Week 35 Appointment

Today I had my first NST (non stress test) done at my weekly OB appointment. They strapped two straps on me. One measured the baby's heart rate and the other measured contractions. They left me on it for about 35 minutes.

In this next picture, the top line is the baby's heart rate. It stayed between 120 and 130 with little peaks when he moved. Each time he moved, I had to push a button. The bottom line shows really small contractions that aren't really contractions. They just blipped because the baby moved. So you'll see the top & bottom blips coincide. The doctor said a real contraction would be a tall spike.

My BP was 102/60. I gained 3 pounds so I'm back up to 17 pounds total weight gain. They also did the strep B swab to test for bacteria. I'm guessing they'll tell me the outcome next week.

They will be inducing me at 39 weeks, so that's 4 weeks from now. I picked March 9 as my induction date. They can only induce 2 women per day & there was already one on that day, so I got the only spot left. Yeah! And as an added bonus, my favorite doctor is on call that day! Woo hoo! I have to be there at 5:30am to get the party started.

Vince & I will only have a few select family members on hand during that time, so no visitors will be allowed until after the baby is born.

Vince spent his evening last night putting together our changing table that my parents got us. I woke up this morning & it looked great! I spent the evening organizing more stuff and vacuuming. I noticed that the baby had dropped as well. He was no longer up high in my rib cage. This is great news as it means he's getting in a better position for his big arrival.

I'm still not sleeping well. I got up twice last night and then was up for good at 5:30am. I organized more stuff this morning, did the dishes, iced a cake, and ate a breakfast bar. Our house is just about ready for the baby shower guests this Saturday. I can't wait to see everyone!

Getting Organized

Vince has spent the last several weekends on increasing some storage space in our attic by laying down some new flooring. He also put in a new light up there so you don't need a flashlight when you go up there. The only spot that was floored was right above the guest bathroom and the heating/air unit took up half of that space. Vince floored the entire area above the back bedroom. So now we have tons of storage.

He set up his work table in the original part of the attic and was able to cut and place all the wood from right up there.

He then decided to take it a little bit higher and floor the space above our living room. He put a light in that area as well.

It's almost like having a basement for lots of storage. We used his "elevator" that he installed a while back to move several more things up there. We labeled every tub that is up there so everything is nice & organized. That winch has come in so handy in getting things up & down the attic.

Now onto the baby's closet. Since the attic access is in the baby's closet, we wanted to clean up all the mess that attic construction can cause before starting on remodeling the closet. I took a few before pictures of the closet.

I can't wait to see it all done. In the meantime, all the cute baby things are adding up in the baby's room. Once we get the closet done and the changing table/dresser (which should arrive this week), then we can put everything away and organize all the baby toys, blankets, sheets, outfits, diapers, and more.

I look forward to posting the after pictures (very soon, I hope)!

Belly Shots

I haven't really posted many pictures of my bare belly, but now that it's getting bigger, it sure does look interesting. I thought I'd share some pictures I took today.

My belly button is all stretched & flattened out now. It's also gotten darker along with a dark line down the middle of my belly.

I have always heard men say that they would never ask a woman if she was pregnant, but now that I'm pregnant, that is not the case. Men, women, strangers, pretty much anyone now asks me 1. "When are you due?" 2. "What are you having?" I haven't met anyone that is shy about asking if I'm pregnant. I think at this point it is quite obvious that I'm either pregnant or swallowed a basketball. I also have to say that people are much nicer to pregnant women. They hold open doors, smile, let me cut in line in front of them, and just seem friendlier.

It will be interesting to see how much bigger my belly will get in the next 5 weeks.

34 Weeks & Baby Shower 2

Today I'm at my 34 week mark! Yesterday we had our weekly appointment. The ultrasound was quite fun as we learned our baby boy has a mullet. Yes, he will need a haircut soon after being born. I guessed the weight perfectly as well. He's at 4lb 10oz. His heartrate was 127. My BP was 108/66. I lost 3 pounds since last week. I'm sure it's because of my diabetic diet as my arms and legs are looking more toned and less fat. The baby is in the 31st percentile for growth, which is great. I'd rather be on the low side of that curve than the high side. They did a fetal movement test and the baby passed at 100%. Considering he moves all day long, I figured he would pass with flying colors.
The doctor said we would schedule my induction at 39 weeks so we get to pick which day that week to have the baby. So that's only 5 weeks away! We're getting closer! From now on, I will have the NST (non-stress test) each time I go. That's where they listen to the baby's heart beat for 20 minutes. On my next appointment, I will have the strep B test done. This just checks to make sure I don't have any infections. My next ultrasound will be at week 37.

At lunch time, Vince & I went to Wade's where all my work friends hosted our second baby shower for us. We got lots of great items! And of course the food was awesome. Peggy made no carb mini cheesecakes so I actually got to partake of the dessert!

Thanks so much to all my hostesses for such a great shower!

And thanks to all my wonderful friends for all the amazing gifts! (And thanks to Jessie for taking all the pictures!)

I made a gourment chocoalte peanut butter cupcake for each of my hostesses.

Gala

Vince & I enjoyed attending United Way of the Piedmont's 75th Anniversary Gala last night. It was black tie optional. Everyone dressed up to the nines. I had a red maternity dress that a friend had given me a couple of months ago. Vince looked great in his dark navy suit.

The food was great. The entertainment was a man called The Gentleman Thief. He literally stole watches, phones, wallets, ties, and money off of people without them knowing it. Even knowing he was doing it, we never could see it being done. He was very smooth. We enjoyed his act a lot. Baby boy Williams really enjoyed the music afterwards. The band was really great and the baby danced the whole time.

Billy & Eddie's House

Last weekend Vince & I went to visit with Eddie & Billy in TN at their new house. They were fabulous hosts as always. I love their new house & got lots of ideas on how to spice up our house.

Blog Book 2011

This blog has been the best thing ever in terms of keeping a photo journal and scrapbook all in one. I print them out each year. I started in 2008 so I just got my 4th one in the mail last week. It turned out great! I love reading back through it and seeing all the pictures. Sometimes I can't believe all the places we went to in one year. I use Blog2Print and have not been disappointed one time.

Blogging takes so much less time than scrapbooking, but I still love my old scrapbooks and one day will finish up the last couple that I started on. I can't wait to start on baby boy's baby book. My mom always buys the grandchild's keepsake baby book. Being able to have all my thoughts and stats on my blog should make it so much easier to fill in those baby pages.

Having my new camera that Vince got me at Christmas will help fill my blog up with wonderful pictures!