36 weeks, the final count down....

Can you believe we are in the 9th month? Adam and I can't believe we are in the home stretch. Stretch being the important word for the next 4 weeks. Monday our appt started our weekly dr visits until the baby comes. My body and the baby are not ready to come out yet, based on the dr's exam. (for the ladies, no dilation or effacement)

The baby has more time to rock and roll in the belly. While watching the Olympics on Saturday night, Sweet P was so active and we tried to get it on video. There were times that the baby moved so much my belly lifted almost an inch. Sweet P's movements are not something I would say are huge kicks but more like shifting and situating. One of my co-workers had her rib cracked by her son's kicking, so I am thankful our baby is more of a mover. The head continues to be down most of the day and the hiccups continue daily at least once a day.

This past weekend we enjoyed some packed fun with friends and each other. My Bunco group, imagine that Karla is in a group with women who just sit around playing a non-strategic dice game while drinking (when I can drink), threw me a mini-shower on Friday. There were shower decorations, amazing cookies, gifts, and lots of motherly laughter. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends. We also spent time with Adam's co-workers, an old high school friend of Adam's, yoga, and time around the house. The amazing rain this past week was such a wonderful break from the hot weather!!!

No photos yet of the baby's room, since I just got the hooks to hang the canvas art. We are going to continue to work on the room, though our evenings and weekend are filling-up over the next two weeks. Taking the advise of our other parental friends, we are enjoying the free time while the baby is easy to bring along. This weekend I will also get a photo, since Margie is throwing a shower and I know there will be photos. Tomorrow night Adam is at a work function and I am going to take on my sewing machine again to try and add black-out material to the drapes for the baby's room. We will see how this turns out :) I will update soon.

Update: Head down & cleared for delivery

Thank you to everyone for their prayers during the past couple months. Yesterday we had our final ultrasound to see if the placenta had moved the 0.2 centimeters that it needed to. The ultrasound tech said everything looked great and it moved out of the way!! This means I am cleared to try for a vaginal birth instead of planning a c-section. We are happy that the baby is healthy and will come on it's own time (I say that now in hopes the baby doesn't decide to take over 40 weeks to come out).


During the ultrasound we were finally able to also get two good 3D photos.












The baby still loves to have their hand near their face and we have a little thinker. During the photo session the baby was poked a little to try and get some better photos without the hand near the face. By the end of the session, the photos show the baby's frustrated face and the desire for no more photos. We also were able to see the baby practice breathing and yawning. Who knew being in the womb was so tiring? The baby stays head down pretty much all of the time with the spine to my left and feet/hands pushing against my right side. Last night the baby rocked out, and I mean kicked, moved, and enjoyed the music of Idina Menzel (Tony award winner for Wicked). Guess the kid loves musicals as much as it's mommy.


We can't wait to meet the little person in about a month, 5 weeks. This weekend we will post photos of the finalized baby's room, and the growing mama. Blackout curtains are harder to find then I thought for our wider then usual window. Have a great week!

35 Weeks & test time

This week we were able to get many things done and enjoy our time. The 34 week appt went well and we were able to get many of our labor questions answered. We also looked into two other daycare options and a pediatrician. Both daycare options will not work for us. If we don't even let our 60lb lab on the couch why would we want to leave our baby with someone who lets their two 80+lb dogs on their couch. It is amazing how many people are out there that are so different from you. The pediatrician had two good recommendations from our friends and we will be using them.

Some of the most exciting news relates to the baby's room. Amber, an amazing artist, was able to finish the canvases that compliment our bedding in no time. She selected a few letters that add to the letters on our bedding with personal meaning. There is a D for dog, and a fun painting of Brandy, and P for Sweet P that includes three really cute smiling Peas. Once they are hung we will be sure to take photos to show everyone.

Between all of the baby activities we were also able to get some fun in. Adam went to a Rockies game for work; hard work eating & drinking in a box while the game is on a rain delay. I can't complain because I have "worked" like that before. Saturday was a day of fun for both...if you classify climbing three mountains in one day fun. Adam decided to climb Long's Peak, a fourteener, over Labor Day weekend, baby permitting. Saturday he completed a training hike with our friend Phil and instead of climbing just two fourteeners (Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Evans) they added a third mountain (Mt. Spalding, 13,800+). As I thought about Adam hiking for hours, I enjoyed breakfast and dinner making with Rebecca as well as mani/pendis with Jill. That night we went to see Loves Labors Lost at the Boulder outdoor theatre and Adam was able to have his hand on my belly for a good bit of the show to experience the baby moving during the performance. There were a couple times that his eyes did get big from the movement. On Sunday, we took the advise of many parents and saw a movie pre-baby. The Dark Knight lived up to it's name and I don't think the baby and I will be watching something that dark again. My heart rate I think kept the baby active during the movie.

Tuesday is "the day" we learn if the placenta is out of the way. We will be sure to update everyone on the status. From now on we will have dr appts every week. The list of items before the baby is born never seems to get smaller as the time draws near. The time does seem to be coming quickly!!!

34 weeks - Hiccup

This is going to be a quick update for everyone, that will be added to later. I just had to let you know that our little monkey hiccups often. Since the first episode on July 25th, the baby has had hiccups about every other day. We went to see Macbeth on Thursday, which is hard enough to concentrate at, and I had to concentrate while a little monkey kept hiccuping. It was very sweet and funny.

During the weekend we were able to finish the painting in the room and move some of the furniture around. This week Adam and I will work on the curtain rod and we will be set, just waiting for the paintings from Amber that will match our bedding. How lucky are we to have a best friend who is a wonderful artist to paint images that will match/coordinate with our baby bedding?!?!

Here is a profile photo of Anne O'Reilly, Adam's co-worker's wife who is due a week after us, and me. Neither of us know what we are having. Anyone want to put money in a pool? BTW - loved her dress!!!

This week I did have a minor freak out thinking my child wouldn't have clothes for the first three months of their life. We have onesies, sleepers, and some outfits. This is one of those irrational pregnancy thoughts I have heard about and experienced very little (Adam has been pretty darn lucky with my limited emotional freakouts). So, I have bought a few sale items that are gender neutral. My sanity is now back and the baby will not be laying there naked, in the same onesies, or sleepers all the time. Friday I also ran to one great garage sale. We now have our mobile for $2...the exact one we registered for in great condition. You can't beat saving $30+ on something you will only use for a limited time.

Guess this was longer then I thought. We go to the dr today. I have officially taken off the wedding band due to swelling. Maybe with a decrease in heat over the next couple days the swelling will go down?!? Do you know what helps swelling...drinking more water! Just what a prego lady wants to do is go to the bathroom even more!!!! Crocs are probably in my feet's future. Guess I will just be dealing with the excess water. Today is our 34 week appt and we will see how things are going. 42 days!! The baby moved a lot this weekend and I even was able to distinguish between the butt and other tiny appendage like a foot. Don't know exactly what it was, but you can feel the difference. We will write more later. Have a great week!

33 Weeks...Less than 50 Days!!!

Hello all. We had a very eventful couple of weeks. Starting out, Amber and Carol hosted a wonderful baby shower for Karla. With friends and grandmothers we were able to enjoy games, stories and decorating many onesies. This kid is going to be decked out for all of the KU games that they are going to win. The baby has some outfits for the possible winning football season for CSU. {That's Karla's shot at me...the baby is going to be a Rams Fan and decked out in Green & Gold as much as possible. Ram Pride!}

We have a photo of a couple of the beautiful onesies shown. Our friends and family are very talented...

This week was the first time we attended baby classes. In fact, we spent almost 15 hours in 'baby classes' over a four-day period this last week. The first of our classes, titled Baby Safe, was very educational and was well taught. However, it kinda scares the crap out of people because the facilitator of the class must have said 'and that can kill your baby' about a hundred times. Yikes!!!!

The other course we took, Baby Preparation, was, well, let's say...interesting. Most of the videos we saw were produced in Boulder (hello, hippies! And yes, it was disturbing). Once again, very educational and we had a great instructor. Learned a lot of useful info but now I have to make a cheat sheet on the breathing for the latter part of 2nd-stage labor...ahh, he; ahh, he; ahh, he; ahh, whooooo; {That will only seem funny to the parents or soon-to-be parents who actually read this. For the rest of you, I apologize).

It truly is a small world, because even though our Baby Prep class had only about 12 couples, one of the father's in the class was a former classmate of Karla's. In fact, they went to school together since elementary school. We were also the only couple who didn't know the sex of the baby. The most exciting news during the weekend is about the baby. Sweet P got the hiccups on Friday and Sunday nights. They feel so small compared to a kick and are more rhythmic. It was such a fun experience!

The nursery is getting close to being completed. Adam put spackling compound on all of the nail holes late on Saturday night. After drying, he sanded everything down so we have a flat surface for painting. Oh, that reminds me, we did decided on our orange paint for the MDF strips and our accent wall. It's a wee bit darker than a peach color but it matches the colors in the room really well. (Can you tell Adam is writing all of this detail on his pet project?)

Sunday was full of blessings and celebrations. After we lead music at Craig Hospital, Karla headed off to Anne's baby-shower. A great time was had by all. Later that afternoon, we attended our Nephew's 3rd Birthday Party. Alex is a great kid with a captivating smile, a big imagination and a lot of energy. I'm glad Sweet Pea isn't going to move that much quite yet; he or she would wear me out! It is always good to see family and celebrate these milestone birthdays together though!

With only six weeks to go we are ecstatic to welcome our beloved Sweat Pea into this world, but we know there is much more to do to prepare! This is a photo from KC with Karla's sorority sisters. Karla, Keena, Jessica, Angie, Shara, & Hillary. Between these ladies there were 9 1/2 kids for fun together.

The belly keeps getting bigger!

31 weeks & Brandy Frog

This past week was full of fun baby stuff and life. I was able to enjoy time with my sorority sisters this weekend while Adam and his father worked hard on the baby's room decoration. The photo shows some of their hard work, though the completed picture won't be ready for another week. The men were able to cut, sand, and hang the MDF strips on the baby's wall. Now we are looking at oranges to paint over the white primer we used. This project was much bigger then either of us thought and we love the outcome! The dog, is wearing a fun froggy coat for Sweet P.

After a two hour delay, I did make it to KC. Thank goodness the prego lady thought ahead and packed snacks. This trip was filled with so many memories that will last a lifetime...then again all of our trips have great memories (even our spring break had a few highlights). Saturday we spent time with the kids and then had a ladies night out shower. What more could a pregnant lady want...time with friends, great food, and wonderful stories. According to the ring over the belly trick that night, 2 out of three friends say this baby is a girl. Sweet P didn't want to talk to Jess at that moment. All of my friends were so helpful and generous with their gifts and advise. I don't know what I would do without them?

One of the memories that brought a smile to my face was getting through security and onto the plane. We bought the 4 runner from Hill and they gave me the 10lb ball hitch that we were missing. I was a security first bringing a ball hitch through. The look was priceless on the TSA reps face. Next was getting on the plane with the snap n' go stroller that was generously given to us. The ticket agent asked where the baby was and if it had boarded already. These strollers are used to snap the car seat onto, and I had no car seat. I know many people say my stomach is not as big as others, but you can tell that I am pregnant. So, I pointed to my belly and told him "the baby is right here".

Tomorrow is our free day. We are taking advantage of traveling within Colorado without baby gear. After traveling in the airport with baby gear and no baby, I have a whole new respect for traveling parents!! There will be a trip to the mountains and time with friends. Sunday is the shower given by Carol & Amber. I am looking forward to celebrating our baby with more girlfriends.

We will have a new post next week with the painted slats. The only big thing left in the baby's room is to hang the curtain rods and order the mattress. Once those are done the room is almost ready for the baby, even if we aren't ready for the baby. Next week we have our first baby class Thursday night and then our birthing class Friday and Saturday. I am sure to blog after experiencing that...then again Adam might provide a better word picture for you.

30 Weeks and counting

Like I thought, last week was a bit crazy and didn't allow for much blogging time. This week is a little bit more quiet, though the weekend starts tomorrow! Adam and Neil finished their 150 mile bike ride without any bike troubles. Your donations were much appreciate and he continues to work towards his fundraising goal. Even 7 months pregnant I was able to volunteer and cheer on the riders. Funny enough, I was checking IDs into the beer garden and checked the ID of some old Phi Delta's that I coached with Jessica during college for our sorority philanthropy. What a small world!

Last week was my final trip to Atlanta for work. Though there were many meetings the team did throw a small shower for a co-worker and I due within a week of each other. They did provide a few name suggestions for Sweet P too, Peter is one example. On the way back a guy even gave me his first class seat. He was being so nice, though part of the reason he was giving his seat up is because he was traveling with his wife and two kids. The wife might have made sure there were only two kids in his future if he had stayed in First class.

The Fourth of July weekend we sure were busy with play and work. The block party prep took some of the day and the party took most of the night. We have such a great street and enjoy all of our neighbors. Sweet P will be lucky as it grows up if everyone stays around. Then the rest of the weekend we planned the design in the baby's room and put up a ceiling fan with instructions a rocket scientist couldn't use. Adam and his dad worked for hours on Sunday to get boards cut and painted for the design. While I am away this weekend I am hoping that they will be able to place them on the wall. Can't wait to see the progress. My 30 week appt on Monday was quick and everything is on-track. The heart rate increased from two weeks ago to 138.

This weekend is going to be awesome. Tomorrow I fly to KC to spend time with my girlfriends. The 5 sorority sisters are converging on Hillary's house Saturday for kid time and then the ladies evening shower. The dinner location has a great wine list that I can view and hopefully smell while I am there :). Side note: We decided not to have our wine party this year because it would be like taking a chocolate lover to Hersheyland and telling them to only look, no eating. Next year. I do get to be the fun DD for my girlfriends which always leads to some good laughs (car seats anyone?).

Here is a photo of my pumpkinhead and me. She still doesn't get the baby thing yet, though loves to be around when we are working on baby projects. We will see how she handles the next few months. We are also closer on a few boy names, though we aren't telling anyone, and far apart for girls. Adam will have time this weekend to think of something that wasn't popular when we were kids.

I will post photos next week of the fun in KC. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.