Nine Months

So I am 9 months pregnant now. I hope to not reach 10 months.

Last week I went to my doctor to have a check up. I had been contracting constantly for 4 days by the time my appointment came along. I was pretty miserable. They decided to check me to see if anything was happening. Much to my disappointment...I was not progressing. Then they pull out the handy measuring tape and proceed to measure my uterus. I measured 37. Mind you I was only 35 weeks at the time of the check up. I was very scared by this finding. A...the gestational diabetes helps babies to be bigger than usual...B...Marc's mom couldn't fit him through the birth canal, so she was emergency c-sectioned......C...My mom had huge boys. The first one even broke her tailbone and needed the use of forceps to be delivered. All of these things make me worry that Oliver may want to follow these horrifying trends. I'm not OK with that.

After my last appointment I have been tormented with the thought of delivering this huge baby growing inside me. So, today we had our next appointment. Happily I jump on the scale and I have lost 3 pounds in the last week (thank you diabetes). Then we go to the room and out comes the measuring tape. I was expecting something like 38 or 39 since last week was 37. Instead she measures me at 36. Yay!!! he isn't growing at a rapid freakish rate. I felt a wave of relief. Now to clear everything up we have an appointment in a couple days to have him measured via ultrasound. It will give us a good idea of what he is doing and if we need to induce sooner for my benefit.

So as of right now we are waiting for him to come naturally...which I feel may be never. I will forever be plagued with constant contractions. swelling and pressure. So much uncomfortableness. On Thursday we will get all the measurements back and go from there. My doctor gave me the impression that we would be induced at 38 weeks. That is around April 10. Until then we are walking, doing "other stuff", and being active. I hope to go into labor naturally. The excitemen t of not knowing when the time will come sounds fun...as long it doesn't interrupt my sleep. I need my sleep. Also I don't want to break my water in my bed. The last thing I want to do when I get home from the hospital is clean my bed.

We will keep everyone posted on when Oliver comes. We are ready. His carseat is even already installed in the car next to Mia's. She insisted.

Here are some pictures of us from last week. Warning: I look huge!

Contraction After Contraction

Well,

I have been contracting constantly. A little uncomfortable at times. Pretty nervous that Oliver might try to make his debut before I want him to. So I had an appointment today for my 35th week. While leaving my urine sample, I had an awful contraction. I got all overheated and tired. So when I get back to my room the nurse tells me that I will be checked since I am contracting so often.

The NP comes in and asks how I have been. I let it spill how "lovely" I have been feeling. She then measures my uterus and lets me know that I am measuring at 37 weeks. Usually when I come in I measure exactly on. So this threw up some red flags immediately. Especially since the diabetes factor came into play. The NP said that you can measure up to 2 weeks off before they start worrying. Never the less, she scheduled me for an appt the following week so she can keep a closer watch on this new development.

After all this great news she checks me. And with much relief, she lets me know that nothing is going on with my cervix yet. I am relieved because I get taken off pelvic rest next week, sorry it's been a while. So I can get back to normal. Just keep up on the water and don't overdue it and we will be fine.

There will probably be an ultrasound in about a week to make sure Oliver isn't getting too big for mama. I just want Oliver to stay in at least until 36 weeks...37 or 38 would be better. My doc said that she won't let me go past 38 weeks. So we will be keeping you all updated.

So after all the drama at week 28, we have settled down a bit and given the green light to not lay in bed for the rest of my pregnancy. Now we are at week 34 and ready for Oliver to come. Mia has really enjoyed this pregnancy. She loves my belly. I think she will really miss it once Oliver comes. I also think that he will be her little friend. She takes care of me so well. If I need anything she runs to get it. I am so glad I have her to help.

Valentines Day

So we had a pretty lovely Valentines Day. The day before, Mia had a Valentines Day party at her preschool. She put all the cards with candy together. She wants to do everything herself. After preparing all her Valentines she decided that she wanted curly hair for school the next day. So we wrapped up her hair in curlers and then she requested to have a Grandma Ropolo hat over her curlers (a turban). So we did and I had to take pictures...















And here she is the next morning ready for her Valentines Day celebration at preschool.













My sister Melanie and Sophia flew in from Kansas City on that day. While she was in town they had a prego party for me with my close family. Daddy went out and got Mia a special Big Sister outfit. Here we are in all our cuteness.















We had lots of time to spend with Melanie and Sophia. On one of her last nights we all got together and took some pictures. Uncle Marc was the hit of the night. The kids just couldn't get enough of him. Here are some of the pictures from the night.


Nicholas with William sleeping.










Mia holding a snail.









Marc with practically all the kiddos.