Little Underwood, Big Harte

I have a photo book to make that I got from Christmas so I thought I'd put in these belly shots, the ultrasound pics, maternity pics and newborn pics.  Until I get to that though, here is a glimpse of the pregnancy. I know they are a bit small, but I think you can see the important part. It goes from 11 to 36 weeks. For an added bonus I put in the picture from week 11 to week 36 so you can compare a little more closely :) Weeks 11-20 Weeks 21-28 Weeks 29-36 A lot bigger, less tan and a little bit more tired

You can imagine my surprise when I call in for our weekly team lead meeting yesterday (a few mins late, which I never am, because my access code wasn't working!) to find there are 10 other people on the call ... we only have five team leads, one manager and one director. That equals seven (see, I am good at math ;))! I thought, "Oh no, they brought in other people on the call. Uh oh!". Then I hear my cheerful colleague say WELCOME TO YOUR BABY SHOWER! The visitors on our call were three of my four team members, complete with two guys. So nice of them, and our male director, to play along! We were emailed three games and on the honor system had to fill in the answers. (Bonus points if anyone knows which celebrity named their children Petal Blossom Rainbow, Poppy Honey Rosie and Daisy Boo Pamela without looking it up!). We shared some laughs, well wishes and guesses on the baby's gender (we are split on the guess!). The even more fun part was a few hours later Fed...

This week was the week for appointments I guess. On Monday we had our consult with the pediatrician we wanted to use. She is a huge advocate for breastfeeding, and we liked most of what she had to say. I found out today that one of the nurse practitioners at our OB/GYN office used her and her kids loved her! She has gotten great reviews, and I think we'll see eye to eye on most things. The office is right in Gulf Breeze and has lots of other conveniences. So, another thing is crossed off the list. We have our pediatrician! The next evening, Tuesday, I set out for my first acupuncture appointment. I've been thinking about going for years and finally figured what the heck since I was trying everything to get my blood pressure back in check. The acupuncturist is great! She is so sweet and has a great presence about her. What I do know about acupuncture from my yoga trainings and research is very little, but I do find it very interesting. I'll be seeing her again next week an...

Small break from baby updates ... I got a new desk! The corner desk means we have a lot more space in the office, and it is a major upgrade from my old college desk I was working on every day. Since I spend my days here working, Stefan thought it was time to get me a grown up desk. On Monday he asked me to meet him after work to take me somewhere. I was wondering what trick he had up his sleeve and then we went off to Office Depot (I know, that reminds me of that quote in Old School about Home Depot, I get it, we're getting "old"). He said if I knew what he wanted to get I'd say we could put it off with the baby coming. It was such a sweet thought and Office Depot had a sale! They had some bigger and nicer ones, but this one fits the space so perfectly. We have a book shelf in the office right now that matches that will go to the left of the unit as well (then I can figure out where things can go back on the walls). This also means if we ever have more than one se...

Week 35 has come! The appointment today went much better than last week's, thankfully! Finally got my blood pressure back to my earlier pregnancy baseline after a week of really working on it. Let's see if I can keep it that way. The baby measured 35 weeks and 1 day, so that is pretty spot on. Everything else went well.  We reviewed the birth plan and our preferences and feel really great about our compatibility with our doctor and the hospital we'll be at for delivery. I have a "diagnosis code" for insurance that allows me extra ultrasounds so here is another profile snapshot of the babe. It looks just like the last ones, but we love seeing it! 35 weeks profile

I owe a huge thank you to my sweet friend, Natalie, for spending several hours with me last weekend preparing the nursery. So thoughtful to spend part of her Saturday afternoon helping get our home ready to welcome Baby U! I got to do more sitting than running around while she was a busy little bee sorting, handing, folding, cleaning, etc.  I know the walls are still quite sparse as well, but I have a few fun ideas to fix that - I'm just not in a huge rush since that can come after the baby joins us, too. A few more small things are yet to arrive including a big 'ol bag of gender neutral clothes from another mommy friend, but for the most part this space just needs a little one to be complete! Enjoy your sneak peak into our Outback Oasis ;) A leftover sign from one of our showers - it says "Welcome Baby" :) and can HANG there until the babe comes then it will come down of course.  I had to put all of our stuffed animals and matching bed set supplies in...

On Wednesday evening this week we went on a hospital tour of the Baptist Labor and Delivery wing. It was helpful to see where to park, which entrance to use, how to check in, etc., since neither of us have been there before. It'll do! We do love the family-centered mindset they practice there and believe it is the best place for us. We got our registration in and expect to hear from them later this month to get insurance squared away. We are pretty much set there! I also was able to talk to my HR department this week so know the process with them. Now we just have to finalize the time off for this spring. And, last night we ordered a lot of our left over items from our registry so those should arrive this weekend. Upcoming this weekend - organizing the nursery! Things are getting set - eeks!

We are up to weekly appointments now. It is less than convenient for me to rearrange my schedule to get my hours covered and have someone cover for me, but it is nearing the end! When we got back in town (and after the flu shenanigans), I had an appointment that Friday to get our first baby stress test, another ultrasound and an appointment with the doctor. This baby is usually very active, but of course not when we needed him/her to be! We had to wait for a long time for the appointment so I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink for a few hours by the time we got the monitors hooked up for the NST (the baby's test). It took forever to get some readings but eventually we passed. Between all three things let's just say we were at the doctor's office for a long time. At least in the end all was good!  33 weeks I had another appointment today (Wednesday) since the doctor won't be in on Friday. The baby isn't liking the stress test much at that time of da...

Deep breathes ... we made it through the end of the year and it was wonderful! Our midwest road trip was a success! In 11 days we stayed at 6 different places and saw lots of family and friends. We were so grateful we were able to head up north for the festivities and to celebrate the holidays along with Baby Underwood's pending arrival. We had a surprise stop over in Nashville at a friend's parents house. It was so appreciated to have a welcoming home to split up our 12 hour drive to Indy and then have a holiday breakfast the next morning, too! The next day we had a short stop over in Indy before we made it up to NW Indiana for a family reunion/70th anniversary party for Grandma and Grandpa. What amazing role models they are for all of us. We couldn't be more thankful to have them in our lives along with the crazy fabulous family they are responsible for creating! That evening we got a chance to hang out just the gals and play some baby shower games (including ...

I have to say if Stefan didn't love his company we'd be moving back to Indy. It's a great city and I have to brag that we have AMAZING friends there! I treasure those friendships and that they love us enough to continue those relationships even though we left and aren't near by.  We were so excited to see many of you while we were in town (and sorry to miss many of you, too), and although we don't have photos to document all of our visits with each of you know that we loved all the catching up. Thanks to Kiel and Kiley for your hospitality, the book club gals who put on a dinner/mini shower (AF the cupcakes were adorable despite what you say, and now that I know you are a faithful blog follower I know you'll see this note!), the quick visit from Shauna and the LLS/TNT group for the lovely shower (major thanks to Glo and LP for hosting!). Here are a few photos from the shower. Thanks to everyone - we LOVE YOU!   Glo has the group sh...