28 Week Update

I went in for my 28 week appointment today and am happy to report that not much has changed so I just need to continue to take it easy for awhile yet. My cervix is a little more thinned than it was two weeks ago, but I'm not dilated. So hopefully that means the bedrest is working. Or who knows, maybe I won't have any issues this time and will make it to 40 weeks:). 38 would be perfect:). Today was exactly how far along I was when I went on bedrest with Layla--at that point I was dilated to I think 1 1/2 and like 70% effaced. I go back in two weeks for my 30 week appointment and at that point he'll probably give me the betamethazone shot for the baby's lungs. Hopefully if I continue to take it easy the next couple of weeks the next appointment will also show little or no cervical change. I continue to have some contractions, but definitely not all the time like I had with Layla (with her they were pretty consistently 2-4 mins apart at 28 weeks). I can tell they increase with the more activity I do--so I guess that shows it's good to "listen to my body":). Oh, and his heartbeat was 148.

Daddy Daughter Days

Joe has been very helpful recently helping out with Layla and helping around the house when he has time (pretty much in between work, all his church meetings and hunting). Here's a pic of Joe and Layla before church last week.

Name Clue #3

Clue #1 - It has been used to name other nouns besides just people (meaning it's the name of a place and/or thing--like Meredith is not only a person's name, but a name of a college as well--Meredith College in Raleigh).

Clue #2 - It's not a Biblical name.

Clue #3 - A famous person shares/has shared this name (alive or deceased).

If you leave an anonymous comment, don't forget to tell me who you are:-).

Halloween and Then Some...

Layla enjoyed being a cute little monkey for Halloween! Well, enjoyed might not be the right word. She didn't mind the costume, but she wasn't really full of smiles in it either...

We got together with our friends at Darrell and Lindsey's house. I maintained my bedrest by plopping myself on the couch all night. Here's a pic of the current preggos...Julie (due with a boy March 23), Lindsey (due with a girl March 20) and me

A recap of the kids from last year's Halloween (Ella, Layla, Jonathan and Alden)...

And this year...Ella, Layla and Jonathan (Alden couldn't make it and Ava came later). No one was too enthuised about the picture...

The girls are more interested in Jonatan's snack...

The girls looking suspicious...

Sunday we went to both grandparents to show them her costume.
Me and me kiddos...too bad Elv looked away--normally he's the easy one to get to look!

Our family...an angel, a devil, a bat and an unhappy monkey...

She already had her costume off when I remembered to get one with Grampy and Gigi...

Little Monkey trying to steal the race car driver's hat (too bad her hands were covered up so she had a hard time grabbing things:D)...

Layla and Gavin...

Layla and Gavin plus Elv and Riley (Remi stayed home that day--Elv loved his costume, can't you tell? :D)...

Grandma and Layla...

Grandpa and Layla...

Layla with Uncle Steve and Aunt Heidi...

I had one with Aunt Rachael that I'll have to add later.

This was from a few weeks ago when I tried her costume on. I thought it was kind of funny to see a monkey with a gun:-) (don't worry, it's a toy gun!)

This was her owie from the other week. She fell into a wall or something and then kept breaking the scab open so it needed a bandaid. She has still been loving Elmo and even enjoys sharing her pipe with him. She gives her pipe and sippy cups to her dolls too, but their mouths don't hold them quite as well as Elmo's:-).

A little while ago I tried to save money by switching her to Target Brand diapers...unfortunately they gave her diaper rash, so now we're back to Pampers. She was excited about the switch back as she loves that Elmo is on her diaper. She never used to notice that until she learned who Elmo was. She'll now sometimes point to her diaper (even through her clothes) and say "Melmo" to show her enthusiasm towards Elmo. She loved pointing when she first started wearing Elmo diapers again, but that's kind of wearing off now.

She's normally really good about only going in the cupboards she's allowed in (the Tuppaware one), but a few weeks ago she saw me unloading the groceries and saw that I put her cookies on a shelf she could reach so apparently she had no restraint for the yummy cookies. I was in the basement doing laundry and this is what I found upon my return upstairs...

I know I say this every month, but I really can't believe how fast the time goes! She is now 17 months! She is really into saying "no no" to things and can be quite bossy telling Elvis "no no":-). She likes to hand me things she's not allowed to have (like remotes and cell phones) and say "no no?" as she hands it to me. Yeah, she shouldn't be picking them up in the first place, but at least she knows it's naughty. The problem is when I'm not in the room that she knows all too well how to turn the tv on or change the channel. With somethings she's been getting naughtier recently and she has quite the temper! I've been doing time outs and she gets to just sit there until the timer goes off, but I'm not sure she really think they're that bad. With me laying around a lot she's been really into wanting to be by me a lot instead of playing nicely on her own. She may have a rude awakening when RV comes:-).

I am 27 weeks today! Yea!! I'm really thankful to have made it this far! And to have made it through almost 2 weeks of partial bedrest already. I'm going a bit crazy, but I'll do whatever is needed to keep RV safe and healthy. I'm really hoping that RV stays in for a long time yet, but I'm really ready to be done with this pregnancy! I'm still feeling nauseaus/puking so I'm beginning to think that might not ever go away. My contractions haven't been that bad though. I don't think I get near as many as I did with Layla--with her they were very consistant I think starting around 27 weeks. Here I am at 27 weeks in my comfy bedrest clothes:-) (don't mind Layla's outfit--that's how she came home dressed from Grandma's the other day:D).

Here I am at I think about 29 weeks last time with strict bedrest apparel (and wet hair and no makeup). I think I'm carrying different this time. I know that for sure I'm bigger:(.

Name Clue #2

Clue #1 - It has been used to name other nouns besides just people (meaning it's the name of a place and/or thing--like Meredith is not only a person's name, but a name of a college as well--Meredith College in Raleigh).

Clue #2 - It's not a Biblical name.

Guess away:-)

26 Week Update

I had my 26 week appointment today and am happy to report that nothing has changed since last week! I'm still contracting a bit, but on and off again and it hasn't changed my cervix--it was still the same as last week--just opening and thinning. So I'm still on bedrest but not strict bedrest. He just said to limit my time standing up and to sit/lay as much as possible which means many more weeks of sitting at home--but if it keeps RV in longer, then it's worth it!! Oh, and for my record, his heartbeat was 145. I've also been measuring a couple centimeters big the past couple of appointments so hopefully that means that if he does come early, he's a big boy! However, if he comes full term, he really does not need to be that big:-).

Hermina Raak

This afternoon my grandma went to her eternal home. She will be missed by our family and many others, but I feel blessed to have had her for a grandma for the past 27 years. She was always a very sweet and loving grandma and I'm thankful that she could have such a full long life here on earth.

The visitation will be Wednesday night and also Thursday morning followed by the funeral Thursday morning. I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon so hopefully nothing has changed since last week so that I can go to the visitation and funeral.

My grandma, sister, great-grandma, mom and me...

Starting us young:-)...

My mom, grandma, Em and me at Em's wedding...

Great-grandma with Layla when Layla was only a couple of months old...

Layla and Great-grandma at Easter...