A new room

Here is a picture of me taken about a week ago. I was 26 weeks, 4 days. The bump is for sure there.

In other news, Forrest's parents came up and worked on the nursery with us this weekend. I say us, but I did very little. Forrest and Frank worked really hard and the room looks great. Here is a before photo, and as soon as I upload an after photo, I will post it.

Baby Update

Wow, I went to look at my ticker this morning and I am down to double digits in the countdown! That is just crazy! Everything is going great. I had an ultrasound two weeks ago and the baby looked good - he is measuring a little big - which makes me a tad bit nervous for the delivery. He is moving around a lot and is really active right when I want to go to bed. :) Forrest felt the baby for the first time this week. I get these email updates and all of them said that you could possibly hear the baby's heartbeat through my stomach, so Forrest put his ear to my tummy. He couldn't hear anything, but did get a couple of kicks in the ear.

I am close to being done with registering at Babies R Us and Target. We have picked out a crib, and when my mom comes to visit in two weeks she and I are going to pick out fabric for the bedding. We have done absolutely nothing to the nursery, but hopefully will start soon. I would like to have it done and out of the way sooner rather than later.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of me! Forrest is gone this weekend, and I forgot to ask him to take one!

Sleeping and Shots

On Tuesday night we were getting ready for bed and Forrest said he was hoping for a good night's sleep. Apparently on Monday night both Wallis and I were snoring and Forrest went downstairs to sleep on the couch. I didn't even realize he was gone because somehow he woke up during my middle of the night bathroom break and crawled back to bed. I felt really bad, so I tried really hard not to snore and would wake up and make sure he was still in bed. Then at 4am I woke up screaming because of a cramp in my calf. Poor Forrest, he might want to consider moving out to the couch.

I have hit a milestone this week. I received my second shipment of Lovenox shots, which means I have injected myself 100 times. For those of you that don't know, I have a clotting disorder and inject myself with Lovenox (a blood thinner) once a day as a preventative measure. I can't believe that many days have gone by! It has become part of my bedtime routine. According to my ticker, I only have 210 more shots to give myself! Woohoo!

Hawaii

I have finally decided to post about our trip to Hawaii - which was only 2 months ago, but whatever. It was slightly crazy getting ready for Hawaii. Forrest and I came back from my dad's service in Jackson on a Tuesday, worked 2 days and then flew out to Hawaii on Friday. (Did I mention that we flew in and out of Portland?) Forrest worked a total of 2o+ hours in those two days. We got to Hawaii on my birthday, but celebrated the next day by going to Kimo's in Lahaina. Their Naughty Hula Pie is fantastic and was my birthday cake.

We spent the first three days in Napili, which was nostalgic because the last time I was there was with my whole family, but it was absolutely beautiful and quite relaxing just being the two of us.

We then hooked up with Forrest's parents and spent the rest of the time in Kihei. We had lots of snorkeling and saw turtles every time we went out. We drove the road to Hana - which I will never do again when I am pregnant. I never get car sick, but pregnancy hormones, windy road and cheese and crackers is not a good idea. On the way to Hana we stopped at a beach for some banana bread which was quite yummy. We then drove to Black Sand Beach where Forrest found a cave to climb in. We had packed a lunch, but while Forrest was playing the cave, I saw a couple eating noodles and I then had to have noodles for lunch.

The last three days Forrest's sister joined us and we went back to Lahaina and I had to go to the Banyan Tree. If I could grow one of these at my house I would.

Overall the 10 days we spent in Hawaii were fantastic and just what we needed. God's timing was perfect because I was not ready to return to counseling right after my dad died, and I came back from Hawaii more mentally prepared to handle other people's crises. We are ready to go back anytime - so if a generous benefactor wants to send us for a babymoon - we wouldn't complain!

Weekly Update

Monday and Tuesday: Nothing too exciting. One of my kids that I work with told me I was getting fat and my response was, "that happens when you're pregnant." He then apologized.

Wednesday: My work had our office Christmas lunch at Azteca. Yummy fajitas. One of the interns asked me what my due date was and when I told her April 20th, her response was "That's horrible." Apparently 4/20 is National Pot Day. Having never smoked pot, I did not know. I think my due date is Emmett Noel's birthday, so that out trumps pot day by far.

Thursday: I found out that when we are in Jackson over Christmas, our friends are throwing me a baby shower. I never thought of that because it's so early, but I'm not going to complain. :) Forrest will get to hang out with the husbands for a "boys night."

Friday: Today has been a strange one. Today would have been the due date for the baby we lost in April. 8 months ago I thought that today would have been really sad, but how can I be sad when I am 21 weeks pregnant and this little one has been kicking away. (That may be because yesterday I told him he was in trouble for not kicking enough and he's getting back at me.) It is crazy to think that I could have been giving birth today, but then I wouldn't be pregnant with our son and I wouldn't give that up for the world.

I also went to Target today to register. I think there may be 10 items on our registry because I got there and was overwhelmed. I registered for things that seemed like a no brainer - baby tub, diaper genie plus refills. Then I started looking at baby swings, bouncers (which type is better, do I really need them to match), breast pumps (manual, electric, single, double, brand), car seats, and pack and plays. Do I need a bassinet for our room or should I just use the pack and play? I am begging all of you moms who read this blog to give me some advice.

Tonight Forrest and I are going to see the Nutcracker ballet. I am very excited - I have never been to a ballet, and I never thought Forrest would take me to one. It should be a lot of fun. If they let me take pictures I will post them.

20 weeks

It is hard to believe that I am halfway through this pregnancy. Time has really flown by. During the last week I think I "popped." It is not enough that people ask me if I am pregnant, but enough that I can wear maternity clothes. I like feeling like I look pregnant - it makes it seem more realistic. At our appointment last week - things looked pretty good. My weight gain is right on track and the baby is measuring on target. Now the difficulty will be coming up with a name - so far Forrest has vetoed everything I come up with. I bought a baby name book two weeks ago and now that we know we are having a boy, I have started to try to narrow things down. I think I need a new book though - I was looking at the letter B - two of the names were Bathazar and Beauregard. Really? I might be a crazy pregnant lady - but I'm not that crazy.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is my dad's birthday. He would have been 57. It has been a weird day to say the least. Yesterday Forrest and I had an ultrasound. We are having a BOY! It has been fun to think about how excited my dad would have been to find out he was having a grandson. But, it has also been sad, knowing our son won't have the privelege of being absolutely adored by his "Boppa." I have been trying to think about what to do in memory of my dad today - it should be something that he would have enjoyed. So far all I have come up with is eating fried chicken at the deli below his office - but since I am not in Jackson that is not possible.

My mom sent all four of us an email today telling us the story of our dad at each of out births. It was really cool to read - we have all heard the stories before, but each story had something new that I didn't know before. I am going to share the story of my birth with you guys...

Amy, Guess what sporting event was happening on your birthday – The World Series – I wish I could tell you who was playing and what the score was, but I can’t – but you know that Dad knows! We were in our apartment and it was an evening that Daddy was not on call . We were watching the game together and around 9:00, my labor started. Dad would tell you how great it was that I let him finish the game. Being very naïve about babies and such, I wasn’t sure I was in labor ( your doctor thought I wasn’t due until November) A few hours later, we decided that we should go to the hospital. Dad with his big grin decided as I reached the bottom of the stairs, that we really needed a picture of me pregnant. I can still see his big, silly grin, thinking this was all going to be very funny – I wasn’t laughing. Contractions are not photogenic! Things went pretty quickly once we were at the hospital. No one could start my IV, so I didn’t get to have my epidural. Daddy was amazing and continued to rub my back till his hand I’m sure felt it was going to fall off. He was so encouraging. HE seemed to know what to say through all the stages of labor (even though he had slept through most of our Lamaze classes!) Then at 3:31 there you were – Daddy’ face glowed. You were his little girl – to cherish and love. Thankfully, Dad was doing a pediatric rotation and could stop in and see us during the day. It was on one of those visits that he held you I his hands and with tears in his big blue eyes that he asked me if I thought you would ever get married? His prayers for you and your future had already begun. You were only about 10 hours old.

Reading that story just makes me feel special - and reminds me of how much I was loved by my daddy.