Blog started 3/31/11 1:30 pm I'm so excited...

...that I just can't hide it! I think Kevin is starting to get annoyed with all of my sporadic comments. But I can't help it! Every time I do something I think "I could be a Mommy next time I fold laundry" or "Next time I drive down this street I could have a Max in the backseat" I mean this is important stuff! :)

I didn't blog about this earlier because I didn't want to jinx myself but here is how the last week played out. As I posted in the last blog, Dr. K was out of town so I saw a different Dr. on Tuesday and was dilated to 3cm. Well Wednesday my husband went out of town for a little ski trip (to make matters worse he was with my Dad and little brother) so three of the most important men in my life were at least 8 hours away. Kevin missed our birthing class and was embarrassed to tell 5 other pregnant women he left me so close to my due date so he made me tell them he was on a one night business trip! Coward! :) My BFF Heather went with me instead. Mom came down on Thursday afternoon to stay with me. Thursday evening Ashley, Jennie, and Heather threw a shower for all of my Wichita friends! It was fantastic...ice cream bar, cup cakes, and great people! Thursday night as Mom and I were putting away the gifts I felt something a bit strange. I grabbed myself and made the "oh crap" face and the first thing Mom thought was that my water broke...could you imagine what an ordeal that would have been?!? Well it wasn't my water breaking but I did lose my mucous plug so neither of us slept very well that night. I just knew we would have to call the guys and make them come home. We went back to Hoisington for the weekend and I spent all Saturday with family and friends (ok really I think they just passed me around so that I was never by myself but that's ok with me). My mom also went out of town on Sat. so I had very specific orders to walk slowly and sit whenever possible! :) The guys came back Saturday night. Sunday afternoon was Neen's bridal shower and then we headed back to Wichita Sunday evening.

FYI: This blog was actually started on Thursday, March 31st over my lunch break from work. I was planning on completing the blog and posting week 38 Max pictures later that night but as you all know... Max was born that night!!! So here are the pictures from week 38.

To complete the post I have to add that I had another Dr.'s appointment on Tuesday the 29th. At that time Dr. K stripped my membranes and told me to cross my fingers that we would see each other again in a few days in the delivery room. Sure enough--he was right! I started having contractions around 11:30 Thursday night and tried to go back to bed. I couldn't take it anymore and woke Kevin up about 3:30 am. I also called the Dr.'s hotline and she told me that even though the contractions were about 3 min apart they might be Braxton Hicks and to take a Benadryl. Ha! They were real and around 4:00 am we headed to the hospital. I stayed there for an hour and didn't progress any so they were going to send me home but then Max's fetal tones weren't right so they ended up admitting me. Mom and Bryan showed up about 6:00 am and the games began! I'll post more later as my little munchkin is stirring.

Max Update: Week 37

We are already 1/2 way thru week 37...can you believe it? I feel like I still have so much to do. In fact, the sticky note attached to the bottome left corner of the computer labeled "Things to do in the next three weeks" reminds me that I have only crossed off 2 of the 6 "things" I want to get done before Max. And although I plan to continue working on that list my opinion about the arrival of Max has changed! Before I wanted everything to be structured and set up and ready...right on schedule. But now I say "Bring it on!" I'm ready to see my little guy/girl whether the house is dirty or not. :)
This may or may not have something to do with my increasingly huge feet! I swear they look like snossages. And I didn't know that when something swelled up that it hurt...I just thought it looked funny. Ha Boy was I wrong. :)
In all honesty I can't complain! I am nearing the end of this journey and I have been one lucky girl! I can handle 1 month of ugly feet in return for a beautiful Max!

Dr. Appointmet updates:
-Max's heart rate was 144 BPM.
-I was dilated to a 3 and was 70% effaced.
-I gained .6 lbs for a total gain so far of about 23 lbs.

Pictures for week 37:

Kevin said this one had the perfect angle...it shows just how big the Max bump is! :)

On another note my co-workers have started placing bets on Max's arrival. They have a sheet where for $1.00 you can guess the date, weight, and gender of Max! Then they are donating all of the money to our little baby! I work with some pretty darn awesome people! :)

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

A little TMI?

A few things about the last few days...
Just a heads up that some of it is very "graphic"...

-I feel like Max is coming soon. I'm not exactly sure why but I just have this gut feeling that he/she is not going to wait much longer (so in reality he/she will probably come 2 weeks late and make this Momma look like a fool) :)
-My feet (the right in particular) have been swelling and the top gets tingly when it gets really fat.
-I cleaned/organized like a mad woman this weekend (I still have a ton to do) and people are saying it's "nesting" but I think it really just needed to get done.
-I had a sore throat all weekend and was pretty run down so I'm either getting sick or my body is telling me to slow down?
-I had this weird urge to paint my nails...so I did...bright pink! :)
- I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions quite regularly and to me they just feel like period cramps...which I can totally handle. I asked Dr. K how I would know when they became real and he kind of chuckled and said, "when you can't talk you know they are real".

Hmmm...well I think that's all for tonight. Max and I have our week 37 appointment tomorrow (did I tell you that Dr. K is out of town skiing right now?) so I'll post pictures and do an update sometime soon. :)

The Final Countdown

26 days! Yep...down to days everyone!


I started ideas for today's blog last night and the hubby talked me into watching a movie with him instead so this will be short and sweet!


I still feel fantastic but I think I'm slowing down? Kevin and I went grocery shopping on Monday and when we got home I had muffin tops for ankles. You know how the top of the muffin always spills out over the wrapper...that's what my ankles looked like over the tops of my socks. :( I propped those puppies up and they went down soon enough but they looked pretty gross for a while. And today I have the day off. So I decided that I needed to get a few things done "just in case" Max decides to make an appearance early. So I created a list and went running around Wichita from 9 AM until about 2 PM. I got lots of things accomplished and even got to eat lunch with the hubs but man am I tired! I used to be able to shop for 2 days in a row...well not with this huge ol belly. After I finish this blog I'm probably going to sit my bootie outside to enjoy the weather for a bit and maybe even take a snooze.

Week 36:

This appointment was great!

-I gained 2.3 lbs...yeah for me and all the fruit I've been eating!

-Max's heart rate was at 160 BPM.

-I am dilated to a two and 60% effaced.

Holy Cow! I know that I could be dilated at a two for a week or even a month but this is all starting to become so real! My baby could be here tomorrow for all I know! I've started to do this weird thing where each time I do something like take a shower or put on makeup I think "This could be the last time I ever do this in peace." :) Because really tonight could be the night?

I did it...

What did I do that is blog worthy? Well I packed my hospital bag! I'm not sure why I feel this is a huge step for me but I was putting it off as long as I could. I guess I thought that if I didn't pack my bag then it wasn't quite time for Max to be here.

I sure do want to see my sweet baby but I'm getting nervous. Not for being a Mom so much but for being prepared. Do we have everything we need? Is the house "baby ready"? I've planned to breastfeed but what if that doesn't work? Are we making the right choice about daycare? And the list goes on and on. I wake up in the middle of the night (to go to the bathroom of course because there is a watermelon sized baby on my bladder) and then I can't fall back asleep due to the previously mentioned thoughts running through my mind. I know everything will be just fine and Max will love us even if the house is a bit dirty on his/her first day home but it's hard to not want everything to be just perfect before our little love muffin makes his/her debut.

So here's to hoping my bag stays neatly packed by the door for a few more weeks and Max continues to stay continent in my snuggly warm belly...at least until I find room in our cute little kitchen to put away all the baby bottles. :)

The Final Countdown

Woo Hoo!!!! We are officially at 35 weeks. And while I am very excited about meeting our little "love muffin" I am becoming very aware of the fact that this meeting could happen at any time.


I have started feeling what I think are Braxton Hicks contractions but hello...I've never had contractions before so how am I really supposed to know? All of the books and magazines say that I will begin "dropping" before Max's arrival so every night I look in the mirror and try to remember the exact location/shape of my huge belly. Ask me if I've noticed any difference? Nope...and I'm not sure that I will! :) This stuff is harder to pin-point than the books make it out to be. So I have decided that Max will just have to follow his/her Momma's plan and be here exactly April 12th...it is written on my calender in red and circled which makes it official right?




Here are the week 35 baby bump pictures:

And for those of you that were wondering about last weeks appointment here is a quick update.

-Max was an active little thing and his/her heart rate was at 162 BPM.

-This ever so hungry Momma gained another 5 lbs in 2 weeks. Dr. K said that at 20 lbs I was still doing ok but that I should shoot for gaining no more than 10 lbs in the next 5 weeks. So I've been eating apples and grapes like they were going out of style and waddling up and down the stairs many extra times throughout the day. Let's hope that helps balance out the occasional Arby's sandwich! :)

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Our weekend with Lylabug

The picture version:

We woke up bright and early to watch Uncle Kev in his Tri. I think we look pretty good for being up at 6:00 am. :)

Watching Uncle Kev swim.
And then bike.

Yeah he's done! Good Job Uncle Kevin!

She got so excited and ran all the way across the gym to meet him!

Just cooling off.

We love us some Lyla!

Miss Thang getting ready for a walk.

Stopping for a little break.

We also went swimming, shopping, and did a ton of dancing and playing! What a fun weekend! We love you Lylabug!