Induction date set

Only 6 days left until our due date! I can't believe we're so close now. All checked out well at our 39 week appointment today. We have some slight progress since the last appointment (2 and 80%) and are just continuing to wait it out at this point. Our next appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday 11/4 (election day). If we don't have a baby next week then we will be going to the hospital on Monday 11/10 for an induction. (We'll get more information on that at our appointment next week provided we make it.) That gives us a maximum of only One and a half weeks until we meet our little guy!! That also gives me a maximum of only one more week at work until I'm out for 12 weeks of maternity leave!! I am so excited to get to spend the holidays at home with the new baby this year and not having to worry about work for a few months so we can have that time to get to know each other. In the meantime I'll be taking advantage of the little bit of time we have left to get things ready, pamper myself, and spend some QT with Kirk. I started the pampering process today with a fresh new haircut and fully intend to treat myself to a pedicure and some sleep this weekend. Time to squeeze in all the little luxuries we can before baby boy arrives.

The Home Stretch

38 week 3 days belly pics.

Only 10 days left until the presidential election.......

and only 11 days left now until Baby W is due to arrive! I can't believe the time is here already. On one hand it seems like I have been pregnant for FOREVER and on the other hand it seems like it's flown by. To me this is by far the most tedious part of the whole 40ish weeks of pregnancy. It's strange to think that our baby could be born either any day now or his arrival could still wind up being a few weeks away. It's hard to be patient as I am more than ready to meet our new addition though I keep reminding myself to just enjoy this time as our little guy is easy to take care of right now. Something tells me that once he gets here it won't be quite as peaceful around the house. The wait is killer though and it's getting harder to be patient as our due date rapidly approaches. At 38 weeks and some change I'm feeling huge and exhausted. The exhaustion is really my biggest complaint these days as it's getting harder and harder to make it through the work day much less the work week. Thank goodness for the weekends! Our next appointment is set for this Thursday 10/30 so we continue to wait....... Hopefully it won't be too much longer.

October or November??

Only three weeks to go until Baby Williams is due so we are now officially playing the waiting game and biding our time until he decides to make his big debut. Since I know that he could be born anytime between now and a week or two after our due date I've really been wondering lately just when his birthday will be. Will it be November or October? Will he be born before, after, or right around his due date. What do you guys think? Apparently there is a guessing pool of sorts going on at Kirk's work right now. Don't know why but it cracks me up to think of a bunch of grown men sitting around trying to guess Baby W's due date all so they can win a coveted bag of m&m's, or whatever the prize is, I say m&m's because apparently that was the going prize the time Kirk won one of these things. The girls at my work are convinced it will be a Halloween birthday. My guess is he'll be born sometime during the last week of October. Of course now that I'm saying this he'll probably be stubborn and be a week or two overdue. I sincerely hope it doesn't happen that way but I also know that I have absolutely no control over the situation. My mom is convinced that it will either be October 2oth or 31st since both of my brothers have decided to schedule their wisdom tooth removal for these dates and she will be busy shuttling them around town those days. I figure whenever it does happen it will be during the wee hours of the morning anyway, isn't that the way these things usually work?

We had our last appointment yesterday and things are continuing to progress right along. Here are the stats for those that want to know: 1cm dilated, 50% effaced and -2 station at 37 weeks. As we're leaving our appointment on Tuesday Kirk looks at me and says "ya know, I'm starting to think we're about to have a kid." So I guess at 37 weeks pregnant the reality of the situation is finally starting to kick in for my husband as D day is now in our not so distant future. I'm still feeling pretty well but do have to admit that I'm getting pretty tired these days and fantasize multiple times during my work days about going to my office and taking a nap. I feel huge, can't breathe and can't do anything around the house without my upper back aching so all that being said my feelings will not be hurt if this kiddo decides to arrive in a week or so. I don't even want to think about getting any bigger than I am right now! I've also been having some lower back aches/cramps lately that my doc says could be contractions. I haven't had anything really that I could tell was an abdominal contraction yet. Anyone else have this experience? Our next appointment is set for Monday 10/21 at just shy of 38 weeks.

In other news Kirk and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary last week. As most of you know we usually celebrate our anniversary by going on a trip. First year: Biltmore, second year: Outer banks, third year: Blue Ridge Georgia cabin, this year: trip to the hospital to bring back our very permanent souvenir. Since we're not really going on our usual trip Kirk went all out this year and got me THE most fabulous gift EVER. A beautiful, black, brand new Kate Spade purse and wallet. That's right he went to the Kate Spade store all by himself, told the sales girl about a purse his wife had seen three weeks ago that she loved and bought the most fabulous anniversary gift ever!!! How sweet is that?? It's hard to believe it's been 8 whole years since we first met and 4 years since we were married, time really does fly.

Slight Progress at 36 weeks

Today was our appointment with the Ob Gyn for our 36 week checkup. Imagine my surprise when the Dr. informed us that I am already making some progress. This is about how the exchange took place:

Dr. Wheeler: "Have you been having any contractions or been feeling like you've had anything going on?"
Me: "Nope I don't think so."
Dr. Wheeler: "The reason I ask is that it looks like you're already about 1 cm dilated."
Me: "EEEK!" or some other kind of gasping shocked sound.
Dr. Wheeler: "I still expect to see you next week though."

OMG!!!! I honestly don't even think I've had one single braxton hicks contraction yet. How could this be?? I know I could go on like this for weeks and it doesn't necessarily mean anything but this new information got me started thinking that this is really going to happen soon! The Dr. also informed us that it could really be anytime now and that if I did go into labor I'm so close to my due date that they wouldn't do anything at this point to try and stop it. All of this new information got me started thinking about all of the little things I need to do and loose ends I need to tie before the big day and suddenly it doesn't seem as far off as it did just 24 hrs ago. Last night as I was drifting off to sleep I had a quick moment of panic when I realized that today I would be 36 weeks and in just two weeks I would be officially full term. This thought was followed by the thought that the baby could possibly come in two weeks which was quickly followed by the thought OMG I'm not ready for him to come in two weeks. I've been telling myself that I'll probably be overdue so I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the baby could actually come before our due date. Anything at this point is possible because like I was just telling Kirk tonight this kid will come when he's ready.

Everything looked good as usual at our appointment today and we are due to go back next Tuesday for another check up. Incidently today at my weight in I weighed the exact same thing I did two weeks ago at my last appointment. Absolutely no change and that's still four pounds less than what the nurse tried to stick me with last week. Interesting no??

I also had yet another party in my honor today as my coworkers decided to throw me a baby shower at the hospital. It was a lot of fun and we got a lot of cute stuff including a hand made baby blanket from one of my coworkers. I feel very loved as baby Williams has so many people who want to celebrate his upcoming arrival with us. I have never felt as pampered and spoiled in my life as I have felt these last couple of weeks. Thanks to our family, friends, coworkers, and mom's coworkers we have pretty much most of what we wanted/needed for the baby and we are now just waiting for his upcoming arrival.

Crazy Busy!!

34 Weeks!! Whoa Belly!!

Phew!!! Feels like the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and something tells me that things aren't likely to slow down anytime soon!! First off let me start out by singing Kirk's praises as we just found out earlier this week that he got a promotion at work!!! Just had to put this out there as I am very proud of him and all of his hard work!!

As for these past couple of weeks, Kirk and I are finally finishing up the last of our parenting classes this week and then we will be certified to have this baby, which is a good thing since we don't have that much longer until he's due. Out of all the classes we've taken lately the parenting class seems to be the most useful of all of them. A couple of weeks ago Kirk must have been feeling inspired by our class on Baby care and decided to use poor Tobi cat as a practice baby and dressed him in one of the newborn onsies we have. It was hilarious though I felt bad for the poor cat but he was truly a good sport. This picture says it all. I think if he could talk he'd be saying "I hate you both".

Last week in our parenting class we talked about healthcare issues and the whole time I couldn't stop thinking about how lucky we will be to have a nurse on call 24/7 who will probably even make house calls if necessary, right mom ;P ? How sweet is that!! You can't beat that kind of service. During the last two weeks we've taken/ finished up most of our classes, lined up our pediatrician, and today I preregistered at the hospital at the suggestion of my ob at our last appointment this past week.

Also last weekend three of our best friends threw us THE most fabulous baby shower, also apparnetly known as "fertile valley 08'". (It has been brought to my attention recently that a certain member of my family is referring to the shower as this since there were so many children and pregnant women there!! How fun will it be to see our son grow up with all of these kiddos!!) We had a great turn out for the shower and feel so incredibly lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family to share this special time in our lives with. We got so many great things and I truly feel spoiled by how much people have done for us and the baby. After the baby shower Kirk and I had so much fun unloading/playing with all of our new toys, I mean new stuff for the baby. It's crazy how quickly the baby's room is filling up with stuff. We got so many diapers I don't think we'll need to actually buy any for months and I'm definitely stoked about that.!!!We also got our travel system/car seat stroller combo and pack n play (thanks mom and dad) and bouncer which Kirk promptly put together right after the shower without me even having to ask him to!! He also already put together our crib which came in this past week(thanks ABA and GrandDad!!) a couple of days after our shower of course and it looks fabulous!! Do you think Daddy is getting excited?? I'm so stoked about being able to finally start putting his room together. I still have a lot to do but it's all finally coming together. So, with all of this going on and then throw in work and just life in general and you can see how things might seem a little crazy around here. It's all good things though as we're trying to make sure we're as prepared as we can be for this baby's arrival, if there even is such a thing.

I still feel pretty well all things considered except for some occasional upper back pain, mostly if I stand on my feet too long. Also my son's kicks are geting very strong and he has a tendancy lately to jab me in the side with what I can only imagine is a foot. It's very interesting to say the least. Kirk has been having a lot of fun jabbing my belly and getting him to move all around. Funny how they can play like this even before he's born. Our next appointment will be October 8th for our 36 week check and then I'll start going every week. So far everything looks great except for the fact that they made me weight about three times this last appointment because I had "such a large jump". Yikes!!! I will say that when the doctor weighed me she got 4 pounds less than the nurse and then when I got home I got home on my scale I got 3 pounds less than the doctor so I'm going with freaky scale on this one, that's my story and I'm sticking to it anyway!! Let's hope that doesn't happen again as it was quite embarrassing. I only hope I can keep it from going out of control these last few weeks. Thank goodness I don't have much longer!

32 week update

32 week baby bump. Now ya see it.

Now ya don't.

32 weeks down only 8 ish or so to go! Everyone keeps telling me how I'm so close but I tell ya 8 weeks feels like forever away. We had our 32 week appointment today and I'm happy to report that as suspected it was very uneventful. Baby's heart rate looks good, measuring right on time, Mama's BP is good, doesn't appear that this kiddo is trying to arrive anytime soon. All around a good report for all. We go back in two weeks (9/25) for our 34 week checkup. I feel very lucky that all in all this pregnancy so far (knock on wood) has gone remarkably well. I've felt great pretty much most of the time and really can't complain. I've managed to keep working mostly at my regular pace and I'm still able to get some exercise in though I admit it's not nearly as frequent as it was during the second trimester but something is better than nothing. All in all I really have enjoyed being pregnant so far and do not feel overly ready for it to be over just yet. The only real complaint I have is how ridiculous I now look at work in my overly huge scrubs. Suellen, in answer to that question you asked me long ago about maternity scrubs I can honestly tell you that yes they are that awful. The problem is that stores don't really sell maternity scrubs per se they just instruct you to wear a larger size so this normally size small girl is now wearing size large scrubs to accomodate the growing belly. First my coworkers gave me a hard time because I was growing out of my scrubs and needed to buy new ones and now they make fun because I look so ridiculous. There is no pleasing these people!

Kirk and I have been very busy the last couple of weeks with various classes. Last Saturday was our first childbirth class and I actually enjoyed it. My favorite moment came when the instructor was talking with the class about enemas and how some docs still require patient's to have them blah, blah, blah. She then went on to explain that this was an "invasive procedure" at which point a random husband in the class got a very puzzled expression on his face and asked"how is that invasive?" At this point came my favorite moment when my husband looked at him like he was insane and said "how is that NOT invasive??" Hehe, gotta love it. Kirk then looked at me and wispered "wonder what they do for fun". That's my husband! We also went to our first parenting class on Tuesday night where we learned to do baby care basics such as diapering, swaddling, and bathing oh my. I told Kirk that by the time we're done with these classes in three weeks we should be fully certified to have a baby. Somehow I don't think he was convinced.

4D U/S and 30 Week Update

Today marks 30 weeks exactly. Only 10 weeks to go give or take a couple!! Yesterday, as planned, we had our 4D U/S. The morning got off to quite a rough start as everything that could have gone wrong, it seemed, did on the way to the appointment. We left the house for our appointment 20 minutes later than planned. Against our better judgement Kirk and I decided to go ahead with our breakfast plans even though we were already running late. Kirk was, of course, trying to look out for his pregnant wife who'd been craving a chick fil a chicken biscuit for a couple of weeks. Tons of school traffic later and after getting pulled over by a cop for a stupid should have known better traffic violation we arrived at our appointment 20 minutes late. I, of course, was having a "come apart" through all of this as I just knew we'd have to cancel our appoinment after we'd been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks now. Of course it all worked out and we still got in. Luckily for us our ultrasound tech was also late. Moral of the story, things usually work out and there is no sense in getting worked up when there's really nothing you can do. This is something Kirk's been trying to get me to realize for some time now and though I've managed to adopt this attitude at work for some reason home is a whole different story. Hopefully next time I'll just remember this experience, take a deep breath, and avoid having my "moment". Oh well, for now I'll just blame it on the pregnancy hormones. After all I only have a few more weeks to use that excuse.

Luckily after we arrived for our appointment the rest of the day thankfully went off without a hitch. The ultrasound was a lot of fun and I'm really glad we decided to do it as I knew it would probably be our last chance to "see" the baby before he's born. The pictures didn't turn out quite as clearly as I thought they might but they're still pretty amazing and you can definitely make out some pretty cool details. This ultrasound gave us a little bit of insight into our baby's behavior in utero as well as his physical features. So far the feedback we've gotten regarding his pictures is that he has his daddy's nose and both of his parents long fingers and toes. Apparently he's pretty flexible as he had his foot all the way streched to his face at one point. He also spent the whole ultrasound with his hand up to his face/ mouth. Can't be sure as to what he was doing but it almost looked like he was sucking on his hand/thumb. He also did a good job posing for us as we got to see him smile at one point. All in all it was a pretty fun experience. The whole ultrasound took about an hour total with something like 50 pictures and some videos that we got to keep. Not all of the pictures are very clear or that good for that matter but the good ones we got make all the drama worth it. Here are a few of our favorite pics from the ultrasound.

Picture one sweet baby foot. Picture two shows his long fingers giving us the peace sign.

Picture one with face, hand and foot. Picure two: our future gymnast, baby with foot up to face.

Sweet little face.

I'm definitely feeling and looking very pregnant these days. Makes me wonder just how much bigger this bump will get over the next 10 weeks. I can only imagine as I already feel huge! Mom, I still can't imagine how you did it carrying two at the same time! I have a whole new respect for women carrying multiples.

30 week baby bump

This upcoming month promises to be a very busy time in the Williams household as we get ready for our new addition. Our plan is to finish the nursery as soon as furniture and bedding gets in. Kirk has been hard at work getting the room ready so far putting up crown molding, painting the walls, putting in an awesome closet system, changing doorknobs. You name it he's been fixing it. He's pretty much gotten most of the prep work done now. Have I mentioned how fabulous it is to have such a handy husband around!! I'll post some nursery pics as soon as we start getting furniture and things into the room. I'm definitely excited about the progress so far. We also have childbirth and parenting classes coming up in the next few weeks. So much to do for such a little person! Our next appointment is set for 9/11 at 32 weeks. I don't imagine it'll be too exciting but of course I'll keep everyone updated as usual.