We just wanted to update everybody on the latest news. This morning at about 6:40 Suzy's water broke, so we are now at the hospital waiting for the OB to get out of the OR. Her contractions are relatively pretty mild and irregular.
Stay tuned for further updates.
As promised, here are some pictures of our most recent snow storm.
This is the normally grassy area near our building that I cut through as I walk to the bus stop about a mile from our house.
If you look closely at this tree you can see it is coated in a nice layer of ice that though bad for the tree and dangerous is surprisingly beautiful as it glistens in the morning sun.
This is the snow drifts at the bus stop.
And finally, this is Suzy on Thursday night, 38 1/2 weeks, and ready to be done.
After nearly six full weeks of Christmas break, I finally started school back up on Tuesday. I have officially begun my final semester! However, as soon as school started back up, Mother Nature had a response in the form of a rather good sized snow storm that hit us with about six inches of snow, then topped it off with an afternoon, evening and night of freezing rain. The snow, I don't mind, but the freezing rain is wretched. It made me very happy to have a garage to park the car in so that the doors were not frozen shut this morning.
Due to the snow storm, UMass campus was closed yesterday, and this morning. Classes will not resume until 11 a.m. Suzy and I have a friend who is tracking the school closures / delays on her blog. The current score is 3 school closures and 3 delays, while Church has had 1 cancelled and 2 delayed and shortened schedules. Yesterday, we decided to keep Suzy home from work as well to keep me company and so she did not have to drive through the storm.
Suzy is only 10 days away from her due date. Once we get through the end of this week, we will both be ready for our little girl to arrive -- hopefully sooner rather than later. Suzy is getting larger, at least to me, even though most people comment on how small she looks. We will post a picture as soon as I can talk her into letting me take one.
On Saturday the ladies in my ward threw me a nice shower. It was very cute and we got lots of great stuff. It was a lot of fun to be with friends to celebrate the coming of our little girl.
I'm still getting bigger (duh). At my last appointment a week ago there were a few updates.
-I gained 7 lbs since my last appointment two weeks ago, maybe I need to cut back on the chocolate
-I'm measuring smaller than my last appointment, meaning the baby has dropped. I can tell it for sure too. My heartburn is a lot better (it was killer for awhile) and there is a lot more pressure on the bladder and pelvis.
-I'm already 3 cm dilated. Who knows if that means she's coming sooner or not, but I have to get there eventually, so it seems like a good thing.
Thanks to everyone for your advice. It's amazing how different every one's experiences are. I guess I will have my own to share in a few weeks. I'm getting really excited and anxious for her to come. Being pregnant is getting a little tiring...
Who would have known back in the fall and winter of 2006 that the economy would be so crappy? Back then, things were good, Suzy and I were just married and we thought that going back to school to get my MBA would be a great idea. After all, all the statistics said that MBA grads typically had multiple job offers to choose from upon graduation, salaries were high, and the options were endless.
Now fast forward 2 years and change. During my 6 week winter break from school, it has been my full time job to find jobs and apply to them. Even under the best of circumstances this is a daunting and tedious task, as I am sure that many of you know. Adding the poor economy, the enormous pool of business students, and the microscopic job opportunities, makes the task monumental.
Today, a week and a half before I start school back up, I am officially burned out from job applications. I give up! 45 applications in and several more pending, I give up! In reality, this is mostly just a stall tactic so I don't have to work on them, while I try and earn some sympathy to raise my dwindling confidence.
Last week I applied to a job, one that I thought I had a decent shot at. Well within 30 minutes I received a rejection letter, which on the whole is not too bad. I have heard of faster rejections and I would rather know that they don't want me than be left thinking I still might have a chance, when in reality I don't. But, the thing that got me was that the email stated, "After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that we will not be pursuing your application on this occasion." Ha! Right! "Careful consideration." Lines like that make a discouraging process even more discouraging because I know I was rejected before a human even had a change to look at it.
My one small victory from that one was that they addressed the email to me and not "Dear Applicant" or something like that. We are fortunate though, that even amid this poor economic conditions, my education has not cost us, and we will be debt free when I graduate. I cannot imagine the stress on the students at other schools who will be coming out with upwards of $100,000 in student loans.
On a more positive note, the baby is going good, and time is flying by. It is only 24 days to the due date, though Suzy and I both are hoping for her to come early. Here are two images from the ultrasound from 18 weeks, they have been on our refrigerator, and I finally got around to taking photos of them to post (another job application stall tactic, anyone know any others?). In the first picture you can see her little foot and the second is a nice little profile.
Shameless plug: If anyone knows of a company looking to hire a smart, hard working MBA let me know!
Here I am at 36 weeks. Its getting very close now. We finished childbirth class, we took our breastfeeding class, and now we just have our two newborn classes left. Its hard to believe it could be in the next few weeks...or 6 more weeks (probably more likely). Things are getting a little awkward, but we're managing. We have all the big stuff now. We just got our stroller frame yesterday (thanks Cory!) and tested it out with our car seat.
We also got a bouncer. Its very pink. We were trying to go neutral with most of the bigger stuff, but this one wasn't too expensive, and all the neutral ones were either not that cute, expensive, or really looked more boyish than neutral. We thought this one was cute and a good deal.
The ladies in my ward are throwing me a shower on Saturday, so hopefully we should get the rest of the stuff we need from that. We will be able to finish up our preparations, and then we'll just have to wait for her to decide when she's ready!
Life has been fairly uneventful other than anticipating the baby coming. I'm still working for now, which is a good distraction and nice to keep a little money coming in. Casey has been very busy applying to jobs during his month long break from school. Hopefully someone out there is hiring!
We had the senior missionary couple in our ward over for dinner and games tonight. It was a lot of fun and we learned a few new ones, which we always like.
We got about 5 inches of snow last night. Church was postponed until noon and we only had sacrament meeting. I think Casey was glad because he was supposed to teach Elder's Quorum today!
I start going to the doctor every week now. We also have an appointment with a pediatrician this week. We're getting very excited to meet the very active little girl squirming inside of me!
I have been wanting to make a quilt for the baby for a while now, and for Christmas I got some new quilting tools and supplies for the quilt. Casey helped me pick out the fabrics. He was satisfied with the frog print we ended up getting, but was really pushing for the monkeys. They were cute too, but didn't really match anything else.
I'm a novice quilter. I am still working on a big quilt I started back when we were in Payson. I underestimated the amount of time it would take to hand quilt the whole thing together. I learned from that and I knew this time I wanted to make something much smaller that could be machine quilted. I finished it in one week, which is a vast improvement on the two years and counting I've been working on my other one. I had to teach myself a lot, so it was kind of an experiment, but I think overall it turned out well.
Me and the quilt
A close up so you can better see the different fabrics.I hope she likes it! Thanks for the advice you given so far on my last post. If any of you haven't written anything yet, I'm still waiting for your words of wisdom. Thanks!
We only have six weeks until the baby's due. Its creeping up so fast. Since I got so much good advice from all of you on my "mom panel", I've decided to utilize you again. I'm wondering what stuff I should bring to the hospital. I know there is probably a lot of personal stuff that may not be best shared in the comments sections. If you would rather, please email me your advice at suzysullivan@gmail.com.
If you also have any good advice about labor, or the days immediately after, I'm all ears as well. We've been going to childbirth class for the last few weeks, and I can no longer hide my head in the sand. Up to this point, I've preferred just to not think about it, but now the time is drawing near and that doesn't really seem like an option anymore. I'm just excited to hold her in my arms, and I'm sure whatever it took to get there will be all worth it!
Thanks in advance! ...oh and Merry Christmas.
I do not know about everybody else, but I have really grown tired of politics lately, and have avoided bringing the topic up on the blog. However, I have always enjoyed political cartoons. The ironies and satire they point out can be awfully amusing. Yesterday my brother posted this cartoon on his facebook page, and I found it very amusing. So I thought I would share it.
We also want to thank everybody who shared their experiences with Suzy and me about baby stuff. We found all the information to be very helpful, and if anyone else thinks of anything please let us know.
My mom is coming in two weeks and we're planning to go shopping for a lot of baby stuff. Since I'm new at this whole thing and I have many friends and family who are parents, I'm looking for your advice on baby products. I know all the obvious things I will need, but I would like to know what the most surprising thing is that you couldn't live without. And also, something you thought you would used a lot, and haven't used at all.
Any other advice you have on baby products is welcome. Also, if you have any books on babies that you really like, I'd love to know that too.
As far as life goes, things are going well. Work is going along fine and its good to be productive and earning money. I have been tired, but generally feeling really good. I'm wearing only maternity pants now, but I can still wear most of my normal shirts, although that will end soon I'm sure.
Yesterday we had an enrichment activity at church, which I'm now in charge of. We had a breakfast and a speaker who spoke about depression. The last week was stressful as I was trying to get all the loose ends taken care of. I'm glad it went fairly well and its over!
Time is flying by...My mom is coming in two weeks, and then it will be only a few weeks until Thanksgiving, and then it will be Christmas time which always flies by, and then little baby girl will be coming in only a month or so. We're really enjoying fall here and enjoying all the beauty around us.
When Suzy and I were unpacking our things a month ago I came across the camera battery recharger, and stuck it somewhere in our huge desk. Then several days later the camera battery died. I went to the desk where I thought that I had stuck the recharger, but when I got there I could not find it. So for several weeks we searched the house looking for the charger. Yesterday we both searched through the desk, and guess what. . . the charger was where I had checked first. I guess that somehow I missed it.
Anyway, this is a long story to explain why we had not posted any Suzy pregnant pictures. So in in response to several requests I present Suzy's baby bump. . .
This first picture is Suzy at about 17 weeks, a slight, but noticeable baby bump. People are often commenting that she doesn't look pregnant. That is because she lost 15 pounds during the first trimester, which she has only now almost fully gained back. This second picture was taken last night, at 21 weeks.
Several weeks ago, on an overcast but incredibly humid Saturday, Suzy and I went to an air show. We had a fun time. Here are some of the pictures from the air show (as a side note it was at this air show that the camera battery died).
Another brief aside, I just want to say how excited I am that the BYU Cougars Football team are now ranked #7 in the country!!! This week I had my marketing professor, and ASU alum, come up to me and congratulate me on how well my alma mater is playing these days. I had to gloat that our quarterback transfered to BYU from ASU! Even though we don't get to watch much of the games way out here, we are very excited and hope that the team can keep up the good work and destroy the Utes in November propelling BYU into a BCS bowl and possibly a second National Championship.!!!
61% of you voted that it would be a girl...and you were right!! We're having a girl! We went to the ultrasound today and the baby looks great. The tech said she looks great and very healthy. It was so fun to see her feet and hands and face. She is an active little girl.
We're very excited and now things seem a lot more real since we can pick out a name and start buying stuff. Now I can imagine what she will be like, well...at least that it will be a she and not a he.
I also want to mention that I'm feeling much better now. I'm eating like normal and am finally gaining weight. I'm just now starting to show a little bit. My pants are getting tight, but nobody else can really tell since I lost so much weight in the first trimester.
Thanks for all your votes!
Monday Suzy will have an ultrasound and hopefully we will find out the gender of our baby. So in anticipation of this announcement we have created a poll on the right side of your screen where you can guess if it will be a boy or a girl. Check back on Monday evening to find out the exciting news.
That's right, we're having a baby! Its been hard to keep it a secret, but I went to the doctor today for my 13 week checkup, and the baby is doing great. We're excited to finally have all of our family and friends in on the good news.
Its been a hard couple of months. I've been pretty sick and have had a hard time eating and keeping what I'm eating down. I think its starting to calm down a little, but I'm still not very interested in food or eating. At the doctor today they said I lost 9 pounds since my last appointment, so I'm trying to be better. Its the best diet I never wanted to be on.
The baby is due on February 8th. Casey has the whole month of January off, and will just be starting school when the baby comes. At least its his last semester and will hopefully be the least busy of all 4. We're really excited and a little nervous, but we can't wait to welcome our new addition.
Funny story... On Saturday we went shopping to find me some new jeans. Not an easy task, but you have to try. We were at a mall in Springfield and wandered into the JCPennys. It looked a lot different from your typical JCPennys and we quickly found out that it was the catalog outlet. They had a lot of random furniture so we started looking at it. We ran across some cribs and were casually looking at the prices. Most were about $130 and up. Then there was one that was $35 for both the crib and the changing table, and it was surprisingly cute! We thought it must be a mistake, so after browsing the rest of store, we decided to ask the sales person. It was indeed $35 for both pieces. After short deliberation, we decided it was too good of a deal to pass up. We had to make a quick trip to Lowes to pick up some tools to disassemble it so it would fit in the car.
We were laughing about it all night. I kind of feel like the girl who buys a wedding dress before she even has a boyfriend, but if I had found a wedding dress for $35, I probably would have bought it too!
