Aches and pains...and a nursery!

I am getting UNCOMFORTABLE all of a sudden :( This Friday (tomorrow!) I will be 30 weeks along, which means I have 9 weeks to go….and boy oh boy am I feeling it. In the past 3 days I haven’t been able to sleep very well at night between 2 trips to the potty and a certain little unnamed BOY sneaking in to bed with us around 4am. My lower back has been killing me and as hard as I try to stand up straight and walk ‘normal’, I’ve started to WADDLE :( Walking (Once I’m stretched out!) actually feels wonderful, but then some random muscle on the inside of my thigh starts to throb, so I can’t win!
In positive news, with the help of my friend Mandy (who drove all the way in from Florida!) the nursery is 95% complete!!! Wooohooo!!! The only things it needs to be complete is a shelf hung over the changing table, a mirror hung on a wall and a wall art saying to arrive that will go on the wall behind the crib….other than that it is R-E-A-D-Y…and I seriously couldn’t be more excited! I’m sure that has a LOT to do with my back killing me right now because, believe me when I say, that room was a DISASTER before we started. It had been our spare/guest bedroom, but more than that, it had been the ‘catch all’ room…you know the kind. Most people have a ‘junk drawer’. The Rodgers Family had a ‘junk room’. Tell me you know the kind! The room where when company shows up that you THROW everything inside and shut the door?!?! Or, when company decides to stay, you open up the closet door, shove anything inside that will fit and pray the door doesn’t get opened for fear that everything inside will topple out?!?! Yup, one of THOSE rooms :) The closet had actually gotten SO full that I had began ‘nicely’ stacking piles of junk outside of it…it was horrible! It was SO messy that by the time we were done just cleaning it out, we had filled 8 (EIGHT!) big trash bags and one LARGE Uhaul box full of trash stuff. That is RIDICULOUS to have that much junk just lying around!!! Once we were done cleaning out we started the fun part, rearranging furniture and decorating! Thanks to Mandy’s awesome eye, she suggested we move this over here, that over there and before I knew it I was in *LOVE* with the room! It’s so open (for a tiny room!) and I’m excited!
Here, see for yourself: (Oh and don't mind the fact that the bed isn't made...Gunner & Karlee had been sleeping on the floor while Mandy was visiting and were using the mattress...so if you see extra stuffed animals inside the crib that's where that came from!) AND, if you look closely you may even catch a glimpse of the coming home outfits! It will be adorable regardless of if it decides to be born a boy or a girl!


Above the changing table I have a cute off-white shelf that has teeny little blue and red stars painted on it (it's sitting on the changing table), then behind the glider I have a wrought-iron mirror to hang, and then on the wall where the crib sits I’m ordering some wall art. The mirror was actually the FIRST purchase Scott and I made when we found out I was pregnant with Gunner & Karlee! We had gone to a yard sale (don’t judge…I LOVE second-hand stuff!) and knew we were having a baby. Had no idea we were having twins, had no idea of the sex of them, and at the time still ‘planned’ on waiting to find out what “it” was until it arrived….so we thought we would go with a western-themed bedroom! It wasn’t until I found out what I was having that we had to go camo-crazy and change the theme of the room! So, I’m excited that we will finally find a use for this mirror that we bought so long ago! I will post NEW pictures if and when we ever get the rest of the items hung. I’m waiting on a certain other male-member of my family, so we shall see if everything gets done before the baby arrives!
WOW, I just realized today--adn this post-- will be the last one I make before I go from double-digit weeks left to single-digit weeks left (Did that make any sense to anyone but me?!?! Today I'm 10 weeks until the baby arrives, tomorrow goes to 9, making it a single digit!)

Third Trimester-woooohoooo!

Well, this little doodle bug and I are officially in the 3rd trimester and moving right along. I often ask myself how time can really be going by THIS quickly, and I guess the only answer I can come up with is that old saying, “Life’s like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the quicker it goes!” I think the older I get the more true that saying becomes :)
I made it in to the 3rd trimester this past Friday, and boy was it a good feeling! Knowing that God-forbid the baby comes early, at this point I’m far enough along that it would have a *really* good chance of surviving without any long-term medical problems is SUCH a great feeling. Another great feeling? Making it past the point of 27 weeks 5 days when I got placed on bedrest with Gunner & Karlee—now THAT is a cause for celebration! I got placed on bedrest with Gman and KJ because of contractions and my blood pressure being out of control…something that could happen at any point with this pregnancy, but so far so good! Each Friday that passes marks one Friday closer to making it full-term and I couldn’t be more excited.
I had my 28-week check up this past Monday and everything looked great. Guppy’s heart beat was 130/minute and my blood pressure was perfect. (wooohooo for small victories!). I’ll go back in 2 weeks and hopefully be told the same thing.
The baby has been keeping me busy with karate-chops and summersaults. I’m amazed at how it can kick me really low in my stomach, yet at the same time kick me really high…I think it’s going to be nice and long! The kids are adorable. They always ask me how I’m feeling, and nightly include the baby in their prayers. At least daily they say or do something so sweet that I tear up. I’ve been so blessed with such loving children!!!
Gunner is VERY determined that this little one will be born a boy. I don’t know if I have mentioned this on the blog before, but because I don’t want to forget this I’d better write it down again! When you ask him what the baby is, before you can even get your question out he tells you “BOY”. When you ask “what if it’s a girl?” you almost don’t have enough time to get the question out before he cuts you off and tells you it’s going to be a boy. This past weekend after Church after driving home from the feed store I asked him what he would do if it ended up being a little girl (this started because the owner of the feed store told us she thinks it will be a girl and Gunner proceeded to try to set her straight on her thinking)…I said “Gunner, I know you want a brother, but what happens if it’s a girl?” He says “NO, it’s a brother.” I again said, “But if it IS a girl, what will you do? You will still love her!” And he says “I will leave.” I said “Ha! And where will you go?” without even thinking he says “California.” It’s almost like if he says it loud enough…if he makes enough people BELIEVE that it’s a boy then it will erase any chance of it being a girl! Poor, poor boy if it comes out a ‘she’ because I seriously wonder what he will do! The funny thing is, whoever doesn’t get lucky in their hope for a sibling of the same sex, actually WINS in the end because they won’t have to share a room for the rest of their lives!

Today is May 3, 2011

I had my monthly check up yesterday and with that came my 1-hour glucose test to determine if I have gestational diabetes. I had been DREADING that test ever since I found out I was pregnant. No, not dreading the test, I actually like the orange flavored drink, I was dreading the results and the fact that when I failed the 1-hour test I would have to go back to take the 4-hour test. (the 4-hour test is where you go in to the lab fasting for at least 12 hours. When you arrive they draw your blood. You then drink another sugary drink and then for the next 3 hours they draw your blood once an hour. Which means: 4 blood draws+ me being hungry= one unhappy pregnant lady!)
After they drew my blood my doctor came in and checked me. My blood pressure is still doing great. The guppy has a heart rate of 130/minute (keeps slowing down!) and I am measuring 30 weeks. I left the appointment even sadder than when I went in when I found out I was measuring 3 weeks ahead of schedule since gestational diabetes leads to larger babies, so I pouted and moped around all night last night thinking I surely had to be diabetic since I was measuring so large.
I got my results today: I’m FINE!!! I passed my FIRST test and don’t have to take any more-Woooohooooo! When the nurse emailed me this morning I had to email back and ask her to check it again because I was THAT sure I would fail…God DOES answer prayers and allowed me to pass and for that I am sooo grateful!!!

Wanna see a pregnant lady do a happy dance?!?!

....Show them the ticker that says they have 99 days to go until the baby arrives!!! I wish you could all see me right now...I'm smiling from ear to ear seeing that beautiful number drop below triple digits! And actually, if I want to get *really* technical, I have no more than 92 days left since they're taking the munchkin at 39 weeks, which is July 29th...Hmmm, I might have to update my ticker to reflect that since I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that the baby won't be waiting until August 5th to make it's special appearance into this world. The day just gets better and better!
So anyway, happy-less-than-100-days-to-go Little baby! Can't wait to meet you and see if you're team blue or team pink!!!
And here's a belly shot from this morning, not real clear, and I wore a pretty loose shirt today so you can't see it too well, but it's definetely starting to poke itself out all of a sudden!

I can't tell you how many times a day I bump it and go "OUCH!"

Heartburn, how I've missed you so....

I had completely and absolutely forgotten how brutal heartburn can be. I know with Gunner & Karlee I had it, but I guess time has a funny way of minimizing memories, because when it decided to stop for a visit yesterday I was blown away at how severe it was. This morning, (after only drinking water!) I’m once again reminded just how nasty it is, and the fog that surrounded my memories of my last pregnancy is slowly lifting and I’m realizing that this new ‘friend’ is probably here to stay until the baby arrives! Oh my gosh it’s awful :(

Today is April 11, 2011

I had my 24-week check up today and with that came the last ultrasound I’ll (hopefully!) be having with this pregnancy. Not that I wouldn’t want to see the little one again, but if I DO see it again it means something is possibly wrong, so let’s stick to the hope that I won’t have any more ultrasounds :) The little one was being camera shy and kept putting its arm and hand in front of its face. When it wasn’t covering up its face with its hand it would lean forward and the umbilical cord would hide the face…typical that my baby wouldn’t like to smile for the camera, huh?!?! We did get a couple pictures, but I can’t decide who it looks like! Reminds me of Gunner in the nose and forehead area, but then the lips and chin remind me of Karlee…wouldn’t it be cool if this baby looked like both Scott and I? Then we would have “yours mine and ours”!!! The appointment went great. The baby now weighs 1 pound 10 ounces and had a heart rate of 136 at the ultrasound and 150 in her office. Seems to be measuring exactly where it should be for where I’m at in my pregnancy. I really thought I was going to be in trouble for gaining so much weight on vacation (my scale was vicious and hateful when we got home and hasn’t forgiven me for leaving yet!), but she was fine with my gain since overall I’ve gained 8 pounds the entire pregnancy. Considering the baby weighs a pound and a half she’s not upset at all…thank goodness because I was dreading the ‘talk’! My blood pressure is also being really good so far, so all in all she was very pleased with me and didn’t give me any of those ‘looks’ and didn’t threaten bed rest or anything like that. Woooohoooo! I need to stay ‘perfect’ like this so my plan of working up until the day before the baby arrives can come true! Why do I want to work that long??? Because Scott and I are getting a pool (yay!!!) in August when my Father in Law drives back here, so the longer I work before the baby arrives, the longer I have for maternity leave AFTER the baby arrives to SWIM!!! I am allowed up to 12 weeks, but I only have enough sick leave to get paid for 6 weeks, so my hope is to only be off 6 weeks, and AFTER the baby arrived would be ideal. I’d LOVE to finish the summer off with a nice tan :) My next appointment will be my Glucose test, so I’ll get to chug the yummy orange drink on my drive down. I’m actually looking forward to it because I’ve missed having my weekly Pepsi since becoming pregnant (Pre-pregnancy I allowed myself one Pepsi a week…every Thursday to be exact!), so the thought of a sweet soda is getting me excited! I know it won’t be AS good as a real soda, but maybe if I look forward to it it won’t be as bad. With the twins I failed this test and had to have the second test to rule out gestational diabetes, but I’m passing this one the first time, I’ve already made my mind up. After my next appointment (3 weeks from now) I start going in every 2 weeks. NOT looking forward to that since I have an hour drive each way and gas prices continue to climb! Here are a couple pictures of the Guppy :)

Today is April 6, 2011

Hello 22 weeks and 5 days, and hello sweet baby in my belly who is sooo active people around me think I have a twitching disorder!!!
(I told you this blog would be lame....after you read this post you will completely agree! I just want to be sure I DOCUMENT what is going on so I don't forget, because with Gunner & Karlee I didn't document enough and it's sad how quickly you forget the 'little' things that happen).
In the past 2 weeks the Guppy has taken kicking and summersaults to a whole new (and amazing!) level. When I was pregnant with the twins they kicked, don't get me wrong. But I guess because it was so 'tight' in their living quarters they kicked a little, and I felt them roll around once or twice, but that was pretty much it. I would feel a kick 2 or 3 times a day, if I was lucky. With this one it's a whole new world! It rolls, and punches, and not just once or twice, but 6 or 7 times right in a row! Besides scaring me half to death it is the coolest thing EVER!
In other news, we just got home from an almost 2-week vacation in CALIFORNIA!!! We got to visit friends and family and were the guests of honor at a very special baby shower thrown by my best friend Linzy. Eventually (hopefully before this time next year!) I will post pictures over on the family blog. At the shower and during the rest of the trip (when I remembered!) I had people guess what we're having by holding up an 'It's a girl' or 'It's a boy' sign...I will try to get those pictures posted soon too! I think it will be fun to see who was team blue or team pink!
I go in next monday for my 24-week check up and for an ultrasound...I can hardly wait! *IF* we were finding out the sex of the baby this would be THAT ultrasound, but since we're not going to find out, I will at least have some pictures to share with you once it's over.
That's another thing that's so strange...with Gman and KJ I had ultrasounds every 2 weeks, with this one I've only had 2 so far, and only get one more (next week), (I'm NOT complaining...it means the baby is healthy!!!) but I am soooo excited for next week whereas with the twins it got to where I didn't look forward to u/s's anymore because I had them so often. I can't wait to see the little one and have it confirmed that it's growing just as it should be.
I guess for now that's about all I have to blab about. More to come after next week's appointment!
OH, one more thing. I have the sweetest kids EVER! Last night I got home from work and my feet were swollen (Still haven't quite gone down after the 26-hour car ride from California) and what did my kids do? Went and got lotion out and started rubbing my feet--all by themselves!!! As they were doing it Karlee looks at me and says "Can I get you anything sweetie?" Awwww, melt my heart!!! And they LOVE rubbing and kissing my belly every chance they get. According to Gunner, everytime he touches it the baby kicks him...soooo cute!