Come out already!

39 weeks! And yes, those are stretch marks forming as of yesterday, thanks a lot Gracie, if you would have come when I told you these would have been avoided.

46 inches, yowza!

Pictures Nakaya drew for the nursery, LOVE them!

Elephant picture that Uncle Colin drew for the nursery, so awesome!

Andrew was pretty excited about these, he picked them out and surprised me with them.

Yup, matching finials. He's been watching too much HGTV

Mom made the lamp shade and helped with the window coverings! Beautiful!

Most common questions lately...
How are you feeling: Annoyed. And my back is killing me.
Next Appt: Thursday morning!
Stretch marks: unfortunately they are slowly appearing (more tears and bitching to come about this I'm sure)
Dilation: As of last Thurs I was 1 1/2cm, soft, and mostly effaced.
Contractions: Weak sauce! Nothing that has got me thinking "this is it!" mostly crampy ones and tightening
When do I think it will happen: I hope tonight but it feels like never
Work: Yes, still doing 10 hr shifts, off on Thurs. I am determined to stick it out until the bitter end.
Andrew Update:
Andrew has decided to leave Paychex. His last day was Friday and I think he was a little sad to go. I have good feelings about his next adventure at Fullerton (a local competitor). He will still be a group health broker, but how he gets and retains his clients will be different...that's the short version of it all :) so for now he is home taking care of the boys and checking stuff off his to-do list before Gracie comes. His tentative start date for the new job will be November 12.

anxiously waiting...

*Sorry, too lazy for a pic this week, I will put a back log of them on here when I get a wild hair*
I am so sick of waiting. I actually have everything ready to go (or at least I think I do). And for once in my life it's ahead of time! We have another appt this Thursday morning that I am excited for, I am hoping that there has been some change since last time, hopefully not quite as dramatic though :)
I am totally copying Becca's blog, but I love that it covers all the common questions:

How I'm feeling: depends on the minute you ask me. Typical answers would be... back pain, tired, hungry, pissy, sweaty, annoyed, lazy... If you are my patient or pretty much anyone other than my best friend or family I usually answer with "Not too shabby" or "Hangin in there" with a smile on my face. If I say it enought I start to believe it after about hour 3 of working.


How big is she: probably huge, I mean, I feel huge. Maybe 7.5-8 lbs?
Weight gain so far: A ridiculous 48 pounds :(

How is Andrew: anxious! He wants to see what she looks like. He's been keeping me busy and giving my surprises almost everyday, so sweet!

How much time are you taking off: 12 weeks, maybe 2 more, but at least 12 weeks. We have daycare all set up, Gracie and Mia will be at the same place and Mia is doing SO good there. Gracie will have a lot to learn, mIa isn't making it easy :)
What I'm most excited for: Obviously to meet her and see what she looks like. To get back to real clothes and shoes (ya, my boots don't fit), get my shoes and sock on with out sounding like I triend to run a lap around the track, and wine, wine, wine.
What I'm most afraid of: That something might go wrong with Gracie, that I will still be huge like months from now, and that Barney won't chill out. Speaking of Barn Barn...he's been crazy lately. He needs serious attention, he won't leave my side and his energy level is through the roof! He has gone through and tore up most his toys, it looks like a massacre in our living room most days.

  Food, Wine, and Wishes:
What an amazing night last night! Food, Wine, and Wishes is an annual charity event thrown by Make a Wish to raise money. It was held at the Portland Art Museum (where Andrew and I had our first prom together) and the amount of money raised was ridicuous! We are talking about people throwing up their auction numbers to donate $10,000, we kinda felt a little out of place at that particular moment :) These people are giving kids the most amazing gift, their wish. The people we met were so nice and the stuff donated for auction was so much more than I have ever seen. Last year I heard they raised over $300,000 and I have full confidence that this year they surpassed that. And I definitely will need to buy a new dress for next year, assuming I'm not pregnant again haha.

Weekly Update:
Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 7 pounds ( I bet you she's past that) and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old.

Believe it or not, your baby may have taken her first bowel movement. The waste is a greenish-black substance called meconium and either passed in the womb or is stored in its intestines and will be excreted after birth. Your baby is also practicing breathing and urinating.

Pictures are back!

Courtney did an AMAZING job! here's the link to the photo's if the slideshow doesn't work. Also FB is updated with some of the favorites :) My boys are SO STINKIN CUTE!

O'Neal Family Photos 2012

Friday doesn't always mean Funday

Annoying/Stressful day at the doctors and the hospital...

All was going good at the appt: she's head down, heartbeat sounds good, cervix is soft (wahoo!) and 20% effaced. And then there was a good amount of bleeding. Which is not normal for me or from a doc's perspective. So after much discussion with the head MD, they decided I (mostly Gracie) needed to be monitored at Sunnyside and that I shouldn't work for 3 days. We were told we needed to head straight there, no time to get our bags or a snack! I was playing it cool up until that point, no time? no snack? what!?

So off to Sunnyside we go and get hooked up to monitors that show Gracie's heartbeat and my contractions. Both MD's at the hospital were busy (1 in OR and 1 in ER) which left us there several hours longer than anticipated. They good news is that Gracie seems to be doing just fine, heart rate is good, and I do not have anything wrong with my placenta. She was being a little pill and making the nurses really work, she kept moving around which would make it hard to find her heartbeat, they were literally chasing her around my stomach with the monitor. And much to my surprise there were lots more contractions than I thought I was having. Quite and active duo we had today between Gracie and my uterus :)

Unfortunately they didn't do an ultrasound, which royally pissed me off. I can understand their reasoning for not needing one, but I will try agaon next time (in 2 weeks when I have my next appt). She feels average weight and they have no reason to believe she will be a 10 pounder...at this point. They sent me home with not a lot of info, but what we did have was news that Gracie is healthy.

I swear I will pack my hospital bag tonight or tomorrow and keep a book and phone charger nearby. I keep telling myself that, but after todays scare I really mean it!

Things I really hate:
moving
making food
bending over
putting shoes on
peeing 30x/day
andrews new ring tones
when barney has to wear his cone of shame
dealing with customer service
people screwing up my takeout order
not getting my way, just do what I say and there won't be any problems

Things I love:
knowing someone probably has it worse off than me (mean I know, but it's the truth and this is my blog so I can say what I want)
barney cuddling with me
watching Breaking Bad episodes with Andrew
pretty much all my TV shows
massages
unexpected farts, they are SO funny
when spike farts
nap time

Week 36-=Panic

I realize that these posts are getting to be every other week, but I so freaking lazy it's unreal. We just got done with our maternity photo shoot with Courtney (Courtney Z Photography: http://courtneyz.com/) last weekend, and we can hardly wait to see all the pictures! We got some great shots and all the boys looked so handsome! The baby shower that Lauren and Nancy did was amazing! They did a bee theme ("Mother to Bee" get it?) which was super cute. It was so good to see everyone! And a quick shout out to the Taylor's! Congrats to Nikke who had baby Kenna J last week, she is SO adorable! They make things look easy, ugh!

Spike and Barney are getting ready to be big brothers. Barney is trying his hardest to not be scared of the swing and spike is trying to not get annoyed that we watch him on the video monitor 24-7.

We have an appointment Friday morning, WITH ULTRASOUND! so I will try to post again with all the gross details of that this weekend. Currently I am hanging in there. Some days its by a string, but it could be a lot worse right? There's lots of new aches and pains which I am hoping it is just magic happening in my lady parts...we'll find out friday :) Overall we are freaking out. Mostly just excited to meet Gracie, but I definitely cannot chill out. My mind is racing and the to-do list is never ending. SO MUCH TO DO!!!!

Week 36 Update:

Your baby is gaining about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy hair that covered her body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, your baby will be considered full-term. Most likely she's in a head-down position, but if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where she'll try to turn your baby by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.