37 weeks tomorrow!

When I was pregnant with Kate, I wrote a note on facebook for each trimester about how things were going. I haven't done quite the same thing this time around, since I've updated here more frequently, but I thought I'd take a minute to talk about the last two trimesters overall....

The Second Trimester
The second trimester with pregnancy #2 was much like the first. Not much going on other than a growing belly. I felt pretty well and had decent amounts of energy. We found out baby #2 was a boy. That's about it.

The Third Trimester
Oh where to begin. It didn't take long for the third trimester to become complicated. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Good fun. I got it under control with diet and an insulin injection at night. No biggie. I even lost 8 pounds. Not too shabby. At 32 weeks pregnant, I traveled with our youth group to Tennessee to attend a summer conference there. It was hot and miserable, but I survived by driving myself nearly everywhere we went. It was just too much walking. My muscles were really starting to ache about this point and walking very long got to be pretty painful. That hasn't stopped. At 33 1/2 weeks pregnant, I tripped and fell while carrying Kate. Kate and Jack were fine. I tore up my leg and spent two weeks sleeping on the couch because of it. Walking was very painful. At 34 1/2 weeks pregnant, I was in a car accident. That was 2 1/2 weeks ago, and I've had steady contractions coming at least every 15 minutes since then. It's good fun. After the accident, I spent seven hours one day being monitored and three the next. Fortunately, the contractions haven't yet caused any dilation. As of tomorrow, we'll be full term. I'd love to get him out of here, but I'm grateful that he won't be considered a preemie at this point. Also at 34 weeks, I started having doctors appointments twice a week. I have NSTs at the hospital on Mondays and one at the doctor's office with a regular appointment on Thursdays. Things have definitely been busy! I'm very glad this pregnancy is coming to an end. I've loved most of it, but I'm done. These last few weeks, especially, are hopefully enough to make me remember in the future that I don't want to do this again. Two are enough for me!

All in all, with gestational diabetes and the fall and accident, things could have been much worse during this pregnancy. I'm very grateful that God has really watched over us through all of this and I'm very excited to meet our little boy. At this point, if I don't have him in the next 15 days, they'll induce. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to go into labor on my own this time, especially since my blood pressure is staying where it should. So the countdown continues. When will Jackson arrive?!

I Can Hear Your Heartbeat...

(Now I have the Partridge Family stuck in my head!)

I finally got to meet my midwife yesterday and she was great. In my initial consultation at the doctor's office, the nurse was convinced they would not let me even attempt a vaginal delivery because of a surgery that I had not long after Kate was born. The midwife, however, did not see this as a problem and I am so happy. If I have to have a C-section because of an emergency or something, that's one thing. But to not even be able to have the option was very upsetting to me. Anyway, the appointment went great. It was my first, so they had to do a Pap smear and exam. No biggie. But I also got to hear baby's heart beat. It sounded amazing! Strong and steady at 148 beats per minute. Old wives' tales say anything above 140 is a girl and anything below is a boy, but we'll see. The midwife, Karen, said that according to the Chinese predictor charts, it's a boy. Someone will be right, I'm sure:)

It was great to finally hear the baby, but I started feeling some signs of life in there on Friday, February 4th. I was only 12w 4d, but I'm still feeling it now. There's definitely a baby in there (as if the expanding waistline wasn't evidence). She wanted me back in four weeks for a checkup and ultrasound, however she's out of town on March 7th. So, as I hoped, we got to push the ultrasound to March 14th, my birthday!! With Kate, we had her ultrasound on Friday, March 13th, so it's fun that the dates are so close AND so close to my birthday. I can't think of anything more fun to do for my birthday, either. Our friend Sara took the day off so she can keep Kate during the appointment. She even suggested Kraig and I do breakfast or lunch that day while she has Kate. How sweet! I'm very thankful to have her as a friend.

Yesterday was the 13 completed weeks mark. Welcome, second trimester!! It feels like time is flying by. In less than 5 weeks, we'll know whether Kate will have a brother or a sister. I can't wait! Oh, the picture included here is a belly shot from yesterday. I'm going to be huge again!

How I'm feeling...great!! Minus the stuffy nose leftover from last week's cold, I feel great. Karen gave me a prescription for a nasal spray and a muscle relaxer for my restless leg syndrome, so good sleep is finally headed my way. I'm definitely in my maternity clothes now. I even went shopping for a few new things this weekend and found some things that I love. I love being pregnant!