Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 17th
Yesterday was a pretty busy day for our little family. First, we met with our photographer, Mrs. Lynne Richardson, to have maternity pictures and Rylee's 18-month pictures taken. Rylee missed her morning nap, so she was a bit on the fussy side, and after a while, she decided she was DONE with the whole picture-taking thing, so we didn't get to do as many poses as I'd hoped we could. It's hard to get a lot of good shots of little ones her age who just don't sit still very well and get cranky easily when people try to make them do something they don't want to do (i.e. smile for a million pictures). Mrs. Lynne is always great to work with us as best as she can, though, and she still got some really sweet shots. She's already uploaded some of the pictures on Facebook, and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites so far. Please remember that these pictures are copyright of Lynne Richardson, Making Memories Digital Photography. Please do not copy, edit, or cut. Check out her Facebook page for more information (her website is currently under construction).
After our photo-shoot with Mrs. Lynne, we grabbed some lunch at Las Casitas in Prattville, and then headed to Bass Pro Shop so Rylee could visit Santa Claus. She was only 6 months old when we took her last year to meet him for the first time, and she did really well with him then. She smiled and everything. This year, however, I fully expected her to SCREAM the second we put her in his lap. When it was finally her turn to see him, Jordan put her on his left knee. The "elves" shook a little noise maker at her and snapped a picture. They did it so quickly, I don't think she even had time to process what was going on. So, the good news (I guess) is that she didn't scream... but she didn't smile, either. She's just sitting there with a "Huh?" expression on her face. I reckon it's better than no picture at all, though. Here it is:
After we visited with Santa, we went to Target and T.J. Maxx to exchange some baby gifts I received from my shower last weekend that we don't need. When we finally finished doing our running around town, we headed home to let Rylee nap for just a bit while Jordan made some Rice Krispies Treats for our Sunday school class's Christmas party. We had a good time hanging out, eating, and laughing with our friends for a few hours, and then it was time to head home for the night. It was a long and busy day... but a good one.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Can You Say "Nesting"?
Here is a list (in no particular order) of things I still want/need to do to get ready for Baby Ryan:
- buy a minivan (HA! totally NOT happening, but oh, how I wish!)
- wash the car seat cover and then strap said car seat into the truck (I cannot believe we are going to have TWO car seats in our vehicle. What have we gotten ourselves into?!)
- Before we load the car seat into the truck, though, we need to clean the truck out (including vacuuming).
- clean our bedroom (which includes swapping out and rearranging our dressers and putting ALL of our clothes away) to make room for the Pack 'n Play
- clean Rylee's toys out of the bottom of the Pack 'n Play and get the changing table and bassinet parts attached to it
- wash the Pack 'n Play bassinet cover
- wash all blankets, bibs, burp cloths, towels, wash cloths, etc.
- buy a mattress for the crib
- wash crib bedding and "make" the crib (you know... like you "make" a bed)
- finish going through/organizing/putting away everything in Ryan's room
- pull out all winter newborn and 0-3 months clothes, wash them, and put them in Ryan's dresser
- get a diaper bag and pack it for the hospital (diapers, wipes, outfits, etc.)
- pack my own bag for the hospital (No, I STILL have not started packing. I know, I know...)
- wash, boil, and put away all bottles, pacifiers, breast pump parts, etc.
- wash swing cover and move said swing into the living room after we take the Christmas tree down
- vacuum every inch of carpet in our house
- and... go through EVERYTHING in our ENTIRE HOUSE, move stuff out to the shed, and take everything we don't want/need to the Faith Rescue Mission (or wherever else we need to, as long as it gets out of my house)
And there's probably a million other things that I'm simply not thinking of right now. And we've got about 20 days to do all of this in, on top of everything else going on in our lives right now (work, doctor appointments, maternity pictures, Christmas, family, etc.). I'm going to lose my mind.
- buy a minivan (HA! totally NOT happening, but oh, how I wish!)
- wash the car seat cover and then strap said car seat into the truck (I cannot believe we are going to have TWO car seats in our vehicle. What have we gotten ourselves into?!)
- Before we load the car seat into the truck, though, we need to clean the truck out (including vacuuming).
- clean our bedroom (which includes swapping out and rearranging our dressers and putting ALL of our clothes away) to make room for the Pack 'n Play
- clean Rylee's toys out of the bottom of the Pack 'n Play and get the changing table and bassinet parts attached to it
- wash the Pack 'n Play bassinet cover
- wash all blankets, bibs, burp cloths, towels, wash cloths, etc.
- buy a mattress for the crib
- wash crib bedding and "make" the crib (you know... like you "make" a bed)
- finish going through/organizing/putting away everything in Ryan's room
- pull out all winter newborn and 0-3 months clothes, wash them, and put them in Ryan's dresser
- get a diaper bag and pack it for the hospital (diapers, wipes, outfits, etc.)
- pack my own bag for the hospital (No, I STILL have not started packing. I know, I know...)
- wash, boil, and put away all bottles, pacifiers, breast pump parts, etc.
- wash swing cover and move said swing into the living room after we take the Christmas tree down
- vacuum every inch of carpet in our house
- and... go through EVERYTHING in our ENTIRE HOUSE, move stuff out to the shed, and take everything we don't want/need to the Faith Rescue Mission (or wherever else we need to, as long as it gets out of my house)
And there's probably a million other things that I'm simply not thinking of right now. And we've got about 20 days to do all of this in, on top of everything else going on in our lives right now (work, doctor appointments, maternity pictures, Christmas, family, etc.). I'm going to lose my mind.
Monday, December 12, 2011
36 Weeks
Yesterday marked the beginning of my 36th week of pregnancy. Yesterday was also my baby shower (as I've already blogged about in the previous post) and Jordan's Christmas party with Home Depot, so it was a long, busy day. I have gotten to the point in this pregnancy where if I do too much, I pay for it. My whole body HURTS. Needless to say, I had several of Jordan's co-workers concerned last night that I was going to give birth right there in the middle of the Christmas party. Thankfully, that didn't happen, and I did enjoy myself. I wish we could've stayed at the end and danced for a little while, but there was no way that was going to happen.
Anyway, I went back to the doctor today for another check-up. First, my doctor wanted me to have an ultrasound done to check on Ryan and see how big he's getting. The ultrasound tech took some measurements of his head and other body parts/organs, and said that everything was measuring on track except for his stomach. She said his stomach is a little big. It had me slightly concerned, but later when I asked Dr. Dupre about it, he said, "Oh, he's fine. He's just fat." Well then... there you go. Apparently, we have a chunky monkey on the way. According to the ultrasound, he already weighs 6lbs. 15oz., which puts him in the 70th percentile of growth. He's definitely a healthy boy. Dr. Dupre said we're really going to have to keep a close eye on his weight gain from here on out, though, because if it starts to look like he's pushing 8 and a half to 9 pounds, that will pose a conflict in my ability to deliver naturally since I have such a small frame. I'll have another ultrasound done in 2 more weeks at my 38-week check-up (if, of course, I still haven't had him by then) to check his weight again and see if we need to go ahead and get him out. Dupre said that hopefully his weight gain will slow down a bit now, and hopefully he won't be more than about 8 pounds or so. I'm just thankful that it sounds like he's going to be good and healthy. His heart rate was 155 beats per minute today.
As for me, my blood pressure was good as usual, thankfully. The nurse didn't measure my height of fundus today, so I'm not sure what it is, but I've gained one pound since my appointment last week, so I'm up to 134 pounds now. I am now 1 centimeter dilated, so the process has officially begun. Dupre thinks I will go into labor on my own before the end of the month, but in case I don't, he went ahead and tentatively schedule me to be induced on January 3rd. I am so excited and nervous and overwhelmed and so many other emotions all at the same time. I can't believe how close we are now. My baby boy could literally be here ANY day now. I was just thinking today that I REALLY need to pack my hospital bag. I stay so busy keeping up with Rylee and all the other things that have been going on lately that I honestly haven't even really thought about it until now, but I am REALLY starting to feel the strain on my body. I never went into labor on my own with Rylee, so I don't know what it feels like, but I also don't remember feeling like this with her. It's almost like I can just feel my body telling me that he's coming soon. Every time I stand up, my lower stomach underneath my belly hurts and the insides of my upper legs hurt and... I just hurt. I don't think my body can take this much longer. Sometimes, I think he could seriously just fall right out of me. I want him to stay in me as long as he needs to, but I am also very ready to have my body back to just myself (except for nursing, of course). I can see the finish line, though, so I'm hanging in there.
Anyway, the ultrasound tech gave me a picture of his sweet, chubby face today, but I don't have a scanner to scan it onto my computer to upload. If I can get my dad or someone to help me do that soon, I'll try to remember to post it. For now, though, here's my belly picture that Jordan took of me last night:
Until next time...
Anyway, I went back to the doctor today for another check-up. First, my doctor wanted me to have an ultrasound done to check on Ryan and see how big he's getting. The ultrasound tech took some measurements of his head and other body parts/organs, and said that everything was measuring on track except for his stomach. She said his stomach is a little big. It had me slightly concerned, but later when I asked Dr. Dupre about it, he said, "Oh, he's fine. He's just fat." Well then... there you go. Apparently, we have a chunky monkey on the way. According to the ultrasound, he already weighs 6lbs. 15oz., which puts him in the 70th percentile of growth. He's definitely a healthy boy. Dr. Dupre said we're really going to have to keep a close eye on his weight gain from here on out, though, because if it starts to look like he's pushing 8 and a half to 9 pounds, that will pose a conflict in my ability to deliver naturally since I have such a small frame. I'll have another ultrasound done in 2 more weeks at my 38-week check-up (if, of course, I still haven't had him by then) to check his weight again and see if we need to go ahead and get him out. Dupre said that hopefully his weight gain will slow down a bit now, and hopefully he won't be more than about 8 pounds or so. I'm just thankful that it sounds like he's going to be good and healthy. His heart rate was 155 beats per minute today.
As for me, my blood pressure was good as usual, thankfully. The nurse didn't measure my height of fundus today, so I'm not sure what it is, but I've gained one pound since my appointment last week, so I'm up to 134 pounds now. I am now 1 centimeter dilated, so the process has officially begun. Dupre thinks I will go into labor on my own before the end of the month, but in case I don't, he went ahead and tentatively schedule me to be induced on January 3rd. I am so excited and nervous and overwhelmed and so many other emotions all at the same time. I can't believe how close we are now. My baby boy could literally be here ANY day now. I was just thinking today that I REALLY need to pack my hospital bag. I stay so busy keeping up with Rylee and all the other things that have been going on lately that I honestly haven't even really thought about it until now, but I am REALLY starting to feel the strain on my body. I never went into labor on my own with Rylee, so I don't know what it feels like, but I also don't remember feeling like this with her. It's almost like I can just feel my body telling me that he's coming soon. Every time I stand up, my lower stomach underneath my belly hurts and the insides of my upper legs hurt and... I just hurt. I don't think my body can take this much longer. Sometimes, I think he could seriously just fall right out of me. I want him to stay in me as long as he needs to, but I am also very ready to have my body back to just myself (except for nursing, of course). I can see the finish line, though, so I'm hanging in there.
Anyway, the ultrasound tech gave me a picture of his sweet, chubby face today, but I don't have a scanner to scan it onto my computer to upload. If I can get my dad or someone to help me do that soon, I'll try to remember to post it. For now, though, here's my belly picture that Jordan took of me last night:
My Baby Shower for Ryan
Yesterday, some of the sweet ladies from my Sunday school class hosted a baby shower for me and Ryan! We have already been so blessed to have received a LOT of hand-me-down clothes and shoes for him (and some other things as well, including his crib), but we still didn't have any diapers and other miscellaneous things for him, so I was very excited and thankful to be having a shower. I am so grateful for all of the sweet gifts we received for him... we are truly blessed to have some wonderful, loving people in our lives. I can't wait to finish going through everything and get his room completely organized and ready for him. He will be here SO soon! Here are a few pictures from my shower:
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| my beautiful mom and me (and Ryan, too, of course!) |
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| my beautiful mom and me (and Ryan, too, of course!) |
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| close-up of the cake |
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| the gift table with some of the gifts (More gifts arrived after I took this picture.) |
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| the "sign" on the gift table (I can't wait to hang this on the hospital door after he's born!) |
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| all of the gifts in our living room after we got home |
Candace and Drew's Wedding
On Saturday, I had the privilege of watching my best friend of 10 years walk down an aisle in a beautiful white dress and marry the man God chose for her to spend her life with. It was an emotional day for me... I just can't believe how far we've both come in life and love. It feels like just yesterday, we were meeting for the first time in 6th grade. Now, we are both "old married ladies". How does that happen? Anyway, everything about the wedding was beautiful - the location/venue, the bridesmaids' dresses (royal blue in color), the flowers (yellow roses), and, of course, the bride. There was also lots of yummy food to enjoy after the ceremony. It really was a perfect day for a perfect couple. I am so very happy for Candace and her new HUSBAND, Drew, and I'm so thankful I was able to share in their special day. I know God will richly bless their marriage. I took several pictures to show my mom since she wasn't able to go, so I figured I'd post them here as well. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of any of the bridesmaids, and I didn't get a picture of Candace with her veil on (it was so pretty), but these are better than nothing. Enjoy!
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| the front of the chapel |
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| the front of the chapel |
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| the front of the chapel |
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| the table with the groom's cake |
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| close-up of the groom's cake |
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| the decorations on the groom's cake table |
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| the bride's cake |
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| the view to the right behind the chapel |
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| the view to the left behind the chapel |
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| the reception tables |
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| the pretty centerpieces on the reception tables |
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| inside the chapel |
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| inside the chapel |
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| first dance as husband and wife |
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| first dance as husband and wife |
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| first dance as husband and wife |
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| cutting the bride's cake |
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| cutting the bride's cake |
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| Drew smeared cake on Candace's face! |
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| cake face |
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| helping her clean the cake off her face |
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| cutting the groom's cake |
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| first toast as husband and wife |
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| first toast as husband and wife |
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| the newlyweds and my precious little family |
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| the newlyweds, my sister, and me |
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| the beautiful bride and me |
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| getting ready for Drew to get her garter |
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| fetching the garter |
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| Amanda and Rylee both passed out on the way home from the wedding! |
Thursday, December 8, 2011
How do you pick a "title" for a post like this?
How do you begin a post about your mom being diagnosed with breast cancer? Yeah... I couldn't think of a "good" way either.
Last week, my mom went to the doctor for a routine mammogram. She got a call that something had shown up irregular, and she needed to come back in for more testing. On Tuesday, she went back to the doctor, and upon further examination, they discovered that there was, in fact, something in her left breast. They did a biopsy, and she and my dad went back to the doctor again this afternoon to find out the results.
My mom has breast cancer.
I so badly want to delete that sentence. Maybe, if I delete it, it won't be true. Maybe this is all just a bad dream, and when I wake up in the morning, it won't be real. God, please help me wake up from this bad dream. Please don't let this be real. It's Christmas time. Cancer isn't supposed to happen at Christmas time. And I'm about to have a baby. My mom's first grandson. Cancer isn't supposed to happen when you're anxiously awaiting the arrival of a precious new member to your family. And my mom's already had cancer before. Twice, actually. Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Thyroid cancer. Cancer isn't supposed to happen to someone who's already fought it TWICE. But that's the thing about cancer. It doesn't care about any of that stuff.
I don't want to do this. Can you believe that? My mom has cancer, and I'm concerned with how it's going to affect ME. How selfish is that? I don't want to feel this way. I don't want my mom to have to go through this. Again. But I don't want to have to go through this with her, either. I'm not saying I don't want to support her. That's not the case at all. I just don't know how to do this. I want to be strong for my mom. She is so strong. Why can't I be that strong? I wish I could do it for her. I don't know if I'm strong enough to watch my mom fight cancer, but maybe I could be strong enough to fight it myself.
That is how I'm feeling. It's ugly. But it is true. However, I know there is another side to all of this. When I woke up this morning, I knew my mom would be getting the results from her biopsy. I tried to tell myself all day that they would be good. But I think deep down, I knew they wouldn't be. (I'll never understand that. I mean, it's not like I wanted the results to be bad.) Even still, though, I felt so at peace today. And I know why. It's because people were praying for us. The prayers might not have been answered the way we hoped they would, but that doesn't really matter. The fact that brothers and sisters in Christ were lifting my mom and my family up to the Lord in prayer was all we wanted. All we needed. We didn't want to get a diagnosis today, but we did. We might not understand why, but we don't have to either. We know that, no matter what happens, God will use this situation to draw us closer to Him. I have already shed many tears, and I know I will shed many more. But I also know that God holds every tear I cry in the palm of His hand, and I will do my best to praise Him in this "storm". May He be glorified.
Here are a few Bible verses that have encouraged and comforted me the past few days:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20)
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:13-16)
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2-3)
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. (Psalms 94:19)
"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 30:17)
Last week, my mom went to the doctor for a routine mammogram. She got a call that something had shown up irregular, and she needed to come back in for more testing. On Tuesday, she went back to the doctor, and upon further examination, they discovered that there was, in fact, something in her left breast. They did a biopsy, and she and my dad went back to the doctor again this afternoon to find out the results.
My mom has breast cancer.
I so badly want to delete that sentence. Maybe, if I delete it, it won't be true. Maybe this is all just a bad dream, and when I wake up in the morning, it won't be real. God, please help me wake up from this bad dream. Please don't let this be real. It's Christmas time. Cancer isn't supposed to happen at Christmas time. And I'm about to have a baby. My mom's first grandson. Cancer isn't supposed to happen when you're anxiously awaiting the arrival of a precious new member to your family. And my mom's already had cancer before. Twice, actually. Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Thyroid cancer. Cancer isn't supposed to happen to someone who's already fought it TWICE. But that's the thing about cancer. It doesn't care about any of that stuff.
I don't want to do this. Can you believe that? My mom has cancer, and I'm concerned with how it's going to affect ME. How selfish is that? I don't want to feel this way. I don't want my mom to have to go through this. Again. But I don't want to have to go through this with her, either. I'm not saying I don't want to support her. That's not the case at all. I just don't know how to do this. I want to be strong for my mom. She is so strong. Why can't I be that strong? I wish I could do it for her. I don't know if I'm strong enough to watch my mom fight cancer, but maybe I could be strong enough to fight it myself.
That is how I'm feeling. It's ugly. But it is true. However, I know there is another side to all of this. When I woke up this morning, I knew my mom would be getting the results from her biopsy. I tried to tell myself all day that they would be good. But I think deep down, I knew they wouldn't be. (I'll never understand that. I mean, it's not like I wanted the results to be bad.) Even still, though, I felt so at peace today. And I know why. It's because people were praying for us. The prayers might not have been answered the way we hoped they would, but that doesn't really matter. The fact that brothers and sisters in Christ were lifting my mom and my family up to the Lord in prayer was all we wanted. All we needed. We didn't want to get a diagnosis today, but we did. We might not understand why, but we don't have to either. We know that, no matter what happens, God will use this situation to draw us closer to Him. I have already shed many tears, and I know I will shed many more. But I also know that God holds every tear I cry in the palm of His hand, and I will do my best to praise Him in this "storm". May He be glorified.
Here are a few Bible verses that have encouraged and comforted me the past few days:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20)
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:13-16)
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2-3)
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. (Psalms 94:19)
"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 30:17)
Monday, December 5, 2011
35 Weeks
Yesterday marked the beginning of the 35th week of my pregnancy with Ryan. We are getting really close to my due date now (only 34 more days from today!), and I'm really starting to feel it, to say the least. I have to be careful not to do too much or I end up paying for it. Like yesterday, for instance... first of all, Jordan and I had nursery duty at church. I greatly enjoy serving on nursery duty, but it means we have to get up extra early in the morning so we can make sure to get there on time for when parents start dropping their babies off. It's getting harder and harder to drag myself out of the bed in the morning. Then, yesterday afternoon, after we got home from church, ate lunch, and got Rylee down for her nap, I helped Jordan move Ryan's crib into his room and sorted through some of the stuff that is currently in his closet that needs to be cleaned out. Then, last night, I had my family over to our house for dinner and cake and ice cream to celebrate my mom's birthday, which is today (Happy birthday, Mom!). I baked her cake and made "Chicken Stuff", mashed potatoes, and rolls for dinner. I was on my feet in the kitchen for a good bit yesterday, and by the end of the night, my whole body was in pain, and I was having strong Braxton Hicks contractions one after another. Now, I'm not saying all of that in a complaining manner. Like I said, I love serving on nursery duty. And I really want to get Ryan's room finished. And I was happy and honored to "host" my family to celebrate my mom's birthday. I just have to be more careful/conscious of how I'm feeling and remember to take it easy right now. I'm trying to do too much right now (because I feel like there is SO much to be done), and lately, I've been over-doing it a bit. I just need to be careful not to put too much stress on my body, because I want Ryan to stay put for a few more weeks so he can continue to grow big and healthy. Thankfully, I've had a good, healthy pregnancy with no complications so far.
Anyway, I had another check-up with my doctor today. Everything is still going very well with me and the baby. I weigh 133 pounds now, so I'm up 3 and a half more pounds from my check-up two weeks ago, and I have a total pregnancy weight gain so far of 26 pounds. That means I have now beaten my total pregnancy weight gain from when I was pregnant with Rylee - I think I only got up to 131 pounds with her. I told you I've got a big boy on the way (and I'm sure all of the chocolate I've been eating lately hasn't helped matters either...). My "height of fundus" was 36 centimeters, so in that aspect, I'm measuring a week ahead of schedule. Ryan's heart rate was 146 beats per minute... not quite as fast as it has been at my last few appointments, but still good and strong. I had a good visit with Dr. Dupre. Now that I'm a month away from my due date, he spent a few minutes talking with me about what signs to be on the lookout for and what to do in case I end up going into labor. I reminded him about my plans to go to Candace's wedding this weekend, and since it's three hours away, he wanted to go ahead and check me to make sure I haven't started dilating yet. Thankfully, I haven't, but he did say that "this baby has REALLY dropped" (I know this, Dr. Dupre... I can feel it.). He is head down and in position (good boy!), and my cervix is soft, but it has not actually started thinning yet, so all is still good for now. He gave me the "okay" to go to the wedding and told me to enjoy myself but to take it easy. Now, I can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not, but Dr. Dupre likes to make predictions - just for kicks - of different things along the way in his patients' pregnancies. The funny thing about it is that he is almost always totally off. When I was pregnant with Rylee, he predicted that she would be a boy. He was wrong. Then, he predicted that I would go into labor with her on my own before my due date. He was wrong. Then, he predicted that I'd be in labor with her for at least 7 hours. He was wrong. This time around, though, he's done a little better with his predictions so far. He guessed Ryan would be a boy, and he is quite obviously right. So today, just for fun, I asked him to make his prediction of when Ryan would be born. He was so funny... he sat back in his chair with his tablet in his lap and started analyzing all of the charts he has with all of my pregnancy information on them. He asked me a couple of questions, and then he finally came to the conclusion that he believes I will have Ryan at 38 weeks and 3 days gestation - December 28th. He even went so far as to say he thinks he'll be born at 2 o'clock (although now that I think about it, I don't know if he was specific as to whether or not he meant 2 in the MORNING or 2 in the afternoon...). So anyway, we'll see if he's right or how close he gets. My next check-up is next Monday (we're down to weekly visits now!), and he scheduled me for an ultrasound as well so we can check in on Ryan and see just how big he's getting. Dr. Dupre wants to have an idea of how big he'll be at delivery. So anyway, hopefully I'll have a few ultrasound pictures to post with next week's update entry. For now, though, here is my belly picture from last night:
Is it just me, or does my belly look like it could hit the floor at any moment?! He has definitely dropped! Until next time...
Anyway, I had another check-up with my doctor today. Everything is still going very well with me and the baby. I weigh 133 pounds now, so I'm up 3 and a half more pounds from my check-up two weeks ago, and I have a total pregnancy weight gain so far of 26 pounds. That means I have now beaten my total pregnancy weight gain from when I was pregnant with Rylee - I think I only got up to 131 pounds with her. I told you I've got a big boy on the way (and I'm sure all of the chocolate I've been eating lately hasn't helped matters either...). My "height of fundus" was 36 centimeters, so in that aspect, I'm measuring a week ahead of schedule. Ryan's heart rate was 146 beats per minute... not quite as fast as it has been at my last few appointments, but still good and strong. I had a good visit with Dr. Dupre. Now that I'm a month away from my due date, he spent a few minutes talking with me about what signs to be on the lookout for and what to do in case I end up going into labor. I reminded him about my plans to go to Candace's wedding this weekend, and since it's three hours away, he wanted to go ahead and check me to make sure I haven't started dilating yet. Thankfully, I haven't, but he did say that "this baby has REALLY dropped" (I know this, Dr. Dupre... I can feel it.). He is head down and in position (good boy!), and my cervix is soft, but it has not actually started thinning yet, so all is still good for now. He gave me the "okay" to go to the wedding and told me to enjoy myself but to take it easy. Now, I can't remember if I've mentioned this before or not, but Dr. Dupre likes to make predictions - just for kicks - of different things along the way in his patients' pregnancies. The funny thing about it is that he is almost always totally off. When I was pregnant with Rylee, he predicted that she would be a boy. He was wrong. Then, he predicted that I would go into labor with her on my own before my due date. He was wrong. Then, he predicted that I'd be in labor with her for at least 7 hours. He was wrong. This time around, though, he's done a little better with his predictions so far. He guessed Ryan would be a boy, and he is quite obviously right. So today, just for fun, I asked him to make his prediction of when Ryan would be born. He was so funny... he sat back in his chair with his tablet in his lap and started analyzing all of the charts he has with all of my pregnancy information on them. He asked me a couple of questions, and then he finally came to the conclusion that he believes I will have Ryan at 38 weeks and 3 days gestation - December 28th. He even went so far as to say he thinks he'll be born at 2 o'clock (although now that I think about it, I don't know if he was specific as to whether or not he meant 2 in the MORNING or 2 in the afternoon...). So anyway, we'll see if he's right or how close he gets. My next check-up is next Monday (we're down to weekly visits now!), and he scheduled me for an ultrasound as well so we can check in on Ryan and see just how big he's getting. Dr. Dupre wants to have an idea of how big he'll be at delivery. So anyway, hopefully I'll have a few ultrasound pictures to post with next week's update entry. For now, though, here is my belly picture from last night:
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