Prenatal Massages and Preterm Labor!

Ryan officially goes down in history as the most incredible husband ever! For our anniversary on Thursday, Sarah was surprised with a spa appointment for a prenatal massage. She was able to lie on her belly, thanks to the handy dandy cut outs in the massage table. It's been MONTHS since Sarah has been able to lie on her belly and, though it seems like a simple thing, it was quite a treat! The spa was so relaxing and was the perfect, perfect anniversary gift.

Despite how relaxing the massage was, Sarah started feeling very uncomfortable on Thursday night. When she was still feeling the same on Friday morning she called her doctor, who told her to go to the hospital to be checked out. We headed over to Labor and Delivery and Sarah was strapped up to monitors to see what was going on. We quickly learned that Sarah was having regular contractions that were only 2 to 3 minutes apart! It's still a bit early for the baby to arrive, so she was given an injection to stop the contractions. Though the contractions continued, the medicine did weaken them, and since Sarah was not dilated at all we were allowed to go home. Since then the contractions have tapered off to a much more irregular pattern, which is what we want to see for a few weeks. We officially hit the full term mark on July 5th at which time it would be 100% safe to deliver the baby - hang in there for a while longer, little man! We still have a few stragglers on the birth date and baby name poll, but we'll post the results soon.

Who knows... our delivery date could be right around the corner!

Mommy Update:
- Now knows what contractions feel like and will be that much more prepared when the big day happens.
- Realizes that she and Ryan need to pick a pediatrician soon and pack for the hospital... just in case!
- Cannot believe that there are less than thirty days until our due date (we're going to be parents soon).
- Attended two childbirth classes with Ryan and got to watch him quite skillfully swaddle a baby doll.

Cast Your Vote!

Okay, blog readers, this is your opportunity to get in on the action. We are now taking predictions for the baby's name and birth date. Sarah's official due date is July 27th, but the baby will be considered full term on July 5th so he could be born anytime after that date. Technically, he could arrive before July 5th, but we're hoping that he holds out until at least then! Today's high temperature was 103 degrees, so we're also hoping that he'll take into consideration the intensifying summer heat and won't decide to arrive late... Sarah's already uncomfortable enough as it is!

You can submit your predictions by either commenting on this entry or emailing Sarah or Ryan. If you post your guess in a blog comment, be sure to sign your name so that we know for sure who it is coming from. We'll compile everyone's guesses and post them on an upcoming blog. The winners will receive the greatest prize of all - the ability to forever gloat to everyone that YOU were right!

We've had a lot of fun setting up the baby's room and getting ready for our little man's arrival! Bit by bit, the baby's stuff is steadily taking over the house. We now present Exhibits A - I:




Whatever will we do if the little guy doesn't like monkeys?!?

We're still keeping incredibly busy with getting everything moved in, and on top of that Ryan has his Master's degree thesis review coming up soon. He has to have a published book and twenty gallery ready images for his hour-long presentation to the review panel. Think good thoughts for him in the upcoming weeks!

More pictures and news to come soon... in the meantime, cast your vote for baby's name and birth date to make sure your voice is heard!

Mommy Update:
- Found out at her latest doctor's appointment that the baby is definitely not breech... thank goodness!
- Wonders what her waistline's current circumference is, but is too afraid to break out the tape measure.
- Excited about her first childbirth classes next week, and is hoping that there will be plenty of diaper practice for the dads!
- Was asked the other day if she was expecting twins... oh, the humanity!

We Love Our New Home!

Since our last post, we've moved most of our belongings into the new house and are steadily unpacking. It's been a lot of fun, even though it is a lot of work. We were lucky enough to have some phenomenal friends help us with the move. Christin was in town for a visit, and Angie and Nelson came over on Saturday. Nelson also brought one of his friends along to lend a hand! Without their help, we would never have been able to pull off this move. Thanks to all of you for the lifting and stair climbing - you're the best! Ryan also deserves a special mention. Since Sarah can't move any boxes, the daddy-to-be has been making trip after trip back to our old apartment to get all of the odds and ends packed up and moved over here. Thank goodness we're overlapping our leases by a few weeks!

We thought it would be fun to post a short video tour of the new digs once we have everything set up. Not only will that be a bit more interesting than pictures, but you'll also get to see footage of Sarah's waddle walk. We'll be sure to get that up as soon as we can. For now, here's a picture of the two of us (three of us?) in our backyard. We love sitting outside in our little "garden oasis" - it's so peaceful and relaxing!


At our last doctor's appointment, Sarah had a fetal fibrinectomy test. Since she has been experiencing a lot of pain at night, our doctor wanted to make sure that her symptoms weren't indicative of pre-term labor. The test is able to determine with about 97% accuracy whether or not the patient will go into labor in the next two weeks. As we expected, Sarah's test came back negative, but we thought it was an amazing example of what modern medicine can do. Too bad we can't get one of those tests every time we go in for our appointments - it would make planning for delivery a lot easier!

Mommy Update:
- Has discovered that she really loves doing laundry... no, really, she LOVES laundry!
- Was finally able to wash and organize every single stitch of baby clothing and linens.
- Is looking forward to hosting a barbeque party once all the boxes have been unpacked.
- Sends congrats to all of her colleagues for officially making it to summer vacation!

Lotsa Baby in This Belly!

We recently shot the eight month preggie belly pictures. It's been a lot of fun to chronicle Sarah's incredible expanding waistline, and we are excited to see what next month's shoot holds. We're posting the single pictures this month, since the line o' bellies is getting pretty long. We'll reveal the full progression (3 months to 9 months) next time.



In other exciting news, our friend Christin will be arriving for a visit on Friday! We missed seeing her in the Spring, since we had to cancel our Texas vacation plans due to the previa. We can't wait for her to get here and are looking forward to five fun-filled days!

We have another doctor's appointment today and will be sure to post any important news that we receive. Things are pretty routine now, which is great, though it makes for somewhat uneventful blog entries! We're pretty sure that the baby is in the head down position, getting ready for his big day. He's kicking Sarah's ribs each and every night and, though he is running out of room, still attempts to flip and flop. It's not the most comfortable experience, but it reminds us that he is feisty and strong. We can't help but wonder if this is indicative of what his activity level and sleep schedule will be once he's born...

Congratulations to our friends Jessica and David are in order - their beautiful daughter, Julia, was born on Friday! Yay!

Mommy Update:
- LOVES packing for the move... it's a great way to fulfill her crazy nesting needs!
- Can't wait to unpack (for the same reason) and do her first load of baby laundry.
- Having trouble sleeping through the night, but thankfully is able to sleep in to compensate!
- Has a new third trimester dairy craving and is trying not to satisfy it solely through frozen yogurt.

We're Moving!

No, your eyes do not deceive you - we've decided to move in Sarah's ninth month of pregnancy! The lease on our current apartment is up soon and the rent was raised to much more than we are willing to pay. We've been in our one-bedroom, 600 square foot apartment for the past several years, and the increased rent on top of the baby's fast approaching arrival was the push we needed to search for a bigger place. We tackled this task with a bit of sadness, however, as we really love the location of where we live now. Lucky for us, we found the perfect solution! We will be moving into a townhouse that is twice the size and located practically next door to us. We'll have two bedrooms, tons of storage space, and even a backyard complete with a doggie door for Mr. Max! While the timing isn't great considering that Sarah can't lift any boxes, it will be well worth it in the end. We can't wait to get everything set up in our new home, hopefully in time for the arrival of both the baby and the grandparents. We'll post a few pictures once everything is moved in, but for now here's a sneak peak of our new abode:


Our official move-in date is June 7th, and we're simultaneously counting the days and dreading the chaos. With so many benefits to moving, however, we're willing to deal with the madness!

Mommy Update:
- Super excited about the fact that she'll have a washer and dryer now... bye bye, laundromats!
- While getting more uncomfortable as the weeks go on, still enjoys every minute of this experience.
- Is happy to have the doctor's clearance to swim now, especially with the hot days we've been having!
- Can't wait to take advantage of her longer leash and venture out beyond a five mile radius of the hospital.

Baby Notch Goes High-Def!

Well, it's not quite high-def, but it's definitely better than our previous images! We had our 4-D ultrasound today and were quite pleased with the results. The baby had his arm in front of half of his face the entire time and was holding on to his foot. He was playing with his toes and having a grand old time - it was really interesting to watch and get a glimpse of his personality!

Here's a quick clip of the baby moving around and yawning:



We received a ton of still images as well. It was hard to choose which one to post! Here's a shot of baby boy's favorite toy - his foot!


More news to come soon!

Defying the Odds!

We had our 30-week ultrasound yesterday and received some fantastic news. The placenta previa has completely resolved itself and is no longer a factor in our pregnancy! The odds were so stacked against this happening, only a 3 - 5% chance, that we were quite shocked. In addition to a significant decrease in the risks to Sarah and baby's health, the news also means that we no longer need a C-section. Guess we'll need to sign up for childbirth classes after all!

The baby currently weighs about three and a half pounds, and apparently has a head full of hair already. As with our 20-week ultrasound, we did not get fantastic images, but the one below is our favorite. The perspective is looking up at his face, as he shields his eyes with his hand. You can see his nostrils and little mouth, post yawn.


Since we've been somewhat disappointed with our first baby pictures, we decided to make an appointment for a 4-D ultrasound. We'll be going in on Tuesday and are looking forward to catching a better glimpse of baby boy! We can't wait to *hopefully* get some good pictures that don't need as much explanation. We'll be sure to post them soon after our appointment, so be on the lookout for another blog entry soon!

Mommy Update:
- No C-section? Woo hoo! Wait a minute... natural childbirth? Uh-oh!
- A bit scared, but excited about the labor and delivery experience.
- After ten weeks of bed rest and worry, so relieved that all is well!
- Getting lots of attention from Max... he knows something's up.