Maybe May Baby?

After going to the doctor yesterday, we were told that Connor might not come until at least Monday.  It makes me a little sad because I did want him to be an April baby, but honestly, at this point, I just want him to be born.

However, where he will be born is yet to be seen.  Patrick and I decided this morning to drive to Chattanooga to get away from the lack of power that is all over the state of Alabama after the horrible tornadoes that hit the South yesterday.  There was very little damage around our house, but a lot in the surrounding areas. 

Unfortunately it looks like right now, there won't been any power in the area in for at least 5-7 days, possibly more like 7-10 days.  Our plan was to induce some time next week, depending on how Connor is doing, but if there's no power, I might need to stay in Chattanooga to have him.  I will try calling my doctor's office on Monday morning to see what they say, but I do have a back up plan.  My cousin's sister-in-law is an OB here in Chattanooga and agreed to be my doctor in case of an emergency.  If there's not power on Monday, I will go see her and try to figure this whole thing out.

Due Date?

Well, I knew this was a strong possibility, but it is a little sad to not have any progress on my due date.

I had a doctor's appointment today, where my doctor did a nonstress test (where they monitor the baby's movements for 10 or so minutes to make sure they're okay) and did all the other normal checkup things.  Connor looks great, doctor says he's super healthy, I'm super healthy, but there's no real signs of me going into labor any time soon.  I'm going back on Monday to do it all again and talk about my options.  Unfortunately for me, my doctor's daughter is getting married the first weekend in May, so he's going to be pretty unavailable next week.

However, at this point in the day, I'm really glad I'm not having him right now.  The weather here is INSANE.  Sirens all day, Patrick and I are in the bathroom as there is a tornado on the ground within a 5 miles of our house.  Patrick left work really early because he kept getting evacuated out of the trailer he's been temporarily working out of and my doctor's appointment had gotten postponed from 10:30 to 1:30.  We went to Barnes & Noble to kill time.  While we were there, the weather got so crazy the employees gathered all the customers in the bathroom.  Right now (5:05), I'm in the bathtub, and Patrick is looking out the windows at the damage that was just done to our yard by one of the tornadoes passing by close to our house.  There's another one coming in 20 minutes.

So close!

Connor is almost here, and we have been very busy! The bag is pretty well packed for us to head to Crestwood, and the car seat is securely installed. Here are some pictures that show off some of the work Becca and I got done today:

Here you can see where Becca has set up a "changing station," as well as some decorating.

We got the curtains set up, put up some shelves on the wall, and hung up a few more pictures. There's a bunch of stuff in Connor's crib right now, but don't worry, we'll get that out of there before he sleeps in it. Our rocking chair is in the living room right now, but we might move it into that empty corner. If not, we'll put another chair right there. Not pictured is a mirror we hung on the wall on the right there.

Our friend Jason, who took care of the upgrades we did around the house, has unfortunately been unable to finish the work. This is because of pain resulting from his pancreatic cancer. He got a couple of other guys to come out, and everything is pretty much done now! I know that makes Becca very happy!

By the way, Jason is a very good friend of ours, and we are trying to help him raise some money to pay for a pancreatic cancer vaccine trial that he has been admitted to. He's keeping a blog here: Jason's Battle with Pancreatic Cancer.

Tonight Becca and I went to Palm Sunday mass, and I told Becca I wanted to make sure that we exited the center doors so we'd pass by Father Phil on our way out, so we could tell him the baby was due soon. When Becca walked up to him, he asked her when the baby was due, and Becca said, "Ten days." He said a blessing for us and our baby. Becca and I really appreciate Father Phil, as he has expressed several times in mass that children (even crying, screaming children) are always welcome.

Today during his homily, he shared with us a quotation from St. Augustine that reflects how I have been feeling about God lately:

"God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to be loved."

I am very thankful for God's love, and it means a lot to me that He is going to (and already does) love my baby even more than I do!

I actually have more to say, but I don't want to turn this into a book! You might find this hard to believe, but I actually cut some stuff out!

How many more posts here before we're announcing Connor's arrival? I can't wait!

37 Weeks and Getting Ready!

This past week has been one of buying many things.  Making sure we have everything we need in case he decides to come a little early so we aren't caught terribly off guard.  It is truly ridiculous how many things a baby needs.  I mean, in reality, we can get by without a lot of the things we've bought, but most of them fall in that "really good to have" category.  There have been some splurges, like getting him special outfits for baptism (one for before and one for after), a sweet teddy bear from Build-a-Bear (Patrick and I made one together about 6 or so years ago that I still sleep with), and a number of things that I could have bought more utilitarian versions of, but opted to spend a few more dollars and get what I really wanted, like curtains.

 Packages that arrived today.  Includes sheets for both play yard and crib, curtain with black out curtain, changing pad, and 276 size 1 diapers (12 cents a diaper from Amazon Mom).

Connor's bed and our suitcase for the hospital.  On the detachable changing table, which I think is awesome, is Connor's new teddy bear, Little Buddy, and a sweet little lion toy from Gymboree.

Visit from Grandparents and Spring!

The weather in Alabama is never very predictable.  Last week we had lows in the 30s and next week we have highs in the 80s.  but when it's beautiful, it's really gorgeous.  Today is such a day.  The high is 70, it's completely cloudless, and the sky is a rich blue.  Everything is beginning to bloom and become green.  It's a very hopeful time of year.  A great time to have a baby!

It's also a great time for year to ride a motorcycle.  Patrick's parents, Ed and Marie (or Hapaw and to-be-named) are part of a motorcycle club that is meeting in Huntsville today.  They rode down on their bike yesterday and are spending the day today riding with the club.  Tonight we'll go to dinner (probably Hapaw's favorite: Japanese) and tomorrow we'll go to church before they head back to Chattanooga.  I think Ed loves Connor just slightly more than his motorcycle, so you can imagine what a fun weekend this is for him.

Ed and Marie on one our their motorcycles on our driveway this morning.

Our backyard

Dogwood flower

Coral Honeysuckle.  We have two of these plants in our front yard, two beside our back patio, and a large trellis by the back fence.