Sister-in-law update!

I know very little but I'll share what I do know! Tiffany was induced starting either last night or this morning. I heard this morning she was dilated to 1 centimeter. About an hour ago Ben called to tell me Tiffany had an epidural...leading me to believe she must have dilated some more as typically hospitals won't allow you to get an epidural until you're dilated to at least three centimeters. There has been talk of her having a C-section, but as she was given the epidural that is not the plan at the moment.

I hope the epidural provided her with pain relief. I hope she's getting some rest. And I hope to have some more information to report back with soon.

Please keep praying for Tiffany and Hudson!

Prayers please!

My sister-in-law Tiffany is pregnant with her first baby and due December 7th. Today she's been admitted to the hospital and will be having her son Hudson some time this week. Tiffany's blood pressure is elevated and she's had bad swelling. I am really concerned for her and the baby. Please keep Tiffany and little James Hudson in your thoughts and prayers.

Pregancy Update- Week 35

34 weeks done, 3-6 weeks to go! I'm feeling like Ella is going to arrive later rather than sooner. Friday I had a doctor's appointment that went pretty well. My blood pressure was a little higher than usual but not too high. My swelling is what I consider moderate. I know bad swelling and I haven't seen it (yet) this pregnancy.

I don't have any indicators for Preeclampsia right now! This is great news.

Because I have been having so many contractions the doctor went ahead and checked me for dilation and effacement. Neither has started, so it looks like Ella is staying put for a while. She is head down however which means it looks good for me to have a natural birth.

Here's my countdown...

38 days until Ella's eviction date
17 days until Ella is full term

TinkerBets and Elmo-Daddy

Saturday was trick or treating in our neighborhood. We had about 250 trick or treaters in a 2.5 hour span! Ben took Betsy up and down our street with the help of Paw Paw. Ben was a huge hit as Elmo (Betsy still calls him Elmo or Elmo-Daddy) and of course everyone thought TinkerBets was beautiful.

Betsy wasn't super interested in ToTing, but she did try her first candy this weekend. She was like an M&M zombie but she only had one fun sized bag, and we made her eat a dinner with nutritional value. We were also surprised that for all the scary costumes that came by Betsy wasn't scared at all. Some older kids even TRIED to scare her and she just started at them and shrugged.

That's about all for us, we spent Sunday not watching the Cowboy's loose, cleaning, laundry catch up, grocery shopping, resting, reading and watching the Rangers loose (sob!).

Weekend lost...

Friday I decided to take it easy around the house. Sweet Betsy went to bed early (6:30ish) and I worked on laundry and laid in bed. Ben came home late and I talked to him for a few minutes. His team won their football game and it was a close game so he had lots of adrenaline to work off!

Saturday morning I woke up and got dressed to head to Round Rock to meet with some friends of mine, all of whom have young babies or are expecting themselves! I stopped at the outlet but only shopped at Carters as I was trying to limit my walking. After Carters I met the girls at Chilis, and after a long lunch I headed home. The end.

No, not really. That gets us to about 2:30 on Saturday after which Ben and I were sick ALL WEEKEND. Ben is still home sick today and I'm a little under the weather but I hate missing work this close to my maternity leave so I sucked it up and headed to the office.

If you have a spare prayer or two, please include Ben and I in your thoughts as he still has a fever and upset stomach, and I can't breathe well, and I have some sort of random rash (mostly on my hands and wrists) that makes me generally miserable.

I am so grateful however that my sister in law Mary picked up Betsy yesterday morning, and Bets spent all day with the Bralleys. She must have had plenty of fun because when she made it home at 5:30 she ate a light snack and went strait to bed.

It's Monday again, but considering we slept through 85% of the weekend I don't remember getting here.

Pregnancy Countdown...

I'm so excited to meet our Ella. I'm also excited to not be pregnant anymore. It's bittersweet; this is more than likely the last time I'll be pregnant. I don't enjoy the symptoms of pregnancy, but I do enjoy the anticipation, the bond that develops over 40 weeks of being attached to another being. And I love having children more than I ever realized I would. I think I'll be a little sad when it's over, but at the same time thankful and relieved if Ella and I can just make it through this healthy and whole. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that my sister one day will have a baby or two so I can play the role of 'doting Aunt'.

Pregnancy by the numbers:

• 0 days of work missed due to morning sickness
• 24.2 pounds gained
• 4.5 pounds, Ella's approximate weight currently
• 116/78 my blood pressure last night
• 14 vitamins, supplements, and antacid pills I take per day
• 6 more scheduled doctors appointments (though I could deliver early and miss half of them!)
• 16 average times per day that Betsy says 'Ella!'
• 48 days until my due date
• 31 work days until my due date
• 27 days until Ella is full term (the point at which I delivered Betsy)
• 20 days until I'm 36 weeks pregnant. This is the point I was put on bed rest with Betsy and has been my goal this pregnancy, to work at least up to this point.

I love looking at the numbers. Last pregnancy I didn't realize how unpredictable the end of pregnancy could be, so knowing that in a couple more weeks things can change rapidly from one week to the next fills me with excitement!

It's Friday!

It is Friday! Betsy told me so on the way to school this morning.

www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/football_2010/

Before I forget, vote TODAY for Sean for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award. You can vote DAILY and he's in third place at the moment. Here's the link and it just takes about 10 seconds to vote.

I'm happy the weekend is right around the corner, and even happier to realize Ben will be home all weekend!! I thought he had a cross country meet Saturday morning but it was yesterday afternoon, so he has a local football game tonight, and he should be home at a decent hour (that means before midnight).

I have plans to meet some friends in Round Rock for lunch and shopping tomorrow. We're all either mothers, or expecting a baby, or BOTH! The outlet mall has a Carters store and I'm thrilled to go by, it's my favorite place to find baby clothes.

Anyways I thought I would bring Betsy with me, but knowing that Ben will be home I think I'll leave her with Daddy. It's much easier on me at this point in the pregnancy to not take care of Bets on my own. She really is a good girl, but needing to pick her up, bed over to put her in the stroller and change her diapers is more taxing than usual. So she and Ben will likely spend a low-key few hours at home tomorrow while I meet up with my friends.

We'll watch some sports (Rangers play tonight) plus we're smack dab in the middle of football season, and we get to celebrate Jane and Jim's birthdays this weekend!

Have a great weekend!