35 Weeks and busy, busy, busy!

It's been two weeks since I last posted, and it's been SO busy here.  Not that that should be an excuse, but it's definitely being honest!! Life is crazy in the Hollibaugh household!!

Here's what we've been up to:
Lots of playing with sidewalk chalk and playing in the yard =)

The OPMC Spring Clothing and Equipment sale (we had so much stuff to sell...and we still have so much stuff left! HA!)

Gramz and Grandpa came down and watched the girls the weekend of the sale so Si and I could work the sale, shop, clean up, etc.  The girls LOVE their Gramz!

Si's 30th birthday - our fabulous food at Joe's Crab Shack (YUM!!!)....and note that's not a beer bottle...it's root beer...and ice water...naturally =)

Planting flowers and planting the garden (I figured I should plant everything while I still could kind of bend over! The girls have been great helpers - they love to dig using my planters and water after everything is in the ground - very helpful! And Livvy has this fascination with brooms....)

Fostering an adorable black little baby girl pug puppy...and Livvy standing at the door with the pugs "barking" along with them at passerby's....HILARIOUS!

We are definitely staying busy!

And, we are 35 weeks pregnant this week.  Wowzers! We had an OB appointment on Tuesday and little man is looking great (although we got no pictures of him - bummer)! He is measuring in at 5 lbs 13 oz and is right on track to be an 8 lb baby if I make it to 40 weeks.  Crazy.  An 8 lb baby...what the heck will I do with that?!  The girls were 6 lbs for weeks!
Here's a current picture of me with little man...

One thing that I may not have shared yet on this blog is that I am hoping with this baby to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).  I wanted to have a vaginal birth with the girls, but because of my pre-eclampsia and the urgency in which the girls needed to be delivered, we decided that a C-section would be best. 

I have to tell you though, my recovery was awful.  AWFUL.  I personally wouldn't recommend a c-section to anyone. I'd had multiple surgeries before (although admittedly none as intensive as a c/s) so I thought I had a decent handle on what I was getting myself into.  Nope.  Inadequate pain control from the get go (I'm allergic to percocet and vicoden so they were only giving me tylenol #3 and 600 mg of Ibuprofen), paired with tons of fluid retention and my blood pressure being so high that they wouldn't let me out of bed, paired with nursing/pumping for twin babies and sheer exhaustion, paired with the fact that I didn't stop bleeding (until 2 D&C's and 12 weeks later), paired with the fact that I couldn't lay flat for 7 weeks and LIVED on the couch, made my c-section experience a less than pleasant one. 

Si liked it -naturally - he got to see the birth, there was no screaming, pushing, mess, etc. (lol), we knew when it was going to happen (within a day or two) so that was nice for planning purposes, and, well, Si didn't have to deal with the pain of recovery.  Of course HE liked it!

Not I though.  My OB assumed I would be doing a repeat c-section with little man.  I told him at 24 weeks that that was in no way my intention.  I wanted a VBAC.  I wanted pain control.  I wanted to be able to play with and maybe even pick up my girls (who are going to have no idea what is going on anyway) a week or two after delivery.

He tried to lure me into a repeat c-section with a mini tummy tuck (free of charge)....
It didn't work.
He told me that everything would have to be perfect for him to allow me to try for a VBAC....baby in the right position (head down, not breech, etc.), no pre-eclampsia or other conditions, no need to induce (because he won't induce a VBAC)...
It was far from a for sure thing....
BUT....
My body gets this whole baby thing now I think....=)
At 31 weeks Baby H was as breech as breech can be. 
But now?
Now he is head down, face towards my back (in PERFECT birthing position)
My cervix is soft, I am 50% effaced, and I am dilated 1 cm.

My OB is VERY pleased.  He said this is the best possible scenario for a VBAC.  Some women's cervix don't soften after a cesarean....some women don't dilate on their own....sometimes the babies don't participate and insist on being breech....but not mine!! 

Fingers crossed, but it sounds like I'm getting my VBAC!!! Woot woot!!!

One month to go!!!! And currently NO restrictions! YAY!

That's not stopping me from hiring someone to help with the cleaning around the house though...yup...I'm breaking down and hiring help.  The dining room walls need to be scrubbed (because my toddlers think it's fun to fling food EVERYWHERE) and I don't have the time or energy to do it, and I can't really get down on my hands and knees to scrub the shower, bathtub and floors...so...I'm paying someone to do it for me =).  Hopefully it doesn't break the bank!

Okay, that's all for now! Hope you all are well!

If you have any information on VBACs or vaginal births in general that you think I should know, please feel free to share it!! Good, bad, ugly, whatever! I need to hear it so I know!!!

Until next time -
Megan