37 weeks - FULL TERM!

Hard to believe Colten is full term now! This pregnancy has flown by, but of course now seems to be slowing down since we are ready for his arrival! Had my 36 week checkup last Wednesday. I was 50% effaced (thinned out) and his head had dropped a bit. My doctor signed off to put me on bedrest starting Labor Day. I am glad that this is my last week as I am exhausted and swelling, and its much harder to climb the stairs to my office now! She still thought I would make it to 39 weeks but of course its all up to Colten now.

I go back tomorrow for my weekly checkup. I am hoping that I have thinned out some more, and maybe (fingers crossed) dilated some. If I have made significant progress I will probably go ahead and take off from work instead of finishing out the week.

I am still procrastinating on packing my hospital bag. I pretty much have everything I need to go in it, just haven't actually packed it yet. Corey wants to wait and pack his bag until I am actually in labor. The carseat has been installed so that is ready to go at least.

I will update after my appointment tomorrow - lets hope for some progress! I am ready to meet my sweet baby boy!

No baby will be coming this week

Had my 35 week checkup this week. They swabbed me to test for Group B Strep and the doctor also decided to go ahead and check my cervix since my sister, me and my neice were all born at 35 weeks. I had been having some cramping this week along with a lot of pressure that makes my pelvis feel like I've been riding a horse constantly.

Baby is still heads down and should remain that way, but his head is still pretty high and my cervix was closed. Thank goodness because I am not quite ready for him to come just yet!

His heartbeat sounded good although the poor thing had hiccups. I will go back next Wednesday for another cervix check, and will continue to do so weekly until he arrives.

Tomorrow, my mom and I are going to Charleston for the day. We are going there because they have a Babies R Us and I need to pick up some of the items we didn't receive off of our registry. We will also be visiting my Grandmother in the hospital as she had neck surgery today at 82!

Hopefully we will have a nice trip and I won't be too worn out or swollen afterwards. That's all for now :)

Can my baby bump get any bigger?

The baby bump at 34 weeks and 3 days. I feel like I can't get any bigger but I still have a few more weeks for Colten to grow!

Definitely starting to feel how far along I am now. Corey says I am crabbier (which to be honest I totally am!). My feet are swelling a bit more, and I can no longer wear my rings. I can get them on, but they are getting tougher to get off so I figured to be safe I better quit wearing them. My back is gettting sore more often, and its definitely harder to get out of the bed and off of the couch with my belly being so big now. Bending over is also fun!

I am taking afternoon naps whenever possible and laying down during the day on weekends. I am actually sleeping better at night even though I am still getting up 3-4 times to go to the bathroom, but it seems that no matter how much sleep I get I still feel exhausted.

This Saturday is going to be a busy day. Corey and I have an Infant Care Class Saturday morning, and after lunch I am taking a breastfeeding class. They are taught at Healthfinders in the mall and are free which is great. That evening my Grandmother and Aunt Kym are throwing me my last baby shower for the Beckham side of my family. I am really excited to see everyone especially my family that lives out of town.

This past weekend I wore myself out working on organizing Colten's room. I did about 5 loads of laundry on Saturday. I washed and put away all of his clothes up to 3 months, blankets, bibs, burp cloths, socks, hats, and bedding. I finally put his bedding together on the crib and love it. During this week I have also washed the covers for his bouncy seat, carseat, and any stuffed animals that were washable. I am hoping after this last shower my Dr will allow me to make a day trip to Charleston to go to Babies R Us for any last items we haven't received. While there I want to pick up the closet organizers, and bins for his changing table so I can finished organizing everything. For now, a lot of things are in piles ready to be put away. I at least got his clothes either hung up in the closet or folded and put in his dresser.

Last night I washed all of the teethers, pacifiers, parts for the breastpump, medicine dispensers, etc. I put together our electric sterilizer so that once he comes I can throw everything in it. Its awesome, its holds 6 bottles and sterilizers in 5 minutes. I can also sterilize the pacifiers etc after any bottles. I am hoping I will be able to breastfeed and if so I won't need the bottles for a few weeks anyway.

I am trying to make a list of any last things I need to do before he comes so I can get them done in the next week or so. My next task is to pack my hospital bag and have Corey install the carseat in my car.

I go back to the Dr next Thursday the 19th for a checkup and to be tested for Group B Strep. I am hoping while I am there that they will go ahead and check my cervix since its only a week short of when they normally start doing that. Corey and I think he will make his arrival around the 7th or 8th of September...I guess we will be finding out soon when Colten wants to make his arrival!

33 week checkup - Colten is head's down!

I went back to the doctor yesterday (August 2nd) for my growth ultrasound and 33 week checkup. Colten measured in the 60th percentile and they estimated his current weight at 4lbs 12 oz. The doctor said I have an abundance of fluid (not too much just more than necessary) so that may be why I was measuring big at my last appointment. His heartrate was great and so was my blood pressure (120/70). She gave me a low dose of Ambien to try for the nights I am having trouble sleeping. That's really every night but I will probably only use it nights I am really tired or on weekends. Last night I took it, but I only took 1/4 of the dose since I have never taken it before. I still woke of 3-4 times but definitely slept for longer periods between waking up. I only woke up to use the bathroom instead of waking up due to my hips aching or being uncomfortable.

Doctor thinks I may have had some braxton hicks contractions without realizing it. I told her that every once in a while I wll feel a crampy type feeling real low and sometimes a sharp pain really low in my pelvis. I also notice that my belly gets rock hard at times, but it tends to stay that way for a few minutes and I don't notice it happening in a pattern. She said the baby's movements can cause my uterus to contract and I might not realize its happening.

The ultrasound also revealed that Colten is definitely heads down. My doc thought he was at the last appt by feeling my belly but the ultrasound confirmed. His head is down, with his butt up near my ribs on the right side. He is turned sideways with his spine running down the right side of my belly and his feet and hands on the left side of my belly. Guess that's better than getting kicked in the ribs!

I go back in 2 weeks for the Group B strep test and my 35 week checkup. After that I will go once a week to have my cervix checked for signs of thinning or dialation. Thankfully I was able to make all of my last appointments with the doctor I really want to deliver me. There are 5 doctors at my OB's office, and they are all nice, but Dr. Golden is my favorite. She is also really good with the dad's and has a great bedside manner. I just feel really comfortable with her and know she will make Corey and I both more comfortable during my labor/delivery. I wanted to have my last appts with her in case we decide to be induced. Otherwise if I go into labor on my own, it will be whoever is on call. Glad that I like all of the doctors since we won't know when Colten decides he is ready to come out!

We have an infant care class coming up in a couple weeks. I also have a breastfeeding class that same day, and that evening is my last shower being thrown by my Aunt Kym and Grandmother. Looking forward to seeing all of the family on my Dad's side.

I am hoping I can get my office organized at work over the next couple of weeks in preparation for my maternity leave. I also hope to maybe have a week off before Colten comes so I can do last minute preparations in his room. My mom came over last weekend and helped me organize all of the gifts we had received so far. I now have a couple piles of laundry to do for all of his sheets, bedding, newborn clothes, burp cloths, etc. Hopefully we will have everything ready soon :) 48 days and counting til my due date!

Maternity Photo Shoot

Just reached 32 weeks (8 months) on Monday July 26. This past Sunday, my sister Tina (Tina Ammons Photography) took maternity pictures for Corey and I. She made me feel beautiful even though I am beginning to feel like a cow! These are just the sneak peaks she has given me, but they turned out so much better than I expected. Can't wait for Colten to be here and be Aunt Tina's new muse. Love you sister!

Baby Showers

Me with my FBCMB Family at my shower thrown by Tina and my mom at Caledonia

Tina, me and my Mom at my shower at Caledonia

Yummy "Rattle" cupcakes made by my sister Tina and my Mom for my shower at Caledonia

Melissa and I at the Burns family shower

Denise, Sarah and I at the Burns family shower

Corey's Grandmom (Mom Mom), his mother Teresa and I at the Burns family shower

Cake from the Burns family shower

Me with my work family at the couple's shower thrown by my boss Tracy

Cake from my work couple's shower

Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has attended my showers or sent us gifts! Thank you to Melissa, Denise, Tracy, Tina, and my mom for hosting showers for me. And also to my Aunt Kym and Grandmother who will be hosting my last shower in August. There are way too many pics from the showers to post but I did want to put some pics of the cakes/cupcakes from the showers as they were all so creative! Colten is being spoiled already with his gifts. Thankfully my mom is coming over this weekend to help me organize everything! Thank you cards have been written, I just keep forgetting to drop them in the mail!

31 weeks and belly pics!

The belly at 31 weeks

View of my belly looking down while sitting at dinner with friends. Thought this angle was funny...2 days shy of 31 weeks in this pic

I can't believe that I am only 1 week shy of being 8 months prego! This past weekend, we went out to dinner with some friends at Market Common. It was really nice to have a night out with everyone, since those might be few and far between pretty soon!

Monday - I had my 31 week checkup. My blood pressure was a little high (135/75) but I expected that. It has been a stressful few weeks at work. The attorney that I am the paralegal for has been out for about 3 weeks with health problems, and just last week had to have a brain tumor removed. Unfortunately, we have found out that she will be battling cancer for the 3rd time. She has had 2 bouts with breast cancer, and has been cancer free for almost 2 years. Her pathology showed that the breast cancer has metastasized to her brain. Thankfully the surgeons were able to remove all except for a small sliver too close to her spinal cord. She will undergo 10 radiation treatments over a 2 week period and will then have monthly scans to check for cancer popping up anywhere else. We have been very busy so it was shock to suddenly not have her here, plus now it looks like she will be out of work until I start my maternity leave. So....lots of pressure at work!

Colten's heartbeat was great, and then came the news that my uterus was measuring 4 weeks ahead! At my 28 week checkup, my uterus measured 29 cm. At this checkup (31 wks) it measured 35 cm! She felt my belly and said she thought Colten was heads down with his butt up on one side, and his feet on the other side (at least he isn't kicking me in the ribs!). She said he could just be in a position that is pushing my uterus up higher than normal, or he could be having a growth spurt and will even out. Either way, she scheduled me to come back in 2 weeks for a growth ultrasound to have him measured. If he is measuring larger than average, she said they will start checkin my cervix sooner for signs of thinning/dilation. If he measures normal, they will start checking my cervix at 36 weeks. Either way - they definitely won't let me go past 40 weeks, but may not want me to go past 38 or 39 if he is large.

Apparently my father in law was a 10 lb baby (thanks Teresa for never telling me this til now! haha) and Corey was almost 8lbs, but being born in Colorado with the altitude difference apparently may have been closer to 9 lbs had he been born here. The men in my family are of a large stature, not overweight just big boned and built like professional baseball and football players. So...we may have a big boy on our hands! I am just hoping that if I need to go earlier because of his size that my body is ready to go into labor on its own or be induced so that I can still deliver naturally and not have to have a c-section. Our plan is to try and get through as much of the early/mid labor as possible without pain medication (or possibly only Stadol) so that I can walk around and use the birthing ball to let gravity help him move down. If I can get through it completely great, but if not I would just like to labor as much as possible before getting the epidural. But - I have never been through anything like this, so if I go in and get the epidural at 2 cm I will feel no shame! :)

I go back August 2nd for my 33 week check up and the growth ultrasound.

Baby Burns has a name!

On July 10th, Corey and I took our childbirth class at Grand Strand Hospital. It was about 5 hours long. We watched many videos about going into labor, laboring without pain medication, laboring with pain medication/epidural, C-sections, after-birth, etc. After all of the videos, the nurse showed us the labor and delivery section in the hospital and explained their procedures and security. I thought the videos would freak us out, but they actually made Corey more excited. He kept telling me I would be superwoman after giving birth! Once we were in the delivery area, he kept saying "Lets just have him now while we are in the hospital."

It has been nice to see Corey get more and more excited about the impending arrival of our baby boy. I think the bigger I get, and the more Corey sees my belly being kicked around the more real everything seems. I think his turning point was definitely the 4D ultrasound and getting to see our sweet boy's face :)

After the class, we decided to take a shopping trip to Bass Pro. For the last week or so, we had been trying out using our top 3 baby names to see if any of them clicked. Well, we only did this with one name actually! When we arrived at Bass Pro, I asked Corey if he wanted to try out one of the other names for the day. He said not really, that he thought the other name was it. We just kind of dropped the conversation for the time being.

That evening, we went to Applebee's for dinner. Again, I asked Corey about using one of the other names, and he said he just felt like we had already named him. Surprisingly, we both agreed that we had finally picked his name without any arguing or compromising.

So....drumroll please....we are naming our son Colten Thomas Burns! Corey wanted a "C" name like him and we originally thought about using his middle name Allen because Corey liked the idea of him having the same initials. I really liked how Thomas sounde with Colten, and we both think he will be a lot like my dad (whose name is Thomas) so we felt like that fit better. Colten was just a name we both really liked.

We announced to my parents and sister the next day at lunch what his name would be, and then Corey called his family that evening to let them know. It feels great to finally have a name for the little guy constantly moving around inside of me!

4D Ultrasound

Corey and I had a great July 4th weekend. On Saturday the 3rd, our families joined us at Special Delivery Prenatal Imaging for our 3D/4D Ultrasound. Baby Burns cooperated and showed us his sweet face! He still likes his hands by his face but after jiggling my belly around we got him to move them. It was funny to watch him would I would jiggle my belly because he would grin. He likes to suck on his hands and his thumb and even opened his eyes once for us. We also double checked to make sure he was still a boy - and yes he is! That night, we had a cookout at my Grandmothers house for a bunch of family birthdays. My cousin Laura and her husband Brad were in town with their baby boy Camden. He is just a month old and so sweet! Our cousin Wendy, who is 3 weeks behind me in her pregnancy with a girl, was also there with her husband. It was great to spend time with our family. My mom even found some pictures of me right after I was born, and looks like our little boy has my nose and mouth. We will have to wait and see whether or not it stays that way!

Cysts are gone!

Things have been pretty busy lately so sorry for the lack of updates! Corey and I had our follow up ultrasound on June 28. When we arrived I drank the cherry flavored glucola mix for the 1 hr diabetes test and then went in for the U/S. Praise God that our baby's cysts had completely gone away on their own! Next I went back to the lab for the blood draw after letting the glucola sit for an hour and also had my antibodies tested again. Afterwards we had our check up and everything was normal. I had to go back 2 days later for my Rhogam shot since I am A-. I am assuming that my glucose test was normal since I was never called back to come back in.

Holy Baby Bump!

The bump at 27 weeks 3 days

This picture makes me feel huge! :) 3 days shy of 7 months prego in this pic

This weekend starts my baby showers...I am really excited :) Saturday evening, my boss is having a couple's shower/BBQ at her house for Corey and I and all of my co-workers. Sunday afternoon, Corey's family is throwing me a shower at his cousin Denise's beach house.

I am really excited to see everyone now that my bump is really showing. I am really glad we got the nursery setup so I have an empty room to start organizing and storing everything as we receive it.

Monday, we go back to the Dr. for my 28 week/7th month checkup. I will have to take the 1 hour glucose tolerance test while I am there and we are also having our follow up ultrasound done to see if the cysts that were in our baby's brain have dissolved (keep the prayers coming!).

I will keep everyone posted as to how our appt goes.

Love to all :)

Beginning of the nursery

Corey starting on the changing table

Izzie wants to help with her Bubba's room :)

Corey's dad measuring for the chair rail. Before view of room from door Another before view

Another before view

Corey found this wall hanging he made when he was little. He may repaint it, but either way we are going to put in the nursery.

Changing table

Corey helping put up the chair rail

Corey and his dad working on the crib

Corey working on the drawers for the dresser

Finished crib...we haven't decided on the room setup yet so the furniture isn't where it will be permanently

Finished dresser...missing middle drawer knobs

Finished changing table.

I am exhausted! Today we worked all day on getting the nursery and spare bedroom organized and setup. While Corey and his dad put up a chair rail and put the furniture together, I boxed and organized items for our attic and took a huge pile of stuff to good will. We donated some furniture to a needy family and finally got the spare room cleaned out so its not just a junk room anymore. Still needs some final touches and cleaning but is much better.

Corey and his dad worked really hard in Baby Burns room. The chair rail and furniture turned out great. We still have to decide how we want everything arranged in the room. Corey is also going to do some touch up painting tomorrow. I am just glad the room is in much better shape for me to start piling baby stuff in it as it arrives. I need to wash the bedding and put it in the crib, hang the curtains, add stuff to the walls, etc. At least the big items are done, so I can take my time with the little stuff.

I am still fighting off this cold or sinus problems I've had this week. My congestion is moving into my chest so its been a rough few nights with little sleep due to not being able to breathe and coughing. Hopefully I will feel better in the next few days.

Looking forward to Father's Day tomorrow :)

26 weeks and down and out with a cold!

Hit the 26 week mark on Monday. I had some pretty bad reflux going on Monday, kept feeling like my food was coming back up. That night my throat was a little dry and then BOOM all night I kept waking up feeling like I was coming down with Strep throat :( I normally would have just waited it out a couple of days, but figured I should head to the dr since I'm prego and had a busy work week ahead of me. Thankfully, the strep test came back negative, but unfortunately being prego that means having to just tough it out! I am glad I didn't have to risk taking antibiotics but it sucks not even being able to take cold medicine or dayquil. I am sticking with my allergy pill and picked up some cough drops to keep my throat numb.

I have been used to the stuffiness as apparently thats just part of being prego, but I just have had a bad scratchy throat and it hurts to swallow. I've been living off of Chick Fil A's chicken soup for a couple of days now. Today you can actually hear that I'm sick as apparently I have some draining going on. It must be in my throat or getting into my chest as I have been coughing a bit today. Last night was rough as I kept trying to prop myself up so I could breathe but then my neck would start hurting. Thankfully Vapo Rub is working for the most part.

This past weekend Corey and I discovered that Baby Burns kicks and punches can now be seen. I was laying on the couch and Corey and I were laughing as my belly looked like it was dancing at times. Even if I am not looking I can feel my belly moving, and the kicks don't feel so "internal". He must be getting big and strong now :) I am definitely feeling him a lot more throughout the whole day now, instead of just when I am laying down at night. Corey's mom got to see the show in my belly too on Sunday so I am glad other people can now enjoy his movements. Corey still hasn't been able to feel him, but thats only because he is either to slow to come over to feel or Baby Burns gets shy as soon as anyone besides me touches my belly!

We go back for my next dr appt on the 28th and then we have our 3d/4d ultrasound on July 3rd. My 7th month/3rd trimester starts next week - craziness! Hard to believe that on June 20th we will only have 3 more months till our little one will be here :) We still haven't decided on a name but have definitely narrowed it down. We figure if nothing else, once we see the 4d ultrasound and can see his face that might help us out.

Corey and his dad are going to be working on the nursery this weekend. They will be touching up the paint on the walls, and trim, and adding a white chair rail to the room. They will also be setting up all of the furniture. I will be working on organizing our other spare room and taking things to goodwill or boxing things up to go in the attic. I am glad the nursery will finally be setup as we have our first 2 showers next weekend and will soon be bringing home baby stuff and will need a place to put it! I am looking forward to getting the clothes hung up and put away in the drawers and getting the crib bedding on and decorations up.

I am definitely feeling that my 2nd trimester is coming to an end. I am starting to get some lower back achiness and my feet start hurting by the end of the day. Thankfully no swelling yet! I can also feel that my energy level is backing off some. I think a lot of it has to do with the heat too. I am already missing my nightly walks with Izzie but the heat and humidity have made it too hard to get a good walk in without me getting really out of breath and even sometimes sick once I get back home. I am hoping I will have the motivation to start doing my prenatal yoga dvd at home and I have been trying to get some walking done inside places with AC...but most of the time I am window shopping too much to get any real exercise!

This past Saturday my mom and I went to Florence. Mom bought us a crib mattress from Target so that's one less thing we have to get. We had a great time looking at baby stuff and I was really proud of myself for not spending any money on anything all day :) Mom also got me a really cute cotton sundress that I will probably end up wearing to one of my showers.

Wells thats all for now. I will try to take some more belly pics soon and post photos from our next ultrasound and showers.

Thank you for all of the continued prayers and support. Love to all!

Registry is done and Shopping in Charlotte

I bought this outfit on Mothers Day at Target. It says "Mommy's Snugglesaurus" on it. I thought it was really cute especially since I call our Izzie my "Snuggle Bug"

Mom and I picked these up in Atlanta a few weeks ago. I love the how the socks look like dinosaur feet :)

Two outfits courtesy of Corey's cousin and her family...thank you Denise!

Found these on sale this weekend in Charlotte. I got the first outfit for only $3. Had to buy the Pink Floyd onesie since that is one of Corey's favorite bands. Last were some newborn shirts I found which I thought would come in handy in the beginning when we basically have him in shirts, diapers and socks.

Polo onesies and shirts we found on sale for about $7-10 each. Much better than the normal $27-30 price tag. Corey loves Polo shirts, so now our baby boy can match his Daddy!

This past weekend, I went to Charlotte with my sister Tina and my Mom. It was race weekend so it was pretty busy but we had a great time. We stayed in the Concord Mills area which was really convenient for finishing my baby registry at Babies R Us which was 1/2 mile from out hotel. We drove up Friday night (through bad thunderstorms!) and stopped at the Southpark mall to shop at Pottery Barn Kids and Belk. We finally made it to our hotel around 11pm and crashed. Saturday morning after breakfast we got started on our shopping around 9:30 am. We started at the Super Target (my dream is that we will one day have one!). After an early lunch we went to the Babies R Us to finish my baby registry. It took us about 2 hours to go through the store and pick out everything from bottles, carseat, stroller, diaper bag, crib sheets, bassinet, etc etc etc! After Babies R Us we headed to the IKEA. At this point my feet were starting to hurt, so my sweet sister offered to push me around in a wheelchair...this was quite fun actually! I am glad she did since we went on to do more shopping at Northlake mall and Concord Mills afterwards. Not sure I would have made it without that rest off my feet!

As you can see from the pics above we got some cute baby outfits. I am really looking forward to Corey and his Dad getting the nursery ready so I can get everything organized for our baby boy!

Love, Ashley, Corey, Baby Burns and Izzie