Do You Know What You’re Having?

Yes, actually. Yes,I do know. I am having a BABY! I think right now, others are more interested in the gender of the ever growing baby in my belly than I am. I have been too stressed out with multiple doctor’s appointments, dealing with pregnancy complications, and still trying to live the rest of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I am very excited to know, but it doesn’t change the fact that my focus is on having a successful pregnancy and a healthy baby to bring home sometime late December or early January. I was actually on Team Green (Don’t find out until the delivery room) until my husband (and my mom, to some extent) talked me out of it due to timing. All that to say, we will know SOON!

Short sidebar – we went to the specialist in Oklahoma City yesterday and got to see Baby again! (Still no crotch shot as requested BY US!) Baby is doing great. Still measuring a bit on the small side, but growing steadily. There was no mention of “the spot” so we are thinking that is gone now (God is SO GOOD!), and according to the Doctor, “Everything looks good!” It is still so amazing to see the heartbeat on that huge screen! Incredible! And, we don’t have to go back unless our doctor here wants another growth screen done at 30 weeks – I will find out about that next week.

On Sunday, the Dream Weavers will know if Baby is a “Shcoker” or a “Shockerette.” We are so ready to know, so we can answer the tiring age old question, “Do you know what you are having yet?” It will also be fun to start referring to the Baby by name (no – not yet), planning the “nursery” (north wall of my bedroom), and feeling more connected to him or her. And, we want to get YOU involved, too, so I am having a little contest here on my blog!

Do you have a guess? Are you Thinking Pink or are you on Team Blue? I want to know – and there is the possibility some swag in it for you if are right! So, post away my friends! Comment here on this post, and I will pick one winner from the right team (Team Pink or Team Blue) and award you with a $15 Amazon.com gift certificate! Here are the rules:

• · One guess per reader

• · You must “sign” your post somehow so you are identifiable. If you insist on posting as “anonymous,” you must use a name somewhere in the post so I know who you are

• · You must guess by commenting HERE ON THE BLOG under this post – guesses on Facebook or Twitter won’t count for the contest

• · All entries are due by 12 midnight CST on Saturday, August 27, 2011

• · The winner will be chosen from the pool of correct guesses by random.com

• · I will post the winner of the contest on Monday, August 29, 2011

• · This is a simple contest on a simple blog. If someone tries to make it too complicated, I will simply rescind the whole thing. PLAY NICE and have fun!

So, get to guessing! I can’t wait to see what you all think! And, I am excited to find out for myself on Sunday!

First Day of School

The rest of last week went by relatively smoothly.  I took Thursday off from work to hang out for the LAST day of summer with my kids.  We hung out doing very little in the morning – breakfast, a few chores, board games, puzzles, and of course fights – then we loaded up after lunch and went to see The Smurf movie.  Jake absolutely LOVED it!  The girls really enjoyed it to, but it was so fun to sit next to Jake and hear him exclaim in excitement as crazy things happened up on the big screen!  He was fascinated, and it made me feel like a kid again!  After Dad got off work, he surprised us with another little last day of summer treat – dinner at Eskimo Joe’s!  It was SUCH a nice day, and a great way to cap off summer as we start a new school year.  We got home from dinner, everyone showered, and they were all in bed by 7:40!  WOOT!

Friday was the first day of a new school year.  The girls started 4^th grade, and while Lara’s best friend is in her class again, Emma is in a classroom where she knows a lot of the kids, but is not very close to any of them.  Knowing her, that will change quickly.  And Little Jake Weaver is now in Pre-Kindergarten at the Big School with his sisters!  He is my worrier (I won’t even begin to describe the conversation we had about a smoke detector last night), and he was verklempt that he wouldn’t know anyone in his class.  He ended up with 2 other kids from his class at the day care, and another child from a different class at day care that he knows.  He is THRILLED!  And yes, he is a head taller that all his friends…  

 

The first day went really well.  We were AMAZED at how many parents were there for drop off the first day, and I guess pick up was just as bad.  My mom handled pick up for me, and 2 excited 4^th graders + an inexperienced 4 year old + a worrier of a Nana = CHAOS and a phone call to me! LOL!  But, it all worked out.  The first few days are always a mess, but the kinks work themselves out eventually.  Jake did ask about 10 times over the weekend about who was taking him to school each day and who was picking him up, and we have instructed his sisters to work extra hard to show him how things work, so we’ll see how today goes!

The rest of the weekend was uneventful.  I slept most of it away, while my amazing husband cleaned our house, did our laundry, took all 3 kids with him to Wal-Mart to buy our groceries, and basically took up all the slack this baby and I are dropping lately. I did make it to church on Sunday to serve the whole day as Host team Leader with Britt, and I managed to sit a lot of that time – but I did go in to the experience room all 3 times to hear Dana sing Gaga “Born This Way” (and now it is stuck in my head forever!).   It’s hard to “take it easy” with a full time a job, a full time husband, 3 full time kids, and a house to take care of.  Britt feels the brunt of this, and deserves HUGE props for just doing it and not making me feel bad about it at all.  Best. Husband. Ever.

So, here’s to a new week!  The kids go to school all 5 days this week – so about Thursday I expect someone to be crying in the morning.  I go to see the specialist in OKC tomorrow, but other than that there is NOTHING on the calendar this week!  AMAZING!  I want to encourage you to stay tuned to the blog this week!  We will find out if Baby is a “Shocker” or a “Shockerette” on Sunday, and I have a little contest I will be announcing later this week where YOU, my dear reader, can win a fun prize!  Be watching for details!

P.S.  Freakin’ nose bleeds!  UGH!

It's Shrinking

I was really hoping for a (relatively) normal week.  I am super busy this week, what with the girls’ last trip to see their dad, dentist appointments, meet your teacher, and the first day of school, but I was anticipating no additional drama.  Boy was I wrong!  Nothing too disturbing, and it was a Monday after all, but it did throw me into a panic for a couple of hours.

I am determined to document as much as I can about this pregnancy.  For two main reasons. First – I have a terrible memory, and this way I can look back and say “Oh yeah!  I was 16 weeks when such and such happened” or “It was around the 3^rd month when I started feeling this way.” And second, maybe someday baby Shocker will want to read about this time in his/her life.  I have a journal I kept when I was pregnant with the girls, and this blog encompasses Jake’s pregnancy as well.  So, I have 2 events to record today one minor, and another a little more major.  Plus I had a couple of people ask about baby updates over the weekend, so here we go.

We had a crazy busy weekend.  Saturday, I spent 5 hours in the heat at my sorority house helping volunteer at Bid Day.  I have 81 new sisters, but I also had sore feet, a tired back, and a growing baby to contend with.  Then, as a family, we went to a birthday (pool) party Saturday night.  Then, I tried to rest on Sunday, but I served at church, then we went out to lunch (I took a 3 hour nap), then to my grandmother’s for her birthday.  WHEW!  Tired.  All of this to say that also sometime over the weekend, my baby and my belly “popped out.”  I went to get dressed Monday morning, and I was putting on non-maternity  jeans I had worn mid-week last week and was able to still button, and they were TIGHT and I could not even pull the zipper up more than a half inch!  I donned my belly band and my T-shirt anyway, but it is time to find some maternity pants.  UGH.  My boss mentioned it when I got to work and my mom even noticed when she saw me last night.

But the real drama came on Monday afternoon.  For 2 hours midday, I volunteered at OSU to work a registration table at Welcome Week.  Basically, without going into gory details,  I had some minor baby issues earlier Monday morning, then after my volunteer shift, they got bad enough I believed they warranted a phone call to the nurse.  I called in about 2pm, and then tried to distract myself with work while waiting for a call back.  I finally got a call about 4, saying to come in NOW for an ultrasound.  Britt and I only had one car on campus, and I had not alerted him to my situation.  So, I called him saying, don’t ask questions, I am on my way to pick you up, we are going to the doctor’s office, and I will explain on the way.  Once I got to my car, I called my mom to have her pick up Jake from day care.  Once at the doctor’s office, we got to see Baby Shocker on that wonderful little grey and black screen!  Baby looks great, heart rate is good, fluid levels normal, growing well.  And lo and behold, “The Spot” (that has been causing us some worry and lots of watching) is SHRINKING!  Bold Prayer is WORKING!   The sonogram tech was almost giddy with this discovery.  And of course, so were Britt and I!  We went to our doctor’s office for a few minutes to discuss, but this all seems so good!  I was told to take it easy (again) – and no more weekends like last weekend!  I am to monitor what’s going on, and if it changes or gets worse to call the doctor.  I will see the specialist in OKC a week from today, and I see my doctor here the week after that, so I feel well monitored for the next 2 weeks.

Did you see that?  It’s SHRINKING!  While I am still a medical anomaly, I am so excited to see this problem resolving itself.  God is good – ALL THE TIME!