35 Weeks!

So this picture is from Monday, however since Sunday/Monday my shirts have started getting shorter than they were last week. Pat and Jennifer both said Tuesday, "You grew!" And grow I did. Jacob/my belly are measuring right on track for 35 weeks and he had a happy 159 heart rate yesterday. I didn't have any weight gain this past two weeks, to my surprise. Jacob has nestled his behind right up under my ribs and enjoys rolling from side to side under there. Lovely! My rib cage will enjoy the relief once Jacob makes his appearance.
I'm at 35 weeks today, which puts the countdown at 35 days!! (And no, I don't know this number without the assistance of the tracker on the blog).
This weekend I take my last test in the securities licensing process. It's only a 60 question test, compared to the 260 I had for the Series 7 exam. This part is just for KY, and is a state law exam. Wish me luck Saturday morning!

Surviving Rolex

What a weekend! Last year I volunteered my 4 years of merchandising experience, thanks to Express, and lent a hand at the Rolex 3 Day Event held here in Lexington at the Horse Park. I was a co-chair for the official T-shirt and Hat tent for 4 days, preceded by 2 full days of set up. We had an outstanding year and raised a lot of money for the University of Kentucky Children's Hospital.
I was asked to return this year after a VERY successful year and move to the Official Rolex 3 Day Shop Main Tent. Last August I accepted the invitation and marked the week of April 21 - 26 off my calendar at work. Little did I know then that I would be 34 weeks pregnant when the event rolled around. At my last doctor’s visit I was put on restriction for this event. No set up and I could only work half days. She recommended I work only in the morning since it would be cooler and easier for my asthma. I then got the weather report – temperatures in the 80’s all weekend!!! I knew it would be a rough 4 days, but I really wanted to participate and be a part of this event. I made it through Thursday with no problems and left around 11:00. Friday wasn’t too bad either and I left the Horse Park around 12:30 after having a nice lunch with my mom and another co-chair. Saturday was a different story. We were short handed with volunteers and had spectators in our tent early. I jumped on a cash register and two hours later realized I had spent two hours standing in the hot sun and knew my feet weren’t going to be very happy with me (a BIG disadvantage to having a skin reaction to wearing a watch early in pregnancy, no concept of time without that watch!!) I managed to grab a chair for a few minutes, and then jumped back up to help some unfocused volunteers move polo shirts from one table to another and replace the empty table area with travel mugs… MISTAKE. I had been told all weekend, “take it easy and let someone else do the work, sit down, the rest of the co-chairs will all be fine”. I should have listened. By the time I left Saturday I had spent WAY too much time on my feet and boy could I tell when I got home. My ankles had officially swollen to cankles complete with sock lines – yuck, and my legs were killing me! I made it to my couch around 3:00 and woke up to a puddle of drool when Pat came home from work Saturday afternoon. After a nice dinner out at Old Chicago I finished the 3rd of 4 days around 11:00 pm. Needless to say Sunday I was worn out from the minute I woke up and so I drug Pat with me to the Horse Park. I remained posted behind the co-chair’s table and checked in volunteers, from a chair all day. For the first time I did not feel guilty not getting up. I overdid it the day before. Pat and I left yesterday around noon, and had a nice lunch and picked up a few gifts for Mother’s Day and for Pat before heading home to watch movies in the air conditioning. Thank goodness for the rest yesterday afternoon, or I would be toast today as well.
I’m realizing I just can’t do as much. The heat this week has really taken a toll on my asthma and required the use of an inhaler a few times, and I can’t wait for the moment when I realize I’ve gone more than 2 hours without needing to go to the bathroom. Just over 5 weeks left – WOO HOO! I’m not “miserable” as some of my friends have gotten. Not yet, at least. But I’m getting ready for Jacob to arrive.

Nice Weekends in Western Kentucky

April 11th Pat and I headed to Bowling Green and then Franklin for the day. We started out meeting up with Clinton for a quick maternity photo shoot and then I dropped Pat and the Phi Delt house so he could play a round of golf with Brandon, Danny and Drew. I headed down to Franklin to meet up with Mom at Nannie’s where my great aunt was hosting a baby shower. We had a great day, it was BEAUTIFUL. Jacob got some great outfits and his bathtub! I even got to meet the next addition to the Anderson side of the family – Wesley’s fiancé Beth. It was great to get to know her. She’s super sweet and I’m excited for there to be someone else our age running around at family gatherings. We completed our day with dinner at Toot’s in BG with Drew, Jessica, Julia and Brandon. We even headed back to Lexington with our own order of fried pickles :)

32 weeks and 2 days with Mom and Nannie

The next weekend Dad, Jen, Gracie and I went back to Bowling Green and spent the weekend at my grandfather’s farm for our last baby shower with my Dad’s side of the family. We had a great time getting to see all the extended family that we don’t normally see except at the holidays, and the last time I had seem most of the family was at Grandma’s funeral last August, how things change is a year! I haven’t yet managed to get Jennifer’s pictures downloaded from the day, but once I do I’ll post. We were able to have the shower out on my grandfather’s porch, while the men of the family hung out in the gazebo. I’m convinced they hung around just to get the good food! Pat spent the weekend at Lake Cumberland with 6 other Phi Delt buddies of his. When we both got back home Sunday we unloaded Dad’s truck of goodies, and haven’t moved any of them since then. I guess I need to get on the ball!

Thank you to all our wonderful family! Jacob has been more than spoiled and we are truly blessed to have been given such wonderful things to start Jacob’s life in our home. I can honestly say, at this point, he will want for nothing. Pat and I are very grateful for all that has been done for us and our new family.

31 Weeks

And finally, I think I might be caught up!
Yesterday I made it to 31 Weeks, that means only 62 more days to go - Seriously, ONLY 62!!!

I've determined that my belly grew a lot just yesterday. I can feel it stretching and Jacob's been on the move for the last day and a half - he's normally very calm and still except early morning, mid day and at night when I get in bed. Must be a growth spurt. My belly button is getting closer to coming out of the cave it's been hiding in for the last 25 years. It has always been very deep and I figured I would not have to worry about my belly button "popping out" but, it's getting much closer to flattening out and it's getting itchy. Might be a sign of stretch marks to come??? I keep vitamin E lotion close by always!

Wednesday I went back to the doctor and saw Dr. E again. She said I'm still measuring right on track; Jacob's heart beat sounds good and he's still head down. He's been that way at every appointment the last 2 months - let's hope he stays that way, even though my ribs could use a break from all the kicking. I'll have two more doctor appointments two weeks apart and then I'll start going every week. WOW! When I look at things that way, it all seems even closer than 62 days away.

Still Catching Up....

A few weeks ago Pat and I got adventurous and decided it would be fun to get a 3D Ultrasound at the Baby Belly Spa in Lexington. We were supposed to have a 15 minute session and ended up being back with the tech for 45 minutes. Jacob's umbilical cord was blocking our view as it was right across his face. With a little poking we got him to move it just enough to see his face for a few seconds. The tech has already decided he looks like Pat.
He's a shy boy and wouldn't let us check out much other than parts of his face. He had his legs crossed and wouldn't confirm if he is indeed a boy. Pat and I went back a few days later and got a quick confirmation that Jacob will indeed remain a Jacob. But it seemed as soon as he realized what we were doing he didn't want to play along any longer. 30 seconds later he did a quick turn, stretched out his legs and crossed them tight.

Later that afternoon Marianne and I hosted a baby shower for our friend Beth who is due about 2 1/2 weeks before me. We had a great time eating and catching up with Beth's family and it was great to finally get some blue things into the Lodmell house!

Catch Up February

Just a belly picture. Not much happened it February...

24 Weeks and 2 Days - February 17, 2009

Catch Up

I'm just trying to catch up as a lot has gone on in the last 3 months... yes, it's been almost 3 months since I've gotten on here...

January: Lexington got hit with an ice storm that had almost everyone locked up in their homes for 2 days. I put Pat to work!

I had seen a Pottery Barn video for how to paint stripes in a bedroom - it didn't look too hard, so I asked Pat to paint stripes in Jacob's room. It's a good thing he loves me! Pat spent the next 48 hours measuring, taping and painting blue and green stripes in the nursery. It was a LONG process and a good thing he had two full days to work on it without any interruptions or it still might not be done. It looks great now and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Also, I was able to attend the Henry Brown warehouse sale in November and picked up a great diaper bag that would work for a boy or girl and Pat wouldn't be ashamed to carry. Since finding out we were having a boy Jennifer took the bag back to Henry Brown and had it monogrammed. I LOVE how it turned out!

Catch Up March

March 7, 2009 - The Brownies (Alice, Laura, Meagan & Paige) threw a baby shower at Meagan's house in Louisville to spoil Jacob rotten! He now has UK and WKU attire to get him started off right. We were also showered with lots of monogrammed items, cute clothes, bottles and bathing necessities. Thanks girls for all your hard work! It looked amazing and Pat and I can't thank them enough for their generosity.
Some pictures from the shower...

Paige kept making me take pictures of "the belly," turns out it was a good idea. I don't ever take them on my own AND right after we took this picture Meg took the balloons outside to tie on the mailbox - and they came undone and flew away! It's the only documentation of the balloon bouquet we have :(

27 Weeks and 2 Days