Week 29

Well, last week was alright. Grandma and Grandpa Weber came over to visit. Their trip was cut short by weather, so the butterball soup was never made. Shawn and I have been trying to find a time to make it in our busy schedule, but it has been to no avail so far. We ordered a crib while they were here and are waiting for it to be delivered. I heard several times about the disappointment of Gabriel being a boy and not a girl, but other than that the visit went well.

I started my physical therapy this week. On Tuesday I went in for my first appointment and my therapist showed me several excercises to help strengthen my round ligaments and back to relieve the stress on my back and joints. She also gave me a support band that is just amazing. I had been holding my tummy up when I would go up and down the stairs at work, but now I don't have to! When I take it off every evening it feels as though I have gained about 20 extra pounds to haul around. I went to the therapy pool on Friday and spent about half an hour doing excercises and hanging on a noodle to stretch my back out and get Gabe off of my hips. Now I will be going to the pool a few times a week on my own time and then on the day after Christmas, I will go in for another appointment with the therapist to see how things are going.

Week 28

This week has been pretty good. I threw up last Saturday while driving in the middle of town. That was an interesting experience. Thankfully I had a bag in my car to use while I was driving. I couldn't pull over because I was in the middle of town and in the middle of traffic. It was rather rough. I was so excited too, that I was finally going to be able to go to a doctors appointment and tell them that I hadn't thrown up at all since my last visit. Hahaha, so much for that!

I've been rather achy and sore. The doctor referred me to the physical therapists. I have my first appointment on Tuesday. I am also going to get one of those pregnancy support bands to see if that helps with the pressure on my sciatic nerve and the strain on my round ligaments.

Shawn went to Daddy Care Basics at the hospital where he learned that it is his job to protect me from decisions being made without my permission, crazy family members and bad nurses. They talked about making the house safe and what they hope for their children. He also put up the sheet rock in the nursery and shampooed the carpets. He has been really busy getting the house ready for Gabriel. He's working really hard in his spare time to make everything baby safe. He is so awesome!!

Week 27

This week was Thanksgiving of course, so we went to a friend's house and had dinner. Actually, in the morning we went to breakfast at one of the big truckstops here in town after we went and picked up a paper. We had breakfast and looked over the ads for Black Friday so that we could figure out what we were going to do for gifts. We then came home and relaxed for a bit and finished up making some food for dinner. Unfortunately dinner didn't go quite as planned and we didn't go over to our friend's house around 3-4 pm as we had planned but rather went around 6 pm which was about the time the turkey was actually put into the oven. Needless to say, we didn't eat until about 10 pm. It was good, but I was tired and we went home about 11 pm.

I got up at 3 am so I could get to Kohl's for the BF sale. This was a totally pointless endeavor as I ended up not purchasing anything there because I was refused service. Yes, the salesgirl actually refused to check me out. I won't be shopping there ever again after that incident. Then I went to Walmart where they didn't actually have everything that was in their ad, but I was still able to get a few things I was looking for. I headed over to Lowe's to see how Shawn was and found the store rather dead which I thought was interesting. I picked up some Christmas storage and a few extra gifts and then headed over to Kmart. I was able to get the rest of our gifts there and it was actually rather pleasant and not too crowded. I finished by going to Michaels and getting some Christmas decorations. Then I worked from 11-4. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I got home that I fell asleep rather early and woke up about 12 hours later still sleepy.

Gabe has been moving around like crazy this week and I am having lots of aches and pains lately. He is stretching the crap out of my muscles and it makes it hard to move around. Our next doctors appointment is this coming Wednesday and then we will start going every two weeks. It's getting closer!!

Week 26

This week has been a terror at work. I love the kids I work with, but I swear they were on sugar highs all week. They were rude and obnoxious and would not be quiet for anything!! It was rough, but it's done now thankfully. Next week is Thanksgiving break so I don't expect them to be great, but maybe after it's all done and we come back they will be better.

I went to a Mommy Care Basics class at Altru Hospital on Thursday. It was about an hour and a half. It was conducted by a physical therapist there at the rehabilitation center who showed us different ways to deal with all of the fun physical ailments that come with pregnancy and talked about how to deal with all of the fun stuff we'll have to deal with after birth. Then we went downstairs to the gym where we practiced excercizes that will relieve various pains. I talked to her about the sharp pains I've been getting in the past couple of weeks where my legs meet my pelvis. She told me that I should try going to the therapy pool two or three times a week for about a half an hour each to relieve the strain on my abdomen from growing Gabe. She said it might have something to do with how low he is sitting. So, for now, I will be literally rolling out of bed like an old lady and hopefully getting to the warm pool a couple of times a week. We'll see how it goes!

Week 25

Let's see here, I started a new job at Lane Bryant this week. On the one hand, I get a great discount on all kinds of great stuff. On the other, I am pregnant and can't buy clothes. So here I am with access to great stuff at great prices but can't buy any of it. I guess I'm just going to have to deal with the fact that Gabe is making me be financially responsible!! :) He is definitely getting bigger and my tummy is finally starting to show a little bit. I still look like I'm only a few months along, but at least there is something to see now. I started crocheting his layette this week and am excited for it to be finished! It will probably take me awhile since I'm working on it here and there, but it will be great when it's finished. It's going to be a little sweater, cap and booties and if I get time a little afghan. I'll post pictures when I'm finished, though like I said, it will be awhile.

Week 24 Continued

I forgot all about the great show we went to on Sunday last week! We went and saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra!! It was awesome! A little long, especially in the hard stadium seats of the Alerus Center, but still soooo great! I'm sure little Gabe was wondering why the world was vibrating. The light show was great and the music was fabulous! There was a Christmas program and then another separate music set. It was about 2 and 1/2 hours without an intermission. I was mad that Shawn had spent $42 a ticket before we went but after we got there he informed me that $5 of each ticket was an additional donation for the local Humane Society on top of what was being donated from the purchase of the tickets. That made me feel a little better and after the show I definitely felt like we had gotten our money's worth. I highly recommend going to a show if you get a chance!!

Week 24

Wow! What a week! On Monday, we had another ultrasound. What an experience! I drank 27 oz. of water, 5 less than I did for the last one. Before I even left the school I could barely walk (I didn't feel like that until after the last one...). Shawn picked me up and I was seriously uncomfortable by the time we got to the clinic (about 8 blocks away...) By the time I down to the ultrasound wing I felt like I was dying. The tech told me to lay down to try and make it better. It didn't, it just made it worse. The tech left to check our last photos and I spent about 10 minutes trying not to cry and in my crazy state realized that I am going to be really, really bad at labor. I mean, I can't even handle having to pee! When the tech came back I apologized for being whiny and he turned on the machine. He tried to look at Gabe but couldn't see anything because apparently my bladder was too full (a great irony since they tell you that if your bladder isn't full they will reschedule your appointment). So, the tech, my saint, let me pee. Oh goodness if that wasn't just a fantastic relief! Then he got to looking at Gabe and told us that Gabe is really low. That explains why I'm still not really showing and why I am only feeling him move at the very bottom of my tummy and nowhere else.

In other news this week, our candidate won!! Hooray for Obama!! I'm so excited to see what will happen, but apprehensive at the same time that he won't live up to expectations. There is so much riding on his presidency for so many reasons that I hope he is able to handle the pressure. We'll see! Gabe will be born into one of the great historical moments of our country and I am so thankful that not only I, but my children will be alive during this great moment in history!!