Six Days Overdue - Patience and Pictures of the Nursery

First, I want everyone to know that I have come to terms with being induced Saturday night, although we still pray that Baby comes naturally on his or her own tonight or tomorrow! I have been having a lot more regular cramping today, but it mostly feels like menstrual cramps so I think it's more of Braxton-Hicks than real contractions. However, my aunt said this could be the beginning of labor so we're keeping our fingers crossed! Hopefully tonight's the night! :-) If not, I am satisfied with being induced and have decided that having this week off has not only allowed for me to get healthy, but it has also kept me away from even more germs I could have picked up at work this week. SOOOOOOOOOO, I am feeling much better today about everything. In general, Dom and I feel like we are ALMOST over our colds/flu whatever it was and Amber and Jeremy are feeling great again ... so it's all good news here! However, I am not sure how my parents are doing. I haven't talked to them yet today.

I made lunch plans with Mandy and Danielle thinking that maybe if I actually made plans something would happen. No such luck, but it was very nice to dine with them on a weekday (something I would normally never be able to do) and see Aiden and Allison. They are growing up so fast! Then Mandy and I went to a couple of stores and did some walking. I started having more and more cramps and Mandy got excited thinking I was going into labor, but I'm still here typing this so no such luck yet!

Since there really isn't anything else new to talk about today, I decided to post some pictures of our nursery now that it's finally as finished as it's going to be before Baby arrives. Enjoy! We're off to dine with Amber and Jeremy who are bringing over a nice casserole dish for dinner! :-)

 

Our crib and bedding.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for the crib, mattress, and mobile.

Thanks to Sarah, Audrey, Emma, and Judy for the bedding.

Thanks to Grandma Schreiner for the crib soother.

Thanks to Traci for the rug!

Our hamper and shelf and bookshelf we had painted.

Thanks to Melissa for recommending Mia Isaacson to me!!!

Thanks to Mia Isaacson for painting the shelf and bookshelf.

Check her work out at www.funkybrushdesigns.com

 A closer view of Mia's handwork!

Note the picture of Baby's grandparents and the ultrasound of Baby at 20 weeks pregnant!

Thanks to Cathy for the Willow Tree figurine.

Thanks to my Masters classmates and a few family members, friends, and coworkers for pretty much filling our Baby's bookshelf.

Our tall dresser and rocker/glider.

Thanks to Mom for the matching lamp.

Thanks to Lisa for the teddy bear.

Thanks to Jessica for the recommendation of the sound machine/projector. It's so cool!

Thanks to Michelle for the matching blanket.

 

Our second dresser/changing table.

Thanks to Michelle for the diaper stacker.

Thanks to Jeanna and Grandma Krupp for the Diaper Genie! (Sorry, we had to take one back but we proibably should have kept it for the downstairs!)

Thanks to all of our friends and family who bought us wipes and diapers!!!

AND OF COURSE THANKS TO DOMINIC FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK IN THE NURSERY!!!! Love you, Babe! And to Mike for carrying the furniture upstairs with Dom and to my girlfriends Michelle, Jackie, and Kim who helped put it all together!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed looking at our Baby's nursery. Hopefully the next time I post pictures there will actually be a BABY in them!

Love to all!

Four Days Overdue - Doctor's Appointment and Frustrations

I hate to whine, but I HAVE to. I just returned from seeing the doctor and having to listen to even more people pour pity over us for not having our baby yet with statements such as, "Don't you wish you weren't here right now?", "Man, I hate to say it but it's sad to see you made it another week!", "Wow... we weren't expecting you." and blah blah blah. I know I am annoyed right now for a plethora of reasons, but why do people have to share every single thought with you when you are pregnant? For over nine months I've been listening to complete strangers talk about if it's a boy or a girl, recall their favorite cravings, and tell me that I've dropped. It's sort of nice to get all of this attention, but most of the time I just want to ask people why they feel like expressing every little detail of their thoughts is important to me... especially when I don't even know them!!! I'm not talking about people I am friends with or related to; I'm talking about complete strangers. I know it's only going to get worse once we have the baby and people want to comment about the baby's outfits, or yell at you for having the baby in the sun (happened to my friend), or touch your little girl's leg at the mall (happened to Dom's cousin) SERIOUSLY PEOPLE - Why do you think you have this sort of "free reign" over babies and pregnant women? I can't even go to the grocery store and get through the aisle anymore without three to five comments flying my way. OK... I am just irritated right now and it's showing in my little rant. My apologies. I'm over it.

* I should mention that I am mostly irritated with this cold & flu season. Dom and I are STILL sick - but we're a little bit better every day, my Mom is feeling a bit better today, my Dad is feeling the same if not worse, and now I hear my sister and Jeremy are ill. Arg!!!!! It's no one's fault, but it's so frustrating b/c I know they all want to be there for us and the baby, and who knows if they will be permitted or not. *

So no real news from the doc except for the fact that the ultrasound could be a pound off either way and that she really doesn't think I'm hiding a baby that's 8lbs 11ounces like they said I was yesterday.  She said she predicts upper 7lbs, which is fine by me. Other than that, I haven't dilated any more than last week and the baby seems to be content staying where he or she is. Sooooooooooooo, we scheduled an induction. Trust me I'm none too pleased, and I'm still praying that the little one comes on his or her own. We could have been induced this evening, but we decided to give the baby a few more days to make his or her grand appearance on their own. Plus, I know this is stupid, but I really don't want our baby to be born on Friday the 13th IF I can help it. If he or she wants to be born that day, that's fine, but I don't want to schedule it that day or tonight (if it's going to take up to two days to deliver once the petocin sets in.)  Instead, we chose to be induced Friday night (so delivery would happen Sat or Sunday) and apparently that didn't work for St. Luke's, so we are going in Saturday night at 8PM instead which mens the baby should be born Sunday or Monday. I guess we could have a  Sunday baby afterall. (Dom and I were both born on a Sunday and our bdays fell on Sundays this year. I just thought we'd have the baby LAST Sunday, not Sunday the 15th!)

Until today I didn't really know much about getting induced, but I learned that I'll have to sleep with something in me for about 12 hours to "kick things into motion" and then the labor process begins. After labor begins, it can take one to two days. Apparently being induced makes labor a lot longer (on average) than a natural birth. GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. Just what I wanted. So, long story short, if your guess on our Baby Guessing Game is either Nov. 14th or 15th you could be our big winner. Thinking about that game, I am not sure anyone guessed those dates. I know Brett guessed Christmas morning as a joke, but at this rate he may actually WIN. Or Marie, who guessed what she called an "outrageous" guess at Nov. 17th just because it was her niece's birthday... or someone else close to her.

Wow, as I type this I am already second-guessing our decision to wait until Saturday to be induced. Perhaps we should have chosen tonight. My Mom is off work Thursday and Friday, so that would have allowed her to come up and visit for a few days. I'm just so confused, lost, frustrated. Dominic and I are not God, and we don't enjoy playing Him. Why should we have the ability to decide when the baby will be born? But on the other hand I don't want this baby to get any bigger than it already is! And of course I don't want to waste any more days of my maternity leave. I don't like this predicament at all. I guess I'll just continue to pray that the baby debuts on his or her own when he or she is good and ready to. Hopefully tonight... or tomorrow.

BTW, I appreciate all of the advice on how to make this baby come see us earlier and I think I've taken about every piece of it that has been given to me... except the scrubbing of the floors. I may end up breaking down and scrubbing them tonight, but it is seemingly THE most uncomfortable and undesirable thing to do right now at almost 41 weeks pregnant. I took a 45 minute walk this morning, and I suppose I'll take another one tonight and tomorrow morning.

Until tomorrow . . .