Blessed....

So Mary Beth threw us a shower last night - all the girls from work and all our local friends were invited and it was so perfect! Everything down to the cake & cup cakes - compliments of Jennifer - was...what's the word???? oh yeah - PERFECT!

YES - the elephant is the cake! I don't want to cut into it - it's too perfect! And besides looking good - the cupcakes were oh so great to eat!! YUMMY!! The baby had a nice sugar high until about midnight!



Thanks to Beth for manning the camera and getting some great shots...the "guess the size of Abbie's belly" game was a hoot and I left there in tears after an amazing video that Mary Beth put together (with the help of Chris). Every detail down to the homemade wrapping paper from Sherri made the night so special (I will find a second use for that "recycled" grocery bag!!!!) The video I'm going to try and post on here...not sure my technical abilities will figure out but I'm going to try!



I managed to pull myself together only to loose it again when I unpacked everything when I got home. For those of you who know what my car was loaded down with - don't worry I left the heavy stuff in the car for Chris - I didn't even try to move it!

Everything from the baby sling (so excited to use!!! Ashley & Patti it will be like you are both there helping me hold the baby!) to the Red Sox bib (I have to add - compliments of a loyal Mets fan!) was MUCH NEEDED and appreciated more than words can ever express. What is really amazing is that between this shower and the one we had up with Chris's family - we really didn't get a lot of duplicate items - each blanket we've received, I know thirty years from now I'll be able to remember who it came from as each is so unique and we didn't get ALL blankets or ALL outfits. I've been able to treasure each and every burp cloth and onesie we have received.

My "family" from EWP got us our high chair and I know I will say a silent thanks to each one of them every time I put the baby in it! Even the "thoughtful" cards - (thanks Tricia) still have me thinking...deep thought for the day....has anyone ever pondered the fact that DIAPER backwards is repaird....yeah - try opening that card for the first of you shower - my brain is not working on all circuits as it is and that just stopped me dead in my tracks - it took me five minutes to read and re-read that card! Complete confusion.

It was wonderful to be surrounded by not only "the girls" from work but having my Aunt Donna there representing the family and then our friends - Shelia Schilling and the Krear girls (Miss Abbie I couldn't have asked for a better "assistant" to help me open the presents!)



I couldn't have been surrounded by a better gathering of women! The entire thing left me feeling so blessed and so overwhelmed - I don't think the tears can be blamed on my hormones!!! I thank each and every one of you!!!!

Week 37 - Doctors Appointment 1.27.09

So we finally met the last of the five doctors in the practice who could deliver the baby - I was really worried that the ONE that I didn't meet would end up being the one we saw when everything started to come together. Of the five - three are women, two are men - two of the three women are pregnant themselves and due right around when I am so they most likely will not be bringing our baby into the world. Thus - our choices are going to come down to Tosky, Buckley or Barrett.

The word today - the baby has not dropped! I'm measuring right at 37 weeks - which I hit offically tomorrow so that is good. Blood pressure is normal and my strep test came back negative which is great news! Baby is still head down and when Dr Barrett tried to get a heart beat it was like it was playing hide-and-seek - it was moving all over place! Usually it sits still during our appointments - for about the last 24 hours it's been running a marathon down there - last night I woke up for my routine 1:30 a.m. visit to the bathroom and it had to have been doing summersaults - it felt like popcorn popping and I was getting jabbed and punched all over the place.

I've decided that between now and when I deliver if I ever feel big all I'll do is think of the woman they were talking about on the news this morning - 8 babies! Did you all hear about that???? What gets me is she thought she was having 7 and whoops! There was an eighth one when they started taking them all out. It took like five minutes for all of them to be born - CRAZY! Twins I always say are like an instant family - eight on the other hand is like an instant neighborhood! I can't imagine....

I feel like the baby is putting on size as the kicks I feel have a lot more "umph" behind them - also my belly feels like it really can't stretch any more...it's like my skin went from being a wool blanket to a piece of saran wrap in thickness. The baby gets really mad when I lean against my desk or the counter and pushes back when something invades it's space. The other night Chris was saying "hello in there" and the baby kicked really hard - funny timing but I know it can hear noises and when something is really loud around me it almost seems like it startles it. I've figured out that when I drink ginger ale - my choice of beverage at the end of the day when I'm overloaded with water - it gives the baby hiccups - yesterday I drank a sprite mid-day just to test my theory and low and behold - it held true - it's got to be the bubbles!

Our next appointment is Monday...stay tuned...I feel like I live at the doctors office right now!

Week 36 Doctors Appointment 1.22.09

No baby this week is basically the word. Had my strep test done - hopefully that comes back negative and the doctor confirmed baby is head down. No dialiation to report or anything like that - seemed to think that I would be going the full 40 weeks which is FINE BY ME! I have been having some random backaches that I was worried about but he said the way I described them they are just muscular and not contractions. My BH contractions have been picking up - I have two really close together and then a few more like four or five hours later. Doctor said not to worry and just take it easy.

We had our last baby class last night - it was on breastfeeding - great information and wasn't but two hours so that was good. Chris is very happy to be done with "school" but said both classes were worth taking.

Here's what my week 36 email told me about the baby....glad the baby is head down - I don't like the sounds of that manipulation!

Your baby is gaining about an ounce a day. It now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. It's shedding most of the downy hair that covered its body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected the skin during the nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, your baby will be considered full-term. Most likely it's in a head-down position, but if not, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where they'll try to turn your baby by manipulating it from the outside of your belly.

Snow Day - Week 35 - 1/20/09

So we went to bed thinking that it was going to be another typical NC weather MISSED snow forecast...we woke at about 3:30 a.m. to snow covering the ground and then at 5:30 to about 3-4 inches! We saw on the news that the preschool that the baby will (fingers crossed) go to would have been closed today so it's sort of baby's first SNOW DAY! :) Being 8 months pregnant and the roads being AWFUL, I called today a wash and stayed home. I really wasn't in the mood to slide into a ditch or be in a fender bender in my condition.

What to report...we had our second baby class on Saturday. Learned all about the process for a c-section and what to expect. Learned how to write up our birth plan so the doctors know what our wishes are for drugs and such. Came home and packed my hospital bags - I hope that by doing so I won't need them for the four more weeks until I hit week 40. Lots and lots of baby kicking and lots and lots of trips to the bathroom - I forgot about those first trimester joys! Still swimming but had to cut down my yardage as I was falling asleep at about 3:00 every afternoon - now I can make it to bed time with "sleepy hour" from about 6-8.

We had some dear friends loose their house in a fire over the weekend and when we called to check on them they asked how I was doing - HOW I WAS DOING!!!! Besides the fact my heart was broken for them and I was worried to heck about them I was just fine! YEAH RIGHT! That tells you the type of people they are - WONDERFUL caring people! Chris had JUST been at their house earlier this week and the one blessing that comes out of the entire thing is that they OK. So any prayers you are saying this week, please direct them to Al & Janet in Pickens, SC. 2009 will be a big year for them - rebuilding their house and welcoming their first grand child who is due shortly after our baby - god works in mysterious ways.

Not much more to report..as the baby seems to be on go my movement has slowed significantly and it gets frustrating not being able to do simple things like - PUTTING ON MY OWN SOCKS! I can usually do it if I remember to do so BEFORE I put my pants on but I forgot the other morning and Chris had to help me out. Thankfully I had lots of slip on shoes (LL Bean wool clogs are the best!) before I was pregnant so I've been wearing them out. We go to our last baby class tomorrow night - it's all about breastfeeding and a few of the other couples in our class have taken it and said it was really, really good so we are looking forward to it. I have my week 36 appointment on Thursday - they will be doing my strep test I was told at the last appointment.

Happy SNOW day!!

Week 35 - Mom might need a new compass!!!

So I had my week 34 day 6 appointment yesterday with the same doctor who Chris and I saw on Christmas eve and....drumroll....everything is great! I look great, blood pressure great, weight great - I almost thought I was seeing his twin or something! He said I wasn't swollen at all compared to some women and that its a testament to my swimming and healthly lifestyle. The best news of the appointment was when he said the baby was HEAD DOWN and in perfect position. I guess the baby knows which direction it needs to go after all!! Doc said he was about 98% sure it was head down and that if there was any question in a few weeks they would do an ultrasound to confirm before I gave birth. He said he was very pleased with how my pregnancy was going - yes - complete turn around from my last visit with him. It made me feel better about possibly having him in the delivery room with us when the baby makes its arrival.

Tonight I have another prenatal massage at the magical Healing Waters Spa - compliments of my wonderful husband! Chris has been running himself crazy around the house - doing the dishes and vacuuming before I can even get downstairs to say 'I was thinking of vacuuming today' - he had to go out of town and left me with a fridge full of food so I wouldn't have to cook, an empty dishwasher and NO laundry. Last week my weekly email had an article about a study that just came out that shows that how women who eat an apple a day have babies who are less likely to have asthma and it also said that women who eat fish during their pregnancy are more likely to have kids that don't have any skin problems as babies - so after forwarding that to Chris I come home on Friday to homemade Clam Chowder (if anyone is looking for a recipe Chris has a great one!!) and lobster - YUM!!! Since I already eat an apple every afternoon, he's now making sure I eat my fish too!!

That's all for now...everything is right in line according the doctor for my February 18th due date....we might start a poll to see who thinks I'm going to be early, on time or late....watch out for that!!

Picture for the day - this was called "baby food"

First Baby Class ~ 1/13/2009

So Saturday we had our first "baby class" - not knowing what to expect we arrived early only to almost be run over by some guy trying to pull into the hospital. I jokingly said "Watch him be in our class" and low and behold - he was. Not only did he park right next to us but opened his door so I couldn't get out of the car then we had to sit next to them in class - uh! There were about 12-14 couples in the class and in true Abbie and Chris fashion by the end of the 8:30-1:00 session we had nicknames for almost of them! There were the jerks from the parking lot - RIGHT next to us - he later proceeded to call us "those people" even though the instructor had given us all name tags a blind 90 year old could read!...we also had "hot pants" and her boy-toy husband - they were decked out in velvet sweats and liked to hear themselves speak. The instructor turned out to be really nice - Tara - she's been teaching for about 10 years and is very informative and helpful. After practicing our breathing and reviewing the different stages of labor we got to tour the hospital. It was helpful knowing where to go when something happens and what the rooms would be like. We only saw three babies - slow weekend for births! - and were introduced to all the "goodies" that the rooms come stocked with - very interesting underwear for after birth - they got the whole group laughing!

Our class is two Saturday's from 8:3-1:00 - next door to us was the ONE day class - talk about a cram session! We both broke at the same time and while waiting in the hall for one of the three bathrooms I noticed a lady who looked familiar - then it dawned on me - Paige from NBC17....I told Chris about her and how she was doing a blog following her pregnancy - we joked we were glad we weren't in her class as she might end up telling stories about the people in her class on the air or on her very public blog!!

So I hit 35 weeks tomorrow, doctors appointment today and from this point forward I go once a week. The baby still doesn't seem to have turned and is kicking away more than ever. Big strong kicks that thankfully don't really hurt - just feel so funny! The baby has however developed a very steady schedule....it's sleeping thorugh the night and wakes with me - sleeps suring my swims every morning and then wakes back up for a few hours and goes back to sleep for a few hours...this goes on all day. I told Chris that it's got a great schedule going right now - I know it's completely wishful thinking that it will carry it with it once it's in the outside world!

Baby needs a better sense of direction!

So as previously reported - this child inside of me has it's head up by my right ribs and it's butt/feet down by my left hip/below left ribs. The doctors said two appointments ago that its completely normal for it to be breech as it is right now - up until even week 35 or 36....but I can honestly say - with the sense of direction that this one has right now there is no way its going to be the next Christopher Columbus! It's been pushing up all day and for the few moments that I've gotten a bit of peace, it's pushed off to the right! I guess it's good that it's not pushing down right now but still - uh! This child must not have packed a compass in there!!!

Happy New Year!

So the baby made it to midnight - well about 12:02 and then it was time to sleep! We headed up to the beautiful mountains of NC this weekend for a shower hosted by Chris's sister and cousin. They did a great job and we got a ton of wonderful gifts for the baby - I can honestly say we are a lot more ready than we were for sure! Chris did a great job of putting together the items we got that required assembly - I on the other hand did the wash, even my pudgy fingers can still handle that! It was nice to visit with family and friends....most who attended have known Chris since he was little and he enjoyed catching up with them.

Here are a few shots from the shower - they made Chris participate in the one game they did - he and two others were given baby bottles and they had to drink the apple juice faster than the other two to win. Chris quickly learned that his bottle didn't have a hole so he just simply unscrewed the lid and downed his juice - moral of the story - don't buy bottles at the dollar store!

The beautiful cake they had for us -



Our "diaper cake" -








My brother-in-law did the 'ring' test on my belly and my wrist - his guess - BOY - however when Chris held the string above my belly - it didn't move an inch!




Last but not least - here's my week 33 picture for those of you who haven't seen me in a while...we took it with the sun setting on baby's first drive up the mountain - with my brown sweater I blend into the trees but you get the idea - I'm getting bigger by the day!



We start our baby classes this weekend - I'm sure I'll have something to report back...one can only imagine what funny things we'll learn about! Only a few more weeks until I start visiting the doctor once a week (I'm still doing every two weeks right now)...baby is still sitting with its head in my right ribs, moving a lot however, sleeping, or rather, allowing me to sleep through the night which is wonderful.