Got a daddy! Homer got back Monday night! My mom, Mr. Walker, Eloree, and I drove to North Carolina to pick him up and bring him back to B'ham. It was so exciting seeing all of the happy families and the banners. But it was a lot different than last years welcome home event. There didn't seem to be as many banners and they had a REALLY loud stereo going w/ a dj. And plus, it was at night, so that made the mood different in itself. But no matter the surroundings, the outcome was the same... I got my husband back! His dad was so excited to be up there and was emotional the entire time. I know it really meant a lot to him to be there to welcome his son home from Iraq! But it was a great trip, even though we were basically in the car for 3 days. Since we were in the car for so long, Kaylee Beth didn't wake up much. She started moving around Monday night in the hotel, but we were all so exhausted that Homer started falling asleep when she was waking up. He felt her, but it wasn't a lot of movement. I had a dr appointment yesterday afternoon, so we drove straight there from north carolina. He drove yesterday and kept putting his hand on my belly and smiling at me... well actually I would catch him looking at my belly, and then he would look up and smile at me. Homer went with me and was really into everything. While we were waiting for the dr to come into the exam room, Homer was rubbing my belly while I was lying down and trying to get Kaylee Beth to move for him. He aggrivated her enough to where she kicked back and his face was priceless! I had called the dr's office and asked about doing an ultrasound a week early if they were gonna do one at 36 weeks and his nurse said they would do one while he was here. So after the dr met with us and did my strip test (I didn't realize I was getting this done yesterday, so when the nurse took me to the room and gave me a sheet and said, "take off your pants" I was pretty shocked. He took a vaginal and rectal swab (yes, thats right!) to see if i carry the strep b bacteria. almost a quarter of women have it and they just give you a shot during labor so you dont pass it to the baby. so it's no big deal). But after the uncomfortable part, I asked the dr if we would be doing an ultrasound today and he said, yea sure and told us to wait for the lady to get done with another patient. Appartently my dr doesn't do ultrasounds at 36 weeks to check positions, he just does it with his hands. But they said they would let Homer see his baby "for what he does for us." And of course this comment made Homer uncomfortable b/c he doesn't like to think he's actually saving anyone from harm and protecting us back home. Kaylee Beth's head is VERY low in my pelvis to where the lady couldn't get to the top of her head without me taking off my pants. She said she would have given us a 4d picture, but she couldn't get to her face to get a shot. But she's head down, spine up (the perfect birthing position). He butt and feet are in my ribs and are what is causing me to get sore ribs and have trouble breathing. I don't think she'll be able to drop since she basically already has, so I don't think there'll be any relief for the breathing thing. She measured her yesterday and said she is 6 lbs 4 ozs (this is at 35 weeks--the email updates i get from a pregnancy website said babies are usually between 5 and 5 1/2 lbs... so Kaylee Beth is a little bigger). She asked how much Homer and I weighed and since I was 8 lbs and Homer was 11, I guess it's no huge surprise that if I carry her to my due date, Kaylee Beth will be almost 9 lbs! Babies usually gain between 5 and 8 ounces a week at this point, so each week I carry her, we can add about half a lb. I asked the dr if I would be able to get a 9 lb baby out and he said "Don't worry! We will get her out!" He also said that at this point, if I went into labor, we wouldn't stop it, which is very comforting! After finding this out and that she's gonna be big, I told Homer that we need to start doing all of the things people say can induce labor. He, unfortunately, says he wants a big baby. But at 9 lbs, she'll skip newborn size clothes and I don't think he realizes that it would be to his benefit if she could wear them since we already have them!
Our birthing class is Saturday and I think he's pretty excited about it. My dad told me not to make Homer go, but Homer's the one that really wants to go. I think since he missed everything so far he wants to do everything he can now. So we're meeting with the peditrician at 11:30 today as well. Speaking of, I need to go shower b/c I was supposed to be ready when he and his brother got back from Walmart... So I'll update more later...
2008-05-01 (34 weeks)
Whose hands are these??
Wow! My friend Brittany is 3 weeks ahead of me and learned Tuesday that she is 2 1/2 cm dialated and 50% effaced. Her Dr said she prob won't make it another 2 weeks and could actually go any day now. So, she's eager to get here baby here, and she's been doing all the things people say can induce labor. So, yesterday we went on a walk, no wait, waddle around her neighborhood. She lives in the hilliest part of Trussville!! So after a hour walk, we were exhausted. During the walk, she started complaining about her cankles. So I looked down at my hands b/c they have been hurting and swelling the past few days. As soon as she saw them she burst into laughter! My hands were on the verge of getting the dimples in the knuckles like fat babies have!! It looked like I had stolen someone else's hands!! Luckily they weren't hurting that much, just a little stiff to bend. She is still in her wedding band and has been the whole time. It's funny how differently pregnancy effects everyone. But I'm still in good spirits about it. It's a new nightly thing to see just how big my feet are when I get ready for bed. My face also looks puffy, and so I'm blaming that on swelling too--hopefully its not just fat!
The past couple of days my mom and I have been washing everything in the nursery, well not ALL of her clothes b/c I want to make sure she'll be able to wear them before I start cutting tags off. So today I'm getting to organize everything and put it away where I want it to be. It was really starting to stress me out b/c I had stuff crammed in the worst places. I know i've still got 6 weeks until my due date, but I feel like this has to be done now. I'm getting more and more exhausted as the days go by and I'm just afraid I won't have the energy to do much in a couple of weeks. And I also don't want to be putting everything away once Homer gets here. I want to be able to enjoy our time together. Speaking of, he'll be back in 3 days!! It's getting so close! I try to turn on his dvd everytime I get on the computer so Kaylee Beth can get used to his voice. So, she's really jumping right now and kicking my ribs. I hope she's excited to hear him and not scared of his voice. haha! Anyways, I've got a lot of work to do and then I'm going to scrapbook at Brittany's later. So have a great day!!
2008-04-27 (33 weeks)
Swelling
Yesterday I went to an art thing downtown and walked around. So with all of the walking along with the heat, my feet started swelling. Then I had my best friend's baby shower to attend last night, which involved more sitting. (Which by the way, I was choosen to play the game where you are blindfolded and fed baby food and must choose the flavor. It was pear, but didn't really taste like anything other than applesauce). So last night when I got home, I propped my feet up before I went to bed. Well around 4 am I woke up to pee (as usual) and couldn't go back to sleep b/c my feet and hands were hurting so badly. I got out my heating pad and tried to wrap them up, but it was hard to reach my feet in the first place to put it around them. So I just tossed and turned for about a hour and half until, exhausted, I finally fell asleep. So today I'm so tired from not sleeping.
Last night at the shower, I held one of my friend's 5 month old baby while she slept. Since I don't have much of a lap to hold her in, I just kinda sat her on top on my belly. Well, Kaylee Beth was stretched out and had her feet in my ribs and didn't like this other baby invading her space. So, she kicked her the whole time! And when someone else took Maggy to hold, Kaylee Beth had given up and just moved her feet and left an empty space where her feet were. She's definately getting her revenge today by taking up every inch of space available in my belly!
Well the rest of today and probably the rest of the week, I will begin packing things we don't need and sorting through boxes to get ready for the move in August. Homer wants me to get as much as I can done before Kaylee Beth gets here. So It looks like I have my work cut out for me...
2008-04-26 (33 weeks)
Back in town
My mom, Kaylee Beth and I made it back to B'ham late last night. Luckily, I didn't go into preterm labor during our trip to Kansas City! We had planned on going straight to North Carolina to pick up Homer, but his flight got delayed a week. So our plans are now to leave here next Sat when my mom gets off work and drive up to NC. His flight will get to the barracks around 9 pm Sunday, May 4th. Then since it is unsafe for me to be travelling then, the 3 of us will be coming to b'ham. He's gonna go to my dr appointment with me that Tuesday morning. It'll be the first one he's been to. They usually do an ultrasound on week 36 to check the position of the baby and all, but I may see if we can do it at 35 weeks so Homer will be able to see it. Since it's only a week difference, I'm hoping my dr will let us, especially after how excited he was when Homer called during an appointment, I'm thinking he'll let us... We'll see.
OK, so my mom and I made it to KC on Tuesday and saw 3 apartments. Then the next day, we went to probably 6 different ones. I was very organized and had made a binder with all of the different information on apartments in it, so we'd just add information as we got it. I had narrowed it down to 3 places and Homer and I talked about the pros and cons of each one and decided on one. Since the winters are bad, especially compared to Alabama, we decided that I needed a garage to park in. Since most apartments only have detached garages and they cannot know if they will have one or where it will be located, we decided to go with an apartment with an attached garage. I'm really excited about this place! It's a nice community and apartment. It's across the street from million dollar homes and looks especially safe! I got to talk with a student at my school that lives there and she loves it. It's only about 7 or 8 minutes from my school and won't be a huge commute. I feel much better about moving so far away now! Last year I had reserved an apartment across the street from the school. It used to be an old hospital and so the rooms were rather small and gloomy. My parents didnt want me to live off by myself and have to drive in the snow and ice since I wouldn't have Homer with me. So I had agreed to live there. But there was no way I was going to go back there. Especially since the walls are paper thin and everyone would hate us when Kaylee Beth would start crying! But now we're gonna have a great place to start our family!
Since Homer is coming back in May instead of April, he gets an extra 2 days of leave (something about since they weren't in the US long enough before they deployed them again). And he also gets combat pay for the month of May, even though he'll only be out of the country for 2 or 3 days in May. So it has its perks I guess. I'm just really happy that I'm gonna be able to be there when he gets off the bus!! I am upset that it'll be night b/c he won't be able to see my cute banner as well. But I'll live!
Kaylee Beth is doing well. She is moving a lot and keeps shifting her positions. It's getting really uncomfortable to sleep and I usually wake up numerous times throughout the night to use the bathroom and then stay up b/c I can't go back to sleep. But I guess I better get used to this for when she gets here. I've also starting making a fortress of pillows around me to go to sleep. I'm up to using 5 now and am forced to sleep in the center of the bed. I'm wondering how Homer will fit in the bed with me... He may have to take the place of one of my pillows... It'll be interesting! or we may just end up sleeping in different beds--not what you'd expect out of a married couple that hasn't seen each other in 7 months, so maybe we'll work something out.
