March 10th - Last Appt

So, today I am 38w5d. I had my regularly scheduled doctors appt today. I was so excited to hopefully show some progress. Yesterday afternoon, I was having horrible contractions....for almost two hours. Sure enough, as soon as I got all excited thinking it might be the real deal - they stopped!! Typical! I was for sure thinking that I had made some progress down there...nope. Here I am a big fat nothing!!
BUT......We have an induction date. Doc wants to induce me Monday night. They will admit me to L&D and apply cervidil that night, and the next morning they will start with the pitocin. Doc says the reason they want to go ahead and get the ball rolling is because of his size. Last week when we had our sono...they guestimated the weight at 7lbs11oz. Doc doesn't want me to have a huge baby.
I am so excited to have an end date in sight. Right now, it looks like we will be meeting our son on March 17th - St Patty's Day!!
Last night, I walked about a mile and a half and had some spicy chicken chipotle pasta for dinner. I am still hopeful that I will go into labor on my own. I've said all along that he would be born on March 11th. Thats tomorrow. My co-workers are betting he comes on the 12th. The day after the full moon - and a cold front is expected then too. They keep saying...well that's when goats go into labor....after a cold front!! Great, now they are comparing me to livestock!! At least its a goat and not a COW!!!
Since my appointment this morning I've had some light bleeding down there....Not sure if its irritation from the exam or perhaps its the mucus plug. Vanya, my doula, told me to keep an eye on it and if I start cramping then to call the doc. Of course, I'm hopeful that its the plug and things are about to get going. Only time will tell.
Things are ready at home. I'm sooo ready to meet my little boy. Justin says he will be born with dark blonde/light brown hair. I'm thinking it will be dark brown or red. My weight guestimate is 8lbs 3oz. We will see!!

March 3rd - Fort Knox

Here I am...a week after my last appointment. And guess what? I'm still closed up tighter than Fort Knox!! UGH!! I talked to my doctor about admitting me and then breaking my water and he said "Honey, I couldn't even get to your bag if I tried!" I guess Jackson is not coming anytime soon:(
I gained 4 lbs in the past week! That puts me at 30lbs total weight gain. His heartbeat was in the 140's this time. A little lower than normal, he's usually in the mid 150's. I measured a full 38 weeks.
If it wasn't for one fabulous piece of news, I feel sure I would be in a totally pissed off mood. Doc order a sonogram for this afternoon. He says he is really confused about the size of this baby. So, I am totally thrilled - We haven't seen Jackson since 16w 5d. I can't wait to see him again. The sono is at the hospital this time - I'm wondering if they have 4D? That would be awesome. Regardless though, I am soooo excited about seeing my little boy.
I was supposed to conduct a meeting at 3pm, but since my sono is at 2:30p - it doesn't look like I will be making my meeting. I feel sure my co-workers can handle it without me. I've got alot of prep work though for the meeting still, so I gotta get back to work.

Feb 26 - Can't Sleep!!

So here it is...almost 1am and I'm up and on the computer. I've had a hard week at work and I'm exhausted. I just can't seem to get comfortable!! This sucks!

So, I had an appt on Tuesday, I was 36w 5d. I lost another pound and a half - so that puts my weight gain at 27lbs! The doc just ranted and raved at how well I've done!! Haha!! He doesn't know that for the past 9 months I've eaten Cheeze Its feveryday for breakfast!! HeHeHe! I haven't had many cravings throughout this pregnancy, but I have had this uncontrollable draw towards Cheeze Its!! It's so bizarre!! Anyway, I was having BH contractions that morning, so the nurse decided that the doctor should check me to see what's going on down there. I was soooo excited!! I had been having lots of BH contractions over the past few weeks and I was very anxious to see if I had progressed any. The doc comes in....starts the exam....and then begins to tell me that I am closed up tighter than Fort Knox!!! Nothing!! I was nothing!! Plain ol regular still pregant and not having a baby anytime soon!! I felt like such a weenie - some of the BH contractions that I had been having were actually becoming painful. And it was all for nothing. NOTHING!! I am a wuss!! I left the doctor, went back to work and was pissed off the rest of the day!! I guess my little boy isn't even thinking about coming out to meet me anytime soon!!

At this point, my guestimated prediction is March 11th. Its a full moon. Maybe he will decide to show up then? Who knows? All I know is I'm huge fat pregnant, my tummy is so heavy and sore, my pelvis hurts, I can't sleep, I have horrible indegestion, I waddle and I can't stand for very long!! I'm Miserable!! Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention that I am NOTHING!! Not dialated at all!!!! This sucks!!

Maternity Pictures

Things are finally coming together!

Jack's room is, for the most part, all set up. We have a few pictures left to hang, the rug to finish and some organzing left to do in his closet - but, we are almost done!!

We had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I was 33 weeks and 4 days. Justin and I were both quite anxious about this appointment. We were nervous about what I was going to measure and whether or not the doc was going to schedule another sonogram to reconside the due date or to guesstimate Jack's weight. Good news is - I am still measuring 37 weeks. Turns out Jackson went through another growth spurt. Get this...I actually lost weight!! Haha...so that brings the weight total to 24 lbs. So far, so good. The doc is still keeping my due date at March 19th. Justin swears I won't make it past the first week in March. He actually won't be surprised if Jackson arrives the last week in Feb. He just looks at me, shakes his head, rubs my belly and says there is no way I can possibly get any bigger!! I'm actually expecting Jack's arrival on March 11th. Thats the full moon. Who knows....what we do know is Jack will be here very soon!!!

I'm excited about this weekend - My girlfriends Jennifer, Robin and Peggy are throwing me a Baby shower. It will be alot of fun. I'll be sure and post pictures next week.

We are having a garage sale Saturday morning...It will be so nice to get rid of all the junk we have been storing. Hopefully we will make a little bit of money too. Garage sales are always alot of work...but they are so worth it!!

Sunday, John's fiance Jill, will be taking maternity photos of me. I'm really excited about it. She's a great photographer. Check out her myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jrosephotographytx

We've got a big weekend planned....I'm anxious for it to get here....as for now, I'm off to get ready for the garage sale.

Thanks for the Reminder that I'm still Preggo!!

Ok, so recently I have gotten "really pregnant". I look like I'm going to go into Labor at any moment. I found these Pregnancy Comebacks online, and I thought they were hilarious. These days, strangers and friends take it upon themselves to remind me that I look like a whale and they seem concerned that I might go into labor in their presence. So, next time one of you approaches me and says something along the lines of, "You still haven't had that baby?"....please be prepared for one of these responses:

-This pregnancy's been great for my hair, so I've decided to hold out until it's about waist length.
-What do you mean? I did have the baby! Do you think I still look fat?

-Not yet, but thanks for the reminder.

-Baby? Who said anything about a baby?

-I'm so glad you asked because you could really help me out here—go get a knitting needle and meet me back here in half an hour.

-Oh, you didn't hear? I'm going for the world record for longest pregnancy.

-I actually changed my mind. ... I decided to wait a few more years before having kids.

-I'm just not ready to let go of the baby belly yet. You'll be the first to know when I am.

2009 - A New Year with lots of Change!!

Wow – So much has happened since my last blog!!

Christmas: It was wonderful. Justin, Elizabeth and I spent Christmas eve and Christmas day in San Angelo with Justin’s family. It was lovely. It was my first Cobb Christmas experience and they certainly welcomed Elizabeth and I with open arms. My in-laws certainly are enjoying having a Granddaughter! It was great to spend time with Justin’s sister Jeni and her husband Chris. I’ve barely met them so it was nice to get a chance to visit more.

The day after Christmas, we once again celebrated the big day. We had a great time with my folks and my grandparents.

Overall, I would chalk this Christmas up as the best ever. We had wonderful visits with our families, and we really raked in the presents, too!!

New Year’s Eve was uneventful. Elizabeth tried so hard to stay up till midnight, all of her girlfriends had plans to do massive texting right as the new year began. Poor Elizabeth couldn’t make it pass 11:15pm. Just as Justin and I were turning in for the night, at about 11:57pm – Elizabeth’s cell phone began to ring off the hook! All of her friends were busy texting her while she was snoozing away the New Year!

My MIL gave me a prenatal massage and pedicure for Christmas, right after the New Year, I scheduled my appointment. It had been 7 years since I had gotten a massage – boy, it sure felt good! Thanks so much Nancy!!

We had a doctor’s appointment on Jan 6th. I had only gained ½ pound over Christmas and New Year’s. I was thrilled. How many non-pregnant women only gain ½ pound over the Holidays!?! At that point, I was 30 weeks pregnant and I was measuring 32 weeks. As always, I was measuring two weeks ahead of schedule.

The following weekend, Mom and Gary came over to help us paint the nursery. We painted a wonderful creamy neutral on the walls with a brown stripe horizontally around the room. Immediately after the paint was dry, Justin and Gary set up the crib and changing table. It felt so good to begin to set up Jackson’s room.

This past weekend was jammed packed. We went to my girlfriend’s 40th Birthday party. She went all out, hired a band and had many kegs waiting for thirsty partiers. We had a great time seeing all of our friends. We don’t get out much these days.

The next day, we attended our Childbirth Class. Vanya Keyser, my dear friend, was our instructor. We are planning on having Vanya as our Doula during Jackson’s labor and delivery. The class was from 9am-4pm. It’s really hard to sit in a classroom setting for that long. By the time the class was over, our brains were mush!! We learned a lot, refreshed my memory about things work and met some other expecting couples. Overall, I’m glad we went. I think Justin has a better handle on what kind of support I need from him during the ordeal.

Then Saturday night, we had yet another party. It was called “Fred’s Party”. It’s a big Bi-Annual charity costume party. We dressed as Babies. Our table was sponsored in honor of the Boys and Girls Club. The theme for our table was ‘Kids’. Folks dressed up as Cinderella and Prince Charming, the Tooth Fairy, etc. So, we fit right in with our Baby costumes. I think we both underestimated how difficult it was going to be to make complete fools out of ourselves sober. We still had a very nice time, we visited with all of our friends and took lots of pictures. I hope we get the opportunity to go again in 2011.

Now for the big news!!
We had our regularly scheduled doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, 20th. I was 31 weeks and 5 days. The nurse came in and checked Jackson’s heartbeat. It was 135-139bpm….as always, it looked good. When the doctor arrived, he did the standard measuring of my belly. Here’s where it gets interesting……He pressed around on my tummy and did a measurement…He kinda looked puzzled….he went back and pushed around some more…and measured again. He looked at me and said, “How far along are we saying you are?” He did the measurement once more and looked at Justin and asked, “How big were you when you were born?’ Justin burst into laughter. I haven’t seen him break down in uncontrollable laughter like that in a long time. The doc then asks me, “How big was your other baby?” At this point, Justin is still laughing. I measured 37 weeks. I freaked. All of my co-workers have been teasing me non-stop about having a 14lb baby. By this time, the shock of measuring 37 weeks must of gotten to Justin because he managed to finally stop laughing. Oh, and I had gained 5 ½ pounds too, I forgot to mention that part. The doctors says he is thinking either the dates are messed up or Jackson’s a nice, healthy, BIG baby!! He said he wanted to see me in two weeks, but then I was supposed to start coming every week after that. He mentioned that Jackson’s size would be closely monitored from now on and I might be getting another sonogram in a few weeks to determine his size. He also mentioned an induction at 38 weeks. Over all, the weight gain is good. I’ve gained 25 pounds so far. Anyone can clearly see, it’s all on my belly. My face has rounded out a bit more, but I’m not carrying any extra weight in my rear or thighs. If I am measuring 37 weeks, which is nearly full term, and I’m at 25lbs weight gain, I am extremely proud of myself. 11 years ago, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I gained 42lbs. This time around, my weight gain is way more controlled. I’m pleased.
I guess that’s really all that has happened in the past month. I have two baby showers coming up. One is scheduled for Feb 7th. And the other one, given by my co-workers, is scheduled for Feb 10th. I’m terribly excited about the upcoming showers. Only a few more weeks left.
Justin and I have turned it into high gear – with the possibility that Jackson could arrive in 4-6 weeks. We are busy finishing up his room, getting our yard ready for spring, and re-organizing our bedroom so we have space for his co-sleeper.
Lots of changes are happening at our house, and we couldn’t be more excited. Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers.