while I wait

Dont' worry, still no baby. This past weekend was especially long for me; not much homework and a whole lot of waiting. To keep myself busy (and partially distracted), I decided to make another craft for Baby's room. I had some left over material from the diaper stacker my grandma made, so I made some more wall art for the nursery. My inspiration, if you will, came from a toy I received from my sis-in-law (a freakin' cute little vibrating elephant) and another toy that I had purchased. Unfortunately, the project only kept me busy for several hours. I am happy with how it turned out, though!
Nothing else of major note has happened within the last few days. A week and a half ago I had the opportunity to visit with a good friend whom I haven't seen in nearly a year. Manda Panda. Manda and I were two of five girls in our "group" back in high school. She moved to New Mexico three years ago with her hubby and I have only seen her three times since. She just had her second baby, a little girl named Fallon. It was great seeing Manda and little Fallon. I LOVE her bright red hair!

From Random

From Random

getting closer

I am almost at a 3, 80% effaced, with baby at 0. So... closer. The doc says if he isn't here by next Tuesday, we will start trying different methods to coax Baby out. Pray for me that he comes before next Tuesday....

... the end ...

I figured I would make a post letting EVERYONE know... the baby is not here yet. I would have told you (duh?!). I am still doing great. I have been having contractions, but nothing strong enough to keep me down. I have two more weeks before the due date, but we will see how it goes. According to the doc, I have been progressing well. I am at 2cm and 70% effaced as of Tuesday (if that grosses you out, get over it. I am having a baby. It gets even more gross). The baby has started to drop, so I have started to waddle. I am now affectionately known as Robert's "little duckling". I finally had to take off my wedding ring about a week and a half ago because my fingers have gotten a little itty bit bigger. It was a depressing realization for me; I absolutely LOVE my ring. The nursery is COMPLETELY finished, so I have no "nesting" left to do... just school. Robert thinks the baby will come by the end of the week; I pray that he is right. I can't complain about pregnancy (having had an awesome pregnancy), but I am done! If you have any tips for inducing labor, send 'em my way!

thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you to all that came to the baby shower on Thursday night and to all those that gave gifts! It was a really good turn-out. I feel privileged to have so many family and friends show support. I don't think Robert and I will ever have to buy Joel clothes; I got so many cute outfits and pajamas! I think the only thing we need now is the baby. My cousin took about a hundred pictures; I chose 30 for a baby shower web album. Please don't be offended if the item you gave is not pictured... I either look like a doofus in the picture or you can't tell what I am holding by the angle of the shot.

From Baby Shower

a little help, please!

So. Today has been grand. Just spectacular. Catch my sarcastic drift yet? Throughout this pregnancy, I have tried very hard not to complain. I honestly don't have much that I could complain about seeing how the pregnancy has been picture perfect: no morning sickness, proportional weight gain, no complications, etc. It has honestly been what every woman willing to undergo pregnancy desires. And my complaint today doesn't fall on pregnancy itself (though if you ask if I am ready for the baby to come out, I will assuredly say YES). No, my complaint falls upon ASU's escort services. Before the semester started, I was VERY adamant on walking to all of my classes, even if that meant making a nearly mile long trek from one side of campus to the other while being eight months pregnant. I was determined (and perhaps a bit stubborn), using the argument that I needed to continue healthy exercise while pregnant. After the first week of school, however, the reality of the situation sunk in. Walking THAT far (and back) in one day caused a new pregnancy symptom that I had yet to experience: swelling of the feet. Not a pleasant experience. Not only does it look funny, it hurts. I decided to lower my pride and contact ASU escort services to provide rides for the longer sections of my journey. I, begrudgingly, went to school four hours ealier than my first class this morning to set up the services. Everyone was pretty friendly and more than willing to help. Well... when the time arrived for my first pick-up, I waited... and waited... and waited. After about a 10 minute wait (and the time drawing dangerously near to my first class) someone came. We had to make another stop for a pick-up in between, so when I arrived at my building I had less than 4 minutes to make it up to the fifth floor and across the building to my classroom. Luckily, I made it. It also helped that my professor's clock was 8 minutes slow... I wasn't really upset over that experience... more like nervous about making it to class on time. The BAD experience came after my next class. My last class of the day gets out at 4:45pm (gross, I know). My second experience was similar to my first. I waited... and waited... and waited. This time, no one came. After 15 minutes, I decided to go to the escort services offices (it was right next to where I was waiting). I knocked on the door. Nothing. I called the number. No answer. Even after calling four times, no one answered. Getting a bit frustrated, I walked around to the entrance of the building and went into the lobby. There was no one at the receptionist desk. There was, however, a lady standing just inside an open office adjacent to the lobby. She was so caught up in a conversation with another lady about girls tackling each other for bouquets at weddings that she seemed not to notice me; that is, until she looked right at me (my stomach is hard to miss at ASU) and continued on with her conversation without the slightest hint that she cared to help me. The time had quickly passed to 5:20pm, a good 35 minutes after my class, and there was NO sign of getting assistance from anyone. Left with no other options, I made the final leg of my journey on foot. My wonderful husband kept me company on the phone while I bawled during my 10 minute walk. By the time I got to my car, my toes looked like little sausages and my feet were a lovely shade of scarlet. My baby had also positioned himself so that his wonderfully large head was pressing up against my sciatic nerve (for those of you that don't know what sciatic nerve pain is, it is pretty much the most painful/uncomfortable feeling next to the actual birthing process; especially if the baby hits the nerve dead-on). As you can tell from my vent,... I mean post,... I was NOT a happy camper. I am fortunate enough to be able to still walk, though in pain. What if someone had been seriously injured and was completely depended upon escort services? Not cool, my friends, not cool.
On a happier note: Robert and I had some pregnancy pictures taken. Even though I still have four weeks to go, I figured now was better than never; who knows when Joel will decide to join us! I am grateful that my hubby was willing to cooperate; the pictures turned out great. Now for the DISCLAIMER: my bare belly is exposed in many of these pictures. Don't click on the links or the photo if seeing pregnant belly skin offends you or makes you feel uncomfortable. The first link is for a project that I have been working on since I was eight weeks pregnant. It is a comparison of the length of the baby to the length of a given fruit or vegetable. Since I am not yet nine months pregnant, the last photo is "missing". It will either be a watermelon or a pumpkin... and it will only be added if I go full term.
Fruits & Veggies
The second link is for the photos that were done yesterday with Robert. The one of him kissing my belly is probably my favorite. Very endearing.
Pregnancy Photos

From Pregnancy