38 weeks and counting....Happy Birthday to Me! :)

Well, I am 38 weeks and 30 years old as I write this today! :) I guess Zoe decided she wanted to come in my thirties instead of my twenties. :) Fine with me! She will come when she is good and ready! I do think it might be fun to have her today on my birthday...what a neat gift!

I went to the doctor again this week (Wednesday, July 15th) . I am progressing so that is good news. I am still at 3 cm dilated, but she did say that the baby had descended quite a bit in a week! I knew this all ready because my hips don't lie! I am currently 60% effaced. She said it could be any day or could be all the way to my due date on July 29th. I am hoping she decides to come before the 27th since that is the date my parents leave to be with Kelly Ann. I know they would like to be there for both babies to enter this world!

Last night Zoe was a movin' and a groovin,' and I had some crazy feelings going on. I ended up laying down and everything went away. We thought it might be something...but it was a false alarm. :) I had predicted that she was going to come yesterday to Geoff, but I guess I was wrong! I will just have to make a new prediction now!

I have been feeling okay for the most part this week. I am moving a little slower and wanting to sleep a little longer lately. I still went to the gym most days, but my time on the machines is getting a bit shorter. I know I won't be allowed to go to the gym for a while once Zoe is here, so I am trying to stay active until then. I do feel so much better when I go there! :) I attribute part of my easy pregnancy to my continuation of exercise. :)

Today is my birthday, and I am celebrating 30 wonderful years of life. I feel ready to take that next step in life with our new little girl. I am incredibility blessed to have such a wonderful life filled with such great friends and family. I am very happy and have an awesome husband to keep me laughing and on my toes! :) I know our daughter is just going to add to that fun! Praise be to God for all things!

I sit here and wonder if I will be blogging again next week.....we will see! :)

37 weeks and counting...

It is July....and you know what that means...watermelon! :) According to the site that I had been using to compare Zoe to the fruit and veggies, she is the size of a watermelon! How appropriate! Some days it honestly feels like that is what I am carrying around with me. It is amazing how much she has grown in 9 months!

This past week (Tuesday July 7) we went to the doctor and to my surprise she informed me that I was 3 cm dilated all ready! I laughed out loud and then proceeded to ask her if she was kidding. If you know my doctor, that is a crazy thing to ask! :) (she is very serious...good doctor...but wouldn't joke... :)) I was amazed! I kept repeating to Geoff the rest of the day that I was 3 cm. She even told me to pack my bag! (interesting fact....I packed on Saturday afternoon!) I have been expecting something to happen since that day, but here I am almost a week since then and still the same. I am anxiously awaiting my appointment Wednesday to find out how I have progressed in a weeks time. I know she will come when she is ready. I don't want to rush anything, but I think about it all the time now since I know I am 3 cm.

We are finished with the nursery except for hanging one piece of art and waiting for my glider to come in. I have packed my bag and made the lists of people to text or call. So now we wait for our little girl to make her arrival! :) I am feeling really good still and have made it a couple of times to the gym still. It is a lot harder for me to do normal activities these past few weeks, and I definitely get tired more quickly. My main complaint is still my hands and sleeping, but I feel pretty blessed with how easy my pregnancy has been! My feelings about the end are mixed of happiness and sadness. I know it sounds weird, but I will miss being pregnant. I know that will be overshadowed completely though with the love and happiness of having her in my arms instead! :) People ask me a lot if I am scared about having her and the pain of labor. It is so weird, but I have no anxiety about this at all. I have a peace about it. I feel like I know it going to happen....I want it to happen...and I am ready. I believe that the Lord is in control and his will be done. I am thankful for all the prayers from others for this pregnancy for our Zoe.

Well...posting again soon unless I go into labor before then...

29...30...31...32...33...34...35...36 weeks and counting! OH MY!

Oh baby! :) Has it really been 8 weeks since I last blogged! I hope this isn't a sign of what is to come with my blogging. It is awesome to see the counter on the page say 25 days until Zoe's arrival! I am so excited to meet our precious little girl in person! I can't begin to go through everything that has happened in those 8 weeks, but I have to say it has been wonderful and we are all doing great!

We had our last doctor's appointment on June 22. We were able to have a ultrasound again to see our Zoe again. She is looking good, and the doctor said she looked like she was right on track. From the measurements she took, she was weighing 4.5 lbs at the time which is normal for the number of weeks I was. We go the doctor again this Tuesday, July 7th to see what the progress has been. I think after this appointment we will start going every week to check everything out! I am hoping to carry her a little longer just to make sure those lungs get fully developed!

We are basically done with the nursery. I love it and it is definitely a collaborative effort from Geoff and I. He definitely put in the time to make it a special place for his little girl! :) I really don't have much left but to begin washing everything! :) Everything is put away, but I need to take it all back out and wash it before she comes. This task is a bit daunting considering all that I put away! Ha! :) I am still waiting on a chair that I ordered and to hang a couple of pictures, but if she came today we would be fine! Except her mommy has not packed her bag yet either! :)

We have gone to a couple of classes to help prepare ourselves for Zoe. I am so thankful for Conway Regional Women's Center and the awesome staff and facility they have there. I went to an awesome breastfeeding class while Geoff was away, and together we went to an all day childbirth class last Saturday. I know that I am more prepared because of those good instructors. Tuesday night we will go to our final class we have registered for which is a Baby Basics class which will definitely be helpful as well. I know nothing will really prepare us, but we are doing our best to try to be as educated as possible.

Currently, I am still feeling really great for 36 week pregnant person. I am still able to go the gym and do some light lifting. I am able to do pretty much what I want everyday. Praise be to God! I have had some pain in my hands due to swelling, but better my hands than my feet! My feet are swollen, but it is nothing compared to my hands. I have claws in the morning instead of fingers!!! :) Ha! My only complaint is laying down and rolling over. These tasks are difficult and a bit painful at times. I prefer being up and running around still. The more I move the better I feel. Zoe moves a lot during the day and makes her presence known. I will miss these feelings the good and not so pleasant ones. I am blessed beyond measure right now, and I feel like everything is as it should be. Our family is growing by 1, but joy it is growing exponentially! :)

28 weeks and counting...

3rd Trimester...baby! Oh yeah!!! :) I am so proud to reach this milestone for some reason. I feel some since of accomplishment or something! It is sort of strange. We are definitely getting excited for Zoe to be here! Although, we still have a lot of work to do! :)

This has been a full week, and I know that they will all be pretty full for the rest of time for a while. I love to be busy, so I am happy! :) We finally went to register at Babies R Us this week, so I think we are registered for everything we need! (Ha!) We are really guessing when we are at those stores, so we will see! :) It is fun to use that scanner thing again!

This week I also did the invitations for my sister's baby shower and went to the Kris Allen American Idol concert in Conway. The concert was for the final three contestants, and so Kris came home to Conway to a big crowd! Zoe enjoyed her first concert! Her mommy was tired after standing for three hours in the heat and humidity! :) My body was a bit swollen before the night was over. I had a great time, and it was definitely worth it! :) I am happy that I have been able to do so much while I have been pregnant. I know some pregnancies are not nearly as easy as mine has been so far!

I went to the doctor this week! Zoe is doing great! Her heartbeat sounded really good. My glucola test also came back with good results. That is the test where they are checking for gestational diabetes. They have you drink this really sugary drink (like a Sunkist pop with heaps of sugar added....not that yummy believe it or not) and then wait an hour to draw blood. They test to see how your body processed the sugar. I was relieved to hear the results from that test. Our next appointment is on June 1 which is right before Geoff leaves for Montreat! :)

The nursery is still coming along. It is a work in progress. We have received a bunch of stuff we ordered, but we are still working on finishing the paint! :) I know it can come together quickly once we really take the time to focus on it! I am excited to see the final product! It won't be long!

Happy Mother's Day weekend to all the mommies out there! It is a amazing that I am a mommie to be myself. :) I know my life is going to change forever, and it is a wonderful thing! I so happy right now, and I can't imagine the joy that Zoe is going to our hearts! :)

Registries

Hey everyone! It's Geoff this time.

We have a few baby showers coming up. We're so grateful for everyone and shocked that people want to buy Zoe and us stuff. Here are links to the three places we've registered. Many of the same items are registered at all three places, so you may want to shop around and find the best deal. Just click on the store name to view the registry.

Amazon.com | Babies "R" Us | Target

Again, thanks so much for all that you are doing for us. We are in awe that people want to help us get what we need to welcome Zoe! We're on our way in Week 29, and I'm sure Krista will post more soon.

24...25...26...27 weeks and counting...

27 weeks!!! I cannot believe the counter on this page says 88 days to go!!!! :) I love being pregnant! I guess I haven't blogged in a while! I didn't think it had been this long! It has been a busy month I guess. I haven't blogged since April 7th and today is May 1st (Toad Suck Daze weekend)! :)

Okay, well let's see if I can recap this month of my pregnancy before I slip into the 3rd trimester next week!!! I cannot even believe it!

Well, on the pregnancy front I have been feeling pretty good. I went to the doctor and the heartbeat sounded great, but I am putting on a little too much weight! (LOL!) I go to the doctor on Tuesday of this next week, but I am kind of scared of the same results! I have been having some pain right side high up in my abdomen. My doctor had me go get my gall bladder checked out because they really thought it was a little to high to be Zoe. There is not a woman in my family (both sides) besides my sister that still has a gall bladder in place! However, my ultrasound showed that my gall bladder looked fine! Praise be to God! The nurse said it was something probably being inflamed by Zoe. I guess it is just my Zoe letting me know she is there with me all the time! :) Despite that minor pain in the side, I feel really great most of the time! I have started having some swelling in my feet this week, but nothing to really bother me. I have been really lazy about doing exercise lately though (which is unlike me if you know me very well). The last time I did any exercise was a walk LAST Saturday!!!! I am planning on going to the gym today and getting back on the wagon! It is good for me and Zoe! :)

On the nursery front, I have completely different plans since the last time I posted. The bedding I ordered (which I loved) never came in....we finally called them and it was discontinued! I wonder if they would have ever contacted us with this information! It made me very upset, and more upset because I had start over again and lost that time. The next day I ordered this new bedding set from restoration hardware baby and child. I am completely over the other bedding and fiasco, and I am completely loving the new nursery plan! I think about this nursery constantly. It is almost crazy. I just want to finish it fast for some reason!!! Geoff has been great especially on this front! He is amazingly talented and pretty much can make happen anything I can dream up!!! He is a jack of all trades for sure! :) He has been working on the painting since last Saturday. I have been helping with the designing and taping, but the painting is all Geoff. It looks awesome, and I will post pictures soon! Geoff is also working on some photography for the nursery as well! He built a light box last night and made a little studio in our kitchen to take the pictures. I am posting one of the shots (see above) he took last night! More to follow soon! Praise be to God for an amazing husband and future father! My furniture came in this week, along with my curtains and lamp! The rug is on the way as of this morning! I know it will all come together soon, and it makes me feel much more relaxed! I am throwing a baby shower for my sister on May 30th, so I need to finish so I can spend time making it super special and cute!!!! I have two showers planned for this month (so we have to register today!) and it is really exciting and meaningful to me! It is fun to celebrate Zoe before she is even here! :)

I am so happy right now. I have so much to be thankful for that my heart overflows with joy. I hope my happiness spills over onto others in my life! :)

23 weeks and counting...

Well, I just got back from the OB and I can report that everything is going well with little Zoe! The heartbeat sounded strong, and we are thankful! :)

It is hard to believe that 23 weeks have gone by! It is going so fast! I am trying to enjoy it and take note of all the exciting feelings and things that are going on. Last week I went back to work after spring break and had to do parent teacher conferences. It made for a long week for me and Zoe. We had a nice weekend with the Ryken family and celebrated Easter a week early at our new house. Zoe received a really nice book from her Aunt Jen about Easter signed by the author. I can't wait to see what books she will end up liking the most! :) Right now all the books that I read are about babies! :)

I am still waiting on the bedding to be shipped to our house (it is supposed to be in the orange and pink in the picture to the right) so I can give an update on the nursery. We did get a crib this weekend though from Zoe's other Aunt Renee'! :) Korbi's (and now Zoe's) crib is white and it is going to be perfect in the nursery. It is nice to have family that can help you out and definitely help save some money! Hopefully we will work on the nursery a bit this weekend and maybe even put the crib together! :) The bedding is what I am waiting on to really get going. I need it so I can decide on paint and curtains and all that fun stuff! :) All in good time! I know Zoe will like whatever we put together! :)

I have been feeling really good. I am definitely getting on the larger side and having trouble getting around as quick as I want to. Simple things like rolling over are definitely more challenging than before! :) Geoff and I laugh at me....and it is kind of funny most of the time! :) I definitely love feeling that Zoe is always with me wherever I go. I love the closeness we share. I wish that Geoff could feel some of what I get to experience. Also, so I could laugh at him if he had trouble rolling over! :)