Late?

This week has been an adventure of daily anticipation ... The Great Kate Wait persists. I am finally tired of being pregnant; however, God has refreshed me with a few unexpected restful nights of much needed sleep! I look forward to holding Katie in my arms, getting back to running, and being able get out of the bathtub by myself. It is unbelievable how humbling being pregnant can be. Strangely, I have been both terrified by the thought of labor and eagerly anticipating the challenge I have been training for during these last 10 months.

My 39 week appointment was cancelled by my doctor - due to some other activity outside the office (I'm assuming a delivery at the hospital). I was so sure Katie would be exactly on time that I planned nothing for Joe's birthday, thinking that the arrival of his daughter was gift enough. We spent last Thursday night eating pizza and watching mind-numbing TV all the while I felt guilty for not even buying my poor husband a card. On Friday I decided that maybe after 2 weeks without an appointment I should go see my doctor.

On Monday I had Joe meet me at the doctor's office for my 40 week appointment - to be honest it was 40 weeks and 4 days. I figured there would be some progress toward labor by now ... absolutely nothing! I was in exactly the same position I had been in at 37 weeks ... I must say this news did not make me too happy. What followed was even worse - my doctor began discussing with us induction options. I remember hearing about babies that were "10 days late" when I was a child - in fact, I was one of those babies. So, what is the big deal about 4 or 5 days? Apparently there is a strongly held belief that early 1st trimester ultrasounds are the answer to this question ... since we have them now, which we didn't 30 years ago, our due dates are considered more accurate and obviously by definition babies born this decade must know how to use a calendar.

All sarcasm aside, I listened to my doctor go through the list of induction options. None of which sound particularly appealing. He did however have me pretty well convinced that Friday would be a nice time to start Pitocin - I have to say that the thought of being able to hold my daughter in my arms before the weekend ends sounds pretty enticing. He also said that I needed to do some testing this week. Once I found out that the tests were non-invasive I agreed without knowing what I was actually agreeing to.

Tuesday I went to work, taught 3 PE classes, and left for my Biophysical Profile Test - basically an ultrasound. I actually thought this might be fun - I had high hopes for getting to see Katie's face and maybe even get an idea of how big she was. I did get to find out she has hair, but other than that the test was disappointing. On an 8 point scale ... Katie scored 4 points. My precious baby decided to sleep through the test, and there was no disturbing her (ironically as I write this she is punching and kicking the heck out of me). I knew, and said it multiple times, that I had not had nearly enough to eat that morning and some ice water or cookies should wake her. I did not realize just how important these statements were at the time. The ultrasound technician said the my fluid level was good and we got 2 points for that, but she really did not like to give out 4's. I said "no big deal" I'll go over to the hospital and have the non-stress test done, and on my way over I'll get Katie and myself something to eat. Well, um with a score of 4 I was required to go for the non-stress test immediately - but still it was suggested that I pick up something in the hospital cafeteria on my way up to the Labor and Delivery floor.

I HATE hospitals ... so I arrived at the admission desk and informed them I was there for an NST and should be done within the hour. The super-nice lady helped me fill out all my paperwork, but informed me that I was a G status not an O for observation as I had thought I would be. She said this meant I could be there for up to 23 hours - this should have alarmed me; however, I let her know everything was OK, I was not in labor, and I would be an O status by the end of the hour - she said that she would change my status when the test was done and the Labor and Delivery floor called down to her. She was exceptionally nice, and I have no reason to believe she knew anything was brewing.

I was met in the hallway by a lady who insisted I ride in a wheelchair - this aggravated me, but I tried to be nice. Then I was assigned to birthing room 4 - I quickly informed the nurse I was leaving in an hour and I would be happy to do the test in a non-private observation bed. She quickly moved me, and thanked me for leaving the room open for someone who might need it. I let her know I needed some cookies and juice to wake my sleeping baby for the test - she attached the monitoring devices, got my necessary food items, and asked a multitude of health history questions. We got a good baseline strip of Katie sleeping ... which appeared to alarm the nurse; however, after giving Katie a short pep talk and crunching down some ice she started acting like her usual post-meal self. We passed the NST!

By now my blood pressure had become cause for concern to the medical staff. Nobody who works in a hospital seems to understand how some of us can simply HATE hospitals - these stupid tests cannot possibly cause someone's blood pressure to escalate. I was stressed - and further evidence of this was found as hives on my neck and chest. Although the medical staff completely missed this diagnosis they were quick to notice my swollen ankles and legs - obviously pre-eclampsia right? It's got to be - well, at least as far as they were concerned. One call to the doctor and now blood work was being requested. So the main reason I HATE hospitals is that they are full of needles and other sharp objects that are used to plunge into the skin! To make matters worse the nurse informed me that Katie's score of 4 on the Biophysical Profile Test back at my doctor's office earned us a guaranteed hospital stay of 23 hours ... now I was beginning to feel sick - so I agreed to let them take blood. I spoke with the nurse about signing out AMA - against medical advice, and she informed me that if I did that my insurance company would refuse to pay any charges I just incurred by being there.

I frantically called Joe and gave him as much information about the situation as I could. He quickly got on the phone with the insurance company to confirm these lies perpetrated by the medical staff. When I called him back after my blood was drawn he said "that nurse doesn't know what she is talking about, and don't let them admit you - that can change everything". He then said the most important thing, "I am leaving the office now to come be with you". Within 10 minutes he was by my side, rubbing my head, reassuring me, and providing me with entertainment in the form of a solitaire game on his ipod. Although nobody wanted to give us the results of my blood work - Joe and I finally managed to get the nurse to admit there was nothing abnormal, no pre-eclampsia just as I had thought all along. We were then moved to a more private observation room where Joe suggested I call the insurance company to confirm all charges would be covered. After completing the 2nd insurance call of the day, and speaking to the 2nd manager at the call center, we were convinced ... Joe helped me remove the monitors, and we headed for the elevator. While in the elevator Joe used the scissors on my pocket knife to cut off the hospital wristband.

My blood pressure has remained somewhat elevated since we left the hospital - it takes a while for me to calm down, but it has been decreasing with each passing hour. The hospital did call my cell to confirm that I was alright - Joe took the call and reassured them I was just fine. My doctor has not made any attempt to contact me, and until we reach 42 weeks (when Katie will be officially overdue) or I go into labor I have no interest in contacting him. For now I'm on Joe prescribed bed rest - I'm done working, but the Joe bed rest comes with some good meals and lots of great snuggling. Besides, maybe I'll need some rest for when I finally do go into labor - naturally!

Facebook Status

Kimberly is pleased to announce that medical staff has declared Katie "perfect" ... God COMPLETELY healed her - we are 8 months as of yesterday and looking forward to her (hopefully timely) arrival on August 20th!!!

New Year

As another school year has come to a close I find myself reflecting much about the past 12 months. Although last summer seems a distant memory I know that by Christmas (when I actually write my annual letter) I will have forgotten so much of what has happened during the first half of the year. For teachers, I think New Year's should be celebrated sometime in August - preferably the day before we return to our classrooms. There is really no need to relax and celebrate when we have been out of the classroom for 2 weeks relaxing at home (or the lucky ones somewhere nice and warm) over Christmas Break. The real need to kick back and drink comes when we realize that our summer has ended, it's about to get cold again, and within 24 hours we will be returning to the insanity of a new school year!

With all this said I am so happy to be standing at the threshold of another Summer Break! Today is my 1st official day of break ... after surviving what our staff collectively termed "the longest week ever" I cannot believe it's finally here. I stayed out way too late last night visiting with friends, but found myself awake at 6:50am to take the puppy outside. Joe sadly does not get to have a summer break and by 7:45am he was leaving for work and wishing me some restful sleep. I'll catch up on that sleep tonight ... today is a day for getting things done!

This has been a year of firsts ... I worked with Kindergartners daily, purchased a 2 month old puppy named Barkley, implemented new health curriculum in grades K-5, celebrated my 1st wedding anniversary, and spent most of the year pregnant! No wonder I feel exhausted - on top of all that I have been working to complete my thesis and plan to graduate just 2 weeks before Katelyn Grace is scheduled to arrive. As a community we survived numerous snow days and one inland hurricane that left us with mass destruction and no power for almost a week! We rewired the basement (with some help from professionals) and are in the process of drywalling the downstairs family room. A room we once figured would be our theater style entertainment room, but now know it will hold a pack 'n play, bouncy seat, and countless toys.

As I stand at the threshold of this summer break I praise God for just how blessed I am, and look forward to my teacher New Year's when Katelyn is expected to arrive and my real life is ready to begin. Maternity leave until 2nd quarter in October - that will be my REAL summer break. For now, there is much to be done and a finite time to complete it all. How wonderful it is ... having the summer "off from work".

Christmas Travel

Joe and I have returned home from our trip to the great northland. Although our trip began with what was supposed to be 5.5 hour train ride that turned into 12 hours of exhaustion - the trip can be considered a success. I'll explain the train later, but let me start by saying that my Mom did an incredible job of making us both feel at home. She prepared unending amounts of food, decorated the house with Christmas cheer, and set out determined to make it a wonderful Christmas no matter what might go wrong. We laughed, we cried, and now we're back to our 30 minute (or more) daily phone conversations!

Christmas Eve was spent at 2 church services and family dinner. Willow Creek Church had an amazing display of the Christmas Story ... told in song, story, illustration, and ice. Yes ice! Life size ice carvings of the Nativity. It was beautiful and relaxing - Oh, and there was a massive table of red, white, and green candy. Lasagna dinner followed ... complete with 3 homemade pies to choose from for dessert. Then we made our way to church #2. A painful experience at best - to protect the guilty party, I'll just say that 1 parent decided we would sit in ROW 2 and arrive 45 minutes early! Every verse to every song, the incense burning my eyes ... it was late, and I was getting silly ... I began counting kneelers as they hit the hard ground with an unmistakable thud. We finally arrived home at 1:45am.

Mom declared 11am as the official time for present opening - if you want presents, you must be somewhat awake and downstairs to get them. I woke up earlier than the rest of the crowd - by 9am I was prepared to begin tearing wrapping paper, but I waited patiently (while eating cookies). Aside from Matthew's ungrateful attitude toward gifts of clothing all went well. My parents treated Joe as another son, and he had just as many presents under the tree as the rest of us! The gifts were extravagant and greatly appreciated - I never thought Christmas (as an adult) would ever be this much fun. As an unexpected 1st - everyone managed to purchase ALL necessary gifts before Christmas this year! Although his shopping wasn't completed (or started) until Christmas Eve, Patrick impressed us all with appropriate gift cards and thoughtful Christmas cards.

Joe found some time to visit with his brothers and I engaged in some much needed retail therapy with my mom. I found the towel bars for our newly remodeled bathroom on super-sale at the Restoration Hardware outlet store. Our final family experience included a visit with Joe's brother John and his family. Our nephews are getting so big - they're growing up so fast - we made them earn next year's gift by giving us hugs before we left. We had a fun visit, but the highlight for me was when John gave me the ONLY family copy of "Smokin' Joe & Screaming Silence" - the band Joe was the lead singer of in high school! It's hilarious - I love my rockstar!

Both the Palmer House and Ambassador East were exquisite - the beds were soft and the locations amazing. Their commitment to customer service is something I can truly appreciate. Oh, but the train was another story. The only sad part of our trip was how unpleasant train travel can be. 93 miles outside Chicago the fuel pump broke! We were towed back to Champaign and bussed (in the snowstorm) to Union Station. Unsupervised children, angry passengers, and the showing of an inappropriate movie on the bus - I do NOT wish to travel with Amtrak anytime soon! If you want more details comment or email me ... there were large amounts of prayer involved - God used Joe to save us all from the movie, but it was exhausting.

Bathroom Tile

After years of agonizing over what to do about the upstairs bathroom shower area ... Joe and I decided it was time to look into the cost of tile. Last year, in a desperate moment, I had basically closed my eyes and pointed into the phone book to find someone who could install bathroom tile. The gentleman on the phone sounded like a retired contractor interested in simple jobs. He was quick to quote a cost of $3/square foot (around $300) for the whole job. Although this seemed like a reasonable price I was also looking at other solutions. When the surround I had previously purchased did not fit in the shower space we began to consider tileboard. I was certain Joe and I could install the tileboard together - with minimal difficulty, and I had actually convinced Joe of this as well. In the meantime I had a tile store come out to the house and give me another estimate for the job - at least $700! Yikes.

Finally, push came to shove and it was time to do something about this 3 year bathroom project (that should have taken 1 week in 2006). We had fresh greenboard already installed in the shower area and I was unwilling to have it removed so that backerboard could replace it for a substantial fee. The tile stores want to tile only on backerboard - they also want to install it! Joe and I decided that we could get $300 together for the tile installation if this would truly be the cost to use our existing greenboard. I began to search my files for the name of that retired gentleman I had spoken to last year. I couldn't find his information anywhere - then I stumbled upon a number in the phonebook. It sounded like a smaller company, and I figured it must be him. The much younger guy who answered the phone quoted me the same price of $3/square foot! So, we set up an appointment and he came out to do an official estimate.

Working together to schedule the job has been a challenge for all of us, but this guy is doing amazing work! Yesterday, he asked me how we had heard about him. I simply let him know that I had found him in the phonebook. Oh, this amazed him - he has not been listed in the phonebook for 2 years! I am really good at throwing away old stuff, but I discovered that I had used a phonebook from 2006. Later I was admiring his work and of course stating how easy it looked (although I knew it wasn't). He told me about an older gentleman who has been installing tile improperly ... and then went on to explain that he has had to completely demolish and retile much of this gentleman's work.

Oh, praise GOD! I told my new tile guy the story about how I had contacted that guy and lost his number, and how I had been trying to reach the guy when I actually called him. I told him how God must have protected me ... and then we spent the rest of the afternoon talking about Jesus. As it turns out, our bathroom tile is being installed by someone from OUR church!

Tomorrow is grouting ... next week Joe and I can shower upstairs - We are so blessed!

Thank You

I have officially completed my final wedding thank you note! It feels so good to be done. It's not that I mind writing them, but once you say "thank you for the ..." what more is there really to say? I am grateful, and it isn't much fun receiving a card that simply says "thanks". So, I try to think of other applicable items of interest to include. This makes the process a bit more intensive than a regular Monday night activity. Last night was marked for completion of thank you notes and Christmas cards. The Christmas cards are mailed! All include a Christmas letter, most include a wedding picture, and a few include those final thank you notes.

Thank you to everyone who sent a card or gift to us during this 1st year of marriage! Every package and envelope was another reminder that we had moved onto a new chapter of our lives. We are so grateful to everyone who helped us celebrate our special day, and we look forward to all the adventures of marriage God has in store for us.

December

Today is the 1st day of December ...
Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas cards are signed, and tiny snowflakes are falling from the sky. This magical time of year is upon us. The students are incredibly lethargic (maybe it's the turkey). It hardly seems possible that Christmas break is only 3 weeks away.

The buzz around the school includes whispers of hope for a snow day. Personally, I think I can hold out for the next few weeks; however, I think I just might jump on the bandwagon. The snow has begun to come down like a blizzard, but nothing is sticking yet. I guess now is a good time to start praying.

I have quite a bit of planning to do for our Christmas party. A few stress-free days off could really help out! This week I need to convince Joe (again this year) that his help with the tree is not only necessary but it will be fun as well. The cookie recipes will need to be tested, and I must mail those signed Christmas cards later today. I love my Christmas ToDo list ... I just hope there's enough time to get it all done!