Remodel Complete

Thanks to everyone who helped!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 4 year Anniversary, time really has flown by. I can't believe we have been together for about 8 years now. So much has changed, but things just keep getting better. So many of our dreams together are now becoming our reality and we are enjoying every moment of it together. I am so grateful to be married to someone who I admire, trust, cherish, and love more than words can describe. Happy Anniversary Joel!

34 Week Check up

We are at 34 weeks and I had my check up a few days ago. Here's what we found out. Just as suspected Ali is huge. She is already measuring out at 7.2 lbs! At our very first ultrasound she measured out to be about a 9-10 lb. baby, however her size now puts her at the 114th percentile, making this a slight problem. Granted these ultrasound measurements can't be 100% accurate, the fact of the matter is that she is big regardless, even if she was a pound smaller she would still be considered big at this gestation. My first thought was, "I must be a gestational diabetic", so to ease my worries I had to buy a glucometer and check my blood sugar. It read 140, fairly high...so I started to freak out. The thing about doing a spot check on my blood sugar was that I had just eaten dinner and my stress levels were extremely high...both factors that could increase my blood sugar. So I decided to do a fasting and a 2 hour postprandial check. My fasting was 72 and my 2 hour postprandial was 84, which is considered normal. I've been checking my fasting and 2 hour postprandials pretty much every day and each day they have been within normal limits. So I'm pretty sure that I'm not a gestational diabetic. The only other possible explanation is that genetics have cursed me. Joel is 6 feet 5 inches tall and my family is not small (my mom is 5 feet 10 inches tall). I can't imagine Ali continuing at this growth rate, it would put her at 12-13 lbs at birth, given I carry to my due date. Some other possible explanations is that my due date is off, which means she may be coming sooner that expected, which means we need to plan for an earlier arrival. Almost everything is ready for her, infact after finding out about her size I'm anticipating that she'll be here in about 2-4 weeks....I hope. As far as delivery options, I want whats best for Ali. I'm not against a C-Section, especially if there's a possibility of a dystocia or if she's in any distress during labor. Oh ya, we also saw that she's got the cord around her neck, which isn't too uncommon but not exactly ideal either. The Dr. checked my AFI (the amount of fluid surrounding Ali) it was 13.6 which is a normal amount. He also said that she was in the vertex position (head down) which is ideal and that she was well within my pelvis. He also got a great shot of her hair, which seems to be in abundance! It seems that everything looks very normal except for the size of her. She's still moving a ton and gets the hiccups regularly.

What A Weekend!

Wow, this weekend was packed with activities! To be honest as the days approached I was becoming a little a dreadful; worried that I wasn't going to survive everything that was planned. Here's a day by day breakdown of what happened.

Day 1 Thursday

Just got off work at 6 a.m.. I was able to grab about 4 hours of sleep, then I was off! Finally got a wax from my mom (just eyebrows), then treated myself to a spray tan. The spray tan lady's name was actually Ally and she had just found out she was pregnant that day, I thought that was a bit ironic. Not to mention a little awkward, as I could tell she was really examining my pregnant body, probably in terror of what she had to look forward to in the coming months. Next I met up with Raquel at my moms shop to get our hair done. It was much needed, I decided to get back to my roots as a blonde :). This was by far the most relaxing day. I consider it my "prep day".

Day 2 Friday

Today I needed to do some final preperations for Nicoles bridal shower on Saturday. Luckily I had most of it done, so this didn't take too long. The main thing that I had to do was go to friends rehearsal dinner. Oh ya, did I forget to mention I was in a wedding this weekend as well? The rehearsal dinner went great! Besides the fact that all my friends were able to loosen up with some alcohol and I was restricted to water and I was a little naughty with some Diet Coke, I actually had a really good time visiting with everyone. Thank god for the spray tan the day before!

Day 3 Saturday

This was the mother of all days. I decided to start this day off by treating myself to my first paid hair-do, which I got done my moms coworker. I wanted something nice that would last the entire day. I decided on a side braid, low pony tail. She did a great job, and it was nice to just sit back and let her fix me up. One thing I'm realizing is that getting ready now feels like a full work out for me, so I was exetremly appreciative of her doing my hair. After my hair, I went over to Nicole's and started setting up for the Bridal Shower. Of course it turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year! Thankfully, I had lots of help with the shower and it went off without a hitch. I really wanted to make it special for her since we won't be able to attend their wedding in early August. After the shower it was off to the wedding. I basically put the bridesmaids dress on and drove straight over to the wedding site. We did pictures, ceremony, reception, dinner and at around 11 p.m. the day was finally over. All in all it went really well. Just a few contractions, a couple dizzy spells, but nothing too serious. Ali and I were pretty much wiped out and ready for bed!

Day 4 Sunday

Today we had our baby shower! Joel really wanted to be involved in the shower so we decide on a couples shower. It was wonderful, we had all of our family and friends show up from all around (Seattle, Philadelphia, Oregon Coast, Idaho, Montana, etc.). We are extremly blessed to have all of these people wanting to be involved in Ali's life. It was truly one of the best days we have ever had. Thank you to everyone who came and everyone who made it possible.

32.5 weeks

Here I am at 32.5 weeks. It's pretty amazing to see how much my body has changed since the first pregnancy picture I took this winter. My Dr. says that I'm measuring 10 days earlier than what I should be, so maybe she really is going to be a bigger baby.

RIP Forest

You will be missed...

It's All About Ali

So I've officially reached 31 weeks. A lot has happened in these past few weeks so I haven't had much time to keep everyone update. Joel is wrapping up our last house project which is the baby's closet. He's put in new laminate flooring in our entire house, tiled our kitchen, remodeled our bathroom, and will finish the closet this weekend with his dad. Once the closet is done I can start putting the finishing touches on the nursery (I'll be sure to post pictures).
We've also decided on our pediatrician and had a meet and greet with her last week. She literally works two minutes from our house, she has a great disposition, appears to be very interested in up to date information and research, and works with two other experienced pediatricians who will cover for her when she is not available. I'm happy with our choice.
We also finally decided on a car seat. We decided to go with the Chicco Cortina Travel System. The car seat seemed like the most durable out of all the ones we saw and it also has a front adjustable strap. It's a bit heavier than the other ones but I'm pretty sure I can handle it. We went with the Travel System because it was the most affordable for us right now. Eventually I would like to get a jogger, but for now a regular stroller will do.
In news about the pregnancy...all is well. She moves a lot, so much so that I had to ask a few people if there was such a thing as an "increased fetal movement" :). She moves so much that I have trouble sleeping at night/day. I can tell she is growing because her movement literally jolt me and take my breathe away. She also got the hiccups for the first time today, I was pretty excited because I had heard people talk about what that felt like and today was the first time I felt it. I've definitely had my share of braxton hicks contractions, especially lately. I've been trying to do too much stuff lately and know I need a little break. Which I won't be getting until next weekend :)...I'll be working four in row in a day, should be interesting. My Dr. says that he think she'll will be around 8-9 lbs., which is an improvement from 10 lbs..
Here are a few more items I bought for her. My new favorite hobby is shopping for her :).