Baby E's First Shower!

So baby and I had a bit of a surprise Friday night. Girls' night out with my Ruth Circle friends at church turned into Baby Easter's first shower! It was our last meeting for United Methodist Women this year, but I was still pretty surprised. After we trekked upstairs to the table, I looked up to find a bunch of balloons, a gorgeous little cake, and all sorts of useful and fun gear for Baby E.

An evening out with the Ruth Circle women is always a great time, and last Friday evening was no exception. I'm blessed to have such a wonderful, fun, supportive group of women in my life, and I'm really looking forward to tapping into their wisdom and experience as Steve and I tackle this new adventure. Thanks so much Ruths for putting together such a special evening for Baby Girl Easter!

Pictures follow - complements of my friend Michelle. And yes, the pacifier reads "I love Daddy". I'm a dork and couldn't resist. :)

28 Weeks

Happy to report that everything went well at our check-up last Thursday. My blood pressure was actually good (110/64) and everything else seemed to go according to plan. Baby E is really measuring big though! I guess the average fundal height is about a centimeter each week -- and she measured 31 cm. So it seems she is a bit ahead of schedule...which is fine with me if it means a slightly early arrival and not an eleven pound little girl. It's actually fine either way as long as she's healthy.

After that, I was a bit worried about my gestational diabetes chances, since that can cause big babies. Thankfully though, it came back normal. I was a bit anemic, so they have me on iron supplements now. So far so good though. We go back in two weeks, and we will have another ultrasound in four at 32 weeks. Then we'll really get to see how big this little stinker is!

Small Scare

It's been a couple weeks, so I thought I'd drop in another update. Last week was a little frazzling as we had a small pre-eclampsia scare. I went out to lunch last Wednesday with two MBA/State Farm friends, Megan and Lindsey, to Olive Garden for the soup-salad-breadsticks combo. Tasty and fun lunch but about two hours later, my normal sized feet had swollen up like balloons. Not normal pregnant lady swollen. We're talking so puffy that it hurt to take steps at my ankles and they were busting out of my shoes...very suddenly.

Steve was a little bit freaked out and protective. Keeping my feet up helped a little but the doctor had me come in Thursday. Thankfully my blood pressure and protein tests were normal, and the swelling went down late Thursday. They think it could have been a bad reaction to lunch, if there was MSG or preservatives that could trigger it. I was just put on alert to watch what I eat and call them if anything changes. They mentioned half-days or bedrest if the problem persisted, but happily there's been nothing new to report. My feet are back to normal, and my blood pressure has stayed low.

Anyways, that's our update. Good thoughts and prayers always appreciated, especially as I really don't want to do bedrest this early. Tomorrow is my 28 week check-up and the litany of labs (glucose screening, blood tests, etc.), so maybe I'll have an update again soon!

Recovering from San Francisco

Apologize that it's been a while since our last post. We've had a busy couple weeks, heading out to San Francisco for five days for a work conference...and then spending the past week recuperating from all the craziness! I attended the Web 2.0 Expo for work, and I was extremely fortunate that Steve was able to tag along and keep me company. I will admit that the whole production was a lot for a six-months pregnant woman, mostly the long days on my feet and lots of walking. Not to mention the time difference! I wouldn't say I was jet-lagged persay, but the conference went from about 10 am- 8 pm on the internal clocks of the Central time zone dwellers. We still packed in a bit of sightseeing in the morning/evening hours and had a few great meals. We stayed near the Moscone Center about three blocks from Union Square, so we were within walking distance of a lot.

I'll attach a couple pictures here below. Steve and I were a bit goofy and kept trying to take pictures of me in front of San Francisco landmarks, so we can show the baby someday where she's been...even if she's not aware of it! For San Francisco, we have Ghiardelli Square, the crooked stretch of Lombard Street, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, and a shot in front of the Golden Gate Bridge from afar, and atop Harry Denton's Starlight Room (where we got to visit with Lindsey Boehm Friday night). Seriously, this child is already quite the world traveler -- Vegas, North Carolina, California, and a few assorted trips to Indiana and Ohio to round it out. I have a feeling our travel plans will be much less ambitious in a few months though.

Otherwise, the pregnancy seems to be progressing well. We start biweekly appointments in about ten days with the glucose screening test. The baby's kicking regularly and forcefully; I can even see it just sitting on the couch occasionally. My belly is noticeable bigger, but I'm still not gaining much weight thankfully. Although there was one perfect stranger in San Francisco who expressed surprise that I was due in August and not "tomorrow." Not the nicest thing to say to an increasingly hormonal pregnant lady, but I held it together. Enjoy the pictures!