Another doctor appointment and less than a week til my due date!

So I had a doctor appointment today at 39 weeks and 2 days! They did a cervical check and said I was 2cm dilated and maybe only 20% effaced. So making a little progress. She didn't do a sweeping of the membranes or anything, but she said things were going along ok. She said the baby was still a little bit in a high position, maybe a +4 position as a guess. She also said he wasn't a huge baby and didn't seem worried about his size. She said he was maybe around 8 pounds after feeling around my stomach pretty good. Clint got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Her machine wasn't working that great which was a little scary at first, but then we heard our strong heartbeat! So any day now!!!

There are a few pictures from a maternity photo session at the photographers blog. Her website is http://staceymcrae.blogspot.com/2008/03/maternity-on-white-and-black.html

Getting closer and closer!

Had an appointment today at 38 weeks 5 days. The midwife was GREAT and so nice! She is the one army midwife there. She reminded us that we don't HAVE to have everything thats recommended and pointed out the stuff on the eyes can make their eyes puffy, so I think we might delay for 30 minutes to an hour so we can get a few little pictures of Conner before he has puffy eyes. She said she estimated the baby was 7 to 7.5 pounds. She did a real thorough job feeing him and his position head down. She measured me at 37cm. So we are assuming the baby has dropped from before. I didn't have her do a cervical exam, athough at first she was so excited to do it and possible sweep my membranes, haha! So we all thought that it would be better to wait til my next appointment (5 more days) and then have them check my cervix then. Clint should be going with me to that one! That appointment is back with the lady who didn't seem to care much about me and seemed too pre-occupied with another patient who she wanted to get a C-section.

Had an appointment last week at 37 weeks 5 days. This midwife was really nice! I had her do a cervical check and she thought I wasn't dialated and was maybe 25% effaced. She said my cervix was softening and so my braxton hicks contractions were doing something to get me ready! She measured me at 39.5cm!


38 weeks 1 day


38 weeks
Vicky and I made a belly cast! This was a lot of fun and turned out really great! We just got the things we needed at a medical supply store and really only used about $20 worth of material! It was worth it! Not sure what to do with it now! Maybe put Conner's footprints on the side where he kicks the most or something. Any ideas?

Less than 3 weeks til my due date!

I made it through a little cold that definitely had me under the weather. I was sick for about two weeks and it is just now starting to go away. Thursday, March 6th I started to feel more braxton hicks contractions than ever before. This sort of freaked me out, feeling unprepared for labor and delivery, so I looked up the childbirth class dates and times in Olympia. The very last all day class was on Saturday the 8th, so I signed right up! My dad went with me the first half of the class and my mom went with me to the second half. I feel so lucky to have such a supportive family. It was a pretty informative class. She told us a lot about the process of birth and the stages, practiced some breathing while holding handfuls of ice cubes (this was not easy with a stuffed up nose being all congested and tired from that), and we got to try out all kinds of massaging things to see what we liked the best! With that class I also got a infant safety and CPR class which was on the 15th. Christina went with me to this! Again, thanks to my supportive family! We learned more opinions of all kinds of baby products - some useful and some not...but I have noticed that when someone has a good or bad opinion on something, they seem to think that is the ONLY good thing for instance. Like only this detergent is the best....almost implying all the other ones are bad. I am just taking all the advice and will form my own opinions. This way I can decide what is best for us and go from there. I am sure there will be trial and error with things too. So of course after my few days of more and more braxton hicks contractions, they have died back down to being more just one or two in the evening like normal (from 33 weeks on). So he is trying to hold out til daddy gets back!

I also had my 36 week appointment on the 10th. I saw a third midwife, Backman, and she was so distracted with another patient. I really feel like I did not get a "real" appointment or have her full attention. I am going to say something about it, in a nice way, at my next appoint. She was just a little discouraging to see because I am with the midwives, and I liked the idea of having a midwife because I expected a little more attention and care as I will be nervous with this all being my first time. She measured my uterus at 34 cm, which is the same from my 33 week appointment. If Conner hasn't grown in 3 weeks, I think this would raise concern and she would remeasure. She actually didn't even tell me the number when the other two did. I had to ask and she didn't even seem phased. I am sure Conner has been growing though! He seems bigger in my belly, thats for sure! At 36 weeks I had gained 30 pounds exactly. I haven't weighed myself since then so we will see!! I think I am staying in the 25-35 range pretty good though, despite my daily need for ice cream and whatever sounds good! =)

Thursday I have a breastfeeding class and Friday another appointment! More updates to come soon! Here are my weekly pictures from the last few weeks:


37 weeks St. Patricks Day!


36 weeks


35 weeks 1 day

Just over 5 weeks to my due date!

Well as of about 33 weeks I have been having daily Braxton Hicks contractions. A few a day, in no regular pattern, but more typically at night time. There aren't painful in any way and I figure my body should practice as much as it wants to! I have had a little more back pain and notice a slight swelling in my hands and feet off and on, but nothing too bad. Still wearing my rings! =) Still another week til I go in to meet another midwife. Then two and a half weeks after that I meet the 4th midwife. Seems like my appointments are so spaced out, but even with my asking for more appointments to get to know the midwifes better - they didn't offer me up any other appointments. I am getting so excited, anxious, and nervous about the big day and after! So many questions - like when he will come, how the labor will be, the length of the labor, will he have any problems, what kind of baby will he be, will clint be here?? ect ect ect I try to keep them in the back of my mind, but the closer I get the more I seem to think about them!


34 weeks 1 day


Photoshop is so cool what you can do with it! 34 weeks exactly here!!


33 weeks


33 weeks and 6 weeks comparison in the same shirt! Look at how much he has grown!

Getting so excited!

32 weeks 1 day


31 weeks 1 day


30 weeks 3 days

Ultrasound on January 31st! 30 weeks 3 days

Conner is confirmed to be a boy yet again!


You can see his little eyelids so detailed!


Conner has his daddy's lips!


Isn't he so cute?? His face looks so defined already!

January 31st I had an ultrasound appointment at Madigan. The ultrasound area is on the same floor as labor and delivery, but in a completely separate area from the OB clinic. I didn't actually see a midwife, but just an ultrasound technician. The lady was so nice who did the ultrasound. She seemed so knowledgable also! His weight estimate was 4 pounds 2 ounces. This was exactly 2 weeks ahead for the averages - but that isn't too bad. All of his bones were checked and measured. All parts of his brain were measured to make sure they were growing correctly. They measured how much spinal fluid he had and that all his vertebrate matched up with eachother. They checked the circumference of his head is right about 30cm, and his diameter was 8 or 9cm. They checked to make sure the placenta wasn't too close to the cervix. They checked to make sure there was the right amount of amniotic fluid for him in there. They did a really thourough look at him, and gave me a lot of pictures. I didn't get them from there, wink wink, but they did a 4D ultrasound for me where we could see his face! He is so adorable to me! I can't wait to see him and hold him! He has hair too! You could see the hairs all sticking off of his head just floating in the fluid!

Almost 30 weeks!

Wow in two days I will be 30 weeks along! Sometimes it seems like time has flown by. So I am all set up to be seen by the midwife team at Madigan. There are 5 midwives there. I have already met one and I am scheduled with two other ones in the next two appointments. I have an ultrasound appointment scheduled for this week also! Normally they don't do ultrasounds in the states, but they are doing a transfer in ultrasound to make sure they have the information they need. When I come in to the hospital for labor and delivery, the midwife who is on call will be with me the whole time. They aren't like doctors where they just come in and check on you every so often. This way they can help explain more what's going on and help with more natural ways of pain management and techniques. I really like how all of this is sounding. I signed up for an intro to labor and delivery at Madigan, like what to expect there, ect. I also signed up for a prenatal breastfeeding class that is put on by lactation specialists. Why not take the free classes they offer if I have time? I am looking into signing up for a breathing type of class, but haven't signed up officially for anything yet.

I discovered at around 27 weeks I could feel hiccups. It feels like a heart beat pulsing down very low in my abdomen, at least a few inches below my belly button (apparently indicates he is head down most of the time according to the midwife I saw last week). I feel him move all the time, multiple times a day, and he seems to be getting stronger everyday. 10 weeks left to go!


29 weeks 1 day


28 weeks 4 days


27 weeks 1 day


27 weeks 1 day ultrasound - profile view of Conner's face


27 weeks 1 day 4D ultrasound showing Conner's face, umbilical cord is near the left side of his face


27 weeks 1 day 4D ultrasound showing Conner's face, right eye is open and left eye is covered by his hand

Update before a busy month!

23 weeks 5 days flowers were delivered from Clint while he was deployed! My favorite flowers! He is so thoughtful! I love him so much!


24 weeks 1 day New shirt I found on sale at Kohls for like $6! I am a good shopper for maternity clothes I think! He is really starting to make his appearance!



25 weeks Little Baby Conner in there!! Christmas Eve!


26 weeks! New Years Eve! Jessica's Wedding Day! Lot's of fun little events for Conner! and lots of belly rubbing might I add too by everyone, haha!

I had an amazing shower with tons of family and friends. I felt really showered with things for Conner it was great! Thanks so much to everyone for everything. I feel really blessed! Well in just a few days I fly back to Germany. I need to get some things taken care of, check on our place, and all that before coming back home for 7 months! It will be great to be here with my mom and family and friends when Conner is born. He is moving so much! Since he is getting bigger his movements seem to be more like real movements than flutters or just kicks. Like an arm moving across that segment of my stomach or something. It almost feels like the area tightens up right before he moves so sometimes I have some warning! Doctor appointment again in less than a week! I can't wait to see him! I know he will look so much bigger!!