bye bye daddy

Dave's in Chicago this weekend for Baseball bingo. It's only 2 nights but i think i'm gona miss him. He must have kissed me goodbye like 10 times this morning! i love it. Last thing he said was "send me lots of photos of her". Now THAT i am good at. I'm quick with the iphone.

I've been laying off dairy lately to see about her fussiness in the afternoons. I think it's working but who knows. So last night we went out for Mexican and i did really well until dersert. We hardly ever get dessert when we go out for dinner but it was this guy's birthday at the table next to us and this AMAZING apple crust with ice cream and something flaming went by. I had to have it. So there went my dairy. We have her a bottle last time, I always have a few in the fridge at my mom's house for when she's over there. So we stopped by and grabbed it. She went to bed at 10 and made it to 5:45AM!!! Go Emery! then went back to sleep at 7:30ish and we both slept till 10:30. It was glorious.

12 weeks! WHAT?

How on earth could it be 12 weeks already??? Little Miss Emery is doing great! We had a few bad moments after the 4th but she's amazing. She has discovered her hands now and it looks like she's doing "itsy bitsy spider" all the time. She's alert and wide awake most of the day. Last night she only got up once to eat so that's a good sign. She's out growing her bassinet so i think it's time for the crib. That cross over will most likely be in the next week or so.

Dave is headed to Chi-town this weekend for a Cubs Baseball Bingo game, so it's me vs. the house. Needless to say with Dave's back out and the holiday weekend followed by friends in town, a lot has not gotten done. I need to do some work on our lawn, we need mulch big time and there is laundry up to the ceiling. I'm hoping i can grab a friend to come chill with Em while i do the lawn. We have rocking chairs out front so someone can just park there with her. I really don't want to put her on the ground b/c of snakes. My neighbor saw one a few weeks back.

photos of Emery: http://picasaweb.google.com/melyjask
Videos of Emery: http://www.youtube.com/user/melyjask

11 weeks

Today Emery is 11 weeks old, right this minute she's fast asleep on my lap. We have been reading Harry Potter to her at night...Dave and I are pretty into it. Emery however, could most likely care less. She had a tough day today, which is understandable. The last few nights have been very busy. This past weekend was her first 4th of July. We went to the pool two days in a row and saw fireworks downtown at a friend of Kit's house. What a view! Mel, who's house it was, lives right across from the Riverdogs stadium and we stood in her back yard and watched the fireworks. Miss Merritt (Kit's 3 year old) got to hold Emery for the first time, and she did great.





Yesterday was Baseball Bingo at the Riverdogs and we were out until 11:00. We don't have any late nights on the board for the rest of the week or next week, so hopefully we'll get back on her schedule.

Emery is smiling a lot now and is holding her head up by herself. she LOVES her bebe seat, photos to come. I took them on my phone and have to move them over.

ok she's up. time to eat.

Boob Club

When we decided to do 12 hours by 12 weeks we went sticky to bottles (i was pumping) for a week or so to make sure Emery was getting enough milk. We discovered she was getting plenty of milk so we could start cutting out night time feedings. Well this caused all kinds of breastfeeding issues. She was getting so pissed that the boob wasn't coming as fast and as easy as the bottle. We went back to boob as much as possible, so now the only bottle she gets is with Nana in the afternoons.

So with that back around info...Emery and I went to the La Leche League meeting this morning. Monica calls it the boob club and is the one that told us about the meeting. These girls are amazing. They have a lot of experience and had me feed Emery there so they could help. What happens is she eats and pulls her head back and screams. They gave me some tips and helped me with positions and some possible reasons why she's doing this. I left very relieved it turns out i might be over producing and she's trying to keep up. i thought it might be the opposite.

other than that things are going great. KMK is doing well and i'm working from the house in the afternoons. Emery spends the afternoons with Nana. Dave has a herniated disc in his neck and is having a lot of pain. We spent all of Tuesday at the Spine Center and they gave him a shot for the pain and a neck collar to wear when he sleeps. The doctor thinks it will heal itself and we won't need surgery. I'm trying to keep him from doing to much.

oh I have a ton of videos of Emery on YouTube now! http://www.youtube.com/user/melyjask

Sleeping Beauty

Tuesday night something amazing happened. Miss Emery skipped both her night time feedings. She slept straight from 9PM to 6AM. What's even more amazing...she did it again last night. Dave and I both woke up around 5:30, the norm for her second feeding and were shocked. We checked to make sure she was ok...she was. It's sweet! I didn't even get her out of her bassinet until 8:00 this morning. She was just laying in there chillin. As long as she had her paci everything was good.

Most days she goes to my mom's house from 1-5, or 12:30-4:30. yesterday and today she's at my friend Sarah's house with Sarah's nanny Katrina. It was nerve racking dropping her off, but yesterday went really well. Katrina is great about text messaging me with what she's up to. Makes me feel so much better. But she's 9 weeks now and i need to expose her a little to non-family member care. It is nice having an entire day to make calls. I drop her off around 10 and i'll go get her around 4:30. From 12-1 I try and do my non call stuff (which includes writing this). So i can maximize call time. ahhh cold calls. Tonight i have tennis, and i'm pumped for that. it got canceled last week b/c of the weather. Tomorrow we have lunch with the girls, and then Adam and Lilly's wedding. Very exciting. Emery will be with miss Prisha.

Roll over

A few days ago I put Emery on her stomach and walked into the other room to grab something. Came back and she was on her back. First I had to remember if i really did put her on her back. Yes I have the mommy brain. So i flipped her back on her stomach and called for Dave. Of course she didn't do it again. So Monday the same thing happens and Dave is at work, so I grabbed the video camera and just hoped she'd do it again, and she did!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B_4DlfV8h8

2 months old

Today Emery is 2 months old! She's so amazing! She is smiling at us (and the animals on her bouncy chair)daily. She even giggled a little the other day. She is doing really well during the day now, she only gets cranky right before she passes out. I think it's that idea that she might miss something. We're trying to do 12 hours by 12 weeks, but we're having some issues with feedings. I was pumping for a few days exclusively to make sure she was getting enough to eat, now she's not eating as much if i go back to the boob. So we're trying to work that out. I'm bringing her in tomorrow to the breastfeeding club to weigh her. As long as she's gaining weight we're good. She was 10 lbs 3 ozs at the doc last week. She got her first shots there as well. (NOT fun for anyone) poor little thing.

It's a little hard with house stuff sometimes. I feel like i either want to be with her if she's awake. So if i have any time at all without her, I feel like I should be working. And since I can work at any time of the day it's hard to get other things done. Like the laundry, or vacuuming. just a little venting. It's also been tough b/c Dave hurt his back/neck and he's in a lot of pain the last 2 weeks. I know it's frustrating him that he can't do much right now.

Ok, back to work, Emery is with Nana this afternoon.

7 weeks

Yesterday Emery was 7 weeks old. She is holding her head up more and we've caught a few more smiles. She slept last night from 10 to 2:30. We just got our new book "12 hours by 12 weeks" and we're starting the sleep training next week when she hits 8 weeks. A friend of mine did this and she had great success.

Dave and I went to Babies R Us last night. It was nice to have a little family outing. We got Emery a new toy and some bottles. She loves toys that play music. So that's what we got her. It's a cube that has all different instruments on it.

As for me, I'm doing KMK in the afternoons and just joined "Get Fit" on Daniel Island, it runs the entire summer and lets you test all kinds of classes for a very low price. I took my first class Tuesday night, a interval training type class, and I was so tired the next day. I think I'm going to try and take more classes closer to the weekends so i can nap. I have cardio tennis tonight at 6:00. I'm looking forward to it.

I have felt dizzy lately, i'm not sure what it is. I went back on birth control so that's the only thing i have to blame it on right now.

smiling

A few nights ago we caught a somewhat smile...then that same night we put her in her bassinet and both looked down and talked to her. We got a full smile! It was amazing. So we have had a few smiles here and there but not a lot.

She's doing great, she's so aware. It has been great.

Work: Well it's official I'm no longer with CMCI. So now it's KMK full time. My mom is taking her for a few hours each day so i can make calls. We'll see.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend was Memorial Day Weekend! I have two very best friends and they both came to visit me! It was amazing. Dom came in on Thursday and Erin came Saturday (she was supposed to get her Friday but US Airways had some issues). Dom cooked us dinner, Erin cleaned my house, you want to talk about good friends! Emery was very happy to meet both of them.







Now that it's June, i'm gona be going full steam ahead with KMK Web. My mom is watching Emery in the afternoons from 1-5 so I can have 3 solid hours for phone calls and meetings. (i know you just did the math but it's 20 minutes in the car each way) So hopefully I can grab an hour in the mornings while she naps to set up my day and do anything that doesn't involve a phone. Can't make phone calls with the chance she could wake up and start screaming. Not very professional. So hopefully KMK will go big time and I can stay home with her in the mornings. Keep your eyes out for clients for me please!

Other then that things are good. Olivia and Dad just got back from Detroit for Baseball Bingo. They said it went great! Natalie and Trace come in July!!! That's exciting. We just found out Dave's good friend from NJ is having a baby in Jan. So good news all around.

No more Willy

Well "crazy eye willy" is slowing becoming a thing of the past. Her crazy eyes are going away and she is starting to stare at things longer. Dave and I saw her reach for the bunny over her bouncer on Friday! It was so cool. We both reacted to it when we saw it. This is day 2 of her new medicine for her reflux and i think it's kicking in. She is much happier today. She attended her first baseball game last night and thanks to nana and Aunt Livvy we made it to the 9th inning. She was screaming a bit but we passed her around. She was going through a growth spurt and was just hungry.

In fact i'm going to wake her up now to feed her.

Two v.s. Four

Today Emery is 4 weeks old. There are some MAJOR differences between 2 and 4 weeks. The first 2 weeks Emery was home were pretty consistent. A lot of sleeping, and eating. The crying was a clear sign of hunger or a dirty diaper. But now, ahh things are different. The crying could be many things. hunger, dirty diaper, tired, gas, pacifier fell out, want to be held....well you get the picture.

So we try different things. The rocking chair, the swing, the vibrating chair, even the mummers strut. (for all you non-Philly people this is a dance/walk from the mummers parade in Philly) This was discovered by Dave's dad who turned to it in a panic when Emery wouldn't stop crying. It was successful. The rocking chair works, so I've been spending a lot of time in it, this would explain the fact that I started The Office season one last week and am now almost finished with season 2. Not to much else you can do in a rocking chair. Her crying isn't always because she's upset, a lot of the time she just wants attention. At her 3/4AM feeding she sometimes is wide awake and just wants to hang out. If you put her in her bassinet she gets pissed. It's a very simple, I'm not ready to go back to sleep right now.

Other then learning new ways of calming her, we're doing really great. She's getting big, it's so strange. People keep saying ohhh she's so small but she's more then a pound heavier then when she was born. Her eyes are changing color too. They are a light brownish color now. We're thinking they are going to be hazel. This morning we went on our first walk, we walked for about a 1/2 hour. i really needed it. It's good to exercise a little. My goal is to walk every morning then feed her and take her to my mom's so I can work. Emery is going to Nana's next week for 2 half days. We'll see how it goes. We are starting slow.

Fussy

Yesterday Emery was 3 weeks old! Go Emery! Her eyes are changing and she looks bigger already. I think her eyes are going to be hazel.

The last few days I have had some stomach issues...so needless to say so has Emery. Poor little thing has diarrea and gas like no other. She gets frustrated when she can't get it out and gets very upset. It's really hard to watch b/c there is so little we can do for her. I got two hours of sleep for two nights in a row, so last night I went to bed at 9:00 and had left a bottle in the fridge. Dave stayed with her until 2:00AM so i could sleep. It was glorious! I was out cold.

Today we have part two of our Kayla shoot! We are heading over there soon and I'm wondering if Em is going to cooperate. She's sleeping in her swing right now, but is making all kinds of funny sounds.

The first Tuesday after I had her we went to a lactation support group at the hospital. There is a lactation consultant there and she answers questions and gives tips. Well I thought that since I really wasn't having that much trouble I really didn't need to go. So i skipped the next week. On Monday I talked to my friend Brook who was having some issues with breastfeeding so I told her about the group. I said we'd go together, and we did. I really had a nice time. There were more girls this time and it was nice to be with other new moms with small babies. Emery was no longer the youngest in the class. (in fact she was double the age of one baby) haha. I learned that some of Emery's gas might be b/c i wasn't pumping for a few days and my supply is very good. So she was getting too much milk at once causing her to eat to quick and get gas. So i'm back to pumping every day. Yesterday I got 5oz from one and 4 from the other. Apparently this is rare but very good. So no shortage here.

ok she's getting fussy. gota go

OH, I have been taking dozens of photos of her with the camera and my iphone. I've been uploading them to my site if your interested: http://picasaweb.google.com/melyssaferber/EmeryApril2010May2010#

Vistors

Yesterday Dave's Dad and Kathleen came to visit. We went to the mount pleasant pier and then to Wild Wings. Today Joe and Dave went kayak fishing and Kathleen, Emery and I went to the farmers market downtown and then went to see Liv at the roof top. Tonight we are making shrimp kabobs.

Around 4:00 today Dave and I went to the pool and left Emery with her grandparents. It wasn't easy, but we were super close and only went for an hour. I had only left her one other time with my parents for about an hour, but that was easier I guess b/c it was MY parents and she wasn't fussy. I think b/c of the Thrust and her tummy she's been upset the last few days. I learned my lesson on onions. No more of those. Man did she not like them. We both had stomach issues. (i will spare you the details of that one)

Joe and Kath are totally in love with her and have taken dozens of photos of her to show off to their friends. It's so cool she has so much love in her life already. She's one lucky kid! (and so damn beautiful!)

Pregnancy Tips

When you're pregnant people feel the need to say random things to you and give you tips. So instead of doing the same thing I thought I'd write down what I learned. I'm sure I'll continue to add to this list but here's the start.

Pregnancy Tips in no particular order

- get a belly band (this allowed me to wear some of the larger maternity pants before I got huge, but it was to the point i couldn't wear my normal clothes. I think i wore it every day)
- After you deliver your baby you bleed...alot. so know this. (i did not and told Dave to get the nurse b/c it looked like a crime scene in the bathroom)
- Wait until your +2/+3 to push if you can (this made pushing a lot quicker)
- buy maternity clothes on ebay and craigslist. I found a few local girls selling their stuff for super cheap. (brand new stuff is WAY expensive)
- There is nothing wrong with pitocin IF you are full term (i was scared of it, but it got my contractions rolling and allowed me to delivery vaginally; my water had already broke)
- ignore all the nah-sayers (people tell you how tired you'll be, how your life is over, how everything changes...blah blah blah. what they don't tel you is how much you're going to love this little person and that even when you don't get a lot of sleep it doesn't matter. so when people go there, just smile and nod and feel sorry for them)
- toughen up your nipples. pull on them, pinch them, do whatever to make they a bit more durable. (this will help greatly when it comes to a little person sucking at full speed on them)

Ice cream

On Wednesday for her one week birthday, Dave, Nana, River, and I went out for ice cream! Happy one week to Emery!

This is amazing. Being with her. It's so funny to me that people keep saying "oh just wait" and "everything changes". I really hate that. So many people have so many opinions it's crazy. I don't know about either statement, but i do know I am completely in love. I thought this that a crying baby in the middle of the night would piss me off. It doesn't. I look at her and I think, what can i do for you? I'll do anything you want. She has the cutest face I have ever seen and she makes the funniest faces.

Dave is amazing too. He takes her after her 4/5AM feeding and hangs out with her until she gets hungry again around 7/8. Then the poor guy goes to work for a full day and comes home and cleans the house and makes up dinner. How amazing is that! I offered a few times for him to sleep in the guest room and get a full night's sleep. He said he might take me up on it at some point. She was crying the other day and he picked her up and said "don't worry we're right here, we'll always be right here...I'm gona follow you to college" hahaha I loved it.

Last night Kayla came over to do our infant shoot. OMG the photos are amazing. Here are a few she posted on her blog: http://kaylajonesphotography.blogspot.com/






I was blown away by the comments on facebook after Emery's arrival. Everyone was so nice and happy for us. It really meant a lot. It's sad though that some of the strange/non-happy comments stick with me some times. People feel the need to tell Dave and I "oh just wait" when they hear how happy we are. It's very strange. Dave and I have promised ourselves that we will NEVER be those people that but down parenting. We are beyond happy with our little Emery and the whole world just washes away when you're with her. It's the most amazing feeling.

6 days old

On Sunday Emery had her first outing. My parents had a block party in their hood. So we put her in the carrier (so people won't touch her) and strapped her to my chest and went. They had name tags for everyone so my mom made Emery one and it said "i am 4 days old" on it. Too cute. Everyone was shocked we were out with her. She did great slept the whole time.




Monday we went to the doctor for both of us. I saw m doc in the morning about a bug bite that has taken over my arm. We went out to lunch with nat, liv, and mom. Then Dave and I went straight to Dr. Davis for Em's one week visit. She weighs 6lbs 15oz and the doc said that just doesn't happen and how great she's doing. So we asked a bunch of questions and headed home. Dave went to publix and Em and I went home to take a nap.

she is doing so good!

Baby Emery

So Monday night I went to bed worried that our baby would be born on the next day, April 20th...420. destine to be a pot head. So Tuesday around 9:00PM we knew we were in the clear and as we sat down to watch TV before bed, Dave and I both talked to my stomach and told her it was time to come out. (something we haven't done before)

I had a really good day Tuesday and felt pretty good. We went to bed around 11:00, at 1:50AM I woke up and sprinted to the bathroom. I didn't make it. I soaked my shorts and left a trail. I thought ok, this isn't right something is up. I woke up Dave and told him I thought my water just broke and then I jumped in the shower to rinse off. I called my midwife and she called right back. I told her what happened and she said to take our time, but to go to the hospital. Dave showered and we double checked out bags and headed to the NEW hospital. It was now 3:00AM as we walked in through the ER. About 10 feet before the front door I soaked myself again. I walked in and they just pointed me to the restroom. There was a very nice nurse that brought me a robe and a bag for my clothes. Dave filled out our paperwork and we were sent upstairs. I managed to soak my robe on the way up. When we go to the 3rd floor they had our room ready, room 311. They joked with me that there was no question, yes my water broke. They checked me and i was one and half cm dilated. We had a long way to go, but I wasn't having contractions and was feeling pretty good. I text messaged mom, dad, nat and liv on our ride over. The morning went pretty quick and the next thing we knew it was 7AM. Dave called work to give them a heads up and we got word that Natalie was on her way to the airport.


Almost 9AM


At 8/9AM Nurse Stone (my midwife) came over to check me. I was 2 cm dilated. Not to much change. They said they were going to let my body do it's thing and see what it was like after lunch. I was having contractions at this point but nothing big. They told me I should walk around a little so i started doing laps around the nurses station. The first time it was just me and Dave, then my parents came to visit and walked with us.



Around lunch time Stone came back and said it was time to get this party started. They told me they were going to start pitocin. (which i have come to realize is a fantastic drug) They wanted to start the pit then get me my epidural. So around 2ish we started the pit. About 30 minutes later the contractions started to get going. (meanwhile my parents have been hanging with us and got Dave some food, Liv came at 11 and Natalie was in the air, arriving Charleston around 3:30)


me and Stone

We ran into one snag, the anesthesiologist got pulled into surgery and my epidural got delayed. There was about 2-3 hours that I was NOT a happy camper. There is a photo of me flicking off the camera but i'll keep that one out of the blog. Dad said in all the years he has been taking photos of me he can never remember me not smiling for the camera. The fam left to go pick up Natalie from the aripot. A good thing b/c i was miserable.


My epidural was in by about 4:30 and I started feeling great! Natalie was here and we all just hung out. about this time nurse stone came by to check me. I was 4cm! They said at that point it was about a cm an hour. So we all just chilled.

much happier! me and Dave

At 7:00ish I was checked again and i was 10cm!! The baby was still a little far up at -1 and Stone wanted to give her a chance to move down on her own, so we waited. at 7:30 she had moved to +2/3 and it was time to start pushing. The family went to the waiting room and it was just me, Dave, Stone and our nurse Kathy. at 7:50 Baby Emery joined our family!



Dave said I did an amazing job. (i just did what they told me to do) As soon as the baby came out they put her on my chest and did the suction and whipped her down while she was on my chest. Dave and I just stared at her. We both were pretty emotional at this point. I fed her for a bit and we just hung out the 3 of us before my family came back in. Emery was in the room with us the whole time, they gave her a little sponge bath a few hours later right in the room. She is beautiful!


dad is totally in love


meeting Nana

About 11:00PM after my family left they moved us to our new room on the other side of the floor. The beds are very comfortable. I fed her and they took her to the nursery for a few hours. After they brought her back she stayed with us the rest of the night. All three of us were pretty tired and slept great.

All day Thursday we just hung out here at the hospital. I was soooo hungry Thursday morning, they didn't let me eat all day Wednesday just in case we landed in the OR. I called Prisha and she went to IHOP for us! It was sooooooo good. My family came and hung out and brought us lunch. they were here most of the day.



Emery did great all day and fed like a champ! (go Emery!) My leg started to hurt a lot that night and prevented me from sleeping. I took a little walk to see if i could walk it off and then took some pain meds and finally got to sleep.

Dr. Davis, Emery's doctor came by this morning and said she looks great and she's free to go home today. However, Stone is keeping me here b/c of my leg pain. They are sending someone up to look at in and see what's going on. So Dave and I are just chilling with Emery in the room today.

Feeling GREAT!

So right now I feel great. Showers are KEY! For some reason I always feel better after my showers. This morning Kit and I had a meeting for KMK and it went really well. We were both really pumped about it. I'm putting together the quote tonight. I'm trying to get as much in tonight as possible. Every night we go to bed thinking, is this the night? I would LOVE for her to come tomorrow b/c it's the 21st. (my birthday is 9/21, nat is 2/21 and liv is 3/21) so that would be too cool. But Dave is positive i'm going into labor on Friday afternoon. I think he has the time picked out and everything. As for the Family pool, I think my dad is the only one left in the running. Everyone had me going early.

We have our final official appointment tomorrow. Dave has revoked my driving privileges starting tomorrow, so he'll be taking me to the doc. We'll learn a lot more about induction tomorrow and what the next steps will be. I think we do an ultrasound too! I love ultrasounds!! I haven't seen her since 20 weeks. They said they do one if I'm late but i don't know how late. So we might go back in the office on Friday and do it then. We'll see.

Dave can't focus at work, he's so cute. He's sure every time I call it's go time. I try not to call too much these days b/c i know his heart races when he sees it's me.

We went to this new place for dinner the other night. It's like a Quadoba, food was good but they charge extra for sour cream!! Come on. Guac is already an extra now sour cream! Totally not going there again. It's near Wild Wings, so if I'm that close to Wings I'm going there.

speaking of wings...We had our last baby class last night. We watched 3 women give birth and learned how to push. We took another tour of the hospital and went over the baby vacuum. After class got out Dave and I went to Wild Wings, I have been obsessed with the place for a few weeks now. I get the ginger wings...OMG they are so good. Poor Dave is so limited when we pick a restaurant now, I get hooked on one place and force him to go there. Thank God he's a good sport about it. I laid off the sushi place but ummmm sushi. now i want sushi. maybe we can go tonight...

39 weeks

One week from today is my due date. Now I'm not saying I'll go on my due date, but OMG I'm due in a week!!! This is truly the home stretch. I'm feeling pretty good today. I had a hard time sleeping last night due to some pains in my ligaments and some contractions. Overall I feel good today. I think I'm going up to babies r us today at some point to exchange two things. I also might go over to habitat for humanity to see if they have a night stand for Baby's room. Right now that's the only thing that doesn't fit. I have everything else for that room though! it's perfect.

I put up more of the photos from my shoot with Kayla: http://picasaweb.google.com/melyssaferber/ShootWithKayla#.

I made my baby text list today for the hospital. I don't think i'm going to bring my computer but we'll see.

WHAT?

My friend just asked me, so how long do you have now? my answer was oh a week from tomorrow....wait what?? I can't believe she'll be here that soon. If i don't go into labor by April 23, they will be inducing me the following week, most likely that Wednesday April 28th. They don't let GD girls go past 41 weeks at this practice. I really didn't want to get induced but so be it. I'm ready to meet her!

I woke up last night around 1:30 and was up until about 4:00. Little baby decided she was going to have a small dance party and I was having some contractions. (yes, all at the same time) I went back to sleep and slept until 11:00AM....nice. I didn't feel good at all when i got up, baby was in a weird position and I was in a lot of pain. Thank God for showers. They always make me feel better. She moved back to a normal position and I felt much better after.

The plummer is coming today to fix the toilet in our bathroom and our kitchen sink, so i had to tidy up a little. I started to feel much better after moving around a little bit, even got some laundry done. Dave's boss gave us tickets for tonight's family circle cup so that should be fun. Dave might come, but most likely it will be me and mom.

Special Delivery Class

Tonight was our second class for "Special Delivery". They go over what to expect at the hospital and breathing techniques. We have one more class next Tuesday and that's it. I'm feeling really good today! I had an appointment for KMK this morning and it went really well. A good sales calls makes for a GREAT day! I'm still getting contractions daily, well hourly. They usually only hurt if i'm sitting to long. Walking is the best. My tail bone hurts a lot if i sit to long. It was killing me in class. It was really killing me at the Riverdogs game over the weekend. I was in a lot of pain.

I'm gona lay low for the next week or so and just get some sleep as much as possible. Dave is on my case to take it easy. He's got a good point, as always. I went to the doc today and I'm 1 cm and that's it. But she did poke around a bunch and i have been feeling stronger contractions tonight then before so maybe she got things moving. In our class tonight we watching a C-section. OMG it looks horrible. Scares me to death!

off to bed...

Done!

I met Liv and mom for lunch last week and I was having a somewhat uncomfortable day. I got out of the car and liv looked at me I just said "done". She laughed and said well you didn't complain for the first 38 weeks. I'm not miserable, I'm actually still very happy and content but I am ready. I'm having contractions all throughout the day now (in fact I'm having one right now) but they aren't bad. Last week there was two nights they drove me to tears but they passed. Dave was sure it was go time one of the nights. We have our bags packed and the car-seat in the car. The camera is charged up and now we're just waiting. Her room is the best! Both Dave and I are so proud of it. All we need is a night table and it's 100% complete.

Almost

Last night around midnight i woke up in pain. The tightness had started up again and I was not a happy camper. (mind you Dave is sick right now and the poor guy can't breath) So here I am wondering if i'm in labor or not, not wanting to wake up Dave if it's not really real. He did wake up and was super cute about it, just rubbed my back for a while until the pain/contractions went away. It took about an hour or so but they went away and now i'm just dealing with the tightness again.

I think I might have mentioned before that I am a member of this baby site called babycenter.com. I have been avoiding it lately b/c there are a lot of very bitchy people on the site. But i do like reading the birth announcements so I logged on this morning. First post I see is this girl writing a "letter" to her friends and family all about how she i past her due date and everyone is on her case. I realized how good i have it. There is no one up my butt about when the baby will be here and no one tells my I'm fat. This girl must have had a hard few months b/c she was pissed and anger. It was interesting to say the least.

Last week I had my maternity shoot with Kayla! http://www.kaylajonesphotography.com/ It was a blast! I put a few of the photos up in my baby album. Kayla knew exactly how she wanted me to stand and where the best backdrops would be! I can't wait to have her do our newborn photos.

I'm in the home stretch at this point, 17 days to go! They will induce me before the end of the month if I miss my due date. With a normal pregnancy they don't let you go past 42 weeks, with me it will be 41. (due to the GD I think)

life

If you asked me 10 years ago where i saw myself today i would have said no clue. But i'm standing in the kitchen today looking out the window and I thought to myself, how did i get here? What is my life going to be like? I looked around room, the baby swing in front of the fire place, the biggest most comfortable couches in the world. Here i am at 30 married to the love of my life, standing in a 2,000 sq ft home with more then amble furniture on a beautiful day. Yea i wouldn't have said that if you asked me where i'd be today. Some days I stress about money, some days i'm tired, but wow what a life i lead. Surrounded by great people, waking up to someone who loves me more then life itself. Life is good, very good.

One Month left

Yesterday was March 23, one month exactly until my due date. Very scary. Dave said to me this morning, "we're gona have a baby" i was like yea really soon. it's so crazy. I haven't posted a lot lately b/c not much has gone on. Dave had a fishing tournament last weekend and won a brand new fishing kayak! It's worth like $2500. He was so pumped, as was I! I'm so excited for him. Now we have two kayaks so he can take people out with him.

I got to go out over the weekend for Liv's birthday. She turned 25 on Sunday and we all went out to dinner. I also got to go out to dinner last night. We went to wild Wings with Mike and Melissa. I think that did me in though b/c my ligaments hurt today. So I'm taking it easy until the doc at 3:30. Mom is coming to get me around 2:00 and we were going to stop at Micheal's to get ribbon for the little mirrors that are going in baby's room.

Baby's room is looking really good, just need to move the little book shelf in there and hang some pictures. My aunt just ordered my mattress pad! Very exciting. That is the last think i need for in there. Very exciting.

Sunshine!

It's beautiful outside right now. I'm sitting on the couch with all the blinds open. People keep asking me if I'm bored? I'm not. I think it might take a good week to get there, if then. I have my computer...that's entertainment for a while. I have made myself a list of projects I can do sitting right here. I feel good today. The tightness and her pushing is coming in and out and is usually worse in the afternoons. So the mornings are good. I slept in until 10:30 today. The longer i stay in bed the better. It's the most comfortable at this point. Mom came yesterday and brought Dave and I dinner. She even did the dishes while she was here. I was thinking about mom's yesterday. It's funny, we all have one, but the relationships we have with them are so different. You really start to reflect on this stuff when you're about to be a mom. My mom is amazing. She NEVER gave up on us. She was always there, always supportive, always just did what needed to be done. Here I am at 30 and she's still taking care of me. I am very lucky to have her as a role model. She's going to be an amazing grandmother too. She just takes care of things, of us. She was pretty worried about me and baby J last week. so much so i think she got sick b/c of it. She is coming over today to sit with me while the cleaners come. She and dad treated us to a house cleaning before the baby comes! This is very exciting b/c now dave and I don't have to worry about that piece. Dave put up the blinds in baby's room last night and I'm just waiting on the window valance from Target in the mail. Once that comes and we move the dresser over the room will be done. Oh and we have to hang some stuff on the walls. But that's not a rush. The major stuff is done! I'll put photos up when the valance comes.

Sunday Blog

I think this might be the first time I blogged on a Sunday...why is that you ask...oh yea that's right b/c i'm ban to the couch. haha. I feel good today, my energy is back. It's hard to not be able to just go do laundry or run to babies r us, but hey could be a lot worse then sitting here on my laptop. Friday went well with all that went down. Dave's teeth went great, they ran into no problems. Liv took him and picked him up, he was pretty out of it when he got home but felt fine Saturday morning (to our surprise). Friday night he did ice on for 20 off for 20 and i think it really helped. He didn't have to take his pain meds after Friday. Mom/Dad/Olivia were all here Friday to help us and they were here yesterday too. Liv/mom did our laundry which was pretty sweet.

Today Dave went to help Mike/Melissa with some shelves. Mom/Dad are coming around 3:00 to grab some stuff to take up to babies r us for me. My friend Sara is bringing us dinner tonight! So sweet. I think she's coming around 3 as well.

Prisha came over yesterday and brought the cutest outfit ever! (and she brought me a coloring book and a candle!) Later that night Monica/Mark/Reid came by. He is too cute, baby Reid. I love visitors!

pressure

There is so much pressure going on in my stomach right now it's crazy. I think it's just her and not contractions. But everything in there is so sore it's hard to tell. I talked to my midwife today and she said to try and take a bath to try and get everything to settle down. So I did, i think it helped. I ate breakfast and lunch and I'm waiting on my 2 hour mark so i can test my sugar and then grab a snack. I'm hungry and that's good. Dave is making us fish tonight so i'm excited about that.

My mom is taking me to the doc in the morning and dad is taking dave to get his wisdom teeth out around lunch. They are both going to stay with us for a bit tomorrow to see if we need anything. I think Liv is coming over too, I'm sure it will end up being a movie night with not a whole lot of anything else.

Mom is going to babies r us this weekend to return some stuff for me and pick up a few last minute items. As far as baby goes, we have almost everything we need and will have everything after mom hits babies r us.

Hospital

So the misery makes a lot more sense now.I was havering contractions. About 12:30 Monday I decided to call the doc to see if there was something I could take for the pain I was having. I also mentioned I was nausea. They told me to come in and hooked me up to the same machine as last time. Two monitors, one for baby’s heart beat one for contractions. They put me in a little room with a recliner. Midwife Jean came in and her eyes go wide when she saw the readings from the machine. She said holy shit what’ going on with you. She checked my cervix (it was closed) and admitted me to the hospital. Dave was on his way to the doctor’s office when she pulled me into the exam room to check my cervix. I had two big contractions on the way to the doc and was in tears a this point. (there is no question about an epidural now) They admitted me to east cooper, they made me get in a wheel chair...booo.. and took me over this walk way to the back entrance of the maternity ward. They got me set up and gave me procardia pills to stop the contractions, which is the main goal...keep the baby in. Every hour for 3 hours we did the pill. About 6:30 Midwife jean came over and said they were not working so we had to start magnesium sulfate.

They had given me an IV and pain meds at this point, so they started the mag and gave me fair warning it wasn’t going to be pretty...little did they know. It was about 3 seconds after they put the mag into my IV and I looked at the nurse and said I don’t feel good, I can taste it. She said oh there’s no way you could react that fast. I looked at dave and said, I’m gona throw up. He grabbed a bin and I threw up. The nurse said she has never seen someone react so quickly to it. Well now you have.

They gave me a catheter b/c I’m not allowed to get up. And a shot in my butt for the nausea. So I have tubes come out all over the place. They had two monitors on my belly like at the doctor's office, and at the time they started the mag, my contractions were a minute apart and lasting for 40 seconds. Not good. I was pretty out of it for the rest of the night.

Mom/dad/liv stopped by the house and got Dave and I some stuff. Mostly clothes and for Dave and a blanket and pillow for both of us, and a laptop. They stayed for a bit then took off. They gave me an ambien to help me sleep and apparently it worked b/c Dave said I was out cold. He said the nurses kept coming in and asking me questions and I didn't even respond. It’s hard to sleep in the beds, and of course you have nurses coming in every hour to take your temp and check your tubes, so it's really good i had the pill.

Tuesday (written Tuesday):

This morning I was been feeling better. Still seeing double and out of it though. The contractions this morning were 10 minutes apart and have been getting less and less all day. They are afraid if they take me off the mag they will return so they are going to do that tomorrow morning and see how I respond. Side note: I can hear baby’s heatbeat and she has the hiccups. I got to eat breakfast this morning and lunch is here waiting for me. The mag makes you retain fluids so I’m not allowed too much water but all these drugs make your mouth dry so it’s not the best combo. I have diet ginger ale now which is nice b/c it has some taste but I have to make it last.

Dave has been amazing. I’m very lucky. I think he did get some sleep last night, the couch in our room pulls out. The room is nice, very large. We did hear some crying babies last night and this morning, which is always nice to hear. We both look at each other and just smile.


Wednesday

Yesterday I was in and out of it most of the day. But last night they backed off the mag a little and I started to feel better. I didn’t get any meds to sleep and slept pretty good. Everything seems to be going well this morning. It’s about 8:00AM and the docs are coming soon to pull the mag all together. I have had very few contractions and I feel sooo much better then yesterday. The double vision is almost completely gone and I’m finally hungry. Dad brought me to pb&j’s last night and I had one when he got here and one this morning. I have eggs and cheese coming at some point for my breakfast.

Dave slept pretty good too last night so that’s really good. It’s hard to sleep here with all the nurses coming in and out but our nurse last night was really good and she tried to stay quite when she came in.

They still have me on an IV with fluid and antibiotics. Oh and last night they gave me the second steroid shot. Holy S*& did it hurt. I was dead asleep about 2 seconds before so it wasn’t the best way to get up. It burned something fierce. This morning Nancy from labs came to take blood and she got it on the first try (unlike the nurse the first day here that stabbed me like I took her purse). So it was nice to have a pro. Anna is my nurse again today and I like her. She stopped by a few times this morning already and she’ll be with me hopefully all day. Nurse Stone should be here soon to pull the mag.

Overall feeling much better then yesterday. Baby J’s heartbeat is great and contractions aren’t coming too much. Good report.

Afternoon update:
Nurse Stone and Dr. Wilson came and pulled me off the mag this morning around 9AM. It was wonderful. They took out all the IV's and the catheter! I was a free women. But getting up and walking for the first time in 2 days is pretty interesting. I almost ran into the wall. no balance. Dave and I watched "Dirty SExy Money" and played cards. I felt like myself today. Dr. Wilson came back around 1:00 and told me I could go home. I couldn't wait to take a shower, which is the first thing i did as soon as we got home. They took me in a wheel chair, which i had no problem with this time. I'm just so glad she's still inside me. Still cooking. Dr. Wilson said I have to make it to 35 weeks which is a week and 3 days. I can do it. 37 weeks is better so that's what i'm shooting for. I'm officially on bed rest. I can be standing/walking for 15 minutes max then i have to sit/lay back down. Dave is going to publix tonight to get tons of food. A lot of people said they are up for helping, i think the biggest thing i need is help getting dinner made. Dave doesn't usually get home till late and I get hungry around 6. I can't stand up long enough to chop veggies and grill chicken, even on the George Forman which is now my new best friend. So pathetic.

But i'm home now. Watching some TV and playing on the net. My back hurts i think due to the being in that hospital bed and the water retention. I am just drinking a lot of water and staying chill.

Miserable

Today I am miserable. You know that feeling when you eat too much, I mean WAY too much, to the point that it physical hurts. That times like 5 is how I feel right now. I have come close to tears twice this morning, and told my co-workers I want to shoot myself in the face. It's coming and going at this point, and I'm hoping it will pass shortly....but it's been like this for 3 hours. It's constraint but gets stronger at cretin times to the point i feel like I'm going to fall over.

Baby has had the hiccups a few times a day for 3 days now. Each day they get a little stronger. It was cool b/c Natalie got to feel them over the weekend. I was really glad she got to feel her while she was here.

The shower on Saturday was amazing! It was so cool to have everyone there. Two of my friends from work came, which was really nice. It's funny because there are about 6 different girls that I really enjoy but haven't spent that much time with. Every time i see them I get excited and love their company, but we need to see each other more offend. I am going to try and make more effort with each one of them to see them more. It's a little harder now b/c Dave and I cut out eating out completely. That was always a nice way to make plans, just meeting up with people to go out to dinner. But now that it's nice, we can grill out so maybe we can start having more people over.

This coming weekend Dave is getting his wisdom teeth out. So we'll be chilling low this weekend. It's also the DI garage sale, and my friend Heather's shower. I'll be hitting up DI's yard sale with 3 things in mind. A set of matching lamps for the master bedroom, a small table for next to the glider in the baby's room, and a small outdoor table for the front porch. So we'll see how i do. I also have my maternity shoot this weekend. Saturday with Kayla at the beach, and Sunday with Kit at the house. Hopefully we'll get some cool shots.

Hit to the ribs

I don't know how she does it but baby girl likes to hit/punch me in the side. If you stand up straight with your arms at your side, right where your arms touch your body, that's where she's aiming. To the point that I yelled in the car (by myself) when she hit me. My goodness is she strong. It's funny now though because I can find her and push back a little. Just enough so she feels it and she pushes back. It's really funny to watch/feel. It's hard for me though b/c I want to share it and i'm usually by myself when she dances up a storm. Every now and then Dave gets to feel her. But it's so much while I'm at work because I sit almost all day (except for my 15 daily trips to the bathroom).

I was going to write more but i'm late for the doc..

Special Delivery

Last night Dave and I had our first pregnancy class. We have a total of 6 this month. The special delivery series is 3 classes. There were about 12 couples there last night including us. One girl had her sister with her, one couple had different last names, everyone else seemed to be married. As far as I could tell anyway. All about our age, all on their first baby. The class was good. We talked about the signs of labor and when to call the doc. What's normal, what to look for, and how to breath through contractions. We even laid on the floor at the end. The girl laid down on her side and the partner sat behind them massaging different parts based on where tension will be during labor. It was kinda cool. Dave did great :) haha. I did feel bad b/c the teacher kept saying "husbands" or "daddies" and the one girl had her sister there. She should have just kept saying partners.

It hit me around 3:00 yesterday that b/c class started at 6 and went to 9 we were gona need to eat something before hand. So I called dave and told him we needed to eat before hand and we met at a wing place near the hospital at 5:15. (I left work a little early) Next week we're gona pack sandwiches and eat at the break.

Health: baby is moving and grooving today. I feel pretty good. But it's so different the morning v.s the afternoon. It gets much harder to get up and move around as the day goes on. My GD is under control. I have been doing really well with it and only went over that one time. The docs were very impressed with my food journal (not the content just the fact that I was doing it).

My shower is Saturday, very excited!

Dance Party Break??

Every morning little baby has dance party. She moves and wiggles around in there and pushes in every direction. But not this morning. She didn't move at all! So i thought ok i'll have some breakfast and see what she does....nothing. Ok now all I can think of is that horrible article I read about the cord getting wrapped around her neck. So I get to work and call the doc's office. Karen (my nurse) calls me back and after hearing what I had to say tells me to come over to see the midwife. I call Dave on the way and he meets me over there. They hook me up to this machine with two round monitors on my belly. One is for contractions, one is for heartbeat. Her heartbeat was great! Very strong, and they have me a diet coke and she moved around a little bit. THANK GOD! Man were we nervous. As soon as I got back to the office she was back to herself, moving and jamming out. After lunch she did her normal afternoon dance party and is now taking a nap, b/c she wore herself out. Jean (the midwife) was glad I came in and said that if there is every a 2 hour block where I don't feel anything to call. (given, that never happens, besides today)

So all is well in Womb land. My shower is coming up this Saturday and I'm very excited. Mom and I are headed to babies r us this afternoon b/c the stuff she ordered she's not a big fan of. It was a bed skirt. So we're gona see what else they have. We have our first class tomorrow night. I paid for it today, it was $55 for the whole series. I also paid for Infant CPR, but that's not for 2 weeks. That one was $25 a couple. Mom and Dad take it in June, that was the first opening they had when I looked online today.

8 weeks from today....OMG

8 weeks. That's 2 months. that's like soon. WOW. I wrote it down on the calendar at work, 8 weeks left in big letters. Time is flying. I will admit i do spend a lot of time on babycenter.com these days. Less time on babiesrus.com. Mainly due to the fact that my shower is NEXT WEEKEND! crazy. I did my birth plan today, just a mock up. I gota have Dave put his input in there this weekend.

We start out classes next week. We have 1-2 classes every week in March. "special Delivery" is the 3 day class. So we have it Tuesday nights for 3 weeks. Then we have Infant CPR, Newborn Class, and Breastfeeding class, they are all one night each. March 13 is the opening of the new hospital, not the official, just the event. so i think we're gona check out that too. Our tour is on April 7th. As of April 2, i'm considered full-term and it's "safe" for the baby to come. With as much as she moves i'm so curious when she'll get here. Dave says April 14/16, I have no clue. I'm hoping for April 21.

Health: I didn't sleep well last night, or the night before. So hopefully this weekend I'll get some rest. Last night i was just up. Haven't had that happen in a while. But as of right now (1:30 in the afternoon) i'm feeling ok. We'll see come 5:00 how i'm doing. Getting up to walk around is a little difficult. Once I get moving I'm fine but it takes a few steps to stop feeling cramped. Like when you sit WAY to long and then get up. But it's like that every time i get up. Very strange.

Dad and I are going to publix after work to finish our "layout of the store" list. Then I'm either gona eat at their house to go home and just hang out. Hopefully this weekend will be pretty low key. I have a lot of laundry to do and we're gona hang up the blinds for the nursery.

Moving and Grooving

She moves like crazy! It's so strange/amazing/weird/cool! I can see my belly move at times and it's very cool. But she leans on my bladder a lot so i have that OMG I'm gona pee my pants feeling daily. I have had a good bit of ligament pain the last week or so, and my back hurts at work. I'm really enjoying my yoga class. I think it's helping.

We've been watching the Olympics alot. Over the weekend Dave and I went down to the Venue to have lunch while Liv was working. It was nice, but i had a Shirley temple (what was i thinking??) So of course my blood sugar spiked after lunch. it was a 128. The highest every for me and the only time since I started taking my blood that i went over my limit (120). I spent most of Saturday with mom and dad and Dave went fishing. McRae came over Saturday night and we played Wii. We made it to the second level and couldn't get past the first step. She let me borrow EA Active and I'm really excited about getting that going. Dave and I went to lowes and got the blinds for baby's room and got a curtain rod for in there as well. I picked out the super cheap one that was nice, but very plain, we were almost out of the isle when Dave spotted the little girl section. It was down hill from there. So baby now has a butterfly curtain rod. It is pretty cute, and twice as expensive as the one i picked out :). She'll love it. I think we're going to put the rocking in her room and the glider downstairs in the family room if it will fit. Maybe the glider up in the upstairs area. Who knows.

31 Weeks today

9 weeks to go....think about that. it's crazy. single digits. I'm headed to lowes this weekend (hopefully) to get blinds for the nursery and paint for the guest bathroom. Mom and I are headed to babies r us and Michaels this weekend to get some decor for the nursery as well.

I'm a little off today. Just kinda out of it, little foggy. I'm really looking forward to sitting on the couch tonight and catching up on the Olympics. I have been DVR'ing it all week and watching when i can. Dave caught up the past two nights when i wasn't home. Last night I had dinner with Prisha and the night before i had yoga. It was so great to see Prish, it was a long time coming. And i LOVE my yoga class. I already made a new friend...her name...Melissa. The class is real yoga, not some BS gym yoga crap. I didn't realize how much I missed real yoga.

I am doing really good on my new diet. I got my highest number today coming in at 117. That would be b/c I tried to have an entire banana at breakfast v/s the half i'm allowed. (it was good though) But even at 117 I didn't break my limit of 120. That's the no-no zone. So a full week in and I am starting to miss ice cream less and less. Hopefully the weaning off will come in handy post baby. I have only gained 16lbs since I got pregnant, but i was about 10lbs over where i wanted to be when I started this whole life creation thing. I'm going to purchase EA Active for Wii after the baby comes. Hopefully that will get me going.

I have been cooking a lot lately. I'm actually enjoying it. Though tonight I'm looking forward to nachos. Been craving them all day. I found a lowcarb chip and I'm just piling on beans and chicken on top.

Dave and I have been getting very excited and a little weird-ed out. (i mean we're having a baby, what??) His biggest fear has stayed the same since the beginning, her health. At this point I'm scared of a c-section. I really don't want to go into surgery. I'm at a little bit of a higher risk now with the GD. If she gets too big that's the concern. But over all I just can't wait for her to be here. I want to meet her and hold her. Dave is taking the first week off when she comes, so we'll be home together that week, which will be amazing...i'll miss the whole thing b/c i'll be in a sleepy haze, but i'm sure it will be amazing non the less.

30+ Weeks

Last Friday was the 30 week mark, and i have to say is OMG 10 weeks left! It's crazy to think how close we are. At 36 weeks we have to install the car seat and pack our hospital bag. It seems so close. I can't wait, I'm so excited.

Baby Shower Charleston - Livvy, Nat, and Kit are planning my baby shower. The invitations went out last week and they look amazing. I have a copy of one in my photo slide show on the side of my blog. I'm so excited about it. Natalie and Trace are coming down from Boston, and I haven't seen Nat since Christmas and haven't seen Trace since May!

Gestational Diabetes - I am doing pretty good so far. I'm really hungry at times, but it's getting better. I found a pasta that is only 42 carbs per cup so i mixed that with some low carb sauce, veggies, and some chicken. It seemed to work fine. We have also been eating a lot of shrimp. The biggest problem I have run into is cheese. I really shouldn't have cheese b/c of the constipation factor, but you can only cut out so many foods! I have to find good lunch ideas that don't involve cheese. I have to plan better. I do like salad's with the right dressing but they take a lot of prep time. I'm getting there though. Dave grilled me up some chicken last night that should last me the entire week. I can put it over salad or make a sandwich. I even just added veggies and brown rice one day and that worked out fine. I need more ideas and to keep a running list so i don't panic. It's funny, i mean really, I can't have deli meat b/c I'm pregnant, I can't have cheese b/c i'm kinda lactose intolerant, I can't have pancakes b/c of the GD...i'm a mess! haha

Day 2 of GD

So far so good. The finger prick hurts a little and sometimes bleeds for a bit, but it's really not the worst part at all. I kind of forgot about my mid-morning snack and ended up eating it late today which pushed my lunch back and I started to get tired. I also haven't gotten a really good night of sleep lately. Monday night after the John Mayer concert we went to sleep so late it really threw off the rest of my week. (but he WAS amazing)

Hopefully I'll get some sleep this weekend, we don't have much going on. I have a pretty small TTL. A lot of little stuff, like moving the yard sale stuff into the garage and work on some website stuff with Kit. The nursery is in pretty good shape. I do have a lot of laundry to do though.

Gestational Diabetes

It's official I have Gestational Diabetes. I called the doc yesterday and got the news. I spoke with the patient educator on the phone and she asked me when I would like to come in. My response, well it's 2:50 right now, do you have anything today? She called in my kit to CVS and I picked it up and headed to her office. CVS took forever I'm sure it was because of the quick turn around time. Dave beat me to the office by about 10 minutes, and we met with her together. She taught me how to test my blood sugar with my new kit and gave us some sample menu's and a breakdown of what foods to stay away from.

I have a set diet based on carb intake. I can have 60 carbs at breakfast, lunch and dinner and 30 carbs for a snack. I can have 3 snacks a day. They really encourage the snacks b/c all my meals are getting smaller. After the meeting with the patient educator Dave and I hit Publix and spent an hour and 1/2 reading labels. We got dinner for last night (we did trout, shrimp and green beans), tonight (meat kabobs) and tomorrow (chicken). Dave grilled up some chicken for me to bring for lunch this week. I can make a chicken sandwich and some veggies/fruit for lunch. The trick is the bread. We found bread last night that is 10 carbs a slice! (all the others were around 20-30 a slice) So that means sandwiches are an option. But of course you can't have deli meat when you're pregnant. So chicken it is. They say to really up your protein, so my snack today will be cheese and crackers. I can have 10 crackers (22 carbs total) and cheese, which is very low in carbs. Of course I can't have to much cheese or I'll have to deal with other issues (of which the stool softer is currently taking care of).

Overall I'm ok. It's about the baby not about me, so I have no choice in the matter, which really does make it easier. If i don't get this under control her health is at risk and that's not going to happen! So i have a fancy journal where I'll log all my food and blood sugar readings. I'll learn alot about food over the next 10 weeks and most likey won't gain to much more weight (see I found a perk!). Who knows maybe Dave will loose a few pounds too. I had to go upstairs last night while he did what had to be done....threw out all my goodies. No more potato bread, no more eating icing out the can. (don't judge me, it was good)

Everything else is going great. My best friend just got engaged!!! so we'll be heading to Denver with little baby this summer! I can't wait. I already looked into flights and renting a car with a car seat. I have been sleeping ok lately, but the peeing is getting a little ridiculous. It's like trickery, you think you have to pee and you get there....and nothing. It's annoying. And it feels the same as when you really do have to go, so there's no way to tell.

we took some time off from the nursery, we have to put the blinds back up and Dave is going to stain her glider chair this month so we can get that up there. Other then that we're gona wait until after the shower to do much more.

-m

Sugar is bad

As of last Friday i am official 29 weeks pregnant. We have picked our pediatrician and have a daycare plan in place. The last few weeks have been pretty packed. Most of February is pretty low key and then in March we start with all our classes and I start seeing the doc weekly. We have 3 "special Delivery" classes, a newborn class, infant CPR, and breast feeding. All are about 3 hours each. So March will be pretty crazy with weekly classes. We get to visit the NEW hospital on April 7 to check it out! I'm very excited about it. I love newness. I hear the rooms are pretty big and of course everything will be super clean as they open on April 1.

I start Yoga this week, it's a 6 week class. I'm pretty excited about it.

Health: this past Thursday I went in for my normal check up and got my glucose test done. Very standard at this point in my pregnancy. Well I failed it. So yesterday, Monday, I went in to Quest at 8:30AM to take the advanced test. They took blood as soon as I got there. An entire vial from my arm (not the nice little finger prick at the doc). Then I drank the glucose drink. One hour after I finished the drink they took another vial of blood and again at 2 hours and 3 hours. I read my Dr. Oz book and listened to Pandora on my Iphone. It was actually very nice, besides the needle in my arm every hour. I should get my results today or tomorrow if I have gestational diabetes. Other then that the doc said I'm measuring well and the baby's heartbeat is strong.

I took a 29 week photo and i'll post it tonight. This past weekend Dave and I just chilled out, I didn't feel well on Friday so we took it easy and watched our netflix. Saturday we made lasagna and Sunday we went next door for the Superbowl. I got nothing done around the house, but it's ok. We needed a lazy weekend.

DONE!

The nursery is done!!! I can't believe it. Paint is done, crib is up, dresser is in place, and yes already full. The new closet is sweet and already has her clothes in it. I ran out of hangers so I'm going to have to buy more.

Photos of nursery: http://picasaweb.google.com/melyssaferber/BabyBumpNursery#

I'll put up more photos tonight, b/c I filled up her closet and dresser after these photos were taken.

Weekend breakdown:

Friday night Dave and I made dinner for Mom and Dad. Mom is feeling better but can't stand long enough to make dinner just yet. Olivia has been there all week helping Dad, but she had to work Friday.

Saturday morning we started at about 10:00AM on the nursery. Dave and I did the lines, then Dave painted them white. The white paint was not VOC-free so I had to be in the other room. After the lines were done we did some other house work and went to grab very late lunch at WildWings. It was really good, I was surprised. It's the new one by the new Walmart on 17. When we got home it was about 5:00 so Dave put up the tape over the lines and we started doing the squares. We did two coats. Dave did the green and i did the pink. We pulled off the tape at about 9:00PM and it looked great!

Sunday morning we played Wii and then I left for the Blood Drive. It was so cold standing in front of publix. I handed out about 100+ fliers and then did my shopping and went home. I was there for about 3 1/2 hours. Dave had gone to Babies R Us to pick up the dresser and got home shortly after me. Dad/River came over to help touch up some of the white paint and get the dresser upstairs. They also put together the crib. Dad/River went home about 4:00 and Dave and I finished up and I made hamburger casserole for dinner. We brought dinner over to my parents house about 6:30 ish and all ate together. Olivia was there and cleaned my casserole dish after dinner, you have no idea how nice that is, that thing is a bitch. When we got home I put the rest of the little colthes in the closet and in the dresser and started to go through some of the stuff in the guest bedroom. I still don't know where we're going to keep all this stuff!

28 weeks 3rd Trimester

So today marks my 3rd trimester. I still can't believe I've been pregnant for 7 months. It doesn't seem that long. I'm due in 12 weeks! Holy crap! This week has been good at work, I've been doing some stuff for Balanced Bride and I think i have a handle on the laundry situation at home.

As for the nursery, we are rocking and rolling. Last night we painted the squares on one wall to see how it would look. Half way through I asked Dave if we were in over our heads, he responded, very possible. But about 3 hours later when we pulled off the tape, it looked awesome! So we'll be working on that tonight and this weekend! Hopefully by the end of the weekend it will be done!!! Then we just have to shampoo the carpets and set up the crib.

Health: I had some pain in my ligament at the top of my right leg on Wednesday. It got to the point I was limping by about 4:00. I called the doc and she said to go home and take it easy. Yesterday I felt better and the pain didn't get bad until about 6:30. Today i'm feeling pretty good and I have super comfy shoes on. I'm trying to go to the bathroom more often so I'm not in a crazed state and running when I really have to go. I don't think the running helped. The last few nights I've slept pretty well and I have a good about of energy and focus this week.

After the nursery is set up and the little clothes are in the closet, I'm going to start pulling stuff together for the March 13th DI Balloon Garage Sale. It happens on Daniel Island twice a year. We'll be taking over mom/dad's garage that day and selling all our stuff. Then whatever doesn't sell is going straight to the Good Will. We have a ton of stuff that we need to get out of our house. So hopefully this will give me motivation to get it all together and into the garage.

Uncomfortable

So yesterday was the first day I was really uncomfortable. It just felt like there wasn't enough room in my body. I had a really hard time sleeping last night. I would roll to one side and feel like i couldn't breath and then roll to the other and the heartburn would kick in. It was quite comical. I finally fell asleep and got comfy right before the alarm went off. Ahh how i love it when that happens.

I feel pretty good today. We have our second interview with a predication today at 11:30 and i'm headed up to Babies R Us to order the dresser for our nursery. I found a 20% off coupon that can only be used in the store, so i'm getting mom's credit card and headed up that way. She can't drive yet, and this coupon will save like $80. So it's wroth it for me to make the trip up there. I also have to buy some baby hangers. :) they are so little and cute!

Both Dave an I were wipped out last night so we made shrimp fajitas and watched "how i met your mother". Depending on our energy level tonight we'll try and get some of the lines done in the nursery. I just can't wait until it's finished so there is some place to put all her little things.

27 week Photos

Dave took a whole bunch of photos of me Friday night. It was very funny. These were two of my favs.

Friday night Dave put up the new closet and took down the baseball fan. (this was a sad moment for the former baseball room) Saturday he and my dad painted all the trim in the room, without any tape. It was very impressive. This morning, Sunday, they painted the top of the room. Dave also put up the new fan and installed a dimmer. He started making the lines for the checkers and we'll have those all set by next weekend.

Dance Party

Well tomorrow is the 27 week mark. A very exciting one b/c the baby can live outside the womb at 27 weeks. Let's hope this doesn't happen, but hitting 27 is good!

At about 4AM in the morning little baby starts to have what we call "Dance Party". She went to town this morning. Moving and shaking all over the place. It was so funny. I could even see her moving in my morning meeting with my boss this morning. She makes it very hard to pay attention to anything but her....why does that sound familiar.

I've been keeping up with the stool softener and i haven't had any trouble in that department lately. Been a little tired lately but over all doing great. I hit 140 this morning on the scale, that was crazy! But i'm on track weight wise so I feel good about it. I've had a number of people tell me I'm all belly. (always a good thing) I've also had people laugh and say, holy shit you still have 3 months to go??? you're gona be huge...this is also very true.

Dave finished the crown molding while I was in NOVA last weekend and we're gona be painting this weekend. We are also going to finish the closet and remove the old fan and put the new one up. Dad/River is coming over to help Dave and mom and I are gona play Wii and look at little clothes. Mom is doing better from her surgery and got her staples out yesterday. She is moving around pretty well but get tired easy from all the extra effort it takes to do normal stuff and from the pain. But she's a VERY impressive lady (which we all knew) and is recovering at a rapid pace.

OH! side note on my crazy NC cousin. So I mentioned the dirty house comment a few posts back. Well apparently there were 2 more incidents while they were here. Her husband thanked my father for dinner out....BEFORE the check even came. Now you have to remember there are 4 of them, and 2 of my parents. My father just kinda looked at him like, "what?". The other was the lovey card they gave my mother. At no point did they acknowledge that it was bad timing for them to come down due to my mother's surgery. Instead they say "Glad we were able to keep your mind off your surgery" HAHA. The level of self-centeredness is quite amusing. So there you have it. I think we're out of town next time they visit...whenever that will be.

Virginia Shower

What an amazing weekend! Not only did I get to see all my VA friends, I got to spend time with most of them. Friday night I went out to dinner with Bec and Erica, Erica had to leave early so Bec and I stayed and chatted. We finished dinner at ...you guessed it RIO!! and walked over to Baby Gap where I fell in love with this little pear dress. I didn't buy it b/c I told myself (and dave beat it into me) no buying clothes for baby. I did buy a little jacket with the justification that it was a practical buy and on super sale $7. Bec drove me home and I hung with Carole for a little while and went to bed. The next morning Carole and I went to get our nails done. She treated! It was pretty sweet because I really needed it. We went back to Carole's house where livvy picked us up for the shower.

The shower was at Sarah's condo complex. She reserved a room in the lobby that was really beautiful. Everyone came within about 15 minutes of us being there. It was great to see everyone. We talked and ate and opened presents and played bingo. It was great.

Saturday night Beth, Sarah and I went to Rio. Beth had to go early so after dinner Sarah and I walked around town center and then went back and hung out at her place. She drove me home and went over to her parents house for a bit.

Sunday morning Beth and I grabbed breakfast at ihop and she took me to Nordstroms Rack, where Erica met up with me and we tried on at least 50% of the store. We had a blast. I bought some little baby shoes (i know i know) a pair of shoes for me, a dress and a shirt. Erica got a ton of super cute dresses. We went to Red Robin for lunch and OMG I forgot how good it was. She took me back to Carole's where we had homemade dinner with Livvy's friends Sally & Jackie and their boyfriends. It was really good to see them. Liv and I drove home Monday morning.

Health: Overall still doing really good. Having some trouble breathing, between this congestion and not having full lung capacity, it's tricky getting a full breath. It's worst laying down, not so bad when i'm just sitting or standing. The stairs having been winding me lately. (so pathetic)

Photos from the shower

Can't keep my eyes open

A few days ago it started. This unbelievable fatigue. I mean it's the kind of tired that I remember getting after 3 days of straight parting in college. In those cases there was very little sleep and a lot of alcohol involved. But wait...i'm going to bed at 10 and drinking nothing water. I actually fell asleep at work on Friday, for a good 15 minutes. Just right in my chair, eyes closed, out!

So over the weekend I took a few naps throughout the day and went to bed early. Dave and I played Wii for about 10 minutes and I had to take a 2 hour nap. Are you serious?? My dad and mom both keep telling me it's the baby going through a growth spurt. I just hope this doesn't keep it's pace for the next 3 months. There's no way I'll make it. I'm sure to get fired if i keep falling asleep at work. It's that kind of tired where I just can't get off the couch. I was laying there yesterday and I could see my water bottle but could not get the strength to reach for it. I was laying on dave at one point and when he moved I just fell flat on my face into the couch. He was like "ahhh are you ok?" without even moving i was like "yea" and fell back asleep.

There has been some nausea today and a headache. They seem to both have gone away with lunch. I had steamed veggies and chicken with white rice.

Saturday morning Dave and I went to our neighbor's house Elizabeth. She is getting her house ready to sell and had some baby stuff for us. She gave us this beautiful bassinet! We had gotten one from Kit, but it's missing some hardware that we couldn't find anywhere so this will be perfect. Elizabeth also gave us a baby bathtub, a huge bag of clothes, 2 baby monitors, a few blankets and a crib sheet. It was so nice!

I went through all little J's clothes last night to see what we have so far. I have 32 0-3 month oneies.... and that's just the short sleeve ones. She has pajamas, 2 bathing suites, and a few really cute outfits. I didn't registrar for anything 0-3 months at all. I did put a few 12 month items on there but that's it. She will have plenty of clothes for her first few months for sure! I even have some clothes for her at 18 months....crazy!

25 Weeks

So I say to Dave last night, Hey i'm 25 weeks tomorrow! and he says, that means she's coming in 15 weeks. Crap! We need to get the nursery done, and oh about 20 million other things. The holiday break wasn't much of a chance to get things done. Dave was originally going to have 2 full weeks off, but due to his projects that didn't happen. So this weekend we're gona do what we can to prep the room so that next weekend Dad can paint.

My mom is at home now, got home last night from the hospital. I'll be over there most of the weekend chilling with her. She is doing really great and she'll be working with her PT over the next few weeks to get her knee moving.

Health: Yesterday I was exhausted, then I had Wendy's for lunch. I made the mistake of looking up the burger and fries online to see how many calories they were. Yea i had a 1100 cal lunch. YUCK! That won't happen again. Needless to say I felt like poop by 3:00 and went home at 3:30. I took a 2 hour nap, woke up to eat dinner and hang with Dave and went back to bed. I feel much better today, but i have a feeling that the extreme exhaustion is just getting started. Not quite sure how this is going to work out, but i'm trying to get to work on time to give myself a little more flexibility in the afternoons. I should really bring in a sleeping bad and pillow and just nap in my office on the floor. (i'm sure my boss would love this idea)

Otherwise i've been on ebay a lot looking for little girl clothes and I've been updating my registry daily....no reason really I just like looking at stuff I want. My Virginia shower is next weekend and I'm super excited to see everyone! Liv and I are driving up on Friday morning, and the shower is on Saturday. Sunday I think we're going to Tyson's. I miss Tyson's. There is no Nordstroms in Charleston. bummer.


Taken today

Happy New Year!

No more 2009...enter 2010! Dave and I went down the street to a New Years party at one of our neighbors. We really don't know to many neighbors that well yet, but we're working on it. Most of our neighborhood is really nice. We've only run into one really bad egg (he curses and screams at his 4 year old kid in public), and one other that was just not nice (she had a "proud southern" mentally). But out of 110 homes, we're looking pretty good. Most everyone is really sweet.

Over the weekend we got a lot of stuff around the house done. piles of papers that were waiting to be filed are done, and the ever growing mount of laundry is finally gone...for now. Dave also cleaned the bathroom, a full top to bottom clean and it looks amazing! My cousins from North Carolina came down for a few days and stayed with my parents. The one day they came over my cousin made a very rude comment about my house and i don't think i've let it go yet. They stayed with us for a night last summer on their way to their vacation. (the only time they stayed with us) So she walks in upstairs and says "you must have really cleaned up for us last time" I was like excuses me?? I mean come on who says that? There was no good reason to say that. All it did was have me make a mental note "never let her in my house again". Not sure what she was going for, other then to make me feel bad about my house (did i mention it's the holidays, I'm pregnant, and we're re-organizing the entire upstairs??). Ok Ok i'm done. I'm on the road to letting it go.

Meanwhile this morning my mother went into surgery for her knee replacement. She was up at 4:30AM, at the hospital by 5:30AM in surgery by 7:30AM and out by 8:45AM. Talk about a trooper. I went to see her today on my lunch and I'm headed there in a few minutes when i leave work. She's doing great and the doctors are happy with the surgery. I'll be spending evenings with her this week.

Health: most of all I feel pretty good. My back hurts if i do pretty much anything, and the back side of me is still not up to par. I'm trying to be more active. We have been useing the Wii every day now. (that counts!) I can feel her move every day now and last night she kicked dave pretty good. Sometimes he can't tell what's her and what's me, but last night it was VERY clear it was her.