37 weeks and a doctor update

Yesterday was my weekly doctor appointment. She said I am maybe a little more effaced than last week, but I haven't dilated at all yet so it's hard for them to tell how effaced I am. That was a little disappointing for me. I was hoping for more progress than that, but yet I know it doesn't necessarily mean anything about when the baby will be born. She can still decide to come at any time if she wants.

Here are the 37-week pictures. You can see the baby's room is starting to look better, although it's still not completely ready. But we're getting there.

Pictures from our weekend away

The Nicolin Mansion...

a relaxing place with a nice courtyard garden area and delicious breakfast! Our room
Relaxing on the front porch Friday evening
This picture is for my nieces. We went to a nearby apple orchard for a campfire dinner, and they had lots of horses there for riding. We thought it best not to partake in the sunset horseback rides since I didn't want to give birth on the horse trail.
Jeremy enjoying the yummy campfire dinner

Anniversary weekend adventure

Well we had to take a little detour during our anniversary weekend. Last week I started having periodic vision disturbances and headaches. It happened for the second time on Friday morning as we were getting ready for the day. I also noticed that morning that I wasn't feeling the baby move nearly as much as I usually do. So after breakfast I called the doctor and they said I should come in that afternoon to make sure everything was okay. Praise God it was! While we were at the doctor's office baby was bouncing all over the place. That's the baby I know! :)

Because of the headaches they wanted to rule out preeclampsia. Everything looked good so they said just to take it easy over the weekend and come back on Monday for my regular appointment. Elevated progesterone levels at the end of pregnancy can cause changes in the lenses in your eyes, which can cause vision problems, which can then cause headaches. So that's probably what's going on.

So, on Friday we drove up to Minneapolis to see the doctor and then drove back down to Jordan to continue celebrating our anniversary. I'm glad we hadn't decided to stay somewhere else farther away! And of course very glad that baby is okay!!

Bed & Breakfast w/ Baby

Hello from Jordan, Minnesota! We're enjoying our wedding anniversary a
little early so that we can be ready for baby. As you can see, she's
almost ready to arrive!

Doctor Update

Today was another milestone - from here on out I will be making weekly trips to the doctor to see how things are progressing. I thought I would get in trouble today when I told my doctor that I've been having a lot of contractions, but she wasn't bothered at all. She said I'm far enough along that I really only need to pay attention to the contractions if they start getting painful (signaling real labor). If baby girl were born today the chances are very high that she would be just fine and would not need an extended stay in the hospital, so if I did go into labor today they wouldn't do anything to stop it. So that was good news!

Right now I am 50% effaced, but not dilated at all. The doctor thinks that over the next couple weeks I will be dilating. And since my mom and sister had their babies early my doctor thinks I have a good chance of going early as well. Woohoo! Hopefully not too early though, for baby's sake.

I also went to Target today and bought some things for the hospital bag, so I feel good at having gotten a jump on that. I even pulled out the baby name book last night, so maybe this week we'll give some more thought to what we're naming this little chick. Little by little, we're getting ready!

A budding football fan?

So baby found something at the store the other day that she thought she should have...

Since daddy really likes to watch football (Go Packers!) she thought she'd like to watch with him. When she saw these little football rattles that she can wear on her wrists, she just had to have them. I can just see her and daddy snuggling on the couch watching the games. Cute!

My honey's blog

My honey posted on my blog awhile back saying he was going to start writing on my blog, but then we couldn't ever agree on a background for the shared blog, so he has decided to start his own. :)

You can check it out at http://www.allthingsknew.blogspot.com. I know I'm biased, but I have to say his first post is very well-written.

36 weeks

Yesterday we hit the 8-month mark. Eight down, one to go. Wow!

Baby is getting bigger all the time. A man at church asked me last night if we're having twins. Evidently he thought I was looking quite large! Here's the picture we took when we got home...

For the past two weeks I've been having a lot of contractions. I think I have been having them for many weeks actually, but now they are much more regular and stronger. Not painful, just uncomfortable. I've probably been a bad girl not calling my doctor to talk to her about it, but I have an appointment tomorrow so I'll tell her about it then. Hopefully I'm not in too much trouble.

Here's what babycenter.com says about our baby this week:

Your baby continues to put on weight at about ½ pound each week. This layer of fat will help your baby regulate his body temperature after leaving your climate-controlled womb. In fact, your baby will be 15 percent fat at birth (and you ... well that's another story). Even in the womb, your baby can listen, feel, touch and see. The only thing separating him from living in the outside world is a little thing called the birth canal. Other highlights this week:His gums are firm with ridges that look somewhat like teeth, though his actual pearly whites won't start breaking through until he's between three months and a year old.Your baby has definite patterns of sleep and wakefulness—opening his eyes while awake and closing them while sleeping. Your baby will become alert and turn his head toward light and sound just as a newborn would—except when you put on that Celine Dion CD. Then the baby puts his hands up, turns away and gurgles, "Oh no you didn't!" Your baby is now around 18½ inches long and nearly 6 pounds—just about as big as a breadbox!

There's still so much we "need" to do before she's born - pick out a name, finish setting up her room, write our birth plan, find a pediatrician, pack the hospital bag, etc. etc. etc. Do all new parents feel like this as their due date draws near, or are we the only unprepared ones? I guess these things will all get done sometime so I probably shouldn't worry about it.

I'll try to post again tomorrow or Tuesday to let everyone know if the doctor says that these contractions are actually accomplishing anything.

That hurts!

So for the past week or so I've been having pretty intense back pain off and on. It's not your typical sore back, but more of a sharp, shooting pain along the right side of my spine. And when it's really bad it hurts in the front too, way at the top of my belly. I finally gave in and went to the chiropractor today for an adjustment. It turns out that our busy little bee that loves moving around in mommy's tummy has actually been pushing my ribs out of place to make more room for herself. The chiropractor thinks he'll be able to correct it with another adjustment next week, but as long as baby is inside (as she should be for four more weeks) there are no guarantees. Although the physical pain can wear me down sometimes, I'm trying to remember to be thankful that she's still alive and growing and able to kick around in there. And, Lord willing, before we know it this pregnancy will be over and we'll be able to hold our squirmy little baby in our arms. :)

My baby clothes

My mom came to the baby shower last weekend and her gift to me was a box full of clothes and things that I used when I was a baby. It was really fun to see them, and it will be even more fun to put them on our daughter! These are a few of the items - in the upper left is the dress and bonnet I was baptized in, and the blanket was made by my mom while she was pregnant with me. I loved the gift, and everyone at the shower seemed to really enjoy seeing these things as well. :)

First baby shower

Last Saturday was my first baby shower! It was given by the ladies that I worked with at church, and it was so much fun and such a blessing. Here are just a few of the many gifts they showered us with.

We had brunch, fellowshipped together, talked about the goodness of the Lord, and opened so many wonderful gifts. They spoiled us! Now we've got all sorts of pink clothes and bath towels, and blankies, and socks and booties, and toys, a Boppy pillow, an extra car seat base, and many other great things. The Lord used these ladies to bless us more than we deserve!

34-weeks

I'm 34 weeks today! I don't feel like my belly is much bigger than it was at 32 weeks, but according to my doctor appointment today it has grown since then. Here's what it looks like...

Last Monday we moved into an apartment. These pictures were taken in the baby's room. As you can see, there is still much work to do before we will feel like we are ready for her arrival. Hopefully she holds off long enough for us to clear a space for her!

Here's what babycenter.com says about our baby girl this week:

The soft fur, lanugo, that covered your baby's body for much of her stay in the womb is now almost completely gone. Your baby begins to develop her own immune system, instead of relying solely on antibodies received through the placenta. This will come in handy when some grubby relative manhandles the baby without washing his hands first.This week, your baby measures about 17¾ inches, as almost as long as an American Girl Doll (!) and weighs almost 5 pounds, as heavy as a bag of sugar, minus the cup you put in your decaf this morning.

I also read the other night that at this point the baby's eyes will dilate in response to light. That is astonishing to me!

I guess the other big news is that I'm done working now. I've been home for a week and I'm really enjoying it. I usually get up in the morning with Jeremy, partly so we can do devotions together before he leaves, and partly because after being in bed for eight hours my back usually hurts and I'm hungry. :) Because I never sleep through the night anymore (due to heartburn and potty breaks) after being awake for 2-3 hours I'm ready to go back to bed, so a mid-morning nap seems to be finding it's way into my schedule almost every day. And of course unpacking has kept me busy, and laundry, and making dinner, etc, etc. I was nervous that the days might feel long, but so far that has definitely not been the case. Given the growing list of things I want/need to get done before the baby comes, I'm sure I'll never have a day when there is nothing to do. And then the baby will be here and I'll really never have nothing to do again. :)