Last week before baby (week 38 pregnancy)

This was the last week we had as the 3 of us...crazy to think that! It was an up and down week - Nick's dad found out that there are some spots on his bones and the doctors are unsure if it is cancer or an infection. We should know more on that in a week or so...but we did find out that the tumor did not grow, nor did the lymph nodes. So that is for sure a positive! The same day we found all of this out, Nick's grandpa (Mike's dad) passed away from pneumonia/lung cancer. It came more suddenly than we all thought, but we are all so happy he didn't suffer and had a peaceful passing.

We did get to have a couple date nights/days though, which was needed and so fun. We were able to check out Cinetopia one night and have happy hour at Oswego Grill the next night. It was awesome to have some "no kid" time and to reflect on our almost two years of marriage :) It has certainly been a busy time and we are so lucky and fortunate to have all that we do. We are a blessed family and know it!

We did have a dr appt on Tuesday and learned that I was pretty much the same - about 2 cm dilated. We determined that the induction was still a good idea and kept the appointment for the 11th. I am now VERY uncomfortable and ready to get this baby out. I am sure my family would love it too - I have been a "bit" irritable the last few weeks :) Thank goodness tomorrow is the day and we will have Nolan here with us shortly!

We will probably be MIA for a bit, but I will be sure to post pics and stats within the next week or so. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for our family - we appreciate it more than you know!

Love,

The Bales

38 week belly pic - LAST ONE!

Baby comes tomorrow...yay!

Outside :) (week 37 pregnancy)

With this last week of nice weather we were outside all of the time :) Wyatt is such an outdoor kid and I know he will have a shock when the rain hits and he is stuck inside. So, we managed to do something outdoors every day this week...which was fun. We went to Baggenstos Farm twice, hit up a local farm and had fresh pears, went to several different parks and walked to CFT Elementary to play on the equipment. All in all, Wyatt is showing us what a big boy he is by going down the slide head first (not what I was hoping for!), playing in the hay, running in the fields and going on the swings. It is so crazy to think that next summer we will have two wild boys running around!

We also got some unfortunate news this week, Nick's Grandpa Bales is in the hospital with pneumonia and while there they discovered he has lung cancer. We made a trip to see him with Wyatt and hopefully lifted his spirits a bit. It was great to see him and we appreciate you all keeping him in your thoughts and prayers.

This week has been hard on me physically - I have had a TON of contractions, getting as close as 6 minutes apart. They started spacing back out after 20 minutes or so, but they were starting to hurt. Since I have never "gone into labor" I have no idea what it feels like or what to expect so I am on pins and needles. Hopefully he just stays put until the 11th so I don't have to figure it out :) Sleeping is also something of the past...I cannot get comfortable and with Nolan's movements it is useless to try and sleep. Resting is about as good as it gets...which I know is what will happen when he is here anyway :)

I am officially on maternity leave (yay!) so now I spend my time hanging with Wyatt and preparing for Nolan. The house has never looked better! ;) We are all decorated for Halloween and can't wait for the Pumpkin Patch! So many fun things to look forward to in my favorite month!

Happy October!

The Bales

37 week belly pic

Fall is officially here! (week 36 pregnancy)

This week was the official start of fall...finally! Although it was in the 80's most of the week, I can tell fall is on its way! We had a week full of outdoor activity since I know Wyatt loves it and will be sad when he has to be inside all the time. We managed to make it to the park twice and play outside in our backyard a few times. Wednesday we got a much needed date night while Nick's boss and his wife watched Wyatt for us. It was great to have some alone time and enjoy a meal at a restaurant without having to get up every two minutes :) It was also Papa's birthday on Wednesday, so we made it down to their house for ice cream to celebrate.

The weekend was great - we got to see two of our friends who live in Houston, Danny and Lindsey. It was nice to catch up and see them before they head back. Oh - we also watched the Ducks pound U of A :) Sunday we cleaned and watched football before going to a nice dinner with my family at TCC.

As far as Nolan and the pregnancy, all is well there. I am more tired and am having more pelvic pain, but I know all of this is normal :) We don't have a dr appt this week so we will just lay low and wait until the 4th to see if anything has progressed. Nolan is still very active and with his size it is getting harder and harder on me. However, I am happy he is happy so I will just deal :)

This week Wyatt will be 14 months (!) - he is officially a "little man" :) It is also my last week of work before maternity leave so it will be nice to wrap that up and focus my energy on Wyatt and getting ready for Nolan. Ohhhhh...and decorating for the BEST holiday in the world!

Love,

The Bales

36 week belly pic

A date is set!

We had our 36 week check up yesterday and due to some concerns about my health, the doctor decided it was best to set up an induction date. As with my last pregnancy, my platelet count is dropping and is low, which can be scary during delivery - so we all thought it was best to just set a date and get Nolan out :)

As of now, we are set to induce October 11th at 6pm - about 8 says before my due date. So far everything is fine with Nolan and my platelets are not terrible, so as long as he doesn't come early this will be the best solution for everyone.

When she checked me yesterday I was a solid 2 cm dilated, so I have progressed a little bit. Our hope is that we can hang where we are for three more weeks and then get Nolan out safely. Hopefully that is his plan too! :)

We are very excited to have a true end date in sight and know when we will get to meet our newest little man :) I can't believe he will be here in 3 weeks or less! My mom made his letters for his room and we got them hung up yesterday - it seemed fitting since we had a true delivery date set :)

Excited family!

The Bales

Race for the Cure 2011 (week 35 pregnancy)

This past week was full of activity - we had dinner with the Bond's and got to see baby Wesley :) We also got a chance to babysit our Goddaughter, Sage, and let the new parents have a night out. It was fun and interesting to see how the three of us got along with a newborn in the house...Wyatt wasn't thrilled and we had a moment or two of panic, but overall I think it went great. Good thing, since we have one coming shortly! Friday night we had what will likely be our last date night before baby will be here - we went to see Zac Brown Band in concert. It was so much fun - we have seen them before and they still put on quite a show. Glad we got some one on one time before we are both busy with a baby :) Sunday was Race for the Cure, and although we didn't walk it this year for weather and preggo reasons, we had a lunch to celebrate my mom at our house. It was fun to get together and show how thankful we are for such a strong, amazing woman. We love you mama!

The boys are both doing great - Wyatt is just as cute as can be, although the "attitude" and boundary pushing has begun. This is the "tough" part of parenting and I am certainly struggling with it. The nice thing is, everything is a phase and I know this will pass...soon I hope! Nolan is still moving a ton and has dropped a bit more - which is exciting. He is out of room and I am over being preggo so hopefully he arrives soon :) We have a dr appt tomorrow afternoon and will see if there has been any progress made - I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I am BEYOND excited about the Fall season and can't wait to start decorating for Halloween :) This is the best season of the year and I am glad I get to spend it on maternity leave with my two boys :) I officially start that on October 3rd unless baby boy comes sooner...we will see!

Happy Early Fall,

The Bales

Week 35 belly pic

Baby Update

We had our dr appt this morning and learned that I have lost my mucus "plug" and that I am still about 1 1/2 cm dilated. The cervix is still a little hard, but is thinning. Overall we are doing great - the dr thinks we will have him a week or two early, but probably not before that. She told us that with Nolan's size, she wouldn't be worried if we had him at 36 weeks or later - so that is a relief. All in all, we are excited we still have some time to get things ready at home and work before baby boy joins us, but are excited we might meet him a bit earlier than we thought :)

Beat the heat! (week 34 pregnancy)

We decided to beat the heat in Portland and head down to Seaside for the weekend. It happened to be the Wheels and Waves car show as well, so we got to head into town and check out some cool cars :) Nick's parents were there too and we had a great time enjoying the beautiful coast with them. Thanks again for letting us crash your beach weekend :)

Tomorrow we have a dr appt for Nolan to see where we are and what the next steps are. I have been contracting a bit and have started losing my mucus plug, so I am interested to see where we are with dilation. Hopefully under 3 so that Nolan stays in there for a few more weeks! My guess is if we are 3 or more I will be put on bedrest, which will be interesting with Wyatt :)

We will let you know what we find out tomorrow afternoon - keep your fingers crossed Nolan can hang in there for 2 1/2 more weeks!

Love,

The Bales

34 week belly pic

Having fun on the beach at Seaside!

Kidney Stones (week 33 pregnancy)

This week went a little differently than planned - we took it pretty easy all week and then Thursday morning hit. I had been having some back pain all week, but assumed it was due to carrying a 25 pound child and being 8 months preggo. Finally at 1:30am on Thursday I could not sleep and was in pretty bad pain. Nick woke up around 3am with me and we decided to call the doctor at 4am to see if this was back labor or what. Around 4:30am we went to the hospital to get checked out and by 9am I was checked into a room and told I would be there overnight. They did some ultrasounds but couldn't determine what the pain was - they thought it was likely a kidney stone, but I was also contracting so they were not sure. I ended up staying over night and passed a kidney stone at 1am on Friday. It was a relief and so nice to be out of pain! I was released Friday morning and was home by 11am. All in all, it was best case scenario, but I was very dehydrated (they pumped 5 1/2 bags of fluids into me!) and told me to drink water and take it easy or I would have this baby very early. When they checked me I was 1 1/2 CM dilated and 50% effaced. So, following doctors orders we laid pretty low all weekend.

We did manage to visit some friends house, Ben and Ariel, to see everyone for a bit and get pumped up for the Duck game. We ended up staying home for the game and sadly rooting on our team who just wasn't "there" :( Thank goodness there is always next weekend!

The rest of the weekend we hung out at home and did little things to keep Wyatt busy (as he is now down to 1 nap!). Nick played some golf and we checked out my sisters new apartment...which is super cute and fun.

This week we will continue to keep it low key and keep that baby in me for as long as possible - we have a dr appt on September 13th and will see where we are at that time. Until then, water is my solution to everything :)

Happy September!

The Bales

33 week belly pic

Go Ducks!