We're Ready!

Where have the last few days gone? Maybe I should say: Where have the last few months gone? This entire pregnancy has gone by way too fast. The weekend flew by and in twelve short hours, the induction process will start. Since finding out Thursday that we would be induced early this week, I finished up some last minute things with work, cleaned the house, caught up on laundry, re-packed our hospital bags, went grocery shopping, got a pedicure, ate some mighty good prime rib, and tried to relax as much as I could.

I was worried at the beginning of the pregnancy knowing that my due date was in the middle of February because of the weather. Sure enough, it looks like we're going to have her in the middle of a pretty good winter storm. They're calling for 8-12 inches of snow and some ice accumulation with lots of blowing on Wed/Thursday. Hopefully by the time we're ready to come home the roads will be clear. Our appointment was at one this afternoon and he checked to see if I was dilated. I'm 1-2 centimeters dilated, so the doctor decided to induce me tomorrow morning around 6. If I hadn't been dilated at all, they would have started tonight. Because of the weather, we got a hotel room at the Abraham Lincoln hotel, which is right by St. Johns.

We are both very excited to finally meet our little girl. I'll also be glad when I can breathe again, easily tie my own shoes, lay on my stomach, roll over in bed without it taking a minute or so each time, walk for more than 5-10 minutes at a time without getting out of breath, and I'm sure there are many more things that I'll think of after I have her! I think Joel is more nervous than I am. Below is him trying to relax this afternoon at the hotel room.

Last prego picture is below. 12 hours before being induced!

I'm so excited that I can finally say that Lou and Alaina are also expecting their first baby in September!!! We're so excited for them and can't wait to meet Baby Hallock in a few months!!!

Ready or Not, Here She Comes!!!

We had our weekly appointment today and it didn't go exactly like we expected. Our appointment was at 8:45 and we didn't leave until 2. We met with the doctor and did the usual blood pressure/weight check. Our sonogram followed and she had gained a little weight, so Joel and I both thought everything was going great. They are estimating her to be 5 pounds 1 ounce. She is still small and is in the 5th percentile now. The doctor came in to look at the results and he started asking me a lot of questions that they usually don't ask, so I kind of suspected something was going on. He told us that she is still small and that I'm going to "full term" (37 weeks) on Sunday. Because I'll be full term, they think that she'll be better off outside the womb. The way the doctor explained it is that they don't know if she is getting adequate nutrition inside the womb, and if they get her out, she'll get better nutrition outside at this point. If that's what is best for Ainsley, then we're all about it.

The doctor said that he wanted me to do a non-stress test and depending on the results from it, they may decide to take her today. He wanted me to have lunch and be back at one for the test. That hour we ate lunch was terrible!!! I was so nervous I could barely eat. We got back and started the test. It was only 20 minutes long and the doctor came in three times to check it, which was nerve-wracking. He told me the second time that he came in to check that I would be having a baby in the next three days. Joel couldn't go back with me during the test, so I had to hear it alone and started freaking out. Dr. Huston (my regular doctor) came in after the test, once the other doctor had time to consult with him and told me that he wanted me back Monday at one and he would decide then if they were inducing me Monday night or if it would be Tuesday morning. The latest they'll start inducing is Tuesday morning, so by this time next week, we'll definitely be parents! I'm so glad we have the weekend to get some things caught up and mentally prepare for her.

We're both pretty nervous and anxious, but so excited at the same time! We cannot wait to meet out little girl!

36 weeks

We only have 28 days until our due date. 28 days!!!! I feel 100% better than I did on Thursday. Friday I woke up and felt a little better, but my lower abdomen still hurt quite a bit at times. Yesterday I could barely tell the pain was there. Joel and I both think that the pain was coming from my scar tissue on my right side. I have four scars from the hysteroscopy I had done last January, and two of the scars are on the right side where the pain was. We think that the scar tissue was stretching out, but either way, I'm so glad it's pretty much gone. I'm going to mention it to the doctor on Thursday and see if he agrees that could have been the problem. Below is a belly picture at 36 weeks. I think my belly has grown a little in the last few weeks...my tshirts are getting pretty tight!

Josh and Kathleen came over this afternoon to watch the Packers/Bears game and brought me some cookies and cream ice cream. I was making brownies, so what goes best with a warm brownie right out of the oven? Cookies and cream ice cream! It was delicious!!! Baby Augustus tried out Ainsley's swings and Nathan played with her toys today. I think they all pass the baby test!

Yesterday I went to Jack's basketball game. They have improved a lot since last year and won their game!

Doctor's appointment 35 1/2 weeks

I had my weekly appointment scheduled for this afternoon at 1:30, and we were worried about going to it because we got around 3 inches of snow last night. Well, I ended up going into the appointment a little early because of really bad pain in my lower right side. I woke up last night around 11 with pain in my lower abdomen and thought that she was just laying on it wrong. I ended up getting out of bed and walked to the bathroom pretty easily. I didn't have any other trouble with it throughout the night. When I woke up this morning, I had the same pain and could hardly get out of bed. It took me 15 minutes to get out of bed and make it into the bathroom. I couldn't put any weight on my right leg, so I would take the biggest step I could with my left leg and then drag my right leg behind me while holding on to anything I could! I think I cried for the first hour I was up. I called the doctor and the nurse told me to come in early and it sounded like a nerve. Joel came home and we left to go to Springfield. I want to add that Joel had to tell me numerous times that I picked the "BEST" day to have something wrong. By the time we got to St. Johns, I could walk half way decent. I was afraid I was going to have to ask for a wheel chair!

We got in pretty quickly to see the doctor; my blood pressure was fine and I didn't gain any weight again in the last two weeks. Ainsley's heartbeat sounded good and he said that he didn't think my symptoms were too serious. He said it's probably a muscular skeletal problem and to take it easy, take Tylenol, and put a heating pad on it. Ainsley was moving around like crazy all day yesterday, so I'm wondering if she is laying weird and I hope that's all it is and she moves off of whatever she is on quickly. I was pretty scared this morning when I woke up and in pain. She didn't move right away when I got up and I was so happy when she finally moved. It made me feel a lot better!

We have our next appointment next Thursday and we also have a sonogram scheduled for that day to check her growth again. Hopefully my pain starts to subside and we don't have to go back to the doctor again before next Thursday!

Baby Shower

Sunday was my family baby shower in Hettick. It was nice to see everyone and hear that my belly is growing. Joel and I haven't been able to tell a big difference in the size of my belly, but we see it everyday. I had numerous people come up and tell me how much I've grown since Christmas. I was happy to hear that! We got a lot of nice things for Ainsley and can't believe she's going to be here in a month. Even though I was exhausted when we got home, I still found the energy to get most of the stuff put away. Joel even helped! He got the monitors out and started charging/figuring them out and put together her bouncer. The swing was next on the list to put together, but he decided that our house already has too much baby stuff set up in it already and ended up putting it together yesterday. I tried to tell him that our house is going to be "baby central" for the next few years and he's going to have to get used to it!

Ainsley's Great-Great-Grandma Mary made an adorable quilt for her!

It's not every baby shower you go to that a firefighter shows up at, but one did at mine. I'm sure Mom or Jamie got a better picture, but my wonderful brother did stay long enough to get a picture taken with his pregnant sister!

One of the games that was played at the shower was to have everyone guess how many inches around I was....needless to say, Abby guessed the highest. I was 45 and 3/4 inches around, not close to Abby's estimate of 62 inches....yet, anyway!

Saturday I ran into Jacksonville to run some errands and came home cranky, sore, and tired. I was in town for three hours and told Joel that I refuse to go to Walmart/get groceries by myself while I'm still pregnant. I've been having cramps and by the time I got home, my back was killing me and the cramps were pretty bad. I laid down and slept for a few hours and when I woke up, my back started having spasms. Never again will I try to do that much in one day when I feel like crap!

Friday night we went out with the Bangert's. We got a picture of me and Jodi together while we're both pregnant. Of course, I look huge compared to her (but I do even when we're not pregnant). Our babies are about three months apart. She's due May 11th and we can't wait to meet baby boy Bangert!

Joel and I both want to thank everyone again for an incredible shower. We're so lucky to have such a great family!

Breastfeeding Class

We went to Breastfeeding101 last night at St. Johns. Joel was absolutely thrilled about going, as you can probably imagine! It was a three hour class and we heard that it would be pretty bad with a bunch of videos, but we didn't see any videos. The woman just talked the entire time about different topics. Some of it was boring, but the instructor had some good insight on different things and it helped that she was young and was still breastfeeding herself, so she was up to date on everything. Joel commented on the way home that he never in a million years would have thought that a wet t-shirt contest would have been referred to during the class, and does everyone know there is a "Hooters Hider" product on the market for more privacy when breastfeeding in public???

This week has been the worst yet when it comes to sleeping at night. Not only do I get up 5-7 times each night to go to the bathroom, get a drink, etc. but I woke up the other night starving. When I say starving, I mean, like I had eaten in three days. I had to get up and fix a bowl of cereal, a banana, and a big glass of milk and as soon as I ate, Ainsley thought I was up for the day and was squirming around like crazy. I keep telling myself that I'm preparing for when she gets here and I don't get any sleep.

My legs and feet are still pretty swollen and it is getting so bad that it hurts to walk. The tops of my feet get so swollen that when I walk it feels like my toes aren't connected to the rest of my foot any more because the top of my foot almost goes over the top of them. I know I've said it before, but I'm so glad that I'm not pregnant during the summer. I can't imagine everyone looking at my legs/feet in flip-flops. At least I can cover them!

Sunday is my baby shower in Hettick and I'm getting excited! I'll have 5 weeks left on Sunday and I'm planning on going sometime next week to finish getting everything we'll need before she gets here. We stocked up on batteries last weekend so we have plenty for the swings, bouncers, toys, etc. There are still a few things I need to get put in our hospital bags, and I'm trying to get all of our tax information done before next week so it's all ready and I don't have to worry about it.

I printed off our blog into a book for 2010 a couple weeks ago and the book came yesterday in the mail. I'm so happy with it and very glad that I have kept up with the blog. Seeing the book only motivates me more to continue. We also got the rest of our pictures from our photo shoot last weekend. I'm adding a few more belly pictures below, and am planning on bringing all of the pictures from last weekend and our blog book to the shower Sunday so everyone can see them!


Mom called Saturday morning before the we did the pictures and thought I needed to get a picture doing a snow angel. A pregnant woman trying to get down in the snow and back up wasn't easy, but I got up pretty quickly because it was so cold!



Who is Ainsley going to look like? Mommy or Daddy? I'm going to scan in our baby pictures in the next few weeks and get them uploaded so everyone can decide for themselves once Ainsley decides to make her appearance!




Jeremy and Kathleen will love the picture with the cowboy boots! Joel and I got those for Lani when she was a baby and everyone made fun of them. I told Kathleen that she had to save them for me so that I could have them when I had a little girl if they weren't going to put Lani in them. Sure enough, they saved them for me, and I think they were both happy to give them back!

Ainsley is growing!

We had a doctor's appointment Thursday and I walked out feeling pretty good! I gained less than a pound in the last two weeks AND we had a sonogram and Ainsley is now 4 pounds!!! I have to start tracking kick counts and go back in two weeks and then I start weekly appointments. We're down to 6 weeks to go. Mom went with us to our last sonogram, which was 5 weeks ago and Ainsley was only 2 pounds then. She has doubled her size in the last 5 weeks, but she is still measuring small. She's in the 6th percentile now and they had a very hard time getting the measurements. Of course, she wouldn't let us see her face. I guess she's wanting it to be a surprise. She is head down and her face is toward my back. They tried for over an hour to get measurements and finally had another sonogram tech come in and she was able to get the rest of the measurements they needed. We didn't have to see the doctor this time after the sonogram, and they said they would call us if they saw anything worth noting. Dad was able to go to our appointment with us on Thursday and sit through the sonogram. He couldn't see any of her body parts that they were pointing out. I guess he just doesn't have the imagination you need in order to see a head, foot, etc. I think both him and Joel about fell asleep while they were trying to get the blood flow measurements. We didn't get any good sonogram pictures again this time because she just wouldn't cooperate.

I have started packing our hospital bags and hope to finish packing later tonight. The doctor and sonogram technician both asked me if I've had any contractions, and I told both of them that I didn't know if I had or not. They both said that I would know when I do. I have had a little cramping and lower back pain, but nothing too bad. Sleeping at night is getting harder and harder. I have to pee about every hour and a half to two hours now and it's hard to fall back asleep after I get back into bed (which is really getting to be a chore). Joel says I snore and he'll be so glad when my "pregnancy pillow" is out of bed with us. I've woke myself up a few times with my "snorts" and have no idea where they come from!

We had our pregnancy photos taken yesterday and they were a lot of fun. I can't wait to see all of them, but until then, below is a sneak peek of some that she has edited.

Happy New Year!

I'm so excited for 2011 and the memories that will be made. I remember back in June I didn't think 2011 would ever get here, and the days would drag by. The past few months have absolutely flown by and every day is one day closer to meeting our little girl! I'm down to 47 days until my due date. That's less than 50 days!!!! Joel and I both are getting very anxious. Below is a picture at 33 weeks.




We planned on celebrating New Year's Eve with Lou and Alaina, but Lou found out a couple days before that he had shingles. So, that put a halt to our plans. Joel and I ended up staying at home New Year's Eve and we watched a couple of movies, and I cleaned out the pantry. I know, everyone is probably jealous of our night, because how can you top cleaning out the pantry on New Year's Eve? We did have a relaxing weekend, though and got a lot of things done. New Year's Day I woke up and decided that all the kitchen cabinets needed cleaned out. I ended up rearranging/cleaning out all the kitchen cabinets, wiping them all down, cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer, and rearranging all my recipes. The next day I gave the house a good cleanse and decided about half way through it that I didn't have any energy left and my back was killing me. Joel didn't complain too much and did quite a few things for me, which was so nice. I don't mind that he thinks I'm psycho about certain things (like cleaning), but what really makes me love him is the fact that he accepts it and has learned to go with the flow. We made sure the car seat fits in the back seat of the car and Joel put together her travel swing on Sunday.


There is a lot to look forward to this year and I will be anxiously awaiting all the milestones to come. Tanner turns 16 in a month (which I still can't believe. I think he should still be a cute, sweet, 6 year old who loved his big sister and would go anywhere with her), Ainsley is due in a little over a month, Thomas is getting married in March, and it is the year for babies and lots of them! All I have to say, is 2011: Bring it on!