Full Term and Counting..

Well I made it to 37 weeks on Sunday and now we're counting..   I'm sure at this point most people are ready to have the baby already.  I unfortunately am not, I do not feel prepared!  I have school work and an internship to complete so that I can graduate.  I am unsure how other women have careers, other children and lives while going through pregnancy. Being pregnant is a constant struggle in some ways!  The majority of my current time is spend sleeping or wanting to sleep.  Thankfully I have a very supportive husband (who wants me to have this baby right now)  and we've been making it day by day.
I know that we could have this baby at any time and nesting mode a couple of days ago. I wish it would have lasted longer, because I have so much more to do! On the bright side, Jon and I all prepped for the hospital.  Baby bags are sitting in our kitchen and our over night bag is in the bedroom ready to be grabbed!  Jon and I are both so excited, we can hardly contain ourselves!

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow I thought I would say a few things that I am thankful for this year.
I am very thankful for how much my marriage has grown over the past year and how wonderful of a father my amazing husband is going to be.  I'm also very thankful for our daughter, who will be here very soon.
I'm thankful for our family back in Indiana.  Jon and I are both homesick and we miss our families terribly, but this being our first Thanksgiving without them we are hoping to make new memories.  This year I thought about making a turkey and all of the fixings tomorrow, but being as how difficult it is for me to make chicken tacos - I'm passing this year. I'm also thankful for the excitement that next year will bring!  Well now it's time for me to get back to work!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

37 Weeks Pregnant

A Season of Changes

"You only need the light when it's burning low. Only miss the sun when it starts to snow.  Only know you love her when you let her go. Only know you've been high when you're feeling low. Only hate the road when you're missing home.  Only know you love her when you let her go - and you let her go."  - Passenger

How true is it that we only miss things that we don't have, when we don't have them.  I'm not going to get all sappy on you today.  I do miss our family and friends, the green of Indiana, and Los Rancheros, but sometimes change can be for the best. 

Jonathon and I are in a season of changes.  Oh so many changes.  I speak for both of us when I say that we could use your prayers.  We both have so many transitional things happening in our lives that it's hard for us to find time to have intellectual conversations and encourage our marriage.  Right now we spend so much time trying to get/keep the new house clean, dealing with the builder of the house about all of the imperfections that they need to fix, dealing with the movers who have broken a few of our things (like my washing machine), and focusing on what our lives will be like after our baby arrives.
Apart from the everyday mundane problems, Jonathon of course is still waiting for his employer to put him in a more permanent position at work and I am in the last semester of college.  These changes really can be overwhelming when you let them pile up.  Thankfully Jonathon has been my rock and has been keeping me on track and preventing me from becoming one with the couch (not for lack of my trying.)

In other news, I'm so excited about all of our family and friends coming to visit us and our newest member in the upcoming months.  Jonathon and I are both truly looking forward to seeing everyone, and sharing our baby girl with our family and friends.  It's hard to imagine how different our lives are going to be in just a few short weeks.  That's right - weeks.  6 weeks to be exact, if she decides to stay right where she's at until her due date.  I keep thinking that I have more time than I do.  I'm finding it difficult to try and gauge what needs to be completed before the baby arrives and what can wait. I hope that I'll have some clarity when it comes to this soon. 

Also - if you've been keeping up with my doctor problem, I just want you to know I've given in.  With less that 2 months I decided to stay with my fruitloop doctor's office and deal with how unorganized and rude the staff can be.  After our daughter is born, I will be searching for a new doctor.  That way I never have to deal with this situation again!

Happy Monday

The Epic Saga of Locating a Healthcare Provider

After working at the Boy Scouts of America for about 5 weeks, I'm beginning to realize how much I love spending time with the boys at the different schools and the other leaders.  I can tell that the drive to Denver every week is taking it's toll on me (and my car), but I think that this program is going to really change my life. I spend most of my time during the program organizing and keeping the boys in line, but I can't get down on the floor anymore now that I'm 8 months pregnant. 

Speaking of being 8 months pregnant, I now know what a sardine can must feel like! Our baby girl is getting to be so long that I have serious pain in my upper abdomen where her foot sits. It's starting to get to the point that it wakes me up in the middle of the night!  Fortunately we're in the home stretch and she will be here before we know it! (Now I'm about to rant - feel free to close your browser now)

After much debate I have also decided to look at another hospital and doctors office in the area.  The long saga of this doctors office is starting to become ridiculous. Prior to them adding me as a patient they needed my medical records, but their fax machine was broken.  Instead of letting me know what the situation was, contacting my doctor, or making any sort of arrangements to have the paperwork mailed to them, they instead chose to just ignore the problem.  I became so frustrated on the phone with them that I broke out in tears and they finally made an appointment for me.  I should have known better right then and there.  I should have found another doctor immediately, but instead I gave the office a lot of leeway and decided to continue making appointments at this office.   Unfortunately they lady who schedules the appointments doesn't know how to operate the program properly, they double book the doctors and the front of house staff is just generally rude. 

All of this being said, I had decided that I was just going to stick it out until our daughter was born, until yesterday.  I had received a phone call last week that said I needed to reschedule my appointment because a meeting had been scheduled during my appointment time.  When I returned the call I was put on hold for 15 minutes and upon hanging up the phone I got pulled over because I was "texting and driving"  - I didn't receive a ticket, but it didn't help my frustration with the doctors office, but I let it slide.  Yesterday I received another call that a future appointment I had interfered with a surgery - and that's when it hit me.  I do not HAVE to go to this doctor's office.  

In Indianapolis I never had a problem scheduling appointments, my doctor and the office staff were always kind, caring, friendly, and if she was not going to be available they didn't cancel my appointment entirely.  They would call to ask if it would be okay if I were to see another doctor instead - this only happened once mind you.  Overall I am very disappointed in the care that I have received here so far, but at least baby Brack is healthy! 

This weekend consists of a doctors appointment at the terrible location on Friday, a birthplace tour at the other hospital on Saturday, and deciding if I want to transfer doctors.  Please pray that we make the best decision for our family. 

Our Newest Adventures

I have never been one to blog or journal much.  As anyone can tell by the frequency that I do choose to blog, but I think it is important to start some sort of journal/blog to document how our lives are changing.

Over the past three years of marriage, both Jonathon and I have gone through a lot of trials and tribulations.  I am so thankful that with God's help we have chosen to stick together through the thick and the thin.  Of course there are days that are harder than others, but no one said that marriage is easy.  If you were told that, someone lied to you.  Everyday is a new adventure that God intends for us to take.  Our current adventures include moving across the country away from family, living in a new state (that has new laws, rules, and expectations), owning a new home, making new friends, finding a new church home, and starting a family. All while I continue to try to complete my degree by May.  This accumulation of things in our lives could be very overwhelming if we let it be, but I know that God has a plan for us.

Jonathon and I are so excited to bring our baby girl into the world.  It is simply amazing to be 32 weeks into this pregnancy.  I can already tell that this unborn child has a huge personality - could anyone really expect less with Jonathon and me as her parents?  What is truly amazing is that she responds to us even though she is still in my womb.  It's as if she knows when Jonathon gets home - she wiggles and kicks when she hears his voice or when he touches my tummy.  How simply amazing is it to know that she recognizes our voices already.   I will also say that baby hiccups really are the oddest sensation I have ever experienced.  I tend to feel bad for her when she experiences them multiple times during the day - she gets frustrated and kicks really hard when they start bugging her.   When I think about giving birth to her, I don't imagine how painful it will be, instead I tend to think about how lonely I will be after she's here and not in my womb anymore. The little gift that God has given us will no longer be protected in me and instead I will have to protect her from the world around us. It's a little unnerving to think that we really only have 8 weeks until she arrives (if she doesn't come early.)  I feel so unprepared for her arrival, but I know that everything will be okay because the Lord is looking out for us.

I am so thankful for all that the Lord has provided us with so far, and I look forward to the new adventures that he has in store for us.  Today I have had the hymn Great is Thy faithfulness replaying over and over in my head.  It truly is amazing just how Great our Lord's faithfulness truly is.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!Morning by morning new mercies I seeAll I have needed Thy hand hath providedGreat is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!"