Well, my post this morning was a bit sad, but this one will have a totally different tone because at my 39 week checkup today, while there is nothing seriously wrong, Dr Staub does have a few concerns about Baby Shoup - first that he or she has a rather large noggin (all the better for that might brain), that coupled with the fact that he/she isn't really dropping and doesn't show any signs of wanting to come out on his/her own, and my slightly high blood pressure, he recommended we go ahead and "evict" Baby Shoup...TOMORROW! While it's certainly exciting, it was definitely a shock to me to be sitting there thinking Baby would be baking for a while yet, and learn that in less than 24 hours we'll be holding him/her in our arms and FINALLY be able to call him/her by their name instead of just "Baby Shoup". What a whirlwind of emotions today has been. I'm just tying up as many loose ends as I can and preparing for the fact that tomorrow, Joey, Buddy, and I will go from a family of 3 to a family of 4. We head to the hospital around 10 and should meet him/her around Noon if all goes as suddenly planned and will update as soon as we know more. As you can guess, there is a CRAZY amount of shuffle going on around here and we just can't wait to share all the excitement!
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Words that start with the letter "C"
Oh, Cookie Cookie Cookie starts with C...but unfortunately, as great of a word as Cookie is, there are some other C words on my mind lately. First, obviously is Contractions. I believe I've had the first few indicating Baby Shoup might make an unforced appearance sometime in the next 3 weeks...not long or strong enough ones (or frequent enough - maybe 2 a day for the past 2 days?) to think it will be in the next few days, but you never know so stay tuned on that front. They have not been unbearable which makes me question if they are actually contractions or not, but I'm pretty sure from all my reading that they are and I'm just blessed with a higher pain tolerance than some so hopefully it just means labor, while challenging, will be doable and won't have me screaming at Joey (any more than usual at least).
The other C word that is definitely weighing heavy on my mind is the not-so-pleasant C word that too many people close to me have had to deal with lately...Cancer. :( Dad has been sick for a while with what I originally thought was just a prolonged cold...but after the doctors called it pneumonia about 2 weeks ago, last week it landed him in the hospital at which point during an MRI, they found some "spots" they have done biopsies on. While the unofficial results aren't back, the doctors have indicated that there is cancerous tissue. I'm not even sure which kind yet; the biopsy results will hopefully give a better indication, but there are 2 spots around Dad's shoulders and one near his lungs so while it seems the doctors are leaning towards lymphoma, there is the chance of lung cancer. I'm not sure if the worry in my head and heart is the reason for my insomnia (although it's probably also largely due to the holiday weekend and my erratic sleep/napping schedule), but alas, I'm once again awake in the 3am hour. Obviously the timing sucks with Baby Shoup due to arrive any day now (or as many as 20 days from now), but since the doctors are already starting to discuss another C word - Chemo - it seems they are very positive that whatever it is, can be overcome. I love where we live, but it's times like this that make being 500 miles away from family hardest.
That said, right now it seems that more prayers are in order as we journey once more into the uncertain future, but I'm keeping my head up and we will continue to push forward and keep everyone posted on progress in both areas.
...Til next time, keep Shuffling!
The other C word that is definitely weighing heavy on my mind is the not-so-pleasant C word that too many people close to me have had to deal with lately...Cancer. :( Dad has been sick for a while with what I originally thought was just a prolonged cold...but after the doctors called it pneumonia about 2 weeks ago, last week it landed him in the hospital at which point during an MRI, they found some "spots" they have done biopsies on. While the unofficial results aren't back, the doctors have indicated that there is cancerous tissue. I'm not even sure which kind yet; the biopsy results will hopefully give a better indication, but there are 2 spots around Dad's shoulders and one near his lungs so while it seems the doctors are leaning towards lymphoma, there is the chance of lung cancer. I'm not sure if the worry in my head and heart is the reason for my insomnia (although it's probably also largely due to the holiday weekend and my erratic sleep/napping schedule), but alas, I'm once again awake in the 3am hour. Obviously the timing sucks with Baby Shoup due to arrive any day now (or as many as 20 days from now), but since the doctors are already starting to discuss another C word - Chemo - it seems they are very positive that whatever it is, can be overcome. I love where we live, but it's times like this that make being 500 miles away from family hardest.
That said, right now it seems that more prayers are in order as we journey once more into the uncertain future, but I'm keeping my head up and we will continue to push forward and keep everyone posted on progress in both areas.
...Til next time, keep Shuffling!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Just as I suspected
Call it my first glimpse into mother's intuition, but I had a feeling that at my checkup yesterday that I wouldn't be hearing any progress type of news on Baby Shoup. While I suppose I was partially wrong as he or she is head down which is definitely a great start, my doctor did confirm that in terms of dilation, nothing (nada, zip, zilch) is happening yet. Of course, he said that he's checked some women who go into labor just a day or days after no dilation, but I have a feeling that won't be me and that Baby Shoup is still snuggled up in there and not quite ready to make an appearance. That said, we will continue to wait with as much patience as possible and fill our time with all the little things that still need to be done and be thankful that our now full term baby should have a decreased chance of having problems and be fattening up to be even more healthy the longer he or she stays put.
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
Friday, May 15, 2009
The final countdown
First, please feel free to sing Europe's version of the song all day long as I'm sure I will be now that it's stuck in my head with my blog title. :) Now...on to the subject...At the first appointment with my dr, he said that based on my June 1st due date, the absolute latest he'd allow Baby Shoup to be born is June 15th...and while he or she could feasibly arrive any time between now and then as I'm officially considered full term these days, today, being the 15th of May officially marks the point where in no more than a month (though hopefully is not too stubborn staying put til the very last day possible) we will be holding our little one. Monday at my 38 week apopintment is the first time I'll have an internal exam to see if there is any progress. Other than a random sporadic mild contraction or 2, I just have a feeling Baby will be staying put for a while, although there has been plenty of movement in there lately which makes me wonder if he or she is getting ready to "head out". We'll keep you posted if anything is happening, but for now we're going to continue to finish up things here and there and even take in a Rangers game tomorrow night.
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A place for my stuff
At long last I believe almost everything for Baby Shoup is in place in the nursery and aside from a few finishing touches (hooking up the monitor, finding a rug we like, setting up the bouncer), I feel prepared. (Well, I will once a few more things are done around the house and I actually get MY hospital bag packed!) :) So, a tour, if you will...
A view from the doorway:
The closet - which still has plenty of room for boy or girl clothes obviously once we know which Baby is. :)
The dresser/changing table:
A close-up of the shelves I hung this weekend and my "Buddy Art":
A close-up of the starfish favor from my Ward Group shower complete with the tag that says, "A Star is Born. Baby Shoup - Due June 1, 2009"
...and a super close-up of one of my favorite ideas that I had for the room - a black and white photo collage of Buddy, our first "baby". I actually hope to get an 8X10 of Buddy & Baby once he or she is home and replace the big picture with that, but for now, it's ALL Buddy.
The built-in's, which still have plenty of room too - but that we know will be filled in no time!
...and a new view of the crib/nightstand (I still need to re-straighten the hearts on the wall, but had to include the picture with the new Texas Rangers receiving blanket I found to take our new little sports fan home from the hospital in - to match the onesie he or she will be sporting):
..Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
A view from the doorway:
The closet - which still has plenty of room for boy or girl clothes obviously once we know which Baby is. :)
The dresser/changing table:
A close-up of the shelves I hung this weekend and my "Buddy Art":
A close-up of the starfish favor from my Ward Group shower complete with the tag that says, "A Star is Born. Baby Shoup - Due June 1, 2009"
...and a super close-up of one of my favorite ideas that I had for the room - a black and white photo collage of Buddy, our first "baby". I actually hope to get an 8X10 of Buddy & Baby once he or she is home and replace the big picture with that, but for now, it's ALL Buddy.
The built-in's, which still have plenty of room too - but that we know will be filled in no time!
...and a new view of the crib/nightstand (I still need to re-straighten the hearts on the wall, but had to include the picture with the new Texas Rangers receiving blanket I found to take our new little sports fan home from the hospital in - to match the onesie he or she will be sporting):
..Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Showering
Last weekend was quite a busy one, starting with the shower that my fabulous Ward Group coworkers threw on Friday afternoon. It was great to have a beautiful afternoon at Shirley's for everyone to shower love on Baby Shoup (and me :) ). Gaela Renee took some great pictures with my camera which I'll to upload the rest of soon, but for now, here's one of me and one of my favorite little onesie for Baby Shoup:
I wish I'd thought to have someone take a big group picture, darnit - I always think of those things much too late!) Thanks so much to Shirley, Rob, Barbara, Pat, Gaela, Robin, Amy, Megan, Robin, Carissa, Bryan, and Shon for being such an amazing group of people to work with every day and to Stephanie, Mary, Susie, Lauren, Kathy, Essie, Jennifer, Jane, and Candy for coming out to help us celebrate! I'm so amazingly lucky and I know mom even mentioned she worries a little less about me being so far away from home (even though, yes, I am 30) with such great people surrounding me.
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I also had a shower on Saturday, but don't have any pictures on my camera so I'm going to wait until I get those from everyone else to post about that shower.
...and I'm on the last load of laundry for the time being and hope to get a few little projects done in the nursery this weekend and might just have completed nursery pictures by the end of the weekend. What a great Mothers Day present that would be for myself. :)
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
I wish I'd thought to have someone take a big group picture, darnit - I always think of those things much too late!) Thanks so much to Shirley, Rob, Barbara, Pat, Gaela, Robin, Amy, Megan, Robin, Carissa, Bryan, and Shon for being such an amazing group of people to work with every day and to Stephanie, Mary, Susie, Lauren, Kathy, Essie, Jennifer, Jane, and Candy for coming out to help us celebrate! I'm so amazingly lucky and I know mom even mentioned she worries a little less about me being so far away from home (even though, yes, I am 30) with such great people surrounding me.
---------------------------------
I also had a shower on Saturday, but don't have any pictures on my camera so I'm going to wait until I get those from everyone else to post about that shower.
...and I'm on the last load of laundry for the time being and hope to get a few little projects done in the nursery this weekend and might just have completed nursery pictures by the end of the weekend. What a great Mothers Day present that would be for myself. :)
...Til next time, Keep Shuffling!
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