Well, it was our last doctor's visit and we were hoping that Phillips would say to come back on Wednesday.  But he said, let's schedule for Monday.  That is what we were expecting but not what we were hoping for.  Oh, well-this really will be a Christmas baby.  So the 21st will be our date-hoefully all will go well and we can be home by the 23rd.  The appointment went well-baby's heart rate was 130 and we were out of there.

This evening we had one last thing to do before baby comes-get that pesky car seat in the van.  The kids helped and it looks like we will even be able to manage with 4 car seats in the car.  So now we are officially ready for IV to arrive.

I had some expectations today that the doctor would give us a date but instead we only heard those 4 dreaded words: See you next week.  Actually, I am beginning to doubt that we will in fact be home for Christmas and the "only in my dreams" stuff just won't cut it.  We go back next Tuesday so he will probably induce me on the 21st-and again, that is not what the doctor has said, just what I have tried to guess.  I am crossing my fingers that some how we can be induced before then-they probably don't do that on the weekends though.  Oh, well, guess I will just have to drink some castor oil-kidding, only kidding about that (kind of!)  Anyway, all of my stats were good today-and I am still a tiny bit below my "oh my gosh weight!" and have been staying there for a week or two now.   The baby's heartbeat was 134ish and the doctor said I have progressed more than I ever have before-which was still a 1!  We will be excited whenever IV shows up-and thrilled to have a healthy baby.  Now, off to drink some castor oil, I mean a coke!

Baby IV received his first few presents tonight at a Christmas party.  The Wilsons hosted us at their house and the Dorseys, Phillips and Atwoods were there as well.  Everyone brought salty and sweet foods and we devoured them.  The kids exchanged ornaments and busied themselves playing all evening long.  We opened lots of diapers and wipes and we know that we will use them all very soon and very quickly!

My hope was that Phillips would say-let's just head next door to the hospital now.  But of course, all he said was "why don't you just pop these babies out like other women who are having their fourth?"  My blood pressure was great.  Whenever I chat with the nurse, it is always a tiny bit higher than I like so I kept my mouth closed today!  One of my tests did come back positive for Group B Strep which just means that I will get antibiotics on my IV.  So that is something different than before but not a big deal.  The heartbeat of the baby was 149 and he is still head down.  But other than that not much has changed so we will head back to the doctor next week-and we probably still won't get a date then (which starts pushing us too close to Christmas) but oh, well we can wait on Baby IV!

Well, not much was going on in this visit and nothing new really happened.  Our appointment was at 11:45 and we were in and out before 12:15.  Everything was good-heard the heartbeat was 135 and that was about it.  He said that I wasn't dilated and since I wasn't going to have this baby anytime soon, we could come back in one and a half weeks.  Woohoo!  I was hoping that he would say that he would see me in 2 weeks or even see me again when we check into the hospital!  So far, baby IV is doing well and we are counting down the days to meet him/her

This was our sixth doctor's visit.  It seems like Phillips is the only one around on Fridays since the waiting room is pretty empty.  My weight was great (well, they didn't say that-I said that!)  My blood pressure was perfect-even a little on the lower end.  Phillips said the baby was head down.  Actually, I thought I knew that since he kicks pretty hard up high.  Phillips did confirm that we would have this baby before Christmas and I suggested anytime after the 13th (Anderson's birthday).  The baby's heartbeat was 132-Phillips said it was a girl (then told Robby, that he had a 50/50 chance of getting it right).  Another good visit and we go back in two weeks.

I skipped out on the garage sale for a few minutes to check in at my 5th doctor's appointment. My weight and blood pressure were fine. Phillips was on time and quickly measured my stomach-just the right size. He listened to IV's heartbeat which was 146 and then he said it was a girl (only a guess)-might be my guess too right now. I don't have to go back for another 4 weeks. I was thinking I was going to have to start going back every 2 weeks this time so I was a relieved to have one more 4 week break. Before I left, I even got my flu shot and was quickly out the door.