Full Term

Here are the most recent pictures in my baby belly journey:

35 weeks

The size of a crenshaw melon (once again ???)

About 6 lbs and 18 1/2 inches long

37 weeks

As long as a stalk of swiss chard

6 1/3 lbs and about 19 inches long

Jared has been wanting to put his photo skills to work and take an artsy photo of me pregnant in order to frame and put in the baby room. I think he did a great job! We couldn't decide if we liked it better in color or black and white.

I am officially considered full term at this point!!!

Although I would still like to make it to 39 weeks, if the baby was born now it would no longer be considered pre-term. Yay!

Grace and Mercy

There are certain times in my life that God has abundantly shown Himself to a point where I feel undeserving and ashamed at my doubt. Now is one of those times.

Since finding out that we were expecting a little one in March Jared has been looking for a new job to provide more income and better benefits. I have wanted to cut down to at least 30 hours/week to stay home more once the baby comes. Jobs have been sparse and there haven't been many possibilities over the last 9 months. We have been through our fair share of dr. appointments, hospital visits and ultrasounds which have added up financially. My hours were reduced in December, which was an unexpected decrease to our monthly income. Through it all we have both been trying to rely on God as He has always been faithful to provide. As much as I try, my first instinct is to always become anxious and worry. The final straw was when we did our taxes and realized that we owe the government this year. Needless to say we were both discouraged.

The same night we did our taxes (1 1/2 weeks ago) Jared got a phone call from a friend saying he had just been hired at bodybuilding.com as their Director of Web Development. His friend told Jared that he wanted him to work in the department he was overseeing as a Web Designer. We were both a little hesitant to believe that the job would actually happen. This last Friday Jared interviewed for the job and was extended an offer a couple hours later. That same night his friend called and said that he felt Jared was worth more than the initial offer and that he would be sending him a new offer on Monday with an increase in salary. Both Jared and I sat there that night completely humbled and overwhelmed by God's grace and mercy.

I am still amazed at God's timing and his overflowing grace. Being a Christian my entire life I think it is easy to overlook the concept of grace and mercy at times. This was such an intense reminder of how undeserving I am, yet how good and gracious the Lord is.

We have also decided to try and flip the baby. Our appointment is scheduled for Wednesday at 4:00. I was slightly anxious all week wanting to make the right decision. After being able to talk to the doctor on Friday I feel good about the decision and know that the outcome is in the Lord's hands. If the baby turns we will wait for labor to progress naturally, if the baby doesn't turn we will schedule our C-Section.

There is so much change happening right now that sometimes it is hard to absorb. We are both excited to meet our little one and begin this next chapter of our life together.

To Flip or Not to Flip

Since baby is still breech we began a discussion with our Dr. at our last appointment as to our options.

We basically have two:

1. Try to flip the baby manually (called external cephalic version)

2. Schedule a c-section (or if I went into labor naturally it would be an automatic c-section, assuming baby hadn't flipped naturally).

An ECV works about 50% of the time and has the most success if:

- you have had a baby before (no)

- there is a normal amount of water around the baby (low side of normal)

- your baby has his knees bent (no)

- his or her bottom isn't engaged in your pelvis (no)

- the baby's head is not right up against the placenta (yes)

Basically, we are 1 out of 5.

My fluid levels were checked on Friday and they are remaining stable around 7 cm (normal range is 5-20 cm). My Dr. said an ECV is very uncomfortable and at times painful; however, is harmless to both the baby and mother.

An ECV would be scheduled a week from Tuesday on February 16th.

A c-section would be scheduled between March 2-5.

I found this video on You Tube of an ECV:

Right now we are praying and thinking about what to do. We have to make our decision by Tuesday in order to schedule the procedure if that's what we decide. We are still praying that the Lord will turn the baby and that we can avoid both and ECV and a c-section!

Baby Shower

Last weekend we had our couples baby shower! It was a lot of fun and Jared and I felt very spoiled and loved by all our friends. Throughout our entire pregnancy there has been so much love and support poured out on us. We are very thankful to all of our family and friends! We have had baby showers with both sides of our family, a surprise work shower and a couples/friends shower (unfortunately I don't have pictures of the other showers). Below is a recap of the fun times:

Pre-Party Prom Pose

My sweet friends Jennifer and Annie who organized the shower

35 weeks pregnant

Size of a honeydew, over 18 inches long and 5 1/4 lbs

Yummy cupcakes, made by Jennifer

She sent home all of the leftovers with us, which was a HORRIBLE idea with my sweet tooth. I did let Jared have a couple!

Game Time

Do you know the gestation period of an elephant, horse, whale, mouse, etc.?

Presents!

As you can see we were very spoiled and got very cute things. A couple people gave us both a boy and a girl outfit, which was so fun. Everything I have is so neutral that it made me excited to go shopping. Also, instead of a card, everyone had to bring a book and sign their name in that...it was such a cute idea and a great keepsake!

Thanks everyone for making our shower so special!!!

Belly Shots

It's been a really long time since I've posted pregnancy pics. With the drama of bed rest, reduced hours and busyness of the holidays time has really gotten away from me. There seems to be a large gap in pregnancy pictures from week 24 to week 28...apparently I wasn't in the mood to get my picture taken during that period!

I had a doctor appointment today and everything is looking good. I have an ultrasound on Tuesday just to make sure of the exact size of the baby and what position it is in. As of now, we think baby is still breech and the doctor said we will start to discuss options at my next appointment if it decides to be stubborn and not turn on its own. I will be at 33 weeks Sunday (to me that is crazy)! I haven't experienced the "get this baby out of me" feeling yet. I am perfectly content having the little one safe and sound inside! Time is just flying by!

Week 28/29 (I can't remember):

Size of a Chinese Cabbage, 2 1/4 lbs and 15 inches long

Week 30:

Size of a large cabbage, 3 lbs and 15 3/4 inches long

Week 32:

Size of a jicama (hmmm...), 3 3/4 lbs and 16 3/4 inches long

Hopefully, I can be a little more consistent in remembering to both take and post pictures. It was fun to go back through and look at all of them tonight! Doesn't seem like that long ago that I posted we were expecting!

If you think about it pray that the baby will decide to turn on its own...I feel like that has got to be the easiest option!! When I asked the doctor if there was anything I could do to encourage flipping a home she said that sometimes it works to get on your elbows and knees with your butt in the air...a little bizarre but at times effective!

Don't worry, I won't be posting any pictures of that!!!

Fiesta Time

I kicked off college football with a post about Boise State's first football game against University of Oregon. That game went well for BSU, so I thought just in case I had anything to do with the win I had better post about Boise State's BIG final game tonight.

It's just a little BCS bowl game called the Fiesta Bowl!

Only it is not so little...

3 years ago Boise State shocked the nation with a huge win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. The game had everything you could hope for including a come from behind tie in regulation, overtime, "trick" plays, a two-point conversion to win the game 43-42 and a proposal. It was a super exciting game to watch and Bronco nation is hoping for another win over Texas Christian University tonight.

I will be cheering from my comfy, cozy spot on the couch, while my hubby will be cheering 8 rows up from the field on the 50 yard line! He is enjoying the warm weather of Arizona, while playing golf, going to a Cardinals game and finally going to the Fiesta Bowl. He refers to it as the best weekend ever, in which I have to remind him that's not possible because I'm not there! Don't worry, I'm not bitter though...I love being home by myself, restricted in activities and experiencing freezing cold weather :) Plus, Jared did download the 4th season of Grey's Anatomy for me before he left!

So...throw on your blue and orange tonight and cheer on the Broncos to a repeat victory at the Fiesta Bowl!

Woo Hoo!!!

Year End Wrap Up

I saw on a couple of my friends blogs that they wrote a sort of Christmas letter and I thought that was a great idea! I obviously didn't have it done in time for Christmas, but figured it would still work! This year has definitely been full and has gone by sooo fast. Jared and I feel extremely blessed for the family and friends in our life and look forward to 2010!

January: January was a bit of a whirlwind and it is hard to remember all the ends and outs of what we did. I switched to 4 10 hour days and got permanent long weekends, yay! We started contemplating the idea of selling our house and browsed the housing market to see what was out there. We did a lot of home improvements including new carpet, painting, organizing, etc. Which is a blessing to have done since we decided to stay! We also had several vet appointments to figure out what was wrong with our black lab, Lucy.

February: This is a month we would have rather skipped over. Although the highlight was Jared's surprise of an amazing Valentine weekend, filled with a scavenger hunt of sorts (to buy a dress, get a back massage, get my hair cut and colored) where we spent the night at Hotel 43 downtown and ate a yummy dinner at Chandlers. After Valentine's weekend our month went downhill and we had to put our 4 year old puppy to sleep after a battle with Lymphoma...no fun and something that was extremely difficult for us.

March: My birthday month! I don't remember a whole lot from March other than my brother and sister-in-law coming to visit. We had a great time with them and apparently that was the highlight of our month!

April: Since we decided to stay in our current home we refinanced in April to get a lower interest rate and house payment. We also bought a new refrigerator and put our old one in the garage...which I love! April also brought out the adventurous side of me, as I went on my first snow shoeing trip. We stayed the night at a yurt and had a great weekend with close friends. I am still embarrassed to post pictures of the weekend as I wasn't feeling good and think I look absolutely horrible :)

May: Jared turned 28 this month! We also continued the home improvements by redoing some of our landscaping out front, thanks to much help from my parents. My parents were able to come out for a week and it was wonderful to have them here.

June: Starting at the beginning of summer Jared's job cut back due to the economy and closed the office on Fridays. Although the pay cut hasn't been ideal, having 3 day weekends together has been fabulous! Nothing else significant is really standing out from June

July: This was a big month for us! On July 3rd I woke Jared up at 5:45 am to tell him that I was pregnant...I just couldn't keep the excitement to myself! It was such a surreal, special moment. We also got to visit our fabulous friends in Colorado and go on a mini vacation to Glenwood Springs with them. At the end of the month my parents came to visit again so that we could surprise them with the good news in person. Our first ultrasound was at the end of the month, where we got to hear our precious baby's heart beat for the first time and see them all bundled up. July seems like so long ago, but time as literally flown by!

August: Both Jared and I had our 10 year high school reunions in August. Jared didn't go to his but I flew out to Oregon for mine and had a blast. It was so good to see old friends and catch up with the people I spent almost my entire childhood with. Pregnancy was going well and we finally spilled the news and no longer had to keep secrets.

September: Football season started, which basically consumed our weekends. I feel like Jared is lucky that I like college football! We got to go to Boise State's opening game against Oregon, which was a blast (although I thought I was going to die walking up to the top of the stadium!) Jared's job was supposed to go back to 40 hours/week, however, that ended up not happening...so we have gotten to continue the long weekends together.

October: October seemed like a busy month. I spent most of the first half trying to get over a head cold which turned into a sinus infection. We went to Bear Lake, Utah with Jared's parents for a long weekend and had a great time away with them. We also welcomed a new addition to our family...a 6-month old black lab named Addie. We got ready for Halloween by going to the pumpkin patch with my niece and carving pumpkins with our good friends Justin and Annie. Jared and I hung out with friends on Halloween, but we were the lame ones who didn't dress up! We had our 20 week ultrasound in October and decided to wait to find out if our little one is a boy or a girl!

November: Most of November was spent at Dr. appointments to check my cervical length, preparing for baby and celebrating Thanksgiving. My parents came out for Thanksgiving and we went up to my in-laws for a yummy turkey dinner. It was so nice to have both sides of our family together. We also completed the baby room with the help of my parents which was a HUGE blessing (especially given my restrictions now). Starting in November I feel like my life (and blog) has pretty much centered around my pregnancy!

December: December has been an interesting month. Jared and I celebrated our 6th anniversary by laying on the couch! We had planned on going up to McCall for the weekend for one last get away without a baby; however, due to an unexpected 5 days of complete bed rest spent the time at home instead! I have cut back to 20 hours at work and modified bed rest for the times when I am at home. Jared and I just got back from Oregon where we got to spend a week with my family to celebrate Christmas. Due to all the appointments, monitoring, traveling and celebrating, December has truly flown by!

I think it is fun to reflect on the year and all that the Lord has done in our life. 2009 has been full of many changes and blessings. We are excited and nervous to embrace all that 2010 has in store, which includes a new chapter in our life together...parenthood. Through all that we face I find in encouraging to be reminded:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Happy 2010!!!