39 weeks

Well I can honestly say I didn't really think I would make it this far (and I'm sure my doctor didn't either.) Maybe it was her way of tricking me making me think I would go early when it really seems I'm in it for the long haul this time and fully baking this baby.

Today I am 39 weeks and my body has also been playing tricks on me. I don't know if its from the weight or just the pressure from the baby but walking and sitting have become a bit more difficult this past week. In fact, at times the pressure is painful to stand or try to walk. I even crawled to the bathroom this weekend once in the middle of the night. This morning I was moving extra slow but I made it to work and I'm doing okay. I prob need to get up and walk every few minutes just to make sure I don't cripple myself when I try to stand after a long time.

I don't go to the doctor until tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure she will ask about inducing again and although tempting I'm gonna try to make it thru. They always say baby knows best when to come but I'd like this baby to know momma is ready!!!

Here are today's belly shots. We've been taking them every week at this point just in case. Maybe we jinxed ourselves.. at any rate.. the site ahead may look a bit spooky but don't be scared. It's just my halloween costume :)

Happy Halloween!

We have a sweet lady bug at our house this year. She is so cute (but of course we are biased)!!! We decided to have a practice run at this "Trick or Treating" thing so Friday night we took her downtown Bloomington for the business Trick or Treating and she had a blast.  She held on to her daddy's hand and took it all in. She watched a lot of the other little kids and made comments on their costumes.

 And she quickly got the concept of CANDY ;) She started by whispering "trick or treat" but it was still really cute!

And she always checked her bucket to make sure she didn't lose anything!

All it all it was a fun little thing to do and I look forward to taking her again next year. She was only spooked by one of the older kids' costumes. When she saw it, she just froze and went against the wall behind Clay's leg and silently watched him pass. Then she went about her business collecting candy and having fun. We tried to get a family pic but I noticed 2 things 1) Kenley is more interested in the candy she is holding and 2) when you have Grandma take a picture and Kenley isn't technically in the middle, she will be in the middle of the picture as she is the center of Grandma's world!!!

Tonight we will try to hand out some candy and then either go to the uptown Normal Trick or Treating or hit a few houses in our neighborhood. I just love watching the little ladybug wander around :)

Last minute baby pool fun

So I decided today we should do a baby pool :)

Use this link: http://bebepool.com/go/?a=kimbrockman1&view=list

You can guess the Date, Time, Gender, Weight, Length, and even name.  You have to preview and save and then return to the blog manually if needed since it will open in the same window.

Let's see what you guys think and who is the closest :) Let's have some fun!

Hitch in my giddyup!

Well I'm still plugging along. I think my doctor can barely believe it. I'm 38 weeks and 2 days today and baby is comfy and refusing to evacuate his/her residence in my belly early. We had thought baby would come early and maybe Grandma and Grandpa B would be able to see him/her before they head south for the winter, but that's not the case. Guess they will get to meet him/her around Christmas.

Yesterday was my 38 week appt and I'm still hovering around 3cm and thinning out. My weight was back up at 209 and blood pressure still nice and low at 110/60. Baby's heart was steady in the 150s I think and I measured right on track at 38 weeks.  We talked about induction which I said we wouldn't do unless medically necessary. Although I'm hitting the really uncomfortable stage, I can survive. The worst thing right now is the "hitch in my giddyup" as a guy from work calls it or my gangsta limp as another coworker says. I like to think it's like the waddle of an injured penguin. Something is pinched or wrong with my left hip and walking sometimes looks a bit humorous as I'm not sure the leg and hip will support the 210 lbs with each step. It isn't too bad today but it has it's moments where after I stand up, I have to think about that first step.

I've been able to sleep relatively comfortably the last few days although  I'm snoring from my sinuses and making at least 3 trips to the bathroom nightly.  Oh the glamorous life at the end of pregnancy :)

Not much else going on at the Hotel Brockman. The in-laws left today. It's been nice having them stay with us this past week and Kenley has enjoyed the extra time with them too. She headed back to the sitter today and we will try to get back into our normal routine for the remaining days before baby comes. Then I'm sure life will see chaotic for awhile but I think we are ready.

Updated predictions: 37 weeks

Well I'm pretty sure my doctor never thought I would get here but Monday was the 37 week mark. It was my goal all along as I wanted to technically have a "full term" baby. Now that it's here, I'm ready anytime but still know I want to "cook" the baby as long as is needed so we get a healthy stinks 2.0.  I go back to the doctor today for my 37 week appt and will be checked again. Baby wasn't crazy about the poking and prodding last time and I was uncomfortable for most of the night so we will see how today's appt goes and if I've made any progress.  I can tell it's dropping and it feels so heavy when I stand or even when I sit too long. I'm also getting slightly sick so I'm going to be asking for some meds. No one needs to be sick during pregnancy or even with a newborn in the house so I'm hoping I can kick whatever I'm getting quickly.

As far as predictions, my original guess was today but given my hubby's love of baseball and the fact that his team made it to the World Series, I jokingly say there is a new prediction. I'm sure Baby B will want to come during game 7 of the World Series :) Hopefully the Cards will play well and there won't be a game 7 or baby won't come during the "deciding" game where the Cards win it all but if he/she does, I know we will survive. Just have to DVR the game I guess and try to watch it before hearing any of the news. Not sure Clay's on board with that plan but he will make it work.

I'm hanging in there and getting more anxious by the day to meet this little one and discover if we will have another beautiful princess to spoil or a new handsome little prince. (I'm still hoping for a boy but I know I will be happy regardless and I really love our names, so I can't wait to share them with everyone.)

As always....stay tuned!

36 weeks and counting

So here I am at 36 weeks (yesterday). On the left was me with Kenley and on the right is me now. I don't feel as big as I did with Kenley at this point although I seem to look huge in the pictures so I thought I would compare. I don't think my doctor expected me to get this far this round but I'm still going strong.  I was contracting consistently yesterday from noon until after 10pm but they were about 30 minutes apart and not making any progress getting closer. I had my 36 week appt today with the doctor and all is still well. My weight is at 208 and my blood pressure was 114/64. I'm measuring right at 36 weeks and the baby's heart rate was down in the 140s again. I got checked and surprisingly I'm only 2cm and not effaced. Cervix is soft but still very thick. With Kenley at this point I was 50% effaced, but every pregnancy is different and it doesn't really mean much. I could still go tomorrow or I could hold off another week or 2. Dr still doubts I'll go much past another week or so but we just wait day by day. My next appointment isn't until Wed 10/19 if I make it that far.  Baby will come when the time is right. I am getting anxious to see if it's a boy or a girl and to get home and settled for my nice long 12 weeks of leave (which I'm sure will go much too fast given the holidays.)

Busy weekend

We had a busy but WONDERFUL weekend this past weekend. I took Friday off as I had signed Kenley up for a class at the Children's Discovery Museum. It was our first trip there and she enjoyed the class very much. We also enjoyed exploring the museum afterwards. The class was a Happy Halloween theme for October. They read a book and sang some songs. They had some free play time where you could do arts and crafts or play with holiday themed items like a pool of fake leaves or spooky bowling things.

Here is Kenley working hard on a candy corn she made for her daddy.

At the end when everyone regrouped we did more singing and some bubbles and scarves, but Kenley's favorite by far was the parachute. She had such a great time shaking it and then lifting it to see everyone else in the circle.

After we left the museum we went to Toys R Us to do a little Christmas shopping with Grandma B who was in town and had gone with us to play for the morning. We may have stopped at McDonald's for some drinks and cookies on the way, but there was no evidence of any cookies :)

Then on Saturday, we had planned to take Kenley back out to Rader Farms with Grandma and Papa B. She loves that place. We explored even more thouroughly than we had the weekend before at Haley's party. Here we found this pregnant goat. Not sure which one of us looked more pregnant :)

We played in the corn again and even coaxed Papa in for a bit.

We also posed for a few cute pictures with pumpkins!

This weekend she discovered the straw fort and how fun it was to climb up and "capture" the flags. Here she is enjoying one of the views. Good thing Clay could climb up there with her since she was all over the place!

Of course we also had to do the jump pillow again. No trip to the pumpkin patch is complete without jumping on the pillow :) She just loves it!!

Saturday night we also had another first. We actually got to play in our yard for the first time. We ran around and played tag or kicked the ball around. We even went exploring and found some bugs. Here Kenley is trying to touch the grasshopper. 

(Oh and yes, that girl's hair is crazy especially after naptime. I didn't brush it out but let her just look like a wild woman.) Sunday was very low key and no big plans. Kenley got up extra early and didn't take a good nap but we all survived and overall the weekend was just so much fun! 

Amish Science

Clay said those two words don't go together, but tonight we (me and my folks) did some Amish Science. I'm at my mom's camper for the night (for her surgery tomorrow) and we got to talking about the "needle prediction." If you aren't familiar, it's a test where you hold a needle on a string over the pregnant woman's wrist. The needle will move by either making a circle or swinging side to side. If it makes a circle then "It's a GIRL" and if it swings side to side then "It's a BOY." It will also pause at times to indicate the next kid coming and then cue the next gender. So, for example, if it did circle, side to side, pause, side to side.. you would be having 3 kids and they would be girl, boy, boy in that order. I know for fun we had done this in the past and then I'm pretty sure it said the first was a girl... I don't remember the rest, but for giggles we did it again tonight. My needle spun in a circle and then paused before going side to side (then it also paused again and did another circle). Therefore based on this high tech Amish science I'm gonna have a girl (Kenley), boy (this baby) and a 3rd kid that will also be a girl. (Don't really think a 3rd kid is in our plans but who knows.)

Regardless it said this baby is a BOY, so we will have to see if it turns out correct. I think my mom is secretly hoping for another girl, so she did the test again and with the same results.

So what do you think? What will Baby Brockman be? I put a poll on the right hand side of the blog. Feel free to vote!  And in anywhere from 2-5 weeks from now....or approximately 36 days if I go full term, we will find out!!!