Adventures with Baby Sister | Third Trimester

And just like that, we made it through the third trimester!

37 weeks... officially full term and ready to go!

It's been a busy few months.

Stew and I actually took a huge step (for us) toward the beginning of December... we hired a babysitter! Yes, it took us two-and-a-half years, but it was finally time. We've been so lucky to have a nanny who we love, and family members who have always been excited to watch Ryder whenever we had any weekend activities going on. But when I received the invitation for my company holiday party (to take place on a Thursday evening in downtown Seattle) I knew the time had come. We asked around and hired a super responsible and highly recommended teenager from our neighborhood to come over and stay with Ryder for the evening, and go figure -- he had an amazing time and was peacefully asleep in bed by the time we got home. Stew and I also had a great night out on the town.

As a reward for being so good for the babysitter, we decided to take Ryder with us to a friend's birthday party at an Everett Silvertips hockey game. Unfortunately this turned out to be a terrible choice (two-year-olds, it turns out, don't care about hockey) and we left after the second period.

Ryder is growing up fast though, and we toured a really cool preschool that we are considering sending him to in the fall. We're still not sure if he'll be quite ready by then, but we thought a couple mornings a week doing his own special "big boy" thing might be good for him once Baby Sister arrives. 

The holidays were, in a word, BANANAS.

We started a week early with a fabulous Alway Family Christmas celebration at our house, and then spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my immediate family in Olympia. But the fun didn't end there! The following weekend we had our third and final Christmas celebration with my sister's family and a ride on the Polar Express!

Needless to say, all these weeks of holiday festivities have really made the time fly by. 

Then, at the beginning of January, my best friend Tara threw me an amazingly thoughtful, sweet, baby "sprinkle," and my extremely generous co-workers also hosted a shower for me the following week. So now we finally feel like we have everything we need to prep for Baby Sister's arrival.

Throughout the third trimester I generally continued to feel great, and even passed my glucose test with flying colors. We had another growth ultrasound done at around 30 weeks because I mentioned to the doctor that this babe is feeling HUGE, but it turns out that Baby Sis is progressing right on track. In any case it was fun to see her sweet little face again.

I also turned 35 years old, officially knocking myself into the "high risk" pregnancy category, which I'm still not quite sure how I feel about... We did have a great little cocktail party with some of our best friends to celebrate, though. 

Some other happenings...

I attended a beautiful baby shower for Haley and her little girl. Haley's due date was supposed to be a week after mine, toward the end of February, but sweet little Jane Elizabeth ended up joining us early on February 1!

I also attended a little sprinkle for my dear friend Amanda, who welcomed her son William Mason on January 18. Seriously, it has been so much fun to share my pregnancy adventure with good friends this time around, and I can't wait for all these little kiddos to grow up together. 

We've watched the seasons change from fall to winter here in Snoqualmie, and have been trying to spend as much time outside as possible. 

Just this past week we had a huge storm that left about a foot of snow, and Ryder was in absolute heaven!

Stewart had quite a bit of fun in the snow, too...

We know that life is going to get crazy here real soon, so we've been trying to take advantage of the luxury of having only one child as much as possible by taking Ryder on some special outings. Most recently it was a trip up to the Snoqualmie Summit Tubing Center. We thought Ryder would love this little winter adventure, but unfortunately he was cold and not feeling well, so he ended up taking only one trip down the hill before we gave up and headed home. Maybe we'll try again in the spring...

Unfortunately, the last week or so hasn't gone exactly as smoothly as we had hoped. I accidentally took a hard fall in the parking lot at work, and Ryder subsequently came down with a horrible cold, which I almost immediately picked up myself. His turned into an ear infection, while mine morphed into bronchitis. Because both of us were feeling so lousy, I ended up starting my maternity leave a few days earlier than planned, but so far we haven't been able to get much rest. And in the meantime, due to Snoqualmie's epic snowstorm, we've basically been trapped in the house going crazy. Here's hoping that we both start to feel better soon, because...

Tomorrow is Baby Sister's official Birth Day!

After a lot of soul searching and conversations with our doctor, family and friends, we have elected to do a planned repeat cesarean section with this pregnancy. In December we met with our surgeon to discuss the details, and we feel confident and at peace with our decision.

We've been talking to Ryder every single day about his baby sister, and how soon she won't be in Mommy's tummy anymore, but instead she'll be a real baby that we can hold and love. I don't exactly know how much he can understand (I can hardly believe it myself!) but we'll find out soon enough!

Big Brother practice...

For so long, this little goofball has been my whole world. He made me into a Mommy, and from that point forward I was changed forever. I have been extremely apprehensive about how another baby will affect our relationship, although I have been assured over and over again that "your heart just makes room." In any case, every day I give Ryder some extra special snuggles as we soak up these last few moments as a family of three.

Soon enough, all the places that we've prepped in our home and in our hearts will be filled with a new little angel baby.

I can hardly wait to see what adventures lie ahead.

Wish us luck!