Dear Olivia

Dear Olivia,

Okay baby girl, it's showtime!  From the beginning of your existence I have worried about you non-stop.  I worked very very very hard to make my belly a nice environment for you to want to stay in and grow like you should.  Everyone around me has helped keep you safe and healthy in my belly.  It is now time to come out and meet all of those people!  I promise that I will do an even better job of taking care of you outside of my belly; it really is not that scary out here.  You will be held and loved by everyone that has been waiting for your arrival.  I have never been more anxious to meet anyone in my entire life, and boy, are you good at making me wait!!! 

I have slowly realized that this is just the beginning of things that will be out of my control as a mommy, so thank you for helping teach me a little bit more patience.  I can't wait to learn more lessons about life from you, but you need to get here first!  I understand that you will come when you are truly ready to come, but just know that Mommy & Daddy are more than ready for your arrival. 

39 weeks (I promise I am smiling on the inside.)

39 weeks.

Your Gammie and a dear friend of hers, Diane, just hosted your second baby shower yesterday.  When the shower was planned we had to wait for your Aunt Jeani to be in town, too, she will give birth to your 3rd cousin in January, so we didn't know if you would still be in my tummy until then.  You must have known a party was being hosted in your & your cousin's honor because you stayed put!  As soon as the baby shower was over, I told your Gammie, "Alright, she can be born now, there is nothing left to do but wait." 

This was one of the darling little outfits you were given at the shower!!!

Ruffle bottoms!  I really hope you love ruffle bottoms as much as I do :).  Your daddy was only "eh" about this outfit.  It may be girly-overload for him. 

Almost all of the ladies at the party also gave you a new bear or doll. 

This is the beautiful quilt that your Gammie made for you!!!

The colors are perfect with your room, and I can't wait till you get to have some tummy time on this quilt.

Your Uncle Mike, Aunt Jeani & Cousin Reese are in town for 2 weeks and really want to be here when you come!  We have had a really nice past couple of days getting to hang out together and I hope that you come soon so that you can get to meet and know them, too!!! 

Daddy & your cousin Reese hanging out and playing with the iPhone. 

Your Jimenez Grandma and Grandpa (and Aunt Sarah, of course) are on constant standby waiting for the word to come to Leander when we think you may be on your way.  I have to start almost every phone call to them with, "No, I'm not in labor."  I cannot wait till either me or your daddy get to make the phone call telling them that I am in labor and that we are very close to getting to meet you. 

This quilt was made for you by Grandma's old principal, Mrs. T, at the school that she works at. 

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and we will be spending time with family, watching football, playing board games, and waiting on you. 

Love, Mommy

Home Stretch

Only ten days till my due date.  She could be here sooner than that, but it could also be as long as 14 days past that date.  That's the longest my doctor will let me go overdue.  I do not want to get to that point.  One of my biggest fears is being forced to have an induction.  For this reason, we have been taking a proactive approach at getting our little one here.  Mostly just a lot of walking, sitting/bouncing on the my yoga ball, some floor exercises, walking the stairs in our house, sex, nipple stimulation (TMI, I know, but this is real talk, remember?), and relaxation & visualization exercises that I learned in our Bradley classes. 

I haven't started any of the crazier "inducing labor" techniques yet, but I'm thinking I'm about to.  Fresh pineapple & the ingredients for Labor Cookies are on my grocery list.  I've also been told a couple of other things that are out there that women swear by to help start their labor: rasberry red leaf tea & evening primrose oil. 

I know that there is not one single thing that will magically start labor if my body and my baby aren't ready.  However, I feel good about remaining active and continuing to do things that will be good for my body during labor and in recovery.

Last weekend we drove up to my parent's house in Harker Heights for my dad's birthday dinner and Dave took us in the Mazda.  The hope had been that we could drive faster and take the back roads, which are very hilly, to send me into labor. lol.  We are quite crazy and getting very anxious and ready to meet our daughter.

Mommy & Daddy & Olivia at 38 weeks.  I looked swollen & exhausted. 

Squats on the trampoline.  I never actually did any jumping, but everyone else thought it was fun to bounce me a little.

Dinner & hanging out with my folks, and Sarah and Caleb was a lot of fun.  The night before we got to hang out with Reese and Annette for dinner and to celebrate Annette's birthday.  So our weekend was fun & family filled.

Yesterday was another doctor's appointment.  Everything is going well.  I had lost a pound the week before, but gained that one pound back this week.  Towards the end losing a little bit of weight, or gaining very little is completely normal.  The belly was measuring right on, my blood pressure was good, and that was pretty much it.  I have been declining the internal examinations because 1) I don't like them, and 2) they really do not tell me or the doctor anything important, especially if everything else is going well.  

After the doctor's appointment, Dave and I were able to go home and relax for a little bit. 

 

We then headed back out to Cedar Park for a Meet the Pediatrician event at a doctor's office that we were interested in using.  I'm so glad that we went!  It was good for Dave and I to meet all of the doctors at the practice and discuss which one we were interested in appointing as our PCP.  I think we are still on the fence between two of them and which one we will pick, but the way the practice works is that Olivia may be seen by any of the other 4 doctors from time to time, depending on their availability and how soon we need to be seen.  This is fine by me because I liked them all.  They are all very pro-breastfeeding & they are also okay with a modified immunization schedule.  Dave and I aren't interested in modifying the recommended immunization schedule, especially because Olivia will be going to daycare, but it's reassuring that they allow for parents to have a level of control over their child's healthcare.  A couple of the other doctor's offices I had found will straight out say that they will not accept any new patients who were interested in a modified immunization schedule.

They gave us a little introduction, there was time for questions & answers, and then we toured the doctor's offices.  At the end there was a giveaway and I won a "Baby's First Year" book for being the furthest along there last night.  Wooohooo.  :)

This coming weekend Jeani, Mike & Reese come into Austin from overseas!  Yay!  So glad that they will get to be here for the birth of our baby!



Wordless Wednesday

37 weeks and 1 day

How far along? 37 weeks & 1 day

Weight gain? Very slightly under 40 pounds.  Apparently, I'm very good at gaining weight during pregnancy.

Stretch marks? It saddens me to say that they have finally gotten me.  They are very faint and few and only on the left side of my stomach under my belly button.  I know the real test will be seeing how many stretch marks I have gotten once my belly deflates.

Sleep: OMG, sleep has been amazing lately.  It must be due to the change of weather here, nights have been really cool and dipping into the 40s.  I get up once, maybe twice to use the potty, but have no trouble falling right back to sleep.  Thor must be sleeping better, too, because he is back to only getting me up around 4:45-5am when it's time for us to get up anyways. 

Best moment this week: Dave and I had a really nice low-key weekend at home.  He cooked some amazing meals, I did some baking, got a couple of nice long walks with Thor, and we did a lot of cleaning, organizing, yard work, and only had to run a couple of errands. 

Pumpkin Spice cookies.  Awesome & only uses two ingrediants.

Movement: Still a wiggle worm! I can see almost all of the movements through my shirt now, too.  Dave has been able see her move and he calls her our little alien.

Food commentary:  Nothing very special to report in this department. 

Labor Signs: More BH contractions!  Lots more.  Other than that, nothing really exciting, unfortunately.

Belly Button in or out? Slowly getting flatter! Yay.  It has also gotten really sensitive and itchy lately.  I truly think my skin is stretched to the limit, but yet Olivia is continuing to fatten up, so the belly keeps on growing.

What I miss:  I miss not having to take breaks when putting on socks and shoes. *SIGH*

What I am looking forward to: Dave is going to be coming to my doctor's appointments from now on! Yay.  So I'm looking forward to him being there with me this Tuesday.  We have a couple of questions about after-birth procedures done on the baby so we will be able to ask those then. 

Weekly Wisdom: Be patient!!!  I'm getting way too anxious about going into labor already, and in reality I could be storked up for another 4-plus weeks.  I'm really working on relaxing, enjoying uninterrupted nights of sleep, spending quality time with Dave and family, reading, leisurely walks, and taking long baths.  Things I know will go away temporarily once Olivia is here.

Weekly WTF:  My car broke down!!!  Usually Dave and I carpool to work, but it was on the day of my doctor's appointment so we had to drive separately.  Dave left for work before me and when I went to get in my car to leave it wouldn't start.  What also made this event even more fun was the fact that Dave forgot his phone at home.  So I cried, a lot.  Then I called my mother in law and she had my father in law come over and fix the car right up.  I am very very very lucky that we have family so close and that Reese knew exactly what to do for the car.  It was a battery issue, but he was able to jump it enough to get it running for the rest of the day.  Dave has since replaced the battery so we are hoping that is the cars only problem.

Nesting madness:   Bassinet was put up and all of the linens for it have been washed and ready to go.  Dave put together the dining room table my parents gave us.  We finally bought the comforter and pillows for the bed in Olivia's room.  I cleaned out both of our cars of all dog hair and drool so that baby can actually ride in either car.

Milestones: I am now in the 37th week of pregnancy, which means that if baby were born now, she would be considered full term! Huge deal in my book.  I turned 37 weeks, and in my mind, my job as an incubator was complete. :)  No rush though...lol, but seriously baby...you are allowed to come out now. 

Cuteness Overload

I was sitting in Olivia's room today, as I have found myself doing more and more lately, and I became overwhelmed with the amount of cuteness in her room!  We have been given and bought some of the cutest things for our little girl.  All things baby are adorable, in my opinion,  but I wanted to share some of my favorite things in her room.

Olivia's first Christmas ornament

I also found a Thor ornament :)

Her little shoe collection. So precious&little!

Winter hat! My mom and I looked everywhere for a cute winter hat for newborn pictures we are planning on taking.  That was a surprisingly difficult task here in central Texas.

Friends of ours sent us this adorable diaper bag tag.  It has her name on both sides, and my phone number on the other side as well. It adds the perfect girly touch to our manly diaper bag that my husband lovingly picked out.

My mother-in-law, Annette, embroidered this butterfly bib and she also made the matching receiving blanket!  I love the butterflies.  She made us several matching sets like this and they are perfect.

An Olivia tote bag!  My sister in law sent this to us for my baby shower.

This is Olivia's "te-te."  I had a favorite headed blankey like this, but mine was Snoopy and I called it te-te.  My mom wanted Olivia to have something just as important to sleep with and love on. 

My aunt Suki bought us this adorable diaper cover.

This is our latest purchase, baby's bassinet! (Craigslist for 25 bucks, in almost perfect condition!)  I love seeing this in our room.  It makes me happy :).

Right now we are letting this little baby sleep in there.

Our home is completely prepared if Olivia decided that she was ready to be born today.  I have been nesting like crazy for most of October and so has Dave, so now we are ready.  The thing we are left doing right now is mentally getting ready!  I love to talk about how much our lives are going to change, and how our routines are going to change, but most of all I love how we really have no idea how things well be. We can read all of the baby books under the sun, which it feels like we have done, but until the time actually comes, and our baby is here, it's all a mystery to us.   

I'm getting so excited for the day that we finally get to meet our daughter and for the days, weeks and years ahead that we all have to get to know each other.  I love that our family is growing and that we have been blessed with the privilege of getting to become someone's mommy & daddy!

"Wordless" Wednesday

However, not so wordless...

Picture taken this morning before heading to work.  36 weeks and 4 days. 

Picture taken the morning we found out I was pregnant. 

Happy Halloween!

We carved our pumpkin!

It was a scary one this year!

Thor was no help, as usual.

This weekend was also the last weekend that Dave and I planned to go "out of town" until after Olivia is born.  We didn't travel very far, and just made a trip up to Harker Heights to visit my parents and see some of their newest home renovations.  My parents have had almost all of the floors in their home re-done, all 2.5 bathrooms renovated, kitchen countertops redone, and some new furniture.  Everything looked great!

Mom and I did some shopping. Then we all had dinner in HH, visited with my grandparents who were driving through down back to San Antonio from Oklahoma, and then passed out candy & glow stick lights to trick or treaters.  My parent's neighborhood was one of those weird neighborhoods that celebrated Halloween on Saturday night rather than tonight.  We then headed back home. 

Today has been filled with grocery shopping & football watching.  We are not armed and ready with our big bowl full of candy for the neighborhood kids!  It is now 6:30, and we have yet to have our first trick or treater!  It would be such a shame if we have no kids to give the candy to and must find something else to do with it :).