Don't worry, I'll have much more to say later, but I have a little announcement to make! My very dear friend, some of you may remember her as my Matron of Honor in our wedding, is a new Mom! Yesterday, November 25, 2008 at 2:11pm Jackson James Trice was welcomed into the world by his Mom and Dad Jennifer and Scott Trice. He weighed in at 8lbs 3oz and 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well. Ok, now I'm crying again! This has just been so wonderful going through this with my best friend. It's also crazy that this means our little guy is that much closer to joining us all. I just can't wait until either me or Jen are ready to travel to get our sons together.


Love you all! Happy Thanksgiving!

Another week closer!

Another week gone by! We have been super productive this past week and it's getting real exciting around here. And exhausting! As you can see above we now have a car seat so we can bring baby home from the hospital and a playpen that will give him a place to sleep near my bed for a while. We have yet to get a crib but that's on the "t0-do" list for the coming weeks. It's been nice to have our house in one piece to allow us to get these things and enjoy this time anticipating our little man.

I'm feeling pretty good. My body is going through some things, that although other women warned me, I just can't believe are happening! Really nothing bad, it could be worse. All the adverse effects are far outweighed by feeling this little person inside. He is getting BIG! Last night I was lying in bed and all the sudden, it's like he stretched out as much as he could. I had his head on my bladder and his legs WAY UP in my rib cage. It was not the most pleasant sensation in the world so we had to have a little mother to son chat. We've got to share this body for another five weeks or so, and this just won't do if he thinks he can just break my ribs whenever he wants! Right? Well, we'll see if he listens. It's been fun feeling him move around. It's not just little bumps and kicks every once and while anymore. We can really feel various body parts moving about or pushing out and it seems almost like constant squirming.

We had a doctor's appointment this morning and everything is going along perfect. Everything is right where it needs to be, nothing to report. Heart rate perfect, size perfect, moving great, and cooking away. My contractions are still coming on a bit stronger, sometimes slightly painful, but for the most part, just still tightening everything. Hard to believe that we just have a little over a month. We have continued with our birthing class every Thursday evening. We got the tour of the maternity ward this past week. We got to go through at the perfect time. There were babies in the nursery for me to stare at, and we even witnessed a new Dad coming out of a room to announce to waiting relatives that "HE'S HERE." I cried my freaking eyes out. I tried to stay composed being that we were in a large group, but I mean, come on! It was so surreal to think of what is coming for us in that place. We've also been practicing relaxation and massage techniques for the big day. I'm getting nervous! The bigger he gets, the more I'm like "I have to do what?" I have always said I would like to try without an epidural, but it's sounding nicer and nicer and it gets closer. We'll see, I'm leaving my options open.

I think that's all for right now. We're heading off to Michigan this weekend to see my Mom's show and then again next weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving at the cottage. I'm looking forward to Thursday and Friday off of work. I've been saving up my time off for the maternity leave that I have not had ANY time off in quite a while. My body is feeling it, too. So, Brian and I are going to hang out and have a quiet Thanksgiving day in our new house with a turkey dinner and football. And then Friday head up to the cottage to see the family. And yes, my doctor said I could go.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from Patti, Brian, Abby, and Baby Bishop

Moving into our house of 8 months!

Well, it's been a longer road than we thought it would be. I really thought this would get done sooner. Who was I fooling!? But here it is! This weekend, we touched everything up, pulled off all the blue tape and started moving back into the two rooms that were damaged nearly two and half months ago with Hurricane Ike! It's been a real learning experience for both of us. And now this weekend Brian is fighting the same cold I was griping about a week ago. We worked through it, though. No time not to. Baby Bishop is on the way. Today we plan on cleaning the rest of the house that has had to take the slack from the part under construction and then FINALLY go buy a crib and other necessary baby furniture that our guy will need in just 6 weeks (give or take).

I have posted a short video on the progress of those two rooms. Abby is giving you the grand reopening tour! She is so happy to have her room back, too, as you can see on the video. This has been hard on her and she has become just a little neurotic, but I think she'll get over it. As you can see, she is settling right back into her room. I mean...our guest bedroom that is reserved for family when they come visit Baby Boy Bishop...yeah, that's it, the guest's room!

Other than our house getting put back into shape, not a whole lot going on here. We're resting a lot when we can being as Brian's got my old cold and I'm getting more and more pregnant by the day. The baby is thriving, though! He's rolling all over and has found my right rib cage to be a fun toy. Recently, I have found that sleeping is getting harder and harder to do comfortably. I don't think there are enough pillows in the greater Chicago Area to get me totally comfortable. The worst part is any time I have to move I need to be awake to do it! I can't just move with ease in my sleep anymore! I wake up with an entire leg asleep, or achy shoulder, and it takes quite an effort to flip over. But, at least I can fall right back asleep and I'm taking advantage of these last couple months of sleep!

The Braxton-Hicks contractions are getting a bit more intense, and I think it's the cold weather. I'm still trying to exercise some, and that means walking Abby around the neighborhood. The colder it is, the more my stomach tightens up with contractions and I need to stop every so often. Still nothing painful, or anything, just gets my attention. Abby doesn't seem to mind. She'll just stop and sniff a fence post or something until Mom is able to walk again.

Our birthing class is still in progress. I can't believe Brian posted our quiz from last week! We got 100% by the way! Last week he started learning how to do different massage techniques. All I can say is...HOMEWORK HOMEWORK HOMEWORK! No more horror movies, and by that I mean birthing videos.

I think that's it! Hope all is well with everyone! We love you all and keep in touch!

The Bishops

Birthing Class Quiz!

Are YOU ready for a baby? Take our birthing class quiz and find out for yourself!

Just send $9.95 to the address below and you can be well on your way to being parents!

Or just take the quiz that Patti and I had to take on Day 2 of Baby class:






WARNING! EWWY, GOOEY, PREGNANCY WORDS AND PHRASES AHEAD!


Proceed at your own risk!






FILL IN THE MISSING WORDS:

1. A baby lives inside of his/her mother's _______________, a strong balloon shaped muscle that contracts during labor.

2. A mother's ________ must _________ to 10 centimeters so that her baby can be born. It must also completely __________, which means thin out.

3. A baby turns and drops further down in the pelvis before labor begins, usually during the last month of pregnancy. This is called ___________.

4. When a pregnant woman feels like she has to immediately prepare for the baby, possibly by cleaning the house or setting up the crib, she may be experiencing the ________, which is a sign of pre-labor.

5. If the bag of waters, or _____________, breaks, a woman can expect to be in active labor within 24 hours.

6. Forceful contractions, occuring at regular intervals during labor push the baby further down in the pelvis.

7. When babies turn inside the pelvis during active labor it is called ________. Most babies turn to face their mothers' backs, called the _______ position. If they turn and face their mothers' fronts they are in the ________ position, which may cause a more difficult labor.

8. The baby's osition relative to the spines of the pelvis is called ______________.

9. Babies skulls are made up of five separate ________ that mold together to help them fit through the birth canal, or the _________, for birth.

10. A baby's head crowns at the +3 or +4 pelvic station, when it no longer slips back between contractions.

11. The _____________ is clamped and cut after birth because it no longer supplies the baby with food and oxygen.

12. The third stage of labor is marked by the delivery of the _________, a special organ created specifically for pregnancy.

13. Breastfeeding speeds the process of ___________, when the uterus contracts and shrinks.





Okay, now that you've survived the quiz, go back and fill in the blanks like a Mad Libs! Much, much more fun the second time around...trust me.


- Brian!

Nesting

Well, I can't believe I'm blogging! I was so proud of myself for not only keeping up with my email but now being on Facebook, of all things. Now I have to keep up with a blog. Hopefully, between phone, email, Facebook, and now a blog we can all feel connected! What on earth did we do before all this technology. Sometimes I do miss good, old fashioned letters.

Baby boy Bishop is growing steadily. He's constantly on the move in there. I think he has quite the sense of humor, actually. It's starting to get pretty interesting the way he reacts and interacts with me and what's going on around me. If I push him around a little, he'll push right back plus some. He also seems to react to Brian and Abby in very different ways. Brian tends to calm him. As soon as Brian reaches in, he chills out. He reacts pretty strongly to Abby on the other hand. I think Abby is quite curious as to what the heck is going on with her Mom's body. She looks at my tummy very inquisitively. If we're lying on the couch or bed together she'll gently lay her head on my belly like she's listening. That's usually about when Little Man Bishop will kick hard right into her like, "Hey, this is my space right now!" Abby is really gentle with me right now. She has gotten out of the habit of crawling on me to cuddle which I sort of miss. She's going to be such a good dog to have around with a little one.

As far as our home renovations go! We have spent this weekend working hard on painting Little Man Bishop's room and the spare bedroom that were damaged (and FINALLY rebuilt) after the storm. After much soul searching, we have started to paint Little Man's room blue. I know, I know! We always said we weren't going to do that. But we do want a blue room and why not make it his? We'll get some pictures up soon. It's a nice blue, some gray in it. We had to be careful not to make it too "little boy blue," or Carolina blue, or anything like that. The other room ended up a bit more brown than I thought it would, but we still like it. We were going for a bit more neutral and warm for our guests that we hope to have many of.

Painting has been quite an experience this weekend. With me being eight and half months pregnant, and having helped paint some rooms in my parents house years ago, and Brian who has never painted a room in his life. We're learning well though, and no real fights to speak of. We wanted me to stay out of the fumes as much as possible even though we got low odor paint. So, I got stuck doing all the prep work, like washing walls, and taping. This proved to be quite painful by day two! I did do some painting. Unfortunately the painting I helped with were the rails so I was bending down for that, too. There are muscles in my back and hips that I forgot existed! A few hours ago I finally had to throw in the towel and leave it to my very capable husband to work on it some. It doesn't help that I've been fighting a bit of a cold, too. I just want to help so bad! I'm nesting for goodness sake! My house is in shambles around me, I'm about to have a baby and I just want to help put it back together! But, I have to stay realistic of my limitations and rest and take care of the Little Man. Not to mention, I'm afraid of how I might feel tomorrow when I have to return to work! Yikes!

For those of you keeping track, I have approximately seven weeks to go, give or take. Everything is going well and normal. My check ups have been unremarkable, perfect in fact, right on schedule. I have been having more and more frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions. These are something else! Not painful, and totally normal for this far along. Just kind of freaky how hard my entire stomach gets.

We've also started our "Birth, Babies, and beyond" class over the past two weeks. This has been fun. I haven't learned too much, yet. I mean, I have five nieces and nephews by sisters who talk, and I work in healthcare! We did get to watch "the video" last week which freaked me out a bit. I am looking forward to the next couple weeks, which according to the agenda, seem to focus on how my partner can help me during the birth process, including massage techniques! I'm hoping they give Brian lots and lots of homework!

Well, I think that's about it for now! We'll figure out how to get some video from our new camera on here and I'll have Brian show me how to post some pictures. Hope this finds everyone well!

Love!

A few pictures to tide you over: