Home again, home again, jiggety jig...

To the hospital, to the hospital to have a sweet babe, only home again home again jiggety jag.

Yup, we went into the hospital last night around 3 am because my contractions were continuous all night long and became very strong around 2 am. I was monitored and checked all day and after two hour long walks around the hospital to try and get things moving and the dr. actually trying to rupture my water and it not working, we came home early this afternoon. At first I was so discouraged that our baby didn't get to come, but now I truly have a remarkable sense of peace. God greatly changed my perspective during our hospital stay, and most of that took place at the end when I was eating a meal in the cafeteria. While in there, I saw a few cancer patients with no hair...one of whom was only probably 10 or 11 years old. My heart sank for that young boy, and God reminded me that I am healthy and that the fact that I'm having this baby is remarkable in itself...that He would allow me even to experience this pregnancy is such a gift...and that I need to be thankful. When my mom was going through her chemo. treatments for her cancer seven and a half years ago, I saw a lot of children in the oncology clinic, and I always cried when I saw them because I felt sad that the were having to go through such a struggle in their young life. It just didn't make sense, and still doesn't make sense, and probably never will make sense to me. Lord, please comfort those two people that I saw today in the cafeteria...give them your peace and your strength.

So, all of that to say, thank you God for giving me good health. Thank you for keeping this baby safe. (he did really well on the monitoring today) Thank you for helping me to avoid Preeclampsia thus far in this pregnancy. Thank you for showing me some grace today and for reminding me that you are in control...that I need to trust you...that I need to have patience...and that you know the plan for me and for this sweet boy that is very active inside of me. Thank you God for my dear husband who has been so encouraging and helpful and kind through all of this - bless him! Thank you God for dear friends and family who are upholding us in prayer.

Thank you God.

P.S. My contractions continue on, FYI! I still feel pretty strongly that this child will be coming within the next few days, but we'll see!

More & More...

So, all day long I've had contractions...this is probably the most contractions in a day that I've had so far. Tonight, quite consistently for the last 5 hours or so I have had at least 4 if not 5 contractions in an hour...but they're not that close together and they're not exceedingly all strong. Who knows...God does, that's for sure! He is all over this child and his birth, and I'm trying to find peace in that...although tonight once again I'm feeling so impatient. It really felt good to get out and go for a walk to the park with Erik & Kristi. I'm glad that we could do that together, and I'm glad that at least I'm in good enough condition to be able to walk. That is a blessing.

Gotta go finish getting a stain out of a shirt before throwing in another load of laundry!

Night night!

Not here yet :)

Hey Friends & Family :)

We're still waiting for our boy. My body continues to feel really weird and contractions are more present throughout the entire day, but not yet super close together. At least I know that something is going on and obviously it is inevitable that our kid will come sometime! Today I have had a much more positive outlook than I did yesterday when I was just bummed that this child hadn't made his debut yet. My dear mom has come over the last few days to help me out with things around the house, and that has meant so much to me. I whipped up a great chicken & pasta salad with oranges and dried cherries in it, and we had that for our lunch. Yum! I really have a thing for pasta salads, especially in the summer.

I must remember that God is in control. One verse I was reminded of today was, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." I think that is in one of Kristi's little Bible song books that we've been reading and singing lately, so I guess it is in my head. A good one indeed.

Hope you have a nice day!

On the way?

Hey Ya'all!

I think that Baby Boy is on the way as things seem to be progressing a lot in the last 20 hours or so...we'll see what happens in the next day or two! I thought for sure last night was the night as I had TWO HOURS of strong contractions, but then they stopped and they weren't super close together...I really wanted to go to the hospital, but somehow I felt like it wasn't right and I should just lay down again. Sure enough, the contractions stopped and I was able to go back to sleep for a few hours. Poor Erik! He's so tired too, with all the disruptions in his sleep. What a good sport!

Well, must go as my Little Bug is sitting on my lap...

Tired today...

I woke up feeling so exhausted this morning, so I'm glad to have a little time to myself right now. Erik took Kristi over to his parents home so that they could go out in the rowboat on the lake! She absolutely loves going in the boat, even though she is a little afraid of it. She asks about it all the time! I have yet to see her in the boat. It kind of freaks me out to have my little two year old in a boat already, but she wears her lifejacket and her daddy is a trained lifeguard and expert sailer...so I'm sure she'll be okay. They always stick close to the shore of the lake anyway, so that's good.

Last night we watched a very gruesome movie and I had a hard time falling asleep. It was "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Bleeker Street," which in case you don't know about is a Broadway musical that was set to film just recently. Johnny Depp stars and he is such a talented actor and also has a great voice! The music, written by Steven Sondheim, is brilliant and I enjoyed some of the lovely melodies. In fact, I have sung a few pieces from the show for fun, but really never understood their context prior to seeing the film. The story itself is really violent and there is a lot of blood shed. Erik and I had to look away during all the bloody scenes. After viewing this movie, I am shocked in retrospect to know of a local high school where one of my voice students attends that just this spring performed this production. My student was involved in the pit orchestra and had a good experience playing, but it just shocks me that a high school would even venture into this kind of territory with such a bloody tale. Honestly, I feel that it would be extremely inappropriate material for high schoolers. Then again, my high school also has also done some shows which I felt were very inappropriate for high schoolers and their family audiences. It's all up to the director usually. Whatever the director wants, the director often gets to do. I wish that some directors had more discretion when choosing pieces for their high school (or junior high or college age) students. There are so many good, classy plays and musicals out there that are much more appropriate for high schoolers & college aged & junior highers. I'm glad that I had a chance to be involved in some such shows..."You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "South Pacific," "Godspell," "Meet Me In St. Louis," "The Pirates of Penzance," "Cinderella..." Those are the ones that I did during high school and college and had GREAT experiences with each show!

Well, today is a fresh start. I'm glad to have some time at home to rest and relax. Last night I also had a hard time falling asleep because I was again having cramps and contractions. I've been wondering just how much of that will happen before I have true labor. Some of my friends have experienced a lot of those types of cramps and contractions before true labor and it has taken weeks for them to deliver. I'm learning that I must must must learn to have some patience. It is a virtue, after all!!!

Carousel, Como, Careening Butterflies and Big 80's Hair

This morning I knew that I just had to get out of the house when I saw how lovely of a day it was going to be! The sun was shining brightly and the weather was looking to be just perfect for an outing, so Kristi and I made our way to our wonderful little Como Zoo. We have been there a few other times in the last couple of months, and every time we go it is a lot of fun. Kristi seems to notice different things each time and absolutely loves to take in not just the animals but all the different people! I think that the zoo and the state fair offer some of the best people watching experiences in town. :)

One of the coolest things about today at the zoo was that there is a new exhibit on butterflies and we were able to go through it! There were butterflies zooming around us and occasionally they would land on me. Strict instructions from the zoo people were to not touch the butterflies, so I just got to enjoy their tickling on my toes and neck when they would land there. In the exhibit were many beautiful flowers and butterflies of many varieties, some of which I had never seen...giant blue butterflies, red, orange, yellow, black, brown, white, and of course the traditional Monarch butterflies that we see a lot of here in Minnesota. If you are in the area this summer, I would HIGHLY recommend going to the butterfly exhibit. I imagine it will be a much visited exhibit during its time, so perhaps it would be best to arrive earlier in the day to avoid the daycamp and daycare crowds. We were there around 10:15 am, and it wasn't too crowded yet.

The lions were crazy today! I think that they might be mating or something, because the female lion was hiding behind a tree and then creeping up on the male and pouncing on him! It was the funniest thing I think I've ever seen those lions do. They were tackling each other and roaring quite a bit. Many children were scared by the loud roars of the lions, including my little one! But it was nonetheless a very fun experience to witness. Usually when I have seen the lions they are just sleeping.

As we were leaving the zoo, I decided that we should go ahead and ride the old fashioned carousel. Kristi was thrilled with that choice, and we had a ton of fun. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest option for a 37 week preggie lady to do, but at this point I'm all about helping this child to come out! A nice volunteer at the carousel ride helped to hoist Kristi up to the horse so that we could ride the horse together. He stood nearby during the ride as if trying to help protect me in case something should happen! It was so sweet.

We walked up to the park tonight. It has been so neat to have Kristi walk by herself instead of pushing her in the stroller. She is loving the freedom! While we were at the park, there was a lady there who couldn't have been all that much older than me and she was sporting this really huge puffy hairdo that reminded me so much of an 80's girl rock band look! I got a good giggle out of that. It just isn't that often that I see hair like that anymore, unless I'm down in Texas visiting. It seems that a lot of women in Texas still like big hair. No offense ya'all! I love you dearly! :) Everything in Texas is bigger, right?

Must go help put the kiddo to bed...and I'm kind of giggling at myself for saying that I wouldn't be writing much since our computer is sick. I've been more diligent about writing this week than I have been for awhile! I'm just enjoying it I guess.

Blessings.

Ramen Noodle Craving!!!

I am currently in the process of nuking some ramen noodles for myself! I can hardly wait to stir in the chicken flavor and eat me up some good 'ol sodium laden, bad preservative filled ramen! :) (there's the southern talk sneaking in) What a goofy craving. I have had this craving only a few times in my pregnancy, and it just happened to hit again tonight. I think I shall pair the ramen up with some chunks of watermelon which are shouting out to me from the frig. I LOVE watermelon, and that is another of my cravings in the last several weeks. Every time I go to the grocery store I have to buy some watermelon. Ahhh...the microwave just beeped and my noodles are ready for consumption!

Oh, and I thought I was going into labor a few minutes ago...but now I think it is done for the time being. :) Good times. 37 weeks today!

Nothing New

I went in for my dr. appt. today fulling thinking that perhaps my body might be progressing for the arrival of this baby, but nope, nothing new there! I was kind of disappointed, but the more I think about it, it is better for this baby to stay inside as long as he needs to. The dr. did seem to think that Baby is staying on the small side which is GREAT with me! She thought that perhaps Baby is still shy of 6 lbs, and for 37 weeks tomorrow, that's great. I am hoping that we'll still have this child a little bit early. Now I don't have to worry about him coming early as we're past the danger zone, and I can go about my daily life as much as I'm able to. I am excited to be able to go for more walks as I've been missing that lately!

We went out to dinner tonight near where we used to live, and it was such a fun time. One of Erik's colleagues from Asia joined us, and we had fun visiting with her. Kristi was very chatty and goofy at dinner time. At the restaurant where we went, they had an ice cream sunday bar where you could add all kinds of goodies to your ice cream! I'm talking gummy worms (how fun is that???), crushed oreo cookies, crushed heath bar, crushed m & m's, and a whole bunch of other things. It was so much fun. We hardly ever give Kristi anything candy-like, but she was able to experience her first gummy worm tonight and LOVED it! She kept reaching over to my plate trying to steal more gummy worms, as I had taken three or four.

Well, off to help Little Bug get to sleep finally. I know, it is after 9PM and she's still up. We've been in a bad habit with that lately! I think the summer sunlight staying out later is partly to blame. :)

Blessings to ya'all.

36 & 5

Today marks the day of gestation on which I gave birth to our dear Kristiana Joy...36 weeks and 5 days! So, naturally I keep thinking, "come on little buddy! You can come out now! It's time!" But of course, it is obviously NOT time and that's alright, and I must accept that and move on!

As you can probably tell by reading this, I am at times anxious and agitated to be waiting for la bebe still, but then I also have peace and I must rest in the knowledge that God is completely in charge of this baby and his arrival timing!!! And, I'm so thankful to not be puffed up like a balloon during this pregnancy like I was with Kristi. At this point with her, I was weighing 20 lbs. more and feeling extremely uncomfortable and in pain...THANK YOU GOD for sparing me Preeclampsia to this point in my pregnancy with our little boy! AMEN!!!

Blessings...

Quick Note...

Hey friends & family :)

Just wanted to say that our computer is "sick" and will be sent in for service tomorrow...SO, I don't know how much I'll be able to blog in the next several weeks as we wait for the return of the computer. Thankfully we'll have Erik's computer at home in the evenings, and I'll try to use it for updates and blogging when I can!

Still waiting for this Scandinavian baby to pop out...I keep waking up every morning thinking that today is the day, and then of course it hasn't been the day yet! And that's alright. Wednesday of this new week will be 37 weeks, so if our little one can make it to that point, then that will be even better for his development. Meanwhile, I still have crazy contractions sometimes. At least I know things are getting all set to go and it is very inevitable that this child has to be born sometime soon!!!

Blessings to you all,
Melody

Kristi's Birthday!

May 19 was Kristiana Joy's birthday, and she turned 2 years old! We had a big party with both of our families two days before the birthday, and Kristi had tons of fun eating her ladybug cupcakes. I went gonzo with a ladybug theme and it was a blast putting everything together!

Enjoy some pics...

36 weeks and 1 day...

SO, I'm now at 36 weeks and 1 day. I wasn't sure that Baby & I would get this far, but we have, and that's a good thing! However, now I'm getting antsy and wanting him to come soon. Today I was doing some major nesting activity...folding clothes, washing out his dresser and organizing things, etc...and then I started cramping again and decided I better lay down. So, I guess I still need to not push myself too hard but I just see so many things to take care of before our little guy joins us in this home!

This past Monday was my birthday and yesterday was Erik's birthday. It was fun to go out for lunch with my mom and Kristi on Monday, and then out for dinner with Erik that night. Although, we ate WAY too much food for our birthday dinner and we felt like we were going to explode for an entire day! It was an amazing meal!

Now onto more nesting...I think this kid is coming soon...