Lots Going On

Wow, the past week has been a BUSY one!! I guess I can start with last week's doctor visit/NST. Tuesday was my appointment. Stepped on scale and was happy to see that no weight was gained :) Headed off to ultrasound to check fluid. Baby still head down...smashed up to the placenta. She was moving, moving! Her heartrate was 157. Only got one picture, not a very good one, but she's yawning in it. She must be a tired girl because that's the second photo I've gotten of her yawning :) She was also practicing her breathing.
After ultrasound, it was off to sit in the chair for the Non Stress Test for 20 minutes. This time I was checked on frequently and not forgotten about! No contractions and baby sounded good.
Time to go in the room and wait for the midwife. She came in and told me that everything looked good with the NST, but the baby's fluid was a little on the low end (9.7), but it wasn't bad.

The pants had to come off so I could be swabbed for Group B Strep. I have tested negative with the first 3 babies, but with Daxton the results were positive, so I was given antibiotics prior to his birth. It's not harmful at all to moms (and they don't know how you get it), but it can be harmful to babies if they pass through the birth canal and their mom's haven't been treated.
I could test negative this time, but was told that it will probably be positive.

The midwife also checked my cervix to see if anything was going on. Nope...still tightly closed. Just how I would like to keep it for a few weeks!! We talked about a "birth plan". Which basically consists of EPIDURAL, EPIDURAL, EPIDURAL :) Seriously though, that's about the only time I dilate. I can have painful contractions forever and not have any progress, until I get the epidural. Then I go QUICKLY!! That's when my body can finally relax and do what it's supposed to. I'm the one who gets in the way of it happening apparently.

She said we could probably plan an induction date. Which would be A-Ok with me. Makes things easier in general. Especially with the other kids. She said I would have to be 39 weeks and my cervix would have to be favorable. I can handle that! I'm not a fan of Pitocin, but I just think: EPIDURAL, EPIDURAL, EPIDURAL! With my other pregnancies I have been induced due to different reasons and the one time my water did break (with Xandria at 3am), I ended up having to have Pitocin later because labor had slowed down after a period of time.

So, we will see how it goes and if happens on it's own than GREAT, if not that will be fine too. I'm getting more nervous and excited as each day goes by!!

I'm off to the doctor again tomorrow. I will have the NST and also a growth ultrasound. We will see how the baby is growing and all that, so it's not just a fluid check. I'm excited to get to see her again.

Other things that went on this past week...real quick, cuz I need some peace and quiet before I'm headed off to bed...it's been a long, tiring day!

• Last sunday we had X and X's birthday party at the skating rink. It turned out to be alot of fun and everyone had a great time :)
• Thursday was a nice day with the kids, they didn't have school. We went out to eat at Beef A Roo and talked and everyone behaved so well :) Then we stopped at Target to get some things. Drake and Toots killing each other over opening the car door when we left :(
• Friday afternoon I took X and X to meet up with Heather for their birthday pictures. The kids actually had fun doing it and we got ice cream afterwards. The youngest two were with Angela, so that was helpful! I can't wait to see how their photos turned out!!
• Friday night we had a surprise birthday party for Nick! He turned 30 today! He didn't have the slightest idea and was definitely surprised...even though there was a couple things that I thought might have tipped him off!! His face was priceless and I'm so glad we did that for him!! His dad, Theresa and Christina are the ones who put it all together for me. :)
• Saturday we got to have an alone day!! The older kids were with my parents and my aunt stayed with Daxton (thank you!). My aunt even got some of my laundry done, which was a GREAT surprise!! Nick and I went to Spring Hill Mall and picked up a couple things...went to the gambling boat in Elgin to eat at the buffet and do a lil gambling...came back to Rockford and the two of us went and played pool. I was nervous about going to play pool...I never have and I have social anxiety in new places, but it was SO NICE and I'm SO GLAD we did!! We had a GREAT day and it was DEFINITELY needed!!!!
• Sunday (yesterday) we took the kids to Midway Village for the annual Scarecrow Festival. You go and make scarecrows. It was fun, though it was like 80 degrees out. Then we headed to Red Robin to eat and sit in the much needed air conditioning!!
• Today the kids and I went with Angela to Lockwood Park for Pumpkin Patch Day. Since kids were out of school due to Columbus Day, they had activities and games set up for them to play and do. It was nice, but there was so many damn bees!! I swear there was 3-4 on or around the stroller at all times!! Luckily, none of us got stung. Since today is Nick's actual birthday we got him a cookie cake and went to Happy Joe's to eat supper.

Well, that's all I have for now. WOW, that was sure ALOT! I plan on posting pictures of things I listed soon. Also, our little Daxton is officially toddling around. Just in the past week, week and a half, he's REALLY taken off with his walking! I think that is now his main mode of transport! He looks so cute doing it :)