38 Weeks!

I know it's been a while since I posted, sorry! Everything is going well - I'm just SO ready to have this baby! I had a checkup today, and I'm now 2 cm dilated and 30% effaced. My doctor gave me a 50/50 shot of going into labor on my own before my induction. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! That would be GREAT. Now that it's (essentially) December, I'm trying every trick in the book to jumpstart labor! Tonight I ate some pineapple and did the Wii Hula Hoop for about half an hour. Let me tell you - that thing is crazy! You basically have one long contraction the whole time you're hooping! I think that's going to end up being a key weapon in my arsenal. :) Either way, it won't be long, only 13 days to go!

33 Week Appointment & Ultrasound

Everything is great!!

The baby looks great, is measuring in the 32nd percentile (!! small!!) at 4.5 pounds. Estimating 7.5-8 pounds at birth. Man, would I take that! I've heard this before though, they were estimating about that same thing before Kate was born. Heart rate was 126 bpm. SO low! I can't get over it! Kate's was ALWAYS in the 170's. The best news is that my fluid levels looked great, so yay!

The baby is adorable, and definitely has his/her big sister's chubby cheeks.

They also noted that this baby has a ton of thick hair! YAY!

The only "iffy" thing about the appointment was that my blood pressure was a little higher than it has been the whole pregnancy, so he said that the weekly visits usually start in 2 weeks, but he's going to start them now just to keep an eye on it. So, I can't believe it! 6 weeks to go!

It's Time to Vote!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! Fall is always a busy time, and this time around it's even busier getting ready for a new baby! I will be 33 weeks tomorrow, and we even have an induction scheduled for December 13! I created another ExpectNet guessing game, so you can guess the gender and arrival time of the baby! See the link to your left. I'll also post here. Can't wait to see everyone's guesses!

Potty Training Days 3 & 4

Well, we did it!!! The potty training "course" I used was a 3-day course, so we finished up yesterday! Here's a recap of Day 3:

7:15 am - Woke up ALMOST dry! Had a BIG pee on the potty as soon as she got up! Put on first panties of the day.
~10:30 am - Picked her up from her class at church. Her panties were slightly damp. Her teachers said she they had taken her to the potty a couple times, but she wasn't able to go.
11:15 am - Big pee on potty!
12:05 pm - Big pee on potty!
3:30 pm - Woke up from her nap DRY! Wouldn't pee on toilet.
3:37 pm - Big pee on potty!
7:02 pm - Big pee on potty!

So, we only went through 2 pairs of panties! And I don't really count the incident at church as an accident - it was only a couple drops in her panties, not a full blown accident. So she was ALMOST accident-free for Day 3. I'd say we made probably 10-15 false alarm potty trips. So amazing. I can't believe we did it!

Day 4:

We used today as a day to try to segway back into the real world. She goes back to daycare tomorrow, so I wanted today to feel like every day for the rest of her life will be! Instead of having her run around in a shirt and panties, we put bottoms back on today. In addition, we went to visit Kate's friend Jaelyn who is also potty training! It was so much fun to have them together, alternating trips to the potty. :) I didn't take any notes on the day, mainly because I didn't need to! Kate is a rock star. She has this down pat, and has been accident free again today! Not even an "incident!" Clean panties all day long. She tells me when she needs to go, and we go!

I am SO proud of my big girl, and I can't believe we did it! She is potty trained!

In baby news, today I have 100 days left! Yikes!! Time is flying!

Potty Training Day 2

Ahhh, bedtime. This is so much work constantly being on top of your toddler all day! You just breathe a sigh of relief at bedtime. The baby doesn't like me being so busy - I've had a lot of BH contractions the last 2 days!

We made progress today! A couple accidents, but a couple other huge successes as well. Here was our day.

7:30 am - Woke up with a wet pull-up. Wouldn't pee on potty, then we put on first panties of the day.
10:00 am - Accident on master bedroom floor. Wouldn't pee on potty afterwards.
10:15 am - Big pee on potty!
10:38 am - Big pee on potty!
11:06 am - Pee on potty!
11:46 am - Big pee on potty!
1:00 pm - Naptime. Put her down in a pullup.
3:15 pm - Woke up from nap a little wet, and poop in pullup.
4:18 pm - Pee in Potty!
4:57 pm - Small POOP in the potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (First poop in potty!!!!!)
5:53 pm - Small drop of pee in panties, wouldn't pee on toilet.
7:01 pm - Drop of pee in panties, BIG pee in potty!
7:20 pm - Poop and small pee in panties. Yuck. Changed her into pullup for the night.
7:52 pm - Bedtime

So, I would consider today to have had 2 accidents - this morning, and then the poop in her panties this evening. I was REALLY optimistic until we ended on a low, that accident. I know I shouldn't be down about it because it's only Day 2, and this is really to be expected. I am still just THRILLED that she pooped in the potty at all!! What a big girl! She certainly didn't like it, but she did it. I consider that second accident my fault. With this potty training method, you are supposed to be with them at ALL times. By their side at every waking moment. I was so tired this evening that I was sitting on the couch when I realized I hadn't "heard" from her in about 2 minutes. Well, that was long enough for her to sneak off and poop in her panties. If I had been there, I could have caught it and re-directed her to the potty. So, my fault. I guess that's why I'm down about it too, it probably could have been prevented. Lesson learned! But we only went through 4 pairs of panties today, compared to yesterday's what, 9? That is already huge progress! And we had 2 accidents compared to 7 successful potty attempts, so that is great. AND, I feel like we probably made only about 15-20 "false alarm" potty attempts compared to yesterday's ~30. Things are clicking. She's getting it!

I'm a little nervous about going to church tomorrow. For now the plan is to take her in a pair of panties, bring a couple changes of clothes, and hope for the best! Just last week her "class" graduated up a room, so they should be used to working with potty training kids in there. I have a pullup packed for her if all else fails.

One other interesting side effect of this potty training business is that it has made Kate VERY emotional. I'm sure it's just because there are so many changes happening, and I'm sure this is stressful for her to go through, but wow. Mostly she is very very needy of my affection, love, and touch. She is REALLY not that kind of girl - sure she loves to give occasional hugs and kisses, but she is in almost constant need of my affection. It's actually pretty sweet. In between trips to the potty she just wants me to hold her. However, on the other end of the emotions, if things don't go JUST right or a toy doesn't open the right way or if I tell her "no" about anything, she loses it in an ABSOLUTE tantrum. So this is an interesting change to observe in my usually calm, cool, and collected girl.

Here is bonus picture of Kate from today. First day of Sooner Football!! :)

Potty Training Day 1

I've never felt in a huge rush to get Kate potty trained or anything, but I've had lots of people tell me they thought she was ready lately. That combined with the fact that I was going to be home all weekend with no plans (Friday through Monday) I figured what better time to at least give it a try?? So, we buckled down and gave it our best shot.

This is going to be boring, but I know I'm going to want this recorded somewhere, so here it is.

~9:30 am - First Panties
10:20 am - Accident - pee on my dress shoes and nursery floor
10:35 am - Partial accident in booster seat, coloring. Finished by TINY pee in toilet!!!! (Her first time ever!!)
10:40 am - Tiny dot of pee on her panties, she told me she had to go. A FULL pee in the potty!!
10:45 am - Tiny dot of pee on panties, she caught herself, and had a tiny pee in toilet.
12:00 - 12:15 pm - A cluster of 3 huge accidents on the floor! I got so discouraged. 1 successful small pee in the potty in between accidents.
12:21 pm - Small pee in potty
12:35 pm - BIG pee in potty!!
1:00 pm - Nap Time
3:20 pm - Woke up from nap DRY!
3:25 pm - BIG pee in potty!! No accident or even drops in panties!
5:32 pm - Small drop of pee in panties, wouldn't pee on potty.
6:50 pm - BIG pee on potty!!
7:40 pm - Put her to bed
7:50 pm - Called for me that she wanted to go pee. Set her on the toilet, and she went!! After that, straight back to bed with no fuss.

So she had no accidents from naptime on!! (I don't really count drops in the panties as an accident as long as she is catching herself and stopping it!) We went through 9 pairs of panties today. And in between all of these events, we made at LEAST 30 "false alarm" trips. We're going with the route where I'm having her tell me when she has to go, so everytime she says, we go. (Like every time she had to toot, etc.) So it seems she is still (obviously) trying to figure out all the signals her body is giving her, and what feeling means what!

So I have no idea what true success is, but I think this is pretty good for Day 1! We're definitely going to keep it up tomorrow! She is SO proud every time she goes, it's so cute.

23 Week Update

Now that I'm halfway to 24... But oh well, I'm home now from a trip to Minnesota so I have time to post!

My appointment was good, pretty low-key and quick! First of all, I gained 7 pounds in the last 4 weeks! :faints: Looks like I'm making up for the 15 I lost. Oh well! I asked my doctor if he could tell what position the baby was in by feeling my belly and he said that in general he can, and he'd check. Not that it'd make a difference - it can and will change 10 seconds after he does it. (which I knew!) But I was just curious (and I admit, partially worried) that the baby was breech and facing inside because seriously ALL of my "kicks" were very low and to the inside. I couldn't feel hardly anything with my hand on the outside of my belly, and all my interior organs were getting beat up constantly!

He palpated around, and said that he couldn't even feel the baby without really digging in and hurting me, it was buried so deep inside! So he didn't even want to speculate on position.

They also sent me off to my 1 hr glucose test. I was a little worried about that this time, because of the sugar "scare" we'd had at my last appointment.

Well, I got a call (while shopping at the Mall of America hehe ) on Friday that I had passed! Woohoo!

Also, I think the baby has flipped or flopped or something! All those low, interior bumps and kicks are about 90% gone, and I am feeling a TON through my belly up by my ribs now! Almost constant! So much fun. :) All my friends got to feel the baby over the weekend, so that was fun.

My only complaint is the reflux. With Kate, I only had it occasionally, and especially after certain foods. This time, it's constant all day every day. Thank God for Zantac and Gaviscon!

I think that's about it - can't believe I'll be 24 weeks in a few days!