36 Weeks 2 Days - Nursery Update - Almost Ready to Go

I think Tate and I have finally made most of the finishing touches on Ava's room. I am really happy how it turned out and it makes me feel so happy every time I go in there. The only thing missing now is our little girl. However, I think she will be making her presence before her actual due date of 9/9/08. I have been noticing a few "changes" these past few days and it just makes me realize more and more that Ava could really come at any point. Tate is hoping I hold out for at least another day so he can make it to his baseball game. LOL. I think we will be able to make that. The only things I have left to get for Ava are baby monitors for her room. I am so excited. We have waited such a long time for her arrival and knowing that it is not far away makes me so happy. I can't wait to be a new mommy and to hold my baby girl in my arms. I already love her so much. I can't imagine what it will be like the first time I see her.

36 Weeks - Doctor Visit - Progress has started

I went to the doctor today for my 36 week (9 month) appointment. Everything went really well and I found out that the process has officially started. I have begun dilating (only 1 centimeter) but the process has begun. The doctor has confirmed that Ava's head is down low and in good position. I have also been feeling a little relief from acid reflux so I am trying to take full advantage of that by eating more. :) It just hit me today that our little girl could show up at any time. I honestly don't think it will be this week, at the earliest I am betting on a couple of weeks from now, but you never know. Only Ava knows the answer to that question. Tate and I are busy finishing up getting the last few items on our list to make sure we have everything for Ava's arrival. I still have to pack my suitcase for the hospital, but I have all of Ava's things ready to go. I guess I am already starting to think like a mom and putting her little girl first. :) So from here on out, I will just need to take things day by day and see what happens. Ava, mommy can't wait to hold you in my arms. Come on out when you are ready, let's just hope it's not too long from now. :)

35 Weeks 5 Days - Couples Shower

Today Tate and I traveled to Rogers, MN to attend a couple's shower hosted by our good friends, Kristin and Ryan and Tim and Mara. It was a beautiful day and everything was perfect. It was so good being with all of our friends again and seeing all of their kids running around. I can't wait for Ava to join the group. :) We had a fun day hanging out with our friends. We couldn't have asked for a better day and I received a lot of great advice on being a new mommy and how to get through the labor process. :) Thank goodness for good friends!

35 Weeks - 4 Days - Day out with Tate

Today Tate and I had plans to spend the entire day together. We headed out on the boat in the afternoon and boy was it hot! Yes, I have still been sporting my bikini but I guess I have to be thankful I can still fit into it. Tate had to help me in and out of the boat and we put a chair in the water on a sandbar so I could relax in the water and cool off. It is really nice being able to just pack up the boat and head out wherever we want, whenever we want. After spending around 3 hours on the boat we headed back in. Tate and I rested for a little bit and then headed out to dinner. Tate managed to get the restaurant to agree to sing happy birthday to me while I was visiting the ladies rest room. Yes, it was embarrassing, but at the same time, very sweet. After dinner, we headed out to the movies to finish the night. It was a great birthday and Tate bought me a designer diaper bag, thanks to the help of Jenna helping him pick it out. :) Thanks Jenna! I love it!

35 Weeks 3 Days - Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today was my birthday and it was a very fun day. I went into the office for awhile and then headed over to my sister's place to meet up with my mom and my sister. I have been trying to follow the doctor's orders and only staying at the office for 4 hours at a time when I do go in, but it's hard to leave once I am there. But, I managed to pull myself away a little early to enjoy a night out with my family. We had reservations at Palmino, a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. We had so much fun talking and laughing together. We kept talking about how things will be different next year at this time with my little girl now joining us. We have always had a tradition of celebrating my sister and my birthdays together with my mom and next year I can't wait to share that special time with my little Ava. Who knows? She could end up being a Leo like her daddy, mommy and auntie Kimmy. :) That would definitely make for a busy household. Tate is playing in a baseball game tonight and is planning on taking me out tomorrow. This is going to be a fun-filled weekend! :)

35 Weeks 2 Days - Doctor's Visit

Today I had a follow up appointment with my doctor. Tate was there with me which is always nice. My doctor gave me some pretty strict instructions about working from home as much as possible and when I do go into the office, she only wants me working 4 hours and then heading back home. My boss has been really great and very understanding and really doesn't want me to go into the office anymore from here on out. But, it's actually nice to go in once-in-awhile so I will just have to listen my body and little Ava and see how things go. Everything looked good at my appointment. Ava is growing right on schedule even though I don't seem to be gaining anymore weight. I have still been fighting my acid reflux problems, but I am starting to understand more of the things that are "safe" for me to eat and I stick to them. It's always so good to hear that our little Ava is doing well and growing. My doctor said that if my contractions continue next week, they are not going to stop them and they are just going to let nature take it's course. :) I have a feeling little Ava will hang out for a few more weeks, it's very possible for her to be an August baby instead of September. You never what this little bundle of joy might do. My contractions continue to be really strong, so who knows? :)

35 Weeks - Only 35 Days to Go!!!

Yeah, I have made it to 35 weeks! After everything that has happened this past week, it is good to know that I have made it another one. According to whattoexpect.com, little Ava should be measuring around 18 inches long and weighs somewhere around 5 lbs. We had our 3rd birth and parenting class last night and got to visit the hospital (which we have already visited last week). :) But, Tate was able to see the postpartum room that we will be staying in after Ava is born. About an hour to an hour and a half after Ava is born, we will be transferred from the labor and delivery room over to the postpartum room. The postpartum room is much more comfortable and has a better TV. :) Last night when we were in class I formed my list of things that I need to bring with me to the hospital. My goal is to have to my bags packed for the hospital by this weekend. I have also picked out the outfit to bring little Ava home in. :) Tate and I still need to get the stroller put together, but now that Tate has more free time since ball is pretty much done, I have a feeling he will get that done this week.

My doctor's nurse called me this week to schedule another doctor's appointment for this week. They want to have a follow up appointment since I was back in the hospital last Friday. As of right now, they have not put me on complete bed rest, however they have "encouraged" me to stay off my feet as much as possible and to limit the amount of time I am at work. I spoke to my boss yesterday and he is really understanding and is in complete favor of me working from home as much as possible. When I do go into the office, I will only be working half days to help lessen the time I am there. It's so great to work for a company that truly cares about their employees.

It's hard to tell what little Ava's plans are for her mommy and daddy. I could see her arriving early, but then again you never know, she could surprise us all and stay inside for another 5 weeks.. :)

34 Weeks and 3 Days - Another trip to the hospital

Today was my first day back to work since my visit to the hospital on Tuesday. Everything was going pretty well until around 3 pm when I started having very strong contractions that lasted almost 15 minutes with few breaks in between. I called the nurse line and she got in touch with the doctor on call. It so happened to be the same doctor that admitted me to the hospital on Tuesday. After hearing my symptoms the doctor told the nurse to have me come in right away. Unfortunately, my hospital, Fairview Ridges was closed because they were full. So, they made arrangements for me to go to Methodist hospital. They did not want me to drive so they I had two of my co-workers bring me. Once I arrived at the hospital, they admitted me and hooked me up on monitors to watch my contractions and little Ava's activity. Tate arrived shortly after and sat with me while we waited. After awhile since my contractions were still occurring the doctor decided to give me a shot in my arm that would stop the contractions and have no affect on little Ava. Once I received the shot, my contractions slowed within minutes and eventually stopped. I stayed in the hospital for another 2 hours being monitored until they finally released me. I am currently not on full bed rest yet, but I have a feeling if this happens again, I will might be. I am a little worried, but my cervix has not begun to open yet and there does not appear to be any thinning within the cervix as well. This is really good news. Ava still seems to be sitting pretty high in my tummy so that is also good news. I have really limited how much activity I have during the day. I just need to make it another 2 weeks and then I will be considered full term. Ava must be pretty excited to come into this world, but we just need to keep her in there a little bit longer. Her room is almost completed. We just need to hang a few pictures and the blinds, when they come in, and we should be good to go. My sister is coming over tomorrow to help figure out where we should place the pictures. It has been so much fun decorating her room. I will take pictures of the finished nursery when everything is complete. I want everything to be perfect for Ava's arrival and they way things look, she could be arriving sooner rather than later. :)

34 Weeks 1 Day - Happy Anniversary!!! 3 Years!

3 years ago today, Tate and I were married. It is so crazy to think it has already been 3 years since we were married and this October will mark 5 years of us being together. I can definitely tell you that my love for my husband has grown more and more each year. He has been great being there for me throughout my pregnancy and especially now that I have been experiencing early contractions. Tate has a game tonight so we are going to celebrate our anniversary on Saturday night.

I took the doctor's advice and decided to work from home today. My body is really tired and little Ava has been moving around constantly all day long. I have had a couple of intense contractions again today, but not as bad as yesterday. I have been drinking a ton of water and doing my best to stay hydrated. Now that we have wireless Internet here at the house I am able to work while on the couch with my feet up. I am hoping the contractions lessen a little tonight, but I may be working from home again tomorrow. I just don't want to do anything to get them started again like yesterday. I am doing what I need to do now for Mommy and Ava. I have a feeling Ava really wants to come out and greet everyone and I am doing my best to keep her safe and sound inside my tummy for at least the next 3 weeks. I have a feeling I can make it too.

Happy Anniversary Tate! I love you so much and I don't know what I would do without you.

34 Weeks - Long Day with the Doctors

Today marked my 34th week and little did I know what my day was going to be like. It started out at 3:00 AM when I woke up with stomach pains and ended up throwing up in the bathroom for awhile. I drank some water and headed back to bed. I tried to rest awhile, which was impossible and started to feel some smaller contractions. I was scheduled today for my 34th week ultrasound so Tate and I headed out at 9 for our appointment. On the way to the clinic I started experiencing some very intense contractions. They were so strong, they brought tears to my eyes. I have never felt contractions like this before so I became a little scared. We got to the clinic and my contractions continued as I waited to for my ultrasound. When the doctor had me in the ultrasound room and started the procedure, I became really sick again and couldn't stop throwing up. We had to cut my ultrasound short, but the doctor did see that Ava looks great and all of her organs are in good shape and developing as they should. She also was able to see that Ava is head down with her bottom up. I also found out that it's her little tooshie that keeps pushing out my tummy all the time. :) She also noticed some little white specks in the fluid surrounding Ava which means that she is developing and growing perfectly. Because I was having strong contractions again we cut the ultrasound short so she could get me over to see my doctor right away. When I got to the OBGYN, they hooked my tummy up to several monitors to measure my contractions and to check on how Ava was doing. I was hooked up for about 30 minutes and continued to have a hard time keeping anything down. Finally, the contractions seemed to lessen a little and my doctor decided to do a medical exam to check on my cervix. After my examination, we found out that my cervix was mostly closed and the ultrasound showed that it is still long. This was good news for us because it means that Ava is not exactly ready to come out to play yet. My doctor spoke with another doctor and they came to the conclusion that I really needed to be admitted to Labor and Delivery over at the hospital to get some fluids and to be monitored for a few more hours. So, Tate and I headed over to the hospital and got our first experience on what it will be like the day Ava does enter this world. After I received the fluids, I felt much better and my contractions started to slow down and become much less intense. After spending a couple of hours there the hospital decided to let me go home with instructions to drink lots of fluids, get some rest and to hold off on taking my daily walks for awhile until I start to feel better. Good news is that Ava has decided to stay put in my tummy for awhile longer. We just need to make it another 3 weeks so I can be officially "full term". I just don't want her to come out too early and have to struggle. I can not wait for the day she is here and today Tate and I really thought she could be entering our family. I am going to take this whole experience as a sign to get all of the last minute little details done with her room and I will definitely be packing my bag for the hospital just in case. Who knows? Ava might be trying to tell us something. :)

Daddy and Auntie Kimmy's Birthday!!! July 25th

Today was a very special day since it was both my loving husband's birthday and also my sister's birthday as well. Two of the most important people in the world to me share the same birthday so it is always a special day for me. I wanted to take Tate out for a nice steak dinner so I made reservations at Monte Carlo in downtown Minneapolis. Tate picked me up after work and we headed over for our reservations. It was nice having a date night night just the two and a half of us. :) After dinner, Tate and I met my sister out at Otho for her birthday party gathering. It was really nice to see all of her friends again and to just be with the people I love the most. This mommy-to-be did my best to hang out as long as I could, but by 10:00 PM, I had hit a wall and my sweet husband made sure to get me out of there while I could still keep my eyes open. Even though we were only there for 2 hours, it was still really nice to be there together. Happy Birthday Tater and Kimmy!!! I love you both very much!

33 Weeks 3 Days - XO Baby Shower :)

Today my wonderful work, XO Communciations threw me a great baby shower. It was so much fun and everyone joined in. We had a barbecue (thanks Dan-O for grilling) and a pot luck. Of course I can't forget the super yummy cake that Jen picked up. I had to indulge in it even though I knew it would kick start my acid reflux. It was worth it. Everyone was so sweet and they were very generous. I loved spending every minute with everyone. After being at XO Communications for 4 years now, everyone there is like family to me. I am actually the first women at XO Communications to be pregnant so everyone has been really into my pregnancy. They love watching my "transformation" and they all take a very genuine concern for how the baby and I am doing all the time. It's so nice to work in an environment like that where everyone is not only my co-workers, but my dear friends as well. Thanks again XO, it was a perfect day!!