Less Than a Month!

Oh wow, do I suck at updating or what? Okay, you're right, I suck. ;)

So to keep this post from being super depressing, I'm gonna keep it VERY short. Sorry, but I have been unable to take my "happy pills" for almost 9 months now and it's starting to get rough. I am having some serious Debbie Downer issues today. Hopefully this does not rub off on all of you. :)

The past few weeks have actually been really nice. I haven't been working, so I've been able to clean house, run errands, catch up on sleep, and spend hours daydreaming in the nursery. :) The only downside to this is I get super lonely during the day and have anxiety issues whenever Adam doesn't spend his every free moment with me. (No happy pills, remember?) Poor guy has been really great though. I couldn't have gotten through things without him. :)

My church/small group/family threw me a baby shower a few Sundays ago, and I had an absolute BLAST! The girls did such a good job making everything perfect and beautiful! Awesome food, fun games, and generous friends make for a very happy (if slightly emotional) Dani. :D

Let's see, what else have we done?... Baby Girl's nursery is almost complete! Adam made her a shelf (it's awesome!), her closet and changing table are stocked, and we are just waiting for last minute details (which really don't have to be done before she gets here) like her glider, the letters for her name, and some wall art.

Adam and I went to a childbirth class at OMC. It was nice. We both learned some things that we didn't know before. We would not suggest doing an entire DAY class though. Really not necessary.

Got the carseat and base installed. This is a HUGE burden lifted off of my shoulders. I don't know why I was having such anxiety about it. I knew that if she came before we had it (and had it installed) that we could just send someone to go get it and put it in the car. It's not rocket science. But I feel SOOOOO much better about having the Police Department help Adam put it in and tell us that it was good to go. :)

I think other than that, we just need a baby to go with all of our cool new stuff! ;)

How far along? 36 weeks 4 days
Total weight gain/loss: I hate this question... I don't know, okay?!?!
Maternity clothes? Yes, if I'm not wearing Adam's clothes. ;)
Stretch marks? As of last week, I'm getting new ones on my legs... Is this weird? I think so.
Sleep: Sleep is becoming elusive... I'm either waking up to pee or I can't breathe and I have to sit up for a while, OR my legs get restless and I have to walk around the house some before I can get back in bed. :(
Best moment this week: Eh, this week was not a great one. The best part is that it's almost over and our little girl will be here soon!
Movement: Not as much now. She is CRAMPED and likes to let me know about it. ;)
Food cravings: Slushy/icey type things... and pie. Always pie. ;)
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: We thought I was having contractions in the grocery store last night, but we think it may have been just her head rubbing my cervix. I know, you really wanted to know that. ;)
Belly Button in or out? Half and half? It looks ridiculous...
What I miss: Feeling normal...
What I am looking forward to: Seeing her!
Weekly Wisdom: If your doc tells you to use Tylenol as a last resort and to call and double check before you take it (which is normally a good idea, don't get me wrong), BUT your doctor's office is really sucky at getting back to you quickly and you've had a migraine for HOURS... JUST TAKE THE FLIPPING TYLENOL!!! Sorry, I almost have a fight with a nurse yesterday about this. ;)
Milestones: Next Tuesday is FULL TERM! YEAH!

Lots of Updates!

Okay, wow! I have not updated in SOOOO long! It's been so long that I can't remember what my last post was, and I can't remember what's on it, so hopefully, this one is not full of repeats. If it is... sorry! ;)

Let's see... last time I updated was April, so let me think of what's new.

*I am officially done working for the summer! I know I probably shouldn't be that excited about it, and I DO miss my kiddos, but I have been able to get a bunch of stuff done, which is nice.

*My sister-in-law, Shannon, graduated from MNU, so we got to hang out with a TON of family. That was a blast. :)

*My sister, Hannah, graduated from High School and Adam and I took our final road trip back down to Southeast MO (at least while I'm pregnant) to celebrate with her. She was third in her class and we are SO proud of her! :D

*We have Baby Girl's first name picked out... but Adam wants to keep it a secret, so I can't tell you. Yes, it's killing me. We totally love it though. :) And when she's here and you hear it, and you don't like it... keep it to yourself! Haha! ;)

*I continue to fight the silent battle of orthodontia... I have had my braces on for more than a YEAR longer than they predicted... And let's just say I've had enough. The last 6 months worth of conversations have literally gone like this:

Orthodontist: "Things are looking good."

Me: "Great! So are we almost done?"

Ortho: "Oh yes! We just have to move this tooth a hair more, and then we'll be good!"

Me: "Wait... isn't that what you said last time?"

Ortho: "Well, yes, but it's getting close... we're a mere millimeter away."

Me: "A millimeter? Seriously? We've been waiting 6 months for A MILLIMETER!?!"

Ortho: "Well, yes, but you don't want to have come all this way and things not be perfect do you?"

This is where I just grit my teeth and smile at him... and think that he's lucky they took all of the sharp, pointy instruments away from my reach...

The last two times I have left the orthodontist's office, I have made it all the way to my car before I burst into tears. He guarantees me that they will be off before this baby gets here. That man has less than 7 weeks... 'Nuff said.

*Other than that, we've just been working on her room, and trying to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row before our little "duckling" gets here. :) I can't WAIT!

How far along? 33 weeks 3 days
Total weight gain/loss: As of yesterday, about 10 lbs. :)
Maternity clothes? Yes, although, I'm getting tired of rotating the same 5 shirts around, haha!
Stretch marks? No new ones.
Sleep: Sleeping well! But I think my body is practicing not sleeping in... every morning at 7am my eyes POP open!
Best moment this week: Getting our maternity pictures taken! :D And swimming with some girlfriends... SO fun!
Movement: She moves all the time! She is quickly running out of room though, so the movements are the cramped/shifting kind. Poor kid. ;)
Food cravings: Slushy/icey type things. I bought a BUNCH of Freezie-Pops the other day and I am in Heaven!
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: None, thank goodness!
Belly Button in or out? Slowly but surely, it's working it's way out! Haha! It's so goofy looking...
What I miss: I miss NOT feeling like a beached whale when I try to get off of the bed or couch! ;)
What I am looking forward to: Seeing her!
Weekly Wisdom: Do not be afraid to ask someone (spouse, friend, random stranger in the parking lot) to help you out of the car... otherwise, you just look really stupid trying to heave/roll yourself out. ;)
Milestones: Can't think of one...

We had our awesome friend, Megan Keith, take out maternity pictures this past Sunday. She did an EXCELLENT job! We are totally in love with all of them! Here are just a few of our favorites! Thanks again Meg! We LOVE them! :D

The Weekend of Weekends!

Time flies when you're having fun! And lemme tell ya, we've been having some fun. ;) The past week has been so busy crazy, but in a good way. Adam was a groomsman for one of his best friends, and I helped with the guestbook and the reception. It was a LOT of work, but the wedding turned out beautiful and everything went perfectly. Congratulations to Scott & Shannon Brooks! :D That's how we spent the majority of Thursday and Friday of this past week (running around doing wedding things).

Saturday was spent hanging out with my Mom, sister, and Gramma! They came up for Emily's art show (which went magnificently, yay Em!) and we literally shopped ALL DAY Saturday. :) I have to give a little shout out for my sister, Emily and her amazing Public Relations class. This group of 4 girls had less than a semester to put together a public event to benefit others. They chose to work with Artists Helping the Homeless. They decided on an art show and planned the whole thing themselves! This included contacting a famous artist to contribute art, as well as contacting numerous schools for art donations. These girls did such an excellent job! They also made a goal of $400 for the art show to give to the Artists Helping the Homeless. They made.... over $1000! I am SO proud of these girls! :D

Sunday we had church and a very special lunch with an old friend. I grew up in Maryland with a girl who I've kept in touch with over the years. She joined the Navy after high school and has been station in Guam for the past 3 years or so. She's on leave for a few weeks and just so happens to be in Kansas City! She called me up and asked if I'd like to have lunch Sunday and of course, I said yes! It was great to see her and meet her boyfriend and a girlfriend of hers. Yay for childhood friends! :)

It was a most excellent weekend that I don't think I've fully recovered from yet, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. :) Here's a new belly pic for you guys. Enjoy!

28 Week Belly

How far along? 28 weeks 2 days
Total weight gain/loss: I'll find out on Thursday at the doctor's.
Maternity clothes? Yep, and I've started to raid Adam's closet for t-shirt and basketball shorts, poor guy ;)
Stretch marks? Nope, but I have started getting weird red bumps around my belly-button from my shirts rubbing. :(
Sleep: Pretty good! I only get up once a night now! :)
Best moment this week: I felt her on both sides of my stomach at the same time! SO cool!
Movement: She moves all the time! She likes to bunch up in one spot and it makes my belly look lopsided, it's pretty funny.
Food cravings: I want a sno-cone so bad, but that's Shelley Cotton's fault! ;)
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: None, thank goodness!
Belly Button in or out? Still in...
What I miss: Being able to bend.
What I am looking forward to: Meeting her!
Weekly Wisdom: Do not be afraid to ask someone (spouse, friend, random stranger in the parking lot) to help you out of the car... otherwise, you just look really stupid trying to heave/roll yourself out. ;)
Milestones: Can't think of one...

3rd Trimester!

Yay! We made it! I am officially in my 3rd trimester of my pregnancy! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. :) I'm actually enjoying being pregnant this week. I know that sounds terrible, but I have felt awful this past month or two. It finally doesn't hurt to be alive. ;) Other than some mild back pain occasionally, I'm feeling so much better. :)

I'm trying to think if anything interesting has happened these past few weeks since I've last updated... I can't really think of much. I've been drinking a lot more water, and I'm convinced that my mother has been right my whole life... It fixes everything! I think between drinking water, the incredible sunshine, and the fact that I've been trying to take a walk everyday, these things have largely contributed to my improving health. :)

We painted Baby Girl's nursery! That's exciting news! We went with a really soft pale green. I think the name of it was Pale Green Moss. And we arranged her room! Yay! I finally convinced Adam to help me take out the twin bed that was in there and now there's just enough room for all of her stuff. The only thing we're missing is her glider. :) Here are a couple of pics:

Changing table, closet, and crib!

View when you walk into the room:

Other than that, I can't really think of anything else that's happened. I'll update if I remember something. Have a marvelous day and here are some updated belly pictures for ya:

26 Weeks

27 Weeks! 3rd Trimester

How far along? 27 WEEKS! 3rd Trimester, yay!
Total weight gain/loss: I have no idea...
Maternity clothes? Yep, and I've started to raid Adam's closet for t-shirt and basketball shorts, poor guy ;)
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: Better. I still get up at least twice a night. It's almost like clock-work. I get up at 1:30am and 5:30am... apparently 4 hours is my max. ;)
Best moment this week: I feel GOOD!
Movement: She moves all the time! More rolling than kicking now though.
Food cravings: Taco Bell! My poor husband, haha!
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: None, thank goodness!
Belly Button in or out? Still in... but getting shallow-er (is that a word?).
What I miss: Sleeping through the night and being able to paint my own toenails. :(
What I am looking forward to: Meeting her!
Weekly Wisdom: Water has miraculous healing powers... My mother has been trying to tell me this my whole life. "Mom, I think my arm is broken!" "Drink some water!" "Whaaat?..." Seriously, water has fixed just about every ailment I've had over the past two weeks. Back hurt? Drink some water. Headache? Drink some water. Tired? Drink some water. Heartburn/indegestion? Water! Twitchy legs? Water! Itchy skin? Drink some water!!!
Milestones: We have reached the 3rd trimester! Yay! :D

Our Spring Break "Adventure"

Okay, so I guess you may be wondering if I've dropped off the face of the planet. No I have not, but I thought I was there for a bit. Had quite the adventure a few weeks ago. Let me tell you about it:

So right around the time of my last post, I started having some pretty bad pain in my back, about midway up on my right side. I chalked it up to pregnancy and tried to just suck it up. Well, I didn't sleep because of the pain Thursday night, or Friday night, and it got even worse on Saturday night. I tried Tylenol, I tried hot packs, I tried cold packs, I had Adam rub my back, I tried showers and baths... NOTHING worked. Two extra strength Tylenol didn't even take the edge off, and by Saturday night I started having trouble breathing due to the amount of pain I was experiencing. By the time Sunday morning rolled around I couldn't breathe, walk, or speak and I just cried constantly. And as luck would have it, my doctor was out of town for Spring Break. Also, with it being Sunday, nothing was open as far as doctor's went anyway. So Adam called the on-call physician and he sent us to the Emergency Room thinking that I was having problems with a kidney stone. He also totally freaked me out about Baby Girl, asking if I had felt her move and thinking that since I hadn't, there might be something wrong with her too. After spending all day in the ER getting poked, prodded, stuck with needles, and having all sorts of tests done, the doctors and nurses decided that there was no blood in my urine (which ruled out kidney stones and infection), they couldn't see my appendix due to Baby Girl (although I wasn't running a fever, which would have signaled an impending rupture, and I have sludge and stones in my gall bladder (which isn't good). They talked about the possibility of gall bladder surgery, but they wanted to wait until tomorrow to talk to the surgeon. So they gave me some drugs and sent me home Sunday night telling me to follow up with the on-call physician the next day. After another rough night (the drugs didn't help much) Adam took me to the doctor where I had an absolute pain/panic attack during the visit. I'm pretty sure I pulled some Exorcist moves, and my head may or may not have spun around on my neck. ;) So the doctor decided to send me straight to the hospital. Smart man. :) Adam and I spent all of Monday and the better part of Tuesday in the hospital where they took more blood and urine from me than I thought humanly possible (at all hours of the day and night), blew three veins in my wrists trying to put an IV in, and kept me moderately doped up (just enough to take the edge off the pain without causing harm to Baby Girl). To make and even longer and more confusing story shorter and less confusing... the doctors never did figure out what exactly was wrong with me. I was displaying all the right symptoms for various illnesses, but not at the right times or with other corresponding symptoms (mainly, I never had a fever). Unfortunately, all they could do was write me a prescription for pain meds, put me on a low-fat diet for my gall bladder, and hope that the pain went away. They decided not to take my gall bladder out now due to the baby and the risks involved with that. I spend the rest of that week and most of the next in bed, and surprisingly enough, the pain eventually did go away! I'm still on meds for acid reflux, but they took me off the low-fat diet (which absolutely sucks by the way... it's like eating sawdust for every meal) and I'm feeling much better! I actually went back to work this week and I haven't had to take a pain pill since last Friday, hooray! Also, I missed taking pictures of my growing belly for week 23 and 24 (sorry!) because that was the absolute last thing on my mind, but I do have one for this week!

25 Week Belly

How far along? 25 weeks even
Total weight gain/loss: I have no idea b/c I was heavily medicated the last time we went to the doctor, haha.
Maternity clothes? Yep, there's no going back now! ;)
Stretch marks? No new ones.
Sleep: Sleep? What's sleep? I have had the most terrible time sleeping these past few days! I chalk it up to restless leg syndrome... which has spread to my whole body. You can ask Adam, my whole body twitches all night long. It's made for some long nights for both of us. :(
Best moment this week: Not taking any pain pills, yay!
Movement: Lots! Adam and I have been calling her a ninja, 'cause this girl has some serious moves! ;)
Food cravings: Anything with apples and cinnamon!
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: None, thank goodness! We had a freak-out last week that almost sent us back to the ER b/c I thought I was having contractions. My belly was hurting and the top of it kept getting really hard and crampy, so we called the doc and he said that if it was contractions, they'd be in the bottom of my belly (made sense after he said that) and decided that it was acid reflux. Whew!
Belly Button in or out? Still in... but getting shallow-er (is that a word?).
What I miss: Sleeping through the night. :(
What I am looking forward to: Picking her name!
Weekly Wisdom: Try to stay out of the hospital until you actually go in to have your baby. ;)
Milestones: My belly totally "popped" and I feel huge. I guess this is a milestone? And now Baby Girl is officially viable. Meaning if she is born now, she has a much higher survival rate than previous weeks. Not that I want her to be born quite yet. Still cookin'. ;)

22 weeks and feeling fine!

Man does time fly or what? I feel like the first trimester just dragged by and now I stop to check things out and two weeks have flown by! Make it stop! Or at least slow down. ;) We are at 22 and a half weeks of my pregnancy and I'm feeling REALLY good. :) I don't feel like I'm about to fall asleep standing up, I haven't puked in weeks (knock on wood), and I can actually "hold it" for more than an hour, hooray!

Adam and I are no closer to finding a name for baby girl, but we still have plenty of time. It's actually really hard to pick! We're not talking about naming a goldfish or a pet rock here! This is our CHILD! And she will have this name forever! Man, talk about pressure. ;) I'm really not too worried about it yet, we still have plenty of time, and if it really comes down to it, they won't let us leave the hospital with her without putting something on her birth certificate. ;)

Okay, now for some silly stories about things I have done in the past week that I am totally blaming on pregnancy brain:

*Adam now refers to me as "Mrs. 3 second brain." What does this mean, you ask? Well, let me demonstrate a conversation we had on the way to church last week:

Me: Hey Adam, do you have to, ummm, what's it called? Where you help your Dad...? (And then, before he or I can figure out what it is I'm talking about....) Oh WAIT! Please don't let me forget to tell Andrea that I need to get that thing from her...

Adam: What thing?

Me: That thing I asked her for the other day, I can't remember the name of it.

Adam: No, the other thing.

Me: What other thing?

Adam: The thing you just asked me about.

Me: I asked you a question?

Adam: Yeah, about my Dad.

Me: I do not remember that...

Adam: Well, anyway, I'll help you remember to ask Andrea something.

Me: What do you need to ask Andrea?

Adam: Nothing, you do.

Me: I need to what?

Adam: Ask Andrea something!

Me: Well what did I need to ask her? What are you talking about?!?!

Adam: *sigh* I have no idea...

Me: (about 10 minutes later... during church) Recipe! I was going to ask Andrea for a recipe! What were you gonna ask her?

Adam: *groan*

*I needed to measure some fabric for Baby Girl's bedding, but I didn't want to use a ruler, so I went on a hunt for the yardstick. I searched EVERYWHERE! For at least 40 minutes. I was so mad that I could not find it. I thought Adam had moved it... so then I was mad at him. As I'm dialing his work number to chew him out about moving the yardstick, I realized.... I don't own a yardstick... my mom does. It's at her house. Oops...

*And my favorite so far actually happened yesterday... I go to the orthodontist every couple of weeks. My ortho's office is located on the third floor of a large office complex. I arrive at the complex, park my car, walk inside, ride the elevator up to the third floor, walk down the hall to my othro's office, and proceed to my appointment. Thirty minutes later I emerge from my ortho's office, head back down the hallway, and stop at the elevators. Here is where I proceed to take out my car keys and hit the "unlock" button on my clicker... several times... at the elevator... to get it to open... unsuccessfully, I might add. After about 4 tries it finally dawns on me... I am trying to unlock the elevator with my car keys. Awesome. I should not be allowed out in public, much less drive. Haha! I thought it was funny. :)

Okay, here's this week's picture: 22 weeks!

How far along? 22 weeks 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: Not quite sure... my scale is totally different from the one at the dr's so I never know until I go there.
Maternity clothes? Yep, there's no going back now! ;)
Stretch marks? No new ones.
Sleep: Pretty good. I usually get up once a night, but it's not bad. Now I've started having really bizzare dreams, so that's... interesting.
Best moment this week: I know this is totally not pregnancy related but.... the WEATHER! It's been awesome! I even went on a walk. :) Go me!
Movement: Lots! It's so fun feeling her, and it always makes me smile. :)
Food cravings: Back on the apple pie kick, haha!
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Still in... I've decided I don't think it's going to "pop" just flatten out. I have a weird bellybutton...
What I miss: Bending over to tie my shoes or put on socks... it's uncomfortable!.
What I am looking forward to: Picking her name!
Weekly Wisdom: The chiropractor is your friend while you're pregnant, seriously. :)
Milestones: Month 5! Baby Girl is now the size of a papaya, is about a foot long, and weighs about a pound! Wow!

Halfway Mark!

I guess technically I was at the halfway mark last week, but I wasn't thinking about it, so we'll celebrate this week! Yay! :)

Had another doctor's appointment last week on Friday. Everything's looking good. I feel good. :) Blood pressure's good. It's allllll good. ;) The doc tried to hear the heartbeat again (I'm guessing they're going to do this every week now?) and was getting tickled b/c Baby Girl was being... elusive. ;) She doesn't like people invading her space so she kept slipping out from under the doppler wand. I was trying hard not to laugh. ;) We heard it for a couple of seconds though, so it was fine. Doctor's only comment was, "Well, she'll run out of room in there eventually and she won't be able to escape pretty soon, haha!" I love my doctor. He's so mellow and just makes me feel so comfortable and relaxed. I am so blessed. :)

I don't really think I have too much else to post about. Not much has happened in the last week, and I'm okay with that. Ha! I've given up facebook for Lent with our church's youth group, so I'm going to try and post some pictures in the blog from the past few weeks. Wish me luck!

21 Weeks

20 Weeks... Looking rough ;)

How far along? 21 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Half a pound. :( I guess it's better than losing weight...
Maternity clothes? Yes.
Stretch marks? No new ones.
Sleep: Eh, I have good nights and not-so-good nights. My back is starting to really bother me, so it makes sleep uncomfortable sometimes.
Best moment this week: Finally getting ALL of the supplies for her bedding! Now we just have to sent it off to get it made.
Movement: Lots! It's so fun feeling her, and it always makes me smile. :)
Food cravings: Just food in general. I'm always hungry. ;)
Gender: GIRL!
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Starting to get shallow... saw the back of my bellybutton for the first time ever, ha!
What I miss: Sleeping through the night. I'm always waking up to either pee, stretch, or because my arm or something has fallen asleep.
What I am looking forward to: Picking her name!
Weekly Wisdom: Talk to your hubby about anything that's bothering you... otherwise, it bottles up and then you have a melt-down and it freaks him out. ;)
Milestones: Made it past the halfway mark!