pop!

I am probably crazy for even taking the time to write this, but Baby is on his way! While the doc was stripping my membranes (not as horrible as I had imagined), my water broke. If contractions don't bring me in earlier, we are going to the hospital around 10pm. So far, nothing excruciating. I have taken the opportunity to take a shower (who knows when I will have the chance to again) and had a light meal. Now, I sleep. I will post next after Joel comes... so it may be a few days.

goodbye due date, hello fall

I STILL have not had the baby yet (don't worry, we didn't forget to tell you). I am 3 days past my due date. I go in to the doc tomorrow; he plans on stripping my membranes (yeah, it is as fun as it sounds). If stripping my membranes doesn't start labor, we are going to set a date for me to be induced. At this point, I don't care if he rips out the baby with forceps and no anesthesia! Please, no pregnancy comments... I am at wit's end.
Of lighter note, I have been staying busy with little projects here and there. It is actually kind of scary; I am becoming domesticated! I am turning into the person I vowed I never would: cooking, sewing, crafting, etc. After my cake experiment, I decided to take on sewing. My mom bought me a Boppy pillow (a nursing pillow), but the cover was somewhat ugly. I wanted a pillow cover that matched the nursery, so I sewed my own. The funny thing is, I have never really sewed anything before. I was even brave enough to put in a zipper! My next sewing task: a baby sling.
After reading several friends' posts about fall decorating, I thought it was time for me to pull out our festive decor. I nearly cried when I realized how few fall items we have. To make matters worse, my favorite fall item, a cornucopia with dried mini corn, pumpkins, and gourds, was COMPLETELY moldy. Like orange mold. I tried to salvage the cornucopia, but to no avail. The mold was too extensive. Well, after sewing my new Boppy pillow cover at my mom's, she decided to take me to Michael's for some fall decor shopping. I came home with several craft projects. I painted and mod-podged F A L L plaques, made a fall floral arrangement, and crafted paper pumpkins and a turkey. Now my home feels more festive! Hopefully I can find more projects to keep me busy until Joel decides to join us.

experiment

No, I am not talking about experimenting to get the baby out (not that anything would work anyway). I am talking about the marvels of experimenting with cooking. For those of you who DON'T know, I am allergic to gluten, which means no wheat, barley, rye, spelt, oats, or pretty much anything delicious. I developed the allergy about two years ago (and have been complaining about it since!). While there are some gluten free foods out there, most are pretty bland/disgusting. I have been getting a bit creative with my cooking lately. Robert and I discovered several brands of gluten-free spaghetti and, by trial and error, we now know which gluten-free noodles are the best. The only problem with cooking gluten-free pasta is that it turns into goop (I have a picture to prove it). The liquid that the noodles are cooked in turns to a gelatinous substance, while the noodles glue themselves together if you aren't careful. Luckily, we have mastered the art of perfect gluten-free pastas! Another difficulty with being allergic to... well... nearly everything is that dessert is just not an option (even a lot of ice cream contains gluten). Today, I experimented with a recipe for an AWESOME fall dessert: pumpkin cake. I am planning on making the dessert for my Thanksgiving family gathering. I thought pumpkin cake would be appropriate. I am still debating whether I should make it look like a pumpkin when all is said and done...

child safety manual

Robert happened upon an essential child safety manual that I think every soon-to-be/new set of parents needs to review. It cleared up a lot of questions/concerns that I had been having in regards to caring for my baby. I have posted it for your convenience.

nope

It looks like I am not going to have a September baby like I had hoped... At least I know my baby will be born THIS month! Any day now...

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