Almost to the end of this pregnancy!!

I have reached 38 weeks and am almost to the end. Very soon our baby will be here in the world!! The week was pretty uneventful. We worked all week and that was about it. I had a few contractions through out the week but nothing significant or regular. I had a doctor's appointment on Friday. This appointment was with a different doctor then my regular OB though. My regular OB, Dr. Steele, wanted me to meet another doctor in the practice, so I saw the one that was on call over the weekend just in case I went into labor over the weekend it wouldn't be my first time meeting her. I am now 2 almost 3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. This doctor also said that my cervix is very soft and not to be surprised if my water breaks. Now with two doctors saying that Jonathan is wondering if he should make me sit on some plastic instead of the couch or bed, lol. We were very excited to hear that I was making progress. While I know it could still be awhile and that some women can go several weeks dilated before having their baby its still nice to know my body is preparing itself for it's upcoming job. Over the weekend I cleaned our house in hopes of getting labor started but nothing happened. I guess that the baby decided he wasn't quite ready after all. I definitely feel more pressure down there though so that's a good sign. Besides that, nothing else is going on. We are just waiting for baby Ryan to make his appearance and that's hard because I am not a very patient person. Hopefully it won't be much longer!!

A picture of me at 38 weeks

37 weeks!!

We made it to 37 weeks yesterday!!! That is a big milestone, our baby is now considered full term (even though we technically still have 3 more weeks to go). We are so excited we have made it to this point and I am now ready for this baby to come out. However, it seems as if the baby has a different thought in mind. At my doctor’s appointment on Friday everything went well and the baby is doing great. His heart beat is wonderful. I was hooked up to the monitor for about 30 minutes and he was moving like crazy. My doctor checked and I am not dilated at all though so it will probably be awhile still before this baby makes his appearance. My doctor did say that my cervix was very soft and not to be surprised if my water breaks before I go into labor. I am not holding my breath on that one though. I believe it’s only like 12% of women who have their water break before they are in labor so the odds are not on my side for that to happen; which Jonathan is very thankful for. I am very excited about this baby coming and so done being pregnant (at least with all the pains and aches that come along with it). Hopefully it won’t be much longer. We had our car seats checked on Friday as well to make sure they were correctly installed. That was the last thing on the list to do before the baby arrived. Now we are just waiting. We enjoyed our weekend relaxing and realized it will probably be one of the last ones we have without anything to do for quit some time (which means we slept in a little longer). My next doctor’s appointment is Friday and my regular doctor wants me to meet another doctor in the same practice who is on call next weekend so that appointment is with her. Then my doctor went ahead and made another appointment for the following Friday (the 31st) as well (apparently she is pretty confident the baby won’t come before then) with her after I see my high risk doctor. Besides that, nothing much has been going on or changed. The baby is still moving and kicking like crazy. I think my insides constantly stay bruised. I don’t know how he thinks it’s comfortable in there with no room but apparently he does. I will keep everyone updated as much as possible over the next few weeks if anything changes and of course on Ryan’s arrival (whenever that may be).

Me at 37 weeks, ready to pop.

Busy week

We have been very busy this past week. Work through out the week; which is still going well. I do miss being at home and not having to deal with all the aches and pains that come along with being pregnant and sitting at a desk all day. My feet and ankles are very swollen now that I am up all day. I try to sit with my feet up at work as much as possible though; which is helping a little bit. My back hurts a lot as well from being in an uncomfortable chair all day. I am just reminding myself that it won’t be much longer before our little guy is here and I will wonder where the time went. My brother Chris and his two little girls came down for the weekend. I saw them Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Aubrey, who is 3, and Hayden, who is almost 11 months, are both growing like weeds. They are both so adorable and sweet. Aubrey knows exactly what to say to wrap someone around her finger. But who could resist someone so adorable and sweet when they see you and say “Becca, I missed you so much!” and wrap their little arms around you. I spent most of my weekend down at my older brother Kenny’s house watching my nieces and nephew swim and play. It was very nice. Besides that, nothing much is going on. The baby is still moving constantly. Hopefully he is getting ready to make his appearance. We have a doctor’s appointment on Friday so we will find out more about how I am doing and my progress then. I am hoping that we get good news and that I am progressing well. I am really not enjoying these last couple weeks of pregnancy and I am ready for this baby to be here.

Here are a couple of pictures I took this weekend.

Chris, Aubrey and Shelby swimming.

Hayden in her float.

And of course a new one of me at 36 weeks.

Back to Work

Last week was my first week back to work in 11 weeks. It was nice to be out of the house and back to work but I was very tired by the end of the week. Monday and Tuesday were not too bad because I was excited to be back. The excitement got me through the days; however, by Wednesday that had worn off and I was very tired Wednesday night. My back hurt pretty bad from sitting in a chair all day and my feet were really swollen. Thursday wasn't much better but it was only a half day (I had to leave early for two doctors appointments, get to those in a minute) so it went by quickly. Doesn't seem like much has changed since I have been gone so it was easy to get back in to the swing of things. And thankfully they have kept my work up pretty well and I didn't have it piled up when I returned. Now that I am back though, I must admit that I am ready to have this baby and be back at home. It is not fun sitting at a desk when you can barely reach the keyboard. And I can't sit too close to the desk because baby Ryan gets mad and starts kicking the desk; which does not feel good. Plus, my feet and ankles have swollen so much my shoes don't fit. Enough complaining, I really am glad to be back and into a semi-normal routine again. Working will help pass the time and before we know it Ryan will be here.

Thursday after leaving work early I got to have lunch with both my brothers; always a nice treat when we can get together. Chris was driving through on his way back home from military training and Kenny met us in Lexington for lunch before my doctors appointment. I had two doctors appointments on Thursday. The one with my regular OB went just fine; everything is going well. Baby's heart beat is still strong and I had no contractions while I was hooked up to the monitor. The appointment with my high risk doctor went well also. However, they did tell me that I have a double lobed placenta but not to worry about it. They said the only thing they had to do was make sure they got both parts out when I delivered. We didn't get to see Dr. Campbell as he had an emergency with another patient so we are going to ask my regular OB some additional questions about this at my next appointment. We did get some new ultrasound pictures taken but I haven't had a chance to scan them in yet but I will try to get to that this week. Friday was a day of relaxing. On Saturday my dad and his girlfriend came down from Illinois to visit for a couple of days. It was nice to see them and to spend some time with them. My dad hadn't seen me pregnant yet so he was glad he got to come down before the baby got here and plans to come back once he makes his appearance. Saturday night we had a cook out down at my brother Kenny's house for the 4th. Yummy food, great time with lots of family and a few fireworks; couldn't ask for more. My dad is leaving today to go back home so last night we all got together at my grandmother's for dinner. Once again there was yummy food and time with family, very nice ending to a Monday.

We will see what the rest of the week holds. Rumor has it my brother Chris is coming back down for a visit with his two little girls on Thursday for a couple of days but I am not getting my hopes up yet as he is still contemplating the best way to get a 3 year old and a 10 month old down here by himself (his wife, Nikki, has National Guard training for 2 weeks). It would be wonderful to see them! My maternity pictures are up on our photographer's website. Go to http://carlislephotography.smugmug.com/Proofs, click on Johnson maternity and the password is johnson if you would like to see them. Let me know what you think and if you have any favorites. For now here is a picture of me at 35 weeks (yay, not much longer!).