Baby Shower!

My Mom and closest friend, Heather, hosted a baby shower for little Panda this past Saturday in Charlotte. They did a wonderful job with everything from the pink punch, to the “onesie clothesline” to the Panda Bear cake. Tera did a fantastic job creating the diaper cake and hid lots of goodies in it, including Green Bay Packer and Tar Heel bibs to give equal play to dad and mom’s favorite sports teams. It was so much fun spending time with the girls, including Atlanta defects Angela and Allyson and a good friend from college, Cindy. Baby boys Harrison and Andrew certainly didn’t mind being around so many ladies!

Everyone was extremely generous with baby gifts for Panda. She got several necessities and lots of fun outfits…including an officially licensed UNC Tar Heels cheerleading ensemble. Too bad it’s too big for her to wear home from the hospital….Hey, she IS scheduled to arrive during peak ACC conference play!

Do your boobs hang low? Do they wobble to and fro?

I’ve been having significant bra issues over the past week. I’m not sure what is going on, but my bra (the underwire?) is slipping down and rubbing the skin underneath my rack, leaving it red, chafed, and irritated. Both of the styles of bras I bought inflict this unpleasant sensation, so I’m guessing that maybe they just aren’t supportive enough any more. The cups do runneth over a bit, but I was hoping to hold out for nursing bras so that I’d only have to buy new bras one more time. Clearly, that’s not going to happen as I can’t get any relief from the situation. Not wearing a bra is not an option, since each boob now is the size and weight of a cantelope and I absolutely hate the feeling of being unsupported. Plus, gravity affects the unsupported boob and causes it to rest against the chafed area. Any false move and ouch! So, it's time for some bra shopping this weekend. I’ll definitely be enlisting the help of the sales girl wherever I go. Wish her luck as I unleash the girls on her.

Ack! The Glucose Drink!

This morning, I had my 30-week check up at the Dr. When the nurse called me back, I spotted an orange glucose drink in her hand along with my records. My first instinct was to flee the premises. My second thought was, "at least it's not tropical punch this time." But then I thought, "surely that can not be for me?!?!" Of course, I hadn’t heard that I passed the glucose test from 2 weeks ago, so I was in doubt. But if I was in for a 4-hour Dr. appointment today, surely they would have let me know in advance, right? After weighing me, she sat me in the exam room and told me that we were doing the glucose test today. I promptly let her know that I had already taken it, and unless I failed, I should be set. Turns out, the lab hadn’t sent my results back yet from the first test. So, the nurse called and got the results that I had passed, sparing me from the prospect of taking that icky test again. Whew!

The rest of my visit was short and sweet – pee in a cup, get measured (my uterus grew 1 inch in two weeks), and listen to Panda’s heartbeat. My Dr. said that I’m doing great and that she’d see me in two weeks. Fine by me, as long as they don’t try and give me the glucose test again!

30 Weeks and Counting...

Panda and I hit the 30 week mark yesterday, which means if my pregnancy does indeed last 40 weeks, I’ve only got 10 weeks to go. Yikes! Greg is already very anxious about her arrival and said last night he’s ready for her to come early (but not too early). On the other hand, I don’t feel ready at all. We haven’t selected post maternity leave childcare, I haven’t decided who should come to the hospital and when, I have no idea if my mom (or anyone!) will come stay with me to help after Panda arrives, I haven’t finished all the projects I have planned for her room, and we haven’t even gotten a car seat yet. I have so much to do!

As Panda starts packing on the LBs now and in the coming weeks (she’s now approx. 15.7 inches from crown to toe in length and weighs about 3 lbs) I’m definitely starting to feel the effects of the extra weight and the growing size of my uterus. Despite my gianormous body pillow, it has been harder for me to get a good night’s sleep because of difficulty getting and staying comfortable. Also, in the last week or so, I’ve really begun to notice the effects of my reduced lung capacity. This happens as Panda’s domain expands up my rib cage and yes, towards my lungs, compressing them. Just walking from one end of the house to the other to get the phone can leave me breathless!

Though my belly still has a long way to go, it’s already a struggle putting on socks and shoes. Most of my shoes are slip-ons, but I still have to get socks on somehow. You can forget it when I put on my athletic shoes to exercise and have to tie them. Can I ask one of the slim, toned, pony-tailed girls with a coordinated workout outfit featuring her cleavage in the gym locker room to tie them for me? She’s probably pity the poor chubby girl that can no longer tie her own laces and laugh at my expense as she sips her post-workout fat-free soy latte. That’s okay by me – at least I won’t be the poor chubby girl that also trips on her laces.

Panda's "Crib"

Baby Daddy picked up our nursery furniture last week and moved it into her room. Yeah! Now her nursery is really coming together. We were both very happy with the quality and condition of the furniture, so are pleased with our shopping experience at Georgia Baby. I had Tuesday off work for Veteran's Day, so spent the afternoon organizing the baby items and clothes we have into drawers and putting things up on the walls. I am most proud of the valences because I had to shorten them first using my sewing machine. I also hung the rods myself - I am pretty good with a power drill, just in case you were wondering. Basically, I have mad domestic skills. Here are a few photos of my progress!

Birthing Class

Saturday, Greg and I attended an all day labor and delivery class at the Northside Cherokee Hospital where I’ll deliver. I’ll give Greg credit, he only mentioned that he’d rather be hunting three times; I was the one checking my cell phone for text updates on the noon Tar Heel vs. Georgia Tech football game. Go Heels!

We covered a lot of useful material between 9 and 5 am, but most of what Nurse Kathy prepared us for were the “what-ifs.” Since Panda is just going to slide right out my vag after a few not-too-painful contractions and an epidural, we won’t have to worry about inducing, vacuums, forceps, or C-sections. Positive thinking, people!

With 11 years of labor and delivery experience, Nurse Kathy really knew her stuff. I hope she’s our nurse! She delivered the material very professionally, but did make all 8 couples laugh when she cautioned against husbands greeting their wives naked and ready for lovin’ after that 6-week post partum check-up. I believe she referred to this scenario as being greeting by a naked torpedo. I could picture this scenario perfectly…

Otherwise, we did tour the Women’s Wing and see the labor rooms. They are much larger and nicer than the last hotel we stayed out and feature a Jacuzzi tub, a pull out couch, and a DVD player. The downside to staying there: you’re hit with an $8,800 medical bill when you check-out (the average cost of giving birth in the US) and must go home with an infant!

Babies in Bellies

Here's another belly photo that really puts things in perspective. This photo was taken Thursday at my co-worker Jennifer's office baby shower (yes, unknowingly, we wore the exact same shirt. There's just not that many maternity-wear options out there, so it was bound to happen). She's pregnant with twins and is due January 21. My due date is January 22. Her belly is much more magnificent than mine, but I think I've got her in the hooters department. At least I've got something going for me! Speaking of Hooters, I'm craving wings. Greg, are you reading this?!?! PLEASE take me out for wings this weekend!

I LOATHE Tropical Punch

First, here's that belly photo I promised. I'm approx. 28 1/2 weeks in the photo and though you can't see it, my belly button is starting to disappear...

Today I had my monthly check-up at the doctor's with the added joy of taking the dreaded glucose test to check Panda for gestational diabetes. If you haven't heard of this test, basically, you drink a sugary, syrupy drink, wait an hour, then get your blood drawn. If your blood shows traces of sugar, then you go for more thorough testing. That involves the same test, but three times in a row with the drink/drawing blood combo. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Anyway, the drink is flavored, so it's basically Russian roulette between cola, orange or tropical punch. Because I loathe the taste of tropical punch, I was really rooting for one of the first two, but luck was not on my side. I had five minutes to drink 10 ounces of the disgusting tropical punch flavored delight. I knocked it back within the allotted period, but not without feeling like I wanted to vom afterwards. Of course I left my mints in the car, so couldn't kick the aftertaste of the tropical punch with any new flavors until I left the Dr.'s office.

I spent the next hour in the waiting room entertaining myself by text messaging, reading my novel and eaves dropping on my fellow waiting room occupants. I was particularly intrigued by the lesbian couple (not that there's anything wrong with that) and their toddler son. This couple intrigued me so much because at first, I actually did mistake one of the women for a man, until she spoke. And called their son "Malacai." Poor kid. He's bound for a life of ridicule with a name like that and two "mommies."

After waiting the requisite hour, redezvous-ing with the scale, tinkling in a cup, and getting my blood drawn, I saw my Dr. She clocked Panda's heart beat at 142 and measured my uterus at 29 inches. As info, the uterus should measure in inches to the approximate "week" you are pregnant. At last measure at 24 1/2 weeks, I only measured 23 inches, so a bit small. As you can tell by the 6 inch increase, Panda went through quite a growth spurt this last month. Apparently, so did I, gaining 7 lbs. between appointments. Yikes. Though my Dr. wasn't concerned, I think I might take it easy on the Starbuck's Vanilla cremes (my new indulgence).

Last but not least, my Dr. commented that it was hard measuring my uterus because my stomach muscles were so firm. Did I mention that I LOVE my Doctor? I am glad I do, because I'll be seeing her again in two weeks! I've got my fingers crossed that my glucose test comes back okay. I'm not convinced that I can drink three more "tropical punches" without hurling in front of Malacai and his mommies.

"Look, I just drank my weight in Sunny-D and I gotta go pronto!"

I hope everyone got more treats than tricks this Halloween! Our Juno and Paulie costumes came together quite well, don't you think? The boys decided against heading to Buckhead for the Star94 party in favor of this "awesome new venue" they discovered Thursday night (aka penny beer night until someone pees) in Canton, Wild West Bar and Grill. I agreed as the drive was much shorter and the drink specials were much more wallet friendly. Unfortunately, of the 30-40 people in costume at the bar, not one person got our costumes without us having to tell them. Additionally, cover was half off at the door if you wore a costume, and the girl taking money initially charged us full price. I specifically had to point out that we were wearing costumes....she assumed we dressed like this normally! I guess "Juno" wasn't a big hit with the crowd that frequents the country and western bar scene. Who knew?