A is for Beautiful

No baby yet. :( One day past due date… Although it is Friday and it is my last day of school. I have told my principal and the secretaries that I will not be here starting Monday (crossing my fingers that I will either have a baby by then or that they will have scheduled me to be induced). In all I think I will miss 45 days of work (9 weeks). Hopefully I will get two weeks at full pay and then the next four or five at 40% pay. That is good because then I will only have a few with no pay at all. Everyone around me at school keeps coming and checking on me which is nice too.

Yesterday afternoon I felt pretty bad. I actually called the doctor when I got home because my belly felt really really tight and I wasn’t sure if I was having one long contraction or what. They just told me to go lay down, put my hand on my belly to feel if it was contracting, drink a big glass of water, and go to the hospital if my contractions got to five minutes apart. Anyway, I just think that the nurse thought I was confusing braxton hicks contractions with real ones, but I don’t think I was. I just think I was feeling really tired and crummy. Oh well. I slept great and feel much better now.

I have spent the entire morning finishing up last minute things for my sub. I should have been resting, but I kept thinking of things that I needed to do. I feel good about how I am leaving things for her though so at least I won’t have to worry about that. Plus it is good that Jonathan is finished with all of his big stuff this week at work today as of noon. As I have said, God has good timing.

This weekend (if I’m not at the hospital) I am going to go to the pediatrics place for a prenatal class. Otherwise I am just going to sleep and rest.

No baby yet. :( But my counter is cool today. I wonder what it will say tomorrow? I did start having some contractions yesterday evening though. They were not long and not very intense so I know I still have a while, but at least it is a sign of things progressing. Plus I didn’t have any while I was sleeping or else they weren’t strong enough to wake me up. I have been taking my blood pressure regularly and it has been relatively normal. My kids at school are still surprised to see me each day. I just hope that I will know for sure when it is time to go home or go to the hospital. I’m sure I will, but I am still nervous about it. You just can’t help but worry sometimes.
Our phone is still ringing off the hook. It would make it impossible to get anything done if I were trying to when I got home from school. We are going to have to turn the ringer off after we get home from the hospital. My sister stayed up last night cooking for a lady she works with that just had a baby and the whole time she kept exclaiming, “Stupid pregos! All these pregnant people I have to do stuff for!” I just thought it was really funny. But it just shows how people are nice. It is good to be hospitable. he he Today is teacher goodie day in the break room. yum, yum :)

OK, I am starting to ramble and I need to get some stuff done. More tomorrow…

No baby yet. :( Chapel days are so crazy at school too. I haven’t hardly had a chance to sit down all day until now. Sorry I didn’t write earlier! So I went to the doctor yesterday and got lots of “nothing” news. Here is probably more than you want to know: I am still 2 centimeters dialated, 100% effaced and +2 station which is all good, but my blood pressure was high. I have to keep monitoring it and making sure that I have no signs of toxemia or else they will write me out of work (which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, ha ha). She “stripped my membranes” yesterday to try to get things moving so-to-speak which hurt like heck! No signs of anything yet though. She said that usually that would start the release of some hormones which would cause contractions which would help me to dialate (since the dialation is the hold up). She also said to make an appointment for Monday and then they would check again, possibly break my water and schedule me to be induced at the hospital on Tuesday. So for now we’re just waiting and waiting, but I know God has good timing…

Those doctors all try to be so nice. They are funny because they try to compliment you to make you feel better. She kept saying yesterday how I needed to bottle and sell my secret for no stretch marks, but then she checked my ankles for swelling and she rubbed my leg which was quite hairy and all the good that her compliment did quickly vanished because of my embarrassment. Oh well.

All of my kids at school are like, “Mrs. Tucker! Why are you still here!” It is so funny because I know they mean well, but it just comes out all wrong. Then I have to be careful how I respond because I can’t really be honest and say, “I don’t really want to be!” Anyway, at least now I can tell them for sure that I certainly won’t be here after Friday.

I think my final weight gain is going to be a whopping 39 pounds! I really wanted to keep it under 30 and then I changed my goal to under 35, but it just keeps piling on. I just hope I can get it all back off and then some. I will have to try to take Jules on long walks on the beach this summer.

I slept great last night and I came home from the doctor yesterday and rested all eveing which was good. I am going to try to do the same today. Just preparing for the wearisome months that lie (or lay - which is it?) ahead…

March is finally here and it has definately come in like a lamb. Have you looked outside today?! It is so beautiful! I wish I could be out there enjoying the sunshine! Oh well! Spring and Summer are just around the corner. I think it is supposed to be 75 degrees tomorrow. Whoooo-hooo! If it’s not going to snow then I at least want it to be warm. I hope it is warm on my birthday. Sometimes it snows.

Anyway, I made a good dinner last night. Mashed potatoes, meatloaf, peas, and asparagus. I ate too much but it was yummy. Then Jonathan and I watched “Walk The Line” which I thought was really good. I actually started on some thank you notes too. How productive! Today I have another doctor’s appointment and then I’m headed home early to do more productive things. How nice it is to be able to get stuff done. (But I know I will be sad on Friday when I get my last Curves paycheck.)

Julianna’s something or other is sticking in me right now. She hasn’t been moving as much as she normally does but I think it’s just because she hardly has any room to. Three weeks is so short! I am getting very excited! I still have lots of stuff to wash though. I need to get the breast pump ready, wash some bottles, and there are lots of bibs and socks, etc. that I haven’t touched yet. Besides, I haven’t put up the gifts from the last shower.

I also really need to clean the house before Rebecca and Emily come this weekend. Some friends asked if we wanted to eat at Carraba’s and I NEVER pass up the opportunity to eat there, but it might not be able to happen this weekend, depending on when R & E come. That makes me sad. :( I LOVE CARRABA’S!

I am now up 33 pounds for the 2nd day in a row so I guess it’s official. With 3 weeks left it looks like I will probably go over the 35 pound goal. :( Jonathan and Whitney have started their running again. I need to exercise with them, but maybe when I’m ready they will want some extra motivation and I’ll be able to go with them. I hope I’ll be able to run again with a little baby to care for too. We’ll see… I really want to lose all of this extra weight before I head back to school in the fall. Ok, I am rambling now and I’m sure it is boring. Happy Hump Day!

No baby yet. :( Everyone at school yesterday kept asking me about it. How are you feeling? What does the doctor say? How much longer now? It is nice to have all of the attention, but I feel like a broken record. At least people care. :)

I really, really overdid it yesterday. I had aches and pains all night long. Mostly they were in my legs and back from standing and walking around. But we did have a great dinner though so I guess it’s all good. I know one thing though - today I am going straight home from the doctor’s office and getting in the bed. My body just can’t take much more and whenever I sit down to rest I think of one more thing to do and I jump up to do it. Anyway, maybe if I’m in the bed reading or something it will be easier to stay put.

One of my devotionals for today hit a soft spot with me. It was about the Good Samaritan and it said, “God’s will comes to us in strange ways, often in the form of interruptions. Just when we think our duties are done for the day and we’ve settled in for a quiet evening at home, someone calls on the telephone or shows up on our doorstep asking for our time. “Are you busy?” they ask. The best thing to do is to stop looking at these intrusions as interruptions. Instead, we should take them as opportunities that God is sending us to serve those in need—to listen well, to show love, to help them on their journey toward intimacy with God.”

I guess reading all of that sortof had a weird effect on me. I just became really thankful after reading it. Thankful for all of the people who have helped me throughout this pregnancy. How everyone has been so nice and thoughtful from random people at the grocery store, to coworkers and family members. Someone different calls each night to see how I’m doing and sometimes I can’t help but think of their calls as interruptions, but overall I know that I am blessed by them. As I have been praying for a healthy daughter and delivery, I have added to my prayers a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessings I have received during the last nine months including the unusual ones like the “annoying” ways people have been showing me their love. :) I am going to make more of an effort to reciprocate that care for other people.

So I looked up who Jules might share a birthday with and here’s what I found famousbirthdays.com. I know, I know, I am a lunatic, but oh well. I guess I can’t help it. I am still betting on the 26th. There are lots of cool people with that birthdate. I just hope it’s not the 31st because that’s Al Gore’s birthday. :)