christmas 2008

i can't believe christmas has come and passed already. where has the time gone?

M took off from work on christmas eve, so we spent the day together and eventually headed over to my father's cousins house for christmas eve dinner with his side of the family. and i have to say...i love eating mexican food on christmas eve. YUM. =) afterwards, we headed up to my parent's house for the next few nights, where we celebrated the holiday's eve by opening up two presents (from the two siblings) and spending time with our family. we then got up early on christmas morning to open up presents. we then headed off to our annual christmas morning breakfast with my mom's family and spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon at my poppy and gramma's with my mom, brothers and uncle's family. what a fun treat. we then had a big turkey dinner feast with my parents and brothers before sending my brother off for his red-eye flight.

i'm always so grateful to spend christmas with my family as it always reminds me of how wonderful my family is. and this year i realized that i have been really blessed to have never missed spending a christmas with them. though, i have to say what an odd feeling it was this year, not have having to fly home for the holidays for the first time in SIX years. instead, i sat on the other end of the spectrum and watched my brother come down for a few days from USF, before heading out to MA on christmas night for games this weekend. what a sad night and goodbye that was.

needless to say, christmas passed almost as quickly as it came and in my downtime, i have spent much time reflecting on the year. last night, as we winded down for the evening, the husband and i reflected that this was our 2nd christmas together and that we will soon be closing in the first two years of the rest of our lives. it's amazing how time just flies by. i know i say this alot, but seriously. wow.

and lastly, as i'm sure you have all surmised, i am still pregnant. =) i am officially in my last week of the official 40 weeks. i am huge (and have pictures to prove it!) and feel even huger. i also feel like there is definitely, no way my skin can stretch anymore. since i haven't gotten a call from my ob-gyn's office, i'm assuming my induction was not scheduled in time and of course, that means we will be left waiting for the time being. while we are all uber-impatient at the moment and i would most definitely love for her to come ASAP, i also feel slightly relieved, as i keep sticking to the mantra "she'll come when she's ready" and would really like to "enjoy" the experience of labor and delivery without knowing when it will exactly happen. in the meantime, my little one remains out of this crazy cold weather (it was 29 degrees early this morning!!!) and nestled up warm and cuddly. it's no wonder why she doesn't want to come out!

i have pictures to post...but unfortunately, that will have to wait.

much love to everyone and thank you all for your warm wishes (both holiday and not), love and friendships. we are so blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives and not a day goes by without us thanking God for all of you!!

39 weeks.

well we're almost at the end of the road which is scary and exciting at the same time. i have to say, i didn't think i would still be pregnant come christmas time but c'est la vie. it seems that before she was supposed to come, she gave us many scares by trying to come and now that it's ok for her to come, she won't!!

we visited the doctor yesterday and everything seems to be progressing slowly, though the doctor says i am effacing very nicely. we are trying to get scheduled for an induction next tuesday the 30th if she doesn't show up by then, but we will see how it all works out. in the meantime, we have been trying to naturally induce with no such luck. i guess it goes to show that she'll come when she's good and ready.

nesting.

i am once again, nesting. either that or going crazy. which is a possibility. tonight (and by tonight, i mean after 9PM), i got the urge to finish up almost all my christmas shopping, bake a carrot cake, tidy up the house, wrap all my christmas presents, put together all baby's things for her car seat/trip home from the hospital, tidy up her nursery, pay all our bills & update our checkbook, bathe my dogs and do a load of laundry. and i took a nice, very icy cold, brisk walk around some of the apts.

and as of right now, i am hoping and praying the old wives tale is true... that nesting women give birth soon!!

on a cool side note, when the two of us originally became engaged, we chose to have a long engagement with a wedding date of december 20, 2008. we were pretty set on this date until we decided to run away to the beach and "elope" last november. nonetheless, we both laughed and thought, how weird would it be if baby came on the 20th, our original wedding date?! we're not holding our breath or anything but life has the weirdest way of working out!

38 wks.

well the visit to the doctor last night was uneventful and i am still very much pregnant. the doctor says his guess is that i'm dilated somewhere between 1-2 cms (about a fingertip or so) and the baby is in a -3 station. (a station is where your baby is in relation to your pelvic bone. -5 is a floating baby, 0 is engaged in pelvis, +5 is crowning) i personally like to think that she is in at least a 0 station and that because she didn't like the dr poking and prodding around, she moved up a bit...but i'll admit, it's highly doubtful.

nonetheless, the dr tried to soothe my (and the husband's) obvious facial frustrations by saying that women can go into labor at any time during this stage of pregnancy and that the baby's station really is no indication as to whether i'll be having her tonight or 3 weeks from now. he then indicated that he would see me next week tuesday "if i haven't had the baby yet." at this point/statement in the appt, i wanted to chuck my shoe at him.

so here i am, officially 38 weeks and still pregnant. i'm not complaining so much as i am just being impatient but whatever. the husband keeps my spirits and hopes high and my mom keeps reminding me that God has a plan and that even though we are all being impatient and can't wait to meet her, she will come on her own time... when she's good and ready. in the meantime, we wait!

37 weeks, 6 days

yes, i am still here and yes, i am still pregnant. baby b's official due date is in 16 days and people's predictions on her actual due date have varied. i've heard, "you are SO small...she won't be here for WEEKS!" and "omg, she's coming tonight FOR SURE!" unfortunately, the latter has been incorrect and i'm hoping the first prediction is as well. as for my prediction, i go to bed every night hoping that she will come that night. unfortunately, every night thus far, has come and gone with no baby. so that mama & baby bond/mama's intuition...not so good.

i'll be honest i always thought women who complained about the last few weeks of pregnancy were wimpy. i now have a newfound respect for them. how the heck do people do it?? i have no idea. women are godsend, that's all i have to say. i have become miserable. i am uberly anxious (like to the point where i shake and feel like i'm going to jump out of my skin), i want to sleep all the time, i am so emotional i sometimes i will burst into a river of tears and my hips are so sore, it feels like they are falling out of their sockets. and that's just the beginning.

i visit with the doctor this afternoon and am PRAYING for some sort of relief and good news (like maybe, "hey, your baby is coming TONIGHT!) i know, it's a long shot and there have been an uncountable number of  women who have done this for centuries and there will be an uncountable number of women who will continue to willingly jump into this and endure this pain and suffering. but BLEH. it's official, one kid is enough!!! ;)

buddha belly.

the side view

look at all those stretch marks...yikes!!

my favorite...the buddha belly

well, it's official. i am now full-term. or as my doctor likes to say "fair game." hard to believe i have gotten this far... 37 weeks. holy cow. life, or pregnancy rather, has taken on a whole new feeling and round of uncomfortableness. it's an odd feeling though...as much as i would love to meet her ASAP, at the same time, i really appreciate and love being pregnant and know i will miss the moments when she kicks and prods. (i will not however miss all the wacky hormones and morning sickness!!) while i haven't had significant, regular contractions in the past couple days, i have found myself almost as nauseous as my first 18 weeks, sleeping hours and hours on end...never quit getting enough!, cramping at all hours of the day and just plain ACHING! i always have found that my cravings have taken on a whole new level. the other night, i awoke from the middle of a dream at around 4 AM, turned to the husband half awake and told him, "i want orange soda RIGHT NOW!" luckily, he was almost comatose that night, or i might have made him drive to the store immediately! haha jk. kinda. i also find myself craving big, juicy cheeseburgers and taco bell. i know, healthy right? i try and convince myself that salad would be just as great at a big cheeseburger, but unfortunately, i've learned, cravings can not be tricked. boo!

that being said, every day has become a waiting game for us and i've tried almost everything i could to induce her naturally. every night M tries to coax her into coming, telling her what days would work best for him. but apparently, she has her own schedule and she's just not ready yet. i can't help but think she'll be here within the week or two but i guess that might be my impatience talking and really, anybody's guess is as good as mine! nonetheless, everybody's so excited and can't wait for her to come out and play!!

36 weeks.

i've been dying to update...so here will be the last post before the blog is officially set to private.

i visited with my ob-gyn on tuesday and must say, had some good laughs with him. it's hard to believe i am 36 weeks along. when i think back, it's been 30 weeks since i found out i was pregnant. where does the time fly to??

anyhow, back to the appointment, the doctor says i look ready to pop (which made me giggle in agreement) and proceeded to massage my tummy to get a good idea of what and how baby is doing. she is definitely in the "head-down" position, ready for her big debut. he made me laugh as he said, your baby is BIG (in which i laughed and told him "you don't have to tell me that twice, try carrying her!!) and he estimates that she is about 7 lbs at the moment. yes, i almost fell off the table at this point as well! i then asked him how big babies are generally at the 36 week mark. he kinda laughed and said, "well i'm not going to lie to you, babies at 36 weeks are about 6 lbs." i almost choked. YIKES! he then proceeded with "hopefully you have the pelvis to get her out!" i almost had an anxiety attack right then and there!

he then gave me instructions of what to do if i happen to go into labor/have more frequent contractions and told me that he wants to try and keep her in a few more days....after that, she's fair game to come out and play! he then gave me a wink and said, "ok hopefully i'll see you in two weeks...if you make it there!"

i can't tell you how fast this has all gone by! 27 days til her official due date...i remember when the countdown was still WAY above 200!! i find the two of us getting VERY anxious and excited about her impending delivery and always get a little giggle when i moan and groan and the husband excitedly says "what? are you ok? do we need to go to the hospital?" i think i get asked if i need to go to the hospital at least 10 times a day...it cracks me up. he is so amazing. so we are reaching the end of the road and this new journey of parenthood is sure to be amazing.