Patience

This past week has really been a true test of patience for this very large pregnant gal! I shouldn't be complaining because I still feel great, but I am so ready to meet this little boy that has been nestled away in my belly for the last 39 weeks and 4 days. I had a great check-up appt. on Wednesday but I haven't made any "progress" so unless baby William comes before Wednesday, I'll be admitted to the hospital Wednesday evening and induced Thursday morning. Having a plan and a possible DATE for our little boy's birthday makes me feel much better. Grant and I are really trying to soak up our remaining days as a family of TWO before we bring home William. We were really hoping he would arrive on his namesake's (Grant's Dad) birthday on April 17th but I know he will come when God is ready for me to bring him into this world. Hopefully these will be the last belly pics I post:

Only Thing Missing is William

William's nursery has been one of the most enjoyable projects that Grant and I have ever done together, along with the expertise and advice of both of our moms! Preparing our baby's nursery and thinking through every little detail has been so special to the both of us. So, the past 10 weekends have revolved around making this room a happy, peaceful, dreamy place for our little boy. Check out William's Peter Rabbit World:

The prints above the crib were our favorite online find. Shopping online is so tricky because you never know what the real product is going to look like. It took some time to find the ones that we really wanted and after a lot of trial and error, we are finally pleased!

My mom made the beautiful gown hanging on the wall, and it is what William will be wearing home from the hospital. Grant did a phenomenal job hanging those letters which was no easy task!!

The bookshelf is full of the special books I received at my baby shower.

The Peter Rabbit figurines were actually in my room growing up as a child, so they are a very special addition. 

We originally bought these little wooden pictures to go over the crib and they turned out to be way too small....but we just couldn't part with them so now they are the first thing you see when you walk in :)

The plan is for William to sleep in the cradle in our room until we he is ready to move to the crib.

Life Lately

Last weekend, my cousin Lee flew into town from the Big Apple for a couple of days of R&R. We enjoyed Sunday lunch with Julie and Lee-Lee. I miss her being in Birmingham SO much. I'm already excited about introducing William to my mom's entire side of the family.  That day will come on the 4th of July when everyone will be down at the beach!

 Please excuse the protruding navel. Ew.

I had my 37 week check-up appt. this past Wednesday. I didn't see my doctor because he only had afternoon appointments that would've conflicted with my work schedule, and I was a little apprehensive about seeing someone new. However, I felt very comfortable with the female doctor I saw, and I needed to toughen up anyway because my primary doctor may not even be on call when I deliver. The appt. went really well. She didn't check for dilation because I've had NO braxton hicks contractions or other signs of preterm labor. She did feel my tummy and said William probably weighs right at 7 pounds and she predicted he'd weigh 7.5 pounds at delivery. It's hard to believe I'm carrying a 7lb. human being in my tummy. Other than that, the appt. was pretty uneventful. I've gained a total of 25 lbs. and it should plateau from here on out. I'll be quite honest and admit that I'm thoroughly enjoying eating whatever and whenever I want, and I plan to let this trend continue until William arrives. 

On Thursday, my wonderful co-workers had a baby shower for me and Grant at the hospital. I was so glad that Grant and Julie finally got to meet all of the people that they hear so much about.  I felt so loved and honored to have so many people I work with show up to celebrate baby William's pending arrival! Due to everyone's generosity, I received lots of things that we desperately needed such as a video monitor, diapers, wipes, diaper genie, shampoos, lotions, etc...

Today I am 37 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Besides my ENORMOUS swollen feet, I'm still feeling great. However, it is getting more difficult to move around and I'm going to the bathroom at least 4 times in the middle of the night, which is always such a blast...For some reason, I strongly feel that this baby boy will still be nestled in my belly at 41 weeks, but the doctor says things can change in an instant and you never know. Grant and I are so unbelievably excited to meet William that we don't even know what to do with ourselves. We made a run to Babies R' Us this afternoon to pick up a couple of things, and we can officially say we are finally ready for our child to be here. 

Our to-do list over the past couple of weeks included the following:

-Purchase hospital gowns and nursing bras for mommy (Thanks, Mom!)

-Pack hospital bag, which is quite an involved process...who knew?!

-Finish nursery (Not quite done with this but will be soon)

-Wash William's clothes, crib sheets, bibs, burp clothes, and blankets

-Install car seat bases

-Buy infant bath tub and nursing "supplies" for me

-Buy diapers and wipes...yes I know this is an important item that we put off until now

-Stock up on baby shampoo, lotions, diaper rash cream, etc...

As usual, here are some belly pics: 

 37 weeks 6 days

I'll close by thanking my friend Kori for the most amazing lasagna I've ever eaten in my entire life! She just happened to be in town and surprised me with a "ready-to-eat" homemade lasagna that we dove right into for dinner tonight.  I'm assuming it was supposed to be frozen until William arrives, but we couldn't resist. 

William Update

I had my first weekly doctor's appointment at UAB this past Wednesday to check on little William. Grant went with me to help "beg" for an ultrasound, but we didn't get one because the doc said "there's no medical reason" and for that we are very thankful... even though we desperately wanted to see our sweet boy's face! William's heartbeat was 124 and mommy has gained a grand total of 24 pounds! Also, I got "checked" for the first time - I was 50% effaced and 1 centimeter dilated. This does NOT mean that William will come early but the doctor did say we are moving in the right direction. His final words were "Well, unless your water breaks, come back in a week!"  WOW! It's getting close!

We've been busy doing all things William today! We've installed our car seat bases, packed my hospital bag, and washed all of his clothes, blankets, and bath towels. This is making his pending arrival VERY real. Here's a sneak peak of the nursery and a pic of me at 36 weeks 6 days. Grant wasn't trying to make this an artsy picture but it turned out pretty cool. I cannot believe I'll be considered "full term" tomorrow! However, I have a feeling William is in no hurry to meet the world because I think he's pretty cozy in my belly.

I'll be back soon with more nursery pics. We still need to make some finishing touches to bring it all together!

Coughing, Cocina, and Crawfish

Despite me coughing 5,693 times and blowing my nose 4,219 times, we managed to have a great weekend. I've been battling a head cold/sinus infection (I think) since last Saturday, and I can't seem to shake it. Hopefully it clears up soon because not only am I up all night, but the coughing keeps Grant up too. Okay, enough of the complaining for now!

We went to Cocina Superior on Friday night with Julie and Mary Neal. We had plans to try out the new Mexican restaurant in town, El Barrio, but there was a 2 hour wait. Grant was relieved that we relocated to Cocina so he could be surrounded by TV's and watch March Madness games. Here's a phone pic of us while we waited for our table.

On Saturday morning, Grant and I went out to the Hoover house to make our final run. We are so glad to finally be completely moved out. The move actually wasn't nearly as stressful as I imagined. The weeks leading up to the move to the apartment were hard, but as cliche as it sounds I can honestly say that it really made me focus on what's important in life. Our Hoover home was the perfect house for our first 2.5 years of marriage and we have so many wonderful memories there. I'm really surprised I didn't get sentimental about leaving. I can't find a picture of the entire house so this one will do for now.

After finishing up in Hoover, we came home, showered and then headed over to Ragan and Kyle's house for some crawfish. Grant has been harassing them for several weeks about having a crawfish boil before William arrives, and they selflessly obliged and had us over for a mini boil on their ANNIVERSARY weekend.

 One day I hope to have a back porch just like this one. 

 Poor little critters roasting away!

 Ragan made these Rotel Bites and any fan of Rotel would have enjoyed these, and I certainly love me some Rotel! This is one of her many Pinterest creations I've gotten to enjoy :)

Thanks Ragan and Kyle for a wonderful Saturday afternoon. As for today, Grant and I have gone Peter Rabbit crazy - literally. William's nursery finally has some character to it, which is making us even more excited (if that's possible) about meeting him in just FOUR weeks! I'm feeling pretty terrible right now so we are off to Publix for a weekly shopping trip and to get me some safe prego meds for this sinus crud - ugh!!!

Happy Birthday Juleann!

We headed to Dothan for the weekend for a very special occasion, Juleann's 79th birthday! Due to some very swollen feet and pregnancy exhaustion, I had already planned to take the day off on Friday. My day started by attending UAB's Match Day to share in the excitement and celebration with one of my closest friends, Virginia. It was soooo nerve-wracking and I'm very proud of my brilliant friend! She'll be at Baptist here in Birmingham for a transitional year and then off to Wake Forest for her residency in radiology.

Luckily, my Dad also happened to be in Birmingham, so I got to ride down to Dothan with him Friday afternoon. I'm very grateful for the special, individual time I had with him in the car - these are precious times that I never want to take for granted. Julie and Grant came down to Dothan Friday night after work to join the rest of the fam.

My mom's sisters (Lane & Lee) and their husbands (Ned & Paul) were also in Dothan for the birthday weekend. I really enjoyed catching up with them! Now for some pics of the birthday celebration on Saturday night.

As always my mom cooked a delicious, spring spread for all 12 of us. The menu included honey baked ham, melt-in-your-mouth muffins, pea salad, potato salad, deviled eggs, asparagus, fruit salad, slaw, and an Italian cream birthday cake - delicious! I definitely chowed down. 

 With the birthday girl!

Another big part of the weekend was meeting this little, wild thing - BLAIR! She is Douglas' new roommate.

You have no idea how many pictures it took to get one that wasn't blurry - she is ACTIVE and FEISTY!

 Steve was NOT happy when Blair got a little "too excited" on his porch furniture Sunday morning :) He yanked her up by the neck and "tossed" her outside. I think he forgot what his princess Abigail was like during the puppy stage!

Speaking of Abigail, she is not a fan of Blair and hasn't accepted her into the family quite yet. 

AND I'll end with a belly pic at 34 weeks 6 days:

It's hard to believe that was our last trip to Dothan without William! FIVE more weeks...

Quick Baby Update

I had a 33 week check-up appointment on Wednesday, and Grant got to come with me! It's nice to have a second set of ears because I always worry I'm forgetting to report something to my mom and Grant. Dr. Gleason said we MAY get to have another ultrasound at my next appointment so fingers are crossed..... We are dying to see our little boy!

33 week stats:

Weight gain: 22 pounds. I'm starting to feel like a whale! I've started waddling...grrrreat.

Belly measuring: 35 weeks. Apparently this doesn't mean anything. They consider plus or minus 2 weeks normal.

William's heart beat: 130

Sleep: Pretty terrible. Even though my OB says Benadryl is OK to take occasionally to help with sleep, I'm really trying not to take it on a regular basis, but it's hard.

Movement: All the time. His movements are starting to get so intense. My clients at work notice my belly jumping all over the place and they get the biggest kick out of it.

Contractions: I've started having Braxton Hicks contractions but I think it's only when I overdo it.

Other symptoms: Swollen feet and ankles and I get cramps in my feet at night sometimes.  Nothing fun about that!!

In other news, Grant and I are moving into our new apartment tomorrow. I'll update more once we get settled!

Belly at 33 weeks 5 days