Birthday and 37 weeks all on one day!

So, this week has been exciting for us. Lane didn't have to go to work on Monday because it was President's Day so we got to spend an extra day together. Oh, and we did get flurries on Friday for about 30 minutes and we had Friday together too because the base was closed and Lane didn't have to go to work that day either!

Tuesday was another doctor's appointment for me. I was 36 weeks, 5 days at this appointment. The doctor did my first cervical exam and the results weren't exactly what we wanted to hear. He said that I'm 0cm dilated, but 25% effaced which is good because there is some action going on, but I thought I would have SOME dilation. I know that this doesn't mean anything with the timing of her arrival, but the more I dilate early, the less I have to go through as I'm in labor! As he was listening to hear heart rate it increased and he said this was a good sign because she had just moved and he would expect her heart rate to increase with movement. He listened to her heart a little longer to make sure that it decreased as she stopped moving and it did, so he was very happy about what he heard.

Wednesday was my birthday and it was relatively uneventful - which isn't bad at all! My parents arrived with Pat on Tuesday so they were here for my birthday and they had Eden's dresser in tow. We went to Hardee's for breakfast for my birthday because as a child Pat and Paul would take Parker and I almost EVERY Saturday and the Hardee's is closed that we used to go to. It was neat to be able to go with her for my birthday since we haven't done it in a while. We left Hardee's and went to Home Depot to get the hardware for the dresser and then came back home to get everything put together. Pat also got me a floor lamp for Eden's room for my birthday. It goes behind the rocking chair so that we don't have to have the overhead light on in the middle of the night. It was soon after we got home that Lane got home from work. As we just sat around for the rest of the day we prepared to go to dinner. Another family tradition is to go to Longhorn's, but the closest one to us is 35 miles away, so we went to Logan's so we could at least have a steak to stick to the tradition as well as we could. At dinner Lane gave me my gift of a heart necklace. He told me that he picked the heart so that I would always remember having Eden's heart beat inside of me while I was pregnant with her. It was really neat because I had actually just told someone how awesome it was to see her little heartbeat as a tiny flash when I was only 6 weeks, 1 day pregnant and only 4mm long! We have come a long way as a family and soon she'll be in our arms! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow? In Florida? Supposedly - we'll see!

So, we moved to VA in 2008 and thought that we'd get a lot of snow. We might have gotten snow once. It flurried while we were there, but nothing really stuck and made it a fun snow. The one snow that was a good snow was last March 1 - we were having to fight to get OUT of VA down to FL for Grampie's funeral. There was snow on the ground the entire time we were in FL, enjoying the warm sunshine while we could.

Now that we've moved out of VA, they've had more snow than they've ever had. The amounts of snow that VA has now is more than I could handle, but still...they have snow! And they have fun amounts of snow!

Florida has proven to live up to not being what we expected weather-wise. The first week we got here it was about 42 most days around noon - at it's warmest time of the day! We have had a few days of nice weather, but we've also not been able to put our winter coats away - which we didn't expect to need to have at all down here in Florida. Now...we are having threats of SNOW! Are you kidding me?! The military bases have closed, there are TONS of schools closed...but have no fear, the Mardi Gras parades are still on all weekend. This is worse than living in GA where they close things for no reason!

Well, I'll keep you posted on our "snow" and if there's actually snow I'll make sure to post pictures for you :)

36 weeks TOMORROW! :)

I went to the doctor yesterday and again, things are looking good! He did the normal check of her heart rate (normal), my growth (normal), and my weight gain (normal). I was looking forward to having an exam done - I know call me weird - because I'm getting anxious about the arrival of our little one!

I did, however, get my Strep B test done and will probably get the results back next week when I go. He made sure to stress to me that this was not something that was bad or because of anything that I had done or not done during pregnancy. It is just a bacteria that some women carry and they will just give me an antibiotic during labor/delivery so that the medicine get into Eden's system and help her to fight off the bacteria as she enters our world.

The doctor again checked for her positioning and he had a smile on his face when he felt that she was in good position. Her head seems to be down - he didn't seem to have any doubt about it. Her butt is up in my left ribcage and so all the kicks, pokes, jabs, and stretches I feel in my right ribcage! Sometimes I can feel them all the way over above my right hip bone. When I feel those stretches I tell Lane that I think she's 3 feet long!

I go back to the doctor next week and hopefully will get that long anticipated exam so that I can update you on how I may or may not be progressing. Keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you updated.

Nursery 98% DONE!

This is going to be mostly a picture post. Things to note about her room - Pat and Eden's Mimi (my mom) did the bedding and everything like that for the room

I painted the nursing stool in front of her rocker (which was mine and Parker's as babies) - I can't decide if I'm going to paint her name on the top, or just let it be dots only. Eden's baby picture will go in the middle photo frame that is hanging between her Daddy's and Mommy's pictures.

Eden's Daddy painted the shelf that hangs above her changing table

her Mimi, Pop (my parents), Mommy, and Daddy made the picture board above her crib (we will put her name on it today hopefully).

Doctor yesterday

Here's the short and sweet of my doctor's appointment yesterday:

Eden's heart rate: low 140s (anything from 120-160 is good, so she's GREAT)

My measurement: about 1/2 a cm below where it "should" be, but anything give or take 2 cm from where it "should" be is ok

My weight: total gain from beginning 'till now is 20 pounds

Eden's positioning: Doc thinks she's head down, butt up (YAY) but of course, there are no guarantees because supposedly she can still flip

Here's the short and sweet of how I'm feeling:

I'm uncomfortable sometimes because Eden's butt (if the Doc is correct about her position) is right under my breastbone, which makes it REALLY hard to breathe sometimes. I'm getting used to it and it makes me sit up straight, which isn't a bad thing at all. Sleeping is harder and harder to do - I think I'm up to sleeping with 4 pillows in various positions now! Last night I couldn't fall asleep until 2 and then I woke up at 6, 7, 9, and stayed in bed until 11 because I can :) I'm SO ready for her to be in my arms now! We've taken the breast feeding class and the childbirth class and its made me really ready to be able to hold her...only 7 more weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, our lives aren't even beginning to slow down...AT ALL...these days. I guess we just keep finding things to do and, well, doing them!

This past weekend Lane and I both went to a swim meet to help out and be timers for the GPAC Invitational. The swim meet was Friday night, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday. For each day we were there at the ends of the lanes timing races and events and heats (and whatever else you do in swimming! ha ha). Lane did it for volunteer hours through work and I just tagged along to tag along. It did make for a long weekend, but it was worth it because if I didn't go with Lane, I would have been at home by myself all weekend. I enjoyed it and was able to meet some of the people that Lane works with - including his boss's boss who was there because his children were swimmers in the meet.

Today we decided that we weren't going to set an alarm and just wake up whenever we wanted to because a weekend full of 5:15am alarms doesn't make for a great weekend. We woke up around 9:30-ish and I made waffles for breakfast. After breakfast we sat on the couch watching TV for a little while and then I took a nap for about 2 hours while Lane watched Star Wars (I quickly found that I had no interest). After my nap, Lane did some work and I cleaned up a little bit because our house turned into a disaster area over the weekend because neither one of us had any energy left once we got home from the meet.

In baby news, we're going to our childbirth class tomorrow, I have a doctor's appointment Wednesday, and then we have another class on Thursday evening. We went to our breastfeeding class on Thursday evening of last week and it was actually a very informative class. All of the moms except for one had their husbands there with them, so Lane also felt right at home since he was in good company. The class covered everything from going back to work and pumping to which pumps are good and why, the whole latching on process and the types of diapers to expect and what not to expect. All in all we learned a lot and I'm excited about the childbirth class tomorrow because it's the same nurse instructor.

As you can see, our lives are super busy this week and then next week my parents will be in town to visit and bring us our car seat/stroller system so I'm not sure when I will update again. Until then...

Baby Shower and Braxton Hicks!

This past weekend I drove up to Atlanta to have Eden's last baby shower. I hope the old saying that what you do on New Years Day is what you'll be doing for the new year to come holds little to no truth for me this year. I woke up and had breakfast with Lane and then had to leave him to drive for 5 hours to spend the weekend apart from him - not what I'm hoping to do this coming year for sure!

Eden is sure going to be one spoiled little girl!!! She got lots of great things - bath time stuff, clothes, diapers, wipes, a stroller, a high chair...more things than I could dream of listing here! I am so thankful that there are a ton of people who love her and came to show their love for her at the shower.

One of the biggest surprises at the shower was that a childhood friend of mine was able to come and my parents kept it a secret! Kim got married and shortly after moved to California, and now lives in New York, so it's been years since I've seen her. I was SO excited to see her walk through the door!!!

I got home from Atlanta yesterday evening and was able to spend the evening with Lane just relaxing on the couch after emptying the car of the shower gifts and semi putting them away. When I was able to sit down and put my feet up I noticed that I was starting to have contractions. The contractions weren't getting closer together and they weren't getting more intense with time, so I was content that they were Braxton Hicks contractions and was able to help myself relax! The contractions didn't cause pain, just discomfort and kind of odd feeling. I think it's funny how I can feel them more from the outside than from the inside because of how hard my belly feels. I am not worried about them, but I will make sure to talk to my doctor tomorrow when I go for my routine appointment.