Impromptu Maternity Photos

Here are some pictures from our impromptu maternity photo shoot, courtesy of my mom and Joe.

Wyatt's Toy Box

Wyatt's room is navy blue and white with a little bit of a nautical theme, and I told my dad that I would really love to have a custom toy box made by his grandpa. Above is the final product....it looks AWESOME! I can't wait to get it in his room and watch him fill it with toys and all sorts of fun little boy stuff. I know this is something that he will cherish for a lifetime! Thanks Grandpa JAK for all your hard work on this...and thanks Elena for letting him make a mess of the garage :)

What to expect when you are expecting...or not

So it's pretty obvious that I don't know what to expect while I'm expecting. I woke up around 5:00am this morning to make yet another routine trip to the bathroom. Usually when this happens, I shuffle on over, urinate, go back to bed, and immediately feel like I need to pee again. However, this time was different. I actually felt relieved after I went pee, and sort of convinced myself that maybe my water had broken? I distinctly remember sitting there thinking, wow...this was quite productive. I don't feel like I have to pee anymore, my stomach doesn't feel as bloated and it looks as if it even shrunk a little compared to my Beluga state last night after eating Mexican food for dinner. That's when I started thinking that maybe this was more than just a routine trip to the bathroom...perhaps my water had broken at the same time? I checked the toilet and everything looked normal and no different than it normally did, so I flushed and went back to bed. When I lied back down, Wyatt started moving all over the place but he felt different...It was like I could feel each little toe on his foot whereas before I would just feel a large mass trying to push through the walls of my uterus. I told Joe that something felt different and I explained my thoughts to him. I immediately hit the message boards and began searching "What happens when your water breaks" and "Can your water break while peeing" and "Can you have contractions without your water breaking"...the list goes on. At the same time, Joe is searching around on the Mayo Clinic's website. I couldn't find anything convincing, so I went back to sleep and thought I was being overly paranoid.

So then I get to the office and everyone that I work with has children of their own or is pregnant just like me. I asked my coworker Tonya, since she's the only one who's water actually broke on its own, if she felt like her stomach shrunk afterwards. She said, "Yeah, a little bit....Oh my gosh, did your water break?" Then I told her the story and I said "I don't know, maybe." She said, "Oh my gosh, you better call the doctor, what if it actually did...why aren't you calling the doctor yet?" So I figured, why not...to ease my peace of mind, I'll call the doctor. They said to come on it and they'll check everything out just to be sure nothing ruptured.

Turns out, everything was fine. The examination was quite painful, but there was no presence of amniotic fluid leaking, and I hadn't dilated anymore. She did say that my cervix was 50% thinned out and I'm right on track. I asked her if I was going to make it to August and she seemed to think so. Wyatt's heart beat was at 160 bpm, my blood pressure was 130 over 80, and my right ankle was nowhere to be found (it's pretty swollen). I'm already having contractions, but they are not painful....yet.

I called Joe to let him know what the doctor said....huge sigh of relief on his end and he was glad that I made the decision to call the doctor just to make sure everything was all right. Poor thing is so worried about me, the health and safety of the baby, and getting everything done at work and at home before Wyatt gets here that he rubbed the top of his foot raw in his sleep the other night! Poor thing!

Baby Care Basics for the Dad to Be

Tonight we had a baby care basics class at the hospital. I enrolled us mostly for Joe because I knew that all of this would be new to him and help him feel confident for when Wyatt gets here. We covered everything from bathing, diapering, and swaddling to feeding, burping, and how to install the car seat correctly. Joe was such a trooper and did such a good job and I think he felt the class was helpful as I saw the answers to his evaluation sheet. One of the questions was, how confident did you feel before taking the class...to which he selected "Not at all". Then it asked how confident do you feel after taking the class...to which he selected "Mostly Confident". He may not know it yet, but he's going to be a GREAT father and Wyatt is so lucky to have such an attentive dad like I know Joe is going to be.

Sleep...who needs sleep?!?!?

I DO!!!!! And if I had one of these pillows, I might actually be able to sleep through the night, minus the frequent trips to the bathroom. I believe last night's count was 3. I can't seem to get comfortable anymore and frankly it hurts to go from right side to left side, and vice versa. The only place that is somewhat comfortable at this stage in my pregnancy is the couch because it offers back and side support at the same time. There aren't enough pillows on the bed (even though I have 3 for my own personal use) to make me feel comfortable. Last night, I tossed and turned for an hour in the bed before I decided to relocate to the couch and fell asleep around 12:30. Then around 2am I woke up with one of those horrid breathing cramps, you know the ones that feel like your lung is pinched between your ribs and it hurts to take a breath...ouch! I tried stretching to make room for my lung to expand, but that only seemed to make it worse. I finally fell back asleep only to be awoken by a dog with a ravenous appetite. Her collar kept clanking the metal bowl and she sounded like a pig in a trough. That was around 4am. Next thing I knew, the alarm was going off at 6:30am. Needless to say, I'm utterly exhausted and extremely unproductive today. I know this is Mother Nature's way of preparing me for when Wyatt gets here, but it would be nice if she would back off a bit and at least let me get SOME rest :)

Infant & Child CPR

Last night Joe and I went and took an Infant & Child CPR class so that we would be prepared in the event of an emergency (hopefully we never have to do this!) I was CPR certified 10 years ago and was surprised at how much I remembered from my days as a lifeguard at the neighborhood pool. Joe did a great job too and I'm sure he'll be the calm and collected one in the event that there was an emergency of some sort. We think this is a great class for anyone to take...not just for expecting parents!

Hospital Tour

Last night we took a hospital tour of the labor and delivery unit at Athens Regional Medical Center. The rooms are nice and easy to get to. I called Joe yesterday to let him know last minute that they had a tour that evening and he said, "Why do we need to take a tour?" I told him I didn't want to have to stop and ask for directions while I was in labor because knowing me, I'll be in a state of panic and unless he wanted to deal with that, then we should take the tour. He agreed.

Above is a map of the hospital and parking areas to help all of our visitors out for when the big day comes. The best place to park is in the front parking lot (it has a below ground garage). It's kind of hard to see the "P1" on the map, but it's the parking lot on the lower left side of the picture on the corner of King Avenue and Prince Avenue. During the day time, you'll enter in the Prince Tower (Entrance 2), which is the red circle to the right of the yellow square. If it's after 9pm, then you'll enter through the EMERGENCY section of the hospital (it's kind of hard to miss). The labor and delivery unit is located on the 3rd floor. It gets kind of hot in the main lobby, so I would suggest waiting in the area just off the nursery (much cooler!). Probably more entertaining there anyway because you'll get to see all of the babies after they're born. It does get chilly in there though, so you may want to bring a jacket.

Here is a link to the interactive map which provides more detail than the picture above. Just copy and paste it into your browser.

https://web1.armc.org/mpeg/interactive_map.swf

Dr. Appt. - 35 weeks

This morning I had my 35 weeks check up and follow up ultrasound because Wyatt was measuring 2 weeks ahead at my last appoint. Based on the ultrasound, he's around 6 1/2 pounds...yikes! The doctor said that if he comes around 39 weeks, then he'll probably be about 7 1/2 to 8 pounds, and if he waits until week 40, then he'll be 8 to 8 1/2 pounds. I'm hoping that he comes the first week in August. The first picture is of his head and back. He's already head down and facing my spine, perfect position for delivery. The second picture is of his right foot (it's sticking up in the air...probably just shy of my rib cage). We also saw that he has a full head of hair! That probably explains my constant heartburn and indigestion. My blood pressure was 130/62 and I'm hovering around 13-14 pounds for total weight gain. I'm 1cm dilated and my next appointment is in two weeks, July 26th. After that appointment, I'll be having weekly appointments.

Wyatt's Watch Dog

This past weekend I had my coworker shower and one of the ladies that attended made this awesome blanket for Wyatt. It matches his nursery perfectly and it's so big and warm...perfect for the fall and winter months! One of the other fun things that we've noticed is Wyatt already has a built in watch dog. Every night when we all head upstairs for bed, Hailey stops by Wyatt's room first. She walks the perimeter of the room to check everything out, and then heads to our room to go to bed. Glad to know that she'll be keeping a watchful eye on our sweet little boy.

The Bump

Yesterday while Joe and I were heading home from the grocery store, I had our 4th of July watermelon in my lap. I should have taken a picture before we ate half of it, but my stomach and the watermelon looked like twins! Here's a picture of the bump at week 34. I don't know how Wyatt has room to move around in there, but somehow he finds a way. After I got home from work and had a chance to sit on the sofa and relax, Wyatt started to bust a move and with a nice rhythm I might add. He must take after his dad when it comes to dancing :)