As I enter into the home stretch of pregnancy at 31 weeks, I am beginning to realize how fast this is coming. I am both excited to meet our baby boy and a bit nervous for the many challenges ahead. We still have lots to prepare for, so the time will continue to pass by quickly. We have two showers coming up in the near future that I can’t wait for. I am going to Babies R Us next Tuesday to fine tune our registry to make sure we got everything we needed. I’m taking my expert friend, Amanda, so she can show me the ropes of what’s necessary and what will simply take up space. This is much needed, as Mike and I were just going on the “oh, that’s cute” method. I hear that’s not so productive.
A few days ago I went to the doctor for my regular check up. All is looking great! My nurse got a bit worried that my blood pressure was so low (something around 43/95), so she jokingly took my pulse to make sure I was still alive. Real funny, nurse, real funny. But the doc says that is completely normal to have extra low blood pressure. Mine has always been low, so there wasn’t much surprise to the dr. Bryson’s heartbeat was 145, which is exactly where it should be. I think he is getting used to her checking on him, because he no longer kicks her. He just seems to go with the flow now. He does move around like crazy. Now when he shifts positions, my whole belly shifts with him. It is definitely strange to feel but almost more strange to see.
As easy as pregnancy has been, my body decided I wasn’t big enough to hold a 3-4 pound baby, so my ribs are expanding…literally. For the past week or so, my left rib cage has hurt like crazy when I sneeze, cough or laugh. If I had to imagine what cracked or broken ribs felt like, I would imagine this. Anything to jar them sends some pretty rough pain to that area. I asked my dr. about it, and she said that because my stomach is not very long (thanks to my height…or lack thereof), Bryson is running out of room to grow. Therefore, my body is accommodating him by loosening the cartilage around my rib cage allowing them to expand to fit his growth needs. How nice of my ribs, right? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad my body knows what to do, but I sure wish he could decide to grow out instead of up under my ribs. When I asked how long they would continue this, the doctor says “it could last until you have him, depending on which way he grows – out or up”. Lovely.
I have to give props to Mike while I am updating everyone. I know I have talked about his graduation before, but the time has finally come and gone. He officially has his MBA! I couldn’t be more proud of his accomplishments. He worked so hard almost EVERY weekend to achieve this. I missed him dearly the past year, because he had to dedicate the majority of his time to his school work. Our family got together this past Saturday, Dec. 18, to watch him walk across that stage and accept his diploma (well, the case for it…the diploma will come in the mail shortly). I will post pictures of the graduation soon. Mike was so worried because one of his teachers chose to wait until the last minute to post his final grade. And by last minute, I mean two days AFTER graduation. So Mike didn’t feel he was truly finished until Monday morning at 5:30. He came running up the stairs saying “I got an A. I got an A”. That was his true moment of completion. Happy MBA, Mike. We love you and are very proud of you!
Christmas is coming up this weekend, so we are looking forward to being with our family and friends for the many days to come. We certainly have a full schedule of family gatherings to attend. Christmas Eve will be spent with my Dad and Sandi, as always. It’s been our tradition to celebrate Christmas the day before ever since I can remember. We always have lots of yummy food (which I am even more excited about this year) while we listen to Christmas music. Then on Christmas day, we have four places to visit. We will be going to Mike’s parents in the morning, then Sandi’s side of the family for brunch (Mike looks forward to this all year, and usually requests brunch for other events), then we are off to his Dad’s side of the family, then his Mom’s side of the family. The day after Christmas we will celebrate with my Mom and Granny in Alabama. This is always a special time because we rarely have the opportunity to visit my Granny. So this may seem super busy to everyone else, but I take it as being blessed to have so many of our family so close for us to spend this time with. Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a fantastic new year!
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