due date?

watching january 28th come and go is kind of funny. inside of me is this fully grown, fully functioning infant (as of today, officially)......who just doesn't want to come out. well, it's really more my fault, if truth be known. earlier this week, i went to my last scheduled appointment w/ our obgyn, and he said that, because of my narrow pelvis, the little man is unlikely to ever actually make "the big dive" (as one of my doctors called it). my pelvis is small enough that the baby will never cause me to dilate, and even if induced, the baby probably wouldn't fit through the birth canal.

dr. urig said that i had 2 options: 1) i could be induced and potentially labor for up to 3 days and still have a 80-90% chance of needing a c-section or 2) i could opt for a c-section now. the answer seemed to be clear, and brent and i have decided that a c-section is the way to go.

SO, we now know little ziggy's official birthday--and birth time (isn't modern technology dumbfounding?). =) this tuesday, february 2nd, i'll head to the hospital for surgery at 11:30, and we'll finally get to meet our little boy. we can hardly wait. it's a little bit surreal but more overwhelmingly amazing. i just can't believe that God is going to allow us to have this child and love him and squeeze him and take him home with us. what an honor and what a joy.

i do want to say thanks so much for those of you who have prayed that i'd be able to sleep better. for the last maybe 5 nights, i've taken tylenol pm and slept quite well (even though i still get up around 3 sometimes 4 times a night, i'm able to go back to sleep very quickly). even though this is on my approved drug list, i've avoided taking it. at the end of my pregnancy though (with only 5 days left to go!), we've decided that rest is particularly important. i need the emotional and mental stamina during the day now AND i need to be rested for our little man's eminent arrival. i know it's going to be unavoidably exhausting, and so being rested before the fact seems to make the most sense.

thanks again to our precious family and dear friends for their calls, emails, texts, prayers, and kind words as we prepare to welcome our son into the world. we do love you!!

i was having problems viewing the last video i uploaded, and so i'm uploading it again. can you let me know if you can/can't see it? thank, everyone! the text in the previous post explains the video.

by the way, if you could please be praying that i will be able to sleep more soundly at night, i would really appreciate it. i sleep so lightly and then get up early, and it's made for more difficult days. i do appreciate you praying about this. love to all!

ziggy's in-utero party!

here i sit, cross-legged and yes, wearing pajama shorts (my gigantic belly just covers up both legs and shorts). i was up at about 5 this morning--just in time to film this....goodness, who needs to sleep when you can be video-taping......well, i would like to be, but alas. =) anyway, can you believe the way our little man moves?? this kid's gonna be break-dancing before he's 2.

by the way, i had my doctor's appointment today. unfortunately, i haven't dilated beyond one, and he's barely dropped. the good news is that i'm 80% effaced AND his heart rate is still GREAT, so we're thankful.

it's getting more difficult to wait on the Lord and be ok w/ not giving birth yet. i'm really tired and i really don't have to do very much for before i hit this point, but i know that the end is near. emotions are running high too (i cried when brent left for camp for the weekend). thanks for praying for peace and continued health for both our boy and for me.

only 9 more to go.... =)

yes, as of last week, i'm at 1 centimeter! pretty exciting--in a 1/10 kind of way.... i'm also 50% effaced. he still hasn't dropped yet though, and so we're still waiting for that. my next appointment is tomorrow, and i'll be sure to let you know how that goes!

i'll be relieved to have brently home this afternoon from camelback bible church's junior high / senior high winter retreat in prescott. not only did i miss my man, but i feel like i finally have the freedom to say our little man can come anytime now!! =)

please continue to pray that God will keep our little boy healthy and strong, that i'll be able to have a natural childbirth, and that the pain would be minimal. thank you!!

we love each of you and can't wait to introduce you to our precious zig.

the ultimate pop-in

does anyone remember that seinfeld about the pop-in? the person who arrives unannounced and unexpectedly? the more that i think about it, our child is about to be the ultimate pop-in. we do know he's coming (so i guess that's something), but as for when--or even where--we have no idea. will he come today? will he come a week after his due date? is this afternoon my last opportunity to clean what's accumulated under the sink? should i vaccuum--quickly--because he's coming tonight? is this my last chance to sit on the couch and stare into oblivion? eat hot dogs in large pieces? run out and buy outlet covers?

it's a little overwhelming really--but what i keep thinking about is what a good friend told me. she said all i really need to be prepared for our little man's arrival is brent's and my love for each other, our love for our baby, and our love for Jesus. everything else would come. ahh.....if i can just keep that in mind, life quickly simplfies. i pray that i can.

happy new year!

first of all, is it "two-thousand ten" or "twenty-ten"? i'm going with the latter just because i somehow feel cooler saying it.

brent and i had a wedding to go to on new year's eve. the ceremony and reception were both outside which in iowa, of course, would be an impossibility this time of year. here in the desert, however, it's not. with the help of maybe a dozen outdoor heaters, you're in business. i have found though, to my shame, that i don't have the kind of....tolerance for chilly weather that i used to. during the spring semester at the university of iowa, when the weather really started to "warm up" ( this meant breaking 50 degrees), students emerged from dorm rooms in shorts. in arizona, 50 degrees constitutes dressing in your warmest winter coat AND gloves. i laughed when i first moved here, but now, i'm sad to say, i've joined the ranks. ugh. case in point: the other morning, i took millie outside to go potty in my winter coat--the one that's reserved for trips to iowa or colorado or flagstaff. places with SNOW. but i was warm, dang it, and i didn't even care. oh well. welcome to the land of wusses, i guess--and call me president.