28 Week Appoitment

I went to the Dr on Monday for my 28 week appointment and glucose test. Everything checked out great and the little guy is moving non-stop, with his heart rate staying in the 160's. I have gained a total of 14 lbs. Now that food tastes good and I am ALWAYS hungry, I guess it is starting to show! :) My tummy is getting bigger every day and it starting to round out now. I will post some pictures in the near future!

I got a call yesterday stating that I failed my glucose test and I now have to go in for a 3 hour glucose test tomorrow. They will make me drink that nasty orange flavored sugar substance and then I have to have labs drawn at 1 hr, 2 hr and 3 hr mark. What am I going to do in the dr's office for 3 hours!?!?!? I am a little nervous, but I am sure that everything will work out. I have been praying that all is well.

On a happy note, Jason and I are going to get to see our lil' man on Friday. We are going to get our 3D/4D ultrasound done - sharing the experience with my both of our mothers, my 2 grandmothers, and my best friend Christina. Jason has been wanting to do this since I found out I was pregnant. I am excited to see what he looks like, but it also takes away some of the surprise. I am sure he will look just like his daddy - which would be just fine with me! :)

Jason has been so excited and giddy about the arrival of our lil' bean. We went to register and he took over the scanner and was sooo excited to pick out things. My favorite comment was him stating that he "is going to lay by him all the time so he can smell him." He is going to be such a great father and I cannot wait to see the two of them together. The love of my life holding our lil' miracle - can it get any sweeter than that????

Mission: Project Nursery

Apes with her special level laser decoder glasses - looking hot as ever!!!

Me at my best - house shoes and all! Ignore that I am standing on a chair ...

Just a little memory ...

The painting is completed!!!!

And the closet is expanded and freshened up with a new coat of paint!

Well, as most of you know, the project of completing the nursery started last weekend! April and I were a team for the day - attempting to paint the nursery without causing too many problems. But, of course, due to our luck - we had issues from the beginning. Trying to tape stripes seems as though it should be simple, especially with the use of a laser level. But, we somehow managed to be off on the measurements - even after it took 2 hours to tape the walls the first time. With a little shimmy here and there, we were able to fix the problem within 30 minutes or so. We then took a break to enjoy the best chinese ever!!!!

Then back to work, we started painting and the brown was not covering very well and there were roller lines galore. But we kept striving on, in hopes that the situation would work out (which is later did). A project that seemed that it should take no more than 6 hours ended up taking more like 12 hours! Leave it to me and April to make a fun day of this experience. I feel blessed to have become great friends with April and am excited to have a special story to share now, as well!

The Beginnings of a Nursery

Our first huge decision - the crib/dresser combo!!!

The dresser - our next purchase! Finally, I found a dresser that I like (this is for those of you who are dresser fanatics .... APRIL! :)

We will be using this border - however, the dogs are individually cut out

I have decided not to use the Spot Collection bedding set. Instead, I am going to use the bumper and this blanket as the 'quilt.' Matches the walls much better!

We are excited to announce that we made a huge decision, finally, the crib! I have been flipping back and forth trying to find what was best for our little room and I found the perfect crib. Jason's parents were kind enough to offer to purchase the crib! I am not sure how many times I can say this, but I truly have the best in-laws ever. I feel right at home around them and always know that I could come to them about anything. We think it is pretty special to be bringing Baby Smith into the world with both sets of grandparents still being married. That alone is a special thing in itself! We know that he will be surrounded by positive role models with good morals. I feel blessed to have 2 families who support Jason and I completely ...

We still need to buy a dresser, curtains and rods, and a red shag area rug. Everything is coming together and I am really starting to get excited. Once the nursery is completed, I will feel much more prepared and ready to meet our lil' bean!!!

We have officially entered the THIRD trimester!

The nursery bedding we decided on ...

... and the border Kyla and I cut each dog and bone out of!

So this week we are 26 weeks and have officially entered the third trimester (although some books range from week 26 - week 28). I had my monthly dr's appointment today - waiting in the waiting room for an hour just to see the dr for 10 minutes! Ugghhh. I was sitting in the waiting room starting to feel nauseated, fanning myself with a magazine and praying that I wasn't going to lose my cookies. The past few days have been weird, as it seems my morning sickness has reared its head again. I was supposed to go to my dr's appointment yesterday but felt really sick after coming home from work, sleeping for 2 hours, and trying to get up to go to my appointment. Luckily, they had a cancellation for today that I was able to snatch up.

So everything looks 'great' according to Dr. Fitch! The heartbeat is 160bpm and he kept kicking the transducer when she would try and count his heart rate. Already a feisty lil' guy like his father! I have gained a total of 10lbs and my urine specimens are now coming back normal - thank goodness. Dr Fitch really wants me to try and stop taking my Zoloft because a new study came out showing that it can cause pulmonary hypertension in 1:100 babies. I am trying to outweigh which would be better for me. I am already having anxiety issues, due to the realization that things are creeping up very quickly. Plus, he says that I am more at risk to have a more significant chance of having postpartum depression due to my anxiety issues. So now I just have to figure out what would be better. I do not want to put our lil' guy at any risk, but I am not sure if me going off the medication would be at more risk. We all know how high stressed I am, even on the medication. So that is a decision to be made.

Otherwise, all is well. I am getting all the clutter out of the nursery today in preparation of starting to paint the nursery this weekend. I went and bought the paint and supplies today! I am excited, but a little nervous too. I just want it to turn out like I picture it. We have went with the Spot bedding collection by Bananafish. It has some different solid colors and plaids with a dog theme. It will grow with our lil' guy very well, into his toddler years and beyond. We decided to add a splash of red to the room to add some color. Above is a picture of the bedding that we have chosen. Thanks to Kyla for all of her help in cutting out numerous dogs from the border!!! A little piece of you will be in his nursery! :)

I will keep everyone posted, as usual. I have my next appointment in 2 weeks to do the glucose testing (which I thought was this week).

Christmas with the Smith's

Franklin in his Christmas attire - 'Santa's Little Helper'

My lil' stretchy fella - he is getting longer and longer and .....

The Big Smith overalls for our Lil' Smith

The smallest pair of Nike's to add to his shoe collection!!!

Some of Baby Smith's presents - you think he is loved???

We had a wonderful christmas this year - especially in realization that we have our lil' man on the way! Crazy to think that this time next year we will have a 9 month old. The current lil' man of the house, Franklin, wore his appropriate christmas attire. Both dogs were enjoying treats and toys from their stockings early in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. However, after going to Jason's parents and both of my grandparents houses on Christmas Eve, we came home a house full of funk. Franklin had gotten sick and had other G.I. issues while he was stuck in his apartment (aka kennel). He immediately got a bath and we cleaned up his apartment. He was very shaky and was pukey. My poor little guy was really sick and worrying both Jason and I. Eventually after about an hour or so, he cuddled with mom and his stomach was settling. The only thing we could think of was the new treats that he had gotten for Christmas - poor guy! Daysia was herself, scared of everything surrounding her. She also enjoyed her treats and between the two dogs, had the stuffing torn out of one of their toys before we even left the house. These two love to play together!

Jason and I traded gifts - waiting later than normal. Jason gets very excited about opening gifts and giving me my gifts. Usually we are opening gifts days before Christmas Eve. I got him a really nice MU sweatshirt and a Best Buy gift card so that he could buy some contraption for his XBox that he has been wanting. I bought a Nike Air Jordan gift set and put "To: Daddy" and "From: your son." If you know Jason at all, he has an obsession for Nike shoes - colorful Nike shoes - and loves Jordan's. In fact, he has more pairs of tennis shoes that I do a full closet of shoes - and I am a woman! :)

Then Jason gave me my gifts. He was sooo excited because this was the first time that he hasn't had to ask me what I wanted. I had commented on many occasions that I was craving cheesy popcorn, so I got a big cannister full of 3 types of popcorn - including my cheesy popcorn. And on top, best of all, was a gift card for an hour and a half prenatal massage! I do not think I can even explain how excited I am to get this massage. I am planning on going next week to fulfill my needs! :)

For Christmas, we got a new digital camera/video camera that we were really hoping for. It is a Nikon 10 megapixel - much better than our Kodak 5 megapixel. It takes great pics and we cannot wait to use it to take numerous pics of our little miracle! Between the 2 of us, we also got MU gear, a sofa table I had been wanting, many odds and ends, money and gift cards. Baby Smith even had a great Christmas - especially since he has not even entered the world. Papa Tom made sure that he a pair of Nike's to wear first thing! And Papa Tom and Grandma Linda got him some 'Big Smith' overalls - enclosed was a note saying: "Big Smith's for our Lil' Smith." This was one of my favorite gifts because of the thought put into it - a tradition passed on from when Jason was younger and wore Big Smith overalls. He got some new outfits, a soft stuffed animal from Grandma and Grandpa Heiman, a frame that says "mommy & me," and many other odds and ends. I tried to get most of his gifts in the photo!!! Between his grandparents and his parents, this child is not going to have room to sleep in his room!!!! :)

The Gift of Giving

Tanner with his shoes that are just like Jason's colorful shoes!

Kenz with her high school musical tote full of goodies!

Kenz aka Hannah Montana - with her microphone full of chapstick

Katie and I at Margarita's -- oh how I wish I could have that Margarita in her hand

Giving gifts and being surrounded by family and friends are my favorite part of the holidays! We were able to buy a few gifts for the special children in our lives. Unfortunately, we have had a few others added but have had to cut the funds. I figured that this would be the last year to give to the children, since we will now have one in our own family! I have been in Makenzie and Tanner's lives since Kenz was 3 or so. I have been a part of Jenna and Chases's lives since they were both born. And Ayden, the newest addition, has been a very special addition and is like a nephew to me. We have added Preston and Ethan into our circle of children this year. I love being surrounded by all of these children and try to spend quality time with each of them. However, I have not been so good at this for the last months. I love to watch each of them grow up and become the little person that they will be throughout their life. They are constantly changing, learning more and growing up so quickly. I am glad that I can be a part of each of their lives!

On another note, I also got to catch up with my friend, Katie. We have been friends for around 8 years and have been thru a lot together - boys, breakups, school, and graduation. She was my motivation for returning to school and then going on to Nursing school. She always offered an ear for listening (and complaining) and would always reassure me that I could make it to the end result - Graduation! Now here we are after all of those years and many changes - she is a travel nurse working in California and I am here working my dream job. We got together for lunch with some of her family and our friends. It was nice to play catch-up and see her again! Margaritas was super yummy!!!!

25 weeks ...

Today is our 25 week mark! I am happy to say that we have gotten to this point and are more confident that everything is working out as planned this go around. Our lil' bebe is near 1 1/2 lbs this week. On a website, they compared his length to a musical recorder that you played in elementary school (if that doesn't bring back funny memories)! I feel as if I cannot get any bigger, however, my body is proving me wrong. With the bodily changes occuring, I am starting to have sleeping problems due to not being able to get comfortable. I am constantly tossing and turning all night between my hips and back - all hurting after lying on them for an amount of time. Once again, April assures me that this is only the beginning! :)

Yesterday was a really hard day for me, although I am not so sure why. The last week or so I have had some bouts of sadness and slight depression. I have read that it is all a part of pregnancy and those wonderful hormones circulating throughout. We have about 3 1/2 months to go and it is all starting to hit me like a stone wall. The stress of picking out a name that the child will have forever, decorating the nursery, purchasing nursery furniture, making sure that all the plans for childbirth are in order, and mostly wondering how great of a parent I will be. I know that Jason and I will do the best we can, but it just starts to scare you as that time nears.

It doesn't help that work is overstaffed and I keep getting cancelled and am either forced to take my Paid Time Off hours or go without pay. I am only going to get around 7 weeks of maternity leave as it is, due to being sick so often with morning sickness. This alone has caused a lot of stress, but I think I have finally accepted that the 12 weeks off just isn't going to happen for me. But it is a little disheartening that I may be getting even less than 7 weeks due to overstaffing. I am sure that many people know exactly where I am coming from. I just had so many plans and financial goals before April and now they are all shot.

Anyhow, I took a few pictures at christmas time and will post those at some point. As you can tell, I am not very motivated these days! I am trying to keep up with my blog a little though. It's always nice to go back and read the entries from a previous time!!! I wish everyone the best in the year 2009 and pray that our economy picks up and people are able to live without fear. May all of your New Years resolutions be answered! :)