Baby belly pics....finally

So I finally uploaded some of the belly pics I've taken over the course of the pregnancy and took a recent one, so my family can see what I look like now with my big belly as requested. Enjoy!

15 weeks

24 weeks

31 weeks

31 weeks

36 weeks

First exam

So I had my first exam at my 36 week appointment this week...I was very excited for this, for the possibility of having made some progress, and the fact that it means we are really in the home stretch! I hadn't dilated at all, still closed shut, and the dr said I'd probably be pregnant for at least another 3 weeks, which I was actually glad to hear because I really don't want him to come too early. He said I had started to thin out, about 50%, so I guess that's something.
When I had an exam in the very beginning of the pregnancy, around 12 weeks, the doctor told me that I had a "tight" bone, and that at 36 weeks they would check me to see if it had stretched at all. Well apparently it stretched because this time the doctor said my pelvic bones were normal and I have just as good a chance as the average person for him to fit through there...that was good to hear. I also asked him if he could tell how big he was, and he said he was probably just under 6 pounds now, and would probably be 7 pounds and change when he's born....of course he said not to hold him to that because it's obviously not that easy to tell, but that was his educated guess.
Emmory's nursery is really coming along, it's all painted and all the funiture is up and in its place. I've started washing his clothes and other misc. items and organizing them, and I still have to finish that up and then get the finishing decorative touches up. I'll definitely post pictures when it's all done...it feels so good to know how close that is to being done. I'm also going to be getting my hospital bag ready, Mark wants me to have that packed by the end of this week...I thought it was so cute that he wanted me to get that done.
This is all so exciting and scary at the same time...I'm so thankful for our son and cannot wait to see him for the first time, which is the exciting part, but I know I am about to embark into the unknown in so many different ways, which is the scary part. I just pray for God's grace for me to be a godly wife and mom, and handle all of this new change in a way that glorifies Him.

The unexplainable pregnant body

My doctor appt on Monday went well, my blood pressure and urine were good, heartbeat and measurements were all good, and the results from the gall bladder u/s were all normal, no gallstones. It is such a good thing that there are no gallstones, but that still leaves the elevated liver levels unexplained. The doctor was not concerned at all though, and he said I didn't need to come back before my weekly appt unless I started to feel bad. I have been feeling good this entire time, the only thing that doesn't feel good is the pain in my upper abdomen, it hasn't been even close to as bad as it was that one morning, but it does still come and go. I think the best explanation for all of this is something a friend said in an email, the pregnant body just does crazy things that often cannot be explained. That is so true! Only five more weeks to go though, I am 35 weeks this week! Mark and I just cannot wait for him to be here, I think one of the biggest things that I am so excited about for him to get here is that it will be so much more real for Mark and he will be able to experience everything the exact same way as me, rather than now where it's my body that is feeling everything and changing. I can't wait to truly be able to enjoy him together, as a family, and I can't wait to see the look on his face the moment he lays eyes on his son. What an amazing, life-changing moment that will be.

Since last Friday...

A lot has happened in the last week since I experienced that pain last Friday. I ended up going to my family practice doctor that afternoon because the pain came back again, and my OB closes at noon on Fridays. Mark wanted me to see a doctor and made me an appt...I was there for almost two hours, the doctor checked me over and said everything looked and felt fine, but she had me get some bloodwork done just to be on the cautious side. My blood pressure was slightly high (which the nurse said was probably just from being anxious about everything that had happened that day) and I had a slight fever, which they never really explained. The doctor thought the pain was probably from my abdominal wall seperating with all the stretching that is going on in there, but said they would call the next week when they got the bloodwork results. Tuesday morning I got a message from them that said they were concerned about some of the results and wanted me to call them, but didn't give any info at all as to what was concerning and what could possibly be wrong...not exactly the best kind of message to leave for a pregnant woman but oh well, more sanctification opportunity there :) I called them back and they said some of my levels were elevated, and that they were going to fax the results to my OB and have them call me. I finally talked to the OB nurse later that afternoon, and she told me that my kidney enzyme levels were slightly elevated, but it was nothing alarming and that actually can be normal during a pregnancy. She asked me some questions to make sure I didn't have any other symptoms of preeclampsia, because high blood pressure and the elevated levels are two symptoms of that, but I didn't have any of the others, such as protein in the urine and severe swelling. She said there was no reason for me to come in right away, just come to the appt I already had on Thursday. At that appt my blood pressure was normal, and still no protein in the urine, but the doctor wanted me to have the blood work repeated again to see if it had changed over the week, so he sent me to the hospital to have it done so the results would come back that day in order to avoid having to work around the weekend. The nurse called me later that day and told me the results came back and they looked fine, so they wanted me to have a gallbadder ultrasound to see if the elevated levels and pain were a result of gall stones. So I had the ultrasound that next morning, yesterday, and hopefully will find out the results of that the beginning of this week. I'm going back to the OB on Monday because as a precaution they want to keep a close eye on me to make sure my blood pressure stays normal, so hopefully I'll have some answers by the appt.
I keep thinking in my head that I've had the most uncomplicated complicated pregnancy...no that wasn't a typo what I mean is there have been a lot of extra things that have come up and I've had to have checked out or had further testing and bloodwork for, but so far each of those further tests has turned out to be normal and not a pregnancy complication (being Rh negative, fifths disease exposure, failing first glucose test, etc) I am so thankful that everything has been fine up to this point, and I'm thankful that I know Emmory is doing well in there right now and still moving and growing like he should be. Even if I do have a gall bladder problem, it won't affect him and they won't even deal with it until after he is born because I am so late in the pregnancy. Yes I would probably have to have surgery to have it removed sometime after he's born, but there are a LOT worse things to have to deal with than that.
I'll try and write an update as soon as I get the results from the ultrasound, which will hopefully be Monday!

The worst pain of my life...

Okay so it probably wasn't the worst pain of my life, but definitely the worst of the pregnancy so far. I woke up this morning after sleeping in my chair all night (my mom and dad-in law were so very gracious to lend me one of their special back-saving chairs to put in our bedroom for me to sleep in if need be) and moved to the bed to get a little more comfortable because while sleeping in a chair is the best thing when food is constantly coming up my throat, it's not always so great on my neck and the rest of my body when I wake up the next morning...so anyways as soon as I laid down in bed and turned over I got a really sharp, burning pain on my right side, the same area that has been sore because of that sweet little boy inside of me. I immediately tried changing position but it just kept getting worse, so I stumbled out to the living room to be next to Mark in case I ended up collapsing and dying or something like that. The pain just would not go away, it was extremely intense and for some odd reason the only thing that I felt might make it better was putting an ice pack on the area, I think because of the burning sensation. However I did refrain from doing that because I figured it probably really wouldn't help. After about half an hour or so the pain finally did get better, it still hurts now but not with the same intensity as before. I still really have no idea what it was or what caused it...I called the nurse this morning in desperation to find something I could do to make it better or at least to be reassured that it wouldn't last forever and it wasn't anything to be concerned about. When she called me back it had already gotten better, and she said she honestly didn't know exactly what would have caused that, she said it was probably either because I slept wrong or maybe because I am bruised from the baby, but that as long as it did get better that it should be fine. She said to call back if it happens again, and especially if I have trouble breathing or anything like that. I didn't have any trouble breathing while I was in pain, but I did feel like I could throw up...that was probably just a result of the pain though. I am just praying that it doesn't happen again, and that I am still able to enjoy my massage today because it is too late to change the appointment. Hopefully I'll be able to find a comfortable position to be in.