Bittersweet

Unless she decides to make her arrival sooner, looks like we'll be meeting our baby girl in two weeks! Dr. Moses doesn't want me to go past 39 weeks because of my diabetes and her size (as of Tuesday she was estimated at 8 lbs., 3 oz., at almost 37 weeks). Her method of arrival is still to be determined, but most likely it will be via c-section or induction sometime that first week of June.

That leads me to this post. I have ALL kinds of emotions running through my head right now. It's very bittersweet. I could not be more excited to meet this little girl and start our new life as a family of three. But with that comes saying goodbye to seven years as a pretty dynamic duo.

I realize that probably sounds ridiculously irrational, but we've always been go-ers and do-ers. We like to eat nice dinners out, we like to travel, we like to go to happy hour (or we did prior to the past nine months!), we like to just enjoy life as the hip, young kids we are! Haha, but seriously... we're about to be thrown a huge curveball that comes wrapped in pink and goes by the name of Sibley.

I know you're never truly READY for a baby -- no matter how prepared you think you are or no matter how long you've hoped and prayed for that little blessing. We're at a great place in our lives, and I think God knew that when he said, "It's time."

While it might be the end of an era as a twosome, it's the beginning of the best years of our lives, and I truly believe that. Our world is about to be rocked, and she's about to make our good times even better.

In the meantime, while I can't really enjoy happy hour in the traditional sense for the next two weeks, I do think I can fit in a few nice steak dinners out at my favorite restaurants, peaceful bubble baths, and afternoon naps. Sounds like a nice way to spend the "in-between" time if you ask me. :)

Sibley's Nursery

We finally are completely finished with the nursery, so I thought I would share some pics. I just LOVE it. It's my favorite room in the house, and this whole room was a true collaboration my ideas and Derek's ideas. We didn't really want anything too frilly, and we didn't want pink. So we went more gender-neutral and fun with a touch of Dr. Seuss whimsy. I just love how it turned out. :)

This was the "inspiration piece" for the room. Derek's mom always collected pineapples, and right after she passed away in 2009 we saw this piece of art at a gallery in Orange Beach. We bought it with the intention of one day putting it in a nursery. And now here it is...

Speaking of moms, we had these two similar photos of our moms with us as newborns, so we blew them up to 8x10s and had them framed to hang on the wall when you enter the room. The piece in the middle is a Walter Anderson "S" that our friends Melanie and Trey gave us at our first baby shower.

We had her bedding made by Polka Tot Designs in Mobile, and we found this precious mobile on Etsy. Again, I'm just thrilled with how it turned out. I love the gray-red-yellow combo.

We saw this light fixture at I.O. Metro Furniture, and we knew it was perfect. It's a little different, but it goes so well with everything else in the room. You can't really tell from the pic, but it's distressed wood, and the medallion on the ceiling adds a feminine touch.

And here is the panoramic view of the whole room. Derek and I have spent many an hour in here already reading to her and getting everything ready for her arrival. The rocking chair in the corner was one of the first pieces of furniture my grandparents bought when they were married in the 1940s. A sweet co-worker made the quilt that hangs on top.

There's a lot of love in this room already. We can't wait to share it all with her very, very soon!

Mother's Day Weekend

What a great weekend! We started Saturday out with our very last baby shower, so generously hosted by Derek's co-workers. It was so nice! Here are a few pics.

It was a wonderful shower, and I can honestly say we feel pretty prepared for her arrival now! Or at least as prepared as we can be, I suppose. :)

On Sunday, my parents and grandparents came up to our house for a Mother's Day brunch. It was finally time to show them the big nursery reveal. We've kept it a secret until it was all finished, and we couldn't wait to show it off. Don't worry, that will be a totally separate post. Ha!

It was a beautiful weekend, and I feel very blessed to be so loved. It was a true honor to be able to celebrate Mother's Day myself this year. I'm  clearly in great company and can't wait to hold my daughter in my arms in just a few weeks!

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!