7/13/10 - Another Semi-Disappointing Appointment

Well, today I had my 38 weeks appointment. There were some pluses and minuses. First was the weight check…I actually lost a pound this week, so YAY for that! Maybe I really will deliver at or below my goal weight gain! Very excited about that. Next, the blood pressure check…again, it was completely normal. It’s really promising that it’s stayed stable for the last couple of weeks, and Ann was very happy about that. My swelling was also down still, so that was also a great sign. We chatted a little bit after that. Turns out Ann is out of town the week I’m due, and unfortunately, so is the OB I’ve seen on occasion. Perfect, right? So, if I’m still pregnant, at my 40 weeks appointment I’ll be meeting with the OB that will deliver the baby if I end up needing a c-section.

After our chat, I hopped on the table for the usual. I’ve been measuring exactly on point my entire pregnancy, this week I was still measuring 37 weeks, so still basically right there. She again picked up baby’s heartbeat right away, and man I just love that sound. I’m going to miss that. Her heartbeat was much lower though, 128 vs. the usual 145-155. This had me a little concerned, but Ann said the normal range is 120-160, so she’s still in there. Still, it seemed odd to me. I did ask for an exam this week since I refused last week. Unfortunately, still ZERO progress, and I’m really frustrated about it. I am 0 dilated, only 25% effaced and baby has not dropped one bit, she’s still at a -4 station. I feel like this is never going to happen. Ann said it’s different for everybody…some progress for a few weeks, some have a much quicker progression, so we just have to wait and see. Of course I left my appointment in tears though. I’m on a very strict timeline here…I cannot be induced, period, because of my previous c-section, and they will not let me go past 41 weeks, so I have 3 weeks. To some people, 3 weeks sounds like tons of time, but come on, it’s really not. I’ve been thinking about this for SO long, I’ve done everything I could to help my VBAC chances since the day Olivia was born, and I feel like I’m getting the rug pulled from underneath me all over again. But, I just need to think positive….POSITIVE!! I just have to hope that I’ll be one of those women that happen to progress quickly and hope that everything works out. Send me all of the positive thoughts you can!

7/12/10 - It's Monday, and It's Good...

Today was a good Monday! You don’t hear that often. Work was good, busy and even my time working at home flew by! Christian has been getting some OT again lately, which is also very good! The weather has taken a turn (apparently it will be short lived, but I’ll take it)…the humidity is gone, the sun is out and it’s beautiful outside! Finally, we can open our windows and enjoy some fresh air! Best of all, tonight was date night with the BFF. We met up at Khan’s (of course) after work and spent some quality time chatting and joking around! It’s always so great to get together and just be able to catch up, joke around and completely forget any current drama or chaos going on, even if only for a couple of hours. Tomorrow is my latest pre-natal appointment, and I’m really anxious to see if anything is going on! Fingers crossed….

Once I got home from dinner, Christian and I loaded Olivia up in her wagon, grabbed the dog and went on a nice long walk around the neighborhood together. It was nice to get a little family time in together, outside. We were going to feed the ducks at the pond down the road, but the ducks were NOT interested in us, not one bit. They don’t know what they missed out on! The second we walked in the door, Chuy was exhausted and went right into his kennel to lay on his bed…Olivia immediately followed….

7/11/10 - 9 Years Together

Well, Christian and I went on our very first date 9 years ago today! We were both very busy teenagers at the time. I had a full time job and a part time job at the time, he had a part time job and was still in high school, so he was taking full advantage of summer vacation. It took us a while to actually set something up and get together. We had plans to get together on the weekend and go to the club (I know, romantic right??), but he ended up calling me out of the blue a few days early (on July 11th)…he had gotten he night off work and wanted to get together. Obviously he just couldn’t wait a few more days! Ha. I was nervous and caught off guard. We each brought a friend (for support/protection) and headed out to the Mall of America to hang out (again, romantic right?). Christian and his friend picked me and my friend up, and apparently he must have been REALLY nervous because he completely forgot how to get to the mall…we got lost, and it took FOREVER to get there. By the time we got there, the stores were starting to close. So yeah, our first date was spent aimlessly driving around, followed up by walking around the closed/closing mall. Really, thinking back on it, it’s hard to believe there was a second date! Nevertheless, there was, and we’ve been together every day since. 9 years, WOW!

As for the present, today was another semi-relaxing day around the house. Olivia decided it would be a good day to sleep in…until 9:30, I couldn’t believe it! We got up, I made a nice family breakfast, then Christian took over so I could start laundry. Oh laundry day, I did not miss you! Laundry took all day, like usual. However, I did manage to get all of our clothes washed, and started in on the bed linens! Go me. Throughout the day we each got some rest/nap time in, we took Olivia and Chuy down to the park and played in the back yard for a while, I got a majority of the dishes washed and the house cleaned up. I think I was hit with a minor case of nesting today, which works for me! Christian spent the evening working on cleaning the carpet downstairs. Wow, when I see it all written down, it doesn’t seem like our day was relaxing at all!! Hmmm….

Here are some park pictures from today, Olivia was in heaven!

7/10/10 - Finally, Time To Relax!

It’s Saturday! YAY. We had a weekend full of plans, but all of them have been canceled in one way or another, and I’m quite happy about that! I took Chuy to the vet this morning to get a booster shot, and that was it for the day!! For the weekend really. Christian spent the afternoon mowing/taking care of the lawn. After Olivia was up from her nap, we took her outside in the super heat to play in the water. She had a blast running through the sprinkler and sliding into the pool. We pretty much just kicked back the rest of the night. After Olivia was in bed, I sent Christian on a Dairy Queen run, then we watched a movie. And, I actually stayed awake, for the WHOLE thing! Hard to believe! It felt good to just be able to hang out, around the house, just us. It seems like that never happens, and the rest was definitely needed, so it was a GREAT day!

Here are some water fun pics from today!

7/9/10 - Weekend Time!

It’s the weekend, and I couldn’t be happier! This has been a long week…I think every week until baby gets here will be a long week though! Work has been going really well though. Working at home part time has really been helping. I feel like I get some good, solid “rest” time, even though I still get my work done. It’s been nice getting away from the chaos of my work environment! Our plans for this weekend are slowly fading away, which is actually really great. I’m hoping that means we can get some baby stuff done, get a few things done around the house and get some quality family time in. We’ll see what happens! My goal is to make a dent in the baby stuff…get the car seat base installed, get the bassinet and swing out of “storage” and up where they need to go, and oh, I don’t know…pick a name!! We could probably take bets on if this will actually get done…and by the way things are going, it’s a pretty safe bet that not much, if anything, will actually get done! Only time will tell…

Tonight I did escape the house for a little while. Today was Aleena’s birthday. Aleena is the reason we started doing the Relay for Life…today would have been her 14th birthday. Every year on her birthday her family and family friends get together to launch purple balloons (her favorite color) and sing happy birthday to her. It’s a very touching thing, and I’m so happy to be a part of it every year. Olivia on the other hand was completely rude and refused to let go of her balloon…but I did kind of expect that. Maybe next year she’ll grasp the concept a little better! Here are a couple pics from the event…

7/8/10 - Just Another Thursday...

Today was just another Thursday, nothing exciting, nothing exhausting…just another day. Christian worked some over time tonight, so I put in a little extra time working at home. Olivia decided to make a huge mess of her Goldfish tonight when I wasn’t looking…she took them out of her snack container, one by one, and smashed them up…in the carpet. Oh joy…at least it was just crackers. Of course, we put her to work cleaning them up though…

7/7/10 - 37 Weeks = FULL TERM

Well, we’ve officially “made it”! Today we turn 37 Weeks…which in the medical world is considered full term! So, baby girl Duran can come any day, without a worry. Such a huge milestone, so exciting! To know that any day she could be her, WOW!

I’ve been feeling so-so lately. The heat, well really the humidity, has really been getting the better of me. I can’t eat much, I’m always too hot…in fact, I lost a couple pounds over the last few weeks! Which isn’t so bad, losing is keeping me at my goal weight gain, so yay for that! I’m pretty tired a majority of the time, but I feel like that stems from the overheating feeling I have non-stop, and it’s a horrible feeling. But, as far as my body goes…no pain, I’m not terribly uncomfortable, I’m happy with where I’m at and I’m actually physically feeling great. Couldn’t really ask for much more at this point!

As usual, we have not made any further progress in getting ready. Still no name, although, there was brief discussion over the weekend, and Christian seems to be coming around to Amelia, so we’ll see. No bags are backed, all of the baby “stuff” is still down in “storage:, I have yet to register with the hospital or anything. TOTAL slacker here! BUT, after the part time work orders came down from Ann last week, we did get the ball rolling on my FMLA paperwork at work, so I did do something! Ha. Hopefully THIS week we’ll make some progress!!!

7/6/10 - Finally, Some Good News!

I had my ultrasound and weekly check with Ann (my midwife) today…and finally got some news, some GOOD news! The ultrasound confirmed that baby is indeed HEAD DOWN, and she is in fact a SHE! I almost broke into tears when I heard she really was head down, it’s so unreal to me. People actually look at me like I have two heads over my excitement to “go natural”. It amazes me that people really do think having a c-section is “easier” or in fact “taking the easy way out”…to the point where they think I’m crazy for wanting to actually give birth to my child. Honestly, a c-section is a major surgery…yes, common, but still major. They can, and often do, lead to major complications, for mother AND child. But, it’s not the surgery itself that I want to avoid. I can handle surgery, and I’d obviously know what to expect from it. But, it’s the recovery. Who has time to recover from a major surgery when taking care of an extremely active toddler AND a newborn baby?!? No thank you! I’d rather get home and live life like normal, no “take it easy” and heal! So, here we are. I’m scared to death really…I mean, I’ve had a kid, but it’s almost as if I am a first time mom when it comes to this. I only know slightly what to expect from my experience with Olivia, otherwise, I’m completely in the dark and a bit freaked out! I have to tap back into our childbirth preparation class from last time….A Woman’s Body Is Made to Give Birth…and keep repeating that to myself!

The check-up went well. My blood pressure was completely normal and my swelling had gone down a bit. I didn’t gain any weight this week…Ann was very happy about all of these points. Baby’s heartbeat was spot on and I’m measuring just right. Now, we just wait. Now, we just hope she decides to come by 41 weeks; otherwise my VBAC is taken off the table! Come on little lady, you officially have 4 weeks to get out!

I would have loved to share an ultrasound picture today…unfortunately, baby had her face completely buried in her hands the whole time, fast asleep! So, I’ll do a flashback to Olivia’s 6 month photo shoot last year…so cute!

7/5/10 - It's Monday, but Not Really!!

Seriously, I don’t think there is anything better about Monday Holiday’s! Staying home, being a “day behind” the rest of the week, making it fly by that much more. So wonderful! Unfortunately, Christian doesn’t get to join in my excitement…his work does not share the general public’s view of Holiday’s, so hi-ho hi-ho, off to work he went. BUT, he was able to duck out a few hours early, so we did get a little extra time together! The entire house was pretty exhausted after a LONG, busy, HOT HOT HOT weekend, so we took it pretty easy. Olivia was pretty low key today, slept in a little bit, took a nice LONG nap. The cats and dog all slept all day. Christian took a little nap when he got home from work. I had some alone time to get pictures uploaded from the camera, clean up a little bit and get ready to head back to work tomorrow. In the early evening, I was overcome with some nausea, an upset stomach and a headache, so I ended up taking a late nap as well. Ugh, this heat! I think we’ll be heading to bed shortly after Olivia for a nice long night of sleep. A nice thunderstorm rolled in tonight…much needed rain and should make for some nice soothing sounds for bedtime. That was a welcomed shift in weather! Now, I’m anxiously awaiting my morning appointments, hoping for some good news…well, hoping for some news period!!! We’ll see very soon what’s going on with this little lady I’m growing!

7/4/10 - Happy 4th of July!

Its the 4th of July….it’s hot, VERY humid and we’re exhausted!!! It was a LONG day. Fun, but almost unbearable at some points throughout the day.

The morning started pretty low key, we ate some breakfast, picked up the house a little bit, and actually tricked Olivia into taking an early nap! We have a long day ahead of us, and wanted to make sure to get at least a little one in. And, it worked! Go us. Around 12:30 my mom, Christian’s Parents, the Madrid’s and Kari showed up for the local parade. Our city has a pretty big parade every year; it’s actually a really good parade. In fact, you have to go out the day before and “reserve” your spot; otherwise you are stuck in the back! It’s ridiculous if you ask me. None the less, I sent Christian over yesterday to get our spot! We made the walk over to our spot, and we were all exhausted and sweaty, just from the short walk! We set up and settled in. The kids took their seats on the curb and the parade started. The parade seriously lasts for about 2 hours…and we just couldn’t make it. Poor Olivia was beat red, sweaty as can be and looked semi miserable. I was absolutely miserable, so finally we packed it up and headed home a little early!

Once we got home, we started the grill, started preparing all of the food, the kids and dogs took over the yard, we ate lots of yummy food, tried to relax to stay somewhat cool and just hung out. The parents all headed home for the night, and around 9:00 we packed up the kids and headed down to the local park to watch the city’s fireworks display. I’ll say it wasn’t the most impressive display I’ve ever seen…but even at 10:00 PM it was still 85+ degrees, 90+ degree humidity and just gross, it was hard to enjoy anything really.

Finally, after the fireworks, everybody headed home, and we were passed out shortly after. It was a good day!