Friday, June 26, 2009

35 Weeks 1 Day- Brief Update

Just a quick update, the site for baby predictions is working correctly now. I guess it worked fine for Firefox but not Internet Explorer. Here is the site.
We are in Atlanta for the weekend to tie up some loose ends and get things set up in our apartment and ready for our return. Check back often though, we are both going to try and keep everyone updated as the big day gets closer!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

34 weeks 6 days... Time to get those predictions in!

Brandie will be 35 weeks tomorrow! It's crazy that we are getting so close. Before you know it we'll have a baby! Brandie is doing such a good job. She is getting bigger every day, but she still looks great. We have tried to keep exercising every day. Hopefully we can keep it up until she delivers; it should help with the delivery and the recovery. Brandie has been to two appointments at the Birthing Center, and everything is going well. Everyone there is really nice and very helpful. Starting next week the appointments will be every week and we will begin to write the Birth Plan, which is just and outline of sorts for how you want the labor and delivery to go. All I want is for it to go smoothly with no problems!
We moved in to our apartment a couple of weeks ago and we are going back this weekend to arrange everything and get it ready for when we get back to Atlanta. The more we can get set up now the easier the transition will be. Going back to school so soon is going to be the hardest part of all of this. Depending on when the baby gets here we will only have between two and four or five weeks before classes start (if he/she is on time or early). But we can't rush him or her. Baby Finnegan will be here whenever he or she is ready and we will be waiting!

Since we are getting close, I have set up a website for everyone to put in their guesses for Baby Finnegan's gender, birthday, time of birth, weight, and length. Here is the link. The winner(whoever gets the closest on the most categories) will get a special gift from us! Also, I have a list of contacts in my phone that I will send text updates to when the big day comes, so if you would like to be added to it there is a place on the form for your info. That's it for now, we'll keep everyone posted with any updates!

Monday, June 8, 2009

32 Weeks 5 Days

I am now 32 weeks along (getting closer!!!) and I can say that I am still enjoying being pregnant. Thus far I have been very fortunate in that I have experienced little to no problems with my pregnancy. The fact that I have gained weight at a normal/healthy rate, I tested negative for gestational diabetes, and I am going to be able to give birth at the birthing center gives me little to complain about. My belly is starting to become larger and have more of an impact in my daily routines but I can’t say that I mind too much. I know that I will probably miss this time once I have the baby so I am trying to enjoy it as much as possible now. It sounds cliché, but I really feel that there is something extraordinarily beautiful and special about a pregnant woman and I have begun to realize how truly unique these last few months have been. My only two complaints would have to be my almost constant need to pee and my loss of bladder control. Although this has been present during most of my pregnancy, I think with every week it seems to get worse. I am going to start to make an effort to do my kegels everyday to prevent it from becoming a permanent problem.

I have managed to remain active during my pregnancy. I take my dogs on a walk around Gregory Park or the neighborhood almost daily and try to get the pool as often as possible. I don’t know if it’s the buoyancy of the water or the cool relief from the sun that I crave but I think I could spend all day in the pool. It is also very liberating wearing a bikini while being almost 8 months pregnant! I have begun doing squats and pelvic tilt exercises in order to prepare my body for labor and birth. Dawn, a former natural childbirth class instructor has helped to give me a lot of useful information about how to effectively prepare for birth. She has offered to work with Kyle and I one on one in the next few weeks by teaching me relaxation techniques and other helpful things to better prepare us for the labor, birth and beyond.

My shower in Savannah went really well! Robin did an awesome job of preparing some delicious food and everything flowed very smoothly and was really relaxed. Kyle and I had a great time seeing friends and family and we received a ton of awesome gifts! We have most of the big things we need and have a lot of money and gift cards that we can use for everything else that we need and haven’t received. Contrary to what most people think, I haven’t encountered any problems with not knowing the sex. Everything we received is neutral and I think it makes the most sense because it will all be good for using on another baby. I guess the only issue is that we can’t buy any outfits because those are nearly impossible to find neutral. I figure we will just make a trip to Babies R Us shortly after the baby is born to buy either summer dresses or cute little shirts with planes and dinosaurs on them! By the way, I seriously have no idea what the baby is going to be!!!! I go back and forth daily and have no lasting gut feelings either way. I guess we will find out soon enough!!! :D