Weekly Dr update

We ventured to Havre (yet again) yesterday to see the doctor for my 37 week check up. I kind of felt like it was a slightly pointless appointment. They weighed me, took my BP, measured me, and asked if anything was wrong. I think I could have gone without having to pay for someone to tell me everything is fine. Next week my Dr. will start checking my cervix everytime I go in.

We also toured the hospital maternity wing and filled out all of the pre-admission stuff. The rooms are pretty nice and they all have jacuzzi tubs - which I've heard is nice for labor. The nurse we met was super nice, but notvery encouraging of my desire to have a drug-free birth. Jeff is being super encouraging and supportive as we practice the Bradley method together and Dr. Dow is really supportive of my desire not to be offered pain meds, so the nurse's comments about "most people ending up with epidurals" didn't bother me quite as much. I am going to make little goody bags with our birth plan attached so each person that we come in contact with at the hospital knows the things that are important to us during and after labor. I'm well aware that this will be probably the hardest thing I will ever do, but it's important to me.

We also met with Dr. Walter, a Family Practice DO to talk with him about being our family doctor. We really liked his answers to our questions. He seemed very balanced in his opinions, and also affirmed our roles as parents in making decisions about the baby's care in the hospital and beyond. We feel very comfortable with him caring for the baby in the hospital and afterwards.

After all of our appointments, we got some groceries at Wal-Mart, stopped by Herberger's, grabbed Subway and headed home. When we got home, a 5 gallon bucket of Charlie's Soap was waiting for us. This is the soap recommended for our cloth diapers and Gram was nice enough to buy the big size for us. It's definetly the most economical way to buy it. If you buy the small package, it's 20 cents a load, but the big one is only 12 cents per load. That's cheaper than grocery store brands. So today, I ran the small size diapers, all the inserts, the cloth wipes I made, and all of the blankets through the wash with the new soap. It's supposed to keep everything residue free and be very environmentally friendly. It smells pretty good too.

Jeff headed down to the trailer today. He is not measuring vegetation anymore, but instead he's just getting comfortable with the way he is going to collect his data. He also has to clean his stuff out and help close up the trailer for the winter. The people that own the trailer are coming in on Sunday to close it for the winter. Jeff wont be going down there as much after the trailer is closed but will be doing more studying for his comprehensive examinations and working on his proposal. Which is good, because when he's out in the field, I can't get a hold of him, which would stink when I have this baby.

He will be back up on Thursday so we can go over to our friends' house that evening for fellowship and bible study.

Lastly, we are officially coming home for Christmas - we've got tickets and everything! We can't wait to see everyone!

Quick baby update

Everything is looking fine and going well with the baby. Blood pressure is good, weight is good, heartbeat is good, measurements are good and I'm 1 cm dialated. I know the 1 cm doesn't mean much in terms of David coming soon, but it's kind of cool to know things are working. It's weird to think that he will be here so soon!

Malta Baby Shower

I thought I would post some pictures of the baby shower that the ladies at church threw for me.


These are the "present girls". They helped by walking the presents around for everyone to see.

This is me opening presents and holding up the frog bath toy holder. Amber (next to me) wrote down all the gift info for me!

These are most of the ladies in attendance minus a few. I am blessed that God has provided such a great and supportive church family.

This is me holding the cake.

This is the baseball boquet that Donne made. The roses is the bouquet are baby socks!

Lastly, this is the yummy cake that Robin, our pastor's wife made for the shower. It was beautiful and delicious!

Dr's appointment and Jeff's first pheasant

We headed to Havre today for my 35 week appointment. Every thing looks fine -blood pressure, size, weight gain - nothing realy eventful. I have to start going every week now, which kind of stinks, but means we're getting really close to baby time.


I think we have most everything that we need for the baby now - at least I think so. The ladies at church threw a shower for me this past Sunday. It was great to get to know some of them more and I had a really good time. They also gave me some really cute clothes! I got a lot for older babies, which is good! We have just a few more things that we need for the baby that we will have to order.


Yesterday, Jeff headed out hunting after church and ended up shooting his first pheasant (as you can see below). We have yet to eat it, but we'll let you know how it tastes.





Lastly, I tried to get a video of David moving around. I couldn't get him going really well, but I got a little bit of him moving on video. He'll be here soon!

Snow!

We got our first snow last night. I looked out the window and there was about 3/4 of an inch on the deck and lawn! It's funny because yesterday afternoon I was thinking, "We should start raking up the leaves in our yard before it snows." Well, we didn't get to it before it started to snow :) I didn't even get to buy a rake yet. It's crazy because like 3 or 4 weeks ago, we were having record highs in the upper 90's and 100's and then we just skipped fall.

I had a Dr's appointment earlier this week. Everything is going fine - nothing eventful. I'm measuring a bit big for my gestational age, but they haven't told me that there's any cause for concern at all. I've got to get my flu shots soon, but they aren't easy to find around here. My next Dr's appointment is not this week, but next week, so I'll probably get both flu shots while I'm in Havre.

I found a car seat cover on Craigslist and I bought it. I paid $3 for it and $4 for shipping! I got it in the mail yesterday and it fits our car seat and is in pretty good condition. There's one little seam I need to put like two stitches in to make sure it doesn't come undone, but overall, I got a really good deal! Everyone says that car seat covers are a MUST to have in Montana weather.

Well, Jeff is headed back to the trailer and should be pulling in the driveway soon, so I'm going to figure out dinner.

Tummy pics

Jeff made it home safely!! It's nice to have him home for a few days. He will go down to the trailer tomorrow and then we are off to Missoula on Tuesday. I am looking forward to a burrito from Taco Del Sol...yum!

I also posted this picture of Facebook, but I'll put it on here too. My mom and sister have requested to see pictures of my tummy...so here we go. This is me at 32 weeks pregnant. I've been feeling fine with just your typical pregnant woman aches and pains. I have my next appointment the first week of October and then I have to start going every two weeks. Then, soon after that, I go every week.

Other than packing for Missoula, we are going to enjoy the beautiful weather today. It's about 65 degrees, sunny, and breezy! I think we're going to head to the park to play horsehoes with some friends of ours.

Jeff has been enjoying his time in Monterey, Ca so far. He has reported seeing sea lions, otters, and seals on walks he has taken. I'm a little jealous because he says there are so many seafood restaurants and I LOVE seafood! He did get to visit the aquarium there also. I'm assuming the lectures and talks he has been going to have been good as well. We talked briefly last night while he was at a student-professional mixer and he said he was meeting some neat people including the head of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf program.

I've been keeping busy here in Malta. I usually go for 1 or 2 walks during the day and sometimes do a prenatal yoga DVD that I have. I also have been getting stuff ready for the baby by putting some stuff together, sanitizing and washing the new bottles, and organizing baby clothes upstairs. Today I had coffee with my friend Jennifer and will go for a walk with my friend Allison tomorrow. I'm really trying to get to know people here as much as possible because the sooner I feel comfortable, the better.

Jeff should get back from his conference on Saturday and then we have to turn right back around and head back to Missoula a few days after that for his committee meeting. It's good that we're going though because Jeff's been trying to get this meeting together for months and it looks like it finally can happen. It's gotta happen soon because the baby will be here before you know it and Jeff is supposed to take his comprehensive exams (his "Comps") in the spring - and he has to have this meeting to know what to study for those exams. I am excited to go to Missoula to see ladies at the Club and friends from church. I have no idea where exactly we are going to stay, but I hope Jeff's planning on figuring that out.

In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy the nice, slightly cooler, but still too hot weather that we are having.