archives...

pictures...
Ultrasounds
Parents-to-Be
The Nursery

contact...
Email Us!

Yesterday was my baby shower. It was the best! There is nothing like being surrounded by family and friends, and opening gifts for two hours straight! Top it all off with cake with whipped topping frosting and you have one happy pregnant lady. We got some really amazing gifts and Thank God that my friend has one of those huge Eddie Bauer Ford Expedition SUV things, because we needed it to haul all the loot home in. I will post some more shower pictures soon. Suffice to say that I am feeling extremely blessed.
posted by Heather 8:29 AM

After working all day, I come home exhausted. Every night this week, Kevin has asked me to do something which I refused, saying I was too tired. Kevin finally got me to get up and go to the mall with him last night. We ate dinner and then needed to do a little shopping. It was so hard! I had to take numerous breaks from walking, just to sit and catch my breath.

At one point, we were sitting on a bench, taking a break when Kevin commented that it wouldn't be long now, only four more weeks. What!?! We are due in two weeks and a few days! Kevin knows that! So, I asked him to reclaculate...and he says "three weeks?" I just shook my head so he stops and adds it up and then exclaims, "you are due in two weeks! What are we doing here? You should be at home!" It was so funny and very sweet.

My belly has really grown in the past few weeks. I have outgrown most of my maternity clothes. At the mall last night, I tried to find one shirt that I could wear to my shower. I couldn't find anything! If I ever do this again, my shower had better be earlier. A month ago, I looked pretty cute in my maternity clothes. Now, I just look like I am going to pop!
posted by Heather 10:24 AM

Back to the doctor yesterday with no news to report. It seems that I am no closer to having this baby than I was nine months ago! Well, that isn't quite true...
I go again next week and we will see if there has been any progression. My co-worker is due today and she is still working so I don't know what I am complaining about. I will say that I am pretty much miserable. I have a strange pain that is making it very difficult to walk and bending over leaves me winded. Regardless, I plan to get out and walk the neighborhood this week to see if I can get something (anything!) started.

I would also like to say to Kevin that I realize that this pregnancy has been a true test of a first year of marriage. He has been very supportive and caring, even when my hormones were raging AT HIM!


posted by Heather 9:35 AM

Twenty days until my due date and it is suddenly getting very real. Every twinge or pull I feel, I think, "Is this it??" I watched Maternity Ward on TV last night. For those of you who have never seen it, they advise Viewer Discretion. I think that means that pregnant women should not watch it. It can be pretty graphic but it has never bothered me in the past. Last night, watching a normal, uneventful yet painful birth, I found myself in tears, scared to death! I hope I can do this!
posted by Heather 2:44 PM

I am sitting at home alone on this Sunday morning, reading email and enjoying a hot cup of Raspberry Leaf Tea. Yum, you may be thinking to yourself, but not really. It tastes a lot like hot water...murky, brown, hot water. Then why am I drinking it? That's a good question. It seems that Raspberry Leaf Tea has some medicinal properties that are good for the female system. My sister has used it for years for PMS and menstrual cramps. It is used during pregnancy to tone the uterus in preparation for childbirth. So, I am drinking my three glasses a day and toning away. Why can't they come up with something like this for my abs??

I was telling my friend about this tea and she misunderstood and thought I meant that it would start contractions. She forbid me from having any contractions until after my shower next weekend. Another pregnant lady at work had a surprise shower a few weeks ago. She commented on why my shower wasn't a surprise. I told her that I didn't need any type of surprise two weeks before my due date, thank you very much.

On another note, "we" are undertaking a new project. I want to make homemade birth announcements. My sister-in-law Tonya graciously helped me with examples and ideas. I chose a card that I liked and proceeded to buy the materials. I knew it couldn't be that easy. I have been searching the city for a pink stamp-pad. I now have six pink stamp-pads in front of me and none are quite the color that I am looking for. I have Bubble Gum pink, Pastel pink, Flamingo, Soft Rose (which is actually a brownish peach), Rosebud, and a Chiffon white...and none of them are what I want. I want a pale baby pink! I spent over two hours in the stamping store yesteday. I am through! I am going to make do with what I have and quit being so anal. I am sharing all of this with you so when you receive your birth announcement in the mail, please, please, do not comment to me on how it is a lovely card but the shade of pink just isn't quite right!
posted by Heather 10:41 AM

I had my 36-week OB/GYN appointment yesterday. Still nothing new to report. I am the picture of perfect, pregnant health. I am to return each week now until the baby comes.

There has been one development this week. My ankles have started to swell. I worked long days on Monday and Tuesday and by the time I came home, my lower extremeties were very puffy. I took it easy yesterday and it helped. Some people have to suffer like this thorugh their entire pregnancy so I guess I can put up with it for a few weeks. On another note, I actually slept straight through last night from 1 am until 6 am. On previous nights, I had been getting up every hour to empty my bladder that this little girl keeps pressing on. I feel so rested this morning!

posted by Heather 10:08 AM

I made out like a bandit at work today. First, one of my fellow Program Managers brought in two little dresses that she saw over the weekend that she said she just couldn't resist. Then our Medical Director brought in a bag full of sleepers, gowns and washcloths that her foster daughter had just outgrown. Next, another lady who works in the building gave me an early shower gift of a beautiful crocheted blanket. And this was all before noon.

Tonight, I am busy washing little baby clothes. It really takes a lot of clothes to fill the washing machine. They make a special laundry detergent just for babies called Dreft. I think it is another way to sucker first-time parents out of their money. Of course, I bought a bottle. It smells really good; I couldn't resist.
posted by Heather 9:35 PM

It is a sunny, spring day here in Mid-Missouri. Being officially nine months pregnant now, I sent Kevin outside with a rake and hoe to clean out the flower beds. There are some things I am going to miss about being pregnant! He did a great job and the yard looks great. We didn't realize that we have two large beds of irises already sprouting beneath all the leaves.

For those of you keeping track, we are down to 30 days or four weeks on Monday.
posted by Heather 3:29 PM

Just as all the books suggested, the baby's movements have slowed (slown!) down considerably this past week. She is running out of room in her uterine home for the acrobats and gymnastics that she had been doing the past few months. Now I only feel an occassional elbow or foot pushing as she tries to get comfortable. Only a few more weeks, Little Girl, hang in there.
posted by Heather 11:11 AM

If I didn't know better, I would swear that my belly was full of beer rather than amniotic fluid. This baby gets the hiccups at least three times a day! It is fun to watch but it makes me wonder what she thinks about it.
posted by Heather 7:04 PM

Kevin went to Hallmark today and bought the baby a gift...a soft little stuffed lamb. It is so cute. He explained that he wanted me to know that he was thinking of us. How sweet! He said that he almost got her an Easter Bunny but that he doesn't want her to be spoiled by too many toys. I laughed and told him that we probably didn't have to worry about that for a little while longer.

At this point of the pregnancy, I can not only not see my feet but it is a struggle to put my own socks on. I cannot shave my legs. I have been sleeping on the couch for at least three months now. I go to the bathroom every hour on the hour especially at night. I get heartburn from drinking a glass of water. My back pain has increased to new levels. I was nauseous tonight and came home from work exhausted yet I can't fall alseep. I was awake until 2 am last night with itchy arms. I also have Restless Leg Syndrome. And there is still (at least) five more weeks of this fun.

Thank you for listening to me vent!
posted by Heather 11:21 PM

I had my 34-week OB/GYN appointment and all is well. I will go again in two weeks and then it will be every week until the baby arrives. Just 40 days left! I am going to be so disappointed when I go past April 14. My mother-in-law told me that both Kevin and his sister were two weeks late. Let's pray that this baby does not follow suit.

I was reading through Kevin's baby book last night and came upon a picture taken when he was four hours old. Yikes! He looked like a little alien. Mom reassured me that all newborns are homely. I will post Kevin's first picture when I get my scanner up and running again. To be fair, I will try to find my first picture but I sure didn't look like that. No offense Kev...you turned out "okay" ;)


posted by Heather 7:26 PM

For your viewing pleasure...
I am sure that some of you have seen this email being sent around in the past few weeks but I thought some of them were just too cute to pass up.

Why menshouldn't babysit
posted by Heather 10:22 PM

I was at Walmart today, just minding my own business, when the lady working the fabric counter, hollered over to me. "Looks like you're about ready to pop!" Thanks, thanks a lot. Just what I want to hear when I have SIX more weeks to go! Then she tells me that I had better not "drop" there because she wouldn't know what to do. Oh really? And I thought the fabric counter at Walmart was just a part-time job to your obstetrics practice.

So, I make my way to the pharmacy counter. I needed a refill for my pre-natal vitamins. I gave the man my name and told him what I needed. He looked it up on the computer, shook his head a few times and said that it wasn't there. He then told me that the only prescription that I had filled there was for birth-control pills and did I need them?? Mind you, I had just told him that I wanted my prescription refilled for my prenatal vitamins! I looked down at my expanded belly and just shook my head.
posted by Heather 10:15 PM

home