Getting ready for little sister!!!

We finally finished the nursery!!! I have to say it wasn't what I first had in mind but I love it. I wanted to do something totally different than Natalee's. Believe it or not Trey actually wanted the purple and gray color scheme. The challenge was making this room look different than Natalee's considering we were using the majority of her old furniture. Hopefully the baby will love it as much as we do :) Natalee loves to play in there. She goes into the nursery and says, "Rylee's room." She has a new found interest in all things baby. The bottles, pacifiers and baby toys have become her new favorite things. Talk about regression!!!

We found out today that I'm 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced. The doc didn't think I would make it another week but who knows...? I've had very intense contractions throughout the night (not so good for sleeping) but they ease up in the morning. I don't remember playing the waiting game like this with Natalee. Last week they estimated her to be about 8lbs. She could weigh about 8 1/2 lbs by now. I'm getting a little worried about her size. It seems like I have a huge baby by the way she stretches out in my stomach. I can hardly move when she's moving! They will look to induce on Nov. 21st if I haven't gone on my own by then. I highly doubt I will make it that far. I feel like I have a couple more days in me. My nesting instinct has kicked into full gear. I feel like I need to clean my house every day. I also decided to get up at 4:00 a.m. and start working. I feel like I will never be caught up enought to take a 3 month leave. I sit in bed and think about work so why not just get up and get stuff done? I know this sounds crazy but I have a feeling this is normal behavior for the end of pregnancy.

Loving Fall

Needless to say we've been a busy family this past month! Birthday's and Halloween have kept us on the go. We have had so much fun this fall! Natalee loved all the Halloween festivities. We've been able to spend a lot of time with Halle (Liz's daughter). Seems like she always has more fun when they're together! I think she's also starting to understand that we are going to have a baby soon.

Speaking of #2... I'm officially full term! Can't believe it! I'm so thankful to have had a relatively normal pregnancy. Minus the weekly injections I've had an easy 9 months. Last week I was 1 cm and 70% effaced. She is head down and ready to go. Who knows when she will decide to make her grand entrance. During our last ultrasound they determined her weight to be around 8lbs 4oz (give or take a little). For my sake I'm hoping this was an over estimate. We go back to the doctor Tuesday and will hopefully get a progress report.

Dad and Trey's Birthday Dinner

Loving Boo at the Zoo

Halle and Natalee = Best Friends

Haunted House with Daddy

Me and my little Tinkerbell

8 Months and Counting...

I know I've been terrible about keeping up with this!! I didn't realize the craziness that would come with pregnancy and a toddler. I don't know how women have kids closer in age than this. Hats off!!!

We've been quite the busy family over the past couple months. Natalee turned 2, started back to school and Trey and I have been working to get ready for number 4 in the Mack family :) Natalee had a great Birthday! She got spoiled as usual but I think the part she loved the most was being surrounded by such wonderful family and friends. Her personality really comes out in a crowd. She loved having a house full of people. It was truly a Happy Birthday! I can't believe how much she has grown since July. I feel like I am going to blink and she will be starting Kindergarten. She has started to turn into a little girl and not a baby:( She is able to tell you what she wants (and she does all the time). Trey and I are constantly laughing at what comes out of her mouth. The kid is hilarious. She definitely realizes she is going to have a little sister. She'll pull my shirt up, kiss my tummy and say "baby." We put up the crib and now her favorite room to play in is the nursery. All of a sudden she wants to play with the baby toys and get in the crib. I hope she is as excited when we actually bring the baby into the house!!!

As far as little sister goes things are going great. I have somehow managed to avoid bedrest. Although, some days I wish they could put me on bedrest for about 3 days. I'm starting to feel all the aches and pains associated with being 8 months pregnant. I didn't have that with Natalee since I was on house arrest. Carrying around 25lbs of baby weight and a 30lb toddler makes for some achy evenings. At my last doctor's appointment they said everything looks to be right on track. I was a bit nervous since I had noticed more frequent and intense contractions over the past couple weeks. When they checked my cervix everything was holding steady. I am 100% convinced that the progesterone injections I'm getting every week have worked a miracle! I am so thankful to have been a candidate for the drug and able to get the weekly shot. As much as I hate shots I never though I would be thankful for getting one. With only 5 more to go (down from 22) I find myself getting excited for Trey to poke me. It just means I am one more closer to being done and meeting this sweet little girl! I get my last shot October 27th. It is anyone's guess when this little one will make her debut after that. Some women go into labor within the following week and some make it to term. I'll go on the record and say my prediction is that she will come between Nov. 5th and 10th. Trey's prediction is the 11th-15th. I believe they will induce no later than the 20th if I havent gone on my own.

Thank you for all the prayers and sweet messages! We feel so blessed to have had a somewhat normal pregnancy experience.

8 Months...
Loving the zoo

Happy Birthday!

Getting creative! She doesn't like to get her hands dirty.

The only picture of the 3 of us :( She isn't even looking.

Lots to Celebrate!

We have had so much going on this month! I've been trying to keep Natalee entertained with her mother's day out program being out for the summer. In between work and the little one we've been going non stop. Oh yeah... not to mention I'm busy cooking our next little bundle of joy :)

Speaking of the pregnancy... everything is going perfectly. It seems surreal to even read that statement. I had prepared myself for another rocky road. I know we have many weeks ahead of us and things can change in a moment but we feel very optimistic at this point. Today I saw the perinatologist to get the final okay to fly to Chicago for a business meeting (and a little Nikki time). My cervix is holding up great and the baby looks amazing weighing in at a hefty 1lb. I will continue to see either my primary o.b. or perinatologist every week. If anything goes off track we will be able to catch it quickly. Knowing me I'll go to 41 weeks with this one and need to be induced, haha.

We are busy getting ready for Natalee's Birthday!! I can't believe she will be 2 years old on Monday. We are having family over Sunday to celebrate. She is growing up so fast. Some days I wish it would slow down. She is going to seem so big once the baby comes. I honestly think Natalee knows she is going to be a big sister. This week I asked her where the baby was and she pointed to my stomach and gave it a hug. I told her to give baby sister a kiss and she leaned over and kissed my belly. I love these sweet moments!

Natalee decided she would rather watch fireworks from inside. She didn't like the loud noise.
What a ham!

Such a happy little girl

Lovin the splash pad

It's a Good Week!!

Good news is ALWAYS welcome!! We saw the perinatologist this week. I was terrified I was going to get the bed rest speech. It's so hard to predict what is going to happen from one week to the next. Fortunately, after a full week of taking it easy we were able to see improvements. My cervical length grew from 2.75 to 3.7 in 1 week. Researchers are beginning to discover that the cervix is dynamic (always changing) in some instances. For most women the cervix begins to shorten as labor nears. It is rare for it to grow once the shortening process begins. Of course I am the exception to the rule. I take after my father when it comes to abnormal medical conditions or any accident for that matter. Due to my history the doctor wants to monitor me throughout the pregnancy. From this point on I will be seeing both my high risk ob and perinatologist. I am very optimistic that we will have a much smoother ride this go around. The progesterone injections along with the once a week doc visits will hopefully keep us on track.

As for Natalee... she is developing such a huge personality. She has Trey and I entertained every second of the day. This week she has come out with a few phrases.

"Momma mooo"... Momma move
Anytime I am in her way she pushes me aside and asks me to move.

"Bee Bop"... Tinkerbell
Her new obsession is tinkerbell. I don't know how tinkerbell turned into "bee bop" but it did.

Feels Like Summer

We have some exciting news!!! We will be welcoming a baby GIRL to our family in November!!! We got the 100% confirmation from the doctor today. I'm so excited for Natalee to have a little sister. Everything looks great with the baby. She is growing perfectly.

On to the not so great news... It looks like we will be in for a pregnancy similar to the pregnancy with Natalee. I had been noticing what I thought may be contractions for the past couple weeks. I mentioned it at my appointment today and they checked my cervical length just to be safe. I was very hopeful that I had been paranoid for no reason. It turns out my length went from 3.5 to 2.75 in a 3 week period. Anything below 3.0 is cause for concern. Most women have a length between 3.5 and 4.0 up until about 35 weeks. I will begin seeing a perinatologist next week in addition to my high risk doctor. We are taking every precaution necessary. At this point I don't have to go on bed rest (thank the lord). I was advised to cut my activity in half and stop working out. Hopefully this will do the trick for a while.

Here are a few pictures from our beach trip to Hilton Head. Natalee loved the beach! She cried when we would drag her up to the condo for a nap. The minute she woke up each morning she went straight for her shovel and headed for the balcony to point to the beach. We were really able to enjoy the beach and watch her play in the sand. I hope we are able to take another beach vacation before the summer is over.

Cruisin on her new tricycle

Juice break

Pop, Natalee and Daddy

Floatin in the water

Natalee's Last Day of School

Natalee had her last day of Mother Day out last week. We were so sad to see it end. She really blossomed over the four month period she was there. We were lucky enough to have amazing teachers. One of which was her Aunt Amy. We were a little spoiled!!

Natalee has grown to love any type of art since being there. They had the kids doing various arts and crafts. Unfortunately, I am the least artistic and crafty person you will ever meet. At home all Natalee wants me to do is draw pictures. She hands me a marker and shows me where to draw on the paper. Poor child only sees stick people, flowers and shapes. I need to brush up on my drawing skills.

Here are a few pics of her last day...

Dance Machine

Leading the show

Aloha!

Natalee and Mitzi

Natalee and her teacher " Auma MiMi"