Moving right along...

Today was my 36 week appointment. I usually hate going to the doctor, but I really look forward to it every week now just to see how the baby is coming along. When we moved here, I started going to a practice that has 7 doctors. They have tried to set me up to see a different one each time that I go so that I will get to meet all of them before delivery time. I have seen 4 out of the 7 and I have liked all of them so far! Hopefully I will get to meet the rest of them before the baby gets here!

Jeff got to go with me for the first time today. He was able to meet me for all of my appointments when we were at Ft. Campbell, but his new work schedule really hasn't allowed him to come to any here in Cinci yet. There are some days that he is working at Good Samaritan (where I work and where the baby will be delivered), so that could be convenient if I go into labor at work!

Today my blood pressure was normal and my weight remained the same since last week. We heard a nice strong baby heartbeat and the doctor said that I really don't look like we're having a huge baby or anything...haha. Good thing for me! The baby's head is down and ready to go. Now for the crazy part...I'm already 1 1/2 cm dilated and 25% effaced. Holy cow! The doctor said that this is no prediction of when delivery will take place, but it's a great start. She said that most first time moms go into labor right around their due date, so the progression is no indication for anything. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next! It's still nice to know that we're getting somewhere!

I've been feeling pretty good. I've noticed the baby dropping quite a bit in the past few weeks. I've felt a ton of movement and I can feel the movement a lot lower these days. It's exciting because that means that he/she is making their way down, but it's not too exciting for my bladder! haha I've definitely been having Braxton Hicks contractions and there are some days when they can be kinda painful. I usually just take that as a sign that I've overdone it for the day and I need to take a rest.

The strep B test came back negative which means that I won't need any antibiotics during delivery. I have not heard anything yet about my glucose tolerance test, but I'm taking no news as good news! :)

Well, hopefully things will continue to move right along and we'll get to meet the baby soon!

36 weeks!

Not really sure that I can get much bigger...but I'm sure I will!!

35 week appointment!

As the doctor said today..."the countdown can now begin!". I went first thing this morning for the glucose tolerance test and we should find out the result of that in a few days. It was so boring to sit there in the office for 4 hours and get my blood drawn 4 times! Hopefully I'll pass this time.

The doctor's appointment went well and doctor said that everything looks perfect. The baby's head is down and heartrate sounded good. From now on, I'll go to appointments once a week until the baby gets here.

Only a month to go!! 35 weeks!!

Very hard to believe, but Baby Keenan may be here only a month from now!! We are getting very excited and it's starting to sink in more as the time gets closer. I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and from that point on I will begin going to appointments once a week. I wasn't able to get an appointment for the glucose tolerance test until this Wednesday morning, so luckily I'll have that over with soon as well. Overall, I've been feeling pretty good. I'm getting to the point where it's not too easy to get comfortable sometimes. I've had an ongoing problem of the skin and muscles at the top of my abdomen stretching and sometimes it just kills me! I'm very thankful that I'm only working part time right now (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays). It's sounds crazy, but by Friday night I'm actually exhausted from working 2 days in a row. We went to the Reds game this past Friday night and I thought that I was going to die! haha I just did not feel well, but it was great to go to a Reds game again! I just am learning that I have to take it easy more. I'm feeling lots of kicks and movements, but I'm sure he/she is running out of room!

The baby's room is about ready. The pack and play, stroller and carseat are downstairs and ready to go and the bags are packed for the hospital. Recently I've talked to a lot of friends who actually had their babies weeks or even a month early, so I began to get worried and decided to just pack. I figure now that we're ready to go the baby will be 2 weeks late. haha We still have one more baby shower on August 1st in Columbus with family, so after that we'll do one more shopping trip to Babies R'Us and Target and pick up anything else that we may need.

We've had 2 childbirth classes so far. I feel like we've actually learned a lot. The thing that we realize the most is that we really can't plan what is going to happen the day of the birth. Luckily I'm a very laid back person and we're really not going into it with any sort of a plan. I'm just going to trust what the docs tell me and get the baby out. We're just going to have to see what the baby has in store for us!

33 weeks (Sarah, Alex, KC and I)

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The dreaded glucose test...

I went earlier this week to have a glucose screening test done. It's basically a test that determines whether or not you have gestational diabetes. You have to fast for 8 hours, drink this nasty orange drink then have your blood drawn an hour later. Well, I got a phone message today from one of the nurses at the doctors' office and she said that she would like me to call her back "to discuss my results". I knew that that couldn't be good. When I called her back, she said that they usually like to see blood sugar levels under 130....mine was 132!! Go figure!! After doing some reading about this test, some places use 140 as a cutoff, but some places have switched to 130 which has created more false positives. So now I have to go back on Monday ....fast for 12 hours, drink the horrible drink, then have my blood drawn 4 times! They draw it before the drink, then every hour for 3 hours to see how my body processes it. Should be fun to sit around the waiting room all morning.

The nurse also told me that my iron level was about 1 point away from the anemic level, so I have to begin taking an additional iron supplement, too.

In 6 weeks, it will all be worth it!!! :)

32 weeks!!!

While at the Hyde Park Blast, Pam (my mother-in-law) snapped some pictures of me when I wasn't paying attention and made me pose for pics with my big baby belly. :) We're at 33 weeks tomorrow which is crazy!

Looking forward to spending the 4th of July weekend in Columbus!

Hyde Park Blast

Weekends like last weekend make us very happy to live back in Cinci! We got to spend the day with good friends (and family since they made the trip down) and we had an awesome time at the Hyde Park Blast. It was a big event in Hyde Park Square with vendors, a 4 mile run, a biking event and a late night concert with the 80's cover band, "The Rusty Griswolds". Jeff ran the 4 mile run in about 30 minutes while the rest of us enjoying just watching. :) When we went back later in the evening, the bike riders were finishing up their event. It was amazing to watch them go so fast around the corners in the Square without wiping out! The concert was awesome. You really can't go wrong with an 80's cover band! They played all of the classics and Mallory (Jeff's sister) was a dancing maniac (it may have been the METRO punch effect though).

Mallory and Jeff during the concert.

Pam, Mal and I

The "Hyde Park Get Blasted Running Club"