Keep your phones handy!

Just got back from my 40wks dr. appt, and he said he doesn't expect me to last through the next day or two! Then he looked out the window, noted the overcast skies, and said, "Looks like the storms are coming through tonight; I'll probably see you tonight!"

Little Miss Mauck is almost here!!

Not in labor yet!

More soon, as I have a dr. appt tomorrow!

Time to get busy!

Okay, no more excuses. Time to go through this stuff!

The lull does NOT mean I'm in labor...yet!

Sorry this is a post with no pics...my goofy preggo-brain has caused me to misplace my camera, so I have no pics from the unbelievable shower yesterday. You know at Christmas, where it takes like ten minutes to unwrap what seemed like a mountain of gifts? Well, Little Bell is already spoiled, because her mama was unwrapping gifts for two solid hours yesterday! I mean, no cake and very little punch or visiting, just unwrapping! There was something like 60 people there, and probably 10 or 15 gifts from people who couldn't come. So now my baby is completely outfitted, and my beautiful nursery is 75% covered in gift bags, baskets, and boxes. Yikes! I've been working on my 10-page Psych paper that was due today, so I haven't been able to do much except gape at the wealth of onesies, sunsuits, and diapers.

Thanks so much to the people who traveled for the shower, including sis-in-laws Audrey and Jennifer, niece Abby, and of course their men, cousin Cristy, and Amanda, who also worked like a dog for those two hours writing down all the gifts and their givers. It was so great to have you all there, even if I didn't get to visit with you during the shower at all!

Doctor's appointment yesterday: No dilation yet. He says it could be a while, or I could dilate really fast and go into labor anyday. Weight gain staying steady at about 30lbs.

Pics are pending my bro e-mailing the ones my sister took on my mom's camera.

Last ultrasound!

My last ultrasound was yesterday, to check Little Bell's position, size, and vitals. She's in a good position, with her head down in my lower abdomen, and she weighs between 6.5 and 8.5 lbs. The machine said 7.5lbs, but that's give or take a pound, which is a pretty big difference, labor-wise!

Last day at work! Yippee!

38wks dr. appt

No, I'm not in labor yet, everyone! People keep acting surprised to see me still moving around and going about my business. What else am I supposed to do? I already anticipate a long week of baby prep activities/resting next week! That's right, Friday is my last day at work for six wonderful weeks of maternity leave!

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and everything was good and normal, except for I'm now tipping the scales at 160!! That's about a 33lb gain, which is still normal, but that number is just a little too close to Jay's weight for me! Sleep is really difficult at this point, and my first-trimester fatigue is back with a vengeance. Good thing I've got so many TV shows to watch, so that I can get all my relaxing in (Dancing with the Stars, LOST, America's Next Top Model, The Office, Survivor!).

I have an ultrasound Thursday to check Little Bell's position and weight. I talked to the doc about pain medication options yesterday: IV drugs, epidural, walking epidural. My plan as of now is to just go in and see how I handle contractions without drugs, and make the decision whether or not to get the walking epidural by the time I'm dilated to a 6. After that, it could be too late.

My search for a teaching job for this fall continues--I was really hoping to have one secured before I have the baby, so it's not a source of stress for me during the first months of her life. I've sent resume packets to 12 schools, had one interview, been to a job fair, and talked to three more administrators on the phone or in person after I heard they had openings. Still nothing! I tell you, it's frustrating to get so much praise from professors and employers and be assured by them and by administrators that I'm sure to get a job, but not have one! Ah well, many schools wait to make these decisions until after the school year is over. At least I won't have to rely on my maternity interview suit anymore!

Jay is staying busy playing on dozers, burning worksite trash, and playing pool with customers. What a life! No, these are just his highlights that I hear about. He and his partner Preston are also considering marketing a trash-compacting trailer Preston invented for their trash business, exploring restaurant ideas as another business possibility, finishing up a custom home, and moving forward on the big development in Ardmore. There are stories on the news about every week about Ardmore's rapid commercial and population growth and/or housing shortage, so I'm looking forward to that development--Lost Creek--turning some profits!

Nursery pics!

Okay, so this room is still a work in progress, but we got so much done on it this weekend that I couldn't wait to show it off! This first pic is what you see from the doorway: the green toile valance was made by my wonderful mother-in-law. The second pic is of course the crib, with one of my favorite things in the room, the canopy! I always wanted one as a little girl, so now I'm letting my little girl start out with a beautiful one with rosebuds. (Jay says he's going to drill an extra screw or two through the metal to make sure this thing that will be above our sleeping baby's head is secure.) The next pic is of our glider, currently without cushions and an ottoman, as they are being covered with beautiful Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic fabric and pink chenille. I can't wait! I'm really proud of the framed pics to the left of the chair; they're vintage prints of little girls playing that my Mom had hanging in mine and my sister's room when we were little. The next pic is of our changing table, which, along with the crib, came from my brother Tyler's nursery. We added the pink knobs. I did the paint job with stencils. I painted the flowers and vines in two other spots in the room, too. The changing table is also missing a cover, which I'm also waiting on (They're on our Target registry, hint hint!). I had to get my dollhouse bookcase in the pics, too, so that's what's in the last pic, even though the wall above it is not done yet, and the bookcase is not quite arranged the way I want it--but isn't it cute? Mom got it for me from Target. Once we give Little Bell a name (our new nickname for her, as Jay and my brother Kyle like to call me Big Bell, short for Big Belly), I'll also add these vintage wallpaper letters from Land of Nod. I'm also planning on doing a fabric-covered bulletin board once I have the leftover fabric from the chair project, and maybe also doing some sort of arrangement with these flower wall cards, also from Land of Nod. PLUS I've got a hand-painted quilt rack a lady at our church made for us, but it's waiting on a quilt.

Yay for nesting energy! If only that would carry over to this Psych paper I have to write...

New name poll

We're narrowing down our to-the-hospital name list, and the new poll shows about where we are with that. I'm pretty much set on waiting until we've seen our baby girl until we name her, but we're still testing out names on my belly all the time. Jay likes to call her by a name with his hand on my belly to see how she responds.

Hope everyone had a great Easter! Jay and I did--we spent Saturday at my Nana and Grandad's house, eating, hiding eggs, shooting hoops, playing Boggle, and visiting. I posted the recipe for the Paula Deen banana pudding I brought over on my cooking blog.

I'll be full-term this week--37 weeks--which means it's basically okay for me to go into labor anytime!

Baby shower pics!

Consider the first pic my 36wks belly shot. Yes, I've gotten to the point where I can no longer pull off those cute little tummy-hugging tops--rocking the belly is not something I want to do anymore, so I'm into strictly empire waists, baby-doll dreses as tops, etc.

The second pic is of me and Ty and the lovely shower the ladies at my work had for me yesterday, complete with an adorable cake by the lady who did our wedding cake, and Paula Deen sherbet punch! Yum!

I had my 36wks dr. appt yesterday, and the news is no news: Her heartbeat was normal and healthy, and I'm not dilated or effaced at all, but the doc still said to just be ready, because the baby could decide to come any time, really. Not based on physical signs I don't think; just how far along I am. Yikes! Better pack my hospital bag! I have not yet felt any Braxton-Hicks contractions, but I think I might have dropped, because I can eat full meals again without getting killer heartburn! Whoop! After you drop, they say it's usually two to four weeks for first-time moms. But I really need to last until April 24, so the church shower will be over and I'll be stocked up on diapers and onesies, and my dad will be back from his business trip. Just stay in there for three more weeks, Little Miss Mauck, you can do it!

Bad poster, I know!

Well, I figured most of my thoughts for a post would be baby-related, and I would just wait until I had another pic of me and my big, nine-month belly to post with it, but I still don't have that picture, so I'll go ahead and post.

Last Thursday was my 25th b-day, which was great. Jay got me a pink suede baby scrapbook, which I asked for, and a really neat set of Christian baby girl embellishments and paper, plus lots of other cute accessories and papers he picked out all by himself at this cute scrapbook store in Madill. I was very pleased. Then Paul and Diane had us over for dinner, and we had a fabulous meal of fried croppy and mushrooms, meatloaf (one of my fave foods that J doesn't like), asparagus, and homemade New York Cheesecake! Yum!

Jay and I went to eat at Chili's Friday, and the hostess actually asked me if I could fit in a booth! My sister lovingly reminded me that people wouldn't make comments like this if they didn't think either a) I can handle them, or b) they didn't think I looked fat, just big. But, I can't help but keep a tally on the number of times I get comments like:

• "Are you having twins?" 3
• "I just don't know if you'll last X more weeks." 112 (give or take)

etc.

My first baby shower was yesterday--a small one the ladies at my work had for me. It was lovely, and I'll post pics soon. I forgot my camera, so I'm having to wait on someone else to e-mail me pics.

NAME UPDATE: You might notice I took down my name poll temporarily; I believe it was getting skewed by a certain computer-savvy young woman who was successfully voting multiple times from the same computer by changing her IP address. Tsk, tsk, Christy Flowers! So her pick, Susannah, was pulling away from the pack, with Ava coming in next, then Caroline, and then Eliza, with a lone supporter. And no, we haven't chosen one of these names...yet.

Truly, I think everyone we know is more stressed about us picking a name than we are. Yes, we have considered and thrown out A LOT of names, but we think we'll know the right name soon enough, which might not be until after the baby is born. So, those of you just itching to get us adorable personalized or monogrammed baby items, you might have to save those wonderful things for after Little Miss Mauck comes home from the hospital with the perfect name. I'll probably redo a poll in the next day or two with our current faves.

My weekend was mostly spent immersed in baby-preparation activities: arranging the nursery furniture the way I want it (still no pics, because I'm waiting on a couple more pieces before decorating the walls and such), and reading up on labor and delivery and pain relief options, according to Dr. and Mrs. Sears, What to Expect When You're Expecting, and The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy. Jay is in a fishing frenzy--it's that time of year! When he's at home, it's Bassmasters on TV, and when he's gone he's either working or on a lake somewhere.