The final stretch

I'm still adjusting to the time change thing I think. It's messing up my eating schedules, and Saturday night seemed like the longest night in history! An extra hour is NOT what a woman needs when she is 39 weeks pregnant :) it only makes labor seem farther away!

So yeah, still no baby. I was pretty uncomfortable over the weekend. Saturday I was in a lot of pain, not really contraction pain although I did have a couple here and there but my inner thighs were killing me. By the end of the day I could barely open my legs. I couldn't even climb in and out of the car, I had to sit and then twist in. Ouch. But Sunday morning I was a little better and although the pressure was still there, they didn't get as bad on Sunday. Last night I had what felt more like a few real contractions and thought maybe things were really going to start, but after about an hour or two they went away and I'm obviously still here. They felt like a painful tightening in my lower abdomen that rolled down into my pelvis and made everything down there painful and swollen.

My exciting news from the weekend though is that we got a camcorder! I am so excited :). I've wanted one for a while and we decided to go get one before the baby came. Yeah! No, John is not going to tape the whole birth, yuck. Just the before and after. Sorry if there is anyone who was really interested in seeing it. So I spent yesterday afternoon figuring out how to use it. It records to mini tapes and to a memory card so I'll be able to transfer stuff right to the computer to share with everyone. And there is a way to transfer stuff from the tapes to the computer as well but I need a DV wire and I don't have one of those so I'll have to get one eventually.

So that's it from here....my next appointment with the OB isn't until Wednesday, which seems like a lifetime away but I know it really isn't. I just have to find some things to keep me occupied until then.

Still here

We're still waiting. Not too much new from here. Yesterday was my most uncomfortable day yet. We went to the stores in the morning which was good, they say walking is good. By the time we were done I had leg cramps in my calves and the inside of my thighs weren't moving much more than an inch or two as I walked. I took that as a good sign that things are progressing, I hope. By the end of last night I was having some more little cramps here and there, but again, nothing consistent. So we went to bed and woke up and not much changed over night other than my legs feel much better this morning so far, although I can still feel the pressure and know it will be back soon.

We are going to get a camcorder today, yeah! I'm excited. Hopefully I picked out a good one, I don't know much about them so I hope this one gets the job done. We are getting the Canon Elura 100. It's on sale at Circuit City, as long as it takes videos of the baby, I can put them on my computer, fix them up a bit and send them out is all I really care about. It will be good for vacations as well.

That's it from here...we'll let you know if anything more exciting happens!

12 more days

Still here...today I was extremely tired. Not sure why. I went to bed early last night and think I slept relatively well, other than getting up just about every hour to use the bathroom. I suppose that could disrupt someone's sleep. But I'm so used to it by now it doesn't even phase me. I woke up very drowsy and a little bit nauseous but forced myself up so I could go see the endocrinologist. She told my numbers were great and she didn't expect me to have any problems at all after the baby is born and I don't have to go for any more visits. Yeah. Then I had a high number after lunch. Oh well.

I also went to my OB yesterday, same old story there. Non stress test, baby moves around, heart rate goes up and down just like they want it to and I leave. They will check me next week to see if I'm dilated at all. She also told me that because I have diabetes they won't let me go too late, which I already suspected but she confirmed. My next appointment, if we need it, will be Wednesday and I'll be 5 days away from my due date. I don't know if they will schedule something then if I still haven't gone into labor. I guess we'll see.

As for signs that I'm going into labor, I really don't know. I had some contractions this morning I think, but nothing really bad. It was a little difficult walking into the doctor's office and then I stopped at the store as well. I just went really slow, and some old man kept looking at me funny. I really wanted to ask what he was looking at, hasn't he ever seen a really pregnant woman before? But who knows, maybe he is worse off than I am and wasn't even really looking at me but just staring blankly. Anyway, again, another reason why I'm better off not spending too much time in public. By the time I got home I was exhausted and took a nap. Walking around isn't as painful, and I keep just having little cramps here and there. One day these things will become regular.

Tick tock...

Yup, I'm still here in case anyone is interested :). Just watching the calendar and wondering when...I have no idea. I tend to have more cramps and contraction type things at night but during the day I have been fine. I actually feel better than I did a few weeks ago and have quite a bit of energy. Maybe that is a good sign.

These are some pictures of us on the Staten Island Ferry from last weekend. We went to my cousin Nate's wedding, it was a lot of fun. We took the ferry over to Manhattan Friday afternoon and had dinner at South Street Seaport with my friend Amanda. It would have been nice to go up to Midtown or something, but I was tired after walking just a few blocks, and we were lazy and took a cab back to the ferry.

I finished work on Thursday, which is sad but good. I'm glad I will (hopefully) have a few days to get some things done and get the house in order before the baby arrives but it is still sad leaving. I don't think it has really sunk in yet that I'm not going to be going to work anymore.

So that's it for now...I think I'm just going to take it easy for the rest of the day and make some dinner. And I'm going to try avoid going to too many more stores, people are really starting to annoy me for the littlest things. Maybe I'm just cranky today.

Happy Birthday to the soon-to-be Daddy!

Yup, that's right. Today is John's birthday! The big 38! Wow is that old...haha :). We don't have too many big plans, I think we are going to dinner. And we'll have some cupcakes. Yum. I figure I can maybe have half of one...maybe...

We have the cutest baby!

Ok, so I might be a little biased...but how cute is this baby??? The pictures are a little fuzzy, sorry...but they came out so good! And it is already 6 pounds 11 ounces! Oh my! I think at the stage they say they grow about a 1/2 pound a week so I think I'm ready to deliver anytime now. Really.

A beautiful Sunday!

Wow it is absolutely beautiful out today! What a lovely fall day. I hope next Saturday is this beautiful for Nate and Jenny's wedding. I can't believe their wedding is next weekend...this time has gone by so fast! Yes, we are still planning to go. I feel really good right now so hopefully nothing changes between now and then. I'm sure it won't and everything will be peachy.

Here are some pictures of the variety of diaper bags we now have! Yes, I got a bright pink bag. But according to my fashion conscious friends, I was told I could not pass up the deal and HAD to get it. I figure if we have a boy I can use it as a beach bag, no one would question a bright pink bag at the beach, right? Anyway, it's a Lilly Pulitzer, which is apparently trendy and VERY expensive but I got it on clearance at Marshall's. Yeah. The other is an Ima Rosenbloom, which is also supposedly very trendy and sold at Mimi and Nordstroms. Also on clearance. Yeah again. It's more purse like, which I think will be nice when I don't want to carry everything with me. The last is John's backpack from Lands End, and also for us to use when we go on longer day trips. We actually got it in Fern Green, which wouldn't save for some reason. I didn't think John wanted to carry pink or flowers. Who knows, maybe the downsizing won't work and I'll end up using this one all the time anyway. A girl can hope to be trendy, right?

We had our child birth class all day yesterday at the hospital. It was really good. The nurse was wonderful, she has been there for 44 years! John asked if she remembered delivering him..haha. But seriously, she probably was there for at least one of the Schmitz babies being born. I think if anything, it answered simple procedural questions for us...which gives us both peace of mind knowing what to expect. They have all private rooms, which will be nice but they don't do everything all in one room like some of the hospitals do now. I can definitely see a good and a bad to both. I can imagine it is nice to get settled into one place, but she made a good point that it will be nice to be in a quieter area once delivery is over. But its a pretty good set up, we have our own private birthing room, with two operating rooms at the end of the hallway for emergency or planned c-sections if necessary. John can come with me in there too, I know some hospitals don't allow that. After birth, we stay in there for about 2 hours with the baby and then they take it to the nursery to give it some meds and clean him or her up for about 3 hours while we rest and move to postpartum, which is just around the corner. Sounds good to me :). The baby will room in with us 24 hours, unless for some reason they need to do tests. All the postpartum rooms are private as well, some being significantly larger than others, hopefully we get a big one.

Today we go back for a 2 hour class on parenting...John thinks he's already an expert because of his child care class he took at Notre Dame. If it was anything like the one I took...I think I could use a refresher course :).

We have a crib!

Yeah, I'm so excited :). We went to the store yesterday to pick up the crib and the bureau. The crib is all set up, we just need to go get the mattress which I may try to do today. The bureau is still in the garage, John is going to call Bri to see if he is interested in "moving furniture" sometime this week. Hopefully he will be, although we may actually make him use those muscles this time. Then all the baby clothes will have a home and we're ready to go!