3rd Trimester Survey.

How far along? 38 weeks, 3 days

What was the first thing you bought for your baby? A cute little outfit for $3.00 at a consignment shop!

Total weight gain/loss? I'm not sure of the total, but over the last month I have lost about 1-2 pounds.

How are the maternity clothes? Any kind of clothing, other than pajamas, are pretty uncomfortable at this point. I am ready to fit in to "normal" clothes again. However, I am so grateful for all of my friends who have let me borrow/have their maternity clothes so that I didn't have to buy too many.

Stretch marks? Yes and Yes! Also dealing with PUPPP...itchy, itchy.

How’s the sleep? I have been sleeping pretty good for the past week. Justin has moved to the couch, leaving the bed for me, Minnie, and London. Neither one of us were sleeping all that well, and although we don't love sleeping separately, we are both getting much more rest.

Best moment this week? Having my family over for dinner/spending quality time with them.

Movement? He moves a lot! Most of his movement comes at night, however there are multiple times during the day where he doesn't seem to slow down.

Have you taken a birthing class? Yes, we took them back in September.

Type of delivery you’re planning on? Hopefully a smooth and quick one!

Biggest change in your body besides belly? Having gestational diabetes/high blood pressure are both changes I have had to adjust to.

Food cravings? Nothing too specific still. I do love my nightly ice cream snack before bed.

Gender? Male

Labor Signs? TONS of Braxton-Hicks contractions, especially at night.

Belly Button in or out? Flat

What are you missing? Regular Coke, being able to easily put on my shoes, sleeping on my stomach, Starbucks.

What are you looking forward to? Seeing what London looks like, how much he weighs, etc. Bringing him home to meet Minnie. Having him and Brooklyn "play" together. Seeing how Justin and he interact/bond.

Other Updates? I suppose the final, most important update is, unless he decides to come on his own sometime during the remainder of this week, London will be a Halloween baby! I am being admitted to the hospital Sunday night and will be induced first this Monday morning. Prayers are much appreciated for this excited/anxious mama to be!!

Minnie.

I felt the need to post some Minnie cuteness on my blog since it has been a while. She is still just as cute and as lazy as ever. I cannot wait to see what she's like with her baby brother!

Watermelon. (Well, kind of)

Well, it's been exactly a week since I was put on bed rest and so far, so good. We had quite a lengthy doctor's appointment this past Monday. We started out having an ultrasound which was so exciting! I had been dying to see how much our baby boy had grown and changed since our last ultrasound at 20 weeks. My mom, Alyssa, Blair, Brooklyn, and Justin were all there to share this experience with me and that was really special. After the ultrasound, they did a NST (non-stress test) to check London's heart rate, movement, etc. There was one monitor that checked his heart rate and one that checked whether or not I was having any contractions. Every time I felt London moved I had to push a button-this lasted 20 minutes. The results of the NST all came back normal. I finally met with the doctor and went over the the ultrasound, NST, my blood pressure, etc. It seems that little London is currently living up to that name. He is measuring about a week behind and weighs approximately 5 (ish) pounds and they said he would likely take after me in length (he may be a little on the shorter side)...we shall see. :) The doctor was pleased with the results of the NST and my blood pressure was still a little on the high side, but not nearly what it was on the previous Friday. He told me to continue to take it easy and stay off my feet as much as possible. However, he did give me permission to go to church and on short outings where I wouldn't be doing a lot of walking or vigorous activity. For that, I was very thankful! Needless to say I have been taking advantage of resting and relaxing this past week. We have been so blessed with family and friends stopping by for visits and dinner for us.

According to my iPhone app, London should be about the size of a watermelon this week, weighing about 6.5 pounds and measuring between 19-22 inches long. However, according to our visit this past week our little London isn't quite ready to be a watermelon. I am 36 weeks, 5 days pregnant as of today. That leave about 3 weeks, 2 days left until we meet our little man! I cannot believe how close it's getting!

I've been working on a pregnancy journal and I was looking back at the different ultrasound pictures we've had. I thought I'd share a few. It's so neat to see the progression of how London has grown over these past several months! Enjoy!

London at our first u/s. 8 weeks/5days

3-D image at our first u/s.

3-D London at our 2nd u/s. 19 weeks/3 days

It's a BOY! 2nd u/s.

Sweet boy at our 3rd u/s. 36 weeks/1 day

Hugs,

Meredith

Large Cantaloupe.

It has been quite sometime since my last update, so here it goes...

Little London is now the size of a large cantaloupe. He is somewhere between 19-22 inches long and now weighs around 6 pounds! Today I am exactly 35 weeks and 6 days, leaving only 4 weeks and 1 day left until his due date. I have had a handful of doctor's visits from the day of my last post until now. My blood pressure has been creeping up more and more over the last month and my doctor has been keeping a close watch on it. Last weekend I started not feeling so great and so I called and made an appointment for this past Monday. My blood pressure was high, but they wanted to check it again later on in the week. Yesterday afternoon I went to have it checked, and after checking it 3 different times over the time span of about 20-30 minutes my numbers were not looking good. The nurse took down some information from me about how I've been feeling, along with all 3 blood pressure numbers and went to discuss things with the doctor. I was definitely not mentally prepared for what she came back with. As of yesterday afternoon I have been put on bed rest and am not allowed to return to work until after London is born. I am also being put on medication for my blood pressure. I am supposed to become a "lady of leisure" as my doctor so delicately put it. I will say that this caused a lot of mixed emotions inside of me and it is still something that is settling in this morning. I am thankful/happy to not have to deal with the stress of work everyday for the next month and I have a feeling that the job I have was probably some, not all, but some of the cause of my high blood pressure. However, I am not so excited about having to sit/lay on the couch all day without really being able to go many places. I know that in the end it will all be worth it and that God has got a plan for why this is happening. I am going to make a conscious effort to see this as a blessing and something that is positive for both me and London. (I will say that the fear/worry/anxiety will still creep in, I'm sure). I am so blessed to have such a great family and such great friends who have already offered to help and come and visit with me so that I don't go completely crazy! We will go back to the doctor on Monday morning for an ultrasound (yippee!), and a non-stress test to make sure that little London is doing fine. I should be getting the results of some lab work I had done yesterday and if everything looks normal, then I will continue on bed rest and will be monitored weekly. However, if my lab work comes back abnormal, they may want to deliver the baby SOON. Ahh! I'm not quite sure what "soon" means, but we will cross that bridge when we get there.

All of that being said, if anyone is reading this please lift us up in prayer. I know that God has got this all under control and I don't need to worry about a thing. However, it is definitely in my nature to worry, stress, and have major anxiety.

I will definitely try to update as things happen over the upcoming days/weeks to come.

Hugs,

Meredith