Baby Prediction Pool!

Ok, I know I said that there would be no more posts, but I wanted you all to know about a baby prediction pool that my dad started. Here's the info:

There will be three different categories:
1) Date/time (to the minute)
2) Weight (to the ounce)
3) Length (to the inch)

Participants will be ranked in each category according to how close they are to the baby's official stats. Rankings will then be totaled across all 3 categories, with the winner being the person with the lowest overall ranking. Ties will split ranks. Winner takes all.

$5 entry can be made by sending an e-mail with your predictions in all 3 categories to loop@uab.edu (Dad / Mike Loop).

"Level Playing Field" info:
Official (doctor's/7-week ultrasound) due date: 11/11/08
Unofficial (Emily's best estimate) due date: 11/7/08
Our heights: 5'8" (Emily) and 5'10" (Brent)

The Waiting Game

At this point, we are really just waiting for Nublette to come any day now. At almost 38 weeks along, she would be quite healthy and not even that "early." Exciting, but sure makes it hard to concentrate at work! Pretty much everything is ready for her arrival and we can't wait to meet her, but I do hope she stays cookin' a few more weeks. At the most she should be here in a little over 4 weeks, but with no late babies in either of our immediate families, I doubt it will be that long. Who knows, though!

Also, I've decided not to update the blog anymore until Nublette is here. Though I'm going to the doctor every week now, I'm not sure how much good those check-ups are doing me, much less everyone else, and I think up-to-the-minute updates would just make me crazy :) There's no way to know when she will be here! So, I will update again with pics and a birth story once Nublette has arrived.

(Almost) 37 Weeks...

The biggest news from this week was that I did indeed get cleared to go with Brent to Jake and Holly's wedding this weekend - yay! Of course things can ALWAYS change quickly, but from the look of things, it's pretty doubtful I'll be going into labor this weekend :) (I think the best comment of the visit was "WOW that baby is still REALLY HIGH!") I guess I always really knew that - I told Brent last night that I'd meant to call the vet and get the dogs set up to board while we're gone, and he said "but we didn't even know until today if you were going...". Right. Guess I just figured that all along (or else preggo brain is just getting to me big time :)

No pics today or tomorrow since we'll be leaving town early in the morning (yay!). Hope to have one or two from the weekends festivities once we get back. Note to self: USE YOUR CAMERA!

On a totally different note, it is truly amazing how God works all things for our good, even that which we can't see at the time. He's been really working on some attitudes in our hearts this past week, and it's pretty cool to see how things come out in their own time. I'm also in awe of the incredible journey He's taken us on throughout this pregnancy, and how we can see just how thoroughly He's been preparing us for this next stage of our lives, and this wonderful blessing that is our little girl.

36 Weeks!

At 36 weeks...

Just 3 weeks ago, at 33 weeks...

Just four weeks left to go now! It's been a busy week of getting ready for baby. As I said a few days ago, I made a lunch run to Babies 'R Us and picked up some of the major things we'd want to have on hand when the baby comes. We're still in the process of unpacking and organizing everything, but getting closer every day. I've got a load of baby clothes and sheets in the wash as we speak! (And can I just say, I don't really buy into the Dreft baby detergent mania and will eventually just buy fragrance free regular detergent, but we did receive a bottle of it from one of Brent's coworkers, and I have to admit that it smells great!)

I worked like a busy bee at work "getting my affairs in order". I've got almost everything done that I wanted to have done before I left, and joked with my boss that of course now she'll be late, and I'll spend the last two weeks just going through the mounds of magazines that have piled up over the past few months. (We have a group subscription to other titles like Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Martha Stewart Living, etc, so we can see what other magazines are covering at similar times of the year. While it may sound appealing to sit back and go through like 8 magazines a month - and get paid for it - it is something that always gets put on my backburner!)

Nublette continues to grow like crazy, as you can see from the pictures above, but supposedly she'll start to slow down now. I've been trying to figure out how she's positioned and what she's doing in there, but often that's easier said than done. My best guess is that she's head down and at a diagonal of sorts, with her feet up near my right ribs.

I'm still feeling good, though started to have some swelling in my legs and ankles this week, mostly from sitting down so long. I count myself pretty lucky to have made it this far without any swelling, so that's certainly no big deal (plus, I can chalk up some of the recent weight gain to water :). Oh! And I had a true, out-of-character, bona fide craving this week. One day at lunch I reaaaaallly wanted a fried chicken sandwich and fries from our office cafeteria...mostly the fries. But they'd changed the type of fries and they really weren't very good. Plus, there were no chicken sandwiches left, just hamburgers. I reluctantly ate both but still hadn't satisfied my craving, so I actually went to the vending machine and bought some chips. CHIPS. I don't think I have ever in my LIFE sought out chips! (I'll eat them if they're around, but I've always been a sweet tooth girl.) They sure hit the spot on Thursday, though! That was pretty funny to me.

Speaking of nesting...

I totally nested at my cubicle desk today :) I've learned (thanks FlyLady) that one of the best ways to tackle overwhelming-looking tasks, especially those you've put off for awhile, is just to take 15 minutes to work on it and see where you get. YOu can stop after that, and the whole point is to NOT take 3 hours making the project way more complicated than it is (perfectionism), and yet still not get anything done.

The great thing about this is that often those 15 minutes are enough to get the entire task done anyway! (For example, I know that it takes just 5 minutes to unload the dishwasher and 10 to change the bedsheets, so there are never any excuses to put it off.) So after a couple of meetings meant to nail down some production details for while I'm gone, I was feeling buried under mounds of paper and just general junk that had accumulated on my desk. While these things never get as bad as they used to anymore, it had still reached that "overload" mode. I was trying to get some edits done for our Holiday package and wanted to keep working on those, but told myself "hey, I'll take 15 minutes and get as organized as I can."

Well, it really took me 25 minutes, but before long I had a organized, sparkling clean desk once again. (Had I not attacked the, let's face it, DISGUSTING buildup on my desk and under my keyboard, it would have easily taken just 15 minutes). Papers were filed, meaningless post-it notes thrown away, and general paper clutter was tossed. Amazing what a load straightening up takes off of your mind! I capped off my busy-bee-ness by noting a list of things to do/work on AFTER maternity leave, so I wouldn't forget about them. I can only imagine what 3 months spent at home with an infant might do to my memory power when it comes to going back to work!

One Month.

Today, October 7th, I am officially 8 months pregnant. And I didn't even realize it until I looked at my calendar during a staff meeting and saw where I had written, "8 months pregnant!" Being 8 months pregnant is a little different than I expected - for one, I thought I would look and feel like a beached whale, which has not been the case (well, except for when I try to get out of bed in the mornings :). It just sounds so dramatic - 8 months! I do feel Pregnant with a capital "P," though!

Had a rather comical lunchtime visit to Babies 'R Us, where I loaded up on the major things we still need. Just felt all of a sudden like it was of the utmost importance to get stocked up and ready. Whether that qualifies as "nesting" or not, I have no idea!

No matter what, Nublette will definitely make her grand debut when she's ready, whether that's next week or next month!

35 Weeks...

Once again, here we are :) Just 5 weeks until Nublette's due date. I am still feeling good - better, even, than I was last week. I have more energy and have been sleeping well again (there were a few days there when I did not sleep well at ALL). I just started being more consistent with taking iron supplements though, which I think has helped a great deal. I was, in fact, slightly anemic when they checked about 6 weeks ago...I guess it was still a little higher than most preggo women's, which is why they initially told me my iron "looked good." May also explain why I was so into red meat the past couple of weeks!

I do think I have started having (or have started noticing) Braxton-Hicks contractions. They are hard to explain, though, and whatever I'm feeling isn't really what I thought they'd be like. Just means my body's gearing up for the big day...which hopefully will come after Jake and Holly's wedding, and the PE test! Nublette, just stay in there until Oct. 25th!

We did go to our last baby class (except for a one night one that I'll go to on breastfeeding next week) on Tuesday night. It covered what happens in the hospital after the baby is born, recovery once you go home, some infant care, etc. We practiced swaddling too, and Brent kept the back-up teacher (I think? random woman who came in towards the end) laughing throughout the practice time. He is so great!

Also had a checkup on Wedneday - Nublette is measuring at 36 weeks, which was slightly higher than the doctor's age of 34 weeks, but still within the normal range. My blood pressure was great, heartbeat was great. We'll go back in two weeks to see if anything is "stirring" before we head off to the wedding. If not, I can go, if so...plan B :)

Nublette's First Photo Shoot

For whatever reason, both the site I work for, MyRecipes.com and our sister decorating site, MyHomeIdeas.com, decided to produce features on hosting baby showers at the same time. So, yours truly was asked to be the model for both - we are just crossing our fingers and hoping that no one notices the similarities :) In any case, while the MyRecipes.com article won't go live until next March, the MyHomeIdeas.com gallery feature was published this week! Incidentally, it also features Katherine Culp (in the pink shirt), one of my friends from Davidson, who luckily had some time off from med school to join us!

You can see the gallery here.


A funny sidenote: The present that I am opening in the first slide is actually a kids' dining set shaped like a turtle, which my coworker Ashley received in the mail from a vendor. The MHI team had only an empty bag, but wanted the actual "present opening action," so Ashley ran upstairs to get the turtle dining set sampler, and all was well.