Baby Shower #2

Ok, so I just remembered I still haven't posted Baby Shower #1 pictures, let's chalk that one up to pregnancy brain and add it to my to-do list!

On Saturday, June 26th my bestie Tracy Ahlstrom-Layton through a wonderful shower for Baby Earl. Tracy, like all of my family and close friends knows what a miracle and blessing this baby is. And beyond the shower she has been supportive from day one, she even kept it a secret the first few days from Jace until I told my parents! :) We are very lucky to have her in our lives! Thanks Trac' for a great party!

Many great friends - all wonderful women - and family gathered to celebrate Baby Earl:









Shawnie made the cutest diaper cake!


We had lots of food, cake and played games...Everyone but Kim had such very nice things to say when they introduced themselves and talked about how they know me...(Some stories just don't need to be shared!)
















And the presents, oh my goodness. Everything I opened had multiple gifts. Kim was forgiven at this point for making me blush... :) Yes I did cry opening gifts, and no it was not over ducks. What can I say I was moved by a card from my beautiful cousin Ashley, and if you know me at all crying was something that came easy before the pregnancy...and this trimester the waterworks have been on full blast! All the clothes were so beautiful, such nice cards, amazing gifts every single one!









Alexa besides being so adorable, is such a good girl...she just watched me open all the presents and told us which clothes, books and toys she liked or had. :)




What ever could this be? :)



Oh my gosh! A crib mattress!


And what is this? A crib too?! Baby Earl is so set!





Well it's definitely not news, but this day was a testament to the fact that I have amazing friends and family. I have such a great support group, from going to doctor's appointments with me, to years and years (and years) of listening to me talk about how much I wanted this, to believing that I can do this on my own and not ever once questioning me or judging me, to loving my daughter from day one. It was so nice to share this amazing miracle, something I waited my whole life for with these great women who are all so supportive, loving, caring and who I am lucky to have in my life.

Thank you all so much for the gifts, for coming to the shower and for sharing in my joy!

Doing Just Great & Love Our New OB!

I am so so so happy I switched to Dr. Brown. The nurse was great, he was caring, kind, funny and put me at ease. He is a great listener, took time for all my questions, and was just so positive - this is what I imagined OB appointments would be like, no wonder he is the number one choice of nurses who are preggers at VMC.

Health update: Me and Baby Earl are doing great...blood pressure good, kidneys good, her heartbeat is good and strong and all in all everything is just great! According to Dr. Brown my weight gain is within the range of what he would expect given my pre-pregnancy height, weight and build. Of course now we just need to make sure baby doesn't gain too much weight - so gotta stay on top of my sweets intake, no problem. All in all was a great appointment, and I feel so much better that I switched!



Now we start seeing him every 2 weeks! With an ultrasound at the end of July to check her weight, position, etc... Just 9 weeks to go! Plus he gave me the OK to fly home to Spokane for the twins birthday party in July! Yay!

Needless to say it's been a great day; the sun is shining, me and my baby are healthy, my mom comes in town tomorrow, friends and family are gathering for the baby shower on Saturday, and I get to see some high school friends on Sunday. Life is great, as my Grammie would say - God is good!

30 Weeks!

Baby Earl this week: lots to report. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.) Baby Earl's brain is taking on characteristic grooves and indentations. In addition, her bone marrow has taken over production of red blood cells (before, tissue groups and then the spleen took care of producing the blood cells). This is an important step for Baby Earl, because it means she is better able to thrive on her own once born. Much of the lanugo — the soft, downy hair covering Baby Earl's body — is beginning to disappear now because both fat and the brain are regulating her body temperature.

Baby Earl is still moving a lot. The last several nights she's been making moves that feel like something out of "The Matrix." I wish I could see inside my stomach to see what she's doing. It's funny. And with the cold I have had since Friday, she is the only thing I have been enjoying…cant breath though my nose, can’t sleep well, so extra tired on this Monday but hanging in there. I am super excited about mom being here on Friday, a whole weekend together! (My incredible shrinking mom hit the 60lb lost mark today, so proud of her!)

Baby Earl is about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs just over 3 pounds (as much as a head of cabbage):



So other than the runny/stuffy red nose and being tired, I am super excited yet it is so hard to believe I am in my 30th week! I was chatting with Finney last night, and we were talking about how it has just gone by so fast…10 weeks or less to go! Exciting, and a little nerve-racking – so much to do before she is here, but mostly I just can’t wait to meet her!

Thursday we see Dr. Brown for the first time…Mom is in on Friday, Saturday is 31 weeks and the baby shower, Sunday I get to see Niki, so needless to say gotta kick this cold and quick!

A Suprise Visit!

I was so lucky to have Bear, Tiff and the kids for 2 days at my house. Tiff needed her passport so they could go on their trip to Canada this weekend to celebrate their - 6th Wedding Anniversary! So Bear called Monday morning, and they were here Monday night at my house.

Let me tell you, I just love them all so much and Silas, Emmitt and Elise are just too precious. Silas and Elise are so alike, and Emmitt, well he does not only look like his dad but so reminds me of him, the resemblance is uncanny but the personality resemblance I have to say is quite strong too - at least from my memory of Bear at that age. Emmitt has this amazing bashful, boyish smile that just melts your heart. Silas and Elise meanwhile are non-stop talkers and it is so great! At breakfast Tuesday morning Elise was all smiles "Hi Mim!", too cute and Silas was quick to tell me "Hey Auntie Mim, um, you burned the bacon." Which I had, but hey I am used to cooking for 1 not 6! I can say with certainty I had never cooked that much bacon at one time in my house. :) We enjoyed a great day on the waterfront in Seattle, I got to take the day of work, and it didn't even rain on us! And the cutest was at one point or another all 3 of the little ones called me either "Grandpa" or "Yaya" - they usually only get to see me when I am with my mom, so that made sense, but by this morning when they left Elise was calling me not just Mim but Auntie Mim!





Of course it was great to also get time with Bear and Tif, just to visit and relax. They are such wonderful parents, they have such a loving marriage and just being around them makes you feel closer to God.

So while the visits are never long enough, I am so very thankful for the short time we had together. I love this aspect of my brother and his wife - they are spontaneous and just pick up and go - all 5 of 'em! It really made my week. And times like these really make me think about living so far away from them, and my parents. Baby Earl has got to grow up knowing this wonderful part of her family, spending as much time with them as possible...it's definitely something I think about all the time, especially when I came home tonight and my house was so empty without those 5.

Whew...that was a much earned nap!

Today I finished cleaning out the bedroom to be Baby Earl's nursery, and did the rest of the normal weekend housework. 3+ hours of cleaning and 2.5 bottles of water and I barely had the energy to shower the sweat off of me. But, once I showered, made some lunch and took a nap in my clean house I am feeling much better.

I am ready to paint Earl's room, her stuff is all stacked up in the middle of the room and covered up. Now, I am just mustering up the energy to go grocery shopping :) So I am not as tired as I was in the first trimester, but I do get tired quickly these days. Yesterday I worked for a few hours, went shopping; my third store was Babies R Us, of course I stopped for one thing but walked the whole store....then stopped at Tracy's house and within minutes of sitting down, I was asleep on the couch for a good 20 minutes. I was beat.

I keep thinking that I just can't believe Baby Earl will be here in about 10 weeks, maybe less or maybe more, but either way it is going by so fast! So we'll see what else I can get done today, there is always tomorrow right? :) Actually I am still craving fish, so I think the craving will beat the fatigue today and I will get the shopping done too.

Mom will be here a week from Friday which makes me/us very happy! When I saw her last weekend we weren't sure if she could feel Earl kicking, but there is no doubt now that anyone can feel her moving around. She is so active that I keep doing the kick counting like the books suggest (I started early than 29 weeks of course) and most of the time I get over 10 in 15 minutes or less, and the test says you need to feel 10 in an hour! That was probably the best part of today, I mean it feels good getting stuff done, and I cant wait to finish her room, but I so love when I can just sit or lay down, all alone in the peace and quiet of my house and feel her move around. Sometimes I hold my tummy or rub it, and talk or sing to her, I so treasure this time alone with my daughter. It's such a gift, it feels so amazing to just feel her move but now to know she is almost here, and that she is mine...I just cant wait to meet her!

I read Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy the other day, a quick and funny read. She talks about all the stuff no one wants to talk about that you deal with during pregnancy. I still feel like I have had a wonderful pregnancy, other than some nausea but no vomiting, a few mood swings, lots of tears, tiredness and heartburn I have not had it nearly as rough as I know some women do. For this I am also very thankful, but sometimes I think that I waited so long for this, prayed so hard for it to happen that even if it was worse I could never be one of those women who hated being pregnant or complained about being miserable all the time....because this means so much to me, how could I not enjoy every moment of this amazing gift.



Anyway, enough rambling, gotta keep moving! Happy Sunday!

*.* Baby Mine *.*

I just love this song...been singing it to Earl alot lately :)

We Officially Have a New OB!

I just got off the phone with Dr. Brown's office, and they have accepted me/us as a new patient! The transfer is official and I will see him on the 24th!

The care coordinator and nurse at the Women's & Family Health Specialists office where Dr. Brown is have been so nice and supportive through this transition. So understanding of my frustration and disapointments with the midwives. I feel so much better!

That bitchy woman from the Midwives office did call a couple days ago and explained she "was only trying to educate me and council me on nutrition and diet, not to hurt my feelings. So you must forgive me because that was not my intention." Whatever woman - she didnt even mention the issue about making me feel like an ass for having anxiety about the pain of labor and delivery. I have a draft of the letter, that I will be sending to the Clinic Manager there.

Anyway, on to a new doctor, its a nice office...just minutes from VMC. I still get to deliver at VMC, and though yes a female OB would have been nice, at least Dr. Brown doesnt make me feel bad about my body. Plus he specializes in infertility, and can continue on as my gyno if I choose after baby!

Feeling Very Pregnant!

After a long, long Memorial Day weekend it is now Thursday and I am finally feeling back to normal. For 3+ days I played pool, was on my feet, and tried to help and do almost everything I did to help Tracy and Jace last year - well of course one big difference was I was sober at LTC this year. LOL! And by Monday night when I got home around 11:30, my back was hurting, me feet hurt and were swollen, my belly felt tight and sore and I was wiped out. I was even 30 minutes late to work the next day bc I was moving so slow.

Now I have had a couple days to recover and have gotten a lot more sleep then I did over the weekend, but still did not want to get out of bed this morning. It is amazing to me how different my body is this week even compared to just one or two weeks ago. All weekend trying to scoot between the tight tables my belly kept bumping into people and things, and I definitely had to change my stance on several shots when shooting pool, but it went pretty well. Unfortunately the Sunday team was knocked out Sunday night, and the Tuesday team made it to semifinals on Monday - but I lost my match which should have been an easy W for the team, partially I think because I was so tired. But I tried to hide it, all weekend really, getting there early, staying late, even helping folding and hanging chairs. But Tuesday morning, I sure paid for it and it finally sank in that I cant do everything I did before I was pregnant.

I know, I know many people have been telling me to take it easy for months - especially now with Baby Earl and my belly getting bigger. But really it is only in the last week or so that I have felt this way, finding it more uncomfortable to bend over and seeing how my belly is starting to get in the way of things. I'm not complaining though. I love being pregnant, I feel good and absolutely love feeling her move. It's such a special thing and it has been nice having that to myself, though I think anytime now anyone will be able to feel her moving through my belly which will be another great milestone to share.

So here are some new belly pictures. It was funny to see peoples reactions at LTC, some who knew, some didn't and some who we rent sure - but everyone in the league now knows - bc there is no hiding this baby bump. :) Only 12 weeks until we meet Baby Earl!