36 week appointment!!!!

From here on out until little miss Olivia is born Fridays will be appointment days...Thankfully the boys are in Wilmington this week so I didn't have to tug them along... plus I really don't want them with me when the doctor is looking "you know where!"
So all week I have been ACTIVE....
Monday I walked a little over 2 miles....
Tuesday I rearranged my entire house and cut the back yard...
Wednesday I walked 3 miles...and swam in the pool...
Thursday I walked 4 miles....

All leading me to believe with ALL of my heart that there was progress going on down there.. I have been having more Braxton Hicks contractions and I have been having sharp ligament pains....

So as I went to the doctor today I was preparing myself to hear, "You are 3 centimeters Ashley and her head is super low...."

NOPE..... that is not what I heard..... What I heard was....."You are about the same as last week....1-2 cm and -2 station"
What the heck???? Seriously?? I wanted to cry..... but instead I made my next appointment, walked out the door, and went to the closest Taco Bell and stuffed my face with a fresco bean burrito and a bean nacho belgrande.... and yes... I ate it ALL.... After all, what is a 9 month prego gal suppossed to do when she is put in a stressful situation???

Other than that, here are the stats from today's appointment.

Blood pressure- 122/78 Yah!!!
Weight gain- up a pound since last Wednesday.. so we are at the 17 pound mark... and I'm sure my Taco Bell trip won't reverse the scale either!
Olivia's heartrate- 152 range
My group B culture came back negative so I won't need any antibiotics during labor!!

Everything else looks good with little Olivia so unless I go into labor between now and next Friday I will be back at the doctor's office Friday afternoon!!

Fingers crossed for an early full term baby!!!!

Craving of the week!!!!

I have found a new love in my life this week..... It actually began a few weeks ago when I went shopping in Charlotte with my friend Claire and we stumbled upon this yogart store where you pour your own yogart in a cup and then add all the yummy toppings that you want on it.... then you pay based on how much your yogart weighs... this could be BAD depending on "how much" your yogart weighs.....anyway... we stopped in and gave it a try and I LOVED it.... but I was bummed because we didn't have a store like that around here....so I thought!!!!

So you can only imagine my excitement last weekend when Aaron and I went on a date night and we just happened to drive past a yogart place....My heart started racing...... Olivia wanted some and she wasn't going to stop kicking,punching, and rolling until she got some.....

PIT STOP: We went in and got some yogart. My yogart of choice was some non fat California tart mixed with non fat dark chocolate.... toppings were simple: fresh strawberries and raisins with granola..... the only thing missing was bananas... for some reason they don't offer those as a topping...

OH my goodness.... it was amazing... so amazing that in the past 7 days I have been back on 3 different occasions... and I'm pretty sure I will be going today after my doctor appointment.

I'm kind of glad that I didn't stumble upon this place until now...although it is a healthy snack, eating it 3 times a week can get expensive....but I guess until Olivia gets here I can afford to go three times a week!!!!

Happy Cravings everyone!!

36 weeks!!!!!

Weekly doctor visits, restless nights, full bladder, emotional roller coaster, nesting, etc... may be just a few indications that you have less than a month to go....

It is funny how you forget all of these things until they quickly return. You somehow remember having the "urge" to wash the last set of clothes even though they are size 6 months and she won't wear them anytime soon. Then you tell yourself that you HAVE to rearrange the playroom, the closets, the den & the dining room while your husband is at work..... Then you pay for it the next day because your unborn child didn't like you walking up and down 15 steps a hundred times the day before!!!!

I can feel my body getting ready for little Olivia to make her debut in the next few weeks!! Braxton Hicks are very common at this point, real "baby" contractions have started, lower ligament pain (ouch!!) has made an appearance, all leading me to believe that my little girl won't make it 4 more weeks... My guess is 2 to 2 1/2 weeks. I will know more Friday at my doctor's appointment. Fingers crossed!!!!

There is no weight gain this week. I remember hitting a stopping point with the weight gain with both of the boys at this point so hopefully we will stay at or around the 16 pound mark!!!! I gained 30 pound with Evan (big lesson learned there) and 18 pounds with Landon.....

According to Babycenter.com little Olivia is right at the 6 pound mark and almost 19 inches long. I was able to get her bouncing around yesterday. I will try to attach it but it may not work. If it does fast forward to the 4 minute mark because that is when she went CRAZY. It was probably her way of telling me that she is OUT of room!!!

Here are a few pictures from this week at 36 weeks 0 days.... I know, I know..... there isn't much more room for her to grow inside of there....but she is managing to get bigger somehow.

There is also a picture of Evan holding my belly... it was the sweetest thing ever! He woke up the other morning and came downstairs. He didn't say anything to me.... he just sat down beside me and put his hand on my belly. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was telling his sister good morning!!! At that point I was a sobbing mess!! All I could think was that my sweet little boy already loves his sister to pieces and it just melted my heart!! I'm anxious for him (and Landon) to meet her soon!! What a lucky little girl to have 3 guys to look after her....although she probably won't feel so lucky when she hits her teenage years and she feels outnumbered and unlucky to have 3 guys watching her every move....

Happy week everyone!!!!

Craving of the week!!!!

My oh my.... I believe I have died and gone to heaven!!! All week I haven't really been "craving" anything and then today... out of nowhere.. it hit me like a ton of bricks...
What triggered this craving was the Food Network channel on tv. I was flipping the through the channels (as I was folding my 4th load of laundry) and came across a recipe with fresh tomatoes in it..... and that was it.... my heart was set on eating tomatoes... I have always liked tomatoes but for some reason today I HAD to have something with fresh tomatoes on it..... not pasta sauce, ketchup, or any other reduced down form of tomatoes... I wanted a REAL, FRESH tomato.....
So off to the fridge I went...

Fresh tomato- check
Fresh lettuce- check
Hellman's light mayo- check (by the way... I HATE mayo EXCEPT for when it is on this)
Toasted whitewheat bread- check
Salt & Pepper- check

Quite a simply recipe for such a delicious, mouthwatering, taste!
If you haven't figured it out yet..... Little Olivia wanted a tomato sandwich.... Oh my gosh it was simply delicious.... I pretty much ate it in about a minute... no exaggeration!!! I almost went back for seconds but I controlled the urge because afterall, there is always tomorrow!!!! If I had to bet money, I'd be willing to bet that at around this time tomorrow little Olivia will be wanting another tomato sandwich....and what my little priss wants, she shall get!!!!

So now that I have eaten my dinner at 4:00, my guess is that I will be eating a bowl of rice crispy cereal around 10:00 tonight!!!

Happy Cravings everyone!!!!

Oh.... don't judge me on eating off the kiddie plate... I was in a rush to eat and it was the first plate that I saw!!!!

35 week appointment!!

Today was appointment day.. It feels like I just said that on a blog post but then again... I did!! I just went to the doctor 12 days ago.....

Thankfully Aaron met me there today so that he could keep the boys in the car. I couldn't find a sitter in time and I didn't really want to have the boys in the room with me when the doctor was "down there." I'm just not prepared to talk to my 4 year old yet about why she needed to look there... I am perfectly fine with him thinking Olivia is going to somehow just pop out of my belly.....
They were also running behind today so I was in the office for an hour... I can't even begin to think how my visit would have been had I been in there with a 4 year old and a 2 year old... both boys at that... Oh my goodness NO!!!!!

Here are the stats from today:
My blood pressure was really good today!! 130/78- I'm still on cloud nine about this....
Weight gain- no weight gain...I am the same as I was two weeks ago.. 16 pound weight gain thus far!!!
Olivia's heartbeat- she was in the 154 range today

Today was the strep B culture..... you know the usual.... but she also checked me because I have been having tons of Braxton Hicks contractions along with a few baby contractions..... Sure enough, Olivia is making progress down there.
Her head is still down.... I am a full 1 cm... not quite 2 yet.. and I am thinning out... YAH!!!! I don't think I will make it 4 1/2 more weeks....

My next appointment is next Friday. I will be 36 weeks 4 days!! My guess is I will be 2-3 cm then because we walk ALL the time now and starting next week I will become a walking machine... I was also 2-3 cm with both boys around 36-37 weeks....

To celebrate a great doctor's visit, we went and ate Mexican food for lunch... to put it mildly.. I ate WAY TOO MUCH FOOD!!!! It was delicious though and well worth feeling miserable afterwards!!

So until next weeks visit.... I will be sure to walk, walk, walk!!!!

Here is a picture of little Olivia when I lay down flat on my back.. I am 35 weeks 2 days today!!!

35 weeks!!!!

Well another week has come and gone....and I am bigger... big surprise right?!?!
Last week was exhausting. I'm not sure why but I had ZERO energy the entire week.. The boys and I pretty much stayed in our pajamas the whole week and it felt pretty good!!
This week I seem to be back to my normal, clean freak self!! I cut the back yard today, washed my car, cleaned my house from top to bottom, and I even scrubbed cabinets and doors.... Could I possibly be nesting?!?!
Aaron and I took an infant cpr class this past weekend and I'm so glad we did. Other than taking a class in college (which I totally don't remember) neither one of us had a clue on what to do if our children were ever in a situation like that. I pray to God that I never have to put what I learned to use but atleast now I can say that I would know what to do.
I have been having TONS of Braxton Hicks contractions over the past few weeks and they have picked up over the past week. I get them every day now and sometimes even several times a day!! I'm hoping this is little Olivia's way of letting me know that she is getting ready to make her debut!! I'm ready for her to get here for sure!!!!
The weight gain from last week is 0.4 pounds... so we are still at the 16.5 pound range.. I go to the doctor on Wednesday so that could change again.... They will do my group B culture this time and I'm hoping to hear some good news in the dialation department.... Fingers crossed!!!
Little Olivia now weighs over 5 pounds and is 18 1/2 inches long!! She still gets hiccups ALL the time and I still get up to pee 2-4 times a night.... She rolls, kicks, jumps, etc.... at all hours of the day but mostly as soon as I lay down at night and then again at around 5:30 every morning....(not a big fan of the 5:30) kicking BUT I'm not going to complain because I truly am going to miss feeling her kick once she gets here... She is my last baby and it makes it kind of bittersweet. I have LOVED this pregnancy which is probably why it has flown by..... In a month or less I will have my precious little girl in my arms!!

Here are a few pics from today... 35 weeks 0 days!!!

There is also a picture from yesterday with Evan holding Olivia... I swear I have a shelf on my stomach when I sit down....

Craving of the week!!!!

Well.....this week was quite a slump.... I have never felt so tired in my entire life. The kids and I haven't gone anywhere since Monday....therefore I have been in pajamas ever since then (besides girls' night Wednesday!) I feel like I'm in my first trimester again only WORSE.
To make things even worse, I ran out of my coffee creamer on Tuesday and I CAN'T drink coffee without my creamer.... Maybe this made my tired, can't get out of bed even to pee body feel even worse... So Tuesday and Wednesday I had NO coffee.... It was horrible.
I think I would rather go two days without eating than to go two days without my coffee.. and I'm not even sure it gives me that jolt of energy usually produced by coffee because I have been drinking decaff since I found out I was pregnant.
All I know is that I will NEVER come even close to running out of creamer again..... and if I do.... Aaron will be making a Harris Teeter run at 2 a.m just so I don't have to go through withdrawls again...
So....now that I have somewhat enjoyed my 2 cups of creamed up coffee I can say that my biggest "craving" this week has been my Dunkin Donuts Decaff coffee with a splah or two of hazelnut creamer and 4 splendas!!!!