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!