39 weeks........

I am officially 39 weeks pregnant and officially feel like I'm going to explode!! I dont know how this child can possibly grow anymore!

I had my weekly doctor's appt yesterday and she ordered an ultrasound to check on baby's size.....because as she continues to remind me, "Let's face it, you just aren't very tall!!" So the good news is that baby looks good. No gigantic head, measuring on time and just over 7lbs. An ultrasound can be off by up to a pound so it could be closer to 8. My dr says to expect mid 7ish. The leg (femur) measurement was on the small side. This could be for 2 reasons. 1) baby just got my height....entirely possible or 2) measurement is a little off because the tech did have a bit of a tough time getting some measurements. Everything above my belly button is a mush of baby and s/he would NOT sit still for 2 seconds!!! I guess we both enjoyed that peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch!! Neither of these are concerns and dr is not at all worried about that small measurement. Again, not an exact science - we are both just glad to have a normal sized baby hiding in there. Heartbeat was 147.

As for me........sigh. I am +3lbs.......29 total. My doctor is VERY pleased with my overall weight gain and if I step back and remember that I am pregnant afterall, that 29 sounds great!! But anyone who gains 30 lbs in approx. 6 months gets to be depressed by that!! ugh!

No new labor progress. I am making a little bit of progress on my own, but really not a whole lot. I set up my 40w appt for next Monday. If I make it that far, I have to have a biophysical profile done. Basically an ultrasound with just a little more indepth measuring to make sure that baby's fluid levels are still good, placenta is still good, etc. No reason to believe they wont be but it's something she does routinely starting at 40w when you are officially considered "postdate"

She said she is not comfortable with me going too far past my due date, again b/c of my size. This is not a surprise to Charlie and I. She has said that a few times. Even though baby is doing fine at this point we certainly dont need him/her growing too large! So the official eviction is set for 7/10 if I dont go into labor on my own. I would go in 7/9, late in the evening for cervidil to help get things going and then the pitocin would begin 7/10 in the morning.

I'm pretty torn on how I feel about all of this. I really wanted to avoid induction but I understand the need if I dont go into labor on my own. And we are both VERY VERY ready to meet this little critter!! I'm sure things will work out just exactly the way they are supposed to!!

Thanks for any and all happy thoughts, and good labor thoughts between now and next Thursday! And for your amusement...........some pics of a very round Beth!!


Yes, that is my belly button!!




Love to everyone,
Charlie, Beth, and Baby!!

Ready when you are, little one!

As promised, I have TONS of pictures of Baby's nursery! Charlie cleaned out the car today and installed the base for the carseat. We even went out and got a little boy and a little girl outfit!! We are ready whenever this little critter decides to arrive (which I am praying is very soon!)

So, without further jabbering.............lots of pictures! ;o)

(oh, and p.s. ~ I have no idea why shutterfly has decided to add white borders to all my pictures! arg! I'm pretending not to notice b/c I dont have the energy to fight it right now!)

Which one will we keep? Which one will be returned?!? Daddy picked out both of them!


Right side of nursery, from the door


Left side from the door


Critter's crib! Eventually his/her name will go above the crib on the wall


Quilt hanging on wall


Changing table/dresser/hutch


top drawer of dresser, all organized! wow!


middle drawer ~ onesies, sleepers, t-shirts


bottom drawer ~ towels, washclothes


full of newborn diapers, ready to go!


closet


these cloth drawers are fantastic!


and the tags I made for them!


glider/ottoman with safari boppy pillow!


nursery lamp!


little couch/toy chest i have had since i was little!!


artwork above couch


artwork above glider


artwork above door (i made this when i was in kindergarten!!)


and a blessing plaque above the light switch

Just killing time.........

Ok, so I got the picture thing figured out!! It wasn't quite as bad as I thought, but I really don't care for change when I'm not expecting it! How dare Shutterfly makes changes without asking me first!

Anyway, here is what I've been doing with my summer.........

1) I love The Price Is Right! I'm actually getting quite good at my bidding skills. I even once bid less than $500 off the actual retail price of my showcase and won both of them! I can't wait for Drew Carey to deliver my party boat!!! My blood pressure loves that I'm sitting on the couch more than standing on the playground. My doctor loves my new trend in blood pressure!

2) I'm doing lots of baby laundry. Usually not a huge fan of laundry, but this laundry is a blast. Those little socks and onesies and sleepers are so so cute! And you can wash a million of them in no time at all..........because they are soo tiny!

3) Charlie and I have been busy getting all sorts of things put together. We are so lucky to have amazing friends/family. We haven't had to purchase very much at all on our own. My good friend got me a teddy bear that has been our willing test object! Yes, it has a blue bow on it. She is convinced we are having a boy. NO ~ we don't know for sure, it's just her hunch!

Charlie's college friend and his girlfriend got us our highchair! Doesn't bear look happy?!?







A few of my girlfriends went together and got us our Pack'n'Play. It has a bassinet feature on the top and a changing area. I'm sure this will be helpful those first few weeks!







We used gift money from my parents to purchase our car seat! Bear is very happy in the seat and Charlie and I have mastered the straps and getting it in/out of the base. Now all we have to do is install the base in the car!



Right now, we just have a stroller frame called a Snap'n'Go. It is the most genius invention ever (why couldn't I think of this?!?!) Basically, it is a stroller without a seat and all you have to do is snap on your infant seat! We are going to hold off buying a "real" stroller for a little longer since this one will hold us for a while.





And finally, some pictures of my ever-growing baby belly! I am now officially 37 1/2 weeks and if you can believe it, I have grown even more since these pictures! EEK!

Yes ~ those are stretch marks you see. Yes ~ they are terrifying but what's a girl to do?!? and Yes ~ my belly button sticks out almost all the time now. I've given up!










So that's it for now! Next up, pictures of the nursery. A few more things to hang and straighten up and it will be all ready for sharing on the blog! And I promise to post the 37w belly pictures (and maybe 38w depending on how quickly I get them posted!)

Love you all!
Charlie, Beth, and Baby D!!

I know.....I know!!!!

It's been forever since I have updated! Well, guess what?!?!! I just sat down to post a huge update with pictures and everything......not gonna happen.

I can't even tell you how angry I am. :o(

I use shutterfly to host all my pictures online and then use the code to share them here.....but apparently shutterfly just changed their ENTIRE FORMAT and I can no longer share pictures from there. So I will have to go and find another online host, and then move over all my pictures before I can share anymore :o(

I'll try to get really motivated today and tomorrow and get them all moved. Sorry friends and family.

My coworkers are amazing!

This past Tuesday, my coworkers gave me an absolutely amazing shower. It was unbelievable and really just overwhelming! I am so blessed to work with such a fantastic group of people. Here are some pictures from our wonderful shower........







baby's lamp....



baby's mobile....





this huge collection includes all of our bedding, some crib sheets, a diaper bag, and some lotions



the coworkers who hosted the shower (l. to r.) Denise (social committee person), Ashley (the short one) and Tara (both Kindergarten teachers), Laurie and Gay (my first grade coworkers), and Lisa (Kindergarten)



So again, just an amazing amazing shower and I can't say enough how thankful we are! Now we need to get busy on this critter's nursery! We have a lot of stuff to put away! That is a fantastic problem to have! ;o)

Because I promised........

Here is my ever-growing belly! These pictures were taken on Monday April 14th when I was 28 weeks.

We also had a doctor's appt on Monday. Our appointment went great, we even got a quick peek at our little one again. I had my sugar test to check for gestational diabetes. The sugar drink I had to gulp down should have sent our baby on a sugar-induced frenzy. Not only was I not feeling a ton of movement like expected, I was barely feeling anything at all. The heartbeat was good but she still wanted to double-check on my fluid levels so off to the sonogram room we go.

Turns out, our baby sleeps a LOT when exposed to mass quantities of sugar! It was all curled up and comfy. We got to see the heart beating away. Saw the stomach full of fluid, which is good ~ means baby is swallowing properly. Saw the bladder full also, which is good because baby is processing fluids properly! My doctor was able to make out the parts of the heart and tried to point them out.......but I couldn't see what she was talking about!! After lots of poking and pushing, the baby wiggled a little and looked right at us! We saw the lips and even got a little smile. And then it's little eyelids opened up and we saw the eyeballs moving!! Freaky for sure but absolutely amazing all at the same time! It is so nice to know that baby is still doing well and very reassuring to get another peek!

Baby has been quite active since Monday, so nothing to worry about. Just being a bit stubborn on that particular day! So without further blabbering from me......here is my big baby belly.

A HUGE Thank you, some furniture and jungle animals!!

First ~ a HUGE thank you to my friends and family in Maryland!! Charlie and I finally went online to spend all the Target gift cards from the shower. We get a 10% discount when we order online and Target was running free shipping through Saturday. So we figured it was now or never!! Because of your generosity, we were able to buy a rocker/glider chair with an ottoman for the nursery, our crib mattress and mattress pad, the changing pad, and the extra car seat base for Charlie's car. With the cash and checks we were also able to purchase our car seat and some really cute jungle pictures for the nursery! I'll post pictures when all of the Target items arrive, but I had to make sure I thanked everyone again! It is really exciting to see the nursery coming together.

And speaking of the nursery, we finally got the crib put together today. So the dresser and crib are all put together and we are waiting on the crib mattress for the finishing touch!

This is the dresser/hutch:


and this is the crib:


and these are the jungle animal prints that we got for the walls. I am absolutely in love with them!! I can't decide which one is my favorite!!!



Tomorrow (April 14th) is my 28 week appointment at the doctor's office. I have to take my sugar test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. I am convinced I will fail it ~ if for no other reason than I have nightmares of my popcorn being taken away from me for 10+ more weeks! I also promise to update the belly pictures tomorrow. My belly is really growing quickly and I am getting one of those turkey-timer belly buttons! Ugh!!!

That's all for now........all our love!
Charlie, Beth, and Baby!!