Need to Find a new Doctor

I'm done wih Kaiser insurance tomorrow so I need to find a new doctor, transfer all my medical records, etc.  I'm going to check out Pacific Midwifery.  I've heard good things about them and know they do VBACs, but I'm not sure if they do a VBAC after two cesareans or if they have openings to deliver in eight weeks.  We'll see.  I'm also planning on checking out either a doctor, midwife or both at The Vancouver Clinic.  One nice thing is that Davin can take the kids during my appointments there.  My goal in the next two weeks is to find someone available and willing to let me go into labor.

The nursery is slowly getting ready.  The new carpet looks nice, the walls are painted, the crib is up, and tiny clothes are in the drawer.  I still need to make the curtains and Davin needs to get the trim in, but we're waiting on a Lowe's gift card from our carpet purchase for the later.  I've pulled down all our stored baby things from the garage attic.  I just need to wash the covers for the car seat, swing, etc.  Oh, this is going to be here before I know it!

I'm feeling really tired and depleted most of the time.  A lot of that is also due to being sick right now.  I caught Kaylynn's cold.  I'm also growing weary of the pain.  Especially in the mornings it really hurts to get out of bed, get dressed, walk... basically lift my legs at all.  Things are loosening up and moving that shouldn't be.  Davin reminded me that my pregnancy discomfort will be over soon.  Yeah, just too bad it involves either pushing or cutting baby out.

Gotta finish getting ready for my day.  We're driving Davin to work so I can take Kaylynn to the doctor.  She's had a fever for five days and hardly ate anything yesterday.

30 weeks

Only about ten weeks to go!  Or eleven to twelve.  My babies are traditionally late.  This baby loves to move around in my tummy and sometimes feels like he or she is dancing a jig.  What's going on in there?

My belly is growing.  I rest it on the countertop when I wash dishes to relieve the stain on my back.  My back has been complaining at me lately especially with all the remodeling work I've been doing in two of the bedrooms.  I'm also finding it difficult to sit on the floor with the kids.  I get a pinched nerve or something in my lower back.  I should pull out my belly brace to see of that helps.

Davin and I have been pretty busy lately so we still haven't sat down to pick our top choices for names yet.  We have date night on Friday so hopefully we can narrow it down then.  It's still hard for me to grasp that sleepless nights and newborn cries are just around the corner!

24 Weeks and Counting

Things are chugging right along.  I guess the past few weeks have gone by fairly quickly.  I'm already at 24 and a half weeks.  I'm having more physical discomfort already with my added 25 pounds.  I feel baby moving often and I can tell he or she is still in breech position for now.  It's so strange to feel a separate body squirming inside me.

Sadly, I have already had the "twins" conversation.  "You're bigger than average, aren't you?... Are you sure you're not having twins?"  No, I just blow up like a blimp, thanks for pointing it out.  I'm still nervous about gaining more weight in the next few months.  Having Thanksgiving and Christmas won't help any!  I have managed to not gain much in the last three weeks or so, but baby has to put on more weight so I will too. I work hard to avoid the word "fat" and try to talk about growing in a positive light with the kids.  I love how Desmond really couldn't tell I was bigger when I showed him two pictures side by side. 

I only have two appointments left with Kaiser before I switch doctors.  I still don't know exactly who I'll see, but Davin's 2014 insurance through work is actually a huge improvement over previous years and much better than any individual plans so that's probably the way we'll go.

I'm trying to get Kaylynn's new room finished up so we can move her out of the nursery and repaint.  I'd like to be completely finished by early January at the latest.  Her bedroom walls are done, and now we just need to schedule to get new carpet in.  The plan is to get that part done before Thanksgiving.

I finished knitting the baby blanket.  Yay!  I got something finished for baby #3.  It's still hard to imagine a new person in our life.  Each child changes things so much, I'm sure this will be no exception.

The Ultrasound!

The day to see the baby finally came!  It was exciting to see the face of our beautiful baby #3.  Davin and the kids sat out in the waiting room for all the measuring, but got to come back for a good look toward the end.  I loved watching the baby wiggle and move around.  "You have a mover and shaker," said the technician. 

Desmond and Kaylynn enjoyed seeing their baby brother or sister.  Kaylynn wanted to hold it, and Desmond asked if the baby could also see us while we were peaking in.  There's one picture we got that will make you wonder.

I didn't find out the gender because I'd like to be surprised on delivery day.  We'll see if I last until the end.  Davin doesn't want to wait so he got the secret envelope with the labeled picture and it's now hidden somewhere in our room.  He said he won't peak until we've narrowed down our top girl and boy names.  That way he won't feel or give off the vibe that he's wasting his time on one or the other.  People will probably pester him to tell, but he's good at keeping secrets so he'll probably be the only one who knows until delivery day.  It will be on my medical record, too, so hopefully no one slips during an appointment.

Baby didn't totally cooperate so we weren't able to get all the required pictures.  I'm supposed to go back next week to see if baby is in a better position, but I don't really want to pay for a second ultrasound so we'll see.

Here's the face of the newest Studer.
Profile:

 Head and back:

 Here's lookin' at ya:
(I've never seen an eye like this in any ultrasound picture!)

Focus (or the Lack, Thereof) on Baby

I've finally published my earlier pregnancy drafts that I wrote before we announced Baby #3.  I actually forgot about them for awhile.  Oops.  Also I realized that I forgot to ask for print outs from my first in-office ultrasound so I don't have any baby pics to show yet.  Oops.  I feel a little bit bad for Baby #3 who I know won't get the same level of attention that Desmond or even Kaylynn got.  I'm too busy caring for the other two to focus on this one much.  I have managed to start knitting a baby blanket like I did for the other two so that's good.  I haven't touched it in a couple weeks but hopefully I've started it soon enough to finish it by February.  Especially now that my morning sickness is subsiding, sometimes I completely forget about being pregnant.  I am trying to get belly pictures every month.  Hopefully I can keep that up the rest of the time.  I want give as much of myself to this baby as I was able to give Desmond, but reality is that Kaylynn never has never had my exclusive attention, and this baby will share me three ways.  Parenting is a constant adjustment and this is another big one.  I know we'll find our new groove, but it worries me sometimes.

In other news I had an extra doctor's appointment about a week ago.  I thought I might have been leaking amniotic fluid.  I won't go into details, but it was just weird and had me slightly worried.  I called advice and they said to come in and be checked.  Everything checked out just fine.  Good to know!

First glimpse

Monday was the long awaited first check up.  The kids only knew I was having a check up because my tummy hurt.  The doctor did the in office ultrasound and we could clearly see the flashing heartbeat.  That makes me feel so good!  We asked Desmond who's heartbeat that was and his first guess was Mommy's and when we said no he guessed, "Mine?" It was cute.

It was fun telling the kids that my tummy has been sick because there's a baby inside!  Kaylynn didn't quite understand and was quite upset (crying) the rest of the day because she wanted the baby out so she could hold him.  Desmond looked hard at the ultrasound picture and then slowly realized what we were saying and a huge smile came across his face.  

Although he denied being excited he really is.  He's telling everyone we meet that there's a baby in my tummy.  The word is out!  We'll be telling Aunt Marcia tonight when she comes to babysit for our anniversary date night.  My parents will find out this weekend when they come watch the kids for our anniversary getaway.  Most everyone else should find out at Desmond's birthday in a week.  Then these blog posts can get published.

Trying everything

Yesterday my Psi Bands arrived and I was hopeful that accupressure could curb my queasiness.  I've been playing around with tightness and shifting the location up and down, but nothing seems to be working.  I think it might help slightly but I still feel sick.  Blah!  It's hard because its pretty much all I can think about, and I don't feel like doing anything... Especially making food for the family.  A strange aversion for me right now is bread.  Normally I LOVE bread but it just sounds gross to me right now so the kids haven't been having too many sandwiches lately.

I've also tried sipping peppermint tea, peppermint candies, ginger chews, eating smaller more frequent meals, but unless I'm actively taking something in, the nausea just keeps coming.  I know from last time that I can't just try to eat my way through the first trimester.  I think I gained 15 pounds last time in as many weeks, and I still felt sick.  Gotta just endure it.  

I'm determined to keep my weight in check.  I don't want to gain more than five pounds in the first trimester and i'm already nearly there with four weeks to go.  We're planning a tenth anniversary cruise and I'll only be six months postpartum.  I don't want to be a blimp on the cruise!  I need to keep exercising, but let's just say intensity and bouncing around don't mix we'll with an upset stomach so I'm struggling to stay active right now.  I might join the gym again to have a commitment, and next week some friends and I decided to start a weekly walk/run.  This has got to work!

Renovating the extra room has been on pause because I feel so crummy.  I need to at least get it cleaned out and hopefully sanded, textured and primed in the next two weeks because my mother in law is coming for Desmond's birthday and she sleeps in that room. 

All day sickness

Oh, yeah.  Here it comes.  I am near the seven week mark and today I felt icky most of the day.  It's not very strong but it's fairly constant.  Last time this lasted until about sixteen weeks if I remember right.  How am I going to survive ten weeks of feeling sick while taking care of two kids?

Today was simply a bad day.  I lost my cool and cried about my mommy failures.  Growing a baby is no easy task and if the kids could just give me 15 solid minutes to catch a nap... Well, I guess I'd always want more.  Best not to lay down at all than to be continually interrupted. 

There is one upside.  This means my hormone levels are increasing to support a growing baby.  That's a good thing.  Two weeks feels like an eternity to wait for ultrasound confirmation that everything's okay.  Then I think we'll announce our secret.

Baby #3

After trying for about 9 months we are excited that Baby Studer #3 is on the way!  I am almost six weeks along, and so far I've been extra sleepy but not much else.  My cycle has been a bit off this year and the regular doctors won't test anything until after a year of trying has passed.  The naturopath was eager to work with me on balancing my cycle, and it must have worked because the first month of treatment I got pregnant!

With baby on the way I've launched into home renovation mode to clear out the extra room converting it to Kaylynn's room so the smallest room can once again be the nursery.  I want to start now because I know it will take longer than I think, and by the third trimester I might not want to be painting walls or ripping out carpet.  Of course emptying the extra room means moving some things into our room so we're planning a closet overhaul there, too.

It's hard to think of all the transitioning that will need to happen to make room for this newest little member of our family.  Desmond will move to the back seat of the van.  Kaylynn will move out of her high chair at the table.  And a mom can at least hope to potty train a two year old, right?

I'm not looking forward to gaining weight.  Each of the other times I've gained around 60 lbs and I really don't want to do that again!  I've been watching what I eat and exercising often.  I was actively losing weight before I got pregnant and even a little afterwards.  I don't want to eat too little, but I don't want to eat too much.  I need to figure out a happy balance.

I'm seriously thinking about not finding out the gender and letting it be a surprise.  We have all we need for a boy or a girl.  We'll see if I have the self control to wait.