not too much progress...

Doctor's appt. today went just fine. She said everything is still looking great, but now I am about 1 cm. dialated; still not much! No real news though except that we go back next Wed. Maybe we won't make it?!?!

a little behind all of the sudden!

I have some pictures from my shower on Sat. to share (but might not happen until this weekend). It feels like everything is starting to happen at once! The shower was wonderful and it was so great getting to see my relatives and friends all together. I was overwhelmed by all of the gifts we received and so thankful!

I finished up with my last grad project until October late Sunday night!! While I was revising, all of the sudden I had a strange crampy feeling up near my rib, and for whatever reason happened to lift up my shirt and I kid you not, out popped a body part. I'm guessing it was an elbow or a foot, but it was the creepiest thing I have ever seen! My entire stomach rolled over! But then of course I wanted it to happen again (mostly to make sure I wasn't losing my mind)! Since then I have felt all kinds of rolling and moving around instead of just kicks. She's really taking up some room in there! :)

At the U/S on Tuesday, everything looked wonderful! She is ready for departure in the head down position and all of her organs and such looked just fine. :) And, luckily, no extra parts! I had started having dreams about that one! We did find out that she is a rather large baby, currently estimated at weighing in at 7 lbs. 5 oz!!! WHAT! She still has to grow about 2 more pounds! YIKES! And her head is already measuring past 40 weeks! WOW... we didn't have too much to say on the ride home; a little shocked I think.
Then, the Dr. eased our minds and said not to worry about the weight, that it can be off considerably during U/S. Whew! And she doesn't seem to think I'll have any trouble going through labor. I am just barely a fingertip dialated, and her head is still pretty high. She did make it sound as though she expects me to deliver early though, possibly by more than a week. So we are really down for the count now!!

Today I started back to school, and I am absolutely exhausted. I did not think it would be this hard, and the kiddos aren't even there yet. My back is extremely sore, which makes it more difficult for me to get anything done (I'm really not trying to complain, just report), and by 4:30 this afternoon I was still working on what I planned to get done in the morning! We'll see how long I last going to school.

They threw a "surprise" shower for me at school today too! Again, everybody was so kind and we have a very stocked nursery and house!
Wow! I know that is a lot of catch up, but I wanted to catch up just in case I end up delivering the baby before I get the chance. At this rate, any day now!!! :)

whoops

No, we're not wishing for a little boy....I guess I typed it incorrectly and no it was not a Freudian slip, I promise. Just thought I'd let everyone know...I'm just nervous that something might accidentally appear. :)

an overall update

Everything is just coming together at this point for the little one to arrive! I had my first "internal" checkup last week, when I had a little blood scare, but everything looked great and I was still not dialated at all. I go on Tuesday for the 36 week appt. when they will check again, and do the Strep test. It seems like I've been at the doctors' a zillion times lately... We also go Tuesday for an ultrasound to check on her position. Here's to hoping that a little extra part shows up "down there" :)
I started back to school last week by teaching summer literacy camp (summer school) in the mornings and working in my classroom in the afternoons. I have my room just about completely ready, and will go tomorrow to try and finish up. Then, I'm taking Monday and Tuesday completely off from school because Wednesday is the first day for teachers to report! YIKES...it's already here! But I've met my sub and she is so willing to work with me and do whatever needs to be done while I'm gone. Whew!
We finished our last childbirth class last night by taking a tour of Akron General's Labor and Delivery area. It was pretty neat to see the actual rooms and the nursery. It was hard to picture us there....
We also got to practice with diapers and bathing techniques. Our baby doll ended up sporting a "doo- rag" courtesy of Rob- it was quite hilarious! But he kept the other guys in there laughing (and they really needed to relax a little anyways).
Well that's it for now!! Nothing really too exciting happening!

now insert baby and wala....

We finished up the nursery this week by trying to organize and put things in their place. Not everything really has a place yet, but we're working on it. Most of our upstairs is cleaned up and reorganized! YEA! And the bathroom was completed yesterday too, which is a huge sigh of relief.

Play the eshbaugh guessing game...

We've set up an online poll for guesses about when this little miss will be born. If you look at the top of the page, you see the new box advertisement for it. Click on that link and it will take you to our poll. You can guess what day you think she will make her arrival, how much she will weigh, and what time she will come. After she's born, the site adds up the points and we'll have a winner!! It's all for fun and games; I thought it would be fun to see what you think!! GOOD LUCK!!

A new kinda PUPP... hahaha

Well the rash I talked about last time now has an official name. It's called PUPPS and only 1% of pregnant women get it. Guess who gets to join the ranks?! Since Friday's DR. appointment, this rash has spread all over my belly, onto my arms and legs, and is even taking up residence on my feet. YUCK! I can't stop itching! And the good news is that it won't go away until 1 or 2 weeks after I have the baby girl. AHHHH! Up until now, this has been a pretty low key pregnancy, but I have a feeling its going to start getting interesting.

drs. appt.

One really good thing about getting farther along is that the doctor's appts. are getting a little more interesting now. For awhile it seemed like we were in and out of there in 5 minutes with no new or fun info. This morning I went in for my 34 weeks appt. and got to meet one of the midwives I haven't met yet. She was so wonderful! She spent about 30 minutes with me just talking about all of my questions and giving me tips and pointers. Everything looks really good, but of course there are those annoying things going on that I guess are just part of the process. I may have a UTI or bladder infection, or it could just be the mucus plug beginning to disintegrate (I'm sure everyone wanted to know this). Also, I've developed a "pregnancy rash" on my tummy which is quite itchy and not fun, but again, I'll take it over being nauseous and puking.
We had to go in on Monday this week because I wasn't feeling her moving, and everything ended up being ok; the midwife today tried to feel what position she is in, and said that my stomach has just developed in a strange way. Not real sure what she meant, but my placenta is anterior (on the front) and she said it feels like there is all kinds of tissue in front also. So she can't tell where little missie is. This makes me feel much better, actually because I get so nervous when I don't feel her, but apparently it's just the way my body has morphed. So anyways, what this means is we get another ultrasound in a few weeks to check the baby's position! YEA!!
Hooray for "fun Drs. appts.! Not many left, and the next one begins internal exams and weekly check ups!

6 weeks

Wow! Today marks 34 weeks (of course only estimated, but we'll go with it) and that means 6 weeks left. Last night they told us that only 5% of women give birth on their due dates (there you go Spaite! :) ) so it really could be any amount of time. Who knows. But 6 weeks is how long maternity leave is. Now I plan on taking a few additional weeks, but to think of it that way, I almost hope that 6 weeks feels like a really long time rather than flying by. 6 weeks is a long time still, but it sure feels like she is gonna be here any day, which sorta bums me out because I want that time after she comes to go really slow and feel like forever. I'm not sure anyone will follow me on all that, but that's what I'm thinking about this morning. :)