Baby Shower and Week 36 Update

We had a wonderful baby shower this past Thursday night up on the mountain. Our friends, Tina and Melinda, put it together for us. My parents were able to come and so were a bunch of our Chattanooga friends. We had an excellent time eating, laughing and catching up.

Thanks again to everyone who came or sent gifts for Gus!!

We had our 36 week check-up this week and again I feel so blessed by the Lord! Although my blood pressure is still a little high, the midwife said that I've done a good job resting and that it seems that if I just continue to do that, things can proceed normally. Gus is sitting very low (already at 0 station, for those of you who know what that means!) and she said that everything else looks good. So we are very relieved and feel like our lives can get back to normal, although at a much, much slower pace than before!!

I've become quite a connissour of movies and books lately as a result of all my couch time, so here are a few free recommendations:)

Intolerable Cruelty with Catherine Zeta-Jones and George Clooney is highly entertaining!

I am also really enjoying a new book given to me by a friend at church: The Baby Whisperer.

So check them out if you have extra time on your hands!

Bedrest Blessings

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!

At my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, it was discovered that my blood pressure has unexpectedly become borderline too high. I was ordered onto immediate modified bedrest (this being defined as no heavy lifting, only light chores and the rest of the time spent on the couch lying on my left side!) I was obviously very surprised and disappointed. I've tried so hard to stay active and eat healthfully, but I apparently forgot about the whole resting during the last trimester thing. I've been so focused on trying to get everything done that I guess I've pushed myself a little too far.

So, as of Day 4 on the couch, I think God has given me some much-needed perspective. I've had time to really talk to baby Gus and enjoy his moving and stretching. I've watched birds hanging out in my backyard. I even spent today watching the entire 5 plus hours of Pride and Prejudice! I have realized that I have been very blessed to have this time to stop and catch my breath. I have wonderful parents who cooked and cleaned and did projects for me while they were here. I have great friends-like the one who is here tonight painting the baby's room for us. And I have an amazing husband who is so supportive-doing loads of laundry, making his own meals and rubbing my back whenever he gets a chance to sit down with me, all the while juggling a full-time job and all his neighborhood responsibilities.

So, I can honestly say that I'm actually enjoying my bedrest, as it gives me time to count the many blessings God has recently given me!

Phew!

Well, as of today, more and more things seem to be falling into place for the arrival of Baby Gus. We spent yesterday and today touring hospitals and interviewing a pediatrician. We seem to have gotten the details pretty much worked out, so things are a go! (Although, personally, I'm hoping for a little more time to rest up, hang out with my husband and clean-today it was the fridge, right down to the tiniest crumbs!)

We found out our insurance will cover the fancy, new hospital here in Chattanooga, so we'll get to labor, deliver and recover in the same room! They seem to have thought of everything there-including mini-fridges for all Scott's snacks:) We will also be able to room-in with Gus the entire time without him being whisked off to the nursery for observation for 3 hours, which the other hospitals do. We also really liked the pediatrician we talked to, so now we have a doctor!

And last but not least, our air conditioning is being fixed as I write. It's been pumping out a strange, burning smell for a few days now (which of course, it ceased to do the minute the AC man came to check on it yesterday!!). They told us to have all our ducts cleaned.....but then last night, it just quit working all together, and today they found that the blower had burned out (hence, the "burning" smell they thought we were lying about!).

So, all is well at the Noll house tonight:)

Baby Update Week 34

We had our most recent doctor's appointment this past Tuesday. According to the midwife, Gus is sitting head-down, ready to go, and weighing in at a whopping 4.9 lbs. He has been super active most days--even Scott has been able to feel him moving. Usually he doesn't like to perform for other people, but I guess he is losing his shyness! My uterus has been doing a lot of practicing this week too-lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions especially after dinner. Scott and his mom have been so great about it-I've gotten to rest with my feet up, read and drink tea most evenings! Not a bad life:)

It's hard to believe we only have 6 weeks left!!! It's amazing how that knowledge can motivate you! Here's the list of what's been done lately:

• set up tour of hospital


• set up appointment with pediatrician


• wash and fold all baby clothes (they are unbelievably tiny!!)

• get bassinet ready (since our crib is currently sitting on a ship in the middle of the ocean and isn't expected to arrive until early August)

• make two baby slings (many thanks to Carol Ann!)

• research cloth diaper options


• read Babywise

We are getting more and more excited!! And occasionally more and more panicked:) Here's my verse of the week (it has been recited many times lately!)

"He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young."

Isaiah 40:11

Casa de Noll

We've been privileged to have some visitors over the last few weeks. Actually, we've had a lot of visitors. First, we welcomed Chris and Patti, Amy's parents. They spent most of their time helping us with projects around the house. Amy and Patti spent the majority of their time sewing a bumper cover, dust ruffle and accent pillows for our crib (which is still M.I.A.). Chris, on the other hand, spent most of his time in the bathroom helping to remove our old jacuzzi tub in preparation for a bathroom remodel that I may, or may not, get finished before Gus V arrives. He also cleaned our dining room chandelier and spent his last evening in Chattanooga hanging from a ladder, straining alongside his son-in-law as we tried to reattach that clean, sparkling, very heavy light fixture.

Next, we hosted Steve, Heather and Grace (Amy's brother, sister-in-law and niece). They were in the Knoxville area for a wedding and came down to spend 24 hours with us. We didn't have much time together, but we always enjoy seeing them. The highlight of our visit was a cool evening at the drive-in movie, with a very well-behaved munchkin in tow.

The day after Steve and Heather left, the Shaners came over to spend an evening with us. Lindsay was one of Amy's high school friends. She's married to Mike and their children are named MJ and Drew. They were at the tail end of a whirlwind trip through Tennessee and stopped in to say hello.

Apparently three Annapolis area couples weren't enough, so Uncle Kenny and Aunt Lois popped in for a quick visit. Amy and her family spent many a camping trip with the "Wolves," as I call them (I hear that I should be calling them the Wolfs).



Fearing that my mother would lose me to the Maryland contingent, she's currently in town from St. Louis (go Cards) for a pre-baby visit.