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.