She's Here!

You read that right - she.  We had a little girl today at about 1:35 pm.  I was scheduled to have a c-section next Thursday, the 22nd, but God had other plans. 

Here she is, Daphne Jane.  She is 6 pounds 14 ounces and 20 1/4 inches long.  She has a full head of dark hair - just like her sisters had.  We are both doing well.  Actually in comparison to my first 2 c-sections, this one was a breeze!   

Although, we were shocked to go into labor today, we are so thankful she's here and healthy!  

More pictures to come!!

Christmas Fun!

We have tons of pictures to go through before I post about our Christmas.  Our big gift was a new camera!!!  We also are trying to find a place for all the girls' stuff!!

For now, here is a picture of the 4 of us from yesterday.  Several people have asked for a belly shot of me.  This is probably the best you're going to get - 35 weeks.

Not Much to Blog About

Not a whole lot to blog about.  We had my nephew's birthday party yesterday - my sister blogged about it.  The girls had a great time with their cousins!  

Lucy is as feisty as ever.  Can she sense that her life is about to drastically change?  She is wearing us out!!

Norah is napping again almost everyday.  If she misses - she is fine, but she seems to crash pretty quickly if she is in her bed.  

We might be a little closer to names for the baby.  Well, for the boy we are probably down to 2 or 3.   If we have another girl, I don't know how we'll choose.  Our list is atleast 5 long.  We don't have middle names either.  

We have less than 6 weeks to go - hard to believe.  I know I haven't posted any belly pictures.  I may have Kevin take one this week so this child knows that I did in fact carry him/her.  I just try to avoid too many pics of myself when I am pregnant.   

Had dinner with the Morrison's.  It had been a while since we had seen them - sad, I know, since we live 4 minutes apart.  The kids played great together!!

That is about all the randomness for now.  

*Update

*Just an addition to my post yesterday.  A different nurse called me late afternoon yesterday to talk about the results of my 3 hour glucose test.  Since a nurse called me the day before, I was a little confused.  The nurse yesterday said basically that I was borderline gestational diabetes so they do want me to follow their diet plan.  She was putting it in the mail to me.  I go see the doctor on December 3, so I am anxious to talk to him and find out why the 2 nurses basically told me 2 different things.  The first nurse basically told me to eat a well balanced diet and try to avoid greasy fast food.  The nurse yesterday told me I need to follow their diet (I did mention to the nurse yesterday that she was telling me something different and she couldn't really explain why).  

I am anxious to get the diet in the mail to see how this is going to affect how I eat on Thanskgiving, Christmas, and my birthday.  

Quick Little Update. . .Nothing Exciting

Other than the girls being sick - nothing else is gong one here.  Norah has an ear infection - according to the doctor it is really bad.  Besides the antibiotic, he prescribed her some eardrops for the pain - which he has never done before.  Poor girl!  

I had to go for the 3 hour glucose screening on Friday because my numbers were too high after the 1 hour.  Oddly enough, this time I was 140 (seriously no idea what the number actually represents) and they want you to be below 140.  What does that mean you ask?  I have no idea.  I don't technically have gestational diabetes - thank goodness - but I'm also a little higher than the doctor would prefer.  According to the nurse I am just supposed to monitor my diet a little better - limit fast food intake as much as possible and try to eat a balanced diet.  Other than sometimes indulging in a craving, I don't think I eat that bad.  I'll just try to be a little more carefull - I will need some serious willpower over the holiday season.  I LOVE to make Christmas kind and often make 8-10 different kinds.  I may have to take a year off, though, so I am not tempted to eat too many!!

It is hard to believe that we will be having the baby in 9 weeks!  I have my c-section scheduled and we have started to count down.  I think we have actually narrowed down our names to a couple of boys names and we may actually have a girls name!  Middle names are still totally up in the air.  With a last name like Swinigan (kind of a mouthful to say) I am incredible picky about the length of names!!  

Today was the last week of the women's Bible study at our church.  The study I did was Lord, I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur.  It was excellent.  It is interesting to me that although I grew up in a great Bible teaching church, I didn't know much about the names of God.  Sure, I had heard them before (names like Jehovah-jireh, Elohim, Adonai), but I never actually knew the specific meanings of each name.  Nor did I know how and when the names were revealed to the Israelites.  It was a great study and I would highly recommend it to anyone (our facilitator was excellent, too).  I will miss not going after Christmas, but I just don't think I could with the baby coming.  By next fall - we will all be ready!  

I haven't posted a lot about school with the girls for a little while.  We are still trucking away (mostly with Norah), but I have been a little too tired to worry about posting the details.  We have about 4 or 5 weeks left of the curriculum that we are using but we are going to take a break next week to do Thanksgiving stuff and we will take a break in December to do Christmas stuff.  We will still have school - we are just adding some of our own stuff so basically we will finish up the My Father's World curriculum the week before the baby comes.  Should be perfect timing.

As I said - nothing too exciting - just normal everyday stuff. 

So Tired

I know it's normal - to be this tired during the third trimester - I just don't like it. I think I have hit the fairly normal end of pregnancy insomnia. Some nights I sleep great - other nights, I hardly sleep. Some days I nap, some days I feel like I have too much to do to nap. Today, I was laying with Norah - who isn't feeling very well. I actually fell asleep and she did not. I woke up to her just sitting next to me - staring at me.

I had a doctor's appt. yesterday - everything seems great! It's hard to believe that we only have 11 weeks to go! We have so much to do before this baby comes!! The girls still are not in their bunk beds, yet. Kevin is refinishing the beds that we bought - we are hoping one day next week!!

I have been feeling the baby move constantly and just like with Lucy, this baby seems to settle under my right ribs. I realize that because I am short, there isn't a lot of room for the baby, but seriously. It's like this baby sticks a body part - arm, foot, I don't know - right under my rib!

Norah felt the baby move this week - that was the highlight of her week!!

Baby Update

Since I have hardly posted anything about the baby, I thought I would give a baby update. It's funny because when I was pregnant with Norah - our world totally revolved around being pregnant. Now, with 2 other children, I don't have a lot of time to think about being pregnant. If I am tired - it doesn't hit me until the girls are in bed. If I don't feel good - I don't have time to think about it.
Anyway, I am 27 weeks, but because I am having a c-section a week early, I really just have 12 weeks to go. What?! 12 weeks - where did my 2nd trimester go?
The baby is moving constantly - especially when I am in bed. I have started feeling what is probably hiccups. The girls are getting really excited about the baby. They both are constantly hugging my belly and talking to the baby.
Since we don't know what we are having, we really haven't narrowed down names at all. In fact, our lists keep getting longer and longer. We have about 6 boys names and maybe 10 girls names. Kevin doesn't really like to tell others our names so I won't list them here. Before Lucy was born we had a different name picked out for her, then about 3 days before my c-section, Kevin said he wasn't sold on the name, so we went back to the drawing board. We ended up with Lucy Mae. So even if we choose a name - it could still change.

Doing Nothing Monday

I am REALLY lacking motivation to do anything today!!  The girls are at MDO and I have a million things I could be doing - but I'm watching Rachel Ray and blogging instead!  We have our small group Bible study at our house tonight so I cleaned the kitchen well last night.  I need to straighten up the living room and vacuum, but I also should organize the girls summer clothes that I have put away - they are just thrown in a big box.  I also need to print off pictures from, oh - the last year or so to scrapbook!  I would love to get caught up before the baby comes - is it possible?

I am totally using the excuse that I'm pregnant - I need to take it easy, right? 

Does it Count?

Does the exercise count when my 4 year old and 2 year old are helping? I have been trying to exercise at least every other day. I usually get up early and go to the gym or on a walk before Kevin leaves for work. Obviously, I am a little extra tired these days so it is getting harder and harder to get up early. I have the Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD. It is not great (mainly because Denise Austin can be REALLY annoying), but it is something to do when I don't get up early.
Today, however, the girls wanted to join me - quite funny watching them attempt to do the aerobic steps. I had to remind Lucy to move over to the side or she was going to get bumped into. She would respond, "But Mom, I esercising too."
Norah kept asking, "Is this right, Mom? Am I doing this right?" She also wanted me to pause the dvd a couple of times to show her the steps again.
The strength training part was even funnier. Basically, Denise Austin stands behind/beside the girls who are doing to exercises and pointing to their muscles or describing what they are doing. Norah just stood behind me and copied Denise. I was cracking up while trying to do the leg lifts because Norah basically lifted my leg for me.
Well, even it it wasn't the best workout ever, I can at least say I exercised today.

Big News

Can you read Lucy's shirt?
In case you don't get it, can you read Norah's shirt?

In case you still don't get it - I'm pregnant.

I am due January 29 so I am about 12 weeks along. I had a doctor's appt. yesterday and we (the girls and I) heard the heart beat. I have felt pretty good this time around - which is a miracle because I was SO sick with the girls.

The girls are excited (well, for Lucy, she is as excited as a 2 year old can be). Norah has mentioned several times that she is going to be a great helper because she will be almost 5 when the baby comes.

Our original plan was to just take a picture of Lucy in the "I'm the big sister" shirt, but Norah thought she needed a shirt of her own. She picked out a t-shirt at Michael's and we decorated it. She did most of the work - she did a great job, huh?