Baby shower weekend down in the valley.

My Aunt Lori graciously offered to throw me a baby shower back when I first found out I was pregnant.  She has a nephew from her moms side (whom I had never met) and his wife offered to throw it at their house in Gilbert.  The planning took months and it was definitely a success!  A couple friends couldn't make it, so we met up for lunch and dinner the day before (pictured way down at the bottom).  I'm honestly exhausted from Corbin's croup, my cold (that seems to be ongoing) and writing my research paper, that this was just a small break from it all and wanted to post these.  Maybe one day I'll come back and caption these.  There are a lot more, but the upload is insane on this.  I have more on my Facebook account if you have one. :)

Halloween in Flagstaff...for the 2nd time!

We went to the Hartman's again for Halloween.  I had borrowed a costume, but low and behold I would not fit into an XS maternity outfit..go figure (literally). :)  Poor Daryl didn't have a thing planned as we didn't think too many adults would dress up...well they did.  Oh well, we'll be better prepared next year.

Here we go again...

Sechrist Elementary is on of the last few schools to let the kids still celebrate Halloween and dress up.  They do a little parade through the school, sing songs and have a fun party!  I always volunteer for any kind of party such as these and luckily for me, they have all been on days when I don't have school.  I'm sure when Corbin is in kindergarten next year, I'll be running back and fourth between his class and her 2nd grade class with a baby attached to my hip trying to be in two places at once. :)

The little boy standing next to Tatum has a HUGE crush on her and she finally confessed she has a little crush on him as well.  I've had a few other parents tell me their boys have crushes on Tatum with one little boy already telling his mom that Tatum will be his wife one day.  So it starts....

Carving pumpkins!  Below this picture are the final masterpieces (we let Corbin use a butter knife this year and he actually cut out eye holes..Tatum also carved hers with a butter knife too).

Last Ultrasound (22.5 wks).

For the past week, I've been having several braxton hicks contractions several times an hour.  I had an appointment at the new office on Wed (I didn't get to see the O.B., just the P.A.) and told her about my contractions and although I'm not supposed to have anymore ultrasounds, she scheduled one for me today to check my cervix.  So really it was a win/win for me.  I went in today and she did the vaginal probe thingy and before she was done I told her a small fib that I wasn't sure about the sex of the baby. So when she was done she said, "well lets check things out then" and turned the screen towards me and put the other probe on my stomach.  Immediately you can see a fully formed labia, so there is no question.  Also, there is a profile picture of her with her shoulder/arm under her neck (looking like a growth).  She kept rubbing her eyes too..she seems so sweet already.  I can't believe how much bigger she's gotten in only a few weeks.  My stomach bumps and moves all the time.  I just really wish these contractions would stop.  I'm almost wondering if it has something to do with the elevation.  I started having them when we went down to Phx last weekend.  I also had some major swelling Sat. night, but since I've been back, nothing as far as the swelling goes.  Oh well, she looks healthy and that's all that matters right now.

New OB...maybe this was a God thing...

(20 wks)

So unfortunately all of the ob's that I wanted are unavailable for the month I will be delivering.  So I am going with Lindstrom.  I went onto Babycenter and found a mom who lives in Flag and who's husband works at the hospital and has all of the dirt on the docs.  This is what she said about my old ob Dr. Lin:

I heard that Lin is notorious for accidentally nicking body parts during surgery and that he's left tools in patients. Yikes!! I can't tell you how glad I am that I didn't know that before he cut me open! To Lin's credit, my husband did point out that he may do many more surgeries than the other OBs since he does infertility stuff, which would increase the number of accidents.

She did say she's heard wonderful things about Dr. Lindstrom and he's good with c-sections.  So maybe this is really a good thing.  Just thought I'd share..pretty scary stuff!!

19 wk, 2 day ultrasound...we finally know for sure what we are having..FINALLY!

So we went in today and man was I excited.  There was a student who was working on hours and I apparently was her patient (the main lady was in there overseeing her work).  Because of that, what should have been a 20 min appointment, lasted more like an hour and a half.  Daryl even had to leave early to pick up Corbin from preschool.  They kept calling her HER the entire appointment and when they went for the gender shot, her legs were crossed (they snapped a picture below).  She was very wiggly and towards the end, she kept yawning (pictured) and putting her arm over her face (pictured) as if there was a flash light in her face.  At one point she had stretched her arm over her face and she was scratching the top of her head.  Oh yeah, I keep saying her and yes, she is DEFINITELY a GIRL!   They got a really good "hamburger" or "coinslot" shot of her and there was no way a penis would ever be sprouting from there.  They had to put a question mark on there because of sue happy mama's who have sued before when they were predicted the wrong sex.  She did say that that shot was one of the better ones they had seen in a long time, so they were 100% sure.  They also kept commenting on her lips and how big and beautiful they were (you can see in a few few pictures..especially one if you click on it to enlarge it).  I wrote in red pen (and arrows) on one of the photo programs so you can actually see what you are looking at (although you still may need to click on them to actually read it).  I forgot to get her weight.  I also just found out that my obstetrician up here is moving his practice (or quiting) to another state and the two ob's up here who are supposed to be the best, are all booked for Jan and Feb. deliveries.  So I'm not sure what I'm going to do now that I don't have an OB.

Also, at the beginning of the appointment, the main sonographer had this horrible frown on her face and kept looking at the student sonographer to see her reaction.  Finally after about 4 mins of me thinking the trainer was just mean and intimidating, I found out the student had the probe backwards (or upside down) flipping the baby's organs completely over.  Once we figured that out, everything looked perfect.  It was much more relaxed and joyous after that.

 

And about my dream, I now know Aunt Marcia really had a huge part (other than God of course) in us having our baby girl!  I actually cried during the ultrasound (something I have never done before).  We know this baby will be our last and for this baby to seem so real now was just overwhelming that having another girl was just icing on the cake! 

The baby kicked my hand!

**Okay, I've added one of me at 18 wks, 4 days (before breakfast).  My tummy is usually much larger than this and that's why I have no problem putting it on here right now. ;) 

A few nights ago, I felt the baby kick my stomach and put my hand there, she/he kicked again.  So I pushed a little back and once again, the baby was at it again.  It was like our first game together. :) 

On another note, I've been horrible about taking pictures of myself.  I promise, I'll put a picture up soon.  My stomach definitely looks pregnant now and I don't have to tell people I am.  I promised myself that if I ever get pregnant again, I would document it better (unlike my other pregnancies).  Once again..I've not been so good at it.

The most amazing dream last night.

My Aunt Marcia and I have been very close.  We have always been very similar..like two peas in a pod.  Most of you know she passed away in Nov. of last year.  While she was sick, I remember talking to her on the phone one day and she liked to talk about the kids and if I would ever have another.  I said I'd love another and would love to have another girl (now I would love to have either..so it doesn't really matter).  I figured since she passed I would have dreams or feel her presence around me more.  I did on two occasions feel her presence, but only for a moment and never dreamt about her.  Well last night I finally had an Aunt Marcia dream.  She came to me and told me that she knew I wanted another baby and made that happen.  I could have sworn she said, "baby girl" in my dream, but I can't be too sure...maybe it just felt that way because that's what everyone has been assuming.  She said she helped make that happen for me...it just felt so real.  I always felt deep down that maybe she really had something to do with this baby and had already met our baby before she/he was sent down to us.  It was such an overwhelming dream that it brings me to tears even to type this knowing she won't get to visit at the hospital or play with my third like she did the other two.  I love you Aunt Marcia and you will always be missed. 

Coconino County Fair!!

Man was it hot out that day!  I invited my mother-in-law along with us and forgot my camera..luckily, she brought hers.