surprise!

so last thursday, march 13, i was planning to go out to lunch with some women from work...two of them were being laid off, and we were going to have a going-away lunch for them. they are a group of five, very close women...and have worked together for 10 years. they're not just friends at work, they spend a great deal of time together outside of work, and are the best of friends. i have been blessed enough to spend the last several months getting to know them, and as close as they all are, they have been nothing but inclusive with me. they're all just great, and two of them being laid off is really crappy. so we were going to a luncheon for them, but because they're all so close, they really didn't want a lot of people there...just kind of wanted to be alone and not have to deal with all the standard speeches, etc. but they invited me to come along.

so on thursday we headed out for the olive garden. i rode with teresa and carrie and we were meeting the others there. when we walked in, i was surprised to see a few other women there...surprised because i though they wanted to keep it small. then as we approached the table, i saw balloons and pink decorations. they totally surprised me. they had planned a baby shower!

besides teresa, carrie, tina and tracie, other co-workers natalie, beverly, hilary and lynn were there. two women couldn't make it, sue and pam. i was so shocked. they had gotten a yummy cake from "taste of elegance"...they made me open gifts before lunch arrived :) some of them got me individual gifts...board books, baby wipes, picture frames, some items from our registry, etc...and then they gave us a gift card with an insane amount of money on it. i was shocked. apparently they had tried to buy our co-sleeper and stroller, but both were troublesome purchases for one reason or another, so the gift card was meant to cover those if we still needed them. like i said, i was shocked. i never imagined anything so generous.

so we had a nice time chatting and talking about babies...and of course, they tried to get me to tell them the baby's name :) it's rare that someone plans a surprise for me, and although i was a bit embarrassed and overwhelmed at first, i loved every minute of it. it was perfect.

so here are a couple pictures from my surprise shower from my lovely co-workers... :)

more pics and too small/too big.

so we got the rest of the pics back today and there are some really great ones! i've been color-correcting them tonight and thought i'd share a few more.

also, this baby has officially run out of room. she is too big. my belly is too small. too big baby and too small belly do not work well together. and i can't hardly sit down unless i'm leaning backwards, otherwise she gets ticked and starts to shove her limbs out in all directions to make room. she's been doing that a week or so, but holy cow, today it HURT. girl needs to learn that if she's not happy with her current lodgings, she's the only one who can do something about it. come out if you don't like it in there!!! well, wait 3.5 more weeks, then COME OUT!

more on the belly...

we had a photographer friend over today to take some pregnant shots of derek and i...this is a preview...we'll probably post a few more once we get them all back...

bytheway...today is 33 weeks...which means she will be full term in only 4 short weeks. it's getting tangibly close. and the always-overjoyed-excited derek has become the allofasudden-alittlefreakedout derek...there's a lot going on, and though he still can't wait for her to be born, he's starting to get a little nervous :)

the great belly betrayal.

it all started several months ago...little by little, day by day...quite slowly, so as not to alarm me. it was poised for a sneak attack. the first thing it took was my nether regions. and since that first successful campaign, it's been trying to take my feet. it is a constant battle, but the belly hasn't quite won yet.

then a couple weeks ago while drying my hair, i saw it: a bold purple line, about an inch in length. i looked down, but couldn't see anything...the belly was hiding it just below the crest that peaks barely above my belly button. i had to enlist derek's help... "what's this?" i asked...after some hesitation, he responded "uh, i think it's a ... a ... stretch mark."

my belly thinks it's soooooo smart...waiting all this time to start sprouting them...making me think there won't even be any stretch marks...then it's all sneaky, only stretching below the line where i can't see. hm. well, belly, you got me this time. but there will come a day when you will be deflated back to your normal size, and who'll be laughing then???? that's what i thought.

it's good to be home.

derek and i had a wonderful weekend in illinois, celebrating his birthday as well as the impending birth of our little baby girl...my mom came with us and spent the weekend there as well...it's always so nice when we get both of our families together.

the shower was so nice...very laid back and casual...there were a few more than 20 people there, half from derek's mom's side and half from his dad's side...derek's cousin regina, who has a small cake business out of her home, made a beautiful (and absolutely delicious) cake for the occasion:



everyone went around and introduced themselves, and we nibbled on cake, fruit slush and homemade snack mix...we were blessed to receive all sorts of gifts, from homemade blankets and quilts to baby clothes, toys and supplies.

then we headed back to derek's parents' house and had a birthday dinner for derek...derek's mom made a childhood favorite of his -- beef stroganoff -- and a, from all reports, decadent and moist carrot cake (i'm not a carrot cake fan, so i can't say for sure, but it sure looked yummy)...

after dinner a few of the girl cousins went to teresa's for a spa night...there were 6 of us altogether, and we just spent a few hours chatting and soaking our feet...it was really nice to have a chance to get to know some of the cousins (on both sides of the family) better.

we headed home on sunday after church, brunch and a short nap...derek and i went to bed around 10, but the night wasn't over. i woke up around 11.30, pretty violently ill...about 12.30, derek called the doctor and made a pharmacy run for some anti-nausea meds...which seemed to help, but didn't actually. sometime after 5.30 am, he called back to say i hadn't improved, and the doctor asked him to bring me in to the labor and delivery ward to be admitted...

by the time we got there, i was incredibly weak and felt pretty awful...too sick to even complain about how sick i felt. derek did most of the talking when we checked in, and they wheeled me up to the triage unit to be observed and admitted. they put me on a fetal monitor to check the baby's heart rate, and shortly thereafter put me on an IV per my doctor's instructions...i was very dehydrated...they administered an intravenous anti-nausea medication and continued to monitor the baby.

there was an obvious improvement of the baby shortly after the IV fluids were started, and they admitted me. derek went home to get something to eat and pick up some things at home to work on at the hospital. things improved slowly over the course of the day yesterday, but i was still having a lot of abdominal cramping and just could not get comfortable in the bed. i dozed, but really couldn't get much rest, much like the previous night. derek stayed the night in the room with me, and we went to sleep around 10.30...i slept well, only waking when the nurse came in every couple hours. around 4 when i got up to use the restroom, i noticed i felt much stronger than i had the night before...and all the cramping was gone...it's amaing to me how much better i felt this morning than yesterday...it's amazing what 3-4 litres of saline will do...

i was released from the hospital around 2 o-clock and now i'm home resting...soooo, that was an unexpected detour this week. but by all accounts, the baby is doing just fine and i am on the mend. at least we had a chance to practice our route to the hospital, right? :)