Wednesday, March 31, 2010
31 Weeks!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
More Nursery Art
Last Trip Before Baby - Chapel Hill
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
30 Weeks - Only single digits left

growin', growin', growin'
Some big things have gone on this week so I thought I would start with those!
- Monday - found out that I passed my three hour glucose test that I took last week! I was mostly sure that I had once I didn't get a call from them on Friday but just in case I ate all kinds of sweets this weekend!
- Tuesday - had dinner with Marc & Chris. They wanted to treat us for my helping with their wedding invitations. They didn't need to do that but it was a nice perk to be able to hang out with them. We went to Liberty and had some amazing food...and I got to watch them have some amazing beers. I consoled my beer-less self with their awesome baked apple tart. Yum!
- Wednesday - big thing! I put my two weeks in at Piper Glen where I have worked for almost five years! I have been so busy with my side business, rkDesigns, that I really feel the crunch with everything. Cutting one thing out of my busy week is going to really help. Also I want to make rkDesigns a more official business before BabyGirl comes along so that after she comes I can have a business that I can do from home. My last day at work will be April 8th. Now that I finally made the decision to make the separation from there, I almost wish it could be tomorrow!
New with baby:
BabyGirl should be approaching 16 inches and almost 3 pounds! I can tell she is definitely taking up more room in there. I can play the "what body part is this" game now. I can feel a hard round head or butt pushing out in different parts of my belly. I like rubbing it and feeling her push back at me. I know I'll miss these little movements when she is on the outside. It really is a pretty special feeling. Though sometimes she seems to stretch out the 'wrong' way and I'll have to do some bends to make her settle in a good way that feels better to me.
New with me:
Not much to report. I've gone running again and things are definitely not the same. There will be some very strong twinges in the ligaments that run from the belly area over the hip bones to the upper thighs. These will make me stop and walk a lot.
Exercise and Running:
Thursday: Ran to the post office and back - so about 25 minutes. This was the first time running in a long time and it went pretty well. Things are definitely feeling different now. I am sooo sloooow.
Friday: Nothin' - well we did have to walk really really fast through the airport to make our flight
Saturday: Run 30 minutes - this felt pretty darn good
Sunday: Nothin' - walk around the outlets?
Monday: Run 10 minutes and 20 minutes of biking
Tuesday: Took Murphy and his friend Rocco for a 50 minute walk
Wednesday: Run 3 miles very slowly - took me almost 36 minutes -not a record.
Nursery Project - A Mobile
I bought a mobile that is intended to hold photos and I modified it by taking off the clips. I then made ten different pinwheels in two different sizes to hang off the different arms of the mobile. I had already hit up the Hobby Lobby for ten different patterns of scrapbooking paper. I cut those down to size and adhered them to each other so that when I bent the pinwheels into shape, the different patterns showed up nicely.
I actually ended up hanging the pinwheels from the mobile by embroidery thread. I think that's the first time I've used that thread - I am certainly not sewing on any buttons - just ask Rick!
We put a small hook in the ceiling and strung up some fishing line (that I made Rick run out and get ASAP!) to hang the mobile.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Sunburned in Florida
Saturday night also, Debbie set up a mini baby shower for us! It was so cute how she decorated the table and the surroundings. She bought all the decorations in Sweden and took them all on the plane with her! My family's gift to Rick and I was the stroller that I had picked out. I have picked out the BOB Revolution jogging stroller. A little fact - the world record for pushing a stroller in a marathon was set with a BOB Revolution! To present us with the gift she bought a jogging dolly stroller and taped the BOB logo to the sides. I can't believe they make miniature jogging strollers! We had to leave the stroller at my parents but made them promise they would bring it up when they come to visit in May/June. We got very cute outfits from everybody and Debbie passed on some of Maxx's gender neutral outfits. BabyGirl is not going to go naked that is for sure!

look at those sun lovers!
We had to leave right after that. I made sure that I took a picture with Renata before I left. Our baby girls are due six weeks apart from each other. She'll probably have a scheduled c-section before her due date and I'm sure that my baby girl will feel nice and cozy in there for a couple of weeks post my due date. They'll probably end up with birth dates that are pretty darn close!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Week 29 - Ugh, Sugar
Anyways...on to the funner stuff...
New with the baby:
According to BabyCenter.com I have a butternut squash in my belly! She should be about 2.5lbs and a little over 15 inches. Her lungs continue to develop and so do her bones. She is extremely active in there. Sunday night as we were trying to fall asleep, she did her acrobatic routine for a good 40 minutes! It was comedic.
New with me:
I've been getting a lot of "woah" comments when people catch sight of the belly. Yes, thank you. I know I'm large - I think that's what happens at 29 weeks. I don't need to hear comments about how my baby is going to be a big one ...and "geez, how much longer do you have?". (sigh) I've been sick with my cold/sinus infection and got antibiotics from my general practicioner on Tuesday. I cannot have this sinus pressure ANY MORE! It feels like I have been punched in the face. I've never had it this bad before. I've been reacquainted with my good friend the neti pot. Man that thing is weird, but great. I haven't been working out much since the weekend and have been using all my extra time to try to sleep. Try being the operative word.
Excercise (a whole week of no running - very strange):
Thursday: nothing
Friday: Walk for hours and hours around Savannah
Saturday: Bike for hours and hours around Tybee
Sunday: nothing
Monday: BodyPump
Tuesday: nothing
Wednesday: Walk for 30 minutes with murph
Had dinner with my friends Stephanie (due end of March) and Katie (due end of June) on Monday. I guess you could call it Pregnant Ladies' Night Out! It was good to catch up and talk baby stuff. Here we are:

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
St. Patty's in Savannah
We left Thursday afternoon and stopped in Pooler, GA (20 minutes outside of Savannah) to visit with our friends Scott and Kristy Huntley - and their son Dylan. We had some pizza with them and Dylan got some kisses from Murphy before we kept on truckin' to Tybee Island. My friend Tara's parents - Dan and Cathy - rent a house on Tybee and they were going to be gone for the weekend. They let us stay there and watch Newman, their black cocker spaniel. Murphy and Newman got along alright but Murphy is very possessive of his people. He doesn't like it when the other dog gets more attention than him.
Friday after a long walk with the dogs, we drove into Savannah and walked ALL around. It was a good 5 hours of walking stopping only for lunch really. We explored River Street and the mini squares. I learned that Savannah was the first planned city in the United States. Its founder, Oglethorpe, laid out the city in a grid with 24 squares for people to congregate. I guess 21 of them still exist today. In preparation for the St. Patrick's Day festivities, they had a "greening of the fountain" in Forsyth Park, which is the largest park in Savannah. There was quite a crowd there.
I did really well walking all around...even went up and down the steep steps that take you down to River Street a couple of times. There was one meltdown around lunch time. I was just done walking and why don't we just stop and eat something! Rick was on pins and needles until we got to a restaurant. It ended up being just a panic decision - probably not the best restaurant in town but at least it was a seat and some food. One interesting thing about Savannah is that you can get a to-go cup for your beer. You can walk around with a plastic cup full of your favorite beverage. This amazed us and Rick did it as much as possible.

Saturday morning, we took another walk with the dogs and then had breakfast at the 'world famous' Breakfast Club. They catered the Kennedy wedding! It was delicious. We then took a couple of Dan and Cathy's bikes all around the island. I haven't ridden since a couple of weeks after I found out I was pregnant. I felt very safe on the beach cruiser style of bike. We rode for a few hours probably, getting on and off quite often. We went to the top of the Tybee Island Lighthouse (178 steps!) and visited Fort Screven. It was such a nice day.
Tybee also had their own St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday afternoon. I was very impressed with how long it was. We actually got tired before the end of it and went back and hung out with the dogs for a little bit. Another dinner at the Huntleys that night and we left Sunday morning to get back to Charlotte.


With our beautiful new Tybee Island St. Patrick's Day shirts, and me with the only N/A beer on Tybee! I wanted a to-go cup too!
It was such a great weekend. It wasn't good for the cold that I was brewing but I am thinking it was totally worth it.
Off to Fort Myers next weekend!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
28 Weeks - Tired, Just Tired

picture taken at my friend Shannon's bday party on Friday the 5th - notice my O'Douls!
New with the Baby:
Still about 15 inches but is up around 2.5 lbs. Supposedly she can blink her eyes which now have lashes. They also say that she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. Cool! BabyCenter's fruit/veggie comparison is a Chinese Cabbage! That's in weight I guess.
She has been super active the past few days. I swear she is doing some acrobatics in there. Before I got out of bed the other day, I laid on my back and I felt her shift around in there and could feel something round and large poking out of my belly! a butt? a head? :) That was really neat, I hadn't yet been able to feel her through my belly.
New with Me:
This may not surprise you but I am doing too much these days. School, work, internship, side business (which is going gangbusters!), coordinating weddings on the weekends, exercise, being social, growing a life in me -- I am pretty tired. I know that having a baby will in no way be a "break" but I almost see it as such. I will be able to let a couple of the balls I have in the air drop (i.e. work, school, internship) and I can focus on the few things that I am really excited about - family, friends and my own business. I know I'll be busy as all get out with the baby but joy of joys there won't be as many different things to worry about.
I am starting to feel the beginnings of a cold AGAIN. Do you think it could be because of what I just said above? Naahhhhhh! This has cut down on my exercising which also doesn't help with my mood.
Running & Exercise (sigh):
Thursday: 20 min elliptical and BodyPump
Friday: nothin
Saturday: Run 3 miles with Murphy, Tara and Annie - this felt better! But I was glad to be done at 3 miles.
Sunday: nothin
Monday: BodyPump and walk with Murphy for 30 minutes
Tuesday: Cycle class and walk with Murphy for 30 minutes
Wednesday: Walk with Murphy for 30 minutes
Miscellaneous:
- Went to my friend Shannon's bday gathering on Friday night! She had a great showing and it was great to catch up with some friends
- Saturday - I had coordinated my first wedding since last November. It went really well! Then I had to go to work at Piper Glen and then met up with some friends for another bday celebration. We then went out to watch UNC get beat up by Duke in basketball which is never a good thing for many a Carolina fan. This year its not a surprise though.
- We're headed off to Tybee Island which is right outside of Savannah, GA on Thursday for a long weekend. I don't have my regular class schedule this Friday so it was my one big chance for a getaway!
Monday, March 8, 2010
What a failure!

a picture I found online of the exact drink I had today!
They gave me about 6oz of this very sugary drink. It tasted like a melted orange flavored popsicle to me. Then I had to go and wait for an hour in the waiting room outside the lab for an hour or so. There were two other women in the waiting room who were there for the three hour test - meaning they had failed the one hour test. I knew one of them from the Junior League and we talked. I kept thinking - please don't let me fail this test! Well....when I got back there, they took my blood and put a bit of it into one of those little blood sugar monitors. The nurse there told me that they were looking for a level of 135 or less. The monitor went around and around and came back with a 148!!! Wah!
I felt like I was in trouble at school and being sent to the principal's office. I had to schedule the three hour test for next week - Thursday the 18th was the best day for me. I then had to report back to my doctor's office. I got called back and met with the nurse practicioner again. She just gave me the instructions for how to get ready for the next test. Sounds like getting ready for it is similar to getting ready for a marathon - major carbo loading! Now this is something I can get behind. Supposedly they want me to flood my system with glucose for the three days before the test and then fast twelve hours before the test. Interesting.
So really I don't feel like a failure. However, I am majorly bummed that I have to take the three hour test. Three hours?! What am I going to do for three hours?! I read today that 15% of women will fail the one hour test and of that 15%, only 15% actually have Gestational Diabetes. If I do happen to have GD, then I know it will be fine. They put women on special diets to control the diabetes and hopefully keep the symptoms away from the baby. Sometimes medicine is necessary to help maintain proper blood sugar levels. Well if I have to go on a special diet then it will help with keeping that extra pregnancy weight off towards the end. See! A silver lining!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Just keep growing, growing, growing
27 Weeks - Entering the 3rd Trimester

Saturday: Run 5 miles with Murphy, Tara and her dog Annie. Felt pretty good but even better to be done...but then the dreaded ligament pain!
Sunday: I walked to the bar to meet our friends and back...that counts right?
Monday: Nothin' - was up to 1:30am the night before doing work and that doesn't inspire me for a 5:30am wake up call.
Tuesday: Cycle class - some things are really hard in cycle class with the belly in the way! Lifted upper body a bit and then walked Murph for over 20 minutes.
- We went on the Expectant Parents tour of the hospital where we will be giving birth. We met our good friends Katie and Jarrett who are also expecting and due on June 28th. I have to admit that I thought it a bit surreal that I will actually be using the labor and delivery rooms that they showed us. They were actually a lot bigger than I thought they would be - but I guess a lot of people come in and out of those rooms. There is a TV and DVD player in every room. CD player, shower and a chair that turns into a bed for the "coach" as our tour guide said. She also showed us the nursery where there were a few babies then the post-partum rooms. My friend Tara, had given birth in November and I got to see her room then. She was in the corner of the building so was given some extra room - I wonder if I can request that room. Otherwise the other rooms were adequate. At the end of the tour, our guide said it wasn't part of the official tour but if we wanted to see the operating rooms then we could. Morbidly fascinated I followed her. The operating room looked like it does on the TV shows. Big and bright with lots of equipment. I wonder if I will be seeing it again in June.
*Running & Prengnacy: I liked this woman's account of running through pregnancy.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Too Cool - Spell Your Name on Flickr








I just ran across a link to this Spell with Flickr tool on a website that I frequent. Its too cool because if you come up with a letter you don't like, then you click on it and another option shows up! I had been thinking about doing something like this on my own - going around Charlotte and taking pictures of the letters that make up the (multiple) names that we have in the running for BabyGirl. This seems a whole heckuva lot easier! Though doing the work myself would mean more in the long run wouldn't it. In the mean time it has been fun to spell everybody's name in our family and see all the different letters!