Growing up Gilbert

We have a BEAUTIFUL daughter! I can't wait to sit and write about everything, and I promise I will soon. For now, it's time to feed, burp and clean!!!!!

Looks like I should wait until the day of my doctors appointments to write my blogs! After the blog I wrote yesterday, in which I was complaining (but trying to make it sound like I wasn't) about the long wait I had ahead, we got a very big surprise today. My midwife has decided that- since I am slowly progressing every week and since Arya is fully developed- she will induce labor on Wednesday morning. Scary! I always pictured my trip to the hospital as a frantic, painful car ride, followed by hours in the hospital wondering if I ever actually will get that epidural. Now, a whole new picture is forming in my mind, and I think I like it. Everything is planned out, timed and scheduled. I mean, I'm not under some false impression here that there is no way I can go into labor before Wednesday- or that even if I do make it to the scheduled delivery- that everything will go as planned. But it feels nice to have a date in my mind, and to know that there is a chance that things could g...

So I'm finally content with settling in for a long wait. After being told that I was in the early stages of labor, I went home, packed my bags, and waited for the contractions to hit me. Three weeks later, I'm just now starting to realize that early labor means something COMPLETELY different to my midwife than it does to me. At first, I was very upset and very ready to try everything I could to get Arya here. But finally, I'm coming to terms with the fact that it may just be awhile. And honestly, I think I'm pretty okay with that. I keep reminding myself that I have years ahead of me with my child, and it's probably a good idea to take these next few weeks with my husband (and my nap time) and cherish them. Yesterday I was reminded that our Heavenly Father is always watching over us. We are promised in Malachi 3:10- "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will n...

So, i figured with my time being pregnant coming to a quick close, I would give some advice to those of you who haven't been pregnant. Before my recent foray into pregnancy, I made most of these mistakes. Thankfully, I know better now, and will never again exclaim loudly to one of my pregnant friends-"You look HUGE!" 1. "Hey, you look great!... You know, being pregnant and all" (Or post-pregnancy "You look great!... You know, having had 3 kids and all") The best thing to do in this situation is to stop with "Hey, you look great!" or, don't comment at all. Pregnant women know they've gained 30 lbs in 9 months, that they have cankles, that-thanks to raging hormones- they have acne, and that they do, in fact, NOT look great. 2. "That's going to be a HUGE baby!" Yeah, this is a fantastic one. After having someone tell you daily that you must be carrying Gigantor around in your belly- and then you find out at your son...

Just a few pictures from Arya's room (still a work in progress)! Sorry the pictures are out of order. I should be more tech savvy! The pictures were painted by James Gilbert, her Uncle! If you ever need anything done, I highly reccomend him.

So today contained quite a shocker! I've started going to my appointments with the doctor weekly. At those appointments it really hits me that we are getting REALLY close to showtime. During the day, I think about how I can't wait for Arya to get here, I'm super excited and pumped to pull up to the hospital. At night, however, it's a bit of a different story. Though I want my bundle of joy here quickly, when I lay my head down at night, it's easy to convince myself that I can wait a few more weeks. So when I got to the doctors office today and heard the "Wow" from my midwife, I braced myself. "You're 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced!" Shocker. She quickly followed that up with reassurances that it could still be weeks before I go into active labor, but to be on the lookout for early signs. Needless to say, I've been a bundle of nerves, cleaning and packing and preparing for anything. Who knows, our dear Arya could be here sooner than we thin...

With the chaos of the holidays behind me, I can finally find time to sit down and write a new entry. I wish I could have documented all of the things that happened this Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years but there didn't seem to be even a spare moment to write about anything, much less everything. So I'll do my best to summarize it all now. Christmas for us is difficult. Not only do we live out of town, but Ryan had to work the night before and the night after Christmas, so we were only able to stay for Christmas day. With divorced parents, Ryan's family, and my grandparents to see it was extremely difficult for us to find a time to have our Christmas together as a couple. We love our family and love seeing them, so we don't mind running from place to place, but I think we have decided that when Arya comes, we will spend Christmas at home and see family the day before or the day after. As always, we were blessed with an abundance of gifts, the best gift of all, though, wa...