Only 12 More Weeks!!

Since we are getting so close, I thought a change in the title would be good :) Now we can just count down the remainder weeks!! Since they first said August 9, and then changed it to August 22, maybe we should say "Only 10-12 more weeks :)!!" Wishful thinking right? Doctors said as long as we make it until close to 36 weeks - then all will be fine :) That is when baby Delaney can breathe well enough to skip out on all the crazy machines that help little ones breathe better :)
Also - update on the glucose testing.... i passed :) No more worries there! They will retest my iron levels to make sure the supplement I'm taking is helping with that on my 35 week visit. 
Next appointment is on June 11 and we VERY excited about this one! We will be having the 3D/4D ultra sound done so we can see what our little bug looks like! We will be sure to post photos after the appointment!

Nursery News:

Ummm...... I walked in there this past weekend..... :) I can't really do much until Jason's friend paints & the furniture comes in, but i promise - after that i will have a better update!

Other News:

Normal summer semesters at my school at 10 weeks long (compared to the normal 16 week long courses i take in regular semesters).... pregnancy brain took over my thought process as I registered for school this semester....... i registered for the "mini-summer semester" which is a full 16 week course that is finished in 5 weeks... oops. So that is where all my time will be spent! However, I did just get an A on the first test! Go me!

Mommy-to-be at 28 weeks pregnant:

• Belly is growing :) Last appointment I was up 14.5 pounds which is still pretty great! The doctor said I should now be gaining a pound every week until delivery which will hopefully put me right on track to be at about 30 pounds total :)
• I will start to feel less kicks as the baby grows and runs out of room in my belly! That may be a welcoming feeling as she is constantly awake at exactly 9:45PM kicking and squirming.... which just happens to be the same time I'm trying to sleep :)
• The book says i should avoid stress.... hmmm.... work, other job, school, home, yikes.

28 Weeks Pregnant before work :)

28 Weeks Pregnant :) Still is pre-pregnancy gym clothes :)

Delaney-to-be at 28 weeks growing:

• Weighs about 2.5 pounds and is almost 15 inches long!
• She can blink her eyes now!
• She is starting to move into birthing position with her head down and feet in my ribs (can't wait....).
• Baby can actually start dreaming now :)

**** Other news I forgot about :) Baby Showe invites are going out this week :) yay! I'm really excited! June 30 is our shower & we are registered at Babies R Us and at Target! I'm sure I've forgotten a million things on the registries that I'll probably need, but seeing as how this is our first baby, I wasn't sure what to really put on there! Hopefully I did ok :) Hope to see you there! ****

27 Weeks Down, 13 More To Go!!

Helllloooooo THIRD TRIMESTER!!

That's exciting news right?! In the home stretch! Today is May 22, so that means her due date is exactly 3 months from today.  I think she will be here in the first week or so of August, but we will see!! So here is an update on the Glucose Testing I had done on 5/15..... I took the first test, the 1 hour test, and received a call the following day saying that my blood/sugar levels were elevated & I failed the test.  Great. That meant that I had to return the next morning (5/17) for the 3 hour glucose test....... no eating after 9pm the night before the test, only small amounts of water, and did i mention no breakfast!? I got to the doc's office at 830am, gave blood, drank a bigger/nastier sugar drink, gave blood at 950am, again at 1050am, again at 1150am, and was finally released around 1230pm.  Needless to say, i went through a drive thru for immediate food & then home for a nap! Now it's 5/22 and i still have no idea if i passed or failed :( No call from the doc yet.  I will probably call them again this afternoon to see if they've received them or not.  Next appointment is 5/28 & i will be making our appointment for our 3D/4D ultrasound while I'm there :) EXCITING!! We will get to see what her little face looks like!

Nursery News:

Well, there was not too much progress made in the past week on her nursery.  I have worked a little more on some paintings, but they are still far from being complete & started a new one (pics below).  Hopefully the nursery will be painted by next week... the furniture will be here then!

I also started making a few other small things for her closet - my OCD organizing has transferred not only from the rest of the house but now into her room too, poor girl!

Mommy entering her 3rd trimester:

• Not to much else.... not a lot you can do when you have to go to the restroom every 5 minutes :) lol!! Now would be a terrible time for a road trip!
• Only up 12 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight - let's hope we can keep it below the 30 pound mark! Just 3 more months left :)

Delaney entering the home stretch:

• She is staying about the same size around 14 inches long & about 2 pounds.
• She is beginning to have lots of brain activity.
• She has the hiccups a lot... just like mommy has always had them :)
• IF something were to happen & she decided now was a good time to come into the world, her chances of living a normal life have increased TONS.  With the help of the NICU unit, she would more than likely be A-OK :) That makes Mommy & Daddy feel MUCH better.

Happy Mother's Day 2012

This is just a little side note from the normal entries to let you all know that my husband surprised me on Mother's Day morning :) He woke me up with a gift from Miss Delaney.  Here is my card & my first Mother's Day present! Love him :)

D for Delaney & green is the color of her birthstone :)

Jason's got jokes lol

26 Weeks Down, 14 To Go!

We are one week away from being in the 3rd Trimester! I can't wait! We are so close!

Delaney & I had our glucose test yesterday (5/15) to ensure that we don't have gestational diabetes.  The test consisted of me downing a bottle of "drink" as it was labeled which tasted like a flat, over-sugared bottle of Sunkist or maybe like a children's orange flavored cough syrup....yuck. I was given a generous (not!) 5 minutes to drink that bottle and then we waited for an hour and had several tubes of blood drawn to test our blood sugar & several other normal tests that are completed at this time in the pregnancy.  I'm sure all is fine, but we wont know for a couple days. 

Nursery News

 I received a call from JCP about the nursery furniture! Seems as though it wont be here until after Delaney arrives..... just kidding :) Jason fell for that too!! They said that the back order date of July 12 was actually canceled due to the shipment arriving early :) Miss Delaney's furniture will be here the last week of May!! So excited! Hopefully, the nursery will be painted by then and we can start putting things away! Here are some of the "before" pictures of the baby's room (excuse the stuff in there, I'm still attempting to clean it out!).

I also started painting a few things for Miss Delaney's room - be nice... i just started these & they are no where near being finished :)

Holland Mechanical News

Jason got a new customer yesterday :) Cantina South - it's a new restaurant downtown and they are all ours! Exciting! He also met with a couple other people so hopefully we will see some calls coming in from them shortly!

And in Other News

I have started 2012 Summer Semester at school & I'm taking another Sociology course.  After this one I only have 4 more to go and then it's graduation time :) After graduation time.... well, then it's more school time! But I'm getting there, sllllllooooowwwwllllyyyy but surely! Persistence is key right? 

Mommy at 26 weeks pregnant:

• I get no sleep - already.
• Lots of Braxton Hicks contractions... normal...
• Out of breath frequently - the doc says that's due to increased blood flow & the baby pushing my lungs & diaphragm up higher and smushing them (yes, smushing was the technical term used :))
• And just to share... my uterus is approximately the size of a basketball.... ouch.

Delaney Bug (Mommy's "De Lady Bug"):

• She is about 14 inches long-ish and weighs about 2 pounds
• She is soaking in mommy's antibodies that will prepare her for life out here so she won't get sick :)
• She has started to take breaths in there... of amniotic fluid that is :) Just practicing to be able to breathe once she is here.

25 Weeks Down, 15 Weeks To Go!!!

This seems to be the longest count down ever :) I am super ready for her to be here! Only 15 more weeks.... 105 more days..... 2,520 hours!! (Told you I was ready!)

Nursery News
I spent all weekend cleaning out all of our storage areas in the house/barn & organized the house so that we could get manage to get everything OUT of the nursery that didn't belong there. It's VERY close to be completely cleaned out and ready for paint & furniture! We went to Lowe's on Saturday morning & picked out the paint color for the walls & the 2 accent colors I will use to paint things that will be going in the room.  I called about the furniture that is on back order & was promised that it would arrive NO LATER than 7/12/2012.  I surely hope so! That's cutting it awfully close! Miss Delaney has a closet full of clothes already thanks to Amanda, Denna, Jo Mama, Emily, Jason, and of course ME :) This girl has more clothes than I do I think! (I still have her beat on shoes!!!)

And In Other News...... 
Jason and I are doing well, but we are VERY busy! We are trying to get things 150% organized with Holland Mechanical before the baby comes & we are very close to making that happen! We are in the process of setting up payroll, all of our taxes are done & filed, I am re-organizing the job folders & business folders in our office  - we are on a roll!!

Still on my To-Do list for the house/business: gather quotes for health insurance for HMI, finish Delaney's art for her room, re-do my little art/painting area in the home office, & finish the cabinets & tile work in the kitchen :) Almost there :)
New to the Blog:
The countdown until maternity leave :) 68 more days!

Mommy a 25 weeks pregnant:

• Glucose Screening Test (GTS) (May 15, 2012) ewwy ewwy ick ick. This is where you go & drink a big honking glass of orange drink with WAY too much sugar in, then sit in the waiting room for an hour, then have your blood taken & hope for the best because IF YOU FAIL... you come back for a 3 hour GTS....wonderful.
• My hair is going through a "slow growth" stage due to hormones... which is great for me... it means i don't have to shave my legs as much and I'm not shedding like a crazy person every time i brush my hair :)
• I am being brave & putting this up here.... but I'm up 10 lbs as of this morning! Not to bad :) And thanks to my maternal side of the family (Grammie & Mommy!!!) I have had the lucky gene of no stretch marks thus far (let's pray this continues!).
• Besides me feet being swollen & me being sleepy - I still feel great. I've had no morning sickness or any other negative side effect from being pregnant for the whole 25 weeks! Go me & Laney Bug!



Mommy's Laney Bug at 25 weeks growing:

• Delaney is about 13.5 inches long & about 1.5 lbs heavy :)
• Her hands are fully developed now & she can breathe through her nose :)
• Her vocal chords are just about done developing - good for the screaming I'm sure we will hear shortly... but that screaming will eventually turn into "mommy" and "daddy" and we can't wait for that!

24 Weeks Down, 16 More To Go!!

I will start this post off by saying I am totally sucking at the whole post once a week thing, but I will get better... just as soon as I figure out how to edit this blog from my ipad ;) I'm getting there though! Slowly but surely!

I can't believe we're only 3 weeks away from being in the THIRD TRIMESTER already! I can't wait though! Being pregnant has already been a crazy experience.  Some days I love it.... other days I'm wishing and praying that the next 16 weeks FLY by and she is welcomed into this world and OUT of my belly! Some days I feel like as long as she in my belly, she is protected..... other days I want her out of there and I want my body back to me (I don't share very well sometimes lol... must have missed that lesson in pre-school!). Either way, it's almost time, even if I eventually decide I don't want to let her out, she's coming in a couple months!

Jason & I have been busy getting the house ready for our new occupant.  Jason re-did her closet so now she has much more room (if she's anything like me....well.... or Jason for that matter - she will need all the room in her closet she can possibly get!).  I've got her closet organized & am finally starting to get things out of her room that don't belong there (oh.... where am i going to put all my stuff now!?).  Jason's friend is coming by to paint soon & then the decorating can begin! Everything except for her furniture that is :( It was, of course, on back order and wont be here until July 12!! So if my little Laney Bug decides to make her appearance earlier than August 22..... we will thank Aunt Amanda for the pack-n-play that she will be sleeping in until her furniture arrives :)

Delaney's Bedroom Door

Delaney's Bedroom Door

My Bug at 24 Weeks Growing:

• Baby is working hard on those lungs & putting on weight (that also means so is Mommy....).  Just during week 24, Delaney will gain 0.5 lbs!!
• She is about a foot long and weighs in at a big 1.3 pounds!! Which is about 16% of her final weight, still has a while to go!
• She has eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair now :)
• Her organs are fully formed and begin maturing now :)
• She also has REM sleep now which can be seen in ultrasounds.
• Her inner ear is fully developed which means she can tell if she's upside down or backwards now (let's hope her and Aunt Manda don't share vertigo now!)

My Life at 24 Weeks Pregnant:

• My hair is growing like crazy.... good for me... bad for my wallet... good for my hairdresser lol
• Delaney's old space where she could do jumping jacks and flips is now getting much too small for that as she is growing. Now its just feet and arms in my ribs for the next 16 weeks!
• My uterus is about the size of a soccer ball.... nice.....
• Jason got to see my belly move from Delaney kicking and punching her way around in there!
• Heartburn... It's with me every night from the time I get home until the time I.... well OK it never really goes away!
• I have to pay close attention to any changes that happen, any differences in pregnancy symptoms.... scares associated with preterm labor normally start within the 24th week of pregnancy. 

23 Weeks Side View

23 Weeks Front View

Exciting news for Week 24 of Pregnancy!!!!

*** This is considered the "week of viability"! This means that IF for some reason, Delaney had to be born today, that she will have SOME chance of surviving.  She would probably have to spend several months in the NICU and it would be very hard on her - and she would more than likely have long term problems associated with preterm delivery, BUT she could survive :) That's very reassuring!