closer and closer

I am still pregnant and every day brings us closer to meeting our little guy. We saw the doctor yesterday and everything is the same. Still one centimeter and now about 60% effaced, (even though I think she might have just said that to make me feel better!) I am off bedrest and I will stop taking my pills to stop the contractions on Sunday, after Peter gets back from bow hunting this weekend. The Dr. gave her blessing for me to go off of it yesterday but since we want Peter to be there for the birth, we decided that I would stay on it through the weekend so Peter could camp and hunt a little less worried. Hopefully baby cooperates!

Superman? Superman!

Every Thursday night Naomi and I go over to our friends Addie and Blake's house. It's kind of tradition. A couple of weeks ago, I spent a couple of quick flights around the room with Blake pretending to be Superman. Home-made cape and all, Blake enjoyed the thrill and danger involved with flying at mach speeds.

35 weeks

Naomi at 35 weeks
Peter at 35 weeks

All is well

Well, the doctor's visit today went just great. I had lost some weight at the last visit but I didn't realize it until I got home and the doctor hadn't said anything about it. This time I was back to my previous weight and the doctor said that since I had been sitting down and such any swelling I had was going to go down, causing weight to go down. My tummy measures just right for how far along I am and baby's heartbeat is good. She checked me today and I am 1 centimeter dilated but that is just fine. She said that if we didn't know I was contracting or anything and she had just checked me anyway, there is no concern. Perfectly normal for where I am. She thought I was more like 50% effaced while my other doctor last week thought I was 60%. All fine and dandy. I will spend this week still on bedrest and we will see next Thursday if I can go back to normal. A week after that I will probably go off my medication. By that time I will be over 36 weeks by that time and the baby will be just great if he was born. Of course, the Lord knew this all along and you would think by now we would know that He is trustworthy! I am so grateful that He is so patient with us and His love is not conditional on our actions. He has blessed our family so much, I am so thankful.

34 weeks

No baby yet! I reached the 34 week mark which was our first benchmark to get to. I went to the doctor a week ago and cervix was still closed but a little more thinned out. This told the doctor that the contractions are the real thing, making things change. I see my doctor again tomorrow so we'll see how things are then. Bedrest has been a new experience. My emotions go up and down and I have lots of time to think and worry about things unfortunately. I am so thankful that we are at the 34 week mark and thank the Lord every night for one more day of having the baby still inside me. My mom was able to come last weekend and I am so thankful! She was a huge help getting our house more settled and helping me get our bedroom, bathroom, and baby room all set up and ready. I feel so much better, my mom blesses me so well! I'll update after tomorrow's appointment, I promise sooner than a week! Thank you all so much for all your prayers and meals!

longest birth class ever

Well, have we had a pretty crazy last couple days! We went to our birth class at the hospital Wednesday night and during our tour of the labor and delivery department, I volunteered to be hooked up to the monitors that monitor contractions and baby's heartbeat. Our teacher hooked me up and continued to explain things to the class. After about 5 minutes, she looked at the tape coming out of the machine and informed me that the rest of the class was going to finish the tour while I stayed there! I thougth she was joking! Apparenlty I was having contractions that were pretty regular. Well, what we thought was going to be a couple hours in the hospital to stop the contractions using fluids and then a medication, turned into two nights in the hospital being monitored trying to get the contractions to stop. Positive things: my cervix has not been changed by the contractions which is wonderful because that means my body is not getting ready to deliver quite yet. Baby is doing awesome. He wasn't even phased by the contractions and his hearbeat was strong and everyone commented on how strong he was. Also, I could not feel any of the contractions! That is what is so crazy about it. They didn't like how constant they were so I got to experience the hospital before we were ready.

It is amazing how sudden my life is different. I am now done with work and on bed rest for awhile. For the next week or so, my bedrest is limited to 10 minutes on my feet per hour. And no, I can't stockpile minutes. :( I am on a medication called Procardia that I take every 4 hours that is a muscle relaxant that really calms down my contractions. I will go see my doctor again on Monday to see if anything has changed and if not, maybe in about a week, I will be able to be on my feet more. I went from not having much time to do anything to having all the time in the world but no permission to do anything! Peter's new work has been amazing. They sent him home on Thursday when he went in and told him to come back on Monday. What a blessing. A few of the workers there also prayed for him before he came back to the hospital.

If the baby were to come today, he would be fine but would probably have to be taken to Billings or Salt Lake City for awhile. I am going to be 33 weeks on Monday and 36 weeks is what we are shooting for. Every day he stays inside is good so I am reminding myself I would rather be bored at home then waiting in a hospital for my baby to get big enough to take home. It was a scary time but Jesus was there with us always and gave us more strenth than we could have hoped for. Peter said his fatherhood gene has definitely kicked in and he has definitely become more protective. Please pray that I will be in tune to my body and know what I should be worried about but not drive myself crazy! Please pray that I don't go crazy at home and that I let Peter love me and take care of me without feeling bad about it. Please also pray that my body does not get ready to deliver and the contractions don't change anything. We have lots of friends that have surrounded us and will take great care of me. I know I have forgotten about a million details but I have told the story many times by now and I am ready to move on. We'll update more on Monday after our doctor's appointment and hopefully not have anything new to report!

summer time

Reese and a twin, who I now know is Mason.
Matt and Chris and another twin, actually Smith.
Peter, Chris, and Blake.
Our friend Chris has been in Israel the last year in medical school and he came to Bozeman for a night last weekend. We got together at Sam and Sara's to catch up. It was a great time and a perfect summer evening.

crib time

We got ambitious last weekend and put together the baby's crib. The crib and a changing table were given to us by a family from Peter's class. A huge blessing. All the bedding was made for baby by Peter's mom, Becky. It is just perfect and the baby will be so cozy sleeping there! It's becoming more real!