Is this labor?!

Dear Diary,
8:42pm I have an app for timing my contractions and it said that I have had 17 in the last hour. That's exciting! They have been happening all evening. Not hard ones at all, they don't slow me down, but it's fun to track them. My dad made a tracker computer program for my mom when she was going into labor with me. She clicked a keyboard button when one started and when one stopped. I think it calculated the frequency and duration etc.
This morning, at about 10am, my OB practice checked me to say that I was not dilated at all and that the baby girl was still high. She told me that the baby was not 8lbs yet, probably more like 7lbs or something, I always like hearing that I'll have a smaller baby. Tyler was smaller and the recovery time is much shorter. She said that maybe she would see me tonight, but that I probably would not go past 41 weeks, who knows. Then she told me of a recent patient who waited at home with her 2nd child and didn't really want to go into the hospital yet for fear of being sent home (like what happened to me with Isaac) but then went in b/c the doc said to and she had the baby in the hall on the way to the room, on a stretcher! So basically I was given orders to not dawdle if I'm in question of if I'm in active labor or not. I'm still planning on laboring at home as long as possible then going in at the last second for them to catch the baby w/ no epidural. But, if the pain is too much and I'm not dilated much, I DO want the epidural.
Here's the concern of the moment, my parents just left for Orlando for the weekend. They are checking into their hotel tonight and are staying 2 days. They are taking 2 cars so my mom can rush back if I go into labor b/c you know that labor takes forever usually. They went to Utah last weekend for Bryson's wedding. They are always busy and sure like to cut it close!
11:32pm
My bags are packed. my contractions are now an average of 28 seconds long each and happen about every 3+ minutes. They're getting stronger. Steven and I showered. My mom is on her way back from Orlando. Corrie and Barbie are on standby and my sweetest most thoughtful neighbor is coming over to stay with Dylan and Isaac. We're taking Tyler to Darren. I'm going to go dry my hair now. I don't think the hospital will send me back home.

Save The Face Race (with my dental office)

Dr. Brayer's dental staff walk a 5K for oral cancer

So I blogged this for my dental office here. I'll edit it a bit now to personalize it for my personal blog too. :) It's like writing one paper for two college classes. Genius! Except I don't have deadlines, so it's almost a month late. Oh well, it's still Oral Cancer Awareness Month! Didn't Dylan do a good job taking that photo above? I love it. 

Here is most of our Creating Smiles Dentistry team. Two more participants are not pictured though. They got way lost then did their own 5K. :) 

Dr. Brayer sponsored the whole office as well as our families so we could support the Save The Face Race 5K for oral cancer awareness. We picked up our race packets a couple of days before in anticipation. The shirts are cute, but most of us wore our office t-shirts. I took this photo for our Facebook page. Gotta create buzz you know! Oh, go like us please. And set your alarm or reminder thingy on your phone to log on on Tuesdays to win a gift card. You don't have to be a patient to play, we just want buzz and happiness!

This race was special for us because we diagnosed oral cancer in one of our patients. He is now an oral cancer survivor! He and his wife came to support the cause too of course. Dr. Brayer walked ahead of us with them and they had a wonderful conversation on their long walk on the beach. Bay News 9 said they would come interview him, but they didn't show up. Oh well. We'll share their story! We walked north on Pass-A-Grille towards the Don Cesar then turned to come back to complete the 5K. I actually wanted to cut back early, but Dylan ran up and stayed with Dr. Brayer. I literally cannot run right now, especially with Tyler walking next to me in my big fat shadow (literally, I was like a big beach umbrella for him with the morning sun), anyway, I had Isaac run up to tell him to take a photo of Dr. Brayer and her two friends then to run back so we could turn back. Well, poor Isaac told Dylan to take the picture, but neglected to tell him to turn around. I had Isaac go BACK to tell Dylan to come to me. Poor hot sweaty tired Isaac was crying on his way back to me the 2nd time. I had planned on using the double stroller and a scooter b/c I knew Isaac would not want to last that long. But when I found out it was on the sand, there's no way I wanted to push a DOUBLE non-jogger on the beach. I certainly wish Dylan had stayed in ear-shot of me. He did stay in eye-sight, but he wasn't looking back at me much. He stayed with Dr. Brayer. It's my fault for not telling him to stay closer. I had actually told him that we would be turning around early, but he didn't stay close enough to find out when. It was a long hour and we really were the last family to cross the finish line. Ok, back to the blog post:

 There were many participants. Some of us had planned on using strollers, but then we found out it was on the actual beach. Some still braved the strollers since our kids are so young.

I had mentioned that we should plaster our logo on t-shirts for community events like this. And Dr. Brayer did it! She ordered me an extra large and even ordered kid ones. Awesome.

 It was a beautiful warm morning that turned fairly hot since we were slow walkers. The scenery and cause made it worth it.

 We have such a good dental team

 and we love our patients too. (Here's the photo Dylan took before he turned around.)

 I do believe we were some of the last to cross the finish line, but we were in no rush.

 We got back to the setup for ice water and donuts. Don't worry, we brushed their teeth afterwards! (No we didn't, not 'til before bedtime! But had to do some sort of disclaimer for my boss's blog!)

 Our pregnant hygienist walked the 3+ miles with her 3 boys. (This IS true, we made it almost to the halfway point before turning around.) It is exactly one month before her due date. We're having a guessing game at the office to guess her actual delivery date and time. This is her 4th pregnancy here with us - we have seen her family grow through the years! The closest guess wins some Periosciences antioxidant infused dental gel. Come in and play!

Jessica won one of the raffle items, the Melting Pot basket! 

(I had paid for some tickets but we got back too late from our long walk, so I bet they had to pull other tickets since we weren't there to claim the prizes. Oh well, the $ went to Oral Cancer Foundation.) 

The race was put together really well, we loved that it was on the beach. A lot of money was raised for the Oral Cancer Foundation and we are glad we could support Oral Cancer Awareness Month this first Saturday of April. We actually stayed after the race and went and had Tiffany's baby shower right there on the beach at Paradise Grill. We'll blog about that soon. 

It was so hot out and the walk to the shower from the car was brutal, but not as brutal as the walk back to the car then to the shower to put $ in the meter. If only I had remembered our parking spot number, I could have paid anywhere. I even tried to pull the parking lot up on Google Maps since I knew the exact spot location. But I couldn't read the numbers painted on the asphalt. Oh well. I'll tell that story later. And will probably do the double blogging again. :) 

grateful

I'm grateful that my legs are long enough that my big fat belly rests just above the counter tops when I do dishes. If I were a little shorter, I'd be so aggravated.

My cousin Keri got me this shirt :)

And the best part of Saturday baseball games is the snow cones in Styrofoam cups!!

Cramps

The doctor asked me if I have had any contractions yet. A week and a day ago I said no.

Then yesterday, since I go weekly, I told the other doctor no again. I actually had two small cramps at 5:30am two days before. Right when I turned 38 weeks pregnant. 

This morning I have had more cramps finally! At 5:30 again until 7:30. Not bad ones, but I am finally showing signs of practicing for the real deal! 

Yesterday, I was nesting between my OB and chiropractor appointments. I got the baby room all set, vacuumed upstairs, rearranged my closet, hung the boys' pirate flag, threw junk away and have more giveaway piles.
Here're the before and after curtain photos of the boys' room. I had the blue eyelet curtains that Kat and my grandma Rebeck had made up on one window and a pirate flag hung with bobby pins on the other. I did black out backing on these curtains and followed a tutorial. The fabric was expensive but exactly the right amount from fabric.com. I'm proud of myself. Now maybe I'll sew a baby blessing dress. We'll see...

And for the baby's room, I hung 3 angels from my Grandma Gille. They're a little scary and Steven's not sure about them. We'll see. And I hung hair bows up on the coconut tree. And that's the thrift store dresser we purchased.

Don kept Tyler for the day so I would not be ignoring him. Tyler gave me the report of everything they did. It is great having a little talker who thinks clearly like that. Don said Tyler repeats himself like crazy so gave Don patience practice. It is true. He asks the same question or reports the same observation over and over even with acknowledgement. I have to redirect his thoughts to something else he is interested in or he continues.
I wish I had a video camera. My phone videos seem too long and I would rather them strung together on a DVD.  

Tyler and the baby

Ivy started preschool. Lucky girl! But we miss her. Now Tyler needs me to entertain him more. He loves the baby in my tummy. He wakes up and talks to her before acknowledging me or anyone else. He loves Clara too. He wants to help feed, burp, and play with her. Sometimes he does not want help.

We put the pink sheet on the bed. Now we are ready for the baby! 

Tyler was climbing all over me on Monday. 

Then at Tae Kwon Do that evening, Tyler lifted my shirt for more kisses and conversation. He embarassed me and got lots of giggles from the parents around us. Master Lee thought it was SO funny. 

My main pregnancy symptom is that I am hot. At work, I wear a lab jacket, pants, gloves, and a mask. I turn down the air and still occasionally have to take a break or pull my mask out to get fresher air. At home, I love the bottom half of Steven's ice water, especially the broken ice pieces. Sometimes my legs are restless and I give myself charlie horses and stretch my calf muscles alternatingly. That is when I rest on the couch and often fall asleep for the night. 

I bought a crochet newborn sombrero and some maracas for the hospital. I think I may have her on my due date. And if not, a siesta picture will be so cute anyway. I want to use a ruana as the blanket under her for that pic. My hospital bag is only packed with blankets, hats, and bows right now! 

Because of Him

If you haven't seen this trending video, watch it real quickly. It's under 3 minutes. Puts Easter in perspective again for you. Or look up #becauseofHim on social media of your choice.

St. Patrick's Day

 Isaac's teacher, Ms. Bowes. Isaac tries to sneak by her every morning.

We got home to meet Andre, who brings Clara to us.  She was 2 days shy of being 5 months old and started grabbing her feet. I had asked Barbie if she had any diaper covers and she ordered one. :) So we used it for the frame photo then found a green shirt in my bag of hammy downs from April and put her adorable headband on her for some pictures before friends came over.

Rachel invited a bunch of people to a park, but it was going to be a rainy day so she asked if they could come to my house. She gave me shamrock earrings she made and decorated with shamrocks she cut out of construction paper.

 Everybody brought green foods.

 Chaos!

I sorta had to kick everybody out so I could go to an OB appointment. Those appointments are such a pain and are never convenient. Good friends, good green food, a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Easter Sunday

Easter 2014

We were a little late to church. So we sat in the back. Lots of people came!! The parking lot was overflowing and people had to park by the curb. 

We changed then went to my mom's, where Isaac read his new book to us again. 

We ate frittata, italian tomatoes, salad, and not-hot crossed buns. 

We watched the #becauseofHim church video with the sister missionaries then sang to Grandma Rebeck and ate her ice cream cake. Her birthday is Thursday the 24th. 

We played in the back yard after nap time then ate a small ham that Steven cooked. Delicious. Not for tradition, but because it would not be Easter without it. :)