My final post before I'm a Mom

Today is my due date...and just like Mom it looks like our baby girl is extremely prompt and timely. My water bag started really leaking this morning and I checked with Barb to see if she can confirm that it's probably it. So I called the doctor on call and she told me to go to Hoag to check and see if I'm in labor or if they want to admit me. On Wednesday, I heard a pop at the top of my tummy which I think was my water breaking. My contractions felt a little funny this morning. So once we got to Floor 5 - Labor & Delivery, I was strapped up to the machine to check my contractions and baby girls heartbeat. She was doing perfectly and my mild contractions were a very consistent 2-3 minutes apart. After just about 30 minutes of being here, they hooked up my IV and started me on Pitocin. So now here I am, sitting and waiting for each contraction (and accompanying pain). But I'm thrilled my hospital room has free wi-fi so I can post my final thoughts as I sit in my hospital bed riding out each contraction.

So what are my thoughts?? Well, I can't believe I'm going to be a Mom. I know millions of women have done it before but when it's your turn, it feels surreal. Like you should be asking someone permission to do it or something. LOL Anyway, right now I feel so much anticipation for that first moment when Paul and I see our child together. I can't wait to see Paul's face as he cuts the cord. I can't wait to give her a big huge kiss on the face. I can't wait to hold her in my arms. I can't wait to snuggle wuggle with her. I can't wait for Niko & Cali to meet her. I can't wait to take our first picture as a family. I can't wait to call her by her name (and give her a nickname). I can't wait to see her held by everyone in our family. I can't wait to tell her how much I love her and how long it feels like I've been waiting for this day. I can't wait to have our first holiday together this Christmas. I can't wait for my friends to hold her and give her their nicknames for her. And so much more....

Til I see you soon, my baby girl...just know I'm smiling from ear to ear (my cheeks hurt) thinking about finally being with you.

Love,

Andrea

Monday before Thanksgiving...{tick tock}

This past week was, to put it gently, very difficult for me (which means it must have been hard for Paul). Everytime I went to bed, I prayed that I would be woken up by a burst bag of water or intense labor contractions but it didn't happen. Therefore, each morning I lulled around a little sad. I know it's getting super close now (only 5 days til my due date) but it's still hard to have the patience necessary to get through them. It helps that it's a slow work week for Paul so I may get to do a ride along with him on Tuesday or Wednesday. I LOVE spending my free time with him even if it's just riding with him in his car while he drives around Orange County.

Last night was kind of cool though...I woke up at around 11:30pm with some pain in my lower abs, my lower/outer back and in between my legs. I would fall in and out of sleep with the pain til it went away at around 3am or so. I was so hoping that it was "go time" but hey at least there is some sort of action, huh! It wasn't super painful but more "ouch, that's uncomfortable". I'm looking for the "you can't talk through it cause it hurts so much" kind of pain. We shall see! Today, I'm going to clean the house as if she's coming (I think I've done that about 50 million times), play some video games to pass the time, and do some online Christmas shopping. Maybe I'll make a trip to the grocery store, too. I want to make sure I have the staples in the house for when Gramma & Grampa Thompson and the Dill Family come up here on thursday for Thanksgiving. I know I'm going to bake a pumpkin pie with crumb topping and I'll also make sure to have beverages, too. (I say all of this, but what I would really love is to have a baby girl to be with LOL).

We have another OB/GYN appointment tomorrow at 2:30pm but here's hoping we don't make it to that point!

Love,

Andrea

38 Weeks 4 Day - OB Appt

Well, without working myself up too much, we found out today that not much has changed since our last appointment. I think baby girl likes the nice, comfy, little home I've provided for her. Can't blame her. I myself love a warm bath and she's pretty much been in one for awhile now! I guess I just need to keep myself occupied in the meantime while we wait. It's a funny little balancing act between doing enough to keep my mind occupied but doing little to not wipe out my energy by 10am. All in good time. Who knows? Maybe our Reitmeier Thanksgiving 2009 will be spent at Hoag Hospital!

So in conclusion, medical I'm doing great. I've got 10 days to go til my due date. My doc won't induce me until I'm 41 weeks. So right now, we are on baby time. I'm on a good rotation between shopping (grocery & mall) and seeing movies in the theatre. I think I'll be keeping that up until D-Day.

(P.S. I'll have a great "how to have patience" story for her when she needs a good life lesson story from Mom)...

Love,

Andrea

37 Week 4 Day OB/GYN appointment...

Yesterday, we had our 37.5 week doctor appointment yesterday and it was so exciting! Dr. Kroll did an exam and I am 1 cm dialated, 80% effaced, -1 station. Woohoo! So she stripped my membranes a little bit (I get the "full stripping" next week) to hopefully get things going a bit. She said I look like I'm "done"... I agreed. I'm ready to meet my angel pie. I haven't felt anything but cramping in different areas each hour since then but nothing painful. We shall see what this means! I told Paul as we were getting ready for bed that from here on out, I will either be woken up by the sun or by pain. :)

I'm going to rest a lot today and maybe go to a movie if I decide to leave the house. I also got my hair done last night! That last item on my list :-) Mom is officially ready.

Love,

Andrea

Nursery - Before & After {Pics}

{{{{BEFORE}}}}

{{{{AFTER}}}}

37 Weeks 2 Days...funny little pain

The past few nights I haven't been sleeping that well. I'll be really tired but because I'm so uncomfortable no matter what I do (lower back aches, stomach tight, and pain in my groin) I can't relieve it. But eventually it goes away and I take an early morning nap. But this morning, while Paul was at the gym, at around 8:27am I started getting a pain in my lower back wrapping around to the lower front part of my belly. It wasn't making my stomach super hard like it gets with the Braxton Hicks contractions but it was definitely uncomfortable and wasn't going away no matter what I did (walking around, sitting down, etc.). Paul got home around 20 minutes later and the pain was still there. So we decided to go take my car to the car wash (like we were planning to do this morning) and while we were in the car I called the doctor on call. She basically told me to give it awhile to see if they stay or if they go away. She said the early parts of labor can last around 12 hours or more. She said "you'll know" when it's really time because you won't be able to talk through the contractions. The funny thing was, I wasn't able to notice a separation between contractions. It just felt like one long painful feeling for about an hour. As soon as we got home, I started steamcleaning the carpets in the house and my car. I heard that moving around a bunch gets things going. Well, it is now 11:31am and I haven't felt any pain since that first pain went away at around 9:30am.

Side note: My list of things to get done before she gets here is down to writing a few more thank you cards and getting my hair done. And that's it!! I can't believe we are so ready. I never thought I'd get to this point. I'm also going to double check the bag I packed for the hospital to make sure I have all the goodies I need. Of course, when it's actually time, I'm going to add the pillows, blankets, makeup, and other toiletries. Oh yes, and the electronics! We will have our computer with us to A) pass the time and B) hop on Skype to share her with her grandparents (Paul & Karen) in Texas.

I'm so excited! AND ready. Bring on the contractions. :)

36 Week 5 Day Update

Yesterday, we had our 36 week OB/GYN appointment yesterday. I sort of used my doctor as a therapist (never did that before) telling her how tired I am, that I am more emotional than I've ever been and that I'm willing to trade lack of sleep with some space back in my body for my organs LOL. I really am just anxious (that Type-A part of me acting up again) to get things going - and to see how things really are with a newborn. We've read so much and heard so much, but the reality of it I'm sure is very unexplainable. I'm ready to "pull the bandaid off" and find out for myself.

She also did another exam and I am the same as usual (no dialation, 80% effaced). She expects me to keep cooking for another 2 weeks but if she were to guess she thinks I'll deliver before my due date. I mentioned to her that I was a 9lb 2oz baby and was a week early. She said for me to remind her of that as we get closer so she can maybe do an ultrasound to make sure I don't have a ginormous baby. She wanted me to find out how much my sister weighed too because the first baby tends to be smaller than the third. She said that my babies weights mostly correlate to the weight of my mothers.

Yesterday morning, I also woke up after having my first FULL FLEDGED delivery dream! It obviously had some weird twists that dreams do, but for the most part I was very much pushing the baby out! I definitely have D-Day on the brain!

I made an appointment at Hoag Hospital Breastfeeding Clinic for next tuesday morning, right before our next OB/GYN appointment. I need to get fitted for my nursing bra. ;-) Hey, it's no Victoria's Secret but a girls gotta do it!

I'll also be posting baby room pictures VERY soon! I think we're done!

Love,

Andrea