one.

ONE DAY!!

In less than twenty-four hours I will officially have a baby daughter.  I may be starting to freak out, just a little bit.

She woke me up super early again today and wouldn't let me fall back asleep, so from 3 to 7 I just sort of wandered around and played solitaire on my phone.  I think tomorrow will be a lot like that, too.  With less wandering and more drugs.

I now have a revised to-do list.  I've removed everything that I can't possibly get done before the Nugget gets here.

  [1] send Nettie's b-day present.
  [2] pack hospital bag for myself, Nugget, and John.

I think I can handle this one!  :)

I realize that I don't necessarily need to pack anything for the baby.  But I just really, really love all her sweet little baby clothes and I want some of them there just in case they let me dress her.  [And also, if she's miraculously healthy and I can bring her straight home, I'd hate for her to be naked.]

two.

With only two days left before we have a baby and our whole world changes, we were kind of expecting things to be nice and uneventful.

We really need to stop expecting anything at all, ever.

I woke up sooooo early Tuesday morning.  John's alarm went off at 5, but he was already in the shower so I had to roll out of bed and waddle over to his dresser to turn it off.  Then I went back to bed, fully expecting to go back to sleep, but Nugget had other plans.  Apparently, from five to eight-thirty is the perfect time for exercising when you're a full-term baby trapped inside the womb.  So I was awake when John left for work, I was awake when my dad left for work, and I was awake when my mom left for work.

That's when we saw it.  My mom was leaving and I was locking the door behind her when she said, "Did you know you have a flat tire?"

No.  No, I did not.

 I guess I drove over a nail at some point on Monday and my tire was not a good sport about it.  John and I did notice a little {!} light come on, but it's still a new car so we didn't know exactly what it meant.  We've since checked the manual and found that it means low tire pressure.

Luckily, I had pretty much nothing to do all morning.  Then, when my dad and John came home around 11 they filled the tire up with air and John drove it down to a Discount Tire [where they patch tires for FREEEEE!!]

Then, since it was going to take longer than John could be gone from work, I had to get in his nasty gross bug truck and go pick him up.  It really is the nastiest car I think I've ever been in.  It just feels like you're sitting in a gross old fly-swatter. 

After that exciting adventure, my mom came home from work and we went out to the Temple to get in one last visit before I never have time anymore.  It was really nice, I'm glad we went.  I was contemplating playing sick all day yesterday so I could just lay in bed, but it was good to be there instead.

My mom and I also decided to do our Visiting Teaching, since I'll never have time to again [in this ward, at least] after Thursday.  We didn't read the lesson, so it was really just visiting and no teaching.  But we did bring them some delicious bread from Great Harvest as a treat.  [This stuff is good, if you can get to a GH you need to at least go and sample the Berry Cheesecake Roll.  But I promise you - if you sample it you're going to have to buy at least two loaves.]

We didn't get home from all our errands until about 5:30, but it was SO FREAKING HOT all day that I decided I needed to go swimming.  Our pool has been so nice this year, not only because I'm so fat and miserable pregnant in the Vegas summer, but because we got some cool solar pads that keep the water right around 85*.  It's warm enough that you can just walk straight into the water, but cool enough that you're still saved from the heat!

Finally, I made John go to Walmart with me for some random last-minute things [even though I forgot like four other things so I have to go back] and then we had Bahama Buck's sno cones!!!  I absolutely LOVE sno cones.  I've really missed the Rexburg Sno Shack this year, since it was conveniently located on my way home from work, and I made sure I ALWAYS had a dollar in my car.  Bahama Buck's isn't as cheap as the Sno Shack, but their ice is aaahhh-mazing.  It's so fine, it really is like eating snow.  AND you get a color-changing spoon to eat it with!  I haven't seen one of those since they came in cereal boxes.  Seriously, I'm easily impressed.  But I think I'll be a pretty regular customer over there for the rest of the summer.

I still haven't completed much of anything on my to-do list.  And, really, at this point I'm just not going to worry about it.  I will eventually finish packing my hospital bag and charge all our electronic devices.  But that's probably as far as it will go.

I may still be in denial that I'm going to have a baby in just over 24 hours...

Oh, and we did eventually pick my car up from the tire shop.  And it really was free.  They just handed me the keys and a receipt and sent me on my way.  I didn't even have a chance to ask them about new tires for John's car.  Darn.

three.

Today I have a to-do list.  It's probably going to take me more than this week to get through it, but I have to get as much as possible done before Thursday morning.

  [1] sort baby clothes, pack or wash depending on size/destination
  [2] disassemble and paint baby's crib
  [3] have laptop wiped clean, and possibly updated $$
  [4] get travel-size toiletries for hospital
  [5] buy a new, nice smelling lotion for hospital
  [6] send Nettie's b-day present (two weeks late, I'm a bad friend.)
  [7] print, sign, and fax papers for John's scholarship and financial aid
  [8] clean our room, sort and pack/donate clothes
  [9] pack a hospital bag for myself and a little for John and Nugget
[10] prepare ALL important documents to take to hospital
[11] make a list of family and friends to text when Baby Nugget arrives!
[12] finish the pregnancy smash book
[13] take BFF belly pic with Julia and her non-existent baby bump
[14] get rid of this massive cold sore so I don't look like a zombie in Nugget's first pictures
[15] charge and pack cameras, even though we'll just end up using our phones
[16] finalize a birth announcement
[17] PICK A MIDDLE NAME!!!
[18] eat lots of delicious food before Mama H makes us all go on a diet

There.  I think that just about covers it.

Ready. Set. Go!

four.

Today at church was fast and testimony meeting.  [If none of that makes sense, you can go here to learn more.]  It's always an especially spiritual day, because you can almost see the faith and testimony coming out of everyone as the stand and bear witness of Christ and the Gospel.  But today was even better.  This month our ward fasted and prayed on our behalf.  For the Baby Nugget.  We have felt so much love and support from the members of our ward throughout this entire journey, but today really was the icing on the cake.

There was such a strong Spirit today, and we can't help but be overwhelmed by the gratitude we feel for our fellow ward member's participation.  We have definitely felt the beginnings of the calm and peaceful feeling that we know everyone is praying for us to have throughout this week and the days to come.  Our little girl is so lucky to have so many people in her life who already love her enough to spend an entire day thinking about her and praying for her health.

___________________

Yesterday, John and I went on our last official date as a childless couple.  We put on real clothes [which is a big step for me since I've been living in sweatpants] and went out to a nice dinner and a movie.  I'm not much of a conversationalist lately if there's food in front of me, but we spent the night talking about non-baby-related topics.  It was a much needed break!  We saw the movie White House Down, which is good, but we probably won't rush out to buy it, or even rent it, as soon as it comes out.  The action is really good, and there are a a couple twists that keep things interesting.  By the time we got home we were exhausted!!  Poor John's still recovering from his bee attack, and the benadryl he took before dinner was kicking in.  I'm just lazy and pregnant, so I can pretty much fall asleep on demand.  But we came home and got to fall asleep at the same time, which is always a nice end to a nice date.  :)

I've been working on some birth announcements for the Nugget, but not knowing her middle name is making it a little tricky.  John told me I can choose between Charlotte and Elizabeth.  I'm still stuck on Clementine.  [It's just so much cuter!!]  I'm really hoping that John will see her for the first time and think oh my gosh, sydney has been right all along! this baby needs to be named clementine!!  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  Because I really don't want to start all over on the announcements.

five.

You guys are killin' me with that middle name quiz.  The correct answer is CLEMENTINE!  John seems to think that just because Charlotte is winning that it has to be her name.  He's wrong.

And I know, I know,  Clementine is a strange name.  But people, I'm strange.  Don't you all know that?  Haha.  Really though, it sounds the best with the rest of her name... which I've decided we're not revealing on the internet until she's here.  Just imagine a one-syllable "R" first name, and any randomly generated middle name, and then Orr.  It just doesn't work.  Her name has to be Clementine.

She even likes it best.  I think...  I'm still not sure if kicking me in the ribs means "YAY! I love it!" or "What? No! Are you freaking crazy?!"  She's a tricky little Nugget to figure out.

Anyway, aside from the Great Naming War of 2013, we are still just puttering away, counting the days until our little Nugget arrives.  FIVE.  Makes me kind of nervous.  Enough that I don't ever really want to wake up in the morning because it means we're that much closer when I go back to sleep.  Except I still have a mile-long list of things to do before Thursday.  So, today, my plan is to re-organize all the baby clothes, pack what I'm 99% sure we won't need, and finally wash the rest of it.  I need to start sorting and packing my own clothes, too.  For some reason I keep forgetting that we'll be moving as soon as we can, and that John has to move in August.  We're not packed at all.  Besides the storage unit... which I guess doesn't really count.  Unfortunately.

I've been trying to figure out this whole "birth plan" thing that's sweeping the nation.  It seems pretty interesting, and to make it easy for lazy-bums like me they even have birth plan generators.  The first half of them are all about labor and delivery methods.  Which I don't technically need.  My plan for going into labor consists of getting into the hospital ASAP and having a c-section.  Other than that, we'll stick with the scheduled one at 6:30am on the 11th.

But there are so many decisions about after delivery, for the baby, that make me feel like I need to write down at least most of my opinions to go over with my doctor before the big day.  We know she'll need a lot of tests and scans and evaluations done pretty much right away.  And I'm really just going to let the doctors do whatever they need to as far as that goes.  What I'm starting to really think about are all the things they do on healthy babies... like when to cut the cord, and the Hep B and vitamin K shots.  I feel like I still get an opinion on those things.  [I get an opinion on everything, I know, but these are relatively easy decisions I can comfortably wrap my head around now.  Her heart procedures and all that goes with that are going to take a LOT more professional input.]  Sometimes I get nervous that my doctor will laugh at me for worrying about these things when we have much bigger issues to get through, but then I remember that everyone gets to worry about these things and just because I have those bigger issues doesn't mean I should skimp on the little ones.

Well, I'm sure there's plenty more I wanted to document today, but right now Baby Nugget is having a party, so I'm going to go float around in the pool.  She can't kick so hard in there.  [And I'll try to get a little bit of color on my skin before I start spending all daylight hours at the hospital.]

name the nugget.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

the waiting game.

So far today I've been on hold for 16 minutes with the Welfare Customer Service department.  And I have a suspicious feeling that they're going to tell me to call someone else to get the information I need.

That's the kind of waiting I can handle.  Because I know eventually they have to answer my call. 

Last night I was talking to John about how different things would be if we didn't know exactly when our little nugget is coming.  Waiting around for the 11th at 6:30am isn't really so bad.  I know I have the better part of ten days left to get things done.  Waiting around for my water breaking, contractions, and labor pains that could come anytime before, on, or after the 20th - that's a different story.  I would be an absolute mess of emotions.  Again, I feel like I'm cheating at this whole pregnancy thing. 

I feel like I've had it pretty easy.  Even with her heart defect.  My battle with morning sickness was more of a playground-fight between kindergarten girls.  I've gained a bit of weight, but not too much more than all the websites say you should/can/will - I even have one pair of jeans that will still button.  I feel her kick all.the.time.  And the past couple months I've spent at least two hours a week listening to her heartbeat, so there hasn't been any anxiety about how she's doing in there.  I've seen her cute little face and watched her kick around and practice breathing more than the average mom gets to.  Last week the nurse went through and counted all her fingers and toes for us and pointed out that she was sucking on her bottom lip.  [SO cute!!]  They've also given us a couple looks at her face with the 3D ultrasound, which is equal parts freaky and awesome.  When we go in to the hospital on the 11th and they wheel us into the operating room we're going to have an entire team of doctors and nurses ready and waiting for our girl to make her grand, albeit gory, entrance into the world. 

I really don't think I can complain, or say that pregnancy is miserable.  I'm definitely not the biggest fan of all this - and we're 100% for sure waiting several YEARS before we try all this again - but I can't say I hate it.

That is, of course, until next time when I have to WAIT to have normally scheduled ultrasounds, and WAIT [and pay extra] to see her face on 3D, and WAIT to go into labor, and WAIT [and push] to have a baby.

[Update:  I know you're all dying to know how long it took me to get the one measly ID # from the Welfare office... one hour and three phone calls.]