Slightly Overdue

Well, I guess it is only appropriate that I am a few days late in posting that little Luke Daniel FINALLY arrived!  He came into this world on Sunday, September 2nd at 10:29pm, weighing 9lbs 4oz and 22inch long! :)  Yes, he is a BIG BOY!

After going to my appointment on Thursday and seeing that my ultrasound and non-stress test all came out normal, and that I was still not dilated AT ALL...my doctor and I decided to continue to wait through the weekend but go ahead and schedule an induction to start on Monday evening.  I left the appointment relieved to know Luke was okay, but frustrated to know I had made no progress and would probably end up with an induction.

We went about the rest of our weekend with no plans for baby to arrive and prepared to start the week off in the hospital Monday night.  But Luke finally decided a little differently.  I woke up to some early labor symptoms and decided that going to church probably wasn't the smartest of ideas.  I was hoping things would progress quickly so I had my parents over to the house by about 10am.  Well, things didn't speed up...but they did stay consistent and regular.  By about 4pm, the contractions were getting strong and I started to get a little anxious that things would start going way too fast again like with Mark.  We decided we would go ahead and go to the hospital while they were still about 10minutes apart and see if they would admit us.  My parents took the boys to their house and I shed a couple of tears actually as they drove away knowing that was the last time I would see them as just my 2 sons!!

We arrived at the hospital a little after 5pm and were sent to triage to check things out.  Luckily, I was 4cm dilated and contracting regularly, so they let me stay!! I proceeded to tell any nurse that would listen about my last birth experience and that I really wanted to make sure I got an epidural this time.  Thankfully, they listened so as soon as I was checked in, they set me up for the epidural.  It came in just the right time as I was able to labor painlessly for the next 2 hours.  And I think it allowed me to relax and I progressed quickly!  An hour after the epidural, I was already at 7cm.  My contractions were getting very strong and close and my nurse said she thought as soon as my water broke, I would be delivering VERY quickly so she called the doctor on call.  She got there about 10pm, did a check which broke my water, decided I was ready to practice push which turned into the real deal and Luke was here 30 minutes later! :)  It was a great delivery and I felt really good and of course Luke is beautiful...and healthy... and BIG!  That was definitely a surprise!

We came home yesterday afternoon and everyone seems to be adjusting well.  The boys are fascinated with him and want to hold and "pet" and feed him all the time.  It is super sweet!

So without further adieu....here is Luke!!

2,4,6??

I calculated my due date as 8/23, doc had 8/25...so at this point I'm anywhere from 2-4 days overdue. My first ultrasound estimated due date as 8/28...so maybe tomorrow will be the day? Or, who knows, we may end up with a September/labor day baby after all!!

All in all... I'm not MISERABLE, but I won't lie, I'm anxious and a little on edge which isn't always fun for everyone else around me ;-)

My maternity leave started today as work pretty much kicked me out. No one wanted to deliver a baby in the office. I have a doc appt on Thursday so we will see how things look that day and schedule an induction for the beginning of the week if Luke hasn't arrived on his own by then!

#2 issues for #2

we got the peeing in the potty down in like 2 days....but the #2, it does not seem to be happening.  Any tips on getting the littles one to go on the pot? 

Mark will be going to MDO this year and since he is potty trained with #1, I would like to send him in underwear since that's what he wears at home...but I am SURE that his teachers would not appreciate the accidents.  Easier to clean up a pull up than undies!

Suggestions?

New shoes

Went in for our yearly trip to Stride Rite today for new sneakers. They may be pricier then some, but they last! It's buy one,get one 1/2 off right now so we actually got 2 pair for boys since z in soccer too.

They originally picked out some "lovely" all white light up storm trooper ones but I talked them out of those. Got some less obnoxious light up light saber shoes instead ;-) and then just a regular pair of sneaks. I really thought Mark would choose super hero shoes...but he wanted what big brother picked. Oh these two!!

Zach's foot grew a whole size and a half. He's wearing a 13.5! Mark's just grew a half size to 10.5. But it looks like one of his foot is almost a half size bigger then the other too :)

Need some new clothes and we will be ready for school!

No news

Yesterday's appointment was rather uneventful.  In fact, my doctor joked that it seems I had LESS progress than last week ;-)  Thankfully I am feeling pretty good all in all, so I am feeling okay waiting right now.  She said even if I had wanted to be induced at 39 weeks (which you are able to), she would not let me because my body isn't favorable for it and would probably not respond (ie-end up with c-section). 

I pulled up the old blog from Mark's arrival time...and apparently a week out, nothing was going on with him either...so there is hope!

Latest case scenario, he will be here by labor day! :)

Home Stretch

We haveless than 2 weeks to go until my due date and I must admit I feel a bit of anxiety and anxiousness arising!  With 2 other little guys at home to take care of, there is not a lot of time to really focus on the 3rd one's impending arrival.  It hit me about a week or so ago that I better get things ready!

Thanks to the showers last week, I am stocked up on diapers and wipes and some special goodies for Luke.  I did a last minute Target run yesterday for some neccessities like bottles and binkes.  If nothing else, we should at least be able to survive the first week at home :-)

I think some anxiety rests in wondering what will happen with the actual labor.  You may remember, Mark made his arrival in under an hour at the hospital with no drugs.  Definitely was not planned that way, but looking back, it was kind of nice.  It was hard and intense and scary, but it was over FAST!  And then I felt great.  But the thought of being that screaming maniac for that 45 minutes again kinda freaks me out.  And I get nervous thinking about what if something happened really quickly in the middle of the night.  Could someone get to our house fast enough for us to even make it to hospital? 

And my babies...although it is still wild and crazy with my 2 little men around, we are not outnumbered right now...Matt and I can still divide and conquor!  HA!  How will adding the 3rd little guy into the mix effect all of us?  These are all things we of course discussed before we even got pregnant, but at that point, its all just theory. Now we have to put it into practice and make it work. 

I guess what it boils down to is I worry about my own shortcomings as a wife and mother.  Will I be able to step up to the challenge and make this all work?  I am going to need a lot of Grace and Patience...with myself and given out to my family to make it all work!  But I know God has great things in store for this little man, and I rest in that knowledge. 
          Jeremiah 29:11
           11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to   harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

It is an exciting and nervous time around our household, but more than anything I just can't wait to meet this little guy and bring him in to our family!  Stay tuned!! :-)

Lucky Girl

This is a week of spoiling for me...I have 3 baby showers this week.  Feeling very blessed and spoiled for sure.  With a 3rd baby...and a 3rd boy at that, I was happy to just have the little guy.  But my co-workers, friends, and church friends decided differently.

Today at work, my co-workers had cupcakes to celebrate and contributed to a nice gift card for me.  It was enough to probably cover diapers for a month!

Saturday my bff Sue planned a whole GNO for me....dinner out, seeing Steel Magnolias at the theatre  and who knows what after that!

And Sunday...the Sunday school girls have planned a lunch diaper shower for me after church. 

Me and little Luke Daniel are feeling very loved and extremely grateful for all the fabulous women in our lives! Thank you friends!! :)

Random acts of kindness

Today we were the recipient of some good old grace and kindness! After a giant grocery shopping trip, mark decided to have a major meltdown at the checkout for reasons still unknown to me.

As I was attempting to wrangle and hold mark, watch zach, and push a VERY loaded cart... A random woman shopper stepped in and got my cart and asked where my car was. She told me she was a grandma to 13 kiddos...And she was happy to help.

I was doing my best to remain calm amidst the looks in the store and trying to just check out and GET out that her kindness almost brought me to tears.

She parked my cart and wished me a good day. So nice to have little moments like that... I was touched and made the trip end on a very happy note. I will be sure to repay that favor to another mom one day! Thank you grocery store lady!

Mediterranean crockpot chicken

Made a little creation tonight for dinner and it was a success! I love all the Mediterranean ingredients and just threw all in that I had on hand!
Chicken breasts
Italian stewed tomatoes
Sundried tomatoes
Kalamata olives
Garlic
Artichoke hearts
Mushrooms
Onion
Mix all the ingredients up, then placed the chicken on top and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Cooked on high for 4 hours. When it was ready to serve, I topped with some feta! Yummy!! Matt loved it and said next time it would be great on some pasta. Will have to try that next time! :) love it when a creation works out!

Potty Training Time

It is probably PAST time...but with the due date of yet to be named #3 looming very soon....I am determined to get Markey potty trained and out of diapers before the baby comes in a month.  Fingers crossed!!

We have been talking a lot about it and he seems to comprehend, so starting tomorrow, we will be homebound for 3 days and giving it a go!

I went to target today at lunch and stocked up on M&Ms and Skittles for little rewards, stickers, new super hero undies, and a few small toys to give as bribes, i mean, ENCOURAGEMENT! ;-)

Wish us luck!  We are using the 3 day potty training method that we used with Zachary.  It was stressful at the time (from what I remember) but he actually did pretty well so we are going to give it a go with Mark too! :)

Hopefully I still have my sanity by Monday...