Introducing…

Carter Gordon Morris

December 28, 2011 at 4:45pm

7lbs, 11oz

20 1/2 inches

He is perfect in every way.  He opens his eyes all the time.  He loves to hear people’s voices, but he particularly loves to hear his momma’s voice and doesn’t really like being too far away from her (and I absolutely love that about him).  He has barely cried since he was born.  He feeds incredibly well, usually latching on within the first two tries.  He doesn’t mind being passed around from person to person.  Within 5 hours from birth, he had the following songs sung to him:

• Baby Got Back
• Red Solo Cup
• I’m Sexy and I Know It
• Ice Ice Baby
• Happy Birthday

Again, he doesn’t really care what he’s hearing so much, but just LOVES to hear people talk.  He met the following people on his birthday:

• Mommy and Daddy
• Nana and Grandpa Gordon (Justin’s parents and Carter’s namesake)
• Gigi (my mom)
• Pops (my dad)
• Cici (my sister Lindsey)
• Aunt Jen, both of them (both my sister and Justin’s sister are named Jennifer)
• Great grandma and grandpa Skelton (Justin’s grandparents)
• Don Cross (our pastor at St. Mark UMC)
• Miss Lindsey (my bff of 17 years, Lindsey Owens)

I had a VERY EASY labor and a VERY HARD delivery.  I’ll go into more detail on that later.  Of course, my precious boy was worth every painful moment, but needless to say, momma could use some prayers for healing.  I’ve heard people say that having a child is like your heart walking around outside your body.  You have no idea how true that is.  I didn’t think I could love another man as much as I love my husband (who by the way, deserves MAJOR props for his part in delivery), but my son is a close second.  God created me specifically for these two men.  They are my world and I thank God for them both.  We’re a family now and I couldn’t be happier.  I’ll update tomorrow on Day 2 with little man, but figured this was enough for now.  I wanted to write some of this down before I lose these memories.  Lindsey Owens was the only non-family member (though really after 17 years of friendship, she’s pretty much my 3rd sister) that I wanted at the hospital tonight since my delivery was so difficult and I was in a lot of pain still, so I’m waiting until tomorrow (Thursday) for all of our friends to come see him.  I can’t wait for him to meet all the people that will have such an influence on his precious life.

My Big Fat Belly - Friggin 40 Weeks

I can’t believe I made it this far.  I truly thought that I would have not only had Carter by now, but that he’d be at home with us.  But we’re not too far from that!!  My 40 week appointment was today and again, I had not progressed at all from what I’ve been since week 36.  So, they decided to admit me tonight.  Justin and I will have our bags ready and head to the hospital at 8pm to “check in”.  I love how they say “check in” when referring to going to the hospital.  It’s certainly not a hotel.  What a strange way to word it!

Anyway, around 9pm they’ll start my first dose of Cytotec.  Depending on how that starts my contractions/progresses me, I’ll get another small dose at 1am.  Hopefully by 8am, I will be induced enough to have the doctor break my water.  If not, they’ll put me on Pitocin to speed things up to where they can break my water.  My doctor said that that chances of having a c-section have now increased since I’m having to induce, but I kind of knew that was coming.  You run that risk with forcing a baby to come out instead of waiting for them to come on their own.  Problem with leaving them in there longer is that it’s not safe for the baby.  As comfy as they are, at some point, they’re going to have their first bowel movement called meconium.  If Carter does this while he’s still in my uterus, they’ll have to do an emergency c-section to get him out so that he doesn’t inhale the amniotic fluid that has his poop in it.  There are several other reasons why docs don’t like babies going past 40 weeks, but as far as I know, that is one of the biggies.  Doc did say, however, that he won’t do a c-section just to do one (a lot of doctors get impatient and just opt for c-section to move things along).  He’s going to try to make it to where I can give birth vaginally, he just wanted me to know that if Carter still isn’t making his way on his own, we may have no choice.

Either way, our sweet little boy will be here tomorrow, December 28th.  There is still a small chance that he could be born today, like if the Cytotec works REALLY well on me.  However, that’s highly unlikely.  As of this morning, I’m up to 36 pounds.  Bummer.  I really didn’t want to go over 35.  However, had Carter actually come at a decent time instead of choosing to stay put for the entire 40 weeks, I know I wouldn’t have gained that much.  I don’t even care anymore.  I’m just so ready to meet him.  To see what he looks like, to see if he recognizes me and my voice and how he’ll react when he sees me.  So I guess my next post will be announcing his birth!!!  Thanks to all my fun readers for still following my blog when it became nothing but pregnancy related crap.  It’s hard to talk about anything else when that’s all that’s going on with you! 

40 Weeks exactly – is it even remotely possible to get any bigger than this???

New House Pictures….Finally

Yes, it is almost 2012 and we moved into our house in August 2011.  It’s been 4 months and I still haven’t put up pictures of our new house.  What a better time to do it though than when it’s decorated for Christmas!!!  Here’s the pics of our new home!!!

Living Room

Kitchen

More kitchen

Dining Room…with the Giz

View of the living room from the kitchen

Master bedroom.  We LOVE all the windows.  It was supposed to only be two windows, but we added a third and put them all together.  The Giz absolutely loves looking out these window into our backyard!

View of bedroom into bathroom

 

I love our shower!!!  Our whole bathroom rocks!!!

I take NIGHTLY baths in this bad boy

Bathroom into closet

Also love the size of our closet.  MUCH bigger than what we had before!

This is the spare bathroom downstairs.  It’s connects to the hallway by the dining room and to Justin’s “Man Room”

The “Man Room”

More Man Room

I love that the laundry room connects to the closet.  Another revision we did when we had plan review to build the house.  Justin refers to this as my room, since he has a man room.  It’s kind of amusing given that he does more laundry than I do!

View of the stairs/dining room/laundry room from the man room

The upstairs playroom in between Carter’s room and the upstairs spare bedroom

The upstairs bathroom in the playroom

Upstairs spare bedroom.  There’s not a lot going on in this room or the playroom because we just didn’t have the money and time to decorate these two rooms.  They aren’t priority right now so we just put enough furniture in them to get by.

 

And now for the big NURSERY REVEAL!!!

One of his newborn photos will go in the gigantic frame above the crib.  I love this frame!!!  Props also to my sister Lindsey who painted Carter’s letters for me!  Her husband and Justin hung all the things in the nursery after my mom’s side of the family celebrated Christmas at my house (last night).  So yeah, nursery has just now been finished…talk about waiting until the last minute!! 

The crib does have a bumper that goes with it, but I took it off for now because of the risk of SIDS.  Yes, the animals will come out as well when Carter eventually starts sleeping in it.

So that’s our new home!!!  There’s still a few updates and decorating that needs to be done but with a baby on the way, we just didn’t have the time or money to do it all the way we wanted to just yet.  As  for where we’re at on the arrival of our baby boy, our doctor appointment (MY 40 WEEK APPOINTMENT – YES, I am unfortunately one of the small percentage of people that is going to go over my due date) is today at 10am.  If I haven’t progressed past 1cm and 50% effaced, the doc wants to admit me to the hospital tonight to start me on a cervical ripening drug (either Cytotec or Cervidil, not sure which yet) that will work over night to thin me out more and dilate me more so that he can break my water Wednesday morning and hopefully I’ll be holding Carter by the end of the day tomorrow.  Please keep myself, Justin and Carter in your prayers.  The question I’ve been getting the most of lately is “are you nervous or scared about giving birth?”.  I can’t really explain it, but no.  I just want him here so badly that I am willing to do anything to get him out.  If I have to do it naturally, so be it.  I just want him here.  “I can do anything for one day”.  That’s a quote from the teacher of our childbirth class and I just love it!

False Alarm

So yesterday we had a small false alarm.  Last night after dinner, I went to the gym while Justin went to Yarbrough’s house to hang out and watch the football game with the boys.  I’m so tired of being pregnant, so I figured I’d step it up a notch at the gym.  I normally just walk about 2-3 miles.  Last night, however, I walked about 2 miles, did 100 squats, 50 wall push-ups, and spent about 15 minutes on the treadmill on a 5.0 incline.  Clearly my normal workout routine was not encouraging enough for Carter to come out so that’s why I chose to step it up. 

When I got home I started to run a bubble bath and went to the restroom while I was doing that.  In the middle of using the bathroom, I thought my water broke.  I’ve heard stories about women who’s water breaks either while they’re on the toilet or in the shower.  It’s the absolute worst time for it to break because it leads mom to not have a clue if it actually broke or not.  For those of you that may not know, if your water breaks, the baby has to be delivered within 24 hours because the lack of amniotic fluid in the uterus can lead to infection for baby.  So basically, even if you “think” your water broke, you need to call your doctor.

Well, I still wasn’t so sure, so I just waited it out for a while to see if I’d start having contractions or not.  Never felt anything, then Justin got home around 10pm.  About 30 minutes after he got home, I finally told him that I think my water may have broken, but that I wasn’t sure since I was using the bathroom when it happened.  Naturally, he went into research mode and started googling any and every thing about water breaking on the toilet to see what everyone was saying.  After about 2 hours of “research” he told me he really wanted me to call the doctor.  At this point, it was 12am.  I knew that if I called, they’d want us to come in, which I wasn’t looking forward to because if my water hadn’t broken, they’d just run tests to prove that and then pack us up an send us back home babyless. 

When I called, the nurse said to come in immediately to be checked to see.   So we packed up the suitcase and everything we needed for the hospital stay and put it in the car to head to labor & delivery.  Also, pretty much immediately after I got off the phone with the nurse, I started having PAINFUL contractions that were about 6 minutes apart.  Justin was actually the one doing everything because I couldn’t pack up the bag and get the other items to take to the car because the contractions hurt so badly.  However, the minute we finally made it into the car and out of the neighborhood, the contractions slowed and died down to mild cramping.  I was immediately pissed because this is the SECOND time I’ve had bad contractions very close together and once I finally make a decision to call or to do something about it, they die down and go away.  My body is confusing the crap out of me right now.

Anyway, we got to labor & delivery and they took me to a room where they used a pH strip to see if I was leaking any fluid.  If I was, the strip would have turned blue.  However, my strip didn’t turn blue indicating that I was in fact NOT leaking fluid.  The nurse wanted to check my cervix to see how dilated I was and guess what??  She said that I haven’t made much progress since being 1cm.  I don’t know how much progress was made, but I can’t imagine it being over 1 1/2 cm.  She also said that baby boy is actually still very high in my stomach, indicating that he hasn’t even dropped yet.  She then strapped two monitors onto my belly (like my stress test I talked about already).  I was honestly thinking they would only monitor me and baby for about 30 minutes like they did last time, but this time she said they wanted to monitor for “a couple of hours”.  As soon as she said that I freaked out.  It was already after 1am at this time!!!  And I knew they weren’t going to keep me so I honestly just wanted to go home.  But I couldn’t so I had to stay and be monitored.  Carter is completely fine and I was having contractions, they’re just not where they should be to be in labor (not close enough together and not intense enough). 

Finally at 3:15am, we were able to leave the hospital to come home.  I immediately took a Tylenol PM and went straight to sleep, not waking up until 10am this morning, quite the rarity for me!!  So lesson learned….I will NOT call the doctor or go in unless I am 100% undoubtedly in labor.  I refuse to go up there again to get my hopes up for being admitted just to be sent home.  So here I am, at 39 weeks 3 days and still pregnant.  It’s so frustrating to see people in my newsfeed on facebook who aren’t due until January already giving birth.  Why isn’t that happening to me?!?!  Why do I have to be one of the small handful of people I know that will most likely go over my due date?  Certain family members and friends are all still texting me saying that there’s still a shot he’ll be born before or at least on Christmas.  Honestly, I don’t think he will be at this point.  I’m fully expecting to go to that doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, be admitted Tuesday night and be put on Cytotec and then be induced Wednesday the 28th.  I will obviously be pleasantly surprised if that isn’t the case, but in my mind, I’m thinking that is what will happen.  I have to remind myself that God has a plan and that He already knows exactly when Carter will arrive and that there’s a reason he hasn’t been born yet.  I have no idea when he will come, but I trust that the Lord knows what’s best for our family and will provide him when He’s ready for him to be here. 

But on that note, let me add something to this.  I’ve made a post before about Pregnancy Faux Pas.  In addition to the things I added to that list (a listing of things you shouldn’t do or say to pregnant women), let me add these tid-bits:

• When you know a pregnant woman that is quickly approaching her due date and hasn’t had the baby yet, DO NOT come up to her and say “Wow when are you gonna have that baby??”.  TRUST ME PEOPLE, IF I HAD CONTROL OVER IT, HE WOULD BE HERE BY NOW!!!!  This kind of comment is only a reminder that I thought I would have given birth at this point and haven’t.  And particularly at a holiday of such importance as Christmas, where all I really wanted for Christmas was to have my son here with us, this kind of comment has the potential to send me running to the bathroom in tears.  Thanks for the reminder.
• Do not make the idiotic mistake of thinking that just because I may actually go full term in this pregnancy or even past my due date, that it in turn means that I will have a 9 pound baby.  I am SO FREAKING SICK of people telling me I’m going to have a 9 pound baby.  Let me explain why this comment is rude.  First off, with a 9 pound baby, there’s a high likelihood that you won’t be able to deliver vaginally and will have to have a c-section.  Why would you wish that on me??  And even if you thought that, why the hell would you tell me that?  Keep it to yourself!!!  Secondly, even if you would be able to have the baby vaginally, chances are, you’re going to have significant tearing in your hoo ha and it will never be the same.  Again, you telling me you think I will have a 9 pound baby is like telling me that this will happen to me.  Keep your freaking mouth shut if you can’t give me encouraging words at this point in my pregnancy!!
• “Well honey have you tried walking to start labor?”.  No.  I haven’t even though about it!  Really?  Walking induces labor?  Wow, I had no idea.  YES I HAVE FREAKING TRIED WALKING!! I have tried everything!!!  This one doesn’t bother me as much as the other two because I know people are just trying to give suggestions, but I assure you, any woman past week 37 has done research on natural ways to induce labor such as walking, exercise, caster oil, pineapples, full moons, etc.  Justin and I have tried everything.  And our doctor said that none of that stuff is medically proven to to help induce labor.  Anyone that says that any of it sent them into labor is just stating what they did last before their water broke or their contractions began.  If I was at work when my water broke, I could say writing financial statements will send you into labor.  Get it?  Anyway, particularly the exercise part isn’t working on us and I think it’s because I’ve been active this entire pregnancy.  I’ve walked anywhere from 5-12 miles a week almost every week that I’ve been pregnant so Carter isn’t feeling anything that he hasn’t felt already, therefore he isn’t really uncomfortable and wanting to evacuate because of it.

I hate sounding so mean when I say these things, but seriously people, be careful how you talk to pregnant women.  We are going through more than you could ever imagine (for those that haven’t been pregnant before) and you have no idea what it does to our bodies and our emotions.  I am over the moon grateful to God for blessing Justin and I with Carter when I know so many people that aren’t able to get pregnant at all or that are having miscarriages.  My complaints are nothing compared to dealing with that, so I assure you, I do have perspective.  The point of adding these rants on the blog (other than the fact that I really just need to vent) is to inform people of the things that are considered rude.  Some people aren’t aware that what they’re saying to pregnant women can be misconstrued as hurtful and that’s mainly because of ignorance on the topic of pregnancy.  So I just wanted to inform any readers I may have out there of these soft spots.  Please keep praying for me and Carter and that he’ll make his debut soon and that I WON’T have to have a c-section to get him out.  I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas with your families and loved ones!

Another Disappointing Doctor Appointment

I’m going to make this brief because I am exhausted from getting no sleep last night and the fact that I have been crying uncontrollably today is making me more tired, so I am about to head to the couch to watch movies and do absolutely nothing all day.  I sent an email today to some family and close friends giving an update on the doctor appointment so I’m just copying from that email so I don’t have to rehash it all again.  Several people called and texted me during the appointment and I either didn’t respond or I was very short in saying I didn’t want to talk and for people not to call me.  So this was my follow up email to that:

I’ll give you all an update on what happened at the doc today.  For those of you that I texted or even didn’t respond to a text, I apologize for being short.  I was devastated and really just didn’t want to talk to anyone.  We’re back at home now and I’ve calmed down a little bit so here’s the full gist of what the doc said:

First, I’m still not progressed from what I have been the past three weeks.  Frustrating.  Doc said my body is really not ready to be induced and he doesn’t really want to yet.  So he told me to schedule an appointment for next week.  He is out on Monday so I scheduled it for Tuesday at 10am.

Second, since my actual due date is next Tuesday and I’ll be 40 weeks then, he will check me again and if I’m still sitting in the same spot I am now (1cm and 50%) then he’ll admit me that evening and start me on cytotec (a pill they have to put in the hoo ha for it to work – not looking forward to that).  They’ll check me every few hours and if I have to be put on Pitocin I’ll be put on Pitocin, but some people have gone into labor just off cytotec and never needed Pitocin, so it just depends on what works for me, or Carter I should say.

Finally, they had me do a non-stress test today, which was unexpected.  The nurse asked me if he was still moving all the time and I told her I felt him move while we were in the waiting room, but that overall, he doesn’t move all that much anymore.  The only reason I’d never brought that up in previous appointments is because I was under the impression that as he we get closer to the due date, movements are supposed to slow down because there’s just nowhere for him to go.  She talked to my doctor and they wanted to send me to ultrasound to do a non-stress test (we didn’t get an ultrasound though).  They put me in a recliner in a room and strapped two monitors around my stomach and monitored his heart rate and my contractions (I had none – shocker).  I had to press a button anytime I felt him move.  The test was to see if his heart rate went up as he moved around because it should be (just like our heart rates jump when we move or do activity).  If it wasn’t, it could indicate that he isn’t getting enough blood through the umbilical cord or enough oxygen, in which case they would have done an emergency c-section.  I was hooked up to the monitor for about 6 minutes of him not moving so they brought  me some Mountain Dew to drink.  It was still another 5 or so minutes before the MD kicked in and he started moving like crazy.  His heart rate increased each time he moved so the test indicated that he’s perfectly fine (and unfortunately completely content in my stomach). 

So basically, worst case scenario, he’ll be here next Wednesday, the 28^th.  I’m still praying he comes on his own before then, but he is just really not showing any sign at all of wanting to leave my stomach.  Sorry I didn’t text or respond to some of your phone calls.  I didn’t even make it off of the exam table once the doctor left the room before I was uncontrollably crying.  For those of you that haven’t been pregnant or haven’t been pregnant this long, I know it’s hard to understand why I’m so upset about this.  I have never been more uncomfortable/in pain in my life and it’s not a pain that comes and go in waves, but this kind of pain has yet to leave my body in the past 4 weeks.  I have gotten to where I literally can’t sleep more than 2 hours a night.  I’m exhausted, I’m cranky, I’m hurting everywhere….and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.  And that’s really hard to handle.  On top of everything, I was so desperate for him to be here before Christmas and now that there’s a good chance he may not be, it’s kind of ruined my holiday.  I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow, right now it’s all still fresh and I’m still upset, so please don’t be mad if I didn’t respond to you.  I’m laying on the couch all day today and will probably just turn my phone off.  Love all of you to death, and thanks so much for calling/texting and checking on me.  Please just pray for me and for Carter.  I know God has perfect timing and I promise I’m doing my best to remember that.

Marcie

So there you have it.  That’s what happened today.  Unless Carter decides to come on his own, I’ll be pregnant for over a week.  Yes, I know that to some of you, that sounds like not that long of a time.  But if you’ve ever been pregnant, you know how awful the last leg of it is and how even one more day is excruciating, much less 8 more days.  Just pray for us.  Either that Carter comes on his own before then or then or that I become more comfortable, either prayer is fine with me.  I’ll take anything!

My Big Fat Belly - 38 Weeks

Yes, another week has passed and yes, I am still pregnant.  This sucks.  And it sucks bad.  I am so uncomfortable.  A lot of pregnant women talk about when that week is that they begin to be so miserable that they aren’t sure they can make it another week being pregnant and they get really emotional and cry frequently.  That’s week 38 for me.  The first time I cried was Monday when I got to work.  Luckily, no one at work saw me.  I closed my door and blinds so that no one could see.  I just called Justin and let it all out.  I was so uncomfortable and I’m not getting any sleep anymore.  I get a good 3 hours and that’s about it.  Part of it is due to the constant need to pee and the other part is due to my sciatic nerve that runs down my back and into my thigh.  That nerve causes whatever side I’m sleeping on at the moment to become numb to where it wakes me up and I have to switch sides.  This happens about every hour and a half when I sleep which means I do nothing but toss and turn and pee….all night long.  And then have to go to work the next day.  It’s getting unbearable.

Anyway, I had my 38 week appointment today and got the disappointing news that I am STILL 1cm and 50% effaced.  I was so sure I would have progressed because I’ve been having so many pains the past several days.  Whether they’re cramps, braxton hicks or just pressure as Carter was moving further down into my pelvis, I wasn’t sure.  But I knew that pain = something was happening.  Unfortunately that wasn’t the case for me.  On the brighter side of things, the doctor said that he didn’t want to wait a full week to see me again and wanted me to come in on Monday (I’ll be 39 weeks Tuesday) so that he could check me again.  He wants to induce next week as long as I’m at a point where he can break my water.  I don’t really know what point that is, but I’m getting the feeling he just wants me to be a little more than what I’m at now to induce.  It’s Saint Vincent’s policy to not induce prior to 39 weeks unless medically necessary so I’m guessing that’s why he wanted to see me Monday.  My guess is, he’ll check me Monday to determine if he can break my water and if he can, we’ll schedule an induction for one of the following days.  I don’t really want to go past the 22nd because in the 25% chance I’d have to have a c-section, I’ll be in the hospital for 3 days and that would put us coming home on Christmas Day and I’d rather be home by Christmas Eve.  Of course if that’s what happens, then it’s what happens.  I just want to try to avoid it if possible. 

I’m determined that the “could be any day now” phrase is the worst phrase ever because it gives you false hope.  By the way, the drive home from the doctor today was the second time I cried in this ridiculous emotional rollercoaster that is the final stages of pregnancy.  I was so hopeful that I would have been progressed more and was totally crushed when I wasn’t.  I weighed in this morning and I’m up to 33 pounds…which depresses me even more.  The longer I have to hold him in the more weight I’m going to gain that I have to lose.  Another bright side however is that I can still feel and see Carter moving all the time.  I have no idea how he hasn’t run out of room to where he can’t budge because my stomach is friggin rock hard…and not in the good “I have a six pack” kind of way.  The cool thing is that in the last week, I can feel certain body parts.  When Carter kicks me and leaves his foot there, I can feel the outline of the bottom of his foot from his heel to his toes (with my fingers).  That’s pretty awesome and puts a smile on my face every time.  Luckily, I still have no stretch marks and my belly button has still yet to pop.  I don’t think either of these things will happen before Carter makes his debut, so that’s good. 

38 Week Picture….and hopefully my LAST picture:

Notice the pack-n-play set up and ready to go by the fireplace.  COME ON CARTER!!! 

To My Husband

Two blog posts in a day!!  This makes up for my extreme slacking on the blogging lately, although this post is really for only one person.  Justin.  He has some app on his I-Phone that tells him when blogs he reads have updates, so I know he’ll see this.  Yes, he reads lots of blogs, but mine is the only blog he reads related to “chick stuff” as he would call it.  The other blogs he reads relate to running and mountain climbing.  I felt he not only needed a shout-out from his wife, but that it should be public for all to see so that everyone knows how wonderful he is to me.

Babe,

I don’t even know where to start.  You have been so incredible to me the past 9 months that I tear up when I think about it.  You have been the best husband a wife could ask for and the best dad-to-be to our son, even though he hasn’t been born yet (unfortunately).  I know it hasn’t been a cake walk dealing with the change in my hormones that came with this rollercoaster that is pregnancy, but you’ve handled it remarkably.  I don’t think saying a simple “thank you” is enough in return for all you’ve done for me and I don’t know how else to show you my gratitude other than this.  The past 9 months, but even especially the past month, I could not have done this without you and your help.  You’ve done things that I didn’t even ask you to do, but you just knew they needed to be done so you did them. 

You put together and set up all of Carter’s things for us and I didn’t even have to lift a finger.  Even when I gave you the never-ending list of things to do, you never once complained…no matter how many times I kept adding things to the “closed” list.  You just kept marking them off.  You’ve pretty much cooked every meal for the past month and done dishes and cleaned the kitchen while I did nothing.  You’ve given me massages constantly even though I know you absolutely hate giving massages.  I know that my sleep schedule is wreaking havoc on your sleep schedule too, but you have yet to say a single word about it.  You turn off the TV to go to bed when I say to.  You change the channel when I don’t want to watch what you’re watching.  All because you are being super sensitive to my situation.  It all makes me think about the 5 Love Languages test we took during our marital counseling with Don before we got married.  You know I don’t need gifts or flowers or even a ton of quality time as a way of you telling me that you love me everyday.  I only need you to show me that you love me and you’ve done that…over and beyond done that.  You’ve been there for me emotionally when I needed you to be and have done well over your fair share of helping get our lives and our home ready for Carter all while making sure I’m relaxed in the process.  God made you for me and He made me for you.  I don’t think anyone else could handle either of us which is what makes us so perfect for each other.   

You are such an incredible uncle to the twins.  Every time I watch you play with them, hold them or feed them, I am reminded of how incredible of a dad you’re going to be.  Although I know you don’t need to hear that because like you say, “you’re gonna be awesome at this dad thing”.  I can’t wait to see you with him.  Hearing you talk about the future with him gives me goose bumps.  Taking him to Auburn games, having him do highpoints with you, going camping with him when he’s a boy scout, building an off-road paradise in our backyard for his jeep power wheels that I am absolutely sure he will one day have.  He truly will idolize his daddy.  And I know that watching you fall in love with him is going to make me fall in love with you all over again.  And I can’t wait.

I love you more than you’ll ever know.  And I am more grateful than I will ever be able to express.

P.S. I totally tried to download a ringtone for when you call me.  Remember the 90’s hip hop song that goes “Who dat is?  That’s just my baby daddy.  Who dat is? That’s just my baby daddy.  Who dat is?  That’s just my baby daddy….T-Bird it’s just my baby daddy!”.  Unfortunately they only had the MP3 and not the ring tone.  I may have to just purchase the red solo cup song and call it even.  Loves you.

Jingle Bell Run 2011

This past weekend was the Jingle Bell Run 5k.  My firm has Birmingham’s largest team every year and I always have at least 10 of my friends sign up with me, even if they don’t all actually show up to do the run.  This year I had 9 of my friends sign up, only 4 of which actually ran though.  Justin and I have done this race with my firm every year since I’ve been working here.  Last year was the first year I had to walk the race instead of run it.  If you’ll remember, I broke my ankle during the Race for the Cure in October and we were about to leave to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa a couple of weeks after the Jingle Bell Run last year, so I was playing on the safe side and walked the 3 miles instead of running.  This year, I was obviously not going to run the race at 8 1/2 months pregnant, however I did fully intend to walk the 3 miles again.  Those plans got shot at my 37 week doctor appointment when I found out I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced already and the doc told me not to do it.  So I had to sit on the sidelines this year taking pictures of my fellow employees and friends doing the race without me!

Getting ready to start

And they’re off!!

Anyone who has run this 5k knows that the hardest part of it is the massive hill that’s right at the beginning of the race.  You can kind of see the sea of people going upwards in this picture, but it doesn’t do it justice.  It’s probably a good idea that I didn’t walk the race.  It most likely would have taken me 30 minutes just to get up this hill!!

Justin was the first person signed up with our firm to finish.

He finished in 23:31 per the clock, but it was most likely less than that because he wasn’t at the front of the line when the race started.  That’s not a personal record for Justin for a 5k, but he was just coming off of running a 40 mile trail run the weekend before that.

My neighbor Chrissy finished in 26 minutes.  She’s amazing!!

Shelly was able to finish in 38 minutes with literally no training prior to the race.

All of us after the race.  Funny story….right after we took this picture, some old guy behind us tapped me on the shoulder and said “Ma’am, I hope you don’t mind, but I took a picture of your belly”.  Really??  What do you say to that??  I literally just chuckled a little bit and turned around to face my friends again and everyone was giving me a weird “what the crap was that” face.  Justin didn’t understand why he didn’t just take the picture and not even tell me.  What was the purpose of telling me?  It’s not like I can say “no I do mind” after he’s already taken the picture.  I would love to know what he plans to do with it.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Yes, I’m still pregnant.  Full moon theories didn’t help Carter make his way to the world.  I’m 38 weeks tomorrow and my 38 week appointment is Wednesday at 9am.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray that I’m further dilated and effaced and still showing progression towards getting this show on the road!!  My stomach, back, brain, feet, muscles and overall attitude would greatly appreciate the prayers.

Thanksgiving 2011

Yes, I am blogging about Thanksgiving in the 2nd week of December.  At least I’m blogging about something other than pregnancy.  I SOOOOO did not want to be that blogger that got pregnant and everything was about that, but trust me, it’s hard for every blog to NOT be about that when so much is going on at that time and outside of all things pregnancy, you just don’t even have the energy to do anything that’s really blog worthy, hence my lack of checking anything off my 101 List since getting pregnant!

So Justin and I kicked off our Thanksgiving on Wednesday when we went to the farm in Scottsboro.  Two of my very best friends in the whole world have a family farm up there and their whole family was there; spouses, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.  And I know everyone in their family and LOVE them as if they were my own family.  We weren’t able to go for long, but we drove the 2 hour drive up there after our doctor’s appointment and we spent a few hours with them before having to drive home that evening.  Here’s some pictures.

We went on a hayride tour of the farm.  Even though I’ve been friends with Lindsey and Lauren and their family for over 17 years (HOLY COW WE’RE OLD), I’ve never been to their farm, so this was my first time and I was getting the grand tour via hay!!

Heart them.

Lauren and her husband, Garrett, came down from Seattle to be with the family for Thanksgiving.

My and the hubs…with a donkey in the background.  Justin is dying for us to get a donkey.  I have no idea why.  We don’t even have anywhere to keep one!!

Garrett (Lauren’s husband), Kelly (their mom) and Lindsey feeding the donkey.

The next day was actually Thanksgiving and we went to my aunt and uncle’s house in Tuscaloosa to celebrate with my dad’s side of the family:

Soon to be parents…kind of a scary thought.

My amazingly fabulous grandfather.  Love him.

All the young boys!  Walt, John, Anderson and Cayden

My grandparents with 2 of the grandkids…Paw Paw isn’t great at looking at the camera on 3.

Lydia wanted to give Carter a kiss….she is going to be such a sweet cousin!!

Immediately after lunch at my aunt and uncle’s we packed up and headed to Chelsea for Thanksgiving dinner with my mom’s side of the family (this is what happens when your parents get divorced – holidays become hell).  I was so exhausted at that point that I ended up not taking any pictures at mom’s house. 

On Friday, Justin took the men on my mom’s side of the family hiking in Oak Mountain and I went back to my mom’s house and spent the morning and afternoon with my mom, Lydia and Lindsey.  Lydia wanted to watch Tangled so we put it on in my mom’s room and she wanted to brush my hair while watching it.

How cute is she in her “boots with the fur”!!!

Love that little girl!!

And that was our crazy Thanksgiving.  We didn’t do anything with Justin’s family because they were in Russia.  Our church sponsors an orphanage there and a few of the church members go out there every year around Thanksgiving.  Gordon and Debbie go every year to check on all of our orphans.  Justin and I sponsor one and so does his sister and her husband.  It was almost a blessing because had they actually been here, Thanksgiving would have been that much more difficult!!  Eventually we’re going to have to just start picking families to visit and dropping one a year because I will NOT be doing that kind of travel again with an 11 month old!

My Big Fat Belly - 37 Weeks

I’m officially full term today.  YAAAAY!!!!  And to celebrate this long awaited for mile mark, Carter decided to start making me contract today.  This morning when I went in to work, I started having some intense contractions that were very close together.  Some were 5 minutes apart, and others were 2 or 3 minutes apart.  Some of the girls I work with were in my office with me when it was all happening.  One of them even kept her hand on my lower abdomen and felt the contractions happening and she was the one that told me I needed to call the nurse.  After about an hour, I finally called the and they told me to come in and get checked.  My 37 week appointment was on Thursday, but since I was already having contractions, they told me to go ahead and head up there and they’d make this appointment my weekly appointment. 

Blood pressure is great.  The nurse even commented that I have had great blood pressure the entire pregnancy.  The highest it got was 120/80 or something like that.  I usually have a low blood pressure anyway.  Belly is still measuring on track and I have FINALLY started progressing!!!  I’m 50% effaced and 1cm dilated.  Doc said it could be as soon as tonight or as long as two weeks from now (which really isn’t that long), but that I shouldn’t be afraid to call next time.  I know people that have stayed 1cm for weeks and I also know people who were only 1cm for a couple of days before their little ones came.  It’s just such a toss up and depends on when Carter is ready.  I’m having issues gaining weight though.  I’ve only gained a pound since week 35, which honestly is ok with me, I just want to make sure he’s growing how he needs to, which he is.  I know he’s already “dropped” because I can FINALLY breathe again and I have also gained my appetite back, but the  downside is that instead of him crushing my lungs and stomach, he’s now laying all 7 pounds of himself on my bladder, which makes me have to pee at least every 30 minutes.  Also several people have told me they think he’s dropped because I’m carrying much lower than I used to.

I asked the doc if it would be okay for me to walk the Jingle Bell Run this weekend.  My firm has had the largest team every year for several years in a row at the 5k.  There’s always a ton of us that do it and Justin and I have done it every single year since I’ve been there.  I was never going to run it, but I did want to walk the 3 miles.  Doc said that wouldn’t be a good idea though, so looks like I’ll be at the finish line taking pictures of all of my fellow employees finishing instead.  I still plan to take walks around our neighborhood with Justin and the Giz several times a week, but that’s only a mile and a half so it’s not as bad.  I want to keep the progression going!! 

I look like crap in this picture…Justin took it right after we got home from the doctor.  But this is me and Carter at 37 weeks!!

I also had to take a picture of this.  I just got our family stockings monogrammed and this is Carter’s.  It’s in the middle of the fireplace of course.  Justin’s and mine look the same, except Justin’s is Santa Clause and mine is a snowman.  I love them!!

Well hopefully I’ll keep progressing and have this baby in the next week or two!  Say some prayers for us please!!!

Labor Poll

I put a poll on the right side of my blog again for all the mommas out there.  I want to know when you went into labor and gave birth to your child/children.  I could only put four answers, so if you went into labor prior to 37 weeks, leave me a comment.  I made it to where you can answer twice as well, in case you have multiple children.  I’m so curious about this because I feel like most people I know went into labor and had their babies close to 40 weeks or even past that and I’m kind of hoping others may have gone into labor sooner than that….for my sanity!!!

36 Week Appointment

I had my 36 week appointment on Wednesday.  Doc didn’t check me because I wasn’t dilated or effaced at all at my 35 week appointment and because I hadn’t been feeling anything at all yet.  I got my Strep B test results back and passed.  YAY for no antibiotics for Carter!  Blood pressure is excellent, weight gain is good and my belly is measuring literally to the day.  My next appointment for 37 weeks is next Thursday, December 8th.  He will check me at that appointment and I have a feeling that by then I may be at least a little dilated.  Yesterday I started feeling a lot of pressure that I’m beginning to think is Carter starting to drop.  A few people told me yesterday at work that he looked like he was dropping because I’m carrying a little lower than I have been.  And the pressure hasn’t really gone away since then.  I feel it probably every couple of hours.  So on Tuesday, I will be FULL TERM!!!  This means that Carter can be born on Tuesday and NOT be considered pre-mature.  However, it’s much more likely that he’ll be born in two weeks-ish.  I’m still feeling he’ll come sometime between December 17-December 22nd.  At those dates, I’ll be between my 38th and 39th week.  I still feel him move ALL THE TIME.  Last night was awful.  I went to sleep at 11pm and of course woke up probably twice to pee, but at 3am I woke up for good and couldn’t go back to sleep.  Literally fell back asleep at 6:15am and my alarm went off at 6:30.  I got maybe 4 hours of sleep last night.  I’m exhausted today.  So there’s my 36 week update.  No major change in symptoms since the 35 week post and my look hasn’t changed either, so no picture is necessary.  Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!!

My Big Fat Belly - 35 Weeks

I’m technically 36 weeks now but never did my 35 week post when I said I would after I had my first weekly appointment so I’ll start with 35 weeks and then later in the week I’ll post on how my 36 week appointment went.  So, at 35 weeks:

• I’m not too miserable, but definitely getting there. 
• I’ve found that when I sleep, my joints get VERY sore.  When I wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I can barely close my hand around the door knob to the bathroom without it hurting my knuckles and wrist.  It feels like arthritis.  I get the same joint pain in my hips, shoulders and elbows when I sleep too. 
• I don’t think Carter has dropped yet.  They say that when the baby drops, the pressure will be off my lungs so I will be able to breathe much better, but he’ll be on top of my bladder and my pee frequency will spike.  This hasn’t happened to me yet, so I’m assuming he hasn’t dropped.
• Back pain is still an issue.  Now it’s upper and lower back pain though.  It was just upper back pain, but now the weight of my belly is getting the best of me.
• I’ve gained 31 pounds now and am officially worried I may go over 35, but honestly, I don’t think I have control over it at this point.  I can barely eat because my stomach is being crushed by Carter so I get really full really fast and by day’s end, I haven’t eaten near what I used to eat.  So I’m not sure where the weight gain is coming from at this point.
• I had my 35 week appointment last Wednesday and the doc checked me for the first time.  Unfortunately I’m zero centimeters dilated and 0% effaced.  He said this is what he expected at 35 weeks, although deep down, I was hoping to be at least somewhat dilated.  I know so many people that were 1cm or 2cm for weeks before their babies finally started to make their debut.  Given that I’m 36 weeks today (even though this post is for 35 weeks, I am 36 as I’m writing this) I hope that won’t be the case for me because I really wanted to have Carter before Christmas.  I know that some people aren’t dilated at all and it will all happen in one day and the baby will come quickly, so maybe that will happen to me.  Who knows.  On the bright side, blood pressure is good, iron levels are good, weight gain is good and the belly is measuring on track.
• My 36 week appointment is tomorrow (November 30th).  My doc said he wasn’t going to check me because I wasn’t dilated at all at the 35 week appointment.  I’ll start getting checked again when I’m full term at 37 weeks.  In the meantime, I’ve picked back up on my nightly walking routine with Justin and the Giz in hopes of getting things moving down there.  I’ve read that walking and  hot baths help labor progress (the hot baths loosen ligaments apparently).  I now do both of those nightly if possible.
• I have gotten yelled at by almost everyone I know because I have STILL not packed my hospital bag.  I promise I plan to do that this weekend.  We also still need to get our car seats installed in our cars.
• Carter’s room is almost ready!  When Justin got back from his travel schedule for good, he was SO helpful.  While I was working, he opened and put together all of Carter’s things (the pack n’ play, the co-sleeper, the high chair, the strollers, etc).  So everything in his room is ready with exception to his letters that my sister is in the process of painting and the organic bloom frames that will hold his newborn photos.  So the walls look pretty bare, but everything else is ready.  I’ve even washed ALL of his newborn-3 months clothes so they are ready to wear!

This was taken at 35 1/2 weeks.  It’s starting to get cold in Birmingham so the sweaters are starting to come out, which is actually kind of unfortunate, because I feel like sweaters make me look even bigger than I already am.  Maybe it’s just me though.

That’s all for 35 weeks.  Check back later in the week for 36!