Put a Name to a Face!

Fundus Height: 31 cm

Wow this week was super busy and incredibly eventful - our first shower, our fourth anniversary, our first picture of Baby Daniel's fully formed sweet face, our first nonstress test (scary!), a party and a completed Lucy Guest Room!

Our very first baby shower was in Doak Conference Center on the Texas Tech Campus with our colleagues and friends from the Division of Student Affairs. The hostesses (Amanda Moreno, Amy Richarte, Janis Haney and Tiffany Enderson) did such a lovely job on getting it all together. We had the cutest cupcake cake and the most creative receiving blanket and teddy bear decorations!

Our appointment with Dr. Owen went well - everything is still right on track. However, our ultrasound appointment with Dr. Atkinson was a different story. Everything was going along smoothly: cervix wasn't dilated and looked good - check; placenta was healthy and its placement was good - check; Baby D's heartrate was good and his weight was on track (he was just 3 oz. shy of 4 lbs.; they're guestimating he'll weigh 7 lbs. at birth) - check.

We were squealing with delight and amazement at being able to see his adorable face - he looks to have full, chubby cheeks; a cute, little, round nose; and pouty little lips. We were also laughing in astonishment at his little boy ways...already! Justin wanted a second confirmation that Baby Daniel is indeed a little boy so the tech said, "I'll prove it to you."

She angled to get a shot of his parts and busted out laughing saying, "Oh
yes, you've got a typical little boy here." We had a crystal clear shot of his scrotum but couldn't see his other business because, well, the little tyke had his fingers wrapped around it.

Wow, little boys. Ladies, we have clear-cut evidence that little boys are touching their business from the womb to the tomb. Justin Daniel, you're going to have to talk to your son!

There we were, smiling, laughing and beaming with excitement and pride when the tech said something didn't quite measure up. Well, actually, it measured up too much. Turns out, my amniotic fluid level was a smidgen too high. While it's normal for the fluid to peak around this time in pregnancy,

they went ahead and moved me directly from the ultrasound room into a nonstress test room to gauge Baby Daniel's heartrate with his movement and to see if I was having contractions.

When the fluid level gets too high, the uterus thinks it's time (because it can only hold so much) and can go in to pre-term labor. Even though Baby D would be fine if he came now, we'd like him to be able to hang out a little longer.

The nonstress testing involves a couple belts that hold monitors to my belly - one to monitor the baby's heartrate and one to monitor contractions - and about 20 minutes of just sitting there.

During this first test, Baby Daniel's movement and heartrate looked great, but sure enough, during the last 30 seconds I had a small contraction.

I felt it when it happened - just like the Braxton contractions I'd been feeling for a few weeks now - nothing major and no pain. However, to stay on top of the fluid levels and the frequency of contractions, Drs. Atkinson and Owen decided to schedule me for a weekly ultrasound and nonstress test.

I have to admit that it was pretty scary the way they moved me right into the testing but I understand they're taking preventative measures.

It's much better to stay on top of the fluid levels and the contractions in order to take preventative measures to keep my body relaxed and not thinking about labor before we get down the road of full contractions where there's no turning back.

I feel fine and Baby D seems to be doing fine so we'll just keep trucking along. Hey - I'm not going to complain about getting to see him weekly in our ultrasounds!

Somehow, around all the excitement, Justin finished the Lucy Room painting by getting the Pink Flutter glaze on, doing the dragging technique for the pinstriped look and painting the shelf and trim in Acoustic White. Voila! Time to decorate! :)

With all we had going on during the week, we didn't have time to formally celebrate our fourth anniversary. We both were totally fine with this since we had so many other things to do - there was plenty of excitement as it was.

Mom got in Friday afternoon for our long Memorial Day weekend visit! We spent the entire day Saturday setting up the Lucy collection on the new shelf. Trust me - this was a feat for the two most symmetrical people in the world - we went way outside our boxes but got every piece of the collection up!

We had to take a timeout from decorating Sunday morning for my Pretty in PJs and Mary Kay Party that I held over brunch. After the girls left, we finished with the Lucy Room decorations by hanging the signs on the wall.

It's truly a breathtaking room - Justin nearly outdid himself on the shelf and the painting and Mom and I made the collection look better than it ever has before!

After seeing everything in place, I've decided not to do the irridescent hearts and polka dots on the wall. The room is absolutely perfect right now and I think adding this element will be overkill.