35w3d

well i had a pretty good OB visit today. the NST went well and baby was super active and no contractions as far as i know. i did have my first womanly parts check to see if anything is going on in there and of course there isn't. i think we're going to try lots of walking and such to see if we can get some improvement before next week. only 11 days until the baby is considered full term at 37 weeks!! i can't even believe it. so if i start to dilate now it shouldn't be a problem for baby. doc also said that if i make it to induction at 39 weeks he expects baby to weigh in at at least 8 pounds! oh, doc couldn't tell if baby was head down or not so i got an impromptu ultrasound right then and there to check on things. baby is indeed head down AND sunny side up. here's hoping s/he turns over for my sake. especially since i prefer my eggs over easy.

more shower pics...

annie had some better shots of the shower so i thought i'd share.

my niece amanda and her mommy nicole. the kids were SO well behaved!

my niece ally and i. she's such a hoot.

my former co-worker, kathy, and i.

jessie rae and i. :)

matt and i. he wasn't there for the shower...he was just picking up all the baby loot we received.

ally and her mommy, margaret. margaret is the last one in the bathje group who will give birth. so far in our family there is one person due each month starting with me and ending with margaret (that's 5 people)! oh and they were wearing the favors my MIL and SIL made. they are baby bonnets made out of wash rags (the kiddos got bunnies made from wash rags too).

margaret, ally, and i

i'll update tomorrow after my doctor appointment.

shower

thanks to my sister in law annie the shower went off w/o a hitch on sunday. everyone had a great time and i couldn't believe how generous everyone was! here are some highlights.

the incredibly yummy cake!!


my MIL made this. it has a poem on it that was on a needlepoint she got when matt was born. she tried to clean it but the thread bled so she made a shadow box with it instead. the other day she gave me the needlepoint and it doesn't look so bad so we may hang it anyway.


everyone had loads of fun playing baby bingo. hehe, thank GOD it was the only game we played!


grandpa rice (man it's weird to refer to my dad as that!) was so proud of himself that he picked these outfits out all by himself. :) i think he did a very good job.


the little lace booties that my aunt ruth tatted for baby. so incredibly dainty.


the frog slippers/booties my grandma made for baby
(yes mike, they ARE frogs).


the hand knit sweater aunt mary made for our little pumpkin. she's so good at it some ppl at the shower thought it was store bought! i assured them that no, she's just THAT good.

this is from matt's aunt eva. she went with my MIL to the store and they saw DIAPER CHAMP on the registry. they looked all over and finally asked a saleslady what it was...they laughed hysterically when they found out it was just a diaper pail. they were looking for something much more useful based on the name. :)

jessie mccoy (to the right of me) gave us a BABY ON BOARD sign for the car...not b/c she thought we needed it, but b/c she thought of matt when she bought it and his love of the simpsons (you know, when homer is in the band the B-Sharps and they sing "baby on board". yah, well, WE thought it was funny.)

can you tell i'm saying "take the damn picture already..."? i never thought opening so many presents could be so tiring!

this "WEE PUBLICAN" bib came w/o a card. i knew right away it was from my BIL stephen who LOVES to argue politics with matt (steve is die hard republican and he THINKS that matt is die hard democrat when in fact if he's anything he's liberal). my MIL was pretty proud of me that i knew who it was from right away. :) matt says we're going to take a picture of it with baby spitup all over it and send it to steve.

muppet babies board books from my SIL cathy (pictured).

one of my most favorite items, it's a coverall from matt's aunt yvonne. it reminds me of the raccoon suit from super mario bros 3, minus the tail.

a few days ago matt's co-workers took the two of us out to eat and gave us a giftcard for $140! incredibly unexpected but we'll gladly use it! more pictures later if annie has some good ones to share.

nursery pics

well i've finally got the room together enough to take some pics. still have a few things to hang on the walls but you get the idea. it's a super small room so it was hard to get good pics, but you get the idea.

glider and shelves (with gnome nightlight :) ). i have a stool that dad made in boy scouts that i'll use to put my feet up.

closet, still have a few places to fill in here.

these are hanging on the small wall right by the door. these are actually super special to us b/c they are plaques that matt and i each had when we were kids. one is a poem about "Why God made little girls" and the other is about boys. i was so shocked when we were going through some of his stuff when i saw his plaque b/c i knew i had mine somewhere that matched it. this is also the best picture to illustrate just how yellow the walls are. i thought when we picked the color out ages ago that it was a soft yellow, but it's certainly not. we kind of like it better that way b/c it matches the rest of the house now in terms of color intensity.

the cats have already claimed the bed.

the glider and crib.


like i said, it's a small room, but it will do just fine. i'm hoping we can fit everything we else we have yet to buy/receive in it, but i highly doubt that will happen.

FINALLY!

well the nursery is almost done. matt and i primed and painted this past weekend and this week i've spent putting things in their proper places. still waiting for matt to get some of the crap off of the top shelf in the closet though. i would totally kill myself if i tried to get all of that down with as awkward as i am most days. so i'm getting the rest of the house together instead of finishing that up. matt's been working like a freaking madman at work. i can't even count the extra hours he's put in since last friday. FREAKING REDICULOUS. the poor guy. at least he was able to come home early today. sarah and aunt corrine will be staying here on saturday for the shower on sunday (EDIT, sarah just informed me she's swamped at school and can't come so i don't know yet if coco will coming either). i can't wait, partly b/c i just want to get all the baby shopping done ASAP and partly b/c i can't wait to see some of the family and friends who are going to be there. it should be fun, i just hope they don't do the toilet paper game. i will hate every minute of that. i don't think ann would be that cruel. :)

i found out this week at my OB appointment that when my bile levels were checked that they were only 3 times that of normal. which is more than enough for a cholestasis diagnosis, but not enough to be overly concerned (granted it's enough for monitoring and treatment). the OB informed me that the patients he see who have it real bad have levels 10 times or more than normal, which he informed me very well could have happened in my case had we not caught it early. this makes me feel A LOT better, and in fact that OB has now become my favorite OB at the practice based on that appointment. i appreciated how he handled himself and that he informed me of so much that my other OBs had left out. so right now i think i'm going to forgo the amnio. i'll still get induced at 39 weeks if no progress before then, but i think i'm going to opt to let nature take it's course instead of getting induced early. hopefully baby will come on his/her own around 37-38 weeks b/c i really don't want to be induced!

i meant to add this to yesterdays post....

i don't see a whole lot of growth from my last belly shot, but i feel like it's a lot rounder now.

thumpa thumpa

well today i had my first weekly NST (non stress test). i have to do them every week due to the cholistasis to make sure baby is doing fine in there. it basically consists of getting two straps around my belly, one that measures contractions, and one for fetal heart tones. as soon as they put the heart one on me we heard that wonderful sound that is the heartbeat of the baby. it was incredibly loud coming out of the machine and it sounded much like a horse walking. matt still thinks it sounds like KITT from knight rider. so we were in the room for 20 minutes or so just listening to the little thump thump. the nurse came in and took the print out to my OB. everything looked fine so they proceeded to go ahead and stimulate the baby. for this they use this little buzzing device that when applied to my belly for less than 5 seconds made this little baby boy or girl jump up and start squirming! baby's heart rate went from the 130s-140s up to 170s-180s! and was s/he ever moving! i told matt that i really need one of those buzzy things for the days when baby is being real lazy. i get paranoid when i don't feel it kick for a while. :) the end result was completely normal.

as for the palpitations and fast heart rate...they seem to have subsided *knock on wood*. since i got on the iron supplements i've been feeling 90% better and my heart rate has returned to normal. guess it truly was the anemia. i have a follow up appointment with my GP this weekend, hopefully he'll be just as happy as i am.

oh, this weekend also brings painting! i'm crossing my fingers that we get the taping, priming, and painting done this weekend. otherwise coco will have to sleep on the couch the weekend of my shower (and sarah has already claimed the floor). if we get it all done this weekend i can concentrate on getting things put in their places next week. i'll post pictures when it's done.