Rudy's Thanksgiving and Baby Check up 35 weeks

My Lifetouch memorial necklace with Mason's hair, fingerprint, birthstone and ashes :(

It was a busy Friday for us.  It was extremely cold when I woke up this morning.  The temps had dropped to 39 degrees!! In Florida- that's REAL COLD.  It made it really hard to even get out of bed.  I was able to bribe myself to get up around 6:30 am with the prospect of a warm cup of half caff coffee.  I usually have a routine of checking my Garmin app to see if I got a full 8 hours- Rudy woke me up around 2:30 am and I went in to lay with him- as opposed to letting him sleep with us because there just isnt enough room- especially with my big belly!  My app said all together I got 8.25 hours;
with almost 3 hours of deep sleep!  I read that is the most beneficial sleep and am always curious how much I get each night.

So I got up and tried logging in to check on work stuff and what I had on my calendar for the day.  We had a meeting for the 3 intermediate art teachers at 8:00 am and I had a few welcome calls scheduled but that was about it.

I woke up Rudy around 7:00 am .  Jamey was already up doing a ton of errands around the house since he had just gotten back into town the previous night.  Checking bills, dishes, laundry....etc.  I offered to take Rudy to school to help and he was going to walk our pup Mitsu.  I thought that was a fair trade since it was SO cold!

        The traffic going over the bridge to Panama city is still really congested in the mornings and takes at least 40 minutes to get rudy to school.  I found a cute outfit for him to wear- gray patterned sweater and gray pants from last year - that barely fit him by the way.  He is only 7 but is super tall and skinny.  Another mom at his school commented on how he is as tall as her 10 year old.  Rudy was having a Thanksgiving Luncheon at his school that day at 11:30 and we had made some nutter butter turkeys for his class and I cooked macaroni and cheese since it is really the only Thanksgiving type food that Rudy will actually eat.  So I dropped him off with his turkey cookies and drove home to finish up my meeting and jump on calls.
Jamey schedules Ragna, a sweet lady who comes to clean for us on Friday.  I was hoping to have time before Rudy's thanksgiving event to go over to the clubhouse in our condo complex to walk/jog on the treadmill but 10:30 snuck up so fast and I had to get in the shower instead.  Jamey heated up the macaroni and we headed out just as Ragna and her helper had gotten there.  I hate cleaning and I am terrible at organizing- especially with my ADHD so I really appreciate us having Ragna come each week- but working from home makes it a pain in the butt.  I usually take my laptop and go sit outside- which works out fine on days its not freezing or pouring down rain.  I wonder what we will do when baby Emerson gets here.  She can't very well vacuum while the baby is sleeping!?  I don't think Jamey thinks of these things sometimes.

Rudy's Thanksgiving lunch was really nice.  The owners of the school thanked Jamey for helping and donating time to the remodeling/repairs that were done after the hurricane.  It really was so wonderful of him to offer to donate his and Steve/Caleb's time and materials to help them fix the small 'gym' room of the school.  The food was all great.  I did get teary and sad when I read Rudy's writing - they had to write what they were thankful for this year and he mentioned his brother (bro)  I know he misses him.  Any reminder of him is hard and painful but I have to be strong for Rudy.

After the lunch, we ran home to get some things done and then had to head BACK into Panama city for my 35 week check up.  I will have to go back to the doctor each week now.  We had an ultrasound first to check to see if Emerson had moved from breech to head down and happily she had!  We still couldnt get a good 3D picture of her because her umbilical cord is always in her face and sometimes her hands or feet.  She is weighing around 5 lbs 4 ozs.  And everything looked good.  She has a lot of hair from what we could see.  But her lil face and nose/lips looked smooshed- hopefully she can move and around and be comfortable in there.  The tech said I still have a good amount of amniotic fluid;.  The placenta is still low but not covering my cervix which is good.  I weighed 145 lbs!!!  GOSH!!  - I did have boots and layers on- but geez!!!  I've gained so much weight and now Emerson will be gaining about a half a pound a week!  Ugh.  I still try to be as active as posssible but its getting harder and harder.

The midwife, Amanda, discussed what to do to register for the hospital now that it is back open.  I gave her a copy of my birth plan and told her how hard it was pushing out my other kids because of their huge heads and rudy;s size.
We are really hoping Emerson comes right on her due date- or two days after- the 22nd.  Our last day of school is the 21st- so that would ensure that I am not taking off unnecessary unpaid leave time.  So I hope next week Em has picked up a little weight- I was worried when the midwife told me she is only in the 23rd percentile for size.  I don't want her too big- but want to make sure she is getting all the nutrients and things she needs from the placenta.  I guess that is the reason why they do not like to allow moms to go over their due date by much when they are my age, or over 35.  The placenta may not provide the same amount of blood flow and nutrients. So I am hoping our little girl is big enough- and comes out super healthy and cute- ( no smooshed face!)   Good night!