Baby Shower Numero Uno - Check.

Yesterday my family threw us a baby shower. I wanted it to be casual... but some people took casual to mean "BYOB." I would be down if people knew how to hold their drink... but by the time we left a hand full of people were lit and loud people were getting louder. At least it was entertaining...

I sucked at corn hole.


There were two cakes, cupcakes, and a couple of pies. Seriously folks, it's a good thing I passed the three hour glucose.


Gwenith's gift was my favorite...


The "card" consisted of an invitation to the shower, a couple of invites to a benefit show my dad is playing next week and a note card that she "wrote" on. Oh... and a nickel. ♥
The gift was a happy meal toy, race car and a onesie that I'm sure my mom let her pick out. lol!

The other gifts consisted mainly of cute clothes and blankets. My mom and dad got us our travel system. It's the same as Rita's... we're copy cats... but in the words of Alex, "it's baller." (P.S. If you need a healthy dose of cuteness... click that link and scroll down to the Photo Update. You'll die.)

We also got some moola, which will be put toward the cloth diaper stash. My cousin walked up to me in his boots and said, "I'm not so good at knowin' what babies need... so ::whips out wallet:: here you go." ::hands over cash:: It was funny.

Soo... one shower down... two to go. I've got my fingers crossed that we get all of the essentials. So far we've gotten about 3 things that we registered for. (Travel system, a receiving blanket, a towel...) I'm ready to start getting things together and maybe actually paint the nursery. ::side eyes Alex::

Learning Some Folds...

...Aaaaand working a puzzle.

(So cute, I die.)

First Baby Class/Hospital Tour

We're in single digits people. Less than 9 weeks until my due date. I might hyperventilate.

We had our first class tonight. It was "Baby Talk" with a pediatrician. I honestly didn't learn anything new but it was kind of a kick in the butt kind of reminder that I needed to set up some pedi interviews. So this morning I set up a couple with the closest offices that I've heard good things about. I really don't know what I need to ask them, though...

We took the hospital tour, too. A couple of people have teased me about touring the hospital that I work at... but I don't work on L&D or Mother/Baby! It was nice to get to see the those rooms and get a feel for what to expect. I was the only annoying person who asked any questions. Their c-section rate is in line with the national average but 95% of the women who deliver there have an epidural. That seems really high. I want it available but I don't want to feel pressured into having one. They have squat bars available, but the nurse said that most women don't use them... but that might be because they don't know they're available! I wouldn't know if I didn't ask. She also said that it might take a while for the nurse to set it up because they're not used to it, which scared me a little. They're okay with intermittent monitoring, as long as it's okay with your OB, and you can bring your own supplies like a birth ball... but once again she said most women didn't. Ugh, I don't know how I feel. I know that you can't completely plan out your delivery and things can change at the drop of a hat. And I know that no matter how it plays out at the end I'll be bringing home my beautiful baby boy. But it doesn't have to be so clinical, does it?

I just need to quit stressing. On a positive note... I passed the 3 hour glucose test! Woot! And I'm waiting on a call back from the doctor's office right now, hopefully with the results of my holter and echo...

b-day party/house hunting

On Saturday we celebrated Alex's mom's 51st birthday. Of course there was good food. (Which I just heard was good... I didn't actually have any because I'm still not too keen on chicken and on top of that was feeling a little blah.) We also discovered that I have a nice talent...


...Yeah.

I made her card... Alex helped.




Before the party the ladies of the family got together to discuss our baby shower. Showers make me feel so awkward. It's weird to have people paying attention to me... I don't know.

On Saturday morning we went and checked out that house in Taylorsville. The realtor was late so my mom, being the redneck that she is, broke in through a window and the unlocked the front door for us. All I can say is... no. It's a foreclosure on 2 acres for $39,000 and at one time it had some real potential... but for what it would cost to fix it up and get rid of the mold we could just tear it down and build a new house on the property. Yeah, it was so bad that when the realtor called an hour later to tell us she forgot all about our appointment, she left us a message with the code to get the key because we "really couldn't do any more damage." Lol!

Some of the better pictures:

Alex wanted this to be his office...

Note the stairs leading up to the wall. lol!

After surveying this gem we got in the mood to drive around and look at other houses. I remember how addicted I got to house-shopping when we were looking for our current home. Even after we closed on ours we would still spend weekends driving around and checking other houses out. No real plans to move anytime soon... but it's fun to dream.

KY State Fair

I know it's been over for like... ever. But here are some pics from the one day I spent at the fair with Alex.

Some dude just rocking out in the South Wing lobby. He was great.
We got his cd.

Alex with Freddy Farm Bureau.

Me switchin' some video.

Securing a camera.

FCCLA demonstration.

This kid was awesome...

...

This is "work?"

Reeca. :|

Checking out some exhibits.

Devin's card. :]

Dooley's stained glass... so pretty.

Someone made this. Sheesh.

I didn't venture out of the south wing very much. I just kinda hung with Alex and kept him company. We got some quality people watching in. Not much to say... it was the fair, ya know. I ate cotton candy. The end.

Obama's speech to students...

I usually try to stay away from controversial topics on here... but I was so shocked that this was even an issue. When I was little I remember always looking up to the president... no matter the party affiliation. We were taught that it was a position to be respected. If you asked a classroom full of elementary students what they wanted to be when they grew up at least one or two would say that they wanted to be president. If the president, who should set a good example for our youth, wants to present a positive a message to America's students to work hard and do good in school, it should be a non-issue. It is completely unfathomable to me how people could misconstrue such a speech as "liberal propaganda" or "brainwashing."

On "the bump" message board someone started a thread about this and one person said,

"Government is overstepping the boundaries on this one and needs to stay out of education."

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! I mean... seriously? Everything is not about a total government takeover, people. Past presidents have addressed students before without this kind of hype. It just boggles my mind. Alex says I'm just easily heated over political issues.

EKG update

The cardiologist FINALLY read my EKG around 3:00 today. I went and picked up a copy and as I suspected it was normal... sinus tach. Normal rhythm with an elevated rate. So I paged the doc. She said to keep an eye on it over the weekend, go to the ER if my rate goes above 140, and to call the office on Monday and get an order to schedule a 2D echo and holter monitor. Honestly, I'm not going to go to the ER if my rate goes up. I know they just need to tell me that to cover their butts but what are they going to do for me in the ER? Another EKG and maybe an echo. I don't need to pay a $50 copay and wait five hours in the waiting room with a bunch of sickies for something that can easily be done as an outpatient. So, yeah... there ya have it.

Eventful Day-28 week appointment edition.

My checkup this morning was a little more eventful than usual. First of all I had my glucose tolerance test. *fingers crossed that I pass* Also, this is the first appointment that I actually had any questions. I had a nice list... guess I was making up for lost time. I got my FMLA straightened out to where I can use it intermittently before my due date if I need it. (I'm like one call-in away from getting canned.) We had a discussion about the H1N1 vaccine. And I mentioned that my heart rate has been a little high. It's perfectly normal for your heart rate to go up a little bit during pregnancy, but I've noticed a few times that my resting heart rate has been around 140s-150s when I'm completely calm- just chillin'- and I get a little sweaty and dizzy. So she checked my pulse and, hmmm... hold on a sec. She got her stethoscope. Wait a minute... it's speeding along a little fast... she needed a timer. She excused herself from the exam room and got her iPhone. I focused on breathing and making sure I was calm while she listened. Sure enough she happened to catch my rate running around 145. Next thing I know I'm being sent over to the main hospital for an EKG. She told me to go home and rest and page her through the answering service if I hadn't heard from her by around 8:00 tonight. I paged... no call back. I considered paging again but I'm sure she's just super busy with deliveries considering the full moon and all. ;] I don't want to be bothersome... she's not even on call anymore - I would be paging Dr. Dutton and having her page Dr. Clark. I'm also fairly certain that she's just going to tell me to keep an eye on it. They might want to schedule a 2D echo or holter but that wouldn't be done until next week. Also, I'm almost positive that my EKG was normal except for the rate. So yeah... don't yell at me but I'm going to let it be until after the weekend. I'm working this weekend so I'll be right there in the ER. Maybe I'll try paging tomorrow. I don't know, we'll see. Blech.

Aaanyway. After my appointment we got a lot accomplished. (I know, I know... go home and "rest.") We discussed shower plans with Alex's granny, dropped off a TON of crap at Goodwill, sold a bunch of books at Half Price Books, picked up a shelving/cubby thingamabobber for the nursery, and got some paint rollers because Alex is painting the kitchen this weekend.

We also found a new way home from Louisville. We like to just turn on some random road and try to find our way home and today we had a pretty little drive. Then we went and looked at a house. Yeah, a house. A fixer-upper. I'll tell you about that dream some other time. Until then, it's bedtime.