Day 5

You know the funny thing with due dates? They are such an inexact science. Did you know that only 4% of babies are actually born on their due date? So clearly, it should really be more of a range. They should tell you, "Sometime between November 25th and December 25th, you're going to have a baby." Doctors will caution you not to put too much stock in your due date. Okay, check. Got it. Truth be told, I really didn't expect to go into labor on the 8th.

But then riddle me this, Batman - if everyone agrees it's an inexact science, why do they watch you so closely the second you go past your due date? Ah, well, I guess it could be worse. Well, I know it could be worse, so hopefully my prayer of being a more patient waiter will be answered. Any day now. =)

And, if you're going to be sitting at home waiting for a baby, I must say - throw a fake log on the fire, turn your couch to face it, and get your husband to cuddle with you while eating peppermint ice cream. It's pretty great.

Maybe tomorrow there will be a baby!

My First Post Due Appointment

So, we're still cooking away over here. Hopefully babies aren't like microwave popcorn - you leave that in there for just a second or two too long and your whole house stinks for hours and the popcorn is totally inedible. But, the very nice nurse at Memorial assures me that is not the case and our baby cooking a little longer is no problem.

We had a great visit today to the hospital. Seriously, I'm not joking. Many of our appointments and experiences at Talbert, where I go for my regular visits, has been less than enjoyable. But today, the nurse was so friendly, answered all of our questions and when she did the ultra sound to check my fluid levels, she let us look at the baby for ten minutes. It was glorious! We hardly got the see the baby at all during our mid-way ultrasound so this was super fun. Ian took the day off work so he could go with me (and with the thought that if things weren't fine and they decided to keep me, he would already be there). So he also got to see the baby and it was great. I tell you what, this baby is cute. Oh dear, it's so soon for the totally nonobjective statements to start. But I can't help myself.

Everything is looking good - my fluids, the baby's heartbeat, movement, etc. Since the baby is doing fine, so they are going to continue to let us go, which we're glad for. We've heard being induced can be a doozy. Tomorrow I have my regular appointment with the doctor and then Thursday we go back to the hospital for another check up. If things still look good, they will send us home again. If not, they'll keep us and induce then. So each time we go, we pack up our bags, not sure if we'll be coming home again. I will say this - it's a great way to keep your house very clean. Each time I think, "We may not be coming back, so I better tidy this up or put that away." I'm sure my clean house is the reason the system is having me spend so much time with medical professionals.

The nurse today did say that the longest they let people go is 42 weeks - please pray we don't have to go 42 weeks and then be induced. 42 weeks would be Dec. 22 and then if I have a long labor, we might not have our baby until the 23rd, meaning we wouldn't leave the hospital until the 24th. YIKES! But, I'm getting ahead of myself. We could still go into labor today. Let's hope for that. In the meantime, pray that I will wait with courage and patience. I have been battling a lot of anxious thoughts about the health of the baby, so pray I trust the Lord and wait on his perfect timing.

Signing off,

Momma in Waiting and Baby A Stewing

Nursery: Part 3

Since the baby is not here and I have the time, I thought I would finish the nursery "series." So, I give to you...the completed nursery!

Here is a photo which shows the decals, which you've already seen, but it also shows how I mounted three board books on the wall. I think it turned out so cute! You can also see in here a portion of the valences we put up, which came with our bedding (which my co-workers so generously gave me at my work baby shower).

And here is a shot of said bedding, which we love. Not having seen it in person (because we registered for it via Amazon), we were pleasantly surprised to find that we loved it even more than we thought. It is so cute.

I know, I know, you're wondering about the blank space above the crib. That is for the baby's initial. We already bought the boy initial and girl initial, so we're all set! It's like one of those kits...all we need to do now is to add water. I mean have a baby.

Stay tuned for baby updates!

32 Years Old, 40 Weeks Pregnant

I think most of you know that I was due on my birthday. A very strange coincidence, but true none the less. So, in spite of our terrible picture taking-abilities, is a photo of me, now 32 years old and 40 weeks pregnant.

Obviously, Ian is with me and we're in our family room, by our tree (don't you just love Christmas?). This is just before Ian took me on a birthday date down to 2nd Street, where we ate at Open Sesame (YUM!), did a little shopping, got dessert at Frosted and then coffee at Starbucks. It was a wonderful date and I am so blessed to have such a great husband. He came home with bouquet of flowers, also. I know, too adorable. =)

The lovely date night was preceded by a delightful day full of the wonderful women and children in my family. I had a great walk with Mary and her kids, then met my mom and all my sisters and sister-in-laws for lunch, with their kids that weren't in school. And then Heather came over to wish me a happy birthday and due date day and we had a great time chatting before my date with Ian. I felt very loved and celebrated.

Now if only this kid would come and get his or her own birthday!

40 Weeks Today, No Baby

Well, today is the due date. Why do they give you a due date? Did you know that only 4% of babies are born on their due date? They should just stick to a range. I've told myself all along that I was going to be late and now it appears that is true, and it's okay, I can make it. But I tell you, the anxiety increases with each day. Let's get this show on the road!

I might be back later with a photo - depending on how huge my face looks today. =) Vanity strikes once again. Or I might carry on with my regular blogging. Aren't you just on the edge of your seat now.

Blog-A-Thon: Nursery Part 2

In my first nursery post, I showed you the drawer pulls and changing table/dresser. Life changing stuff, I know. Well, I'm back with a glimpse of the crib, bookcase, shelf and even some decals. If this doesn't blow your hair back, I don't know what will!

Feeling inspired (and taking pity on my husband who hates assembling IKEA furniture probably more than anything else in the world), I decided to put together our bookcase myself. Trying to avoid the cheapness of IKEA, we had looked on Craigslist and other places online a lot but just couldn't find what we were looking for. So we broke down and purchased "assemble furniture," aka low quality. But, I have to say, it looks pretty cute all put together!

So here is part of the assembly process. I'll spare you the gory details of how long it took me. Here you can see part of the bookcase up, the crib (with the awesome blanket my mom gave us at the family shower), as well as the SUPER CUTE rug that all our baby's aunts gave us (our baby has five aunts - what treasures!).

And here is a photo of the decals. Ian put those up, and quite happily I might add. I think he figured spending 20 minutes putting up decals was way better than two days worth of repainting. We both love how the decals turned out - so cute and whimsical!

And here is an ABC shelf my friend Tali gave us for our shower. On top are some ABC flash cards from my friend Amy and hanging from it is a darling little monkey from my friend Roe. See what I mean by amazing generosity? Oh, and below that is Ian's favorite gift so far, from his grandparents. It's our back pack - we can't wait until cricket is big enough for us to cart him or her around in that!

More to come on the nursery - the third and final installment. You're going to love it!

Blog-A-Thon: Family Baby Shower

Get ready for a blog-a-thon! I have been MIA for almost a month. Terrible! But I was very busy finishing up work and then there was Thanksgiving, and now I've been bustling around getting ready for our cricket's arrival. Enough excuses! Here comes more blog posts than you can handle.

First up, my Family Shower. What a WONDERFUL time of celebrating this amazing gift with the ladies in my family. Ian's mom and sister where there, of course, as well as aunts and cousins from my mom's side as well as my dad's. And my sisters and sister-in-laws were there, as they all helped to throw it, with our matriarch, Nellie. Every detail was so perfectly planned and the ABC theme carried through to the tiniest detail (thanks to Sarah and my mom). Ian actually commented that he didn't know there was that much ABC stuff out there, but don't count these ladies out when there is a party with a theme on the line!

One of the other fun things about this shower was that it was at my house. Don't worry, I didn't lift a finger. My mom came over the day before to clean everything and set everything up. I just got to enjoy showing our house and nursery to many of the ladies in my family that had never seen it before. And it certainly made putting the presents away easier!

Enough words - let me show you in photos how great it was. Below is a photo of our mantel, just one of the MANY places where ABCs appeared.

My mom and sisters used my dining room and family room for seating. Didn't the family room turn out so cute?

Here it is, with people this time! From left to right, that is my Fenska cousin Amy, a Fenska aunt, Aunt Susan, Ian's mom and Ian's sister, Heather.

Here I am (in all my swollen glory), with a mound of gifts around me. What generosity! I hope it takes our baby no time at all to realize what a wonderful support system he or she has been born into.

I thought this was a fun photo that Sheila took - Ian is holding a stuffed tiger that was originally his dad's (so it's almost 60 years old now) and I'm holding Super Monkey, my most loved stuffed animal from my own childhood. Both of these sit on the shelf in our nursery.

In addition to the food and gifts and lovely women who attended, my shower was also extra special because my mom gave a short devotional. Since I'm due on my own due birthday, my mom and I have gone through the exact same pregnancy stages and it's been a really fun connection. I am constantly reminded of what a good gift this baby is and how loving and excited my family is for me.

Thanks Mom, Sarah, Mary, Sheila and Gina for this lovely shower! I enjoyed every minute and felt so celebrated!