The View from Up Here

I took the picture above last week before heading to the gym. At that point we were 38 weeks. Today, we're at 39 and Jackson is the size of a watermelon. Moving around has gotten much harder but I'm still managing to walk or go to the gym and do the elliptical at least three to four days a week. I keep hoping that one of these days it will make me go into labor but so far, not so good. I've also been eating pineapple and eggplant for two weeks but still nothing!

I know what you're going to say, 'he'll come when he's ready', but seriously, I am ready! What about me?! I know, I know, it's not going to be about me for a long time (at least the next 18 years) but still, I have to ask. Maybe I'll get one more all about me moment and he'll decide to make his entrance a bit early... a mom can dream right?

We have Dilation!

Now that we've hit 37 weeks we're going to the doctor on a weekly basis. Jackson cooperated for the nurse this time and she got his heartbeat with little fuss- 138 which is nice and strong. Dr. Barlow checked my cervix and I've started to dilate. I'm only 1cm so far but I'll take it! He's head down and moving in the right direction so hopefully with some long walks and daily doses of salsa and pineapple he'll make his appearance sooner rather than later.

I was very excited to hear that Tylenol PM is on the 'safe' list and Marcus stopped on the way home to pick me up a bottle. I took it last night and while I still woke up three times, I felt a bit more rested this morning so we'll try again tonight and see how it goes. Everyone keeps telling me to sleep while I can but unfortunately sleep has been hard to come by these days due to general discomfort and frequent trips to the bathroom.

I'm feeling good about things at work and I managed to get two weeks ahead of the syllabus in my grad school class so if he came in the next week or so I feel like I'm in a good place. I'm hoping to write my 5 page literature review this weekend to get it out of the way but if I can't get it done I know I'll be able to pull it off later.

And speaking of class, there's nothing like walking (or waddling) through NC State's campus 9 months pregnant to make you feel old and out of place! That said, I'm enjoying the class and am glad I'm pushing through although I'll definitely be glad when it's over.

I'm going to take a break over the summer so we can travel to Block Island and enjoy our time with the little man but I'll be back at it in the fall and hopefully will be able to take two classes in the spring... remind me of this post next spring when I'm registering for classes!

4 weeks and counting!

Hard to believe but we've hit the one month mark! We're at 36 weeks tomorrow and Jackson is getting bigger and bigger every day. At this point he's about 6 lbs and some change and the size of a crenshaw mellon (not quite sure what that is but the picture displayed in Google it makes it look quite large). He's settling into a nice pattern of activity during the day and sleeping at night although that doesn't mean I'm sleeping but that's another story.

My new nickname for Jackson is wiggle worm because he's constantly moving around. At this point it's a lot less kicking and a lot more fluid movement although he did give me quite a few jabs and kicks at the doctor last week when they tried to take his heart rate with the doplar wand. Apparently babies don't like the sound it emits and Jackson is no exception! No matter where the nurse put the wand he would kick. After a couple of minutes, he got frustrated and went into what can only be described as a wiggle rage. He was kicking, punching, and wiggling all over to the point where my stomach was jerking around and the nurse and I were laughing hysterically. By the time the nurse got his heartbeat he was so worked up it had reached 146 beats per minute!

While I love feeling Jackson move around, getting to the end of this journey I'm more than ready to have him here with us. I'm achy and nauseous, not sleeping and my walking has definitely turned to waddling. I know it's all well worth it but it's hard to be patient after months and months of anticipation. We went to church yesterday and I kept repeating the following prayer: "Father, thank you for my beautiful life, my family, my friends, and the precious baby growing inside of me. Please keep him safe and healthy until he is ready to come into this world. And while I realize he will come when he is ready, if it your will, please make him ready in the next couple of weeks. If not, please give me the strength to pursevere, maintain a positive attitude, and enjoy these last few weeks as an expectant mother."

Welcome Charlotte Ives Smith

Lauren and Blake welcomed Charlotte Ives Smith on February 6th, 2011. Hard to believe she's already 2 weeks old! Here she is just a few hours old. I must say, Marcus is a natural and is going to be an amazing dad.

Jackson definitely has the best room in the house!

10 Weeks to go!

So we've made it through the holiday's and are now into the third trimester! Hard to believe we're in the final stretch although my body is definitely telling me we're getting close. My back aches and sleeping through the night is difficult. Poor Marcus, he isn't getting much sleep either but I guess we're just training for when Jackson gets here!

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and when the nurse walked in she said, 'just 10 weeks to go!"... I'm sorry, what?! 10 weeks?! I'm feeling good about things but there's something about the time being down to weeks we can count on two hands that is a bit overwhelming! Thankfully we worked on the nursery before New Years so I'm feeling much more put together and organized than before Christmas. And now that he's moving around more and growing so fast, it's hard not to get anxious about meeting our little guy. His kicks sometimes make my whole belly move and sometimes when he rolls over I can feel an arm or a foot just underneath the skin. It's the strangest and most amazing feeling ever. He's gotten much less shy around his dad and Marcus has felt him move a number of times now but he's still painfully shy around friends and family and most people haven't experienced his movements. As he gets bigger I'm sure that will change.

Now back to the appointment yesterday... I had the gestational diabetes test at 8am which was absolutely no fun but not as bad as I anticipated. I drank a super sugary solution and then had my blood drawn an hour later. We haven’t heard anything on the blood yet and I think it’s no news is good news again so hopefully I won’t hear from them at all! We then had an ultrasound which was good but an hour and a half after the burst of sugar, Jackson curled up into a ball facing backwards and went to sleep so it was hard to see much. That said, Deanna (the ultrasound technician) says he’s looking really good and weighs in @ 3.3 lbs which is in the 67 percentile in terms of growth! Dr. Clark thinks he’s going to be at least 8lbs when he’s born and we’re thinking he may come a week or so early. The belly is measuring 29 inches and I managed not to gain any weight this month so I’m still on track with 25lbs gained so far (the number on the scale is frightening but I’m at peace with the fact that it’s going to go up again since he still has about 5 more pounds to gain). In fact, since I didn’t gain any weight I ate an extra cookie with frosting at the Fuqua holiday party yesterday afternoon!

Our amazing friends are throwing us a shower next weekend and we absolutely can't wait to see everyone and celebrate our little guy. We've got family coming into town and are looking forward to seeing Matt, Marcus's brother, who we haven't seen in almost a year... my how things have changed! This weekend we have a baptism preparation class and then birthing classes at Rex so I'll definitely check back in soon.

The picture above is of the Delta Zeta girls at Lauren and Blake's shower.

Tiny Tuttle's Not So Tiny...

Sorry it's been a while since my last post but things have been more than just a little hectic. Work is insanely busy and the weekends haven't been very laid back either since they tend to be filled with studying, homework, housework and getting things ready for Jackson.

And while we get things ready around the house, Jackson is getting ready to make his debut in March! I'll have to update the bump photo soon because he has been growing like crazy over the past few weeks. The belly is definitely bigger and my belly button is all but nonexistent at this point. At 22 weeks he weighs almost a full pound and is a foot long. His kicks are getting stronger too and sometimes he kicks so hard he makes me stop what I'm doing. In those cases I assure him that I do in fact remember that he's in there, that I love him and that he needs to do that again when daddy has his hand on my belly. Marcus wants to feel him so bad and I think Jackson will oblige any day now.

Speaking of Marcus, he did an amazing job on the nursery. We moved the guest room into the 'workout room' (don't worry, there's still plenty of room for me to do The Firm) and Marcus and Blake painted the old guest room a new grey/blue color. The crib has been assembled, the glider is in and the closet has been purged of everything but Jackson's new clothes, toys and blankets. The bedding should be here any day and I can't wait to see what it looks like!

We're also signed up for our birthing classes at Rex and our baptism class at the church. Both will be in January which will be here before we know it but in the meantime we have plenty to keep us busy. Baby Small will arrive around Thanksgiving (we absolutely can't wait to meet Jackson's future bestie), Lauren and Blake's couple's shower is later this month, we head to NY and Connecticut for Christmas. Oh yeah, there's also work and I have one more paper to write and a final exam to take before finishing up my last online class.

I think that about covers things for now. We love this little guy more and more every day and can hardly believe he'll be here in less than four months!