Baby Post- Week 33

Week 33 started out with a bang...Monday I woke up with a cold and yesterday I got to take a trip to the ER!  Yep, I scheduled a doctor's appointment for Tuesday at 8:00am to talk to them about my cold.  I wanted to make sure it was just a cold and not something worse.  Well, I had a slight fever of 99, and when the nurse took my pulse it was almost 100 beats per minute.  She left, came back, took my pulse again, and decided that I needed an EKG (that's when they hook you up to a machine to get a more accurate look at what your heart is doing).  Well, the EKG said my pulse was up to 130, which meant that I was experiencing tachycardia (when your heart beats too fast, basically).  The doctors decided I should go to the emergency room to get some more tests done and make sure you were still doing ok.  When I got there they did another EKG, monitored your heartbeat, which was slightly lower than usual, but still normal, and tested my blood to make sure I wasn't dehydrated or anemic.  Luckily, all of the tests said I was ok; my pulse had pretty much gone back to normal and my fever was down to 98.  They didn't really say what caused all this to happen, but a couple of nurses told me that a fever (which was probably caused by my cold) could sometimes make your pulse go up.  Maybe that was it.

I got a little nervous when they told me I needed to go get monitored, because the last time they told me that, when I was expecting Cam, they decided to induce labor the next day!  I was 40 weeks along last time, so it wasn't really a shock when they wanted to induce, but this time it got me thinking...I'm not ready for you to get here yet!!  There is still so much to do...or maybe not too much.  Maybe I've just hit that panic mode that sets in a few weeks before the baby.  Maybe I'm nesting.  Maybe thinking about the possibility of you coming early has motivated me to get those last few things done so I can relax and just look forward to your arrival :}  So, as excited as I am to meet you, you should stay in there a little longer, get bigger and stronger, and let Mommy get a couple more things checked off the to-do list!

Other than being sick and having to spend the day with a bunch of doctors yesterday, things have been going really well!  We're having a lot of fun in Georgia. Last week we had an awesome Thanksgiving.  Your dad got to come spend it with us, which was an unexpected surprise!  He got here Wednesday and we had a date night at Longhorn's while Grandma and Grandad watched Cam for us.  We had a great time eating and relaxing on Thursday, then on Friday we went to pick out our Christmas tree.  Cam had a great time running around, trying to find the perfect tree!  That night we went downtown to the square to watch all the trees and shops get lit up with Christmas lights.  What a beautiful town!  

Photo found here

I'm so glad he got to do some Christmas-y things with us...even though he won't be here with us on Christmas day, it felt like he was still a part of the Christmas season :} Saturday he went back to El Paso. I think it was harder to say goodbye this time, but it was definitely worth the extra time we got to spend together. I felt more of a sense of closure this time...everything felt/feels a little more real now. I think I'm moving out of "denial" and am beginning to reach the "acceptance" phase now. The sooner we get this show on the road, the sooner it will be over!!

In other baby news, I got an awesome Black Friday deal on some cloth diapers from Diaper Junction.  I'm going to do a follow up post with more details later, after I've tried the three different brands I ordered.  Stay tuned!

Musings on a Cloudy Day

I walked into the nursery closet this morning looking for a paintbrush to finish painting a lamp for Jude's room, and I stumbled upon a piece of folded paper with unfamiliar handwriting in pencil (Dad must have found it while he was cleaning up and getting ready to work on the nursery).  When I looked more closely at the paper, I realized that it was my great-grandmother's writing.  It was a recipe for canning dill pickles.  And on the other side was a to-do list: Meet someone at 10:00am, pick up prescription...I wished that she was still around to teach me how to can fruits and veggies.  I unfolded the paper and saw that inside was a letter written to my great-grandmother from my grandfather in 1983!  He told her that along with the letter he had included a recording of himself singing "How Great Thou Art" at a church function, and that he planned on singing another one soon called "Because He Lives."  I have heard both of these recordings he mentioned, so reading about them  immediately brought Granddaddy's voice to my mind.  I wished that he was still around to sing in his beautiful, powerful voice to my kids.  What an  unexpected and pleasant surprise to find this tiny little piece of family history that brought up such sweet memories. 

As I was humming the lyrics to "Because He Lives," for some reason I started thinking about the election results.  I've seen so many comments this morning about being afraid for America's future.  But, because Jesus lives, "all fear is gone."  God is in control, and we should have faith in his plan for our country. 

Because He lives
I can face tomorrow
Because He lives
All fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
And life and is worth the living
Just because He lives

I think another important thing to remember is that we are still a free nation.  Regardless of the specific policies of the current president, we still have the freedom to vote for our leaders, we still have freedom of religion, we still have free speech, we still have opportunities for ourselves and our children to get an education, we still have opportunities to get jobs (as difficult as it may be to find one, right now), we still have access to competent medical providers, and women have all of these things as well!  We still have choices, and we still have so much that others don't.  And I think we should still be thankful for that.

Is This the Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?

Well, here I am in Georgia.  Just sitting here while my husband is on the road back to El Paso.  He left this morning a little over two hours ago.  Cam and I said our goodbyes to Josh this morning with only a few tears.  I don't think I would have cried at all if Cam hadn't started hugging him and pulling away from me, wanting Josh to hold him...that was pretty much the worst thing E.V.E.R.  :{  I think the reason I haven't been very emotional or cried about it, like really cried about it, is because I still don't think things have really sunk in yet.  It's all still kind of surreal.  I've been trying so hard to forget about what's going on, focus on moving and enjoying time together at home, and push my feelings about the "D" word out of the way that I think I've almost made myself a little numb to the reality that we're not going to see each other for 10-ish months.  Shew.  Hea-vy. 

Wives who have been through deployments: did you find that for the most part you felt this way the whole time, or did it seem pretty real from the get-go?  Did reality set in gradually or hit you all at once?  If so, when?  I know everyone's experience is different because everyone deals with their emotions differently...I'd just like to hear your stories so maybe I'll feel a little more prepared.

Anyway, on a different note, we had a great time these past couple of weeks!  Our visit was jam packed, of course.  We had a Halloween party with my parents' neighbors, went to the pumpkin farm, visited with some college friends, took a trip to Charlotte to visit Josh's dad, grandparents, and mom (where they all spoiled Cam rotten!), worked on finishing up Cam's room and the nursery, and had a baby shower.  I haven't loaded any pictures yet, but I'll make a post with more details and pictures soon.  It was such a wonderful way for us to spend our last few days together...Josh and I even got to go on a date to our all-time favorite restaurant! 

Also, I'm 30 weeks today.  Only 10ish more to go before baby Jude makes his big appearance!   thebump.com said I should start packing my hospital bag...already?!