Notes of an Insomniac

Apparently, my internal clock is way off nowadays. I got so tired around 9:00 p.m. I probably should've made myself stay up, but I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I went to sleep. Then I woke up around midnight and have been wide awake ever since. I guess it's just my body preparing me for little sleep with baby around? I figured I might as well be productive and write a blog post if I'm going to be awake at this hour.

As an update, I had my most recent doctor's appointment yesterday. Graham is still breech, but he is moving well and looking healthy and I am so happy about that. I have a c-section scheduled for next Thursday, but my doctor said yesterday that she doesn't think I will make it 'til then. She also guessed that he was 21-22 inches long and at least 8 lbs.! I know these guesses can be way off, but it will be interesting to see how close she is. I am so very excited to meet him. I can't believe it will probably be only one week until I meet my son!!!

On another note, we are mostly done decorating the nursery (as done as we're probably going to be until after he gets here). The wall decals we had did not stick to the wall due to it's texture, so the walls are kind of bare and we're on the lookout for wall art that go with the colors/theme of the room. So far, I've looked at Target (target.com) and Hobby Lobby and have been unable to find anything. Let me know if you know of/see anything! Here are some pictures:







Now, wish me luck getting back to sleep at some point tonight!

Life Changes

This has been quite a busy weekend so far, because I've had the honor of being invited to share in special moments in friends' lives.

Yesterday, I went to a Sip n' See to meet Jake, the 3 1/2 week old baby boy of my friend, Kelli. He was precious! I got to hold him for quite a while. He was quite laid back! She said he wasn't always like that, but what newborn is? It was good to see him, but it was also good to see her. She looked amazing (as she always does) and had wise, kind and encouraging words that were good to hear from such a new mom. I was thankful for being invited to share in this special change in her life.

After that, Dustin and I watched the first 1/2 of the Arkansas-Ole Miss game. Talk about high blood pressure! He has banned me from watching any more Razorback games until Graham is here, because I've been having high blood pressure at recent doctor appointments anyway. So let's hope Graham comes before next Saturday (otherwise, I'm probably going to have to sneak away and watch the Vanderbilt game secretively).

Then, we went to the wedding of another friend of mine, Suzanna Taylor (now Reed). I, again, felt honored to be invited to their special day. I am so very happy for Suzanna finding her groom (now husband)! The ceremony was simple, short, and elegant. You could feel the love in the room. The music for the ceremony was mostly, if not all, worship music. I thought it was a neat idea; that this newly married couple placed the emphasis not on themselves, as it would be easy to do in your own wedding, but on God. Afterwards, they had bottled sodas, cake and other goodies. I LOVED the white cake with key lime filling and cream cheese icing. Talk about yum! Here are some pictures I took at the wedding (not the best quality but you get the idea):

The bride making her entrance.


I thought her dress was beautiful!


Their first kiss as a married couple!

You'd think after all this fun our Saturday was over. Not so! We went to Car Wars up at Pinnacle Hills and looked at cars. We even test drove one (just because Dustin is looking into buying that particular year/make/model but wanted to drive it first). Then we went to Sam's in Rogers and picked up some groceries. After that, we went to Mellow Mushroom and ate dinner with Dustin's parents.

Let's just say no one had to rock me to sleep last night!

Today, I plan to work on finishing up Graham's nursery so I can take pictures and share them with you all. I'm 38 weeks today, so not much longer until I get to meet my son! I go through different emotions every day (let's be honest here... every other hour or so). Most of the time, I'm in somewhat of a denial that he's coming so soon. Other times, I get so excited thinking about meeting him! And every once in a while, I have a small panic/"freak-out" moment that we will have a little person, a life, that we're responsible for in a very short time. I assume all these emotions (and more) are normal to feel at this point.

Continued prayers for my blood pressure and little Graham turning so he's no longer breech (and just for our overall health) would be greatly appreciated.

Baby Update (and Maternity Pics!)

Just to update you all on baby Graham, we found out this past Wednesday that he'd turned breech; I also had high blood pressure at the Wednesday appointment. We attempted an external version to try to get Graham turned head down at the hospital on Friday; we also did tests to make sure I didn't have preeclampsia.

So we went in Friday, I got hooked up to monitors, so they could make sure Graham and I were doing well and not in distress. They monitored us for 1 hour before doing anything. They stuck me with a bunch of needles to take blood for some of those tests I mentioned above. They put in an IV just in case the procedure caused contractions to start or caused distress to me or Graham. They gave me some medicine to relax my uterus so contractions would stop and they could manipulate it more easily. The medicine automatically made me pretty dizzy and everything was spinning; I was pretty loopy.

They brought in an ultrasound machine so they could see where Graham was to help them during the procedure. They put a lot of gel on my belly (they'd already checked to make sure he was still breech before they put the IV in) and got to work. My doctor pushed and pulled and manipulated as much as she could but Graham just didn't want to budge. In fact, he is completely the left side of my belly and has his arms and legs out straight so he's wedged in there pretty good! The doctor mentioned several times that Graham looks like he's long; not sure which of us he got that from, but interesting to hear! We'll see if that's true soon enough. After the procedure, they monitored me and Graham for another 2 hours to make sure we were okay and labor hadn't been kick-started.

I must say it was painful and I'm even more sore today than I was yesterday. So Graham is part of the special 3% of babies that are breech at full-term. I have heard again and again from different people that babies can turn really late in a pregnancy or even during labor, so I know it's possible that he still might turn and I hope that's the case. But we're preparing for what's to come either way. It's a little strange to have gone through all that in the hospital and only have this soreness to show from it; makes me even more ready for him to be here!

The good news is that Graham looked "awesome" the entire time according to my doctor and the nurses. Also, I passed all the blood pressure tests, so no preeclampsia for me! Continued prayers for both of us would be very much appreciated. Thank you all for all the love and support you've shown me through this.

On a brighter note, I don't have all of them yet, but here are a few maternity pictures our friend, Yesie, took for us:

Baby Shower (Again)!

Yup, the baby showers just keep coming! Yesterday, I helped throw a baby shower for my friend, Mandy. She is expecting baby Caleb 12 days after my due date (my due date = 11/6). My other friend, Nicole, did the bulk of the work for the shower. She said it was the first baby shower she'd thrown and, I must say, she did a marvelous job! Instead of games, there were onesie and diaper decorating stations. Here are some pictures from the event:


Mom-to-be, Mandy in the middle and Nicole on the left.


Mandy opening presents.


Cute cupcakes spelling Caleb's name out.


Yummy food!


Caleb's name was spelled out on the food table.

The theme was bowties. : )


Onesie and diaper decorating!


Punch I made with cute floating ducks.


More decorations.

Pretty cute, huh? It was a classy, cute baby shower and I was happy to be a part of it. It was also very fun to see some of our mutual friends that I hadn't seen in a while (shout-out to Nicole, Erin, Holly, and Mindi)!

Rhea Lana's - Make some $$$!

I don't know if you've heard of it yet, but if you haven't, you MUST check this out!

Rhea Lana's is basically a large consignment sale that travels to different cities. It allows local moms and moms-to-be to sell and buy used baby, children, and maternity items, including clothes, toys, strollers, furniture, and other small- and big-ticket items galore!

I just discovered Rhea Lana's this year. My friend, Mindi, invited me to go with her to the Spring event in Springdale. I was extremely impressed with the selection and quality of the items; in other words, it was awesome! I got mainly maternity clothes at the time, because I was pretty early on in my pregnancy. And I got some great deals! My friend, Mindi, bought a bunch of baby stuff for cheap too. And guess what? It's coming again! As we entered, they gave out little gift bags with coupons and mine happened to have a $20 gift certificate to spend at Rhea Lana's, so that helped out even more! I especially liked the 1/2-price day sale.

Rhea Lana's Children's Consignment Event is going to be from October 16-22, 2011 at Ozark Center Point Place in Springdale. Someday, I totally plan to sell my maternity/baby stuff (when I know that I'm done with it). Until then, I'll just have to be a buyer. But, if you think about it, what a great way to get stuff you no longer use in front of a lot of moms and moms-to-be who will use it (and make money, of course)! How do you consign? I'm glad you asked. Simply:

* Sign up

* Take prepared items to the event location during Drop-Off Days; and

* Collect your consignor check and unsold items at end of week on 'Pick Up Day'

A bonus: If you choose to leave unsold items, Rhea Lana's will donate them to foster families and Potter's House ministry in Northwest Arkansas; so they go to great causes!

Even better, as a consignor, you get to shop before the sale is open to the general public at a Private Pre-Sale Event!

If you're interested in learning more about consigning at Rhea Lana's, go here.

Blessed

Have you heard that song? Blessed (and loved) is definitely how I have felt lately, for a variety of reasons.

Just to update you on what's happened since my last post, the biggest events were my two baby showers. I had one shower up here in Fayetteville on the 10th and one in Little Rock on the 17th. Overwhelmed is really the best word to describe how I felt after these showers. I was overwhelmed at the tremendous outpouring of love for me and Graham. It makes me teary to think of all the love and support from such amazing people that he has waiting for him once he arrives.

Here are some pictures from the Fayetteville shower:

Me with a blanket Grandma-to-be Calufetti made Graham


Love my friends; they're the best! (Left to right: Holly, Nicole, me, Laura, Erin, and Mandy)

My awesome and beautiful sisters, Lori and Christa!

Another group pic with friends and family. : )

I don't have pictures of the decorations yet, but trust me, they were very cute! I am so so thankful to Lori (my sis), Kristin, and Mindi for hosting this shower. They did a wonderful job; it was perfect in every way and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Here are some pictures from the Little Rock shower:


It was so great to see friends that I haven't seen in a while! (Left to right: Traci, Lydia, me, Cherry, Jessica and Ashley)


I love any occasion to get together with family too!


A picture of me opening a gift (they all look similar to this one, so I won't bore you with more).



It was a game day, so how awesome are these little blue Razorbacks on the cupcakes? Very fitting, I think!


Cute cookies and cupcakes made by my talented baking friend, Jessica.



The cutest sign ever made by Jessica too; she's so crafty!


The gift table; note the adorable diaper cake with Cookie Monster on top, made by my great friend, Lydia. Also, there are baby pictures of Dustin and me on the table too; very cute!


More decorations. The boxes below had letters on them spelling out "Baby Shower"; it was used for a cute game.

I want to thank Jessica and Lydia for hosting this shower for me. It was awesome! I had such a great time seeing people I hadn't seen in a while (some a long time)! They are so crafty and had the cutest decorations! They are amazing friends and I am so grateful to have them in my life.

On another note, I am slowly but surely making progress on Graham's room. I've washed some clothes and his blankets, receiving blankets, burp rags, bibs, etc. I've washed his bedding and got it put on the crib. We still have a lot of organizing/decorating to do, but we're getting there (don't worry, I'll post a pic when we're done). Until next time...

My Encouraging Weekend

Among other things, my good friend, Mindi, and her husband, Jonathan, had their first child this morning! She did so good and motherhood certainly suits her. Their daughter, Emma Grace, is healthy and cute as can be. Here's a picture of her I took with my phone:


Isn't she just precious?! Her parents are so in love and I don't blame them.

In the past several weeks, I'd been calling and checking in on Mindi almost every day to see how she was feeling. So when she called me last night to say they were in labor and heading to the hospital, I was so excited! In fact, probably too excited. Dustin had to calm me down a little bit. What can I say? My friend, whose due date is only a couple of months ahead of mine, is having her baby!

Not only am I super excited for them, but it also makes my situation that much more real for me... and me that much more ready for him to come. Like I said, Dustin did have to remind me that we do have a little while until Graham makes his arrival. And it's a good thing we do, I suppose, because we are not at all prepared for him to be here in terms of his nursery, having necessities, etc. Not to mention, I have wonderful people throwing me two baby showers and taking my maternity photos in the coming weeks. That being said, I'm trying to enjoy each day on its own and enjoy the time that Dustin, Sam and I have together before we add another to our household. This is an easier task some days than others.

One more positive I'd like to point out from this past week. After researching the topic and taking child birth classes, I've decided that I want to have a natural (unmedicated) child birth if the medicine/a c-section is not medically necessary for my health or Graham's. As those of you who've been pregnant before probably know, you come across a lot more negative feedback in regards to natural childbirth than you do positive (even down to hearing negative birth experiences/after-effects). In the past week, however, three people have spoken to me who have either done it themselves or their wives have done it. They were all encouraging, telling me that I could do it! How heavenly it has been to hear that; and for the most part they came to me and told me that. I didn't even have to seek it out. I only hope that I can be that encouragement to another pregnant woman someday.

I want to make a point, or goal, this week to be encouraging in general to people without them having to seek it out. I think we all need that encouragement sometimes!