The countdown begins!

It has been a hectic few weeks, but I'm still here, there's still snow everywhere, and we are still waiting for the arrival of Baby Hannah.

A week or so ago, I had an ultrasound that returned some scary and alarming results, and I was told I'd most likely be induced this past Monday. After an awful and stressful weekend that I spent imagining the worst, I went in on Monday with my bags all packed and that ultrasound looked much better than Friday's, so the doctors opted to monitor me closely and wait to induce until they really had to. I have ultrasounds and non stress tests twice weekly until she's born, and tomorrow is the next one, so once again I'll pack my suitcase into my car, drive up to the office, and see if I'm going to have this baby! Fun times.

Bottom line is that we will most likely meet our daughter earlier than expected (due date is April 3), but as long as she is healthy, I don't care what day she comes on. I hit the 36 week mark today, so though she would still be a preemie if she arrived now, she would be just fine long-term.

The nursery is all done and here are a few photos:

Lucy has taken a seat on the backburner, because I am not allowed to do much of anything. I am not on bed rest but I am not supposed to get my heart rate up at all. I am also on travel restriction so my baby shower that was supposed to be this coming weekend in New York had to be postponed :( My doctor just did not want me to risk going out of state. My main jobs are to sit on my butt and eat. Many people would be happy about this but sitting still is very hard for me to do! I am so grateful that Maddy has stepped up like you cannot even imagine, and is more or less doing all of Lucy's care to help me out. Amanda is also helping out and without those two, I would be much more stressed out! Amanda has been super busy with work but started working with Lucy again this week, which I appreciate very much and I'm sure the horse is happy to have a job to do again.

I could write a huge rant about the weather but the short version is that we are still getting lows in the single digits and there is still lots of ice and snow on the ground. Let me remind Mother Nature that it is MARCH now, not January, so maybe a few days above 40 would be appropriate?! Let's get this crap melted, maybe have temps where a medium weight would be passable overnight so I can finally wash Lucy's disgusting heavyweight that has sure earned its keep this winter, and get the outdoor ring back in useable condition. I cannot wait to get back in the saddle after Hannah is born.

A comedy of errors: horses, winter, and water

I sometimes remember that we aren't even technically in Winter yet, and it blows my mind a little bit. We've been getting daytime temps in the 20's, lows in the single digits, freezing rain and snow and all of the crap associated with Winter. How can it possibly still be Fall?!

Today I got to battle with the water situation at the barn. Last week, the spigot we use met an untimely demise due to a very solid freeze. While it's out of commission, we are using the water connection on the neighbour's house. Lucy and Brantley share my 100-gallon Rubbermaid tub and it was getting pretty low, but when Maddy went to fill it this morning, she discovered the heaters hadn't been plugged in last night and all the tubs were frozen solid. She plugged them in and resolved to fill them later.

Well our little ponies must have been a thirsty bunch today, because they drank so much water out there that the heater was almost completely exposed by the time I got to the barn around noon. I just bought this thing and I know that is a really fast way to fry a heater, so I knew I had to fill the tub. No problem, even with the broken spigot, because I could connect our hose to the neighbour's house. I skated my way across the driveway, which is a sheet of ice, and grabbed the hose.

Oh wait, except it was 20 degrees today and whomever used the hose last time didn't drain it, and it was totally frozen! I was about ready to bang my head on the side of the barn, and of course I had cleaned and dumped the tub already, so now the horses had no water at all.

I called Kenny in desperation, and he came right over to the barn and filled the whole tub for me by hand with 5 gallon buckets!! I was so grateful. The water tub should be all set for another week or so and I hope by the time it needs filling again, we will be above freezing and able to use the hose.