March 10th (or before) it is!

I just got back from the doctor's office, and he wants to induce me next week! He said he thinks the baby is going to be over 8 lbs (so the measurements either went up quite a bit from last week, or I misunderstood the smaller baby part), and he doesn't want to let me go past the 13th. Anyway, he can't do the 11th or 12th, so Dave and I decided on the 10th! So...unless I got into labor before that, Baby J will be here next Tuesday. WOO-HOO! I can't wait...now I'm getting kind of nervous, but very excited too. All of this build up and now a for-sure date just escalates all of the feelings. I've heard that inductions can cause contractions to be pretty bad...so I'm sure an epidural will be in order. ;-) But, I'm sure I'll live!

Other than that, Dave and I went to a marriage conference over the weekend which was really great. We both loved it. It was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...so it was a lot, but we both learned a lot too. We were doing well to begin with, but it just helped us learn more tools to not drive each other crazy. Haha! Good timing for having a baby, because that causes some very stressful times. It was a Christian based retreat, so it really focused a lot on keeping God at the center of our lives. I would recommend it to anyone, they go all over the country. If you're interested, it is called "A Weekend To Remember", you can go to www.familylife.com to check it out.

OK, back to work (it's going to be really hard to concentrate now that I know baby will be here a week from today or before!!).

Love you all!

Doc & Surprise Shower!

The "haul" from work

Baxter and the diaper cake (yes, I put him on the counter for a minute).

I just got back from the doctor and the baby has dropped! :-) That was good news. I am not dilated yet, but he said some women don't dilate until they go into labor, and it can happen overnight. I'm measuring spot on...actually a little small, so he said that's good too since obviously smaller babies are easier to push out. He said I'm to the point where I could go into labor anytime! YEAH! But I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Baby could still be 2-3 weeks out...but it is still fun to think about.

Yesterday at work I had a "team meeting" that was actually a surprise baby shower! I showed up with my laptop all ready to work. Everyone was in there with gifts and the room was all decorated. I was very surprised...turned bright red. :-) But it was really nice, and made me feel very supported at work. I'm so thankful to be working with such a nice group of people!! One lady even knitted a little sweater for Baby J. It is really cute!!

Until next week...

XOXO, Car

Shower and other stuff

37 weeks, probably the last belly pic.

Cake from the shower. :)

Opening presents

More presents...

The gang (minus Jane who is taking the pic)

So, lots happening since the last post! I'm not very good at updating...I've been working tons lately so my free time generally is not spent on the computer. :) I'm trying to transition my work to my fill-in for maternity leave on top of trying to get everything else done. It's pretty tiring. I'm totally wiped out by the time I get home. But I'll have three months off when this baby gets here...I need to keep telling myself that.

So the shower went great! Jane and Erica put on a VERY nice lunch at Pullman's...a local restaurant here. It's right on the river so it's a cool place. I got tons of great stuff that I needed...I feel very spoiled to have such great friends and family here. :) And of course mom and dad sent up some gifts which was really nice since they are basking in the Florida sun at the moment.

So, only three weeks left! I went to the doctor yesterday (I'm going weekly now), and I'm not dilated and the baby's head is still high. I was a little disappointed but oh well...like my mom said, the longer this one cooks, the bigger and stronger he/she will be when they get here. That's good for sleeping and eating. But the doctor did say he doesn't let women go more than a week past their due date, and that is conservative. He said if you REALLY want to wait to see if things happen naturally, he'd let me go a week. But he also said I could be induced earlier than a week if I wanted. So I guess I'll just see how I feel if it comes down to that. I'm anxious for my parents to get here too! I realized we haven't been to Marquette since August...and we won't get back there until May! That is much longer than we usually go...but with Sam's birth and the holidays, we just didn't get a chance to get up there before mom and dad left for FL. But they will be here soon! I have my hospital bag all packed, and Dave is putting in the car seat this week. Yeah!! We really can't wait to meet this baby!!

XOXO...Car

Sorry!!

Sorry I haven't updated in so long!! I've been working a lot so sometimes the last thing I want to do is get back on the computer. But I'll update very soon, promise! :-)

Big Belly & Dave's work party

33.5 weeks...big belly!

Dave took a picture of Baxter, and he closed his eyes when it flashed. HAHA!!

All dressed up before Dave's work party...the bartender was not a very good photograher...too far away.

As you can see, my belly has gotten quite a bit bigger! But, the good news is I'm measuring normal again. Baby J might have had a growth spurt in the middle, now evening back out. So hopefully that means no 10 pounder and no c-section! :) But, whatever happens during labor happens. Nothing I have control over so I'm not going to worry about it. I go back to the doctor in two weeks (the 5th), then I start my weekly visits until the end. Crazy that it's getting so close! The baby is considered full term in only 3 weeks (at 37 weeks), so who knows what could happen? But I have a feeling this baby will be close to the due date or maybe even a little late. Not sure why, that's just what I think. We'll see if I'm right. The baby is head down, so that's good too...getting ready for delivery. I can tell he/she is dropping a little bit because I have more pressure on my bladder...those sharp pains do not feel good at all.

We had a very nice weekend...Ethan was over on Friday and I fell asleep at 9:00...right when we put a movie in. I missed the entire thing, but I can't help it these days. I get tired pretty easily. It hits me like a ton of bricks once I lay down...especially on a work day. On Saturday, we went to Wisconsin Dells for Dave's big work kick-off party. They have a very nice event for all of the financial reps and their families every year. They pick a place in WI to go where the kids can have fun and pretty much wine and dine you for a night. It was at the Kalahari resort in the Dells, a big indoor water park for those people who wanted to make a weekend of it. We just made it down for the afternoon and dinner party, but it was still nice to get away for a night. AND Dave got recognized at the event for being in the top five of new employees in the NE Wisconsin/Upper Peninsula Region. I was very proud of him! :) All those long hours do pay off.

That's about all for now, till next time! XOXO, Car

Not very fun weekend

Well, I ended up in the hospital overnight on Saturday. But, baby and I are doing just fine. I had some bleeding on Saturday morning so I called the doctor's office. They said to go in and they'd hook me up to a monitor to make sure everything was OK. I expected to be in and out, I wasn't too worried about it. But they ordered some blood tests too, and one of them came back with some fetal blood in my blood. Which means some of the baby's/placental blood crossed over into my bloodstream somehow? It was a really small amount, so they weren't overly concerned about it. But I was also having regular contractions, which I couldn't feel at all, so they decided to keep me overnight. Sometimes the blood crossing over can mean a placental abruption, so they wanted to be safe. I had an ultrasound done on Sunday afternoon (it was supposed to be at 7:30 in the morning and it didn't happen until 12:30!). Baby Jensen scored an 8/8 for all developmental checks and the placenta looked fine. Whatever was wrong healed itself. So it was all just precautionary and we have a healthy baby! That is very good news. Staying in the hospital was really boring! Being strapped to those monitors the whole time made it kind of hard to sleep, but I managed to catch some z's. Of course Dave came to sit with me on and off, but a better use of his time was at home being productive. I came home to all of the laundry done and the house vacuumed! So that was nice. I feel bad for people who have to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time. Just one day was hard for me! But I also felt completely fine, so that was part of it. If I had been sick or uncomfortable and the hospital meds made me feel better and I could rest, it would probably be different. At least I got a good understanding of the birth center I'll be delivering in. The nurses were all very nice and helpful, and I learned about my options for delivery day. Which drug to chose? Haha! Anyway, I hope all is well and everyone is having a good start to 2009!
Love, Carley