38 Week Appointment...

Today was my weekly doctor's appointment. I was SO hoping I had progressed "some"! Earlier in the week I had a lot of menstrual-type cramping and my tummy would get "hard as a rock" at times. I told Bryan last night that I was going to be a little disappointed if I hadn't progressed at all BUT that I wouldn't be too upset because if nothing else, I have only 11 days until Lexi will be born. So, back to the doctor's appointment. I have progressed to 3cm (from 2cm last week) and she has "dropped" a bit more since last week's appointment too! Yea for progress!!! Secretly I was hoping to be at 4cm and for the doctor to say, "Go on over to labor and delivery and get checked in." No such luck! I had my bags with me so I was ready! And, I'll be ready when the time comes. Another thing the doctor said was that she thinks Lexi will weigh about 8 1/2 lbs. That would exactly split the difference between Isaiah and Samuel! I hope she's right! I'm scheduled to go back to the doctor next Tuesday (2/2) but the doctor told me she wouldn't be surprised if I didn't make it until then! As I was checking out and scheduling my next appointment, the receptionist said, "Do you think you're gonna make it to your next appointment?" I said, "I hope not!" She said, "I don't think you will!" I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Patience...

Waiting has never been easy for me. And, now that I'm 9 months pregnant it's even harder. However, something happened almost a week ago that put things in perspective for me. We have some friends who were pregnant with their first kiddos - twins. Last Thursday, at 29 weeks pregnant, the mother gave birth to these babies. The girl weighed 1 lb. 12 oz. and the boy weighed 1 lb. 10 oz. They are in NICU at a local hospital and are doing very well considering their premature births. Bryan and I were able to go into the NICU (with the parents) to see the twins. They are SO tiny. Their feet are approximately the size of the tip of your thumb, and your hand would almost cover their entire body if placed over them! As I stood there looking at them, I thought how amazing the technology is that is helping them survive at this early of stage in their lives. What I was more amazed by is the fact that all this technology needed outside the womb is provided naturally inside the womb by the mother. Equally amazing is the amount of growth that happens inside the womb from 29 to 39/40 weeks of pregnancy. At 29 weeks, these babies weighed in at just over 1 lb. At 39 weeks a normal baby weighs 7 lbs or more (more in the case of my two) - only a 10 week span. What a miracle pregnancy truly is!

So, when I am feeling like I can't wait another day for the arrival of my little girl and how big I feel or tired of being pregnant I am , I am reminded of how fortunate I am to still be carrying her and providing for her inside of me! I am happy to wait the 13 days (or less) I have left in my pregnancy to welcome a healthy baby girl into the world!!!

In case you're wondering, the twins prognosis is good. They will have set backs and advances in the days to come, but we are all very hopeful for a wonderful life for them and their sweet parents. Please keep them in your prayers!

37 Week Appointment

I had my weekly doctor visit today and am 37 weeks pregnant (well tomorrow, technically). Anyhow, here is what my doctor had to say...

As she was measuring my belly...
Doctor: "She has dropped considerably! Look how much room you have up here (pushing softly at the top of my abdomen). How tall are you?"

Me: "5'9""

Doctor: "And, how big was your largest baby?"

Me: "9 lbs."

Doctor: (feeling my belly top and bottom and squeezing the sides) "Well, unless you're hiding her really well, she won't be over 9 lbs."

Me: "Great!" (hoping I'm not hiding her very well)

Now on to the internal exam...

Doctor: "You are already 2 cm dilated and very soft; it could be any day now!"

Me: "Really?"

Doctor: "Yes ma'am! So, I'll see you next week if I don't see you sooner!"

Me: "Okay!"

My next appointment is scheduled for next Thursday, January 28. I know that I can stay at 2 or 3 cm dilated for the remaining 2 weeks and few days until the scheduled induction. But, I also know that I could go into labor tonight! I guess I should get my bag packed!!!

So Very Blessed

Wow! I am overwhelmed by the love and generosity of the people of our church. This afternoon, the ladies of Faith Community Church held a baby shower for our precious baby girl. It was such a great time of fellowship and fun. We had wonderful hors d'oeuvres, fresh fruit and delicious punch. For dessert we had a beautiful, HUGE Italian cream cake that said, "Welcome Baby Girl!" It was delicious and we will be eating on it for quite a while!!! Then, we played a couple of games that were a lot of fun - thanks Kim. Gifts were the final touch. Let me just say that little miss Lexi Lee is already a very blessed little girl. We got clothes, bottles, pacifiers, bibs, diapers, blankets, a play mat, stroller, mattress and the list goes on and on! The Grandmas got the baby bedding and it is ADORABLE!!! My aunt also made Lexi a quilt to match here bedding and it is gorgeous. It was a wonderful afternoon and I am so very grateful for such a wonderful, loving church family.

My parents were able to come in for the weekend but had to go back home today after the shower. I am so thankful that they are able to come so often and share these wonderful times with us. Now I'm home, propping up my swollen ankles and watching the Golden Globe Awards. I'm looking forward to going through and putting away all of the things we received today tomorrow. One thing we did do before my parents had to leave was put the bedding together. My mom really wanted to see it before she left. It is PERFECT! Here's a couple of pics.

Lexi's Crib & Bedding:



Another view:
(the quilt my aunt made is folded there, laying on the sheet - see how well it matches):



The letters I painted (thank you Sarah for making the bows for me):
These are hanging over the changing table.



Everything is coming together and in 22 days (or less) we'll have our little girl to use all this wonderful stuff on!!!

Lexi Lee you are already so loved and incredibly blessed!

36 Week Appointment

I went in for my 36 week check-up today and everything is great! My blood pressure is excellent and Lexi's heart rate was just over 140 bpm. I was examined and found that I am not dilated at all but am beginning to "soften," and the baby's head is down. YEA!

I was induced with both Isaiah and Samuel so I really feel like I will be induced with Lexi as well. Isaiah was 4 days past his due date when I was induced (due to high blood pressure) and weighed in at 9 lbs. I was induced with Samuel because Isaiah was a large baby and Samuel was suspected to be the same. So, 11 days before Sam's due date I was induced and he weighed in at 8 lbs. My doctor says Lexi will follow suit and be a large baby so she has no problem inducing me, but I have to be at 39 weeks. This is the hospital policy unless it is medically necessary to induce before this time. So, we discussed induction today and I was told that if Lexi does not come before, I will be induced on Monday, February 8, 2010! This shaves 4 whole days off our little countdown we have going!!! Part of me would like to go into labor since I never have before. But, the "planner" part of me wants to be induced so that I can be "prepared" and our families can be here for the big day! I guess we'll just see what GOD has in store!

I now go to the doctor every week for check-ups. I can definitely tell that I am nearing the end of this pregnancy. I feel HUGE and sometimes Lexi's movements take my breath away for a few short seconds. My ankles are starting to swell a little and it's getting tougher to sleep at night because I have to go to the bathroom SO often!!! While all of these things are annoying, they are also very exciting because they mean the end is nearing. I just can hardly believe that in 25 days (or LESS) I'll be holding my daughter in my arms!!!

Hospital Tour

Yesterday Bryan and I went to the Labor & Delivery Tour at the hospital where we will be having Lexi. The hospital just opened this new area on December 5, 2009. For those of you who don't know, I love just about anything NEW!!! We were very impressed. Everything was so clean and "fresh" looking. We started out in a big conference room with all the other couples that had registered for this tour. There were some interesting couples! There were even two men who came without their wives!? That is just weird to me! I guess at least they cared! I say this because there was one couple that you could tell was VERY obvious the husband (or Daddy at least) DID NOT want to be there and didn't care about any of it! I hope this is no indication as to the type of father he will be but sadly, it probably is. Anyway, the nurse leading the tour asked us all to go around the room and introduce ourselves, tell who our doctor is, and tell our due date. There were about 3 of us due in the next few weeks, about 3 who are due in March, and 2 due in April. There was a young girl there with her husband (who was pushing her in a wheelchair), mother and mother-in-law. When they came in I thought to myself, "I wonder what she is doing at this tour?" because she did not look pregnant at all. When it got to her turn to introduce herself she said, "My name is ______ , my doctor is ______ and I am due in July but they will be here in June; I'm having triplets!" WOW, 3 at once!!! She is about 14-15 weeks pregnant and has been put on bed rest (the reason for the wheelchair). She is a tiny little thing but won't be for long! God bless her! So, after the introductions, the leader went over things that were kind of a "refresher" for Bryan and I and we laughed and reminisced throughout this portion. We then got to tour a labor and delivery room, the nursery and a patient room. All of these were very nice. The patient rooms are all private rooms and have flat screens and DVD players in all rooms. They are large too which is always nice.

Being the "planner" that I am, the tour was good for me. I kept thinking at each stop, "in 4 weeks (or less) I'll be occupying one of these rooms," or "Lexi will be IN this nursery soon!" It won't be long now and I am SO ready!

Christmas & New Year's (sorry, it's a LONG post)

My computer has been on the fritz so I haven't been able to blog much lately! Bryan is trying to fix it but I'm feeling like we will probably be sending it back for a replacement SOON!!!

Christmas came and went so fast! If you've read previous posts, you know that we were confined to our home this year for Christmas instead of traveling as we usually do. I never really realized how much I enjoy traveling and being "home" for Christmas. It can be hectic traveling to Lubbock, Wichita Falls, and Duncan, Oklahoma but oh how I missed it this year! So, since we were stuck here in H-town, our family came to us. My parents arrived about lunchtime on Christmas Eve and stayed through that Sunday morning. It was VERY special to have them here and for them to see the boys get their presents from Santa. Santa was VERY good to our boys this year! Isaiah got a PSP and Samuel got a Leapster 2. Then, they both received a brand new NBA basketball goal! Santa WAS good but Papa and Nana were better! As they do every year, they went WAY overboard with the presents (but we loved every bit of it)!!! We had A LOT of fun over the next several days, playing with all the toys received! The day after Christmas, my mom and I went shopping for Bryan's and my "main" Christmas gift(s). My parents decided they wanted to buy us the crib and changing table we had picked out for Lexi. I was VERY excited about this and couldn't wait to get them. We brought them home and put my dad to work ASAP assembling them both. They are perfect and I couldn't be happier with them! I'm waiting until the nursery is completed to post pics so be patient!!!

Bryan's parents arrived on the afternoon of New Year's Eve. We went to the grocery store and got some goodies for the evening. We told the boys earlier in the day that they could stay up to see the ball drop in NYC, but didn't really think they could make it! WELL, THEY DID! We all counted down the seconds and then toasted our sparkling white grape juice in plastic wine glasses. Bryan and I kissed, Gil and Donna kissed and Isaiah and Samuel kissed! Oh, the brotherly love! Then we blew our noise makers! Earlier in the day Samuel had a great idea to make "clock cookies" for New Year's Eve. He had gotten this idea from a Max and Ruby episode (a cartoon he loves to watch). So, I gladly did this for him and they turned out really cute, see:



This pic was taken on my iphone so I could send it to my mom. I apologize for the quality! We had a great little "ringing in of the New Year!" Almost immediately after this, we were all ready for bed. Well, our neighbors were just getting started! As I mentioned earlier, we are usually traveling on New Year's and have never experienced our neighbor's excessive "ringing in of the New Year" as we were so lucky to this year! We expected to hear fireworks lingering into the night and were fine with that. What I did not expect however was for the people who live directly behind us (and that we share a back fence with) to have their entire street over to their house to party it up! They had a DJ complete with sound system and all! We could hear every beat and it got annoying REALLY fast! I must've dosed off at some point (don't ask me how) but was rudely awakened at 2:30am to Beyonce's "If You Like It Then You Shoulda Put A Ring On It!" You see, our wonderful back fence neighbors evidently were hot and decided to open their back door some fresh air! WHAT??? I laid there and listened to several more songs and finally told Bryan I could not take it anymore and asked him if we could call the police. He got up and said he would take care of it. He came back a little while later and said he had gone over there!!! He said there were a lot of kids in the front yard (popping fireworks) and he told them to tell whoever was inside to please close the back door because we were trying to sleep. He said they looked at him with a blank stare and never said a word. Well, they must've told "whoever" because the back door was closed and we were back to the thumping of the bass only. All of this didn't completely subside until 4:30am!!! I was not a happy person!!! I am continually amazed at people's lack of respect for others!

New Year's Day was spent doing not much of anything. I did however, take down and put away all of the Christmas decor. Everything always looks bare for a couple of days following the "great take down!" I do like it when everything is back to normal though!

So, that brings us to today. Bryan's parents left this morning before we headed to church. Now we are all relaxing and watching some football. I'll have to say that I am looking forward to NEXT Christmas and being able to travel and spend it like "normal!" AND, looking forward to the arrival of our precious little girl in just over 5 weeks now!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a WONDERFUL 2010!!!