11 Days Left

I had my 38 week check up today and found out that I am still 70% effaced but now 4cm dilated. My OB said that my effacement would not change until I go into labor but that I could possible dilate one more centimeter before my labor starts. I am still feeling as good as I can be at 38 weeks so I
do not think Britt will come until next week.

In the mean time I have most of my Hospital bag packed and have a check list of what I need to add once we are ready to go.

I have chosen Katy Perry's Roar as my theme song for this labor along with this quote "she believed she could, so she did."  I feel much more prepared for my second labor and am looking forward to snuggling with my baby boy very soon!

38 Weeks, Our Weekend, Baby Watch

Yesterday I hit my 38 week mark and today with 13 days to go I really want to make it to full term but part of me is tired and ready to have this baby.  I have 6 more days until February 1st and I think that Britt is going to wait until at least then until he makes his appearance.  I somehow received a boost of energy over the weekend and had one of the most productive weekends since my pregnancy.  I made two meals, lasagne and chicken pot pie, which is huge because I really cannot remember the last time I did cook a meal.  I also went both Saturday and Sunday without taking an afternoon nap.  This is also a big deal for me because I have been squeezing in as much shut eye as possible. 

Friday night Travis picked Ava up from school and told her she was spending the night at Nana and Papa's.  She was so excited and ran out of her classroom and headed to the car. On the way out two teachers were talking by the door about their plans to go shopping and Ava looked at them and said, "I am not going shopping, I am going to Nana and Papa's!"  

I had not made any plans for the weekend since we are on baby watch but on Saturday we planned an afternoon of bowling with some friends and their sweet daughters.  Ava has not seen them since November but when I mentioned that we were going to see Lily and Piper she got so excited and talked about them the entire ride to the bowling alley.  Ava enjoyed the evening and we ended it with dinner where we grabbed some pizza which topped off the day for Ava.  She really loves these girls and being silly with them.

On another Ava note, she really has taken an interest into cooking with us.  As I mentioned Travis has been cooking our meals for us.  The last couple of weeks Ava has been helping him cook by adding the seasoning and stirring.  Yesterday when I was making the lasagne she went into the dining room to bring in a chair and helped me for 30 minutes by adding the cut vegetables into the pan, stirring the onions and adding all of the seasoning.  She does very well at listening and knowing what pans are hot and not to touch.  This evening after dinner she mentioned she wanted to cook with Mommy and while I did not have anything to prepare, I went ahead and had her make her lunch for school tomorrow.  We made the classic PB&J and she spread the peanut butter and jelly and then put the sandwich together and after I cut the pieces up she put them in a bowl and placed it in her lunch box.  I cannot believe that she is only 2 years old and wanting to help out so much.  I love my little girl and now sous chef.

15 Days

Today marked 15 days until Britt's due date or 8 days until he is allowed to come...I really want a February baby so that is why I want him to stay put for at least another 8 days.  

As I have mentioned I have been having a little pity party for myself during most of my pregnancy but there are the great moments that I have been experiencing as well.  What I am most thankful for during this pregnancy besides a healthy baby boy is my husband.  Travis really has been my rock and while I go on my hormonal rants, he has really stayed calm and tried to do anything that he can to make me happy.  He has taken on more Ava duty so that I can rest more and has also been supportive and given me a lot of "me" time which I have appreciated.  In the last week I have spent an amazing day at the spa and tonight I went and did some post-pregnancy shopping followed by a relaxing evening in a pedicure chair where I splurged and paid a premium to have the deluxe treatment done that lasted over an hour.  In addition to this he has done countless Cheesecake Factory runs and tells me every day how great I look.  

This man is amazing and I am so blessed to have him as my partner in life.

Ava's Thursday

Ava's day started out great.  It was another cold morning in Middle Tennessee so we bundled up to go outside and Ava wanted to wear her sunglasses.  She then walked around like the Miss Priss that she is.

My day went well and an hour before leaving from work, I received a voice message from Ava's school that she had fallen in the gym and that they had given her a boo boo bunny and she was getting loved on by Miss Kate to make her feel better.  I did not think much of it as they always call when she falls or gets a scratch which I greatly appreciate but it is never a big boo boo.  

As I walked into the school's gym, Miss Kate stopped me to ask if I had been notified of Ava's accident and at that time Ava came running up to me and I almost broke down after looking at her sweet face.  She has a quarter size bump right under her eye which is red, blue, and purple and it is swollen enough that it is making her eye shut.  Ava showed me her boo boo and said it hurt but otherwise she was in really good spirits about it.  I did want any good mother would do and took her to Cheesecake Factory to pick out a treat and then I let her eat some of it when we got home before dinner.

Luckily there is some good news from today and that is Ava used the potty at school for the first time!  Not only did she use it, she went three times which I am so proud of.  This week she has taken a lot of interest at home with the potty and went twice on Monday night and then once every night since.  Since we have not been pushing the issue, Ava has really started to potty train herself.  I am going to purchase her pull ups and panties this weekend as I now know she is ready for full on potty training.  I am so proud of my little girl.

One last picture I had to include.  Britt's bassinet arrived tonight and Ava was so excited and had to play in it.  I am now 16 days away from my due date and while I have not reached my extremely uncomfortable this baby better come out now moment, I am getting to it!

17 Days

Yesterday I had my 37 week check up with my OB and found out I am 70% effaced and 2 cm dilated.  I cannot remember if I was effaced at all with Ava before going into labor, but I do remember that I never dilated with Ava until I went into labor so this news came as a surprise to Travis and I.  I know that I only have two and a half weeks to go but still I cannot believe that I am already dilated and now every move I make, if I feel something I think it is my water about to break.  I am really wanting a February baby so I am just praying that Britt stays put for another 10 days.

In Ava news, she was so cute tonight reading her bedtime stories.  She always likes to point to every picture on the page and ask what it is.  She knows what all of the pictures are but she likes to test me to make sure I know.  When we were reading Llama Llama she pointed to something and I did not see what she was pointing to and I said it was Llama.  It turns out she was pointing to the words on the page and Ava said, "No, Momma...it is the ABC's!"  I love our little girl so much!

Baby Watch- 19 Days to Go!

On Saturday I reached my 37th week of pregnancy and today I am at the 19 day count down.  While I am not one to say that I enjoy being pregnant, I really have had a great pregnancy this time around and do not feel like I am about to have a second child.  With Ava I remember the last couple of weeks that I was completely miserable with cankles, swollen feet, and back pain.  I do not have any of that now but I will say that tonight I believe Britt was trying to induce labor as much as he is moving around.

We have been trying to enjoy our last couple of weekends as a family of three and have been trying to focus all of our attention on Ava.  Two weekends ago we had our Family Fun Saturday which started with Daddy cooking a big breakfast  followed by the morning at Monkey's Treehouse, lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then after naps we spent the rest of the day at the park.

The next day we took Nanny to a Birthday lunch and then went to Nana and Papa's house afterwards so Ava could spend the afternoon.  Travis and I spent our afternoon at our storage unit taking out all of our baby essentials for Britt.  We have two full storage units and between my hormones and seeing all of our belongings that are packed away, I broke down crying because of how much I miss living in our home and cannot wait until we are out of our tiny rental.  I did manage to finish up the afternoon with lots of loads of laundry and everything has been washed, the car seat is in the car, and we are as prepared for Britt's arrival as we can be.

Last weekend we spent Saturday morning at My Gym and Ava attend her first class in the 2-3 year old group.  They require parents to be with the child and during the hour class they alternated between open play and planned activities and Ava had a blast and tried everything except for the "high bars".  While I am not going to sign us up for the membership due to the high cost and every weekend commitment, I can see us going once or twice a month as a fun Saturday outing.  

We ended our weekend on Sunday with a family photo session so we could get some pictures of my pregnancy and our last pictures as a family of three.  We went to Percy Warner Park which is where I had our maternity photo's with Ava and I am so excited to see how they turned out.  After our photo's we dropped Ava off for the night at Nana and Papa's and Travis and I headed to Flemings for dinner to celebrate the upcoming birth of our son.

Overall I feel much more prepared for my labor having gone through it before and while I cannot wait to meet Britt,  I hope he stays put for another 18 days.  I am a planner and if he comes on or close to his due date, then it will work out perfectly with my maternity leave from work and when he will start at Calvary.  I have my doctor's appointment tomorrow and last week I was not dilated so I am hoping for the same news this week.

Sunday Morning

This morning on our way to church Ava and I were waiting for the elevator at our condo.  Ava pushed the button to go down and then she waived her hand in front of the elevator door and said, "Open Sesame!"  I have never said this nor heard her say this before and I laughed so hard.

Once we go back from church, she went back in her playroom and when I walked in a couple of minutes later I found Sofia and Baby on top of the house.  I asked Ava what they were doing there and she told me that they were both in time out.  Ava said that Baby pushed Rapanzule and Sofia hit Belle and that is why there were in time out.  These both sounded like good reasons to me to be in time out.

Oh, Ava Marie, how you continue to bring so much joy and laughter to our lives.