We had a great doctors appointment this morning. I was officially 26 weeks and 6 days and measured right along with that. The first thing I had to do when I got there was the gestational diabetes test. We went straight to the lab and I had a choice of an orange or fruit punch sugar drink. It was in a 10 ounce bottle and I chose the orange. I had heard horror stories about it, but it really wasnt that bad. I did have a timer and was supposed to try to drink it in five minutes, it took me about six, but they said that was fine. Then, we were sent to the waiting room to wait for Dr. Keene. We were supposed to go back to the lab after an hour for the follow-up blood work.

So, we went in to see Dr. Keene pretty quickly. My blood pressure was fine, low as always, so that was good. Heartbeat sounded good, she was glad we had started our classes. I talked to her about how full my plate was with work, the new house, the move, selling the old house, etc, etc and was stress bad for the baby, etc. She said to keep my walking up (I am getting about three walks a week in at least) and that she thinks everything is fine but she would go ahead and schedule another ultrasound for in four weeks, just to help my stress level ease. So, I go back in two weeks for a quick check up on July 14th and then the ultrasound and check up will be on Friday, July 28th. Both appointments are 9am, so we do seem to get in and out a little quicker with those. Dean will skip the one on the 14th and then go back for the ultrasound on the 28th. He went with me today, mainly to keep me company since I had to be there so long! So, after we finished up with Dr. Keene, we still had about 15 minutes before my hour was up. So, finally, we go back to the lab and get my blood taken. They are supposed to call with the results tomorrow. So, say a prayer, that I passed!

Then, we went back to the exam room and I got my shot in the butt (for our conflicting blood types). It actually wasnt so bad. Just a sting really. Dean held my hand and it was over in just a second! So, that is good. I definitely have to have another one after delivery for it too. So, in about an hour and half total, we were on our way! I am very happy to be going every two weeks now! Four weeks between appointments seems so long. So, all in all a good visit!

Here I am at 26 weeks, the second trimester is winding down and I am about to enter that final trimester! The heat has started to get to me a little and backaches are occurring pretty often and I continue to be tired from the littlest things, but I am hanging in there! I go back to the doctor on Wednesday morning for the big appointment, diabetes test, shot, and bloodwork. Dean is going to go with me for this one. It is first thing on Wednesday morning, so hopefully, we won’t be there too long!

We got the glider and ottoman for the nursery this past week. It is about the same color wood as the nursery furniture and has a light beige / cream cushion. It is a really comfy and the ottoman has a little stool that pulls out from it, that is supposed to make nursing easier.

We spent Saturday at Mom and Dad’s celebrating my and Mama’s bdays. Even though are bdays aren’t until Monday and Tuesday, we officially celebrated Saturday with a cookout with friends and family. We also went on a tour of David’s family’s winery which is now open, although I couldn’t participate in the fun wine sampling at the end of the tour. It was really neat. There are pics of the cookout and the tour on the Shelly page.

Graham continues to kick up a storm, which is so fun and exciting. We went to our first childbirth class on Thursday night, it was pretty neat. There were 19 people there and everyone is having boys except for two of the moms. We have five more classes to go to. We got a lot of handouts, freebies, coupons, a book, etc. We even have some homework before next week! So far, we really enjoyed it!

25 weeks, wow! Time is just flying by! Graham continues to just kick and kick and I just love it! We actually sat one night and just watched my belly stretch and jump as it seemed like he was about to kick his way out. Dean loved watching it. We still listen to the heartbeat occasionally, but now that he is kicking so much, I find that I don’t have as much interest in that. I will be very anxious to see what the doctor says at my appointment next week on the 28th about his size, my size, etc. According to my books and reading, he should be around two pounds now!

In case you haven’t been on the house page, things continue to move along. They started hanging the drywall this week and Clarke had said when they started hanging the dry wall, we would be about 60 days from closing, so that would put us getting in around mid to late August, which should give us plenty of time to get settled before Graham’s arrival. That is right around the time the nursery furniture will be delivered too. The last major thing we need for the nursery is a chair of some sort, glider, rocker etc., so we need to get out and look for one of those, then we should be all set. Shower invitations should be going out pretty soon and I am getting so excited for those to get here. I can’t wait to celebrate with everyone and open all kinds of goodies for Graham!!!

We start our 6 week series of child birth classes this Thursday night. They run from 7 – 9pm every Thursday night, so they go through the end of July. Then, we are taking a one evening Infant CPR class and then I am taking a one evening breast feeding class in August. They like you to have these all finished about a month before your due date in case you are early. They are all set up through the hospital and we are really looking forward to them. Of course, they will make for some long days for me, so hopefully that won’t be too hard on me! Dean is really excited about them as well! So, I will let you know next week how the first class went!

And, of course, the other big “event” coming up is my Bday!!!!! You all know how much I LOVE my bday, everyone tells me I better enjoy this one, because once there is a little one, mommy and daddy bdays take a back seat. So, we will see about that. Anyway, it is week from Monday on the 26th, but we are going to Mama and Daddy’s next Saturday the 24th for our traditional combined celebration of my bday, mama’s (on the 27th) and Father’s Day. Mama is gonna cook out for us and we will have a great time for sure!

Well, here we are at 24 weeks. The big news for this week is that we finished getting the house ready and it is officially on the market. We spent most of the weekend packing and cleaning and getting it ready to start showing. It is as ready as it is gonna get! It should be on For Sale By Owners website sometime tomorrow. So, hopefully, the phone calls will start pouring in. We put five flyers in the holder tonight, but expect those to be raided by tomorrow by our neighbors!

Graham is still kicking up a storm, very much on schedule, normally early morning, late afternoon and around bedtime. It is so neat that he is on schedule! Hopefully, he will stay on schedule after he is born!

Two more weeks until the next doctors appointment, so things seems to be going along smoothly. I will be glad when I start going every two weeks after that appointment.

Dean suggested that we include Madison in this weeks photo but she was much more interested in all the happenings in the neighborhood instead of posing for a photo! But, anyway, here we are posing with the For Sale sign. We are pretty much done packing for now, so I will get a little breather, until we sell, and then we will be in packing mode again like crazy!!!!

The other news of this week is that we have settled on the little guy’s name – GRAHAM EDWARD WHITAKER. We thought of Graham very early on and liked that it could not be shortened and that we didn’t know any other Grahams. And, then, we wanted to work in a family name somehow and Edward (after my daddy) seemed to fit best. So, there you have it! We have really enjoyed calling him Graham and referring to him as Graham the last couple days. So, from now on, I will refer to him as Graham!!!!

So, here we are upon our one year anniversary. We really wanted to be in church on Sunday the 11th, our actual anniversary, so we decided to get away this weekend for a little rest and relaxation. We went back and forth for the longest time trying to find somewhere within a couple hours driving distance and with some things to do. So, we finally decided on Greensboro, NC, just under a two hour drive from the house. So, we headed down there on Friday afternoon and stayed at a nice AmeriSuites, with a suite setup, kitchen etc.

There is a huge Babies ‘R Us and Baby USA there so we did some shopping and got some odds and ends and then made the big purchase of furniture! We got the crib and a chest / hutch combo. It is a beautiful hazelnut color. The crib converts to a toddler daybed and then we bought the rails to convert it to a full bed, so he is all set! It had to be ordered, and will not be here for 10 – 14 weeks!!!! Which should time out with about the time we get settled in the new house and we can just get it delivered straight there. We still need to find a glider / rocker chair and then the nursery will be about done.

On Saturday, we went to Emerald Point Wet and Wild Park. It was huge! Our favorite ride was the lazy river, very relaxing! Dean rode a couple of the big sildes and we went to the big wave pool a couple times and Dean went way out where the waves were breaking. It was beautiful weather! And, I was NOT the only pregnant woman in a bathing suit! Ha!

Then, for dinner we went to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. Neither of us had ever been, although we have done fondue at home a couple times. It was amazing, we had four courses and ate in their special private anniversary booth. This picture of me is from the evening. You can see more pictures on my page of the website at Shelly.

I went to the doctor on Friday morning for a check up, very uneventful! Everything checked out just fine and I spent more time waiting than I did actually seeing the nurse and doctor. I go back on June 28th for a BiG appointment. I have the gestational diabetes test and have to drink some awful sounding drink, have another round of blood work and then get my big ole shot in the BUTT because of our blood types. So, that will be a long visit that day! Then, after that I start going every two weeks and so I have appointments scheduled after that for July 14th and July 28th. Apparently, everything is normal, my measurements are right on track etc, so I guess that is all good news! Nothing to be alarmed about, of course I still worry!!!!! Although feeling all these certainly is reassuring. He almost kicks on a schedule, it is soooo neat!

In other news, we are getting the house ready to put it on the market in about two weeks, so I am getting plenty of exercising going up and down the steps, straightening up the house, doing some packing and a little cleaning. Our hope is to have it looking really good and sell it quick and easy, but not too quick so that we dont have a place to live in between houses! We ideally hope to move right from one house to the other, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

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