Ok For Real...Any Day Now!!

39 Weeks!

It's official! If I don't go into labor before Friday, I'll be induced.  I'm so scared and so excited and so nervous and so thrilled...every emotion imaginable, all at the same time!!  Ryan is soooo excited, too!  We had a doctor appointment today.  I am dilated to 1 cm and very thin.  I have a lot of swelling in my feet, especially my right foot (she says from the position of the baby) and my blood pressure was high...according to the nurse..."not freak out high, just a little high."  The swelling in my feet really got worse last week while I was in Orlando and the swelling just hasn't gone down.  My hands are kinda swollen, too.  I got a "pregnancy wedding band" from Moore's Jewelry when we were in Iuka during the summer.  At the time it was big and just barely stayed on my hand, now I have an indention from it.  I'm planning on having it engraved with the baby's name and birth date and will keep it for him or her. 

We have been busy this past week just trying to get last minute things ready.  We got the bases for the car seats installed in our cars.  It was quite a process and soooo glad we went to Safe Kids for the installation.  They covered everything...they installed one base and then Ryan installed the other so they could see if he did it properly.  It was a lot more difficult than I was expecting it to be.  I can't wait to see how cute the baby looks in the car seat!  We have our bags packed for the hospital...well, we have the baby's bag packed, my bag packed and Ryan says he knows what he will throw in his bag.  We now have the Pack'n Play, swing and bouncer set up and waiting for a baby.  Some clothes, towels, wash cloths, burp cloths and blankets are washed and ready, too.  I'm sure there are other things that I'm forgetting...if you think of something important I may have forgotten PLEASE let me know!! We didn't do such a great job on our "trial run"--the trip to Orlando.  We planned to bring everything we would need at the hospital, but forgot EVERYTHING we had packed for the baby. HA! 

Here are a few pictures from the baby's room.  These pictures may not post very well because they are from my iPhone.  These were taken a couple of weeks ago, so it actually looks a little different now.  I know the walls look really bare, but we are hoping to make it a little more gender specific after the baby arrives.  The car seat is actually in the car now.  We got this super cute little "diaper buggy" (think diaper cake, but it's a baby buggy) that is sitting on the little bookshelf now.  Most of the furniture in the room came from Ikea. In this picture the curtains, bookshelf and baskets are from Ikea.  We got the rug at West Elm.  Luckily we had the walls painted this color when we moved it, so we didn't do any painting. 

We decided just to use the dresser (from Ikea) as the changing table.  We got the paddle with hooks on it from Town & Country in Iuka.

We (my parents, actually) have a chair ordered from Circle K Furniture here in Jacksonville that will go here.  It's a brown upholstered swivel glider/rocker.  It was so comfortable in the store, can't wait until it comes in.  The night stand is from Ikea.

Ok Healthy Families people, before you freak out.  All stuffed animals, bumper pads, boppy pillow, blankets, etc. will be removed from the bed before the baby goes in.  I've had to review enough child deaths to know that safe sleep is no joke...not pushing my opinion on anyone else...but, I'm telling you, having to review 1 file where a baby dies due to unsafe sleeping conditions is enough for me. And, unfortunately, I've had to review way more than 1.  Ok, I'm done.  That's your Public Service Announcement for the day! :)

April Shea is doing a painting of the baby's name on a canvas to go above the crib.  She is soooo talented I can't wait to get it!  We got the crib bedding from Pottery Barn.  We really wanted something very plain, without any kind of pattern (and this is definitely very plain) and we (Mr. and Mrs. Huntley, actually) got the crib at Pottery Barn. 

Thankfully, the room is big enough for us to keep a bed in there...considering my family travels from Iuka as Ryan says in a pack, I don't think we would be able to make it if we lost a bed!  I say they travel as a circus...and after all the stories they have from the trips (think wart flying off the top of the minivan and their clothes all over the 4-lane--before they even get to Cherokee...the passenger side door not opening so my grandfather having to crawl out the driver's side...Kinsley texting me quotes from MawMaw and PawPaw--none of which I will repeat!) I think my description is better!! HA!!  One of the yellow pillow cases is missing (I left it with April so she could match the color for the painting).  We got this bedding from West Elm, I think we got the headboard there, too (but we got it right after we got married).  The star fish wall art was a little DIY craft project that Ryan and I did (thank you, Pinterest).  Actually Ryan did it all (cut the bead board, sanded, painted, etc).  I just hot glued the star fish on and all but 1 has fallen off, so I'm thinking he's a better crafter

Due Date: October 4, 2011 October 3, 2011 (I've been wrong since our 18 week ultra sound!)
Size of the baby: Baby Huntley (according to my book) is almost 7.5 pounds and total length is about 21 inches.
Weight gain/loss: Last week at my doctor appointment I lost a pound. So, I was at 35 pounds total.  Today at the appointment I had gained 3 pounds. Putting my grand total at 38 pounds.  I was hoping to stay under 35 pounds, but I didn't.  I celebrated after the appointment with a Big Hot Ham and Cheese Combo from Hardees--this is without a doubt one of my top 5 FAVORITE foods.  I'm serious and I won't be having another for a lonnnnnnng time.  If you haven't had a ham and cheese from Hardee's, you are missing out!!! Oh, and I got a some kind of cinnamon doughnut from Krispy Kreme, too.  Yeah, so I may be over the 40 pound mark now. :)
Maternity clothes:  Everything is maternity and very little still fits.  MY STOMACH IS HUGE. 
Gender: We will soon find out!
Movement: The baby is still moving a pretty good bit. I hoping this means the baby still has room to move and the size of my stomach is due to hot ham and cheeses and not the size of the baby!!! HA!
Sleep: I'm still sleeping good.  I've been very lucky with sleep.  I get up several times to go to the bathroom, but I'm able to go right back to sleep. 
What I miss:  Bending. Shaving my legs in the shower.  Not having to roll myself out of the bed or off the couch. 
Cravings: We still eat at Picasso's a lot (actually we ate there again tonight). I've been eating a lot of sweets lately, too.
Symptoms:  Heart burn, swollen feet and ankles, weight gain, etc.
Best moment of the week: Finding out that Friday is the big day!  I realllly can't believe it is here already!!  This time next week we should be home loving on our sweet little baby Huntley!!! WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

Thanks everyone for all your sweet comments, text messages, emails, thoughts, prayers, etc. throughout the pregnancy.  I can't even begin to tell you how blessed Ryan and I feel to have so many people so supportive and so excited for us.  I promise that we do not take it for granted.  We have definitely been blessed far more than we deserve and we thank the Lord for it all the time.  This is such a special time for us and all of you make it that much more special! 

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  Please pray for an easy, quick! (but not too quick!!) and safe labor and delivery.  Please pray that Baby Huntley is as healthy as he or she can be.  And please pray that Ryan and I are the kind of parents to our baby that ours were to us! 

Any Day Now (at least that's what I like to think)!

Hi everyone!  Hope all is well!  We are doing great.  I'm 38 weeks today and getting SO nervous and excited and every other emotion imaginable!  Didn't Ryan do a great job with his post?!  We've had a great week...and since (hopefully) things will start moving along now I'm going to try to update at least weekly.  Just a warning there may be a little TMI in this post, but you've been warned (Kinsley!)...

We had a doctor appointment on Wednesday, 9/14.  Everything was good.  It was my first "cervix check."  Yowser.  That's all I can say about that.  I was dilated about a "fingertip" (that makes me laugh because I just told Lori Beth about a month or so ago to remind me not to use that term...then, that was EXACTLY what the doctor said when she checked).  No weight change since my previous appointment (thank goodness, since I gained 6 pounds at that one).

On Friday, 9/16, my co-workers surprised me, TOTALLY surprised me, with a baby shower at work.  It was so sweet of them.  They even snuck Ryan in for it.  I have some pictures that co-workers took...but they are at work, I'm at home so I'll have to add them later. 

Saturday, 9/17, our friend, Jamie Holmes, got married.  He and Ryan have played soccer together basically their entire lives.  He even played at Birmingham-Southern with Ryan.  It was such a beautiful wedding in Fernandina and reception at the Rebault Club.  We had a great time and loved getting to catch up with friends from our Birmingham-Southern days.  I don't have any pictures from the wedding.  Dang it, I gotta get better at this picture taking thing. 

I had another doctor appointment today.  I'll be in Orlando for our annual Healthy Families Florida meeting at the end of the week, so she wanted to see me today to clear me to go out of town (Ryan is going, too).  I can't wait to see my friends that I worked with in Tallahassee!  Everything was good with the baby today.  I am still dilated about the same.  She said she was going to go ahead and schedule me to be induced on September 30th, but if I haven't progressed any more by my next appointment (9/26) she will push it back into October.  We can't believe the baby could be here in less than 2 weeks...or maybe a little longer.  We aren't in a rush...we're ready whenever the baby is!! We have an appointment to get our car seat and a base for Ryan's car installed tomorrow, so we will realllly be ready then...except we still haven't packed bags. 

Hope you all have a great week!  I just can't wait to be posting pictures of the baby on here!  Please please say a few prayers for an uneventful delivery and a happy and healthy baby. 

Beth

37 Weeks (Ryan's Perspective)

Hey Everyone!  This week instead of me blogging, Ryan is going to do it...

37 Weeks
Quick synopsis of what's happened since the last post:

• Jacksonville shower - The shower was hosted by my cousin, Julia Lawless.  Beth's parents and my Grandma McCarthy made the trip down.  They helped assemble items from the shower and finish setting up the baby's room.  We are so blessed to have such loving family and friends that have been so generous and just as excited about Baby Huntley as we are.
• We have completed 2 of 3 childbirth classes.  Both classes have been informative and interesting to hear other couple's prospective.  Something new I learned in the class was about the epidural procedure.  It's actually a catheter, not a shot. 
• Interviewed the pediatrician.  I think we got it...one interview=one pediatrician.  Beth and I both really liked her and felt really comfortable with her.
• Tour of the hospital.  This was actually a lot quicker than I thought it would be.  Pretty simple, we toured the waiting rooms, nurses areas, patient rooms (where Beth's going to be the whole time) and the nursery.  One thing we took away from the hospital tour was that babies do not stay in the nursery.  The baby's stay in the room with his/her parents basically the whole time.  I think we only saw 1 baby in the nursery (for circumcision) and all maternity rooms were full.
• Doctor's appointment.  Really not a whole lot happened.  Dr. came in, measured Beth's stomach, listened to the heart beat and told us she will see us next week unless Beth goes into labor before. 

Something Beth hasn't shared with everyone are the names we have picked for the baby. 

Girl:  Mollie Bryant Huntley (after Beth's grandmother, Mollie Darwin, and Bryant is my mother-in-law's maiden name).  My wife is from Mississippi where I think it is the law to have at least 1 child with a double name, so we will call her "Mollie Bryant."

Boy:  James McCarthy Huntley (McCarthy is my mom's maiden name and James after my Grandfather Huntley, Beth's dad, brother and grandfather).  We will call him McCarthy (or Mac).

Due Date: October 4, 2011
Size of the baby: Baby Huntley (according to my book) is almost 6.5 pounds and total length is about 21 inches.
Weight gain/loss: Beth had a doctor's on Thursday (9/8) and had gained 6 pounds since her last appointment (2 weeks ago).  That brings the total to...36 pounds.  I told her she looked like she lost weight. 
Maternity clothes:  She is wears a lot of the same outfits over and over. I guess she has slim pickings.
Gender: Don't know.
Movement:  The baby is moving a lot.  I have actually seen her stomach move when the baby moves.  In the past I had to put my hand on her stomach to feel it.  She told me today that the baby was moving a lot while she was at work. 
Sleep: I would say Beth is sleeping good.  Her snores and groans have increased in the last week.  She is not getting up to go to the bathroom as much, which makes me nervous.  Charlie has moved to my side of the bed due to the lack of room on Beth's side. 
What I miss:  I think she misses a glass of wine every once in a while and being able to bend at the waist.
Cravings: Picasso's, a restaurant by our house. We eat there once or twice a week and she craves anything on the menu.
Symptoms:  Swollen ankles, tired, heart burn, weight gain, grouchiness...just joking
Best moment of the week: Getting together with my parents for family dinner and Beth's parents being there. 
A few pictures from the weekend: