34 Weeks & Packing List

I went to the doctor on Monday the 23rd with my mother-in-law Jan. I'm measuring at 35 weeks, so Dr. B would like to look into inducing on September 27th. Seeing as how Miss Paige's head is a little large, the idea of inducing a week early doesn't bother me. I'm still holding out for her to come on her own, but I'm also preparing myself for being induced. Dr. Barki assured me that she won't be able to induce if my body isn't ready. More stretching and walking has been added to my daily activities to try to help my body get ready. Paige's heartbeat was at 146.

Seeing as how the possibility of her coming early is now becoming a reality Corey and I will commence our packing and car seat installation this weekend. Some things beside the essentials (clothing, toiletries and Paige's items) that we will be packing are as follows:

-Laptop
-Both Video and Digital Cameras
-Our relaxing to me play list downloaded to Iphone - after Corey and I went to our birthing class this past weekend we were able to decide what things would help me relax the most, my #1 was the Wii, but since we are told that the TV's don't have the capabilities of hooking one up we are settling with music that I can sing along with. We were able to discuss things that wouldn't be helpful too.
-Massaging items - I'm told that I'm likely to have back labor pains.
-Exercise ball - deflated till I might need it and some gripping socks
-Pillows and quilts from home
-Something to read
-Clorox wipes, to make sure the bathroom is clean.
-Snacks for Corey that I won't care to have.
-slippers
-eye mask and ear plugs

I'm sure there are things I'm missing from our list, but I left it at home and I'm going off my memory which isn't very reliable right now.

Somethings I'm starting to feel: Pain when I walk (it takes me 4 times as long to get somewhere). Some real quick and very infrequent abdomen twitches/pain, which is from what I've heard not unusual and some people feel this for weeks before delivering. I've started to have somewhat a loss of appetite. I've also have been able to breath better when sitting, now I still get out of breath when moving too quickly or walking for a while, but being able to breath while sitting is an improvement. As of about a month ago I starting to feel this consistent thumping, come to find out little Paige gets the hiccups a couple of times during the day.

One advantage of having long legs and being pregnant is that I was able to trim and paint my toe nails. I noticed this morning while doing some stretches that I could still get in a position to paint my toe nails so I did.

Paige's Room Updates

Here are the before and after decorating pictures of three of the walls in Paige's room.



Crib Before



Crib and wall after. While my mom was here this weekend we worked on this craft project together. We have the crib skirt, but it is currently being used to help get fabrics for a quilt for Paige.



Changing Table and Dresser Before



Changing Table and Dresser After - the baskets are going to hold diapers, lotion, and other changing table necessities.



Window Before



Window After - It's amazing what curtains do to a room.

The last wall to reveal will be the wall from the chair to the crib. We will be putting up shelves and a painting that my dear friend Joni is doing. I'm so excited to see her painting!! We want to wait to put the shelves up till we know how big and where we are going to put the painting. We still need lamps for the room and for some reason we just can't seem to decide upon where to get them at.

32 Weeks

I look at myself everyday and think "I'm not getting bigger". Well today I took a picture and o my goodness, I'm huge!! No wonder people keep asking: How many more days, do you need to sit down, how big is that baby going to be, and are you sure there isn't two?

So here are my growing pictures just to see the progress:



12 Weeks



14 Weeks



18 Weeks



22 Weeks



26 Weeks



32 Weeks up close



32 Weeks

I'm starting to understand why Corey thinks I hog our queen bed. Despite how big I am I can say that I'm feeling great. My back doesn't hurt, I'm sleeping like a log, and I'm still getting things done around the house with no problem, except for getting things off the bottom shelf in the kitchen is getting a little harder to do. I'm starting to wonder if I'll know when my nesting will kick in, since I'm still cooking and cleaning. What are some things that you did when you were nesting? When do you think the nesting kicked in?

Visit to the Specialist

Monday we saw a specialist about Paige's head and feet. I had a peace about everything, but was still a little scared. Once we got to the Dr. office all I could think about was getting to see our little girl again. Once we got into the ultrasound room I got even more excited because we were going to get to see her on a BIG TV, verses the 15 inch tube TV that my doctor office still has.

We first saw her sucking on her fingers. Then we moved to the head and it still looked oblong verses round but not by much. I did however read at the end of the ultrasound that her head circumference (29.9 cm) is measuring at 33 weeks 1 days, I'm was only at 31 weeks 1 day. So needless to say I'm a little concerned about the pain her head might cause me. Moving on... next we looked at the feet and they were so cute. One was hiding under my rib and it took several position moves from me to get to see that one clearly. According to the doctor they looked normal. The Dr. also said that though her head is not round, there doesn't seem to be any indication of any problems, she just has an odd shaped head. I guess I should also mention that she gained 7 oz. in one week!! Overall the ultrasound put her at 31 weeks 5 days

Thank you all for your prayers. God is always in control and this situation just showed me how much He is and I'm not.

I should have some 4D pictures to post after Friday. I have some from this doctors visit, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for all the parents.

30 Week Ultrasound

I know I said I would post a belly picture but I can't seem to remember to take one. So it might have to come later.

Yesterday we were able to see our "well nourished" baby girl Paige. Her head is down towards my left hip and her bum is snuggled by my right rib cage. She gave the ultrasound tech a few nudges during the whole process. I was amazed at how clear the ultrasound was and that we could see her big chubby cheeks. According to the ultrasound estimate she is weighing in at 3.7 lbs. this would put her at a week early if not two weeks. The guys at my office are going to start a pool on how much she is going to weigh. Also you can already see that Paige has some hair on her head, now the question is will it be blond or brown?

We met with Dr. B so she could go over the ultrasound with us. Dr. B has a few questions about some of the pictures, so she is sending us to a specialist to get a better look at baby Paige. Paige's head in one picture was round and in another it was not as round it had a few angles. I tried to tell Dr. B that square heads run in my family, just look at my dad, brother, niece and nephew, they all have square heads and I guess I kind of do too. Dr. B just laughed at my comment and then shared it with the nurses later to give them a good laugh too. Dr. B also said that it looks as though Paige could have clubbed feet, but won't know for sure till we go to the specialist. A few other things she added in there was that my glucose levels were really low that I'm almost hypoglycemic and that I'm on the verge of having too much amniotic fluid.

So we will be seeing the specialist on Monday in hopes to find out that everything is either ok or an easy fix. So please be praying for baby Paige and Corey and I. Corey has been completely encouraging and positive and I can't imagine going through this with anyone else. I know he worries, but he tries to be the strong one cause he knows I might crumble at any given moment.

Seeing Paige in the ultrasound makes me so excited to meet her in person!! She truly is a gift to us.

Week 28 and Glucose Testing

I have waiting to post this because I was waiting to hear my results from the Glucose testing but I'm just going to assume no news is good news.

The glucose drink isn't as bad as people say it is. What was bad was how I felt afterwards. I was thankful that I was in a room waiting on the doctor instead of the waiting waiting room. There were times I thought I was going to pass out or throw up. I'm not a big sugar person. I might have a piece of chocolate once a week if that. Don't get me wrong I love dessert, but I just don't crave it. So after drinking basically 8 oz. of sugar, I'm not surprised I felt the way I did. Paige was going crazy, I thought she was going to punch a hole in my tummy like on an alien movie. It took the nurse about 3 minuets to finally corner Paige in order to get a good heartbeat reading. She was very active which makes me excited to see her in the ultrasound we have on the 27th.

Paige's heartbeat was at 145 and the doctor said she was a well nourished baby. When we did my weigh in at the beginning of my appointment I asked the nurse to not write my weight down because I didn't want to get gripped out by Dr. B again, she just laughed and said not to worry about it. I'm assuming that the "well nourished baby" comment was her way of saying I'm eating well or eating too much. So as we walked out of the room I thanked Dr. B for not making any comments about my weight gain and nurses in the hall way just laughed. I like Dr. B and am grateful that she is always upfront and honest with me.

No belly picture this week, because I don't feel as though I look any different than the last one two weeks ago, but I will take one when I have my next appointment at 30 weeks.

We've Moved

We are officially moved and unpacked!!!

Moving was an ordeal, but after a few bumps in the road we got it all moved in and unpacked. The only painting that has and will be done before Paige gets here is her room and the guest bedroom, the rest can wait until I can help. Poor Corey hates painting, but he was a trooper and did a great job painting both rooms.

So here is Paige's room before (prior to the people moving out)



Here is her room after Corey painted and we assembled her furniture.



In the chair is the baby doll my grandmother made me swaddled up. I was showing Corey how to swaddle using a receiving blanket. Next I will show him how to put a diaper on. I know they demonstrate these things in the birth class, but I don't want Corey going in blind.



This is Paige's dresser and changing station, her closet is to the right.



Next thing to do is decorate. I have been looking for bedding and a diaper bag for over a year now. After finding out Paige was a girl we decided that we were no longer going to do neutral bedding that we would go with something a little more girl. This made the decision even more difficult. We have now purchased and returned one set of bedding and are hoping this weekend will be the final and correct purchase. Now the diaper bag has finally been purchased after several conversations with some experienced moms and with Corey's help. I'm realizing that I'm not in the state of mind to be making decisions, Corey is waiting for me to return the diaper bag, but after carrying it around and putting a few things in it I love it more and more each day and I feel pretty confident about it.

Baby bedding and a diaper bag are for some reason two things that were important to me. Baby bedding is something that sets the tone for all the decorating in the room. I'm not a great decorator so if I could find something that lets me go any direction, I will be happy. Now a diaper bag is important to me because it's like an emergency/survival kit for babies and mommies. It will carry a change of clothes, diapers, wipes, a bottle or 3, pacifiers, 5 burp cloths, aspirin for mommy, mommies wallet, books, toys and anything else you might need. It's something that you will carry till your child is out of diapers. A diaper bag is something I want to last through all of our kids or at least through 2 kids.

Blog post to come: Progress on Paige's room and the spare bedroom, our 30 week ultrasound, and our 3D ultrasound.