Love these girls!

As I tuck Poppy in she always asks about our plans for the next day and tonight was no exception. I told her all about tomorrow, and then she asked where we're going on Wednesday (my kids suck at staying home and it's exhausting, but I digress...). I told her I hadn't thought that far ahead and asked her where she'd go if she could pick anywhere in the whole wide world. She responded, "Um, probably Target."

Woohoo, I get to be super cool mom because I can totally make that dream trip come true! If only it were always this easy...

And tonight before bed, Lolli came up and hugged me and told me she loved me and that she was really going to help this week to keep things picked up and clean up all her messes for when the baby comes and when Gma Cathy & Rod come :)

Home Visit!!!

The home visit went very well! Here's a brief (or maybe not-so-brief) re-cap for those of you who couldn't make it (we missed you!) Midwife: Lynda Barton-Kirch, CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) Lynda was a L&D nurse at Community North and Wishard for years before earning her Master's in midwifery. She's been involved in home births for over 16 years, including having one of her own babies at home. Birth Assistant: Shannon Greika Shannon is a birth doula and midwifery student. Her main role will be to assist Lynda with whatever she needs, and maybe even take the lead under Lynda's supervision! Support: Sarah Mockaitis, Tonya Henderson, Jaime Aguayo. Sarah's a photographer as well as L&D nurse! Tonya's a photographer as well as doula and massage therapist. Jaime's planning her own home birth and will be in charge of handling my type A needs while I am too out of it to do it myself (phone calls, computer stuff, etc). That's our superstar birth team :) Sarah and Tonya weren't able to make it today but my dad and grandma were here with us! Lo & Pop were at school. First things first, we all ate! Pizza from The Ordinary, veggies, fruits, salads and lemonade. Yum! Then Shannon took my blood pressure (110/80) and everyone got to listen to the heartbeat through the Doppler (136ish). My fundus measured in at 39cm, right on target for me (I always seem to measure 2 weeks ahead). Then we went through the list of home birth supplies we've collected (towels, receiving blankets, peroxide, fish net, witch hazel, heating pad... lots of fun stuff) and showed Lynda & Shannon where everything is being stored so they won't have to ask during the birthing time. Lynda gave us a few supplies (sealed in sterile packaging of course) like the cord clamp (sooooo cute), bulb syringe, sterile gloves and whatnot. Then we showed her around the rest of the downstairs and made sure to point out the washer and dryer (they'll start a load before they leave, woohoo!) and where stuff is in the kitchen. After we all came downstairs Shannon swabbed me for the Group Beta Strep test. We'll get those results sometime this week. If it's positive, I can opt to have an IV or injection of antibiotics once the birthing time is coming, or I can do a cleanse to get rid of the bacteria and test again. And we turned in our consent forms for baby care in the first 48 hours. That's really all there was to it! I'll be 38 weeks on Thursday, so we've got the green light to go ahead and get to birthing whenever baby is ready. Lynda attends home birth up to 43 weeks gestation, although absolutely refuse to stay pregnant into June so this kid had better get with the program ;) Our birth tub should come sometime in the next 2 weeks! Lynda suggested we have 6 feet of space in case we get the big jetted tub so Zach laid down on the floor as our measuring tape. It'd fit!!! So anyway, everything is going really well and is as normal as can be. We got our house all in order and all of our big projects out of the way and we feel so prepared for the birth and having a newborn (well, as prepared as anyone can be!). The Mini Marathon is this weekend and I really wanna finish it, but after that the baby can come as it pleases :)

Another midwife appointment

All is well! BP was 120/66, fundus measured 38, FHR was 148. Zach was able to meet me there so that was nice. Next up: the home visit!!!

Things are a'changin'!!!

***Lauren lost a little bit of her mucus plug!*** 36 weeks 5 days

It sounds like something silly to be getting excited over, but she doesn't get prenatal cervical checks so this little glob of clear gunk is the only verification she has that some pre-labor dilation is going on down there. Woooohooooo!!!

36 weeks!

Lauren and Zach made it through the trip to the Dominican Republic without so much as a hint of trouble as far as the pregnancy is concerned. And today marks 36 weeks, which means the birth would no longer be a high risk one, although it'd still mean going to a hospital (midwife attends home births between 37 and 43 weeks). Hooray for another healthy full-term pregnancy. So thankful!!!

Sleepover!

Lolli had baseball practice at 7 last night and Zach was able to take her. Poppy stayed home with me and went to bed on time. She really wanted to sleep in Lolli's room and agreed to trying out the bottom bunk. (She asks to do this sometimes when Lolli's here but L always says no because 'Poppy still pees in her pull-up and it stinks' hahahaha.) I agreed to let her try, laid her down, tucked her in, and she went right to sleep.
When Lolli got home, she really wanted Poppy out of her room. I turned on Poppy's night light and got her room ready, but then Zach just carried in some stuffed animals. I was so confused, but apparently Lolli was already up on the top bunk and so Z was trying to trick her into thinking he'd moved Poppy out. Lolli was hesitant to believe him (glancing down to the floor and saying she say little feet move under the sheets) but somehow Z convinced her it was just his feet.
So the girls are having a sleepover, even though only 1 of them knows about it and consented to it. It's 7:05am as I'm typing this and they both slept through the night. It will be interesting to see how it goes when they wake up HA!

Lolli's making grown up plans

A couple of Lolli's friends are in the process of moving, so it got her thinking about it. She told me when she's a little bit older, she's gonna get her own house and live there all by herself. I told her I couldn't wait to see it and she informed me that she'll come visit me a lot and even still spend the night at my house :)

Poppy can open doors!

Big day for Poppy. She came downstairs on her own this morning instead of yelling for me or Lolli to come get her. Better late than never! Ha ha

First baseball practice!

As Lolli was getting dressed for her baseball practice, I surprised her by letting her wear a pair of my hot pink knee socks (the feet are cut off) to match her shorts. Her response: "Wow, you are such a great mom!"

♥ Treasuring this moment 'cause I know it won't always be this easy to get such a response!

(She's playing in the 3-4 year old Pee Wee division at Lowell Little League. Tonight's her first practice and she's so excited! She and Zach are out playing catch right now (with her hot pink and black mitt and her hot pink baseball ;))

I'd say tee ball is a hit with Lolli! She & Z practiced in the side yard for an hour, then her actual practice lasted an hour, then she begged to practice more when she got home.
Her favorite part? "Running the bases. And throwing the ball. And catching the ball. And hitting the ball. And running the fence." What kind of glutton for punishment likes it when the coach makes them run the perimeter of the fence?!? LOL Glad she's so excited, though!
Her next practice is Tuesday but she keeps asking if maybe they'll decide to have one before then. Only 3 kids showed up tonight including Lolli but they all seem to be pretty good! Papaw Lucky was there to help out the coach which was nice - I can't imagine how the coach would have handled it had all 10 kids been there!

Sweet moments

Favorite moment of the day: Listening to Poppy sweet talking the baby in my belly and then laughing hysterically when it kicks her hands ♥