Okay, we are at Week 33 and I just can’t believe that in 7 weeks is my due date. Based on the circumstances, this means that she will be born even sooner. It is just around the corner. Here are just a few pictures…and as you can see, the dogs became jealous that I had the attention of the camera man instead of them!

The current schedule: Josh will begin driving to Florida on 7/19 and I will arrive via plane on 7/22. Now, we are just spending time preparing for the trip away from home!

I got such a nice surprise this morning…you see, I am at the largest national conference for my work, the National Apartment Association conference in Las Vegas, NV. It is my last business trip before I go on maternity leave. It is always a busy conference but fun because I get to see all my friends. We only see each other a few times each year, since we all work remotely.
 
So, they were sneeky. They asked our General Manager and CFO, Peggy Abkemeier, to arrange a meeting with me this morning to discuss one of our largest clients. Since we have been actively working on the account together, I thought nothing of it! Sure enough, we arrive at our destination for breakfast and there were all my work friends…SURPRISE! They gave me a surprise baby shower. It was so sweet.
 
From the pink balloons and plush pink rabbit down to the bundt cake and the baby confetti on the tables – -there were even personalized tins for favors that mentioned “Tina’s Shower” and the date. All of this and yet, we were all so busy because of the conference. I can’t believe that they put all this effort into this little surprise event, especially considering the circumstances. So, you will note in the photos that although the shower was a blast, all of us had to grab our Blackberries and take a 5 minute break to take care of business. It is so good to see that I am not the only addict!
 
They had the gifts shipped to my home collectively – – a bundle me cover for the baby carrier, a play/walker, a newborn essentials feeding kit, etc, etc. Plus, Rent.com kicked in and provided a gift card to Babies-R-Us. Such generosity from my work friends!
 
On top of that, Nicole brought tons of extra baby clothes that she no longer uses from Isabella, her bundle of joy that is 8 months old. And dragged along a snap-n-go stroller from DC to Vegas to give to me.
 
Anyway, I was delightfully surprised and felt the love from my co-workers…so nice!

Cathie wrote to me today…

Hi Tina, I talked with Tracy yesterday…they put Jonathan back on ECMO Saturday night and he has been stable. His chest x-ray even looked better yesterday…but he is still one sick little guy. Please continue to pray…Tracy is convinced (as am I) that that is why he is still fighting. Thanks so much for praying and for emailing to check on him…I know how crazy your life is right now with trying to prepare for being away from home for awhile. Tracy said there was a fourth baby boy born on Friday…his name is Evan…yet another little one to pray for….the other two, Ben and Cole, are doing very well and should be discharged soon…praise God!

How are you? Are you having any contractions? Know that we pray daily for your sweet little girl and for you and your husband. The journey you are about to embark on is a difficult one…but one that will be so worth it!!

Our July 4th was fun…Luke and Jack had a ball and loved the fireworks! We are so very blessed!

I look forward to talking with you soon…

Take care!
Cathie

Isn’t she the best? She is so supportive and wonderful to all the parents that are walking down a path that she has been on before. Thank God for Cathie!

And I continue to pray for Jonathan – – will you join me? He has now been in the level 3 NICU for 9 weeks (average is 4-6 weeks). But he is still fighting…and he has the same LHR as our baby girl. My heart is heavy for Jonathan and the Mitchell family.

Today, I went to the doctor for my first round of stress tests. The scale tipped at 20 pounds today!!! So, I am still in the “normal” range of weight gain (they like to see 25 – 35 pounds), but I am putting on the pounds now!

For the stress tests, they hook up a monitor to track the baby’s heartbeat and movement while tracking whether or not there are any contractions. At least they let you relax in a leather recliner. Those are the kind of tests that I do not mind!

At this point, I have just been feeling more tired and extra pressure in my pelvis area due to the baby. But no contractions or anything else that has been different.

Our baby girl passed with flying colors. Lots of movement, proper heartbeat rhythms and no contractions for me. Now, she just needs to stay put until Florida.

I go back to the doctor again for another stress test next week…

Yes, my mother’s maiden name is Adams and they were having a family reunion in the Denver area this year. So, my mom, aunt, 2nd cousins, grandfather, and many other relatives joined to have some fun. Here are just a few pictures to show that we know how to have a good time!

Today is my mother-in-law’s birthday…and while she is celebrating in Vegas, I worked and went to the doctor for another routine check-up. I gained 2 more pounds – – 22 total pounds so far. And boy, it just seems like every day my belly is expanding!

Our baby girl passed the stress tests again today – – everything looks really good. And no contractions for me – – which is good.

Josh leaves next Thursday, 7/19 at 4am to start driving. I will join him on Sunday, July 22nd. So, only 10 days left for me and I am hoping that she stays put! I am a bit anxious about it! I don’t really want to go to Florida, but now that I am at 35 weeks, I want to make sure she doesn’t want to come early!

I have 2 more doctor appointments next week before I leave: one with ultrasound to check her again and one with more stress test/routine pregnancy stuff. We will see how much she weighs next week via ultrasound…I am thinking 5 – 5.5 pounds, since she was already 4 pounds on 6/20/2007. But we shall see…

Just running around like a crazy person trying to get everything done. There are just things you do not think of when you have to be gone that long…like buy a battery back up for my car since it won’t be driven for 3-4 months. Oh, and turn off the thermostat on the way out the door that morning…etc, etc, etc.

Cathie just wrote back to me late tonight via email:

Hi Tina,

I have been speaking with Tracy Mitchell daily. Jonathan is still very sick…please continue to pray…He has been on ECMO for 11 days now…we are all praying for a miracle for him! I have talked with her many times about how we are called to pray believing and that is what she is doing.

I’m glad you are not contracting. We are praying that your little one stays put until you are safely in Gainesville! How was your stress test today? It’s wonderful that she is gaining weight so well!

Wow…one week and counting!! Hang in there…I know how difficult this anticipation is! We will be praying for safe travels for all 3 of you!

Okay…time for sleep…talk to you soon!

Take Care,
Cathie

Everyone, please continue to pray for Jonathan…

As some of you know, we moved earlier this year to provide us with more financial flexibility since the future is unknown with our baby girl. For the past few months, we have been trying to rent our other house. Our goal was to have it rented before we went to Florida. Although we have had people apply to rent, there were always extenuating circumstances that made it not seem right (most applicants had bankruptcies, foreclosures, and/or other collection issues). Although we were open to giving someone a chance with an extra deposit, we never had a peace about it. So, we just kept passing people up and waiting, hoping for confirmation and just the right scenario.

This is the week we are getting ready to head out to Florida and guess what? We rented the house…God required us to wait on him and trust Him all the way until the last few days!!! This is such a relief financially, but also just a peace of mind knowing that someone will be living in the house and taking care of it while we are away. The family that has rented the house is sooo nice – Jim & Lisa who have two daughters, Kennedy and Hannah. They are relocating from Seattle and the peace that has come from waiting until just the right family came along was SO worth it! We are just so thankful for this blessing. The most interesting part: we were showing the house to someone else and they just happened to drive up as I was getting ready to leave for the day. I motioned to see if they were interested in seeing the house…and sure enough, that was it! They are such a great family too – – we hope that we can get to know them more upon our return!

On the ultrasound today, they estimated her weight at 5 lbs, 14 ounces. They did mention that at this stage, there can be quite a variance in weight. However, they feel comfortable stating that she is between 5 lbs and 5 lbs, 14 ounces. She still has a few more weeks and they estimate .5 lb per week this late in the game. This is good news – – maybe she will be near 6 lbs when she is born. The larger, the better! Everything else checked out fine…we just want her to stay put for a few more days!

Two hours from now my father-in-law, two cats, and myself will begin the 27+ hour journey to Gainesville Florida. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine this scenario. One good thing we have going for us is that dad works graveyards for the Museum of Nature and Science so he’ll be ready to start the first shift while I hopefully catch some shuteye.

Both cats offered to drive as well under the condition that we stop along the way to see the worlds largest ball of yarn. I might be willing to let Macy drive a few miles, but Pumps has been busted twice for a DUI so I don’t have a whole lot of trust for her these days.

Actually though, we are planning to push straight through more for the sake of the cats then anything. We should be arriving early Friday morning. Dad and I should have a few hours then to get the cats settled into the apartment and rest up before we drive two hours down to Orlando so he can catch an evening flight back to Colorado.

The Boemler-Wareings have been gracious enough to let me stay at their place in Orlando Friday and Saturday night. On Sunday evening I’ll be picking Tina up from the airport and we’ll then make the two hour drive back to Gainesville. I’ll feel a lot better once we’re settled in there.