Inducing

I had another ultrasound apt this morning. I'm 29 1/2 weeks now.  Mom was going to go with me but woke up with a fever and had to cancel on me, so I went solo. The baby looked great. His heartbeat was 159. I talked with the Nurse Practitioner Dawn about my concerns for waiting until week 39 to induce. She said she completely understood and that they could offer me the option of inducing around week 37 if they could do an amnio on me to see if baby's lungs were fully developed. If they are developed then they would go ahead and induce then. This option made me much less anxious as the only real risk of having the amnio is that it might could cause me to go ahead and go into labor on my own anyway. She said that as long as Dr. Wright signed off on the amnio we could plan to do that and she saw no reason why Dr. Wright wouldn't sign off on it.

After my appointment I went to Whole Foods to get some healthy food options to have around the house. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and eat healthy and try not to gain more weight than I'm supposed to during this pregnancy. I came home and made chicken tenders and fruit salad with grapes, clementines, strawberries and kiwi. The cable guy came over and installed an outlet and cable box in our nursery. He got done in just enough time for me to get dressed and go to Zumba at the Y. Shea came over tonight to watch the Bachelor premier with me. It was highly entertaining to listen to Shea's commentary on all the girls. Robi visited Marshall on the set of Army Wives today and sent me a picture of Marshall hard at work. Marshall's mom also came with Robi and apparently it was her first time ever seeing them film on the sound stages. Marshall enjoyed having them come visit and it helped to make the Monday work blues a little better.

Wiggle Room

Marshall and I got up early so he could finish packing and we could have some time together before he had to leave to head to Charleston. Once he was all packed up, we went to Jason's Deli to grab some lunch as I was craving a good salad to jump start my healthy eating resolution.

We stopped by Target afterwards to pick up some stuff I needed. When we were done there we still had 30 mins before Aussie Island opened so we went to Marshall's to do some shopping. I found some stuff for the baby and Marshall was actually okay with me buying it because it was all on clearance and really great prices. We bought him a Panther onesie for football season next fall and a Hurley jacket and jeans. I also found a couple of newborn layettes that I had been wanting.

After stopping by Aussie Island, we went back home and Marshall packed up the car to leave. He gave JoJo a bath before leaving since I wasn't able to bath her with the medicated shampoo she requires. Marshall said goodbye and headed out to Charleston. I started washing some of the baby clothes. I've been trying for several days now to capture the baby moving around on video unsuccessfully. Well, this afternoon I finally caught the little guy moving around on video. Its the one thing I never thought to do with Nolan, so I wanted to at least grab a bit of it with this baby. Of course, this little guy seems to be much more active all day (and night) long so it made it a bit easier to actually capture some of his wiggling on video. It was fun to send it to Marshall and some of our family and friends and to see their responses. I think most of them were amazed at how big his movements were. Seeing his movements so big makes me realize how little wiggle room he actually has in there.

Visitors

My friend Nikki, her 2 1/2 year old daughter Anna Grace, and her mom Katrina came from Goldsboro today to visit. I've known Nikki my entire life. When we were kids, Nikki and I used to dress up in her dance costumes and make up dances to Madonna. Her mom and my mom have been best friends since high school. Ironically enough, even though both our parents are divorced, our moms are still friends and so are our dads. My Mom met them at my house so we could all visit together. Anna Grace immediately fell in love with JoJo and kept wanting to play fetch with her. JoJo was game for awhile then got tuckered out. I think she was also confused as to the rules of fetch when playing with Anna Grace. Usually JoJo brings the toy right back to you and drops it in front of you if she still wants to continue to play. Anna Grace, however, wouldn't ever give JoJo a chance to bring it back before she was running up to her to take it away from her and throw it again. Eventually, JoJo learned to run the other way away from Anna Grace in an attempt to hide under the coffee table with her toy.

We decided to give JoJo a break from Anna Grace for awhile and go to On The Border. Unfortunately for JoJo, I don't think our lunch was quite long enough. Afterwards, we came back home and Anna Grace and JoJo played some more until we convinced Anna Grace that JoJo was tired and needed a nap. When she saw JoJo lay down in the middle of the floor to rest, Anna Grace took a blanket from the couch and draped it over JoJo so she could go "night night." Eventually, Anna Grace settled down too and laid down beside JoJo to watch a bit of the movie UP before they left to head home.

When the girls all left, Marshall went to meet a local sound mixer Carl for coffee to discuss some upcoming film projects (most of which Marshall was going to have to turn down due to his prior commitment to Army Wives). While he was gone, JoJo and I went into the nursery and started sorting through all the clothes that Dino gave us so I could wash them. It seems like we have a ton of clothes for the baby but once they are sorted into sizes, we really don't have that many at any given age. We just have clothes up through the first year and a half of the baby's life! A few hours later than he anticipated, Marshall returned. We went to Slice of Life and grabbed some dinner then came home and watched Dexter. Tomorrow Marshall has to leave to head back to Army Wives so he started packing a bit tonight before we went to bed. No matter how many times we have to leave for work, it never gets easier.

29 Weeks

This morning we had another ultrasound. This would be the last ultrasound Marshall will be able to go to. The baby looks good. He weighs 2lbs 12oz now. We ended up seeing Dr. Reddick. When I asked her about inducing me she said they would at 39 weeks. Wait a second! That was not at all what I had been told. When we first got pregnant, Dr. McLean had told us we would be induced early probably around 37-38 weeks if everything was going well. 39 weeks obviously means everything is going really well, but it is concerning to me and not what I was previously prepared for. The baby is still in 24% so everybody that thinks the baby is going to be big can shut up now. I am just fat! He is a lot smaller than Nolan was. Nolan was always in the 47%. I will be interested to see how big he is at 34 weeks when Nolan was born. My guess is he will be a good pound or more smaller. Of course, we won't know how long he is at 34 weeks because they can't measure length anymore now because he is all scrunched up in there.

Afterward our appointment, we went by Dino's to see him and Dylan and take Dylan his Christmas present. He loved the balls and kept throwing them everywhere. It was amazing to see how much Dylan has changed in just two months. Last time he was crawling but wasn't pulling up on anything or attempting to walk. He also wouldn't say anything more than "Uh Oh." Now he is walking and running all around and is babbling away. He said "baby" and tried to say "uh oh spaghetti ohs" but it came out something entirely different. Dino also had a bunch of clothes for us to go through and see if we wanted any of them for the baby. We ended up taking quite a few and he even had a baby carrier for us to try out and see if we liked. If we do we will probably end up getting another one we looked at that will adapt to the baby for longer.

We stopped and ate at PT's before heading home as Marshall was craving a hamburger. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chilling at the house. Shea ended up coming over with Tynik as we had a present for Tynik and his brother and sister. Shea brought over a pizza for us to cook for dinner. While we cooked the pizza, Marshall and Tynik played on Marshall's iPad. Tynik kept calling Marshall, "Uncle Marsh." It was so cute but we have no idea where he came up with it. He loved Marshall's games on his iPad, especially Angry Birds because he is a huge Angry Birds fan.

After dinner, we let him open his present. We got him Star Wars Angry Birds figurines. He seemed to really like them but wanted to spend the rest of his time there playing more with Marshall on his iPad. So they played for a bit longer before him and Shea had to leave. He really has opened up so much with Marshall and really likes being around him. It is good to see how much progress he has made. He's such a cute and sweet little boy and is always so well behaved when Shea brings him over. He's old enough to know there is a baby in my belly so it will be interesting to see him once the baby comes out. He keeps asking us if he can see the baby. We've shown him the pictures of his face from the ultrasound pictures and he thinks that is really cool how they can take pictures of the baby while he is still in my belly. He's right. It is really cool and amazing how far technology has come.

Chili Days

Marsh had eye doctor appointment at 8:15 this morning. I got up when he left and went to Zumba at the Y with Karson. So far this week I've been doing good about attending Zumba even with Marshall home. On the way home I stopped by the grocery store to pick up stuff to make chili since it was cold and rainy. I knew we probably wouldn't want to do much today but stay at home and snuggle up on the couch, so I figured chili in the crockpot for dinner would be an excellent idea.

I came home, put the chili in the crockpot and showered so I could put my PJs on. I was hungry so since I was making dinner, Marshall made me a grilled cheese for lunch. He had it all ready for me the moment I stepped out of the shower. I was very impressed with him. After I ate, Marshall wanted me to go with him to Mayfair so he could get a sensor tag taken off his new pants he bought this morning at the mall. I agreed to ride with him if he would get me a decaf coffee while we were out. We ended up taking JoJo with us because she threw such a fit to come. Since it was cold outside and I would be sitting in the car with her, we figured why not. While we were at Mayfair, he also went in to Time Warner and scheduled to have them come out and run a cable line to our nursery and to upgrade our modem. After getting our coffees, we came home to lounge around the rest of the day.

Dad came over for dinner and to hang out for awhile. We got sucked in to watching the history channel - Pawn Stars. It was my first time making chili in the crockpot and it turned out really good. I'm liking the crockpot more and more. I just need some more recipes for it. I have a feeling the crockpot is going to come in really handy when the baby is here as it takes the time and effort out of cooking. You just have to plan more in advanced is all.

Resolutions

Marsh had his dreaded dentist appointment this morning. Ever since he ended up with endocarditis from a dentist appointment three years ago, he has been petrified to go to the dentist. We switched dentists after Marshall's dentist appointment landed him at the hospital, but that did very little to ease his mind. He did like the new dentist and his staff, but it had been over a year since he had been so I think he had forgotten and let his anxieties get the best of him again. He is now on antibiotics before any type of dental appointment, including all cleanings. All went well, just as I knew it would. He really likes the new dentist, especially because he found out that our dentist also chews chewing tobacco.

I was supposed to have an appointment with Dr. McLean this morning, but it was cancelled as she was out sick today. They tried to call and reschedule it for tomorrow with a different doctor but I told them that I was not seeing anyone else and that I already had an apt with her for next week. They always try to argue with me about the fact that I don't rotate doctors like every other OB patient, but since she saw I already had four more appointments scheduled with Dr. McLean I think she got the point. She reminded me of when my next appointment was and didn't reschedule me.

When Marshall got back from his dentist appointment we went to On the Border for lunch and then went shopping. We wanted to get Dylan something for Christmas since he's here visiting his Dad now. We found a cool bathtub basketball goal and balls for him at the little toy store at Mayfair. Dylan loves balls of any kind so we figured we couldn't go wrong with that gift. In the afternoon, I went to YMCA to go to Zumba. You can always tell it's the new year by the parking lots at gyms. Usually, I have no problem parking in the main lot and can usually get a fairly close spot too. Not today! I had to park way in the back in the overflow parking. Ugh. At least these new year's resolutioners won't last long. I predict by early next month the parking situation will be back to normal. Class was bigger than normal too. Today's class was in the gym and usually we have enough people to fill up 3/4 of the basketball court. Today the entire basketball court was packed and there were quite a few men in there too. I'm trying to use the new year to eat healthier and start getting in better shape. I plan on going to Zumba as long as I am physically able to and my doctors agree it is okay, but I also need to start eating better. My goal is to cut out so many carbs and eat more fruits and vegetables. This will be much easier to do when my husband leaves to go back to work. He is the absolute worse eater. All he ever wants is hamburgers or pizza. He will eat mexican too but that is about the extent of his diet. Even when I try to cook, he usually only eats some of it because he filled up with candy while I was cooking. I definitely am more motivated to both work out and eat better when he isn't around. I don't think I will ever convince him to go to a gym as he claims his job is physical. Well maybe so, but not that physical! I want him to go with me to Zumba just one time so he can see how out of shape he really is. I know he would die after an hour long of dancing.

Our friend Melissa just got back into town today and texted us to have dinner with her, so she came over and we all went to Nikki's Steakhouse and Sushi for some hibachi. Marshall helped me get ready for dinner by tying my shoes for me. I can still do it myself, but it is rather uncomfortable trying to do it, especially when I am wearing jeans. Bending over has definitely become harder and harder to do as my belly keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is much easier for someone else to bend over and pick something up for me than for me to try to figure out which way I can actually bend to retrieve it. So, I fully took advantage of having my husband around to help me tie my shoes tonight. I'm going to be on my own after a few more days and there won't be anyone to help me do things or fix me something to eat. It is too bad JoJo can't learn to do some of these things, like tie my shoes! Of course, if we could teach her to do that we probably both could quit working as we would be rich from having such a smart dog!

Dinner was fun. I, as expected, opted for the filet mignon and shrimp. We had a great time and the food was just what I had been craving. I had been trying to get Marshall to go with me to get hibachi for a few days now but until Melissa said she would go I couldn't get him to agree to it. Our chef was really good and very entertaining. It was good to see Melissa even though she was only in town for one night. She also works on Army Wives so she was heading back down to Charleston tomorrow. I'm glad it's her leaving tomorrow and not Marshall. He has four more days at home and I know they are going to go fast, but at least he has until Sunday.

Jan 1, 2013

January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!

Good riddance 2012! I hope I can safely safe that 2012 will always be the worst year of my life. I can't imagine having a worse year and I hope I don't ever have to see what would possibly be worse than losing my baby boy. I'm looking forward to a much better year this year as we will hopefully have a healthy baby boy sometime in March!

We went out to grab some lunch, but found most of local places were closed today so we finally settled on Kickback Jack's. I had a steak since apparently it is one of my favorite things to eat with this pregnancy. I would probably eat it more often if I knew how to grill steaks myself. Afterwards we went to the mall to do some shopping but it was sweltering hot in there. I was glad Marshall was hot too as I was beginning to think it was just me suffering from pregnancy hot flashes. We didn't find anything we wanted so we left to head somewhere cooler. By the time we left the mall, it was time to head to my Mom's for dinner. We had the traditional new year's meal of pork chops, black eyed peas and collard. Yum. While we were there Marshall fixed my Mom's ceiling light and then we headed home. It was a pretty good start to the new year. The baby was moving and kicking all day long which is always good news. The more he moves, the less I worry so I hope he continues to keep wiggling up until the second he comes out. Even if it does mean I won't get a wink of sleep between now and then!