Another due date comes...and goes...

We're ready.  This baby's ready.  It's only a matter of time.

That's been the soundtrack in my head lately!

Still having contractions, mostly in the afternoons and evenings.  Pretty good ones, too.  They're worse if I've been walking, and go away if I lay down.  I think next time that happens, I'm just going to keep walking.

Well, we made a point of enjoying the due date.  Abuelita and Hollie and I went to the YMCA in the morning to swim, and we went for a nice lunch at a place right on the beach.  Then in the afternoon, Daniel and I went by ourselves to an NST appointment with the nurse at the doctor's office (doc is still out of town), and then we went to the movies and saw Super 8.  Not typically my kind of movie, but I have to say it was really well done!  It's always refreshing to me to see a really good movie without any big name actors.

Here are the pictures from our boat ride through Deception Pass...

We didn't get to drive it.  :(

Captain Mark took us out.

We could not have asked for better weather or smoother water!  Perfect day.

Deception Pass

Don't know if you can tell here, but the shores were packed.  So glad we didn't decide to fight that!

Our little boat girl.  She surprised us all with how at ease she was.  She loved it when we went fast!

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I have been determined to fill our days with little adventures to A) enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having, B) make the most of my last opportunities to leave the house at all (for a while) and C) just keep active in an effort to bring this pregnancy to an end.

Yesterday morning, Abuelita and Hollie and I went strawberry picking!

More GORGEOUS Pacific NW summer weather!

Someone needed a little guidance...

...but oh my goodness this dirt is SO COOL!!!

The little yellow ones, too.

Sampling.  Shhhh...

Hands covered in dirt and strawberry juice!  

That's how you know it's been a good day.

That giant belly in the white shirt is me.

Thank you again to Abuelita for letting me wander away and completely zone out in my strawberry-picking!

40 weeks, 1 day, and counting.

Went overboard.  A little.  Maybe.

About fifteen pounds here.

Whew!  All done - three bags for the freezer and four big bowls for the fridge.

Worth it.

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Another little excursion in the plans for today!  

Happy weekend, everyone.  :)

Goings-on

We've been keeping busy around here like it's our job.

Two Sundays ago, we made our first trip over to Whidbey Island.  Hollie loooved the ferry ride.

[ECSTATIC FACE]

We took a tour of historic Fort Casey, which was built right after the Civil War.  There are actually three forts around the Sound, because they're all armed with these enormous 33-ton cannons that were reeeeally difficult to move (and aim), so they basically just tried to get you from every angle.

 Hollie clings to Daddy for dear life.  It was a little breezy.

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Then, on Friday night - six nights ago - we had our first little labor scare.  I was getting Hollie ready for bed, and started reading some books while we waited for Daddy to join us.  In the time it took to read two books, I had three little contractions.  Just then, Daniel came in and when I told him, he gave me a look and I had to say, "No, I'm not kidding!"

Hollie went to sleep, and they continued.  They were really weak - I could hardly feel them except for a little tightness, and with a hand on my belly I could feel that it got very firm.  Just like the contractions I've been having for weeks.  Except not so many in a row.  And not for an hour.

I was skeptical that this was really labor, but my OB's rule is to call if you have more than five contractions in an hour, so I called.  He told me to drink a bunch of water and try to rest, and call again in an hour if they got worse.

So, for about a half hour after that I ran around the apartment cleaning up, chugging water, and feeling my belly to see if it was tight.  They never intensified, but they kept going and I kept alternating between "there is no way this is real labor" and "shoot, I was induced last time...maybe this is real labor!".  Finally Daniel convinced me to lay down, and sure enough, the moment my head hit the pillow they stopped, I fell asleep, and didn't have another one the entire night...that I know of.

We had planned a trip to Vancouver for the next day, but decided in the morning to stay a little closer to home.  After breakfast we drove into Seattle to see the Boeing Museum of Flight.  As we're walking into the museum, my cell rings, and it's my OB...checking up on me and advising me to take it easy and rest for the weekend!  Hmmmm...okay!

I neglected to tell him where we were at that moment! Hopefully he never finds out about this blog...

The museum was pretty cool.  That morning they happened to be having a helicopter event outside, and we were arriving just at the end so we got to see a few of them take off.  Two of the guys from Deadliest Catch were there too, signing autographs and taking pictures.

We forgot to take the camera with us, so the only pictures I have are on my cell phone.  Daniel's going to have to help me get them on the computer...

There was also the "big red barn" where Boeing first started building planes.

Then, back outside to see the Concord and Air Force One...and we got to walk through both!  Very cool, despite waiting in two very long lines...in the constant drizzle.  Still cool.

By that point we were ready to call it a day, even though we hadn't actually gone into the museum at all.  We figure we'll probably go back again.  :)

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The next day (this past Sunday), we took the ferry over to Whidbey Island again.  After splurging on lunch at a nice place in Coupeville, we drove up through the northern part of the island, which we had completely missed last time, to see Deception Pass.  Amazing!  You're just driving along through the woods, and then suddenly you're on a bridge 200 feet over the water.  We wanted to park and walk around, but it was packed with people and Hollie was asleep so we didn't want to take turns getting out and all that.  Ditto the museum - we'll probably go back.  :)

Oh yeah, forgot to take the camera on that trip, too.  :(

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Okay, last thing...

Doctor's appointment two days ago:
I'm 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.
Steady progress!

Ever since last Friday night, my contractions have been less frequent (than they were prior to Friday night), but stronger.

Also, my feet are starting to swell.  :(

I'm 39 weeks today.  Yep, I skipped the 38 week photo, but it doesn't really look like much has changed in two weeks anyway.

Starting this Saturday, my OB is out of town for a week.  To be honest, I don't see this birth happening that soon though.  My experience - Hollie being five days late (and induced) - is leading me to believe that, but I know every time will be different, so we will just have to wait and see!

Exploring

We've had an interesting first week in Mukilteo.  Haven't figured out how to convince spell-checker that "mukilteo" isn't misspelled.

Over the weekend Daniel's two older brothers, T and C, visited and taught Hollie all about bouncing tennis balls off the walls and tables.  I guess that's what uncles are for!

While they were here, Daniel and T decided to go out for a jog to see the coast.  Hours later it's getting dark and we get the phone call: "Help!  We're lost!"  A half-hour with Google maps later, C went out to pick them up.  Once they were back at home, slightly worse for the wear, we got to hear the whole story, which involved following a creek into the woods, crawling under a fence into a construction site (despite posted warnings of video surveillance) to try and find out where they were (unsuccessfully; no one was there), Daniel carrying T on his back over a gravel road (T had gone barefoot), and from there wandering residential streets for a main intersection to assist our Google maps search.

Crazy boys.

But wait, there's more.

A few nights later, after the uncles were gone, Daniel went out by himself to run errands at two stores.  He didn't take our GPS because he had been to both stores before.  Deja vu - it's getting dark and I get the phone call: "Help!  I'm lost!"  This time it only took about five minutes for me to figure out where he was, but by then his phone had very little battery life left so I had to give him turn-by-turn directions to the store and just hope that he knew his way from there to the second store, and from there, home.  Thankfully he did.  And when he got home we got a good laugh together when he looked at the map and saw how far off course he had gotten.  Waaaay out there!

To be fair, the same thing has happened to me more than once since we've been here.  Even though the GPS generally stays in my car, I tend not to trust it sometimes...

Anyway.

For Memorial Day, we visited a park on the coast where we had lunch with a few of Daniel's coworkers.  It was a chilly, overcast day (our new "normal", really), but it was gorgeous.  Check these out...

Hollie had a great time at the beach: 

walking into the icy water up to her ankles and throwing little rocks into the waves,

climbing over the driftwood,

collecting sticks and shells,

but the only part she's still talking about today is this train...

 

We walked across this little bridge while a train went underneath, loud and fast enough to made the bridge shake under our feet.  Daniel and I were both caught off guard by the effect and admitted to feeling inexplicably nervous despite how cool it was...but Hollie on the other hand absolutely loved it.  She alternated pressing her face into the chainlink fence to watch, and literally dancing around as if the roar was music to her ears.  

Now, at least once a day I hear,

"Wanna see more loud-loud train, Mommy!'

Pregnancy update time-

I feel huge.  And hungry all the time.  Having a few contractions a day.  Baby's still moving like crazy, trying to break out.

Hollie seems to really be getting used to the idea.  Every morning (and throughout the day) she demands to sit down with Mommy to see and hug and snuggle the belly.  Sometimes she tries to use it as a chair, but that doesn't work out.

We've started telling her that the baby is going to come out to see us soon.  She made it clear how well she had absorbed this idea when we were at our first appointment with the new OB yesterday.  When the nurse came to get us from the waiting room, Hollie stood right up and said "Get baby out!"  Daniel and I were speechless for a second (we hadn't even been talking about it at that particular moment), but this great nurse took it in stride and said, "Hmmm, maybe not today, but soon!"

The new doc is great.  It seems that this office consists of one doctor, one nurse, and one receptionist.  It seems very flexible and relaxed - they squeezed me into their schedule on very short notice, and it was evident  how far they had gone out of their way for me, but they made it work.  They took a quick ultrasound just to check on the heart and see that the baby's head is downward, and everything looked fine.  We'll have a longer, more detailed ultrasound when we go back next week.  :)

Later that afternoon we took a tour of the childbirth center at our new hospital.  Very different from the one in Wichita where Hollie was born!  Smaller rooms with some variation in the layout and amenities - some had showers and some had tubs, most had a couch for dad but one just had a recliner...and the whole place had an overall out-dated look.  "Cozy" is the word that came to mind.  But I honestly, I liked it and have no qualms about delivering there.

I'm going to cut myself off here...more later.

34 and 35 week belly pictures are up!        

Ladybug

Lately, my camera has actually been in a good mood (knock on wood) and I've gotten some great photos of Hollie doing various silly things.

Okay Mom, get it off now please!

'Lita's here!

Geez, has it been two weeks(ish)?  Somebody better talk to the management.

We've been busy.  And sick.  But mostly busy.  Just this past week, when Hollie and I were both on the tail-end of a little viral infection, Abuelita (Daniel's mom) came to town for a visit!

It was so great to see her.  It's been a few months (with one 16-hour exception), and we've been starved for some good extended family time (not to mention a date).

Unfortunately, her week-long stay coincided with a crazy work week for Daniel, so he hardly saw her.  We did get to use an Outback gift certificate that's been burning a hole in our pockets, though.  AND we saw a movie - "Easy A".  It was actually pretty good.  I don't think I'd see it again, but it did surpass my expectations.

So yeah, we were busy.  It's finally cooled off, and the weather is gorgeous.  There was a trip to the zoo (best moment: Hollie coming nose to nose with a meerkat and nearly hyper-ventilating with excitement) and many walks to the park.

These are from Day 1 - Hollie helps Abuelita unpack...

Shortly after Abuelita left, Pepere (Daniel's dad) arrived!  These two...they both really wanted to visit, but their crazy schedules didn't allow them to be here at the same time!  So we settled for seeing one, and then the other.  Whatever works, right?     

More to come!  Stay tuned...

You Capture - Outside

A walk in the park on a cool, blustery [see blog title], 70-degree afternoon -- 

the first time in weeks that we've been able to leave the house between noon and 3pm without sweating our brains out.

When she's not in the stroller, she insists on pushing it herself

Strong gust of wind blew the stroller back toward her...yikes!

Had enough.  Your turn, Momma!

Hollie's favorite thing to do at the park: collect trash.

[She would love to collect poop too, but I vetoed that.]

Occasionally, we find a good spot,

and sort out the findings.

...then we hang onto the keepers

and keep on movin'.

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This post is part of Beth's weekly You Capture challenge...head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to check out the other awesome entries!