Appointment Update

I went in for my CNS apppointment tonight, but the nurse specialist had an emergency so I got to see a midwife instead. It was actually quite a relief for me since Kayla had a night of little movement last week and I was concerned.

My blood pressure is still normal, and I only gained a pound or so since my last appointment. Kayla's little heart is beating away at 140 BPM and she is still head down. My fundal height measurement was right on at 31 centimeters.

It seems that all is well and I'm good to go for two more weeks!

I've updated the photobucket account with lots of pics from the shower and the nursery with all the great stuff in it! Clicky for Pictures!

31W 2 D

31 weeks, Baby shower and Mother's day...

I must preface this entry by saying that I'm sorry that the dates don't seem to match up in some places. I started an entry Sunday night, but didn't publish it. I wrote the bulk of it on Monday, but it published with Sunday's date since that's when it was started. I tried to fix it but only made things worse. Meh.

I can't even begin to describe how lucky I feel to have so many wonderful friends and family surrounding me in everything that I do. The lovely ladies in my life (including my sister, my mom, my step mom and her mom) and my dad... I can't leave him out... all worked so hard to throw Shaun and I a really beautiful baby shower this weekend. It was a gorgeous day and I had so many wonderful people to share it with. Thanks to everyone who joined us and for all the thoughtful gifts for our sweet angel. We now have the travel system we need to take Kayla visiting, her bouncer to keep her occupied when we need both hands for a second (when paired with the swaddler this comes with it actually looks quite cozy, although I've taken to referring to it as the "baby prison"), her bumbo seat to help her sit up, the boppy pillow for those late night feedings and MANY other wonderful and helpful things that I can't wait to use. I am feeling a little less anxious about being ready to bring her home. My hospital bag may not be packed yet, but the car seat bases are installed and aligned in both cars. Now to spend time strapping a stuffed animal into the seat so we're sure we can manage that. I swear you need an engineering degree to properly operate some of these items!

Here are a few pictures from the event (thanks Jenelle!):

(I am not in pain - I am astounded... my grandmother made this amazing quilt for Kayla. The amount of love for this little girl is just incredible.)

The absolutely delicious cake. I am so looking forward to another piece of this when I get home from my appointment tonight.

PS - I am working diligently to update the Photobucket account with pictures from the shower and the newly organized nursery as I get them from our friends and family/actually get organized. Check back often to see what appears!

We had a nice mother's day, even though we gave our moms their gifts at the shower. Gabriel, Beamer, Tinsel and Kayla (AKA Shaun) got me a really sweet card and another Willow Tree figurine. This time it was Angel of Mine. We spent the morning sorting, unboxing, assembling, washing and organizing all the shower gifts. Once that was done, we went out for lunch and then to WalMart to pick up some more of the basic items I was itching to buy. We got some newborn size onesies for her, some plain white onesies in 0 - 3 and 3 - 6 month sizes, some socks, bibs and burp cloths. I now feel like we're a lot more prepared. We still need a few things, but we're getting there. I'm really looking forward to our trip to Babies R Us next weekend before our birthing class.

I have an appointment with a CNS tomorrow, so I think that will be just an informational/sit and chat kind of appointment; it may or may not be update worthy. I need to take my birth plan and my FMLA paperwork with me so I can figure out what I'm doing in those areas. Perhaps they'll be able to squeeze me in with a midwife for a quick heartbeat/measurement check. I am pretty sure all is well, but I've been extra vigilant since Kayla had a quiet night last Thursday. I don't need any more of those thank you very much. I'm already in total "Mom mode" worrying myself half sick about her all the time.

In any case, things are really starting to get exciting now... we have our birthing class next Saturday and Sunday, then it's Memorial Day weekend already. Under 9 weeks to go now - 2 months till my due date!

31W 1D

Back from the Beach!!

Well, we are home from the beach, all in one piece and only a little worse for wear. The weather wasn't stellar, but did cooperate at moments. We had our Grotto Pizza, Hawiian Ice from Love's Lemonade, soft serve from Dumsers and cinnamon roasted almonds from the Nut House. I love beach food!! (Who am I kidding? I love food.) As it would turn out, this is a great time of year to be down at the beach. It's not insanely crowded, but most of the things we wanted to see or do were open over the weekend. I didn't actually put my toes in the sand, but we had a great ocean front room so we could open up and get the sea breeze. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight though, and without elephants stomping around in the room above me.

So here we are now, just past the 30 week mark. Hard to believe that the little lettuce head is now anywhere from 8 - 12 weeks from making her appearance (hopefully more in that 8 to 10 week range). Although I still don't feel ready, I know next weekend will help with that. I am so looking forward to having our friends and families together for a few hours. The fact that it's a party in little Kayla's honor is just icing on the cake. Here's hoping for nice weather since I couldn't find a cardigan to go over my shower dress!

I don't think we have anything major going on this week, no appointments or anything, so it will be more of the daily grind from here until the weekend again. I am hoping to get down to the shops on Main Street for second Friday so we can check out Spoiled Silly and Madison B for the first time. We need to find a time to get into downtown Lancaster to check out Bellaboo too. Maybe the first weekend in June... I think that's the next time we have a free weekend. Hard to belive how fast the time is going now, and how it's only going to continue to fly.

30W 1D

"Baby Brain" has got me

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the most exact or organized individual. I do pretty well being detail oriented at work, but I usually leave it at the door, because at home I am a total scatterbrain. Being pregnant has only made it worse. Much worse.

Last night we left work, went home and relaxed for a couple of minutes, then headed out to grab a bite to eat before going to my appointment at May-Grant. We arrived about 5 mintutes before my scheduled appointment time (so I thought) and were on our way back to see Anne (so I thought) when it came to light that I was actually scheduled to be there at 4:40, not 5:30. Anne was gone for the day; I'd be seeing Claire. Uhh... OK. If you guys say so. I swore that when we scheduled out my appointments for the remainder of my pregnancy after my last appointment that we'd made them all for 5:30.

The appointment went well enough. My BP is good, I was only up 3 pounds in the last 3 weeks, my fundal height measurment was "right on" and Kayla is now laying head down. Let's hope the little bugger stays that way. I know being upside down for 10 - 11 more weeks doesn't sound like fun, but honestly, I don't think my back can take another spell like I felt when she turned this time.

So when I get back out to the receptionist to check out (and verify the times of my remaining appointments - they are all at 5:30, aren't they?) I open my appointment book to see that I did indeed have 4:40 written down for yesterday, and 4:20 for my CNS appointment in 2 weeks. Der. I was so embarrassed for messing that up, but in my defense, ever since they changed computer systems and I haven't been getting my reminder calls about my appointments, I have been a little bit lost. Besides, at a practice that size, I can't be the only one who has mixed up an appointment time.

Other than that, there really isn't a whole lot going on. I'm coping with the panic this new Swine Flu outbreak is causing here at work. Seems that the Pandemic planning we attempted to start work on almost 2 years ago wasn't a waste of resources after all, was it? I hate to say I told you so... wait, no I don't.

I am so looking forward to getting away this weekend. Friday morning Shaun and I are taking off for Ocean City for the weekend. We were both pretty bummed about the prospect of not seeing the beach for the first summer in our lives since we're expecting a summer baby, so we decided to take this chance to run away for a few days and see the beach at the same time. They're calling for a 40 - 50% chance of thunderstorms on both Friday and Saturday right now, but if all else fails, there's always the new X-Men movie coming out this weekend, and Outlet shopping in Rehoboth if it rains too much. I'd rather be strolling the boardwalk and/or beach, but I'm sure we'll find a way to keep ourselves occupied if the weather doesn't want to cooperate.

Oh, and I guess I'm obligated to mention that we will be celebrating my 3rd 25th birthday while we're there. I decided I didn't want to get any older, but didn't want to stop partying either, so I am going to be 25 forever. Shaun got me a really sweet gift - we are on sort of a Willow Tree figurine kick, and he bought me the one called "Cherish." It's just beautiful and looks great with the other two we have on our shelves. Perhaps I jumped the gun when I bought "Our Gift" but I really liked that one too. So thanks again sweetheart, I absolutely love it! And happy 25th birthday (again) to me!

29W3D down...

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

I promise I am going to do the socially proper thing and write thank you notes as well, but I just had to say THANK YOU again to my awesome coworkers that threw Shaun and I a little shower today! It was really unexpected and appreciated. You guys are just too much! I can't wait till Kayla is big enough I can put her in the jumper and take pictures for you guys to see; I just know she's going to love it.

I am extremely full on pizza and cupcakes (yes, cupcakes, plural) now and ready for my afternoon nap. Totally worth putting that half pound I lost back on. :-)

28W6D today!

Busy, busy, busy

I swear, there is never a dull moment around here. That's how I like things to be though. I get bored easily.

We did a little shopping on Friday night; I got thank you notes for the baby shower. I found really cute ones online that closely matched the invites my sister picked, but I couldn't bring myself to spend $1.20 per card. So I went to Party City and found something that was cute, and much more affordable.

I also landed myself in a state of complete disbelief that not a single Old Navy within an hour's drive of here seems to have the wedge flip flops I want in the proper sizes and colors. I fear I am not far from swollen foot territory, and I am going to need as little shoe with as much support as possible in the later weeks of this. I love my Old Navy flip flops, but a day in those absolutely kills my feet because they offer no support whatsoever (we'll get to that though). I guess ordering from the website is my only choice.

Adam and Kristen were kind enough to put up with us just about all weekend long; they hosted everyone at their place on Friday night at the first deck sitting of the season. Then Saturday morning we headed back over there so Shaun could take off with the guys for a boys' day down in Newark, DE. Kristen (and Trevor) and I got set for a day of shopping. I got a few more little outfits for Kayla (I really need to learn to curb that habit), a fantastic (and cheap!!!) spare diaper bag at the Pottery Barn Kids outlet and some clothes for myself as well... including my shower dress! I'm so glad to have that decided. Kristen got some clothes for their upcoming vacation, and Trevor got to go along for the ride. Hahaha! I will tell ya, how a 4 year old boy puts up with a couple of moms to be shopping their faces off for nearly 6 hours is beyond me, but the kid did pretty well. Kristen and I discovered that nothing cures aching shopping feet (in my case, caused by walking several miles in Old Navy flip flops) like a half price Sonic slush! Now that's our kind of happy hour...

After I got through with that, I had to gather all my energy back up to get some laundry done and then meet Jean for dinner at Scooter's. What fun! I now know that Scooter's is the only place around who makes a choco-tini to her liking... so that's on my list of things to try once I'm able to drink again. Maybe I should have had one anyway... it might have helped me sleep.

I'm normally a very sound sleeper, but you put me in our room by myself (usually only happens once or twice a year) and all of a sudden any noise within a city block of me becomes audible and sinister. I can recall waking up several times, but none of them were enough to make me actually get up out of bed, besides my 3 am bathroom trip. Yet somehow I was up and in the shower at 7:45 and working on getting the house in order by 8 or so on Sunday morning. I got the upstairs mostly cleaned, but after Shaun got home I resigned myself to a day of resting since I really hadn't done so all weekend and I was starting to feel it. I can do a little of the downstairs each night this week and finish just in time to start all over next weekend. :-)

Adam and Kristen stopped by to visit us on Sunday afternoon as well (yup, we are now so sick of each other that we're no longer friends... KIDDING!) to drop off our shower gift. Thanks again for the awesome gift basket, guys! I'm so looking forward to organizing and putting away everything you guys got us, but for now the basket is displayed intact on the changing table. I need to get the hallway bathroom ready for baby stuff sometime SOON! Of course, this means cleaning my stuff out of there and making room for it in the master bath. Yikes.

It's been a good week for all things baby. Kayla is moving a lot these days, and some of her movements are quite strong. She startles me from time to time with a good whack. Her new favorite trick seems to be laying sideways and trying to stretch out. The pressure is almost unbearable sometimes. She also had her first bout with the hiccups that I could feel last week; that was funny. It only lasted a few minutes, but it cracked me up. Over all, I'm still feeling pretty darn good though; I can't complain about too much still. I'm waiting for the third tri symptoms to really catch up to me, because I know they're coming.

Our next midwife appointment is next week, so hopefully all continues to go well between now and then! I can't believe that there's less than 3 months to go. This is awesome.

28W2D

Only 11W5D to go!

Entering the home stretch

What a great weekend; time with friends, time with family and entering the third trimester of pregnancy. The end is in sight, although it still feels pretty far away. I can't complain though. I feel good, everyone tells me I look good (which I'll take even if they're lying through their teeth) and Kayla is as active (thus in my mind as healthy) as ever. (Not that Aunt Paula would know, she still hasn't felt the little stinker move...)

Anyway, we had a really nice Easter Sunday spending time with family. Thanks so much to Mom and Dad Gockley for the awesome Easter gift for Kayla! I don't know how you found an egg big enough to put the bedding in, but we appreciate it so much! The outfit is too cute also! I washed everything last night and made up the crib (I just couldn't resist). I'm not statisfied I got the crib skirt on right, but I figure I'll have to pull everything back out once we have a mattress pad to put on under the sheet anyway, so I'll fuss with it more then.

I was really glad to see my step mom's family for the first time since Thanksgiving too; I can't wait to see Dad's pictures from the day, so I can check out what I missed before I arrived. I'm sorry I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time, but hopefully we will see each other again soon!

I don't have a whole lot else to report from the home front... we are just waiting now for things to happen. I'm so thrilled that we're finally getting there though!

The crib all put together.

The sheet, fuzzy blanket and fuzzy bumpers.

The blanket again and a view of the detail on the comforter.

27W2D. Only 12W5D to go.

Latest appointment

Well, it was a boring and drawn out one this time. It actually all started this morning with me being pretty sure I had a 5:00 today, but i wasn't able to recall getting my usual reminder call. So, I called the office and spent nearly 10 minutes on hold to confirm I was indeed expected tonight. As it would turn out, they had just installed a new computer system and the automated reminder system wasn't yet operational.

I had to give them a lot of my information over again so they had the most up to date data on their new system. Then I sat and waited for what seemed like forever to be taken back to drink my icky glucose stuff. I was quite relieved to find that the fruit punch flavor I was given wasn't nearly as bad as the orange flavor is rumored to be.

My visit with the midwife went well. I've gained 6 pounds since my last visit, which was a decent improvement over the 9 pounds I'd piled on between each of my previous appointments. My blood pressure is still good, and my fundal height measurement was right on. The midwife had some trouble determining Kayla's position (she thinks she is laying sideways right now though) but found her heart beat right away. She seems to be doing really well still. I am to start kick counts in a couple of weeks.

Once that was over, I scheduled out the rest of my appointments and got to say hello to an old coworker who is about 8 weeks ahead of me; she's due at the end of May. Then I went back to see the blood sucking leech who needed 4 vials of my blood for tests. Ouch.

Anyway, my next appointment is in three weeks. Until then, we are looking forward to spending Easter with our families and Shaun's "boys weekend" away. Until next time!

26W2D

Under 100 days

Hard to believe that we are now into only double digit days remaining in this pregnancy. I feel like I can't possibly have enough time to do everything I want/need to do before Kayla's birth.

Today we got a few more small things accomplished; a trip to Ikea yielded a bookshelf for her room (stationed inside the walk in closet for now) and some organizing boxes for her dresser drawers. After lunch in Exton, we went to Babies R Us, then Michaels, then drove home, went to A.C. Moore then Michaels again where we finally found enough letters to spell out "Kayla" to hang on one wall of her room (if anyone can give me a theory on why every store we went to was out of the letter A, I'd love to hear it). They weren't the best looking, so I need to wait for the wind to die down so I can spray an additional coat of white paint on them, but I can't wait to get them up on the wall.

Now the size of an eggplant, I can feel that quarters are getting tight for Miss Kayla. I can feel her putting pressure on my ribs and I am able to get into "battles" with her where she will push her little foot out against me and I will poke her back with my finger. It's very cute. You think I'd be used to it by now, but there is still nothing quite like feeling her move.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the nursery, until after my appointment on Monday!

26W even

Only one week left in the 2nd trimester!

Hootie Goes Country?

You read that right... coming straight out of 1995, Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish fame has gone country. At first I found this very strange. Then I was introduced to this song. It brings a tear to my eye every time, and I don't think it's just the hormones. Enjoy.