37 Weeks

We are officially considered "full term" today!! While not really meaning a lot to a lot of people it is something that I thought was light years away! Really no a lot to update for the week, an uneventful one it was. The heat indexes continue to be through the roof as we had only 2 days without a heat advisory the rest of them we had 100+ degree indexes with little air to breathe when you walked outside. This, in result, caused this momma to stay inside in the a/c as much as possible. That didn't stop the Fiona feet from revealing and the heat flashes from overcoming me. We will start this week with the same thing of heat advisories so I suppose I better get used to it; after all, it is August in Iowa, how much complaining can I really do??

We had our weekly o/b appointment on Friday morning which proved to be less than exciting with no progress from the prior week's appointment. Even after reminding Jay (and myself) not to be surprised when there was no progress, if we were still at 1 cm, that it happens all the time and not to be disappointed...well, guess who found themselves disappointed?? To no avail, I was bummed after the appointment but I just assured myself that first of all, I didn't want her to come prior to 37 weeks and being full term and second, I want her to come on her own terms and she will let me know when she is done baking. Until then, I will deal with everything and allow her all the time she needs to be ready to come into the world as happy and healthy as possible. Okay, maybe not ALL the time but some more time!!

We are winding up our weekend today and preparing to start another week. All of B2K's family is back in the Iowa area so she has the clearance there. Grandpa, Cousin Ashleigh, Aunt Amber and Uncle Chris are back in the area and as anxious to meet her as Jay and I. Ashleigh asked me Saturday if I was going to have the baby before she went back to school so she could see her...I assured I would do everything that I could and try to make that happen but it was really her call, not mine! The weekend proved to be a very busy, exhausting and productive one all at once. I think it ranks at the top of the list of "overdoing it" for this gal...but it was a good weekend and thanks to Jay's help I was able to accomplish the long "to-do" list I felt the need to put together and get done all in one weekend + enjoy a day on the lake with Brandon, Jenny and Brady! Until I think of something else that "needs" to be done before Baby gets here! : )

So for now, another week closed out and continuing on to our full-term weeks! Hard to believe that she could make her appearance any day and we will be holding her in our arms!! We are anxiously but patiently (who are we kidding, anyone that knows me knows that I am less than patient) waiting for her to make that day!!

36 Weeks

Thought I would try to post quick updates as we near the end to "document" the progress as we go. Unbelievable, we are at the 1 month to go mark!! We saw our baby girl on Friday where they "confirmed" the girl gender (weird!) and gave us pictures of her long feet (belonging to her Daddy) and her smashed face that was up against my uterine wall (that several commented looking like her mommy...not sure how to take that! LOL!) But in looking at her facial features in the 3D u/s (which I at first thought were super creepy turned out to be kinda cool!) she has her mommy's nose and mouth based on the pictures. She looks to have very chubby cheeks and is still "measuring" on the "big side". They are estimating 6 lbs, 15 oz and still about a week and a half ahead of the due date based on her size. They began checking my progress where they said I was dialated to 1 cm; which obviously can last several weeks but was still a hopeful thing for this momma to show some progress and a real eye-opener for Daddy! : ) His face was priceless when she announced dialated at 1 cm and his deep breathing and "oh boys" as we were leaving the office. We potentially have a few weeks to go and some are hoping that she waits until the end of this week; that is when Grandpa Lint, Aunt Amber, Uncle Chris, and cousin Ashleigh get back from their vacation in Michigan! But I call, after next weekend, free game!! She can come see us anytime she wants after that (like what I have to say really matters when it comes to her choosing when to make her grand entrance!!!) : )

35 Weeks...late again...

35 weeks!! Ahhhh!!! And the countdown in days begins...as of today we have 33 days until our due date. Considering there are 30 or 31 days in most months, that means we are nearing that month to go mark (give or take). I have heard this is where most pregnant women's patience starts to wear down, they begin to wish for the end...well...I believe it! The +100 degree heat indexes in the last week and to continue the rest of this week are not helping matters at all. However, we can see a glimpse of the end of the road and are finding it hard to believe that we are saying DAYS now until we get to finally meet our little peanut!!

Speaking of our "little" peanut, our doctor's appointment while another uneventful one marked the end of our bi-weekly appointments and our weekly appointments continue this Friday. B2K continues to measure a week and a half ahead according to the fundal measurement of 36 cm. We get a little better view of her at this Friday's appointment as they do another u/s to check fluid levels and her size again! Then I imagine that will be the last time we see her on a screen unless she decides she needs to cook past our due date then I would guess we will do u/s to check on her...but we won't think about that right now and think positively that she will make a timely arrival! : ) Along with our weekly doctor's check up on Friday, we are doing maternity pictures with Landry Anna Designs. She has us going to the rose garden at the Art Center, which I have heard is very pretty. So we are looking forward to those. Then to end a great day we are anticipating a great visit from our beautiful god-daughter and her wonderful parents!!

Finally, Jay and I took our "parenting" class on Saturday. Interesting, to say the least, but good information to be reminded of outside of our friends that know first hand the should and should not's, but we were able to take some information away from the class and I think it finally engaged Daddy's excitement and made him realize that it really can be any day now.

There is very little to update on for this post. Beginning our day countdown, weekly doctor's visits until Baby's arrival, Nursery is all but finished and just ready to add B2K to it, the heat and mommy don't get along very well but we are making the best of it and trying not to be too miserable considering most of my family has actually work out in the heat so I can't complain too much. : ( Otherwise, here is the end of another bi-weekly post.

Until next time!! : )

Angel's "Birth"day Party

Angel Girl: Your "birth"day party was a quiet, personal celebration with Grandma & Grandpa Lint, Grandma & Grandpa Kern and cousin Ashleigh. I hope you enjoyed all12 balloons all different colors with the messages that we wrote to you! It was a difficult day but as we have the last year, Mommy and Daddy got through it! Your daddy got me a beautiful plant and a lovely card in your honor! He let me know how much he loves me and you and will never forget you; despite the thoughts that went through my head! I had some very good support from a couple of close friends that were very understanding that the day was going to be hard for me and they realized that before the day even arrived, they reminded me that I was allowed to be sad and think about you, they reminded me to take the feelings that I have and accept them for what they are. That is what helps me get through the lonely days that I think about you and miss you! And of course the gift that you have given to us helps just as much. Your sister will be here to join us within weeks and I know that she will enjoy our celebration of you just as much as we will forever and ever!

All of our love,
Mommy & Daddy

33 Weeks....a little late...

Obviously I missed the typical bi-weekly update at 32 weeks so here is a quick 33 week update with doctor updates and all; although there is very little to update as not a whole lot has changed accept for my size and weight!!

First, an update on B2K's work shower and the wonderful things my department got us. They provided us with several of our big items including our pack n play, space saver high chair, boppy pillow and diaper genie that will come in incredibly handy with Baby! We have not put up the pack n play yet as we are still trying to get the basement finished up and organized so we can set it all up down there where I will potentially be spending most of our time assuming I don' t have any issues with stairs. But I look forward to using it all in the weeks to come!

Other than that, we have done very little in terms of Baby stuff; however, I don't have a whole lot that I am stressing over either! But here we are nearing the 6 weeks to go mark and we have no bottles and only the diapers that our dear friend Becca put in our diaper cake!! So this weekend we are going to finish up the last minute "must-haves" shopping for bottles and diaper stock and hopefully get a few more "organizational" things done that I would like to have done before she gets here. It's harder to get "motivated" to do when Jay's work is so up and down on how many hours he gets but we are at the point that we don't have the choice to buy or not to buy and these are things that aren't really optional. But it will all work out just fine and I'd much rather have it all at home then try to explain to Jay what to buy after the fact if she should decide to arrive earlier than "planned" (as if we even think we can plan for it!)

Speaking of arrival, Sabrina and I were talking one day and she made a guess on when B2K would arrive and how big she would be so I decided to ask Jay then Katie...then my mom...well then Ashleigh got word of it over the weekend so and she asked several others to get their guesses. It was kind of fun to hear what everyone thinks so I made a calendar to put in her baby book after it's all said and done. The highest weight guess was 9 lbs, 2 oz...Augh!!!! And length (from a different guesser) was 24 inches!! (That would be from her Daddy!)

Finally our doctor's appointment last Friday was another uneventful one. My fundal height (I think I am saying the right word for that...) was 34 cm, still approximately 1 1/2 weeks ahead with that measurement. Baby's hbt was in the 130's and she has become more and more active everyday since then! We have another bi-weekly appointment on July 15th and then it's off and running with weekly appointments!! Holy Cow!! It was funny that Jay asked me what my guess was for B2K's arrival and I said August 5th...he made the comment that he thinks that is really early and I asked him if that was the case or was it because that was only a month away...he said both!! Hard to believe that we could potentially be holding our little girl in a month or a little more!! Her cousin Ashleigh said August 3rd, that made him panic a little more! ; )

We know it's getting close as I start my last class today and it's downhill from here!!! Until next time! : - )