My work shower

| August 30, 2009

The wonderful people at my job threw me a shower on Friday, August 28.  They had me fooled….sort of.  I kind of had a feeling they were going to have it that day. We had a meeting scheduled and I thought it was a cover, and my boss Tracy was coming down allegedly for the meeting (she usually works from home and calls in for the meetings).  So, I was all prepared that my shower could very well be that day.  We all trudged down to the conference room and the sneaks actually started the meeting!  They blathered on about work stuff for 15 minutes before the doors opened and the rest of the firm came marching in, along with Mark, which was a HUGE surprise, since he has been telling me non-stop how much work he has to do that he barely made it to my ultrasound appointment without difficulty.  Someone opened the door to the adjoining conference room, and there was all the food and the cake.  I have to admit, I was thrown my them starting the meeting…and by my friend Amber last week giving me a really hard time about possibly stopping work that day and not working next week.  She was so adament that I had to work, that I started thinking my shower was the next week.  So all of you work pals who are reading this…you did have me fooled.  I went back and forth so many times in my mind about when I thought the shower was going to be that it technically was a surprise.

Anyway, I got a lot of adorable clothes for Sam (who will be the BEST dresssed little girl around) and a ridiculously generous amount of money in gift cards.  We won’t have to spend a dime for a while by the time I get through them all.

Here is a picture of my cake:

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And of me and Mark, although it’s a little blurry…

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Thank you everyone!

August 27, 2009 – the last ultrasound

| August 30, 2009

Today I had my last ultrasound, and thus, our last pictures of Sam before she is born.  It was exciting, as always, but also sad because I knew we were going to catch our last glimpse of our little girl for a while.  But on to the more important things….she is great!  As always, she is looking wonderful.  All of her measurements were perfect for a 36 week old, her heart rate was strong, and we could see her breathing, which was really cool.  Dr. Gerson said that at her 32 week ultrasound she was a perfect 32 week old, and now she is a perfect 36 week old, so that’s important because it shows sustained, consistent growth.  This ultrasound took a while — I had who I think was a resident come in and do the first scan (he had a bit of a hard time, but I guess that’s why they are there – to learn), then the sonographer came in, THEN Dr. Gerson came in.  So we had a long time to peek at Samanatha.  Despite the multiple people looking at her, they all had the same consensus — that she is about 6 pounds 1 ounce now.  So Dr. Bailey was pretty darn close!

Here is the latest candid of our little girl.  She is sucking her thumb!  Which is a vast improvement over the original position she was in when they tried to take a photo and her foot was in front of her face ; )

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Pam at 36 weeks!

| August 28, 2009

Pam hit 36 weeks today and boy does she look she like she is ready to go at any minute.  Comparing these photos to the ones from a few weeks ago, you can really tell that her stomach is dropping down.  We are both so ready to have this baby and get on with it but I think both of us will miss this time a bit.  It is so interesting hearing about all the things Pam feels Samantha doing in there everyday. I am really used to seeing her pregnant now and it is just such a great sight to see. I will miss it for sure but will be so happy when little Sam finally comes.

Here are some updated pics of her and me together taken last night.

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Our latest appointments

| August 27, 2009

Yesterday I had my latest appointment with Dr. Bailey.  Everything is going really well.  My weight, blood pressure, and sugars look good, and her heartbeat was strong.  I was hoping that he would be able to tell me something about how I am progressing in terms of timing, but I won’t find out until next week : (   Three people have recently told me that I look like I have dropped, so maybe that’s a good thing.  She might be moving along!  The girl who schedules the appointments said she gives me 2 more weeks.  From her lips to God’s ears!

It was really funny though, I was in the exam room waiting for him to come in and I had the door open since it was kind of hot, and more air comes in from the hallway that way.  Well, I get tired of sitting (since it’s not the most comfortable position and I sit all day), so I was pacing back and forth in the room.  Well, when he finally came in, I had my back to the door and all I heard was, “Wow. If I didn’t know you were pregnant, I wouldn’t think you were, from the back.”  I hear that so many times from so many people — that I am all belly.  But to hear it from the doctor was funny.  He did say I was carrying really well, that I haven’t gained weight anywhere but up front, and I guess he would know — he certainly sees a lot of preggos!

Next week at my appointment he said we would start discussing my birth plan, like whether or not I want to go natural or use pain killers, etc.   I think I’ve pretty much already decided that I want to try to go natural if I can, but seriously? I am not a martyr. If the pain gets to be too much, bring on the epidural!

He tried to estimate for me how big she was based on feeling my stomach. He is guessing 6.2 pounds (6 lbs 3 oz) by now. He told me to let him know how accurate he is since my ultrasound is today.  I can’t believe my little bean is already about 6 pounds!  She will be here before I know it, but not soon enough for me! 

I have decided that next week is my last week of work.  I need to start trying to relax and concentrate on Sam and her arrival, rather than my job.  I had pretty much decided that a little while ago, but I swear, something that happened yesterday really drove home how you have to have priorities.

I was sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, which was PACKED.  He was obviously behind schedule.  At one point a very pregnant woman stood up and told the girl at the desk that the doctor HAD to see her right now, as she has a hearing to attend.  I thought, oh boy, lawyer, if I ever did see one.  So the girl goes to the back to presumably try to move things along.  Another patient asked her when her appointment was and she started ranting about how her hearing was at 4:30 (it was 3:15 then), and it was 45 minutes away, and she still had to go put a suit on.  Again, lawyer. I guarantee it. I should know.  So they take her back a minute later, and as she was leaving after her appointment, she asked the desk girl what she is “supposed to do tomorrow.”  It turns out she is being induced.  Well, they started giving her directions about where to go, and at the last minute they reminded her that she cannot eat or drink after midnight.  So the patient, with a very annoyed look on her face, says, “So I can’t have my morning frappuchino?” I thought she was kidding. Everyone in the waiting room thought she was kidding.  But she wasn’t.  Seriously.  No smile, no laugh, nothing. She was DEAD SERIOUS.  And all I thought when she left is — you are HAVING YOUR BABY TOMORROW.  And you are worried about attending a hearing and having your stupid girly coffee?  OMG.  Like I said, priorities…..

Happy Birthday Zephyr!

| August 22, 2009

Today was our little girl Zephyr’s 11th birthday. I can’t believe she is 11 already, it seems like she was just a little kitten. We have had her since was only about 5 weeks old and she has just been the best little companion for us all these years. She always greets us with a happy little chirp and put a smile on our faces no matter what challenges we were facing. She will be little Sam’s first girl cat and we hope that Zephyr teaches her about about proper cat rearing.

We found out early on that Zephyr likes angel food cake so Pam makes her one every year. This year’s cake was really good — she ate a good size little cat piece!

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