A short baby update

I went to the doctor this morning and found out that I’m 2-3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Yay! He said that the baby could come any time or he could wait a few more weeks. Either is fine with me and it’s nice to hear that if he comes now he’ll be fine. I know I can’t plan these things but if it were up to me I’d have him somewhere between March 11th and March 18th (spring break). But he’ll come when he’s ready I suppose!

We have a few names that we like but we’re really leaning toward one in particular. We don’t really want to tell people (and we don’t even say it out loud very often which I think is funny) because we don’t want people to start calling him that in case we change our minds once he’s born. Here are a few that we like in alphabetical order. Feel free to comment on which one(s) you like but please don’t tell me what you DON’T like. :)

His middle name will be Tanner.
Dean
Ian
James
Joel
Noah
Wesley

Sometimes I come across a name that I like but if I don’t write it down right away I forget so this list is likely to change still. There’s one on there that I keep taking on and off because I can’t decide. :)

Here I am at 36 weeks!

 

A Random Post

• Stickers. I got Brennen a big sheet of stickers from the dollar store a couple months ago and I got them out today. He LOVED them and was happily occupied for an hour.
• Talking. Brennen talks a TON and identifies things that I had no idea he knew (ice cube tray, for example). When he yells “hand hand!” at us and tries to pull us around, instead of just going with him we’re asking him to tell us what he wants and he does!
• Little helper. Brennen suddenly likes helping me with chores. It’s actually way easier to get things done this way because he’s not upset that I’m not paying attention to him because he’s involved, too. He loves putting clothes from the washer into the dryer and sometimes asks if we can do laundry. :) He also helps unload the dishwasher and loves putting things in the trash and putting stuff where it goes.
• Resolutions. I don’t usually make new years resolutions but this year I kind of did. They were: positive, patient and practice. I figured the “P” thing would help me remember. :) I’ve been making a real effort to be more positive and patient and it has really been working and I’m a much happier person! Matt got me some pretty tough piano books for Christmas so I wanted to practice more and I’ve learned a lot of new pieces and I LOVE being able to play something that was difficult to learn.
• Nesting. The bassinet is already in our room, the clothes are washed and in drawers, I have a box of newborn diapers, I’ve washed all the bottles, and the next steps are: buying a swing, putting the car seat in the car, and cleaning everything. :) Here’s a picture of the car seat cover/tent thingy (don’t know the real name…) that I made last week with lots of help from my friend Sarah. I love it! :)
  
• Excited. I have just under 6 weeks until my due date and I am pumped! I’m not looking forward to that whole natural childbirth thing that I want to do again (hopefully without pitocin this time!) but I’m really excited to meet this baby! For the first half of my pregnancy I couldn’t imagine having two kids but now I really can and it seems like this new little guy was always meant to be in our family, even though we haven’t officially met him yet. I think a lot about what he’ll be like, though, because I can’t imagine what a little boy who is NOT Brennen will be like. :) Brennen was a bit difficult for me when he was a baby and has always been wild and crazy but has the BEST personality. This little guy is super active and moves constantly I swear. But hopefully he won’t be quite as crazy as his big brother. :)
• Rotations. Matt gets to put in his requests for rotations this week! We’re excited but it will be a bummer having him gone so much. He’ll do nine 4-week rotations during the year with a few weeks on campus in between rotations and a few weeks of break. So in a month or so we’ll know for sure what his schedule will be next year!
• Pig. I am a total PIG lately! I eat so much all the time. I stayed at the same weight for about a month and a half then at my last appointment I’d gained 5 pounds in less than a week (that was less than a week after my hospital deal so I’m hoping that was mostly water weight from all the fluids they pumped into me but who knows!) and I’m predicting at my appointment today that I’ll have gained a ton more ha ha but I’m actually ok with it because I know what I need to do after the baby is born to lose weight. And I secretly (or not so secretly…) LOVE food so it’s nice that I don’t have to count calories right now. :) That being said, here I am at 34 weeks! (pardon the pink pajama pants… I wear them ALL the time these days. When I’m at home that is…)

My hospital stay

So Monday morning I woke up really sick but I went to work anyway thinking I could just tough it out. Well, I only lasted about a half hour before I had to leave.

I spent the day feeling miserable at home. I couldn’t keep anything down and I was having tons of contractions and pressure so I was feeling really worried about the baby so I had my brother Kasey come over to help Matt give me a blessing. The blessing made me feel so much better because in it Matt said that the baby and I would both be healthy despite what we may go through.

I had a doc. appointment at 3:30 anyway so I went in and they found that I was severely dehydrated and I was dilated to about 1.5 cm and having some bleeding so they had me go to the hospital. Once I got there they got me going on IV fluids and anti-nausea meds so I felt better pretty soon but they made me stay overnight because I was still dehydrated. They ended up giving me SEVEN liters of fluid! Needless to say, my hands and face were a tad swollen all day yesterday.

It’s no fun staying the night at the hospital. I didn’t sleep hardly at all because they kept coming in to adjust the monitors because every time I moved they’d lose the baby’s heartbeat. And I obviously had to get up to use the bathroom a lot, too. :) I was sad to leave Brennen overnight because I’d never done that before but he was very happy and well taken care of at Grandma and Grandpa’s.

All the docs told me to take this week off of work and on Friday I’m going in to have them see if I’m more dilated and monitor my contractions and if things are any worse they might “strongly suggest” that I quit working since I’m only a substitute anyway and only have a couple weeks left. I’d like to finish it out but the health of the baby is more important! One of the doctors said he wanted to put me on “half bed rest”. Whatever that means…

Speaking of the baby, he seemed to be doing just fine through all of this. I feel like he was moving constantly for two days and during the ultrasound at the doctor’s office he was measuring right on track (even though I’d lost almost 2 pounds). I’m still so excited for him to get here but being in that room in the hospital made me NOT look forward to child birth. :) And I want him to be as healthy as he can be so I’d love for him to stay in there another 7.5 weeks!

I’m so thankful that we have family here! I don’t know what we’d do without them. And Matt was so sweet to me during this little ordeal. I don’t think he slept much while I was in the hospital but he still went to class, cleaned the house and took care of Brennen. He’s just awesome. :)

Here’s a picture of me at 31 weeks (taken a little over a week ago).

 

Busy!

• Matt started a new semester. He studies a ton and is gearing up to start rotations in the fall. He also watches Brennen a lot when he’s not in class and when I’m teaching piano. AND he cleans the house a lot. What a guy. :) He showed me a calendar of all the due dates and tests this semester and he has tests March 22, 23, 26, and 27. And I’m due the 25th. Hopefully he’ll be able to get away for the baby’s birth!
• I’m really busy with my job, piano lessons, and Brennen. I really don’t stop until after B is in bed and then I’m in bed 2 hours later. I really like the job but I’m getting SO tired! And I’ve been having a TON of braxton hicks contractions. 9 more weeks and I’m so excited to meet this baby!
• Brennen has been knocked out of his normal routine and it’s crazy how much it affects him and his moods. He goes to a babysitter three mornings a week and to Grandma’s a few afternoons. He never seems to get a good nap.
• A few more things about Brennen…
• He says “smile” and then proceeds to smile whenever he sees the camera.
• He talks SO well! His speech is very clear and easy to understand. He knows a ton of words and really retains what we teach him. He also copies just about everything he hears so we have to be careful what we say.
• He can identify family members in pictures (aunts, uncles, cousins, too). He can also identify Jesus and President Monson which I think is pretty cute. :)
• He knows lots of shapes, even “hex-gon.” He also knows several letters, numbers, and colors.
• He knows how to jump, like both feet of the ground at the same time! He’s not always successful but we’ve seen him do it a few times.
• I could say tons more about him but I’ll cut it off here. :)

“Smile!”

Scarfing popcorn with Dad

Playing the “pan-o.”

Just being cute.

December Festivities

December was a busy month for us! On the 17th we went to Denver with all of Matt’s family to go to the temple with our soon-to-be sister in-law Jessica. We left Brennen with Brad and Mary during the session and he said he great. Then we all went to dinner and it was a good day.

We spent Christmas here in Laramie with Matt’s family. We even spent the night Christmas Eve and Brennen did really well sleeping over there. I didn’t get very many good pictures but he seemed to enjoy his presents. He’d get distracted by one and then wouldn’t want to open any more for awhile. He especially liked his puzzles and his little bike, both from Grandma Clark.

I am now in the third trimester of this pregnancy! I can’t even believe it. It’s gone by way faster than my first pregnancy. This baby is REALLY active but I hope he’ll mellow out a little by the time he’s born ‘cause I don’t know if I can handle two crazy boys! :) So here’s me at 27 weeks (on Christmas day).

We traveled to Lyman on the 27th and spent some time with my family and I got to see all of my siblings, too. My sister Christena’s twin girls just loved Brennen and he eventually warmed up to them, too. :) She is due to have a baby two weeks before me and my oldest sister is due in early August so it’s fun that we’re all pregnant!

On the 28th we went to Logan for Lane and Jessica’s wedding. She is a beautiful girl and we’re excited that she joined the family! Brennen didn’t much like the cold and even though he’s crying I still thought it was a cute picture. :)

On the 30th Matt and I celebrated out 5th anniversary! We were still in Lyman so we left Brennen with my mom and sister April and went to Evanston to a movie and dinner.

December 30, 2006

December 25, 2011

After a LONG trip home (I-80 was closed just past Rawlins so we went clear into Colorado to get back) we spent New Years Eve with all of Matt’s family, even the newly weds. Here are a couple cute pictures of Brennen on New Years Day. He likes wearing his grandpa’s hat.
 

And as if this post wasn’t long enough, here are a few more cute ones of our little guy enjoying his bike. In the last one we just weren’t quite fast enough getting his diaper back on…