Week 36 begins today!

Hard to believe that Marty and I only have 28 days left until we get to meet our daughter!! OH, WOW!! Both Mommy and Daddy are very anxious to meet, see, kiss, and love her.

We have been very busy since the last post. Sophia's room is almost finished- I think all that is left is hanging a couple of shelves and the curtains. This week at school, my team threw a shower for me, and really completed what we needed- we received lots of diapers and wipes as well as an additional base for the car seat and baby carrier just to name a few items. We are so blessed by everyone's generosity during this time! We have a few items that we have to have, but really not too much.

I have had to start going to the doctor twice a week for the last couple of weeks. My blood pressure was high, and my doctor said he was being overly cautious and wanted to keep a close eye on us. Since then, it has been fine so that is good :) I also have to have a fetal non stress test when I go to check her movements- all have been good. My doctor did tell me to be prepared to be induced during week 39 if she hasn't arrived yet. I also found out that he will be on vacation the week of February 15th, so pray she doesn't decide to come then. I plan to start my maternity leave on March 1st and it will go through the end of the school year, so barring no major snow storms I think I will be good to go!!! It will be wonderful to stay at home with Sophie for almost 5 full months.

33 weeks

Back to the doctor today. We are on once a week visits now to monitor more closely. My blood pressure was up last week, however, now it is much better and I am not nearly as swollen as I was then. Thank goodness, the swelling was miserable. At the appointment today, I had another ultrasound to check her movements as well as her weight. According to the ultrasound, she weighs 5 pounds and 6 ounces. I am not sure how accurate those are though, so we will just have to see in March. Dr. Voss told me she is in the 70th percentile in weight, I guess that is good since he didn't say anything about the weight. Sophia did not move around for the ultrasound as they would have liked, so when I got to Dr. Voss' office, he wanted me to have another non-stress test. She moved some during this time, but apparently not enough as I have to go back on Monday for another test. He did say that he is being overly cautious which Marty and I both are fine with. A big thanks to Katie since she went to both appointments with me. It was a long wait for both- I think we were there about three hour altogether. It was much easier to pass the time with someone to talk to the whole time.

Another interesting tidbit -- my doctor has the due date as March 6th, however, every time I have an ultrasound done at Central Baptist they say March 2nd according to her measurements. Not a big difference but who knows. Marty thinks she will be a February baby which is funny because Katie said the same thing today. Maybe February 20th!!!

LeeAnn is throwing a shower for us on Sunday. I have been looking forward to it all week. It will be so great to see friends and family to celebrate Sophia's arrival!!! I will post some pictures soon from the shower as well as her room! Marty has the crib together- now we just need to finalize where the furniture goes. It is all falling into place for our little girl and we can't wait to see her!

Ultrasound pics- Baby Belly Spa

Snow Day

Today is our first snow day. It makes for a long, boring day when I am not motivated to do much due to the fact that I am uncomfortable most of the time now. I really don't know what happened, but as soon as 31 weeks came along I became very uncomfortable. It is a complete chore to move from sitting to standing, roll over in the bed, tie my shoes- you name it and it is just a pain to do. Luckily I am still sleeping pretty well, I just have to contend with the frequent bathroom breaks during the night. I don't know how Marty sleeps though me getting in and out of bed but it doesn't seem to bother him a bit.

It was nice to go back to school after a two week break. Everyone has been so nice- Valerie told me that I had really blossomed over the break :) The kids are really curious now too. Students that I don't even know are asking me questions about when I am due and how I am feeling and it is a boy or girl. One of my students said to me- Mrs. Williams, when are you supposed to have that baby? I said, March 6th is my due date!! He laughed and shook his head, no, you'll never make it!!! His prediction is Valentine's Day- or as he said it Valentime's. I hope he is wrong because even as uncomfortable as I am, Sophia needs to come as close to her due date as possible.

Yesterday, I saw Dr. Voss. All was good it seemed, he said that my numbness on the tops of my feet is caused by the swelling in my legs. My blood pressure is ok, and my glucose readings are good! I return to see him in 2 weeks. At this time, I have a fetal non-stress test to check Sophia's movements and her heart rate when she does move. Like I have said before, she moves a lot at night (after dinner) and not too much during the day. The nurse told me if she didn't cooperate then they would get her moving by ringing a cow bell!!! How funny! All in all, we are moving along in the right direction! March will be here before we know it!

Week 30 Baby Belly Spa

Marty and I went back to the Baby Belly Spa to have the 4D ultrasound pictures taken of Sophia. Needless to say, she is VERY cute! From what the pictures show, she has very chubby cheeks and long fingers and toes. She was also very active during our visit which allowed the technician to get some great pics- I think about 26 in all-- I didn't want to bore you with all of them so I just posted the best ones. It amazes me that she is so active and I still don't feel her as much. The tech told us that was due to the positioning of the placenta. She was cute to watch as she was yawning a lot as well as sticking out her tongue at us! Her head is pointed down toward my right hip which explains the random pain I have been feeling lately. The tech also checked her heart rate which was at 152 beats. All looks good!

We wish March would hurry up and get here so we can meet her in person!

Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! Marty and I had a very nice Christmas this year. We celebrated with my family on Christmas Eve, then Christmas Day it was off to Wanda's to be with his side of the family. We had a great time at both places and are blessed to have such wonderful family!!! By far the most favorite of my gifts was a Christmas ornament that was inscribed with Williams 2010. It also has stockings with Marty, Bobbi, Sophie, Jasper and Allie on it!! I saw it and, of course, it made me cry, but I absolutely LOVE it!!! Thanks, Brad and Katie!!

Sophie is not even here yet and she made out like a bandit! She received clothes, books, a swing, changing pad and cover just to name a few things! Marty is off work this upcoming week which means he will have lots to do including painting Sophia's room and putting together a few items. After the room is painted, I am sure we will be even more impatient to meet our little girl! March is really right around the corner, I just hope that January and February go by a little quicker than they usually do (it always seems like the LONGEST months ever!).

As for me, I am feeling pretty good, just a little comfortable at times. It is so hard to get a really good night's sleep with having to get up every hour. Guess I should jst get used to it as I know it will not get any better in the upcoming weeks.

28 Week Appointment

Nothing really to report about today's appointment- it all went very well. I don't have to return until January 5th! Dr. V took a measurement of my belly and said my size was completely normal at this stage. I will have another ultrasound at week 37 to check her weight again. Her heartbeat was great at 161 beats a minute. It is always so great to hear it, I could listen to that sound for hours.

I have been feeling well. My only complaints are that it seems like I am always hungry and my feet started swelling. I was in denial about the swelling feet and ankles- blaming it on new socks and thought they just might be too tight. I found out that I was very wrong on Monday when a normal pair of socks left marks on my leg :) Guess I should just get used to cankles.

After receiving the bedding for the nursery, I went to Lowe's last weekend and picked up some paint chips. We found a great pink to match and I can't wait for Marty to paint the room! I think that we will work on that over the break as Marty has taken the week between Christmas and New Year's off. Mom and Doug are working on the crib and I hope it will be done soon as well. I will post some pictures as soon as it is all ready!!!