Happy Birthday Rusty!!!!!!

Today is Rusty’s 32nd Birthday…I was hoping it was going to be my “birthing” day—but as I type this—I would have to give birth to Philip Andrew in the next 2 hours and 10 minutes…which is most likely not going to happen.
The week started with my doctor’s appointment on Monday at 10am. Things have been so confusing with the changes in my schedule that I even woke up early to call and verify my appointment. I called at 8:30 am and was told that I did have an appointment at 10am at the Medical Plaza (at least I new where I was going this time). I arrived with Rusty about 5 minutes early and checked in—as usual. We waited a little while and then were called back to the room where I was told that I wasn’t supposed to be there and that my appointments had been changed to Tuesday. BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!!!! How frustrating!!!!! I wasn’t mad because I could tell I was still going to have the ultrasound (and I wanted for Rusty to see his baby) but I did feel sort of crazy because I had called to verify…oh well. So we waited and Dr. Richards came in and did the ultrasound and said everything looks as he thought it would—the liver is still down (great news) and he commented that the right lung appears to be pretty good size considering the CDH but he couldn’t measure because the ribs had already started calcifying. Of course I asked if he thought I was about to have the baby and he said no and commented that the head still hasn’t engaged (dropped).
On Tuesday, my appointment with my OB Dr. Richards was at 1pm. I went by myself and left Rusty to work and Tiffany to take a nap in her favorite place.

They took my vitals and then “checked me out”—it seems that I am 1 cm dilated and that Philip Andrew has in fact started to engage since Monday’s ultrasound. I then had a NST—his activity seems great! My next appointment is not until next Tuesday—I triple checked this—so hopefully there won’t be any mess ups.
In preparation for Rusty’s important birthday I decided to bake him a cake—I’ve always baked him cakes for his birthdays so I didn’t see why this should be any different. The only problem is that our ‘kitchenette’ is not very equipped for baking. Although our fridge is full size, the “oven” is actually a toaster oven—but that didn’t stop me! When I asked Rusty what type he wanted, he said white cake with butter cream icing—so after scouring the internet for the best butter cream icing recipe, I was off to the grocery. It was difficult finding pans for the cake to fit into the toaster—and I couldn’t find an electric mixer—so I bought a hand mixer. Let’s just say, my hands still hurt from making the icing (store bought icing is for wimps).

This morning I “made” breakfast for Rusty—really, I went downstairs and got him breakfast and brought it to the room—he had waffles, crispy bacon, yogurt—the perfect birthday breakfast. After breakfast, I wanted to give Rusty some peace and quiet so I went and got a mani and pedi down the street (fyi-best deals for mani/pedi here in Gainesville!). I made Rusty lunch and then he ran some errands (he’s trying to figure out the video camera and had to run to Best Buy for some cd’s). We ate downstairs for dinner—and low and behold—Steve Pirris was down there!!!! (Steve is Rusty’s close friend from college). Actually, it isn’t Steve—but it is so freaky how much they look alike—we actually saw him yesterday too—Rusty decided to try and take some “secret snapshots” of him—hopefully he won’t see himself on our blog.


After dinner we sang “Happy Birthday” and I presented the cake to Rusty (see pic). It was very tasty if I do say so myself—did I mention that my hands are still hurting from all the work and love I put into it? Rusty opened presents and Tiffany helped clean up the paper mess!


So this Friday is the full moon—I’m really counting on the gravitational force to send me into labor!!! My nurse friends have said the labor and delivery floor does tend to be busier on full moons—will see if it works. Please pray that when I go into labor—whether it is this Friday or next—whenever it is—pray that all the doctors who need to be present will be there. Also, please pray for the health and wellness of these important doctors—Dr. Richards and Dr. Kays—that they will be available physically and mentally to help our son when the time comes. We thank God for their incredible talents and we ask that God will continue to sharpen their skills in preparation for our son and all the other babies they tend to.
Rusty and I continue to feel all the love from everyone reaching out to us—thank you so much—your words of encouragement and prayers mean so much to us. Please continue to check the blog for updates…who knows what the next update will say!!!!! Much love, Liz & Rusty