Hey, guys. I know I’ve not done much updating over the last week, but things have been crazy. Besides all of the new baby stuff, my grandmother’s funeral was tonight. I just wanted to let you know, in case you didn’t notice, that we have been updating the slideshow in the last post with new photos nearly every day. So, if you only looked at them when they were first posted, you can see some new pics there. I am planning a nice long post about how everything went, but I’ve not had a chance to write it yet. We came home on Saturday. I’m taking Abby to the doctor tomorrow. She’s looking kind of jaundiced. Please pray for her. I have to go. She’s crying for me. Love you all. Pray for us. I’ll update soon.

Sorry it took so long to get photos posted… I was busy. It wasn’t Amy’s fault. She tried to get me to look at them and I kept falling asleep. We’ll keep adding photos to this slideshow.

Thanks for praying for me and thanks to everyone for praying about my cough. I hardly coughed at all last night.

I’d like to ask you all to pray for my family. My grandmother (my mom’s mom) had a massive stroke last night and she went to be with the Lord this evening. It was totally unexpected. She was only in her late sixties. Please especially remember my grandfather, Tom.  They had three daughters, my mom, Debbie, and Kim. This has obviously been very hard on everyone, but it’s an especially difficult time as Debbie has cancer and is having surgery to remove a tumor from her mouth in the morning. They have been up all night and have had a terribly hard day, and tomorrow morning they are travelling to Nashville (about two hours away) for Debbie’s surgery at Vanderbilt. Please remember the family during this time and please remember Debbie as she has her surgery. My Papaw Tom’s sister, Bonnie, is also having surgery tomorrow, so pray for her as well.

My c-section is scheduled for Thursday morning, so I will be unable to attend my grandmother’s funeral services.  It’s odd how such grief and such joy can coexist. Also, my brothers will all be travelling home to Tennessee this week for the services…Aaron is coming from Nebraska and Malachi and Lucas are coming from California. 

Nanny (my grandmother) has nine brothers and sisters who are obviously very torn up, and one of them is still in California. She had to be taken to the ER today after the news about Nanny, because her blood pressure shot up so high. Please pray for all of Nanny’s family during this time.

You guys are always so kind to let me know you are praying for me, so I appreciate being able to ask you to pray for my family during this time.

I’m 38 weeks today. I went to the doctor today, and everything looked good. I’m feeling much, much better than I have been. I think that I may actually be over the 8 week UTI from hell. I’ve been off of antibiotics for a week now, and haven’t had any UTI symptoms.  So, praise the Lord for that. I’m beginning to think I may actually be healthy when my little girl gets here.

Speaking of her getting here, that is one week from tomorrow. Thursday the 26th is the big day. I have several busy days in between now and then. Tomorrow and Friday, I have to get the house clean and get prepared for a birthday party for Elijah on Saturday. Since Elijah doesn’t really like people, we’re only having a few people over, and we’re gonna have a simple party. His birthday is on Wednesday, the day before Abby Jo is arriving. It’s hard to believe he’ll be five. On Sunday morning, Chris is preaching for our pastor who is gone this week. On Monday, Amy is coming. On Tuesday, I’m going to go shopping with Amy for the last few things I need before I go to the hospital. We’re going to get a manicure and pedicure and go out to dinner in honor of Amy’s birthday coming up (and the fact that I can’t reach my feet to make my toes look pretty for my nurses). On Wednesday morning, I have my last doctor’s appointment, and Wednesday evening we have church, which is exciting because Chris and I started a new youth service on Wednesday nights. That brings us right up to the big day. So, I’m thankful for the busyness, because it will make this last week seem not so long. I just can’t wait to hold my baby girl.

Here is the Babycenter.com update:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she’s over 19 1/2 inches long. She has a firm grasp, which you’ll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby’s eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she’s born with brown eyes, they’ll likely stay brown. If she’s born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she’s 9 months old. That’s because a child’s irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she’s born, but they usually won’t get “lighter” or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Chris and I took the kids to Riverfront Park on Tuesday, because it was absolutely beautiful outside.

My beautiful girl.

I love this one. 

Here’s me at almost 37 weeks.

He’s so cute!

I love this kid!

Yesterday marked the 37 week point for me. I had a doctor’s appointment. I hate going every week. It seems so pointless. I finally gained a couple of pounds, according to their scale. I’ve not gained much weight over the last several weeks. I have no appetite, and have trouble eating enough.  She told me the baby had dropped, which I had kind of noticed, but I had not dilated. This was no surprise. I’ve never dilated at all on my own with any of my kids, no matter how many painful contractions I have. 

I was feeling rather nauseous yesterday. I barely ate at all. After I got home from the doctor’s appointment, I spent the rest of the day in bed. I got up in time to go to church. While getting ready for church, I noticed that my lower back was really sore. I had Chris look at it, and he was like, “You have a huge bruise.” Sure enough, I have a very large, ugly looking, unexplained bruise on my lower back. I haven’t injured myself in any way, so I have no clue where it came from. While at church last night, I started feeling even worse. My lower back started hurting…all of it, not just the bruised area, and I was feeling very, very nauseous. Nausea has not been an issue for a couple months now, so it was unusual for me to feel that sick all day.

After church, I was just feeling terrible, and I was perplexed about the bruise. I started to worry about it, and looked up the side effects of the antibiotic I am on (Augmentin). One of the side effects that it said you should call your doctor over was bruising, so I called my doctor to ask about it. She had me go to labor and delivery last night so they could check me out. So, at nine thirty last night, I left Chris at home with the kids, including a feverish Owen, and I headed to Knoxville. Basically, all they did while I was there is catheterize me for a urine sample directly from my bladder, and tell me that, surprise, surprise….I have an infection. No joke. I’ve had this infection for seven weeks now. The catheterizing hurt insanely bad, and seemed awfully unnecessary to me. I’m beginning to think my doctor hates me. They sent me home after about an hour and a half with instructions to finish my antibiotic…I have two pills left to take today…and to drink lots of fluids. The doctor was unconcerned with the bruise. (She wasn’t actually there…the nurse just called and described it to her.) So, I was really put out that I drove all the way to Knoxville for that. I’m hurting worse now than I was before I went, thanks to the lovely catheter. 

So, that’s what 37 weeks pregant is like for me. I am having this little girl two weeks from today, and I can not wait. I’m so tired of being pregnant, and so tired of all these horrible pregnancy related ailments. I’m ready to be healthy again.

Other than all of that drama, I’m doing okay. I have everything I really need for the baby. I have a ton of housework to get done before she gets here. I’ve been feeling so poorly, along with being insanely tired, that I’ve not got anything done in a long time. It’s all just kind of fell down around my ears. (Don’t drop in on me unannounced, or you will see me cry.) So, I have a week and a half to get all of that in order. Amy Jo is coming to be with me in about that amount of time. I was worried for a while that she wouldn’t get to come, because of some childcare complications. Thankfully, though, dear, sweet, wonderful Debbie saved the day. (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) So, I’ll have my best friend around for support. We’re all very excited and very anxious to meet our little Abby Jo. 

Here is the Babycenter.com update:

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don’t be surprised if your baby’s hair isn’t the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

I’m getting closer. 23 days till baby.

I woke up this morning in utter misery. My bladder infection was back, and with a vengence. I cried and prayed and made terrible whimpery noises through a shower and getting dressed, and then called the doctor as soon as her office opened this morning. I didn’t have a babysitter, so I loaded all the kids up and took them with me. This was totally against the office policy of no kids, but I was desperate for some relief. My regular appointment wasn’t until tomorrow, but they saw me today since I was up there anyway to pee in a cup. 

They did a non stress test to make sure Abby Jo was doing okay through all of this. She was fine. My doc said that if this infection were to cause me to go into premature labor that she would just let me have her now, since I am 36 weeks. She put me on a different antibiotic. This is the fourth course of antibiotics I’ve taken, and the third kind. Hopefully, it will work. I’m not too confident, though. I would appreciate your prayers. The antibiotic makes me sick to my stomach, and I also have a cold or sinus infection or something that comes with a cough and sinus congestion. This pregnancy has definitely been the hardest for me, but I know it will be worth it real soon.

Babycenter.com update:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She’s shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she’s in a head-down position. But if she isn’t, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an “external cephalic version,” which is a fancy way of saying she’ll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.