Hurry up, Isabella!!

Well, the latest pregnancy update is that there are no big changes from last week (officially I've begun to dilate and efface, but I'm less than a centimeter.) Isabella has dropped and my ligaments are relaxing and her head's down (all good signs.) The doctor said it was completely normal not be more dilated right now, since I still have a week until I'm due. She said that doesn't mean she can't come tomorrow if she wants, but it's normal to go a week or more past your due date. I'm just anxious because the date's getting so close. I can't stand not having a plan or knowing a date, just ask John. We've waited so long to see this little girl, and it's getting harder to be patient. Maybe soon!

Pregnancy and other updates

Okay, I realize that I've been a terrible blogger lately and haven't updated my blog in 6 weeks. For those of you that have been waiting for an update, you have my sincerest apology. A lot has been going on, but it mostly revolves around preparing for Isabella. We're now in countdown mode... 12 days or hopefully less. John and I went through a "Preparing for Parenthood" class and have been officially deemed as ready to be parents. I thought the class was quite informative while John thought he could have learned all of this by reading a book. He was frustrated that the teacher went over the material in three different formats before moving to the next topic which she also covered in the same three formats. It was a bit repetitive, but not all of us pick up on things as quickly as John. The one part that he couldn't get from a book was the experience of wearing the "Empathy Belly." I thought it was very entertaining. I'm sure this picture speaks for itself, but it was funny to watch John sit down in it and immediately move the belly off his bladder, which we pregnant women are unable to do. He claims that the belly wasn't sitting on his bladder as I thought but somewhere else entirely.

We have officially moved to our new residence and have set up a nursery. We're really excited about our new place and can't wait for all our friends to come by and enjoy it with us. I know there are a lot of you that are curious about Isabella's nursery, so here is a picture. As I've stated before, it's blue and she is a girl... but it's a very calming color and my favorite.

John's been very busy interning with a law firm, Sirote & Permutt, this summer and has really enjoyed it. He's working one more week and then we're both hoping to take off for little Isabella's arrival.

My work has been awesome. I've been working my regular schedule, but my boss has blocked my schedule now so I'm not taking any new patients. My load has really lightened up lately and all my co-workers have been so supportive as I get ready for maternity leave. As for pregnancy updates, I've gained 29 pounds and have no real complaints. I have low blood pressure, Isabella's heart rate is perfect (around 130 bpm), and I'm having very little discomfort. I believe my ligaments have started to relax so I'm having a few hip/low back pains when I walk (this is actually a really good sign in my opinion), and the doctor tells me I'm beginning to dilate and efface. This is all excellent news, because I had started to wonder if Isabella was going to come out after all. She's been in there so long that it felt like she might just decide to stay. But I think that she might be getting close to being ready now.

Oh, John and I wanted (let me change that to I) wanted to memorialize this time with my huge belly and I drug John to a professional photo session to capture us at 8 months pregnant.

Baby Showers, How Fun!

Well, this weekend John and I had two baby showers thrown for us. They were both so much fun! The first was Saturday, May 3 which was hostessed by Lauren (my sister), Jami, Sally, Emily, and Gia. They did the BEST job ever! It was so much fun and everything looked and tasted wonderful. The day went by so fast.

Isn't this cake cute! I just love it!

These next pictures are from the shower at church, which was wonderful also. The ladies did an amazing job decorating! We are so very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to do all this for us. I just have to thank God for blessing us with so much love and support.

This is a cute picture of my little helper Madelynn who was a great assistant for opening gifts. She'd find the card and hand it to me and then predict what the gift was, and assist in pulling the wrapping paper off. John was an okay assistant as well, but not quite as good as Madelynn as you can see in this picture.

Thank you to everyone who came to the showers and for the wonderful gifts for me and John and Isabella. We are so blessed to have each of you in our lives.

Baby showers and great friends

Well, another very fun, but very busy weekend has passed. Yesterday, I helped hostess a baby shower for my friend Sally. We all had such a great time seeing each other, and the shower turned out beautiful! This picture is of Sally (front right) and all the hostesses.








Afterwards, I ate dinner with some of my great Auburn friends whom I haven't seen in maybe 4-5 years. We had so much fun catching up with each other. They're all way ahead of me in the children department, though! Anna and Brooke have 3 beautiful children each and Paige has 2 and is expecting her third now! How things have changed since our single Auburn days! It was wonderful to see everyone.



And here's a better tummy picture for you. I'm between 29 and 30 weeks right now. I have 10-11 weeks to go, but so far I'm really enjoying being pregnant. I'm going to miss feeling little Isabella moving around. It's just the most amazing feeling. I only wish I could describe it, but it makes me feel closer to her and closer to God. What a miracle and a blessing she is.

Latest updates

So, I haven't been very good about keeping this blog up-to-date. We've had a very busy couple of weeks. John is getting ready for exams, which start April 25, so he's been at the library a lot lately. In the meantime, I'm trying to keep myself occupied so that I'm not distracting him if he does happen to be home or not whining about the fact that he's not home and therefore not hanging out with me. So, I've been scheduling myself with lots of little projects or friends to hang out with.

The latest pregnancy update is that I don't have gestational diabetes!! Some of you probably have no idea how stressed I was about the possibility of this diagnosis. The doctors would have to put me on a very restrictive low sugar diet, which in itself is extremely difficult for me, but add to that all the other pregnancy related diet restrictions and I felt like I wouldn't be able to eat anything fun at all. So, I'm very relieved to inform you all that I am allowed to have sugar!! Otherwise, everything is going according to schedule. Little Izzy is growing and moving all the time. Her heart rate continues to be a perfect 140 bpm (should be between 120-160 bpm.) That's my girl! John's reading her bedtime stories when he gets to take a break from studying, and we're just enjoying our last few months of good rest.

The picture I'm posting is the chair we ordered for our nursery. The room color has yet to be officially decided, but it'll be some shade of blue. Yes, I realize that I'm breaking the rules for a little girl room, but that's my favorite color and I'm a girl, so I'm doing it. This is actually the color and the fabric for the chair also, but you may not be able to see the fabric very well. For those of you that come to see our nursery in person, I'll let you test the chair, because it's quite comfortable and John approved it for his height as well.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I've been very bad about updating this blog lately. It's just been very busy. This past weekend, I went with my good friends Sally and Jami on a hunt for the perfect rocker/glider for my nursery, only to learn I have a lot of research ahead of me! John's only requirement is for a rocker tall enough for his head to have a resting place, which is actually harder than it sounds to find. Well, then you have my requirements for appearance, cushion and wood colors and that sort of thing. So, the search continues.

As most of you know, today is Easter Sunday, and we celebrated our Lord's resurrection with the rest of our family. I'm including my latest pregnancy shot at 25-26 weeks. (In just a few more days, I'll be 6 months pregnant. It's very hard to believe.) I love you all! I hope you had a happy Easter!

5 Months and counting

Well, as of Thursday I'm officially 5 months pregnant. I can't believe this is all going by so quickly. Of course, as friends have told me it feels like things really slow down as you get closer. Isabella's moving a lot now and it can be a little distracting while I'm trying to treat patients. I'll be sitting there asking this new patient questions about what's wrong with her shoulder and little Izzy will be kicking and moving all around or I'll be trying to fall asleep and she'll choose just that moment to decide to wake up and start moving. She's definitely getting stronger. John got to feel her last weekend for the first time. He's been a little jealous that he doesn't know what if feels like, and at first I felt a little sad for him. Then, I remembered... he doesn't have to gain all this weight or be uncomfortable or actually give birth, and all those sympathetic feelings disappear. The other development of the week is that I've finally decided it's time to give up my "regular" work pants. They're starting to get tighter and less comfortable so it's time to switch over. It makes me a little sad to leave them behind, but I think it'll feel a lot better when I do. (Just a sidenote, but I switched to maternity jeans a little while back. My work pants were much looser to start with.) Next week will mark the true maternity wear beginning. Otherwise, nothing too eventful has happened. I don't have any new symptoms. I go through periods where I'll be really tired or really hungry and then periods where I feel pretty normal. It's been a really fun and exciting experience so far. We can't wait to meet this little girl!