36 week check

Yesterday we went for our 36 week check-up. Dr. McKenzie was out of town, so we saw Dr. Adcock. I must say he is probably my second favorite doctor in the practice, but Bill calls him the "soap star" because he kind of comes across like a doctor you would see on a soap opera - good looking, generic blue scrubs with the typical white lab coat, a bit of chest hair peaking over the top of the scrubs. It also didn't help that the first time we saw him, he hadn't shaved in a day or two so he had just a little bit of stubble to add to the look. He also has that voice and overall demeanor that you would just expect from a soap doc. But I digress...

Jeanne's heart rate was good - 153. I am measuring right on target. I actually lost a pound from my last appointment (although I don't know how with as much as I ate over the holiday weekend), which puts total weight gain at 29 pounds. My goal was less than 30, but I will be happy if I can keep it under 35. The best news is that I have made progress since last week. We are now at 1cm dilated, 70% effaced, and station -2. Dr. Adcock agrees with Dr. McKenzie that I will likely deliver in the next 2-3 weeks, ahead of my due date. Of course this is mere speculation and no one can know for sure, but I am keeping my fingers crossed (the 15th is a full moon and you know what they say about full moons and labor...). He also thinks that I am an excellent candidate for induction.

With all of the progress being made, I have been pushing to get things finished up around the house so that I am ready for her when she decides to grace us with her presence. This weekend, I put together the pack n' play and the stroller. The nursery is done (with the exception of putting pictures in frames) and all the clothes have been washed and put away. Her bag is packed and our bags have been started. I think we are ready.

Here are a few pictures of the nursery. I LOVE how it turned out and can't wait to have a little one to put in it!

JMT Update

This week I went for my first "progress check" (I believe that is the least graphic and most PC way to describe it) at 35 weeks, 3 days. Baby Jeanne's heartbeat has been holding steady around 145 for the past 4 appointments or so, which is great. My blood pressure keeps inching upwards, which bothers me, but Dr. McKenzie seems to be ok with it as long as it doesn't get much higher. I have officially been diagnosed with edema (although mild), but show me a pregnant lady who hasn't. The good news was that I am 70% effaced and half a centimeter dilated. For a first timer, these numbers are somewhat unexpected. He said I am making excellent progress. He doesn't think that she'll necessarily be joining us in the next week or two, but he also doesn't expect me to go past my due date and instructed me to pack our bags. Yay! I know he could be wrong, but I am holding out hope for a somewhat early delivery. The other surprising news was that she has actually dropped into the birth canal (although not far...only at a station of -3). I tell you though, my bruised ribs would like to argue to the contrary! So another great checkup and we get to officially begin our weekly visits (LOVE it...I live to hear that heartbeat on the doppler at each appointment).

In other baby news, I have had both of my big baby showers and feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing friends and family. After my last shower, Mom and Granny helped be pick out a few final pieces that we still needed. So I have spent the past 2 weeks cleaning, washing, and organizing. The dresser and closet are filled, all of the decor is hung, and the crib is made (pics to follow). I think we are finally set and (physically) ready for Miss Jeanne to make her appearance. The only piece we were missing was the stroller, but my coworkers threw me a mini baby shower today and that is what my boss and his wife gave us! Thank you everyone for all of your love, support, and gifts!

Now it's on to a great 4th of July weekend surounded by family and friends!

Meet the Newest Member of Our Family

Back in April, I went out of town for work. While I was gone, Bill cleaned up the Bullitt and took it to our monthly cruise in at the Alabaster Dairy Queen. A member of our Mustang club happens to be a salesman at Ernest McCarty Ford, and he felt the need to bring out a new 5 liter Mustang to show off. Bill immediately fell in love, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. By the time I got back in town just a few days later, he had already test driven one and had a catalog waiting for me on the kitchen table. Sure, we have a baby on the way, one Mustang already in the garage, two other vehicles in the driveway, and no "need" for an additional car...not to mention an additional car that is not exactly kid friendly. But we are not exactly a rational couple, especially when it comes to beautiful fast cars. So, of course, I gave in and let Bill order the Mustang of his dreams. So May was an exciting month for us - we paid off the truck and the Bullitt and went a whopping 3 days as a car-payment-free household before taking delivery on the new Mustang (and a new car payment). But I must admit, it's a pretty sweet ride, and I do enjoy our date nights in it.

Talledega Donate and Drive

On April 27, our area was ravaged by some pretty devastating storms (to say the least). These storms brought with them hurricane force winds and a string of tornadoes that left more than 240 people in the state dead and tens of thousands without homes. We are so blessed to have survived with no damage but so many people in the surrounding communities were not. Over the past month or so, Bill and I have tried to help where we can - from going to a community to help remove debris to donating water, food, clothes, and other supplies.

The most exciting way that we have been able to help was through Talledega Donate and Drive. For a mere $50 donation (all of which went straight to the Red Cross for tornado relief), we were able to take the Bullitt for 4 trips around the race track at Talledega.

The rules were as follows:
- About 10 cars were allowed on the track at a time. The first car in line had to follow a pace car. The last car was followed by an emergency response vehicle.
- No passing.
- No bump drafting (they actually told us this).
- Must stay off the apron.

While it was assumed you would maintain the speed of the pace car (about 70 mph), no one said you couldn't hang back to create a gap between you and the car in front of you before gunning it to catch back up. Needless to say that is what Bill did. He thinks he got up to about 110 to 120 mph coming out of the turns.

The original plan (considering I was 7 months pregnant at the time) was for me to sit on the sidelines and watch. However, there wasn't a good spot for Bill to drop me off before he was on the track and I thought it might be fun to ride along. So I sat in the passenger's seat and video taped the ride.

I must say, it was awesome! I have been to NASCAR races at Talledega, but you can't get an appreciation for how steep those turns are until you are on the track. It's not something I would do again, but I definitely think it was worth it (and all for a good cause).

Here is a picture of the Bullitt on pit road, waiting to hit the track.


Here we are going around turn 3.

Baby Jeanne

So we went this week for an ultrasound at Virginia College. I am loving all of these opportunities for free ultrasounds! My doctor's office does 2 ultrasounds if there aren't complications, so I guess it's a blessing that we only get 2 legit ultrasounds, but I still like taking peeks at our little one.

We had our first legit ultrasound at 6 weeks. She was nothing more than a grain of rice with a heartbeat, so I don't think that should count (and definitely isn't worth the effort of posting pictures). Then Mom was able to get us an ultrasound at 12 weeks and again at 16 weeks, although we weren't able to get pictures. Our second legit ultrasound was at 18 weeks, which was our anatomy scan and gender ultrasound. This is where we found out we were going to have a Jeanne Marie and not a John Michael. Here is a cute prolife shot from that ultrasound. Everything was perfect in the anatomy scan, which was a HUGE praise!



Then at 25 weeks we had the opportunity to go to the ultrasound school in Montgomery to serve as guinea pigs for their students. It was such a tough job, let me tell you :) I really enjoyed this experience because we were able to learn a lot more about ultrasounds and the baby's anatomy since the instructor was explaining it to the students during the scan. They also loved me and little Jeanne because it turns out that she's breech (EEK). They'd not had a breech baby yet, so it let them practice with one. I guess this little girl is just going to be stubborn. She was head down at 16 and 18 weeks, but now when it's closer to delivery time, she's decided to flip and be booty down. There's still plenty of time for her to flip, though, so we'll just keep praying! At the beginning of the ultrasound, she was sucking her thumb, which was so precious to watch (I guess we're going to have a paci baby) and she had her legs crossed at the ankles. Unfortunately, when it came time to photograph, her daddy's side came out and she got a little stubborn (watch out Molly), and wouldn't let the tech get a profile shot, so all we got were creepy alien face shots like below.



So that leads us up to this week's 27 week ultrasound at Virginia College. I was really hoping she would have flipped in the past 2 weeks, just to ease my mind, but of course she hadn't (I really didn't think she had because I'm still getting a lot of pressure in my rib cage and kicks to my nether regions). It turns out that she's actually not far from a transverse position (UGH...that's a c-section FOR SURE). Basically her head is in the upper left quadrant of my uterus facing down, her booty in the lower right, and her legs curled into her chest - she's pretty much diagonal (at the last ultrasound she was pretty much straight up and down and she was facing the opposite direction, so maybe she's in the process of flipping?). Either way, I know I shouldn't worry since they can flip all the way up until delivery. Besides, I'd rather have pressure to the ribs than to the bladder. The big plus that came from this scan was that they had to look at my cervix in detail and they found that it's completely closed and perfect thickness. Yay! As excited as I am to meet her, I am not ready for her yet...she needs to bake for just a little bit longer (as in 10 weeks please). Again (sorry Molly) no cooperation for a profile shot, but at least the face shot doesn't look as much like an alien.



They also got a cute picture of her leg. She gets those nice legs from her daddy :)



Another interesting note is that she's measuring increasingly ahead at each ultrasound. This week all of her measurements were at least 1 week ahead and at my last doctor's visit I was measuring a week ahead. Of course all of this is fine by me if that means she'll be ready to enter the world 1 week ahead (head first of course - flip little one, flip!) :)

Boy has it been a while...

So it has been almost 18 months since my last post. I guess that means that I fail miserably as a blogger. But here's to new beginnings! As you are probabaly aware by now (unless you've been living under a rock or don't actually know me, in which case is kinda creepy but I guess it comes with the teritory of posting on the internet), Bill and I are expecting our first child this summer.

Our EDD is "officially" August 1st, but I like to argue that it's July 31st, since that's what I get when I play with the wheel at the doctor's office and because July 31st seems soooo much closer than August 1st (I know it's only a day, but still...). It's not even like it matters since only 5% of babies are born on their due dates and this one will hopefully be arriving at least 1 week early thanks to the wonders of modern medicine and elective inductions. However, I would not be heartbroken if she graces with her presence 3 weeks in advance, although I will not be a happy mama if she comes any earlier than that!

"What's the hurry?" you might ask. Well, I have had an amazingly wonderful and easy pregnancy, so that's definitely not it. I had no vomiting and only a little nausea during the first trimester. I have developed a fun case of sciatica, which makes sitting, standing, walking, or really moving in any way slightly uncomfortable, but I am dealing with it. The truth of the matter is, I am a planner and I don't like surprises. I love the idea of knowing when she's going to arrive. I also like the idea of being able to have friends and family there. Even more importantly, I like the comfort of knowing that my water is not going to break at 7:30 on a Monday morning when rush hour traffic is in full swing and it takes at least an hour to get to the hospital from our house. Look folks...I want an epidural, and I do not want ANYTHING standing in the way of me and the hospital and that narrow window in which they will allow you to get said epidural.

Really, in all honesty, the whole induction thing is truly centered around the fact that I start a new job on August 29th. Did I fail to mention this? Oh yeah...18 months, I forgot. So just last month I accepted an Assistant Professor of Biology position at the University of Montevallo. Yay! I have always wanted to teach and do research at the undergraduate level, and this position will allow me to do both (without my salary depending on research $). I have been working as an adjunct professor at Samford this semester and absolutely LOVE it! When the opportunity arose at Montevallo, I pounced. As much as I have enjoyed my time at Samford and as much as I adore my students there, the environment at Montevallo is just amazing, the students are great, the faculty are so energetic and easy to get along with, and it's 10 minutes from my house. Let me stress that last part - IT'S 10 MINUTES FROM MY HOUSE. After 5 years of a 1 hour commute, this is music to my ears. Plus, they are super flexible on schedules which will allow me to spend lots of time at home with my bundle of joy even though it means going back to work earlier than I would like (hey you gotta give and take, right?!).

Back to my bundle of joy - we found out February 28th that we are having a little girl. Her name is Jeanne Marie in honor of Bill's mom, whom I never got the privilege to meet but I know she was an amazing and wonderful woman, mom, sister, wife, friend and daughter - everything I want my little girl to be. We have started getting the nursery ready and I will post pics soon. I will also post some pics from the 2 ultrasounds we've had (we have another on Wednesday). In the meantime I will leave you with a filmstrip of my growing belly...ENJOY!

More Thanksgiving

I know it's already after New Year's, but these Thanksgiving pictures were just too good not to share. Hopefully I will have time to put some Christmas pics up soon. The holidays were especially hectic this year, but it was great getting to spend time with all of our family and friends!

We went to this great little British pub in St. Augustine the day before Thanksgiving with Bill's immediate family (his aunt, uncle, and cousins hadn't gotten there yet). We had a good time...and REALLY yummy food!

The whole gang (minus Carol and Grandad...Grandad was taking the pic and he cut Carol out by accident).


Carol and Grandad.


Carol and Cameron.


Me, Bill, and Grandad getting ready to eat Thanksgiving day.


Pretty sunset over the St. John's River.