Full Term - 37 Weeks, May 20, 2007

The time has now come where this baby could arrive any moment - however, her parents-to-be would really like to wait until
at least June 1st. This past week has been pretty good. I'm noticing that my level of patience as well as irritability have been markedly declining & rising, respectively. We still have a few finishing touches to make the nursery feel complete, and each day/weekend we're making progress towards that. This weekend I made some flannel swaddle/throw blankets for the baby as well as embellished some cloth diapers/burp clothes with ribbon just to make them a little cuter to carry around. On Saturday John and Curt went to play 9 holes of golf, while I went to the spa at Destination Maternity. I got a massage, and they have the coolest apparatus to allow you to lay on your stomach & get a back massage. I haven't laid on my stomach for several months, and it was really nice - not to mention the fact that all those sore muscles were massaged and treated with a little TLC! This was a treat - and I will highly recommend it to all expenctant women. I've been having some slight swelling in my feet by the end of the day - noticably more in my left foot. Here's a little trick the massage therapist recommended & I did it today and didn't have nearly as much swelling by days end: raise out your leg & write out the alphabet with each foot a couple times a day - this forces the fluids back up your legs. Great trick & it really works. The last couple of nights I've also been having baby dreams and they're basically about just what everyday life is like with a newborn. Guess you know what's been on my mind right before falling asleep. We're getting ready & more excited to hold this little girl & see what she looks like - and in some ways it still feels a bit surreal to think that this is our baby - not anyone elses. It's all very good & what a comfort to reflect on the verses in Psalm 139 - knowing that all the days ordained for her are known by God before one of them comes to be. We're praying for her life even now as we wait in expectation for her birth day!

Mother's Day 2007; 36 Weeks

What a great first Mother's Day! John gave me a beautiful diamond pendant as my mother's day/push present. For those of you who don't know what a push present is - this is a southern thing, or at least I hadn't heard about it until we moved here - it's a gift to the mom after she delivers her baby & I thought it was a great tradition. After church we came home and John made a wonderful brunch - his famous french toast, bacon, yogurt, juice & coffee. We ate out on the patio & it was a picture perfect day here in Charlotte. We are taking full advantage of being able to relax and nap whenever we want in these last few weeks - so we slept for over 2 hours, then got up and called our mother's to check in and wish them a great Mother's Day as well. We ran around and got a few things for the baby room - storage solutions & a pendant lamp to hang over the rocker/glider. Curt stopped by & John grilled steak & we had another fabulous meal on the patio & nice relaxing evening. I should really put a picture of Curt on our blog - he is sporting quite the hairdo these days - think Bob Ross without the facial hair. (You'll have to Google him if you don't know who he is) Curt - if you're reading this, sorry, I just couldn't resist. As far as news about the baby - she continues to move around, although I feel like everything is getting really tight in there & I've had a little more discomfort sleeping and getting comfortable; more heartburn/indigestion & more pressure and soreness on my ligaments and pelvic joints. I've noticed some swelling of my ankles, but it's definately more pronounced on my left foot. Other than a few discomforts - I'm still feeling pretty good, and I'm very thankful I won't be pregnant here in the Carolinas over the hot summer. I'm having a really strong sense that this baby will come early (who knows if it's sense or just wishful thinking). I checked the calendar & May 31st is a full moon and I've heard that for some reason several women go into labor when there's a full moon - gravity pull or something? But - I'm guessing she'll come 7-10 days early, sometime around the 1st of June. I guess we'll just wait to see. We'll keep you updated with baby news. I called the labor & delivery unit at CMC & they said that they have wireless internet on their floor, so we should be able to bring our laptop and send out a mass email with news. This week I plan to finish washing all the babies' clothes & I bought some cloth diapers that I'd like to embellish with some cute ribbon and use as burp cloths - and then there's just a few more things we'd like to get & I think we'll be ready. Take care - have a great week!

35 Weeks, May 6th, 2007

Here we are...into the final countdown. Just about a month to go. I'm finally feeling a little more tired - all I want to do when I come home from work is rest on the couch - or go to bed early and read a book, which is all completely normal. I get a weekly email from babycenter.com and it tracks the growth of the baby and changes that I will be experiencing, and this week it says that all organs are developed and the last few weeks are basically having the baby add on weight. There really can't be much room left in there! I've been waking up almost nightly with pretty severe indigestion/acid reflux - so my bottle of Mylanta has been a lifesaver. This past weekend we hung out with my brother, Curt on Friday night and got a movie. Then on Saturday, I had another baby shower with the ladies in our choir. We had such a nice time together for brunch. John worked out in the garage and sanded down the used wooden rocker we got at a garage sale last weekend to put downstairs in our family room. He painted it black, and also painted a mirror frame white for the babies' room. On Sunday afternoon we had tickets to go to the Wachovia Championship golf tournament, courtesy of my boss. It was such a pretty day, and we sat in the stands of the 17th hole and saw several of the golfers come through. We did see Tiger on the course as well as some other big names. On Wednesday of this last week, John got to go to the ProAm and saw Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning and several others. Even though golf really isn't that big on my priority list - it was pretty fun to attend.
The week ahead basically consists of work, my once/month sewing class & getting a few more things ready for the baby.
Hope you all have a great week!