Today is a Good Day

a VERY good day!

Four Reasons why today is so good:

1. We found our pediatrician! This has been a long and arduous process. Usually I wouldn't think twice about calling a doctor, but this is different. This is for our daughter and of course we want the best care we can find. I knew as soon as I heard the friendly voice of the receptionist on the other end we had made the best choice. She walked me through what I need to do when our baby girl arrives and encouraged me that the pediatricians at the practice were great. Plus, her birthday is on Juice Drop's due date (Sept. 19th!) so it's destiny, right?! :)

2. We bought life insurance! Another long and arduous process. We had been to our insurance agency three times before we finally decided which plan to go with and today we made the decision and it feels so good to be done with such a morbid but necessary process. I even started tearing up in the office thinking about if, God forbid, anything should happen to us who the beneficiary would be to take care of our daughter. I had to laugh to keep myself from really breaking down!

3. I finished making leg warmers for Juice Drop! I bought socks to turn into leg warmers way back in April when I found out she is a girl and finally got around to finishing that project today. Now her chubby little legs will be nice and warm this fall and winter :) I found the tutorial on how to make these cute little things here.

Not sure why this is so dark, but you get the gist--women's knee high socks

Complete! How cute are these? Ahhh, I can't way to see her in them! :)

4. Today begins Travis's birthday weekend! Lucky duck, he gets all weekend because, well, because he's so special and his birthday happens to fall on a holiday this year (Labor Day). Plus it's the last birthday where it's just him and me so we have to make the most of it! On the agenda for the birthday boy: movie tonight, The Ohio State Buckeye game tomorrow at Strike City, the Buckeye bar of Charlotte where you feel like you're back in Columbus (great feeling!), dinner out on Sunday, and a Labor Day cookout with great friends on Monday. What more could a guy ask for?!

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend and eat a hot dog or two for me! :)

We are Full-Term!

If you remember correctly from last week's update I was given a pelvic exam including "everything likesuchas". Well the "everything likesuchas"was pretty normal, says my doctor--except I tested positive for Group Beta Strep. I knew right away as soon as she said it what that meant and my heart dropped.

No, I don't have strep throat and I'm not sick.

Basically Group Beta Strep is a bacteria that can live in the body without you even knowing it...awesome. It's fairly common and found in about 10 to 30 percent of pregnant women...sweet. When I go into labor I will be hooked up to an IV with antibiotics because if I don't get it treated I could pass the bacteria to the baby which could lead to an infection like meningitis or pneumonia. About 5 percent of babies infected with GBS die...dear Lord, hold me now!

Of course, I cried. That's just what pregnant mama's who are doped up on their own hormones do. Plus this wasn't a part of my birth plan!!! I was supposed to go au naturale without being hooked to anything!

I'm sure many of you are like Wah, Wah, ok? a little IV won't hurt and birth plans are pointless. But this news was something I didn't expect and it's always a blow to receive the unexpected. After researching a little more about what GBS is and how it can affect our baby, there's no question I'll take the IV.

Besides being in a poopy mood for about 2 hours, today is a fantastic day because we've reached full-term which means Juice Drop can come any day now!...ok, I know, she's my first so it'll probably be at least another 4 weeks but a mama can hope, right? :)

Baby Girl is ready for some Buckeye football! 

How far along? 37 Weeks

Total weight gain: 32 lbs--whoa, 3 pounds in a week is more than I should be gaining! I'm blaming it on Juice Drop--she's packing on the pounds! 

Maternity clothes? Most of the time. 

Stretch marks? Nope 

Sleep: Better, I think I'm just getting used to being uncomfortable

Best moment this week: Celebrating Juice Drop at my Charlotte baby shower!

Miss Anything? Being able to get up from a couch gracefully 

Movement: Morning, noon, and night! Hiccups, seeing feet, knees, elbows, and tush protrude :)

Food cravings: Chocolate

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender: GIRL!!!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks are getting stronger. Cervix is still closed but head is down!

Symptoms: Back and rib pain, Braxton Hicks, peeing ALL THE TIME (even when hardly anything comes out!), shortness of breath, memory lapse, clumsiness, swollen fingers and toes 

Belly Button in or out? Outie!

Wedding rings on or off? Off but on a necklace.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! 

Looking forward to: Travis' birthday weekend! Buckeye football, celebrating my man, and Labor Day festivities :)

You can just call me Mrs. Clumsy McGee

Do not underestimate the clumsiness of a pregnant woman! It just happens. More than usual. More than before this huge bump came along. And usually the bump is the one who gets the punishment for it.

For instance:

~For every meal there is bound to be leftovers found on the bump, usually on a very nice maternity dress or shirt, and said dress or shirt can only be hand washed--who is their right mind would make a maternity garment that can only be hand washed? Riddle me that!

~Lots of tripping takes place in these parts these days. Tripping up the stairs, tripping over things that cannot be seen because the bump gets in the way (remember, I lost sight of my feet months ago!), and tripping over nothing at all (I swear, there was something there!)

~Bumping into things with aptly named the bump. Forgetting that I have a bump there and trying to fit through small spaces (uh, huh, yeah right). Tossing and turning in the night while picking up the bump in order to actually move can be quite challenging and may lead to the occasional Braxton Hicks--it's better to just lie in one spot until nature calls for the third time.

With all this said, I'm hoping my clumsiness is just a side effect of being pregnant and doesn't actually stay around after Juice Drop comes. It would make me feel a whole lot better if I was known as the competent mother who had it all together and not the clumsy mother. What kind of mother would drop food on her child, or trip up the stairs with her child, or bump her into things?

Who am I kidding?! I guess worse things could happen, right? I can definitely see me doing all the above when she's here and it not even phase her. At least she'd grow up knowing nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes, and we all trip once in a while. Picking ourselves back up with a smile on our face is the most important thing. I'm so thankful for God's grace and mercy and I pray she feels His grace and mercy even more so!

I'll leave you with a few snapshots of our fourth and final baby shower. It was a beautiful day filled with love from our amazing friends and family here in Charlotte. We feel as prepared as we could ever be now, and it's all thanks to everyone who has blessed us throughout this pregnancy. We feel so loved!

i LOVE this!

Delish and such a beautiful display!

And here we are having Abby help me clean up the soap that got on my bump--see, always getting in the way!

Juice Drop's best friend, Kiah and Kiah's beautiful Mama, Heather. Not too long ago we were showering Heather and Kiah!

With my sister, Emily, being so close now she was able to join us! I felt so blessed to have her there.

Travis' cousins also joined us! They have been such a great support to us since we moved to Charlotte over a year ago.

Thank you Sylvia, Abby, Angela, and Kari. You sure know how to make a Mama feel special. Love you all! :)

4 weeks sounds a LOT closer than 1 month

We've finally come to weekly appointments! I say this with enthusiasm but also with trepidation. We're coming to the end of this whole pregnancy, and at the end comes a living, breathing, human being solely dependent on Travis and me! No more cute little bump; I get the real deal, folks, and am I really ready, prepared, and equipped to be responsible for another life?!

Ehh, I got this...right?

We had our 36 week appointment today, and by far was the longest time we've waited but I think it was the funniest appointment we've ever had. I don't know about you other woman but the only man I like down in my pelvic region is my husband so when the nurse informed me (after making the comment that having sex while she was pregnant helped her baby...thank you very much for that image, Nurse Jessie) they'd be swabbing "down there" for strep B and "everything likesuchas" I asked if I would be having a female or male doctor perform all these niceties. Oh, you have a female doctor today. Phew! Close call--especially when all I saw outside my room were male residents! Well, what do you know, a male resident walks in 15 minutes later(!!!) and right away Travis and I look at one another. I think he could tell what we were thinking because as he sat in his nifty swirly chair and before he asked any questions, he exclaimed I won't be doing your pelvic exam, just checking the heartbeat. We about died when he left the room. Poor guy, only a student trying to get an A, and here we are giving him the eye, like, you betta not think you'll be doing my pelvic exam! Well, what do you know, that same male resident came strolling back in a half hour later(!!!) with the doctor who actually would be performing the pelvic exam and we could tell by the expression on his face he was thinking hey guys, I'm just observing, not doing the pelvic exam, I repeat, not doing the pelvic exam! We decided to let off the evil eye this time and trust that the female doctor would be taking over. She asked a few questions and out the door they both were yet again. After being in our little room for a total of 45 minutes (not to mention in the waiting room for over 30 minutes!) the doctor and a nurse, sans male resident, finally arrived to do my pelvic exam. "Everything likesuchas" was great and we found out my cervix is still closed but her head is down low and ready to go! So all in all, a long day but we went away happy to have heard her heartbeat (wow, alliteration!) knowing she's in the right position, and laughing at both ours and the male resident's reaction to a simple pelvic exam. Oh boy, I guess I better get used to the idea of being vulnerable because when I'm in deep labor I don't think I'll really care who performs a pelvic exam and "everything likesuchas"!

How far along? 36 Weeks

Total weight gain: 29 lbs 

Maternity clothes? Most of the time. 

Stretch marks? Nope 

Sleep: good, not great...God's way of preparing us for what's to come :)

Best moment this week: Helping move my sister, Emily, into her dorm room only 20 minutes from us!

Miss Anything? Being comfy

Movement: Morning, noon, and night! Hiccups, seeing feet, knees, elbows, and tush protrude :)

Food cravings: nada this week

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender: GIRL!!!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks are getting stronger. Cervix is still closed but head is down!

Symptoms: Back and rib pain, Braxton Hicks, peeing ALL THE TIME (even when hardly anything comes out!), shortness of breath, memory lapse, clumsiness, swollen fingers and toes 

Belly Button in or out? Outie!

Wedding rings on or off? Off but on a necklace, still very bitter about this.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! 

Looking forward to: My final baby shower this Saturday with all my Charlotte peeps! :)