Nichole ~ Summer pics with the new baby

Vanessa: Fake wedding ring...

Man I haven't been on here in a long time. Its crazy to think Angela and Nichole have already had their babies! Congrats you guys! They are both so cute! You do need to post a pic on here though Ang! I still have about 5 weeks and then hopefully I can do the same.
I am now starting the more uncomfortable stage of my pregnancy. Our little girl loves to kick the same rib over and over again, I feel like it is black and blue right now. But oh well I know it won't be forever, I just wish she would maybe switch sides or something. :) This past week my fingers have also started to swell on and off and a couple days I wasn't able to wear my wedding rings. I know its not the end of the world, but I feel weird walking around with a big belly and no ring. So I think I might have to pick up  a fake ring for the next few weeks. Well those are my only two real complaints so I know that I am pretty lucky.
Anyways for those that are interested here is my most recent photo taken at 34 weeks. I wish I had been better at taking photos I only have have two. The first is at 20 weeks and the second is at 34.

Well I hope you are still doing well Kris and that Angela and Nichole are enjoying their new little ones!

~Nichole~ Our little boy!

We had a beautiful little boy Monday night. We were induced and everything went very smoothly. It was my easiest labor yet. Mom and baby are healthy. He was 7 pounds 8 oz and 21 inches long. We're getting him used to being home and then we will be off to Utah June 21st and then we are headed to Nevada and then California for the 4th of July. Hope we might see some of you.

Nichole ~Due Date

Just a quick update. Today is my due date. This little boy is still just hanging out. Went to our last doctor appointment yesterday. If he doesn't come before Monday we are set to go into the hospital and induce. Luckily we made it through to the end of Derricks school year, so he hasn't had to miss any school. My family is also about here. They are making the 16 hour drive from Utah to Texas and will be here tonight and will stay until Tuesday, so they'll be able to watch our other two while we go to the hospital. I've been cleaning and shopping and walking around all over the place and I don't think it's going to make a big difference in when he comes. The doctor says it's crazy that women can be on their second or third baby and be walking around dialated and effaced for weeks. So hopefully next you hear from me I'll not be pregnant. I'm really excited to meet this little boy!

Angela-So Uncomfortable

Hey Ladies, I totally agree with Nicole's post about being uncomfortable. It is getting so hard to work and continue going about normal day-to-day activities. I don't know how mothers with children already do it. Thankfully, my daughter is pretty well behaved, but she still has needs too. How do you juggle what your body is doing and maintaing a household and still not neglect your other children?
I plan to only work one week more, but we'll see how my doctor's appointment goes tomorrow. Each pregnancy is really different. My little guy has been chillin so low in my pelvis that it is hard to sleep and now moving around is getting increasingly harder.
I wish the rest of you best of luck managing your aches and pains. If anyone finds a miracle cure, (beside just having the baby), share it.

~Nichole ~ 2 Weeks and charts

I've got two weeks left. We've had to start making some hard decisions. This baby feels bigger than my previous two, that could be because he's already dropped further down than my first two did until I was actually in labor with them. I'm worried that he might come early, in which case I'll have to find someone to watch my kids and have Derrick rush home from work and take me to the hospital. We'll also miss out on a big bonus that Derrick will get if he doesn't miss any work. We're trying to decide if we should just ignore the bonus and have him home for the next couple of weeks to help with everything since I've been put on semi-bedrest (I'm supposed to sit as much as possible and not do many chores or lift heavy things), or try and make it to 40 weeks and hope he gets the bonus if I can put off having this baby until the due date. We could really use the bonus but at the same time if Derrick does take work off he'll be here if I go into labor or with his help we may be able to put off labor until we have family here to help with our other kids while we go have the baby. We keep saying we'll see how the next dr. apt. goes and make decisions from there, in hopes that the doctor will say "you're going to have this baby soon" or "looks like your progressing well for where you're suppose to be". I guess you never really know when the baby will come. I wish they could say that because I am dialated to 2.5cm and 50% effaced and the baby is in station +2 that I will go really soon, but some people go months being dialated and effaced and others don't dialate or efface until the day of labor. It's hard to be patient.

We've been seeing the doctor every week now and I am getting so excited to be done with this pregnancy, although I know that I'll miss being pregnant and feeling those little kicks... which aren't so little anymore. Now that they're checking the babies progress everytime I've been studying up on all the numbers and percentages and terms they start using. Most I knew from previous babies, but I forgot exactly what a station meant when my doctor told me I was at a +2 yesterday, so I thought I'd share my findings with you all. Maybe you already know this, or maybe it's too much info right now, but I'm hoping it will be helpful.

As pregnancy gets closer to ending your doctor will probably be saying things like "you're __ cm dialated, ___ % effaced, and the baby has dropped into __ station/position/engagement.".

Here are the charts I found most helpful in letting me know what it all really meant and looked like.

The stations range from -5 "floating" to +5 "crowning". A zero means the baby is engaged in the pelvis. There is a centimeter between each station.

Kris .... I'm back!

Happy Mother's Day Ladies!! I know it's been a while but things have been crazy. I am happy to report though that we finally registered at Target today. We are still aiming for Babies R Us too, but it will probably be a couple weeks. We are such slackers! Next Sat we are doing the 3D/4D imaging of our baby Kamaera. We still havent finished painting the room. We havent ordered a crib set yet, or finished the bamboo curtain rod. Yes thats bamboo. We are doing a Tropical summer theme for her room. That is probably the thing we're most excited about. As for my health, im good. Dont think about the prego thing too much. I feel a lot is expected of me Army wise so I rarely have a chance to slow down and think about the baby. I know that must sound bad but its true. I remember about her when females at work make comments like "Dang youre big!" or "Youre only that far along?". It just makes me feel fat and depressed for a few minutes then I have to shove that aside and move on with life. The males seem to think i look good or not prego at all. LOL they must just think im a x large woman all the time. Reguardless of their reasoning, their coments make my day. I had to go to the promotion board on Monday. A Panel of 6, rapidly firing questions on 15 diff subjects I had to answer. Scarry. So glad its over and they approved me for advancement to the next rank. Just have to get more points and ill make Sergeant. This next wk I have Safetey Stand Down. Im my clinic's rep so I was put in charge of the Heat casualty/environmental safety portion of the instruction for my unit. A little crazy but im getting use to being in front of the unit (+60 people). Till then Im just chugging along. Hope you all are doing well and getting as much sleep as possible. Have a wonderful day!