"In Goddard We Trust!!"

Or how about "Trust in Goddard!" Anyone in Northeast Ohio should know what I'm talking about! The one, the only, Fox 8 weatherman Dick Goddard!!!! He was literally 2 blocks from the house on Saturday at our local Discount Drug Mart, signing autographs and raising money for his animal causes. Drug Mart carries his calendar every year. Luke got the car tags and stopped by the store and saw that he was there and called me, so I hurried up and dressed the girls and when he got home we packed the car and went to go stand in line. We got calendars and stickers and Luke took a picture of me and the girls with him. That darn store had windows in the wrong place, and being almost 1PM, the sun was shining right on us, so our faces are all blown out from the sun, but it didn't matter, because I met Dick Goddard! I've only watched him my entire life, and my mom has watched him for like, her entire life, so it was pretty cool. To give you an idea, he is AMS Seal #45. He is an original weatherman. Just Wiki him....he is awesome :)

Happy Late Turkey Day, and a Birthday for Luke!

Wednesday was our weekly doctor's appointment. We went to Orrville for this one, so Luke got his Ming Hing for lunch ;) Still no change going on in there, but she didn't want to poke too much, since she left Thursday for vacation and won't be back til Sunday evening. She doesn't want to miss the birth. We have an appointment on Thursday, and if there is still no change, we will be discussing induction options, which I really don't want to do. I think that she is thinking that weekend...which Luke has a double senior shoot scheduled that Saturday. Needless to say, I am very anxious and nervous about this induction thing, but I'm just taking it a day at a time, and hopefully there will be some change come Thursday.

Yesterday was the big Turkey Day, and we didn't do anything! We skipped my family's get together, for the sake of our health, and Luke's side was up in Cleveland, and we didn't want to travel that far from home in the event that the baby decided to come. Luke's parents brought a feast back to us in the evening though, so after the kids were asleep, we had a nice Thanksgiving Day dinner while watching "Major Payne"

Today is Luke's birthday, and we haven't done much at all. His mom had brought some old slides down, so we've been looking at those and starting to scan them in. We need to get a new tag for the car, and of course the BMV place is closed today. Not even a government holiday! Hopefully they will be open tomorrow. That's what we get for waiting last minute when his birthday is always so close to a holiday :)

Home Improvement/Organizing Weekend

We decided that having a working shower would probably be a good thing after the baby comes, so we started finishing the windows in the bathroom (both windows touch the shower surround). Luke primed them a couple coats, then caulked around everything on Saturday. On Sunday, he started painting, only to realize that the caulk we had bought is non-paintable!! Even after attempting to put primer overtop, we are just left with caulk, the paint will bead overtop of it. I told him, screw it,it's a shower, there is supposed to be caulk everywhere anyways, so he went ahead and did a couple coats of paint on the windows.

Fast-forward to the christening last night...

#1 The fabric shower curtain makes the shower a bit dark.
#2 Even though the curtain said you didn't need a liner, we will buy one anyway.
#3 Apparently semi-gloss paint hates being in the shower, and it started to bubble up on the window from getting wet.

The new plan...

#1 Look for paintable caulk and rerun a small bead overtop of the non-paintable, so it's less noticeable.
#2 Buy all weather indoor/outdoor white paint for the bathroom trim, so we know it can stand up to the constant water exposure.

The shower was nice though! Easier to wash hair in a shower than a bathtub when you're this pregnant.

I went through a small cleaning spell on Sunday, and got the crib cleared out, bedroom more organized, baby clothes more organized. All the floors were swept, 2 loads of laundry washed, dried, folded, and put away. Dishwasher is almost ready to run again, garbage was switched out, and best of all, we bought one of those 9-bin toy organizers for the girls, and went through all of the toys. They now have special places for blocks, animals, cars, track, food, and many other things. Clean up in the living room is now easier, because they don't tear everything out looking for a specific toy. It also helps Lilly tremendously, because when all of the toys are on the floor and we ask them to clean up, we believe she gets very overwhelmed and her brain just doesn't process taking directions. She gets so lost, and we have to give her specific tasks like "clean up the cars and put them in this tote" while physically showing her, and helping her out. She seems to be able to handle this organizer more on her own, so I'm sure she will adjust even further as they learn where all of their toys go.

Still no baby. I've had plenty of miscellaneous contractions, but nothing consistent...

NOTHING!!

Just got back from the doctor's appointment. NOTHING has happened! Cervix is still high and tilted back, and no dilation or effacement. So needless to say, so membrane stripping, since nothing is favorable. I will go back next Wednesday morning in the Orrville office and she will check progress and we will go from there.

It's a bit odd, since I dilated early with the other girls, but we were also going by estimated due dates. I know exactly when I ovulated for this pregnancy, so I know my due date is correct. I guess baby just needs more time to bake. Mom says Thanksgiving Day. The doctor said she normally wouldn't care, but since she is going out of town, she doesn't want to miss it, so maybe baby will wait for her and we will have a very late November/early December baby. Anything could happen though, we may not make it to Wednesday, since things can change rapidly. Dr. Laing says we won't worry about induction until after she would get back from vacation. I would be overdue by then. She said I have such easy labor and deliveries, there is no sense in forcing an induction when nothing is going on up there, so we won't go that route unless we are too far overdue and nothing has happened.

So that is where we stand so far. I guess I need to start scrubbing floors on my hands and knees and going for long walks ;)

Feeling Pooey!

I woke up this morning feeling like poo! I ate some cereal, which I in turn threw up, and took a bath, which didn't seem to help my overall state :( I feel crampy and tired and shaky, which is how I felt for 2 days before I decided to go to labor and delivery with Alexis, only to find out that we were 6cm and I was being admitted. If something noticeable doesn't happen by tomorrow morning, my doctor's appointment is at 11:15AM, and as long as things are soft and ready to go down there, the doctor will strip the membranes to see if anything starts.

In the meantime, I'm trying to take it easy, even though I have a 5 mile long list of things that need done between now and tomorrow, and we are trying to keep the girls from getting sick. Lexi's nose started bugging her yesterday evening.


In other news, Luke had his first print order and we delivered it yesterday, and he also got a phone call for another print order. Just waiting on the check from that one and we will have it on the way.

Today's Doctor Visit

So as you may have noticed, Thursdays are our weekly visits, since that is the only day the doctor is in Wooster and not Orrville. Just more convenient to drive 5 minutes up the road as opposed to 20 minutes to the next town. Everything went well. Weight is more than I'd like ::cough:: 204lbs ::cough:: but that is actually down a pound from last week. Blood pressure was 100/62, which is normal for me, and the baby's heartbeat was 148bpm, which is within normal range. She noticed that I'm swelling in the legs just a touch, but my ankles have been pitting for a few weeks now. No concern though.

If we don't have a baby by next Thursday, she will check me to see if I'm dilated and how the cervix is doing. If things seem favorable in there, we will go ahead and strip the membranes at that appointment. I had that done with Lilly, and I went into labor that evening. She is going on vacation for Thanksgiving, so she gave us the option to induce Tuesday the 24th if nothing happens by then, but I won't get induced unless my health or the baby's starts to deteriorate, or I go overdue too long. We just may not have her delivering the baby if we pop around Thanksgiving.

All and all, I'm hoping to not make it to next weeks appointment. Dr. Laing told me to do some jumping jacks, and I think we may hit some bumpy roads this evening. I guess we will see what happens :)

No Baby Today :(

Well, it's 10PM, so unless labor comes super fast and ends quickly, I don't think I will have a baby today. We didn't do too much today, and you can certainly tell by looking around. Lots of toys laying around, floors need swept, and dishes need exchanged in the dishwasher. Thankfully it's trash night, so a little bit of the mess will go thanks to Luke (as long as he remembers to take it out).

We went to some craft stores today, scoping out items for a few new crafts I've discovered online, although it looks like I may need to buy most of the supplies online, as it seems a lot of people have trouble finding some of the items locally, including myself...

So, I gotta call from the doctor's office. They left a message saying they had called in a prescription for iron at the local Rite Aid, because my bloodwork came back and I am now slightly anemic. I guess it explains the dizzy, tired, irritable spells that I go through, but the most interesting thing I found on the Internet, is that some anemic people crave ice. I've been eating ice by the tray for about a month now! Weird eh? Some people seem to think it has to do with needing oxygen since the red cell count would be low.

Back to the baby though, the next available day for labor would actually be Friday the 13th, since tomorrow is Veteran's Day, and Thursday has a few birthdays already. Hopefully I will get well rested tonight, and get some house maintenance done tomorrow. My next appointment is Thursday, and we'll see how things go.

Jeremy's flight and My Pick!

Yesterday we had Kendra for a couple hours, and packed all the kids in the car and took off for Wayne County Airport. Jeremy (Luke's brother), got his pilot's license over the weekend, and his first passenger was his 3 year old Anne. They flew out of Skypark and met us at Wayne County for some Klondike bars, and Jeremy wanted some pictures...which of course Luke can resize for facebook, but not for my blog...

The girls had a blast though, and Lilly cried when we left. She absolutely loves airplanes. Nana found an airshow shirt that has some planes and helicopters on it, and that is all she ever wants to wear anymore besides her Halloween shirt with the ghosts on it (thanks to Aunt Angie).

As for today, well it was my pick for having this baby. The date is 11/10/09...and I believe that there are no birthdays in the immediate family on this day. Unless things get moving soon though, I don't think it will happen. Lexi was around 16 hours of labor, and Lilly was 12, so I am expecting at least 8 hours this time around. I just want labor to start after I get up in the morning, and not be in active labor overnight like with the other two. Tomorrow is Chelsea's pick, but it's Veteran's Day, and I really don' want to pop on a holiday.

I have Kendra for a few hours over lunch today, and I guess I should try to keep up with general house maintenance, so the house doesn't look completely trashed when someone comes to stay with the girls.

A long night...

Starting off with yesterday...it was absolutely gorgeous outside. I had no idea it was gonna hit 75 degrees in November!! And today the NOAA is calling for 72. I raked some leaves that Luke put on a tarp and took down to the curb for the next leaf pickup.

Last night I tried watching some Indy, but I felt so blah, so we must have been in bed by 10:30, only for me to wake up about 1:30 feeling tired but alert with a nice dull back ache. I decided to take a bath and by the time I got myself situated back in bed it was 2:30AM and I felt a contraction. by 3:30 Luke was up in bed downloading a contraction timer program so we could keep better track of them, although for the past hour they were about 5 minutes apart. They continued every 3-5 minutes for another 45 minutes - 1 hour before they just fizzled out, so we laid back down and got a little sleep before the girls woke up and Luke had to start his workday. I'm surprisingly up and about this morning for having so little sleep. The dishwasher is going, laundry is in the wash, and the kids have been fed, so I'm not doing too bad.

I'm kind of bummed they fizzled out, but my guess was the 10th anyways...not the 9th, so maybe it will happen again tonight, but stay constant. Either way...I guess this means we need to finish packing the hospital bag and getting a list of phone numbers together :)

Our Saturday...

First of all...still no baby. I am going through every labor is coming soon symptom in the book, so hopefully something will happen soon.

Luke had a photo session this morning, finishing up his last senior. Hopefully he can get these shots edited down this week and have her gallery up, and we will be done with photo sessions besides our own until after baby gets here.

Girls are watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...thanks Nana! Now they love that movie.

Luke just got back with some lunch from the little dariette place downtown. Mmmm, broccoli and cheese soup and grilled cheese. Yummy!

Now to enjoy a mostly clean house for a little bit, go through some senior pictures, and figure out how to start labor ;)

Dear City of Wooster...

I thank you for taking a little pride in the city and scheduling the annual leaf pick up so the neighbourhood yards look a little better this time of year. It is also very nice for the environment, as I know the trucks take all of the leaves to be composted, so next year I can pay $5.00 a bag for mulch that came from my own backyard. However, why do you insist on picking it up at 7:30AM!!!! I understand that the majority of people are up with full-time dayshift jobs, but not in this house...or neighbourhood for that matter. I am ready to pop this kid out, and I have two toddlers sleeping that were woken up asking "What's that?", as they heard the huge vacuum truck pass by. I am fortunate enough that Luke works from home, and can help out with them in my time of need, and as for the neighbours, most are on some kind of assistance, so they have nowhere to be that early. 9AM would have been fine, just not 7:30! Ugh...it's gonna be a long day.

On another note, Halloween went well. We trick-or-treated in Burton City at Grandpa Perkins house, ate a bunch of candy, and continued eating candy on Sunday. The girls loved the princess dresses and pumpkin baskets. Still no baby, although I'm not considered full-term until Friday. My next appointment is Thursday morning. I had some throwing up and contractions on Sunday, but unless some fluid spills from my body, I feel tons of pressure, or an insane amount of pain, I plan to just hang out at the house as long as possible. Easier for the girls and myself.