It's Friday, and I STILL Have a Baby in my Belly!!!

So I was definitely thinking that this week would be the week we would meet our little Aliyah. The week is RUNNING OUT THOUGH! :(

I had a Dr. appointment on Wednesday morning. Dr. Odum said that things looked like they were moving along, so she wanted to give Little a few more days to come on her own, before inducing. So, that's what we're doing....waiting to see if she'll make an appearance on her own! I feel kind of flustered because, again, Dr. Odum warned me of my "tiny pelvis" (she also explained it for the first time to Beto, since he was able to come with me this time), and the probability being very small of me being able to deliver a "larger" baby through my "tiny pelvis." She even mentioned the dreaded idea of a C-Section, saying that if the baby ends up being too big, that's how she'll have to be delivered! UGH! :( So, needless to say, knowing that she's growing bigger and bigger with each day that passes by, I grow more and more anxious/worried! Oh well. I know that it's all in God's hands and He has the perfect time and way for her to make her way into this world! Of course, I'm just thinking of all the what-if's! We're trusting God for His best though, and know His will WILL be done!

My mom arrived on Sunday night. We've been going-going ever since she got here! She's of course so thankful that she made it before the baby came, now it's just a matter of getting the baby out! She's having me try all the tricks in the book! We've been on our feet constantly, gone on many walks, and even JOGGED by the lake! I'm pretty sure that Aliyah will come when she's ready, and apparently she's just not ready yet! Anyway, my mom is so EXCITED and anxiously awaiting (as are the rest of us) the arrival of her first grand-baby! My dad arrives tomorrow night, so maybe she's waiting on him to get here? Who knows!

COME OUT ALREADY LITTLE ONE! We're all ready for you! xo

On another note...

Just for the records - last night was the first really not-so-pleasant night of this pregnancy! I am very thankful it didn't happen until now, so late in the game, because OH-MY-GOODNESS, it was awful!

My body felt like it weighed more than a ton of bricks. I would start out on my right side, wake up a little while later feeling like someone had beaten my whole body with a bat; switch sides and fall asleep again. I would then wake up on the other side, again, feeling like while I had been asleep someone had secretly crept into our room and beaten me up! (Not that I actually know what it feels like to be beaten up, but I'm just imaging that that's what it feels like!! Ha Ha!!) It was SO terrible! And of course, when I went to switch sides, it took me an eternity, because my whole body was so achy. So then I would try out my back, but couldn't lay flat because it pushed her into my ribs even more, which was SO uncomfortable and painful. I could not get comfortable for the life of me. Every part of me hurt! Not to mention, I felt so weighed down that some parts of me even felt numb! It was terrible. I was SO glad to wake up this morning and just GET OUT OF BED!

I can't believe that some women have horrible nights like these, starting way earlier. Thankfully I only have a week or so left of this! I TRULY hope tonight is better!!

September Babies...

First off, congrats to Ben and Ashia on the arrival of their beautiful daughter Austin Rivers (born 9/17 - 6 lbs 15 oz)! Love you guys and am so very happy for you all! :)

Secondly, just want to update quick...

Yesterday was my 37 week check up. Turns out that I have a small pelvic bone, and won't be able to deliver a large baby. Thus, now that Aliyah is full-term, my Dr. wants her out right away! So, if I haven't had her by my appointment next week, they're going to schedule an induction. The Dr. is estimating and hoping that she'll be around 6 or 6 1/2 lbs. Any larger than that can be a little bit risky for me and the baby. More so for the baby I would think, as she could suffer shoulder damage or a pinched nerve on her way out! =/ ANYWAY, all this to say that we will definitely be having this baby soon, if not on her own time, then by induction. My prayer is that she decides to just come on her own so that we don't have to be induced at all. Please pray with us for that!!! Tuesday would work best for us, if you really want to get specific with those prayers!! Ha! Mom gets here Sunday night, and Beto can't miss work on Monday's. So Tuesday the 22nd would be a FABULOUS day for her to be born! :)

I can't believe this could potentially be our last week without her here. I guess she'll most definitely be a September baby! :) We can't wait to meet her and love her and welcome her into our hearts and home!

FULL TERM TODAY! Yay!

Ok, so today I am 37 weeks! Woohoo! We made it full-term already. Now, we're basically ok with her coming any time from now until whenever! :) (Again, hopefully sooner rather than later! We'll see!)

We spent the weekend painting her room (FINALLY), and fixing things up a bit. It's not completely finished yet - but we made lots of progress! Most importantly, her walls aren't blue anymore - MUCH to my relief! :) We're ordering her crib this week (kind of late, I know), so we should have it soon. Once we get that thing in there, the room will look much better.

What else? Oh yes! Mom comes on Sunday! I am very excited about that! It will be great to have the extra support and help around the house! (Not that Beto isn't doing a phenomenal job, my Mom will just do better! Lol!) :)

Here are some recent pictures I have taken of some of her things (a closet update), and of us working on the room...

Got the adapter for the car seat to attach to my stroller...so that's all ready to go! :)

This is a picture of her closet, post-baby shower! We were so blessed!

Painting over her blue walls!!

I must have been being bossy to get a look like that! Ha!!!

Her bugaboo. Bassinet is all ready for her!

Her bag is packed and ready to go, along with her car seat!

Our Mini-Vacation Get-a-Way

So, as you all know very well, last weekend we went away! We drove about 4 hours to a place called Chincoteague Island, Virginia. We left early Friday morning and arrived at around 10:30 or 11:00 am. Jason and Kristin had gone up a day early, and Anthony, Cam, and Sofi drove up the same morning as us. We all stayed until Sunday evening.

We had the nicest time! It was so fun to just be away, and to relax on the beach. I am so very, very thankful that we took the time to do it.

We had taken Aliyah's car seat, for the "just-in-case" - but thankfully, it came home with us, empty, just as we had taken it! Ha! Although, Saturday morning I did have my very first actual contraction (figured it wasn't a braxton anymore, since it was much more uncomfortable). I did get a little worried, but it didn't last long, and wasn't re-occurring.

Here are just a *few* of the millions of pictures we took! :)

Grieving the Loss of Someone Special

We are back from our weekend get-a-way! It was SO wonderful, and I will definitely be following this blog in the days to come with pictures and more details about our trip. We had a great time.

Unfortunately, today the only news I have to share deeply saddens my heart. Yesterday (September 7th) my sister-in-law's (Susy) Dad, Luis Beltranena, passed away at the age of 60. He had battled with a rare form of blood cancer for the past 8 months or so, and yesterday he went home to be with the Lord. Praise God that he is no longer suffering and is now in a much better place than the rest of us. My heart only aches for those he left behind; some of whom include his wife, Pat, and their three daughters, Elissa (Her husband, Cristian, and their two little ones, Johann and Annika), Susy (and Graham), and Patti.

I am so thankful that Susy was able to be there with him all of last week, and that my brother flew back to Guate just in time to go be with her and the rest of the family as well.

I pray that our Heavenly Father be with them in this time of mourning and sorrow. May He be their comfort and their strength. I praise you Lord in these times because I know that when a child of yours goes home to be with you, it's not 'goodbye forever', it's merely a 'see-you-again-soon'! Thank you Jesus for salvation and the promise of eternal life that we have in You.

The funeral was this morning. Please be praying for their family.

35 Weeks and a SUPER Special Visit!

35 weeks now! Wow!

We had an ultrasound on Tuesday morning and got to see our baby girl. She looks SO big! Ha! It's so funny to see. She had grown so so much since the last one we had done. Her hands were so much bigger, her feet, the length of her spine, her face...everything! She was adorable to me. They were able to estimate that she's weighing about 5 lb 2 oz (crazy to think that I have a 5 lb human inside of me! lol!) Anyway, everything looked and measured great. She is head-down, ready to greet the world. So we'll wait and see what happens in the next month. Thankfully I am not feeling miserable at all...so I'm pretty ok with just waiting it out. Whenever she's ready - I'm ready! :-)

Yesterday was a FABULOUS day! Dave, Laura, and Gianna (my first, and original "Little") were down in Baltimore, and we met up with them for a few hours. They had driven down on Tuesday afternoon, gone to an Orioles game at Camden Yards, and then spent the day with us on Wednesday before heading home. It was SO nice to see them! We met them at their hotel and then walked down to the Inner Harbor and walked around the water. It was a beautiful day! We then went and had some lunch (at a restaurant right there in the Harbor area). They hold such a dear and special place in our hearts, and we are so thankful for the friendship and love they have shown us throughout the years. Gianna is already 4 years old (crazzzzy!) and is as beautiful as ever!!! It was so much fun to hang out and get all caught up. Can't wait until next time, when they can meet our Little One!

Gianna Love <3

Baby Shower Blessing!

Last Saturday (August 29th) was my Baby Shower - put on by my wonderful friends, Camille and Jess. It was SO nice! They didn't miss a beat. Thank you girls for making it so special for me! :) We were SO blessed to receive so many wonderful gifts. I have to say, I definitely feel prepared now! We basically have everything we need (for her initial arrival)! Just a few larger items left to buy, and then we'll be all set.

My friend Brandi took lots of pictures and she will be giving them all to me on a disc, next time I see her. So thanks for that Branders! :) I'll share some of those once I get them uploaded.