Craziness

It's been a crazy week.

On Saturday we got 2 kittens. The kittens are to kill the mice so that the snakes will leave. Reminds me of that song about the old lady who swallowed the fly. For now they are so small that they have to stay inside all the time, lest they become owl food.

We had some new friends over on Tuesday to play, and Josiah was swinging in the back yard with his friend when he decided (mid-air) to let go of his swing with both hands. I have no idea why - he has never done that before. Thankfully I was not pushing him as high as I normally do. He did a gravity-defying back flip in the air and landed on the top of his head. It looked really painful and really scared both of us. I called the nurse helpline and they said just to monitor him - his movements and behavior - for the next couple of days. So the past 2 nights we've had to wake him up around 2 am and make him talk and walk around to check on him. Maybe it is training for getting up with the baby soon. I think he is OK from the fall, but now he is running a fever so I'm planning on taking him to the doctor tomorrow to see what's going on.

I skipped my ultrasound this week. I was not able to get my doctor's appointment and the ultrasound scheduled for the same day, and it was too much stress for me to figure out babysitters for Josiah for two separate days and make two separate treks into Springfield. Plus I really don't see the point anymore. The baby is full term, over 6 lbs, and if I can feel him moving (which I do all the time) then why do I need to have his heart rate verified via ultrasound? Anyway, I don't think my doctor is super happy with me but I am not all that concerned with her feelings at this point. Had my appointment today and I am dilated 2 cm now, still 70% effaced, and the baby is now at a station -2 (he moved a little lower). Also found out that I tested positive for Group B Strep bacteria, which exists in about 25% of all healthy adult women. I guess most women that have it have no symptoms or health effects from it, but it can be passed to the baby and could make the baby very sick. So all this means for me is that I will have to have IV antibiotics during labor. Hopefully won't be a big deal.

I am praying that we can all get some rest this weekend and that we can all stay healthy!!

Too much information

Today marks week 37. Full term!!! Here's me and the baby. Went to the doctor today and he is measuring at 5 lbs 14 oz. I thought he would be a little bigger, especially since I made cinnamon rolls on Friday and have been eating 4 per day ever since. But, he is in the 22nd percentile, and everything looks good (fluid levels, cord blood flow, heart rate). His belly is in the 20th percentile while his head is in the 50th, so there is still some asymmetry going on, but not really any reason to be concerned at this point.

If you don't want to know the TMI part, then stop reading now. For less squeamish readers, I lost my mucous plug on Sunday morning. I was surprised and have been carrying a towel around with me ever since just in case my water breaks! Josiah was born 6 hours after this happened, but I read that you could lose it 2 weeks before your baby comes. Plus the doctor told me today that it could regenerate and I can lose it again. Weird. Anyway, things are the same as last week - 1 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and the baby is at a -3 station (meaning he has not dropped very far yet). Jason still thinks he will come before July 1st. Feel free to place your due date bets on the new poll!

Week 36

When I went to the doctor on Tuesday, she told me that I am dilated 1 cm and 70% effaced. I was pretty surprised. For some reason I was not really expecting to be dilated at all yet (probably because of the due date discrepancy). That really doesn't mean much though - it could still be several weeks before he decides to make an appearance (which is fine with me!). I am still feeling good and even got in the pool with Josiah today (thanks Liz!). Luckily there was no one there besides the lifeguard and my friend to see my big belly hanging out of my pre-pregnancy swim suit!

Here's Josiah singing part of the Phineas and Ferb theme song. He can sing the whole thing, but here he chose to be silly instead (Mi Mi is his name for Jason's mom). Enjoy!

1 month to go!

Here's me and the baby on Monday, 6/6. Tomorrow will put us at week 36 - only 4 weeks to go! Today I'm washing the baby's clothes, and I finally started packing a suitcase to take to the hospital. I am already WAY more prepared for this little guy than I was for Josiah!

Last Saturday I toured the maternity ward of the hospital where he will be born, just so I will know where to go and what to expect when I get there. The nurses were very nice - they showed me the labor/delivery room, the nursery, the recovery room, etc. and then they said, "see you soon!" when I left. I almost had a panic attack. I had been so preoccupied with moving, unpacking, etc. that I had not given much thought to labor and delivery. I clearly need to do some mental prep!

Seven years ago (tomorrow) Jason and I got married! We are going to dinner tonight to celebrate. Jason's mom is coming over to hang out with Josiah (thanks Debby!!). And then, like most of our special date nights, we will probably end up at Home Depot. We are quite the romantics.

Josiah updates:

• He is into Star Wars right now. He routinely calls me Princess Leia, which I really don't mind at all.
• He named our tractor Mary Anne, per a book we checked out at the library (Mike Mulligan and the steam shovel).
• He has watched Toy Story 1 and 3 multiple times, but when he is pretending to be Buzz Lightyear, he still says, "To infinity and beyond here". Not sure where the 'here' came from. At least it's better than earlier this year when he would say, "Whointattily and beyond here".
• He has a very active (sometimes overactive) imagination. He frequently tells us about how he has several jobs. One is at the zoo (selling animals of course), one is at Bass Pro Shops selling boats, and there are others I can't think of right now. The other day when we were driving, he would talk about everything he saw, and tell me that he and his friend Andrew built it. From buildings to flags to trees to even birds. He told me that they used a crane to lift bricks, and that all of this took place while I was a baby. He is very serious when he tells these stories, and would be rather convincing if he wasn't 3.
• He can sing the whole Phineas and Ferb theme song. I will have to get a video of this, because it is hilarious.
• He told me this week that he wants to be a police officer when he grows up.
• He will start preschool 2 half days/week in the fall. He is getting SO big!

Keep checking our blog in the coming month - this will be one of the main places we post baby updates and pictures when he arrives!

Uncharted territory

We are almost at 35 weeks! That means we've surpassed the point in the pregnancy at which Josiah was born! I can officially say I have never been this pregnant before (that is of course, according to the July 12th due date the doctors have given us). They did measurements of the baby on Tuesday (5/31), and he is now 4 lbs 13 oz. That puts him in the 20th percentile - until now he has been in or below the 10th. The doctors of course feel that we should continue our weekly monitoring despite his growth spurt. I guess I can put up with it, since that is only 5 more times! And yes, I am overdue on a picture of my belly, but will try to get that soon.

We are getting close to being unpacked. After getting rid of 1.5 truck loads of boxes on Craig's list and donating 2 truck loads of stuff we don't need, I am finally starting to believe that we might find a place for everything that we want to keep. It is slowly coming together. I finally found the baby's crib sheets, so I was able to wash them and make his bed. His room is looking more cozy. He won't be sleeping in there for a while, but it makes me feel better to have it more put together. We also uncovered the guest bed over the weekend, so we are officially able to accept guests! They will still have to navigate around the other stuff in the room that has not been put away yet, but at least they have a place to sleep (clean sheets coming soon).

Jason and Josiah left tonight to make the trek down to Dallas for our oldest nephew's high school graduation (congrats Alex!). I am not able to travel that far at this point in the pregnancy. And of course, this being a weekend when I'm here by myself, the air conditioner stopped working today. I was one unhappy pregnant lady in our 80 degree house this afternoon. Jason was able to come home a little early and get it to work again. I am praying that it keeps working all weekend - otherwise I may be spending a lot of time in Springfield at Target (or other air conditioned stores). I'm hoping to get some things done while the boys are away this weekend, but I already miss them. The house is way too quiet.

We live about 45 minutes away from Joplin, MO where the EF5 tornado* destroyed a lot of the city on May 22nd. Last week, Jason was out in our field mowing, when he found an x-ray from the Joplin hospital. It is scary when a huge natural disaster is so close, and debris from the storm literally lands in your backyard. We are so thankful that all of our family (who live much closer to Joplin than we do) is safe, but we are still so overwhelmed by the destruction. If you want to know how you can help the people of Joplin, you can go here for more info: http://www.facebook.com/joplinmo?sk=info

Here is a creepy but cool photo I took of the sky that evening (5/22) after the storm that produced the tornado had passed over where we live.

*The National Weather Service says the tornado that swept through the southwest Missouri town of Joplin was a highest-rated EF5 storm, with winds greater than 200 mph. The twister was the deadliest single tornado to touchdown since the National Weather Service began keeping official records in 1950. It's the 8th-deadliest single twister in U.S. history.