Due date has come and gone...

Quick update from my last appointment for those of you not on Facebook. I went in on Thursday for my 40 week appointment. I was finally 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. BUT the doctor said it didn't really seem like I was progressing much. She stripped my membrane for me, which for some brings on labor pretty quickly. She did say it only works about 50% of the time. Well 2 days later no labor, so I guess I am on the wrong side of the 50%! She also went ahead and scheduled me for an induction this coming week since he seems a little too comfy in my womb. So I have to call Labor and Delivery on Wed night and they will let me know what time to come in. They will give me a cervix softener (cervitol I think it's called) and then I stay overnight and they'll start pitocin on Thursday if nothing is happening. So there is finally an end in sight! So much for all of the speculation of going early! It was kind of a bummer when August ended and no baby. Then yesterday was my due date and I hoped and prayed all day....and nothing. I did wake up this morning with some spotting, cramps and headache. Basically not feeling well overall. But I am not sure if it's from doing too much this week (way too many trips to the house and pushing myself to much) or if it's something more. Trying not to get my hopes up!

So....Gavin will be here by Thursday! Only reason he won't will be if the hospital is full. But I am on the schedule there so hopefully all will go smoothly! We'll be sending texts and making calls as things progress! Promise!!

The final days...hopefully!

I know, I know...it has been ages since I posted on here. I think it's a sign of how much I am done being pregnant! The newness has worn off and now I am just large and miserable...hard to be witty on blog when you hate to pull yourself out of bed! But enough whining...let me update everyone on the craziness of the last few weeks and the days to come!

First, let me get the big news out of the way....we have a name!! For those who haven't heard yet, our son will be Gavin Michael Spencer Keyes. Kevin still isn't 100% on board with the 2 middle names yet, but since this will most likely be the only child, we needed to kill to birds with one stone on the middle names. Michael is for Kevin's step dad who passed away and Spencer is obviously my maiden name. I didn't want it as a first name (thanks Spencer Pratt for tarnishing the name) but it works in the middle. We both liked the name Gavin, as it's not super common, but not totally out there either. Plus with his rockstar persona he can easily be compared to Gavin Rosdale (singer and husband to Gwen Steffani)!

The picture attached is me at 38 weeks, 3 days. Many people didn't think I would make it this long, myself included! I think that is what's making the waiting game that much harder. My last ultrasound was on Aug 5th and the due date that was calculated then was 8/19. Well that has come and gone. The date is inaccurate because we are just having a giant child. He was measuring at 7lb 9oz at that point and still had a month to simmer! My doctor is doing another ultrasound Thursday to see where he is at now and then we'll talk about if we need to induce due to size. If he is gaining at the rate they said (at least 9oz a week) he should be 9lb 5oz this week. I think that's plenty big!! Luckily my doctor doesn't push c-sections unless they are necessary so unless there is a problem during labor we're going to try and do it the old fashioned way (but with some drugs of course!)

Because I thought Gavin would be making his debut a little sooner, I tried out some old wives tales to no avail. There is an Italian restaurant here in GA that is famous for it's eggplant Parmesan causing women to go into labor. I went to their website and got the recipe and we made it at home. Nothing. I have been taking Evening Primrose Oil because it's suppose to help soften the cervix. Nothing. Walking a bit even though I am supposed to be off my feet. Nothing. Doing the deed that got us to the place even though I don't want to. Nothing. So...I guess Gavin is already proving to be stubborn and working off his own agenda. :)

Besides all the baby hoopla, we closed on a house earlier this month. We are so excited to have a nice bigger place to move into once the baby is here. All of our stuff was moved in last weekend so now we just need to unpack and organize. Easier said than done at 9 months pregnant! I do a lot of supervising! We got most of the nursery put together yesterday and are going back tomorrow to do some more. The last 2 weekends Kevin and my parents did some painting, plus we had tile laid in the master bath. Everything looks good so far and as it comes together I'll get pics out.

On a less positive note, my dad has to go in to the hospital tomorrow to get a stint put in his heart. For those that don't know, he had a quintuple bypass 10 years ago and now his arteries are clogging again. We all have our fingers crossed that they will be able to just go with the stints and not have to do another bypass. We tried to lighten the mood by saying he and I could be roommates at the hospital if we could get Gavin to come tomorrow too...but don't think that's going to happen. Thank you to all who have already put Dad in your prayers!!

Ok folks....I'll post again after my Thursday appointment. I really have no excuse since I have been off work a month for not being on here more other than sheer laziness! :)

Sorry for being MIA!

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted on here. I feel like life is in overdrive and I can't find the break pedal!! I promise to post a real blog soon, but here are the cliff notes of life @ 35 weeks:

• Stopped working on July 23rd. Just too miserable and doc suggested staying off my feet due to the swelling and occasional BP spike, so I took advantage of it
• Put an offer on a house and we close on Aug 6th as long as things keep progressing the way they are
• Work threw me a baby shower on the 23rd. I felt so much love!!
• Mom's shower on the 25th...started at 2pm and ended at 8:30am the next morning!! I, of course, didn't last quite that long!
• Baby now has more clothes than mama!
• 3 friends have had their babies in the last month...I am ready to be next!!!

Ok...so there is life in a nutshell. I will try to get my creative juices going in the next few days and also add some new pics!

The up side and down side of pregnancy

Today was my 30 week appointment.  I had a lot of questions this time around because I have started to have some new symptoms.  I got in and started with the usual pee in a cup, which by the way has become a MUCH easier task now that there is a baby sitting on my bladder!  Also there is a new, young nurse who is super nice, so the whole experience is more pleasant than in the beginning.  After that I was weighed and according to the chart I have gained 29 pounds so far.  Not too bad.  I wanted to stay between 25 and 30 and it looks like I will go over a little, but still not bad.  Recommended weight gain is 25-35 pounds so we're doing good, which is amazing considering my diet the last 8 months (Did someone say McDonald's?)!  The nurse then said that my hemoglobin was low, so they needed to get a little blood sample to check my iron.  It's a little on the low side, but nothing to be worried about.  I also had some sugar in my urine so they did another blood test to check my glucose, but that was also fine.  So far so good!  When it was time to see the doctor, I mentioned that I had been cramping the bast 2-3 days, with some feelings of nausea and headaches.  I had already read that these can be signs of pre-term labor, so I was a little worried.  She decided to check my cervix just to be sure all was ok and it was...still shut tight (this is good since I swear baby's head is pressing as hard as it can "right there" so good to know he can't get out yet!).  She checked for a bladder infection too, but I was clear there, so the cramps are just another joy of pregnancy to go with the aches and pains and swelling.  I mentioned I had got off easy in the beginning with no morning sickness, so she said the pregnancy was going to make up for that now.  Yea!  We listened to the heartbeat and it was good...136 bpm.  She measured my uterus and said I was measuring 2 weeks big, which seems to be the norm now.  We discussed that from now on we will be monitoring the size of the baby and if he does seem to be big we may look at a c-section, but for now we'll assume he'll come out just fine.  We'll have more info after my ultrasound on Tuesday as well.  

Now the fun side of pregnancy....I went to go get my haircut because we're getting maternity portraits done tomorrow and the lady that did my hair was great!  I went to a Fantastic Sams which is normally no thrills, but she could see how hot I was so I get extra time at the hair wash station, cool rinses, a cool towel on my face with yummy smelling peppermint on it, a cool refreshing facial cream stuff....it was great!  I felt like I was at a spa.  She was super funny too, so it was a good experience.   I also stopped at a garage sale on the way and got a bunch of cute maternity stuff (and an outfit for baby of course) for only $1 a piece!!  YEA!  

That's all for now.  Oh...the pics above are my 28 week belly.  I think I am bigger than that now!  I'll get the professional pics from tomorrow up as soon as their ready.

A glimpse inside the womb

Saturday was the big day when we got to see what our son was going to look like!  I think I was pretty anxious about this, because I had nightmares the week leading up to it, all about not getting to the appointment in time, issues when we got there, etc.  But Saturday came and all seemed ok.  Chris and Emmy came up to go with us and my parents to the 3D office.  They have it set up like a mini movie theater....stadium seats and a 120" screen to show the images on.  It was pretty cool.  While we were waiting for my appointment time, we sat in the waiting room being our usual silly selves.  Taking silly pictures of each other pretending to pick our noses, and being obnoxious.  I am sure the people working there loved us!  Finally it was my turn.  The whole experience was kind of surreal.  It's one thing to see the normal 2D ultrasound and kind of guess what your looking at, but in 3D there is no question.  She showed us he was definitely a boy first.  Then the next 25 minutes are spent just capturing various images and watching him move around in there.  The ultrasound tech at one point asked how far along I was, and when I said 28 weeks she didn't really say anything.  So Kevin asked if the baby looked big for that time and she said no, he looked small!  That was the first time we had heard that!!  They don't give medical advice at this place though so I am only going to take that with a grain of salt.  I go back to the specialist at the end of the month for one last u/s so we'll see what they say then.  

So 30 minutes later (and $170) we were done.  We got 6-4x6 photos, a DVD and a cd with all of the pictures on it.  I was kind of numb after it was over to be honest.  It's a little weird to see that there is a person inside me!  Plus the realization that he will be here sooner than we think and that he will be calling us "mommy" and "daddy" is a little scary!  It's one thing to want this as long as I can remember, but another for it to actually be happening.  I think that's where the anxiousness comes from.  I feel very unprepared for how our lives will be changing, but I know it will be good thing.          

I'm now at the point in the pregnancy (third trimester-woohoo!) where I go to the doctor every 2 weeks.  Another sign I am in the home stretch!!  We better get to picking out a name!!       

Oh my aching feet!

I have heard that swollen feet are a normal symptom of pregnancy, but I think my feet decided t0 take it to a whole new level! They look like water balloons with 5 sausages attached to each one! Now, on top of my shoes not fitting, they are starting to hurt quite a bit too. I go back to the doctor on Thursday, so I will be bringing it up then. This morning when I got out of bed I almost cried because it felt like both my feet were broken! I don't know how I am going to get through 3 more months of this! I am sure going to a concert on Thursday night didn't help things much. I did sit as much as possible, but I was on my feet much more than usual. Hopefully things will feel better after a few days of rest. I feel bad that I sat around with my feet elevated today while Kevin scrubbed bathrooms and cleaned the house!

Bonding with baby

Last night Kevin and I experienced a lot of activity from baby boy. Normally I will feel him move, quickly grab Kevin's hand to put on my belly, then....NOTHING. He was starting to think I was faking this whole thing! Well last night I was laying on my side in bed and the baby was moving so much you could see my belly move! Kevin laid his head on my belly and started talking to him, and he would kick at his head. It was very cool. Kevin likes to talk into my belly button like it's the microphone into my uterus! All it does it tickle me!! Luckily we got lots of movement so Kevin is back to believing there really is something alive in there. :)

Lots of things coming up in the next few weeks! Next week is another New Kids concert as well as going to see Jersey Boys. I expect some dancing in my belly!! The week after we go for the 3D ultrasound. We are SUPER excited about that!!

Nursery!

We got all of the furniture moved into the nursery today and put away a few of the things we have acquired so far.  Now it's just waiting for the bedding decor and of course the baby!  We decided not to paint since we're house hunting and figure why waste the time when we want to move soon.  The rocking chair was my mom's....my dad gave it to her for her first mother's day 35 years ago!  More pics once it's more put together....

24 weeks...the thrid trimester is looming!

I wish I could figure out the photo positioning thing better!  These are from Mother's Day weekend.  Anyway...

Not a whole lot of new things to report. I went to my May doctor's appointment on Thursday and they did usual:  pee in a cup (I am good at that now!), weight (their scale was 6 pounds higher than mine that day!) and blood pressure (looking good).  Then I saw the doc for about 5 minutes.  He asked how things were and I said the main issues was swelling.  He felt around my ankles and said we would keep an eye on my blood pressure for signs of toxemia but basically it's just another symptom for me to deal with.  I had to give up wearing my rings finally because of it.  We listened to the baby's heartbeat quickly, which sounded nice and strong.  He then said I was growing on track (in his mind...I feel like a fatty!) and set me up to get a glucose test at the lab to test for gestational diabetes.  My next visit is on the 11th of June, then I start going every 2 weeks instead of once a month, so that made me feel a little more like I was getting to the home stretch.  I am about ready to be done with this pregnancy and I know there is still plenty of time, and discomfort, to go!

I went to the lab on Friday morning and did the glucose test.  I had the lovely orange flavor, which started out tasting ok, but then got so sweet I wanted to throw it out.  Then you sit there for an hour and can't eat or drink anything else, so it just festered in my belly.  Fun.  After the hour's up, they took a vial of blood and I was done.  Hope I pass this test, because the follow up is a 3 hour ordeal I would like to avoid!  :)

Our big focus this weekend has now been house hunting.  We had a talk with our realtor earlier in the week about options (none, really), but decided we should go ahead and start looking for another home, then we can worry about the one we have now (burn it down, etc...ha ha).  So we drove around a little yesterday checking out various neighborhoods and we're going out with a realtor on Wednesday to see what's out there for us.  We'd love to get into something bigger before baby, buy who knows.  

Last but not least, our cats came home today.  Mr. G had sprayed 1 too many times at my parents' house so they were banished.  We stopped by the vet on the way home and they were both prescribed some Prozac for their anxiety.  Glad we have mental kitties!!  The vet also gave us some pointers of ways to get them ready for the baby coming, like finding recordings of babies crying, etc. so they will be a little more prepared when the time comes. 

Swollen, party of 1

Time for a pregnancy symptom update! The latest and greatest things seem to be that I feel like I giant water balloon most days and I can feel every stretch and am starting to waddle!

For the past few weeks now I have noticed that by the end of the day my normally obvious ankle bones have disappeared! My rings are getting tight and I would rather be barefoot than put on a pair of shoes! This morning though the swelling seemed to be ready to go right from the get go! I could barely get my rings on at all and my fingers looked like little sausages. As soon as I woke up this morning my hands were tingling and felt like they weighted 10lbs a piece!

Then there's the aches! I didn't expect to be this uncomfortable until about the 8th month. But here we are on the eve of month 6 and I feel like I have arthritis! The weather seems to be making it worse...lots of rain and severe weather here in Georgia. My back is killing me and my hips feel like they are coming apart all together (which I guess in a way they are). My body pillow I was so excited about a month ago is going flat and no longer gives me the sleeping pleasure it once did. :( Do I sound whiny yet? I am!

Sitting for hours on end at work isn't fun anymore either. I try to get up regularly so my muscles don't cramp up. But I can feel myself walking around belly first and feel like a little duckling trying to get my balance! I have also been having a hard time judging just how far my belly sticks out, so I tend to run into things more. And I still have HOW LONG to go?

I'm due for some new belly pics so I will take some this weekend when everyone is over. We'll be celebrating my mom's birthday, Mother's Day and our 1 year wedding anniversary (where did the year go??) on Saturday. Hope this rain is all gone by then!

Thanks for letting me whine! It was much needed!!

Updated baby name poll...please vote again!

We know a lot of you have already voted for your favorite name for our son....but I created a new poll with some slight changes to the name list.  Kevin and I sat up last night saying names out loud, coming up with nicknames and also seeing if there was a way to make fun of the name on the playground.  :)  After all that we narrowed the field some more and added/deleted a few names.  So please vote again on the new poll!

http://www.babycenter.com/403_keyes-baby-boy-name-me_9826985_165382781810.bc

It's a boy...part 2

As everyone has probably heard by now, I had 2 ultrasound appointments over the last week.  Both confirmed, quite convincingly, that we are having a BOY!  The pictures I have of his "turtle" (more on that in a minute) are hard to see so I didn't upload those.  So what we have here are a picture of my belly (decided to share the covered one, not the naked one, this time) and a profile shot of the little man.  

My first appointment was on Thursday, April 16th.  Kevin was able to fly home for the day to come with me.  He definitely wanted to be present for the unveiling of the sex!  I went through the usual pee in a cup (I was able to do it today!), weight and blood pressure.  Today's nurse was nice...her weight result was about the same as what I get at home.  Weird.  The special added bonus for this visit was that they needed to check my iron.  I thought that meant drawing blood from a vein, which I am ok with.  But nope, this is one of those little things that pricks your finger and it feels like someone stapled your finger!  Luckily it's quick, so not too bad.  Then off to the ultrasound.  Our tech/nurse was very nice, although she had 1 too many cups of coffee we think!  She was quite the chatty Cathy...telling us about her kids, her pregnancies, etc.  I liked that she let us ask questions along the way and never once made us feel stupid for asking anything.  She asked if we wanted to know the sex and we said "YES!"  so she maneuvered around a bit and said..."there's the turtle!  It's a boy!"  And lo and behold from the angle we had it looked like a little turtle sitting between his legs!!  :)  Kevin and I high-fived since we were hoping for a boy.  It was very cool to see!  The rest of the exam was spent taking measurements.  We got to see the spine, heart, kidneys and other bones, etc as she measured.  She said everything looked good.  At this appointment she said the baby weighed 13oz.  Also, based on the size, she said the baby may come around August 26th, but she would leave it to the doctor to decide if we needed to move the due date.  I mentioned the test I had in February that said there was a 1 in 46 chance for Down Syndrome...she said there was a good chance it came back false positive due to me being further along than they thought.  That made me feel better.  

Next we were off to see the doctor for a few minutes.  He asked if everything was going ok, so I told him about my depression and craziness lately.  He basically said I had won the lottery when it came to hormones, and that what I was feeling was normal.  Great!  Ha-ha!  I also asked about my water intake, which he didn't seem to think was an issue.  I also asked if I was "growing" on track and he said yes.  So overall it was good news.  He did decided to keep my due date in September...I don't understand, but I guess that's why he gets paid the big bucks!

On Monday I went in to the Perinatal Specialist for my follow up visit.  This one was much different.  They are very transactional there.  I was in and out of there in less than 30 minutes.  The nurse was ok...not very talkative and I didn't feel like I could ask any questions.  She reconfirmed it was a boy...again it was very obvious.  He was moving around a lot during the scanning, it was so cool to see!  I can feel him when he moves while I am sitting, but not really when I am laying down.  This time all the measurements pointed to August 25th for a due date and she estimated his weight a 1lb!!  Hello, he should only 10-11oz at this point!  Then the doctor came in and said everything looked good, no signs of birth defects or Down's Syndrome.  I said "that's good since I didn't like you much the last time we talked."  He just kind of grinned at me.  These people have a lot to learn from my regular OB's office when it comes to making people feel at ease!  The nice thing about this office is they give me 2 5x7 prints on photo paper of ultrasound shots.  These are easier to see than the little ones you normally get.  

So, next visit with my regular OB is on May 14th.  I go back to the specialist one more time in late June.  We are talking about getting the 3D ultrasound done too...probably in mid-June.  They look so cool, we can't resist!  We'll probably go get professional pregnancy pics taken in July too.  

If you haven't voted in the baby name poll below yet, please do!  The results are interesting so far! 

It's a boy....part 1

As most of you have heard by now, we found out yesterday we're having a boy! YEA! I just wanted to do a short post today to put up a baby name poll and also the picture of the nursery we're going to do (to the right). I'll write a longer post when I get back from Florida with all the details of my visit (plus I go to the specialist on Monday, so there will be more to tell then!).

Vote on the baby name poll:

http://www.babyzone.com/babynames/bnpoll.asp?pollid=132050

More later....I'm off to try and find a bathing suit to fit my growing bod!!

Am I going crazy??

I was going to wait to post again until we had the sex determining sonogram on Thursday, but I figured this blog should be honest about what I am going through and not just touch on the light and funny moments.

I am currently 19 weeks and 3 days along (give or take a day)...so basically halfway through my pregnancy and still in the second trimester, which I hear called "the honeymoon phase."  Well...I beg to differ!  True, I have most of my energy back, which is nice, but I will take sleep over the crazy hormone shifts I am going through any day!  From day to day, minute to minute, I can go from happy, to angry (not just mad, but ANGRY), to crying tears that won't go away.  I have never been on such an emotional roller coaster in my life!  As you all know, I am one of the most easy going, always smiling people out there.  Now, it takes every ounce of effort I have not to snap at people, or to not cry if someone asks me a simple question!

On top of that, I am in the "is the baby going to be ok?"  "Am I going to know what the heck to do?"  "are we ready for this?" stage.  I can finally REALLY feel the baby move, which is AWESOME, but because it is still small, I only feel it every once in awhile so I worry if it's moving enough, or am I too fat to feel it?  I have been looking forward to this appointment on the 16th for awhile, mainly to find out the sex, but now I look forward to these appointments to be told that everything is ok.  It probably doesn't help that I got not so great news at the last 2 appointments...so I am in need of a good news appointment!!

Thanks to everyone for listening.  I needed to get this all out!!  Luckily I have been reading and talking to other expectant mothers online who are due in September who are going through many of the same things I am, so it helps to know I am not alone!  

Can't wait for Kevin to get home for good.  I need him to take care of me!

The silliest gender predictor yet!

Ok...so I belong to an online community of other moms to be and one of them sent out this website for gender predicting. The site asks you a bunch os silly, non-relevent questions, then tells you about your birth. Here is what mine said:

"The day you deliver, outside will be sunny. Your baby will arrive in the early morning. After a labor lasting approximately 16 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 4 pounds, 10 ounces, and will be 20-1/2 inches long. This child will have medium amber eyes and a lot of black hair. "

Um...I think my baby weighs 4 pounds already! Ha ha! Anyway, I thought this was funny enough to share.

We will be letting everyone know the TRUE gender on April 16th. I go in for my next sonogram then and Kevin will be there so we're going to finally find out the sex! Any wagers out there??

Another concert for baby and first celebrity meetings!

 Well last week was a true test of my endurance!  I found out quickly that being pregnant makes celebrity chasing a little difficult!  But it was my birthday and my favorite guys, New Kids on the Block were nearby, so I had to go!

Wednesday I flew down to Ft Meyers and met up with my friend Rhonda.  We went to high school together and she flew in from Washington.  The first 2 nights we were staying at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, courtesy of my job.  As we pulled into the hotel, there was a tour bus in front of us unloading.  We didn't see anyone who looked familiar, and the valet just said it "was a guest checking in" so we didn't think too much about it.  We thought we were too far from the venue for it to be the New Kids.  That night we just had a quick bite to eat then came back to the hotel to get at least one night of good rest.  We did a quick walk through of the lobby and bar but didn't see anyone again, so it was off to bed.  The next day we went to the beach in the morning so Rhonda could get some shells for her kids.  As soon as we got there we saw a few dolphins swimming right off shore, so that was nice.  We stayed there about an hour, then headed back to the hotel so we could go run some errands before the show.  As we were leaving our hotel a little while later we spotted 3 buses in the parking lot.  I recognized one right away from the last tour....the guys were at our hotel!!  So we turned right back around and parked our butts so we could hopefully catch the guys when they left.  We waited for a couple hours with 3 other girls, and were first rewarded with Donnie coming out with his 7 year old son, Elijah.  He is too cute!  As we asked for pictures he asked "why does everyone like my Daddy?"  Donnie was nice and took pics with all of us.  Next came Danny, muscles and all.  He graciously took pics with all of us too.  Jon came a while later...he was being rushed but still took pics.  While he was outside smoking, Rhonda went out and got more pics with him and had a nice conversation.  Jordan was last (Joe wasn't there)...he was soo cute!  Love that boy's dimples!  

Once all the guys left we had to rush to get ready to get to the show, where we were going to meet them again!  That night I was wearing a shirt that said "What happens when you get some Grown Man" with an arrow to the baby.  They have a song about getting some grown man, so when they saw it they all laughed.  Jon especially liked it!  Joey was next to me in the group pic that night and was worried people might think he was the grown man from my shirt.  :)  For the concert that night, we were in the front row!!  Can't beat that!  We had a great time.  After the show Rhonda wanted to go out by the buses, but my exhaustion had kicked in so I just waited in the car.  Then it was off to Waffle House...yum!  Unfortunately we went to the wrong one, Donnie ended up at one in Sarasota, about an hour north!  Oh well.

Friday morning (my birthday!) we got up early to head to Orlando, a little over 3 hours away.  We met up with Nicole, Natsu and Lisa who had all come in from Tampa.  We got pretty and headed to the venue.  Tonight's shirt was "It's my birthday, where's my present?"  We were one of the last groups this time.  When we walked in, Joe wished me happy b-day and I asked where my present was.  He said "in your belly!"  Next, Donnie grabs me and pulls me next to him and keeps me there.  He wishes me happy b-day as well and then it's picture time.  After the first one, I said "can I get a kiss on the cheek for the second one?  For my birthday?"  So...as you can see from the pic, he obliged!  I wish the picture wasn't so blurry because I LOVE IT!  I got birthday love from Jordan and Jon too, then it was over.  I was starting to not feel well at this point...too much excitement, too little sleep and too little food.  But we still had a show to see!  We were in the 4th row this time, not bad!  I sat a lot more this time around, and Nicole made me eat so I would feel a little better.  By the time the show was over, I thought I was going to die.  I have never been so tired!  Luckily security took pity on me and let us take an elevator back upstairs to leave!  

Rhonda and I had one more day in Orlando on Saturday, so after the other girls left we decided to play tourist and go to Sea World (because I hadn't been on my feet enough yet!).  We had a great time.  That night we capped it off with a trip to Medieval Times.  

The trip was great, but now I know I need to be sure to take time to eat and sleep!!  

Baby's first concert!

I know I mentioned in an earlier post that baby's first concert was supposed to be NKOTB this weekend.  Well.....I caved and went to see Britney Spears last Thursday.  Luckily they had a cute t-shirt I could by to show off my belly!  Plus I bought the baby it's first concert T...a onesie that says "Oops I did it again"  :)  Had to do it!  The concert was good...Britney looked great, I sure hope I can get my body back like hers after kids!!  Of course I don't dance all day like she does!  I thought I felt the baby "dancing" during the show, but it may have been just the bass in the arena!

I go back to the doctor on the 17th so more then, plus I will have met the New Kids by then and had my 35th birthday so more stories for sure!

A little bruised after seeing "Dr No Bedside Manner"

Hi everyone!  Here is another shot of our growing baby!  One plus side to be considered "high risk" is that I get more ultrasounds done then the average mother-to-be.  To me, that part is a great thing...I want to see the little one every time I go in...and so far it's worked out that way!  I don't know what I am going to do if further along they pull back on the photos!  

This picture is from the specialist I had to go see last Friday.  Due to the fact I will be 35 when the baby is born, I had to go get the fluid that is at the base of the baby's neck measured.  This test, along with some more blood work, can determine with 90-95% accuracy the chances the child will have Down's Syndrome or a few other genetic defects.  The appointment started smoothly enough with a nice nurse coming in and dimming the lights so we could see the monitor up on the wall more clearly.  She gave me a towel so the gel they use wouldn't get on my clothes...nice touch.  The gel she used was heated....another nice touch!  The last times it has been a little cold, not so fun!  She takes various shots for about 15 minutes, trying to get the baby to move into the position they need it in to get the measurements.  My mom came with me this time and she really enjoyed seeing everything.  When the picture first came up it looked like baby was sucking it's thumb.  We saw both arms and legs and some profile shots.  It was so weird to see it moving around, but not feeling anything yet.  She jiggled my belly a few times to try and get him/her to cooperate, but no luck.  She went to get the doctor, hoping he/she would be in the right place when he came in.  When he arrived, he started off ok...asking how old I was.  I said I would be 35 in 2 weeks, to which he asked "doing anything special?"  So I said, "Yes!  Going to a New Kids on the Block concert."  He just said, "oh."  Guess he wasn't as excited as I was!  He then got the ultrasound going again and also commented the baby wasn't where he wanted it.  He applied A LOT of pressure trying to get it to turn with no luck.  At one point he said "cough."  So I said "I thought only guys had to do that!"  I thought that warranted at least a chuckle, but I got nothing.  Nice.  Then after some heavy sighs on his part, her tells me to turn on my side and he'll be back.  Okey dokey.  He has yet to crack a smile the whole time and speaks in short, abrupt sentences.  Love him so far!  He comes back a few minutes later, looks to see no change, so he tells me to "empty my bladder and undress below the waist" so they can do a vaginal ultrasound.  Thank goodness...after all his poking and prodding I had to PEE!  So I take care of that and assume the position.  The nurse comes back and says what I thought was "I am going to stick my hand beneath the sheet."  But she actually said for ME to put my hand under the sheet!  She had ME insert the ultrasound thing.  I have never had to do it myself!  I took care of it and the doctor came back to look some more.  More heavy sighs.....then "lay down, let's go back to the other way."  Ok Mr Happy!  He then says the baby is a "lazy bugger" (he was British) and finally gets a shot good enough to get the measurement he needs.  YEA!  To get that though, he pressed quite hard on my uterus.  I feel bruised there still.  Nice.  He said the measurement was good and they would have the results for me in a week.  Then he went to take blood.  As you know from previous posts, I sometimes have issues with getting blood drawn.  I mentioned this to him.  He looked at my arm for about 2 seconds before choosing to use the veins on my hand.  Most nurses apologize for doing this because it hurts more, but not my new friend!  He just turned my hand over and said "you'll feel a prick" and went straight for it.  Thanks dude.  

Now I wait to hear from them in the next week to see what they found, but the impression I got was that things look good.  I go back to my normal doctor on the 17th of March for some more blood work, then back to this specialist on April 10th.  I should find out the sex at that visit...YEA!  I can deal with the rough doctor to get that good news!  Hopefully the baby will cooperate that day!

Latest doctor visit and possible new due date

Hopefully everyone can see the baby in the photo to the left!! I went to the doctor again yesterday and they did another ultrasound to confirm how far along I am. But that's getting ahead of myself...let's start at the beginning because my favorite nurse ( her name is Joanne....but that's not important since I just think of her as "evil nurse") was there to greet me. She asked for the usual urine sample...and of course I could only give a trickle. She actually didn't say anything about it though! Then I hop on the scale. I watch her move the weights around...she then walks off to write the weight down without saying what it is (looked like 175...still WAY more than my scale at home!). I am thinking...hmmm I just might get through my dealings with her without incident. But no...then she comes to take my blood pressure and looks at me and says in a nice snotty voice "Your face looks sunburned. Have you been using a tanning bed?" So, I said "of course not! I was in Florida!" She said "oh" like she was bummed she couldn't give me a lecture on tanning beds and pregnancy. Then started to tell me she was going to Florida in March. Do I care? Not so much.

I am finally done with her at that point and then head to the doctor's office to prepare for the wonderful Papsmear. When the doctor comes in I mention that I might have a yeast infection, which he immediately confirms (yippee!). Then I tell him that everyone thinks I am having twins or am further along than I think. He said if I am sure about my last period then I just need to tell people to shut up! :) I love this man. He does say we'll do an ultrasound to see if we're on track though. Then he pulls out the Doppler to listen for a heartbeat. It's hard to hear at first, but then the racing heart comes through. It was so cool! I wish Kevin could have been there for that!!

Next up I am told to wait for the ultrasound tech who is supposedly on her way. Well...she shows up about 45 minutes later. I was about napping at that point! We go into the room and this time we do the abdominal ultrasound...which I prefer! She pulls up the screen and my heart skips a beat...it actually looks like a baby!!!! Crazy stuff! I could see the head, face, body and a foot (although Kevin thinks it is a boy and he's well hung...yeah). She did some measurements and she put me at between 12 weeks 2 days and 12 weeks 5 days, so about a week further than we thought. She said my EDD would be August 31st. She mentioned that if it's a boy that is good because he will start school later because of his age and I guess boys need that extra time. That's too far down the road for me to think about! Then she also pulled up the heartbeat, which was easier to hear now. She put it at 158 bpm....I'll have to look at one of the gender posts below to see where that falls! I mentioned to her too that both Kevin and my brother were in the 10lb range when they were born and she said "wow...I feel sorry for you then! Hope you don't have to go through that!" Great...me too!!

So we wrapped up and I spoke with the doctor one last time. He thinks we should keep my due date at September 4th...so we'll see what happens. Other than that I was good to go. No twins (sorry Missy) and I am right on track. So now...I can start telling people to shut up when they comment on my belly!!!! :) Since my mood swings are still alive and well I should have no problem with that!

On a seperate note...the baby went to it's first wedding over the weekend. My friends Frank and Nicole got married in Florida. It was beautiful! The baby wanted to dance...but mama got tired VERY quickly and sat on the sidelines quite a bit. It was a little tough not to have some wine...but I survived! Next up....baby's first concert! We're going to see New Kids on the Block for my birthday. Hopefully the baby will let me stay up and enjoy the shows!! Stay tuned!

Beware.....mood swings!!

For those of you who live nowhere near me...thank your lucky stars! My hormones are in high gear as of the last week or so and I can be not so fun to be around!! The smallest things anger me, or on the other end of the spectrum, make me tear up. I sure hope this stage does not last long!! I cry at the silliest things on TV and things at work seem to make me more and more angry by the day. I have been warned that I am going to have an angry baby if I keep up these bad moods...I sure hope that's not true! I want to be happy....really I do!!

On another note....as you can see from the photo I am growing away! This is the 10 week belly shot. I still think I look more fat than pregnant, but whatever. A sales lady the other day asked if I was having twins. THAT sure made me feel good! I did have to go out and get some maternity clothes...thank you to Mom and Dad for helping me out in that department! I am ready for my belly to pop out more now!

My next doctor's appointment is on Feb 18th....I should have some more stories to tell then. I am hoping to hear the heartbeat at this visit! If nothing else, I am getting a Pap and if I can't look forward to that, I don't know what I can! :)

Another gender test

Thought I would share my latest reading. I have "bolded" what applies to me....will it be a boy or girl?

It's a boy if:
You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy
Your baby's heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute
You are carrying the extra weight out front
Your belly looks like a basketball
Your areolas have darkened considerably
You are carrying low
You are craving salty or sour foods
You are craving protein -- meats and cheese
Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy
The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy
Your hands are very dry!!!
Your pillow faces north when you sleep (I have no idea on this one)
Dad-to-be is gaining weight, right along with you
Pregnancy has you looking better than ever
Your urine is bright yellow in color
Your nose is spreading
You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves in circles (kinda...)
You are having headaches
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number

It's a girl if:
You had morning sickness early in pregnancy
Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute
You are carrying the weight in your hips and rear
Your left breast is larger than your right breast
Your hair develops red highlights
You are carrying high
Your belly looks like a watermelon
You are craving sweets
You are craving fruit
You crave orange juice
You don't look quite as good as normal during pregnancy
You are moodier than usual during pregnancy
Your face breaks out more than usual
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread
Your breasts have really blossomed!
Your pillow faces south when you sleep
Your urine is a dull yellow color
You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves from side to side
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number

Ok....so it looks like a lot more for boy at this point! I can't wait to see what turns out to be the right one! That's 3 for boy and 1 for girl. :)

From embryo to fetus...

Ok...here is my belly at week 8. I will admit...most of that is fat, but there is a little bit of harder roundness there at the bottom. And fat or not, I figure I needed a "starting point" photo...so here we go. I guess pregnancy really does change your mindset about your body....I NEVER would have posted a picture like this on a public website before!! But I guess being able to say "my uterus has grown to the size of a grapefruit and that's why my belly sticks out" makes it easier to accept that my fat jeans are getting tight! I actually was happy to see the scale go up a pound today...who would have thunk??

I went to the doctor again last week. This time I met with the head OB nurse and went over my family medical history. Luckily most of what they asked didn't apply so they feel good that between that and my bloodwork coming back clean that I am not high risk. Of course there is that thing about being 35 when the baby is born. It seems this is the magic age where everything goes down hill. I have to go see a specialist at 13 weeks to make sure everything is going ok. They'll do a sonogram and can determine with 80+% accuracy if the baby is at risk for Down's Syndrome. Luckily they can do this with just the sonogram and not have to do an amnio...I am not sure how I feel about that right now.

After meeting with that nurse I was sent the mean nurse I saw last time. I assured her that I was ready to pee this time...she didn't seem to care. Whatever. Then it came time to weigh me. I told her my scale at home had gone down 2 lbs. She looked at her scale and said "well you're still 170." BITCH! Ok...sorry...my scale said 164. I obviously like mine better (I guess that negates everything I said in the first paragraph about not caring, huh?). Anywho, I finished with her and she sent me off with a "Bye Sweetie!" I'll show her sweetie!!

Ok...enough about her! The doctor then came and they did another vaginal ultrasound. I didn't get a printout this time, but the baby blob was about 3x the size it was before and the little heart was fluttering away so that was good. Then the doctor and I talked about how I was feeling and I said my main symptom was fatigue (boy do I miss my Red Bulls!!). He said that was normal and it was God's way of signaling it was time to rest. I told him that shopping with my mom for an afternoon wouldn't normally make me tired, but it exhausts me now. His reply was that God was a man and men don't like shopping so that's why it effects me so much! Such a comedian he is!!

Well now I am in my 9th week which means we have graduated to the fetus stage. According to most websites I am now having a grape! They sure keep me feeling hungry with all the food references!

I am off to have lunch now with my mom and her neighbor Tina. Tina just had a baby in August so I am going to go practice! :)

Bye bye to the kitties!

I received a call from one of the nurses at my doctor's office over the weekend and she said all of my blood work came back good. BUT she said they tested to see if I am immune to a disease you can get from cats while pregnant and it turns out I am not. Even after growing up with cats, I never was exposed, so....that means I am at risk. I forget the exact name of the virus, but it can cause retardation and blindness...so we didn't want to take any chances. The nurse said I shouldn't clean the litter box, even with gloves, and shouldn't even be in the same room as the litter. She also said to not have the cats sleep with us at night...which they do every night! In fact the cats spoon me while Kevin gets the rest of the bed to himself! So we had to call the "grandparents" and see if they would take the cats because Kevin was going to Florida for work and wouldn't be back for at least 2 months. They reluctantly agreed. This now gave my parents 2 indoor cats and 5 outdoor cats!! They are now the "old cat people!" We miss our kitties, but it's for the best. Since this is our first, and probably only child we want to be sure we do all we can to ensure it's healthy!

Gender Predictors

Ok...so I went shopping with a very excited grandma to be yesterday...my mother! :) I think she told every person we interacted with that she was going to be a first time grandma. It was very cute!

One thing we noticed during our shopping spree was that until you know what you are having it is hard to find anything to buy. Baby clothes are very gender specific. Girls are pink princesses and boys like tractors and dinosaurs. Kind of sexist, but we'll go with it. :) Of course it is WAY too early to know what we are having (let alone be shopping for it...but tell that to the grandmas!) so what is an expectant mother to do? Turn to an ancient Chinese gender predictor!! I had seen one on one of my "I'm Pregnant" websites early on and I had a number of my friends and co-workers try it out and all but one said it was accurate. So...according to this "scientific" source I am having a girl. This is calculated by looking at what age I was when the baby was conceived and the month of conception. Ok...girl it is.

But wait! Today I get an email from my Aunt Tina with a Chinese Gender Predictor attached and it is done by using the age I will be when the baby is born and the month of conception. This time I am having a BOY! Hmmm....now what? So I go back to the all knowing internet to look for a tie breaker. I find a calculator that finds your Chinese lunar age (you know the Chinese all want boys, so they have tons of calculators out there!) and uses that to determine sex.

So the tie breaker winner? Boy!

Ok, am I going to run out and sign my little tadpole (or is it a whale? What is that spinning thing over to the left of the blog?? Alien?) up for hockey and buy all blue? No....I think I will wait for the medical community to tell me something a little more concrete. In the mean time, I am on the D's for girl's names in a book of over 100,000 baby names. I may get through the book by the time the baby is born. Maybe.

First doctor appointment....it's alive!!

I had my first pre-nantal doctor's appointment yesterday. Kevin went with me. It started off bad when I couldn't pee on demand. I hate that...I had drank water all morning and KNEW they were going to ask me to do it. I was getting my pregnancy confirmed after all! It took me awhile, meanwhile the nurse was visable upset I was taking so long. Luckily she was only the check in nurse so I had no other interactions with her. She was a little too bitchy for my taste. I guess during one of my tries she told Kevin how busy they were today and sighed and slapped her hand on the desk. Nice lady.

Anyway, I finally produced what they needed so we went into a room to wait for the Doc. He came in and congratulated us. :) I already knew, but it's always good to hear it from a professional. He said the Estimated Due Date (EDD) is Sept. 4th. I already have had requests to hold out for a 9-9-09 baby, but we'll have to see about that. He proceeded to ask about my symptoms, which at this point mainly consist of me carrying 2 giant boulders around attached to my chest! I did mention some cramping so he suggested we go ahead and do an ultrasound to make sure the embryo was where it was supposed to be...in my uterus, not my tubes. So we were herded to a new room...Kevin commented that they needed moving sidewalks or shuttle to get people from place to place!

I can't believe how big ultrasound machines are! You would think that in 2009 they would have some nice small thing to do these, but nope. The nurse said she thinks they get bigger every year! Kevin thought the vaginal ultrasound thing was interesting...the "probe" I guess you would call it was all ready with a condom looking thing over it and some lube. He was like "they are going to stick that inside you?" Yep, that's how it works! He decides he doesn't want a front row seat at that point. :) The dr. comes back in and I "assume the position" (ladies, you know what I am talking about...stirrups anyone?). He tells "daddy" to come stand by my shoulder so he can turn the screen so "mommy" can see. Wow....that was weird to hear. I felt like I was in a movie or something. Very out of body... Anyway, he shows us on the screen where my uterus and bladder are, then you could clearly see a little sac...this is where our little yolk was!! Then he pointed out a fluttering on the screen and says that this is the hearbeat! Kevin - "Shutup!" Doctor - "It is!" Kevin - "No...shutup!" It was great.

I am so glad Kevin came with me because I think at that moment it really sunk in with him and he seems really excited now. More on that later though...

After we were done there (by the way I have peed 2 more times now that no one needs a sample any longer!) we go into yet ANOTHER room. The doctor tells us some of what I can and can't do and eat or drink. The best part was when he said I can't clean the litter box. I had told Kevin that was the case and he didn't believe it. Now he heard it from the expert...he said "thanks Doc!"

Lastly, I had to give a bunch of blood samples. Kevin chose to sit this part out. I warned the nurse, because last time I had been intheir office, they must have poked me 10 times trying to find a vein. She actually got it on the first try!! She said she was from Dracula's country, so she had no problem drawing blood. I thought that was funny! :)

My next appointement is in 2 weeks so I will have more to report then and maybe a new picture of the yolk. :)

Now, back to Kevin. I came home last night and when I opened the door, he had candles lit all over the house! It was beautiful!! He had a bottle of champagne chilling, along with a can of Ginger Ale of me since I can't drink! He poured us our drinks in champagne flutes and we toasted to our new life. It was wonderful and it made me so happy! I know we are both a little scared about how this is going to change our lives, but I think we're ready for the challenge!

First prenancy post

Ok....it's a new year, I have a new life growing in me, so I thought I would try out this blogging thing to keep people up to date on how the whole pregnancy thing is going. I can't promise anything...I was never good at keeping a diary, so I don't know how this will go, but I will try. This will allow be to share pictures and stories along the way which will be great since I have friends and family spread all over this country!!

So, where to start? I guess let's start at the beginning. Kevin and I decided that I would go off the pill in September (well, I decided, he went along with it). At that point, I went online and signed up for 2 different fertility calendars so I would know when our "prime opportunities" were. The first few months were pretty quiet. Then December came and we joked that we weren't going to getting pregnant any time soon because he was scheduled to be in Florida for work for the entire time my calendar said we should be trying to conceive. Nice. Well...as fate would have it we beat the odds of the web and conceived anyway!!

I was due to have Aunt Flo visit on Christmas Day...nothing like having her in for the holidays (my last cycle started on Thanksgiving so it was apropos). I had what I thought were PMS symptoms all week leading up so I had no reason to think she wouldn't show. Well that day came and went as well as the next and the next. By Sunday I wasn't feeling well (that may have been due to the festivities the night before too...shhh!) so I bought a pregnancy test on the way home. Kevin ended up falling asleep on the couch shortly after I got home so I went upstairs to see what the test would say. I have taken a few pregnancy tests in my day and usually the wait seems SO slow while the results come up. Not this time. I think the double lines appeared immediately and shouted out to me from the stick. I stood there in shock for a minute, then just smiled. I was happy....but how to tell Kevin. He has been less than eager for kids, to be honest, but after some long talks he was willing to try. Now that this was a reality I wasn't sure how he would take it. I decided to wait to tell him until I went to the doctor for confirmation. In the mean time I went on eBay and ordered a Korn onesie I had seen (his favorite group) so I could soften the blow when I told him. :)

The next day all I could think about was that I was going to have a BABY!! Work...well not much got accomplished that day. I knew I had to go home and tell Kevin that night. I couldn't get into the doctor until Jan 7th, over a week and a half away, and I knew I couldn't hold it in for that long. So I went home and waited for him to get home. When he got there I asked him to sit down with me on the couch. He was immediately on guard. I put my arm around him and showed him the positive test. He said "what does this mean?" I realized the words were upside down so I turned it over and showed him that the 2 lines meant pregnant. He sat there in shock for a few minutes...then said he needed a shot. If you know Kevin at all, this is not a surprise for him! I then showed him a pic of the onesie I had ordered, which he liked. We talked for a bit then he picked up the phone and started calling people. He started with my mom...this is the first grandchild for my parents. She started crying she was so happy. Next was his mom, who started screaming. Good reactions from both. :) He also called his step mom and his Dad and they were both very excited too. I think it helped Kevin to hear how excited everyone is.

Once the news was spilled to the parents it didn't take long for it to spread. My mom emailed everyone she knew that night to share and before long it was all over Facebook. That meant telling my co-workers since most of them are on there. So the news is out...a little earlier than I would have liked, but oh well. We are excited and I can't imagine keeping this in for another 2 months until I was further along!

So....depending on which site I go to, I am between 5 and 6 weeks along. I'll add one of the countdown clocks to the blog once I go to the doctor and get his opinion. Estimated due date at this point is September 3rd.

So, post 1 down....many more to hopefully follow along with photos, etc. I want to share this with everyone, so enjoy the ride!