Can we say.....STUBBORN!

Yes, I am blogging today. Yes, I am still pregnant. Yes, I seriously thought Brooke would be here by now. Yes, I was VERY wrong!

I had my doctors appointment today and the doctor was as surprised as I was to see me there in his office. He was pretty sure she would be here by now. As a recap, on June 3rd, I was dilated to 2cm. On June 10th, I was dilated to 3cm. On June 18th and 23rd, I was STILL dilated to 3cm. However, today...I am at about 4cm. ***please note*** if I were to be in the hospital, 4cm is the minimum of when they will allow the epidural. :-) So, this is actually a good thing in disguise. Anywho...no more waiting around for little miss Brooke...we have decided to get induced on Thursday morning. We have an appointment at 7am. We have to start calling in at 5am to make sure that other women haven't flooded the maternity ward. We could end up going in at noon, but either way...I will NOT be pregnant by this weekend and we will finally be able to meet our little love. :-) I will do my best to push her out before the 4th of July. Not that it will be a bad thing, but it would be nice to not have her bday on a holiday.

False alarm!

So, Friday night was a great "progression" night. I started getting contractions around 9:30pm. They were coming every 10-15 minutes. By about 10:30pm, they were getting a little stronger and I was really feeling it in my back. I had been sitting in the recliner the whole time, so I figured I would change positions and try to lye down. Well, they kept coming and they weren't getting any easier. I waited another hour or so. Around 12:15ish, I decided to take a shower. I figured, either the warm water would relax me and the "false labor" contractions would stop, or I would be nice and clean for birth. I took a nice warm shower and had one more contraction in the shower. I got out and told Mark to start writing these down. 10 - 15 minutes apart wasn't close enough for me to call the doctor or even consider going to the hospital. So, I figured I would lye down and try and get some rest. Afterall, if this was real labor, then the pain would eventually wake me up. Next thing I knew, I woke up around 3am and nothing...nada....ZIP. No contractions...they stopped! BOOOOOOOO All this better had dilated me or something!

Junior Lifeguards

The kids started Junior Lifeguards today. They got picked up at 8:15 this morning and got dropped back off around 3:45. What a long day! You would think they would be tired after all that, but not our kids. They wanted to go outside and play afterwards. Josh remains in the C group, which is all the kids his age and the group he was in last year. Carlie had a choice of remaning in the B group, which she was in last year, or moving up to the A group, which are all the Junior Lifeguard Aids. She chose to move up and said it is a LOT harder, but worth it. They do a lot more running than she ever did in the B group. Carlie got to go body boarding today too and said the waves were super big. I am hoping I can make it out there to watch them soon, but that all depends on little Miss Brooke.

Okay...so maybe it will be the 28th!

We went to our 39 week and 3 day doctor visit today. I was hoping for at LEAST another centimeter dilated. Well, no such luck. We are still at 3 centimeters dilated, 80% efaced and Brooke is at the -1 station. BOOOOOO!!! The doctor did scratch my membranes, which pretty much meant "tried to losen the plug" a bit. He said that will sometimes push a woman into labor within 24 hours. However, here I sit, at our computer desk almost 7 hours later and I seem to have less contractions than before he did that. He did say that at our next appointment he will be more agressive...whatever that means! I really hope I don't make it til my next appointment, but I suppose that is up to Brooke and my uterus. I keep telling myself, the more time she takes to come out, the more time I have off work, so that is a plus.

Let the walking begin!

I have tried to keep busy while I am off and have neglected to do my walking. So, today Josh and I took a nice walk with Lucy to the lake. We gathered up old bread and took that with us to feed the ducks. I probably had about 3 good contractions along the way, but that is a good thing. It was very very very hot outside, but very very pretty. :-) Lucy tried to eat the ducks, but luckily I had a death grip on her leash and she didn't get very far.

38 week 5 day appointment

We went to the doctor today (I was secretly hoping we wouldn't have made it this far). Anyways, I am 3CM dilated, 80% effaced and Brooke has dropped to the -1 station. WOO HOO! All these contractions are actually doing some good. We contemplated getting induced this weekend, however, we are making progress and the doctor said to come in on Monday and he will strip my membranes. OUCH! That basically means he is going to pull the plug that is keeping Brooke in. Once he does that, things should really get going. If I can go into labor on my own, it will be much less painful than getting induced, so we will keep our fingers crossed.

JOSH = Lively Imagination

This past Monday, Josh received a surprise award from the principal and his teacher. I was very excited I was able to go and see him receive it. (the joy's of being off work). Anyways, Josh received the award for Lively Imagination. I think it is pretty fitting for Josh. :-) WAY TO GO BUD!

Dad's Vanagon is all grown up!!!!

Today my mom and dad drove up to the Pismo Beach area to get some plastic surgery done on the vanagon. This van has become apart of the family considering it has been around for 18 years. I was in high school when my dad bought this! Anyways, being the Virgo that my dad is, he has taken very good care of his 3rd baby and now makes occasional trips all the way up north to get special parts for it. Today the van received new legs (new tires). They will camp in it tonight and then return home tomorrow. Here is a pic of Dad's pride and joy.

Car Seat Check - DONE!

Today I had an appointment with the Irvine Police Department to check out our car seat and make sure it was safe and that we installed it correctly. I was a little hesitant to go thinking I pretty much knew what I was doing. However, since it's been 10 years since I have had to deal with a car seat, I figured it wouldn't hurt. I arrived at noon and actually didn't leave until 12:40. I am pleased to say that Mark installed the car seat correctly, with the exception of tightening it up a little bit more. The police officers were SO informative and told me some tips on how to make the car seat safer...things I would have never even thought of! They even moved the van seats around for me. I must admit that I am VERY happy I went and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone expecting a new born....even if this isn't your first. With the way technology and cars are changing, you will be surprised on all the new rules.

....another eventful weekend!

As most of you know, I was unable to go to my work outing in Palm Springs....doctor said it was too close. Besides, I don't know that I really had a desire to squeeze my puffy body into a bathing suit and sit in 105 degree weather. Carlie did end up going to Palm Springs and enjoyed herself with some friends. I decided to steam clean the stairs and the up stairs. It feels so good to have the carpets clean (well, as clean as "rental" carpet can get). Mark and I also hit up Baby's R Us for some last minute things and I went to target for some nursing items. Our bags are pretty much packed. :-) We also put the car seat in the van to see if we could do it. It took a while, but I think we got it. I am just going to leave it in there until Wednesday. That is when I have my appointment at the Irvine Police Department. They have a free service where you can take your car seat in and they will make sure you installed it correctly. These things have changed so much these last 10 years, so I am glad they offer this. They say 9 out of 10 parents put the car seat in wrong....SCARY!!! Other than that, this is my last week of work (woo hoo) and then I will be at home, probably blogging every day out of pure boredom. I will be blogging in between naps and Oprah of cours. :-)

June 28th??? YAH RIGHT!!!

Mark and I had our doctors visit today. We are at 36 weeks and 4 days preggo. Well, come to find out, I am already about 2 centimeters dialated and her head is ALL THE WAY DOWN. No WONDER why I have been peeing every 20 minutes. My blood pressure has gone up just a tad...nothing to worry about. Also, my ankles are so swollen now, when you push on them, they stay dented for a bit. Josh seemed to think it was pretty cool....me....not so much. I guess I can laugh at the temporary situation, but it's kinda creepy. The doctor also said a huge NO to us going to Palm Springs this weekend. I am sad because I really wanted the kids to go and have a good time. There is always our pool, obviously not the same though. We have another doctors appointment next Tuesday...we'll see if we make it that long.