They Say It's Gonna Happen

Mike, Rooney & I made it to our 2nd Nonstress Test appointment today. This was going to be our last prenatal check up one way or another. This 2nd test was to make sure the baby was still doing well so that I could be induced on Monday. I have been assured that Rooney is doing quite well, and was possibly showing off for the machine today. A little showboater just like his Dad. My little chip off the ol' block.

We got more good news...seems magically I have dilated to 3cm & I am 90% effaced. It is very possible that I may go into labor all on my own this weekend. If I don't, then Monday morning I am scheduled to be induced. This kid really is going to come out one way or another in the next 3 days! I'm still hesitant to believe it but they tell me it's going to happen so it must be true.

For the induction it seems we are basically on call with the hospital. We have been told to call them @ 6am to make sure we can go down but the hospital could also call us @ 2am & say they are ready- so we have to be ready. As exciting as this news is I received even more exciting news...they have now changed their epidural rules & even if I stay @ 3cm when I get to the hospital I can get the epidural right away!!! Woo hoo!! They used to make you wait until 4cm dilated but according to the ARNP they found it does not actually slow down labor prior to 4cm like they used to think.

Maybe Rooney really knew what it was he was waiting for.

Evacuation!!!!

I've been grumbling so much lately about Rooney not being born and condo issues (of which I had more this morning) & then it takes something like this to remind me that 1. Rooney's impending arrival, no matter when it will be, will be joyous & 2. not only do I have one home but I have 2.

"Raging Fire Threatens LA Area Homes"

My younger brother Casey, his girlfriend Rebecca & their dog Siren were one of the families evacuated @ 3 a.m. this morning. Right now they are holed up @ my mom's house, with a few possessions they could load into their dog's kennel & are waiting to see if they will be able to return to their home.

Makes me very grateful I can basically manage both mine from my bed.

No need to panic...

Even though there have been no posts here in 2 days, its not because labor has started. We've simply run out of things to write about. We're still holding out hope that the child will be born tomorrow, as then he would share a birthday with his great-grandma Wade. (We have kicked around the idea of naming him Marjorie as an homage). However, we have basically given up hope that this kid will be coming out voluntarily, and are now setting our hopes on his getting induced.

Anyway, in case you were wondering what a 41-week pregnant woman looks like, here's a snapshot...

The Two Libras

Mike and I went to our weekly MD visit. I don't think either of us really thought we'd be making this visit but lo & behold. The receptionist had told us she was hoping she wasn't going to see us. We didn't take that personally because we felt the same way. The good news...the baby's heart beat sounds really good, he's dropped further & I am almost fully effaced. Bad news...I'm still pregnant!!! Hee hee hee.

We are scheduled for another appointment on Tuesday. The Tuesday appointment is for a Non-Stress Test. From what I have read this seems to be a pretty normal procedure if you are overdue. The MD said if I am still pregnant on Tuesday & after the results of this test they may plan to induce on Friday. Seems hard to believe but I could actually have the kid in October! That's not even the right month! I, of course, am holding out hope to have the bambino this weekend. However, my boy will be a Libra just like his momma. Our birthdays will be kind of close together now. I wonder if that will be too much cake in such a short time frame? Let's just hope he likes chocolate.

2 Libras signing off.

Punk'D

Ok, where's Ashton? Where are the camera's hidden? I am absolutely positive I am being Punk'D.

Seems the joke is I'm not really pregnant...I'm just getting really weirdly fat and the big laugh is to see how long I can be strung along.

Come on out Ashton the jig is up. Show yourself & we'll have a good a laugh, a beer and plan a Punk'D for Britney.

What's it gonna take?

Well, its official: I think we've tried everything to get this kid out. Taking long walks. Nothing. Laughing the kid out by watching uproarious comedies. No dice. Eating spicy foods. Jumping on a trampoline. Bubkes.

We've also tried direct communication with the child. Asking politely. Reasoning. Singing (including the occasional falsetto number by yours truly). Begging. Threatening.

All that's left is bribery. So Rooney, we're asking: what's it gonna take?

Property Management Hell

You thought we were done with home improvements.

I haven't written about this but @ the end of July I got bad news from my friend Christine. She had been renting my condo, loved it & was going to sign another year lease however she just found out that she got a new job up north & was not going to be able to renew because she needed to find a place closer to work.

It was bad news on 2 fronts- 1. we were losing a reliable renter & 2. she would be moving out @ the end of August. This was bad because it was not long before my due date & there were things that would need to be done to clean up the condo. I had just contacted our property management in August about the new rent, the condo clean-up & how I wanted the ad to run when Christine called me & asked if she could stay another month (I had previously offered her month to month until she found a new place). The townhouse she wanted to rent in Lynnwood would not be ready until mid-September. I don't know about you guys, but as far as I know apartments are always rented by the month not week. Aren't those motels? Anyway, I said that would be great because that would give us some breathing room time wise due to the baby's impending arrival.

Now, since I haven't written about the condo I also have not written about the property management company that is supposed to be "managing" my property. There has been an ongoing battle with them re: communication & managing my property in my best interest. There have been several terse emails sent in the 10 months they have been our management company and things never seem to get better- we just keep getting new staff.

Well in early September I called Christine (after I left a message with our property manager the previous week) because we had not received our rent check. That was odd because Christine always paid her rent early. I wasn't sure if there was an issue w/the Labor Day holiday, if Christine paid it later than normal or if she was still living there even. I had not heard back from Christine nor the property management co. if she was going to stay in September. The phone call was very enlightening with Christine. She did clear up that her rent check was mailed & cashed (we actually received it the next day). That was good news. The bad news was Christine had also called the management company & still had not received her call back. This made me pretty mad. I also found out that Christine pro-rated her rent because she was moving out on the 18th!! Hmmmm I did not authorize this. I was a bit confused but Christine had been a good tenant so I figured what is done is done & I will have a word with property management. I felt had they been doing their job they could have cleared this up & let Christine know that this is not how apartment rental goes.

That week I wrote a very angry email to our property manager but I really didn't want to deal with any of this. I was very close to my due date, already disappointed we had not had the baby & knew we were going to have to do something to get this condo ready for rental. How? When? Who? Well Christine moved out the day after my due date, what an awful time. This gave us no breathing room & had I known I would not have OK'd her staying longer because we could have used that time in early September to get the condo in shape. After my angry email, property management wrote back, apologized, assured me they would make an appt w/Christine to do the final walk through etc. Well Christine called me on the 18th, wanted to drop off the keys to me because she called property management on Monday & they still had not called her back & guess who told Christine to prorate her rent...the property management company I hired!!!! Unbelievable. A very emotional, very pregnant woman does not to be dealing with this!! I told Christine to mail the keys to property management & I would call them. So now she's out.

We went by the condo last night because we have to get going on this so the condo will be available for renting in October. The place didn't look bad- we are repainting the bedroom (I let Christine paint it) & putting new carpet in. Little clean up & the place will be back to it's shining glory. We went to Home Depot, got paint, primer & ordered carpet last night. I had to change the carpet selection because if I did not get the stuff on special we would have to wait 3 weeks!!!! That would really not work w/the early October timeline. Ok that was all done. Mike went to the condo this morning to prime the walls & ceiling. I got a call from Mike a couple hours later & he was having problems primeing the ceiling & he broke the paintbrush (thus resulting in a skunk stripe on the back of his head). He wanted to buy a sprayer.

I'll end this story here. I will say Mike has not bought a sprayer, the condo is still not primed @ this time & my husband will be spending his free time primeing & painting.

I'm sure to go into labor now, right?

No baby today?

Ahoy, me hearties! So Rooney wasn't born today. I think that be probably for t' best. I wouldn't want him t' have been born on December 25, January 1, or July 4, either. Could you imagine havin' t' share your birthday with International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

No Dice

I didn't want anyone to be sitting in suspense- I thought I should let everyone know that we are still waiting.

Looks like on due date #2 we also will not be of the 5%. I liked the teens for a birthday but it looks like we'll be creeping into the 20's. We'll shoot for the 21st or 22nd.

We'll keep you posted.

It's Come & Gone

Well September 17th has come & gone yet I am still pregnant. So it seems for the 1st date I will not be of the 5%. September 19th was the other due date I was given. I was never really attached to this date but @ this point I am clinging to it. Mike is sick today, and I believe laying in bed as I write this, so maybe it'll be today. I thought, to add a little more fuel to the fire, I would forego shaving my legs for today.

These last couple of weeks have been really tough. I'm basically sequestered to the house, @ least if I'm bymyself. Since Mike is still working & I cannot get my sister to visit me for anything, it is basically me & the dogs staring out the window. Yesterday Dana, Renae, Natalie & Felix came to visit. It was such a nice diversion. Mike & I would have basically just sat around waiting. Well I would have been waiting, Mike would have been playing Unreal Championship. As they were here I was a little saddened when I realized the swing we got so many weeks ago now had dust on it!!! The nursery seems like it's been empty so long now- to think a couple months ago I was stressed if we were going to get it done.

So not only am I basically homebound, I feel like a sloth. My brother said I seem pretty agile for my state but I feel so limited. Bending, walking, getting dressed are difficult. Since Rooney has dropped in the pelvis I can barely lift my leg and I walk as if I have a head in my pelvis. To see Renae, who had Felix 6 months ago, moving & seemingly feeling and looking normal, I am so jealous.

I think I'll go dust the nursery.

So close...

Today Mike & I went for our weekly OB appointment. I have to be honest I did not think we would be making this appointment. Then again I thought I was going to have this kid 2 weeks ago. Seems everyone is getting prepared for Rooney's arrival- I know people have been getting jittery about phone calls & yesterday my sister called to say she is officially on "maternity leave". Um...no pressure there. I hated to tell her they made another MD appt for us next week.

Although the MD did not fill me with a great hope that I would have Rooney before next week she did say I was "very thin" (in terms of effacement). So I am maintaining my glimmer of hope. My official due date isn't until this weekend (they have me down to give birth between 17th-19th) so I'm not actually late yet. Also, the MD did say that if I was still pregnant next week than "we can see what we can do".

I have my fingers crossed we won't have to see about that (you have them crossed too)!

Britney Stole Our Birthday

I'm going to reveal a little secret...I've been harboring a secret battle with Britney Spears since I found out we were both pregnant.

Right after I found out I was pregnant & started spreading the news, out comes Britney with her big pregnancy announcement. The media focused on her and stole the spotlight from my child. I started getting pregnant belly & there's Britney showing off her bump. She even had a designer making her maternity daisy duke shorts while I settled for clearance items @ Old Navy.

So far Britney 2- Susan 0.

For a short while there I was definitely sure that Britney was looking "more pregnant" than me.

Britney 2- Susan 1

However, it quickly became evident I was "more pregnant" than Britney.

Britney 3- Susan 0

As my baby shower was being planned and I was deep in the throes of RSVP stress my new People arrives & who is on the cover with her fantastic baby shower?!? Britney!! I couldn't get all my "friends" to come to mine due to their previous engagements & Britney gets international media exposure (no doubt ensuring all her friends RSVP's but also a bagful of dough).

Britney 4- Susan 0

The one thing I thought I had over Britney was that I would be announcing my childs arrival 1st. I was absolutely certain I would have my baby before her. Not only did Britney have her baby before me, she had a boy & HAD HIM ON OUR ANNIVERSARY!!!

Britney 6- Susan 0

I officially hate Britney Spears.

Happy Anniversary

Two years ago tonight Mike asked me to be his wife. It was that night that we decided to make our little ragged band of riff-raffs a family. It was good timing for Mike to ask because the next month I was turning 30.

Now 2 years have passed & who would have guessed that I would be tap dancing on the verge of having our first child and solidifying us as a family. It's all very surreal to me. It seemed having Rooney today would be very apropos.

I don't think it's going to happen.

I Hate Tuesdays

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Boomtown Rats song "I Don't Like Mondays". It's been running through my head all morning but I've been substituting Mondays with Tuesdays. I may have mentioned this before but Tuesdays are trash day @ our house. Normally that is a good thing. Purging crap from your house feels good. And if you recycle you feel extra good because you are helping the Earth because you've sorted and rinsed your crap. However, Tuesdays @ Tiny House mean 3 garbage trucks (1 regular crap truck, 1 yard crap truck & then 1 recycled crap truck) and that is 3 instances of absolute barking hell! The trash trucks pull right up to our back fence, they are big & loud & they set the dogs off like nobodies business. If you can imagine all the hate, frustration & anger you have ever felt & channel it through the body of a 20lb dog you would know exactly how Courage feels about these trucks. What's a dog to do? He has managed, over time, to take his frustration of not being able to get to the truck out on our fence. I'm pretty sure he's gnawed 1/2 way through the poles. I've walked outside to find him hanging by his teeth from them. Rocco isn't as angry. He may be used to the sounds of the trucks from his days as a little dump dog in Puerto Rico. He does like to instigate the anger in Courage though, and often gives him the "trash truck warning bark". I'm sure you can imagine how much we all appreciate that. Especially when the 1st truck arrives before 8am.

We've consulted a dog trainer about this. The easiest thing she suggested was to keep them in the house when the trucks go by. We agreed that would be the easiest thing and the bonus for me is that the garbage men wouldn't have to see me in my jammies & bedhead while chasing the dogs around the gazebo. Our fence has stopped taking such a beating but these boys have great hearing & they are @ the back door a block before the truck even gets to our house. Of course Rocco is leading the charge. We've been dealing with this & I have been trying to work on "quiet" with them but as the pregnancy has progressed it's become a little harder. As it is I have a little head wedged in my pelvis so getting up, down & general walking isn't as easy but the nursery window also faces the back fence & Courage knows this. Even though I have kept the blind down and the window closed he will still force his way into the bedroom (we should really get this door fixed to close tight) and stand in front of the closed blind/window & bark his little floppy eared head off. What's a Mom to do?

The trucks are gone now and it's quiet around the house but after all the chaos this morning I cannot get this song out of my head!

Get Out of My Belly!!!

It seems after not writing for several days that I would have tons to write about. However, this weekend really consisted of alot of waiting & wondering. As you've been reading I'm real interested in getting this birth on. To be a "normal" person again would be fantastic. Saturday, Mike & I took Couragito & Roccosani to the dog park. We really weren't sure when we'd be able to take them again & I thought the walking might be helpful in bringing on the big event. Well Sunday I woke up & I was still pregnant but the boys seemed happy.

Sunday was 9/11 as everyone knows. Mike was real worried about my having the baby on that date. I guess he didn't want his child to have to grow up with his birthday always being in the shadow of such a horrible day. I understood that, & 9/11 would not have been my preference on a birthday. If it was between the baby being born & not being born though, I may have leaned towards being born & coming up w/something like "beautiful miracle" happening on the anniversary or something. By afternoon I knew we didn't have to worry and we took the boys for a walk & maybe we'd be able to shoot for 9/12.

Last night was rough. I had problems going to sleep, I was up about every 30min, Rooney was moving all over & finally around 3am I started having what I thought were "contractions". It was kind of exciting & of course scary. I tried to still get sleep, because they advise that, & the "contractions" were erratic so I was pretty sure any birth would be a while. Although I have not ever had contractions before & I was still trying to get back to sleep I was also trying to time the contractions as best as I could. Once they were more regular I thought I'd wake Mike up. It was 4-something in the morning now, still too early to call my sis, so I laid there, counted & actually eventually fell back to sleep. When I woke up @ 8am, no contractions and no baby I realized I had "false labor". I can't tell you how disappointed I am.

I thought I'd be holding my son now, my legs were already shaved & Mike would have been well rested. Seems last night would have been a great night to have a baby.

Good Things Come To Those That Wait

Mike and I had our weekly MD appointment today. I was really hoping to hear I was dilated 4cm. I know this was a tall order since I haven't had any contractions but maybe I'd be one of those women that have no idea they are in labor. Unfortunately, my not-so-secret dilation hopes, were dashed. The MD said I had not dilated any further but I had made progress on effacement. That's something. Technically I still have a chance of having Rooney early but I am much less hopeful than I was a week ago and we made our MD appt. for next week.

Hmmmm...this week may call for some long walks and housecleaning.

We Can Eat!!

Since I've been pregnant Mike & I have been pretty lazy about what we've been eating. The 1st 3 months I was nauseous the whole time & seemed to only want Mac & Cheese and Grilled Cheese sandwiches. By the time I was feeling better from that we were both still working & were extremely tired. Me, due to pregnancy. Mike, due to breathing (just kidding Sweet Pea). So needless to say neither of us felt much like preparing dinners. We've muddled through and even kept our Caesar salad night on most Wednesdays but anything that required the oven to be on was seriously dismissed.

We wondered if we felt this way pre-baby what were we going to feel like after the birth? Undoubtedly, we would be less motivated to prepare decent meals. We decided to try one of those places where they prep all the dinner & you package it. There are alot of different places but we chose Designed Dinners because of it's close proximity to our house. We received 24-2 person meals. After Rooney is born we will be feasting on such meals as Tiger Shrimp Paella, Mushroom Asiago Cheese Quiche, Flat Iron Steak etc. We decided this idea was so good that it may be worth while to just go there on a regular basis. We also realized these meals are portioned correctly & they provide all the nutritional value info. This will be a huge help whilst I'm trying to shed pregnancy weight. I suppose the real test will be in the tasting. I'm pretty picky so I have my fingers crossed. From what I could see through the packaging it looked pretty good.

Also on the agenda was to squeeze in another pedicure before the baby was born. I thought I was out of luck on that earlier this week. Unless I go into labor tonight or tomorrow morning I am proud to report I have a appointment for tomorrow. After the pedicure I think we will be as fully prepared for the child as we can be.

Keep checking for updates and maybe new feet pictures.

There's a Disco in My Belly

Since our last MD appt on Friday I have been hopeful that Rooney would be making his grand entrance early. Being pregnant has been wonderful and a amazing experience but at this point the puffy round body, not being able to bend over & having numb arms every night is wearing a bit thin. Plus now that I feel pretty prepared I can't wait to see my son!!! Sunday I kept dreaming that I was going into labor but that didn't happen & then this morning I thought maybe the unveiling would be today but now I get the feeling that may not happen.

I woke up around 3-something a.m. this morning & Rooney just started moving all over. Since there is so little room for him to move now any movement he does is a huge ripple across my body. I don't know what was going on in there but for the next 3+ hours he was dancing or something. I had a mental picture of him trying to get comfortable & get out. I wasn't in any pain but there was so much movement I thought for sure it would be no time before I had to wake Mike up. Around 5:15 a.m. I realized I was not going to be able to go back to sleep for awhile, and both arms were numb so I went out on the couch. I was kind of hungry & thought I better grab a snack before I had to go to the hospital & was not able to eat anything. I watched the Morning News, cuddled Courage and Rocco and ate some Mini Wheats. Finally, I went back bed after 6 a.m. let Mike feel the roller coaster in my belly & eventually fell back to sleep after 7 a.m..

Rooney has quit squirming and it seems everything is back to normal...for now. We'll see what happens tonight.

Baby Shower Pics, Thank You's & My Sincere Apology

I've finally received some baby shower pictures! I eagerly popped in the CD looking for pictures to post. I ran through all 70+ pictures and let me share with you there is only a handful of photos that I will share with you. For obvious reasons I am in a good deal of the photos & there doesn't seem to be one where I am not talking, making some weird distorted face and in most cases, both. I won't go into it too much here but this is generally why I refuse to take photos- especially candid ones. I beg of all home photographers please wait until people stop talking, are done shoveling food in or waving body parts around before you take pictures!!!







Let me thank everyone yet again for the wonderful gifts, for coming & a special thanks for Annie,Renae & Brandi who put it together.

Now to my apology. I am in the process of sending out Thank You notes. Many of you should receive yours on Tuesday so you'll soon understand what I'm apologizing for. I have had a problem for months in which I will wake up with numb hands. It seems to have escalated in the last couple of weeks to where my wrists will hurt all day. I asked the MD about this & apparently this is normal. She said that fluid is pressing on a nerve. The problem for the people receiving Thank You notes is that my handwriting was already questionable (something I attribute to years of computer use) but with my wrists & hands hurting so much it may be completely illegible. Let me assure you that I only wrote good things on each one and I am so sorry I haven't figured out how to print them.

I may dictate the rest to Mike.

We're Making Progress

Mike and I had our weekly MD appointment today @ 10:45 a.m.. It had to be our longest appointment yet. That was not because there was many procedures happening- they just let us wait, and wait & wait. I'm not sure how familiar many of you are with what happens @ the OB appointments but each visit starts with a urine sample. That means when you come to the appt. you should probably have to pee already. Normally not a problem. Today, however, it was a problem. They let us wait so long before we saw the MD or anything that things were getting a bit critical. Who would leave a pregnant lady waiting to use the bathroom???? So when we finally get in the room I insist on the urine sample first. Good thinking, right? Seemed that way. We got all the preliminary stuff done w/the nurse- weight & BP. She gets me ready to be seen for the MD & I'm waiting. I'm waiting, waiting & waiting. I have now waited so long that who has to pee again? I was a little afraid this may interfere w/the exam. Good news is it didn't. Bad news is we didn't get out of the office until a little after noon!!!! The interesting news is that I am now 1-1/2cm dilated. What does this mean? Well we don't exactly know. We know the baby is coming soon, but how soon? It's a crap shoot. The MD did tell us who was the on-call MD this weekend but we also made an appt. for next Friday. All we know is that we have to make sure we get the 4th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm before I go into labor.

Keep reading for updates.