WHOA BABY!

Today we had our 34 week prenatal, which included the standard Group B Strep test (results forthcoming). In addition to that fun, we were relieved to hear that I am not at all dilated yet. Then, in more interesting news, Baby James' heartrate was in the 150's and I measured on schedule with a fundal height of 34cm. The doctor was happy, and she called me perfect again, so I was happy. Jay and I asked a lot of questions about the delivery, and learned some things they didn't mention in our classes (or any of the books I've read). We love the fact that our doctor is very frank with her answers and explanations, and she doesn't leave anything to the imagination!

Whoa Belly! My belly continues to grow, yet somehow still defy gravity... Although everyone does tell me that I'm carrying low - of course, they've been saying that since week 28!! I'm feeling OK - still sleeping well, but I've been waking up with sore knees and hips. I always feel good during the day though, except when the little guy is kicking me in the ribs... Or when my sciatica acts up! Here I am this morning, at 34 weeks 4 days:Our classes, and thus our crazy January, have come to an end. Last week we had a doubleheader: the Infant CPR & Safety Class AND Childbirth Class #3. In the CPR class we learned the American Heart Association method for infants: 2 breaths, followed by 30 compressions at the rate of 100 per minute. Jay was a pro (due to all his years of lifeguard training), and the instructor called him out right away - I'm just glad he's so confident! Between the 1/3- to 1/2-depth chest compressions and the strong whacks on the back you're suppose to give a choking baby, I personally felt a little nervous. I certainly learned all the techniques, but I worry about doing them incorrectly (i.e. too delicately), should I ever find myself in the situation. Everyone says you remember though, even in the heat of the moment, so I'm trying to just trust myself. I'm really glad we had the training (or, a refresher in Jay's case), even though I hope we never need it... Childbirth Class #3 was the opposite of fun. It's the class where they tell you about all the potential interventions during labor and delivery: Pitocin, vacuum, forceps, C-sections, etc. AND then came the epidural information! For anyone out there who, like me, was unaware of the exact procedure for getting the epidural, let me break it down for you:

1) Daddy is required to leave the room because 9 out of 10 men faint at the sight of the needle
2) The needle really is THAT large
3) Mommy curls into the fetal position (out of fear, as much as for allowing spine accessibility)
4) Local anesthetic is applied to the area to reduce the pain of the giant needle
5) The giant needle is injected into Mommy's spine
6) It's not over (I was under the impression that the epidural was simply a big shot - it's not)
7) A catheter is placed, through the needle, into Mommy's spine (yes, a catheter)
8) The giant needle is removed, leaving the catheter behind to administer the medication
9) The catheter is taped to Mommy's back and hooked to a machine - Mommy is no longer allowed to move around, let alone leave the bed anymore (and that means a second catheter...)

So, I had been planning on having the epidural from the day I found out I was pregnant... Now, not so much. I hate needles (not that anyone likes them), and the idea of being bound to the bed for 10-20 hours makes me cringe. Not to mention, I'd really like to avoid Pitocin, which is much more likely to be administered following an epidural, since epidurals tend to slow labor. Then we'd have to deal with the loop-de-loop of drugs to find the right balance. And if the Pitocin isn't enough to keep labor moving along? Then you're at a higher risk for those other interventions I mentioned earlier (vacuum, forceps, or C-section). No thanks. We're now aiming for a natural, drug-free labor and delivery, while keeping the option of an epidural open if it becomes absolutely necessary (if it just REALLY hurts, or if I'm getting too exhausted - i.e. if labor ends up being really long). I've written a birth plan to state my wishes, but I'm calling it my "Birth Preferences", since I'm certainly willing to do whatever it takes to deliver Baby James safe and healthy!!

There was one fun part of the class though... we got to have a hospital tour to see the labor and delivery rooms, post-partum rooms, and the nursery. That's always Jay's favorite part - watching the new babies! We even bumped into someone we knew, a member of our church that was there to welcome his new granddaughter - she was a big girl (almost 9 lbs), and really cute - very pink and wiggly (Jay and I think it's funny that newborns seem to spend so much time stretching their fingers and toes and arms and legs - it really is adorable).

Then, tonight was our final childbirth class, and this was the really fun one! We learned all about caring for our newborn!! The instructor showed us everything that would be used on myself and the baby while in the hospital, and explained every standard procedure, including the APGAR test (where they score the baby a 0-10 based on heartrate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, relfex irritability, and color), baby's first bath, the vitamin K shot and hepatitis B vaccine, and the goop they put in the newborns' eyes. And we didn't even have to watch any videos! Then, to end the night (and the class series), she once again split the men into 4 teams and had them do a relay race of diapering, changing clothes, swaddling, and bottle feeding. And once again, Jay went first for his team. And once again, his team won (even though they had an extra person)! What a great note to end the class on! I'm really proud of him, and we both feel so much more ready for the arrival of our little lucky charm!!

SHOWERED AT WORK

Jay and I are feeling very lucky today... Our coworkers threw us an awesome baby shower! We had attendees from both of the branches we work in (for those who don't know, Jay and I work together, but we don't actually WORK together - we are on different teams, in different branches of the Environmental Lab), as well as some of the ladies that I play BUNKO with from the admin branch. There was a great turn-out and we received some really generous gifts: lots of adorable baby clothes and blankets (even some handmade items, including 2 blankets, a bib, and a nautical-themed set of picture frames for the nursery wall), some really cool toys (including a basket that was filled with bathtime fun items, all in the underwater theme), and some items from our registry that we were really hoping for (including the baby grooming and first-aid kits, the highchair, and the crib tent - to keep the cats off Baby James while he sleeps). We also had the opportunity to talk with other parents and get some advice, which we always appreciate. If we had only written down their cell phone numbers so we can call them at 3am with questions...

Here we are with the ultra-soft and cuddly teddy bear that Pam gave us:

And here is a small sampling of shower attendees, enjoying their cake:

The best part about the baby shower (other than the gifts, of course) was the lack of baby-themed games (hooray!) and the presence of TWO cakes (one vanilla, one chocolate - and yes, Jay and I had both - twice)! The Ahoy James cake was made by Cheryl, and the super-duper chocolate cake was made by Marilyn's mother. They were both delicious, and I'm happy to report that there is plenty left for us to eat cake all weekend if we choose to...

Now, I don't think I've mentioned it before, but there is something in the water here at the Environmental Lab... Jay and I are the 5th couple to be expecting a baby this year, with at least 3 more couples due after us! The newest addition was our youngest baby shower attendee, Dawn's adorable son Coltin (7 weeks old). He was a perfect little angel throughout the party. Check out his gorgeous hair:

By the end of the party, we had quite a haul of bags and boxes to tote to the car!

Thank you all for such a wonderful baby shower - we feel so spoiled!

OUR BAGS ARE PACKED!

Today we had our 32 week prenatal appointment and growth assessment ultrasound. Sweet Baby James is even bigger than his mommy thought - a whopping 4 pounds 10 ounces! (But I win - Jay thought he'd be 4 pounds 2 ounces, I guessed "at least 4.5 pounds") Remember how I mentioned in the 30 week post that I'm suppose to gain one pound per week this trimester? Well, half of that weight goes straight to the baby, so that means he'll gain at least another 4 pounds by his due date, if we go full-term. That would make him an 8.5-9 pound baby, the same as his daddy was (and something I've recently learned - babies birthweights can reliably be guessed based on their daddy's birth weights). Maybe I won't have to deal with a 9-pounder though... If I haven't mentioned it before, preemies run in both our families, so we're predicting an early birth. But we'll see... as Jay's grandmother told me, "When the apple is ripe, it'll fall from the tree." Just to be safe, we packed our bags over the weekend:

In other appointment news, Baby James' heartrate was around 140 bpm, and he measured in the 53rd percentile with his head circumference and femur length, which is exactly where they want him to be (not too big, not too small), so the doctor called him perfect! Yes, he is, isn't he? Jay received praise from the technician because he was sweet enough to mop up all my "belly jelly" after the sonogram, something apparently most husbands don't do. Not my guy, he's all about helping out! Good thing too, because it's getting hard for me to see under my belly! Also, my blood pressure was excellent, so I got a pretty good score today too. We're quite the happy family tonight!! As far as my belly, there isn't much difference in size or shape from my 30 week photo, although I do have more stretch marks now. Regardless, you know I have to show it off, so here I am this morning (at 32 weeks 4 days) on my way to work:

In other baby news, we attended our first and second Childbirth Classes over the past two Thursdays. The first class was mostly an introduction. We met the other participants, watched "The Video" (and let me tell you, it's NOT like what you see on TLC - we had to watch the delivery of the placenta, and it wasn't pleasant), and learned about all the 3rd trimester body changes I'm currently (or will shortly be) going through. Then, the instructor loaded a backpack with 27 pounds worth of food products (flour, sugar, beans, rice - the making of any great southern meal!) and invited the husbands to give it a try, to simulate what they're wives are going through. Jay was the first to take on the challenge (see the photo below - he's such a good sport)! When the second guy got up to take his turn, he didn't leave the backpack on for very long and everyone gave him a bad time. His response? "You ladies have had 7+ months to get use to carrying this weight!"

Tonight was the second Childbirth Class. We had our first quiz... Jay and I did pretty well on most of the questions, but we failed the membrane/amniotic sac rupturing review. We won't forget again though: COAT (which stands for Color, Odor, Amount, and Time) - all important "water breaking" info to record and tell your doctor. We watched another childbirth video, all about natural (drug-free) childbirth (which only 2 out of the 20 moms in the class plan to attempt, myself not being one of them - modern medicine is there to assist me!) It was similar to the first video, but less graphic, and more about learning techniques for coping with labor pain. Then we did the typical childbirth class routine of practicing massaging (I'm so lucky Jay is already good at this) and breathing techniques. We learned the "deep cleansing breath", "feather breathing", the "hee hee hoo's", and the pushing breath holds - each to be used during a different phase of labor (the first 3 during the first stage, though mostly during the active and transitional labor - then the last for the delivery). Finally, the instructor broke the husbands into 4 groups and had them come up with lists of all the things they can do to be helpful throughout labor. It was a competition, and Jay's group won, so they all got Lifesavers for being "our lifesaver" (see the picture below). The best part? One of the helpful and encouraging things Jay thought of for his group was bringing flowers to your wife after the delivery. How sweet is he? And yes, I'll hold him to it (and he knows it)! I highly recommend these types of classes for my other pregnant friends and family members - even if you can read it all in a book, there's just something to be said for doing it together with your spouse, and in person with an instructor - it's a real bonding experience, it makes you feel more secure in your abilities, and it's enjoyable - we've had a great time so far, and I sure loved the massage "practice"!

In between the Childbirth Classes, we had the Carseat Safety Class, which actually encompassed much more than just carseat safety. It was taught by a local fire and rescue worker, and she included useful information on smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, poison control, home safety, etc. And she helped us install the carseat for the first time! That was fun, since we had left the instructions at home... Luckily, they were also printed on the stickers that we had yet to remove from the shiny new carseat. And luckily, it was easy. Hooray for us! We're definitely feeling more "ready" for Baby James with every passing week. In addition to all the reading we're doing and classes we're taking (we have 3 more to go, including another two sessions of the Childbirth Class and the Infant Safety and CPR Class), the generosity of our family, friends, and coworkers is certainly helping to get us ready! We'd like to thank my Aunt & Uncle, and my cousins & their husbands, for the awesome swing, bouncer, and toys they recently sent. We love the glider that my parents special-ordered for us. My brother and sister-in-law sent a ship's wheel that's perfect on the wall, and John & Betsy gave us the cutest Pirate's Cove growth chart when we were home for Christmas, so the nursery is looking more and more decorated. Also, we had a great surprise from Kelly & Adam a couple weeks ago - two really neat educational baby toys! So, now that we finally have everything put together and hung up, we thought we'd post some photos (below). Also, a quick shout-out to Jim & Kristy, and Elizabeth & Philip for the excellent array of hand-me-downs they've recently provided! Baby James is very lucky - he'll have clean clothes even if we skip laundry for a whole month!

In our room, we set up the cool play-yard that Jean bought us (it has a nightlight, music, and vibration feature, and a mobile and changing station, which we've left off for now, for ease in getting a newborn in and out of it!) We're planning to use it as a bassinet for the first few months, until Baby James out-grows it and moves into his crib. Until then, the cats have been taking turns testing it out (we'll have to get that crib tent soon, and hope that it fits the play-yard too)! Then, this piece of baby gear will be used as a portable crib for when we travel. Here it is, next to my nightstand and under one of the gorgeous new photos Jay gave me for Christmas (a close-up of a plumeria tree at the resort we stayed at on Maui last May):

Thanks for reading, and please keep Baby James in your prayers. Send him good thoughts to stay "cooking in the oven" for at least another 4 weeks or so - we don't want him to show up too soon! I'll end this post with one more photo of our little man, smiling big!

WINTER BIRDS

Although temps are still in the upper 60s/70s, our winter birds have arrived! For the past week we've been enjoying the goldfinches on the thistle feeder, then this weekend, the juncos showed up and we noticed the leatherleaf mahonia blooming and covered with bees (and yes, we know it's nonnative, but we didn't plant it, and it smells sooo good).

HAPPY 2009!

Happy New Year! We hope you all had fun celebrating last night and are starting 2009 off right today! We had a quiet evening... we knew there was no way I'd be able to stay awake until midnight anyway (although I did last until almost 11:30pm), so we skipped the local party and celebrated at home. Jay made delicious steaks for dinner (using his new meat turner, an E-Z Hook straight from Alaska, a Christmas present from Jean), we set off some fireworks (and yes, the baby kicked every time a loud one went off), blew up the air mattress and set it right in front of the fireplace (the cats absolutely LOVED it - and by the way Stephen, the wedge pillow was a perfect addition to the set up), watched some of our DVR shows, and ate yummy DOVE ice cream. It was a great night!

30 WEEKS AND GROWING

Today was my 30 week appointment, so here I am tonight at 30 weeks 3 days:

Baby James is growing fast these days, and consequently, so am I! Jay has even noticed a few tiny stretch marks on my lower belly... I was hoping I wouldn't get them, since I'd made it so far without them, but I'm really not all that surprised. They say that if you are prone to stretch marks, no amount of cocoa butter will prevent them during pregnancy. Oh well... it still feels nice to have Jay rub my belly at night!

Even though I'm starting to feel uncomfortable carrying the weight of this belly around (greater occurrences of sciatic and lower back pain), I'm still loving this pregnancy. Feeling Baby James kick and punch constantly is just amazing (though he does take little naps throughout the day when I don't feel him move much for 30-45 minutes), and he's getting big enough that I can feel him pushing on me whenever he changes position. Today was the first day that I noticed myself having a lopsided belly (the baby's booty was definitely over on my left side). I couldn't resist walking down to Jay's office to show him, and he noticed immediately. It was strange to feel how hard the left side of my belly was, while my right side felt empty and squishy! Baby James has also been pushing on the inside of my belly button a lot lately, which is actually not that fun a feeling... it tickles in that nerve-tingling way. And I've been finding it hard to fall asleep on my left side (like I'm supposed to) these days because my bedtime is Baby James' most active time of day/night, and for some reason, he kicks less when I lay on my right side... and it's hard to fall asleep when it feels like someone is playing the drums inside your belly!

As far as the appointment goes, my blood pressure was good and my weight gain was "perfect" (I'm allowed to gain a pound a week at this point, and I managed to stay within my limit, even with all the calorie-splurging at Christmas). Who doesn't love it when the doctor calls them perfect? Then I told her about the one small bleeding episode I had right before Christmas and she sent me straight down to sonogram to get checked out... (Don't worry, I had called the nurse after it happened and she wasn't concerned enough to send me to the ER). The technician measured the amniotic fluid levels (perfect) and checked the placenta (perfect). Then she showed me his "breathing movements" - I could see his little chest rising and falling, and it was really cool! She said that you don't normally see such strong movements at this stage, so she was really impressed and thinks we have a very strong little boy in there!! And he's still positioned head down, and probably will be for the duration, which is good news.

Even though Baby James had been doing jumping jacks (or maybe he was dancing) for 15 minutes while I had been waiting to see the doctor originally, he had fallen asleep by the time I went into sonogram. His sleeping heartrate was 130bpm. His face looks even fuller now than it did 2 weeks ago though, and we did get to see him yawn really big twice (it is SO cute when he does that)! Here's a pretty good view of his sweet face:

Also, the technician showed me his hair in the 2D view (something we didn't see 2 weeks ago, but which is readily apparent now - it's that "fuzzy" stuff she's pointing at on the back of his head) - I guess we won't be having a bald baby after all!

Finally, to round out this blog post, here is some information from BabyCenter.com:

At 30 weeks gestation the baby is almost 16 inches long and 3 pounds! (We'll get a more accurate measurement at our 32 week appointment though, when they do the growth assessment ultrasound and guess what the full-term birth weight will be). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds the baby, but the volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. His eyesight is continuing to develop, but even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for most of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light, but will have 20/400 vision, which means he'll only be able to make out objects a few inches from his face. Jay and I are both definitely thinking less about the pregnancy these days and more about what it will be like once Sweet Baby James is out here in the world with us... less than 10 weeks to go now!

CHRISTMAS WEEK AT THE BEACH

Christmas week with the Lindsays, in captions...

All of us at church after Christmas Eve service

Jude on the porch with Jean's blooming poinsettia in the background

The tree on Christmas morning, after Santa stopped by

Jay moves at lightening speed when he finds a package from Best Buy...

Jay's Jetta gets it's first bath in the Florida heat (temps in the upper 70's all week!)

What's a trip to Florida without visiting the beach?

Jude and Mouton are happy to be home, tired from a great week in Florida!

WADDELL FAMILY CHRISTMAS - 2008 EDITION

Another family reunion has come and gone... the weekends we have together always go so fast! This year, we were back at Jekyll Island, Georgia and almost everyone was there (we really missed Jason, Amy, & Finn, and the overseas Kirkpatricks). There were even 7 animals in attendance... Kyle's Great Pyrenees, Mouton & Jude, and 4 of the baby corn snakes! Here are the kittens in Jay's new car on the way to Georgia (sometimes they are actually quite sweet to each other):

This is Kyle's dog, Marley, getting some love from Jamie:

We went over to Stephen and Heather's campsite Friday night for some fresh air and atmosphere. Here are Jay, MacKenzie, and Heather enjoying the campfire (with Uncle Gerald & Uncle Doug in the background):

We started off Saturday morning at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, where they have a museum, gift shop, and rehabilitation center. Here are Jay, Jamie, and Jean out front:This is one of the 8 sea turtles currently under the care of the staff, with his entire medical history available for viewing:After watching the sea turtles, we went over to the shops to look at Christmas ornaments and eat ice cream, where we ran into pretty much all the family that hadn't left the island for the day. Here are Wyatt and Jay (and yes, Wyatt climbed up there all by himself):Next, we went to the driftwood beach to take some family photos and do some exploring:

From left to right, we have Marv, Jill, Julia, MacKenzie, Stephen, Wyatt, Jean, Denise, Jay, and Marvin up top, with Heather, Grandmother, and Aunt Sara below:

While we were waiting for dinner that night (delicious BBQ chicken prepared by Uncle Doug & Uncle Marvin), Wyatt kept us entertained by climbing all over Jay (that's a big smile from Grandmother, eh?):

After dinner was the present exchange. Jay and I played Santa this year and passed the gifts out no more than two at a time, so that everyone could see what everyone else was getting. Here are Jamie and the kids patiently waiting for the first gift to be handed out:I bought Wyatt a set of night-vision hearing-enhancing glasses from National Geographic:When the presents were finished, the annual wrapping paper war began. I managed to stay out of the fray most of the time (although Baby James did take a couple of hits - though you can't blame the kids for aiming at such a big target!), but Jay spent a good half hour wrestling with the kids (he loved it, of course):To wrap up the evening, we all took turns working on a 1000-piece puzzle (another Waddell Family Christmas tradition). This year was a Thomas Kincade puzzle that was really difficult. I heard it was half-finished around 1:00am when everyone finally gave up. Here are Karen and Kate hard at work:And the next morning was already time to go home... Here are those of us that didn't get on the road until well after check-out time, hanging out around the trucks (I've noticed this to be a common activity in the south):Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Waddells! We love you!!

MORE FROM JEKYLL

I couldn't resist posting a few of the photos that Jill took at Jekyll Island...

Here I am with my flower girl, MacKenzie, 5 years later - we've both changed a bit!

Then there is Jean, Jay, and I at Driftwood Beach

This is the beautiful baby blanket that Aunt Sara made us (yeah, you can see my belly poking through...)

And here are Aunt Beverly and Jean feeling Baby James kick as I read the book Aunt Beverly gave me for Christmas (pardon the silly expression on my face)

And finally, just for fun, here are a few Christmas bellies!