Rainy Tuesday

Katya and I are enjoying a cheese, crackers, fruit and sliced tomato lunch and watching the rain come down outside. I will get her outside later today if we get a break or the rain is light. She loves walking/running up and down our front path to the door which she calls a "ramp." She also enjoys walks to the mail box which is 2 blocks away and usually takes us 15-20 minutes. She sure is exerting her Independence these days and really lets you know what she does and does not want. She is talking up a storm; too many words to count. Her language skills are super good for her age and she continues to work on small motor skills (which are not her strong point). She is doing fairly well with a spoon but prefers to use her hand which of course is super messy. I am trying to encourage the use of her spoon but as soon as I walk away she is shoving oatmeal (or whatever) in her mouth with her hand. She loves oatmeal ("meal") and will polish off 2 servings easily. I have to make sure I make a lot so that I get some!

I am trying my best to be patient in waiting for this baby to come but it is hard. So far she is not paying attention to our great plan of coming early this week. Craig really did not want to go to work on Monday and I thought it would be nice if she came now because he could take the week off and we could have some quite time as a family. Then he could work next week when I have Sharon here to help and then take the following week off. The week after that my parents would be here so that would equal 4 weeks before I am completely on my own with both kids. That would be nice! Of course babies tend to have their own agendas:0)

Here are some cute pictures of Katya after a shower. Her hair is getting so long!

Exelixis

Craig got an offer from Exelixis on Thursday. Unfortunatly the pay is almost exactly what he is making now with Legacy so we are not real excited about it. There are still some benefits to taking the job. We are going to sit down tonight and discuss it in depth. Craig will probablly make his decision over the weekend. We will keep you all posted.

Here is a picture of our little monkey taking a bath.

Waiting for Reagan continues

So what was it, only a week ago that I said that I did not feel huge. Well now I do! I realized last night as I was doing dishes that I have to lean forward at an awkward angle to reach the sink because my belly is in the way. Not fun when my back is already aching:0)

Yesterday I got two dinners prepped and in the freezer, lasagna and a pizza, for after baby is born. I covered some framed artists canvases with left over material from Reagan's curtains and hung them in her room. I am really happy with the way her room turned out, it is just the way I imagined it and it is definitely my taste. The car seat is installed in the Jeep (has been for a while) and we are very ready to meet this new baby! I have had a few moments of panic when I think about just how close we are to having 2 children but the anxiety passes quickly. I mainly get freaked out at night when I am laying in bed exhausted and I think about how labor could start anytime. Fortunately, with a little help from my good friend Unisom, I have had 2 decent nights of sleep.

I think baby Reagan is engaging in my pelvis because of the pressure on my sacrum that started yesterday. This is exciting and since it is my second baby, means labor could start anytime (first babies can be engaged for weeks but second baby's may not engage until just before, or during labor). I hope she really is engaging and it is not just my imagination. Katya was never fully engaged before my induction which is a big part of the reason labor was so drawn out and reluctant to begin. And, I know, I know, it could still be a while but everyday that goes by is a day closer!

Waiting for Reagan

The wait for labor and delivery is officially on as today makes 37 weeks of pregnancy! It has been a challenging 9 months but in retrospect it has gone by really fast. I can thank my beautiful Katya keeping me so busy! I can't believe how much she has grown and that she will be two years old in about 4 months. I also can't believe she is about to be a big sister; except for my giant belly as a constant reminder of course. I continue to have many indications that labor is on the way. It makes me wonder if Craig's predicted date of March 31st will be closer to Reagan's birthday than my guess of April 10th. That would be fine with me!!!

Thanks for all the prayers and support during the last nine months. I am super excited for labor to begin and I pray for a safe delivery.

Disappointing news

Craig heard for Widmer today and they "have decided to go another way" with the QA position. We are super bummed. He would have done a fantastic job for them. Apparently it was not meant to be, at least not at this time. We are staying hopeful that he gets an offer from Exelixis and if he does the decision will be easier with the QA job off the table.

Craig's baby

I wanted to title this blog "Proud Papa" but I did not want to miss lead anyone:0) Craig's baby weighed in at about 13lbs 4oz; thank the Lord our real baby will not! I had to take a picture of Craig walking his beer around because I thought it was funny. Widmer is going to be selling these small "kegs" in stores soon (like Heineken does)and some of the employees are doing some testing by following a certain set of instructions and giving feedback. Craig thinks the info is for them to decide how to word the instructions when they go to stores. Craig's instructions were to chill the keg for at least 8hrs and then walk around with it as if bringing it home from the store or bringing it to a party before opening it.

You will notice his nice Shamrock T-shirt that he got from the run on Sunday. Very snazzy and appropriate for today. Craig actually ranked 21 out of 400 men in the run with a time of 35min 41sec. Awesome job hubby!

The "Job Update" post that I published on Sat got deleted by mistake, not sure if everyone had a chance to read it. But the updated update on the Widmer QA position is this: He talked with the HR gal and she assured him that he is still in consideration and they just take a really long time with their hiring process. It could take months apparently. That would actually be good with our baby time line but will be hard if an offer from Exelixis comes in in the mean time. Keep the prayers coming, this QA position would absolutely be a dream job for Craig. He deserves that SO much.

36 weeks 3 days

This picture was taken about a week ago. That baby has been growing! I don't feel huge (although I am moving slow) but when I see a profile I remember that I have a pretty good size belly going on. I have had several comments that I am small for 36 weeks but it is so subjective and of course 9 month bellies come in all shapes and sizes:0)

My check up today went just fine. The words "bed rest" never came up so I am in the clear. The baby is not as low as I had imagined but she is head down. The midwife said that it is really common for second time moms to complain of pelvic pains and discomfort and a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. She did check my cervix and sure enough the contractions have caused some forward progress. I am 1cm dilated and 50% effaced (thinning of the cervix). This does not indicate when I will go into labor but it is nice to know that all the pain I have is not for nothing. She assured me that if I do go into labor this week nothing would be done to stop it and baby should do fine. Still, it would be best if the little one stayed in for a few more weeks. My belly measured 35cm so growth is good and I gained 3lbs in the last 4weeks putting me at 19lbs total.

I talked to the midwife more about a water birth and signed a consent form. Unfortunately I learned that if I go into labor in the next few weeks I won't be able to have one. Since the midwife group is still new to water births, as is Emmanuel hospital, they have to have a proctor with them until they have done 5 water births. It sounds like everyone has done 1 or more but no one has reached 5 yet. And the proctor person is out of town! Bummer. She said I could still labor in the tub and even push for a while in the water but delivery will be on dry land.

I am feeling refreshed today after spending almost all of yesterday in bed. Craig ran a 8K event in the morning and when he got home took over with Katya. It was SO nice! I napped a lot and watched Desperate Housewives episodes that I rented from the library, in bed on my computer. After Katya went down for the night we watched 'Milk', an academy award winner this year which we also got from the library.

Craig did great in the 8K (little over 5 miles) "Shamrock" run. He finished in 35+ minutes which was about his goal and ranked in the top 30 out of about 400 in his age group. The event was partly sponsored by Widmer and he got free entrance to the run. Sweet.

Katya and Levi

Katya loves her dogs!

Dennis the mountain biking stud

My dad did awesome in his mountain biking event today. The ride, called Counting Coup, was 44+ miles with 8,000+ feet of elevation gain. His goal was 7hrs and he completed it in 6hrs and 21minutes! Fantastic! It started at 5:30am and the weather was really good; a bit on the cold side but that was nice. Nothing like the scorching hot day he did The Traverse (a similar event) last year; thank goodness. Way to go dad!

Update on me

I thank everyone for the prayers and wanted to tell you that they are working. The last few days have been much better for me. Although I am still having lots of cramps, contractions, headaches, reflux (so bad I almost threw up a few times) and insomnia my attitude has been much better. After those few really bad days that had me crying in the shower (with Katya looking up at me wondering what the heck was going on) I have perked up. I am focusing on the fact that these are the last weeks of it just being me and Katya and I am trying to enjoy every moment.

I have been reflecting a lot on the impending birth and unfortunately that turned it to really negative thoughts last week. I kept thinking about how my body has let me down in the past with a very painful 3 month miscarriage; the weeks of painful false labor that ended in an induction with Katya; 2.5hrs of pushing ending with an episiotomy and then the retained placental fragments which landed me back in the hospital and the fact that my pregnancies have been hard. So I am now working hard to acknowledge these feelings and let them go. I think it has actually turning into a good thing because I did not realize how much how negative emotion I had about these things. I had a healthy baby and avoided a c-section so I have never felt bad about my experience until now (lots of people have it much worse). Several of the midwives have even commented about how challenging Katya's birth was after reading my history and it actually surprised me because I did not think it was that bad. But it turns out I do have a lot of disappointment in myself and in my experience and I think the best way to deal with it is know it is there and let it go.

I have been having a very fun week with Katya. I bought her a copy of Mary Poppins at Costco and let her watch it (even though she is not 2 yet..what a bad mother!) and I am afraid I have created a monster. She LOVES it! She is obsessed with the songs and dancing. She now points to the TV, does her "uhhh uhhh" whine and bounces up and down (dancing). We have been going on walks around the block and playing in the backyard lots and she is really into helping us with tasks (like cooking or cleaning). She has had a hard time falling asleep a few times this week. She never cried but was in her crib talking to herself for a good hour before she nodded off. It was so fun to listen to her through the monitor. She kept saying "Ni-night. Shush!" So cute.