37 weeks

I'm going to try to post every week since we are getting so close to his due date!  It's surprising to me that when I pregnant with Penelope "full term" was 37 weeks and it's been changed to 39 weeks now.  It doesn't really make a difference, but I feel like it does somehow.  Like, if he is born at 37 weeks now, does that mean he is a preemie?  I think he is just putting on weight now.  His lungs should be good to go.  Penelope was born at 39 weeks and 4 days so I'm hoping Oliver will be born in the next 2 weeks instead of 3 or 4.  He is still uncomfortably high in my belly.  I wish he would drop already and give me some more breathing room.

My SPD hip and back problems are worst than ever and I'm sure I'll say the same thing next week and the week after.  I actually started to use a cane around the house, especially in the mornings.  I have an appointment on Tuesday and I'm going to bring it up.  I want to make sure it doesn't affect childbirth and it goes away quickly.  I am really looking forward to a week or so after giving birth and hopefully being rid of the pregnancy pains. 

Sleeping is the worst.  It seems as though our mattress has gotten firmer since the move. Or it's just me.  I've mentioned it before, that I can't sleep on my stomach or back so all I can do it sleep on my hips and that hurts.  Rolling over isn't easy.  Or getting up for that matter.  I slept on the couch one night and that seemed to be more comfortable.  My sister offered me her bed last night because she's house sitting.  It was really comfortable but I only ended up sleeping in it for 2 hours.  Penelope is cutting her canine teeth.  She woke up at 1 am and we slept together in a twin bed in her room until I woke up at 2 with  horrible acid reflux.  As much as I tried, I could not get her back in her crib.  She tossed and turned all night so neither of us slept well.

We have started looking at houses. Kind of.  I don't know when we actually intend to buy one though.  Josh really wants a foreclosed house.  I just want a fixer-upper.  That's probably a lot to take on with a newborn and all.  I'll look at a house and say, "Yeah, but it only has one bathroom..." and Josh will say, "There is no reason you can't add another."  So I think he is definitely willing to put a lot of working into the house, if we get it for the right price.  We found a foreclosed house that is decent and cheap, but it will be a few more months until we get serious about buying a house.

I got Penelope an adorable big sister shirt that I'll give her when Oliver is born.  I also started packing my hospital bag.  There isn't much in there though.  A blanket, hat and coming home outfit for Oliver.  It's getting hard for me to believe that he will be here so soon!

How far along? 37 weeks
Maternity clothes? That's all I wear besides dresses 
Best moment this week: organizing our new room and getting everything set for Oliver
Miss Anything?  not having a bad back and hips.
Movement:  Yes, still kicking in there.
Food cravings: Wild Cherry Pepsi. Always.
Sleep: Awful. Can't get comfortable and can't get up.
Anything making you queasy or sick: not lately
Have you started to show yet: too much
Gender: boyyyyy
Labor Signs: Braxton hicks, especially if I stand or walk around too much.
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing Josh's band, but getting tight. I may return it soon
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but getting tired of being in pain
Looking forward to: Meeting Oliver and no longer being pregnant.

36 weeks and 1 day

I've been MIA for a while, but can you blame me?  Moving 700 miles takes a lot of work, especially in your third trimester. I intended on putting up a post my last day in Missouri, but we were all so busy. 

Let's see if I can remember everything that's happened in the last two weeks....

So my mom flew out to Missouri on the Thursday before we left and she helped do some more packing and last minute running around.  My mom, Penelope, Reaver (our dog) and I left on Saturday afternoon, leaving Josh and our cat, Annie, behind. We drove about six hours before stopping for the night.  That Sunday was Mother's Day and we drove 5 more hours to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Ohio.  Of course it took much longer than 5 hours with all the stopping.  Penelope did surprisingly well.  Especially on Sunday.  She slept most of the way. 

 Right before leaving

 

It was a long trip

Mother's Day, about to leave the hotel

My left lower back has been very painful ever since the ride home.  Hoping that giving birth will correct everything. My hips have also been worst than ever.  I don't know if that's from the car trip or just that Oliver is getting bigger.  I hobble around all the time like a little old lady.  Getting out of bed in the morning is very, very, painful.  It really sucks when I wake up in the middle of the night with a full bladder and have to spend 5 minutes figuring out how to get out of bed.  My doctor said I can take OTC pain medicine.  I'm allowed to take 1000 mg of acetaminophen every 6 or 8 hours, but that honestly doesn't seem to make a difference.  Some days are worst than others.  I feel like I have basically put myself on bed rest.  I know that childbirth and recovery are painful, but I don't think it will be much worst than right now.  Hopefully about a week after he's here, I'll be back to normal.  With Penelope, I didn't have an epidural and was really proud of myself.  But I don't really see how I could do that this time.  Heck, I want an epidural right now!   Ok, enough complaining for now.

So we got home on a Sunday and Josh arrived on Thursday.  His friend flew out to help him finish up and ride with him on the way back.  Josh drove a 26 foot Uhaul that was pulling a trailer with my Jeep on it.  Our cat was "drugged" and out of it for the ride home.  She has basically been living in the basement ever since she got here. We open the door for her to come up when Penelope is sleeping. She just doesn't get along with my parents cat.  But their cat is mostly outside anyways.

I think the hardest part of the move so far is moving into another family's house.  It's my mom, dad and sister and they all have a place for their things so it's hard to tell them to move their stuff somewhere else to make room for ours.  It will be even worst when Oliver arrives.  We still have boxes to unpack and things to rearrange.  I'm not done setting up Oliver's "area" yet.  I really need to get on that though.  Penelope is sleeping on the second floor in the spare room and Josh and I are in the basement and that's where Oliver will be.  Probably until we move out. I'm very excited to buy a house! 

The best part about moving home is Penelope sleeping! Last time we were in Ohio, she was turning one and now she is 19 months.  She slept though the night for two weeks and when we went back to Missouri, she didn't sleep through the night anymore.  As soon as we got back to Ohio, she sleeps through the night.  I don't understand it. But love it.  She also went from 45-90 minute naps to 2-3 hour naps.  Finally! But I keep forgetting to give her lunch before her naps since she sleeps so long.  Now when she wakes up, it's like 2 or 3 pm and I'm rushing to get her lunch because I figure she's starving. But I guess she doesn't need lunch at 1130 when she has breakfast at 930 or so.

Other than that, I've been setting up new bank account, finding a new OB, taking a tour of the hospital... yada yada yada.  We got to meet Rylan who is six months old now.  He was born about ten days after we left Ohio the last time.  He is Josh's middle sister's baby.  And just three days ago, Josh's oldest sister had a baby boy named Maverick.  It was so weird to hold a newborn again.  I can't believe how little (and light) they are.  It makes me so excited for Oliver to be here.  Seems like he's been cooking forever.  Today Josh's little sister is graduating high school and shortly after, heading to BMT for the Air Force.  Lots of big changes going on in the family.

Meeting cousin Rylan for the first time.

At cousin Nolan's birthday party. Grandpa Parrish in the back.

Off to church!

 

Meeting cousin Maverick

How far along? 36 weeks and 1 day
Maternity clothes? That's all I wear besides dresses 
Best moment this week: Getting to meet my new nephew Maverick
Miss Anything?  not having a bad back and hips.
Movement:  Yes, still kicking in there.
Food cravings: Wild Cherry Pepsi. Always.
Sleep: Awful. Can't get comfortable and can't get up.
Anything making you queasy or sick: not lately
Have you started to show yet: I would say so
Gender: boyyyyy
Labor Signs: Braxton hicks, especially if I stand or walk around too much.
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing Josh's band, but getting tight. I may return it soon
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy but stressed from moving and establishing ourselves in a new town
Looking forward to: Meeting Oliver and no longer being pregnant.

33 weeks and 5 years!

Today is our five year anniversary!  I decided to do a chalkboard this week since I have one on our 3rd anniversary. Each year, we take a picture together.  I don't have any printed out yet, but I plan to make some sort of a collage.  Eventually. After my computer crashed, I thought I lost the pictures from last year, but thankfully, they were on my old phone.  Even more motivation to print them off!

MAY 2, 2009

OUR WEDDING

 

Our honeymoon was a weekend trip up to Lake Erie.  We went to a drive-thru safari and The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. He had to fly back to Japan 13 days later. And I didn't see him again for two months.

 

FIRST ANNIVERSARY

 

The night before our anniversary, we went out to the bars all dressed up with our friends.  The day of our anniversary, we drove to a military beach resort.  It was actually some sort of spring festival, so we watched fireworks on the beach and watched a Japanese rock concert. The next day, we went to a butterfly sanctuary.

 

SECOND  ANNIVERSARY

We were in Missouri now and went out to dinner to celebrate two years together.

 

THIRD  ANNIVERSARY

Don't know what we did to celebrate, but I was 15 weeks pregnant with Penelope.

 

FORTH  ANNIVERSARY

I don't think we went out to dinner or anything.  All I remember is Penelope was sleeping and it was late, and I almost forgot to take pictures and Josh was being a good sport, even though he was tired and I had to take a million pictures.

 

 

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

 

I'm 33 weeks pregnant and Penelope and I leave for Ohio in just about a week.  Tonight, Penelope is going to our friend's house while we go out to dinner and watch a movie.  We are going to buy the second Hobbit movie and take it home to watch.  I don't think there is anything in the theater I'm very interested in and snuggling on the couch, kid free, is more fun.

 

32 weeks and 4 days

 

8 months pregnant.  Feels like a lot more. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm hoping it will go fast.  But I still don't want him to be early.  Josh won't be in Ohio with me until I'm a 37 weeks.  I also need to remember that I have less than two months of being a parent to one child and I should enjoy it and spend as much time as possible with Penelope (which I already do, since I'm a stay at home mom).  After Oliver gets here, it's going to be a while before I spend a lot of one-on-one time with her.  Kind of making me sad right now just thinking of it.  She has turned into such a snuggler lately, I love it. 

For Easter we went to Sunday service, which was strange to me because I double checked to make sure it started at 9:30 and we got there right at 9:30.  We saw 2 or 3 families walk in after us.  When we got there, the pastor was in the middle of his message and it lasted 45 minutes.  Then we sang a song or two and it was over.  All of the services I have been to, the message is near the end and between 20 and 30 minutes so I was really confused if we were late or not.  Plus, there is no nursery so Penelope was very bored and active.  After church, she got her Easter basket which was mainly toys and just a little chocolate.  I forgot to start my roast until about 2 or 3pm (and I don't like roast that much and Penelope doesn't at all) so Josh just took it to work with him that night and Penelope and I ate some sort of leftovers.  We were fine with it.  Since Josh and I have been married, we haven't done a lot for Easter. I usually just make a ham. Last year I had to work.  Once we are back home, I know we will be spending it with our families more.

We also tried out potty training last week.  But then I realized I had to put her in a diaper quite a lot because we had so many places to be.  I just had her in cotton training pants so she would realize when she went.  Sometimes she would whine after she did and other times she wouldn't.  She did use the potty once and Josh and I were both really excited, but she had no idea why.  After the third day, and she wasn't really tell me anything, I decided to take a break.  We have a two-day road trip coming up which I fully intend for her to wear a diaper the whole time so I was beginning to feel like it was a waste.  Plus, being very pregnant and having to run down the hallway to the bathroom with her, and bending down and cleaning up messes with bleach and chemicals didn't sound appeasing anymore. She's only 18 months old.  We've got lots of time.

 

Our 5 year anniversary is on Friday.  I still have no idea what to get him and time is really running out.  No time to order anything now without paying $20 for shipping.  Penelope is going to spend the evening at a friend's house while we stay home and have a Hobbit marathon.  Is it a marathon if there are only two movies?  The next day is our going away party.  Our friend is throwing it for us, but having it at our house so that way I can put Penelope to bed and don't have to leave early.  Should be a good time.  Then.... 5 days later, my mom is flying out here and staying for 2 days before her, Penelope and I drive back to Ohio. Josh will follow with the animals about 3 weeks later.  I hope that's all the longer it is.  I feel like I still have a millions things to do here before I leave then a million more after I get there.  But I'm still very excited. 

Bath time!

Watching The Lorax

 

How far along? 32 weeks and 4 day
Maternity clothes? That's all I wear besides dresses 
Best moment this week: Josh returning to day shift and being off of stupid nights.  I think all three of us are much much happier.
Miss Anything?  Not having a giant belly.  Not having my organs smooched and being short of breath
Movement:  Yes, still kicking in there.
Food cravings: Wild Cherry Pepsi. Always. Oh and chocolate.
Sleep: Can't sleep on my back or stomach and sleeping on my hips hurt.  The couch is most comfortable right now, honestly.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Greasy bacon
Have you started to show yet: I would say so
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing Josh's band
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Bitter sweet feelings about moving back home.  But I'm still looking forward to it.  Our going away party is this weekend and anniversary.

30 weeks and 1 day

 

30 weeks yesterday!  I don't think I've gotten any bigger lately.  At least I hope not.  I've felt the same size for about a month.  But the scale begs to differ...  We are going to a 3D ultrasound soon to see Oliver!  I'm pretty excited because it's been 10 or 11 weeks since our last ultrasound.  I'm an online shopaholic so I'm always buying new things for Oliver.  Recently in the mail we go monthly tie stickers for pictures, a Boppy cover and Tommee Tippee bottles.  Next shipment is a silicone bib and an Aden swaddler.  I keep thinking the only things I still need for him are towels and burp clothes.  I keep forgetting things like combs, pacifiers, lotion... I'm pretty stocked up on wipes and have about one package of diapers size newborn, 1 and 2.  I really think I have everything but I just feel like he is going to get here and I'll be sending Josh to the store because I totally spaced on something essential.  

The big news if that Josh is getting out of the Air Force and we are moving back to Ohio where both of our families are from!  Actually, most of our family is in the same town.  I will be leaving in 4 weeks!  My midwife told me the latest she wants me traveling (700 miles) is 34 weeks.  We are still going to make it a 2 day trip because Penelope hates long rides and I'm supposed to walk around every 2 hours to avoid clots.  My mom is flying into Kansas City and then us 3 girls will head back.  We are still unsure of Josh's final date here in Missouri but it might only be a few weeks before Oliver is born.  It will not be after thank goodness.  So I basically don't have a choice when to leave and neither does Josh.  He's going to close up everything here in Missouri while I get everything set up in Ohio.  We aren't going to buy a house until we both have jobs and know what our income will be.  We will be living with my parents for a while and thank goodness they have plenty of space for us to move in (I hope!) And I'll also have help learning how to parent two children.  After we get back from our family vacation to Carolina Beach in late July, Josh will be going to school for Engineering and find a job.  I'll look for a job too.  I will love that family is so close and able to babysit my kid-os.  I'm just not a big fan of daycare at a young age.  So, we still have a lot of unanswered questions and not 100% sure on some things, but we are both really excited!  I don't know who is more excited honestly.  Josh is excited to get out of the military.  I will feel like I'm on vacation being back in Ohio, since that is where we have spent our "vacations" for the last 5 years.  It will be great to be around our friends again and I am really excited to get a house in the country and have a chicken coop!

 

 

 

How far along? 30 weeks and 1 day
Maternity clothes? Yes! 
Best moment this week: I've just had a generally happy week.  
Miss Anything?  Not having a giant belly.  It's now hard to put on socks. And get out of bed.
Movement:  Yes, still kicking in there.
Food cravings: Wild Cherry Pepsi.  I would drink them all day if it didn't have caffeine.  I swear, I rarely drank pop before I was pregnant. 
Sleep: Still not great.  I've been able to sleep in a little on the weekends, thanks to Josh
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.
Have you started to show yet: I would say so
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing Josh's band
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Josh's sister is flying in tomorrow and will be here to visit for 5 days.  Also really looking forward to the ultrasound.

28 weeks and 3 days

 

This pregnancy has been going quickly for me and I can only hope the rest does too, because I'm not looking forward to 12 more weeks of pregnancy pains. Just hope it doesn't get worst the bigger he gets. 

My laptop crashed on me, so that's just great.  I need to take it somewhere to get it looked at.  I don't like using Josh's desktop.  I'm sure I would have had this post up a few days ago otherwise.  Plus, all those pictures, hopefully the hard drive is ok so I didn't lose them all.  That would just be awful.  I guess that's why people back things up.  Lesson learned.  

I feel like not much has happened since my last update.  My family is gone so it's just Penelope and me most of the day while Josh is sleeping.  My friend and I threw a baby shower for a fellow military wife.  The theme was jungle and the first shower I ever threw, so I had a lot of fun planning it.  The day of is always a little stressful though.  We used about 8 rolls of green crepe paper to make streamers/vines and hung them from the ceiling in my dining room.  We also filled 30 green balloons with helium and tied twine on them hoping it might look something like a tree.  It was fun and I think everyone had a good time. 

I've been staring at the baby monitor for about 10 minutes hoping Penelope will go back to sleep after her 30 minute nap, but it doesn't appear so.  Now she is starting to cry.  I was hoping to get more done during her nap than just this post.  Guess she gets two naps today. 

How far along? 28 weeks and 3 days
Maternity clothes? Yes.  I should have a shipment coming today =]  I got my belly button band in the mail, but man is it a two person job.  It was hard to figure out and I can't see under my belly, so Josh had to help me with getting it buttoned.  I don't think I'll wear it too often, but it is nice because it's long so it will cover my belly if a shirt won't
Best moment this week: My friend's baby shower
Miss Anything?  Not having a giant belly.  It's now hard to put on socks.
Movement:  Yep.  I think he is in the process of flipping, if he hasn't already. He will go crazy and move a lot for a few seconds, then be done for hours.
Food cravings: homemade cookies
Sleep:  Getting up in the morning is really painful. In the last few days, Penelope has been harder to get to sleep, but is sleeping longer. Last night she didn't get to bed until 10pm, but slept til 715 this morning and came to bed with me until 915.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? The rash is back!  I'm convinced now that it's pregnancy hormones so my ring is off and I've been wearing Josh's band for a few days now.  (He doesn't wear it because of work) I thought it was made out of the same material as mine, so I don't get it.  And I haven't used any hand sanitizer!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Eh
Looking forward to:Getting news on military stuff.  Can't say what it is, but it's very important and I have no idea when we will get the word on it.  I can't take much more waiting!

26 weeks and 4 days

 

At 26 weeks, Oliver can open his eyes and look around!  Not that there is much to see... He is also growing hair.  I didn't have any clever ideas for this week's chalkboard so I let Penelope do it and I was surprised how much fun she had with it.  I'll need to make her a chalkboard for her room.  I bought more chalk and can't wait to test out the new colors in a few weeks.  I think my board may need a fresh coat of paint, too.

What a busy last couple of weeks.  My sister came to visit and just on Saturday and my parents arrived two days ago.  My sister had such problems with her flight out of here that she ended up staying and extra 3 days.  We did do some fun things though, like going to an indoor inflatable play area place and a swimming pool.

We have spent the last week moving and will have our final inspection either tomorrow or the day after at our old house.  Moving three houses down was really a blessing.  We still loaded up the car, so we didn't have to carry everything box by box, but it made it so much easier.  We didn't need to rent a moving truck and actually didn't need our friends for help either.  I packed a lot of boxes and Josh and my sister did the heavy lifting.  Josh did rent a dolly for the washer and dryer though, then he just walked them down the street.  I really like our new house despite the fact that there is nowhere to put our trashcan in the kitchen and I lost 4-5 large cabinets and 2 small ones. Oliver's room is tiny, about half the size of Penelope's. I decided to use my old dresser for him and double it as a changing table. It's very large but will be easier than trying to get a crib, changing table and dresser in the room.  Any sort of rocking chair or glider is out of the question.  We most likely aren't going to paint at this house.  At our first house on this base, we lived there for two years and painted the living room/dining room, the front hallway and Penelope's room.  At the house we just left, we were there for one year and only painted Penelope's room.  (We have to paint everything back when we leave)  We want to get orders to another base so we don't know how long we will be in this house.  If I knew we'd be here for 3 more years, I'd cry, then I'd paint.  The military leaves a lot of unknowns. 

The house is wheelchair assessable so the hallways and bathrooms are bigger which is wonderful except that we are having a real probably with baby gates.  There are also no door knobs.  All the handles are the kind that you just have to push down to open.  And Penelope can open every door in the house.  We had to put a baby gate at the top of the basement stairs.  The only door she can't open is the front door.  I don't know if they make any sort of baby proofing for those kind of door handles.  Once in a while I'll hear her yelling and she's "trapped" in our closet with the lights off.  Luckily, she's not scared.  She's just asking for help because as soon as I open the door, she laughs and closes it again.  So we are almost done unpacking.  Just have curtains and picture frames to hang up along with a few diaper boxes of random things that I think we need but have nowhere to put. 

My parents will be here for about a week and we are planning a trip to Hobby Lobby since I have a gift card and want picture frames and fabric for Oliver's room.  We also plan to go to the zoo.  Josh doesn't like the zoo.  I think last time spoiled it for him because it was raining almost the whole time, was super crowded and Penelope was a little too young to enjoy it.  So Josh is happy that we are going with my parents and I think Penelope will enjoy it a lot more because last time she was about 9 months old and will be 17 this time around. 



How far along? 26 weeks and 4 days
Maternity clothes? Yes.  I ordered one of those "belly button bands" last week so I could still wear my regular jeans even though I can't button them anymore but it's not here yet.  Last night we decided to go out to dinner last minute but all of my maternity jeans were in the dryer.  Josh told me to try on some of my regular jeans and see how far off the button was.  I decided to put on my size 5 skinny, jegging jeans.  Probably not the best choice.  Couldn't button them, obviously.  Josh then cut up a pair of his old jeans to make me an extender.  Now this wouldn't have worked if my shirt wasn't as long as it was.  But it was sweet and it worked.
Best moment this week: Visits from my sister and parents
Miss Anything?  Being able to walk and sleep without pain
Movement: He is still moving.  Mostly in the morning and at night.  
Food cravings: homemade cookies
Sleep: Sleeping on my side hurts my hips.  But I can't sleep on my back or stomach.  Getting up in the morning is really painful.
Anything making you queasy or sick: I was very sick twice last week, but I have no idea what brought it on.
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: I'll be in my third trimester next week!  Getting very excited to meet him and have a newborn again.  I guess I have Penelope to thank for keeping me on an infant sleep schedule.  I also can't wait to be back to a normal size.