We have a DATE!

So I went to the doctor this morning, and everything went great. 

I had my typical weight fluctuation, and lost three pounds this week.  (Must have been from the divinity and devil's food cake cupcakes that I made last night!)

Anyways, I finally have the doctor's convinced that my weight just can't be measured accurately, what they think is good, will change the next week.  So we have agreed to just give up at this point.  Good thing we are almost done with this pregnancy.

Everything looked good in the exam, so we were able to schedule the induction.  If everything goes according to plan, and she doesn't decide to come early, then we will induce on January 13th.  

We have to be at the hospital at 5am on the 13th of January.  

We are really excited as that means we have only 13 days until Sevyn arrives.  We are SOOOOOO ready. 

Pray for us that in these final days we will get plenty of rest, and will get all the small things done that we need to do, in order to prepare for her arrival.

Doctor Update & Christmas

Just a quick update on my latest doctor's appointment.  

I went to the doctor on Tuesday the 23rd.  Now that we are on weekly appointments, I am getting more and more anxious.  

Of course the dreaded scale was the first thing I did, this time it said I gained 8 pounds in two weeks.  If you remember from my last blog last time it said I lost 5 pounds.  I swear my body is weird, and they swear the scale is accurate.  Not sure what it is, but I know I didn't loose 5 pounds, nor did I gain 8.  So who knows where I am at . . .

My uterus measured the right size this time, so that was another positive.  

They are now doing their checks to see how dilated I am.  (Believe me I will NOT be going into details about that on this blog.)  The doctor said that Sevyn has dropped but I am not showing any sign of dilation yet.  What was odd is that she gave me some recommendations for helping that process along, one of those suggestions was to drink Raspberry TEA!  Yum.  I have never heard that one before but apparently it helps.

Anyways, enough about doctors.  Jim and I had a great Christmas.  Sevyn received her first piggy bank - which is super adorable!

My nephew, Brady (age 7) painted a canvas to go in her room.  It is the perfect colors, and is now hanging just above her baby bed.  I really like it, he did a GREAT job!  He has only been learning cursive for the last 6 weeks in school, so I think it is really awesome that he did so well with her name too!

We ordered a pack and play that has a bassinet, and changing table on it.  It was on sale and super cute.  The main part of the pack and play was very easy to put up, but once you start adding on the bassinet, lights and sounds, and changing table, it gets quite a bit more complicated.  Anyways we got it all put together and are ready for Sevyn to test it out.

 

Oh and I have to post this as well.  This is Sevyn's first swimsuit, cover-up and hat.  I can't wait to see her in it this summer!  Since Jim has nicknamed her "ladybug," we just HAD to get it!

Christmas night we sat down and were trying to think of everything else we needed to do, and we couldn't really think of much.  There are a few odds and end things we need to do, like hang the video camera for the monitoring system in her room, re-vaccum her floor, and sanitize that room one more time, and wash the extra sheets for her bed.   Other than those few thing . . . I think we are done!  

Just 22 days until her due date . . . and if we induce, like we are talking about,  just 16 days to go!

In the home stretch now!

Doctor Appointment

Just so you can keep up, I had a doctor's appointment last Tuesday and everything went pretty well.  Unfortunately I lost 5 pounds, and my uterus was measuring a bit small, but ultimately they did an extra ultrasound and determined that Sevyn was growing right on track. 

Today I received a phone call from my doctor and we had a few moments to go over her evaluation of the ultrasound and where I am at in this pregnancy.  (I knew for the most part that everything was fine with Sevyn, as our sonogram lady told us so, but it was nice to hear it straight from our doctor's mouth.)

We learned in the sonogram that Sevyn is in the 48th percentile in growth, so she is a little bit small.  Her legs are measuring a little short too, but she could either have a growth spurt, or will just be short like me!  :)

Our doctor told us today that as of Tuesday (last week) she weighed approximately 4lbs 12 oz.  She is about a half pound light of normal standards, but she is still within acceptable weight limits. 

I wasn't really sure how "pregnancy anatomy" actually worked so I had to ask her a couple questions.  Most notably if my uterus doesn't grow, will Sevyn run out of room to grow and that trigger labor.  I know that she is perfectly fine to be delivered right now as she is fully developed and just using the last few weeks to gain weight, but I like to know if there is something I should be aware of (i.e. her coming sooner than the 19th of Jan.)  Our doctor said no, she will continue to grow, and most likely my uterus will continue to grow.  She said that I am just currently carrying the baby differently and that is why the measurements of my uterus are off.   So again nothing to be concerned with. 

The only thing she said I need to do is focus on gaining weight, and we will just see how things go.  

Jim and I are discussing inducing Sevyn a bit early.  Our doctor said we could induce as early as one week prior to our due date, so she could come as early as Jan. 12th.  The hospital will allow us to actually schedule the induction two weeks in advance, so if we decide to induce we can get it on the books as early as December 30th.  

That's it here.  Sevyn's foot is protruding about 2 inches out of my right side, so we are very uncomfortable at the moment!

Family Baby Shower

I had a great time at my baby shower on Sunday afternoon.  It was fun to be around my family, and friends.

My husband was able to be apart of it too.  My older sister Shelly bought him a special present . . . I think it is darn cute!

The daddy doodie tool belt came with everything from diapers, to wipes, a clothes pin to cover the nose, tongs to remove the diaper, air freshner, and goggles!   I definitely think he is prepared now for those "explosions" that are inevitable.  

I think I ate the best cake of my life at my shower!  My mom got it from a place in Southlake called the Cakery . . . yum!!!  I have really enjoyed the leftovers too.  It was a super cute cake, as you can see here.

Finally, my niece had a great time too.  Thankfully, Brittany (a childhood friend) brought one of her daughters, and they hit it off great!  (Funny enough, they showed up wearing the exact same dress . . . gotta love Target!)

Thanks so much for those of you who were able to come.  I appreciate the gifts, and outfits that you gave to Sevyn.  My mom and sisters came up with the idea to have everyone bring a book instead of a card . . . and so now Sevyn has a pretty extensive baby book collection!  I can't wait to take those pictures of Jim reading to her on a nightly basis.   I know he is looking forward to that.

 A special acknowledgement to Linda for finding a baby quilt that my Granny made prior to her passing away.  It is definitely something I will cherish.  

Updates on Sevyn's Room

Here are some updated pictures of Sevyn's room.  It is finally finished, and we couldn't be more happy with it. 

The white board on the wall was Jim's idea, and I think it is going to be a great tool as she grows up, not only for us to keep lists, schedules etc. but also for her to eventually have  a place for her to color (as a 3-4 year old,) and do homework (as a elementary student.)

The board is 4'x6' so as you can see it takes up a large portion of the wall.  We went to home depot trying to figure out how we would complete this project, however we didn't  estimate how large a piece of white board we were going to purchase.  

The original size was 4'x8' and in Jim's Rav 4, let's just say there was very little space.  (Honestly I should have taken pictures.)  We layed both the front seats all the way down (good thing his back seats were out of the car already.)  The board covered the ENTIRE area of the car, we nearly didn't get it in.  Jim squeezed into the drivers seat, and the board was basically lodged into his neck (he couldn't move his head at all because his head was completely shoved up against the window.)  

I got behind the drivers seat and sat in the floor board underneath the white board.  Good thing home depot was about 2 miles from our house, and it was a fairly straight path the entire way.  

I am sure that we would have been taken to jail or something had we been pulled over by a police officer.  

Anyways, just had to share that story, just so you know how much hard work went into decorating her room, in an unconventional way.  Let's face it . . . Jim and I are pretty unconventional.  

I made her door sign.  It will also double as the door sign at the hospital for our room (instead of those tacky mums that you see on the doors!)  : )  So if you plan on coming to the hospital to visit look for Sevyn's name . . . it should be the only one!  ; )  LOL

4D Sonogram

Today I had a 4D sonogram, which was really amazing.  We were able to see great detail and found out some interesting things.  

First though before I post pictures of her in 3D I wanted to show you pictures of both Jim and I when we were born.  During the sonogram today we could pick out some specific features and I think we could go ahead and attribute them to a specific parent.

This was Jim obviously just after birth.  Notice he has hair!

And this was me probably a few weeks later, and a few twinkies into life (as you can tell by the four chins!) Notice I have no hair!

We are now 9 weeks away from Sevyn arriving (given she has a punctual nature) and here she is.

No she is not giving you the bird, that was just the first 3-D image we saw of her, and pretty much set the tone for the sonogram appointment.  That is her ring finger of her right hand that is pointing towards the sky . . . you can see all five fingers (and no that is not a sixth but just something that came into the field of view while freezing the image.)

Here she really is:

Profile facing to the right

Looking right at you (serious chipmunk cheeks here)

She spent most of her time nestled into my right hip, with her facing toward the right as well, which as you can imagine makes for a very difficult photo session.  She is either camera shy, or has taken a liking to Jim's profession and feels like she doesn't need to show her face to the public, as both hands, and her feet were all in her face during the entire sonogram, minus 1 or 2 minutes.  Thank goodness we have the most patient sonogram tech (and the best) in the world, as she worked hard to get us some good images and video of Sevyn.  Despite her efforts though, Sevyn remained stubborn and would not reveal herself the entire time (about and hour and fifteen minutes worth of trying.)  We tried different lying positions, hunching over to make her uncomfortable, drinking lots of water and eating lots of chocolate to get her to move, but she wouldn't.  

What we have learned though is she has HUGE cheeks!  I think those come from me if you reference our baby pics above.

Big Cheeks . . . Good Lips!

A strong chin which we think comes from Jim. 

(Maybe this is a good sign . . . will she sleep all the time?)

And she has hair (hard to see in pics) . . . that would come from Jim too, since I had peach fuzz for nearly three years!  If she has hair now, then it could very well be a good head of hair once she is born . . . bows and hats! 

She also has great flexibility as it is demonstrated here.  This will become super important for her sporting and athletic competitions.  (I am thinking gymnast!)

She has some good toes too!  Her legs are measuring normal size so right now she isn't displaying any of Jim's height characteristics but that may not be discovered until she is older.

Count them, they're all there.

We are going to try again on Thursday to get some better pics of her (this time without hands, feet, placenta, or anything else in the way . . . hopefully she will cooperate this time) but I think what we have is pretty incredible.  

We are both really excited to see how much she resembles these pics once she is born, and if our guesses about what features belong to which parent are true.

I will post video of the sonogram a little bit later, I need to go through it and edit some of it down before I post it.  

Oh, one more piece of information . . . she is definitely a GIRL!  When you see it in 3-D there is no mistaken it!

  : )

Mavericks Wardrobe

Even though we are still 10 weeks shy of our little girl being here, we are already prepared for her first Mavericks basketball game.  Actually we are pretty much prepared for a Mavs game until she is 4 years old!  

Here is what she already has:

Newborn Onesie with Champ on it.  This will be used for her debut at the Mavs game.  She also has a matching blanket to keep her warm!

A 3-6 month Onesie, Bib, and Booties that is all in Pink!  Its so cute, it has a little basketball on the butt too.

A 6-9 month Onesie that says "My daddy is a Champ"

A 2T Windsuit, complete with the current Mavericks logo, hopefully they won't change it by the time she is two.

And a 4-T jogging suit that is super cute.  It also has the current logo on it as well, and I am sure they will change it by then, so she will look ultra retro!

Our little girl is going to be completely fashionable at all the Mavs games, when she is there supporting her dad!

Go Mavs!

Update on Baby Sevyn

On Thursday, I had a check-up at the doctor's office.  Sevyn is doing great!  My weight gain is right on track, and I am measuring on track (or a little ahead) right now.  My blood pressure has been good for the last three months so that is always a relief.  Test results for blood work, that looks for anemia, and the glucose screening both came back negative, and Sevyn's heartbeat is about 150 beats per minute (which is perfect.)

She is really thriving and doing well.  Since we are now in the third trimester and at 30 weeks, I am now doing the bi-monthly check-ups, which can be a drag.  Thankfully my doctor's office is really good about being quick, so I don't have to wait terribly long in the waiting room.  

Jim is very excited about getting down to single digits in weeks.  The countdown will begin starting next Sunday!  Woo hoo.

Here some dates that we are looking forward to:

My next appointment is on Thursday, November 20th and it is just another check-up.

November 17th we have decided to have a 4-D Sonogram.  We are really excited about this, so look for pictures and video on this blog of her, they are suppose to be GREAT!

Finally, I have a family shower scheduled for December 7th at 3pm, at my mom's house, which will be hosted by my mom and two sisters. 

Keep praying for us as we continue to prepare for Sevyn.  It's funny, I think God prepares us in little ways that we don't realize until its happening.  I like my sleep, and LOVE sleeping all night long, but lately that doesn't  happen.  Three to four bathroom breaks a night are not fun, and I guess that just prepares you for multiple feedings throughout the night!  Ha.

Church Baby Shower

Jim and I have amazing friends from our church, and thanks to Kristen, Ann Marie and Kelly we were given a fabulous shower!

There was plenty of great food, and beautiful cake (that tasted yummy too) and we received some amazing gifts from all of our friends at our church.  

Most importantly we are completely ready to change a ton of diapers, we received the diaper changing pad, and cover as well as lots of diapers and wipes.  Jim is going to get LOTS of practice! Ha.

Sevyn will easily be the best dressed baby.  She received so many cute outfits, dresses and shoes!  Yes, Jim is already concerned about our little girls pending shoe fettish! Ha.

One of the funniest gifts that we received, was from my dear friend Bethe who customized three onesies for Sevyn.  They have great sayings on them and are so cute, I can't wait to take pictures of her in each of them.

Thank you to all of our friends who attended the baby shower, we are so blessed by you love and support, and continued prayers!

Sevyn's Nursery

Here are a few updated pictures of our nursery.  I am really excited about it, as it is almost done (minus a few decorative features we are going to add . . . they are ordered.)

As you can see we have gone with basically a bright color theme.  We figured she would be a bright, energetic personality (look who her parents are.)  I made the curtains and recovered the glider to make it mesh a bit better.  I think she is going to really like it! 

Sevyn Joy - 18 Weeks

Here is a video of Sevyn at 18 Weeks.  If you look closely you will see her sucking her thumb! 

Debut Blog

So I have decided to create my own blog that chronicles the count down to baby Sevyn.  She is due on January 19th.

Since we are now in our third trimester, and her due date is getting closer then I figured this would be a great opportunity to keep everyone informed of what's going on, upcoming events, and of course the news of her delivery (as well as plenty of pictures.)

Just a quick recap:

I have had a very smooth pregnancy.  Only three days of morning sickness in the first trimester, a breeze through the second trimester with plenty of extra energy, and now that we are in the third for the most part things have been smooth.

I had a few issues with weight gain through 6 months, but that has been remedied and now I am on track with decent weight gain.  I have plenty of energy to get me through my terribly busy work days, and for the most part I am sleeping well through the night.  (Although there were a couple weeks there that I was extremely uncomfortable.)  

Most people know how much I love my sleep, and so it took a while to get use to the midnight bathroom trips, and constant tummy gymnastics going on (as you can imagine we have a very active little girl in the making.)

My next doctors appointment is on Thursday, November 6th.  I expect everything to go well there, as we get closer and closer to her arrival.

We are so excited about her arrival, the nursery is completely decorated and ready. (I'm a planner by nature so getting things done early has been a great stress relief!) I just had a wonderful baby shower thrown my some of my greatest friends at church and got some pretty amazing outfits, and gifts.  I will post pictures of all that shortly.  

Back to work now!

Tif