some good news!

We had a FAST doctor's appointment today! It was scheduled for 10:50 and we were out by 11:00. We got there at 10:30, so that probably helped. Anyway, I hit the 20 pound mark- I'm up to 142. And tonight I measured around my belly, and my waist is now 40 inches! Oofta!

We didn't have an ultrasound, but by feeling, Dr. Keeler thinks the baby flipped from 2 weeks ago and is head down now. The body parts we are feeling the most are probably feet. The baby actually stayed still for 15 seconds so we could get more than 4 beats of his heart, and then he started moving again after we were done listening. Good baby. :)

We talked about Chicago, which I was a little nervous about since it seemed two weeks ago that he did NOT want me going. But, since I haven't had any problems yet, he told me right now it would be silly for him to tell me to stay home. He said I just have to take it easy from now until then, watch for any problems at all, and we have an ultrasound scheduled for Aug. 7 just to check on things. And while I'm in Chicago (if things still look good on Aug. 7) I just have to make sure to take it easy. But right now, I still get to go. YAY! They way Josh and I figure, I'll be closer to any hospital in Chicago than I am staying here at home- it's 40 miles to the nearest hospital here, 96 miles to the hospital we go to, and in Chicago there's probably one every 5 miles. :)

Then, we just hung out at Kristen's until my defense at 2:00. We had a chase around Registration and Records this morning trying to get my degree check done. The guy I had to get to sign my papers was busy, so they sent me to another lady who, very snottily said, "Did you get an email saying you could come today?" I said, "um... no...." and she told me I had to go to the grad school because she couldn't help me. I told her I KNEW my papers are here, because my friend Erin saw them yesterday, and she said, "sorry." So I went over to the grad school and the lady said, "I sent them over yesterday!! I know I did, because I sent all of you music people, and I remember because you all did things wrong and I already chewed out your dept. head". So BACK to the other place I went and finally got to talk to the guy I was supposed to, and he said, "Yeah, I have them right here!" Sheesh. Got my work out, that's for sure.

My defense went well though. The professor I was worried about pretty much just kept his mouth shut and didn't make things hard for me. The special education professor on my committee was super nice (and it helped that she knows Jeffrey and LOVES him), and the other committee member said he learned a ton from my paper that he didn't know already. I have to change a few errors I made and just caught, and add a paragraph or two to my conclusion, but other than that, I passed! They all signed off on my form and I brought it to the grad school as soon as they signed it! So I'm officially done. That's so nice!!!!!

We're headed to Lingle tomorrow for the weekend. My friend Erin is throwing me a baby shower so I'm looking forward to that on Sunday. Our dogs will be super excited to learn that they get to go with us this weekend. When we went to Gillette last week, they had to stay in the kennel and they made sure to tell us how mad they were at us for leaving them when we got back. They LOVE going to Lingle. They have lots of room to run around and Craig and Lennie's dogs to "play" with.

29 weeks

Here we are, just 11 weeks away! Man, time flies. Here's a picture of my big belly. No stretch marks (yet, knock on wood) but some fine looking blue veins and some scratches from who knows what- probably my cat, who you can see in the background being totally lazy on the glider that will be going in the baby's room.

Still feeling pretty good. I get worn out really easily and don't have much lung capacity left. And getting comfortable? Forget it. Just sitting here, I'm feeling like all of my insides are being shoved up into my chest cavity. Not a comfortable feeling! The latest development for the week is cool though. Friday, we began being able to feel body parts in my belly! We don't know what they are, but we can assume from the position he was in at our last ultrasound. He sticks those little body parts out a lot too, making big lumps in my belly and really entertains us! If you push on the lumps, he either pushes back or moves real fast, it's pretty funny. Even just poking around my belly, you can feel parts. It's so cool. NOT cool when you're trying to sleep and it feels like he's running on his treadmill in there, but cool all the other times. :)

We spent last week at my mom and dad's house. It'll probably be the last time we get to go without a baby in our arms!! Soon, school will be starting (goodbye, summer!!) and football season will be in full swing, meaning our baby isn't too far away, either!

We have another doctor's appointment on Thursday morning to check on things and see if I get to go to Chicago or not. I don't know if we'll have another ultrasound though. I KNOW we will by week 32, because if the placenta hasn't moved by then, I'm on bedrest. I don't know if we'll have one this week though. I'm also (FINALLY) defending my paper on Thursday and then I can be done with this Master's degree. It seems like every time I turn around, there's another road block in the way. It will be good to have it done. Then on Friday, we'll head to Lingle for my baby shower on Sunday! I'm looking forward to that.

Our dog Birdie is deathly afraid of thunder. The only room in our house without a window is our guest bathroom so when she hears thunder, she heads back to the bathroom to hide. Here's a funny picture of her this afternoon. She was IN the bathtub for a while, but then must have thought the rug was more comfortable but she was still safe with the shower curtain over her. Dumb dog. :)

doctor's appointment yesterday

Good news and bad news- good news is we don't have to return any clothes, he's definitely a boy! Bad news is, my placenta is too low still and covering my cervix. If it doesn't move, I'll be scheduling a c-section. If it doesn't move by 32 weeks (I'm almost 28 now), I'll be on restrictions and not allowed to lift anything, do any housework (RATS! :) ) , walk to much, etc. because the placenta could detach and that would be life threatning to me and the baby. I asked what about Chicago since I'm going there at 32 weeks, and he scheduled me for another appointment in 2 weeks before I go and we'll talk about it. If I haven't had any health problems, no signs of contractions, no bleeding, etc., I can still go. IF I don't get to go, my sister Kristen will get my plane tickets changed to her name and she'll go in my place so Grandma G can meet Ryan. So either way, one of us will get to go! And for any of you reading this that hear Lennie talking about maybe not going if I'm not going, SHE IS GOING. You need to tell her that- she'll love Chicago so she still needs to go! Never mind the fact she already paid for her plane ticket! :)

We had the ultrasound this morning to check on the placenta but couldn't see much. He is turned towards my back so we got to see his butt and the back of his head. :) His head is up by my right ribs (so he's been PUNCHING my ribs this week!) and his feet are in my left lower area. He's diagonal right now. Much different from my last ultrasound where he was horizontal and his head was the thing on my left lower area! Didn't get to see his face though since he's turned the wrong way. Sill very wiggly though, Dr. Keeler had a hard time getting measurements on him because he wouldn't sit still long enough. :)

Yesterday afternoon after meeting with some of my professors to try to get this master's degree completed, we went and hung out with my sister and nephew for a while. Ryan is 3 weeks old already! He's filling out a little more. His preemie clothes now fit. :) I think Kristen said he's about 6 1/2 pounds now. He was a bit grumpy yesterday though. Amazing however, how Uncle Josh could hold him and Ryan would quit crying and fall asleep. Must be magic! Good to know though- our kid cries, he goes to Daddy. :)

oh, so tired.

Oh man, it's been forever since I updated this! I can't believe how busy I've been. I'm so exhausted. But it's all been for a good reason. I finished up my summer schooling today!! Our big final tests were this morning. I'm just waiting around now to hear from my committee chairperson so I can get my B paper bound and turned in and hopefully I can get that defended this week. I HAVE to get it defended by next Monday- my chairperson is leaving for Bulgaria on Tuesday! Hopefully he gets back to me soon so I can go home! I can't believe I'm finally done. Now I can spend the summers at home and not have to move away for a month or more! This summer was a bear- tough, tough. I'm glad it's over.

Some new developments in the baby world- the baby has now discovered that my bladder is not only a good pillow, but a good punching bag! That is the most uncomfortable feeling in the world, to feel like all of a sudden you are going to pee a little in your pants and you can't do anything about it! Not nice. Another development is the baby has found my ribs. Oh, the joys. I thought maybe after the first kick in the ribs, he'd figure out that it hurts and not do it anymore. Nope. He likes those ribs. He's definitely getting bigger- he's moving around ALL THE TIME (hardly EVER sits still- can you have ADHD in the womb? :) ) and it's spread out on my belly now. No longer am I just feeling him moving down low, but now up high and down low at the same time. We have another ultrasound on Thursday, so it will be fun to see what exactly is where so I know if it's him punching my ribs, kicking my ribs, or head butting my ribs. :)