...beba's birthday...

it's tomorrow! well, maybe the next day depending on how the induction goes...but i'm praying for a quick and easy labor! :)
tonight seems a night just like any other. i'm wasting time on facebook, drew is back in our room fiddling with something, the windows are open and we're just hanging out. or so it seems...
really we're mentally and emotionally preparing for the birth of our sweet daughter. a little girl who is sure to change the world. our world at least. and while drew and i share a pretty great world right now, we know that it's just going to get better and better. we can't wait to meet you miss _____ ___ davis!

...contraction, traction...what's your action?...

it seems to me that contractions seem to be the great mystery of the world. nobody can really describe what they feel like and you often get the nodding of the head and "you'll just know" explanation. which is one that i'm sure i'll be using once they've come and gone, done their job, and pushed beba out into the world. right now though, as i walk around my house experiencing "discomfort" and "tightening" and even a few "whoa! that hurt" pangs, i'm not really sure what to do. should i be timing them? should i ignore them? should i start re-washing every article of her clothing in hopes of her wearing them by tomorrow?

...my true love...

three years ago today, drew and i had our first kiss in del mar. two years ago today, drew and i had our first kiss as husband and wife. i've been looking over some of our wedding pictures, remembering back to that day and all that it entailed - waaaay too much preparation, but the blessing of so many friends and family coming alongside to support us in our choice of one another.
i feel truly honored to call drew my husband. marriage hasn't been warm fuzzies and bliss every second of the day [is it for you?], but it has been the most incredible experience of my life. i am thankful to have found such a man of integrity, a man who works hard to do the right thing and who tries his absolute best to love me well.

i was a little bit nervous that we would be celebrating the birth of a baby today. but don't worry, she's not here yet! so we're keeping august 5 as our special day...a day to celebrate our kisses and our life together. but we certainly won't mind if she wants to come soon after...especially since i told drew that this year for our anniversary i'm giving him a baby!

...back to the waiting game...

just wanted to share some great news...
my high blood pressure appears to have "resolved" itself. dr brody said that going on maternity leave and not working anymore seems to have done the trick! :) dr. brody's plan no longer is to induce me next week. we are back in the "when the heck is she going to come???" club. i am thankful that we won't have to coax her out artificially, and as it is, it looks as though she could come sooner rather than later anyway. i am 1 cm dilated and already 80% effaced [in case you really want to know]. i have lots of pressure and cramping going on, so i'm pretty sure beba is working her way out. i received all my instructions for heading to the hospital and was told to make an appointment for next week "just in case she hasn't come yet". of course, as we all know, little babes seem to be on their own schedule!
so there's the update. we're really excited for what's to come...

...beba daddy...

some of you may be wondering what drew has been up to during the course of the pregnancy. while i've been hard at work carrying our precious daughter, he's been hard at work prepping for her. i thought i'd give you a little peek into his life these days...

ah, the crib debacle. tried on 3-4 different weekends to put it together. after a million phone calls, PB Kids agreed to send us a brand new one. he put the new one together in 20 minutes.


for some reason, i was incapable of lining dresser drawers. drew knew these drawers were bugging me...and what a man! he got right down to it.


drew gave me the full tutorial on our new uppababy vista. thank you ellen!!!


in his endless quest for knowledge, drew read up on proper installation of an infant seat.


after all that reading, he needed a break.


and after all that baby gear assembly, he REALLY needed a break. he clearly had no problem snuggling up to my maternity pillow. aka: the snoogle. aka: mike noogle.


and once he felt very well rested, he was back in the game. drew = MJ.


i have the best husband ever! and on wednesday, we celebrate our 2 year anniversary! i am one lucky lady...and beba will be too. xoxo.

...cousins...

kimmie and dillan came down for a visit today. dillan is such a great babe!
at one point though, he was just a tiny bit grumpy so i put him on my belly.
beba calmed him right down. she rolled around and gave him a few kicks.
they were bonding! it was so, so sweet.
by the next time we see dillan, his cousin will be out of the womb and into the world!

...sooner rather than later...

well, in a major turn of events, we can now take most of the guesswork out of beba's arrival date.

35 week appointment - i went in to find that i had high blood pressure : 150/90-something. dr. brody ordered tests, i was put on "restricted activity" and told "the goal is to make it to 37 weeks". the concern was that i was developing a condition called preeclampsia. this of course caused me some anxiety, and i went home crying and thinking that there was no way i was ready for a baby in only 2 weeks. i had just gone on maternity leave the day before! then my blood tests came back normal, everything appeared to be okay, and i resumed getting ready for beba [hoping it would still be a month or so].

36 week appointment - went in for a visit with the midwife as dr. brody was out of town. i was expecting the best. high blood pressure again! this time i started bawling before the midwife could even make it in the room. they hooked me up to the fetal monitor and beba was happy as a clam - heart rate was great, and she was movin' and shakin' in her usual ways. the midwife ordered more blood tests and put me on "moderate bed rest" and sent me home. i straight up asked her if high blood pressure was a reason to induce. she said yes. my blood work came back normal but my urine test showed slightly elevated levels of protein.

37 week appointment - full term! dr. brody greeted drew and me, and then she went straight into our action plan. this relieved me greatly as i was hoping not to have to come up with one of my own! :) because of the high bp and elevated protein, i have put in the mild preeclampsia category. the good news is that my blood pressure has been low [probably because of my good bed rest skills] and i'm fine, but dr. brody does not want me going past 39 weeks.

soooooo, unless beba decides to come out on her own before august 12 or 13ish, i will be induced. that's less than 2 weeks away!!! although being induced was definitely not in my birth plan, i have found myself to be okay with the new plan. our top concern is the health of beba, and her coming just a week early is not a big deal. and the perks of knowing when she's coming are that my parents can make it out from colorado and drew can plan his time off of work. it does take away some of the anticipation - "when are those contractions going to start?...did my water just break?...why won't she just get here already?" but all in all, i'm okay with this. and, of course, there's always the possibility that she'll push her way out before then. these days, it does seem like she could pop out of my belly button at any moment.

please pray that my condition does not get worse before the 39 week mark, and that these last weeks are filled with peace and health before [and after!] her arrival. we're really looking forward to meeting her...