My oh my, a lot has happened in the last week! Wednesday wasn’t a good day. It was a stress filled day that left me crying at the table in the middle of Sloan’s restaurant; but Francine saved the day, and was able to put a smile on my face! She’s been doing that a lot this week! I’m truly blessed to have her in my life! My favorite part of Wednesday (aside from it sprinkling/raining while I was inside the restaurant) was the fact that it was freezing cold!!! Wooohoooo!!! The weather has officially started cooling off!!! :D

 Last Thursday was my 24^th birthday, and Jesse surprised me with an amazing card, a slice of cake with candles, my favorite chile con carne, and a clean house when I got home from work! I was sooo not looking forward to cleaning and cooking when I got home from work, so it was awesome! And the card made me cry (happy tears of course!) We had a nice evening relaxing and watching movies. We even got to feel Delaney hiccupping—which made me very excited since I don’t feel her hiccup often at all.

Friday was a busy day too! After a full day of work, Cody was waiting for me in the lobby of my office building. We went to Francine’s to pick up some clothes for the weekend, and the beer she bought for the baby shower, then to Jimmy & Vanessa’s to drop of baby shower invitations for the shower at my mom’s. THEN to my house to get everything I needed ready for our trip to OC. I made Cody was my dishes (muahhahaha) while I got stuff ready. We then went to the 99 cent only store, and Target to finish buying the things we needed for the baby shower. And then we were off to my mom’s. My dad had just gotten home, so we all finished getting everything together and headed off to Francine’s to pick up Jason’s stuff, then we were finally on the road to OC at about 10pm! We ended up getting to Janell’s house a few minutes after 12, and we hung out for a bit before I went off to bed.

Saturday was my maternity photo shoot and baby shower in OC!!! J It was an early morning—so you know I had my coffee! The photo shoot was amazing! The pictures turned out great! I’ll post a few below for you to see. J The baby shower was fun, I spent a lot of time with Becca and Gabi—two of my friends who are both pregnant as well. My parents and I came home Saturday night (I really wasn’t comfortable being almost 9 months pregnant and being 2 hours away from my hospital/doctor/boyfriend). The trip home was fun, me and mom talked the whole time! Haha. I noticed throughout the day Saturday that my belly was getting stiff, but just thought Delaney was pushing weirdly on me—I now (Wednesday) think I may possibly be having Braxton Hicks contractions!!! Ahhhh!! J

Jesse worked Sunday, so I spent the day at my parent’s house with them and Tommy. (Hopefully Tommy will come home with us this Friday!) And most importantly on Sunday—THE STEELERS WON THEIR GAME AGAINST THE JETS!!!!! Woooohooooo!!! Finally! That bye week obviously did us good! I’m hoping this is the start of a winning streak for them! FINGERS CROSSED!

Delaney had the hiccups again Monday—Yeay! J

Tuesday—my favorite day of the week (while pregnant)! Holy crap! I’m officially 9 months pregnant!!! That’s right—I turned 36 weeks pregnant Tuesday! There was an issue with my insurance showing as cancelled (stupid Blue Cross!) so I was on the phone for about a half an hour with my benefits center from work and Blue Cross trying to get things situated so I could be seen. The woman from my benefits center said I might have to reschedule my appointment for next week—umm no! I’m 9 months pregnant, and need to be seen every week! There’s no way I could go two long weeks without hearing Delaney’s heartbeat, seeing how much she measured, and talking to my doc about my upcoming delivery! Plus, this visit I’d get the results of my GBS testing, so there was no way I was rescheduling! Finally I got things figured out, and signed a form saying I’d pay for the visit if my insurance didn’t cover it. Phew! I was ok now—no need to start crying! Pregnancy is so emotionally draining at times—you turn into a big sissy and cry a lot! Lol. Back to the visit—Delaney measured at 35 weeks. That worried me a little since she measured 37 last week, but doc said she could have dropped some, or she could just be laying in a different position that she was last time. Phew! Ok, no need to worry mama bear! I of course forgot again to ask what her heartbeat was, as we were having a discussion about her measurements- but it sounded great as usual. I asked about the dilation checks, because even though it isn’t a good indication as to when you are going into delivery, I am still very curious as to whether or not I’m dilated at all. Welllllll, she doesn’t do them until 39 weeks (no need to introduce unnecessary bacteria up there). That makes sense—sucks because the curiosity is killing me, but it makes sense. Doc said she thinks Delaney is around 6 lbs! And she also thinks she’ll be a slightly bigger baby because I’m a bigger person (whether she meant weight or height wise I’m not sure. Haha). Vanessa offered to give me an ultrasound on Friday, so hopefully they can give me a good estimate on weight, we’ll be able to see if she’s head down, and who knows, MAYBE they can even tell if I’m dilated/effaced at all! J Now the not so good news—my GBS (group beta streptococcus) test came back as positive. Yea, this shocked the doc and I both! How the heck is it possible that I have any bacteria in/on my body after being on IV antibiotics for a month, and oral antibiotics for a week or two before that?!?!?! Ugh!!! Well, this means to lessen the chance of Delaney getting sick, I need to receive IV antibiotics (again) for four hours prior to delivering. Let’s pray I am able to get the full dose before delivery, and also that Delaney doesn’t get GBS disease! Did you know group B strep is the #1 cause for meningitis and sepsis (infection of the blood stream) in newborns? Lovellllyyyyyy!!! >_<

Symptoms—

·         Fatigue/Exhaustion/Super duper tired!

·         Occasional swelling of my feet

·         Achy hips

·         Back pain

·         Emotional/Crying/Easily stressed

·         Braxton Hicks?!?!?!

Cravings—

·         Watermelon

·         Peanut butter cookies

·         Frosted Shredded Mini Wheats

·         Chile con carne

·         Enchiladas

·         Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Kool-Aid

Maternity Photos <3 o:p="">

30 Days left my little Cupcake! <3 p="">

 Delaney's Second Cousin, Jaycee

:)

 Delaney's Great Aunt Janell

Delaney's Uncles Cody & Dylan, and her Bumpa (Grandpa)

Silly Uncles & Bumpa! 

 Delaney's Second Cousins Jaycee & Jazmine

 Holy baby bump!!! Coming soon! <3 p="">

 Laney will be born a Steelers fan!!!

Holy crap! Mama is a giant... Or Uncle Dylan is a midget! Haha.

35 Week Update! :)

My oh my, what a busy week it has been! Friday was the busiest day of the past week. I was up at 5am, and didn’t get to sleep until asleep around 12am! We went to our second wedding since cupcake has been baking in my tummy. Congratulations again to Mei-Ling and Alexis!!!

 (The first wedding we went to was Jimmy & Vanessa’s, also the day we found out cupcake was a girl!)

After the wedding, I went back to work, and Jesse went to celebrate with our lovely friends. Afterwards, he went and paid rent and picked up our keys to our new home! I packed up things at Francine’s into her van, my awesome brothers loaded up my stuff from my parent’s house in my mom’s van, and Jesse loaded stuff up his stuff from his mom’s into his car, and we all met at our new place. It was so funny to me, because of the three cars meeting up I was the only one who had been to the condo before! After we unloaded my mom’s van, Cody & Dylan went home while Jess and I unloaded the rest of our stuff. My dad and the boys came by later with our couch and bed. Dad and I went out and I got KFC and a 30 pack of beer as a thank you for them helping us move—not to mention we were all starving! It is a tradition of mine to cook dinner as a thank you for everyone who helps us move, but moving at 8 and a half months pregnant SUCKS, so I decided to make dinner Saturday night instead.

Cody stayed over Friday and Saturday night, and mom and Dylan came over Saturday for dinner (spaghetti, garlic bread & salad with fancy croutons). Unfortunately dad had worked his butt off all day and was exhausted, so we just sent a plate home for him.

Sunday Jesse had to go back to work, so I spent the day at my mom’s with Tommy. I’m still sooo bummed he can’t come home with us yet. :( Hurry up October 18^th!!! I almost fell twice Sunday night getting up to use the restroom; my back was hurting sooo bad! Oh yea, I forgot to mention my feet were the size of blue whales all weekend. They were so swollen, I had pitting edema half way up my shins!!! And I felt I had no strength what-so-ever in my lower back, hence the almost falls. Monday wasn’t better at all, worse actually as far as my back hurting. I am hoping my “nesting” urge will kick in and overpower my pain, I want so badly to get the rest of our home put away, and start organizing stuff in Cupcake’s nursery. :)

This picture pretty much describes how I currently feel—very similar to a turtle stuck on its shell trying to get up! Why didn’t I get that SUV again? Haha.

I also FINALLY got around to creating the invitations for my baby shower in the valley. My mom has been hounding me to get them done, but of course, I have been procrastinating. Hehe. Whatcha think?

Yesterday I turned 35 weeks pregnant! Only 5 more weeks to go!!! :)

My OB visit went great. Cupcake measured 37 weeks!!! I was so shocked; especially since she measured exactly spot on at 34 weeks last week! Her heart rate was a perfect 165. Doc and I talked about my back acting up, and she said if it gets to the point where I feel I can’t work, she can take me out on a disability leave for back pain, rather than pregnancy. That was comforting to hear. My pregnancy up until mid week 34 had been so smooth (pregnancy symptom wise), but these last few days have worried me. If I continue to be in as much pain as I am in now, I don’t see how I will be able to work for five more weeks, give or take a couple.

My 24th birthday is this Thursday! :) And then Friday night Dad and I, and possibly both my brothers, are heading out to OC! It’s been a while since I’ve been, and it’s been a year since Dad has been. We’ll get to hang out with the family Friday, then Saturday morning I have a maternity photo shoot (Thanks Aunt Neli!) and then my baby shower at 2!!! Mom and Francine will be driving out Saturday morning. Another busy weekend! I can’t wait!!!!! :) 

I decided to try something new at the end of each weekly update that I had seen on a friend’s pregnancy blog the other day, so hopefully you’ll enjoy it. :)

Week 34 Info:

I started using a new oil on my bump/boobs, it’s supposed to help lighten/fade your stretch marks and scars. I’ve been religiously putting it on three times a day, so hopefully it will help!

Symptoms—

-Pitting edema in my legs and feet

-Back pain (pretty intense)

-Achy/painful hips (whenever I sit longer than a couple minutes, worse when walking around)

-Mild nausea (not much, but occasional)

-Tiredness (that word is an understatement!)

Cravings—

-Frosted Shredded Mini Wheat’s

-Dr. Pepper

-Peanut Butter Cookies

-Spaghetti

-Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breasts

-KFC

34 Week Update!

Hi Everyone,
I just got back from my OB appt. Baby D is doing great! She measured spot on (34 cm), and her heartbeat sounded GREAT! (I totally forgot to ask what her heartbeat was... Oops!)
I've been having some really mild cramping the last couple days, and doc said it is normal to start having contractions (Braxton Hicks) around this point in my pregnancy. Eek!
We also talked about my upcoming trip to OC on the 11th for my baby shower & maternity photo shoot. She said she usually doesn't advise traveling after 35 weeks, but as long as I'm not contracting a lot before the trip she is fine with me going. I'll be heading up on the afternoon of the 11th, and coming back the following night, so hopefully all goes well and Baby D doesn't attempt to make her entrance into the world while I'm 2+ hours from home!
I've hit the weekly OB appt mark as well!!! :) That's right, I'll now be seeing her every Tuesday! Woooo! I so look forward to my OB appts; getting to hear Baby D's heartbeat and finding out how big she is measuring. My next appt is scheduled for the 8th at 10:20. :)

Today officially marks the beginning of October, which just so happens to be MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!! :) Also, the beginning to my favorite three months of the year! Our families have so many birthdays the next two months, we're moving this Friday (my excitement can no longer be contained!), we have Baby D's arrival fast approaching, the weather is getting cooler (Thank God!), and its holiday season!!!

'Tis The Season! :)