WEST is the BEST!

Saturday, July 25th was Caroline's 3rd Baby Shower given by the ladies of West Forsyth High School...specifically, Mrs. Britten, Mrs. Place & Mrs. Maiers.  The shower was so much fun...adn it was nice to hang out with some school friends (and talk school, too...you know teachers, we can't help it!!!)  Mrs. Hepler, Mrs. Bayush, & Mrs. Phillips all came along with Caroline's Nana and Aunt Jackie.  Aunt Alison sent an Edible Arrangement all they was from New York City!  What a nice surprise!

Teachers, of course, showered Caroline with books...so many that her once bare bookshelf is almost full!  Caroline's "Under the Sea" bathroom is now complete with the bath mat and fancy towels that match.  She received several awesome outfits, receiving blankets, a humidifier, a swaddel blanket and a zip me up comfy bag for the winter!  

It was a great day...but the special surprise was a cake made by Mrs. Place's sister (Jennifer Cowart, Cowcakes) that matched Caroline's nursery theme--color & bunny & everything.  Plus is tasted REALLY good!! :)

Here are some pics from the day:

 

is it possible...

to cure hiccups in utero?  poor sweet caroline...she continuously gets chronic hiccups.  i wonder if it hurts?  when i hiccup...it hurts me.

i wonder if her hiccups (which seem to be getting much stronger) are related to the cramp/contractions i've been having lately.  i'm pretty sure they are contractions.  but hey, i've never had a kid before...so i don't really know what contractions feel like.  but i am pretty sure that they are small, early contractions (don't worry mom, the doctor says that is TOTALLY normal).

just in case, though, all my lesson plans for school are complete...so if need be, i can go into labor.  however, five weeks remain...so i'm hoping that she doesn't come early!!! :)

32 1/2 weeks!

Today, Miss Caroline decided to scare Mommy & Daddy.  When Dr. Nix listened to Caroline's heartbeat, she was galloping like a horse.  So, Dr. Nix hooked Mommy up to the fetal heart monitor for 30 minutes to make sure that everything was okay...and it was!  Caroline got a 100% perfect score on her heart rate after that but Mommy (and especially Daddy)  were a little on the freaked out side! :)

The good thing is we found out that even though Mommy will be put to sleep for the c-section, Caroline & Daddy will wait for her in the recovery room and the three of us will have lots of time together (and quick after the surgery) before being moved to the private room.  We still will have restricted visitation on Thursday as Mommy will be recovering from surgery and Caroline will be learning to eat but the good news is it won't take so long for Mommy & Caroline to meet (finally!).

Dr. Nix said Mommy had to wear wrist braces to help with her carpal tunnel.  So much fun.  Hopefully, though, it'll help and Mommy will be able to sleep better at night.  Dr. Nix said it wasn't much longer...everything seems like it's in order for Caroline's arrival!!! :)

she is definitely one lucky little lady!

Saturday, July 18th, was such an AWESOME day!  The Ya-Ya Brigade came out in full force to celebrate Caroline Leigh's arrival.  Aunts Amanda, Brooke & Emily threw her an amazing shower with so many incredible details that it made us all a little weepy.

Aunt Emily's idea of M&Ms with Caroline's name on them was a magical touch that had Mimi in tears!!

So many cute little chocolate treats reading "Sweet Caroline" and "09/03/2009"...

 incredible!

The set up at Aunt Emily's house was beautiful!  The food table was impeccably decorated and there was SO MUCH food, Mommy even got full.  

Aunt Jessica even brought her famous bacon wrapped crackers (and Mommy had to sneak a few extra so that Mimi wouldn't give her a hard time for eating things she shouldn't!).  There were balloons everywhere - even in the bathroom and the girls made sure that PINK was NOT the prominent color! :)  As soon as everyone came in the door, they were supposed to address an envelope to themselves--a very nice thing when Mommy got the thank you notes...made writing them MUCH easier!!!

Everything was so tastefully done (well, of course...the master party-planners were involved) that Paula Deen and Ma

rtha Stewart would be proud...maybe we should consult for them???

Mommy's friends came and brought Caroline some pretty amazing little things...take a look:

           

Miss Jessie showed up and and so did Miss Jamie from Mommy's work.  Jess & AJ came and so did Daddy's friend, Miss Rachel (London's Mommy)!  Great Gram Josephine, Aunt Leigh, Mimi & Nana were there and Miss Julie drove all the way from Macon.  

Aunts Amanda, Brooke, & Emily made everyone taste baby food and it was pretty gross...also, everyone tried to unscramble words (Mommy wasn't very good at that!)  It was all really fun and I think that everyone had a great time (Mommy really did!).

All & all...this shower made Mommy realize one the most important things:  even though her family doesn't live here, she does have family -- Amanda, Brooke & Emily are Mommy's family while Mimi, Leigh & Coach are in Savannah and they are going to help Mommy and love Caroline...which makes Mommy realize once again, how important friends are.  She is so lucky to have wonderful, beautiful friends and can't wait until their little ones arrive so Caroline can show them the ropes!  Thank you three so much.  I love you more than you can ever imagine!

inability to sleep...

the side effects have officially woken me up!   today is a really exciting day!  "Aunts" Amanda, Brooke & Emily are throwing Caroline a shower.  this is so special because Mommy has known Amanda & Emily since the 8th grade...and Brooke has quickly become one of Mommy's best friends (her husband, Uncle Matt, has been Daddy's friend since 5th grade).  Plus, "Aunt" Julie is coming...and she is Mommy's oldest friend...dating back to the 3rd grade.

All of these ladies are so special to Mommy and she is really excited to see everyone together.  Today should be really fun for all!!!

side effects...

i've read a bunch of books.  i've talked to a bunch of people.  i thought i knew what was happening to my body, but alas, i realized once again that i do not know nearly what i thought.

it's been creeping for a while--shortness of breath, exhaustion, leg cramps, sleeping 12 hours in the day, not sleeping, peeing more times in the course of "night night" than i ever thought was humanly possible.  even the tragic event of doubling my weight gain in one month (and then again the next month) i have gotten used to.

but now...i have carpal tunnel...really bad...at night usually....when i am asleep...which wakes me up...usually about the time i get back settled down and comfy from getting up to pee.  to top it all off...getting relaxed and asleep is a chore--i just can't get comfortably.  she sits to one side of my stomach, rolling around to whichever i lay (and i've been trying to lay on my left because i heard that lessens the circulation) but good lord!!  last night i could not get settled which meant i could not get to sleep and i was SO very tired...you know, the kinda tired that makes your eyes droop and drool.  pure exhaustion.  

and now i am up with no hope of going back to sleep.

is this what it feels like to be a parent?

sugar, sugar

so i've made the (unfortunate/fortunate) mistake of watching Martha Stewart Cupcake week and Cake Boss and guess what????  a hankering like you wouldn't believe has come over me.  

i must take a moment and digress here for a second...caroline has stopped being as active as she was.  of course my immediate reaction is to be upset and scared...but that is just undo stress as i am beginning to realize that caroline is getting a lot bigger right now (right now she's like 3 1/2 pounds or so) and it is getting harder for her to move around.  over the weekend, though, it seemed like she would only move when i would have phone in hand ready to call doctor.

okay...so back to the cupcakes.  most of you know i have been pretty strict on myself the last month or so because the doctor said i was gaining too much weight (and for those of you who haven't gone through it...it is totally freaky when you step on the scale and you've gained a million pounds...ain't gonna lie! :) )  but these cupcake/cake shows have worn down my will power and i had to have a cupcake.  and a tall cold glass of milk.  so i called 'Aunt Amanda' who knows all the good places in town (she is definitely my go-to girl...if she doesn't know it...she knows someone who does) and she recommended a local bakery.  i had decided if i was going to cheat and eat a cupcake it sure as hell wouldn't be a nasty grocery-store plastic bakery one.

so i set off...find the bakery...walk in...and they have 3 cupcakes in their case.  One vanilla and two chocolate.  buttercream icing.  drizzled with sprinkles.  i bought all three (at least it wasn't a dozen) and a small mini-cake (to share with the beej).  i could hardly get home to eat my treat (and yes, i did have a finger full of icing before i left the parking lot).  so i got home and took the vanilla out of the box and took a huge bite...YUMMMMMMMMM.  I then poured a large glass of cold milk and polished off the rest of the vanilla cupcake.  It was so good, I had to have a small sliver of taste of BJ's mini cake.  

And now, i sit here, completely satisfied...my hankering quenched...some treats for later...with a 3 plus pound baby going absolutely crazy in my stomach.  I think Caroline has a sweet tooth...or i put her in sugar shock...either way, now i know what to do to get her moving!!!! :)  She's doing kart-wheels in my belly!

water in my ankles?

Mommy has been a little too active in the summer heat.  Her ankles have been swelling to the size of tennis balls which means she has to lay on the sofa and let Daddy rub them (and he isn't quite as good as Mimi--she rubs Mommy's feet with lotion and for a long time, Daddy gets distracted by the TV).

Even though Mommy has been walking in the mornings, she is still swelling in this summer heat.  Today, she slept too late (it gets too hot to walk after 9 am in Savannah) so she got in the pool and did some water aerobics (but probably not enough).  If the heat doesn't get much better, Mommy is going to have to walk laps at the mall...which she can handle because there are lots of shops that she can browse for little Caroline!!!

Mimi says Mommy won't make it until the due date and if she does, she won't make it to school for that long.  Mommy is determined...we'll see!!!  Mimi often underestimates Mommy.  

School starts in 4 weeks.  That is when Mommy goes back with her teacher friends.  Five weeks until her new students come.  About 8 weeks until Caroline gets here.  Let's just hope that things start unswelling and we can make it to D-Day!!!

Daddy is starting to get nervous.  The other day he said, "We need a plan for if your water breaks."  Mommy's response:  "Get me to the emergency room."   So when Mommy & Daddy get back to Atlanta from Mimi & Coach's house, they are going to get the bags packed, you know, just in case.  That will make Daddy feel better.  He's so silly, sometimes!

Mommy & Daddy have had a fun time with Mimi, Coach & Aunt Leigh in Savannah, but it is time to get back to the digs in Atl.  12 days is a really long time to be gone...but the next time they come, Caroline will be with them!!!

Less than two months....the count down is on!!!

Mommy is T-I-R-E-D...

So last night, I went to bed at 7:30 pm. No joke. I woke up at 7:30 am. No joke. Really. No joke. I am the kid that never sleeps. I seriously require maybe 6 or so hours. However, ever since I got pregnant, I feel like all I do is sleep. And not the normal sleep. Sleep like deep-can't wake me if you try-leave me if the house burns sleep. It's weird.

But I slept last night for 12 hours.

And I think I could seriously go to bed early tonight and do it again. Everyone says this is my body's way of storing up...perhaps. I think it's just because Caroline is so freakin' active that she uses quite a bit of my energy.

BJ doesn't know what to do, really. Usually he's the one asking for five more minutes. Now, I'm the one that snores so loud he has to find a new place to sleep.

I hope this means that she will be easy to get on a schedule. And she won't be crying and she'll let us sleep. Maybe. Hopefully. Probably not. If she's like me, anyway!