35 Weeks!

Originally written January 10, 2018

Size of Baby: Baby Savannah weighed in at an estimated 5 pounds 4 ounces at Dr. Martin's office on Wednesday at our appointment. According to the Bump app, she is as big as a pineapple and around 18 inches long.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 187.5, up 27.5 pounds total.

Maternity Clothes: I've started giving some of my first and second trimester clothes to another pregnant myrtle. I had a bad experience Tuesday with a pair of jeans I thought would be more comfortable, because they were a size bigger than my normal pants and had a low belly band. The full belly band jeans are starting to roll down during the day. So I'm constantly having to pull my pants up, not cool. But the jeans were a disaster. They squeezed my lower right back and my left lower belly...or it could have been a contraction. Who knows. But I did end up switching into leggings in the middle of the work day. Sorry coworkers!

Where is Baby: Head down. Usually her body is on the left, but she was doing some weird moves this week where sometimes I could feel her butt on my right side.

Movement: I can definitely distinguish when baby girl is awake or asleep. I don't worry as much now when I don't feel her for a couple of hours, because I know she is sleeping alot. And when she is awake, she is an active little thing. She especially loves when I drink apple juice. She dances up a storm :)

She loves partying at night. Here I was trying to get a video of her, but I swear as soon as I take my phone out to capture her moves, she stops.

The other day at work, she was totally schlepped over to my left side. I think ya'll will be able to see it in this picture.

Sleep: For the most part, sleep isn't great. It is definitely better when I take a Pepcid AC, otherwise, I wake up with crazy acid reflux. I'm waking up about 3 times every night to pee, usually 12:45, 3:00 and 5:00. I try to sleep till 6 or 6:30.

Last night, pregnancy insomnia kept me up from 3:30-4:45. I tried to just lay there and go back to bed. I'll pray. I'll play with Savannah. Usually she will play tag with me, where if I put my hand on my belly, she will recognize it with a little pushback with whatever part of her body is right there. It's super fun. Eventually, I pulled out my phone and started looking at my FB albums.

In all of our years of trying, I feel like we have tried to make the most out of life. I bet most people wouldn't have been able to detect our sorrow just from purely looking at our photos on FB. But in almost all of the trip albums, I can think back to exactly how I felt on our journey.

I remember Christmas 2015 in Kansas City... I started getting cramps on Christmas Eve night. It was our 3rd month of trying the trigger shot with the timed intercourse cycle. I was absolutely devastated when I woke up that Christmas morning and had started my period. But I did my best to put on my happy face, enjoy a nice Christmas breakfast with Dave, walk the plaza with him and take pictures. But I was broken-hearted. Right after we got home from that trip, I told him I needed a break. No more doctors, no more meds. My mind and body were SO tired of all the hormones, and all of the appointments. (Timed intercourse cycles required at least 4 appointments per month, usually 5. Luckily, Dave was able to get out of all of those.)

I look back on our trip to Arizona in October of 2016. I didn't know it, but I was pregnant. In all of those pictures, I see a girl who so badly wanted to be pregnant, and she was, but she just didn't know it yet. And then the morning after getting home, we got our 2nd positive pregnancy test. And later in that week, we had our second miscarriage.

I also can look back on our May 2017 trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. I knew that we were done trying at that point, based on what Dave had told me on April 26. But God knew that He wasn't done, that our story was far from over. I enjoyed beer tasting at the breweries, super intense hikes with my hubby. And I even started my period on Mother's Day on a hike in the park. But it would be my last period before getting pregnant with our little miracle, Savannah.

I started my period on this hike. I remember it plain as day.

All that goes to say, I was up a LONG time in the middle of the night during my pregnancy insomnia, thanking God for our journey and reminiscing over the times we've had in the last 5 years, the good and the bad.

What I Miss: Being able to chug ice water!

Cravings: Maybe milk, but even that has slowed down this week. Food is not something I particularly enjoy right now, but something I know I have to have, kind of like vitamins.

I thought of one! Sprite!!! I have had 7 Sprites this week. I don't think I've ever done that before. It all started after my eventful doctor appointment Wednesday. So that's 7 sprites between Wednesday and Saturday!

Symptoms: By far, my most uncomfortable symptom this pregnancy has been acid reflux. Now as I'm getting closer to my due date, I'm eating TUMS daily. And I've started taking a Pepcid AC most nights to help me sleep. I've never experienced acid reflux and feel really bad for those that experience it all the time in normal life.

It's challenging, because I know I need to eat to nourish my baby. And I know I need to drink to make sure I stay hydrated. But both of those actions cause me pretty intense discomfort...even water.

Best Moment This Week: Dave coming home from his New Mexico trip!!!! I felt an immediate weight lifted off my shoulders when he walked in the door. Now Savannah can come whenever she wants.

Moments with Dave this Week: Right before he left we hung up the Adventure Awaits banner. Nursery complete for now!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Seeing my baby girl on Wednesday!

What the Doctor Said this Week: This week was the first time I had to go to the doctor by myself. I had a nonstress test at MFM. It was really wonderful listening to Savannah's heartbeat for 20 minutes. I was in a nice, small room by myself, found Seinfeld on TV and was just chilling. Unfortunately, with only about 5 minutes left, I started salivating alot. I hadn't been feeling nauseous, so this was totally out of the blue. I thought, surely I am not about to throw up. But the saliva kept coming. I tried to push the recliner back into an upright position and couldn't do it. I was totally strapped into this chair and machine, one strap monitoring Savannah's heart rate and the other strap monitoring uterine contractions. I couldn't reach the trashcan, and while I was grasping at it, threw up projectile style on the wall and floor and eventually grabbed the trashcan and had it in my lap all while trying to sit up in this recliner that was reclined while strapped into all this gear and trying to get the monitor back on the spot where Savannah's heart could be heard. It was a mini disaster for sure. When the nurse came back in, she said, oh my, shut the door and went to get Dr. Jones. He came back in, and asked how long I've been feeling bad. I told him, 2 minutes and maybe 30 seconds before that. I was fine, really, maybe just hungry. But he went on about needing to stay hydrated, we might have to treat my nausea, etc. But the bottom line is that Savannah's heart did exactly what he wanted. And he said we were good to go for another week! So down the hall I went to see Dr. Martin.

Oh, and my blood pressure was fabulous at Dr. Jones. 131/78.

Dr. Martin's nurse, Kristin, passed on taking my blood pressure and weighing me, since I was still upset about vomiting over at Dr. Jones. Dr. Martin quickly did the ultrasound, said Savannah looked great, estimated her at 5 pounds 4 ounces and she tried to give me a doctor's note for work saying I needed to go home and get some rest. But I couldn't do that this week. Almost any other week, I would have been able to follow her advice. But this week is our biggest week of the year at work. It is the only time that breakfast, lunch and dinner gets brought into the office for 4 days straight while we work our butts off.

What I Want To Remember about being Pregnant:

When I was getting ready for work this morning and lots of mornings, I look in the mirror and I think my belly is really pretty, beautiful actually. So far I don't see any stretchmarks, though I fully expect some to appear within the next few weeks or after delivery. It's so round. I want to remember feeling beautiful while pregnant. Now I don't always feel beautiful in maternity clothes, and I definitely feel better in the more form-flattering variety that shows off my curves. I don't know if it's my age or the fact that I've been waiting 5+ years to carry a baby, but I'm so grateful I feel this way about my belly. I know alot of women struggle with their changing bodies. But I'm just super grateful.

I bought this nice support belt to use while exercising, but I've only remembered to wear it twice!

Favorite Surprise this Week: My friend, Jennifer Gregston, from my Dallas PwC days, sent 3 amazing little outfits for Savannah. They are 3 of my favorite!!!

Prayer for this upcoming week: That I will be mindful of the miracle God has bestowed upon me and soak up every minute with this sweet baby inside me. I want to treasure all of her flinches and kicks.

34 Weeks!

Originally written January 4, 2018

Size of Baby: Baby Savannah weighed in at 5 pounds 1 ounces at the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) office on Wednesday at our appointment. According to the Bump app, she is as big as a butternut squash and around 18 inches long.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 187, up 27 pounds total.

Nursery Updates: See Week 33 update. The nursery is almost complete!

Maternity Clothes: I've gotten to a point where my maternity jeans are starting to fall down. I think it's because the full panel band isn't completely extending over the bump anymore. It's not super comfortable, so I might be switching to more dresses. Although it is freaking cold outside.

My Favorite Outfit This Week:

Where is Baby: Baby is still positioned head down, with her abdomen lining up around my belly button. She keeps her body on my left side, like way on my left. But sometimes when I feel her move, I feel her on all quadrants of my belly at once.

Movement: Savannah moves alot still. She is reacting to songs, particularly pop and rap, probably because I've listened to that the most when I get ready for work in the mornings. I've been listening to the Baby Whisperer Audio Book on repeat on my way to work. The author has a super soothing British accent, and now when I get in the car, Savannah kicks like crazy for the first few minutes of listening to that lady's voice. I like it too, baby girl :)

Sleep: Not very good. I tried taking a Pepcid AC before bed for the first time on Wednesday night. We ate Mario's Pizza after our appointment, and I was having severe heartburn. Eventually, it will get bad enough where I'll know not to eat certain foods.

What I Miss: Not much at this point. I'm already thinking about missing her being inside of me once she is delivered. So I'm trying to soak up all my moments with her on the inside.

Cravings: Milk - whole milk. Sometimes if I haven't been able to eat dinner because of the full feeling I hear is normal at this point in pregnancy. I make myself a small glass of chocolate milk. It usually hits the spot.

Symptoms: The 2 H's - heartburn and hemorrhoids. Definitely not the sexy side of pregnancy.

Best Moment This Week: Seeing our little girl's face in 3D at MFM on Wednesday. I started crying, and then Dave started crying. It's just incredible seeing what she looks like.

Moments with Dave this Week: We went for an awesome walk at Manion Park after our doctor's appointment Wednesday, and then we shared some pizza at Mario's. I loved our afternoon together.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting to hold my little girl!

What the Doctor Said this Week: This week was our best appointment with Dr. Jones. He walked in after our ultrasound and said the baby is doing great and had hit a growth spurt. She is now in the 55th percentile overall. Her head is in the 96th percentile, femur in the 46th percentile and abdomen in 36th percentile. From this point on, she'll pretty much be putting on fat and plumping up. He was very pleased with all of her measurements. The amniotic fluid looked good, placenta still looked very healthy, umbilical cord pulse looked good, my cervix looked long (he said I could be pregnant for 10 more weeks based on how long my cervix was...obviously he was joking, but I wish I had taken a picture of Dave's face ;)). He said we should be able to go 5-5.5 more weeks, which is awesome and puts us right at 39 weeks! He said from here on out, I would come in every Wednesday for a 20 minute non stress test where they put a monitor on my belly for baby's heart rate and another monitor for uterine contractions. They are specifically looking for the baby's heart rate to accelerate twice in those 20 minutes. If it does, then that's a great indicator that everything will be fine for another 7 days. In 4 weeks, he wants another look at her large head :) to make sure it's not getting so big that I would have a hard time pushing her out. He knows I desire to try for a vaginal delivery. He was also ok with my blood pressure readings, even though they haven't been great. So he did not think it was necessary to adjust my medicine this week. Yippee!!! Starting next week, we'll see both doctors every Wednesday.

Since everything was going so well with Dr. Jones, I asked if he could let me go into spontaneous labor on my own. He is the sweetest man, but said "Yeah, right! Let you go into labor at 40-41 weeks??? No way! Too dangerous for you and baby with your blood pressure issues. You do understand why we're inducing, right?" And then he started talking about placental abruption again, which made me back off. I thought it was worth a try to communicate my desires. But honestly, I'll be thrilled if we can make it close to 39 weeks.

We were able to see sweet Savannah in 3D, which made us both start crying.

Milestones This Week: We went to the birthing class Saturday from 9am-2pm. Luckily, my nurse, Kristin teaches it. She did a good job. It was a small class with only 2 other couples, and a mother with 2 teenage daughters. We watched a video. Kristin would pause it and talk about that segment. We had pizza for lunch. Dr. Stacy O'Sullivan, a pediatrician, came and talked to the class, mostly to answer any questions we might have about having a newborn. And then we went over to the hospital and toured Labor and Delivery. Saint Francis does "rooming in" with newborns. So they really don't have a nursery, and Savannah will be with us the whole time.

Random Things To Remember about being Pregnant:
I couldn't really stand to chew gum during this pregnancy. I'm trying right now to chew gum to freshen my breath, and it's making me nauseous. I think it's the extra saliva that it creates in my mouth. But this has been a thing this whole pregnancy.

Something to Buy: Dates! Apparently dates might make the pushing part of labor much much shorter. I'm all about that :)

Prayer for this upcoming week: That I will be mindful of the miracle God has bestowed upon me and soak up every minute with this sweet baby inside me. I want to treasure all of her flinches and kicks.

33 Weeks!

Originally written January 2, 2018

First, an explanation as to why we're already on week 33 and it's not Thursday yet.

Dr. Jones, our MFM doctor, has our due date as February 18, strictly going off of my last period. Since he is the one calling the shots from now on, I thought it best to start aligning my thinking of our weekly updates in terms of his due date, and not the original February 22 due date my doctor gave me based off of our 6 week ultrasound measurements.

So Sunday is our new day to flip the week from one to the next!

Week 33 in pictures!

Due to a wind chill advisory, where the wind chill got down to -10 this weekend, I did not leave the house on Sunday at all. I stayed in my pj's all day long!


For a really really long time, Dave had set aside the weekend of NYE for setting up the nursery. He wanted to wait till most of our showers were over (we still have one small one at his mom's house mostly for family and her neighborhood ladies). He likes to do things in an efficient manner, and thought the best, most efficient way of setting up the nursery would be to wait till we had most of the things and we could just touch everything once. What I'm not sure he took into account is how big I would feel at this point in the pregnancy. And how hard it is for me to get on and off the ground and help lift things. We did the best we could, and it all worked out. I can't lie. There were several tears this weekend and little outbursts due to my hormones. But what else can be expected for a 33 week pregnant woman? :)

Big daddy setting up the crib

The white glider is from Debbie and Nathan's sun porch. Dave loves it. I'm ok with it. The cushions already matched the room. And we didn't have to pay a dime. If it doesn't work once Savannah arrives, we will re-evaluate. We hadn't planned on using it, but Saturday night we went over to their house for me to test it out, and it seemed a good fit.

I already had the blue ottoman from my nesting ottomans in the relaxation room. I bought the bear box for storage in her room, and we're currently using it to hold books. We registered for the lamp, and the little suitcases on top of the dresser are from the SA shower decorations (Thank you Erin!) The little book on top of the suitcases is about the National Parks, which was the original theme I was thinking for her room. But in reality her room isn't so much a theme, as it is a color scheme and a mash up of things we love.

Originally, we were going to leave the dresser in the guest room, where it's been the last 3.5 years. But we both decided it'd be nice to have a little extra storage for clothes, crib sheets, burp cloths, etc. The super cool story behind this dresser is that it was Nathan's (Dave's dad). He wrote a letter to Santa asking for this specific dresser when he was 7 years old. His mom intercepted the letter, which he had placed in his mailbox, and that Christmas, this is what he got. Someone in his immediate family has been using it ever since. I love that Savannah will have a nice piece of furniture from her Grandpa.

The changing table is a piece of furniture we picked up about 7 years ago from the antique shops in Jenks. We both loved it right away and thought it would make a perfect changing table. We used it for years in our first house as a TV stand in the master bedroom. Since we moved into this house, it's been in the nursery/exercise room and still had a TV on it for a long time. I'm SO glad we are finally going to use it for what we intended :)

The canvas of me and Dave above the changing table is from December 31, 2007, the morning after Dave proposed in Kansas City along brush creek. It felt surreal working in her nursery with that picture hanging exactly 10 years after it was taken. It's been hanging in that spot since we moved into that house. Amber surprised me with the canvas as an engagement gift 10 years ago :)

The diaper cake is from the shower Catherine hosted! I know it won't stay there forever, but it seems a good place for now. We registered for the pink cubes, and one holds the toys Savannah will play with for her first 6 months, and the other holds blankets.

The framed picture on the wall is also from the decorations Catherine had at the shower. It says "Let Her Sleep, For When She Wakes, She Will Move Mountains." The little basket and pillows on the floor probably won't stay there.

We set up this mini pack and play together. We'll probably have Savannah sleeping in it in our room for the first month or so. Thank you Jason and Aymie Carson for handing this down to us. It is much smaller than our regular pack and play and has a nice vibrating feature under the bassinet mat to help soothe Savannah when she needs it.

Having anything but a bare crib is a big no-no, so the elephant, boppy and blanket being in here is just for decoration. Thanks to mom and Ron for the crib! Thanks to Granny for the crib mattress! We received 4 super cute sheets at the showers. The elephant is from Mary. It is so soft and cuddly, and I imagine it will show up in pictures for quite a while. The boppy is a hand-me-down from Melissa, and had this super cute green print cover on it. I discovered it last night, when I took off a cover that was on top of it. The hand knit blanket is from my friend, Emily. It's a rainbow blanket, and we love it!

The family that lived in this house before us used this room as a nursery. The green paint and the saying on the wall above the crib has been there since we moved in. I remember Dave calling me into his office in the old house and having me look at the listing and pictures of this home. When he got to the nursery pictures, I immediately started crying. We had already been trying for a baby for 22 months by the time we found this house. And my heart was in pieces over not having gotten pregnant yet. But I just knew I wanted that house with that nursery. It was perfect. We've left it the same ever since we moved in. In April, after Dave told me he was ready to stop trying for a child, I ran into the nursery and was about to rip the decal off the wall, literally. Thankfully he caught me and told me not to do anything too hastily. That was confusing, considering what he had just told me, but I said ok, and agreed to leave it for a little while longer. Little did we know that in a couple of months we would conceive, and our baby would be a girl. That's a very special decal for our very special baby.

Last night after our very quick outing (30 minutes at the gym so I could get some walking in and our annual Barnes and Nobles run to pick up our planners), we decided to get some pictures with the 33 week sign. Then Dave said we should take a picture of my flat belly button. I'm all about taking as many belly pictures as possible to document this time in our lives. :)

This is the only thing left to hang up in her room for now, unless I get my act together and print some of our maternity photos for her wall. Erin used it as decoration at the SA shower, and I knew I wanted it for her nursery. We're planning on hanging it on the wall with the dresser.

The closet with her clothes and shoes. The other side of the closet still houses our camping supplies :)

This is the due date predictor calendar Catherine had at the shower. At this point, I would guess Sam, Jess, Kristine, Monica and Jenny are in the top runnings!

Random Facts from Week 33: I was craving strawberry soda for several days. So after prenatal yoga on Saturday morning (only my 3rd time to go so far this pregnancy), I did my grocery shopping and picked up a bottle of Fanta Strawberry soda. What the heck? I have never bought or drank that in my life. But somehow it totally hit the spot.

We see Dr. Jones tomorrow for a growth scan. I'm excited to see my girl again!

32 Weeks!

Originally written January 2, 2018

Week 32 in pictures! Merry Christmas!

We headed to Kansas City for Christmas this year. It was a baby moon weekend for us. We stayed with Mike and Nichole the first night, and then at the SouthMoreland bed and breakfast for the next 2 nights. We woke up there Christmas morning, walked the grounds of the Nelson and then drove home for Christmas dinner with the Jordans.

I was tuckered out after walking around the Plaza all day.

We woke up to some surprise snowfall on Christmas Eve morning. Actually, we woke up to the snow trucks shoveling the snow off the streets. It was so LOUD :)

The breakfast at SouthMoreland was wonderful! They started off with a baked rum raisin apple, followed by shirred eggs with sausage, cheese and veggies. There was also homemade lemon poppyseed bread.

The second morning, Christmas morning, we had banana apricot fraches, chocolate zucchini bread, and French toast stuffed with ham and swiss cheese. I loved the pomegranate seeds on top!
We took a picture in front of their Christmas tree. And we had to commemorate the den with the fireplace. Dave and I played the board game Lingo the night before, and he beat me. He was so proud :)

After breakfast we walked the grounds of the Nelson Art Museum.

Two years ago when we stayed in Kansas City for Christmas, Dave took pictures of me on these stairs. We returned to take pictures this year.

I had a lovely day at home by myself after Christmas. I had a holiday and Dave had to work. I was happily folding and organizing baby clothes in the nursery when at 10:30am the fire alarms started blaring. My first thought was that the house was on fire. So I ran around to check everything. Once I knew it wasn't, I had to climb on chairs and dissamble 4 darn fire alarms. I was totally exhausted when it was over, and I realize that being 32 weeks pregnant and climbing on chairs when home alone probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. But the only thought I had at the time was to get those things to shut up! It was quite exhilarating.

What the Doctor Said This Week: There was still alot of blood pressure monitoring going on this week. We had our appointments with Dr. Jones and Dr. Martin on Wednesday afternoon. Both places captured high blood pressure readings on me the first time, and then great blood pressure readings the second time they took them.

At Dr. Jones we had a biophysical profile ultrasound. The tech wasn't the greatest. I think she was kinda new. Savannah wasn't cooperating with her and wouldn't show her face. So she made me roll on my side and kept jostling the wand all around my belly. I think she was making Savannah mad.

Luckily, everything looked great to the doctor. They made sure Savannah was breathing well out of her nose. They checked the pulse of the umbilical cord, which was great. They checked Savannah's heart rate, 161 bpm. My cervix was still long (which is good), when it starts to thin, labor is on its way. There was plenty of amniotic fluid. The placenta still looked healthy.

The doctor said his goal is to keep my blood pressure numbers under 150 for the top number and under 95 for the bottom number. He didn't adjust my meds this week. But he is still talking about an induction between weeks 37-39, which is January 28-February 11. So freaky that it's so soon!

Dr. Martin was very pleased with little Savannah too. She estimated her to be 4 pounds 10 ounces based on her femur, head and belly measurements. She was also able to get a profile shot of Savannah with her mouth open.

Random Facts for the Week: I paid for my epidural.