trying to stay busy

As the days come close to my actual due date, I am becoming VERY impatient. I have been at home on semi bed rest for 30 days now!!!! I had the chance to go back to work half days but it really wasn't going to work out for us with the way our benefits are set up and we all thought Brody would be making his debut sooner rather than later. Last night and today have been by far the worst, I am so tired of being pregnant and have tried EVERYTHING to help this labor process begin. It's even more frustrating that I have so much pre-term and false labor in the weeks before and now everything seems to be going VERY S-L-O-W!!! I know he will come when he is ready but I feel like I am going crazy. My house is clean, his clothes are clean, folded and put away nicely and I even mowed our back field today with the supervision of the hubs of course!

I go to the doctor tomorrow and will hopefully receive an induction date or some good news at least. Until then I just pray for patience and something to keep me busy. Eric has left for work today so it's just me and the pups till he gets home. And to top it all off, I've been waiting on a package from UPS all day too!!

38 weeks

Went to the doctor yesterday for my appointment and it was good and bad. Well bad for me, is all.

- I've gained way more than I ever thought I would ...BAD

- I'm still only 1cm and still have a little thickness in my cervix.... I guess GOOD and BAD

- No talk of induction till 39 weeks...BAD

- The baby looks great.... GOOD!!!

I know he will come when he is ready but mommy is getting impatient and I'm just so ready to have him on the outside.

Let's hope the trainer at the gym has a good post-baby workout plan for me when I get back!

Game time approaching?

I am so behind on this blogging thing. You would think with all the bed rest I have had, blogging would be something I could do more often. However, when you're stuck inside on most days there isn't much excitement going on.

We are nearing the end and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel which hopefully means it will be game time soon. I am so ready to meet this little baby of ours and see how he looks, hear his little sounds and just get to know him on the outside of my tummy. We have had so much false labor it is ridiculous and makes for some LONG sleepless nights. I say WE because poor Eric has had to endure it as well. If I'm up having contractions, he is up with me the entire time. Our four legged child, Jackson also gets up with us during all the fuss. Friday night it went one from about 1:30 - 4:00. It finally settled down after the nurses told me to take a warm bath, drink A LOT of water and lay on my side. I did all of this, got some relief and therefore some more sleep. The next night however was a different story. I got up at 2:00 with the contractions and LOTS LOTS LOTS of pressure. I tried the bath, water side combo again but with no luck. Still contracting and still pressure. So after around three hours, I got up and got ready to go. Once we got in the car, things started to settle down so I got a little frustrated. We continued to the hospital since it did get closer, stronger and so on but upon arrival things slowed down AGAIN!!! I stayed a few hours and was sent back home on bed rest and was able to get some sleep. Yesterday I was very uncomfortable and started showing all those late signs in pregnancy that they say means your labor is approaching soon, so fingers crossed to have a baby soon and very soon!

Hopefully my next post will include a picture of our little boy!

Rest....but not the kind I wanted to welcome

While I was at work yesterday, several people told me I should call my doctor and let them know what had been going on. I waited around because I thought everything I was feeling was normal and part of the pregnancy and so on.

To catch you up, I had been having slight cramps and a lot of pressure in my back. I lost what I thought could be my plug this past weekend ( TMI, I know). I have been extremely swollen and couldn't get it to go down at all, and just didn't feel quite the same as I had been. Sunday, during church and yesterday morning Brody moved like he had never moved before, almost like he was burrowing down in my belly. I joked, saying I thought he was just trying to figure a way out of there. People have mentioned to me they thought I was starting to drop, and it has been a little easier to breathe the past week, but I just figured I was getting close to time, since we only have five weeks left.

Back to calling the doctor. I spoke with Dr. Deeds nurse and she told me I need to head up to

L & D and get checked out just to be on the safe side. I headed up there and they hooked me up to the monitor ( VERY uncomfortable by the way!!). I stayed hooked up to the monitor for what seemed liked an eternity but the baby looked great and no contractions were showing up..good news to me! They then came in and wanted to check me and told me I was 1 cm dilated and my cervix was low. To this moment, I still do not know what it means that my cervix is low. The nurse told me the pressure could just be mild contractions or some back labor that isn't picking up on the monitor. Fine by me, I thought it as all normal anyway since I wasn't actually hurting at all. I didn't want to go get checked out anyway, but did what the office asked me to like a good patient should. I was planning on going back to work and then working the rest of the weeks until Brody decided it was time.

The nurse called my doctors office and the doctor on call said I could go home but on BED REST!! I questioned what I heard because that was the very last thing I had expected to hear. She said for me to go home on bed rest until I was able to see my regular physician. So after my freak out moment and then many more that came when I got home, I went to bed and here I am. Just resting. I'm all about some rest here and there but being forced to rest...not my cup of tea. I called the office this morning and am not able to see my doctor until next Wednesday. Praying when I go back she will let me return to work the next day.

The worst part of the entire thing, besides not having a regular paycheck and having to use the time I had built up for maternity leave is my great friend Amanda is having her little girl on Thursday and I wanted so bad to be there when she had little Emma. I told her I would need lots of updates and pictures.

Failure at Blogging

So I haven't been as good at keeping up with the blogging as I had hoped I would be. So in a quick update here's how things are going...

- passed my glucose tolerance test

- gained more weight than I would have liked but Dr. Deed seems to think things are right on track

- child birthing class this past weekend went well and the best part was the massage sessions given by the husbands

- had another fantastic shower this past week with my work and have two more coming up. We are so blessed with all the wonderful things we have received.

- Dr. Deed says I'm still measuring a week early, so hopefully with that week and the possibility of him coming two weeks early ( I can only hope) we will have a baby in the next four weeks!!

- I feel like I've been nesting on and off the past month and really wish I had some of that motivation right now to get some things done.

- Still working, but 12 hours on your feet doesn't look pretty on this pregnant girl's ankles at the end of the day.

- Brody has the hiccups ALL THE TIME!!!! Its really quite entertaining.

- Nursery is almost finished, just waiting on two canvases I'm having painted for him and it will be complete.

All in all things have been going great. Yes, I can do without the swelling from my knees to my toes but I guess that goes with being over 8 mos pregnant. I have started making my take to the hospital list and call lists so if anyone has a suggestion on what I should pack... please feel free to share!

Hiccups

So I've decided all these random little bursts in my belly are Brody's hiccups. He gets them ALL THE TIME, but I think they are cute. We had our 4D ultrasound last week and have decided that he possibly looks like me in the face but will probably have his Daddy's structure. We are thankful for that too because I'd hate for the little man to be as short as his mommy is!! We know that we can't really tell how it will all turn out just by the images but it was so amazing to see every little detail of his body. I, of course can't stop looking at the pictures of his little face. He is so amazing to me already.

I went back to the doctor last week and had my glucose test and passed with flying colors! They are wanting to check my H/H to make sure I am not becoming anemic. I was supposed to be checked for that on the same day but someone made a mistake in the process and it was not ordered. I will be heading there at some point tomorrow to have it done. The visit with the doctor went great and she says I am still measuring a week ahead so I am technically 31 weeks if you go by the original appointment in January but 32 weeks if you go by all my measurements. 32 weeks sounds so much better to me.

Brody is head down, around 3.5 lbs and around 15inches!! My little baby is growing rapidly!! We got our glider in last weeks as well as a green rug that looks so perfect in his room. I find myself spending A LOT of time in there these days and can't wait till my little man occupies some space as well.

I'll leave you with a picture of me at 31/32 weeks

Pregnancy Survey at 29 weeks

It's been a while since I posted an update so I thought it was probably about that time again. This week was somewhat a rough week because my ankles and feet have been extremely swollen, probably to due to the heat and me not taking it easy for the last week and a half. But I have learned my lesson and will be slowing down just a tad bit here and there. The swelling has finally gone almost completely down as of today but was swollen since last Monday.

Yesterday we had a shower for my friend Amy who is expecting her little girl, Hannah Grace in September. It was so fun and she got some really cute things for Miss Hannah. She will be styling as soon as she comes out, which we are all very excited for.

Things with the pregnancy are moving right along and I am starting my 29th week this week... so very hard to believe.

Pregnancy Survey:

Total Weight gain: At last doctors appointment at I had gained 19.5lbs... YIKES!!

Maternity Clothes: If I wear pants, I have to go with maternity pants and most of the time tops as well. I have been staying in summer dresses a lot as well which aren't maternity but I'm sure people are tired of seeing me wear the same ones over and over( they're just so comfortable though)

Stretch Marks: None yet, but I did have a small scar on my belly from who knows what that has grown a few inches.

Sleep: I still sleep great most of the time. There have been a few nights that I have tossed and turned but for the most part, once I get settled I'm out for the night.

Best Moment This Week: Spending the day with my friend Amanda who is expecting as well and Amy's shower was a fun time.

Movement: I have a lot of movement throughout the day, but only sometimes will it be huge movements at a time. Most of the time they are pretty small but when he starts at it, he really goes all out! I love every little and big movement he makes!

Food Cravings: I'm really craving tea this week, not sure why but I can't get enough. My other cravings this pregnancy have been spicy foods and sweets :( Now we know why the 19.5 pounds!

What I miss: I'm really missing being tan this time of year. I'm a very pale person without the help of some tanning assistance. I was getting airbrushed but now I feel too big to even do so!

Looking forward to: We have our 4D ultrasound scheduled for the 15th and I can't wait to see what this little guy looks like right now.

I'll leave you with two pictures... It's hard to believe how much my body has changed.

29 weeks... I went to this from

this at 16 weeks!!!