(Note:  I forgot to post this back in April!  I kept track of every appointment to print for our baby book except for this one.  Today is June 23, but I’m post dating this for the date of the appointment’s date of April 30)

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Today’s appointment was at 11 am.  Mom went with me as usual since Kevin is unable to get off of work for these.  I feel miserable.  At 39 weeks pregnant, I feel like I’m literally about to pop.  Last week, the doctor gave me an 80% chance of delivering before my next appointment.

Looks like that didn’t happen!

It was very crowded in the waiting room, so we had to sit in an adjoining room.  I was a tad afraid they wouldn’t realize in was in there and would miss me when they called.  I worried even more after I had been there for 40 minutes without them calling me. 

But finally they called me back.  My weight today was 145 lbs.  After all of the nice vitals and peeinacup stuff, I saw Dr. Nancy.  We did the typical small talk stuff and fundal height measurements.

We also talked about my contractions.  I have been contracting pretty good off and on since Sunday morning!  Usually they’re 5 minutes apart.  This morning they’ve been 3 minutes apart.  I can tell it’s not time yet though.  Mom thinks I should have went to the hospital Sunday, but I told her I’m following my gut.  Even though this is my first baby, I have a good feeling that I will “know” when it’s truly time. 

At least I hope I’m right.  I don’t like it when my gut is wrong.

Anyway, the doctor gave me a thumbs up for everything and said all signals are ready to go.  I could go as early as tonight, she said!!  I can’t wait.

The appointment was really short…but now it’s over and if all goes well, I won’t be coming back for another pre-natal visit.  Jack is due on May 6th, and my next scheduled visit is on May 7th. 

Let’s get prayin’ for a baby!  whoohoo!

Ok.  We have 3 dogs - Gabby, PupPup, and Gertrude (our 3 mo. old puppy).

Make that 3 veryhappyoverexcitedplayfulfunfilledhyper dogs at this moment.

They’re medium size doggies, approximately 30-40 lbs., but right now they sound like a herd of elephants!

Since they sleep indoors with us at night time, all 3 of them are usually with me after 9 pm until I go to bed.  And for some reason, over the past few days they’ve invented this game of tag which they play for about 30 minutes each night until they completely wear out.  This game of tag involves all 3 of them chasing each other at full speed up and down our hallway, around our kitchen, through our living room, and back down the hallway. 

While barking.

Loudly.

It’s so very, very funny to watch but I must say it does get quite annoying at times!  Especially when they crash into furniture and overturn huge area rugs.  I just thank God that our laminate floor is withstanding their paws.  I don’t think the dogs have my same appreciation for the floor though - they slip and slide on it in the most twistable, funny ways (think “Thumper on Ice” from Bambi).

(Oh and for more added pleasure, Gertrude is in our hallway bathroom at this moment barking at the toilet.)

I feel like this game of tag that the dogs have invented lately is their way of training me in patience.  While watching them play, I can imagine the day when not only 3 dogs will be running around our house, but 3-4 rambunctious kids as well (we want 4 children)!  I will definately need all of this new-found patience training then.

Patience to ignore the annoying, loud noises.

Patience to ignore the overturned rugs, scattered pillows, and bumped over lamps.

Patience not to get angry at those I’m in charge of.

Patience not to yell in the heat of the moment.

Patience to ignore my fear of a dirty, scratched floor.

Patience not to slap my hand on the chair and yell for everyone to please just shut up for one minute (like I just did).

Patience not to invoke bodily harm after enduring nerve racking-chaos!

Patience to find the humor is others not-so-becoming actions.

Patience to enjoy other’s spontaneous pleasure.

Patience to just live in the moment and have fun.

Patience to connect with family and play together.

Ahh… It’s terrific how much we can learn from our animals in preparation for being a better parent.  If only we could always pay close attention to these tiny teachable moments in life.

Thank you, Gabby, PupPup, and Gertrude.  Little Jack is forever in your gratitude.

I have been throroughly entrenched in the “nesting” stage for the past few days.

Or, as my Grandma would have called it - “Getting Smart”.

The nursery and closet are finally done, with all of his clothes arranged (in neatly catagorized-by-age rows nonetheless).  His blankies, diapers, toys and bathtub stuff is neatly organized.  AND his hospital bag is packed and in my car (along with the now-installed carseat). 

Go me.

Ever since I saw Father of the Bride, Part 2 years ago I knew I wanted a yellow nursery.  And yellow it is!  Painting was the first thing that was completed.  I always tease that Kevin had it painted within 20 minutes of learning I was pregnant (and that’s only a slight exaggeration!).  Our trim colors are seafoam green & light blue, with older-style Winnie the Pooh as the dominant character portrayed. 

The organization and cleaning of the nursery took a lot longer than the painting did, however.  It’s amazing at how complex setting up a functional nursery & closet can be!  As much work as we’ve done to change this room, there’s still room for improvement.

But I do so love our nursery.  Being the sentimental sap that I am, you can catch me sometimes just sitting in the rocking chair (a lovely old one that belonged to my Granny), getting misty eyed thinking about the little boy that will be occupying this room for years to come.

(Although I doubt the Winnie the Pooh will stay that long).

On occassion I’ve even found my husband stealing some time in there himself.  Yesterday I caught him batting playfully at the little bears hanging from the mobile.  Sweet man that he is.

How can we lowly humans love someone so much long before we’ve even met them?

I guess that’s the way God feels about us.
He awaits our arrival, anticipates our new birth, and rejoices when we become part of his family.

I was sitting here, eating pizza (yummy!) and reading through all of my comments everyone has posted over the past few months. 

What wonderful words of encouragement I’ve received during the pregnancy!

So anyway - as I sit here munching my last bit of pizza (lemmetellyou, Little Ceasars is by far better than Pizza Hut or Dominoes) - I say once more..

THANK YOU!!

Wow.

Lookey at that.

38 weeks?  Already???

I feel like I was just taking my pregnancy test, and now here I am, on the last few prenatal visits.

Today’s visit was with Dr. Fred - the man doctor who will be delivering my baby.  Well, that is, if he’s working at the time.  Most likely I’ll be delivered by the doctor on call.  Whoever that might be.

But right now, Dr. Fred is in charge.

My appointment today was at 12 noon.  I had been up since 5:30 am, sorting through baby clothes, and finishing a few last small things in the nursery all morning - so by noon I was completely pooped!  Thank goodness my mom goes with me to these appointments.  I probably couldn’t have kept my eyes open if I was by myself!

I arrived at the OB office a few minutes before noon and only had to wait 5 minutes or so (whoohoo!).  An intern was there today (they’re there often) so she took my vitals.  Blood pressure was the same as usual - running a little low - 80 over 52.   Weight was 146. 

Once I was placed in the exam room, the intern also checked the baby’s heartbeat (158 bpm) and told me to undress from the waist down.

It was at that moment that I assumed I was having a pelvic exam.

(Does no one ever think to tell me these things before hand?)

It didn’t take too long for Dr. Fred to appear either.  He also brought good news - my beta strep test was negative!  That means I don’t have to have the antibodies during labor!

Then he measured my belly.  Today I measured at 29 weeks - the highest I’ve ever measured with the “tape over the belly” thing is 34 weeks and it’s consistantly dropped since then.  The ultrasound, which is what they focus on the most for gestational measurement, has always placed me at the correct week I was.  Dr. Ann thinks that because the baby is sooooooo low in me, the belly height (measured manually with a measuring tape stretched over my stomach) is just reading low.  I agree with her.  Dr. Fred didn’t seemed too concerned with it today either.

Then, he pressed the buzzer for the “witness” (female intern) to come in and the pain fun began.

Apparantly, where the baby’s head is makes it harder to reach the cervix.  So, lemmetellyou, it was quite an ouch-filled few moments for me as he was a-probin’ and a-prodin’ up in my nether regions.

Finally though he was through. (Whew).  Then he brought out a little chart to “award points” (goodie!) and explained what it all meant.

I was 2 cm dialated, 70% effaced, soft, and the baby’s station was -1.   Based on the points that gives me, he says I have a very, very good chance - an 80% chance - of going into labor within the next 7 days.  He doesn’t think I’ll make it to my due date (May 6).  He doesn’t even think I’ll make it back to my next OB appointment (next Wednesday). 

That’s fine with me!  I just hope he doesn’t come before Saturday though.  My mom is holding a shower for me with the church ladies this Saturday at 2 pm.  The big joke for the past few weeks has been that he’ll be born Saturday morning.

Kevin says that’s fine because it means he’ll not only get to see his son, but also get to open all the shower gifts instead of me having all the fun.  :) 

Gee…how can time go so slow, yet so fast at the same time???

I’ve done pretty good up until now with documenting my prenatal visits - but for the past 2 weeks I just can’t seem to get it together enough to write about them.

Ho hum.

So anyway.

Last week’s visit with the doctor fell on Thursday, April 17.  Because my fundal height (not sure how to spell it) has been measuring pretty low, Dr. Ann ordered another ultrasound for measurement that day.  During the ultrasound, Jack was asleep and the sonogram lady got a little nervous at his non-movements.  I knew he was fine though - he was just sleeping!  After 30 minutes of measuring, she estimated him to weigh 6 lbs, 3 oz, and sent me on my way to have vitals checked and my regular OB appointment.

Vitals were good.  Weight was 144 and everything else was normal.  Then I was placed in Dr. Nancy’s room to wait.

And wait.

andwaitandwaitandwait!

I was in there for 30 minutes before Dr. Nancy popped in to see me. 

And see me was about all she did - she took less than 60 seconds to tell me she was concerned about the baby’s size (after studying the ultrasound) and was ordering a NST (non-stress test) done at the hospital.

Immediately.

Great.

She assured me that she didn’t think there was anything wrong, but because he was only in the 28 percentile for growth at that stage, she just wanted the test just to make sure.  I had a really hard time understanding how a 6 lb 3 oz baby could worry her so much?  I was only 6 lbs 6 oz when I was born one day before my due date.  I tried to get out of the test - because I honestly felt there was no need for it - but she insisted.

So, anyway, after she handed me my chart and said a pleasant bye-bye, I went up front to schedule my next OB appointment and then left with mom for the hospital.

And I was so annoyed!  I have never felt in my entire life so out of control of a situation as I have during this pregnancy.  There was no need for a “non-stress test” (it should be called “puts-stress-on-the-mother test”) because I knew  in my gut there was nothing wrong with the baby.    Two hours later, I left the hospital and they said the baby looked perfectly normal….perfectly healthy…perfectly fine.

I knew that already.  Doesn’t a mother’s gut count for anything??

I’ve decided that with my next pregnancy, I’ll be doing things a lot different.  For one, I do not like going to a practice where you don’t have a relationship with the care givers.  And I do not like not knowing the person who will be there helping me give birth!  There has also been issues with this office that has made me uncomfortable (such as being blamed for “forgetting” to remind them about my 20 week scan - when I didn’t know I was supposed to have one).  Also, being out of control of things and feeling like I have no say in what tests are done annoys me. 

More and more, throughout this pregnancy I’ve felt myself drawn to going the mid-wife / birthing center / natural route - especially over the past 2 months.  I’ve even surprised with how much I’ve come to abhore the modern day birthing methods as it relates to how much control is taken away from the mother. 

I don’t know. 

Giving birth holistically use to didn’t appeal to me - but the route I’ve taken when it comes to doctors visits throughout this pregnancy appeals to me even less. 

So we’ll just have to wait and see.  Perhaps my next child will be born at home in a birthing pool. *shrug*

This past weekend, our final 2 puppies (born Feb. 11 to our dog Gabby) finally headed off to their new home.  We’re not breeders, and this was a very much unintentional litter, but we still loved these little puppies so much!  It was hard to see them go.  They were born on our kingsize bed and even lived in our bedroom for the first whole 5 weeks of our life - so we were very attatched to them.

On Saturday, our little black girl, whom I called “Little Bear” (because she, well, looked like a little bear) went to a new home with owners who had a tan doggy that looked exactly like our Gabby. 

Then on Sunday, the final tan puppy then headed off to his new home.  He’s a tall little happy fellow, with a tail a mile long - so he had earned the nickname of Mr. Happy Tails! 

I’ll definately miss them. 

Me & the puppy

Kevin & the puppy….(we honestly didn’t plan on doing the same “face”!)

Puppy about to leave with his new owners

I have been sooo off this week!  For one, I thought yesterday morning I had missed this week’s Works for Me Wednesday so I didn’t plan on doing one.  Then last night I spent 30 minutes getting our garbage ready for collection.  And to think, I was so proud of myself for “remembering”!

The bad thing is - yesterday was Tuesday.  Not Wednesday, like I thought…. All. Day. Long.

I got up this morning and noticed Kevin hadn’t taken the garbage out before he left for work (something that never happens).  Then I laughed when I realized my error.   Yep.  The garbage man doesn’t come until Thursday morning. :(  Poor me.

So anyway. 

In my no-longer-confuzzled state, I realized that I still could participate in WFMW (yay!), and began rummaging for some miraculous tip that I could share.

Now, I don’t know about miraculous, but here’s a household tip I “inherited” from my mom.  And, well, it works for me really well.

 There is a type of honey here in the south called “Sue Bee” honey and it comes in the cutest little squeezable plastic bear container.  After the honey is gone, we’ve always kept the little honey bear, washed it out good, and then stored our vinegar in it!  The squeezable bear, with its easy snap top, makes vinegar use very practical!  Just open the little top, dribble some vinegar on your salad or cucumbers, close the top, and WAHLAH! 

Easy, cute, vinegar storage.

The only thing you have to watch out for is that apple cider vinegar is the same color as honey, so you have to pay attention to which bear you grab if you still have another honey-filled bear sitting around.  That’s easily taken care of though if you remove the honey lable and write vinegar on the other bear with a sharpie. 

(We’ve just always been too lazy to do that.) 

For more WFMW household tips, head over to Rocks in My Dryer!

(For more piccy fun, head on over to WordlessWednesday.com)