Tag Archive: Sterling


I didn’t get the call today about being induced Tuesday, instead of Thursday. So, I go to see my doctor for a regular appointment tomorrow morning. Unless she changes something at the appointment, the plan is to be induced on Thursday morning. This means I will be going to the hospital Wednesday evening to take Cervadil which is suppose to make my cervix more hospitable to labor. I’ll take it the night before so I sleep through the side effects, primarily nausea. Then, I will take Pitocin the next morning to induce labor.

Speaking of labor, Nick and I spent Labor Day weekend doing lots of walking and shopping. Walking is suppose to help keep baby in the proper position and bury his head down into the pelvis more. So, Friday we went to Home Depot, the grocery store, and ate lunch at Chipotle. Saturday we went to a bunch of garage sales in Sterling, Herndon, and Reston. We only spent $12 and found some pretty good treasures! For baby, we found this totally cute baby bath robe, an orange and navy blue 2 piece Adidas outfit, a dinosaur shirt, and a gray one piece with a train on it. We got 5 books: Disney’s Aladdin, a baby Bible verse memory book, A Tale of Three Trees, a book about the 1994 World Cup, and a math and physics formula book. We got a spreader for the lawn. And we got Pictionary new in the box with the plastic wrap still on. After the garage sales, we ate lunch at Potbelly and went to a Porche car show at Reston Towne Center.

Sunday we went to church, and I just slept a whole lot all afternoon. I think I was tired from all the walking from the previous two days.

Today we went furniture shopping originally looking for a chair for the nursery, but we didn’t find one we really liked. However, we did buy two more chairs to go with the dining set that we already have so there are six chairs total now. So, that will be nice when we have dinner guests.

37th Week

As of Wednesday, I entered my 37th week of pregnancy! I am officially full-term! Our little baby boy is healthy, but he is sitting in what is called ‘transverse lie,’ basically he is sideways with his head on my left side and his butt on my right. He should be sitting vertically with his head down. He cannot be born vaginally when he is in transverse lie. So, my doctor has scheduled a c-section for September 2nd. I will be getting an ultrasound on Monday to check his position one last time. If he’s turned, the c-section will be canceled. If not, things will go as planned.

I don’t really care if I get a c-section or if baby is born vaginally. With the c-section, it’s kind of nice knowing the date and time that everything is going to happen and the surgery is very quick compared to regular labor and delivery. I am confident in the judgement and ability of my doctors and the hospital. They are well seasoned, and it’s not a training hospital. My experience thus far with the hospital staff and doctors has been a good one. I am also confident that God has the best plan in mind for both me and baby and that it will be carried through. I don’t really feel anxious or scared about getting a c-section. Though, as my friend Marsha put it, “A c-section kicks off motherhood with a great sacrifice, submitting to birth by surgery and a difficult recovery.” So, I would appreciate prayers for the delivery and recovery.

I am ready for baby to be here. I’m kind of becoming tired of all the “you’re so big” comments, people touching my belly, and unsolicited advice. One person even told me something about standing on my head to get baby to turn! I’m physically uncomfortable and feeling impatient to get this baby out. I am excited to be a new parent and ready for the next part of this adventure to begin.

Nursery Blues

Nick painted the nursery this weekend. He just needs to touch up the white trim now. Nick has done a great job! It’s the first room in our house with color. The walls are a wonderful light blue color to go with the ocean theme we have picked. If there is any benefit besides having a cute room, baby Arnett will know all the major ocean animals by the time he is two.

It’s a Boy!

I had my 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday and found out the baby is a boy! We’ve got a name picked out, but we’re waiting until he is born to share with everyone. Click here to view some photos from the ultrasound. The baby also likely has a due date of September 7th, not September 15th as we previously thought. He weighed just 12 ounces and had a heartbeat of 143 bpm that morning.

I had another doctor appointment today. The pregnancy is coming along well. My blood pressure was good, and I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat again. It was 160bpm. We should be able to find out if the baby is a boy or girl near the end of April when I get my first ultrasound. The doctor said I should be able to start feeling the baby move before my next appointment.

We spent my birthday on Saturday moving to our new house in Sterling, Virginia. There is lots of work to do around the house, and we have lots of boxes left to unpack. While the work has been pretty exhausting, it is something that both Nick and I are very happy about. It’s nice to have a place of our own to take care of. Nick’s busy now putting together a new computer desk as I write this. It will likely be a multi-evening project.