I've Lost Count...

Good thing I have our ticker above to remind us. We're 41 weeks. YAY! Ok. The enthusiasm was totally fake.

Last night was one of my least favorite sleep nights of this entire pregnancy. Sleep deprivation doesn't happen when baby comes, it happens at the end of pregnancy when your hips feel like they're going to split in 2 and your baby kicks you all through the night. (Yes, still totally worth it, don't worry).

Our appointment tomorrow should hopefully give us some answers about 'the plan' since Chloe seems to enjoy her current dwelling. She evidently didn't get the eviction notice I sent a good month or so ago.

I had a LONG walk yesterday at the park, but didn't get a single contraction out of it. I will try the same thing again. Now we're down to the wire and she's gotta make a move! Kick down the door, Chloe. Please!

5 Days overdue...Happy Birthday, Ashley!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Baby Ashley!!!!!

Today is Ashley's First birthday. I can't believe how fast she's grown. The first picture is from when she was only a week old! I hope she's having a great birthday and getting lots of delicious cake!

Part 2: Debbie Downer.

I'm emotionally drained. I've had far too much time to think and have been on the verge of tears all day. It's not that I'm physically miserable, I can wait a while longer if that's what she needs, but the constant wondering and anticipation is absolutely exhausting. The first few days we went overdue were the hardest to accept, and I've really started to believe it'll be next Friday. I've started looking the other way when I pass by her room. It's disheartening to not have her here with us yet. I've even noticed Chris wander into her room a couple times... I feel like our lives are in some infinite holding pattern until she comes. I'm missing Ashley's First Birthday today, that makes me so sad! I feel like I've been a prisoner, not venturing too far for the last month or so, just in case. I've contemplated just getting in the car and driving for hours just to tempt fate!

The first couple days we had lots of phone calls, now most people have stopped calling and checking in daily, maybe they're getting used to the idea she's going to be a little longer as well. It's amazing how much of a disappointment it is for me to have to tell everyone when they call, "Nope...not yet..." It makes me feel like I'm failing and she should be here by now.

All these overdue days have given me plenty of time to think (not always a good thing). I've always wondered if having kids and giving birth would be an instinctual, natural thing for me. I've always wanted to know what it is like to "go" into labor on my own, not be given drugs to get it going (although I would take an induction to meet her at this point). But really, I've always wondered if my body would know what to do.

Up until last Tuesday, I'd been pleasantly surprised with the way my body reacted to being pregnant. Hardly no morning sickness, no stretch marks, good blood pressure, etc. After having such an easy pregnancy, I just assumed that my body had surprised me and that it would know exactly what to do all on its own. I've really started questioning that and I think that's the hardest thing about being overdue.

I just want her here and healthy. I want to count her toes and kiss her fat cheeks. I want to see if she has blonde hair like her daddy did or if she's got enough black hair to put into barettes like her mommy... I'm exhausted from worrying about whether she'll be alright...

Okay. I think that's enough of an emotional post for the day. I'm sure everything will turn out alright, it always does.

We're Moving Our Due Date!

Nobody likes a birthday girl who is late to her own party!
I've tried bribing her with cars, diamonds, puppies and all the other fabulous things little girls want. She isn't interested, evidently.

That being said, I've posted a new poll ... feel free to vote... (can you tell I'm out of things to do?!)

My guess is that she'll either share her cousin Ashley's birthday on September 7th or she'll wait until September 11th. Then again, she might not even be here by then! That being said, I'm moving our due date to next Friday, September 12th. I dont think the mind game will work, but I'm going to try.

My mind is playing tricks on me like you wouldn't believe. One minute I can't wait for her to come out, the next minute my mind flashes to my weekends and I'm reminded that I will NEVER sleep again. This morning, what I'm telling myself is that one week is nothing.
Chris helped me out of my pity party yesterday and gave me some fabulous insight and said that either way, we'll be in the hospital within a week (the doctor probably won't let me go 10 days past due). That is such good news!

Sleep has been a big joke. I lay awake for hours every night with hip (and now some nice back pain) wondering "Will Tonight Be The Night??" Then again, when I wake up, I wonder, "Will Today Be The Day?" Oh well. I'm not even due until September 12th now so it's still early!! Haha.

Anyway - I'm thankful for all the support Chris has given me the last few days. They have been dragging and have really been bumming me out. I'm so lucky that he always has some way of putting everything into perspective and making me feel better.

I'll try posting more lamenting tomorrow to keep all of you entertained :) I'm sorry the posts are getting so boring. Just one more week and we'll be posting pictures of Chloe! YAY~!!!

Officially Overdue.

Sooo our due date came and went. Big surprise. Life goes on, I suppose, but I'm officially bored and waiting for her to come out. I have a lot of hip pain when I lay down and try to sleep, which is new for me. I say try because I haven't slept well since my post bragging about how Tylenol PM is the greatest. I don't feel the same relationship with Tylenol PM anymore. In fact, after Chloe comes, I'd like to forget it ever existed.

I did go and get my nails done yesterday which was SOooo nice. I sat down in the chair and the nail lady said, "When are you due?" I said, "Today." She was shocked! She said I didn't look like I was even full term (she must have just wanted a big tip). In any case, she then said, "I could put you into labor, you know". What?! (Evidently she knows the spot to cause contractions...) I said, "That'd be great!!" she then replied...

"But I'm not allowed to."

Don't you KNOW not to tease a pregnant lady like that?! Ugh. I know, no guarantee it would have worked but there woulda been a hefty tip involved if she'd given it a good shot... and a lifelong customer if it had actually worked!

Anyway - as I was leaving a lady who looked like she was seriously carrying a basketball team in her belly waddled in. I say waddle because it's the nicest choice of words for her situation. I seriously thought she was having 4 or 5 kids. Her belly hung out like 4 feet in every direction. I felt so bad for her and thought, ok, she deserves a medal for going this far (overdue, I assumed). Turns out she's 38 weeks. With one baby in there. One.

Yes, for a split second yesterday, I thanked my lucky stars for having such a great pregnancy.

Split second over.

Get out, Chloe.

**Update** ~ Had our doctors appointment this morning and although we've made SLIGHT progress... I made another doctors appointment for this time next week, at which point we'll have to have a 'talk' if she isn't here by then. Chloe... that means come out now. Daddy doesn't want to work anymore and mommy is bored.

Happy Due Date To Us!

I couldn't resist. Today's the day that's been marked on the calendar for a good 9 months now...

just sitting there, taunting me

I guess it'll taunt me even more. I feel like it is Christmas morning... I've never fixated on a date like this before (no, I really didn't expect her to come today)... but now that Christmas morning, where is my dang present, I'd like to know!

How rude.

The only fabulous thing about today so far is that I promised myself a pedicure if I made it all the way to my due date (silently praying it wouldn't come to that - I could handle ugly toes during delivery for a baby born a few days EARLY)... So much for that. I suppose I'll have to go get my nails done so that if she ever DOES make an appearance, I won't look god awful. Maybe there should be some starbucks involved to console me.

Anyone else want to make me feel better and tell me they went PAST their due date??

No Labor on Labor Day!

Just a quick update... We're still here... My dreams of laboring on labor day are simply not to be... tomorrow is our due date, however. I absolutely can NOT believe it. I'm sure I'll be in shock most of the day. We have an appointment on Wednesday at which point I may have to beg the doctor to get her out. I think I'm just about done now. I've had a great pregnancy and now I want my prize. Now. Like Yesterday now. Haha.
Have a good (short) week...

For a good laugh, this is what parents-to-be do while they are waiting for their babies...

Behold, the men in black before our wedding. Isn't my monkey cute (he's the one on the left in case you can't tell!) haha. :)

Chris thinks this picture speaks for itself... then again...Ponch called and wants his glasses back, Dave! We miss you!!

A Good Day

After our rather depressing trip to the doctor yesterday afternoon in which we had ZERO progress, I was mentally drained. I hadn't slept the night before (my hips have started KILLing me at night and I'm constantly switching sides). I could absolutely NOT picture being pregnant for even one more day, let alone 16 days! Up until the last couple days, I had really not minded being pregnant, it's been so easy... All that changed a couple days ago and last night on the drive home, I was M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E. I wanted to just cry. I'm going to be pregnant FOREVER I thought.

I told Chris when he got home from work that today was a good pregnant day. Thanks to a little Tylenol PM last night (yes, it's ok during pregnancy).

I woke up this morning restored (and drooling). I couldn't believe how wonderful I felt! The sun was shining (it's usually overcast in the mornings here) and I immediately set out for starbucks (decaf, don't worry) and read a book while basking in the beautiful weather for a couple hours. I then called Chris and he agreed to a lunch date... after which I decided to plant a few flowers... then, to top it all off, I had my hair done by a new friend of mine (who happens to be due TOMORROW!) I'm so glad to have met her (we met in a class at the hospital); they don't know if they're having a boy or girl, but Chloe will either have a boyfriend or a best friend in the next few days. Anyway - I spent the afternoon getting my hair done and chatting about all things pregnancy related. I can't wait for the babies to come so we can stop asking each other in the mornings if we're able to do something or if we're busy having our babies!

I'm not sure why this day was so particularly great, but for some reason I just took the time today for myself, and every minute of the day was just thankful to be who I am and where I am in life. Today I took the time to appreciate every (polite) jab by Chloe and just savored every quiet moment with my baby girl. Today, I didn't mind being pregnant. In fact, I loved it. More so than any other day in this pregnancy, I think. If she wants to wait 16 more days, I hope they're all like today. In fact, I kind of hope for just a couple more days just like today. Perhaps I can coax her out on labor day. Silly.

If you're still with us, thanks for listening... it's been fun.

Here's a random wedding rehearsal picture of me and my favorite lunch buddy...

No Progress

Just an update :) It'll be a while evidently...

Completely Appropriate Pregnancy Humor.

Haha. Couldn't help it.

Yup. We're still here. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow at 4, I'll post if anything exciting happens... don't get your hopes up, my doctor has already told me to expect to go past my due date (average 1st pregnancy is 40 weeks 8 days).

No biggie, I'm still generally enjoying being pregnant, Chris wants her out so that he can get some time off work, and I wouldn't mind getting her out so that I can breathe again (and tie my own shoes, things like that)... then again I have had such a fabulous, easy pregnancy that I'm not sure I want it to end... I know what comes between now and my big prize and it ain't pretty!

However, it is weird to wake up everyday wondering, "Could today be the day?"

Posh Baby...

So I've been wanting to buy Fifi a fabulous baby blanket... I'm not qualified to actually knit her one so I decided the second best thing would be to get her the best money could buy. Haha. My quest involved all sorts of high-end baby stores, not to mention Nordstrom, etc. I couldn't find anything that I loved !
So anyway, today I was at TJ Maxx and just happened to notice something fluffy tucked in behind a bunch of (generally crummy) things... Of course I immediately dropped everything and start digging for it (because the best things are always a lot of work at those stores)... and what do you know, out comes a GORGEOUS Petunia Picklebottom blanket.

Seriously? You have to be kidding me, I'm thinking.

I honestly looked around to see if I was on some kind of hidden camera show.

At this point, I didn't really care what it cost... but when I looked at the tag, well let's just say I got it for well over 70% off...!! I don't know why today was my lucky day, maybe the pregnancy gods have taken pity on me and the fact that I may be pregnant FOREVER. Anyway, isn't it cute?? I've never felt ANYTHING so soft.

In other news, despite what our ticker at the top says, we're only 8 days away from our due date. I didn't realize we were that close until someone asked me how much longer I had and I said a week. I went to correct myself (maybe I'm in denial, but I thought we had 2 more weeks)...Either way, my doctor said he won't let me go more than 10 days past due so she's comin' out before the 12th.

So... we're still here... No braxton hicks, no contractions, no nothing. Luckily I am not miserable yet. Don't get me wrong, I'm uncomfortable a good chunk of the day, but rarely am I miserable, despite the fact that nighttime sleep has become a thing of the past - but I'm great at sleeping during the day!

By the way, I'm sorry I'm an awful phone call returner. Just putting it out there. I am sorry if I fail to call you back in a timely fashion. It doesn't mean we're in the hospital in labor. I'm much better at email. Don't know why. Just how it is.

Houston, We Have A Glider!

It's here! It's finally here!! Chloe, you can come out now! We're not waiting for anything else but you... *hint, hint*



I am so very excited... It's so comfy... Gosh I can't wait to rock the little lady in this!

Slightly Peeved. So Long, I'm sorry!

Sooo I know I've posted about our fabulous glider before... But here's yet another one. Keep in mind that my husband thought I was ridiculous to buy this thing and every step of this process I've been just waiting for him to turn around and say "I told you so" which would certainly put me over the edge and make me cry. Thank god he hasn't done that... I think he understands how much I wanted this. Yes. A chair. Silly, I know...

Anyway, Background:

We ordered our fabulous glider from the most respected childrens store in the area (called Johnsons, Ironically)...Something like a DECADE ago now (ok, 16 weeks ago)... Anyway, it was supposted to arrive within 6 -9 weeks (I assumed 10 because I understand it's furniture, etc.) but after getting a call the beginning of July they let us know that it was delayed due to some fabric issue with another persons order (I dont know HOW that has to do with ours, but whatever).

No big deal, I'm cool, that's why we ordered it SOO early...

However, they called us the first week of August to let us know that the chair had arrived damaged. SERIOUSLY!? Why me!?? They promised a new one would ship out within the following week and we'd have it by them middle of August. What could I do other than say Ok?? All I could do was think about what a pushover I am. They totally went from a 6 week delivery date to 16 weeks! That's almost 3x as long as it should have been. How is that good business practice? I let them know that I wasn't happy and asked that they deliver it since there's no way I could help Chris carry that huge chair.

Sooo FINALLY they call today and the chair is in. And it's not damaged. Thank God. Now i'm just praying it's the right chair and fabric. Ugh. Last time I order something EVER.

So then I ask the girl when they can deliver it... the girl first pretends she doesn't know that they've agreed to deliver it, then when I explain to her what happened and that it's noted on our ticket, she said she'd call me right back (that was over 3 hours ago)... so I called her back just now and she said she was on the other line working out a time and she'd call me RIGHT back. (that's now been 30 minutes and I've decided to fill my waiting time with blogging about how crappy they are). I am really a cranky pregnant lady now!

Update: Ok. Sooo I just got off the phone with them. They are delivering it tomorrow but they don't take it upstairs. Ok. Breathe Jen, Breathe. It's ironic how being pregnant affects the way I react to certain things. I no longer have the tolerance for this kind of stuff.

I'm just going to be glad to have it. So glad. It's the one thing I've been DYING to have and everytime I pass by her room, I see the empty spot where her chair should be and it makes me sad... *Sigh*

I'll post pictures as soon as I can, although I'm not quite sure how we'll get it up the stairs. Hopefully Chris will be patient and let me help him carry it up the stairs... Gosh, why is a chair such a big deal... Can you tell I'm getting hormonal? Geez.

Still, just knowing it's in is a great 38 week present to me! I was really hoping the chair would be in her room before she is...

If you made it this far, thanks for listening... sorry to unload, but I feel SO much better.

Random Updates.

Well, obviously we're still here. No big surprise there. Don't worry...I promise we'll update as soon as we go into labor, but that could still be a good 3 weeks from now!

In other news, I can no longer tie my shoes. Yes. Chris had to actually tie them for me yesterday. When he's not around I'm going to have to wear slip-ons, flip flops or go ask a neighbor to tie them! (Just kidding).

Had a nice weekend, I had a huge milestone and actually installed the car seat yesterday. It's so weird driving around with it now. Too bad it's still empty. I finally made it to the pool yesterday too, it was the first time it wasn't jam packed with splashy, loud kids (kinda made me wonder why there werent 1000 kids in it on such a beautiful, warm day)... Swiming in the pool has NEVER EVER felt sooooo good. I never wanted to get out. It was the perfect temperature...

My project for the day involves selling all of Chris's school books online... who knew there was such a huge market for crummy textbooks?? :) So far I've sold 6 in 2 hours! What in the heck!!

Have a great day!

The Good, Bad and the Frizzy.

Behold the joy of carrying a watermelon!

Please forgive the hair frizz; it seems to be a permanent guest for the time being.

Full Term?!

Woohoo! We're officially 37 Weeks and Full Term today!!

I just got back from my doctors appointment and everything looks great... Her head is still down and she was in fighting shape as the doctor tried to listen to her heartbeat... not only did she have the hiccups (AGAIN), but she kept kicking the doppler. Silly Girl!! I hate that Chris misses out on hearing her at my appointments. My doctor always asks if I want to call him so he can hear... Lol... I just laugh, I dont think he understands that he is on base most of the time while I'm at my appointments and can't be reached. Don't worry, I have an emergency line in case we go into labor...

...Yeah, fat chance.

They had me schedule my next 3 appointments today... they're obviously not concerned with me missing my 40 week 1 day appointment. At which I will probably have to resort to begging someone to pull her out. She's getting so huge and uncomfortable!

So... For those of you wondering...

The Great Pediatrician Hunt

So it seems that the one thing I probably should have done a long time ago but just didn't is find a pediatrician. What a daunting task!! Let me just say this has been a huge stress weighing on my mind. I mean, it's more important than finding a doctor for myself. This person will take care of my BABY! Yikes. It seems like everyone is saying you have to interview (yes, interview!) a bunch of pediatricians and then decide which one you want. Gosh, whatever happened to just picking a doctor and switching if it didn't work?? Motherhood happened evidently.

Finding the perfect obstetrician was a cake walk, I had lots of great recommendations from my fellow coworkers who had worked with all of the the OB docs where I'd be delivering.

However, finding a pediatrician is NOT easy.

At all.

I don't know many people with kids and I know even less people who have any knowledge of pediatricians in Santa Maria. I would like for her doctor to be in town (not in San Luis where we'll be delivering) in case we do need to get in for an appointment last minute or she gets sick, etc.

There was only one pediatrician that had been recommended to us as being great but they are too far away AND don't take our insurance. Back to the drawing board.

Long story short, Chris and I actually went into our primary care doctors office today and ended up asking the girls at the front desk who they recommend... they were full of advice! (Seriously - the best recommendations always come from people in the medical field; they *gasp* gossip!!).

Turns out I'd heard of one of the doctors they recommended, so we may end up going with him. We can always change if it doesn't work out, but I feel so much better just having solidified a couple good recommendations from people. It's hard just picking a name from an available list of docs, hearing people say they like them is so much nicer...

Woah! Slow Down there Turbo!!

Soo it appears that time has gone into some kind of weird warp-speed. (Yes, Perhaps I have watched too much Star Trek or whatever it is that Chris watches)...

I can't believe we have less than 4 weeks till her due date! This week my doctors appointments switched to weekly. I NEVER actually thought I'd get to that point... It's so surreal.

I'm being careful to appreciate every day and make sure I enjoy the silence, enjoy time with Chris, enjoy just doing whatever I darn well please... I know it'll be a good 18 years before I can put myself first again... probably not even then, who knows. The one thing that I haven't figured out how to do quite yet is sleep past 7 am. I'm working on it though, probably right around the time Chloe gets here I'll be able to do it. Haha. Ironic.

I've been putting off finishing Chloe's room and packing my hospital bags... I'm not entirely sure why I am doing this, but I think part of me thinks that if I'm unprepared, she might come early (reverse psychology at work??)... However... I think the other part of me is waiting because (as my doctor kindly reminded me) that most first babies are late. LATE?! Argh. I'm not that patient! In any event, if she is late... it will give me something to do while I'm waiting (impatiently) for her arrival...

What exactly HAVE I been doing with myself other than simply pawing at baby items you might ask?? That's a good question. I've been loving having the time to myself to do basically whatever I want, getting things taken care of around the house, etc. although the days seem to go by so fast... I have a hard time explaining what I've done all day... but our house has been getting more organized!! Not to mention my car got a nice detail inside and out. Nesting is so cleansing.

I've also found a game that might be more addicting than Soduko... (Mom, plug your ears. You dont want to get hooked on this one). Anyway, the new game is called Kakuro. I won't get into the details but it is so addicting!

I've also gone back to reading obsessively. If I can't sleep past 7 at least I can curl up in bed with a book still! It reminds me of when I was younger and would just curl up in bed for hours on end reading a book well into the early morning hours. I'd look at the clock, rub my eyes and see it was midnight. Then I'd look at my book and see I was only 150 pages from the end and at that point I knew I wouldn't be able to put it down until I was done... I'm not sure my parents knew just how many of those late nights I had. I guess I've always been a bookworm at heart, I loved reading in the hammock out back in the summertime...

Anyway, if anyone has any good suggestions on books to read, let me know... although, if you know me, you'll know that I don't do history or geography. Haha. I'm more into the summer reads (no, I do not mean romance novels with Fabio on the cover)...

Well... This week Chloe is 36 weeks along. Evidently at this point she is gaining an ounce per day. She weighs about 6 lbs and is 18.5'' long. At my appointment the doctor said everything looked great and that she was head down! Woohoo! He also said that at this point, whenever she decided she wanted to come out, they'd let her. That was an interesting concept to grasp... but so exciting!!

Oh ... Yes... I have a new little friend, also. I was reading at Starbucks the other day when a little girl came in with her mom. She pointed at me and I looked up and saw that her mom was also pregnant (she's about a month behind me). Well, turns out my 4 year old friend's name is Avery and she has a fascination with my pregnant belly that was evidently quite huge underneath my shirt (which she thought was VERY pretty) haha. In any case, Avery thought it would be nice to rub Chloe and talk to her. So she did. For like 10 minutes... Pretty much one of the cutest things ever... but also sorta weird. At least it wasn't an 80 year old man, right?? :)

Have a good week...See you next week!

Nesting...

I thought I'd share a few pics with you... I've been nesting like CRAZY... Poor Chris must think I've lost my marbles.

TaaDaa... The cleanest you'll ever see my kitchen... I don't expect it to ever look this pretty again!!

And...Look at what a green thumb I've grown!! Haha. My little patio garden that my dad helped me start on Fathers Day is producing!! (thanks dad)...Yummy.

Also... I'm not sure quite yet... But I think my PomPom Decorations for Chloe's room aren't exactly what I'm looking for...Then again...there should probably be 3 ... Anyway... Luckily I still have 5 weeks to decide and/or Fix it!!

35 Weeks & 35 Days!

Yippee! We are 35 weeks and have 35 days left left!! ... Yes, I am fully aware that means that I only have 5 weeks of peace and quiet left. Don't worry. I'm enjoying them!!! Nothing exciting or new to report this week... I have been wandering around Chloe's room pretty much just shuffling her clothes and toys around...and then going back the next day to just shuffle them around some more. It's so fun to pretend and plan!! I've even managed to avoid Babies R Us this entire week (although on Friday they're having some super secret sale from 8-11 am evidently ... I wouldn't miss that for the world)!! I promise to have some pictures at some point soon... I am aware that my blog is lacking these days...

Despite how uncomfortable I'm becoming (I'll spare you the details for now), I have to admit that I'm pretty excited that Chloe is over 5.5 lbs by now (according to statistical averages of course)!!

...HOWEVER... considering she is a product of Chris and I who had a combined birth weight of about *20* lbs...she may already be over 9!!) Haha. I'm not sure I'll ever get over how big of a baby I was!! Perhaps I should be spending my remaining 5 weeks in therapy about it?? Nah! Not worth it... However, a massage, now that's a different story!!

Have a fabulous rest of the week!! Hopefully we'll only a few more of these weekly posts before she's here (I would prefer to have no more than 2 more...wishful thinking I know)!!

34 Week Post *Addendum*

Dear State of California:
Thank you for recognizing and rewarding me for putting up with a crummy work environment for all those months... this is really a dream come true! I won't forget how you spared me from Cruella DeVille # 3. Haha.

Sincerely,
Baby Mama.

Can I please just comment on how fabulous the whole Disability thing is?! I got my "Notice Of Computation" in the mail today - I will actually be making a difference of only $26.00 per day while I'm out. Ummm Hello... with the cost of driving to work and back, it's about even! Except I'm not up at 5 am, I don't have to take orders from my 4th crazy boss AND I get to focus on Fifi... Basically the state is going to pay me as if I was working except they've taken away the stress of work...and essentially spared me a frighteningly large mental breakdown during this pregnancy. Seriously the last few weeks were ugly. I'm pretty floored. I really expected the disability thing to go haywire and forget to pay me or jip me, etc. but so far... this is the first thing I've actually been impressed with in regards to our state/government. I approve.

ok. Now have a fabulous day!