No Baby:(

Today I had fully expected to be doing some major cuddle time with my new baby boy. Turns out the doctors don't feel comfortable inducing me yet. The test they did to check the lungs came back on the low side of normal. The results needed to be above 40. They were at 39. One little point away!! The doctor said that because they are so close it means within the next couple of days they should be just fine. No plans to induce yet, but I have been told if I go into labor on my own its totally fine. I see the doctor again on Tuesday if this baby hasn't come yet and maybe then he will decide its time to induce. Then again he may decide that we need to leave the timing up to someone else.:) So for now this is as close as I can get to this heavy weight baby.

Baby update

Today I went in for my ultrasound. No the baby hasn't shrunk. No my fluid hasn't either. Although the fluid has stabilized. Baby per not super on it ultrasound is about 10 lbs 4 oz. He is off the charts!! The ultrasound people told me to head straight up to the doctor and the would call up the results. After the doctor heard the news he squeezed me in to his very full schedule. We decided to do an amniocentesis to check baby lung maturity. Big needle! Glad Jeff was with me. The doctor then said to go home have dinner and come to labor and delivery between 5 and 7. At the very least he wants a non-stress test at most baby will be coming!!!!! I guess Jeff and I should try to pick a name:)

Male Nesting!!

Jeff always has some sort of sympathy for me during pregnancy. Sympathy pain, weight gain, and much more. This time he is having male nesting. I am usually a big nester. This time I scrubbed the bath tub with a toothbrush. With Melia Jeff came home to a very pregnant wife on a ladder scrubbing the kitchen ceiling. Anyways, back to Jeff. I don't know if it hit him how soon baby will be with us, but projects started! Little things like Costco shopping, filling the gas tank in the van, dump runs, and goodwill trips. Then there were the big things. Like how we are going to fit all our kids into this house. So, bed building began. Samantha got the bed she has been waiting for since last summer. All those drawers are nice space saving areas for books, but I am sure will need a regular going through. Since the girls live in an attic space it meant taking the bed completely apart to get it upstairs then putting it back together. I got that job(which I love doing). Melia moved up to Samantha's old loft bed. Kellina got a twin mattress and moved down to the bottom of the loft bed. I call them Doyle bunk beds. Then the toddler beds the girls sleep in came down stairs. Also had to be taken all apart and reassembled(again my job again I love it!). Then one crib was torn down(by me) and taken to the dump(it was thrashed). The other crib was assembled for a baby and cute decor added. The toddler beds became the little boys bed. I had to also add some cute decor for them. Jeff does a poster for all our kids with their life verse and baby photos. The boys were just finished so to the wall they went.So far all the male nesting has kept this house moving forward towards baby readiness. To review. Upstairs Samantha now has her dream bed. Melia and Kellina are in Doyle bunk beds. Due to low ceilings real bunk beds are out. Downstairs the little boys are in toddler beds(and staying in them) and the baby has a cute crib. Next on the list is reorganizing closets to fit things better. Jeff is planning to put up open shelving in the boys room and I am planning to purge the girls closet.

Side note about baby. Yesterday I saw my OB. He has only seen me twice. My OB was put on bed rest for her pregnancy. Last week I tried to get the point across about a lot of extra fluid and big baby. He didn't seem to care. This week he wanted an ultrasound done right away because the amount of extra fluid I have is SO great. Because of insurance I have to wait until tomorrow, but he may decide to deliver baby depending on the results. I now have to go in for weekly Non-Stress Tests because this could be a very serious situation. Because I have SO much fluid. I am not worried as baby is very active and always has a nice strong heart beat. I am dilated to 2 1/2 cm and just waiting. I am hoping that tomorrow I will be told its time to deliver, but I trust God's timing in it all.

The perfect fix.

Yesterday all I wanted was a pumpkin muffin. Well, going into labor was also on the list. The second never happened, but thanks to the Bergeron family the first was a cinch. It required walking to the store for some ingredients, but I was fine with that remember the labor thing. I have blogged about these yummy treats before, but I thought I would share the recipe. Not all of you are as addicted to the Bergeron blog as me. So any one out there who wants a simple perfect pumpkin bread here it is.
Mix:
6 cups flour
4 teaspoons salt
4 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
Separately combine:
29 oz (31/2 cups) pumpkin puree
2 cups oil
8 eggs
1 cup water

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together, do not over mix. Pour into four greased loaf pans(or muffin tins). Bake 1 hour at 350 or until knife comes out clean. If you are doing muffins it takes about 15 minutes. This recipe does make a lot and if you want you can freeze loaves or cut the recipe in half. We never have a problem eating all that we make. They make a yummy treat or breakfast. I enjoyed mine with tea. It was Raspberry leaf tea which is suppose to help start contractions. I drink it at the end of every pregnancy as it usually at least kicks in some braxton hicks. I need to mention here that my last recipe was not a Doyle original either. It turns out some felt bad their name was not attached to it. So all the credit of the yummy re-fried beans has to be given to the Thames family. Thank you to all the wonderful families who are willing to share their house hold recipes and in doing so have blessed my family with many treats. Next on our list will be scones also from the Bergeron blog.

I wanna be a baker!

Samantha has talked about her desire to be a baker for what seems like forever. So when a friend called and offered to transport Samantha to a weekly cake decorating class I jumped at the chance. She has taken two classes so far and always comes home full of knowledge. This week she came home with the request of more tools. She was bummed because her cake didn't get a crumb coat and looked a little messy. It turns out if you use a bigger pastry bag and huge tip the crumb coat is not required. It looks like I may need to be going shopping. The sweetest thing was this week she made the cake for Jeff and I. She makes the frosting herself and then colors it at class. She used blue and yellow. Daddy and mommies favorite colors! We decided it was the perfect pre-valentine gift for us. After dinner we all enjoyed Samantha's cake. The other fun part of class was that Samantha learned how to cut her cake and fill it. The girls were so happy to get a yummy chocolate surprise!

Reading!!

Yesterday was a big day for one little girl. Kellina(4) read me a book. It was a simple Bob book, which I have talked about before when Melia(5) was learning to read. No matter how simple though Kellina delighted in the fact that she read to mom. Then after dinner she read to dad. It is one of the things I love most about being a mom. Seeing the connection made from letters, to sounds, to words, to a book. In case you are curios I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I used it for both Melia and Kellina. I know that it is not a book for all, but it has worked well for us. I do not use just it though. My kids get to bored. Kellina was able to read her Bob books to me after just a few lessons. I am finding teaching Kellina some of the letter sounds is more difficult. I don't know if it is because she is tongue tied or because she is a unique learner that I need to get to know better. Either way I am so excited to start on the path of learning with her.

44 weeks

Yep, that's how big I measured at me 36 week check yesterday. The doctor tried to reassure me that it wasn't baby that was that big it was the fluid. All I have to say is either way it is just as uncomfortable. The doctor said that they don't usually induce till 39 weeks for extra fluid, but if I go into labor it is okay. He did do the one thing in his office he could to try and get labor going. If you don't know what it is I am not going share. So, what does that mean for me. Off the sofa and move this body. A friend told me she thought all I needed to do was go for a 5 minute walk and I should be in labor. Here's hoping! If you have any suggestions please share. I am dilated almost 2 cm compared to just slightly dilated on Thursday. The doctors best guess was I might make it another week. I am getting very excited to meet this little bundle, but am prepared to wait it out too.

Organizing....

Melia Jane age 5 deep in thought I am sure.

I am not known for being the best at organizing. Jeff is the much neater, organized member of this pair. Today however I tackled a project. Organize the front porch. Not because I wanted to or because it was bugging me. No, it was because I needed an air pump. I needed my exercise ball all pumped up so I have somewhere comfy to sit. When I asked Jeff where he thought it might be I was sent to the front porch(better known as medium room in this family). When I entered it hit me that there was no way I could find anything in this room. It becomes the place to throw things as you enter and in doing so covering all things neatly sitting on shelves. So away I went. I even swept. Shocking I know. When I got to the very end I found the pump. If only I had started in the closet I never would have had to organize at all. Oh well, at least Jeff will enjoy it.

What!?!?

That was my mom's response when I told her we had nothing ready for the new baby yet. Not a diaper, not a onsie, not even the car seat to bring him home in. Not that we don't have the means to purchase these items. It's more the time that has been lacking. My mom decided to take matters into her own hands. Her daughter needed rescuing and she was there to rescue. Yesterday she dropped off a baby care package.Such a great mom I have!! It included what she thought would be enough to at least make it through the first week. And it even included the car seat to bring him home in. Amy this close up picture is for you just in case you didn't notice the pattern from a distance. You were the first one that came to mind when I saw it.

Still Growing

So I thought maybe this baby would slow down in growing. Silly me!! His head currently measures in at 41 weeks. His tummy measures in at 39 weeks and 5 days. His femur measures in at 36 weeks and 5 days. From Melia down my kids have always had their head measure big. Its a Doyle thing. Jeff's sisters 2nd boy was huge by head measurement. Once born he just had a big head. All my kids also measure short. The twins are currently in the 20th percent for height. On the chart last visit this baby was just below the 90th percentile for size. This visit he was above the 90th percentile. Beyond having a big baby I have a lot of extra fluid. The first words out of the ultrasounds mouth today were"Wow! That's a lot of fluid." So now I know the reason this belly is extra big is because I have extra baby and extra fluid. What does all this mean? Well, I will find out for sure on Thursday. Oh, in case you have forgotten I am only 35 weeks and 2 days. The ticker up top says so!