Happy spring everyone!  You know you live in Minnesota when you are in a snowstorm on the first day of spring… Typical!  I really don’t mind the snow normally, but come on can we be done with it already?  The roads were nice and dry and things were starting to dry up, but now we start all over again.  I am hoping that baby doesn’t have to experience their first snowstorm until next winter.  I am looking forward to that first 70 degree day this spring, even 50 or 60 degrees would be fine right about now. J 

Things are going well with me and baby.  I have been feeling more and more run down, but trying to deal with it day by day.  I was definitely not feeling well earlier this week, but seem to have bounced back just in time for the weekend.  We have no plans for our Saturday so I am excited to get to relax for an entire day.   

We have officially made it to our 37^th week, so I feel really good that baby can be born at any point now and do well outside the womb.  He/she is full term!  J Baby continues to do well with the NST each week, he/she is very active still so that helps!  At my OB appointment on Tuesday the doctor told me that I am not dialated at all, so that was disappointing, but I know that baby will come once they are ready.  I had a growth ultrasound today on top of my normal BPP so we got to find out exactly how big this kid is getting!  Their head measured at 9.3 inches and they weighed approx. 7 lbs 9 oz.  That just sounds huge to me with three weeks yet to go.  I think that baby gains ½ lb each week for the next three so we could end up with a 9 lb baby!  I guess that isn’t too big. J  Baby’s is healthy and that is all that matters to us! 

The countdown is at 20 days today!  Have a happy Easter everyone!

Last week was a very busy week at work, as I anticipate it will continue to be until baby comes!  I think I am getting a little better at handling my stress level though.  I feel like I am in the final stretch.  The countdown is 24 days as of today!  My goal at this point is to try to make it at work until the end of the month…

I did have one final shower the weekend before last, which was thrown by Clint’s aunts and my best friend, Kathy. I had a great time!  It was really nice to get to see some of the family that I don’t see very often.  It’s always fun to catch up.  They made some really yummy food and I abandoned my diet for one afternoon.  It was wonderful!! We got a lot of nice things for baby, hardly any duplicate items.  I have spent the last week going through everything and setting it all up in the baby’s room.  I think that we are finally set.  The room is all ready for baby.  I will have to put some pictures up of it because it really looks wonderful.  Thanks to all the hard work of my hubby!

Baby and I are doing well, both of us getting bigger every day!  I think baby has dropped slightly, I can feel my hips starting to hurt, but that could just be from sitting on my butt all day at work too!  My blood pressure was high last week, but doctor was not worried yet.  We will see tomorrow what they say.  I have continued to go to the doctor twice a week and baby has been passing all their tests with flying colors.  Baby continues to be very active, with hiccups sometimes which is very strange. My diabetes is still not quite under control, I am taking insulin twice a day now, before breakfast and before dinner.  My fasting numbers are just not coming down.  I will talk to the diabetes doctor again today to find out if there are any changes to the plan that I am on now.  Other than that I have been feeling OK, getting more and more tired.  Its very hard to get comfortable in bed so the weekends are nice when I can sleep in!  Not too much of that in my future I have a feeling.    

My mom called me yesterday and said that my dad met a man at a retreat that has visions.  He told him that baby would be healthy and would be coming into the world on April 2nd or 3rd.  Sounds good to me!  I guess we will see what happens.  Daddy's prediction is April 2nd too.  

Yet another crazy week in the life of this mom-to-be!  Thursday of last week of my friends at work had a baby shower for me!  Everything turned out so nice. J  It was a potluck so there was lots of yummy food to eat, plus they got this fantastic fruit basket that had some of the fruit dipped in chocolate.  It was just too beautiful to eat, but three wasn’t much for leftovers! I admit I did eat a chocolate covered banana, even though I probably shouldn’t have.  It was too good to pass up!  I got lots of nice gifts from all of my co-workers, including the stroller/car seat combo, the Rainforest bouncer and take-along swing (which we are planning on taking to the cabin).  I got so many cute Pooh items and two beautiful homemade blankets.  I am very lucky to have co-workers that I can also count as my friends.  They threw an amazing baby shower!  

Then this past weekend we got all the painting done in the living room.  We started with all the trim, which was painted white by the previous owners.  We gave all of the trim a nice fresh coat of white and decided that the walls then looked dingy.  So we painted them too!  It all looks great.  I really shouldn’t say “we” when talking about painting.  Clint did the vast majority of the work; I just helped as much as I could.  My behind doesn’t move very fast these days!  Now we are on to the carpet.  We are going to go pick some out this week and the installer is coming next Saturday.  Then the constructions zone will be officially closed until this summer.  It will be very nice to actually get to rest and relax on the weekend…  Yesterday all the nursery furniture came via FedEx so Clint was a busy bee putting it all together!  He got the changing table and the dresser done; now tonight it will be the crib.   It will actually be done and ready for baby!  Now Dad and I just need to get ourselves prepared! 

Baby is doing great.  Kicking like crazy!  I think that because it is getting so big I can really feel every single movement it makes.  It’s so cool to know that in a few weeks we will be holding our son or daughter!  My twice weekly doctor’s appointments have been going well.  Dr. Ashford hasn’t been running too far behind and he has been much calmer the past couple of weeks so it’s been ok having my OB visits with him.  He is still not the same as my previous doctor, but I can live with it.  All of the NST’s and ultrasounds have been passed with flying colors so as long as we continue on this path we should be able to last until the due date.  My diabetes is still not quite under control.  The doctor continues to increase my insulin at night gradually, trying to find the right amount that will help with my fasting numbers.  Tonight is another increase and if it doesn’t help within three days then she said to bump it up another two units.  Most of my after meal numbers are just fine so if we can get the fasting under control then I will be very happy!  My blood pressure has been normal for the past couple of weeks, surprising considering how stressed I have been at work L  My total weight gain is now at 12 pounds, not too bad.  I have been feeling OK for the most part.  Very tired by the end of the day, but luckily baby seems to be sleeping at night, allowing me to do the same!

I have my final baby shower on Saturday.  Clint’s family is throwing one for me!  I am really looking forward to it and sad that is the last one too. L  That just means that the baby countdown is on now!  My husband is ditching me and going snowmobiling this weekend so hopefully this kid stays put for now. J