Last One Standing!

Well, in the past few weeks, several other women who were in the pregnant club with me have delivered their babies. In fact, I can think of 5 off the top of my head. They were all due around the same time as me, one due 4 days before me and just delivered today. I am getting so anxious, wondering when our time will come.

The past week has been very uncomfortable for me. I have experienced a lot of swelling, and it doesn't matter how much salt I eat or how much water I drink. It just happens. It also doesn't matter if I am wearing my compression socks. I wore them yesterday to school and my feet still looked as bad as they did before. It's just a normal pregnancy thing, but it is so uncomfortable and really makes you feel hideous!

I have been experiencing an increased amount of BH contractions. I think I have had a few "real" ones, too (just because they are actually painful), but nothing is regular or bad enough to think it is labor.

Today, Luke put me on bedrest himself, meaning that I was to lay on the couch with my feet elevated by 3 pillows and do nothing. As tough as this was for me to accept, I did do it, and I ended up getting an almost 3 hr. nap in. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a napper. In fact, I hate napping. I always feel worse and very cranky upon waking up. However, I did feel better today and think it is what I needed.

Our bags are packed....baby laundry is done....nursery is pretty much 100% ready. I have ISTEP this week, so I really need to get through this week with my kids. Luke and I have decided that Baby E has the green light after the 12th of March. Let's see what happens!

You're Invited to My Pity Party

As a wife, it is never comforting to receive a phone call from your husband at 7:00 a.m. the morning after he works the overnight shift at Methodist Hospital where the first thing out of his mouth is, "Well, what I have to tell you is not very good news, but I have to tell you so just listen, OK?"

Of course, my heart stops beating for second as I brace myself, white knuckling the steering wheel on my way to school and thinking, "What now?"

In the nearly-three years we have been married, I have received several of these phone calls from Luke. 100% of them have lead to some sort of expensive car repair. In 2007, Luke's Alero was smashed into at high impact on 38th Street to the point where his car finally stopped next to a tree in the front yard of someone's house facing the complete opposite direction it had been traveling in. The trunk was smashed inside of itself, and his golf clubs were broken. The car was totaled, all at the hands of a cracked-out druggie who forgot how to drive his stolen Durango.

Other fine moments have included getting rear-ended pulling out of Hamilton Town Center, getting rear-ended on 96th Street this summer, and having to replace the transmission (I think twice) in the Malibu.

Of course, you could read about his running out of gas on 69 incident that happened a couple months ago in a previous blog entry.

So, I pretty much knew where this conversation was heading. He had been rear-ended, or ticketed, or towed. Surely.

Well, Folks, we traveled into uncharted territory this morning because my dear, sweet husband's car was broken into (via smashing the passenger window), and our GPS system was stolen out of his center console. Luke had to work the overnight shift at Methodist Hospital downtown, and apparently 11 cars were broken into, "smash and grab" style.

Of course Luke's car had to be one of them. Why wouldn't it be?

I immediately starting crying uncontrollably. The thought of a person putting his hands on our stuff, rifling through compartments trying to find something of value...it absolutely sickens me. It is such a violating, gut-punching feeling. Luke was doing what he was supposed to be doing. He parked in the closest lot to the hospital. He was at school, working on call for nearly 24 hours straight. He didn't have the GPS hanging on the windshield, not even the bracket or the suction cup, therefore no indication that a GPS was even in the car. Nonetheless, he and 10 others were victimized by low-life thugs who surely needed the items to pawn for important things like drugs and hookers.

I want to vomit at the thought. In fact, I want to vomit only after I find the assholes and punch them in the balls. Sorry, but that's how I feel.

I am so completely SICK of pouring money into Luke's cars because of things that are beyond our control. He got the window fixed today at a price of $185. Of course our deductible on our insurance is more than that, so we had to pay for it out of pocket.

Additionally, Luke needed to buy a 2nd key for his car because he only had one, and we learned this the hard way when he locked his keys in his car last weekend at my mom and dad's house. He also wanted to program a keyless entry remote that was purchased on eBay for his car like...a year ago. Well, nearly $170 later ($50 for the key, $49 for the "service fee to program the keyless entry," and $70 for a different keyless entry after the one we had bought didn't want to program correctly), he was good to go.

So, let's see...that makes spending nearly $400 on the car in one day! What joy! Especially right before the baby is born!

Yes, I know that it could have been worse. Of course I am thankful that Luke wasn't hurt in this whole mess and the idiots didn't think to pop the trunk and find Luke's new golf clubs in the back. Of course we know not to keep valuables in our car, even if they are hidden. It just sucks that this world is so messed up and sickening that you can't trust that you're safe anywhere at any time.

Possibly the most unfortunate thing of all is that my view of this world has taken a sudden turn for the sour just a mere 3 weeks before I am supposed to bring a new life into it. Baby E, you're in for a treat.

Miserable

Enough said.

36 Week Appointment

I had my 36 week appointment today. Baby E passed another test today....he/she is in the head down position! I got to have another ultrasound, but it was kind of a disappointment because I didn't see anything and the head was so far down I couldn't really make out a shape. However, the doc seemed happy that the baby was in position, so I just took her word for it.

I am huge with a capital H, miserable when I sleep, tired beyond belief, and sore in places I didn't know could be sore. As anxious as I am to get this baby out, I know that I NEED to stay pregnant until at least the week before my due date. I need to be at school to get these kids through ISTEP, research reports, book projects, fractions, and Indiana salt/flour maps. There's a lot going on, but I am trying to take it day by day and bring nothing home at night to worry about. This is a challenge, but given my new 8 p.m. bed time, I really wouldn't have time to do anything school-related at home anyway. In fact, Luke caught me asleep last week at about 5:00 when he got home with my laptop on my lap (open to Facebook of course), my cell phone in one hand, and the remote in the other. I was passed out in that position for who knows how long!

Anyway, Baby E seems to be doing just fine, and I am getting more excited by the day. In fact, I see a direct relationship between my excitement level and the amount of swelling in my feet, ankles, face, and hands! The more excited I get, the bigger and more swollen I get! I no longer can wear my gorgeous wedding rings....which really makes me sad....but I know it will be a great reward for when Baby E is born!

Maternity Pics

I have had these for a while, but just thought I would post a few of our favorite maternity pictures from our session with Sarah Ordo. She did a great job, and we now have priceless photos to remember this special time in our lives. Hope you enjoy!

35 WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS!

Well, I am almost to my 36th week pregnancy mark. This is very exciting! I flip-flip between being happy to be almost done and sad for the same reason. I really have enjoyed being pregnant, probably a lot more than some other women who have had a horrific time. I have had a few isolated bumps in the road, but all signs point to Baby E being healthy (please, God), and me being healthy as well. My blood pressure continues to be really good at my appointments, my weight has stabilized, and I feel pretty good MOST of the time.

I haven't done one of these in a while, so here goes!

P.S. I know I am behind in updating pics of the nursery, posting about our maternity pictures, and other things. I am working on it!

How far along? 35, almost 36 weeks! Officially 9 months!

Total weight gain: As of this morning, looks like 33 big ones!

Sleep: Not so good. I toss and turn, get up to pee a lot, and I wake up REALLY early (despite having 5 snow days in the past week and a couple delays, I woke up at 4:30-5 each morning). Sleeping is pretty much pointless for me because I don't enjoy it. I feel that I am in training for dealing with a newborn, so I am OK with this.

Best moment this week: Hmmm.... I have had a bazillion snow days, so I would say that being productive and getting things knocked off the to-do list left and right was pretty good. Also a great Valentine's Day with my husband at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Movement: It is decreasing. Nothing too worrisome (though I worry all the time), but the baby just kinda kicks and bumps and thumps around....not much room left!

Gender: My answer is always "I still feel like it is a girl." My coworker who also did not know the sex of her baby delivered this week via C-section and had a boy, and everyone always said that we would have the opposite because we looked so different pregnant. We will see! I also had another girl dream last night.

Labor Signs: I have had lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, and I am convinced that last Thursday I had an hour of "real" ones (they were painful and were every 10 minutes for an hour). They stopped before I could get worried/excited that something was happening.

Belly Button in or out? Pretty much flat.

Cravings: Everything. I love eating right now.

What I miss: Not sure....!

What I am looking forward to: My doc. appointment on Tuesday. I get another ultrasound to determine Baby E's position (please be head down!)! I start going every week now until delivery!

Valentine's Day 2010

I told Luke yesterday that I have officially been pregnant for every holiday except St. Patrick's Day (which is Mar. 17....may or may not still be pregnant), Easter, and Memorial Day. That being said, Valentine's Day is included! Oh well, it's worth it, right?

Luke and I had been planning on having a nice Valentine's Day since it would be our "last" one without children for the rest of our lives. Plans were slightly complicated due to the fact that he had to work call (call = overnight) at Wishard on Valentine's night. We said we weren't doing gifts, just a nice dinner out, but I had to do something special for him.

I went and bought all his favorite treats...mini Pay Day & Snicker bars, trail mix, trail mix bars, nutty bars, and gatorade, and I arranged them in a huge heart on our living room floor. It was cute and he was really touched when he came home to see it! I also gave him some homemade "Preg-O Passes," which are coupons for him to do things such as escape one of my mood swings, refuse one of my ridiculous requests, force feed me vegetables, or make me exercise. He thought they were funny!

I spent actual Valentine's evening with Kelley, whose poor husband works the 2nd shift every night (can't imagine), and we ate pizza, cake, and watched some of the Olympics. It was a lot of fun and great to not be alone!

On the 15th, our "Valentine's Day," we spent the day together running errands and checking things off THE LIST, which now has only a few small items on it! I am really excited! We even turned in a day care application for our unnamed, gender unknown child. In fact, the application said ? Ernstberger. Question Mark Ernstberger....nice. I felt really weird and guilty for turning in an application for day care before my child is even born, but that is the way it works around here, I guess.

We enjoyed a great dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We were going to go downtown to St. Elmo's, but the weather got crappy (for the 10th time in 10 days), so we stayed on the northside and went to Ruth's Chris at 96th and Keystone. It was wonderful. Luke got New York Strip and I got Ribeye. YUM!

A lot of people have made a point to say on their Facebooks how much they hate Valentine's Day. I don't get that. I get that you don't have to do anything big and special to show someone how much you love them. I get that you should show your love the other days of the year (which I do). I just don't understand the point of hating Valentine's Day. It's a cute, fun holiday that is sweet and a great time to show love to ALL the special people in your life.

At dinner, we tried to think about all of our past Valentine's Days and what we did for each of them. We could only not remember a couple. Given that we have had 9 of them, that's pretty good! It was fun to relive memories, and I can't wait for the Valentine's Days to come with our precious baby, too!

Car Seat Woes

In a quest to get everything on my to-do list done (see previous post), I decided to install the car seat in my car yesterday. I read the manual, read my car manual, located all the specific parts and things I should be familiar with, and began my journey of installing a car seat.

I got the beautiful Bertini Valencia infant carrier's base installed without a hitch. The LATCH system is really nice and makes it very easy to do. I was feeling empowered. I was feeling intelligent. I'm smart, college education, and dammit....I can put in a car seat on my own! :-)

Well, all of that quickly went out the window when I went to put the carrier on the base and could not fit the thing behind my passenger seat. I moved the seat forward to make room, but the seat had to be pushed all the way forward to the dashboard. No person with legs would be able to ride with me, and unfortunately (or fortunately), I don't have any friends with no legs. The closest person to that would be Jenn, my shortest friend. :-)

So, I unhooked everything and moved the seat to the middle seat. I couldn't use the LATCH with this, so I had to use the shoulder/lap belt. I didn't like this. It moved a lot more. Plus, it didn't fit there either. It was too wide for the gap between my driver and passenger front seats.

I tried the convertible car seat that we have to last through the toddler years. It didn't fit in the infant recline position either, and since the baby has to be in this rear-facing position until he/she graduates high school (or 1 year/20 lbs, whichever comes first), I started to get pissed.

Commence INSTAMELT! This is the term Luke has given my instant, spontaneous meltdowns. I can go from happy and smiling to upset and crying in a matter of seconds, which means that I will get along great with my newborn son or daughter very soon. Regardless, I was upset and stressed, thinking my cute little Elantra was not going to be big enough for my child's car seats, and the law would not allow me to escort my infant anywhere.

We got the Bertini in Luke's car (tight squeeze, but doable). To try and find a solution, we started Googling used Hyundai Santa Fe's (the next car purchase I would like to make-- a nice small SUV). I thought that maybe this purchase would just be coming sooner rather than later for us.

Leave it to my mom to think rationally today and tell me to try to look for a smaller car seat, versus look for a larger car. Hmmmm....$180 or $18,000..... (hands in "weighing position" in air).

I posted on Baby Center message boards about this problem, and I got some helpful responses. I Googled the best car seats for compact cars, and I came up with a few choices. I set out to Babys R Us to find a car seat, tape measure in hand. The nice lady at Babys R Us let me take the model seats out to my car to try them out.

I settled on the Chicco Keyfit 30, which fit in my car and will allow me to carry a passenger other than Jenn (not that I wouldn't be delighted to have you as my only passenger forever and ever-- AND I hope you a reading this carefully since you have an Elantra, too...you know, for the future...when you have a baby...not trying to start any rumors). It is in a nice orange and gray color combo, and I already have it installed in my back seat.

Crisis solved!

So Sweet!

I have been going to Zumba for a while now, since about May of last year. When you go to a class twice a week for that long, you get to know the people you stand around a little bit. Our little section has a lot of fun, and it includes Kim, Janene, and another Ashley, who is also pregnant and due a week before me! Well, Kim & Janene are so sweet-- they organized a little baby shower at class on Monday. They each made Ashley and me a diaper cake, and Janene made chocolate "preggie pops," which were pregnant ladies on a stick. So cute and thoughtful! I was very surprised and touched by this gesture.

I am going to keep going to Zumba as long as I can until the baby is born. It's fun because several other women are pregnant now in the class, so it looks like a prenatal Zumba class. :-)

34 Week Appointment!

I feel like I have slacked on the pregnancy updates, but I know I talk about my pregnancy ALL the time, so I doubt I have left out anything important.

I went to the doctor yesterday. I am measuring right where I need to be, 34 weeks. The baby's heartbeat was higher yesterday, in the 150's. My blood pressure was good. My weight was scary (but that's just my personal opinion!). Dr. Ertel told me that next visit, at 36 weeks, I will have one more quick ultrasound to check for the position of the baby! I haven't had one since 19 weeks. I can't imagine how much the baby has changed in the past 17 weeks. We need to be careful not to see anything "revealing" about the sex of the baby.

We need to be praying for a head down baby over the next 2 weeks. If the baby is breech on the ultrasound, they will schedule a C-section. I really do feel the baby has been head down for a while. We will see though!

I am nearing the end of my pregnancy journey. To see only 40 days on the countdown is crazy! I remember being just under 100 days. I am getting things checked off our to-do list left and right, and now I am just waiting for Baby E! I have two more baby showers coming up next weekend, and then I will be settling in, waiting for Max or Noelle's arrival!

33 Weeks

34 Weeks

What a Week!

Well, after all the snow we got last Friday, Monday night delivered us even more snow and drifting, which spilled over into Tuesday and Wednesday, thus causing us not to have school SINCE Monday (which was delayed anyway!). As fun as snow days are, they are truly not fun when you have to make them up at the end of the year, which means that originally getting out the week before Memorial Day has been tossed out the window. I believe we are now going until the Thursday after Memorial Day weekend. I am really sad about this because this is time that I would have had with my baby. I think the most frustrating part is you can't control the weather, no matter how much you want to...so I have tried to make the most of the time off.

Tuesday, I cleaned ALL day. I did so much laundry, washed more baby stuff, cleaned the entire kitchen from top to bottom, removed a lot (A LOT LOT LOT LOT) of cobwebs, organized our linen closet, deep cleaned both of our bathrooms (even washed the shower curtain), cleaned the inside of the fridge (which was sick), cleaned under the couch cushions (lots of treasures there), dusted, and got rid of a lot of trash/magazines/junk. It felt great to do this. Call it what you wish-- nesting or not-- I just really love knowing that my house is clean. I know we are going to have a lot of people in and out of our house when the baby comes, so I don't want to be embarrassed by a dirty house!

Wednesday, I was really knocked out from all the hard work the day before, so I didn't do much. I napped for about an hour, showered, ate lunch, and then went to my doctor's appointment.

Thursday, today, we are closed AGAIN. I have a feeling we will be back in school tomorrow on delay, so I am going to grade the mound of papers I have been putting off grading, clean out my car, install the car seat, and then maybe go out and have a little fun shopping with my imaginary money.

We have done a lot of work in the nursery, and I have been trying to post pictures on my blog for like a week, but it hasn't been letting me! I will try again soon!

Baby E's Bedroom, a photo tour

I have been working feverishly, trying to make everything "perfect" for Baby E's arrival, which could be 5 weeks from today if we get the little St. Patrick's Day baby that we think would be soooo cool! :-) Either way, I am less than 6 weeks away from my due date, which is awesome!

Anyway, with the snow day yesterday, I worked really hard in the house, trying to clean and organize everything I can see (and even the stuff I can't see).

Here's a photo tour of the room we dreamed up for Baby E. We absolutely love it and can't wait to show little Max or Noelle!

We bought this changing table at an antique store in Noblesville last year. It was brown. We repainted it to ivory. I bought a foam pad and sewed the cover myself. The pillows were old throw pillows we no longer used, and I found the pillow slip covers at Target for $5 each.

This mirror was a college leftover. I painted it brown. Notice the adorable bird decal above the mirror! I ordered bird decals from Etsy, and they came from Russia!

Close up of the bird

Birds and branch above the crib

Birds above the closet doors

A few of our favorite maternity pictures

The striped wall! Complete with bookshelf, bouncer, child's rocking chair, and Ernie...

This is above the glider. The square pictures are scrapbook paper pages that I framed. The chandelier is from Urban Outfitters and one of the first things I bought for the room (long before I was pregnant).

View of the glider that we reupholstered after saving it from our apartment dumpster a few years ago.

"Grow" with our baby's 19 week ultrasound!

We saved a lot of money by refinishing and repurposing a lot of things that we found at antique stores, on Craigslist, and in the trash (HA!). Nurseries can cost a ton of money if you go out and buy everything new from the store (which I am sure is very fun and exciting), but it was SO much fun putting our hard work and creativity into every aspect of this room for our precious child.

Super Sad

Well, I would say that this weekend was disappointing! The immense amount of snow we received Friday night unfortunately postponed the baby shower until February 21st. Girls weren't able to get out of their driveways, and it wasn't worth people risking their safety for a baby shower. I was bummed not to see my friends, but I suppose I will just have something more to look forward to in a couple of weeks.

The Super Bowl was a huge disappointment. I can honestly say that I couldn't predict how the game was going to end....I never would have thought a Peyton Manning interception would be the nail in the coffin. I feel horrible for the players. I am sure Peyton is going to have nightmares about that interception for a long time. It's hard to get over a loss that disappointing, but we can't forget that the Colts had the best record in the league, and they are a wonderful team that brings a lot of happiness to this city. It was fun to get excited about the game and watch it with friends. Adding to the depression is that now we are going to be a in a sports draught for a while-- I can't stand baseball season, which will be starting in just a few months, and basketball hasn't been anything noteworthy thus far. Football is so much more fun to watch and cheer for. But...I know that the end of this season means we are closer to Spring, which means Baby E is on his/her way!

The countdown says 43 days, and I couldn't be more excited. Right now I am watching Special Delivery on Discovery Health, and I have to say I am a little freaked out about my own labor and delivery after watching these births, but I have to have faith that Baby E will be safe and we will have a healthy little boy or girl soon.

Snow Showers

It's the day of my highly anticipated shower thrown by my friends....and it decided to blizzard last night. I want all my friends to be safe, but I want the shower to go on so I can see them and validate all the hard work Jenn and the girls have done. We will see what happens by 1:00 today when the shower begins. Of course I understand that girls traveling from Bloomington and Columbus, OH can't make it, but those are the girls I haven't seen in the longest and would LOVE to see today! We will see....

I am really getting sick of the snow. I am ready for spring (for lots of reasons)! We are at the limit at school with snow days....if we get one more, teachers will be going to school the Tuesday after Memorial Day, which is JUNE 1st! Yuck! And the start date for the 2010 school year? August 9th! That's barely 2 months! I know....I shouldn't be whining, but when I have a little baby to spend time with all summer, I want all the time I can get!

Speaking of baby....no news here. Earlier this week, I was concerned that I wasn't feeling Baby E move as much...but the past day or two, he/she has been working pretty hard to reassure me. A couple times, the baby has been lodged under my ribs, which isn't truly painful, but definitely not a pleasant feeling. Regardless, I think everything is going fine, and the baby will enjoy a nice stay in my belly for the next 6 weeks.

Well-- fingers crossed for the shower today and the safe travels of all who plan to brave the elements!

Ready to Be Done

I really never thought I would get to this point. I have loved pregnancy and all the great things that have come along with it. I have loved buying baby things. I have loved setting up the nursery. I have loved buying new clothes (until that no longer became fun due to expense and the fact that you can put a really nice shirt on a barn, but it is still a freakin' barn). I have loved getting asked about my baby by friends, family, and strangers. I have loved feeling the baby move, thump, kick, turn, flip, and hiccup. I have loved the fact that I still have not one stretch mark (fingers crossed for the next 6 weeks!).

But....I am tired. Exhausted actually. I don't sleep well. My fuse is growing shorter by the day at school. I am antsy and anxious. I am like a kid waiting for Christmas to arrive, or like a child in the back seat asking, "Are we there yet?" 5 minutes into a drive to Florida. I am nervous. I am on edge. I am in pain when it comes to my joints. I hate the swelling in my feet and hands. I am READY to be DONE!

I have taken all the classes. I have read books and magazines and Internet articles. I am ready to put my knowledge to use and have this baby and then attempt to raise and parent it. I want to know if it is a boy or a girl. I want to see who this baby looks like. The anticipation is KILLING me!

It is too early. I know this. I know that I want my baby to "bake" as long as humanly possible. I know that wishing for an early childbirth is not a good thing. I know it is selfish on my part. I know my baby loves being in its environment and doesn't want to come out for another month+, but how I help myself in the meantime?

I am twiddling my thumbs, analyzing every cramp and contraction (have had a few more Braxton Hicks lately). I am jealous of women I know either getting ready to have their babies in a week or have already had them. What a silly thing to be jealous of.... gah.

It all comes from a good place. I am just so excited, so ready, so happy, so in love with this baby already that I just want to claim the prize at the end of this journey.

Does anyone else think that 9 months is a HECK of a long time to be pregnant? And does anyone else think that it is a crock that they tell you it is 9 months but really it is 40 weeks...which...do the math. THAT IS REALLY 10 MONTHS!

Lord, help me... 49 days.