Yea Emma!!!

She finally kicked for Chris last night. I was very tired last night & got in bed by 8:30 & Chris came & laid down with me for a little while with his hands on my belly hoping he would feel her move & he said he did. I must have fallen asleep because I kept telling him I didn't feel anything so then he showed me what he felt & it had to be her. She hasn't woke me up yet, but there has been times when she was very active at bedtime & it was hard for me to fall asleep. I must say, Chris was very excited. At first he thought maybe it was my tummy rumbling but he kept his hand there & she kicked some more. Way to go baby girl, Daddy is so proud.

Major Movement

I made the comment to Chris last night that Emma hasn't moved much in the last few days but she is definitely making up for it today. I can actually see waves of movement not just kicks & pokes. It is apparent that there is a creature in my belly & it just makes me giggle to watch. I sure hope she will do it later for her Daddy, he really wants to be able to see her move.

Weather Geeks & Our House

They are out of control again. If you don't know what I am referring to, that is what we call in our house the weather men when the interrupt TV shows to discuss the weather for hours on end. Last night they interrupted the evening world news to tell us about a tornado warning that was about to expire in 30 minutes & then this morning the stayed on the air past 7am & interrupted Good Morning America. It is fine if they come on with a weather update & run the little strip at the bottom of the screen but they don't need to stay on the air. Yes we are aware that we got more than than was expected (8.5 inches in the last 36 hours) but come on, the sun is out now. I know there was some flooding & they even cancelled school in the county we live in today, but I think they are completely out of hand. It is suppose to start raining again this afternoon so I am sure they will be in full force again tonight since the ground is totally saturated & can't with stand anymore water.

Just a little rant I wanted to share with all of you.

Oh & thanks to the wonderful rain, that I know we really need, we have a leak in the kitchen. It has leaked before right after we moved in the house & we thought it was fixed but no. So Chris was a bit upset last night when I found it. Plus the siding on our house keeps coming lose & its lose again due to the storms last night, even though he just popped it back in a few days ago. Then this morning Chris went in our closet & one of the racks has fallen off the wall. Chris said, "our house is literally falling down around us." I couldn't help but laugh. If you know my husband, he doesn't rant or complain very much at all, unless he is behind the wheel of a car (totally different story, for another day). So now we have to call someone to fix our leak, he has to get back on the roof once it quits raining (Friday/Saturday) & he has to fix the rack in the closet. Happy Wednesday!!!

Birthing Class Part 2

Last night was our 2nd birthing class & it seems to go much better than the first one. Our instructor wasn't as anti-meds as she was last week but she still had some choice comments. One of our favorites, which I may have mentioned last week, "water is just as effective as narcotics." Who is she kidding? She did ask us who all was planning on a natural birth & only 1 lady raised her hand & another one said she hasn't decided yet, so she has her work cut out for her if she thinks she will be changing the minds of the rest of us.

We discussed "active labor" & what to expect, watched another birth video, learned some breathing techniques & my favorite part, our partners learned some massage skills to help mom relax. I love massages as I am sure most women do & I will take them anytime I can get them.

Oh there was this one woman in our class last night who is 34-35 weeks along & she started having contractions during our 15 minute break. We were a little concerned that we might have to take her down the hall & possibly have her admitted. Luckily her contractions & cramps stopped but I was a little concerned for her. Her husband wasn't with her & she had to drive home in the rain alone. I would have been a bit scared if I was her. We did walk out to the parking deck with her & she seemed fine so we went on our way.

Church Shower

Yesterday was a really good day, we had another shower hosted by the church. This is a copy of the invitations that Janet made & sent out. Janet took a picture of the cake & refreshment table before I arrived & I don't have that picture yet, so I may share it later. It was at Betsy's house & the other 2 hostesses were Janet (a dear friend of the family) & Pam (the minister's wife). We had a great time & received a lot of nice things. Thanks ladies for the wonderful shower.

Emma got another hand crocheted pink blanket made by Connie Rowden. I had no idea she even made blankets & its is very pretty. We also got our high chair, a lot of long sleeved clothes, a small diaper bag & a very pretty large pink one filled with diapers from Denise. I think we will probably use the large pink one as luggage to travel to/from the beach.

This is just a random picture of me opening some books we got from Betty. Note Karen peeking around the lamp in the picture. She was telling me that she got "The Velveteen Rabbit" from Betty too when Kaylee (my oldest niece) was born. Also note my belly in this picture, it almost resembles a pregnant belly. The ladies at the shower told me when I came in that didn't look that pregnant but this shirt I have on is pretty big & just hangs off my shoulders but I really like it.

We also made a trip to Babies R Us last night to use our gift certificates & coupons which were about to expire to get our Pack n Play. It only cost us $40 after the GC's & the coupon, YEA!!! We plan on going back later this week to use another coupon & gift card we received at the shower to use for Emma's mattress. Oddly enough I don't think we are going to have to return any of the items we have received. We have not gotten in duplicates but I wide variety of things. We are so grateful to everyone.

Picture Time

Here are a couple pictures from our shower 2 weeks ago that I have been meaning to upload. Better late than never I assume. I hope to post additional pictures over the weekend of the shower the ladies from Kannapolis CofC are hosting. I am really looking forward to it.

This was one of our favorite gifts from some friends of our Jim & Julie who are also expecting their first baby, a girl, in mid November. If you can't read it, the hat says CEO (Chief Executive Offspring) and the shirt says "Buy Low, Sell High, Hold Me". They also gave us an infant bathtub, photo album & a decorative pillow.

Don't you just love this blanket? A dear family friend, Betty Watts made this crochet blanket & I can't wait to use it. My oldest sister mentioned after the shower how great it was to receive such a gift especially since crocheting is becoming a lost art. There us isn't very many people making beautiful crocheted items like they used to. Thanks Betty, we will treasure this always.

This is a piece of pottery I made for my sister's baby, Morgan. She was totally unaware that it was even in the making. I must say I am not totally thrilled with it but she really liked it. We had a team building day at work & we decided to go make pottery & this is one of the pieces I made. Now we didn't sit at a pottery wheel & make it from scratch but I did pick out the piece & decorate it myself.

This is the piece of pottery I made for little Emma. Looking back I wish I had made the same thing for Morgan but I can always go back & make another one. Right now this is sitting in her room on her tall dresser, its one of the few decorative pieces in her room. We still have some finishing touches left to do to her room but for the most part its done. We need a mattress, window treatment, pictures for the walls (currently being framed) & a lamp.

Good visits

Today was my 30 week appointment at the OB & Maternal & Fetal Medicine office. Both of the appointments went really well. The first one was at MFM, which still tend to stress me out a little although there really wasn't anything to be stressed or worried about. Emma is looking great. They estimated her weight at 3 lb 12 oz which is at puts her at 66 percental. She of course wouldn't roll over, again, for them to see all the angles of her heart they would prefer but they liked everything they saw. The doctor did mention that her heart is slightly angled (they have mentioned this before) which isn't a big deal but they will continue to watch it. They want to see me in 4 more weeks to check her in uterio one more time & then they will have a Pediatric Cardiologist check her out once she is born. We couldn't more happier with the great care & concern we have received from every one at MFM office, what a great team they have there.

Next we headed to the OB office & we had no idea we would be there for so long. Our appointment was 9:45 & we didn't see the doctor until after 11am. He may have been the only OB in the office at that time but man were we bored. He really didn't have much to say other than my weight is fine, blood pressure & protein levels are still really good too. He did ask if we were planning on taking birthing classes & breast feeding classes of which I told him we just started with the birthing class & I scheduled the breast feeding yesterday. He did mention to me that he thought my belly size appeared small to the eye but when he measured me I was right on.

So far today has been a good day, but I am weepy. I have no idea why but I keep crying for no apparent reason. It happened during the ultra sound at the MFM office & after we ate lunch on the way to work. These silly pregnancy emotions will definitely throw you for a loop from time to time & thankfully Chris isn't bothered by my spontaneous tears. I will be glad when my emotions are back in check, whenever that happens to be.

Cleaning & Classes

I finally finished cleaning out Emma's closet so it can now be used for her. We hung up some of her clothes, hung her name above her crib & started organizing her room. It looks so much better. It still seems so unreal that we are going to have a baby.

Last night we attended our first birthing class at the hospital. I must say I may have a problem with this class or at least our instructor. She is a certified Dula & is very anti-meds & pro alternative birth methods. Personally I think they should have someone who is impartial, but that is just my opinion. She was very put out to hear that many of us were already planning on having an epidural + she is hoping she will be able to change our minds. I am pretty sure there will be no way she will be changing my mind about using an epi. Another odd thing about our class is, there were 9 other couples there & all but 1 are having girls. Can you believe that?

Weepy Sunday + Hopsital Visit

Sunday morning, was not a good morning at church for me. I made it thru bible class fine, other than being really hot but it stared during a heavenly song medley. The last song in the medley, "When We All Get to Heaven" just sent me over the edge & the tears started. It has been a while since a song at church upset me but once I started it took me a while to calm back down. During the Lord's Supper (still crying) Karen leans over & says stop crying (kidding of course) & I told her I was trying, which made me cry even more. Then Chris came & sat with us (he was assisting with the Lord's Supper) & he asked me what was wrong & I told him I didn't know which made me cry even more. Then thankfully the song before the sermon was one of my favorite, "The Greatest Commandment" a beautiful song which is sang in rounds got me to stop. Needless to say, all that crying left me with a terrible headache the rest of the day + I used an entire pack on tissue from my purse. Thanks hormones, I am sure they had something to do with it too.

Now don't worry, the title of this blog doesn't mean what you might think. Yesterday we (myself, Karen & Mama) went with Beverly to her hospital tour. She is delivering at the other main hospital in Charlotte & she wanted us to tag along. We had a good time & learned some great things. Both hospitals do some of the same things but the tours were still really different. I am glad I got to go with her.

While I was on the tour with Beverly, Chris put together Emma's swing & bouncer which was given to us by one of my co-workers, Trish since her son Stephen has outgrown them.

Combined Shower!!!

My weekend started off with a prenatal massage at Massage Envy which was awesome & very reasonably priced. I definitely plan on returning for at least one more massage before Emma makes her arrival, if not more. I suggest all pregnant women try this if they are having back aches, it was wonderful.

Then it was time to head home to get ready for the combined shower with my sister Beverly. For those who don't know, she is expecting her first baby too, Sept 18, Morgan Riley, so we decided to have a combined shower. It was hosted by our oldest sister, Karen & cousin, Trisha at Mama's house. As you can imagine our family is completely thrilled to have to little ones coming into the family, especially after all the sadness we have had to deal with Daddy passing recently & being sick for many years. We are ready to celebrate life & that is exactly what we did Saturday afternoon with our family & friends.

This is a copy of the invitations that were sent out which our nieces Kaylee, 12 & Caroline, 10 typeset on the computer & printed out. I had talked to Karen about me possibly creating them myself so I found some wording online & that is the text the girls used for these invitations. They did a great job, thanks girls.

This was our beautiful cake, isn't pretty. My colors are pink/brown & Beverly chose green so Karen ordered a cake that combined all 3 & it looked great. It even has tiny booties on the plate at the bottom of the cake.

This is my sister Beverly before the festivities started lounging in her chair. Unfortunately I never had a picture taken of the two of us together, but hopefully I will remember to do that soon.

This is my lovely husband, Chris looking at one of our favorite gifts. Its a little shirt that says "Sell High, Buy Low, Hold Me" & there is also a small pink baseball cap that reads, "CEO = Chief Executive Offspring." which we received from our friends Julie & Jim. Julie is ironically pregnant too & due mid Novemeber with their first, a girl.

Not pictured, but another one of our favorite gifts was a hand crocheted blanket by a dear family friend Betty Watts. I did not even know she still made them & its beautiful. Ours is pink & Beverly got one as well which is white. I will picture it later with all our gifts.

This of course is me opening a gift from my cousins Nancy & Trisha + their hubby's. Not the best picture of my prego belly, it looks more like a gut doesn't it but at least I am smiling. Most of the pictures taken of me I have funny looks on my face which I really didn't want to share.

This is 2 of my youngest cousins, Alex, 13 months, is in the blue to my left along with a family friend Janet & I am holding little Gabriel Matthew (Gabe) who is the newest additional at almost 2 months. Trisha is to my right which is Alex's mom. Get ready boys Morgan & Emma will be here soon to add to the cousin pool.

Oh I almost forgot to mention our other lovely gifts we received. My family got us the travel system (stroller, car seat & base) we registered for which I will have to post later after we take it out of the box. We also got a lot of clothes, blankets, socks, a bath tub seat, changing table pad, diaper bag & even tinie tiny pink sunglasses.

I have to thank my oldest niece Kaylee who took these pictures + 250 more, really. We only took 2-3 & she took the rest. Yes I know we will need to change that once Emma comes but we just are not good about taking pictures of events much less remembering to bring our camera.

Glucose Good, Iron Low

I got my results from my O'Sullivan Glucose test yesterday and my levels are normal, YEAH!!! I am not sure why but I was really afraid I was going to fail and have to be on a special diet. That would have meant no more ice cream, which is one of my favs right now.

I also found out that I am anemic which wasn't really a huge surprise to me at all. I have tested borderline in the past when I have had tests run, but the fix for it is really easy. The doctor wants me to start taking iron supplements which I plan to pick up today. I tried to get some last night at Target but the brand the OB nurse told me to get is usually kept behind the pharmacy counter due to high iron quantities & the pharmist said it was by script only. Today I will go ask the RiteAid pharmist & hopefully they will not require a script. Other than that all is good.

Visual Movement

It started this past week, visual movement, but Chris hasn't witnessed it yet. Every time I get him to watch or to feel she will stop moving. Plus she is moving a lot more too. I love watching her move, it brings a smile to my face every time I see my belly move.

I am still feeling pretty good for the most part except for the lack of sleep & back aches. My back has been bothering me off/on for about 2 weeks but I made an appointment for a prenatal massage which will be on Sat. morning. I am also having trouble sleeping, not necessary due to back pain, I just can't get & stay comfortable. I am really hoping tonight will be better after a warm bath & some Tylenol PM.

Preparing for Baby Emma

Today we went to Babies R Us & picked up Emma's furniture. (Oh for those who may not know, we have picked out a name of BB, Emma Grace). Luckily the tall dresser & the dresser/changing table came assembled in their boxes so all that we had to assemble was the crib. Well I say we, I didn't actually assemble anything Chris & his dad did while Chris' mom & I sat in the floor & watched. It took a bit longer than we all expected but its so pretty, we love it. I will post pictures soon.