Just an update

Just wanted to update you on the latest baby news. I've still been having fairly regular contractions but they are still not amounting to much. I had an appointment yesterday and the doc said I had her blessing to run a mile and try to get that baby out (not like I feel like running, any distance). She said I was 3 cms dilated and 60% effaced, so things are progressing. I'm still 18 days from my due date so it could still be a while, but if the baby really is as big as the ultrasound tech thought, then I'm a little nervous about letting her grow inside for another 18 days. Anyway, no big news yet. But we'll update again when things start happening.

Silly girl

This was last months belly picture, I'm fatter than this now (the new belly pic is below), but Jason thought I should put this one on the blog for laughs. Miriam wanted to participate in the belly pic thing. So as you can see, she's at 5 months!

I'M NOT READY!

As most of you probably know I (Mandy) have had a cold/cough for almost 2 months, then a couple weeks ago it turned into mild Pneumonia. So I've been trying to recover from that but it's taking a while. Then we had a little scare on Monday. I went in for my normal OB check up and told the doc that I was still feeling kinda sick and I had a pounding migraine for 5 days almost continuously. Also, Sunday and Monday I hadn't felt baby moving nearly as much as normal. I was also having a couple other strange new symptoms. She (the doc) checked me and she found that I was already dilated to 2 cms. So she decided to hook me up to a fetal monitor for a while to see what was going on in there. The fetal monitor showed that I was having contractions every 4 minutes! The doc kept saying "You don't feel that?!", I felt a little something if I really concentrated but hardly anything. They also did another ultrasound to literally just watch her to see if she was moving enough. Anyway, the Doc was concerned that my sickness and migraine might be causing early labor so she admitted me to the hospital. They hooked me to an IV and started me on fluids and pain meds for the headache. Then they gave me a shot of a drug that was supposed to stop the contractions. I was kinda freaking out. I wasn't ready for her to come just yet. The doc said that the baby would "probably" be fine if she was born that day but it was still exactly one month from my due date and it's always best to get as close to the due date (May 11th) as possible. So we sat and waited. I couldn't stop looking at the baby's heart rate on the little screen. I was trying to relax but... it's easier said than done. So the contractions slowed down by that evening and they let me go home. But now I have a new sense of urgency to get ready for her arrival. We hadn't even painted the nursery yet, let alone set it up and put things in it. But yesterday Jason reluctantly painted the room pink for me. Haha, he's a good Daddy. So I'm still having contractions but they are very faint. It will be interesting to see what God has up His sleeve for the next month for us. But we trust that He has ordained every day of Eden's life already. We can't wait to meet the person He has been knitting together for the last 8 months! P.S. So here's a picture of baby's face that we got in the ultrasound on Monday and a new belly picture too.

 8 months!

 Ultrasound #7 so far

 Been in this time-out for a long time

Her hair is to her waist! She loves every centimeter of it!

Baby pics, inside and out!

This is my "big huge belly" as Miriam calls it, at 6 months. And below is yet another ultrasound we had last week. Not a great picture but you can see the baby's profile a little bit. The baby was 28 weeks old at this ultrasound.

Baby's Picture

These pictures were taken at 20 weeks along. 

It was December 20th, sorry I'm just getting them on here.

Miriam's 3rd Birthday

 My baby's 3! I can hardly admit it. Where did the last 3 years go? For her birthday this year we decided not to have a party, just us. We went to see Tangled in the theater (the popcorn was the highlight for her), and we went to McDonalds for a happy meal and the PlayPlace. Then we came home and had cake and gifts. I think it was a pretty fun day. But this big news is... on her birthday she threw away her pacifiers! We decided that 3-year-olds are too big for binkies, so we warned her for a month or so that they would be thrown away on her birthday. And the deal was that when she threw them away she would finally be old enough to have gum! So we bought some fun kids gums and made a big deal out of that. It went well... until bedtime. LOL. But she's pretty much over it now. But now I find gum in frustrating places.

Christmas in Jan with the Bades

Grandma, cousin Olivia and Miriam

The Bade Family

 It's "climb-on-grandpa-o'clock"

Grace and Miriam had a little birthday party while we were there

Christmas in MN and MT

 We had 3 Christmases this year! It was wonderful! For the very first time we were able to do our own family Christmas and also see Jason's family AND my family! It was so refreshing to see everyone and get caught up on everyone's lives.

 This was the first year that Miriam knew what she wanted for Christmas and asked for it. She wanted a pillow pet more than words could say. And she flipped out when she opened it on Christmas. 

 Miriam and cousin Addison. Silly girls.

 We found out we are having a baby GIRL!

As baby gets fatter, so do I.

This is my belly at 4 months. I'm noticing in this picture that my posture has really taken a turn for the worse. I've been trying to work on that, but it's hard when you're wearing a cantaloupe in a fanny pack all day and night. Haha.

Our Thanksgiving

 Nothing quite like decorating a Christmas tree in your underwear.

Trip to the big city

 A couple weeks ago we went to Minneapolis for a couple days. While we were there we went to the zoo and did a couple other fun things... like swimming in the pool.

 I had some things to pick up at the Mall of America, so while we were there Jason and Miriam played in Nickelodeon World. They got to meet Dora and ride a few rides. This little car ride was small but REALLY fast. Every time it went around a corner it went even faster. Our little cautious Miriam usually doesn't like anything rough or fast, but for some reason she loved this ride. Weird!

Halloween

Sorry I'm a month late in getting these posted. Miriam was a bride this year! She had such a good time at our church's harvest party. She got lots of candy and saw lots of friends, YAY! She relished every moment of the attention and compliments, just like a real bride. She had a flower girl dress than just needed to be worn in public one more time.