A little progress is better than none at all!!!

Well I had my 36 week appointment today. Wow 36 weeks and yea I know I look like 45 weeks but I am not and if people would stop telling me how "huge" I am I would really appreciate it!! They act as if I have no mirrors in my house. I do I see myself everyday and I am not eating like the stereotypical pregnant person you know the I am eating for two mentality. Now even if you are eating for 2 no one person should have 5000 calories per day. I did gain 1/2 lb this week but I am only up 11 total for the entire pregnancy. Ok I am over that rant now....

As for the rest of the visit I am almost 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced (if you are male and don't understand this it means just barely a little bit). My blood pressure is now doing very good and my iron has gone up to 39 which is really good considering 36 is normal and a month ago I was 32. My sugar is still doing very good some mornings it is a little low but that is because my night snack was not adequate. I am working hard to make sure I eat exactly as I am supposed to. It is hard to eat 3 completely balanced small meals and 3 balanced snacks every day. I know it seems simple enough but it requires always having a lot of food in the house and constantly watching the clock to see when I need to eat again or when I need to check my sugar. But I know I will be glad when my little boy gets here healthy and when I have less weight to lose after the pregnancy is over. I am still measuring 1 week ahead of schedule so even though I am only 36 weeks I am measuring 37 weeks.

As I posted last week I am still having contractions sometimes as many as 8 to 10 per day. Some are worse than others but at least we saw some progress when the dr checked me today so I don't feel like the pain was in vain. I am up for any suggestions that might help me progress so comment me if you know of anything. I just dont want to go all the way to Bham and be sent home because I am not in "real" labor. So I want to make sure my body is progressing before I go to the hospital so if you know of any reasonable way to help with that I am all for it.....

I am going to do my best to keep the blog updated over the next few weeks so check back to see what is going on with me and soon with Jackson. If you have a question comment the blog and I will do my best to answer it.

Miranda

35 Week Dr Appointment

Well last night was a little bit eventful. I had about 5 contractions over 3 1/2 hours. The contractions were not that bad but they were definitely there. So today I had my 35 week appointment I was measuring 36 weeks, his heart rate was 150 and my iron and blood pressure were good. I lost 1/2 lb. so for the entire pregnancy I am up 11 1/2lbs (yes I am proud of that!). Dr. Snowden checked me and there are no developments in that area but she did say that if I don't go on my own prior to 39 weeks she thinks we need to go ahead and do a repeat c-section. I hope I can go on my own but mostly I just want a healthy baby and to have a good experience. I am going to the Dr weekly so she will monitor any changes with me. I will keep you all posted on any events that occur but we are almost packed and ready just in case!!

Baby Shower Cookout

We had our baby shower cookout yesterday at Chad's parents house. We had a wonderful time with friends and family. MeMaw, PaPaw, Aunt Courtney and Uncle Cully did a wonderful job with the set up and the food. We had traditional cookout food hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans. We also had homemade ice cream, lemon squares and cake. Since the theme of Jackson's room is Alabama we used some of our tailgating things to decorate for the shower. And Jackson's Daddy was in charge of grilling (which he really loves to do!!). Some of the kids at the shower even took the opportunity to get in the pool. We received some wonderful and thoughtful gifts and really appreciate all of the kindness that was shown to us.

Chad and I in front of the tent at the shower.

(Yes I know I am huge you do not have to tell me) LOL

The invitation

On Sunday after the shower we went to Huntsville to finish buying a few last things we needed before Jackson arrived. Now all we need to do is wait until Jackson decides to make his debut into the world.

Jackson's Room

Memorial Day weekend my Mom and David and Chad's Parents came over to help us get Jackson's room ready. We had lots of work to do to be able to get the room to the point that I could see it in my head. You never know if what you think will turn out as well as you want it to. I was very nervous until it was completely done and then I was very happy with the results.

Here is Jackson's Bed with his name above it.

We had letters painted to go on the wall and I am so happy with how they turned out.
I finished the nightstand for his room to match the furniture.
We found a print that went so well with his room and of course if you know Chad you know Jackson would have a wall mount tv in his room. (Actually we did not have anywhere else to put it.) And yes for those of you who remember our tailgating TV this is it and it was too hard to mount on the wall to take off!
We found a lady who personalizes prints with name and hair color and eye color. We guessed light brown hair and brown eyes so we will see if we were correct.

Baby Shower

My cousin Starr hosted our 1st baby shower earlier this month. It was so sweet that she did this for us. Her Mom (my Aunt Cynthia) and my Granny helped her fix the food. I think my Granny fixed enough chicken salad sandwiches for 50 people and there were only a few family members and friends there. Starr also made a special effort to fix foods that fit into my gestationally diabetic diet. Here is a picture of the food we had.


This is a picture of me and my Granny Cash. I am so glad she was able to come to the shower for Jackson.

Chad came to pick me up, look at all the stuff, and load everything up. And he had to load everything up all by himself because it was like 97 degrees outside and I did not even attempt to help.

We are so lucky to have so many family and friends to help us prepare for Jackson's arrival. Even after the shower we have still received several more gifts in the mail.

Everyone also placed their guesses to when Jackson would arrive, his weight, and length. I am going to list the results here so that there is no question about who was closest when he arrives

• Amanda July 19th -- 7 lbs 12 oz -- 19"
• Sylvia July 15th -- 8 lbs 3 oz -- 18"
• Deborah July 20th -- 7 lbs 2 oz -- 17 1/2"
• Cynthia July 17th -- 8 lbs 1 oz -- 17"
• Jennifer July 4th -- 7 lbs 1 1/2 oz -- 19"
• Granny July 5th -- 7 lbs 14 oz -- 17"
• Monica July 15th -- 7 lbs 4 oz -- 19 1/2"
• Starr July 12th -- 6 lbs 9 oz -- 20 1/2"
• Gabby July 12th -- 6 lbs 6 oz -- 17"
• Wanda July 7th -- 7 lbs 4 oz -- 20 3/4

If you would like to add your guess just add it to your comment. I think it will be interesting to see who is closest.

New to Blogging!!

As many of you know I have a baby website but finally I have been persuaded to join the world of blogging!!! So I will try to do my best to keep this current and to keep everyone up to date on the happenings of my pregnancy and upcoming delivery!! I went to the doctor today and most everything went well. My iron is up to 36 (which is considered normal) YEA!! My sugar is doing very well in fact I have not had any readings above the level set by my doctor. The 1st time they checked my blood pressure today it was 144 over 98 which was way high! However after laying down for a few minutes she rechecked and I was 120 over 80 so that was good. They are also continuing to check my liver enzymes to make sure I do not become toxic. One level has been a little elevated but nothing alarming so far, but it seems they will be checking it weekly to make sure it stays ok. His little heart was beating so fast today his heart rate was 165. I was measuring 35 weeks and I am actually only 34 weeks. I also gained 2 lbs and so I am up 12 lbs for the entire pregnancy.