No sign of labor, yet...

Today at the OB Baby Earl was moving, heartbeat strong, my BP was a little elevated but good (134/84) for me at this point, and had the first pelvic check - not dilated one bit! Dr. Cole (Dr. Brown called in to emergency c-section) said at this point that is fine, she could come any time but it will be when she is ready.

So now, the next step is an ultrasound next Friday to see how big she has gotten this last month, and that will determine the next next step. :) No plans to induce or for c-section at this time. I am having some early pre-labor systems but nothing concerning or worth going into detail about :).

As far as how I feel about it? Well I am anxious to finally get to meet her and hold her, see her beautiful face and all that hair she supposedly has....but you know its kind of surreal still to think how close we are to this next phase, and how much things will change again once she is here. Its very exciting, and I am just thankful to be feeling so good and to know she is content exactly where she is. Of course it is pretty uncomfortable for me sleeping at night right now, the heartburn is back with a vengance (though it never went away only lessened for sometime) and there is nothing I can do to hide my waddle or the still growing and hardening belly, but still I cant complain. I feel good.

Plus this gives me a little more time to put the final touches on her room. My baby girl already has a closet that matches her mom and Yaya's closets; just packed full of clothes, blankets, toys... I still have a huge garbage bag full of clothes to wash that I got 2 days ago from a vendor at work of barely worn hand-me down clothes. She will be one well dressed baby girl!

So doesn't seem likely I will get to have Baby Earl on Grammie's birthday, the 23rd is just 4 days away...but you never know, either way as long as she is healthy I am just fine waiting until she is ready!

Moccasins from Grammie

This morning at 36 weeks, on a staurday, I was up bright and early for a maternity photo shoot. The photographer was great, I had a good time. I just wanted to capture this amazing journey, really celebrate this blessing and capture the absolute joy and love that this baby has brought into my life. I can't believe its 28 days until her due date, and though it made me cry a little to pull out the moccasins Grammie had made for me some 8 years ago (I wasnt kidding when I said she wanted this as much as I did, for as long as I have.) it was such a joy to know that she is watching over us. I could almost hear her smiling from heaven as we took different photos with moccasisns she had made for her greart-grandbaby, she must of known it would be a girl. The pendleton from Auntie Punkin was also perfect. The only thing that could have made the day better was having my mom here, but all in all a beautiful experience and I cant wait to get the photos back.

Doing Just Great & Love Our New OB!

I am so so so happy I switched to Dr. Brown. The nurse was great, he was caring, kind, funny and put me at ease. He is a great listener, took time for all my questions, and was just so positive - this is what I imagined OB appointments would be like, no wonder he is the number one choice of nurses who are preggers at VMC.

Health update: Me and Baby Earl are doing great...blood pressure good, kidneys good, her heartbeat is good and strong and all in all everything is just great! According to Dr. Brown my weight gain is within the range of what he would expect given my pre-pregnancy height, weight and build. Of course now we just need to make sure baby doesn't gain too much weight - so gotta stay on top of my sweets intake, no problem. All in all was a great appointment, and I feel so much better that I switched!



Now we start seeing him every 2 weeks! With an ultrasound at the end of July to check her weight, position, etc... Just 9 weeks to go! Plus he gave me the OK to fly home to Spokane for the twins birthday party in July! Yay!

Needless to say it's been a great day; the sun is shining, me and my baby are healthy, my mom comes in town tomorrow, friends and family are gathering for the baby shower on Saturday, and I get to see some high school friends on Sunday. Life is great, as my Grammie would say - God is good!