Still Sick - in case you were wondering

Friday-Sunday were absolutely awful, HE double toothpicks if you know what I mean. I haven't been able to get much sleep the past 4 months of pregnancy but, this cold/flu has negated sleep from my life entirely due to an incessant nose tickle and sneeze even when I was laying down with toilet paper up my nose. sigh. Today I have a super scratchy throat and a horrible cough and sinus pressure so I guess I'm not done quite yet. I'm only working a half day because I can't use my brain to much before it feels like it will implode. On a positive note:) I am SO thankful that I didn't have our baby girl this weekend. It would have been the most miserably joyous occasion I could ever have imagined and I am very glad I only had to deal with being very preggo and sick but, not popping out a kid and this sick. Thank you Jesus for that! Hopefully I will be fully on the mend and maybe even have gotten a little sleep before I have to birth a child!

Last night Joey went to the High School bible study group that he leads (Huddles) and the kids and other leader had thrown a "Daddy to be" type surprise party for him and me but, I was MIA sick. It really blessed me that they all went out of their way to make Joey feel special about being a dad. I don't think Dad's to be get enough attention or recognition when it comes to fatherhood so it made me happy that Joey got a little front and center spoil and support. Thanks Huddle gang!! You all are such a blessing to us:). Joey seemed most happy with the Barbie fishing pole that he was given....not for himself (lol) but, for our little girl when she is old enough to fish. It is so cute and I know that Joey has dreams of taking his little girl fishing. What little girl wouldn't want to fish with an awesome hot pink Barbie fishing pole?? I do have to say that it would be really funny to get a picture of Joey fishing with that pole...hmmm, something to think about! :)

39 weeks tomorrow and check up to follow. I'll keep you all posted if anything new comes up!

Rugs and Sick Me

I started feeling sick Thursday at my doctor's appointment. I actually thought it was allergies at first because spring is knocking on our door here in NC and the pollen always messes me up really bad but, by Friday morning I had a horrible sore throat, faucet nose and tons of sinus pressure in my head. By mid day I wanted to cut my nose off...literally so I had to go to bed but sleep is impossible with a tickle nose. Today is no better so instead of accomplishing all the things on my to do list I get to sit on the couch and blog and fart around on the internet all day. Perhaps this is exactly what God wanted me to "treat" myself to at nearly 39 weeks preggo but, I don't like sitting still for this long!!! I wanted to go to Babies R Us, finish painting our baby girl's name letters and bake cupcakes with my new decorating kit:) lol:) Oh well. Instead of those things, I will bore you with pictures of rugs that I like. Rugs, you ask? Yes, for fun I am trying to create a digital folder of pictures of how I would like to decorate our dining room and I am realizing how hard this will be because I have multiple decorating personalities! hahah. I love traditional, modern, chic, country, retro, etc. If I can't even decide on a rug how will I decide on an entire dining room? hahah Does anyone else have this problem? Fortunately I am not in a hurry so there is really no issue:). I just wish I could design a room without so much hesitation. lol.

Joey is fishing with his Granddad today and from what I hear he is having a great fishing day which would be his first of the season. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I've been wanting him to get a good fishing day in before the baby is born and he was striking out left and right. Catch a big one baby! You SO deserve it my hard working man!!

More Maternity Pics and an appointment update

Unfortunately I don't really feel like taking the time to make all of these bigger pictures so I am keeping them small. Sorry about that. If you want to see any of them bigger just click on the picture and it should enlarge on a separate screen. I just got my disc of all the pictures back from Dana and there were so many great shots that it was hard for me to even choose which ones to put up on the blog. Dana has such a creative eye and I am so happy to have these pictures to capture our memories when years have gone by. Hope you don't mind all the bare belly shots. I have since developed some lovely stretch marks so I enjoy looking at these pictures before the damage was done so to speak:) lol.

I had my 38 week appointment today and the doctor said that I am 60% effaced and the baby is totally sunk into position which is great. I am not dilated yet which surprised me only because of how intense and frequent my braxton hicks contractions are. The doctor said that the BH contractions aren't necessarily an indicator of dilation so much as they are of effacement as they help shift the baby into place. Okie Dokie doc. :). I had total peace when I left the Doctor's office today though. I know our baby will come when God wants her to and I don't want to rush her just yet (though my body would love the relief!). She'll be here before I know it whether that day be today or two weeks from now. The doctor also guesstimated that she will be about 20-21 inches long and about 7 pounds 10-12 ounces by the end of next week. Only time will tell:). Thank God tomorrow is Friday! I hope to be nice and lazy this weekend!

38 weeks ish

Less than two weeks to go!! I now know that there is a reason why people are so impatient to have their babies born at this point. lol. It's not necessarily because they are over anxious to have their baby in their arms (though for some people I'm sure that is the primary reason) but, just because they are so dang miserable and they can't take it anymore. I didn't sleep more than 30 minutes or maybe an hour at best a couple nights ago. I had to go potty about 15 times and and I had contractions non stop which also kept our little lady up all night with me kicking like crazy. She's sleeping now (lucky baby!), but here I am awake and trying to get through another work day. The only other recent development in my symptoms along with the heat flashes and head pressure I get with each contraction is I am now getting horrible swelling in my hands and feet and as a result they feel like they are always in that tingling sleep mode. On Sunday at church it felt like I was standing on pins and needles the whole service and I couldn't even bend my fingers half way. It is a weird sensation to feel so continually. I know these things are all normal for very pregnant women. I'm more so just sharing them to document everything for my own personal reference later on so bear with me:). I have my 38-39 week appointment today and I'm curious to hear what the latest is. I'll keep y'all posted:).

On a more positive note: Joey and I had a wonderful date night Friday night! We finally found a Mexican restaurant nearby that serves their food with orange cheese (white is the norm here) and their rice and beans are the closest to what we are used to by our Californian standards. It was delicious!! Can't wait to eat there again. Saturday Joey took the day off from fishing to hang out with me so that we could enjoy some quality day time together and get some stuff done. We got a ton accomplished and enjoyed another delicious meal together at the Pizza Loop. They have amazing chocolate malts too:). Joey and I have also started walking together every night for a good mile or two which has been really nice and hopefully it will encourage our little girl to join us asap though no such luck yet obviously:). Sunday we enjoyed an awesome church service and then got together with Joey's mom, sister and some family friends who are visiting from AZ (Bryan, Lori and their 3 kids). It was Bryan's 40th BD so we celebrated at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!! In spite of my aches and what not it was a wonderful weekend and we really are trying our best to savor these last few days together.

Dessert Song - Our Fave right now

I know it won't be long before everyone hears this song played at church every Sunday and then over time people will tire of it when it gets overplayed but, for now it's a new song to me and I just can't get enough of the lyrics. When I first heard it the words penetrated my soul and while I was driving I couldn't help but, rock out and praise God for all that He has done in my life and in the lives of those around me. Last year felt like a dessert season at times. Life felt dry and we felt stretched. Some of us have days, weeks, months or even years like this but, God still always provides, meets our needs, walks beside us and sees us through those difficulties. We can feel quite alone at times but, if we can remember to praise His name no matter what we are facing we realize that He is right there beside us, catching our tears, holding our heavy hearts and meeting us exactly where we are at. Spending time with the Lord reminds us that we are never alone! In good and in hard times, God is our victory so take hold of that and never let Him go! Hope you enjoy the song as much as Joey and I do!

VERSE 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

VERSE 2:
This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame

CHORUS:
I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

VERSE 3:
This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

CHORUS:
I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

BRIDGE:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship (x4)

CHORUS:
I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here (x2)

VERSE 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favour and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow

Baby #3 of 4 and Our Beautiful Cherry Tree

Our friends Brian and Lindsay Hege welcomed their little girl into the world really early on March 10th. They named her Lila Addison and she is absolutely precious. She has the tiniest features and has such a peaceful and serene look about her. Me and Joey just gobbled up our time holding her and all I could think about is how very soon I will be holding my own little girl in my arms! Now that the first 3 gals have had their babies (they all went in due date order) that leaves just me and Joey to join the baby boat. We are down to our last two weeks and it all feels so surreal right now. The past 10 months flew by and even these last few days in spite of the aches and sleeplessness continue to blow by us! The very last picture is of Joey holding Sam who was the first baby born in the group of 4. We went to the hospital with Sam's parents to visit baby Lila and Joey got to hold and watch Sam while Todd and Lindsey went and visited Lila in her hospital room:). Sam slept like a little angel the entire time:) We got lots of tiny baby time in this week:).

We planted our cherry tree last year after season so we never got to see it bloom but, this year it bloomed so beautifully and we are both enjoying every second of the brilliant pink blossoms. Cherry trees are always the first thing to bloom in North Carolina and shortly after the Dogwoods, Red Buds and so on will follow suit. Spring time in this state is gorgeous!! Our weather has been surprisingly spring like and warm the past week or so. It was about 68 degrees today with gorgeous blue skies and a mild breeze. What a great time of year to have a baby!

Doctor Appointment and Sleeeeep

First I have to share that it was so sweet of Joey to get off of work a hair early yesterday to take me to the doctor. He was worried that I might crash on the drive there because I could barely walk a straight line down the hallway of our house so it was probably a good thing he came. Plus, because he was there I think the Doctor's were far more attentive than they have ever been with me so lots of good things came out of his support:). After three consecutive nights of only sleeping 3 broken hours Joey made me promise to ask for a sleeping med. I have held out as long as I could not taking anything and my insanity alone made me realize it was time for some assistance. The doc. was only too happy to prescribe me something to help with my sleep and everything else at the appointment measured how it was supposed to. The female nurse assistant cracked me and Joey up because while she was measuring my stomach and feeling for the position of our baby girl, our little munchkin gave her a really solid kick in the hand! The nurse was cracking up over that and so were we. Our baby is sort of head down but, sideways right now. Her back and booty are smashed into my left side and her feet and hands are on my right side which would explain why I never feel kicks on my left side. Everything looked good and on schedule. I will have an induction appointment set in two weeks if the little gal hasn't made her debut on her own by then.

Anyhoo, I took a sleeping pill last night at 7:15 and waited in bed for it to kick in which took until about 8:30 PM. My computer was blurry and my head was dropping so I figured it was working. I slept super soundly from 8:30 PM until 3:30 AM by which time I was wide awake. This is the most solid, consecutive sleep I have had in months and though I could still use a few more nights to catch up completely, it feels great to have some sanity back today:).
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Thank God it's Friday!!