36 weeks

Disclaimer: please excuse how scary I look in the pics this week. I had already been in bed tonight (by 8:30!) and got up to do this post.

•How far along?: 36 weeks

•How big is baby?: Who knows! My big ole girl is probably well over 8 pounds by now. Just kidding! I have no idea.

•Weight gain: I've gained 34 lbs so far.

•Stretch marks?: Battle scars? I'm almost afraid to write it for fear I will jinx myself, but I still have no stretch marks, which makes this girl very happy.

•Maternity clothes?: I wear all maternity pants and most of my tops are maternity too. I can get away with wearing some of my regular tops and dresses. There is no way I would even attempt regular pants with the bella band these days. Too uncomfortable!

•Sleep?: I'm actually sleeping quite well still. I wake up regularly 3-4 times a night to pee. But I go right back to sleep. I am continuing to praise God for that!

•Food cravings?: apples, salad, chocolate, DP

•Movement?: Oh my, she moves a lot and there's not a lot of room left in there, so it's sometimes quite uncomfortable. Still very cool, but she's poking around in places that make me cringe a bit. And she also makes me have to pee a lot!

•Labor signs?: Nope. None. No braxton hicks or anything so far.

•Belly button in or out?: It's out as you can see in the pictures above.

•What I miss: I miss not having achy feet and legs. I also miss my energy level I had a few weeks ago. I'm very tired lately. And if I'm really honest....I miss wine. HA! 

•Milestone: I had my first weekly appointment where my doctor checked me and I'm dilated to 1 cm!!! I go back again this Friday.

My doctor says I've dropped...can you tell?? I can't...I just look bigger...everywhere. *sigh*

Weekly Doctor Appointments

This past Friday was the first of my weekly doctor appointments. For the next 4 weeks, I will go every Friday to the doctor. That means we are getting close!

At this first weekly appointment, she checked me for the first time. I was very nervous about this. I've heard it's not a very pleasant thing. Obviously, right? Well, it wasn't terribly pleasant, but good news came of it. I'm dilated to a 1, which I realize means very little probably. But it's a start! My doctor said at this point in her pregnancy she was dilated to a 4 and still went all the way to her due date! But the coolest thing to me was that she felt Callie's head!! She felt her HEAD! So stinking cool! So, baby girl is head down and starting to engage.

My feelings right now are a mix of excitement and anticipation. The anticipation might just kill me! ;) It could be anytime now. Or it could be weeks and weeks still.

Right now, I have no pain other that my feet. Which are still killing me. But no braxton hicks or anything right now. My legs are tired and sore too. I'm tired. I'm sleeping great still though. Please God let that continue. Courtney is not sleeping as well as me. HA! I get up to go to the bathroom so frequently and I also turn from side to side which is quite a feat with my big ole belly and pillow between my legs! I fall back to sleep very quickly after all this, but he apparently doesn't quite as well. And right now we don't have an extra bed he can even go sleep in. So, he just suffers through it. ;) He's okay though.

I think Courtney is a bit nervous about me and what to expect. Today I was making cupcakes and I got my finger caught in the mixer *ouch* and so I screamed out and he quickly responded with a "What? What is it?!" Pretty sure he thought my water broke and it was time. HA! Poor guy. No, not that, just have 2 fingers stuck in the mixer!! What a stupid thing. I think that might be part of why he's not sleeping so well too.

I need to start walking again every night. I just can't seem to get myself out to do it. It's so hot and my foot pain keeps me from doing it. But, I know I need to. I am, however, taking a bath every night. Awww...love that!

On another note, the Hornets had their first football game. We won!! It was fun. But my feet got pretty swollen from being out in the heat. The next football game is in Nocona, my school district. I will go to that game too. After that, unless it's a home game, I will probably be cheering on the Hornets from the air conditioned comfort of my living room.

Well, see ya later folks. Keep good thoughts for me! :)

It's got its perks...

I got pulled over tonight.

The cop took one look in my window and saw this:

I was busily explaining to him that I really did not mean to speed. Honest! I was babbling away and when I finally stopped, he politely cleared his throat and asked, "When are you due?" I told him September 28. His eyes got all big. And he said, "You go ahead and go ma'am and have a nice day."

He didn't even take my license or insurance! I'm totally serious!

Being ginormously pregnant with a month still to go does have its perks after all! HAHA!

Callie Moving: Take 2

I was able to get some good Callie action last night. I hope you can see it. I guess that's her foot or knee or something. It looks an awful lot like rolling but at over 5 lbs and 18+ inches long, she's too big to be rolling or somersaulting around anymore.

It's really super amazing to me. Although she does her share of keeping me up at night nowadays from moving so much, I will really miss this part of pregnancy. It's pretty special.

Callie Moving video: Take 1

This video cracks me up! So, I wanted to get some footage of my belly rolling around as Callie moves. So, this is my first attempt at it. :) I got way more than Callie moving. HA!

Notice Braddock in the background as the video starts...he's in Callie's room. Sneaky boy.

Oh it just makes me LAUGH each time I watch it. Love it!!
I'll have to try again to actually get Callie moving. ;)

Love, the lasting kind.

My grandma has been very sick. She has been in ICU since Sunday afternoon. She went in initially with severe back pain and vomitting and then has a slew of things that have gone wrong and also some that have been very right. There have been quite a few scares and times when we feared we were going to lose her. But she is a fighter and there are many people praying with us for her so she has survivied many obstacles! We are praying for her body to get stronger and stronger and to fight off any more sickness. I would love it if you would pray for her as well. Her name is Mary Spradley.

It's times like these that make you stop and think about what's important. We spent the weekend with my grandparents to celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniverary back in June. 60 years of marriage! I've been meaning to post these pictures since we got back from that weekend. That was June 19th. I've been meaning to do this post since then. To show off the love that has gotten my grandparents to their 60th wedding anniversary. You know...that kind of love.

The lasting kind.

So, I'm doing it today.

My dad and me

Dad, me, Mom

Grandma and her sisters, Teresa and Katie

My cousin's wife Lori

She's the one who put this whole party together.

It was spectacular!

Family visiting

Grandma and my cousin Jessica

Grandma and me

My cousin Michelle and me

She's due a few weeks before me with a girl too. :)

All the cousins

Grandma and Grandpa

Isn't it so pretty? Lori did such a good job.

Their wedding picture

Relaxing on the porch. Love it!

The dessert table. That's their original cake topper!!

Grandma and Grandpa and their kids.

Mom, Uncle Mike, Aunt Patti, and Aunt Debbie

Cutting the cake

We ended the evening with a firework show. It was such fun!

34 weeks

•How far along?: 34 weeks

•How big is baby?: Callie is probably well over 5 pounds now.

•Weight gain: I've gained 32 lbs so far.

•Stretch marks?: Battle scars? I'm almost afraid to write it for fear I will jinx myself, but I still have no stretch marks, which makes this girl very happy.

•Maternity clothes?: I wear all maternity pants and most of my tops are maternity too. I can get away with wearing some of my regular tops. In the picture above, I am wearing maternity pants and a regular top. I also wear many non-maternity dresses.

•Sleep?: I'm actually sleeping quite well now. Even better than I was just a few weeks ago. I wake up regularly 3-4 times a night to pee. But I go right back to sleep. Thank you God!

•Food cravings?: orange juice, cereal, chocolate, DP

•Movement?: She gets the hiccups a lot...like almost daily and sometimes more than once a day.

•Labor signs?: Nope. None. At my next doctor appointment on Aug 27, my doctor will start checking me!!

•Belly button in or out?: It's out as you can see in the picture above.

•What I miss: I miss not having achy feet. My feet hurt all the time. It feels like I've been walking around on rocks for days and now have sore feet from it. UGH! My legs have been a little achy too and my tailbone hurts sometimes.

•Milestone: I've started back to work...summer's over...and I've survived!! :)

Oh my aching feet!

My feet hurt so bad. They are not swollen...yet...they just HURT. It feels like I have little bruises all around my heels and my arches. Achy, achy, achy.

I am so thankful that once school starts, I am not still teaching in a classroom all day where I would have to be up on my feet all day. That would seriously KILL me. Glad I have an office and do much of my job counseling students sitting down.

So, I'm off to prop them up. And convince Courtney to rub them down.

:)

Baby, we're ready for you!

The nursery is complete! It was my summer goal and it is finished. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

My plan was to put the letters directly on the wall, but they were lost on that striped wall, so my friend Amy made me a frame to put them on. Love how it turned out! 

We added a little jewel to each nail head.

I think it adds a sweet touch. 

 We still have a little while, but Callie has a special place that is all her own, ready to go. It makes me feel so relieved that it is ready for her.

32 weeks

•How far along?: 32 weeks

•How big is baby?: Callie is a big girl! 4lbs 13oz right now.

•Weight gain: I've gained 28 lbs so far.

•Stretch marks?: Battle scars? I'm almost afraid to write it for fear I will jinx myself, but I have no stretch marks, which makes this girl very happy.

•Maternity clothes?: I wear all maternity pants and most of my tops are maternity too. I can get away with wearing some of my regular tops. I also wear many non-maternity dresses.

•Sleep?: Still sleeping well. I wake up regularly 3-4 times a night to pee. But I go right back to sleep. Getting more and more uncomfortable though and Callie girl will only let me sleep on my left side. If I dare lay on my right side, she goes nuts moving all around until I turn over. I've heard you're not supposed to sleep on your back, so I try to avoid that. I really can't wait to sleep on my stomach again!! I miss that. I sleep with a regular pillow between my legs and I keep it up under my belly too. The wedge pillow is no longer working for me...my belly is too big for it I guess.

•Food cravings?: sweets, sweets, more sweets!

•Movement?: All.the.time. Seriously. In fact, in the pictures above, she was moving the whole time as I took them.

•Labor signs?: Nope. I shouldn't be yet though, so that's good!

•Belly button in or out?: Oh, it's out! Don't believe me...you can see for yourself here.

•What I miss: Being able to do certain things on my own. Like lift the 40 lb dog food bag to fill the containers or lift the file folder boxes in my office or move the big shelf in the nursery to a different place. It really bothers me to ask others to do this for me and/or to have to wait on other people to do those sort of things for me. I can still do it, but know it is risky for me to do, so I don't! I also miss my stomach muscles. Seriously? I can't hardly get off the couch or out of bed without a whole lotta effort!

•Milestone: I'm 8 months now!! Wow!!

Scratch that, she's big!

We had another ultrasound yesterday. Today we are 32 weeks along. YAY!

You may remember that last time our u/s tech so nicely let us see our baby girl in 4D at no extra charge. We were thinking/hoping that maybe she would do the same for us this time. We had a different lady this time, so we were thinking that probably wouldn't happen. Courtney asked how much it costs to do 4D and she said it is $125 extra and you get a DVD and blah blah blah....Courtney was standing behind her shaking his head no at me, I'm sure knowing that I was about ready to jump on that! :) So, I asked her if there was any way we could get just one little, tiny peek at her in 4D...we didn't need all that other stuff, just one tiny peek. She obliged. Which made me very happy.

Callie had her hand up by her face most of the time, and in this one, she looks like she's trying to get that thumb in her mouth. Can't tell yet if she has mommy's big thumbs. HA! I hope she does. Although that means she will be teased greatly in elementary school, but that just builds character. :)

She eventually moved her arm and we got this full face shot.

She's definitely got daddy's lips. And we are hoping her nose is just smooshed and not really that big! Yeah I said it....you were thinking it.... ;) She's still about the cutest thing I've seen EVER!!

All this time, my doctor has been saying that my belly measures big because of my fibroids, which is still part of the reason, but it's also because she is BIG! Right now she is 4lbs 13oz. The average 32 weeker is 3lb 12oz. So, she's roughly a pound bigger. The ultrasound estimated delivery date, based on her size, is Sept 13. The tech said that doesn't change our due date. I'm still due Sept 28.

Until then, we will just sit back, relax, and wait to see when Callie decides she is ready to enter this world!