Being Thankful

As Thanksgiving approaches I have been thinking about all of the things I am thankful for. I know I sound like a Charlie Brown special. I have a great family and a special baby on the way. God has blessed me with tremendous friends and the resources not to have to worry about where my next meal is coming from. I have a good job that I like well enough and that hopefully will be flexible with me after the baby is born and a nursery full of all of the supplies the bean could possibly need thanks to generous friends and family. I just feel so blessed. I really do.

The countdown to bean's arrival continues. Everyone at the office thinks it is going to be sometime over the holiday weekend. I think my boss might have a cow, no pun intended, if that happens because I am smack in the middle of writing a new business presentation that is due on Wednesday. I am working down to the wire but I have decided that the 30th will be my last day. That will give me a week to be at home before bean's official due date. I am hoping to relax and hang out with my friends who are already on maternity leave maybe offering a bit of baby respite so they can you know shower and stuff. :)

I hope all of my friends and family who read this have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Redbeard the Redbird Lover

So remeber how nutso I told you Jeff was about the post-season? Here is proof. This was the game where the Cards clinched the NLDS. Note his red beard and hair. Yes, I love him even though he is nuts!

No Really, I am Happy to Be This Large

This is my first attempt at posting photos so here is one of me feeling very preggo for those of you who have not seen my girth. This was actually about a month ago so I am even larger now. Maybe I will try to get my entire body in one frame and post that later.

Two Down, Two to Go

So as previously stated there are/were four of us at church that were pregnant. The second of our friends had her baby this weeked. She is super cute. That leaves me and my friend with a January due date. We went to visit my friend in the hospital and she looked great. It is so weird, I think you sort of expect that the mom and dad will suddenly look different, but they look the same, just now they have a child. It is a bit of a weird phenomenom.

Now I really am in the home stretch. I am just over 36 weeks and technically Emmy could come at any time and boy howdy I am ready. Last night, I got up to go to the bathroom, came back to bed and 13 minutes later had to go again. I sort of think Emmy sits in there and waits until just after I get comfy and them uses my bladder as a trampoline. I think she thinks it is funny, I suppose it sort of is.

Today it is raining and for some reason this last trimester I get a bit blue when it rains. I think I tend to slow down a bit when it rains and that allows the sad feelings to creep in. I miss my mom something fierce and am trying really hard not to think about it. ( I know that is not the healthiest way to deal with it but at the same time if I let the water trickle through the dam, next thing you know I have a flood.) I really just wish she could be here to guide me and help me and just make me feel better about things.

In other news things are winding down at work. I am trying to off load as much info as possible to the team so that while I am out they can be moving all of our programs forward. I think I am going to have my last day be November 30. That is only about a week before I would officially leave because if Emmy is not here by my due date I am not coming in to the office to wait for her. The 30 is the end of a pay period though so that makes sense since I am not going to be paid for my maternity leave. That is really only about two weeks away. WOW!

Anyhoo, just waiting for the bean, I will keep you posted as I wait.

Almost 36 Weeks

Went to the doctor today and it seems as though the baby has dropped slightly but everything else is still locked up tight. The bean is still snug as a bug in a rug baking away. This is both good and bad news. It is good news because technically if she popped out today she would be about a month early. This is bad news because it means I could have as many as six more weeks of being preggo. Sleep has become elusive and comfort is a thing of the past. I have to pee constantly and am just a touch nauseous.

I got a flu shot today as well. That was the easiest needle I have encountered in a long time. Jeff was very nervous since he does not like needles but even he thought it was a piece of cake.

This weekend is house cleaning and yard cleaning for Jeff and I. The leaves came down in droves this week and our yard is covered. So I am going to attempt to do house work and yard work on Saturday and then do a lot of nothing on Sunday. I do need to go get nursing bras and make a quick exchange at the maternity store but other than that seriously I promised Jeff we could relax on Sunday. I will try to convince myself that I am keeping the Sabbath holy. I will let you know on Monday how I do.

Functioning Human

I have returned to my regular state of normalcy - if you could call my regular state normal. I have stopped obsessing about things in the house and things at work. Thanks to all of you who have been praying that I would find some peace.
I have detected a pattern. I whip myself up in to a frenzy on the weekends because all I think about is home/baby stuff. Then I go to work on Monday, settle back in to a work routine and calm down. Then I wake up Saturday morning yearning to color code my closet. Everyone at work is convinced the baby is coming sooner rather than later because this nesting instinct has gotten so bad. I am evening nesting at work. I have cleaned out files and told people about my secret hiding place on the server and what not.
In other news, I was pleased to wake up this morning to the news of a democratic Senate victory in Missouri. This great red state of mine has elected a democrat to the Senate, not by much, but we did it. I think people may be voting less for the democrats and more against the republicans. It will be interesting to see what this means for our country and the war in Iraq.
Okay, enough rambling for now...

Anxious

This past weekend I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that I was going to do really well with the whole labor thing. I am not going to have too much anxiety or fear and I will just kick back and enjoy these last few weeks of sleep-filled nights. I know God is in control and when He says it is time, it is time. Nothing to it....

I am a fool.

As I looked in the mirror today it looks a little bit like my belly is lower. Last night I had pretty serious Braxton Hicks or fake contractions as I call them and I wondered what was going on inside there. So then I convinced myself it is all in my head and I am nuts. I sit down to my status meeting this morning and one of my co-workers says the baby looks like it has dropped a little bit. Holy crap, maybe it isn't all in my head. Maybe she really has dropped. All of which means approximately nothing because the seven web sites I have looked at this morning all say she could drop two-four weeks before labor.

Well we definitely need to make it two weeks and four weeks is fine too, but I swear I am starting to get antsy. I can't concentrate on work, all I want to do is clean and organize and sort and fold and file. I cleaned out all of the drawers in the kitchen this weekend. I also made the world's most expensive trip to Super Wal-mart because I wanted to make sure we do not run out of anything until January. The pets have extra food, we have enough toilet paper to do a righteous eighth grade TP job - on the White House. I bought everything we need for Thanksgiving, even though it is a good two and a half weeks away. I did read an article today that says you should have approximately 150 diapers on hand for right after the baby is born. I think I only have like 75, holy crap, gonna have to go back to Wal-Mart. Seriously I am spiraling out of control. It sort of feels like I had about six cups of coffee and chased it with a side of Mountain Dew.

MUST CALM DOWN, MUST DO WORK, MUST NOT OBSESS...

Wish me luck.

What Was That Twinge?

Well, I am pretty much ready for this thing to happen at any time. I will pack my hospital bag this weekend and we will put the car seat in Jeff's car and then we are all ready. I don't know why I think this is coming sooner than expected but I really do.

The two big things I am holding out for...
I made an appointment to interview a pediatrician and she is on vacation until 11/20. So I need to make it until after that. In addition I would like to put up my Christmas decorations and tree Thanksgiving weekend so if I can hold on until 11/27 I will be in good shape. I am a little more flexible on the Christmas decorating because Jeff's parents will be here for Thanksgiving so it might be nice to have Emmy while they are here, but we will see how it goes.

Sunday November 12 I will be 36 weeks which is considered full term and the healthiest possible arrival time for the baby (36-42 weeks) so I am game any time after that. With all of that being said I am now acutely aware of every nuance of motion/pain/ache/etc. That my body produces. What was that, was that the begining of labor? I promise I won't be one of those people who attempts to check herself in to the hospital five times and is sent home every time. I will probably end up waiting to long, but I am ready for the next stage of the adventure.

I know that the next stage will bring ridiculous difficulty and that it will be harder than anything I have ever done or ever will do, but I feel ready. Breastfeeding - I embrace the pain. Sleeplessness - bring it on. Diaper duty - I am armed with the diaper genie II - for serious stink. I know when that time actually gets here I will pray to God to make it all go away but at this point I just pray that God will make me a good mommy and Emmy a good baby and a Cardinal fan. God is good and He will see me through.