39 Weeks

Almost there! Everything is still going great. I'm comfortable and in no hurry, so we're just hanging out enjoying the calm before our lives change. Jory spent TWELVE hours in the yard Saturday and says it is now ready for guests, so Little One is free to arrive at any time. I've gone down to half days at work this week, so I'll have some R&R time (or time to nest) in the afternoons. Overall, there's nothing to report. I have a few more new items to take pictures of and I'll get those on this week.

Some Pictures

You can't see this very well, but it is a baby quilt that Ann made. It has nursery rhymes on it, which you can't read at all in this picture, but it's just adorable. The back of the quilt is white eyelet and I love it. In this picture, the quilt is laying on the brand new carpet that was just installed in Little One's room. YAY! That was the last thing to be done in the room. This is a present to Little One from Jory and I. It's a little tote with a book (The Tale of Peter Rabbit), a stuffed animal and a blanket. It also came with Cheryl & Co Cookies in a CUTE box, but those were for Mama and Daddy. I LOVE Cheryl & Co frosted cut outs and Jory just loves cookies. We'll keep the box for Little One, though. There's a note from us to the baby, too. It's the first real gift we bought our precious child!

Today Jory is outside planting flowers and I'm making and freezing meals for us to eat when Little One arrives. That was something I was wanting to get done but hadn't yet, so I'm glad to have the time this weekend.

As far as the Boy/Girl polling goes, Boy has taken a remarkable lead. This is really because of the Asian Woman, which is crazy, but so many people have jumped ship and believe Little One is a boy. There are a few diehards that thought Boy from the beginning, but not many. There are also some that switched at the end because of the way I'm carrying. In any case, the group voting girl is down to a few members that can't be swayed by Asian Mystics. And, of course, those that believe the Chinese Lunar Calendar over random Asian women in Tyler, Texas.

Doctor Appointment

We went to the doctor this morning and nothing's changed. That's really fine with us. I am comfortable now, so I am enjoying good nights of sleeping and Jory has some more nesting that he'd like to get done before Little One arrives.

The baby's heartbeat was in the 150s today, my blood pressure was 122/64 and my weight did not increase. My swelling has gone down significantly - Praise God! I am still at 35 pounds gained total.

I did - Finally - start having some pre-labor contractions yesterday, so at least my body knows what it's supposed to be doing, it's just taking its time. Those were not painful at all, but they did jolt us into readiness. With nothing happening, we've been lulled asleep at the wheel. Jory took the car seats to the fire station last night to be checked and we both started getting things in order at work to be handed off.

This weekend for the first time in months we have no one visiting us and no plans whatsoever (except for church Sunday morning). So Jory will be taking to his home improvement projects and I'll be catching up on all the reading that's going to teach me what to do with this bundle of joy whenever it chooses to arrive.

Two Weeks Until the Due Date!

So, what is it? A boy or a girl???

38 Weeks

These may be words I eat later, but I really think I can handle being pregnant a little longer at this point. A month ago, not so much! But now, with Little One in a better position, I' m pretty comfortable. I sleep at night and no one lets me do much of anything during the day, so I'm feeling pretty good! Little One is dropping, so I waddle now. It's kind of cute, don't you think? HA! And though I was warned about how "there's no way you can imagine how huge you get in the last few weeks", I am amazed at how huge I'm getting in the last few weeks! Jory and I were discussing last night how we could never have imagined my stomach growing this much! But Little One doesn't have room for the bruising kicks anymore, so I just get to watch him or her move around and it's comforting to know the baby's still so active. So, everything is good and I really am feeling good. I'd be fine having a baby now, but also fine having some more R&R time first, so I'm feeling pretty easy going right now.

In world news, an $838B Stimulus Package was passed to help the economy and Tiger Woods is about to re-enter the world of golf. In really big news (for any of you that have ever helped me move), the world's largest and most awkward treadmill has been moved for the sixth and final time. That's right, we sold the Beast to someone at work and it will be replaced with an elliptical Tuesday. I was really glad to see that thing go.

Doctor Appointment

I am still measuring on target and there is still no effacement or dilation, so Little One seems quite comfortable. Little One IS head down and has moved low enough to be felt without a sonogram. He/she has not dropped, but is moving in the right direction. The baby's heartbeat is in the 140s now.

My blood pressure was 120/70 which is unusually high for me, but the doctor wasn't worried since it is still a normal blood pressure. I am definitely retaining water and the doctor said to put my feet up when I'm home, but other than that I can continue normal activities. My weight is up because of the water, but it didn't bother the doctor. I'm at 35 pounds now, but I SWEAR the last six pounds were water, so can I just stop counting and say I gained about 30???

I did test positive as a carrier for Group B Strep. If you've had a baby, you know what this means. If you haven't, here's a brief synopsis: One in three women test positive as a carrier. Group B Strep will not hurt an adult, but can hurt a baby, so all pregnant women are tested at 37 weeks. If you are a carrier (or you go into labor before you are tested), you will be administered antibiotics during labor to prevent an outbreak of the strep which could be transmitted to your child. Only one in 4,000 babies get the Strep if mom has antibiotics during labor, so there is EXTREMELY little actual risk. It does mean, though, that I have to have antibiotics during labor and that we will have to stay in the hospital an extra day to have the baby monitored to be sure that the strep does not break out. I keep being told that an extra day in the hospital is a GOOD thing - we'll see...

All Hail Billy Joel

Jory and I went to see the musical Movin' Out last night which is set entirely to Billy Joel's music. Two hours of solid Billy Joel music. Little One was more active during those two hours than ever in the last nine months! That's odd because at the end of pregnancy there's supposed to be very little room for a lot of movement. Space did not stop Baby Allen last night - he or she was a dancing machine. By the end of the show, Little One had moved to the center of my stomach (versus under my right ribs) and had become vertical (versus being in a tight ball underneath my ribs)!! I slept so well last night! Now we just have to convince the baby to stay there. I guess if there's migration back to my ribs we'll have to purchase some Billy Joel music...

Full Term!

As of today, I am full term! Baby Allen's due date is only three weeks away. The last resort induction date is four weeks and one day away. Four weeks seems like a long time at this point, but the end is definitely in sight.

We are ready for Little One's arrival! The car seats are in the cars, the room is ready, the diapers are bought and my suitcase is packed. We just need Little One to drop down and get ready to come! So far, there's been little action in that direction. We'll see on Friday if the baby's gotten any closer to making arrival plans.

I've started to retain water which is really irritating. My weight is jumping now and it's definitely water since I have very little room for food at this point. My feet are swollen and that's just so unattractive. My engagement ring had to come off though I'm still holding on to my wedding band for now. I'm up to 33 pounds (a gain of four pounds in two weeks!) with a possibility of four more weeks! Oh well, I can do anything for a month, right???

Lots of Pictures and Some Updates

You may think this is just a picture of the magnolia tree in our backyard. It is not. It is a picture of Winter Storm 2009. This should amuse those of you who live in Ohio, Colorado and Pennsylvania. We had a number of cancellations due to this storm.

See, can't you see all the snow on the roof of our shed?

And look at our deck - it was clearly too dangerous to be out!

Anyway, here I am at 36 weeks pregnant. There is a baby in my ribs and lungs! We had our 36 week appointment this week and it went well, but there was - obviously - no dilation or effacement. Baby Allen is nowhere near making arrival plans! In fact, Little One is so high up that the doctor could not tell for sure if the baby is head down. If it hasn't dropped some by next week's visit, a sonogram will be done to determine whether Little One is breach. There's no reason to believe that's the case, we've just got to find out for sure and Little One is not cooperating at the moment. We figure there's one of two reasons:

1. Little One has his/her dad's personality. He has actually told me several times, "It's got three weeks to drop. Why are you rushing it? What's the hurry?" UGGG!

2. Little One has his/her mom's personality. Wow was I a stubborn child. Thankfully, the Lord has worked a lot of that out of me, but this would definitely have been something I would have pulled just to be contrary.

Other than that, all is well. My weight and blood pressure were good. I am measuring right on for 36 weeks. Little One's heartbeat was in the 120s which totally shot my 'It's a Girl!' philosophy out of the water - maybe the Asian woman was right!

This is a picture of the cake from the Baby Shower that my work threw me! Isn't it cute!? It was the NICEST shower! People were so generous! Jory and I just couldn't believe it!

And, here are a few pictures from Jefferson:
This is the river about 15 miles from Jefferson. We went through the State Park there on our way home Sunday and ate at the Lodge. These are Cypress trees dripping with moss. Very cool.

Here's my husband right before we went to dinner. See the fireplace we had in our room?

This is on the carriage ride we took through town on Saturday. It was very cool and the weather was beautiful!

Tonight we see the Pain Management Nurse again. We will update again soon and will include pictures of the finished nursery - well, ALMOST finished!

All's Well that Ends Well

Last week was an extremely stressful week for both Jory and I. By the time we got to Friday, I was ready to throw in the towel! We had been planning throughout the pregnancy to go on a Babymoon towards the end, and we had decided on a weekend trip to Jefferson for the last weekend in January. That's all I knew and I figured we'd fly by the seats of our pants on the details. I was actually wondering by Friday if we should even go because both of our nerves were completely shot. BUT...my husband won the Wonderful award that day!

My husband had planned the entire babymoon without my knowing and had dinner reservations, a scheduled carriage ride, lunch places, an awesome B&B with the best room ever and a present for me! OH! I LOVE presents and that's how my wonderful weekend started - with a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful new watch to thank me for carrying our baby for nine months. Is that not the sweetest thing? Then we headed to Jefferson and checked into our wonderful B&B and proceeding to have one of the most relaxing weekends in memory. It was wonderful and I am so thankful for it.

I have lots of pictures and we'll post them this week. We have a pretty busy week, though, so it may take a while. We did take my 36 week pregnancy picture to post and I'll try to get that on here tomorrow. Be warned - I am so big!!! :) I guess I'm supposed to be at this point, right? I've gained 31 pounds now and my pregnancy goal was 30-35. With four weeks left to go, I'm not sure how that's gonna work...

We have our last birthing class tonight and our breast feeding class tomorrow. Wednesday is our 36 week doctor's appointment. She'll start checking for dilation, position, etc. I can help her out with the position - the child is still in my ribs and lungs. FOUR people told me Friday that I am carrying really high. Yes. I know. Thank you. I think there may be an arm in my throat. Thursday we get to see our pain management nurse for the last time and then were are in the final days. I'll be full term next week!