Turn baby turn

We had an ultrasound done at 30 weeks and we found that baby girl was still breech. I already figured this, because I have always been kicked in my bladder. Hallie turned head down around 28 weeks so I figured Raegan was just taking longer. But then week by week I could still feel her head in my rib cage. Around 34 weeks the NP that I see thought she was head down, but I told her I really didn't think so. She pulled out the hand held sonogram machine and sure enough, still breech. I went straight to my mom for suggestions on how to turn her. She gave me several suggestions and I also found quite a few online. So I tried them. Laying inverted, getting my hips elevated off the floor with pillows, doing the breech tilt off the couch, scrubbing my entire kitchen floor on my hands and knees. And I knew nothing was working. I started worrying that something was preventing her from being able to turn. They thought her head was a bit big, so I thought maybe she didn't have enough room. One night I was crying in pain from her trying to move. It hurt worse than any contractions I had with Hallie. But the next morning she was back to her same spot. She moved side to side with her head by my ribs. At 35 weeks my Dr talked to me about getting an external version, where they physically turn the baby. I had severe anxiety about if. I asked around and did some research. It all didn't sound too good. There were several risks involved, and also the possibility of it just not working. Tyler and his Uncle gave me a blessing that I would know what I needed to do. I went back and forth millions of times. Do I try it, or just give her more time and if she doesn't turn then I get a c-section? I met with my Dr again and expressed my concerns. He had me come in last Friday to do an ultrasound to look and see what our chances were that she would move. He said she still had plenty of room and fluid and nothing was in the way. Which means she's just stubborn. The Dr said she was moving about half way herself, so he was really confident that we would be able to just go turn her the rest of the way real fast. He also said only 3% of babies stay breech after 37 weeks, so he thought she might turn herself over the weekend. But on Monday she was still in her favorite spot. After going thru hell with our insurance, we got to the hospital in the afternoon. They started me on an IV and gave me a medicine that would relax my uterus. I was already having contractions but they just felt like baby moving around to me. They also had someone come in and do an ultrasound. Her fluid is all on one side, so they knew what way to get her to turn. She's measuring in at 6 lbs 11 oz right now. We were able to see her little face and she has some hair. When my Dr was ready, the anesthesiologist turned on my drip of "happy meds". Within seconds I was super dizzy. They laid down the bed and the Dr started pushing on baby. They had the ultrasound on her the whole time to make sure she was ok, and to see where she was going. I was trying to watch her, but the meds were making me so loopy I could barely keep my eyes open. It was still so painful. I was gripping the blankets on the bed while he pushed. And of course, she was stubborn. As he tried pushing her head around she would arch her back and tilt her head back. And then when she was head down and the Dr was trying to get her to scoot down into the birth canal, she was putting her arms above her head to try to stop. What a stinker. It took only about 5 minutes to turn her (I would still never want to do it again) but she was trying to turn back around. The Dr put a tight binding around my stomach to help keep her pushed down. Tyler had taken Hallie out in the hallway during the procedure just in case something had happened and it turned into an emergency situation. They came back in, and baby was monitored for another hour and a half. Hallie laid in the bed with me and we watched a movie. Since we were in the labor and delivery room, Tyler had shown her where they will put Raegan when she comes and everything. I think Hallie thought I was having her then, because she kept saying "I'm so excited" and telling all the Drs she wants to hold her sister. Oh how I wish I could have just had her then. We finally got discharged and I was able to eat! I am so paranoid that she is going to turn back around. I left my binding on as long as I could, but last night I had to take it off and sit in the bath because my stomach was so sore. This morning it is even worse. I definitely feel like my stomach got beat up. She's higher than she was last night, but I'm hoping she's just stretching out and not trying to move back. If she stays down, then this will all have been worth it. But...if she doesn't, I'll just end up needing a c-section anyways. I'm trying not to worry. I know it's not in my hands anymore. I need to just be stress free and however she chooses to get here, I'll do what I need to do. I'm just ready to get her here safely. Couple more weeks and we'll have her with us!!

2014

Thank goodness that 2013 is over!!!! It was a tough one for us. Complete with two jobs, two moves (that's actually a low for us), two pregnancies, selling both our cars and buying two new ones, Hallie turning two, and I never realized how many two's happened. Hm. Don't get me wrong, some of these things were awesome changes. But 2013 has probably been our hardest year financially since we've been together, and we are ready for the new start with 2014 brings. So far it has been going better. Tyler is absolutely rocking at his new job. I am so proud of him and the relationships he has made with clients and how hard of a worker and just good person he is. He's meeting all his requirements and doing great. Hallie is finally potty training! Whoo! And I am so glad I waited until she wanted to try, because I haven't really had to do anything. She still likes wearing her diapers, but they stay dry because she knows when she needs to go and runs in the bathroom and goes by herself. We are so proud of her. I have been dreading this stage of life, but we really haven't had too many accidents and she's doing this all by herself because we waited until she decided she was ready. Getting a piece of candy after she goes does help quite a bit too :) She has become quite the sass and we have to tell her to watch her mouth at times. She's incredibly bossy and demanding, and smarter than all heck. We absolutely adore her and her huge personality. She knows all of her colors, most of her shapes, and can count to 5. She has a handful of her favorite books memorized and can read them to us. She knows all the words to "itsy bitsy spider", "popcorn popping", "monkeys jumping on the bed", "monkeys swinging in a tree", "if you're happy and you know it", and "head shoulders knees and toes". She loves singing the songs from Frozen and Teen Beach Movie. She talks to her baby sister every day about being excited to hold her and we can't wait to see how great of a big sister she will be. 

It's been warmer than usual, this is definitely not how I pictured our first winter here. We haven't had snow since the first weekend of December, and it's been in the 50's a lot. We're trying to take advantage of it by getting out. Hallie gets so stir crazy when were in the house for a while, and loves going to the park and to the store or Dad's office. Everything else is going well and we can't wait to add our baby girl to our family next month!

Christmas

Ever since we knew we were moving up north, we planned on having Christmas with my family up here. I dreamed that I would finally be able to have a white Christmas. Unfortunately, we're having an unusually warm winter, and there was no chance of snow. And then we started realizing that schedules were conflicting and it all was getting complicated, so we decided to go down to the valley for Christmas. I'm actually really glad we did. We had a great time spending time with family on both sides. The weekend before Christmas, my mom brought Tate up so that he could stay with us for a few days. It worked out nice because I got the stomach flu while he was here, so I was able to rest and Hallie was completely entertained. I love family. On Christmas Eve Tyler worked a half day, so Tate and I finished some last minute shopping that morning and then we got ready to leave. We swayed a little from tradition with my mom and had a very relaxed Christmas Eve dinner of pizza and wings. My Aunt Sharon had come for dinner and surprised me with more baby clothes and groceries than I knew what to do with. I feel so incredibly blessed with her generosity. We opened our traditional Christmas Eve Jammie's and about died when we saw them. Onesies complete with butt flaps. We spent hours playing around in them. My brothers stuffing them with pillows and blankets and dancing around and sliding on the cars. I have not laughed that hard in forever. I am so grateful for the fun we have together. It warms my heart just thinking about it. Christmas morning went really well. Hallie got more princess toys than she knew what to do with. She also got her bike which made her really happy. After we were done we made breakfast and waited to hear from Clay in Chicago. We were able to skype with him for a while. It was so nice to see him even tho he had only been gone a little over a month. The boys of course had to stuff themselves again and show Clay their dance. After breakfast we got dressed and went over to my dads. We had a fun Christmas there and Hallie got even more toys. We were incredibly blessed this year. After spending a while with my dad and playing outside we went across the street to pico's and had dinner. Which was delicious as always. We spent time with them and then headed back to my moms. We were able to spend a couple more days down in the valley and enjoyed spending time with family. Tyler took the boys shooting while my mom took me and Hallie grocery shopping (once again, incredibly blessed and thankful). We got to have lunch with Tyler's siblings and Hallie loved playing with her cousin. It was a really great trip and one that has left me missing my family ever since we left. I am so thankful for all of them on both sides and all that they do for us and all the support they have always given us