She's here!!!!

Ellyanna Grace Thompson
born at 2:40pm, 9 May 2009
7 lbs 12 oz, 20 inches

I know this post is long overdue, but as anyone who has had a newborn in the house knows there is very little time in those first few weeks for doing anything besides taking care of the baby. Anyhow...I'm just now getting around to blogging about the birth of our little Ellyanna Grace. She is 17 days old today and just as precious as can be. She arrived on her actual due date which was also my 34th birthday. This will certainly be a birthday to remember....along with my first Mother's Day.

Mom arrived on Thursday, May 7th and had just a couple of days to rest before Ellyanna was born. That evening Sam and I went for a walk and that was the first time I started feeling like I was getting close to giving birth. My back was hurting and I was feeling some contraction pains. We didn't walk for long considering how I was feeling. Saturday morning I had an appointment with Dr. Van de Castel at 8:00. I had been to see her on Friday as well, but I think she knew that I was getting close so she wanted me to come in on Saturday morning too. I was having contractions that morning and they started getting stronger around 7:00 when I was getting ready to leave. By the time we left the house, the contractions were strong enough that I asked Mom to drive to the doctor's office.

Dr. Van de Castel put me on the fetal monitor and could see the steady contractions, but when she examined me she said I was still not starting to dilate. We left there at 9:00 and went home. I was still having lots of contractions and they were starting to slow me down a little bit, but were not unbearable.

Sam had an electrician at the house that day putting in lights on the back patio. Having someone in and out of the house made it hard to relax in the living room, so I was sitting at the dining room table and Mom started timing the contractions. They were around 5 minutes apart, but only lasting 30-40 seconds. I figured I was still in early labor because while the contractions were somewhat painful, it was very manageable. In all the classes we attended throughout the pregnancy we were told to labor at home until the contractions were lasting for 1 minute, were 5 minutes apart and were consistent for 1 hour. It didn't seem like I was to that point, but when I was up moving around I noticed the pain was pretty constant so I laid down on our bed a little after 1:00.

Mom came upstairs to check on me and was just heading back downstairs to get the stopwatch to continue timing the contractions when I felt a pop and my water broke. I jumped up off the bed and called to Mom, but suddenly felt so sick and was in so much pain I went to my knees and was leaning on the couch in our room. It was frightening to be in that much pain so quickly. Mom knew we had to get to the hospital and went to get Sam. They had to help me down the stairs and out to the car. I am such a quiet person, but could not keep quiet with the harder contractions. I was really scared underneath it all because it came on so suddenly. Thinking back on it, I'm convinced that I basically went from early labor directly into transition with no real active labor. I was in so much pain all the way to the hospital and don't have a clear memory of much after my water broke. It was pretty surreal.

We got to the hospital and up to the labor ward and the midwife put me on a fetal monitor. When they did the exam they said I was already dilated to 9 centimeters, which was shocking to me since it had only been about 4 hours since I'd been at Dr. Van de Castel's and she said I was not dilated at all. At that point I started feeling a lot of pressure, so they transferred me to a labor room and within a matter of minutes (it seemed to me) I was pushing her out. It was all so different than I thought it would be and once my water broke everything happened so quickly. At home I was prepared for a long labor and suddenly here I was, just an hour later, at the end of labor pushing this baby out.

I didn't realize it at the time, but when Ellyanna was born she was not breathing and her face was very purple, so they didn't hand her to me or have Sam cut the cord. They took her directly over to the table and began working on her. Soon after I heard her first cries and she started getting pink. It was a much more intense experience than I was prepared for. I knew it would hurt, but was not prepared to go directly from early labor into transition so my body had no time to work up to it. By the time we got to the hospital there was no time for any type of pain relief so I ended up having her completely natural, which is what I originally wanted, but had no idea how painful that would be. If there had been time I'm sure I would have been asking for something.

During birth Ellyanna swallowed some meconium, so the doctors were concerned that she may have breathed it into her lungs as well. We watched her closely for any signs of pneumonia, but thankfully she's been just fine. Also, I'm positive for Strep B, so they usually would have put me on IV antibiotics during labor to prevent the baby from getting infected. They didn't get a chance to though because she came so quickly. We have to watch her closely for her first 3 months in case there are any signs of the Strep B. It's pretty serious if she has it, but it's rare for a baby to be infected by the mother, especially in very quick births, so I'm not too worried even though we'll be watching her.

I had a much different reaction to Ellyanna's birth than I thought I would. During pregnancy when I thought about seeing her for the first time I felt very emotional about it, but when she was born I felt very disconnected. It really bothered me that I didn't have that rush of maternal feeling, but I think I was so emotionally exhausted from the birth experience that I didn't have anything else to give at that point. I'm sure all women feel like their birthing experience was harder than most, but I was not prepared for what I experienced. Even Mom, whose given birth to three, felt it was a very hard birth. When people hear how fast I had her I usually get a comment about how great it is that it was so fast. While I've come to appreciate that it was fast, having her so quickly gave my body no time to adjust to the levels of pain. I was thrust right into transition and pushing the baby out with no real leading up to it. However, it all turned out good. We have a healthy beautiful baby and probably because it was so quick and I had no pain medication I had a very quick recovery. I never felt terribly sore and actually felt pretty good early on. I think my lack of maternal feelings at the delivery were transferred to Sam. It was cute seeing how proud he was of his little girl. I think it kind of took him by surprise how much he loved her at first sight. Throughout the pregnancy he didn't feel the connection that I did with having her inside me, but that changed very quickly once he saw her. He's a very proud daddy.

The German hospitals like to keep new babies and mothers for 5-7 days, but we stayed for 3. We stayed long enough for Ellyanna to have her first pediatric checkup, but I was very ready to get back to my house on Tuesday afternoon. I was glad that Sam was able to stay with me through the nights. It was pretty tough to get any sleep those first few nights (actually...it still is). She is so beautiful though. It's strange to go from just the two of us to having a baby. At times it still feels like a dream or that I'm just taking care of someone elses baby. I'm definitely still adjusting to having my own child. I was so happy that she had lots of dark hair :) Most importantly she is healthy, but there was a part of me that was hoping she would have dark hair. She looks so much like a Hosier baby. Everyone we see says that she looks like Sam and she really does, especially across the eyes, but she looks alot like my baby pictures too. We think we see little dimples on each cheek too. It's so precious when she smiles. I know at this age it's just a reflex, but it's a promise of what's to come.

Granted she is only 17 days old, but we've had a hard time getting her to sleep in her own bed. She is happiest laying on someone's chest (can you blame her?), so for the first 10 days I held her while trying to sleep at night. Around her 11th day Mom started staying up with Ellyanna at night and sleeping in the rocking chair so I could get some solid sleep. You forget how wonderful it is to be able to just go to bed and not have the responsibility of a baby. One night with Mom she actually slept in her crib for 3 hours at a time. That was a real milestone. I had to get up a couple times through the night to feed her, but I was getting a couple hours of solid sleep in between which was a real blessing. The following two nights she was very fussy. I think she was having some tummy problems. I have gas drops that we were giving her, but she just cried non-stop for those two evenings. I'm still getting to know this new little addition and seeing what works with her. Then, last night, was the first night she slept in our room. She was in bed with me more than in the co-sleeper, but we're making strides in the right direction.

It took quite awhile for Ellyanna's umbilical cord to fall off. Last Thursday we were scheduled for newborn photos, but because her umbilical cord was still on and it was a very rainy day the photographer rescheduled us for tomorrow. Finally, last Saturday(23 May) when we went to change her diaper we saw that her umbilical cord had fallen off through the night. It's so nice not having that on her belly anymore. The last couple of days before it came off it was just hanging by a thread and was bleeding a little. It's so nice to just have that sweet little baby belly under her clothes and to not have to be careful of the cord anymore.

There is so much more I could write about our baby girl, but my mind is still a bit of a mush and I can't really put all my thoughts together coherently right now. Even this post took me about a week to get together. I started it when she was 10 days old then kept trying to update it. Today I just decided to get it done, but even that has taken all day. I'll try to start posting more regularly, especially for the grandparents who can't see her everyday. I'm going to quit rambling now and just post some pictures of the last couple weeks with our precious baby girl.

Saturday morning at Dr. Van de Castel's office. I was having contractions here and was on the fetal monitor.

The first time I saw and held Ellyanna - she was just minutes old. My first thought was that she looked like my Grandma Hosier.

Getting to know my little girl. She was still so white from birth and her little hands and feet were so cold.

Sam holding his little girl

Ellyanna all bundled up. We were still in the labor room. She was probably just 30 minutes old in this picture.

It's hard to believe I'd just given birth to this little bundle.

Getting her hair rinsed.

While still in the labor room the midwife weighed and measured Ellyanna

I so wanted to be up and seeing what they were doing with Ellyanna, but it was during that first hour after giving birth and I kept feeling like I was going to pass out, so I had to resign myself to watching from the bed.

In the German hospital they dress them in the hospital clothes. Here she was getting clothes on for the first time.

Getting to know our baby girl

Several hours after birth we were finally in our room

Me with my baby girl

Grandma with her newest grandchild

Grandma and Ellyanna Grace

Since I was giving birth on my actual birthday, Mom and Sam brought the cake and presents to the hospital the following day (Mother's Day) so we could celebrate.

Getting weighed on day two. She dropped to 7lbs 6oz

Daddy and Ellyanna

Our little cherub

Precious!

Getting ready to head home on 12 May 2009

Leaving the hospital on our way home

Finally home! That's when exhaustion hit me.

Sleeping peacefully her first night at home.

Going on our first outing

Getting her hair combed

Sam having some one on one with Ellyanna

So cute!

Ready to head out. First time she was wearing a little dress.

The midwife weighing Ellyanna (23 May). She was up to 8 lbs, 5 oz.

Walking around Feuersee

Enjoying an ice cream cone in downtown Stuttgart.

Getting ready for our first time going to church with Ellyanna (24 May).

These past 2 1/2 weeks have just flown by. It's been so great having Mom here and I'm already dreading the time when she leaves. She's been such a great help, but besides that it's just been nice having her around. I so miss being near my family.

Sam's been able to be off work since Ellyanna was born. Today was his first day back, but it was nice having him around so much. We've been getting to know our little girl and just getting through the days. We're still trying to get her days and nights switched around. Hopefully I can get better at posting updates. Until next time.

Just waiting...

Wow! We're down to only 5 days until the baby's due, unbelievable as that may be! Of course, she might not (probably won't) show up on that day, but it's still the date we're counting down to. I still feel really great. Mom told me this morning that hopefully I'm not still saying that next week or I may end up needing to be induced. I'm not necessarily eager to have the pain of childbirth, but I don't want her to get too comfortable because she needs to come out at some point.

Today I have a full day at home to get some things finished up. Tomorrow I have another doctor's appointment and hopefully, the doctor will see some signs of labor progression. Then on Wednesday I have my final pregnancy support group and Thursday Mom's gets here. It's just amazing to me how quickly time has flown by. I can hardly believe this pregnancy is almost to an end. I'm still so thankful not to have kidney pain. I have felt so good since that stent was taken out 2 months ago and literally thank God every day that I've not had any setbacks with it.

Sam and I had a nice weekend. I love spending time with my husband. It's so nice not working outside of the home. The time we have together is much more relaxed. With the baby's arrival so close it seems we have a list of things that need to get done on the weekends. We keep wondering if this is our last weekend without her.

Saturday we were finally able to pick up the correct stroller at Baby-Walz. They had to order one in from Hamburg and there were a few frustrations with that, but I'm happy that we finally have the color we originally wanted. We tried to get the material for curtains at Obi, but that didn't work out once again. I found a material, but then they said it wasn't the right size to make curtains....AARRRHH!!!! I really wanted to get them ordered so I don't have to deal with it after the baby arrives, but it looks like that won't happen. Part of the problem is Obi doesn't make curtains, but they have the biggest selection of material. Toom has the curtains made, but they have very little material to choose from. So....we have to find a material at Obi to buy (and figure out how much we need - the width of the windows multiplied by 2.2) then take it to Toom for the curtains. It would be so much easier if it was all in the same store. The nursery curtains were so simple because Toom had the material that we liked. Oh well!!! I guess I won't have curtains as soon as I was hoping.

Yesterday we had a potluck after church and enjoyed visiting with people there. After the shower I feel like I know some of them better than I did, which is nice. It takes me awhile to get to know people, so it needs to be forced on me sometimes :) I keep wondering if this will be our last time in church without a little baby. Our lives are on the verge of such a huge change, but we can't even really comprehend the extent of what it all means. I don't think any new parents have any idea how their lives are going to change until it happens. Some days our lives seems so peaceful with just the two of us and I actually find myself thinking "I hope the baby's worth it". I know that doesn't sound nice, but it's honest. On this side of having her it's hard to imagine what our lives will be like. I guess it's just new parent jitters and not knowing what to expect.

Last evening we went to the PX to check on our furniture order. AAFES has a reputation for not calling when your order arrives or even selling it to another customer, so I've tried to stay on top of it and keep going in to actually see if there is any new information. I didn't expect any other pieces to be in, but one of the girls said she had seen something in the back room, so she went to check and came back with the dresser that we had ordered. It was the same name brand and color, but the customer order number didn't match. We could have just taken it, but we pointed out that the number was different because I didn't want to take someone else's furniture if they had been waiting on it. So, they were going to check on it and give us a call.

Just a few minutes ago the phone rang and it was AAFES. They said that dresser is actually ours!!! Yeah!!! I'm so happy to have another piece of the nursery furniture. We're only waiting on the changing table now. I'm so happy to get this so I can empty some of the overflow in the closet out into the drawers. Things are coming together!!

Sam had to go to work extra early today to cover for someone who's out sick, so we didn't get to the gym this morning. Thankfully he was able to get off a couple of hours early, so he should be home earlier than normal. He has to run to Hornbach though, so I've already called and given him something else to pick up there and asked him to get milk on the way home. Then, after AAFES called I asked him if he could stop and get the dresser. Poor guy, he probably won't get home that much earlier. I hate giving him things to do after work, but it's either tonight or tomorrow when he gets off even later. I have a good husband and he doesn't really mind doing things for me, but I still feel bad asking him after he's had a long day.

We are having a gorgeous day here. The sun is shining so brightly in through the windows letting me know how badly they need cleaned. Sam is going to call a window washing service to price them coming out and doing all the windows in the next couple of weeks. We have so many windows in this house that it literally takes all day to clean them, so it would be worth the money to have someone come and do that job.

Our Macintosh apple tree in bloom

This is the 3rd summer we've had this tree and the first time we've seen it with this many blooms.

Gabby enjoying the sunshine

Well, here are yesterday's pregnancy photos. If you can't tell by the picture I was not having a good morning. Sorry...no smiles this time.



These are just some pictures from the nursery. I had some little dresses that I'd just ironed and were waiting to be hung in the closet. Hanging there, they just looked so "little girlish" that it tickled my heart and I wanted to capture that. It's going to be so fun having a little girl to dress up :)

Our photographer sent us the previews of our pictures from last weekend. Unfortunately I can't copy them from the website and post here. I will be buying the CD of pictures once we get the newborn shots, but I won't have them until that time. Of course, we didn't like all of them but we didn't expect to. There are several that we liked though, so I think it was worth it.

That's what's going on here. Most likely we have an eventful week ahead of us. If the baby takes her time coming I'll probably do another update, but if you don't hear from me before then I'll be posting pictures of our sweet little bundle as soon as I can. The hospital does not have Internet and I'll be in there for 3 days at least, so it could take a little while. Until next time...

Baby shower, pictures, etc....

I've started feeling very pregnant lately. I think I've definitely slowed down in the last couple of days. Walking through a store on Saturday I had to ask Sam to walk even slower. He wasn't going fast, but I just couldn't keep up with him. I've been having some pre-labor pains. I wouldn't call them contractions, but just some pain that I'm pretty sure is my body getting ready for the big day. I hope she holds out until Mom gets here, but she'll come in her own time I'm sure.

Friday evening I went to the baby shower that was given by the ladies in the church. It was very nice and I felt honored that people I really don't know that well would put that much time into a shower to celebrate our baby. As much as I appreciated their kindness it was hard to be the center of attention. I usually try to steer away from being the focus of a group.

Christa and Beth were the two ladies who really put the shower together. The shower was at Christa's home and when she sent out the invitations she asked everyone to bring their favorite child's book. So, I came home with a great start for the baby's library. I thought that was a really nice idea. We got some other nice gifts, but I was really excited about all the baby books. We're pretty set with clothes and necessities for the baby, but had no books or toys so that was really a great gift idea.

Beth, Me and Christa

The shower cake

Opening gifts

Sitting has become pretty uncomfortable. I don't think the baby's dropped at all and when I'm sitting it feels like she's pushed into my ribs. I'm always pushing on her to try and make room to breath. Sam tells me to quit pushing her because I'll give her a bully complex :)

The collection of books and other gifts from the shower.

I got home at 10:00 that evening exhausted. Being around people drains me, but I really did appreciate the ladies giving a shower to celebrate our baby.

CYS at Patch was having a Spring Fling on Saturday and one of the services they were offering was child car seat inspections. We took the baby's infant seat out to have them help with the installation. It was great to have professionals help to show us the proper installation because when I originally took it out of the box and started reading the manual it was pretty confusing. So, the baby's seat is all set for her arrival. We left it installed in the car, so it's ready whenever she decides to come.

That day we also tried to exchange the stroller, but they didn't have the color we wanted in stock, so we're waiting to hear back from them on how long it's going to take to get that.

Yesterday afternoon we had a photo session scheduled out at an old monastery called Kloster Beben Hausen. I really wanted to get maternity photos, but have been nervous about getting them too. My poor, sweet husband had to put up with me fretting over it for several weeks, so I'm sure he's very glad it's over with. It actually turned out much better than I thought it would. I don't like to have my picture taken, but love to have the pictures....if that makes any sense at all. The photographer made it much easier by putting us at ease. After the baby's born we'll go to her place to have newborn photos taken. It was important to me to capture this time in our lives with pictures, so I'm really happy that we went through with it even though I was tempted to call them off several times. We were fortunate that the weather held out for us. It was looking pretty cloudy by the time we were heading out to the monastery, but cleared up as we got nearer.

Before I go, here are this week's photo updates.

38 weeks pregnant!

Two more weeks to go!

Off the subject of baby for a minute....last summer I wondered what all the fuss was about Facebook, so I signed up for an account but never really did anything with it until I started getting friend requests. So, just a couple of months ago I finished my page and started gathering friends. I have to say I think I'll always be more of a blogger, but I've really enjoyed touching base with some old friends again. It's been fun reconnecting.

I haven't been sleeping very well and last night was an especially poor night's sleep. I'm not much of a napper, but did take a nap this morning after getting back from the gym and Sam left for work. I figure I better try to get what sleep I can now because after the baby comes I already know I'll be sleep deprived. Anyhow....so, now I need to get busy. Time goes so fast and I can end up wasting a lot of time if I don't watch it.

37 weeks down....3 more to go!

Every week when I get ready to do an update for this blog I get nervous all over again realizing how close the birth of our baby girl is. It's so unreal to me. It feels like a dream to think that we'll be bringing a baby home in just a couple of short weeks. As of today we only have 17 more days until she's due! AAHHH!!!! It's so strange to get to this stage of pregnancy and still feel this much anxiaty about becoming parents. I guess I thought I would feel ready by the time she was due, but I SO don't. I feel like the same exact person (with a much bigger belly, mind you :) and I just don't feel like a Mom. But then, I guess that comes with the experience and not just because I'm carrying a child.

This week is jam packed with appointments. Monday I had my full doctor's appointment and everything still looks good. Dr. Van de Castel didn't see any sign of progression to labor, so maybe our little girl will stay put until Mom gets here. She flies in just two days before the due date, so it could be close.

Of course I had another ultrasound to check everything. Dr. Van de Castel was able to capture a couple of pictures of the baby, but these weren't quite as clear as the others we have. Her cheek actually looks mashed, like it's getting a little tight in there :) Very briefly I actually saw her blink and open her mouth! That was very cool! It's just unreal how much detail you can see with an ultrasound. Like I said, these aren't the best ultrasound pictures, but I'll post them anyhow. You can see how her little cheek looks pretty smashed.

Baby Thompson at 37 weeks

My hands have been hurting alot through the joints and wrists. Most of the night they ache and go numb. I think it's just from the water retention, but it's a bit of a nuisance. Anyhow, I mentioned this to the doctor, so she had me go back yesterday for some more screenings. I still have to go back again on Friday for another fetal monitoring. That will make 3 doctor's appointments this week along with two birthing classes and a baby shower Friday evening. Makes for a full week for sure.

Yesterday morning we went to our second birthing class. That one was called Stages of Labor and was very interesting. A midwife from Boblingen hospital was there to answer a lot of the questions we had about the German system. It really was a great class with lots of good information.

Throughout the entire pregnancy I've avoided dwelling too long on the actual birth of this baby because there's just no getting around it. I don't think any woman wants to go through that pain, but I figure lots of women have gone through it and have even gone through it numerous times, so I'll deal with it when it happens. I just haven't seen any reason to get too scared about something that I have no control over. Well, thanks to yesterday's class, I had to look it straight on and came to the conclusion that watching a movie of someone else giving birth does nothing to set my mind at ease. Actually, it probably just made it seem that much worse. So, I'm still ignoring the fact that I'm going to have to go through that very same process in the next few weeks. I'm back to playing ignorant about the whole thing and planning to just deal with it when it happens. Of course, I'll do what I can to be prepared, but I'm just not letting myself think too much about the pain of childbirth.

Speaking of doing what I can to be prepared...this morning we had another birthing class to attend. This one was called Comfort Measures and dealt with the different non-medical things we can do throughout labor to help deal with the pain. They told us to wear comfortable clothes today because we would be practicing with our "coaches". That's what they're calling the Dads, which seems a little funny to me since he's expected to "coach" me through something neither of us have been through before. Should be interesting :) I'm not sure how well I'll take the "coaching" in the midst of pain, but I've told Sam to please just not take anything personal during labor. I've never been through it and have no idea what I'll want or how I'll be. That's my disclaimer before we even get to the hospital :)

I mentioned that we had bought a stoller a couple of weeks ago, but until now it's just been sitting in the box because we've had other things going on and didn't figure there was a real rush to get it together. So, Sunday afternoon Sam pulled the box into the living room to start pulling all the pieces out and realized it wasn't the same color that we had wanted. We asked for the charcoal grey and pink stroller, but the one in the box is green and tan. Granted, it's not a bad looking stroller, just not the one we wanted. We already had to go back to the store last Saturday because we were not given the sale price on the stroller...something I didn't realize until I was going through our receipts. The difference was about $50, so certainly worth the trip back to the store. It's just too bad we hadn't bothered to put the stroller together at that point so we could have exchanged it at the same time. Anyhow, that's another thing to add to our "to do" list

This Friday evening I'll be going to the baby shower being given by the ladies at church. It's such a nice gesture on their behalf and I certainly appreciate their thoughtfulness. I am a little nervous though because I just don't like being the center of attention.....UGH!

Well, here are the weekly photo updates. This is from Sunday. I was 37 weeks and 1 day.

3 more weeks!!

One more thing before I sign off...I just got a phone call from the PX at Panzer saying that the baby's crib is in!!!!! Yeah!!!! I'm so happy about that! The other pieces have not arrived yet, but this gives me hope that they may not be far behind.

Well, I better get busy on cleaning the house. I haven't been home hardly at all this week, so it's in need of some help.

Just rambling.....

There's nothing very news worthy going on here, but we're sure having beautiful weather. It seems like we went very quickly from a chilly spring right into summer. This week we've been having temps in the 70's with lots of sun and blue sky.

I have an ever-growing list of things that I need/want to get done before Baby's arrival. I think I work best when down to the wire and so now I feel a definite need to get in gear and start checking things off my list.

One of those items on my list was to contact a photographer for maternity photos. I'd left a message a couple of days ago and she called me back yesterday. She has a combination package for maternity photos, as well as, a newborn session. I think we're going to have pictures taken on the 26th, when I'm at 38 weeks. I don't like getting my picture taken, but I love having them when it's over and I want to capture this time in our lives in photos. For the newborn photos we haven't decided if she'll come to our house or we'll go to hers, but we have a little bit of time to think that through.

I'm trying to think of poses that I've seen that I really like. It's hard to find good sample photos online. So many are nude maternity photos and that's not quite what I'm interested in :) I'm sure she's done this before though, so she should have some nice ideas. She usually does the shoot outside, so I think we'll go to a local castle or monastery for the backdrop.

Sam finally bought a scooter last week. He's only been talking about it for the last 18 months. He ended up getting a used one, but he's pretty happy with it. Yesterday, for the first time, he drove it to work. It takes him a little bit longer, but he said it was a very relaxing ride with the weather as nice as it's been. According to the weather reports we're supposed to get rain starting tomorrow, so his scooter riding days might be short lived. I say a prayer for him every time he gets on it. With how people drive around here it causes me concern to have him out on the road with so little protection.

Yesterday we attended the first of our birthing classes. This one provided alot of good information in regards to acquiring birth certificates, passports, social security cards, etc., for the baby. Being overseas makes that process much more tedious and much more important. Since she will be born in Germany, the first thing we have to do is get a German birth certificate (which could take up to 4 weeks). Also, since we are in Germany, the name we choose has to be approved by the authorities. Hopefully that won't be a problem.

Once we receive the German birth certificate, we can then apply for an American birth certificate and her passport (which could take up to 12 weeks). We cannot leave the country until we have those two documents in hand. We're hoping to fly back to Alaska in September, but we'll have to see how long it takes to get everything we need. Once we receive her birth certificate and passport we can finally apply for her social security number and her official passport (the official passport is required because we are here under official orders, not just tourists). So, as you can see it's quite a lengthy process and one we need to get started on as soon after birth as we can. One of the items on my to do list is to get all the paperwork in order so we can have everything ready to go once she's born.

I also need to pack for the hospital. It feels like the due date is out there a long way because I just can't fathom it being as close as it is. However, I need to get packed just in case she decides to make her debut a little early.

Another hassle with living overseas is we pay all the doctor bills up front then send in receipts to our insurance for a refund. It's not been a problem, just time consuming. We get so many different bills and I have to do a request form for each. So, doing that and tracking them all takes quite a bit of time.

The other day I got the co-sleeper put together and took the car seat out of the box. I think the co-sleeper will work very well. I kind of gave up on figuring out the car seat at this time though. It looks confusing. We'll end up taking it to a certified car seat inspector on Patch to make sure we have it installed correctly.

I did manage to get all of the baby's clothes washed and ironed this week. It took quite awhile since we have clothes ranging from newborn through 24 months. I continue to search the sale racks and was able to get quite a few clothes when I was home during the holidays. It would be nice to have the dresser in the nursery to get everything put away, but for now we're only using this closet that's in there. It'll work fine until we can get the other furniture.

As you can see, not that much new is going on with us. We're still just consumed with baby preparations. It's fun, but a little overwhelming some days. I'm trying to enjoy it because I know this is a special time in our lives. I've really been feeling good lately other than the water retention, which I think the tea may be helping with....finally. It's been nice going to the gym with Sam in the mornings. I know these days are short lived, but I love spending that time with him. I enjoy my pregnant belly. Never before in my life have I felt so free to sit on the couch with my belly out there for all to see. I love feeling and watching her move inside of me. It's quite the experience and something I try to share with Sam, but it's hard for him to really understand.

Well, I've missed a week or two of pictures, but here are the ones we took on Sunday. I wanted to have one with Sam so I tried to prop the camera, but it didn't work so great. It turned out that we were looking down at the camera....not the greatest angle for anyone, let alone someone who is 36 weeks pregnant :)

Sam and I trying to get a picture together - of course Gabby had to get in on the action.

Just 4 more weeks to go!

These next two pictures were taken by Marika when we were at their place a couple of weekends ago. She had told Mom she would get some belly pictures of me. Oh, joy! I was 35 weeks in these.

Sam and I at Marika and Jason's on 5 April 2009.

Well, that's what's going on here. Until next time...

4 weeks and counting....

I looked at the date this morning and realized that one month from today we are due to have a baby enter the world. Is there really any way to be prepared for that? I don't think so. I'm feeling pressured to get the house scrubbed clean and get her co-sleeper put together and the car seat out. I want to be ready just in case she decides to come early. With everything else that's gone on during the pregnancy I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. Gabby has been enjoying the recliner that we have in the nursery. She won't be a very happy camper once I get the co-sleeper, car seat and playpen set up because I'll close the door so she can't get into them. I love my Gabby, but she gets black hair on everything and I don't want her to be all over the baby's furniture.

Yesterday I had another appointment with Dr. Van de Castel. During the ultrasound she was concerned that the baby's amniotic fluid may be too low, so she scheduled me to go to the hospital that afternoon to be checked better. I think she's over cautious, but I guess it's better than ignoring things. Sam and I went to the hospital appointment and they monitored the baby for awhile. Everything looked good. Then the doctor did an ultrasound to measure the amniotic fluid. Again, everything looked good. The doctor said the levels were normal and she had no concerns.

We asked her how much the baby weighs at this point and from the measurements she's about 6 lbs 4 oz right now. It's just hard to believe she's that big already. When the doctor was doing the ultrasound I asked her to see what baby part keeps poking me on my left side. She said it's an elbow and her little bottom is what I keep feeling on the right side. I love getting ultrasounds. It's so nice to have that interaction with our baby.

While I was hooked up to the fetal monitor we were in one of the delivery rooms, which was interesting. We were probably in the smallest of the delivery rooms, so I hope to get one of the bigger rooms when it's actually time to deliver, but we were thinking about what it'll be like when the baby's born. Right next to the bed is a counter with a scale, tape measure, a changing pad with layers of blankets and a heating lamp over that. There's also a large sink that she'll probably get her first bath in. From what I understand, they won't take the baby away, but will hand her directly to me before she's bathed or anything. Later, they will help Sam give her the first bath and will do all the testing on her in the same room with us. I'm very happy about how it's done here in Germany - giving us that time right after birth to get to know her and meet this little bundle that's been kicking me for the last several months. I think that's really special and something I'll appreciate.

This morning we had a follow up appointment with the diabetes doctor. I just love him! He is so funny! He told me congratulations all my tests came back fine. He went through all of them and said different ones were higher than normal due to the pregnancy, so in his words - he's convinced that I'm pregnant (as if the belly wasn't confirmation enough). Since none of my glucose levels went above 120 during the week he cleared me of diabetes, but said I can still check my blood about 4 times a day. I usually would obey a doctor's orders, but I don't see a need to continue since I've had no problems with it this past week.

He said once the baby's born I need to come back in and have my blood checked again just to make sure all the levels are back to normal. He said "You bring the baby. We look at her and be happy." He also said that when the baby's born I should call him and tell him her weight and length - I guess to see if she's larger than usual in order to determine if I'm at risk for gestational diabetes in the future. Anyhow, we left there smiling. He's such a nice man and so pleasant to talk to.

I've had a lot of water retention lately. I didn't realize how it can make the joints hurt. I've been waking up through the night with the knuckles on my hands aching. I mentioned this to the doctor and she gave me the name of a tea to buy that helps as a diuretic. Hopefully that will start to help before long.

Next week we start the many birthing classes that we have on our calendar to attend. It's all getting so close! We're excited, but it still doesn't seem real that we're having a baby. I know...it's 4 weeks away I better get used to the idea, but it's hard to wrap my brain around such a change in our lives. I am feeling the need to get everything together here at the house and get my suitcase packed for the hospital...just in case.

Last night we got a call from Toom saying that the nursery curtains are ready to be picked up. Sam has to work this Saturday. CYS is having an Easter celebration that he has to help with, so we'll pick the curtains up when he's finished there. It'll be fun to get them in the nursery. Hopefully we were able to translate everything correctly and they fit the way they're supposed to. We want to look at the other material they have and see if there is anything that would work for the other rooms and get them ordered as well.

We've been having wonderful weather lately. Spring is beautiful here in Germany. There are so many Daffodils, crocuses and other spring flowers along side the roads. Today it is about 80 degrees in the sun. I love being able to open all the windows and get that fresh air in the house. Of course, it's not always fresh air. It's also the season for the farmers to start working their fields, so occasionally we have the smell of manure fertilizer permeate the air and have to close up all the windows.

Gabby is very insistent about going outside these days. Sam takes her out every evening when he gets home, but she's been working on me during the days as well. She sits at the patio door and sniffs through the slightly open window and looks so pitiful. It's hard to resist her, so she gets out some through the day too. She loves being outside. It's such a small thing, but makes her so happy.

Well, that's what's going on with us as of late. Today I'm working around the house washing baby clothes, crib sheets, blankets, etc., along with doing the regular cleaning. It's nice to have a day where I don't have to leave the house for some appointment. Again I am so thankful that I'm able to be at home getting ready to have our baby instead of feeling the need to continue working outside the home. I feel very blessed. Until next time....

Less than 5 weeks left...

Time is flying by and I just realized it's been awhile since I posted an update. Not much has changed here in the last couple of weeks. We're still staying very busy with doctor appointments and other baby related classes. It's only going to get busier in the next few weeks. It's only about 4 1/2 weeks before Mom will be here and the baby will be due. I haven't really comprehended the fact that we'll have a little baby here at that time. There are some things in life that are just so big that you can't really wrap your brain around it until it happens.

Last Thursday I had an appointment with a diabetes specialist. Even though she said it wasn't something to be concerned about, Dr. Van de Castel wanted me to be checked by a specialist since one of the blood tests was elevated during my glucose test several weeks ago. I was not too concerned about it because I've never had sugar problems, but it's good to get it checked out anyhow. Besides, diabetes does run in Dad's family, so I should keep an eye on it.

Sam went with me to see Dr. Schmulling, which ended up being very interesting. The doctor reminded us both of the doctor in Back to the Future. He had this wild white hair and just the way he talked was hilarious. He would ask me a question then talk to himself in German while typing away on the computer. I went in not thinking much about the appointment, so I was a little surprised to came out with a diet I have to follow for the next week and a blood glucose tester that he wants me to use to check my blood before and after each meal.

I didn't quite know what to think of him. As he was typing out this diet he would say "No Sugar!" (then start typing that), "No white bread!" (typed that), "5 handfuls of fruit - let me see your hands....yes, 5 handfuls of fruit" (typed that). Between each item he would turn and stare at me for 30 seconds straight until he got the next thought, then he'd throw his hand in the air and say something like "Fish! Lots of fish!" It's hard to explain how wacky the experience was, but Sam and I were trying not to laugh. We were looking at each other thinking "Is this guy for real??". It was so funny. I think we both wondered if we were on Candid Camera. It would have been a perfect Saturday Night Live skit. Before we left the office they took my blood to check my thyroid, cholesterol and a number of other things, so at least I'll get a good blood workup through this.

I don't think there is anything for me to be concerned about, but I've been writing down what I eat and taking my blood throughout the day. I'm very thankful I don't have to do this all the time. I just have to continue it until I go back to see him on Thursday. It's another example of how we take our health for granted. I never think about my blood glucose level and realize now how hard it would be if I really did have a problem.

Last week we got the rug rolled out in the nursery. We like it. It's not as thick as we would have chosen, but it's all we could find here and I think it'll be fine. I'm still frantically ordering things that I think we'll need for the baby (and some that we don't need, but want :). We're down to less than 5 weeks and it's a little daunting to think about bringing a new baby home and wondering if we'll need anything else.

My belly is in the stage now where it feels hard almost constantly. I guess she's getting big enough to take up most of the space, so she's pressing against the sides now. It's been fun interacting with her lately. I'll feel a round bulge on the left side of my belly, so I push on it and feel her pull back whatever body part that happened to be. Last night as I was laying in bed I'd feel a really hard area in my belly. Knowing it was either a foot, elbow, bottom or some other baby part, I'd push on it and feel her start moving. I think feeling a baby move inside of you is something that you really don't get used to. I haven't anyhow. It still thrills me and every time I feel her move I put a hand on my belly to try and feel it better. I try to share it with Sam as much as I can, but I don't think he can feel her as well. The best way we've found for him to feel her is when we're laying down and I hug him from behind with my belly against his back. At those times he gets the feel for how active she is because he can feel all her kicks on his back. It's just amazing to me that we have a little baby inside of me. It's comforting to know that we're far enough along now so there's not a real concern about early delivery... although, I would like for her to stay put until the due date.

I'm still adjusting to doing my normal activities with a basketball-size bump on the front of me. Several days ago I was putting together some closets on the top floor, which normally would have take just a couple of hours (if that). That day it took me 4 hours! Nothing is simple anymore. Most everything takes about twice as long. Even turning over in bed has taken on an entirely new meaning. I don't feel like my stomach is that huge, but it sure does make a difference in my ability to move quickly or smoothly.

Sam has been so busy at work. He's still covering his old job (SAS Director) and the one he was selected for last August (CYS Administrator). Lately he's had to work some very long days. I'll be happy when they get someone hired for his old position, so he can do just the one job. Summer is always a hard time for him to take any days off, but he planning to take some time when the baby is born. Since Mom will be here for 4 weeks, he's thinking about taking the first 2 weeks off and then when she leaves take another 2 weeks. I think that sounds like a good plan. I'm looking forward to seeing my husband with our baby. She'll be so tiny in his arms and he'll be such a great daddy. I am very blessed to have a husband who is such a wonderful provider and will be a very hands-on daddy.

This weekend we finally found a stroller. We've been searching for quite awhile. We decided to buy a European stroller because they seem like better quality and I really like the features they have. The only problem is that you can easily pay $1,000 + for it, but they are very nice. Thankfully we found one much cheaper than that and one that we're both very happy with. It has the bassinet for when she's an infant and then the seat for her toddler years. We debated on getting a truly neutral color in case the next child we have is a boy, but finally decided on this grey and pink model. I guess if we have a boy next he'll be too little to really care that he's in a pink stroller.

Last Sunday in church, one of the ladies asked me if someone was planning a baby shower for me. I told her that when Mom comes over in May, her and my friend Marika were planning to have one. It'll be after the baby is born because Mom's coming just a couple of days before the due date. Anyhow, the church ladies wanted to have a shower for me before the baby comes, so this week one of them called and set it up for April 24th. I thought that was so kind of them to want to put a shower on for me. My personality is not the type that enjoys being the center of attention at a party, but I guess this comes with the territory of having a baby and I am very appreciative of what they're doing. Yesterday, Christa (the one who's setting it up) gave me one of the invitations that she and her daughter made. I was so happy to get this for our little one's baby book. I thought they did a really nice job.


Yesterday afternoon we went to Jason and Marika's for a cookout. We had a nice time with them. Marika and I worked together at NAF and I really enjoy her friendship. Now that we don't work together and with the added issues I've had with the pregnancy, we haven't been able to see each other very often in the last few months. I'm so bad about keeping in touch with people and want to get better at it. Being friendly and outgoing does not come natural to me so even if I really like someone it's a struggle to make myself keep in touch with them.

Marika is such a sweetheart and when we left she gave us a playpen/bassinet that she had bought for the baby. It's going to be so nice to have that on the main floor so when the baby's little I can still have her sleeping close to me and not have to run up the stairs 50 times a day to check on her.

Well, that's what's going on here. Time goes by fast, so I need to get busy and make the most of the days remaining before our little girl arrives. Until next time...

Answered prayers

Our minds are at ease after a trip to the specialist this afternoon. I am so thankful to be able to say that everything looks good. Everything looked normal. This doctor specializes in pre-natal ultrasound and he was very thorough. He checked everything on the baby, starting from her head and working down to her little toes. After checking multiple angles of her face in 3D, he said he didn't see any sort of swelling. She just has chubby cheeks :) He confirmed that she is indeed still a little girl (for which we were happy). He checked her hands and fingers, her heart, lungs, kidneys, spine, stomach, blood flow - just about everything you could think of. I appreciated his thoroughness. It really put my mind at ease to know she was alright.

Our other concern was the possibility of placenta previa. After checking everything he saw no signs of that. The cervix is right in the middle of what's considered normal and the placenta was not too far down, so as far as he was concerned it was all very normal with nothing to worry about. I asked him if he saw any reason I should need to be on bed rest and he said no. I was right where I should be for 33 weeks in pregnancy. That was a relief to hear. I was determined not to worry about anything until I knew if something was wrong. It was in God's hands and I just prayed for His protection over the baby. Although afterwards I had a real sense of relief knowing everything was fine.

One more thing before I go - we got a few pictures of the baby's face today, so I thought I'd share those. I'm still amazed at how much detail we can see of the baby still inside me. She obviously likes to have her hand up by her face. Seems like it's there every time we see her.

More health concerns

Yesterday Sam went skiing again with some friends from work. We don't have any snow in our area, but apparently there's still plenty where they go in the Black Forrest. He's been enjoying the skiing this year. I would too if I were able to go. Being pregnant makes that a little impossible at this time. So....I stayed home. Just didn't sound like that much fun to sit and watch them ski all day.

I started washing the baby's clothes and did some things around the house. I keep wishing I had ordered the nursery furniture about 4 months ago, so I could be putting everything in its place now. Instead, there are boxes sitting in the nursery....just waiting until I have a place to store everything. It won't be quite as organized as I would have liked when she's born, but we'll manage until the furniture gets here.

I'm supposed to be on bed rest according to my doctor. Sometimes it seems like I've had one issue after another with this pregnancy. I was feeling great (still do actually), but at my appointment on Wednesday the doctor had some concerns and told me to stay off my feet. That was a little frustrating because I've been enjoying being back to the gym in the mornings. Regardless, I listened to my doctor and skipped the gym Thursday and Friday and tried to take it easy. Friday I went back to the doctor for another fetal monitoring and both doctors there wanted to do an ultrasound because they were concerned that I may have placenta previa. I did not know what that was, but apparently it's when the placenta is blocking the cervix. Normally it moves upward to give way for the baby to come out, but with previa it doesn't.

After spending quite a bit of time studying the ultrasound on Friday they do not think I have the previa, but cannot be sure. During the ultrasound they saw something else that concerned them. They thought one side of the baby's face looked swollen. Obviously, that didn't sound good to me. They said the swelling could be caused by some infection. Within the last 6 weeks I've been on 2 runs of antibiotics though, so I really hope that's not the case. I don't like taking antibiotics so frequently. I have an appointment with a specialist tomorrow to verify if I do have previa and to check the baby's face better. I'm trying not to be concerned much until we know for sure what's going on. During the ultrasound the baby was not cooperating so they weren't able to see her face in 3D, which would have answered the question of whether her face is indeed swollen or not.

I'm praying that the baby is fine and that I don't have placenta previa. If I do and it doesn't correct itself in the next few weeks I would have to be scheduled for a C-section, probably around week 37 (4 weeks from now). I'm not planning on that though until we have confirmation of what's going on. We serve a big God who can take care of all these issues.

Thankfully, I still don't have any kidney pain, so for that I'm thankful. It's one less thing to worry about right now.

When Sam got home yesterday we drove to Toom to check on curtains for the nursery. We've already checked Hornbach, Obi and a new Bauhaus. I've mentioned before how we've had a hard time figuring out the curtains over here. I haven't been very impressed with most of the patterns I've seen. What we ended up doing at Toom is find a material that we liked and gave them the measurements for the windows. They will make the curtains for the track system, which we have, and we can pick them up in about 3 weeks. After all of my frustration with the curtains this seemed so simple. We'll probably end up doing the same for all the other windows. It gives us more options because we can find any material that we like and have curtains made from that. It didn't seem much more expensive than ordering them off the rack and I won't have to worry about hemming them.

I've been having pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions for quite a few weeks now, but lately it seemed they've been a lot stronger and more frequent. Yesterday evening at Toom they were so strong that I was having trouble walking. That was a little unnerving. It made me realize I better take what the doctors said seriously and try to take it easy. We don't want the baby arriving before she's due. It's hard to sit around and not be able to do much though. Today Sam is vacuuming the house because I can't carry the vacuum up and down all of our stairs. I feel pretty good, but don't want to take any risks. I'll be glad to get to the doctor tomorrow and find out for sure what's going on. Something that's reassuring to me is that in another 2 weeks they wouldn't even stop the baby from coming. She's pretty well developed at this point, so if there were any problems I know she would be able to make it outside the womb.

Well, here is my weekly photo update. This was as we were heading out the door to Toom last night.

Weekly update

Here we are at the beginning of another week. It's hard to believe we only have (less than) 8 weeks left before the baby is due. It seems very clear that the countdown has started. The weeks just click off so quickly and before we know it the baby will be here.

I've always heard that you can forget about a good night's sleep after the baby is born, but I just didn't realize that it starts long before the birth. I haven't been getting good sleep for a few months now between the backaches, crazy dreams and numerous trips to the bathroom. I think all of this contributes to how tired a new mom is. The sleepless nights don't just start at the birth of the baby. It's a compilation of the months prior as well.

We don't have that many weekends left, so Saturday we got an early start. We went to Hornbach first thing in the morning and ordered an area rug for the nursery. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have any padding to put under the rug. I'm going to see if I can order any from Home Depot. It would make it much softer if we could do that.

Another thing we were able to check off our list is a baby monitor. We needed to get one on the German economy, because we see a lot of AFN commercials warning that some American monitors run on the same frequency as German cell phone providers. If our monitor caused a loss of service we could be held liable. So, we figured it would be better to just get a German baby monitor. We found one at Media Markt. Everything is a bit more difficult here with the language barrier. Even though Sam speaks the language he doesn't read it as well, so that makes it interesting.

My friend, Carmen, and her family were down from Heidelberg on Saturday. Their girls had a wrestling meet here, so we spent a little time with them. Heidelberg is not that far away, but we seldom see each other.

We also went to a spring bazaar being held on Patch. They always have so many beautiful things - furniture, pottery, antiques, etc., but when it comes down to buying something I have a hard time paying the price. Especially, since the vendors seem to jack up the prices when selling to the Americans. They had lots of Polish pottery that I would have bought, but I could not pay the prices they wanted. We'll just drive to Poland again at some point to get some pieces I'm wanting.

Last evening we went to our German neighbor's house for another home owners "meeting". They have been so helpful with navigating the German system, (for which we're very thankful) but we're not really into having these monthly meetings. I think it's very normal here in Germany for all the owners of a townhouse complex to get together and discuss any problems. Anyhow, they wanted to discuss the repairs that we all had done recently so we met them for a little while at their place.

Being in their house I realize how much more I still have to do. Granted they are much older and settled, but their house was so together. It seems to me that many of the Germans are minimalists and just don't have extra "stuff" to find a place for. Being in Germany, I haven't known how or where to get things done. Even now, if we could go back a year I would do some things differently.

I'm still searching for curtains. That's been a thorn in my flesh from day one in Germany. I don't care for alot of the patterns/styles they have here and since we have the track system in our windows we can't just order them from the states. Even in the German stores we have to look for curtains that can be used specifically with the track system. Our neighbors paid a lot to have someone come in and finish all of their windows. That was probably a great idea, because once I find curtains I want I'll still need to have them hemmed since I don't have a sewing machine. I've been thinking about getting one. We have the treddles, but they need some repairs and are not in great working condition at this time.

I know we'll get it all together eventually, but I felt a little frustrated with our house last night after seeing how together the neighbor's are. It's alright though. I'm thankful we have a house and it'll be nice when we get it all finished. I really shouldn't compare myself to anyone else. It's always easy to see others as having it all together.

I had another appointment with Dr. Schafer (the urologist) this morning. Thankfully, the kidney hasn't gotten any worse. It's still somewhat enlarged, but as long as it stays the same I don't have to worry about having the stent replaced. I still feel so thankful to have that out and to be pain free.

And finally, no one else may be interested, but since I'm so far away I know my Mom will be interested in my weekly photo update. So, here you go, Mom :)

32 weeks, 1 day (15 March 2009)

That's it from here. Until next time...

First real pictures of our baby girl

After numerous trips to the doctor and waiting for 1 1/2 weeks to get an answer, I finally got the stent removed on Thursday. What a relief it's been not to have that constant pain! I am so thankful that it's out. It's hard to explain how much you hurt to someone else or how wonderful it feels to not be in pain unless you've been there. I finally got an appointment with Dr. Schafer last Tuesday. He checked the kidney with ultrasound and unfortunately it was very enlarged. I had been having some pain in that kidney, so I left there absolutely defeated thinking there is no way he would take it out. Being in pain for so long wears one down and I was pretty discouraged with the prospect of having to keep the stent in for the remainer of the pregnancy.

Thursday morning, Mom and I were on the webcam. I was very discouraged and in pain so Dad came over to the webcam and they prayed with me. Not 15 minutes later the phone rang and it was Sam telling me that Dr. Schafer had called back and said he would remove the stent that afternoon. Isn't God good?? I was in shock because I was so convinced that there was no way it would happen. I was so thankful to hear that they were going remove it. It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

Dr. Schafer warned me that the stent may have to be replaced if the kidney gets blocked again. As far as I'm concerned though, that will be the last resort. I'll do everything I can to keep from having that put back in. Besides, I'm just trusting God that He created this body and is more than capable of keeping that kidney working properly.

As it turns out, it's a good thing we pushed to have it removed. When Dr. Schafer removed the stent he discovered that there was a blockage in the stent from some sort of build-up, which was keeping it from draining properly. That probably contributed to the pain I'd been having in that kidney. I was still in quite a bit of pain Friday and Saturday, but it was different knowing that thing wasn't in my body anymore. Yesterday was the first day I was feeling really good again. It's such a relief. I'm trying to lay on my left side as much as I can to keep pressure off the kidney. I'm still having some pain, but am just trusting that it'll get better with time or just not get worse.

Thursday I also had another appointment with Dr. Van de Castel. They put me on the fetal monitor for awhile and when I saw the doctor later she asked if I had felt the contractions. I hadn't felt a thing, but you could see from the monitor readout that there had been about 12 - 15 contractions in the 30 minutes they monitored the baby. Thankfully, they were just Braxton Hicks, but she was still concerned with me having that many so close together. She had me come back the next morning to be monitored again, which was much better. I've noticed my belly getting really hard at times, but didn't realize they were Braxton Hicks. I think I've been having them for awhile, but was in so much pain from the stent that I couldn't really feel them.

I just have to share the ultrasound photos we got on Thursday. Our baby girl was cooperating so the doctor was able to get a couple of good shots of her. I could just watch the ultrasound for hours. It's amazing to have the technology and opportunity to look inside the belly and see what our little baby is doing.

On the upper right corner of the 3D picture you can make out the left side of her face. (eye, nose and mouth)

Looking at her from the left side, you can see the side of her face and her left arm

Another view from her left side, but now she's trying to get that thumb in her mouth.

Saturday we were gone all day. We drove up to Heidelberg, Mannheim, Ramstein and Kaiserslautern to check out the furniture stores on those bases. I called a couple of them last week and was told they had some nursery furniture. Unfortunately, they didn't have much, so I'm back to trying to figure out how to get some furniture shipped here. We were going to meet up with my friend, Carmen, in Heidelberg but I was having lots of Braxton Hicks and my back was killing me from being in the truck all day. We decided we'd have to meet up with her another day.

These are not the greatest pictures, but since I want to track the pregnancy I'll put them on here. This one was taken last Monday. I was 30 weeks/2 days.

And here is a picture from yesterday at 31 weeks.

This morning I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Schafer. The kidney is still enlarged, but no worse than it was, so he just wants to continue checking it on a weekly basis. I still have some pain in the kidney, but am continuing to drink lots of water and trying to keep pressure off that side.

I'm so glad to be feeling better. I think I can actually get some things done this week (around all my different appointments). Well, I better get this posted so I can start checking off things on my "to do" list. It just keeps growing. Until next time...