31 Weeks

Can you tell I'm pregnant? I just don't know if people will notice…? ;)

31 weeks on 9/25/14

- Sweet girl is front.and.center.
- Had a last lunch with the Willard girls in their Song Bird house. I'm going to miss having them so close!
- Delta Pest Control came to spray.
- Vacuuming is becoming really hard.
- I started feeling a painful/sharp pinch in my cervix again.
- Allergies are terrible and I often wake myself up with one random snore. It's beautiful.
- Craaaaaaazy dreams!
- I had the most wonderful baby shower at my church hosted by friends. So many friends and family members were able to come and we got SO much great stuff! (More on the shower later.)
- Mom stayed after the shower and helped organize and went with me to get the mattress and changing pad and other things for the nursery.
- I had my last photo session (with my camera) of fall 2014!!!
- Subbed in first grade (my happy place) on Monday morning and then was in the office everyday after that for the week.
- Working on thank you notes.
- Andrew got everything that we have hung on the walls!

- Someone told me that I look so little. That was just simply precious! (And then my sis and Annie saw me on FaceTime and laughed 😊).
- I tried to squeeze into my car while it was parked too close to the other car. That didn't work.
- The past 3 nights I've only gotten up once to use the restroom! (I'll probably get up 5 times tonight). <update: it was 4 times. 
- I seriously got mad at Andrew for getting the wrong mind of cookies at Walmart. I'm over it, but I had to make homemade oatmeal cookies because he picked up break and bake chocolate chip... 
- Started working on a bucket list of things to do before baby girl arrives!

I compared Claire's 4d ultrasound pic with my baby pic and Macy's (her cousin). I think she's going to look  like her cousin!

(with me)

(with Macy)

30 Weeks

Holy toledo! We are in the fiiiiiinal cooouuuntdooooown. Sometimes I think about have 10 weeks left and wonder how in the world I can wait that long. Then I think about being 20 weeks…that was 10 weeks ago, and it feels like yesterday. I am just so happy that I am getting close to meeting my most favorite blessing ever!

30 weeks on 9/18/14
- I got to see her! Les, Heather, and Kaitlyn came with me. Claire was pretty uncooperative for the pics, but I learned that she's growing and healthy and got a few good shots!
- Her head is down in my cervix and her booty is straight up. Her legs wrap around to the right.
- Her head is measuring pretty big width wise. Awesome.
- I think Dawna said that she's measuring a few days ahead, but I can't remember.
- She weighs 3lb 8oz. Dawna said that's the 55th percentile. Perfection.
- She had some hair!
- She was resting her hand on her cheek and it was adorable.
- Bought her some bows for the first time! So fun!
- Had a little spotting, but no cramping. I called the after hours clinic and they said as long as it didn't happen again within 24 hours, everything should be fine.
- Got some goodies at the Rhea Lana's "mom to be sale"! Jamie went with me.
- Bad insomnia!
- Marathon week of pictures! It's my last week before sending off my camera in hopes of getting it back in time for Claire! 7 sessions in a week span!
- Because of all the photo sessions, I'm doing a lot of up/down, cross, lean, stretch type movements. I think it's wearing on my back. Bless it. Also, right this second, I'm experiencing a kind of pinch in the pubic or cervix area. Stop that.
- Maria at the Walmart told me that I'm pretty low and she thinks the baby will come 2 weeks early.
- Gained 15 pounds
- Went to Russellville. Had a wonderful egg roll salad for lunch with my mama! I also got a haircut and a pedi from Heather. She's worth the drive down.
- Got some stuff for Claire's bookshelf.
- I curse the day that I read about monitoring fetal kicks. When she doesn't kick every few minutes, I panic. Ridiculous.
- I subbed in 3rd grade!

Just for fun, this is the change that can happen in 10 weeks time. 40 weeks should be interesting. :) 

Baby Shower at Williams Elementary

I had my first baby shower at school on September 5th. It was a perfect breakfast "come and go" shower before school started. There was coffee and juice, as well as homemade cinnamon rolls, biscuits and gravy, muffins, pigs in a blanket, fruit. So delicious! Cherri (Lolly) was able to come and be there with me, and that makes me so happy! We got so many wonderful things for Claire!

The table before the flowers were added. They found the most beautiful bouquet of white daisies!

Hostesses: Sheila (mid sentence, sorry!), Tracy, Kristie, Miranda, and Kara

**Not pictured is Michelle because she was at home with her brand new baby boy!**

We got clothes, gift cards, toys, the bath tub, the high chair and the pack-n-play! I mean, loaded up! I am so thankful to work with/have worked with the most thoughtful people. They held this shower for me even though I no longer work for the school, and that means the world to me! 

Thank you Williams Elementary family! 

29 Weeks and a few thoughts on Labor and Delivery

29 weeks on 9/11/14
- I had my school shower and it was wonderful! More to come about that later on.
- Doug and Cherri came for the weekend to come to the shower, and put down new baseboard trim (which makes our house look brand new) and molding around the kitchen! Yes!
- I am DONE with the kindergarten classroom!!!! Now I need to be motivated to sub more in other rooms or areas.
- We went to a razorback game with Matt and Lyndsy. We had a blast, but I was feeling the walk to and from the top of the stadium.
- The bad pain at the top of my belly is back.
- Sunday mornings are for church and swelling. I don't know what it is, but even before I was pregnant my fingers would swell on Sunday morning.
- Got a frame and painted a frame and lamp for her room. ✔️
- Heartrate was 146, and Dr. Terry said that I was doing "above average". That makes this mama feel good.
- Started a Tuesday bible study with Kaitlyn and Leslie. We went walking first and then headed to the church.
- Subbed in the office.
- Finished almost all of my school thank you notes.
- She moved more on 9/10/14 than ever before!

Dr. Terry had some interesting information about me getting an epidural. First I need to say that I am NOT against it! My goal was just to see how far I could get before getting one and seeing if I could go all the way. I have 2 friends that had great deliveries completely medication free. I also have many more friends and family that have had wonderful experiences with an epidural. I think it's from the struggle of getting pregnant, but I just want to make sure that I feel and experience the pressure of child birth. I don't want to wish it away. No matter how much it sucks (and I KNOOOOOOOWWWWW it's going to hurt - bad). With all of this being said, I'm taking Dr. Terry's advice. Of course he gave me the spill about "you're not going to win medals for doing this naturally, blah blah blah." What I learned from his information is that if I wait too long and then decide all of a sudden that I want one, it could take hours to get it. The anesthesiologist is not on call like doctors and gets held up a lot of times. Also, if I don't have an epidural and then I am rushed to have a c-section, they will have to put me to sleep. Which means that I couldn't see my baby the second she enters the world. Also, if I'm put to sleep, Andrew can't even be in there. That would be absolutely devastating!!!!  SO, I'm leaving this up to The Lord. I really do want to feel this. Please know that I KNOW it's going to hurt. There's nothing you can tell me about the pain that my friends and family haven't told me. I want to feel the labor, make it to the hospital to labor some more, and get an epidural. Making sure that I can see my baby the moment she enters the world is waaaaaay more important to me than making sure I feel labor pains. So there. Babbling done.

28 Weeks

Oh dear, this picture is atrocious. This was after recess duty, my last Thursday in the classroom, and getting our house ready for new baseboard trim. But who cares about me! Look at my girl GROWING! 

28 weeks on 9/4/14

- Third trimester, whoop whoop!

- Went to Arkadelphia for our annual friend Lake Degray trip!
- Swelling, swelling, swelling. I'm so sad that it's happening so early! Any tips on how to help it? (I already cut back on sodium!)
- Riding on a boat was not bad at all! Thankful for good drivers. :)
- Swimming in the lake felt so nice.
- Got to see Catherine and John one last time before baby! Dillon, Brittany, and Perri, Carly, Evan, and Hayes and Tim and Kaycee were here too!! (We might see them again before we have Claire.)
- Went to have lunch at Nana's. Mcginty's, lolly and papa, the Gray's and the Urssery's were there! Nana had a special dessert surprise for us with pink punch and decor and a precious cake that said "Claire"!
- I'm getting grumpy...whoops.
- Her movements are slow and strong! A body part will slowly roll or poke out.
- I'm working on painting her monogram. It's taking longer than I thought.
- Booked a mini session for some maternity pics!!! I'm so excited!!
- One day left of subbing in Mrs. W's room!
- Bought a nursing bra. Let's talk about how comfortable that thing is...
- The WEIGHT gain!!!! It's like shockingly increasing...whoops.