Nesting?

(Both of these pictures were taken this morning, I couldn't remember what color cami I was supposed to wear, so we did both. I think you can see the blue better.)

Well, I have been quite delinquent in posting, but I'm sure you an all understand how busy we've been. The carpets are finally cleaned, and the crib is finally set up, and made. (Please, no emails about the bumper and the stuffed animals in the crib! I've read all the warnings and I will take out the stuffed animals before the baby goes in. It just looked really lonely in there.) The baby's bag is packed and ready for the hospital. Mine is in the bedroom and I'm adding stuff to it daily. We still need to hang the bookshelf in the bedroom and hang the diaper dangler - it's mostly small stuff left. At this point I have the house pretty squared away, so that hopefully it'll just be upkeep later on (ha ha - I know.)

I'm felling pretty well. At this point it's my ribs and chest that hurt. Tom did a quick little ultrasound on me tonight and Peanut is definitely head down and I would say pretty low in my pelvis, but I'll find out what Dr. Dempsey has to say on Wednesday. She'll be doing a scan to check the baby's position. Hopefully I'll come home from that next appointment with some new pictures to post. Everything has been really uneventful. I was talking with Tom today and I told him I really need to stop this. I keep waking up and wondering - is today the day? I fixate on every little twinge and tightening I feel - is this it? Is it starting? I need to just go about my days like any other day and enjoy the free time I have left. I may not know what I'm looking for, but I'm sure it will become pretty apparent when it happens. In the meantime, there is still stuff to do, and I need to concentrate on that while I can.

My last two appointments with Dr. Dempsey were uneventful. We talked about me birth plan at one appointment, but mostly they just consisted of checking the heartbeat, measuring my belly, the usual. Maybe this week she'll check to see if anything is happening. I'm still happy being pregnant, but I am getting antsy to see the baby and find out what we are having. I have days where I'm not worried about the birth (more resigned, it is coming, it will happen, I will get through it) and other days when I really worry about it - the whole "unknown" thing.

Along those lines, Tom and I had birthing class all day on Saturday at MUSC. It was pretty good, we learned some stuff, watched a whole bunch of videos, and didn't have nearly as much breathing and coping practice as I had hoped. We got a tour or the labor and delivery department and the postpartum department. I think Tom is going to be a really good coach as long as he doesn't get to sensitive on me. As we were getting ready to leave, we thanked the instructor and she smiled and cryptically said "We'll be seeing you soon." It was directed at me since I was the farthest along in the class.

Friday, I got my first Mother's Day Card from Molly & Bill, and Sunday Tom bought me a backyard bird identification book for my first Mother's Day Gift.

April Showers

At work today I had a Baby Shower lunch! It was so sweet! I got two very generous gifts from both the girls that I work with (Marge, Brittany, and Lori) and Dr. Zetz and his girlfriend, Tara.

A Busy Few Weeks

The last few weeks have been very busy. Tom was on vacation from March 23-29. Poor Guy! I said I wasn't going to work him hard. We couldn't Leave town because I couldn't get out of working that Thursday. So I said you know, we'll do a project a day and then go do something fun. Well, we did do a few things fun, but mostly we ended up working in the yard EVERY DAY! I can't even begin to count the bags of mulch we bought and spread! All in All I felt really good the whole time. I kept up and lifted and poured and spread right along side Tom.

Then on the 28th I headed to Tennessee and then on to North Adams to spend Spring Break (Colby and Amanda's) at my Grandma Beighley's house with my mom. She isn't really doing well anymore and spends all day in her chair. So we spent the week cleaning and cooking and visiting, spending as much time with her as we could. I really noticed toward the end of the week that my ankles (particularly the right) and fingers were swollen most of the time and my hips are really starting to hurt. I was more tired then usual, too.

On Friday, April 3rd, I had some Braxton-Hicks while I was cleaning off Gram's hutch. Then later that night I felt the baby having hiccups for the first time. My sister Lisa got to feel it, too. She is pretty convinced the baby hates her already. She says Peanut never moves for her. Mom and I tried to tell her it was just that she wasn't around at the right time. Peanut seems to be a night owl and shows off a lot between 10pm and midnight. Though I noticed more movement earlier today and another bought of hiccups.

Then on Saturday, I got a wonderful surprise! Lisa got together with my Aunt Maria, my cousin Roberta, and her friends Jane and Marcia and they had organized a baby shower for me! I was so surprised and touched! I had wanted a baby shower, but I figured I had been away from home so long, there wasn't really a chance it would happen. A lot of people haven't seen me since my wedding! Yet here they were! They all turned out to shower Peanut with presents. It was so nice to know everyone cared so much! (I"ll post pictures as soon as I get them off my camera!)
They had one whole room decorated with pink and blue balloons and then Lisa tacked a whole bunch of the baby cloths she had bought to the walls. I got a lot of flack for not knowing what we're having, but it doesn't seem to have hindered people from buying Peanut cloths! I think we have enough gender neutral clothing to get us started for the next baby, too! It was all so cute and Tom and I are so very grateful for everyone's generosity!

I got home on Monday, after two long days of driving. Today was spent out in the yard. I looked as if it hadn't even been mowed yet this year! Then I had to get all of the yard debris to the curb. I edged the lawn and swept off the deck. I was only out for about 2 hours, but man I was BEAT afterwards! What a difference a week makes!

My sister swears I dropped this past week and I have been having some crampy feelings here and there. I was so sure I was going to make it to my due date, but now I just don't know. We have another appointment tomorrow, so we will see what Dr. Dempsy says!

Oh, and my final indignity? Tom was laughing at me today because I was having trouble bending over to tie my shoes! (sigh)

In The Single Digits Again!

Well here we are again at nine weeks, only this time instead of it being nine weeks along, we are at nine weeks to go! YEAH! It seemed as though everything was moving so slowly in the beginning, but now, just like a snowball rolling downhill, time is passing faster and faster!

We had an appointment with Dr. Dempsey on Monday the 16th. Everything was looking still looking good and moving on track and I was complimented on my ability to sit up unassisted. I was doing kick counts pretty regularly for the first couple weeks of March, however most days I can tell that the baby is moving frequently and vigorously and I don't need to lie down and count. Honestly, if I lay down to do kick counts after work, I'd probably fall asleep before I reached 10 - and that normally doesn't take more then 15 minutes.

Last night we were over at our friend Sidsel and Max's house for dinner and board games and I kept getting frustrated that I couldn't reach to give Max cards across the table. I jokingly looked at my belly to say "Would you move your head!" and then when I placed my hand there, there was a definite "solid mass" that I would describe as head-like. I had Tom and Sidsel feel and the concurred. I was very excited since it's the first time I can really say I identified a baby body part.

Just now as I was writing this, I asked Tom for his opinion and we were feeling right below my rib cage and trying to play "guess that body part" and we got some wiggles in return. I said " Look, Tom! We've gone interactive! Poke us and we move!"

11 weeks to go!

So, here are some new pictures (pink top is a "then" picture - 12 weeks - and the blue tops were all this weekend) I also included one of me in some of my maternity attire.

Our last Doctors appointment was on March 2 and everything looked good. Peanut played hide and seek with Dr. Dempsy while she was looking for the heartbeat (There it is - ut, never mind) and we are measuring at 29cm (uterus size) which is good since it should correspond with the # of weeks pregnant you are. There really wasn't much more to it then that. Well there was her usual response to my questions of "I've never heard that, but let me ask my colleges." All I did was mention that in the past some of my pregnant friends have taken fluoride supplements (Portland was unfluoridated) while pregnant and should I be taking them as well since, yes the water is fluoridated in Charleston, but I'm drinking it filtered from the fridge. I think my Granola ways are just to much for unenlightened Charleston. I'm afraid to even ask her about public cord blood donation at our next appointment. That question might make her hard drive crash!

We have started doing kick counts now and so far Peanut is an overachiever. We need to have 10 kicks in an hour, but usually we hit 10 in about 15 minutes. I probably wouldn't even need to lay down and count if my car was smoother. Lately I've had a lot of activity when I'm driving, maybe just because I'm sitting down.

I know this is going to come back and bite me, but I would sort of love to be pregnant forever. Don't get me wrong, I want to see Peanut. I want to hold Peanut. But my skin has never behaved better! Right now I'm not at the "So huge I can't stand myself stage" I'm getting up to Pee to much during the night, and I must say I love feeling the kicks and flutters!

Rumblings From the Belly

Well, things are definitely moving along on the Belly front. Tom has been able to sit and watch the baby kick and the bouts of movement from Peanut are certainly more frequent and vigorous. I'm having more and more trouble with my wedding rings not fitting. However, thanks to GAP Maternity I FINALLY have maternity pants that fit. I was really about to give up and go to Sears and just buy some men's overalls. Even my plans to just make Levi's fit had failed! It was kind of hairy for a few weeks when I was wearing Tom's pants. Three pairs of jeans just aren't enough when you have two people wearing them.

24 Week Visit

We had an easy visit with Dr. Dempsy today. We listened to Peanut's heartbeat which was great and my belly was in the right proportions according to the tape measure. According to their weight history on me I've gained 12lbs (which of course started at week 10, not week 0 like mine did) so we were happy with that. I also had my Glucose tolerance test which came back fine (my level was 104 at 1 hour and anything below 140 is normal) and I was checked for Anemia and that was fine as well. So far so good!