36 1/2 week check up, 2/16/09

We had a good check up yesterday. According to Dr. Gilliam, we are "ahead of the game." We have made significant progress in the last week! The baby has dropped, he is at -1 station. I have thinned 80% and dilated 1cm. We gained 1 lb this week, total 27 lbs. We listened to Braydn's heart beat again, and Dr. G said it sounded great! My blood pressure was 100/60. Everything checked out good and we go back in one week. Since the appt, I have continued to have frequent contractions with a little more intensity at times. For whatever reason, they come more frequently at night, when I'm trying to sleep. :) So, I didn't get much rest last night. Overall I still feel really good, especially to be this far along.

Bear and I had maturnity pictures made yesterday. That was fun! Ame even joined in on the fun at the end! It was interesting!

We will keep you guys posted. Home computer is still sick, so I can't post pictures yet, but hopefully this week I can. Thanks for checking in!

Lab Results, 2/12/09

Dr. Gilliam's office called yesterday afternoon with my lab results from the last visit. The group B strep test was negative, which means no antibiotics are required during labor. No signs of anemia or low platelet count in the results, more good news! Also, the results did show an elevation in white blood cell count, which indicates infection. Since I've been battling this nasty cold for the last week, they believe I have a sinus infection. So, now we are on antibiotics and nasal spray to clear this up. Our next checkup is Monday, 2/16/09, at 11:00 am. Thanks for checking in!

Baby Tea, Sunday, 2/8/09

I just want to say a special thank you to everyone who came out to see us on Sunday. We had such a great time and got so many wonderful gifts! Braydn is going to be such a spoiled little boy, I know that already! :) You guys are great! Also, thank you, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, to Lynsy, Leslie, Aunt Janie, and Aunt Donna, for putting this special day together for us. You guys did such a great job! We love you! I will post pictures soon from the tea. Our home computer is still sick. So, I'll get to it this weekend, maybe. Take care and we will talk to you all soon!

Check Up, 2/10/09

We had a check up with Dr. Gilliam yesterday afternoon. As you know, we are 35 weeks and 5 days, TODAY! The appt went well, my blood pressure was good at 110/60. We listened to Braydn's heart beat on the doppler and it sounded GREAT, Dr. Gilliam said. We actually had no weight gain this time, surprisingly, so still holding at 26lbs. She did the group B strep test on me, which is standard procedure at 35 weeks for a vaginal delivery. We also had blood work yesterday to check my iron levels and such before delivery. And finally, she said after Friday that I can stop taking the generic Brethine (that slows my contractions down)! She said at that point when I go, I GO! Wow! Can you believe it could be that close? I am so excited, but at the same time, I don't want him to come too early and have trouble with his lungs. So, please keep us in your prayers that he will be born happy and healthy! Thank you! We will update you guys again soon! Love, The Whitlock's

Baby Shower at Athens High School, 2/4/09

Look at all the wonderful gifts we got at the Diaper & Wipes Shower that AHS gave us!!! Isn't it great! We are so blessed to have so many great and helpful people in our lives! Thanks to all of you guys, you are great!

34-35 week pictures

Here are Mommie and Ame at 35 weeks.

Braydn at 34 1/2 weeks.

Here are the pictures you have been waiting on. In the ultrasound, they cannot focus on 2 different dimensions at the same time, so his little hand looks funny in a couple of these. It is not deformed! It is just distorted in some of the pictures. We have checked them out, believe me! ha

He kept puckering his lips in the u/s. It was so cute.

34 week checkup, 2/2/09

Hello, hope you all are doing well. We had a check up yesterday and during the visit they hooked us up to the fetal/contractions monitor. I had been having some pain in my right side, so they wanted to give it a thorough check. The monitor did show some good contractions, so they decided to check my cervix. Everything was fine, but since I've been having so many contractions, they put us on a low dose of generic brethine to slow them down. We don't want him coming too early, although we are very anxious to meet him! They also did an ultrasound. He measured exactly 5 pounds!!! Also, my blood pressure was good, 110/72, gained 1 pound since last visit (2 weeks ago), total so far is 26 pounds. My fluid is 12 1/2 cm which is good (this is the amniotic fluid around Braydn). At 28 weeks it was 10 cm, so it has actually increased, so this is good. It means he is drinking the fluid and passing it through his little body. It is a good sign that his kidneys are functioning well. So we are all doing well. I'll try posting some of the ultrasound pictures from yesterday very soon. We are having computer problems at home, so I'll get to it as soon as I can. Thanks for checking in and keep us all in your prayers as we near the BIG day!

01/18/2009, Baby Shower at Jackie's House

Where Braydn will sleep his first few months.... This will be in Mommie and Daddy's room.

My sister had a baby shower for us at her house on Sunday, Jan 18th. Braydn got so many cool things!!! We had a great time and I'm so thankful for all the nice gifts that were given to us. Bear, Braydn, and I, will get lots of good use of these items and we really appreciate all the help! I will post some more pictures from the shower soon. Here are a couple, showing some of the goodies that we received.

1/19/2008, 32 week check up

This is a shot of the crib with the bedding that we got for him.

Here we are, the proud parents-to-be, at 32 1/2 weeks!

We had to include Ame, can't forget about her...she seems to be REAL excited, too! :)

So, today we went for our check up with Dr. Gilliam. It was really an uneventful appointment. We listened to Braydn's heart beat, which sounded great. Dr. Gilliam mashed my tummy to try to figure out his position, and she believes he is headed in the downward position. My blood pressure was good, 112/64. Weight gain is HEALTHY at 4 more pounds since last visit. So we are at a total of 25 lbs. I didn't realize how much bigger we had gotten until I looked at the above photos myself. We have come quite a long way!!!

Thanks for checking in. Our next appointment will be February 2nd. That will be our 34 week visit and then at 36 weeks, we will have another ultrasound to confirm his position.

OH, one more thing. Dr. G says that if we make it 3 more weeks, we are in the clear and she will not stop labor. She said at 35-36 weeks the baby should be fine. She said they won't help me along at that point, but they also won't stop it........

32 weeks, prenatal classes begin...

We started our prenatal classes last night at Parkway Medical Center. As it turns out, one of my good friends, Misty Coker is the instructor. Misty is an RN on the Labor & Delivery floor. So, I think it's great that she will hopefully get to be our nurse! She did a great job last night. We just covered a lot of the basics about the stages of labor and answered lots of questions/concerns that we all had. We will continue the classes over the next 3 Thursday nights. Also, we did have a check-up on January 5th that I never posted on. Everything was fine, we listened to Braydn's heartbeat, still great! Also, checked weight gain, blood pressure, urine, etc. All the usual. Everything is still going well! As of that day, we were up to 21 lbs total weight gain. Our next appointment will be Monday, January 19th. We are currently going for check-ups every 2 weeks. I will post again after our appt Monday to let you all know how things are going. Thanks for checking in and TGIF!!!