Headed to the Hospital...

We are heading to the hospital to be induced this morning!! I'm not exactly thrilled about being induced, but my doctor will be out of town, I'm past my due date, my family comes into town in 2 days, and I had to be induced 2 times before when my water broke but my labor didn't start. So there, whether or not you wanted the reasons, there you go!! I have to finish my breakfast and coffee and get out the door! Hopefully pictures will follow sometime in the next few days!!

The Waiting Game

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Well, at this point I have 2 days until my due date. I can't tell you how impatient I have been lately!! I know it sounds ridiculous. I know it will eventually happen. I know it's coming. I know I'm closer than ever. But by this point I had already had my other 2 kids. Maddy was 5 days early and Judah was 3 days early, so by now I thought I would have my sweet baby in my arms. I guess I wasn't mentally prepared to be doing all the "planned" stuff we had for this week, I figured someone would be taking my kids to them. I didn't think I would still be trying to pick up the house and have everything in order for when the time came for us to leave for the hospital. I didn't think that morning after morning after morning I would still be waking up and going about my day instead of to the hospital. Yesterday I was in the hospital with headaches that wouldn't go away, and since they thought it might be high blood pressure, they wanted me to go in. I didn't think they would send me home, being so close to my due date. But alas, once all the tests came back normal, they sent me home. All our stuff was packed and in the car. But we are home again!! Still waiting. I know I should be thankful and grateful that my babies stay in for so long. Some women aren't so fortunate, and their babies are fighting for their lives, or for their health and stability. So I don't want to sound ungrateful. I know it's a blessing that Ruth is developed and that her lungs are ready to function on their own. I am just so ready to not be pregnant and to have my precious baby! This morning I have had a pretty intense crampy feeling so I'm not sure what that means. Maybe a baby today?? Or maybe not?? We shall see!!

11 Days and Counting

I know, I know, could I get any bigger??

Well, we are down to 11 days!! The baby could come any day now!! I am so ready to not be pregnant anymore!! It's weird thinking about going from the woes of pregnancy to the woes of recovering after labor and delivery!! My first 2 labors were quite traumatic, with recoveries involving a broken tailbone with Maddy and spinal headaches for a week with Judah. Not to mention gall stones after each birth and a possible removal of my gallbladder after this baby if the same problem arises.
But I would much rather not be pregnant, be holding my precious baby girl in my arms, and maybe (hopefully not!) dealing with some issues from labor!! It is so weird being in the "waiting game" phase of pregnancy. Tad asks me every day if we are going to have a baby tonight! I didn't really feel ready, but last night I finally did! I had the house all cleaned, chores done, errands ran, things done, and the baby still didn't come! Didn't she know I was ready? And tired? And DONE???
Anyways, we are still plugging away getting school done with Maddy, doing regularly scheduled activities as planned, and just waiting with our bags packed and ready to go! Minus the last minute stuff I need to add! Praying for a smooth labor and delivery and a healthy baby girl! And no, we have not picked that middle name yet!!

Nesting

Well, I think nesting has officially set in!! I am officially obsessed with having a clean house, which if you have young kids you know, never really happens!! I have been breaking my back to try to get every nook and cranny sorted through and organized lately, before baby arrives!! I really should be slowing down now, since it doesn't take much for my back to hurt when I'm cleaning/bending over and picking up toys!! I am almost done going through all the different areas in my house, that I can do anyways, and all of the baby clothes are washed, folded, organized, and put away until about 6 months. It's crazy how at the end you really step it up into high gear to get things done and ready for baby!! And at the time when it's hardest to do so!!
But we are excited!! I can't believe I'm gonna have another baby in about 6 weeks!! I don't think the reality has really set in with Tad yet. A couple times I have been folding baby clothes and he looks at me with big eyes like "we are gonna have another baby soon!" I think the pregnant woman is much more fully aware!!

So, I am just counting down the weeks and hoping for a smooth labor and delivery!! If you know me, you probably know that I have had some rough deliveries/recoveries in the past so I'm hoping this one will be different!! I'm 34 weeks today!!

10 Things I Look Forward to After Baby

I'm not necessarily one of those people who love or hate being pregnant. There are certain things I like about each, and each pregnancy is different as well. I have had such random, weird things happen to me during each of my pregnancies, and it can make it difficult to deal with some of them. But probably without fail, there are things I cannot wait for after the pregnancy is over!!! As I am 33 weeks this week, I am definitely ready to be done being pregnant! So, here is the list, in no particular order!

1. Being able to sleep comfortably in my bed! Though I won't be able to sleep through the night, or for long stretches of time, at least I will be able to breath when I lay down and not have to have a million pillows for support!
2. No heartburn!! I rarely ever have heartburn unless I'm pregnant! Won't be missing it either!
3. Being able to run/workout!! I have missed my usual workout routines, and since the first trimester have barely worked out since I was so sick right away! Then I guess I just got into the habit of not working out.
4. Being able to clean the house or do anything else without back pain! I can't believe how fast the back pain sets in when I'm doing regular chores, standing up for short periods of time, or even just shopping at Walmart! I feel like an old lady!
5. Being able to drink more caffeine!! I drink my one small cup of coffee in the morning, but having to turn down the espresso in Starbucks drinks is depressing! Especially when you're tired!!
   
6. Not having the extra weight! This growing belly is getting pretty heavy, and I won't miss having a hard time getting off the couch or out of bed in the morning!
7. Being able to start dieting! Okay, I'm not really looking forward to that, but at least having the option to start curbing my diet in order to start shedding that baby weight!
8. Being able to get more housework done without the help of my family so much!! I have to leave so much stuff to Tad (heavy lifting) or Maddy (bending and picking stuff up off the floor) and it will be nice to be able to do it myself again!
9. My sanity back! Ok, that is not necessarily a guarantehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife, but maybe I won't cry at the drop of a hat and make my husband think I'm crazy? Ok, not a guarantee.
10. Being able to hold my precious baby, nurse her, sing to her, rock her, and have my blessed, amazing, healthy family of 5!
    

Well, I'm sure there are more things, but for now, those are some of the things I am looking forward to. They are coming soon!!

Check out other fun Top Ten Lists at ohamanda.com!!

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Apple Butter and a Pregnant Pic!

I have made this amazing apple butter recipe for at least the last couple of years and it is amazing! The best part about it is that it is delightfully easy! It makes a lot and is a crockpot recipe so the house smells of warm apples all day long! I actually plan to make it when I'm going to be home so I can smell it cooking! This time, I used half-pint mason jars and it made 8 jars of apple butter. I put one in the fridge and the rest in the freezer and pull one out when we need one!
The great thing is my kids love apple butter, especially Maddy, so I think we will go through it pretty fast! Would you believe we used more than half of the first jar in the first day after I made it? I might need to put restraints on Maddy!

These are horrible, dark shots but it was late and after it had been cooking all day, I wasn't going to wait to take the pictures! I wish I could say I had some fancy canning apparatus or something, but honestly, when I have made jams and butters I have actually just put them into jars and popped them into the freezer and fridge. I should look into actually "canning" stuff, but up until now, I just haven't.
Here's the super easy recipe:

All Day Apple Butter
From Allrecipes.com

5 1/2 pounds of apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
4 cups of white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well.
2. Cover and cook on high 1 hour.
3. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.
4. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a wire whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness.
5. Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate, or freeze.

I also did some research and 1 pound of apples is approximately 3 cups. So I used about 15 to 16 cups of apples. It did take some time to peel, core, and chop that many apples, but in the end it was worth it! I think you will love it!

And, since I haven't posted a pregnant pic anywhere yet, here is the latest, at about 20 weeks along. Halfway!!

Try New Adventures Thursday...Cake Reveal

We had our mid-pregnancy ultrasound the other day! We decided instead of opting to find out the sex of the baby right there on the spot, we would wait a little bit! We saw a special on "Good Morning America" about a cake reveal party. This is where you have the ultrasound technician write down the sex of the baby on a piece of paper and you bring that piece of paper to a bakery! They make you a cake with white icing or something plain, and then the inside of your cake is either pink of blue, depending on the sex. So when you cut into it, you find out what you are having! It did sound a little dorky at first, but when they showed different couples' home videos of finding out this way, with family and friends, it sounded fun! And since my sister-in-law works at a bakery in town, it was perfect! She actually made our cake! Didn't she do a great job?
In our case, with our 2 other kids, we thought this would be a creative idea. Especially since we live near family now! Judah didn't really get it, but Maddy definitely did! We prepped Maddy about what we were doing, and made sure that she understood what the colors meant. She refused to accept the fact that it might be a boy, but we tried to get her ready!
So, without further ado, It's a....









Girl!!!!!
Needless to say, Maddy is ecstatic about this! And so are we. I did have a hunch this whole time since I was very sick with Maddy and not with Judah, but the ultrasound tech threw me for a loop! She didn't tell us the sex, but she did say that she wrote one thing down, and then changed her mind and crossed it out! So that made me think it was a boy! So I was actually surprised!!
We are thrilled, and on the train to choose the name! We are getting there! Hope you are as excited as we are!!

Fighting Pregnancy Nausea

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If any of you haven't read the last post, we are expecting our third baby at the end of February! This pregnancy hasn't been easy, to say the least. The nausea hit pretty hard at about 6 weeks, right in the middle of my trip to Ohio. It has left me laying on the couch for the last 6 weeks pretty much. It has been hard to adjust to not being able to do what I was used to doing around the house and for the kids. I am more used to it now, and am feeling a little bit better, which makes me feel a little bit more human. It's been a little easier to get out of the house, do normal things, and at least do some dishes and laundry. Needless to say, Tad has stepped it up a LOT to help me! And my brother and sister-in-law have come over and helped clean and watch the kids which has been such a blessing!!!!!
So I wanted to post about some things I have found to help the nausea a little bit, for anyone out there who may be struggling with it, or may in the future. I have found that the main problem is anytime I am hungry, I feel sick. That may sound like a simple fix, but I get hungry all the time. I feel like if I don't eat like a hungry man all day long, and keep my stomach super full, then I will feel sick. And if you've ever been pregnant, then you know the aversions to food don't make it easy to eat. I would walk into my kitchen and feel sick just looking at it. So that makes it a bit of a challenge.
I did try to buy a lot of frozen food so I wouldn't have to cook, but that proved a fail as I didn't enjoy most of the frozen food I got. Partly because of taste, and partly because of aversions I'm sure, but it made it harder to stay full. I then bit the bullet and just started cooking when I could so I would enjoy the food more and be able to stay full. That seemed to help a little.
So here are ten ways I have found (or heard of) that help to fight the nausea:

1. Keep a snack next to your bed. Eat a little something before you get out of bed in the morning.
   
2. Don't get up too fast. The motion can make the nausea worse.
   
3. Eat small amounts of food all throughout the day. Keep your stomach full if you can!
4. Gum and hard sour candy (lemon drops for me) have made such a difference!! If I am in the car especially, I have to have one of them. If I start to feel sick and don't feel like eating, if I have something in my mouth like that, it helps me not feel so sick.
5. Small, hearty, healthy snacks are great like bananas, apples (love them!), grapes, or a smoothie.
   
6. Laying down (I have heard laying on your left side is better.) Sometimes motion just makes me sick (the car, walking down aisles at the store) so laying down helps a lot.
7. Throwing up. This sounds like defeat, but sometimes if you are so sick, sometimes throwing up will relieve the nausea and allow you to feel better.
8. Prescription. Sometimes your doctor will prescribe either an oral prescription or a cream that you can put on your wrists. I got the cream though I'm not sure how well it actually works.
9. Motion sickness aids. I have heard that you can get a little bracelet that pushes on the pressure points in your wrists associated with nausea.
10. Acupuncture. I guess going along with the same idea as the pressure points, you can get acupuncture in your wrists to get rid of severe nausea.

The good thing is that for most women, the "morning sickness" that can last all day usually ends around the time that you enter your second trimester. So it's not forever. I am just about out of the first trimester so I hope it will be gone soon! You do just learn to deal with it, but when you have other kids, it makes it pretty tough to get things done and keep up with normal activities! You just have to keep your kids occupied in the house while you lay down, rest, and get back to normal!
Well, hopefully my next posts will be more positive as I start to feel better! And as I feel better, I will get more posts out! Thanks for being patient!