The Leviners

I haven't blogged in a while but here's the latest!
On Sunday, February 22nd my very best friends Raven and Heather hosted a baby shower for me! It was so much fun and Caroline received so many cute, wonderful, and much needed baby items such as adorable clothes, books, mittens, socks, hats, bathtub, diaper genie, boppy, umbrella stroller, blankets, stuffed baby animals, changing pad cover, sleep positioner, pink and white polka dotted rubber ducky (it's just so cute- I've included a picture), towels, washcloths, letters for her name and much more ! It was also very nice to just get together with family and friends to celebrate this very special time in my life! Here's some photos! Doesn't the food look yummy! Raven even made homemade chicken salad and it was out of this world! Thanks girls!

Week 36!

On Wednesday, February 25th I had my 36 week appointment. This was the first time that I would be checked for any signs of progression- dilation or effacing. As usual, Sheron took my vitals- BP- normal, urine- normal, weight- stayed the same- I couldn't believe that I didn't gain any weight this time. I am eating less in my opinion, though not on purpose but I'm just not that hungry. So after my visit with Sheron it was time to get "checked". I saw Dr. Salley this time and he like all the other doctors in the practice was fabulous! When he first walked in and made introductions I felt like I already knew him (he took very good care of my friend Heather during her pregnancy even though she delivered at 25 weeks gestation- Morgan Kate, her daughter is now 6 months old and thriving). He first asked me if I had any labor questions. I told him that we'd just completed the birthing class (the one offered at the practice) and he said great! He then handed me information on labor-guidelines for when to know if you're in labor- and another on being induced. He said the practice does not believe in inducing women just because they're tired of being pregnant but they do induce if you're over your due date of course and for other health related issues! For an induction to take place you have to be "favorable"- showing some signs of progression. I thought this information was pertinent and even further believed that this practice believes in being very professional and medically sound when making decisions about their patients. After all of this it was time to get "checked". I was dreading it a little because I'd heard stories of how uncomfortable it was to be checked while pregnant, but it didn't bother me a bit. I was also swabbed for B strep, (normal procedures for being 36 weeks) and we'll get the results when I go this Wednesday for my 37 week appointment- this too didn't bother me. I asked Dr. Salley how much he thought she would weigh at birth and if she was head first. He told me that indeed she was head first and that she would weigh between 7 and 8 pounds at birth (he assured me though that the weight was a guess since she wasn't on a scale- funny). I measured at 35 weeks and questioned this because if I'm 36 weeks I should be measuring 36. He said this was fine and that he'd rather see me measuring a little small than big- he commented that there are too many big babies being born. I took a sigh of relief because I was beginning to worry that something could be wrong. After he wrote down the notes in my chart he commented that I had only one page of notes in my chart and that was good (meaning I was in good health) because some patients have lots of pages with lots of notes. This got me thinking and praising the Lord that I've had a great pregnancy and that my body has handled these new changes very well. I'll be going back on this Wednesday- so I'll post more then!

Caroline's first Build-A-Bear!

Finally, my coworker and friend, Lynn, and I went to make our Build-A-Bears for our babies on Friday, February 27, 2009! This was so much fun! We got their heartbeats recorded on special Build-A-Sound devices at one of our doctor's appointments. Today we took the devices to Build-A-Bear where we picked out the bears and then had the sound devices inserted inside of the bears so that when we mashed the paw we can hear their heartbeats! We had a lot of fun making the bears- naming them was the hardest. We called our husbands for "cute" bear names but they couldn't think of any. After some thought we came up with "Moo" for Caroline's bear and "Huggs" for Matalyn's bear! I've started to give Caroline the nickname of Missy Moo so this is why I chose it for her bear! I'm sure the nickname won't stick but the name will still be cute for the bear although she'll name it what she wants I'm sure! Lynn treated me with Caroline's bear and that was so sweet of her! We had a lot of fun and we recommend it for any expecting parents!