Excited? Check. Nervous? Check. Anxious? CHECK CHECK!

Tomorrow is yet another non-stress test for Paisley and I, and an ultrasound to check her growth, and boy am I nervous about this one. Jason is very calm and thinks everything will be fine, and deep down I think I do too, but some part of me is very anxious about this appointment, and I don't like it. Dr. Day has told me that if we ever go in for an ultrasound or a non-stress test and don't like what we see, we will deliver her, because she may do better once she is born, but I don't think they would take her at this point unless they were really cautious, or really worried. She has been growing the way she should, and putting on weight nicely, but still is very small, the biggest part of her is just in the 15th percentile, and her abdomen is just in the 3rd percentile, but they say as long as she continues to grow, and the twice weekly non-stress tests are good, we will push on until the 28th... Well on Wednesday I went to the Dr for my NST (non-stress test) and he measured my belly, and now it is measuring 3 1/2 weeks behind, too. (and holy cow, have you seen my belly?? SMALL is not a word I would use to describe it!) Until then, Paisley has measured small, but my belly has always been right on. In fact, I measured 32 cm at 32 weeks, and just measured 31 cm at 34 1/2 weeks. And I only gained a pound in that 2 weeks. Maybe she has just dropped, and that is why my belly is measuring smaller, and goodness knows I could stand to not gain that extra pound, but you just never know what's going on in there! I guess we will find out tomorrow. We are 35 weeks along now, and would love to see at least 36, and 38 would be even better. I will keep you posted!

5 weeks to go

A few weeks ago we were able to go and get a 4D ultrasound done as a surprise gift from a friend. It was so amazing to see some of Paisley's features. These pictures aren't great, as I had to take a picture of a picture, but if you look closely you can see her sweet little face. :) My family has already said that she looks like me! I would love for her to look like me, with red hair. :) But I would also love it if she looked like her Daddy! (You know, he is pretty good looking.) :) These pictures were done at 30 weeks.

Since I posted the last blog, things have been super busy. We have had 3 baby showers (what a blessing) and that means I have traveled home 2 out of the past 3 weekends. We had a wonderful time at the showers, and Paisley got some of the most precious gifts. She is spoiled already! Oh and people know me and my love of all things personalized, and Paisley has gotten some adorable gifts with her name/monogram already embroidered. She will end up loving personalized items too!

This cake was from a joint baby shower that I had with one of my best friends, Holly. She is having (well did have already!) a little boy and his name is Carter. (Hence the P & C on the top of the cake) Holly was about 4 1/2 weeks ahead of me and went into labor on her own on Friday morning, and had a beautiful baby boy later that day. She was 38 weeks along! Does that mean I'm next? Oh boy...

And here is Paisley now, clearly ready to get out of my cramped belly. (34 weeks along) I really don't know how much bigger I can get, but I'm sure I will inevitably grow larger than life itself. (If I haven't already) :) I get the sweetest comments, and yet the most awkward ones here and there too. Most people are very sweet and say things like "You don't look big enough to be 8 months along!" or "I was as big as you at 5 months pregnant", and my favorite is "You don't look pregnant except for your belly. Your face isn't fat or anything!" But I do get the occasional, "You are going to give birth to a toddler!" or "Your belly is huge!". I even had a child come visit our school the other day and he said his 1st grade teacher's name is also Mrs. Spangler. I said "How neat, we have the same name! Do we look anything a like?" I guess I asked for it... He said "No, she's a little skinny." Nice. I found myself immediately trying to explain my "fatness" to a 1st grader by saying "but but but, you know I have a baby in my belly" then I realized how ridiculous I was being and just moved on. Hmmm, I use to be "a little skinny"... I think....

I am now going to the doctor every Monday and Thursday for non-stress tests and my regular appointment in addition to the non-stress test on Thursday. I have become friends with a few of the nurses and grown to love my doctor. It was hard at first to change doctors, when I LOVED the Dr I had in Virginia, but I really am so happy with my choice here now. Paisley and I are doing great, and the last couple of tests she has had the hiccups which cracks me up. How am I suppose to document every time she moves when she is hiccuping every 4 seconds? So cute. And I am beginning to think she does not appreciate the 2 belts around my stomach during the tests, because about 4 minutes after they hook us to the monitor, she goes wild. On Monday, the nurse had to come in and hold her heart monitor on my belly because Paisley kept kicking it away. In fact, I had to be on the monitor for an hour because she was too active, and they couldn't get a baseline heart beat. Her heart rate was in the 170-180's the whole time until she finally cooled it a bit and it went down to the 140-150's. Dr. Day has even walked in my room and said "It sounds like a soccer match in here" because she was so active. Sheesh Paisley! Put on a show why don't cha! At this point, the Dr has decided that we will be going in December 27th, to have her on the 28th. That means only 5 weeks to go if she doesn't have plans to come early.

Jason is off the last week of December so that worked out nicely. In fact, he only has to work 2 days from Dec 20th-January 3rd. 2 24 hour shifts that is. He has started his 2 months of ortho and is enjoying it, but boy is he exhausted. He stays busy all the time, even when he is at home he is preparing for cases the next day, working on some type of presentation he has coming up, dictating cases, etc. He loves what he's doing, but this year and next he will work unbelievable hours. He goes in at the latest 6am every morning (this morning he went in at 4:45am) and works until at least 6:00pm week nights. He is on call on average 2 nights a week, but when you are on ortho, it's home call. With home call you may not even have to go in, or you could be gone all night. For example, on Tuesday he was on call, and came home at 8:30pm for 15 minutes, and got called back in, and didn't come home until the next night at 8:00pm. Yep, no sleep at all from Tuesday morning when he went in to 9:00pm ish Wednesday night. Friday night he was on call and never had to leave the house, until 3:45am, and he had to be there at 4:30am anyway. I don't know how he does it. And really, he doesn't even complain about it. Such a trooper. I guess he will have no problem adjusting to sleep-less nights with a newborn!