Week 34!

I am SO incredibly tired (thanks to my recent addiction to Shutterfly!), but I wanted to write about my appointment now before it never gets done. Gabriel is sleepy too. You should have seen his eyes at the appointment! He decided not to nap at all yesterday, so he is pretty woozy today! The midwife said he looked drunk, haha. I took a video of him listening to his baby sister and he did look pretty "dazed!" After he listened he could only say one thing, "baby!" He also said, "where is baby?!" It is so cute that he actually got to hear her today. I wasn't going to bring him but I was late getting out the door this morning and it just happened. He was such a good boy though. He held my hand and WALKED BY HIMSELF! I capitalized this because if you have seen Gabriel lately you know this is HUGE. He has been my attachment lately (wanting me to hold him), so for him to hold my hand and walk by himself at the Dr. was worth noting! He then sat on my lap while we listened to Miss Kate in awe. Liz decided to really show off too and move around. I think this is the first time he's actually seen her moving. Generally when I try to get his attention she stops. Generally, though, he only gives me like a 2 second glance! As if to say, "what mom." Today was different though. His sissy had him enthralled, and now he keeps asking about her. It AMAZES me that a two year old (a baby himself) can be in awe over another baby. I'm glad he came today. Although we were/are both about to pass out, it was incredibly sweet and I cherish the moments!

My blood pressure is great, contractions (even bunches of them) are normal now that this is my second pregnancy, and I can walk as long as the contractions don't start to really become painful. She said I probably won't get "lucky" and have her early, but we both agreed that this early is not even what I would want anyway. I'm sure by week 38 and 39 I'll be ready. It will be here like tomorrow. Seems close but far away! Just scheduling appointments every two weeks makes the time go by so much faster. My next one is the 24th and it will be here before we know it. I'll get the GBS test done, so I am going on a echinacea, garlic, and vitamin c regimen given to me by Jessica. Here it is for those curious:

For the first 10 days you take Echinacea capsules (3/day), Vitamin C (1000 mg 3x/day), and either garlic capsules or fresh garlic (I cut garlic cloves into 4 little pieces, dip in oil so they slide down, and swallow like a vitamin---it works wonders when you have a cold ). The garlic is 3 cloves/day or 6 capsules a day. For the next 10 days you skip Echinacea (you have to give your body a break every 10 days or it ceases to be effective), but do the other stuff. Then you go back on Echinacea for 10 days and continue the cycle until you deliver.

Let's hope this gives me a negative test in 2 weeks. It is a little of a surprise (to me) they are doing the test because originally she told me they would wait for the hospital. So NOW I'm going to have to do this twice. Once for the test, to insure I'm not hooked up to antibiotics as soon as I get to the hospital (i.e. strapped to the bed), and again before birth to ensure I am still negative (since this crazy bacteria comes and goes).

Good news is Elizabeth is still moving and turning. As of right now her head is still down, butt is up near my ribs, and feet are kicking out to my right side. So she isn't completely sunny side up anymore, she is sideways. This is a good thing! I am also working on a baby book for Gabriel (birth-6 months) on Shutterfly. This way I'll at least have that done before the next baby is born and I have to do another one. I would love to continue putting together books, in 6 month to one year increments, for the kids. This way I don't have to buy bulky photo books and chronologically place pics. It is, after all, the digital age and photo books are what I do for a living anyway. Shutterfly also has cool graphics, backgrounds, and embellishments that I am enjoying very much! It has its little hiccups that annoy the dickens out of me, but I am working around it! We should be doing a family maternity shoot here soon. I hope to get that done at the start of September when Joshua is back for good. I'll be pretty large, but I HAVE to have the pictures. Laying out this book for Gabriel makes me realize the importance of getting these pictures done. Life occurs in a fleeting moment, and if you don't take the time to create memories you will never ever get them back. Things may seem unimportant in the moment, but looking back they are all you have! I was asked today if we are going to stop at two kids. I said probably not, but they won't be as close as Gabriel and Elizabeth are in age. I realized then (as I have so many times before) that I only have a few short years of babies and pregnancy. I told the cashier at Starbucks that I would probably wait until mid thirties to start again, but mid thirties is right around the corner. Hard to believe.. So there may be like a 6 year gap between Gabriel and the third, but that means I only have 3 years until beginning the process of getting pregnant again (keep in mind that your preggo 9 whole months. This is a good chunk out of another year. I don't think people who are "waiting" to have their first baby -and are 29 like this cashier today- realize this or take it into consideration!). Life is crazy short! I'm glad I am realizing it now rather than later though... Trying to take one day at a time....

Pics to come and I'll try to get that video of Gabriel listening to Kate's heart beat off my phone =). All right, I can put the video up via Facebook (how cool is that):