"Be Anxious for Nothing"

So this weekend was fairly eventful. It seems that most weekends now-a-days are. It was good because we did get to do some fun stuff and we got to check a few things off our to-do list.

Friday was an off-Friday. I love off-Fridays so much. It's like getting a present every other week. So awesome. We spent the day doing house stuff. Nothing huge - did some cleaning and we spent a lot of time going through pictures to put in frames that we bought for the shelf above the TV. And we spent the evening being lazy which was much needed for both of us. Nick worked 60-something hours last week - one day he was at work until 3AM, so he was tired. And I'm just always tired :)

Saturday Aunt Jan and Darryl flew in to surprise Grandma and Grandpa and spend a little mini-Christmas/Grandma's birthday here. I picked them up at the airport, went to Babies R Us (yeah, I'm pretty sure baby is getting very spoiled), and we had dinner with them later that night. They left Sunday so we didn't get to see them as much as we would have liked, but I'm thankful for the time we had :) My family is awesome.

Saturday afternoon we had part 1 of our Prep for Childbirth class at TMC. To put it NICELY - it horrified me. The videos they made us watch really grossed me out, the statistics about Cesarean deliveries was shocking, and I just felt really helpless about everything. I got a lot of good information, but it made me feel very not in control when you look at all the things that could go not according to plan. I'm not really worried about the pain - I know it is going to hurt, but I know millions of women have done this before me - I will survive :) I just have a certain idea of what I want and I am very afraid that for one reason or another I won't get that. So yeah, not feeling so great about all that after that class.

But Sunday morning in church I felt like the message was prepared just for me. We went over Phillipians 4:6-7:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

That has always been one of my favorite verses, and it was such a great reminder. So, I gave it to God: I'm not going to worry, or stress or obsess over how things probably won't go the way I want them to. The things that I am able to control I will, but the rest is going to happen the way God intends for it to happen. And in the end, as long as I end up with a healthy baby - what does it really matter?

So I was able to attend part 2 of the child birth class on Sunday in a much better state of mind :) I learned what I could and now I just want to get the whole thing over with.

After class we went to Zinburger (yummy!!!!), ate way too much food, and then went to Winter Haven to see the Christmas lights. It was very crowded! And it really wasn't cold out - I brought my jacket but ended up carrying it the whole time. But the lights were pretty as always and I love walking around the neighborhood with Nick. It is a very fun tradition :)

Monday I had a doctor appointment. This every 2 weeks thing is a little much, but its nice to have the peace of mind. This appointment wasn't as routine as the others though- I said some bad words and caused some more doctor appointments for myself...

So I wasn't worried about anything, but I was trying to answer the doctor's questions honestly...

She asked if I'd been having any problems. Well, I haven't been having problems, but I have had heartburn really bad some nights and I've been having some chest pains. Bad words #1: "Chest pains." I thought the chest pains were probably from heartburn, but the doctor wants to treat them as a separate issue.

Then she asked if baby had been moving around and all that stuff. Bad words #2: "Not as much." The problem is that I am used to her bouncing off the wall. Apparently the rule of thumb is that I should feel movement 4-6 times an hour. I usually feel movement 50 times an hour (or more). Baby moves constantly. But ever since Saturday she hadn't moved as much. She was probably still moving the 4-6 times an hour (but I wasn't counting) and I know on the weekends I don't notice it as much. So if it was just the weekend, I probably wouldn't have said anything. Except yesterday when I was at work she wasn't her usual energizer bunny self. She usually wears me out she moves so much. So I wasn't necessarily worried, but she wasn't moving as much so when the doctor asked I figured I should tell her that.

And then bad words #3: "Abdominal Pain." Sunday night I was having some pretty bad pain. It felt like contractions/cramps without the up/down in intensity - it was a constant pain. So I didn't think they were contractions since they didn't fluctuate, but I have a very cautious doctor :) I said it was probably because I was walking around a lot, but they always want to check things to be safe.

SO - all my no-no words resulted in:
1) A scheduled appointment with a cardiologist. That should be fun. I'm not worried - I've never had heart problems before, but as I said - my doctor is very cautious.
AND
2) An ultrasound, baby heart monitoring, and contraction monitoring immediately following my appointment. It was kind of funny because when I got to TMC I found that one of my friends from my soccer team that is a nurse was working so she took care of me :) Ultrasound showed (an adorable baby) with my fluid levels looking good. I also found out that she isn't in the position that I thought she was. Her head is down (hooray!) which I had kind of figured, but she always sticks out on the right side - I had always thought that was her back or shoulder. Apparently her back is actually on the left side and its her legs that she keeps poking out. Really shouldn't be a surprise I guess :) But it was funny to find that out. The heart monitoring showed baby's heart rate looks good, and the contraction monitoring showed that I am having contractions. THAT resulted in me having my cervix checked (twice) which is NOT comfortable. My cervix is closed and hard - I'm not going into labor yet - hooray! And they took some cells that they are supposed to test to see if it looks like I will go into labor soon - I don't know how it all works, but again - I'm not worried. I'm expecting the results to come back saying she is definitely not coming in the next few weeks. I mean - she's got 9 weeks until her due date and I've always thought she was going to be late.

The one other result of that appointment was that I do have another ultrasound scheduled for Monday. This one is not a result of my big mouth - I guess my uterus is measuring small for this stage, so they want to check baby and take some measurements. I'm not exactly sure what they are looking for - I'm not sure if she is small, or if she just doesn't have much space in there. The doctor said I have nothing to be worried about and I'm not going to be worried. There's nothing I can do about any of this stuff and I trust God to take care of me and baby. I'm done stressing :) I'm going to be "anxious for nothing." :)

I hadn't intended for this update to be so long, but I guess I had a lot to say :) Now you are all caught up!

I hope everyone has a great week and enjoy the last few days of prep before Christmas!