ONE week?!

That's right, folks. Wow. Only one week until my due date and it's fast approaching. I'm nervous and excited. Audree's nursery is done, although she'll be sleeping in our room for the first few months. Everything is ready, the bags are packed, I'm ordering the Birth Day cake tomorrow, the announcements are almost all addressed. I have nothing to worry about yet I'm freaking out. I can't believe it's so soon! I'm not ready to let her out yet and let other people touch her, haha. It's been my sole responsibility to take care of her for the past ten months and now I have to hand her over and let other people see what they're capable of. It's unnerving and very, very scary. Oh well. I can't keep her inside me forever and that wouldn't be pleasant, anyway. It's time to trust the world with my whole world.

Susan and I went to The Cake Lady today. It's a small, 1950's-ish cake shop in town. I've looked online and found a few different cake designs I'm going to try to combine to get my ideal cake. We'll see what it looks like I guess! When we first walked in the shop, the owner asked if I was pregnant. I said, "Good Lord, I hope so!". They all laughed. Another lady told me that, when I walked in, she thought I was so cute and happy and I put a smile on her face. It really made me feel good after the casino incident last week. Mark, Susan and I went to a casino to kill time and I was told by a very rude Russian lady that I shouldn't be there...I have baby. She proceeded to tell Mark and Susan that they should keep my away, because I have baby. Right...ugh. I really don't like rude people. Luckily that's all that's happened.

Audree is incredibly active and keeps me awake from 4.30 am when I wake up to go to the bathroom until Mark goes to work around 7.30am or so. I feel like I never sleep! Here's the best part--it's only going to get worse!

Mark and I are going to see Blue Man Group tomorrow. I'm excited and nervous. What if I go into labor at the show? Well, I paid for the tickets so I'm staying to see the show :D. Hopefully I'll have pictures from tomorrow and be able to post them on here. Only seven days...holy cow.

Murphy's Law...

I'm beginning to think my real name is Murphy.

I've been having irregular contractions since Monday but I haven't been that worried. On Wednesday morning at 1am I decided I couldn't handle this horrible back pain any longer. I wasn't feeling the contractions anymore, just an awful spasm, almost a stabbing pain, on the right side of my back with every contraction. I woke Mark up, called the doctor and went into labor and delivery. The nurses took me right to my room and hooked me up to the Toco. The baby's heartbeat was high (180+) and I was having contractions the whole time. They were very, very strong and painful but not regular yet, so they were kinda a waste of time, lol. After a bit of monitoring, the doctor came in to talk to me. I told him how I was feeling and what was going on. He did an exam and said I wasn't dilated yet but I was having contractions. He wasn't sure what my back pain was and said to give it awhile and see what happens (I thought this was a ridiculous notion since I'd been having this pain since January and it just got so severe I couldn't handle it anymore). He though since I'd been vomiting since Tuesday morning I might be dehydrated so they should give me some IV fluids. I hadn't been keeping anything down, including just water. Three different nurses came in to try to find a vein. Apparently, if you get really dehydrated, your veins play hide and go seek. They couldn't seem to find a vein and it was incredibly painful. They would stick a needle in and search for a vein...needless to say, I still look like a junkie. The last nurse finally found the vein and was able to make contact with it, while each of the other nurses "blew" the vein. They thought they were in the vein and hooked up the fluids to the needle, only to find out they were nowhere close and my arm started swelling like I had an allergy. I was really glad when the final nurse stabbed me and it was all over. It took two and a half bags of fluid to get me to the okay stage. The Toco was left on me all night long. At about 8:30am the doctor came back and told me he was going to release me. After a sleepless night, an incredible amount of pain and just wanting to go home, I was elated. He also diagnosed me with Sciatica. The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body. It starts in your back and runs all the way down to your feet...mine was pinched and that's why I was having such severe pain. He wrote me a prescription for painkillers and said a nurse would be in a minute. Another nurse came in to check my vitals one last time, when she discovered my pulse was over 120 and Audree's was 200+. She brought the doctor in who called other nurses and they all talked about what was wrong and they weren't sure. They thought I might have Tachycardia, a heart disorder. I've been told I have a heart murmur now which I've never had, but I don't know if the two are related. The doctor suggested I see a cardiologist and a physical therapist/chiropractor for my back. They brought me breakfast and towels so I could take a shower, I signed some papers and we were on our way!

We went and picked up my prescription and I took my medicine when we got home. The painkillers didn't really help...they did numb the pain just enough that I could sleep for more than a half an hour at a time, which I haven't done in nearly a week. That was nice. Yesterday was my doctor's appointment, where we found out my blood pressure was high (147/70) but the doctor wasn't concerned about that. My heart rate was normal and the baby's was fine so I'm not sure why it shot up at the end of my hospital visit. Everything else is fine, though.

Mark and I are both still exhausted. Well, he says he's rested but he's still asleep right now :). I'm overtired and I can't sleep. My MIL will be here on Monday so we're trying to finish a few things up. We just found out yesterday that Mark will be going to a school on Monday, Diesel Generator School, while the boat is gone. This is awesome news because it means he will be home when the baby is born! I've been really worried about it. He also got his badge thing that says he's officially part of the USS Virginia crew on Friday...it's a big step and means he won't be kicked off the boat like we thought might happen. Mark also has a mock disaster drill on Tuesday during the day, and the Dad's Bootie Camp class on Tuesday evening. That will be a long day for him! I'm starting to get more energy now and we all know what that means...Miss Audree will be here very soon! I did laundry and dishes yesterday, as well as cleaned the kitchen and living room. I hope to get the nursery completely finished this weekend so I don't have to think about it anymore. I also have about 100 more announcements to address so we can just get them together when the baby comes and get them out.

Oh--and I didn't have a shower, but my MIL's coworkers threw her a nice little Grandma Shower with things for the baby. I'm so excited about seeing everything. It really meant a lot to me that they did that, and whether it's pregnancy hormones or not, I cried...I'm really blessed with everyone in my life!

We're on to weekly appointments...

That's right...every Friday I have an appointment until the baby's born! No more once-a-month or every-two-weeks appointments, it's every week! It's getting closer and closer (duh!) and we're getting more and more excited. I had my doctor's appointment today and she "checked" me...no dilation or effacement yet, but the baby has dropped. That's good. Audree was asleep during the appointment, until the doctor decided to push on her little world. I got beat up by a baby then :). The submarine ball is this weekend and neither Mark nor myself have any desire to go, but he still got the day off today. He decided to go in anyway, at least for a few hours, and see if he can get any quals done. That's good, too. He's going in this weekend also. We've been talking about what's going to happen when we're out of the Navy some. I want to live in Tennessee or North Carolina and he doesn't really care, lol. We want mountains, the ocean and family, so we'll see. He can't get his Electrician's License until he gets qualified and gets his "fish/dolphins". When he does that, he'll be a qualified electrician and, if nothing else, we have that to fall back on when he gets out of the Navy.

We've also been working on the Nursery today. While Mark was gone, I bought little wooden letters to paint. They spell out her name we think they're really cute! I just love how they turned out. Mark and I finished painting them and he helped me tack the ribbons on the back, and he hung them up. They're perfectly spaced over the arch of her crib and everything, although the crib is off-center in the picture. We also bought new drawer pulls for the dresser in Audree's room (trying to get used to calling her by her name instead of "The Baby" lol). The screws that came with them were too short so we bought new ones today and Mark and I put them on the dresser. I think they're really cute! When they're all on and finished I'll put up a picture. We're also going to safety-pin the same green ribbon that's on her name on the back of the crib quilt to hang it on the wall. There are only a very few things left to do...my bag and the diaper bag is packed, so we're just doing the last few finishing touches! Here's some pics of her name and the few pulls that I have on the dresser:

36 weeks...

and the baby's dropped. I woke up with the worst pain I've felt in a long time and I couldn't move. I tried explaining it to the doctor and she told me the baby has dropped...we find out for sure on Friday when I get "checked". My belly is lower (Mark says, anyway) and this pain still hasn't gone away. It's in my pelvic area all the way to my bum, and it gets better if I sit in one position for a long time until I go numb, haha. The doctor said to try Tylenol every 3-4 hours and a warm bath. Apparently, the only cure for this is delivery. She said I have about two weeks to go. I can't believe it! No contractions yet so we'll see if I'm dilated on Friday. Wish me luck--maybe we'll be having a baby really soon!

How many days?

Yes--only 30 days left until the due date of May 7th. The doctor hasn't changed my date yet but I'm hoping she will on Friday, and at least give me a better idea. Friday's doctor's appointment is the one I'm dreading...I get "checked". Egh, I'm not looking forward to it. Tomorrow we have a breastfeeding class at the hospital and we're also supposed to have our carseat inspected at the same time. I guess I'm going to have to reschedule that one! The 22nd is the "Dad's Bootie Camp" class that Mark wanted to take. It's supposed to teach dads about infant care. Susan (my MIL) is leaving to come here on the 20th. May 1st is Blue Man Group, so I don't know who will be going...if anyone at all!

As obvious as it sounds, it's getting closer and closer every day. We're waiting to put up the wallpaper border but I'm going to go ahead and have Mark hang curtains (Lord knows I can't do it!) and the little pictures so I can get pics of the nursery on here. It's almost finished, just the last few things to do. My hospital bag and the baby's bag are packed, minus the little things and snacks. Oh, and my pregnancy craving--Popsicles! I swear I crave them like crazy. I think we buy one BIG box a month...I could eat them all day long!

Mark was in R134 Air Conditioner Maintenance School all last week and this week until Wednesday. He had a dental appointment this morning for his partial and got a haircut. His hair grows so fast! We're not sure where he's going after this school is finished.