32 Weeks . . . and Another Cake!

On Friday I turned 32 weeks! I've met my first goal date! The next goal date is 35 weeks -- which is less than 3 weeks away now.

I haven't been to the MEU since the Wednesday before last, but my contractions are definitely picking up. I've been able to keep them under control at home, but now instead of counting contractions an hour or two a day and taking medicine to control them once a day, I'm counting them almost all day long and taking medicine almost all day long. This is only to be expected of course, but it makes me a little afraid that my staying at home days are numbered. But -- I've been home for FAR longer than I ever expected, so hopefully I can manage to stay home and pregnant for quite a while longer!

To celebrate turning 32 weeks, Gary got me yet another FABULOUS cake -- this time a strawberry cake:



The babies were able to enjoy the cake with me again, and they seemed to like it. Piper ate her cake very politely (I think she prefers chocolate):



Henry definitely enjoyed his cake:



But Rosemary LOVED her cake. I think she is definitely a huge fan of strawberry cake!! She had a bite or two of it, then shoved as much of the cake as possible in her mouth, using both hands. After she finished eating it, she used her little fingers to pick up every crumb of cake she could find on her tray. It was really cute!

Big and Cuddly

Every night, after we put the kids in bed, we kiss each baby and tell them good night and that we love them. I've always gone in the same order, from farthest away from the door to closest: Rosemary, then Henry, then Piper. Piper is a bottom-in-the-air sleeper. And she has quite a bottom on her. Many nights when I've left their room, I've had to fight the impulse to pick her up and carry her to our bed to snuggle with her. She just looks so cute and cuddly laying there.

Monday morning, Gary was giving me a hug good-bye before he left for work. As he hugged me, he said, very sweetly, "You're so big and cuddly."

I swear. He really did.

He realized what he said immediately, and looked at me to assess the damage. Luckily for Gary, I started laughing. He tried to explain that he really was just referring more to my belly area, but it wasn't a great explanation. I have gotten a little bigger and cuddlier everywhere since I've been pregnant! I just think of it as being like Piper, and it really is a compliment when you think of it that way.

The Hammer is Sneaky. . . .

Pool Party!!

Auntie Ann recently got a new pool. Auntie Ann and Stephanie have been helping us out some on the weekends with the kids so that Gary can work on his to-do list. So, when Auntie Ann came over this past weekend, she brought her pool along for the kids!

Rosemary is my water baby and especially loved the pool. She would run and jump in, sit a while, then jump out and run around some more, then get back in the pool. Henry was a typical boy and would jump and splash in the pool, which I don't think Rosemary appreciated too much. But Piper was a bit of a scaredy cat. She mostly looked at the pool and kept her distance, but eventually she went up to the pool and splashed her hands in it just a little, and she seemed to enjoy that.

The kids also insisted on wearing their shoes. We started out without shoes, but as soon as they saw the shoes sitting on the porch, they had to put them on.

Here are some photos of the pool experience:












Auntie Ann was kind enough to leave the pool with us for the week, and the kids enjoyed it thoroughly yesterday. Stephanie even got Piper in the pool for a little while! I suppose we'll have to invest in our own pool pretty soon. . . .

P.S. Being as Gary is pretty particular about his yard, I'm sure he is going to ask me if there was not a way that I could have gotten only green grass in the picture. So, I'll go ahead and let you know that the not-so-green grass you see behind the pool is new sod (which may or may not live in this heat wave) that Gary put down this past weekend where we used to have a tree and flower bed. It's just a part of the whole backyard renovation thing.

Piper Sets Daddy Straight

A couple of weeks ago, we finally fenced in our backyard. When you have three almost-2-year-olds, that is pretty important. Last summer we'd go outside and there was no chance they'd get out of our sight before we could easily catch them. Now they are probably faster than me (even if I wasn't on bedrest) and can give Gary a run for his money. So, one thing that we wanted to do in addition to the new room is to fence in the backyard and fix it up a little.

Last weekend the kids went outside and I joined them (with my camera out there to try to take a few pictures). The drain system and paver patio were put in this past week, and the porch tiled, so there are no shots of all that in these pictures -- but Gary had already taken the screens off the backporch and stained it so you can see a bit of that in one of the photos. Anyway, Gary was walking around the backyard and pointing and telling me where he was going to plant various plants, shrubs, etc. Well, it's a good thing that Piper was out there, because she had a different opinion on where everything should go. . . .









Piper and Gary eventually worked things out. Whew. There for a while I didn't think they were going to be able to agree!

31 Weeks!!

Today I am 31 weeks. The last week or so has been rather uneventful. I had an appointment with my doctor on Monday, and she said that based on how I've stabilized that she would be surprised if I didn't make it to 35 weeks! That was fantastic news! If I make it to 35 weeks, and Penelope weighs at least 4 1/2 pounds and doesn't have any trouble breathing, then she doesn't have an automatic trip to the NICU. That is a big goal! On Wednesday evening I did have to go to the MEU for some contractions, but luckily terbutaline worked again and I could go home, and I have been here since. Penelope looked great and my cervix remains unchanged. My first goal due date is 32 weeks, which is only 7 days away. . . .

Last Friday, when I turned 30 weeks, it was a pretty big deal because that was how far I made it with the babies. Everything turned out great for them and they are strong and healthy, so that was a relief to know that Penelope could be born at 30 weeks and there was a reasonable chance that she could be just fine. But, my goal this pregnancy is to have a big baby that comes home with me -- so hopefully we'll be celebrating many more "weeks."

Anyway, the point of that was to say that Gary brought home a surprise for us when I turned 30 weeks last Friday. . . .



When I was pregnant with the kids, my first goal date was 28 weeks. Gary brought me a cake then, too, and it was one of my favorite nights in the hospital, just celebrating that we had made it as far as we did. So, it was very fitting that the babies were actually able to partake in the celebration this time:





(And despite my newfound love of Photoshop Elements, I didn't edit any of these photos. I still heart Photoshop Elements, but if I kept waiting to edit them, they'd never get posted!)