My last days....

Well, tomorrow is the big day. The day I will be induced! I will just try not to think about it. Only way to get through this day. I know I will never sleep tonight unaided-my friend Shelly recommended I take a Benadryl so I can get as much sleep as I can. I barely slept last night. I ended up watching TV till like 6 AM ish. I then fell asleep so I decided to skip church today to let my body sleep when it could. I finished my latest book, "Vengeance Child" last night. The coordinator at the doctors office I go to is always teasing me about my book selection. My Mom and Dad should be getting here in a a couple hours from their brief stay at Jeni's. We are supposed to call the hospital as early as 6 AM tomorrow and they will tell us exactly what time to come in. Wade got me a special gift of People magazine to read in the hospital and forbade me to read it before then. At least I dont' have to give birth to 6 babies at a time, like Kate from John and kate plus eight.

Yesterday I went and had pedicures with Marissa and Connie. Robin treated us. My toes look beautiful. They even put acryllic over the 2 disgusting falling apart toenails so they actually look normal. I got pink toenails with flowers. Then we went out to lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Later in the day, Brent treated me, Wade, Parker, and Connie to Coldstone. It was a pretty nice day in helping me to get my mind off things.

I still have the remnants of my cold. Or maybe it's allergies, or a combination. Anyways, I am still blowing my nose a lot. And getting sinus headaches too.

Little Baby Mann was so active last night. I don't know what the heck she was doing in my tummy! It was like a constant, quick, pulsing. From my understanding, I shouldn't be able to feel her heartbeat or anything. I have felt it before though-it's kinda weird the way it is very rhythmic and very obvious. Maybe she is practicing boxing.

Brent said that he went to the temple the other night and was thinking about what our baby was doing right then, and had the impression that she might be talking to his mom, maybe getting some last minute instructions. I thought that was pretty neat, and imagined her in heaven, chatting with Grandma T too, and any other passed on relatives.

Well, I guess next time you hear from me, I'll have my little girl!

June 3

Well, I went into the doctor yesterday, and my amniotic fluid was way up! 16! woo-hoo Before it was about 6-8. It should be 10 or above but they don't get super concerned till it's under 5. But they were monitoring it closely. Now I dont' have to go back on Friday. Yay!

I have just been spending my time playing more Farmtown, reading, making cards, and keeping track of finances. I made some beautiful cards last night. I was so proud. Of course, I copied one of Robin's. It was so cute, I just had to do one like it. The book I'm reading is called "Blood Sins" by Kay Hooper. It is really good. I got it off the Best Seller cart at the library. I have also still been playing lots of farmtown. Sometimes Seth or my friend Shelly is playing too and we chat a bit.

I chose the decor for my blog because it reminds me of the colors for my baby's bedding. Robin, Marissa, and Connie are throwing a shower for me this Saturday and Jeni is coming for the weekend. Yay! We will probably make some more cards. Well, that's about all I have to say.

As of late...

I still need to figure out how to post pics! Particularly so I can post them when the baby comes. After all, I don't think I want to post too many pics of my fat 'ole self now. I know I'm supposed to be fat, but still...

I had some computer problems the past week. I was playing my new favorite past time, "Farmtown" on facebook and got a virus. I got super worried about losing valuable things on the computer and somebody getting valuable information but fortunately I got it fixed.

The doctor decided my low amount of amniotic fluid must not be because I'm drinking enough, so now they are monitoring it twice a week. I had a little scare on Friday and ended up going to the hospital, but all was just fine. Wade and I were there for a long time, but turns out it was all okay. I cant' believe i only have 5 weeks left!

Robin has a absolute ton of stamping/scrapbooking materials so I have gotten into card making. It is a little overwhelming when I start because i dont' know where to start, there is so much stuff. But I have made some really cool cards and am proud of myself. As I mee ntioned, I have also spent, no, wasted, a lot of time playing Farmtown on facebook. It is really fun but I think I am becoming an addict. I also just finished a book called "Lost boys" by orson scott card. It was pretty good.

I have enjoyed going to the Farmers Market with Robin the last 2 Saturdays. They dont' have any fruit yet, it's mostly plants, crafts, and food vendors but they should have some fruit very soon. It is just in walking distance of the house, so it's a nice way to spend a Saturday morning.
Last week, Wade and I went to the Rose Festival in downtown Portland. There were lots of food vendors and games and we saw part of 2 acts-a clown one and a magic one-but they were both pretty lame. We did see a lot of cool reptiles though. It's been going on all week, I was thinking of maybe going to the parade tonight but me and Wade didnt' really feel like it. This is such a beautiful area and I love all the open markets and events going on.

Today's appointment

Today at our appointment, there was some good and bad news. The placenta has moved enough that it looks like I probably won't need a C-section. However, the baby may have a clubbed foot (which honestly doesn't seem that big a deal after everything else) and the amniotic fluid is low. They said it could just be because I'm dehydrated. So instead of going to Jeni's (my sister's) house tomorrow like I had planned, I have to drink plenty of water and then come back on Thursday! If it's still looking like that, I will have to be admitted to the hospital so they can hydrate me with an IV. If I'd known water drinking could have that affect on the amniotic fluid, I would have tried harder at it! I am hoping all will be well and maybe I can still go to Jeni's on Thursday, but we shall see. It is a 3 1/2 hour trip there and I was going to stay a couple days. I was really excited about it. I will be very bummed if I can't go at all. ;-(

MRI

Well, today I made it to OHSU hospital in Portland all by myself-it was my first time driving there alone. OHSU is Oregon Health and Sciences University. Anyways, I got there without any mistakes and all went fine. I had an MRI to see the baby's brain. I was worried she was going to make it take super long because she was being active in my tummy but I think she did okay. (It IS awful noisy in that big ole' machine, they gave me earphones to listen to music but but my poor little baby had to listen to all that noisy pounding for 45 minutes!) I got really hot in there and was pretty uncomfortable. I was able to put my legs up a little but not really enough, and laying down flattish is getting a little painful. They let me see the pictures afterwards but all they were really able to tell me so far is that the front of our baby's brain ventricles are not looking too big so that is good. I think we'll find out more in a day or two if they call us, otherwise probably not till our next appointment on the 12th.

I am trying to get to the gym to swim more often. On Monday I met a man in the pool who told me that according to numerology, my baby would be stubborn and independent. Not that I believe that silly stuff, but I thought some of the stuff he said would be really helpful for her if she IS that way, like the independent and determined qualities. :-)

Anniversary dinner and baby

I do intend to post some pictures but I have to wait for Wade to show me how, so it could be awhile. Last Friday, we went with the Mann family (Robin & Brent, and Marissa & Dade) to Wade's brother's opera, "Falstaff". He was in the chorus. I had slipped my shoes off during the show and afterwards I tried to slip them back on and they wouldn't fit! My feet were all swollen up! It happened again on Sunday too during Stake Conference.

On Saturday night Wade and I went out to dinner for our anniversary. I took some pictures of that night so I will try to post them later. Wade got me some lovely flowers with some of the same types from our wedding. As an anniversary gift, Wade's parents paid for us to go out to a Peruvian restaurant called Andina in downtown Portland. We loved it! The appetizer we first got turned out to be cold when we thought it was warm, and since it had chicken in it, Wade of course would not eat it cuz he doesn't do cold meat. So we asked the waiter if we could try something else and got the other thing we'd considered. It was a beef, raisin, and olive filling in a pastry crust and was absolutely delicious! For our entrees, Wade had the rack of lamb and I had mahi mahi. Mine came with a fried rice with quinoa which was quite tasty. Then we shared a creme brulee trio for dessert-there was blackberry, honey, and vanilla creme brulees, all delicious. So that was a very fun night.

The next day we had stake conference and I kept noticing all these cute little baby girls. I'd been feeling fine before church and all, but I don't know, it just kinda got to me and I started crying during the meeting. So Wade and I went outside for a bit. He is such a good husband and is always so comforting to me. I've been reading this book called "Children with Spina Bifida:A Parents Guide" and have just read about some sad situations and I guess got thinking about things our baby wont' be able to do and stuff. In one of them, there was this little girl at a family reunion, and she was racing toward all the other little kids and the playground in her wheelchair. The mom was watching and saw her little girl slow down as she got closer and then turn around and come back. "Mommy, that playground is not made for me," she said. Of course it just broke the mom's heart and I am sure I will have many of those situations. I know I should try to think of all the things she WILL be able to do, but nevertheless, it's just really hard sometimes dealing with this.

We had a ultrasound and appointment this week on Tuesday and there is not much new. On Wednesday we met with the neurosurgeon. It was not very lengthy. He or the other neurosurgeon at the office will be performing the closing of the spine surgery and putting in the shunt 24-72 hours after the birth. It was mostly just meeting him.

Well, that's all for now!

Easter

First of all, I have to make a corrrection-Kellie told me the shower was actually thrown by my sister-in-laws Jen and Connie as well. Maybe mom too? I'm not sure. Sorry, I just assumed Kellie and Jeni because those were the RSVP people.

Well today me and Wade taught our new Sunbeam class. We had 3 boys in sharing time, but the 3rd never made it to class because as he said, "I don't like them!" (meaning Wade and I). We had a good laugh about that. The other 2 were very cute and we had a good time trying to teach them, the key word being TRY. The one was very quiet and the other one very talkative. He went off on a lot of tangents. It was very cute.

Wade is dissing my Josh Groban music. I don't appreciate it. He is such a snob. Jeni will have to show him what's up. ;-) Hehehe

I am making some deviled eggs for Easter dinner which of course Wade won't eat because they have both mayonaise and pickles-2 of his arch enemies. Hopefully the rest of the Manns will like them. I missed coloring eggs and watching little ones look for them this year. :-( So sad.

Today is Wade and my anniversary. We will probably go out to eat next week to celebrate, but I did bring the top layer of our wedding cake back from Salt Lake.

Our baby is still being quite the little kicker. She just moves so much-especially during movies. We have another ultrasound next week and meeting with the neurosurgeon.

Later!