36 Week OB Appointment...

Monday was our 36 week OB appointment, and God answered our prayers because the baby is head down! We did an ultrasound just to be 100% sure (my doc was pretty sure she felt the head when she check my cervix), and the first thing I thought when I saw the head on the ultrasound was 'wow, thats a big head!' So my current stats are:
Baby's Heartbeat: 156 bpm
Weight: 135.5 lbs
Dilated a whopping 1 cm!
I am dilated pretty much what I thought I would be, which is right on track with the norm...which pretty much means nothing, except 'the process' has begun. We go back in 1 week.
I am pretty sure I know when the baby flipped head down. I had read that they sometimes will after a long car ride, due to being squished...there is more room for them if they are head down. Well, I think the baby flipped last Sunday night, after we drove all day to my mom's, because I woke up in some serious pain and the baby was kicking and moving all over the place, and then on Monday I began to feel the hiccups low in my abdomen again. We are just so thankful that God answered our prayers and we can go ahead with a normal delivery!
Here are a few belly shots:

36 weeks pregnant

Here I am at 36 weeks pregnant with Emma

I am trying to make a heart with my hands, didn't turn out so well, will have to try again sometime!

Shane asked me if I remember if I was dilated when I was 36 weeks pregnant with Emma, so I went back on the blog to see, and I was a 1 then also. I also read thru the last month of being pregnant with Emma of blog entries. It was funny, that at 36 weeks pregnant, I took all the tags off Emma's baby clothes and washed them, and well today, I got the overwhelming feeling that it was time to wash this baby's new stuff and get it ready...so I did that this afternoon and oh how cute the tiny little clothes are!!! Reading thru the posts, I realized I had alot more time on my hands then, and we also had 'list of to do's'! I also was feeling pretty much like I am now at this point in the pregnancy.

Well, I am falling asleep, so off to bed I go!
Night all! Thank you to all who were praying for us! We appreciated it!

Catch Up Time...

Well, I have much to catch up on, and I am sure I won't remember all of the last 2 weeks, as we have either been sick or on the go.
Emma and I came down with a little something, and a few days later, Shane came down with it worse than what we had, so he was home from work Thursday, the 28th and Friday, the 29th. Unfortunately, on Friday, we received the news that Shane's grandpa, Louie, had past away. Sad news for all of us, but for grandpa Louie, we know that he is with Jesus now, so we rejoice for him.
On Saturday, Shane was beginning to feel better, but still took it easy. Emma and I attended Emma's first official friend birthday party, and she had a blast. She decorated a goodie bag, played games, went on a treasure hunt and had lunch and cupcakes. After the party, we came home and I put Emma down for a nap and started laundry and packing. After Emma woke up, it was time to dress her in her kitty costume and do a little trick-o-treating (Muscatine's designated time was 5pm-7pm on Saturday night). Emma loved it, and walked right up to the doors and said trick-or-treat and meowed for everyone...I thought she may be a little shy, but not at all!
Sunday morning, we loaded the Odyssey and headed west to attend grandpa Louie's funeral. We took it easy and stopped every couple of hours, since at this point I was 35 weeks pregnant. Emma traveled really well, and we arrived at my mom's in Roscoe around 9pm.
Monday, Emma and I were able to spend the day with my mom. We ate lunch in town with my gramma Cena, grandpa Bud, gramma Joyce, and Aunt Becky. My friends, Tonya and Codi, also came out to my mom's house for a visit! Shane spent the day helping his parents harvest corn.
Tuesday morning, we got up and loaded the Odyssey back up to make the 2 hour drive north to Alliance, NE where the funeral was. We stopped and said good-bye to my mom (she was working the election) and grabbed donuts.
We spent Tuesday afternoon visiting with Shane's family. That evening we attended the wake. Emma hadn't taken a nap that day and ended up falling asleep during it, and stayed asleep during the cookie/coffee time afterwords, and on the drive to the hotel. She woke up while I dressed her for bed and didn't even last 15 minutes and was back asleep with her butt in the air on the bed, so me and her just went to bed, while Shane hung out with his family.
Wednesday morning was the funeral and there was a lunch afterwords. It was a really nice service and you could tell that Shane's grandpa had many friends and was a man of faith.
By the afternoon, I was really not feeling well and having contractions, and by 2pm told Shane it was probably time we hit the road. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Roscoe. We picked up Bella and changed our clothes and hit the interstate. (My mom wasn't home, she had left earlier in the day for Omaha to take my grandpa Bud to a doctor appointment.) We made it to York, NE and decided to get a hotel room for the night (which was much harder than one would think!)
Thursday, we hit the road after some breakfast. We stopped in Omaha to see my mom, Aunt Becky, Aunt Teresa and Grandpa Bud and ate lunch with them. We then got back in the van to make the last 5 hours of our journey. Emma fell asleep after only a few minutes and ended up sleeping ALL the way home. I slept most of the way as well. We figured we would stop when she woke up, but since she never did, we pushed it and didn't stop once...big mistake! About 45 minutes from home my legs and feet started to hurt and I looked down and have never seen them so big in my life! We did get home at a decent time tho of 5:30pm. Emma started crying when we pulled in the driveway tho because it wasn't Nana's house :( I explained to her that we will see Nana very soon b/c she was coming to stay with us when the baby comes...that seems to pacify her. And of course, the first words out of her mouth when we walked in the door was "play blocks"!
Ever since we got home, I have been battling braxton hicks contractions and not feeling well. If I had been any further along in my pregnancy I don't think I would have been able to make the 1500+ mile trip!
Friday, Emma and I spent the day unpacking and catching up on laundry, while Shane had a very busy day at work.
Saturday morning, Shane headed to Ames to meet up with his brother, Tanner to attend the Nebraska vs. Iowa State game. After the game, he followed Tanner back to Humboldt and stayed the night there and got home around 1pm this afternoon. I think he had a fun time, but has lost his voice!
This weekend, I was able to get some work done on Christmas gifts I am making. I have to finish a few things and then am down to making matching quilts to match each of the diaper bags...which is one thing I was able to cross off my list before our trip to Nebraska! I have both the girl and boy diaper bags done, as well as, matching burp cloths, minky blankets, receiving blankets and nursing clips for each! I really loved how they turned out and am excited to 'find out' which one I will be getting to carry!
Well, that about wraps up the last 2 weeks. On the agenda for this week is our 36 week appointment tomorrow morning (I will post update afterwords, hopefully with news that the baby is head down!) I am hoping to make it to Bible study Tuesday morning. And then sometime this week, I would like to make a trip the QC to get my picture frames bought for the collage of frames I am doing on a wall in the dining room and some other stuff I need to finish sewing projects. One of the upcoming weekends, we need to find us a Christmas tree and decorations and keep crossing things off our list! This baby will be here before we know it! Emma and I are also trying to get lots of fun time in too!
Well, I have typed enough...so for your reward of reading all that, here are some pictures ;)

Emma playing, not sure what! She laid all of those out, then put 1 puzzle piece on each piece of cloth.

Emma, the kitty...getting ready to go trick-o-treating!

Emma, the kitty says 'meow'

Don't you just wanna rub that cute, fuzzy tummy!

Mommy w/ her kitty!

Daddy w/ his kitty!

Emma playing in the shoe drawer. She has really been into lining items up lately, whether it be shoes, blocks, toys, my recyclables, etc.

We have a 'shoe train' going on here. She actually made each one of her shoes rest on top of the shoe behind it.

My gramma Cena, Emma, me and grandpa Bud

Codi, me and Tonya...I am so glad I get to see them every time I go back!

The preggo girls! Codi is due 4/4/11!

Emma, Tonya and I
Emma just loves Tonya!

I didn't get any pictures from our time in Alliance. But we really enjoyed seeing Shane's entire family and celebrating his grandpa's life.

Well, until next time, God Bless!

Emma's 2 Year Check-up and 34 Week OB Appt...

We have had a very productive Monday! Emma and I woke up and got around and headed to the grocery store. After putting away all the groceries, it was time to get Emma's diaper changed and head to her 2 year check-up, Shane came home to go with us. Emma was not very happy to be at the doctors, and screamed when taking her weight and height, screamed while the doctor tried to look in her ears, listen to her heart...pretty much during the entire examination! But I can't blame her one bit! Emma is all caught up on her vaccinations, so she only got a flu shot today. We take her back in 4 weeks to get a second. Her latest stats, to the best we could get, are:
Weight - 26.5 lbs
Height - 35 inches

Doctor said she appears to be doing great and developing on schedule, and that we have a beautiful little girl (which we know!)
Here are Emma's 2 year check-up pics ;)

After we left Emma's appointment, it was 12:15pm, so we headed home to eat some lunch and had to be at my 34 week OB appointment at 1:15pm. Today's appointment was with the new partner that just joined the practice 3 weeks ago, Dr. Joe. He said after reviewing my chart, it appears that I have had a perfect pregnancy in terms of weight gain, blood pressure, etc. Blood pressure today was 100/58, and I am measuring right at 34 weeks.
Baby's Heartbeat: 148 bpm
Weight: 133 lbs
He also felt around my stomach to see what position the baby is in and to our surprise, the baby is breech! Last Monday I felt the baby do something 'weird' and it was painful, and sure enough, it had flipped and the movements since then have been different. Back at our 30 week ultrasound, the baby was head down, and in perfect birthing position and we couldn't get any good shots of his/her face. So the doctor said that in 2 weeks when my regular OB doctor checks me and if the baby is still breech, we will have to decide on a plan.
I basically have 3 options:
1) Do nothing and see if the baby flips during labor, if not, attempt a breech delivery. The doctor said I was an ideal candidate to have a breech delivery, since I have already had one healthy delivery and Emma was not that big of a baby, and appears this baby will not be large either, and also, since the pushing phase of getting Emma out was short (like 4 good pushes). This is only if the baby is in 'pipe' position as he described it, if not, c-section is only option)
2) Try having the doctor externally manipulate the baby into flipping head down (he said I would come into the hospital and they would hook me up to an IV and be given medication to relax my uterus and then they would try to manipulate the baby).
3) Schedule a c-section

My first pick would be option 1, I want to avoid a c-section at all costs. The doctor said that he and Heidi (my regular OB) haven't had a chance to discuss breech deliveries and he is unsure how she feels about them (alot of times doctors would rather go with a scheduled c-section), but said that if she was not comfortable with it, he would be available for me to attempt it if I would like. So we could use your prayers that this baby flips head down, and if not, that we can have a safe breech delivery. Thanks! We go back for our 36 week appointment on Nov. 8th.

34 weeks, 1 day pregnant

After we got home from my appointment, I had Shane wait with Emma in the car, while I ran into the house to go to the bathroom, then Shane headed back to work, while I took Emma to the park...I thought she deserved a treat after being so good at the grocery store and both doctor appointments. I have been telling her I will take her to the park with the bumblebee ride, that is her favorite, and when we pulled up, the bumblebee had stuff blocking it off for use, must be broken. I felt bad, but Emma took it well, and sat on the rocket ship instead. She also ran around and played, but still won't go down the slide. After spending some time there, we came home and I put Emma down for a nap. Speaking of nap, that is what I am going to do now too! So until next time, God Bless!

Nana & Gramma Cena come to Visit!

Sunday, the 17th, my mom and Gramma Cena arrived around 6:30pm! Actually, we were on our way home from picking my stuff up at the craft show in Davenport, and we all got off the interstate at the same time...my mom was just a half mile ahead of us!
They came to help me cross some things off my list and to keep my sanity while Shane was gone for 4 days in Boston! We had a great time and enjoyed every minute God blessed us with!!!

Here is a break down of how we spent our days:
Sunday evening - They arrived and we enjoyed a dinner out at Las Lomas!

Monday - Shane left for Boston. My mom and I tackled the bathroom: went thru closets and cabinets, wiped down walls and rearranged some. We then moved on to the kitchen and went thru all cabinets and drawers, added new liners to my drawers. Those 2 rooms took quite a bit of time, but we purged of a lot of stuff!!!We also cleaned out my freezer in my kitchen and chest freezer downstairs. I made beef & broccoli for supper, and spent the evening watching Dancing w/ the Stars. My mom and Gramma always say they enjoy my 'good' cooking...so I try and make them yummy stuff to eat while here!

Tuesday - We got up and around and left the house shortly after 9am to head to the QC to do my Sam's Club shopping trip. I also ran into PetCo (while everyone else waited in the car) to get Bella her cookies (poor dog has been out for a month!). We then went to Kohl's for a little while, then stopped at a baby boutique where I bought Emma's baby book to see if they had one I liked for this baby...they didn't have anything neutral that I liked, so I am still looking for one. We then enjoyed a nice lunch at Olive Garden. When we got back to Muscatine, we stopped at Farm & Fleet to check out their ToyLand, and then hit the grocery store on our way home. We all were pretty tired by that time! We enjoyed homemade chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes for supper!

Wednesday - Because I needed to take full advantage of having people to shop with, we got up and around again in the morning and headed in the opposite direction to the outlet mall! I really needed to hit the Carters Outlet and spent quite a bit of time and money in there! I picked up a boy and girl outfit to bring the baby home in, and picked up some cold weather clothes for Emma. We also hit Old Navy and Maurices, I did find me a couple of henley type shirts to wear for nursing. We then headed to the Coralville mall, had some lunch and did some more shopping. My goal was to find a new comfy outfit to wear home from the hospital, I found one I liked at Victoria's Secret, but did not have the sizes I needed...so that is still on my list. We also stopped in Target, where Emma picked out a 'new potty'. This was the first time she said she would pick one out. She still hasn't 'used' it yet, but will sit on it...so only time will tell, we aren't pushing her to do anything, just waiting for her to tell us. I also picked up a few of the baby items that are on my list. After we got back to Muscatine, we picked up 'the backup plan' at a redbox and headed home. For supper we had a yummy salad, penne noodles w/ sauce & garlic bread!

Thursday - We spent most of the day at home. My mom scrubbed my shower, and when I say it looks amazing, that word doesn't do it justice! I don't think it was that clean when we moved in! It was getting pretty bad (I will admit it, I hadn't cleaned it since I got pregnant...my cleaner is awesome stuff, but very potent and I should not inhale it while pregnant). We also did some laundry and more cleaning. I sorted thru Emma's clothes and packed more away. We made a trip to walmart and Shane arrived home from Boston. We carved my 9 pumpkins and got the seeds out, rinsed and laid out to dry. We had macaroni salad and french dips for supper.

Friday - My mom and Gramma planned to leave this day, but my mom didn't sleep well...well no one did actually because Emma threw a huge fit at 1:15 am in the morning and screamed for a good 45 minutes! She woke up and when I went in to check on her she insisted on watching Mickey Mouse on the ipod (which I absolutely refused!) but she kept on and on about it. I finally had to put her in her crib until she calmed down, and I went back and rocked her a while later and she was much better. It was great to have my mom and Gramma here an extra day. I made a carmel roll for breakfast and we lounged a little. I also baked my pumpkin seeds. Then my mom and I tackled my large storage closet upstairs. We took out lots of stuff to be put on a garage sale and rearranged it so that there is room for my sewing stuff toward the front, which I will be moving up there shortly before the baby is born while I take a few months off from sewing. We also rented a couple of movies that day, 'Letters to Juliet' & 'Crazy Heart'. My mom and Gramma made potato soup and I threw some biscuits in to enjoy with it for supper!

Saturday morning my mom and Gramma headed home, we were sad to see them go, but were thrilled with the time we had together, God is always so awesome with allowing us the opportunity to spend some great quality time together. Emma really enjoyed having them here....its sooo cute how she says 'Gramma Cena'!
Here are some pictures from our week with them:

Emma giving her daddy a hug bye before he leaves for Boston

Nana and Emma

When I was going thru Emma's cloths, I got out her halloween costume (it was cousin Haley's from last year). I had it just laying on the floor when she woke up from her nap, and when she saw it she asked to put it on (I wasn't sure if she would wear it or not!) Well as you can tell from the pictures below, she LOVED it! and has wore it many times sense then!

Emma 'meowing'!

Emma checking herself out in the mirror!

My 'kitty' lounging w/ me!

Emma, Nana, Gramma Cena & Me
(you will have to excuse the way I look, it was in the morning and I am unshowered and have no make-up on)

Emma changing her baby's diaper...I am pretty sure she could master changing her new lil' brother/sister's diaper if newborns just didn't wiggle alot!

My 4 trays of pumpkin seeds...yummy!

Emma being a kitty (different day than the previous pics)

Saturday morning, Emma saying goodbye to Nana

Gramma Cena, Emma & Nana

We got quite a bit of stuff crossed off my list, especially in terms of some shopping and cleaning. So before I tackle the last of my cleaning, I can focus on getting all of my sewing done...which the list is still pretty long! And I plan to spend a few weekends in November freezing meals. My mom is going to come about a week before the baby is due, and we will finish up what I have left to do and wait for baby Struckman #2 to arrive!

Thanks SO MUCH Mom and Gramma Cena for coming out and helping me! You were a tremendous help to this crazy, pregnant woman! Love you both so very much!!!

More Misc Pics...

Here are a few more misc pics from a few weeks ago that I haven't posted yet:

Emma squishing Shane's cheeks!

Emma looking soo beautiful! I just love her smile!

Our lil' bathtime burrito!

Emma has been picking out this shirt/dress I made her now all the time to wear! Its pretty cute on her! And of course, she loves that it matches Sophie!

Lounging and drinking some 'tea'!

Emma thought this was a comfortable spot to watch Mickey Mouse and have her juice!

Misc and Uncle Tanner comes to visit...

Things have been going really well around here. We made it thru my craft show. It went well, it was what I expected in the sense of the crowd it drew (not really my consumer base), but it was still fun and I did make a profit. Plus, I made some good contacts that have shared their info on future craft shows...so only time will tell if I am able to do more come spring, I may not be able to for awhile with nursing a baby (Emma would never take bottle well, so I never went anywhere kid-free for more than 2-3 hours for a year!)

Emma has really been into playing with her blocks, this was one of daddy and her's creations the other night (we all enjoy playing with the blocks)!

Emma enjoying herself, relaxing in the recliner and coloring!

Uncle Tanner came down from Humboldt, IA to spend the weekend with us (Oct. 16th-17th) , so he could watch the Texas vs. Nebraska game with Shane...good thing, so Shane had someone to grieve the loss with ;)

Emma really enjoyed having Uncle Tanner here, and made him play blocks, of course!
Sunday morning, we went to church, the following pictures we took afterwords...it was just beautiful outside!

Shane, Emma and Tanner

A quick family pic!

Daddy and Emma

Emma also got Uncle Tanner to play 'house'! He is such a good Uncle!

Tanner left on Sunday afternoon, and my Mom and Gramma arrived Sunday evening...that post to come next!