For those who don't have Facebook...

I realize that I often post a lot of pictures on Facebook but not everyone has a Facebook account. Here are a couple of links to albums that you may be interested in viewing!

Smudge's first photo album


Shower for Smudge

I'm not sure if you will be able to see the captions and comments but at least you can see more photos. 

34 weeks

Well, our lives have calmed down considerably since the house is healthy again! We had a great visit with my dad, though it wasn't as good as previous trips since we all were slightly under the weather and Chad and I had to work. But I am so glad that he got to come visit before our lives forever change! He was such a huge help. He put together our bouncer, stroller, and shelves and put up the nursery blinds. Unfortunately Lori was unable to visit because, while in St. Louis, she got hit with a similar stomach virus to what we had. It stinks that she had to miss the shower but we look forward to when they'll get to come visit--hopefully this summer!

I am starting to get my productivity back a bit. This is particularly good timing since I have under 6 weeks to get a semester's worth of work finished!

The doctor's appointment on Tuesday went well. My blood pressure was 118/70 and I had lost a pound since my previous appointment (due to not being able to eat or drink anything the previous weekend; it's all come back and then some...). The doctor did another ultrasound and Alaina is still head down and doing well. We mostly just saw her spine. She was sleeping. However, the doctor was able to point out that she is practicing her breathing. Very, very cool. She did say that she will be doing another big ultrasound a couple of weeks before the due date to assess growth and position. Chad is excited he will get to come to that. Below is the latest video. You can see her heart beating (around 140 bpm) and the practice breaths. Ignore the poor cell phone quality and my froggy voice from the bronchitis.

Alaina's movements are definitely more obvious now. They can be seen from across the room sometimes! She seems to be doing well. I'm also doing well. Continued reflux at night but I've been trying some tricks to reduce that so it's been better the last couple of days. The graduate students are throwing a shower on Friday for me and two of my colleagues who are also having babies. It's really very sweet of them.

Chad and I have scheduled our hospital tour and pre-registration for March 21. We have two more classes to finish. Everything is really getting real. Everyone keeps asking if I am excited or nervous. In reality, I am just not there yet. So many people keep saying "I bet you can't wait for her to get here" but really...I can. I am perfectly content with her staying right where she is for awhile. It isn't that I love being pregnant or that I am afraid of what life will be like with a baby. It may be just that there is so much to do before she gets here. I have what feels like a million journal reviews due, theses to supervise or read, IRBs to finalize, reports to grade, lectures to write, and a manuscript to revise. And none of that has anything to do with getting things ready for the baby.

To get ready for her we still have a number of big things to accomplish--

• Find and meet with a pediatrician
• Finish painting and decorating the nursery
• Launder and organize the baby clothes
• Decide on a bring home outfit
• Write thank-you cards
• Make meals to freeze
• Write "birth goals" (yikes)
• Determine what necessities we still need to buy (like um, diapers...)
• Pack our hospital bags and install the car seat

Hopefully I'll get to work on some of that this weekend. We also will be picking up our glider and ottoman! Yay!

Here is my lazy photo from this week:

Shower for Smudge

This weekend was Smudge's baby shower hosted by my fabulous friend, Ricki. She did such an amazing job with the entire party from start to finish. See the "save the date" she sent to out of town guests and the baby shower invitation.  

You should notice that the baby shower invitation is an exact match to our bedding. So perfect.











The decorations were all so cute and Smudge-worthy. 

The spread of food was great with awesome finger foods and sweets. 

We played several games including The Price is Right (not surprisingly, I knew a lot of prices as these were all items taken from my registry and I am quite the registry stalker), an ABC game of baby items (I was pretty terrible!), and a game which required people to not use the word "baby" all afternoon--a pretty difficult feat!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made this day so special! It was a lot of fun!

Here's the "money shot" with all of the great presents we received! 

Weeks 32 & 33

Well, I warned you last post that I was behind in every aspect of life! I wasn't kidding. Fortunately, Madeline has gotten much better and seems back to her old self. Unfortunately, my cold turned into bronchitis and then Chad and I were hit with a stomach virus. It has been a never-ending cycle in this house! Hopefully we are both on the mend, though. We spent most of the morning trying to decontaminate and sanitize the house, although neither of us is back to 100% (Chad has it worse than I did, unfortunately).

I did submit a grant, had a paper accepted, and had another manuscript get a revise and resubmit decision so those are all good things from the last week. A pregnancy-related positive is that the round ligament pain that was constant is now just intermittent. So that has made standing and walking much more tolerable! I am hoping to get to the thank you notes this week. Things are definitely speeding up. We are under the 50 day mark now and the baby shower is this upcoming weekend. I can't wait to see the fun that Ricki has planned. :)

Even though I've been sick and I'm super busy, I am excited because my dad was able to come visit. I was really getting worried that the plague that had befallen our house would make it so that I wasn't even able to see him. Also exciting, my BFF Lori and her family are coming to visit this upcoming weekend! So lots of fun this week. :)

My next doctor's appointment is on Tuesday but I am pretty sure it will be fairly routine.

And now for the new pictures...

31 weeks

I have been so swamped and tired this week that I just haven't felt like updating the blog. I am behind on most everything at work and home. I imagine it's only going to get worse in the coming weeks! I am still trying to get over this cold. While I feel much better, Madeline has been sick, which has stressed the whole house. Poor puppy. We are hoping she is on the mend, though. The vet thinks it's a bacterial infection in her GI track. Last night she got fluids and 2 shots and we're currently giving her two different medications.

Anyhow, not to be a downer--things really are going very well. I had my doctor's appointment on Tuesday.  Blood pressure and weight were normal. I am measuring at 31 weeks and the doctor was unconcerned about the impact of my cold on Alaina. She said that since we didn't have anything big planned, she decided to bring in the portable ultrasound machine to take a look, just for fun. Given that I really didn't think I would have any additional ultrasounds, this was really exciting! Of course now I'm spoiled and will be keeping my fingers crossed for another look in a future appointment. Her heart rate was in the 130s and Alaina was turned head down (though of course she still has time to move around or turn), though a little crooked (but not transverse). My amniotic fluid also looks good. Unfortunately because it was a portable ultrasound, I didn't get any pictures. Chad is upset that I didn't think to take a video or any photos. I was just so surprised that it didn't even cross my mind!! The doctor also said the pain I've been having does sound like round ligament pain. Combining this with Smudge's position (with her leaning to the right), that added pressure could be making it more uncomfortable. So, pretty much everything I had guessed. I could get a prenatal cradle, which would help with the round ligament pain as well as back pain and swelling. But it just seems like such a waste to buy something I would use for only about 8 weeks.

We have been getting lots of fun and exciting presents in the mail from great friends and family! I definitely need to get on the thank-you notes (again, so very behind at work and home)! I also got in two very cute things that I ordered from Etsy--a canopy cover for our car seat and an adorable hair bow holder. Isn't it so weird how different the color of the room looks depending on the picture? I guess you'll just have to come see it in person to judge what is the most accurate color. :)

The next few weeks are definitely going to be crazy. I'll try to keep you guys posted on things, though! I will end with a shot of my gigantic belly (and a slightly crazed look in my eyes...). It's ridiculous how huge it's getting--I think it deserves its own zip code...