First thing this morning, they wheeled me down to the neonatologist's office. They did an ultrasound to measure the baby, and check the fluid level. Little Rolf looked so cute and happy in there! His heartbeat is steady and strong.

Here are two amazing things specifically:
1. The fluid level was NORMAL. I am no longer leaking fluid so this could potentially stay constant.
2. The baby measured at about 4 lbs 15 oz. This is exactly a pound MORE than what they told us on Friday!

So awesome news this morning. We are praising God for His goodness! I will remain at the hospital until they induce me. He said it will be around the 34 week mark, which is October 10th, but not necessarily that exact day.

Update: Scheduled to induce me on Friday, October 9th.

I finally got to see my doctor, yeah! He said that I will be here for two weeks and then they will induce. If I develop an infection or the baby gets distressed before then, they will go ahead and deliver as well.

So...we are in it for the long haul...at least two more weeks. We will be meeting with staff from the NICU at some point. They will explain what will happen with the little guy once he arrives. More than likely, he will have to stay awhile as well. So keep praying for our sanity and for this little guy to grow strong!

It's Sunday morning! They have unhooked me from all monitors, taken out my IV and have moved me to a room upstairs on the recovery floor. This is probably where I will be living until my labor starts. I am on "bed rest with bathroom privileges". Sounds fun, right?! The room is smaller BUT the bed is much more comfy and there is nothing beeping in my ears and no wires/straps attached to my fingers, wrists, stomach. I think I might actually get to "rest" in this room!

They will monitor the baby twice a day and make sure he is doing fine. We are happy that he is getting some more time to grow but we are a little freaked out by the whole backwards sequence of events! I had NO IDEA you could just hang out for weeks after your water broke.

We haven't talked to the doctor or anything so all this info is coming from the nurses. I think my doctor will be back in town tomorrow. So maybe the baby was just waiting for him to get here?!

Thanks for keeping up with our journey and praying for this little guy! Wondering when we will get to meet him...!

The doctor just came in and checked me. This is the first time he has done that as they don't want to cause any infections. He said that I am really not dilated or effaced much and they baby hasn't descended down very far. So he doesn't want to try to progress the labor at this time. He wants to just wait and give the baby more time.

Good news: Baby gets more time! I got to eat REAL FOOD! I'm catching up on some reading!
Bad news: This bed isn't very comfy.

Just talked with the doctor on call. Here is the plan in one word: WAIT

I was probably in labor and all I could think about was getting the spots out of the living room carpet. Our Friday Family day started with a trip to the donut shop. Followed by a quick stop at the Dr.'s office to get a second steroid shot for the baby's lungs (just in case I went into labor early). As I walked out the door, my doctor said to make sure I didn't have the baby this weekend because he would be out of town. No problem! I am just going home to rest...right after a quick stop in Walmart of course! I had to do something about those spots!

Good morning! We are on hour 13 of our journey with little Rolf. Contractions intensified in the night and then tapered off. Sleep didn't really happen for me but John sawed some logs in the awesome chair/bed beside me!

Baby update: Water broke around 5:30. At hospital now. No heavy contractions yet. Probably going to be a long one. He's 8 wks early so pray.

Well...it has begun. I went to the Dr. yesterday. They did another fetal fibronectin test, and I won't get the results back from that until Monday. However, the doctor checked my cervix and I am dilated to a 1 1/2. After discovering this, he decided to give me a steroid shot that will help develop the baby's lungs. I went back this morning for a second and final steroid shot. This will hopefully give those lungs a little power kick in case this baby boy decides to join us soon!

So, being dilated could indicate a lot or a little...it is different for everyone and we are not sure what it means for me. I will be 32 weeks tomorrow. (Dean was born at 33 weeks, weighing 5 lbs 8 oz and stayed in the NICU for 10 days.) My doctor kept asking me if I was having contractions. I didn't think I was and he said maybe I am just one of those people that don't feel them...hmmmm...THAT would be nice! After everything that happened yesterday, I started noticing contractions last night. But they aren't hard or long, basically something that I ignore apparently. This morning I have felt a little crampy and I am definitely having some hormone surges (poor John and poor Dean!). It all seems to be falling in to place and pointing towards the start of labor.

The doctor didn't give me any restrictions or anything. He just told me to try to rest and relax as much as possible. Oh, and he also said don't have the little guy this weekend because he will be out of town! Thankfully it is the weekend and John is home! We are busy getting all the final baby things arranged and ready. At least we are much more prepared with this one than we were with Dean! We have a car seat this time and a few diapers!

Please pray that this sweet boy will arrive with strong lungs and no complications. We know he will be here in God's timing and so we wait....

I got to do the "big" glucose test today. It was the really fun one. I had to fast starting at midnight last night. I was tempted to eat a Thanksgiving-like feast about 11:55 PM but refrained (Not because it didn't sound good, but because it would have caused some major heartburn and I decided to go with the lesser of two evils: hunger). I got up early and rushed into the lab to get my blood drawn first thing (STICK #1). Then the nurse drawing my blood, who was missing about 50% of her teeth, handed me a cold orange drink and said to finish it in "lesth than five minuths". This was no mild gatoraid flavored water, this was pure sno-cone syrup in a bottle. I could almost chew the sugar crystals. So it really came as no surprise to me that I started feeling a little queasy a few minutes after chugging the entire eight ounces but I forced myself to keep it down because there was no way that I was going to drink it again.

After I finished, the clock started and I had to report back in one hour to get my blood drawn again. In the meantime, I went downstairs to see my doctor. I got my regular shot (STICK #2) and they also did a test to see if I might have a protein present that indicates labor may start soon, checked the babies heartbeat, and checked my cervix. Everything was great and I'm not looking like I will deliver in the next week. So, I headed back upstairs for STICK #3, watched a movie that John sweetly downloaded for me last night, reported to Need-Some-Teeth for STICK #4 a hour later, then finished out my movie before STICK #5 concluded my morning at the doctor's office.

By the time I got home, the pure sugar/no eating/loss of blood combination had totally wiped me out. I scarfed some Chick-fil-A (my treat for enduring the needles!) and crawled into bed. What a day. This baby boy is worth every little jab I took today though! I can't wait to see his sweet face soon.

Dean was so excited about starting school. He wanted to stand at the front door and wait for John to get ready. I took his picture and then he realized that he wasn't holding his lunch box. So he grabbed his lunch box and told me to take another picture! What a big boy...and BOSSY too.

He loved his teachers and really enjoyed his first day. The night before he prayed for his classmates (or at least the ones he remembered from last year) and his teachers. I am so glad that he loves school!

Dean got up from nap with a new look! He then came downstairs and wanted to put on my headband. Daddy grabbed the camera and interviewed him about what was going on.
Does anyone else think he somewhat resembles a tiny Richard Simmons?
Also, please inform us if you know what to do with a "hair close-in-ner".

It was just a $2 movie and Dean got in for free. So we went. We stood in the unmoving concession line for over 10 minutes (yeah, I timed it!). The place reeked of dirty socks. And the credit card machine wasn't working right. But it was only $2, right?!

When we finally got into the theater the movie had started. Dean couldn't see by sitting in his own seat and all the boosters were taken so he sat in John's lap. From the beginning he was totally engrossed as he munched on his popcorn and sipped his Sprite (aka "burnin' stuff). I cried...not because my little boy was watching his first movie in the theater, but because the movie was SAD! It was Disney/Pixar's UP and much like my first movie experience in the theater (Bambi), there are some sad parts. But it was a great movie and Dean didn't pick up on the sad stuff.

It was a fun time. On the way home Dean said, "Tank you fir takin' me to the big TV. I like it." He kept talking about it the rest of the night as well so I know he really enjoyed it. We were proud of him for sitting through a whole movie. We have never even tried to watch a movie at home with him so we weren't sure what to expect. Not a bad attention span for a 2 1/2 year old!

"Dares a spider!" he said as he ran towards me. I was on the couch and quickly readied myself to dive for a tissue and dispose of the intruder. But Dean was pointing to the middle of the room and all I saw was beige carpet. Soon the spider was appearing everywhere, from my face to the inside of his sippy cup. Hmmm.... The spider kept getting bigger and more aggressive apparently. Dean was getting more and more worked up over this invisible spider. So I did what I always do, I tried to give him a reasonable explanation about spiders; how they are God's creatures, they are afraid of us, they are very interesting, have eight legs, can be helpful for catching other bugs, and any other positive trait I could possibly remember about spiders. None of my interesting facts made a difference to Dean, however. He just wanted that spider to disappear...a difficult task for a non-existent spider. My mommy brain kicked in after I drained all my logical resources. I simply told him, "Spiders don't live in our house, only people are allowed to live in our house. So you tell that spider to get outside!". We laughed, he practiced his spider-bouncer speech and the spider seemed to be forgotten for a little while.

Little did I know, the spider hadn't "moved out", he had only detoured up the stairs to make his home. I discovered this as we were getting Dean ready for bed and the spider talk started up again. Dean was following along behind me to the bathroom when I heard his tiny voice say, "Hey Spider! God loves you spider, but I don't have to!". And that was the end of the spider.

The Good: They did an ultrasound today. Our baby boy was so cute! He had his hand up by his nose and looked happy and content. He is weighing over 3 lbs already. The technician said that everything looks great and that my cervix is long (as opposed to short and ready for delivery). The baby is breach right now but still has plenty of time and room to turn. So we are still on track and not planning on him arriving anytime soon.

The Bad: I failed the glucose test...by TWO POINTS!!! I'm a really good test taker and was totally shocked by this result. What does this mean? Well, it means that I get to go in next week after fasting all morning, get my blood drawn, drink an extra sugary drink, and sit in the doctors office all morning getting my blood drawn every hour for three hours. All to prove that the first test was wrong and I don't really have gestational diabetes. Anyone have a portable dvd player I can borrow or a good book?!