Singing Sierra

Sierra LOVES to sing. Here a sweet video I took of her singing to her baby doll (practicing for when Baby "C" arrives, I think). She is also getting really good at counting these days, as you can see from this video. This little one amazes us every day with her learning skills. Can't believe she is only 22 months old and doing so many things. It is hard to keep up sometimes. What a precious joy she is to us. Certainly very busy though!!! :) Enjoy!

PS - We are now 4 days past our "estimated due date" and still pregnant; hanging in there though! Trying to enjoy every moment to the fullest before life REALLY changes for all of us!!! :)

40 Weeks

40 Weeks has come and Baby "C" is still nice and comfy. :)

Not too much to report. Everything is fine, blood pressure is great, baby's heart rate was a steady 150 beats per minute and then accelerated up to the 160's as she started kicking and moving, which made my midwife very happy (an nice acceleration means nothing is pressing on the cord when the baby moves around). I unexpectedly gained 3 pounds during the past week and a half; (yikes!) that makes for a total of 13 pounds gained since day one of pregnancy. Nell (our midwife) said not to worry about that; she assumes most of it is just fluid retention; although I still have no swelling (thank God!).

The sciatica and hip pain has been very severe the past few days. My mother has been staying with us for the past week to help me out and I honestly don't have enough words to explain how much of a help and blessing she has been. Not being able to pick up Sierra, walk around, get in and out of the car, etc. (many things we all take for granted); it has been a tremendous blessing to have her here with us. Thanks Mom!

I had not seen Nell in about 4-5 weeks (they try to rotate you through to see all 3 midwives) and as soon as she saw me barely walking around, she immediately recommended that I see a chiropractor. Now, I have never seen a chiropractor in my life; but when Nell showed concern that my hips might be out of alignment and the baby might have a hard time coming down the birth canal correctly, that is all she had to say to me to get me on the phone with some chiropractors. I am trying to do everything I can to help this baby come as smoothly as possible. With that said, the chiropractor is now my good friend. :) I went and had an adjustment just a few hours after seeing Nell and the rest of that evening I had contractions. I am hopeful that these adjustments will continue to help my body do what God intended for it to do. I am so grateful to Nell for that suggestion and I really wish I had gone sooner. My new recommendation for all pregnant women - see a chiropractor!!! :)

So, aside from all those details, Baby "C" is doing great and seems to want to stay put for a while longer. I am feeling great, aside from this back pain; now we are just trying to enjoy our last few moments together before life becomes "doubly blessed!"

Here I am on our due date - February 24, 2010 - Looking and feeling all of my 40 weeks of pregnancy! :)

39 Weeks

Well, that picture just about sums up how I have been feeling the past week and a half. Ouch! I have terrible sciatica pain and I am definitely developing a new found respect for people who have chronic back pain. I don't know how I could live with this all the time. I pray every day that this pain will be quick to go away as soon as this little one arrives. My midwife has assured me that it will, she says it might take a month or so, but it will heal on its own eventually. I have to admit, I have a huge fear that this pain has come to stay; but I am working on trusting God for complete healing (and soon).

I look ridiculous too. I never understood pregnant people that "waddled." I never "waddled" with Sierra and I honestly thought it was crazy that people actually would "waddle" when pregnant; however, now I realize why some women end up waddling through their last few weeks of pregnancy. Lord forgive me for doubting the "pregnant waddle."

Thankfully week 39 brought a huge blessing from a very dear friend. My friend Jaime called me on Wednesday (when I was 39 weeks exactly) and told me that she wanted to bless me with a massage from a friend of hers that was a massage therapist and also the same lady that massaged her at the end of her pregnancies. I was overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness when Jaime called. What a huge blessing!!! So on Thursday I received the most wonderful massage and I have to admit, it was pure bliss. Jaime came over to our house, brought me my favorite Starbucks drink, watched Sierra for me, and told me to just relax and take my time. It was wonderful. She even packed lunch for Sierra and had her fed and ready for nap time when I got home. Oh, what a blessing! The Lord has truly blessed me with Jaime's friendship. Thank you Lord and Thank you Jaime!!!

My appointment with the midwife was early this week and my next appointment is not until late next week, so I have about a week and a half between these two appointments. Here's hoping I go into labor before I have to go back for another check-up. :) Time will tell.

The appointment was great though. It was on Monday, so that was only 3 days since my 38 week check-up. My weight is still fluctuating between 9-10 pounds total weight gain and my blood pressure remains low at 100/66. The baby's heart rate was a steady 145 beats per minute and my uterus is measuring right on track. My cervix was still dilated only 1cm and is 50% effaced. I am happy with this progress, considering I was still closed up tight with no effacement with Sierra at this point.

Everything seems to be progressing very nice. I have been having a lot of cramping and sharp pains (mostly at night), but I am hoping that it is all just my body gearing up for the big day; whenever God decides that should be. We are excited to meet Baby "C" - but we are also enjoying our little family of 3 for a little while longer. Every day is a blessing and Baby "C" continues to be very active; a sign that she is nice and comfy in her warm, watery home. I am not feeling impatient, just enjoying feeling her on the inside because soon enough she will be crying (and hungry) on the outside. LOL! :)

Needless to say, I did not take any pictures this week of my growing belly. I know I will probably regret that, but with this pain, showers are happening only sporadically and the thought of standing for a picture is not my idea of a good time right now. Maybe next week! :)

Coloring

Sierra loves to color!

While we were "snowed in" at my parent's house a few weeks ago, my parents attempted to go to church on Saturday night; but Sierra and myself stayed home and colored! (Needless to mention, no one was at church besides Mom & Dad, so they turned around and came right back home).

While Sierra was coloring, I made sure to take some pictures and video of her busy at work and I thought I would share some of the video here. Oh, and not that it matters, but clearly she does not know all her colors yet! In fact, most everything is "red" right now! LOL!!! Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Valentine's Day 2010

Today I baked a cake. It is safe to say that usually I am not a baker; but something came over me and today I baked a cake. I can't wait to eat it; and share it, of course!

And because a post about a cake would be boring by itself, here are some pictures of the Valentine's Day card that Sierra made for her daddy. She used a heart potato stamp on the front and then "we" finger painted the inside of the card together. :) So cute! She loves her daddy!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to my sweet hubby who does more for us than most people will ever know. He has such a servant's heart and he does so many things without looking to see who will notice or for recognition. This is how he works, how he lives, and how he loves. I admire that about him; especially for someone like me whose love language is very much "words of affirmation."

I love you so much honey! Thank you for being so wonderful and for loving us the way that you do. Thank you for praying with us and for us and for working so hard to provide security and comfort for our family. Love, Love, Love you!!!

There is a song by a group named Watermark entitled "More Than You'll Ever Know" - I love this song and it always reminds me of my love for Brian. I could not find the audio online, but here are the lyrics. I dedicate this song to you honey, my sweet Valentine! I love you!!! xoxo

Something brought you to my mind today

I thought about the funny ways you make me laugh

And yet I feel like it's okay to cry with you

Something about just being with you

When I leave I feel like I've been near God

And that's the way it ought to be...

CHORUS:

'Cause you've been more than a friend to me

You fight off my enemies

'Cause you've spoken the Truth over my life

And you'll never know what it means to me

Just to know you've been on your knees for me

Oh, you have blessed my life

More than you'll ever know.

More than you'll ever know.

You had faith, when I had none

You prayed God would bring me a brand new song

When I didn't think I could find the strength to sing

And all the while I'm hoping that I'll

Do the kind of praying for you that you've done for me

And that's the way it ought to be...

You have carried me

You have taken upon a burden that wasn't your own

And may the blessing return to you

A hundredfold, oh yeah...

A hundredfold.

What's a Mom to do?

When you can't walk very well or run around the house playing games because of back pain as a result of 9 months of pregnancy; what are you suppose to do with your busy toddler???

....PAINT of course!!!

I am so thankful that Sierra loves to color, paint, sort, do puzzles, etc. Lots of activities that we can still do together while Mama sits and rests her poor aching back.

Sierra sure does LOVE to paint!!!

And just in case you were wondering...she made a beautiful picture that she kept saying she wanted to give to Daddy. I am sure Daddy will LOVE it!!!

38 Weeks

I had my 38 week check-up this week and really can not believe that we have already made it to this point. This pregnancy has flown by so quickly. It is amazing to me to think that we will be meeting our new little girl in just a few short weeks.

As for that growing baby girl - All is well! I met with our midwife Blair and when I first arrived (I was running a few minutes late) I went to her office to tell her that I had arrived. She noticed that I was walking funny / limping (my new way of getting around since this extreme sciatic pain has set in even more). She said to me, "come here for a second." So I walked closer and she asked me what in the world was going on. I explained that the back pain I was "starting" to get last week, had set in even more and was making it difficult for me to walk. She expressed her sincere empathy for me and my pain and said, "This weekend sounds like a great weekend to have a baby, I think!" I agreed that really the sooner the better is how I am feeling at this point. I never had back pain with Sierra and I really can't complain too much, but it is becoming quite difficult to do much of anything, especially tasks that I must do in order to take care of Sierra.

Needless to say, Blair decided that we should do a check this week to see if there has been any progression and I obliged. She "checked" and "checked" and initially said that my cervix was closed, which I was okay with; then she said "wait...you are 1cm!" Not quite sure what she was feeling prior to that, but she commented, "I didn't think that felt like a cervix!" Hmmm....interesting! :) When she did "find" my cervix though, she said, "I am just going to hold my finger here for a minute." Let's just say "WOW!" That was not the greatest experience, but maybe it will help me progress; whatever it was that she did.

Following the exam, she told me that I have a really great pelvis...a comment that I have gotten before, after the delivery of Sierra. Not exactly sure what that means, but hopefully it means that pushing this baby out will not be too difficult either. Sierra was pushed out in a little less than an hour and it was her head, arm, and elbow that all came out together. I was praised for having an amazing pelvis for getting all that out in such a short amount of time for a first time delivery (and needing only 2-4 stitches at that). Of course I didn't know any different; but here's hoping this baby just falls right out! LOL!!!!

I am excited to already be 1 cm dilated at 38 weeks, considering I was closed up tight at 40 weeks with Sierra; but I am not getting my hopes up. We are still waiting on God's perfect timing and just enjoying our little family of 3 until then.

In other stats, my blood pressure was 99/64, the baby's heart rate was in the 150's, and I lost 1 pound. :) My weight seems to be wavering between the same two numbers...up one week, down the next; right around 9-10 pounds gained so far this pregnancy. A very healthy number for me! :)

Lastly, some belly pictures. However, these are much better pictures than I have been taking at home. During this 38th week of pregnancy a sweet friend of mine, Amanda, offered to do some maternity photos with me. She is a free lance photographer who works out of her home (having two small kiddos of her own). She is building her portfolio and has not done many indoor maternity shoots, so she asked me if I would be willing to be her model. I had all but given up on getting maternity pictures done with this pregnancy, so I jumped at the chance to have Amanda take a few shots. She sent me a preview of 3 images that she took and I can't wait to see the rest of them - click HERE to see a preview of the yummy ice cream shots too! Here are the 3 pictures that she posted so far. Isn't she super talented?!?! For more information about Amanda and her beautiful photography, check out her web site at Kimberlin Gray Photography. I highly recommend her!

Hanging Out

The other day our heater broke (froze really!) and so we were keeping warm by the glow of the fire in the fireplace. Sierra chose not to take a nap that day (something that seems to be occurring often these days) and so when she got up she was very tired and just wanting to sit and relax. I let her sit on the couch with a snack right near the fire so she could keep warm and I turned on Sesame Street for her. Sesame Street is really the only show that she watches and she absolutely LOVES it and all the characters on there. It really makes her happy and as you can see from the pictures, puts her in a complete daze.

Her baby doll was on the floor and I asked Sierra if she wanted baby to sit next to her and watch too. Sierra said yes, so I propped her baby up on the couch next to her and she proceeded to do the cutest thing; she leaned over in front of her baby's face and said, "You (want) watch Elmo, Baby?" and then she answered herself by saying "Yeah!" and nodding her head. Then she said "Ok, watch Elmo baby!"

She just melts my heart and is totally adorable! I wish I had a video camera running all the time to capture all these sweet moments; instead I decided to bust out the camera and catch a few shots of her sitting there with her baby. Too cute!

The View From Here

Just for fun, I took these pictures with my camera phone the other day (some where between 36 and 37 weeks). I LOVE this stage of pregnancy and being able to lift up my shirt and watch Baby "C" just roll around in there. The miracle that is growing inside me is such a wonderful blessing from God and we praise Him daily for her little life! We can't wait to meet her soon! :)

Baby Miller's Arrival Survey

In case you missed the mention about the survey I posted here on the blog, I wanted to be sure to let you know about it.

A fun survey has been created for all our readers to try and guess the arrival date of our new little blessing. Click HERE or you can click on the link below the "Count Down for Baby #2 ticker" to take the survey. We did this with Sierra's birth and it was so fun to read all the guesses and responses. My sister, Katie was the big WINNER back in 2008, guessing April 10th as Sierra's birth date!!! We are excited to see who will win this time.

We will be sure to announce the winner after Baby "C" makes her arrival! :)

37 Weeks

Another week down...37 weeks of pregnancy have come and gone and I am feeling GREAT! It is certainly a nice blessing to be able to say that. I have no swelling, just a twinge of (annoying) back pain that started a couple days ago, and I am actually feeling pretty rested; thanks to a weekend of "catch-up" sleep at my parent's house and Brian's schedule allowing for me to do less when it comes to picking up Sierra and other things around the house. Praise God for all these blessings!

Today I had my 37 week check up and all is going well on that home front as well. I met with our midwife, Blair and we had a nice chat about the impending labor and delivery. She had a little pep-talk with me about this delivery and seeing past (actually forgetting about) all the disappointments that we experienced with Sierra's delivery. Praying for God's hand on this delivery and knowing that we can experience what we have set out to do and welcome a 100% healthy baby into this world.

My blood pressure was great - 108/64 and the baby's heart rate was in the 140's; my Group B Strep test was negative, so that was good news to hear as well. I gained 1 more pound over the last week, hitting the "10 pounds gained" mark. I am not up 10 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight and very happy with that amount. That is how much I gained during my pregnancy with Sierra and although the ideal weight gain for me during pregnancy is 15-25 pounds, no one is concerned and we are all healthy.

Blair and I also briefly discussed our child care plans with Sierra once my labor starts because she is still not allowed inside the hospital. Generously, my mother has offered to come from Richmond to stay with Sierra when my labor starts to progress; but unfortunately, that is a 2 hour drive and so much is unknown about what will all happen and when. I am trying not to be concerned about all that and just trusting that God will work it all out.

Blair gave me the option at this appointment whether or not to have a cervical exam and I thankfully declined. We made the decision together on a few things:

1. Knowing that I carried Sierra to 41 weeks and I am only 37 weeks currently

2. Knowing that last week I had no progress and it is unlikely that has really changed this week

3. Sometimes (not often, but could) cervical exams can induce/speed up progression of labor and this weekend is not ideal to have a baby considering the fact that it is snowing non-stop up the East coast; specifically where my Mama lives and would have to travel to get here to be with Sierra. :)

So there you have it, all and all everything is great! I am feeling great and although we are not ready around this house physically (ah, em....still haven't moved Sierra to a "big girl bed" yet); I am feeling good about everything that is about to come and change in the next few weeks.

We are also enjoying a growing belly! :) Here's the proof: