update

According to my ticker..... 5 days to go....

I went to the emergency room on Saturday, December 18th. I was in excruciating pain. I knew it was just a pulled muscle/ligament, but I needed something to help relieve the pain. I pulled this same ligament earlier in the pregnancy, so I was fairly sure what was wrong and I was not too concerned. Of course, Jon is not employed, so this time I did not have to go alone. We drove all the way to G-ville, waited for 3 hours in L&D while my doc delivered two babies. She came in for 5 minutes and gave me a belly brace and a script for loratab. Well worth it. My mom is in town, so I did not have to take the girls. It was not a bad day, all in all, except for all the pain i had to endure. But the brace was amazing and I have even been walking on the trail since I got it. I think they should issue these to pregnant ladies on their second and third babies... It is a must. lol.

I went to the doc last tuesday and he checked me. I am not effaced. I do not seem to be moving at all... but the baby is back in position, with his head where it should be. He has not dropped, but he is in position. I am one to two centimeters dilated. Everything else looked fine.... blah blah..

I am one miserably preggo girl. I am big and uncomfortable. I was really hoping to have this baby while my mom was here to help me. But he is obviously not ready to come out. I am showing NO signs of getting ready. I have not had NOT ONE contraction. Nothing. At this point, I would welcome painful contractions. I will be one mad lady if I go all the way to my due date.

I did ask my doctor how long past your due date they will let you go. He told me they would induce me next week (which would be this week) if I wanted too, they do not follow the practice of allowing you to go up to two weeks past your due date. Which I was relieved about. I think it is crazy for doctors, now-a-days, to allow you to go two weeks over.... for many, many reasons that I will not list. I kinda wanted to have him in 2010... for obvious reasons. I go back to the doctor on Tuesday, see what happens... I am so hoping and praying he comes naturally like the other two did.... by friday.......... hahaha

37 weeks.... standing still

37 weeks along. According to my ticker, 16 days to go. Sounds good... but maybe not.

I went to the doctor yesterday. Before he did the exam he said all was good and he was ready when I was to have this baby whenever I was. (cause your considered full term at 37 weeks... so you can have that baby anytime after that.)

But, when he did my (now weekly) exam, the baby was no longer in position. He was very concerned, He stated that we would need to schedule a C-Section if the baby is improperly turned. So, he did an immediate ultra sound. That little man is curled up under my ribs, his head is just floating around in there, he is no longer in position, but he is not in a dangerous position. So, we wait til next week to see if he is moved back down to where he needs to be. There is nothing dangerous happening, but that means I am no where near going into labor. I am not dilating or moving forward cause he his is not in position. This is why I am so miserable and cannot breath and cannot get comfortable, he is literally in a little ball right over my lungs up under my ribs. As I type this, the pain and tightness in my upper stomach/rib area is intense.

Sigh....... I say, it just figures. I was so hoping that things were moving along and next week would be the time. I certainly do not want a C-section. Never had one, but I know surgery is the last thing I wanna do. I am not sure what will happen at next weeks appointment (except I know I will be violated.... hahaha). If he is still curled up, will the doctor insist on surgery? Or let me keep going to see what happens? This just kinda sucks. I just wish he would move down a little, it feels like my ribs are gonna crack.


Some things I wanna remember:

I crave Cherry flavored drinks... Juice mostly. My favorite is Welch's Cherry Burst. It is awesome and I could drink it all the time. I also like cherry 7-Up, pretty much anything cherry flavored..

I MUST.... CRUNCH.... ICE... It is not a want, it is an absolute NEED. I go nuts if we are out and about and I cannot get to some ice.. I crunch on it three or four times a day. It satisfies something in me, I just HAVE to HAVE IT! I did not do this with Shay, but with Alysha I remember crunching it some, but not to this level.

Day -Cation

We decided to skip school and responsibilities and take a little day trip this week. We went to the Villages. This is simply a big retirement town down here where everyone drives around in tricked out golf carts. There are roads and bridges specifically designed for the carts to drive. There are places to eat and shop and it was just somewhere we have never been, thought it would be cool to see. Getting out of the house for a few hours sounded great!!

We had fun, but I will say that those retiree's drive crazy.. they are seriously mean. I have never seen so much honking and ugliness than I did those few hours we were there. They just whip through there in their golf carts and fancy cars and expect you to get out of their way. Four times someone just pulled out in front of us and we had to hit the brakes. Seriously, if they are tired of waiting, they just GO! I did not enjoy that part, but we had a great spontaneous day as a family.

This is us walking in the downtown area, just checking it all out.

I played peek - a - boo with Shayla in the restaurant. She did not want to get out of her stroller, so we just pulled her up to the table and she ate. We had mexican.

We headed over to the Barnes and Nobles and had a coffee and let Shay play in the kids section.

Daddy sitting in the kids section with Shayla. Interesting note.... I could not fit in those green chairs, but Jon and Alysha could. :(

I regret not getting a picture of the golf carts all tricked out. The streets in the downtown area are all lined with golf cart parking. That is all there is, golf cart lined streets, and it is a hilarious site.

Nesting

Okay, I had my nesting spell on Monday!! One HUGE spurt of energy where I cleaned like a mad woman. I felt GREAT!! It is so awesome to feel SO GOOD!! Why can't everyday feel that good? I rearranged my whole walk in closet and got everything put together and ready for a baby boy to arrive. I cleaned my bathroom from top to bottom, my baseboards are shining. I cleaned my kitchen the same. I was running and jumping and just feeling awesome in general. I accomplished amazing things. It is the best day of the pregnancy!! I love it! (Hila, I got your gift packaged and mailed - Merry Christmas!)

The only bad part is that I was so busy RUNNING around the house, I forgot how clumsy I still am and just went to fast. I stubbed my foot and broke a toe.......... hahahaha... seriously. It turned a nice black color. :( It hurts so bad. But at the time I just kept on going. Cause when I get that energy spurt I feel to good to sit down. I had a rough night though, trying to remember it and not accidentally touch it or move the other toes around it. Extreemly painful.....

On a fun and interesting note...... I looked up in my blog when I "nested" with Shayla. I had my spurt of energy on the 18th and on the 30th I had her. Twelve days.

That would put me having this baby right around my birthday on the 20th. If it were to be about the same. The thing is, I have had a problem with their due date from the beginning. I believe it is wrong. I was based on the baby's size at my emergency ultrasound. When I looked at the calendar, I knew that I could not have possibly conceived around that time. I have believed from the beginning that I am at least a week farther into the pregnancy than they calculated, simply based on when I could have possibly conceived. I have always felt I am a week farther along than they figure.

So, I guess we will see. It really does not matter either way, this little man will come when he is good and ready. I just pray for another easy and safe delivery for me and little man. The first two were so smooth. This one I hope goes the same, whenever he comes. (I do secretly hope he does come before my birthday or a few days after it. Not on New Years. :)

36 weeks - The final countdown

I feel like a whale. In one week, my belly went straight out. My medium maternity shirts now have belly hanging out the bottom. The fabulous red-neck pregnant look. So, now it is larges and long mediums only, further limiting my clothing choices. Of course, if this one goes like the other ones, I am only looking at three more weeks or so. Both of my first two were born at 39 weeks. I am well aware that that does not mean it will happen this way this time, but - a girl can dream.

As of December 2, my husband was no longer active duty military. It happened suddenly and without warning. We are now without an income. I know there is not "good" time to be without that very important thing, it does seem like it happened at the worst time in our lives. Nine months pregnant, twenty days away from Christmas. We have no job prospects simply because we were not expecting this to happen in the least. Hubby is applying for jobs. We are not limited by geography, we will move anywhere. I think he is focusing on federal jobs, they tend to be military friendly and all his military training transfers to alot of these positions. These kinds of jobs take time. (I will clarify that this was a voluntary, honorable seperation - they offered us a terrible billet and said take it or get out....)

I would definitely say that this situation is much harder for me simply because I am pregnant. I am more emotional and easily overwhelmed, so I have cried alot. We saw alot of our plans and dreams simply disappear with this sudden life change. We are at a loss of what to expect from our future.

This is what we do know: The Lord led us here. We were given an ultimatum and God spoke CLEARLY as to what choice we were to make. This was one of the hardest decisions we have made, to give up income and security for the sake of our family. Family comes first, paychecks come second. That is a very noble statement, but when you are sitting here without any idea how you will pay for anything, with a baby on the way, it is very scary. We are trusting in the Lord. HE led us to this point, and HE will lead us the rest of the way. We are simply trusting in HIM. We have already seen fruits from this decision in our family, we have been blessed and brought together in a way we have not been since joining the military. We know we are sitting where HE wants us to be. It is the not knowing where we are going next or how in the world we will get there that is so very scary.

This has been a turbulent month in my life and in this pregnancy. Jon did sign up for the reserves, but we are waiting for a billet, which means we had to buy some insurance to cover having this baby boy.... which equals an obscene amount of mula... something we no longer have coming in... hahaha. (this was not funny two weeks ago, but now I have come to accept it and it is so surreal it is comical to me.)

You wonder why God allows things to happen the way HE does sometimes. In my selfish timing, I think his plan should have involved me having the baby, THEN getting out... But, the Bible says, "His ways are not our ways." So, for now I am just focusing on having this little man and taking each day a step at a time. We are all healthy, we are all together, and we will soon welcome a new little addition to our sweet little family. I am truly blessed!