Insomnia

Well... it is currently 5:27 am on Sunday, April 13th and I have been awake for about 2 hours. Got to love pregnancy related insomnia. Sparky and I are catching up on the news we missed over night (thanks to FoxNews) and uploading things onto Steve's iPod. I'm sure this is meant to prepare me for the many sleepless nights ahead, but I can't help but thinking this is silly, since extra sleep at this stage of the pregnancy would seem to be a good thing. Oh well... by the time I need to start getting ready for church the iPod should have at least 400 tracks from my old cd's ready to be added and I should be very well informed.

Happy Sunday :)

Operation Eviction

I have been having contractions off and on since Tuesday, so yesterday we decided to see if we could help Sparky move things along. We started off with a pep talk (the crazy yoga website said we needed to let her know that we were ready for her to arrive but that we knew it was her decision - yeah... right...). We then filled our day with lots of spicy food, walking, and other activities that we thought may be useful in the eviction process. And, by the end of the day, I was having regular contractions at 10 minutes apart. But then again, our child has been obstinate this entire pregnancy, so when we decided to get some rest just in case, the contractions went away. Back to the drawing board for today.

Unfortunately it is going to be cold and rainy today, so the walking part may be difficult. Yesterday's brief window of 74 and sunny was perfect. Knowing this child she is going to hold off until tax day - it just seems like a day when an attorney and dentist should have a child, doesn't it???

Wishing you good luck in your endeavors today and hoping that you will pray for a quick delivery (and soon) for this baby, before we all go crazy (or my belly splits in half).

Maize Week Update

Maize week has made the poor little hound so tired that we were able to "mess" with her at night. On Tuesday night, after a very long walk and a day of playing fetch, we tried out the gym socks on the ears trick, which we had never been able to do without getting a little nip before.

Today is the end of Maize week, so its back to her regular dog's life until Sparky is born. After that the poor hound is in for a a shock.

The Midweek Update

Apparently the doctor thought things were moving along well enough on their own, so no induction for us this week. I will be working very hard in the next few days to get this baby moving out. On the bright side it means I may not have to spend the entire labor and delivery process hooked up to an IV (I have a HUGE needle phobia), so it's not all bad. I've also been having lots of contractions if I am walking or moving around a lot, so hopefully that is a good sign.

Maize is still enjoying Maize week and we've made it to Steve's big dinner event, so after Steve sees his last patient this afternoon our schedules are clear for a baby. Any prayers for a quick delivery in the next few days would be greatly appreciated by all of us.

Best to you all today!

Week 38 - "Maize Week"

It's week 38 of being pregnant - hopefully we are very near the end of this journey. I've basically reached the stage where there is no possible way to be comfortable and where sleeping is nearly impossible. Last night I was up every hour on the hour to either use the bathroom or stretch the charlie horses out of my legs. It makes for a very long night.

We decided this week was going to be "Maize Week", where we do the things that Maize likes to do since the rest of her life she will have to be a normal dog instead of a spoiled rotten "human" dog. We've been doing lots of walks in the park and around the neighborhood and fetch and sleeping on the couch. Today it was in the low 70's (a great change in our Michigan weather), so Maize and I spent a couple hours outside - I read and she slept on her dog bed which we took outside for the afternoon.

We have all of the baby gear clean and ready to go - hopefully the doctor will decide that Sparky is done incubating and will evict her at the end of the week. We'd like to make it at least through Thursday so we can enjoy some end of dental school festivities before our addition makes us homebound for a few weeks.

Afghan - Check, Carseat - Check, Baby - Missing in Action

Home Alone Day 2 - The Afghan is Almost Done

Maize and I have just about wrapped up day two of being home alone. I didn't sleep well last night (mostly because a very odd basset hound is having her own pregnancy problems, including frequent use of the outdoor facilities and throwing up and restless sleeping). So... because Maize didn't let me get very comfortable last night and because I never sleep well alone anymore, I am basically wiped out. I spent most of today working on Sparky's afghan - I am so close to being done. All I have left to do is 1/4 of the edge, which I am making scalloped. Steve told me I am not allowed to finish it tonight, just in case finishing the afghan results in eviction of the baby.

Steve's conference went well today and he is relaxing and getting ready to fly home tomorrow. He had a few questions about his poster and research and was able to sit through some presentations. And, luckily Sparky and I gave him nothing major to worry about.

So tomorrow... Steve will be home around 3 or 4 pm. By then Maize and I should have the afghan done and ready to wash before the big day. So we've survived (basically) our home alone stints. Now we just have to figure out when and/or how to evict this big baby.

Being Home Alone - Day 1

Steve left for Dallas today at 1 pm, so I am home alone until Friday afternoon and hoping that it continues to be just Maize and I here at home until Steve is back. Today I spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Hodges, who just got back from Florida and are on their way to Israel and Jordan tomorrow. We had a good time visiting and watching the Tigers lose another baseball game.

So far so good... we will see how tonight and tomorrow go, but I am planning on keeping pretty quiet so that I don't do anything that may assist Sparky in making her appearance.

Week 37 - Almost Done

We had a third baby shower on Saturday - Sparky is certainly a very lucky, very spoiled little girl. Our Sunday School class put on quite the party and I had a great time visiting with all those friends. They are all great ladies and Steve and I are both really going to miss our church family here in Ann Arbor.

Somehow my waistline is back down to 45 inches. Apparently Sparky has been sinking or is getting smashed or something. Not that it's slowed her down any - she is still wiggling away, mostly when I am wanting to nap. I am finally at the tail end of the head/chest cold that I have been battling. Just a few rouge coughs every now and then. Even though I've been feeling better, my discomfort level is about a 9.5 on a scale of 10. There is just not room for this little wiggly girl inside me and she just can't stand to be still. Hopefully she will be a little less active when she arrives so we can get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Steve is off to Dallas on Wednesday, so I am hoping and praying that Sparky will be cooperative and will stay put until at least Friday. As hard as it is for me to sit around doing nothing, I've been trying really hard to do just that. Today's projects include trying to get this condo sold (I spent all morning typing a sales contract to give to an interested party) and trying to get a house in Sault Sainte Marie purchased. Last night Steve did some major cleaning for me and I double checked the bags for the hospital. We should be all set, but since the hospital is only 5 minutes away I haven't been too worried about making sure I have absolutely everything packed up.

All of the laundry is done (again)

I finished washing all of the baby things. I was "done" with the baby laundry three weeks ago, but then we got more things, which required more laundry. And after Saturday's shower I will probably have more things and need to do more laundry. And there isn't even a baby here yet...

Maize, Sparky, and I are starting the first of our two days of being home alone by watching t.v. and cleaning up the kitchen counters. I made two little jobs for myself to do each day so that I can feel productive without getting too tired or overworked. Our other job today is to clean the master bathroom. That shouldn't be too bad either - just a little sweeping, mopping, and counter cleaning - I am going to leave the scrubbing in the shower for Steve to do when he gets home. Not that he will be home long. We will have him for Sunday and Monday and then on Tuesday he is off to Dallas until Friday.

Sparky is cooperating so far and keeping quiet. We are keeping our fingers crossed that she will wait at least the next 10 days before making her appearance so that our doctor can deliver her when he is back from vacation.