Well, it has been a doozy of a week. I chalk it up to the fact that Jackson knows my parents are on vacation. We headed to the hospital on monday night for contractions, AGAIN! We took some meds and calmed everything down and were able to leave again. At that point I was still only dilated to 1cm so everything was staying the same. Well, let's see... Tues... more contractions so I stopped by the dr's office and got checked again. same. Wed.... I went in to the dr's office in the morning and got checked. same as before. Went back to work and by the time the afternoon rolled around the pain was so bad I couldn't sit still, let alone concentrate. James came and picked me up and took me home. Well, when I got home I noticed I was spotting a bit, so called the dr's office and had to go back! I got hooked up to the monitors this time and it was registering irritability, but not contractions. Met with Mazdai who checked me again and this time told me I made a bit of progress in the 4 hours since she had checked me! I was more effaced but not more dilated. Wasn't expecting that answer! So, we went home and decided we'd go see the new Transformers since it just came out. So good! I asked James that night if he thought I should keep my thurs NST appt since I had just had one that day and he said yes, so this time I went in with my thank you notes and was going to get stuff done during this NST since they usually last for over an hour. Well, 20 min into this NST and the nurse comes in and says, "you're done, but the dr wants to see you." so this is a first. So, I am sitting on the table and in walks Mazdai who tells me I am contracting across the whole chart! I go, what? which of course causes her to start cracking up because here I am writing thank you notes and I'm not any more than just uncomfortable and registering contractions like crazy, but the day before I am in tears and only registering irritability. I tell you... Jackson.... you keep things interesting. So she said she wanted to check me since I was contracting regularly. we are still the same. So, she said, well I am on call this weekend so call me if you go into labor! Actually her exact words were... "you may go into labor later today or this weekend... I'm on call." so here I'm thinking... well, great. I am not going to know when I am since irritability hurts like hell and the contractions were just uncomfortable. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure I'll know when I am in labor since it's going to be probably the worst pain ever, but it just doesn't make sense I tell ya. So, I got things tied up at work just in case and have been contracting all night and day, but nothing really painful and they haven't changed. So I got a pedicure just in case! you know the toes have to look good for labor! :) I'm sure since my parents are coming home on sunday that things will calm down in time for them to make it home. :) In the meantime, we have prepared the car seats and gotten everything we can to prepare. I think James is nesting now instead of me because he can't sit still. ha. Thank goodness it's Friday because it's been a week! I'll keep you posted if anything changes, but I think we've gotten it out of our system for now. and yes, Jackson... I know you control everything at this point. No need to keep reminding me!

We didn't get many pictures from this morning but we did get one of him smiling again. His face is apparently smashed against the side so we only get part of his face, but still very cool to see his little lips and everything. Once again, hand is by the face at all times, so that's the other blob you see!

We had our ultrasound this morning Jackson is weighing in at an estimated 5lbs 11oz! He's getting there! So, we had the NST again where he freaked out on the monitors again, the stinker. They last for quite a while until they can actually get him to stop kicking them and register his heartbeat accurately. Then we met with Dr. Mazdai and went over how things have been going! Apparently on the ultrasound, my placenta was on its "last leg." As I told her, obviously nothing lasts as long as it should in my body! :) They rate it on a scale of 0 to 3 with 3 being the worst and mine was a 3. boo. They said it's still working and as long as he doesn't show signs of distress or lack of growth then it won't be a factor on whether they induce or not. We discussed that the contractions are still bothersome, but the ambien has been helping me sleep through them at night, so that is a definite plus. James was working late last week and said he watched me clutch my stomach and whine every 5 minutes in my sleep, so I have to say I was relieved I slept through that. We are also making a bit of progress as I am dilated to 1cm and 50% effaced. We are now taking bets on when he'll decide to arrive! :) So we're hanging in there and getting prepared for him to get here! Keep you posted if I have any more news!

Ok, I have been slacking!! I am sorry!! Jackson keeps me on my toes for sure. We have started the bi-weekly NST (Non Stress Tests) and I go in every monday and thursday morning at 8am and get hooked up to the monitors and we watch to see how Jackson's heart rate is and if I'm having contractions, etc. Well, we started out really well, but then Jackson decided he didn't want to cooperate the last couple of times. He tends to fall asleep on the monitor and then we have to have an ultrasound to make sure everything is ok. He scares the crap out of his parents! As soon as we start the ultrasound, he wakes back up and passes with flying colors and scores 8 out of 8 on their little test. whew. Well, I have still been having the episodes of contractions that has been diagnosed as irritable uterus, so my doctor stuck me on some anti-contraction meds. That was last monday. Well, last thursday morning, I had my NST and everything was fine, but by that afternoon, the contractions just felt different. I called the office and went back in and decided to have James take me. Good thing I did! We ended up revisiting the labor and delivery floor at the hospital again! Turns out I was contracting and am 50% effaced, so we went to the hospital and had to get a couple of shots to get the contractions to stop. After a few hours, things subsided and we were able to go home! Thank Goodness! So after a fantastic weekend of my baby shower and seeing friends, we went back to the doctor on Monday. My dr decided to go ahead and give me the steroid shots that will allow Jackson's lungs to develop just in case he decides to be impatient again! The little stinker. We were supposed to have an ultrasound today to see how big he is, but turns out the ultrasound tech is on vacation! So that will now be June 22nd. So, even with all of that, things have been going really well and we are just getting so excited for him to get here. We have his room all set up and we will be 34 weeks on Saturday! Even though we're so excited, he needs to wait until July since my parents will be on vacation from the 20th-28th and James's mom will be on vacation in Florida then too! James keeps lecturing him, so let's hope it works!! :) At some point, he has to listen to his parents right??? :)