Nothing yet...

So, just to update on my last doc appointment....nothing new. I was pretty disappointed. I thought with as much pressure as I've been feeling down there, something would be different. Nope. Still no dilation, and only 50% effaced. So, I wait until Tuesday to see if anything new has happened.

In the meantime, I've heard quite a few stories about induction. Apparently (from what I've heard), being induced is the way to go. It's a scheduled date that you can plan for, you get your epidural at a time when your not in too much pain yet, and boom the baby is born! I try not to get sucked into these stories, but it does sound rather enticing. However, I can't help but wonder how good that is for your body or the baby. I mean, forcing your way into delivery? I can understand if the baby is too getting too large, or if you are way past due....but out of pure convenience, to say I want to be induced on this date because it sounds the coolest, or it works with my schedule the best, or frankly I am just uncomfortable. Where's the excitement, the anticipation, the spontaneity? I could go either way I think. What do you think??

Progress...I think?

I have definitely seen a change in the last week! As I get more and more uncomfortable, I've noticed the following:

~Achy and swollen feet 24/7. Getting out of bed in the morning is the worst. It feels like pins and needles on the pads of my puffy feet. I wear Greg's crocs inside the house daily to relieve some of the pressure, which does help a bit. Up until recently, I could keep up my 30 min walks around the neighborhood 2-3 times a week. This week, we cut it down to 20. And my pace feels about half as fast. But it still feels good to walk in general, so I'm gonna do it as long as I can!

~I think I hit the bathroom 5 times in the middle of the night last week!! I've been going about 3 regularly, but this sure tops it off! Quite bothersome really. But, it's practice for those midnight feedings right?

~ New pelvic pressure. At least once a day, my right leg completely gives out from something "pinching" the right side of my pelvis. She's gotta be bumpin' into a nerve down there or something, cuz it shoots a lightening bolt down my leg that sends me straight to the couch for recovery! It hasn't happened in public yet, but I don't see too many couches laying in the grocery aisle that I could lay on if needed, do you?

~Decreased appetite. For once. This whole pregnancy I feel like I could eat a COW. Until now. I haven't had a huge interest in stuffing my face like I used to. Maybe I'm distracted by the fact that we are going to meet our little missy in a matter of weeks! Or maybe I'm busy trying to organize the nursery!! Or maybe I'm busy thinking how Greg and I will be at this whole parenting thing!!! Oh wait....maybe I'm busy thinking how on earth am I going to push this watermelon out of a lemon sized hole!?!!!! ok.....*breath*. "People have been having babies for hundreds of years Shannon. You too, can do it".

~Crazy dreams! Nothing I can ever really remember. But, seriously weird and twisted. They aren't neccessarily related to having the baby or being pregnant either. Just wacked out dreams of ALL kinds.

I get to see the doc on Friday...hopefully supporting the progress I think I'm seeing. :)

"3 more weeks. 3 more weeks. 3 more weeks...."

She's dropped!

Good news from the doc yesterday! It looks like our little miss Mulder is heads down and is dropping into position! Yay! I had a feeling she had dropped some, just by comparing my profile pics. But, it's always nice to hear it from the doctor :) My cervix has thinned 50% with no dilation yet. I'm right at 36 weeks now, with nothing holding this baby back except maybe a few more weeks. Everything is looking great!

36 weeks

On another note....I had to take my wedding ring off yesterday :( . I woke up 2 days ago and my hands were puffy from a humid night's rest. My finger had a slight purple tint to it in the morning, yikes! I had to wait until evening again and a good rinse under cold water, but was finally able to wrench it off. I find myself fingering for that familiar accessory on my finger only to find it missing every time. Sad day...but only a few weeks left.

My goals this week are to pack the hospital bag, find a pediatrician, and get that car seat in the car properly....she'll be here before we know it!

Anniversaries, cousins, and baseball

Baseball is America's past-time you say? How about anniversaries?? We had so much fun at the local White Caps game last night celebrating 4 years together. Better yet, we joined Greg's cousin Beth and her husband Dan in celebrating THEIR 5 year anniversary! In fact, I remember attending their wedding very well. You see...after the reception, Greg drove me out to the beach that night and proposed among the dune grass....we were married almost exactly 1 year later. Sweet times indeed.

So here's to anniversaries, cousins, and baseball! Oh, and Greg did catch a foul ball for me too :) Then after I snapped a pic, he gave it to an adorable, bright blue-eyed, 6 year old girl instead...such a softy :)

34 weeks

Four and counting!

To my tall, dark and HANDSOME hunk of a husband Greg,

It's amazing we have been married for 4 years now! Some days it feel like just yesterday I was slipping into the gown of my dreams and then staring down that aisle only to see your beaming smile :).

Each year that has passed has brought on new challenges; life, and family, and our personal lives have tested us for sure. But, we have never stopped loving each other during those times. We have looked to God for counsel, and WOW has he been answering prayers left and right!

Thanks for being such a rock for me this past year, even when you didn't feel like it. You keep me so grounded! I really respect how you handle our finances, your commitment to AMST, your commitment to church and youth group, and your relationship with our Lord.

Now let's enjoy our last anniversary before a certain little munchkin comes knocking on our bedroom door in the middle of the night...maybe for the next 18+ years! ;)

All my love, Shay

honeymoon in Mexico...and Greg looking Mexican with that tan! :)

Baby Shower!

My first official baby shower over the weekend...

fabulous food.

generous gifts.

hilarious people. fun games.

heartfelt prayers.

tears of joy. good memories.

Thank you everyone for such a special day! Baby thanks you too...she just kicked :)

Use it...

I was blessed by this devotion and wanted to share it.


My Struggles are About Him
by: Max Lucado

What about your struggles? Is there any chance, any possibility, that you have been selected to struggle for God's glory? Have you "been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29)?

Here is a clue. Do your prayers seem to be unanswered? What you request and what you receive aren't matching up? Don't think God is not listening. Indeed he is. He may have higher plans.

Here is another. Are people strengthened by your struggles? A friend of mine can answer yes. His cancer was consuming more than his body; it was eating away at his faith. Unanswered petitions perplexed him.Well-meaning Christians confused him. "If you have faith," they said, "you will be healed."

No healing came. Just more chemo, nausea, and questions. He assumed the fault was a small faith. I suggested another answer. "It's not about you," I told him. "Your hospital room is a showcase for your Maker. Your faith in the face of suffering cranks up the volume of God's song."
Oh, that you could have seen the relief on his face. To know that he hadn't failed God and God hadn't failed him--this made all the difference. Seeing his sickness in the scope of God's sovereign plan gave his condition a sense of dignity. He accepted his cancer as an assignment from heaven: a missionary to the cancer ward.

A week later I saw him again. "I reflected God," he said, smiling through a thin face, "to the nurse, the doctors, my friends. Who knows who needed to see God, but I did my best to make him seen."

Bingo. His cancer paraded the power of Jesus down the Main Street of his world.
God will use whatever he wants to display his glory. Heavens and stars. History and nations. People and problems.

Rather than begrudge your problem, explore it. Ponder it. And most of all, use it. Use it to the glory of God.

Through your problems and mine, may God be seen.