Ancy Pants

Well, I’m in the final weeks before Hannah arrives! It dawned on me today that Hannah is due to be here one month from today. At 36 weeks out of 40 (give or take a week or two… it’s not an exact science, ya know), I’d say I’m about ready to pop! I’m constantly asked if I’m just ready to get this baby out. And while I’m not one that’s soooo in love with being pregnant, I do want Hannah to “cook” as long as she can up until her due date. Then I’m gonna have to ask her to vacate the premises, por favor. :)

Being pregnant brings out the strangest behavior in people. For whatever reason, people have been compelled to tell me the most horrifying birth stories known to man. I actually had a lady go into great detail about how she actually died while giving birth and then had to be revived. It’s a pretty amazing story, but maybe tell me AFTER I’ve delivered? Also, I’ve had strangers come up, and not just touch or rub, but actually GRAB my belly. If you ask to touch my stomach, it’s cool. I get it. Baby bellies really are amazing! But seriously, you wouldn’t touch another stranger’s stomach on a normal day, and you certainly wouldn’t grab someone else’s child if it was outside the womb… unless you were a kidnapper. Hmmm… I may need to keep my eye on some folks.

At a wedding this weekend, I had a flower girl come up and stand eye-level with my belly and just stare. For about a minute without saying a single word, she just stared. She was super cute, and I was reminded that most girls dream of having babies all of their lives. I am definitely one of those girls, and it’s quite amazing to think that I’m about to meet a person I’ve dreamt of for so long.

Babycakes!

OK, check out how awesome this cake is! My coworker, Marlo, made this two-tiered cake for the surprise baby shower the office threw for me. Not only did it look good, but it tasted good, too! I have to say, I work with some great folks, particularly a few amazing girls: Hollee, Lindsay and Marlo! Thanks for the shower, ladies!

The Last Leg

On a whim, Chris and I went for a sonogram yesterday at TJC. Debbie said that Hannah is 4 lbs 15 oz!! That's more than what I weighed! She did say that she expected Hannah to weigh around 7 lbs if I make it full term, which sounds OK by me. :) One of the coolest parts of the sonogram was seeing that Hannah's face has enough soft tissue on it, making us able to see her face a little more clearly. I can't wait to see what she looks like in about 5 weeks! Anyway, I was pretty fascinated and had to tell you all. I start my weekly appointments next week and they're going to start "checking" my progression. Oh boy. :)

Just Add Baby

We've got most everything ready to welcome home Hannah Riley. Her room is set up and I think we have everything we need at this point thanks to the generosity of so many of our close friends and family.

My best friends threw us a huge shower at the church a few weeks ago, and I seriously opened gifts for two hours straight. I was so humbled to see how many people came and how much we were given. We are completely blessed by our church family!

Are They Kankles? Or Kneecles?

Ugh, my ankles are kankles... just look at these sock lines!

Actually, I normally have tiny skinny chicken legs, so the swelling makes me have normal looking legs. :) Pleeease don't look at my gross toenails, though! (Chris was so embarassed by them that he actually cut them for me the other day! I love that man.)

I'm 31 weeks along and I had a quick checkup today. I was surprised to be in and out of the doctor's office within 20 minutes! I've now gained 28 pounds - 3 of which I've put on in the last two weeks. She said that my screenings for gestational diabetes and preeclampsia from my last appointment were negative and my levels are "perfect". With how smoothly everything has gone, I shouldn't complain about swollen feet! We're really blessed. :)

I also pre-registered at the hospital this week. Talk about making this feel very real... I just can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone! Hannah is more active everyday, and I just can't wait to meet her!

Swab A Mouth! Save A Life!

Over the holidays, one of my coworkers lost his father to lymphoma. In his honor, a few other coworkers and I decided we would get on the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. And I'm really excited to say that I did so today.

All they did was take a mouth swab, and they'll analyze the cells to see if there's a match in the system of a person needing a bone marrow transplant. Should they ever find someone that is a potential match, there will more testing before undergoing any donation.

Cancer is something that has always scared me. It's hit close to home as I've watched close family and friends battle the disease. But over the past few years that I've worked in health care, I've come to realize that in many cases it's beatable. With advances in technology and early detection, the survival rate is on the up-and-up. That's good news!

One word of encouragement though: take care of yourself! Eat well and exercise. Do your preventive monthly self-exams and take into consideration what your body is telling you. Schedule an appointment to see a doctor if you're feeling unwell. And find a good support system. We can't do this thing called life on our own.

If you're interested in becoming a donor, or are just curious what I signed up for, read more about it all at http://www.marrow.org/.

A Long Overdue Blog

Oh my gosh, this blog of mine is so neglected! I can’t begin to count the many times I’ve sat down to type out my thoughts, but have been too tired or distracted or busy. No matter. I’ll catch up my avid blog-followers (I dream there are many, but oh how few of you there are) on the past few months of my life as I enjoy the therapy that comes in wordsmithing.

So my life can be summed up in one word: pregnant. Seeing that I’m growing a person in my body – a real life human being – all I can do is think about the baby.

Today, I’m 26 weeks along. For those of you who find it hard to divide by fours (which was one of the harder multiples, in my opinion), I’m a little more than 6 months along. And in those 6 months, I’ve gained a whopping 25 pounds. I’m a small girl and tend to be a bit of a lightweight (i.e. wimp), so you better believe I’m quite excited. However, my child is only a pound-and-a-half of that. So I like to think the rest is all muscle… as I bite into this delicious coconut chocolate truffle.

In November, we found out we’re having a little girl and we’ve named her Hannah Riley. It’s pretty surreal that we’re having a child… until she gives me a good kick to let me know, “Hey, this is pretty real, Mom!”

I’m so thankful that this pregnancy has been so smooth and that Hannah is growing and healthy. Chris is pretty happy, too, that the hormones haven’t made me into some crazy woman. I’ve had a few emotional moments, which are actually pretty funny, but perhaps we’ll save those for another time. He and Hannah have bonded as he has discovered how to press on my belly certain ways to get her to kick back. He’s such a great daddy already.

Here is a picture of Hannah’s face in a 3D sonogram we had last month.

And here are a few pictures for you to see the progress of my expanding waistline. (I actually didn’t start looking pregnant in the least until about 19 weeks, so that’s where the pictures will really start.) I'll try to remember to add more.

6 Weeks. I had no clue.

19 weeks.

20 weeks. The shirt did not split. I swear it came like that!

24 weeks.