Odds and Ends

Well, we have been trying to get the final steps of preparation taken care of and still have a few odds and ends left...But for the most part, we are ready (just in time for full term!). Not only do we need to get everything together at home and for the hospital, I need to stay on top of my studies! I have been trying to get ahead to no avail. I guess as long as I am keeping up that is good enough. I went to the dr. this week and everything is looking great - I guess my body is starting to get ready and everything is measuring perfect (and the baby's head is down). So, life is good!

In this picture you can see three beautiful blankets made for Baby Gille from family and friends. I love them all because they are so unique and whimsical. You can also see the prayer shawl they had for us at church today. They prayed over it this morning before worship and then had it available for the congregation to touch and pray over on their way to have communion. We both feel very grateful to the church and the congregation for thinking of us during this time!

After church we began packing our bags. I compiled a long list of what everyone had suggested to us and tried to cover as much as possible. Now I just have a small shopping list to pick up the last little bits! Some of the items were more difficult to find or pack - like, the winter olympics, chick fil a, and champagne. But others were easier :) Ross also has the dog food sectioned out into baggies for the dog boarding place. Our plan is to drive by and drop them off on the way to the hospital if it is during a time that the dog club is open...otherwise we will have to have someone come and let them out a few times a day to eat and play. We have a few friends and a dog sitter who can help us with that, if needed!

Ross put the car seat in the car along with the seat cover and mirror...just in case! We don't want to have to worry about this whenever labor begins :) We already have the doggie gate installed to prevent the dogs from jumping onto our little bambino in the future (thanks Granny and Keke! That was such a great idea!).

36 Weeks

I can't believe we only have 4 weeks or so to go! It never ceases to amaze me how fast the time has gone by. I think I will attribute it to the weekly monitoring of the pregnancy because I have been following the book "Your Pregnancy, Week by Week". Somehow when you only look at a week at a time it adds up really fast! The baby is still kicking like crazy and it always seems to be in the same spots. I am hoping that when I go to the doctor on Friday they will be able to tell if the baby is head down and about how big he or she is getting (the last visit the doctor didn't touch me, his PA in training measured and listened to the heartbeat...he is not my fav. But the visit before the doctor was pretty sure we were headed in the right direction but wasn't 100%). Most of the movement I have been feeling is on the top left of my belly, so hopefully that is a foot kicking :) Ross and I are convinced we are having a big baby due to family history...maybe we will be wrong!

This quarter of grad school is beginning to feel like it is wrapping up. I am very much appreciative because pregnancy brain has taken over and I feel like I am not doing the best I could. Actually, to be honest, I think I turned in my worst paper ever last weekend :( I guess that is life. Luckily I have a pretty strong A from the beginning 6 weeks of the quarter to help me out.

On a side note...Ross is such an awesome hubbie :) For my birthday (forever ago) he got me a floor to cieling cleaning by Molly Maid for me to use whenever I want during my pregnancy. I just scheduled them for early September and am beside myself with excitement. It just seems to be getting more and more difficult to keep up with the cleaning while at the same time all I can see is what needs to be cleaned. I feel like I am taking crazy pills!

Sorry for the lack of a picture this week. Our camera decided to quit on us this week and Ross is in the process of picking out a new one. Hopefully we can have this situation remedied ASAP!

Good luck Christy and Patrick...you are in our prayers! (twins to be induced this Sat :))

Bump!

35 weeks!

Well, the time is beginning to wind down and I am excited that we will get to meet our little bundle of joy soon :) The baby seems to be extremely active and sometimes it feels like his or her feet are stuck above or below my ribcage! It's really exciting to have so much movement going on because Ross can see (from across the room) and feel much easier now. We just laugh! Other than beingtired I am feeling pretty good...Although, if I walk for any amount of time outside I end up with elephant feet for a few days. But it goes away or I fall asleep and forget about it. One of the presents I got at the shower was a recipe book for making your own baby food...so naturally I am interested to hear what everyone thinks bout making baby food! There seem to be conflicting ideas about the nutrition, value, and tastyness of either store-bought or homemade. Some arguments say that storebought is best because they are fortified with extra vitamins and are a huge convenience while others arguethat homemade is more tasty, cost effective, and nutritionally sound (meaning there are no fillers). What have you tried? Or what do you think about this?

On a complete sidenote - I have decided I need to start being more crafty. I was extremely crafty in high school and at some point during college I lost my desire to craft. I miss it. So, I have spent a few years trying to decide what craft I want to commit to. In my opinion, this is no light matter. There are so many fun options and I would likely want to do them all...unfortunately each craft comes with a price tag and it is hard to make the plunge when I am not sure if I am even going to like it or be any good at it. But you should see some of the amazing stuff my crafty/artsy friends and family make! I have two beautiful necklaces and mobile for the baby room from my friend Tricia, I get the most adorable cards from my sister-in-law Taryn, A baby quilt from Nicole and Heather, An OSU wreath from Natalie, the most delicious home-made jelly from Erin and Ryan...the list goes on and on!

As you can see above, I have decided to try out crochet and made a lovely winter hat during the month of August (hehe). Archie is such a great model...I tried to model this but the circles under my eyes do not look good in a close-up pic. So...stay tuned for more fun crochet projects!

Banfield Baby Shower!

Healther Lane, Kim Fry, Virginia Perkins, Me,

Amy Granbois, Lindsay Notargiacomo, and Jamie Catanzaro

My friends from Banfield threw me a baby shower this weekend. It was so much fun! We played some fun games (I need to re-learn my nursery rhymes) and ate the most delicious cake from Apple Annies here in Wilmington. I love all these girls and miss working with them so much. The baby even kicked for a little bit for them :)

We brought the balloons in this picture home - Lizzie loves them... and Archie is scared of them. Too funny to watch!

On a side note...I can't believe we are coming up on 35 weeks! The time is flying by so fast now. I am finding that the third trimester is full of fun things like wierd sleeping patterns and heartburn. However, I think my hair and nails have never appeared so fabulous.

Myrtle Beach

Well, somehow my family is terrible at taking pictures when we are together so I do not have any to share...but I had a great time visiting with them when they were vacationing in Myrtle Beach last week. Ross and I drove down for the day on Sunday and the girls hung out at the pool while the guys went golfing. And I was not the only pregnant lady at the pool...I had three friends but I had the best bathing suit. And Keisuke made the most amazing teriyaki chicken and broccoli for dinner. Seriously, if we all knew how to make broccoli like this - everyone would be much healthier and asking for their little trees. My mom was able to come to our house for a quick visit at the beginning of the week and we went shopping for my hospital bag goodies (robe, nursing tops, nursing bras, ice cream - oh wait, I already ate that). And finally the family wrapped up the week at our house :) Too much fun!

I was so happy Leanna was able to come on vacation and she brought her friend Allie, who was hilarious. Leanna actually got to help me out a little with my schoolwork while she was here...it was hard not laughing during our mock "counseling sessions". She played the part of a troubled teenager who recently started dating a boy and now doesn't participate in Key club or band and her grades are dropping....and I was the school counselor, of course. The best part of this whole thing was when my mom burst into the room and said "I'm taking orders for bagel bakery, what do you want? Oh no! Don't transcribe this into your paper!" Sometimes I wonder what it is going to be like when I counsel a child who actually is having a legitimate issue - not just pretending. I guess time will tell! Probably less giggling when I ask, "how does that make you feel?"

I have learned that my body is not so happy about walking out in the heat and humidity anymore because my ankles swelled and turned a lovely shade of black, blue, and purple. Must love being in the final stretch of pregnancy during the hottest time of the year...in the south. Woohoo!

On a side note...we have finally zeroed in on both our girl and boy names and now I wish we were having one of each so we could secure both of them ;) Sorry...not sharing until baby Gille arrives! I'm so excited!

Gender Prediction

Please ignore the circles under my eyes... Bump at 31 weeks

Well....I have gotten a lot of flack for not finding out the gender of the baby (or sharing the name options). So, thanks to the wonder of the internet, we can now have a theoretical answer to this question (www.childbirth.org/articles/boyorgirl.html). I completed a survey to determine the gender! Please keep in mind that the majority of my answers are based on what someone has told me during pregnancy or how I am feeling currently, so you might disagree. In addition, a few questions did not provide my true answer as an option so I went with the closest possible answer. I am going to add a poll to the side of the blog for you to vote on your choice :)

You have a 33% chance of having a boy

You have a 66% chance of having a girl

And Here's Why...

You are carrying the extra weight out front - so it's a boy

The hair on your legs is not growing any faster during your pregnancy - so it's a girl

Girls are carried high - You are going to have a girl

Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the North indicates that you will be having a boy

Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy - you are having a girl

You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread - you are having a girl

Dad-to-be hasn't been gaining weight along with mom-to-be - so it will be a girl

The maternal grandmother doesn't have gray hair (dyed or natural) -so a girl will be born

You didn't have morning sickness early in pregnancy - so it will be a boy

You are looking particularly good during pregnancy - therefore it must be a boy because girls steal their mother's looks

Your chest development has been quite dramatic during pregnancy - you should expect a girl

The sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of month of conception is even - it will be a boy

A needle on a thread held over your belly moves in circles - so it will be a boy

Your urine is a dull yellow color - so you will have a girl

You are craving sweets - which means that it is a girl

Your nose hasn't changed during pregnancy - which indicates a girl

You have been craving fruits - so it is a girl

Your baby's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute - so it's a girl

Hospital

Hello everyone!! Ross and I have officially completed our prepared childbirth class series and I can honestly say I feel maybe 10% more prepared...hehe. I figure by the time the baby is ready to come I won't remember a lot of what we discussed in class. I think this is why Ross had to go with me :) For the grand finale last night we were able to tour the hospital in a walk through the birthing process sort of way. The hospital has a brand new women's and children's wing called the Betty H. Cameron and it is very nice (and not too hospital smelly). Although I guess the "bed" that is available for dads is not too comfortable - our nurse told us that her husband kept complaining about how his back hurt after sleeping there and she was like "oh really? because my _ hurts!" I'm thinking maybe we should bring in one of those egg crate things for Ross to make it better since he already has back issues.

So this brings me to a question for all you mothers out there...what would you recommend I/we pack for the stay at the hospital? Is there anything you remember being thankful for bringing or that you wished you had? I'm thinking clothes (what did you wear? just pj's or loungewear or a complete outfit?), toiletries, slippers, and a robe at this point.

You can go here to do a virtual tour of the birthplace if you would like...

www.nhrmc.org/body.cfm?id=90