Ring Sling

Today I received this ring sling in the mail, made by my Grandma. I love love love it! We selected fabric (a neutral stripe suiting material with a cloud-soft white inner strip) a couple weeks ago when she was visiting us here in Durham and then she took it home to sew. I am so grateful for her work on this and it's definitely a quality sling that I can't wait to use with baby Sam. Thank you Grandma!

32 weeks - by Holly

I'm feeling backed into a corner with this pregnancy. Ever since I started the third trimester, I have felt super tight on space in my belly and have also had what I think are pretty ridiculous digestion pains. Both of which are normal, but not necessarily common at this stage.

Regarding space, I'm measuring on track and my weight gain is also going very well. The NP I saw at my 30 week check up felt the baby was head down but then we had our "keepsake ultrasound" and found that Baby Sam is still very much head up (which is what has been pushing on my rib cage). At my check up this morning I saw a different doc who concluded that if the baby is head up, his bum is sitting very low in my pelvis, which is why the NP thought is was the head. They'll be doing an ultrasound in 2 weeks to determine Sam's position and if he's still head up at 36 weeks we need to start talking about how we will address his breech position. It's more normal for babies to move to a head down position by now because it's a better use of their space... I think this is why I'm soo uncomfortable.

Regarding food, I have to seriously limit what I eat or else I will have miserable heartburn/acid reflux/nausea (yay pregnancy!). I'm down to foods that are in a pure form--NO spices or seasoning. Vitamins make me sick. I only have caffeine in the morning (coffee) and sodas have been out for a while now. I'm too low on iron. If it doesn't come up, it's more likely I will need a blood transfusion after giving birth. NO THANKS! I need to get more vitamins but my body is seriously fighting it. Looks like the only thing left to do is suck it up and be sick a lot...

Thus my feeling backed into a corner. But I keep thinking about Thanksgiving dinner (Sam will be out by then) and I can have space to enjoy a delicious meal!!! --With a cute little newborn of course. Except for the little part. ;)

Re-scan

This morning I had my re-scan session at Prenatal Peek in order to get some better images. While Sam's orientation was good (face forward), his position was definitely worse for imaging--shoved against the top of my uterus and behind the placenta.This left no space for amniotic fluid between the womb and his face which meant the 3d imaging couldn't distinguish between the layers (uterine wall vs baby). This does explain the pressure I've had on the right side of my rib cage; his noggin is waaay up in there!  And oh yeah, his foot and hand were still up by his head. What a silly boy!

head is bottom left, foot going up and down, calf is diagonal, light spot in the bottom right is his thigh

Pics of Sam

Today we did a non-medical (just for fun) ultrasound session. This pregnancy has been very challenging for me and we thought it could be encouraging to get some pics of Sam in the womb. He kept himself in profile the entire time with a foot and hand up to his face. No matter how much poking, prodding, nudging, etc. HE WOULD NOT MOVE. :) Stubborn already... I should have known. They will do another complimentary scan Monday morning and hopefully we can get some better shots. Here are the top 3 from today:

sticking his tongue out

Interviews

I always love reading preschool interviews, so I've decided to interview my own two now that school has started.

So you're going to school?
Will: Yeah. (smiles)
Elana: Yes!

Is this your first time?
Will: Not really.
Elana: Yes!

Who are your teachers?
Will: I don't know... [Who give you lessons?] I do lessons all by myself. I don't need help.
Elana: I don't know... Miss Audrey

Can you name two kids in your class?
Will: Uh... Evan and Zara... but Evan and Jacob weren't there today but Zara was.
Elana: No.

What's your favorite thing to do at school?
Will: I like to paint!
Elana: I like to play with girls and I like to play outside and I like to play inside and I like snack.

Do you ever feel sad? If so, why?
Will: Yeah, when nobody plays with me.
Elana: Yes. Cause everyone else is different than me. They don't look the same as me.

Any goals for the year?
Will: Uh sandpaper letters and I don't know. I'm coloring a map right now. I painted the paint boxes!
Elana: I want to get a gold medal for cleaning up!

30 weeks!

Today I am 30 weeks along! We've started preparing for baby Sam (Samuel Hudson) by putting together the crib, picking up a few 0-3 mo clothes (our other boy clothes start at 6mo), and washing/assembling the cloth diapers. For now we put the crib in Will's room. We don't expect it to get used very often but Will asked if baby Sam's bed could be in his room and I think this is a great way for Will to start developing care/acceptance/respect for his little brother. We will also have a bassinet set up in our bedroom.

The rest of the va-ca - by Holly

Now that both Will and Elana are in preschool (whoa!) I have some quiet time to post more pictures from our Michigan trip:

On the first flight. Notice how Elana is trying to talk to her daddy, who is ignoring her because he's too busy reading. He does the same thing to me. ;) ha ha!

Waiting to board the next plane in Detroit.

Riding the ferry to Mackinac Island.

Carriage ride through town to our hotel

Pulling up to the Grand Hotel

Elana having her morning "tea" (water).

Front of the hotel.

Will and Grandpa Bill at the playground.

The ladies at the playground.

Our tea party honoring Rachel's recent marriage!

 

Inside the barn where Edie took some of us on a carriage ride.

Cute street on the island.

Fort Mackinac.

The governor's house.

Downtown.

The rehearsal dinner location.

Ceremony time!

I think this picture is hilarious! 

yum

The happy couple!