Quick Update From Dr. Appointment

My weight was up a whole pound, making my total weight gain 19 lbs. Thank you very much Pizza Hut. Blood pressure and baby's heart rate were great. Dr. Appel said my weight gain and belly size were right on track, and I do NOT look like I am having twins. I did tell her that I had been having some pain and discomfort over the weekend as well as some contractions early this morning. She decided that she should go ahead and check me today rather than waiting 2 more weeks. As of today, no dilation or anything. She said it's probably just the baby moving down and everything stretching out. She gave me a folder with all the paperwork I need for pre-registration at the hospital. Jason and I have an appointment Friday afternoon to register, and they are going to take us around the maternity floor. That's all to report for now.

Except, there are 39 days until my birthday, 43 days until baby's due date, 58 days until Thanksgiving, and 87 days until Christmas. But who's counting?

Photos compliments of Jason

Follow Up: I posted the other day about being asked if I was having twins. Well, there was this guy that came into my office and asked me when my twins were due. I told him there was only ONE and she was due in November. Well, his wife must have heard our conversation and either she or the guy told their daughter about it. The following day I was helping a lady and she told me that her dad was the one that asked me if I was having twins and apologized to me, and she told me that she instructed him to NEVER ask that to ANYONE. Good for her! Well, yesterday Jason and I were eating lunch and our waiter asked me how many months I am. I told him 8, it's probably closer to seven and a half since I have about 6 weeks left but I was rounding. His response: "Well, you seem awfully small to be that many months." He got a good tip!

Jason went with me this afternoon to meet Lori at the maternity store in the mall. We were looking for something for me to wear to my shower in a couple weeks. I probably tried on everything in the store except the plus sizes and pajamas. I tried on 4 different dresses and each one made me look like a blimp! We finally found something, and Lori bought me a few extra shirts for fall. They will also be good to wear after the baby is here and I'm in between clothes. I'm excited to finally have some more stuff to wear. I wore the same shirt twice to work last week!

The baby has permanently set up camp on the right side of my belly. She keeps me on my toes by regularly sticking her foot out and into my side. You can see the little bulge where she has her foot stretched out. Jason has been feeling her little feet stick out and move up and down my right side. I told him that while I'm excited for her to be in the outside world, I'm going to miss being the only one that knows and feels all her little movements every day.

I finally got Jason to help me get some pictures of the blankets that have been made for us.

This one is from Aunt Debbie & Kara. There's matching burp cloths and bibs. You can see her name down in the left corner.

This is a fleece blanket that Meme made.

This one is from Aunt Sharon.

A quilt Aunt Patty made.

The one of the left is from Aunt Patty, and the other one is from Joyce, Lori's Mom

If One More Person....

asks me when I'm having my twins or if I'm going to have a baby TOMORROW, I'm going to blow a gasket! Really, I am not THAT big! I'm definitely swollen up like a whale, but the comments about me swallowing a basketball or giving birth in an hour are getting really old! Some people just don't think before they open their ignorant mouths!

I have been so swollen up the last several days and unbearably uncomfortable. Lucky for me the girls that I work with have let me take my shoes off and put my feet up as much as possible. They have tried to do most of the work that doesn't require sitting at the computer so that I can have that stuff to do to keep off my feet. I spoke with the nurse at my doctor's office yesterday about it. She told me to drink lots of water, watch my blood pressure, and try to stay off my feet (easier said than done at my job). I need to have my hospital bag packed within the next couple weeks, so I've been gathering things I plan to take. Jason and I will be starting our pre-natal classes soon, and I'll be having another baby shower in October. Only about 7 more weeks to go, but with all the little odds and ends we have left I'll probably be wishing I had more time once it gets closer!

I promise to get pictures up of the quilts and baby room soon!

My Productivity Level is Lacking

I'm sitting on the couch while the laundry finishes drying so I can finish putting the linens on the mattress in the crib. Hopefully I won't over-do myself, since Jason is gone today. I ironed the bed skirt and have already pulled the mattress OUT of the crib single-handedly. Now if only I can get it put back in there. Now, I'm just watching my belly jump and wave while my little peanut does the hokey pokey in there. The last several nights Jason has spent lots of time intently waiting for these instances because he saw it do "The Wave" once before and was amazed. But the time he likes to watch for movement is about the time she starts winding things down for the evening. He told me the other night to make her move, but he doesn't realize it's just as much of a surprise to me as it is him. I cannot make her do anything. Then he said if she didn't do it in five minutes he was turning the light off and going to sleep, as if she could understand that. I wish he could have this belly for just one day, and I wish there was a window so I could see what on earth she does in there all the time. If she moves around this much when she's outside the belly, we are going to have our hands full! I'm working on getting some pictures up of the blankets/quilts I have received for everyone to see. And I'm still trying to get stuff put away and organized from my baby shower. I managed to get the clothes washed and hung up, but everything else is still in bags. Jason put the stroller together and pushed it around the house. He's really impressed with the shocks on the front end, as well as the "Nascar-style" harness that will securely strap her in. This could be bad news for the baby if he's thinking about shocks and Nascar while pushing her stroller. She may need a helmet when her Daddy takes her out! I have had a few of those Braxton Hicks contractions and they have all been in the middle of the night. My belly got really hard and it HURT! I'm starting to get tired of being pregnant and I have about 8 more weeks of it! Luckily it's starting to cool down some, so maybe I won't be sweating out of every pore of my body for the duration of my pregnancy.

32 Week Pictures

32 Weeks and Counting

Another doctor appointment down. My little one is locked and loaded in the head down position and will hopefully stay that way. My weight was up 2 lbs. I asked my doctor if she thought I would get much bigger than this and her answer sadly, was "yeesss." I was hoping I would just stabilize and stay this size for the next 8 weeks, but she seemed to think that was a little unrealistic. Too bad... my back is hurting, every limb on my body is swollen, and I can't imagine being much bigger than I am now. My belly button is on it's way out...there's some skin in there that is seeing the light of day for the first time in almost 25 years. The baby's heartbeat was great, about 150 bpm. My blood pressure was up a little higher than it usually is, but Dr. Appel wasn't worried about it right now since it wasn't above normal. She lifted up my shirt to get the heartbeat and saw this lump by my belly button. She said "that's all baby!" Then when she was feeling to see where the head was, she said she was just kicking away. She must be running out of room because her kicks are getting quite forceful. Jason saw my whole belly do "The Wave" the other night and he's been determined to catch it again, but she tends to start winding down towards the end of the day. Kara took some pictures of me and Jason last weekend, and they turned out great!

Tyler & Baby Shower Pictures

I'm Outgrowing My Jewlery!

Well it's official... I can no longer wear my wedding rings. About a month ago I was down to just the band. Yesterday morning I woke up and thought my finger was going to fall off or the ring would have to be sawed off. So, unfortunately my finger is probably going to be naked from now on. Which means I'll have to endure the snickers and stares from everyone I see who thinks I'm knocked up and unwed, because it will happen...especially living up here in a college town amongst some of the older, more judgmental church goers.

My clothes are too tight and my shirts are getting too short. Evidently Jason isn't a fan of the bare belly peeking out of my shirts because he's always telling me to pull my shirt down to cover it. Considering that I can't actually see the bottom of my belly I don't know if it's covered or not. But when the girls at my office start telling me that I might want to pull my shirt down it's getting time for new ones. I hate to buy new clothes this late in the game because fall will be coming too so I'll have to add some warmer clothes to my maternity wardrobe. My shoes are getting too tight, too. But, be that as it may I'm on the final leg of the race. I told Jason we aren't having anymore babies until they come up with a way for the man to carry the child so he will be out of luck for a while.

We are leaving town Thursday morning to head down to Tyler for my baby shower. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and meeting the newest edition to the family, baby Case. I'm also looking forward to eating some Pappasitos in Dallas! However, Jason is not too thrilled about the drive, especially since I will have to get out for potty breaks pretty frequently.

Head In The Ribs, Butt On The Bladder

We had another doctor's appointment today at 30 weeks. I climbed up on the scale and to my horror this is what occurred:

Sally (nurse): "oh wait, I don't think it was zero'd out. Step off."
Me: "From what I just saw it better not be!"
Sally: "nope, had half a pound still on there"
Me: "That's IT?! That is bad news"
Sally: "Well, it's probably mostly water weight"
Me: "You're probably right. My ankles and fingers are swollen"

Gained 5 pounds since last time, but that wasn't the horrifying part. It was my actual total weight that was the bad news. So, I think my total weight gain is currently up to 16 lbs. Next strange conversation:

Sally: "Having any pressure or contractions?"
Me: "some..."
Sally: "Good, go in the room, take your pants off and she'll be in to check you in a minute."

I figure they are medical professionals and they know what they're doing but I was behind the curtain changing telling Jason that is sure seems awfully soon to be doing any "checking." Surely, she wasn't going to start doing internal exams already?! And surely she wouldn't do this EVERY time until I deliver! But whatever.... Enter Dr. Appel...

Dr. Appel: "You're having some problems?"
Me: "I AM?!?!"
Dr. Appel: "Well, I see we are checking you today, any bleeding, cramping, leaking?"
Me: "Well, those iron pills are making me nauseous. But Sally told me you were going to check me"
Dr. Appel: "Well, if you're not having any other problems go ahead and get dressed and we'll listen to the heart beat when I come back."

Well, she came back in and told me Sally had my due date wrong in the computer and thought I was 38 weeks along. So anyway....

Dr. Appel said weight, blood pressure, and urinalysis are all good. The sonogram I had last time showed that the baby is in the 50th percentile for her weight which is right on target. My doctor said she thinks the baby will weigh between 7 and 7.5 pounds when she's born if she doesn't have any big growth spurts. She felt my tummy and said her little head is up by my ribs. No wonder it hurts to eat anything, she's taking up all the room I could be using for food storage and giving me heart burn. I also asked if she could be sitting on my bladder since I feel like I have to go every minute of every day and Dr. Appel said sometimes they just "nestle up" in a spot and that she could be on it. Well, I need her to nestle somewhere else! Although she is breech right now, my doctor said 98% of the time they find their way back down. Since the iron pill is making me sick, she said I could just take it every other day since my levels were just "marginally low" - whatever that means. So, I'm going every 2 weeks now for the next 6 weeks and I'm counting down the days until she gets here. Hopefully this child is on time!