She's Not Done Cooking Yet!

Well yesterday turned out to be quite the eventful day.  I met Josh and one of his coworkers for lunch at Pop's Burgers.  While we were eating I was experiencing more contractions than normal (which is between 18-25 a day for me).  I dropped them back off at work and as I made my way through traffic heading home my back started to ache pretty bad.  I called my doctor and after a brief conversation they told me to head to labor and delivery.  I turned around and grabbed Josh from work, he quietly and quickly drove me to the hospital where we eventually made our way to labor and delivery.

We got all comfy cozy in our room and hooked my belly up to the monitors.  It was really incredible to hear Callie's heartbeat and know that she was doing just fine.  After sitting there for a few minutes I felt a contraction coming on, I closed my eyes and started to breathe when the nurse saw it jump up on the screen.  It was the weirdest thing to actually see what I had been physically feeling for weeks.  They called my doctor and watched my contractions for quite some time.  After about an hour or so the nurse came back in and decided to take an fFN test.  She said after watching my contractions and how strong/close together they were she wanted to make sure I wasn't going into preterm labor.  This test basically looks for a certain protein that can tell them if you'll go into labor within the next two weeks.  A little while later she came in with some medicine for my back pain and a shot to stop contractions.  The medicine kicked in immediately and the strong contractions stopped (thank the Lord!).  A little while later she came in with wonderful news, the fFN test was negative!

After getting home and relaxing for a bit I only had a couple small contractions.  I'll be going back in next week to see my doctor to talk about getting on medication to keep me from having so many contractions.  We will be 28 weeks on Sunday, which means Callie is definitely not done cooking yet.  The nurse told us that she is looking like a 32 week old with how active she is which made me smile.  This little peanut is always moving, kicking and jabbing me.  I'll be sure to keep you all posted with any updates, thank you so much for all of your prayers and well wishes!

Daddy's Girl

The closer it gets to June the more emotions I begin to uncover.  This pregnancy has taken my emotions and thrown them into a blender.  I am overjoyed to be having our little girl, to have been given the privilege  to become a mother.  The excitement Josh and I feel daily about our fast approaching future has been helpful in that it helps me to focus on happier things, but with that comes the reality that those happier things become a mask blocking me from dealing with some truly painful emotions.

I was watching some show on TLC about labor and delivery and it followed families that were having multiples.  At one point in the show a mother was being wheeled into the C-Section room talking about how her dad hadn't made it to the hospital yet, right before she made it to the room he showed up and gave her a big hug... I had tears streaming down my face.  It's a reality that I've chosen to ignore for the past 7 months.

My dad won't be there the day my daughter comes into this world.

It's heart crushing.  There have been so many moments throughout this pregnancy where I've wanted to talk to him.  I've wanted to grab his hand and place it on my belly as Callie kicks up a storm, I've wanted to cry on his shoulder when I wasn't feeling well and know that he'd give me comfort and a smile...  I know that nothing I say or do will change reality.  My dad is in heaven where he doesn't feel pain, sadness, anxiety or hurt.  But today I am feeling a little sad for not only myself but also for sweet Callie.  She will never get to know her grandpa, she'll never know what it feels like to be held in his warm, gentle hands or hear his infectious laugh.  My dad was made to be a grandfather and it is so painful to know that he robbed himself of all of these blessings that were ahead of him.

Today isn't unlike any other, I miss my dad... But today the reality is harder to mask.

Pinterest Has Taken Over

This week is my first spring break with no work since 2004!  I am really enjoying it so far.  Even though I brought plenty of work home with me I have been doing my best to relax and tackle some fun projects.

Today I started and finished a pillow cover for Callie's nursery.  The colors in her room are a soft Heather grey and baby pinks, so when I saw this pillow on Pinterest I had to repin it and give it a whirl.  I didn't quite get the desired look I was going for, but overall I'm quite pleased with myself!  Sewing is not something I've done much of, everything I know was taught to me by watching my mom or trial and error. :)

I think I'm addicted to sewing and baby projects though... We may need to have an intervention soon.

Third Trimester!

Wow!  I'm not quite sure how we got to this point, things have really started flying by!  We are finally in our third trimester.

Things have been pretty busy around here lately.  School has been keeping me very tied down.  As the STAAR test approaches things at work continue to get more and more stressful.  I absolutely love teaching and my kids are a gift from God.  Though they are constantly challenging me I truly do love each and every one of them.  Josh's company recently took on a new customer which doubled their workload so he has been working longer hours as well.  When we are at home we tend to relax in front of the TV and I feel so old admitting this but, we try to be in bed every night by 8:00...  Yeah, it's sad.  But I'm telling y'all, pregnancy drains ya!

There have been a lot of really fun things going on in our lives outside of work.  Birthday parties, weekend getaways and even the birth of our new nephew, Andrew Evan Koch.  Here are a few pictures from some of the things that have been keeping us so busy.

Josh and me at my first hockey game ever!

 Watching Athena play basketball

 More painting in the nursery 

 Andrew's baby shower

 Camping in Glenwood with Matt and Jami

Andrew's Birth!  March 7, 2012

Painting with a twist for Jami's birthday 

Today we went in for my one hour glucose test and our 27 week check up.  Unfortunately, despite the amount of studying I did to prepare (hehe) I failed the test.  So now I will be going back up on Wednesday to take the THREE HOUR glucose test.  Let me tell you, I am not looking forward to being in a doctors office for three stinking hours.  Let's just hope I pass this time. :)  We were also able to have our first 3D sonogram today thanks to my mom!  We spent the better part of an hour staring at our little girl on the sonogram screen.  It was incredible the detail that thing picks up! Here are some of the pictures from our session. Thanks mom!!

Here are some bump update pictures... I really fell behind in blogging!  

{Weeks 20 & 21}

{Week 22 & 23}

{Week 24 & 25}

{Week 26 & 27}

how far along? 27 Weeks
how are you measuring? Callie is measuring right on track, 27 weeks.
size of baby? 13.6 to 14.8 inches and just over 2lbs

heartbeat? 138 bpm
total weight gain/loss? 15 lbs <--- EESH!
stretch marks? Nope!
sleep? Sleeping pretty well but I'm starting to have more back pain at night which definitely keeps me up.
best moment this week? Getting to see our sweet little girl today and enjoying my first spring break since 2004!
movement? Holy cow yes.  This baby moves constantly.  Sometimes I swear she is trying to bust out "Alien" style. 
food cravings? Still wanting carbs and sweets.
what i'm looking forward to: Enjoying the rest of my spring break and hopefully passing my three hour glucose test on Wednesday. 
how are you feeling? I'm feeling pretty good these days.  After our last appointment I had lost weight so the doctor gave me some medication to help keep me from feeling so nauseous and it has helped a ton.  I also started taking medicine for reflux because it was getting so out of control.  Around 21 weeks I started having my first braxton hix contractions.  Since then they have gotten much more frequent and intense.  I'm currently averaging between 18-25 (ish) contractions a day.  This past Saturday I lost my mucus plug and the doctor has suggested that I stay off my feet as much as possible, which means no exercise and keeping my butt planted (which I've recently realized I am not good at what-so-ever).  All of this has been a little stressful as 27 weeks is definitely too early for our sweet girl to make an appearance.  Right now we are just praying for these contractions to lessen so we can keep her cooking just a bit longer. :)

As always, thank you for keeping up!  Sorry it took me so long to get an update out, crazy how life just keeps on passing right on by...