McBaby 3: 34 Weeks

Such a big two weeks!  Baby is the size of a pineapple!  Baby is weighing around 5-6lbs and practicing breathing movements already.  This baby is moving ALL the time and I can't get enough.  I'm still feeling generally pretty solid.  My lower back has definitely started to ache a bit so I'm stretching a lot more and really taking the collagen.  I still only get round ligament pain at night but it goes away with walking.  I'm up to 21 pounds gained, so I'm really happy about that!

We had a very busy two weeks.  First we hit OSU Homecoming and Oktoberfest!  It was so much walking, but I just took a lot of breaks and tried to stay on top of the water.  We love this time of year!

We also had both showers (family and work) in one week.  The family shower was so much fun!  We did a taco theme because who doesn't love tacos and queso?  We received all the necessities we needed and then some.  We love getting our family and friends together in one place and are incredibly grateful for their generosity!

My awesome coworkers threw me a little pumpkin themed shower at work too.  We had SO much yummy food, pumpkin bundt cake and awesome gifts that rounded out our list of needs and again, then some!  We're so grateful for everything!

A few days ago we had our last ultrasound before baby is due!  This one determined really what week my c-section date would be scheduled.  The doctor mainly wanted my lower uterine segment ultrasounded to make sure the area where my old incision scar was wasn't thinning out like my last pregnancy.  To my surprise, everything checked out great!  My scar site isn't thinning and my cervical length is nice and long, and cervix closed!  They did measure baby about 1.5 weeks ahead (around 6.1 pounds already) so baby is measuring 84th percentile which really surprised us.  I typically grow pretty petite babies.  I'm also border lined too much fluid (polyhydraminos), so combine a big baby with extra fluid and no wonder my belly is this huge at 34 weeks!  The tech got a great shot of our little one's chubby face and of course, Dad's signature nose!

I finally got all the two older girl's clothes sorted, boxed and labeled.  Huge accomplishment!  We have the wooden bassinet my Grandpa made for me when I was a baby brought downstairs and just need to make space for it in our room.  Next weekend we'll get the infant car seat installed!  I don't know why, but that always is a reality hitter for me.  When I see the car seat in the car it means it's almost game time!  I'll also start setting things aside for my hospital bag next weekend.

I can't believe next week is November which means...BIRTH MONTH!  Also, we got our maternity pictures back, here are some of our favorites!

McBaby 3: 32 Weeks

We are only 6-7 weeks out from meeting this little nugget of ours!  We're getting so excited!  We can finally say "The baby will be here next month!" because it's finally October, my favorite month.  We are so busy this month with packed full weekends, crazy work schedules and fun outside activities planned with the kids now that the weather is cooler.

In the last few weeks we got to visit the fair!  I wore this funny shirt to the fair when I was pregnant with Scarlett and I brought it back out again this go around.  It received a lot of laughs and love.

Hello funnel cake!

We also squeezed in maternity pictures!  I get pretty anxious the day of wondering if my kids will be happy come 5:30pm, will they cry the entire time or refuse to even face forward...it's a pretty stressful event with littles!  When Norah was Scarlett's age we actually had to have a re-shoot for fall pictures because she sat on the ground and cried the entire time.  BUT this session went amazing!  Norah is at that age that she will smile and pose, but Scarlett smiled and flirted with the camera too!  The weather held out and the husband didn't gripe too much.  It was all I could ask for!  Here are a few sneak peeks we've received so far.  We used a new photographer too since our favorite one is a little further along in her pregnancy than I am and it's getting difficult for her to travel.  We really like her and she's a prior NICU nurse!  We love what we've seen so far!  Thank you Every Single Season Photography!

As far as Mama goes, I'm still feeling really good.  Of course I get occasional back pain, round ligament pain and SO tired at times but I think all of that is to be expected at this point.  Babe is still measuring about a week ahead, so I feel like I look full term already.  I sure get asked all the time if I'm due soon.  I've gained only 20lbs this far so I'm really happy with that.  My appetite sure has gone down over the last few weeks.  There are days that I actually forget to eat meals, which never happens when I don't have a baby pushing up on my stomach.

I'm still working out 2-4 times a week!  I mostly do my own Crossfit style workouts at the YMCA because with Norah's school drop off time and my night shift schedule it's hard to make my CF gym classes.  When I go to the Y my workouts look like this now that I'm in the 3rd trimester:

15 min elliptical (warm up)
15 min stair climber (low impact cardio)
10-20 min strength and quick CF style workout

We've ordered a few fun things for our mystery babe.  We found a sweet coming home outfit (I'll get a picture soon), an announcement sign because what else can you buy for a gender surprise baby, and a few neutral hospital swaddles.

Hopefully by the next time I blog I can finish sorting and reboxing all the kid clothes piled in our playroom and organize all the burp clothes/swaddles that are piled in Scarlett's closet.  We also should be close to weekly check ups with the OB too!

McBaby 3: 30 Weeks

We're officially out of the 20's and in the 30's!  We are around 8-9 weeks out, time is really just going by so fast!

Last week I worked my one weekend a month and Kit was able to bring the kids up to visit.  While they were there we had the opportunity to get a quick peek at our littlest McVay!  The kids wanted their bellies ultra sounded too, so funny!  We got to see the little face/head, feet/legs and little hand opening and closing!  Norah asked if it was going to scratch it's way out.  LOL

I'm still feeling mostly pretty good.  These last few days I was cramping pretty bad, but not sure it if was constipation, gas or baby stuff.  Also the round ligament pain has had me up every two hours a few nights a week.  Luckily I can walk around for a few minutes and it goes away, but it's throwing a real kink in my sleep.  Also as I type now, it's 0345 in the morning because insomnia has hit me again.  UGH.  I did wake up a few days ago thinking I would have to go into the Labor and Delivery Triage department because I was contracting every 2-3 minutes, so much that it woke me up at 0500 on a Saturday morning.  I drank a lot of water, took Tylenol and rested and they spaced out.  This Mama does not have time for that on a busy Saturday morning!

I'm still working out/doing CrossFit 2-4 days a week.  It's definitely becoming harder to get motivated as the weeks go on.  It's often a toss up between sleep or working out and I often choose sleeping these days!  I had my last run on Riverside last week.  My body did it, but didn't like it much afterwards, so strictly speed walking for me until January.

This week I ordered a few things for my hospital bag!  It's been so weird and hard not being able to buy swaddles, clothes and personalized items for the new baby.  My husband says we've saved so much money so far because of our decision not to find out the gender, so funny and true!  I'm slowly putting things aside for my hospital bag and a few gender neutral items for baby.

Last swim day!

Last week I started sorting through the dreaded clothing boxes.  I got about half way done and needed a break, so hopefully I can finish this week or next.  It's getting really hard for me to bend over and sit on the floor for extended periods of time so the sooner the better on getting all these tasks finished!

We have a little party planned to celebrate this new one of ours and invitations are sent out!  We can't wait to have everyone over to celebrate.  Plus, it's taco themed...and I'm always craving tacos and queso!

We're still in shock we're counting down now in single digit weeks already.  We can't WAIT to find out who this little one is in just two months.  And we STILL have no final boy name! Haha

McBaby 3: 28 Weeks

Someone isn't excited for her time as the baby to come to an end!

Hello third trimester!  We made it to the last stretch!  Baby is as big as a coconut and coming in at around 1.5-2.5 pounds.  Baby moves and kicks so much these days!  I'm having strong BH contractions but still nothing worrisome at this point.  I'm having insomnia when I flip back to sleeping at night sometimes.  Really not a funny joke for someone who is pregnant with two kids working night shift!  I just love waking up and being wide awake at 4am, NOT!  My energy took a hit this week.  I don't know if baby is going through a growth spurt or if this third baby is just taking a tole on me finally.  I've gained 17.5lbs so far so I'm super happy with that!  Every pregnancy I fear it will be the one I gain an insane amount of weight, but with decently watching what I eat and exercising 2-4 times a week I've done pretty well so far.  It helps so much too to have a solid foundation and healthy lifestyle to start with. 

Sun Out Bump Out

Last week I failed my 1 hour GTT test by about 32 points, yikes!  Yesterday I sat in the lab office for 3 hours and did the 3 hour GTT test.  For those who haven't had the lovely experience let me explain the process!  First you have to be fasting since midnight the day before, then that morning the lab takes an initial fasting blood draw.  After that they make you drink a little bottle of koolaid with 100g of sugar versus the 50g of sugar you drink with your 1 hour test in 5 minutes.  After the initial they take a one hour, two hour and three hour blood draw.  If you fail more than one reading then you're diagnosed with gestational diabetes and by fail I mean if your blood sugar reading is too high either with the fasting or the hourly checks.  Thankfully I was only high on my two hour check, so I passed!! Whew!

1 Hour Drink

We have about 10-11 weeks until baby arrives and we're still cranking out our to-do list.  We went through all the kid's toys/playroom last week and donated ANOTHER van full of boxes to Goodwill.  I just can't believe how quickly the boxes can fill up!  Another item down!  Next, is sorting and shrinking our girl's clothes we have piled up.  Since having two girls, we have way too many clothes for each size until 4T so we need to prioritize and dwindle down our stash so that it all fits in one storage closet.  After that...the only thing left to do is pack that hospital bag!!!

This week we did check another huge item off our list...finally made the plunge and bought a new baby hauler!  We became a van family!  We bought a Honda Odyssey and she's a beauty!  She has way too much technolody, bells and whistles for us but we're slowly figuring it out each week.  Norah was probably the most excited.  She's only asked to sleep in it 5 times.  I can't wait to see the baby seat all snugged up in the middle!

We are also still on the fence about cord blood banking.  The biggest draw back is that it's pricey (of course).  Depending on what company you use, it's about a $1,000-$1,500 initial fee then around $300-$600 year storage fee for 10-12 years (after that the cells aren't typically useful from what we've read).  This baby very well could be our last, so if we were to ever take advantage of it now would be the baby.  We can use the stem cells for siblings as well (as long as the parents are the same).  Decisions Decisions Decisions!

Another two weeks down, about 10 to go!

Still working full time nights!  Strong enough to grow AND deliver babies!