...and wait...

Well, the first week of Mandee's-official-mat-leave has drawn to a close and the "to do list" has not gotten any smaller. It's not that I've been sitting around doing nothing... it's just once I start something, I can't seem to stay focused long enough to get it done! So far my hospital bags are half packed, half of the office is clean and organized and half of the nursery is set up.... boy do I have a lot of things to do still!! When I look at my list I feel a little overwhelmed and think, "Boy, am I NOT ready to have this baby!!" But yet, I am still so anxious for he/she to come out! It's probably a good thing then that he/she doesn't seem ready to come out for a while.

The last doctor's appointment I had was Friday morning. When the doctor checked me then my cervix was still only dilated 1cm but could stretch to 2. She said it looked quite favorable and because my blood pressure has been so high (and at that appointment there was protein in my urine - a sign of infection), she suggested we go ahead and strip my membranes. (All this "prego talk" would have made me very squeemish before I was pregnant - so, sorry for those of you who are feeling a little nauseated reading this!!) She had hoped that would send me into labor within the next 48 hours... well, here we are... more than 48 hours later, and still nothing. (Although, I have to tell you, that every little cramp or pain I felt within those 48 hours made me freak out and wonder if it was the start of contractions!) I'm seeing her again tomorrow morning to repeat the procedure and discuss further options. (I was REALLY hoping the baby would be born yesterday... how cool would it have been if your birthday was 07/07/07!!?!?!)

It's actually a good thing that the baby didn't come yesterday as we FINALLY got started on our yard!! Uncle Bill came yesterday at 7:30am with his bobcat and started tearing the place apart. I don't know what we would have done without the bobcat!! It was SUCH a big help!! We got the backyard ready for the retaining wall, the hedge ripped out, the lilac bushes ripped out, the gross, icky tree pulled out and the post holes for the deck and fence all dug. We got so much done!! Although, if you were to drive by our house right now, it looks like a complete disaster! It's hard to see the progress through the mountain of branches needing to be chucked into the chipper and all the dirt everywhere. But, we're getting there! It also helped that dad, Uncle Jeff, Uncle John and Aaron came over to help to!! Thanks so much everyone!!!!!

On the agenda for week two of Mandee's-official-mat-leave is some more attempts at my to do list, more work in the yard, a doctor's appointment or two, maybe a quick trip down to the stampede grounds one evening (if I can convince Mark), a stampede breakfast or two, TJ & Kelly's wedding on Saturday and hopefully the birth of a baby! Stay tuned for more "exciting" updates, as well as some pictures from Kelly's stagette (which was last night).