Hotel Presbyterian

I had my weekly appointment on Thursday and after having my blood pressure checked three times, my doctor told me I could not go back to work because it was too high. They did blood work and sent me home with instructions to return on Friday to have my BP checked again. So after taking it easy on Friday - I went to the grocery store and Brian came home and picked me up for lunch - I returned. My BP was actually higher. This gave me an immediate reservation at Hotel Presbyterian Hospital for a 24 hour stay. The doctor said that he was obligated to admit me for observation. I came home and put together an overnight bag - Brian met me and we headed to the hospital. It was not an entirely unpleasant experience - lots of people taking care of me. Brian is amazing. He slept on a piece of foam that they said was a twin size bed - luckily we remembered to bring several extra pillows. We watched lots of TV including the NFL draft. At the 24 hour mark, the nurse came in and said I could go home.

I am now on bedrest until the baby comes. This means I can get up from the bed or couch to go to the bathroom and eat. I have a stack of books next to me and have gone through the TV guide and DVR'd a bunch of movies to watch. I go back to the doctor on Tuesday, so we'll see where we are then.

Our first anniversary is tomorrow - we had planned to go to Greenville, SC for part of the weekend - that obviously didn't happen, so we decided we'll make up for it later - once we have a healthy baby here and she is somewhat mobile.

Officially HUGE!

My good friends, Jen Parker and Jen Bell, hosted a baby shower for me this past weekend. They did a wonderful job - great food and great company. Jen P. sent me the pictures that she took this morning. I was shocked at how big my belly looks. I'd been thinking that I'm not that big, but this is proof - that I was oh so wrong!

I'm off to my 36 week appointment this afternoon - only 4 more weeks and our little one will be here. I haven't gotten to the point where I can't stand to be pregnant anymore. I'm sure that will come soon.

Brian caught me "nesting" last night. I was putting the drawer liners in her dresser so that I can start washing and putting clothes away. He is traveling tonight, so I have full reign of the house and lots of time on my hands. I'll pick him up at the airport tomorrow afternoon and we'll head to Richmond for another baby shower (a joint shower with Betsy - hosted by Morgan and Margie) and then on the Williamsburg to visit Brian's mom, dad and sister.

Ready, set, go....

I looked at the ticker today and it caught me off guard. At the moment it says "35 weeks pregnant. Only 35 days to go." Very matter of fact - I know what week I'm in, but the 35 days threw me for a loop. It sounds so close. I guess we are as ready as we can be at this point. I have a bag hanging on our bedroom door that I'm tossing things for the hospital into as I think of them. I've kept a running list of what we'll need based on advice from my friends and lists I've seen on the internet. Snacks and change for the vending machine, lip balm, gum, mouthwash, the camera, etc. The nursery is ready with the exception of the curtains which we hope to finish this weekend.

My friends, Jen and Jen, are hosting a shower for me here in Charlotte this weekend. I'm really looking forward to that. Mom and Morgan are driving down on Saturday morning. I'm getting my haircut and highlighted in the morning, too - one last ditch effort to look like a pretty pregnant woman - at least for the day. Then, next Saturday, Morgan and our best family friend, Margie, are hosting a shower for both me and Betsy in Richmond. It will be mostly family and a few close friends. Brian will play golf with his dad during the shower and then I'll ride with Susie and his mom back to Williamsburg. This will be our last trip home for a little while, so even though it will be a whirlwind tour - we'll get to see everyone I hope.

So, I'm hoping after the showers I'll feel a little better prepared to bring our baby girl home. I still don't think Brian has realized how close May 15th is - my daily reminders aren't cutting it. He's been great through the whole pregnancy - especially in listening to me complain about every ache and discomfort. His only complaint is that I haven't had any cravings that he has had to indulge. I think he's mildly disappointed that he hasn't had to make any late night runs for ice cream. I've indulged my own since they are usually during the day. ChickFilA vanilla milkshakes seem to top the list, but I've only broken down 3 times. Gummy bears are also on the list. I did like pickles in the beginning, but that only lasted a week or so. With 5 weeks to go, there is still time to indulge Brian!

She has a name!!!!

I was determined last night to decide on a name for the baby. Brian and I spent an hour going over the list that we'd already come up with. As most of you know, we've known for a long time what we will call her, but have been having a hard time coming up with a name to go with it. After looking at the list, we still couldn't agree/decide, so we resorted to the world wide web. As Brian scrolled through lists and said them out loud, I was saying no to just about all of them. Too common, sounds terrible... and then we hit upon one that we both liked. I woke up at 3 AM (this is now a nightly occurrence 12 AM and 3 AM at a minimum) and couldn't sleep, so I went downstairs and turned on the TV for a while. The name popped into my head again and I realized how much I love it. I asked Brian at least four times this morning what he thought of it. He says that it's definitely first on the list. We both agree that it's a beautiful name and will hopefully suit her perfectly. And...we're still not telling! You'll know on the Birth Day!