Nothing New Except a Name

There is nothing more frustrating than thinking you'll have a baby and then nothing . . . Ahhhhh. It's a good thing - but I'm ready, Jared's ready, the kids are ready, too bad this baby isn't ready!! No real changes in contractions, a little more uncomfortable at night, and more frequent trips to the bathroom - but seriously, nothing. Waiting is so frustrating!! I called Monica a few days ago and she asked, "So have you had the baby yet?" I laughed and told her that she would be one of the first people to know. Too bad it doesn't work like that!!

We've at least we've decided on a name - although until it is on the birth certificate - it could change!! So, here it is: Cannon Clayton Carter. Yeah! Now that he has a name - he can come (does it work like that??) - I hope so! Well another doctor's appointment on Wednesday, but I'll be hopeful for a baby before that!!

Doctor Update

It was another doctor's appointment today! I feel like the whole doctor's staff is family by now! I guess that's what you get when you see them so often! Well, I'm dialated to a 2, 70% thinned out and the baby is still very low. I'm measuring 38 weeks but will only be 36 weeks on Saturday. Hopefully that's a good sign and not a sign of a 10 pound baby (who still has no name). The doctor seemed optimistic that the baby's lungs would be enough developed - and seemed to think that he would see me before my appointment next week. Although my mom is determined that I make it another week - so I'm back in Logan, taking it easy. I guess we'll see what this baby has in mind - since I've yet to be able to 'plan' when a baby wants to come! I joked that today would be a good day, since it's my brother's birthday. She quickly informed me that my grandpa's birthday on the 28th would be better.

Now - we've got to come up with a name. We've tossed around so many that I can't remember what I really liked that what I didn't. Nothing seems to fit just right. Maybe we really will have to put names in a hat and draw one out. That's what I get for having another boy!

Family Pictures

Here's the picture of my siblings! My brother is home for a short leave during his tour in Iraq in the army. We are very excited to see him and his wife. They both are doing great! It would have been nice if I wasn't pregnant - since pregnancy pictures are so glamorous!! But, hey, it's a family picture!!

I'm still having contractions - but nothing else is happening. It's so frustrating . . . I go back to the doctor tomorrow. I guess we'll see what happens then.

Jerrick and Legos

Jerrick is always providing us with great entertainment (at least in hindsight!). I'm still in Logan so I called my family to get an update. Monica is thrilled - she got her braces off! Yeah! That was the positive news, the not so positive news was Jerrick got a lego stuck up his nose at his friend's house. Any parents nightmare to have this happen to someone else's child at their house. (Sorry Mary Lue) Hopefully by now, most of you know that we are not terribly obsessive parents - we're happy it happened to our child and not someone else's at our house! So Jared brings him home, tries tweezers, too large for those small nostrils! Then he tried needle nose pliers - still not working. They finally tried blowing his nose with the one nostril not clogged, closed. Amazingly it worked great! It's sad to think that I missed out on this fun! But I sure did have a good laugh thinking of it!

Much fewer contractions now that I'm taking it easy. Amazing how that works! Occassional contractions and some pressure but it definately has mellowed. I'm slowly getting there. I'm officially 35 weeks today. Hopefully I'll make it another week or two, although I'm miserably pregnant. Walking hurts, sitting hurts, laying down is uncomfortable, I have too many complaints. I should just be happy to be making it one more day. One more day closer to a healthy baby that doesn't need to be in the NICU. Sometimes it's hard to keep the big picture in perspective. I guess, just one day at a time!

More Pregnancy Updates . . .

Another week being pregnant has come and gone - which is good, although I am so ready to be done! The bad news is that I'm starting to dialate, although just to a 1, but things can change way too quickly! I'm already 30% thinned out and the baby is sitting at a -3 position. (I thought a -2 was as low as the baby would get before being here - I guess I was wrong!).

My parents were gracious enough to meet us at Knolls last night to bring me up to their house. It's been calming and it's nice to sit in a clean house and not worry about what needs to be done! I brought Ryker with me and he's been some good entertainment - that and my parent's dog, James. They were both anxious that I get up this morning, no sleeping in! Ryker told me, "It's light outside - time to get up."

My contractions have definately slowed down, so hopefully I'll be able to make it to the 25th, if not a little longer (I hate saying that) - but it would be nice to bring the baby home with me and not leave him in the hospital. I guess now would be a good time to start the 'Twilight' series. My sisters have all the books - and I have all the time in world!

Jerrick gets his staples out today - I'm not sure what Jared will say when I ask him to save them for Jerrick's scrapbook - he'll probably just roll his eyes and agree. By now, he's learned not to argue with a pregnant woman! Monica gets her bottom braces off tomorrow - hard to believe that she's had them on for 13 months - where does the time go?

We had an appointment yesterday with Gunnar's doctor and learned that he will continue to struggle learning how to read if taught the 'phonics' way. He needs a visual reading program. He excels in learning the visual way - and we need to focus on that. Basically he needs to memorize each of the words and not worry about sounding them out and putting all of the sounds together. It's a new approach for us to reading, but the doctor guaranteed us that it would help him read better and feel much more successful at school. Definately worth a try!

Pregnancy Update

Bed rest (even partial bed rest) is lame. I've hung out on the couch most of today, watched lots of t.v., mostly flipping through channels, started reading a book, checked me e-mail at least five times, and starting make a list of all the things I still need to do to get ready for this baby!

I finally admitted to myself that it's time to take it easy - yes, this is a shock for those of you that know me. I hate to slow down, I felt incredibly guilty today while Jared picked up the house while I sat here. I had some killer contractions Thursday and yesterday and thought I might need to go to the hospital. I would really like to avoid another premature baby. I figure, I've been there, done that, hated it, would rather avoid it! So the plan is to take it easy - and see the doctor again on Wednesday. If I start dialating I'm going to head to Logan to stay with my parents at least until I'm 36 weeks - I dread the thought of having a baby in the middle of nowhere. I barely made it to the hospital with Jerrick and I really don't want a baby born at any mile marker on I-80!! Especially a premie!

At least we're getting closer. Hopefully we'll all survive!!

Staples

This pregnancy is killing me! Now - how does this relate to staples. Well, you'll have to read the ranting and raving of a crazy pregnant woman to figure it out!! I made an impromptu doctor's appointment because I'm having a lot of contractions, a lot of pressure and seriously and overwhelming feeling that this just sucks! Luckily, after my appointment today - I am not dialated, but that is about all the good news. My doctor told me that the baby is already at a -2 position, he could come any time now and I really should be spending as much time laying down as I can. Did he mean bed rest? I didn't ask. He also told me that if I could just make it to September 25th, that would be ideal - although he did allude that he could see me sooner, it wouldn't suprise him - definately not a good sign. So, my vision was to come home, put my feet up and boss my children into cleaning the house and making their own dinner. (Okay, I am living in a dream world!)

Not more than 30 minutes from getting home - this happens . . .



Jerrick was trying to put down the back of a 4-wheeler trailer (by himself), which weighs at least 50 lbs and it slipped and it hit him on the head. Of course, all the neighbor kids were around and ran in ahead of Jerrick informing me of all the blood that was gushing out of his head. It was pretty bad - but after all, head wounds tend to bleed a lot. It was gashed open pretty good which in the end required 4 staples. Here's the aftermath . . .



Well, it was a good thought to take it easy!! Maybe tomorrow, after I take Gunnar to a doctor's appointment in Salt Lake!

Back to the Dark Ages

I went home today for lunch - Jared worked graveyard last night and Ryker was in charge. Okay, Jared was really sort of awake but trying to get in some sleep. When I pulled into the drive way and hit the garage door button, nothing happened - so I hit it several more times. Still, nothing happened. Frustrated, I decided I didn't really need to pull into the garage. So after going into the house - there is no sign of my child . . . although the husband is snoring loudly. He came into the house a few minutes later and told me he had been playing with Daisy (the dog).

I started making some lunch but ran into an interesting dilema - no power to the microwave . . . huh? Ryker giggles and tells me he knows what's wrong. We go outside to the breaker box and turn on 2/3rds of the breakers that he's turned off - amazing, now things work, including the garage door. We woke dad up and let him know that the power has returned (not sure he even noticed) and I was going back to work. Seriously, a 3 year old should not know where the breaker box is, let alone, know how to turn them on and off . . .

What . . .

From the avid scrapbooker - I swore I wouldn't create a blog - after all, who really has time? I figured that as long as I scrapbook my pictures I would be doing great! Too bad that really isn't the case - I am so far behind. Poor Monica is probably 10 years behind. Oh well! Life is crazy, busy and just passes by so quickly I'm not sure how we manage some days! So, this is my feeble attempt at an online journal to help keep everyone up to date on our family (with a few pictures mixed in here and there!).