Dresser / Changing Table

We recently found a great deal on this old, "vintage" dresser that we are going to use as a changing table while she is little. We may put new hardware on it, and we may not. Here it is in her room...

29 Weeks and a Carseat

Here is my 29-week picture. This was taken after a long day of work, so concentrate more on the belly rather than the face.
It is so strange to think of how soon she will be here! Just a little over two months....



Our beloved carseat came today! Hopefully we won't have to use it anytime soon, but you never know. Here is Matt unloading it. Jackson may have been the most excited about it.

It will remain in the protective plastic covering until it is installed in my car because, like mentioned above, Jackson was the most excited about it.

We have had a blast registering for fun baby things, and I am sure there are things that we have forgotten to register for or don't know to register for. If you are interested, we are registered at Target http://www.target.com/registry/baby/181K82PBRY1PY/guestview

and BabysRUs http://www.toysrus.com/ControllerServlet?target=viewDetails&operation=authenticate_user&registryNumber=61400752&from=registrySearch

and WalMart http://www.walmart.com/giftregistry/gr_detail.do?registryId=86170549187

Check-Up

We went for our check-up today, and it went very well. Our doctor stuck the doppler right on the spot where Avery's heartbeat could be heard. Avery cooperated and did not move around. We listened to it for a full minute without any decelerations!! Woo hoo!! I did get in a little trouble because apparently I have LOST two pounds since my check-up last week. I have absolutely no idea how this happened. Apparently the top ten diet rules that everyone should be following are as follows:
#1: eat Zaxby's (the fried, not grilled) at least four times in one week
#2: when Arby's says "4 for $5," eat all 4 yourself
#3: eat a small Oreo Blizzard at least three times a week
#4: drink one and a half gallons of milk per week
#5: Grapico should be your carbonated beverage of choice
#6: eat at least two oven pizzas per week
#7: never leave room for dessert but never say no to dessert
#8: eat an entire bag of chocolate Valentine's candy in 3 days
#9: eat 3 bowls of cereal every night before bed as a snack, not a meal
#10: water is gross, so drink something that has a flavor
**as Southern Living says, name brands were used for study purposes only and are not perceived better than the competitor**
Also, my mom, grandmother, and two great-aunts came into town today for a little visit. They brought the bassinet that I used when I was a baby, and Matt and I have set it up. It's hard to believe that she will be laying in the bassinet in a little over two months!
Matt and I also took the plunge and bought a carseat this week. After being made to feel guilty that I did not have one yet (unintentional, I am sure), we bought one, and it should be arriving in the next week or so.
Thank you, as always, for all your prayers and words of encouragement!

Little Scare

Yesterday morning I realized that I had not felt Avery move in a while. She seemed to have established a routine recently, but when I woke up yesterday, she wasn't following her normal routine of wiggling. I got up, got ready for work, drank a real Pepsi, got the dogs to bark, anything that I could think of to get her moving around. Nothing worked. When I got to work, I called my doctor's office and told them, and they wanted me to come over right away, so off I went. When I got there, they brought in the big monitor to hook me up, but were unsuccessful in finding her heartbeat because she was moving around so much (much to my delight!). We tried for almost 30 minutes to get her to be still long enough to get a one-minute strip of her heartbeat, but we were all unsuccessful. My doctor came in with her handheld doppler and found her heartbeat right away, but it was not normal. It would be good and strong and fast and then dip down and get slow (decelerations). She wanted me to go check in to the hospital for a few hours of observation and an ultrasound. When I got over to the hospital, they hooked me up to one of the official laboring monitors which included a monitor for me and a monitor for Avery. Avery's heartbeat was experiencing some decelerations, but she rebounded every time. There was something else strange on the monitor though---I was having contractions!! My poor nurse rushed in and was obviously a little shaken up because this was not part of the plan. What's weird about all of this is that I had no idea---I could not feel the contractions. I mean, yes, it felt tight, but I have felt like that for a while and thought it was stretching and growing. Who knew? So, they started an IV and gave me some medicine to stop my contractions (the medicine worked, thank goodness). During my ultrasound, they noticed that my amniotic fluid levels were low. So, all of these elements (decreased fetal movement, decelerations in her heartbeat, contractions, and low fluid level) bought me a night in the hospital. Her decelerations stopped eventually (we actually saw that she was squeezing her cord in her hands on the ultrasound---crazy child!). I was pumped full of fluids all day and all night. I wasn't allowed to eat anything until later last night because they wanted to be prepared in case I had to have an emergency C-Section. Matt spent the night with me at the hospital. It wasn't too bad, but there was a lady down the hall who was having a natural birth in the middle of the night/early morning that woke us up---so pleasant! We had another ultrasound this morning, and we successfully increased my fluid levels, contractions had stopped, I could feel her moving, and her decelerations were next to none. We were released this morning shortly after breakfast. What a day/night!! During the admission questions, they asked us if we had a carseat, to which we replied, "no." Of course we don't have a carseat yet---our due date isn't until May! It was crazy, but we are all relieved that everything seems to be ok now and back to normal. Thank you for your prayers and support! One good thing that came out of all of this is that we got to meet a lot of the staff, "tour" the labor and delivery area, and see what it was like in one of the rooms ahead of time. While it is great to know all of these things beforehand, I do not recommend our scenario.

Every Two Weeks

I went to the doctor again today for a follow-up visit from last week as well as my glucose tolerance test which tests for gestational diabetes. My blood work from last week came back normal, so there is no reason I should have this itching rash. I was again reminded that it will probably last until Avery decides to come into the world, which by her due date is a little over 13 weeks. So, only 13 more weeks of not being able to sleep because of itching and scratching! I guess I am being prepared for what's to come!

The glucose tolerance test was not as bad as I thought it would be. I arrived at 8am without eating any breakfast. I went straight back and was given a small bottle of orange (the flavor that I chose) liquid that basically tasted like a flat orange soda. I gulped it down, waited an hour, and had my blood drawn. I ran a couple of errands after that, came home, and around 10:30 my body reminded me that I had not really eaten anything all day. I felt like I was about to pass out---thank goodness I was at home! I was relieved that eating something made the weird feeling go away. My self-diagnosis and prediction is that I do not have gestational diabetes.

At the end of my appointment, the doctor said, "Ok, I'll see you back in two weeks." So, I have officially moved from seeing the doctor every four weeks to now seeing her every two weeks for the next 3 appointments or so, and then I will move to every week around 32-34 weeks.

Avery is moving around so much, and it is a wonderful feeling to actually feel her on a regular basis. She is such a little miracle!