And another 5 weeks later...

Last post was September 15, 2009?  REALLY?  Holy guacomole....  I do have an excuse though...  I think it's the MAN trying to keep me down.  Yep...the MAN.  If you're not familiar with the MAN - take a few psychology courses, and I think you can blame EVERYTHING on the MAN.  So...here's how the MAN is keeping me down on my blogging.  Below is the agenda to a typical weekday while Chris is in town:

3:30A - Morgan wakes up for a nightly bottle (and a diaper change)
3:50A - I drowsily walk back to the master bedroom after placing Morgan back in her crib
4:45A - Chris's alarm goes off and my first attempt to wake Chris up.
4:52A - The snooze alarm goes off and my second attempt to wake Chris up.
4:59A - My FINAL attempt to wake Chris up (and I get pretty mean with this one).  Chris takes a shower.
5:20A - My alarm goes off and I join Chris in the bathroom and hop in the shower while he finishes getting dressed and shaves.
6:15A - I wake up Morgan to get her ready for the day and to give a final bottle before she goes to daycare.
6:45A - Leave the house to drop Morgan off at daycare
7:30A - Arrive at work
4:15P - Leave work
4:45P - Arrive at daycare to pick up Morgan and get the recap of her day (normally always good)
5:00P - Get home and let the dog out/feed dog
5:15P - Give Morgan another bottle
5:45P - Start Dinner
6:15P - Chris comes home/Eat Dinner/Clean up after dinner
8:15P - Bathtime for Morgan
8:45P - Final bottle for Morgan
9:15P - Morgan in bed and Chris and I getting ready for bed
9:30P - Lights out!  Whew!

And those are the days when Chris is IN town!  The weeks when he's traveling for work are even more hectic because then I have to do all of the cleaning up on my own, trash, recycling, etc, etc, etc.  So really, my only free time to blog would be during lunch at work - but this website is BLOCKED at work.  Seriously...the MAN is trying to keep me down.

Anyhow.  I'm not complaining - just simply giving you an insight to my day.  I love my life, my husband, and my baby.  I wouldn't trade a second of it for anything...though being around family might help sometimes to have a few hours for a date night a little more often...but we have some good friends who are helping us with that!

Morgan is almost 3 months old and that blows my mind!  Here are the status from her two week check-up:
Weight: 11 lbs 5 oz (50th percentile)
Height: ???? (34th percentile)
Head Circumference: ???? (34th percentile)
She's getting to the end of her 0-3 month clothing...and I'm really sad because she has the cutest outfits...and she doesn't even wear them...she normally wears her sleepers all day long at daycare.  During the weekends if we're going somewhere, we'll put her in an outfit...but honestly...she just chills in her sleepers.  I'm such a bad mom sometimes...note to self: take time to dress daughter in some of those really cute outfits hanging up in the closet!  I will do this and take pictures!  :o)

I'm amazed at how much Morgan has grown and progressed!  She holds her head steady on her own and rarely has a head bobble.  She started rolling over from her back to her stomach at 2 months 1 week.  We always place her on her back to sleep, but everytime we go in there to wake her up or give her a bottle, she's on her tummy.  And that girl can move.  She is all over the crib.  Sometimes, Chris and I will take bets at what direction she'll be laying in the crib and then turn on the video monitor to check!  Silliness.  Morgan is a talker.  Every evening, she'll sit on my knee and face me and we'll "chat" for about 10 minutes...and she just goes on and on!  We haven't heard her laugh yet, but she's getting very, very close.  She has started to reach for toys hanging from her playmat or her bouncy chair.   She drinks about 5 oz at every serving and normally downs 7 oz for her last bottle of the day.  I'm really hoping we get to the point where she sleeps a little longer at night...but I can't complain about getting up once a night..  She's just amazing, and I can't wait to see how she grows.  I'm so excited about taking her to Nebraska...she's going to be quite a different girl than the one everyone met in early September...she'll be almost 5 months when we visit Nebraska...

Time to start working again (I'm using an aircard during lunch to get around the block at work)...  I would post some pics...but the aircard makes that a VERY slow process.  Check them out on facebook!

Top Ten Tuesday

Morgan is 6 weeks old!  That is SO crazy!  I return to work next week, and Morgan will be at the home daycare full-time starting Monday.  *sigh*  Part ot me is sad because I know I will miss a lot of "firsts" because I have to work, but the other part of me is excited to return to work (and then that makes me feel guilty...as in..shouldn't I WANT to stay home with Morgan full-time and be heart broken to have her at daycare?).  Even when I dropped Morgan off at the home daycare for a "trial run" last Thursday for a few hours...I wasn't heart broken at all...worried, yes...but heart broken, no.  Morgan seemed very content when I returned to pick her up, and her daycare provider was overjoyed with the new baby in the house (Morgan is the only infant).  I'll be leaving Morgan for a few hours again with her daycare to have a few hours to myself on Thurday: a massage and haircut...  Yay!  Maybe things would be different if I had family around to help, so I could have those moments...but I think that's what the home daycare is for me...it's that sense of relief and freedom that most of my friends have the luxury of enjoying anytime grandma or grandpa is able to watch their little ones for an afternoon or a date night.  Luckily, I do have several friends who have volunteered to babysit anytime we need a break...and I would probably take them up on their offer a little more readily if Morgan wasn't such a high maintenance baby... 

Anywho....onto my Top Ten List.  Below are the Top Ten Things I have Learned in the Last Six Weeks (this list is obviously not all inclusive....it's why it's a Top Ten list!):

1.  I can take a full, complete shower (minus shaving the legs) in two minutes.
2.  My daughter is excellent in the car for me...until the car stops moving...and notice I said for me...when Chris is driving...she normally screams for about 80% of the trip.
3.  I truly have a "high maintenance" baby.  Praise the Lord she's not colicky though....at least she is soothable...either by holding her and bouncing, rocking, walking, or swaying.  And a swing or bouncy chair does not cut it.  She knows it's not a person holding her...and she will not have it.  From what I read...she's supposed to grow out of this by about 3 to 4 months....and I am counting down.
4.  Chris gives in to crying faster than I do...he has such a soft heart for her!
5.  6 weeks can feel incredibly long and at the same time seem to have flown by...
6.  I have become someone who gets excited when her baby "makes mommy a poopie!"  I never thought that would happen!
7.  You don't realize how simple life was before baby...my biggest lesson...I can't just hop in the car and run to the store now...it's normally a 40 minute process in prep to do that including feeding, changing, loading into a car seat...etc.
8.  Every morning is a new start and I always get an incredible renewal of patience to handle the challenges of the day.
9.  I really, really, really miss living near ANY family....
10.  Nothing warms my heart more than seeing Morgan smile...

AH...the first 4 weeks!

I have a blog? LOL! It's been so busy here for the last 4 weeks...I'm surprised the house is still standing! We are all adjusting, but I think we're all doing pretty well. Poor Honey is still pretty down and out wondering who is this little being that's taking all of our attention. She's warming up to Morgan...she gave her kisses today..and that's pretty huge. I'm being kind of hard on the dog...she's alway the first one to run into the nursery at night when Morgan wakes up crying...

Crying, crying, crying... it seems to be a constant noise here at the Taylor household. We're starting to get it under control. As the pediatrician said, we have a high maintenance baby with some good vocal chords. Chris says she's going to be a singer just like her mommy! By high maintenance, I mean that when she's awake, she's normally only happy when she's being worn in the baby carrier and mommy (or daddy) are bouncing on the large exercise ball. Without these two tools, she's normally crying! The nights are normally not too bad. She's sleeping 2.5-3 hours between feedings...and for the most part goes back to sleep after each feeding! For the most part... Caffeine has been my very best friend since I've stopped nursing. I didn't WANT to stop nursing...but even after working with the lactation consultants, my milk never came in. The pediatrician classified Morgan as "failing to thrive" and we had to supplement every feeding with formula. At that point, formula became the easier and lower stress option for us. I'm glad we eventually made that decision...because even after we stopped nursing....no milk ever came. No engorgement, no leaking, nada. Poor Morgan would have been a hungry little girl waiting for mom's milk.

Morgan's had a rough first four weeks. The first being the failing to thrive...can you imagine being hungry like that??? Poor baby! She had a pretty nasty diaper rash right around 2 weeks old. And then the poor girl was constipated this weekend. Luckily, we've gotten all three things under control so far. :o) Chris is traveling out of town next week for work and my mom flew back to Nebraska Saturday morning...so it's just me and Morgan (plus the dog and cat) Monday - Thursday. Pray for us! :o) John and Melissa fly in on Friday for the long Labor Day weekend. I don't think they've spent much time around babies...so this will be interesting! :o) I'm looking forward to them being here though!

Other than that...here's some pics!

Welcome Morgan!

Although my last post made well-knowing mothers nod their heads that labor was right around the corner, I'm still shocked as all get out that Morgan arrived 9 days early! I truly thought she was going to be a late baby! We had a special function at work with a Michael Jackson theme on Friday afternoon, and I had to show off my "Thriller" moves... Maybe that kick-started the labor! Ha! Anyhow, while Morgan and Daddy are sleeping, here's our labor story:

After my last post on Sunday morning, the contractions stopped around 10 AM. Thinking that they were just Braxton-Hicks, we went on with our normal day. We didn't go to church that morning because of the contractions (I was not in the mood to put on a dress and do my hair, etc); however, we did go to one of our favorite pizza places for lunch and enjoyed a scrumptious meal! We ran to the dollar theater to check out Transformers 2 (I didn't like it....liked the 1st...but not the sequel), and skipped dinner (we were still so stuffed from the pizza). Around 9:30 PM, we went to bed, setting our alarms for work the next day. My contractions started at 10:20 PM. Again, I thought they were just Braxton-Hicks, but they were now coming every 5 minutes. I got out of bed (I felt bad because I thought I was keeping Chris awake, and I thought, "This can't be the real thing!"). We went for a walk around 11:00 PM because it was driving me crazy to sit at home and feel these pains every 10 minutes! Finally around midnight, I told Chris I was tired of these every 5 minutes, I can't sleep...I think we should head to the hospital to see what they say!

We get to the hospital and enter through the ER. Thankfully, I had preregistered online, so we only had to answer a few questions. The L&D nurse came with a wheel chair, and we were taken to the Triage room. From there, we found out I was about 4 cm, and the contractions (about 4-5 minutes apart) were not as strong or as close together as they would have liked, so they sent me home. I was so confused on the drive home, because we were told during our birthing classes that it was time to go to the hospital if the contractions were 5 minutes apart, one minute in length for one hour. Mine had been 4-5 minutes apart for over 2 hours at that point...but they were only about 30-45 seconds. We got home around 2:30 AM and Chris hops in bed and falls asleep. My contractions just kept coming....and coming...and coming.... still about 4-5 minutes apart. I took a hot shower (and just sat in the shower for 45 minutes), a warm bath (for about 30 minutes). I tried to lay back down...but couldn't relax. I went downstairs and spent another 2 hours trying to decide if I just had a really low tolerance for pain because these contractions were killing me (I was moaning and crying with each one). Finally at 6:00 AM, I woke Chris up and started crying that we had to go back because I was too tired (I had been up for 24 hours at this point). Chris showered and we left for the ER again. This time in triage, my contractions were still 4-5 minutes apart, but I was dilated to 6 cm....time to admit me! Yay!

First thing on the list: epidural. Oh...sweet, sweet epidural. I was her first patient of the day, and I was SO happy to see her. That process took longer than I thought, but the outcome was definitely worth it! I never lost the use of my legs (they had the pins and needles feeling), but I never felt a contraction after that! Around 10 AM, they came to check my progress, and I was still at 6 cm, so they broke my water. At 11 AM, I was STILL at 6 cm, so they added Pitocin to my IV line. At about 1:00 PM, I had progressed to 8 cm. I still couldn't sleep through this process because of all the beeps and noises from the machine, but Chris was able to get a few good naps in during this time. At 3 PM, I was at the full 10 cm and able to push! 45 minutes of pushing (which is some hard work!!!!) - and out comes Morgan weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and 20.5 inches long. Whoo! I did have to have an episiotimy, so hopefully it heals well.

Morgan is a screamer - that's for sure! I think she screamed for her first 12 hours. Not crying....screaming. This was so hard for me to handle... I was tired (didn't sleep for about 40 hours straight) and my body hurt....and I couldn't figure out why my new daughter was SO upset. I think I just shut down at that point (I think I scared Chris)...I just stared at her and had a hard time making the connection that this was my new daughter. After feeding her at 8 PM and 11 PM, we did send her to the nursery, and I got about 3 hours of sleep. When they brought her back into our room for her 3 AM feeding, I felt like a completely different person! This is my daughter! Breastfeeding now became much easier, and we've been doing well ever since! We still send her to the nursery when we want to sleep (every coo, sneeze, or sucking noise wakes me up)....but she's my baby, and I absolutely love her.

We are being discharged tomorrow morning, and I'm a little nervous about handling all of this without any nurses to help! Pray for us! I know we'll be ok...but...did I mention she's a screamer??? LOL!

Welcome, Morgan!

Not for the squemish....TMI? Probably - but I need the help of ladies who have been in labor!

Some odd things happening physically... Ladies who have been through labor before....need your thoughts on what's going on...

Symptom #1:
I use the restroom probably 3 times a night. Well on one of the trips last night, I thought I heard a little splash.... kind of odd because I was just peeing...but I was half asleep and didn't think twice about it. When I woke up in the morning...I remember the "splash" and thought...huh...I wonder if that was my mucous plug????

Symptom #2:
This morning I wake up and notice a pink stain on the undies... I am still spotting 3 hours later. If this was right after the internal exam, I would have blamed it on that...but that was on Friday and I was completely fine on Saturday. Plus this is quite a bit more than what I was experiencing after the appointment...

Symptom #3:
I am getting really, really bad menstrual type pain very low in the abdomen. It woke me up a few times...and I was timing them for a while and they were about 9 minutes apart...but have kind of slowed down. When I do get them though, they are pretty, pretty painful. Not like to the point where they are in the shows and movies screaming...but they make me stop talking or moving until it passes.... Are these just Braxton-Hicks? Or is this the beginning stage of labor?

Are we thinking a baby soon? Or are we thinking...Diane - hold your britches sweetie...we got a ways go go....that's called false labor....

38.5 Week Checkup!

C'mon baby! Come to mama!

I FINALLY had an internal exam to check for dilation. 3 cm. Woot! Woot! I think we were all pretty shocked that I was even that far along (I was expecting like 1 cm). She said Morgan's head was very, very low...and was able to feel the head during the internal exam (which is kind of weird to think about). Anywho! Let's keep our fingers crossed to hope that she's well on her way...and definitely NOT late. No contractions yet. Just a lot of cramping and pressure....

They did mention on the news that this month has had the hottest average temperature than any other month in recorded Phoenix history. It's been a joy being 9 months pregnant during this record breaking month. I'll be sure to share that with Morgan when she gets older!

I'm pretty exhausted. I finished wrapping up pretty much everything to where I feel comfortable taking my maternity leave. Anything else I can do is just icing on the cake....

Yes...I'm ready... Hopefully, Morgan is ready soon!

37.5 Week Checkup

I think this was the fastest check up of them all! The typical urine sample, weight check, blood pressure check, and heartbeat check. Ok....wait....I think some of this needs comment:

-Urine Sample - Of course it's important to leave a urine sample at these visits. They can check for sugar in the urine as well as protein. But you know what? Asking a 9-month pregnant woman to get a decent amount of sample in a teeny tiny cup when you can't even see what you're doing down there - I think this is really just for the doctor's office's amusement. :o)

-Weight Check - I lost two lbs since the last appointment.... ??? I think I had eaten quite a bit before the last appointment - and that number was overstated. So...now that puts me at a 4-5 lb weight gain for the pregnancy. The doctor didn't seem concerned over the weight loss...the baby belly is still measuring right on target with my week.

-Blood pressure check = low and good. Wahoo!

-Morgan's heartbeat check - 160 BPM. Average for her gender and gestation. That's my girl...49th %-tile....as average as can be. Who knew I'd be so excited about my child being "average?"

At the last appointment, they asked me to bring a birth plan to this appointment. We honestly never planned on creating a birth plan, we really felt that the Dr. would know best on what to do in any situation...but since they asked, we jotted down a few notes and talked about it at this appointment. Nothing major... I really thought there would be an internal exam at this appointment (HELLO?!?! I am 37.5 weeks!!!!)...to check for dilation and effacement....but nope! She said it would be at the next appointment (38.5 weeks). I asked her if she thought I was going to go until 40 weeks. Her response: "as textbook as this pregnancy has been...maybe you'll be one of the few to actually deliver on your due date! But of course...you could really go anytime between now and 42 weeks..." *sigh* Patience, patience, patience. Chris is traveling this next week M-Th, so let's hope it's sometime after that.

Other than that....that's all that's going on with us. Last night it clicked to both of us that even if I went to 40 weeks, we're looking at only 2.5 weeks left....and he's traveling for one of those weeks. I think we both have these mental to-do lists...and not much time to get them done. Maybe that's why I got up so early this morning...but then why am I blogging? :o)

A note to Chris

Dear wonderful husband, Chris,

Just a quick note to say: your daughter is kicking the crap out of my insides! :o)

Love,
Diane

Baby Shower Weekend!

'Tis the weekend to celebrate babies in Phoenix! :o) I had my baby luncheon yesterday afternoon. Olive Garden....yum! Yes...I loved the idea of having a lunch vs. a traditional baby shower in Phoenix....thank you Lashieki and Michelle! It was so nice to sit down with the ladies and have a relaxed, casual lunch! And now, I'm sitting on the couch before getting ready for another baby shower this weekend. Melissa's baby is due the day after Morgan, but she has a scheduled c-section for 8/6. Lucky girl! She has the official countdown going. My countdown is something like this: 3 weeks 3 days until the big day. Or...I guess she could arrive as early as 37 weeks and be considered full term....so the countdown could be 3 days.... OR she could arrive as late as 42 weeks before the doctor induces labor...so it could be 5 weeks 3 days. Ok...so therefore the Morgan countdown is anywere from 3 days to 5 weeks 3 days. I will say that with it being 115 degrees out, I'm going to try to put my foot down and not go longer than 40 weeks. I think I have my doctor convinced on that! :o)

With the last Taylor baby event completed, Chris and I headed to Babies R Us last night to finish off our baby registry. Luckily we had a 10% coupon for any items remaining on our registry and some very generous BRU gift cards from my work! All of those little items add up very quickly! We finally have bottles, burp clothes, towels, a hamper, a second convertible car seat for when Morgan outgrows her infant seat, an umbrella stroller (conveniently in Husker colors), breastfeeding accessories, receiving blankets, and a ton of other stuff. Whew! Everything else from our registry is for when Morgan is a little older...and we can wait a while before buying those things. I'm going to buy a baby sling and nursing cover from Wal-Mart since it's on clearance (and OH so much cheaper than BRU) and a breast pump from a retailer online as soon as I receive my Alltel bonus...and we should be set! Whew!

We stocked up on some diapers from Costco this weekend. Holy cow! I didn't realize how many diapers we'd be going through in a month. Thank goodness Costco is much cheaper than buying the diapers from Wal-Mart. At least Christmas gifts are easier this year: Costco gift cards! :o)

Chris is installing the baby seat bases in the car this afternoon while I'm on my baby celebrating extraveganza on the west side of Phoenix. Yay! It's kind of weird to think I'll be driving around town with a baby seat in the backseat starting tomorrow...but hopefully that will help reality set in. Chris was supposed to travel next week and the week after and be in town by the time I'm 38.5 weeks, but unfortunately the entire bridge group is behind from the 2nd quarter and he can't travel for any third quarter bridges until the second quarter bridges are completed. Oi! I hope he's not traveling when I'm 39-40 weeks!

Other than that....life is good and things are progressing normally. At my 35.5 week appointment, everything was looking great. I'm measuring right as I should. I did have another 2 lb gain....so I think that puts me at a weight gain of 5 lbs total? I think...I can't keep it straight now. I thought for sure we'd be moving to weekly appointments, but she wanted to push it out to another two weeks. So my next appointment will be at 37.5 weeks. I did eat a kid-sized frosty before my appointment, so Morgan's poor heart rate was at 180 BPM and she was going NUTS during the appointment. LOL! Starting 3 days ago, my feet have started swelling. They are pretty gross by the end of the day. Chris calls them my fat feet. My hands are also going numb in the middle of the night...looked it up in my What to Expect book - pregnancy induced carpal tunnel. Awesome. Anytime I have any cramps or anything is slightly out of the ordinary, Chris frantically tells me to drink some water (we learned that dehydration is the #1 cause of preterm labor in Phoenix). Water is the cure to any pregnancy problem in Chris's eyes! LOL! We finished our Newborn Care class and our Breastfeeding class. We've met our Pediatrician...and LOVE him! So we are ALL set!

All right....enough lounging around....I should at least SHOWER before that baby shower this afternoon! :o) I'll post after my next doctor's appointment.

34 weeks and Nebraska Visit!

We are at the 34th week....almost! Just a few days shy...but still I can't believe that we are only 6 weeks away from the big day. Hopefully only 6 weeks...I probably won't be too happy if we go much longer than that. Good strong heartbeat at the checkup - 164 BPM. Yay! Low blood pressure for mommy and a weight gain of 2 lbs from the last appointment. Everything is looking good and on track. Next appointment is 7/10 - and after that, we move to appointments every week!

We went to Nebraska for Heather's wedding - and a baby shower during the same trip. The baby shower was SO fun. It was so nice to catch up with people I haven't seen in almost a year. Here are some pics:

The beautiful cake! I absolutely loved it! I think Augusta did a FANTASTIC job!




The diaper cake:


Opening gifts:


Heather also got married (and this was the reason for the trip to Nebraska). It was perfect for them! The outdoor setting was picturesque...but very warm and humid for the 8-month pregnant girl... but nonetheless - a very, very nice wedding. Here's some pics:

Chris and me before the wedding started (we were hiding in the A/C cabin!)


Three (out of the 4) of the Tegeder family (waiting for the ceremony to start):


The music for the ceremony. It was SO good!


Keith walking Heather down the aisle:


The newlywed couple:


Chris's side of the family:


Cutting the wedding cake:


Meagan and her new beau (they are so cute it makes me crazy!):


And...this is pretty much my permanent face towards the end of the afternoon...it was pretty hot and humid..... :o)

(and yes...that's the side shot of my 33.5 week belly!)

Now you're all caught up!

Pictures!

Cleaning out the camera this weekend...here are a few pictures from the past few weeks.

Chris and I drove to Canyon Lake and wanted to take the Apache Trail in the Jeep. Unfortunately, I wimped out on the dirt roads on the side of steep cliffs with no guard rails. We made it about halfway before I asked him to turn around (literally have never been that scared before!). We did take pictures of our new ride in front of Canyon Lake. I joked with Chris that it should be on the Jeep's website!





























Honey's favorite toy is a $1 bouncing ball from Wal-mart. She likes to kick the ball around all on her own! Here's some action shots:





























Finally, here are a few shots of Morgan's Nursery. Please excuse the tools in the changing table! We have several "smaller" things to get like the hamper and baskets/totes for the changing table.

The view from the door:


The view from the opposite corner:


A straight-on picture of Morgan's crib:


The picture above the changing table. The verse is from James 1:17 (Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above...)


There you go! The camera has been cleaned out and the blog is updated! :o) We are traveling to Nebraska next week for a wedding, so there will be plenty of pictures from that trip!

31 weeks...

With one week, to go until my 8th month, I've decided to allow myself one whole post where I can talk about the negatives of being pregnant...and these are some of the things that you never hear people talk about after having a baby. I think it's because the glory of the baby overshadows all of the discomfort of being pregnant! But as a solace for other expectant mothers...you are not alone! Here are some of the negatives of being "3rd trimester" pregnant:

- Exhaustion comes back into play during the third trimester. You're exhausted your first trimester - feel great your second trimester - and then BOOM - you have to force yourself to wake up in the morning and to get off of the couch in the evenings and on the weekend during your third trimester.

- Baby's foot being "stuck" under my rib. I'm 5'3" (sometimes I'll stretch it to 5'4")....Morgan is not an exceptionally large baby (remember, she's in the 49th percentile)... However, my torso is not exceptionally long... Since Morgan is already head down...she likes to tuck her little toes underneath my ribcage...and it feels like a stick under my rib cage all day!

- Hemorrhoids....ick. nuff said.

- Not being able to sleep at night...you would think because of the exhaustion listed above, I'd pass out every night and not wake up until morning, but Morgan likes to kickbox right as I try to fall asleep...plus I get up several times a night to potty.... boo.

- Being STARVING...but only able to eat about 5 bites before you feel like you're stomach is going to explode because you're SO full! It's a bummer because the food smells SO good - but you can't eat to your hearts content anymore...

- Itchy tummy! With the skin stretching like crazy, it will dry out and itch, itch, itch. But don't scratch it - that can make stretch marks worse!

- Stretch marks.....oh stretch marks. Mine aren't horrible...but there's definitely a few there. I've tried cocoa butter, vitamin E, baby oil.....you name it, I've tried it. And honestly....if you're going to get them, you're going to get them and there is not a product out there that can save you.

- Forgetfulness. I spent over 20 minutes yesterday afternoon trying to remember for the life of me the name of the kennel where we take Honey so I could make a reservation when we go to Nebraska in a few weeks. I've also spent 25 minutes trying to think of the last name of a coworker I've worked with for the last 2 years....it finally came to me out of nowhere. One time, I was phone-screening a candidate and forgot what the starting pay for the position was...and I had to call the candidate back 2 hours later to let them know the rate!

- I get about 2-3 bloody noses every week. According to "What to Expect" this is completely normal. Yuck.

- Leg cramps in the middle of the night. Oh the joy - Not only do I wake up several times a night to go potty...but now a shooting pain in my calf wakes me up at night as well.

- Everyday activities are getting harder and harder! Transferring clothes from the washer to the dryer is the hardest chore now...the tummy gets in the way of reaching far down into the washer. Plus bending up and down and up and down. Whew!

- I'm already tired of my maternity clothes....and I still have two months to go! :)

And ok....now I am done complaining. I know Morgan is worth every bit of discomfort! :o)

She is such a cutie!!!

We had our growth ultrasound this afternoon. Morgan is in the 49th percentile! Way to be average! Wahoo! :o) She's such a cutie though. Here's the best 3D shot of her face:

I think she has Chris's lips and cheeks!

Total weight gain: 1 lb from my starting weight. Total weight gain from the lowest weight in my pregnancy: 9 lbs. Not too shabby - think I'll have some Ben & Jerry's! :o)

No Gestational Diabetes for Me!

The tests results came back perfect! No gestational diabetes for me - bring on the Oreos! J/K! I think I learned my lesson - no french fries before the initial glucose test!

We are down to doctor appointments every two weeks - can you believe it? Our final ultrasound is scheduled for 5/29. We should hopefully get a great shot of Morgan at this ultrasound - she'll be much more developed.

Chris heads off to Kingman for the next three days, but then he gets a 5 day weekend for Memorial Day weekend. Nice! I'll miss him while he's gone, but I can't wait to have him home for 5 days!

I am beginning to feel HUGE lately! I feel like all belly! I'm also to the point now where I feel like I can not get any sleep. I had the same thing during my 1st trimester - I would be exhausted - but I can't sleep in. *let's keep our fingers crossed that I get some good night's sleep while Chris is out of town!

Little Rock and Glucose Testing

This past week, I had to travel to Little Rock for business. It was one of the best business trips I've had. Because we are a smaller HR department, I was able to really get to know people I wouldn't have before! I took an EARLY (6 AM) flight out to Little Rock on Wednesday to spend a few hours with Leah before meeting up with all of my coworkers for dinner. It was SO nice to see her again! We've been friends since 8th grade! Life has taken us to different areas of the country, but she's always been a friend that I can call and have a serious or random conversation with! It's the best. She's expecting her third baby and is due about 4 weeks before me! Who would have thought we'd see each other while both expecting!


Back to the business side of the trip, we spent the day at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs. So beautiful and so fun! I loved being on the boat in the afternoon. I got some sun on the legs and a pretty nerdy sunglass tan on my face! :o)~ We flew home on Friday morning, and I had my doctor's appointment that afternoon.

Unfortunately, my sugar numbers were a little high for the glucose test. The determining mark for additional testing is 140. A more conservative doctor will send you for additional testing at 130. My glucose level came in at 137. Everything else is looking perfect! Textbook weight gain (1 lb/week) and my tummy was measuring right at 26 cm (which corresponds to my 26 weeks). With my 1 lb/week - I am now back at my original weight! I took my 3 hour glucose test this morning. Let's keep our fingers crossed and say our prayers for good results on Friday at our next appointment.

And WOW! I was looking at my little ticker at the top of the blog - we are almost to the end! Crazy!

On Mother's Day, we painted the letters for Morgan's nursery. We also found some wall decals that we want to place on the pink wall in the nursery - they are pink themed animals....how very Diane!

We found out that AT&T is purchasing the majority of the divested Alltel properties. We don't know what that means long term - so as of now, it's business as usual. Thankfully, the FCC and DOJ approval should take 4-5 months, so at least, I will be able to enjoy my maternity leave before having to worry about my job!

I guess that's about it. We're ALMOST done with the nursery - and I promise when we are done, I'll post a picture!