Spring is here!

Hello there! What a busy past few weeks! It seems like they have flown by! I had my 32 week appointment last week with Dr. Anderson and everything still seems to be going well. Only 1 more appointment every other week before I start going every week! The baby's heartbeat was in the 150's and I was measuring at 33 weeks. She said that the baby's head was near my pelvis so I hope he continues to stay there! Since yesterday, many of the women at work seem to think the baby has dropped but I don't think so. I think it's because I am finally starting to get bigger and they are just noticing it more.

I still feel great and I haven't had too much indigestion. There were two straight days in there when I ate some hot wings and was waiting for it to affect me but I had no problems! I can definitely feel the baby move more and more. It just seems like there's not much space. Sometimes Ron and I will see a part sticking out of my stomach and we sit there and try to figure out if it's a hand, foot, or butt! I don't think we're too good at that game which is a first!

In other news, we had our baby shower this past weekend and were showered with gifts from our friends and family! I was very excited that some of my friends and family were able to make it as they don't live in Decatur nor very close to it! We had a wonderful time watching Ron spill apple juice all over himself! With all the gifts, I think we are about ready for the baby to come now! We pretty much have everything we need. I think Ron and I are planning on going next week to get the bedding for the crib (perhaps my glider :) and any other last minute thing we can think of! I will be 37 weeks in 3 weeks, which is full-term, so I guess the baby could come at any moment!

We have also been attending some classes at St. Mary's. It's been pretty neat and I have learned some new information. Ron is usually bored and bring some notes to study. He was listening when Dr. Patel, a pediatrician, came in to speak about newborn care. He also liked when we were working on breathing techniques. It's funny because when we are at home and I feel a twinge of pain and tell Ron, he then says to practice the breathing techniques I learned. I usually start laughing because he is so into it and the pain will go away. We have two more Thursday night classes and then we will graduate and get our diplomas! I like the classes but I love the free samples even more!

As for Ron and I, we are trying to get as ready as possible for our lives to change. It's weird to think that we will be responsible for another life other than ours. Ron is so ready and I know he will be a wonderful dad. At times, I question myself but I know that as long as I have Ron there, I too will be wonderful. There are some days when I don't even want to move but Ron always has a smile on his face and will help me up. He loves to watch my preggo waddle.

I promise to post pics soon. Ron is still learning about his new camera so once he figures it all out, I will put up pics of my belly and maybe from the shower! Stay tuned...

All is good!

Well, well, well...what else is going on with the Baker family? Not too much! Ron went over the weekend to buy a video camera and a digital camera. So, we are all set for taking pictures. It has taken us months to actually go out and get one so I am glad that we finally did! Now, Ron just has to figure out how to use it. We also went baby toys/clothes looking over the weekend and decided that we are going to go up to St. Louis after the baby shower (March 24th) and pick up anything else we think we might need.

I had my first every other week appointment with Dr. Anderson. Everything still seemed to be going good. I was asking her about the different body parts and she said that his head was down near my pelvis. Ron and I have felt the baby move much more often than before. It seems like it usually happens when I wake up for work, anytime I have a student in my office or any other inopportune time when I can't enjoy it, around 5:00 when I get off of work, 7 or 8:00 depending on what I am doing and then around 11 or so (whenever I hit the bed!). Ron seems amazed every time he can feel the baby move. He will crouch down next to my belly and either start off with "Baby, baby, it's daddy" or he might throw in "Lil' Ron" instead. He's also been putting the flashlight up to my belly as well. Having him excited makes me more excited as well and is much easier to get through those seldom bad times like last night. I had a burning sensation it seemed like all night traveling from my stomach to esophagus. I felt like it was never going to end but I finally managed to get some sleep.

Aerobics is still going well. I only have a few more weeks before I stop and then I plan to go to the gym and use the treadmill. I know the workouts we've been doing pretty well so I can replicate it if needed. Ron and I start our childbirth classes this week so it will be interesting to see what we learn.

A long time coming!

So, I finally got off my bum and took some pics. This is me at about 28 weeks. Right now, I am pushing 30 weeks. Therefore, I will take more pics soon. Please remember that I took this at 11:30 at night so I can't say that I look my absolute best! Well, enough about me and my looks and on to some new information! Ron and I went to Dr. Anderson today for my 28-week appointment. I found out that I did not have gestational diabetes (YES!) or sickle cell anemia (double YES!). Dr. Anderson measured my fundal height (look at my medical terminology:) and said I measured at about 29 weeks which would put me around 27-28 weeks gestational age. So, for all those who said I looked small, I'm not! Ron also decided to make fun of me and ask the Dr. symptoms of restless leg syndrome since I said that I might have it. Of course I don't and he just wanted to prove it. The doctor said that everything thus far of my pregnancy has been great! I told her that I really couldn't complain. Other than a little bit of back problems which are solved by Ron's massages and still indigestion/heartburn/acid reflux, there is not much else. Still no big cravings, I just want food in general! Ron has now gotten to the point where he really doesn't make suggestions, he just lets me tell him what I want. Since we're getting closer to the big day, I now have to go in to the doctor every 2 weeks instead of 4. I think that will help speed my time up more so we can get to May 12th (or sooner, who knows???)

Ron and I also went to visit a few daycare centers and see what they were all about. Everyone was really nice and friendly and of course, Ron knew a couple staff members at one place from his high school wrestling days. I'm hoping he can pull off a discount while he's at it!

We still haven't picked a name (well, I haven't) but don't worry, it's coming soon! We also signed up for some childbirth classes which will be fun I think. We decided to not do a Lamaze class just because the one offered here in Decatur was very time consuming. It was on a Monday and met six times for about three hours. There was no way that Ron could commit that much time with all of his studying so we are trying something else. I would like to try the whole natural birth thing but I am certainly not against anything that helps with pain so we'll see what happens!

Well, I promise not to let too much time go by without posting a pic of me for all of our adoring fans(Nancy!)! Maybe I'll let Ron be in one with me next time!

Just another day

Well, I had my 24-week appointment with Dr. Anderson. Everything seems to still be going okay. The baby's heartbeat was in the 140's. As soon as she put the Doppler on my stomach, we saw the baby move but I think he was sleeping. Ron and I have been using his stethoscope to see if we can hear anything yet but we can't. The Dr. told us to wait about another month before we actually start to hear something with a regular stethoscope. I also had to sit in the office for an hour to do the glucose test. The stuff didn't taste bad at all and I like that they had chilled it. They drew blood after an hour and then I was finally able to leave. Hopefully, I won't get a call. The nurses said that if something came up they would call me and then I would have to go in for more extensive testing. It's scary for me since much of my family is diabetic and I know it's in my genes, I just hope that the test comes up negative.

It was interesting sitting in the office and watching all the people go by. I found myself measuring my belly against other women's to see if I was bigger or smaller and if they were due sooner than me or not. Ron didn't go with me this trip as he didn't want to sit in the office for that long when he could be at "work" putting people to sleep. We always sit and talk though when we are there together about the number of men who come with their pregnant wife/girlfriend/whatever. Ron sometimes feels out of place. I think that every woman that walked through the door during that hour had a male with her. It's nice to know that there are a lot of supportive men out there.

I've never been much of a back sleeper but I find myself more and more wanting to sleep on my back. Probably because I know that I shouldn't do it. If I do end up on my back, I eventually end up waking back and turning to my side but still going back to my back. I have a big pillow that I use that many times ends up on the floor!

I've also been busy looking for daycare since both Ron and I won't be able to stay at home. I've had to put my name on waiting lists and they have said to call back once the baby is born. I'm nervous that I won't find something but I hope that's not the case. Most places start taking babies as young as 6 weeks which (if everything goes according to schedule), it will be the first part of July. Unfortunately, since I am the breadwinner for the Baker family, there is not much choice in if I am going back to work or not but my bosses are very flexible and it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I do really like my job so it won't be too hard to go back.

Until the next episode....

Well over halfway now!

So here are a few more pics! I think my face looks a little round but I'm not sure who else will notice. I've picked up a bit more weight in the belly area but not too much yet! I had to include one of Ron's signature poses. He won't take a picture of me unless he can take one of him touching my belly! I am now at 24 weeks and have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I have to take the glucose test which means I will be sitting in the office for an hour so they can draw blood after I drink some stuff. I also have to give them blood since they didn't do the sickle cell anemia test during the first set of labs. I am a little surprised that they forgot this especially because of the high incidence rate of this disease in African-Americans. I don't think I have it but it would certainly be nice to know! We have seen my belly jump, usually at night, but I couldn't tell you if it was the baby's fist or a foot yet. Ron gets super excited when he gets the chance to see it since he's busy studying most of the time and by the time he finally comes downstairs it has already stopped for a bit. We still haven't picked a name yet. Of course, Ron wants a "Ronald III" but I want something different like Kendall. Hopefully, we will come to a peaceful decision soon but in the meantime, no one had better take the name I have picked out:) Enjoy the pics, more stories soon.........

Pictures of Ron's office/Baby's room

Since we are living in a townhouse, there's not too much space to work with but I think we have done alright! Ron wants to be close to the baby whenever he's studying which is why he wanted to leave his desk and everything in the room instead of taking it downstairs. I can't wait until it's all done and finally decorated!

New year, new things to think about

It's me again! Ron and I have been extremely busy with work and school but not to busy to go register for a baby shower! Ron had last Friday off and I took it off of work so we could get started. I have never seen Ron so excited to go through a store. When we did it for the wedding, he could only stand a half hour of it before he was ready to leave. I couldn't believe how much energy he had this time around! We ended up going to Target and Babies R Us. Unfortunately, we do not have a Babies R Us in Decatur but there is one in Springfield. The people at the store told us that this store was one of the ten smallest in the U.S. Now, we want to go and see a bigger store because it was huge to us! Ron got scanner crazy and put every book that he could find on it. I think he will be more excited about the books than the baby ever will be. It was pretty cute though!

We finally decided on the bedding we wanted. It was a tough choice between cars, moons, boats, and animals. We ended up choosing the African jungle theme. It actually looks pretty neat. Ron liked it because of the pictures of the animals while I put a little more thought into it. I liked it because the bumper had pictures that would entertain and stimulate the baby moreso than the others. Ron then said that was why he picked it too!

Overall, it was an overwhelming trip but very fun! Babies need so much and we haven't even purchased half of the stuff we need. Luckily, we have all of the big stuff so if the baby comes early, we have a car seat and crib. We did have a scare though! When were at Babies R Us, one of the ladies said that every car seat in the store except for two of them had just passed some National Car Seat Safety test. Later on, Ron and I looked and found out that the car seat we had failed the test and had been recalled! So, I went online and tried to figure everything out. Luckily, our car seat and base had been manufactured after the recall and was properly updated. Boy was that fun!

Everything else has been seeming to go okay. I am getting a little back pain here and there and I had my first foot cramp in both feet but that's about it! I am about 23 weeks and have my next doctor's appointment in two weeks when I have to take a diabetes test. I have been attending aerobics the past couple of weeks and it's been fun. I've been trying to attend Monday-Thursday but I work late sometimes. They have both water and land. Working out now is so different from running track. I am out of breath in less time and I feel like I did much, much less. The good thing is is that it tires me out so much that when I go to bed, I have a peaceful night's sleep.

Well, that's it for now! Come back soon......