Day 1 Overdue

Dear Family & Friends,

Still no baby.

Jason will be receiving all my calls as I am in no mood to talk to people and I don't want to alienate anyone with my foul mood. But know that I love you all and that I realize your just wanting to know if I am ok, the baby is ok, and if you can help.

Help, right now for me, would be waiting until you hear from us to know that she has arrived. Health-wise we are all doing fine.

Love, Ginger

Due Date

Well it is almost 6PM on Abby's Due Date - And unless she pops out in less than 6 hours, I doubt she will be born today. So now it is a count down to see if she comes out before the scheduled induction on August 2. I am beyond frustrated at this juncture because I really don't want to be the baby incubator any more at this point. It is highly likely that she will be born in the next day but then it is also highly likely that she will be born on the day of the induction. So the waiting game continues and mommy gets more and more restless as the days go on. At least I have hope that something will happen sooner rather than later as I am between 3-4 centimeters, right? *sigh*

Status of Baby Kohles Birthdate Pool

So here we are at the end of the day and still no baby. But there is always tomorrow :)

Angela	July 26	7lbs8.5oz
Tiffany	July 4	8lbs
Melody (my mom)	July 17(26)	n/a
Rebecca	July 25	7lbs9oz
Sue	July 24	7lbs3oz
Vicky	July 27	8lbs5oz
Janet	July 24	6lbs9oz
Rachel	August 5	7lbs2oz
Meghan	July 17	8lbs3oz
Ivette	July 25	8lbs5oz
Dianne	July 26	9lbs4oz
Jen	July 22	n/a
Candy	July 23	7lbs9oz
Richell	August 2 THIS IS THE DAY OF INDUCTION (if she doesn't come out on her own we'll make her!)	7lbs4oz
Heather	July 22	8lbs2oz
Claudia	July 13	6lbs15oz
Al (my dad)	July 20	n/a
Brian & Megan	July 15	7lbs4oz

The Two (Plus) Hour False Alarm

I can't believe that I am actually going to share this in such a public way but there may be other women out there that have had this happen to them and feel all alone - so here goes - your not alone. Because apparently

It happens to 50% of pregnant women.

Well gosh that makes me feel so much better and a lot less stupid!

Last night around 9PM Jason and I were getting ready to head upstairs for the night. I used the restroom and noticed in my pad that there was a redish-brown mucus (a.k.a. bloody show). This has been the most prominent in a week or so, therefore getting me a little anxious, but not too much. I walked upstairs and started getting ready for bed. Around 9:15 I felt like I had "leaked" which usually doesn't happen, especially when I am standing and only moments before had gone to the bathroom. So I changed my pad and then seconds later felt an even larger "trickle." Now the reason that I am wearing these pads in the first place is due to leaking, but I have never "felt" the leaking this way before . . . nor has it been so noticeable. Therefore I say "I think my water is leaking - and or may have broken" of course I add "but I am not sure." So for about 45 minutes Jason and I get into "going to the hospital mode." In that time I feel crampy but I am not having contractions. So I think to myself and say aloud that I don't think it really broke, but still I am not sure. So finally I call the Doctor on call at about 10PM.

The doctor calls back quickly and I explain that I feel so "silly" because "I am not really sure that my water broke" she says that I should go to the hospital based on what I told her. So we grab everything and go.

Once there, we are ushered to a room where I am told to disrobe and then the Nurse disappears for about 20 min. So I sit there telling Jason that "maybe she forgot about us" and "I feel stupid, because I doubt that my water really broke." Being the great guy he is, he says it is for the best to make sure that it didn't so that we know the baby is ok. This only mildly makes me feel less dumb. Finally the nurse returns, hooks me up and explains the delay. She can't find the testing strips they use to see if there is amniotic fluid. So after hooking me up she disappears again. At about 11:10 a new nurse arrives and has the strips and says that the other nurses shift ended (I think to myself now wasn't that convenient for the other nurse). So she tests me and my pad and says - nope, this isn't amniotic. Then she disappears comes back and disappears again then comes back. During that time I have gotten my "street clothes" back on and am anxious to get home. I sign a HIPAA form and am free to go. It is now like 11:40PM.

For something that took the nurse 1 minute to determine, I feel like I could have been there for a max of 30 minutes and not almost two hours. So there you have it, the false alarm. Now I am even more frustrated that she isn't coming out. Because there was the little bit of hope that it was really happening.

Week 39

It is amazing to think that Jason and I have been married for a year this coming Sunday. It has been a wonderful year filled with many memorable moments. I feel like the day we found out we were pregnant is years and years ago, not just these short 9 months. Lately we have been so focused on preparing for our little one that we haven't given the celebrating of our one year anniversary much thought. In fact we both hope that the baby gets here before the big day so that she can have her own day to celebrate. And I am not keen on spending the 1 year anniversary in the hospital in labor. So we have been pleading, bribing, and pestering in all sorts of ways this little baby to come out and join us. Everyone is so looking forward to her arrival. And I am looking forward to my body returning to a semblance of normal. No more baby incubator I want to be able to bend over, run up and down stairs, sleep on my belly, roll out of bed, lift obnoxiously heavy things and not have to worry about the baby inside! With anywhere between 12 hours and 7 or so days left I have gotten to the point were I wake up checking to see if she is still there. Grimacing when I lift my rolly-pollie self out of bed and my hips shrieking in discomfort. Any bribing tips would be greatly appreciated.

Week 38 Day 3 - Graphic Content Not for Weak Constitutions

So recently I have received calls in the evenings from mom and friends . . . "How are you doing?" (underlying meaning: "Are you in labor yet?") every evening this week. Jason and I chatted and thought that perhaps leaving a voice mail message that states "No the baby isn't here yet, but when she arrives we will be sure to call you and let you know" would help . . . I doubt it though.
Honestly people do you think that we aren't anxious enough as it is? We love the attention and that you want to know how I am especially if you haven't heard from me since 24 hours previously. So here is the full story of what has been going on over the past week or so. (And I will be graphic for those of you with weak constitutions)


Last Thursday evening I started feeling lots of menstrual-like cramps along with gas-like cramps. And at some point in the middle of the night had a very nasty bought of diarrhea and more abdominal gas-like cramps. I was for certain, on Friday when I was still dealing with the gas-like cramps, that I was eventually going to go into labor. Sometime during last weekend my bladder started having to battle with the baby as she has begun to drop.
Through out the week I have been up every half-hour to go pee. Sometimes it felt like nothing would come out. As the week progressed I started to waddle more and more to relieve the very uncomfortable stabbing pains of the baby resting her (I am convinced) HUGE head on my itty bitty bladder. She has been very mobile. In the evenings right before bed she liked to stick what I hope is her butt out (and not her head) right to the left of my belly button for what looked very much like an alien trying to climb out of my belly.
Yesterday morning I started to see "bloody show" - which got me all excited because I was like "OH THANK GOD! FINALLY TODAY SHE WILL COME!" Um yeah well not so much! But I was feeling a lot different . . . I was having the menstrual-like cramps again (similar to last weeks) and a general "funky" feeling. I wasn't really hungry and had spent the night before not getting much rest because I was wide awake.
I am hopeful that this weekend she will get here but then I was the same way last weekend. But to reiterate, Jason and I will call you to let you know when she gets here :).
I have yet to have any sort of "Nesting" experience nor have I acted/wanted anything "weird".


Remember her due date isn't until the 27th so it is very likely that she will go all the way to that date.
Currently I am 2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. And still waiting for Abby to come out and meet all these folks that want to meet her. :)

The Under Appreciated Bladder

Sometime in the past 72 hours Abby dropped, and in so doing burrowed her head (if possible) deeper into my bladder. Walking and standing have become quite a task usually filled with sharp pains from my screaming bladder. I have started to resort to the pregnant “waddle” – and have just now realized that the waddle is not because of the big tummy but because of what is inside the tummy and where the insides are now residing. If any one organ gets the most stress and deserves the most support and recognition during pregnancy it is the under appreciated bladder.

Some other late pregnancy ailments, that just so happen to be related to my bladder, are my inability to sleep for longer than 30 minutes to (at most) one hour before jumping up and running to the restroom. This inability to get a few continuous hours of sleep has resulted in my drowsy state-of-mind during the day. This in turn causes the “Pregnant Brain” to go into action, or lack thereof. I can’t think right now what example to use it is just that bad.

At my check up last Friday morning I was informed that I am one centimeter dilated and fifty percent effaced. This sadly means very little as I could remain this way all the way up to the due date. It is exciting to think that the worst of my labor, the part where most of the dilating occurs, will now be shortened (or so I hope) because I am 1/10th the way there. At my next appointment on Thursday morning (if she doesn’t show up before then) I hope to hear that I have dilated and effaced even more [perhaps to four centimeters and seventy-five percent effaced]. This will mean that she is much closer (perhaps this weekend?) and that my water is very close to breaking – as the general time in which the placenta ruptures is around that measurement (so I’ve heard). The full moon is this Sunday so if old wives tales can be counted on perhaps this sunday?? *sigh*

"When will she get here?"

Well the waiting game has begun to pick up speed (or perhaps drag on) —
It is now July 5, 2006 and the projected due date for Abby is July 27, 2006.

At the baby shower my Mom had everyone guess the date and weight for the baby. Feel free to comment and guess too. Here were some of the attendee’s guesses:

Angela	July 26	7lbs8.5oz
Tiffany	July 4	8lbs
Melody (my mom)	July 17(26)	n/a
Rebecca	July 25	7lbs9oz
Sue	July 24	7lbs3oz
Vicky	July 27	8lbs5oz
Janet	July 24	6lbs9oz
Rachel	August 5	7lbs2oz
Meghan	July 17	8lbs3oz
Ivette	July 25	8lbs5oz
Dianne	July 26	9lbs4oz
Jen	July 22	n/a
Candy	July 23	7lbs9oz
Richell	August 2	7lbs4oz
Heather	July 22	8lbs2oz
Claudia	July 13	6lbs15oz
Al (my dad)	July 20	n/a

FYI: I was one week early and Jason was three weeks late (for those that do not know this, they only let you go a week past your due date now-a-days). So with three (maximum four) weeks left I sit here and wonder, “When will she arrive?”

This weekend was eventful: Mom and Dad celebrated their 33^rd wedding anniversary on Friday; On Saturday Jason tore up the deck to fix a leak issue that we have been fighting and then put it all back together; Sunday we celebrated Dad’s 57^th Birthday; On Monday Jason started to repair the room off the deck and apply a fresh coat of paint; Tuesday morning Jason finished the last parts of the room (sans the trim) and we spent time with my folks and then went to a party at Sue’s house. We enjoyed a homemade fireworks display and then headed home.

Overall I didn’t get a lot of rest (sleep wise) as I am up constantly in the middle of the night. However, I took it very easy this weekend.