The last 48 hours.....

Hopefully that is all we have or less until this kiddo gets here. Since to this point she had decided that she is not coming without being evicted, we are scheduled to go to the hospital at 6:30 tomorrow evening to check-in and start on cervidil, which is a medicine that helps to soften your cervix. We'll spend the night and then they will actually start what most people know as induction on Wednesday morning (pitocin and breaking my water), unless the cervidil somehow jump kicks my body into starting contracting itself. So this is our last night sleeping in our house as just the 2 two of us, and probably getting close to a full nights sleep for quite some time.

Today we did some stuff around the house, finalized some last minute planning with taking care of our dog while we are gone for a few days, and then tried to get some Christmas shopping done tonight. We also picked up my birthday gift to Adam for his 30th, which is a new grill. Our current grill is on its last leg and so this one is quite a bit nicer. And since he is the grill master of the house I knew that was something he would enjoy having.

I think our plan for tomorrow is to finish up some random things around the house, finish packing our bag for the hospital (I'm pretty much packed, Adam hasn't packed a thing), probably grab a somewhat early dinner before heading to the hospital, and then try to figure out how to entertain ourselves at the hospital and maybe get a little sleep. Between trying to sleep in a hospital and having our minds racing with the idea we are going to be parents so soon, I don't know how much sleep we will actually get.

And for your viewing pleasure, ha ha ha, this is what 41 weeks pregnant looks like. I think this child had definitely maxed out every square inch of room she has or at least I feel that way.

The things you do while waiting to have a baby

So for the last week we have been trying to occupy ourselves some while waiting for this little lady to get here. Well first of all we both kept working until late this week and I wouldn't have changed that, sitting at home and waiting would have made me crazy antsy. Adam figured out with his vacation, paternity leave, and company shutdown he didn't have to work after Wednesday. I worked until Thursday in the office and then attended an out of office Christmas party, I am now down working until after my Maternity leave, which will mean I won't work again until the 1st of March.

We have gone to the Mall a couple of times, more to walk in a warm place than to shop. Each time we've had store clerks ask if we were shopping or trying to have a baby :) I must have that "I'm about ready to pop" look at this point.

On Thursday Adam went and got our real Christmas tree and we put it up and decorated it and put up a few other decorations, as well as hung all of our stockings over the fireplace. This was the first time in 3 years that we decorated for Christmas. In 2007 we were in he midst of moving into the house and last year it was still such a chaotic mess that we didn't get any Christmas decorating stuff out.

Other than that we have just been kind of doing what we would normally do and not getting too far from home. Although we have been dong more laying around just watching and tv and being lazy then we have done in the last 2 years. I guess it is filling our energy tanks for when this little one comes and we don't know which way is up and what day it is.

Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick....

This is what I feel like, a ticking time bomb, that could go off at anytime but no one knows when that will be. I had my 39 week appointment this last Wednesday at which time I really had made no progress in regard to dilation or effacement. My Dr., um helped me get to 1 cm, just to see if maybe we could get things going a little.

Thursday we were able to have both sides of our immediate families over, as well as, my aunt and uncle from my Dad's side, and had a great Thanksgiving dinner. My mom did a ton all afternoon and then everyone else pitched in so I really didn't have to do much at all. Adam was the Turkey preparer and he did a great job for his first Turkey, it was really good. He also made a homemade apple pie, he enjoys baking much more than I do! I would normally feel compelled that I need to make something but I really didn't at 39+ weeks pregnant. I did mash the 7lbs of potatoes so I guess that was my contribution. I think my mother and mother-in-law were about ready to strap me to the couch to make me sit down and stay, but its just so weird to not help prep stuff, especially when it is at my house.

Yesterday we really didn't do a whole lot, since I can't sleep past 6:00 or 6:30, I got up and did stuff until Adam got up. We then played some Wii bowling and tennis, I'm much better at bowling than tennis, Adam kicks my butt in tennis when he isn't even playing full force. Adam then played about 2 hours of Tiger Woods golf while I took a nap, guess that triptophane (sp?) was kicking in ;) We did have an indication that maybe a little more was going on in the labor department, no contractions or anything, so we decided we would go to the mall if for no other reason than to just walk to see if we could get this party started!! I don't really know that it helped and we didn't buy a darn thing at the mall, good thing we don't get up at 4:00 am with the crazies.

Today I'm pretty much feeling normal and don't really feel like I'm having any contractions or anything. I told Adam we need to go to a movie or something tonight because this sitting around and waiting thing is going to drive me crazy.

So there you have it, pretty much no news, and I guess she still has about 60 hours to get here and still be within the time of her due date and not considered late!!!

It could be a big one!!!

So we have less than a month to go and I had my 36 week appointment yesterday. All is still good in the blood pressure, weight, and position of baby departments. But I am now measuring ahead and enough ahead that my Doctor wants me to have an ultrasound next week to confirm how much is baby and how much is fluid/placenta. If it is as much baby as I'm measuring that would mean they would estimate at least an 8-9 lb baby at birth. I think I can mentally handle a baby in the 8lb range but anything over 9lbs makes me cringe. Guess she might need to wear those newborn clothes very quickly, good thing most of her stuff is 0-3 months and not a ton of newborn clothes:) When I told Adam he first laughed (not nice!!) and then reassured me that it could just be a lot of amniotic fluid and she might not be huge, thanks Honey!

The nice thing about it all is I get to see my little girl next week and I wasn't expecting see her again until she was in my arms, so that part if fun!

On the preparation front I think we have everything at this point that we were wanting to get prior to her arrival. We picked up the carseat last weekend and I think we are going to install it tonight so I can take and get it inspected soon. I put the bouncer together and Adam's co-worker who had twins let us borrow their swing. So we have a bassinet ready to go, a crib ready to go, a bouncer ready to go, and a swing ready to go, hopefully one of the 4 she will want to sleep in, at least that is what we are hoping. This weekend we need to make a Goodwill run to get some "crap" out of the house, do some last minute organizing of the nursery, and I should probably get her diaper bag ready and my bag semi-packed. Anything beyond that will just be bonus that we can accomplish.

And for your viewing pleasure, I'm doing a comparison shot this week:

15 Weeks , 20 Weeks, 27 Weeks

32 Weeks , 36 Weeks

1 Month to go and the Nursery is Nearly Done

Were on the home stretch both with the pregnancy and with completing the nursery, good thing, huh :) So I'll just label pictures and let them speak for themselves.


These need a little straightening up but these shelving units/cabinets were in our kitchen originally. We kept them and then refinished them and painted them white to match the nursery. I think they came out pretty cute and they were really cheap stable hardwood bookshelves.

Here is the nursery as you are looking in from the doorway.

Here is the far wall and we are pretty much done filling the dresser for now, thank goodness we got a decent sized one!

Here is our beloved recliner/glider and the adorable owl pillow my friend Kim gave me at my shower last weekend.

The crib wall with a little decal saying above the crib "Dream on, Dream on, Dream until your Dream comes true."

This is the owl mobile that was my DIY project for the nursery. The little owls are made from socks. I then used an embroidery hoop and wrapped it in ribbon, and used the pink ribbon to attach the owls and attach the mobile to a ceiling hook (basically like a plant hook).

Our last free weekend EVER.....and 32 week belly

This last weekend I had a wonderful time going to Brown County with seven of my girlfriends and renting a cabin. We ate (a lot), fellowshiped, of course talked to the wee hours of the morning, went to downtown Nashville and ate at the Artist Colony, played games, and just enjoyed each others company. Below is a picture of our little group on the deck of our cabin. (Someone please remind me in the future that when pregnant do not be the only one to wear white and be standing sideways in a picture, seriously could I look any larger!!)


And as requested by my brother-in-law (since they are now in Boston), here are a couple of 32 week belly shots.

I keep telling Adam that I don't understand how I'm going to continue to get bigger over the next 8 weeks, there is not room. He just smiles and says, "I don't know but your are going to get bigger," thanks honey! She is definetly a squirmy one lately, I feel like most of the time I'm sitting still my stomach looks like an earthquake is occuring.

Shower #1 and the Nursery

Now its been nearly two weeks, but I had my first shower with mostly my family and several of the family friends we have known over the years. It was great seeing everyone and having our little girl blessed with a lot of people excited to meet her and clothe her :)

You know how everyone knows the "hometown" cake maker in small towns, well one of my aunts knew one, and that cake was delicious.

I'm sure her Daddy was happy that this onesie first of all wasn't pink and that she can wear her gear to cheer on the Boiler basketball team this year. I'm sure there will be bonding time with Daddy, watching games, Mommy will just have to make sure Daddy doesn't get too excited with special cargo in his arms :) I'm not even mentioning football b/c that might require we make it to a Bowl game and... um... yeah that isn't happening.

She did get plenty of "girlie" things including a bunch of adorable dresses one of my aunts found.

And this was all the shower goodies spread out on the nursery floor to try and organize after we got home. As you can tell this kid is really going to be doing without, especially in the clothing department!

And now for the Nursery, taaadaaa it actually looks like one!!! (please ignore the glass cabinet doors on the floor, that is for another project in another part of the house) Adam surprised me this weekend by going and picking up the crib and having it put together by the time I arrived home on Sunday, bonus points for Daddy.

And here is looking from the other side of the room, the crib is a little bare right now but I think everything is going to come together really well. We obviously have bedding to put in, a changer for the top of the chest of drawers, some decorative things for the walls, a couple bookshelves, and curtains to hang. And just in case anyone was wondering that recliner/glider is definitely suitable for naps, I tried it out for a few minutes on Sunday :)

And here is all that stuff that was on the floor in the previous picture actually organized in a closet. We got this organizer from Ikea and it really maximizes the space. We have a few more shelves and stuff to get up but its functional for now. We also need to get the doors painted and hung, I guess the list never ends, does it??