Happy Friday!

1. The carseat has been installed just in case. 

2. I had two days with the cat and the couch due to the flu this week.  PSA: Don't go to work sick. You never know who's going to catch your crud. It could be the resident pregnant gal. 

3.  Our appointment Thursday went so well. They hooked us up to the monitor again and his heart was perfect. No skipped beats, the perfect accelerations and decelerations, and best of all, they think my fever is what caused Monday's nonsense.., which makes me feel worlds better. 
4. The Easter Bunny came by and left Remington's Easter present for him a little bit early. It's here and waiting for sweet baby's arrival

5.

We both finally have a weekend where we don't have obligations, and it's Friday and nothing has come up yet. I'm sleeping in, staying in my PJs all day, and maybe packing a hospital bag if I'm feeling frisky. 

Our Week So Far....

This has been one of the longest weeks of my life lately.  
Monday, we went to the specialist, per usual on a Monday. While doing the ultrasound, they noticed Remington's heart rate was over 200 beats per minute, and detected his PAC (premature aortic contractions) again, which was one of the reasons they sent us to Vandy a few weeks ago.  They sent me downstairs to see my OB and sit on the monitor for an hour to watch his heart rate.  

She saw the racing, but it settled and she felt comfortable letting us go home.  She said that if we see it again Thursday, we will go ahead and go over to the hospital, start on steroids for his lungs, and work on a delivery plan.  

Monday when I got back to work, I started feeling exhausted, achy, my head was throbbing, and I couldn't focus.  I kept feeling like I was running a fever with chills and all.  I got home, took my temperature, and sure enough I was running a fever of 100.5, I called my doctor's office and she said it sounded flu-like enough to call in Tamiflu. 

Tuesday was spent on the couch, in and out of sleep, counting kicks and rolls of my sweet boy to make sure he's all good in there.  

It's only Wednesday and I'm exhausted.  I hope your weeks are going much more smoothly! 

Things No One Told Me...

Everyone gives you advice when they learn you're pregnant. Everyone includes the mamas who adopted and tell you that you wouldn't know anything about infertility, the mamas who had children 20 years ago, 30, and even 60 years ago, and the mamas who were never mamas to their own children, but classrooms full.  The advice has always been welcomed, albeit most of it unsolicited.  Now that I am nearing the end, I realize that there are things no one tells you... or things that no one told me. 
1. No one told me that your shopping habits change drastically.  There's nothing I love more than shopping for my baby boy, when I used to love shopping for my clothes, home decor, etc.  I used to look for frilly shirts and cute shoes, and now my eyes are always peeled for something with ducks, or something to monogram, or something for Remington to wear. Current obsession, baby jackets:

2. No one told me that I would always have someone to talk to, whether friends or strangers, because of my belly.  Everyone at the doctor's office in the elevator asks if he is our first, how far along we are, and what his name is.  Friends ask how I'm feeling, how they can help, and relay excitement to meet our sweet baby.  
3.  No one told me how strange it feels to see your nose and your husband's lips and chin on another human, and to picture what that will look like in non-fuzzy black and white. No one told me how anxious I would be to know simply what color his hair is (now that I know he has a head full).  No one told me what it feels like to let your mind run through how incredible the whole process of pregnancy is, start to finish.  

4. No one told me what exactly the kicks and punches and pokes feel like. No one told me that they would always come when I was feeling down, scared, anxious, as if to remind me that he is there and loves me and isn't going anywhere.  When we had our scare at 12 weeks, he was there to cramp tight and remind me he was there.  When we had a scare with his heart, he backed his little butt up into my ribs to try to get as close to my heart to remind me he was okay. 
5. No one told me how much love you'll have for this little gummy bear looking blob on a screen that you meet at 8 weeks old, and how that love will grow and change the bigger he gets.  I don't have words for the love I feel for our son, and how much I can't wait to see Jackson hold him.  I have had a 9 month head start on keeping this child of ours safe, and I can't wait for Jackson to experience that feeling.  

Our Week: 33 and counting!

1.  Following Monday's visit to our specialist, we got to take a trip to Vandy to their pediatric cardiac unit so a specialist could take some time with his heart.  Our sonographer spent 45 minutes, took over 160 pictures and videos, and laughed with and talked to us the whole time.  She was phenomenal.  So we then went into the consultation with the cardiac specialist, and she walked in and said, "I believe I have great news to share with you today." I cried tears of relief and thankfulness.  She went through picture by picture, explaining what we were looking at.  She said that each chamber, each valve, and each ventricle looked great, and that she did not think she'd be seeing us again.   I cannot say enough about this hospital. I hadn't been in there since my sister was a baby, but it is amazing. You walk in, and if you're a child, you would have no idea you were at the hospital.   Although I'm an adult and was scared out of my mind for my baby boy, it eased my fear. 

(via)

2.  My new medicine has my blood sugars where they should be unless I have to chug soda to get rid of the headaches it causes.  

  3.  We hired a nanny!! She will start in July after Jackson's mama keeps Remington for the first 6 weeks after I go back to work. She's really sweet, kinda quirky, and has great experience with newborns (which he won't be, but he'll still be new-ish).  I found her on care.com after a month of people telling me they charged $600 a week for childcare. Insert eyeroll here.  She'll keep him until we have a spot in a daycare, but we are excited to have her!! 
4.  Remington is measuring 3 weeks ahead! She joked with us and asked if we for sure knew that our due date was the 26th and not the 6th of march. haha. We shall see what my doctor says next week about him!! 
5.  I FINALLY have a Saturday with no plans. No cleaning, no family plans, nothing. I'm so pumped! 

Remington's Nursery

Building a nursery is a daunting task. Your sweet baby is going to live in this room, so you want it to be equal parts cute baby and something that reflects something you hope he'll love. 
Of course, Remington's room is duck hunting theme.  What else would you theme the nursery of a baby named after a shotgun?

 Duck decals: etsy  Tree stump foot stool: The Company Store Fabric for curtains: etsy Ducks Unlimited Sign: Hobby Lobby Striped Rug: Target

How Do You Handle...

How do you handle the sonographer taking just a little bit longer looking at your baby's heart... measuring it's beat, taking pictures from all angles? 
How do you handle being left in the room with the ultrasound machine because she's looking for a room to put you in... for 25 minutes?
How do you handle her coming back in and saying she needs just a couple of more pictures, and she's followed by the doctor... not the nurses you're used to... the doctor? 
What about when the doctor tells you there's a thickened valve in your baby's heart and she wants a fetal echo-cardiogram and a second opinion on what she sees? She's not sending you today or tomorrow... it'll probably be the end of the week. 

I panicked, I hyperventilated, I cried all of the way back to work. Not to mention, it was one in three appointments Jackson hasn't been able to be there for, and I had to call and relay all of the information to him.

I'm trusting that the Lord will keep our baby safe and healthy, that He will bring Remington into our arms just like the perfect little baby he is.  

Maternity Pictures

These are some of our absolute favorite maternity pictures from last weekend.  Enjoy!

Weekending

We are in the single digits of weekend before Little Man joins us, so I'm caught between having a trillion things to do and wanting to veg out on the couch.  Saturday, Jackson left at about 4AM to go to the duck blind for one last round of duck hunting.  Since he had made those plans a week or so ago, it gave me time to make an extensive cleaning checklist.  I knew I would have to take breaks and rest during my cleaning spurts, so I did things like make the curtain to go on the window in Remington's room, watched The Visit (complete letdown), and spent time searching and scrolling through the topic "Baby Boy" on Pinterest. All laundry is done, there are a million boxes for the yard sale this summer, and a lot of bags of clothes to take to Goodwill. I'm a happy mama.   Sunday, we had our maternity pictures taken. It was so so cold. We spent about an hour and got a handful of adorable shots.  More of those to come later ;)

Sunday night was spent on the sofa in our comfiest clothes, napping and watching TV.  
Life. Is. Good.

Friday!

1.  We are having maternity pictures done Sunday.  I'm going for the simple kinds of pictures. I can't wait to share them! I bought the cutest sweater to wear, and it's so warm and comfy. You know, since it'll be 48 degrees. 

2. 

Feeny is learning to deal with Remington's stuff.  We have the pack and play set up in our room, and it has been the bane of Feeny's existence. He has been clawing the mesh, digging his way into the middle section, and wedging himself underneath it. We started closing our bedroom door at night, but he wakes us up off and on all night crying and clawing at the door. For the last two nights, he has been well behaved and hasn't gone near it! 

3. 

Diabetes will be the bane of my existence. "You can eat whole wheat pasta, just pair it with protein! we don't want your blood sugar above 120." really means "Don't touch pasta or bread because it'll make it way too high". It's been a week of trial and error, for sure.  Raisin bran is a no go, but chicken avocado salad is a winner.  There's never any telling. 

4.

Jackson is doing his last duck hunt of the season this Saturday, and I have never been more excited to have a morning to do nothing but clean! I spent 45 minutes at work yesterday making out my cleaning checklist full of things I want to get done!! It's a couple of pages long, so I'm going to have to be sure and rest here and there. Our home is a wreck. 

5.

How to Get away with Murder is back. My blood pressure. That is all.

Our Second Baby Shower: Harry Potter!!

I am a geek. There, I said it. I'm sorry, son, that you will have to deal with Harry Potter weekends and family costumes. All of Mommy's friends know it, which is why you got a Harry Potter baby shower! 

It was so great to have so many different groups of friends under one roof! We had friends from high school, friends from college, friends from church, and family! It was hosted by my best gals (my college roommates). 

(on the left, Hamlin felt Remington move for the first time)

We got some of the cutest clothes, books, and toys! 

 

Two of my best friends from high school were able to come, which was so special! 

One of the gifts we received brought me to tears. Ugly tears. So ugly I'm not posting that picture.  One of my best friends took two of dad's shirts, had a teddy bear and a poem shadowbox made from them.  The bear has my daddy's name embroidered into a heart on its belly. I still can't put into words how much it will be cherished. 

The second shower is in the books! Everyone is waiting for you, sweet boy!! 

Things I'm Too Pregnant For....

I will never be too anything for this sweet face. It's irrelevant, just thought you'd enjoy. ;)

1.  driving I have grown to loathe driving, and it doesn't help that I have a 45 minute drive one way to work.  I also hate anything that comes with driving: getting into the car, not having a potty in my car, all of the sappy songs that pull on my pregnant hormones, getting out of the car, getting all of my crap together when I'm going into work or the gym or home.  
2. staying up late It used to be nothing for me to stay out late and wake up the next day for work or church, but this gal just can't hang anymore. Even when we have shindigs at home with friends, I usually fall asleep close to 8:30
3.  Stairs Seriously, these aren't fun without the heavy bump protruding from your midsection, but with... kill me. 
4. Pants See number 3
5. Grown up things Taxes (this will be the first year we owe. ouch), filling up my car with gas, dishes, remembering to renew car tags, etc. 

What did you get too pregnant for? 

Our First Baby Shower

Our first baby shower was hosted by the amazing ladies at church. They had the cutest duck theme, which matches Remington's nursery.  

My sister was able to come in from Chattanooga, too! It was great to have her there. 

(pardon the terrible lighting)

My best friend, LouEllen, wrote who gave us what so I could be organized and write Thank You notes to the correct people for the correct gifts. Not pictured is our other best friend, Siobhan, who was running gifts that had been opened to the table for display.

We got most of the things we needed and 100% of the things we wanted, and then some! We were beyond blessed and so thankful to the sweet hostesses! There aren't pictures, (I promise to get some soon) of the two handmade quilts that were made for him to match his nursery perfectly! There is also the cutest hand-smocked outfit with little ducks on it. I can't wait to dress this little boy in all things duck, dump truck, and dinosaur!! 

Five on Friday

1.  This stuff wasn't terrible, and didn't make me as sick as I read it would. Not going to lie, I kind of enjoyed it.  At my 24 week appointment, Remington was measuring ahead, so she only scheduled appointments until 36 weeks and said we would watch him from there. I got super excited thinking how close we were to seeing our boy. We went Thursday for our 28 week appointment, and he's leveled out, measuring right on time, and so she scheduled our appointments to 41 weeks just in case. JUST IN CASE?! Please tell me it's normal to just want to meet my baby.  

2.  Remington's nursery is close to done! I ordered this fabric this week to make a window curtain and a curtain to cover the ugly built in desk and the junk under it we just don't have space to move. 

3. I ordered my first three books for the year to fulfill my resolution to read one per month.  The first was A Dog's Purpose, the second was My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry, and the third was Wishful Drinking. I'm really excited to get back into reading.  4, There are so many scary movies coming out this year and I'm so excited. Who's a scary movie junkie and wants to take me? 5. We should always have two days off of work during the week. Always. Monday, I did zero things (see below), and it was wonderful.  Thursday (because why take half a day for a doctor's appointment when you have vacation time expiring in a week?!) I nested cleaned to my heart's content. It was lovely.