Sorry Charleigh!

Two things I must apologize to my daughter for: #1 - I have been SO busy keeping up with orders from the Prissy Pink Polka Dot that I haven't taken the time to craft cute things for HER! (This post is to rectify that) and #2 - In the last couple of weeks I have been informed of SEVERAL little girls that are being named Charlie, or Charlee, or Charley....and then my mom called me yesterday to tell me that on the "Most Trendy Names of 2009" List, guess what was #8...ahhhh! I promise I was trying to be original, but I'm afraid she may end up another "Christi" in a sea of Christy's like her mother. Sorry baby girl! (At least your name has meaning, else I'd be all depressed).

Anyway, here are my latest creations for baby Charleigh girl: Information overload right? Okay, I'll break it down...below is a personalized burp cloth with fabric and coordinating ribbon. I then used the same fabric and appliquéd it on in the shape of a "C" and stitched her name on top of it. Now, she can throw up on it if she wants :)

Next is a pacy clip, pink and green of course (I was going for a theme here). I feel like this one kinda looks classy or grown-up with the little formal green print ribbon and the three-letter monogram. Had to add the polka dots of course.

Here is a onesie to match her coordnating burp cloth above. I made one of these appliquéd onesies for a friend, not thinking much of it...and now everytime I make it for someone it's their favorite thing. So, figured I needed to make one for Charleigh too.

And my proudest creation (because it took the longest, and the most effort, and I made it from SCRATCH, and it was the first one I've made!) To make a long story short, I took two flour sack cloths, added a thin layer of batting, appliquéd my letter on one side, added my pink and green ribbons, and finished with the green binding around the neck. :) I'm pretty proud of my funky little bib.

And since my husband is NEVER in any of my "preggo" pictures. I wanted to include this one from tuesday night...we went to Olive Baptist's Dinner Theatre. I wish my belly was in the picture so Charleigh would know that she's there too

**Update** Oh, I almost forgot to include pictures of the Auburn themed stuff I made for my friend Laura and her sweet baby boy Will! He will be here 3 weeks before Charleigh (we think).

31 weeks, 151.5lbs (weight update)

For those of you who are anxious to see how much weight Fatty McFatterson has put on this week, I'll update tomorrow...I pride myself on taking accurate measurements at the same time in the morning, and I forgot today was the day to weigh...so, it will be pushed back till tomorrow.

On to other things...
Childbirthing classes are becoming more and more fun. Well, just watching and listening to the questions Justin asks is a hoot. He really is concerned about this. His job especially. He keeps saying, "are you going to remember all this? I'm trying but she goes too fast." He has the breathing techniques down pat for sure! And when they tell us to do the "Blow breathing" he holds his little finger in front of my face so that I can pretend I'm blowing out a candle...he may lose that finger in the delivery process...but for now, it's cute :) He is still a bit disturbed by the class topics last night. I thought he might fight with the midwife lady when she showed us the fetal probe (it's this little metal probe that they reach up and embed into your baby's scalp during delivery if they can't get a good reading on their external monitors...he flat out told that lady that he would choke her out if she tried to do that to Charleigh, as a matter of fact he announced that everyone in the room would be "choked out" if that happened...haha (he watches too much UFC). After he got all frazzled, she whipped out the forceps, the vaccuum extracter (which he swears is just a high tech plunger), the IV, the internal Uterine monitor, the cathiter, the local anesthesia kit, the enima bag...and much much more. As we drove home, he decided three things... #1 - He doesn't want to do this anymore, #2 - they put more things up in you than they take out during childbirth, and #3 - he's not going back next week (birthing videos!). hahahah. I love him, he makes class fun.


Things of concern: Charleigh doesn't kick nearly as much as she used to. She moves enough to let me know she is in there but, I've gone from feeling her every hour to feeling her every "few" hours. And most the time I only feel her because she has the stinkin' hiccups ALL the time. She seems to sleep a lot more. Doc says she's running out of room and can't move as freely. I understand that but for some reason it does not ease my paranoia. I've busted out our little fetal heartrate monitor that I used to use at the beinning of the pregnancy and started using it again. I just NEED to hear her beating in there.

Nursery Update: We finished Charleigh's bumper (by "WE" I mean, my sewing slave, Big Mama, and the mouse in her pocket). I did whip-stitch the bottom closed after she did all the hard work :) Glad I could help, haha!
It turned out EXACTLY as I pictured it in my mind! Damask on the inside, BIG polka dots on the outside and all the pink accents you can muster!

And here it is in it's place in our fabulous round crib that we FINALLY got! woo hoo! We are still working on the bedskirt.
And here is the final version of our Homemade Roman Shades. I had them waded up on the floor before we hung them so I apologize for the wrinkledness...I plan to steam them soon :) Also, the treadmill will soon be removed as I don't think Charleigh will be needing it.

This week I get to pick up the rest of our furniture that I just found out will be finished by Saturday! I am SOOOOO excited to get all her stuff organized and set up.

And what I am most excited about this week is my shower up in Bama! I HAD to post a picture of the invitations...That's really Charleigh in that belly! Isn't it the cutest idea ever! My mom had something to do with this I KNOW! P.S. If you are in the Prattville/Coosada area on this date and time....stop by, the more the merrier!

30 weeks, 151lbs

Alright now, the weight gain is getting a little ridiculous. I really don't think I am "supposed" to be putting on more than a pound a week and well, I like to overacheive. I really do NOT make good, healthy eating choices anymore at ALL and I eat even when I'm not hungry. I need to do better I think, but it's so hard...

So, yesterday we had another appointment with the high risk doc. We got to see baby girl again, I love seeing her, she's MINE all MINE! GrandMama got to come see her live for the first time as well. The bigger babies get the less you can see all their movements on the ultrasound, because you can't look at there whole body at once...so, we have to try to piece together what she is doing in there. She had the hiccups for the majority of the time, ultrasound tech said that is good because it proves her breathing functions work...who knew? Well, they do, cause she gets the hiccups ALL the time! I can't post pictures of the ultrasound because, like I said before, no printer/scanner :(

So, after that we met with Dr. Maher to go over everything. Here is what we learned:
#1 - her feet are 2.5 inches long which is RIGHT on target with a 30 week old baby...yay, was stressing about her boats for a while there.
#2 - all of her growth is perfectly proportional (head/abdomen/apendages)
#3 - she weighs 3 lbs and 10 oz. Which is in the 57th percentile (a little tiny bit big but she has evened out since our last appointment when she was in the 66th percentile)
#4 - my placenta moved more than it ever has! It is now located 2.7 cm from my cervix. This is good news because if it keeps moving out of the way, I could still go into labor naturally and have a vaginal deivery...no c-section. So, we'll keep praying about what's best for little Charleigh!
#5 - for the first time they hooked me up to a fetal and uterine monitor to watch the baby's heartrate, movements, and any contractions of the uterus (don't worry, nothing was wrong, they just do that to all women starting at 30 weeks). Turns out, I'm having contractions pretty regularly and not knowing it. I was told to push a button every time I felt her move, but she was sleeping so she wasn't moving at all for the first 30 minutes. Then, I thought I felt her roll a little bit, really faintly, so I pushed the button, then it happened again about 10 minutes later, and again. Those were the only times I felt her move for a good while. Then she woke up, and HOLY LORD the child was cha-cha sliding in there. The button officially got pushed every few seconds for the next 30 minutes! Well, the doc came in and said that those "rolls" I was feeling before were actually not the baby at all...they were contractions...who knew?
#6 - Baby Charleigh is head down and ready to roll whenever that time comes!


Newest symptoms: My belly is back to flaking again. Weirdest thing, no matter how much I lather it up with lotions and tummy butters, it gets dry again and flakes like crazy...
Just when you thought the off-the wallness couldn't get worse...I now developed clicking. That's right, periodically, my belly clicks. It's getting more and more frequent. It always happens when she's moving and it is random in nature. But just like tiny little suction noice or click of your tonque, that sound comes from my belly! I feels like a little bubble bursts inside (a very small bubble, not my water or anything). I've talked to several midwives, nurses, and doctors and the only thing I get is (at first a puzzled stare) that the hormones are making my cartilidge relax which is causing my joints to click...but, this is not the problem I tell ya. It's not coming from me or my bones...it's straight up in my belly! I've researched and other women have complained of this "clicking" but, no one seems to know what causes it ???


In other symptom news: we're back to no sleep, I mean, none, tossing and turning and muscle pain (I had the ripping thing under control until this week), and backaches. Oh, I know she is so worth it and I am thankful to be having all this discomfort. My eyes is on the prize :)


I'd like to ask or prayer from you prayin' folk out there. My sister and her husband have been trying for a baby for about a year now with no success. They went in to do an exploratory surgery yesterday and found that she has stage four endometriosis, it covered both her ovaries, her fallopian tubes, and is wrapped around her intestines (she has REALLY painful periods mind you). Well, the got rid of as much as possible on the right side, which was a lot, but the left side was so inflamed and swollen that the doc couldn't tell the different between her intestines and her fallopian tube. So, he had to stop the surgery short and is now going to put her into Menopause for 3 months to get some of the inflamation to go away so that he can do a more invasive surgery to remove the rest of the problems. Needless to say, it was not the best diagnosis for them. She is in pain now recovering from this surgery, you can imagine how frustrating it is to try for a baby for so long and now be set back 3 more months are you go through MENOPAUSE...which the doc says will be horrible! And then, you're looking forward to another surgery that may or may not save your left ovary and fallopian tube...
She is in good spirits, better than I would be and the doctor said he does think she will be able to have a child in the future, but not to get her hopes up on having more than one or two.
Today in my quiet time I read the story of 10 lepers who wanted Jesus to heal them. Jesus told them to simply go show themselves to the cheif priest...something that was forbidden because they were contagious! It sounds really simple and small but all they had to do was risk looking stupid and go...I'm sure after much debate and discussion amongst them, they went, and it says that on the way there they were healed. My prayer for my sister is that God give her healing, I pray that if he puts a simple task of faith in front of her that she would be faithful, that she would set aside reason and logic and complete the task. Then I pray that he would heal her, on the way. My Jesus doesn't need a three month menopause, or an invasive surgery to heal her, I pray that if she is found faithful, that he heal her along the way, suddenly, without explanation.
I'm not really sure HOW we would know that this has happened...they won't be going back in to "look" at her or anything, but I'm sure God will let us know :)

Okay Okay, so, I have so much exciting wonder that God is revealing to me and so much that he is doing inside my heart these days. I don't write about it much because everytime I sit down, I don't know where to start. They haven't made up words big enough and miraculous enough for me to use to accurately describe. Just know. He is HERE.

29 weeks, 149 lbs.

Woah, check out that belly...this week I can officially say I am huge (but only I can say that). It even looks that way from above! haha! And it's only going to get bigger :) The good news, I think my big belly is starting to make my legs look skinnier! On the days they aren't swelling ;)

So this week we started our Childbirthing classes. Pretty fun times to say the least. Justin and I walked in carrying our three mandatory pillows and signed in on the registration sheet like everyone else. I can see Justin looking around scoping out the other couples. After a few minutes he leaned over to me and said,"I think we signed up too early for these classes." To which I assured him we did not and it was the doctor's recommendation. He then came out with his reason for thinking this, "All these other couples are way farther along than we are." I just answered with a, "Ya think?" and giggled to myself. You see, I had signed the check-in sheet and saw everyone's due dates...most of them were BEHIND us, or in the exact same week! This short, simple conversation confirmed something I had been thinking in my mind...my husband never has any pregnant women to "compare" me to...sometimes I think all the poor boy sees in his head is his ever-expanding wife whose waistline is growing uncontrollably! So, it's only natural that his mind's picture of me is fairly large. It wasn't until all the couples started introducing themselves that he heard all the due dates, and was surprised, I could tell. After class he said the most flattering thing to me he has said so far (I think it was so flattering because I watched his eyes come to the realization before his mouth did) he said, "You carry your baby the best, BY FAR!" As if to say, "You don't look so HUGE after all!" (haha) He kind of had a proud little grin on his face, like I made him proud (even though we both know I have NO control over where and how I carry our child). haha, I don't know why, but that made me feel beautiful. And I've felt that way ever since he said that :) Weird how these pregnant emotions work.

So, anyway, back to the class itself...the lady informed us that we would be there for 2 HOURS every Monday night and Justin almost peed his pants. He just mouthed the words, "What about dinner?" Poor guy had to come straight from work and we wouldn't get out of there until 8! I'll have to bring him some dinner before class starts from now on. Once we got into talking to the other couples, gawking at strange pictures the midwife tried to describe to us, and hitting up the snack machine, the class was pretty fun after that. I know Justin and I are bad students, we couldn't stop giggling during the relaxation exercises. It all started when she instructed everyone to make themselves comfortable on the floor with their pillows. So, Justin, being the good student that he is...laid those suckers out and plopped right down on top of them. I sat down beside him and he plopped his head over into my lap. I couldn't help but feel as if something was wrong here.... Okay, so I knew he was just playing and he did eventually let me lay down on the pillows. What was really funny is that he laid down right beside me and as she called out instructions like, "tense up your right arm and breathe deep" I could see his arm stiffen and his chest rise up real big...haha, I leaned over to him and said, "Jus, open your eyes, you're the only other "coach" doing the exercises." That's when the giggling started. It was hard to breathe deep and focus when every time we made eye contact we couldn't stop laughing at how crazy he is. He eventually rolled over and rubbed my arm as I relaxed but then the REAL ham of the family started acting up...Charleigh! She was about to jump out of my skin! And it's IMPOSSIBLE to relax when the little being inside you is on a caffeine high. And the giggling started again.....I even caught the dad from the couple next to us chuckle at how hard my stomach was bouncing...

Anyway, class was soon over and the teacher warned us that in the 4th week we would be watching "movies" so we wouldn't need to bring our pillows. As we headed out to the car I said something about watching the "birthing videos" and Justin, with much amazement, said, "We have to watch birthing videos". Then I just started belly-laughing this time, "Justin, what "movies" did you think she was talking about that whole time? Finding Nemo?" I can't wait to raise a child with this man. Never a boring day there will be!

Onto other things, Big Mama and I decided to spend all day Tuesday working on the roman shades for Charleigh's room and the Bumper for the crib bedding. Since the crib itself is STILL not here...long story...we started with the shades. Now, of course, I had a vision of exactly what I wanted and so we had to create our own ways how to make it, that took a while. As we are in JoAnn and Lowe's shopping for supplies to piece our masterpieces together, my right fingertips start going numb. I figured I must have been cutting off some circulation to them so I started shaking them, and moving them around. Unfortunately, the numbness started moving down my hand. Uh oh, the only other time this has happened was when my face went numb as well and I had that horrible migraine where I spent 5 hours in the ER puking my brains out... We decided that I HAD to get home to my migraine prescription (I used to carry it around with me but I haven't needed it in SO long that I put it in the medicine cabinet recently). The numbness went away in my hand and never made it to my face this time, but I started sweating, and my head started to hurt a little. By the time we were in the car headed home Big Mama was playing Chinese firetruck at stop lights trying to find things in the bag of the car for me to throw up in...it got bad quick. I ran inside, gobbled down my pill and collapsed on my bed. I couldn't go to sleep for a while because every spot on my head is now a pressure point and even the pillow touching your head feels like a knife. But, I think the medicine started to dull the pain because before I knew it I was waking up 2 hours later, feeling MUCH better. Poor Big Mama just sat in the living room and waited on me...apparently she had strict instructions from my husband to stay there and make sure I didn't die...haha.

After my "near death" experience, haha, we finally got started on the shades. We got some good work going and then I had to leave for our GMCGR bible study. So for 3 hours Justin's mom sat at my house and sewed...and just like a good little sweat shop worker, she was still sewing when I got home. Big Mama, Charleigh is VERY grateful for your hard work on her shades. They really did turn out PERFECT! Here is a picture of one of them, we hadn't gotten the other hung up yet but, there will be two just like this hanging side by side on the big picture window.

check out the cute little pleats at the bottom, and I added the bows for extra girliness!

4th of July Weekend!

Wow! What a packed, fun weekend! So many pictures to tell the story so, I'll keep it short. On Saturday we started our celebrating by heading over to Ben and Sam's house for a little fun in the sun and steaks, grilled to perfection (until Ben and Justin had the "pepper accident"). Aren't they a cute little family?

Justin and Ben spent most of the time playing with little Hayes in the blow-up water slide. I REALLY don't think this was made for grown men but, try telling my husband that.
Jus thought it was hilarious to pull Hayes's pants down as he was climbing up the slide, do boys EVER get over hinny-humor?
After we wrapped up there we headed to a get-together with most of our Sunday School friends at Jaime and Adam's.

I guess it would have been good to get my belly in this picture? Just know, I get wider on the way down these days ;)

I just love Titan and Tacoma (combined they weigh less than Prissy...they are the tiniest/most agressive pups I know...they've got little dog syndrome and they hate Justin! haha)

We stuffed ourselves again (especially me with Jen's banana pudding...I ate three, rather large, helpings ;) So worth it! Then we broke out the Trivial Pursuit...we ALWAYS play Trivial Pursuit, Boys vs. Girls, but this time we had the new Wii addition. Pretty cool I must say. The boys spanked us (I'm sure this was the first time EVER!) haha

And after we got tired of using our brains we had to get the Band back together:
Jen on Bass

PePe (whose real name is Felipe but we like to make him "extra mexican" at times) is killing the vocals and Adam on Guitar.

Master of all drumming (Justin was taking all the pictures :) and I'm not sure where Jaime, Charity, Jonathan, Shaun, or Chris were? (By the way, Tyler and Susie...where were you Sat. night?)

So we recovered enough to make it to church this morning and then were so excited to go out on the boat with Jaime, Adam, Jen and Felipe...

Check out PePe. I took this picture as my husband says, "Dude, he seriously got at least 6 inches of air!"

Jen, killing the wake board

Jen and Pepe

Yes, Adam is kind of the man on the wake board and yes, everyone hates him for it.

And Jaime, with her signature move we like to call the "T-Rex"

Jaime and Adam

The boys are so silly, every time someone would fall off the wake board Justin and Felipe would go into "Bay Watch" mode and jump in to save them...looks like Pepe has Adam, Justin...who exactly are you saving?...the board?
And our feature performer of the day...Jus! it was his first time wake boarding and things were looking grim at first. (check out the slack in that line)But it wasn't long before he got up and going...
Even trying a few daring tricks on his first run...He's so manly!

And, Charleigh and I just did what we do best, relaxed and tanned :)

28 weeks, 148 lbs. THIRD trimester!

The revenge of the "charleigh" horse! Seriously, I had never had a charlie horse before, those suckers are painful. I've actually been getting them for a few weeks now, just like everyone warned me I would. To be honest I remember thinking, "Yeah right, how does a baby growing in your belly cause your legs to cramp..." And now, I know.

Craving update: Everyone keeps asking me what I'm craving and to be honest, nothing. I craved a LOT more at the beginning of my pregnancy but lately, I'll just eat anything! (except vegetables of course, oh poor Charleigh, good thing I take my vitatmins religiously :) But, I will say that this week, I've definitely been craving chocolate! And I know it seems like EVERYONE craves chocolate (pregnant or not) but not me. I like chocolate, and I'll eat chocolate at any time but, I've never been sitting on my couch and had this strong, urgent desire to down some Reeses' or make myself some chocolate milk...Oh I am going to gain SOO much weight this trimester!

So, as you can see in our previous post, we had our 3D/4D ultrasound and got to see our pretty little girl. 3D ultrasounds are a bit creepy but you just can't help yourself...to be able to get a little glimpse of your precious offspring, you'll do anything! After just watching her in 3D moving, sucking, sticking out her tongue, smiling, kicking, etc. you are just amazed that this little perfect person is growing inside you. How can you not praise our Creator? Even though it's my body that is "making" her and constructing her at this moment, my body can't do THIS! My body can't tell her fingers where to form and her eyes how to blink. It can't instruct her little lungs how to breath even though they've never felt air...it's just all so amazing, and I really can't believe it's happening to us :)

My prayer for our daughter:

O Lord, search Charleigh and know her. Know when she sits and when she rises; percieve and direct her thoughts from afar. Discern her going out and her lying down; Be familiar with all Charleigh's ways. Before a word is on her tongue, know it completely, O Lord. Hem her in-behind and before; lay your hand upon her. Such knowledge is too wonderful for her, or me, too lofty for us to attain. Where can she go from your Spirit? Where can she flee from your presence? If she goes up to the heavens, you are there; If she makes her bed in the depths, you are there. If she rises on the wings of the dawn, if she settles on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide her, your right hand will hold her fast. If she says, "Surely, the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created Charleigh's inmost being; you knit her together in my womb. I praise you because she is fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are WONDERFUL, I know that full well. Her frame was not hidden from you when she was made in the secret place. When she was woven together, your eyes saw her unformed body. All the days ordained for her were written in your book before even one of them came to be. How precious to her are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were we to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When Charleigh awakes, she is still with you. Search her, O God, and know her heart; test her and know her anxious thougths. See if there is any offensive way in her, and lead her in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139)

Well, we also had another doctor's visit this week, with my regular OB. He is not optomistic about this placenta previa. He says he is 75% sure we will have a C-section. The good news is that instead of it having to be 2 or 3 weeks early, it will only have to be 1 week early (since my previa is marginal instead of complete). I know that we would LOVE to have her 2 or 3 weeks early but I want to make sure she has plently of time to grow and mature in there. Doc is estimating that she will be close to 8 pounds (but not over 8)...I was 7 lb 2 oz and Justin was 9 lbs!! Charleigh is measuring in the 66th percentile (means a little big for her age) but luckily I'm tall and she has lots of room in there, my belly is measuring small for this stage, Woo Hoo, let's stay away from those stretch marks! My mom never got any through ANY of her pregnancies so I am hoping I'll take after her :)

This week Big Mama and I plan to start construction on the bedding and window treatments! I am really hoping that all I have planned for Charleigh's room is going to turn out like it looks in my head...I'm scared it may be a bit busy but...we'll see! So, by this time next week, I should have more updated nursery pictures.

Exciting news, for those who want to know...SHOWERS are in the works! My love language is gifts, those who love me, know this...so when someone offers to throw me a shower, I cannot describe how loved I feel. It really means so much to me for people to take time, money and effort out of their lives just for me (oh and Charleigh). So, July 26th we'll be enjoying a shower up in Bama with all the fam and old friends. I am so glad I get to share this with my sisters and all my Aunts and cousins and friends from back home. My "old" church is throwing it for us, all those ladies are just so sweet and babies are their FAVORITE! I have to go by my mom's Sunday School class every time I am in town to model the growing belly...they just ooo and ahhh. I know that they were prayer warriers in our time of need. I am so thankful for that. And then all my girlfriends here (with their powers combined) are throwing a shower the very next week (Aug. 1st)...this is going to be the mother of all showers. I don't know how they are going to do it but they are amazing so I'm totally excited and honored. Instead of doing a couple smaller showers here in Pcola they decided to roll all of them into one (which I must say is a blessing to me!) and invite EVERYONE in our freakin' church...well of course not everyone but, a large number of folks. Thank you girls with all my heart for the hard work, cooking, decorating, invitation mailing, etc that I know you will do for this. You are my heroes! Since the guest list is continually growing please let me know if you don't get an invite and would like to come. Is that weird to say? I just don't want to forget anyone that I know and love and it turns out...that is A LOT of people!

*Update* I got a picture of our changing table in the construction process so far... it's perfect! Thanks Trey for all your hard work so far!

**Update Update** I just had a sobering realization. If you scroll down to the very bottom of our blog you will see a little baby ticker. It shows where we are in our pregancy and says some witty thing below it. I just scrolled down and saw that we are almost at the end! I remember through 4 pregnancies now, posting one of those tickers every time and just yearning for the day that we would make it to the 3rd one, you know, the one where the baby actually starts looking like a baby, and every time, we wouldn't, instead we would have to start all over again with a new ticker but....oh joy, God has given me great blessings and and overflowing heart today :)

Our Sweet Little Charleigh

I'll post my 28 week update and belly pic tomorrow. But for now, I couldn't wait to share our 3D pictures!

Here is her sweet little face. The tech kept saying how she has big pretty lips...were did she get those from?:

For all my family out there, doesn't she look like Tatum in this one?? Check out the dimple on the right cheek:

I like to think she is praying here:

There is one of her "boats" we like to call feet. She had her foot right in front of her face again, she likes that position it seems:

And here is her face with her hands and feet in front of it...this is why her butt is ALWAYS in my ribs!
Sooo, who does she look like?