Doctor appointment - 35 weeks

I had gained 1 lb - my largest weight gain between visits so far - guess laying around helps pack it on! Baby looks good, but couldn't get heartbeat because baby was moving / kicking all over the place! No more dilation progress, so that was good. Everything else looked great. Go back Thurs morning and hopefully get 'released'. My goal is to have the baby next Saturday... we'll see if he / she cooperates with me! ;-)

Visit with the kids - hooray!

This afternoon, Brian and I met up with Naylor, Lalon, Annie & Pa at the Chick-fil-A in Garner for a play date. We had originally planned to have the kids here for the weekend (and would have loved that), but after some thought, figured it was better for them to not be teased with their beds and toys and then have to leave again... out of site, out of mind, right??

So, we met and played this afternoon for a couple of hours and had the best time. Lalon is full on walking now and standing up on her own without having to hold on to something. Naylor is talking up a storm and Lalon was saying a little more than when we last saw her. Neither one of them loved any one leaving the room though, wanted us all there in a pile playing together. Annie & Pa left to run some errands and we all played in the play space - Naylor and Brian climbed up the tower and down the slide while Lalon and I just snuggled. Today was the first time Naylor actually acknowledged there was a baby in my belly (which looking at me, it's hard to deny now!) - before he would always just laugh and so, "no Mama, no baby in your belly".

After a good long play, we ate and loaded them back up so they could be back home in time for bed. Annie reported that Lalon slept on the way home and woke up in time to eat again (I think Santa snuck her a tape worm for Christmas!) and then back to bed. Naylor was just hanging out and heading to bed soon. Pa reported that Naylor likes to sit with him and watch Wipeout - Brian was pretty excited about that since it's one of his favorite shows too.

It was good for us to see them today; we sure do miss our babies and look forward to getting these next 2 weeks behind us so we can all be together again!

# 3's Finished Room

As I mentioned earlier in the week, Kevin and Brian did a ton of moving furniture and got everything in place for # 3's room. Then later this week, the decal I had ordered for over the crib arrived and Brian hung that up tonight, so we're all set!

Once we know what # 3 is, I'll unpack some of those boxes to get some blue or pink in the dresser and the other will be saved for a yard sale early this summer. I do have plenty in the dresser already though - just white / green / yellow!

Oh, and without a queen size bed, a dresser and chest of drawers, suddenly this room is HUGE!

# 3 dr appointment

Just got home from the doctor and got another good report. We're officially 34 weeks, so our new goal is to get to 36. The doctor said if I could get to 36 weeks, she'd release me from my bed rest and I could go on and have this baby. She did also say that she had no doubt that I would have had this baby by now if it weren't for the bed rest - wow!

Everything is the same as it was last week, so no progress with pre-term labor, which is good. Baby's heartbeat was 160, but hard for the doctor to obtain because he was kicking up a storm in there!

I still have some movies, books and my Kindle, so I'm hunkered down in the bedroom resting away! Go back for another check next Friday afternoon... hope to not have anything to report before then.

No news is good news...

I'm still just hanging out at home, mostly in the bed... every once in a while I'll venture downstairs for some nourishment and hang on the sofa for a while, but I've found the bed most comfy!

The kids are doing well according to Annie and Christie reports - today they should be headed back to school (they were out for MLK day). I think they are coming up this weekend for a visit, which will be awesome - we're missing our babies, but we know it's for a good cause!

Kevin was here over the weekend and so I put him and Brian to work. They moved all the furniture in the baby's room (removing the real bed that was in there) and put the rocking chair in there too. Also, Brian finished patching some holes, did some touch up painting and hung a few pics and shelves.

While Kevin was here we traded cars too. This next month is pretty full of travel for him, so we decided it best to do it now in case baby comes before he gets back this way. Kevin's car has a bench for the backseat whereas Brian's has captain's seats, so we'll do a temporary switch. Once Naylor is bigger and can buckle himself in, we'll switch back and I'll drive the Tahoe. For this month, Kevin actually took my car though since he's doing so many road trips and it's way better on gas than his truck or Brian's!

This Thursday marks 34 weeks for Baby # 3 and I have a dr appointment that afternoon. This is a huge developmental milestone and what we're aiming for at the very least... I'd still love to get to 37, but right now I'm just getting one day behind me at a time!

Welcome Bennet Jamison Ronin!

Robin, Meghan, Bennet and Rikki

Our good friends Meghan and Hayden (and dad Jamie too!) welcomed sweet Bennet on Tuesday, 1/11/11, of this week. He weighed in at 7 pounds and 8 ounces; 19" long. Rikki and I got to see them for a quick bit today and he's just as sweet as he can be. AND... he's absolutely identical to big brother Hayden!

We look forward to many play dates with you all very soon. Congratulations on your beautiful blessing Ronin family!

Update on # 3, me and the kids...

A lot has happened over the past week, so here are some updates as to what's going on with our family... sorry it's so long, but it's been a crazy week!

As you all know, just after Christmas I was feeling funny, went to the dr and they ended up giving the shots to help baby's lungs develop just in case of delivery prior to 32 weeks. Dr told me to take it easy and not pick the kids up any more than I needed to, preferably not at all. Since offices were still closed, Naylor and Lalon stayed in Clinton with Annie, Pa and the Hargroves to play and so I could rest and let # 3 calm down a bit... Brian and I then went down on New Year's day for our traditional good luck food and to get the kids and Annie and Christie had decided it would be best for the kids to start staying there Sun - Wed until the baby arrived, returning to Apex on Wed and then Brian working from home Thurs and Fri to help with Lalon while Naylor was at his new school. So last week, that's what we did and all went pretty well... Naylor's first day of school went great, Brian was helpful here, and I don't think we disturbed him too terribly much from work. All was going great until about 6.30 Thurs night...

Lalon suddenly got sick and was vomiting - she was pitiful, but got cleaned up and went to bed. Naylor was fine... then sometime between 9 - 10, Naylor got sick and was vomiting and that was pitiful too. So Brian and I got him all cleaned up and settled back down and then everyone went to bed. The next day everyone seemed fine, but Naylor had some terrible diarrhea so he didn't make it to school that day - Brian stayed home again to help out. Saturday night it was mine and Brian's turn to be sick - it's a short lived virus, but has a heck of a punch and knocked us both out... thankfully, it didn't fully hit either of us until the kids were in bed.

Sunday was a very lazy, recuperating kind of day and late in the afternoon I loaded the kids up and headed to Clinton. Thankfully, Ms Virginia that keeps Ava James during the day, had agreed to keep Naylor and Lalon Monday - Friday on a temporary basis. This was good news for me, or at least made me feel better about the situation, because it's much less disruptive of Mama and Christie's days since they both have full time jobs and helps that Brian is able to work at his office too... So, while none of this is super ideal, this is the best case scenario for right now and we'll continue with this plan until baby arrives - I'm aiming for Valentine's Day.

While I was at Annie & Pa's, the snow came, so the kids first few days of school were cancelled due to snow / ice. I had planned to come home either Tues night or Wed morning - wanted to get the kids settled at school, make sure everyone was okay and then head back here. Well, I was snowed / iced in down there too, so we were all just hanging out. That was all fine, but on Tuesday I was feeling funny again - baby was moving / turning and getting very low and I was having dull back pain all day. So while I wasn't feeling like I was in full on labor, I was very nervous the baby was coming... Annie & I were as prepared as we could be if we needed to make a dash to the local hospital in the middle of the night - with my track record, we knew we'd never make it to Rex in Raleigh, so were headed to Dunn if need be. Woke up Wed, no baby and was feeling better, but could tell baby was still low. So, yesterday afternoon I headed back and rested up.

This morning I had my regularly scheduled dr's appt and asked that she check everything out... (on Dec 27th I was about 1cm dilated). Today, Dr. Carter said I was about 1.5 - 2 cm dilated and that yes, the baby is super low. She mentioned that by my history and where the baby is positioned, at the first sign of labor, I need to get in the car and get to the hospital and not be worried about my hair or shaving my legs... says that the baby is already in position and now only has to come out. She was grateful for "Dr. Mom's" orders of taking the kids and me staying in bed... told me not to be cleaning the house or doing dishes and to stay horizontal (I'm going to see if I can get that "don't clean the house" part in writing for after the baby is born - ha!). I'm 33 weeks along today and she said if we could get at least 1 more week behind us, we'd be hitting a major developmental milestone for baby and it would be much, much safer - of course anything past 34 weeks would be even better.

I feel good, but can definitely tell that the baby is low, other than that, all is well. The kids went to school today for the first time and Christie reported that they did great and Ms Virginia thinks Lalon is beautiful (I agree!). I just hope Naylor (who is the oldest), doesn't beat all the other kids up and get kicked out! :-)

So that's what's going on... exciting times around here in the craziest of ways, but everyone is healthy and safe so we're making the best of what we have. Brian and I are VERY grateful to have such awesome helpers during this time... as Mama said, it's easier for them to keep the kids now and # 3 get bigger / stronger / come later, than us to be juggling 2 toddlers and an infant in the hospital from coming too early. We're gonna owe Annie, Pa, Christie and Jamie a whole lot of wine or something by the time this is over!

I go back to the dr next Thursday afternoon, but at this point we're just checking to make sure everything is still okay... had not gained any weight at today's appointment, but they didn't seem concerned about that, so I think I'm still at 5lbs total gained.

Keep you posted if anything happens, but hopefully I won't have anything to report for at least another 2 weeks!

32 Weeks with Baby # 3

Me and # 3 at 32 weeks

We're getting in the short rows now! Anywhere from *hopefully* at least 4 more weeks to as much as 8 more weeks until we get to meet little Miss or Mister Baby Higgins # 3.

I'm continuing to feel good, but can definitely tell that he's getting bigger and suddenly way more active! Getting a little harder to sleep, but that's part of the territory, so no big deal.

We're continuing to get lots of help from family so I can continue to rest up so baby can grow and I'm not stressing him out. And with Naylor in school two days a week, that will also help keep baby rested a bit.

With some quiet time, I have gotten our labor, hospital and kids' bags packed for the big day and ready to go. I just hope we don't need them for at least a month.

I go back to the doctor next Thursday and hope to get another good report - keep you posted!

Naylor's first day of school!

Getting ready to go to school - he seemed pretty excited!

Here he is at school, already playing nicely!

Today Naylor started school part time. He'll be going on Thursdays and Fridays from 8.30 - 4.30 each day. I tried to talk a lot about it last night to get him comfortable with it, but every time he'd just laugh and say, "no, no school"! He's too funny.

Brian dropped him off this morning and I got a call from the teacher already that he was doing fine and really enjoying the fish - she even texted me a picture. I sure hope the remainder of his day goes as well!

**Follow up post since Brian picked him up**

Brian picked him up and they said he did great and asked if he had been going somewhere else... I'm not sure who's kid they had today! I hope tomorrow goes as well. They do put them down for naps right after lunch around 12.30 or so, so that's in line with his usual routine - she said he was a little grumpy about that, but that he got over it and slept. When he got home he ran in and gave me the biggest, sweetest hug. I think Lalon really missed him today... she wasn't bad, but just a little whiney - guess she didn't know how to play without someone taking everything away from her!

Happy New Year!

2010 was a great year for us, filled with lots of fun, health and happiness! It was such a fun year to watch both children grow - especially Lalon as she hit all of the major milestones including walking!

Brian and I had a nice dinner out with our friends Blake, Autumne, Brian and Rikki and then it was back to bed for me... it's my new favorite place. The kids had a great time at Aunt Christie and Uncle Jamie's and rang in their new year a few hours early (around 7.30 before bed)!

We went to Annie and Pa's yesterday for our traditional black eyed peas, cabbage (we aren't huge collard folks), rice, biscuits and ham.

It was delicious and I have a good feeling that we'll continue to have good luck in 2011. First on my resolution list... keep this baby growing until Valentine's Day! ;-)

Happy New Year to you all!

Baby # 3

Baby # 3 had a great Christmas too and I'm sure he / she enjoyed all of the great Christmas food and goodies. I did my best to make sure he got a fair representation of everything that was offered during the holiday!

Once we had gone down to Annie and Pa's for Christmas, # 3 was feeling kind of "low" - I'm guessing with all of the action and excitement, maybe he had wiggled down a little bit. On our way home that Monday, I called the doctor's office just to check in and be on the safe side (given my early delivery history, I'm super paranoid). The dr. was able to work me in so we went straight there to get a quick look at the baby. The heartbeat was perfect, but given my "symptoms", the doctor thought it better to be safe than sorry and sent me over to Rex (which is connected to my practice) to get the steroid shot to help the lungs develop in the case of an early delivery.

Since we had come straight from Clinton, Brian took the very restless kids home and I hung out there while waiting for my shot - luckily I had a book with me! Since I was there, they hooked up the monitor belt so I got to sit and listen to # 3's heartbeat for about an hour and a half - strong and steady, so that was a fun distraction! Also, they noted that I wasn't having any contractions or any signs of labor, so that was comforting as well... I then finally got my shot and was on my way, but had to go back the next evening to get the follow-up shot. I'm all loaded up now, but certainly hope the shot was a safe precaution and not needed - my goal is to get to Valentine's Day!

Annie and Christie are super kind people (or officially crazy) and came up on Tuesday to help me out. They put away all of my Christmas stuff, took down the tree and decorations and then loaded the kids up and took them back to Newton Grove for the week. Their office was closed this week and after having to get the shot, they decided to put me on "bed rest" while they were able to help with the kids. I know Naylor and Lalon have had a blast with their cousins, cows, pigs, dogs and tractors... they may not want to come home today!

So, I've been taking it easy and spending LOTS of time in the bed. It has been nice to sleep in, but I'll be honest, it sure is quiet around here! I've been able to make a ton of lists of things to do before baby gets here and will soon be putting Brian to work on that - I know he's super excited that I've had all this time to think of more things for him to work on! ;-)

I went to the doctor on Thursday for my regular appointment and got another great report. Again the heartbeat was strong, a little lower this time 148-150 range and I had gained a little more weight (I can't imagine why after the holidays, I hardly ate at all - ha!). I'll have to double check my notes, but I believe I'm 4 or 5 lbs total gained to date. Right now the dr doesn't think that mandatory bed rest will be necessary, but told me to take advantage of the help while I had it. Amanda will be here next week to help out before she starts back to school. And, Naylor will be starting school next week - going on Thur and Fri 8.30 - 4.30 so that will be a small break too!

I will now start going to the doctor every 2 weeks and before we know it, we'll have a new little baby in our home again. I'm so excited to meet this little guy or gal, but want him to stay in and get a little bit bigger before I do!

Christmas in Review...

Naylor in his new overalls - too cute!

Checking out what Santa brought!

Christmas Eve at Ma Ma and Pa Pa's

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! The best part was that we were able to spend some great time with ALL of our family - that was the best gift of all.

After the Higgins' headed down to Columbia, Gwen flew in (slightly delayed due to huge snow) for a nice visit. We have had the most fun doing a whole bunch of nothing other than playing cards, watching movies and most importantly... EATING! Glad I have all of these stretchy maternity pants and the excuse of being pregnant to "get away" with all the eating I've done.

Christmas Eve we headed down to Ma Ma and Pa Pa Naylor's for our traditional dinner and gifts - we've done this since Christie and I were little girls and it's fun to see our kids getting as excited as we did when we were little. Naylor really loves playing with his cousins and Lalon is starting to realize how much fun it can be too, so that's really cute to see them interact with everyone.

By Christmas morning, back at our house to see what Santa brought, the kids were really getting the hang of opening presents... even if they didn't completely get the Santa concept or the part that this is a once-a-year deal! After nibbling on sausage balls and ham biscuits and playing with all of our toys, the kids went down for a nap and we all watched a movie. Afterwards, we headed down to Annie & Pa's to have Christmas with them and our tradition of ham biscuits and oyster stew. Needless to say, we were certainly spoiled this year with lots of great gifts.

In the middle of the night, we got some snow (as did the entire Eastern Seaboard) and woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland! The last time it snowed on Christmas (at least in Clinton, NC) was 1989 - the year Santa brought me and Christie a horse for Christmas named Lady! The final measurements for our area were in the 8 - 11" range - WOW!

The boy's annual pheasant hunt was cancelled due to all of the snow, but we hung around Annie & Pa's to have some fun and not risk heading home on messy roads. Lalon didn't make it out, but Brian and Naylor went exploring and I think Naylor had a really fun time. His favorite part was when Brian put some snow in a cup and Naylor just ate it - a real life snow cone!

We are so grateful for all of the time we got to spend with our family - it truly was the best part of my Christmas this year! Looking forward to next year when we have one more little one adding to the fun, yet chaotic, mix.

Here are a few pics to highlight, but the full realm of documentation is on Facebook broken down by event...