This past week is our last week without baby boy a part of our life. I’m a tad addicted to pictures … and document everything. So here is a sneak peek into our last week without baby!

Top to bottom, left to right:

• baby boy is making it harder to fit into booths at restaurants..
• with ym sister in town, we’ve had a few fun game nights over at my parents’ house
• We went to Benihana’s for mom’s birthday… my niece was quite entertained!
• I went to IKEA for the last of my “nesting” items .. and a good walk as well!
• As we assemble items, “Fred” has been our test dummy. He is a doll my grandma gave me before my brother was born 24 years ago!
• We took my niece shopping with my mom’s friend. She was quite entertained emptying every contained she could!
• My sister and I were quite entertained at the “double standard” we found throughout the mall..  It looks like someone stole his pants and left him in his argyle socks while the chicks are busy fulfilling fantasies.
• I’ve begun work changing my burlap Christmas wreath for our next celebration – baby boy!
• My niece loves crawling between my legs. Leaving me with the view of one cousin underneath another!
• My FINAL physical therapy appointment pre-baby … three times a week since July and then suddenly we’re done! Time for baby!
• Some dear girlfriends came over and helped me organize some of my craft room – the goodies I found! Including my flashcards from grad school!
• This lotion has been AMAZING the last month and a half – here’s hoping my feet remediate themselves once baby isn’t on board and this lotion can be retired until the next little one!
• My pregnancy shoes – elastic straps, slip on breathable and good support for my feet. These have been my best friends the past few months!
• Pedicures with my sister before D-day! And yes.. those are packing peanuts between my toes. Looks like the economy has even effected the nail salon!

Sunday night I’ll post another collage, from our final weekend with “baby on board”. And this will be the place to find pictures and updates on Monday!

<3 Tara and Oliver

We have known Scott and Stacy for 3-4 years now. They went to a home group we used to be a part of, and are amazing people. They have two of the cutest kids on the planet and these amazingly HUGE hearts. I mean, they met working in an orphanage in South Africa! WOW! They own Urban Earth Photography, and have photographed a LOT of our friends’ big life events. We were so excited when they offered to do our maternity shoot! This pregnancy is something we feared would  NEVER happen, and now we have photos to remember this amazing time waiting for Squishy to grow big and strong so we can welcome him into the world.

As you know, this blog has been about me being real, not “perfect”. As a perfectionist, this isn’t easy. But God really laid it on our hearts to tell our story when He blessed us with baby boy after those 2.5+ years of waiting. So, in continuing in ALL honesty, I am posting ALL of the pictures. They are all BEAUTIFUL, but I can honestly say I look at some and think “ug – I look huge!” or “wow… big butt much?” Now, this is nothing to do with the photography (again, Scott and Stacy are amazing) and everything to do with my own insecurities. But here they ALL are … enjoy 🙂

Last night we sat down and created a list of 32 questions for our OB today. It was our last appointment before the c-section next Monday, and I needed to have a ‘picture’ in my head before I arrived at the hospital next week. I was feeling ready, and strong, and excited to know what was going to happen. I just wish I hadn’t left crying and defeated once again…

Our scheduled c-section time shifted slightly, it has now been pushed back to noon (meaning we must arrive at the hospital at 10am). That was no big deal. Our OB also informed us that the anesthesiologist was hand picked by the cardiologist and is supposed to be absolutely fantastic. More good people on our team! But the good news stopped there…

• We’ve been booted back to the OR and no permission has yet to be granted for Oliver to join me. So I am facing not only a c-section, but a c-section alone.
• Because it’s in the OR, they will take the baby straight to maternity while I get “stitched up”. No skin-to-skin … I can’t even touch my baby. I’ll get one look at him before they take him, when the OB holds him up for me to see before giving him to the nurses.
• I’ll be then put into recovery and eventually transferred to the cardiology floor, where my stay has possibly been upped back to 48 hours again.
• Currently no permission has been granted for the baby to visit me on the cardiac floor. They are trying to get permission for him to have short visits with a nurse from the nursery. Without the nurse, he cannot come to my room, and he can only stay as long as she can.
• It is not known whether anyone can stay with me on the cardiac floor, and no one can stay with the baby overnight in the nursery.

It’s amazing how much our priorities have changed the more this has developed. From a 3 page, all natural, birth plan with detailed instructions … to begging hospital administration to allow my husband to be in the OR with me and to be allowed to even see my baby. Oliver has been amazing through it all, constantly my rock and my support … and my optimism. We know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that there is a reason for all of this. Our God is not one to abandon us in our time of need. If anything, we are learning to rely on Him more and more.

<3 Tara and Oliver

*DISCLAIMER* Yes, I have been TERRIBLY remiss in posting – I have loads of belly shots, funny stories and even pictures from our Denver trip. We’ve just been swamped the past few weeks! So here is a teaser from today – and a belly shot at the end!*

Our third annual corn maze was today – it always begins with a big breakfast at our house before we set off on the adventure. Oliver and I see it as a way to share our favorite midwest activities with all these Californians 🙂

Although I got NO pictures at breakfast, I can honestly say the top two favorites were Spicy Sausage and Cheese Tarts and Sopapilla Cheesecakes. Though the Peanut Butter Cheese Ball and Pumpkin Dip got rave reviews as well 🙂 And a special thanks to my parents who stayed at my house after we left and did ALL the dishes. I came home to a perfectly clean kitchen!! *happy sigh*

Although the corn maze was NOT the one I thought we were going to, but it was a nice “short-ish” maze with trivia hints, a cute shop and yummy snack shack.

Update:

<3 Tara and Oliver

Hello Banana and happy half birthday! I cannot believe we are halfway to meeting this little boy 🙂 That is both extremely exciting and extremely sobering … only 20 more weeks of this experience we waited so so so long for. Oliver gets to feel him kick regularly now, and I feel him daily. That has it’s good side and bad. The good is obvious. The bad is that it increases my fear if I don’t feel him for any length of time. I really have to keep handing it over to Christ and reminding myself this is completely out of our control. We are still very filled with joy 🙂

In other (very good news) – your prayers are working! Tara felt a HUGE relief in back pain very shortly after posting about it. Please keep the prayers coming! The Physical Therapist has increased her therapy to three times a week and is expecting it to have to continue through the remaining five months of the pregnancy. Random fact: sore abs feel VERY different in pregnancy than they do regularly! Haha!