40 Weeks

That's right - 40 weeks!

Looks like the poll ended with Halloween being the top guess. Labor would have to start soon and progress rather quickly in order for mini-kuper to arrive on Halloween.

I had my doctor's appointment on Tuesday and I had made a little progress but still barely dilated to a 1 and still 50% effaced. I've tried all the wivestales, but to no avail she is just not ready to come out yet. I go back to the doctor on Monday and will talk induction (if I haven't gone on my own by then).

Pretty much everything is done and ready except for the name letters. And the Grandma's are getting awfully anxious!

39 Weeks

This week at my doctor's appointment I found out I was almost dilated to 1 and 50% effaced. Doc doesn't feel that the conditions were right for induction at this time so I go back this Wednesday for another checkup. Had a few more contractions Friday night but not enough to send me to the hospital or anything.

So...it's just the waiting game now. I made it through all the important stuff at work so I feel like I am really ready to go.

When we do have the baby and get settled at home I'll post pictures and info here. Thanks for checking in!~

38 Weeks

2 weeks left to go. no news to report at my doctor's visit this week (still not dilated).

Here's a couple new pictures:

Adorable and hilarious onesie from my friend Amy from work (let me know if you don't get it)














updated crib picture - my mom made the bedskirt















other pics of the nursery - all stocked!

37 Weeks

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go

...well, almost anyhow. It's been a very productive weekend so far. Last night and today I did several loads of laundry and just put away the last of mini-kuper's clothes - this girl is set as far as clothing is concerned! I also got the crib sheets, changing pad cover, towels, burp cloths, etc. washed and will put them away tomorrow. John helped a lot tonight as well and says he's learning a lot about what babies need.

Most importantly (to John) I picked up the rest of the itmes needed in order to pack our bags for the hospital so the bags will get packed tomorrow.

Baby Showers
I had a Halloween-themed baby shower thrown by my friends today. It was really nice, great food and good to catch up with everyone before I have a little one to worry about. Got lots of great gifts and we played some cool games - including the infamous 'candy bar in a baby diaper' guessing game which was hilarious! my friend Beth made this adorable diaper cake - I'll try to post pics of it next time I do an update.

Last Saturday my family and John's family hosted a family baby shower for me. Had a really good turnout and we all decorated quilt squares in leu of playing games. Aunt Kristi was in town for the shower and to celebrate (Grandpa) Jim's (john's dad) 60th Birthday. John and I asked Aunt Kristi and Uncle John to be mini-kuper's godparents and they happily accepted.

Doctor's Visit
Had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. She guestimates that the baby weighs about 6.5 lbs. right now and is still head down. I am not yet dilated at all but doc says that rarely means anything as babies come when they feel like it. I go back this coming Wednesday and will go every week until she arrives.

Good News
My best friend, Kristin, found out this week that her son, Keegan, will be arriving from Korea this Tuesday evening. She and her husband, Shawn, are very excited as they've been waiting about a year and a half for him to arrive. We've only seen 2 pictures of him so I'm anxious to see what he looks like and also happy for Kristin becoming a mom.

Sad News
Lastly, I have some sad news for this blog update. John's grandpa Kuper passed away Monday night. The visitation and wake was Thursday night and the Funeral Friday morning, followed by a luncheon at the church. It was a nice ceremony and was fun to hear lots of stories during the wake. One I liked a lot was that Grandpa Kuper believed children should be seen and not heard - wonder if I can get that to work with baby kuper??

Busy Week & Things To Do:
This will be a very busy week at work as we're doing our annual health screenings - quite a stressful time for me and I'll be working crazy hours so if you don't hear from me, that's why. If I hear anything exciting at my Wednesday doc appt I'll try to do a quick blog update. If the stress of the upcoming week doesn't bring on mini-kuper's arrival then I think she might just stay put till Election Day.

Almost ready for her to be here; this is what I have left:
- pack bags
- make name letters
- install carseat base
- VOTE! (absent tee ballot of course)
- send out thank you notes from the last 2 showers
- catch up on DVR (ok, not really a priority but it would be nice
- sleep (yeah, right...like I sleep much these days anyhow)
- finish reading my book on nursing

35 Weeks

Hard to believe it's been 4 weeks since I did an update and now only 5 weeks left to go until mini-kuper is due. Let's see...what's been going on???

Doctor's Visits - I had an appointment on 9/10 and 9/24 - both were pretty uneventful for the most part. Her heartbeat was 140 bpm on 9/10 and 150 bpm on 9/24 and at both appointments everything looked normal. At my last appointment they said that anytime after 36 weeks if I go into labor they will not stop it (and that generally the meds to stop it after that point don't work if you really are in labor). I go back in 2 weeks - October 10th - and they'll start doing pelvic exams to check for progress. This will be the start of weekly appointments.

Childbirth Classes - John and I completed our last childbirth class this week. Overall the classes were good and I'm glad that we went through them. A few weeks ago we took a tour of labor & delivery at Methodist Hospital - it really made things seem real, that's for sure.

Nursery - Last weekend I bought a glider and ottoman off of craigslist which was one of the last big items needed for the nursery. My next project for the nursery is to sort through clothes, get them washed and put away.

Baby Showers - I had my first baby shower today at work. It was awesome! We had a fondue themed food day and instead of playing games, everyone made onesies. Basically, you take a piece of sandpaper and you color a design on it in crayon, then you put it face-down on the onesie and iron over the back side of the sandpaper. The heat transfers the crayon to the onesie and you're left with a personalized gift - pretty sweet. I got lots of great gifts, too, from the people in HR which was very generous and thoughtful. Now I just need to get to work putting those things away in the nursery.

I have a family shower next weekend, October 4th and a friends shower the following weekend, October 11th. 'Aunt Kristi' and 'Uncle John' will be coming in to town October 3rd for the weekend. We're going out to dinner Friday night to celebrate Jim's (baby kuper's grandpa) 60th birthday...location still being determined. =)

Contractions - I almost forgot to mention that I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a while and this week I had my first "real" contraction...or preview of what's to come as I like to call it.

Lots left to do in the next 5 weeks: books to read, get the nursery finished, pick up last minute necessities, pack bags for the hospital, try to act prepared to be parents...etc. etc. etc.... yikes!!! I guess I better end this update and get to work.

Here's a picture from today at 35 weeks, she's definitely dropping.

31 Weeks

Wednesday night we had our childbirth class through Methodist Hospital. We learned a lot about labor positions, counting contractions, when to go to the hospital, etc. Also watched a few childbirth videos but the instructor felt it wasn't enough so we're going to watch more this week too. You could tell the guys were pretty shocked but John managed to hold it together quite well. On Septemer 10th we'll take a tour of Labor & Delivery at Methodist and I'll also have my next doctor's appointment so I'll do an update around that time.

Here's a picture from last night - 31 weeks 2 days:

Ultrasound Today - 30 weeks 5 days

Had a doctor's appointment and ultrasound today to measure mini-kuper. To everyone's surprise, I'm sure, we are not having a huge baby! She's weighing about 3 lbs. 10 oz. which is right on track so as of now I do not plan her arriving early into this world.

John and I tried to determine on the ultrasound which of us she looks like. I think she has his nose and my cheeks. On the 4D picture you can really tell how chubby her cheeks are. And we also got a picture that shows she has a ton of hair (according to the wivestale, it would explain all the heartburn).

She is head down so she's in good position for birth and was kicking away. We can't wait to meet her in 9+ more weeks!

I will take new belly pictures this weekend (31 weeks).

Bottom- arrow pointing toward full head of hair. Top- profile picture (nose and lips).

4D pictures of her face...look at those chubby cheeks!