Hailey's First Communion

On Saturday, April 25th, my niece Hailey made her First Communion. WOW! Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday she was walking down the isle in another white dress at my wedding. I guess that was 4 years ago...not too much longer and she'll be walking down another isle in yet another white dress...right Jeff???

Anyway, she looked beautiful and I'm sure it was a beautiful ceremony. However, Maria and I had to miss most of it b/c giant wasps invaded the little room in the back, also known as the "cry room" (for bad children like Maria) Instead, Maria, my mom, Uncle Marc and I crashed my brother's house early and hung out there until everyone else arrived. After the ceremony, everyone came over and ate lunch and Hailey opened her gifts. It was a very nice afternoon and Maria had a lot of fun running around with Hailey's other cousins, Micah and Gavin.

In other news, I had my 37 week doctor appointment on Thursday. Nothing's changed, everything is fine. I go back again this Thursday! I'll keep you posted!

My Special Day and Girl's Night Out

I was so excited for April 18th to come! I had been complaining a lot recently about being sore...typical pregnancy stuff. And we all know how much Gerry LOVES to give me massages, so he finally just told me one night to go and get one. I was tired of being unsatisfied at Scandal's, so I called The Healing Arts Center. They will always hold a special place in my heart because I went to school there. I know the quality of massages the students are taught and I know they only hire the best when it comes to their actual therapists on staff. I had been wanting to get a shiatsu massage for a while, but wasn't sure if it was recommended for pregnancy. I looked on their website and found a therapist, Nancy, who happened to specialize in shiatsu and pre-natal. When I called to get an appointment, they told me she normally doesn't work on Saturdays. But they called her for me anyway, and she came in on her day off JUST FOR ME.

I am not kidding when I say this was THE BEST massage I have ever had in my entire life. Nancy was amazing. Not only did she come in on a Saturday, the massage wound up being 2 hours long...and she only charged me for one hour. She made sure that I was in no pain when I left that day. The table was set up with bolsters and pillows that were perfect for a pregnant woman needing to lay on her side. She did a combination of shiatsu and deep tissue and used the hot stones. I have never experienced that before and it was awesome. I highly recommend it. Bottom line: if you are looking for an amazing massage therapist call Nancy at the Healing Arts Center. It is also cheaper than Scandal's...only $60 for an hour.

After my wonderful morning getting a massage, my two BFFs (Connie & Erin) and I had a Girl's Night Out at the Melting Pot. We try to get together every couple of months and go out to dinner to catch up. None of us had been to the Melting Pot before...it was quite an experience. The food was actually really good, but very expensive. We decided that if we ever go back, we might order dessert only. It was awesome! We had a great time and decided to call it a night after dinner. I was exhausted and Connie had to pick her kids up. Hopefully next time we will be able to stay out past 9:30!!!

Basement Progress

The two rooms we decided to finish in the basement are coming along...slowly but surely. Since they started construction on April 9th, they have completed the framing, heating and cooling, electric, inspections, insulation and as of Sunday April26th, the drywall has been hung. We have been told that someone is going to come out tomorrow to clean up the drywall mess and the mudding and taping will begin on Tuesday. They told us this process will probably take about 4 days. After that, we are hoping to have them come and paint, hang the doors and light fixtures, put the finishing touches on and lay the carpet and flooring. I am getting anxious and excited and we are still hoping it will be finished before May 8th, which is the potential scheduled C-Section date. Keep your fingers crossed. Here are a few pics of the basement before work began. I will post some new ones since the dry wall is up.

Week 36 Doctor Visit

I had my 36 week check up yesterday. I am going every week now. Luckily, my blood pressure was great and I gained 3 pounds this time. But I didn't gain any the previous week, so I'm not too worried about it. I have gained a total of 19 pounds so far this pregnancy. I ate a ton of cake, candy and ice cream over the holiday weekend, so I was expecting to have gained more than that. I am also dilated 1 and a half centimeters. Not much of a change since last week.

I also tested positive for Group B Strep which will only affect the baby if I deliver vaginally. They will give me antibiotics through an IV if I decide to labor and deliver that way. If I have the scheduled C-Section, nothing is done differently and the baby doesn't run any risks from this.

The other thing my doctor and I discussed was the position of the baby. She told me the baby was in an oblique position, and is lying in the shape of a number 7. The head is down, but the butt is off to the right and the feet are off to the left. She said the baby's head is also resting right on top of my pubic bone which could explain the pain I've been experiencing there. Of course the baby could decide to move and turn at any time, but if he/she stays in this position it could make for a more complicated delivery. Maybe that's another sign to just do the C-Section?? I tried to find a picture of this position from the Internet, but I couldn't figure out how to post it to the blog. Anyway, everything else looks good. I go back in one week. More news later!

Celebrating Easter in 2009!

We kicked off our Easter celebration this year by going to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast on Good Friday morning. Gerry was off work so we wanted to do something fun together. The guy was framing our basement so we thought it would be a good opportunity to get out for a while. After breakfast, we headed over to Home Depot to pick out our flooring for the basement.

Saturday evening, we had Gerry's family over for dinner. Bobb, Laura, Olivia, Karen, John, Grandma and Pa Pa all came over. We ate dollar roll ham sandwiches, party pizzas, Gus' pretzels, taco dip, veggie tray, and Laura made a cute bunny cake. Maria and Olivia opened their Easter baskets full of goodies. They both got swimming suits from Grandma and Pa Pa that were very cute. Maria also got a little family of bunny figurines and a coloring book.
Maria danced and jumped around and everyone had a good time.

Sunday we went to the 9:00 church service. Maria got all snazzied up in her pink Easter dress, white tights and little pink and white hair bow. She wasn't crazy about the tights, but she managed to forget about them eventually. She also did really well at Little Blessings, which is the name of the children's church they have. She really likes it now that they put her in with 2 year old instead of the little babies.

After church, we came home to discover the Easter Bunny had left a basket for Maria. She liked everything in it, but seemed to enjoy the playing with the Easter grass the most. After Maria and I took a nice long nap, we went over to my brother Jeff's house. Jeff and his wife Kelly have our side and her side of the family over every year for Easter. Maria got Easter baskets from my mom, my Uncle Marc and John, Jeff, Kelly and Hailey, Kelly's mom, and Kelly's sister Kristy. We were very thankful for all of the nice things she got including many cute outfits, hair clips, candy, toys, books, coloring books, and other fun stuff. Uncle Marc and John got her an Aqua Doodle, which is really cool.

Maria had a lot of fun playing with her cousin Hailey, and Hailey's cousins, Micah and Gavin. She slept very well Sunday night after a very fun weekend!

Good news all around

Today I had my bi-weekly doctor's appointment. Everything went really well: I didn't gain any weight this time, blood pressure was great and the baby's heart rate sounded good and strong. The baby had hiccups when she was listening to the heart so it was kind of funny to hear on the Doppler thingy. I had to get the group B strep test today (yuck) and the doctor confirmed that I am, in fact, ONE centimeter dilated. She said that's pretty normal for a second baby and it doesn't really mean anything b/c there are no other changes taking place. However, I am excited about this b/c when I was 40 weeks pregnant with Maria, I wasn't even a tiny, little finger tip dilated. So, to me this is a good sign. Some of you know that I have been struggling with the decision on whether or not to have a scheduled c-section or to try and do it the way God intended (which is known as a VBAC) The doctor told me I could do the VBAC, but 3 things have to take place:
1) I have to go into labor on my own. She will not induce me.
2) I can't be overdue.
3) The baby can't weigh more than 8.5 pounds.

So, if all of those things fall into place, I could have the opportunity to have the birth I've always wanted. However, in case that doesn't happen, I went ahead and scheduled a potential date for a c-section. The deal is, if, by the grace of God, I go into labor on my own anytime before May 8th, then I am going to try to have a normal delivery. If nothing happens naturally, then I will have the c-section on Friday, May 8th at 9:30 am. Gerry and I have thought and prayed long and hard about this decision and we feel we are making the best decision for our family. I am not and will not be happy about a c-section. But what I want most of all if for our baby to be safe and healthy. I'm not stupid or stubborn enough to try and take a risk just to prove a point.

Enough about that. The really exciting news of the day is the construction FINALLY started on our basement today. We decided to get half of our basement finished and we hired a company to do it. We've been kicking the idea around for a while and it took the company a few weeks to get everything in motion with the permits and all. But the guy finally started framing today. We are building a playroom and an office. They are finishing off the stairs as well. We are hoping and praying to get it done before the baby comes, but we'll see.

I mentioned last time that my mom was pretty sick but I think she is on the road to recovery. Her doctor told her she could go back to work next Tuesday. This past Tuesday, she came over to our house and we cooked 2 huge, delicious lasagnas. We ate dinner together and then went to Babies R Us for some last minute baby stuff and then went to Old Navy. It was great to hang out with her and have her and Maria spend time together. Maria loves her Grandma Birdie!!!!

No pictures this time but I will have plenty up after this coming Easter weekend!

Maria's Room is Almost Ready!

The past 2 weeks have been very busy. The most exciting thing that happened is that Maria's Big girl furniture came in. Gerry and I are very happy with the way it looks and the quality of the furniture, however, I noticed a crack in her mirror about 5 seconds after the delivery guys pulled away. I called Carol House right away and they said they would order us a new one...no questions asked. It might take another 6 weeks for it to come in, though. It's not a very big crack, but we are happy to know we're getting a better one soon.

Maria seems to be very happy with her furniture as well. Gerry took her in to show her for the first time and he swears she turned around and hugged him as to say "Thanks, Dad!" We also bolted a tall white bookcase to the wall and put all of Maria's books on the bottom 2 shelves. We let her go in there by herself and she loves to take all the books down and read them. This is hilarious and it keeps her busy for 20 minutes at a time. Now, if I can only get her to put all the books away neatly...

I took a few pictures of Maria reading and playing in her room but we're not toally finished setting everything up. I don't want to do the "Big Reveal" until everything in the room is perfect. We are picking up the mattress and box spring from Gerry's parent's house on Sunday and we still have a few things to hang on the walls. Stay tuned...it's coming along quickly.

In other news, my doctor's appointment went really well last Thursday. Blood pressure was great and she did another ultrasound to look at the baby's heart. It's always nice to get another peek at him/her. Doctor said everything looks great. I have to go every 2 weeks now, which means I have another appointment this coming Thursday.

Some of you may know that my mom has been really sick for the past week and a half. She developed a serious intestinal infection called C-Diff. (it stands for something long and hard to pronounce) Anyway, it's taking her some time to bounce back. So, keep her in your prayers.

I am going to attempt to take Maria to the mall on Monday to get her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. Wish me luck. I hope the line isn't too long.