39 weeks

We had two labor calls this past week.  My body is getting good practice for the birthday.  

My energy level is zero. 

Oh!  Turbo dropped!!!  I went to the chiropractor on Tuesday morning and Wednesday turbo decided he'd like to dive down into a new opened territory.  I can't imagine he likes it much down there.  I feel like I'm squashing his poor head a lot.

Prayers are appreciated.  Please pray for my grumpy spirit and the kids.  I love that they continue to love me and turbo.  

Welcome turbo!

Yesterday after volunteering in boo's 1st grade class I came home feeling very slow.  Everything was ... Slow.  And tight.  After getting home I realized that I was having contractions and their intensity was increasing.  

I broke the news to otter pop that I might just ruin his day-off plans by having a baby.  He didn't believe me.  After a little bit I told him that I thought I should call to move my 3:45 appointed up to see what the dr thought.  I wasn't sure I could wait until 3:45.  

So we did, we went in, and we're definitely confirmed to be in early labor already dialated to 3cm and 50% effaced and turbo was already sunk down to station 0!

This was all shocking since I'm usually a late bloomer!  I've never been dialated past a fingertip before 40 weeks that I can remember.  I will practice some effacement early, but nothing progressive!!!  The doc advised that we head to the hospital and see where we are in an hour.

Well, we weren't really ready for that.  At all!  With me being sick, we were actually behind schedule of any sort of readiness!!!  We went home, packed, showered, shaved, called plan a, b, and the birth photographer.  Made lunch for the kids, waited for the plan b to get off work and arrive, and by 2:30, FINALLY (in my patient little eyes), we headed in.  

I hadn't shown any progression and I could tell the contractions had simmered down.  So we walked.  

Then we checked again.  Nothing.  So we walked more until I was about to drop.  Finally at supper time, the told us to go walk elsewhere (just stay close), and see if the relief of leaving the hospital would help things progress.  We went to eat.  I was starved.  I only ate a handful of bites before I felt full and sick.  Also I should mention that I accidentally ordered really spicy food.  I'm not a huge fan of spicy food, so it really was an honest "mistake".  

Anyway, I got a real sick feeling.  We headed back to the hospital, I had a heart episode when we got there (just to walk around outside), and then felt exhaustion hit.  So otter pop got us a hotel room right near the hospital, ran me a bath, and we settled down for the night thinking we'd be back at the hospital soon.  

Well, the bed at the hotel was MUCH MORE COMFY than our nice bed at home and it was a very relaxing comfortable stay.  I had contractions and pee breaks all night, but nothing to keep me awake until 5am when I woke up feeling sick.

I barfed a little, paced a lot, whined, and tried to relax.  Finally falling back to sleep around 7.  

By 8:30 I was back awake.  Minor contractions, definitely not steady.  Nothing promising.  Pretty discouraged.

I'm not sure why, but when a girl gets her mind wrapped around having a baby... It's kinda sad when it doesn't happen just like that!  I mean, just the day before I was freaking out (relatively) about having a baby 2 weeks before 40 weeks!  

Anyway, we went to the chiropractor and got adjusted, went to target and bought some items that we knew we needed, and decided labor wasn't going to reappear soon.  So, now we're home.  Disappointedly (for the kids) with turbo still on my insides.  He's cute in there too though, don't you worry!  He'll make his appearance soon enough and we'll have a welcome home turbo post with good pictures...

38 weeks

I'm down to the last month!  The past few weeks have sucked, being really pretty sick.  But today I'm finally starting to feel like I'm starting to get better.  I'd like to ask for prayers of continued increase in physical health.  I will need full recovery in my health to accomplish this baby's birth in the best way.  (For instance, me being able to breathe without having to cough would be ideal!)

Also, I'd like to be well so that I can get maternity photos taken of me as a pretty mama... Not a looking-like-she's-gonna-die mama.  That's vain, I realize.  But I love my maternity pix of me and buttercup!  I think it's sweet to have good memories of pregnancy captured! 

Like these:  

 

Whatta week

Last week, in Monday, little Buttercup and Starboy struggled with a high fever throughout the day.  Tuesday, Boo decided to join in.  At night they'd have coughing fits, but for the most part it was just a struggling fever on and off.  

Tuesday night I could feel it coming on and OtterPop was quite certain we'd be taking a trip to the ER with the chorus of coughs sounding down the hallway.  Boo got so bad she sounded as if she was going to barf.  So, he asked me to please go take care of her.  I was shivering from head to toe and extremely tired, but after about five minutes of rolling, I rolled myself out of bed.  By that time I had decided that maybe it was a croupy cough and I'd try the outside sir.  Well, she was helping me outside as much as I was helping her!  After about ten minutes, we came in and turned on the hot shower for a steam treatment.  I wasn't sure if anything was working.  Frankly, I was quite out of it!  We went to the couch and I just told her to sleep sitting up.  I'm much too big for that, so o layed next to her.  We did fine the rest of the night, but the next morning I went to bed after binkles got off to school.  

I told the teens that they were in charge.  I was out that whole day.  Boo was reported to be fine after she woke up.  Binkles came home early with a temperature.  I didn't get out of bed much the next day either.  Finally on Friday, I had to do some running around before the weekend came, but I felt horrible being up and having to stay awake.  

Buttercup still was having off and on symptoms, and Danke started to complain about a headache on Friday.  

Saturday I got out of bed and ran a few errands without being completely exhausted.  Sunday was kinda the same.  But the better I got to feeling, the worse my congestion would get and like I posted last, my abs were killing me from all my coughing.  Sunday night I didn't even get more than 3 hours of sleep because my lungs were crackling so bad or I was coughing so violently.  I was actually super excited that I was going to see the dr at 10:45!  Well, the dr got sick and had to cancel. OtterPop knew how little I was sleeping because we share a room ... And a bed.  Anyway, he boarded me off and made the house quiet so I could get some more sleep.  We tried to get the pillows situated to where I could sit up and sleep.  It worked.  I got a few more hours.  

This was last evening.  While the girls went to track, I went to the drug store to find something for my cough.  My abs were beyond sore at this point.  They actually felt like I had torn a muscle coughing.  I'm not kidding either.  Every cough was ripping it more and more.  So I found some multi-symptom cough relief and tried it.  We had our last birth class last night.  Halfway through I could tell  that it was helping.  After class OtterPop takes me out for dinner and although I hadn't been able to taste good for 4 days, I tasted something finally!  I was beginning to think we had a solution.  We came home, went to bed and slept great in the 4 hour increments that the medicine covered.  I took 3 doses total.  This morning when the 6:30 alarm went off, I was happy to get out of bed.  Compared to the past week, I felt so rested!!!!  

And then I started to feel itchy.  Everywhere.  I lifted my clothes and my skin looked fine, but it was very itchy.  My neck get red first , but I could tell I was just crawling with histamines.  I took some lemon, lavender, and peppermint.  Waited.  Nothing.  So I seeked out our old "just in case" stash of Benedryl we keep for Wolfie.  Brand new, by the way.  Thank you oils, for working for her!!!!  I waited.  Still nothing.  Hmmmm...  By this time all the kids were off yo school, so I decided to lay down.  All of a sudden I really felt tired.  

Oh my gosh Benedryl is horrible!!!!  I took the little ones back to my room, flipped in the tv for them and I was asleep in seconds!  Buttercup joined me and starboy was happy to have the choices all up to him.  He woke me up at 11:30 asking for lunch.  We got up, made lunch, ate it, and after that I was ready for quiet time.  Seriously.  

We slept for another hour and a half and then finally we got up and got dressed and got ready for the day.  At 2:00pm!  

Crazy day!  Crazy week!  And now I'm back in bed coughing my lungs out again.  Wheezing with every breath...  Please pray for my health.  Please pray for sweet turbo!  Buttercup really is hanging in there with me through this all. She's not complaining nearly as much as I am, but she's sleeping a lot!  I'm sure she's not feeling well.  Please pray for her too.  

I'll keep you updated.  I see the dr tomorrow.  

37 weeks

My abs (yes, there definitely is muscle in that large bump!) feel as if I've been on a crunchy/sit-up marathon for three days straight!!!!!  I hope I have a six-pack after turbo comes out!  Hahahahahshaha!

I've been sick since Tuesday and coughing my shrunken little lungs out since, along with a high, miserable fever for tues-thurs.  the cough attacks have been a work out on my stomach muscles!  Last night I finally thought of using deep blue on them and ohhhhhhhhhh... It felt sooooooooo good!

Here's the other thing I've never experienced, that I'm experiencing with this cold:  I am so completely congested, that I have zero sense of smell.  No big deal, until dinner time and I can't taste ANYTHING!!!!!!  Seriously, I can't even taste candy (I tried).  Coffee either.  

I ordered my birth oils to help with delivery, postpartum, and baby.  They came and I was excited to smell the new oils.... And nothing.  The black pepper didn't even budge it's way through.  Crazy, I know.  I wonder if I'll loose weight this week because honestly eating isn't very enjoyable without taste!!!

This belly pic is me today (Sunday).  Have a great week!

Turbo charged

Time for trims!!!!

Happy Easter & weekend

We've been enjoying a lovely Spring Break.  Two weeks ago (on buttercup's birthday-week), Binkles had her week-long spring break.  It was nice to have her home and get a lower ratio of parent-to-kid time with her.  

That Thursday, the other kids started their 2-1/2 week-long spring break.  By mid-day Friday I was pretty sure that I was in over my head.  I was exhausted and cranky and just felt like I could handle no more (emotionally, physically, or especially mentally)!  I was in tears and humbled myself to call and try to recruit help.  No such luck, buck!  So, I went to bed early and prayed for more of Him and less of me.  

We had a fine weekend and then followed it with an alright week of most-the-kids home (everyone except binkles). The youngest ones are enjoying extra time with their favorites!  We've gone to the library twice and have been reading quite a bit.  It's been pretty beautiful weather too.

On Wednesday we decided to finally put our hot tub on Craigslist.  We wanted to just dump it, but were given advice that hot tubs sell like hot cakes, so I listed it for $300.  That evening, otter and his good friend removed it from our beautiful back deck.  OtterPop's good friend, "bro", just moved to our area.  He's been spending lots of time with us as he looks for a job and has no family in town.  We've been getting project after project done with the extra hands!!!  Bro was right about the hot cakes because By Thursday morning we had 2 very interested buyers and that evening it left our property and we were $150 richer.  I didn't feel right selling it when we didn't know how it'd work for the next guy around, so I told them $150 could take it.  I can't believe we got paid for someone to haul it away.  God provides.

The next day, I had Wolfe throw some extra paving bricks we had piled around our lilac bush into the hot tub's place.  I have always wanted a fire pit, and the spot is perfect.  I mean, it's kinda close to the house, but with a proper pit, it's perfect.  

The size of the missing tub was also a perfect size for a sand box. It kinda looked like that's what was 'posed to be there.  But I hate sand.  It's messy.  We'd have to do baths every night if we had a sand box.  And then our drains would for surely get filled with sand and we'd have done dirt of plumbing issue.  Sand boxes are for the beach.  That's all.  

Anyway, this past weekend, we got started on the pit.  We had enough leftover bricks for two full circles and a half of another.  I wanted three though.  And otter pop wanted to build a nice bench around the pit.  So off to lowe's we went with measurements and ideas.  We spent just over $100 for the extra bricks and building materials.  We got free gravel to pour down on the bottom and used some extra lava rocks for inside the pit-bottom.  So far, it looks awesome!!!!!!!

Also this past weekend, the girls had their second track meet.  Binkles really excels in long distances while Boo is quite a fast little sprinter.  I think her best event is the 200, but maybe it's the 100.  Danke likes the triple jump.

Otter Pop's aunt and uncle came to have a short vacation and visit for a week.  They arrived Saturday evening and on Easter morning we all met at church to celebrate Christ's resurrection together.  Bro also joined us.  

Afterwards we all came to our house for a great big Easter BBQ.  Uncle frank helped Otter out with the electrical issue we created when the guys tore the hot tub out.  We had BBQ'd chicken, BLT pasta salad, broccoli salad, my famous baked potato salad, Hawaiian rolls, chips, and pies and ice cream for dessert.  It was awesome!  -Even with all the rain and mud (hot tub project IN PROCESS!!!).-

I hope you all had a wonderful celebration.  Christ is risen.  We are saved.  Hallelujah!  Happy Easter.

36 weeks