39 Weeks Update

Just wanted you all to know that by this time next week, Aaron and I will be staring at our beautiful baby boy! I went to the doctor today and we planned my induction for Monday morning at 6:30 am... if I haven't had Patrick by then. I was still only dilated 1 cm at the appointment, so the chances of him coming before Monday are slim to none. As I was told at the tour of Labor and Delivery last week, inductions can take up to 24 hours, since they insert a new pill to dilate the cervix every 4-5 hours, but I'm hoping it doesn't take that long. I'm hoping that once they break my water, my body will naturally take over and do what it needs to do to introduce the world to Mr. Patrick Michael Brunner. We'll definitely be making tons of phone calls after he's born so make sure to keep your phones on and close by! We look forward to sharing our handsome little man with you all!

Merry Christmas, One and All!

Merry Christmas from the Brunners! Got to talk to Aaron early this morning so it definitely made my day. I wish the weather was more Christmasy today but it's rainy and muggy and 59 degrees. It was so much colder on Monday and Tuesday but it just couldn't hold on until today I guess. I should be thankful that it's not snowing here like it was in the Northwest, but I would like it to at least feel like Christmas.

An update on Patrick: I went to the doctor on Monday and I was still dilated 1 cm, so i hadn't made much progress since the Friday before at my last appointment. However, since I emailed Aaron a copy of a letter from my doctor stating that my due date was January 5, his unit changed his leave date from January 7 to January 1, which means Aaron will be home for Patrick's birth! At first I was hoping for a later birth, but now that Aaron will be home before the due date, I brought up the possibility of inducing to my doctor, just in case Patrick is past his due date. That way Aaron can spend a few days just me and him but most of the two weeks with the baby. My doctor agreed! Thankfully everyone at my doctor's office is completely for the troops and they all tell me to tell Aaron thank you for what he does. I figured that given our situation, that my doctor might be willing to work with me and he said that at my next appointment (next Tuesday, the 30th), we can discuss an induction plan. We're thinking we'd like to plan it on the 5th, just because it's a Monday and we're not sure if they do inductions on the weekends. Plus, that gives Aaron an opportunity to just relax for a weekend and rest from his flight. So unless this little guy decides to come early (cross your fingers he won't!), he'll hopefully be here on his due date... which is exactly two years after Aaron and I first met :o)

Mary Alice and I also toured the Labor and Delivery section of Betsy Johnson Hospital, where I'll be delivering. I'd been nervous to deliver there because I hadn't known anyone to go there in years and most of the women I know have had their babies at Cape Fear Valley (Fayetteville) or Womack (Fort Bragg) and they loved it. However, I did find out before I took the tour that the entire L&D department had been redone recently and that all of the nurses were incredibly nice. When I went for the tour, Mary Alice knew one of the nurses and I'd actually gone to school (since elementary school) with two of the girls who are nurses there, so that was incredibly encouraging. Then, we were showed a delivery room and a post-partum room and my mind was set at ease. I'll be in the delivery room until 2 hours after the baby is born and then moved to a post-partum room. The delivery room is extremely big and if it's a long labor (or if I'm induced and it takes up to 24 hours), there is plenty of room for family and friends to be in there until the hard labor starts. I've decided I want Aaron in there with me first and foremost and Morrie too, if she can make it there in time. If something comes up and Patrick comes before Aaron is home, I'll have Morrie and Mary Alice in there with me. I think I've pretty much got it in my head that Patrick will not be coming until after the 1st. It just has to work out this way, you know? Well, it should work out that way, anyway. And luckily the post-partum room has a nice loveseat that folds out into a full-size bed so Aaron can stay with me through the night. There is also a DVD/VCR combo in there too so we can be entertained when the baby isn't in the room at the time. The delivery room has a TV, but no DVD player. I plan to bring my laptop in case it's a long labor and we want to watch movies. One of the nurses also said I may be able to pick up wireless internet from somewhere in the hospital, so if that's the case, we'll be able to share pictures with all of you within hours of Patrick being born. How exciting is that? All in all, the tour was extremely informative and it washed my fears away. Don't get me wrong, I'm still nervous about the delivery, but I feel so much better now that I've seen where I'll be and know the steps and procedures. Now I can move on to the excited part because Aaron's coming home earlier and I've gotten more and more clothes for Patrick and I know what I have in front of me. I even dreamed that Patrick came last night. Ha, although he was twins. But they were the cutest little faces you'd ever seen. He had Aaron's chin and eyes and my nose. I can't wait to see his handsome face in real life and immediately try to figure out who he looks like!

I hope you and your families all have a very Merry Christmas and we'll let you know as soon as possible when Mr. Patrick is finally here!

37 Week Check-Up and Torturing Avett

Went to the doctor today for my 37 week check-up and he said everything looks fine. I was dilated 1cm and he said my cervix had softened.... but it's not really anything to get excited about. He said it wasn't enough for him to drop this afternoon or anything, ha ha. I go back on Tuesday for my next appointment and we'll see if I've dilated any more. I know most women don't hope for a late baby, but I'm one of the exceptions. With Patrick due on January 5, I'm hoping he comes on his due date, or possibly the day or two after. Aaron's set to come home on the first flight out of Iraq in January and that could mean he's leaving on the 2nd or 3rd, and it'll probably take him about 48 hours to get here. I'll still send the Red Cross message if I go into labor earlier than that, but I'd like for Aaron to be in the delivery room if at all possible. It's an amazing experience and I'd hate for him to miss out on it. Ha, although I'm sure he wouldn't care either way, considering the not-so-pleasant things that happen in the delivery room. My wish is for him to be among the first people to hold his son, other than the doctor and me. The closer we get to the due date, the more anxious I am. I'm completely excited, but I am more and more terrifed of the labor itself too. Oh well, I'll be screaming "EPIDURAL!" from the moment I enter the hospital, ha ha.

Two of Avett's Christmas presents came in the mail today. I bought her a plush chew toy and a sweater. Now, we all know from the last post that Avett isn't so kind to plush animals, but this one is HUGE and I'm hoping it'll be made better than Rudolph. As for the sweater, I had no idea how that would go over either, considering her past with the Halloween costumes that lasted about 5 minutes. However, when I put this sweater on her, she only seemed to have problems with where the sleeves fit on her armpit. I'm sure if I could cut a slit in it to make it a little looser, she wouldn't mind it so much. She was even wagging her tail and playing a little while wearing it, so I don't think she was too uncomfortable wearing it. Below are some pictures that I managed to snap. I didn't want to put it on her until Christmas, but I wanted Aaron to be able to see her. I'm sure we'll be putting it back on once he's home too, so keep a look out for a family portrait of us all dressed up! You can tell by the look on her face that she isn't exactly HAPPY to have the sweater on, but I think she looks cute in it anyway.

Poor Rudolph

I bought Avett a little Rudolph toy from Petsmart the other day to go into her stocking for Christmas. It had a squeaker in the belly and the arms were made out of rope. I knew she'd love it but I had to keep the Petsmart bag in my closet because she smelled the rawhide bones I had in there and kept trying to sneak into it. Well, tonight I was hanging laundry and she happened to get into the closet and pulled out Rudolph. I decided to go ahead and give it to her because she'd remember it was in there and keep whining at the closet door or sneak in there if I forgot to close it all the way. Besides, I've ordered a few more things for her stocking so it wasn't like I gave her the only present she'd be getting. Yes, I know she's just a dog, but until we can buy Christmas presents for Patrick, I'm going to spoil Avett. Plus, I'm trying to suck up to her so she isn't too jealous when Patrick finally arrives. Anyway, back to the Rudolph story... of course she loved playing with it. And just like any other plush toy we've ever let her play with, it lasted for about 20 minutes before she had started pulling stuffing out of it. She loved the squeaker inside and would chomp down on the belly faster and faster to make it squeak. She'd then grab one rope arm and come to me so I could grab the other and we'd play tug of war. I think that's what caused the first seam to rip. Why manufacturers don't reinforce the seams on stuffed animals for pets, I'll never know, but Rudolph didn't stand a chance against Avett. First one of the armpit seams ripped, then she decided to try to eat the red nose off of the face and somehow ripped the nose seam. That was it. She began pulling stuffing out and so I had to take it away from her. If it wasn't for that, I would have let her keep playing with it, but I know she would have made a mess in about 2 minutes and we would have had stuffing EVERYWHERE. Luckily I realized that the rope went all the way through the body, instead of being two pieces, so I cut the chest open and pulled the rope out for her to play with. This led to the funniest picture I've ever taken of Avett. Below is a before picture of Rudolph and a few pictures of her playing with it... and you'll notice the rip, then her pulling the stuff out of the nose. Last is the greatest picture ever. She was slinging the rope back and forth and I guess I snapped the picture at just the right second. I hope you all laugh as much as I did when I saw it on the camera display! It was just too funny not to share.

Be sure to click on the picture so you can see a bigger version of it...

Counting Down to D-Day

I cannot believe I'll be at 37 weeks on Monday! I'm half excited and half terrified. I got the baby furniture from Aaron's mom on Friday afternoon and it made me feel a little better since at least if Patrick decides to come a little early, we'll have something for him to sleep in. Ann was sweet and sent a ton of clothes for Patrick too, which put me in a mood to go shopping myself. I went to Walmart with Dad and Mary Alice today and found a lot of cute things on clearance and probably bought about 8 outfits. The way the different clothing companies make their sizes completely baffles me. I bought two outfits, different brands, both sized Newborn, and there is a huge difference in the actual sizes of the garments. One says it fits 5-8 lbs and the other says it fits 5.5 to 7.5 lbs but the latter is definitely the bigger of the two. I have no idea how many newborn things I should buy because if he's a big baby, he won't need them but for a week or two. But I don't want to get too few because what if he's not 7.5 to 8 lbs when he's born? Ahh, it's all so confusing! I guess it's a good thing we're having the shower after he's born because at least that way I can let everyone know exactly what sizes to buy, or rather, what weight to buy for. And I thought women's clothes were hard to buy because of the difference in sizes between brands!

Having the furniture is definitely a relief in case he comes early, but I was terrified we would have NOTHING. Luckily Dad and Mary Alice offered to buy the car seat and stroller combo off our registry since that's one of the only big things we'd need right away. I'll probably buy the bedding this week, just to finish off the basics. If anyone is interested, we are registered at Target and Babies R Us. The links are below:

Target registry

Babies R Us registry

One thing that has made me feel a little better is that I FINALLY had a doctor's appointment on Friday. Since I haven't been since my last appointment with my doctor in Colorado (which was at 30 weeks), I was a little nervous that something could be wrong. Even though Patrick moves all day long, I knew he wasn't in distress, but it still helps to have a check-up and have the doctor tell you that everything looks good. It's been a long and stressful process just to find a doctor because Womack (the hospital at Fort Bragg) has been sending me on one wild goose chase after another that just resulted in me not being able to be seen down there and having to see civilian doctors. I guess it's not so bad since I don't have to drive an hour to an appointment every week, I can just drive 5-7 minutes down the road to my doctor. My only concern is that they won't let me have him at Womack. I know I'm probably worrying about nothing but if they've given me this much trouble just trying to find a doctor, I hope there are no snags when Patrick decides to come!

I get to talk to Aaron either everyday or every other day and he is doing well. He's so excited to come home for Patrick and I'm just excited to see him. I think the 9 months after his leave will be pretty hard, but I'm so glad he'll be able to come home when Patrick is born. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them here so you can all see them. We appreciate all the phone calls and emails we've received and we love you all. Can't wait to share our little Patrick with you when he arrives!

Back in North Cackalacky

Sorry I haven't updated this recently, but I've been trying to settle in here at Dad's and I'm still exhausted from the trip somehow. I promise I'll begin visiting my friends and family after Thanksgiving. I figured that would give me enough time to finally get acclimated.

It's so weird to be back in Dunn. Even when Aaron and I were living in NC, we stayed in Fayetteville mostly and only came up to Dunn to see Dad and Mary Alice. I went to Walmart the other day and it had been years since I'd last stepped foot in that one. Probably since I was at Campbell. Things have been hectic and boring at the same time. I know I only have a little over a month before Patrick comes and I'm actually looking forward to it. I stay home while Dad and Mary Alice go to work and I'm so completely bored that I usually end up going back to sleep after Avett is walked in the mornings. I guess things will change once I have my baby showers and I can start getting Patrick's things set up. I've had so many people ask me if I'm glad to be home that I'm torn on how to answer. Yes, I love being home to see my family and friends but I truly hate the reason I had to come home. I miss Aaron terribly but I'm glad I've been able to talk to him daily. It's amazing how a 10 minute phone call can completely brighten my day. He's moved to Bravo battery so his address has changed. It's pretty much the same as it was before, you just have to change Alpha to Bravo.

It's been so nice to keep up so many of you through email and it will be so great to see you in person within these next few months. We are so excited for Patrick to arrive and I can't wait to see the look on Aaron's face when he finally gets to meet his son.

1,085 Miles and Counting

Morrie and I left Colorado Springs at 10am MST. We left 4 hours later than we wanted because my neighbor didn't help us pack the car the night before like he was supposed to. Plus, we couldn't fit everything in the car as expected so we had to take a few things to storage when it opened at 7am. Also, we had to rearrange everything in order to get it all to fit. Ha ha, we have things crammed into every available space and the only empty spots are our seats. Poor Avett's bed is even with the window because we had to stack a few things under her bed as well! Here's a picture of her when she decided to get out of bed a little and hang out between the seats:



I drove the entire way, can you believe it? I drove from Colorado Springs to Memphis... from 10am MST to 3:30am CST. We were utterly exhausted when we got to the hotel and were so happy to crash. Luckily our St. Jude tour wasn't until 1pm today so we could sleep in until 11. I think driving that far caused me to swell a little because my poor hands look like sausages and I couldn't take my wedding and engagement rings off if I tried. I know I probably should have stopped more often, but we stopped for gas every time the tank hit 1/4 full. And thankfully gas was around $1.79 everywhere we stopped so it only cost about $28 to $30 every time I stopped to fill up!

Below are some pictures from the wind farm we passed in Kansas. Aaron was freaked out when he saw it on our way out the Colorado in February, but it was snowy and gray and the turbines were hard to see. Lucky for us it was clear and we could see them all! In the second picture I happened to catch a transfer truck in front of them, so you can see just how big they are.





Time to go get some dinner, so I'll post about St. Jude when we get back!

A Case of the Moving Blues

Well, our landlord Garry just came by and did his walk-through of the house to assure everything is as it was when we moved in. It's a little depressing walking around upstairs when there is absolutely nothing in either of the bedrooms. I have some things shoved into the closets, just because I had to get it out of the way of the carpet cleaners yesterday. And the living room consists of the TV and cable box on the floor and an air mattress where the couch used to be. I still have to pack a few things to put into storage like the pans in the drawer under the stove that the movers overlooked, and a few odds and ends, but those things can wait until tonight or tomorrow when Morrie gets here. I'm so excited for Morrie to get here! It'll be nice to have someone else in the house again. Don't get me wrong, Avett is wonderful company and I really did miss her yesterday evening when she was at the groomers, but it's a little hard to have a two-way conversation with a dog.

I think today I'll take it easy since I've kind of overexerted myself the last few days. I'm stiff and sore and I'm scared that if I do too much, I'll hurt Patrick. The last thing I need right now is to go into early labor because I was trying to get things done alone.

I spoke to Aaron again last night around 11:00 (9:00 am in Kuwait) just before I went to bed and it was exactly what I needed. After a horrible experience with the moving company on Friday, I really needed to hear his voice to cheer me up. It's amazing what a 15 minute phone call can do to lift your spirits. He said he may be going into Iraq as early as this week, but I'll let you know as soon as he does... and if his address has changed. There are so many things I want to send him myself that I'm excited to find out when and where I can send them.

I'm sure some of you have heard us talk about the crazy paint job in our extra bedroom (it's painted to resemble a log cabin), so I think I'll post a couple of photos so you can get the WHOLE experience!







Don't you just love the detail of the window?


Well that's all for now.. I believe I'll do a little laundry and relax for a while. The neighbors have invited me over for a BBQ later so that should be fun!

Some Good News

I just got off the phone with Aaron and he has made it to Kuwait safely. It was so great to hear his voice! He said he had layovers outside Chicago, in Iceland and in Hungary, then made it to Kuwait. He said that if anyone is interested in sending him anything, to please wait a couple of weeks. If you send it to the address I have now, it will go to Iraq and he would have to wait until he is there to pick it up, and he is scheduled to be in Kuwait for at least two weeks. He also wants to make sure that he won't be moved when he gets to Iraq, so not to send anything to the current APO address until he knows for sure where he'll be. I'll keep you all updated as soon as I hear anything!

32 Week Ultrasound

On a more positive and uplifting note, I went for my last 3D ultrasound today and got a few pictures. The ultrasound tech printed out the color pictures we'd had saved from last time and a couple from today too. I've added them to the Photobucket page if you'd like to check them out here, but I've posted my favorite ones below. Enjoy!

One Of The Hardest Things I've Ever Had To Do

This morning, around 2:30 am, I watched as Aaron drove away from Waller Gym on a Blue Bird bus. It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my entire life, next to saying goodbye to my mother for the last time. I know he'll be back in January when Patrick is born, but it still hurts to know that he won't be here for the remainder of the pregnancy and that I won't be able to hug him when I need one. He went to New York for training last summer, but I was still working at the time and wasn't too far from friends and family, so it was easy to pass the time. I'll be driving back to NC on Tuesday, but this next week is going to be tough since I'm out here alone. Thank God I have Avett here or I'd probably just sit on the bed and cry until Morrie gets here on Monday. I'm trying to keep myself busy, but when I find a minute or two that I'm not moving, it hits me and the waterworks start all over again. I'm just so glad we only have to go through one deployment... I don't know how women do it time and time again. I'm sure it's just harder on me right now because I'm 8 months pregnant and alone for a week, but I still don't think I could ever get used to this. Hopefully these next two months will go by fast since I'll have a lot of planning for Patrick to keep me distracted and after Aaron leaves again, I'll have Patrick himself to keep me occupied. And luckily, Aaron will only have about 8 or 9 months left in Iraq before he gets to come home and we can be a family at last.

I have Aaron's APO address that is current as of right now (he may be moving a few times), so if anyone would like it, please email me at brunner.caroline@gmail.com and I'll send it to you. I'd rather not publish it on the Internet for just anyone to see. If you'd like to send his Christmas gifts, you can email me for Dad's address, since Aaron should be home a week or two after Christmas and we're just going to wait to do Christmas then. I've added him as an author for this blog, so he should be able to add to it every now and then as well. I'll keep you all updated as things progress, so keep checking back.

32 Weeks

Today I hit 32 weeks. It's hard to believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by, considering how miserable I was the first trimester. Things have been pretty stressful and emotional the past couple of days, what with trying to pack to put everything in storage and Aaron and I trying to spend as much time as possible together before he leaves early Wednesday morning. It's going to be hard this coming year without him, but at least I'll be in North Carolina with Dad and Mary Alice to have help with Patrick. I don't know what I'd do if I had to stay out here alone with a newborn. And thank goodness that Aaron will be able to come home when Patrick is born. It'll be nice to be able to drive up to Pittsburgh to visit Aaron's family as often as I can during that time too. I really want his family to see Patrick as much as possible since I'll only be 8 hours away.

I go for another 3-D ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon and I plan to have the color pictures printed out this time. We got 7 good pictures last time (the same 5 I posted last time plus 2 more) and we're saving them to print out this next visit so we can have them all printed together. I'll scan them as soon as the appointment is over and I should have them posted by that evening.

This next week is going to be crazy. Morrie flies in next Monday and we'll leave the Springs on Tuesday to begin the journey back to NC, but I have so much more to do before then. I've tried to pack here and there but I haven't wanted that to take too much time away from Aaron, so I'll do most of the packing the day he leaves and the day after. The movers are set to come on Friday the 14th and the more I can pack myself, the less I have to pay them... which is very nice. I'm having the carpets cleaned and Avett groomed on the 15th so that day will be pretty easy on me. After the movers leave, the only things left in the house will be the living room TV, an air mattress and whatever boxes I plan to take home with me. I'm going to be extremely bored until Morrie gets here on the 17th, so some of you may be getting phone calls to kill some time, ha ha. Either that, or I'll be catching up on everything left on the DVR before I have to turn the cable boxes back in.

The most exciting part of this drive home is going to be our tour at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. Our rep from St. Jude that we worked with at WKML during our radiothons set up the tour for me and I'm really looking forward to it. Aaron and I had planned to tour the hospital when we were on our way out here, but we ended up taking the northern route so we didn't go through Memphis. It would have been special to me then, but I think that since I'm pregnant this time, it will make me appreciate the fact that Patrick is healthy (so far) even more. I truly hope that Patrick will never have to be hospitalized for anything, but it is nice to know that places like St. Jude exist so that kids can have a fighting chance. After all, St. Jude was built upon Danny Thomas' dream that "no child should die in the dawn of life."

Avett, Our First "Furbaby"

Most of you know about our puppy Avett that we got back in October of 2007, but in case she's new to you, I've made a slideshow of pictures since we've had her. It's amazing how big she's gotten in just a year. Ha, I guess we'll be saying that next year about Patrick!

Oh How Easily Entertained We Are!

Tonight we were bored and decided to give Avett some peanut butter. We laughed for about 10 minutes after we finished recording. I swear I could watch her do this all day! Pay no attention to "How I Met Your Mother" in the background...

Baby Bump!

Here's a slideshow of the progression of the baby bump pictures. Beginning at 16 weeks back in July all the way to 30 weeks on Halloween!

If you want to check out the ultrasound pictures we've gotten so far, just check out the Photobucket album here!

Introduction

Welcome to our page! I'm kind of new at this, but given our situation (Aaron deploying, Patrick arriving in January), I wanted to keep everyone updated. For those of you who are late joining the party, Aaron and I got married on September 29, 2007. We then moved out to Colorado Springs, CO in February 2008 because Aaron re-enlisted and he was stationed at Fort Carson. It's beautiful out here, but we miss our families and friends terribly.

Back in April, while Aaron was at NTC for a month, I found out that we were expecting our first child. After an excruciating 18 weeks of waiting and wondering, we finally found out that we're having a boy! Patrick Michael Brunner will be arriving on or around January 5, 2009 and we couldn't be more excited. Unfortunately, Aaron will be deploying for his second tour in Iraq in a week and a half. I'll be making the journey back to North Carolina to live with my dad and stepmom so that I have help with the baby.

I'm hoping to update this at least twice a week while I'm back home and I'll probably post tons of pictures of Patrick so Aaron can see them while he's in Iraq.

Below are my most recent baby bump picture (taken at 29 weeks) and the latest 3-D ultrasound pictures from our appointment on October 29. Enjoy!