The waiting game...

It's official...her due date has come and almost gone...no baby girl Ketteman yet!

I went to work today and intend to go again tomorrow. Still feeling great...although VERY pregnant! We had our very last prenatal visit at the Dr's office today, and things, although not "headed" in the right direction, are looking good. I have plenty of amniotic fluid in there to keep her in good condition for the next few days, and she has a happy healthy heartbeat.

So the plan...

- Work tomorrow and then have a romantic date of nice dinner and Harry Potter with the love of my life!

- Relax and finish up last minute packing and preparing on Thursday, then have some Chinese dinner with both sets of Grandparents-to-be!

- SLEEP (as much as possible)

- Friday morning: meet our baby girl!

I'm still a bit anxious about the upcoming surgery, but I know that thousands of women go through this procedure daily, and I've heard many encouraging words from friends and family who have personally gone through c-section. And on top of that...God's got us exactly where we're supposed to be. This baby has been drenched in prayer since before she was conceived!

Can't wait for everyone to meet her!!!

4 days...what?!?

So...we're down to the final count down! Such an exciting time! Matt and I feel pretty "ready" for all of this - at least as ready as anyone can be! It's actually becoming real to Matt...I think it's difficult for guys to fully internalize everything that's happening b/c it's not happening inside of them - you know?

So...we made some decisions at our last Dr's appt. on Wednesday. Here's the run-down. She's still breech (frank breech), and we have decided NOT to attempt external version (moving her around from the outside). Sometimes babies are breech for a reason unknown to us. My doctor is comfortable with us going into natural labor going into a c-section and is willing to give us a few extra days after Babe's due date to continue trying to get her to turn on her own! So...we're scheduled for a c-section next Friday unless she decides to come before that. No matter what, it looks like WE'LL BE PARENTS BY NEXT FRIDAY! My last day (at the latest) at work will be next Wednesday, and I'll be taking 12 weeks off!

Well, happy Harry Pottering to everyone today!

Less than 2 weeks!

So...we're on the final stretch of this 9-month journey we've been on. I'm both happy and sad. I'm SO stinking excited to meet, hold and kiss my precious baby girl - to meet this amazing person who is my daughter...but I know I'm going to miss the little (OK, some not so little) kicks and flutters inside my belly. She's been a part of me for 9 months now...and in just a short while, she will be her own little person in the world!

I'm still physically feeling pretty wonderful (Thank you Dr. Keen), but the last several weeks have been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster. We found out that Babe is breech...and getting bigger (=less room to maneuver) every day. So...for the last 2 weeks, we've been doing acupressure, acupuncture, pelvic rocks, tilting myself head down, moxibustion (burning incense on my toes), swimming, playing music "down there"...you name it, we've probably tried it in order to get this baby girl on the move! It's definitely made for some great pictures and some belly-rolling laughs along the way.

Our "plan" along this journey has been to attempt natural childbirth. If Babe remains breech, we will not get the opportunity to even try. We had an ultrasound today to check out her positioning, and it looks as though we've got a little gymnist on our hands! Her head is up top with her feet on either side of her head!!! It made for a cute ultrasound...but the Dr. said that this is not the ideal turning position - obviously her feet don't have a ton of leverage to spin her around. So...next week, we will be making some tough decisions about the birth of our baby girl. We can attempt external version (moving the baby around from the outside), but that procedure comes with a set of dangers...however, if we never try, she most likely will not flip. Then there's also the decision of a scheduled c-section vs. natural labor c-section. So...all that to say...PLEASE PRAY for peace for us as things progress - no matter what the decisions. The end result is going to be a beautiful baby girl...that's all ours!

On another note...we think we have settled on a name. Don't you wish we would tell you what it is?!? We're keeping it a secret until she shows her face to the world!!! You're gonna love it though =0)

Over the past several weeks (and currently), my Life Group girls through me a wonderful shower at church - you should have seen the cake! My mom came to visit on the 4th of July, and my best friend, who is living in Sweden, is currently visiting us. This baby is going to be so loved up on!!!

35.5 Weeks!

Things are still going great for Babe and I (and of course Matt, who is currently on summer vacation). It's funny...I don't really notice how much I've grown until I look back at old pictures - I'm HUGE! Thanks to the sweltering heat, I've started swelling in my ankles a bit. Babe's now about 18 inches long. The avg. baby at this point weighs about 5.25 lbs!

Birthing classes are over, and Matt and I feel fairly prepared for the things to come. It helps that we have now hired a doula to help us through the process. As it gets closer and closer to Babe's birthday, I find myself getting more & more excited and more & more confident that Matt and I are going to be able to do this "parenting" thing. People have been doing it for centuries...surely we won't screw up too badly! I've had several dreams about meeting her, and each one makes me more anxious to meet her.

Our last visit to the Dr. brought some surprising news...after checking my cervix, the Dr. believes that Babe is currently breech...BOO! Now, on the up-side of this news, we get to have an extra ultrasound done next Wednesday to check the Dr's assumption! So we get to see our little bundle of joy again before she arrives! But please be praying...obviously my #1 concern is a happy, healthy baby, but I would REALLY like to do this birth naturally...Dr's aren't big fans of laboring breech. She's still got plenty of time to turn her little bootie around, but this scenerio raises some concerns. Her heartbeat is still strong and beautiful!!!

We've been trying to get some traveling and relaxation out of our systems before our bundle arrives. We've been down to the Lake of the Ozarks 2x, and we traveled to KC for a shower that my sister-in-law threw for me! It was AWESOME! We had a ton of family from both Matt's side and mine, and I had all sorts of friends there as well - from elementary to college. We are so blessed with the relationships in our lives...thank you all who are reading this for your love and support.

We played a band gig last night - our first wedding! It was a lot of fun (better than playing in a bar), and folks really got a kick out of the 8-month pregnant singer/keyboard player! (Sorry, Dot...I couldn't wear your "Rock the Bump" shirt to the wedding!)

Pictures: 1)me looking a little spaced out - sorry about that.

2)Brio graduation!

3)4 generations of women on both sides at the KC shower!

XOXO,

Hoping she stays in there 4.5 more weeks!

32 weeks

Woopsie Daisy! It's been awhile since I've been on here! I took pictures last week (see above...week 31) and meant to post sooner, but just haven't gotten around to it! So much has happened in the last month!

Babe's growing like a little weed...I often forget how big I am until I catch an unexpected reflection in a window or car and kindof freak out a little bit! According to Babycenter.com, my baby girl now has fingernails and is working on hair! She's getting fatter by the day!

As for my body, things are pretty good! We had a scavenger hunt at work the other day, and I got a little too competitive for my own good running up and down the hallways...I paid for it later (nothing serious)...but I didn't even win! Bummer, dude! I'm going to the chiropractor once a week now to get everything loosened up for the big day, and we only have 1 of 12 birthing classes left to attend!

We went to the Dr. on Wednesday...funny story. Seems this little one brings bad weather with her! If you remember...there was a really really bad snow/ice storm right before our big appt. about 4 months ago! On Wednesday, we got to the office at about 4:20, right as a BIG storm was rolling into STL...they had already turned off most of the office computers in case of a power surge, and everyone was huddled in the hallway! So the Dr. did the doppler check really fast (heartrate at about 160 BPM...rather fast...I'm assuming she has some adrenaline from her mom!) and then we stayed in the office with all of the staff for about 30 minutes waiting for the storm to blow over! Nutso!

I haven't updated you on our last two showers:
Three weekends ago, we went to Springfield to celebrate spring concerts with the A Cub Bellas and Beartones. My friends, Rachel, Amelia and Danielle threw me an A Cub Bella alumni shower on Saturday. We had a the best time, and these girls went all out on the theme...I felt so special! And there's just something about those Bellas - old, comfortable friends. There was laughing; there was crying...everything that makes up a good baby shower! Love you girls!

Two weekends ago, my friend, Amber, threw us a couples STL shower! It was so much stinking fun! We had friends from all walks of our STL life...college friends, Matt's high school friends, neighbors, mothers of friends...we had a wonderful time catching up with folks we hadn't seen in quite some time. The food was delicious, and the friends were excellent! Thank you Amber (and of course her handsome side-kick, Keith)!

Pictures above - me and my GraceGoo, STL baby shower, Actis wedding

28 weeks and growing!

My baby girl is GROWING like a weed already! I'm blown away that she's already 2 pounds...I'm even more blown away that she's going to grow another 5-6 pounds in the next 3 months!!! Yowser!

I'm not having any problems seeing my toes yet, but I'm starting to grunt when I get out of bed or bend over to pick something up off of the floor (I know...I should be squatting, not bending). Turns out having a big bump in your mid-section is somewhat difficult to maneuver around. Ha!

I officially passed my gestational diabetes test this week, so three cheers for Babe and I! My cervix is measuring 29cm, and my Dr. seems to be happy with that. Apparently it's supposed to grow about 1cm/wk. of pregnancy, so we're right on target! And...although she seems to be a little gymnast in there, I'm happy to say that, as of Tuesday, her head was down - she's headed the right direction! I also visited the dentist this week and got a rock star cleaning!

1st picture: Matt and I were blessed to have our 1st baby shower - put on by his teammates at Valley Park. They served a lovely cake and punch while Matt serenaded everyone with songs on the guitar with "Baby" in the title. Thank you to each and every one of you who has already helped make this baby's entry into the world a bit easier! (And Dot - I wore my rockstar shirt!)

Matt has officially started on Babe's room. We're going with an "under the sea" theme, so the top half of the room is aqua colored, and the bottom half is sandy colored bead board with a chair rail in the middle. He's working SO hard! There's not a ton I've been able to help out with yet b/c it's mostly been painting, but we're almost to the point that I can start helping move in furniture and organizing some. Give him a big hug if you see him...he's pretty darn busy with the end of school coming up, planning for summer school and trying to get Babe's room finished.

Almost to Trimester #3!!!

Can you believe it - almost to the 3rd trimester? Time has seriously FLOWN! Of course, we didn't really let ourselves get overly excited until the 2nd trimester started, but still...it just all seems to be happening so fast!

I am LOVING pregnancy! I love the belly. I love the new wardrobe. I love feeling "cute" rather than trying to look like I have the perfect figure all the time. I love baby kicks. I love baby clothes!

My latest and greatest past time lately has been to sit back and watch my belly move around! I just noticed it for the 1st time on Sunday, and she's been kickin' all around town ever since! Matt's favorite word to describe it all is still "weird," but I get that - it is a bit alien-ish! Apparently, she's about 14 inches long now and starting to get some fat on her bones!

Went to KC this weekend and scored a new T-shirt from my sister-in-law. It says "Rock the Bump!" So stinking cute! I'll have to post a pic. of it on here soon. Bandeoke needs a gig so I can sport my new gear while actually ROCKING!

Matt and I are excited to go to the hospital's L&D where we're planning to go to have Babe. And we've begun thinking about birthing plans and such - so many choices...and that's all before she even gets here! We're planning to have natural birth...that's right...no drugs...so we'll need all of your prayers!