Waiting patiently...

At least one of us is still able!! ;o)

T minus zero...and nothing!

I have three library books due today. They will be on time. Mia, who is also due today, will not be on time... I had yet another OB appt this morning, and we are still making no progress. I spent about an hour and a half at the office today, b/c after the regular routine they moved me to a special room they'd managed to keep secret in the previous 40 weeks of my pregnancy. I sat in a small room w/ a very comfortable recliner in front of a tv while one of the nurses strapped a monitor to my belly. For about 30 min, while I sat with my feet up holding a remote for the tv, the monitor recorded Mia's heart rate and any contractions of my uterus. I was also given a button to push (very similar to the ones they use to buzz in on Jeopardy) every time Mia moved, and the monitor spit out a roll of paper with graphs of all three events taking place. I had one good contraction while I was there (though it was still just a Braxton Hicks contraction), and it was cool to see it on the graph later. My OB warned me that the real ones would be more painful. I had sort of figured as much since I found this one to be "amusing" and not "excruciating". ;o) The important part is that Mia's heart rate & movements are still very good. My BP is still very good. So everything is great...except that Mia still doesn't want to vacate my uterus. So, I'll be going in every few days now to sit w/ the monitor to make sure that she's still doing well. A week from today my OB wants to start talking about "Plan B" in case Mia still doesn't decide to come on her own, though we won't actually start the eviction process until I hit 42 weeks. It makes me tired to think of two more weeks of this. I might go take a nap now...

39 and a half weeks...

I had another OB appt a couple of days ago, and Mia is still making no signs that she wants to come out. I keep trying to tell her that there is more space out here, but she seems intractable. So...we continue waiting. My next appt is on my due date, and I think I'll be going in more than once per week now b/c they want to make sure she's not distressed. But so far we are both doing great: she's still squirming like crazy & my BP is perfect. (But there is still more room out here, Mia!!) Jeff and I did a maternity photo shoot last night, so next week I should be able to post some pretty neat photos of us & the belly at 39w3d. ;o)

Still no baby!

We're starting to get the phone calls now, but alas -- I'm still pregnant. ;o) I'm making no promises whatsoever, but I've figured out how to email updates to the blog from my cell phone. So I'm hoping to at least be able to post a message once Jeff & I leave for the hospital. I assume my spelling will be humorous, but you'll at least know that Mia is likely on her way...or that I'll soon be posting about how embarrassing it is to be sent home from the hospital with false labor...

Great Moments in Pregnancy

Here's a great moment in pregnancy... I was getting dressed for a wedding yesterday that took place about an hour's drive from home. I had picked out the black pants and the only cute top that still covers (most) of my belly, and then I grabbed the only black shoes that still fit when my feet swell. And my feet swell unless I happen to be in bed for 8-12 hours... And they swell especially badly while seated, like in a car for an hour-long drive. So I decided that I would get totally dressed but keep my tennies on (which seems to help with the swelling) while I finished running around the house to get ready, and then I would just change shoes when I got to the wedding site. And normally, the sight of yourself in black dress pants, white socks, and tennis shoes would be a sufficiently tacky reminder to grab your black dress shoes on your way out the door. Problem: At 39 weeks, you haven't seen your feet in a couple of months... So, blissfully unaware of my horrible fashion faux paux, I walked out of the house dressed like a high school English teacher nearing retirement. And it wasn't until I was half way to the wedding site that I realized that I must still be wearing my tennies and that I didn't bring my black shoes along... Luckily for me, I'd left myself an uncharacteristic 30 minutes of buffer time for the drive out. So I ran into a Labor Day sale at a Mervyn's I saw along the freeway and picked out a pair of black slip-ons in record time. And it was only b/c I took the shoes out of the box and left them on top of my purse in the passenger seat that I remembered to change into them when I arrived at the wedding. So, Ari & Erika, you have no idea how close you were to having a nine-months pregnant lady in tennis shoes at your wedding!! :o) Congrats, you guys! It was a beautiful wedding, and Jeff & I wish you all the best.

September

Wow, I can't believe it's September! Sometime this month, we'll be parents. I really can't believe this month is already here. I also can't believe that I've been pregnant for sooo long... I've been pregnant for so long that I am apparently totally used to feeling a little under the weather. In fact, it took me several days before it finally dawned on me yesterday that I'd come down with a cold. I've been more or less congested since my 15th week, and the fatigue comes and goes constantly. But for a few days in a row this week I haven't even felt like getting out of bed in the morning. Then I thought about it, "Coughing, sneezing, exhausted, really congested... Wait! That sounds like a cold!" So I finally gave in to the cold yesterday and drank half a dozen cups of herbal tea to clear out my head and slept a lot, and I feel a lot better today. But, boy, do I miss NyQuil!!

Getting nowhere fast

I had another weekly OB appt today, and I learned that I will likely "shoot right past" my due date... I apparently haven't started dilating or effacing, so it looks like Mia's awfully comfortable and not trying to go anywhere soon. But the reason I was dreading getting to this part of the routine is that I could still go into labor tomorrow. And even if I'd dilated a couple of centimeters, labor could still be weeks away. But I now have something else to fixate on, which is probably the last thing I need! So how about a blog pool (sort of like an office pool, but w/o the office...or the cool cash prize) to guess the correct due date? My mom threw out 9/21 as a date b/c my sister and I were both ten days late. Jeff's new guess is 9/20. I'm gonna throw out 9/15, just to be hopeful. ;o) Any other guesses??

Baby Shower - Aug 27th

The women at my church threw an amazing shower for me over the weekend. We played a fun game where we were all quizzed on the meaning of our names. Luckily, it was a multiple choice quiz! (Kristy means "anointed", Jeff means "gift of peace", and Mia means "mine".) We also played a bingo game where we had to find people in the group who fit various categories like: gave birth in September, is a grandmother, is a little sister, etc. It was a pretty fun game and gave my mom a chance to meet many of the people I go to church with in a short amount of time! :o) The food, drinks, and decorations were amazing. The tables were covered with beautiful roses and green tulle and we drank two special drinks in Mia's honor: "the Mia"

• one part Martinelli's sparkling cider
• one part pink grapefruit juice
• splash of pomegranate juice
• garnish w/ a green grape

"the Momma Mia"

• one part champagne
• one part pink grapefruit juices
• splash of pomegranate juice
• garnish w/ a green grape

Obviously, Mia's mommy stuck to "the Mia". :0) I had a wonderful time, and Jeff and I are still amazed at everyone's generosity. Mia is going to be one of the best-dressed babies in the Pasadena area, and her parents are thrilled to have everything they need to welcome her to her new home! Thank you to everyone who was able to come out and make this such a special day!!

Actually done nesting... :o)

I'm pretty amused w/ myself. One day last week I woke up and decided that all of the comforters, blankets, and pillows in the house needed to be washed...that day. I had already assembled the nursery and re-arranged & re-folded everything in the hall closet & in Mia's closet, so this was the last major task. So, I stuffed my car full of blankets and drove to the laundrymat, where I did several loads of laundry in the super-sized machines. Then I came home and washed the rest of Mia's new clothes and folded everything up and put it all away. Last night I dragged Jeff to Babies "R" Us to grab the last few things I still wanted to get before Mia's arrival, namely the stroller and a diaper pail. And now after two wonderful baby showers, lots of laundry, tons of assembly, and a few hours spent folding, I can't think of anything else that needs to be purchased or washed, so I think I'm finally done nesting...and ready for a nap!! :o)

A Peek at the Nursery

As you can see, I've got most of the nursery put together. The wall border is still on back-order, but everything else is here, at least decor-wise. :o) I love all the animals and the bright colors. It's such a happy room! I'll post a couple more pictures when the border is finally here & put up, but that probably won't be until after Mia's arrived.

We have a pediatrician!

I have prenatal appointment scheduled for next week with Mia's pediatrician. I'm pretty excited about what I know about the office so far, but I'm supposed to come up with a bunch of questions for the appointment to make sure that my parenting philosophy jibes with that of the doctor. How on earth am I supposed to know what kinds of questions I'll have about Mia once she's here?? I already have the answers to most of the things I wanted to know about...

• There is an MD or RN available after hours to answer an emergency questions that come up.
• The office takes walk-ins from 8:30 am - 9:00 am Mon - Sat for sick appointments, so you don't have to call and try to schedule an appt if your kid gets sick overnight.
• The practice is pro-breastfeeding and has a lactation consultant on the staff, & you can chat w/ her during well-baby visits or over the phone.
• There are three different waiting areas: one for sick kids, one for healthy kids coming for well-baby checks (that way they aren't getting sneezed on by sick kids), and a private waiting area for nursing moms.
• The office staff seems super nice & eager to help over the phone.

So as long as I like the doctor when I meet her in person, I think we're good to go. I can't believe we have a pediatrician! A couple of other notes... I had another weekly OB appt this morning, and I still have no news to report. He said he could answer any question except for, "When is she coming?" ;o) But all my vitals are still good, so we're just waiting & she'll come when she's ready. At least we don't have to worry about her being preterm! Also, Jeff and I took a Baby Care Basics class last weekend at our hospital. That was pretty informative. The major emphases were things like what's normal vs. what requires a call to the pediatrician and what a normal newborn really looks like (i.e., not the Gerber baby). Jeff and I were both horrified, however, when in the discussion of "what's normal" the instructor handed out laminated legal-sized posters with 9 different photographs of soiled diapers... The captions said things like, "normal at 1-2 days" or "never normal - call doctor". The funny part is that as the posters were coming around, everyone gasped & groaned in unison. But within a couple of minutes, she'd said something like, "And if you ever see this, call your doctor immediately!" Then every couple in the room was intently bent over the poster to get a better look at the diapers as though it were...normal. *Sigh.* This is how it happens... This is how you go from being a perfectly normal person who doesn't talk about such things to being a parent who can't understand why everyone doesn't want to hear about how many bowel movements her child had yesterday. And Jeff and I got tossed into the deep end of the pool - with pictures and everything!!

T-minus three weeks (or so)

I had my first weekly appt a couple of days ago, and my doctor says that everything still looks boring (i.e., great). As we were wrapping up the appt, he starting making sure that I know to call his office first (before I call the hospital) when I go into labor, and he gave Mia the green light to come whenever she's ready now. And I couldn't help thinking, "Holy crap! This is actually going to happen soon." :o) It's funny b/c every time I go into the doctor's office, there is usually at least one couple there who are just wrapping up their first marathon OB appt & leaving w/ their armful of literature & freebies. When that was Jeff & me, I remember feeling like I'd snuck into the senior prom or something while looking at all the women who were about to pop and thinking I'd never actually get this far. Well, here we are! We have the cradle set up by our bed now, complete w/ mattress pad, sheet, blankie, and a mobile. We've got the labor bag packed, and we even have the diaper bag packed. Packing the diaper bag was hilarious. It's the last item listed on the checklist I received in my Lamaze class of things to bring to the hospital. So after my shower, I was feeling pretty good about now having everything I needed to take to the hospital. Then I realized that I had no idea whatsoever what one puts in a diaper bag, besides the rather obvious diapers. So I found several online checklists of what typically goes in a diaper bag, and now I'm feeling pretty good. ;o) Now all we need is for Mia to decide when she's going to make her debut!

Baby Shower - Aug 12th

Finally, here are some pictures from our baby shower! We had the shower last Saturday at a park near our place, and we had such a blast visiting with all of you who were able to make it out. :o) Thank you all so much for coming out & making our day so much fun! Those in attendance learned many new bits of trivia about Jeff & me...including how Jeff tortured his Aunt Melody's poor, sleeping dog as a child and how I was able to defeat the child safety gate installed on my bedroom door in order to watch early morning cartoons. Hopefully Mia will prove to be less devious than either of us!! All of the men were challenged to nursing down a baby bottle of "beer" as fast as possible. Due to park regulations the beer was actually sparkling cider...and due to the slow-flow nipples, the men were encouraged to begin cheating to speed up the game. (The pictures were still priceless!) Congrats to Pat, who chugged his the fastest! ;o) The food was absolutely amazing... Many thanks to my mom, Pat, & Regina's mom (Linda Ames) for cooking the bratwurst, chicken, hamburgers, and all the salads & side dishes. I've received many compliments on the food since Saturday, including a couple of questions about who catered. And the pregnant lady was thrilled to indulge in brats, potato salad, & 7-layer bean dip!! ;o) A million thanks to Regina & my mom for organizing everything. We loved the games, decorations, food, location, and the opportunity to visit with everyone. And thanks to Melissa Murray for the adorable chocolate favors! (If anyone is interested in ordering chocolate favors for a special event, Melissa can be reached at melissaschocolatecreations@hotmail.com). Let me know if you'd like me to email you copies of any of the pictures above. And if you have pictures I haven't seen yet, I'd love to get the full digital files. I'm adding all of them to Mia's scrapbook. Thanks!

"Nesting"

But not like you think. ;o) I am now so huge and it is so impossible to get comfortable at night that the process now requires four pillows. And I feel like I'm building a little nest around me every time I do it...which I do about a billion times per night. So I've got your basic under-the-head pillow. Then there's the between-the-knees pillow, which takes some small amount of pressure of my aching pelvic bone. Then there's the tucked-behind-the-back pillow, which keeps me from rolling flat on my back and not being able to breathe. And finally, there's the tucked-under-the-belly pillow, which supports the huge belly a bit and reduces the strain on my back. And I have to rebuild my little fortress of pillows every single time I switch sides or get up to pee in the middle of the night. I have no idea how Jeff is getting any sleep...or how there is still room for him in bed with all my pillows! On a side note, I figured out how we're going to keep poor Friday out of Mia's crib. :o) I was reading through the history of this crib tent on the manufacturer's website, and it started out as safety thing to keep babies from jumping out of the crib and on to the floor. Mom, feel free to add your comments below... ;o) But all of these people who had aggressively cuddly cats (like Friday, apparently) started writing in that they were going to be able to keep cats that they'd thought they were going to have to get rid of b/c they couldn't keep them out of the crib. So the company teamed up with the Humane Society and started a "Keep Your Cat" campaign. See, Mom? If I hadn't been jumping out of my crib when I was one, I might not be able to keep Friday today! :o)

Info on the first baby photos

The hospital where I'll be delivering posts 3 or 4 pictures of every newborn, & their website will probably be the fastest way for everyone to get their first peek at Mia when she's born. I've added the link to the right sidebar under "Pregnancy Links", & I intend to make Mia's photos password protected. So when the day finally comes, you can click that link, and the password will be our last name. When you follow that link, click on her name and you can click on the giraffe that says "next" to click through however many shots we get. How exciting!

"Normal-sized"

My doctor told me this morning that Mia is still head-down (yay!). She guessed that Mia probably weighs about 5lbs right now and that I'm on track for a "normal-sized" baby at delivery, which I'm very happy to hear b/c I certainly don't want to give birth to anything super-sized! ;o) I apparently get one more two-week break between appointments, and then I'll be in every week until I deliver. She also told me to get my hospital bag packed and to make sure that the car seat is ready to go. I can't believe I'm close enough that I need to start packing my bag!

34 weeks

I hit 34 weeks yesterday, which means I've got about 6 weeks to go. Mia's squirming all over the place, and I can tell that she's getting stronger everyday. In one of our favorite moments so far, Jeff came home a week or so ago and gave me a big hug. And as soon as he did, Mia kicked him really hard in the stomach as if to say, "Hi, Daddy! I'm here, too!" It was pretty funny. We're both getting really excited and can't wait to meet her. I can hardly believe that she'll be considered full-term in three weeks. I have my next doctor's appointment tomorrow, and then I'll be going every week until I deliver. I can't believe I'm already at this point in my pregnancy!

Walker H. Williams

Mia's great-grandpa passed away very early yesterday morning, and I'm very sad that they won't have the chance to meet. My grandpa was one of the coolest men I've ever met, and I'm very grateful that my family and I have been able to spend so much time with him over the last few months while he struggled with his health. He was so excited about Mia, and every time I saw him over the last couple of months, one of the first questions he eagerly asked me was if she were kicking. (And the answer was usually "yes".) It seems so cruel that they are going to miss meeting by a matter of weeks, but it dawned on me a few days ago that if it weren't for Mia I'd still be working (more than) full-time during these months when my grandpa needed us most. Because I'm neither a full-time employee nor yet a full-time mom, I was able to spend most of the last six weeks helping the rest of my family to take care of my grandpa. And that was a gift for both of us. March 5, 1920 - July 24, 2006

32 weeks

We've got about 8 weeks to go now, and the pregnancy symptoms are definitely intensifying now. The pelvic bone situation is pretty ugly. It mostly feels okay during the day, but it wakes me up about every 30 minutes at night. It's so painful and annoying that I dread going to bed at night b/c I know I'm not going to get much sleep, and I don't even really enjoy laying down. At this point, if Mia lets me sleep 2-3 hours at a shot after she's born, that'll be a marked improvement!! Also more intense are the heartburn and the swollen feet. Both seem to defy logic at this point. I wake up with heartburn and sometimes I still get it from drinking water. And the swollen feet don't even go down completely overnight anymore. But on the upside, Mia is moving around more and more. Since I know that she's upside down, I can tell now where her back is and I can tell the difference between arms and legs squirming. I can't yet tell the difference between feet and knees or hands and elbows, but that probably won't be long. ;o) The picture is of my sister Heather and me in San Diego. We escaped some of the crazy heat today and hung out near a model boat pond in the park.

7 months!

We are 7 months along now, which totally seems unreal to me. :o) Mia is getting big & strong enough that she can keep Jeff & me entertained for 15-20 minutes by squirming around visibly. There really is nothing more alien than watching her squirm under my skin!! She has been lodged up under my right ribs for about 3 weeks now, and she pushes up whenever I lean over too far. Let me tell you, if you ever want to fix someone's posture, try kicking a lower rib. That seems to do the trick! The picture above is from Mia's first (in utero) trip to the beach for my friend Marleisha's birthday. (Happy birthday, Marleisha!!) It was a beautiful day and we got to meet Marleisha's nephew Aiden for the first time. He's 4 1/2 months old, and I can barely believe that we're going to have one of those in 6 months!! Crazy... As you can see from this picture, Friday still thinks the crib is his. It's going to be harder than I thought to introduce him to the baby b/c he's going to have weird displacement issues when she takes over the crib. I started looking into a mesh tent that sets up over the crib to keep "unwanted pets out of the crib". It's starting to look like something like that is going to be necessary, at least until Mia is big enough to fend for herself. ;o)