Water Broke

My water broke while I was in bed about an hour ago (6:45am), so we are headed to the hospital! Shane and/or Kristen will be updated the blog!

Happy Birthday to Shane! :)

Pray for us!

Hospital Visit #1

Doesn't the title just say it all? So we went to my normal weekly appointment this morning and here were the stats:

Weight: Lost 1 lb (total 29 lbs)
Baby's Heartbeat: Normal
Measurement: 38 cm
Dilated: 3 cm
Effaced: 75%
Blood Pressure: WAY HIGH (150/108)

The nurse did a double-take when she took my blood pressure because it has never been high. So another nurse came in to take it, and it had actually gone up. They immediately had me lay down on my left side and we waited about 15 min to check it again- still high. My doctor came in and did the exam and then informed us that she was calling the hospital to let them know we were on our way. GREAT.

We arrived at the hospital and were admitted to labor and delivery. They hooked me up to all of the machines to monitor the baby's heartbeat, my BP, and contractions. I also had some labwork done. After laying on my side in the hospital bed for 3 hrs, they got my BP back down to the normal range. The baby is fine, and although I was having contractions- they were not consistent. My labwork also came back okay, so I was discharged!

Here's the bad part though- I'm on STRICT bedrest until Monday when we go back to the doctor. Meaning I have to lay on the couch or in bed on my left side (only to get up for showers and potty breaks.) I'm already going crazy and we've only been home for an hr....

I'll keep everyone posted! Shane's birthday is tomorrow- guess we won't be going out to celebrate. :(

37/38 Week Update

Stats from Dr Appt:
Weight Gain- 3 lbs (30 total)
Blood Pressure- normal
Baby's Heartbeat- normal
Measurement- 38 cm

And the biggest news is that I'm dialated 2 1/2 cm & 50% effaced. When we left she said, "I'll see you next Thursday, unless you have him before then." SCARY!!! She also commented that I had dropped & that my cervix was very low.

In other news I'm battling a very bad cold/sinus infection, so that is just making things worse. Basically I'm just laying on the couch and relaxing (which is what I should probably be doing anyway!) I did go ahead and start packing my hospital bag this afternoon though!

It's snowing hard here- sticking to the roads, grass, etc. We are expected to get 3-5 inches! :)

Here are the most recent belly pics taken today!

Baby Showers #2 (Ft Worth) & #3 (Dallas)

I cannot even begin to explain how exhausted I am as I write this post. Things have been BUSY around here the last week or so! Last Thursday I went to the airport and picked up my mom, 2 of her close friends, and my Aunt- they all came into town for the shower festivities! On Friday we did some shopping around town- so much fun!

Saturday was my shower here in the Ft Worth area! It was so wonderful! The decorations, the food, all of the guests that showered little Austin with gifts! We are so blessed to have such generous friends and family! Here are a few pictures:

The hostesses: Nicole, Kristen, Me, Bonki, Lana, & Alyssa

Isn't the table beautiful? Kristen even made a table runner out of Austin's nursery fabric! And her mom did the flowers!

Some of our friends & family watching me open gifts

Austin got lots of Texas Longhorn gear- Hook 'Em Horns! That's my mom next to me!

Some of the gifts!

Sunday was my shower over in the Dallas area!This shower was mainly for family- a smaller & more intimate group. Again I was amazed at the love that everyone showed to Shane, Austin, and I.

Some of my Dad's family that hosted the shower

My Aunt & my Mom (can you tell they are sisters?)

Max enjoying the flowers from the shower

On Monday we decided to go make all of the returns for duplicated gifts, so we spent the entire day running around town. At one point I was so miserable that they actually pushed me around Babies R Us in a wheel chair- pitiful, I know. Not only was it tiring, but the weather was just horrible! We ended up having sleet and snow last night! CRAZY Texas weather! Anyway, the day was very productive and now I feel like that if Austin decided to make his grand entrance tomorrow, I'd be ready! I took my mom and her friends to the airport this afternoon & came home to crash! They were so sweet to clean the house this morning before they left!

My guests for the weekend (My Aunt Adeline, Judy, Linda, and my Mom)! A special thanks to them for taking such good care of us during their stay! We love you!! I'm off to write thank you notes- fun. Everyone have a fantastic week! :)

Baby Shower #1- Austin, TX

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend! We left on Friday & drove up to Austin in time to meet friends for dinner at one of my favorite Mexican food places- Hula Hut! It was so good & would have been worth the 3 hr drive itself!

Saturday was the shower! I was able to spend a little time before the shower talking with the hostesses who are some of my closest friends (since we stayed at the house where the shower was being held.) I was so surprised at all of the ladies that came- we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family! Austin received a lot of great things & I cannot wait to start unpacking everything and getting them in his room! I'll probably hold off until after my showers this weekend though!

The hostesses did a wonderful job- everything was just perfect! The cake was gorgeous and matched the invitations- of course I loved that! The flowers were beautiful, the food was yummy, and the games were fun! They also got us our travel system, so we actually have a way to bring Austin home now!!! Here are a few pics from the shower~

The flowers & cake (mexican vanilla with buttercream frosting!)

Hostesses- (B) Christy Taylor, Lisa Skelton, Beth Ward, Anya Guzman, Myra Moran, (F) Amy Clark, Me, Briana Mills

The food (well, not all of it had been put out at this point- but you get the idea.) Cute diaper cake too!

Some of the friends & family that attended

Opening gifts

Shane's mom (Austin will call her "Gran")

Shane & I after the shower- I was exhausted!

Later on Saturday evening we met more friends for dinner at PF Changs & had a wonderful time! The two other couples were some of our closest friends. One couple just had a little boy about 4 months ago, and the other is having a baby boy in June! On our way home from dinner I got very teary while talking to Shane about the day- mostly just my nerves getting the best of me! I think the experience of the first shower, getting gifts that we will be using VERY soon, and hearing people say all day "you could have him anytime now" just got me a little scared!

On Sunday we got up and went to church! Again it was wonderful to see familiar faces and have a chance to visit with old friends! I headed home while Shane stayed in Austin one more night so he could go fishing today! I had to get back since I had a dr appt this afternoon!

Stats from Dr Appt:

Weight Gain- 1 lb (27 total)

Blood Pressure- normal

Baby's Heartbeat- normal

Measurement- 36 cm

Baby Position/Est Weight- head down & 5 lbs

Week 34/35 Update

Here are the stats from my dr. appt yesterday:

Weight gain- 3lbs (total 26)

Baby's heartbeat- normal

Measurement- 35cm

After my next appt I will start going weekly.. .fun. It's so hard for me to believe that it's almost time! It's seemed so far off for so long, but now it's just around the corner! Of course that makes me quite nervous! I'm so anxious to meet little Austin- to see who he looks like, what his personality will be, and how he is going to change the dynamics of our family! On the other hand, I'm nervous about being a mom! I've said before that I've never even changed a diaper- so I'm clueless when it comes to babies! Everyone says it will come naturally, and I know it will- but that doesn't change the anxiety that I feel. After celebrating our last Valentine's Day with just the two of us, I realized how COMPLETELY different things will be in just a few weeks. It's been the two of us for almost 9 years now, so adding a baby to the mix is going to turn our world upside down (in a good way of course!)

I'm getting very exciting about my upcoming baby showers! The nursery looks great and all, but I'm ready to fill it up with baby stuff now! Shane and I leave next Friday for Austin for the first shower (it's on the 23rd.) We're staying all weekend & will get a chance to see lots of old friends and even visit our old church on Sunday morning! The next weekend are the DFW showers (Ft Worth on the 1st & Dallas on the 2nd.) My mom, my aunt, and 2 of my mom's dear friends are all flying in for the festivities... so we're going to have a VERY full house! I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with close friends and family!

This week I've been wrapping things up with my Pampered Chef business! I've got my last show tonight (until late May)- so I'm looking forward to the break! I've also been busy with baby stuff- hostess gifts for my showers, making the "who to call list" for Shane after Austin is born, deciding on a photographer, finishing up Austin's scrapbook, and finalizing the details of the baby announcements. I love checking things off of my "To Do" list!

Okay, on to the fun stuff! Here are the most recent belly pics- taken today!

Newborn Pictures

There's not much going on with us this week- hence the fact that I haven't posted anything in a week! My last doctor's appointment went pretty well! I had gained 2 lbs, and measured on track at 32 cm. She decided to have a blood test done to check my thyroid & also an ultrasound on my leg to rule out a blood clot- yikes! I'd been having some pain in my leg & she just wanted to make sure. Both tests came back negative, so I guess the hair loss and leg pains are just blessings from baby Austin.

I have 3 Pampered Chef parties this week & 2 next week, and then I'm looking forward to taking some time off! Don't get me wrong, I love doing Pampered Chef, but dragging all my stuff to people's homes gets tiring- esp when you're carrying an extra 23 lbs! I recently received our new catalog....I always look forward to March & September when our new products come out! So if you like Pampered Chef, you can go to my website on March 1 to check out all of the new stuff!

Ok, so this question is for all you moms out there (especially those in the DFW area.) I've started looking at different photographers for Austin's newborn pictures, and I'm just overwhelmed! Please let me know of any photographers that you've either heard were great, or that you personally used & loved. And please don't leave names of people who do fabulous pictures for an astronomical price- I don't want to be tempted!