Weekly Appointments

Well back on March 17th I started going to the doctor weekly. At the first appointment, at 35 weeks, I was shocked to learn that I had already started dilating! I was only at 1 cm, but it was something, with 5 more weeks to go. She also felt Reed and said he was about 6 pounds and would probably be about 7 1/2 pounds at delivery. At the next appointment, I was still only 1 cm, but I was also 30% effaced. Appointment #3 there was no change, but at 37 weeks I was fine with that because I was starting to get nervous that Reed would come early. This is going to sound so selfish but I really needed to work through April 3rd to get the books closed at work and being quarter end it was really important for me to be there. All you accountants out there understand...right? I am the only one in the office that can make journal entries, so there is literally no one else that can do my job.

Last week at my 4th weekly appointment, I was 2 cm and 50% effaced. My doctor mentioned that if I had progressed at my next appointment we could talk about inducing. I have had mixed emotions about inducing because I have heard it makes for a harder labor, etc. But I have always feared waiting and then still having to be induced. Also she had not estimated Reed's weight since the first weekly appointment 3 weeks ago, so I was still thinking he would be around 7 1/2 pounds at 40 weeks, not to bad if I wanted to wait. Well, yesterday I was only a little more dilated, but still at a 2 and still 50% effaced. To me that wasn't much progression. However, the doctor still felt it was something and seemed happy with it. Also, she felt Reed and said he was at least 7 1/2 pounds right now, maybe 8 lbs. She looked at me and said, "Your ready!" She said if you want to induce we can or you can wait. I said, well if I said I wanted to induce when would you want to do it (totally expecting her to say a day after my due date, I never thought anything before my due date would be a possibility)? She looked at us and said, "This Week!" What?!?! She said I would prefer tomorrow or Thursday. What?!?!

Just a side note, April 7th, has been my dream date since we got pregnant. It is our 10 year dating anniversary and I am a huge date person, so I have always thought it would be so neat. I got SO excited when it was a possiblility. But the nurse called and there were already 6 inducements scheduled for Tuesday, so that was out! :( I was definitely sad, but finding out that we might be having Reed with only 1 days noticed would have been way to crazy. For the most part we had everything done but realistically and mentally we were not prepared.

So we knew Thursday was still an option so we left and thought about it for a little bit and then I called the nurse back and asked her to check on Thursday and she called back and said, "We were on the schedule for Thursday morning!" Wow, was this really happening? Last night we came home from work and I think we were still in shock mode, we just ate dinner and did nothing and we hade quite a few things to get done, including installing the carseat! :)

Tonight, we have gotten a lot done, so I am feeling much more prepared right now! We have installed the carseat, I steralized some bottles and pacifiers (just in case), mop the kitchen floors and we hung the last picture up in the nursery....it is COMPLETELY finished...pictures to come!

So hopefully 48 hours from now we will be parents! So hard to believe! Literally my only emotion is excitement! I don't really feel nervous at all (yet, I am sure it will come)! This is something I have dreamed about my whole life and I can't believe it is actually about to happen! I just can't wait to meet Reed! I have had the best pregnancy I think anyone could ask for, I am still even sleeping good (still haven't had a night where I had to get up and use the bathroom and I promise I drink SO much water, I have water bottles right beside the bed, if anything that is what I wake up for, to get a drink). At this point I feel like I could be pregnant forever! I have actually had a few moments where I have gotten sad about missing my belly and I NEVER thought that could happen.

We plan to update the blog on Thursday as the day progresses so check back in to see the first pictures of Baby Reed and maybe the first post from Josh! :)

Baby Shower #5!!

We were so blessed to have my hometown church offer to host a shower for us! It was so good to go home to Sheridan and see everyone! The shower was simply amazing, I counted over 40 gifts on my list when it was over. My sister was writing for me and she could barely keep up with all the gifts!

This is a little onesie Amy got for me! The picture is blurry, but it is a little onesie with a guitar on it....so cute!

Look at Reed's room once we got everything unloaded! I had just spent the weekend before organizing, but it was so much fun to add to everything, obviously!

Baby Shower #4

Baby shower #4 was on March 15th and was hosted by two of the best gals, Amanda and Kristie! When Josh and I first started going to New Life Church, the first life group we joined was lead by Kristie, Amanda and their husbands. I can't believe that was almost four years ago. We have been so blessed by their friendships. The shower was so much fun and the food was great, especially the adorable cake!!

Me with Kristie and Amanda, the hostess with the mostest!!




Me and the Grandmas!!

Some of the NLC girls, the Moms & Mrs. Vicky and her daughter Lexi came down from Wynne again!

We played a fun game where Amanda walked around with a basket full of baby goodies and you only got a few minutes to look at it and then had to write down everything you could remember!

Opening all the goodies!

Baby Shower #3

Baby shower #3 was on March 14th and was hosted by a group of people from Josh's work. It was a co-ed shower and it was so much fun seeing the guys interact and look through all the fun baby stuff. Again, we got so many great things!

The food and decorations were amazing! Everything was baseball themed...so cute!

The food was amazing!!

Check out the adorable baseball cake!!

Baseball Diaper Cake!!
Baseball cookies....I could not stop eating them! They were homemade and so good!

Cutting the cake, like we were getting married again!!

Josh and I with Debbie and Coleman! Debbie was nice enough to open up her beautiful home for the shower!


One of the neatest gifts we have received was from Josh's friend, Scott. As a child, Scott collected baseball cards and he gave us all of his old Braves baseball cards. We got them framed and they are now hanging in Reed's room.

We have one million pictures of Josh posing with every gift.....so funny!

We were so blessed to have the Davis' family come down and surprise us by being at the shower! The Davis and Baker families have been best friends for many years.

The shower host and hostess!! Josh is on a leadership team at work with six other people, lead by Debbie. They were generous enough to organize and host the shower for us! We had so much fun, thank you guys so much!!

Baby Shower #2

I am so ashamed at how long it has taken me to update on all the wonderful showers I have had. Shower #2 was on March 7th and was hosted by two of my best friends from college (Rebecca and Lauren) and my sister. Rebecca opened up her house to all of my family and friends. It was such a pretty day and the shower was wonderful. So many people were able to come that I hadn't seen in such a long time. We got so many good things, including three homemade blankets from three of my very talented aunts.

All the wonderful food! It was an animal print theme...super cute!

Me and the Grandmas!

Amy, Rebecca and Lauren helped to make additional pages for the scrapbook that I received at my first shower. Amy and Lauren made the month pages and Rebecca made the cutest "1st Hunting Trip" page, Josh was so proud!

Me with my Aunt Cara and cousin Shannon! I was so excited that they were able to come.

This is Michelle and I! She allowed me to play Mom with her son Dylan growing up! Really I started babysitting Dylan when he was 8 months old and I was 12! I got to watch him grow up and learned so many valuable lessons that I still have with me! I kept him through my high school years. Scott and Michelle were huge role models in my life growing up and still are! They allowed me to go everywhere with them, including Colorado and Florida for summer vacations! It is definitely a full circle moment, now with me having a little boy of my own! Dylan is now 14, it blows my mind.

Kristen and Stephanie, two great friends from high school and college! It meant the world to me to have them there!

Me, with the hostess! Amy, Lauren & Rebecca!!

The nursery is coming along....

This past Saturday my amazing and very talented cousin Tonja came to Maumelle and worked most of the day sewing the crib bedding. I can honestly say I LOVE IT!! She made the bumpers, sheets and the crib skirt and I should have the curtains this weekend! Josh's Dad also made a wall shelf for the wall above the crib and it got put up and it also looks so good! Right now we just have random stuff thrown up on it, but we plan to get free standing letters spelling Reed and some other baseball accents we have gotten. We also got our chair in, but it was the WRONG chair....ugh!! It was the right fabric, just the wrong chair. The company has promised it by the 10th so we will see! Here's what everything looks like so far....

This is a picture that shows the shelf above the crib! The bumpers are also reversible! I also have a blue sheet, so I can reverse the bumpers to show more red or blue.

Here is Tonja sewing away! We had a great day hanging out, sewing and stuffing bumpers!

This is "Homer!" You may have noticed him in the first picture. Really this is a rock and learn musical toy. I saw them in the JcPenney's magazine (there are several different ones) and when I saw this one, it didn't matter what the price was I had to have it! Luckily they were on sale! Reed won't be able to use it for several months, but I love it! It plays, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," the ABCs and a 1,2,3 song....so cute! Check them out here http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/SearchDepartment.aspx?SearchString=sit+and+learn&JSEnabled=false&mscssid=&cmResetCat=true&hdnOnGo=true you can click on one of them and see all seven different types.

Reed Update

Well, I had another 2 week appointment and Reed is still measuring right on schedule and his heart rate was 150 bpm. When I laid back for my doctor to listen to the heartbeat, I told her that Reed was right on top so she felt for just a second at the top of my stomach and she said, "Well that feels like head!" So Reed may be a stubborn one and never turn over, but the doctor is not for sure at all, she is going to start checking my cervix at my next appointment and then she will know for sure. I can't believe we are only a few short weeks away from having our son! We have been so blessed by family and friends during this time and can't wait for everyone to meet him!