This Past Week

It was been one heck of a week! It’s been a really good week filled with worries that all worked out in the end. I love it when that happens! I find it usually does happen that way but sometimes you have to wait longer to see the happy side.

It started with a doc appointment for Andy on Tuesday. He has this crazy spot on his nose he’s had for years. I jokingly called it his “cancer spot!” But it occurred to me recently – through the miracle of pregnancy I am sure, that this could be something serious and maybe “cancer spot” isn’t such a funny name for it until we get it looked at! He tans easily and although we aren’t in the sun often now, he has been in previous years. So we went to see a dermatologist. It isn’t cheap to see a specialist but as usual, a little extra money came up to cover the cost. We were told at the office if any procedures needed to be performed, we’d be out of pocket because we haven’t met our deductible. This was frightening for a second, but I was fully prepared to write a hot check and transfer funds from our savings when we got home! I want this man healthy – I want more babies with him you know! And I need his help with the one on the way!

So after over an hour of waiting – gotta love doctor’s offices – we saw a very nice lady doc. She checked out his spot and answered a few other questions. The verdict – it’s nothing! She said think of it like a birthmark that hasn’t been there since birth. No danger. Just of course if it changes shape or color, come back. It’s been there for years and still looks the same, so I think all will be well. I can’t tell you the relief I felt after she said that! Thanks to everyone who sent all the prayers and positivity! I guess I can call it his “cancer spot” again!

Then on Thursday we went to the WIC store in Denton to get our monthly cheese and stuff – boy that place is WAY more convenient than doing it at the regular store! But while we were in Denton our car started making the craziest, scariest sound! We were dropping a bag of stuff off at the Goodwill, and I drove the car around the parking lot for a second while Andy ran around in the 100 degree weather trying to listen to what it was. It was definitely coming from the driver’s side front tire and sounded similar to when the brakes need to be changed only a little more scary and deep, like something was loose. Plus, we just had our brakes done not even 6 months ago, so that couldn’t be it. We decided it was something we’d have to look in to further when we got home but for now it was fine, the tire wasn’t about to fall off or anything.

We rode all over town, running errands and the noise came and went sporadically. Then when we turned the final turn to the road where our apartment was we’d been driving about 50 down the previous road and it’s about 15 minutes from Denton back to Sanger, and suddenly, it sounded like whatever had been loose in there, just fell out! The noise was heart stopping! Andy put on the brakes and I told him we’re almost home let’s just get there so we can check it out!

Here’s where him being a smart and good man really comes in to play!

We got home, and he took off the tire to check things out. The first obvious thing was the brakes and brake pads were fine. So he stuck his head all around and looked all over the wheel well. Then he found something I never would have seen! A bolt on the back of the rotor had backed out and was rubbing on the axel! How he saw that, I will never know but I am so grateful he can do those kinds of things.

Fortunately we’d taken our car to a very good place to get the brakes done. We’ve taken both our cars to this place multiple times and had them do this simple brake job just to give them the business since we love them so much. Good thing too.

Andy had every intention of fixing this himself. He was going to get a new bolt and change it out. But he needed to ask our mechanic what all he’d have to take off to do it. So the next morning he gave her a call. Well, she said no way. He’d have to take apart way more than he’d thought. And she felt very responsible for it happening. Said that was their mistake, and it could have possibly damaged the axel. She insisted they tow it to their shop – almost an hour away from our new home – and repair any damage at no charge to us! Can you imagine! What an awesome ending!

Well, the only tragedy was we were out of our car for about 3 days and couldn’t see my mom over the weekend for her birthday, but we pick up the car Tuesday and we’ll see her then.

The other good news was the axel was fine, they just needed to change the bolt – but they had to order it in so that’s why the delay. Fine with us, we needed a break from leaving the house! Plus we do have another car if anything came up. Its ac just doesn’t work, and the antenna was stolen off it at our last apartment, so it’s no fun to drive anymore.

One last catastrophe turned well.

We had our online bank account PayPal hacked. Someone used Andy’s name and login and password and tried to buy a program online. We fortunately didn’t have much money in there so though they got it all, it wasn’t enough to cover the product.

Well, normally then it would have come out of our bank account, but we never changed our bank account with PayPal when we closed our old one and opened a new one a year ago, so the one they were trying to pull funds from, no longer existed!

Andy and I were of course completely freaked out by the whole thing. It’s like a complete violation. Not only were we out some money, we also had our account used without our permission.

He called and spoke with the people at PayPal. He emailed the guy who the product came from. He did everything he could. PayPal said basically, we’ll have to wait and see.

The guy that sold the product didn’t respond until today. And when he did and Andy told him what happened, he immediately refunded our money! We couldn’t believe it! After all the stress and fear yesterday and the guy was so cool about it!

What good business practices we have encountered this week!

It’s still scary that someone did that to our account, so we have learned to take a few more precautionary measures than before. We always try to learn something in all these mishaps of course!

As for me, I am 35 weeks pregnant out of 40. That means in 3 weeks, the baby can come safely at any time.

Are we ready?

We have the room almost done, the apartment almost clean. The car seat needs to be inspected still but we’ll do that this week when we get the car back. I need to get the announcements ready and thank you notes finished, all things that take little time and could be done by the end of this week easily.

But I don’t think I am ready yet. I love being pregnant! It’s like having a special person with you all the time! I feel him in there; I talk to him and read to him at night. And I know once he comes out, he’ll start slowly moving away. Oh sure, it’ll take years, but I know those years go quickly no matter how hard you try to hold on to them. I want to be a good parent and let him go as he grows, but I am afraid, in this moment anyway, that it’ll be hard for me. Perhaps I only feel that way now because of the closeness I feel to him. I hope anyway.

And I do want to get pregnant again. And I know I’ll get to feel another baby grow within me and get that closeness again. But he is our first and there is something about that.

This has been about the easiest pregnancy on record I think so far. I can’t imagine they’ll all go so smoothly. So I want to hold on to this one for a little while longer.

I have been thinking he’d be late, but who knows for sure.

I will admit, the uncomfortable times are upon me though and if you ask me again in a couple of weeks, I may say “GET IT OUT!” Who knows? For now, I am still kind of on a cloud about it. Even though the pressure makes breathing difficult when I sit too long, the lower baby pressure makes me have to pee ALL the time and I feel like I have to poop a lot too when I don’t, the heartburn sets in whenever I lay down, I can’t bend over straight.

But I don’t have much swelling yet so that’s good.

I feel the baby move everyday. He rolls around, he gets hiccups, he pushes on me and responds to his daddy’s voice. One day last week I didn’t feel him much and it scared me. So I drank some OJ before bed and Andy and I laid together with our hands on the belly to feel for him. After about 4 kicks in 2 minutes, he got the hiccups and all was well! I haven’t had a day where I felt him that little since. And I ate a lot of toast and butter that day, not a lot of sugar so that may have been part of it. He sure likes it when momma eats the sweets!

But for now, I am content being pregnant and letting him “bake” for a few more weeks at least! In fact, I am still loving it!

Shower Pictures Part 1.1

Here's the pictures from Andy's mom Grandma Phyllis. I think a lot of these were also taken by Aunt Tressie, soon to be (Meema Tressie!). There are two posts here of pictures because they are big files. So be sure you scroll down past this first one to see them all! Also, remember you can click on each pic to see them bigger.
Before the party. Andy brought me to his mom's house and Tressie, Phyllis and I rode together. We stopped and got my mom and her friends on the way.
Here Andy is getting his own gift since he didn't go to the shower. It's from Mom Phyllis and Aunt Tressie. They got him a webcam that broadcasts wirelessly over the net that we can keep in the baby's room and watch him on our computer. We can also post a link up for others to see so keep an eye out for that to come! It was a perfect gift for him, and he had fun just setting it up while we were gone!
Here we are with the puppy Tazz. Or as I like to call him PeeButt! :D He pees when he gets excited, which is anytime someone comes over, so Phyllis is constantly chasing him with a bottle of windex and a towel, good thing there's hardwood floors in the kitchen!




First shot of the shower crowd. Mostly it's the back of Greta's head! She is a friend of my mom's and remembers me from when I accolyted for her son's wedding as a teenager.






Me and my mom.









The sisters three! Left to right, Grandma Phyllis, Aunt Sue, and Meema Tressie.






More of Greta's head and Phyllis in the background.








An action shot of the crowd, there were way more people there than I expected and I was so flattered!







Gift time!


















Behind mom and I here is Tiffany, one of the hostesses. She was the other photographer and when I get pictures from her I will post them as well.























It doesn't end here - scroll down to see the second set!

Shower Pictures Part 1.2

The next set of pictures from Grandma Phyllis. My mom is next to me writing down every gift and who they're from so I can write thank you notes. Which I still need to do! YIKES!
This was always her job at Chrsitmas every year too!














You'll see my legs are very lady-like, but that big belly makes it hard to sit with my legs crossed or even closed! Especially when I keep having to bend donw to pick up the next gift!

































So many wonderful sweet gifts from everyone! I am very grateful and our new family is very blessed!








My girlfriend from school Anne, behind Karen my mom's friend and and someone who remembers me from when I was very young. And in the background, Andy's aunts and cousins on the left and right. I was so excited to see them all come!








































I am hoping to get more pictures to post from another photographer next week. But I will also be posting, maybe even this weekend about the week we've had! Bunch of words to come!

What a Great Day!

Yesterday was such an awesome day! We saw a doc, not the same one as last time, but the new one in their office. He was so young! He looked like he could have gone to high school with Andy and me! But he seemed to know his stuff and he answered all my new questions and took a lot of time to get to know us. We’re seeing him again for our next appointment too because he was the one that had the time available we wanted.

Then we went across the parking lot to the Women’s Center and the nurses had time to give us a tour of the Labor and Delivery department. The nurse who gave it has been an L&D nurse for 34 years! She is also the manager of the department so she was very knowledgeable. It made me feel so much better to finally see the place we’ll be delivering. And what a place it is! Each room is like a fancy hotel. They have all the high tech equipment but she said they monitor the patient not the monitors! They have hard wood floors, flat screen TV’s with DVD/VCRs, sit down showers and pull out chair beds and a rocking chair! Everything you could want to help keep you comfortable and relaxed as you labor. And then the delivery happens right there too. There’s also a baby bed in the room where they leave him with you for an hour after birth before taking him to the nursery. Down the hall from the rooms there’s a tub room with exercise balls you can use if need be also! I was so blown away and so was Andy. The nurse asked if we’d been watching too much Discovery channel! I suppose we had because we pictured bright white stale uncomfortable rooms. Of course, if we have to go to surgery for any reason, it’ll look more like that. But I doubt it. We’re pretty healthy!

After the baby goes to the nursery and daddy goes with him, I go to postpartum room where I stay 24 hours. We’ll have our mothers visiting while I labor and then for the actual birth it’ll just be mommy daddy and baby (and staff of course)! Then when he’s had his bath (and me too) and can come see me in postpartum room, everyone can come and visit him!

Also, the nurse who gave us the tour lives in the same small town we do, so we got along really well. Then I mentioned how great the tour was because we couldn’t afford the birth class so this helped a lot. And she gave us a DVD to watch called Birthology! She said it is the best labor and delivery video she’s ever seen! I can’t believe how sweet that was of her. I wanted to watch it last night but after the day we had running around in the heat, I was wiped out and started for bed at about 9. Then I slept through most of the night with one break for a snack and more reading, and then didn’t get up until almost 1! I felt much better today!

The doctor had all good news for us. The only thing is the baby is big. At 31 weeks he was in 75-90^th percentile! But that was according to a sonogram and those aren’t always completely accurate. Of course I am convinced he’s big because of all this weight that I’ve gained (I’m up to 161 – shhh don’t tell!) and I swear it’s mostly in the belly. Sure my thighs won’t fit in my old pants right and my booty is a bit bigger, but my face and neck are still slim and my arms are too. It MUST be a big baby, right?

My shower is this Saturday, and I am getting a little nervous. I am very excited, but I have never had a party thrown for me like this and I am not used to being the center of attention. I’ve only even ever been to one other shower and that over 10 years ago so I have no idea what to expect. I am hoping for a small turnout and an intimate gathering of women some with children that can share with me their experiences! I also look forward to getting some cute baby clothes as I know that is the most fun gift for people to give!

Andy and I broke out the car seat last night. We had finally gotten the car completely cleaned out and vacuumed and decided to check out the equipment. It looked bigger than it had at Target. But then tonight after our walk we decided to try and install it. The directions for rear facing seemed very simple and we figured we could pop it in in no time. We plan to swing by the Sanger police station or fire department or both and have its installation inspected as well. But we found that it looks even bigger in our little 4 door Honda Accord than it had on the floor in baby’s room! In fact, to fit it behind the passenger seat, we had to push the seat all the way forward and sit it all the way up! Yikes! Looks like Andy won’t be riding on the passenger side no matter how tired of driving he is! He’d never fit!! It takes up so much room because as a rear facing it is tilted. Maybe that is why people even with only one kid get bigger cars! We don’t want to though because living as far out as we do we already spend a lot in gas on our little Honda, I couldn’t imagine having a bigger car. He only sits that way until he weighs 20 pounds. How long could that be? We’ll manage we always do. Like with most things there will be an adjustment period. I am just glad we got the seat in a little early so I have time to get used to the car like that. I do wish there was a way to put the back seat farther back!

I’ll have lots of great pics next time. I will try and put a few up before the shower and then after the shower I’ll have a whole post dedicated to the shower with the shower pics.

We love you all and keep you in our thoughts. Please keep us in yours as our time as a couple comes to a close and our time as a family draws nearer.

A Few Pics

We atart here with some pictures of our garden. It is getting abit unruly and we need to do some triming soon! These pictures are actually taken right before the big storm last weekend. Read on to the post beyond this one to see more about that!

New ivy coming in nicely!









Our pretty flowers! We cut some of the big ones today and gave them to my mother.







Ivy growing out the edges!








Ivy growing crazy and pretty flowers!







Dad to be posing with his first baby, Tyler!








Thunder getting to know the new person a little early.








Tyler sleeping with his remote. He likes to get the remotes.








Here he is! The dad to be! Does he look like a dad yet?











Well, this is one of our favorite summer activities - playing our Nintendo DS's! I like Soduko, so does Andy, but he's playing a lot of other games too.






Sleeping kitty Tyler. He's so adorable!








And finally the big belly! This is about a week and a half ago, I have one for last week too but it's not ready yet. As you can imagine, I am already bigger!






Be sure to read on to the next post to hear my rantings and raving of how things are going and how I am doing!

Getting a Little Anxious

I am starting to feel like time is closing in on me. The apartment doesn’t even feel done from the move let alone completely ready to take on a new tenet!

But we really are farther along with baby stuff than many I know are at this point. We have the furniture ready to go. I made the beds to get kitties used to them. We leave open the door to baby’s room now so the kitties will adjust. The car is cleaned out and maybe this weekend we’ll try and put in the seat. I have washed all my cloth diapers and used clothes and have almost finished readying the changing table. I have not opened any packages of wash cloths and receiving blankets, but I plan to wait until after the shower (on the 19^th! YAY!), and wash all those together. Then there’s the covers, like for the swing and bouncy seat and whatnots. I need to get all that cleaned this weekend.

I feel like I’ve done so much and still have so far to go! Plus I keep thinking of new things!

Don’t get me started on this apartment! I want to super bleach clean the bathrooms and kitchen. I clean the hardwood floors decently once a week or so, so they aren’t bad. But it seems bathrooms, especially ones with the litter box, get so dirty so fast! Not to mention all the baby powder I am using to attempt to stay dry and clean this overly hot summer ends up all over our bathroom! I obsessively vacuum our bedroom which is where the baby will sleep when he comes home, so I really just want that to stay stress free.

I feel like it’s time to start saying, what do we need to have ready to go for the day that I say, he’s coming. I have my bag almost packed, but I know I’m missing something!

I really feel the need to keep up on dishes and laundry though it doesn’t always work out. I could just imagine the nightmare of going in to labor with a sink full of dirty dishes, a dishwasher full of clean ones, and a basket overflowing with dirty clothes! Then I’d have no energy for a few days to get to any of it while it just backs up more. Sure, Andy is great and helps with dishes when I ask or he notices I am having a hard time getting it fully wrapped up, and he carries the heavy laundry baskets for me. But I am a little OCD I guess, and I like to take care of these things myself. I know my mom and mother-in-law and aunt Tressie would be more than willing to help me around the house if I get behind and the baby comes, but I don’t want to. I want to be a Super Mom! I want to be able to do it all everyday without any help! Silly I know. But it gets harder and harder to sleep when I know I have something I haven’t finished around the house. As if this, a perfect clean and proper home, defines a good mother!

The fears are setting in for the labor and delivery as well. I have never tried it before. Giving birth. How do I know how to do it? I am reading. I am trying to get Andy to read about it. We are talking about things that are important to me. But what do we really know? Even if we took a silly class, I’d still not KNOW for sure. I do know that once I have been through it one time, it’ll be easier the next time. But for now, it’s all new. How will I even know for sure when it’s time to go to the hospital? I will ask the doc all these things, but I’ll still be unsure. Or maybe not. A lot of women say, Oh you’ll know! But what if I don’t? We have a half hour drive to the hospital and Andy has no desire to deliver his first born son on the side of the highway because I waited too long because I couldn’t tell I was in labor!

Did I mention this has been the hottest summer around here in about a million years? Cause it couldn’t have picked a better summer to be over 100 degrees all day everyday! At least out here in Sanger we get the nice lake breeze and we seem to be more prone to rain. Not that it cools it off for long, but it does help.

Speaking of rain, we had our first big storm in this apartment last weekend and found out that our windows leak! We were grateful to find out when we did and they’ve been “fixed.” So we’ll see how it holds. The problem is one window is right by where Little Andy will be sleeping. It did rain a little today and I don’t think it leaked, but it wasn’t a huge storm. Again, we’ll see. It is an apartment and they fix things for you but they have a tendency to use the band-aid system and the problems keep coming back.

In spite of all this anxiety, we are so happy and so excited. I can’t believe that the little guy that I feel rolling around in my abdomen everyday will be here in my arms within 2 months! Hopefully even less. In 4 weeks, I’ll be at full term, and he has about 5 weeks after that before he’s considered late. It’ll depend on how big he is on whether they’ll see the need to try and bring him early. He is a little above average, but that may mean he’s farther along than I thought. Which is an even scarier thought!

I know Andy and I will be great parents. We’ve talked so much about what is important to us for the last 7 years. We’ve grown and changed our opinions together, shared so many experiences that we’ve learned from and continue to seek those out. I have told him what’s important to me and he’s done the same. I am sure we are as ready as any two people can be. But that is not ever fully ready. Because as all parents will say, you just never know what it’s like until you’re there. And I like to plan. I like to make plans, have a plan, I don’t always follow it to the letter, but I like to make the plan. And I am having a hard time with not being able to make some plans. Not only do I not know when the baby will be ready to be born and how that will go, but I have not much clue of what it will be like after he is born!

Thankfully we have a great support system nearby! Many great grandmas will be a phone call away whether I just need to vent, ask questions, or need an immediate visit! We couldn’t be luckier!

New Doctor

Doctor visit went awesome! We loved him. The nurse that helped us was very nice too. We got to do another sonogram. I had complained of some lower abdominal cramping and to verify it was just bladder pressure, he wanted another sono done. So we got to see our baby boy again! And the sono tech was super sweet too! She gave us quite the tour. Showed us all the things they look for as signs of problems and that he had none! What a relief. And the cutest thing was he was napping again and had his little hand up by his face - again! It’ll be so cool to see if he does that after he’s born. I’ll have to get pictures of him sleeping with his hand on his face!

The doctor was such a neat guy though. Apparently he’s a Catholic and pretty involved in his church. A lot of his patients are from his church and have huge families. When I told him it was very important to me to have a natural child birth, he said I’d come to the right place! Due to the size of the families around the area that go to that hospital, they try to avoid c-sections unless absolutely necessary so the women can have tons of kids. I was thrilled. So was Andy! After the bad first experience in there with them unable to work with the insurance, Andy was a bit burned. He was a little gun shy about going back in and facing them. But after meeting the doc, he couldn’t be happier!

The baby does have his head resting directly on my bladder so that would explain the pains and how they are relieved when I urinate. But lately I think I’ve added gas pains to my troubles! Sorry to share so much info, but let me tell you, it was much nicer for me when the problem was I had gas coming OUT all the time! Now that it seems to be stuck inside, the pains are horrendous! Although Andy might not mind it too much this way! It does make it hard for me to drink water like I should. I try but when it hurts every time I have to pee, I’m not interested in making myself have to go more often. I am getting enough though so don’t worry. AT least it’s funny to see me get up and go to the bathroom because I am usually in too much pain to stand up straight and the waddle gets worse. The good news is that due to this new development in pain, the pain in my hip has subsided! See folks, there’s always an upside.

The baby was estimated at a weight of over 4 pounds from the sonogram. I know those things aren’t always completely accurate, but it sure feels like he weighs that much! The strange thing is, I have gained 35 pounds. Hmmmm. That doesn’t add up to me! I know my weight is fine. I am big, but I’m all belly and boobs. It is getting difficult to fit around things I used to have no problem with. I have to be very cautious of it. The other day I was putting gas in the car and parked to close to the pump. I was not about to move the car out so I just rubbed my booty up against the car and squeezed my fat belly by. But it was a bit of an awakening since only 8 short months ago, I could have done cartwheels through the same space! But hey, I’ll get back there. No rush.

At least my man is putting on some weight with me! They were nice enough to let him stand on the scale at the WIC office last week and he’s almost 185! At 6’1” that isn’t a lot but it beats his old 165. It makes him want to stay in shape too so he works out with weights around here most nights of the week. I am still trying to keep up with my stretches. I must admit the last couple of days I haven’t. It’s amazing how it takes me one full day to recover from spending one busy day out.

Our day to the doc’s was long. We had the appointment at 1130 and for some reason neither of us slept well the night before. Probably something to do with this whole bout to have a baby for the first time thing, but who could say for sure. Then the appointment wasn’t over until 1230 and they wanted us back at 130 for a sonogram. We went to the Labor and Delivery department of the hospital to get pre-registered and try for a tour. Of course nurses were to busy then but we’ll go back in two weeks when we have our next appointment and try again. I’d just like to look inside the place before we go in there while I’m in labor. I think it’ll ease both Andy and I. We did get to see the nursery though and those babies sure are tiny when they first come out!

Then we had a small snack before returning to the office. Then after the sono we went to the library to try and find books on delivery with no luck. They sent us to their other library branch but we decided to skip it and just go to the mall. My mom was planning to take us out for a lovely dinner that evening to celebrate our big 5 year marriage anniversary. She came to Denton to meet us but we had a couple of hours to kill beforehand. And I like walking around in the cool mall. Especially when it’s 100 degrees outside!

We had a great time with mom once she made it through the traffic to get to us. Steak dinners are always good. But I couldn’t finish my meat! Or potato. And I didn’t eat much appetizer or salad or anything that should have spoiled it. I think I’m finally at that point where I just can’t fit as much food in my belly. Oh I try. It’s just not going in there! Of course tonight I made a cake and managed to eat two pieces each with a big glass of milk. But I did get a bit of a tummy ache! And strangely I am still hungry, may be the lack of nutrition in the cake.

Anyway, by the time we got home after being out all day, I was wiped. And I was pretty much wiped all day yesterday. We went over to mom’s to help her move her computer and then tried to hang out at a friend’s place last night, but I was having belly cramps and just too tired.

I can’t imagine these stomach pains will last for the last 8 weeks will they?

I am feeling better right this second (I haven’t gotten up to pee yet!), though I don’t sleep well with the pains in my stomach. I had no idea how much stomach muscle it takes to roll over! OUCH! And with a four pounder in there it isn’t any easier!

All is well though. We have our little daily stresses from running the business but we try to keep an overall view of the whole thing and stay positive. We are about to go through one of the greatest experiences in life a human can have, and that’s what really matters. And I don’t just mean having a kid. I mean raising a person. We can’t wait!

Oh, and I’ll put pics up soon. They’re still in the camera but I wanted to go ahead and update with the good news of the doctor!