40 weeks!

It's official - I only have postdate babies. Nick says they get their punctuality from my side and I have to agree with him.

I had a midwife appointment yesterday and baby is in the perfect position. Head is engaged, back on the left side and butt sitting right at the front of my belly. Go #2!! I am hoping this means an easier labor this time around - I guess we'll see.

Nick was hoping he wasn't going to have to work this week and has had us walking every night when he gets home from work. I've been taking Evening Primrose Oil and drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea. I've noticed after drinking the tea, I have some crampiness but it doesn't turn into anything. My midwife said I can use the breast pump during the crampiness and see if we can get anything started but I don't plan on doing that. At the end of the day, I believe babies show up when they are good and ready and no amount of wives tales and tricks will get them here sooner.

If I make it to my appointment next week, I have to start NSTs and at 42 weeks I have to consult with the OB's. Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

Miss M. has caught on that something is about to happen. She likes to "bang" on my belly and say "be be" over and over. Her nights have gotten a little wacky lately and I'm not sure if it is because she senses the baby coming or because it is still light out when she goes to bed. She's been waking up a lot after sleeping a few hours and we've just been bringing her into bed with us. We both agree, there is no point in trying to start a new routine or to keep her in her bed at this point since her whole world is about to change and any routine we start is likely to be modified in a few weeks anyway. The one thing we have tried is keeping her up later and not putting her to bed until closer to dark. It seems to have helped so that's good.

Ziggy has also been extra clingy today. He hasn't left my side since I woke up - hopefully he knows something we don't know!

Again, I do have a picture for this week but it's on my phone and I will update later!

Last Minute Thoughts

The last week or so has brought on some crazy emotions regarding the mega change about to happen in our lives. I think it has finally hit me that this baby will be here soon. Very soon. As in, any minute soon. While it opens a whole new chapter in our lives it also means we are closing the Madelyn's chapter as my only baby. I am over the moon excited to meet this new baby and having Madelyn makes it that much more exciting. I have already seen how much you just fall for these little ones and how much they bring to your life and I can't wait to do that again.

On the other hand, I am sad that I won't be able to devote all of my time and attention to Miss. M anymore. I have been reading up on bringing new babies home and at some point Madelyn is going to feel unhappy (for lack of a better word) about the situation. Having siblings is awesome. I love being able to call my brother or sister up and chat. It is someone that knows exactly what you mean when you need to vent about your parents. (Sorry Mom and Dad) And growing up, it's basically a partner in crime! But I know the adjustment period is going to be tough on my little girl and that makes me sad.

Nick and I have been soaking up every possible moment with Miss. M and I get a little weepy thinking this could have been our last weekend, just the 3 of us. I have spent more time reading books, stacking blocks and dancing around the livingroom. Nick spent 3 hours just laying on the couch Saturday afternoon while Madelyn snoozed on his chest. We've been walking to get ice cream, bringing her into bed with us first thing in the morning, and chasing the dog outside.

At the end of the day, I know she will be fine and will be a fantastic big sister. She has recently gotten obessed with her dolls and brings them to me to wrap them in blankets and then she takes them for "walks" around the house in her doll stroller. I've caught her rocking them giving kisses the same way I do with her which is the cutest stinking thing ever. She even pulled out the baby's cloth diapers so I could put one on her baby. My latest mission is to find a baby cradle because I see her mimicking me when it comes to this baby. I guess we will see in a few weeks!

Nursery Reveal!

There are still a few more details to finish up but #2's nursery is mostly ready to go! We kept it pretty simple and I love it!!

This is just a general look at the room - the glider will go to the left side of the crib in the corner. I am still looking for a yellow pillow to go with the glider.

I spent hours on Etsy looking for "You Are My Sunshine" word art and couldn't find anything resonably priced that I loved. Or I would find parts of the song but not the whole thing. I ended up convincing Nick to create the artwork and I love love love how it turned out. At the end of the day it cost $4.00 to print the 4 pages and I scored each frame on clearance at Michael's for $3.99. Not bad considering the average Etsy price was $20-$30 for 2 prints, without frames!

My mom made all the bedding! We spent forever trying to find fabric and she ended up having to order it online. I found organic cotton gray sheets at Target and bought a queen size set that my mom is going to convert into crib sheets and possibly a changing pad cover. The crib is from Target and is the Graco Somerset. I ended up getting $70.00 off the price of the crib because the first one arrived broken and the second one also had some damage (that Nick was able to fix). The rug is from JcPenney and we were able to purchase it with gift cards we've accumulated over the years.

The dresser is from Target. Everything else is Babies R Us. Pretty basic set up here.

If you remember, this used to be a built in desk. Nick tore out the desk and built in some shelving. I found the containers on clearance at Target for $5 each. I was planning on DIYing some bins since they are some pricey but I wouldn't have been able to do it for 5 bucks so I bought these instead. The side is dry erase and I can label what is in each bin. Hi Madelyn!

My mom made the window treatment - love! The rods are going to be fabric book pockets once my mom gets the project done. I wanted to keep the books low in here so that Madelyn has something to do when I am taking care of the baby. I liked the look of the pockets over shelves and am hoping it will stay a little neater that way.

We are ready for you little one - come out whenever you're ready!!

37 weeks!

**I have a picture but am too lazy to get it off my phone. I'll add it later but I figured I should publish this post before it is outdated!

Full term! Only 5 more weeks to go! (or less)

I am beginning weekly visits with my midwife. We finished birth class and have met with our doula. Next doula visit is on Monday.

Group B strep test was negative! yay! My midwife recommended I take evening primrose oil a couple times a day and drink oodles of red raspberry tea. I have been drinking "pregnancy tea" for the past couple months which includes red raspberry leaf and nettles so we are good there. I submitted my birth plan and she said everything looked good. The only two potential issues are intermittent monitoring vs. continuous. Basically, it is up to the midwife on duty based on the initial 20 min strip in triage. Provided the strip comes out well, intermittent monitoring shouldn't be an issue. The second is having my doula present in the event of a c-section. I guess this one is up to the doctor.

My doula recommended I see a chiropractor since Miss. M was posterior and although this little one is anterior his/her butt is on the right side which could cause him/her to go posterior during labor. I am trying a new one since the last one I saw was unimpressive. My appointment is scheduled for Monday morning.

Nursery details - everything is done! (almost) My mom is working on the bedding and we are waiting on the glider but other than that, we are done! Once I get the bedding, I will do a reveal.

Madelyn's 17th Month

This could be Miss. M's last month as my only little one - (insert sad mama face).

She is turning into quite a little fashionista, running into her bedroom when she knows I'm picking out her clothes for the day and can't wait to get dressed in the morning. After she's dressed, she runs straight to the mirror so she can check herself out. She also knows that no outfit is complete without a great pair of shoes.

Madelyn is loving music this month and will turn her cd player on in her room during the day. She has also pulled out some instruments she's had for awhile and loves playing with them. The Easter bunny brought her some shaker eggs and she loves playing with those as well.

She is obsessed, and I mean Ob.Sessed. with putting things in baskets and boxes. We still have all the Easter eggs out because she likes to put them in her basket and walk around the house with it. She is definitely working on those fine motor skills. She has been this way since she was about 10 months old.

Being outside - loves it. I can't get her to draw with crayons or markers on paper but give the girl a box of sidewalk chalk and she will draw for at least 30 minutes. She loves the uneven ground of our yard and likes trying out little steps. Most walking is done at a run now.

Nick taught her what an elephant says this month, complete with throwing your arm up in the air like a trunk.

There was some more teething going on this month and she came into our bed a couple times. Once, she decided it was playtime when she got in our bed. I looked at her and said "you either lay down and go to sleep or you are going back in your crib". Miss. Smartypants laid down instantly and didn't make a peep until morning. She has also started leaving her pacifiers close to the edge of her crib and I will catch her throughout the day becoming ninja baby and swiping them out of her crib to suck them. Big no no in our house. She doesn't fight me when I make her put them back in her crib so I think it's just a game for her.

Also, the other day she actually walked into the kitchen and said "ni ni" (night night) and then went into her room. I didn't get in there fast enough to put her in her crib so she started crying and came back into the kitchen. The second she was in her crib, she was a happy camper and asleep within minutes.

Madelyn's 16th Month

Madelyn and I fought for a good 15 minutes trying to get her picture this month. Finally, I gave up and realized - this is just Madelyn at this stage in life. She is WAY too busy to sit for any of my photo shoots so I'm just going to have to take what I can get.

I can sum up the month in 3 words - Walking and Talking.

Madelyn's favorite things to do include walking around the house (she can go in circles now and is really proud of herself) and chatting to whoever will listen. Most of the talking is Da Da Da Da but she uses inflection which is pretty funny.

Since the weather is unseasonably warm, we've been able to head outside and I now understand the whole nice clothes/play clothes thing. This kid gets trashed!

Sitting in the mud I am trying to hose out of our driveway



She struggled for a day or so with the uneven terrain of the grass and rough texture of the cement (when she falls) not to mention that sidewalks around here are not level, but she has mastered it and loves walking back and forth on the sidewalk in front of our house.

She has also been working on stairs a lot this month and is getting pretty good.

My poor girl battled another tooth in early March complete with a runny nose, fever and rosy cheeks. She wanted to cuddle and we ended up kicking Nick to the couch for a couple nights since she turned into a mama's girl those few days.

She loves to read and her favorites include The Very Hungry Caterpiller, Goodnight Moon and Where's Spot. If we read in her room the first book off the shelf is The Very Hungry Caterpiller. I have even tried hiding it in a different spot on the shelf a few times (you can only read the same book so many times before you get a little tired of it) and she still manages to find it first. Next up is always Goodnight Moon. Her favorite part is the "old lady whispering hush". Everytime she hands me the book she starts hussssshing and does it the entire time I'm reading. We keep some books in the livingroom and this is where Spot lives. She likes this one because of the snake that says Sssssss - I guess she's liking the S sound these days.

The other day she saw a poster of a dog at Target and said "woof woof" - genius baby, I know! Cats aren't called cats around here - they are rowwww's. This makes sense if you realize none of our cats actually meow, they rowwww.





Oh and she can sing row row row your boat - because she's brilliant!

31 weeks

Ummm....what the bleep!!?!?!?!

We are 11 weeks from meeting this baby - how did that happen?

Here are some thoughts on second pregnancies, VBACing, childbirth class, and a nursery preview.

Second pregnancies are no joke! The good thing is that time flies because you are so busy running after your older child. The bad thing is you are tiiiirreeeddd and there is no rest for the weary because you are running after your older child. Now that I'm getting to the tougher parts of pregnancy, I am realizing how hard my body is working at keeping these kids happy and healthy. I told Nick that I am carrying an extra 50lbs around most of the day - no wonder my back hurts!

I also can't get over how different this pregnancy is from Madelyn's. I am hoping I can say the same about the birth! Anyway, with Madelyn I expanded sideways and this baby is all out in front and way lower than she ever was. My boobs literally sat on my belly the entire time I was pregnant with her. The good part about carrying lower is it is a lot easier to breathe this time around which I will take. The bummer is there seems to be a lot more stretching an expanding going on down below that never happened last time. Another major difference - braxton hicks. I never had one with Madelyn. I also never had a "normal" contraction. ie: starts in back and spreads to the front and tightening in your belly. She was all back labor, all the time. I would say I am having braxton hicks at least 1-2 times every couple of hours. Feeling my belly tighten like that is just crazy. I am hopeful that it is just things lining up to a successful VBAC.

This time around, I knew going in how long a pregnancy lasts. Obviously, I knew before but you just can't help yourself with preparing and I was ready to go 2 months before my due date with Madelyn. This time, HA! I have purchased a rug, hangers and a mattress. Seriously. Random purchases, I know but I got deals on all of them which is why I have bought anything at all. Not a onesie. No crib. Dresser, what? I told Nick, my goal is to buy one bigger item each week until showtime. With 11 weeks to go, we should be good, right?

Oh and can I just say there is not enough chocolate in the world to satisfy me these days! Weird, considering I normally don't have a sweet tooth.

Alright - onto a nursery preview! I am in love!!
Here is a reminder of what it looked like as Ben's room (which I will post a reveal of his new room later)

And the work in progress -

We (nick) tore out the desk and are installing shelving

Paint - after

I am in love with the colors! In.Love.

We tore the carpet out and replaced the window when Ben was still in the room. As a result, the work for this project was pretty minimal and Nick knocked it out in a week. I don't have any pictures of the rug or the shelving so that will come later. We also found fabric for bedding and my mom is going to make that.

Prenatal appointment went well. Heartrate was in the 140's - the baby actually punched the doppler off of my belly while we were trying to get a read. Blood pressure was 114/60 which I guess is good. Next appointment is in 3 weeks.

First night of childbirth class went well also. There are only 4 other couples in the class so that is nice. And we get to sit on comfy couches - yay! The closest due date to mine is July 7 so I don't know if that means we are way behind (surprise surprise) or everyone else is head of schedule but whatev's. We went over nutrition during pregnancy and the instructor gave us some pregnancy tea which was pretty good. I've got an iced tea obsession going on right now anyway so I might as well use her recipe and make it work to my advantage. We also went over some yoga stretches that can help with the aches and pains of pregnancy. All in all, pretty good class so far.

I also found a 1 day VBAC specific class in Ann Arbor that Nick and I plan on attending so I am excited about that.