We’re off to the hospital. Pray that everything goes smoothly and everyone is happy and healthy. Andy’s bringing the laptop in hopes of some wireless connection. We’ll update when we get the chance.

It’s official. The date is set. This Saturday at 6am I’m going to be induced!  A little after 38 weeks (which is today)

This morning we first had our biophysical profile ultrasound at the perinatologist that would be followed by a visit to the OB. When we went into the ultrasound room, the first thing the tech asked us was when we were planning on having our induction. I thought this was a pretty strange question being that we never discussed this with them. When I asked her why she brought that up she said that, for babies with arrhythmia’s, it’s standard to induce around 38 weeks and they should never go past their due date. This was good to hear considering our leaning towards induction.

After the ultrasound we headed over to the OB. I was a little disappointed with this appointment from the start. For one, he didn’t even remember our induction conversation on Friday so I had to rehash the whole thing with him. Then, when we told him what the ultrasound tech told us, he blew it off as bologna and said that it wasn’t always the case. In this situation, both Andy and I have sided with the perinatologist because this is what they specialize in and are primarily concerned with the health of our son. Regardless, he was a fan of inducing and I just got the call that we’re scheduled for Saturday at 6am.

So, with all that said, come Saturday, we should be parents! Sorry for all of you who voted on different days, If you want, I can nullify the points for the dates and we can base the scores strictly on weight and length so everyone still has a chance. I know some of you more competitive people out there would appreciate that.

37 weeks… full term… I could pop at any time….

We had another one of Caleb’s biophysical profiles this morning. Everything was perfect. And I mean everything. The tech couldn’t find any arrhythmia in his heart. She said that if they couldn’t find anything next time, we wouldn’t have to come in as often. Both Andy and I have noticed that with each time we’ve observed his heart, the arrhythmia has been less noticeable or less frequent. We have a cardiologist follow-up tomorrow morning so maybe they’ll confirm that his arrhythmia has resolved itself. That’s my prayer anyways. I’ll update tomorrow on what they say.

Other than that, we got another set of cute pictures today. The one on the right being one of them. I can’t resist putting them up here to show everyone. Although I think Andy and I are both in agreement that we’re tired of ultrasound pictures and are more than ready to see this little guy in person.

As far as myself, I’ve had a giant surge in energy. It doesn’t quite make sense since I’m waking up every hour because either I have to pee, drink something, change positions or the baby decides it’s party time. Also, since he’s dropped, I’m feeling a whole new set of aches and pains. I’m getting pretty tempted to ask my doctor about induction when we see him on Friday just to see where he stands. We’ll see if I have the guts to ask him. I’ve been wanting to but I chicken out because I feel like a horrible parent wanting to bring my child in this world when its convenient for me.

Also remember to put a guess in on our baby pool. Andy is apparently feeling generous and is going to give a prize to the winner. So it’s well worth putting in a vote. Oh, and If it were up to me, anyone who predicts him coming late (ahem Eric) or being a rediculusly large baby (ahem Robert) would have to give me a prize.

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.

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.

8 weeks to go!

Caleb is getting less hairy as all of his baby body fuzz starts to fall off this week. I’m still pretty convinced we’re going to have a baldy. He’s about 4 pounds and 16 1/2 inches long. I’ve only seen the vegetable of the week, a jicama, at Sweet Tomatoes all cut up, so I have no clue what a real one looks like. He’s also supposed to be gaining a half pound a week now and me a pound.

Last week I was getting concerned because I hadn’t gained any weight in about three weeks and he was measuring a little small. I kept looking at my 7 month picture and thinking that I didn’t look any different. But between Friday and Sunday, we both must have had a growth spurt because I gained three pounds and my belly gained about 3 inches. As you can see, I look noticeably different today, I even got a few of those lovely “are you sure there aren’t two in there?” comments at church. Sigh.

Today I had a few 20% off coupons for Babies R Us that are about to expire and a little extra cash on me. I couldn’t pass up a fun shopping spree at my new favorite store. Of all the great and wonderful things I could have bought I ended up with…. a breast pump. Seriously, I shocked myself to be so excited about getting something that could easily be mistaken for a torture device. But it’s on my list of immediate things we need to have before the baby’s here and I think I can muster up some courage to use that thing if I get used to seeing it in the closet for a few more weeks.

As far as his breech position goes, I’m afraid this poor baby has inherited his mother’s aweful sense of direction. Last Tuesday we found out he was transverse and he stayed that way for a few days. I was disappointed on Monday to feel his head back in his favorite place right under my ribs and him happily kicking away at my bladder once more. Last night, I think he turned sideways again and maybe was head down for a while today. It’s tough to be certain; all I know is that he was flip-flopping around a bunch today in class kicking me everywhere. I guess I’ll try not to worry and let him have his fun before he gets too big to somersault around in there.

9 weeks to go! Caleb is over 3 pounds and over 16 inches long. Andy and I both agree we feel cheated out on this week’s produce of the week: four naval oranges.

We had a doctor’s appointment today and got some questions answered. I’ve been a little concerned with the baby being breech this late in the pregnancy. I could tell by how low his kicks were and how he liked to have his head on my right side just under my ribs. One night this past week I thought he turned and have felt his kicks all over the place on top and on the sides. I told my doctor about this and he felt around. Turns out that he’s lying transverse (sideways) with his head on my left side and his feet kicking my right side (which totally makes sense to me now) so he’s not quite head-down yet but he’s on his way. I guess he likes taking his time. He’s been pretty laid back as far as fetuses go so maybe that will carry over into infancy. I wouldn’t mind a calm baby.

Other than that, We did the normal doctor’s visit stuff with the heartbeat and uterus-measuring. His heartrate was in the 150’s which is a little higher than before only because he was nice and awake. He even kicked the dopplar a few times trying to get it off. I measured 28 weeks but the doc said that was pretty typical for a transverse baby.

Ever since he turned, I’ve been getting these wierd sensations when he scrapes his hand or foot across me. The only way I can describe it is like getting tickled from the inside. I’m usually a very ticklish person normally especially on my side. Since his feet are right there, everytime he moves his foot across my side it makes me jump. This seems to be one of his favorite activities right now because I’m getting “tickled” several times a day.

The nursery is a little more complete. I was able to get the crib mattress and some sheets with the money from my baby shower repeats and some gift cards. So now the crib is basically ready. Once we get the rocker we’ll be able to hang some things up and really finish the nursery. Here are some pictures of the crib. And for all you who are worried about my set up, I will not have the bear, pillow or blanket in the crib when the baby’s in there. It’s merely for my aesthetic enjoyment right now.:

Here are some pictures from my baby shower on Sunday:

The baby shower was so nice. I got to see some long lost friends and family and we all had a lot of fun. My mother-in-law and little sis-in-law did a wonderful job with the decorations and games. I got a lot of stuff including two laundry loads worth of clothes. Andy’s aunt brought a homemade cake which was delicious. I wish I brought home more but then again, am glad I didn’t willingly subject myself to voluntary gluttony.

Wow. I think we can officially start a countdown. 10 weeks to go! As the light at the end of the tunnel becomes brighter, I’m starting to get pre-baby jitters. You know, the normal “how the heck am I going to pull this whole parenting thing off” stuff. I know this is pretty common for any first timer and just that fact calms me down a little.

Caleb is now 3 pounds and some change and a little over 15 inches (a head of cabbage). From now until 37 weeks, he will gain about a half a pound a week. He’s also practicing breathing quite regularly now.

Unfortunately, Strep throat has hit the Holloway family. We’ve both been feeling a little under the weather for about a week. Andy woke up last night with a fever and feeling horrible so we went to our faithful Medimin this morning to get diagnosed for what we thought would be a simple sinus infection. Just to be thorough, the nurse tested us both for Strep. I turned out to be negative for it but Andy wasn’t as lucky. Since it’s highly contageous, I probably already have it or soon will. So now we’re both on antibiotics and a whole battalion worth of treatments. We’ll be quarantined to the house for the next 24 hours until we’re no longer a hazard to society. Here’s how Andy has set up, organized and scheduled our various treatments:

Well, off to drink tons of water and spray my nasal cavities out. I hope everyone has a wonderful (and strep-free week).

I apologize for the late blog. Between school, Dr.’s appointments and presidential debates, yesterday was pretty hectic.

Pretty much from here on out, this baby’s just simmering. He’s getting fat and practicing breathing for the big day. He weighs over 2 1/2 pounds (butternut squash) and is over 15 inches long.

The doctor’s appointments are now every 2 weeks. Everything looked good this time. Heartbeat was 138 and I’m measuring 27 1/2 weeks (which is still normal).

I had some concerns going in that I asked him about. The first was that in both my 18 week and 4D ultrasounds, the baby was breech. He seems to prefer this position because I can often feel his head right under my rib cage and his kicks are pretty low. I asked the doc if this was a problem and right now, it isn’t. Once we get to about 36 weeks and he’s still breech, he will try to flip the baby by maneuvering my belly around. I looked up some exercises I can do at home to try to encourage him to flip on his own so I’ll try those every now and then.

The second question I had was if he recommended the flu shot, which he strongly did. I’ve never taken one before but many people and research encourage pregnant women to get the flu vaccination because it protects not only the mother from getting the flu (of which the resulting fever can harm the fetus) but it also vaccinates the baby until he’s 5 - 6 months old. Since Caleb will be here during the height of the flu season, I saw no reason not to get this shot.

Here comes the fun story: So on our way back from the doctor, Andy and I decided to be good parents stop at the Medimin to get this flu shot. When we were filling out our paperwork, the nurse noticed the insert of the flu shot warned that pregnant women should not get this shot because it has not been tested on reproductive animals (??). She got a little concerned and asked us to find another brand of the flu vaccine that has been tested. To make a long story short, about 2 hours later and several calls and trips to local vaccination sites, we realized that every brand of the flu shot hasn’t been tested and had that warning. Just to cover my bases, I checked with my OB, a local big wig doctor in the valley and pretty much any information on pregnancy and the flu shot. I concluded that since a new flu shot comes out every year, it doesn’t have time to be tested on pregnancy so it has to be labeled with that warning. But the CDC and every other medical expert would agree that it is safe and encouraged to be taken.

The end result to all this madness: I’m vaccinated.

I have my first baby shower this weekend which will be thrown by my dear mother-in-law and sister-in-law. We have all agreed this will not be one of those take-forever baby showers. 2 1/2 hours max; which I love. They have some pretty fun games planned and I will get to see some old co-workers, family and friends I haven’t seen in a while. It kind of saddens me that all of my family lives so far away and can’t be there for these little events. But we’ve been a “long distance” family for years and we always make it work between phone calls, emails and fun vacations. If we get pictures, I will make sure to post them up here for all of you who couldn’t make it.