Observations

Now that I feel like a somewhat seasoned veteran at this pregnancy thing (meaning I'm definitely in the home stretch!), I wanted to make note of a few pregnant observations I've noticed over the past few months.

• Everyone is ALWAYS smiling at you. Complete strangers smile at you. It's kind of sweet, but kind of creepy, too.
• Speaking of strangers... they are not the least bit afraid to tell you how pregnant you actually look ("Girl, you will not make it to 40 weeks!" "There is no way you have a month left!")... It's great for the self-esteem.
• I have never appreciated a bubble bath so much in my entire life. I take at least three a week just to relax. I just lay there for what feels like hours and watch her kick and roll in my belly.
• I've never known that skin can stretch this much. It's like a science experiment. (Iin a good way, of course.)
• My internal alarm clock is set for 12:15 a.m., 3:15 a.m., and 6:15 a.m. These are my usual bathroom breaks. I wonder if it's also a sneak peak at Sibley's schedule.
• My allergies have somehow actually improved since I've been pregnant. It's a total mystery, but I'm not arguing. It's amazing to be able to breathe without sneezing, especially this time of year.
• Dr. Moses said last week that the husband of one of her soon-to-be-moms said that coming to the doctor's office is like a haunted house. You never know what's around the next corner. This, in our case especially, has been SO true. It's been a different concern/challenge almost every appointment, and we've overcome them all! I think I've said it before, but this baby girl is teaching me to roll with the punches. If you know me well, then you know this is a hard pill for me to swallow. :)

I can't tell you how fast this pregnancy has flown by. It's been such a wonderful whirlwind, and I am getting so incredibly excited to meet this sweet girl very soon!

34 Weeks

We had our 34 week check-up and sonogram on Friday. All is well! My fluid level that she was concerned about last time seems to have leveled out, and the baby is now taking up more space than the fluid, which is how we wanted things to progress. Sibley is measuring about THREE WEEKS ahead now at an estimated 6 pounds, 11 oz. Whoa.

She will very likely be a May baby rather than a June one, but that's ok. We're taking it week by week. The sono tech wasn't able to see her practicing her breathing on the sonogram, so they had to hook me up to the monitors to do a non-stress test. We sat there for 30 minutes, and watched her heart rate react to the contractions I was having about every two minutes. They're just Braxton Hicks contractions and not labor-inducing contractions, but it still freaked me out a bit because I couldn't really feel them. She checked me, and everything is fine. The contractions are normal this far into pregnancy, but in my case they're just happening pretty close together because of the size of the baby and the amount of fluid.

We were able to get a quick glimpse at her precious little face on the sonogram! And the best news of the day is that she's now head-down and no longer breech, so that's great news.

In summary, Dr. Moses said if she doesn't come on her own in the next three weeks, we'll have another sonogram at 37 weeks to see how big she is. From there we'll likely schedule a c-section for no later than 39 weeks if she's as big as expected.

What a whirlwind! It was a very thorough appointment, and we felt like we got a complete picture of how she's doing. I'm praying she stays put a few more weeks just to let things mature a little bit more, but I think the rest is up to Sibley at this point!

After our doctor's appointment, Derek and I came up to my office for my work baby shower. It was so nice, and we once again feel so very loved!

It was a baby-filled Friday, and it was great. We came home after the shower and finished washing baby blankets, putting up big gifts, getting the car seat out and ready to install, and making sure everything was as ready as could be for her pending arrival.

 

No more than about a month to go now until we meet this sweet girl. Time's a tickin'!

A Little R&R

This past weekend we headed north to Eagle Lake for a little downtime and a celebration of our friend Jeremy's birthday. Jeremy turned 39 on Friday and had an extraordinarily tough year as he beat colon cancer. He is the most determined and most inspirational person I know. I mean, this guy still ran marathons in the midst of chemo treatments!

We've gotten to know him through his lovely wife, Claire, over the past several years and couldn't have been happier that he asked to spend his birthday "reflecting" with close friends at Firefly Hill.

It was so nice to relax, which I think we all needed. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, and I laughed so hard I that my all my muscles hurt the next day. Great weekend!

Hattiesburg Baby Shower

This past weekend my sweet girlfriends from college hosted a baby shower for me in Hattiesburg. I gotta tell you, after two weekends in a row of showers for this baby girl, Derek and I both are so humbled at the love we feel in anticipation of her arrival.

The shower was absolutely perfect, and it was so good to catch up with all my old friends and get some good parenting advice! After the shower we went to dinner at Crescent City (one of my old faves), then Brooke spent the night with me at my parents' house, and we were able to talk all about life with a newborn. She was sweet enough to leave Baby Neely in Birmingham after her first week back at work to come to Hattiesburg. I'm so very loved. :)

Here are a few pics from the big day...

It was a wonderful shower! As they did at our Jackson shower (thanks to Katherine and Maggie for the idea), all the guests wrote a sweet message inside a Dr. Seuss book for Sibley to read later. Last week it was "Happy Birthday To You!" and this week was "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" I think this is the best idea ever, and she will LOVE it one day!

 

Again, we are so blessed with wonderful friends and family, and I can't wait for this little girl to meet everyone!

Couples' Baby Shower

This weekend we had our very first baby shower for Sibley. It was a couples' shower hosted by family and friends at Katherine and Paul's beautiful house on the Reservoir. We could not have asked for more perfect weather. It was a GORGEOUS day out on the Rez!

A couples' shower really was the perfect first shower. Derek was able to feel included, and he really got a kick out of opening all the pink, girly gifts. Ha!

All of the Greys/Ferrells/soon-to-be Greys...

The guests and the beautiful view of the Rez from Katherine and Paul's backyard...

The food: State Street BBQ pulled pork, shredded chicken, baked potato salad, Candee's baked beans, and desserts by Katie. Absolutely delish!

The sweet gift table with a book for all the guests to write a message for Sibley...

Action shot...

Our gracious hosts and hostesses... such great friends!

It really was a wonderful day. We feel extremely loved, and this little lady is one lucky girl!!

30 Weeks and A NAME!

We had our 30-week sonogram on Tuesday and got tiny little glimpse of baby girl (and confirmed she's still a girl)! She's breach right now, and she had her face covered with her hands the whole time, so we only got a side shot of her chubby little cheeks and a very clear shot of her perfect little baby feet, which I'm already totally in love with. :)

She is actually measuring about 2 weeks ahead weighing 3 lbs, 10 oz. Everything looked great with her! We were even able to see her lungs practicing for when she's able to breathe outside of my belly. It was truly amazing to watch.

The good news is I seem to have the gestational diabetes under control with my new diet (and I've actually lost 2 pounds), so I just need to keep doing what I'm doing. But the bad news is I seem to have a condition called polyhydramnios, which is excessive amniotic fluid. The concern with this is that it can cause extreme discomfort/difficulty breathing as this pregnancy progresses because of all the pressure on my lungs. But more importantly there's a possibility that my water can break early (anytime) because my body thinks the extra pressure is a full-grown baby or multiple babies and it's time to deliver. This condition can be directly associated with the gestational diabetes, and the hope is that now that I've gotten my blood sugar levels controlled the extra fluid will be reabsorbed and level out as she grows. Fingers crossed and prayers said! We want her to stay put for at least two more months!

If there's one thing this little girl has already taught me, it's to just roll with the punches. This is clearly a lesson I've needed to learn, so I'm grateful for that already.

In other news, we're finally ready to publicly share her name. We've known it for months now, but we just wanted to make sure we felt like it fit her.

Sibley Elizabeth Grey

"Sibley" is Derek's grandmother's maiden name (and also Uncle Sib's name), and she'll be a third generation "Elizabeth." We never had any issues with a girl name; it was the boy's name that always gave us trouble. We love it though, and we hope she will, too! We can't wait to meet her in a few short weeks. Let's just hope those weeks aren't TOO short!

Weekend Getaway

I apologize for the lack of pictures in advance, but Derek and I had a lovely little "babymoon" getaway to Biloxi this past weekend.

We stopped by the outlets in Gulfport to do a little shopping, then checked in to the Beau Rivage and relaxed by the pool for a while that afternoon. Dinner reservations were at 6 at Ruth's Chris.

I've never eaten there before, and I gotta tell you... this was a pregnant woman's DREAM. I even splurged with the potatoes au gratin and BBQ shrimp appetizer. It was all so incredibly delicious. They treated us great, too, and even put rose petals and "Happy Anniversary" confetti on our table since this was our big belated anniversary celebration, too. It was a wonderful dining experience.

After dinner we caught a cab to the Coast Coliseum for ELTON JOHN! We missed it when he played in Jackson in September because we were in Orlando, but what a treat it was! That man was amazing, and I was just in awe the whole time at the fact that we were seeing this legend. It was great.

We called it a night about 11:00 (crazy party animals that we are these days), then stopped in Hattiesburg for our annual Easter shrimp boil with my family on the way home on Sunday.

It was a wonderful weekend! We really enjoyed the little getaway and spending time together. It was so nice. And I'm still thinking about that big, juicy steak. :)