Reality sets in...

Tonight Jake told me that 'reality has set in' for him...finally that we are having a baby!! I laughed & said-well what did you expect-we've known for a while now & been planning. He said the blog icon with the baby spinning that says 35 days-made him realize it's not that far away. He also mentioned that she could come any day. I'm glad he is having this revelation now and not any later.

34 Weeks!

Just got back from the doctor-good appointment. I was anxious to talk to her about the Braxton Hicks I was having over the weekend-sure enough I was just a little paranoid-they were apparently "normal". I didn't know what to expect that's why I say apparently! She told me to relax and not be on my feet as much as I was over the weekend which is nice, but when I get the urge to do something I do it. That urge doesn't come around very often-especially for cleaning out the fridge!

I'm up ~1 pound from last visit-right on track. My blood pressure is still good 124/60 and Nora has a strong heart rate between 140-150 bpm. When the doctor was listening to the heart rate, Nora gave her a swift kick to let the doctor know she was in there and doing fine! I told the doctor that was a mild kick compared to what she has been throwing at me lately.

Because of the pain in the contractions she decided to check my cervix to see if it had progressed. Sure enough, 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated! I was excited to here that not that I didn't think she had progressed because she is sooo low that it would be crazy if it hadn't progressed. I think she said she could feel her head-scary!! By the way, "getting checked" to see if anything has progressed is 10x worse than a pap smear in my opinion. I had no idea what that meant until it happened. Yoowwwzzers! Now I know for the next appointment.

So far the doctor said things are looking really good for a vaginal birth-which excites me to no end! Yay for a good visit.

This Weekend

So last night I decided to change my mind to Steak n Shake! It's OK, I do it all the time. The reason for the switch was that I never, ever eat at Steak n Shake for calorie reasons (unless we go with other people who choose-which hasn't been often-maybe 1 time in the past 2 years). It was deliciously greasy and the cheese fries hit the spot! After that we came home and relaxed for a minute while our stomachs settled then made home made doughnuts. My mom used to make them when I was little-and for some reason I had an urge to make them for Jake. He's never had them before. Another thing I never, ever do...deep fry! Blew that one last night too! Filled the pan with Crisco, high heat until ready...then we popped the biscuit rings and biscuit holes in until done then covered with cinnamon sugar! Mmm...they were so good-took me back.

On another note, I realized after talking to Rachael that the things I have been feeling that I thought was just the baby moving all around were actually Braxton-Hicks contractions. I had a million of them yesterday while I was moving around, organizing and shopping. I've probably felt them for the past 2 weeks, but didn't actually realize what they were. I drank water and relaxed to get them to go away-worked sometimes, but others not so much. I debated on calling the doctor, but I knew I wasn't in labor-I just wanted to know what was normal for 33 weeks other than the fact that I would experience them. I don't want to be the annoying pregnant woman who calls/goes to the doctor a million times for no reason and just to be sent home. So I held out on that one.

Last night and today they were equally as bad-although I didn't do nearly as much as I did yesterday. In the past few hours they have been coupled with, my favorite, lower back pain so I've had my heating pad out for relief. Have I mentioned I'm a wimp? I told myself I would never say this, but I'm ready for her already and to be able to sleep on my stomach, tie my shoes, or walk up the stairs without getting winded! Anyway, I'm doing fine, just problem solving as the problems come-any suggestions would help to stay comfortable in the next 6 1/2 weeks.

Nesting at it's finest

This morning I woke up with my to-do list ready to go!

So far I've been able to complete these tasks:

-Clean out the refrigerator which was absolutely disgusting with milk carton skids and spinach dip from NYE

-Do the dishes and a load of laundry (still have a few more left to do)

-Clean & organize our bathroom closet to fit the stuff from the spare bathroom-which will eventually be Nora's-so I could fit her bath time things under the sink.

Left to do:

-Line the dresser (which I was originally not going to use right now) with contact paper so that I can use it and know that Nora's clothes aren't touching the antique wood

-Return somethings from Kohl's & Target/get some things with gift cards that we didn't receive at the showers (last week we got the swing, breast pump & bouncer)

-Shop for a front door rug at TJ Maxx

-Drop off the old prescriptions, meds, and other vitamins and stuff that are outdated or old at the police station or fire department-tired of looking at them, but I don't want to just toss them or flush them (I heard once that they have tested some area water supply and found antibiotics in good amounts in the water!!)

Right now I'm giving Jake time for his stomach to settle-he ate too much of the leftover venison chili he made the other day! Hoping that after all the errands we are going to do he will be hungry again & willing to go to Bob Evans...I've been craving it for about 2 months now, but I haven't been in so long that I fear I might be severely disappointed if it's not a good trip! I better get up and get going again or I might find myself taking a nap!

Ahh much better...

Last night I slept much better with humidifier going. Once I got to sleep I didn't wake up with chapped lips, stuffy nose, or scratchy throat at all! Loving the humidifier already.

Desert Like

Our house is desert like when it comes to the humidity in here. The past few weeks it's been hard for me to sleep at night because it's so dry. Jake says it's because we have natural gas that heats the house and apparently it is the driest kind of heat. Last night was my tipping point. I was up every 45-60 minutes getting a drink or trying to clear my nose even though it was so dry I could barely breath. Miserable was how I was feeling & I ran out of Sudafed so all I had for some means to breath was Vix Vapor Rub which, thankfully, gave me a few hours of non-consecutive sleep. (I guess it has been getting me ready for the baby!)

Today we decided to get a humidifier. When we turned it on it was 24% humidity in the living room-this was at 4 and 3 hours later its up to 29% on high and should be making its way closer to 45% humidity by the time we get to bed. I'm hoping this makes sleeping tonight better-I read on the Internet (I know, not always a good source!) that low humidity makes you at higher risk for developing cold like symptoms which I have scratchy throat, stuffy/running nose, etc and puts you at higher chance of getting a cold. So I'm not actually sure if I'm sick or the house is so dry I feel sick because of the lack of sleep. I'll find out after a few days.

What's funny about the whole deal is that one of the houses we looked at had a humidifier hooked up to the heating system & our realtor was hyping it up-at the time I was wondering why...now I know!

Sneak Peak

This morning we had the last and final sneak peak before Nora makes her way into the world in March. The doctor had an ultrasound to see how she was growing and to determine if my placenta had corrected itself.

At 32 weeks, I'm gained the amount needed to catch up to where I should be weight wise (after eating all the ice cream, peanut butter, and chocolate I wanted for a week and a half). My blood pressure is still good at 122/60 with Nora's heart rate at 148 bpm.

The ultrasound was awesome-3D or 4D-not sure which, but we could pretty much see what she is going to look like in 7 weeks! It's definitely a girl (I had the tech double check just to make sure-paranoid-I know) 100% she said. After about 5 seconds of the ultrasound she mentioned how much hair she had! I was completely shocked because neither one of us had hair when we were born & not any of the babies born recently in the family have had any hair. We are anxious to see if it is curly or straight and dark or light in color.

She has super chubby cheeks (I'm a sucker for chubby babies!) and many of her features already resemble Jake. During the ultrasound she was puffing her cheeks out, opening her mouth and eyes, and sticking her tongue out. Amazing what we could see.

Based on her measurements from the ultrasound she is measuring 4 pounds 14 ounces or about a week ahead of schedule. At first I thought that meant the doctor thought I would be having her a week early, but quickly learned that she would just be bigger than expected. Last visit the doctor was estimating a big 6-small 7 pound baby, now she thinks she'll be a big 7-small 8 pound baby. The doctor said I'm "hiding" her well and that at the last visit she was concerned, but not any more!

Even better news...the placenta has corrected itself (as 85% of them do later in pregnancy) and is now residing at the top in the back of my rib cage. I had a feeling it was up there because I couldn't feel any movement in that area. She is still positioned low in my pelvic region-head down with her feet/arms in my upper left abdominal area and moving very frequently.

I'm feeling great-outside of the discomfort when sleeping, fullness after eating, and tingling/numbness in my upper abs (from stretching I assume), but those are all pretty much expected in the 3rd trimester.

Looking forward to my shower up in Lafayette tomorrow and Jackie & Alex staying with us tomorrow night-probably the last time before Nora is here! Only ~7 more weeks...getting anxious, but enjoying our time together these next few weeks.

Couple's Shower

Saturday night our Sunday School class threw us a couples shower-unfortunately & fortunately we had planned it for 7pm. Well, after the Colts were scheduled to play at 8pm-we figured it would turn into a Colts party quickly after the "showery type" of events. We were excited for the people who were able to make it and missed the ones who couldn't because of vacation, going to the colts game, a bachelor party, and family day.

They ended up going in all together on the gifts and we got our baby monitors (needed really bad), first aid kit (paranoid mom-needs first aid kit really bad), and bouncy chair-bed (which I'm sure Nora will love).

We played a few games & then watched the Colts lose in a horrible ending to the Jets....Overall a good time until the last minute of the game.

Baby food guessing & tasting...and toilet paper length games. P.S. baby food carrots are horrible!

We are grateful for the wonderful people we have been able to meet and get to know from Bethesda. They have all been huge blessings in our lives. Thanks for everything you guys have done for us!

31 Weeks!

I had another doctor visit on last Monday. I was nervous to go to it since I've been around lots of snacks and sweets (Christmas & NYE) that I haven't been able to resist in the past 3 weeks. I thought I was up a few more pounds than expected, but when I stepped on the scale I was shocked to see that I had lost .2 pound in 3 weeks

The doctor wasn't concerned but gave me to go-ahead to eat "caloric dense" foods-then she went on to list some (as if I didn't know what that meant or what foods that consisted of). This I can live with! We both agreed that it's probably due to the lack of space for the food, therefore me filling up quicker. I get full fast, but that doesn't take away from some of the days high calorie meals that I've had lately. Like last Sunday, I had oatmeal for breakfast, Taco Bell for lunch, Reese's for snack, Pizza for dinner and lots of snacks for the Colts game, then a huge bowl of ice cream for an evening snack because my throat hurt. Now that is a lot of calories---and nothing good for me! I'm not proud, just confused...and going to try something different this week.

So, at 31 weeks I'm up 20 pounds, BP 126/66, Nora's heart rate is a strong 145, she is measuring about 30 weeks 4 days and is healthy as can be-based upon her movement history! My doctor, without the ultrasound has estimated that she will be a ~7 pound baby. That makes one happy momma. Especially after several people asking me is she was growing enough...doc said I'm just carrying vertically and that since I'm tall the weight is distributed differently and I appear smaller than I am (I think I'm OK with that). I'm not worrying anymore since shes doing great!

Next appointment is coming on Friday (the 14th) when I have an ultrasound (Yay, we get to see her one last time before March) to see exactly how things are going. In the mean time shes diagonally positioned herself feet kicking the right side of my ribs and head down at my pelvis on the left side. Shes been that way for a while now-I can tell because she has had hiccups a lot lately and that's where the movement is from. My doctor confirmed it on Monday that that was the position shes in. I'm glad she's getting in the right direction for delivery...and hopefully will stay that way-no breach baby!

Here I am at the end of 31 weeks:

Cookies & Cream Fondue

Tonight was date night for us with John & Rachel! We went to dinner at P.F. Changs-courtesy of gift cards from Jake's mom, while she watched the girls. I'm not a huge Chinese fan, but there are some things I like. Mainly it's the teriyaki and other sauces they top and mix everything with, but as long as I stick with spicy or fried...I'm good! I wasn't too hungry when we got there (feels like there is no room for anything else in my belly) so I ordered the egg rolls for my meal, we split the lettuce wraps & Jake ordered Changs version of General Tso's chicken-I had a few bites of it. The next P.F. Changs trip, that's what I'll get!

After dinner, John & Rachel came back to our house with their fondue pot & we made some really good cookies and cream chocolate fondue and had it with strawberries, bananas, coconut covered marshmallows, Oreo cookies, and pound cake. We made wayyyy to much, but ate as much as we could before feeling like we were going to explode! We usually do cheese fondue, but we wanted to try fondue as a dessert...I'm in love with an Oreo cookie dipped in chocolate/marshmallow deliciousness! Jake and John both love the cheese fondue, but we literally hurt ourselves every time we do it and its soo good.

We always have so much fun & will probably be doing more 'date nights' once Nora arrives-until then we are enjoying the 'only us' time and staying over at John & Rachel's playing the Wii (our new found love-thanks to Tiff & Ryan) and being up too late.

I'm not pictured...becuase I was already in my pajamas-not becuase I'm taking the picture!

Yes, I've convinced them!

My brother and his girlfriend Beth decided to start a blog yesterday! I've been trying to convince them for a while now since they are an hour away. I used the whole "well, at least we would know what you guys are doing if we didn't get a chance to see each other a lot". It worked!

I'm excited becuase then we will see baby Hunter more-once he makes his appearance in late April or early May.

They are here at "The Southern Life" if you want to check them out! They are new to the blogging world.

Pay Out

We didn't try for the mega millions-we don't really buy lottery tickets. Jake's theory is that we had a better chance of winning by not playing than we did by playing-not sure how that makes sense, but I don't want to spend the money on it either.

We had another pay out this month...Jake is salary + commission at Chase and there is a certain amount of points that you have to get in order to hit automatic "pay out" (nothing too huge, but a good accomplishment since no other banker at his branch did) for the month. This month he was the only banker to do so-which makes me a proud wife! Proud that hes one of the newest bankers there and has still managed to do what the other bankers have been known to do for several years.

Anyway, I just wanted to toot his horn for a minute!

Charlie Horse

Last night I experienced the worst charlie horse in my life! I sat up fast in the bed after stretching my legs-which led to the cramp. It hurt so bad I was talking to myself (Jake was snoozing & didn't even hear me-I was surprised). I had to physically pull my foot down and massage my calf to get it to go away. I can still feel some of the tightness right now! I don't know if it's something that happens a lot during pregnancy, but I've had several killers now since the second trimester. Hoping for no more like the one I had last night though! Any moms or preggos have/had this happen before?