Crazy News and the Hospital

I am 35 weeks and 5 days so far. I have about 30 days left to my official due date on July 27th, 2013. This Tuesday I went in for my regular check-up at the Riverton hospital with my doctor Jane Bowman. Everything was going great but I did tell her I was feeling constant pressure on my bladder now. She said she wanted to check on me down under. About 2 minutes later she is telling Russell and me that I'm 2 cm dilated, and 80% effaced. (In the final weeks of pregnancy, as the lower part of the uterus gets ready for the baby to come out, the cervix starts to get shorter and thinner. This process is called effacement. As the due date nears, the baby's head drops down and the mother’s uterus begins to contract; this, combined with effacement and dilation, can cause pressure and cramp-like pains.) The doctor told me that I could basically have the baby any day now. She told me that if I did go into labor early she would not do anything to stop it. She did give me some instructions on how I was to take it easier to hopefully have her in there longer. Russell and I were just sitting there like.....WHAT? We can have the baby any day now?

The very next day I was just feeling 'off' all day. I just felt nauseous, and just felt tight cramping all day long. Russell and I even went swimming to see if that'd help ease the pains. By night time I called the labor & delivery unit to ask them what they'd suggest I do and was told that I was needing to just come in. Russell and I frantically got our hospital bag together and headed for the hospital, dropping our puppy off along the way at Russell's parents. When we got to the hospital they checked me down under (still was at 2 cm, and 80%). They hooked me up to some machines to hear the baby's heartbeat and to measure the contractions. I had to just lay there for an hour. What was interesting is that Russell would watch the monitor measuring a contraction and I would just be laying there completely oblivious. When the nurse came back in she said I was having contractions every 5-6 min and needed to check to see if I'd dilated more. After inspection she found I was still just at 2 cm. The nurse said that I needed to basically put myself on bed rest. She also told me no vacuuming or lifting anything that is heavier then a milk jug. The doctor told her I was fine to go home but they did offer me a morphine shot (which I refused cause I honestly wasn't feeling any of the contractions). So now I am laying down in bed most of the day and fighting the urge to clean or run errands. We're just praying that Kylie will be healthy and fine whenever she decides to make her appearance.

33 Weeks of Pregnancy & Trusting in the Lord

My Stats: 

Weight gain: 14 pounds

Kylie's Stats

Weight: about 4.2 to 5.8 pounds

Height: about 17.2 to 18.7 inches

Pregnancy update: I am now totally in the stage that I have to take frequent restroom trips everywhere I go. If I go grocery shopping I go to the restroom before leaving the house and first thing when I get to the store and right when I get home. I used to think that I used the restroom more frequent anyways cuz I've never been able to sleep a full night without getting up at least once, but now I average getting up 3 times a night! Russell is seriously the most patient person out in public with me. In those moments he just looks at me like, "ya need to pee?" and I'm like "of course!"... he smiles, pulls out his phone, and starts to play some games while he waits for me.

I have only 13 more days working at my job before I take the plunge of quitting and making Russell the sole provider for our family. Russell and me have really discussed this and we feel like I should be a stay at home mom. I have had a my own job since I was 16 so I know that this is going to be an adjustment for me to make Russell the only breadwinner. We understand that means that we'll have to be on a tight budget, but it's worth it! Heavenly Father knows this has been stressing me out so he has provided us tender mercies of having older couples tell us how they made that commitment when they first started having kids and how it worked out. I feel like there are pressures on us woman to not commit ourselves to being Mothers. Even in my situation I find many asking, "so what are you going to do, ya know, work wise after the baby comes?"  As if my answer of being a full committed stay at home mom isn't enough. I have moments I start to worry how it's all going to work out... but I remind myself that Heavenly Father wanted His little girl to come down at this time to us and He will be there to help us provide for her. When I received inspiration on her middle name, which will be Gabriella, we discovered it was Hebrew and meant Heroine of God. This girl is someone special to him, and I want to give my 100% to raising her how He would like me to.  I found this quote and absolutely loved it and wanted to share it...

“Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: ‘[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.’ She then adds: ‘Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.’

Home Renovations: Stairs

When we first moved into our house the stairs were completely carpeted (with pink carpet). When I lived in London for a couple of months you never spotted a carpeted stair. Russell was completely game for painting the stairs instead of just re-carpeting them. He did the hard work of ripping the old carpet up and sanding the stairs down, and I did the painting. It isn't the most professional looking stairs you've ever seen but we did our best!