And she's back - sans gallbladder!

Back in July I posted about how I had to go to Labor & Delivery due to some god awful stomach pains that were unbearable. The on-call OB said that it was probably gallbladder issues, to take some pepcid and avoid whoppers. So I did. The remaining 2 1/2 months of my pregnancy, I only had 1 more minor attack and then came Avery.

Since Avery was born 6 1/2 weeks ago, I have had gallbladder attacks at least once or twice a week. It became unbearable. It got to the point where I was hardly eating anything for fear of inducing another attack. After having an attack Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday in a row, I decided to bite the bullet and call the surgeon. I had a lot of fears that prevented me from calling earlier. I thought I'd have to leave Avery for 24 hours. But I couldn't go on any longer.

I got an appt for a week later with Dr. L. The appt was very short. It basically went like this.

Dr: "So tell me what made you think you had gallbladder issues"

I told him the symptoms I was experiencing and recounted my trip to L&D this summer

Dr: "well, you do have gallstones. So when do you want to have it removed?"

Me: "I'd rather not ever have another attack"

Dr: "see you friday at 7 am"

Alrighty then!

The surgery went well. I did have a number of gallstones and it was probably the best thing for me to get it removed. The staff at the Surgery Center was amazing! I feel a little guilty for poking fun of the nurse who donned a Winnie the Pooh pink scrub shirt, seeing as she was the wonderful woman who was able to get my IV into my very dehydrated veins. (Note to self - I need to drink more fluids!).

The pain afterwards was pretty intense. It was definitely way worse than my c-section recovery and I still can't seem to get this trapped air out of my shoulder. The doctor made three small-ish incisions in my abdomen. One of them is pretty gnarly looking. They are covered with this plastic sheath stuff and the top incision has some leaking blood (it's normal) but it looks really disgusting.

Avery has faired well with all of this. Because of the anesthesia and the crazy amount of pain meds they gave me (morphine, demoral and lortabs) I had to dump my milk for 24 hours and she ate bottled breast milk in the mean time. She definitely prefers the bottle for laziness reasons. She is able to get a lot of food quickly with the bottle and this little piglet loves it. We are re-learning how to breastfeed and she's not too keen on it. She's getting there. It will be easier when I am able to relax a little with her on my abdomen. Right now it's so tender having her there that I know I'm really tense. I am just extra grateful that she isn't a picky baby and adapts to situations well.

I ate real food this evening for the first time and so far so good. Many times a nasty side effect of gallbladder removal is that your body will go through a dumping syndrome where you'll literally have to use the restroom 20 minutes after you eat. I haven't had any tummy issues at all so I am hoping that it stays this way. Of course I will have to watch what I eat and can't eat tremendously fatty foods, which is really not an issue since we eat fairly healthfully most of the time.

So... 7 weeks and two surgeries... It's been quite eventful around these parts. Let's hope for an uneventful next couple of months :)

Mushy Brain continues...

When one is pregnant, one suffers from a chronic condition called "Pregnesia" - This is the technical term for losing items, forgetting appointments, heck, even forgetting your home phone number at most inopportune times. Women who have never been pregnant, and men do not understand why being 'with child' turns your brain to mush. Only pregnant women and mothers know exactly what we women go through.

I stupidly thought that I would gain back my keen senses as soon as the baby was born but apparently I thought wrong, waaay wrong. It got worse.

My birthday was 10 days ago. In that 10 days I have lost a $50 cash gift and my bluetooth that I had for a whopping one week.

This morning I found the $50 - it was in my pants pocket, washed and dried, even though I would have placed my right hand atop a bible and SWORE I put it in the little purse pouch that the lipgloss Dana bought for me along with my company network access card and my debit card... Come to think of it... what the heck was I thinking putting those precious items there either?

So - now I would like to find my bluetooth. Since the dawn of their creation, I have made fun of people walking through store aisles with an earbud sticking out of their face, but as soon as I got one (it was a gift as well), I fell in love. Granted, I don't walk through stores with it, but I love it when I am driving (Both hands on the wheel) and while I'm sitting on the couch trying to nurse. The last time I KNOW I had that stupid earbud thing was in the car at the "Schnitzel Ranch" on my birthday while I was (ironically) nursing Avery in the parking lot. I hope it fell somewhere in the Envoy and NOT on the black asphalt. UGH!

I am also missing 2 baby socks, and a gift certificate for a gift that I would love to cash in for a baby carrier.

I attribute it to "baby brain" - it's the secondary symptom of "pregnesia". Blame it on lack of sleep, or never ending thoughts of your baby taking over your brain or possible the constant worry over finances, fears of having to leave your baby at day care when you return to work, or for me, the fear of Dexter coming into your house to hack up the innocent family some nutjob brought over (don't ask...) , but the point is...that you can't think anymore. You lose items that you would really love to be able to find again. Daily activities like showering or doing the dishes seem equal to climbing Mount Everest. The day escapes you and before you know it, you haven't called Delta to add your infant to your fast approaching holiday airfare.

Hopefully it will get better by January, when I have to return to the grind. Until then, can someone come over and help me???

Picture time!!!

Look at this face!!! How can you resist it? Avery is very expressive with her facial expressions and this has got to be one of my favorites.

"These boots were made for walkin...."
My friend Dana now lives in Texas - so naturally, she had to send her some baby cowgirl boots. She wore them today with pride! Thanks "Aunt" Dana!!!

To start preparing Miss Avery to go to DayCare (So sad!) and so that we can leave her for more than 2-3 hours at a time, we decided to start introducing the bottle to her. Last night I pumped milk and Robert gave her the bottle. She has no prejudice in what is given to her, which is great! and she took the bottle like a champ.

...After the bottle, she found her thumb...

And she LOVES her pacifier at night when she's cranky and fussy and doesn't know what to do with herself!

When Avery was born, she had these LONG skinny fingers... but now that she's starting to fill out and chunk up a bit, I realized that she and I have the "same" hands...Or at least I think our hands look similar!

Side Note: I still can't quite get my wedding rings on... I miss my rock so badly... Hello!??! Diamonds, platinum, bling bling! How can one NOT miss that? Instead I'm wearing my "mother's day" band that Robert got me for my right hand.

Happy Halloween - a little late...

Before Avery was here, I bought this sweet "Baby's 1st Halloween" outfit. She wore it with pride. For the record, we got one trick or treater this year...that's it! It was a great costume though - one of those goombas from Super Mario Bros. Hilarious! Next year, we will NOT be handing out candy. We ended up eating it and that is NOT what my hips needed :) Here is a great picture of Avery's "milk face" - she is by far the messiest eater EVER and gets milk all over her face when we're nursing. I love my milk face baby!

16 Days Old!

Well we had our 2 week pediatrician check up today. Avery is great! The little chunky monkey has gained 1 1/2 pounds since her last appt and is up to 8 pounds 7 ounces. So... I guess my fears about whether or not Avery is getting enough to eat have been solved. She's getting PLENTY.

Her 'stats' say that she's in the 54th percentile for weight and 88th percentile for height at 21.5 inches long. She's a tall skinny thing :) and we love her!

We also go the go ahead to let her sleep without having to wake her up every 4 hours at night - that's great! I hope things go well tonight...

Last night we had the worst night of all and it wasn't even Avery's fault...it was mine... I had another gall bladder attack and thought I was going to die. I kept robert up until 3 am dealing w/ it. AWFUL.

My mom left yesterday. Oh it was so so hard. I really wish she lived closer so that we could see each other whenever we wanted... I'm thinking a 2 hour drive would be ideal.

A few pics of Avery...

Her first Alabama Game! Ole Miss vs Alabama - October 21, 2008. Alabama won 24-20

Nice Hair do!!! First bath

11 days old

Avery is sleeping and I have a few minutes to update/reflect before she wakes up. It's been 11 days since this wonderful bundle of joy came into our lives. Life as Robert and I know it will never be the same and that is OK. All my fears of L&D (even though it didn't even happen), having a C-section, recovery, whether or not I'd be a good mom, parenthood, etc have all gone away. I still have some moments of self doubt but if anything, I am learning to trust myself and my instinct and so far, it's working. The "baby blues" that hit after a week have seemed to vanish and I'm doing OK. My recovery with the C-section has been way better than I thought. I had fears about breastfeeding post c-section. I thought with the "unnatural" delivery of my baby that it would take my body extra time to get the message, but Friday, 3 days after delivery, my milk came in and my daughter is thriving. I thought it would be painful to nurse her but as soon as my staples came out, I can hardly tell that I have a 8-10 inch incision in my abdomen. I am meeting my baby's needs by feeding, loving, changing her when needed. She shows me that I am doing well at this because she is a HAPPY and content baby. After she eats she is so active and alert and prefers to be left in her pack & play bassinet next to the window to look at the window blinds and kick her legs. She stares endlessly at her hands and will smile without even knowing that she's doing it. Night time has been a breeze so far. She's a no-nonsense kinda gal. Last night for instance, she woke up around 2:30 after sleeping about 4 hours. I changed her, she ate and then was back asleep by 3:10. We've had 2 -3 nights where her tummy has visibly been bothering her but as soon as we can get her to "blow one out" she is miraculously "fixed" and returns to my happy, content beautiful baby girl. I am so in love with her. I am even more so in love with my husband who tells me I'm doing a good job. Knowing he is supporting me and thinking I'm doing it "right" is such a needed and welcomed calming affect on me. He has been so active in parenting for our little girl and never balks about having to help take care of her, even when she pees on him.

Avery Elizabeth is here!

Avery arrived via c-section at 12:22 pm on Oct. 7, 2008. She was 7 lbs, 7 oz. Not quite the 8+ lb baby Dr. D had projected but... it was VERY good we did the c-section. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and she had already had a bowel movement in the womb. It was VERY VERY likely that even if I had attempted a vaginal birth (assuming my cervix was favorable), we would have ended up in an emergency C-section anyways. She is GORGEOUS. Robert is an amazing daddy as well. As soon as the doctor pulled her out of me, he was with her. The baby team had him be a part of everything. It was funny that when they told him to "come on" to go bathe her... my doctor stopped him and said "Oh Mr. M - just wanted to let you know that Sarah is fine"... I'm so chopped liver these days. it was about 4 hours after my surgery that I was able to see her and when I did, she immediately latched on breast feeding. The next morning I called a lactation consultant to ake sure that we had it right and she got an A+. Now if only my milk would come in because she is a GREEDY little thing! She is the perfect baby (like I said she would have to be!). She only cries when she needs something, is a big cuddle bug with anyone who holds her and is pretty damn cute.

Top Ten reasons why a C Section is "OK"

I hope people who read this find some sarcasm in this post.

I've been thinking of the pros about this C-section. I'm really "OK" with it now but this still makes me feel better.

1. Avery's birthday is the same as my FIL's wedding anniversary...now he's happy and hasn't made a crack at her name today

2. Extra day at the hospital = extra day of help w/ baby

3. 2 extra weeks of STD pay

4. My vagina stays in tact - no drooping lady parts for me

5. no hemorrhoids from pushing

6. drugs... need I say more???

7. Baby won't have a cone head upon arrival

8. Sex can re-commence around 4 weeks instead of 6 (according to some book Robert read today)

9. Scars are sexy, right?

10. Robert gets to wear scrubs.

The day has been set....

Tomorrow, October 7, 2008 at 12:00 pm, I am scheduled for a C-section delivery.

Today's Dr appt was the "same ol" news with elevated BP, protein in my urine. My cervix STILL hadn't progressed any to be favorable towards induction. Avery is fine inside of me - meaning she's thriving.

The Dr hooked me up to a NST monitor for over an hour where they look at baby's heartbeat, any signs of fetal stress, monitor movement and any contractions. In the hour and a half I was hooked up to the monitor, I had 2 contractions - and they weren't even "real" contractions but rather little 'practice' ones. Avery was very active and not under any stress.

Then Dr. D said the inevitable. C SECTION. He's worried that because of her size (8 pounds now) and my cervix being "non-induceable" AND the looming Pre-E/Toxemia, that if he were to wait until Cervix was ready, she would be too big or I would have developed more severe case of this pre-e crap and if he were to induce now, that the cervix isn't ripe enough to open and I would be in a lot of pain for a long time without getting anywhere fast and more than likely (75% likely) to end up w/ a C-section after hours of labor.

Here's the Rock... here's the hard place...

So - I asked to schedule the surgery for Wednesday - to allow my mom to fly in... Apparently late week surgeries are popular because the only opening was for tomorrow at 12:00 pm. And the dr didn't feel comfortable letting me wait until Saturday.

It's done... it's scheduled...

It's not what I wanted but I feel better knowing we have a definitive plan in place now and I won't get toxemia and Avery won't be in any danger.

Please keep me in your prayers tomorrow. I have never gone through any major surgery until now and I'm scared to death about it. I don't like needles, I don't like drugs, I don't like the idea of being awake while I'm being opened up.

However... that being said, I am so so so excited to meet my daughter tomorrow and become a MOTHER. How freaking cool is that????

When will she arrive????

The last few weeks have been a little eventful for our pregnancy. I am on the verge of "going toxic"... let me explain.

There is a condition called pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) that can lead to a worse condition called Pre-Eclampsia or Toxemia. Drs aren't really sure what exactly causes it but the 'cure' for it is usually delivery of the baby. Symptoms include elevated blood pressure, protein in your urine, swelling in feet, hands and face. More severe cases include basically a shutting down of your liver and kidneys.

Up until recently, my blood pressure has been phenomenal and perfect. However about 2 weeks ago - it was 132/88 - not terrible but higher than it HAS BEEN. They did a recheck of my BP while I laid down and it went down to 100/60... no big deal.

Last Tuesday, my blood pressure was again elevated and this time I had protein in my urine. The doctor sent me in for blood work at the lab and had me come back in on Wednesday. My blood work came back "perfect" meaning I didn't have the Pre-E...yet... and on Wednesday, although my BP was elevated, the protein went down to just a trace amount. Dr. D scheduled another appt on Friday. The doctor had mentioned induction so when we came back on Wednesday our bags were packed and we were ready to go...JUST IN CASE. But since everything was "OK" we were just told to come back on Friday.

On Friday I went in and my BP was 148/100 (VERY HIGH!) and I still had trace protein levels. The nurse said "we need to deliver this baby now!"

When they did a recheck of my BP, it was 136/90 - still really high. The doctor ordered an ultrasound and did an exam. Well miss Avery is measuring about 8 pounds, and looks really good. Then he sent me to Labor & Delivery for monitoring and another round of blood work. Robert and I were not really ready to have this baby, and talked about all the things that were still at home and not packed permanently in the car.

I got situated in L&D and my BP stayed in the 130's/80's. Then right before the dr came in, it went down to 124/76. He told me to lay on my left side, and 5 minutes later, my BP was 110/72. At that time my blood work came back and in the ~1 hour the trace protein had gone to nothing and the blood work was normal.

He sent me home.

The other issue that we're facing is that my body has not started to prepare for childbirth yet. Avery is still VERY high and has not dropped. My cervix (yes, we're talking lady parts now) is still very high, not soft and not thinned out/effaced. Forget about dilation... Avery is still locked up tight.

I have spent the last 9 months worried that I'd lose this baby and now I can't get my body to let her out... irony at its best.

And because of my cervix's stubborn state, combined with the size of this baby (who'da thunk that I could grow such a biggun!??) and the fact that my body is TRYING to go toxic, we're now looking at the possibility of having a C-section.

This is NOT what I wanted... I wanted to go through the excitement of being at home, starting to feel contractions, laboring at home, going to the hospital at some strange hour of the night. I wanted to ATTEMPT to go au natural - no epidural, however now that (if ol' steely the cervix cooperates) I am induced, I am not sure I am disciplined/prepared enough to go sans epidural.

I don't feel like I am getting the support I need about the idea of having a c-section. The mere mention of it to my mom and I get the following reaction "OOOOOH!!! no! you don't want a c-section!!!" Well at this point I'm not sure if I have a choice if I keep on swelling, High BP and no ripening going on.

Today is my due date. I have done nothing but "rest" according to the doctor's orders. I'm tired of resting. I haven't had any contractions, a few cramping feelings here and there, but nothing promising. I have started a regimen of Evening Primrose Oil as directed by Lauren.

So... when will she be here??? How big will she be???

I'm guessing I get induced or a scheduled C-section - I'm going to plan on Wednesday 10/8/08. I think she's going to be 7 pounds 12 oz.

Wall letters

Just in time! I just got notice from the seller that Avery's Wall letters are completed... just in time for her arrival, right? I bought these from "The Funky Boutique" off of Ebay. This is a picture of the nursery/crib that these will go over.

Crimson has arrived...

Football season is officially here... that also means that I needed something to wear while we rooted for the Crimson Tide Alabama Football team. So off I went to Motherhood Maternity and I found a "crimson" colored top. This will be my football outfit each Saturday until I have this baby. SO... of course I thought it would be interesting to measure my belly progress in the same outfit each week.

~35 weeks - on our way to friends' house. You can tell, I actually had my hair straightened and make up on. ~36 weeks - No makeup - I think I'm getting homely looking... ~37 weeks - Ok, seriously need to pay more attention to my appearance. I'll be cute next week :) Does it look like I'm getting bigger? lower? No progress at all???

Closet full of clothes

I realized w/ all the pictures I've posted, I hadn't uploaded a picture of Miss Avery's closet. I tore out the builder's special closet rod and we bought this organizer at Target for $40. Robert and his mom assembled it while I supervised. The canvas storage cubes came from Lowe's.

5 weeks to go!

I can't believe we only have 5 weeks to go... in 2 weeks, Miss Avery will be "full term" and I could go into labor at any minute...holy cow!!! Here's the latest updates. Thursday night I woke up in the middle of the night and felt a little warm, so I got up to turn down the thermostat. I noticed that Milo was not sleeping at the end of the bed with us. When I went down the hall to the thermostat, I spotted something in the corner of my eye. The cats have taken up sleeping on the Changing Table in the nursery. I snapped a late night picture...the expressions on their faces sort of say "Mom, please do not disturb us"... Now, at any time of the day or night, at least one of them is sleeping on the contoured changing pad. Saturday, August 30, marked the beginning of Alabama's football season. I couldn't find an ALABAMA maternity shirt so I settled for a top in crimson (well it's berry, but close enough). I definitely think I have dropped a little and am getting huger by the minute. In the corner of the nursery we have a small nook that I thought it would be nice to put shelves in. So after one unlevel shelf, I finished the job, as Robert had to go run an errand. Here is the finished product. I'm pretty darn proud of them! We definitely need more books for little miss though!

For those of you who love belly shots...

Here they are in chronological order My belly shots

Photos

Princess Pillow I call him my "fat cat" but this is a great picture showing exactly how chubby he is... Who said the dog and cat hate each other? THey are avoiding looking at eachother - then they can tolerate one another "These boots were made for walking..." Thanks to Dana for her cute "texan" gift - Avery has her first pair of cowgirl boots Buddy says "this is the life" Avery's Coming home Outfit Picture of nursery from the "nook" My First Halloween outfit Crib w/ bedding in it

So, you're having twins???

Apparently when you're pregnant, people decide that they have the right to comment about your weight, your size, your diet, your birth plans, etc. Everyone has an opinion and more than likely it is different than the woman who is the one actually carrying the child. Very frustrating in my opinion.

I had my fair share of "morning" sickness this pregnancy, so if I wanted to eat Easy Mac for breakfast - because that is the ONLY thing that sounded remotely edible AND would not make me vomit, then I did it.

Being 6 weeks out, I have not gained excessive weight and my doctors are very pleased with my progress. They don't care that I stop at McDonald's for a soft serve cone every chance I get. All they are concerned about is that my Blood Pressure is "phenomenal", my urine is clear of toxins and the baby is growing on schedule. They don't even blink when they look at my stretch marked belly.

At any rate, some people enjoy passing judgement or offering unwelcome advice. Last Monday, a stranger at work came up to me and made the comment of "So, any day now, huh!??!!"

When I gently replied that I had 7 weeks left, she then thought to take the comment one step further and ask "Oh, so you're having twins???" ......................................

............................................

Um, NO, but thanks for making me feel like an even larger whale than I already am.

For your viewing pleasure, I have added a belly shot from that day, wearing the same outfit. I was 33 weeks along.

Bama Baby Shower

Last Saturday (August 16, 2008) I had four wonderful women throw me a baby shower. It was EVERYTHING an expecting mother could ask for. I had friends, family and food! Um, my belly is as big as Robert's Grandmother... The Loot! For as many very cute clothes and much appreciated gift cards I received at my shower in Portland, I received all the stuff from my registry for this one. It was fantastic and I ended up with EVERYTHING that my daughter will need! Of course they played the "how big is the belly game" - using TOILET paper! I think Lisa missed the memo about how I feel about that, but it wasn't ALL that humiliating and I was able to endure it. For the record - 12 - it took 12 sheets of toilet paper to go around my belly. Me, concentrating on opening gifts. My FABULOUS hostesses. From Left to Right - Karin - MIL, Lisa - SIL, ME - how can you miss me?, Tammy - we met riding horses. She just had a baby 3 months ago! and finally Lisa - my "first" friend here in Huntsville. I'm SO sad she lives in Atlanta now! These ladies were WONDERFUL. The spread - it was PHENOMENAL! Reused Diaper cake from the first shower! YUMMY Petit Fours - If you look closely the pink portion is in the shape of baby booties!!!

What's in a Name???

We FINALLY decided on a name.

Avery Elizabeth

I think it's cute, but not too cute, Sassy but not in that smartassy sort of way and intelligent sounding. And... Robert and I both agree on it... Even though Jerry thinks it's a boy's name and it's the same as the printer label brand, but hey, those are great labels!!!

I Love our Avery!!!

***Note: We will call her "AVERY" - I grew up without a nickname, and for the most part, Robert (even though there are nicknames galore) prefers "Robert" over anything else.

2 more months!

Time is flying by... Wednesday I have a dr appt and it seems like just yesterday they were sending me off to my glucose tolerance test telling me that hopefully they wouldn't be talking to me until August 6. 3 weeks of sitting on pins and needles has passed... I think it's safe to say that I do NOT have gestational diabetes!!! THANK GOODNESS!!! So here is where I spend most of my time at home now... Our Glider is fantastic! It's by Best Chairs Storytime series. I LOVE IT! It will be great when the bambino arrives. And for all you who care, here is a ~31 week photo of the "the bump".

The early tour of L&D...

Tuesday was our 2nd "Prepared Childbirth Class" The night started off ok, we picked up a burger at burger king (ok, not so healthy but we're out of groceries and I'm knocked up), enjoyed our evening talking about C-sections, Pain Meds and breathing exercises. Robert thoroughly impressed me with how interested he is in childbirth. I'm very proud of him. While other husbands were poking and prodding their wives during the "therapeutic" massage portion of our evening, Robert gave me a great massage and didn't crack one single joke. He is going to be a great labor coach.

After the class ended, we went home and pretty much went to bed. When I got into bed, I was really uncomfortable, like little miss was IN THE WAY. ugh! but just chalked it up to pregnancy and went to sleep. At 2 am I got up for my standard trip to the bathroom (the joys of pregnancy) and was in a lot of pain... no contractions and baby was kicking just fine but my entire upper body had sharp constant pain. My back hurt, my upper abdomen hurt, everything from belly button up hurt. I didn't think it was indigestion because I didn't have a sour stomach or anything and I didn't feel any gas at all, just felt like my entire gut had been wrapped up in a gigantic knot.

I called the on-call nurse and she told me to take some tums and drink something fizzy. I did that, and took a Tylenol and didn't feel great but I was able to fall asleep on the couch. At 5:00 am I rolled over on the couch and HOLYMOTHEROFGOD! I was in INTENSE pain! It was unbearable! I got all sweaty and threw up but I wasn't really nauseated, I think I puked because of the pain. The nurse told me to go to L&D if it didn't subside or get better... so off we went. They strapped me in, baby hated the monitors and kicked at them for hours. My pain subsided from a 10 to probably a 7-8 (9 at times). The nurse gave me some pepcid and out of exhaustion I fell asleep. By the time the Doctor came by my pain was gone (I'm still sore - like someone has been punching me in the gut and back) but she told me that it was probably my gallbladder and there was nothing we could do right now and I just need to be very careful about eating fatty foods (no more whoppers!)

So now I'm home... I feel a little stupid about going to L&D over indigestion but I can honestly say that I have NEVER been in that much pain in my entire life. And... the dr didn't make me feel stupid at all - in fact she told me that when she was pregnant, she went in after she had accidentally peed on herself thinking her water broke and she is an OB!!!

Also, I feel very "ready" for labor now. I kept telling myself that at least with contractions, there is some sort of reprieve whereas with this pain, there was NONE. It was persistant pain for essentially 6 hours straight. I am proud of myself for handling it as calmly as I did. I used to go a little (Ok, a lot) hysterical when I had a lot of pain (especially when I was younger suffering menstrual cramps). But I breathed through it and managed to stay calm. There were times I started feeling like I was out of control but Robert helped remind me to breathe and calm down.

Of course upon us returning home from the hospital (after a braless visit to Costco - I can't believe I actually did that!), I googled "Gallbladder and pregnancy" - and found this quote "I thought that I was dying. It hurts as much as childbirth, but unlike contractions, the pain doesn't go away," I kept telling Robert that while we were in the hospital... I'm glad someone else who had gone through this felt the same way... If I can handle that, I can handle giving birth!

29 weeks!

I seriously cannot believe that I'm already 29 weeks along! This was taken on Friday night when we got home from our friend's birthday dinner.

Nursery Beginnings...

Beginnings of nursery set up - I think I am officially "nesting" now. I just want everything organized and set up. I can't wait to meet my baby girl!!! (but...she's allowed to stay in there for AS LONG AS SHE LIKES!)

Dresser - We bought it at Bedz (the name is so incredibly cheezy). It's a Vaughan-Basset brand dresser - not sure if that means good or bad, but it was on sale, ready to take home and I didn't have to assemble it. I might change out the drawer pulls to match the changing table. Excuse the mess. I am still unpacking from the shower and I need to line the drawers in the dresser.

All the cute baby clothes. Would it be entirely OCD of me to get labels for "0-3" months, "3-6" months, etc? I still need to get some more closet shelf things to go down half the closet. I can't wait!!!

I hung sheers today - with a tension rod. We have this curtain rod to hang the valance with that I haven't done yet. (picture of bedding at bottom of post). The glider will go in this corner. You can sort of make out the crib - in the box - on the lower left hand side. Above the glider, I'm going to put a pale pink paper lamp shade there for some soft light while we rock and change diapers :)

Changing table. Purchased at JCP. It's a little "redder" than the dresser but for the most part everything will coordinate. I hope... Diapers are starting to accumulate (the mess is driving me crazy!!!)

Here is the bedding we have. We registered for Target Dwell Studio "Olivia" accents to add some pink to the room. I think it's going to look fantastic.

Crib was purchased at JCP as well. It's still in the box - on the floor - in the nursery.