32 Weeks!!

Hello all,
Here we are, at 32 weeks and 2 days of this pregnancy. I sort of can't believe that we're only 8 weeks from our due date, but on the other hand it still feels quite far away. I know it will go by more quickly than I am quite prepared for, but I really just can't wait to hold little Michayla in my arms and for our happy little family to be a bit less little. :)

Lacey and I went to see our midwife, Christy, today. I don't know if I ever rave quite enough about Ms. Christy! I've always felt extremely comfortable with her, as has Mike, but it means so much to me that Lacey trusts and adores her as much as she does. We all know that Lacey has a difficult time getting completely comfortable with people, so it makes me happy when she willingly allows Christy or Amanda (her assistant) to pick her up and play with her. She loves when we get to "check the baby" and I'm thrilled that she gets to be such a part of all of this.
Anyway, the check up went well. Michayla is head down already, which is comforting-- at least I don't have to worry about a breech situation (it's extremely rare for them to change position at this point). Her heart rate was 145, I believe, and all of my numbers were great. Healthy mom, healthy baby. I did finally find out the cause of my extreme discomfort and trip to the ER a few weeks ago. It would appear as though I do have the group B strep bacteria, which is extremely common and certainly no cause for alarm. What is uncommon about it is that it seems to have gotten into my bladder and such, which is why I thought I had a UTI. Anyway, gross details aside, it really isn't a big deal. It's typically treated with antibiotics, but since it's still early enough, we're going to try a few natural things to get rid of it and if that doesn't work, I'll go ahead and do the antibiotics before Michayla is born. One of the things Christy suggested was that I go off of sugar for four weeks, as bacteria thrives on it. Yikes!!! Not an easy thing for anyone to do, much less pregnant! I'm going to give it a shot, but I'm certainly not going to make myself crazy... this just isn't the time! I am glad to know the cause of my problem and hopefully it will all be a thing of the past very soon. Otherwise, the pregnancy is fine and things look great. Still working out and staying active, trying to keep myself busy! I've been asked for pregnancy pictures and as it turns out, there really aren't any pictures of me since I got pregnant.. guess I've been avoiding the cameras. :) I'll see if I can post something soon, not to mention some of the very cute pictures we've taken of Lacey recently.

We're excited to be going on a little family trip this weekend to San Antonio. Mike has a chiropractic seminar there, so we thought we'd all go and make a mini-vacation out of it. Not sure how much we'll get to do, but it will just be fun to get away for a few days and have the time together, away from everything else. Just over a week later, Lacey and I are taking a bigger trip to Madison, Wisconsin to see my best friend, Melanie!! I am so excited!!! I haven't seen her in nearly a year and I've never met her husband or the beautiful baby they recently welcomed into the world. I know it seems a bit crazy to some for me to be traveling at 34 weeks pregnant, but we feel really good about it. As with all decisions, Mike and I were very thoughtful and prayerful about it and have no worries. It will be sad to be away from him for that long... we've never gone for more than 2 days (once) and this will be 5. :( We realize, though, that it's certainly not going to get any easier or less expensive for me to travel so off I go on a little adventure. Can't wait!!

Well, I think that's more than enough from me for now... off to bed I go, hopefully to get to good night's sleep!

Just a few random pics..

While we wait just a bit longer for our computer to be up and running (just need a wireless card for it now... should be remedied this weekend!!), here are a few pictures that Nanny has taken of Lacey recently...

4th of July!! Some time late last summer, Aunt Michelle and I were doing a little shopping and fell in love with this dress at Janie and Jack. It was very on sale, so I had to purchase it, hoping it would fit this year... LOVE it!! She was so dang cute in it and would not take it off all day long. (This isn't exactly the best picture of her in the world, but we could not get her to act normal for this shot so this was the best Nanny could get.) By the way, Michelle, she was also wearing the bow you made for her last year at the bottom of her two french braids, but it can't be seen in this picture. You definitely helped to dec her out for the holiday!!

Other than the cute dress, our celebration of the 4th was fairly uneventful. We didn't wait up for fireworks and the weather prohibited us from the typical pool and bbq fun that we might otherwise have enjoyed. Of course, Mike was pretty content with his UFC fight night with the guys on Saturday and a few of us girls enjoyed getting away from all of it by hiding out at our house (it's a great system we've developed together!). We enjoyed a nice family meal at Nanny's on Sunday and then it was back to work for Mike on Monday while Lacey and I went about our typical day-to-day routine.


Just a funny little shot on another Sunday afternoon at Nanny's... this girl is all personality these days! She may still be shy around people she doesn't know, but when she's comfortable, she's pretty hysterical. She's been impressing us lately with her very Whelan-like love of singing. She does it all the time! She can often be found singing any number of her favorite songs, most of which she knows all the words to, or humming or making up her own songs. It's so adorable and just melts my heart! Definitely takes after her momma that way... :)

Love her!

We are definitely digging summer time around here! Ok, Lacey and Daddy are digging it... I am enduring it... She LOVES the pool and begs to go every day. Imagine how disappointing last week was when it rained practically every day! Poor thing woke up every morning and said "I hope it's not raining today, Mom." Fortunately, we've stolen an afternoon swim or two this week and there are sure to be many more to come.

As for little Miss Michayla, she seems to be happy and healthy in her cozy little home. She is a very active little thing, much like Lacey was, and loves to play with us when we talk to her. I am close to 31 weeks now so we are nearing the end! I cannot wait to hold her and to see what she looks like. Part of me would love to have one who looks like me, but I don't know if I think it could get much cuter than Lacey so another Daddy look-alike wouldn't bother me one bit. I am nervous, as probably all second time moms are, about splitting myself between two kids now. I realize, of course, that I'll love them both equally and that our little family will only be happier, but I'm still a little sad for Lacey to have to share us. She's been our world these last 2ish years and now she'll have to share us. I'll look back later and think "what was I worried about??", I'm sure. For now, though, I'll just enjoy doting all over my one child while I can.

To prepare for the birth, as I may have mentioned, we're taking a 12-week series of classes known as the Bradley method. We're through class 5 now and we're actually really enjoying it for the most part. Hopefully we'll remember everything when the time comes! The class is largely designed to teach Mike how to be my labor coach. The hope is that with this preparation and our wonderful midwife and assistant, we'll have the natural delivery that we're hoping for. Guess we'll see in 9ish weeks!

And now, it's off to bed. Good night all!