Meet Our Son

Preston Lee Phelps

We are overjoyed to share the birth of our son, Preston. God has blessed us so immensely with this beautiful baby boy, and we are loving life as new parents! He was born with a full head of dark hair, dark blue eyes, and the cutest button nose. We are so in love and praising God for this precious miracle. 

Things I Want To Remember: 38 Weeks

It's pretty surreal sitting down to write this post. 38 weeks... we made it to term! This will officially be the last pregnancy update I write. We will meet our son this week one way or the other, a fact that we are still wrapping our heads around. I am glad I have these weekly updates to look back on, and overall I am just feeling really grateful. It's been a healthy, mostly uneventful pregnancy, and I couldn't ask for more. Here is what week 38 of pregnancy has looked like!

I had my last doctor's appointment on Monday. We did one last non-stress test to check baby's reactivity since I have extra amniotic fluid, and he looked great as always! I've had to do those twice a week for the past month or so, but I honestly haven't minded at all. Any chance to check on our little guy is a blessing in my book. 

I officially gained 32 pounds this pregnancy. My goal was 30, but I am happy with the way I look and pleased with how my body has been able to carry this baby. I will say, I am looking forward to losing the weight and wearing my old clothes again soon. ;)

Overall, Parker and I feel very at peace about having a c section. Even if I go into labor on my own, we don't really foresee a scenario where I don't have a c section since our son's head and abdomen are measuring so large. We've weighed the pros and cons and prayed about it, and a c section just seems like the safer way to go to keep him from getting stuck. I know a c section is a lot of people's worst nightmare, but that was never me. From day 1, I didn't care how he got here as long as he gets here safely. There are risks either way, but we are praying for a safe and healthy c section for both our son and me. 

Looking back, I can honestly say I loved being pregnant. The first trimester was easily the hardest with the sickness and not having Parker here. The second trimester was the "pregnancy sweet spot" where I wasn't giant, food tasted good, and energy was up. I loved the second trimester! The third trimester has been tough, but I laugh and say God makes the first trimester so hard so you appreciate the second and third. I am ready to not be pregnant, but it's been a blessed journey. 

I still get indigestion after every meal, and I told Parker that I am really looking forward to laying down at night without feeling the need to throw up. 

Lastly, looking back on this pregnancy, there are three highlights that stick out to me:

1. Finding out our baby is healthy. 

2. Finding out we are having a boy. 

3. Parker arriving home safely from deployment at the 30 week mark of pregnancy. 

It may be a few days before I am back on the blog, so feel free to follow me on Instagram (@chelseaphelps11) to see our son's birth announcement! 

Our Last Weekend as a Family of Three

Since the doctors have decided not to let me go past 39 weeks, we are officially meeting our son this week! We have a scheduled c section if he doesn't come on his own, so we went into this past weekend knowing it was our last weekend before our son enters this world. It was a very normal, uneventful weekend (aren't those the best kind?), but I wanted to document it because we really enjoyed every moment. 

I tease Parker about his one track mind all the time, but lately, we both have it. 90% of our conversation this weekend was either "Can you believe we are meeting our son in x number of days or less?" and "This weather is so perfect!". There were some "Isn't Jenny cute?" phrases thrown in there too, but this was pretty much the gist of our weekend. Despite being 30 degrees on Friday, it was in the 60s on Saturday and got up to 80 degrees on Sunday! This is our kind of weather and so uncharacteristic for Virginia in February. We loved it!

Friday night, we went out to a nice dinner to celebrate Parker passing his aircraft commander board. Love this pilot stud of mine! Ruth's Chris is our go-to celebration dinner lately. We are convinced they serve the best steaks in the world! We also went there the night Parker returned from deployment, and our favorite date night of 2016 was a Spring evening in May sitting on the patio of Ruth's Chris. We love it there. 

I have been meaning to go through my box of items we received when we were pregnant with Taylor Grace to see what I wanted to pass along to her brother and what was going to stay hers. I hadn't looked at this stuff since 2014, so it was neat to rediscover it all. Most of the gifts we received were given to us before we knew she was a girl, so they are mostly gender neutral. Excited to see little brother using the things we've had tucked away for so long. :)

Jenny has a new favorite spot in the house, and it's on the faux sheepskin rug we put in the nursery. She's going to be the best little buddy during all of those late night feedings!

Sunday, I took my 38 week picture before church! There's no hiding this bump, but what else is new?

We had a quick lunch at Cheesecake Factory after church and then promptly went on a long walk with Jenny. 80 degrees in February yall! We had the happiest pup!

Sunday afternoon, we started doing our taxes... always a fun time. I guess Parker decided at this point that Jenny's feet were cold? Made me laugh!

Parker's big project for the weekend was making bookshelves for the nursery. They are simple and exactly what I wanted. So grateful for a handy husband who is happy to spend weekends in the garage working on projects. They nursery is officially ready for baby now!

 That was our last weekend as a family of three! 

Things I Want To Remember: Week 37

As I am sitting here typing this, I can't help but wonder if this is the last update I will do. Every night since Monday, I have gone to sleep thinking I am going to go into labor, and every morning, I wake up still pregnant. No idea at this point, but we are ready for this baby when he is ready to come! Here's what week 37 has looked like...

I had an ultrasound this week to check on our sweet little chunk, and all still looks good! He is head down, measuring in at 8 lb 2 oz with his head and abdomen both measuring in the greater than 99th percentile. He is measuring overall in the 93rd percentile. So, to sum up, Mr. Chunky is still chunky. Loved getting to see his sweet features on the ultrasound, and that should be the last one we do before we meet him!

I am still doing twice weekly non-stress tests to measure his reactivity since I am considered poly (this just means I have extra amniotic fluid). He has been a champ on each test, and the doctors usually take me off pretty quickly when they see how well he is doing. 

He seems to get the hiccups a lot lately. He gets them at least once a day and usually a couple of times each day, which is way more than he used to. 

I didn't gain any weight last week, and apparently that caught up to me this week. I gained 5 pounds in one week. I couldn't believe it- that seems high for this stage! He did put on a pound and I have even more fluid than I did, so I'm not concerned, just a little surprised! This brings my total pregnancy weight gain to 31 pounds. 

The doctor stripped my membranes (not fun) at my appointment Monday, and I am dilated to a 3. Does that mean he is going to come soon?? Who knows!

We officially have a date scheduled for a c section if he stays put long enough. If he comes this week, I may try to have him on my own. I know God has the perfect birth plan prepared, so I am trying to stay relaxed and trust that our son will arrive safely. 

Life Lately

Life lately consists of 98% talking about the tiny human growing inside me and 2% normal life. That said, I want to remember these last couple of weeks that are just Parker and me. It's crazy to think that our lives are about to change forever. We can't wait. :) Here's life lately...

We bought a car! Typical cliche thing to do when the husband gets back from deployment, but it was time! We traded in my old car, I took Parker's car because it's still pretty new and the perfect size for a baby, and Parker got a new car. So fun!

Posing one last time with my old car. My parents bought me this car when I was 18, and I had it for 9 great years! It's always nostalgic trading in a car you feel like you experienced so much life with, but on to bigger and better things. :)

We have been trying to do as many date nights as we can before we are on house arrest for the next few months. Wings, pho, and sushi (cooked sushi for me!) have been frequent stops. I don't hate it.

And since it's officially my birth month, I get to pick where we eat/what we do. Basically, that means we get lots and lots of froyo. Parker and I started celebrating birth months when we got married almost 6 years ago, and since I will likely have a baby halfway through mine, I am capitalizing now!

This girl has been the best little buddy as always. She hangs out with me during the day and sits with me in the nursery while I daydream of our little guy. We've had people say "she is going to be such a good big sister!". It's a nice thought, and she definitely won't be a bad sister, but she also isn't going to care one bit about this baby. We expect her to be very unimpressed, as per the usual.

If there were ever a picture that summed up what our evenings look like together, this would be it... hanging out on the floor with the Jen pup. Parker is easily her favorite, but what else is new?

My friends took me out for an early birthday brunch, and I felt so special and loved! This group of girls has become my family out here. They are what makes Virginia home. 

I received this beautiful blanket from one of my sorority sisters (my gran big!), and I couldn't love it more. I draped it over the glider so it's one of the first things I see when I walk into the room. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to wrapping our son up in this blanket. He will always know he has the best guardian angel in Heaven.

That's life lately! It's not glamorous, but we are trying to keep everything as normal as we can before baby comes and life does a 180!

Things I Want To Remember: Week 36

Houston, we are 9 months pregnant! We are also officially having a February baby! I am so excited to share a birth month with our sweet little chunk. 36 weeks feels like a huge milestone, and knowing he could come anytime is both exciting and terrifying. Mostly exciting. ;)

The doctors officially decided they are not going to let me go past 39 weeks. If I make it to 39 weeks, they will either induce or schedule a c-section. Pretty crazy knowing the due date we have been counting down to is definitely not going to be his birthday!

Pelvic pain has been pretty rough this week. I think he has dropped, and we know he is head down, so I think his precious, giant head is crushing my pelvis a little bit. It hurts to walk, but I'm hanging in there and know the pain is temporary and totally worth it. 

I am still doing twice weekly NSTs (non-stress tests) to measure his reactivity. So far, he has been textbook perfect in every one, so that's a praise! I do these tests since I am poly, short for polyhydramnios I think? It just means there is extra amniotic fluid, so they are monitoring me and baby. All is good so far!

He is still a big mover and kicker, which I am really grateful for. Not only do I love feeling him move, but it gives me peace of mind that he's okay. Since I am poly, they tell me to count kicks and make sure I feel 5 in an hour. This will make anyone paranoid, but I don't really have to keep count because he is constantly moving. Thankful for that!

This is random, but my sweet tooth has been out of control lately. I didn't really crave or want sweets too much during the pregnancy, but lately all I want is dessert on dessert on dessert. The other night, I had a cupcake and then spent the next hour thinking about the cupcake and how I wanted another. Pathetic, party of one.

Another random, but I finally reached the point where I have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I know some people have to start getting up multiple times per night in the first trimester, and I was really surprised that I never had to up until now. Baby is sitting nice and comfortably, right on my bladder!

I didn't gain any weight this week (that's a first!), so I am still up 26 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.