Four Weeks

Jenna was four weeks old on Monday! She's really starting to be alert. She is starting to notice when we play with toys near her and she likes to stare at us and follow us with her eyes as we move around the room. She has started cooing at us when we talk to her, too! So cute!

Merry Christmas

Christmas was almost a week ago and I'm just now posting! We had a great Christmas, albeit really busy. Santa stopped by to visit Jenna -- she got a couple toys and a book. This picture is from the Christmas we had last night at Grandpa and Nana Long's.

Three Weeks Old!

It is hard for me to believe, but Jenna is already three weeks old! She celebrated by fussing from midnight until 3 am and then having a (brief) fuss at 7 am. :( Mom and Dad were tired! Luckily she went to sleep after the 7 am fuss and we were able to sleep until after 10 am (she slept until after 11 am, when I woke her up to eat). Hopefully she doesn't decide to repeat her "celebration" tonight. It is 11 now and she'll feed within the hour. She really doesn't like to go to sleep after that feeding for some reason! Wish us luck!

She wore her festive holiday sleeper today in celebration of Christmas this week!

Shower

On Saturday Mom and Sheramie hosted a baby shower for Aaron's relatives on his dad's side. They did such a great job! It was a lot of fun having a shower after the baby is born since everyone got to see and hold her. I was a little worried that Jenna would be over stimulated and be fussy, but she was very alert and made it through almost the entire shower without fussing.

After the shower Jenna and and I hung around so Grandpa Ernie and Uncle BJ could get some spoiling time with Jenna. Aaron came down a bit later, too. It was Jenna's first visit to someone else's house. Jenna seemed to really enjoy napping in Grandpa's arms!

Two Weeks Old

Here's Jenna's picture from her 2 week birthday!

Jenna Says Hi

We've had a busy week, but it has been great! Jenna is still sleeping great for us. She has started liking staying up later. She had been falling asleep around 8 or 9, but now is having a fussy time from about 10:30 until 12:30. She doesn't fuss continuously, but she also doesn't go to sleep. We're night owls, so it isn't too bad (except hearing her cry -- it makes mom want to cry, too!), but this week Aaron is working, so he would rather be able to get to sleep earlier. I'm lucky because she sleeps in until sometime between 9 and 11, which means I can catch up on my sleep, too.

We had a big Christmas shopping day one day last week. It was fun and she did great, but she was so tired when we got home.

I'm a Week Old!

Yesterday was Jenna's one week birthday! She celebrated by wearing shoes for the first time (thanks Gram!), looking at big sis Portia's pretty black and white markings, and taking her first ride in the swing. :)

One Week Check-up

Yesterday Jenna had her one week check-up. It went great! She's just one ounce shy of her birth weight and the doctor said that she's doing great developmentally. He told us that since she's usually sleeping when we wake her for feedings (every 3 hours) that we can start extending the time between feedings to 4 hours. We tried it last night and it went great. We've been so lucky that she's taken so well to a schedule. We'll go back to the doctor for her one month check-up on January 6th.
After her appointment we decided to take our first outing. I needed to drop some paperwork by my OB's, so we stopped by there, then went to Target. It went well, especially considering that we were dangerously close to feeding time.

Almost a Week!

It is hard to believe that a week ago we were at the hospital and I was in labor with Jenna! On one hand it seems like I can't remember my life without her, but on the other it does not seem like she's been here for almost a week.

Since we've been home, we've been very busy, but each day it seems like we have gotten more of a routine down. Last night we had a great night and Jenna slept when she was supposed to and nursed quickly and then went right back to sleep. I'm not going to bank on many nights going like that, but it was so nice to get one!

Today she had her first bath. She doesn't care for being a naked baby, so we didn't have high hopes that it would go well. But, we shouldn't have worried, she did fine. She was a bit fussy at first, but we kept the washcloth warm and she stayed content. Here's her just before we started the bath.

She got exhausted and zonked out right after we were done!

Dec 4th: First Night Home

Last night was our first night home. Aaron and were finally discharged from the hospital around 3pm. We were headed out earlier, but the hospital went on lockdown because they "lost" a baby. The babies have to wear a security band on their ankles. They cut off Jenna's, then while we were waiting for the nurse to meet us to escort us out of the building, we could hear commotion in the hallway. We think that a band fell off another baby's ankle. We had 2 people come in to check Jenna's band (which was gone) and we were both afraid they were going to take her away to do some sort of tests to make us prove she was ours. Fortunately, they must have figured out what was wrong and they let us leave.
The first thing we did when we got home was introduce Portia to Jenna. It went really well. She does want to slather her with kisses and she's not ever close enough to get to do that. We were really worried that Portia would be bothered a lot by Jenna's crying, but it hasn't bothered her at all. She is happy if she can find a place to snuggle with one of us.
The first night didn't go quite as ideally as we had hoped, but it was better than it could have been. She woke up around 3AM screaming. We couldn't figure out anything to make her stop. Finally I got up and rocked her for a bit then changed her clothes and she settled down. It was feeding time, so I tried that (we'd also tried during her fit, but she was too upset to eat) and she latched right on and had one of her best feedings ever. The rest of the night went very smooth and right now the four of us are lounging in bed getting some extra rest.

Jenna Marie Cain

Jenna Marie finally joined us on December 1st at 12:56 PM. She weighed 8 lbs and 3 oz and was 21 inches long.
I started having mild, but regular contractions on Saturday. They escalated during the night and by 1:30 AM, I couldn't sleep any more. I got up and watched TV and sat on the exercise ball. Around 5:00 AM, they were between 4 and 5 minutes apart and lasting around 2 minutes, so I woke Aaron and we got around and went to the hospital. Unfortunately the contractions weren't causing me to dilate, so they had me walk the hospital for an hour and there was no progress, so they sent us home. As soon as we got home the contractions kicked up a notch. They were bad enough that I do not remember much of anything the entire time we were home! We were scheduled to go in to start an induction at 8 that evening, so we still went in. They decided that they would not start inducing since I was already contracting regularly. I had been planning to only have an epidural for pain, but I will admit that I underestimated my ability to cope with the contractions, so I took some pain killers. It worked for about 30 minutes, then I started to feel just the peaks of my contractions, which was the worst part! I took 2 more doses before I could have an epidural and each one seemed to work less for me. I felt so bad for Aaron, but he was awesome, he just rubbed my back and comforted me. I finally started to progress enough that they would give me an epidural -- THANK GOD!!! I felt so much better instantly! I also went from 3 cm to 7 cm dilated within an hour. Unfortunately the next time they checked me I had regressed to 5 cm. The nurse was dumbfounded and had someone else check me and they agreed with her. An hour later I progressed to 6 cm, but then I stayed the same for hours and hours. They had the doctor start visiting me and after 2 visits he said that if I didn't make progress by 11:30 am that we would need to start talking about a c-section. At 11:30 he was in surgery, so he visited a little after noon and I still had not made progress. He said that if we wanted to wait a while we could because the baby was still looking really good and I was doing alright, but that his suggestion was to do the c-section because I should have progressed a lot more and he wasn't able to tell why I wasn't progressing so he felt that it was safest to do the c-section. By that point, although I had the epidural and didn't feel my contractions I felt extensive pressure in my pelvis and it was so uncomfortable that I did not want to wait. Also, I trusted the doctor's judgement, so we agreed to do surgery. My doctor was not the on-call doctor, but they gave him a call and he headed to the hospital (his office is just across the street). We thought that we'd have a few minutes to make calls to tell our parents that we were going into surgery, but as soon as Aaron got on the phone with my mom to tell her they were already moving us out of the room. He managed to get text messages out to his parents in the operation room while they were finishing prep work. They put up a sheet and let Aaron sit by my head. I was not nervous at all, just so excited that we were going to finally meet her! I was trying hard not to cry, but tears kept streaming down my face. Aaron told me later that he was so nervous and had a huge knot in his stomach. After they made the incision I could feel them manuevering her out. What a strange feeling! The doctors were talking about the KU/MU game the weekend before. For some reason I thought that was really funny -- here we are having this huge monumental point in life and to them it was just another day! When they were close to getting her out the doctor laughed and said, "Look at those cheeks!" Aaron and I both were grinning like fools. Another minute or so later, they had her out and lifted her over the curtain to give us a quick peek (which wasn't nearly long enough!). They told Aaron that he could go with her and after a quick glance at me (I told him he HAD to go with her!), he headed off to watch them clean her up, weigh and measure her. I could hear her crying and it was the best sound I'd ever heard, but it seemed like time stopped and it was forever before I got to see her. The nurses and Aaron went back to the labor room and he took her with him. My mom and his mom and brothers were in the room waiting when he got back, so they got to meet her. They went to the waiting room while I got back from surgery. They stitched me up and wheeled me back to the labor room and I was finally able to see her! It was so awesome. I looked at Aaron and asked him if she was a Jenna. He said he said it to her and she stopped crying, so he thought that was what her name was. We had decided that if we named her Jenna that her middle name would be Marie because we really liked how it sounded...Jenna Marie Cain.

They took forever getting us moved from the L&D room to the Mother and Baby room, which made Nana (my Mom) and Memaw (Aaron's mom) anxious because they were in the waiting room and no one updated them that everything was still ok. I honestly don't remember much after that point -- it was a blur! I know that we had quite a few visitors waiting by the time we made it to our room. It was nice to know how loved she was by everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Aaron's wish came true and he didn't have to miss out on Thanksgiving dinner. We went to his Grandma's this morning and had lunch and hung out most of the afternoon. We usually leave early to spend the rest of the day with my family, so it was a little sad not to get to see them, but we didn't want to get quite that far away (although like my Aunt Dianna said, if we had, that's when I'd go into labor, so it might be worth it!).

We are getting ready to go out for a drive. I figure a few bumpy roads won't hurt anything and if it helps make my contractions stick, that would be great! Last night they were getting slightly stronger, but as soon as I went to bed they stopped. Wish us luck! More than likely LMC is just going to come when she decides she's ready (or when the doctor says she has to go).

Hope you enjoyed your turkey today!

Dr Appt -- 4 Days Past Due

We had another doctor's appointment this morning. My blood pressure was normal again (well, normal enough for being this pregnant) and all my bloodwork from last week came back normal. I am only 1 cm dilated - I thought last week he'd said that I dilated to 2 cm, but I guess it was just 1. I'm now 70% effaced. Nothing at the appointment really made me think that she'll be coming soon, but hopefully I'm wrong. We'll be going back on Friday for another non-stress test and ultrasound to make sure we're still ok waiting to induce. If so, we'll go in on Sunday night and they'll give me medication to help get my cervix softened, then Monday morning around 7, they'll start the induction. I really hope that she decides to come on her own, but either way, we should have this little girl here by this time next week!

Ultrasound and Non-Stress Test

Yesterday we visited the doctor to get an ultrasound and non-stress test to make sure that everything was ok with the baby and that we were ok waiting to induce. They did the non-stress test first and after about one minute of monitoring the ultrasound tech said that we were going to pass with flying colors. She monitored for another 20 minutes or so and said it went great. Then they did an ultrasound to make sure that there was still plenty of fluid. She spent a few minutes looking at the baby and showing us her face, hands, and feet...and that she's still a girl. We could even see that she has hair!
They also took my blood pressure and it was high, so they waited a bit and took it again and it was still high, so they had me lay on my left side for a bit and took it again. It was still a little high, but the doctor said that it was no longer high enough to be concerned about and that they'd take it again at my appointment on Monday. Just in case, they had me do bloodwork and were supposed to call with results yesteday, but I haven't heard anything. Hopefully no news is good news!

So Unfair!

Yesterday I got the info for renewing my driver's license. I have to do it before my birthday (January 16th). Ugh! Great timing! Hopefully the hormones don't mess with my skin too much and I'm able to lose at least a little bit of weight by then! If not, I might just have to revisit the DMV in August or September for another picture.

DUE DATE!!!!

We finally made it to the due date! On one hand I can't believe it is already here, on the other, it seems like I've been pregnant forever. I haven't been stuck on the due date as being a day by which I thought she'd be here, so I'm not one of those pregnant ladies that is crying all day, but it would certainly have been nice if she'd already made her appearance!
Lately since she's been running out of room, she hasn't been quite as active, but yesterday evening she had a very active spurt and was moving her arms and legs all over like crazy! I was convinced that it meant I'd be going into labor overnight, but I guess all the movement either made her tired or comfortable again. Since then she's been back to being fairly inactive.

Work Plans

My last day at work will be this Friday (well, assuming she doesn't come tonight!). We have the ultrasound and non-stress test scheduled for that afternoon, so I'm leaving after lunch. I will be taking vacation next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, unless I have her before then and in that case I'll start my FMLA leave on the first working day after she's born. Otherwise I'll start FMLA on the 1st when they'll be inducing.

Doctor's Appointment Update

This morning we had another doctor's appointment. I went from being 50% effaced to 60% and he said that she's dropped some more. Still not dilated though. He decided to see if he could manipulate my cervix to make me start dilating. It worked and now I'm dilated to 2 cm. I hadn't ever heard of that being done. Oh and last night I lost my mucous plug, but they say it doesn't mean much -- sometimes women will go into labor hours after losing it and other times it will be weeks.
We set an induction date of 12/1, but the doctor said he's hopeful that she won't wait until then (I'm hopeful, too!). In the meantime, to make sure that everything is ok to wait until then, we will have an ultrasound to check the fluid levels and we'll do a non-stress test. Both are scheduled for this Friday afternoon. Even though it would be better to see her in real life and I know that at this point, she's pretty squished, I'm excited to have another ultrasound. We probably won't see the doctor on Friday, but we have another appointment scheduled for next Monday.

Waiting Game

This weekend we installed the carseat and put our bags in the car. So now we just need to patiently wait. The next appointment is tomorrow morning, so hopefully things are still moving along and we only have a couple days to wait and not a couple weeks!

Well, I Finally Broke Down...

Thus far I have stayed out of Aaron's closet. I thought for sure that his XL and 2XL shirts would be too big and the few men's L shirts that I bought would fit me through the end. They almost did, but alas, today I threw one of my "big" t-shirts on only to realize that it didn't take much for it to start inching up and for my belly to start showing. Bummer. I pulled out one of his XL shirts and put it on and I have to admit, it felt like heaven. Even my maternity shirts that still fit are a bit tight, but his t-shirt fit perfectly. At least now I have a slightly larger wardrobe, even if it isn't too pretty.

39 Week Appointment

Today I had another doctor's appointment. Aaron wasn't able to come to the visit because he had a work meeting to attend.
I'm now measuring right on for 39 weeks, so either she or I has been making up for lost ground for measuring small the last few visits! After being extremely active last week when he was trying to measure her heart rate, she was calm as a clam this time. I think she wore herself out wiggling around after I had lunch and she was asleep. Her heart rate was 135 bpm.
I am now 50% effaced, but still not dilated. He seemed really happy to see that I had started to make some progress and said I just need to keep having contractions. I've been getting a few everyday and last Friday I had them all afternoon and evening. Only a couple have been what I'd guess are medium-level contractions, most are just uncomfortable. Since my energy level seems fine, I'm going to try to do some more walking, which seems to always make me have at least a couple contractions.
He talked to me a bit about inducing. He suggested 11/24. It was a little shocking think about her having a birthday! At this point, I don't think that we'll induce unless medically necessary, but I told him that I'd like to talk again at my visit next Tuesday. I may feel differently about it by then! Besides, who knows, as Mom keeps reminding me, tomorrow is a full moon... a girl can hope, can't she? :)

Weekend Update

While I don't have my hopes up that it means anything and I hope you won't either, I did find myself doing a bit of nesting this weekend.

Saturday we met with Jason and Kim for lunch, then she and I went to have our nails done. We've decided that it is going to be a tradition for us. We did the same thing a week before her daughter Jocelyn was due. We were to go exactly a week before my due date, but she and Jason are going to Vegas that day, so we decided to do it the weekend before. I got a pinkish-red (I believe it was called "Strawberry") on my fingernails and I did a french pedicure on my toes. She put some rhinestone hearts on my big toes - I think they look really cute. Hopefully they'll still look good by the time the baby is born!

Aaron and I had an idea for a nursery decoration (we have a huge empty wall that I've been trying to figure out how to decorate), so I made the wall decoration on Sunday. I wanted to get it put up, but we ended up spending a bunch of time moving things into the office so we could have the carpets cleaned today and we didn't make the time to get everything hung in the nursery. I'm hoping we can do it tonight because once it is up, I think that the nursery will be 99% complete and I can take some pictures to post on the blog!

DA Update

We had another doctor's appointment today. I didn't expect much since we were just there on Thursday and I was right -- still no progress at all. The good thing about that news this time is that I'm feeling A LOT better this week than I was last week and the thought of being pregnant for 4 more weeks is a lot more bearable. Of course I would take her now though, no complaints!

I am now measuring a bit closer to 38 weeks, so she had a bit of a growth spurt this week. The doctor said that he'd guess she'll be an averaged size baby. I know that everyone who has tried to feel her move will be dissapointed to hear this, but she would not stop moving when he was trying to listen to her heartrate. He asked if she's always that active and I said that as long as she's awake and no one is trying to feel her move, she is! He said that it is a really great sign and that he thinks she's going to be very healthy.

While I have been feeling better, I am looking terrible! My right foot started swelling on Friday and has probably tripled in size since then. It is very bothersome to look at! Since my blood pressure and urine looked good, he is not concerned and said that it is because the baby is sitting more on my right side and is probably pinching off some veins and the blood isn't pumping back as well as it should. He followed that up by saying that I just need to not be pregnant any more and that it will be fine. I have also developed some sort of skin condition where my skin looks extra pink. Once again he said that it is just because of pregnancy and nothing to worry about.

Lots of Updates From the Last Week

The last week has been so hectic that I haven't had a chance to make an update! It started a week ago when Aaron's co-workers Glenda, Shana, and Shelley hosted a shower for us. It was so much fun. I admit that I was a little nervous because I don't know many of Aaron's co-workers and I am not a huge fan of being the center of attention, especially around people I don't know, but everyone was so nice that I felt very comfortable. We had such a great time and we got a lot of very neat gifts. It was also really nice to meet some of the people I've heard Aaron talk about, but that I've never seen.

Then, last Friday we had a surprise birthday party for my mom. I took Friday off to decorate and get everything ready. Aaron, Dad, and I took her to dinner and then I told her that I wanted to stop by the community center to check out some baby items at a craft sale. Aaron sent Brad a text when we were on the way and everyone hid to tell her surprise when she walked in the door. I think she was pretty surprised! We had a great time visiting with everyone and doing something nice for Mom. I have to admit that I was quite jealous of the margaritas though! By the end of the night I was exhausted and I ended up sitting on the couch all day Saturday, barely moving a muscle!

Luckily the resting rejuvenated me for Sunday because we headed to Osage to go to a shower that my aunts were throwing. Once again, it was fantastic! I cannot believe how blessed we are to have so many great friends and family members. It is a little overwhelming to think about how much other people have done for us. We played a few games -- I have to say the first was pretty gross and was all Jennie's doing. We had to figure out what kind of candy bars were squished in diapers. Eww! Then we guessed how big my belly was. Mom had the closest guess, she was almost right on! It was great to see some of my relatives that I don't see very often (and great to see those we do see often!).

Oh, the last bit of exciting news is that I was finally approved for part time work after my maternity leave! Who hoo! I brought up the subject to my boss when I was early in my pregnancy and he had been working to get approval for months and months. It was so nice to finally get confirmation! I will be working Mondays and Tuesdays and a half day on Wednesday. The rest of the week I'll be a domestic goddess (never thought I'd say that!).

37 Week Appointment Update

Today we went in for the 37 week appointment. The first thing the doctor said was to not expect her anytime soon. Then he did an exam and said that I'm not dilated or effaced at all. Bummer. He did say she's dropped a little bit, which I could tell from where she's been sitting. The rest of the visit went well, my BP was a little higher than usual, but the nurse said it is fine for this point of pregnancy. The baby was moving around a lot when he listened for her heartbeat and it was around 155, which is higher than it has been the last few months. She slowed down while he was measuring it and her heartrate also dropped a bit, closer to what it had been previously.

I also had a chiropractor appointment today and I was ready for it. My lower back and hips have been so painful, especially getting into and out of bed. He worked on me a lot and when I left, I felt so much better. He said that my muscles are tight. I'm hoping that the adjustment will last a few days!

More Shower Fun!

Saturday Aaron's mom's best friend Sharon and her daughters Allison and Hayley threw a baby shower for us. It was a great shower and we had a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.

This one is of Aaron's mom Cindy, stepdad Mark, brother Evan, and grandparents Bill and Barb.

And here are the fantastic shower hosts, Allison, Hayley, Sharon and Aaron's mom Cindy

Reason to Celebrate

For those of you that don't know, Aaron was born one month and one day early. Today marks the day that Little Miss Cain has been in utero longer that he was. Although he was born healthy, it is still nice to know that she's hanging in a little longer. Of course on the flip side, I'm so ready to meet her and not be pregnant any longer!

Second reason to celebrate -- it is exactly a month until my due date!!

Baby Pool Time!

Now that the due date is getting closer, we wanted to start a baby pool. See the website at the link below and enter your guess.

http://www.expectnet.com/games/CainBabyPool

Hospital Visit

Last night our power went out around 6 and Aaron and I decided that rather than sit around in the dark, we would go to the hospital and take a guided tour of the maternity ward. There were probably about 20 people on the tour, which was a lot more than I expected for a Monday night. It was nice to get to see the labor and delivery room, but I otherwise didn't get much out of the visit. Well, it was really exciting to see the nursery. There was only one baby there, but he was so cute and swaddled up -- adorable! I'm already very excited to meet our baby and it made me about 1000x more excited, if that is possible. :)

Appointment Update

We had another appointment yesterday. Unfortunately we had a hard time scheduling an appointment with our doctor and we had to see a nurse practitioner. I wasn't worried about it because I thought I'd seen her before and really liked her, but it was the other NP and we didn't care as much for her. She just moved too quickly and we didn't feel like we ever had a chance to ask questions and when I told her that I'd had a day the week before that I had Braxton-Hicks contractions for most of one day and for at least an hour they were very regular, she didn't say anything. I thought she'd at least tell me that if it happened again to either not worry about it or to call the doctor!

At the appointment they did the usual and everything was fine. They also did a test for Group B Strep (I won't get the results for a while) and a check to make sure I wasn't leaking fluid (I'm not). While she did that, she checked to see if I'd started to dilate yet and I haven't.

Our next appointment is on October 30th and then we'll start visiting every week! My goal for this weekend is to start packing the hospital bag!

Just a Few More Weeks!

Well, just a little over 5 weeks until my due date. It seems like an eternity away! It is funny how you can love being pregnant so much, but as you get closer to your due date the more ready you are for that little one to be born. I've really started to get uncomfortable and my hips are hurting and even though we still have quite a bit to do to prepare for her birth, I'm ready!

Halloween

Everyone keeps asking me what I'm going to be for Halloween. Apparently it is great fun for other people to see a pregnant lady dressed up as something creative. I'm doubtful that I'll be dressing up as anything, but I'd love to hear suggestions.

So far the one that I've found the most amusing was to dress up as Bristol Palin. Of course other than looking about 10 years younger, there wouldn't be too much that I'd have to do. :) Someone told me that Aaron could dress up as a hockey player and go around saying "I don't want kids," and "I'm an f-ing redneck." And we could go as her and her baby's daddy. Haha!

32 Week Appointment

I'm 32.5 weeks along and today was our next appointment. As it has been for all of our other visits, everything looks great. My BP was great and weight gain is apparently fine (the doctor says it is fine; I don't think it is fine!). The baby is measuring at 31 weeks and I'm at 32.5 weeks, but the doctor didn't seem concerned that she's measuring a little small. I really feel like my stomach is getting big, so I was surprised that I was measuring a little behind. Her heart rate was between 140 and 145 bpm and the doctor was able to feel her head and could tell that she's facing head-down. I feel kicks all over the place and can feel her flipping all around, but he said that most likely her head is staying stationary and the rest of her body might be moving around and that's why I'm feeling movements all over. Right now as I'm writing this, I can feel her little hands pushing on my lower stomach! She still likes to be ornery when people try to feel her move. Aaron can attest that when she starts moving, she will go crazy and you can see my whole stomach move like a wave, but as soon as someone besides me (and sometimes him) put their hand on my belly to feel her, she stops moving. Given that Aaron is her father, I seriously doubt she's shy, so I'm thinking we have an ornery one on our hands. :)

We are now going to be visiting the doctor every 2 weeks, so our next appointment is on October 13th. We had a heck of time getting an appointment scheduled. I think that the lady making the appointment was new. She couldn't find a time that we could see our doctor, so suggested we meet with the nurse practitioner. I honestly don't think she looked very hard for appointments, but we don't mind seeing the NP, so it wasn't a big deal. Once we were in agreement about who we were going to see, she went to schedule the appointment and made it on the wrong day. Luckily though the time worked for us and it was 3 days sooner, so it all worked out.

Even though I have an awesome maternity plan through my insurance (a $20 copay for our first visit, then no other payments for anything), I have managed to run into trouble with our insurance company. They will only cover 1 "non-medically necessary" ultrasound per calendar year. We had one early on to determine the due date and another at 20 weeks to check the baby for health issues (and of course for us to find out the gender). Both were things that the doctor wanted us to do, but insurance is only covering one of them. At our last appointment I asked the doctor if he felt both were medically necessary and he said "definitely - we weren't just sneaking in there for a photo op." So, I called the hospital billing and the insurance and was told that it isn't medically necessary. Yes, it makes so much sense that the doctor, who went to medical school and all, says they were medically necessary, but the insurance company says they aren't. So, at the great advice of my mom, I mentioned to the doctor that the insurance company said that they weren't medically necessary. That fired him up (which is exactly what she said it would do) and he said he'll write them a letter and hopefully it will straighten things out. Wish us luck! The good thing about it all is that the fee isn't the much and we were able to save a lot compared to most insurance plans, even with the fee.

Awesome Shower!

Yesterday's shower that Kim and Heather hosted was so much fun! They put a lot of thought into it and it showed! We had a great time and Little Miss Cain got so many awesome gifts!

My friends decorated onesies for the baby. They turned out so cute! Here are few of them.

Anxiously Awaiting!

Today is my first shower. My good friends Kim and Heather are hosting it. They came by last night to get things ready and it sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun! Here's a picture of them making the cute treats that they'll be serving.

Running Out of Room

The past few days I can really tell that things are getting tight in there for Miss Cain. She likes to push on the inside of my stomach and stretch so that her back pushes out really hard. It makes me laugh every time, but it is really uncomfortable. It feels like my skin needs to stretch! She's also grown a lot in the last week. Aaron and I both noticed that my stomach seemed to have grown quite a bit this week. It is getting closer and closer for her to be here!

Childbirth Class Week 3

The past week has been so busy that I haven't had a chance to do an update since our last childbirth class. If you remember, this was the week we were learning about drugs. I tend to shy away from using pain relief in general. I'm not entirely sure why. I was really happy to learn more about everything that they will offer and better understand how they could affect me and/or the baby. Now, I feel a lot more comfortable about getting an epidural. I am not sure that I want to take the narcotics that they offer for early labor, but we'll see how I feel when the time comes!

Happy News!

MOM AND DAD ARE HOME!!!! Woo hoo!!! Brad and I picked them up from the airport on Thursday. It was sooo great to see them! I hadn't seen mom since the day before I found out I was pregnant (March 15th) and hadn't seen Dad since the 4th of July, when I wasn't really showing much.

Other happy news is that Aaron and I bought a boat on Saturday. I don't remember the details about it, but if you want to know, ask Aaron next time you see him. I haven't been out in it yet because the weather hasn't been agreeable, but hopefully we'll have some time this weekend to get out.

Phew!

I just got word that I passed the glucose test with flying colors, so I don't have to worry about having gestational diabetes. Who hoo!

Childbirth Class -- Week 2

This week at our childbirth class we learned more about the stages of labor. It was a good thing too because I knew very little about it and Aaron knew even less. Now we at least will have an idea of what to expect, even though I'm sure no two labors are ever the same. I think he's going to be an awesome coach. We did a breathing exercise at the end of class and acted like we were having both mild contractions and really bad ones and I could tell that he really paid attention during class (or has great instincts) because he made me feel a lot more relaxed and able to focus. Next week we will be learning about drugs. I'm anxious to learn more about them. I know I said that I was going to try to do it natural, but given my low tolerance for pain, I will be surprised if I make it, so I want to know more about what they give you and when they do it.

3 Hour Glucose Test

I just got back from my 3 hour glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes. They didn't give me the results at the lab -- the doctor will call me later. It was about the most boring thing I've done in a long time. First, I got there and they drew blood, then had me drink another sugary drink, but this time it was twice as sweet as the initial test. Ugh, it was horrible. Luckily they had a straw and I was able to down it quickly. Then I had to get my blood drawn an hour later. She went for the same vein as the first time and it didn't work too well. I think I'm going to have a nice bruise on that arm -- and it hurt! Getting my blood drawn doesn't bother me, but I did start to feel a bit faint when she was moving the needle around trying to get a better blood flow. Then I had to go back in another hour later and an hour after that. She used my left arm both of those times and didn't have any trouble. I had to stay at the lab during the entire test, but I brought my computer and was able to work. It wasn't the most comfortable place, but it could have been a lot worse. She did mention on my last blood draw that she doesn't think that I look nearly big enough to have gestational diabetes (I thought that was very nice, ha ha) and that my doctor's office has a lot tighter regulations for the test than her lab does (i.e., I wouldn't have failed the first test if I had it done through the lab). Of course you never know and I could have just barely failed the first test and I could have gestational diabetes and it will be a good thing that they had the tighter regulations. We shall see next week!

Childbirth Class

We had our first childbirth class last Wednesday. It is a 4 week series, so we'll have classes on the next 3 Wednesdays. The first class we had introductions and watched a video about breathing techniques and ways to help with back labor. I thought it was interesting and took notes -- I think I was the only person in class that took notes! But, at this point I'd like to keep things as natural as possible, so I figure it won't hurt to have a list of ideas for Aaron to look through to help me through the pain. Don't worry I'm not crazy, I will take drugs if I need to, but I think I'd prefer to avoid them for the most part just because it isn't something I've handled well in the past (then again neither is pain!). There are probably 10-12 other couples in the class and Aaron and I felt really young! There was one other couple that was definitely younger than us, but we thought that everyone else looked to be in their 30s or 40s. I told Aaron that they probably thought that's how old we look, too, so there are probably more people close to our age than we realize. Almost everyone in the class is 4 weeks farther along than us, but one couple is due in mid-December and another is due in late January. At the end of class they had us do a relaxation technique which consisted of Aaron rubbing my back and shoulders while I relaxed. It was awesome and I've been looking forward to going back this week just for the massage!

28 Week Doctor's Visit

Our 28 week appointment was the morning after our trip. I had to take my screening test for gestational diabetes, which meant I had to drink a very sugary drink an hour before the appointment. The drink wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was only 10 oz. They draw blood exactly an hour after you finish the drink and then give your results at the appointment. The appointment went well, my blood pressure is still great, weight gain is right on track (still more than I want of course!), and the baby is measuring right on for her due date. Her heart rate was right at 144 bpm. The bad news was that I failed the screening test, which means I have to go back to the doctor to do a 3 hour long test. I will get my blood drawn, then drink another sugary drink (I've heard this one tastes a lot worse), then get my blood drawn an hour later, 2 hours later, and 3 hours later. I only failed the screening by one point and only somewhere between 5 and 15% fail the 3 hour test, so my doctor said that the odds are in my favor that there isn't an issue. If there is though, I can make it through it and there are a lot worse things.

NY -- The Journey Home

We had to get around early to catch our flight. The same cab driver that brought us to the hotel took us to the airport. It was a fairly uneventful drive and we drove a bit through Connecticut, which was good because I had wanted to at least go into it to check it off my list of states I've been to and we'd been very close, but hadn't been there. We had planned to eat breakfast at the airport, but they didn't accept credit cards (seriously!). Luckily there was a snack stand that had cheap breakfast sandwiches and we spent the last bit of our cash. The flight from White Plains to Philly was very quick and we had a long three hour layover. We started by going to TGI Fridays for an appetizer and some of the worst service I've ever had. The other waitresses were good and came often to their tables, but we had to ask one of them to get our waitress to come by. She was at least nice, but obviously had better things to be doing. That was probably the worst tip I've ever left! We then walked through the shopping areas and then sat at the terminal until we were hungry for lunch. Aaron of course had to get a Philly Cheesesteak. I had a pretzel and juice smoothie. He loved the cheesesteak (the pretzel was just so-so). We noticed they were about to start boarding while we were wrapping up lunch, so we headed over to get in line to get on the plane. There was a mom with 3 kids, probably 7, 8, and 9 yrs, in front of us in line and they were obnoxious, but I figured the odds of us being by them on the plane were low. Guess what, they were right behind us! The mom had a speech impediment and spoke extremely loud. She made sure to point out loudly that she and her daughter had to sit by the window or else they would get sick...again. Ugh great -- I've had a weaker stomach during pregnancy and Aaron gets airsick, although he always takes dramamine and hadn't had a problem in a long time. The son sitting by her had lost his voice at Disney World and was speaking in a whisper (it actually sounded like he probably had his voice back, but was still talking in a whisper) and her other son realized how fun it was to play with the seat back tray. She kept yelling across the plane at him. It was really annoying! Something else annoying...while we were taking off, I happened to think that the keys to our car that was sitting at the airport were in my purse -- yes, the one that was in the safe in NYC! I couldn't have thought of it before we took off when we could have called someone to be at the airport to meet us! As soon as we landed we tried calling Brad because we knew it was his day off, but he was sick, so we tried Aaron's mom. It worked out great because she lives in Shawnee, which is a lot closer than Brad was and she was happy to come get us. It was such a lifesaver! She took us home and wouldn't even take any gas money. Of course that meant that we had to drive back to the airport that evening to get the car, but it could have been a much more painful experience. We had decided to board Portia during our trip and were missing her terribly and picked her up as soon as we got home. The last time we boarded her she was mad at us for a couple days, but this time she was very happy to see us. While we had her boarded they cleaned her teeth, cut her nails, and did other maintenance things that she's never had done before. I'm sure they did everthing while she was put under, so I doubt she even knows. She was so glad to be home that she hopped on the bed, fluffed up the pillows and crashed! I think that's pretty close to what Aaron and I did, too! :)

NY Day 4

On our last day in the city we got up to hit up Times Square once more because Aaron decided he wanted a NY hat. On our way we passed by a watch stand where Aaron found a $5 watch. While we were browsing, 2 cops pulled over and talked to the vendor to see his license. He was working hard to get out of a ticket and doing some serious smooth talking. It worked and the cops told him he had to move and said he could finish up any sales. They were sure to tell us that he wasn't selling anything illegial. I tried to find a watch, too but I didn't find any that I liked. After we found a hat we checked out of the hotel, grabbed a cab and went to Grand Central Station. Our hotel for our last night was closer to the White Plains airport. We were able to get right on a train, unfortunately the a/c was broken. Ugh! It was so horrible. Luckily we had grabbed some cold water bottles on our way out of the hotel and it helped keep us cool. The train ride was probably 30 minutes long, but felt much longer due to the heat! We finally made it to Rye and grabbed a taxi ride to the hotel. The hotel was nice, but looked like it might have peaked as a weekend resort for folks from the city in the late 80s. We decided to use the Nuvi to find somewhere nearby for lunch. As the hotel seemed like a resort, it was outside of town a bit, but it looked like there were some places to eat less than a mile away so we headed out. When we got to the restaurant it didn't look very good and 0.5 miles away there were fast food restaurants, so we continued on. Most of the walk we were the only English speaking people we saw. It looked like a well cared for area, but we did feel like we stuck out a bit. It wasn't terribly hot, but it was extremely humid, so the walk was miserable. We finally made it to Burger King and probably took 2 hours to eat just because we didn't want to have to trek all the way back to the hotel! On our way back the GPS took a different route (I guess it was shorter since we didn't stop by the first restaurant). We went by a park that had a motorcycle toy and I guess we were a little giddy by that point and decided to go for a ride.

When we got closer to the hotel we ran across a beautiful rock wall.

I even decided to do some rock climbing. ;)

When we got back to the hotel we decided to play shuffle board and then Aaron cooled off in the pool and I dipped my feet in and read for a while.
We went back to the room and started packing for our flight the next morning. At that point I realized that we left my purse in the safe at the hotel in the city! Aghhh!! I did have my license, so I could fly home, but my credit card, bank card and $40 cash were all in the purse. I called the hotel right away and they said someone in security said they would check the safe for us and call me back that night. They never called and even though I knew that I could cancel my cards and $40 wasn't that much money, I hardly got any rest that night.

NY Day 3

This morning we took our time getting around and headed to Cental Park, which was just a few blocks north of our hotel. We thought about taking a carriage ride, but decided to see it by foot. We only ended up making it about 1/3 of the way into the park, but there was so much to see in just that little area that we were ok not seeing the rest. We stumbled across a visitor's center on our walk and they directed us to a beautiful area with a fountain and a pond. There were people renting row boats in the pond and we thought about doing it, but the pond was really small and there were a lot of boats, so we decided just to watch. There was a large cafe overlooking the pond and we were hungry, so we stopped to check it out. Unfortunately it was fairly hoity-toity which meant there were only 5 things on the menu and the cheapest was $27.50 (a hamburger). We decided to keep walking and we'd find something that we'd like better. We headed back towards our hotel through the park taking a different path. We ran across another pond, this time it was full of rented mini sailboats -- very picturesque. Aaron saw a family with an RC speed boat, so he watched it. We later saw the sign that said they were forbidden!

After that we ended up going through the children's area, which has a zoo and some carnival rides. There was also a restaurant. Well, we thought it was a restaurant, but it was really a grab-and-go cafeteria, but we were so hungry by that time that we decided to go ahead and eat. The food was actually pretty good, we shared a small pizza and a quesadilla. We sat outside and could watch all of the people walking through the park. I don't know if any of you have read (or seen) the Nannie Diaries, but I kept thinking about it as I'd see women walking by with children that obviously weren't theirs.

We went back by the hotel for a nap and then headed back out to go to the Empire State Building. Our hotel had such a great view of the city, we weren't interested to go to the top, but we wanted to go by the building and thought it would be a nice walk to an area we hadn't visited. On our way back we stopped by a Chinese restaurant for dinner and then decided to walk some more and we stumbled across Rockafeller Center. The skating rink was a restaurant and we saw 3 armed (automatic weapons!) police officers. It freaked me out because we had been to many other areas that had to have been extremely high security areas, but we hadn't seen that type of security. When we left, we saw 3 other officers staked out along one side of the rink. Maybe there was a celebrity eating and they had hired police security? Either way it was a little scary!

NY Day 2

We got up in the morning and decided to check out the continential breakfast. We got up to the cafeteria and there was a long line to wait in just to get in, so we decided that we'd rather find somewhere on our walk to the subway station to eat. I still had to finish getting ready, so we went back to the room and I finished up. We decided to go by the cafeteria once more to see if the wait was better and it was, so we snuck in. They just had fruit and breads, but it was enough and tasted good. The view was great and we could see Central Park (from our room, which was a few floors lower and a few rooms further in we couldn't see the park).

After breakfast we headed to Times Square to get on the subway to go to the South Ferry area (Battery Park, Statue of Liberty, WTC). We bought all day passes. The subway was very clean and not crowded at all. We got to the South Ferry and decided to head to the area along the river where we could see the Statue of Liberty. The area along the river was very pretty and the weather was great, so we sat and watched the boats for a while.

Then we headed into Battery Park and walked around a bit and watched some street performers, the mile long line to the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, and lots of pidgeons. It was a fun area and full of so many interesting things. From there, we walked to the World Trade Center site. It was my first day of a lot of walking and I was getting tired pretty quickly, so we stopped a couple times on the way, even though it was a fairly short walk. It was a bit of a bummer that I was so worn out because I don't think I took the time to think about the site and what had happened there and was more focused on wanting to sit down and get a drink. Aaron did get a few good pictures of the progress thus far. While he was doing that, I squatted down for a minute to rest my legs. As soon as I had bent down, a security person hollered and me and told me to stand up. I understood, but man I wanted to rest my legs! We moved on into one of the World Financial buildings, which had a better view than the first place we were out (still no seating though) and Aaron took a few more pictures.

After visiting the WTC site, we walked back down to Battery Park via a different route that was along the river. There were benches every 100 feet or so, so we sat down a few times and watched the river traffic. Aaron even stopped for a long while to watch an Asian family who was fishing in the river. They never caught anything while he was watching, but it looked like fun. I certianly wouldn't eat the fish from that river though! Yuck!

When we got back to the South Ferry area, we decided to take the Staten Island Ferry, which drives right by the Statue of Liberty (we didn't want to wait in the mile-long line to visit it and Ellis Island). The ferry was huge! As we made our way near the SoL, everyone moved to that side of the boat and it was hard to see. But, folks were nice and moved out of the way to let everyone have a view. We moved over the other other side of the boat and could see the Brooklyn Bridge. When we got to Staten Island, they made us disembark and then reimbark. We thought we'd hop off, go through security, wait about 10 minutes for the boat to be cleared, and then get back on. WRONG! We ended up waiting in a huge group of people for about 45 minutes, most who were European (i.e., they stood way closer to a pregnant lady than she wanted them to!). We finally got back on the boat and decided to ride on a different level than we had on our first trip and it was much less crowded, so we had a very nice ride. Here's Little Miss Cain as we went by the SoL. The picture makes it look a lot farther away than it really was.

After the ferry ride, we headed to China Town and Little Italy. The subway stop was right at the point where they meet. China Town was EXACTLY like I pictured it.

There were lots of fruit and fish markets (yes, they smelled horrible) and tons of merchants on the street. You'd walk by someone on the corner and they'd say "Coach purse? Watch? Or DVD! DVD! DVD!" Designer purses aren't my thing, even if they are super cheap, but we did look at some watches for Aaron and had to get some DVDs (more on them later). The watches weren't as cheap as I would have expected, and we passed on them. Aaron later found one at a vendor on the street by our hotel for $5 and it looked nicer than most of what we had seen in China Town. We bought a few I love NY shirts and headed to Little Italy for an early dinner. There were so many places to choose from and the entire area had the wonder aroma of Italian cooking. We finally decided on a restaurant that had a host outside who had been talking to us. We went in and waited and waited and waited. After 10 minutes without service (there were only 2 other people in the restaurant and the waiter wasn't doing anything) we left. Of course as soon as we got up the waiter and host ran over to us, but it was too little too late and we decided to find somewhere else to eat. Boy was I glad we did! We found a place called Benito's II. It was small and quaint and appeard to be "family owned" (if you know what I mean). But, the food was amazing and the staff was super friendly. We both had tortellini, mine with cream sauce and Aaron's with red sauce. We shared and neither of us could decide which was the best.

After eating we headed back to the subway stop to head back to the hotel. My pass wouldn't work, but the guy working buzzed me through and off we went. We got to the station where we needed to transfer lines and my card still wouldn't work. There wasn't anyone working in that area, so we headed above ground and I called customer service. Of course they don't have a 24 hour help line (even though the subways run 24 hours...), so we had to find the nearest station with personnel. Luckily it was only a few blocks away and we didn't mind getting to check out another area of town (this time it was NoHo and SoHo). We didn't get any pictures, but it seemed like it would have been a fun area to explore. We made it to the station and tried my pass again and it still didn't work, so we went to the guy working. They sit behind a huge glass window, which is probably nearly impossible to penetrate and I now know why. :) When we asked him to look at my pass he grabbed it and said "there's nothing wrong with it." I swiped it in front of him and he said it must be the machine, so I said that I had tried it at 2 other stations in multiple machines that many other people were using. He still said it wasn't the card. I asked he could just get us a replacement and he shrugged his shoulders in a very rude way and said no. I went on a bit trying to get him to help us and finally got so mad that I stomped off and threw my card across the station. I don't really have much of a temper, but it was unbelievable how rude he was! I asked Aaron later if he'd ever seen me so mad at someone besides him and he laughed and said no. I went over to the ticket machine and was getting ready to buy another ticket when the woman who had been in line behind us came up to me and gave me her old pass (she had been buying one for the next month and had enough for a couple stops on her current card). It was so nice of her to do and I let her know how appreciative I was. We hopped back on the subway and rode back to our hotel. We stopped by an ice cream shop and then headed back to our room to watch one of the DVDs. We turned it on and I immediately started cracking up! It was everything I thought it would be -- it was obviously taped by someone at a movie theater, the camera was angled crooked, and once during the movie you could see someone stand up in front! Ha! Ha! Yes, I felt bad for buying a bootlegged movie, but it is just one of those things that you have to do if you visit China Town and it was well worth it. So, the movie wasn't nearly as good as we had hoped, but the bootleg factor made up for it.

NY Day 1

Our first full day in New York we got up and hit the continential breakfast and then checked out of the hotel. We hopped in the rental car and powered up the Nuvi and trekked to visit the OCC shop. It was about an hour away and one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on. Here we are at a scenic rest stop overlooking the Hudson river. Baby too of course!

The GPS didn't know the address for the new OCC shop, so we had to call them when we got to Newburgh, but it was easy to find. Here is Aaron standing in front of the building.I didn't mind going there especially since Aaron really want to, but really didn't think I'd enjoy it. I was wrong though. It was neat to see all of their special bikes and we were able to go to a "viewing area" to watch them working on bikes. The only person from the show we saw was Rick. We heard one of the workers tell someone else that everyone was there, but we had looked online and Mikey had an event the next day somewhere a ways away and then I heard one of the sales people talking to one of the mechanics about how Paul, Sr was gone. So, I'm guessing that none of them were there. It was alright though since they have so many bikes on display.
After OCC, we got on the road for NYC. We had planned to go back to White Plains and take a train to Grand Central Station and then a taxi to our hotel, but the lady at the rental car station talked us into taking the car into Manhattan to a drop that was close to our hotel. We left OCC at 3pm so we could make it to the drop by 5pm. It was a little longer than 1 hour drive according to the GPS and we figured we needed to add a bit for traffic. To start it off, I had changed the settings on the GPS to avoid tolls. Bad idea because apparently the only way to get to NYC without tolls is via Cleveland! We thought the GPS was going haywire and spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out where to go. I finally realized what happened and it routed us right to the drop, no worries. We headed on the road and the drive was still very pretty up until about the time we hit New Jersey when it turned into city. About the time we were able to see the NYC skyline we hit traffic. I could tell right away that it was going to push us to the time limit with the car, so I called the rental station to give them a heads up in hopes that we could avoid a fee ($33 per hour for the first 2 hours and then a full rental fee for longer than that). Of course they said, "tough". We figured we could stll make it before 6 and figured we'd just have to eat the fee. Well, 6 rolls around and we had gone 1.5 miles from 5. I kid you not. I don't know if it was normal for Friday evening to go to Manhattan island, but it was horrible. We finally made it to the Lincoln Tunnel at around 6:45 (it was 1.5 miles from where we were at 6). After we got to the tunnel things started moving and we got into Manhattan and quickly found the rental station. It was just before 7 and we were trying to get into the booth to check in before 7 to save some money, but they were busy. Aaron had to move everything out of the car while I waited in line. It finally got to me and I politely asked if they could remove the late fee. The guy working laughed and said no that's not something they can do. He had to take a call right then, so I sat and waited. Well, in my pregnant hormonal state (wink) I started to tear up. Ok, I was pretty upset and was probably really was close to tears out of frustration, but I probably could have hidden it better than I did. While he was on the phone he was finishing up our check-out. He got off the phone and told me the total -- which did not include any late fees. Who hoo! It was so funny because he was so grumpy when I got there, but after that he was all smiles and really friendly. It was really nice and make the beginning of our time in the city a lot better. We headed to our hotel, which was just a few blocks away. We hailed our first taxi, which was pretty exciting. We were staying at the Hilton that was located just south of Central Park and a few blocks east of Times Square. It was a great location and I got a great deal on it. When we got there, we asked them to add Aaron's points to it (he stays at Hilton hotels a lot for business). When the lady was adding it, she said she was going to upgrade us to an executive level, which we think moved us from a lower floor to a higher floor (the 40th! out of 44) and gave us access to the executive lounge which included free continential breakfast and access to wireless internet in that area. We both had some vertigo when we looked out the hotel room!

After we settled in the room, we headed out to find dinner. It was pretty late for me, so I wanted to find something fast. We just wandered aimlessly hoping to stumble across something that looked good. What we didn't realize was that we stumbled into Times Square! It took us walking around a while in that area to realize where we were. We found a pizza shop that our chiropractor had mentioned and tried it out. We carried the food out and walked towards our hotel. We found a nice fountain on the way and stopped and sat on its edge to eat. There were a lot of people walking by, but it also felt like we were alone. The pizza was great and we were tired, so we headed back to the hotel for bed.

I had hoped to update you on our whole trip tonight, but it is way past my bedtime already, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to learn about the rest of our trip!

I've arrived!

After an interesting day, I made it into White Plains last night around 6:30. My day started off with a 3 hour flight from KC to Philly. I ended up sitting next to a woman who was probably in her mid to late 50s that didn't speak English. Additionally, she was traveling with a baby on her lap. He was probably 14 months if I had to guess. She was very nice, but obviously we couldn't communicate. I had to help her get in and out of her bag a few times to get stuff for the baby and before the flight attendant would come over she'd try to work with me to make sure I knew what she needed so it didn't cause too much distraction for the flight attendant. She spoke enough English words that it ended up alright. The baby was pretty good too (thank goodness!). He fell asleep shortly after takeoff and slept for about 2 hours. But, he was fussy when he woke up and cried for probably 15 minutes. I felt so bad for her because you could tell it was exactly what she didn't want to happen. All in all, I thought it was a neat experience.

When we got into Philly and were about to board the plane, they told us there was a maintenance issue. Great. We ended up being delayed for about an hour. The funny thing is, I think that it probably isn't much more than an hour to drive from Philly to White Plains! The flight wasn't even 30 minutes long. The issue they had was with the A/C. I'm not sure they really got it fixed because it was still pretty warm on the flight. Luckliy it was short.

Aaron was waiting for me when I landed and we got our rental car and checked into the hotel. It is really nice! We used some points he had earned traveling to book the room and it is one of the nicest rooms I've stayed in. We don't have a way to post pics until we get home, but I'll take some and post them after we return.

Bon Voyage!

I'm all packed and ready to go! Aaron left on Sunday and has been in Crotonville, NY for the last few days at his leadership program. Tomorrow I will be flying into White Plains, NY to meet him and then we'll stay the night in White Plains and get a rental car for the day on Friday. Aaron really wants to visit the OCC shop, which is about an hour away from where we are staying, so we will probably get up on Friday and drive there. Who knows where our driving adventure will take us from there! Friday evening we'll head into the city to spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Monday evening we will head back to the White Plains area so we can catch our early flight home the next morning. Aaron will have his computer, so hopefully we'll be able to post a few times while we're traveling.

Lots of Updates

First, I want to wish Grandma Long a happy belated birthday!

In additional to Grandma's birthday, Saturday was our 5th anniversary. I had to leave before Aaron got up that morning to start getting ready for Chris and Heather's wedding. The bridesmaids met at their house to get our hair and makeup done. They did a great job with the hair and makeup and it really made me feel a lot better about myself (yes, I am to that point in pregnancy where I tend to feel like a big blob even though my belly isn't all that big). Heather though was beautiful! She looked absolutely perfect. I am so happy for her and Chris, they are a great couple. The wedding was very nice and their son Grant was one of the cutest ring bearers ever.

I ended up leaving the reception around 10:30 pm to head home. Aaron made it to the wedding but couldn't make it to the reception, so we really hadn't seen each other all day. Of course I was worn out and only managed to stay awake about 20 minutes after I got home. We did manage to sneak in our anniversary ritual, which is to eat a bite of our wedding cake. I know the traditional ritual is just to have a piece on your first anniversary, but for some reason we decided to do it the 2nd year and have kept it up. So far we've survived, so I'm not too worried about eating it and it is a fun tradition -- even though I don't like cake! We have a little over 1/2 of the cake left and Aaron says that we have to get another one when it runs out.

In case you are wondering how I looked all preggers in my bridesmaids dress, here is a pic that Aaron took when I got home. I think you can tell that I'm really tired!

Take our Baby Name Polls

Check out this link to see a poll where you can vote for your favorite name that we're considering: http://www.babyzone.com/babynames/bnpoll.asp?pollid=126228

This link will take you to a site where you can give the names a thumbs up or down:
http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9435607

The names are listed in alphabetical order. We make no promises that we'll choose your favorite name or even one on the list, but they are our top picks right now!

Our Newest Addition

We bought a truck yesterday. It seems like we're always borrowing Chris' to haul this or that and we'd really like to get a boat and we ran across this opportunity for $300 and decided to get it. Aaron had to replace the alternator and some wires and spark plugs, but now it seems to be running pretty well and should help us a lot to haul things. It isn't the prettiest thing, but it will get the job done. Now for a boat!!!

Nursery Update

We got the hutch together and situated the furniture in the nursery yesterday. I thought I'd post updated pictures. The hutch has black backing to put behind it, but I'm going to try to find some paper or to decorate it with to add a punch of color.

Nursery Furniture

The nursery is no where close to being presentable, but I thought I'd post some pics of the furniture. Yes, all the clothes you see by the crib are the clothes that Kim is letting us borrow -- just NB and 0-3 month sizes!!! I think I'm going to get some different pull knobs for the dresser, maybe some light pink glass ones. It doesn't look too bad in the picture, but I don't think the black ones look very good.