30 Weeks with Baby # 4 - William

 Here we are, 30 weeks with less than 10 weeks ago. I have a C-section  schedule for September 4, however if I go into labor naturally around 37 or 38 weeks there’s a chance that I still could try for a vaginal birth depending on how big William is. Below you see pictures of me at 30 weeks with all three of my pregnancies. The blue shirt is 30 weeks with William, the pink shirt is 30 weeks with Katherine and the green shirt is 30 weeks with Hannah. It appears that I definitely What is larger and egg shaped with Kathryn, much smaller with Hannah and much more firm with William.

I went to see the doctor this week.  I had a growth ultrasound to start and  William is in the 39th percentile for growth, he is at the low-end of normal but very healthy. I have lots of amniotic fluid, so he’s in a pretty good place. He weighs approximately 3 1/2 pounds right now.  He is all nestled up against the placenta, so it was really hard to get any imaging of him. His heart rate was 124 BPM, which I thought was very low, but is apparently very normal for a boy and the fact that he was very still and resting. I am excited that we only have nine weeks or less, and so much to do around our house and in his room and in our bedroom to get ready for his arrival. 

I have a baby shower in a couple weeks, so I’m really excited to see all of my friends and to pour some love on William.

Please continue to pray for good health for William and for me and please ask God to allow me to have a vaginal birth, one that is smooth and without complication. I learned that sometimes it’s important that we ask exactly for what we want instead of assuming that God knows what we want. Either way, as long as he is healthy and I am healthy, that is all that I really care about in the end.

I’ve gained 30 pounds so far, which is great because at this point I was 34 pounds with Kathryn. I gained a total of 34 pounds with Hannah. 

This was a very difficult week since we came back from out of town on Monday, and Daniel left for work in Oklahoma on Tuesday and then Kathryn had surgery on Tuesday to put tubes in her ears.

 To say I was exhausted is an understatement, I was completely physically, emotionally, and mentally drained by the time he came home on Friday. Kathryn is recovering and doing well and I am thankful.

29 Weeks with Baby # 4 - William

 This week has been quite eventful.

Braxton Hicks contractions have continued to increase. I volunteered for VBS at our church this week and I think that is why my contractions have been so constant. I was on my feet from about 8 to 1230 Monday through Thursday this week. Dan was supposed to go out of town, but thankfully he was home. Our kitchen renovation finished on Monday, but I came home with the kids only to the smell of fresh silicone and epoxy. It made me so sick that I had to go over to my parents house and take a nap. My throat started to burn and my head was hurting so badly.

The week was quite exhausting as we were putting our kitchen back together from our remodel as well as packing Hannah for her two week camp in Arkansas. Dan and I left on Friday to take Hannah to Austin, where she would go to camp with friends and then Dan and I continued on to Buescher State Park.  We took the RV just he and I and spent a couple days in the peace and quiet of the woods. It was about 110° this weekend so we were inside most of the time. I enjoyed the chance to just lay down and rest and take naps every day. We both enjoy the time to just talk and play some games together. We did find an amazing Italian restaurant just 12 minutes from the campsite, so we went to eat dinner there. 

 Overall, I’ve been feeling really good this week. I’ve been very exhausted but that has mostly to do with early mornings and late nights of all the work that we’ve been doing.  I’ve started to have some hip pain when I sleep and that has caused some issues for me just walking around. I am thankful for the chiropractor because every time I go I find relief. 

We are really looking forward to William coming, and we have so much to do to prepare!

Please pray for continued healthy pregnancy, healthy baby, and that I would make it to 37 weeks.

28 Weeks with Baby # 4 - William

Lately I’ve been experiencing more fluid retention and swelling. My doctor believes that it’s mostly due to the heat. I have not been able to wear my wedding bands since 24 weeks. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and everything looks good.  My blood pressure continues to be in the very good normal range. This week I took my glucose test and I passed also in the normal range, I was thankful for that.

I seem to be measuring 3 cm ahead. I go back in two weeks to have a growth and development ultrasound done. At that time, we will see how big William is, and measure the amniotic fluid, making sure that everything looks normal and healthy. I am thankful that I have a scheduled C-section at 39 Weeks. At this rate it appears that William is going to be larger than Kathryn, and she was 8 1/2 pounds at 38 weeks 6 days!!

William is already a stubborn lil’ guy! The nurse was unable to find his heartbeat and had to actually take it from the placenta. His heart rate was 154. We could feel him moving all over the place, hitting the probe, but he was in such a way that she could not actually get his heart beat.

 This week has brought on a whole new meaning to heartburn and pregnancy, for me. I’ve never experienced heartburn quite like this before. On Wednesday I came down with lots of pain above the stomach. It lasted for 24 hours and then continued on.  I think it might be safe to say that I’m going to have this heartburn for the remainder of this pregnancy, but we shall see what next week holds. As for now if I stand straight I don’t have pain, but I can tell that the uterus is pushing stomach upward which is causing a painful burning sensation right at the sternum. This also means that I have lots of burps at any and all times of the day. I have to eat very small meals and make sure that I to very well before swallowing as to not upset my stomach.  I have some natural Tums that I take from sprouts after some of my meals.  Friday was the first day that I felt somewhat better, burping is still happening, but the strong pain sensation has passed.

I am not sleeping well these days because I’m constantly tossing and turning and uncomfortable with my neck and my growing belly. On Wednesday night this last week because of the heartburn I was tossing and turning and feeling very nauseous.

Only 11 more weeks to go, I am so excited to meet William. I do wonder if it’s true that the more heartburn you have the more hair your child will have. This is quite interesting though, because both of my girls had a lot of hair and I had no heartburn with either of them.

 Lastly, I am very exhausted most days by 2 PM, and my body really requires a two hour nap every day. Every day that I do take a nap I always wake up just a little bit before the second hour has passed. I feel quite refreshed after.

Kitchen Renovation Part Two

We have more cabinets installed, one more addition coming over fridge.

Bathrooms have new countertop, no plumbing yet, so we’re upswing the half bath with the only usable sink!!

I’m so excited about how it’s all coming together!! 

This island is glorious...

Kitchen Renovation Part One

Today we begin our kitchen renovation, here are some pictures of what our kitchen looked like before. We decided that we wanted a larger island and to add more cabinets into our kitchen since it is relatively small in relation to our house. It will be nice to have one single slab of countertop rather than having an island with the raised bar around half of it. We are also adding a cabinet above the refrigerator and boxing in the refrigerator to match the cabinets. We are also having a  custom built over the sink shelf built and we will run a Light at the bottom of it so that we have more light at the sink.

We are excited to have the island which will extend 30” wide and 12 inches out from new cabinets. After all of that is done, we will be painting the cabinets white, modernizing the kitchen with a single farmhouse stainless sink as well. We are putting in a white back splash with some grey/white and black mosaic accents. I am also excited to have a garbage disposal button installed as well as a dish soap dispenser.

Last night Daniel and I prepped the kitchen by removing everything out of the bottom cupboards and he removed all of the appliances. Then we let each kid have a chance with a hammer to bang in the wall that will be coming down from the island.

Once all of the kitchen is finished, with the remaining granite that is left over we will be remodeling all of the bathrooms to match the same countertop as the kitchen, by installing square sinks which will also modernize them.

PREP:

Comparison - Pregnancy at 26-27 Weeks

Hannah

26 Weeks

Kathryn's Play-dough Date with Ama

 Kathryn has a special bond with my mom. 

She went over to Ama's house last week and she had a play-dough date. I just love the image below. Kathryn is in her element. 

1. Alone without siblings 

2. one on one time spent with Ama 

3. She was able to have some control in doing the recipe

Welcome Third Trimester - 27 Weeks with William Wesley

It's hard to believe we have 12 weeks left! 

I am feeling really good. The only complaint I have is that I am very tired by about 2PM and require a 2 hour nap. Lately, since school has been going still, I would put a movie on, and nap on the couch until Hannah got home. I've been doing really well to prepare meals ahead of time and always make a double batch so that I can freeze half of the meal, either partially cooked or cooked.

Hannah's Last Day of 3rd Grade

Hannah's last day of 3rd grade was bittersweet. 

She had a fun class party with pizza and drinks. She came home from school crying. Apparently many students were crying today. She was sad because she was going to miss her teachers and one in particular who won't be back next year. She had a great year. She made A/B Honor Roll all year and worked really hard to be successful. Her teachers were great about encouraging her to succeed! 

She loves Science and Math. She is a great writer and enjoys reading also. 

Kathryn's Booster Chair!

Look who is finally 40 lbs??

Kathryn has wanted to be heavy enough ever since she turned 4 year old, back in November, to be in a booster. We told her that she had to be 4 AND 40 lbs. 

Well, after 7 months, she is finally 40lbs, on the mark! 

She is ecstatic that she is now able to be like the "big kids", in a high back booster chair. 

See her excitement!

(photography courtesy of Jensen ;-)

26 Weeks with Baby G#4