37 weeks and hoping to be done soon!

Well we've reached full term! Ava, that means you can come any time now...please...
I went in for my normal weekly check up on Monday. The nurse came in and did all her normal stuff including the Doppler of her heart. She paused when she did this and of course said the non informative answers when I asked why it sounded different. Dr. Kennedy came in with a Doppler too so I knew something must have been up. She listened and said it sounded just a little lower than normal. They were going to send me down to testing to hook me up to a monitor just to see how she reacted.
This was a little different than we were expecting. Usually you walk in, get a really fun exam, then walk out with a "see ya next week". We had joked before we went to the appt "what if she says 'Well you are going to have a baby today!'" so when this started happening we kept thinking wow what if that REALLY happens?!
We went down to testing and were the only people in there so had some fun conversations with the tech. Ava was very uncooperative and went into a deep sleep or something RIGHT after being incredibly active in the dr. office. Of course. So her heart rate was down and the tech said they needed to monitor how high it got when she started moving around. She tried giving me a soda, pushing on my belly - no results. Stubborn girl. The tech then brought out this 'buzzer'. It looked like one of those little handheld fans you see people carrying around at amusement parks, just without the blades. The top of it vibrated - she said "Ok she might jump when i do this..." and as soon as it touched my belly Ava JUMPED the hardest I've ever felt. It was hilarious. Said the increased heart rate looked good, it was just the baseline that looked a little low, but nothing too low.
Dr. Kennedy decided to admit me and keep me overnight just to monitor everything and be safe. We went down to Labor and Delivery and it was so weird! I just kept thinking this is where Ava will be born! We got in the room and I got to put on one of those lovely one-size-fits-all gowns. Grand.
One of our friends in our small group works there so she came in and talked to us and helped us be at ease a little more. I hope hope hope she is working when I go in for the real thing!
Got the monitors hooked up and then I got to sit there in the bed. We called mom and dad to bring us some food (Moe's!) and they got there a little after 7 and I was starving!
Chad left to go home and pack some things (toothbrush, paste, shampoo, etc and laptop so we had something to do ha) and when he got back they ended up moving me upstairs to the high risk unit (don't freak out, they just needed the room in L&D so I got moved). The room was bigger, the TV was bigger, the bathroom was bigger- so I was fine :) Chad and I watched some episodes of House and then went to sleep try and go to sleep. Chad had a couch thing that kind of pulled out that he slept on. I really don't know how much I slept. I was very uncomfortable but wasn't expecting much haha. Nurses came in about every 2 hours too.
In the morning Dr. Kennedy came in and looked at the papers. Said the heart rate looked great all night, and she wasn't worried about anything. She then said 'you were having a lot of contractions though'. I was? I had no idea. At one point a nurse had come in (about 4 AM or so) and said "are you not feeling any contractions?" and I hadn't been but then saw when they would print out - I was having some crampy feelings which I guess are contractions! Who knew! Now I do ha
Dr. Kennedy proceeded to say "You aren't going to wait until 2011 to have this baby are you?" Chad and I semi-laughed then looked at her serious face, then looked at each other. Wait, what? Really? No I wouldn't wait another second if I didn't have to haha. She then said it could be any time but didn't have a way of really knowing when. She did say she thinks she'll come before her actual due date of Jan 16 though. Talk about getting my hopes up. The entire pregnancy I've been trying to convince myself Jan 16th was the date, no earlier, and its worked. I haven't been expecting anything...until now. 2011 is THIS WEEKEND!! That means next week we would be parents. Nesting hadn't really kicked in until that moment. On our drive home I listed out all the things we needed to do: install car seat, pack bags, finish nursery, clean, etc etc etc. Poor Chad :)
SO I've noticed a little more contractions since I know what to expect now. Had several last night and some today too. Guess we will see what Ava wants to do!

Christmas (Take 1!)

Last night we had Christmas with my family. Me, Chad, Mom, Dad, Kevin and Kyle! Cocoa ran around the whole time too :)
Dad and I worked but got off early and headed home around 4:30ish. We hung out for a little bit and then had a traditional Christmas meal of chicken soft tacos (haha we wanted something fast so we could get to the PRESENTS!).
After we ate we all sat down and did our stockings--thanks Santa for coming early! Then we indulged in the gift opening. Youngest to oldest, and this year Ava was thrown in the mix :) We have a wonderful family and I cannot express how much I love them. They are so generous and loving!
We finished presents and then played a game called 'Likewise'. Chad and I found it on sale at Kohl's and thought it looked fun. Everyone has a little white board that you can draw on. You flip over 2 cards : 1 is an adjective (like 'fun' or 'crazy' or 'elegant') and the 2nd one is a noun (like 'thing in a bathroom' or 'celebrity' or 'car) and so its always different because there's a whole stack of each of these words. ...(is this making any sense? I'm not the best at explaining ANYTHING really).  So then you write on your personal white board your answer and hope that it matches someone else in the group and if it does = you get a point. I won! :)
We got home around 12 and ended up going to bed about 12:30 (I went to sleep around 1:30 haha). GREAT day!

36 Weeks! (WHAT?!?)

Still a honeydew but feeling more and more like a watermelon ha! It's getting down to the last couple weeks! I cannot believe it. It has been so fun being pregnant though, I really have enjoyed it, but Ava...you may come any time. :)
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Total Weight Lost/ Gained: 160. Over 30 lbs. Breath in, breath out.
Maternity Clothes: Wait I used to fit into size WHAT?!
Gender: A baby girl :)
Movement: Crazy active! She is now head down too. Seems to be most active around 11AM, 2-4 PM and then around 6 PM. We will see how this compares to when she gets here!
What I miss: Well being able to breath is what I miss most right now. Every time I lay down my lungs squish. Whew!
Sleep: Some good nights, some bad nights. Nothing seems to help 'more' or 'less' just depends on the night. The breathing part is making the nights harder though haha
Symptoms: (all the same) no swelling still, and the breathing part is semi new. Still haven't been rushing to the bathroom every 5 seconds yet...did I just jinx myself?
Cravings: eh nothing huge lately still. Grape juice is just amazing
Best Moment this week: Going to the doctor was fun, but I did kind of get my hopes up a little expecting for her to say "Oh feels like she might come a couple weeks early!!" but no, nothing like that happened ha.
What I'm looking forward to: Finishing the nursery and doing things like packing a hospital bag! Still have to install our carseats too so that will be fun!




This was a week or so ago so not quite the real 36 weeks but only pic I had :)



Thanksgiving in MO!

Ok. Yes I realize Thanksgiving happened several weeks ago. Yes I realize that I have not written anything about it yet. Yes I also realize that I am horrible at keeping up with blogging. Its a wonder that I still have people reading it! ;)

OK so since its so late we are going to do a quick sum up with pictures. Let me just say this - I haven't found the secret to putting pictures on here that actually look like how I edit them. I edit them, they look great, then I post them on the web and it completely changes. I will not rest until I find the solution! (HA. Yeah, right). Here they are anyways!


Here we are! The Burris Bunch! Ava is front and center - oh boy.

 

I love this picture. Not sure why but I love it.

Green bean casserole!

I'm glad I have Chelsie around to take crazy pics with me :)

No I promise we aren't rednecks...we just thought it was funny. Don't judge.

AUBURN BEAT ALABAMA! The game was a-mazing

Thats right! Snow on Thanksgiving!

Sweet potato casserole!

The clothespin game. Its great how easily amused we are.

33 Weeks!

Your Baby: Month 8 (honeydew)


Baby’s senses are continuing to improve -- when light peeks in through your (extremely) stretched belly, those tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. And, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs… time to start practicing your lullabies! (she loves Michael Buble and Coldplay!) Growth (at least inside your womb) is starting to slow, and you may notice baby descend into your pelvis at the end of this month.

Your baby is still gaining weight (about half a pound a week), and she could grow up to another full inch this week. With that much baby inside your uterus, your amniotic-fluid level has maxed out, which explains why some of her pokes and kicks feel pretty sharp these days. (There's less fluid to cushion the blows.) Antibodies are being passed from you to your little one as she continues to develop her own fetal immune system, which will come in handy once she's outside the womb and fending off all sorts of germs.
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Total Weight Lost/ Gained: 157. I went to the doctor for my 2 week check up AFTER Thanksgiving and hadn't gained a pound since the last visit! How did that happen? No idea.
Maternity Clothes: The only things I can wear now. Even some of my scrub pants are too tight to wear haha
Gender: A baby girl :)
Movement: Crazy active! She is now head down too. Seems to be most active around 11AM, 2-4 PM and then around 6 PM. We will see how this compares to when she gets here!
What I miss: Well, I don't mean this in any sort of bad way, but I miss not being pregnant? haha There are just times after I got done waddling down the hallway and trying to bend down to pick something up but cant, and catch my breath because the 5 steps I took were just so much, that I just try and remember what it used to be like. But I really do enjoy the fact that there is a little baby in there kicking around- that part is great :)
Sleep: Some good nights, some bad nights. Nothing seems to help 'more' or 'less' just depends on the night.
Symptoms: (all the same) no swelling yet; yesterday I got my first Braxton Hicks contractions so those were fun haha
Cravings: eh nothing huge lately
Best Moment this week: Just feeling her move so much is the most exciting thing. I also got a baby gift from a patient of mine this week and that just made my day!
What I'm looking forward to: Finishing the nursery, decorating for christmas, and doing things like packing a hospital bag!