New photos

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!! I can't believe it, but our little monkey is 4 years old today! Due to illness, we had to postpone last week's birthday party until tomorrow. Needless to say, I've been busy and still have things to do, so I'll update with more later!

I haven't had much time to do updates lately, I'm hoping to catch up soon. I took the boys to get their pictures made yesterday and here's a couple that were done. I'll update with more soon.

9 weeks pregnant!!

Today I am 9 weeks pregnant and it still seems a little bit of a shock to me (at times). I'm not out of the first trimester yet and I'm definitely not "out of the woods." There are risks at every point of pregnancy, but each day that goes by without incident is a day closer to us being able to hold our new baby. Though I'm not officially 1/4 of the way through the pregnancy, I'm close. And those that know me know that I've never made it to a due date and don't plan to with this one. As I told you in my last post, due to early and fast labor, induction has already been discussed. I'm still considering and weighing my options with that and I have plenty of time to decide, but I don't see us making it to April 10th before this baby is born. Most likely, I'm within a couple of days of being 1/4 of the way through my actual pregnant time. That's very exciting to think about!! That means I'll be close to half-way through by Halloween and well over half-way by Thanksgiving and Christmas, both of which are right around the corner when you think about it.

I haven't had time to copy and paste the pregnancy info that I promised, but I will try to get to it in a few days. I've had a very busy week getting ready for guests and a birthday party we have coming up. My mother-in-law and her friend, Jack, are arriving on Thursday morning (less than 36 hours!) and we've been doing the usual prepping for that. I've also been painting and trying to re-organize a few things in the house. I hate clutter, but I seem to be the queen of it!! So, I'm trying to at least reduce the amount of clutter and make it easier to pick up quickly and put things where they belong. It's a little early for nesting, but these last few weeks have really had me inspired to make some changes around this house. Of course, those feelings were there before I ever got pregnant, I just hadn't had time to work on them as much. I've done a few things along the way, but summertime is not the time for me to start on projects. We just stay way too busy. But, once school starts again and we're on a routine and I have days that I can spend at home, it's easier to work on getting things done. I just haven't done nearly as much as I need to! Speaking of which, it's time to get back to work. I have guests arriving in about 36 hours and I haven't made their bed yet!

My first OB appointment

We had our first check-up with our OB on Thursday and things went well. Because of Tuesday's scare, we were able to get another ultrasound. I can't believe I've had five ultrasounds already! I'm posting some really cute pictures of the baby. It's amazing how quickly she grows! I'm also going to start doing weekly updates on what's going on with the baby's development. I'm not sure which site I'll use, probably some info from a few different sites. But, with this info you'll be able to keep up with how much the baby is growing and developing. I'll be 9 weeks on Tuesday, so I may start doing it then. I'll probably post some info from the previous weeks so that you'll see what has already happened, too.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say earlier that we also talked to the doctor about some plans for delivery time. Because of my history of short, fast labor (for those who don't remember, Michael was born 1 hour and 23 minutes after my first contraction and only 8 minutes after we walked in the L&D door at the hospital - the doctor wasn't even there yet!) she said that we could induce at 39 weeks to make sure that we're at the hospital. I've never been a fan of induction for convenience or just because the mom or doctor said it was time, assuming you're not way overdue. However, I'm not a fan of delivering our child in the car on the way to the hospital, either! That almost happened with Michael, no joke. I know Adam isn't fond of that idea, either, since he would actually be catching the baby!! So, she gave us the option of inducing at 39 weeks. The problem with that is that neither of my last two pregnancies made it to 39 weeks. I know that this is a different pregnancy and times can vary, but most people don't go longer with baby number 4 than they did with number 2 or 3. But, the American College of Obstetrics (something like that) strongly advises against voluntary induction prior to 39 weeks because there is a slight risk that the baby's lungs may not be developed. So, we can choose to do an amniocentesis at 37 weeks to determine lung maturity and then induce after that point, if we want. Of course, we have a few weeks to think about this and research and weigh all our options, so we don't have to decide right now. But, it was discussed. At 37 weeks, an amniocentesis does not pose the risks that it does at 16 weeks when it is used for diagnostic purposes. At that point, there is a risk of miscarriage. At 37 weeks, there's no real threat except that instead of a miscarriage, it can cause labor. You still have the risk that the baby's lungs may not be completely developed, but at 37 weeks most babies are fine to be delivered. I plan to do my own researching on this topic and try to determine what is best for us and the baby. I just wanted to relay this. I did expect to discuss this at some point because my labor did go so fast with Michael, I just didn't expect it to come up at our 8-week check-up!