4.5 months old! My beautiful, smiley boy!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I've been busy!  This being a mom business is busy but it's also the most amazing thing in the world!  I wouldn't trade it for anything!  This isn't a long post so here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Isaac's first smile!

Today, I dropped M off at work.  I came home with Isaac and changed his diaper.  After I was done, he was so happy that I let him lay there and started talking and making faces at him.  I bent down and kissed him on the cheek and, when I pulled back, he had a huge, adorable grin on his face!  I kissed him again and he smiled again.  It was so amazing to see his beautiful little smile.

I know I've been slow on the updates and I'm still working on or birth story (with pictures).  I'm hoping to have it up soon. 

Isaac has been lifting his own head since 1 day old and now he can hold it up for minutes!  Also, when given tummy time, he scoots himself across the floor. 

36 w

Belly photo.  I still feel huge.

31 w, 3 d

31 weeks, 3 days belly photo!

37w, 3d: any time now...

We had our 37 week appointment with the midwife and she recommended seeing an OB to see about having him as a backup.  The closest hospital to us is known for having one OB that automatically does cesareans on everybody and does not normally transfer home care to their midwives in the case of non emergencies so we needed to get our 'just-in-case' ducks in a row.  We went to see the OB on Thursday at 37w, 1d. 

He said that he was uncomfortable being a backup for a home north, however, since I've had prenatal care with the midwives at that hospital, I would probably be able to transfer into their care in a non-emergency.  It was good news and bad news at the same time.  In case of emergency, I still get whatever OB is on call but being able to transfer to the midwives is very good news.

He also wanted to do a vaginal exam because, at my last ultrasound, three baby was breech.  The midwife seems sure that he'd flipped head down but the OB wanted to be sure.  Well, little Isaac is definitely in position and pretty much ready to go!  This was the status Thursday:

Effacement:  80% 
Effacement is the thinking of the cervix, for those that may be unfamiliar with the terminology.  Obviously, this goes from 0-100% where 0 is not even prepared at all and 100 is ready to give birth.

Station: -2
Stations are how 'dropped' baby is.  Ranges from -5 to +4 I believe.  -5 is still way up there, 0 is in labor and all of the positive numbers happen during pushing and birth. 

Dilation: 2cm
Dilation of the cervix if necessary for the baby to come out (obviously).  Ranges from 0-10cm where 0 is closed and unprepared and 10cm is baby being born.

I was curious and asked what the OB thought with how long we had to go.  He told me "about 50% come before the due date and the other 50% come after.  It's rare that babies are born on their due date and I'd put you in the first 50%." 

At 37 weeks, we're considered to be full term and he could come at any time.  We are excited and nervous at the same time and I feel so unprepared for the birthing process!  I am so super echoed to meet our amazing little person though.

36 Weeks, 3 Days

I haven't posted in forever!  I don't really have a ton to say as far as updating goes.  At this point, I'm very pregnant and tired all the time.  We have been approved for the home water birth we wanted all along and have met with the new midwife twice (I feel like we're cutting it close!).  There are still a ton of things that we need to get for the birth and I feel like we're behind!  We need to get towels, a new hose, wash cloths, cover for the bed, trash bags, etc., etc.  At 37 weeks, little baby Isaac will be considered full term which means that he could come any time!  That's Wednesday! 


We had our baby shower a few weeks ago and I actually ended up pretty disappointed.  We sent out over 40 invitations and 4 people showed up.  :-/  We still have a lot of things that we need to get and no money to do it.  I wasn't expecting a ton of people to show up and I expected to get mostly clothes and diapers, not anything that was on the registry.  I just wanted to celebrate this baby with family and friends and the only person in my family that showed was my dad.  I sent out plenty of invites and have still not received so much as a call or email from any other family members to say congratulations or anything.  I'm really hurt about it but I know that there is nothing that I can do except to just realize that family cares less than I thought they did.  Although my family didn't come through for us, my husband's family did.  His dad and step mom were the only ones that showed up to the shower but we still got a lot of congratulations from his family and his aunt and cousins that live out of state even sent us gifts from our registry.  I'm so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family.  I also had a friend show up that I haven't seen in years and got a kit to help with breastfeeding.  I'm sure it'll be a lifesaver and I'm so thankful for her!  One of the frustrating things is that another family member of mine is going to be having a baby shower soon and I've been invited.  I'm going to have to tell them that I can't go.  I know that more of the family will be showing up to their shower and I don't think I can handle that emotionally at this point. 

We have been doing a lot of things to prepare for labor and delivery including perineal stretching/massage.  I feel that it's been a huge help but we won't know until delivery time!  After all that I've been learning and experiencing, I'm considering continuing my education to be a Midwife.  I have even been looking at some doula certification courses.  I love pregnancy and I love the wonderful thing that my body is doing!  It's something that is so magical and perfect and I would love to help other women feel as empowered by it as I do.

I've been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions (they feel like the top of my stomach gets rock hard but don't usually hurt) and my back is in tons of pain all the time.  I've been feeling nauseated a lot and my pelvis feels like it isn't attached to my legs sometimes, especially in the morning.  Despite all of it, I'm excited and nervous and feeling pretty great.   It's all about resting until little Isaac decides to come into our lives.  <3  Wish me a fast and easy labor!

20 weeks

Yesterday, we had out full anatomy scan and everything looks great!  The little guy seemed to want to keep his cerebellum hidden though so we have to go back for another scan.  I'm not complaining!  I love seeing him!  My 20 week appointment with my OB is next week on the 23rd so we just scheduled the next ultrasound for that day too.  I have a ton of pictures to post but I'm feeling too lazy to do so right now.

I will also post another belly picture soon.  :)  I feel great.  The only thing that I can complain about on a normal basis is the back pain but it's tolerable for the most part.

We got accepted as renters for the house that we were looking at.  We really wanted to buy but M needs to fix some things on his credit before we can do that so this will have o do for now.  It's still super exciting; even if we end up there for a few years!  Right now, I live about 30 minutes away from my family and friends and moving will cut that down to 15 minutes!  The best part about the house is that it has a huge fenced in back yard so that Zelda can go crazy and I can have a garden too!  I've been garden planning like mad!

I've also started a work at home job and will be starting a normal job on Monday.  I'm nervous to be trying to do both at the same time and even hesitant to believe that the hours will even work together but we'll see what happens.  It'll be nice to have some extra money for a little while and even be able to buy baby things for the nursery that we're going to have!