Baby Shower #3

These are the Divas. They are a group of friends that have all worked at my school with me, at some point or another. We get together once a month and make meals for our families and just have a really good time together. The Divas do two things REALLY well...cook and throw parties. Naturally, I was excited to have them throwing the baby shower for all my Indy friends and family, and they did not disappoint.



They showed up a few hours before the shower (it was at my house) with more food and gear than you could ever possibly imagine. Unfortunately, I forgot to give someone my camera so I have very few pictures :( Rest assured, they threw an awesome party! The food was delicious, the cake and decorations looked amazing, and the games were a blast!



A ton of friends from work and several other friends came, including this little beauty, Olivia, whom I adore. Her mom, Kim, is one of my best friends. They moved to Ohio last year so it had been a LONG time since I'd seen them.

Here she is again, with her sister, Anna, and me.

My family also came into town so Penny could come to the shower. My dad, all my brothers and Don hung out during the shower. I was so glad they were able to make it in from Georgia!

Don and me, after the shower...

I had such a fantastic time catching up with all my friends at this shower, and they were all so generous to Baby K! I just wish I had taken more pictures!

Week 33

I know this isn't really one of our typical belly pics, but we forgot to take one last week. We were so busy getting the house ready for the baby shower! I love this picture of me (even though my eyes are closed!) with one of my closest friends, Kim, who drove in from Ohio for the shower.

This past week was a pretty difficult one for me. The baby shower came at just the right time because the following day, Baby K decided to drop and unfortunately, dropped right onto my sciatic nerve. Thus, I have spent the week barely able to walk, particularly by the end of the day. I'm still working, but I spend most of the day in my chair (which is driving me nuts!) and relying on the help of others to get things for me and get my students places. Beginning on Monday, my maternity leave sub will be in my classroom with me full-time so this will hopefully make things a bit easier.

The sciatica has also made it difficult to sleep (and sit and stand and walk and...you get the point). My legs have been going numb and are incredibly swollen by the end of the day. I can't even wear regular socks or shoes anymore because they are so tight. Ankle socks and slip-on shoes are all I can handle these days.

The contractions are still coming too, although, they don't happen too often and don't seem to be getting stronger yet. I still think Baby K will be a March baby, but I guess we'll see what the next few weeks have in store for us!

Doctor's Appointment-Week 33

I had my most recent prenatal appointment a few days ago, and things went swimmingly. I saw one of my fav docs who is simply awesome. He assured me that I am measuring right on track (despite the many comments of others who believe I am either really small or look ready to pop at any given moment...ha!), that my kidneys are functioning properly still (a big concern for me since I have a kidney disorder) and that Baby K is doing just fine, in spite of all the craziness that has ensued in recent weeks. Baby K's heartrate was right around 145 which is about where it's been all along.

We also had a long conversation about the contractions I've been having. While they still don't know what's causing them, he assured me that by 34 1/2 weeks, these contractions become fairly normal for pregnant women. Moral of the story...pretty soon, I won't need to worry anymore. That said, my contractions could remain how they are now (inconsistent and not very strong) or they may worsen and possibly put me into actual labor. If that happens, he said they will not give me any medication to stop the labor so there is still a good possibility that Baby K could arrive early. Of course, no one really knows...we'll just have to wait and see!

I go back to the doctor in about 2 weeks, and then I will probably be down to weekly appointments...wow!

Week 32

Ugh...definitely don't love this picture, but at this point, I don't think I'd love ANY picture!

This week has been fairly uneventful...not much new to report. I am still at 25 pounds gained, I'm still only mildly uncomfortable and I'm still having a difficult time sleeping (especially when I wake up in the middle of the night because Baby K has the hiccups!). The heartburn seems to be going away which I'm thankful for! I've really just spent this week finishing up the nursery and putting some things together in a bag for the hospital. Not all that exciting!

I have just a few weeks left of school before spring break so then I will have a couple of weeks to rest before Baby K comes (unless he/she decides to make an early entrance!). I'm really looking forward to that time!

That's it for now...see you next week!

Week 31

I'm almost caught up!

This week, I've begun to hit the uncomfortable stage. It's not terrible yet, but I can see it coming! Sleep is becoming more difficult for me again, as Baby K keeps getting bigger and bigger. I've gained a total of 25 pounds, and it is all still right in my belly!

The real contractions have slowed down considerably this week, and I am feeling more Braxton Hicks contractions again (if that makes any sense!). I can definitely tell the heartburn is getting worse too. Other than these few physical symptoms, I'm really just beginning to feel very tired and out of breath a lot. Baby K's feet are currently residing in my ribcage so breathing can get very tricky sometimes.

I'm trying to rest and destress as much as possible once I get home from work since I'm on my feet all day and particularly on the weekends. We don't want Baby K to make his/her entrance TOO early!

Doctor's Appointment-Week 31

I'm still trying to catch up on my posts so this is a little bit outdated. I went to the doctor last week and finally received some good news. It appears as though Baby K has finally decided to flip out of the breech position! I had a feeling this had happened, as I had been getting A LOT of kicks to the ribs lately, but it was nice to finally know for sure.

In addition, I'm measuring right on time, and Baby K's heart rate continued to be in the 140s. The doctors are continuing to monitor the contractions I've had, but since they slowed down last week, they are a little less concerned at this point.

Overall, everything seems to be back on track at this point, and most importantly, Baby K is doing great!

Baby Shower #2

My 2nd baby shower was also up in South Bend and was with Don's family. His mom and all the sisters-in-law (Deb, Jodi, Tina and Amy) threw it for me.

During the shower I designated a photographer that had quite the talent for taking pictures...unfortunately, 95% of them were not ones that I would even share with my husband. She had an amazing penchant for catching me with the most embarrassing looks on my face so...I don't have very many pictures that I was willing to share with the blog world!

Getting ready to head to Aunt Lorie's house for the shower...



I got so many awesome gifts for Baby K...

Of course, my cutie patootie helper was on hand to bring me gifts and help unwrap them...although it looks like she's found something more interesting than gifts that aren't even for her!

The cake was too cute and was made by the same Italian bakery that made our wedding cake. The flavors (white cake with raspberry filling) were even the same as one of the layers of our wedding cake...delicious!

Another great shower and another big thank you goes out to my mother-in-law and all my sisters-in-law for hosting!

Baby Shower #1

A few weekends ago, I had the first of my baby showers. This one was hosted by my mom and my sister-in-law, Fay. They definitely went all out with the decorations and food. Everything was amazing!






Fay even made this awesome diaper wreath with all sorts of little goodies attached to it.




My BFF, Izzy, made our traditional fruit baby buggy to go with all the other delicious food at the shower.

And then there was the cake...oh my, the cake. Fay found an amazing baker that replicated Baby K's nursery bedding onto cake...so talented! And I can't even begin to describe how decadent the cake itself was!

She also had these cookies made as favors. They also match the crib bedding.

My best friend, Izzy, and me (with the cute clothesline of onesies and bibs in the background)...

One of the cutest girls I know...my BFF's daughter, Carleigh. She was an amazing gift unwrapper...and she didn't even try to make off with any of the loot...ha!

P.S. Carleigh has determined that Baby K is a girl and should be named Mommy. I told her I would take it under advisement. Thoughts anyone? :-)

Fay, my mom and me...

I also have to give a shout out to my brother, Matthew, who helped set things up, stuck around during the shower and loaded everything into my car for me afterwards.

This was such a fun and beautiful shower! A big thank you to Fay, my mom, my brother and Izzy for all they did for me!

Week 30

I'm still trying to get caught up on all the posts!

Week 30 was exciting because I had the first of my baby showers! I am still feeling pretty good and am sleeping much better now. My legs are pretty swollen, as are my wrists apparently! Oddly enough, I can still wear my wedding rings but haven't been able to get my watch on for weeks!

I have gained a total of 22 pounds at this point. The contractions are still happening occasionally, but resting definitely seems to slow them down (this is just difficult for my Type A personality!). The heartburn is also rearing its ugly head again pretty often which is, of course, loads of fun.

Now that the out-of-town showers are over, travel is out of the question for me. Between my discomfort for long periods of time in a car and the crazy amount of contractions I've had, I won't be straying too far from my hospital anytime soon!

Week 29

I know I've been MIA lately, but we had a major ice and snow storm and our internet has been down because of that for about a week. Now I'm back, though, and I have a LOT of updating to do!

I don't have a whole lot to say about this week, mostly because it seems so long ago so I'll keep this short and sweet. At this point, I had gained a total of 22 pounds. I was still having contractions, but luckily, all the rest I got due to the 4 snow/ice days we had helped slow them down tremendously! Sleeping is much easier for me these days, as I've got a pillow and blanket system worked out. Unfortunately, it doesn't leave much room in the bed for Don so I think his sleeping has gotten more difficult!

Stay tuned...I promise I'll get caught up soon on the weekly posts, as well as doctor's appointments!