Hi...My name is Niki and I am expecting my first baby (a girl!) on Jan 29th. I am married to a wonderful man who is currently deployed with the Navy. And guess when he comes home....Yep...Jan 29th! Let's just hope that our little girl decides to be fashionably late! I can't imagine him missing the birth and I know that he can't either. Everything is going great so far and I hope that it continues that way. Good luck to the rest of you ladies!

February 2, 2008 (4 Days Overdue!!!)

Wow...I wasn't as good at keeping this page updated as I had hoped :) So lets see...my hubby finally came home on Jan 25th and it was absolutely one of the best days ever! I can't begin to describe the feeling I had when I finally saw him walking towards me. I immediately began crying and after he hugged and kissed me, he knelt down and hugged and kissed by belly. Such an incredible feeling of relief and happiness :) So then I thought for sure Autumn would come any day now as I had feared she would be early this entire pregnancy. But no. Here I am 4 days overdue and absolutely nothing is happening. I've been a fingertip and about 50% for the last 3 weeks and after waking up with contractions and horrible cramping for the past month, I feel absolutely NOTHING! Not even a measly BH. I have a nonstress test scheduled for Wednesday morning and I was told that I have the option of being induced then if I like. It's just kind of a bummer cause I was hoping I'd go into labor naturally....and if I am induced Wed. then the hubby will only be home for 3 or 4 more days before his leave is over and he has to go back to work. I had hoped he'd be home with his little girl for the entire 2 weeks of leave but things don't always work out as you expected. But I've decided that instead of getting frustrated about this I'm just going to be happy with the fact that I've made it this far and that our little girl is healthy....and that my hubby made it home safely and in time to see her birth.

January 5, 2008 (36 Weeks, 4 Days)

Today has been such a lazy day for me. I have absolutely no energy and have not been sleeping at all! Between working full time, being prego, and this insomnia, I've pretty much become a zombie lately. Last night I went to bed a little after midnight, woke up at 2am to pee, woke up again at 4am, then at 5:30...stayed awake until about 7:30 and finally woke up a little before 10am. Hopefully it means my body will be adjusted when the baby gets here and I won't be missing my sleep too much! I saw the doctor on Thursday (the 3rd) and he did the Strep B test which hopefully will come back negative...not that's it's a big deal but I'm allergic to penicillin and sulfa so he said they'd have to try some different antibiotics. They also gave me some info about different labor methods and I'll have to sign the consent form on my next visit. It makes it all seem so real now and I'm getting so nervous. My hubby keeps telling me not to worry about/think about it, but that's really easy to say when you're not the one giving birth in a few weeks! I'm sure everything will go fine and I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but giving birth has never been at the top of my to do list, lol. Don't get me wrong...I'm dying to see my little girl and already am so in love with her...I just wish there was a different way for her to come out. Someone needs to invent some kinda device to just teleport the baby out, lol! Maybe one day...long after my baby making days are over. I found out that my hubby is coming home on the 25th now (4 days earlier) so I'm REALLY hoping that means he'll be here for the birth. I keep getting menstrual like cramping now and then, especially when I'm at work, and it just makes me so nervous that I'll go early. Hopefully that's not the case but we'll see what happens. As long as she's healthy, that's all that matters. My next appointment isn't until the 16th and I'll be 38 weeks by then so hopefully they'll check me for dilation and effacement so I have an idea of what's going on down there.

3d pic from a week ago...she has her arm in front of her face and it's all squished up, lol:

December 26, 2007 (35 Weeks, 1Day)

Well I finally broke down today and bought some more prego clothes. I was really not wanting to buy anything else, but I'm at the point where none of my shirts will cover my belly and my pants are getting tight. Still gotta look decent at work...and I don't want to look like a slob when my hubby finally comes home. Hopefully I'll still be pregnant when he gets here! I actually got a phone call from him yesterday which was freaking awesome :) His ship pulled into port in Oman (a country beside Saudi Arabia) for Christmas. I spent the day alone but it wasn't bad at all...I'm taking advantage of my time off from work and being a bum until I have to go back next week :) And I've never been one to mind being alone...it's the last chance I'll have for at least another 18 years! Plus I just look forward to next year...our little girl will be here, my hubby will be out of the Navy, and we'll be living back home near family. I can't wait :) I hope everyone had a good Christmas or whatever holiday you might celebrate!

December 18, 2007 (34 Weeks)

I had my OB appointment today. The hospital I go to is an Air Force hospital and basically I see a different doctor every visit. Well today the woman I had just seemed to rush through the whole appointment and I ended up leaving a little annoyed. She just seemed to be in a huge rush to get out of there and didn't seem to have time for my questions. Anyways...my blood pressure was a little high again for the second visit in a row, but apparently it's not high enough for them to be concerned about it. I asked about the cramping I've been having and she said that I'm probably doing too much at work and that they may have to eventually have me stop working if it becomes frequent. But at this point she said all I can do is rest when I get them and call L&D if they don't go away. Hopefully everything will be fine and I won't have to go to L&D until it's time and my hubby is by my side. Autumn is thankfully still head down and her heartrate was great...I love being able to hear it on the doppler :) Oh and the reason I only feel her on my right side is because her head is down and her back is against my left side with her little fists and feet on the right side. At least she doesn't kick very hard :) Kicks like a girl I guess, lol! :) So...I've been going to the doctor every 6 weeks up until now and my next appointment will be in 2 weeks and then every week after that. I get butterflies just thinking about it! It's getting soooo close to D-Day and it's still so hard to believe that I'll be a mommy soon. I can't wait to finally hold my little girl in my arms. Just 42 days to go!!! :) I hope that the rest of you mommies are doing good!

December 15, 2007 (33 Weeks & 4 Days)

I finally decided to update my page :) As of today I only have 45 days left until both my beautiful little girl and my wonderful husband are finally here with me. Hopefully he'll get to come home a little early though and she'll decide to be a little late...but only time will tell! I've been lucky enough to have a fairly uneventful pregnancy up to this point. Autumn is constantly stretching out and wiggling around...I love being able to actually feel her little feet on my side. And it's ONLY my right side she pushes on...she must have found herself a very comfy position and just decided to stay there :) Wednesday I had some pretty uncomfortable menstrual-like cramping that lasted a few hours and scared me a bit. When I called the nurse she had me drink lots of water and rest and told me to go into labor and delivery if they weren't gone in an hour. Luckily they went away and haven't been bad since. I must have been a little dehydrated and I'm sure working full-time on my feet all day doesn't help matters. I have my next doctor's appointment on Tuesday so I'll just talk to her about it and have her check to make sure everything is ok...just for my piece of mind. I'm so scared that I'll start dilating and go into labor before my hubby comes home. He wants to be there so bad and I definitely want him by my side...he has that amazing ability to make everything ok when things are bad. I'd also love for him to be able to feel Autumn moving around in my tummy at least once. I feel so bad that he's missing out on this whole experience...but I just keep telling myself that it'll all work out. Autumn will be such a lucky girl to have him as her daddy. I can only imagine what I would have been like had I had someone in my life like him :) I still haven't picked out an outfit for her to wear home yet or packed my bag for the hospital. I keep planning on doing that every weekend yet somehow never get around to it. Maybe tomorrow :) Well...enough blabbing for now. I'll try to update this on a more regular basis now...we'll see how that goes!

Our little girl's first ultrasound pic...she was about 10 weeks here....

3D Pic done at about 17 weeks

Almost 17 Weeks Prego...

About 6 1/2 Months here...