38 weeks

How far along are you?: 38 weeks 

Total weight gain: 24lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes, BUT I can still fit into my non- maternity favorite jeans :)

Stretch marks?  nothing new 

Sleep: I nap alot .. sleep at night comes and goes. 

Best moment this week: Taking Madison to her "sibling tour" at the hospital

Miss Anything? Walking up stairs without getting winded.

Movement: yes a lot!!

Food cravings: nothing this week

Anything making you queasy or sick: nauseous at bedtime.

Gender predictions:  I think boy but it's probably a girl.  

Labor Signs: lots of cramping, contractions and the baby has dropped!

Belly Button in or out? In .. Never popped with Madison.

Wedding rings on or off? on.. dont think they are coming off anytime soon!

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, happy happy 

Looking forward to: meeting our little boy or girl any day now!

This week was an exciting one, we found out at our Monday appointment that I am definitely progressing and our doctor thinks this baby will be here before our March 13th due date (would be nice because its so low its uncomfortable!) We have our second appointment of the week tomorrow so here is hoping we are closer!

People have been giving me different wants to induce labor at home.. so far NOTHING has worked. Chris has been making me eat spicy food and chinese food, I have been taking Evening Primrose Oil, started drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea.

Chris was awesome enough to go to GNC the other day to pick up the tea for me and the lady told him "It's buy one get one 50% off" to which Chris responded "I hope my wife doesn't need two".

We had some help from my brother in law Mike last weekend with the baby's room. He and Chris installed the fan/light!

We have the crib set up and the dresser and few little items, diapers, wipes, first aid items and rocking chair in the room but we have decided NOT to paint until the baby is here. I know I want to do gray and pink or gray and navy blue depending on the gender of our little one!

It has been so hard NOT finding out the gender this time around as we have so many girl clothes that we could part with if we are having a boy, but also the adorable nautical themed clothing in all the stores is calling my name. The girl's clothing this time around is just as cute and nautical as well.

Between my sister in law and myself I hope one of us has a boy so that I can buy the cute boy clothes with whales and anchors!

This week Madison got to go on a "Sibling Tour" of the hospital. This was such an awesome experience for both of us. There was one other little boy who is 6 months older then Madison, the two of them got along great. 

The tour started with a quick video about siblings and families. Neither of the kids were really into sitting still and watching the video, so they decided to dance and run around. After the video we got to go into the "alligator" (translation = elevator) and headed up to the maternity ward .. while there we got to see a room where I will be staying and then came the big part of the tour.. The Nursery.

We got really lucky, there was a 12hr old baby that Madison got to see. Her eyes lit up, she asked if she could take him, she had a hard time understanding that it wasn't our baby and in a few weeks we will have a baby to take home. After the nursery we headed back downstairs and Madison got to learn how to change a diaper.. and since then all she wants to do is change her dolls diapers.

Lets hope she is this helpful once the baby arrives!

This weekend is a very exciting one in the Murray house.. My parents otherwise known as "Opa and Grammy" are coming! Madison has been counting down the days to their arrival and today is the day Opa comes and Grammy is flying in tomorrow!

Their visit is going to short and sweet but its just what we all need! They are actually coming because my brothers, chris and I got them tickets to George Strait and Martina McBride for Christmas so this is their big date weekend :)

This is also the first time they will be seeing the house since we moved in! They saw it about 3 weeks before we moved so they are in for a big surprise with all the work!

Time to go and bake some cookies with Madison as she is requesting "chocolate chippy cookies"

Hope your all having a fabulous week!

37 weeks

Full term!!!!!!!

How far along are you?: 37 weeks 

Total weight gain: 23lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes. .. Im 100% sure I will NOT be saying no to this yet!

Stretch marks?  nothing new 

Sleep: comes and goes .. Getting used to running on little sleep 

Best moment this week: picking out boy and girl St Patricks day outfits 

Miss Anything? working out, coffee, my normal jeans!

Movement: yes a lot!!

Food cravings: buffalo quesadillas!

Anything making you queasy or sick: nauseous at bedtime.

Gender predictions:  I think boy but it's probably a girl.  

Labor Signs: lots of braxton hicks and lower back pain!... 1cm/ 50% effaced

Belly Button in or out? In .. Never popped with Madison.

Wedding rings on or off? on.. dont think they are coming off anytime soon!

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, happy happy 

Looking forward to: having this little bundle of joy!!

Rounding the last corner

So many things are running through my mind this week - are we ready for this baby? will Madison accept another little one around, will I ever sleep again?, what will labor be like this time?

I know you can never truly be 100% ready for a baby because there are so many unknowns, will the baby be healthy, will the baby breastfeed easily or will it need formula, will the baby have sensitive skin and need a certain diaper etc.. BUT it is still something that runs through the mind of all parents and parents to be. How will we handle this!?

We got really lucky with Madison sleep wise, she slept in 3 hour clips consistently from the day we brought her home and that gradually grew to 12 hour nights.. so we can only hope this baby is the same way. On the feeding side of things we weren't so lucky .. She didn't take to breastfeeding at all so we needed to switch to formula. At 6 weeks old Madison was admitted to the Children's Hospital for 3 nights due to a stomach bug, it was also discovered then that she had reflux and needed medication daily to be able to keep her food down! It was an easy fix and she has no problems now.

This has made me decide that this time around I am going to exclusively pump, I know the benefits of breastfeeding but for me and what we went through with Madison, I am not ready for that again. So pumping is the best way to get the baby the nutrition it needs!

As for Madison accepting having a little baby around the house .. only time will tell! She LOVES other kids and other babies, so I can only hope this continues! It is going to be a massive change for all of us, we will need to learn to divide our time between the two but also spend time with both children together so Madison doesn't feel like she is being pushed out or any less important.

She has already started her "jobs" to help out around the house... feeding Bailey, picking up her toys, putting things in the garbage etc, little things that any 2.5 year old should be able to do! Hopefully this helpfulness continues in the next few months!

Labor.. well there is no way to tell how labor will be this time. This is not something you can predict, and no matter what you want to happen it doesn't always go the way to you planned. 

I was always told to have a birth plan, well that went right out the window with Madison.

Original Madison Birth Plan

• Labor should start while Chris is home and not stuck at work
• Monitor contractions and head to hospital when they are 4-7 min apart
• Once admitted - get epidural
• Have painless labor and have a baby 

As you can see NOWHERE in the plan was go into labor in the middle of the night and not realize it because you spent 6 hours throwing up, having back pains (which you later found out were contractions 3 minutes apart), have this all happen when Chris had to be in Brooklyn at 530am for work, drive the flooded SawMill in the middle of a massive rainstorm. 

It also didn't include needing pitocin because I wasn't progressing, epidural running out (ya that was a treat!) or laying in the hospital for 16 hours before our little one decided to finally come out!

Birth Plan for Baby #2

• Whatever happens, happens

This time it doesn't matter when it happens, or where it will happen when it needs to happen. I do know I want an epidural again (I don't do pain), I would love for it not to run out this time! If I can avoid pitocin that would be great because when I got to 8cm every contraction would drop Madison's heart rate drastically so they had to stop the pitocin. 

I would also LOVE for this baby to make its way to the world a little faster then his or her big sister but only time will tell!

We had another NST today (done once a week now because of size of baby), I had a few good contractions, but not consistent enough to be concerned on the bright side.. we might get to meet this little one sooner then we thought.. Doc doesn't think we will be making it to 40 weeks as the baby is super low! 

Which I am totally fine with .. I have hit the "I am done point", I am just so uncomfortable because of the baby's low position.

Check back later this week for a 37/full term update!!!

xo's

We all scream for snow cream...

For the past few days people have been asking me "What is snow cream" or saying "Must be a Canadian thing" so I figured on this snowy snow day I should do a post about this delicious homemade treat :)

First off let me say this is NOT a Canadian treat... A Canadian thing is warming up maple syrup and pouring it over snow to make a taffy like snack, and YES I fully intend to make this with Madison!

I did however make this one year in school I don't remember what grade or why but all this snow gave me the sudden urge to look up a recipe!

When we woke up this morning we put our "snow bowl" out on the front steps and waited for it to fill up!

This is the best one I found

Please excuse the messy hair.

1 cup half and half or milk
1/3 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar (adjust to your taste)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 to 6 cups clean, freshly fallen snow

The final product should be put in the freezer for 5 min just to get the ice cream texture back after adding the half and half!

Ours is sitting in the freezer a little longer as we are waiting until after Madison's nap to add some hot fudge and sprinkles to our snow cream!

If you have kids or are a kid yourself I highly recommend making this yummy treat!

9 months!

How far along are you?: 36 weeks 

Total weight gain: 21lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes. .. Im 100% sure I will NOT be saying no to this yet!

Stretch marks?  nothing new 

Sleep: actually getting some.. sleeping better at night but also napping during the day!

Best moment this week: getting the crib set up finally!

Miss Anything? working out, coffee, my normal jeans!

Movement: a lot of stretching and hiccups!

Food cravings: nothing really this week.

Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing special but I feel morning sickness is coming back.

Gender predictions:  I think boy but it's probably a girl.  

Labor Signs: lots of braxton hicks and lower back pain!

Belly Button in or out? In .. Never popped with Madison.

Wedding rings on or off? on.. dont think they are coming off anytime soon!

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, happy happy 

Looking forward to: enjoying a few weeks of no work before this little bundle comes!

We are in the midst of yet another snow storm.. so we are planning on spending the day making snow cream & yes I will share the recipe tomorrow :), painting pictures, and cuddling up on the couch watching movies. 

I fully intend to give Madison as much one - on - one time as I can the next few weeks before our house because the crazy house!

Last night we made cupcakes.. with pink frosting and pink sprinkles of course!

After about 3 of them Madison decided she would much rather eat the cupcakes then decorate anymore, so it was up to me to finish them!

And yes, please take notice of the lovely jersey Madison is wearing in the photos .. we were a team Canada family yesterday and we loved every minute of the win  ... well Madison and I did, Chris not so much ;)

Off to spend our snow day baking, coloring and cheering on both Canada and USA mens hockey teams ... and a little playing in the snow!

Hope your all staying safe!

xo's

35 weeks

Our due date was moved.. making today 35 weeks!!!

Our due date is now March 13th .. a whole 4 days earlier.. woahhh!

How far along are you?: 35 weeks 

Total weight gain: 19

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks?  nothing new 

Sleep: would love to get 5 hours straight!

Best moment this week: Madison asking for a puppy.. not a baby 

Miss Anything? sleep, working out, coffee..

Movement: yes.. lots! This baby loves kicking me!

Food cravings: cheese sticks!

Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing special but I feel morning sickness is coming back.

Gender predictions: I'm still thinking boy .. Chris said boy the other day.. but he's not sure!

Labor Signs: not this week!

Belly Button in or out? In .. Never popped with Madison.

Wedding rings on or off? on.. dont think they are coming off anytime soon!

Happy or Moody most of the time: happy, happy happy 

Looking forward to: a healthy baby in a few weeks!

This week was one of good news.. the baby grew!!

A few weeks ago, if you remember, we were concerned about intrauterine growth restriction... and today was our confirmation ultrasound and we can confirm.. IUGR is NOT an issue!!

The baby gained a little over a pound in the past 2 weeks! The estimated weight is 4lbs 11oz and it is measuring 34 weeks (so only a week behind). 

The baby is healthy and our doc said we should still be prepared for a smaller baby in the 6lbs range.

Madison was 7lbs 4oz so I am ok with 6lbs!

I will continue to go in 2 times a week for ultrasounds to make sure the fluid and blood flow is good, we are not sure what causes the small stunt in growth so the docs want to make sure we keep an eye on things! 

I feel like a massive amount of stress just walked out the door! Maybe now I can sleep...

Tomorrow is back to work for me and back to school for Madison. We enjoyed 2 snow days this week both of which fell on the days we work/go to school!

One more week of school left then its winter break! We have a few fun things planned for that week .. including a trip to the children's museum of Manhattan!

xo's

Biggest Loser

I have always been a fan of the Biggest Loser television show, I think it is because I like to see people succeed and become healthier versions of themselves.. but last nights finale is making me consider my opinions on the show. As of right now I don't know if I will watch another season or buy anymore of the products from the show.

This post is off topic from our usual happy, family posts but I figured since I shared last month that I am  taking my personal training certification I would share my opinion on this.

First off let me say that I am happy for anyone and will support whoever wants to better themselves and get themselves into healthier and better shape. People work very hard to lose weight and gain muscle. It is NOT an easy task. I have been there it takes time and a lot of work and discipline and I will be back there in a few weeks after Baby Murray #2 is born. 

I DO NOT support people who go to extremes such as starvation, dehydration or excessive working out to get themselves to a smaller size. You are not getting healthier or getting into better shape by doing that.. you are doing the opposite.

I own my fair share of Biggest Loser cookbooks, mainly because they are healthy, easy dishes and they all taste delicious, I also have a few of the DVD's (not sure where but somewhere). As of right now I will not be purchasing anymore of their products.

Now onto WHY I feel this way...

Last nights winner is WAY to thin.. and according to her BMI (5'4" & 105lbs) is 18.0 which is considered UNDERWEIGHT.

She went from obese to underweight in LESS then a year! She went from 260lbs (44.6 BMI) to 105lbs.. thats 155lbs weight loss and essentially 60% of her body weight.

Just looking at the numbers you can see it is unhealthy... now for the photo..

(both photos from http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2014/02/the-biggest-loser-why-was-rachel-frederickson-allowed-to-lose-too-much-weight.html)

Wow, jaw on floor, and clearly I wasn't the only one! Jillian and Bob BOTH look concerned!

I don't agree with judging people based on their physical appearance doesn't matter if they are big or small, BUT when you are on a national television show that praises big weight loses and you look that sickly I think you open yourself up to judgement.

Why I say she looks "sickly" :

• knees stick out a lot and look knobby (very bony)
• arms have no fat on them or muscles for that matter.. (very bony)
• head looks to big for her body
• gaunt looking

I understand you can be healthy and not have a lot of fat or muscle but she just doesn't look healthy!

I don't agree that she won the show! I understand the show is called "Biggest Loser" and she was the biggest loser but I think they need to reevaluate it's rules. There needs to be a red line for the finale .. both at home contestants and the 3 finalists! This red line needs to automatically disqualify you if you drop below the "healthy" line.. unhealthy BMI, unhealthy weight" etc.

I hope the people at Biggest Loser take notice of the all the blogs, news articles and tweets about last night and come up with a new way to do things and a healthy way to do things!

If things change then I will be more then happy to support the show again.

I really do wish Rachel the best and hope that she can get the help she needs if she does have an eating disorder or any illness. I hope she is not going to be another one that gains a crazy amount of weight in the coming months because of the unrealistic lifestyle she has been living for the past few months.

And tomorrow back to our regular blog posts :)

Snow day!!!

xo

41 days to go!

I still can't believe we are 6 weeks, 41 days, 997 hours away from our due date!

How far along are you?: 34 weeks 

Total weight gain: 18.. yes I lost 2lbs 

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks?  nothing new 

Sleep: I would love to know what that is! I feel like I am going to crash at any time

Best moment this week: Finding out the baby is still healthy

Miss Anything? sleep and lots of it!

Movement: yes! 

Food cravings: nothing really.. trying to eat as healthy as I can so I am ready for when this baby comes to get back to eating well!

Anything making you queasy or sick: alot!! .. I feel like morning sickness is coming back.

Gender predictions: I'm still thinking boy

Labor Signs: yes.. more on that below!

Belly Button in or out? In .. Never popped with Madison.

Wedding rings on or off? on.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy 

Looking forward to: 2 ultrasounds this week to check the growth of our little one!

This week was CRAZY!!! Chris went to his drill with the fire dept in town on Monday and I don't think this baby was to happy about it!

Long story short.. we thought my water broke. It was the weirdest experience ever. I know your probably thinking "you think it broke?", Yes we THOUGHT it broke. I know for a fact I didn't pee my pants! So Chris came home quickly from the firehouse and we headed to the hospital. Luckily 2 of the guys from the fire dept came to hang out at the house until Chris' parents got here to get Madison. One of the guys actually worked with Chris dad and currently works in another dept with Chris brother Mike, so we knew our sleeping beauty was in good hands!

Once we got to the hospital they hooked me up to all the machines and started monitoring me for contractions and fetal movement. They did some tests.. 1 was positive for amniotic fluid and the 2nd was negative so we were hanging out waiting to see if I would have another "gush" to confirm. But nothing happened!! So we spent the night in labor room 6.. Madison was born in 7 :) 

I fell asleep pretty fast but had to be woken up every 2 hours to have my temperature taken as a precaution incase my water did break we didn't want there to be an infection! 

During all this I had some pretty intense contractions BUT I slept right through them! Chris and the nurse were both really shocked. I guess this time around I have a higher tolerance for pain.. although Chris would debate that!

At 830 in the morning my regular doc came into check on me and said I probably have a high leak and I could go home! There was no promising it wouldn't happen again that day or any day for that matter but both baby and I are healthy and there is enough fluid so I could head home and continue going in 2 times a week to monitor the fluid and blood flow!

It was a great test run as to what we would do if something happened!

Lucky us, we get to visit the docs later today for our 34 week check :)

We got so much done on the house this week.. if you want to check out some of our progress head on over to Half A Mile Up our new house blog!!!

This weekend we had yet another birthday party to attend! This one was for a little boy in Madison's class. He had his party at a massive athletic facility called House Of Sports! To say Madison had fun is an understatement!

She ran around non stop for 1hr and then proceeded to "nap" on the turf!

We got lucky the weather was nice on Saturday night.. Chris had a hockey game on the outdoor rink! Usually when he plays his games are at 1030 at night so Madison and I never get to go! But this one was a special one at 830, still a little past her bed time but it was a special thing!

We bundled up and headed to the rink! We only stayed for the 1st period as it was still a 30min drive home so we didn't get home until 930 which was a late enough bed time for our little lady!

She was so happy to see her daddy play hockey! She was cheering for him and saying "go team!", she also enjoyed stomping on clumps of snow!

All in all we had a great busy week/ weekend!

Hope you all had a GREAT weekend and have an awesome week.. Ours is starting out with a Snow Day!!

xo's

First Pregnancy vs Second

Lately I have been finding different reasons to compare this pregnancy to my pregnancy with Madison, I think this is mainly because both pregnancies had their share of issues (single artery cord or intrauterine growth syndrome) but also because I am curious as to what we are having.. boy or girl. So I have compared symptoms, how I am carrying, what kind of aches and pains etc.. 

I have come up with some different reasons why this pregnancy is almost easier in a way but also I looked at what made me so miserable while pregnant with Madison.

34 weeks with Madison and 34 weeks with current pregnancy.

My pregnancy with Madison started in a very hard time for me.. we had just suffered our second miscarriage and we were in a place of "if it happens it happens. I honestly was NOT expecting it to happen so quickly.  This pregnancy started in a good place, we had a happy healthy 1.5yr old and we were ready to try again not just "if it happens" but we were actually tracking everything and trying.

I think mentally I was in a MUCH better spot this time then I was with Madison.

I will admit I don't think I was emotionally ready to be pregnant again within 2 months of losing a baby. I had a lot of fears going into the pregnancy and that made it much harder to actually celebrate the pregnancy! 

I was also unhappy with a lot of things in my life at that point .. I was working as nanny, something I had done for years and loved, but there was I was taking care of some one else's child when I was getting ready to have my own. I knew I didn't want to be a nanny anymore. I think that contributed to what I would call my "pregnancy depression". I wasn't happy to wake up everyday and go to work!

I was also unhappy because here was this amazing thing happening and my family lived 6hrs away and wasn't close by to celebrate or go through it with me. Not having my mom there made it very difficult for me. I was lucky to have such amazing support from my husband and in-laws and friends but nothing compares to your mom. :)

This time around I am in a career that I LOVE! I am excited when I go into work. It makes me sad thinking that in 2 weeks I will be done work for a bit! I am currently working at a preschool as a substitute, but I am also a co-teacher for math and science. I am not full time so I still get to spend time with Madison and have sometime to myself. I wake up and get ready everyday and I get dressed in things other than yoga pants and a sweater. I can do my hair and make up and feel good about myself because I know I will be in public and not sitting in someones house for 9 hours getting spit up on!

I have come to accept the fact that my family is never going to be able to here for everything and I am fine with that! I think my pregnancy with Madison made me realize I can do things without my mom!

There were SO many unknowns and questions with my first pregnancy, and yes there are still unknowns and questions this time around but I know there are things I can control and things I can't.

While pregnant with Madison my concerns were:

• Is Chris going to be accepting of my new body and my moods and emotions?
• What kind of a mother would I be?
• What kind of a father would Chris be?
• What is labor like?
• Would Chris and other family members be supportive of my choice to breastfeed? (it ended up not working out for medical reasons)
• Would Chris and I be stronger because of this or weaker?

I had so many other questions but those were the big ones, and clearly I don't need to be worried about those things now because I know the answers. My family and Chris were more then supportive of any decision that I made. Chris and I are stronger then ever! Labor.. well that was a treat ;)

I know that no labor is the same as the last so I know as much as I want to get my epidural and just have this baby that may not happen. Something may happen and c-section might be necessary, but I am much calmer this time going into everything knowing that I made it through the last one!

Physically there has been a MASSIVE difference. I wasn't working out or as concerned about my health and fitness before I got pregnant with Madison and I really believe it was because I was still mourning the loss of our second baby. I was eating whatever looked good because I was so sick and whenever I could eat it would be the quickest, easiest and usually the most unhealthy thing possible. I didn't workout during that pregnancy because I was nervous anything would cause a miscarriage... bad idea! 

I gained 52 lbs! 

This time I was exercising ALOT before we decided to try again I was 10lbs away from being my pre-Madison weight! Once I found out I was expecting I continued to exercise but just took it a little easier. I had just started to really enjoy running and had signed up for a 5k color run, so I continued to walk and run. When it came time for the run I was 14 weeks along and was battling horrible morning sickness. I completed the run, while walking a bit, but still completed it! 

I continued to exercise and eat healthy until it got a little to cold to take Madison out for walks and then I just made sure to eat healthy!

So far with 6 weeks left I have gained 18 lbs (was 20lbs but I lost 2 somehow). Both the baby and I are healthy and I am NOT concerned with the number on the scale, but with how I feel. 

I feel much happier this time because I am not concerned with the gain!

I know that after I have this baby I will be in a better place to begin the fun weight loss process again because I have stayed healthy this time! My only vice has been diet pepsi (caffeine free). 

Over all I feel like this pregnancy has been the exact opposite from the first and I really do believe that it is because of my mental and physical state going into it!

I am truly blessed to have such a supportive husband who also makes sure to tell me I look beautiful and makes me feel special. Even on days I feel miserable because the baby is just putting a lot pressure on my sciatic nerve, or I am just exhausted I know that no matter what I have someone who will always make the situation better.

Here's hoping for a happy and healthy 6 weeks :)