance than boys!) :o)

We're Getting Married!

Ok - so my super silly Andrew and all the fun things that an almost 3 1/2 year old says, comes up with yet another one tonight.

While standing in the kitchen, Andrew runs up to me and says, "Guess what Mommy!" So I prod him and he answers, "I'm going to marry you!" And of course, this sweetness makes my heart melt.

"Really?" I asked. So Andrew exclaims, "YES! And we're going to be at the waterpark and play in our swimsuits!"

So .... I'm guessing Andrew doesn't know what it means to marry someone... and if he does... the parents of his future bride will love all the money they will get to save on a big, lavish wedding. You can't get much cheaper than a waterpark wedding! Hehe! :)

My silly camera hog...

Ok - so this baby has been growing EXPONENTIALLY lately...

Therefore, I figured it was time for the obligatory belly shot. (These are mostly to prove to her that she made Mommy's belly MUCH bigger than her brother....haha!)

I'm enjoying rubbing on the baby bump and amazed at the life that God has given our family!:)

And as you can see, Andrew sure likes getting in the pictures!!!

I love the last one!!! That's my sweetheart!! :)