For those of you who have yet to put in your guess as to what day our little Baby will come, don’t forget to join the baby pool!  You get to guess the day, the time, the weight and length as well.  We’re going to send whoever wins a little something for fun, so get your guess in now!

I wanted to share a poem that talks about sin, specifically talking about falling over and over again in the same area of struggle.  How such a war and battle is like a tide coming in and out.  One minute you’re convinced you’ve made progress and get lost in pride and the next moment you’re back out at see grasping for air and crying out to God to save you.

Tide

I flow forever as the tide,
Ebbing ever then denied.
I find no gain on crystal sand,
No climbing forth to conquer land.

No hope of rising forth in storm,
For moments pass and heavens warm.
They greet me with their softest gaze,
And toss me back to dark malaise.

How I long to break this beating,
The heavy drum that stands repeating,
That beat by beat reminds within,
Of every touch of nature’s sin.

What a wretched man am I!
Reflection burns my wretched eyes.
I’m torn and tossed about like stories,
Seeds of truth give way to mourning.

Stand! Weak legs, your time has come!
I beg you rise and help me run!
And yet this turbid mud gives way,
It sends me back to dreary sway.

Abba! Hear my staggered breath!
This tide has brought your servant death.
Somehow my heart forgets the land,
Preferring still this bitter strand.

My trusted legs forever feeble,
My heart adrift and lost in evil,
I beg you God with all that’s left,
Bring forth your mercy in these depths.

Restore in me a glorious love,
That from this strand may rise above.
And set me down upon your shore,
To rest in thee, forevermore.

Okay everyone, put on your lucky socks. We’ve set up our official baby pool. On here, you can guess Caleb’s weight, length and date & time of delivery. I expect to see lots of early dates because I don’t know if I want to wait the entire 40 weeks.

Click the link below to begin!

Holloway Baby Pool

I almost forgot. Here’s the belly at nine months:

Lot’s of exciting stuff today.

We had another biophysical profile done (the ultrasound that checks his overall health). I’ve learned that during these ultrasounds, they check for practice breathing, movement, muscle tone, amniotic fluid levels and heart rate. Each category can get up to a score of 2 to total a maximum score of 10. Since his heart rate is a little off due to the arrhythmia, I think the tech doesn’t count that one in. He scored an 8 out of 8 today after waiting a little while for his practice breathing. Here’s a 3D picture taken last Friday. It’s a picture of a picture so it’s sort of odd-looking. You can see his profile (eyes, nose, chubby cheek, lips and chin) and his fist right over his eyes.

Right after that, we ran over to the OB’s office for my first check-up in three weeks, He was out of the office last tuesday so he’s missed all the latest drama. He didn’t seem too concerned with Caleb’s heart issue either. I got my first cervical check today and based on what he could feel, he said the baby’s head is “right there” meaning his head is engaged in my pelvis and ready to go. I’m also 1 centimeter dilated.

Looks like we’re in the home stretch. Let’s just hope he stays put for at least a week and a half so I can finish up my classes. I’m really feeling the last minute rush with all my projects, papers and presentations along with these constant contractions reminding me all too often of this impending transition into parenthood. I think once school is finished and I finally pack my hospital bag, I’ll be as ready as I can be.

I’m really beginning to feel why women complain so much at the end. It literally takes me twice as long to walk anywhere. Andy often forgets this fact when we’re walking somewhere together. He often sets off at his usual long-legged pace. Eventually he notices I’m not beside him anymore and looks around to see where I went. Finally he spots me waddling 50 feet or so behind him and has to come back to get me. This is only getting worse as the belly and waddling increase. I need a scooter.

We had both the follow-up ultrasound and the fetal echocardiogram today.

The first was the follow-up. Everything was basically the same - the arrhythmia was still there, amniotic fluids looked good and we even got to see him practice breathing. What’s better is that he’s now officially head-down and in the correct position for a natural birth.

Our second appointment was a visit to the Heart Center at St. Joe’s Hospital to get a fetal echo and visit with a pediatric cardiologist.  It was a long appointment…we were there for almost 3 hours, but it was also a good appointment because the doctor was an expert in all this craziness.

The final conclusion from him was that Caleb has a “benign heart irregularity” or arrhythmia.  I wish I could remember the specifics, but it had to do with electricity going through the wrong ventricle or something.  Essentially his verdict was that Bri does not need medicine, that these are fairly common and only mentioned that about 10% of babies with this condition end up with a “high heart rate” so they will be following up with us in 2 weeks.  We also now have twice-a-week appointments with the standard perinatologist, to verify blood flow, fluid levels and overall health.  Phew.  Long day full of long words and long drives.

If you’d like to know how you can specifically pray for us, please pray that we may not be anxious but have peace in God’s plan for our little guy.  Pray that God will be glorified within any of these physical hardships and that we may have opportunities to testify of his glorious grace, no matter the outcome of all of this.

We love our little guy so much and know that God has a plan for him that is beyond our hazy vision.  Thanks to all of you who have been praying and thinking about us.

My gracious husband hung up the remaining decorations for me last night, and today we got a few remaining items and touched everything up. After literally months of sewing, painting, assembling and decorating, The nursery is complete. Here are those long awaited pictures as I promised:

Nursery from the hallway

Dresser and shadow boxes (Andy’s first pair of shoes are in the center one)

Crib, rocker, and the letters Brandi painted for me

Check out the video above for a look inside the book, Job: Poetry by John Piper.  Check out the website here

Their summary/preview:

Job lost everything: his wealth, his health, and his ten children. All swept away in one satanic storm. Reduced to a heap of flesh, ashes, and tears—rebuked by friends and jeered by strangers—righteous Job wrestled over the purpose and presence of God in the midst of unbearable pain.

With moving illustrations by Christopher Koelle, John Piper unfolds the story of Job in beautiful, compassionate poetry and revels in God’s sovereign and surprisingly joyful purposes in allowing exquisite suffering in the lives of his saints. An uplifting book, especially for those experiencing great suffering and loss.

We just got back from the growth scan that was supposed to be only about 20 minutes. We ended up staying there for 2 hours.

The original reasons we went were to check the baby’s position and to check to see if he was on track with his growth. Here’s how it went:

1) Bad news: He’s breech…again. I knew it too. He turned sometime Tuesday night because when I woke up he feet were so low and his head was right under my ribs again - his favorite spot.

2) Good news: His growth is absolutely perfect. Well, I should be honest, he’s one day ahead. But right smack in the 50th percentile. The tech estimated him to weigh about 5 1/2 pounds. You just can’t get better than that.

3) Bad news: The following is why we were there so long. Part of the growth scan is to check the heart rate and structure of the heart. As the tech was looking at it, it would be resting in the 140’s, skip a beat, and then speed up to the 180’s. At first she didn’t catch it but when she went back, she noticed it. At that time, another, more experienced tech came in and noticed it right away. The first thing she asked me is if I had any caffeine today (which I hadn’t). The four of us sat there watching his heart continue this pattern for what seemed like forever. It was strange how consistant it was; every minute or so it repeated the same pattern. After a bunch of questions, they still didn’t know what was going on with his heart.

After the ultrasound, they sent the data to the Perinatologist on duty for a consult. When he came in, he wanted to see it for himself. I told him about my personal and family history of heart issues (undiagnosed arrhythmia, tachycardia, and bradycardia for me, treated arrhythmia for my mom and WPW syndrome for my oldest brother). He seemed to think that Caleb seemed to inherit some kind of genetic pattern that runs in my family. He didn’t seemed too worried because of how healthy Caleb appears and that he didn’t see any structural defects in his heart.

In a week, we’re going back to the ultrasound place for a follow-up and we’re getting scheduled for an echocardiogram in the near future. The funny thing about this is if Caleb has the same thing I have, I could finally get a diagnosis for this heart issue I’ve had forever. I really hope it’s what the perinatologist thinks he has because all of the heart issues in my family are non-life threatening or can be fixed by minor surgery/medication. We’ll keep everyone updated on the results of the follow-up and echo. Until then, please be praying for Caleb’s heart and that it’s not a serious issue.

4) Good news: To end the ultrasound on a good note, the tech turned on the 4D machine for us and gave us some pictures. They aren’t Peek-of-You quality but they’re cute regardless. Here are some of the images from the ultrasound:

6 more to go!

The main event this week is our growth scan ultrasound tomorrow. It will be so cool to see how much bigger he is compared to 28 weeks. I remember seeing a baby born at 34 weeks on A Baby Story and thinking to myself, “Gosh, that sure looks like a real, full term baby.” Throughout this pregnancy, I’ve found myself trying to visualize what this baby looks like, even when he was just a little shrimp-looking thing. Now all I have to do is imagine a fully formed baby, all pink and plump.

Andy and I went on our Labor and Delivery tour on Sunday. It was all a little overwhelming to see exactly how the hospital process will go once that times comes. I have to say, the birthing rooms are very nice as are the recovery rooms. We both feel much better knowing where to go and what to expect from it all now.

We both have been growing increasingly excited for the big day when he’s finally here. If you think about it, 37 weeks is considered full term. That means there’s really only 3 more weeks of “cooking” until we could possibly have a real live baby in this house.

I have to admit I’ve given in to a bit of that crunchy granola parenting idea by playing music for Caleb. My rationale is that when he’s here, I am planning on playing some soft music before his nap as a bedtime routine. So why not start him off early? My sister-in-law swore that with her third child, the only thing that would calm her down in the car was Evanescence. She claimed this was because she listened to it so much while pregnant that acted as a soothing agent for my niece. So here I sit, typing this blog with ear buds tucked in my pants.

I have to take a moment to brag. A few days ago the rocking chair we ordered came in, not nicely assembled, but in lots of pieces. Since this was around noon, I just coulnd’t let it sit there until Andy came home, hoping he’d get around to it. No, I resolved to take on this beast of a project 8 months pregnant and all. About two hours later, I completely assembled the chair and ottoman all on my own. Now I just have to get Andy to hang some stuff up and the nursery will FINALLY be complete. Once it’s done, I’ll post lots of pictures for everyone.  Leave lots of comments for Andy to “motivate him” (wink).

7 more weeks!

We just got back from our regular doctor’s appointment and everything went relatively well. The doc thinks that Caleb is now head-down (yay!). Hopefully he’ll get cozy enough to stay there until he’s ready to come out. I also got scheduled for another ultrasound to measure his growth. I was hoping to get one of those because of my concerns of measuring behind for the last couple of months. Today I was measuring 30 weeks even for him being in the correct position. The doc didn’t seem too concerned since that’s not a big gap but he wanted to get an ultrasound to confirm his head-down position and to see if he’s growing fine. I’m pretty confindent everything is okay because he’s plenty active and his heartbeat was great. I just have to keep myself away from researching too much or I’ll make myself paranoid. The ultrasound is next Wednesday so I’ll make sure to have an update for everyone then.

Other than that, things have been pretty uneventful. We ordered the final piece to the nursery (a rocker/glider chair). When that comes in, we’ll be able to finish the nursery for good. Caleb has recently found my ribs and especially likes kicking them early in the morning usually about a half hour before my alarm clock is supposed to go off.

Our calendar seems to be getting increasingly more full. I have my “big ole” teacher test this weekend. I have to pass it in order to get certified. It will be all day Saturday. Then on Sunday, we’re doing the Labor & Delivery orientation/walkthrough thing. I feel like once that’s finished, we can breathe a sigh of relief and really feel prepared.

I’ve been doing little things here and there to help myself feel like I’m doing something to get ready for D-day. I’ve made a list of things we absolutely need before the baby’s here and I’ve semi-packed Caleb’s hospital bag. I’ve also bought some not-as-fun-to-shop-for baby stuff like diaper rash cream and bottle sanitizing bags; you know, the itty gritty stuff people don’t usually think about in prepping for the big day. The way my brain has been failing me, I’m going to need well over a month to make sure we have everything ready.

We went to a fun Halloween party last night hosted by some friends of ours. Until yesterday afternoon, we (well, Andy for the most part) had no costumes and no idea what we were going to be. Finally after several stores, and $30 of random materials, we made these costumes:

We actually made eachother’s costume. I sewed together Andy’s Waldo shirt and he painted my belly. I think we make a good team