40 Weeks Pregnant

Wow, I really didn't think I'd still be pregnant today on my due date, but here I am......fat and swollen and uncomfortable. Sorry no pic this week. My belly pretty much looks the same except I am makeup-less and tired-looking. I had an appointment today with my doctor and here are my stats:

Total Weight Gain: 43 lbs
Blood Pressure: 136/75

I am now 3cm dilated, 40% effaced and baby is head down at a -2 station. So he's not super low yet, but at least I am progressing a little bit.

If I hit 41 weeks I will have to start going in for non-stress tests every couple days, to make sure baby is still handling his environment okay.

Even though I'm not overdue yet, I feel like I am because I figured baby would be here by now! Clearly he's a rule breaker. This weekend we went on a hike and it did absolutely nothing. I had some slightly painful but irregular contractions yesterday, but then they dissipated. I'm really hoping he is born this week so I don't have to consider being induced.

39 Weeks Pregnant

Well here I am, 39 weeks pregnant and still very much pregnant! Each of my babies has been born earlier than the last, with Jenna 1 week early. So I kind of assumed this baby would follow the pattern and be born before 39 weeks. But I guess it's pretty silly of me to expect the baby to follow the "rules", right? Ha!

I'm noticing my face looks really puffy and fat. I normally have a round face, so when you add 40 lbs and some water retention, I hate the way my face looks! Today I stepped on the scale and it shows I gained 5 lbs in the last 7 days. Yikes.

This week I've been feeling a lot of cramping. I'm not sure if they are contractions because they only last a few seconds, but boy are they painful! Enough to almost take my breath away because they come on so quickly. The other night it was happening so much I thought I was going in to labor, but then it completely stopped.

The kids are off of school this week so they are excited to see if the baby comes while they're at home. Yesterday I enlisted their help to paint the letters for baby boy's name.

I've been noticing a lot less movement coming from the baby lately. I realize he's probably running out of space and I won't be feeling the strong kicks at this point. It's still a little unnerving to not be feeling the constant kicking in my ribs. No doctor's appointment this week, so I'll either have the baby soon or go back to the doctor's next week. It's just a waiting game now!

38 Weeks Pregnant

Happy Valentine's Day! I've never liked the idea of sharing my birthday with someone or with a holiday, so I hope baby boy doesn't decide to be born today.

I had an appointment yesterday with my doctor, and here are my 38 week stats:

Total Weight Gain: 39 lbs
Blood Pressure: 119/64

My doctor said everything is looking great. I am now dilated 2 cm, and my belly is measuring exactly at 38 cm. Baby boy is still head down.

I really haven't been feeling like myself lately. I don't know if it's some sort of end-of-pregnancy depression, a result of being in so much pain all the time, or my form of nesting. I don't really want to go anywhere. I don't feel motivated to clean or cook like I normally do. My appetite is all over the place. My back aches all day and by dinnertime I feel like my body is giving out on me. I've also been struggling with insomnia this week. I'll wake up around 1 or 2am and then just lay there wide awake for a couple hours. Maybe this is all my body's way of winding down and getting ready for labor....all I know is I can't wait to feel like myself again. Granted, it will be a "new normal", but at least I'll be holding my baby and I won't have to deal with being so uncomfortable.

10 Minutes of Joy

Someone from my MOPS table shared this with us: "If you carve out just 10 extra minutes a day to focus on joy, you'll collect more than 60 joyful hours per year."

So today I am writing down the first things that come to mind when I think of all the joyful blessings in my life right now.

~We are listening to Hallelujah by Pentatonix as I type this because Jenna has been belting out "HALLELUJAH!" all week. Nothing better than hearing your kids sing worship.

~Today is Friday!!

~Lucas' latest asthma flare-up finally seems to be improving. He only coughed about 10 times last night.

~Adam went out and bought me Tums for my heartburn. Yes!

~Ryan has made some good friends at school and seems to enjoy 1st grade better than Kindergarten.

~The forecast is showing sunny skies for the next 5 days.

~We got our tax return!

~I got to lay down for an hour yesterday while Jenna napped and Lucas played. It was just what my aching back needed.

~Adam didn't fall off of a roof this week in the storms.

~We have a roof over our heads, a couple cars in our driveway, a little money in the bank, and food in the fridge. I'd say we have a lot to be joyful about.

How about you?

4 Kids Ages 6 and Under!

I can't believe that in just a few short weeks we will have 4 kids, ages 6, 4, 2, and newborn. It's so crazy to think about how much our family dynamic will change. I've been asked a lot if my kids are excited about having a baby brother. Not surprisingly, Jenna is the most enthusiastic about it, and the boys are kind of indifferent!

When asked what they think about Mommy having a baby soon.....

Ryan: "It's weird." Seriously, that's all I could get out of him. He keeps asking me how the baby is going to come out. "Are they going to cut a door in your tummy?" Also, if I complain of my stomach hurting he gives me a hug and asks if the baby is coming out, so that's cute.

Lucas: "Yea I'll give the baby a hug, but I love Jenna the most." I think Lucas kind of operates in his own little world, and as long as someone is giving him attention, he won't be too bothered by the baby.

Jenna: "Baby! I love him. He's so cute." (Said while hugging my tummy). I then asked Jenna what she will do when the baby is crying. Her answer? "Put him in the bathtub!". I think she's actually going to be really jealous. She is constantly saying "You're my Mommy!" if anyone tries to get near me, and she is pretty much my little shadow all day long.

And as for Adam and I? We are honestly kind of terrified. Don't get me wrong....I'm really excited to meet this little boy. I'm anxious to see what he looks like, what his personality is like, and how he fits in with our family. I'm excited to snuggle him and smell that sweet baby smell. But when Adam and I picture what life will be like with 4 kids ages 6 and under, we get really overwhelmed. We've come to the conclusion that life for the next few years will be really crazy and stressful, and it will be a time where we will both have to be really selfless. Because having kids this close in age means they are all still so needy and dependent on us for everything. Our number one priority will be our kids, and we pretty much won't have time for much else. We have many days where we both feel like we're in survival mode, and so I can only imagine what it will be like when we add a newborn to this crazy bunch!

Week of Dinners #8

These past couple weeks have been really weird for my appetite. I suddenly have zero interest in cooking, grocery shopping, or prepping food. So unlike me! I kind of feel like I did in my first trimester, just with less nausea. Certain foods sound awful, and tend to give me heartburn at night. But then certain textures and flavors (like anything sweet and creamy and carby) sound amazing! I had a milkshake last week at Taylor's and it was AMAZING. Hands down the best thing I ate all week. So all this is to say.....I did cook some dinners last week but I really wasn't feeling it.

Monday: Turkey Burgers, Tater Tots, Berries
I tried a recipe for turkey burgers that my Mom shared with me....and we loved them! Ryan ate an entire burger, and that really says something. It was simply 1 pound of ground turkey, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire, 2 Tbsp ketchup, 1/2 tsp salt, and a little pepper. I cooked the burgers in a pan on the stove in a little avocado oil, and ended up with 4 burgers. They were so tasty!

I served them on these torta sandwich rolls we got at Costco. I usually buy whole wheat hamburger buns from Trader Joe's, but I hadn't been there recently. So I got these rolls as a "treat" and we all loved them.

On the side we had Trader Joe's tater tots (also a treat for us) and a plate of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.

 Lucas likes strawberries, Ryan likes raspberries, and Jenna kind of likes all 3 berries.

Tuesday: Calzones, Salad

On Tuesday I finally got my act together and made a few freezer meals for when baby is here. I made my recipe for Turkey and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers. Then I made this new recipe for Beefy Baked Ravioli. And finally I made a huge batch of pizza dough and assembled 6 cheese pizzas to stick in the freezer. At the end of the days I was exhausted. Ugh I hate having no energy! I used a super easy recipe for the sauce. It just contains a couple canned tomato products and spices. Let me know if you want the recipe!

I decided to keep dinner simple and use some of the leftover pizza dough to make calzones. I filled them with my homemade sauce, mozzarella, romano, and some uncured salami. I couldn't find any nitrite-free pepperoni at the store, so the salami was a good substitute. On the side we had simple salads of romaine, cucumbers and croutons.

 

Wednesday: Thai Basil Chicken Stir-Fry

In my recipe book I keep a stack of recipes that I want to try. This had been in there for a while, so I finally decided to make it. It was really good! It contained chicken breast, bell peppers, jalapeno, basil, onions, and a thai sauce. I only wish I had added more basil. I served mine over brown rice and made white rice for the boys (and Adam).

That night I decided to try this new all natural Jello. Can you believe I have never made Jello in my life? My mom gave us this because it contains no artificial coloring or flavorings. I made it according to the package directions but it never set up! The boys were disappointed, so I'll have to look for it at the store and try it again.

Thursday: Breakfast
I had plans to make a meat and mashed potato pie, kind of like a shepherd's pie. But I just didn't have the motivation to make it. So I decided breakfast would be an easy dinner. We had bacon baked in the oven:

And a huge batch of homemade whole wheat waffles! Honestly the waffles took forever because I doubled this recipe and it made a ton. But it was worth it because all 3 kids have been eating them for breakfast this past week.

 We also had more berries and scrambled eggs.

 Friday: Out
Adam's Aunt was in town and she treated us to dinner! I was thankful for the night off from cooking.

Saturday: Spaghetti
I wasn't feeling that great on Saturday. Just really worn out and really pregnant. I told Adam he was in charge of dinner, which I realize is kind of like telling me I'm in charge of building an engine. But Adam complied and made a big plate of spaghetti. So many yummy carbs! He topped the meat sauce with some spices and two kinds of cheese, and even made garlic bread on the side. Thank you Adam!

Sunday: Cereal?
Once again, I just wasn't feeling up to cooking. The end of this pregnancy is so strange! I think the kids ate chicken nuggets and cereal, and I think I ate cereal. It's tough when you aren't feeling well but you still have a family to feed.

Monday: Chicken Fajitas, Spanish Rice
I wanted to start this week off on the right foot. So I made a batch of chicken fajitas, using this recipe. This is my favorite recipe for easy fajitas.

I served mine on our last corn tortilla and topped with cheese and 4-ingredient guacamole. I went back for seconds of the chicken mixture, and ate it on top of some lettuce.

On the side we tried this new Spanish Rice we found at Costco. I thought it sounded really good, and I've liked other rice mixtures by this brand. Unfortunately I thought this was pretty bland. Next time I make it I'll add in some salsa and beans.

 

And there you go, another week of our dinners. I have no idea what I'm making this upcoming week, but I know it needs to be easy. What do you make when you aren't motivated to cook? (And your family is really picky).