Excited for the Baby Shower

I can't wait to see everyone. There're going to be several people there that I haven't seen for a while. I'm hoping all this snow and ice melts off before then. Otherwise people just need watch out for road construction on I-5, maybe WSDOT's site. The last two weekends were pretty nasty going through downtown, I highly recommend Aurora/99 for everyone that's north of downtown if there is construction going on. Holly is still moving around a lot, less kicking, more like dragging of limbs against my insides. Kinda weird feeling. My blood pressure is still in the decent range so no worries there.

1-2-3 KICK!

Holly is cutting the rug man...just like her father. :) She really doesn't like it when I bend forward at the waist. Found that out trimming my roses on Saturday. So I either squat or reach from the side. I believe my hips are on the move as well because on Saturday night I couldn't spend more than 2 minutes on either side, my hips hurt too much. Had to get up and employ my trusty heat pad again. I've added an extra pillow to my sleeping arrangements and that at least gets me to the next potty visit during the night (which I don't have any control over). Then I remembered when I had a pregnancy massage in December that my massuese said I was especially "hippy" and that I was going to have pain in my hips. She said I could do stretches and epson salt baths to ease the pain. She called that one, I really wasn't counting on hip pain at the time. There's also those funky pillows for pregnant women that wrap around you like you're in some kind of pod that are supposed to help too. I thought they were ridiculous...again at the time. I might need one of those if my pillow arrangement doesn't hold up for the duration...(sigh)...a mother's sacrifice... ;)

Newborn CPR and Safety Class

We finished our CPR/Safety class last night. It was a good class and we learned quite a bit. There was even a trick to teach our cat to stay out of the crib. I guess cats hate surfaces lined with aluminum foil. I'll have to try that. I took my blood pressure reading yesterday, it was 121 over 74 which is just about perfect. I'll keep checking up to my next OB appointment which is on March 3rd. So far it's just looking like I was particularly bloated and/or stressed that day. So I'm practicing relaxation techniques and putting my feet up a lot more, it seems to be working for me.

Doctor's Appointment Yesterday

Apparently I HAVE been having Braxton-Hicks contractions. I couldn't tell...I thought they were supposed to be at least a little uncomfortable...maybe that comes later. All the descriptions I've heard made me think I didn't have them yet. My stomach gets hard on top and I just poke it because it's weird, then I tell David to feel it. I don't feel any discomfort or have to stop and wait for it to pass. Holiday is still pretty much breakdancing in there. :) Now it's easier for others to feel her movement too. Before it was more difficult...it was as if she knew someone else besides me was watching so she'd stop moving...now she doesn't care. Contrariness does run in the family. The doctor answered our questions and we're now in the every two weeks mode of OB appointments. The only thing we have to watch is my blood pressure because it was slightly higher than normal, but that could be linked to my feet swelling. So right now it's just something to monitor not worry about. I'll be checking my blood pressure three times a week on my own until the matter is dismissed.

David's Daddy Class

Last night David attended his Conscious Fathering Class. He said it was a pretty good class and there was around 30 guys present. It wasn't a whole lot of new information since we've had a couple classes already but there were some good tidbits to consider here and there. He was still glad that he went. Now that we have all this education since our last doctor's visit, we can ask our doctor some more baby questions so we can get all our facts straight. We only have one more class, Newborn Safety and CPR, and then we'll be done. There's still stuff to do before the baby gets here but we're making great progress.

By the way, Holiday has been REALLY moving around lately. It doesn't hurt but....WOW!

Keri's Baby Shower

Keri had her baby shower on Saturday and there was a pretty good turn out. It was probably about 20 people. John and Mark are the perfect hosts, even their son entertained all the younger guests. They even gave me a boppy, that'll come in handy since my foldable rocking chair doesn't have armrests. Considering the snowfall today, Keri got some awesome luck with the weather too because there was a beautiful view of Lake Washington from John and Mark's house. She got a lot of useful (and super cute) stuff. I think the little pink converse shoes were my personal favorite. :)

David and I went to our Childbirth Preparation class yesterday. It was a great class and we learned a lot. We were definitely paying attention during the coping with labor pains part. I'm going to try and go natural, but the epidural window is from 2-3 cm to 9+cm so I can always change my mind. I can see myself using every single coping method except for the stick your hand into a bucket of ice part, that sucked. There were some good movies that were shown to us so we know what to expect. I cried a little bit when they showed the first mom and baby moments, but then looking around the room I wasn't the only one so then I didn't feel so stupid. Even some of the nursing students in the class cried. One thing that was funny though was that David has known someone in both of the classes we've taken, but I haven't.

Soooo Tired

Holiday must be having another growth spurt because I'm just exhausted, she's sucking all my energy away. The good thing about all the tiredness throughout the day is I sleep much better at night. And since she's turned the temperature up on me I found a good sale and bought a couple of prego t-shirts and tank tops. I feel much better now that I'm not so hot. :) Never thought I'd be this hot in February...little heater.

30 Weeks

This means I'm 75% done cooking...or approximately anyway. I caught a cold last week so I told everyone that no one else is allowed to be sick. I simply don't want it. The upper respiratory infection I had around Christmas was bad enough. I started feeling better on Saturday so I was able to do a few minor chores and work on my cross-stitch. I've in fact finished it...just need to wait for Holiday to be born to fill in the blanks on the birth announcement. I haven't worked on the curtains since Tuesday due to illness so now I'll go back to those. Grandma Claudia came over on Saturday and checked out the nursery and really liked it. She came with a little stuffed Mr. Jeremy Fisher which is a Beatrix Potter character. He's really cute and Vader seems to like him. I put Jeremy in the crib and Vader keeps hanging out with him. I may have to move Jeremy until we either put the door back on or put a baby gate up to keep the kitty out of the nursery.