Baby Update!

I have started and stopped typing this post about 20 times now so here is my attempt to finish...

It all started Thursday morning... I woke up to quite a bit of spotting. I called my midwifes around 10 am and they said they were going to come out at 3:00 p.m. In the mean time I called my mother in law and she was on her way. I also made a big pot of spaghetti sauce and Jarrett came home from work and helped me clean like crazy!

When Sarah and Megan (midwifes) arrived, they checked me and I was already a 6 and having mild contractions.

I hung out on the exercise ball and went about our normal routine. Eden had her stethoscope out and was ready to help check my blood pressure and listen to the baby! Things were definitely moving in the "labor" direction. 

Around 6:00 we ate dinner together and chatted then I was instructed to try and rest for a while. I fell asleep at 7:30 and the midwives came up every 2 hours to check on the baby. At this point, I was still having contractions but nothing strong enough really put things over the edge.

Around 2:30 am they came up with a dose of castor oil (GROSSSS) to try and help things along... well, let me just say that I never want to drink that nasty stuff ever again. It makes your stomach feel so horrible.

By 6:00 am things were still the same - mild contractions - so I took a brisk walk to see if that would push things along. The midwives went for breakfast at a local diner so we could have some family time.

When they returned they checked me and I was dilated to a 7 but by 12:00 p.m. my contractions had stopped and I was feeling great... what in the world~! After a deliberation they decided they would pack it up and wait for me to call them once things started happening again. They left me with the doppler so I could monitor and listen to the baby's heartbeat .

Well, it is now Tuesday and I'm still with child and feeling wonderful! The Lord has definitely been teaching me patience as well as show me His humorous side! Needless to say I am 9 days away from my due date... but all the anticipation of an early labor because of the early dilation is leaving everyone puzzled. It is a mystery! 

I go see my midwife tomorrow and we will find out the latest! I will most definitely keep everyone posted and promise I won't take this long anymore! Lots of love and blessings to all. 

XOXO

Love, 

Erin

August...

August was filled with lots of fun events!! Aunt Beth and Hannah came for a visit for Hannah's birthday. We went to the Rascall Flatts / Taylor Swift concert and took them to a Cards / Cubs game at Wrigley. We all proudly wore our Cardinals gear which really made Grandpa mad :)  The concert was so much fun. I honestly have never seen so many people at one venue in my entire life. It was kind of overwhelming. I also have never seen so many intoxicated high schoolers. It was really sad and made me really thankful that I was kind of sheltered from parties during high school. We were starting to attempt to potty train Eden. She was doing really good at first and loved using her potty. Then she started going on the floor so that was enough of that!! I guess the adventures of 2 in diapers will bless this house! 

My brother Dean left for college which was really sad. I didn't think I would be that upset, but my emotions definitely got the best of me! I blame it on being pregnant!!  He's in Kalamazoo, MI at Western Michigan University so we've already made a couple of trips up there to visit, one of which my wallet was stolen. The person who got it tried using everything so we had to get new debit cards, new credit card, and a new checking account which was no fun. 

We also had an intern reunion in St. Louis which was a BLAST! A group of friends who did an internship at Houston's First Baptist Church in the summer of 2001 try and get together every year. It was a time of food, fun, and wonderful fellowship! We are already looking forward to next year. And on the last day of August, Jarrett took me to a Hillsong United concert which was AWESOME! They usually come once a year to Chicago and we try not to miss it. 

Here are some pics.

Go Cards!

Jarrett, Aunt Beth, Hannah, and I @ Rascall Flatts

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Eden on her favorite chair

Jarrett with his best friend Vernon, Titus, & Eden

Eden & Titus

The Girls

Love, 

Erin

July...

The second weekend of July we went to Grand Haven, Michigan which is a must visit for all you Midwesterners! It's such a cool little beach town. We did lots of boating and went to the beach the last night. We definitely didn't want to come home.

Before I post pics of the weekend in Grand Haven, these are some of my fav's from July!

Eden definitely LOVES her daddy!!

It was also a very exciting month for my favorite sister, Miciah. She passed her state board exams and is officially a R.N. We are so proud of her.  THEN... SHE GOT ENGAGED!! We are so happy for her and can't wait for all the pre-wedding fun!!

Miciah and her Fiance Tim

Fourth of July @ Uncle John's

Grandpa Marty, Ciah, and Tim @ Starved Rock

Eden LOVED the lake!!

Swimming with Daddy!

Passed out after a long day.

Family Photo

Baby News

So, I'm skipping July, August, & September and heading right to October for the latest post... sorry I've been so slack!

Anyway, I went to my midwife today for my 33 week check up and I wasn't expecting what I heard. She kept feeling for the baby's head around my belly button and could not feel it. I had been telling her that I've been experiencing some intense pelvic pressure, but I figured it was a combination of Braxton Hicks, a long day with Eden and doing mommy/wife stuff. 

She decided to do an internal exam and realized the reason she couldn't feel the baby's head was because it was RIGHT THERE... Needless to say my eyes started to well up with tears because I didn't want this poor baby to come so early and because I was a bit in shock.

Charity told me I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. She said if I were 38 weeks she would have told me I was going to have this baby tonight. 

She sent me to  UIC Medical Center to be assessed and make sure I wasn't in active labor. After a long day, I was sent home with strict orders of bed rest... at least for the next 9-10 days when the lungs would be at a point where they wouldn't need steroids. 

So, please be keeping the baby and me in your prayers. Pray for Eden that she would somehow be understanding and for Jarrett as he assumes Mr. Mom duties along with long days at work :) Poor baby! Any ideas on bed rest fun would be greatly appreciated!!

I will keep you posted. 

Love, 

Erin

June...

Oh June... let me think... well we took Eden to Brookfield Zoo and as you can see she was having a blast... no really... she did have lots of fun seeing all the animals and making all the noises! 

Then my baby brother, Dean, graduated from high school which I cannot believe. He got a scholarship to Western Michigan for soccer. I'm so excited for him! I love my little Dean.

The next weekend we went to St. Louis for a friends wedding and got to see Danielle and Mandi and Eden got to hang out with Mikail (Mandi's head got cut off in the picture... sorry Mandi!!).

We also went to this museum in St. Louis... I'm having pregnancy brain and cannot remember what it's called, but it's really cool has all these tunnels and you can crawl through the ceiling and underground... anyway, Eden was a little too little, but someday it will be a great place to go!

Here is a pic from us from the wedding

And this is just a picture of Eden that I thought was funny!

So there you go. June in a nutshell!! 

Love, 

Erin

May...

Let's see... what did we do in May?

Well, my sister in law graduated from nursing school so we went to Bonne Terre for her graduation and graduation party. My mother in law, who is the greatest mother-in-law ever,  also turned 50 and let me say she's the hottest 50 year old I've ever seen! After all the parties we took our last day to go to a winery called Crown Valley Winery. It was gorgeous and we had a blast wine tasting. Even Eden got her own little vino glass!! She was so excited. 

Grandma Jules got Eden this great t-shirt!! Our little Vino Bambino!

The day after we got home from Missouri Eden was being a little crazy at the kitchen table and slammed her face on the table - hence the HUGE black eye... poor baby.

The 1st official black eye

My baby brother went to his Senior prom. I still can't believe he's going away to college in less than a month. I'm gonna miss that kid. Anyway, here is a pic from prom. He went with his friend Leah. 

4 Months... WHOA... April Update in July

Wow! It's REALLY been a while!! So, since it's been 4 months I will try and catch you up as much as possible a month at a time. Lets go back to March where we left off. We celebrated Easter and found out 2 weeks prior that we were blessed with being pregnant again! 

 Here  we are Easter Sunday

In April we went and saw SWITCHFOOT in concert which is a must if you've never been. We had a blast... well, I had a little more than a blast. Amber, this one's for you... anyway, we went with our friends Lindy and Kyle and the boys didn't want to go down on the floor so we left them behind only to get lost in the moment with Jon Foreman. Well, I must have gotten a little too lost because before I knew it, I was jumping around only to be graced with the presence of a little mishap called "because I'm pregnant I can't jump or else something bad will happen..." And yes it did... I pee-d my pants... Just a little, but needless to say it did happen. Oh well! It was most definitely worth it and it didn't help that Lindy and I were laughing and couldn't stop. Thank you Lord for leading me to the dark jeans I put on that night! 

Also in April, Eden figured out how to get in the pantry and got into a box of crackers and stuffed her cheeks full!

Eden couldn't get enough of her Ugg's this day. When I finally took them off her feet they were a sweaty mess!

 Here I am 9 weeks pregnant. As of tomorrow, I will be 23 weeks and look a little different! I am sporting a bigger belly these days which Eden points out to me daily!

And on this final day in April, Jarrett was having too much fun with Eden's toys and I'm afraid Eden seemed a little too excited with her new boobies!!

The May update is soon to come and I promise to be better in the future!!

Love, 

Erin