Not too much longer....

Some things to note in the last few weeks:

We enjoyed our summer getaway to Montana very much.....this is a picture of me at the top of the Storm Castle hike. We thought it would be an 800 (1000 foot at the most) elevation gain....it ended up being 1900 feet. Pretty much uphill the whole way...switchbacks back and forth. I had to take a few good breaks...even stopped towards the top to eat my PB&J sandwich...but I made it! As we passed a few hikers on our way down, they would ask how much further to the top...then they would look at me....and you could see the wheels spin in their head as they realized "if SHE can do it...then certainly I can make it to the top!"

And pic of JVD....

And a video, too!

Took a day trip to Yellowstone and saw two coyote and two Bison on our hike....extremely awe-inspiring to be out in the middle of a field in Yellowstone, away from cars and roads. Looking forward to exploring some other hikes next summer.

We returned a week ago and what a full week it has been. I had a cold...bummer. I had a 3 hour glucose test...which turned out to be negative (meaning, GOOD! :) ) and JVD and our friend John painted the baby's room (yay!) The room is now the color of melted chocolate icecream....warm and yummy. We went to Ikea and bought some colorful and fun rugs and accessories and I look forward to this coming weekend when we can put everything back into the room and organize it all.

9 weeks to go, folks!

I must say I appreciate being pregnant in this day and age of technology. I have updates sent to from "what to expect.com" and "babycenter.com" and without fail on any given day, I will begin to wonder if what I am feeling is "normal" and I check my gmail account and lo and behold, there is an email from one of those baby sites that inform me that I what I am feeling is, indeed, normal. Like this week for example....I feel like my lungs at times feel so tight and constricted...is it because of my lingering cold.....or why do I feel so short of breath? Ta da! Woudn't you know I have an email article from 'what to expect' that talks about shortness of breath....which is normal as my uterus is pushing up against my lungs making it more difficult to get a full breath in these days. How nice!

Overall, I do feel more "weighted" down these days. My midwife is completely pleased with the amount of weight I have gained with this pregnancy....not too little, not too much...just right. :) But even with being just right I have now gained almost 25% of my total weight...which is crazy! And it is all centered in one main area...which is also crazy!

But there are some really cool things happening, too. The baby's movements are so much more distinct. I can definitely tell when he or she is hiccuping. I can definitely tell when he or she is moving around/changing positions. I can now feel a foot (I think it is a foot?) that likes to push out on my right side right below my ribs. And, with envisioning the baby's room and unwrapping a pack of onesies that someone bought for us and seeing the teeny tiny little sample diapers I received from Target - there is something in me that is excited to see our little baby in one of those onesies, wearing one of those itty bitty diapers and sleeping in his or her crib in the room we are preparing for him or her.

I am not so excited about the Labor and Delivery part of this adventure....but I am sure it will be well worth it to finally meet our son or daughter!

pieces coming together

Had a Dr.'s appt. on Thursday- all is well....baby is moving and shaking and growing.....as I continue to expand. I underwent the glucose test to indicate whether I have gestational diabetes. Normal results are 70 - 129. My results came back at 132.....Hmmm..... So, this means I have to do a THREE hour test next week so they check my insulin levels once every 3 hours.


Since my original reading was not too far off the "normal" range, I am hopeful that the results of the three hour test will all come back normal. Since I had my Dr.'s appt yesterday and was heading to Montana for vacation, I did ask if I should do anything? Monitor anything? Apparently not. So, for now I am going to hope that I do not have gestational diabetes and that all is well. Even if I do have it, I am EXTREMELY grateful for the wonderful prenatal care I have.

On another note, I am so happy how details related to this little Baby are all coming together....things I worried about 3 months ago are all resolved. A big concern was childcare. Who will care for little baby when I return to work?

Sidenote: I really do want to return to work. :) I love my job! I love who I work with and I love the students who I have the pleasure of helping achieve their educational goals. I know it will be hard to return to work once I have this little baby whom I am completely certain I will love a thousand times more than my job. But, I have worked at Bethel for over 7 years and I am in a great fit and a smooth groove with all things job-related. Not to mention that living in a state where I feel I am just trying to survive the 6 months of winter a year, I know my job keeps me both sane and productive. I need a reason to get out of the house when it is 10 below zero. I need the great social interactions that my job provides to feed some life into me. My job is equally work and equally a source of community. So, I feel a huge peace about this decision that JVD and I have made. Not to mention that I hugely grateful for both the amount of support and flexibility I have in my job as I will be able to work 2 days from home and be in the office 3 days a week.

So, what to do for those 3 days that we are both at work? Well, there is a fabulous Child Development Center down the path from where my office situated. Every few months or so in the time I have worked at Bethel, when walking to and from my office, I have had the pleasure of spotting the Child Development Center kids being walked or strolled along the path by the lake. It is such a cute site to be seen. There are usually a couple toddlers holding hands, one or two toddlers trailing behind the others, another toddler who tips over and falls to the ground. When you spot the entourage of little people meandering down the path, you cannot help but smile. And so, as we began thinking about having a little Dworak, I just knew that I would want my litte one to be part of that cute little entourage of happy little tikes.

I took a tour of the Center back in April and found out I was on a waiting list. Oh no! So I checked out a couple other childcare centers...both of which were really nice. Which, I have to say, completely surprised me. I think I was expecting screaming children and frazzled workers and complete chaos and frenzy. Reality? Both childcare places were clean, calm, peaceful, colorful, and full of joy. I kind of feel like maybe they drugged all the babies and kids to be so happy on my tour? :)

Anyway, there was backup care available if the Child Development Center did not work out, but I really love the idea of being a 5 minute walk from my child. I love that I can choose to stop by during the workday and nurse if I want to. I love that I will be able to spot my own little tike toddling down the path with his or her little buddies in the coming years. I love that the Dworak family will all be able to drive to work/school together.... and so I am extremly happy to have found out last week that Baby Dworak will have 3 full days of care - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - at this wonderful Center beginning January. Yippee!

As for other things...finishing registering and reading up on all sorts of baby stuff...I kind of feel like I am cramming for an exam but I have no idea what will be on the test?

Homestretch

I am officially in my third trimester....the homestretch, so to speak. Stretch is an apt word to describe how things are going. I feel as though my midsection is growing by the day....and it actually is, due to the growth spurt of this little Dworak to be.

In the last 2 weeks I met 3 different women who are due a week BEFORE me, but who LOOK as though they are due a month or more after me. Not to mention that a gentleman who was in line behind me in the bank asked if I was due any day.. ...Um, no. Not quite. Yowzers....I am beginning to see and feel how a 5 foot frame poses its challenges when growing a human life. The growth of this baby this past month has been substantial - as it is supposed to be - but really, is there going to be enough room for Baby Dworak in the next few weeks?