Not Today

I have decided that our baby girl may not arrive today.  Today is my cousin's birthday, and I think our little girl needs to have her own day and not share with someone.  So I have informed her that she needs to stay put until at least tomorrow.  That's not to say that we can't get the labor ball rolling today.  ;)  Michael and I are planning on going (back) to the zoo today and walking around for quite a while to encourage contractions to start and gravity to pull her farther down into my pelvis.  Hoping this begins to move things along.  Fingers crossed that by late this evening we will be checking into the birthcare center and will have our baby girl in our arms sometime tomorrow.  ;)  We will just have to wait and see.  :)  Another reason I don't want our little girl to arrive today is because we are so close to October!  I am only 16 hours away from getting my October baby, so I'd like her to hang on at least that long.  ;)  Based on the fact that she hasn't seemed to drop anymore and I haven't had any contractions in a while, I don't think I need to worry too much about her coming today.  :P  I just hope that once we finally make it to October, that she doesn't dawdle too long.  I'm ready to meet my sweet baby girl!  :)  I'll keep you informed if we have any new developments.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!  :)  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Judging

I judge people who use improper grammar.  Sorry.  I was on a baby board reading and saw someone wrote "Are angle was born today."  Really irks me.  When I see things like that I think, you should not be a parent if you don't know the difference between 'are' and 'our' or 'angle' and 'angel'.  They don't even sound the same!  I understand the angel misspelling a little more...  But are (R) (Arrrr) and our (hour) don't sound the same!  Get it right people!  Ugh!!!

Under a Week!!!

We only have 6 days before our little girl is due!  It's so crazy!  Here are some snippits of my thoughts and feelings on this and on our day:

Can't believe it's less than a week until her due date!  If she doesn't get here by that day, we may talk to our doctor about inducing that day.

Today we met Sis and Adam at the zoo and walked around for a while.  We're going to go again tomorrow (just Michael and I) and walk around more, trying to get labor started.

No K-State game this weekend.  It's really throwing off my Saturday.  Wish Baylor could have pulled it out.  Michael thinks West Virginia will be our biggest challenge in winning the Big 12 this year.

Puppies are doing so well, even though we don't have a fence.  Almost every time we let them out they go right out and use the bathroom.  Sometimes I don't have to tie them up at all.  Very proud of them.  :)

Bought black out curtains for the nursery.  Hopefully this will help her sleep longer and nap during the day.  We're going to try to train her to always sleep in her crib.  :)  Will see how that goes.

Excited to meet our baby girl.  :)  Hoping to see her soon.  My doctor told me at the last appointment that if I was at 5cm or more he'd tell me to go check in...  Our next (and hopefully last) appointment is Tuesday.  We'll see...

Going to Grandma and Grandpa Heorman's for dinner tonight.  Going to bring the puppies with us.  I like that they like our girls coming over.  They don't see them as a nuisance and I appreciate that.

Well, that's about all I have.  Have a lovely Saturday!  :D

Maybe Today...

My contractions are definitely more intense.  They have been happening throughout the night.  They started around 10:30pm, but were not very frequent, probably only once every hour to hour and a half.  Around 5am they picked up a little and have been coming a bit more frequently.  I don't know how frequently because I haven't been timing them, but I've had several more of them between 5am and now (7:30am) than I did previously in the night.  Guess I'll just have to wait and see now.  I've got a list of things to do to keep me busy, occupied, and on my feet today, so we'll see how the day goes.  Maybe today is her day...

Happy Friday!  :D

Good Morning World

2am and my phone just woke me up.  Urgh.  Oh well, I'll have time to rest today if I need to.  Hoping our little girl decides to make her enterance today.  Have had a couple really good contractions tonight, since about 10:30pm.  The kind the wake me up hurting.  Obviously not too close together as I've been able to go back to sleep, but good contractions none-the-less.  Here's hoping the weekend brings our little girl.  :).  Will just have to keep myself plenty busy today to keep encouraging her.  ;).  Maybe today...

We hit 39 weeks today.  :).  Almost done.  I will meeting my daughter very soon.  :).  How cool is that??  :D

Crummy Day

I try not to complain much.  But today I'm going to complain.  I've had a headache all day.  The good men and women over at McConnell Air Force Base are not helping me today.  They are apparently having an air show today.  Planes have been flying over our house for over an hour now.  Every 3-5 minutes another freakin' plane goes over.  They will not stop.  It's annoying and I don't want to listen to it anymore.

I tried to schedule my massage today.  I have been trying to schedule it for over a week now.  Well now that I'm off work I am trying again to get it scheduled.  But when I called them today they told me they were all booked up and wouldn't schedule me within 2 weeks of my due date anyway.  That's frustrating to hear.  I have been waiting until the end of the pregnancy for this massage, and now I can't get it.  I hate that.  Because it seems like this is the perfect time, and after the baby comes, getting my massage will be infinitely more difficult.  Just very frustrating.

We are 8 days away from our due date now.  I'm ready for her to be here.  I don't have much really left to do on the house or in preparation for her to get here.  So I'm just sitting around waiting.  Guess I should have just kept working.  Maybe tomorrow will be her day.

8 Days Left

Good morning.  In case you were wondering, I'm still pregnant.  :P  I had some contractions yesterday.  For a while they got to be pretty consistent.  The problem was that they were never intense enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.  I did a lot of walking yesterday (even though it got rather exhausting), and think that had a lot to do with having the contractions later in the day.  The contractions slowed and stopped over night.  *rats!*  Now we're down to 8 days until her due date.  We'll see what today brings.  :)

9 Days Left, No News

Well, I was hoping something would begin to happen last night, but no luck.  The contractions slowed down and never got painful.  Hopefully as I do some cleaning, laundry, and look for a swing today it will jumpstart the process.  ;)  I think our little girl wants to be an October baby after all...  That's fine with me.  I'm anxious to see her and hold her, but I don't want to rush or stress her either.  So if that means she's not here until next week, that will be ok.  What's exciting is that we are down to single digits until her due date!  Only 9 days left!  It's crazy that she's so close to being here!  I remember getting on the Bump at one point and my countdown being at 240 days!  We've come an aweful long way!  All this hard work is about to pay off.  :)  Michael and I are so excited for our baby girl to get here.  :)  I just can't believe how soon her arrival is coming up!  :)  Exciting stuff!  :D  I'll keep you informed if anything changes, but as of now, no baby and no signs of her arriving today.  The weather is wonderful though, so go out there and enjoy your Wednesday!  :D

38 Week Appointment Details

Well, I've had a couple people ask, so I guess I'll post the details of the appointment today.  Our baby girl had a nice healthy heartbeat of 144 bpm.  My blood pressure is still good and very well within the normal range.  This is excellent news that keeps my platelets from being as much of an issue.  We had blood drawn again to check the platelet counts again.  We will get the results tomorrow.  The frustrating news is that this past week we did not make any progression as far as dilation and effacement.  :(  I'm still at 3cm and 70% effaced.  Our baby girl is still in the -2 position and (much as I was sure she had) has not dropped down any farther into my pelvis.  Rats!  I told my doctor I would like to keep things moving along, so he stripped my membranes, seperating the amniotic sack from the uterine wall.  This can induce contractions which can bring on labor.  Here's hoping that it actually works.  He also took me off of work.  This is good news for me.  I'll be able to rest and not be worn out from work when labor does start and the hard part begins.  It will also help keep my blood pressure down, which will continue to keep my platelet count from being a problem.  It's not such good news for work.  With our assistant manager on vacation this week and me not returning to work they are down to 3 people on the schedule to finish off this week.  Luckily, when Danielle gets back from vacation they have a new girl starting, so the schedule shouldn't be quite so difficult.  And with me leaving early, I will be gone until after Thanksgiving.  I have the next 9 weeks to wait for my baby girl to arrive and then spend all of my time getting to know her.  :)  Can't wait!  Hopefully she'll be here soon.  :)

10 (ish) days left, and still no baby...

I know all Mamas get impatient towards the end of their pregnancies.  The later in your term you get, the larger you get, which can make things difficult and uncomfortable.  When you hit that 37 week mark the baby is fully formed and all organ systems are developed for life on the outside, and yet they stay put.  I have enjoyed my pregnancy tremendously.  :)  I love taking pictures of my belly and capturing all these sweet moments as our little girl grows and develops inside of me.  But now that we are so close to the end, I'm just ready to see her and to have her in my arms.  :)  Maybe today will be her day.  :)

I woke up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break.  I was having a lot of crampy-like pain.  I thought it might have been contractions and paid attention to the pain when I got back to bed.  But it must not have been so bad, because I was able to fall asleep again.  It's frustrating not knowing what actual labor is going to feel like.  Every twinge I feel I wonder if it's time yet.  Only to continue throughout my day and have no baby at the end of it.  But she will be here soon, I'm sure of it.  Because even if she does go past her due date (Heaven forbid!), they won't let me go any farther than a week past, which puts us at 17 days TOPS!  I just hope I actually go into labor and don't have to be induced, because I really want to deliver at the Birthcare Center.  We will just have to wait and see what our little munchkin decides.  ;)

We have another doctor's appointment today!  :)  I look forward to them every week!  :)  I almost wish we could have them twice a week!  Not that the exam is particularly fun, but I love finding out how we're progressing, hearing her heartbeat, and knowing that each appointment is just one step closer to our little girl getting here.  I'm hoping that I've progressed enough at this appointment that my doctor advises me to go ahead and check in and stay.  :P  Not sure that this will actually happen, but hey, a girl can dream, can't she?  If nothing else, maybe I can get a prediction out of him on when he thinks she might be ready to arrive...  We'll see.  I know it works better for Michael to have our appointments in the afternoon so that he can just leave work a little early and meet me over there, but it's tough for me to be patient and wait all day for the appointment time to come.  :P

Michael got me a gift certificate for a massage for our anniversary!  I haven't used it yet because I was waiting for the end of the pregnancy when I was truly tired and sore to use it.  Well, I've been trying for more than a week now to get an appointment scheduled.  But between my work schedule and the massage place having people out because of weddings or sickness, it just hasn't worked out.  *sigh*  But I'm still hopeful that today I'll be able to get in and get my massage.  :)  That would definitely be a nice way to spend my day.  Especially since I have to go to work later today after my doctor's appointment.  (Ugh)

Michael and I are a little conflicted at the moment on what to spend some money on.  We really need a fence for the dogs.  We've been meaning to get one installed since we moved into the house.  But at the same time, as we've just moved our furniture upstairs, we also need some furniture for the basement.  We went furniture shopping on Sunday and found a sectional that we really like.  But we don't really want to stretch ourselves too thin, especially before the baby gets here, because we'll also have medical bills that we'll be needing to pay soon.  So please keep us in your prayers as we sift through some financial decisions.  We like to be good stewards of our money and not get ourselves in over our heads.  It's just going to take some more time and thought.

Alright, that's more than enough for this morning.  Hopefully our baby will come today.  :)  Time will tell.  ;)  Happy Tuesday!

Monday Thoughts

I remember when I was teaching, I always dreaded Mondays.  The start of the week after a weekend away was always the most difficult day of the week to get the kids back into gear for learning.  Now that I'm not teaching anymore, Mondays don't bother me so much.  I don't get designated weekends anymore anyway.  In retail you work when people have time to shop, specifically in the evenings and weekends, because more people are around then.  I also noticed this year that I didn't dread the coming of August, like I have in the past.  Just like Mondays, after having 2 months off, the start of the school year can be rough.  It takes a lot of time and patience to build rapport with the new students and allow them to get a good handle on the classroom rules and the way that I wanted them to behave in my room.  But this year, August was no big deal.  I loved teaching.  I loved my students and my coworkers.  I didn't always love my administration who wouldn't stand behind me and back me up.  I didn't love being so concerned with NCLB that we didn't get to teach social studies or writing.  Our education system needs a rehaul.  I hope that things will get better and that my daughter will receive a rounded education and not one based to tested standards.  If being a teacher has taught me nothing else, it taught me how to be a good parent.  And I intend to make sure that my daughter gets a great deal of learning done at home as well as at school.  :)  I can't wait!  :)

Michael and I decided that we are going to be the uncool aunt and uncle who give books for Christmas.  :P  We'll be sure to give our nieces and nephews other things as well, but we'll make sure that a book is always part of the gift.  I guess there are worse things in life that we could be.  ;)  On Pinterest I saw a "gift-giving guide for our kids" and decided to adopt the motto as my own.  :)  The motto went like this: "One they want, one they need, one they wear, one they read."  Now, as our nieces and nephews range from newborn to 5, not everything will be appropriate for each of them.  There is not much that a newborn or an 8 month old want.  But clothes and books are always good.  :)  I'm getting excited to begin my Christmas shopping.  :)  I already have a few items bought!  I think our baby girl and I will have to do some Christmas shopping together while I have so much time off work after she arrives.  :)

When Michael left for work this morning he said, "Let's have the baby today."  :)  If only!!  I think he was saying it more for my sake than anything else.  :P  I'm getting bigger and more uncomfortable, rolling over in bed is more difficult and more painful, my insides are literally kicking me, but more than anything I'm just anxious.  I have very much enjoyed being pregnant.  There have certainly been some aches and pains associated with it, but it really has been a fun and gratifying experience.  I enjoy having my little girl with me all the time and feeling her bumps, kicks, nudges, stretches, turns, flips, and wiggles.  They remind me that my inconveniences are for a purpose and that my perfect baby girl is on her way.  I have loved Michael's reaction to the whole process.  At first it was shock and disbelief, it was diificult to wrap our minds around the fact that we were pregnant and that our lives were going to change forever.  I think he really believed that changes were happening when he saw how sick I was.  Hearing her heartbeat for the first time was a big moment of reality, but I think he liked the second sonogram better when at 10 weeks and 4 days, we were able to see her tiny arms and legs moving all around and hear her excited heartbeat again.  She finally looked like a person at that point and not a blob.  I think things became a little more real for Michael at that point.  My body began to change and Michael could tell them she was growing as she caused me to get bigger and rounder.  Then she got strong enough that we could feel her movements.  That has been very special for us.  Michael likes to feel her rolls and kicks when she's active.  But he has to stay quiet, because we have learned that he calms her down quite a lot, and when he talks, she doesn't want to move, just listen to him.  :)  Then she got big enough to see her movements outside of my belly.  That has been crazy to see!  But we have enjoyed all the little bumps and milestones along the way.  :)  We are down to 11 days until her due date.  Maybe Michael's right, maybe today will be her day.  I can only keep my fingers crossed and hope.  ;)

I hope all of you have a great Monday.  I need to go get ready for work.  Stay tuned here for more details as our baby girl gets closer and closer to arriving!  :)  We have another doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I'll have more stats for you then, and hopefully by the end of this week we'll have a baby girl in our arms.  :)  I'm a numbers person, so here are the stats so far, can't wait to see more progression tomorrow!!  :D

36 weeks + 4 days: 2cm dilated, 50% effaced, head engaged, 106,000 platelets

37 weeks + 4 days: 3cm dilated, 70% effaced, head in -2 station, 120,000 platelets

My prediction/hope for 38 weeks + 4 days: 5cm dilated, 100% effaced, head in 0 station, 125,000 platelets

Hey, if it's my hope. Then why not dream big, right??  ;)  We will just have to wait and see.  :)  Have a great Monday!  :D

12 days

I can't believe that's all the more days that we have left until she's due to arrive!   Where did time go?

38 Weeks, 2 Days...

And the count continues...  I was hoping our little girl would be here by yesterday, but no such luck.  Yesterday was a very long day for me.  It was our VIP event at work which means we give great sales and work really hard all day.  By the end of the day my pelvis was hurting so bad I knew I needed some sort of relief.  I went to Target and bought and exercise ball to sit on to help stretch out a little.  I sat on it for about half an hour when I got home.  It was very nice.  Hopefully our little girl will decide to arrive soon.  I can certainly tell that she's moving down farther into my pelvis.  I won't be surprised at all to find at our appointment on Tuesday (if she hasn't come before then) that I have dilated 1-2 more centimeters, that I have become completely effaced, or that she's as low as the 0 station of my pelvis.  We will see where we are on Tuesday, but as far as I can tell, we are most definitely making progress.  Now I'm just waiting for my water to break or consistent contractions to start so we can go in and I can ask for that epidural!  ;)  Because I'm ready for it already!

Yesterday my amazing hubby finished up the last few things that needed done around the house to prepare for our little girl's arrival!  He put the monitor up on the wall in the nursery, now it perfectly overlooks the crib, so we can see exactly what's going on and how our little munchkin is sleeping.  :)  He also moved the couches upstairs so that we can greet and receive people into our home upstairs and actually have places to sit instead of sitting on the floor.  That leaves the basement quite empty, but we'll get some furniture for down there sometime soon.  :)  We just found that we weren't really spending much time downstairs in the basement, so we decided it would be more practical to have our furniture upstairs.  It looks great!  :)  I love it!!  :D  He also picked up our bedroom.  We have brought things into our room and the floor gets littered with clothes and things and then I end up tripping over things on my way to the bathroom at night.  So Michael cleaned up for me.  :)  He's the greatest!  Now I just need to get some laundry done and the house will be back to spotless and ready for a baby.  :)

I was supposed to go in to work today, but I called last night to tell them I wouldn't be coming in.  I have been working myself too thin and need to take a day and take care of myself.  I didn't have a scheduled day off until 2 days before the baby's due date, which made me working 10+ days straight with no break at 38 and 39 weeks pregnant.  After the pain I was in yesterday I knew I needed a break.  Very much looking forward to resting today.  Also looking forward to our little girl's arrival, and for my maternity leave to begin!  I have decided to take off until the Monday following Thanksgiving.  That way I don't have to work my family holiday schedule around work.  It should be nice and relaxing.  :)

Well, happy Sunday, everyone.  :)  I'll keep you informed about baby progress.  ;)  *fingers crossed*  Maybe today....

Eat 'Em Up, Eat 'Em Up, K-S-U!!!!

What a game!!!!  Definitely some worrisome moments, but an AMAZING game by my Cats!!!  First win in Norman since 1997!  15 years!  Wooohoooo!  Feels good to beat OU any day, but even better to do it on their home turf!  It's even better seeing all of my OU friends completely silent on their facebooks.  :P  I had a great time going through my facebook and liking every status that was excited about the K-State win.  :)  It's a great day to be a Wildcat!  :D  Great game, fellas!!!  :D

First Day of Fall!

My favorite time of year is officially back!  Fall is here, and I could not be more excited!  Our baby girl has stubbornly refused to come out the past week, despite my pleading with her.  I suspect that the reason is that she knew how much I wanted her to be a fall baby, and she was going to wait long enough to make sure it was official.  ;)  Now that fall is officially here, maybe she'll go ahead and decide to join us.  :)

For those of you who don't know why fall is the best season ever, allow me to enlighten you.  :)  Fall has the perfect weather, it's cooling off from summer, but not yet so cold that you're chilled to the bone the way you are in the winter.  The weather is perfect for jackets and hoodies.  The air is crisp and bleezy.  The days are gray, which can be sad for some people, but I welcome the change from the abusive sun every day.  Scarves are dug out of the closet in the fall, a new accessory for a new season.  Many team-spirited outfits are seen in the fall because in the fall begins football season!  :)  Everyone gets together and makes snacks and sits down to watch the game.  Hooping and hollaring and cheering their team on surrounded by friends and family, it's just too much fun!  :)  God paints the earth with an entirely new color scheme in the fall.  To brighten up His gray skies he throws in red, yellow, orange, and brown leaves.  They fall from the trees and sail over the roads as you drive creating little leaf tornados in your wake.  Pumpkins and gourds are seen in a variety of colors and alert passers by and shoppers that the best season has once again arrived.  In the fall you take hay rack rides and cuddle with someone you love.  And when the evening air gets to be too chilly for you, just grab a steamy cup of hot chocolate or coffee and you'll be warmed from the inside out.  Or stand near a fire and roast yourself a marshmellow, because smores are even better in the fall.  :)  Plastic orange jack-o-lanterns are filled with candy for excited children, because Halloween is in the fall too.  Think and plan for months what you're going to be, then take advantage of the one night a year where you're encouraged to dress up and be silly.  :)  And when the silliness is done, we turn our attention to another favorite fall holiday, Thanksgiving.  :)  Everyone gets tons of food together and ready.  Spend time with friends and family and be thankful for all the good things in your life.  I begin Christmas shopping around this time of year.  Finding those perfect gifts to tell my friends and family that I love them, care for them, and value them.  And throughout the entire season we get to enjoy warm, wonderful foods like soup and chili.  :)  There really is no better season.  :)  Happy first day of fall, my friends!  :D

Only 13(ish) more days until our little girl is due.  I've had little pains and signs that her arrival is getting closer, but she's not here just yet.  She's dropping farther and farther into my pelvis.  Breathing isn't nearly as difficult anymore.  It won't be too much longer and the highest she'll be is up at my belly button.  Michael and I have noticed every few days that she's getting lower.  It's so crazy everything that's happening.  I'm still a little blown away that I don't have to do anything.  My body and our little girl have known what to do and are taking care of things.  I don't need to help out or anything, just be here to keep her incubating.  It's crazy!  I hope we meet her soon.  :)

Well, to celebrate the first day of fall, Michael and I are going to enjoy some coffee together outside on our back deck before I have to get ready and go to work.  :)  Have a wonderful Saturday, everyone!

38 Weeks!

Our little girl is the size of a pumpkin!  Oh my gosh!  She is somewhere between 6 and 9 pounds and between 19 and 21 inches long!  We already know she's got a full head of hair, which could be more than an inch long at this point.  She is getting closer and closer to being here, and I can't wait!  If you haven't read about our little adventure last night, you should.  We thought she was coming, but it was a false alarm.  No worried, though.  We got a practice run in and are now just waiting for that moment when she decides to come for real.  :)  We are at 38 weeks today!  :)  How exciting!!  She is officially 1 whole week past full term!  Just getting bigger, stronger, smarter, and healthier the longer she waits.  Her and I are both very healthy and doing great (which we confirmed last night at the Birthcare Center).  Only 4 more days until out next doctor's appointment.  And then we'll see if she's getting more ready to join us.  :)  It's still hard to believe that she could come any day.  When I feel the slightest twinge I wonder if it's time yet. 

I think I'm getting even more anxious as I look at the schedule for the next couple of weeks.  I only have 1 day off between now and her due date.  I only have 2 days off between now and a week past her due date, when I said I would stop working whether she was here or not.  All of that work seems very daunting.  However, since we're down to 5 people and some people are wanting to take their vacation time before they lose it, it puts us into a scheduling bind.  So that's why I'm working 6-7 days/week, 40-44 hours/week, during the last 2-3 weeks of my pregnancy.  *sigh*  It will all work out.  And I certainly don't want to leave my co-workers in a lurch, but I feel like they are depending too much on me and asking too much of me for me being this far along.  But I guess I can't change that now, just have to deal with it.

Our trial run went well last night.  :)  Michael and I stayed very calm.  We picked up the last few things we needed to pack and got everything loaded into the car.  Michael said he felt like he needed to be driving crazy and speeding, shouting, "Where's the Hospital!?!?" while I yelled in pain.  :P  But that was not the case.  We casually loaded up all of out things, took a quiet evening drive to the birthcare center, casually checked in and waited to be taken to a room, calmly walked to our room and began the procedure of checking the baby and me.  Not at all like it looks in the movies.  Now, things may be a little different when I actually go into labor and I'm having contractions that I can't walk or talk through, but last night was a very calm and peaceful process.  :)  It makes me feel less anxious about labor and delivery.  It made me feel like everything was going to run smoothly and without incident.  It was very nice.  :)  We will see how the actual day compares to the trial run we had.  ;)

I am so excited to meet our little girl!  Going to the Birthcare Center last night just makes me more excited for the day when she decides to come!  I can't wait to see her for the first time!  I can't wait to hold her and to hear her voice!  I'm excited to see her tiny fingers and toes.  I want to know what color her hair and her eyes are.  I'm anxious to see the look on Michael's face when he holds his daughter in his arms for the first time and gazes into her beautiful face.  :)  That moment will probably make me cry.  I'm tearing up a bit just thinking about it.  ;)  I'm excited for Michael to be able to go out into the lobby where all of our friends and family are patiently waiting, to announce that he's a Daddy, and to invite them all back to our room to meet his daughter.  :)  It's going to be amazing!!  That day is going to be so special!  I can't wait to show off our perfect baby girl to all of our family who show up to the hospital to meet her on her birthday.  :) 

I know not everyone is used to going to the hospital and waiting to meet the baby the day she's born, but it's something I'm looking forward to, and I hope that we have more friends and family than there are chairs in the waiting room!  I want EVERYONE there the day she's born!!!  :D  So please don't be shy and think, Oh, I'll just let them have some privacy.  We plan on staying home and having plenty of privacy the first few weeks of her life.  That day in the hospital, WE WANT ALL OF YOU THERE!!!!  :D  We will have lots of time together to get to know our little girl and to have time to ourselves.  On her birthday, we want you to share in those moments with us.  Even if you can only stop by for a few minutes, please come.  :)  We would GREATLY appreciate it.  :)

All of that being said...  Please do not come and visit us the first week that she's home.  That time is strictly reserved for Michael, the baby, and me.  We want to spend time with her and each other, learn about her, and quietly enjoy our first week as parents on our own.  I know people will be anxious to see and meet her, and that's why we encourage you to come to the hospital.  Michael is going to get 1 week off from work to spend with the baby and me, and I don't want anyone else interupting our time together.  Please don't call and ask if it's ok for you to stop by, because we'll say it's fine, because we don't want to upset anyone by saying no.  Now, if we call you, that's an entirely different story.  ;)  Things may not go the way I plan, and we may want visitors, so by all means, if we call, you are more than welcome to join us.  But as for right now, I think I will want that week with Michael.  So join us at the Birthcare Center, and we'll see you again at week 2.  ;)  Also, keep reading the blog here, because as we struggle through the first week of parenthood, we might decide that calling everyone and asking people to come over is too much work.  We might just post here on the blog an open invitation.  At that point, it's your job to come over.  :P  Not to demanding am I?  Well, if you didn't know that about me already, I'm glad that I could enlighten you.  :P  Not only am I demanding, but also stubborn and opinionated.  But I feel like as the woman who's about to have a baby, that it's ok for me to have certain requests.  ;)  We'll see if this feeling wears off after she comes, lol.

Alrighty, this has gotten far too long!  :P  We are very excited to have made it to 38 weeks!  Our little one is healthy and so am I.  This makes Michael and I very excited and happy.  This pregnancy has been a blessing!  We can't wait to meet our little girl!  We hope you'll join us that day.  :)  Happy Friday, everyone!  Only 14(ish) more days!  :)  We will keep you posted!

Evening Adventures

Well, Michael and I had a good practice run tonight of what the procedure is when we finally need to go in and deliver our baby.  :P  I was having some contractions earlier today, but they didn't come at regular intervals or get stronger over time.  Because they didn't appear to be normal contractions I didn't think to go in to the Birthcare Center.  Then this evening I got sick, which didn't seem normal to me.  I had also wondered throughout the day if my water had broken.  Well, when I added all these symptoms together, Michael told me to go ahead and call the doctor's office to see if I needed to go in.  I called and told them everything that was going on, and the nurse told me to go ahead and come in.  :)  Michael and I were very excited at the idea that our baby could finally be coming, but were also a little reserved, as we could very well find out that this was not the time and be sent home again.  So we went into the Birthcare Center and got all checked in.  They hooked me up to the monitors and checked on the baby and me.  They did a test and found that my water had not broken, which was their reason for having me come in.  They kept me hooked up a while longer making sure my blood pressure was ok (which it was, great numbers!).  :)  Then the nurse told me the procedure for coming in next time.  She explained that it was great for me to come in if I suspected that my water broke, and to come in again if I worried that it had.  She also said that if my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart for an hour, to come in.  So now we're back to the waiting game.  I'm sure she'll be here soon, but today was not the day.  Oh well.  I'm glad we went in and got everything checked out, if for nothing more than peace of mind.  ;)  Alright, baby girl, I get it.  You're going to come on your time, not mine.  :P  I'll try to be patient in the meantime.  ;)

False Labor

Well, looks like I'm experiencing all of the classic symptoms of false labor.  The contractions are varying in intensity and the time between them is varying as well.  Instead of the contractions being felt all over my abdomen, they are mostly only in my lower abdomen and pelvis.  Damn you, baby, for teasing me so!!  Maybe tomorrow.  ;)

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/falselabor.html

Contractions

Well folks, I think things are starting!  I've only had a couple of small contractions and they haven't lasted very long, but I'm fairly sure that's what I'm feeling.  ;)  We won't go to the Birthcare Center until the contractions are 3-5 minutes apart for a full hour.  That could still take a few days or even a week, but we are certainly moving in the right direction!  :)  Stay tuned!!

Dreams

I can tell that labor and delivery have been on my mind lately, because I'm dreaming about the process.  Last night I had a dream that my water broke.  I was actually excited to wake up this morning, thinking it had been real.  But I was sadly disappointed to find that it had not and our baby girl is still snug and cozy in my uterus.  Drat!  :P  We are down to 15 days until her due date.  It's crazy to think that she could come at any moment any of these days.  When I wake up every morning I assess the day and decide whether or not today would make a good birthday for her.  Most days I decide yes!  :P  I understand that sometimes induction or c-sections are needed for the health of the baby or the mother, but there is something exciting about not knowing the exact date and getting to wonder and speculate.  :)  Of course, at the same time, there is disappointment associated with this path, as you are so ready for your child to arrive and the longer they take, the more frustrating and disappointing the whole process can be.  I wouldn't say that I'm terribly frustrated yet.  I knew when we got into this process that I would have to be patient, because it takes a long time to bake a baby.  But now that we're in the safe window where all of her vital organs are formed and working properly, now that her lungs are mature and ready for life in the outside world, now that she'll be able to self-regulate her temperature with no problems, now that she's safe, I'm ready for her to arrive.  :)  Ultimately it will be her choice.  Or the combined effort of her choice and my body.  If only I had some say in when my body decided to move things along.  *sigh*  But I suppose God designed the human body this way for a reason, so that impatient people like me couldn't take their baby out before she was done baking.  ;)  Not to worry, though.  She is well on her way, descending into my pelvis.  And my body is getting ready too, practicing contractions, dilating, and effacing to make way for her to enter the world.  Very soon!  :)  I'm hoping that she's here by Saturday, but I would settle for her being here by next Saturday as well.  ;)  But again, I have no say in the matter.  :P  Which is probably for the best.  ;)

I forgot to mention yesterday that I got a call back from my doctor's office yesterday.  I had blood drawn again on Tuesday after my appointment to check my platelet count again.  If you'll remember, last week I was at 106,000 platelets.  This number was around 20,000 less that where it had been a month before.  My doctor explained that we were ok as long as the levels stayed above 100,000, even if they dropped down to 80,000 we would be ok and still at the birthcare center.  Well, I got my new numbers yesterday and my platelets are back up to 120,000!!!!  Woooohoooo!!!  What an improvement in a week!!!!  Paying attention to what I eat and taking my prenatals and iron supplement religiously must have helped!  I'm very excited to see these numbers going up!  That was the last little thing that we were worrying about possibly getting in our way from a normal, low-risk, natural delivery.  :)  So with those numbers up, as long as they continue to stay up, we will be in good shape!  :)  I'm mostly excited that my doctor said we would still have no problem being in the Birthcare Center.  I know it's not a huge deal and that the baby and I would be well cared for whether we were there or in the hospital.  But I have had my mind and my heart set on the Birthcare Center for some time now, and I am determined to deliver my little girl there.  ;)

Not too much longer now!  Stay tuned for more details as we approach the final weeks, days, or hours of our pregnancy and we anxiously anticipate the arrival of our little girl!  :)  Thanks for all of your love and thoughts and support!  We appreciate them!  Hopefully the next post I make will be on the way to the Birthcare Center!  *fingers crossed*  Only 15(ish) more days!!!!  :D

Another Day, Another Dollar

Getting ready for work this morning I begin to wonder how many more days I'll get up and go to work.  One day soon our little girl will decide she's had enough and I won't go to work.  It seems strange that I'll be taking 6+ weeks off from work.  I'm grateful for FMLA which allows me up to 12 weeks off if I want it.  I'm not planning on taking all 12 weeks, but I am planning on taking a little extra, returning to work just after the Thanksgiving weekend.  I thought this would work out well so that I don't have to request off any days around Thanksgiving to go see family or anything, I will just continue my leave until after the holiday weekend, and then return to work.  That being said, please don't be upset or frustrated with Michael and I if we are unable to travel or ask off for any events or activities for various reasons between Thanksgiving and New Years.  My job has been very good to me throughout my time there and especially throughout my pregnancy.  I am not going to ask my co-workers and my bosses to cover me even more after I've had over 6 weeks off.  So if you would like to see us or want us to come visit you for some reason, please let us know so we can make plans before the end of my maternity leave.  After Thanksgiving I will be working my designated schedule to help out the people who have graciously helped me the past 15 months, and especially the past 9 months.  Chances are good you won't see us much between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But know that we love you and care about you and will do what we can to see people during the holiday season on and around our days off from work.  :)

I love my job and my co-workers.  :)  They have been so great and understanding throughout my time at Belden's, and especially throughout my pregnancy.  They have worked through me having 2 jobs at a time and scheduling conflicts.  They have done their best to give me the days that I request off.  They have covered for me when I've been sick.  They are great people and I enjoy working with each and every one of them.  :)  Belden's has really been very good to me, making me a full-time employee right when Michael and I needed it for the health insurance benefits.  With the benefits of being full time, my entire pregnancy has been covered under their health insurance, which has been great!  I also get short term disability through them, which allows me to continue being paid a portion of my income while I'm on maternity leave!  What a blessing!  I mean, Michael makes enough to support us, but with me still bringing in a little money (very little), it will give us just enough extra to do a couple nice things a month, and to cover some of the new and unexpected expenses that come with a new baby.  :) 

If there's one thing Michael and I have learned over the past 3.5 years, it's how to manage our money.  You kind of have to learn this hard lesson when you're living on one income at a time and you're living paycheck to paycheck (which we have done a great deal of during our marriage).  We know how to buy groceries to make them last a whole month. We know how to cut out extra things like tv, internet, eating out, and entertainment.  We know how to have fun for little to no cost!  Yeah!!  :D  We know that the bills come first, always, and that what is left over if what we have to use to make do.  It hasn't been easy, and it hasn't been fun, but we get by.  God has always made sure that we've had just enough to pay our bills and care for the puppies and ourselves.  And as long as we are able to do all of that, the rest is just gravy.  ;)

So I'm off to work another day, wondering if this will be my last.  Paying careful attention to each little ache and pain, casually monitoring the time to see if I'm noticing any consistancies.  We're getting so close and I'm getting so excited and anxious!  Our lives will change soon in extraordinary ways!  I can't wait to see what the future holds for our family.  :)  Remember, I would love to see each and every one of you at the hospital the day our little angel is born!  Keep reading here and on facebook for the alerts that she's coming.  Very few people will get phone calls, but we will send out texts.  So have your phones on you and your facebooks refreshing, because sometime in the next 16 days, Baby Voss will be on her way!  Oh yeah, and don't get offended if Michael makes you sit down before you're allowed to hold her.  ;)  At least I talked him out of the idea he had from Scrubs where he throws a ball at you and if you can't catch it effectively he doesn't let you hold her at all.  ;)

Have a wonderfuld Wednesday, my friends!  Stay tuned!  Baby Voss is making her debut someday soon!  :D

Perfect Evening

I think just about everything is perfect in the fall.  The days are nicer, the nights more magical, the coffee tastes better, and the world is simply a better place.  :)  Tonight Michael and I had another one of those amazing moments where everything is right with the world and you just take a moment and soak it all in.  :)  On this beautiful fall evening we decided to needed to light the tiki torches and sit outside in the cool air, drink some coffee, and enjoy some of our last few weeks (? days? hours?) as a family of 2.  So I brewed us a pot of coffee.  Michael brought one of the end tables up from the basement and brought it outside.  I put together some beautiful Pumpkin Spice Lattes (a recipe I hope to perfect this fall).  Michael set up the chairs next to the table.  I lit the tiki torches.  And we proceeded to enjoy our coffee on this perfect fall evening.  It was heavenly.  We are so thankful for our beautiful home that we love so much.  We are blessed to have such a healthy and happy marriage where we can still get so much joy out of simply spending time together.  And we are grateful for perfect moments that remind us of how good we have it.  Life is good.  :)

Doctor's Appointment

We're moving right along!  The baby and I are both healthy and doing great!  Only another 2.5 weeks until she's due to be here!  I'm feeling pretty confident that she will be here by her due date if not before.  I don't think she's going to be late.  ;)  This is good news for me!  And (not that I want to tempt fate) but I'd like to say a big "I told you so!" to all those people who said, "Oh, it's your first?  You'll probably go past your due date.".  Now we aren't in the clear yet, I know that there is still a chance, but I have a strong feeling that she'll be here by her due date or before.  I don't think she'll be late.  But we will see.  ;)  Michael had a dream that she came on October 3rd.  I had a dream a month or so ago that she came on October 4th.  Aside from these dreams, I think she'll be here no later than the end of next week.  I would like her to be here by the end of this week, but I'm going to say she could take another week or so.  So my prediction is that she'll be here by September 29th.  ;)  Not necessarily on that day, but sometime between now and then.  Again, we will just have to wait and see.  :)

Now, onto the stats from our doctor's appointment!  I didn't gain any weight this week.  I'm happy about that.  But from what I've read, it's normal to slow your weight gain or even lose a little in the last few weeks of your pregnancy.  Last time I got on the scale here at home it said I had lost 1 pound and was at 17.5 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight.  Not too bad.  Hopefully I stay this course, the weight doesn't seem so daunting to get off at the moment.  ;)

My blood pressure seemed a little high to me, but my doctor said it was good.  I believe the numbers were 130/88.  But like I've said many times before in this pregnancy, if he's not concerned about it, I'm not going to be concerned either.  My urine dip was normal.  It's been so great that gestational diabetes haven't been a problem during my pregnancy.  Glad that I haven't had to watch what I eat.  Seems like I'm eating ok if I've only put on a net 17.5 pounds!

Our baby is measuring right where she should be.  Not large for her gestational age or anything like that.  All good news, because I don't want to deliver a 10 pound baby!  Her heartbeat was a calm, cool, and collected 138 bpm this week.  She's head down and in the -2 pelvic position.  This means that she's working on dropping into my pelvis in preparation for birth.  (See the picture below)  I'm dilated to 3cm now and am 70% effaced!  This is GREAT news, because it shows that we are making progress and she is on her way!  :D  For those of you who don't remember, I was at 2cm dilation and 50% effacement last week.  We're making great progress!!

I knew that things were happening and that my body and our little girl were getting ready because I have been noticing some changes in my symptoms.  :)  First off, I've been having a lot more pelvic pressure lately.  This makes sense, because our baby is getting down lower into my pelvis to prepare for her arrival.  The pelvic positioning goes from a -3 station, which is high in the belly/pelvis, to a 0 station, where the head is even with the ishial (sp) spines on the pelvis, to a +3 station where the baby is crowing (again, see the picture below).  Our childbirth instructor told us during class that if the baby reaches the 0 station (which is often reached while in active labor) that it's likely that there will be no problems having a natural delivery.  As she has been moving down I've needed to use the bathroom a bit more often (but not nearly as often as the movies or tv suggests).  Also, another symptom that has let me know that labor is getting close is that I can see that she's moving down in my belly.  She used to sit just under my ribs, now she's moved down an inch or two and sits between my ribs and my belly button.  You can see in the way I carry her that she's moving lower.  She obviously hasn't completely dropped yet, but she's working on it.  I've also had an increased amount of abdominal pain and pressure and an increased number of Braxton Hicks contractions.  Now, some of these things I'm feeling could be actual contractions, but as a first-time-mom it's hard for me to tell and know for sure.  What I do know is that our little girl and I are healthy, and that's what matters.  :)

I talked with my doctor today about my platelet count.  It had lowered by about 20,000 in a month.  I asked what he thought of my platelet count.  He said he was not concerned as long as they stayed over 100,000.  My last draw said they were at 106,000.  He said that even down to 80,000 they would probably work just fine.  However, if I end up getting as low as 80,000, he will give me a steroid shot to help with the platelets and insure that they don't get too low and that if they do, they can still work effectively.  I got more blood drawn today and will find out sometime tomorrow where my counts are this week.  As I've said before, I lay low on the platelet counts anyway, and it is very common in pregnancy for platelet counts to drop.  As long as mine can remain somewhat stable over the next few weeks, we will be in good shape.  :)  I asked my doctor if low platelet counts would keep me from being able to deliver at the Birthcare Center.  He said it would not be a problem as long as they stayed over 100,000.  He also said it would probably be ok as long as they stayed over 80,000.  He didn't say much more than that, but I would venture to guess that if my levels get any lower than 80,000, that I will have to be over at the hospital.  This is no big deal.  The hospital is great and people are well cared for there.  But I'm still holding on to hope that everything will go according to plan and that we will be able to be at the Birthcare Center.  :)  We will just have to wait and see how things develop over the next few weeks.  :)

I'm getting excited (as if you didn't already know this) to meet our baby girl.  Going to these weekly appointments and seeing our progress and how much closer we're getting to her being here is very exciting.  I still feel very much like a ticking time bomb, just waiting to go off.  Every little twinge or pain makes me wonder if the moment has come.  She will be here very soon and I could not be more excited!  This pregnancy and this little girl has been such a blessing to Michael and me!  I cannot wait to meet this perfect little girl that God has placed in our life!  :)  Anyday now.  ;)  Stay tuned for more details as we continue to near the end of our pregnancy and begin the amazing adventure that is parenthood.  :)

**Edit**
Forgot to add the picture!  Whoops!  Here it is now!  ;)

Surprise Work!

Well, I thought I had today off.  I woke up this morning and blogged for about an hour.  Then I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, trying to keep things neat and tidy since our baby girl could come any day.  I called Massology and made an appointment to come in today for my hour long massage that Michael got me for our anniversary.  I made myself a grilled cheese and some tomato soup (don't judge, I'm pregnant).  I was just getting ready to sit down and eat my food when I got a call from my boss.  He was saying I was supposed to open with him today.  I was supposed to be there at 9, I got his call at 9:15.  :(  So I got myself dressed and ready and rushed to work.  I ended up being 30 minutes late, but still got everything set up in time to open by 10.  Thank goodness!  Today we have our 37 week doctor's appointment.  I had requested the entire day off, and up until recently, I had been granted the entire day off.  But on Sunday one of our 6 workers took a full-time job elsewhere and we were left to fill the schedule and cover his shifts.  I decided that since other team members were going to have to be covering for me while I'm on maternity leave, that I could take extra shifts in the meantime to help the rest of them out.  So here I am at work, for the next 3 hours, helping out until someone else gets here to relieve me and I can head to my doctor's appointment.  As a full time employee, I am required to work at least 30 hours/week to maintain my benefits.  Over the next 3.5 weeks (a full week after my due date) I am scheduled to work 40-45 hrs/week.  This is what happens when you're down to 5 workers and the assistant manager is taking a week of vacation.  Things tend to get tight.  If you think that's bad, you should see the schedule for AFTER I leave on maternity leave.  It's nearly impossible to fill the schedule completely with only 4 workers.  Especially when you consider that each person is supposed to get 2 days off each week.  Next week I have no days off.  But, like I said, I volunteered to cover for my team, because they'll be covering for me here very soon.  Wish I had been on time to work today, but it worked out ok.  Wish I could have had the entire day off of my doctor's appointment, but at least I'll get off in time to get over there on time.  Wish I could have gone and gotten my massage today, but hopefully I'll be able to schedule it for later this week or early next week.  :)  I'm just excited that it's Tuesday again and we get to check on the progress of our little girl.  :)  She'll be here before we know it!

Another Beautiful Autumn Day! :)

I can't get over how wonderful this autumn weather is!  Technically, the first day of fall is not until Saturday, but we can already feel it's impending arrival and I could not be happier!  I am extremely thankful that the summer was not too hot.  While it was definitely warm, and there were days I didn't want to be outside any longer than I had to, overall, it was a good summer, and not too much for this pregnant lady to handle.  ;) 

This summer was pretty interesting for us.  To begin the summer, on our 3 year anniversary, Michael lost his job at Dell because they simply didn't have enough work to keep him busy and to justify keeping him with the company.  Michael had seen this coming for months.  He didn't mention much about it to me, as not to worry me, but he knew he would be looking for a new job soon and had already sent out several resumes and applied at various new locations by the time he got the news.  Later that same day, a mere 4 hours after losing his job at Dell, he received a call from Aerospace Turbine Rotables, informing him that they were planning on hiring him and that he would receive an email from them the next day with the contract enclosed.  What a blessing and an answer to prayer!!  We hardly had time to worry and panic, because God immediately provided a solution.  We have been extremely blessed.  The new job is GREAT!  Michael is happy and they treat him very well.  We couldn't ask for better.  :)

The rest of the summer was fun spending time with Sis and Adam and our new nephew Dayton.  I can't believe how much he's grown in the last 5 months!  He's discovering new things and developing more and more each day!  While Sis was home over the summer I had lots of time to go over and visit and play with my amazing nephew.  Definitely got me more and more excited about our little girl who would be joining our family at the end of the hot summer.  We went to the zoo a few times together (I LOVE having a membership!) and had various other outtings to keep all of us entertained throughout the summer.  :)  Good times!

At the end of the summer Michael and I were able to do some traveling!  This was awesome, because I knew that the closer the end of the summer got, the closer we were to staying at home for quite a while.  At the beginning of August we went with Michael's family to Iowa to Tugfest, an event I look forward to every year!  :)  We got an opportunity to see Michael's aunts, uncles, grandmas, cousins, and various miscellaneous family members.  ;)  I love all of the family time that we get to be a part of when we go to Iowa.  It's so much fun!  We enjoyed our last Tugfest as a couple and are very much looking forward to next year when there will be 3 of us.  :)  We were also able to go to Manhattan and see K-State's season opener at the end of this summer.  I really only need to go and watch about 1 football game a year, so it made sense to go to the opener before I was too big and risked having the baby away from home.  ;)  It was a great game and we loved being back in Manhattan.  :)  We even got to go to Kansas City that same weekend and catch up with a few friends and family members.  It was wonderful being able to do so much before the baby comes.  A nice way to end the summer.

Since our traveling, Michael and I have been here at home, preparing for our little girl to meet the world.  We have packed and repacked the hospital bag.  We had our last baby shower and have purchased the last few things we needed off of our lists.  We have cleaned, reorganized, and (will soon be) rearranging the house.  We installed the car seat and have it waiting in the back of my car for that moment when I tell Michael it's time to go to the hospital.  I have everything in order for my maternity leave at work and my short-term disability pay.  Now we just continue to go to work every day and wait for her to arrive.  The anticipation here at the end has been very exciting and fun.  Almost every morning I wake up and wonder, is today going to be my daughter's birthday?  Technically she has 17 more days until her due date, just a little over 2 weeks.  If she goes past her due date, she won't go more than an extra week or so, so at the very most she has 24 days left.  And at that point, if she hasn't decided to come on her own, she won't have a choice anymore.  :P 

I have been saying since the beginning of our pregnancy that I was so excited for a little October baby.  In my opinion, autumn is the best season of all.  When I think of the fall, I think of October, the leaves changing and falling.  I think of pumpkin patches and corn mazes and baking.  October reminds me of all of these wonderful fall thoughts and memories.  So I really wanted our little one to be born in October.  But, as I near the end of my pregnancy, and I feel the cool air on my face every morning, I realize that fall is already here.  :)  No more 100+ degree days, just crisp cool days that make you want to drink cider and carve a pumpkin!  :)  I'm ready for our little girl to get here.  And it doesn't matter if she come in September or October.  What matters is that she's healthy.  And the doctor and I can both tell you for a fact that we know her to be healthy and ready to meet the world.  :)

So will today be her birthday, or will it be tomorrow?  I'm unsure.  God knows and has a plan.  I think He's taking these last few days to remind me that He is in control and that I have to be patient and wait on Him to present His beautiful gift to me.  :)  I have been working on my patience for months now.  I know I can hold out another couple of weeks if that's what He asks of me.  :)  This pregnancy has been such a huge blessing.  I am so thankful that Michael and I were able to get pregnant so quickly and easily.  We have been extremely blessed to go through this pregnancy without any manor complications.  We've had a few hiccups here and there, but overall, the baby and I have been very healthy, and that is a blessing from the Lord.  Now, in our final days as a family of 2, I'm praying that her labor and delivery go as smoothly as the pregnancy has.  I pray that Michael and I adjust quickly to our new life roles.  And I pray that our little girl is healthy and happy.  :)

Not too much longer now.  Please be thinking and praying for us as we near the end of this long-anticipated journey.  We will keep you informed as we learn more.  I will try to post later today or tomorrow about the information we get from our doctor's appointment later today.  :)  Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Have a wonderful day!!!  :D

Baby Shower Numero Dos

Today was such a great day!  We had our church baby shower this morning and we were so incredibly blessed by our amazing church family (and actual family!).  :)  We had a beautiful shower with a great turn out!  The friends and family there had great well-wished and sweet thoughts to pass on to Michael and me.  It was such a blessing to celebrate with them today!  They are all so very excited to meet our little girl.  We are very lucky people to be loved by such an amazing church family.  :)  They were so generous to us, giving us diapers, wipes, wash cloths, formula dispensers, a bottle sterilizer, rubber duckies, and bathtub toys!  Not to mention several gift cards, which we'll probably save until after she's born to get those items we didn't realize we needed.  We also got a number more of cute outfits!  Wow!  So great!  So generous!  And then, 2 people who I think are the most generous of all, Mama and Sis came.  I love my sweet and wonderful family so much!  Even though they had already spent TONS of money on us to throw us an AMAZING baby shower last month, AND bought us gifts to give us at that shower as well (not the cheap ones off the list either!), but they chose to come to our shower today and once again bought us gifts (again, not the cheap ones off the list!).  My sweet and wonderful mom bought us our monitor, one of the last items on our "must have" list to get before our baby girl was born.  We are so incredibly greatful.  Mama, thank you for your generosity.  You are too kind to us.  Over and over you spoil us (and our little girl).  We will never be able to repay you for all that you do for us.  We can only say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  We love you so much and are happy and excited to be bringing you your first granddaughter (sometime!) in the next few weeks.  :)  Then, there's my amazing sister.  :)  Sis got us our big gift pack of Dr. Brown bottles today.  These were another item on our "must have" list.  We might have waited to get them for ourselves until our little girl was born, but Sis saved us the trouble.  Sis, thank you so much for continuing to spoil me and our baby girl.  You are such an important person in my life and I love you so very much.  I could not be more blessed with a better sister than you.  Our little girl is so lucky to have you as an aunt!  I'm sure she will quickly come to appreciate you and your wonderful heart and spirit as much as I do.  I am so blessed to have such amazing family in my life.  I wish I had more to pay them back with.  They continue to overwhelm me with their love and generosity.  There just aren't enough words to describe what my family means to me.  I could never ask for better.  :)  So today has been simply wonderful.  The family, friends, food, fellowship were amazing and a blessing.  What an amazing life I have.  Wow.  :)  Blessed.

FULL TERM!!!!!!! :D

Our little girl is full term today!!!!!!  Happy 37 weeks!!!!!  Over the next 3-4 weeks (if she stays put that long) she will simply be gaining more baby fat and getting stronger for life on the outside.  :)  All of her organ systems are developed and working properly, including her lungs.  She'll be able to do everything on her own from the day she's born with no medical interventions!  :)  Now given, she will need a little help and jump start with things like regulating her own body temperature, but all newborns need that.  (That's why we'll do skin-to-skin for the first hour of her life, so that my body can help her regulate hers.)  I can't believe she's almost here!  Every time I feel a new ache or pain I wonder if the moment has finally come and she's ready to arrive.  ;)  Unfortunately, that has not been the case so far.  :P  But not to worry, she's still got plenty of time to make her appearance.  :) 

It seems like it was only yesterday that I was begging Michael to let me take a pregnancy test.  We were going to wait until the first week of February to take one, that way, in case my period came just a little late, we wouldn't waste a test, and I'd be at 5 weeks by then.  But at the end of January we were going to a friend's house to play board games.  I wanted to take over some wine to drink while we were there.  I told Michael that if we took the test, I could know, and then I could have a glass of wine that evening and not worry about it.  Then we would work on trying again a couple weeks later.  But I'd had no symptoms, so I was sure I knew what the outcome would be, but still I took the test.  Michael and I listened to the song Two Pink Lines while we waited and joked about what the results would be.  This was only the second time in my life I'd ever taken a pregnancy test (the first being a month before).  It was surreal being in that moment, taking that test, thinking that the results could change my life forever.  Then the moment came, Michael and I kissed and hugged and took pictures, this could be our last moment before we realized we were going to be parents.  Then, in our wonderful little Wichita apartment, we opened the hallway bathroom door and walked inside, hand in hand, we looked down at the little test and saw, clear as day, 2 pink lines.  :D  They were not faint, there was no mistaking our results, we were pregnant!  :)  We were estatic!  We were shocked and stood in disbelief for some time, looking back at the test over and over again.  We hugged and kissed (a little more enthusiastically this time).  ;)  We took pictures in those moments of disbelief, you can see the shock and excitement on our faces.  Our lives were about to change forever, to change for the good.  We had begun our journey to parenthood.  :)  Ready or not, the ball had begun rolling and we were on our way.  After only actively trying for one month, we had succeeded in making a baby, and from that moment our lives would never be the same.  :)  So we left the apartment to go play board games, with our secret on our minds, still not completely sunk in.  In the midst of our game, Michael got a call from Nick, telling us that he and Maggie had just bought a house.  Throughout their conversation, Nick asked Michael if he (Nick) was going to be an uncle anytime soon.  How ironic that he would ask that question for the first time only a couple hours after we'd found out!  Michael denied it, this would remain our secret for a while longer.  But very soon the rest of our families would find out about our perfect baby on the way.  :)  Such sweet memories.  It even gives me a fondness for the winter season, because it was then that we began our journey.  :)

All of that seems like just yesterday!  Now here we are, 33 weeks later, I'm huge, with a tiny person inside of me.  We have a new home.  Our baby girl has a room of her own, a bed, more clothes than she'll know what to do with, and a name.  Our home shows the signs that a little one is on the way, with toys, bouncers, and playpens scattered throughout each room.  We have bags packed and ready to go to the hospital.  We have food in the freezer for when she arrives.  We are momentarily suspended in baby limbo, waiting for her to decide that the perfect day has arrived for her to meet the world. 

This is one of the moments that Michael and I talk about.  One of the perfect moments when everything is right with the world.  In a moment like this you just need to take time and drink it all in.  Be happy and appreciative for the blessings in your life and for a moment, nothing can go wrong.  These beautiful fall days make me so thankful and feel so blessed for my life and the way things have turned out.  God most definitely had a plan!  Because I couldn't have dreamed for a better life.  :)  I have a handsome, God-loving, caring, providing, sweet husband who does anything and everything he can without a second thought to make me happy and keep me healthy.  He has a wonderful job that allows him to provide for our family.  We have a daughter on the way, a perfect baby girl to love on and teach, who could arrive any day.  We have a beautiful home that we will eventually grow into.  ;)  We have 2 sweet puppies who love us, love each other, and who add a great deal of joy and happiness to our lives.  We have a church and a church family who love and care about us and our spiritual growth.  And we have our family who are always there for us, standing by our sides and supporting us through the ups and downs that come our way.  We are so incredibly blessed!  How can you not soak in this moment and just be thankful?!  What an amazing life!  Like I said, I couldn't have planned it better myself.  ;)

We are 37 weeks pregnant today, and I am so thankful for all that God has blessed us with.  It has been an amazing ride, and I can't wait to see where it goes next.  :)  Happy Friday, my friends.  :)  I pray that you are feeling as blessed today as I am.  :)

3 more weeks and 1 more day!

We only have 22 days until our due date!  Now's the time to take the bets!  Who thinks she's coming early?  Who thinks she's coming late?  What is her hair color going to be?  What about her eyes?  How much will she weigh?  How long will she be?  Will my labor with her be quick and easy or will she be stubborn coming out, making the process long and painful?  So many questions that I'm asking myself these days.  One thing is for sure, she is still VERY active!  She was probably the most active I've ever seen her last night.  She was moving all over the place!  From one side of my stomach to the other.  From the bottom of my big belly bulge to the top.  It was quite entertaining!  :P  Michael was watching her with me and just kept saying, Oh!  Woah!  Oh!  Haha!  It was so great!  :)  Having her be so active was a fun way to end the day since I was feeling so cruddy yesterday.  :)  I'm not sure if all of that movement is her trying to get out, or if it's just her playing and enjoying her current home, but she's fixing to get evicted very soon.  ;)  Tomorrow we hit 37 weeks and our little girl has made it to full term.  Beginning tomorrow we'll try every trick in the book to see if we can persuade our little angel to join us on the air breathing side of the world.  ;)  It's been such an exciting process watching her and I grow together.  I can't wait to meet her!  Michael is excited to meet her too.  Turns out that she and her Daddy have a little secret.  Every night lately when I fall asleep and I'm cuddled up next to Michael, our little girl gets super active.  Thank heaven's I've been able to sleep through all of this, but Michael lays there and feels her as she kicks and squirms and wiggles into his side.  :P  This makes me glad I didn't go ahead and buy one of those pregnancy pillows, because if I had, Michael wouldn't have been able to get a small glimpse of what it's felt like for me the last several months to have this squirmy baby inside.  ;)  What a fun memory for him.  :)  Not much time left to go now.  We have a baby shower on Saturday at church, and then Michael and I can buy the last couple of items on our list to prepare for baby girl's arrival.  It's all coming into place.  :)  The hospital bags are packed, the carseat is installed and in the car, the nursery is (all but) ready, and now we just need a perfect little girl to make our home complete.  :)  Stay tuned here on the blog and on my facebook for all the details these next few weeks.  I'd be willing to bet money that we meet this little girl before 22 days are up...  We shall see.  ;)  I know I told you all yesterday my dilation and effacement stats, but I thought I would add a couple more pieces of information to that...  First of all, she's sitting very low a lot of the time now.  My bladder can certainly tell a change in her position.  :P  Sometimes I think she puts extra pressure on my bladder just to get a rise out of me.  :P  I'm also having LOTS of Braxton Hicks contractions.  They aren't extremely consistant yet, but we're getting there.  ;)  Yesterday I took a 15 minute long shower.  During that time I counted 5 Braxton Hicks contractions.  Now, these could actually be real contractions, but as a first time mom, I'm not certain.  They don't hurt, so I'm assuming they are the fake ones.  Either way, just one more sign that the baby and my body are getting ready for the big day (hopefully sooner rather than later).  :)  Wish me luck!  Thanks for reading and I will keep you all informed with further developments.  :)  Happy Thursday, Everyone!  :)

Cold

I'm really whiney when I'm sick.  I think I've had a pretty positive outlook on things throughout my pregnancy.  Now, given, I did think the baby was trying to kill me in the first trimester, and I refered to her as "the parasite" through much of the second trimester because she made me so hungry and I was getting so big, but otherwise, I think I've been pretty good about things.  It's better to stay positive, because it will make things easier, and honestly, no one wants to listen to you complain.  :P  Well, all that being said, I'm sick.  :(  I don't know if I got it from someone at work, a customer, an employee, or if Michael gave it to me, but I did get a cold from someone.  :(  Luckily it's just a cold, not the flu or anything like that.  I just really want to enjoy these last couple of weeks of my first pregnancy and I don't want this cold messing with that, especially when I'm in labor!  I don't want to have a cold then!  So I'll keep this brief, because complaining won't help, but if you could be thinking and praying for me, I'd really love to get over this quickly.  Thanks guys.  :)

Platelets

Ok folks, for those of you on facebook, you've probably already seen that my platelet levels dropped again.  Let me break down what this means:
-Platelets are what cause your blood to clot
-Platelets are destroyed and regenerated regularly in your body
-This process is sped up during pregnancy, resulting in less platelets, but younger and larger ones
-It is normal for your platelet levels to drop somewhat during pregnancy
-The normal platelet range is 150,000-400,000
-My doctor said the platelets will work just fine down to 100,000, even as low as 60,000
-Complications can occur when low platelet count is combined with high blood pressure, protein in the urine, swelling, headaches, nausea, or vomiting

At the beginning of my pregnancy they did a series of blood tests on me.  These tests checked my beginning of pregnancy blood levels as well as verified the fact that I was pregnant (as if the ultrasound and heartbeat were not enough of an indication).  At the very beginning of my pregnancy my platelet levels were a little low, 124,000.  Some people naturally have low-laying platelet levels.  Having done some research on platelets, I'm a little surprised by the fact that I am naturally low-laying on my platelet counts, because I've never had a blood clotting problem.  Anyway, in July I had my glucose test to check for gestational diabetes.  It came back negative, which is great, and my platelets, while still low, had risen a little to 126,000.  The next month when I went in to see my doctor, he had me do another blood test to check my platelet levels.  They remained the same.  After 3 tests, my doctor came to the conclusion that I naturally have a low platelet count, that it is nothing to worry about, and that we would keep checking periodically to make sure they weren't getting too low.  Well, yesterday we checked again.  It had been a month since my last blood test.  Today I got a call from the doctor's office, telling me my results.  My platelets dropped again.  They are now at 106,000.  Now, while this is definitely getting lower, this is not a huge cause for concern.  Here's why:
-Platelets can and will continue to work and be very effective down to 50,000 count
-A low platelet count by itself is not a big issue, it is when it is combined with high blood pressure, protein in the urine, swelling, nausea, or vomiting that it becomes more of an issue
-My blood pressure and urine dip were fine at our last appointment, well within normal ranges

So while this seems like it could be a problem, I don't think it's going to be.  Our baby girl and I have been very healthy throughout this entire pregnancy.  My doctor has not been concerned with my platelet levels, so until he starts showing concern, I'm going to be positive.  Another piece of good news is that the platelets do not effect the baby and her health, they are entirely on me.  And I'm tough and stubborn and am not going to let a little thing like a low count get me down.  My baby is healthy and we are going to have a healthy labor and delivery and everything is going to be GREAT!  :D  So I wanted to make sure you were all informed about what was going on.  This information is not to make you panick, just to inform you of the situation.  Just another pregnancy stat like the baby's heartbeat or my weight.  Nothing to be concerned about.  ;)  I'll keep you all informed as we learn more.  :)

36 week appointment

Well, as most of you know, yesterday was our 36 week appointment.  This is the first of our weekly appointments.  We will see our doctor every Tuesday from now until our little princess decides to make her appearance.  :)  I have scheduled all of our weekly appointments up until 41 weeks already.  This is helpful for Michael because he's not having to ask me a day or two before each appointment what time it is and what time he needs to get off of work.  He knows all the rest of our appointment times and has made arrangements with work to make sure that he's there for them all.  :)  He's been so great through this entire pregnancy!  He hasn't missed any appointments. Even though they generally aren't fun or exciting, he's always there.  :)  He's got to see his daughter from the time she was no more than a blog with a heartbeat, to when she was fully formed and waving at us, still not even big enough to make my stomach poke out, he saw her when she flexed her muscles and swallowed the day we found out she was a girl, and we got to see that she already has a head full of hair (if only we could tell what color it is!).  There has been so much to experience.  :)  She is such a blessing to us.  We are so proud and excited to have her with us and to be adding her to our family very soon.  :)

Ok, enough of that mushy stuff.  ;)  Onto the stats from our appointment yesterday...  As always, they take my weight.  I was a little worried this week, thinking I'd gone up 5 pounds in the last week, but at the doctor they only measured up 3 pounds!  Wooohooo!  For once in my life the scale at the doctor's office worked in my favor!  :P  My doctor was fine with the weight gain.  I might not be, but it wasn't a problem for him.  I just hope she comes soon, because I'm seeing numbers on the scale these days that I have never seen and definitely don't want to see again!  They did a urine dip like they always do, no protein or glucose there, again, good signs that baby girl and I are remaining healthy.  It's been such a blessing to be so healthy throughout this pregnancy.  I worry enough, knowing that everything is going right.  ;)  My blood pressure was good again.  :)  This was one area that I thought I could end up having trouble with.  Sis had higher blood pressure when she was pregnant with Dayton, so I was concerned that mine could end up high as well, but both my diastolic and systolic were well within normal ranges again.  Getting close to being done!  All is in place and ready that we'll be able to go to the Birthcare Center to meet our little girl!  Hopefully no complications arise in these last few weeks to change that.  We will see.  Based on how healthy we've both been this entire time, I'd say we'll be good.  ;)  They checked for our baby girl's heartbeat as usual.  I love hearing that sound every week.  She did a little rolling and made it a little more difficult on the nurse this week, but she's so big now, that she can't get too far away, so we eventually got it.  ;)  Her heartbeat was at 136 bpm.  :)  Seems that as we get closer to her arrival she's getting more and more chill and relaxed, preparing for the big day.  :)  She's going to be an awesome baby!  :)  Can't wait to meet her!  Finally, the last few things that my doctor checked at this appointment were the items that I was most excited to find out.  He checked to make sure she was head down and engaged, ready for birth, he checked how far I was dialated, and he checked my effacement.  These numbers don't mean much, and you can walk around for weeks being dialated and effaced, but I figure that between this week and next week I'll be able to compare the numbers and see if and how quickly we are moving towards her being ready to greet the world.  The first bit of good news is that she is head down!  Wooohooo!  :D  If she weren't, he would have had to manipulate her to get her into the right position, or we could have ended up having a c-section.  Now while there could still be complications that arise and force us into that, her positioning will not be the cause.  She is engaged and ready for labor and delivery with her head down.  :)  I am dialated to 2cm.  I was very excited to hear this, and hope that I continue to dialate well through the next several weeks.  When you're dialated to 10cm you are considered fully dialated.  My body is doing part of that work now, without contracting my entire uterus and making me hurt and uncomfortable. My doctor said it was good news to be dialated to 2 already, because it would be less dialating that needed to occur during contractions to get to 10.  Hopefully we keep progressing at a steady rate.  :)  I told you she was big and strong and that she was either coming early or going to be a large baby...  At this moment I'm leaning towards coming early.  ;)  Finally, the last thing he checked was the effacement of the cervix.  It has to thin out and be rubbery enough (for lack of a better explaination) to allow the baby to pass through during labor and delivery.  During labor you work through the contractions to get to 10cm dilitation and 100% effacement.  I am currently at 50% effacement.  :)  Halfway done already!!  :D  Again, these numbers don't mean much right from the start, but when I have numbers for next week to compare them to, they should be able to give me some idea of how fast we are moving towards her birthday.  :)  Since we are so close to the end, my doctor gave me some instructions on when to come in to the birthcare center or the hospital.  She could realistically come any day from here on out and be perfectly healthy and heading home with us the next day.  :)  I was instructed to go in if my water breaks, or if I'm having contractions every 3-5 minutes that last for an hour and are strong enough that I can't talk through them.  Much as I'd like her to arrive this week, I'm not putting too much hope in that.  ;)  So we will see when she decides to arrive.

This pregnancy has been such a joy.  :)  Now, I didn't care for the morning sickness at the beginning, and I certainly don't like my sleep being interupted for heartburn, these are mild things.  I am so very excited to have a daughter.  I know she is going to bring so much joy to our lives and to our family.  She is greatly loved already.  I can't wait to get into my 'mom-mode'.  I'm looking forward to my maternity leave where I can get a glimpse of what my life will be like if I choose to be a stay-at-home-mom instead of returning to work.  I'm looking forward to watching my baby girl grow and discover the world.  I'm excited to see how Michael reacts to her.  I know he loves her so much already, but I think it's harder for men to wrap their minds around since they aren't carrying the baby.  I think that even when she's born it might not completely sink in that we're parents and have a tiny person to care for.  I'm not sure that idea has sunk in for me yet either.  I'm anxious to see how our lives change and all she adds to our lives.  There are so many new experiences to have, so many new days to discover.  It's going to be the adventure of our lives.  :)  And I could not be more thrilled to begin that adventure with my best friend and the love of my life.  :)  My life is improved 1000 times because I have Michael in it.  :)  So to now be adding our daughter to our family, life can only get better.  :)  It's hard to fathom, at this moment, life getting any better.  Our lives are simply too good right now.  Everything is going right.  I'm anxious and excited to see life get better, because it's already REALLY good!  :)  I guess I'll find out in the months to come.  :)

Only 23(ish) more days, folks!  Keep coming back to read about how dearly I love my husband, how excited I am about our baby, and all the medical updates surrounding her arrival.  Love you!  Happy Wednesday, everyone!  :D

Maternity Photos!!!!!

They are ready!!!!  We don't have the disk yet, but here's what Courtney posted on her blog.  :)  Enjoy!

http://www.zaophotographyblog.com/archives/2012/09/11/vossmaternity/