What's up, Doc?!

Had my appointment today. Went well. I am 2-3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Looks like the contractions I've been having @ night have been doing something. I'm pretty sure I heard her say I was measuring at 36cm for my fundal height. I'm not sure if I've been measuring short before, she's never really said. But I measured short with Rye, so I'm not worried about that. My BP was a little higher than it's been so far. I'm assuming it wasn't a big enough change to be of concern since it wasn't mentioned. The doctor did stretch out my cervix a little so see if it will help things along a little. I must be honest, I fibbed a little. I told her Eric was leaving early November instead of the 9th. Though, the 9th could be considered early, right?! RIGHT?! I have been having contractions (and some bleeding) since my appointment, but they're getting less frequent as the time wears on. I was also informed that I tested positive on the strep test. That means that I'll be getting antibiotics every 4-6 hours while I'm in labor. The way I understand it, if I can get two doses before I have the baby I'll go home in a regular time frame. If not, then I'll have to stay at least 48 hours after she's born to make sure she's alright. My Doctor was also nice enough to remind me that sex helps labor along...I think I'll be sharing that info with Eric tonight. Hehehe!
So, time to post the pictures. These are the normal up close belly pics. I don't think you can really see that I'm any lower, too close maybe, but I am bigger.
36 weeks

38 weeks

So, that's it...I just realized I say "so" alot. Sorry. Just waiting to see how things progress. Hopefully I'll go sometime in this next week. Fingers crossed!

Eric's New Toy

So, I mentioned that one of Eric's friends is gonna bunk with us for a bit. He brought his XBOX 360 with him, which Eric is stoked about. They stayed up until almost 4 am this morning playing. I was planning on getting Eric one for his coming home gift when he returns from deployment. I was going to get the game Guitar Hero to go with it. Eric played it with his friend, Jon, and loved it. Well, since we have a 360 console here to use until he leaves, I got him the Guitar Hero a little early, as a little surprise. I love surprising him with gifts here and there, just goes with my love language, I can't help it. I also reserved him the new edition of it that comes out soon, we'll get it with another guitar so that he can have friends over to play. Hahahah! I sound like I'm talking about a young son, not my 30 year old husband. I thought I'd post a couple of pics of him enjoying the new toy, you know I had to take some to do a scrap page, eventually, since you know he'll be playing it non-stop.
ps...Michelle~if and when you guys come and visit, be prepared. I have a feeling Greg would LOVE this game and those two will be all over it.

side note: I can obviously post pics on here now. I'm going to wait to do those belly pics tomorrow since I have my appointment. Then I'll just do it all in one post. Cool? Cool!

My Pink Wish List...

You all know that I've been collecting pink things for my kitchen. I was going to say appliances but someone though I meant a stove or fridge when I said it that way...I have several things from KitchenAid and one thing from Cuisinart. I decided to look on the Cuisinart website to see if they have other pink things, other than that gorgeous coffee maker I got (which we are loving, btw. Even Eric is into using, despite the fact that it's pink). I am so happy I looked on there. I was planning on getting a toaster from KitchenAid but turns out they only have a 2 slice toaster, but Cuisinart has a 4 slice one. Yeah! I'm also glad we found it as the toaster we have now has gone kaput on one side. Here is the pretty thing...ain't it great?!
I also found on there this great popcorn maker that I will be getting at some point, I swear. I'm really hoping these aren't just for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I can't wait to get my hands on them. I think they will be my treats for paying off bills when Eric is away. I can't wait to get started...but I can wait for him to leave. I'm going to miss him tremendously.
There are also various small things that are still @ KitchenAid that I want to get. I couldn't save the pictures for them or I'd show you. I'd like the hand mixer. There's a utensil crock, a knife block w/ 4 knives, some cutting boards...smaller stuff. I think I have most of the big stuff. Oh, I eventually want the blender too, but that's last on the list since we have a perfectly nice one right now.
Just thought I'd share my findings. I can't help it. I love pink!

What's the haps, yo?!

Alrighty...what's been going on with us? Nothing too crazy, I haven't been on the computer all that much, not that I've been busy doing other stuff, just haven't been on much.
We're getting ready for Halloween, not decorating so much but getting costume's together. Rye is going to be Tinkerbell. We're just waiting on her shoes to come. We've got the outfit, some glitter spray for her hair and body and we also got a little bag that we're putting star confetti in to be her fairy dust (Eric's idea). She is so excited for Halloween to come. Eric is excited as well...I'm not sure why but this year he became obsessed with dressing up. At first he wanted to be Ricky Bobby but he could not find a nice enough costume. So now he is being the Ghost Rider, his only disappointment is that he cannot set his head on fire for the full effect. He has decided that this will be something that he'll be year after year (I think this was just his way of explaining spending more $$ on the costume). ;) We haven't decided if he'll pass out candy or walk Rye around. Should be an interesting night though.
I will be 38 weeks tomorrow. I think the baby has dropped (so does Eric) but there is no way for me to be totally sure. I have an appointment on Monday, so I'll fill you in then. I can tell you that I have gained 38 lbs so far, I'm not at all sure how I feel about this. Things are getting much more uncomfortable and I have been having several relatively strong contractions a night, but they don't go anywhere past that. Maybe you could say a prayer that she'll come sooner rather than later...not for me, I can handle the discomfort a few more weeks (maybe not the stretch marks though, hahha,) but for Eric. He found out yesterday that he WILL be going to CAX, only a little late. The company will go on 28 October, he'll join them on 9 November. I'd really love if he was able to spend some time with the baby before he goes. Any tips on how to get this thing going? So, I had a 38 week pic I was going to post but I'm having some trouble uploading pics on here right now. Soon as it's fixed I will post them.
I was given a surprise baby shower last Saturday. It was an actual surprise (I ususally figure these things out, I must be off my game) and a real treat. I am so thankful to have a friend like Layla here who would go out of their way to do this for me. I have pics from that as well, so I'll post them when I can. I must warn you though, seeing as it was an actual surprise to me, I look like shizz in most of the pics. Sorry!
Only other thing that's going on is that one of Eric's friends is going to move in with us till they leave for Iraq (early next year). He'll really only be here a month or so, they have CAX till end of November then they have leave (which he'll be out of town for) end of December and early January. He's a really nice guy and he's going through some tuff stuff. I'm glad we're able to help him out. Not that we're not pretty lucky in all this though. He's selling us his huge sectional for a very good price. And we get to use his 50" TV and entertainment center till he gets back since it won't fit in his storage unit. Sweet deal, yeah? Of course we'd help him out without the added stuff, I'm just glad we can.
That's about it from the Aloha State. Now I gotta walk down tot he commissary and get some stuff for dinner tonight...BLTs...mmmmmm

HANDS DOWN...

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD!

1ST GRADE
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!

New Stuff

So, I got a couple of new things today...yeah! First was this beautiful addition to my pink kitchen collection (though it's not kitchen aid). I happened upon it on a trip to the HUGE A$$ Pearl Harbor NEX...and I HAD to get it, I'm sure you understand. ;)
Next, I saw this crib bedding @ WalMart last week...I went back to see if they had it today, assuming they wouldn't because that's just how my luck runs usually. They had moved it so it took me a bit to find it but, it was there, WOOT! I had tried to find it online, but the only place I saw it was on Ebay and they all said it was hard to find and that wasn't even the pink style, not a peep about this baby, so I knew it was quite a find. You all know that I am totally into the RainForest collection from Fisher-Price. They had this bedding in the regular colors of the collection but when I saw that they had it in PINK, I had to act. I obviously won't be needing the comforter for warmth, so I'm going to hang that on the wall. I know I already have a bumper and crib skirt but I have been in contact with the nice people from BabiesRUs and they said I could return it and put it toward another purchase. I'm thinking I might put it toward this bad boy. It's relatively new or it would have been on my registry from the beginning. I thought of just using my playard in the room, but it might be a little too bulky. Not sure yet. I'm not sure why I'm so obsessed with this collection. That was one reason I thought this little chica was going to be a boy...all I wanted to look at was this collection or anything green or orange.
So that's about it in my not-so exciting life. Waiting for Eric to get back on Sunday and trying to keep Rye in a good mood (her friend went on an unexpected trip to the big island and she's been left without a play mate over the long weekend). I'm doing alright, pregnancy-wise. Getting more uncomfortable, but that's life. I'm resigned to the fact that if I follow the trend I will be late having her like everyone else I know who has had babies in the last month. Not one early birth among the 4 people I know who've given birth since September. I've been having a some contractions, some that hurt and others that just leave me short of breath. Nothing major. Sleeping has sucked, especially last night when the power went out for like 2 hours. Not a breeze to come in through the windows...no fans...it was so quiet I wanted to SCREAM! It got so hot...let's hope that's not a trend. Anyway, I'm beginning to ramble...I'll check back in soon enough, I'm sure. Later all!

Great Show, Great Ideas

So, I haven't been all that into cooking and stuff lately. I used to watch Food Network religiously, but I've been in a bit of a slump lately. But I found this show call Just Cook This! with Sam the cooking guy. Sam is great and he's full of humor, healthy tips and great recipes. I think I may make it my goal to cook one or two of his recipes a week. He has themed shows (i.e., pasta, burgers, shrimp) and he does three quick recipes a show. We tried his shrimp tacos last week and Eric devoured them. So, check out his site or his show, you'll be really glad that you did. It's on Discovery Health, Tuesdays @ 4 & 430 pm (1 & 130 pm , my time..how weird is that?).

Only 4 more weeks...hopefully

So, I had my appointment and labor & delivery tour yesterday, everything went well. I got my strep test, they'll let me know the results of that. Her heart rate was in the 160s, she was moving around a lot. She is head down, so she's not trying to punch her way out through my belly, just trying to kick her way out. The doctor said that my cervix is still posterior and has moved down a little but not much yet, it's also still very firm. She asked if it was easier for me to breath yet, I gave her a big, "NO!" She said it should get better soon...but then, won't I feel like I have a little bowling ball sitting in my pelvis? I guess till she's born I trade one discomfort for another. My next appointment will be on the 22nd, a couple days after I hit 38 weeks. Here are the ever-loved belly pics.
32 weeks

36 weeks

Other than that, nothing big here. Eric has a 96 this weekend and then leaves for a few more days of training. We're pretty sure they're going to let him stay here for the baby, but nothing has been set in stone. On the name front, I'm leaning toward Josefine Rae (after the 2 most important men in my life,) but Eric is still for Autumn Josefine. Only time will tell.

What's been up lately...

So...it's been brought to my attention that I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that. Not much really going on. I have my 36 week appointment tomorrow, so I'll post about that after. I haven't been on the computer too much since Eric got home. I'm so happy to have him home. It's sounding more like he'll be home for the birth and might not have to go at all. Which would be AWESOME!
I've been fairly steady this pregnancy, emotion wise...until this last week. It started a few days before Eric got home. Rye and I were having a bad day and I started freaking out about being a terrible mother and starting all over with another and doing it all alone again while he's gone. I was flooded with all these memories from when Eric was in Japan for 10 months when Rye was little. Add to that seeing my friends tiny baby and I was scared competely sh!tless over what lay ahead of me. I calmed down relatively quickly...but since then I have been very emotional. Things that don't normally get to me are getting to me and I'm really over it. I don't like not feeling in control, especially with something like my emotions. I could use a little prayer on this one, if anyone can spare some. ;)
Rye is on fall break this week...actually, October is a pretty sparse month school wise, if you ask me. She has a total of 8 days off and then two weeks of early release (tho it's only an hour earlier) while they do teacher conferences. She also has a field trip to the pumpkin patch on the 30th, I didn't realize they grew pumpkins in Hawaii. Hehe! I'm really missing the cooling of the temperatures and the changing of the leaves. I can only imagine what the trees in Shenandoah look like right now. We should also be getting her school pics back, I'm excited to see how those turned out. Can't wait to show you all.
I seem to have slowed down in my scrapbooking again. I want to do it, I just don't feel like doing it. Maybe that will change.
So, we have a list of names started for the baby. Her middle name will be one of the following: Josefine, Rae or Frances. So far for the first names we have (tho some are just one's I've come up with that Eric hasn't given his opinion on, I'll also add possible nicknames with them): Josefine/Joey, Virginia/Gini, Brenna, Darcy, Delaney/Laney, Marin, Jude, Autumn, Evelyn/Evie, Lena, Finn, Jillian/Jilli, Moira (I really only like this one because it's the Irish form of Mary, which I like for obvious reasons) or Rowan. We also heard a little girl called Ramsey at the store this weekend, Eric liked that but not sure about having to R named kids or them both ending in the ee sound. I am such a dork. Not need to tell me, I already know. Feel free to let me know your favorites.
Alright, that's it for now. I'll post my 36 week pic later in the week with anything new from my appointment tomorrow.