Maternity Leave Day 4 and Dr. Visit

So, day 4 proved to be an eventful one.  I had an early morning breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Ray and my dad (who came to visit us last night), then home for a short nap.  After that, it was off to meet Robbin to go get a pedicure and have lunch at Panera Bread.  From there I made it to the doctor's office and stopped by work to take care of one thing and then home.  After returning home, I changed clothes and went with some of my friends to our Baptist Assoc. Missions Banquet.  Now, you better believe I am home with my feet propped up for the night watching "Driving Miss Daisy" with the Queen.

So, the doctor's appointment - I did manage to get one of the expectant mothers parking places near the elevator on the top floor of the parking deck.  I felt pretty good about that.  And I will move on to the news we have all be waiting for...well, there is no news.  Or at least no new news.  Nothing has changed.  I haven't dilated anymore since last week.  So we are at about 1.5 to 2 cm and holding.  Jackson hasn't dropped any and seems to be enjoying his nine month place of residency.  I have tried hard to tell him that the world outside my stomach has lots more room than inside my stomach.  He isn't listening or he is just ignoring me. 

So, she gave me two options.  I took the first of the two options and will return to her office on Monday afternoon to see if we have made any progress.  From there we will determine when to go ahead and induce and get the show on the road.  With this option I have chosen, she will be the one to deliver Jackson (which is what both she and I prefer) but I will have increased my chances of having to have a c-section.  More to come after Monday's visit.  In the meantime, I guess I will resort to walking around the block several times a day in hopes of helping this process along.

Maternity Leave Day 2....

Ok, so we are still waiting.  That is about all I have to say.  April is not looking to promising for the arrival of Jackson.  I am thinking it is going to be May after all....so throw my prediction right on out the door.  And from the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada", "That's all!"

Day 1 of maternity leave was rather strange.  I received lots of emails from work with questions from the substitute and trying to deal with problems that came up during the day.  Then, I found myself wandering around the house aimlessly trying to figure out what to do with myself.  So, I ended up vacuuming, watching a movie, doing some more of Jackson's laundry, and I think that is about it.

Now, day 2 is drawing to a close.  I have watched 7 movies over the course of the past four days and I have 2 waiting to be watched at the moment.  So, you know what I have been doing all this time.  I installed the car seat in the car today.  That was an interesting sight.  Thankfully none of you could see me.  I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone while I was working with it and told her that if installing that car seat does not make go into labor nothing would.  It was interesting.  I am glad that we didn't wait until we got ready to come home.  Because if we did, Jackson would probably turn 1 year old and we would still be sitting at the hospital waiting to go home.  Also, today I had lunch with 4 close friends of mine so I did get out of bed and put make-up on and made my hair look presentable.  Lunch was bittersweet today.  A rather hard and emotional time.  We had to say good-bye to our dear friend, Wez today.  They are leaving Moody tomorrow and heading to North Carolina.  Their first day at their new church is Sunday, May 2.  I was so hoping that Jackson would arrive before they left for North Carolina.  We will have to save the introductions for when they visit or we get to visit them.  I don't really like to say good-bye under any circumstances but this is God's plan for them.  And I know that God understands our sadness and tears.  And on a lighter note, their moving just simply means a future road trip will have to be planned.

So, day 4 of maternity leave will lead me to meet with my friend Robbin.  We are going to get a pedicure and lunch.  Spending time with a friend, good food, and a little pampering....now that is what I am talking about.  Then, I will be heading to my doctor's appointment.  I am hoping that we will have made some progress.  More to come....

And the Waiting Continues...

I guess from the looks of the counter above you can see that maternity leave has begun but the countdown to Jackson's arrival still continues.  I hope he is as laid back when he gets here as he has been about coming into the world. 

I want to say now because I forgot to in my last post that I mentioned a friend of mine at work that had her baby 2 weeks ago today.  I told you that they were hoping to bring her home at the end of that week.  Well, thankful she was about to come home a week ago tomorrow.  She is doing very well and is absolutely beautiful.  I cannot wait to meet her.

Well, another doctor visit today.  All we have learned at this visit is what to do if we go into labor and that are 1.5 cm dialated.  He has dropped yet and she said she would see me next week.  So, that is that.  Not really sure what I am going to do with my time in the coming days but I can promise you it will not be hard to come up with something.

And Today Is the Last Day!

Well, if you haven't noticed the counter on my blog page today, it is now in the mode of counting down the hours left before my maternity leave begins.  I got out of bed this morning thinking to myself, I don't have to do this tomorrow morning!  Which was all the more motivation to get up and get going.  Because if you know me very well, I am not a morning person and neither is Queenie.

Speaking of Queenie, she has been so funny lately.  She has been a little more attentive to me than usual.  The reason I say that is because if you know anything about her or have met her, you will well remember that the world revolves around her and it is all about what she wants and is interested in at that moment...hence the name Queenie!  So, I find it difficult at times to convince her to sit next to me or lay next to me when I am in resting.  Lately, she has been freely coming over and wanting to be near me.  I find it kind of funny.  Because the norm is that I usually end up having to almost offer to pay her to come over and sit by me from time to time.

Well not only is today my last day at work until August but it is also another visit to the doctor's office.  Yes, I know it seems like I just went because I did.  I guess I could buy stock in the parking deck there and probably hit it big one day :).  And if I became a stock holder, I would make sure that the elevators worked properly (have you ever climbed two flights of stairs at 5:00 in the evening while 37 weeks pregnant? - that might be the way to speed up the labor process - or at least you feel that way anyway) and that there were more than 8 expectant mother's parking spots.  If you have ever been in that hospital parking deck you might say to yourself, a goofball decided how many of those parking spots would be needed.  Honestly, eight spots at a womens' center at the hospital...what were they thinking?

Don't have a clue as to what to expect to hear from the doctor today.  I have been joking around saying that for the next few weeks I am going to get in the car and drive over near the hospital between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 and sit just in case I go into labor.  You may be laughing but during those hours, it takes twice as long to get to the hospital from our house - normally I can make it in 25 minutes but during that time of day it takes 45 minutes.  Bummer huh?  And you might wonder why I find myself a little on the anxious side.  So, I sit pondering what would be the best route to take to get there at any time of day.  I ask myself which route is going to be the fastest, etc.  And you know the truth is all that worrying may be for nothing.

Well, I guess that is all for now.  Don't really have any pictures to share at the moment.  I think that the nursery is finished, shopping is done for now, and laundry is done for now.

Just waiting.....

Another Doctor Visit

Well, we had a doctor's visit today.  I am going to the doctor weekly now.  She said that everything looks good.  Jackson has not dropped yet and I am 0.5 to 1 cm dilated so far.  She doesn't look for him to arrive in the next week.  So, I will see her again next week.  I was able to leave the doctor's office and rather than fight the evening traffic, I rode over to the Sheraton Hotel to the FBLA state conference and visited with several of my friends that I only get to see about once a year at that conference.  It was a nice but fast visit.  Managed to miss the evening rush hour therefore my blood pressure remained normal and I was able to refrain from screaming at someone and/or blowing the horn.  This pregnancy has done nothing for my road rage except make it worse! 

Last week at the doctor's office, I waited for an hour and half before seeing the doctor and it was a relatively quick visit.  But I would like to share a quick story about what happened before the doctor's visit.  I was getting ready to leave school and I stopped by a friend of mine (who happened to be one week ahead of me in her pregnancy) to see how her day was going before I headed off to the doctor.  On that particular day, it had been pretty rough for her to say the least and she had been having contractions and not feeling well.  So, before leaving school I offered to drive her to the hospital, after all I was headed in the direction as well.  She seemed to think everything would be fine so I left and ran an errand.  When I arrived in the parking deck and headed for the elevator, here she comes through the parking lot.  She decided to go ahead and come to see her doctor.  Well, when my visit was over I noticed her car was still in the parking deck and I automatically thought they didn't release her.  So, I went home and later called another girl I work with and she told me they were going to do a c-section that night.  Well, the crazy part was the thought that what if I had driven her to the labor and delivery area of the hospital?  What a crazy sight it would have been to see two pregnant women, both 35-36 weeks pregnant, one driving the other one to the hospital to have a baby.  Can you just imagine the nurses coming up to us and saying, "Now which one of you is in labor?"  And us looking at each other and saying, "I am".  Wouldn't that have been quite the sight to behold.  On a more serious note about that, we are praying that she is able to bring her little MC home tomorrow!

Posting 2 Days in a Row! Go Figure!!

Well, we are headed back to the doctor tomorrow to see what she has to say for us.  At work, Jackson and I are the last one's standing...everyone else has had their babies.  We had a new arrival yesterday and one last Thursday.  So, Jackson is the last one to arrive for the school year.  We have had lots of babies this school year.

I have included a new countdown gadget...yes, I am counting down the days until maternity leave.  As you can see, it is drawing near.  I went ahead and decided yesterday to stop working two weeks before he is due so I can have some time to do things around the house and to do things for myself.  Now, let's see how much time I really get to have since it is really all about when Jackson decides it is time to make his presence. 

More to come about our doctor visit tomorrow.

A Little Off the Subject...That's Ok

Our friends, Mary Kay, Louise, and Douglas are currently on a medical/evangelistic mission trip with about 12 others from 2 other churches to our favorite place, Guatemala.  Oh how I so wanted to go and visit my new friends there but my doctor would have laughed Jackson and Me right out of the office for even thinking about asking.  So, we are here in the states praying for them.  Mary Kay took two devotional books, a photograph, and some other things like lotion and lip gloss to our young friend, Elizabeth.  Below is a picture of us (MK, me, and Mary) that we sent to Elizabeth (probably the last picture you will see on here of me while pregnant).  The photo was taken at my family baby shower Easter weekend. 

The Nursery

Here are a couple of pictures from the nursery.  I know I have a great deal of catching up to do on here.  I spent part of this past weekend in Atmore at a baby shower.  What fun!!  But I must go on record saying that being 36 weeks pregnant and 3 hours from your doctor and hospital was not a great feeling, so I was glad to be home.  I enjoyed visiting with family and friends.  I particulary enjoyed visiting with my college roommate, who drove up from Pensacola, and another friend of mine from high school.  We had great food and fellowship.  And Jackson didn't do too bad himself!! :)  We are still working on the nursery but if Jackson decided to arrive today, he would be set.  His laundry is done and waiting.  The picture on the wall of the dog was done by my uncle and the photograph below the painting is of my granny's late cousin, Jack Bennett.  There is a close-up below of the photograph.  As I have said in a previous blog, Jack was a wonderful man and beloved member of our family.  The photograph is a gift from my granny and granddaddy.

Oh My How Time Flies!!!

I just realized that it has certainly been TOO long since I last posted an entry.  To be quite honest, I just haven't had the time to make an entry.  I will soon post a few pictures from the church baby tea and family baby shower as well as updated photos of Jackson's nursery.  We have been so blessed to have friends and family shower Jackson with so many gifts.  We have quite an assortment of items, all of which will be so useful when he arrives.  The nursery is well on its way to being complete.  We have added pictures on the wall and curtains over the windows.  His multi-colored rug arrived a week or so ago and it looks great (who ever thought that purchasing a rug online for the first time would actually turn out the way I anticipated without having to return it)!

I have spent the last several days doing Jackson's laundry - washing blankets and sheets as well as clothes.  It has been quite a few loads but I think we only have about two or three more left to do for now.  We have also spent quite a bit of time working on organizing and sorting through all the fun gifts we have received.  Thankfully enough, all the thank you notes have been written and mailed!!  However, there is one more shower this weekend so the thank you note marathon will soon begin again. 

Last night, Ray and I took a tour of the women's center at the hospital so that we would not have to worry about the unknown of where to go and what the procedures are for our stay there in the next several weeks.  I think we feel better knowing where we are supposed to go and what to expect. 

I am in the process of gathering my pictures from the last several events and taking some additional ones this afternoon.  So, I should be able to post several very soon.

And the waiting continues.....

More Gifts for Jackson

And we have received more gifts for Jackson - pictures are below.  Tyler's girlfriend, Jamie gave us more clothes.  I was able to find a great deal of a shelf/organizer at Dirt Cheap in Atmore.  Beth stuck to her word and threw in another item of "red and white" :) along with a really cute bib.  Aunt Toot gave us an outfit, onesies, and a Winnie the Pooh gift set.  I purchased a baby book of sorts today.  My friend Carla in Thomasville (whom I met on the last mission trip to Guatemala) gave us a car seat headrest and a cute lullaby glow worm.  I saved telling about her for last because I have a short story to share.  We arrived home this evening from shopping to find a package at our front door.  I told Ray and I was not expecting anything.  So, I opened the box only to discover the gifts from Carla with a sweet note that says, "I would not take anything for God giving me my son to raise and enjoy.  There is a special bond between a son and his mom.  Enjoy him and love him.  Love, Carla."  I was so excited about the gift and touched by her note and her thinking of us.  Another funny part of this story is that we were in Babies R Us today and I found Ray looking in the toy section (of course) and he had the lullaby glowworm in his hand.  He turned to me and said, "Would it be silly to put this on our registry list?"  I told him that it was already on there.  Little did we know that it was sitting at home on our front step waiting for our return home this afternoon.  Too cool huh?!