Almost Here

Well, it's September 1st and no baby yet. It is officially a safe zone as of last Saturday. I am 37 wks and 3 days. Last Wed. I had my cervix checked and I was almost 2 cm. dilated. As of Saturday I have taken as many long walks that I can and mentally trying to prepare myself for labor. I am also mentally thinking my baby out. Haha, I know that sounds ridiculous but I am just thinking about my baby coming out and how strong I am going to be. My braxton hicks are getting stronger, so I think for sure my body is preparing. I have decided to have my midwife "sweep" my membranes if I am a 4 or more. If so next time I am writing it will be my brith story. My anxiety is running high lately and sleep has been strange, to say the least. In the last week my energy level has dropped. Some days its just really hard to even get out of bed. Most nights here it goes...I get into bed about 10:30 we watch a little tv, or whatever. Then around 12:30 I attempt sleeping. yeah most of the time I toss and turn and if that happens I know the night is going to be long and tiring. Most of the time I do not fall asleep until 3 sometimes even 4 am. Then I wake up an hr and a half later to pee and this continues till waking up. If I get to sleep earlier then around 6 am I sleep hard until about 9am. i do my thing in the morning. Clean what I have to then around 3pm I get so tired I feel like falling over. I rest for an hr to an hr and a half. It has been draining to me. I wonder sometimes if its my bodies way of getting prepared for baby. Last night I finally got decent sleep I did wake up frequently to go pee but I slept from around 12:30 till 9:15 am. Now off to do laundry and vacuum. I sure am hoping this is the last vacuum for a while =). That would be so sweet. Haylee is determined to make sure this baby does not come until after her orientation tomorrow morning.
So in our everyday life....I am ready for school to start!!! It has been difficult these last couple weeks to keep the girls entertained. They are fighting a little more and with the energy level so low and finances at a minimum right now, it is definetly difficult. Auntie Mary brought over a dollhouse the other day that kept them quiet and occupied for 5 hrs. Now all they do is fight over the coolest room and that is pretty frustrating. However, I have started something new at dinner time that I think was an excellent idea. We go around the table and talk about the nice things that everyone did that day. First we all do one girl, then switch to the other. You could defietly tell that it makes an impact on Hanna. Her face lights up when we praise her for her good deeds of the day. I think she needs it most. I am hoping that it will inspire them to try and do nice things for one another as well. Wish me luck and hope for safe delivery. And I sure hope God is with the midwives on the day of delivery.

Nerves

Well, its getting pretty close. In 3.5 to 6.5 weeks I will have a new little one to love and care for. I am getting excited. I cant wait to see what he will look like. I wonder what he will be like, will he be a quiet baby or a loud and cranky baby. I sure hope not. I cant wait to play with him and bathe him and dress him. There are a lot of people in my close little world that are having their babies now and it is making me more anxious for him to arrive. I hope sooner rather than later. While I am super excited, I am also nervous. I am doing a homebirth for the frist time and do not know what exactly to expect. While I fully believe that things will go okay, there is always that chance that something could go a little different than planned. Are they going to make it on time???? When is it going to happen? Will Joe be there? Will it be longer and more painful than before? Will there be any complications? I am a lot nervous about those things that come with a painful but rewarding experience. I know the end result will be great. Just thought I would share a little of my nervousness and excitement.

Internal Heater

Wow! It has been Hottttt! We are expected to reach a possible 102 degrees in an hour or so. I cant even believe it. Our house has skylights so no chance of cooling it down. Being pregnant is like having an internal heater. I feel warm inside and out. I almost can not hang. I have never drank so much water in my life. Yesterday I had at least 6-8 16 oz water bottles plus a glass of water at the midwife. That is about 113 to 146 oz. of water in one day. I have been making the girls drink water too. I called my mom yesterday and instead of sympathizing with us she did what my mother is good at..."Well when I was a kid we didnt have a/c so you will survive." This is coming from a woman who is living in a place that gets into the 100 plus every summer and has a/c. Besides she has never been pregnant in the summer like I have. Ugh, sometimes. Joe said I should have told her to turn off her a/c for a day when its 102 degrees outside and then say that. haha. I went out at 9:30 pm to look for fans for the girls room because when I went into their rooms to see if they were sleeping and Hanna and Nataleigh were both awake on their floors and their rooms were like ovens. I felt horrible so I went on a hunt. I went to Walmart because I saw a ton of fans the day before. So I park on the side of walmart with the fans,I have to follow to PDA gay men, bleck, in the door. I go to the back corner and there are aobut ten others obviously looking for the same thing. Then I see a man with two perfect size fans in his cart, so I ask him. he says he grabbed the last two. Then I hear an employee telling another woman that she just brought the last ones out and they are gone. So I trek to Home depot and they had closed their doors 10 min earlier. But I am sure that I will not find any today so We will do what we ended up doing last night, only more. I will make sure they bathe in a bit of cooler water and then lay them on the floor in front of the big fan in the living room once again, with a light sheet on them all. I feel sad for not beign prepared,but we have had so much else to think about. And I still havent grocery shopped, guess thats next.

Settling In

Well, since we have been home it was peaceful to chaos real quick. For about a week things were well. The kids were getting along great. They played in each others rooms, they went outside together they laughed and watched television together. Then came week 2. Now Nat and Hanna tell on each other for everything. Thye claim someone gave them something and the other person says it wasn't like that. They yell and scream and do they listen to a word Joe and I say??? No! Haylee has written sentences twice about hitting her sister. Hanna has written sentences and written a two page statement about why she did something and what punishment she should have. They have all been sent to their rooms to spend alone time or thinking time by themselves. Nataleigh is very whiny, all the time. It is loud and chaotic. I think in some ways it is effecting Joe's and mine relationship. We have been a lot more irritable and not had a lot of quality time together. I need to find peace in this house. Get back in the groove of getting a handle on things. Am I ready for a 4th? haha. Yes, I am and I love the challenge. I know as soon as we can get things going and keep them busier with school and lessons and chores etc. they will be a lot calmer. I have learned that Haylee is a huge help. She takes care of them when I nap, she makes their lunches and doesnt complain. She is a godsend and I appreciate her more than ever. I know we will find peace and I am happy that our family is together. Now we just have to find a decent church......

Road Trip

So last Monday me and Joe took off to begin our newest adventure. We left at 6pm to take a road trip to San Antonio to pick up OUR children. The trip was going pretty well, Joe had to drive the most because it is not safe for me to sit completely still for more than an hour or two while being pregnant. We drove all night Monday. Tuesday was great too. We made it to New Mexico. Right outside Cuba NM I was going ten over and a state trooper pulled me over. What made me mad was there was a truck going about 15 to 20 over just 1 or 2 miles in front of me. I got my first speeding ticket for 65 dollars. Whatever! We stayed in Santa Rosa that night. Right before we stopped Joe got sprayed with big bugs....I mean on the windsheild, lol. The next day was long. Everytime I do this trip I forget how huge Texas is. We got to San Antonio at 8pm but ate at Chili's before going to my moms house. Believe me I was a little nervous about that. We stayed up till about 11 listening to my mom gab about everything under the sun. The next Day Joe and Sam went to pick up the trailer, what a headache. But finally after four hours they got it hooked up and packed. We went to church that night and listened to Bro. Ruiz yell his lungs out. hehe. Good ole pentecostal preachin. The next morning we left at 5:30 am. The trip was alright the first day. Kids sleeping, good time traveling, everything was well. that night it was raining and right outside of Albequrque this guy (probably drunk) was driving on the wrong side of the road. Scary!! We were tryingto stop in Farmington but just couldnt make it that far. We stayed in Cuba.....nasty motel!!! And we thought the Cuban was bad, no way! the next day we made it throught to utah. We stopped in hole in the rock in Moab.. It was nicejust to get out and move. I was driving throught the frist part of Utah and at one point this guy purposely went into my lane to scare me. What the heck? Is everyone trying to kill us?! So on goes the trip. We were all a little edgy towards the afternoon. Joe and I kinda got into it a little in Salt Lake but what can you say when everyone is stuck in a small confined area with 4 other people and you are tired and feel like you have no home. We stayed in Boise that night and here is waht I learned from that experience.... No matter where you are stay at a nicer hotel the price is almost exactly the same as a junky motel. We payed $75 for Super 8 with crappy breakfast (and not all super8's have a breakfast), We payed 65 for the nasty motel that we couldnt even shower in(gross!!!), and we payed 79 for a really nice hotel with clean rooms, comfy bed with lotsa pillows and a big nice breakfast selection...mmmmm. So pay the extra $14 and be comfy, clean and well fed. The next day was alright. We made it home at 2:30pm. It sure felt nice to be home and together. I went grocery shopping and we ate our first around the table dinner together, spaghetti. Then we all cleaned up, together. It is nice to be with all my girls. This is where we all belong. Now the real life begins. I am exctied. Our roadtrip was long. Sometimes we argued and we almost got killed, twice. We missed a day of showering and learned that best westerns are really nice. But now we are a family. We are complete and any long road trip is worth us being together.