Quick Blessing and Piper Update

BLESSING: So, we went to the doctor yesterday (Tuesday)...Blessing is still making very good progress considering no active labor yet.

• Heartbeat: good----CHECK
• Positioning: Head down, very low, already in an anterior position----CHECK
• Mommy's Blood Pressure: Remains low----CHECK
• Effacement: 50-60% ----CHECK
• Overall: Barring no strange complications, the midwife feels very confident we should still be able to have a natural birth and she thinks I am built for it, yay! Glad to know these Gambrell Hips are coming in handy----CHECK
  
• Arrival: NOT YET----NO CHECK!!!

Knowing that being more than 10 days overdue can put the baby's health at risk, the doctors have scheduled an induction for Wednesday, March 31 at 8 AM!!! We (along with our midwives) are very hopeful the induction is NOT necessary.

It's hard to believe that we will have an actually kid here within a week---yikes!!!

PIPER: Piper is still very uncomfortable but we are getting her medicine regiment down to an art. In order for her to keep herself from doing anything to the wound, she makes herself lay down. For those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting Piper, you know being lazy is not her style---so its hard to watch her just lay around so much. Hopefully the wound will heal soon so she can be back to her normal peppy self---we miss her :)

Picnic, Piper and OVERDUE

PICNIC: In our continuing efforts to expedite Blessing's arrival Matthew had a great idea to Picnic at the National Mall in D.C. and visit the Lincoln Memorial. After taking the metro into the city, we walked to the mall (which is the area between U.S. Capitol past the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial and over to the Jefferson Memorial) and enjoyed a picnic next to the reflection pool looking towards the Lincoln Memorial. Upon the conclusion of our meal, we visited Ole Abe and just POWER walked around D.C. to not only entice Blessing to HURRY IT UP but also to enjoy each other and the BEAUTIFUL weather.

We estimate we walked two more miles that day and still.....no Blessing :)

Matthew and I both agree that we LOVE living in D.C.!!!

YES we have a tripod and YES we still love self portraits :)
When we becomes THREE, we will use the tripod!!!


The Waddle, Live and in Color. Plus D.C. in the Spring!

View from the picnic spot. We are at the reflection pool looking at the Lincoln Memorial (above) and one end and the Washington Monument on the other end (below)

Blessing's first visit to meet ole Abe at the Lincoln Memorial

Patriotic Popsicle before calling it a day! We are still kids at heart :)

PIPER: After arriving home from the Picnic and D.C., we noticed Piper was bleeding from a ruptured gland. For those of you with sensitive stomachs, I will spare you any further details of her ailment---all you need to know is, she was IN PAIN. We cleaned her up as much as possible and tied a bandage on her to prevent her from aggravating the wound. After waiting to be seen for 3 hours at the vet Sunday morning, we learned that she would need a minor surgery. Everything is fine now, but she is definitely still in pain and NOT her sweet peppy self. She is taking about 5 medications multiple times throughout the day at the moment and will be for several weeks; not to mention she has stitches which will need to be removed on April 4th. So, we may not have our Blessing to take care of yet, but this is close enough!!!!!! I have a feeling Piper will need more care than the baby. So, for all my helpers coming in town over the next few weeks---we may need more Piper help than BABY help, ah the irony :) :) I admit, we have had a few laughs at her expense--E -collars and bandages are funny on her :)

Piper with the Bandage on----so sad but so funny. It took LOTS of convincing to get her to walk with that on!

NOW, Piper with an E-Collar. Sad but HILARIOUS when she walks around with it.
She does not deal with it well. She stood up until 2:30 AM last night when I finally gave in and slept on the couch with her!

QUICK BLESSING UPDATE: We are officially overdue, unless Blessing comes in the next 12 hours, which is HIGHLY doubtful. We have a doctor's appointment Tuesday, March 23 (one day overdue) so I hope to have even more good news about progress towards delivery AND hoping we do not have to induce :)

Where are you Blessing?

39 Week Update

Top of the morning to all my blogger friends (had to throw a lil Irish in there in honor of St. Patrick's day)! Not too much to update this week on "Blessing", other than we are still waiting for the imminent arrival. Doctor's visit revealed all normal measurements for mommy and baby---BP: 110/65 (yes, it has been this low all along and when not pregnant I am in the 90's), Baby Heartbeat: 156, Fundal Height: 38 cm. According to BabyCenter.com, Blessing is the size of a mini watermelon, that's big if you ask me.

Midwife Gina shared with me that I am very effaced---which is good....it did not take full out labor to accomplish that!!! YAY!!! She does antipate seeing me at my next visit---one day AFTER the due date. She recommended taking Evening Primrose Oil (a vitamin) three times a day to help with the onset of labor; I did not waste anytime putting her recommendation into action! I refer to the vitamins as "Bring on the Labor Pills"...so....BRING IT ON!!!! I will do anything to help us avoid an induction---so I follow the doctor's orders :)

God is in control of the timing, place and method that "Blessing" arrives. We knew all along that God had a special plan for our precious "Blessing" since against the odds, we got pregnant. I have a sense of peace about the delivery and being a Mommy and I truly anticipate it to be a wonderful experience for Matthew and I. Now I must relinquish over to him my anxieties about life when we get home from "Blessing's" birth! We feel so privileged and honored to be called to be parents. Each day we pray that the Lord teaches us how to be Godly parents and how to raise our children to be not only followers but PASSIONATE followers. If you can give us anything, please bless us with your prayers to be the parents God called us to be!!!

Blessing at 39 weeks.
I need to start taking these in the morning instead of 9 PM at night...I look so tired....because I AM....LOL!

The Latest and Greatest

Alice and Wonderland: Matthew and I saw Alice and Wonderland Sunday afternoon...it was SO good!! I highly recommend it for adults...NOT kids, it is a bit scary. WARNING: If you do not appreciate other Tim Burton films you may not enjoy this one. It is the quintessential Tim Burton/Johnny Dep movie; dark, amazing costuming, great human/animation combination, symbolism, and more!! Remember, this is NOT the traditional Alice and Wonderland story we all read as children (or watched the Disney animated film).

Progressive Dinner Date Night: We have been trying to find time for Matthew's great idea for a Progressive Dinner Date night...and we finally found time tonight!! For those unfamiliar with the concept, basically we go to a different restaurant for each course. I recommend this for other couples----it's like 3 to 4 dates in one, try it. And a summary....

• Appetizer: Bonefish Grill for Bang Bang shrimp and bread with dipping sauce. There was a 75 minute wait so we shared a table with two other random families in the bar area (for those of you wondering, there is no smoking in restaurants here). It was fun talking with the other families.
• Main Course: After making a Target pitstop to look for St. Patrick's day and Easter socks for niece LC (unsuccessful might I add), we headed to Silver Diner for the "main" course. With such a diverse menu, it took us about 30 minutes to decide what to eat. We ended up with a smorgasbord of diner appetizers......and a salad :) We selected four songs for the jukebox to play, but after we waited for an hour to hear them---we decided the cue was entirely too long and eventually gave up. We entertained ourselves by playing games such as tic-tac-toe, hang man and 21 questions. Matthew dominated pretty much all the games.
• Dessert: By the time we finished the other meals, we were feeling full so we defaulted to the ole tried and true Starbuckaroos for some Java!!

Our purchase at Target between Appetizer and Main Course. My first pair of St. Patrick's Day socks!!

Hmmm....what should we order??

Waiting for our tunes to play!!

Matthew actually won both these tic-tac-toe games...I had to cheat to win :) And yes---we wrote on our napkins!

PIPER!!! Just had to share Piper with her Early Easter present. Gotta love the dollar bin at Target!

Are We There Yet?.....38 Weeks Update: Uneventful doctor's appointment as with all the others. Everything is right on track with both Baby and Mom....well on track according to the Doctors :) On track to ME would be....Blessing is here LOL! We did not get an ultrasound as we thought, but hearing the heartbeat is just as good. They will do an ultrasound at 40 weeks if Blessing has not made his/her debut. Although we are anticipating the arrival, Matthew and I are just using this time to go on as many dates as possible!

38 weeks....notice its a little lower??

Blessing Is Officially Full Term!

We are pleased to announce, Blessing is now considered official full term! That means he/she can come any day----hopefully sooner rather than later (aka the due date). We have bags packed, car seat installed, room ready...all we need is a baby!

The weekly doctor's visit revealed a negative GBS Screening; this means that if all else goes well we get to labor at home for quite a while and I do not need antibiotics during the delivery. Knowing how uncomfortable the hospital can be, I was relieved that we are able to labor at home until contractions are 5 minutes apart--YAY!

The midwife I saw yesterday is my favorite one...she said the baby is still head down and probably does not have room to turn any other way. Using her 27 years of experience, she guessed the baby is 7 pounds now and will be high 8 pounds to mid 9 pounds if born at 40 weeks. She ordered an ultrasound for the next visit and left it up to us if we wanted to have it done. The purpose of the ultrasound would be to determine baby's size, but it can still be 1-1.5 pounds off. IF the baby was weighing in at the 98th percentile, the doctor might recommend a c-section, but we do NOT have to have the c-section since the weight can be so far off when using the ultrasound to guess. At the end of the day, the weight is just a guessing game and we would like to let nature take its course rather than inducing or anything (we will see how I feel about that if Blessing decides to stay longer than March 22). Everything else was right on track.....yay!

So, many of you have asked what we decided for pain control (assuming it is not a c-section)....well....1) absolutely no narcotics will be used, 2) I am going to try to avoid the epidural all together (yes that means an ATTEMPT at a drug free delivery) but IF I do get one....I will for sure wait until the "point of no return" to get it. We shall see how that plan works out. We are a good team, so I would like to believe we can do this!!!

We are ready......hoping the baby comes......as in tomorrow....LOL! Keep checking back in case Blessing decides to arrive :)

37 Weeks

In my last blog I shared about my awesome diaper bag...well here it is....filled with Blessing goodies!!