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!

34 Weeks, April 29, 2007

6 more weeks to go! It's hard to believe I'm almost at the end of my pregnancy...and even though I 've had it quite easy, I'm getting more ready to have my body back to normal (whatever that means). At my doctor's appointment last week, everything looked normal, and she could tell that the baby's head is positioned down. In the last week or so I've been feeling a lot more tightening and pressure on my stomach - she must be running out of room. This weekend we had friends visiting us - Jim & Jen Stumbo and their 2 kids as well as Sam & Erin Cruver and their 3 boys. Cruvers stopped by for a few hours on their way back to TN from Myrtle Beach and Stumbo's spent the weekend with us. On Saturday morning Jen & I got up and hit the neighborhood garage sale & found some good deals. I found a wooden rocker that John agreed to paint and we'll put that downstairs in our family room as an alternative to the rocker/glider for the nursery. I have yet to pack my overnight hospital bag - and I'm feeling the pressure to get that done just so we have it ready. At our showers we got a lot of things for the baby, and so we feel more ready in that regard as well. John has already installed the baby car seat in the back of my Jeep. Who knows when this baby will make her debut? I keep thinking of my mom this week - she delivered me 6 weeks early - and that would be like me having a baby this week!! I can imagine her shock and surprise to go to the hospital on Christmas day and have a baby. Hopefully this one waits until June at the expected timeframe. Well - I'm off to get things done. Sorry we've been so lax about getting this site updated - we'll try to be more consistent.

Baby Showers - April 2007

We had a fun weekend with family to celebrate a few baby showers! It was the first time I've seen Brandenburg's since Thanksgiving and my parents since Christmas. Our parents and John's sister, Sara stayed with us for the weekend. The girls started the morning off with a little R&R at My Bella Spa where we enjoyed some pampering with a pedicure/manicure combo.
Meanwhile, at home - John was cooking up his famous french toast - and after brunch we went to CMC hospital to take a tour so that everyone can see where we'll deliver the baby. It was nice for us to see the facilities as well.
My girlfriends, Christa & Chrissie threw me a shower on Saturday 4/21 - and they had contacted both moms for baby pictures of John and I - which they hung during the shower. It was such a fun time. Several ladies from our church choir were also there and it was so nice to introduce family to our "family" and friends that are involved in our lives here in Charlotte. While we attended the shower - the guys went golfing and then on Saturday evening we walked down to the shops at Blakeney and had dinner on the patio of Brixx pizza & listened to live music.
On Sunday afternoon - we were off to yet another shower - but this time the guys came along for a couple's shower. Our friends, Pete & Heather Grant hosted. We drove up to see this cute stork blow-up in front of their house. This shower was family & neighborhood friends from next door. It was fun to re-connect with everyone since the Grant's moved out of the neighborhood a couple years ago.
Parent's to be....

31 Weeks, April 8, 2007

Nine weeks to go! John and I are getting excited to see what this little girl looks like. We hope that you had a wonderful Easter weekend. Ours was pretty low key - which was much needed. We had dinner with our friends' and had fun watching the sweet babies play with plastic eggs. In the picture above (L to R), me, Mindy & Samuel, Christa & Caroline and Chrissie & Alicia.
A couple weeks ago we got our crib and dresser/changing table. We've put together the crib, and we have yet to put together the dresser - but that will come. We've attended our Childbirth classes at the hospital, and they were somewhat helpful. I've also signed up to take a Baby Massage class, as well as Baby CPR - just so we have additional information that we can potentially pull from if/when we need it. I still have felt really good, however, I am noticing that I'm beginning to get a little more tired in the afternoons - but that's to be expected. At my Dr.'s appointment today everything was looking good and she listened to the heartbeat, and it seems the baby's head is down right now - but she may still continue to change positions and move around in the next several weeks. I've asked the Dr. if there's any reason to believe I will go early since my mom had me 6 weeks early, and the others 3 weeks - and my grandma Klassen went approx. 3 or 4 weeks early with her 7 children - however the Dr. assures me that every woman is different, and there doesn't seem to be any correlation from mother to daughter - so I guess time will tell. On Saturday John and I went to Babies R Us to pick up just some basics to have ready when the baby comes home - a pack of diapers, wipes, creams, lotions, soap, newborn t-shirts, hats, socks, mittens, and a couple of outfit options to bring her home from the hospital in. Our families will be coming in a couple of weeks for some baby showers we're having here in Charlotte - and we're looking forward to spending time with them as well. Until next time....

29 Weeks, March 25, 2007

I am now officially a week into my third trimester. I keep telling everyone that I'm waiting for things to slow down, because I still feel like there's so much to do before this baby makes her debut! Supposedly the last trimester is the slowest, so we'll see - right now I feel like the time has just flown by. I had my gestational diabetes test this week - and thankfully everything was normal. I had waffles and syrup as my last meal before that test, just in case. John and I ordered our crib and dresser for the nursery, and it should be delivered on Thursday. I think I'll feel like everything is coming together once we get the room more set up. Also, this Thursday we start our childbirth classes at the hospital, and we've also registered for Infant CPR and baby massage classes. Can you see why I feel like there's so much to get done in the next few months? Also, we're excited to have family come visit in April for a couple of baby showers, and we've scheduled a grandparent's tour at the hospital so that they can check out the facilities before "D" day. This weekend has been just beautiful here in the Carolina's. We've had 80's and sun - so we are trying to stay cool and get a touch of sun as well. You can see from this week's picture that the tulips are in bloom and the grass is really growing as well. John and I have really been enjoying Spring, and we've started grilling and having dinners out on the back patio, just trying to take as much of it in now before life as we know it changes forever! Have a great week!