Kitty was mean mugging me.

So I went to the doctor today. Let me start by saying that I already knew that it would not be a pleasant experience because I do not like the Nurse Practitioner that I was scheduled to see. Add to it the fact that the last thing Chris said to me on the way out the door this morning was, "Maybe they will send us straight to the hospital." Have I mentioned my lack of patience? And bam, today became the longest day ever.

So, anyway, I felt like crap today. I have what feels like menstrual cramps and I am wondering with every new pain if it is supposed to be something I should know is going to happen. I keep thinking, is this a labor pain? Does this mean that it is coming soon? Is this normal? Enough to drive you crazy.

And then there is the bizarre behavior my cat has been exhibiting. I know that at this point you are thinking, "what the hell does that have to do with having your baby?" Let me explain. So a long time ago, way back in January when I found out I was pregnant, my mom asked me if my pets were treating me an differently. I thought that was weird. She proceeded to tell me that when she was pregnant with my sister, her cat started to act weird and hover around her right before she went into labor. Needless to say, for nine months, she has asked me if the pets are being strange. The answer has been a resounding no.

Until last night. So I am on the couch, and kitty, who is normally miles away praying that no one will try to pet her, decides that she needs to be on the coffee table while I am on the couch. And she is staring at me. And crying. And begging for attention. Could be explained away. It happens sometimes.

Then, when I got up several times during the night to pee, that's right, because I am nine months pregnant and have a bladder the size of a walnut, the cat was sleeping right up next to me. I have had this cat for 8 years. And for 8 years she has slept in the bedroom. And NEVER in the bed. Yet last night, she wasn't just in the bed, she was cuddled up close to me. And when I normally move, she takes off like a bat out of hell. But not this time. Instead, I have to contort my body and maneuver my giant belly around the cat because she isn't budging. When I returned from the bathroom, I had to yet again twist in a fashion that would not be comfortable even to a yoga instructor to not disturb my new best friend. And she watched me get ready this morning. She was staring me down. Little creepy.

Needless to say, the cat is bugging out, I feel like crap, and Chris has convinced me that I am birthing his child in the evening hours. So off I go to the Nurse Practitioner who, as I have already stated, is not one of my favorite people.

Without giving too much detail about how rough she was, and how uncomfortable today's appointment was, I will say that the news is good. So, I am 90% effaced and almost 3 cm dilated. Yay!!!!

Umm, but here's the thing, she also said she scraped my membrane. Sounds gross, but it is supposed to try and help bring on contractions. But now it is hours later and......nothing. A big fat nothing. (Have I mentioned that I don't have much patience?) It makes me feel a little like a failure. Which is totally ridiculous because I am not even due until October 4th. But if you put together all of the pieces of the puzzle that I had, you would have convinced yourself that I was, in fact, going to be a mother today.

Oh, nah.

So, here is to good news and hopes that before the weekend is out I will have a living, breathing Kate. :)

I would also like to add that it would be greatly appreciated if my cat would go back to her normal, elusive self and stop creeping me out. Or I will feed her to Chad's Christmas present (please see the Preppy Haze blog).
er............um...........hmmmm.......I will do no such thing.

I am following you.

I still cannot figure out how to have my picture appear in the little box of the people I follow. If anyone can help me, that would be fantastic. I hate being a shadow person.

Patience....a quality I lack apparently.

So, this morning my wonderful Mother-In-Law called to check on me and see how I am feeling. I think she, like everyone else in this family, would really like for Kate to be here, and is maybe hoping that one of these days my answer will be something other than, "I feel fine. Just ready." So in our conversation she proceeds to tell me that someone she knows, who is due the day after me, had their baby on Saturday, so Kate could come any day. I get the intention. She wanted me to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

But here's the thing. This is not the first such story I have heard. In fact, a friend of ours has a friend who was due on my same date who also had her baby on Saturday. This made me excited. And then, disappointed when I immediately did not go into labor.

I am so ready to have this baby!!!!!!! And the more I hear about people who are supposed to have their babies when I do, but get blessed with being allowed to meet their child early, the longer it seems I have to wait and the more impatient I get. So, now I am finishing up my last week of long term lesson plans, hoping that maybe my daughter is just trying to be considerate and doesn't want me to be stressed about any lingering work. So now I have caused yet another issue, because I am sure I will finish the plans and then expect, as I said earlier, to immediately go into labor. Which, assuredly, will not happen.

In fact, I will not be surprised when I am one of those women who delivers 10 days late. My mom did with both my sister and I. Which is fine, I guess. I mean, its not like I am miserably uncomfortable, or its still unreasonably hot. In fact, I am actually at a rather pleasant point, unless I am trying to sleep. It's just that I feel like I have been pregnant forever, And I have so many questions about what she will be like. And I just want her to be here so I can meet her. Is that too much to ask?

Apparently.

Football Season in the South

It's only my favorite time of year. The weather starts to cool off. Saturday's are filled with friends, football and fantastic food. Every year our tickets come in the mail, we reserve our tailgate spot for yet another year, and begin dreaming of that first home game. There is nothing like that first one. Stepping into Sanford Stadium, mixing into the sea of red and black, watching great clips of games past while listening to the glorious voice of Larry Munson and getting ready to yell Goooooooooo Dawgs, Sic Em!!!

And tomorrow is it!!!!!

Only I am too pregnant to enjoy it. That's right, after hours of debate, I have given my ticket away. What?!?!?!?!? I am sure you are thinking WTF! I mean, I know I am. Who does such a thing. So let me describe the painful details that led to my tragic decision.

First, there is the fact that, while normally I couldn't head off to Athens early enough, Chris and his family are leaving at 10am. 10am? you say. That's late! Yes, it would seem, except the game isn't until 7:30. That's right, 9 1/2 hours of tailgating.

What's wrong with that? you may ask now.

Again..normally nothing. Only I am so pregnant that sitting outside for 10 hours before standing for 3 in the game sounds painfully miserable to me. Swollen ankles that would follow that could not be described.

And then there is the little issue of the weather. How is it that today was 77 and overcast, while tomorrow is supposed to be 88, sunny and nary a cloud in the sky. You may read this and say, it's only supposed to be 81 tomorrow. You are correct. If you are planning on staying in Atlanta. However, if you would like to travel to the Holy Town that is Athens on a Fall Saturday, you will find that somehow it is miraculously going to be 7 degrees hotter 30 miles up the road.

And then there is my favorite tailgating past time- Bacardi and Dr. Pepper. Clearly there will be none of that.

So, while I have been a pretty pleasant pregnant woman for the last 36 weeks, tonight I am positively pissed, devastatingly disappointed, and prepping myself for a Saturday of sitting at home watching the game by myself. Happy freaking fall, y'all.

Delicious Food!!!!!!

Parma- a new restaurant near Tutti Frutti in Buford, has possibly the most delicious food I have ever tasted. Caroline and I split an 8 inch pizza and a French Dip Sandwich. Both equally delicious. Heavenly in fact. If you are looking for a reasonably priced meal, that is delicious and somewhere different, I highly recommend this place. It was soooooo yummy.

Why is it all so hard?

So, the decision to have a baby, not hard. Getting pregnant, thankfully for us, not hard. Everything that comes after....seems....sooooooo....hard. First it was what we were going to do with the guest room to make a nursery. Do we put up bead board? Do we just do chair railing? Should we leave it as it is and just paint? And OMG......paint!!!!! What color? Not pink. What about green, or tan, or purple, or yellow, or......... And then we said Sage Green. Do you know how many shades there are of Sage green? How can one paint company find fifteen ways to make the color SAGE! Seriously?!?!?!?!

And then we realize, maybe we should pick out the bedding we want before we decide on a color. After countless websites, Targets, Wal Marts, BabiesrUs's, random furniture stores.....we finally narrowed it down to a set called A La Mode at Babies R Us so we were able to make a decision about paint color. So the room is painted, all except one coat of white on the bottom half. And I love the bedding we are going to register for. I think it is adorable and not too girly, which makes me super happy.

So now, the new issue is nursery furniture. Back to the websites, Targets, BabiesrUs's.......And we had a set that we liked, but now we don't think that the finish is the right color for the way we have painted the nursery. So, last night, for our Anniversary, Chris and I spent an hour and a half online looking at furniture and then went back to Target. Still, no decision has been made. So today, after he gets off work, its off to Babies R Us again.

Which brings me to registering. It would be great if we did that today, but should we be taking someone with us because we have no idea what we need? And have you ever stepped into a Babies R Us? Wait until you do it when you are pregnant. Totally overwhelming. In fact, sometime during my first trimester we went there just to get a present for our friends who were having a baby shower. Chris left me alone in an aisle while he went to the bathroom and I was in tears by the time he came back. Something inside of me just started to panic about what were we going to register for? And how did they decide on the patterns and designs they chose? And when were we going to go the store and actually scan all these things? And.....you get the idea. Total meltdown mode. Can you imagine the look on Chris's face when he got back to me. I mean, here he left his total stable wife in the aisle of the store for 2 minutes and by the time he got back there was this blubbering, red faced, maniac in her place. How does he put up with me?

So, I am so excited about Kate coming in October. More than words could even explain. And Chris is totally already wrapped around her little finger. I just know she is going to be a Daddy's girl. I don't want to seem like all I can do is complain and that I am not happy, but I feel like all the things that should be fun, are so stressful. And then I feel like if I admit how stressful and completely overwhelming it is that it makes me a bad person, or a bad mom already. Talk about rediculous hormones. And, when we are actually looking at stuff together, we do have a good time, its just that there are sooooooooooooooo many options!

So, here is to hoping that Chris and I can find some solution on registering, or furniture or something today and that we can have fun doing it. Thank God he is so calm, and level headed and wonderful so that he can keep me sane.

Ready to Relax...Finally

I am freshly back from my trip to France, which can only be summed up by the word phenominal! So much to do and see and great memories with my sister. We stayed pretty close to the Eiffel Tower and we walked almost everywhere. These pregnant feet were pretty swollen when I got back on Friday. But it was sooooo worth it.

For the last couple of days I have just taken it easy. Aside from a great lunch/pedicure/pool date with Caroline on Saturday, some errands, and a trip to the farm with the dogs this afternoon I have pretty much just chilled at my house. And it has been wonderful! I didn't realize how hectic the last six weeks have been. There was the big push to the end of the school year, packing up my classroom, finding out we are having a girl, and then packing and going off to France. I realized I have had little to no down time for awhile. Now I know, I went to France, so I can't complain, but everyone knows how exhausting travel can be.

So, needless to say, the fact that my wonderful man and I are about to just sit and watch a movie is a pretty exciting prospect. Especially since Netflix sent us this movie 2 months ago and we have not had time to watch it. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty we should be doing, like working on the nursery, but I say it is time for a break.

Chris did do a lot of work on the nursery while I was gone. He put up bead board and chair railing and put in a new baseboard. It looks great. And yesterday he painted the top of the wall a color called Sagey. It is wonderful. So, with our Anniversary being on Thursday, we hope to have everything painted so that we can go pick out our furniture as our present to each other.

So, here is to a night of relaxation, before pushing ahead to get the nursery completed. I am ready to relax. FINALLY!!!!!!!