Pre Labor

Hmmmm....well...not exactly sure how to describe what I am feeling. It has been an interesting (and frustrating) few days. I had my first real contractions Thursday evening and called my parents Friday morning to have them go ahead and make the trek to Dallas thinking that heading to the hospital was right around the corner.

Friday, I had a few tightening moments in the morning, but then all was quiet for the remainder of the day so I went out to lunch with PJ and Lavenia (my mother-in-law and a dear family friend). Then I met Sara my nails done. Mom and Dad made it to town that evening.

Saturday, we all woke up, and Adam and I took a stroll around the neighborhood hoping to get things moving again. Nothing that morning. Mom and I played on the computer while my dad and Adam worked on some outdoor projects. I felt one contraction around lunchtime and then they seemed to come all afternoon...pretty spaced out and mixed with Braxton Hicks contractions. Kind of confusing to say the least because it kind of sometimes dulls the lines between the real thing and the fake ones. But, they definitely picked up last night so we were all going over what would happen when I hit the 511 rule somewhere in the night. Adam and I were going to head up to the hospital, check in, and see where we stood, and then call the parents to let them know when they should make their way up so no one had to sleep in the waiting room unnecessarily. If you are ever faced with this "this must be it!" moment, don't talk about it, don't guarantee it, just enjoy it because once you say "this is definitely it!" and everyone gets excited, you jinx it.

Overnight I woke up to a few strong contractions about every 2 hrs-1.5 hrs apart. They really set Anders into a tizzy, but by this morning they hadn't progressed. It is now 11:10 a.m. on Sunday morning, and I have walked the block on two different occasions, napped, had breakfast, and although I am still having contractions, they are being blurred again mostly by what I feel like are Braxton Hicks. Ugh! Just when you think "this is definitely it," it all slows down or stalls again or just seems funny. I know it will happen when it is "time," but I am tiring so quickly, beginning to be irritable (sorry to those immediately around me), and just getting frustrated.

You start to wonder, "Am I farther along than I realize and my pain tolerance is just really high?," "Should I try to go to the hospital in case I am closer than I think?," and "How much longer can this possibly go on?"

I need to just watch a movie and chill out I think....must regain that wonderful, blissful perspective that I had a few days ago. :) Wooooo-saaaahhhhh!

...and down the stretch they come!

Soon to be dad here again to give you my point of view for the past few months. We are definitely in the home stretch. It has been a wonderful 9 months, but we are ready to start the next chapter. Now we just wait…and wait…and wait some more. Hopefully Anders will make his grand appearance soon.

The past few months have been fun…a little tiring, but fun. They always say the third trimester is a time of nesting for mom to be. Well things were no different for Kate. About one month ago we had a list of our lists I think (maybe not quite that bad). We had list of what needed to be packed for the hospital (for Kate, Anders, and me), a list of things to do in the nursery still, and a list of house projects to complete. If it wasn’t on a list, it wasn’t getting done. I never woke up at 3 in the morning to find Kate out cleaning the house, as some had joked would happen, but it did get to the point that we had Jon Michael crawling around the house wiping all the baseboards. We anticipate Anders walking within the first month, so we want to be prepared. It is nice to have it all done now though. I actually thought we were set until I went out for breakfast this morning and found Kate cleaning out the fridge and wiping down all the shelves. Given that Anders will be on a milk only diet for about 6 months I think we might have been a little premature on that, but who I am to argue. It is great to have it done, so I won’t complain.

Aside from nesting our time has been spent enjoying each other and having fun with friends and family. We know our social lives won’t end just because we have a child, but we figure it will become a little trickier to go out for brunch with friends or see a movie with each other at the theatre.

All that being said, it has been a wonderful 9 months. We have been blessed so far with a relatively smooth pregnancy, so now all we can do is wait. Hopefully we don’t have to wait long, but in the grand scheme of things, what’s a day or two. We look forward to welcoming Anders with open arms.

So Anders, starting sprinting down the back stretch and hurry across the finish line so we can start the next race with you!

We are officially on baby watch!

We had a doctor's visit this morning - our last one!! I am dilated to 2 cm, and I am 80% effaced. Dr. E says we will be lucky if we make it to our inducement date of July 29th!

We are so excited! Please keep us in your prayers over the next 10 days!

Serenity and peace...

...and maybe a little anxiety mixed in there, too. This is what Adam and I are feeling these days knowing that we are within two weeks of meeting our precious Anders. I get very emotional when I think about holding him for the first time and what that "infant" moment of being a parent must feel like.

Last fall, a group of girls and I were planning a baby shower for my sweet friend Kristen Newcom, and one of the other hostesses introduced me to a poem about motherhood. Beyond thinking it was simply an adorable, sweet poem, I didn't totally understand it. Now it has a whole new level of meaning.

Before you were conceived, I wanted you.
Before you were born, I loved you.
Before you were an hour, I would die for you.
This is the miracle of love.
— Maureen Hawkins

As our journey is coming to an end, we are consumed not only by anxiety and peace, but also other emotions of sadness, relief and humility, and excitement.

We have felt a little sadness that we are at the end of the pregnancy, and how quickly it has gone by. As happy as we are to meet Anders, it will be weird to not be large and tired and hungry all of the time.

We have felt relief over how wonderful and easy Anders's development has been and humbled by the amazing privilege of being able to conceive and carry a child. We have never taken any day or stage or challenge for granted, and that has helped us maintain perspective.

And finally, we have felt excitement not only for our future with our baby boy, but for those friends and family that we know are on the verge of this same voyage. We wish for you all of the simplicity, intricacy, ecstasy, and serenity that comes with the miracle of love. May you be as blessed and more!

Projects prior to our 37th week

We had our 37 week check up today, and things are progressing well. I was dilated about 1 cm and 30-40% effaced....Dr. E was pleased (as were Adam and myself)! :) The heartbeat sounded good, and my tummy is still measuring fine. Not as much water weight on the feet today so my weigh in was less than last week - encouraging for sure!

Anders continues to push and kick up and outward. I still love feeling his movements and love that he is so active. However, I predict that he is going to be a long baby when he is born because his feet manage to get way under my ribcage on both sides even though his body has dropped way down into my pelvic bones. He's quite the kicker! Think he has been inspired by all of the FIFA World Cup coverage. And did I mention that the books say he is about 6.5 lbs...pretty much the size of a watermelon. (please no "Look Who's Talking" jokes about watermelons and lemons....it's a little graphic!)

I am still working at Adam's office, though not full days. Adam brings me home in the early afternoon where I waddle to my bed for a nice lie down for the remainder of the afternoon. The fatigue has been the hardest pill to swallow when the energy of the second trimester was so incredible, but for once in these past nine months I am finally napping and LOVING SLEEP! And since I don't get much during the night, I am not feeling guilty at all! Life is pretty good.

In addition to everyone here being happy and healthy, we have settled into a wonderful place of contentment. All of our big projects in anticipation of Anders's arrival have been completed, and I wanted to make sure those special people were given credit for their hard work.

A few weeks ago, Adam, his dad, and his mom built Anders a small bookcase from scratch. Adam and Mark took care of the construction, and PJ prepped and painted most of the pieces. Adam put the final coat of paint on just this weekend. It took a lot of hours, thought, and hard work, but it is really special and sweet.

Also, my younger brother Jon Michael is living with us and working out here in Dallas this summer, and he and Adam repainted our garage and wall outside of the sunroom. They pushed through their efforts over a few weekends of major heat, but the project is finished and looks great! That is a huge thing to cross off our "to do" list for the house.

In addition to those projects, both sides of the family helped us gather baby photos of parents, siblings, grandparents, and even a few great-grandparents to create a baby photo collage on one wall of Anders's nursery. My mom, Adam, and I painted each white frame with a different pattern of either yellow, pale blue, or pale green.

We also took small, whimsical wooden letters for Anders's name and painted each in the same pastel shades as the frames. Then my dad painted a shelf in a soft cream color that matches the rest of the furniture in the room, and we hung the letters from little knobs with grosgrain ribbon and mounted the shelf over the changing table. The little touches really personalized Anders's room!

And that is news from this week. We are in the throws of the hurry up and wait phase as we grow more an more anxious for our precious little boy to join us. But wouldn't it be great if he was to be born on July 21st? Then my birthday would be April 21st, Adam's birthday would be May 21st, and Anders's birthday would be July 21st! So easy to remember! That's my vote!!

Online Baby Pool!

Today, we enter the month of July, and time is running out on the baby pool voting. Obviously, Anders is a boy so if you already voted that then you are ahead of the game.

There will be a prize for closest guess to delivery date, time, weight, and length. I will give you a hint....Anders will be a July baby (no longer August 3 due date) because we have an inducement date of July 29. If you have a vote already placed for after that day, feel free to change your vote soon. We will freeze all votes (if my pregnancy brain doesn't make me forget) probably mid month.

And, just a note to the person who does win...you will get a prize, but it might not be super quick in reaching you. :) Thanks to Danielle Herman who was so patient with me. She won the prize for choosing that Anders would be a boy....it only took like three months for me to send something!

Best of luck!! We are excited to see what you think!