Any day now!

Time seems to be in some strange sort of standstill, where the days are passing yet nothing is happening!

Wednesday we had some very exciting news, which has since been keeping my mind racing. At my doctor's appointment I found out I was already at 1 cm, almost entirely effaced. I kept thinking, man, if this is how labor is then that is awesome! I haven't had to do anything, and I've already made all that progress! But once the news sunk it and the reality hit I started to get pretty nervous. All of the sudden we realized, it really could be any day now!

Well, that was wednesday, and here I am still waiting! On thursday I woke up to a pretty intense contraction, or so what I think is one, but then the rest of the day and the week have been very quiet. I'm not really sure what it is that I'm supposed to be looking for, but I guess that alone means it hasn't happened yet! Fortunately though I didn't want to have the baby without my mom around, and she gets here tomorrow. Then the little guy can come any time!

This week was also pretty exciting as Jared started his job at Allstate. So far he has liked most all of his coworkers, and his boss has been kind about time off around baby arrival :) The schedule has worn him out a bit and he's come down with a bit of a cold from being so tired. We're are very happy that he has this job which is close to home and provides good benefits, and I'm glad he doesn't come home dirty and sweaty anymore, and that he gets to put all of his cute "work clothes" to use! The picture above is from his first day.

Good News...I think..? Yeah, good news

Just to let everyone know that I haven't told already, our Baby's due date got moved up from December 28th to the 16th!! I am very nervous/happy/excited/anxious, and am frequently prone to nausea when I think on the reality of it and very reluctant with regards to labor and all it entails. All I wanted was to be moved up, but now I feel particularly rushed to get all his things ready. It is a great blessing, however, considering now there is a better chance of my family being able to spend ample time getting to know him this holiday season. Just pray I don't throw up/pass out when I feel the labor starting!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Much to be grateful for...

I know its cheesy, but I always love reflecting on the many blessings we have in our lives, especially at times when I tend to feel down or lonely. This weekend taught me a lot about gratitude, and mainly how we should simply be grateful that nothing is going wrong :)
The first fiasco we experienced was the plumbing backing up. (I am so grateful we live in the upstairs)! We had to resort to making bathroom trips to another family's home who was out of town, which wasn't awful but for me the trips were frequent. Then that night we noticed a really awful smell coming from Chad's room. He had stepped in a dog's mess and not only tracked it into his room but in an attempt to get it off his shoes rubbed it into the carpet. The smell was so bad we could smell it upstairs!
Then as we were getting ready for bed that night we noticed some ants in our bedroom on the bed. I then discovered they were all over the chair and in our closet on our clothes!! I hate bugs of any sort, especially when they're in my sleeping space!
The bad luck ended there for me and Jared, but not so for his parents, Mike and Sabrina. They got a call the next morning (as Mike and Jared were snaking out the blockage in the plumbing-yuck), that one of their condos had found a water leak, and some mould. Turns out the leak had been there for about two months, pooling water under the house and causing some damage. Ugh.
Since then things have been, thankfully, uneventful! As we reflected back on the chaos it made me really appreciate all the wonderful comforts we enjoy living here, in this home and in the U.S.. We have been so blessed with our little baby, health insurance, Jared's new job, and money we've been able to make in the mean time. We are so grateful for such wonderful parents, siblings, and extended family that we not only love as family but friends too.
Oh, and GO COUGS!!

Santa Baby

The christmas season is drawing near and we are getting very excited with each passing day! We had our final birthing class last night, and they ended the course with a short movie vignette of newborn babies helping us to realize what this whole birth and labor process is really for. It was very touching. The class was pretty eventful, considering one husband passed out during the video about epidurals and we had to take 15 minutes off to let in the paramedics! Poor guy. It was a good thing he wasn't around for the c-section video right after that. All in all we learned a lot from the class and hopefully it will help us be prepared!
This week is Thanksgiving, which I am really looking forward to. I'll finally get to have company during the day with everyone taking off work. Its tough to be home so much but at the same time I have been feeling exhausted and seem to be spacing out a lot. I'll say one thing and have no recollection of it 30 minutes later. Needless to say, Jared finds it quite entertaining.Speaking of Jared (he's all anyone wants to talk about these days it seems!!), he lost about 15+ lbs, and just accepted a job with Allstate Insurance. He really liked the company and the people that work in the office, and I'm liking that he wont come home with paint or dirt all over him! He starts around the beginning of next month.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!