Still head down

At our last prenatal appointment our midwife did an ultrasound to confirm that Munch #2 was still head down. This visual confirmation was a huge relief since I had felt her hiccups in different locations leading up to our 39 week appointment. As we approach her Nov. 3 due date, we are hoping she arrives fashionably late, as my varsity girls cross country team is competing in their first state meet on Saturday, Nov. 5 in Eugene. We'll see..... On a separate note, my parents drove into town a couple days ago.  McKinley is already learning new words and phrases from Grampa, such as "holla," "what's up," and "are you ready?"

Still head down!

A trip to the park with Gramma & Grampa.

Yummy blackberries!

Three generations.

Grampa can always make McKinley laugh.

French Prairie Gardens

We visited a pumpkin patch a couple of days ago.  It was a crisp afternoon, but McKinley had a blast looking at the farm animals and chasing Dadda through the hay maze.  The pumpkin patch, itself, was a little lacking in pumpkins, but overall, we had a wonderful time.

Petting the goats.

Where are all the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch?

Going down the hay slide with Dadda.

Racing Dadda through the obstacle course.

Hey there Mr. Alpaca.

Success!

Our external version to flip our baby girl was a success.  The nurse took more time inserting an IV port into my hand than the procedure itself. And after 20 minutes of fetal monitoring and an ultrasound confirming she was still head down, we were free to leave the birthing center.
At my 38 week prenatal appointment today our midwife was confident by feeling my belly that she remained in the favored head down presentation.  Now, the likelihood of her flipping back is possible, but not probable.
On a separate note, I bought some itty bitty rubber bands in attempt to style McKinley's mullet into pigtails.  Another success, however, once her hair dries, the rubber bands easily slide out.  It looked super cute while it lasted.

At the park.

I found some Keen hikers for McKinley at Goodwill....score!

Twinkies in our Sunday dresses.

Post external version.

Piggies!

Playing catch-up

I recently downloaded a bunch of pictures from our new DSLR camera and realized that I have neglected to write about some important happenings from the past month.  For starters, Benji and I both celebrated birthdays in September. For his day, he insisted on grilling himself steak for dinner.  McKinley and I provided dessert, a favorite of his...Daiquiri Ice from Baskin Robbins. For my day, I requested a frappecino and blueberry muffin from Starbucks for breakfast and then Burgerville for dinner.

Besides birthdays, we have been juggling schedules as Benji began a new shift at work and the cross country running season began where I am an assistant coach at Newberg High School. Benji has participated in a few open races during our meets, so it's been fun for McKinley and I to cheer him on.

TRASK MOUNTAIN ASSAULT

Benji and Bruce (head coach)

HOME MEET @ N.H.S.

 CHAMPOEG INVITATIONAL

At the start line.

Doing some last minute strides with Dadda.

Cheering on Dadda at the finish line.

I haven't been nearly as diligent in taking weekly belly photos as when I was pregnant with McKinley.  But here are a few from the past couple weeks. We met with an OB/GYN that specializes in vaginal breech deliveries yesterday because our baby girl still remains head-up....even after all my attempts to flip her.  Before we can determine if I'm a good candidate for a breech delivery, we must exhaust all of our options to turn her.  So, we're scheduling an appointment to have a doctor physically rotate her at the end of this week. 

35 Weeks:

36 weeks:

My belly button has popped out!

Lastly, as I mentioned above, we recently bought a nicer camera than the point-and-shoot we have used since we got married.  I am still learning about all of its features and how to capture better images, but I am having a blast using McKinley as my test subject.  Hopefully I'll have a better understanding of my new toy before Munch #2 gets here.