Contractions + EVERYTHING Else = Worn Out

Well, where do I start!?

OWEN

According to my website resource that I read almost EVERYDAY, Owen is as big as a Honeydew! I can believe it! He should be from 17.2 - 18.7 inches long and should weigh from 4.2 - 5.8 pounds. Owen is probably more 17.2 inches and 4.2 pounds. He should be closer to the 18.7 inches and 5.8 pounds at the end of month 8. His senses improve everyday and is now blinking everyday due to light coming through my ENORMOUSLY stretched belly! He now reacts to simple songs and sounds...I guess we should be singing to him! He is not growing as much right now, but grew RAPIDLY in a few weeks time about 3 weeks ago! He will probably descend into my pelvic area by the end of this month...right now I am pretty sure he's content where he's at...with one or both feet lodged in my rib cage.

NURSERY

We started painting the nursery, but it is still not done. We are putting small pin stripes in between our large stripes right now and then we still have to put the crown molding and chair rail up after that. Which will also need painting along with the base boards and 2 pieces of furniture we already had for the room. Our baby bed is still in the box in our kitchen and all the baby stuff we have accumulated is in our hallway closet...still packed up. We haven't had our tea yet...it will be this Sunday and I am so excited to see what all Owen gets! So it's not completed yet, but could be in a few weeks if we stay on top of it!

PHOTOGRAPHY

Since my last post I have had 2 weddings, a bridal session, 3 engagement sessions, and a sister session. I didn't do so well on one of the engagement sessions, but they still turned out ok. As long as the client is please...I am pretty critical of my work, so... God has blessed me with a talent to be able to see things and capture it using something I LOVE! I can only have such a talent because he gave it to me. I hope I always use it for his glory and can ALWAYS give him praise! So editing has been outrageous and still have both weddings to edit, which is more than all the other sessions put together. Here is one of my favorite photos from the sister session I had. It was kind of scheduled out of the blue, but REALLY liked the way ALL the photos came out:

GRADUATION

Charlie is finally a college graduate! On May 8 he graduated with a bachelor of science degree double majoring in history and education. I am so proud of him and am so glad God has given him the opportunity to see and be involved in things we never thought possible. He has been praying for a job and has had a few positive leads, but nothing final yet. We both know that God will give him a job. He has been praying and thanking him for the job he has given him (even though he hasn' t gotten it yet, we know that God has already picked it out and is working on it). Charlie is staying so positive and everytime I ask if he is worried he says, "no, I know God is working on it..." I had a graduation party for him on Saturday night after the commencement ceremony. It turned out really nice and was very proud of myself, but more proud of Charlie for ALL that he has accomplished!

APRIL 23, 2010 + MAY 12, 2010

On April 23 at about 6AM I was feeling kind of funny. I felt like I was having cramps and my stomach was kind of tightening up. I went and googled what it was like to have a contraction and found out it is all different, but for the most part, similar to what I was feeling. I called mom and asked what they were supposed to feel like and told her I thought I was having them, but wasn't sure. I called the dr. and they made me come in. Definately having contractions (about every 5 minutes). They gave me 2 shots and an IV. The IV was not so fun. I have TINY and ROLLING veins, so apparantly that makes it pretty difficult to get any kind of needle into them. After being there for several hours, they finally let me go home. They continued for about a week, but got down to just a few an hour then just a few a day and then completely gone. I went on my merry way...continuing with photo sessions and parties...and about 1:30 AM on May 12, I woke up to a pretty bad crampage situation! I went and laid in a hot bath and realized what was happening. I monitored them for about 30 minutes, got out, and monitored them for another 30 minutes. People, they were happening EVERY 3 minutes and boy did they hurt! I took my medicine they had given me from the first time this happened...monitored them for about an hour and 15 minutes...not slowing down at all...I called the hospital/on call dr. He said to wait about 45 more minutes...take it again and monitor...if they still don't stop, come in. They did finally stop but it was 6:30 AM by this time and I was EXHAUSTED! The medicine made me jittery, fast heart rate, and sick. I also felt like crying...it was sudden...and finally went away after the medicine wore off at 3 that afternoon. I had a dr. appointment at 2PM and fully expected her to check me and say well you are fine, just having more pre-term contractions like we talked about. No...of course I was dilated. 1 1/2 cm. I was admitted again and hooked up to the monitors for hours! They finally let me go after realizing I had not had anymore contractions and wasn't consistently dilating. They said it was not uncommon to dilate and stay dilated until full term. If I have more contractions consistently like I was I am to come in...no more trying to get rid of them on my own. I have a feeling he will wait until closer to term to come and everything will work out. He's extremely happy (either that or really hyper). He's constantly moving around and has a perfect heartbeat. He isn't trying to come yet, so I think all the contractions and stuff is just common pre-term stuff for certain people. I guess we will see though. Meanwhile, I have a VERY sore belly and am extrememely tired and ready to take my maternity leave!