Thursday, June 30, 2011

Great news!

We went back to the doctor today to have my blood pressure re-checked. It's back in my normal range- 122/68 and there was no trace of protein. Last week must have just been a weird fluke. Or the Lord healed me. Either way, I'll take it!

HALLELUJAH!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Branch Shower

On Saturday, several of my sweet friends from The Branch hosted a baby shower for me and Miss Emily. It was absolutely amazing. My friend Kaylane went all out by throwing a real tea party. The decorations were beautiful, the food was amazing, the friends were precious, and Emily got tons of great stuff!

The setup.

My place setting.

A real tea service. Kaylane even ordered pink sugar for the tea!

The entryway table.

Yummy tea party food.

Shelley and Laura getting ready.

Fruit and Cheese tray with a framed baby picture of Lucas and a sweet diaper cake.

The mantel, complete with more baby pics of us.

All the living room furniture...in the backyard. :)

Beautiful cake made by David.

Nice, candid shot.

Me and Kaylane, the best friend ever!

Some of the gifts.

Some of our lovely guests.

More guests.

Opening Kristan and Kenee's gift.

Personalized tea cups and saucers from Kaylane.

Emily's high chair from my parents.

Me and Mom.

Me, Mom, and Lucas's sister Abby.

Me and my beautiful hostesses.
L-R: Laura, Kaylane, Shelley, Me, Sarah, and Britney

David and Kaylane crashed after the cleanup.

Thank you so much to all of my sweet friends who hosted and attended and a HUGE thanks to Kaylane for all of her planning and detail work. Doing something like this isn't easy, especially with three young children. Love you, Kaylane! Thank you so much for a beautiful, memorable baby shower!

Friday, June 24, 2011

31 Weeks

I'm 31 weeks along today!

Size
four navel oranges
16 inches, around 3 1/2 lbs.

Developments
can turn head from side to side
beginning to plump up

Heartbeat
138 bpm (as of 6/23/11)

Cravings
Yesterday I craved fried chicken strips. However, I showed restraint.

Weight Loss/Gain
Gained 20 lbs (as of 6/23/11)
Woohoo! No gain at this week's appointment!

Side Effects
Hips hurting...still!
The dreaded elevated blood pressure

What I REALLY miss
Sleeping on my back
Wearing normal clothes, especially jeans
Making it through the night without getting up multiple times

What I LOVE!
Feeling this little stinker move and kick.
My wonderful husband who helps me out all the time!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

This morning, we had our 30 ( really 31) week appointment. Good news first: I haven't gained any weight since the last appointment. Yay! That was great and I expected the rest of the appointment to go just as well. No ultrasound today. Just weight, measurement, BP, and hearing the heartbeat. So far, my blood pressure has been pretty low each time it's been taken. It's typically run right around 116/68. Today, however, it was 138/88 the first time they took it. EEK! Borderline high BP. They took it twice more before I left and it went down to 136/78, then finally 136/72. The bottom number is great, but the top number just didn't want to budge. Also, there was a small amount of protein in my urine, which as any pregnant woman knows is an indicator of preeclampsia when combined with the high BP. Because the amount of protein was small and the blood pressure was only kind of high (and the bottom number kept dropping,) the doctor had mercy on me and officially put me only on modified bed rest. Basically, this just means that I need to take it easy and stay off my feet as much as possible. She said I can still go to the grocery store, church, out to dinner, etc, but just not make a full day of being out and about. I should be on the couch or in the pool the majority of the time. Can't complain about that! :) Although of course I wasn't happy to hear it and was also very surprised due to my great BP thus far, I'm just thankful not to be on full bedrest. I will go back in a week to have my BP checked again. Hopefully it will be back down to normal. I think it will. I've been really overdoing it this week and not drinking enough water, which I think contributed to the problem. For the next week, I'm going to take it easy and let Lucas wait on me as much as possible. :)

Please pray that the BP goes back to my good numbers so that I don't have to spend all summer on the couch and so that she will continue to grow and be able to stay in as long as possible! I'll update next Thursday after I have it checked again.

Friday, June 17, 2011

I'm 30 weeks along today!
3/4 of the way done!

Size
head of cabbage
15.7 inches, a little over 3 lbs.

Developments
brain is developing wrinkles
shedding lanugo (fuzz on skin to keep her warm in utero)

Heartbeat
134 bpm (as of 6/9/11)

Cravings
Nada. Zip. Zilch.
Lucas is LUCKY!

Weight Loss/Gain
Gained 20 lbs (as of 6/9/11)

Side Effects
This week, just the hurting hips.

What I REALLY miss
Sleeping on my back
Wearing normal clothes, especially jeans
Making it through the night without getting up multiple times

What I LOVE!
I love that very soon, I am going to be a mommy!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Passed my test!

Glucose test, that is. I'm assuming I passed, anyway. The doctor told me she'd let me know the following day if I failed, and it's been a week with no news. I think that means I'm good! We have been so blessed with no real issues this whole pregnancy. The only thing I've been able to complain about is my hips hurting at night. I still have ten weeks to go, so we're praying things stay as calm and wonderful as they have been.

I also finished my graduate school Capstone exam. Hallelujah! They give you seven full days to do it and I finished in three and a half. I wasn't expecting it to go so quickly, but I'm glad it did! I was worried that pregnancy brain would cause me to not think clearly, but I did just fine. I should find out sometime around July 5th if I passed or not. If I didn't, I get to do it again in the fall...with a baby. I'm not too worried about passing, though. All that's left now is to complete these last two classes and take my TExES exam, which is for state certification. I'll graduate on August 12th, although I certainly will not be walking across the stage.

Our second childbirth class was a bit more exciting than the first. We learned all about the birthing process and got to watch a video on natural childbirth. The best part of the class is the last 20 minutes when the husbands have to practice relaxation techniques (massage) with us. I will miss that when the class is over!

Now that things have slowed down a bit, I'm ready to get this nursery finished! Lucas is going to put together the changing table tonight. After that, we just need to sand and re-paint the glider and ottoman, then get the bookshelf ordered and assembled. Once that's done, it will be time to put on the finishing touches. I can't wait!

Only ten weeks to go!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

We're really having a baby!

Last week was a big week for all things Emily-related. On Monday morning, I went to interview a pediatrician. Can you believe the time has already come for us to start worrying about that? Anyway, this doctor goes to church with my parents, went to ACU, was chief resident in pediatrics at Children's Medical, and is featured regularly on Good Morning, Texas on their parenting and health segments. Obviously she sounded impressive, but I wanted to talk with her myself just to make sure. After visiting with her, she seems to be all the things we are looking for. I've gotten several other good suggestions since then, but I feel very happy with this doctor. So, I think we're going to go with her!

That same night, we attended our first Prepared Childbirth class at the hospital. Crazy! There are eleven couples in the class and everyone seemed very nice. All of the girls in there are due at some point during the summer, with one not due until the end of September. The instructor is very knowledgeable and sweet as well. I didn't learn a whole lot at the first class since it was just kind of an intro, but the next three classes promise to be much more interesting!

Thursday morning we went to the doctor for our 28 week appointment, although it was really 28 weeks and 6 days. Everything was perfect! She is measuring right at 29 weeks, is three pounds, and is in the 52% percentile. I forgot to ask how long she is, but it should be somewhere around 15 or so inches. We got to see her sweet little face as well as all of her other parts. Well...not quite all of them. Baby girl is VERY modest, which we are thanking the Lord for! :) She squeezes her thighs together anytime the doctor tries to get a peek. However, we are still quite certain she is a girl because our doctor says that she would've seen some boy parts there for sure by now if there were any to be seen.

Another answer to prayer is that my placenta seems to have moved up. She will do a real check in a few more weeks, but from what she could tell on the ultrasound, it looks good. Emily also has really enjoyed the breach position up until now, but she has finally moved head down and shouldn't move from that position between now and the delivery. Of course, she has a mind of her own, so we will just wait and see what she decides to do. My blood pressure is still perfect- 120/68 (which is the highest it's been the whole pregnancy,) and I only gained two pounds this month! We are hoping to keep that trend going.

My glucose test was also on Thursday, which was not as unpleasant as I expected. The drink certainly didn't taste good, but it was nothing like I thought it would be. Also, the tech was able to draw my blood on the first try, which never happens. All in all, it was a great day! Hopefully when we get the results back on the glucose screening, they will be great as well.

Basically, reality has set in. Emily is coming and will be here before we know it!

Friday, June 10, 2011

29 Weeks

I'm 29 weeks along today!
Officially in the third trimester!

Size
Butternut Squash
15 inches, 3 lbs. (as of 6/9/11)

Developments
muscles and lungs developing
head growing to make room for developing brain

Heartbeat
134 bpm (as of 6/9/11)

Cravings
Nada. Zip. Zilch.
Lucas is LUCKY!

Weight Loss/Gain
Gained 20 lbs (as of 6/9/11)

Side Effects
More leg cramps and night and hips that HURT! Ankles are starting to swell occasionally, but only if I've been on my feet all day. I have so little to complain about!

What I REALLY miss
Sleeping on my back
Wearing normal clothes, especially jeans
Making it through the night without getting up multiple times

What I LOVE!
I love that very soon, I am going to be a mommy!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

May-end Update

I know I haven't been a very good blogger lately and there is much to make up for! Where to begin?

We had our second baby shower on May 26th at Lively Elementary School. One of my sweet technology supervisors wanted to throw me a shower for all of the librarians, tech specialists, and Lively friends, so we decided Lively would be the best place to have it. For those who don't know my Lively history, it holds a very special place in my heart. I attended Lively as a student and also taught there for five years. That in itself is pretty special, but it doesn't end there. While I was a student there, my grandpa was the principal. When my mom was pregnant with me, they threw a grandpa shower for him. Fast forward 29 years and I'm having a baby shower in the very same room! So many of my sweet Lively friends were there as well as several librarians and ITS, a few of my elementary teachers, and my family. We were so blessed to receive many more gifts and just the blessing of being with so many special people meant the world to me. We do have some pictures from it as well as my Pierce shower, but I still haven't gotten them off the camera. I'll post those pictures sometime in the next couple weeks.

One week after my Lively shower was the last day of school for the kids. I still had to work a couple more days, but I am now officially done for the summer. There are still several things I need to make sure are in line for August just in case I can't go back to work before Emily arrives, but I'm done being up at the building. As soon as I finished work, though, my summer semester for grad school started. The exciting news is that I graduate in August! The not so exciting part is that I have a whole lot of work to do this summer before I get to that point. I feel very blessed, though, that the timing worked out perfectly and I am going to be able to get done with it before she gets here.

It's truly amazing how everything has fallen into place for us. I had procrastinated finding a sitter for next year because frankly, I don't want to go back to work. Lucas and I have decided, though, that it will be best for us if I go ahead and work for one more year. The mother of one of my dear friends from high school keeps teacher's kids at her home that is very close to my school. I emailed my friend to get her mom's info and she told me that her mom is full for next year, but to go ahead and email her to get names of other sitters. When I emailed her, she replied very quickly and said that she would happily open up a spot for our sweet Emily in January. What an answer to prayer! Emily will be staying with family and friends from Thanksgiving to Christmas and then when we go back after Christmas, she will start with Mrs. Hodgkiss.

I know this entry has been long, so I'm going to stop here. This coming week I'm going to be doing a week of intensive writing for graduate school, which is equivalent to a thesis paper for my degree. So, I'll go ahead and write another entry that will auto-post later in the week while I'm busy writing about important library things. Make sure to check back!

Since I haven't been good about posting (or taking) pictures, here's a sneak peak of some of her things. These pictures aren't great quality because they were taken on my phone, but I think you'll be able to get an idea.

Her cute crib! This picture doesn't do it justice, but I'll post some more pictures of it once the nursery is done.

A few of her clothes. I know. The poor girl has nothing to wear.

Her loot after shower number two. With two or three showers to go, I don't know where we're going to put everything!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Five years ago

Five years ago today, I met my husband. I had no idea on that day that just two short months later, we would be engaged. In fact, if I'd had my way, I might not have met him at all. But the Lord had different plans, and here we are.

Our very first picture together
June 2006

I love you, Lucas!

Friday, June 3, 2011

28 Weeks

I'm 28 weeks along today!

Size
Chinese Cabbage
14.8 inches, 2 1/4 lbs.

Developments
blinking eyes
eyelashes developed
able to see light filtered through womb
gaining more body fat

Heartbeat
145 bpm (as of 5/11/11)

Cravings
Still no real cravings.
Ready to get back on Weight Watchers, though. I actually miss it!

Weight Loss/Gain
Gained 18 lbs (as of 5/11/11) EEK!

Side Effects
More leg cramps and night and hips that HURT! Ankles are starting to swell occasionally, but only if I've been on my feet all day.

What I REALLY miss
Sleeping on my back
Wearing normal clothes, especially jeans

What I LOVE!
I love her moving around
I love her hiccups
I love that very soon she will be here with us!