34 Weeks

In the few days since that picture was taken, I feel like my stomach has rapidly expanded. It may be in my head, but I did notice this weekend some of my shirts aren't quite covering the whole belly. I had a doctor's appointment last Thursday and they are still happy with how everything is progressing. It was a little startling when they scheduled the remainder of my prenatal appointments and there were only 4! My guess is that at the October 8th appointment we will make a plan for (or actually schedule) the induction. So if I'm correct, baby White could be here the week of October 11th. Chris and I had birth class this weekend and I guess now we're as prepared as you can be. We at least got to tour the hospital which was the most unknown to us. At least we know where to go and some of what to expect. Plus the french fries in the cafeteria looked yummy!

Below is a link to pictures from my belly session with the amazing Kathy DeLorenzo from Le Conteur Photography. I'm super lucky that she is one of my best friends, but also an amazing photographer. Anyone who knows me knows I hate having my picture taken so the fact that I'm posting them on the internets means they must be good.

Baby Girl At 32+ Weeks

We just got back from our sonogram and everything is fabulous. What a relief! For as crappy as I feel most days, at least I know I'm baking a good little bun. She weighs 3 lbs., 15 oz. at this moment. That is small, but still within normal range. Considering how she might be coming out, I'm perfectly fine with small. We got to see her heartbeat and they even saw her practicing breathing. That is a good sign and if she is born early she should be in good shape. I didn't really suspect anything was wrong given the way she's been carrying on in there, but it feels so good to see and hear that she is fine. Now we just have to get her out safely when the time is right and we'll be a family of three!

What Would I Do Without Friends and Family?

It's been a whirlwind since my last post. Time is flying by so quickly that we're down to just about 6 weeks! My wonderful friends threw me the best baby shower! I really can't say in words how thankful I am for everything and everyone. I got to see so many people from college and other friends/family I hadn't seen in a while. I wish I could have spent more time with everyone, but it went by so fast! I can't thank Willow enough for throwing the shower at her house and everyone else for everything they put into it. Not to mention the over-generous gifts. Having a baby is one of those times in life when the outpouring of kindness is too overwhelming. Thanks to the generosity, baby girls' room is pretty much complete. Yesterday I was able to put away all the clothes (her dresser is completely full already thanks to gifts and donations from friends), and put some personal finishing touches on. Here are some pics:

The Bambi wall hanging was cross-stitched by my Godmother for me when I was born. I'm so happy to have it to now hang in my girls room.

I've been holding onto these for years wondering what I would do with them. Yesterday inspiration struck. I think Chris and I were both about 5 years old when we did these. Now we just need to add the baby's.




Everything else is coming along. I think we have pretty much everything we need, except her. I'll post tomorrow after we have our sonogram. I'm so excited to see her again since I didn't think we would get to. They just want to double check her size due to my thyroid issues. They have no concerns, it's just precautionary. If her kicks and punches are any indication, she's just fine!

Oh, More Fun!

For the last two weeks I have occasionally been getting a pain in my thigh. It almost felt like a pulled muscle. It would be really painful when I first woke up, but would eventually stop hurting. Last week this reddish, painful to the touch line appeared, but I just thought I had bruised it by rubbing. At my monthly OB appointment yesterday I mentioned it to the doctor. Right away she thought I had a superficial blood clot. Great! I went for an ultrasound, and yes, I have a superficial blood clot. It's not completely occluding the vein and they didn't see anything in the deeper veins, so that is good. The concern is that the clot could break off and travel to the deep vein and into to my lungs, I'm more susceptible to other clots because I'm pregnant and I'm pretty far along. This is all not good. My OB consulted with another OB in the practice and they agreed to treat me with anti-coagulants. She said some would argue against it, but they think it is best for me and baby. After I found out what treatment entailed I would have liked to argue against it, but I have to think about my baby girl. For the next 6 weeks I get to inject myself twice a day in the stomach. Yeah! After that they will switch me to another also inject-able medicine (Heparin) that wears off faster and can be counteracted better should I go into labor. If I haven't delivered naturally by 39 weeks they will induce. Then after deliver I will have another 6 weeks of treatment, but hopefully only once a day. I guess by then I'll be a professional and be too tired to really care that I'm sticking myself in the stomach with a needle.

If you look on the bright side, there is the fact that I now only have 9ish weeks left instead of 10 or even more. If I make it to that point I also won't have to worry about my water breaking in some embarrassing situation or a lot of contractions before I get an epidural. The cons of course are that I'm now on blood thinners. Luckily I will be delivering at a hospital with a level 3b NICU (3c is the highest, and Hopkins doesn't even have that) so I feel confident everything will be just fine. I can't say I'm not even more scared now about this whole birth process since as I write this I'm not holding back any tears, but she's got to come out so I don't really have a choice.

On another positive note I get to have another ultrasound of the baby because of my thyroid issues. There is nothing suspect, they just want to check her growth because thyroid level problems can cause growth issues with the baby. I've been very closely monitored throughout the pregnancy so I'm just looking at this as a happy (insurance paid) excuse to see her again. It won't be for another 2 weeks or so, but I'll be sure to post pictures.

Well, that's my story for now. The last 6 months have definitely been an adventure. Now we just have to get through the next 2 months so the real fun can begin!

30 Weeks....I'm Still Going to Get Bigger?

Well, it's probably just me, but I feel like I'm growing by the minute. I was very excited when people would comment how small I was, but that is no longer the case. I can officially no longer bend over or see my feet. Of course I keep forgetting I can no longer bend over and doing it anyway with great regret. There's usually a swift kick to remind me not to do it again. Not much else has happened in the last two weeks. I did get to hang out with my besties at the Shrader Family Crab Smash. It was so good to see them along with a lot of people I haven't seen for years. Here's a few photos....

Hot Mamas!


The big kids enjoying the glider


Avery enjoying some juice


Avery's new baby brother Jack


Happy Matthew


And an equally happy Danny


Man, there are a lot of kids! We'll have to make sure to start doing more group photos.

28 Weeks Down, 12 (or so) To Go

Well, we've officially entered the 3rd trimester. Thank goodness! I know baby girl needs to bake a little while longer, but I am so ready not to be pregnant anymore. I'm not even as big as I thought I would be at this point (as you can see below), but I'm still ready.

Good things in the last 4 wks....no headache for the last 2 weeks. Yippee! I also plan to finish painting in the nursery this weekend. I only have the white stripe on one wall left. I think it's adorable. After that we'll be getting the carpet replaced and can finally unpack all the furniture. She's also kicking the crap out of me much more regularly. I put this with the good, because it lets me know she's there and doing well. It still startles me, but I'm getting used to it. However, it's not so cute at 3:00 a.m.

Bad things in the last 4 wks....oh, the heartburn/acid reflux. It's gotten to the point where I sometimes don't eat dinner so I don't wake up feeling like someone is forcing acid down my throat. I'm living on Zantac, but it doesn't always work. Then there is the fact the East Coast is having the hottest ( or close to it) summer on record. It just figures doesn't it? Traveling around DC on buses and trains with horrible air conditioning really helps too. Don't they know I'm pregnant!

Other than all that, just taking it day to day. I'm starting to panic a little about daycare, pediatricians, and birthing classes, but I guess that will all work itself out eventually. Millions of woman have gotten through it, and so can I. I think....maybe.

Ok, the reason you're all reading this anyway, the picture.
I'm still a little sleepy since this was first thing this morning, but you get the gist.

24 Weeks

It's been pointed out that I've been remiss in updating, so here goes. I've made it halfway it seems. According to my doctor's I'm having a "textbook" pregnancy. According to me, the baby is trying to kill me. The month of June has been rough. I'm not sure I've thrown up this much since college. At least in college the night before was fun. Other than feeling pretty bad, I guess things are coming along. The nursery is almost ready for paint and I'm hoping to get a lot of that done over the long weekend coming up. I've decided on a theme, Mocha Ladybug.

It's still pink, but I think there are enough other colors that it's not too pink. I'm going to tone it down by painting the walls a light brown on top and dark brown on the bottom with a white stripe in between. The white stripe will have pink and brown polka dots. I know, a little ambitious, but that's how I roll.

We also undertook the huge task of registering. Chris started having chest pains, but seemed to feel better after he got to play with the registering gun. It's amazing 1) how much baby crap there is, and 2) how much the baby crap costs. Hopefully we hit the important stuff, but I'm sure there will be many a trip out to the store in the beginning. There is a car seat, pack-n-play w/ a bassinet, and some diapers, so hopefully that will at least get us home from the hospital and through the first night. I'm not in full-on freak-out just yet, but I think it's right around the corner. Thank goodness for all you friends out there that are old pros at this. I'm gonna need ya!

Ok, here it is, because I know you want to see it. All of you who know me well know that I hate to have my picture taken. However, since this is probably a once in a lifetime thing I'll give into the internets......

Jethro wanted to say hi too! That's it for now. I'll try to be better about updating.