Scrapbooking

So, I'm scrapbooking again. This time for myself. I did 2 albums for my sis as a warm up for mine :) haha. We'll see how long it takes for me to do anymore pages once Sophia arrives!

We're just hanging out today. Did get to Walmart to buy an external hard drive. My laptop has been playing games with me, so I thought I'd get the back up. It takes too long and too many CDs to back it up the other way. Also got my fix with a Sonic Diet Cherry Limeaid. It's been my only craving thus far, and it has really hit hard this past week or so. Tonight is our "last supper" :) Hopefully I can stay awake long enough to enjoy it. Didn't sleep too well last night. Not sure if it's the new mattress that I sink into, or the fact that I'm >40 weeks preggo!

40 weeks, on to the end

Here are some fun pictures of me as of today. Don't tell, but the back drop is the back of our old mattress that we have no place to put yet! And the front shot with the heart hands, I stole that idea from my friend Keri's professional maternity shots. :)

Today was my first day off from work. I did lots of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and baked....now there are too many cookies and brownies in my house!

We got our replacement mattress delivered just after lunch time today. We upgraded to a pillow top, so maybe it will be softer on my sore hips! Tried it out for about 2 hours this afternoon with a wonderful nap and it seems to be a good one so far! We'll let hubby decide tonight if it's better than the other one.

Tomorrow I have no plans, except to have the "last date". We're going to one of the better restaurants here in the metropolis :), Oasis Outback. They have a really good steak special on Saturday nights. So, we'll go enjoy that. Hubby may go to the gun range for a bit for his last weekend out :). Probably won't be much time after Sophia arrives for a while. The plan is to go to church Sunday morning, come home and sleep (please don't call!). I'll get up, shower, and we'll head to the hospital after midnight to do a quick registration and get admitted. I've already filled out most of the paperwork, so it should be a quick process. Then we start the drip... :)

I will try to get an update out when possible, but I make no promises because I have NO idea what to expect! In the mean time, we really appreciate the prayers! Thanks for keeping up with us!

The "Weighting" Game

So, in my attempt to distract myself from having to wait longer, I decided to take a poll. Some of you have already contributed, some of you may want to contribute. The poll is, how much do you think Sophie will weigh at birth. Here are the weights I've received so far.

9 lbs, 6 oz
9 lbs, 6 1/4 oz
9 lbs, 7 oz
9 lbs, 8 oz
9 lbs, 11 oz
9 lbs, 14 oz
10 lbs, 0 oz
10 lbs, 1 oz
10 lbs, 2 oz
10 lbs, 5 oz
10 lbs, 6 oz

There are duplicates, so if you want to guess one that's already posted, feel free. As you can read from our last sono report, her "estimated" weight was 9 lbs, 4 oz at 38 weeks. These are not guaranteed weights and can be off +/- 1-2 pounds. Guess if you like :)

I don't promise any fancy prizes, you may just get a pat on the back....or the pleasure of babysitting Sophie when she gets here haha. :)

We're T-5 days!

39 weeks, 5 days - We have a target date!

And the winner is....Monday! I had my doctor's appointment today. That 3 1/2 pound weight gain last week was forgotten after I was down half a pound today :) It's a total psychological thing. My blood pressure remains good and all in all, it's still going great! Except there has been a definite increase in fatigue and discomfort. Getting up 3-4 times per night is getting more difficult - not because of the lack of sleep, I'm used to that, but the very effort to roll this baby over and stand up is painful! She's gonna be so worth it all though.

I went to my appointment feeling very fatigued and prepared to drop some tears if I had to go to another doctor's appointment next Monday (the doctor's office is CRAZY!!). I think doc kinda sensed that. I had to admit that my happy, euphoric hormones were being overpowed by fatigue and discomfort!

After the exam, I'm still not showing any signs of being ready. But, he's still going to try to induce next Sunday night/Monday morning. So, we will go to church Sunday morning, I'll come home and nap (if I can) and then we will go to the hospital at midnight. We'll go through the admission process and I guess they will hook me up to whatever IV they want to pump into me. Then, I guess I'm supposed to sleep (!?!?!). I have no idea how that will happen.

Several of my friends have mentioned that they got a date for induction, then baby came a day or two early! I'm happy either way! If she wants to go ahead and come on her own early, that's ok by me.

Bottom line, we expect Sophia to be here next week! It's very nice to have a target date! I always thought she might come on the 28th. Looks like the 27th unless she takes more than 24 hours to get here! :)

Thanks for keeping up with us!!

39 Weeks picture

Well, this is me at 39 weeks. My co-worker took this for me, which explains the office equipment :)

I'm still feeling good. Getting ready to wind down at work. Really hoping Sophia wants to make an arrival soon. I'm ready whenever she is!

38 weeks, 5 days - Doc appointment

Well, it wasn't the news I wanted. I had a feeling, but didn't want it to be right. I am not effaced at all and not dilated at all. With that news, my doc is not willing to induce. So, despite early mention of early induction to try to avoid her getting too big, we won't be having a baby this week. Not by induction anyway. Looks like we will be at another check up next Monday at 11:20 am to see if there has been ANY progress.

In other discouraging news, I had gained 3.5 pounds this week. Some suggested swelling/retaining water, but I have no evidence of that in my hands, feet or face. It must be hiding somewhere. I had not done much different this week. We did eat at a restaurant here in town on Saturday and even though I got grilled chicken and vegetables, it was soooooo salty! Maybe that's where it came from. We'll know better next week if that was it or not. Still keeping it under 20 lbs if at all possible!

I guess it's been good. She's not officially due until the 23rd and I kinda always thought she might even been late, like closer to the 28th. When she's ready, she'll get here. I had to wait to post that until today (Thursday) because I was originally so disappointed. As my sister pointed out, I had gotten myself psyched up for her coming early. This is true. I desperately wanted to meet this little girl I had been caring for. John is ready too, maybe more than me....wait, no. He can't be more ready than me! :)

It's been nice to be able to have a light week at work. I've finished out 2 of my 3 remaining outpatients. I still have some inpatients that I go see and 2 new evaluations this week. My boss is so wonderful. She's ok with me working part-time next week. I will do my remaining outpatient and be in more of an "on-call" situation for inpatients. This will be nice if we get the news we want at Monday's doctor's appointment. But doc basically told me that I could keep working all next week.

I'm still feeling pretty good. I can definitely feel her getting bigger. She had given me some relief a couple of weeks ago and dropped a bit. I was able to breathe. I could walk across the hospital without being out of breath. This past week, she has either re-ascended or she is growing so big that she's back up against my diaphragm! Who knows.

I had my co-worker take a picture of me at work today for my 39th week photo, but it's on the other computer. I will post it soon. And I will try to post sooner after Monday's appointment. This is ridiculous to have to wait 3 days to write! :)

Request for creative assistance

Ok creative readers (this is especially for you Tracy!),

I need some ideas on finishing this journal for Sophia. I've printed it out on cardstock. It's 8 1/2 x 5 1/2. I thought about mounting it on colored paper (all the same color or different pastels) or just leaving it as is. The font is purple. I need a way to bind it. Any suggestions? It's not complete since she's not here yet, so I have a little bit of time.

In other news, we're grilling tonight. Charcoal. This is my first experience because we always used a gas grill. Smells good already with the fragrance coming in through the back door. Still takes longer than gas, especially when you're hungry, but we'll see how it turns out.

Tomorrow we have another doctor's appointment at 11:20. Hopefully things will be progressing and maybe induction will be in our near future!

Hope everyone had a very blessed Easter Sunday! Thanks for keeping up with us!

38 weeks, 1 day - SONO day!

Today we had our 5th sonogram. Wow. That's a lot. It was only the 4th at the hospital with the 3D technology and video proof, but we did have that first beating peanut at the doc's office. That seems like so long ago! It is so hard to imagine being at 38 weeks. We're pretty much there!

Anyway, back to the sono. She gave us surprisingly good pictures, but we only got one 3D on cd. I guess the technician was all ready to start the weekend! I cannot complain because I have wonderful pics and videos from all the other sonos and today's pic is perfect anyway. We got a print out of several and I really wanted to post the one of her hands and a foot, so I scanned it. That's why it looks different.

Today was the first sono that hubby got to attend since he was off today. I think it really hit him hard because he has been so excited for her to get here and has talked about it nearly constantly tonight! Very sweet to watch. He did get a little nervous at first. We started the sonogram and the tech said, "ok, so we're just confirming it's a boy..." I thought John was going to come out of his skin with shock! We had to tell him it was just a joke rather quickly :) We got our 4th confirmation of her little girl status.

Ok, you've been reading to find out the big news: estimated weight. The technician cannot give out that kind of official info because docs like to do it, but I did catch a glimpse of the statistics on the screen :P. Her estimated current weight is 9 pounds, 4 ounces. We try to keep in mind that this can be off up to 1 1/4 pounds either direction. But since we have a good history of "developed" babies in my family, I'm just praying it is not 1 1/4 pounds more than estimated weight :)

So, where do we go from here? I have another doctor's appointment on Monday at 11:20 (which means I may see doc by 12:45). At that time, he'll let us know what the plan is. He originally said if she was over 4000 grams (she's approx 4100 right now), then we'd go ahead with induction plans. Looks like that's the case, but everything is subject to change. Who knows, maybe she will decide to come early on her own! His original thought is to bring me in late Sunday night (the 19th) and start induction early Monday morning. We'll see what he says on Monday. It's a little scary to think that she's so close to being here. But we cannot wait to see her and introduce her to you all!

Thanks for keeping up with us!

37 weeks, 4 days

We had our latest doctor's appointment today. Is it every OB's office that runs 1 hour behind? Actually, today we were only 45 minutes behind which was nice. I've waited 2 1/2 hours before. Babies don't wait, so I understand that.

I've gained 1/2 lb this week. My blood pressure was really good. No swelling. Baby's moving well. Etc etc. Doc measured the height of my fundus and again commented on the size. I think he sees so many people each week that he forgets that we've been down that road before. "Wow, she's gonna be a big baby" "Yeah, doc, we knew that". Deja vous. He checked me out though and we are no where close to being ready. He said he won't induce until I start showing signs of being ready because he could put me through labor and get no results, having to do it again. So, we are definitely not going to see our little girl this week (unless SHE decides she's ready).

He did order another sonogram. This will be our 4th one and will be on Friday afternoon. He wants to see her estimated size. He mentioned my fundal height had increased significantly and was not proportional to what would be expected. So, I'm interpreting that as being her gaining the 1/2 lb, not me :) That's my world, I can make it what I want.

The good news is that John will be able to go with me on Friday since he's off for Good Friday. And he is also off the Monday after Easter, so he gets to go to the next check up with me.

What we learned tdoay: she's not coming this week. My doc is not on call next weekend as I had been told, so he more than likely won't induce on Friday the 17th, which is fine because I really want him to be the one checking on me. As of right now, we are in wait and see mode, but if he does induce, it may be on Monday, April 20th. Of course, everything is subject to change :). Next Monday we will know more.

I'm a little disappointed that we may induce on a Monday. That means John may only have 1 or 2 days off to spend with us before he has to return to the academy. But mom & dad will be here and my sister will be coming down sometime too. It will be nice to have the support!

In the mean time, I'm trying to do some things to assist my body...to encourage it to get ready. So far, I've been told I need to be walking a lot. Any others out there?

Thanks for keeping up with us!

In My Daughter's Eyes

Thanks to a friend sharing her playlist on her blog, I came across this beautiful song. And no one could sing it better than Martina McBride. It's number 5 on my playlist.

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
It puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

Tomorrow morning I have my next doctor's appointment. We will know more if Sophia is coming this week or next week. Since doc says he will probably induce her early, it will be this Friday or the 17th. Looks like she will miss sharing a birthday with her daddy (April 13th). It would be really nice to have her here for Easter, but I am also good with waiting until after Easter. My doc is on call the weekend after Easter, so I have a feeling we may do that.

The procedure as it's been explained to me is that my doctor will have me check in at midnight. At this time I will get my IV started, check whatever needs to be checked, and start a low-dose medication to begin the induction. Then I'm supposed to go to sleep til morning....yeah, right. Like that is going to happen! Then in the morning we start the good stuff and hopefully by afternoon or evening we have our little girl. I pray it doesn't take until Saturday! Mom said her labor with me was 6 hours. I think that is a perfectly reasonable time :) I think I've convinced John to stay on the fold out chair with me at the hospital. I just have this nervous thought of me calling him the next morning to come to the hospital and he oversleeps...that would be horrible!

But this could all change. Nothing is certain until it happens! I'll post tomorrow when I know more! Thanks for keeping up with our endeavors!