Counting Down

We're counting down... 3 weeks to go. Life is good here in San Antonio. We are both getting up to speed with our jobs. I am off orientation and learning the ropes of a new nursing unit and new system. Dan is 'off' for the month of August and doing the administrative work to get the team ready to start their new season in September. He's been receiving lots of phone calls with people interested in joining the team thanks to Michael Phelps and the US Swim Team!

We are also very excited to be moving into a house just in time before the baby comes. The 3rd story apartment life is for the birds!! Things couldn't have worked out better the way we found this house. We'll be getting in 2 weeks before the baby is due and have a nice home to welcome her in to this world. What a blessing that my mom is able to come down to help with the move and is going to stay through until after the baby is born. (I can't believe she agreed after the ordeal the last move turned out to be!)

I had an ultrasound this week at the request of the midwife just because of changing practice in the middle of pregnancy. I gladly obliged as everyone down here says I look like I'm "carrying like it's a boy" enough to make me a bit paranoid about washing up all of the pink outfits and blankets. No worries, its still a girl! Dan and I kind of felt like we were getting a sneak peak at Christmas presents or something. It's been since the first of April that we've seen her. It made us that much more excited for her to finally get here!

We went for a last hoorah today as our time of life as we know it is dwindling. We went to SeaWorld and had a lovely time. We saw some of Baxter's relatives (the sea lions), enjoyed the Shamu show, and floated on the lazy river to cool off. It was a nice little getaway in our own city!

Well, we made it!

What an adventure to move half way across the country!! We had an ABF truck moving the majority of our belongings and it would be arriving 3 days after us so we chose to also tow a Uhaul trailer behind Dan's truck with the main items we'd need for the first few days- mattresses, kitchen stuff, table, loveseat.... We made our first pitstop on Chattanooga, TN at my parents' house where we crashed for a night and then took my mom with us for the rest of the journey to ride/drive with me to help me stay awake. At the end of the first day of driving we received great news that we had an offer on the house!!!!

We had gorgeous weather along the way, almost cool, low humidity- like Michigan in the summer, not Mississippi.

On the third day of driving, Dan's truck started acting funny. His transmission could not go into 4th gear- not cool with towing a heavy load. We figured it had to be the first day of driving through the mountains that did it in. We don't know why it didn't present itself on the second day, but thank goodness b/c there was nothing to be had in Mississippi. We made it through New Orleans and having to climb all of the overpasses of Houston just did it in (Houston is 100 mi. wide!) We slowed it way down but the truck was hurting so rather than getting stranded on the side of the interstate, we stopped at a truck stop in Katy, TX for help. And for all you guessing out there, our daughter's name will not be Katy!!

What stress!! How were we going to get the Uhaul trailer to San Antonio since the truck was toast and also how to get the truck there? All the while, having a deadline of 7pm to make it to the apartment in time to get the key! We considered all kinds of options. Unload the truck at a Ford dealership in Houston and get no money for it (transmissions are not cheap to rebuild or replace)... rent a Penske truck to drive with our items transfered into it so it could tow the truck... leave the truck at the truck stop??? What to do?! As Dan said, it was like tripping and falling at the 23 mi mark of a marathon...

We borrowed the Katy/Houston phone book and started making calls. Either way it seemed like the price was going to be outrageous. I made a few disheartening calls to towing companies and their rates were pretty high and we were still 167mi from San Antonio. Then all of a sudden a larger ad for 'Guardian Angel Roadside Service' caught my eye- they even had Psalm 91:1 listed in their ad. Was this a sign?! How amazing, he could tow the truck with the Uhaul still attached and for 1/4 the price we were getting quoted otherwise!! What a sigh of relief!

We shuffled some belongings around and Dan and Baxter joined my mom and I in the Honda and we were on our way again. Mimi and Baxer 'shared' the back seat. We made it to the apartment with 10 minutes to spare!

Wow, that's all we could say. This whole idea of uprooting life to take a chance was a bit intimidating and that was without knowing all that was to come. I really do believe through this experience that God will not give you more than you can handle. Neither of us would have stayed as calm had we not known there was an offer on the house to offset the new costs we were incurring. And then to find that ad for the Guardian towing service and have it pan out to be such a blessing at a time like that. Amazing!

Ever since that major hurdle, things have been great. Everyone is SO nice here. The apartment is, well, an apartment. It's actually very roomy, but its just 27 yrs old and I guess we've been spoiled in our last 2 homes. It's only temporary and we can take our time to find the right house. Moving in town will seem like a breeze after this!

Dan has started coaching and has coached his first meet already. I think he is going to do great and there has already been positive feedback from the kids and parents. Its so nice for him to finally be doing what he loves and not completely exhausted at the end of the day. Already, this is the most time we've spent together in a long while.

I have also started work. I started my 1 1/2 week orientation off with a bang by passing out in front of my entire orientation group! :) They say its not uncommon around this stage of pregnancy for that to happen but geez! the timing couldn't have been better. 10 minutes into the first day and there I was on floor. I woke up seeing the faces of a bunch of strangers- luckily all nurses- standing over me. I heard one say, "Aw, she's just preggers". Yup, pretty much. Don't call an ambulance. I'm completely fine, just a little embarrassed. It's amazing how I didn't splat flat on my belly though. Go ahead, its ok to laugh, I am right now!

I transfered my care to a Midwife group and will be delivering at one of the local hospitals. I had a first appointment already and am very pleased. Baby survived the move just fine.

We officially closed on the house yesterday. What a sigh of relief there. All things are squared away and now we can go back to being excited about the upcoming event in September!!

(the belly shot is at 33 weeks)

Ahhhhhh.......

We just returned from a nice little relaxing vacation to Ft. Walton Beach, Florida with the Parman side of the family. This vacation was planned since February and it seemed a little crazy to go in the midst of all else we have going on, but it was nice to NOT be able to pack boxes or fret over the cleanliness of the house for showings for a few days. There was lots of R & R to be had at the beach and pool- no agenda, just ahhhh....

I also traveled to Indy for a wonderful baby shower put on by Mel and her mom, Linda. It was great because I was able to see many good friends and family that might have otherwise not seen the belly in person.

And now we're back to action. We both have our last day of work tomorrow, a couple more boxes to pack, we'll load up the moving truck on Saturday (with lots of great help) and we'll set sail Sunday morning.

I had my last Raleigh OB appointment today. All is well. I had to drink the super-sweet drink and get my blood checked to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes (everyone has to do this about now during pregnancy). You have to fast for 3 hours leading up to drinking the sweet stuff. What cruel torture to tell a pregnant woman she can't eat for 3 hours! I grabbed my medical records from the office and its on to San Antonio!

Dan is very excited, no doubt. He will be giving the official salute as he leaves work tomorrow. I have slightly more mixed emotions leaving a job that I love but it will be worth it in the end because I'll finally get to see Dan again besides the last hour of the day as we veg. on the couch because we're so tired. All of this just in time where he won't be working so much and can get to enjoy his daughter when she arrives.

We'll let you know when we make it to San Antonio!

Go West!

It seems as though all of the updates thus far have been about belly and baby... There has become a new focus to our lives in the recent few weeks. We are taking our life together to San Antonio, TX as of the end of this month. Dan has finally been given the opportunity to get in to coaching full time and can ditch the pharmaceutical world and 70 hour work weeks!! Things have been a little bit of a whirlwind, you could say. The team flew us down to visit over mother's day weekend. We made the most of it and I interviewed at 2 hospitals, we looked at houses, slightly learned our way around the city, and visited the Riverwalk. We took about a week to make the decision to move (lots of turmoil- mostly for me. My every action was saying I wanted to move but I kept having an inner argument that would fluctuate every 5 seconds between yes and no)

Now, here we are with 60% of the house packed up, jobs lined up, moving trucks ready, old jobs quit and just impatiently wanting our house to sell (its only been on the market 13 days). We're also squeezing a trip to Florida in between now and the move- one that was planned long before we knew about this move!

This chaos/craziness that has come about seems to be a big blessing. It would have been no fun for Dan to be working that much once the baby girl is born and the timing of the move is good. Many coaching jobs would have wanted him to start in September, which would have been nearly impossible with the baby arriving early that month.

I feel blessed and am so grateful to be a nurse at a time like this. One of my two interviews down in SA offered the same day and the other one has since offered as well. No stress about finding a job, I can even use the two of them to get the best $$ deal- yeah!!

Its funny too, ever since we started entertaining the pretty real idea of moving down to SA (before we even visited) I had thoughts where I figured I'd feel disappointed if we DIDN'T move. After considering the challenge of the move, life just seemed like it would be boring if we stayed- same jobs, same surroundings, already knew the doctors and hospital where we'd have the baby. Ya, crazy, I know.

Other small things have happened along the way to tell us that we're not totally crazy for making this move at a time like this. At my most recent OB appointment, I mentioned that we'll be moving and won't be delivering the baby with their practice. When I mentioned where we'd be living my doctor's eyes lit up and he said, "I did my residency down there! I have two great doctors' names to give you that I went to school with!" How perfect! And big sigh of relief, otherwise I was going to have to resort to my method of random name selection in finding a doctor, which I really don't want to do at 2 months prior to delivery.

Also, everyone we've talked to that has ever lived there can't stop gushing about how much they love that city. It'll be only a matter of time before we're the same way. Luckily we'll already know one couple to get started. One of Dan's good friends and former teammates from BSU and his wife live there as well.

And yes, the baby is doing fine. My belly is growing accordingly. Its funny to look back at the last pictures and how I thought my belly was big then... These pic's are from weeks 25 & 26.

over half way!!

These are weeks 18,19,21&22 of the belly

It's been awhile...there hasn't been too much to report lately since things are coming along just fine. I saw the doctor today and its pretty uneventful at these appointments. Just pee in a cup, get weighed, check blood pressure and then meet with the doctor to listen to the baby's heart beat and ask any questions. I always like hearing the heart beat but feeling her move daily is super awesome, too. We're guessing that she must like aerobics classes: kick boxing, step and tae kwon do. I worked a few night shifts last week and boy was she active all night long!! I wonder if she's always that active during the night and I just don't know it when I 'm sleeping. I'm sure I'll find out later as her movements continually become less ignore-able :) Her movements are already big enough that I can see my belly lurch. That's kind of crazy to see!

I had some fun being crafty last week. I made curtains to match the baby bedding we bought and also decorated the lamp shades to jazz them up a bit. (planning to paint the room green) Yes, I could have done these things much more simple... but it was SO MUCH FUN! I guess that's the way I channel my excitement right now by doing projects to get ready for when she arrives.

We've been discussing names some. No conclusions yet... and it will be kept a surprise until her arrival. It's funny how there were plenty of names I thought I would like to name my kids one day but when the time comes to really choose one, there's alot of pressure. Suddenly you have to do all of the checks to make sure its not something that will be horribly made fun of one day in school: what it rhymes with, what it shortens down to, what the initials will be.

and the baby is a.....

Today was the day to find out....what's it going to be, boy or girl?! Well, start preparing for butterflies and flowers, pinks and purples...It's a girl!! I guess the Carrington trend of so long has been broken lately as this is now the 4th girl. Dan and I had a bet, me betting girl, him choosing boy. If it was to be a girl, he has to actually put away his laundry after it is done each weekend for 4 weeks. If it were to be a boy, I was going to have to wake up with Dan at 6:00 am on my days off for 2 weeks. Wheew!!!
More importantly from the ultrasound was the fact that all vital organs and growth development check out just fine. As the tech was getting all measurements and images, Dan asked for dual confirmation to make sure it really was 'put your laundry away for 4 weeks'! Yup, still a girl. Both of us are just so excited, the baby's healthy and everything looks normal, we would have been either way. It's been pretty cool- ever since about the middle of the 15th week, I've started to feel the baby moving. It started out as just a fluttering, almost muscle twitch-type feeling. Over these 3 weeks, its become progressively stronger to feeling like a distinct kick to now where I can feel it on the outside with my hand. It makes me smile every time, especially when I'm at work, serves as a reminder to just chill out and enjoy life for a minute when I feel so busy hustling all day. (This is a profile shot, the head on the right, big round belly on the left)

more belly

Here's the belly at weeks 16 and 17. It's definitely looking more real to Dan and I. People at work still claim they don't see anything. Well, I'm running out of pants that fit or shirts that are long enough so I know that there's something growing in there!!
We made our first purchase for the baby... the crib and changing table. Looks good with the white kids furniture we already had from my room in college (its also been yellow and green). Waiting to find out boy or girl and then knowing me, I'm sure the room will be painted really soon thereafter. Baxter approves of the crib (peeking in bottom left). He raised up on back legs to see what's in there- silly, look through the bars! He'll make a good big brother.