A Banana slice...

How your baby's growing: ( 36 weeks down.. now in 37th week)

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of his first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely he's in a head-down position. But if he isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

We went to the doctor today and found out that I am 3cm dilated.. a banana slice (see chart below) 80%effaced and station -1. The doctor said the baby has dropped and boy oh boy do I feel that!  She also said that when I do go into labor it was go fast because of how low he already is.. so to stay close to the hospital! 

I am Dilated 3cm- a banana slice

here are some pictures from the week! We went to Dave and Buster for some family fun and Charlotte loved every minute of it! Mama won her a stuffed animal the size of her! Charlotte tried spaghettios for the first time and pudding! Charlotte eats naked because she is a little messy!

Dave and Busters! Skee ball!

I got this dad.. move aside!

Race car time! Dad, I am kicking your butt!

Successfull day at Dave and Busters! I won a Duck the size of me!

Spaghettio face!

Sometimes you miss your mouth.. opps

and if mom takes your spoon away use your hands!

yum!

Pudding face

Mom, do I have anything on my face?!

35 days!

How your baby BOY growing:(35 weeks down .. now in my 36th week!)

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

How am I feeling?? I am now reaching the uncomfortable stage.. I am not sleeping as well or as much these days. I am dropping everything I put in my hands and bending over to pick something up is impossible. But I think at almost 9 months pregnant comfortable is not in your vocabulary.  :)
Oh and Pregnancy brain is at its highest right now! Last week I could not find my phone for the life of me. I looked everywhere. I thought for sure Charlotte picked it up and put it somewhere. Finally right before bedtime I looked outside on the porch.. and there she was! Why didn't I look there first?!?! Oh and don't get me started on the car keys.. they get lost several times a day everyday! I have started writing things down so I don't forget but then I cant find the list or the pad of paper! oh man!

Lately I have a new shadow! Little miss Charlotte follows me are and mimics my every move! I put shoes on and she has to put shoes on too. I start to read a magazine and she picks up anything and reads it. Mama will sing and she will start to sing. It is pretty funny and scary how much toddlers learn from their parents. Which means the parents have to be on their best behavior!


Obsession alert- this girl is obsessed with shoes! But what girl isn't! She talks about shoes and tries on all of her shoes and mamas shoes. We find shoes all through out the house!


This past weekend Grandma Ya ya, Grandpa Dude, and Owen came to visit! We played so hard two naps were necessary! They had so much fun that Charlotte is still looking for Owie... she asks me all that time where is Owie? Here are some photos!

I love shoes!

at the splash park with some friends!

picnic with dada!

banana face!

Owen and Charlotte are best buds!

tunnel time

Owen is such a happy boy!

42 days...

How your baby BOY is growing:



Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

34 weeks down.. now in my 35th week

Babycenter sends out these emails every week telling you what to expect during your pregnancy for the coming weeks and this week the email had a "what to pack for the hospital" list. I didn't think I was there yet so I kind of ignored it but after my doctors appointment today I need to re-think that! Because of the amount of braxton hicks I have been experiencing and the discomfort level my doctor checked me and I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Holy smokes! She said over the next three weeks I needed to rest, rest, rest and drink a ton of water. So here I am legs up resting and drinking water.
Now I know that I could sit at 1cm dilated and 50% effaced for a long time so I'm not getting my hopes up but I will start to get things prepared.. like finishing the nursery!




Charlotte is now 20 months old and just as happy as can be! We talk about her baby brother a lot these days and I think she is starting to understand that he is in mama's belly! It is pretty cute to ask her where her brother is she comes straight up and gives my belly a kiss! So sweet!
I have started reading a new book about how to talk to toddlers so that they understand you and you can understand them as well. It is supposed to help with tantrums and make the toddler twos a breeze! My fingers crossed and hope it works! I have learned a lot so far.
Here are some pictures from this week!

At the pool with Barrett!

14 more years until I can really drive!

Cookie Monster

33 weeks down.. now in my 34th week! 48 days to go!

Your Baby Boy: 33weeks down now in my 34th week


 This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

33 weeks down.. now in my 34th week!

belly shot .. gotta love maternity jeans



Pregnant with Charlotte at 33/34 weeks

How am I feeling?? Well I am feeling pretty good right now. I have my days where I am super worn out and some where I have enough energy to clean the entire house! It is hit and miss. I am not sleeping as well  so that might have something to do with it also! I have random pains every where but I think that is pretty normal for 8 months pregnant.
 What am I craving?? Ice! Yep .. right now chewing on some ice makes my day! I pour myself a tall glass of water and half of it is ice and I eat those before they can melt! Now I have heard of certain women who crave dirt (i know wierd .. right?) so I think ice is kinda normal?!?! The best is when I can find ice like sonic.. you know what I mean.. the round slushy crushed ice :)!

Yummy ice cubes! I was looking for a photo of ice cubes and diamonds came up!! I crave those too (: !

We are 48ish days away from meeting little Mr Dugger and we are very very excited but we are also soaking up these last few weeks of being a family of three. I am really making sure I enjoy this time with Charlotte. Not that I wasnt before but it is now really becoming real for me that I am having another baby and that our life will be forever changed forever! We are excited for the change but want to make sure we give as much attention to Charlotte as we can!!
Here are a couple of photos from the week...

bubble baths every night please!

no im serious.. dad are you listening?? I want bubble baths every night!

pigtails! I promise to get better at these as time goes on!

I ran away from mom before she could get a diaper on me :)  mom is kinda slow these days!

our new video monitor!! Taking a little siesta after a full morning at the park!

excuse me... shopper coming through!

Charlotte is going through the helpful stage! For example... she will throw a bunch of her morning breakfast on the floor to tell me she is done(always a great way to start the day) but then after I clean her up she helps me by picking up her food droppings! I love this stage! She also helps me do the laundry, water the flowers, load the dishwasher and pick up toys!
Charlotte has also started putting two words together!! Yesterday Charlotte said " dada's shoesss" I said back to her "yes, dada's shoes are in the middle of the hallway where they do not belong!" so she helped me put them where they belong! In his closet! :)

Allergies

We took Charlotte to get tested  for allergies this week. I have been putting this off for a while now because just the process is very scary for a parent to watch their children be in pain and not be able to do anything about it. They inject a small amounts of common allergies in their back and if there is a bump or hive based on the size/width/elevation they are allergic to it. It was painful for all three of us.

The doctor said based on her past with eczema and her peanut episode we should test her for several different things other than the usual cats, dogs, mold, etc. Turns out she needs to avoid at all costs peanuts, tree nuts (Almond, Beechnut, Brazil nut ,Bush nut,Butternut, Cashew, Chestnut, Coconut,Filbert, Ginko nut,Hazelnut,Hickory nut,Lichee nut,Macadamia nut,Nangai nut,Pecan,Pine nut, Pistachio, Shea nut, Walnut), eggs, and shellfish( crab, shrimp, scallops). He will re-test her in 6 months. He is hopeful that she will grow out of the shellfish and eggs but not 100% of the peanuts and tree nuts.

we are now a nut free family!

The doctor said several times how severe of an allergy she has to these certain foods. And that she needs to keep them out of reach, out of harm and to ALWAYS have her epipen with her and to educate the people who are around her most. Tree nuts can cause severe allergic reactions. It can cause Charlotte to go into  anaphylactic shock.  The doctor went through how to administer the epipen and we are glad to show anyone how to use it when she is around you.

epipen jr.

The doctor also said that he knows how hard it is to eliminate egg from her diet but to take out as much as your can. For example if she was at a birthday party and had a cupcake and there happen to be egg in it because it was cooked/baked more than likely it will not effect her. But if she were to eat scrambled eggs or fried rice with eggs then it would be a severe reaction. We are also worried that she could get a hold of a chocolate bar and it may not have peanuts in it but was made on machines that make bars with peanuts/eggs then it could still give Charlotte a severe reaction.


We are telling you all of this information because it is serious and the closest people to her need to know this information as much as we do. We will from here on out provide food for Charlotte for every meal and snack time because we know what she can have and what she cannot and this is our responsibility and so we can really monitor it. We really want her to learn form this that she needs to ask mama and dada what she can eat before she can eat it. But because she is young we have to be her eyes and brain until she learns. But she will learn.

We are hoping this will help with her eczema and avoid further problems with food in the future. FYI- TO ALL THE MAMAS OUT THERE- We did learn that babies that do not have eczema at an early age usually do not develop severe food allergies. We will be keeping a watch on baby boy Dugger and other babies in the future!

If you have any questions the best way to get answers is to ask us and not look it all up on the internet except http://www.foodallergy.org/page/tree-nut-allergy   is the website that the doctor gave to us as a reference.  We have found that website extremely helpful and it has really educated us on the severity of the subject.


We are going to teach Charlotte starting now that she does not take food from anyone except mama and dada and that she does not eat any food without first asking mama or dad if it is ok to eat. We are going to teach her that she is special and cannot eat food like other people can because it can hurt her. She must ask us first. We are also buying her some fun but educational children books that will hopefully over time they will teach her that she cannot eat everything she is given or that she can see or that she can reach.

After learning more and more about the tree nut allergies we are scared out of our minds but starting to come to terms with it and understand it will be a constant battle but definitely avoidable if monitored closely with precaution. Once again we are telling you all of this not to scare you but to be educated on the subject and to help us be another set of eyes. We just don't want another reaction like what we witnessed to peanuts and reactions like that only get worse each time they are exposed to it. Pray for us around Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter~ lots of yummy nutty food and candy!
 

Playtime with Lil miss Charlotte

Playdate with Harry! He is almost 1!

Nap time! I love my new big girl bed!

At the Children's Museum shopping for gorceries!

Hanging with Brecken and Benjamin!

Dancing with dada at the Cox Classic

I love Dancing

Bouce house fun!