Coming soon?!

Had my 37 week appt today (even though I'm only 36weeks 4 days). Got a literal 60 second ultrasound to see where Ford's head was, which it is LOW LOW LOW... As LOW as it can get before labor!! So he is taking full advantage of the room he has to move his feet around, kicking me in the ribs and stomach! Got to see his little heart beating, it's my favorite!

I got my first internal after listening to the heart beat and getting the ultrasound. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but probably because I'm already a full 2cm dilated and around 80% thinned... meaning that my body is getting ready!! Obviously, Ford is pretty ready as well, since he is "in position" so we will see how much longer he decides to stay in his little water world!

Almost full term!!

So tomorrow I will be 36 weeks and 4 days, meaning Saturday when I turn 37 weeks Ford is considered "full term"... He can come at anytime after that and would NOT be a "preemie"!! Tomorrow is significant because I get my last (2 minute) ultrasound before delivery. Just to make sure he is still head down and hopefully engaged!! I will also be checked to see if I am dialated at all and get tested for Group B strep. Which adults can carry with no ill effect the them, but if a newborn were to contract the bacteria they can get pnemonia or other serious lung infections. All they do is give you an IV antibiotic when you go into labor if you carry it, if you are negative then you don't get any antibiotics. So hopefully I'm negative because I don't really want to be hooked up to fluids the WHOLE time I'm delivering, I would much rather be free to walk around, stretch, etc.


I just got done reading Hypnobirthing... Hopefully the techniques in the book will help me labor totally naturally, the thought of getting an epidural makes me light headed and nauseas so that is 100% out of the picture! I know I have to go through labor and the birthing process NO MATTER WHAT... So I'm at peace with the fact it is not all fun and is hard work, although I refuse to say it will be PAINFUL because I do not want to set myself up to BE IN PAIN... if you have read hypnobirthing you would understand what I am saying. I know it will hurt, but hopefully all of the breathing exersizes and whatnot from the book will help curve the pain and it will be bearable. I have also been using an exersize ball to do exersizes to help open and stretch my pelvis... So hopefully that will help as well. Just sitting on the ball seems to help with the pelvic pain I have been having... I guess only time will tell if ALL this reading/practicing will help!

Eeeek... So close yet so far away... But who knows when Ford will decided it's TIME!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I think even if Ford is on time or over due, time is going to fly! Tomorrow is the 24th, so ONE MONTH until my due date! Saturday we are going to the fair, seeing Craig Morgan in concert there! Hopefully doing a bit of Christmas shopping and I will be 36 weeks! Tomorrow is my 36 week appt, which starts my weekly appts... hoping that I don't end up going to ALL of the appts I have scheduled. With how my pelvis is feeling, I do not think I will be making all of those appointments, since Friday I have felt like my hips are going to fall apart and my pelvis is going to break in half. I get an ultrasound tomorrow just to check Ford's position so we will get to see just how low he is sitting and if labor will be sooner rather then later, although he could decide to change his mind at anytime, that is the crazy thing about waiting for labor, it really isn't up to my body, but Ford's!

Next weekend is Labor Day and we actually don't have ANYTHING planned, I'm sure that will change between now and then, but I will be 37 weeks and "stuck" in the Anchorage Bowl until Ford is born. Which I am fine with since we got stuck in traffic coming back from Sterling on Saturday night, I could NOT imagine being stuck like that in labor. I would say that is the only thing about living in the largest state, with the least amount of roadway, if there is an accident, you can't get around it until the highway opens back up. I would assume we are going to finish deep cleaning the house, organizing the summer stuff we have to put away and pulling out all of the winter gear, since it will be snowing before we know it! We also have to finish hanging up things in Ford's room. Hopefully it will be nice over the holiday weekend so we can BBQ!!!!

I know the next month is going to go by extremely fast as the last 8 months have! I cannot wait to hold my little man and see just how much he looks like Luke!

Baby Shower and blessings!!!

I had so much fun at my LAST baby shower, last night! Whitney did such a great job planning it and a huge thanks to my sister in law, Jill, for helping set it up, since Whitney was late (not her fault)!!!

Ford is SO blessed to have such amazingly kind and loving women to look up to. All of the ladies at the church not only have welcomed me with open arms and hearts, but have made a point to ask how Ford is doing and keeping tabs on my whole pregnancy! I cannot wait until he is here, so he can meet everyone and know just how loved he is!

Jill spoke last night, about how we as mothers must remember that our kids (and others around us) watch our every move, even if we don't see them watching, they learn from us. So making sure we teach our kids about God, not ONLY through church, the word, etc. we MUST show God's love and will through the things that we do, even on a daily basis! I think it was a great reminder for all of us women, regardless of whether we are tired of cleaning the house, doing laundry and other such things, we MUST remember while we are doing these things, that God has blessed us with a house to clean and laundry to do. He has blessed us with a family... I am so thankful for the gift of Ford, even though this pregnancy hasn't been the easiest, we have had many questions that had to be answered and it definitely wasn't easy waiting for those answers, but having faith and knowing that God had given Ford to us, made it much easier to wait, knowing that whatever the answer to the tests were, was God's will.

NOW, we must wait for Ford to arrive, knowing that labor is a HARD and PAINFUL event... I have faith that the Lord will guide us through it, letting Ford arrive safe and healthy. As well as making sure that I am taken care of! I wouldn't say that I am SCARED, maybe a bit nervous because you can't really PLAN for the unknown, but it has to happen one way or another, so why stress out about it!!! Only 5 and a half weeks until my due date, we will see how long it really is until he is here!

The weekend is always too short!

The weekend never seems to be long enough and the closer it gets to Ford being here the faster the weeks have been going by. It was really nice being able to get a lot of stuff done this weekend, Luke got the garage organized on Saturday, we went to the Ultimate Frisbee game and then to Tasty Freeze... which was DELICIOUS by the way, I had a chocolate peanut butter shake, it totally hit the spot! Sunday, we went to church and then out to lunch with Zach, Jill and Makayla! Then Luke's cousin, aunt, etc. all came into town from the valley and we got to meet the newest member of the family. Orion is SO cute... I couldn't believe how LITTLE he was!!!! He is two weeks old now, but is still so tiny. It made me really excited for Ford to get here, although I do not want Ford to come too early. It was really nice seeing Luke's Aunt, Tina, hopefully they will be moving back up here soon (she is living in Oregon right now)... I know she would be here already if the housing market wasn't so wishy-washy in the lower 48 right now!

I am really excited about this week, Kristin comes back home tonight, so Freckles will go home, although dog sitting has been so easy as she sleeps a lot of the day, doesn't bark and isn't a bad dog in ANY way! Whitney and Steve get to come over tonight for dinner, I got fresh red out of the freezer!!! Whitney and I are making CHEESECAKE CUP CAKES for my baby shower tomorrow that she is hosting!!! Then on Friday, Alex flies in and we are going out to Sterling for the weekend, probably the last weekend out there before Ford is born :( since the fair is next weekend and then I'll be full-term and not allowed out of, "The Anchorage Bowl"...

There really isn't too many weekends until Ford will be here and then I know we will have even more to do and they will go by even faster... Why can't we all work 2 days and then have 5 days off... that sounds like a much better work week!!!

Cravings...

ALL I want is an English Muffin... guess I will have to make a trip to the store later :)

I really haven't had much in the craving department during this pregnancy... mostly Artic RoadRunner, but who could resist ARR, it is just WAY too good!!!

Of course, Luke has had his own "cravings", which have been CANDY and ICECREAM.... things I'm not supposed to eat! Yesterday, I caught him eating my LAST Crunchie bar... Of course you can ONLY get these wonderful candy bars OUTSIDE of the US, we got a box at costco when we drove the Al-Can in October, I ate 2 of the 18 (I think there was 18), Luke has eaten ALL the rest of them... Would someone please explain to me WHY you would eat your PREGNANT wife's LAST crunchie bar?!

I can dream right?!

Pictures of Nursery

Crib with JoJo Design Casey Cabin bedding set (And the quilt Kelsey made Ford)

Mobile, bumper, quilt, accent pillow

Glider- GreatGrandma Romer bought it for Ford!

Diaper Bag we got custom made!!

Letters I made for above Ford's crib!

Finished the nursery and starting weekly appointments on the 24th!!

We finally received our bedding set and the glider on Monday. Luke put the glider together as soon as he got home and I unpacked and washed everything in the bedding set! So last night we got to finish the nursery!! I love how it looks, we just need to finish organizing everything, but I will probably wait until after my last shower, which is NEXT WEEK!!! Then, we wait...

Also, today was my last 2 week appt. starting on the 24th, I go pretty much every Wednesday, until Ford is born! I'm hoping I can cancel a couple of the appts, but we will see. Today my blood pressure was 114/76 which has been pretty normal for me this whole pregnancy, so glad I'm not having to deal with high blood pressure. Dr. McCreary was really excited to see that I haven't gained anymore weight (up less then 15lbs and haven't gained anything in 5 weeks). My glucose has been totally steady over the last month, which is WONDERFUL. Although, when I hit 36 weeks it can all change due to hormones and I may have add or cut carbs... Ford is still head down, settled nicely in my pelvis, waiting NOT so patiently to be welcomed into this world! His heart rate dropped from the 140's into the 130's so we are one step closer to being able to hold him. I'm going to miss being pregnant, mostly because I don't want to share him!!!

Shift Work

So many people work on a shift schedule... people on the slope work 2 weeks on 2 weeks off, shift work is generally 12-hours on, 12-hours off or 4-10's.... lately I have been gearing up for my 2-hour rotation... every night, no matter WHEN I go to sleep, every 2 hours (almost to the minute), Ford wakes me up kicking or with the hiccups! I think he is in "training mommy mode". Of course I am also having to PEE, PEE and PEE again, since his head is sitting RIGHT against my bladder, but hey, atleast he is "in position". Though, I hope since he has been head down for 4 weeks already, that he doesn't have a CONE HEAD... EEK... I have to say, I am not actually THAT tired during the day on this "rotation", although when Aili and Makayla are napping I try and relax as much as possible, knowing that in 4-6 weeks I will have Ford to take care of 24/7,

I think the afternoons will be the easiest, since Luke will be home from work. Hopefully I will be able to catch some ZZ's when he gets home each day! I really wish he could take time off from work, but he can't, so I will be coming home from the hospital and be alone during the day, to take care of Ford myself. I know that TONS of people who have kids already do it, so I'm positive I can too... it will just take getting used too. I am not really scared, but anxious to have Ford home and to start my lifetime of late nights, early mornings and trying to help Ford walk the path that God has laid out for him!

Grow, Baby, Grow!

I won't go on and on about ALL of the appts I have had but I will highlight some with the pictures we have gotten from ultrasound! Each time you see your baby or hear their heartbeat you fall more in love! I did have to see a specialst because the NT measurement was elevated at our 12 week scan, Ford's heart echo came out GREAT but I ended up getting an amniocentesis and FISH test done at 20 weeks 6 days, due to some indication he may have had Trisomy 18, which most babies don't make it past 3-4 months old. God blessed us with AMAZING results with all of the tests that we underwent, genetically Ford is as PERFECT as God has intended him to be! I have to say, it was nice going to the specialist, being able to go over EVERY inch of Ford's body and being able to get so much time seeing him develop in the womb!

10 weeks 2 days FIRST appt:

12 weeks 3 days (ultrasound tech told Luke he would guess baby was a boy):

20 weeks 6 days (gender scan and specialist appt, took 45 minutes to find out HE was a HE!):





23 weeks and 3 days (Heart Echo, His way of telling us, he is JUST FINE!):

29 weeks 6 days (growth scan, he is in the 35th percentile which means that he is a little under the average size of babies his age):

Funny Feeling... Jan. 20th, 2011

So do you ever get those funny feelings, like something is in the works, but you can't quite figure out what it is?! Yeah, I got one of those... It was the middle of January 2011, Luke and I had just been talking about how great it would be (IN A YEAR, so our plan was) to find out we were expecting.... I had been feeling "different" but shrugged it off as it was the middle of my first Alaskan winter... I figured my body was adjusting because it had been a steady -10 outside and was dark pretty much all the time... Of course, being the way I am, I decided that I would take a pregnancy test if "Aunt Flow" didn't show up by the next day, knowing that it wouldn't be positive, since Luke and I were being careful not to get pregnant.

The next morning I woke up, Luke was already at work, I probably would have been WAY to embarresed to take the test in front of him and would have chickened out! So I grabbed the test and headed into the bathroom... after "Peeing on the stick" like all us ladies get to do, I put the cap back on it, set it down and went to make breakfast... forgetting about it for the next 15 minutes... I walked back into the bathroom and almost had to do a double take, remembering that I had ACTUALLY peed on a stick! SO I picked it up, to throw it away and to my SHOCK, there was a faint second line...

 I IMMEDIATELY text messaged my sister-in-law who was 35 weeks pregnant with the message, "so I took a pregnancy test and there was a SUPER faint second line..." Jill's response, "A line is a line, CONGRATS!!"

At that point I was ready to run out and get a digital test, TO MAKE SURE, but I had to wait for the girl I nanny to be dropped off... it was the WORST half an hour of my LIFE!!!!!!!!! I thought for sure I was going to PASS OUT! As soon as she got here, I started the truck to warm up, made sure she was bundled up and went to target... since I pretty much knew at that point I was pregnant (but still in shock) I got a digital test AND I got a card and a couple baby toys for Luke (I wanted to suprise him when he got home)... I took the digital as SOON as I got home and of course it said, "YES+"

TELLING LUKE:

So he text messaged me on his lunch break and I reminded him to make sure that the HR lady had processed our insurance, as it was supposed to kick in on Feb. 1st.... His only response was JOKINGLY, "Why are you pregnant?!" ... so instead of saying anything, I sent him the picture of the digital test... his response to that was, "WHAT?! Wait is that a pregnancy test, DOES that say YES?"... So then he called me, I of course started balling as soon as I picked the phone up, he asked when I found out and I told him I took the test after he went to work... because of the FUNNY FEELINGS, I had been having!

Needless to say, ladies, if you have a FUNNY FEELING, you never know if it's because you have cells dividing and growing... Definitely go with your instincts, it was a very scary but very exciting day!!!

Back story to baby Ford!

First of all WELCOME! I am really excited to start this blog about being a mama!!!! I have waited what seems like FOREVER (atleast to me) to be able to consider myself a mother. I guess I will give you a little background on our family so you understand where my blog is going!

Luke and I got married on October 11th, 2008... one of the best days of my life! We would have started our family right off the bat, but wanted to move to Alaska before we had "more responsibilities". Luke was born and raised here in Anchorage. The first I vistited, I was 13 or 14, I fell in LOVE with this state and wanted nothing more then to move here, luckily I married someone who was from ALASKA. So fast forward 2 years, in the spring/summer of 2010 we found out BOTH our sister in laws (Luke's brother's wives) were expecting, I have to say, it made me a little jealous! Even though I was really happy. We decided it was TIME TO MOVE and settle down in Anchorage so we could eventually start our own family! In October 2010 we finally packed the dogs, my dad (Yes, he moved too) and all of our belongings and drove the famous Al-Can. We arrived in Anchorage on October 29th after 6 days of driving, we had to go slow, due to bad weather and road conditions. We settled into the "Alaskan Winter", Luke got to snow machine quite a bit, the dogs really enjoyed the snow (for the first couple weeks, then they realized it wasn't going away anytime soon), Luke and my dad started work, I found a family to nanny for (from my house, SCORE!), we started attending Diamond Boulevard Baptist, where Luke grew up going (and my brother in law and sister in law go still)...

Around Christmas, Luke and I decided that we would start PLANNING for a baby, we decided that we wanted a fall baby, so we were going to start trying in the winter of 2011... We wanted to be able to settle in more, have a great summer this year and save up more before starting our family... I guess God had other plans for us, funny how that works!!