Missing Lincoln and Lacey

Miss these to so much right now. I miss waking up to them each morning when they are wanting snuggles. Spending all my time with them. Helping them when they need me. Giving Lincoln a big hug when he comes home from school and hearing about all the fun he had at school. I miss everything about them, the good days and the hard days with them... I knew it would be hard not seeing them but not this hard.

This is actually the longest I have ever been away from Lincoln and Lacey. Since we've had kids Josh has always been in school and with me working, we have never had the opportunity to be away from our kiddos. Other then the weekly date night or a mini two day trip away. I get to spend each day with Lincoln and Lacey, and I love it! I love being there mom.

Calgary Flames Hockey Game

Josh and I got to go out to a Calgary Flames Date Night! Thanks Ronald McDonald House. Every so often people donate tickets to the Ronald McDonald House, giving people who stay at the house an opportunity to have a fun night out for free. We figured why not have some fun, while we wait for our little one to come. Josh was pretty excited, as he's always wanted to go to a NHL game, but has never had the chance to. It was a great game to watch with a score of 6-0.

37 Week OB- GYN Appointment

Todays appointment was a quick one as it was only with the OB-GYN. So no really updates. They just checked the basics, my weight, heart rate, how I'm measuring, baby's heart rate, etc. Baby's heart rate is starting to slow done a bit, which is good as it shows that he's getting ready to come out. I also have no concerns, no braxton hicks or concerns of early labor. So all is going well.

Ronald McDonald House

Our doctors originally wanted us to move/ live in Calgary from 36 weeks on. But after talking with our doctors, they said it would be okay to move up at 37 weeks instead.  We just felt that with two kids back at home that 36 weeks was a bit early, plus I've never gone into labour that early before, or had any pregnancy complications and trying to stay sane and not go crazy for that long in Calgary before baby was born would be harder. The doctor don't want me to deliver in Lethbridge, as the Lethbridge doctors aren't prepared enough for baby's with Spina Bifida, so the baby would have to be air lifted to Calgary if it was born in Lethbridge. It's just safer for baby and I to be in Calgary early to avoid a c-section in Lethbridge.

I was 37 weeks on Saturday January 9th. We were suppose to come up then, but Josh and I pushed coming up to Calgary to Monday January 11th. As we still weren't into the Ronald McDonald House. We wanted to spend as much time with Lincoln and Lacey as possible before leaving. We headed to Calgary Monday morning with he plan to stay at Josh's cousins house for the first 3-4 days with the hope of getting into the Ronald McDonald House.  With only being at Josh's cousins house for a few hours we get a call from the Ronald McDonald House saying we got in. We were so excited to hear this! What a relief not having to worry about where we will be staying for our time up in Calgary. Josh's cousins did offer for us to stay at their place the whole time but I would feel bad to stay at someones house for such a extended period of time and really not knowing how long we would need to stay. We feel very blessed getting into the Ronald McDonald House.

The Ronald McDonald house, isn't that easy to get into. You can apply to stay there, then your put on a waiting list. The Ronald McDonald House has 24 rooms and a need for 80 at one time, so its pretty hard to get into. Once you're put on a waiting list, you wait for a room to come available. When a room comes available they then priotized the families on the waiting list. So we are happy to have been chosen to come into the house. It takes a lot of stress off in this high stress situation we are in.

36 week Ultrasound and OB- GYN

Another appointment! It's so fun seeing my little guy so many times. As with my first two pregnancies I only had one ultrasound each at 20 weeks.  I've enjoyed seeing my little boy every two weeks and can't wait to hold him. This was just a routine ultrasound and OB- GYN appointment. We also got to meet with Dr. Cooper who's another OB- GYN who works at the Foothills Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic. From the ultrasound they found out that our little one is 6lbs 11oz. so he's gained 1 lb. in two weeks. Which is really good to hear as they are wanting him to  be bigger than Lincoln and Lacey which were 6 lbs. 1 oz. We have been told that bigger babies tend to do better in surgery(fingers crossed). Plus I still have two weeks to go. So he will be 7 lbs-ish. when he's born. He's also has the Harker's gene for long legs, he's legs are measuring for 40 weeks at 36 weeks.

Skating

Skating was another winter activity I wanted to do as a family. Lincoln had gone with Josh multiple times with his Kindergarten class field trips and seem to really like it. We got some bobsled double blade skates from Nana Yamamoto for Lacey and she really wanted to go skating with Lincoln.

Since we have had some colder weather we were able to go to a local lake on the south side of Lethbridge that was frozen over. It was so fun! Even though I could only watch from the side and take picture. Lacey had no fear and loved trying to skate like her big brother Lincoln. When she would slip and fall, it didn't seem to bother her, she would just get up and try again. Lincoln is still more timid but is still willing to try. He's just scared to fall as he knows it's going to hurt. But he still wants to be a hockey player when he grows up.

36 Weeks!

I forgot to take a 36 week picture, so heres one from 37 weeks.

How Far Along? 36 Weeks

Baby Stats: Baby weighs about 6 lbs 11 oz. Which mean this little guy is bigger already then Lincoln and Lacey were at birth. Which is actually a good things as baby's in surgery do better when the are bigger. 

Symptoms: 

-Lack of appetite, I’m not feeling sick at all I just don’t really feel like eating every three hours like before. 

- This has been my hardest pregnancy so far both emotional and physically. I’ve been very blessed to have good pregnancy with my first two. This pregnancy has gone well too, but there has been the added stress. Starting at 32.5 weeks, I started having pelvic pain, it’s better if I stand. Tried sitting for an afternoon and was in more pain then if I stand and sit for 5-10 mins every so often. At Week 35 I also starting having pain at night when I sleep, where before I was able to find a comfortable position.  I feel this pelvic pain is due to the baby's position and being in the same breach position for so long, putting more pressure in the same place. 
-The doctors suggested for this pregnancy that I should keep working out to a min. / low impact, other then walking or biking, I believe has played a roll in how I feel physically. I feel so out of shape.

-Knowing that this little guy is 6 lbs. 11 oz. is easy to believe because he’s definitely running out of room in there, I feel like I’m about to burst. Especially in the last few weeks.

- I’ve also been more emotional these last few weeks. I feel like these are so many things running through my mind as it gets closer. Making me more emotional. One of the hardest things I’m dreading is leaving Lincoln and Lacey in Lethbridge and being apart from them for so long.

Big Sister:  Lacey loves playing with her dolls, more then normal lately. She also has been putting her baby's under her shirt. It's so cute! She also goes around saying " baby comes after Christmas, Christmas is gone so baby's coming really soon."