Another weekend gone...

With James working 2 jobs now (both Monday thru Friday), our weekends are filled with to do list items and trying to get some sleep. I'm so thankful to have a husband dedicated to our family who would take a second job to help support us though! Grace and I are blessed :-)

We did get some reorganizing done...and some shopping done. We finally got a mattress for Grace's crib. I was waiting for a good coupon or sale and a good coupon came along which wasn't good until this weekend. I'm not sure why crib mattresses have such a weird price range. Either they are cheap or pricey---not really an in between set. We had previously purchased a somewhat inexpensive one that had good reviews, but it was too small for our crib (even though it claimed to be standard crib size) so we had to return it. So, we finally got to put our crib bedding on! It makes the room look so much more complete :-) The bedding, I also had a coupon for and we made a trip to babies r us to get the one from our registry. Then when we were walking to the back of the store to the bedding section, we walked by a clearance section--and there was my bedding! They were selling the one they had on display. So I opened the package and went through all of the pieces--all accounted for, no stains or damage... So, between the clearance price and my coupon, I got quite the good deal.

3 Appointments a week!

Oh my...that's a lot of appointments.

So, I was supposed to have 2 ob appointments a week from here on out. I need twice a week NSTs (non stress tests) on Grace--both were to be done at my ob's office and then one of those times I'd also my ob appointment. Well, I went in for the first one yesterday and it didn't work out well. The nurse couldn't get Grace on the fetal heart monitor and I was sent to the hospital. We knew Grace was still alive because her heart beat was being picked up by the doppler and I could feel her moving. But, I needed to have the screenings done at the hospital. Luckily, I was right across the street from the hospital.

So, now I have to go twice a week to the hospital to get NSTs and then one a week to the ob for a regular weekly visit. The NST at the hospital still was a bit hard and it took over an hour to do the test (should take around 20 minutes). I'm praying that they aren't all that long. It's nice to lay there and listen to Grace's heart beat, but my back was killing me from the bed I was in and I kept falling asleep.

But the next really big day is October 15th!! On that day I go in for my 36 week ultra sound growth scan and then meet with the maternal fetal medicine specialist. The specialist will make the call on when Grace will join the world :-) Best case scenario is still the week of October 29--November 5th. He'll look at all of my glucose test results (4 tests a day since May), my twice a week NSTs, all 3 of my growth scans, and then give his expert advice. If Grace needs to come earlier than 39 weeks they will need to perform an amnio which I really don't want. So here's praying for week 39!!

The room is coming along...

I know that babies are a lot of work, but the prep work is crazy! I feel like we've been working on her stuff forever. Trying to figure out what we need now...what to pack up until later.... where to keep things (what floor of the house makes most sense for things).... it's never ending.

I can say that we finally do have everything up on the walls! Woo hoo! We finally finished the decals up this weekend. They were a little trickier than we thought because the walls are slightly textured in her room. Putting up these bird cages were so hard because of the textured walls. The decals pull off as you are trying to apply them because they aren't sticking flatly...and all of these thin pieces...it made for a long hard job. But I love how they look!

So we have the cherry blossom branch, the bird cages...and multiple birds around the room. We hope she will not have a fear of birds. Because after all of that work--they aren't coming down!

I am 31 weeks 3 days now...I can't believe we just have like 7.5 weeks to go!! I am going to talk to my doctor this week as to when it would make sense for me to stop working. The actual work part isn't bad--I'm at my desk the majority of the day, but the commute is getting difficult and sleep is increasingly difficult so I am so tired all day. Then starting next week I will have to go in for heart monitoring on Grace twice a week (nst--non stress test). That will add to my commuting significantly as I will be busing to another ob's office to do that.

Hopefully Grace's room will be completely done soon and I'll post some pics of the complete finished product!

What a weekend!

Where to begin...so much has happened this weekend. So, on Friday I had my regular 30w ob appointment. All was well. I was informed though that starting at 32w (so in 2 weeks), I'd need to come into the office TWICE A WEEK!! AH! I did know that at 32w I would need to have a NST (non stress test) on Grace, but I thought it was a one time thing. Nope, I'm getting it twice a week until the end. I will pretty much lay there with a fetal heart monitor on my tummy recording Grace's heart measurements for about 20 minutes. They'll make sure that her heart is responding normally, she's not in stress, etc. My work has been very flexible with appointments and things, but twice is a week is tough. I know my obs work out of another office and I'm going to call to see if I can go there for the NSTs....it's much closer to my work and I can take a bus there and back. To get to my ob's office I'd have to take a bus all the way home (about 45 minutes with the walking and the bus) and then drive about 15 minutes to my ob's office.

So, then on Friday, we drove to Frederick, MD and stayed at a hotel for the night. In the morning James went to check out breakfast (to see if I could eat anything there) and then go out to car to get something I forgot to throw in our hotel bag and he ran into 2 of his clown friends from West Virginia. Small world!

Anyways, then we got on the road and drove the remaining 2 hours to Elkton, MD. Later that day we drove to Malvern, PA to have a 3d/4d ultra sound. What a neat experience :-) We are very thankful that we could schedule it when James's parents were able to go with us. It was nice to have them be a part of our pregnancy. So, lately Grace has been spending her time head down...I know this because I get strong kicks high up...but the day of the ultra sound I was getting low kicks...so I had a thought she may be sitting upright. About 45 minutes before the u/s I ate something small and drank some pop to get her moving. Well, it didn't work. She was breech and soundly sleeping curled up with her arms in front of her face. The first 45 minutes of the ultra sound was the guy poking my stomach and making me flip from side to side. He left the room twice and told us to do what we need to do to get her to wake up. So James yelled at my stomach...we shined a flash light....put our iPhones playing music on my stomach....I drank freezing cold water...etc. Finally she woke up! We got to see some yawns and stretches...and got some face shots without her hands in front of her face. This one is my favorite!

It was pretty funny watching her sort of wake up and then just ball up more and roll over. She did not want to be woken up.

So, then on Sunday we had our Baby Shower #2! It was so nice to have everyone together. We hadn't been to Elkton in 2 years--so there were plenty of people who we have missed in that time. My mother-n-law and sister-n-law did a fantastic job pulling everything together. The Cooper men did a wonderful job at getting the back yard cleaned up and other heavy lifting :-) Here are a couple of photos :

Our cake--we loved the message, but dear baker--there's just one baby in there!!

This is the pastor that married us almost 6.5 years ago. It was very special to have he and his wife join us!
and the Cooper kids hanging out in the tree in the front yard. It's always nice when we can all be together with my parent-n-laws too.

So, then finally we made pretty good time returning to Pittsburgh on Monday. Then we were up early on Tuesday for a 6:45am ultra sound appointment. This was growth scan #2 for Grace. She's still perfect! She is now up to 4 lbs 6 oz and in the 77th percentile. My ob said as long as she's under the 90th percentile we are doing well and will be able to wait until 39 weeks to take her.

The funny part was...at this ultra sound she was super active and move around. When the medical ultra sound people need her to stay still she's moving everywhere. But for the ultra sound that is just for fun, she's super still.... OH Grace...learning disobedience early :-)

We can hardly wait to meet her...just 8.5 weeks left! Tonight is our hospital tour :-)

30 weeks!

Can't believe I'm in the final countdown! This seemed so far away before! In under 9 weeks we should be holding our Grace :-) 5 years of prayers, hopes, wishes....coming true in 2 months. It's overwhelming.

We've had a busy week of trying to do some final touches in Gracie's room so we can start moving in all of her new gear and getting organized. We haven't been as successful as we would have liked to be, but we've made some headway. James started his 2nd job this week too. So far, after 1 day, he likes it :-) Tonight we leave for Maryland to spend some time with that side of the family celebrating the pending arrival of Grace. We'll have a 3D/4D ultra sound and also a baby shower. Can't wait to see everyone!

Before we leave tonight, we'll make an attempt at getting the house in order so it's not too bad when we come back and move in even more of Grace's stuff. I also have an ob appointment before we leave.

Then when we return on Monday, we really need to get to bed early because we have a 6:45am growth scan on Gracie (yawn....that's so early)! We are trying to save our vacation time though, so we should both be able to get to work on time. Then Tuesday evening we have our hospital tour. I'll definetly sleep well on Tuesday night after these long days I have ahead.

On that note, the 3rd trimester issues are beginning....not as bad as I've read that some women get. And, don't get me wrong--I'd go through anything to have Grace at the end :-) But, I am super exhuasted--I think worse than I was at the beginning of the pregnancy. And, I am in a lot of pain when I try to roll over in bed or anything. I've also had some swelling of my feet--but it's been very little. But, I'll never complain about being pregnant....I love that I'm pregant.

Here is the 30w bump update....pretty pregnant.

So, in my next update I should have lots to discuss--2 ultra sounds...growth scan numbers....baby shower #2....hospital tour....