Be careful drinking the water...

...That is the big joke at work because in our QA department alone, there were 6 women pregnant at the same time! Not only are there a that many in my department but there are probably 3 others that I frequently see in my building and a handful of others at our Maryland facility! Our admin thought it would be nice to take a picture of us who are still pregnant so here we are.

From right to left is Jenn (Due Oct 15), Me, Michele (Due early December), Mary Ellen (Due mid-December) and Tia (Due late-December). Nona was the other one but she's currently out on maternity leave enjoying her new little boy.

33 weeks brings the appearance of....

my first pregnancy related stretch marks. I won't say where but it's not on the belly that I've been religiously slathering Palmer's Cocoa butter/stretch mark cream (so maybe the stuff really does work?!). Ugh, if I wasn't so tired all the time I would probably be slightly disturbed! :)

32+ weeks

I had my regular check up last week and everything with me and baby boy is good. He was head down at the appointment which is the proper position. I can't imagine if he was breach how uncomfortable it would be and I think I have a long torso! I feel him kicking my ribs and diaphragm a lot these days which is I think causing my heartburn to rage on and on...bring on the Tums! I'm at the point where I can chew 3 or 4 at once and hardly even taste them! I'm 32, quickly on my way to 33 weeks! Sometimes it feels like I have so long to wait to meet our little guy, other times I get a little freaked out he could be here in 7 weeks!

We had our childbirth class on Saturday from 9 to 4:30 at the hospital and it was exhausting! They covered so much information so I think we both learned a lot. Later that night we watched a movie some girls recommended to me called "The Business of Being Born" which was a documentary about how childbirth with an OB is such a business. While we'll still be delivering at a hospital with an OB, it certainly made some good points about medications during labor.

Here's a shot of me at 32 weeks...

Baby shower!

On Sunday I was surprised with my baby shower at the Peck's house! We were going over to celebrate Duane's birthday but first had a fabulous beach baby themed shower. Despite having a horrible head cold and it being over 90 degrees with high humidity, I had a great time and feel lucky to have gotten so many great gifts for the baby! Thanks to everyone who attended and a big thanks to the mom's who threw it for me!

Hopefully I'll have some pictures from Joe the photographer to share soon!

OBX vacation recap

Despite a little (unnecessary) worry about hurricanes Hanna and Ike also visiting the Outer Banks of North Carolina while we were on vacation, we ended up having a great week with Shannon, Bryan, Evan, Angela, Mark and Meadow!

We drove to Fredericksburg, VA on Friday night to stay overnight and wait out Hanna who was expected to hit the NC coast on Friday sometime. We hung out in the hotel until about 3 PM on Saturday and when the weather seemed to clear enough for driving we made our way to the OBX. We arrived at the house, Sweet Dreams of Ocean Lake in Corolla, shortly after 6 PM. The house was enormous, with 8 bedrooms, 8 full bathrooms and 1 half bath! Duane and I got the master bedroom on the top floor, while the other two families took the second floor rooms for them and the kids. The beach was only a short walk and the house had a great pool and hot tub. Here are some of the pics from the realtor website:





Our days consisted mainly of beach time in the morning, back to the house for lunch and nap time for the kids (and sometimes me!), laying by the pool in the afternoon and dinner. It was super relaxing and I loved it! The beach was beautiful, clean, big and could never be considered crowded at all while we were there. The ocean was pretty rough the whole time we were there but warm enough to get up to your knees or so.

Here are some of the pictures we took:
Currituck Lighthouse (it was closed when we went to visit)
Bodie Island Lighthouse (it was also closed when we visited but this time due to weather)
Looking up the stairs of the Bodie Island Lighthouse we weren't allowed up in
It's an old lighthouse...
Our "Sweet Dreams 2008" Crew


We left on Saturday at 6:30 AM and made it home with several stops in 7.5 hours. We were super excited to see the surprise that was left for us - our nursery was completed while we were gone thanks to the Peck's and their helpers! We weren't expecting that at all! It looks beautiful with the bright white wanes coating and crown molding plus the yellow walls. The yellow is a little bright but I think we're getting used to it and as more stuff goes in the room hopefully it won't be such a shock when you look in! We did use a Disney color (Tigger's tummy) after all so we should have known it would be cheery! We have wide stripes of the same color of yellow in matte then glossy to give it more of a textured look and I really like how it came out!

30 week photo

Just a quick snapshot of me at 30 weeks...

10 weeks (maybe +1) to go!

Today I’m at 30 weeks! I can’t believe that definitely in 11 weeks I’ll have or be having a baby boy (I just asked at my last appointment how overdue they’d let me go – only 1 week).

We are still working on the name. We’re definitely going to pick it when he’s born but want to have a shorter list than we do at this point. So far we have a list of about 10 that I like and my preference for the top contenders changes every time I look at it!

Baby boy is pretty active. I would love to know just exactly how he is laying in there when I feel all theses things. Sometimes it feels like he’s sideways, sometimes he feels like he’s breech and rarely he feels like he’s pictured in all the developmental books (head down). I think the doctors start getting concerned about his position in about 6 weeks so until then I hope he’s enjoying himself even though it doesn’t seem like there can possibly be too much room for him to rotate around! I read somewhere that a lot of women think they are having multiples or an octopus at some point because of the movements and it’s so true!

My belly button is looking pretty tight and with 10 weeks of growth to go, I’m wondering what it’s going to do! I’ve been feeling pretty good still although I’m now getting the first trimester tiredness back again, especially b/c it’s getting hard to get a full night’s sleep in. Between being uncomfortable, getting pelvis/hip and sciatica pain and getting up to go to the bathroom, I feel like I’m always awake. My heartburn/indigestion is pretty much constant (I get it when I drink WATER for goodness sake!) so I’ve been on Zantac and that helps a lot (yes, the Doctor OK’d it). My last complaint is work, just the thought of going makes my back ache. It’s been really uncomfortable lately sitting and typing all day despite taking breaks, sitting straight and using a wedge pillow. Oh and my Braxton hicks contractions (confirmed by the doc to be BH and not the real thing) have slowed down a lot. At one point 2 weeks ago I was having them hourly and it really made me nervous. Turns out I think I just needed to drink more fluids and rest more – I ended up getting a cold and those things are needed even when I’m not pregnant.

So that’s it for my 30 week update. Next week we’ll be in Corolla, Outer Banks, North Carolina for the week despite what Hurricane Hanna decides to do!

No picture today, I don't look much different anyway!