An Emotional Rollercoaster

...so we waited and Amy did not progress in her labor but was still having regular back pain. With the baby still a week away from being full term the doctor did not want to force labor. At about 1:00 PM they made the decision to send us home and prescribe for Amy some muscle relaxers. The first dose only gave Amy moderate relief but she took her second dose right before bed and woke up free of back pain.

So we don't know when the baby will come but we think he won't wait 29 more days. With Amy having been dilated to 4 cm we wondered how long could a person walk around like that or if it is possible to undilate (there probably is a better word for that.)

It's been quite a ride - from severe muscle spasms to possible kidney stones to beginnings of labor back to muscle spasms and then back to "normal" life. You get your mind wrapped around one "reality" and then it changes.

Stay tuned... we will keep this blog updated with the latest baby news. The hospital has free wi-fi so when the time comes this might be the quickest way to get up-to-date news and maybe even pictures.

Not a Kidney Stone

Amy was due to have the baby on November 25 although we were hoping that it would come a little early. Last night, about 9:30 PM, Amy had what we thought was a muscle spasm in her back. We tried hand massage, warm bath, vibrating massager, stretching... and nothing seemed to work. Finally, we called Amy's doctor for more suggestions. He said that what I was describing sounded a lot like a kidney stone, which he says is common in pregnant women. We came to the hospital and had tests run and were told just before 6:00 AM this morning that Amy does not have a kidney stone but that she is in labor. Most of the nurses and the doctor said that her labor is unusual but it most definitely is labor. So here we wait, expecting that sometime today we will have a little boy - 30 days before he was scheduled to arrive.

8 weeks to go

I'm not sure how well these pictures will show up - these are from our 20-week ultrasound. During this ultrasound, our little one was found to have a little too much fluid in his kidneys. Our doctor was not concerned - he said he sees this frequently and thinks it may be due to the sensitivity of the ultrasound equipment - but it's something to keep an eye on. So we had another ultrasound last week (sorry - no pictures yet - have to find someone at work to scan them for me). Everything is going well and baby is growing just like he should. He still has fluid in his kidneys, though it has decreased from the last ultrasound. We'll find out more in-depth information at our dr. appointment next week.

It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that he'll be here anywhere between 6 and 10 weeks. I'm feeling more settled about that now than I was even a week or two ago. A lot of that has to do with the fact that work is slowly - very slowly - starting to slow down. It's been an intense summer (which is our Christmas season in marketing) - more intense than most can remember. Everyone is stretched, working 50, 60 or 70 hours a week. I think this last weekend was the first one I haven't worked in I can't remember how long. But we had the first proof of our final Christmas catalog today, the second catalog goes to print later this week and work has begun on January.

The person replacing me while I'm on maternity leave has started, which helps to alleviate some of the stress. It's been a little slow going as she gets up to speed and I try to figure out how to impart all that I do to her. But given at least 6-8 more weeks, I think she'll be great and I can leave my job in her very capable hands.

I've also presented my work from home proposal, and that helps lift some of the stress too. I don't have an answer yet, but the initial response was positive. Working from home will present its own challenges - challenges I'm willing to accept in order to spend the most time possible with our little one.

We'll be posting pictures of baby's room soon!

operation curb appeal

When we moved into our house, our front steps looked like this:

They were already not in the greatest shape, mostly due to water damage. We don't have any gutters on the house, and rain comes straight down on these steps - not to mention the snow and ice issues we have in the winter. Bricks were already loose, so last summer, Pete removed some of them so no one was seriously injured coming in our front door. That meant our steps then looked like this:

They have looked this way since last July. It was a little hazardous for the trick-or-treaters last fall and pretty ugly to boot.

This spring, we started the process of trying to find someone to fix our steps. Easier said than done. People wouldn't call back, wouldn't show up to give us the estimate when they said they would, etc. Very annoying. At my wit's end, I called a place simply because of the name - Meyering Concrete. I figured we were probably related (we are - McBain origins) and it couldn't hurt. They were great to work with and their estimate came in at an agreeable price. So yesterday, they came and now our front steps look like this:

We are thrilled with the results. They dropped the top step down about six inches (which means we'll be able to open the front door when there is snow on the steps) and made both steps wider (bringing us up to code and enhancing our curb appeal). We'll be installing a gutter above so we won't have further water damage issues, plus we also have a new storm door to install. After that, we'll be painting the front door. The storm door process is already underway so I'll post pictures of that soon. And I can hardly wait to paint the front door - hopefully that will also happen this week. Stay tuned...

pregnancy...so far

Since I've hit the 24 week mark, and I haven't blogged hardly at all about being pregnant, here are some of my thoughts on pregnancy:

• For me, the first 12 weeks were definitely the roughest - and I had it easy! I've never, ever been exhausted like that. And the constant nausea wasn't fun, but it was doable.
• There's nothing like hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time.
• Beginning a baby registry is overwhelming. There is so much gear you can get, and it's hard to know what you truly need.
• But it's still fun to register!
• We could have registered for a baby bathtub with whirlpool jets. If I can't have whirlpool jets, then neither can our baby. :)
• It's fun to buy maternity clothes too.
• I didn't know I could be this hungry. The amount of food I can put away is a little embarassing.
• I crave chocolate chip cookies from Panera - it gets intense sometimes.
• I love feeling (and watching) the baby move.
• Except when he pushes on my ribs and makes it a little hard to breathe (and I still have a long way to go before he's born!)
• I'm so grateful for ultrasound technology - it's amazing to see your baby's face at 20 weeks.
• Hormones are funny things, resulting in more breakouts and more tears. Fortunately, I'm blessed with an understanding, patient husband (too bad he can't stop the zits).
• My belly button is on its way to being an outtie, and that's a little strange.
• It can be hard to sleep sometimes - getting comfortable can be a challenge.
• We are looking forward to meeting our little boy face to face!

snips and snails and puppy dog tails

It's a boy - and we have the pictures to prove it (I'm going to have someone at work scan them in for me so I can post the ultrasound pictures here - hopefully soon). Actually, we have what we think is pretty incontrovertible evidence that it's a boy, though my doctor did caution us to buy clothes in a few neutral colors just in case. But at that point, he hadn't seen the ultrasound. We'll see if his tune changes after we talk about the ultrasound.

The fun part about finding out the gender of our baby is the ability to call him and pray for him by his name - it makes it that much more real (though it still doesn't feel all that real yet). The hard part will be not accidentally spilling the beans on his name in casual conversation - I'll just try to be very careful.

I think one of the major things contributing to this process not seeming real is that I haven't had a significant amount of time to reflect on it (or maybe I haven't made that time?). I go to the doctor, I've bought the maternity clothes, I can feel him moving, but I don't know how far this has all sunk in. Part of it is that work is so very busy and stressful right now, and I'm pretty spent by the time I get home and falling asleep on the couch around 9:00. I think I need to begin journaling through this to capture my thoughts - and manage my stress level.

From the wilderness

Hiking in the wilderness with everything you need to survive strapped on your back is quite the experience. I loved it and hated it at the same time. There were times when I thought "I should do this more" and other times when I thought "I'm never doing this again"

I had been waiting for a spectacular sunset but there were no clouds so the sky didn't light up at all but after the sun had set the sky had this incredible blue glow.



This is a picture of the lake that we spent two nights camped right next to.

Horseback Riding

This post was supposed to go out before the wilderness trip but the wi-fi at the ranch was acting funny again so I didn't send it. (I'm currently plugged directly into the router - that works much better.)



This picture was taken when we stopped at a cliff during my horseback ride. A lot of what I see here makes me think of Andrew Peterson's song "Nothing to Say" and, in particular, the chorus. It goes like this - "...and the mountains sing your glory, 'Hallelujah!' The canyons echo, 'Sweet Amazing Grace.' My spirit sails, the mighty gales are bellowing your name and I've got nothing to say. No, I've got nothing to say."

one down, one to go

One more week (and a day) until Pete gets back. It's gone relatively fast, but I'm so ready to have him home. I think he's ready to be home too. His group left today for their wilderness camping experience in Glacier National Park. They'll return to the ranch sometime on Wednesday, so I won't be able to talk to him until then. That's going to be a little difficult for me - wondering if everything is okay and not knowing for sure until Wednesday. A good opportunity to pray and exercise some faith.

We began painting yesterday and the results are looking good so far. Pete and I decided to go with the trim color we have going downstairs (called "Pot of Cream") instead of a bolder color. It will unify things between the colorful rooms downstairs and colorful rooms upstairs. It sounds a little silly, but one of the changes I'm most excited about is new light fixtures and switchplates. I've been trying to choose colors and styles that fit the era of our house (instead of the boring plastic things we had), and I can't wait to see these things on the walls. Plus, it just feels good to do a job right - the previous owner(s) of this house were extremely sloppy painters. I don't expect perfection, but please, take two seconds to remove switchplates - don't paint over them! And tape is your friend so you don't get it all over things you don't want to (like the ceiling). They also got paint on the doorknobs upstairs, most of which I believe are original to the house. Grrr....

My parents have been absolutely wonderful helping out this week, from spreading mulch, watering plants, making a planter for our front patio, hanging new outdoor lights, sweeping the deck and painting. It's been fantastic.

Between painting and a busy week at work this week (I have my first Christmas catalog planning meeting on Thursday), I'm hoping the days fly by until next Monday when Pete comes back home.

Working in Montana

We did a some work yesterday taking down an old fence and then we took the guys in and they all bought a cowboy hat. I looked at some but really, I'm not a cowboy, the cowboy look does not become me and where would I wear it. I kinda wanted to get a souvenir but the cowboy hat wasn't going to work and then I looked at the t-shirts and they were all stupid so I'm not sure that I will come back with much of a souvenir other than my experience and my pictures and really, that will be enough.

We saw a bald eagle and I took a bunch of pictures trying to get a shot of him but he wouldn't let us get close enough and my camera's zoom only goes so far. In the process I took a picture that I really like and you probably won't see the eagle sitting on the fencepost unless I point it out to you but I think the picture is beautiful nonetheless.