This Friday February 23 will mark 10 years since Ryan's snowmobile accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down.  A day that significantly changed Ryan's life, my life and our families lives as well.  On this day Ryan prefers to treat it as any other day which we usually do.  We take a minute to recognize that it has been so many years since the day that changed our life forever and then go about our normal routine.  For me as his wife I usually treat the day pretty much the same but I always take time to thank God for not calling Ryan home that day.  It doesn't take much to bring tears to my eyes thinking about that day and how different it could have been.  Even more so now as I watch our beautiful son Silas snooze away in his swing.  On this day I am forever grateful that God gave us this life that we have.  All the ups and downs that we have endured over these last ten years have brought us to this place of living out the life we have always imagined.  

Being paralyzed has never slowed Ryan down, his determination and fighting spirit have been the keys to his success.  Those attributes of his have paid off over time and have blessed us with making some of our dreams become a reality.  It hasn't been easy making our dreams come true but Ryan has never stopped working hard at making them possible.  We've been blessed to continue to grow our farm and we've been blessed with the arrival of our son.  We have goals to continue to grow our farm and our family and hopefully someday be able to pass on our farm to our son.  For those of you in the farm world you know its not easy to get into farming, to rent or buy farm land.  We are blessed that my parents, brother Casey, Uncle Tim, and cousin Taylor are willing to take the time to help get Ryan in and out of the tractor and help us farm the land that Ryan and I run.  We are blessed with some wonderful land lords who have never consider the fact that Ryan being paralyzed would effect him farming. They look at his character, and all the other attributes that make up who he is, at least I like to think they look at his character.  I know people that meet Ryan for the first time they see his chair and wonder what his story is but when you get to know Ryan, his heart, his sense of humor, you know longer see his chair, you see him and the person he is.  I'm blessed to call this man my husband.  He is the most selfless human being I have ever met, he has a heart of gold, he is stubborn beyond belief, funny, sarcastic and more sensitive (in a good way) then he would want me to say. 

So on this ten year anniversary what better way to celebrate the life God gave us then to share our interview with Successful Farming.  They had reached out to us last year after coming across our blog.  This past fall Kacey came out and interviewed us and had plans to share the interview this week.   Ryan definitely does better being in front of a video camera then I do but both the article and video turned out very well!  You never know what path life will take you on, but even on the bumpy road always stay determined, always fight for what you want in this life, because this life is worth living!  Every day is a gift from God, don't waste it, take advantage of it! 

Head on over to check out the interview with Successful Farming www.agriculture.com/sf-special

To read about Ryan's accident check out our blog post the-day-our-life-change.html

Thank you to all of our family and friends who have supported Ryan, who have supported us. We love you all so very much and we know each of you have memories from that day.  Take a minute to celebrate life on Friday, I know we will! 

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Check out our infant photo session we did with Mandi Johnson Photography!  It will be hard to pick which photos to use for his birth announcements since there are so many good ones!  We were able to do our family photos and Silas's photos in the comfort of our home.  Enjoy!!

Its crazy to think our little man is over a month old now!  The first month of his life certainly has flown by and I can't help but think how fast my maternity leave is going.  Silas is changing before our eyes.  He is a little peanut and wearing newborn clothes still but you can tell some items are finally starting get small on him.  Zero to three month clothes are starting to fit although some are just still to big for him.  He is getting better at sleeping longer spurts through the night and loves to snuggle in the morning an sleep on my chest.  He is a very good and efficient eater.  He hates a wet or dirty diaper and screams until it gets changed.  He could out fart an adult man.  Ryan and I think this is hilarious because he literally will toot all night long.  At one point it was so loud it did wake us up.  Mom is his BFF and tends to only want me, but I am food.  He is starting to interact with us more with his smiles and baby coos.  Melts my heart those baby smiles!  We  tried a bottle for a first time and he took it like a champ with zero hesitation.  I'm continuing to breast feed and pump but it will be nice now if I need to leave him he will take a bottle well for others.  He does really well in his car seat and riding in the car.  He has been my crossfit buddy coming with me to crossfit and sleeps through majority of the classes, which makes this mama happy!

Our little man gets baptized this weekend and next week he will already have his second doctors appointment.  Ryan and I are both curious on what he weighs and how long he is now.  We just received our newborn photos so I will be sharing those on the blog pretty soon.  Here are a few photos of Silas to enjoy in the mean time.  

 Its hard to believe that Silas is 3 weeks old already,  Time has certainly flown by as everyone said it would.  Literally some days are such a blur that before I know it Ryan is coming through the door at the end of his work day and I haven't moved very much from my spot on the couch.  Ahhhh the spot on the couch, you know it well if you are a new mom or mom of littles.  The spot where your bum has made its indent in the couch cushion.  The spot where you are probably positioned in front of the tv and have an end table next to you so you have easy access to everything you might need through out the day.  The spot that your husband sees you begin and end your day at.  The spot that well at least for me I started to dread.  Yup you heard me right, DREAD!  For someone like me moving and being active is an essential part of my day, apart of my soul and well these last few weeks have really tested my patience with this matter.  If you know me, you know that patience isn't my strong point.  I gave myself 18 days of zero crossfit before I had enough and decided to head back.  I'll talk more about that in a bit but trust me it was well needed.  

Whoever said maternity leave was like being on vacation has obviously never had a baby before.  Before I had kids I thought that maternity leave would be this awesome time at home with your babe, boy was I wrong.  I've had friends and family members who told me what postpartum life is like, all the crazy hormones, all the crazy feelings, but I never expected to actually feel the way I did.  One of the compliments I have received about our blog is the fact that I'm honest so I'm going to be honest on what postpartum life has been like for me.  Hopefully other new moms or experienced moms out there will relate to me on this matter.

The first week home with Silas was tough, and overwhelming. Thankfully as the days and weeks go on we all have adjusted into a routine and things have become easier.  The first night home with him was hard, he was up majority of the night.  After having a very long labor and pretty much zero sleep in the hospital exhaustion had set in full force.  By Monday my milk had come in and by Tuesday I was dealing with engorgement.  Talk about painful.  I didn't yet have my pump due to my insurance and was having to hand express and try to break up the clogged ducts.  Silas wasn't able to latch onto that side since I was so engorged so he was pretty much nursing on one side only.  On Wednesday we had an appointment with lactation and thankfully they were able to help me get some of the engorgement to go down and to get Silas to latch onto that side.  Unfortunately by that afternoon my other side became engorged but I was able to stay on top of it and by the end of the week it was better.   Days passed and soon enough Silas was going through growth spurts and cluster feeding every hour, literally!  Thankfully I produce enough milk for Silas but between nursing and pumping that had become a full time job and still is.  Nursing is wonderful but man it is time consuming and toss in pumping and its even more time consuming.  First dealing with engorgement, then cracked nipples to now dealing with Nipple Vasospasm, which by the way is uber painful.  I can't forget to mention nursing bras because if you are like me and are pretty well endowed in that area then you know how frustrating it can be to find a proper nursing bra and one that provides decent support.  Another side effect of nursing is how hard it is on your neck, shoulders, back, actually your whole body considering how much you sit doing it.  Even with trying to have good posture  and a good nursing pillow,  it still is uncomfortable.  Those crazy hormones everyone talks about brought on night sweats, like drench the sheets kind of sweats....gross!  Random hot flashes through out the day, and pretty much just sweaty all the time for this warm bodied lady.  I can't forget to mention all the wonderful things postpartum does to your self esteem as well.  I was fortunate that the baby weight pretty much fell of me but well things just aren't the same anymore.  Granted I know it hasn't been that long since Silas has been born and it will take time but its hard not to be so self critical every time you look in the mirror.

The one feeling that really caught me off guard the first week of Silas's life is how much I missed my old life.  Here I had been praying for a baby for so long and waiting for this time in my life forever and all I could think about was my life with out a child.  Talk about making yourself feel like an awful mother for feeling this way.  In the midst of his crying I thought to myself what did we get ourself into.  Granted so much of those feelings were brought on by all the crazy hormones and pure exhaustion.  But I remember crying in the middle of the night bouncing him up and down trying to get him to stop crying and thinking how sad and lonely I felt.  Since I'm nursing, the soul person that can take care of him is me.  Ryan has been trying but with his paralysis  he can really only do so much to help right now.  Fortunately he helps around the house as much as he can.  The days even though they go quick can feel long when its just you and the baby.  When Ryan comes home I still feel like I don't get adult interaction because Silas pretty much runs the show.  Its amazing how much you don't even have time for your spouse, you start to feel like roommates instead of spouses.  I remember sitting in the same room as Ryan and telling him I miss him and him telling me he wants his wife back.

People tell you to sleep when the baby sleeps but for me I have to much energy during the day to rest and when he sleeps its a moment I can do something around the house or have a minute to myself where I don't have a baby attached to my breast.  Others have told me to not worry about my house being clean but a messy house just brings on more stress.  The morning after we got home from the hospital I told Ryan I would take pure joy in vacuuming the house, so I did!  Its hard taking care of an infant and trying to take care of yourself.  I have managed to shower and do my makeup every day since we have been home.   I also have managed to get out of the house with Silas many times.   People may think spending time  putting makeup on is a waste but it makes me feel good about myself.  Silas is notorious for crying as soon as I want to take a bath, sit down to eat something or spend 5 minutes with Ryan. Sometimes he might cry for a few minutes but I refuse to put myself on the back burner.  I remember thinking the first week when I was feeling all of these emotions all I wanted to do was go to crossfit and then blog about what I was feeling.  All I wanted to do was relieve some stress.  Thankfully I'm back at crossfit and its amazing how much it has done for my overall health.   I have had a pretty quick recovery and have had minimal pain and soreness after birth, that being said I am easing back into things at crossfit and will still wait to do certain lifts and movements until that 6 week mark.   Being a mother means being selfless and sacrificing certain things for your children.  For me taking care of myself, doing my hair and makeup, going to crossfit, these things aren't something I'm willing to give up.  If I were to give up certain things in my life it would make me a bad mother.  I refuse to have the "mom guilt" that some moms have.  

Reading back through this blog post it might seem that I'm hating motherhood and I'm not.  Motherhood is a challenge but it also brings a lot of joy to my life.  I love my mornings with Silas when he is just so cute and wants to snuggle, I love the way he looks at me and knows that I am mom.  I love seeing him change and grow.  He changes so much so fast that its bittersweet. I love his little facial expressions and just watching him while he sleeps so peaceful.   In the moments when he is fussy and crying I try to be thankful for those moments.  I remember a time when I would have given anything to be a mom dealing with a fussy baby.  I am forever grateful that God gave us Silas.  Before I know it this kid will be grown up and I will be wishing for these moments right now that we are in.  I would do it all again in a heart beat!  Motherhood is an adventure to say the least, every day is a new day and every day is different.    For those new moms out there its ok to not love every second of life with an infant, having friends and family members who told me the same thing or felt the same way made me feel better.  You will have good and bad days.  The bad days suck but you get through them and you learn to just  go with flow..   My advice is to cry when you need to, talk to loved ones about how you are feeling and just breathe.  The other advice I have is when you come home its ok to not have visitors and its ok to not answer your phone.  I remember feeling so overwhelmed by all the texts, phone calls and visitors.  Eventually I silenced my phone, didn't answer texts and asked for no visitors.  I wanted time to figure life out with a newborn, time to enjoy Silas and time to just be a family with him and Ryan.

As I look at my sweet boy laying next to me I can't help but feel so much outpouring love for him.  These moments may be hard but I will cherish this time forever!  

 On Thursday December 28th I woke up with some mild cramping in my low back and pelvis. I started to walk and stretch to ease the mild pain.  I debated on waking Ryan up since I thought maybe this could be the start of early labor.  I eventually got myself back to sleep and woke up at 8 am to bleeding.  We called the hospital and they told us to come in.  My induction date was scheduled for that Friday but little man had other plans.  We arrived at the hospital shortly after 9 am, the only patient in OB at the time.  I remember telling Ryan we are the first to arrive and I bet we will be the last to leave.  They checked me and I wasn't dilated and not even 100 percent effaced yet.  The plan was to start Cytotec.  Cytotec is a vaginal suppository that helps ripen the cervix and bring on labor.  I had my first dose shortly after ten, this could be administered up to 6 times every 4 hours.  Ryan, myself and our doula walked the halls as often as we could, I was having some mild cramping but nothing major.  After 4 hours they checked me and there wasn't any change so they administered the second Cytotec after 2pm.  This started to bring on more contractions closer together but still manageable.  Again after another 4 hours they checked me again and administered the third Cytotec.  At this point I still had minimal change in dilation, I think I had reached 1 cm.  By this time it was dinner time.  Contractions started to get closer together and stronger.  I tried laying in a hospital chair with my heating pad on my back and breathing through the contractions, I then noticed the full body shakes happening.  Literally my whole body shook uncontrolled and I couldn't  stop it.  Eventually all of us got ready for bed.  The hospital saved their c-section room for Ryan to be able to sleep in and do his morning care routine since that room had a wheel in shower.  I didn't sleep at all since my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart sometimes 2-3 minutes and were very intense and in my back.  I eventually got up and walked the halls and then went down and was with Ryan for a little bit.  The nurse then recommended trying to get in the tub to labor in there and see if that would help with the contractions.  I don't recall what time I got in the tub, I think maybe around 12 am, but I labored in the tube for 8 hours.  The tub was nice, the warmth and whirlpool jets did help ease the pain of the contractions and allowed me to breath through them.  I remember squeezing Ryan's hand and the doula's hand as hard as I possibly could.  At the next 4 hour mark they tried to check my cervix while I was in the tub but Silas's head was so low that they had to go around his head to try to reach my cervix.  They were unable to check me properly and the doppler was having a hard time picking up his heart beat so they made me get out of the tub and back to bed to check me and monitor baby for a bit.  At this point I still wasn't having much change and my contractions were so close together that they could no longer give me any more of the Cytotec.  Getting out of the tub was miserable, my contractions intensified so much more and I started to feel nauseas and sick.  Once I was able to get back into the tub I ended up requesting for an analgesic to take the edge off.  They administered the first dose and said I could have that every 3 hours.  The first dose did help take the edge off of the contractions enough where I could get my breathing back under control.  At the 3 hour mark I asked for another one and the second dose didn't help at all.

​ Ryan eventually had to go and do his morning care routine.  This was the longest 2 hours of my life.  It was so hard not having Ryan by my side to help me through each contraction.  It was a very lonely 2 hours not having my person with me.  I kept telling my doula that I could know longer do this, I was in so much pain, all back labor,  I was so nauseas that I started throwing up and I was so exhausted.  When Ryan returned the doctor had me get out of the tub to check me again, I still wasn't making much progress and was only dilated to a 2-3cm.  By this time I had been awake for over 24 hours and having very hard contractions every 2-3 minutes apart.  The doctor did break my water at some point in time very early morning.  The doctor said the next step would be to start Pitocin to help progress dilation.  I knew at that point starting Pitocin would make my contractions even worse.  It wasn't an easy decision to decide to get an epidural but my doctor even said you have been awake for 24 hours, you are throwing up, you are exhausted its ok to get an epidural.  I knew in my mind labor would continue all day, the baby wasn't going to be born in a couple hours, an epidural was the right decision, so at 7:15 I gave in and asked for the epidural.  

My mother who works at the hospital came in and was with me for a while in the morning and helped me labor.  It was around 9 am when Justin came to give me my epidural.  I was slightly nervous about getting the epidural since my contractions where so close together and having to sit still while he is placing the catheter in my back.  I also was so nauseas that even water and ice chips were making me want to throw up and the full body shakes still continued.  Luckily the time that I needed to be really still my contractions held off.  I just kept asking God please help me stay calm and not move.  Once he was finished I laid back in bed and eventually started throwing up again.  My blood pressure dropped really low and the doctors were concerned my blood sugar was to low since I hadn't eaten for a long period of time.  So there I sat trying to force myself to eat when I felt like I had the worst stomach flu of my life.  I wasn't able to sleep at all that afternoon, I tried to rest but I felt so overly exhausted and so crappy it just didn't happen.  I was so nervous that when it came time to push I wouldn't be able to out of pure exhaustion.   After I received the epidural thats when they started the Pitocin.  Around lunch they really cranked up the amount of Pitocin because I was still dilating so slowly.  Ryan's mom came to the hospital and had lunch with my mom that afternoon.  At around 3  I she came to see me and I broke down to her.  My epidural was perfect in the fact that I could still feel my contractions, just not intense pain behind them.  I also could fully feel and move my right leg and move my pelvis.  My left leg was a bit more dead.  Overtime my contractions started to feel really intense again and found out my button to release the medication wasn't working.  Justin came back up and adjusted my catheter and things felt better then.   During the transition of the final phase of labor is when I felt the worse, luckily at 4 pm (32 hours of labor) the doctor checked me and he said it was time and I was ready to start pushing.  A huge sense of relief came over me and it was like finally the end is in site!  Surprisingly a surge of energy came over me even though I was still feeling pretty crappy.   We called my mom to come upstairs and Ryan's mom was also in the room.  This wasn't a planned thing but in the moment they both gave me a sense of peace by being there.

 Due to the position of Silas's head I ended up having to push on my sides for a while to try to get him to turn his head.  The doctor tried to manually turn his head with out success.  At that moment when both of his hands where shoved inside of me trying to turn this kid's head I was thankful for that epidural.  Believe me I still could feel everything that he was doing but I can't imagine him doing that with out meds.  After pushing so many times on each side the baby had finally turned his head and only a few pushes after that he came out and they placed him on my chest.

Ryan announced the sex of the baby and eventually cut the umbilical cord.  Everyone was shocked to hear it was a boy, the OB staff all thought it would be a girl.  The moment of them placing Silas on my chest is forever engrained in my memory.  This little tiny baby wiggling around brought instant tears to my eyes.  He didn't cry to much, he actually came out popping and pooped all over me and himself.  But there was a moment he just stopped moving and starred at me.  It was the most intense, piercing stare ever, like he knew I was mom and this huge rush of unconditional love came over me.  All I could say was hey, I'm your mom!  I've been waiting for this moment for so long and there really are no words to describe the feelings that come over you.  It really is indescribable!  He really is a true blessing and a gift from God!  Ryan and I are forever grateful that God chose us to be his parents.

My labor was by know means what I had envisioned but I'm thankful I was able to experience a vaginal delivery.  I guess that is why everyones birth story is so different.  After I received my epidural our labor and delivery nurse Carrie, who we happen to know, told me a little about the birth of her three kids, two of which were inductions.  She said inductions are so different then natural labor.  Inductions bring on labor with medication, and they bring it on fast and hard, there is no gradual transition with induction. Her saying those things reassured me that deciding to get an epidural was right for me.  I was able to feel every contraction still while pushing and feel the baby emerge from my body, was it comfortable, heck no but it was tolerable.  If Ryan and I are ever blessed to have more children I still will try for a natural labor, hopefully it will be much faster then this one.  We can't say enough about how awesome our labor and delivery nurses were and how awesome our doctors were.  We went through 3 nurse changes and 1 doctor change before Silas was born.  I'm pretty sure God had it in his plan to have Carrie be the nurse to be with us all day on Friday.  She was amazing, so kind and caring and kept me calm the whole time.  I'm really so thankful she got to be apart of Silas's birth.   Our pediatrician also was in the room when Silas was being delivered and we feel pretty blessed to have such an awesome doctor for Silas.  All of us were really surprised when they weighed him and he was only 6 pounds 13 ounces, pretty small for being 10 days over his due date.  

We ended his birthday with both sets of Grandparents enjoying their new grandson.  Another indescribable feeling is seeing your parents meet your kid for the first time.  How much joy our little man brought them was written all over their faces! I was able to get up and take a bath and get a little sleep between feedings.  The second night in the hospital was harder and little man decided to cluster feed all night.  We were happy to head home from the hospital on New Years Eve, the last to leave the hospital, just like I told Ryan.  There were 3 other babies born that came in after we arrived and left before us.  Our kid sure knows how to make an entrance into the world! 

Its been two weeks since Silas has been born and what a two weeks it has been.  It has taken me more then a few days to finish this blog post considering I started writing it on the 11th.  I plan to write about life as a new mom and how Ryan and I are managing raising a new born.  In the mean time enjoy some special photos of Silas birth taken by  my mother.  

We are proud to announce the birth of our son, Silas Ryan Buck.  He was born on Friday, December 29th at 6:13 pm.  Weighing in at 6 pounds 13 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.  From start of labor to the minute he was born was 34 hours and 13 minutes.  Its been whirlwind of a week and can't believe that our little man is already a week old.  We are getting settled into a routine as best as we possibly can with a newborn.  I will be posting about Silas's birth story and life as a new mother in the near future.  Taking the time to adjust to this new life and enjoy all the sweet moments with Silas!  We are so in love with our little boy, our miracle baby!  We thank God for our son Silas and are so grateful for a healthy baby and for a easy and fast recovery for myself.  God's love for us is unconditional and becoming a mom has shown me what unconditional love is.  My love, our love for Silas is unconditional!  Enjoy a few photos of our little man!  Thank you for all of the prayers and encouragement through out this journey!  Let adventure is just getting started!

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Guess what, I'm still pregnant!  Today I have reached the 41 week mark in my pregnancy.  For all of those banking that this baby would show up early or on Christmas I'm sorry to disappoint.  I had an ultrasound today to check the health of the baby and the fluid level. Everything looks good with baby and fluid level is very healthy.  The radiologist even commented on how active this baby is for 41 weeks.  She is spot on with that, this baby has not settled down at all and at times the movement is so uncomfortable and violent.  Baby's head is extremely low and my cervix is still closed.  The doctor is letting me go for a few more days in hopes of me going into labor on my own.  As of now we have induction scheduled at the end of the week.  The hospital will only let me go 10 days over my due date, I can refuse their medical advice and go a few more days but the risk for still born birth increases after 10 days past your due date and honestly we want this baby born in 2017.  Hello taxes!  Being induced doesn't thrill me but trying to just put my faith and trust in God.  I can only do so much and the rest I have no control of.  Baby's heart rate and my blood pressure are nice and healthy still.  Comfort wise, well its getting more difficult.  I had two horrible nights last week where I honestly thought Ryan was going to have to take me to the hospital.  Thankfully the last few nights I have been able to get a little bit more sleep and not be in so much pain.  Fatigue is starting to kick in more and I naps have become a daily thing.  The last two days with the holidays and not moving much has made me feel I think more fatigued.  People may think I am nuts but I plan on hitting up crossfit tomorrow to move and get out of the house.  It still feels best to exercise for both my body, energy wise and mentally as well.   

We had a wonderful Christmas with both of our families and I was thankful we didn't have to travel very far.  It was fun seeing our niece and nephews and younger cousins open their gifts and it will be fun to add another one to the mix next year.  Today I spent taking down all the Christmas decorations and getting the tree out of the house.  I usually leave everything up until we ring in the New Year but figured it would be a good idea to have that all finished before the baby comes so I won't have to deal with it afterwards.  The next few days will be spent relaxing and hoping this baby will come on its own.  I did three acupuncture sessions and have decided to not have any more.  The last session really made my body uncomfortable and made me stress more then anything.  

I have to say the hardest part of being overdue is the emotional part.  There are times where I almost feel slightly depressed, the excitement has faded and now its just getting annoying.  Don't get me wrong I'm obviously excited to be having this baby and I know when the moment happens all of these emotions I'm feeling right now will disappear.   I can just tell my hormones are running high and I'm tired.  It is hard to leave the house and hear all the comments about still being pregnant and how tired I look.  Those mamas who went overdue in their pregnancies you know what I mean!   I still feel so blessed to have such an enjoyable pregnancy and it makes me so sad for those who suffer through out their entire pregnancy.  With the end in sight and baby's eviction notice I'm hoping that it will give me some peace and help my body to relax.  Its a good thought to know that my next blog post will be the announcement of Baby Buck!  Please continue all the prayers for us and Baby Buck.  I'm really hoping that if I have to be induced that my labor will go smoothly and quickly.  I can't wait to show all of you pictures of our sweet baby!

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Today is the day, we reached the 40 week mark and baby Buck's due date.  After hitting up crossfit class this morning I headed over to my doctors appointment and got baby all checked out.  Not a ton to report, baby looks good, the heart beat was in the 150's and my blood pressure is nice and healthy.  My doctor did check my cervix and I'm 80% effaced, my cervix is still closed and baby's head is very low.  I've had a lot more pressure in my lower pelvis so baby is clearly making its way into this world.  I go back next Tuesday for my next doctor's appointment unless I go into labor before that.  My doctor told me that anything is possible and just because she checked me and that I'm not dilated doesn't really mean anything.  So much can change in a matter of days and for first time healthy pregnancies it is very normal to go over your due date.  A due date is just a guess on baby's arrival anyways so really it doesn't mean to much.  Most pregnant ladies might be discouraged by todays news, but really I'm not.  I'd be more discouraged if nothing was happening at all down there but its a good start.  I still feel good minus sleeping and some discomfort in my pelvis but really I feel pretty blessed to say that I'm not miserable.   Besides God has this baby's birthday picked out already and whatever day that is it will be awesome!  Baby will come when he or she is ready.  Ryan and I have waited so long to even get pregnant so really whats a few more days. I went and had another acupuncture session after my appointment today so hopefully that helps to continue to progress the process.  I will have another session on Thursday and possibly one next week.  They won't talk induction until my appointment on Tuesday.  I will have an ultrasound that day to check the fluid level and check to see how baby is doing.

I manage to get my homemade Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls made over the weekend.  A tradition I started doing a  few years ago, they are delicious and fully recommend making them!  Ryan and I also had a date to go see the new Star Wars movie and had dinner with his parents on Saturday night to celebrate his mom's birthday.   Plans for the rest of the week consist of not much, lay low, continue crossfit and do a few things around the house.  Christmas Eve will be with my family at my parent's house and Christmas Day will be with Ryan's family at his parent's house.  We won't have to travel to far for each and it will be nice to enjoy yummy food and time with our loved ones.  I'm looking forward to watching our niece and nephews open their gifts the most.  We will have another update next week unless baby shows up prior to that.  We are expecting a snow storm at the end of the week so you never know, changes in barometric pressure can bring on labor.   Please continue the prayers for us and for a safe delivery and healthy baby and mama!    Merry Christmas and enjoy the time celebrating the brith of our Lord and Savior with your loved ones! 

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We are officially one week from Baby Buck's due date.  We had our 39 week check today and everything is looking good.  Baby's heart rate was in the mid 140s, my blood pressure is healthy as a horse and measuring at 35 weeks, which doesn't really mean much anymore at this stage of the game.  I've gained 21 pounds total and have stayed pretty steady at this weight for a couple weeks now.  I hit up crossfit prior to my appointment today and it felt great to be with my crossfit family.  Friday will be my official last day of work and then begins my maternity leave whether if baby is here or not.  I have another check next Tuesday where I will be 40 weeks along, they will then start checking my cervix.  We did talk induction dates today but nothing will be decided until next week.  I'm hoping to do everything possible to try to go into labor on my own before having the hospital induce me.  If they do have to induce me it won't be until after Christmas.  I have plans to start acupuncture to hopefully get this show on the road.  It would be wonderful to have this baby here for Christmas but there is a possibility that it may not happen.  God has a plan and ultimately it is up to baby on when he or she decides to show up.  I'm feeling great and again feel very blessed to be having such a wonderful pregnancy.  

I washed our hardwood floors over the weekend so pretty much told Ryan baby can come anytime now that got accomplished.  We celebrated Ryan's mother's birthday over the weekend with a surprise family dinner.  Her birthday is actually this Saturday but we figured we better get it in early incase baby does show up this weekend.  We had a nice time with family and friends and enjoyed a good meal, and a lot of laughs.  I also helped my mom bake Christmas cookies and enjoyed some time with my very sweet nephew.   The last thing on my list to do before baby is make The Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls I make every Christmas.  I have plans to accomplish that this weekend.  I also told Ryan we should plan on seeing the new Star Wars movie that comes out this Friday because we know that soon enough it will be a while before we see a movie again.  We will have another update next week, in the mean time please keep up the prayers for us.  I'm praying that I'm able to go into labor on my own and that labor is hopefully on the shorter side versus longer and also that God keeps baby and I safe during the process.    

We received good news after yesterdays ultrasound and doctor's consult at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.  We got the all clear to deliver our baby  in RedWing where we have been doctoring the whole time.  The ultrasound showed that the placenta has shifted fully out of the way.  Last week it was 1.6-2.4 cm away from my cervix and yesterdays ultrasound showed it was 4.2 cm away!  God answered our prayers and now the waiting game is officially on.  Everything looks really good with baby and the heart beat was 145 bpm.  With the measurements they do on the baby and their calculations they figured baby weighs 7 pounds now.  During the ultrasound they turned on the 3D image and baby decided to be sneaky and shield his or hers face by snuggling up to the placenta.  We did see baby's lips, chin and part of a cheek.  Baby definitely has my lips which we could see that at the 20 week ultrasound but it was very clear now that baby will be blessed with my big fuller lips!  The ultrasound also showed that the baby has a decent amount of hair.  The gal doing the ultrasound said that when you can see the hair on the ultrasound it usually means they have a decent amount for it to show up.  We also got to see baby open and close its mouth, purse its lips and see its tongue swallowing away.  We were slightly bummed to not see the baby's whole face but at the same time it makes it that more exciting that we have no idea what our kid looks like yet.  We are so excited to meet this tiny human and I can't wait to find out if we have a little boy or girl to raise.  

With my placenta out of the way I can get back to doing a few things at crossfit I haven't been able to do for a bit.  For instance today we did sprints on the rower and it felt great to get back to rowing, it's one of my favorites.  I've adjusted to the dreaded assault bike and even though its now my favorite I don't entirely loath it anymore.  It still feels really good to move and be active.  I take it day by day and continue to listen to my body.  When a lot of women are extremely uncomfortable at this point in their pregnancy I'm happy to report that I'm not.  Sleeping really isn't comfortable and leaning over patients at work is not comfortable, but I contribute feeling well to staying active, eating healthy and having my hours being cut down at work.  Having two whole days off a week has made a huge difference and I'm so thankful that my doctors ended up forcing me to do that.  

Ryan and I had a dinner date last night after out doctor's appointment and it was hard not to think that this could potentially be one of our last date nights before we become a family of three. We also had a wedding over the weekend and enjoyed time out with some friends and then helped bake and decorate cut out cookies with Ryan's mom on Sunday..  I'm going to savor every minute I get to spend with Ryan before the baby comes.  It will be bittersweet going from just us two, to a family of three.  I can't wait to see us become parents and figure out this whole thing together.  We will have another check up next week on Baby Buck.  Thank you again for all the prayers and encouragement.  Please continue the prayers for a hopefully quick and safe delivery.  God's has already decided this baby's birthday its our job to just be patient now and put our trust in him that all will go smoothly.