34 Week Appointment

I had my 34 week appointment on Monday. All is well! The doctor told me I was "doing beautifully". Weight gain is good, blood sugar is good, Cate is measuring well, etc. I have officially graduated to "old lady shoes" in that I am going to be wearing tennis shoes to work everyday. Dr. Pitcher said this would take the shock out of my step and allow for my ligaments to be less sore. My next appointment is Friday, April 8th. After that I go every week! I am sleeping well, but am very tired at the end of the day. I feel like my appetite has grown as much as my belly. I can definitely put away more food than I ever have. It is a sharp contrast to the "bird bites" I called meals during the 1st and 2nd trimester. I love feeling her move around, and it is now obvious when she does, because my whole body moves and my clothes go jumping! Scott and I have a goal to get the nursery completed next week while I am on Spring Break. It is going to take awhile to unpack all of the incredible gifts we have been blessed with this past month. We are also watching our birthing class DVD which is SO helpful (even if it is from 1982)! We are taking a breastfeeding class and doing some last minute shopping next week. Our goal is to be as ready as possible by 38 weeks. I cannot believe she is coming so soon. We cannot wait to meet our sweet daughter!

Grandma

My maternal grandmother, Bettye Blaylock lives in Atherton Place in Marietta. It is a beautiful seniors' community with an amazing staff and beautiful accomodations. Grandma lives in an apartment on the assisted living floor. I visit her once or twice a week, and we always have nice visits. She is very excited about my pregnancy and meeting her first great grandchild. Baby Cate is usually the topic of conversation. Sometimes my visits coincide with her mealtimes. On those days, I usually pull up a seat and chat with "the Ladies". She sits at a table with five other widowed women. They are very sweet and always interested in learning more about me. I leave there smiling everytime. It is SO funny when I see Grandma's table mates, because everytime I go they do not remember that I am pregnant. I tell my mom it is like the movie "Groundhogs Day". I have the same conversation over and over. This is the conversation EVERY TIME I visit the table: "Oh you're pregnant! How wonderful." "How far along are you?" "When are you due?" "Oh a spring baby is just perfect". "My daughter is born in May and that was my anniversary" "Is it a boy or a girl?" "Bettye- is this your first great-grandchild?" I guess there is comfort in consistency, and I am glad that each time I visit I give the ladies something "new" to discuss. Well, at least new for them. Grandma catches on, and we just smile and continue the conversation we have had oh so many times :)

SURPRISE!

Today Scott's team threw a surprise shower for him and Cate. They got us such great stuff. Scott says that is the advantage of his team being 80% women. He had a great time and (even though he won't admit it) I know they made him feel special. I wish I could have been there to take pictures of him with his team, but these of the gifts will have to do! Thank you, Bank of America family!





All of the women cannot wait for Scott to be a daddy. He always comes home with advice for me that he soaks up from them :)



I just told Scott last night that we were going to need to buy a lot of diapers over Spring Break and look what we got the next day! 500 diapers and 720 wipes! I wish I had gotten better pictures with everything wrapped up.

They got Cate lots of fun toys that play music and light up. Our favorite is the "Glow Seahorse". Scott was talking with his team about how they all grew up with Glow Worms, but this is as close as you can get to them now :)

Cherise made a baby carriage out of a watermelon for the center of the food table. Again, I would have gotten better pictures, but Scott had already broken it down to come home (thus no wheels).

Shower # 3

I had my third shower on March 19th at Lindy's home in Atlanta. This shower was extra fun because it was a double shower! My good friend Elizabeth is having a baby boy, Garrett just 10 days after I have Cate. E and I have had such a great time sharing our stories and passing on advice we get from all of our mommy friends. It has been so special sharing this time with her. Julie and Lindy hosted a beautiful shower for us that was twice the fun :) It is always wonderful catching up with my college friends. LITB, Ladies! :)

How cute is this invitation?!?!

All of my wonderful college friends that could make it. We missed the ones who couldn't be there! Thank you all for your wonderful gifts and blessings!







Elizabeth and me at the end of the shower. Man, we were tired after opening all of those gifts!

The hostesses with me (Julie and Lindy).

One of the many sweet touches that they had at our shower- petit fours that were pink for Cate and blue for Garrett. And they were DELICIOUS!

The Blaylock Baby Bed

As most of you know, I was very close to my maternal grandfather growing up, Clyde Allen Blaylock. He was such a wonderful man, full of life and laughter. Everytime I walked into the room he would light up and boisterously say, "Heeeey Jessie!" He was there when I graduated highschool and college. He was there to see me marry Scott. The first thing I thought about when he passed away in September of 2009 was how he would not get to meet my children. Our daughter, Catherine Allen Robbins will carry on his name. I am so proud of that fact!



While Grandpa is not here, I know he is in Heaven watching over Scott, me, and our entire family. The bed in the picture below is what is affectionally known as "The Blaylock Baby Bed" in our family. My great-grandmother Blaylock got this bed to put her children in. Grandpa and his 4 siblings all slept in it. My mother, aunts, and their 9 cousins all slept in it. Almost all of my generation (not sure how many of us there are) slept in it. Now Cate will be the fourth child of the fourth generation to sleep in it. I feel so honored to have this bed in our home. I know that Cate will now have the presence of her great-grandfather all around her... no doubt blessing her life the way he blessed mine :)

Shower # 2

We had our second shower on March 12, at the Kellams' home. It was hosted by our close friends, the Evatts, Kellams, Phillips and Wiggins families. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time. Barbecutie was the menu (Of course it was wonderful). The non-preggos enjoyed vodka punch, beer, and wine. Those of us expecting (there were 6 of us there!) enjoyed Milo's tea. YUM!



Greg had the fire pit going and Ava made a special appearance at the end of the night. She was so excited to see all of Cate's gifts. Ava was just sure that Baby Cate wanted her to open the Winnie the Pooh bath toys, but I convinced her she couldn't play with them until she was out of my belly :) It was a great night surrounded by all of the wonderful friends we are blessed with!



The invitation to our Couples' Shower.

The hostesses and me. Liz, Brittney, Laura, and Jennifer. We are all pregnant here (except for skinny Liz). Brittney is around 23 weeks, Laura around 26, and Jennifer around 8 (I hope those estimates are correct) :)

Opening gifts. Of course, Scott had to be silly with the ribbons and wrapping paper.

These girls did such a good job with the details. This cake matches my bedding and was DELICIOUS! As if that wasn't enough, they had matching cupcakes.

The theme was definitely "pretty in pink". They had all sorts of beautiful pink flowers all over the house. These women did such a good job making us feel loved. The guys, well, they did a GREAT job packing the gifts in our car :)

32 Week Appointment

Well- I did not have a great appointment, but everything is good now. I went for my 32 week checkup and I had gained 4 pounds (for a total of 15 during the pregnancy). These last few weeks I seem to be gaining weight no matter what I do and it is stressing me out. I have been so proud of how I've been doing, and I feel a little deflated. She told me it was nothing to worry about and that I was still doing fine. I told Dr. Pitcher that I was feeling a little tired and that I just chalked it up to the pregnancy. Being the over cautious doctor she is (which is why I love her), she tested my iron and sure enough it was low. So for the next few weeks I will be taking an iron supplement in addition to my prenatal.

I also told her that I had some bad cramping in my left leg that had been hanging around for about a week. She was concerned this could be a blood clot, and sent me straight to the ER to have an ultrasound of my leg. It was NOT a fun time. I was there from 4:30 until 11:00. Once I got in my room, things went very quickly. However- I had to wait almost 4 hours in the waiting room after I was triaged. The nurses were very nice, and gave me a private place to wait so I did not have to be there with the (not exaggerating) 40 other people in the waiting room. I was glad to be alone because there were A LOT of drug addicts that were seeking drugs and looked pretty crazy. I know they were drug-seeking because I was right by the nurses' station and would hear them talking about them.

After I got back, my nurses were again wonderful. I was seen right away by the doctor. I then waited for U/S to get me. The tech told me she thought my leg was clear of a clot. The radiologist got my report completed in only 30 minutes, and my doctor was back 15 minutes after that to discharge me.

Overall, it was not a great experience, but better safe than sorry. Scott summed up our feelings pretty well. He said, "I am going to be so happy and so pissed when this comes back to be nothing." We were happy everything was good, but pissed that it took so much time of uncomfortableness and will end up taking so much money out of our pocket :)

Here's to hoping for a better appointment at 34 weeks (on 3/28/2011)!

Baby Shower #1

I feel so blessed to have so many people who love us and want to shower our family with gifts, love and support.

This weekend, I had my first shower with all of my family friends. These people included many women who helped raise me :) The shower was hosted by my Aunt Chacha, Robin Wilkinson, and Angie Durham. Guests included my mom's good friends from high school, many close Greyfield North friends, my sisters, cousins, and aunts, and Scott's mom, stepmom, and stepsister.

We had a wonderful time and I was so excited to spend time with everyone and open our generous gifts! It was a great Sunday and I cannot wait to continue being showered for the rest of March. Cate is already a very lucky (and loved) girl :)

The invitation for my baby shower on March 6.

The food table. Shower food is my favorite! They had yummy spinach dip, pimento cheese spread, raspberry sherbert punch, a gorgeous cake, and delicious chicken salad sandwiches.

I am not too happy with having my picture taken these days, but here is one "belly shot" although this is not a maternity dress, just one a size bigger :)

Mom gave us our bedding. We have not taken it out of the bag yet because we haven't gotten the nursery totally together.

Scott made an appearance at the shower to load up all the gifts. When I got home, I thought he had just put all the bags in Cate's nursery, but he had unpacked everything and organized it. It was the sweetest thing to walk in and see how he laid everything out :)

Our good friend Paula Deiters made Cate her first scrap book. It is so beautiful and one of the most thoughtful gifts we have ever received! Thanks, Paula!

30 Week Appointment

My 30 week appointment went well. I waited for over an hour to spend literally 4 minutes with the doctor. She said that Cate is "behaving very well and measuring beautifully". Her heartbeat was a strong 142. I go back for my 32 week appointment on March 14th.

The best part of the appointment was running into a dear friend in the waiting room. We had a chance to have a good long chat with all the time we waited! It was nice to keep each other company. It reinforced how lucky I am to be surrounded by such special people during this time in my life!

I am also looking forward to my baby showers which kick off this Sunday! I am TRULY blessed to be having 5 showers, all in March. I am so thankful they are now, as I am not sure if I would have any energy were they any later in my pregnancy :)