Slow boat to China...

Good grief. I admit i was very scared and anxious when i found out on Tuesday about my progress. But, thats about all the progress that has been found. I have had few solid contractions, which is so frustrating. I am ready to meet this little peanut. I've done the recommended "speed it up" things. spicy food, walking, other... stuff. Waiting is the worst. You wanna meet this little person, but apparently she does'nt want to meet us. Funny thing is, she is thrashing about in there like she is stuck in bed sheets and can't get undone. That's my child. Short of shining a flash light to show her the way, i'm just stuck...waiting.

HERE WE GO....

just got back from the doc, and im 4 cm, and 80% effaced. Without even trying, maybe this body is baby ready and i didn't even know it. I am so nervous, i think i have birthing stage fright. Doc says we will probably have a baby by the weekend. Johnny's eyes are as big as saucers, and so are mine. We are about to be parents. Responsible for another person. Feeding, clothing, rearing another citizen of the human race. But first, she has to get out of there somehow! Say some prayers, any advice is taken to heart.

Tana Has A Marley Moment

Not sure if all of you or some of you have read or seen Marley and Me but, that particular dog and my particular dog have a lot in common. Tana (Montana) is an 8 year old yellow lab who has also eaten things like phones, couches, toilet paper, bleach water, ant repellent, loads of stuffed animals, pillows... etc. We are surprised nothing has happened to her digestive tract or ever had a reaction, even to a basket full of Easter candy, which she was very sorry she ate.
Tana got in the trash Thursday night and had some leftovers chili and cornbread that had been sitting out. Now i have no idea why my husband didn't use the garbage disposal, but we definitely learned that lesson. This is not her first snack attack to the trash can, usually its things like, taco bell wrappers, french fries etc. Not usually whole meals loaded with spices. I woke up around 5 am friday to that oh so familiar heaving sound a dog makes when its been a trashcan night. I hurried her outside so she could finish her buisness, and i waited... and waited and waited. I called for her, she didnt come. I sent our other dog Vegas out to find her, she's a hearding mutt, and she came back without her. I start to worry. Tana is a very citified dog. It's 12 degrees outside and she isnt a fan of the outdoors all together. So this is alarming. I pile on some clothes and shoes and trek though the darkness where i can't find her. I round the corner of out house where we keep our ski boat and she has laid down under the trailer. Miserable, cold, unreactive to me calling her name. I immediatly FREAK OUT. The only thing you ever hear about dogs and dying is they like to wander off and die on there own. Well i was figuring this was as far as she could get, with the fence and all. I wake johnny up, he slaps on his coveralls and scoops her up and takes her inside without a fight. He gently lays her on the couch, i sit with her and talk to her and cover her to warm her back up. She breaks my heart. Her sad little face was saying, "mommy, my tummy hurts. i dont like it." Johnny who has had way more dogs than me, says, shes not dying, she just ate the chili. She just feels like dying. 30 min later, she is broken out in hives, her tummy, and face and she is miserably scratching, i force 3 benedryl down her throat and 15 min later, she is back asleep, hiveless, hiding in different rooms, but alive. Around 830 she perks up and drinks some water, and goes to lay in the bed till noon. Can't blame her. She returns to her normal self that after noon, but scaring the dickens out of me in the process. I just cant imagine what its gonna be like when its her time to go. But i do know, she is my favorite dog in the whole world, and i cant wait for Gracie Jane to meet her.

a watched pot never boils....does that mean my belly is a pot?

ok, so the laundry is done, the dresser will be delivered today, the diapers are waiting the bed and bassinette are made, my bag is sort-of packed... i think i am ready. The worst part is i could have as long as 4 weeks left. Isnt that horrible? My OB says she thinks 41 weeks, i scoff at 41 weeks. That just isnt fair. I want to meet this little tiny person who is hogging all the room in my belly and in my heart. Her daddy and i are getting very anxious. He's carrying his phone practically strapped to his ear, and while i havent started hitting the pavement (it's 24 degrees outside) i am willing to do so as soon as it hits 50 degrees again. I can only hold about 6 bites of food, which is annoying, epecially with a whopper jr. in my hand. (there not kidding about the flame broiled, yummy). And lets not get into the bathroom visits. When you actually consider not drinking water, b/c you know it will show up in 15 min... sad. But i'm trying to stay hydrated. Gracie on the other hand doesnt realize that my belly button is not the escape route. She hasnt figured out to drop out of my diaphagm and head toward the light (Actual light, not warm inviting light.) I hope that doesnt say anything about her intelligence. NOTE TO SELF: eat more omega 3 before she is born.

too much unwrapping?

Acquired a new symptom this weekend. After attending two showers back to back this weekend and being blessed with all the unwrapping of gifts, i somehow pulled a tiny band of muscles under my left shoulder blade. This happened quite a bit in college during finals, so i was familiar with the pain. So massaging helps. My mom massaged it, my husband massaged it, my friend Christy who used to be a masseuse massaged it, i massaged it against a door frames like a bear trying to scratch its back. So by Sunday night, i was so sore from all the massaging it had made it worse. I was at this point using accessory muscles to avoid my shoulder so i could breathe. Monday was horrible. The pain was nagging but by Monday night my pain was migrating toward my chest. All the opposite muscles in the front were sore from me working to avoid the ones in the back....are you still with me. Samantha prescribed some muscle relaxers thinking it was a spasm i agreed, but no relief was in sight. So Tuesday at 4 am, i woke Johnny up b/c i hadn't been asleep, my chest was burning with every breath. I had exhausted all my muscles just trying to breathe. Ironic. We ended up on labor and delivery, the ER for preggos. But everything checked out clean.pulse ox, EKG, breath sounds, x ray. Thank goodness. I had figured this amplitude of pain was cardiac related or i had been stabbed but no one told me. Laboring breath, shortness of breath i had it all. My x ray came back normal for a 37 weeker preggo. She said my diaphragm was pushing up into my lungs and my left lung was being pushed on... i wonder by whom? hmmmmm?
So 6 hours after getting to the hospital, and the pain getting worse, they gave me a little gem called Percocet. Relief at last. My pain went from a 10 to a 7 in about 30 min. Which was a nice relief. So now with lack of sleep, dopey from the percocet, and starving for food, we left the hospital with a new script and i headed to burger king for a tasty whopper, my new favorite thing. Johnny tucked me into bed around 1:00 in the afternoon, and i was able to sleep for the first time in 3 nights, drug induced of coarse, but nice, restful sleep. Tuesday night i slept and slept and slept, as though i was new to this bed rest thing. I'm still sore today, but the pain has evolved to more vague, i spent all night at the smokey bar, instead of the, chest grasping, shallow breathing, who the heck is stabbing me, pain.
So hopefully by tomorrow i will be functional again. And maybe by the end of the week she will drop out of my diaphragm and some relief will be given. I swear they were gonna see a tiny foot in my lungs, it wouldn't surprise me at all. But through the whole thing, she is just fine. She was on the monitor for about an hour and a half, and was happy to show off her heartbeatin' skills. So here i sit, truly resting today, and it feels nice.

Bedrest Day 6

As some of you know, i have recently been placed on bedrest for contractions while i was at work. I'm supposed to take it easy and stay off my feet until 38 weeks (2 weeks away). So today is day 6 of this most boring unsocial event of my life, and while talking with my super cool OB she said i should start a blog, and so here it goes. First i will start with things i have realized while on bedrest:
1. baby socks are tiny, and they do get lost in the dryer no matter how hard you try.
2. There is not a sufficent ratio of cookies in the cookies and cream ice cream.
3. its strange how messy a house can get when you aren't doing anything.
4. daytime TV sucks.
5. my couch is odd and very hard to get off of.

so, i will sit here and wait for little gracie jane to make her appearance at a later date, and i realize the bedrest is all for a strong healthy little peanut, but lets just hope for 2 more weeks.