38 week update

We had the 38th week appointment today, and things are still progressing nicely. I was at 4 cm today. The doctor said that I had "a cervix people would kill for." She was impressed that I was up and walking around still, being dilated that far. She said it might be a sign of a quick labor. Let's hope she is right. We went to the hospital last night because we thought my water might have broken. We were obviously wrong or I wouldn't be blogging today. I swore I wouldn't be one of those crazy first time pregnant woman but apparently I am. We got the car seat installed this weekend. That was interesting... I'm really glad we had someone else do it because it took 30 minutes. First, the officer who installed it looked just like my Uncle Dan. Then he tried to install it in the middle seat and could not get it to work. And not for lack of trying. I didn't know a person could sweat so much installing a car seat. At one point, he was kneeling in the base with all of his weight on it trying to get it tighter. I wonder if that negates the warranty... We finally got it installed behind the passenger seat but it took a lot of work. But rest assured that Baby Jones now has a safe place to ride in the car.

Work shower

The proud papa!

An in-action-shot of Clint biting off the bottle nipple to aid in his chugging ability.

Chugging baby bottles is a little bit different than chugging beer bottles...

This was a game called "tinkle in the potty" where the participants had to hold a quarter between their knees and race to one end of the hall. There they had to drop the quarter in a beaker. Hilarity ensued...

Cincinnati/Kentucky shower

Mom and Deb opening the grandparents' baskets that Kenny and I put together for them as a small thank you for the everything they have done to help us get ready and to just be supportive.

Lisa's little girl, Cadence, helping me open gifts.

A very cute and very delicious cake!

Mansfield Shower

The girls helping me open gifts. They were really waiting around to steal the white tiger chair.

Danny and I comparing bellies...

Isn't this cake adorable!?!

Nursery pics

The first two pictures are of the glider and the pack 'n' play bassinet that we have set up in our bedroom for his first few months. The bags in front of the glider are the hospital bags, so yes, we did finally pack those.

This is the actual nursery. The only thing missing is the crib, which should be on its way soon. We've got the walls decorated with jungle stickies. We still need to get a shade for the window. Another thing on the to do list...

Update

37 weeks

34 weeks 1 day

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! It seems like it has been a really long time since I last posted. Maybe it's just because a lot has happened in the meantime. We had our 37 week appointment on Monday. I was 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced, so I'm still progressing nicely. The doctor said she could feel he has a full head of hair! She also did a size estimate by feeling my belly and said he appears to be around 7 lbs. 14 oz. We made another trip to the doctor on Thursday because I'm paranoid... I had been cramping for about 24 hours pretty constantly, though with varying intensity. I had also noticed that the baby's movements were a lot less. I wasn't contracting and was pretty sure I wasn't in labor, but we just wanted to make sure that everything was okay. And it was. Apparently, he was just really sleepy, and I was not in labor. I took the rest of the day easy, and the cramping subsided. However, we're trying to all kinds of home remedies to help work him out. We went for a walk at the mall and at the art museum today. We had spicy Indian last night and spicy Skyline today. I'm on the verge of trying castor oil. It's my spring break this upcoming week, so if he were to arrive then, I would be able to spend an extra week at home with him before I had to start back to school. Just so the O'Briens know, I'm aiming for Dan's birthday. Sorry, Candie, but I don't know if I can hold out until the 7th... Plus, if I go too much longer, I might end up with a ten lb baby. Keep your fingers crossed.

35 weeks!

First, I'm writing this while I'm keeping Kenny company while he's working late. So I don't have access to the pictures I wanted to post. I'll probably get to those this weekend, but I have a new belly pic and pictures from both the Mansfield and Kentucky showers. The shower this weekend was wonderful, and we got a ton of much needed gear! So thank you very much to everyone who helped. Once we figure out where we are going to put all of it, we'll also post pictures of the nursery. It is definitely coming along, but it's kind of a mess right now while we sort through all of the gifts. But to Deb and all of the party planners and participants, thank you so much!! It was a great shower and really meant a lot to both Kenny and I. For those of you keeping track, I was officially 35 weeks on Monday, which means only 5 weeks to go! We had a doctor's appointment, and it's beginning to look like that may even be a slight overestimation. I'm already 1.5-2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. And given the family history (Mom delivered me 2 weeks early and Lynn and Dave 6 weeks early), signs are pointing to a delivery before the due date. But as we know, labor kind of happens when it wants and doesn't follow predictions. So this is all just speculation. The doctor wasn't overly concerned by this development and scheduled our next appointment for 2 weeks. This struck us as a little odd, since we are supposed to be going once a week now. But she is the expert and must have a good reason for postponing the appointment (we hope...). That's all for now. I apologize to everyone that has tried to contact me that I haven't gotten back to yet. School and work are kicking my butt, and I haven't had a whole lot of time to socialize or catch up. I'm going to slowly start trying to get a hold of everyone, but please be patient with me.