Eviction Notice Sent

If Miss Kendall has not arrived by Jan. 12th I will check into McKinney Medical Center on Jan. 14th in the evening. They will start the pitocin drip on the morning of the 15th. Pitocin helps induce contractions and mimic natural labor. And hopefully we will have a baby on the 15th!

Personally, I'm convinced she's not coming out on her own free will. I think she's in there rearranging the furniture and hanging pictures. So I'm not getting my hopes up and just planning on a Jan. 15th baby and will be pleasantly surprised if she has different plans.

Pictures are Up

The rest of our maternity photo shoot pictures are up. Here is the link:

http://www.smugmug.com/share/FZwGjpjxZD1p2

The password is "kendall" in all lower case. It appears as if there are 2 different sets of pictures, but they are actually the same. One of the best things about using this photographer is that $150 pays for the photo shoot and she gives me a CD with all of the pictures so that I may print them out on my own whenever or however. We do plan on using her again for pictures with Kendall once she is born.

Have a very Merry Christmas. My present will be arriving a little late this year, but well worth the wait!

How Do I Get Myself Into These Predicaments?

What a full day Rob and I had yesterday! However, it didn't include half the things we actually needed to get done. We started off having lunch with a good friend of ours who works with Rob, and who is also removing the old fan from the nursery and installing the new chandelier. The project is halfway finished, brought to a halt because we need an extra part from Home Depot. My handy man I usually call on for little projects around the house wanted to charge me $150 for this project, no thank you!

Next, Rob and I had a 3:00 appt. for a maternity photo shoot. The photographer, Jennifer Zindler, was recommended to me by my friend Ticey. We (even Rob) had a fun time and I think we will get some great pictures out of the shoot. She posted a "sneak peek" of some of the pictures on her personal blog. Take a look!
http://www.hauteshotphotography.blogspot.com/

Once she has edited all of the pictures she will post them to her photography website and will issue me a password to view the pictures which I will pass along to you. Let me know if you, or someone you know is interested in taking pictures with her. She does everything, not just maternity pictures and is very fun to work with. This is one of my favorites so far.

We left there and headed straight to my Dr. appt. for my weekly checkup. My appt. was rescheduled from Tuesday because the office had closed due to inclement weather conditions. Needless to say, the office was packed with patients and we waited an hour to be taken to our room. Then we waited another hour to be seen by my Dr. because the computers crashed and she couldn't pull my records. There is not a whole lot new with baby Kendall. She moved the entire time the Dr. was listening to her heartbeat. Although my Dr. didn't move her Doppler instrument we could hear Kendall move away from the instrument then move back to it. My cervix is still closed, but she said it is softening. Then she noticed my swollen feet, ankles and calves. I know all pregnant women get swollen feet, but mine are really swollen! It really looks like I've broken my ankles and my right foot/leg is noticeably worse. She measured both of my calves with my right one about an inch and a half bigger than the left. My Dr. decided it was best to send me across the street to the hospital to Labor and Delivery for an ultrasound of my legs to make sure I didn't have any blood clots. No problem! We had our last child birth education class there in about an hour anyways.

Wrong. Problem! I checked into Labor and Delivery and they had me change into a gown. Then they brought in a wheelchair and said they were going to wheel me down to the childbirth class and come get me when the sonographer was ready for me. Whoa! You want me to do what??? I kindly said I would fore go child birth class this time. The nurse rudely asked me if the problem was because I had to wear a gown. Um yeah! Can you imagine being wheeled into child birth class late, in a hospital gown, with 30 people staring at you? She finally decided I could wear my own clothes, BUT she was going to still wheel me down. Complete Humiliation! I get wheeled into the class and the teacher has saved the first row of seats for me and the entire class goes silent. I looked up and said, "Don't worry guys, I'm having a baby, just not tonight". I then preceded to tell them what was going on so no one would freak out.

Anyhow, we found out I don't have any blood clots. Good news! We were released from the hospital around 11 pm and sent home with orders to rest as much as possible, keep my feet elevated and reduce my sodium intake. How do I get myself into these predicaments? I really hope the next time I go to Labor and Delivery I come home with Kendall!

Cast Your Vote

Due dates are so iffy and hardly anyone ever has their baby on the actual due date unless it is scheduled. Rob and I often discuss whether we think she will come early, on time or late. Will it be in the middle of the night or will I have to call him home from work? In case you can't tell we are very excited and anxious!

So now it's your turn to share your thoughts with us. Please cast your vote of which week you think Kendall will arrive. The poll is located in the top, right corner of my blog. If you feel so inclined you can also leave a comment with an exact date of her arrival. For the record, my Dr. does not induce because she thinks they come when they are fully developed. However, she will schedule an induction date after the 12th if Miss Kendall has not made her appearance yet.

Some of the details to help you make your decision:
1. Last week at my Dr. appt. my cervix was still far back, no dilation.
2. I haven't dropped yet.
3. I have had occasional braxton hicks contractions.
4. I haven't lost my mucus plug yet.
5. Rob was an early baby.
6. I was a late baby. ( don't know if #5, #6 make a difference)

***If anyone does by chance guess the EXACT date, I'll send you a $5 Starbucks gift card. You can only select 1 date of course! The polls will close at midnight on the 21st.

Off to go have a prenatal massage! I've been treating myself these last 2 months to a weekly massage!

Nursery Furniture At Last!

I ordered all of my nursery furniture from JCPenneys. It has been quite an ordeal and I haven't been pleased in the least with JCPenney's customer service. So the saga begins........


For the past couple of months I've been looking on the internet for baby furniture. I had a particular changing table in mind and found exactly what I was imagining at JCPenneys. So on Rob's day off we drive to a mall to look at the baby furniture JCPenneys has to offer. To our dismay, one of the sales managers tells us that they don't carry baby furniture at that particular mall, but offers 2 other malls that do. We get in the car and drive 30 min. to the closest mall that has a JCPenneys that DOES carry baby furniture according to the nice sales manager. At the next mall we are told by a nice salesperson that NONE of the JCPenneys carry baby furniture, it can only be ordered online. I'm utterly frustrated at this point. We drive home and I order the baby furniture online, paying way too much in shipping, with the promise that it will be delivered to our house in 2-4 weeks but will hear from them before then to schedule a delivery date. That was on Nov. 11th.


On Nov. 26th I find it a bit odd that I haven't heard from JCPenneys yet and decide to check my online order status. Status: Order Canceled. That's it, no explanation. This leaves me very perplexed and I call the customer service hotline. I proceed to be handed off from one employee to the next telling my story over and over with the same response from the employee "hmm......the computer doesn't say why it was canceled, but I can reorder it for you". NO, I don't have 2-4 weeks and the possibility of something else going wrong. I need to set up her room and start nesting. What is wrong with these people, don't any of them have children! At this point I demand to speak to a Manager and be compensated for the lost time and have the furniture shipment expedited and no additional cost. Ok, so I'm going to get 10% off my entire purchase and 2 of the 3 pieces will be shipped to the store within the next 3 days. The store will call me when it is ready to be picked up. The other piece will be delivered to my home within the next 2 weeks. On the 4th day no word from the store, so I give them a call. The nice sales person I speak to says it hasn't been delivered yet and to call customer service, they will be able to give me a better explanation. Customer service says their computer indicates that the furniture has in fact been shipped to the store and calls the store to find out what's going on. Apparently, customer service spoke to the same nice sales person I spoke with (he admitted he had just spoken to me) and he also told her that they did have the furniture. WHATEVER!


I drive to the mall with my friend Ashley, who is driving her truck so we can bring the furniture home. We park at JCPenneys, but have some other shopping to do first. Being the very wise person that I am, I think it would be a great idea to stop by the customer service dept. first just to make sure they do in fact have the furniture. The very nice sales person that I spoke with says his computer says it has not been delivered to the store yet. SERIOUSLY??? Luckily, the other nice salesman whom I spoke with on the phone earlier remembers me and says it IS there and I can pick it up when I'm done shopping. We must have been shopping for awhile because by the time we returned to JCPenneys customer service there was a new crew on shift. Here we go again! I started by telling the nice sales person that I was there to pick up my baby furniture, but it would not be in the computer. He kindly went to the back and located the furniture. Hooray! The last piece arrived at my house yesterday.





Tomorrow is Rob's day off and he will be assembling baby furniture. I told him this is the one time he MUST fore go any man rule and read the directions. All I can say is I better love the furniture and not have any missing parts or any problems putting it together or JCPenneys is going to feel the wrath of one very upset, pregnant woman. Please say a little prayer for JCPenneys tonight!
*That is not our bedding, just the crib/changing table.

Gobble, Gobble!

While it does appear that I overate on Thanksgiving, I will have to give Kendall credit for the additional weight. Our latest ultrasound Tuesday revealed a pleasantly shocking surprise. Kendall almost doubled her weight in 1 month, now weighing in at 6 lbs. 2 oz from the previous 3 lbs. 3 oz. She is now in the 89th percentile for her gestational age. Keep in mind that I am only 34 weeks pregnant right now and still have 6 weeks to go. We are anxious to see how much bigger she will get. The ultrasound tech. noticed I have a mild case of excessive amniotic fluid. The normal range is between 5-20. My amniotic fluid is at 22. My Dr. said she is not concerned at all at this point and would prefer more than not enough. I read on the internet that amniotic fluid reaches its peak at 34 weeks then starts to taper off. My belly is measuring that of a woman 37 weeks pregnant. Fortunately, I am still not to that uncomfortable stage and am still feeling great.

She moved the ENTIRE time during the ultrasound making it difficult to capture a still picture of her. The top picture is her side profile. The bottom picture is her looking directly at us. Both pictures have her head on the right side of the picture and her chin towards the left. Aww.....the amazing world of technology!

**If you click on the pictures it makes them bigger and a bit easier to see.**

Apples to Apples

I love honey crisp apples (the apples used for making candy apples), but have recently discovered grapples. A grapple looks like and has the texture of an apple, but smells and tastes somewhat like a grape!

http://www.grapplefruits.com/process.html

I definitely recommend trying both if you have not already.

So you are probably wondering why I'm talking about apples and not Twinkies or pizza buffets. I'm pregnant and should be craving weird foods right?!?! So sad to disappoint, but I've had no cravings other than............water and ice. Weird, I know. I must at all times of the day have a cup of water with ice chunks to chew on. I could probably skip a meal and just have ice, except Kendall needs nutrients and vitamins.

One my of my friends recently pointed out to me that craving ice can be a sign of an iron deficiency. I brought this up to my OB at my last appt. and this theory was confirmed. Actually before I could finish my sentence of what I have been craving my Dr. finished it for me with "ice". I am taking prenatal vitamins which contain iron. However, at my next appt. I will have blood work done to see if in fact I am iron deficient and need iron supplements. I'll let you know the verdict.

A few other updates:

* Kendall has recently had episodes of hiccups which last about 1 - 5 minutes. It's so fascinating to feel the rhythmic pattern of her hiccups. This can happen if she swallows amniotic fluid. The hiccups are a sign of good lungs and a strong breather. My OB actually caught some of her hiccups when listening to her heart beat. Rob thinks I'm making this up and there's no way she can have hiccups inutero!

* The procrastinator that I am has finally registered for child birth education classes. And it's a good thing I did because there is one class left that I can attend before Kendall is born and it starts this Thursday. When I went to register the website said you should enroll at about 16 weeks pregnant. Ha! Rob's going to love this! I'll try to capture some pictures of him on the floor with his pillow =)

Remaining Dr. Appointments

Well, I went to my OB Dr. this past Friday and of course everything is looking good! At 33 weeks I've gained 12 lbs. so far and my belly is measuring right on target. However, Daddy's little girl may not be so little. At my last Dr. appt. a month ago she was weighing 3 lbs. 3 oz. (75th percentile for her weight) and approx. 18 in. long. Then when my Dr. discovered I weighed 9 lbs. at birth and Rob weighed 10 lbs. she decided it's best we monitor Kendall's weight. So we will have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to check her weight. After that I visit my Dr. weekly until Kendall arrives. It is so weird that my remaining Dr. appointments have been scheduled. It puts into perspective how very soon we will get to meet her! And how very anxious I am about finishing her nursery. More to come on that............

McKinney Baby Shower

I had another baby shower this past Saturday here in McKinney for all of my Dallas friends. It was hosted by some very good friends; Ashley, Brandy, Kesha. The shower was held at Alice's Tea Shop. The tea shop is cutesy and quaint and packs quite a bit of history involving some friendly spirits from days gone by.

Several dear friends traveled from around the great state of Texas to join me on this exciting day. Laurie traveled from Houston, Heather from Pearland, Kesha and Sharon from San Antonio. A special thanks to these friends for making the effort to be here.

We had a nice turnout and Kendall received some thoughtful, sweet presents. I feel very blessed to have such wonderful friends to host the shower for me and for all of the friends who came to celebrate baby Kendall. The food was delicious. The cake was adorable. And I believe everyone had a great time!

Of course, I enjoyed going through all of the presents again once I got home and imagining the tiny clothes/shoes on Kendall! Our house has officially been taken over by things for Kendall. My Dad asked if we are going to build another room for all of her stuff.