The last post before baby arrives!

I can’t even wrap my head around all that has taken place in the past two weeks, and at the same time, I can’t express how much waiting has occurred where I basically put life on hold, just sure this baby would be here... any day... any day now.

 Since Adeline’s stay in the hospital, I had decided to keep her out of the gym daycare and stop going too many places. I was afraid that she might get sick again just before the baby came. This lack of morning routine and constant movement not only made time slow down and become extremely boring, but my contractions seemed to stop. And it seriously killed me each time I’d show up for my doctors apt to be told, “nope she isn’t ready, see you next time.”

In the end, after more exercise, walks, multiple membrane strippings, and everything else you can think of, nothing was helping baby girl to engage in my cervix and trigger labor. We are fairly confident that my body has tried a few times do go into labor, however my body produces SOOO much fluid (seriously, they are always surprised) that she has just continually bobbed around, unable to really stay in the ready position. Long story short, I have been contracting pretty consistently at 10 and 12 mins apart since yesterday evening, BUT even though they’ve grown more intense, they have yet to take off and grow closer. So tomorrow I am on standby for an induction. They could call at 7am... they could call at dinner time.... so here I am at almost midnight, just finished showering, shaving, doing my hair, and getting my hospital bag packed, now unable to sleep through the nausea, contractions, and anticipation.

Today was a wonderful way to wrap up this pregnancy though, thanks to friends and family. I went to the gym and ran into all the regular people who have been asking when I’m due and keep hoping they won’t see me the next day... but there I was. Unable to do my run and hills on the bike, I walked the treadmill and slowly bikes the flat ground, contracting all the while. I went out to a breakfast as a last hurrah with a couple of friends. I napped/timed contractions. But the part I loved the most was each special moment I was able to share with each of my children tonight. While Aaron snuggled Avery in my belly and told her how he no longer wanted her to come out because they could snuggle this way, Maddix sat with me through some rough contractions and grew worried. After he’d been tucked in he came back out in tears, terrified for my pain and possible death during delivery!! Poor kid, ha ha.

Addie will snuggle me always, but actually the moment I loved most with her was watching her and Travis walk hand in hand down the street to the boys’ bus stop. Travis just loves her, and she just loves him; it almost had me in tears watching how sweet they were.

And so that was my last day of being pregnant. Hopefully tomorrow will just be a last morning of being pregnant and WONT turn into yet another day....

And as for the last two weeks, we’ve been surviving Travis’s night shifts. We knocked out all the big to do’s before the baby could come. We’ve rejoiced time and time again over the warming of the weather!! We’ve gone to Minneapolis for our Costco run, and finally last Saturday Travis and the kids drove up to the airport to pick up Gma Lori!!! Yay, Gma is finally here! Meanwhile, I took some needed R&R to mentally perk up. I know we did more, but I just can’t think straight at this point anymore!

St. Patty's crew

Natalie Jones has seriously pulled me through
this pregnancy. She has been my "gym-ing buddy,"
as we call it.
Gym-ing: A recreational pass time one uses to keep
a space in one's schedule and social needs, rather than for actual
calorie burning.

Shuffled carseats around in order to make
everyone fit! 

38 weeks

Traditional green pancakes with gold sprinkles

39 weeks

Trying to get Dad's attention that she needed
a bum change! 

Her new trick! Time to keep the door closed! 

Olive Garden lunch near the cities

There are brothers hiding under those blankets

Every speck of the house was completely clean,
I even mopped the floors

Poor chica fell off the back step of the patio;
for a few days there she couldn't catch a break.

Port-a-crib set up and ready to go! 

40 weeks... Come on Miss Avery! 

~Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Back to the E.R. We Did Go~

This past week was a rough one, with Adeline feeling sick from what we believed was just hard teething. 

Fevers, restless nights, screams of pain, decreased appetite, etc. It all seemed correlated to the four teeth she was cutting (two of which were molars; poor girl). 

The only upside was the extra snuggles we were receiving! Oh that girl wouldn't leave our arms, or be without her favorite blanket! 

But by Saturday when she woke up from her nap with a higher temperature than she'd had all week, and hadn't been drinking/eating really at all, resulting in decreased wet diapers, Travis took her to the E.R. 

They ended up feeling she needed to be admitted and stay the night, hooked to IV fluids in order to get all her levels up. So with the help of our sweet angel friends and neighbors here, the boys were taken to an impromptu sleep over, while I spent the night in the hospital with Addie. 

Little miss was hooked to the IV fluids and she just looked miserable. She kept calling out my name when they'd do something to her she didn't like, and it was simultaneously so sweet and heartbreaking all at once. 

It was a long night, but I kept thinking how grateful I was that this is the worst thing I've experienced with my children... well... hospital wise (Aaron had those terrifying seizures that always had me on the phone with 911, but even those weren't life threatening and were just neurological misfires, as the doctor said). 

My Addie being poked and prodded, and scared, and feeling so yucky was only temporary, not life threatening, and so easy to treat. 

And it was all brought on by a simple virus, not just teething. 

I instantly began thinking of my family and friends who post updates on their little ones and the trials they experience as a daily part of their lives; I bawled. I haven't been able to stop bawling for them. How hard would it be to watch your little one suffer on a daily basis, or know that the pain was going to be a constant part of their lives?? 

They are so strong. 

You know who you are. 

I'm starting to tear up, again!! 

So anyhow, Addie was monitored and checked on once an hour and in the morning her fever was mostly gone. She had a wet diaper. And the doctor felt confident that with a little more time, she'd return to herself, as her body battled away the virus. So that afternoon we returned home to very happy brothers, and one daddy who desperately wanted her to cuddle in his arms, but she wouldn't leave my lap. 

We have had overwhelming support from friends that are constantly checking in on us, and that have brought meals. I almost feel guilty over the fuss, but at the same time, I really needed them and just couldn't say no. 

We are so blessed to know so many good, spirits following people. 

Since coming home the recovery has been rough. Until today she refused to eat and drink, and everything I tried was instantly turned down, or she'd try my trick once, learn it, and refuse to repeat it. But today she ate willingly, she drank a bit more, and she had good diapers! And last night she mostly slept well!!! So I think we're on the mend! 

(Just as I said this she has started to cry in the other room :(...... 

..... 

okay, back. One thing that blows from this sickness period is she has developed bad habits! 

1. Her sleeping is a mess... completely off. And she wants to sleep in my arms, or be taken out of her crib during the night. 

2. She absolutely won't sleep without her favorite blanket... I don't know how I feel about this. 

3. Her shrieking scream. She began this ear piercing scream while sick and the pain was too much, or the fevers were spiked. And we'd respond to it immediately. Now that she's feeling better, the scream has just become a way to try and get us to respond... and it's awful! 

4. Tired and mean! I love my little one, BUT because she's so tired and only barely feeling better, she is irritable beyond measure. She hits, kicks, thrashes, screams, etc. Today was so mean while I was making dinner that I literally had to carry her back to her room and close the door (she can open it right away), just so she'd understand (maybe) that she was going to be put away in "time out" if she was mean. Don't know that it soaked in (of course not), but it did buy me about 40 seconds in the kitchen without her screaming at me again. sigh.

And all this is going on while i'm thinking... okay we have two weeks to my due date, so can we get past this, get back to where we were BEFORE this past week, and perhaps give me a shred of confidence that I can handle another baby on top of this mess?! 

We got so sick of the weather, we threw ourselves down the stair! jk... that was just an accident!

 This past week was a series of lots going on… or absolutely nothing. 

Winter rages on! 

I was able to take the boys on a combine date because they both wanted to do the same thing: see the LEGO 2 movie; let me record how happy I am that I only had to sit through that movie once, and hopefully never again… it was mind numbingly awful; even Maddix wasn’t convinced. Aaron did love it for the record. 

And meanwhile Travis took a date with Adeline to pick up Taco Bell and then she sat his lap, eating her burrito, while they watched Beauty and the Beast; so cute!! 

The week was rough in that Adeline is now transitioning one afternoon nap, but is so tired by 10am that it’s hard to get her to last until noon. At which point she is hit or miss on whether she’ll only sleep 50min or do a full 3-hour nap!
She’s definitely the least consistent sleeper of my children. 

The weather has continued to drive us indoors. Two days in a row it was -9, with a Windchill that dropped the temp to -32… in March! 

But it looks like next week we’ll be reaching the 30’s! Sure, it’s supposed to rain and snow every one of those days, BUT the 30’s!!! That will be a REAL heatwave!! 

We had our last basketball practice.

I attended YW/ Maddix went to scouts

I attended a RS activity about organization and received a cleaning schedule that I’ve been trying out so that you keep up on the little jobs that turn into big annoyances, and I’m really loving it so far!

The boys LOVED my Friday movie choice: (the New) Yours Mine and Ours. 

Travis and I took a morning date and played racquetball together. 

~SATURDAY~

This day started out with Aaron’s last basketball game! Hurray! 

We decided to get together with some friends before Maddix’s last game and Travis’s night shift. The whole time I was nervous with Addie learning the stairs, but Travis kept saying, “It’s fine… she’ll be fine… baby’s fall down stairs all the time…” 

Of course, this only made me more anxious. They were long, straight stairs that I didn’t love! 

(disclaimer: She should know how to use stairs at this point, yes, BUT we don’t have stairs. We don’t go anywhere with stairs… so how is she supposed to learn?!) 

Anyway, we had a great time, no accidents. Just as we were leaving, the boys and I were by the front door (which is also where the stairs are), getting our shoes on, when Addie came over to see us. She got just too close to the top, stepped right off the top step and fell. I instinctively leapt up to go after her, tripped over Maddix’s leg, and went down the stairs myself. 

I full rolled a few times, almost sure that at one point I crushed Adeline as I rolled. 

She and I stopped after falling down probably 8-10 stairs, and we were rattled. 

With zero time to spare, and my trying not to cry, we rushed out of the house: Travis on his way to work, and me with all three kids on the way to coach Maddix’s game, by myself, now a wreck, and an Addie screaming at me. 

Needless to say, the game wasn’t great. The other team crushed us. Parent’s weren’t impressed. Addie wouldn’t let go of me the whole game. I began contracting pretty hard. And Aaron… well he really did his best to focus. 

Back home Travis called and we agreed that I needed to go to the E.R. to get checked out. So I got the kids ready and into bed, my wonderful neighbor came over, and I went over for a four hour observation. 

At first we were all convinced I wouldn’t be going home and that the baby was coming because my contractions were so strong and only 2-4 mins apart; however, when the Dr. came in and checked, I wasn’t dilating… thanks HEAVENS! Travis came in and out to sit with me, and I ate all the hospital ice I could get my hands on! 

I was feeling relaxed and ready to go, until they came in and did the ultrasound before letting me go. Travis and the doctor both stopped talking and I could tell they saw something new. Apparently, baby girl is no longer head down, but is now transverse. So we discussed the possibility of having a C-section, contacting the Dr. who specializes in turning the baby, and all that fun stuff… boo. 

But overall, baby was looking good. Adeline was surprisingly unharmed and just fine! And for me, I landed on my shoulder (which was already sore from another injury), wrist, and hip.. but am fine too. 

So then Sunday I was told to stay down the whole day, so we watched lots of Sunday movies, and did nothing…. Yep, that was the day, lol. But the kids were good… stir crazy, but good. 

How I felt watching the Lego 2 movie... 

Love. Love. Love.

Our 2019 teams
(minus me from Maddix's team photo; I stayed home with a
sick Adeline that day)

And it's March... I'm so over this
weather

Aaron's building he insisted on taking a pic of

And then his next photo (out of like 100 of them)
that he sneakily took later

So ornery from lack of naps! 

Wednesday's little side cleaning job: Clean off papers/desks

Our unconventional date night during my 4-hour observations stay.