Baby Time! (almost...)

Well... I had to go back to the doctor today because my blood pressure was a little higher than usual at my appt on Thursday. Thursday was 122/68 and today was 138/80. I also gained 2 pounds in the last 4 days... but I feel a lot better about my weight gain, now that I know it is mostly fluid retention. So anyway, my doctor feels it will just keep going up, and for the health of me and the baby, I have been put on bed rest until 5am on Wednesday, at which point, I will be induced. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now... I thought I would have a little more time to get ready. But it's nice to know that in 2 days I finally get to meet and hold my son or daughter!

Showers and such...

Wow! I have had quite a week... it all kicked off Saturday morning, when I went to a baby shower for my friend Tiffany. She is due about 3 weeks after me. It was fun and nice to get out for a bit! After that, I had a little bit of time to run some errands before going to my baby shower! It was hosted by Randy's sister, Diana, and their sister-in-law, Kathy. I had a great time! The slide show below are pictures from my mother-in-law's camera. I do have others, but I don't have the energy to sort through and organize them all right now, and hers were pretty simple and to the point. Not exactly very flattering pictures, mind you, but you get the point! Since I had already had a busy day, and this shower didn't start until 3, I was pretty swollen which makes me look even big than I am, and the pressure makes my skin red. Pregnancy is fun!!




After the shower, we had dinner out with Randy's family to celebrate his upcoming birthday, his dad's birthday that just passed, and our impending arrival. Dinner was at The Brasserie, which I love! It's a little pricey, and we probably won't ever go there on our own, but when we're being treated to dinner, we certainly won't turn it down! I had a Beef Tenderloin Salad. So yummy! It had mixed greens, tenderloin, grapes, apples, Gorgonzola cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. Mmm... I'm just making myself hungry thinking about it! And since everyone else was drinking wine, I asked the bartender to make me something fruity (no peach) and alcohol free. I'm not exactly sure what I got, but it was a pomegranate something or other. Also very yummy!

Anyway, I basically left home at 10am on Saturday, and didn't get home until midnight. It was a very long day, and it made Sunday even harder! We got up and went to church (at this point, if we don't show up, people will assume I'm in the hospital and we don't want any rumours floating around!). After that, I headed over to Coach Kathy's house for my running group shower!! Talk about knowing how to throw a party... Chicken Cordon-Blue, stuffed mushrooms, cake, pie, more cake, punch. The food was all incredible! It was so nice to just sit around and catch up on every one's recent and upcoming races!! It sounds like everyone is doing so well with their training! And then, of course, the gifts... that part is always fun too! I don't have pictures yet from that shower but I'm working on it. It's nice to have such awesome friends! I do love all of my gifts, but I have to send a special shout-out to Lisa and Chrissy and for giving me a gift for me and not so much for the baby - they are treating me to a spa treatment of my choice after the baby comes. I thought it was very sweet and thoughtful! My guess it that I will use it for a massage after my first attempt back at running - I have a feeling I'm gonna need it!

The rest of the week has been pretty normal. I'm just feeling more tired than I have been, so by the time I get home from work, I'm ready for dinner, a nap, and then off to bed. Yesterday, I had an appointment with my doctor and she confirmed that things are starting to progress. I have started dilating, and I'm almost at 2cm, and she can feel the baby's head. Now I understand why I have to pee every time I stand up! My weight gain is up to 157. Not too happy about that, but as long as the baby and I are both healthy, I'm not going to stress about it. I know it will come off pretty easily, so it's okay! She is a little concerned though, because my blood pressure is a little higher than it has been. Still in the "normal" range as far as that goes - 122/68, but higher than usual. The blood pressure, combined with the swelling that I've having, are early warning signs of pre-eclampsia. I haven't actually been diagnosed yet, but she wants to keep an eye on it, so I'm going back Monday for a blood pressure check. I guess that is, assuming I make it to Monday! Since we're expecting a big snowstorm this weekend, and Randy's birthday is this weekend, it would be our luck to end up in the hospital! We're hoping he/she holds off until April 2, which was Randy's grandma's b-day (and she lived to be 96!). But we'll take whatever we get and just be thankful for a healthy baby!

Okay, now that I've written a short novel, I should probably get off here. If anything happens, I'll keep y'all updated! For now, I'm just resting as much as can, and taking it easy. But I'm ready to get this pregnancy thing over with and meet my baby!!

Nursery Photos!!!!!!!!!!

I know you've all been on pins and needles waiting for this moment... I finally have pictures of the baby's nursery! Okay, technically I had them a few days ago and have already posted them on my facebook, but I haven't had a chance to do a new blog until now. So without further ado...

Valance - I need a different curtain rod. You can't see it very well in this picture, but this one sags in the middle.

Quilt

See... I told you it sags!

Rug - I love the little whale!!

The cute little rocking chair to left was mine when I was little. Maybe it will bring Randy some "girl" luck!

That's it for now. I have 2 showers this weekend, so I'm sure I'll have lots of pics (and hopefully lots of fun stuff) to share next week! Have a good weekend!!

I Should Have Known!!

If you'll try to remember way back to Christmas, when Randy and I went to Dallas and stayed with his aunt and uncle... (or you can read this post). This is the same family that sent us the Boppy and 2 covers yesterday. So it's pretty safe to say that I'm not surprised that these are the 2 covers they sent...




They are too cute! If I hadn't been so tired, I would have washed them and put the Safari (jungle looking) one on the Boppy last night. The Zoo (blue) one is reversible, which is so fun! I just love getting gifts for the baby!! It's so much fun!!

LOST is on tonight, so I'm not sure if we'll get the curtains up, but we'll see. I'd like to, since I feel like I'm starting to run out of time. Not to mention that I'm in for quite a hectic weekend, with my friend Tiffany's shower, 2 showers of my own, and a birthday dinner for Randy and his dad, but hopefully staying busy will keep my mind off the fact that I'm just so tired of waiting! 25 days.... I can make it... Really...

Crib Pics and "Mystery" Gift

It's a good thing that I don't love my husband for his "handiness". Tools are just not his thing, so he had it in his head that he needed our engineer neighbor to help him put the crib together. And on Saturday, I finally got tired of looking at the unopened box in our nursery. And I opened it...



Turns out, all you need is a screwdriver. It comes with everything else, and it was actually very easy to put together. I was able to most of it by myself, until I got to the end and the center part of the crib needed to be lifted to be screwed on to the front and back. (At which point I had a hormonal breakdown and started bawling uncontrollably - then Randy came to help!) Here is the finished product...



At this point we still needed to get a mattress for it and wash the bedding and whatnot. We went later that afternoon and got the mattress, and then went to dinner with some friends. We got home and I went to bed, and I guess Randy felt bad for not helping me earlier, so he washed all the bedding and put it all together. I was so surprised on Sunday morning! I don't have pictures yet, because I'm still waiting to get the curtains hung, but hopefully we can get to that tonight or tomorrow.

And today, I received another baby gift in the mail! This one is from Randy's aunt and cousin who live in Dallas.



I feel bad for opening the box, but I didn't know it wouldn't be wrapped! I'll still let Randy open the other 2 packages, even though I'm pretty sure they are covers for the Boppy. I will still be surprised as to which covers they are, so that's fun!

Ok - I gotta get out of here and get to my aqua class. It seems like such a waste of a beautiful day to go to the pool, but it feels so good! Maybe I can get Randy to take a walk with me after dinner... Later!

Tipping the Scales

Another exciting visit with the doctor today... This one went much more smoothly than the last! My only problem is their scale! They have one of these types...



... and it must be broken. The bottom slider thingy (that's a highly technical term) goes up in increments of 50, and I've always been on the "100" setting. Today, they had to move it up to 150... 151 and 3/4 to be exact. I was hoping to avoid that, but oh well. It probably doesn't help that since Saturday, I have had an incredible appetite (and room to store it). Guessing maybe the baby has started to drop?? Before Saturday, it only took a few bites before I started getting full. And then BAM we went to Steak & Shake for lunch, and I had a Frisco Melt, an order of cheese fries, a cup of chili, a root beer float, and I still had room for more! I didn't eat any more, but I still had room! A week before that I would have struggled to finish just one of those things. Woohoo!!! I guess this means I can go back to the Extra-long chili cheese coney on my next trip to Sonic!

Anyway, enough talk about food - I'm making myself hungry. I'm headed off to my aqua aerobics class, and then home to take care of my sick hubby. Later!

Bring on the gifts!! **Updated**

I just recieved a gift from someone who can't make it to my shower!! I can't wait to get home tonight and see what it is! I could be mean and open it now, but I really don't want Randy to be left out. My aqua class tonight will not be over soon enough!!

**UPDATE**

And the winner is...



I can't wait to put our baby's hand and foot prints in this awesome frame!

Yippee!!!

I got home last night and found this awesome invitation in my mailbox...



I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!! It's much cuter without all of the important info blacked out, but since I don't know who reads this blog, I'd prefer to keep our personal info, well... personal.

This shower will be mainly comprised of the women in our families and my long-time girlfriends and coworkers. I'll be having another shower the following day (the 22nd) for my running group. I don't know where Coach Kathy is on that, but if you're interested, be sure to let her know!

So yeah, other than that, nothing too exciting going on. I'm sick, again, thanks to my loving hubby. I definitely don't have it near as bad as he does, but he isn't dealing with all of my pregnancy issues, so it kinda works out. I do feel bad that he isn't feeling well, but he can't expect me to baby him when I feel crappy too!!

A few exciting things coming up, though... I'm going out with the girls Friday night! Woohoo! It's my friend Krista's birthday, and it's a fairly new club, so I'm looking forward to it. I may not make it past dinner... but it will be fun to get dressed up and get out for a bit!

Saturday, our church youth are having their huge annual garage sale. I need to go home and gather up all the stuff I want to donate and take it to the church. Gotta make room for the baby and we just have too much junk! Anyway, the garage sale is a pretty big fundraiser for the youth and they always have a little bit of everything, so check it out! http://www.faithumctulsa.org/

And Sunday, we're starting a new evening service called Vespers. Here's some info...
(click on the picture to make it bigger!)


I guess that's all for now! <3