It's the Final Countdown!!

It is definitely time to update this blog. I am just about finished with my 36th week of pregnancy. This is exciting for 2 reasons. The first being I have officially entered my 9th and final month of pregnancy. That is of course assuming I don't go too far over my due date which will send me full speed into my 10th month. The second reason is that I will be full term this coming Sunday! Yippee!!

We had our weekly doctor appointment today. This is probably the first doctor appointment that was a complete success. My blood pressure was high...123/87. Yeah, I know that isn't in the extremely high range, but I have normally have low blood pressure. I have been hanging right around 105/75 the entire pregnancy. My mom has a history of preeclampsia and a first sign is high blood pressure. Needless to say, my doctor is taking some precautions.

On top of high blood pressure, my uterus (and therefore Cora) is measuring at least a full week behind. It has been right on this whole pregnancy until now. Alone, all of these symptoms aren't huge problems. However, with my family history (genetics) and all symptoms happening at once, my doctor is not taking any chances.

Enough of the downer news!! Let's focus on some fun stuff!! The most exciting news we currently have is that we found a photographer. She is great. I can't wait to see the pictures she'll take of Cora. Her website is http://www.photosbyiasha.com/. Site 2 focuses only on newborns while site 1 is newborns, babies, and kids. I love the fact that she takes both black and white and color photos. So many photographers I found only did b&w. While I love b&w (especially for newborns), I really love color for babies and kids. AND, a photographer who shoots beautiful color photography probably knows how to use their camera better. Anyways, check her site out.

More great news is that I have finished my first sewing project using a machine. I made a crib sheet for Cora's crib. Of course, I could never have done this without the teaching and mentoring of Eva. She is so dang crafty! The bird mobile is almost done as well. This weekend, we have to have the nursery done with the recent medical "issues". Looks like we'll be busy. Or should I say it looks like Lee will be busy? I am definitely taking things easy.

My birthday is right around the corner and lucky me has already received my first gift. Mom and Dad bought me my very own sewing machine!! It should get here on Tuesday, so I'll be able to sew up the other 3 crib sheets. Thanks Mom and Dad! I can't wait.

Of course, I don't have any pictures to post again. Lee will take some of me and my belly in the next couple days. I'll get them up ASAP. I'll also post some nursery pics.

We hope everyone had a delightfully delicious Thanksgiving. Lee and I are going to try for a small one on Sunday. Hope we're not too tired. :)

May the next blog entry be soon and a bit more witty. I am tired tonight and can't think of anything too funny. Other than Lee doesn't know how to park in a metered parking spot... We will always be the rednecks from Wyoming. You can take a boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of a boy.

University of Wyoming Flashbacks

What a busy week and a half of baby stuff we have had!! First off, on Saturday, we had our prenatal class. That was loads of fun (note the sarcasm). Then came our 34 week doctor appointment yesterday. So, I'll start with class.

We had this class from 9-4. LOOOONG day! It started off really well. Lee and I were actually on time! As we were waiting, I was telling Lee that at least one dad will pass out because of the graphic nature of the childbirth video. I was making up everything, but he was taking the bait. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to handle it. Lee just kept bragging that he had already seen one during sex ed in high school. Yep, Gretna still thinks babies come from storks I guess. :) The first half of the morning went by smoothly and the childbirth video was great. I actually enjoyed watching it and now feel even more confident in my abilities. We all stood up to head out for a coffee break and some dude barely made it to the door before he passed out and whacked his head on the table. I had never seen anyone pass out and this guy was down for the count. Kind of scary for the first 30 seconds and then tremendously funny for the next 10 minutes (after we knew he was OK of course). Lee and I were the 12 year olds in the corner biting our cheeks and trying not to laugh. The highlight of course was his very, very pregnant wife pushing wussy husband out of the room in a wheel chair to see a doc upstairs. They didn't come back. Say it with me...BRUISED EGO! Hahaha.

After break came breathing techniques. I got absolutely nothing from this part of class. Not because of the instructor, not because I don't think breathing works, but simply because my husband could not stop making jokes and saying absolutely ridiculous things. I couldn't focus because Lee was constantly asking me what I was focusing on and then suggesting I change my focus to some other object. The dads were also shown ways to massage the lower back in the event of back labor. Hopefully Cora faces the way she should during labor and we can avoid this situation because we'll fail miserably. Turns out, Lee cannot follow directions. Oh wait, I already knew that. When Instructor/Nurse/Lady said to press with the palm of hand, Lee tickled with the tips of fingers. When she said to push thumbs in a downward and inward direction on my lower back, Lee was rubbing circles on my shoulder blades. AHHHH! Seriously, Lee? And to top off the morning session, a quote from every one's favorite comedian, Lee. "Look at all these keeners. They're taking this child birth thing so seriously!" Hmmmm? Should be an interesting day when I go into labor. But, if he can stay in his funny ways, we should be fine.

The afternoon was pretty uneventful. I learned some tricks about caring for a newborn that I hadn't heard from my Mom yet. Also, important things to stock our medicine cabinet with. Vitamin D supplements for the baby is highly recommended up here because of how short the days are! I would never have thought. Although I would guess my pediatrician would have filled me in. I am not sure Lee got as much out of the afternoon session. You might ask why? Well, Dear Lee was fast asleep in his chair. I about died. I understand the room was warm and the info may have been dry, but really? Was a snooze necessary? I pushed him so hard he almost fell out of his chair. Now that would have been funny!

The whole day reminded us so much of the good ol' days as students back at UW. It is good to see that Lee, the one who dresses in a suit for work, hasn't changed a bit. I am sure Caitlin and Brendan will get a kick out of reading this section. They saw Lee in his finest form during classes at UW. I was only lucky enough to have him in one or two courses. The stories and memories are all flooding back.

On to topic 2. Have I mentioned how much I absolutely love my OB/GYN? Dr. Tankel is the best. He doesn't sit in the examining room and dwell over every detail. He tells me what I need to know, answers my questions in depth, and always always always gives his honest opinion. AND, he is funny. He is South African, but has lived in Canada for about 10 years I believe. He has the most unusual South African/British/Canadian accent. It is just great.

Anyways, I had my 34 week check up yesterday. We have started to get to the end. I only have 4 appointments to go until my due date. I have one every week starting at 36 weeks. This was my first pelvic exam to check the position of the baby and to see if I had started dilating. Good news is no dilation (I DO NOT want to go before I am full term). And, Cora is head down and very low for this point in my pregnancy. Warning: details here have freaked some out. Dr. Tankel could feel her head! I thought that was totally cool.

Her heart beat has slowed down which is a sign of nearing the end. She was at 142 bpm yesterday. Everything was right on track! I am trying really hard to keep my blood pressure down since my mom had pre-eclampsia and it is inherited. Michelle didn't get it, and I haven't shown any signs of it yet. My blood pressure has been low throughout this pregnancy which has been very comforting.

Dr. Tankel also referred us to a pediatrician. We will be going to Dr. Galante who works about 5 blocks from where we live! Dr. Tankel and his wife also go to Dr. Galante. He sounds like he is just like Tankel, so I think we'll be a good fit.

As a nice note, Dr. Tankel said Lee and I are one of his favorite patients. We've had an easy pregnancy and he said it is because we are the most chill couple ever! In all seriousness though, this pregnancy has been great probably because I am lucky. Yes, I feel pregnant. Very pregnant. But I have had minor swelling in my lower legs that I helped by putting my feet up, no heartburn, no morning sickness (sorry Linds) and a very supportive and understanding husband. Yes, I have hormonal mood swings like you couldn't believe, achy joints, bad skin, and so much more. But, all those are normal to pregnancy. I've been pretty lucky. Hopefully Cora is as good of a kid outside the womb as she's been inside. It's a toss up though. I was angelic (ask my parents) and Lee sounds like he was, well, a boy. Ralphie from A Christmas Story to be exact. :)

I don't have any exciting pictures this week of us, but I did get some of my niece, Mya. She is adorable! I think I would be doing a disservice to blog readers if I didn't post some of these photos.

Mya was Pebbles for Halloween. She really got into the pumpkin carving, but it took her a while to realize the pumpkin was not a chair. My sisters dog, Gar, is now with them. Mya loves Gar. She even cries when he goes outside without her. Michelle now has to leave the back door open so Mya can follow Gar wherever he goes. I can't believe my little niece will be a big sister in 6 1/2 months! Michelle and Santo are expecting another! Should be a good looking kid based on the photo below. :) Wow, Santo, you are one zexy man. Michelle, are you ready for a hyperactive, blond hair, blue eyed, mini-Santo?

Cue the gray hair. Lee had another birthday!

Yesterday was Lee's 26th birthday!! His birthday is always such a circus for me. I have never in my life met someone whose birthday is truly their favorite day of the year. Cute? Maybe. Annoying? Definitely. I always stress out about gifts and such because I know how much he loves this birthday. But, when in doubt I rely on the trustworthy item that always make him happy...knives, guns, and fishing rods (see previous post). This birthday was no different other than I was pregnant.

I had big plans to surprise him with a nice dinner, MJ's famous chocolate birthday cake, presents, and dressed up wife. I was going for the whole works. On top of that, I wanted him to come home to a nicely cleaned house. I had my work cut out for me. I have been taking Tuesdays and Thursdays off to rest because I get so worn down, so it worked out perfectly that his birthday was on a Thursday.

Well, the day got off to a horrible start. First, I decided I was going to shave my legs so I could wear a dress. My God, that was hard. I was pissed and bleeding from nicks. Cora was pissed because I kept squishing her. That sucked. I decided then I would just wrap my hair in a towel and lie down. Well, I fell asleep. Surprise, surprise! When I woke up, I only had about 3 hours to clean, bake a cake, go to the grocery, get ready, cook dinner, wrap his presents. I got the vacuuming done while the cake was baking. My hair didn't even get combed. The presents got wrapped. And, Lee went to the grocery with me and helped me cook his own dinner and finish the cake. I was fighting back tears when he came home, but he was just happy that I at least tried. The whole time I was singing in my head Deana Carter's Did I shave my legs for this? Old country song.

Lee getting ready to eat! We were pretty full after this dinner.

Me serving up the dinner. The apron looks like a muu-muu. Hahaha.

Everything turned out OK though. The pork chops were a bit dry. We added too much milk to the frosting, but it still tasted delicious! And, the presents were a success. I bought Lee some work shirts with ties to accompany. He also got a "valet tray". Translation: man jewelry box. He is starting to get quite a collection of cuff links so I thought he needed a place to keep them and his watch and loose change. And, finally, he got a Rapala fish fillet knife. Can you guess which item he was most excited about? Hahaha.

Lee looking stylish in one of his new shirts and tie. He wore this outfit to work on his birthday. :)

You may be wondering, what does this have to do with Cora Madison? Well, Lee's and my 26th birthdays will be the last birthdays that we celebrate as a married-only couple. I will probably just make my 26th birthday sans baby. I guess there is a chance that she could be here before December 6th since I will be full term on November 30. Either way, next year will be a whole 'nother story. Cora will be nearing a year old so I am sure we'll have a big bash planned for Lee's first birthday as a Daddy. Hopefully we can execute!

50 Days and Closing

Today we saw we only had 50 days left until December 21! 50 DAYS!! The feeling of impeding panic, excitement, and relief all balled into one is what we felt today. Poor Lee is getting so anxious. He just wants to hold his baby girl.

We received a gift of 2 books in the mail today from Mary Jo. One of the books is titled Walter, the Farting Dog. I wish everyone could have seen Lee's eyes light up when reading the title. After hearing a 30 minute long story about how he had planned for months how to get a BB gun when he was eight to seeing the pure delight while he read about a dog that farted, I realized I truly married a boy at heart. I am constantly rolling my eyes at him and calling him a dork (probably what would have happened had we met at the age of 10), but I love every moment watching him relive his boyhood. Cora has a great Dad.

So, we (mostly I) decided the nursery needed a few changes. One, I really wanted a white a rug. Two, we had to find a new chair. I absolutely hated that wretched glider I mistakenly bought on Craigslist. So, now we have both. We replaced the red rug with a white version in the same style. The red rug moved to the living room. We also bought the Poang chair from Ikea. It is fantastic. It doesn't rock or glide, but it bounces. I have already used it to put Cora to sleep. I think it will work fantastic! Here are some pictures.

The changing table is in desperate need of organization. I am getting there. I need to come up with some savvy ideas for storage and organization since we are lacking a closet in this room. I have some storage boxes to store rarely used items under the crib. I am absolutely obsessed with this room. I could spend all day in here just looking. Tomorrow, Eva and I are going to the fabric store to get fabric for crib sheets. I plan to finish up my cleaning tomorrow morning, so I can work on the bird mobile. Maybe I'll get close to finishing and that can get hung soon. Keep your fingers crossed!

Last, I want to leave you with a picture or two of Cora's coming home outfit. I think it is just darling. It has been sitting out waiting for her to put it on for a couple months now. Only ~7 more weeks. Eeek! Where has the time gone?

This second picture is for pure entertainment for myself. I have started to notice my belly getting in the way of daily activities more and more. Somehow, it managed to sneak into the picture here.

We hope everyone had a fantastic and safe Halloween. I am especially looking forward to Thanksgiving (hmm, I wonder why...FOOD). Edmonton still has no snow! I can't believe it.

Until next time...