Maternity Pictures

I met Vanessa with Kailani Photography through my friend Laura. She has taken beautiful pictures of Laura and her family, so I contacted Vanessa about doing our maternity and newborn pictures. Since I am in love with the views from our dock, we decided to do our pictures at home at sunset. Well, the weather didn't want to cooperate, so we had to do them an hour earlier than planned, so the sun wasn't perfect, but we avoided the rain. It was insanely humid though, so we were sweating and my hair went a bit crazy! But I still think we took some great pictures. I haven't seen them all yet, but she posted a few sneak peeks!

We used Matt's great-grandmother's quilt for some of the pictures. All of the girls in Baby E's generation received a quilt on Easter, so Matt's parents brought us one for Baby E. We also used my baby slippers. My mom saved them from when I was a newborn. They are so precious and well preserved. I can't wait to put them on our baby girl! We also used the pink balloons in several pictures and even Cubbie got in a few shots. I can't wait to see them all!

Week 29...11 to go!

This has been a busy but wonderful week. I had my first baby shower! My mom threw me a beautiful Tea Party Baby Shower with friends and family. It was totally girly and totally fun! I received so many nice things and am so grateful to everyone that came. But you know me, everything has already been organized and put away and tonight I am washing the new stuff! 11 weeks isn't far away, and little Miss E might make an early appearance if she is anything like her mom!

Baby E now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a little over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. Heartburn is at its worst, well, I guess things can always get worse. But seriously...it is outrageous. I was awake for 3 hours the other night eating crackers, Zantac, and milk. Matt was out of town, so Cubbie and I watched tv and snacked. The snacking got the baby moving and she was jumping all around. We had quite the 1am party at the Everett house! I have now tried Maalox which is helping. I go back to the doctor on Friday and will see what else they recommend.

It is becoming more difficult to bend over, so doing the laundry is difficult. But I still can't get out of that...darn!! My mom had to help me put my shoes on for the shower. I just couldn't get bent over to buckle them! I feel so silly.

Back to the doctor on Friday. I will be meeting another partner, Dr. McIntyre. She is actually married to Dr. Boyd. I couldn't imagine two OBs being married to each other. They must never see each other!



Shannon Family Girls: Jennifer, Aunt Lynda, me, BabyE, mom, Aunt Di



Week 28: 3rd Trimester

We have safely made it to the 3rd trimester! Things are real and Baby E will be arriving just around the corner. My showers start next week and I am excited to see some people I haven't seen in a while.

Baby E is about 2.5lbs, having doubled her weight in a month. Her brain tissue continues to develop folds and grooves on what was once a smooth surface. Even though she's bigger, she still has plenty of room to flip around, and boy does she ever!! I cannot ever tell you wear she is, because she is still moving so much, but I am still having a lot of bladder pressure. I am measuring right on target and had a good appointment last week...although my doctor told me I look tired! So many compliments flow out of that man! I will start going to the doctor every 2 weeks now, and they plan to do another ultrasound around 32 weeks.

Matt got the crib put together! Another check mark on the list. I have all of the clothes washed that I have already received and separated out by size. I know with all of the upcoming showers, I need to stay organized and on top of things, or September will be here before I am ready!

I am surprised Cubbie doesn't hate me as much as I make him pose for pictures!!

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Matt's 1st Father's Day. Although Baby E isn't here yet, I still consider it his first of many. As many of you know, I do not like breakfast foods and therefore I do not typically cook them. So, I attempted to make Matt breakfast. He never sleeps in and this morning decided to sleep in until 10:00!! So, my plans had to wait a little while. But I managed to successfully cook pancakes and turkey sausage. I also made Matt coffee and cut up some canteloupe. Certainly it was no Cracker Barrel breakfast, but decent for my first attempt. He seemed to like it all. And since I haven't been eating fruit, it was a nice treat for me to have cantaloupe!
Baby E, Cubbie, and I were excited to give him a couple of gifts. He got something for the garage (where he spends a lot of time these days), a Dad Tervis Tumbler (his favorite cups) and a baby Red Sox t-shirt, so his baby girl can watch the games with him this fall. He got a BIG smile on his face when he saw the t-shirt! I think that was actually the first baby thing I bought when I found out I was pregnant. No matter if it was a boy or a girl...I knew the baby would be a Red Sox fan.

We are both blessed with wonderful fathers and proud to celebrate them on this day as well.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

27 weeks and Islamorada

This is my last week in the 2nd trimester. Isn't that scary?!?! Time is flying by. I am getting anxious and nervous. Everything is being worked on to put the nursery together, but it isn't actually together yet. I know I have plenty of time, but it is a bit scary when I look in that room. I tend to keep the door closed.

Well, I passed the 3 hour glucose tolerance test!! What a relief. I am still being cautious about my sugar and carbohydrate intake. I did have a piece of carrot cake today at my boss's retirement party. It was the first piece of cake in a long time, but it was really good! My baby showers start next week, so I am sure there is more cake in my near future!

This week, Baby E's lungs are going through some major developments, which (combined with the opening of previously plugged nostrils) means she's now able to practice inhaling and exhaling. Even though it is amniotic fluid, it is just practice. She is the size of an eggplant, approximately 1.5-2.2lbs. I go to the doctor tomorrow for a check-up. I am not sure if I will have another ultrasound tomorrow or not. I am convinced Baby E is not yet head down as I am feeling a lot of kicking near my bladder and not so much near my belly. I am actually carrying pretty low, so I am having more bladder discomfort and not as much shortness of breath. But we still have 13 weeks for her to flip around.

This past weekend, Matt and I (and Cubbie) went to the Keys for a quick getaway. Our friends, Sarah and Ryan Lodge, invited us to their house in Islamorada. We figured this might be our last chance for a spontaneous getaway...for a little while atleast! We headed down Thursday afternoon and came home Sunday. We also met up with our friends Ashley and Matt Sarb. Matt had an orthopedics conference in Islamorada, so it worked out well for us all to meet up. Ashley, Sarah, and I went to high school together. Ashley has a 10 week old little girl, Alexa, and Sarah has a 7 month old boy, RJ. They are so precious. Alexa is so tiny and loves being held all the time. Even Matt held her for a few minutes. He was nervous with how tiny she is! RJ is on the move!! He is ready to hang with the big boys. He is about ready to start crawling and wants to eat EVERYTHING!! It was very entertaining to us all to see what he would eat...pizza crust, waffles, jelly, you name it, he ate it!

We didn't have an agenda while there and just relaxed. The boys did a little fishing, but the weather really didn't cooperate. The seas were a bit rough. It was just nice to relax and hang out with good friends.

RJ, 7 months

Fishing on the dock

Beautiful view from the dock

Sarah holding Alexa, 10 weeks old



Ashley and Alexa Sarb, me and Baby E, Sarah and RJ Lodge



Matt and Shannon, 27 weeks

Gammy's Rocker

I have been meaning to blog about this. Matt's mom and dad brought us his grandmother's antique rocking chair. The detail in the chair is beautiful. I am so honored to have this piece in our home and look forward to reading to Baby E from it someday. We are going to put it in her playroom and have picked out a bookcase to put next to it. Slowly but surely, this house is coming together.

26 weeks

6 and half months! Unbelievable!
I had an appointment last week and met Dr. Boyd, another partner. Although he is nice, it wasn't a fun appointment. I failed my 1 hour glucose test and therefore got a lecture on eating too much fruit! I never thought I would get in trouble for eating too much fruit! We figured I was eating about 4 helpings of fruit per day. He said as far as my blood sugar is concerned, I might as well be eating 4 candy bars a day. Hey buddy...that would be cheaper and much more fun! So I have cut out the fruit this past week in preparation for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test I did today. YUCK!! I had to drink this sugary orange drink (no, not like Fanta) and then have my blood drawn every hour for 3 hours. Not a fun way to spend my morning. There were 2 other pregnant women at the lab having the same test done. The one pregnant woman took the one and only nice recliner, so I went next door to Starbucks to use their WiFi (after I promised I wouldn't try to eat, drink, or smoke!). I will find out later this week if I passed. I sure pray I did.
As promised, here is a picture of my compression stockings!! Although they can be hot...and hideous, they are helping. I didn't wear them Saturday with my jean skirt (of course not!), so after being on my feet for a few hours, I had to come home and put them on. My feet were killing me and my toes looked like sausages.

New Furry Friend

The adventures of marsh living continue. We now have a marsh bunny that lives in our backyard. You can hear him hopping through the marsh. At first, Cubbie wasn't so sure of this creature. Cubbie would just stare at him and not move. But on Sunday, he took off after the bunny down into the marsh. Of course, Cubbie couldn't catch him, but he tried. It is so funny that Cubbie has been watching him for weeks and never would make a move until now!