COUNTDOWN TO WILL'S ARRIVAL!!! 35 WEEKS

I am so excited to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that meeting my baby boy is just around the corner! We get another glimpse of him, hopefully the last by ultrasound, on Wednesday to evaluate his size and position. I have carried him so high that we just haven't been able to tell his position. On Monday he was really high and by yesterday, my mom and everyone at work was talking about how he had dropped a few inches! Yay_please start making your way downward little Will :). I just want him to not be breech, although I'm confident in my chiropractor that we may be able to get him turned if he is. I hate to say that he still needs to probably wait a week or so before he comes but wouldn't mind at all if he came in about three weeks. My back issues are coming and going and when they are here, they are really bad. My chiro has done wonders but now Will is back over on the left side and sitting on my sciatic nerve. Since I really don't want to do an epidural during labor, I've joked that if Will would just make my lower body go numb then I would be good to go :) lol.

We are so excited to meet our little boy and to kiss his little face. He truly is a gift from God and I have so enjoyed taking care of him for the past nine months! We almost have his nursery finished except for curtains, cushions for rocker and the crib bedding. Since he has two cradles, we are putting the crib bedding on hold for a couple months. Here are a few pics I've taken of his shelves his daddy built for his nursery and his dresser and awesome cradle my mom decorated!

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!

So, we now have 10 weeks and three days to go until our little bundle is set to arrive. I absolutely can't wait. Yes, we still have a lot to do to get his room ready but we are ready to see what he looks like and to hold him and love on him!!! I had what may be my last ultrasound on Thursday and was so looking forward to trying to see what/whom he looks like. Unfortunately, he did not cooperate very well. We did get some pics but they were pretty unclear who he looks like and not great quality since they had to be saved so fast while he was moving away from the camera. I guess he's going to be shy. That is not such a bad thing since I have my moments with shyness and definitely did when I was younger. But, we love him and know he will be just adorable!

The doctor said he is just doing wonderfully. My fluid is excellent, the umbilical cord blood flow is excellent and all of his little body parts and heart are working just as they should. We are right on target. They estimated he is about 2 pounds and 10 ounces right now. He has also moved up to just under my chest area so I'm finding it a little more difficult_having to find new ways to get up out of bed b/c I'm using different muscles now since he's higher. I'm still going to the restroom a LOT but don't have all that pressure sensation every time I stand up now that he's up a little higher. I know before long, though, he will be moving back down and getting into position for birth. Fun times and I wouldn't change or trade it for ANYTHING!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to include a pic also of the beautiful cradle that Donnie's dad built for us! It's huge and sentimental b/c not only did his dad make it but it came from wood from a tree that used to be in Donnie's grandmother's yard. Very special!

Turning 34 and some random events of the strange weekend

I don't know about anyone else, but this last few days has just been very odd. My birthday was this past Sunday and we were going to enjoy a nice birthday dinner Saturday night with mom, grandmother and some family at Cheddar's in Norman. This is one of my favorite restaurants in Tulsa and now that it's in Norman, I was thrilled! I wanted to get there before evening rush so we wouldn't have to wait so long since it's still a new place and they don't take reservations. However, the road gods decided to shut down half of Broadway Extension on our way to Norman and it was down to one lane_UGH! We got to Norman and my brother and his family arrived. When I told them we had eight people, the little hostess said "here's the deal, we have two tables for larger parties and they are taken so we can't seat you." Are you kidding me-you are just gonna turn us away?? I informed her that we came all the way from Guthrie and asked her what the options were. She was of course misinformed and we were seated within 10 minutes. Some other minor things happened but the clincher was when we were expecting our food any second and the power in the building goes out! Oh my goodness-really??? We decided to wait it out a few minutes and then it was just getting too hot and we were hungry.





My sis-in-law suggested Charleston's! Good choice. They already had a table for us when we got there after calling to inform them of what happened. The manager put my cake in the fridge until we were ready and our waitress was on top of everything. Kuddos to Charleston's in Norman! They even brought out the cake with the candles on it and extra forks, plates, and even the cake server. I think Cheddar's, though they couldn't help it, is not going to be a place I rush to anytime soon. The evening ended up being fun and I enjoyed it with my family. Got some really nice gifts and all in all it was a success. Until, we started home after looking at some cars for my mom and had to be stuck in more construction on I-35 and had to smell sewer for several minutes. But, we made it home safe and sound and all was okay.

On Sunday we traveled up to Perry so I could hear my friends, the Weatherfords sing. They sang a song called "Heaven's sounding sweeter" and I just got really sad about my dad and missing him and started bawling my eyes out. After the concert, we were invited to eat. I was excited b/c it was going to be Mexican and seeing as how I have to have that almost every day and it was my birthday, I was ecstatic. Then, I hear one of my dad's favorite songs on the radio on the way to the restaurant and I start crying AGAIN! I finally got ahold of myself and went inside. It was a good thing they had chips and salsa and queso, etc., b/c after three tries, they still didn't get my food right and it was real simple. They kept making me the wrong kind of chimichanga!! I told them to forget about trying a fourth time since everyone else in our party was finished eating. So, my birthday lunch was ruined-oh well. Then, I found out that a benefit concert I was trying to get involved in or at least attend for a man I used to sing for who is very sick, was the night before where the Weatherfords had sung! How come nobody mentioned this to me and how come I never did find out from another friend about it whom I had been asking for a month or two???!!! So then I was distraught. What in the world was happening? I felt so ready to come home and just be by myself. My husband was so sweet the whole time and we came home, took naps and I had ice cream and cake for dinner :) I was determined that yesterday was going to be a better day and it turned out to be(go figure since it was a Monday). God was still in control and I just had to have him lift me up and make me feel better!

It was a strange, eventful weekend but I did manage to turn one year older and hopefully did so with a little bit of grace :) despite all the emotions I was feeling.

MOTHER'S DAY....TO BE THAT IS....

I had asked my husband a few weeks before Mother's Day if I was entitled to celebrate it now that I was pregnant. He said, "of course, you can." So that's when I informed him that I was to get a present and be taken out to eat :) Not that I really expected this but I had fun with it. My mother-in-law sent me a precious mommy-to-be card and a darling outfit for Will. My husband came home from work a night or two before and had a cute stuffed bear and explained to me that he had done something a little different. He wanted to find a card to give me from the baby. He couldn't find very many that said "mommy." He finally found one that had a precious little inchworm or something like it on the cover and said, "Mommy,do you know what this is? It's a snugglebug hug just for you!" Then, my husband wrote in it..."Mommy, I know I'm not here yet but thanks for loving me before I was...love Will." That melted my heart b/c my husband got creative and he thinks he doesn't have it in him. Then on Sunday, he took me to eat at Cheddars which is my favorite restaurant in the whole world that is now thankfully in Norman and not all the way in Tulsa! I had a pretty good day and thanks to my hubby for making it very special for me!

WE ARE HAVING A ......

Wow! Last Thursday was a very exciting day for us. It was a very LONG day to say the least but a very blessed one at that. I had my ultrasound and it took an hour! It was very thorough since we don't go back again until 30 weeks and my abdomen is sore now from all the pressing on it. On our last ultrasound at almost 13 weeks, there was nothing in between the baby's legs and we got a pretty good picture. So, we were in little girl mode but still knowing that anything could happen. Well, our baby did a lot of developing in five weeks and we are having....a BOY! He is definitely a boy :) . I actually saw his evidence before the ultrasound tech told us and I said "is that a boy?" She said "that's DEFINITELY a boy." We were so excited and we cried. It was a special treat because although we are only doing this once and I thought I couldn't live without my little girl, we are naming the boy after his grandpa who never got his grandson while he was here on earth so we will be naming the baby after him. We will have a William Everett Perry in the fall. We will call him Will and we love it and we love him so much already. It's fun now to refer to him as a "he" and not "it." Here is a look at our little "sprout," "gummi bear." This is 17 weeks and 2 days. Amazing!!!

BABY TO BE AND GRADUATING SON :)

Everything is going great with the pregnancy! We decided to have genetic testing and ultrasounds done just to put our minds at ease. Not that we think anything will be wrong with the baby but we would rather be prepared and ready than be surprised at the birth of our child. We know God is in control and he is taking care of our precious little one! The first bloodwork and testing went great! They said everything looked normal. Each time you go and you have normal testing, that decreases your chances dramatically of anything being wrong! The ultrasound was so much fun. Since we got to see our baby so early on, it was exciting to see our baby in true baby form! So precious and even waving at us while trying to get its thumb in its mouth! The baby finally succeeded in that. I have an idea what sex the baby is but it still was early so we are going to try and find out on the 30th of this month. I am so ready to decorate the nursery and get it all ready! God is so amazing. We got to see every little organ in the baby and of course once again, the beating heart. Donnie lights up every time he hears and sees that heartbeat as do I. We are so blessed!

In other news, Josh is graduating from the prison guard academy next Wednesday and we are traveling to McAlister for that. We are so excited and proud of him for finally finding something he enjoys and is good at to have a career in! It's scary and at times dangerous, yes; but God will protect him and he seems to have very good rapport with the inmates. He shows them a certain amount of respect and they do the same for him. Jeff is busy working and going to school and is loving Calculus(oh my!) We are proud of them and the young men they are becoming!

Will update soon after our next ultrasound!!!

JUST WISHIN AND HOPIN

Wow, it's been a while! My computer is being worked on and it's too hard to update from my phone. Plus, I need my computer back so I can post pics of the baby's ultrasound photos. We were lucky enough to get to see our baby twice within one week! We got to see at the early developmental stage before it really even had any sort of shape :) God is truly amazing. I have a bleed where there was residual blood that happened to be where the baby implanted so it formed a clot. It was very, very small and on ultrasound #2 it was resolving. We are hoping it will be totally gone on next ultrasound and hopefully that's when we will find out what lil sprout is :). One good thing from all this is that I only have to work three days a week now. Dr. Hall wanted me to be as cautious as I could with the bleeding and all. I'm also on a supplement of progesterone as mine was 19.6 and she likes it to be at least 20. But, good news....I have only two days left of that_yay! Hopefully no more bleeding and maybe she will release me to do a little exercise in the form of walking in two weeks when I see her again! Right now we are just getting excited and can't wait to find out what lil sprout is. I have so many plans and hope my big plan for mother's day works out for my mom, Donnie's mom and the great grandmothers!! Bye for now!

PRAYING HARD for LIIL SPROUT

Well...we've had our first scare with lil sprout(that's what we call our baby). I had some spotting last week and again last night. It was so little this time that had I not been so in tune with my body right now-I wouldn't have noticed. I called the doctor since all my levels were good last week and they scheduled an ultrasound. Donnie was so upset he couldn't go b/c of lots of work issues and short notice! I am so bleesed,though, that my mom could go. It was a challenge making me wait with a full pregnant bladder but they got me in quick. They did a transvaginal u/s(kinda scary at first) but we found that lil sprout is 6 wks and 3 days and I saw the heart fluttering at 116 beats per minute. However---there is a subchorionic bleed which is basically a blood clot where the placenta attaches itself to the uterus. This usually heals itself but could potentially cause a miscarriage if it gets bigger! My doctor's office told me to rest all weekend and Doc would call me Monday to talk about next step.

We trust the Lord with His child and pray that he allows healing and a healthy continuance of pregnancy. He knows how much we love this baby already!

We appreciate all the prayers for our lil sprout that we can get!!

OOH BABY !

Wow...the moment we've been waiting for for five months! We're going to have a baby!!! I found out last Friday and waited ALL day to tell Donnie. I went to the mall after work and bought a pair of newborn Nikes. I sat them on top of their box with the positive test for when Donnie got home. When he came in he said "Who'd you buy those for?". I said "What?". He said it again. I said "Who do you think?!". His eyes got big and he asked me not once but about five times if I was seriously pregnant! Needless to say he was shocked and sooo very excited! It is only about my fifth week as far as I know so we want to be careful,prayerful and enjoy our gift that God has chosen to bless us with! We appreciate your prayers for our little miracle!