8 Days

Well, we survived day 8, but still no Camryn. Today was a pretty typical day for us, Taylor worked from home, and I spent the morning cleaning and then working on Camryn's room. We had our afternoon Starbucks date, and then took our evening walk around the neighborhood (twice for good measure, and because I ate baskin & robins for dessert)! I've been having quite a few B.H. contractions, but they don't seem to be turning into the real deal quite yet...I think she's waiting on her Auntie Teresa to get to Austin on Sunday. :) Our doctor is on call tomorrow, so if we're going to go into labor before my sister arrives, then tomorrow's the day we're hoping for!

Day 9 & Counting....

Yet another day closer!! I went in to Dr. Breedlove this morning for my weekly checkup (only 1 more, next Monday) and she was impressed with my progress. WoooHooo!

So here are the baby/mommy stats:
My weight: 151 A gain of .6 lbs. since my appointment last Tuesday
Blood Pressure: 110/62
Camryn's heart rate: 140
I'm dilated to a 1 1/2 "with room". She said she could have pushed me to a 2 but didn't want to cause any irritation.
Last week I was 30-40% effaced, today I was 80%.
Baby is sitting VERY low, and I'm having lots of B.H. contractions and lower abdomen cramping, so things are moving along just as planned.

Because Camryn is taking up my entire stomach now, I've started becoming nauseous and needing to eat much smaller meals, but that hasn't stopped my cravings. Today I "had to have" rice krispie treats, so I hauled my butt to the store and bought the ingredients and made some, and they are SO delicious!!! My taste buds are off the last few days also, like tonight I made a grilled cheese (which I usually LOVE) but I donated over half to Taylor because it just tasted gross....he thought it tasted yummy. :)

Here's today's belly pic!

A little blurry, Tay's not the best picture taker. 38.5 weeks

Final Countdown....Day 10!!!

I decided it would be really fun to document our final 10 days (or less) until Camryn arrives. She could arrive at any moment, but if not by June 9th, we'll be induced the morning of the 10th.

So how are we feeling with so little time left? Extremely anxious and impatient! Not knowing the exact time or day that she'll arrive is like winning a Mega-Million Lotto jackpot and being told your check is in the mail....the anticipation is killing us!!! Besides the waiting, I feel pretty good. I'm a little nauseous this week and moving around is impossible, but also quite comical, at least for Taylor. Hot flashes come and go throughout the day, but they only last about 30 seconds, so they're not much of a hassle at all. I was really lucky and my sweet friend Jessica treated me to a spa day on Saturday and I had a pregnancy massage that was FANTASTIC, so my aching muscles don't hurt this week, yay! I'm eating much smaller meals now that Camryn is taking up most of my stomach space, and I am still eating Tums like candy...at least they're packed full of Calcium for Camryn!
Taylor & I spent day 10 B.C. (before Camryn) being fairly lazy around the house. Taylor had to work (from home) but we were able to enjoy some yummy blueberry pancakes that I made for breakfast together. Then I cleaned the house and relaxed and watched a marathon of "Storage Wars".  We made an afternoon date out of getting Starbucks together, and then finished off our evening with our nightly 3 mile walk through our neighborhood. I took our new stroller with us on our walk for a test drive, and it's awesome! It's froggy season in our neighborhood, and we must have dodged at least 20 toads while walking. I don't want frog guts on my new set of wheels! :)

Here are today's belly pics as well as some nursery and baby gear pictures:

This is our co-sleeper bassinet, now all we need is a baby to put in it!

My belly cast, obviously going to good use as decoration in the breakfast nook.

Our new stroller

I stinkin' love this thing!!!

Camryn's car seat, ready to go to the hospital on the big day

Chance begging to come through the baby gate

Aly & Chance

Please Mommy, let me through!

Camryn's swing

My lil' snugga-bunny swing

Changing station

This is a sweet gift from Taylor - a silver plated tray for me to put my rings on when I'm bathing and changing Camryn. It sits on her changing station and says "A mothers love is never ending" <3

That photo is me right after I was born

The "art" is an adorable gift from Taylor's parents. It was Taylors as a baby and used to have his name on it, but Lisa re-stitched it to say "Camryn" and they framed it for us. The teddy was also his as a baby.

We will fill the frames with Camryn's newborn photos that are being taken within the first 7 days of her life by Johanna McShan Photography (hannamac.com)

Still need a rug

one side of her closet

the other side

more closet....she's not lacking closet space!

Tummy time mat - a gift from our dear friend Brian

Aly got a new blankey

Chance sitting on Aly's blanket...she's not happy about it!

The belly! It looks lower to me this week. Still no stretch marks, woohoo! :)

It's HUGE!

Day 9 B.C. coming soon....

38 Week Progress Photos

About to POP!

This isn't a maternity shirt, and you can see that it's stretched so tight it's nearly see through!

So swollen! My poor little piggies :(

No matter where we go these days, everyone stops to ask me when I'm due, and then they love to "Awwww!!"  I am forever hearing the words "You look like you swallowed a basketball" which I guess is WAY better than the alternative of "You're HUGE, you look like you swallowed an entire cow!".  <---- I feel like I swallowed the whole cow, and with my recent cravings of cheeseburgers, fries, and chocolate shakes, I pretty much have eaten the entire cow! :)

The rising heat here in Austin is just terrible, I really have sympathy for my pregnant friends in Texas who aren't due until later this summer. My darling neighbor is going to have to suffer into the middle of August...I'll be buying her a kiddy pool and bags of ice for their baby shower present, poor thing is gonna be HOT HOT HOT!

My sister arrives in Austin in just 8 days, and I am so terribly excited! We will have family staying with us from June 5th - July 6th, and then more family coming the 3rd & 4th weeks of July. We haven't told them all yet, but they're not really coming to see Camryn, they're really coming to be our cooks, cleaners, baby manuals, and overall lifesavers to Taylor & I. There's no such thing as free room and board in this house!! haha

Next baby appointment is Tuesday at 10:20am, unless Camryn decides to great us with her presence this weekend! Only 2 final appointments to go, and then if she's still not here we have an induction scheduled for early morning on June 10th (14 days from today...)!!!

38 Week Baby Appointment

Taylor & I went in for our weekly check-up this morning, and everything is looking great still! Dr. Breedlove wasn't able to see us because she ran next door to the hospital to deliver TWINS! This is the second time we've gone in for an appointment and either waited for her to get back from delivering a baby, or had to see another doctor like we did today....and this is exactly why we love love love her! If you go into labor and she's at the office or if it's her night on-call, she'll make sure she's there to catch that baby. Of course we're hoping we're lucky and go into labor Monday-Friday between 8-5 or on her on-call day...Daddy is really rooting for Mon-Fri because our hospital has Valet and Starbucks is open in the hospital during business hours on weekdays. He obviously has our labor priorities in order. :)

Even though we didn't have Dr. Breedlove today, we were very well taken care of by a lovely Dr. Ellen. New baby stats are:
Weight 150.4 (an increase of .4lbs since last Monday)
Blood Pressure was 100/62
Camryn's heart rate was 140 (a decrease, which is completely normal and expected!)
My belly measured 37, last Monday I measured 35, so at least we know Camryn is growing...hopefully not growing too much bigger though!
Still dilated to a 1...BUMMER! :(

My hands have been aching lately and feel almost arthritic, which I haven't had at all throughout the pregnancy, and I've been waking up with my hands clenched tightly. Dr. Ellen said that many woman towards the end of pregnancy develop carpel tunnel, but that it should subside soon after Camryn arrives. My back has been killing me....I'm being dramatic, I know....but I'm getting a pregnancy massage again this Saturday so I'm gonna suck it up until then! Not many other new symptoms this week, I'm considering myself very lucky!

Camryn has been getting the hiccups at least 3 times a day lately, and boy oh boy do they ever piss her off! As soon as I feel the first little hiccup I know to expect a few kicks to the ribs, hands punching my bladder, and knees kicked out of my sides like little chicken wings. Even with so little room left in my belly, she is still a very active girl, and we love it!

I still can't believe we have so little time left until she arrives. We haven't even met her yet, and our love for her overwhelms us <3

Smile! You're on candid camera......

....Or at least I thought I was! I made a good attempt at Belly Casting, and well, what a joke!
I began my Belly Casting adventure with:
1.) a giant plastic sheet
2.) 75 varying length strips of plaster
3.) a large bowl of warm water
4.) vaseline
5.) gloves
6.) a bare belly, of course! :)
Here are a few pictures of the BEFORE...

Plastic sheet draped over my counter, across my entire bathroom floor and over my bathtub

I thought this would minimize the mess....boy was I wrong!

Step 1. Grease the momma

Plaster strips and water

I had really thought this thing through, but as anyone who has ever made a casting of anything knows, there is absolutely no clean or easy way to do it.
I greased myself from my neck to the bottom of my belly and began laying the wet casting strips across my belly and chest. Things got tricky downright awful really fast!!! The plaster strips drip everywhere, which was ok because I had laid down plastic, but nobody warned me about the drops of plaster water that get flung onto the walls, mirrors, and ceiling.....yes, the ceiling! To make matters even worse, the Vaseline that I had to grease up with to prevent the plaster from adhering to my skin was working TOO well, and as soon as the plaster strip began to dry even a little, it would start to fall off! So there I am, standing naked and greased like a pig in my plastic covered bathroom hell, trying to hold each strip of plaster to myself while also trying to dip new strips of plaster in the water and apply them to my belly without flinging water on the walls....at one point I honestly starting looking around for the camera. In fact, I wish there had been one because I would have been the proud winner of Americas Funniest Home Videos!
I managed to finish the cast, which has already begun falling apart, and took a picture (because it's going to last longer than the cast is)!

The Belly Casting War Zone AFTER

My belly cast drying on the edge of the tub because it's too wet and flimsy to go anywhere else.

Side view of the belly cast. You can see it's already tearing and collapsing.

If you are pregnant (or ever get pregnant) and think you might want to Belly Cast, I DO NOT recommend it unless you enjoy standing for at least an hour (not fun while 37 weeks preggo) while also not breathing too deeply because it makes the cast move and fall off, and you must also enjoy a minimum of an hour worth of setup and an hour of clean-up. Oh, did I forget to mention that you will also have to take a LONG shower to scrub off plaster and Vaseline from every part of your body?! It's like when you go to the beach, and end up finding sand in places that sand should never go....it's the same concept for Belly Casting!
Cost of Belly Casting Kit: $20.....Hours of Prep, Casting, & Cleanup: 3.......Having a wonderfully embarrassing story to tell Camryn someday while showing her my mangled belly cast: PRICELESS!

37 Week Checkup

We went in for another one of our weekly checkups this morning, and Camryn is doing great! At 37 weeks I have gained a whopping 30 pounds and now tip the scales at 150lbs....eeekkk!!! My blood pressure is holding steady at about 100/60 at almost every visit, and Camryn's heart rate is averaging 145-155 at each visit. Dr. Breedlove measures my belly at every visit, and surprisingly we didn't have any growth this week (but Dr. B wasn't concerned, I'm sure she'll just check next week to see if she's grown more). Camryn likely weighs about 6lbs. 5 oz. this week, and she has been craving ice cream a LOT! :) We're also getting cervical exams at each appointment as of last week, and when I was checked last monday she was VERY low but I wasn't dilated, but this week I'm a 1! I was hoping she'd check me and say "OH MY! You're in labor, lets go across the street and have a baby!", but that just wasn't the case this time....but any progress is exciting!
Taylor & I are so anxious and antsy waiting on this little girl! 25 days or less and we'll be parents!!!