36 Weeks HUGE!

Well I have hit the 36 week mark and I feel absolutely HUGE! I get comments all the time asking "when are you gonna have that baby!" It's funny that I look so big and yet still technically have 4 weeks left. I really don't think that my stomach can stretch much more and I am constantly exhausted now carrying this load around all the time. Kelvin laughs occasionally when he looks at my stomach and can't believe how big it is. The last Dr's visit she estimated that the baby was about 6 pounds already. Both Kelvin and I feel like she is progressing ahead of schedule and hopefully will come soon! I don't know how much longer I can take being pregnant. It feels like I will go insane but that all comes with pregnancy I guess. Also I am swelling up like crazy. The water retention has gotten really bad and I feel like a human sponge. In fact when my Dr looked at my legs and feet she was surprised herself. Kelvin and I get a laugh every night when I take off my socks and see balloon's for my feet and legs and mini sausages for toes. I've done everything i've been told to keep the swelling down but nothing has worked. I am told however that the water will come off a couple of weeks after the baby is born. I can't wait for that. It will be nice to feel "normal" again.

Going Private....

On our blog that is! After some consideration and thought we have decided that having a private blog when the baby arrives is a wise choice. We have had some random people comment on our blog that we haven't known (nothing bad or scary, it was just weird) and of course there are those stories out there now with pictures being taken and used off of blogs by companies and people without approval. So in the interest of our soon to be new child, we decided that we will be going with a private blog from now on. We will make the change in a few weeks to give everyone a chance to respond with their emails so we can invite you to be a reader. The comments on this blog are moderated by us so you can leave a comment if you would like with your email and we will not publish it for everyone to see. You could also leave a message by facebook to either one of us or send it to us through our email. So if you would like to still read about the most fascinating Bailey family, send us your email and we will send you an invite to view the daily in's and out's of our lives!

Baby Shower

We had our baby shower on Sat and let me tell you, It was AWESOME!!! My best friend Heidi put it on which is impressive considering that she is just as pregnant as i am, her husband just had back surgery and she has a little girl at home. My mom insisted that she help out a little so Heidi didn't do all of that herself, but she is a trooper and got most of it done well in advance. We got some good stuff and the decorations and food were to die for. There were some good friends who showed up that I hadn't seen in a long time and of course family showed up for the party. Good food, fun times and getting more and more ready for baby when she arrives. Thank you Heidi for everything you did! I loved my shower and am so blessed to have a friend like you in my life!

The "Diaper" cake! Isn't it so creative? Complete with a pink rubber ducky on the bottom layer and a flower toy on the top which is perfect for babies.


Some of the food. Most of the fruit wasn't on the table yet when this picture was taken but there was an amazing fruit dip with grapes, pineapple, apples and oranges.


And here is Heidi and myself! The two nine month pregnant women. I love that we are due around the same time and our kids will be close in age. It's been really fun to be pregnant with your best friend. I'm just glad that we were both able to fit into the same picture! ;)

It's Bed Rest For Me!

So after a long and hard fight, it's now official....I am on Bed Rest for the rest of this pregnancy. My Dr has suggested it a few times and I have fought it for a while, but not anymore. It comes as a mutual decision between our Dr, Kelvin and myself. Kelvin has been wanting me to go on bed rest for a while but I haven't wanted too because I thought I would go crazy without having anything to do, and I thought I could just deal with the pain and exhaustion. But this time it's not just about me, I have a baby I have to consider and decided that this was the right decision for her as well.

The good thing about the bed rest I have been put on, is that it is not a confined rest. I can still go to family functions, church and a few other activities as long as I am not up and about for more than a few hours and have adequate time to rest after. Hopefully this will help with the contractions, the pain, and the complete exhaustion that has overcome me. The past two days have been VERY difficult, in fact I broke down crying 4 different times at work yesterday, and that was the final straw. When I woke up yesterday I could barely get out of bed I was so tired and then could barely walk because I was in so much pain. Kelvin told me to call in sick, but me being the stubborn girl I am sometimes decided to go to work anyway. Looking back, I think that was a good decision because it made me realize that I can't keep going like I have been. My body for some reason is not handling or responding well to these last 2 months of my pregnancy and I really needed to take a step back and consider our child. Normally I would just suck it up and deal with it because that's usually what I do. But when I was talking with a woman at work yesterday, she told me that there could be complications and problems with labor and delivery if I was not physically, mentally and emotionally put together when that time came, and that there was no job or amount of money that was worth my sanity through the last month of this pregnancy. Not to mention, I need to try to keep our baby in me as long as possible up to her due date. After another breakdown to Kelvin on the phone yesterday after work, he told me that that was it! He was going to put me on bed rest himself. So I called the Dr yesterday and explained what was going on and without hesitation she faxed a letter right over to my employer.

It's weird thinking that there is not anything for me to do during the day now but I have had a good chance to rest today and feel a little better. Hopefully after a few days, I can regain some strength and be able to add just a little more into my day. (My tub desperately needs to be scrubbed!! Not that I plan on taking that task up anytime soon.) On the bright side, I will have more time to focus on my Spanish and piano. I have been way too tired after work to do anything with either of these so they have taken a back seat. Now I might have some time to make some progress. We will see. All I can say is, the library is going to be my best friend for a while. I'm going to get lots of reading in.

National Guard Graduate

I am so excited that I have to write a blog about it even though I have no pictures yet and my parents aren't even on the plane to come home from South Carolina. He was a very well liked and respected soldier both from those over him and those he worked with. There was apparently one guy who never would have made it though basic training without Rich and he stood by this guy the whole way. I am so proud of this brother of mine. He had an injury a couple day's ago and wasn't going to say anything but the drill Sargent noticed he was walking funny and sent him to sick bay. They thought it was a stress fracture on his hip but after the bone scans they found out that it was his knee. I don't know anything else except that he was still able to graduate and will continue on with his orders, albeit those orders have now changed. He will no longer go to Arizona first for is 4 months of another training, they are going to ship him out to California first for his language training. This is good news and bad news. The good news is that Summer will get to live with him in Cali since he will be there for about 1 1/2 years I believe. The bad news is that we don't get to see him unless we travel to California. But the best thing is that Summer will be with him. It's so hard on these wives to be without their spouse's for so long. So I will let you know more when I know, and get some pictures up of the graduation when I can get my hands on them.

One more note to put in here, the baby dropped a few day's ago. It's really nice to be able to breathe again and not be panting after a 5 min conversation or a 5 min walk. This is both wonderful and scary, Wonderful because the time is getting closer and scary because the time is getting closer! I am still going to do my best to try to keep her in me for another 2 weeks (despite my split personality about her coming "Just come already!", "No don't come yet it's still too soon." Kelvin laughs at these mood changes which can come every hour sometimes). Those 2 weeks will only put her 5 weeks early. Maybe I will be able to push it one more week but we will see. She is going to come when she want's to come I am sure and she is making it obvious that it will be sooner than later. Of course I am saying this now and then she will be stubborn and hold out until the middle of March. Who knows. I am sure that she will make her grand entrance soon enough. Until then, I hope we are ready!

New Cravings!

I didn't expect any new cravings to pop up on me but the past 2 weeks I have been craving ice chips and popsicles like crazy! I think about them all the time and get disappointed when we don't have an ice dispenser that can give me chips. At least we can buy popsicles which I eat a few a day. I wonder if it's just the cold and moisture in my mouth that I am loving. Staying hydrated is becoming difficult even with an avid water drinker like me which is weird but whatever. I am just loving those ice chips! At least I won't be complaining in the hospital when i'm in labor right?!

Already Daddy's Little Girl!

The other night before we went to bed the baby was being quiet and so Kelvin started to rub my tummy and talk to her. She started moving right away and he was playing around and just feeling her move. Well, after a little while it was time for us both to go to sleep and she wasn't calming down. He gently went to my stomach and told her it was time to go to sleep now so mommy could get her rest. And can you believe it, she calmed right down!!!! Silly little girl! She is so adored by her father though that I can't help but smile.