Yesterday was my weekly check up.  My doctor said everything is looking good.  I have definitely dropped…so that is a good sign that the baby is descending into the pelvis.  She reminded me that she is not a little baby…but that it looks like my body will be able to handle it at least at this point.  I am dilated to at least a 2 if not a little more.  She also “stripped some membranes” as an effort to move things along.  That was not very fun…but I survived.  The doctor said I did really good.  She said she cried the first time she had that done to her.  I didn’t have any tears, but Micah was reminded why he shouldn’t give me his entire hand to hold when I am in pain.    Hopefully things are moving along and maybe she will be here before the end of the week.  I just hope that she doesn’t decide to come late.  Thank you for all the prayers and support over the last 9 months…and I continue to ask for your prayers as we wait these last few days.

The ultrasound tech, Bob, was the same guy who did our 20 week ultrasound and she measured big then was surprised that I was measuring small.  Sure enough, she did not disappoint us.  She is still BIG!  He even double checked measurements and according to his calculations she now weighs 7lbs 5 oz.  Wait…..did you catch that?  7lbs and 5oz….we still have 5 weeks till my due date.  The computer did say there was a variance of 17 oz….but that could either direction.  It could make her 6lbs 4 oz or it could make her 8lbs 6oz.  He also stated that according to her measurements that the computer calculated her due date as April 3rd not April 23rd.

Now…I realize that this isn’t an exact science and that many women were told one size and delivered another…but…it definitely brings up my gut feeling that she might come early and possibly even on Easter…which is when we have our big Easter production. As long as my water doesn’t break we should be good…but you never know.

I am getting very anxious, excited and nervous…and I realize every day how much closer she is to being here.

As well as having an ultrasound this morning we also had our car seat installation inspected.  Micah did a fabulous job and we passed with flying colors.  The lady said, “In all the years I have been doing this, I have only seen about 2 installed correctly.  Good job!”  I was proud.

After the car seat inspection we met with the anesthesiologist.  He went over all the preliminary paper work and what my options were when it comes to pain medicines.  He explained how the epidural works and pros and cons.  It was very informational and he was hilarious.  He cracked joke after joke but gave us a lot of information.

After the anesthesiologist appointment we went to meet with our Baby Bound nurse.  She reviewed several things that we learned in our Birthing Class, but covered a lot more detail of afterbirth care, infant care and breastfeeding.  It was very good…and a good refresher before she gets here.  I’m not 100% prepared (I don’t think that is ever possible), but I feel that I at least have a good basic knowledge that will help me face the days ahead.   Please pray that we will be the parent’s God intends for us to be.

Enjoy the pics of our new little one!

Well..on Saturday, February 27th Micah and I set-up the shelving unit and the crib.  The crib took about 3 hours to put together.  We of course ran into some problems.  One of the pieces wasn’t cut correctly so Micah had to be Mr. Fixit.  He took a box cutter and shaved down the piece that was too big and we made it work.  You can’t tell unless you take it apart.  He did a fabulous job!  We also got along fairly well.  We only had one little tiff and it was easily resolved.  So we did really well for being highly hormonal and doing a home improvement project at the same time.

After we finished we just enjoyed the fruit of our labor.  Putting these things together definitely helped me feel better about her coming.  I was starting to get nervous about her coming and us not being ready.  I think they call this the beginning stages of “nesting.” So here are some pics to enjoy.  We have the Before and After of the crib, and shelving unit. We haven’t done much more with the room because we may not be in this house for very long.  We are searching for a house to buy, and hope that it won’t be too long before we move.  I’ll have to post more of her room once we get a house. Also…I have also included my 8 month (32 week) belly pic.  We are definitely growing. 

So…3 weeks later…we had to go to Oxford to the office at the hospital for our appointment.  The same thing happened at this appointment; urine sample, blood pressure and oh yes….the weigh in.  This time…I had gained 10 more lbs in 3 weeks.  At 31 weeks I have now gained 19 lbs total.  I was kind of bummed…but right now it seems like I am still mostly gaining only in my belly.  The doctor was not concerned about the weight gain.  She said especially since I had been so sick in the beginning and had lost weight, this weight gain was not a concern.  Baby girl is definitely growing and keeping active so I hope it is mostly going to her and not me. 

Everything else was going good too…we got to hear her precious little heartbeat and talked about the appointment schedule for the last two months.   Since I am behind in my blogging…my next appointment is this coming Tuesday…March 16th…3 weeks later…and we will see how much I have gained in these 3 weeks.  I hope it is not another 10 lbs. 

We watched a total of 5 videos.  The first was an overview of the stages of labor…and of course it included a natural birth.  The second video was of a birth with an epidural.  This woman was much more relaxed than any of the others.  The third video was of a woman who took Stadol.  The 4th video was of a woman going all natural and the last video was of a C-Section. Most of the videos were okay, and not too bad.  But every once in awhile there would be some horrible image that would just cause you to cringe and grimace.  Micah sat through them but he didn’t actually watch them.  His face turned a little pale a couple times but for the most part he got out his trusty iPhone and text messaged, tweeted and checked email throughout the videos.  I tried to watch as much as possible but I have to admit…every once in a while I would have to turn my head away.

It was an interesting day.  I was very much aware of what is coming.  I know that God created my body to give  birth…but I also know that the fall of man has increased the pain.  It’s very strange to think that desiring to be a mother outweighs the pain that a woman knows she will have to experience.  Watching those women give birth definitely made the pain factor very real, which is very scary.  But, I am comforted to know that God is with me.

The other part of the first class was all about identifying your desires for the birthing room, but the end result is just to have a healthy baby.  I realize that sometimes the plans I make may not happen, so I must be flexible and understanding if plans have to change.  At this point….I am definitely open to an epidural.  I want to try to wait as long as I can, but if the pain becomes too much I will opt for an epidural.  I don’t really want to take any other drugs.  Some women love them, but meds tend to effect me very strongly.  I don’t want to be in a daze when my baby is born.  The first class helped me at least outline some of my wishes and desires and share them with Micah so that he can be my voice if I am unable to communicate due to concentrating on my labor.

The second class was fun.  This class was more about the different positions you can be in during labor and several relaxation techniques to help you during the labor process.  Micah practiced massage on me, helped me breathe and count, offer encouragement and also help me any way that I need him.  It was a really good experience.  We watched some more videos but they weren’t of the births more of the labor.   In this class we also got to practice dressing and swaddling the baby.  Then we talked about proper breastfeeding techniques.  This class was very hands on and very informative.

Both of the classes gave me an overview of what to expect and the procedures of what to do when you go into labor.  Overall, they helped me realize that I knew more than I thought.  I’m not saying that I am prepared, but at least I feel like I have a basic knowledge of what is to come.  I enjoyed these classes and think that every first time parents should definitely take some kind of class to help you prepare for this journey.

After we finished the classes we enjoyed a nice lunch in Oxford, OH.  The first week we went to Micah’s pick….Chipotle.  The second week we enjoyed pizza at LaRosa’s.  They were both really yummy!  (Can you tell I’m prego?  Everything revolves around food.)

She is a very active child.  I feel her move quite often and her little gentle pushes are starting to pack quite a punch.  If you see me whince everyonce in a while it is probably her reminding me that she exists.  I can’t complain…I feel blessed to be having a healthy pregnancy.

Now…if I can just figure out what things to buy for this little one.  There is so much stuff out there, and everyone has their preferences.  I have never been more intimidated in my entire life than I was, walking down the bottle ailse at the store. There are so many to choose from.  So many styles, shapes, colors, brands, sizes, etc. Micah keeps looking at me like I am supposed to know what to get.  I keep telling him…I’m new at this too.   We are learning together. By the way…(side note)…I am so grateful for a loving, supportive and actively involved husband.  He has stood by me every step of this pregnancy and even when he doesn’t understand he still does his part and whatever I ask him to do.  I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband.  I know that even though we have a lot to learn and figure out, we will be fine, because we will do it together.  I love you Micah!

We have lots of upcoming events so there will be a lot more to post in the upcoming days and weeks.  I’ll try to keep you posted on all that is new and interesting.

Third Trimester Begins

The next day, at 1:45 pm we had our Ultrasound.  Our ultrasound techs name was Bob.  We had him for our very first ultrasound here in IN.  He was very nice.  The first shot we got our of baby was the butt, legs and feet.  The kid was laying horizontal across my abdomen.  Even though one of our first images was where we could find out what it was…he didn’t say a word and continued to examine the areas required in this ultrasound.  We saw the 4 chambers of the heart, the brain, legs, arms, profile, abdomen, etc.  When it came time to view the kidneys, spine, etc.  The baby wouldn’t cooperate and turn it’s back towards us so we could see those, due to the kid being stubborn.  (This is not a good sign…I sense a strong willed child coming.)  As we continued looking at all of the parts of our baby’s body…he took some measurements.  Come to find out…our kid is getting even further ahead.  I was at 19 weeks 5 days when we had the ultrasound.  The baby measured at 20 weeks 6 days.  The first ultrasounds the baby was measuring right on time with my due date…but at the last two the kid has measured big.  And…the kid is already weighing at about 14 oz.  Apparently this is also bigger than normal.  If this kid ends up being huge…I’m not going to be happy.

Then, it came time to look for the genitalia.  My prayers were answered because the kid did cooperate for this.  Bob zoomed in really close right in the center of the legs.  He examined it…we stared (we had no idea what we were looking for or what we were actually looking at)!  Then he verified that we wanted to know and he said…

http://chir.ps/2kQ

You can hear the live announcement at the link above.  But….if you can’t wait…..
It was a Girl!!!  Yes we were staring at her labia…to put into technical terms.  Yes…I know….these are not 100%…but it wasn’t like he just didn’t see anything, he specifically described the female anatomy and pointed out everything that we could see.  So…I will keep all my receipts just in case…but at this point I will refer to the baby as a her…unless she comes out otherwise. You can can here the most recent heartbeat at:

http://chir.ps/2kP

You can also see some pics from the ultrasound…one of my favs is of her feet.  They are getting so big.  It was truly a great day!  I was just so glad that we finally knew what the baby’s gender was…I was tired of calling her an it, baby or the kid.  Now… she is our daughter.

Just so you know…we are not telling the name until she gets here…so don’t bother trying to get it out of us. 

Well…here I am…18 weeks along and still growing.  Last Wednesday (the 18th)…I turned the dreaded….30! Ahhh!  Micah so lovingly calls it 20/10.  It makes it sound a little less harsh. And as difficult as the day could have been on me, it didn’t turn out half bad.  The day started with Micah giving me the sweetest card ever.  Then later that morning, Micah had flowers delivered to the house.  They are still beautiful.  Plus…we had choir practice and church, which is always awesome. So the day was going really well and I wasn’t struggling with the whole 30 thing as much as I thought I would.

But, the best birthday gift came during the week of my birthday.  I started feeling the baby move.  I knew I was hitting the time period when I started feeling the baby move…but I wasn’t sure that all of the twinges I had experienced were the baby or my abdomen expanding.  So…I laid really still one night and placed my hands on my lower tummy.  There it was…a little pushes from the inside out.   I wasn’t sure that I had actually felt it or if I was just imagining it…so I laid with my hands on my tummy for awhile and sure enough…it moved again!  It was very exciting…I told Micah, and he was excited too…but I wasn’t sure they were big enough pushes that he could feel yet.  I have to admit it is a very bizarre feeling at times.  It is very cool…but yet at the same time a little freaky.

The day after my birthday, we drove to Richmond, IN for dinner.  We ate at Red Lobster…mmm…it was yummy!  Got love the cheddar biscuits!  (This had also been one of the first weeks that I didn’t feel constant nausea….Happy Birthday to  me!)  After dinner we went to the hospital to visit a lady from church…due to the flu epidemics I decided to stay in the car just in case.  As I sat in the car…all of a sudden I felt 3 big pushes on my stomach.  It was pretty cool.  That was the first time that I really felt the baby without my hands resting on my stomach.  As exciting as this is now…I know later….this may be painful as this kiddo grows in my tummy.  The thing that I love most about feeling the baby…is that it reassures me that the baby is okay every time I feel the kid.  The further I make it in this pregnancy, the more I remember our little boy who awaits us in Heaven.  I am so grateful, that this pregnancy is going so well…and God willing I will see and hold this baby in my arms.

Okay…on to the cool part.  I was amazed today!  First of all…the baby has grown and changed so much even in just 4 weeks. It is actually starting to look like a baby, well sometimes….in some angles it definitely looked like an alien or a skeleton…but it was so cool.  The ultrasound tech spent a lot of time examining the organs and features of the baby.  We got to see it’s brain (which Micah was really excited about since he used to teach Psychology), it’s arms, hands, legs, stomach, spine and even it’s little tiny pumping heart.  It was so cool!  At one point in time the baby had it’s little hand up by it’s face, resting on it’s forehead.  It was so cute.  We did get to catch a couple little shots of it’s profile…the little tiny nose and mouth were such a neat thing to see.  I am just amazed at all that we saw today and I am amazed that all of THAT is happening inside of me.  To be perfectly honest…it’s all a little weird.

The tech also informed us that I have a posterior placenta which just means that my placenta is towards the back…which means that I will probably feel the baby moving soon.  She said if the placenta is in the front you have to wait longer to feel the baby.  I thought that was pretty awesome too.

The only other interesting piece of info was that I am supposed to be 13 weeks 5 days….however….this little one is measuring at 14 weeks 2 days.  The little stinker is getting big.  The tech explained that this is totally normal, but all I know is that I was only 6 lbs 8 oz. However Micah was 10lbs, 14 oz…if this kid ends up being like daddy…I am not going to be a happy camper. 

Well…today was very exciting for us.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue this journey through pregnancy, delivery and parenthood.  As the song says…”We’ve Only Just Begun.”

Please enjoy the pics.  The baby’s heart beat can be heard at

http://chir.ps/1JB

This time the heart beat was only at 152 beats so…not as fast as it has been….maybe it isn’t a girl.  We’ll see in about 6 weeks.

The baby's profile.

See it's hand resting on it's head

another capture of the precious little face