Our 37 week surprise

This is a week late since our Internet has been down for an entire week.

Last week on Monday July 23rd at 2:10am we welcomed Madden James Dexter into the world!!

Weighing in at 6 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches long 

He came right at 37 weeks, just barely making it at full term but he apparently just couldn't wait any longer.

The last week has been kind a blur and a big adjustment for us all as we learn how to be parents and about this new little miracle in our lives now. Words cannot express how blessed we are to have just a beautiful and healthy little boy.

I have LOTS of updates and posts to work on, including his birth story which I will share on here once I find the time and energy.



One MONTH

Although I'm fashionably late again with my weekly update the countdown is officially at 4 weeks, this past Friday the 13th was exactly ONE MONTH until Baby Dex's due date!!!

Friday was a little bittersweet. As not only it was one month till our due date, it was the official end of Dave coaching his 6th baseball season. They lost their game in the first round of sub state :(

I've been telling him (and MJ) all along that as soon as baseball season is over, it's BABY TIME! Even though I know he is disappointed the team didn't make it further our little man is more than welcome to come anytime! And with my post from yesterday regarding my 36 week appointment, hopefully he will do just that :)

Yesterday we celebrated my wonderful husband's 32nd birthday! We met both our parents for dinner at his favorite restaurant then headed back to our house for his traditional Great American Cookie, ice cream and presents. Plus the parents got to check out the almost complete nursery.

How Far Along: 36 Weeks 2days

How Big is Baby? Baby's now the size of a honeydew! Baby's skin is getting smooth and soft, her gums are rigid, her liver and kidneys are in working order, and her circulation and immune system are basically good to go. Her lungs are the only organs that still need to fully mature, but every day she gets a little closer to breathing on her own.

Baby should soon descend into your pelvis, which will give your lungs a little room to breathe (literally). The bad news: This puts the brunt of baby's weight on your hips and pelvis, and will make them pretty sore. Add in your ever-loosening ligaments, and you may soon be taking on that oh-so-adorable pregnancy waddle. (Whatever, I’ve had the pregnancy waddle for about the last 3 months now!)

Maternity Clothes: Official grown out of my early maternity pants thanks to the constant swelling. Although I'm still able to rotate between maternity and some non-maternity shirts, skirts and dresses.

Gender: BOY!

Movement: They are getting much stronger and lower the last few weeks. I swear he keeps punching me in my cervix and it's really not a great feeling!!

Belly button in or out? It's about to pop out, just noticed it's no longer in but on the verge of popping out.

What I miss: Nothing except sleeping comfortably.

Food Cravings: Soda, ICEE's, Flavor Ice

Aversions: None.

Sleep: Unable to sleep through the night with multiple bathroom trips and never able to find a comfortable spot to sleep for very long. Still feeling sore in the morning, numbness in my hands and feet, pelvic pain, and back pain.

Symptoms: Sciatic pain is definitely back. Swelling. Full body aches. Low pelvic pain and pressure especially when standing up to walk. Contractions. One large and in charge belly :)

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks contractions, low pelvic movements, thinned cervix and dilated to 3 cm!

Best Moment(s) this week: Hearing little man's heartbeat, still right in the 150’s. Our glider and ottoman FINALLY came in so I can finish the nursery! Finding out my body is already making some progress and starting to get ready for his arrival.  

Milestones: Dilation!! 

What I'm looking forward to: Being considered full-term...only 1 more week holy crap! Putting the finishing touches on the nursery.

Getting Closer!

I had my 36 week appointment yesterday morning. Since I had an exam for the Strep B test my midwife asked if I wanted my cervix checked also. Of course I'm curious to see if anything at all is happening yet even though I know we still have four more weeks.

So she checked....

Cervix is thin.

Babies head is low.

Dilated to 3 cm!

Shit just got real!!

I am well aware that nothing could happen anytime soon, I possibly could stay at 3 cm for two or three more weeks with nothing else happening. HOWEVER, I cannot believe I am already at 3 cm! I was really hoping to just be at 1 cm or something so I knew something at least was going on. But this is amazing to me!

It also truly means little man REALLY could be here any day now.

Camera Shy

I've been trying to get MJ on video for some time now. He's constantly moving to the point where I've never even bothered doing those kick counts your suppose to start once you hit like 28 weeks because he's so active all the time. 

I wake up on the morning to him moving, obviously kicking saying "good morning mama!". Multiple times throughout the morning and afternoon he is wiggling and kicking away which can be a bit distracting at work. He's usually always moving on my drive home from work, then again while I'm hanging out on the couch after dinner and while trying to settle down to go to bed. 

There definitely is no shortage of attempts but I swear he knows when I pull out my camera and start videotaping because that's when he stops. As soon as I quit he starts again. Little stinker!

But yesterday I got him!   

My co-worker was on the phone with a candidate in the background so I put music with the clip instead.

It's not the best video of him moving around but at least I finally got him.

He was going crazy while I was at work. So crazy I actually started to have a ton of Braxton Hicks contractions pretty frequently too. Once I noticed how often they were coming I actually paid attention, 6 in just a half hour. But after an hour they finally stopped and that was it.

35/35

That's right we hit 35 weeks today meaning we have only 35 days to go till D-Day!!

I had my first prenatal massage on Friday. I must admit I have mixed emotions about it. It was definitely relaxing and felt great at the time but I was so sore the next morning! More so than the body aches I've been experiencing the last few weeks, I felt much worse. Plus my sciatic felt worse too. She mentioned I might want to visit my chiro again since its been a while since I've gone. She thinks my pelvis is out of line as well as one of my vertebrae, hence all my soreness.

I guess it also didn't help that all weekend I was on my feet in the kitchen preparing a bunch of freezer meals and I baked my last cake for my friend Megan's sons baptism. It's my last cake for any clients until the Fall, after baby is a couple months old and we've become old pros at this whole parenting thing :)  I know I've said it before but baking at 8 1/2 months pregnant is EXHAUSTING!!

How Far Along: 35 Weeks

How Big is Baby? Baby's now the size of a coconut! From now on, baby's growth is mostly in the plumping up department -- though he won't get much longer, he'll put on a pound or more of baby fat before birth. (He's about 15 percent right now and will be about 30 percent by full-term.) His hearing is totally developed (tip: baby responds best to higher pitches), and if he really is a "he," his testes have probably completed their descent.
Maternity Clothes: Official grown out of my early maternity pants thanks to the constant swelling. Although I'm still able to rotate between maternity and some non-maternity shirts, skirts and dresses.

Gender: BOY!

Movement: They are getting much stronger, he is one powerful little man! They aren't just flutters or little rolls across the belly anymore, these are major karate chops to my lady parts, butt in my ribs and kicks that take my breath away.

Belly button in or out? I got a halfy! That means the turkey’s almost done right?!

What I miss: Nothing except sleeping comfortably.

Food Cravings: Soda, ICEE’s, Flava-ice, ice cream! Gotta keep cool somehow

Aversions: None.

Sleep: Finding a comfortable position to sit in, let alone sleep is sure becoming more of a challenge. My hands and legs tend to go numb and I usually feel pretty sore when getting up in the morning. I also have been waking up in the middle of the night and early morning to hip and pelvic pain. Aside from being uncomfortable I actually am sleeping fairly well. I usually fall right to sleep and easy fall back to sleep after getting up the multiple times.


Symptoms: Back pain, mainly at night. Swelling of my feet, ankles and legs but mostly on my right side. Full body aches. Being uncomfortable lying down, sitting on the couch (I need to prop pillows behind my back or my back hurts), and just going small mundane things I took for granted before like putting on socks or lotion on my feet, picking stuff up off the floor, carrying a laundry basket, . One large and in charge belly :)

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks daily. Some more uncomfortable than others.

Best Moment(s) this week: Making a ton of Freezer Meals which I will eventually be posting on my baking blog. Over the weekend I was able to accomplish poaching whole chickens to use all the meat in my recipes and with that made my own chicken broth!. Aside from that I make 12 breakfast sandwiches, 25 sausage breakfast burritos, 2 white chicken enchiladas, 2 beef enchiladas, 2 chicken pot pies, 1 chicken spaghetti casserole, and 2 meatloaves.

Milestones: Finished Child birth class


What I'm looking forward to: Being considered full-term...only 2 more weeks holy crap!

34 Weeks

I had my 34 week doctor’s appointment yesterday morning.

My practice has a another new Midwife (to make five in all) that I got to meet. She was very nice as they all are, I never feel rushed to get out of there and they all make sure all my questions or concerns are always answered.

Baby is looking or sounding good, heart rate is in the 150’s. He’s still head down, back/butt up against my stomach and limbs in….hopefully he stays that way for the next 6 weeks.

My last two appointments I apparently have had some white blood cells in my urine so I had to take an extra urine test today before leaving to see if I possibly have a UTI which can be common not have any symptoms for. As for my swelling, it seem to want to keep sticking around. My feet use to swell toward the end of the day then go away overnight but now I wake up still swollen like my skin could burst if I poked it. The midwife wants me to keep an eye on it as “it’s not the best she’s ever seen”. Another excuse to stay inside away from these 90+ degree temps and horrible humidity.   

How Far Along: 34 Weeks

How Big is Baby? Baby's now the size of a butternut squash! Baby can recognize and react to simple songs...time to start practicing your lullabies! In fact, baby will recognize frequently sung tunes after birth and probably find them soothing. Less cute news: He now urinates about one pint per day. Get the (cloth) diapers ready!

Maternity Clothes: Official grown out of my early maternity pants thanks to the constant swelling. Still able to rotate between maternity and some non-maternity shirts, skirts and dresses.

Gender: BOY!

Movement: They are getting much stronger, he is one powerful little man! They aren't just flutters or little rolls across the belly anymore, these are major karate chops to my lady parts, butt in my ribs and kicks that take my breath away.

Belly button in or out? I got a halfy! That means the turkey’s almost done right?!

What I miss: Nothing except sleeping comfortably.

Food Cravings: Soda, ICEE’s, Flava-ice, ice cream! Gotta keep cool somehow

Aversions: Not currently....

Sleep: Finding a comfortable position to sit in, let alone sleep is sure becoming more of a challenge. I now wake up every time I need to change positions (which is constantly) and whichever side I’ve been sleeping on has gone numb. I’m usually feeling pretty sore when getting up in the morning, feeling like I got hit by a bus.
Symptoms: Backpain, mainly at night. Swelling of my feet, ankles and legs but mostly on my right side. Full body aches. Exhaustion. Lack of sleep or lack of good sleep. One large and in charge belly :)

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks daily

Best Moment(s) this week: Hearing my little man's strong little heartbeat yesterday. Spending time with some girlfriends over the weekend I haven’t seen in a while, Roxie, Leigh and Rachel who is due October 8th.

Milestones: Six more weeks to go!!!!!

What I'm looking forward to: Having work off Wednesday for the 4th of July. My first pregnancy massage on Friday! And our last Childbirth class on Sunday.