Putting things together (35 weeks 2 days)

One would think that our lives would begin to settle down. That has not been the case. We have still be extremely busy getting everything ready for Baby. Last weekend, we went though all of our gifts from the shower and put them all together. First we played with the car seat. It is so cute. Then we (I should say Brian) put the Jeep stroller together. The stroller is awesome. Brian had to even inflate the tires. It has a MP3 player with speakers. The car seat also fits perfectly in it for when Baby is small.

After Brian installed the car seat, I called the fire station to find out when we could have it inspected. Brian took the car there a few days later. Let’s just say that putting in the car seat base was a pain in the butt! Brian had to make sure it fit correctly and it was hard to get it to attach but finally it did. Luckily when Brian had it inspected, it was in there right. We will not be removing the car seat base from the car until Baby grows out of it! It is really nice to have the car seat in the car. (We can officially have the Baby now because we would be able to leave the hospital with Baby).

We started washing all of Baby’s clothes separately. They look so cute in the drawer just waiting for Baby to wear them. I decorated the nursery walls with cute animals decals. Brian even put the toy box together. Everything seems to be going together nicely. We still have a few more things to go though and put away but for the most part we are organized.

Brian has been installing a baby monitoring system in our house. There are 4 cameras. Two are in Baby’s room, one is in the backyard, and one is in the front yard. That was another interesting challenge. Brian ran all the wires though the attic and also installed a new power outlet for it too. I really did not do anything with it. The camera will be really nice to have. We can be watching TV in our living room and see Baby’s room live with picture and picture on the TV. Plus our family can see it from their house too over the internet. It is really nice!

We also decided on a pediatrician. It is right down the street from us. Plus they are open 365 days a year. That is really nice because if Baby is sick, we want to be able to take him/her to the doctors soon. We liked the pediatrician and are glad we are done with that.

We also attended baby basic class. It was a 3 hour class at the hospital. We learned about changing diapers, bathing, swaddling, and sleeping habits. It was a good class to take. We got to practice on Cabbage Patch dolls. I have a feeling Baby is going to be a bit more challenging. They will also offer a class again before leaving the hospital. It will be nice to feel prepared.

I have been feeling okay. I am starting to be more tired again though! I really could nap everyday but that does not happen except on the weekends. I have gained about 25 pounds. My doctor says everything looks good though. I am starting to feel more uncomfortable. I also now have acid reflux. I really don’t care for that, but what can I do? It is especially bad in the evenings. I have also stopped wearing heels to work. I can no longer run all around the hospital in heels. I continue to do my Bradley Method exercises and try to relax as much as possible.

Family Baby Shower (33 weeks 4 days)

Last Thursday, Melissa and my mother in law came into town. I took the day off work and picked them up at the airport. We went to breakfast and went shopping for the shower. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday was my baby shower. It was really exciting! Melissa worked really hard at organizing everything and making it perfect. The theme was monkeys and it really turned out nice! Melissa and my mother in law made cute little table decorations that were like cakes but with diapers inside and monkey faces sticking out of them. It was a clever idea. Also they made chocolate animal party favors. Again it was perfect! I cannot thank them enough. Everyone did a great job organizing the shower and we had a lot of fun. My dad and Brian stayed to help setup and load the car at the end. Brian also took pictures throughout.



There were about 30 people at the shower. It was great to see a lot of family and friends... especially people that I don’t get to see often. Melissa arranged several games that were fun. First they had to guess how big my stomach was. Then Melissa had people take a T-shirt and make it into a baby’s outfit. Somehow I was one of the model babies and they made me look crazy. I had fun though. She also had a baby animal game that I found pretty difficult. People had to match what baby animal is made when two different animals mate. I don’t know my zoology. It was a good game though. The last game was a door prize. Everyone got a diaper corsage when they arrived. At the end the person who had the dirty diaper (upon inspecting the inside) got a prize. It was a great shower.


Brian and I had people guess baby’s name. They could guess a boy and girl’s name. Surprisingly no one guessed either name right. We think that it is so obvious what baby’s name is going to be but none of our family has guessed it yet. We decided on a theme for the naming of all of our children. The boy’s name was a little bit more challenging to come up with but we found the perfect name. Soon our family will know the names.

We tabulated the list of guesses people submitted for the names at the end of this post if you are curious.



I got a lot of great gifts at the shower. My brothers and sister in laws in Texas got us phenomenal gifts. We got both strollers and the infant car seat. Those things are necessarily and we were so happy we got them. Also at the shower, Baby got a lot of clothes. I don’t think I will have to buy any clothes for baby for at least 6 months! We also got a lot of bath products, books, a bookshelf, gift cards, blankets, and diapers. My parents even got Baby a little suitcase and filled it with clothes. Everyone was so generous!
It was a fun weekend with the shower. It was sad that Melissa and my mother in law had to go home. There is a good chance that next time they see me I will have baby in my arms instead of my stomach. We are getting really close to delivery now.



After the shower we took everything home and started to find places to put it. Baby's room is getting more organized. We still have a lot of stuff to organize and put together though! Good thing we still have a few weeks left.

Overall I am still feeling well. I am getting more tired. Many night I need a little nap in the evenings because I am so tired. I have been working 9-11 hours a day so that is not helping. Baby is growing but my stomach can't keep up. It is leaving less and less room. I feel baby kicking and moving a lot and many times it is painful. I have gained 23 pounds. Most people tell me that I look really good for being 8 ½ months pregnant. I hope that is true because I still think I am pretty big.

Today I went on a job interview. I will write more on that on my next blog post. For now, I need to get some sleep.

Here are the guesses we received for the names at the shower:

Girls Names Alexa Ann Ava Carrie Catherine x2 Cindy Chelsie Elizabeth Emily Emma Hazel Julia Kathy Madison Marie Margarita Mackenzie Mattie x2 Megan Melissa Rachel Shara Tracy

Boys Names: Brian x2 Donald x2 Ethan Frank Hunter Jack Daniels James x2 Jason John x2 Mattie Michael x5 Ryan Shawn Tom Tyler Wayne William

Work Baby Shower (32 weeks 0 days)

On Wednesday night, the girls from work had a baby shower for me. It was at a local restaurant near our work. They told me that Brian needed to be there too. Luckily Brian is easy going and he did not mind. After all it’s his baby too!

When we arrived there was a chair for me to sit in with several balloons on it. Then they even had a corsage for me to wear. I was getting the special treatment. I could not believe they did all of this. The cake was so cute too. We all ordered off the menu and had dinner together. There were about 20 people there. It was so nice of them!

After dinner I opened up gifts. I (really baby) got all kinds of really nice things. We got baby clothes/sleepers, diapers, bathing set, car seat, baby head rest, changing pad, baby blanket, books, swing, booster seat for the kitchen table, baby book, and a toy box. It was amazing. Brian and I had a great time. We are so thankful for everything.

When we got home, I could not wait to start opening things and playing with them. We got a baby music toy. Once I opened it, I started playing it near my stomach so baby could hear it. I was having so much fun. My house is now looking like a baby lives in it.

On Thursday night we went to the Cavs vs Heat game. This has been marked on our calendar ever since the schedule came out. (There was even talk from other people of what would happen if I went into labor before this day. All I can say is we are glad baby is still developing inside of me right now-for many reasons, not just the game). This was a big event and we had to be there. Brian and I love basketball and use to really like LeBron James. Now we hate him.

We still remember the night the LeBron made “The Decision” on national TV. That night Brian and I were convinced that he would stay in Cleveland. We stood in front of the TV just waiting and when he said he was “taking his talents to South Beach” we were very angry.

Back then (July), we knew I was pregnant but no one else did. We knew even if LeBron would have stayed, our days of going to every home Cavs game were going to end this winter. We had more important things to focus on. Even so, we still really wanted him to make the right decision and stay in Cleveland. But he did not. Therefore we needed to attend this game to let him know what we thought about him. Tickets were very expensive and in demand, but we have season tickets. So far we have attended every home game this year (around 10 so far).

We arrived at the game at least an hour before tip off. We had to make sure that we were there for when LeBron came out. It was crazy to be there. When he came out, the crowd booed so loud it was indescribable. It was not long before the entire arena was chanting a**hole over and over again. Even though I was not chanting it, I could see how it made people feel better. Other clever chants were "Akron Hates You" and "Scottie Pippen" (since Lebron is a sidekick to Dwyane Wade). I think Lebron got the message. The Cavs played terribly except for the first quarter. We still had lots of fun chanting, watching security, and seeing people get ejected at the end (mainly Miami fans causing trouble).

Today Brian and my parents went to an infant CPR class. Since I am already certified in infant CPR I did not register myself. I thought it would be good for all of them to go. We hope we never have to use it but you definitely want to know what to do if you do.

I am at home this morning doing some housework. It is hard to keep the house together when we both work a lot during the week. Yesterday I was at work for 11 hours! I get a little tired and cranky at times but for the most part I have been feeling pretty well. I am starting to be uncomfortable at times... especially if I am in one position too long. Even at night, I am up moving around just so I can get comfortable. I am getting practice for when baby arrives!

Hospital Tour (31 weeks 4 days)

On Saturday, we went on our hospital tour. We invited our parents to come along. My mom had to work so she did not come. However my dad and Brian’s mom went with us which was nice. I decided that I wanted to deliver at Hillcrest. I really like that they have a neonatal intensive care. I hope that we don’t have to use it, but if we do I want to have it available to us.

Once we arrived to Hillcrest, we first went to registration. We had to register with my medical and insurance information. It was also interesting because I had to sign a consent form for baby already. Wow this is all seeming very real!

We walked around the hospital for about an hour. We went to labor and delivery then over to postpartum. The labor and delivery room looked really nice. I asked several questions while I was there. Brian and I are very informed about our options about the birth. We wanted to know what they have available to us and what we need to bring.

I am hoping to deliver naturally so I will need things to help make that happen. One thing is a birthing ball. Hillcrest has them but we will bring one along too just in case. We will also have music prepared for me to help as needed. I am also thinking that the shower and/or bath tub may help me so we will need to make sure Brian packs a swimsuit so he can help me as needed. Even though I am the one who has to deliver our baby, Brian has an extremely important role to make sure I do this successfully. I will need his support and encouragement though everything. I know he will do great.

We were all very happy with Hillcrest. I think it was a good choice to deliver there. The only thing I have a concern about is that they have semi private rooms for postpartum. They try to avoid using them however sometimes they have to. I really hope I don’t have to share a room. I want Brian to spend the night with us but he cannot do that if I have to share a room. The hospital encourages new parents to have baby in the room all the time. I think that is a great idea and what that to happen but I am going to need Brian’s help.

Sunday night Brian came down with a GI virus. I woke up around 3 am to Brian vomiting. He has not been sick like that for over 15 years. He had a fever of 101. We had a daycare tour scheduled on Monday morning but I had to cancel it because Brian was sick. I then told him that he had to stay home from work. At first he thought I was crazy but after he threw up a third time, he realized that he was not able to go to work.

Brian was so concerned that I was going to get sick. He would not get near me and he actually locked himself downstairs in our spare bedroom. I tried to explain to him that I work in a hospital and am around sick people all the time. Of coarse I did not want to get sick but at times he was going a little too crazy. There was no contact for a day and half until he got better. He sanitized everything he touched and he was doing his our laundry daily. I was not allowed to touch anything he had contact with. All the windows were left open for 2 hours before I got home from work to get rid of germs (it was near 50 degrees today).

I wanted Brian to get better quickly which luckily he did. This is an important week for us. My work baby shower is Wednesday and Thursday is the big Cavs and Heat game.