We met with Susan only to learn she was having an unusual day.  She threw her back out in the morning and had sent two patients directly to the hospital, which apparently never happens.  As we got into our visit Susan expressed concern that I had gained more weight then usual and she noticed I was pretty swollen.  Actually, my feet were having a good day, but were swollen none the less.  I also shared with her my concern because two diferent days this week I started seeing spots and had to lay down.  She checked my vitals and found my blood pressure was elevated.  Laughing, she said, “I can’t believe this, but you have to go to the hospital for monitoring.”  Well three is a charm and I was her third.  Mine was not an emergency though, she just wanted to make sure I don’t have pre-eclampsia, since at that moment I was showing a few symptoms for it.

Before I left I had to do my strep test.  The test involves, well let’s just say they aren’t checking your throat for strep (huh hem).  It was just Susan and I in the exam room and just when she leaned over to collect the sample, her  back froze.  So, there we were, my midwife and I, on a very unusual day, laughing about having to call the nurse in to find Susan leaning over, totally stuck, with a que tip in my my, well you know.  It was a bonding moment for us, to say the least.

After the clinic it was a visit to the lab, peeing in yet another cup and finally to the hospital.

That’s me all hooked up checking things out.  It was about two hours of monitoring before my blood tests came back.  My blood pressure was totally normal the entire time, my pee test and blood test came back normal, and that means no pre-eclampsia!!  Yay!  I am thinking that my BP might have been high at the visit b/c they took it right after the lady was taken out on the gurney.  It was quit unnerving.

This is a shot of the monitor, showing off my awesome blood pressure and our little guys fabulous heart beat.  The best thing about the monitoring was we found out Nolan’s heart rate is textbook perfect.  The doctor said they couldn’t have asked for better!  I also learned that I had several contractions while on the monitor.  They were so small I didn’t even know.  The nurse and doctors had to tell me.  That means I am definitely not in labor, which I already knew.  But it is good because it means I am having practice labor and things are cooking in there!

As a routine, I have to go back on Saturday and do the whole thing over again to really make sure.  I think I made them nervous with that whole seeing spots thing.  Well seeing spots hasn’t been pleasant for me either.   Dave is out of town at men’s retreat this weekend, so my good friend and Doula Lynette is going to keep me company at the hospital.  I’ll keep you posted, but I’m planning on it being very uneventful, even less then yesterday.

My job description will have to be flexible for now and at any point it can include a nap.  After all, I am 37 weeks pregnant.  Once Nolan comes, I don’t even know what I am going to get done the first few weeks and I am totally fine with that.  Once we get used to him being here though, I have a certain idea of how I’d like to keep the apartment and what things I’ll be responsible for around here.

Less then three weeks until my due date and at this point I am technically full term, so I guess I might go into labor at any time.  I’m not counting on that though.  I have a pretty packed couple of weeks and if they are interrupted by Nolan’s birth great!

Today I spent the day with my friend Oti in downtown LA in the fabric district.  For $7 I got enough fabric for Nolan’s halloween costume and to make a slipcover for our glider.  I am so inspired with all the things I can make myself after today.  Oti is a great person to go with because she is so creative.  (Sidenote: Oti is yet another friend that is pregnant / due Oct. 15th.  I am not kidding when I tell you there is something in the water around here!).  We ended our adventure with a visit to Babycakes NYC, a bakery that makes “Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (mostly) Sugar-Free” goodies.  They have a cookbook by the same name, if you are interested in gluten-free baking.  So far I’ve only tried the chocolate chip cookies, but they are awesome!!

The very next morning several of my friends threw a brunch shower.  It was amazing!  There were six hostesses, which in an of itself makes me feel very blessed!  The decorations were so cute and I was just blown away by everyone’s generosity.  We have almost everything we need now.  Before last week, we did not have much.

Special mention should be made to Dave’s production team.  Dave works for our church, Oasis Church, in Los Angeles, as the production supervisor.  He oversees a team of about 20-25 volunteer editors, producers, directors, and writers.  Together they create all original content for the church.  By that I mean video content.  Well, this amazing group of volunteers pulled together and got us our pack n’ play, changing table, hamper, bottle drying rack, and travel bed.  When I saw everything they had gotten for us, I cried.  Thanks to them!

Now Pictures:

Hostesses (minus Oti) Sam, Lynette, Alice, Brooke, and Pam

Robyn and Charissa

Sarah-Gayle, Jenni, and Katherine

Lauren, Linda, Christina, and Nneka

All the preggos present/Katie (due just b/f me 9/20), Charissa (delivered 8/23), Sarah-Gayle (delivered this AM, 8/30), Michelle (due January with twins!)

Alice, Sam, Brooke, Pam, and little Jacob (aka Bubba)

Next to the drinks (Pam made "mom-mosas" with sparkling cider instead of champagne)

game: Guess the belly size... 42" BTW (wow!)

Pin the Pacifier on the Baby (Brooke)

Pin the Pacifier on the Baby (Saleena)

Pin the Pacifier on the Baby (Jenn)

Pin the Pacifier on the Baby (Charissa)

Praying for Nolan, Dave, and I

I realize my belly looks big and people are probably just trying to connect with me by acknowledging my pregnancy.  However, it does not bless me to constantly be reminded how big I am.  In just one week I will be full term (37 weeks).  From that point on, I could technically deliver at any time.  BUT, I don’t want to start thinking Nolan will be here in a week.  I have seen this before with friends.  They were just sure that they would deliver early and it made the last several weeks of pregnancy frustrating.  In fact, both friends that I’m thinking of, ended up delivering late.  Statistically speaking, since this is my first baby, it is more likely I will be late.

So, I am going to plan on Nolan coming at or past his due date.  I have another month of pregnancy and I am going to keep reminding people of that.  If he does come early, all the better!

On a happy side note, only three days of work left and then I have GOT to organize and prepare Nolan’s room!  I can’t wait!

Ironically, my friend sent me this article today about why our Estimated Due Date (EDD) is hardly ever correct.

Check it out:  Due Date Article

One morning Dave had jury duty.  He had to leave early that morning and  I just went about my usual morning routine.  At no point did I think about the fact that Dave makes us breakfast every morning.  I walked out of the house without any breakfast at all, just forgot.

All that to say I don’t know what I would do without him.  What is even more amazing is how patient he’s been through it all.  I never hear him complain, he just takes on more responsibilities and supports me.  You might say, “but your pregnant and he knows that.”  True, but it is still taxing to adjust your every day life to accommodate a less mobile, much larger, and more tired wife.  Life’s different and I think we’re both looking forward to both the arrival of Nolan and the return of my activity level.

In honor of that fantastic man I married, I have written him a somewhat elementary poem.  Hope you like it sweety!

Dave you are a fantastic hubby
You always remind me I’m not getting chubby
You make me breakfast and rub my back
And  pick up a lot of my household slack

You’re patient with my decreased libido
And tell me I’m pretty with my big belly ::pause:: o
I’m just getting worse, don’t know what to do
So I wrote this rhyme, to make it up to you!!

Love you

I always prefer when my appointments are uneventful.  This morning’s appointment was not.  Before I can tell you about it, you’ll need to know I am a little weird about health care.  So is my midwife, Susan, which makes us a great match!  Since I was about 15 weeks pregnant, she’s been giving me acupuncture treatments along with my prenatal visits.  This has been my first experience with acupuncture and so far it has been fantastic!  I was getting headaches everyday at that time and since starting treatments I haven’t had any problems.

This morning was going along like any other appointment.  Except that right when she finished putting the needles in, I started getting really groggy.  It felt like she had drugged me.  I couldn’t keep my eyes open, my head felt weak, and I was starting to fall asleep while Susan was still talking to me. She thought it was the fatigue from my cold along with all the movement from the needles, but she stayed with me a few minutes just to be sure.  After less then a minute I got clammy all over and  I was about to pass out.

Susan promptly propped me up to an almost 90 degree angle and started moving the baby around rather abruptly.  She said it was to move the blood flow up from my uterus, where it had likely settled.  It was weird, I could really feel her lifting and moving Nolan around.  I immediately felt myself cooling down and thought I would be able to finish the acupuncture treatment.  I made it about ten minutes until it was clear I shouldn’t finish.  I started seeing spots and was about to pass out…again.

At that point my blood pressure had dropped so low, I was half asleep and Susan had to let me lay down in the exam room for 45 minutes, on my left side, until my my blood pressure increased.  All in, it took almost two hours for me to finish the appointment, most of which was spent sleeping off my treatment.  Apparently I have to receive treatments on my left side from now on.  Even though I was propped up, Susan thinks I am just too far along to be on my back, even that much.

It wasn’t all bad though.  The highlights; Nolan’s doing great, the cold shouldn’t impact him, and I listened to his little heart pumping away!

Of course, my biggest concern is that my son doesn’t get any infection.  That might be irrational, but I can’t help it.  I just want to be healthy, gestate, and give this kid a great start in life!  So far Nolan seems just fine, he moves as much as ever.  I have an appointment tomorrow, so my midwife will be able to tell me, hopefully, that Nolan is doing great, despite my illness.

It’s not fun being this pregnant and sick.  It’s difficult to get comfortable while napping.  I’m constantly blowing my nose.  And, I’ve had to take special provisions because, whether I feel like I have to go or not, whenever I sneeze, I pee a little.  So, my nose is raw, I’m exhausted, and I’m running low on clean underwear.  Ugh!

On that note, it’s time for me to get back to the bed and try to get better…

G’ night.

In the next few weeks…

Jill is due at the end of August, Charissa Sept. 1st, Sarah-Gayle Sept. 7th, Katie Sept. 20th, Me Sept. 25th, Oti mid Oct.   That is not to mention two friends, each having twins in December and another baby due in February.  PLUS, Dave’s brother and his wife are expecting their first baby at the end of Oct.

This means Nolan will have lots of friends to grow up with and we have lots of couples to navigate parenthood with.  We are so thrilled to experience this season with everyone and feel really blessed for our amazing support system!

In other news, I was blessed by my amazing coworkers who threw a surprise baby shower for me!  They tricked me by saying we had a special training one Friday afternoon, which I was not looking forward to.  I was pleasantly surprised to walk in on a baby shower instead!  I was blown away by the generosity, even from people outside of my department.  Nolan got a lot of great clothes!  Here are some pics of the event:

The Room

The Cake

Career Services Department Pic. These are the women I spend my Mon-Fri with.

Silly pic of my department (minus boss La Shon)