Baby Eve...

I won't miss this huge belly!



















The nursery finally complete!!

The big day...

Well, Thursday is officially the big day. After a little bit of apprehension in thinking about having this baby 2 weeks early, I feel much better about the decision. My blood pressure has remained a bit high, so the doc really wants to induce me to prevent any potential complications because of that.

We really would appreciate any prayers. I'm hoping to be able to deliver naturally and not need a C-section. I'm also still trying to decide about whether or not to get an epidural. Sometimes I overanalyze things, so I'm sure it won't end up being a big deal either way. Plus, I have no way of knowing what it's going to be like and what I'll really want to do until it happens, right?

So, we begin the process around 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, and hopefully good news will follow shortly thereafter. I find it pretty funny that the poll on our blog is dead even right now. I'm not leaning toward boy or girl, so it'll be a true surprise! I finished working today, so tomorrow I'm going to try to get lots of rest. My family will be coming into town as well, so I'm excited to see them.

Wish us luck!!

Early baby???

My doctor scheduled an induction for March 26. I'm a little shocked, to say the least. My feet have been really swollen all weekend. I called in to make it was just normal pregnancy stuff, and they had me come in yesterday to take my blood pressure and do some blood work. My blood pressure was pretty high, so they had me come back in today. The doctor is worried that I could have preclampsia or toxemia, which can be pretty bad. My blood pressure was down, so that was good, but my feet are still really swollen. I also had some fetal monitoring tests and the baby's heartbeat and activity seemed fine. The good thing is that I can definitely try to have a natural labor because the baby won't be as big at 38 weeks. I have a few follow-up appointments before my induction date, so the doctor may change his mind. I guess we'll just wait and see. Yikes!

On a lighter note, our friend Jose took some great maternity pics of Troy and I. You can see them on our facebook pages or at http://gallery.mac.com/thetorresfam04#gallery
Here are a couple of samples:

I had another u/s yesterday. The tech said the baby is about 6 lbs 8oz right now, give or take a pound (which seems kind of significant). So we're estimating that the baby will be between 8 and 10 lbs. The tech also said that the due date looked like April 2nd according to the baby's size. It's amazing all of the details they can figure out. I go to the doctor next week, so we'll see what he has to say.
















8 months (35 weeks)

Troy just started volunteering at an afterschool program run by the Mercy House. It's very similar to what he did last year in Atlanta, and he's really excited to interact with kids of that demographic again. I'm really excited for him, and may start to help out myself next year.

During the last 7 months since returning from Atlanta, we haven't been living the "Mission Year lifestyle" to the extent we really want to. We literally spent all of our free time the first few months back in Anderson working on our house. Now that we're mostly done with the house, we've been mentally preparing for this baby. I will say, however, it's been an incredible blessing to have some down time. For me, life has been a constant blur of activity for as long as I can remember. Right after college I went to grad school and was a youth minister for two years, and then an RD for three years, and then we did Mission Year. All of these things led to a full and sometimes frantic sort of lifestyle. For the past 7 months working part time has allowed me to just be for a little while. And it's the first time my job hasn't been in ministry. My stress level has been low (except for when we didn't have a kitchen for several weeks), and I've been able to emotionally prepare for this next phase of our life. Thinking of staying home full time with Baby C is exciting and scary. I feel blessed to have the opportunity, but a little nervous. I'm lucky to have a husband who is a total social butterfly, so I will be forced not to be a recluse.

Anyways, after having some time to process our experience last year and recooperate from the intense experience, Troy and I recently joined the community outreach team at our church. We're a little disappointed that there are only 4 other members of the team (anyone want to join??), but it's really cool to get to dream up ideas of how to reach out to the Anderson community. The location of our church isn't really conducive to outreach, so we're hoping to partner with area churches in more vulnerable areas of Anderson. We need to build actual relationships with the poor and downcast, and a yearly city-wide cleanup and things of that sort don't cut it. I don't know how to do this well, especially since we live in a nicer area of town where we aren't faced with poverty, and our church isn't located amongst the poor. Last year we were confronted with the poor on a daily basis because they were our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers. They went to our church and had us over for dinner. They had desperate needs, which made being in relationship with them hard, but they were real. We actually knew and spent time with our neighbors. We long for these relationships, but at the same time are scared to seek them out here in Anderson, where our life is easy and we feel safe.

So we're still processing all of this, and having a baby definitely puts a different spin on life. I'll let you know when I we figure out the answers!

Yet another baby update

I had my 34 week appointment yesterday. I'm only measuring 4-5 weeks ahead now instead of 6 (gee, that's great), so I'm going to get another ultrasound next week so they can measure the baby again. The further along you are in pregnancy, the less accurate the ultrasound is because baby gets more squished in there. At my last ultrasound the baby's head was measuring further along than the rest of it was, which isn't surprising because both Troy and I have big heads. And both of us were delivered with forceps! The genetic pool definitely isn't working in our favor: two parents who were big babies with extra-big heads.

At my 36 week appointment we'll probably come to a decision about labor based on the ultrasound and some other measurements the doctor will take. I asked him if he thought it was likely I would need a C-section. He didn't really want to say at this point, but I could tell he's kind of leaning in that direction. I'd like to know either way so I can prepare mentally.

I've obviously been thinking about the pros of cons of a C-section vs. a natural child birth. I can be kind of an anal detail-oriented person, but I'm trying to be as open as possible to either possibility and to trust that my doctor will want to do what's best. He said he doesn't like to perform C-sections, so hopefully he'll only encourage me to have one if he's convinced the baby will be too big. I've heard many stories of people who thought they were having a 10 pounder and got induced or had a C-section only to have an average-size baby. That would be a bit frustrating. Plus, when you think about your first birth, you don't think of scheduling it before hand, you think of the drama and excitement of timing your contractions or waking up in the middle of the night when your water breaks and rushing to the hospital. But I can't control how much the baby will grow in the next month, or if the ultrasound will be accurate, so I really just need to put it in the Lord's hands and know that whatever happens, soon we'll have a new baby (with a big head)!