The Birth Story

Hey!

Look at me posting again! : )

So my wonderful husband took care of the basics, but for those who have known me through a couple of babies (especially those who are far enough away to get everything by phone or email), you know how I am about birth stories. And for those who know me at all, you know how long-winded I am. Especially about my babies! lol So I've done this two ways; for those who want the really lengthy, all the details birth story, check Here.
If you don’t have an extra 6 1/2hrs, to read, here is the reader’s digest version. ; )

We had known for a week that Friday *could* be the day for Charlotte’s arrival, since my dr had offered an induction for that day if I still hadn’t gone on my own. Believe it or not, I was still debating on Thursday night if I really wanted to evict her or if I wanted to just wait it out. By the time I rolled myself out of bed on Friday morning and was contracting (although just mildly) on my own, I figured what the heck-let’s do this! The hospital was a bit occupied on Friday morning, so we had to wait a bit, and didn’t go in until 10am, which was fine as it gave us time to actually do the maternity portraits that we’d kept putting off. Gotta love last minute! My contractions were fairly regular when we arrived, and I was a “stretchy 3”/not quite 4cms dilated, so I had a good start to things and was fine with pitocin being started at that point. My dr had also asked that my water be broken to jump start things, but baby was pretty high and the resident was worried about a cord prolapse so we decided to hold off on that a bit.

Things didn’t change much for the next couple of hours, even with the pitocin being upped regularly. Contractions still stayed mild, and I still stayed about 4cms. At about 12:30, the resident was hoping to break my water, but she still felt baby was too floaty, so she called my dr to see if he wanted to come and do it himself or just wait. He was a bit delayed, but he came on over and did it himself, so at 1:52pm, there was officially no turning back! It took a little while still, but things finally kicked into gear and contractions started picking up. Aaron had been taking a nap for a bit after my water was broken, but by a little after 2:30 I woke him up knowing that I was going to need his help working through things before too long. I got up to use the bathroom (love IV fluids), and I guess my breathing through a contraction on the way there was enough to start a little spiral of events. Aaron-being the ever-vigilant and attentive husband that he is during labor-called the nurse in for a check thinking that we must be making some progress by the way I was walking. We waited things out a bit longer, but by 3 they wanted to check on my again. I was still only 4-5cms, but baby was ridiculously low. I was warned to call them in quickly if I felt any change at all in pressure. About 15 minutes later, Aaron was on back duty-kneading right into my tail bone where I tend to get all of my pressure during labor. I’m sure much to his relief this time around I preferred the heel of his hands in my back as opposed to his fist. Typically the poor guy feels like his hand is broken by the end of things-hopefully it wasn’t quite so bad this time! I was having to start relaxing through my contractions at this point, so we checked things again-only 6-7cms, but a panicky request to call the dr came with that check. I preferred to be up on my feet, so I got back up, but after just a few contractions could feel baby moving down more and started feeling a bit pushy so everyone sprang into action. I remember glancing at the clock as I was climbing up onto the bed-it was 3:30.

My dr did make it in time-which was nice as the resident whose shift had just started was a newbie and had never delivered before (and was a bit anxious!), so it was good to have his years of experience there to make sure everything was going well. He did a great job guiding her through the whole process without the whole thing feeling like a teaching moment.

My contractions stopped just before delivery, which gave me a nice break before it was time to actually deliver. I was glad for the break as I remember it being a nice change to just relax and catch my breath last time. Once things kicked back in there was no slowing down-my body began to push and with one push and kind of a half push after that her head was out, and it was immediately followed by one more little push that sent the rest of her flying out! Big sigh, complete relief, instant euphoria! The official time of arrival was 3:40pm, just about 5 hrs after I “officially” began. Not too bad! And definitely better than the last few times! Our little Charli came out just perfect, with apgar scores of 9 at one minute, and 10 and 5 minutes. She was bright-eyed and alert, and surprisingly cute for a “just popped out” baby! : ) She fits right in with the rest of them weighing in at 6lbs 9oz, but a little on the short size at 18 inches.

The delivery was wonderful, the baby is perfect, I have felt great-we couldn’t ask for more!

Charlotte Olwen

(This is Aaron posting for Catey)

Today our little Charli came into the world. Catey and I knew today may be the day for over a week because at her last appointment, she asked the Dr. what day she could be induced and he said the 24th. The 24th in Utah is a huge state holiday, it is the day when the Mormon pioneers came into the valley to settle....huge fireworks, everyone (local) has the day off, its like having two 4th of July celebrations in one month....but I digress.

I think kids should have their own day, kids born on holidays get the shaft in my book. So I suggested the day after (and just for the record, I had forgotten that was the day I picked for the baby pool. I had picked it almost two weeks before her Dr. suggested it!)

She was already having contractions this morning when we went in and by the time we got there, they hooked her up to the pitocin, a few hours later broke the water and Charli was born less than an hour later.

She came in at 6lbs 9oz and was 18 inces long, pink, perfect and happy to be here....really, she does not cry much.....yet.

If I were her, I would start the crying right after I got home and met the siblings. The kids came by and were able to get a few min with her and mom.

Catey and baby are great. I thought I would post some pics for everyone to see.

Everyone will be home on Sat.

Yes, I'm still here

and yes, still very much rotundly pregnant. But hey, the Chinese food last night was wonderful! As was the company, the hanging out, and the fireworks. For those who aren't in the lovely state of Ut, yesterday was our state holiday, so of course the folks did a get-together and the bbq (although I was selfish pregnant woman and ate Chinese instead of a burger). Good times. Even better times watching my sister go stir-crazy that I'm still pregnant. Hey-it got me a foot massage!

Anyway-just thought I'd throw out the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. For those who don't live in the Happy Valley Culture, it probably won't make as much sense, but hopefully will still be at least mildly amusing. For those who live here (in state) you will, I'm sure, greatly appreciate it. Too many people do not appreciate satire. This is one of the best forms I've seen in a while. I read about this blog www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com this morning, and though I've only read the most current posts, I think I've found my new addiction. Especially in light of the recent conversation in my immediate neighborhood about appreciating simplicity and being good enough just the way you are, and not feeling like you can just be yourself, to me this took aim right at the very core. (btw-I have an awesome book to pass on to you ladies when I finish it!) Don't be offended, it's all in good fun, it's not meant to be mean. Just a humorous look at a perceived lifestyle. And I do have to say that the Pioneer post really cracked me up. You know you've met people just like that! ; )

As for any exciting news on the home front, we'll keep you posted, I promise!

39wks

I really didn't think I'd have a belly at 39wks to take a picture of. Shows how much I know, huh?

Desperate times call for desperate measures

If you're squeamish or easily offended, don't read this. It's all g-rated, but really, when you're this pregnant, are you even considered a g-rated person anymore?

I think I actually qualify as "ridiculously pregnant" now. If in no other way besides mentally. If nothing else, maybe this will at least give you a laugh today. Or make you think I'm crazy. But that's not much of a secret anyway!

Ok, so I'll admit I've tried many of the old wives tales to get things going. Especially in the last week. I've tried many of them in the past, some of them have helped, some not, some have helped in one pregnancy and not in another. I know the odds are slim, but hey, worth a shot, right? So since I've not been this pregnant in, oh....10 yrs since my first pregnancy, in the past week I've resorted to trying many. MANY. It kind of started out as a game. Now, it's not funny anymore! In the past 48hrs I've taken a nose dive from happy, sweet, smiley, cute preggo mama to don't tick me off-really, you've been warned, don't push it. I'm still feeling probably better than I should at this point, but now I'm getting mean. I don't like being mean. but at least I can still put on a happy face when the phone rings or someone is at the door. I have nearly perfected the art of faking it.

So, what have I tried? I have:
*Eaten a pineapple
*Spent a ridiculous amount of time walking-including hilly neighborhoods
*Been, um, well, if you've been to this point in pregnancy you know what I'm talking about (keeping things rate G)
*Had a pedicure
*Used pressure points (which will cause some ctx)
*Run stairs
*Used the elliptical
*Been using EPO for weeks (which thankfully has given my cervix a good start!)
*Mowed the lawn-and may do it again today
*Gone hiking (yes, really hiking, like in the mountains)
*attempted a membrane stripping (so does really invasive exam count? lol)
*Driven the dirt road home (only twice though-not willing to risk the tires again. But the kids love that ride in the van!)
*and then there was yesterday.....

I caved and did castor oil. (yes I've done all the research, and imo the meconium link is totally bunk, so no I don't worry about that) I have done it in the past, and it hadn't worked, but I figured that my cervix is more effaced and dilated that it ever was when I tried it before, so maybe, just *maybe* it would make a difference this time. nope. (but hey-I feel GREAT today! lol) A couple of hours of some fairly regular contractions that started puttering out by the early evening. So what do I do when they start to slow down? Get active of course! Did I take a nice walk around the block? No. I went and played soccer. Yes, at 39wks pregnant with my 7th child, I went and played soccer. Granted it was mostly kids (only 3 adults), but honestly, it wasn't stand around and kick the ball back in the game when it came my way, I actually played. Like got out there and played played. I got a little over-zealous at one point and the ball went over the neighbor's fence. He got a good laugh when he came over to see what was really going on! And as a result (drumroll please).....my contractions actually STOPPED. For real? They stopped. Nothing. One little ligament pain for a minute or so and that's it. Oh, I am walking with a hint of a waddle today if I don't consciously avoid it, but that's all. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. I did sleep really well last night though. I guess that's good. I actually debated ordering a $3 amniohook or amnicot yesterday and paying the $30 to ship it overnight. Allright, I'm kind of kidding-I'm not actually crazy enough to do that on my own (although if she were engaged and my bag was bulging, I just might....). I know, I know, I'm not even to my due date yet. But at this point, I would be willing to put money on the fact that my body just doesn't start and finish labor on it's own. period. Pitocin was created for people like me that can't give birth without a jump start either at the beginning or in the middle of the whole process. Oh well. The cervix of steel is a good thing b/c I never have to worry about preterm labor, right?

All I can think of is the Friends episode when Rachel is overdue and just randomly looks down at her belly and yells "get out, get out, GET OUT!"

But hey-I'm still wearing my ring! (and not because it's stuck!) I think though, that the heels have now been put away until baby is out. Dang-I bought some really cute ones last week too. But I did get to wear them on Sunday. So from here on out, flip flops it is I guess.

Tonight: Chinese food. But only because I've been craving it for a week and dang it-I deserve it! This kid is never coming out. But at least it makes for a good story.

Jeff J. Snider

Guess what? your snowball is in my fridge. It will be finished on Thursday. HA! Aside from baking bread, "Snider's snowball" was the last thing on my to-do list. It is now crossed off! If it didn't take 5 days to finish, I'd drop it off for you today! I know, I'm only like 6 months late, but hey, better late than never right?

Well, I lose. And I'm sending my parents out of town.

Oh well. My guess passed 4 hours ago. I guess I could still go today, but I highly doubt it. I'm gonna have to take my ring off today though-as my sister would say, "that bugs". But hey, it's the longest I've been able to wear it during pregnancy, and I never would have guessed that that would happen in the middle of the summer, so yay fingers for not swelling at all earlier! :)

As far as sending the folks out of town-they have this little pattern. My parents like to travel. I think it is wonderful! I hope to have the same opportunities some day as they have seen some amazing things in amazing places. As they do a fair amount of traveling, often their excursions are booked WAY far in advance. The funny thing is that typically when I announce a pregnancy I hear a short time later..."oh, we've got a trip planned around then!" Which when you consider the frequency of my prenancies and the frequency of their traveling, really isn't all that surprising! ;) They have been kind enough to reschedule some of the smaller ones as the time grows closer so that they can make sure they're around when baby arrives. Awww....how wonderful! When it comes to the bigger ones, like a trip to China/Hong Kong/Bali that was 10yrs ago, we just hope that baby cooperates and comes before the trip date. Thankfully with Malia my water broke and she was here for almost two weeks before they left. Had I gone the full 2wks over before my dr would induce that time, they would have been climbing on a plane to journey to the other side of the world for 2 wks just a couple of days after she was born. Point being: They had talked about taking a small trip this month. It would have been closer to the 4th, so two weeks ago (which was a bit early for me still), but still, can we reschedule it for now? It virtually guarantees that my body will actually do something to get this kid out!

Can you tell yesterday was a long day?

But hey-I even have castor oil in the house and I'm not doing that, so I haven't hit the end of the world point yet.

Today there is nothing on the list of things to do. Well, except laundry and dishes and that normal daily grind.

I think we will play "who can give the best foot rub" all day. And maybe just watch movies. I do really hope that it will rain-I would love to open all the windows and just let the rain smell flood the house.

Still here! 38wks

Well, still hanging around waiting, thankfully not fielding phone calls of "have you had the baby yet??" ;) It's only taken 6 children for people to figure out that we actually WILL call them when baby arrives! Progress!

The good news is that there is a little bit of progress-I'm not quite 3cms dilated, and about 70% effaced. Dr tried to strip membranes for me yesterday, but of course baby was sitting too high for him to be able to do it. Story of every end of pregnancy appointment for me! But since yesterday I've had a nice increase in pressure, along with a few other gross symptoms that I'll spare you the details of-but that indicate that things are moving in the right direction instead of just going no where. Yay!

I was treated to a pedicure yesterday that was to die for (thanks Ashley, Jen and Amy!!). All you local ladies-you NEED to go see Shamie-she is the best! Absolutely wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

The good news is that I don't feel like dying, I'm not swollen up like a balloon, and I'm actually still (kind of) sleeping at night. I figured this would be the worst last month of pregnancy I'd ever experienced-since it's around 100 degrees outside-but it really hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected. What a blessing! I was feeling good enough yesterday that Aaron and I walked laps through the Avenues while waiting for my dr to go do a delivery before my appt. I was wearing cute shoes though so I ended up with a little blister, but it actually felt really nice to just go walk the hills up there. If I didn't live so far away I'd do it again today! I think this is the first time since having had Taylor early that I don't feel the need to look at my belly and scream "Get out!! NOW!" past the 38wk mark. It's odd to not feel the anxiousness that I usually get by this point....I'm not so much the most patient person around, but feel oddly at ease with the fact that this will likely be my longest pregnancy since my first. Two more days and I'm there. Hmmm.....Hopefully that is just an indicator that I've finally grown up more and not that this child is consigned to remaining in me until August!

For those who haven't jumped in the baby pool yet and still want to venture a guess, scroll down a couple of posts for the info and the link. My personal opinion is that Tiffany should get a prize for guessing that I'd go earliest! Thanks Tiffany! :)

Today we finish up Taylor's extended treasure hunt, then we'll be heading up in the canyons for a picnic dinner. Maybe I'll do a little hiking while we're there..... and I guess I should put together a bag for the hospital at some point, and decide what this baby will wear home, and finish her quilt....... I really haven't been procrastinating, I'm just chalking it up to a self-conscious decision to leave something for me to do these last few days while I'm waiting.....

What's in a Name?

Drumroll please.......


The word is out! I know of few of you who read here have already heard, but for the rest of the world-we've finally picked a name! At least we'd better be set since now it's up on the wall!

And the winner is......



There you have it folks. "Seven" will officially be Charlotte Olwen. (Um, I think. Never really totally 100% settled that whole middle name thing-Aaron wanted Anne, but I think he is still ok with Olwen?? I hope so?) At any rate, she will be Charlotte, or once she arrives and wraps herself around Daddy's little finger, she'll be his little Charli. Yes, I know, he's totally not into nicknames for the kids, but this little one must really be lucky after all. ;)

Now she has a room all ready and waiting with the name on the wall beckoning to her.....just waiting on HER now! Any day now.......except not Saturday.....and Friday's not optimal either.....but other than that, ANY day now! :P

The Nursery

Yes, I'm finally putting up pictures! Hooray!

There are still a few little finishing touches I'd like to put on it, but for now I think this is as close as it gets! :)

So here it is-the girly room!






And while I'm posting pics, a couple of the absolutely beautiful things that were given to me at my shower last weekend. (I have the sweetest friends ever!) I'm so impressed with these ladies!! I'll post some pics of the shower and us making fools of ourselves hopefully tomorrow (woo-hoo! Watch for those! lol), but thought I'd snap these two shots since I had pulled these out to show my sister and a friend who were here today.


Are you not just ridiculously impressed?! So cute! Thanks again girls!

There you have it-we are appropriately girlified! lol My older girls are just loving it-everyone who stops by just has to go see Charlotte's room. (so weird to refer to her with a name!) And don't worry, the displaced boys that moved downstairs got a room done up just for them-I'll post some pics of that hopefully tomorrow too.

The Baby Game

Allrighty folks. Time to do something entertaining to pass these last few (hopefully) days along. Place your bets!

Ok-no betting really, but anyone who wants to venture their guess as to the arrival date and size of this little munchkin jump on in. If anyone happens to get it ALL correct, you'll have big bragging rights, and we'll have to come up with some fun prize or something.

Go to http://www.expectnet.com, (sorry-still can't figure out why link won't work from this computer) and enter the game name LuckySeven. The L and S must be uppercase and it's all one word. The box for the game name is up on the left hand corner of the page. Enter your guess and we'll see how close you are! Everybody gets a freebie with the gender guess, unless somehow you've missed the fact that we are having a girl this time around. But that's the only given. I'm hoping NOT to induce, depending on how patient I end up being in the next two weeks, so for now there is no date planned for her arrival. I will say that our kids have been between 14 days early and 4 days late. helpful, huh? :P They've all actually been 10-14 days early except our first stubborn little child. They have been between 6lbs 5 oz and 7lbs 5 oz, so take that for what it's worth.

Weekend Warrior

We had a crazy weekend-filled with all sorts of great things, but as I'm gathering pictures from the lovely "restful" weekend we had, I thought I'd start by sharing my sweet, gentle, docile, quiet little Dallin's weekend with you. For those of you who also keep up with Aaron's blog, you know the general story. but Mom has the pictures! :)



First-the infamous teeter-bob. What the heck is a teeter-bob anyway? Don't know. My boring self has always just known it as a teeter totter or see-saw, but whatever. We have some friends who are neighbors of my parents who were getting rid of some outside play things. Before they just donated them to a thrift shop they checked with us to see if we were interested. Yay! They have become the obsession of the kids for the past week and provided many hours of entertainment already. So, the story begins with this:
Now you have a visual of the beginning of Dallin's evening. No-that's not Dallin, and yes, that is two grown men. I said grown, not mature. But look at those grins. Awwwww!

So that is the infamous "teeter-bob". The great thing is that you can pack like 6 kids onto it at once and keep everyone entertained! The horrible thing is that like 6 (or more) wild little hellions typically with entirely too much sugar in their systems can pack themselves onto it after running themselves into a frothing frenzy, and have an amazingly crazy time. We put together a little impromptu bbq with a couple of neighbors on Saturday night and ended up with 15 little ones running around. I wish I had a group photo. We had a 9, 8 and 7yr old, everyone else was 6 down to 1. Fun times! (no really-it was!) As anyone knows, you put that many little ones together, someone is bound to get hurt. Especially when 6 of those 15 belong to Aaron and I. Well, Saturday night was Dallin's turn.

Dinner was great, all the kids ate, everyone was playing nicely and having a wonderful time. As kids were jumping on and off the "bob", I was so impressed that they were doing such a great job taking turns! Yay kids! Hooray for sharing! This left us adults to chit-chat at a safe 10 or so feet away without having to intervene (except in the form of constantly asking Malia to go play since apparently she thinks she is one of the adults now and would regularly plunk herself in the midst of our conversations). All was well. Plenty loud, but well. Dallin was having a turn on the teeter totter, when as the sucker got rocking back and forth wildly he ended up sliding forward and smashing himself. When a guy gets knocked between the legs, it almost always evokes a snicker. Even from other "empathetic" guys. When it happens to a three year old it's just sad. All right, still a little funny, but sad. Then to add insult to injury, as he was scooting backward off the teeter totter, the end flipped up and smacked him in the mouth. Nothing like limping over to mom in all your glory for a little comfort and a cold cloth to stop your lip from dripping blood. Poor kid. But as is typical with him, a good 2 minutes of "you'll be ok", and he was back in the middle of the fray.

Play continues on, and as happens with boys, turned a little bit more rough. Between the pushing and chasing and rough-housing, Dallin ended up knocked off or pulled off the teeter totter. But didn't land on his feet. No, his feet were under the thing. With most of his legs. Unbeknownst to the two boys still rocking wildly on the thing. You can see in the picture that it has a U-shaped bottom, so each time they rocked one direction, it went right over Dallin's legs. My first reaction was "Dallin-hop up! You're going to get hurt!" I don't know if it was worry for getting hit in the face (or elsewhere) again, or if it was just too hard for him to roll himself out of the way, but he ended up rolled over a few times. As I ran over to pull him out I could see that it was rocking right over the middle of his shins. My mind flashed to having a 3yr old in double casts with 9-month pregnant me trying to get through packing him around for the next little while. Lovely visual. Thankfully since they were on grass instead of a hard surface, his legs compressed enough into the ground that all he ended up with is a couple of really bruised shins. Thank Heavens! Phew! Real disaster averted. Teeter-bob removed from the scene. Sorry Bob-enough offenses for the night.

Since it was getting late and the kids were all starting to break down anyway, we broke it up for the evening. Friends dispersed to their homes and we shuffled ours into the house for the night. Since Dallin was still wimpering and was appropriately dirty for the end of a Saturday, we threw him and Lincoln into the shower to clean off while we put the rest of the mess away. Everything was going well, everyone getting ready for bed, and the night seemed to be wrapping up nicely. We made some plans to get together with some friends for games once the kids were in bed, and were looking forward to it.

Enter the next scream.

Ah-nothing so fun as to run to the bathroom to field a scream that ends with throwing open the shower curtain and seeing a scene that could be right out of Psycho. Blood dripping off the walls, down the tub, and all over your naked 3 yr old. Great. In the attempt to stay calm and not frighten the kid anymore, we gingerly rinsed him off, and got the boys out of the tub and started getting them ready for bed. Dallin obviously knew he was bleeding, so we found the dark washcloth that we could plaster on his chin so that he didn't see the blood, until he was calmed down to allow us a better look. I snuck a peek as I was putting the washcloth against his chin, and it was not good. In hopes of not setting Aaron into a panic (he's not the type to panic, but gets nervous when things happen to the kids, and seemed just a tad on edge after Dallin's evening), when he asked if it needed stitches I just kind of casually answered, "Well, maybe. Take a look in a minute after Lincoln's all dressed." Maybe I should of just answered "heck ya! Take a look at this puppy!" Dallin lay on the bathroom floor wrapped in his towel for a few minutes while Aaron went to get a flashlight for a good look at the chin. Not realizing that any extra light would be totally unnecessary. But hey-it distracted them both for a few minutes! : ) One click glance from dad-followed by a big eye-roll and and "oh geez"-and they were off.

So the evening wrapped up with Aaron taking Dallin in for stitches. And of course this all happened 20 minutes after the clinic closest to our house closed, so he got to drive the extra 10min in to the other one. Thankfully it is open later and saved a hospital visit! I figured the grand finale for the evening could be Aaron calling to let me know that they made it to the clinic and my water breaking right as they started stitching Dallin. No such luck though! ;) By the time they made it home around 11:00, Dallin was wired as can be, loving his new "Lion whiskers" and boasting that he would have a scar like Indiana Jones. Ok. Whatever floats your boat kiddo! Plus he was thrilled with the cowboy bandaid that was stuck on his toe which had been stubbed earlier in the week and began bleeding yet again as he was at the clinic. As luck would have it, by 11pm, one stitch was already out, and another loosening up. Which required a repeat trip to the clinic Sunday morning to get restitched and tightened up. He was happy to go back out with Dad, and kept the staff at the clinic completely entertained for the second day in a row. Hopefully we won't have to go back until we get them removed at the end of the week!


As you can see, he was obviously torn up about the evening.

This morning you'd never know that anything went wrong with him this weekend if it weren't for the purple shins, scabbed up lip, and bandaged chin.

Never a dull moment here.

37wks

Getting closer! But thankfully not much bigger? She seems to be sitting a bit lower lately, which is nice because it doesn't round me out quite as much! Not to mention breathing is less of a challenge. ;)

The big ol' belly at 37:


And this one cracks me up b/c if you look at my sides, you can see that she is totally sitting on the left!

Irony

I hate doing laundry. Actually, I take that back. I really don't mind doing my laundry b/c I have a rockin' washer and dryer. It's the folding/putting away part that I stink at. For some reason if it is something other than towels, I just HATE folding it.

Thus my anticipation for the dryer to finish yesterday to *let* me fold the clothes was nearly unbelievable. Why is it suddenly fun to fold laundry? Because it's TINY! :) And once my girls saw what was going on, they could not wait to sort and help fold the laundry. Amazing what a difference it made!

(nursery pics to come once I get a few things up on the walls. and I just noticed my Reese's stashed up there on the shelf! lol I wondered where I had put that....)

So hey, even if everyone else's clothes end up stashed behind the couch and unfolded for days, at least you will always find clean folded towels neatly put away, along with a well organized baby wardrobe!

Oh, and my apologies to my husband who probably got excited and thought the post said "Iron-ing". No, no such luck. Still didn't do that either.

It's official-I'm pregnant.

I know, I know, we've all known this for many months. But you see, there is a different level of pregnant. It's the level that happens so that women will WANT to go through labor. You've loved on the little one inside you, but you reach a point where you want it O-U-T. You reach this point so that labor doesn't seem so bad. You don't care what happens, or how much it hurts, just as long as it ends soon! Thankfully, I'm not QUITE there yet, but it is coming. quickly.

I hit this point-typically about 2wks before I deliver-where I turn that corner to the next week in the big countdown and run face first into a brick wall. Well, pick me up and call me a pug. Over the last 3 days I have gone from feeling 6 months pregnant, to feeling 10 months pregnant. The ginormous growth spurt I've had over the past week did not help. Yes I do realize that I am incredibly lucky to feel as good as I do for as long as I do (except that fourth pregnancy...someone always has to be the exception!). I realize that at 35 weeks most women don't feel like rolling out of bed, let alone mowing the lawn. I am ridiculously grateful to feel good this far into pregnancy, especially with 6 other kids to care for! Thank goodness I'm not down for the count yet-I still have too much to do! I hate feeling myself slow down though...I don't like just sitting around, especially when I feel like I have so much to do. Although I will readily admit that at this point, if I can get everything done in the next week, I will gladly just do as much sitting and relaxing as possible from that point on! :)

The good news is that this means the end is near! The bad news is that everyone around me will have to put up with super-b*tchiness, irritability, short-temperedness (is that a word?), lack of energy, and probably some amount of complaining for at least 2 more weeks. And truthfully, despite starting to feel crappy, I already know that I will miss this. I will miss watching my belly jumping around, feeling this little girl wiggle and squirm. I will miss her frequent hiccups. I will miss the anticipation of when she will get here, what she will look like, how big she will be, and the kids' reaction to another little addition. I will miss loving my waist measurement-even if it is well over what it "should" be! ;)

But hey, the other good news is that the second coat of paint goes on the nursery in 2hrs, and then when it's dry I can start putting it together! Yay! That means that I can go dig through the storage room for the box of baby girl clothes and get washing too-and this child will have something clean to wear! lol

Oh, and good news installment #3-if this kid comes at 38wks like most of the others-that is just two weeks from today!!!