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!

Nichole ~Inducing

Up until yesterday my doctor appointments were monthly and now they will be weekly. I went in for the Strep B test and they made sure everything was going ok. We found out that I am already dialated to a 2. I am used to dialating a little early, but I think this might be earlier than my first two. I was told to try to stay sitting throughout the day so that we can put off having this baby until we are officially to term. I'm hoping we don't go early. I'm due on Derrick's last day of school and so I'd like to wait until thats over, I guess I don't have a lot of say though.
Science is always changing. When I was getting ready to have my first they told me that they like to wait until you're 1-2 weeks overdue before they induce and so I was a week over when we induced. With my second they told me they induce between 39 and 41 weeks and wouldn't let you go more than a week over. We ended up getting induced on his due date. They kind of pushed being induced in my 39th week. With this little one they told us they won't let us go over the due date by more than half a week. He said that they don't recommend going in before 39 weeks still, but that the risks of going in a little before then are about the same as going in after the 40.5 weeks. We'd like to try and go to at least the 40 weeks. I like the idea of the baby having all the time he needs to develop. I understand that when pregnant women start to get to end of their pregnancy they just want it to be over or for the convenience of it, but I don't know if it's worth the risks of inducing early. What do you guys think?

Nichole~ Uncomfortable

So my countdown officially started awhile ago, but now it's really up and going. I am getting so ready to meet this little guy. My pregnancy hasn't been bad so far but now that I'm in the final stretch I can tell he's taking up more room then my body wants to give him and he's starting to settle down into my hips. I also notice that every time I bend down to pick something up that my diaphram/lungs don't work at that angle anymore and I almost unawaringly grunt. I first noticed this the beginning of April while out picking up garbage on the side of the road with my ward young women. We had a couple miles of road that the church adopted and it was our turn to help, so I walked up and down the side of a busy road looking huge and grunting. Great fun.

We are now among the 3-D group. We had a 32 week ultra sound where they did the 3D thing and we got to see our little boy. It was neat to see. We only had one ultra sound during my first two pregnancies, and that was at 20 weeks to see the sex of the baby. It was cool to see our little baby so fully developed, inherited Capps chubby cheeks and all.

Angela: Picture...finally

Been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to post this from March's 3-D ultrasound. Hope you can make it out, it's a picture of our little boy's face with his hand by his chin. Sometimes looking at these ultrasounds it's hard to tell what is what. It took us two tries to get some good face shots. Have any of you tryed out the 3-D or 4-D thing?

-Angela

Vanessa: Baby Stuff

So I have obviously been looking at baby stuff lately, deciding what we need to get. And I was just wondering what you guys think the most important things are, and what you didnt really use? I guess mainly Angela and Nichole what did you find to be the most useful baby items other then a crib, clothes, and diapers? :)

Vanessa: And the verdict is...

We had our ultrasound yesterdy which was so awesome. Towards the end the doctor informed us that we are having a beautiful little GIRL! Well I added in the beautiful part, but come on she will be! :) We are so excited! Knowing the gender makes it so much more real! Now I am making a list of all the cute things I want to make! Eeee it's so exciting! Here is one of HER close ups!

Nichole ~ Glucose testing and belly rubbing ~

Last week I got to go in for Glucose testing. In Utah when I had my last two kids they sent me home with an overly sugary drink and told me to not eat anything after midnight the day before the testing and to drink the drink exactly one hour before coming in. They then take your blood to see how your body handles the sugar. They check for things like gestational diabetes. Well, here in Texas, they told me not to eat before hand like normal, but they didn't give me a drink before the apt. Instead, they told me to go to a lab down the street and do it all there. Luckily, I had Derrick there to help me with the kids. So they gave me the fruit punch flavored drink, (which is so much better if it's cold by the way, so if they send you home with one put it in the fridge) and told me to drink it in 10 minutes and then sit there for an hour. So I drank it and we sat and the kids colored and read some books that I had in the van. Not fun being stuck in a lab office waiting for over an hour on an empty/sugar filled stomach with a couple of kids. So if they tell you they are doing glucose testing and don't give you a drink, plan on spending at least an hour at the office. It took us almost two hours because they did the normal check up visit before they sent me to the lab. Oh, and if you can schedule your apointment in the morning, that's easier too.

I'm not a big fan of belly rubbing. People, sometimes random people who see your expecting and other times people you barely know at church, love to touch pregnant bellies. They'll ask you how you are doing or how your baby is doing and rub your belly. With family it doesn't bother me so much, maybe because they have a connection to the baby, but strangers or people I know who do it every time they see me, drives me crazy. There may be a baby there, but its still my stomach. I seem to have suddenly popped out this last week or two, so you can tell I'm very pregnant (not to mention a slight waddle in my step), so the belly rubbing is starting.

Vanessa: Strangers

I had today off so I decided to browse the baby section of Wal-Mart and a total stranger stopped and was talking to me. At first she just gave me advise about the baby monitors I was looking at, which was helpful. I told her I was pregnant with my first and she went off telling me not to worry that I wasn't showing yet and a bunch of other random advice I didn't ask for. It was just really weird. Do you guys get advice from total strangers??

Oh and I am officially 1/2 way now which sounds weird, I cant believe how fast the time has gone!

Angela: Baby kicking

First off, I have to say how glad I am that everyone is participating in this blog. I know life gets hectic, but I think it helps to know that family is out there going through the same thing you are.

So our baby has been kicking me viciously lately. I had started to feel flutterings at 16 & 17 weeks, but now that I'm 25 weeks, (which is weird, it totally flew by), it feels like full fledged soccer. I was sitting at my desk last week and one really strong kick startled me, and every night when I am trying to sleep he is also very active. The kicks are so strong that if I lift up my shirt you can see my belly move. With my first child I didn't feel the kicks so early, but this time around I am much more aware of what is going on with my body and I am more sensitive to it.
How's everyone else doing with baby kicking?

Oh and how are every one's boobs? Seems like that's all I hear now from co-workers and family, is how giant my boobs are now. Supportive bras are worth their weight (and more) in gold.

I am way excited to hear what Kristina and Vanessa are going to have. Hope everyone is doing good.

Vanessa: WORK

So yesterday I finally told work that I was pregnant, it was pretty funny. I don't know why, but it has been making me nervous to tell them so yesterday I finally just threw it out there. I work at a clothing store, so I just grabbed a baby boy outfit and a baby girl outfit and asked a couple of my managers which one they thought I would need. It took a second for it to sink in, but then they said congrats, they were totally surprised. They were even more surprised when I told the that I was already 19 weeks! Haha it was great, I thank my long torso for that, unless you know, you cant tell that I am pregnant. I'm just glad they know now, I felt like I was trying to be sneaky or something. Anyways just thought I would share.
p.s. 16 days until I know if it is a boy or a girl. Any predictions?

~Nichole~ Due Dates and Kids

Maybe I'm late to catch on but I just realized that Angela and I have our due dates 10 days apart and Vanessa and Kris are 10 days apart. So cool. It will be fun to see if Vanessa and Kris both have girls or boys together. It will also be fun to see how close we actually have our babies. I so far have had to be induced with both babies, so I might go over a week or more and be closer to Angela's due date.

Since we all come from decent sized families I was wondering if you girls know how many kids you want to have? Derrick and I are both the oldest of 8. We were thinking we might down-size a little and do 6. Originally he thought 4 and I thought 6. We compromised on 6. :) The other day though, he decided that he thought we'd maybe have more then that. Not sure where we'll end up.

*Kris*

Sorry All I didn't get on here sooner. Been busy. So we moved most our furnature and big items yesterday. Crazy! We are paying for our townhouse for all of March so I was planning on taking it slow, but I guess when you are relying on man power and trucks you gotta move when ya can. I tried not to lift anything "too heavy" as I keep getting yelled at. We had the supply flooring redone at work and I had people taking things from me. "That weighs more than 35lbs! you can't lift that! Don't bend!..ect.." It was so annoying. I am still capable. At least for a few more months. Let me pull my share already!! Plus I don't understand. The Army Pregnancy PT group wants us to do push ups and sit ups which rip your stomach apart even more, yet I cant carry more than 35lbs? Grr. Anyhow we just have clothes and random small items left at the house to move. So hopefully we will out of here by next Sunday.

My next appt is 7 Mar to discuss what testing we want done. After that they'll send me down stairs to set up the Gender Ultra Sound appt so we'll see what happens.

Angela: Sex For Sure...

Misleading title I know, but I wanted to make sure everyone was awake.

So I thought I'd break the news on here. We had a second ultra sound today and confirmed it...we are having a boy! We suspected it from the first one, but I wasn't holding my breath until we had a second confirmation.
Since Nicole is having a boy and so are we, it will be interesting to see what Vanessa and Kristina have. It would be funny if they both got girls.

Everyone better be taking their prenatal vitamins.

Will post more later.

Angela: Exercise

Don't know about the rest of you ladies, but I am finding it so hard to keep exercising. It is amazing how different each pregnancy can be. With my daughter things were so different, it wasn't until the last month of the pregnancy that it got difficult since I developed preclampsia and a rash called PUPS. I know...funny sounding name, not funny feeling.
I am at 23 weeks now and I am so uncomfortable, this baby is a low-rider, making it hard to stick with my 45 minute walks on the weekends and pregnancy yoga during the week. Is anyone else doing some kind of yoga?
I am so much more conscious of what I eat and my activity level. The first pregnancy I ate all food in sight, and had a thing for onion rings. How's everyone else doing with the cravings?

Nichole: Little Surprises

We were so excited when we found out we were expecting again. It was kind of planned, just not expected? It took us a little longer then we thought it would when we tried to get pregnant with our second baby and so this time we decided to start a little early and then just see when it happened. Well, it happened right away and instead of having babies 2 years apart, they'll be only 18 months apart this time. We were a little surprised and very excited. Luckily this pregnancy has been easier then the last two, which has definitely been a blessing with two other little ones to look after.
From the beginning I was pretty sure the baby was a girl. We got pregnant with our first little girl pretty fast and it was the same with this one. Right after we found out we were pregnant, Tori (our little girl) came into the room with a doll and said that it was her baby sister and she was named Kaya. That's when I knew it had to be a girl. We knew with our other two whether they were a girl or boy and we had a name picked out before we ever went in for an ultra sound. How could we be wrong this time? We started putting together a name for a girl, and didn't even think about boy names. I was pretty sure I knew what name I wanted, but Derrick kept saying he wasn't sure. Well, we finally went in for our ultra sound at 22 weeks and they showed us that we were having a healthy baby but the baby was being a little shy and so after a little poking and proding they showed us that we were having a baby boy. We had to check twice, and sure enough, baby boy. So at this point we are starting over on names and I am still getting used to saying him/he when reffering to the baby. Although it still does feel a little strange to me, I'm excited to have two little boys close in age.

Vanessa: HEARTBEAT

Yesterday I had my second midwife appointment, and I remembered to record the babies heartbeat. Hearing the heartbeat is so cool it just makes it real. Its so crazy to think there is a baby inside of me. After the appointment I text it to my mother and she totally freaked out, it was so funny. She loved it so much she set it as her ringtone, I dont know how long that will last though. Personally I think it would scare me every time.

Our Blog

We are part of a pretty large family which means that you are almost never pregnant alone. Right now there are four of us wonderful women expecting in 2011. We thought it would be fun to share our experiences together on here, since we are geographically very far apart. We hope to laugh together, be there for eachother, and just enjoy the journey together. We hope you enjoy it as well.
To avoid some confusion we will all start our posts with our names, so you always know who is talking.