Update

So I've been having some MAJOR Braxton Hicks contractions... or at least that's what I'm figuring they are because they don't hurt, they are just uncomfortable. I'm asking all of my experienced mamas out there to let me know what they think about what I'm having and if it means Jamie might be on her way. . Last night, around 9:30, I started having contractions pretty regularly. They don't hurt, they are just uncomfortable. Some of them, I have to breathe through because they just are so tight! They kept getting more and more frequent until they were lasting for one minute and were one minute apart. We went for a walk, drank a big glass of water and laid down on my side, and that didn't stop them. They kept going through the night, but slowed down drastically to about one an hour. Then after I woke up this morning, they started speeding up again to where they were about 10 minutes apart by lunch time. Then after I ate, they slowed back down to a few an hour. . So ladies... is this the MO of Braxton Hicks or early labor??? Daryl and I should have paid better attention in Lamaze and not goofed off!!!!!

Belly Evolution: 37 Weeks & 3 Days

This week FLEW by! Sorry for the delay in posting. We have been getting all of Jamie's last minute things together. As we get closer, we open more of her gifts and wash more of her things. It was a major reality check that Jamie could be here at any moment when Amanda told me that she had Davis at 37 weeks and 1 day... that would have been last Friday!!!! . I think we still have a few more weeks though because she hasn't dropped an inch. I am starting to have more consistent Braxton Hicks contractions. They started yesterday. I've only had a few this morning, so they could stop. . We had a good doc appt Thursday. She is still head down, good heart beat. My BP was 116/68 so still nice and calm. I'm starting to swell some now, but that is to be expected. I've gained 30 lbs compared to what I weighed before I got pregnant, so I can't complain about that. (I'm not counting the 7 lbs I lost when I got pregnant. ha-ha) But everyone tells me that when I start feeding her, the lbs will drop pretty fast. . She is still kicking a lot. She is getting stronger, that's for sure. It actually kind of hurts when she kicks my ribs just right or punches my bladder. But hey, as long as she is strong and healthy, I can take it. Besides, I can get my revenge when she does something bad when she turns two and I give her a spanking bwahahaha. :-) If she takes after me, she will do no wrong... if she takes after her dad, I'm buying a cage and a shock collar. hee hee. Case in point: Here is Daryl and Nana going down a slide at our nephew's Birthday party. Obviously, it is genetic. :-) I want to be able to go down slides when I'm 70!!! .

I could not play...because I looked like this:

Belly Evolution: Week 36 & 2 Days, Surprise Work Shower, & Doc Update

On Friday, Jamie and I had another doctor appointment. We are on the weekly schedule now. Blood pressure was 117/74, her heartbeat was 164. She is still head down... but alas, she is not "engaged" as the doctor said. i.e... she hasn't dropped. I also asked her to check to see if I had dilated any... On a scale of 1 - 10, I'm a negative 3. :-( So no Jamie this week. The Doc said she thinks Jamie is in the 6 lb range right now. She still moves a LOT, which I thought would slow down as she ran out of room, but that hasn't happened yet. . I'm getting tired more. I thought I was going to die at work on Friday. I worked from home Monday - Thursday and could work at my own pace... so I would work from 2:30 - 5:00 AM (when I can't sleep) then sleep until 7:30, get up and work some more, take a few breaks, and finish up around 8:00 at night.... I can also wear comfy clothes and no shoes and sit in a comfy chair and stop to rest on the couch when my ankles start to swell. Friday, I went into the office, so I had to get everything done between 7:00 - 4:00, sit in a VERY uncomfortable chair, stay on my feet (in uncomfy shoes) a lot going back and forth to help people and print manuals, and as such, I felt slammed, achy and tired... and then I had a 90 minute drive home!!! I thought I was going to cry. I felt like SUCH a wimp. This is the life I am used to.. the kind of high paced work life I LOVE!!! It shouldn't make me miserable!!!! As I told one of my co-workers, the mind is willing but the body's weak. Sigh.... I know this will past... and SOON, but I'm hormonal and wanted to vent. :-) One nice thing that happened on Friday though, was that work had a surprise shower for me and another girl at work that is due a week before I am. It was very nice. We had some yummy food and we both got some very nice gifts. So that was definitely a nice break in the action. And just so you know, the hospital bag is PACKED and ready to go. If any of you have any advice for things to take to the hospital, let me know!!! Also, I taught Daryl how to update the blog and we will be taking the laptop to the hospital. They have WIFI so as I am going through Labor/Birth, Daryl will be updating the blog to keep everyone on top of things. How cool is that? You will also get pictures on here... it is almost like you will all be there with me, minus the sound effects of me screaming. :-)

Shower #3

Last Sunday was Jamie's last shower. We had SUCH a great time! Missy and Nancy hosted it at Missy's house by the pool. It was SOOO beautiful. 17 of our friends from First Baptist Church and Covington came to celebrate. Here is Nancy (Blue) and Missy (white).

Here is my family, my grandma, mom-in-law & my mom

Here is one of my favorite outfits for Jamie. It says "Who needs Santa, I have Grandma."

Here I am with my Little Sis from my sorority, Callie. Callie and I also went to church together before College, so we go way back.

And here is my best buddy Jill. We have known each other since birth! My mom was in her mom's wedding, she was my maid of honor, and I was her matron of honor.

And her are the moms... all excited about Jamie's closely approaching arrival!

And last, but not least, the GIFTS! Jamie is one lucky lady. Everyone has been so amazing to get us ready for our daughter. We have gotten so much from our friends and family and their support during this exciting and crazy time has been tremendous!!! Andrea: Jamie's bathroom decor came from Target and her bedding came from Babies-R-Us (Carter's Love Bug) :-)

Belly Evolution: Week 35 & 2 Days Plus Shower #3

Per Andrea's request, here is another side-by-side...by-side. 15 weeks, 25 weeks & 35 weeks.... wow. Also, please excuse the 35 week picture.... We took that one this AM right after we got up, so now you know what I look like when I wake up. I mean what the heck, I'm huge.... no amount of blush is going to make a difference at this point. ha-ha. It is nice though... people don't expect pregnant women to really care what they look like at this point so I get carte blanche to wear whatever I want. sweet!

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Also, I apologize on my6 delinquency on posting... I have no excuse, I'm just getting very lazy.

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We had a good Doctor's visit last week. Jamie is still head down, heart beat at 138 and I found out that the thing I thought was her knew is actually her feet, so I have a better understanding now of how she is positioned. Doc said that if I went into labor at this point, they wouldn't do anything to stop it. CRAZY!!! He also told me I should have my bag packed just in case... CRAZY CRAZY!!!! I can't believe we'll have a little baby in less than 35 days!!!!

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She is so active... Doc told me to do a kick count at night... 5 kicks in 1 hour... she does 5 kicks in one minute, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking I'm starting to get those Braxton Hicks, but I'm not 100% sure. It is a lot like her first kicks... I didn't know that was her kicking until the kicks got stronger. Same will go with contractions I'm sure. I equate it to the first time you ride a roller coaster as a kid. My nephew had never been on one and this was the first REAL coaster with a big drop. We warned him that there would be one big drop and after all the little ones he would ask "Was that it?" and we would say "No, you will know it when it happens." Well, when we finally hit the last one, with eyes the size of saucers he loudly asked "Was THAT it!?!?!" and we laughed and said "Yes, that is it." Well, I think this is the same. When I have my first big contraction, I will scream "Was THAT IT?!?!" and everyone will say "Yes, that was it." But they better not laugh or I will punch them.

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And on to nicer things! :-)

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Here is a video I did this morning of Jamie's room and bathroom. This is my first attempt at posting a video so if it doesn't work, please let me know!

. I also had my last shower last Sunday! It was a blast! Missy & Nancy hosted it at Missy's house and we had a great turn out. It was beside her pool and everything looked SOOO pretty! Daryl has yet to sync or laptops, so as soon as he does, I will post some pictures. But it was AWESOME!!!!!

Belly Evolution: Week 34

I have reached that stage that all pregnant women dread... the stage of Cankles... where you can't tell where the calves end and the ankles begin... Luckily, my once annoyingly small ankles are paying off in that the swelling has just made them normal sized.... but golly they hurt! If I sit too long, my feet and ankles swell up like little water balloons. As such, this blog will be short because I've been working on an assignment for work for the last 3 hours so needless to say, it is time for me to prop up my feet.

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Jamie is just an active little girl, as always and even though I didn't think I would, I'm going to miss feeling her move around in my tummy. It's been a VERY neat experience.

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And now, a few more pics from the last shower (blog site wouldn't let me load them all last time)

I just thought this was a good picture...

Yep, more monkeys on the blanket.

Me and my favorite monkey. :-)

And as promised, the pack and play in the pattern that everything else is in. I LOVE it!!!!

Shower #2 and the Completion of Lamaze

Sunday was shower #2 and it was a blast! Deeshia & Cheryl hosted it at Deeshia's house and I had so much fun. We had a really great turn out. 20 people came and we had an afternoon tea.

Here is my tea dress. Deeshia decorated in pink and brown and I wanted to follow suit. Amanda and I went shopping at the outlets and I found this dress on sale for $5! You can't beat that! She had this little jacket she let me wear with it and I think it worked. And here are my lovely hostesses: Cheryl (Deeshia's mom), Deeshia (my sis-in-law) and Gloria (Daryl's mom). I got mega hot and this was taken at the end of the shower when I just couldn't stand to wear sleeves another minute!

And here is my Grandmother and mom. My G-mom finally was able to come and see the new casa and see Jamie's room. I'm so glad they were able to come up for the shower.

And here are two of my favorite people: Devin was my best friend/roommate/honor's program buddy/sorority sister during college. I haven't seen her since my wedding shower so it was great to see her again!!! Hopefully I will see her again without there needing to be a shower! And of course, my wingman...er...wingwoman, Amanda... who is just the bomb. I'm so glad that her and her hubby Tim were able to stay with us the night before (That makes them our first house guests!!!!)

And here are my lovely friends from work! Linda, Kim, Carol, and Shannon.... Could I work with any prettier people?!?!?! I was so glad they were able to make it! They have gone through so much with me over the last 2.5 years! And boy, do they have some stories to tell... but so do I so they keep quiet. bwahahaha! And now, the gifts! The family bought us all of our big gifts and brought them to this shower, since we live right down the street so we wouldn't have a long way to haul them.... Thankfully, Carol's hubby Allen came to the house and cooked out with the guys and had a trailer hitched to his truck! That came in handy. We received our High Chair, Play Pen, Stroller & Car Seat from family and a jogging & umbrella stroller from my work buddies. Jamie got this super cute little back pack that has her initials embroidered on them. She also received embroidered bibs, a burp cloth, and dress from Devin. Gotta love the personalized gifts!

And if I've never mentioned it before, Daryl LOVES monkeys....

I mean, LOVES monkeys.... So We received 2 monkey outfits, a monkey blanket, and all of the monkey bathroom accessories! We are SOOOO excited! She will look adorable in them and her bathroom looks awesome. I will post some pics of the bathroom in the next blog. And in case you are wondering, yes... my outfit matched her bedding (This is the mobile for her crib). And what, pray tell, took place AFTER the shower..... Daddy got put to work! He put EVERYTHING together! He said it was like Christmas! Daryl said that going to Lamaze made her birth feel even closer. We are getting so excited about her coming that after every shower, we work to get everything where it should be, like she could come at any minute.

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But Daryl was great, he got everything together and this was after a long afternoon of entertaining the men folk while the ladies were at the shower. Kudos to Tim though for becoming the chef so that Daryl could play host. Once again, what would we do with out Tim & Amanda???

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So, I mentioned Lamaze... the 2nd day was much better. She went into the post partum "what to expect" stuff and that was pretty interesting. We almost lost it though when we had to practice breathing. Daryl kept making me laugh to the point tears were coming out... I'm sure everyone thought we were total dorks. They probably wished a long labor on us for not taking it seriously but have you ever tried to role play a contraction?!?!? It's pretty darn hilarious when you have Daryl as your coach. Not to mention it doesn't help when he keeps whispering in my ear "I'm a pirate... RRRRRrrrrr" or when he is holding up his fingers for the "varied breathing technique" and as he lowers his fingers at each breath, wondering if he is going to flick me off. Yea, we had a good time.

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All in all, it was a great weekend and I think I will need to go to bed now to get over it. whew! Good night!