Update Before Baby

Hi Family and Friends

I wanted to get one more blog post up before baby's arrival. As of today, we are only 31 days away from due date (March 23). He could come at any time! So crazy! On the other hand, I hope he doesn't decide to be a 42-weeker and make us wait until April! Either way, I know he will come when he is ready and that is all that matters. 

We were able to have Tyler's dad and sister, Richard and Erica, out earlier this month. They were here for a week and it was nice to be able to finally have some visitors. This was the first time in six seasons that Richard has been able to make the trip to Europe and finally see Tyler play again. I am so happy that they both got to experience that. We showed them around our city and spent time hanging out and relaxing. Since Dijon is of course known for mustard, we brought them to a gourmet mustard shop. This was the first time Tyler and I had been to it as well. They had dozens of different mustards in flavors that ranged from sweet to spicy and everything in between. Although I am not much of a mustard fan, it was fun to look through all the different mustards and they allow people to try them if you want. They also had mustards on tap! It was mustard infused with wine and I guess they were pretty darn good (I declined to try for obvious reasons). It was a fun experience and Richard and Erica both went home with some authentic Dijon mustard. It was a great week that went by too fast.

Tyler's team had a tournament this weekend at Disneyland Paris. It was for the top 8 teams in the league for the first half of the season and I am so happy that the team has done so well and got to go to the tournament. I was super bummed though because I wanted to go but had to ultimately decide that traveling at 35.5 weeks wasn't going to be the smartest choice.

This past month we have been trying to really get things ready for the baby. We have the majority of everything we need and just have a few small things we need to pick up from the store still. I think that I have handled everything well. I am not stressed out or panicking and have just taken it day by day. 

It did hit me a little bit though as I started to pack my hospital bag over the weekend. I was a little overwhelmed that it was time to get the bag ready and I have so much I need to make sure that I have. Here in France, they make you stay 4 nights for a regular birth and 6 nights for a c-section (insert crying face emoji). So I am preparing for a much longer stay compared to the US. I also have a ton of stuff that needed to be packed that my mom sent out for me and baby. For those of you who don't know, she is an OB nurse in labor and delivery at a hospital in my hometown. I had her get me anything and everything that I might need for labor and the days after because I don't think that the hospital here provides as much as in the States. It is a comfort to have everything that I would need if I were back home. 

I think some people think I am crazy for doing this over here. And I will admit, sometimes I think that I am too! But I have gotten asked so many times if I am having the baby over here. I guess I assume that the obvious answer should be yes to people. This is where we live. Remember we are not on vacation over here! This is where Tyler's career is and I would never want him to miss the birth of his baby. Although it would easier to be home going through all of this, so many wives go through this experience over here in Europe. Yes, some things are different and yes, sometimes the language barriers can be frustrating, but babies are born all over the world and I have no fears in going through this here. I don't have a "birth plan" and I am not going to stress out or worry over anything. I am just going with the flow. We have had some hiccups over the course of the pregnancy that haven't been the easiest to handle, but God has always kept us safe and healthy. I know that He is going to continue to do that for labor and delivery and has us exactly where we need to be.  That is all I need to know to get me through all this.

I just wanted to write a quick update as Baby Boy could decide to arrive very soon and I probably wont be writing again for a while after that. Thank you all for your support and please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers! I will keep everyone updated on Facebook when our little guy is finally here!