another update!!

So I went to the doctor today again and things are progressing!! Koen is now around 7 pounds!! I'm at a -2 station, 2 and 1/2 cm and 75% effaced. I'm going to trust the doctor on this one because the nurse practioner told me last week I was 80% effaced. Not a big difference but oh well. On Saturday night I got really bad pains in my back and today when I described them to the doctor he was like, "Oh, those were contractions." So I asked, "Real ones? Not Braxton Hicks ones in my back?" He said, "Nope, those were real." I told him they hurt and he told me I reminded him of his wife when she was pregnant with their last kid. I like that doctor. Nick likes him too because he speaks Japanese. When he walked in Nick said something in Japanese and so they started talking and me and the nurse that were in there just kind of looked at each other. It's okay though because Nick never gets to talk to anyone. Sometimes our neighbor...Anyways. Back to my son. The doctor says he wouldn't be suprised if Koen comes out in the next few days. He doesn't think I'll make it the nine days til my due date. It's kind of a scary thought for me. I knew it was coming but now he's practically here. I still can't wrap my head around the thought that in just a few days I'm going to be a mom. I will have someone else in my life who, for now, depends entirely on me. It's crazy. Anyway. So I'm going back to the doctor on Saturday because even though he's growing, they want to keep an eye on us both because of my nephrotic syndrome. This makes sense. As the doctor put it, you don't want to get 99% of the flight done perfectly and then botch the landing because then the whole flight doesn't even matter. When I told mom I'm going back Saturday she said he would be born on Friday. Then she said if not Friday, then Sunday because that is the one day that I don't want him to be born. Dad disagrees. He says next Tuesday. I would be okay with Friday. Heck, I would be okay with tomorrow. But, it's all in the Lord's time and Koen will come when he is supposed to.

Koen update!

So a lot has happened lately concerning my child. Most of you already know what's going on but for those who don't here's what is going on. Last Thursday I had a doctor's appointment and found out that at almost 37 weeks I was measuring not even 35 weeks so the doctor decided I needed a growth ultrasound soon. So I got one on Tuesday and found out that yes, he is indeed small. They can estimate the weight of a baby I guess by measuring their abdomen. Koen apparently weighs about 6 pounds and 6 ounces which is small...I guess...but I don't think so. I would be okay with him coming out that size. So back to my baby. The doctor then decided I needed to come back on Thursday for a BPP test. This is yet another ultrasound for my child. It measured my fluid levels, his muscle tone, movements, and breathing movements. Everything was fine except for he is a butthead and would not do the breathing motions. This then led to me being hooked up to a machine with things on my stomach that monitored his heart rate and how strong my contractions were and then I got a little clicky thing to say when he moved. He decided it was nap time so they gave me some juice to get some sugar into him and wake him up and make him move. Which he did. After that they said everything looked fine and I didn't need to worry. Then they measured my stomach and I'm still barely measuring 35 weeks. So I'm going back in next Tuesday for another growth ultrasound to see if he's growing and if he hasn't or has for some reason lost weight then I guess it means that I will be induced. Spectacular. The only plus side I can see to this is that I will know when I am going into the hospital. My fear with not knowing when I'm going into the hospital is that I will go into labor in the middle of class. Or that Nick will be taking a test in the testing center and will have to have his phone off. Those are my fears. Anyway. I'm trying to remember if the doctor's said anything else interesting. Kristin told me to ask about hair and if they can see it on the ultrasound. They can. It looks like Koen only has a little bit of peach fuzz. So, sorry mom, Koen is not going to be a hairy little monkey like you thought. Also from last Tuesday when we were in getting our ultrasound, we had this girl who was like obsessed with his nose and mouth so she gave us a picture she took and he seriously looks like an angry monkey. Nick and I decided this ultrasound would not be going up online as it is not attractive in the least, but for some reason the girl doing the ultrasound thought it was so cute. Dang, I keep having thoughts of what else I want to say in the middle of writing something else and then I finish that thought but can't remember what I wanted to say. It's really frustrating.

In other news, Nick and I are still both in school and it sucks. For him anyways, my classes are fairly easy still. I get to sit around and make flowers. It's quite fun for me. And my teachers are being awesome about when I have the baby. My flower arranging teacher says I can bring him to class, and my art teacher says I only have to come to class once a week and they will alter my assignments AND I can bring Koen with me. Nick is still doing all his crazy math and science classes that take up forever amounts of his time. Earlier this week I went and sat with him while he was in a study group and oh my goodness I honestly felt like I was Penny from t

he Big Bang. I mean honestly. They sat there and threw out these huge words that no one in their right mind would even know. And there were jokes that again, no normal person would understand. But it's okay. Nick's nerdliness will pay off one day. And I have to throw out now that despite his nerdliness, it is part of the reason that I love him. Speaking of my wonderful husband, he has been great these last few weeks of my pregnancy when it comes to me being in pain. He constantly rubs my back because (here is a little tidbit I forgot to mention when talking about Koen) suprise suprise, my child is ON MY SPINE. Which causes me a lot of pain, so Nick helps me by rubbing my back for me. He is great. I also got to quit my job finally. And got my license renewed so now I can legally drive again (not that I know how to drive my car yet). Also one last piece of information about my pregnancy and then I will end this novel. Last Thursday (Oct. 14) I was 0 cm dialated and 0% effaced, and as of Tuesday (because I didn't want them checking again today because it is PAINFUL) I am 1 cm dialated and 80% effaced. Yes, I am finally making progress!!!

So this is something I get to spend part of some of my days doing. Personally I think it's great fun. Nick told me that I should spend my time doing something useful. I think this could turn out to be pretty dang useful one day. Maybe.

So now it's October and I guess that means it's time for my monthly posting. School is still going on and it's still really frustrating because Nick is always doing homework or studying for a test or meeting with a study group. It never seems to get any easier for him. It's incredibly frustrating for me because I never see him or get to spend time with him. This last weekend we got to spend time together though. It was conference weekend and we both took the weekend off of work to listen to it. It was a way good conference too. I love being able to listen to general authorities speak.

In other news, I am due exactly one month from today and I have a feeling this month is going to go incredibly slow just so Koen will be able to kick the crap out of me all he wants. Like now. It seems to be his favorite thing to do. That and get hiccups pretty intensely. I won't be sorry to have that stop in my body. I find that as the time gets closer for him to come, there's more I won't be sorry to see go. My large stomach for one. And the swelling will go down, hopefully. And the itchiness. Also I will be excited to be able to lay on my stomach again. Nick thinks that's really weird but I miss it. I also miss sleep but I know that won't come again for quite some time. Like a year almost...oh well. Really that's all that's going on in our lives. School and waiting for Koen to come out. Also, sorry there have been no pictures. My camera died and since we've moved I haven't been able to find my charger.