Well went in for a somewhat routine ultrasound and checkup on Friday that ended with a 3 1/2 hour sit in labor and delivery while they monitored the baby and my blood pressure. So far we're fine but i'm trying to drink TONS of water (2 gallons) which i'm taking as any liquid I drink so i'm measuring everything just to be sure and tallying it off on a notepad trying to get remotely close. We have another checkup tomorrow and I will be exactly 36 weeks by then so we'll see if anything has changed and stuff by then and I have another checkup on Thursday too. I guess i'm already dilated to 1cm and 80% effaced which doesn't necessarily mean anything but I had a pretty fast labor with Elias so once things start rolling it shouldn't take very long.

The main thing i'm concerned about is lung development and i'm just hoping that either the baby waits to come or that if it does come the lungs are fully functional and we don't have to deal with NICU and things like that. So yeah just trying to be as relaxed as possible here and obviously drink fluids and wondering whats next. Either way we have everything we need for the baby and have made it pretty darn close so even if the baby does come we have a good chance of having everything be fine and no problems whatsoever.

On another note our furnace is apprently unfixable and in a nonworking state. So...we have space heaters all over the place and are looking at our options for a furnace to replace the old one. So far the house has been not that bad for heat and we have an electric register in our bedroom that keeps it nice and warm so i'm not super worried but we're keeping tabs on the temp and staying warm.

Fall is here, we're working on assessing the furnace now. We had to catch up on some bills last payday so we're holding off on our furnace call til next week but its definitely getting chilly around here especially at night. For now we have space heaters in the far away kids rooms and the rest of the time we're just trying to bundle up and cook warm food. We're hoping the furnace is usable but Tim wasn't able to light it or anything himself so i'm not super sure. He was pretty baffled by the way its been put in I guess.

Last night we did a load of laundry and draped it around the house to dry. A dryer is another thing we're waiting to get but we really kind of need to get before the new baby comes. Again hopefully we'll be able to do it next payday too now that our bills are paid.

I woke up late this morning and wondered if i'd be able to ge the girls up and ready in time before I tiptoed out and realized that my sister in law was already up and had the girls ready so I just quietly went to the bathroom and grabbed Elias. Its nice to have someone else around in the morning.

Last night I stayed up too late watching The Transporter 2. It was a pretty good movie. I like that kind, not a superhero but a heroic guy who has a definite persona and sticks to it throughout the movie. I like my movies to be movies. Its sometimes nice to watch a historical drama or something but I like to see stuff that I don't normally see in real life in a movie. Its fun I think.

And to those curious we have temporary/long-term houseguests. My sister in law and her 3 kids and soon husband will be staying with us til just after christmas. Its been different and interesting having this many kids in one house but in many ways its been pretty nice to have another set of hands and some built in playmates around who's mother I know. She's got a vehicle so there's a car here when Tim's at work and in general i'm glad that when I have the baby someone will be around who knows the kids instead of some neighbor or other person who I vaguely know. Last time I tried to get someone to come ahead of time and stay with us so they would be used to how we do things and able to just handle everything when the time came but it didn't work out. Fortunately I had a sister nearby at the time but not so this time. That was one of the things I was wondering how it would work again and I once again have a sister expecting around the same time as me.

This last Saturday we went and got the baby's car seat. I am so excited about it. It is a really nice one, has two head support pillows and a winter cover thing and its a pretty color too. I feel like now I have everything we need ready. There are still some little things i'm picking away at but there always will be I think anyways. Yesterday we found a cradle too and I think its really pretty. So now all thats left is to finish setting up the baby clothes and bottles and bedding and things like that so that everything is ready to use when the time comes.

I'm feeling much more relaxed now than I was before and thanks to some new yoga pants i'm comfier too. I found them in the girls dept and was excited to find out that I could fit into them and they were less expensive than the yoga pants for adults so I got 4 pairs. So far i'm much comfier than if I was wearing jeans.

Another week is flying by and I guess almost over. It doesn't feel like it but I guess i've been super busy and haven't had time to think about what day it is. Probably, the best excuse is that i'm still completely exhausted and still wonder if i'll ever get 8 hours of sleep again in a 24 hour period. I don't care when it happens I just feel like its a forgotten part of my previous life and will probably never happen again.

Last night I took a benadryl and went to bed at 9:30 but I woke up at 3am and lay there watching my toddler breathe until I had to use the bathroom and then I got up and on my way back decided to hop on here since I know I won't sleep anymore anyways. I'm sure its being overtired by now but it just feels like its been so long that its just how its always going to be. I have this panicky feeling that the new baby will come and i'll be up all the time and somehow I have to get sleep now but that makes it harder to sleep not easier.

Feelings of last minute what ifs are also making me feel like I am not hugging my kids enough or doing anything with them enough before the new baby arrives either. I'm so tired though that I just want them to be fed and in bed early every night. And of course there's still organizing projects to be done too that every day keep getting put off. Its not so much because they can't get done but the timing has not been right and every time I start something it seems like someone gets in and starts messing things up more so I shelve the project until later....

Maybe after this post i'll go do some organizing since everyone is sleeping. Haven't thought about doing it super early in the morning before now. Maybe if I got that room done i'd be able to relax and have a nap. I tried yesterday to nap and got kicked repeatedly and then gave up and hung some laundry on the line and called my mom. It was nice to talk to her for a little while and i'm glad that she has had some similar if not more difficult episodes in her life so she isn't totally shocked at the things I am frusterated about but its hard to talk to someone and then have everything stay just as frusterating. I always wish I could talk to someone and then have it all get better right away so I could call them the next day and say that their advice was amazing and i'm all hunky dorie now.

I had a midwife appt yesterday too. They said i'm once again measuring about 2 weeks behind again and have scheduled me for an ultrasound for next week. My goal this week is to get at least a few hours of uninterupted sleep every night and drink lots of water. I'm hoping that if the baby is smaller as long as I keep my fluid levels up they won't want to induce me very early. I am excited to hold this baby but I really won't want it to come early again. I am too busy right now and am hoping that a few more weeks in utero will buy me more time to finish getting ready. But I have a few weeks anyways so its a race to get things in order now.