Maternity Photos

Will and I viewed our maternity photos today, and they turned out great!! We are very pleased with all the pictures and had a very difficult time picking our favorites! There are about 5 pictures posted on www.modernphotographics.com under their "Check Out our Blog" heading. We're so glad that they were open to taking such creative photos. Check them out... they're really awesome shots! Enjoy!

One Week to Our Due Date

There is officially one week left until my due date, June 3. I am getting very excited about the impending birth of our baby. I never imagined how uncomfortable I would get at the end of this pregnancy, but I am definitely starting to feel it. I have been sleeping better, off and on, with some nights being great and others being not so great. Last night was a not so great night. I think I slept for about 4 hours. It seems to be about every other night that I get a good night's rest.

The doctor was right when he told me that I would probably start retaining water. My ankles have really started to swell up over the past few days. It's gross. I hate pitting edema. It makes me feel like a 90 year old with heart failure! It's strange to feel like you're wearing socks when you're really not!

I have been working on the "belly book" (a weekly journal I've kept over the entire pregnancy), and I organized all of our pictures yesterday. I have everything put in albums through 2003. That's when the albums end and the shoe boxes begin. I'd like to work on Maya's stuff first, that way I don't get behind in that, too, and really feel overwhelmed! We still need to order our wedding pictures, if you can believe that! I also still need to finish our wedding books, so I guess 2003 isn't completely finished... oh well... someday.

I just keep hoping that my water will break at any moment. I have a feeling that if that doesn't happen, I'll have to wait and be induced after my due date. I'm getting pretty impatient. I can tell that Will is, too. He keeps asking me, "When was your last contraction?", "Was it a hard one?", and "Anything yet?". Keep in mind that these questions sometimes occur several times in one hour. I think he gets frustrated with me, too, because often, I can't answer his questions. I don't wear a watch, I never look at a clock when I get a contraction, and I don't keep track of them at all! I figure that I'll start timing when they are strong enough and close enough together to get my attention. Until then, there's no use in watching the clock. Time is passing slow enough as it is! I wish I could just turn labor on! WE'RE SO READY!!

Maternity Pictures

Will and I had maternity pictures taken yesterday at a photography studio. It was a TON of fun, and we will have some really great pictures to choose from. The photographer was thrilled to have us there because they have not had much luck getting people to do maternity photos. They have only done two other women before... one was only 7 months along, so her belly wasn't that big and the other refused to show her belly! I'm not sure what the point to having pics taken was... since maternity pics are "all about the belly". So, when we got there, the photographers went crazy. They ended up taking over 200 pictures, inside the studio and outside by the river, and they took some of me by myself and some with Will and I together. I'm so glad we had the pics taken. We've taken pics all along, but they just don't compare to the quality that you get from a photographer (with all the great lighting and lenses, etc...). I think we'll be thankful that we have them to look back on and to show Maya when she's older. It will be neat for her to see how excited we were to be pregnant with her. Even the photographer said that we made a good choice to have them taken, because it's not something you should put off until "next time". That's what him and his wife did, and so far, they've only been able to have one baby. When/if we get pregnant again, we'll probably get pics taken, with more of a family approach... me and the belly, Will, and Maya. I'm such a picture-freak, that's probably all that will be on the walls of our next house! Family pictures everywhere! I can't wait to get our pics back from this session. We will go for a viewing next week, and we'll pick out our favorites at that time. I can't wait! They acted like they may use some examples for their website, so check it out, if you want at www.modernphotographics.com. I don't know when/if they'll be posted in the "client images" section, but if I see them on there, I'll let you know!

No Progress

I had my 39 week doctor appointment today. It's been 12 days since my cervix was checked, and it has not changed at all! He said that he "stripped my membranes a little bit", whatever that means. I was VERY disappointed and bawled my eyes out when we left the office. Will just started his time off today, and I was hoping that we would be closer to having a baby than this! I don't want him to spend all of his time off just waiting. I want to give him a baby to spend his time with! Now, I'm starting to get frustrated. I cannot believe my cervix hasn't changed at all in almost 2 weeks. I have another appointment scheduled for a week from today, and our doctor said that if we get to our due date, he'll go ahead and induce after that. I guess all we can do is wait and see.

MAYA, YOU HAVE OUR PERMISSION TO COME ANY TIME NOW! PLEASE, SOONER RATHER THAN LATER!! YOUR DADDY WANTS TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH YOU! PLEASE COME A LITTLE EARLY! WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU! (But, I guess we will, if you insist.)

My Teeth Are FREE At Last!

After enduring 15 months of torture, I had my braces removed today!! I was very nervous to have the debanding done because I had porcelain brackets, which do not come off very easily. I premedicated myself and listened to music during the procedure, and before I knew it, the orthodontic assistant had popped off the entire top row! Well, to say "popped off" makes it sound kind of pleasant. It's actually more of a crunching and breaking technique. The brackets pretty much just shatter as they remove them, sometimes they come off in one piece, sometimes it takes several attempts to remove one completely. The pain was not near as bad as I thought it would be (perhaps thanks to the OB-prescribed Vicodin that I took one hour before my appointment), and the procedure went much more smoothly than I had anticipated. I was SO relieved! Once she removed all but 3 brackets (for different reasons) and scraped all the adhesive off my teeth, one of the doctors removed the brackets left behind and used a little sander-type tool to reshape some of my teeth. I was ecstatic when I finally got to see the results! My teeth look great! They feel wonderful, too. They're so smooth! Different people told me to expect my lips to feel too big for my face, for my teeth to feel like they're going to fall out of my head, or my mouth to be really sore for a few days afterward. I have not experienced one of those things! In fact, this afternoon, Will and I went to Texas Roadhouse about two and a half hours after having my braces removed, and I ate steak! Today was the first day the restaurant was open, and we had been waiting to eat there. It was delicious! It was so nice to eat and not worry about food being stuck in my wires and brackets. What a nice change! I love my new teeth! YAY!! I was hoping to get them taken off before Maya arrived, and I made it!

Remembering the Past

It's been exactly one year ago today that Will and I found out that we had lost our first baby to a miscarriage. I remember that day as the worst day of my life, and I thought at the time that there was no way I would ever get over that pain and loss. I guess I shouldn't lead you to believe that I'm "over it". I don't think that phrase would ever be appropriate. Over the year, I have learned to cope with the pain and accept the loss as purposeful. There's a reason for everything, even though we may never know what it is. That's what Will said to me over and over last summer. There are not many events that could compare to losing a child. It's not only the child that is lost, but also all the hopes and dreams you had for their future. It's a devastating tragedy, one I thought several times that I might not live through. Thanks to the support of mainly Will and a few close friends and family members, I slowly regained hope that we would one day have a family. I began to believe that God had other plans for our baby and to trust that for some unknown reason, that outcome (no matter how terrible) was somehow better for all of us.

In mid-September, I got some answers to my questions. It turns out that we were intended to be blessed by a baby girl in the spring. Since receiving that news, we have watched in awe and been continually amazed by her growth within my belly. We saw our little miracle when she was nothing but a minuscule flicker of a heartbeat at 7 weeks, then a little jumping baby at 11 weeks, and finally we found out we were having a girl and watched her sucking her thumb at our 20 week ultrasound. Now we watch in amazement as she stretches and sticks out her butt, elbow, foot, or knee, distorting my belly in several different ways. It never gets old. It never gets boring. I would watch my belly move all day long, if she would stay awake and active that long. I never get tired of feeling and watching my belly jump as she gets the hiccups. This has been the best time of our lives. It's amazing how a baby can bring so much joy and happiness to your life before she's even born. People say it won't be long and we won't remember what our lives were like without her. I already can't remember what it was like not having her here in my belly, moving about.

I have to say that being pregnant with Maya has been monumental in helping me to cope with the loss of our first baby. Spending my days and nights thinking about and dreaming about this little girl keeps me from dwelling on past painful memories. I have to admit that I do think about that baby quite often, and I'll always feel a kind of attachment to it. However, now I am so grateful for Maya that I no longer feel resentment and anger over our loss. Now, I feel joy, love, excitement, and so thankful to have been hand-picked to be Maya's Mommy, and nothing will ever change the happiness that I feel for having this blessing that continues growing inside my belly.

The break that occurred in my heart exactly one year ago will never completely mend, but Maya has successfully patched it, and for that, I am thankful.

Making the Belly Cast

Waiting for the belly cast to dry. At this point, Maya started moving around, and since the cast was hardening, she was actually peeling it away from my skin by changing the shape of my belly! It was pretty funny.

Making Memories

Last night, Will and I made a cast of my torso. I bought the Pregnancy Belly Cast Kit from Baby Depot at the Burlington Coat Factory. There's a whole website about the process www.proudbody.com. It's an awesome idea. The cast is a way to preserve memories of the 3rd trimester body, in all its beauty and discomfort! You can cast either just the belly or the entire torso. We opted to do the entire torso, since it's not just the belly that changes so much over time. We waited until the last minute to do the cast because I wanted my belly to be at its biggest, yet I wanted to cast it before she drops lower into my pelvis, and my belly shape really changes. I think we captured the exact moment in time that I'm loving.

Believe it or not, despite all the discomforts, I LOVE having this big belly. I can't even remember what it felt like to have my body all to myself, before I started housing this incredible little girl. I know I'll be finding out soon what it feels like to have a normal body again, and sometimes I'm not sure if I'm ready for it. I cannot wait to meet this baby, but at the same time, I think I will feel some kind of loss or emptiness that only someone who has been pregnant before could understand. I've gotten so used to feeling her wiggle around in my belly, even now that she's so big, she is still on the move quite a bit. I think she mostly stretches now, trying to make more room for herself, room that she's only going to gain after her birth. With that day quickly approaching, I must be content with the moments that I have left to share with her and look forward to all the memories we will make together in our future as a family. I know that her Daddy is very anxious to meet and hold his baby girl, and that will be one of the sweetest moments yet.

Latest Doctor's Appointment

I saw one of the OB's this afternoon, and I really don't have much to report. My strep test was negative, so no antibiotics for me! Yay! My belly measured at 38 weeks again, and Maya's heart rate was 148 beats per minute. He opted not to check my cervix, since I was only dilated to 1 only 5 days ago. Even though I was curious, that was fine with me. I think those checks are quite uncomfortable, so I didn't feel cheated in missing out on one. I know there will be plenty more to come. I only gained 1/2 pound since my last visit, and the doctor said that ANY weight I gain from here on out will be strictly water weight and not to worry about it. He said that no matter how much I ate everyday, I couldn't consume enough calories to actually gain weight at this point. GOOD NEWS! (Especially now that my favorite ice cream joint is open for the summer!)

Pregnancy Insomnia

I have read in so many places about women not being able to sleep well during their 3rd trimesters. I thought I had lucked out and wouldn't have any sleep issues. Up to this point, the only thing that would wake me up at night was a full bladder. Well, the insomnia... or "welcome to motherhood, you won't sleep well again for 18 years" phase of pregnancy is in full-force. I haven't slept well in two nights! I wake up all the time, and this morning, I was awake from 3:30am to 7:00am! I finally fell back to sleep for a couple hours in the morning. I guess this is my body's way of preparing me to take care of a newborn. Let me just say that it will be much more fun/beneficial to miss out on sleep when there's a REASON to be up at all hours of the night! Right now, it's just driving me nuts! Unless... this means that Maya's birthday is coming very soon! Keep your fingers crossed for labor to start after 7pm on May 25th. Will has to make up a shift in the ER from 11am-7pm on that day, but after that, his schedule is golden! We're also having maternity pictures taken on the 24th, and I kind of need to preggo for those!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

We celebrated Mother's Day by going out for breakfast at this really great restaurant called "Wolfgang's". They only serve breakfast and lunch, and they've been rated #1 breakfast joint several times. I got cinnamon french toast and hot chocolate, and it hit the spot! Will and I spent the rest of the morning running errands and just hanging out together. In the afternoon, we went to the YMCA. I took a yoga class, and Will worked out on the elliptical machine (his favorite). We finished up Mother's Day by grilling out dinner (hamburger for Will, hot dog and brat for me), and for dessert, we went out for ice cream (surprise, surprise) and ate it by the lake. It was a very nice end to a nice relaxing day. Happy Mother's Day to any mother who may be reading this!!

I started going to yoga last week, and I've been to 3 classes in 5 days. They offer "basic yoga" and "yoga I" at some time every day of the week, so I've been going as often as possible. I only wish I would have started practicing yoga earlier in my pregnancy! I love the classes, and I'm able to modify any pose that I need to for my big ole belly. Of course, I get into it now that my due date is right around the corner. Maybe I'll be able to start back up after a few weeks of recovery after Maya's birthday. It is a very gentle exercise, so as long as I don't end up having a c-section, and I'm feeling up to it, I shouldn't have to wait too long to start yoga and walking. Usually during class, Maya sleeps. Today during class, she was awake and very active. It makes balance and concentration a little more difficult when there's a little human tossing herself around in my belly! It was quite entertaining.

She's getting so big, now when she moves, it feels like she's massaging my belly really hard from the inside! I can feel body parts, like knees, feet, elbows, and hands sticking out under my skin, but it's just a guess as to what the part actually is. The only one I know for sure is her butt (or rump as the doctor called it, as she grabbed onto it a couple of days ago... hahaha...). Her butt is much bigger than the other body parts, so it's easy to pick out!

I'M OFFICIALLY FULL-TERM TODAY!

Nesting or Just My Personality?

Will and I spent the entire day cleaning out the basement, and when I say "cleaning out", I mean we drug EVERYTHING out of the basement and put it in the garage. I sorted though all the Rubbermaid containers, boxes, and other things while Will vacuumed up all the cobwebs and dust-bunnies from the floor, ledge, and ceiling. It was so gross down there. I couldn't stand to look at it for one more day! We packed up a bunch of stuff, and Will delivered it to Goodwill. Once I had sorted through everything, cleaned everything, and labeled all the boxes and Rubbermaid containers, Will took them back down to the basement and organized them very nicely along this big ledge that goes around the entire basement. It took the entire day to finish the project, but boy was it worth it!! Our basement looks so much nicer now!!! Amongst all the basement cleaning, Will also managed to mow the entire yard, and grill for dinner. What a guy! I was SO grateful to have his help to get the basement project done. It's something that I've been wanting to do before Maya arrives, so it's nice to be able to mark that off the "to do" list!

This last week, when Will was gone, I went nuts cleaning the kitchen and bathroom. I scrubbed floors, walls, you name it, and it was cleaned. I guess now that I'm getting close to my due date, the urgency to complete all these tasks is catching up to me. Will wonders if I'm nesting now, but I think it's just me. All my life I've been a procrastinator (I know, not one of my best traits), and I get the most and best work done under pressure and at the deadline. Well, now my deadline is definitely in sight, and I figure that I better crack down! Whatever works!

1 Down, 9 More to Go!!

I had my 37 week doctor's appointment today. I met with one of the other doctors in the office, since mine is on vacation, and she was VERY nice! We had quite an eventful visit today. I had my strep screen (which was NO BIG DEAL), we listened to Maya's heartbeat, she measured my belly size, and checked my cervix. Maya's heartbeat was a little faster than normal, at 160 beats per minute. Usually, she runs between 140-150, but she had been moving around a lot right before we listened. She probably had her heart rate up from the activity. My belly measured in at 38 weeks... again one week ahead of schedule. The doctor said that at my next visit, I will be measured again, and they may order another ultrasound to check on her size. I'm not too excited by that because ultrasounds are not very accurate when it comes to measuring weight, and I don't want to be forced into an induction based on her size when they could very well be wrong. So, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. When she checked my cervix, she found it to be dilated to 1 centimeter and 25% effaced. Yay! I'm making progress! It's only a little progress, and I know it could stay that way for days or weeks. It still makes me feel like the end is in sight! In one day, I will officially be full-term, and no attempts would be made to stop my labor anymore! I'm so excited!

Since Will was at work in the evening, I went out to dinner with my friend, Heather. We tried out a new restaurant, and it was SO GOOD! I finally got up the courage to try hummus, and I loved it! Heather gets hummus all the time, but I would never try it. This was the chickpea-type of hummus, served with warm pita bread, and I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it. Now, Heather and I can get hummus to share every time we go out together! After we ate, we strolled around the mall for a bit. Jill's baby shower is coming up, so I was picking up some supplies for that (which is always fun!). After shopping, we went to the grocery store, then ran to Starbuck's for a drink. It was a very fun evening!

Spa Day!

This year, Will agreed to let me pick out my Mother's Day/birthday presents. I chose to get some spa treatments at a local day-spa. My friend, Jill, also purchased some treatments for her Mother's Day gift from her hubby, and we set up a day to spend together, getting pampered and beautiful! It was wonderful! I have had massages and pedicures before, but usually one at a time, not several different treatments on one day.

The day started with a prenatal massage, which felt great. They have a special cushion that goes on the massage table that has a built-up sides for your hips and chest and a cut-out area in the middle for your belly to go into. The idea is to be able to lay on your belly for the back massage. It's a nice idea, but I didn't feel like the sides were supportive enough. During the entire time I was on my belly, I felt as though I was squishing Maya just a little too much. I physical part of the back massage was wonderful, but mentally, I could not relax because I worried about Maya the entire time! I was grateful once I got to flip over onto my back for the rest of the massage. Then, I could finally relax completely and really enjoy the experience.

Next, I met back up with Jill, who had just finished with her prenatal massage, and we had "margarita" pedicures together. They rubbed our feet, ankles, and calves with a couple of different salt scrubs, creams, and soft stones. We got to soak our tired feet in a hot water bath in between treatments, and they painted our nails. I picked a bright sparkly ruby-red color, and my toes looked fantastic afterward!

Lastly, I had an aromatherapy scalp and neck treatment, followed by a shampoo, condition, hair-cut, and style. It was heavenly! I love to get my hair washed and blow-dried. It is so relaxing. I felt like I was on the verge of falling asleep through the entire thing!

After our treatments, we had built up quite an appetite, so we headed to Atlanta Bread Co. for some lunch/dinner. I got a Greek salad and avocado sandwich, and it was delicious! When we finished eating, Jill went to the YMCA (crazy girl! after a spa day??), and I went to the mall! Since I happened to be in the mall, I thought I should get dessert at the Surf City Squeeze, so I ordered a chocolate-peanut butter-banana smoothie... my regular. YUMMY! I love those things! And I wonder why I continue to gain weight... gee, that's a tough one!

The spa day was a fantastic gift... THANK YOU, WILL!! It will be fun to have spa days with Maya when she's old enough. I'm SURE she will love the spa, and next to shopping, what could be a better mother/daughter activity?? The spa makes a great gift for ANY occasion!

Trip to Saugatuck, MI

I went to Saugatuck, MI today with Diane and Cindy. It's a little hippie-artist town on the Lake Michigan shore. We walked around in the downtown area all day, looking in shops. We didn't buy much, as everything is super-expensive. We ate lunch outside on the channel that connects to Lake MI. It was a beautiful day... not a cloud in the sky! I got just a little sunburned from sitting out at lunch, but if felt so good to have the warm sun on my skin. After eating lunch, we walked back down the opposite side of the street, visiting all the last shops. We stopped in the candy/ice cream store for dessert. I had one scoop of "banana-fudge pie" and one scoop of "peanut butter chocolate" ice cream in a waffle-bowl with fudge on top! YUMMY! It was the most expensive sundae I've ever eaten, but it was worth all $8.33 of it! Hahaha...

Once our legs had endured all the walking they could take, we drove to the beach. We laid out a blanket in the sand and just vegged out there for about an hour. The beach is beautiful! It is very wide and long, and the sand is super-soft and deep. The waves were really calm, and it was just a beautiful day to lay there! We'll definitely have to take Maya there next summer. She'll love it (hopefully)!

Happy Birthday, Will!

Will turned 29 for the first time this year! Since he left right after work to visit family in Iowa, we didn't have a chance to celebrate his birthday together, so I took a big birthday cake to the ER for everybody to enjoy. Even though Will had to work on his birthday, I thought he should have cake, and everyone was glad to have a sugar fix during a very busy day.

Yesterday, we went to Grand Haven and took some belly pictures. The beach and lighthouse were very beautiful, and the water was very calm. One of the pics is on our website. We went out for ice cream on the way home, and it was delicious! It was a ton of fun to go to the beach. I love walking in the sand and listening to the water. We hope Maya loves it, too!

2nd Annual Yard Sale Day

I went to a neighborhood-wide yard sale today with my friend, Cindy. This is the second year we have gone to these sales, and we love them!! I found some really great toys and books for Maya, all in excellent condition. It's so fun shopping for her, especially at yard sales, where everything is so cheap! Some of the books I bought are normally priced $5-7, and I paid $1 each, sometimes less! I think books are going to be "my thing" to buy for her. Some people go nuts over clothes or toys, but I am obsessed with buying books. I find it very difficult to pick out books because I want to buy them all! Often, I look in the clearance section of book stores, and I've found some really great books that are really cheap. I sure hope that Maya likes to be read to and to read because she will have ample opportunity for both! Next year, I'll have to take Maya to the sales with us! It will be handy to have a stroller to put our shopping bags into! At just 11 months old, she'll already be learning the value of bargain shopping!

Latest Pregnancy News...

I had a doctor's appointment this week. It was pretty uneventful. We listened to Maya's heartbeat, which is always a wonderful sound to hear! My doctor asked me if she's moving, and I told him that she moves all the time. He said that her movements may slow down because she is running out of room. I'm not sure if she'll ever run out of room. It seems to me that she just MAKES room! She likes to push her butt up under my ribs quite often! I find myself rubbing her butt so often that she'll probably be dependant on it to fall asleep once she's finally here. I just can't resist!

We had our last class tonight. It was a couple's breastfeeding class. It was somewhat helpful, but it wasn't near as insightful as I had hoped. The teacher was a certified lactation consultant, so she knew what she was talking about. I just feel like breast feeding is such a complicated thing that until you actually have a baby to work with, instruction on it is a bit useless. She showed us different positions to hold the baby in as we feed and techniques to get a proper latch. The pointers help, but we're not going to know what problems we'll encounter without actually doing it. Many different topics in the class prompted more questions, and I didn't feel like she answered all the questions thoroughly. I kind of feel more confused since we took the class than I felt before the class! The good thing about our hospital is that we will have access to a lactation consultant while we're there, so if we're having issues with nursing, we can just ring our call light to see the expert! Yay!

I'm starting to get very anxious about meeting Maya. For a while, I was getting sad about the pregnancy ending, but now I just want to see her! I can't wait for her to get here! I've been finishing up all of her laundry today. After her laundry is done, all I have to do is pack our bags, and we'll be good to go!

I think one of my worst pregnancy fears is about to come true... stretch marks! The skin around my belly button is getting really tight and starting to lose feeling. I know my belly is just going to keep getting bigger over the next few weeks, and I don't think I have any more skin to stretch! I'm pretty bummed about it, but MAYBE I'll luck out and not get them. I guess if that's the worst thing that happens, I should thank my lucky stars. It's just a bummer when I know my bikini days may be over for good! Only time will tell. Wish me luck!