||Pregnancy Update-38 Weeks||

Y'all the struggle is real. I am so uncomfortable and this little babe feels like she weighs a ton. I've been having major back pain and irregular contractions for the past week. I'm pretty sure some new stretch marks have popped up that I managed to keep at bay this entire time. So annoying! I'm exhausted and sleep is pretty much non-existent anymore. I've been getting the end of term nightmares and that's part of why I've not been sleeping real well. At this point with Liv I was getting ready to go to the hospital, but I have another week left if I don't go into labor on my own. I'm so ready. I did get my hair and nails/toes done over the weekend and I feel so much better and more relaxed to have a baby. It sounds weird but I just feel so much better when I feel like I look better. I haven't swelled at all yet so that's a plus.

How far along: 38 weeks
Weight Gain: 30.5 lbs
Maternity Clothes: yes!!
Best Moment This Month: Getting closer to meeting baby girl.
Gender: GIRL!!
Movement: She's still moving but it's slowed down a lot. She's running out of room in there.
Food Cravings: Sonic slushes and Jimmy Johns!!!
Food Aversions: Anything fried!!
What I Miss: Not having heartburn and sleeping comfortably.
Sleep: Awful!! I can't get comfortable at all and my back/stomach kill me all night long. I've also started having end of term nightmares about something being wrong with the baby.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Our anniversary and finishing my last week of work for a while.
Belly Button: Flat.

Weekly Check Update:
I went in for my 38 week check and I'm still dilated to a 3 not quite 4 yet. I'm not real surprised because I just didn't have the feeling that I was about to go into labor. My induction date is still set for August 7th unless I go on my own but my doctor is thinking that I will last until then now. Which is fine. I just want her to be healthy.

-Letters to Liv- {23 Months}

Livy,
How in the world are you one month away from being TWO years old? It just doesn't seem possible. It feels like just yesterday we were getting ready to go to the hospital to have you. You have grown so much over this past year. I have been watching videos and looking at pictures from a year ago (thank you for timehop on Facebook). You were so little and still very much a baby but now you have grown into a darling little mischievous girl. You don't look like a baby anymore either. You have grown so much and look like a little girl now. I just can't believe how fast time goes by. You are still very much independent and want to do EVERYTHING on your own. You have become super attached to me lately again and I think it's because you sense that baby sissy is coming soon. You panic when I even leave a room. You're always wanting me to hold you, especially during church. You are still loving church and to pray and it just melts me every time. The minute we pull up to the building you scream "church!, class!". I have mixed emotions about your love for class because I wasn't raised that way, but you have learned so much and I want you to always have that fire for church and for the Lord that you have right now. You love to say "amen" at the end of every prayer.

We have slowed down on your potty training because you were scared to poop in the potty. You would hold it all day and then when your night time diaper came on you would just let it all out. That was okay until you started getting extremely constipated and would just be miserable. When you finally went it was always so huge and hard. You would literally just cling to me as you pushed it out and then cry afterwards because it would hurt. You do great with peeing in the potty but for now we're just going to wait until you're a little older because of the constipation issue. You still love to wear your panties though, we just put them over your diaper now.

Your vocabulary keeps taking off and I love it! You're still very unintelligible with a lot of things you try to say but for the most part we know what you're saying if it's 1-2 word phrases. You still do a lot of jabbering but that will fade. Your favorite things to say this past month have been: help, three, read, don't touch, Havyn, Nova, shark, sprite, shut, cash, daddy see, papa please, mama no, more milk, I'm silly, and I said no. Oh my, do you love the word NO! It drives us crazy but we want you to keep talking and gaining more words so we don't tell you to stop yet haha. You're so cute when you say Havyn and you call her "Havy" half the time and it's so cute.

Your favorite snacks/foods right now are popcorn and apples with peanut butter. You love when I just give you a huge glob of peanut butter on spoon. You still like to snack all day long and it's so hard to get you to eat a good nutritious meal. I keep thinking you'll eventually get back to eating well. You drink SO much milk. We have to buy two gallons every week and a half. It's crazy how much milk you drink. You still love orange juice but any other juice you're definitely not a fan. One weird thing is that you have been mouthing EVERYTHING lately. You constantly put things in your mouth and you never mouthed much before.

You love sticker books right now. That's probably your favorite activity/toy. It's the only thing that will keep you sitting still in church for a while. You still love books too. You've kind of gotten out of much playing with toys. If you've never seen them before or haven't seen them in a while then you'll play with them but for the most part you don't really want them right now. You love your baby dolls still though. You also really like to put puzzles together. You sing and dance all the time and have recently started telling us "no" when we sing to you. You want to do it. You love to watch TV and I hate it. You would watch it all day if we let you. You're currently loving Tangled, Toy Story 3, and Monster's Inc.

You've been sleeping in your sissy's room because when we decorated her room we put the crib in there. You automatically pointed to it and said "night night". You have slept so much better since we put you back in the crib. We're hoping once we get settled in with the baby that you'll want to sleep in your big girl bed again. I know you will do great with your little sissy but just thinking about you not understanding why mama can't hold you or pick you up has me in tears already. I just keep praying you will transition well. We love you so so much baby girl. I'm in full party planning mode and getting everything ready for your second birthday party. I can't wait to celebrate you big time, my love.

Love,
Mama

||Pregnancy Update-37 Weeks||

How far along: 37 weeks
Weight Gain: 30 lbs
Maternity Clothes: yes!!
Best Moment This Month: Starting my weekly checks and appointments.
Gender: GIRL!!
Movement: YES! Still painful movements, I can feel her just gaining more weight and getting bigger each day.
Food Cravings: Cereal!!!
Food Aversions: Meats!! Especially when it is cooking, the smell makes me nauseous again.
What I Miss: Not hurting and feeling exhausted all the time. Even though I know that's about to get a lot worse ha!
Sleep: Still not great. Getting more difficult each night. The back and stomach pain is real every time I roll over.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Finishing out this week at work and being able to relax this weekend.
Belly Button: Flat.

Weekly Check Update:
I started my cervical checks this week and we're another week closer to meeting Miss Havyn. I knew that I had been feeling some progress over the past few weeks with cramps, backache, fatigue, and frequent braxton hicks. I went in this past Monday and he checked my cervix. I was dilated to 3cm and my body is definitely gearing up for labor. He scheduled my induction date for August 7th at 6am but he doesn't think I will last long. It is now Thursday and I have been having cramps and tons of back pain. I had 5 contractions yesterday but they were very irregular and not super intense yet. I have been losing a little mucous but it hasn't been bloody yet. Sorry TMI.

||Pregnancy Update-36 Weeks||

Another month closer to meeting our sweet girl. We are getting so excited. I had been having some anxiety about bringing home a new baby and having a toddler that is definitely in the terrible two phase. My hormones are definitely crazy right now and I've hit that phase where I'm just ready to not be pregnant anymore. I want her to come when she's ready and not too early though. This past month has been spent with family and friends for baby showers. We have been so blessed with an incredible village who loves and supports us. I have tried to relax the past few weeks to be rested for labor and delivery. We have finished decorating and getting everything we need for little miss. I packed our bags this past weekend and now just finishing up a few things at work then I will feel as prepared as I can be. Because let's be honest, you're never fully prepared to have a baby haha.

How far along: 36 weeks
Weight Gain: 25 lbs
Maternity Clothes: yes!!
Best Moment This Month: Having showers with family and friends.
Gender: GIRL!!
Movement: YES! She's still been moving quite a bit but it's more rolling and whole body movements rather than kicks and jabs. It is starting to hurt more when she moves.
Food Cravings: Cereal!!!
Food Aversions: Nothing specific just large meals still.
What I Miss: Just being comfortable and being able to move without difficulty.
Sleep: Awful. Half the time I can't sleep because my body hurts when I turn over or move. I'm still getting up about twice a night to use the bathroom.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Just ready for her to come!
Belly Button: Flat.

||Maternity Pictures Round 2||

We spent the day in our home with our good friend Jason who captures all of our big life events. I knew when I started planning my maternity pictures this time that I wanted something simple and inside. It's the same time of year that Liv's was and we all about died from heat exhaustion afterwards. I knew I didn't want to do that again and drag a toddler out in the heat. Thankfully Liv really loved Jason and showed her little personality perfectly. It was laid back and none of us were sweating at the end. I can't wait to add these photos to our collection and hang in our home. We also can't wait to meet our sweet little Havyn Quinn.

-Letters to Liv- {22 Months}

My sweet Livy girl,
I love you so much! I just have to put that out there. You have made me realize the depths of my heart and I absolutely love being your mama. You keep growing and doing new things everyday. You are so smart. You have the best memory and you are becoming more and more sociable. Your daddy takes you out places all the time since you've been staying with him this summer and I think that's really helped get you out of your shell. Your absolute favorite place to go right now is church. The minute we get there you say "class". That has helped me accept you going to class with the way I grew up. You learn so much and you love to go and I hope you always feel that way about the Lord. You love the little songs and lessons and I love that so much. You love your baby sissy already and love to say "Havy" and kiss my belly. I can't wait to watch you with her. I'm praying that you will transition easily and not go through a jealous phase but I'm sure that's common. You still have your days where you don't eat real great but then you'll have days where you eat all day. Your favorite foods are still fruits and veggies. You still dislike green beans. You love some orange juice! You would drink the entire bottle in a day if we would let you. You aren't keen on other juices though which is good. You drink milk, orange juice, water and occasionally Sprite.

You have started not liking to wear your hair in a ponytail with a bow. You are so strong that when you take them out you break your bows every time and I always have to hot glue them back together.You're definitely in that rough stage. You break things or tear them up and you ruin your clothes. Not purposefully, you're just in that phase. You love to swim in your little pool we bought you and just being outside period. You are still loving Toy Story and Finding Nemo but you've recently started to like Ice Age, Chipmunks, and Monsters Inc. We have to really limit you on your screen time because you would sit and watch it all day. You and Nova are best friends and love to play together. You have been sleeping with us because you are not loving your big girl bed anymore. You curl up next to me every night, put your little arm around me, kiss me and say "night night". It's seriously the cutest thing and I feel more calm knowing you're in there with us. When we put the crib up in the baby's room, you immediately said "bed" and "night night". You love to take your naps in there again but not at night.

You are still jabbering in your little toddler language but you've definitely gained more words and phrases this past month too. You're saying and doing more each month and like I always say it's so fun to watch. Here's your word list from this past month:
touch, watch, face, open door, brush teeth, diapers, wipes, big bed, church, class, move, cant see, get up, stop it, no, cha-ching, he's sad, don't touch, rain, wet, big whale, mama, pool, nanny, and I love you.
You have finally started saying mama again and it melts me every single time. It was the sweetest night because all 3 of us were laying in bed and you weren't wanting to go to sleep and you out of no where said "mama". I freaked out and was just so excited that now you say it looking for me to get excited again haha. It's seriously so cute! We love you so so much and can't believe that you're going to be TWO in just a couple of short months.

Love,
Mama

||Pregnancy Update-32 Weeks||

How are we already another month closer to welcoming our second sweet girl? It is so crazy how much faster a pregnancy goes when you already have a child. Liv's pregnancy felt like it took forever but this one has flown by. So some interesting facts about this past month. Apparently the more babies you have the more your body definitely feels it. I was in one of my best friends' wedding in Texas a couple of weeks ago and riding in the car for that long threw my lower body into a state of shock haha. When we got back, I could barely walk and my lady parts/groins were hurting so bad. I wasn't having contractions or labor signs but just excruciating pain in my hip area. Come to find out it was pubic symphysis. Extremely common in multiple pregnancies as your bones have shifted once before to birth a baby. It went away after about two weeks but I was definitely in discomfort and pain for those solid two weeks. I'm having lightning and some braxton hicks every now and then but for the most part I'm still feeling pretty good. Except the fact that I gained 7 lbs. in three weeks because she gained 2 lbs. herself. At our last appointment two weeks ago she weighed 4 lbs. 7 oz. and was still measuring ahead. My doctor said that he will induce at 39 weeks because that's his preference and she's measuring a week ahead anyway. I could go sooner than that because Liv was 10 days early. I love the significance and meaning of pregnancy but once the weight gain starts and stretch marks are more visible, I really struggle. I'm trying not to let myself care about those things because I know how my body will look postpartum now. I've been having nights where I'm extremely nauseous and can't sleep. Peppermint oil has been such a huge lifesaver for me this pregnancy. We worked on sister girls nursery last weekend and it turned out so stinkin' cute. I love it so much! I still have to put some finishing touches on it but it's finished for the most part. Now to the stats.

How far along: 32 weeks
Weight Gain: 23 lbs
Maternity Clothes: yes!!
Best Moment This Month: Working on the nursery and getting house projects completed.
Gender: GIRL!!
Movement: YES! She's been moving all throughout the day a lot more lately.
Food Cravings: Chocolate Milk!!!
Food Aversions: Nothing specific just large meals still.
What I Miss: My body not hurting from the little pregnancy aches.
Sleep: Just okay. I've been waking up at least twice in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.
What I'm Looking Forward To: Our couple of baby showers coming up.
Belly Button: Out.