Pregnancy Update #19: 5 Days Overdue

You would think by the 10th pregnancy that labor would happen early or at least by my due date, right? I wish. Here's my notes for each day since my last pregnancy update (read that one here). 

Friday was quiet in the pre-labor department. My body probably had 10 contractions spread out over the entire day. I'm halfway glad, since 8 kids are still sick and Miss Rebekah doesn't need to be exposed to all their germs. I'm hoping that my body is fighting off the illness and giving her some antibodies. 

Saturday's pregnancy notes include swollen hands, feet, and ankles from water retention. I'm achy with occasional contractions but nothing noteworthy.

Sunday really had nothing to report either. Contractions in the evening and a baby happily active and still in the womb.

Monday was likewise easy and uneventful, other than a dentist appointment where I found out my recent tooth pain is from a dying root. Scheduled an extraction for the tooth for tomorrow morning.

Tuesday - that's today! I started my day having a tooth pulled. Being pregnant the pain relief options are pretty limited to Tylenol right now.

I had a pregnancy checkup in the afternoon. First was a nonstress test (looks good), an ultrasound to check fluid levels (looks good, baby is looking to be around 8lb 14oz but ultrasound is easily off by a pound either way), and a checkup. I'm still gaining weight (228lbs). I'm now dilated to 3cm. Basically, everything looks great with baby and we're still waiting for her arrival.

I go back to see the doctor in 3 days (on Friday) and repeat the nonstress test and checkup. 

Homeschool Notes for Week 26

It feels like everything at home is just holding it's breath, waiting for Miss Rebekah to come. We are not making any long term or concrete plans. Just waiting.

Saturday we picked Joseph up from a winter campout and Makayla up from a friend's house. We placed an online grocery order that we will pick up on Monday. We read books and played and watched some Studio C. Tobias was beginning a cold with a fever, cough, and runny nose, so I knew Sunday I would be home from church. I reread a favorite book, Seeking Persephone, and cried. My hormones are all over the place.

Sunday I helped Daddy get the other 8 kids ready and out the door for church. Tobias and I stayed home for a quiet sick day. He really wasn't interested in playing. We looked at a few books, then snuggled up and watched some Paw Patrol. He fell asleep on my lap before the rest of the family returned from church.

After lunch Makayla headed upstairs to do some scripture study for seminary, four of the boys played a game of Harry Potter Clue, a couple kids played Connect Four, and Emma and I baked chocolate chip butterscotch chip cookies. Yum!

Monday I was out the door to pick up groceries, get bloodwork, have a form notarized, and more by 7:30am. Daddy was home with kids for a while before he had two doctors appointments. The kids' morning consisted of wake up, breakfast, chores, and reading. Unfortunately there was also a hefty side of runny noses and coughing. Tobias is sicker today and several other kids are sounding like frogs, coughing, and just looking less than energetic. That means I'm formally calling a break for school. I'm due with this sweet baby #10 on Thursday, we're just going to start our baby break now. I need these children to get well as soon as possible so the order of the day is rest, fresh air (windows are open), and more rest.

Tuesday I took the two sickest kids to walk in hours at the pediatrician to check for flu. No flu (hooray) but the congestion has given Tobias an ear infection. The day was endless rounds of snuggling sick kids, getting them to sip water, and keeping them down and quiet. Five kids are sick for sure. I suspect a 6th but they're in denial.

The biggest happening on Tuesday was that Makayla got her driver's license. I'm officially old and tired and very pregnant and way too scared to hand over the keys and wave her on her merry way, but apparently it's legal to do just that now.

The second biggest happening on Tuesday was realizing that Tobias is allergic to penicillin. Hives all over his chest and abdomen after just one dose made it pretty clear that Daniel is no longer our only child with a penicillin allergy. I got rid of the medicine and put a call in to the pediatrician to let them know.

Wednesday I was still surrounded by sick kids. They're just everywhere right now. Some are needing breathing treatments with our nebulizer, others are holding their own in the breathing department. I'm basically playing nurse and trying to keep all my patients needs straight. I'm so grateful we homeschool because this week of illness doesn't affect the kids learning. Nobody is getting behind. There is no stress over homework, missed projects, or anything else. We just hunker down, take the time to heal, and life moves forward.

Thursday was my official pregnancy due date. Baby Rebekah has not made her appearance. I'm at the "I just might be pregnant forever" stage. I had a checkup with my obstetrician and you can read more about that here. All of my kids are sick now except one. Eight sick kids. The coughing and the snot are everywhere. I am doing my best to avoid joining the sick crowd. Today that meant taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon. Rest is good for the immune system, right?

Friday we kept things quiet with the sick kids, though the earliest to be sick are starting to have a bit of energy to play now. A roofer came over to check the slate on our roof after a big storm one night earlier this week. Everything looks pretty good, the slate in the grass between our house and the neighbor is from the neighbor's roof. Dinner is in the crock pot (meatballs to go with spaghetti).

I took a nap again today. So far I'm not sick, so maybe it's helping, but more than likely it's just getting this pregnant and overdue mama through the day. Right now I'm sitting adding today's notes to the blog post with Tobias sitting beside me coloring with colored pencils. He's adorable and wants me to color with him, so I'm off to do that.

Pregnancy Update #18: 40 Weeks - Today's My Due Date

Friday I was 39 weeks 1 day pregnant. I had my checkup the day before, which I shared about here. After that appointment I was expecting lots of contractions like the prior week. Nope. My body is not predictable. Just achy, with few contractions. It feels like Rebekah is really low in my pelvis because I'm everything hurts - it hurts to walk (or sit, or stand), and I'm in the bathroom a lot. It's not fun but it is just part of the process!

Saturday followed the same pattern, no regular contractions. It feels like little girl has settled in for a long winter's nap, stretching and kicking and not in any hurry to come out. My hormones are all over the place again though. I'm crying over books as I read.

Sunday was also quiet.

Monday night I had regular, uncomfortable contractions for 6 hours. I was also up 8 or 9 times with a sick Tobias so I had plenty of time to notice the contractions.

By Tuesday morning contractions were gone until about an hour before dinner. Then they were back to regular and uncomfortable, ranging from 2-4 minutes apart. I've officially decided that unless my water breaks I'm not in labor and there is no need to go to the hospital. My doctor will probably laugh at me when I tell him that in 2 days on my due date. And remind me to have some baby blankets in the car in case I deliver on the way.

Wednesday I had back labor with the contractions through dinner. Then things settled down again. Nothing to get excited over, just preparation for baby.

Today is Thursday. I am officially due with this baby today. I headed to the obstetrician for a checkup. Everything looks great. I'm going to be pregnant forever, but that is always how I feel at this stage. I've not really changed dilation much, about 2.5cm instead of 2cm. I weigh 226 lbs and a fair amount of that is water retention (oh my poor ankles and fingers!). We talked about where we go from here, induction possibilities, etc. Basically, I now go in every couple days (starts next Tuesday, so 5 days) and have 3 things happen:

1. Non Stress Test - They hook me up to monitors and see how baby girl is moving and how her heart rate is over a period of time.
2. Ultrasound - This is to measure the fluid around baby to monitor it and make sure there is still plenty. 
3. A check up with a doctor. 

We're trying to let my body do as much of the preparing for labor process as it will before we induce. At the same time we have to balance that with making sure my body is still a healthy, safe place for Rebekah to grow, that she is doing well. 

I am so ready for her to be in my arms. 

Homeschool Notes for Week 25

Last Friday I left off blogging with plans for a day of nesting around the house. We did end up doing some organizing and decluttering projects. We finished off the evening making some no bake cookies. I also spent the day having irregular contractions. I kept telling Rebekah in my belly that she had missed her window, she wasn't allowed to come Friday night because of the weather. It rained half the day or more Friday, then switched to sleet/ice, then snowed several inches all night. Beautiful, but not when your hospital is an hour away.

Saturday morning we woke to all the accumulated snow and ice knowing it would be a quiet day at home. We pulled out a large bin of Duplos and a bin of dress up clothes from the attic and most of the kids were happily entertained by those for hours. Other built with Legos, created art, and everyone had the option of their weekly 30 minutes of video game time.

In the afternoon we went outside for a bit to play in the snow. With the wind chill it had warmed up to 4 degrees F (-15.6 degrees C) Brr!

In the evening I started a homeschool project for me for this semester. I've decided that instead of planning my own reading list I will first focus on reading the next book being assigned to each of my children. In Charlotte Mason homeschooling style I grabbed a notebook and plan to do written narrations as I finish each chapter. I started with Makayla's next history read: War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.

Sunday was cold, snowy, and a lovely day at church. The afternoon and evening were family time. It's the best way to spend a Sunday but doesn't make for very entertaining blogging.

Monday we woke to more snow coming down. Kids worked on some of their routines and learning (ex: chores, reading). I placed an online order at WalMart because they happened to have one open pickup slot left today. I'm stocking up on some non-food things like toilet paper, shaving cream, shampoo, dish soap, and cleaning wipes. There is some food in the order too. Of course, by the time Makayla and I went to pick up the order the roads were terrible with snow and I found out when we got home that we were expected to get another 4 inches. Not long after we got home a truck got stuck across the entire road in front of our house. It took a while but my husband and several others worked to get them unstuck.

Many of the kids spent hours drawing today. Emma has a Disney fashion design set she got a year ago, with outlines of four female heroes and four female villains. She used it a lot and then stored it away in the attic. Today she brought it out of the attic and started drawing. Several of her brothers were intrigued and joined her, or worked on drawing projects of their own. I love when things like this happen! Tobias has also decided coloring is fun, so he spent some time coloring today. He will use colored pencils or crayons if you give him those but he really loves using markers. When he uses markers I simply require he is seatbelted in his booster seat at the table. The 'Ultra clean washable' Crayola markers really do wash off little hands and faces. I love that!

Also on this day I traded history books from the shelf in the dining room with our next topic in a box in the attic. We'll keep watching Liberty's Kids as we finish up our American Revolution study. Next up we've got books about people and topics like Daniel Boone, Tecumseh, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, a Japanese boy who was instrumental in the opening of Japan to trade with the US after being shipwrecked and rescued by a whaling vessel, the Alamo, and more.

Of course with the evening snowstorm my body decided it was a great time to have a lot of contractions. I jokingly told Makayla that if I had this baby tonight she was going to have to help Daddy deliver because there was no way we would make it to the hospital an hour away. She was not amused.

Tuesday was a beautiful snow covered day and we kept to home. Daddy had to work, of course. We started slow and steady with reading and learning time. The kids watched another episode of Liberty's Kids. This one was about the midnight ride of Paul Revere. That meant I also pulled out Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem about Paul Revere's Ride to read to them.

Mid-morning all learning activities were put off to sit and watch the live broadcast of the announcement of the new prophet and First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (The last prophet passed away recently and was buried on Friday.) It was a wonderful opportunity to watch and hear from these men with my children.

In the afternoon I spent several hours chasing down various medical professionals and pharmacies because of a problem getting the new bandaging we need for Mason's pressure sore on his foot. It's basically been a disaster where the local pharmacy isn't even a provider for our insurance and insurance doesn't cover the bandaging we need, but nobody called us to tell us or the doctor this. I called to be sure the supplies were in today and found it all out. So then I had to start tracking down doctors to see if they can get these supplies to us another way, through another provider, an preferably covered by insurance because the bandages he'll be using for several months are $21 each. Yes, each. Sigh. I'm hoping to hear back from the surgeon's office tomorrow.

Wednesday the kids got rolling on their routines and I got busy on the phone trying to deal with a host of medical professionals, insurance, and medical suppliers. It is always an exercise in patience. I got a few answers and left a number of messages. We are still frustratingly waiting for medical supplies to arrive at a pharmacy that were supposed to be in on Tuesday.

In the evening we had to do some snow shoveling to dig out our vehicles. My husband did most of it, but I took a few short turns.

Thursday started with my prenatal checkup. I'm 39 weeks pregnant. You can read about that here. The rest of the day I was pretty uncomfortable but that was more an aftereffect of snow shoveling on Wednesday than anything. Life in general was our normal routine for learning and cleaning. We finally got the bandage supplies for Mason in and started using them. We shall see if this helps or not.

Friday is here and we are preparing the last few things for Joseph's winter campout and 5 mile hike that begins tonight. He was cooking some of his food ahead this morning and packing it in foil packets to reheat over a fire. Kids are working on various projects right now and I need to get a plan together for lunch. So I'm off to do that!

Pregnancy Update #17: 39 Weeks Pregnant with Baby #10

I had contractions for several days quite often after my last doctor's appointment. On Sunday things settled down. By Monday morning I was having nothing. Monday evening we had a snowstorm and I had hours of contractions.

I remembered to get a picture of my pregnant self because you just never know how much longer until baby will come. In this picture I am 38 weeks 4 days pregnant.

Tuesday I had fewer contractions, which was a relief because we were dealing with a lot of snow and yucky roads. I also was very hormonal - weepy. This hasn't happened in months and to be honest it's just a reminder of how all over the place my hormones will be during the postpartum weeks after baby is born. Ugh! What a rollercoaster of craziness that always is.

Wednesday emotions were on a more even keel again and contractions were very few. I even did a bit of snow shoveling (carefully, with breaks, switching off with my hubby while he protested me taking any turns). A few hours later I started feeling it. No, not contractions, just achy muscles that haven't been used that way in ages.

Today is Thursday and I am officially 39 weeks pregnant. At my check up this morning I was still only dilated to 2 cm and was 60% effaced. Blood pressure looks great, I weighed 224 lbs, and everything looks great. My doctor was surprised I was still pregnant. He stripped my membranes again and says he's guessing this baby will come in the next 3 days, but that babies come when they come. He's on call this weekend, which would be great if I do go into labor. I've got an appointment scheduled for next Thursday on my due date. I expect to still be pregnant then, but would love to meet little Rebekah sooner if she's ready.

Homeschool Notes for Week 23 and 24

Saturday was cold. We woke to several inches of snow, which was beautiful. I headed to WalMart for our online grocery pick up at 8:30am. Once home we did a few quick projects and made lunch. After lunch Daddy got picked up by Grandma and Grandpa for a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert along with one nephew thanks to free tickets Grandma got. They said it was fantastic when they arrived home 7 hours later. I'm glad he got to go (and that I didn't have to, it's not my kind of music, lol).

While Daddy was gone our Saturday moved forward as usual. Medical care in the afternoon for Mason, a nap for Tobias, and just play. Dinner was beef stew in the crock pot with some rolls. I dropped Makayla off at a friend's house to ride to the Church holiday ball for youth an hour away. Then it was just mommy and the younger 8 children until bedtime. We watched some tv, played with Legos, and stayed inside where it was warm.

Sunday was even colder but everyone was well enough to go to church so it was a great morning. After church we pulled together a Harry Potter themed Would You Rather game for our family New Year's Eve party and prepared snacks to share. We had a fun evening of snacks and games together!

Monday was the first day of the new year. It was extra cold (-9 degrees F). We gathered as a family for our Morning Basket at 9:30am. I have to be honest and say I'm a practical mom. Not all of my kids are enthusiastic about doing a morning basket. I'm okay with that, they are welcome to miss our time together. However I do practice a little bit of encouragement and consequences. The encouragement is a treat. If you show up there is a treat waiting for you. If you don't the consequence is you miss out. (Today was a couple M&Ms, sometimes it might be a cookie, strawberries, apple slices, hot cocoa, peanut butter crackers, you just never know). And of course when we do a read aloud we pull out our trusty read aloud bin of candy. If you are sitting and listening to the read aloud you get  a piece of candy. Today's morning basket included the following:

• Hymn: I'm Trying to Be like Jesus
• Prayer: Oliver
• Devotional: Kindness Isaiah 63:7
• Scripture Memory: Romans 8:16
• Other: Star Wars Mad Libs
• Read Aloud: Esperanza Rising

At 11:00am Daddy, Joseph, Daniel, Oliver, and Caleb headed to the local movie theater for a matinee viewing of the new Star Wars movie. They were excited. The girls and the youngest three boys and I stayed home and enjoyed the quiet. It is amazing just how much quieter the house can be depending on which children are home. The rest of Monday had things like laundry, cooking, and family time. Pretty much my happy place!

Tuesday was still cold. I got an appointment done, a trip to the store for peanut butter and vegan mayo, and then it was babysitting a nephew and 2 nieces at our house. Of course, it really is great to babysit them because they match up with several of my kids ages and everyone just plays and laughs and has fun. I have LESS work to do when more kids are over. I even got to read a book just for me for a while. The kids had piano lessons in the afternoon and then we did family time all evening.

Wednesday my sister came to watch the kids while Mason and I headed to the city to get his cast off. Yay! We have a lot of things to watch for, he's not done healing yet, but not having the cast on is wonderful. The day was uneventful and on the quiet side. Cub Scouts and youth activities happened in the evening.

Thursday started off with a phone call to the fire department because our oven heating element started sparking everywhere. Thankfully they were able to contain it easily. Now we wait 5 days for a new oven I ordered from Home Depot to arrive - and we feed 11 people without a stove or oven. When I finally looked around I discovered plenty of cooking options already in the house - microwave, toaster, crock pot, griddle, rice cooker, etc. It just takes rethinking how to prepare meals and possibly cooking them in batches if using something like the toaster or microwave.

I also had a doctor's appointment on Thursday and baby is looking good. We're closing in on the end of this pregnancy and just taking things a day at a time.

Friday found two of us at the dentist and scheduling appointments for next week to get some work done (a baby tooth pulled and a filling redone). Beyond that it was just a regular day.

Saturday hubby and I went on a date while Grandma watched the kids. It was great to get out and just talk without little ears around, go to the store together, etc. We also picked up the ice cream sundae and root beer float supplies for Mason's family birthday party on Sunday since we wouldn't be able to bake a cake with no stove/oven.

Sunday Mommy stayed home from church with the four youngest boys who all are congested, runny nosed, and fending off colds. In the evening family came over for the birthday party (Mason will turn 6 next Thursday). We also watched the last episode of Extinct as a family - it was good but hard to say goodbye to the series.

Monday we got snow and ice. Daddy started back to school for the new semester with two classes. A lot of the kids started the day out with a playdoh party.

We kept things low-key. There was playing in the snow and ice in the afternoon, reading aloud Esperanza Rising over hot chocolate after that, dinner in the crock pot, and a stove delivery at lunch time. Yes, I was so happy to have a stove again!

Mason is healing somewhat post-cast removal(that happened last Wednesday). The incision is doing good so far, no infection. His leg and foot swelling has settled in and isn't increasing now, so we just have to wait several weeks for it to go down. The only iffy part is the pressure sore on the top of his foot/ankle, and we're following instructions for another week and a half before we get things re-evaluated. Unfortunately wounds like this don't heal well when you are paralyzed because your body doesn't always get the information that it needs to be healing something.

Tuesday I announced to the kids that after breakfast they needed to read something, either history or literature, and beginning readers needed to read to me. It was just one simple way to remind them to keep those learning routines going. Here is what they read:

• On Board the Titanic - Makayla
• 100 Cupboards - Joseph
• The 12th How to Train Your Dragon book - Emma
• Poppy - Daniel
• Ice Wizard Magic Tree House - Oliver
• All About Reading At the Pond - Caleb
• All About Reading Fox in a Box - Mason

Our day kept rolling peacefully from there. Mason was especially happy to move to the bigger chalkboard for his Handwriting Without Tears work as he moved into lowercase letters today. One interesting thing I've noticed with Mason is that lately he is reading text in his environment - words off of signs or the spines of books. It's a fun stage.

In the afternoon Daniel and I both had dental work done. Ouch. I'll be sore for several days, Daniel's didn't really hurt at all he said.

Another random thing: our new bed frame arrived today. We've had a big wooden frame and box springs for years and it was breaking, creaky, and always woke babies when my truck driver husband gets up between 2 and 3am for work. I decided if I want a decent chance of sleeping well once baby Rebekah is born that the frame and box springs had to go. So we ordered this frame on sale for $60 on Amazon. I'm typing these notes a couple days later and have to say I love it!

Wednesday we got back into a morning learning time rhythm. Was it perfect? No. But it was productive and felt good. I also tried a new recipe in my instant pot on this day - potato soup. It was delicious! In the evening we had Cub Scouts and Mutual (youth group for ages 12-18). I spent the whole time having contractions of course which is my usual evening pattern, but the kids had fun.

Thursday started with my 38 week pregnancy checkup (more on that here) and I spent the rest of the day having contractions. It was a good day with the windows open to take advantage of the unusually warm temperatures (55F! It felt like a heat wave even though it rained all day). Tomorrow the temperatures are supposed to drop as we go from rain to ice to several inches of snow on top of that. Back to winter.

It's Friday morning and we're taking the day off of formal learning. I'm feeling like a broody hen, wanting to nest. So I'll make a short list of deep cleaning chores and projects for us to do around the house and we will work on those today.

Happy Friday everyone!

Pregnancy Update #16 - 38 weeks

I started this week last Thursday at 37 weeks pregnant. Contractions had become sporadic, mild visitors. Then on Monday evening right after dinner I had strong, regular contractions for several hours. Solid practice - yay! On Tuesday evening about 15 minutes after dinner it happened again, strong, regular contractions for a couple hours. Wednesday the same. Yay! I love that my body is slowly working toward delivery day.

Today I am 38 weeks pregnant. I had my weekly check up and I'm at 224.4 lbs (24 lbs gained this pregnancy), measuring 40 weeks. Baby Rebekah's heart rate is great. She is still head down and has engaged a good bit (aka - it hurts to walk since she's so low but I can breath easier). I've gone from 1cm dilated last week to 2cm dilated this week, which is progress. That makes me happy. My doctor stripped my membranes (TMI? What did you expect, this is a pregnancy post?!) and says he gives me a 75% chance of going into labor before my appointment next Thursday. I laughed at him and said I expect to still be pregnant on February 1st (a week past my due date), but I'm more than happy to have this baby soon. My doctor did say I get bonus points if I have this baby during the day time and not during this weekend's projected snowstorm. Ha!

I'm having all sorts of contractions post-membrane stripping and just trying to make the most of it. I came home and did laundry party (sorted several loads of laundry and called the kids to put it all away. I need to peek at my hospital bag and see what else I want to add. And I really should bring the infant carseat down from the attic soon. Squee! I can't believe we'll fill up the last seat in our 12 passenger van soon!

That's all the update for this week!

Pregnancy Update #15 - A quiet week

It has been a quiet week on the pregnancy front since my last update. Contractions visit. I'm hugely pregnant and enjoying it. I got good news on Tuesday that my Group B Strep results came back negative. That means no need for 4 hours of antibiotics during labor. Yay!

It is starting to feel real that we will have a newborn again soon. I washed baby blankets this week, organized clothes and diapers, and just talked to Miss Rebekah in my belly a lot. The kids get a kick out of seeing my belly moving around or feeling baby hiccups and kicks.

Today I had my 37 week checkup and ultrasound. Everything looks good so far. Baby is still head down and has one foot by her head. According to ultrasound (which can be off by a pound or more) she's weighing 8 lbs. I'm pretty sure that's high.

I gained about a pound this week. I'm measuring 39 weeks along, typical for me. Still just dilated to 1 cm, which is exactly what I expected. I'm going to go right ahead and predict that this sweet baby girl will come at least a couple days after my due date. My babies never seem to be in a hurry to come out.