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!

Where the birds come to die...

After this weekend, I've concluded that our house is where any bird must come to die! Morbid, yes. This weekend we had 5 dead birds at our house. Ew, ew, ew. The first three birds were found by Chris when he was installing the new sprinkler timer. They were just tiny little things, so we think they fell out of a nearby nest and didn't survive the fall. Chris took the time to bury them in the yard. The second incident/fourth bird occurred while we were eating breakfast in the nook near our patio door. We were happily munching on our cereal when a loud thud resounded on the patio door. We turned to look and a poor bird must have flown straight into the window. First of all...I got physically ill because the poor thing didn't pass right away...it sat there and struggled for a good minute. Honey saw the whole thing and started to flip out! Chris was able to clean up the mess quickly before we had to leave for our hospital tour (couldn't leave the bird out there with Honey panicking). I didn't let him bury the bird this time...I don't want a whole graveyard of birds.... So we found another permanent resting place for the bird in our outdoor trash can (in several plastic bags of course). Finally, later that evening, we were leaving the house to see an almost adult bird standing in the driveway near our garage door. Most birds would be scared by an opening garage door. Not this bird. We decided to let it be and hopefully it would be gone before we returned. When we returned home, we saw the bird huddled in the corner near the garage...poor thing. We thought maybe he's just trying to get some warmth back or regain his energy. Unfortunately, the next morning before church we saw him in the driveway with his feet in the air. Poor, poor thing. And poor, poor Chris for having to clean up all of these little birdies! I think we'll be happy if we never have to see another bird ever, ever again!

Onto baby-related news: we had our hospital tour this last Saturday. It was like a slap in the face by reality. Maybe not to Chris: but to me! They discussed what entrance we would use when I was in labor. The safety procedures to prevent any baby theft. What amenities are in all of the labor and deliver and post-partum rooms. The do's and don't's and visitor restricitons. They explained the tools they have available to aid in labor... Oi, oi, oi! 15 more weeks to go! It sounds so far away, but at the same time seems SO close! I found out that I have to select Morgan's pediatrician soon. They will not let you leave the hospital until they have a pediatrician's name on file. I guess I'll have to check who's covered by my insurance and who's affiliated with the hospital we'll be at.

I hope ya'll had a great weekend and have a great week ahead. I'm going to change into some comfy clothes to go on a walk with Chris when he gets home!

A belly pic?

Yes, yes, Molly, you're wildest dream has come true! LOL! We took a belly pic for YOU! Here I am at 23 weeks:


I just noticed after looking at these pics that my baby belly is kind of pointy! :o)~

We had our 22 week check up last week. Things are going well! Little Morgan's heart was pounding away at 160 BPM (look at my strong little girl!). I have my gestational diabetes test before the next appointment. Let's keep our fingers crossed! I did have some weight gain with this appointment: 4 lbs. HOWEVER, they gave us the wrong weight numbers at the last appointment...so even with the 4 lbs of weight gain, I am still 4 lbs lighter than my first OB appointment in December. Who would have thought? Honestly, it just makes me realize how much extra weight I was carrying before becoming pregnant! Good to know (and to remember)!

When uploading these pics, I realized I had some pics from our Shreveport trip. Honey got to meet Chris's dad....and they became the BESTEST of friends!






And for those of you who know Katie (our cat), this pic of her and Honey on the same couch are for you. We didn't know how long it would take for them to get used to each other, but I think they love each other in their own love-hate kind of way!


Take care everyone! (Molly - I hope you appreciate the belly pic!) :o)

We did it!

We finally registered at Babies R Us! Melissa (my sister-in-law) braved the adventure with me. If only you could have seen us sitting on the ground (it hurt to crouch for that long) looking at the different breast pumps and accessories needed....the different bottles....the different aspirators...the different thermometers... :o) We came up with this strategy: go middle of the road...not the cheapest...not the most expensive. Whew! We did manage to finish the registry in 2.5 hours...which I heard is not too bad! Most of the larger items are neutral (allowing us to hopefully use it for a second child). Being that we don't really know all of what we'll need for a baby...I'm not sure the registry really includes everything of what we need...but oh well! We'll play it by ear.

John and Melissa were in town for the long weekend. We had a great time! It was so fun just to hang out and chill with my brother and sister-in-law. We took Mel to her first NBA game (Suns vs. Kings). Even though we won that night, it looks like our chances for the playoffs is slim to none. Boo. On Saturday, we drove up to Sedona for a wonderful (cold) day! We did some hiking at Slide Rock. It was so fun and being almost 6 months pregnant...I think I did fairly well!

I promise, promise, promise....pictures coming soon!

Double Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday – Did They Really Say That?

I’ve learned that when you are expecting, people are very generous with their comments, stories, and opinions. In celebration of that, here’s my top ten list of things I can’t believe people have said to me:

1. "Yeah...you look really pregnant in the face now!" - while tapping their own cheeks.
2. "Wow! Almost there, huh?" - Nope...we have another 20 weeks to go, but thanks!
3. "Make sure you keep up on your kegels!" - From a random candidate that we did not hire.
4. "You're pregnant? I thought you just stopped going to the gym or something!" - the stage right before you start to look obviously pregnant is a sad, sad stage.
5. "She's a wiggler! Glad she's not going to be coming home wiht me!" - from the Ultrasound Technician...very encouraging...
6. "I can tell you're going to have a BIG baby!" - you're making that assumption based on the size I am right now, huh?
7. "Do you think you should be eating that? Is that good for baby?" - Let's see...I've given up caffeine, smoking, alcohol, recreational drugs (J/K on most of these by the way!)...and now it's not okay to enjoy a piece of chocolate every once in a while?
8. "Are you sure it's a girl? I don't know if I can see you having a girl....a boy definitely...but a girl???" - I can't put my finger on why exactly this comment bothered me...but it did.
9. "Ugh...I hope you don't have the same long, horrible labor that I had..." - normally a graphic, disgusting labor and delivery story is inserted here...

This last one made the list because most of the other comments are negative; therefore, I can not believe someone actually said something out of the norm:

10. "How far along are you? Wow - 21 weeks...you look fantastic! I would have never guessed you were that far along!" - Bless her heart! :o)

Top Ten Tuesday – Part Deaux

Now for the double-dose of Top Ten Tuesday…moms I need your help…send me your Top Ten list of “Things I couldn’t live without” to help me get started on my baby registry this weekend!

We've picked a name!

Morgan Lee Taylor

We've received pretty good feedback from family on the name. I think everyone likes the name...some are struggling with name association from someone we never really knew...but this will just give them a good opportunity to associate with their first niece or granddaughter!

We've been pretty busy getting ready for John and Melissa's visit this weekend. We're so excited to be going to a Suns game on Friday night. The Suns aren't up to their usual level of excellence, but it will still be fun. I think we're also planning a trip to Sedona, which is always beautiful! The nursery is 70% cleaned out. Chris has been busy getting everything from our "miscellaneous" room into the office. I picked up some paint samples, so it's just trying to find the right match with the comforter and the base color. We're hoping to paint the majority of the room a light tan with a pink stripe about 3/4 of the way up bordered by a white stripe on the top and the bottom. We'll see how it goes...it will certainly test our taping skills!

I didn't realize how pregnant I looked until this weekend. We got together with some friends that we haven't seen since February, and the first comment was "Wow! You really are poking out now!" Yeah... I promise...pictures soon... I really hate belly pictures...so it probably won't be a posed side shot...but with John and Melissa coming in town, I'm sure we'll be taking plenty of pictures.