Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Well, 2008's over and still no sign of Ryder... It's so strange to think that he'll be here so soon, yet he's not coming soon enough! We just want him here. But he's too comfy and cozy in his tight quarters. My mom came into town on Sunday and will be here for about a month. I'm very excited for her to be here! We wish all our other family and friends from Utah could be here too!

Yesterday I had a non-stress test and Dr.'s appt. At the non-stress test I laid on a big, soft recliner and had two monitors places across my belly. One was to monitor Ryder's heartbeat and the other to monitor my uterine activity. The nurse told us that they wanted to see his heartbeat go up to the 160 and 170's and stay there for awhile and then go back down at least a couple of times. I had forgotten to eat right before the appt. (which helps the baby be active) so I drank some oj and he started moving right away. He was moving quite a bit, then his heart rate went back down and he was ready to sleep. So the nurse used this little machine, it kind of looked like a handheld massager, and it makes a buzzing noise and vibrates a little, and she buzzed that for a second on the four quadrants of my belly. She said that that normally got the babies fired up and going, and it certainly did for him. He didn't want to stop moving!! So there are no concerns with him being in stress.

The Dr.'s appt. went well. My Dr. had to run over from the hospital since someone else was in labor, but I was glad to meet with him. He measured my stomach and checked my dilation. Ryder's where he should be growth-wise and he has dropped even lower, but I am not dilated at all or anything. He said that some people just don't dilate until they're in labor. There's no concerns with Ryder's health or development, and I don't want to be induced, so I'm just waiting for him to come when he's ready...

Since there are no concerns, they would probably allow him to be 2 weeks late before they induced. I hope we don't have to wait that long though... The Dr. still thinks even if he's 2 weeks late that I'll probably have a 7 lb. baby.

That's all the progress with Ryder so far...he's still moving all the time! Paul and I had a great Christmas, even though we couldn't be with our families. We had a quiet Christmas Eve at home, and went and saw a movie on Christmas Day.

Here are some pictures from over the holiday...

Me and my sweetheart

Very big on Christmas Eve...

My bare belly

Christms cuties

Our Christmas table all set up