I really can't believe that it's here already! I'm going to be leaving in a few short hours to head to Dallas Presbyterian Hospital and I'll get to meet Ruby Catherine Shaver sometime tomorrow!! Hopefully I'll be hearing from Labor & Delivery in a short while and they'll tell me to head that direction. I'll keep the blog updated if anything changes though. My next post should be one with pictures of my beautiful baby girl though!!
Keep us in your prayers tonight and tomorrow. I keep telling myself that countless other women have actually lived through this whole childbirth process, so I probably have a fighting chance. I'm really nervous though! Wish me luck!!!
I had another appointment yesterday with Dr. Dully, and we've scheduled my induction!!! I will be checking into Dallas Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday night (yes, THIS Sunday), and will be induced on Monday, December 22nd! I can't believe that it is almost here!!!
Ruby was measuring at 40-weeks for her fundal height (she's been ahead of the curve for most of the time). I am 2 - 3 cm dilated and 25% effaced, so Dr. Dullye thinks that if I keep making progress that the induction should go well. She sent me in for another unscheduled sonogram to make sure that Ruby's abdominal measurements were closer to what they should be. If they weren't, she was going to schedule me for a "medically necessary" induction. But thankfully, she was right on target! They think that she's going to be about 7 pounds when she's born.
I am so nervous and scared, but really excited to finally get to meet her! It's nice to be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. This pelvic pain has been really tough on me, not to mention having to go through all of this alone for the most part.
Ruby Catherine Shaver will be the best Christmas present that I could have ever asked for. She's going to be such a blessing and I know that she's going to bring so much joy into my life.
Keep us in your prayers on Monday!
She's very long and lean, from her measurements (one guess from where she gets this trait). At the time (36 weeks) she was measuring over 19 inches long and just over 5 pounds. The only measurement that they were concerned about was her abdominal measurement - they want to be sure that I'm still getting enough calories during the day. They said that at the rate that she is growing, she'll be about 7.5 pounds if she goes full-term.
The next week (37 weeks) I had my first cervical check. I was already 2 cm dilated, 10% effaced, and Ruby was in a -3 station. This probably doesn't mean much to anyone who isn't a recent mom, but it just generally means that Ruby and I are both getting ready for the big day! Dr. Dullye talked to me about scheduling an induction. I'm considering this for two reasons - primarially because my pelvic pain is just about unbearable at this point. My pelvis has started to crack really loudly when I move and I'm unable to get out of bed sometimes. Also, Dr. Dullye is going to be out of town for the holidays. She gave me the option of picking a date of December 22nd, 23rd, or 26th. I've talked to Damian and my family about it, and I think that we are leaning towards December 22nd!!! It's crazy to think that I might be a mom in 10 days! We won't be able to difinitively schedule anything until next Tuesday's appointment, but as of right now that's what our plan is!!!
Here are two of my most recent Belly Pictures - I'm about to pop! As of this morning, I'm officially at 7 pounds weight-gain.
I promise that I'll do better about keeping my blog up-to-date as Ruby's Birthday gets closer and closer!
I've gotten a few requests to post some pics of Ruby's "nursery". I use that term loosely since half of her stuff is in my bedroom and the other half is in our guest bedroom. But it is all adorable nonetheless! I'm also not painting anything just yet because we're starting to get offers on the house (fingers crossed that I'm not "homeless" when Ruby's born!). Anyway, here are a few fun pictures of her things.
Over the weekend I was lucky enough to get to go to Denver, CO, for what will probably be my last vacation for quite some time (yes, I got my OB's permission first). I went to a wedding of a close family friend, Roy Swanson. It was so great to be back in Colorado - somehow it still feels like "home" even after almost 19 years.... It was good to see our friends and their families and I had a great time. The trip was too short though and I was back in Dallas before I knew it. Here's a picture from the reception. Ruby was a good traveler - I can't wait to take her back to Colorado when she can actually enjoy the trip herself!
I've been kind of feeling under the weather ever since I got back - I think it's a combo of expected pregnancy stuff and the "Fall Bug" that's been going around the office. I'm actually borderline miserable, and spend most of my day dreaming about being back in bed. Hopefully this will pass soon!
Here is the glider (and ottoman) that the Shaver family gave me, as well as the custom changing table that Liz made - it matches Ruby's nursery perfectly!!!
Here's my belly pic that we took last night - 7 months along!
She's really grown in the past month! I'm finally headed in the right direction - as of this week I've officially gained (re-gained?) my first pound from my pre-pregnancy weight! In all actuality, it fluctuates between 0.5 - 1 pound, but I'm rounding up. Which is weird to me - looking at this picture I feel like I'm as big as a house! She likes to kick me under my ribs on my right side, over and over and over again. I'm getting so excited about her - I can't wait until I get to meet her! On a side note, the prenatal vitamins have obviously been helping my hair growth - I'm getting a haricut in a week and I can't wait!
Friday Night at Railhead in Aledo
The Beautiful Planning Committee!
The AHS Girls of 1998
I just got back from my big doctor's appointment, and good news all around (thankfully)! Baby Ruby is doing great - she's right on target for her growth, she's flipped around and is no longer breech, and I think that she's the most beautiful thing in the world. During her sonogram, we were able to see her suck her thumb, wiggle around, and blink at us! The nurse said that she's never seen a baby be so alert this early. I had all of my bloodwork done today, including the glucose tolerance test, got a flu shot and a rho-gam shot, and was able to ask Dr. Dullye many of my questions. I got all of the rest of my appointments set up through the end of the year (7 more to go!).
Below is the picture of the front of her face - this is where she was blinking at us! I think that she looks like me.
Here is a picture with her hand in front of her face - she was sucking her thumb right before this shot.
Isn't she cute?
Well, this weekend was a little more eventful than I had hoped it would be! As most of you know my dad is battling late-stage cancer and has been undergoing very intensive chemo treatments, which haven't been making making him feel just 100% to say the least. On Saturday morning he passed out multiple times and began to go into convulsions. My mom called 911 and they took him to Baylor Hospital in downtown Fort Worth. He was severly anemic, so they began giving him fluids in the ER while they waited for the shipment of blood to arrive. I got there as quickly as I could. I kept thinking to myself "stay calm" - everyone has been telling me how important it is to stay calm right now. Well, that's much easier said than done. While driving to Fort Worth I had 5 painful contractions, was in a cold sweat, and was just praying that I could make it there in one piece.
The human body typically holds 9 - 10 units of blood total. My dad had to receive 6 units of blood. The doctors said that they've never given that much blood to a non-trauma patient before. So Saturday was primarially focused on pumping as much blood and fluids into my dad as they could, but at a safe pace. He also had a CT scan. By Saturday evening his color had returned and he said that he was feeling much better. On Sunday, they ran several tests including an echocardiogram, ultrasound on his heart, and full endoscopy. We haven't gotten the results of anything except for the the endoscopy - I was able to speak to the physician immediately after the procedure. My dad has a large duodenal ulcer that he believes has been the primary source of his blood loss. He said that it is a result of the large amounts of ibuprofen that he has been taking, in addition to the stress from chemo. They're going to put my dad on a treatment program for that, so hopefully that will help. He also said that my dad was "one half of a horse," and he'd let me figure out which half - good to hear that my dad is giving everyone a hard time right now!!
I only have had a few additional contractions since Satruday morning - about half of which have been painful. I'm going to call my doctor today - hopefully everything is fine. I'm sure that it was just stress-induced. I'm in my 27th week of pregnancy - I read this morning that most women at this point have gained 16 - 22 pounds. I'm still at negative 3 pounds as of this morning..... A little discouraging to say the least, but it should be relatively easy for me to shed my baby-weight! I just hope that Baby Ruby can't tell how stressed and how sad that I am. I'll post a new belly picture soon - she's definitely growing.
Please keep my dad in your prayers. He has some great doctors working on him, but he's not out of the woods yet. Say a prayer for little Baby Ruby too - I want her to know how special she is and how much everyone loves her.
I just got back from my Dr's appointment. She had some good news and some bad news. The good news (actually, great news) is that the baby still looks ok. She's not overly concerned about her - she says that as long as I'm trying my hardest to eat, staying hydrated, and taking my prenatal vitamins, that she should continue to take what she needs from me. She said that babies are like leeches - they get whatever they need from you at your expense, and that this doesn't stop until they turn 18. Haha. She gave me a prescription for anti-nausea medicine that should hopefully help both with the sickness and help me to sleep at night. The bad news is that I lost a pound from last month's visit, which puts me at 5 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. And that was after I drank copious amounts of water this morning and wore heavy clothes..... She also said that what I've been experiencing the past few days are probably Braxton Hicks contractions. They were pretty painful this morning, but she said that as long as I don't have more than 6 per hour and as long as they don't get increasingly more painful, I should be fine. If they do, I have to come in to the hospital and they'll admit me for monitoring.
A lot has happened over the weekend. More than I had hoped for. I've not only lost the one single pound that I had gained, but I'm actually down 4 pounds. I have a Dr's appt. tomorrow, so hopefully she'll be able to ease my mind a bit. I've been having trouble keeping down any food at all and have been fighting off panic attacks.
Damian decided on Friday that he didn't want to stay with his wife and his unborn baby girl. I truly thought that the other woman was out of his life all together, but it turns out that she is not. He moved all of his stuff out in a matter of hours yesterday. I love that man with all of my heart, and I always will. I hope that we will be able to get through this terrible process in one piece and that he will uphold his promise to be there for me and Baby Ruby.
I know that this is for the best. I keep telling myself that I'll be better off. But I feel silly ever giving him a second chance, silly for trusting him again, and very silly for falling back in love with him. The one thing that I can say is that I can go to sleep every night knowing that I gave it my all. I have no regrets. I know that God doesn't make mistakes and that He doesn't give us more than we can handle. I am so very blessed with so many things in my life - my family and all of my beautiful friends, who I can't thank enough for being there for me. Say a prayer for me and my sweet baby girl today - we need all that we can get.
Here's a new picture of me from this morning - 6 months along! I noticed last night that I can no longer see my feet when I'm standing up. I finally caved in and have started buying some maternity clothes - they're so cute! I read that our baby girl is about the size of a large papaya this week and is a little over 1lb. Works out well since that's all that I've gained so far (although I have no idea how considering that I can't go an entire night without some kind of dessert).....
Today is also my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Nana!!!
At a Luau on the North Shore
Sunset at the Hotel Halekulani
The most amazing view from breakfast one morning!
Pineapples at the Dole Plantation
On a Sunset Catamaran Cruise off of Diamond Head
Honolulu sunset
Hawaiian band and hula dancer on the beach
