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I just had my weekly baby-checkup. My blood pressure is still a little high. They checked it 3 times. My poor arm had red welts on it. I have really sensitive skin, and can’t stand the blood pressure cuff.

The first time it was 150/70. The second time it was 139/72. The third time it was 129/70 something… I can’t remember. So anyway, they want me back in 4 days, instead of waiting a full week, to keep a closer eye on my blood pressure.

My urine sample was normal, and the Group B test I took last week was negative, so that’s good! After my cervical exam, the Dr said I was 1/2 centimeter dilated, and 70% effaced. He said that it’s normal to be around 50% effaced, but I’m at 70%. I’m making progress! He said, “That means you probably won’t have to be induced.” Yay! Baby Faith may arrive sooner than expected! By week 37 I am now considered full-term so whenever she plans on making an appearance, it will be completely normal, and she should be fine.

Since the exam I have been having some spotting. This is the first time this has happened to me so I called the doctor just to make sure it isn’t anything to worry about. The doctor on call said, “It’s normal for some bleeding to occur up to 24 hours after an exam.” So we don’t have to make a mad rush to the hospital. I am having no contractions or any pain. Well, a little pain, and alot of pressure near the bottom of my belly, especially when I’m standing/walking, but nothing intolerable. I don’t believe I’ve even had any Braxton Hicks contractions, yet.

Last week I wasn’t dilated or effaced at all. It’s great to see that my body is finally preparing for delivery. Please keep us all in your prayers for a safe delivery, and a happy healthy baby.

37 week belly pic!

Video of baby’s progress!

In Blog

My Hospital Bag, My Flower Bed, A Graduation Party, and Week 36!

sherryae76May 28, 2012September 6, 2012

It has been a productive Memorial Day weekend! Not only productive, but lots of fun! First I started getting my hospital suitcase together. I did some reading online to see what essentials I should bring, and I started noticing a pattern with many of the articles. What was interesting is that I kept reading how it was customary to bring a little gift of chocolates or flowers for the maternity nurses when checking in for delivery. Just a way of saying thank you for their hard work. I thought, “Aww I would love to make up a little gift basket for the nurses.” And so I did :)

I put in chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, sugar cookies, butterscotch candies, strawberry candies and chocolate. I put them all in little baggies with a pink bow, and added a thank you card. It was fun, and I hope they like it :)

Aaron and I finally started fixing up our flower bed in the front yard this weekend, too. Joann Fabrics had a huge Memorial day sale, and we were able to get 60% off on some birdhouses. We also bought fresh mulch, some fresh flowers for our baskets, a bird bath, a small flag, and some Shepard hooks to hang the birdhouses. We even got a cute little wind chime that has a subtle sweet sound which shouldn’t annoy the neighbors :) The flower bed has never looked this good! I absolutely love it!!!

The highlight of my weekend was getting to go to Aaron’s cousin’s Graduation party. I got to meet some more of Aaron’s family for the first time, and I really enjoyed myself. Aaron’s cousin, Bailey, is such a wonderful young woman. She plans on going into the youth ministry at Anderson college in the fall. I have gotten to know her a little through Facebook, and I finally met her for the first time at her party. She is so bright, and bubbly! So warm and friendly. Always a smile on her face, just like in her pictures on Facebook. Her energy is contagious! She was up and running around, talking to so many friends and family. Just watching her cheeriness made me want to get up and run around with her lol! But my feet were swollen, and baby Faith is sapping so much of my energy, I could only sit and watch her giddiness. Such a great girl! The Lord has big plans for her, no doubt about it! :)

I also got to FINALLY meet Aaron’s Aunt Lola. For as long as I’ve known Aaron, I kept hearing about Aunt Lola whenever there was a conversation about food, desserts, or baking. Evidently she is the “go to” person when you want something special baked. She is also the person you go to when you want to learn how to bake. She is famous for her pies, and Aaron cannot stop talking about her cinnamon rolls, and her biscuits and gravy. She bakes from scratch. I’ve tasted her banana cream pie before at Aaron’s parent’s house, and with every bite I took, I’ve tried to figure out how she made her pie crust so light and flaky. I love baking from scratch, but I just can’t make homemade pie crust light and flaky. I lose patience, and I always end up buying the pie crust. I have seen pictures of her kitchen table just filled with amazing looking pies, and thought, “Oh my gosh I got to meet this woman.” I hear she makes homemade apple butter, too! I would love to someday be known for my baking, just like Aunt Lola is. And so… when I was at the Graduation party, I got to meet the renowned Aunt Lola :) Aaron tapped me on my shoulder, and when I turned around there she was. As silly as this sounds, it was like meeting a Food Network star, haha! I absolutely loved meeting her! She is SO nice! She has read my baby blog, and has been keeping updated on our pregnancy journey. She seemed just as happy to meet me! We talked about her baking, and I told her how much I would LOVE to learn from her. She said she would be happy to teach me! Hopefully me, Aaron, and baby Faith can go to Aunt Lola’s around the Holidays and do some baking! I seriously cannot wait! :) Now I know two people in Aaron’s family that are great cooks. Aaron’s mom (who bakes the most delicious ham I’ve ever had, and just thinking about it makes me want some NOW) and Aaron’s Aunt Lola! As the years go by, I hope to learn alot from both of them! :)

Ok, now with the baby news. At my last baby check-up, my blood pressure was a little high; 140/80. The doctor didn’t seem too worried. My urine sample was fine, except for a little sugar, but what they look for is protein in the urine, and there was none. I had my Group B Strep screening done, and I’m waiting to hear about my test results. I haven’t got a phone call, so hopefully that’s a good sign. All in all, my baby check-up went fine, and I’m sure they will continue monitoring my blood pressure to make sure baby and I are ok. My feet seem to always been swollen at this point in my pregnancy. Even when waking up in the morning, they still look puffy. I can’t seem to stay standing on my feet for too long without feeling pain. Walking around the store is starting to make me miserable. Every time I walk down a new isle, I’m looking for a place to sit. A box, a low shelf… something! At Walmart I was lugging around a little plastic stool from the garden center so when I got tired I would set it down wherever I was and sit for awhile. When Aaron and I go out to run errands, I’m starting to stay in the car more and more, while Aaron shops. Goodness, I can’t wait to get my body back!

36 week belly pic!

Video of baby’s progress!

My feet are dirty from playing in the flower bed today, so now I’m going to take a nice long bath and get ready for bed! 4 more weeks to go! Just 4 more weeks!!! Or sooner! Who knows! Stay tuned! :)

In Blog

Baby Shower! Food, Family, Friends, and Week 35!

sherryae76May 21, 2012September 6, 2012

I had an amazing weekend. Aaron and I drove about 160 miles up north to have a baby shower that my family put together for me. Most of my friends and family live up in the northern Indiana and Chicago area. I was born and raised in Chicago, and I miss home so much. I have to say, it was so wonderful getting to see so much family, and my old childhood friends! Best of all, my 90 year old Grandmother came to the party! I was smiling from ear to ear when she came up to me. She rubbed my belly, all smiles, and said, “So precious! So precious!”

We had a pot-luck baby shower, and there were so many delicious foods to eat. We had a beautiful pink and white sweet table, with yummy cupcakes and candy. I made the cupcakes, and the floral centerpieces. I had so much fun putting the flowers together, and making 72 cupcakes the day before the shower! My kitchen smelled soooo goooood! ♥

The baby shower was just amazing. The gift table was filled to overflowing! Kids were running around everywhere! There was even a piano to play, and the kids were banging on the keys! I absolutely loved every single minute of it! I even got to play the piano with one of my friend’s kids… who is very talented for his age. My husband got a video of our piano duet. I had SO MUCH FUN!My sister happened to find a beautiful rocking chair downstairs in the Church we were in. She brought it upstairs and placed it next to the gift table. It was perfect for me! It even had strawberries painted on it! How awesome is that? Truly… it was the BEST baby shower EVER! :)

Aaron and I went picture CRAZY of course! There were just SO MANY beautiful things to capture! Food, candy, flowers, gifts, balloons, tons of family, friends and hyper kids! We just could NOT put our camera down! We wanted to capture every single moment!

So here are the pictures! Don’t forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them, and to also read captions!

Here is a video of a piano duet with little Bobby! After that, Austin inhaled helium for the first time. He asked me, “Is my voice going to go back to normal?” After I assured him it would, he was having fun! Haha! Love these kids! :)

After we got home, we unloaded our gifts from the car. Put them all on the living room floor, and literally went straight to bed. We both were exhausted, but happy. The next morning I snapped pictures of each baby shower gift I received, and also the adorable gift bags, and beautiful cards I got! This baby blog is pretty much my baby book, and I love to document every moment and every picture. I don’t ever want to forget the great gifts I got from my loved ones! And I want to thank every one of you for all of the gifts. Aaron and I couldn’t be more happy, and I feel so blessed!

Thank you to everyone that helped out so much with the Baby Shower. It couldn’t have been more perfect! And thank you to all of you who could make it! It means so much to us! I’ve updated my Baby Registry in case those of you who couldn’t make it would still like to send a gift or card. Aaron and I are preparing for a small baby shower on his Birthday, June 9th. This will be his last “not-a-Daddy” birthday. Haha! But I will be getting him a few “Daddy-to-be” gifts! We will be getting together with Aaron’s friends and family to celebrate, and I can’t wait! We will be having a barbecue at the park. I can’t wait to soak up some sun, prop my feet up and relax! :) Let’s just hope that Faith does NOT arrive yet! June 9th is only a couple weeks away from my due date! Fingers crossed!What a weekend! I am getting more and more fatigued. It’s hard to sleep. I’m awake at least half the night, every night. If I’m not peeing, I’m trying to change positions to get more comfortable; however, nothing helps. My back hurts, and my feet have now gotten so water-logged I can’t wear socks without them leaving deep rings around my legs :(

My poor feet :(

I love my husband so much! He always does what he can to make me more comfortable. Love his foot massages :)

Best Hubby EVER! ♥

My funny guy :)

I’ll say it again! LOVE HIM!!! ♥

Several weeks ago I told Aaron I want a pinwheel for my flower bed. He laughed at me and said I was silly. He’s not a fan of pinwheels, lol. I came home from work just the other day, and while I was driving up, I saw a pinwheel on our mailbox. I smiled. He’s so sweet. Then, as I was pulling into the driveway, I saw more! I started laughing! Aaron was kneeling by a tree and started snapping pictures, haha!