OB appointment update

2 cm dilated and 80% effaced! The doctor seemed to think I wouldn't make it to next week and she thinks labor will be fast (that would be a first!). Here's hoping!! (I'll be 39 weeks on Friday, in case you were wondering.)

Superdad!

I don't really have much of an update (38 weeks today!) but everyone on Facebook got such a kick out of this picture, I figured I'd post it here in honor of Father's Day.

Introducing........SUPERDAD!

(And lest you think I'm the laziest pregnant mom in the history of the world, he insisted on carrying both of them this way while he mowed. Kirk was crying because he wanted to be with his daddy and then Shiphrah got jealous because she wasn't being carried around like Kirk.)

Needless to say, they were all very stinky and sweaty by the time they came in, but it was so cute while it lasted! ♥

Ready to pop...

Please excuse the tired, naked face...I haven't felt much like wearing make-up in weeks. Speaking of weeks, I'm just about 37 1/2 weeks along and feel about ready to explode! Some days are better than others...today has been one of those days that I feel like the baby's just going to fall out of me. In fact, some of the pressure and contractions tonight have made me wonder if I should start packing my hospital bag. They're slowing down a bit now though, so I think I'm okay.

That's about it...just wanted to give a quick update. There was no dilation at my last check-up () so I'm trying not to get my hopes up for this next one (Wednesday morning) either. With Kirk though I was dilated 1 cm at 37 weeks, 2 cm at 38, and 3 cm at 39. (I had him on my due date.) So I very well might go all the way, or longer, again.

Counting down the days!

Just a little over three weeks to go! I have my first cervix check at my doctor's appointment tomorrow and I am SO hoping that I've at least made a little progress. I've been having Braxton Hicks every evening like crazy for the past couple of weeks and have felt a lot of lower pressure so I'm hoping that's my body getting ready. I know I'll survive if I go all the way to my due date or beyond, but I can't wait to hold my baby boy (who is still unnamed) in my arms!

As of tomorrow, we will also be the owners of a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country LX minivan! We have completely depleted our savings account to make this purchase, but we got a really good deal on it so I'm excited! Well, not so sure how excited I am to already be driving a minivan (I'm only 26!) but it's one step closer to being ready for my little boy to come. Now we just have to sell my car to pay off the personal loan we took out temporarily to pay for the minivan (we had several offers on my car before we decided to do that, so it wasn't really that much of a risk). I'll miss my little Echo...it's been my car since just before I turned 17 so it's seen me through long drives to visit my love and trips to and from college. So many life-events have happened in the past nine years, it's kind of bittersweet to lose a piece of history like my first car. Not to be too sentimental over a car or anything.

Well, I need to eat dinner before Kirk wakes up from his nap (he's back to needing a second one lately...not sure why, unless it's because his molars are coming in). Then I need to feed both of the munchkins and see if I can muster up enough energy to make it through the rest of the evening.

5 more weeks...

...seems like an eternity. I have begun to laugh out loud when people tell me, "well, enjoy being pregnant, soon you will have a newborn and then you'll be exhausted!" It makes me jealous that all these women seemed to enjoy pregnancy so much, whereas I, I feel like I'm dying. Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I am miserable. I know in my heart of hearts that this little boy will be so much healthier if he stays inside me a bit longer, but I am so ready to be done! I'm utterly exhausted every single day. Seriously, I slept nearly nine hours last night, took a 45-minute nap today, laid around on the couch all day (well, as much as my toddlers would let me), and I'm still completely worn out. My hips and stomach muscles are totally shot...some days it's nearly impossible to walk; it's literally painful to lay down in bed at night. I can't eat anymore...my stomach has no room and everything sounds disgusting. I'm having contractions constantly...Braxton Hicks, regular ones...they're so random and interspersed that it's impossible to tell them apart anymore. Honestly I'll be surprised (and probably will have gone insane) if I make it another five weeks. I can honestly say this has been the hardest pregnancy out of the three. I think having two other young children automatically qualifies it as tougher, but I've also gained a lot more weight this time (which I think is why my muscles are shot) and feel 10 times larger than the last two. (I'm up to 120...from 83 pre-pregnancy. My first pregnancy I weighed 106 when Shiphrah was born and with Kirk I weighed 116 when he was born.) Oh how I long to hold my baby boy in my arms instead of in my uterus! Sleepless nights are so preferred to this form of torture.

Okay, end whine.

Sorry about that...I really am grateful for the miracle of life that God has blessed me with...and I am thrilled about having another little baby join our family in a few weeks. And I know once I hold my baby boy in my arms, I'll be really glad I did it.