Shower

Pictures and captions courtesy of my mom. :)

Jess' old pal from grade school came - Jessica Russell - and brought her 3-yr-old daughter, Trinity.
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Howard was Ken's Best Man. He and Ashley married soon after Ken and Jess. Their little girl is 13 months old.
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Howard convinced Ken there was nothing in the world better than having a little daughter to love.
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Rachel was Jessica's first bride. Here's the new man in her life, her son.
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Now they are a family of 3.
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These are just 2 of Jess' friends from Trinity who journeyed from San Antonio to celebrate with Jess and Ken.
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Ken samples the brisket while Blythe's hubby, David, looks on in anticipation! Only 14 hours on the grill and it's ready!
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The barbecue was a big hit with everyone. Delicious!
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Oh yeah! Very yummy sausage too!
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Sylvia was one of Jessica's bridesmaids. She still teaches art at Hopewell (Jess' first school in Austin).
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I want some too, Mama.
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Must take seconds!
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Blythe's oldest 2, Grace and Joel, cavort in Jess' office/guest room.
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Bynum played "tickle otter" with Blythe's son, Joel. He's 3 now.
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Looks like Joel may be winning the game.
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Now the gifties. Woohoo!
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A little outfit from Sylvia. She even knitted a little hat to go with it.
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Two lilac outfits. I can't remember who these were from.
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The newest thing in diaper pails. It has an airlock to keep in the stink!
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Since babies have to face backwards in the back seat, Jess got this mirror to stick in the back so she could see Aubrey.
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This swaddle thing has taken the place of receiving blankets. You zip baby up in it, and she can't kick it off.
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Bynum and I got this banner from Oriental Trading, but they can't put it in the yard - too inviting for baby snatchers.
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That's a pair of booties I made for Jess. They match the bunny hat I crocheted for Aubrey. Still working on the coat!
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This basket was full of diapers, a sit stool for Mom, and baby crib sheets.
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Howard and Ashley gave them a VIDEO baby monitor so they can see as well as hear Aubrey in the other room.
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In no time Bynum had that baby monitor hooked up so the kids could see themselves on TV. A good time was had by all!

34 wk appt

Ken had a mandatory meeting called at work so this is the first obgyn appt he's ever missed - EVER! And Dr. Solomon noticed. :) He asked where he was and if he was ok.

I started off the appointment by asking if I was going to get to have any more ultrasounds and he said no. I argued "Could I please? I switched insurance and they're free now, so I want to get my money's worth!" He said there'd really have to be a complication or a medical reason for another ultrasound at this point. I guess insurance companies frown upon paying for ultrasounds that are just for fun. :P

Blood pressure's good, urine's good, Aubrey's heart rate's good, my body's swollen. My swollen legs are pitting pretty high (just a few inches below my knee) and my right hand is tingly like it's always asleep. He gave me a carpal tunnel brace to wear ALL of the time and said that should help.

He measured my belly (fundal height) and said that I was measuring at almost 37 weeks, "So looks like you're going to get that ultrasound afterall!" The ultrasound will tell us if I'm measuring big because of a big baby OR because of "fluff." In the past month, I've gotten stretch marks on my belly and the lowest part of my belly has gotten MUCH bigger - the skin's all puffy but the tissue is soft, unlike the rest of my belly. He says all of this is swelling, just like my hands and feet - and calls it "fluff." Heh. The big fundal height number could be due to that swelling, so that's why I get the ultrasound. Woohoo! That'll be Thursday, Nov. 8th - I'll be at the end of 36 weeks. If the ultrasound reveals that we ARE dealing with a big baby, he said he'll want to examine my cervix to see if we should be expecting an early arrival. I told him that my brother was almost 10 lbs and was 2 weeks late - he was quite impressed with mom and said he wouldn't let me go more than a week over. Good - don't want to get too close to Christmas anyway.

So I've got a brace for the swollen hand, I'm elevating the swollen feet - what about the swollen belly? He recommended this sucker:



Isn't that funny looking?? But I guess it would do the trick! It's called the "Prenatal Cradle" and is $60 but I'm going to see if I can find one on ebay or something.

So how did I get so lucky to already have well-defined stretch marks and swelling? He says I can thank my parents. :P Here's hoping Aubrey gets Ken's skin genes!

101 in 1001

I've started a 101 in 1001 blog. I won't really jump on it until mid-January, but here it is if you want to take a peek:
http://jezcam101.blogspot.com/

one more thing

When the midwife was talking about symptoms of complications, she mentioned pitting adema. During our break, I told her that I have pitting adema but none of the other signs of preeclampsia and asked if she had any tips on reducing the swelling, other than the usual advice of drinking lots of water and avoiding salt. She said I should take one hour in the middle of the day and do nothing except lay on the couch with my feet on the armrest, above my heart. She acknowledged that it's hard to take a break from being productive but to think of it as time for Aubrey and that I am being productive in that I'm avoiding possible bed rest or pre-term labor. :P WELL, when you put it like THAT....

My hands are getting more and more swollen, too - to the point that it's difficult to grab things. She recommended keeping them down at my side as much as possible. But, again, it's hard to be productive with your hands at your side all of the time.

hee-hee-hooooooooo

Last night was our second childbirth class, and our first stab at lamaze. She (the midwife who teaches the class) spent the first 1.75 hours talking about the stages of labor, how to recognize signs of early and normal labor, symptoms of complications to tell your doctor about, and what to pack for the hospital. Then, for the last 15 minutes of class, she dimmed the lights and put on some soft music that reminded me of yoga/pilates classes I've taken. She had the men ("birth partners," she calls them) sit on the floor with their backs against a wall, then we sat against them like they were our armchairs. :) By having our backs against their chests/stomachs, she said we were more apt to match their breathing patterns. Then we practiced breathing through a contraction. When the contraction starts, we take a deep, cleansing breath. Then, we slowly breathe, establishing a rhythm by exhaling "hee" on the first two breaths, and a longer "hoo" on the third. She explained that during early contractions it will be easier to keep these breaths slow but that as the pain increases we'll need to speed up our breathing as well. We did all of this breathing in unison, while Ken reached around and rubbed my belly. At the end of the contraction, we finish with another deep, cleansing breath. After we did the seated breathing, we did the "middle school dance" breathing. We stood facing each other, his hands on my lower back and mine around his shoulders. I let my head hang and we gently rocked back and forth while he massaged my lower back. She explained that women often like several different positions during their contractions and that you kinda just have to be prepared to go with whatever you feel like doing. We'll be doing other positions in our future classes, which are every Thursday from 7pm to 9pm at the hospital where we'll be delivering.


So what do I think of all of this? I support breathing. Breathing is good. And I bet it's good to feel like you're in control of at least ONE thing that your body is doing during the labor process. But I still want drugs. Lots of drugs. And I'm not sure how "deep" my ashthmatic breaths are going to be, but I'm going to give it a shot. It does feel a little silly right now, though.

That being said, I AM having contractions, but they're Braxton Hicks contractions and totally normal. I don't even notice them most of the time. Just a couple of hours ago, Ken was rubbing my belly (one of his favorite past-times these days) and said "Whoa! Check out how hard it is!" I felt and sure enough, must have been a BH contraction. So glad they're not painful!

Trey Dulaney

Just came across these pictures on Rob's facebook and had to share. This is Rob and Christy's son, Trey. :)


It's hard to hold a baby while sporting a pregnant belly, hence the baby being positioned on my chest! I don't know how 2nd time moms do it - hold one baby while growing another!
Isn't Trey a cutie?!? :)

Touching base

Keeping up with this blog has proven really difficult since I started teaching again! Here's a quick recap:

Had a doctor's appointment on Sept. 27th. It was pretty uneventful. I was 30 weeks at this appt so they've started asking me to lay on my left side when taking my blood pressure. Blood pressure was good, urine was clean, baby's heartrate was good. But my WEIGHT! Oh my gosh I freaked out. All of my other appointments have been at 9am but this one was at 5pm so I think that's part of the reason I gained so much since the appt 3 weeks prior. At this appt, I was a total of 19 lbs above my starting weight. The nurse looked at my ankles and asked "Have you had any swelling?" I said "uhhhh... YEAH. I normally HAVE ankles." She said "Oh good! I didn't want to assume because I've had women say 'no, that's how my ankles always look' and I didn't want to take a chance." The doctor says I have pitting edema, which is when pressure to a swollen area (like when I poke my shin) leaves a little dent for a bit.

There's not a lot to do for it - drink lots of water, avoid salt, keep feet elevated... I just try to sit as much as possible. Of course, I've read that sitting a lot during pregnancy can cause hemroids and I think I'd rather have swelling!

Last week was our 32 week appointment (we now have appointments every two weeks, but soon it'll become weekly). Because I'm teaching in the mornings, now all of our appointments will be late in the day. Blood pressure was good, urine was clean, baby's heartrate was good. And, thankfully, my weight was exactly the same as the last appointment - 19 lbs up from starting weight. My doctor was in a delivery so we saw one of his partners. He measured my belly, then measured again, then measured again and asked "Have you been measuring big all along?" I was so shocked by the question that it didn't occur to me to ask just how far ahead I was measuring. At my 28 week sonogram they said I was measuring about a week ahead - I wonder if it's increased?? And then I started thinking about my brother being a ten-pounder baby... I really hope Aubrey's average! We'll see what my doc says at my next appointment, which is next week. While I was there, I went ahead and got a flu shot.

We also had our first childbirth class last week. It'll be every Thursday night for six weeks. I really like the woman who teaches it. She was a labor & delivery nurse for 15 years and has been a private midwife for the past 5 - she really knows her stuff. She said that 1st time moms deliver, on average, 8 days late. There are about 8 couples in the class, and all are first-time parents. The class is through the hospital where I'll be delivering. We'll be covering lamaze, baby care basics, hospital info (when to go, what to take, etc), and what to expect in labor and delivery. I'll also be signing up for a breastfeeding class, but I think that's just a one-night class.

About last week I noticed some faint stretch marks starting to appear on my belly. This week, they're DEFINITELY stretch marks! They're getting darker and bigger. They're already above my belly button (I think most women get them up to their belly button). Ah well.... I knew I was prone. Besides, if there's a skin issue out there, I've probably got it! Here's hoping Aubrey gets Ken's genes when it comes to skin.

I think that's all for now on the pregnancy front. OH! Dave Nichol's gonna be a daddy!!!! Congrats to him and Sarena. :)