Looks Like It Will Be Thursday!

Jill writes-

After a day spent yesterday walking through Snohomish, weeding the yard, and walking up & down my long driveway feeling like labor is nowhere in sight, we are preparing for an induction on Thursday. I am staying active and out of the house as much as possible to avoid going stir-crazy waiting. I went to the mall today with Jen & Lori and met my mom to shop at Costco Home, while Jodi stayed back and worked in the office....I felt a little guilty for not doing the same, but my attention is just not anywhere but trying to get ready for the delivery! I have mentally checked out for now (from my business, I mean) until the baby comes. :)

Ben said everyone at school keeps asking him if I have had the baby yet. He told Jodi tonight that he is getting tired of having to say "not yet" and he wants to be able to say yes finally. I think we all do!

Tomorrow night we are all planning one last dinner together and a movie. We have Rachel coming to watch the kids and we are going to have sushi and see "Baby Mama". For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live. Amy is a surrogate for Tina and it's supposed to be very funny. Quite appropriate for the evening before delivery, right?

As for the picture below....Jodi & I went back and forth about whether or not to post it. Sometimes when the baby is in certain positions and I have a contraction, it will make my belly into the wierdest shapes. So last night we got a picture of it...a big ball on top, and totally flat in front. It's so bizarre! I guess all modesty goes out the window since you all are part of this! :)

Update From Jill

Jill writes-
We had a very fun afternoon at Mark & Jennifer Landes' home for a barbecue yesterday. The weather was so beautiful and made us all excited for summer. As you can see in the videos, the group is so calm...easily ready for another member of the family!! :) The kids had a great time riding around the lawn on the mini-quads and searching for snakes. Chloe found two.

As far as any signs of labor, it seems that everything has quieted down so much that I think I will end up going until Thursday for our induction. It's crazy. I thought for sure that I would have delivered by now, but doesn't every pregnant woman think that??

If I am not contracting, I am comfortable, so I feel I can wait until then. The only time that I feel like I'm at the end of my rope is when I am having false labor, very uncomfortable for three or four hours, then to have it stop. I start to gear up emotionally, then have to wait some more. It's a little frustrating. However, I do feel I am as emotionally ready as I'll ever be! With all the kids and activity going on, I haven't had much time for contemplation, I admit. We're very busy. But it's ok....I know I am prepared by the Lord and being held up by all of your prayers and well wishes. Thank you all so much!

The Whittemore's will be going to a hotel on the day of delivery so they can have some family time with the new baby. The plan is that we'll come together each day so all of us and the extended family & friends can to get to know him a little, too.

So, keep checking back...we'll have news for you soon! Love, Jill

It's A Beautiful Day in Washington

The Whittemore family had such a great day yesterday in downtown Seattle. Here is a picture of us at Pike Place Market, where we bought beautiful fresh flowers, fresh monk fish, clams, fresh jam, and the biggest artichokes you've ever seen! We went to the Seattle Aquarium as well. We returned home and Jill was in bed sleeping. She started to feel ill in the afternoon. We were all a little nervous she might be getting the flu because Ryan and her little girl Lindsay have had it in the past week. Thank goodness she woke up feeling great this morning. No contractions to report. We have a scheduled induction next Thursday and just may make it until then.
Tim and I were talking last night about how we need to mentally prepare that this is really going to happen. It feels kind of like we're up here for vacation and we are reminding ourselves that we will be leaving with a new family member! The car seat is empty in our rental car . . . soon to have a new Whittemore occupying it. The four of us are sleeping in the basement in the kids play area. Last night Christian woke us up a few times and it was so painful because we were really tired. A voice in my head is saying, "Get ready. You haven't seen anything yet!"
Ryan and Jill's oldest son, Ben, has a baseball game in a little while and then Mark and Jen Landes have invited us over for a barbecue this afternoon. Thank you for checking in on us. I promise that one of these days the blog will read that a baby has been born:).

No Baby Yet

Jill is taking a walk right now with her good friend, Lori DiMonda. Once again the contractions started to spread out around 11 p.m. I was happy we didn't all have to go to the hospital in the middle of the night, but Jill is getting tired of the starting and stopping. I don't blame her, especially because they are getting stronger and more painful. It's hard to watch her in pain, knowing she's doing this for us . . . very hard. We watched Juno together last night with Ryan and Tim. It was so exciting when the baby boy was born at the end and then you see Juno crying. She's so happy for the adoptive mom, but she just gave this child life and in this there are feelings and emotion. Even though we are the biological parents, Jill is giving life to our baby and I'm sure the emotions will be similar.

Tim and Chloe and Christian and I are heading to Seattle for the day. We'll pack a suitcase for the hospital in case we need to head straight there. It's going to be a "mostly sunny" day and we're looking forward to eating by the Pier and going to Pikes Place Market. We will keep you posted!

Contracting

It is 8:53 Washington time. Tim and the kids just pulled out of the parking garage at the Seattle airport and they are headed here. To say I can't wait to see them is an understatement. I haven't seen them in almost 7 days, which is a record for me. Jill has been gone since 5:30 this evening. She took Ben to his baseball practice and his ear started to hurt, so she decided to take him to urgent care. Sure enough, he has an ear infection. Jill sent me a text message while in the waiting room alerting me that she was contracting. I asked her to text me every time she had one- six minutes later my message says, "Now." After 7 minutes I hear a chime and check to see another "Now." I've gotten five more "Now"s and Jill just called from the Pharmacy and is having painful ones now. Well, we will either head back to Seattle shortly after Tim and the kids walk in the door or they will slow down once again. We will see . . .

Made it through another day!

Jill writes- We had a great day today. We started this morning with breakfast with Michael Clouse, a friend and mentor in our business.

Our doctor's appointment this afternoon went well; it seems like just yesterday we were here together finding out the Whittemore's are having a boy! Though the doctor thinks I will most likely deliver before then, we set a date for an elective induction on Thursday, May 1st.

After our appointment, Jodi and I had a great Sushi dinner in downtown Seattle and I started to contract quite a bit again. Jodi began to time them for the next hour and they again started to spread out.

Below is a short clip of my doctor listening to the heartbeat and trying to figure out what position the baby is in . . .

Things Are Quiet

Things have been quiet since our Saturday night episode. Jill will be 38 weeks tomorrow and I'm excited about every day the baby stays inside her wonderful womb! All three of her kids were born by now and both of mine would have been born two weeks ago. Every day is more fat on the bones and a better immune system (which we'll need flying on a plane right away). We would appreciate your prayers for a safe and uneventful delivery. I miss Tim and the kids and can't wait to see them in two days. I have been having a great time with the Ellis family. Jill and I are off to Bible Study, lunch, and pedicures with friends. Blessings to you . . .

"False Alarm" Affects At Least 175 People

Just a couple of hours after I posted yesterday Jill said she was feeling queezy. Though this is a common symptom that your body is preparing to labor, she wasn't contracting and figured she may be getting the flu. Ryan, who is a pilot for Alaska Airlines, left for a scheduled 3 day trip that was to start at midnight with a flight to Dallas. You've probably guessed what happened. Jill began contracting every 5 to 7 minutes and we were timing them. We realized that we didn't have our bags packed for the hospital and started packing some things we didn't want to go without. The contractions continued and we contacted Jill's mom to be on stand-by in case we were to leave for the 45 min-1 hour drive to the hospital. At 11 p.m. we called Ryan and told him what was going on. He was already at the airport and called his company's scheduling department and told them he couldn't fly. He headed home hoping a substitute pilot could be found right away. Well, we found out today that wasn't the case. They cancelled the flight and you can imagine there probably weren't any other flights at midnight that could take the passengers to their destination. I can only begin to wonder who slept in the airport, who turned back home, and who had to go to a hotel. We feel badly about it and hope we don't have to make that call again :). As for Jill, the contractions started to spread out shortly before Ryan got home. Though she was still contracting every 10-15 minutes, we decided to go to bed because it was 1:30 a.m. and we were exhausted. We slept until morning without any problems. Today has been fairly quiet with contractions about every hour. We will see . . .

In Seattle Until the Baby Arrives!

Jodi Writes-
I arrived in Seattle yesterday afternoon and can't believe that we are in the final stretch. Tim and the kids have a scheduled flight to come up on Thursday afternoon, but will be on stand by in case Jill starts to go into labor. I miss them already, but am excited to spend some time with Jill before the baby is born. The night before I left, Tim and I talked about how this was the last night we were to be together in our house without our baby. I came prepared with a diaper bag and clothes and Jill and I will go to the store and get some diapers and bottles. Tim will bring an empty car seat and stroller when he comes. I went to dinner with Ryan and Jill last night and we started to talk about what the delivery will look like. We discussed whether the baby will be placed on Jill's chest right after delivery or if he should go under the warmer (I joked I could crawl into bed next to her and take my shirt off and he could go on my chest). We don't know what to expect or if it will be more emotional for Jill than we were prepared for. What's best for the baby? Would it be best for Jill to do things differently this time than with her own three children? We'll talk through things some more- it's so nice that we can be so open and honest about how we feel. According to Jill things are calm. She said she probably is having about one contraction per hour and really thinks she'll last at least until Thursday when Tim and Chloe and Christian come. She will be 38 weeks by then and all three of her children were born on or before 38 weeks. We will see . . .

We're home safe & sound

Jill writes -

I was able to travel to Atlanta, GA, for Arbonne's National Training Celebration (yes, with my doctor's permission!), and we made it home safely on Sunday evening. It was fun to be together with all my close friends, and see many of all of you who have praying for me. I definitely felt that! I had to spend one afternoon in the room laying down because of some contractions, but other than that, I felt great! I think I felt better than a lot of people because I wasn't out late having as much fun as they were, if you know what I mean! :) Jodi got to spend some time with the baby, feeling him move around because we were able to room together. The baby got to attend his first concert, Tim McGraw! It was so much fun.

Since I've been home, it's been tough to try to "plan" the timing of everything to get the Whittemore's here in time for the birth. As you all know, labor & deliveries do not stick to "plans" so we are just going with the flow and changing day to day. Jodi will be flying up on Friday, and Tim & the kids will come soon after. I really feel like the baby will probably come next week, and my body is gearing up.

I woke up last night with a very strong contraction, and I woke up Ryan and reminded him to remind me that YES, I do want to try to get an epidural this time in case I happen to forget!! It was a little forewarning of what is to come. Preparing mentally for the delivery and transition afterwards has been probably the most challenging part of this. I am glad that my mom has reminded me that God is in charge here. That was a relief and encouragement to hear that again when I start to worry about things, even though I have known that all along. I have such wonderful family and friends, and their support has been amazing.

The Nursery Is Waiting!

Having our baby boy's room as a visual reminder that he is really going to be joining our family soon is so exciting! O.K. I'll admit something . . . Tim and I have taken turns sitting in the rocker holding the baby doll you see there. Our youngest, Christian, will be six years old in a couple of weeks, so it has been a while. (translation: we've forgotten what to do, but trust we'll figure it out)