The Baby's Nursery...a Work in Progress

Here are some photos of baby girl's nursery...still a work in progress. We are currently waiting on the crib mattress, the crib bedding and the glider to be delivered. I've also got to work on rehanging the drapes - they look a bit funky. And I would LOVE to find an old antique chandelier to hang instead of the ugly black ceiling fan/light fixture, but it is definitely not a priority.

Daddy building baby's crib

It's almost done!

Finished! Just waiting for the bedding!

Door Decor - for the hospital door once she arrives!

Gus, the protector in the baby's nursery - view from the doorway

This antique rocking chair will be replaced with our new glider, expected to be delivered on or around May 22...I know, I know, I'm cutting it close!

Few from the opposite side of the room - her crib and armoire - Matt and I refinished the armoire ourselves! Matt's mom made us the precious ballerina lamp on top of the armoire, but I just realized you can't see it:(

 

Baby's crib - we LOVE the crib and can't wait to get our linens!

Changing table, which for a while served only to display her gifts and decor, but with only 6 weeks left I felt the urge to prepare it for baby changing station, so not all gifts are displayed:) 

But, we got so many wonderful gifts from our showers, and I want to thank EVERYONE for such special gifts!!!!! We are so very lucky to have our friends and our family's support! I forgot to use my camera at my shower so I'm forced to wait for others to send me photos so I can publish them on the blog. That is my next task:)

Costa Rica at 31 Weeks Preggo!!

Well, we made it back from Costa Rica with baby still in utero, so that's exciting! Lots of people were worried I would go into labor in Costa Rica - but thankfully, we had a great trip sans labor! Above you'll see a collage of pictures from our trip - if you click on the little icon below, it will enlarge the image. To see all the images from the trip, you can check out our Google Picasa Web Albums (listed somewhere in the right hand column of this page).


We had a great work trip - the Reps really enjoyed Costa Rica and Matt and I enjoyed being there! We were fussed over by the locals EVERYWHERE we went. We loved it! Costa Ricans are so generous and gracious - they congratulated us and asked all about the baby, which is not something regular American strangers tend to do - probably for fear that they'll ask someone who is not, in fact, expecting. Oopsie:) Anyway, one waiter almost didn't give me my glass of red wine (which my doctor totally allowed) at dinner one night because he said in Costa Rica pregnant women "don't do that", and also proceeded to tell me all the other things pregnant Costa Rican women can't do. So Meg, my boss (who also joined us on the trip with her husband) took up for me and said "That's really interesting, now give her the damn glass of wine!"



I went to the diabetic counselor and my OB-GYN Wednesday and at the counselor's meeting I kind of lost it. I may have skipped a few readings while out of the country, and my new counselor (who doesn't know me from Adam) was just trying to make sure I knew how serious the whole gestational diabetes thing was. I, of course, know how serious it is and have been pretty strict with my diet, so when she said that I kind of felt like a failure - my hormones kicked in and I started baaawwling, which probably made her uncomfortable...but in the end she made me hug her, which made ME uncomfortable. All in all, she said I don't have to get on insulin - thank God - and that I seem to be doing fine, I just need to manage my time a little better and work at not forgetting to take my blood levels on time. Check.



At the OB's office, I participated in my first non-stress test, which went fine, except we realized I'm already having contractions! I thought it was just the baby moving/stretching really hard, but the nurse and the doctor informed me that those stretching feelings across my abdomen are NOT stretching - they are full blown contractions because they occasionally come with moderate discomfort! So now I know I've been having these contractions every day since 30 weeks!


The doctor said that it was fine and the baby's heart beat was fine and I shouldn't be worried, unless I have 6 contractions within 1 hour - if I do, then I need to call her or go to the nearest hospital...OMG! I was anxious, but after hearing her talk about how normal this is and how the baby looks fine, I relaxed. I also feel better now that she has scheduled me to come in every week from now on, instead of every other week, so we can do these non-tests weekly.


Besides all that, I feel good! I am tired so much that I want to go to sleep at 8pm every night, but find that I have too much to do to call it a night that early. I am getting in the uncomfortable stage, in terms of sleeping, but its nothing I can't handle. My ankles and legs are tending to swell more, but that may be because of the heat. If you look in the pictures, I'm all belly, and when I mean "all", I mean it's huge. Matt calls it a torpedo, because sometimes the baby is positioned sideways which makes my belly look pointed. I'm still feeling pretty large and in charge:) Just today our vet told me the OB was wrong and that I was having a boy because 1) I didn't get sick at all in the first trimester and 2) I'm carrying 3 basket balls in my tummy and when I turn around you can't tell I'm pregnant. Boy, for the sake of clothing an nursery decorations, I hope he's not right!


We are so happy that everything is going smoothly but we pray that these contractions do not continue in regular patterns. It's too early for her to meet the world....she's still got about 8 more weeks to brew (though I don't know if I'll feasibly make it that long)!

Gestational Diabetes and 30 Weeks, 4 Days

Here is a picture taken yesterday (Thursday) of me 30 weeks and 3 days pregnant with no-name Girl Devereaux! Yes, she has definitely decided to 'pop' out! Matt jokes that soon we'll have to get a grocery cart to rest my belly on whenever I walk anywhere! Just this week I can tell her movements have changed. She is losing room inside and her movements are much more pronounced and strong, where in the past she's kind of flitted around in there, swimming and flailing about. Now, it's much stronger and you can definitely see her moving through my skin! She's also gotten the hiccups a few times, which feels like twitches in my lower belly.

Many have asked and no, we haven't officially decided on a name yet. We have some choices, but I think I'll have to see her sweet face first! I have gotten over that rotten cold (mostly) but I think the main interference has been the gorgeous blooming foliage on the Northshore! We had a huge storm early yesterday morning which wiped out most of the pollen, thank goodness! All in all, I feel great! My back is only minimally hurting me and my toes look like mini-sausages because my ankles tend to swell, but if I drink tons of water, it doesn't seem to be that bad.

As my last post revealed, I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes:( Boo, diabetes! Our family has a history of diabetes, and my doctor and the diabetic counselor made sure I understood that I did nothing wrong to get gestational diabetes. (It wasn't the ice cream/cake cravings that did it, Mom!) 5-10% of all pregnant women happen to get gestational diabetes, so my family history of diabetes increase my chances of having it.

I went to my 30 week appointment yesterday where I got to hear baby girls heart beat, which was strong at 154 bpm. She was hiding from the nurse, though, and gave her a hard time at getting a solid reading! Every time she put the doppler to my tummy, the baby would shy away from it! I also got my doctor's approval (and a note, for the pesky airlines who may try to give me a hard time) to travel out of the country next week. We can't wait for Costa Rica! She also let me know that for the next 4 appointments she's got me scheduled for a non-stress test each time I come in, which will more closely monitor the baby's heartbeat due to the gestational diabetes.

My doctor also gave me my glucose meter and today I met with a diabetic counselor at the hospital to learn all there is to know about diabetes, including my new restrictive 2000 calorie diet and how to prick myself 4 times a day to read my blood glucose levels. All in all, gestational diabetes seems more like a time-consuming diet right now. I don't have to be on insulin at this point and if my new diet levels out my glucose levels, they don't think I'll have to do anything else to treat this. So I'm happy right now! It could be worse!!!

The furniture store just called and Lil Bow Wow's crib has arrived! Matt is going to pick it up as we speak, so we know what we'll be doing tonight! Crib construction!!! Yay! Here is a picture of sweet girl's pretty crib.

We look forward to our Costa Rica trip and our next shower in Natchez at the end of April! Baby girl will be here before we know it!

Stupid Glucose Screening - Gestational Diabetes

Yeah....so we failed the 3 hour glucose screening which means I have gestational diabetes! Boo! I'm still digesting everything since finding out yesterday so I don't know much right now. All I know is that I'm scheduled to see a diabetic counselor this Friday who will put me on a restrictive 2000 calorie diet, show me how to prick myself daily to test my glucose levels and teach me how to journal about my levels so my OB-GYN can review my journal every other week when I go in for my appointments. All in all, I think things right now will be managed by this diet and my daily glucose testing. The baby is fine and as of right now they don't think she has diabetes. Usually, as long as you catch the gestational diabetes around this point and monitor your diet and glucose levels, the baby will go through the rest of the pregnancy and delivery without any problems.

We'd love your prayers that the baby makes it through this unaffected! I'll post more after my appointment with the diabetic counselor!

Baby Girl Devereaux's First Baby Shower!!!

We had a wonderful time this past weekend at Baby Devereaux's first baby shower hosted by my sweet college girls and Lauren, a friend of ours from Covington. Here is a collage of photos from our special day. We got the sweetest gifts and now little girl's cradle is ready for her to be in it, thanks to the Hostesses! After the shower, my college girls and I (who have not all been together at the same time since New Year's 08!!!) and my family hung out at our house and enjoyed the spring weather on the screened in front porch (which I'm obsessed with as of late).

In other news, I am sick as a dog with a cold and NOT liking it. As I type this I am laid up on the couch trying my best to work as much as I can with a severe sore throat and stuffy ears that are only working at 70%. Not. Fun. What is also not fun is having to take the 3 hour glucose tolerance test after failing the initial screening last week. Yes, I took it today. Yes, I stayed at the doctor's office for 4 hours this morning. Yes, I got stuck 4 times, twice in each arm. So I rightfully want to crawl in bed and sleep for eternity. Thank goodness tomorrow is a holiday and Matt and I are both off work! And since I'm having a pity party for myself, you can top all that business off with the fact that my cold kept waking me up on the hour, every hour last night. At 3am it got a bit ridiculous so I took a bath and tried to relax by watching a little TV. (For those of you who haven't heard my story about TV and Matt while sleeping, here's a brief run down. Before getting married I, like my mother and my grandmother, fell asleep every night with the TV on. Rude awakening #1...when I married Matt, I discovered he has to have absolute quite and darkness to fall asleep, so bedtime for the first few months of our marriage consisted of me trying to fall asleep before he did so his snoring wouldn't keep me awake or getting him to fall asleep so I could sneak the TV on and try and fall asleep. The later never worked because he always woke up. Then I resorted to trying to fall asleep with my IPod and earphones on so I could block out the sound of him snoring. First time I tried this, he woke up and said (literally) "Honey, turn that music off, it's keeping me awake." He almost got pushed out of the bed. Now we've worked out a nice little routine where we watch TV in bed till I fall asleep, then he turns the TV off. )

Though I slept terribly, I did watch maybe one of the funniest episodes of The Cosby Show at 5am that I have ever seen. It's the episode where Claire is going through menopause and her children are acting as if she has a life-threatening disease. Claire and Cliff decide to prank the kids by going berserk at dinner with exaggerated menopause symptoms. I was cracking up in bed trying not to wake up Matt - it was so hilarious!!! It made my morning!

The test results come back Monday morning for the glucose tolerance test. Let's pray it's not gestational diabetes AND that I don't have to do it again!!!