Baby Boy Cullen is Here!

Announcing:

Jacob Timothy Cullen

Friday August 15, 2014

2:53 p.m.

10 pounds

22 inches

Jacob needed a little prodding to make his entrance, but he is here!  He is absolutely perfect! We were all shocked he was ten pounds too.  Stay tuned for another post about his journey to his appearance.  

40 weeks

Here we are at 40 weeks.  I thought this day would never come.  It seemed like the first trimester dragged on and on.  Then BAM!  We're at 40 weeks.  I really do enjoy being pregnant, but being THIS pregnant is not meant to last long.  This little guy is very squirmy and I often have body parts poking out of my belly.  Sometimes it hurts too!  

Mom and Dad have arrived and are we are all awaiting the arrival of Baby Boy.  They arrived soon after 39 weeks after we got scared at the doctor's office and requested their arrival.  They have enjoyed spending time with Abby and I know Abby has enjoyed the attention from them.  I have to say too that I've enjoyed the peace of mind they have brought knowing that they'll be here with Abby when Baby Boy does decide to come.  It also doesn't hurt that Mom has taken over the laundry and cooking!  They're spoiling us!

St. John's Festival

Tonight we went to St. John's Festival.  It was a great night and I think Abby had a great time!  We passed by a face painting booth and after pointing it out to her, she was quite adamant that she wanted to get her face painted.  She initially wanted a huge butterfly on her whole face, but with little convincing, we chose balloons on her cheek.

Nama and Papa are in town for the Great Baby Watch 2.0 and so we all had fun enjoying the festival through Abby's eyes.  Of course, there were rides!  Brent and I didn't think Abby would want to ride any of them since she tends to be a bit on the timid side, but after watching a few rides, she decided that she wanted to ride on the swings.  I was nervous that she would be all excited before the ride started and then once it began spinning around and around, she would freak.  We were so mistaken!  Abby loved the spinning swing!  She even rode it a second time!   We were then going to leave and saw the potato sack slide.  She did that slide 2 times too - once with Papa and once with Nama!  She is getting so grown up and independent!  

39 weeks - special edition

After my 39 week appointment today, we shot these photos in case I went into labor.  The doctor seemed to scare me (and Brent too...but certainly me!) that we could have a baby by the day's end.  The doctor said that I was 1-1 1/2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  So after we left the office, we called my parents and told them to get on the road in the morning.  We had night coverage for Abby should something happen in the night and then Mom and Dad could take over when they arrived the following day.  

Update: Nothing happened.  But I did freak out!  Our house is still in a state of transition and has piles of stuff/crap everywhere that needs a home.  We did come home and I put the pedal to the metal!  Brent was shocked and surprised with what I was accomplishing around the house.  I was so freaked out that I fought with Brent over using binder clips or large paper clips.  Yes.  That was what we fought about - obviously had nothing to do with that.  We are laughing about it now days later.  

These pictures are taken in baby boy's nursery.  The blue stripe on the wall will display baby's name - but that will have to be revealed after he is born!  I heard a story of a couple keeping the baby's name a secret, but then displayed his name on the nursery wall.  The couple took pictures and then shared it with other - also sharing the baby's name. We're smarter than that!  

38 weeks

Here we are at 38 weeks.  

Sleeping has been difficult.  I seem to get up 2-3 times per night to go to the bathroom.  And then I have a difficult time falling back asleep.  I have been saying this whole summer that I'm so thankful I'm on summer break and not working while I'm think pregnant.  With my job, I'm wrangling preschoolers, crawling on the floor, getting up and down off the floor and it's just not pretty or sometimes safe to be this pregnant with special needs preschoolers.  

I began a baby hunch on a website so others can guess when this little guy will arrive along with some other fun things - weight, height, time of birth, and first initial (since we're not sharing the name we have chosen).  

If you'd like to play, simply click the link provided below to submit your hunches!

IMPORTANT: The password for this pool is: babyboy

Once you visit the page, click 'Enter New Hunches' to submit your hunches...

          Click Here for Baby Cullen 2.0

http://www.babyhunch.com/poolpage.php?poolid=48abb90008425eb0415912aafc393d83

The Cone

While Daddy is away, the girls will play...and eat ice cream!  

This is a West Chester staple in the summer - The Cone!  Surprisingly, we had yet to be there this summer.  So today when Brent was off in Lima helping his Dad, Abby and I went for a sweet treat!  

36 weeks

Apparently once you hit 36 weeks, that gives people (strangers included) to say such comments as: 

"Boy, when are you due?!"
"You look like you're about to pop!"
"You've got two in there?"
"You look miserable!"

Yes, those are all comments I have received in the past few days.  The last one came from a stranger as I was walking in my neighborhood up a hill.  Yes, I'm probably waddling.  Yes, I'm probably walking slower.  But good gracious!  Let's pick out kinder words to say.  

Heartburn is more prominent than ever.  I barely had any heartburn with Abby, and I've had it on and off with this pregnancy, but now it's kicked into high gear.  It will wake me up in the middle of the night sometimes (like I need another thing waking me up!).  That brings me to my next pregnancy issue - sleeping.  I can't seem to fall asleep as easy I could before and then I wake up seemingly every 3 hours to go pee.  Coincidence for what's to come??  I then have hip pain when I sleep which makes me have to switch from one side to the other more often.  And that's no easy feat in itself.  So, to put it simply, sleeping isn't my favorite.  I tend to nap when Abby naps to at least catch up on lost snoozing from the night before.  

4 more weeks until we get to meet this little guy who loves to kick/punch me in my bladder and pelvic bone.  Abby kicked me up in my ribs, but this little guy likes to kick a little below the belt!  

First Movie Theater Experience

During the summer months, a select few movie theatres offer family friendly movies and they're free!  I've been wanting to take Abby to a movie, but wasn't sure how she'd do and I certainly wasn't going to pay an ungodly amount 'just to see'.  

So Abby and I enjoyed the movies 2 times this summer - We saw Turbo and Horton Hears a Who.  Not new movies by any means, but they were age appropriate.  Abby's attention did not waiver the entire time.  I think there will be more movie theatre experiences in our future.  

Ethan and Stephanie joined us for Horton hears a Who!  They enjoyed munching on popcorn (where butter is an extra charge!).  

Baby Brother's Room Progress

Brent and his dad spent a day to paint Baby's room.  This is the only wall with a stripe.  The other three walls will have a lighter shade of blue on them (you can see in the last photo).  We plan on  putting Baby's name on the wall in the blue stripe - but that's not happening until after he arrives and the name is announced!  You can't get the name out of us that easily!  

Dayton Dragons

Brent won 4 tickets to go to a Dayton Dragons game.  Who are the Dayton Dragons?  I didn't know either.  They're the minor leage team from Dayton.  We invited Brent's buddy Bryan Bueter and his wife, Jen.  This is the picture the guide took of us on the field - a perk with our prize package!  Whew - look at the belly of mine!  

Brent and I dropped Abby off at Aunt Megan and Uncle Kevin's house for the evening while Brent and I enjoyed a night out before baby #2 arrived.  Nothing like going to a summer evening event outside being 34 weeks pregnant!  But it was a gorgeous evening for a ball game! 

With Brent's prize package, we also got a tour of the 'behind the scenes' and got vouchers for food and beverages.  While I didn't watch much of the game or really know who the heck the opposing team was, it was a fun night out!