38 Week Doctor's Appointment

So, I went to the doctor yesterday and everything is still pretty much the same. Kennedy is still in the breech position and our doctor does not feel that she is going to do any flipping any time soon. Tom was not able to make it to the appointment this time because he had to go to work but he really didn't miss much. They have been pretty much the same for a while now. I got to hear the heart beat which is normal and he measured my belly which is normal and he checked for dilation and I am 1cm dilated and nearly all the way thinned.

We have a scheduled version for Monday, January 11 at 8am. The doctor's will give me an epidural and they are thinking that they will be able to start the version around 9am. If she flips which Dr. Lotshaw doesn't see why she won't then they will start the induction process. He also feels that since I am already dilating and my cervix is very thin that the induction should go smoothly. If they are not able to flip her then I will go right from the version into get a c-section. There are risks involved with the version although minimal if they should occur I will need to have a very time sensitive c-section so through the version and through my labor I will have a c-section room on hold for me that no one else will be able to use. A little scary, but at least I know that the doctors are taking precautions and making sure that I am given the best care possible.

So, with this coming up so soon... just 5 days away... we are getting a little crazy over here. I really can't stop thinking about how my life is going to be turned upside down in such a short amount of time. It has been almost 2 years since we began trying for her and I can't believe we are finally going to meet her! There is such a whirlwind of emotions that I can't even begin to explain and I know that Tom is feeling the same way; I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me or when he is feeling my belly.

Mom and Dad are going to be here on Sunday morning in order to be here for Kennedy's birth and we are so excited that they will be able to make it. That is the good thing about this being scheduled. It will also be so nice to have them here to help us transition for the 1-2 weeks that they will be staying with us!

Tom also has some good news! Last night when he was at work they finally offered him the position. He is officially a Research Assistant II for BioVu Lab at Vanderbilt working with their DNA bank! YEAH!!! Although, he is already having to take a week off next week. It's a good thing that he has already been working there for several months as a temporary employee so they knew this was coming.

My Birthday Weekend

I turned 31 on January 1st!!! We had a pretty good weekend. It's been nice because I even took Thursday off to recover from my basketball tournament that I had last week. Thursday I had my belly pictures taken which I think I already wrote about and then we just hung out and Tom cooked a roast and carrots and potatoes for dinner and it was Yum, Yum, Yummy! We then went out and watched the TN vs. Virginia Tech game with some friends from Murfreesboro. I almost made it til 10:00pm before I got too tired! When we got home we stayed up for a little bit to try to make it to midnight to bring in the new year but at about 11:30 I called it quits. I was still somewhat awake at midnight when we heard all the fireworks around the neighborhood and we wished each other Happy New Year. How exciting are we.


Friday was my birthday. I actually had a great night's sleep on Thursday night and Tom let me sleep in until about 9:30 on Friday. We layed around the house and was lazy most of the day. We watched a great movie, My Sister's Keeper, and then got ready to go out to dinner. Tom took me to Maggiano's, an Italian restaurant and we had a great meal and a great time hanging out together. It was a last night out before baby and I am glad that we did it!

Here I am at home, showing off my big ole belly. The print I guess hides it a little but that is probably a good thing. I am definitely mastering the pregnant waddle now and I am trying not to arch my back much but it is hard holding up a 35 lb belly. That's right, at my visit on Wednesday I am a pound and a half from gaining 35lbs! YIKES! My next doctor's appointment is Tuesday afternoon so I will probably update then unless I happen to get my 38 week picture up tomorrow.

37 Week Belly Picture

So here I am at 37 weeks!!! The time is really starting to fly by now. I am big and uncomfortable. I don't sleep. I am really ready to meet the baby!


We had the 37 week doctor visit yesterday. Kennedy is still breech so we scheduled a version which is where there doctor will attempt to flip her over to avoid a c-section. We are going in on January 13, two weeks from yesterday, and they will give me an epidural and then attempt to flip her. If she flips they will then take me in to be induced. If the induction works and she stays head down, I will be able to have her by a natural vaginal delivery. If she doesn't flip or she flips back before I deliver her I will go straight in for a c-section. So it looks like right now, unless she flips over on her own or I go into labor before then, her birthday will be January 13th, 2010.

My belly is definitely getting bigger and tighter. There is really no where for her to go so this is why I really don't think that she is going to flip on her own. I think she is comfortable just the way that she is and that is that. You can see that my stretch marks are getting darker by the day, YUCK! The swelling in my hands has also given me carpal tunnel in my right hand, which I just had an injection for and am wearing a splint at night. It's helping a little but my middle and ring finger tips are still a little numb. Oh well, it will all be better in just under 2 weeks!

My belly looks like a balloon that is filled up with too much air and is just about to pop! According to the WebMD emails; she is about 6.5lbs and 21 in long. The doctor doesn't like to guess at the visits so he won't tell me what he thinks she is.

We got our belly pictures taken today. It was really fun. I can't wait to see what they look like. We will get to see them in about 2 weeks or so, I am hoping that we get to see them before Kennedy gets here. They lady that took the pictures is also coming back before Kennedy is 10 days old to take pictures of her too!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone! We are enjoying a nice relaxing Christmas at home. Our very first and for a very long time if not, for the last time as well. We went to midnight mass last night which was surprising that I was able to stay up so late but it was nice to go. We slept in a little bit this morning and are planning to stay in our pj's as long as possible today and spend it being lazy and watching all the classic Christmas movies that we have been recording on our DVR all week. Tom took Shirley and Riley to the woods yesterday for a hike on the 5 mile loop trail and wore them out so they are even still tired today so they should be up for relaxing with us. For our Christmas present this year we bought a nice video camera to record all of our wonderful moments with Kennedy and we also bought a Wii with the money that Pat sent to us for Christmas. We are also hoping to get a Wii fit when Santa comes to visit us in a couple of weeks and that is going to be my post pregnancy workouts until I can get out on the jogging trails.

We hope everyone has a great Christmas and we look forward to seeing everyone once we are able to travel again after we welcome little miss Kennedy into the world! Happy Holidays!!! We love you!

36 Week Belly Picture

Okay, so I am almost 37 weeks pregnant now but I thought I should get this up instead of putting them both up together.

I haven't noticed a big change in size, 36 weeks feels just as big as 35 weeks but I have noticed more back pain, abdominal cramping and holy cow! the swelling in my hands has gotten horrible.

As you can see the stretch marks are coming in better now. They just keep creeping up closer to my belly button now. It seems there is just no stopping them now. Oh, well! Hopefully they will go away soon after I have her!

At 36 weeks she is supposed to be about 20 inches long and almost 6 pounds. The movements I have been feeling are definitely more predominate. They are rolling waves and strong punches. I have noticed a feeling like she is using my bladder like a trampoline as well. After our visit to the doctor for the 36 week check I found out why. She is! She is in the breech position so her little booty and her legs are bouncing off my bladder. We opted against going into the hospital and having the flipping procedure done. We are just going to wait her out and hope she goes on her own. But, if she doesn't flip it looks like a planned C-section at 39 weeks. We will see what she decides to do. Other than that she is perfectly healthy and we are waiting to see the results of the Group B Strep Culture at our 37 week visit this coming Wednesday.

Sorry... Got to catch up...

So, it has been a crazy week and a 1/2. There has been a lot going on at work and Tom was out of town all last week so I really didn't have a lot of extra curricular time to do the blog. It was such a blur I can't even remember if there was anything important that I needed to say on here. Basically, it was a lot of last minute packing up of my training room at the high school. My last day at FRA will be next Thursday and the movers from Vanderbilt came this past Monday to move all of our stuff out of there. I didn't do any of the heavy lifting but it still took a lot out of me mentally and physically to get it all done in time.

When I was home I felt like I had to give a lot of attention to the dogs because they were home by themselves all day. We couldn't go on walks because lately they have been pulling a lot and I don't feel comfortable walking them by myself but we played outside a lot. Unfortunately, picking a ball or a stick off the ground seems a lot further away than it used to. I was smart enough on the last day by myself though, to go out and buy a new "Chuck It" that's a long reacher thing you use to grab a tennis ball and then throw it easier. I should have thought of that weeks ago. Now its no big deal to go out a play for long periods of time, you just have to dodge the squishy land mines, but Tom took care of that yesterday.

Last night, we went to a Christmas party over at the Rummo's house. Paul (the team physician I have been working with at FRA and in the clinic from Vandy) and Becky invited us over since we were going to be home all by ourselves for Christmas. They are also the ones that gave us so much of the stuff we have for Kennedy like the crib, dresser, car seat and so much more, that their youngest of 4 has just outgrown. They are such good people and we are so lucky to have them in our lives. We had a really good time over there visiting with their friends and family and we also had a really yummy dinner. They even sent us home with the extra lasagna to put in the freezer for a meal after we have Kennedy.


Shirley cuddling up with her momma. She was sniffing the belly before Tom got the camera out. Her and Riley have been very clingy to me lately. I think they are going to be very protective of the baby.

35 Week Belly Picture

After a busy weekend, it was really nice to sleep in a little bit this morning and be lazy around the house. I didn't do much of anything except run to Walgreen's to pick up my vitamins and my Christmas cards. I had to go up the high school for about 2 hours for Boy's Basketball practice and then back home. It was a beautiful day here today. To bad I was too tired to get out and enjoy it. It was 65 degrees and sunny. I felt really weird to be out in mid December in pants and a t-shirt and drive with the window down, listening to Christmas music.

I think she has started to drop a little bit. I have noticed more movements lower in my belly and looking at the picture I really do think that she is hanging lower too. I hope she is starting to move to the head down position.

Stupid Stretch Marks!!! I started getting them last week down on my lower belly and on my sides a little bit. I have been using the stretch mark lotion every day for several months but I don't think I can hold them back any longer. I just hope they don't get too much worse!

So this weeks email from Web MD says that she is 20.5 in long and just over 5.5 lb which is pretty much what the doctor said at my appointment last week. As of now her lungs are almost developed completely although, because I had the steroid injections at about 25 weeks, they really should be much more developed than someone that has not had them so I think she should be good. And then the only other thing developing is toenails of all things :) So now she is just putting on the weight and we will get to meet her very soon. 5 more weeks!!!

Kennedy's Room!

Today we had a group of our friends over for brunch and then the boys watched some football while the girls got the baby's room decorated. (The guys helped a little hanging the blinds and the curtain rod) We had such a good time and it turned out fantastic! Kennedy is going to LOVE IT!!!!


Her little bear blankie that Lisa,a mom at the high school, gave her and Missy, the volleyball coach, embroidered with her name on it...

The Crib with the flowers on the wall.

The window, the changing table and the rocker. We also put up a couple things on the wall and decorated with ladybug decals.

Her closet... Still a bit messy but it will come around soon.

The inside of her crip with her musical mirrow and her ladybut teddy bear that Grandma and Grandpa gave her.

Now there is only a few things left to do. I have to pack my hospital bag, put the car seat in, get a pediatritian and probably some other stuff but that is the big stuff I know of right now.

Vanderbilt Christmas Party.

Last night we went to my work Christmas Party. We haven't got to go since the first year we were here because I had basketball games last year. We had a really good time hanging out with all of the trainer and some of the physical therapists. And, its fun to get all dressed up and go out together. Although, it is definitely not as easy as it used to be. Tom had to help me put on my panty hoes because I could not reach to pull them up. I got them over my toes and then I had to teach him how to pull them up and he got them up to my knees for me so I could do it the rest of the way.

Tom and Me (and Kennedy) in front of the Christmas tree.

34 Week Belly Picture

Sorry, it has been a really FAST week. I don't know where the time went. But, we took a 34 Week belly picture last Monday and I never seemed to find time to get these up. This past week and a half I have been pretty busy with high school stuff and we have been working hard on trying to get the baby's room together.


Wednesday, we had our 34 week doctor's appointment and all went well. My fundus, the height of my belly from top to bottom, measured at 34.5 cm which the doctor told us was perfect for this time. It is supposed to be 1 cm per week +/- 2 cm. She said that Kennedy was probably about 5.5lbs and 19 in long.

I asked her to feel around in there and tell me what position she was in and she says Kennedy is still in the head up position but by my 36 week appointment she should be head down. At the next appointment they will do a Strep B test and then an internal exam to check her position. If she is still breech they may try and flip her but I am not sure when they will do that.

So, tomorrow I turn 35 weeks so I will try and get the new pictures up because I only have to work for a couple hours.