What's the best way to make a pregnant woman cry?

Easy. Just get her all excited about having a baby today, tell her the lung test results look really good, that we're just waiting on one more but it should all be good. Then come back an hour later and tell her you (the nurse not the Dr.) were wrong - the results show that the lung development is not mature and send her home, starving, dehydrated, with no baby yet.
That's been my day so far. I'm trying really hard to have a good attitude about it. Of course I want Karis' lungs to be well-developed before she's born. Obviously she's not ready yet. And so for that I'm glad we didn't have a baby today. However, I've been on an emotional roller-coaster for the past week, and I am so ready to stop hurting and just enjoy our sweet little girl.

My OB is supposed to call me back later today to talk about the final test results and what our plan will be. I honestly have no idea what she'll say. Right now she has to weigh my health and the baby's health and make a decision depending on who is more at risk. Because of all the extra fluid, the longer I go, the greater my chances are for complications. However, Karis is obviously not ready yet and we don't want her to be in the NICU b/c of immature lungs, so I just don't know what the Dr. will say. A planned c-section for this Friday sounds great to me. Of course things never work out so perfectly, just as we want them, do they? :) So we'll see what happens. I'll update as I know more. We, of course, would appreciate the prayers for patience and safety/health for myself and Karis.
I'll leave you with something much more fun...pics of the kids' room. We got it all ready a few days ago. They have to share a room, although I have no idea how the sleeping arrangements will work out for a while. We'll just take it one day at a time. This is Karis' bedding set - love it! Thank you Tom and Elaine!
Caleb's bed. My mom made his blanket!
Caleb's corner
Karis' space.

Toying with my emotions

Sorry, no exciting news of baby Karis' arrival yet. I got a call late last night from my Dr. saying that she had just found out that if we did the amniocentesis Sat. morning they still would not have the results back until Monday morning. I am assuming that because it is not considered an emergency procedure, they do not have the staff etc available to get lab results back in 2 hours like they do during the weekdays.
SO....she scheduled my amniocentesis for this Monday the 8th at 8:30 am and a c-section for noon. I think she feels pretty confident that the results will be good and will show that Karis' lungs are well-developed and mature enough for delivery. If the results show that her lungs are not developed enough, then I guess we will wait until late next week. But I am hoping to meet our sweet baby in 2 days!!!

She'll be here in 2 days....maybe...

Yet another Dr. visit today. The polyhydramnios has gotten worse (the amniotic fluid level has risen), and I am 37 weeks but measuring at 45!!! Dang fluid. Also this little girl is apparently too cozy in there b/c she has not dropped at all and I am not dilated at all. It's not safe for me to keep going like this, risk of uterine rupture etc. So the plan is to go in for an amniocentesis on Saturday morning to see if Karis' lungs are developed enough, and if they are we will do a c-section the same day. Please pray her lungs are well developed. If not I'll have to be on bed-rest for the next week and then hopefully do the c-section at 38 weeks. I'm just really uncomfortable (who wouldn't be if their uterus was 8 weeks bigger than it was supposed to be!) and ready to be done. Some women really enjoy pregnancy. I am not one of them. Give me the newborn, sleepless nights, poopy diapers etc. I'll take it any day over pregnancy.

Another Dr. Update

So I had another Dr. visit and sono today and many are asking what she said. The sono is showing that the amniotic fluid levels don't appear to have increased over the past week, which is a good thing. Karis looks great and healthy - her heartbeat and movement are all really good.
The part that concerns the Dr. is just how much I have been contracting and cramping over the last week, yet I'm not really dilating at all, plus Karis is still up really high. She hasn't dropped down at all. Dr. said that if the contractions and cramping continue over this coming week and there's still no change w/her position or my cervix, then we will go ahead and schedule a c-section. My Dr. explains that the concern that is that all those contractions are meant to dilate the cervix, but if that's not happening then instead it's stretching and affecting the uterus, which is not a good thing.
It's funny how I really just don't care this time how this kid comes out - I just want a healthy baby girl, preferrably soon! I'm 36 weeks today but measuring at 40 weeks or more, so I'm ridiculously uncomfortable. So we just might be having a baby in a week or so. I'll keep you updated.

Christmas

I know. I know. Christmas was a month ago. But at least I'm getting some pictures up! We had a great week of Christmas spending time with family. And we even got a white Christmas! My parents got a good bit of snow at their house. Caleb loved discovering the snow with Pappi.


Caleb and Grayson love their Mimi!
We couldn't get Caleb to wear the santa hat by itself, but as long as he could wear his own hat underneath, he didn't even notice.
Marc and I got Caleb a helmet so he can ride on the back of his daddy's bike. He loves to wear the helmet and watch his daddy ride the bike, but he's still freaked out at the idea of getting on the bike.
For Christmas Eve, we got to spend some special time just the 3 of us. But I was so bummed. We had big plans to go look at lights in Highland Park, but the ice was so bad, we had to turn around and come back home after just getting 3 miles down the highway.
Caleb loves his Grammy.
Caleb was pretty sick most of the week, but his Gramps helped take good care of him.
He also had lots of fun with his Aunt Janice.

And probably the coolest toy car I've ever seen - a BMW just like the one his Gramps drives.

Dr. Appointment Update

I've promised quite a few people for an update after my visit with the OB today. So, here goes - the sonogram showed that I have a condition called polyhydramnios, which basically means there is too much amniotic fluid. Right now I am 35 weeks pregnant, but I measure at 39-40 weeks. No wonder I am so stinkin' uncomfortable and look like I'm about to pop. My OB is also watching my blood pressure, which is a bit elevated, and her theory is that even though I passed my glucose screen, I probably have a touch of gestational diabetes as well as possible thyroid issues. Sheesh, what has not been an issue this pregnancy?! But everything right now looks ok. The sonogram showed that baby girl is healthy and they estimate the weight at about 6lbs so far (which we all know how accurate those are right!)
For now my OB wants to keep monitoring the fluid level, so I go back for another sono next Thursday, and if the level has gone up, then we'll reevaluate. Either way, she said this baby will probably be a bit early, but the goal is definitely to make it to at least 37 weeks, which I cannot believe is only 2 weeks away! It's hard to imagine that I could have a sweet baby girl in my arms just 2 weeks from now.
I guess now is as good a time as any to share the name. Marc and I have decided to name her Karis Kathreen Rose. Karis rhymes with Paris, in case you were wondering how to pronounce it. It is Greek and means grace and can also mean beauty and kindness. Kathreen is a family name. It has been passed down as the middle name through at least 6 generation of women on Marc's mom's side. We are so excited to meet this sweet girl, and I promise to do better at posting updates and pictures! I know several of you will set me straight if I don't :)

As Promised ... The Potty Video