The waiting game

Well folks, I'm 1.5 centimeters dilated! Keep in mind that this could mean absolutely nothing. I could still go another 3 weeks. But at least I have a fun update for our blog, right?! Also, not to get too graphic, but the doctor did a procedure to try and start moving things along "down there." We'll see if it helped. So, at 38 weeks, Baby Starr weighs a little over 6.5 lbs, and is still approximately 20 inches long.

He/she now has a firm hand grasp and his/her organs have matured. My e-mail updates are getting pretty boring. This week, there's just not much to say, other than it's a waiting game from here on out!

Mom came over and took a few pictures of our "current" family before little Bambino arrives. Here are some favorites...







I got another "Is it twins?" last weekend... Hopefully, the rude and goofy comments will all come to an end soon. Just wait, I'm sure I'll get a "How far along are you?" AFTER the baby is born, which will really tick me off. I forget how big I am sometimes. Baby is still kicking plenty even though there's hardly any room left! As for being ready, I think we're as prepared as we can be at this point, but it still hasn't kicked in that we're going to be parents. And poor Callie... still clueless.

Thanks for reading as always. We can't wait to put up ACTUAL pictures of our little pumpkin! Love y'all!

37 weeks down, 3 weeks to go!

I'm officially full term!

According to "thebump.com," Bambino is the size of a watermelon! He/she is approximately 6.5 lbs and gaining about a half ounce a day. Baby can blink, suck, inhale, exhale and grip, pretty much everything that a newborn can, minus breathing and pooping. He/she is about 20 inches in length.

We visited the doctor yesterday and everything is still normal; no dilation or effacement yet. And if Baby is anything like the Starr's, you can bet that I'll go a week past my due date, haha! Baby's heart rate is usually in the 140's. Good news... I lost a whole pound this week! We've packed "the bag" for the hospital and the car seat is installed. Callie still has no clue about what's happening. But she'll know soon enough!

Aside from the regular back pain, constant pee pee visits and lack of sleep these symptoms are causing, I've been feeling OK. Waddling is now unavoidable and bending down is virtually impossible. I have an almost non-existent wardrobe and it's getting harder and harder to paint my toe nails. But as they say, "It will all be worth it!"

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a nice, cool weekend! Oh, and keep sending those "girl vibes" our way!!

36 weeks and as ready as we can be!

Baby's room is complete! (Special thanks to Dad) ... Well, except for Baby. We've got about four weeks left til my due date and boy, are we ready! Baby Starr is weighing in at around 6 lbs. and is about 19 inches long, according to the baby websites I follow. His/her job is to basically plump up til delivery from here on out. If he/she is anything like Mom or Dad, that should come very naturally.

Little bambino is constantly kicking; in fact, my belly is sore. I've been feeling at least one Braxton Hicks contraction every day or so, and I think he/she has "dropped" into position. (BH contractions are kind of like fake contractions and I hear they feel a little bit different than regular contractions.) It's hard to believe he/she will be full term next week! Where has the time gone? I feel like we were just telling you all only a few months ago! Poor Callie... she still has no idea what she's in for. She already thinks that Bambino's toys are hers, especially the squeaky ones!

My company gave me a very nice baby shower yesterday. There's actually two of us pregnant, so it was a twofer! The other girl is due two weeks before me and wouldn't you know she went into labor early this morning?! Good thing they had the shower for both of us yesterday! We received plenty of diapers and wipes, along with some fun toys, which was really great. But, man, I'm seriously ready for it to be my turn. Oh! And Christina had her baby last week! Garret Nicholas Grandt was born June 28th, weighing 8 lbs. and 1 oz., and he measured 22 inches in length. He's beautiful!

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. From this point on, we'll be going every week, and she'll check to see if I'm dilated. Pretty exciting stuff! I'm definitely ready for it to be my turn. And I know Jeremy is ready too. Last night, I dropped the remote control on the floor just as he was falling asleep. I cursed out loud knowing there was no way I'd be able to pick it up. Can you believe, he got right up, walked over to my side of the bed, picked it up and handed it to me without me even asking? And trust me, I have plenty more stories like that... In fact, I never realized how often I drop things until now...

Y'all have a great weekend! Not too much longer!

Favorite photos from Baby Starr's shower and a quick update

Well, the shower was a HUGE success! Bambino received soooo many nice gifts! We're very appreciative of our family and friends, and it's great knowing how much Baby Starr is ALREADY loved. Here are some favorite photos from the shower. I hope you enjoy them!

No, we're not having twins! Since we don't know the sex of little bambino, "Grammy & PawPaw Starr" were nice enough to buy us TWO LSU outfits. Our kid is definitely coming home in purple and gold! Can I get a GEAUX TIGERS!?! Bambino will arrive just in time for the 2011 season. I think Jeremy planned it that way...

Speaking of LSU, I just love how Makenzie is sporting this "LSU" bib. FYI, Makenzie is my best friend, Kira's daughter, and my godchild. AND Kira and Dusty hate LSU. Yes, hate is a strong word, but that's pretty much how they feel. But look how excited Makenzie looks in this adorable "purple & gold" bib. No worries, I have another 16 years to convince her to go to LSU. I got this!

I just love these pictures of the Munstereifel girls. This is Dad's side of the family and I had to post this great picture of Mary. Yvette, Adelina and Chrissie are on the left. So glad to see them. It's been too long.

Don't worry, Christina and I didn't actually wear the same dress to my shower, but we were about to. We were talking a few days before the shower and I mentioned how I finally got a new dress from the maternity store. Thank God I started describing it! It was the same dress she planned to wear. So instead of wearing it to the shower, she brought it along with her and put it on after so we could take a picture together. Christina is expecting to deliver any day now. It's amazing how fast time flies. I feel like Jeremy and I just told family we were expecting a few months ago! And here I am at 34 weeks today!

So right after the shower, it was like, "Everyone get in line to touch the belly!" It's a good thing that I got over that whole "I'm not letting anybody touch my belly" attitude. I'm still not over people telling me how big I am though... As if I don't know. I mean, I literally ROLL out of bed three times a night to use the bathroom and Jeremy has to be my "crane" and pull me out of bed every morning. It's a good thing I don't have self esteem issues. LOL.

Here's another picture of Jeremy and I at the shower opening up more gifts. How appropriate was Brittany and Kevin's gift, "Star of Mommy's blog." Too cute. I couldn't help but put this one in. I also love Kira's face in the background.

Mr. Mike, this picture is for you! Here's my father-in-law and I comparing bellies. I FINALLY have him beat! LOL! He keeps telling me that it's not fair, I'm going to lose mine a lot faster then he'll lose his. Thanks for being a good sport Mr. Mike.

And finally, a picture of Jeremy and I with our hostesses (minus Carol and Debbie). Special thanks to all of you, especially Tristi, Kira and Jessica. We really appreciate your efforts to make our shower so nice and we're so thankful to have you in our lives. You're very important to us and we can't wait for Baby Starr to meet Aunt Tristi, "Nanny" Kira and Aunt Jessica. We love you. And Jess, the cake was AMAZING, in case I haven't already told you!!

Now, for a quick baby update. According to my e-mails from random baby websites, here's what I know... Bambino is about 5 lbs, measuring 18 inches long (It makes sense that I sometimes feel like I have feet moving in my chest!). He/she is roughly the size of a honeydew or bag of sugar. His/her central nervous system and lungs continue to mature. Bambino can recognize and react to songs. Some not-so-pleasant information, he/she urinates about a pint a day. Hey, I thought it was interesting. Brain development is nowhere near complete at birth, however, in the first year, bambino's brain will triple in size and become three-quarters of its adult size. Something else I didn't know!

As you can see, I'm bigger than ever and I still have six more weeks to go! Other than some back pain in the mornings, I'm feeling great. Dad came over on Sunday and spent his Father's Day morning putting together the stroller and pack-n-play. And he loved every minute of it, right Dad?? I washed bambino's clothes last night and put them away. Next is installing the car seat. Once we get the 10 lbs. of Callie hair out the back of the truck, we should be ready to move forward with that!

I hope you're enjoying our blog and the photos from the shower, and thanks for reading!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

33 weeks and counting...

With the baby shower just days away, we've already received some awesome gifts from friends and family, including these fun New Orleans onesies. Dad and Cindy surprised us with the changing table Saturday night. It was already assembled too, which Jeremy appreciates! Jeremy will be with me on Saturday and we're really looking forward to seeing everyone.

Here's the baby update... Bambino is weighing in at approximately 4.5 lbs (about as heavy as a pineapple) and is about 17 inches long. And I just loved this comment from the website I use... Baby is "rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his/her skeleton is hardening." Well that's good to know! We certainly don't want little bambino coming out looking like an alien!!

We visited the doctor on Monday and while we were waiting, something weird happened. I'm laying on the hospital bed and I look down to see the right side of my belly LITERALLY raised about 2 inches higher than my left side. I guess baby was just stretching, but man, did that look creepy!?! Even Jeremy was a little weirded out. Ha, just wait til the birth!

At our visit, we also decided, well, I decided that we would no longer look at the scale. It's just too depressing. So I got on the scale as usual, and made Jeremy look away. As soon as the doctor walks in, she says, looking good, gained 2 more lbs! Ugh, I wanted to ring her neck!

Well, that's about all of the updates I have for now. Only seven weeks to go! Hope everyone has a nice week and we're very excited to see all of the ladies at Baby Starr's shower!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

An "outside" baby shower in JUNE?!

Today, we celebrated Christina at her baby shower. Not sure who had the "fun" idea to have a baby shower outside, in June, in New Orleans... did I mention OUTSIDE!? But Christina looked wonderful, as you can see, and Baby Grandt received some really nice gifts. (Christina is about 5 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy.)

But damn, it was freaking hott!! Forget the "pregnancy glow." I sweat so much today in that sun that even bambino was asking for a snoball as we drove home. (FYI, his/her favorite flavor is nectar cream too!) Thanks to Mom for coming and sweating it out with me. She's always such good company.

I got into my truck on the way home, and the temperature was 101 degrees! Gotta love Summer in New Orleans. Just think, I've got two more months of being preggo (getting bigger by the second) and it's only going to get hotter! We spent Friday night at Mom's in the pool til 11:30 p.m., which was such a relief. I'd be OK with just living in that pool for the next two months, pruned up fingers and all!

Well, enjoy the pictures from Christina's Shower. And if we're not home, we'll either be poolside, or at the snoball stand of course!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Back from St. Louis

We just got back from a 3-day trip to St. Louis visiting with the Dahl's. It was a great trip. We ate way too much as usual, took a few naps, and did some sight-seeing. But the best part was spending time with Brandon, Stephanie, Owen and of course, Cleo. They were wonderful hosts and it was so cool seeing how much Owen had changed in only 6 months! Here are some photos from the trip. We toured Grant's Farm, stopped to take a picture in front of the arches, and visited with the Dahl family for Memorial Day. Most of the photos are from the farm. Oh and the one with some weird guy hugging Cleo, that's Jeremy telling her goodbye. He's REALLY going to miss her...

So I'll be 31 weeks preggo this week, almost 8 months, and BIGGER than EVER! I got another, "Is it twins?" on our way home from St. Louis. Awesome. I'm really thinking about just kicking rude people in the shins for fun.

So here are some fun bambino facts: baby is around 3.3 lbs. and approximately 16 inches long. He/she is constantly kicking and moving around. Here's a little bit too much information... I read that this is around when the baby's head turns downward. That would make sense considering the weird kicks I've been getting at the top of my belly. I've also read that the baby is starting to plump up. Ha, baby isn't the only one "plumping up." Let's just say that getting all this weight off is not going to be nearly as fun as it was putting it on! I'll miss those fried shrimp poboys, pulled pork sandwiches, cheeseburgers, and don't even say the "S" word... SNOBALLS!!!

We had quite a few appointments last week. The first was to discuss the logistics, the second a regular check-up, and the third was a visit with the anesthesiologist, a.k.a. my future best friend. It's all becoming more and more real. Baby is doing well. Heart rate was at 140 and my blood pressure was normal. The anesthesiologist informed me that once I get my epidural, I get my own little button. Feel a little pain, press the button, feel more pain, press the button. Works for me. This labor/delivery stuff should all be a piece of cake, right?! Mmm, cake!!

Thanks for reading. Have a great week!

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