38 Week Appointment

Another pretty uneventful appointment. All is still well. Anderson has dropped a little more but my cervix continues to be "very posterior". Dr. Diehl said he could check my cervix if he really wanted to/needed to but said it would be extremely uncomfortable and unnecessary at this time.  He said he was very confident that as I go into active labor my cervix will move so he doesn't want to schedule a c-section.  My only fear is that I will be that small percent that will labor and labor and it won't budge and I'll end up having a c-section. So we continue to wait and see what happens. He told me the only day he's off in the next week is Saturday so I'm hoping Murphy's Law won't put me into labor the one day my doctor wouldn't be there! Personally, I think Anderson is pretty content at this point and I don't see him making his entrance any time soon but we'll see...

The finished nursery

I finally took some pictures of the nursery this morning to share!

The only "theme" per say is an Aggie theme. As some people know, neither of us really wanted a "baby" room  and we also didn't want to have to just store all of our Aggie stuff after moving it out of what used to be our office. Plus, I really liked the curtains in this room so that was actually the starting point.  We figure he's not really going to care what his room looks like for several years anyway. It's unfortunately not a super huge room but it has everything it needs, its right across the hall from our room and it will definitely serve its purpose.

Yes, we'll probably be "those parents" who will tell our son that he can go anywhere he wants to for college but we'll only pay for it if he goes to Texas A&M :)

In case you didn't know his full name will be Anderson Phillip Saksa. Anderson is obviously my maiden name and one of the few ways I can honor my family as there are no boys in my family and Phillip is my father in law's first name and despite there already being 5 nephews in the family none of them have Phillip in their name.

He already has SO MUCH stuff! The dresser is also full of clothes and his diapers! I'm amazed by how much stuff babies need! I *think* we have everything. Like I told Todd, if we don't have it, I don't know we need it!

So there you go, Anderson's nursery, ready for his arrival. I'm 38 weeks tomorrow!

Full Term Baby

Today I am 37 weeks, 1 day pregnant so Anderson is now considered full term! YAY! I'm so thankful that we have made it to this point without any major, or even minor, complication. I had my 37 week appointment today and for the most part everything is still "beautiful" in the words of my doctor. My weight, blood pressure, urine, measurements, everything are good. I'm not having any swelling or heartburn or any of the other usual late third trimester problems except for fatigue.  My group strep B test came back negative so that was a relief to not need antibiotics before delivery. On the down side, Dr. Diehl decided to do an internal exam today to check my cervix. His first response was "well his head is very low", um, yea, my 5 nighttime bathroom trips could have told you that! His next response was that he can't check my cervix because it is still facing backwards toward my spine.  This isn't a new piece of information. I've known about my backwards cervix since I've started having regular pelvic exams/pap smears. It always makes for a pretty uncomfortable time.  I mentioned it pretty early on in my pregnancy and he was confident it would straighten out as my uterus grew. Well, now we're just over 37 weeks and it's still not straight. He thinks as my pregnancy continues to progress and as I begin labor it still could straighten and allow for a vaginal delivery but if it doesn't I will have to have a c-section as they will have no way to know if/when I'm fully dilated to start pushing and I would be pushing him the wrong direction.  So while we now have answered prayers for a full term baby and a father-to-be home from war we need to say a few more prayers that my stubborn cervix figures out which way to face!

He's HOME!!

Almost exactly 3 months to the day Todd is HOME!!

After what seemed like the most flight changes/cancels/etc I've dealt with in our 6 years in the Air Force I finally picked him up today! I continue to be extremely thankful that we didn't have to do another  6 month deployment this go 'round and that he will now officially be here when Anderson decided to grace us with his presence! 

36 week appointment

Today I had my 36 week appointment! As of now if I were to go into labor then they would not stop it! Thats kind of scary! Everything still looks good-weight,BP,etc. I'm supposed to start going every week at this point but my next appointment is actually going to be a week and a half from now so that my appointments become every Monday since my due date is on a Sunday.

During what seemed like a fairly routine appointment Dr. Diehl randomly asked me if I was getting excited and I said, honestly no, mostly because of Todd not being home and because of everything we went through to get here. He said, "it definitely hasn't been an easy journey and its ok if you're not excited yet, you'll get there." My eyes instantly filled with tears. I don't know why I thought the pain of infertility would magically disappear being pregnant.  I feel so incredibly blessed to be where we are and to have the same doctor through the entire process. I told him I was going to cry if he wasn't in the delivery room!

In good news, while its not 100% set in stone, Todd *SHOULD* be home by next weekend!! YAY!

35/35

As of tomorrow, officially, I'll be 35 weeks pregnant which means that in 35 days (give or take) we're going to meet this little man! First, here's your oh so terrible bathroom lighting self portrait-

(I swear I never feel I look so horrible as when I take these pictures!)  

Still not "super big". I frequently get looks of amazement when I tell people how far along I am which is also usually accompanied by inappropriate questions as to if everything is ok, am I eating enough, etc. But my doctor said everything is measuring fine and looks good :)  I'm still feeling overall pretty good. I'm really tired most of the day and making it through the work week the past few weeks has been a challenge. I've had some more back aches and my sciatic nerve wants to pinch as soon as I lay down in bed but overall I really still can't complain.

As of Friday I'm officially on PRN status and will only be working 3 days a week for the next 2 weeks then I'm officially on maternity leave! YAY! I'm very much looking forward to at least a little down time before Anderson graces us with his presence!

 For those that are curious, as most people are, yes I am still running. This week was actually the first week I started having some pelvic pain/pressure that got pretty uncomfortable and I thought my running days were coming to an end but I just slowed my pace (significantly) and cut back a little and that helped so I'm going to keep on a truckin'!  I would truly love to run until the day before/of labor but we'll see. Obviously  I'm going to continue to listen to my doctor and my body.  Honestly, exercising in general has become a little more of a chore over the past few weeks but I always feel 10 times better if I just do something!

I finally hit a "nesting" mode about a week ago and finally started organizing the nursery, washing clothes and diapers and purchasing any necessary items we hadn't received. I'm hoping to get the nursery pretty much done in the next week or two and will post pictures! My 'to do' list still includes making some freezer meals, installing the car seat and packing the hospital bag. I'm hoping my new schedule and extra free time will allow these things to get done!

The other frequently asked question, "are you ready?" In some ways yes, but in most ways, no. I think the biggest reason I'd say no other than the obvious of not having the nursery done, car seat installed, fear of labor, etc is because Todd isn't here.  Its very hard to feel "ready" to bring a child into the world when you're all alone.  Hopefully those feelings will change if/when Todd makes it home or I have family in town-whichever happens first! I do have an amazing support system here and would definitely not be alone but it just changes the outlook on the situation.

I guess that's all I have for now! I'll hopefully blog more over the next few weeks!

More Rapid City...

Our three year "tour" at Ellsworth officially ends in April 2012 and we were put on the "Voluntary Move List" (VML) to move sometime between April and June. Todd was really hoping to get an Army Liaison Officer "A-LO" tour that could potentially move us overseas for three years but unfortunately 1. there just happens to be no A-LO spots to be filled right now and 2. Todd's made himself a little to valuable to the B1 world and is needed to stay a little longer here at Ellsworth, specifically as an Operational Flight Instructor.  So it looks like we'll be here in Rapid City *at least* until next fall if not longer...i.e through another deployment cycle (BOO!) then we'll see if/when the Air Force wants to move us. Honestly, I'm a little bummed...and its my fault... I didn't move here with the intentions of staying longer than 3 years. I just assumed we'd at least go back to Abilene if not somewhere else.  I'm also bummed because so many of our friends we've had since we've lived here WILL be moving between December and May of next year so it makes me feel a little alone. But that's the Air Force life! You're always meeting new people :)

The positives of staying are that we own our home and are pretty "settled". We have amazing neighbors. We love our church. There is so much to see and do here and many road trips around the area we'd like to take before we move. I have a great job that will be super flexible after Anderson arrives.

I'll just focus on the positives and wait for what God has in store for us next. He's obviously not done with us here :)