Update....

People requested a new picture of the last week of belly. As you can imagine this doesn't feel so hot. I had the OB appt today and we are making progress. Still having some contractions here and there. The actual induction is now scheduled for Tuesday the 4th at 5pm, so I may actually not have the baby till the 5th. I am still hoping that I may go before then but I have no real signs that it is coming any moment. We are meeting up with a friend tonight for dinner, so I don't have to cook! Hurray! I got 6 summer outfits for the baby today for 4.50 at Salvation Army. I love great deals! Thanks for all the support and prayers from everyone. I will let you all know when anything actually happens.

So Close and Yet So Far!

I am 38 weeks today, UGH! The contractions come and go. The back pain comes and goes. The heartburn comes and stays. I am probably still going to work this week because, honestly I don't know what else to do with myself. I did get plane tickets ridiculously cheap for Molly's graduation and the meet the baby trip. I will be in Washington from June 4th to the 18th. This means I will be there for Sophie's 1st Birthday! That will be so nice to share that with them. I have missed out on all the other big holidays with the kids, so I am very excited. Jason will not be able to be there the whole 2 weeks, he has to work so he will come for 6 days, but will fly home with us. It was strange buying a ticket for someone who you have never seen yet. The airline said to put "Infant Simmons" on the ticket since you can't change the name later, in case it is a girl by some strange miracle. Solon and Andrea came over yesterday with the girls. We all had a good time watching Alessandra chase poor Lucy through the house. Maggie wisely hid from the moment the group arrived. We went to the 50's diner near our house for lunch, and then got Starbucks and sat around discussing the election. Jason and I went to the mall after they went home and returned some more gifts to Baby Gap. People are buying the sweetest little things, but they are just too little to be practical. So I am exchanging to much bigger sizes. I got an adorable navy lined cardigan with a hood in 18 -24 months and a little summer outfit in 6-12 month. I got the house all cleaned yesterday for the company, so now I don't have much to do today, so I may read, since I should probably take advantage of this opportunity. I will update on Wednesday after the OB unless something big happens in the meantime.

37 weeks and progressing

We are slowly making our way toward the end. I was 1cm, 50% effaced, and -3 station today. They had me go ahead a schedual the induction for March 3rd today, in case I make it that far. I was going to stop working this week, but it doesn't look like that will work out. We had a new girl come to train and she proceeded to tell me that she had a better offer and she didn't think she was going to stay. I was very annoyed and shocked that anyone would go ahead and show up for the 1st day of training if they didn't intend to stay. She had a major attitude as well, so I am very glad she will not be back. However this means that Rachel will be all alone until we get a replacement, so I think I will try and continue till I just can't anymore. I will play it by ear. The office gave me a lovely baby shower on tuesday, I got many cute things for Sprout. This kid has enough gear for at least twins. One mom brought in a Moses Basket this week and another brought in the Rainforest Mobile. I realized that I may not have enough disposables for the first few days though. I had a pack of 40 and I was feeling like that was enough for a couple weeks then all of a sudden, it hit me. That's like 4 DAYS!!!! If they eat every 2 hours and poop after each feeding, that's 10-12 diapers a day. So, I think I will being needing to get a few more packs. The reality is finally hitting home.

Goodbyes and Craftiness

This was a big weekend in our house. In 1996 when Jason went away to college in St Louis I went out and bought him a quilt in the same starburst pattern as the one I had. I embroidered "Lovingly Hand Purchased By Kelly 1996" on the corner and he has slept with it every night since. However, after 11 years, it has actually started to disintegrate. We were waking up every morning finding strange little bits in the bed with us, and the cats had actually started to eat little hunks too. I was concerned that the baby would choke on one if he was in our bed. Plus I still had my quilt that matched, that I haven't been able to use for the last 2 years, because it too had literally fallen apart after being used for 15 years. So, last night, we bagged them together, and THREW THEM AWAY.... With my pregnancy hormones making me teary eyed about something so silly and sentimental I took some last pictures of them, which I will post for all to see. I also got wooden letters and painted them for above the crib. I think they turned out pretty darn cute. I cant put a picture on yet since Jason still doesn't want everyone to know the name. I did get the car cleaned out and vaccumed and the carseat installed, so that was a good feeling. We also got the bedroom completely cleaned out and dusted and the kitchen halfway decent. Amazing how much I can accomplish while having abour 3 contractions an hour.

Baby Update

The OB visit went fine. They are still concerned about the size of the baby and letting it go too long. I am still less concerned about that, due to the fact I am expecting it to be a large kid. They have decided that if I don't go in to labor on my own by March 1 then they will induce me. I am feeling okay with that, I am tired and I know that development wise everything is ready by 39 weeks! I am at work today and monday alone and it is barely noon and I am ready to collapse. I am thinking that next Friday will be it for me. I know we need the money but I am growing pretty useless around here and feel guilty for getting paid. This weekend I am planning to make a few meals for the freezer, that way Jason can just thaw and heat stuff. Soups and chili seem to do well. I also want to get the car cleaned out and vaccumed. Nesting is big for me right now, yet I don't really have the energy. I still need to pack for the hospital, I need to figure out what I want to bring along. I have this really old, ratty nightgown that is so comfy and would work great for nursing and labor, but I am slightly embarrassed by the condition of it. I certainly don't want any pictures in it!

36 weeks down, 4 to go......

We are still holding steady till the big day. I made it through work for the rest of the week, including working today (Saturday). Jason picked me up and then we went to the mall and exchanged some very sweet, but very small gifts we recieved from Baby Gap. I replaced them with larger sized rompers for summer. It gets VERY hot here, so I feel I will need a lot of them. We also went to Old Navy since they were having a 40percent off sale on all the baby stuff so I got two cute monkey related outfits. We also had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, which gave me oodles of heartburn, but was very yummy. Lastly, we stopped at a quality toy store to find the baby a special stuffed animal from us. As some of you may know Jason has a thing about teddy bears, or typical stuffed animals. He wanted something unusual, so we settled finally on a frog that wasn't too big and seemed very washable. I was able to talk him out of a great horned owl and a raccoon. He also found a musk ox to add to the growing collection of schleich animals that we have accumulated. We went home directly after that since I was having contractions very frequently and was becoming very uncomfortable. They have since stopped......Damn. Tomorrow is Jason's cousin Solon's birthday so we will be heading to Virginia for that. I will update on wednesday after the next OB appt, and let you know if there is anymore progress.

OB Visit and One Last Ultrasound

I had my 35 week OB appt today. Sprout is head down, face toward my spine, which is great for the delivery. His head is very low, but everything is still closed (to put it delicately). They decided to do one more ultrasound to size him. He is estimated at 7 pounds, 9 0z. His heart rate was 133, and they think he will be born around the 19th of February. I still doubt that he is actually coming any sooner than the 9th of March, I think he is just big for his age. I am very happy that he is head down and in the zone. The ultrasound picture is the best that they could do since for the most part he was completely facing my spine. For those who can't tell, it is of his face. His eye is at the top (dark dot). It is basically looking at him straight on, but you can only see one eye, the nose, lips, cheek and chin. He looks pretty nice and chubby already. He is still moving around but mostly just side to side. We are basically all ready to go, we are both getting very excited to meet this little dude. I am still planning on working till the end of February, but with his current position I am making no promises.

35 Weeks Down, 5 To Go

I have been meaning to post a new updated belly shot for a while. It is getting much bigger as you can see. It is amazing to see the baby move from side to side, you can really tell how it is sitting in there now. He is always head down, and sometimes it feels like he is in the pelvis. I still am about 5 pounds down from where I was when I got pregnant. It's the strangest weight loss plan ever devised. And the glasses make me look so scholarly.

There's only one thing harder than being in your last few weeks of pregnancy.....

it's being in your last few weeks of pregnancy and being extremely sick! I haven't been this sick in a long time. I started feeling chest congestion on Monday, then Tuesday night it hit me like a ton of bricks! By Wednesday I had 103 temps and I ended up in the hospital. I had blood work and IV fluids and they monitored sprout. He, like always, was fine. I felt much better after the fever broke. My cough is so severe, it hurts my belly and ribs. The fever comes and goes, so I seem to go in cycles where I am sweaty and hot and then shivering and can't get warm enough. I am staying home from work until Monday, so hopefully all will be better by then. I have been keeping myself occupied with sleeping, reading and watching those terrible baby birth shows on The Learning Channel, which tend to scare me to death! You see all these terrible things that can happen and I really need to stop watching them. The nice thing is though, you see that 99 times out of 100, even when bad things happen, everything ends up fine. No more cakes by the way, I missed my last class wednesday due to being in the hospital.