Sadness with joy

This morning my Prince's grandfather passed away. He was 96. He has lived in a nursing home for several years but this past week seemed to go steadily down hill. He was a feisty full-blooded Norwegian. I remember the day I met him. He was sitting at the kitchen table at their little, old country farm house. He teased me from the moment we met and always made me feel like I belonged with their family. Even in the nursing home as his speech and memories started to fail him, his face would light up when he saw me. He gave his life to Christ a couple years ago, so I know I'll see him again. That is where the joy comes. And my Princess has had a chance to get to know him and love him, too. That makes me happy as most of my great-grandparents were deceased before I was born. My Prince was very close with his Grandpa and is saddened but relieved that his Grandpa is now free of his old body. The funeral is Saturday. I am waiting to hear back from my doctor if it will be ok for me to travel to the funeral.

Gilman, you will be missed.

Update: I've been approved for travel so unless something changes, I will be attending the funeral Saturday.

36 weeks

Well, I'm getting bigger and closer to my due date. I had a touch of some bug yesterday. knocked me totally out of commission. I even ended up going in to my doctor although my appointment wasn't scheduled until Wednesday. Baby is good. Heart rate 156... pointed the right direction (hopefully won't decide to try for breech). I'm doing well, now... I got a ton of sleep last night and feel so much better than yesterday.

My prince is going out of town on another overnight trip tomorrow. He told his boss no more as of January 31st, so I hope his boss will be understanding. It doesn't look like travel will ease up for my Prince after baby comes, either. The other coworker who does what he does put in his 2 weeks notice last week leaving only my hubby for these long trips out of town.

Gone again

My prince is gone again. He left early this morning but should hopefully be back before I go to bed tonight. But he leaves again tomorrow morning for an overnight trip. I admitted to him this morning that my biggest fear/worry is that I'll be out running an errand alone with Princess and my water will break. Especially with him far away. All these trips this week are atleast 4 hours away... Princess was born just over 4 hours after my water broke (born by c-section)...

speaking of my prince's work... Things are about to get crazier. 2 of his coworkers have left or put in their 2 week notice as of this week. This is going to make his job harder and will mean his boss will have to try and pick up some of the slack, which usually means problems and more complication. Keep praying that something will open up somewhere else for My Prince soon!

Some graphic content

Well, I had my doctor appointment yesterday. After telling her about my trip to the hospital a week and a half ago, she wanted to check me out for a vaginal infection... you thought a speculum was bad... wait until you are 34-1/2 weeks pregnant! The good news is no infection. The bad news is they still haven't decided exactly why or what fluids I'm leaking. They also did the group B strep test so they could get the results back before baby is born since Princess came early. Really gross...

...anyway... baby is doing good. Heartbeat was strong at 156. I'm now measuring 36cm (I was 33 two weeks ago). I actually lost 1/2 pound in the past 2 weeks (it helps being sick, I guess).

More good news... My prince will be home from New York today! And My Princess is coming home from 4 days at Grandma's house today! It was a nice quite week without them both, but lonely, too. I missed them. Nothing is so sweet as hearing your almost 3 year old say "I miss you too!" on the telephone.

Week 33

Looking at this picture, I feel I have grown immense since the last photo! My next doctor appointment is next Wednesday (the 16th) so we'll see how I measure up then!

What a life!

Ok... so life is pretty good right now. I'm feeling much better than I had been. Its been tough getting adjusted to my anti-depressants. I'm finding they make me really drowsy, so I'm going to start taking them at bedtime in hopes that they'll help me sleep better!

My Princess is making some good adjustments to my new state of health. I can't really left her that easily anymore, so she gets to jump anytime she wants to get on my lap. That makes it fun for her and the upward momentum makes it easier to pick her up. Next week when my Prince is back in New York, my dear mother-in-law is going to take my Princess to her house so I can get some rest and less stress.

Speaking of my Prince... he informed me last night that his boss wants to send him to Montana for a few days soon... His boss has been informed that he doesn't want to leave the area as of January 31st since I'm getting close and Princess was born early. Well, the sooner he goes the better. I don't know how long this baby is going to hold out!

My Prince has been absolutely wonderful since we got home Sunday, too! He has been doing dishes and taking care of Princess as well as being super helpful and supportive of me. I'm doing what I can for him, which at this time isn't much... but I need to find some way to show him how much I appreciate him and all he is doing for me. He has even given up the bed for me right now (in addition to other things...).

Prayer request

Hi all! What a weekend it has been!

Thursday I went to my church for a meeting with my pastor about a Bible Study my Prince and I would like to be a part of the leadership. We had just finished when my friend Jan, who helps me decorate the church sanctuary, called to see if I wanted to take down Christmas decorations. I was feeling good, had a sitter and no other plans, so we did!

We were just about done when my sister called and said she was coming to town. She was going to take my Princess and I to her house for the weekend since my prince was going to be stuck out of town until late on Friday. My family was gathering at her house for one last Christmas celebration. Well, after getting home from the church and packing, I felt horrible. Exhausted and like I was going to be sick. My sister has had 4 kids and didn't really want to leave me home alone with my toddler if I was sick, so we went with her.

We got to her house and of course I had to pee... but when I stood up, I discovered my jeans were damp! Great! I'm an hour from my doctor! Maybe it was sweat as her van has heated seats... or maybe I spilt more club soda on my lap than I thought I did. The fear and worry made me feel worse so I called my doctor. Since I wasn't still leaking, he wanted me to try and drink something and eat a cracker and cheese to see if it would stay down. I did my best... and it stayed down, so I thought maybe I just needed sleep. I called him back and he agreed... get rest, lots of it! Thankfully, my sisters oldest (she is 9) happily helped me get My Princess ready for bed.

The next morning I was still feeling weird, but better in a way. But after being up just a short time, I discovered my jeans were damp again. I had a little breakfast, a decent (yet small)lunch and did as little as possible all day. By evening I was feeling kind yucky again. My neice helped get Princess ready for bed. I didn't sleep well that night. Had a weird pain in my side.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I felt horrible! I even threw up a little. I didn't have much in me, which was good. I felt slightly better after that and nibbled graham crackers and drank club soda or ginger ale all day. I managed a little lunch and even a little supper, but by supper time, I noticed damp jeans yet again and decided to call the doctor again. I spoke with a nurse at the birthing center and she decided it would be best for me to come in as soon as possible just to make sure my water hadn't broke. So, My prince and I left my sister's house (and my Princess!) to go to the hospital. On the way there, He held my hand and prayed for me and the baby which made me feel better. Then I made a couple phone calls to people at church to give them a heads up on what was happening. (Jan and I were supposed to finish taking down the decoration son Monday!)

After registering and getting taken up to my room, we waited and I got hooked up to monitors. Baby was very active. Heartbeat was great! My blood pressure was good. They took a urine sample because they were suspicious of a bladder infection, but thankfully that was negative. The test for amniotic fluid was also negative. After talking to the doctor on call, she decided what probably was the case is that baby is at a phase where it wants glucose all the time. If I'm not eating often enough or staying hydrated enough baby takes my supply of glucose leaving me weak and icky feeling. She gave me a glucose iv and sent me home. Since it was already 10:30pm and takes an hour to get back to my sister's, we decided to just go back to our house so I could get a good nights sleep.

This morning I managed to eat a little and drink a little and although I was super tired still, I felt good enough to head back to my sister's house. Princess had done fairly well without us... of course she had Grandma and Grandpa, a couple aunts and several cousins taking care of her!

We ended up have a great day. I am wearing liners to keep from getting too wet (baby is causing too much pressure on my bladder is what they think). But I was able to enjoy most of the food my younger brother (the Chef) prepared. It was wonderful! I slept all the way home. This evening I started feeling weak and sleepy again but My prince was wonderful! Without me asking he went and got me some graham crackers! :)

I'm not looking forward to the week starting. Galen is supposed to be around all week... and his mom may even come to town tomorrow... but I dread feeling worn out and watching Dinah alone. I don't have the energy to fight with her... Pray for me!

BTW, I started taking anti-depressants Thursday, too... Hope they kick in soon!

Some discomfort

Well, I should have asked around long before now, but just assumed it was nothing. Apparently I've had some Braxton-Hicks contractions for several weeks now. I just thought the baby was pushing on me or something because it always seemed to happen when I stood up from a comfortable position. Its never been painful, just tight and uncomfortable.

I had a doctors appointment today. All is well! Baby is pointed head down. Heart beat at 140. I'm measuring 34 which she says is a little big, but nothing to be concerned over. I go back in 2 weeks for my next appointment.

My prince is going out of town again! He leaves tomorrow morning and won't be back until sometime Friday evening... He'll still be in North Dakota, but opposite ends of the state! Then, in two weeks he leaves Monday (14th)and returns Thrusday(17th)... back out to New York! Better be a quick trip! I don't want to have this baby without him there!

I've decided I should go back on antidepressants, but forgot to mention that to my doctor today. better go give her a call! I've been on the low end of the spectrum for weeks now and since I had post-partum after the Princess was born, I want to be prepared for this one!