Baby Boy, Pregnancy Update

I am nearly 35 weeks. That is craziness. It's about time to write about Baby #3. My official due date is May 3rd. Because this little man will be arriving via c-section like his other siblings, he's scheduled to debut on April 26th. So as long as my fluid holds out, that's the day we'll meet him. However, due to the fact that both Jackson and Clara were emergency c-sections (not like, drop everything and run to the O.R. without an epidural emergency. More like, you're having your baby right now let's get this party started emergency), we'll see how long this little guy lasts in utero. My fluid is already being monitored at every doctor's appointment. So far, it has held strong at a normal level. We'll see what it looks like on Thursday at my next appointment.

So far this pregnancy has been pretty different from the others. Is it always like that, I wonder? Is every pregnancy unique? I don't know. But here's how baby #3 has differed from the others:

*I stopped being sick at 16 weeks! This was a great change. With Jackson, I was 24 and with Clara, 30. 16 was fantastic. Hallelujah to that.

*Baby Boy is head down. Isn't that ironic after two C-sections? Ha. A little bit. But that's okay. I'm at peace C-sections.

*This baby is a MOVER. Like he hardly stops moving. Perhaps Baby #3 being head down allows him to be more mobile. My stomach is constantly rippling and rolling. Troy's actually been able to feel this guy kick. (Something that didn't really happen with either of the other two.) Jackson's felt him kick too. Jackson LOVED that.

*Perhaps my memory is just poor on this subject, but I'm feeling much bigger much earlier this time. I am rather uncomfortable and I can't sleep well. I feel like I toss and turn all night. I also have an embarrassingly hard time getting up from the couch. Trust me. It's not pretty. Ha. With both of the other two, I never felt like I was so uncomfortable that I was ready to be done with pregnancy. This time, I'm feeling like I could get there time. Let's be honest, I'm already feeling like that now. Ha.

Not everything is different this time though. Troy and I still are having a hard time with a name. Right now we've got it narrowed down to Max or Gray. We go back and forth a lot. Right now, we're tired of both of them and so have stopped discussing it. We did that with both of the other two as well. Chances are the little man won't have a name until after he's born and gone nameless in the hospital for a day. That's our M.O. ;)

Despite being uncomfortable and sleep deprived, I'm getting pretty excited to meet this little boy of ours. And I'm excited to have a brand new little baby to hold and cuddle. I'm worried about how Clara will react to the new baby. Mostly because I won't be able to pick her up for six weeks. But, I'm sure things will work out on that front and I feel like this little guy is going to fit right in with our little family. Hooray for new babies!

16 week ultrasound confirming we had a boy in there.

22 week ultrasound. We had to split up the 16 and 22 ultrasounds because the little guy wouldn't cooperate and they couldn't get all the images they needed. This little man does NOT like to be photographed. He always has his hands and perhaps a foot in front of his face.

 

30 Week 3-D ultrasound. We couldn't get great pictures of his little face since there was a piece of cord there that blurred his nose in these two photos. Despite that, he has one cute yawn!

This one printed crooked for some reason. Don't mind the blurred face again, but this one totally looks like Jackson to me. It seems the Bushman genes are holding strong for baby #3 as well. Good thing our kids are cute. ;) Can't wait to meet this little guy.

It's a Match!

"It's a Match!" Jackson loves to yell that with killer enthusiasm every time we play the memory game. Turns out the phrase works for match day too.  On the morning of March 15th we waited anxiously for our email to come in telling us where we were headed for residency. I didn't sleep well the night before because I could hardly stand it. We made a big breakfast that morning to help pass the time. And then we waited... and waited... and waited. And it felt like maybe 10 a.m. would never come. I exaggerate, but seriously it felt like it took forever.

Troy and I kept calling out to each other how much time was left. "T-minus two hours!" "One hour, 5 minutes!" At 9:55 I yelled out "5 minutes!" and joined Troy on the back patio where Clara had just learned to walk in her walker. (Very exciting accomplishment. She was cruising the whole length of the house like a pro.) Then Troy's phone buzzed indicating he'd just gotten an email. He looked at his phone and then flashed me a nervous smile, "This is it!" We crowded around his phone to read the verdict. I think I was holding my breath. And there it was:

Congratulations, you have matched!
       Program Code: 1758999P0
       Program Name: Transitional
   Institution Name: Providence Sacred Heart Med Ctr-WA
       Program Code: 1732340A0
       Program Name: Phys Medicine & Rehab
   Institution Name: U Utah Affil Hospitals

 We'll be in Spokane, Washington for the first year of residency and then we'll head to Salt Lake City to do the remaining three years at the University of Utah. Hooray! I literally cheered out loud and jumped up and down. We couldn't be happier with the residency programs we matched to. We feel very blessed as we got our first choice for both programs. It feels so good to know where we are going. The fact that we'll be headed back to Utah and family in a year makes it all the better. We feel Troy will receive an excellent education at both hospitals. So much hard work and time dedicated to one email. Hooray for match day!

Jackson and Clara displaying our future moves on the map.

Lindsay Visit

The day we got back from our San Diego adventure, Aunt Lindsay came into town to play. Lucky us! We had such a fun time. We crafted. We hit up the pool a couple times. We went to a spring training practice. Linds and I went out to lunch one day! (Yay! :) And on match day, Lindsay treated us to lunch at Johnny Rockets. What an awesome sister/sister-in-law/aunt she is! Linds, we are so glad you came to visit. Please, come again soon. :)

Grandma Barneck sent new swimming suits for Clara and Jackson with Lindsay. Don't they both look so cute?! That Grandma Barneck, she knows what she's doing. ;)

Spring Training with the Martin crew. James and Chelsey Clegg, Me & Clara, Lindsay, and Chelsea Martin. (You can see Jackson on the big baseball behind us. :)

One night when we were making dinner, Jackson completely fell asleep and then wouldn't wake up to eat. He sat on my lap and ate chips and dip in a semi-coherent state. He fell back asleep between almost every bite. Ha!

San Diego Celebration 2013

In honor of graduation, we were able to spend a lovely weekend in San Diego with some of our closest 4th year buddies. We had a blast. I'm so glad the stars aligned and all of us were able to get away on the same weekend. So here are a million few vacation photos. :)

San Diego is only a short 5 hour drive. Why, oh why, have we not been visiting yearly during our time in Arizona?! The kids did great during the drive and we got to pass by this windmill city for the first time. Jackson thought they were so cool. We even saw a semi hauling one of the blades. One large oversized semi load= ONE blade. Crazy how big these things are!

The house we rented was in picture perfect La Jolla, just two minutes from this beach. We arrived on Saturday, March 9th. The first item of business upon arrival was to check out the ocean. It was rather chilly that day, so we stayed in our clothes and just enjoyed the loveliness. Clara and Jackson were so excited to be out of their carseats.

Jackson was loving collecting seashells. He picked up pretty much every seashell he saw until his pockets literally couldn't hold one more. You can see how much those little pockets are bulging here. They held more than I thought they would!

{Church Happenings}
On Sunday, we went to church together. It just so happened that our buddies the Ashbys knew which ward Mitt and Ann Romney attend when they visit their La Jolla Vacation home. We'd heard Mitt had been spending time in California. So we went to church there. We were not disappointed! Troy shook Mitt's hand and I said a timid hello before he and Ann headed off to Sunday school. We were pretty star struck. It was surreal seeing them in person. And Troy was pretty sure his dreams had all come true. He told everyone later that day that the vacation had been a success and he would feel okay about heading home after that high note. Ha!

As a bonus that Sunday, we met two sweet families who had sons with Down syndrome. One of them passed the sacrament and then shook all of our hands on his way back to his seat. He was more into shaking the guys' hands though, he seemed a little disappointed when I put out my hand for a shake. Ha! The other family had the sweetest blond 4 year old boy. It's funny how there's an instant bond between families who have a Down syndrome child. We were complete strangers and yet we were visiting and talking like friends. And both moms took turns holding and squeezing Clara. So fun. It was a banner Sacrament meeting, I tell you!

Unfortunately, once we all made it back to our cars, the Serafine's car wouldn't start. So then we had an adventure to the auto parts store to replace a battery cord. How cute is little Connor Tefteller helping the dads fix the car in the pictures below? Love it.

Our beach house had a big open room that was perfect for visiting and playing. All the boys took advantage of that and got in some good playtime.

{San Diego Temple}
That afternoon, the Teftellers accompanied us on a San Diego Temple visit. Such a beautiful place!

Troy was a big fan of the temple lawn. Ha. 

Jackson pretending to be a pirate during the picture...you can see the hook and the eye patch if you look closely. Silly boy.

Jackson, with Connor and Luke Tefteller.

At some point the little boys decided it would be great fun to roll down the hill by the temple. It was quite the steep hill. Jackson got so dizzy he threw up, but that didn't stop him from getting back up and going at it again. Then he got running and nearly killed himself on a cement barrier before he ran into the fence. Scariness.

Clara was a happy girl all bundled up in her stroller. The breeze was a little chilly but she had her awesome velvet sweatsuit on so she cuddled up and went to sleep. ;)

Family temple picture. (Don't mind how huge my belly looks....)

{Playing in the Park}

We spent some time playing at the park that evening. So pretty and relaxing. The boys ran out some energy and the girls got to visit. It was a win-win.

{Match/Beach Day}
Monday morning we waited around for a very important email. The Serafines and the Ashbys had already matched to their residency programs, but the Teftellers were still waiting for MD match day like us. We took turns checking Troy's email and the NRMP website. The info came in at 8:59, one minute ahead of schedule. We matched! Phew.  (We had to wait until that Friday to find out where we matched though.) That made it possible to enjoy the rest of our day at the beach.

Our day at the beach was pretty fabulous. Clara was in LOVE with her first time playing in the sand. The girl was basically swimming in it. She was COVERED. And she was so happy. It must have been good therapy because after spending a couple hours playing in it, she grabbed on to my beach chair and pulled herself to standing position--on her own-- for the first time! That was a happy moment. Hooray for Clara!

Sam, Connor and Jackson burying each other in the sand.

Johnny, Matt and Troy played some air baseball. Johnny forgot his mitt, so he improvised with an air bat. Ha.

At some point the boys decided they should have a footrace. Here they are scoping out the terrain.

Racing.

The finish line.

Troy giving Jackson boogie board rides.

Boogie boarding. One of these times we'll make it to the ocean when I'm not pregnant so I can join in too.

Clara oh so proud of herself for standing up on her own.

Hot tubing to warm up after the beach.

Clara hanging out with her buddy Mason Serafine.

Jackson was a big Mason fan as well. He kept saying that Mason was a boy and that our new baby will be a boy too. He is so excited to meet his little brother.

That night we decided to have a 2nd dinner of authentic yummy tacos. Delicious.

{Parting Photos}
It was sad to see our lovely weekend go! We had such a good time. We have been so lucky to have such good friends throughout medical school. It will be sad to say goodbye to them in a few months. Below you can see pictures of the wives, me and Megan (who will deliver babies about one week apart here soon) and all the kiddos. Once again, Clara was the only girl. Someone said it looked like a group date for the bachelorette. Ha! That's about right. You can see how excited Miss Clara was to be on the couch with all those boys.

Megan Tefteller, Heather Ashby, me and Stacy Serafine.

The May 2013 babies. :)

Mason and Graham Serafine. Luke and Connor Tefteller. Clara and Jackson. James Ashby.