Horses Love It!

So here is our latest obsession: a game called Royal Turf. Cy has a friend at work who is a board game fanatic and has over 600 games, and he recommended this game and let us borrow it. It is actually a German game--fortunately Cy's friend printed a copy of the instructions in English so we knew what to do. The gist of the game is that you have 7 horses and each one has a corresponding card to show how many spaces it gets to move on a certain roll (you can roll a horse head, jockey cap, saddle, or horse shoe, with horse head being the most frequent roll). Based on these possibilities, and based on the starting position of the horses, you decide which horses to bet on. You have 4 betting chips - 2, 1, 1, 0, and you place them upside down on the horses so that the other players are unsure which one is your high bet (2) and which one is your fake bet (0). Then you roll and can move your horses to a better position or use your roll to keep the other horses from moving as much. It requires a lot of strategy to play well, and sometimes your strategy can actually backfire on you if you guess wrong about your opponents' bets, or if you spend so much time thwarting each other's moves that a random other horse ends up winning (yes, I am speaking from experience). You are also likely to fail if you can't remember which of your own bets is which (as Cy can attest) or if you get the horses mixed up and keep moving the wrong one (I did this but somehow it worked to my advantage halfway through when I figured it out). So basically, there is a lot to think about when playing this game. We are completely addicted to it! We tried to find our own copy and couldn't find Royal Turf, but did manage to track down an updated British version called Winner's Circle which appears to be the same, so we ordered it immediately. It is a super fun game, and we would highly recommend it!

There's a Whole Lot More Where This Came From

We have had our baby's room pretty much done for a while now, but I've had no idea what to do with the walls. It's amazing how much empty wall space is in there, and how noticeable it is now that everything else is done. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we are planning to put white wooden letters spelling her name on one wall, but we are not telling anyone her name until she is born and has been officially named, so we can't do that wall yet.

Then I suddenly had an idea. The baby has several onesies that have super cute little pink baby animals on them. I thought it would be fantastic if I could find framed pictures with those same animals on them. Of course I could not. Then I thought about it, and realized that I have lots of time on my hands, and that I used to be a pretty decent artist, although I haven't sketched anything in years. But how hard could it be to draw little pink cartoon animals? Not too hard, as it turns out.

I ended up drawing four animals: giraffe, turtle, hippo, and elephant. I don't paint, so I just colored them with colored pencils (took me like an hour to finish the shading on the elephant's trunk), which is not the greatest, most professional look, but I figured it kind of went with the theme of a kid's room anyway. Overall, I was pretty happy with how they turned out. We picked out some white picture frames for them. I only wish I had thought to draw a pink liger, since it's pretty much my favorite animal and it's bred for its skills in magic. . .

An Update to the Baby Update

This is random, but I forgot to mention in the last update (due to being preoccupied with my rant) that the ultrasound technician commented again on the baby's "cute" nose. I am really hoping that her nose is not ginormous, since in my 11 week ultrasound they were like, "Aw. . .look at the baby's nose" at which point I gasped and said to Cy, "Our baby has a Shealy nose!" You can see her nose in the profile shot a couple entries below. . .it doesn't look huge to me, just kind of sharp-featured. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. ;) (Reminds me of Friends when someone asks Rachel if she worries Emma will get her old nose and she starts crying and says "Every day!" And she tells Ross that Emma might have to have a nose job, and that's something they just need to accept. Of course, we are going to love our baby no matter what, and she will not be having a nose job, but the reference is still humorous.)

But this time the ultrasound technician also said it looked like the baby had hair on her head already! I think her exact words were "No bald baby for you!" I was glad to hear this, but I had already predicted this to Cy - I told him I had a full head of hair when I was born, and since Shealys are hairy (sorry, but it's true), it seemed inevitable that our baby would be born with hair. All of these little hints about her just keep making us more and more excited to finally meet her!

Melman is blooming! And he's pink!

Those were the words I said last night when I randomly looked out into the backyard to see if it was raining (it was; Cy always brings rain home from work with him these days) and was shocked to see that Melman was blooming. Which was kind of like a St. Patrick's Day miracle, since I was pretty convinced Melman was dead.
At this point, I should probably back up and provide some context. Who/what is Melman? Melman is our Jane Magnolia tree that we planted last summer. He hasn't looked so good since day 1. We planted him too late in the year (so we didn't get to see him bloom last year), so he spent most of the summer looking dry and wilty and yellow and. . .dead. In fact, we were so convinced that he was dead that we didn't even bother covering him up at all when the temperatures dropped below freezing so many days this past winter (I say "past" because I am hopeful that we are done with the freezing now).

I guess that for those of you who are not my sister, I should also explain why the Jane Magnolia tree is named Melman. Rachel was staying with us for a few days last summer when Melman arrived. Melman showed up on our doorstep one day in a 6 foot tall cardboard crate. Rachel and I hauled the crate through the house and onto the back porch and then had quite a time trying to cut Melman out of the crate. Partway through, Rachel realized that the whole scenario really reminded her of the scene from the movie Madagascar when Melman the giraffe washes up onto the beach and is stuck in his crate. So she started calling him Melman, and we have just been calling the tree that ever since. We are weird, I know.

But anyway, imagine our surprise and delight when we discovered that not only is Melman not dead, but he has gorgeous, big pinkish purple blooms!

It's Like Being Pregnant in the Movie 'Groundhog Day'. . .

So I went in to the doctor this morning for an ultrasound. When I went in, I thought it was St. Patrick's Day today. Turns out it was actually Groundhog Day. . .at least for me and the baby. Two weeks ago when I was in there, they had me at 31 weeks. Today when I went in there, they decided that I am. . .31 weeks. I don't know why they thought it was a good idea to tell a pregnant woman that she actually has to be pregnant for two more weeks than they thought, but let me assure you, it's not a great idea. I spent the next 30 minutes after my appointment crying in the parking lot.

How does something like this happen? That's a very good question. So there has been much confusion about my due date and how many weeks I am since day 1. None of it has ever matched up right. This morning when I went in, there was a different ultrasound technician. She pulled my chart and was immediately confused, because she found 4 different due dates in my file! FOUR! (I did not even know it was this screwed up.) May 3 was apparently the original due date, then it got changed to May 13, but she also saw May 7 and May 9. And apparently none of these really matched up with how many weeks they had me at. So she decided just to do the ultrasound and get the measurements, although she couldn't tell us whether they were good or bad. She did confirm that the baby still appears to be a girl, which I was happy to hear - my pregnancy paranoia of choice is that the more pink stuff we get, the more terrified I am that a baby boy is going to come out.

Keeping in mind that the whole point of this ultrasound was to determine if I was going to have a giant baby since they think I have gestational diabetes (which they also screwed up and are wrong about, because I didn't actually fail the test and I clearly do not have gestational diabetes since I can, for the most part, eat whatever, and still have my sugars under 100 pretty consistently), if they went with the 33 week estimate, the baby was measuring only in the 11th percentile. So, clearly not a giant baby.

All of this led the new doctor that I am seeing to declare that we were sticking with the May 13 due date, which she felt was the most accurate. Unfortunately, that meant she had to back me up to 31 weeks, which didn't make me so happy. Going with the 31 week estimate, the baby was basically on target size-wise (although still slightly under, despite their firm belief in my supposed diabetes). They estimated her weight at 3.7 lbs. The doctor was really apologetic and kept stressing that their office had totally screwed up, yet somehow that still didn't make me look forward to my 2 extra weeks of pregnancy. . .

Anyway. . .after my meltdown, I realized that I was being selfish and that all that matters is what's best for the baby. So I went and bought her some books at Barnes and Noble, and that cheered me up (see picture below).

The ultrasound itself was good. It was fun to get a look at her again. She was head down (at that time at least) and was sleeping briefly when we got in there. The technician was having trouble getting some of the shots she needed, so she kept poking the baby to wake her up. Big mistake. She woke up and then was acting crazy all over the place so the technician really couldn't get any shots. At one point she had one of her legs above her head. At another point, she kicked the ultrasound wand really hard and messed up one of the pictures. We got a pretty good look at her face a couple of times, which would have been awesome to have a picture of, but of course, she would not stay still long enough.

Overall, the appointment was good news. The fake "diabetes" is perfectly under control (big surprise), the baby is very healthy and apparently the right size for a 31 week baby. Now we just have to get through the next 7 or 9 or 11 or however many weeks are actually left. And regardless of what the doctors say, the baby will come when she is ready to come. And hopefully at my next doctor's visit, I will be out of the movie Groundhog Day and actually be at 33 weeks instead of 31 for the 3rd time in a row. If not, someone will most definitely get punched in the face. . .

Baby Shower

This past weekend, Kelly hosted a baby shower for me and the baby girl. Although a lot of people weren't able to make it, it was a really nice shower with the small group that was able to come. We had a brunch with some yummy quiche, turkey/ham croissants, fruit, and delicious mini cupcakes from Cupcake. We played a couple of fun games, including The Price is Right (with baby items), and then I opened presents. I was totally overwhelmed by the presents - baby girl got so much nice stuff from everyone! It was really great - I was so thankful to Kelly for hosting such a nice shower, and to everyone who came, and of course, for all of the fantastic gifts! Below are a few pictures of just some of the great things we got. (Unfortunately, the pictures are not terribly flattering of me, as my mom was sitting about a foot away from me while taking them.)

Here is Rachel trying to make me cry by giving me one of the books that was a favorite of both of ours when we were little. Rachel wrote me a note saying how she remembered me reading the story "The Roly Poly Pudding" to her when she was little, and now I can read it to my little girl. It was so sweet.

The Baby's Room is Finished!

We finally put the finishing touches on our baby girl's room this week. The only thing that really hasn't been done is that the walls are still completely bare - I haven't picked any decor out for them yet. We are planning to put wooden letters spelling her name on the wall at some point, but since we aren't telling anyone her name until after she is born, we are having to wait for that. I also would like to get a small bookshelf for toys and books at some point. But other than that, everything is ready for her! We are really pleased with how everything turned out - we both love it and think it looks fantastic! And hopefully she will enjoy the bright colors and patterns we picked out for her!

31.5 Week Check-Up

I had another doctor's appointment this morning. My regular doctor is scheduled to have her baby today, so I saw Dr. Gregory instead, whom I also really liked. It was another really good check-up. I measured 30 cm., which the doctor said was good for being at 31.5 weeks. The baby's heartbeat was in the 130s and the 140s. She is not head down yet, (which I already had guessed, because she has been jabbing her hard head into the right side of my ribs all week) but she still has plenty of time and room to turn.

Now for an update on the gestational diabetes fun. I brought in my little notebook with my numbers and she said that everything looked great (I have not had any readings that were over, and most of them have been well under the limit). We found out some more info. that no one had told us yet - apparently if the numbers start spiking consistently (which could happen, as hormones continue to increase as my pregnancy progresses), I would have to go on medication and be monitored much more closely (including more frequent doctor appointments). And if my sugar levels got too out of control even with medication, I would have to start on insulin. Also, apparently if I am taking medication/insulin, they would also have to induce me at a certain point. This was all pretty scary and overwhelming, and kind of got me down again. But the good news was that they don't think this will probably happen with me, and hopefully my diet will continue to keep everything under control.

Because they are treating me for gestational diabetes, I also will have to have an ultrasound at my next visit to check how the baby is growing. As I mentioned, I am measuring fine, so mostly this will just be a nice chance for us to get another look at her. So overall, it was a really good check-up. We just need lots of prayers that the diet will continue to manage my sugar levels so we don't have to deal with any complications like medication, insulin, preeclampsia (apparently I am now at higher risk for this as well), a big baby, c-section, or inducing early.

I will post some new pictures soon. We also plan to finish the baby's room this weekend, so expect a follow-up post with pictures of that in the next couple of days!