FULL TERM!

As of Tuesday I hit the full term mark!! (37 weeks) It's the last milestone of the pregnancy to reach so I guess you can say we are there! Any day now Miss Ella James will be joining us! Ready doesn't even explain how I feel at this point. I am just done! We go to the doctor on Tuesday to have an ultrasound which will determine Ella's weight and help us decide if we are having a c-section or being induced. Either way it will likely happen a week from Tuesday (November 3rd) or in the few days following that depending on how crowded the hospital is. I was a little bummed leaving the Dr yesterday because I thought that we would be having her next week but unless she decides to come on her own before then it will be a week from Tuesday. As Mom says, "you can do anything for a week". So that's the attitude I am trying to have. I will keep you all posted and certainly let you know if something happens sooner!

4 Weeks (OR LESS) to go!

So...4 weeks, at the most, to go!!! I am feeling ok, I guess. Just the common end of pregnancy complaints....lower back pain, really swollen feet, really tired, can't get comfortable at night, using the bathroom every other minute, etc. Every time I move Drew asks me, "Are you ok??!!" Apparently I grunt, moan or whimper every time I do anything! It either sounds like I am in pain, something major has happened or I am dying each time I move a muscle.

Dr Cousins explained to us this week that on the 27th (my next scheduled ultrasound) we will be deciding the baby's birthday and how she will be entering the world. It all depends on estimated weight. (which can be way off but they are going by it anyway) If she is weighing over 4000grams, 8.? lbs (close to 9lbs) then I will be having a c section the following week due to babies of gestational diabetes people having broader shoulders. If I were to try and deliver her and her shoulders were to get stuck in the birth canal then it would be a real emergency situation. If she is weighing under the 4000g mark then we will be induced that next week. This is the plan we are praying for!!! I am a big believer in vaginal rather then c section. It is healthier for mom and baby. Not to mention the recovery time is way less. I know some people that have had great experiences with them but everyone is different. I personally, do not want to go through that. C sections are a major abdominal surgery and I would rather my guts be left out of the birthing process!! All of this will make no difference if she decides that she is ready before the 27th!!!

Whichever way she gets here, there is no doubt that she will be here in 4 weeks or less!!!! I cannot believe that we are here! Bags are packed, car seat is installed, nursery is ready to go, Mommy is READY and Daddy is too! It is crazy that I was dreaming about being at this point 8 months ago and here we are! Check Momma out.....

We graduated Birth & Baby Class at the hospital last week. It was a five week class. Mostly on the labor process but some on after the baby comes at the last class. I told Drew that we may have been puppy school drop-outs (Bentley did not graduate) but at least we graduated birth & baby school! I didn't learn every much because of all the reading I have done and the little medical background I have but I think it was really good for Drew. He learned a lot about the whole labor process and how to help me through it. Here are some cute pics of Drew learning to swaddle the baby...

Other then all of that the only news is that we are seeing the Dr TWICE a week now. I have 2 non-stress tests a week. That is where they hook me up to the monitors to compare her heart rate and activity as well as my contractions to make sure that she is not under any stress. If I fail that (which we did 3 weeks ago) it is no big deal, we just get to have an ultrasound that day. She passed that with flying colors the day we failed the NST. She just likes to sleep through the test every once in a while. Kinda like her Mommy in college! lol! And I also see the Dr at one of those visits a week. So far no progress "down there". Just pretty regular contractions that are in between braxton hicks (practice) contractions and real ones. I say that because they are starting to hurt and becoming regular although they are not changing my cervix yet.

Oh yeah, AND....my awesome boss' have changed my work schedule to 9-4!! So I am 30hrs now rather then 40. (yet at my same pay) It makes a big difference! I am slow in the mornings and swollen in the afternoons so the extra time not here helps a lot!

Hope you are all doing great!

Much Love, Laine

Picture Update....

Here are a ton of pictures from the last several weeks. Enjoy!!!

Laine & Lauren at Britney Spears! Yes, I went to Britney! And it was AMAZING!

Our girl Brit doing her thing!

Pictures from the baby shower that my girlfriends threw....

My beautiful girlfriends!

Me with the hostesses!

Hanging out with my first born and soon-to-be middle child one evening.

Getting closer!!! I think this was at 32 weeks......

The nursery. DONE!

Ella's beautiful bunny collage that my Mommy made for the nursery! LOVE IT! Thank you Mommy!

All washed and ready!

Check out the pregnancy ticker.....

WOW!!! I just went on my page and scrolled down to the very bottom to see where we were on that pregnancy tracker/ticker thing and LOOK!!!! The next to last box!!!!! And its even behind a few days!!!! WOW!!!! I'm not excited or anything! LOL! I am going to do a picture update later I just wanted to stop by and tell you to check that thing out! Woooohooooo! COME ON BABY ELLA! Your Mommy is READY to meet you!!!!

On a side note, my Daddy was checked out last week and after a tiny scare is CANCER FREE! My Mommy's surgery on her shoulder went well and she is recovering at home for several weeks. Life is good!

Lots of love,
Laine

Showered with love....

And LOTS of gifts!! I had two baby showers this past week! One at the office on Thursday and the other one my girlfriends threw on Saturday. We are TOTALLY ready for Miss Ella's arrival!

I have never felt so loved and appreciated in my whole life. The staff and agents at my office are some of the most generous people I know. I am truly blessed to have worked with such great people for the past 3 1/2 years and will miss them dearly. (Well, most of them!! he-he) They had a huge spread of food and I did not pay any attention to my special diet for the afternoon. I was nervous about falling out into a diabetic coma right there in front of everyone but I did just fine. Needless to say, I skipped my reading that evening. I didn't even want to know what I had done to myself! Anyway, the food was delicious and the gifts were abundant! We got the stroller, car seat and base, jumperoo, tons of books and clothes and many other items both on and off of the registry. Drew came and helped me pack my car after it was over and we went straight home and washed, folded and put away all the clothes and put together everything that needed it! Here are a few pics....

The shower on Saturday was a really special luncheon. The decorations, flowers and small details were all amazing. It was the most beautiful baby shower I have ever been to...and it was MINE!!! :) I loved it! They used little mini favor baby bottles filled with pink Hersey Kisses as the place cards with each persons name on them at their seat! They were too cute! Weezie, the talented and creative little teacher that she is, cut out "Its a girl" and hung it like a clothes line. The two least florist girls in our group, Sarah and CP, put together gorgeous flower arrangements all over the house. It was beautiful to say the least. I have some of the best friends a girl could have....we got everything that their was left that we could possibly ever need plus some extra goodies! (pictures coming soon!)

By the way, did I mention that my sister ROCKS? She drove from Asheville AGAIN to be by my side on a special day. I have to give her credit because I made the drive to Asheville for her birthday and it was NO fun. She has probably made the drive just for me 20 times in the last year! All of the wedding parties and showers, the wedding, the second she found out I had a miscarriage, baby showers, etc. I really appreciate all you do for me sister! Oh, and for those of you that don't know, I have called her sister for many years now and Drew came up with her Aunt name the other day. She is officially, "Aunt Sister"!!! :)

On the way to the shower on Saturday I had one of my emotional moments that kept escalating as I was thinking about everything that has taken place over the last year. I started thinking about how a year ago that day I was off to the beach for my bachelorette weekend with my best girlfriends and how blessed I am to have each one of them in my life. (So I was a little teary eyed here) Then I started thinking about how I married my very best friend in the whole world and how he has made every dream of mine come true. (Eyes are by then full and had to be blotted) Then I started thinking about how in just a few short weeks I will be holding my sweet little girl that I will love more then life itself!! (Now I have the air on full blast and I'm holding my face about 2 inches from the vent and blinking like crazy) Anyway, the point is that yes, it was another one of my many emotional moments but the past year has been amazing! I have had my valleys for sure but the hills are more like mountains, really big ones that I will ski down one day with my little girl!!! And for that I am forever grateful!!

So we went to see Dr. "Cuzz" today. We had an ultrasound which was really fun because we had been 15 weeks without seeing little Ella's face. She has chubby cheeks now and is definitely still a girl! There is plenty of amniotic fluid, her size is right on target (they guestimated 4lbs 5oz), heart rate was 152, my blood pressure was great, my weight gain was 0lbs :) but Ella is gaining weight just fine, etc. I had to get put on medicine for my gestational diabetes but only once at night to keep my morning readings down where they need to be. They have been about 2-6 points above where they need to be so I must be dreaming about all the food I cant have while I sleep at night. lol. So with the medicine comes the label of being "high risk" meaning I have to go in once a week for a non-stress test. They will hook me up to a heart monitor and movement monitor to make sure that Ella is still progressing accordingly each week. Dr. Cuzz also said that we will be delivering (induced) the week before I'm due if I haven't on my own by then. Sounds good to me! I will take her whenever I can get her as long as she is healthy and ready to go!

I have a lot of random pictures to update with but it will have to wait until next time.....

Love to all,

Laine

Miserable Monday....

So I had a bad day! It started off by waking up to a dark bedroom with the sound of rain hitting the roof…..my favorite sound EVER! Too bad it was MONDAY and I had to get up and get ready for work. I wanted to sleep in like never before. Anyway, I unwillingly got up and started to get ready for work when I realized, Ella is STILL laying funny somehow on my sciatic nerve which is sending sharp pains down the right side of my back, through my rear and down my right leg. Awesome Ella! So after going in for an hour and walking around like a chicken it was time to go to the Dr.

As we are walking down the hallway with the nurse to our room, after the other fun things…..”Hop on the scale” (ha! What a joke!), “leave us a sample” (aka…pee in a cup), “lets check that blood pressure”, yada-yada……Dr. Cousins sees my gimping down the hallway and boy did she say the WRONG thing!!!! She asked, “What’s wrong with you”. The nurse replied, “She has a bad case of sciatica going on”. Dr Cousins then says, “HAHA, That babies already getting on your nerves!!” I think to myself, “Clever.” Then she busts out with, “And the funny thing is, there is NOTHING we can do for it!!!!” Oh no, that did not sit well with me. I felt my chin start quivering like a 2 year old and then came the tears. I burst into tears uncontrollably. As the nurse is listening to the baby’s heartbeat I am laying there with tears streaming into my ears. I don’t think it was really what she said but more that the timing was just REALLY bad. I have been in so much pain since Friday with this that the thought of 9 more weeks of it is almost unbearable. She came in and totally apologized saying that she didn’t know I was going to get so emotional. Hell, I didn’t either. But I surely did!

Anyway, Dr. Cousins wants to see me every week starting now so we can really pay attention to my sugar counts. I am close to where I need to be but not quite. I think with paying a little more attention to what I am eating it will be fine. I am having to stick my finger 4 times a day but if I have good numbers over the next week I go down to twice a day. After crying like a baby in there I went over my weekly list of questions and number one on there was, “Can I get an ultrasound soon?” Her response was, “mid-thirties”. I assumed that meant thirty five weeks but when she handed me my chart she said “See you next week for sugar check and then the next for your ultrasound”. I guess crying got me what I wanted…something I am sure Ella will have no problem with!

I have so much more to add to my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day but it is 6:30 and Drew is at home waiting on me for dinner. I worked late partly because it was the last day of the month and also to get my desk cleared to start training the girl that will be taking my place tomorrow. Yep, the word is out. Everyone here knows that I am not coming back (right away) after the baby is born. Tom (my boss) sent out a really sweet email to everyone today explaining that I am leaving as staff but plan on returning as an agent in the future. “Near future” if you ask Drew! Right babe?!

Love to all,
Laine

7 Months / 29 weeks

I know I have been slacking here lately but we have been pretty busy. Here are some picture updates for ya. The bedding I had made for the crib came in, we have been stocking up on diapers, the shelves are coming together and her closet is getting more and more colorful. :) We have put together all of the stuff from my first shower and are really looking forward to our showers coming up!!

Drew's grandfather passed away last week. They had a really nice service and memorial for him that was put together by Drew's dad and aunt. It was nice to get to see some of Drew's extended family that we do not get to see often. Although Bill Jake will be missed, we all take comfort in knowing that he is at peace now.

Daddy is taking it one day at a time back on chemo and radiation. We all agree that he will keep on keeping on until it is too much to take and then he should just stop. As someone once told my grandmother, "Chemo is like pouring anti-freeze into your blood stream". Damn. That doesn't sound too fun! For now, he is on both and still has a great attitude! Since he reads my blog now.....Daddy, you rock! I love you and can't wait for you to teach Ella to hunt, fish, waterski and most importantly, make scout supper!

We are off to Asheville this weekend to celebrate my sisters 30th birthday. She is freaking out about being 30 but I say you are only as old as you feel. She sure doesn't act her age so I am sure she doesn't feel it! Happy Birthday Sister! Love you!

We had a pretty good Dr.'s appointment the other day. Dr. Cous said I looked great, heartbeat was great, I was measuring right on, good blood pressure, etc. Appointments are every two weeks now and I don't have to see any other Dr's because she is going to deliver Ella! Wooohooo! The only downer was that I failed the gestational diabetes test. My theory is that the piece of cake, 3 cookies and a plate full of fruit I had the evening before at the funeral reception might have had a tad bit to do with it. UGHHH....I am such an idiot sometimes. I was totally not even thinking about the fact that I had a SUGAR test in the morning. Oh well, we will see if I actually have it this Tuesday. I'll keep you posted.

11 Weeks to go!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! WE CANT WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Drew and I just stare at eachother when we are going to sleep and talk about how close it is getting and how excited we are. We start Birth & Baby class on Sept. 1st. That's pretty exciting. The end is getting near! I just hope it keeps going by as fast as it has!

Love to all,
Laine