Clay's Arrival, Part 2

the night before our 1st appointment was nerve racking! i couldn't sleep and didn't feel good at all.... so many weird and new thoughts raced through my head. i was excited yet so scared.

the appointment was at 8:45AM and 30 minutes away, I got up at 5 and took a shower, straightened my hair and it was 6:30AM then.... i have done this same routine for so many different occasions; get up WAY too early go through the motions and then sit and WAIT to leave... so there I was and it was nearly 2 hours away for when we needed to leave... so i woke up Dennis who was obviously sleeping better than i had. and I had him get up and..... wait with me lol. I was too awake to be grumpy but i remember thinking this is the beginning.I got impatient and we ended up leaving my apartment around 7:45 and we went through McDonalds and got Dennis some breakfast... i didn't eat because of being so sick to my stomach (i think it was more nerves because I never had morning sickness or any kind till the end)

we didn't speak the entire way there, I think dennis could sense my mood and played it safe (I'm thankful for that because I was on the edge of alot of emotions) we got to the appointment and i felt alittle better, it was a familiar place because I had been going there for my womanly checkups, so that helped. we got there 20minutes early and go called in right away(i remembered that, and from then on I scheduled early appointments and never had to wait too long)
the nurse was so warm and friendly and basically asked alot of questions about me, family, and dennis, and his close family. It was alittle overwhelming but it definently made me start thinking more of the baby's health than who he'd look like or if he'd have my eyes. It was a long appointment and I received alot of information and freebies and just loads of stuff. They took my blood and weighed me as well.. the first of many times to come.

we left the appointment with alot to talk about! the entire day we talked about things that were mentioned earlier... and if i remember correctly we skipped our classes for the day and ate at Applebee's! :)

one of the next appointments we heard the heartbeat and we both teared up. i just layed there and smiled and cried. it was so fast and i remember thinking this little baby is going to be so fun. we had our ultrasound the next appointment.... and that was another happy cry :) this was also the day that we got our official due date... October 19th.... and boy did that feel like an eternity away, I had no idea what the next months were going to bring..

I was still obviously in classes, it was my last semester, and all of my classmates knew at this time. So most of my classtime was spent talking with my close friends about the baby and my future plans... it seems like me getting pregnant brought some of us closer.... The 1st week of May was finals week... I breezed through it and graduated that Saturday. It was a crazy hectic day. Dennis was in Kansas for track conference but his fam made it down! I had bought a white pencil skirt and a frilly little top and CUTE heels to wear, during the graduation ceremony I had to reach in through my gown and unzip my skirt alittle (it had too zippers on the front) it was too snug, I was hot, and was sitting at a weird angle. The day was very memorable...and I remember thinking to myself one day I'm going to tell the baby all about when I walked across the stage carrying him.

I graduated on that Saturday and started working on that Monday....

and in June we moved to Kansas City, FINALLY!

the move went well..... and it was so nice to finally have our own place, the place where we would bring our little baby home too.

June was spent putting our apartment together and settling into our jobs. In the middle of the month I surprised Dennis for his birthday and took him to an airshow in Iowa. I look back at it now, and think HOW did i do it. it was scorching hot and not reasonable to do when you're with child. but I did it and he'll never forget that birthday! This month was also when i felt the first kicks... and boy he didn't stop! Any music or loud sound he would start and would not stop. I remember working one day and thought what is this baby doing.... well he figured out how to completely turn, so that day I felt like i was on a rollarcoaster and my stomach churned all day. I knew from then on that he was gonna be active (and I was right.... more on that later :)) June was also the month I accepted a different postion at a different store. This was also the first big month of cravings... and to be honest we could not keep enough FRUIT in our house. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that i was eating almost 4 cans of fruit plus grapes or watermelon every day. Dennis wore himself going to the nearest Price Chopper. The other thing that I consumed in large amounts was MILK. On average we were doing 2 gallons a week, and Dennis doesn't drink it. I'm so thankful I had sort of healthy cravings.. By the end of this month i FINALLY had a bump. I serioulsy believe my co-workers and boss didn't believe I was pregnant and alot of not so close friends didn't believe I was either...or so I heard. :) June was also the month I started my "night routine", you all will eventually realize that I do almost everything in a routine... well until I had Clay, but anyWHO my routine was where every night when I got out of the shower or bath, I would lotion up from head to toe with this great Cocoa Butter lotion... i was determined to take care of my skin while he changed... and I'm pretty proud of myself for doing that everytime.. even when I was so exhausted and Dennis had to help me. LOL After doing all of that, take my vitamins and get settled into bed. I swear I couldn't take any other medication daily at the same time everyday, but by golly I took my prenatal vitamins every night!

July was a fun month.... 4th we celebrated with his fam that came down and then went to Westport to watch the fireworks... they were stunnning. We also had our 2nd routine ultra-sound... boy had HE had grown... and kicked and rolled the entire time. We were able to copy the ultrasound on a DVD... I'll show Clay one day. This month my belly grew alittle more, just enough to make regular shirts short :)

August I remember being a hectic month, Dennis was starting his last semester and I was in full fledge nesting and sorting through potential names! We both could agree on what kinds of names we liked, but couldn't decide on one. I'm so thankful we went with the name we did... i love family names :)

from the beginning the appointments, weight gain, blood pressure, protein, and blood were nearly perfect.... until mid August when I was about 31 weeks along. Then things started changing...