Our Baby Girl Is Coming This Weekend!!

So I went in for my 38 week prenatal check-up yesterday, very nervous for the results... And as I feared, the doctor did want to induce labor this weekend! It's great in some ways, because I can plan, (and I am a total planner), and I know for sure the baby won't be "late":)... BUT it is also nerve racking because things are going to be started before my body is ready. Please pray for Nate, baby Anna, and I as we prepare for labor this Friday. Please also pray that I could turn my brain off at night and actually get sleep before the baby comes!!Now, for the details... Basically my feet started itching terribly a month ago. I thought it might be from changing detergents, but when it didn't go away after changing back to my original detergent, and more than 2 weeks passed, my doctor decided to do some lab work. She wanted to test for Cholestasis... I'm going to cut and paste some info about it below:
"Some women experience a very severe itching in late pregnancy. The most common cause of this is cholestasis, a common liver disease that only happens in pregnancy. Cholestasis of pregnancy is a condition in which the normal flow of bile in the gallbladder is affected by the high amounts of pregnancy hormones. Cholestasis is more common in the last trimester of pregnancy when hormones are at their peak, but it usually goes away within a few days after delivery.""Cholestasis may increase the risks for fetal distress, preterm birth, or stillbirth. A developing baby relies on the mother’s liver to remove bile acids from the blood; therefore, the elevated levels of maternal bile cause stress on the baby’s liver. Women with cholestasis should be monitored closely and serious consideration should be given to inducing labor once the baby’s lungs have reached maturity."
I got my lab results back online on Saturday, and all but one of them were normal. There was one bile acid that was heightened. It didn't seem too far out of range, but how am I to know? So, I figured everything was OK. Then Monday morning I received an email from my doctor, and my heart began pounding! She said that we'd talk more at my Tuesday appointment, but that she thought it might be Cholestasis, due to the lab and continued itching, and she would normally induce at 38 weeks. I will be 38 weeks this Friday!
Needless to say, I couldn't think about ANYTHING else all day Monday, and I was awake ALL night, and felt anxious waiting to hear for sure what would happen!
At my appointment we scheduled the induction, and the nerves did not go away. sigh.Basically she said that I might have Cholestasis, or I might not, but because the risk is so great (Still Birth), we wouldn't want to risk it. It is better to induce while baby is healthy.
Sorry this is so long. Please pray for us.

Our Little Musician

A good friend of ours, Russell, took these photos during our Christmas visit in Fresno. Alex just loves music!

It's Official!

Alex is walking everywhere! He's been practicing for quite some time now, but he's been a little chicken. It ususally takes some coercing to get him to walk. Well, today -all morning long- he's been getting up and walking all over! Not only that.... amongst his travels, he figured out how to open and close doors with the handles! Oh man, I thought it would be a while before he'd even reach them! (It doesn't work to just close a door anymore!) So, while I was putting new sheets on his bed, Alex was walking from room to room, opening and closing doors- it was actually really cute:). It's a whole new world now!

Side note: Here are more words Alex is saying: ball, apple, kitty, na-night, bubble, and for things that go around, he waves his arms in a circle and says, "noa noa noa". He also tries to mimic lots of things that we say.
And oh man, I know that I mentioned he says "hi" before, but he is just sooo funny! Wherever we go, he likes to wave and say, in a very loud voice, "HI" to just about everyone he sees! If he gets someones attention, he'll keep saying Hi to them:). I wish I were so outgoing!

Alexander Update

I was realizing that it's been a very long time since I've given an update on Alex, so I thought I'd just list a bunch of things that he says, knows or does....

Alex says:
Ma-ma
Da-da
Hi
eyes
c-cker (cracker)
nana (banana)
ice
ba-bye
uh-oh
up
nnnn (nose)
gock (socks)
boo

He signs:
more, please, all done, thank you

If you ask him, he'll point to his:
hair, eyes, nose, ears, tongue, teeth, belly, foot, toes

Things he does:
claps, folds his hands to pray, blows kisses and sometimes even gives kisses, waves, plays piano and sings along "Ohhhh", helps daddy strum the guitar, waves his arms to direct whenever he hears music, dances to music, crawls up and down the stairs, plays peek-a-boo, makes LOTS of animal sounds and gets EXTREMELY excited whenever he sees an animal.

And his most recent achievement happened on December 23rd... He took his first few steps on his own!!

I've probably missed a bunch of stuff, but this gives you an idea of what he's up to. He's such a sweetheart. He smiles at people everywhere we go, and he is always sad when people leave after a visit of any length. He's also my cuddle-bug. We love that he will hug and cuddle with us.