Thanksgiving and My 32-Week Belly

Well, it's the Monday after Thanksgiving, and I'm exhausted. But my long weekend was very nice, so I'm not complaining. Matt and I do a three-stop Thanksgiving each year - early dinner at my parents' house, later dinner at Matt's parents' house, and then we spend time with friends at Joe and Sarah's house. It makes for a very long day, but getting to see everybody makes it well worth it.

My pregnancy is going well for the most part; I still feel decent, though I do get tired faster than ever. I will see a hematologist next Monday because my platelet count is so low and has only continued to drop. Probably I'll be started on Prednisone to see if that'll boost my count, and if that doesn't work perhaps a transfusion will be in order. Low platelet count, or Thrombocytopenia, is hardly rare (it occurs in 7-8% of pregnancies), and since I have no history of this problem, it is likely due to the pregnancy (Gestational Thrombocytopenia) and will probably go away within a few months after I give birth. The baby isn't really at any greater risk because of the platelets being low; the main concern (at least for me!) is that if the count drops too low I won't have the option of getting an epidural during labor and delivery. There is also an increased risk of hemorrhage, since platelets are what help your blood to clot. But I'm hoping that the hematologist will be able to get my platelet count up so that by the time Odin is ready to be born, I won't have anything to worry about.

On Thanksgiving, I got Christi to snap a couple of belly photos since it has been so long since I've posted any. On Thanksgiving I was 32 weeks pregnant. (For the record, I don't know why it looks like I have sweaty armpits, because I promise you I didn't, even though my parents' house was as hot as an oven.)

 I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Can you believe Christmas is only a month away?!

Baby Shower!

Saturday Christi hosted a baby shower for me. It was held at my house, which was really too small for the number of people we had, but it worked out well anyway. Matt and I were very blessed to have so many people come and celebrate with us. Everyone was so generous and we were given many gifts that will be much needed once Odin arrives.

The adorable banner my sister and mom made.

I admit I wasn't as prepared for the shower as I should've been since it was held at my house; I forgot about all sorts of things I should've taken care of before the day of the shower - like washing my dusty wine glasses (I obviously haven't used them in a while, so it didn't even occur to me) and a number of other things that just slipped my scattered mind. I blame pregnancy (I'm told you can randomly blame pregnancy for stuff like that, so I'm taking full advantage while I can). Thankfully I had wonderful family on hand who made all the problems disappear. They were awesome and made the day less stressful for me.

Christi did a wonderful job planning everything; I know she put a lot of time, effort, and worry (not to mention money) into it and I'm so grateful for all her hard work. It was great to have everyone together, but we even received gifts from friends and family who couldn't make it to the shower, either because they live far away or because their schedules didn't allow them to attend. It was so thoughtful of them to send gifts along even though they couldn't join us.

My friend Tammy made an awesome football-themed diaper cake (check out the football rubber duckie on top!), which was cleverly stuffed with bath toys, a hooded towel, and washcloths.

Diaper cake, Brittany & Christi, and Mom!

Matt and I received everything from baby clothes, blankets, toys, bottles, diapers, and books to a pack-and-play, travel system, rocking sleeper, high chair, baby monitor, and breast pump. And lots in between, too! Most importantly, it was just another instance of our friends and family showing us support and encouragement, and being excited for us. People have babies every day; most of our friends and family have had the experience themselves. So for everyone to still be excited for us (and with us) is awesome - it makes the experience so much more fun for us, whereas if everyone was all, "been there, done that, no big deal" it wouldn't be as much fun to share the experience with everybody.

Truth.

Here's a look at my 7-month belly (yes, I'm getting good mileage out of that dress) - sorry I don't have a better one at the moment:

The trifecta: 7-month belly, pale legs, and giant blue Santa sack.

Delicious cake, pretty ladies, and wee favor plants.

I had a great time at the shower, and I thank everyone who attended, helped out, brought food, etc. Thanks again to Christi, who put so much into it so that it would be special for me. It was a fun day for us, and it only got us more excited about meeting baby Odin!

29-Week Belly...Best I Could Do

Although I am 30+ weeks pregnant now, the latest photos of my belly are from Mike and Katharine's wedding, which was on October 27th (when I was 29 weeks). First of all, I have to say that it was a beautiful wedding and I couldn't be happier for my 'little brother.' I'm so proud of him and I'm happy that he married a wonderful woman in Katharine.

Here's a shot of Mike and me taken just after the wedding ceremony. It's the closest thing I have to a recent belly photo, even though it's not taken in profile. Maybe once Mike gets back from his honeymoon in Hawaii (lucky duck) I can get him to take a proper belly photo for me.

Thoughtfulness, Blessings, & Generosity

Last week hurricane/superstorm Sandy rolled through. Matt and I were very lucky that we didn't experience any damage to our house; in fact, we never even lost power, which was not typical. We had only a small amount of water leak into our basement, so we're very grateful that things weren't worse, especially when not too far away there was much more damage. Due to the storm, Matt and I were home from work last Monday and Tuesday, and one of those days we got a surprise in the mail. Actually, it was two surprises, in the form of gifts for baby Odin. We weren't expecting anything in the mail, so getting to open the two packages was sort of like Christmas (I mean, who doesn't like opening presents?)!

The first package we opened was from Kate and Alex, Matt's sister-in-law and brother, who live in Portland, Oregon, and have an adorable 17-month-old son named Mac. They randomly sent us this little outfit at which I can't stop "aww-ing." (The onesie says "Cuddle" on it in red letters.)



The ears! The feet! So much cuteness!

What a sweet and thoughtful thing to do to surprise us and provide an adorable little outfit for baby Odin. Since he'll be born in the winter, I'm sure he'll get to wear this a number of times, and I can't wait to take pictures of him in it.

Our next package was from an entirely unexpected source. A coworker of mine sent us a gift box (which contains an assortment of small baby items) from Citrus Lane, along with a 3-month gift subscription, which means we'll also be getting boxes in November and December! This coworker isn't someone who works directly with me - she doesn't even work in the same area as I do - but she is a real sweetheart; obviously she was under no obligation to think of us and do something so kind and generous, but she did and for that we are so appreciative. Here's what was in box number one:

It included a swaddle blanket, little lamb rattle, Bathtime Baby wash, gripe water, and a kit for making a hand/footprint keepsake. The fun part is that since we'll get a box monthly for the next two months, we'll get to be surprised twice more by what we find in the boxes. What a great way to try out different baby products! Hooray for having such generous and thoughtful people in our lives - we are very blessed!