Pregnancy

So here I am at 38 weeks today. (Sorry it's the same shirt as the last belly shot) I pre-registered at Doctors Hospital of Manteca today and I am scheduled to induce next Thursday, February 10th, 2011. One week... and counting...

This pregnancy has been different from the last two. Similar in some ways to each but then it's been better and worse at the same time. I was able to manage the nausea pretty well. I take a zophran pill every morning and try to eat a couple bites of something before I get up. Heartburn has been worse. I get these attacks that I actually have to use labor breathing to get through them. If anyone is near me when that happens they start looking really concerned until I'm able to say, "It's just heartburn."

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My pain level down below is also way worse than last time. I will get this random pinch that feels like my water is breaking except it's not quite that extreme of a pain (and no gushing fluids). Sometimes it hurts to walk and sitting in certain chairs or on the floor is a killer as well. On top of that, it seems like he has dropped (something the other 2 did not do) and I feel him turning his head in between my pelvic bones, or he'll randomly head butt my bladder or something down there and it is never pleasant.

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However the symptoms have been a big part of my life the last 2 years so my body has gotten used to it. I am so used to being pregnant that sometimes (if he's not moving) I will forget that I am with child. But then I will look down at my belly and realize the big change laying ahead.... 4 kids...

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I am 25 years old and I will have 4 kids....

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In Young Womens we always joked that I would get married really young and have a huge family but after High School it didn't seem likely for me to go that route. I guess adopting our first kid caught me up to that prediction. The thought of being responsible for 4 lives other than my own scares me more than I care to admit but I know Heavenly Father will help me through this. We are not opposed to having more kids after this but it really just depends on how life goes with 4 first. When people ask how many kids I want I usually just say, "One at a time."

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Despite how hard it's been and how scary the future sounds at the moment, I do have great helpers around. Michael has been such a good big brother to Theodore. The past couple weeks it has been his job to get Theodore out of his crib after naps. And the past couple days he has started putting him IN his crib for naps and into his chair for meals. This will be a big help after the baby comes because my pain down below will be 20 times worse.

Vivian is a big helper when I drop something on the floor. If I don't have to bend over I won't and the kids are so patient with coming all the way across the room to pick up something right next to me. They are also both really good at going to get something for me, or themselves, so I don't have to get up.

Theodore also helps by crawling under his crib to get his own Binky.
I'm not quite sure how Vivian and Theodore are going to react to ANOTHER baby in the house. Vivian still has issues towards Theodore. She loves him, but she can get too close in a bad way and still (at 3 and a half) really wants to be a baby herself in a lot of ways; Refusing to Potty Train completely, Refusing to eat by herself or with a fork most of the time and this last week we caught her sucking on a Binky a couple times. It's hard for me to choose which one to fight her on and when so my lack of consistency just makes it worse.
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Theodore can get pretty jealous at times too. Sometimes when Vivian is on my lap, he will start screaming bloody murder. But for the most part he keeps busy and I can tell he will be a lot like Michael. The more tired he gets, the harder he plays. And he's developed Michael's old habit of playing in his crib for an extended time period before falling asleep. He is getting to be such a big boy that other than the fact that he can't talk yet it will be easy to not think of him as the baby anymore. I just hope he will understand that he will have to share mommy a lot of the time.
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I also have a spectacularly wonderful husband. He's been awesome about washing the dishes so that I don't have to lean over my belly and hurt my back to do them. He is also a great sport about all the little things; putting my socks on, cleaning up messes the kids make, vacuuming, wiping the table, switching laundry, etc. The list could go on and on with all the little things he does to make my life easier and I should tell him how much I appreciate it more often.
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So other than the long to-do list that we are trying to finish before life gets crazier, I think we are pretty much ready for next week. At least with all the things we can control. My mom is going to come up and watch the kids while I am in labor and then between my parents, John and his parents, the kids will be taken care of while I am in the hospital. I have the baby clothes washed and the bassinet never got put away (just filled with junk). So there are a few more mandatory things we need to set out and rearrange but everything else we will just handle it when we need to.
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We will definitely get some pictures from the hospital on here as soon as we can and keep everyone updated through here or facebook.
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Wish us Luck... Here we go...