interesting experience

i know i told you guys about my marshmellow feet...i decided since it did happen over 24 hours i should call my doc and let her know. i also have a rash that developed at the same time the swelling did. it itches really really bad, so i was hoping to get some ideas on what i could use safely for relief. I called this morning and they called back and said they wanted me to come in so they could take a look at the rash and check my blood pressure. my blood pressure has never been high and brad had checked it yesterday when the swelling was at its worst and it was fine. so i headed off to the doctor's office with no worries. as soon as i came in they checked my blood pressure as normal...but it was 172/100...not good. they checked a few more times and still got high numbers so i was sent to labor and delivery to be monitored. they good news is it went down and i'm fine...but it was scary. i am having contractions every 10 minutes though...hopefully they'll get closer together :)

joys of pregnancy...i should write a book

my feet look like oversized down pillows or microwaved marshmellows. this happened over the last 24 hours. for the last couple of months i kept thinking i was really swollen..which i was...but now i'm REALLY swollen. what i thought was really swollen is nothing compared to what i'm experiencing right now. you can't even see my ankles...you know the bones on the sides of your feet?...well they are not visible right now..that's how swollen my feet are. not sure if you've ever heard of pitting edema ,but its when swelling is so bad that if you push your skin down in one spot it stays that way and looks like a pit. its hilarious...b/c at this point all i can do is laugh. in a few days i'll have a little boy to hold and the swelling will go down and the belly will turn to mush and eventually i can start working out like it ain't no thing and things will start to feel like normal again.

by the way...don't fear sadie...she has issues, but you will probably never come in contact with them b/c they come in certain situations which brad and i are very careful to avoid when guests are over. so no worries...she's a sweet lovable puppy. you'll never have to worry about her getting an attitude with you. promise.

Yay---new furniture!

we got our furniture today!

it was very exciting since we've waited about 5 weeks for it to arrive. i was very nervous about it arriving...especially the couches, and i'll tell you why. we got the couches from bassett, but i custom designed them myself--i picked out the cushions, shape of the back of the couch, the arms, legs, upholstery, and color--i had to just envision what it would look like. i told brad he'd have to just trust me on this...but afterwards i found myself very nervous waiting to see if they'd turn out right or if i'd made the right decision on this part or another. the pressure was on b/c brad, unlike most men, likes to be very involved in the decorating process. he has his own taste and is quite picky so that made things a little more scary for me--would he like it? after all i had told him to trust me, and now i'm starting to second guess myself. plus once you custom design something...its made for you...so you can't return it.
we were also both nervous about everything else because after you drop such a pretty penny you kind of get buyers remorse. did we make the right decision???? anyways--i'm just happy b/c we both love everything. here are some pics...of just the furniture...we still have lots of decorating to do! hope you enjoy!

oh and in case you are wondering...the dog whisperer visited us today and got to see sadie perform. it was interesting, and he said he felt like we could fix the problems we have with her so i was very very relieved. after all she is my first baby girl and i love her very much. i was losing sleep...am i going to have to get rid of her...who will take her...would we have to put her to sleep...now i don't have to worry about any of those options b/c the dog whisperer has come to our rescue!

"it's a beautiful morning"

today i get my furniture...in fact it should be arriving in about 30 minutes. i'm so very excited.

also, today sadie gets a visit from the san antonio dog whisperer. she needs professional help and now that a little boy is on the way...we are finally admitting to ourselves that we won't be able to fix her problems on our own. she's a sweet dog...waaaayyy too smart though. so yesterday i made a couple of phone calls to two different professional dog trainers in our area, and one of them is coming out today to see sadie in action and talk to us about what kinds of interventions she'll need and how much they'll cost. its quite expensive...one quote we got was $700. pretty rough, huh? what are our choices though...get rid of sadie or put her to sleep--not really what you want to do with an animal you love dearly--or get rid of jack...don't think so :) we started some interventions on our own such as...she's not allowed on our bed or couches anymore, she gets kenneled when we aren't home, she heels, and she knows all possible commands, but she still likes to have it her way when it comes to anything she thinks she isn't supposed to have...such as things from the trash, etc. we'll see...hopefully mr. ian avery will be able to help us.

by the way...brad saw a garage sale and he got a gas can for 50 cents...and a brand new meat probe for 50 cents---don't be dissin garage sales now---they are good for our earth--remember the 3 r's...recycle, reduce & reuse--one less plastic container to sit in a land fill. i'm doin my part.

I had my doctor's appt. this morning and she said....

"i'd be suprised if you make it to your due date."

i was very happy to hear this news...hopefully she's right. i'd say my doc is pretty conservative with what she says and how she says it...so i'm hoping she's right b/c i'm super ready to meet this little boy! for the past few weeks she also hasn't been too big on the idea of inducing unless i was a week past my due date, but today she said..."if you make it to your due date (july 8), which i don't think you will, i would have no problem inducing you." i was pleased with this news as well--so it looks like we will be having a baby sometime over the next week. i'll keep you guys posted :)

nature's way??

it's 5:40 am. i've been up since about 3:45 am. i'm assuming this is nature's way of preparing me for the sporatic late night sleep schedule i will soon be embracing. instead of fighting my sleeplessness...i decided to just give in and come downstairs to eat some cereal. i was hungry anyways. it's going to be a long wait for my 10 o'clock snack..but i'm going to have to fight through it. i've found out that its really really hard to avoid overeating while pregnant. i'd say i was a pretty strict food consumer before i was pregnant, and i always prided myself on the fact that i'd continue to be that way throughout pregnancy. what a suprise i had in store :) I'm starving all the time...i could literally eat all day. proper nutrition is very important in order to grow a healthy little baby...but all the experts stress how important it is to not over eat and gain extra weight that isn't needed. needless to say...i've been trying to be very careful lately...and its taking lots of will power, but i've been doing better...not great but better. i try to just have breakfast, a 10 am snack, lunch, a 3ish/4ish snack, and dinner. someone needs to come over and finish the damn apple pie that's sitting on my kitchen counter.

"i keep on waiting...waitin' on the world to change..."

no baby jack yet. i definitely feel like he has dropped...a lot. i'm sooooo ready. kind of. maybe. brad said his feelings have changed from being extremely nervous to extremely excited--i laughed b/c mine have gone from being extremely excited to being more nervous.

people always say you have crazy dreams when you are pregnant. well, i had my first official crazy dream the other night. i dreamed that jack came out early...while i was driving to a store...so i just tucked him back under my shirt. he kept falling out from under my shirt and i kept just tucking him back under it. it was really pretty funny. he wasn't yucky or anything..in fact he was all clean and sweet. strange, huh?

we are supposed to be getting our furniture this weeks-yay! we bought everything a month ago, then we had to wait for it to come in...quite a bummer. i'll post some pics once it all gets here. i still need a coffee table and end table for the living room, but i can't find anything i like. brad says i'm picky. i just don't want to settle.

my dad has been super sick lately...he won't be able to come to san antonio to see the baby...so i'm going to lake charles to see him after jack is born. probably will be heading that way the last week of july or the first week of august...so if anyone will be around we'll have to meet up so you can meet jack. he's going to be really cute...and sweet :) say lots of prayers for my pops.

this is my baby

my baby boy is in there...and i'm ready for him to come out.

a few pics here and there...

My mom, Brad and I painted those letters...yes Brad painted one...the A and he's very proud!
the crib

"all my bags are packed...I'm ready to go..."

Sadie...living the easy life
the office

my big ripe belly(38 weeks)
my sweet baby's clothes

tomorrow i get to do something...

i'm really getting bored. brad took my car this morning to work so i couldn't go anywhere. with my belly i can't reach the pedals in his truck. tomorrow i get to go get my id on base and i have my weekly doctor's appt.---yay.

i feel great. i don't feel like my belly is getting bigger. i do notice that it's much more difficult to turn over in the bed at night though, and when i lay down it's much harder to breathe so i know somethings changing. we were watching hell's kitchen last night and they had to cook for a bunch of pregnant women. i told brad and bryce my belly wasn't as big as those womens bellies...and they both quickly told me..no...it was definitely just as big. i just can't tell. i used to notice when my belly got bigger...now i can't tell as much...

they tried to deliver my camera today, but i was asleep. so...tomorrow i should get it, and you will all get what you have been waiting for. just be patient...it's coming soon enough.

yea---i posted something today!

Blue for Father's Day---Happy Father's Day---Brad bought a brisket to cook just for himself b/c today is Father's Day. It was actually really really good. He cooked it for many hours on the grill and it tasted wonderful.

I've been waiting for this whole nesting thing to happen...today it kind of happened. I got inspired to clean the bathrooms. It was cool, although brad was the one who was recruited to do all the scrubbing b/c i'm physically not able to lean over anything or bend over or get on my knees and find a way back up. it's lovely being pregnant. anyways...we did get the bathrooms clean so if our sweet one comes i wont have to worry about the bathrooms being dirty. i keep thinking about what else i need to do...but really there is nothing to do. my bag is packed...well kind of...b/c everything i'll be bringing to wear at the hospital are my comfies that i wear everyday right now so i can't pack them yet. i can't pack my toiletry stuff either b/c i use that stuff everyday too. jack's bag is packed though. he has like five different options to choose from to wear home...hopefully he's not like his mother and will be able to make a decision. i am actually going to just let my mom pick something b/c i just can't decide. brad likes this onesie that says "sleep is for weak." I was thinking something more cute, but stiff comfy. we'll see and soon enough you will too...b/c his coming home picture will be posted within 3 weeks!!! i can't believe we only have 3 weeks until he will be here. i'm quite anxious and ready, but the other day when i was taking my daily 2 hour nap i was laying in bed thinking about how this might be the last time i'll just be able to sleep for 2 hours peacefully. i'm trying not to rush into all of this. it will be here soon enough.

brad has slowly been trying to prepare me for the pain i will endure before i actually get my epidural. we got a paper from my doctor saying i should wait until my contractions are 5-6 minutes apart lasting for 45 sec-1 min. for one hour before coming in...unless ofcourse my water breaks. i was thinking we could just fib a little and say i've been having them for an hour...but just go in after 30 min. that way i can possibly get some relief from the pain earlier. brad laughed...there's no way he'll go for it. it's gotta have something to do with the fact that he's a doctor. anyways...tonight we went for a walk with our neighbors and i had a really strong contraction...and it REALLY hurt. i'm not sure how i'm going to handle them when they are coming 5-6 min. apart. the one i had tonight was just a braxton hicks contraction...not even the real thing and it hurt. what are the real ones going to feel like? I don't tolerate pain well...at all. i'm going to try and be tough though. i'll be honest after it's all over with and tell you the truth.

a little bit of this and a little bit of that

San Antonio is hot....only in the middle of the day though. In the morning...we can sit on the back porch and there's a cool breeze...and in the evening...the same thing, but don't even think about going out and about during the middle of the day. The heat sucks whatever energy you might have right out of you. That's been my only issue---with the pregnancy lately that is---I have no energy. I'm at that point where doing normal things that we all take for granted like picking things up off the floor...walking from here to there...turning over in the bed and getting off the couch are chores, but otherwise I feel great. Today I went to the pool with my neighbor and her two little ones. It was pretty nice as long as you stay in the water. By the way...we have the greatest neighbors....Jake, Kayla, Jackson(2 years) & Abbey-Kate(9 months). Jake is in the AirForce with Brad and will be doing Peds...Kayla was a teacher like me, but now she stays home with her little ones. They are wonderful, and we have lots of fun hanging out with them. I feel really really lucky to have met such great people right away.

Anyways---right now I'm in the process of finding a camera since ours got broken, so just be patient and eventually there will be pictures for you to look at. I know pictures are what everyone really wants to see. They will be coming soon, and so will Jack in less than four weeks! I go see my doctor tomorrow...I start seeing her weekly at this point. I will keep you guys updated! I really can't wait for this baby to come....I'm so excited and ready.

back in business

Finally....we have the internet! I didn't realize how addicted I am to the internet. This morning the cable guy came and I was very very excited because I knew within an hour or so I'd be reconnected to the world.

We are settled in our house now and love it. We found furniture to fill it up with, but it won't be delivered until the most popular week in July---the same week Jack is due and Brad starts his residency. It should be fun. I also met my OB this week. I was a little worried....but no more worries because she is great. Everything looks great and she estimates Jack will be between 6 and 7 lbs. I see her next week and then every week until the little man makes his grand entrance--which is only five more weeks by the way!