"January" Babies

I am a member of a forum where a bunch of ladies who are due in January get together and chat. Well it amazes me that 3 ladies have already had thier "January" babies. The first was pregnant with twins, she has been in the hospital so she knew she would have them early. Unfortunately only one survived. The second lady had an unexpected still birth... The third lady is actually someone I talk to on a regular basis, which makes it seem more real. She went in for an ultrasound because her baby was small and they found out she had HELLP and pre-eclampsia. Her baby had to be delivered right then and there! He is healthy but in the NICU. It is definitely too early for "January" babies to be born.

It gets me thinking these ladies never expected to have thier January babies in October. I am sure there will be more births in November - so really it could be ANY time. Now, I want Audrey to "cook" for a while more (like 2 months) but you really never know whats in store for you and your baby!

Today I choose to be.......

“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.”

Some days are good. Life is "perfect"; things work go smoothly. Some days are...well NOT. Every day we make a choice to let our circimstances control us or to control our attitude. Personally, I find it easier to control myself than to stand in the rain.

Life is not perfect. Things that are not planned happen. Money was, is, and always will be a problem unless of course you are one of the "lucky" ones. Should I dwell on all that could happen and what is going wrong? Or should I focus on what could be and the solutions?

So today, in spite of it all, I choose to be happy. My biggest dream is coming true. I have 69 days left until I meet my daughter. Things aren't perfect, but they never will be. So, I choose to be happy!

30 weeks!

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face.


30 weeks seems like a milestone to me! WOW 30 weeks pregnant! Only 7 weeks until I am considered full term... Only 10 until due date... Now more than 12 weeks and I will have a baby...

Though I have been pregnant for 30 weeks and so far have been healthy with no problems my worrying never ceases. I have hardley felt anything as far as kicks and stuff all weekend and all day yesterday. I still feel a couple a day, but it has really decreased. I know she is getting to the point where she is so big I wont feel the kicks as much as I should feel the rolls, but I hardly felt the kicks so I dont know if I will even feel the rolling around. Oh well. If I get a least a kick each time after I eat I will have to try not to worry.

I just keep thinking I made it 30 weeks - 10 to go isn't so bad LOL

The start of another week

Well this weekend was very.... boring LOL Jason and I know we need to start saving money so our many weekend of stuff has come to an end... We were going to go on a haunted hayride on Saturday with my dad but the line was so long we did not want to wait. So basically we just hung out at the house all weekend.

I cannot believe there are just about 10 weeks left of this pregnancy. I know it could be as much as 12, and I am hoping it will only be 9 But still that is not alot! I am getting excited.

A morning surprise

So yesterday, unknown to everyone, I was having a bad day... Nothing happened to cause it... (On another note it amazes how much pregnancy can mess with your state of mind!) I was just not happy. Jason was working 2-12 so I couldn't talk to him. And it just seemed everyone was busy so I was just feeling down. I went to bed early and awoke this morning in a better mood, but it got even better when I went down to me car and found this!

Jason stopped by after work so I would wake up to this lovely surprise on my windshield! He really is wonderful!

Do I really have to work today?

It is going to be so nice out! I would just love to have the day off, but instead I am really busy today. Hardley anytime to blog. actually I have been so busy I haven't even felt Audrey yet today! I hate when I don't feel her....

29 weeks!

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

I hate milk, but good thing I had cereal and yogurt for breakfast!


I am getting to a "slow" point in my pregnancy. I have no exciting milestones coming up for a month. I can't do anymore baby shopping - #1 because I have 2 showers coming up & #2 I need to save money for Christmas shopping. I still cannot set up the baby room yet. I suppose if I still do not feel her kick all the time by now it won't get anymore frequent. But Soon will come Thanksgiving, then both my showers, then it will be Christmas time. Soon after Christmas Audrey will make her appearance. I am sure time will go faster than I think. This month since I do not have a lot to do I am working on my scrapbooking. I am trying to get all my pictures done so when she is born I can start there instead of being YEARS behind like I am now LOL. I actually got 16 pages done last night! Ya I was on a roll! I scrapbooked for 4 hours. I can never do anything for hours - Oh my. It was nice though.



There are a couple of my pages. Ok so I know I don't do traditional scrapbooking - more like collaging, but I like it!

Super Secret Date Night SUCCESS

LOL We had an excellent time Saturday night. I took Jason to the Riverside Inn in Cambridge Springs. We saw a Medieval Dinner Show. It was so funny and Dinner was served without utensils! First Course : Beef Stew (not broth lol acutually stew - no spoons) Salad with dressing no forks and bread. Not individual rolls LOL a big loaf of bread thrown at your table to break apart! Second corse each person was given a whole stuffed rotissere chicken and BBQ spare ribs (The server/actor just plopped a whole chicken on the board (not plate) in front of you! White shirt = splattered with grease mess) Dessert: apples, cheese, and Strawberry shortcake! Yes that was not easy to eat! But it sure was a great time. The show was almost 4 hours long. I wish I had booked a room too we got home at midnight.

Audrey liked the show too LOL Everytime I am at a place with lots of loud music she never stops moving. I felt her more that night than my entire pregnancy combined I think! It was pretty awesome. (Ok maybe she doesnt like the loud music, but I am pretending she likes it so there LOL)

That was all really for the weekend adventure. We did chores, ran errands, watched movies... nothing exciting

Hopefully sometime I will be able to get back there to see another show!

Its Friday!

So I dont normally update on Fridays but Bob is off and I am not running around like crazy. I cheated and wore jeans to work today. I only have 2 pair of maternity pants and 1 of those pairs do not fit well. Some person had to make a smart comment like she is my manager or something! That made me mad. You try being 7 months pregnant, have no washer and dryer at your house and have 1 pair of pants that fit! Anyway I finally slept well last night. So that was nice to be rested. Tomorrow I have to try to get my laundry done, and then we go on our "super secret" date night. I love planning surprises, I am already trying to work on a surprise for April.

Well I probably will not be able to post tomorrow, but I am close enough.. I have been pregnant for 199 days! Almost 200!!! WOW that seems like a long time. I still vividly remember the day I found out. 0430 in the morning - it was the first time I was excited to wake up. I had bought the test the night before, but wanted to follow the instructions and not use it til morning. What I remember most was not having anyone to tell... Things were different back then, and everyone knows she was a surprise baby. I wanted confirmation from a Dr before I told Jason and I had to tell him first! So there I was keeping the biggest secret of my life... It didn't last long LOL I told him 2 days later before I got Dr results, but still... It has been quite a journey, but I am ready for this and I am so very happy & excited!

Strange Dreams

Throughout my first trimester I had strange vivid dreams... Well THEY'RE BAAAACK!!!

Last night I had 2 crazy dreams. My first sleep 10pm - 1AM: I forget most of the dream but somehow I drove my car into my dad's house and ruined my car and his house... It was so strange and I remembered the whole thing at 1 when I woke up but I fell back asleep at 3 and dreamed again so I forgot it...

My second sleep 3AM-6AM: I can remember this dream vividly. I was in my house still 7 months pregnant and Jason was there and I could feel the baby perfectly while it was in my belly. I told Jason to feel the baby and I sneezed and POP I had the baby! Well she was perfectly healthy which was confusing but I said we better take her to the hospital. So we left but we kept making stops along the way. We stopped to eat breakfast and FORGOT THE BABY IN THE CAR!!! Then I remembered her and came back out and she was fine not even crying LOL so we headed back to the hospital and somehow ended up in ERIE. We got out of the car to do stuff again and forgot the baby again!!! OH MY what crazy pregnant dreams I have! LOL I woke up soon after that. It was the first time I clearly "saw" her face though. I wonder if she will look anything like the baby I dreamed of.

I know I am weird - its ok though ;P

Is it me or is it work???

I feel stressed and overwhlemed and not like blogging

So I can't today

28 Weeks!

Well there are conflicting sources about when the third trimester begins, but there is NO source that says it begins after today. SO YAY I am officially in my third trimester! By this week the baby measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world. She weighs almost 3 lbs.

I had my Dr. Appt yesterday and it was way more interesting than normal. I am glad Jason came to an "exciting" one LOL. First off I passed my glucose test with flying colors, so no need to worry about gestational diabetes. My blood pressure is very goos 122 over 60. so no signs of preclamsia... The baby's heart rate was in the 150's up from the 130's but I gave in and had a cappucino in the morning so that could be the cause LOL oops... My weight... well we won't go there UGH all my dieting and hard work is being "taken away"... For good cause I guess

Now on the the Q&A part of the appointment. Dr asked, "So are you feeling the baby all the time." No I say that is actually my question. I hardly feel her at all. I feel her everyday, but only 5 or so times. I can lay down for an hour or two and try to feel her and feel nothing.

Well that conserned him so he wanted to put me on the fetal monitor for a while. I go in this back room and lay down and they put the monitor on me and tell me press the button when you feel a kick. So I am laying there and I feel nothing, but I hear thumps and bumps. The nurse walks back in and I say are those noises kicks - she says yes. I say well I dont feel them. She says OK well press the button when you hear them then. So I press the button when I hear a kick. The Dr walks in, talks about sending me to the hospital for more tests because the baby's heart rate won't accelerate when she is stimulated. He then "manipulates" the baby with his hands...
(SIDE NOTE I have no idea how he can feel her in there LOL my stomach just feel like a stomach to me HAHA) Anyway she starts kicking again. He says there she goes. Do you feel that. I say NO. Then she gives an extra hard kick... Oh I felt that a little I say. Well I guess those are the strong ones that normally "hurt" other women and I barely feel them.

Anyway he looks over my chart and says my placenta is in the front so that cushions the kicks a little, but I should feel them. OH well everything is good I guess I am just not sensative... Maybe my contractions wont hurt too bad (YEAH RIGHT!!!!)

Then the most confusing part... He tells me this test is good for a week so if I am not feeling her more in a week call back to get monitored again. Ok should I call when I know she is kicking I just dont feel it?? I guess I will figure that out in a week.

But she is growing well. I am healthy. Her heart beat is strong. I am just not sensative and dont feel many kicks. Even today and I have been awake almost 3 hours I have only felt one things that feels sort of like a kick.

Its Monday, but a good Monday

Today I have a Dr, Appt. I am so excited (for once!) because it is the first appointment Jason will be coming to. He will get to hear Audrey's heartbeat for the first time. And I love seeing him fall more in love with his daughter every day! We are (hopefully LOL) going to have an enjoyable day. We plan on making it a date day. I am hoping to go to IKEA after the appointment and then we are going out to lunch somewhere. This afternoon we are going to a movie. So it will be nice. I will update tomorrow with the details!

See you soon Jason LOVE YOU!!!

Going Home Outfit

I have decided on a going home outfit!



Does it look familiar? Yes I have this outfit in size 0-3 months but everytime I went shopping for a going home outfit my mind came back to this. Yes, Audrey will probably hate bunnies when she is older, but for now she is still our bunny. And to me this is just the perfect outfit. The hospital will take pictures of her and this is the outfit I adore!

What's in a name?

For us naming our child was not very difficult. Jason and I bth like the same things. Something traditional but not common. No odd spellings, no odd sounds, just simple and nice. We bought a name book, but we did not really use it. We threw around ideas and agreed upon Audrey. The middle name was an easy choice. Jean is the middle name of both out mothers - there was no question we were naming our girl Audrey Jean.

I never imagined I would give my daughter the middle name Jean. (Apologies to both moms) It is not a name I was "in love" with. It is plain to me. In the past as I thought about middle names I used to want to use the name Faith because I knew if I had a child it was only of God and I had faith that he would give me a child. When we named our daughter, Faith did not enter my mind. Jean was a given...

A few weeks ago I decided to look up the meaning of the name Audrey. Audrey means "Noble Strength". I like that. I hope our daughter will have noble strength; I am sure she will. However, it never occurred to me to look up the meaning of Jean. Jean was a given, and the meaning was that she would be named after her grandmothers.

Well today I looked up Jean and the meaning is far more appropriate than I ever imagined. Jean means "God is Gracious". If I had known Jean meant "God is gracious" it would have been way HIGHER on my prority list, and without ever knowing it had the perfect meaning it was the name that was chosen.

I do feel that it was purely God's grace that gave me this child. I wanted a child for so long and I had lost most hope of ever having one. And yet He gave me a child when I least expected it, when all the odds were against my having one. God is gracious and I am proud she will carry a name that will reflect that meaning.

Time is going to fly!

I am so excited to meet Audrey :D And I know I am giong to be busy the next few months until she comes.

The rest of October is pretty full - We are going to a fall festival, having a bonfire, Going to a corn maze, going on a "Super Secret Date Night", possibly a football game, a haunted hayride, and MAYBE if we can squeeze it in Jason and I want a night to watch movies and carve pumpkins...

Novemeber isnt really planned yet, but I will have Dr's appointents every 2 weeks, I want to take Yolanda and the kids to the Carnegie Science Center, there is Thanksgiving, and there is a festival in Harmony I really want to go to...

Then comes December! I am hoping she will be born in December LOL. She will be considered FULL TERM on December 15. With December comes the VERY busy time at Fedex. I think I will be having a baby shower sometime this month. It will be Christmas time. I unfortunately am not going to be able to do much shopping this year, but I will do some. I want to make it to Kraynaks one weekend.

AND sometime in the next 3 months I must clean and organize my room to get ready to have a baby in there. Right now I have a pile of baby stuff in the corner that I have to find some place to put it. I have to get the crib that my Aunt & Uncle are lending me. Basically I just need to get my apartment ready...

SHE WILL BE HERE BEFORE I KNOW IT!

27 weeks!

Your baby is as hefty as a head of cauliflower, weighing in at almost 2 pounds. (Length: about 14 1/2 inches.)She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now.

ACtually Audrey weighs 2 lbs 6 oz today. I had my ultrasound she is developmentally "perfect" the tech said. She is growing at the right rate. My fluid levels were great. Her heart rate was 135. And she is definately a she... No mistaking that LOL
On another note, she is stubborn as always She wouldnt show her face so I couldn't get any picture and no 3d images. It makes me kind of sad because I have been waiting for a 3d of her face and that was my last ultrasound. But I am happy she is healthy.

I also had the glucose screening test. It was SO not a big deal. The drink tasted like uncarbonated orange pop. To me pop is even sweeter than the drink so it wasnt bad at all. I will get the results next week

Ultrasound tomorrow

I like ultrasounds. First of all they are not at the Dr's LOL so I do not have to be annoyed by a Dr before the FUN :) and Second I get to see my little girl again! It is so cool to know there is a little person inside me. She is getting so big so it will be neat to see her in more detail. I am really hoping for 3D but I wont know if I get it until it happens... And dont worry Jason I will have them check for amphibians or reptiles ;p

I had a good weekend. Spent Friday with my friend Yolanda. Saturday Jason and I went down to Pittsburgh for dinner that was nice. Sunday we just chilled at home and watched movies. It was relaxing.

Oh and I also have the Gluscose test tomorrow, results will be given to me on the 12th!

OH my aching back LOL

I hate being a whiner, but wow my back hurts. It was so weird last night... I could feel the baby laying real low and it was really pulling on my back. I know she is only a little over 2 lbs, so it is weird that I feel her weight pulling on my back. Well, my back hurt pretty much all day and all night. I woke up at about midnight and was pushing on my belly and then I felt the first roll! It was crazy I felt her move up from sitting down so low and instantly my back stopped hurting. So I am glad and hopefully she wont move down there for a little bit so I can enjoy the weekend LOL