Mid-Week Update - I'm Still Pregnant!

So, it looks like Baby Clay is still content to be inside - which is fine with me (until next Monday, of course)! I've pretty much accomplished everything on my multiple lists so now I get to relax until he gets here next Monday! It's so weird to think that this time next week, I'm going to have an actual, live human being to take care of! It hasn't really hit me yet, but I'm sure it will Monday.

I have finally finished the nursery - I got the window treatment up last night and it looks ADORABLE (pictures to come at the end of this post). My friend, Lea Anne, made it for me and it fits perfectly in the nursery! So everything is good and ready for Clay!

I'm feeling HUGE and sleep is starting to dwindle either due to being uncomfortable or nerves! Other than that, I feel great! My diabetes is doing just fine and my levels have actually been pretty low so I've been splurging a little bit. Only 5 more days of having to prick my finger and give myself injections!!!

Mark and I have a bet on Clay's birthweight and length. Mark thinks he's going to be 9 lbs 2 oz and 22 inches long. I think he's going to surprise us all and not be over the 9 lbs everyone thinks he is. I'm thinking more like 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks! Let me know!!

Now for the picture part. This may be my last "pregnant" picture unless I take another one right before "the big day". If I don't post before next Monday, I'll try to get something up as soon as possible (pictures, of course!) to keep everyone in the loop!! I may have to teach Mark how to do all of this...

One week before delivery!!!

The gorgeous window valance Lea Anne made for the nursery!

How it looks in the room (sorry about the glare in the window - I'm photographically challenged)

False Alarm!!

Well, we had a little bit of a "False Alarm" at the doctor's office this morning. I went in for my twice weekly non-stress test and during the test, I was some pretty strong contractions. My doctor was concerned and basically said, "If I'm dilated, we're having a baby today"! My doctor is leaving for vacation tomorrow and will be out all next week, so I've told her that if there was any chance he needed to go ahead and be delivered, I'd like for her to do it before she went on vacation :)! So she checked me and I'm still not dilated - thank goodness! Mark was very disappointed... he'd like for him to be born today. Me, on the other hand, would like for him to hold off until his scheduled day of September 8th. I've got 3 lists of things I need to take care of before he gets here!!!

Clay is still doing great! He moves all the time - it's getting a little bit uncomfortable when he moves, but it's still the best feeling! I can't tell you how excited that I'm about to be done with this Gestational Diabetes crap! Only 10 more days and I'm FREE of it!!!!!

And "nesting" has obviously kicked in... not the whole "cleaning" part that everyone talks about (I'm saving that for Mark) but the whole "getting ready" part. I've actually become quite crafty in the last few days and have done a few projects I'm pretty proud of. I've taken a couple of pictures of my most recent crafts. I recovered a lamp shade and I made some cute little safari animal pictures to go on the wall (Ok, ok... I can't take all the credit for the safari animal pictures... all I did was paint the background and Mark glued the "already made" animals to them - I did do the lampshade all by myself, though!). Below are a couple of pictures from the nursery.

My Lampshade that I'm VERY proud of! I'm even making a pillow out of the same fabric! Let's see how that one turns out :)!

These are the adorable pictures my sister painted! They look perfect in the nursery!!!

My other "craft project"

Another nursery picture - my sister is working on some letters that will go above the crib!

This has beeen CRACKING me up ALL DAY!!!

So my friend, Melissa, has now got me completely addicted to http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ and I have now "yearbooked" everybody's picture that I can find! It's hilarious! Everyone with a blog, please go do this and post your favorites... it is too much fun!

Here are some of my favorites and Mark and I:

Year 1956

Back in good ole' 1968

This one really cracks me up! Mark in 1974

I'm lovin' the fro in 1978!!

Nothing beats some great 80's hair!! Year 1988

Here's my great 80's hair from 1984! I always wished my hair would curl like this!

Everyone MUST go to this website and do this! It's hilarious!!!!!

I Think This is a Great Sport!

I first want to start off with the definition of Sport as defined by Wikipedia:

"Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively."

Now that I got that out of the way, this brings me to the point of my blog. Mark and I have been having a discussion lately (because of the Olympics) as to what makes a "sport" a "sport". What got us on this subject... you ask... well, I have discovered a new and fun sport they have in the Olympics (it may not be new, but it's new to me) - Trampoline Gymnastics! I thoroughly enjoyed the parts of it that I saw and thought it was very interesting. Mark, on the other hand, thinks it's horrible that it's even part of the Olympics because all it consists of is "jumping on a trampoline". He even went so far to say that it "IS NOT a sport". Well, we went back and forth about why it's not a sport and one of his arguments were that "even he can do a back layout on the trampoline". Now, these atheletes are doing more than "back layouts" on the trampoline. I, of course, found the perfect opportunity to bring up racing and how it shouldn't be a "sport" then because all they do is drive around in circles in a car... even I can do that! Needless to say, I think my arguments were much better and I am glad that Trampoline Gymnastics is part of the Olympics. I think it's clearly much more interesting than watching someone run a marathon! If you haven't gotten to experience Trampoline Gymnastics, here's a little preview of what it is:




It takes a lot of skill and guts to jump that high and do that many flips in a row! Plus they also have to land as close as possible to the X in the middle of the trampoline. Just imagine... one wrong bounce and you could be "splat" on the floor!


What do you guys think... sport or not a sport??

I am in MAJOR shock!!!

Well, before I tell you how fabulous my last shower was this past weekend, I want to tell you what has me in such a state of shock. I had my last ultrasound this morning and boy was I surprised!!! Mark and I were guessing how much we thought he would weigh and I thought for sure he was only about 7 - 7 1/2 pounds. We'll... let's just add another pound to that! According to the ultrasound (which I've been told is pretty accurate) he weighs a whopping 8 lbs 3 oz.!!!!!!! HOLY COW!!! I am not yet 37 weeks and he weighs what he should had I birthed him today! I have now been told to go ahead and pack my hospital bag and not to leave the city :). The doc is still holding onto the Sept 8th date as am I (I don't have everything ready yet), so we'll see! Mark, for some reason, would like for him to come today, but I keep telling him that it's easier to get things done with him "inside" than "outside". Other than being the size of a small toddler, he is doing great. I've only gained a total of 20 pounds so far... and haven't really gained any weight since I found out I had gestational diabetes. He must just be sucking the life out of me :)! Just as long as he's healthy he can do whatever he wants! I would normally post pictures of the ultrasound, but he is so huge and crammed up in there, that there wasn't really a good picture to post. Gone are the days when he was small enough that his whole little body would fit in the ultrasound screen!

Now onto the shower part... I had my last baby shower in Scottsboro this past Saturday and it was a good one!! I got lots of great and wonderful stuff and ate some good food... especially the cake. I have just been so overwhelmed and thankful with the gifts we've received! We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives! Clay has more than enough stuff! Right now it looks like a Babies R Us store exploded in the nursery - there is stuff EVERYWHERE!! I have not had to buy very much for him at all and I'm so thankful to everyone for their generosity! Below are some pictures from the shower. I am looking majorly pregnant! I asked Mark if my outfit made me look fat and he lied to me :).

The adorable cake!

Me and Mark's Sister, Lee Anne (she was one of the hostesses)

Me and my nieces Ellie and Grace

Grace and Ellie

Mid-Week Update - Less than 4 weeks to go!!!

Just wanted to give everyone a mid-week update as well as my 36 week picture (I'm getting huge!!). I've got about 3 1/2 weeks left if Baby Clay stays in there that long! I've been having contractions, but the doctor has checked and I am not dilating. She doesn't seem to be too concerned and since I already come in twice a week, she's able to monitor me more closely. Clay is still doing great! His heart rate is exactly where it needs to be when they run the non-stress tests. He moves all the time! I've read on all the weekly emails I get from every pregnancy website that by now they usually settle into a "sleep/wake pattern"... he seems to be following more of a "wake all the time" pattern! Seems to be taking after his daddy right now... but don't worry, I've been reading my baby sleep books :)! I'm hoping I can "train" him to LOVE sleep as much as I do! On Monday, I measured at 38 weeks and have been the last few weeks - so it looks like he might be slowing down a tad in the growth department. I'm 36 weeks now, so he's only measuring 2 weeks ahead. I think getting my diabetes under control has a lot to do with that. I'm still on a good bit of insulin, but I have been able to maintain good blood sugars for the last few weeks, so my dr hasn't had to up it in a while! I've got an ultrasound next Monday and they'll see how much he's weighing in at. I just have this feeling that he's going to be like 8 pounds... hopefully not! All the emails say that he should be around 6 pounds right now... I'm sure he's closer to 7. I have also developed carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand which is quite annoying since it now stays half-way numb all the time! I've read that it should go away after I deliver! I hope so - along with the dreaded diabetes!

Other than that... everything else is going smoothly! We're still hoping for a Sept 8th c-section, but have been told to be prepared (just in case) for that date to be moved up. Hopefully they will be able to tell us for sure at the next ultrasound! My last baby shower is this Saturday so I'll be sure to post pictures from it!

Here's my 36 week picture... Told you I'm huge!!!

I also had to throw in this adorable picture of Monte and his "Mr. MooMoo". Mr. MooMoo is what he sleeps on ALL Day in our closet. He loves that cow!

Huntsville Baby Shower

I've gotten some pictures downloaded from my Huntsville baby shower, so here's how it all went down!

We had the shower at my house since a lot of the hostesses live out of town (which I highly recommend - you don't have to pack up the gifts and take them anywhere... AND they leave all the leftovers at your house :)!!!). Everything was WONDERFUL!! The food was delicious and they decorated everything up so cute! I am now completely addicted to the fruit dip my friend Emily made (which turns out to be very easy to make!) and cannot get enought of it! We had a great turn out - many people from out of town were able to make it as well as those that live here in Huntsville.

Now for the mushy part... I want to thank all of my hostesses from the bottom of my heart (Emily, Beth B, Beth Mc, Leigh, Lea Anne and Christy)! I know I didn't mention to anyone beforehand what August 2nd meant (see previous post), but it was very special to be celebrating something so exciting on that day. Each one of you are VERY special to me and I love you all dearly.

I also wanted to thank my peeps from Birmingham (Heather, Kelcei, Leigh and Gina). They were the ones that threw me the fabulous work shower a few weeks ago and then drove all the way to Huntsville to help me celebrate again! What amazing friends ya'll are! That meant the world to me that ya'll came up here to help celebrate a 2nd time!

My family was represented by my mom, sister, and niece, Cadence, from Atlanta as well as my sister in law, nieces, Ellie and Grace, and mother in law. It's always wonderful to have family around and I'm so glad that they all could make it!!

And a big THANKS to everyone else who was able to make it to the shower! I had a great time and enjoyed seeing everyone! All of you made this day very special!

Clay is going to be a very lucky boy to have such wonderful people in his life and I am extremely lucky to have such wonderful friends and family!

Now for the pictures...

Me with the Hostesses

Beth McClemore, Emily Donaldson, Beth Beasley, Me, Lea Anne Hardy, Leigh Webb, & Christy Ward

Getting ready for the shower!

The Yummy food!

My sister, Juli, Cadence and Me

Emily, Beth, Lea Anne, Melissa Gibson, and Caroline - Clay doesn't know it yet, but he and Caroline have already been fixed up!

Me and my Mom

These are the adorable paintings my sister did for Clay's nursery!!

http://www.juliburge.com/

(shameless little plug for my sister's artwork - she's so talented!! She's still working on the site, but you can browse her galleries)

Bittersweet...

Now, bear with me... this post may be a little long, but I have something on my mind that I want to share...

Many of you may not know, but this past Saturday (August 2nd) marked a year exactly of when I had emergency surgery to remove an ectopic pregnancy. I was 9 weeks along when the surgery happened, but we had known pretty early on that it was going to end this way. We had been trying for a little over 2 years and were going to a fertility specialist and this was the first time I had gotten pregnant. I was VERY excited, but the specialist informed us early on that it was very touch and go. We spent a couple weeks of blood tests to see how my levels were... a couple of times it was a little promising... but the others were not so much. I had to wait until week 6 for them to be able to "see" anything on an ultrasound and it was not a good prognosis. At first, they thought I had miscarried and I was scheduled for a D&C, but my OB did another ultrasound and found that it was actually an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy that was in my left tube. We tried 2 rounds of injections to "remove" it, but that didn't work. I had to go into emergency surgery due to internal bleeding in order to fix everything. That was August 2nd, 2007... It was hard and we took a few months off from the fertility treatments to heal... physically and emotionally... and after a much needed trip to VEGAS, we started back. The first round of drugs didn't work, but the doctor decided to switch my medication... and that did the trick!

This brings me back to this past Saturday, August 2nd 2008. My good friends hosted a baby shower for me here in Huntsville. It was a great shower!!! I just find it so coincidental that the baby shower occurred on the same EXACT date 1 year later from my surgery. One year ago, I was devastated and thought I would NEVER have a healthy pregnancy... and now, I am about to give birth to my sweet Baby Clay. God truly is a miracle worker and I am so blessed... blessed to have this baby on the way... blessed to have such a wonderful family who has supported us during this time... blessed to have such amazing friends that are rooting for us... we are just all around blessed! I know that God had a plan for the baby that didn't make it and I know he or she is probably up in Heaven... but I also know that God has BIG plans for little Clay (hopefully not as a racecar driver like his daddy wants him to be :). I know I have complained about the problems I've had during this pregnancy with the gestational diabetes and all... but I wouldn't trade one minute of it! I am thankful for the opportunity to become a parent and can't wait for him to get here so that I can be a mommy.

Even though I was a little sad over the baby I lost 1 year ago, I was also overjoyed that I got to spend this day, 1 year later, with all my friends and family celebrating the upcoming birth of Clay. It was bittersweet... but definitely in a good way! I have not gotten the pictures from the shower just yet, so I want to wait on the shower post until I have those. This was just on my mind and I wanted to share it with everyone. I do want to thank everyone for supporting us and being there for us! We would not have made it through everything without the support of our family and friends.

THANK YOU!!