Riley's room!!

I am so excited to post the pictures of Riley's room. We have worked hard to make this a special spot for such a special little girl. Funny, when we first found out we were having a girl we did not want any pink...well things evolved and it is ALL pink!!

Clay putting the crib together (pre-pink paint.)

We are so completely blessed and grateful for the support my parents have given us. Thanks to them, we have a wonderful new crib and dresser. It is a beautiful dark espresso color wood and looks so good against the pink walls.

My mom was also so gracious in agreeing to make all of the bedding for Riley and the curtains. It turned out so so good!!! Thanks Mom! We love it and know Riley will too!

Thanks, Kristi, for the super fun tiny "Riley" chair!

Close-up of the awesome bedding by Mom!!

Maternity pictures!!!

For a sneak peak at our maternity pictures, take a look at our photographer's blog: http://www.brittanilouise.com/blog/

Just scroll down until you see us!! We took these pictures last week (35 week belly!) The pictures turned out so great, and I cannot wait to see more. I found a fantastic photographer, Brittani, who is so easy and fun to work with. She came to our home and even let Scout in on a few pics!!

36 weeks

On Monday Clay and I went in for my 36 week appointment. It was super, super long (like 4 hours long.) We had another ultrasound and this time it was with the sonographer so she measured Riley and monitored her for certain movements, etc. They gave us great news!! Riley is now in the 15 percentile, up from the 5th percentile. She weighed in at a whopping 5 lbs 7 ounces and I gained weight as well. So we and Dr. Levin were thrilled! Thanks so much for all the prayers for us and Riley, God is so good!

Dr. Levin also said I was 60% effaced and 1 cm dilated. She went over what to do in case I go into labor early, but said she didn't expect me to. We are all set to be induced on Monday, July 6th! I go back, Monday 6/29, for another appointment and will learn what time I am scheduled to be at the hospital!! Clay and I are so so excited but cannot believe it will be here so soon. It seems like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant!

Tuesday, I went to see my specialist for the gestational diabetes and unless my blood sugar numbers go crazy between now and July 6th, I will not have to see her again! She said that the likely hood of me remaining diabetic is very low, especially because my numbers were controlled well. All around great news!!

This past weekend

Sunday was Clay's birthday!! We were so fortunate to have my family in town to help celebrate. Friday, my parents treated Clay and I and Kristi to a fun, margarita-filled birthday dinner. Well, no margarita for me. Then on Saturday, his family joined us for dinner at our house. Clay loves grilling, but I felt slightly bad making the birthday boy cook his own celebration dinner. I did not get any pics. Whoops.

Sunday, we got a visit from my college roomate and dear friend Paige, Paige's mom, and baby Kylie. (Unfortunately, Blake and Zach stayed home during this trip.) Paige was in a wedding in Houston and I was so excited when she said she would stop by. Paige has two sweet adorable daughters, one only 4 weeks old. She is a pro at this motherhood thing and I totally quizzed her!

Me holding Kylie, she was so sweet. I was slightly nervous, but I should get over that real quick!

Clay was so good with Kylie, this was his first baby to hold EVER. And he just picked her right up and did so so good! I am so proud of my wonderful husband and cannot wait to see him in action with Riley!!!

Sunday afternoon was quite relaxing, until Clay decided we should go "look" at Costco at the flat screen tvs. We have been wanting to upgrade for awhile and Clay has been working so so hard, so I caved. Needless to say we don't ever just "look"!

Here is Clay and the dog fishing out the new purchase. (The picture is kindof dark but Scout decided to help by getting between Clay's legs.)

Update

34 weeks (Scout loves the camera!)

Last week I had my 34 week appointment. I had the sonogram and the biophysical. The biophysical is not nearly as scary as it sounds. Basically, they take me to a quiet room with a comfy recliner chair and hook up some monitors to my belly for about 20 minutes or so. It is really relaxing and fun to hear Riley's heart beat come over the speakers! Dr. Levin said Riley looked good but due to her measuring small, she wants me to really take it easy for the next few weeks. She did not say "bed rest" but basically I am only allowed out of the house for about an hour each day. I was asked to stop swimming and to record Riley's kicks for 30 minutes after breakfast. I have found it a little hard to slow down. I feel good and there is lots to do before sweet baby comes, but I'm trying!! :)

35 weeks

Today I had my 35 week appointment and it to went well! Riley is looking good and my fluid levels had actually increased which Dr. Levin said was good. I am having a little trouble with my weight. I lost a little, which concerned Dr. Levin. I am eating all all all the time, but this restrictive diet makes it hard. It has been somewhat frustrating to find a balance between keeping my blood sugar levels on track and getting enough/to much carbs. Not to mention throw in the ketones (this is something I measure each morning.) It is a urine test that tells if my body is using stored fat as energy (not a good thing.)

Please just pray for me that I can continue to control the ketones and blood sugar levels and gain weight by diet alone. I would prefer to stay off insulin if possible. I am supposed to call the endocrinologist tomorrow, so I guess we'll see what she says. I only have a few weeks left, I know I can make it! Grow Riley, grow strong!

33 week appointment

On Wednesday, Clay and I had another OB appointment! We were so excited because we got to have another sonogram and see precious Riley! This time I made sure the sonographer showed me the girly body parts, and it was confirmed Riley is definitely a girl! She is already stubborn though and we were not able to get any good sonogram pics. Riley kept her head buried down in my pelvis region. Good news, she is no longer breach!

As some of you may know about 5 weeks ago, I was diagnosed as having Gestational Diabetes. This was really really really hard for me at first, I was so shocked and did not understand how or why this had happened. I felt awful and was so worried that something I had done (excessive amounts of ice cream or the many many jelly beans I ate) had caused this. Then I was angry, I mean why me? I worked out, I ate right, I did everything I was supposed to do, I am hardly ever the sick one.

With much prayer, God teaching me (again) that I am not in control, and more information, I learned that Gestational Diabetes is not something I could have prevented. My body (specifically the placenta) is just not able to handle all the hormones of pregnancy and is unable to break down sugars correctly. Luckily, almost 97% of gestational diabetics go back to normal immediately after delivery. (I am looking forward to this and already have a list of foods I cannot wait to consume.) Sonic strawberry milkshakes are at the top of the list!! In the mean time, all this GD stuff means I must be very consistant with my diet, counting carbs with each meal, absolutely no sugar, and I must monitor my blood sugar 4 times a day. And if GD is controlled and actively monitored (which it is) there should be no harm done to sweet baby Graham!

Back to the appointment, Dr. Levin said everything looked great!!! Riley is measuring a bit on the small side but she didn't seem to be too concerned. She said I was just small and that baby would likely just be small too. She did say that I will be coming in once a week now and will have a biophysical and ultrasound each time. Not 100% sure what all the biophysical entails, but she did warn me that the appointments would be long. But, yea!! We will get to check out Riley's sweet face each week. Okay and here is the big kicker, due to the GD....

Dr. Levin will be delivering baby Riley two weeks early!!! Ahhh....that is so soon!!

Unless something changes or Riley decides to come early on her own...we will be induced right after the 4th of July. Around July 6 or 7th! Sooo exciting, but now I must get to work. So much to do, so little time! :)

Memorial day weekend

With our due date quickly approaching, we took our last opportunity to travel to my Mom and Dad's home in Glen Rose! We love it there and always are so relaxed. Unfortunately, we will not be back for awhile. (I'm not sure how early one is supposed to travel with a tiny baby. I guess this is one of many many things I will learn.)

No bare-belly this time! :)

Scout is such a psycho water dog, he would fetch his ball for HOURS! In fact he was jumping into the water so much his paws started to bleed and he sprained his tail (who knew that could happen?) but did that stop him??

When we finally got him home he was a complete zombie for several days. Labs just don't know when to stop!

Sweet Airel about to go for her first swim. Hysterical life jacket!

Birthday/Getaway weekend

The weekend of my birthday Clay, Scout and I took a mini-cation. We decided we needed a little time to ourselves before Riley arrives and before I am unable to travel. So we rented a small little beach house in Galveston! We used VBRO.com which was so easy to use and we ended up with a cute little one bedroom bungalow on the beach for a few nights. Other than sleeping or eating, we were on the beach. The weather was nice, warm and sunny most of the time we were there, it was so relaxing!

It was also really fun to take Scout back to the ocean (he went for the first time almost exactly a year ago.) He still absolutely LOVED it!

Clay was quite the chef (he really took care of me all weekend, it was wonderful!)

My handsome boys!!

Ahh yes, I went bare-belly!! Check out the before pic below (from our Mexico trip Aug 08) quite a change in the belly! :) Can't believe the same swimsuit fit!

Handsome beach bum!

3 years ago

Three years ago today was the most wonderful day of my life. It was the day I married my best friend! Clay, you are an amazing, patient, loving, respectful, giving husband; I love you so so much and I thank God for you each and every day. It is so amazing to look back on where these three years have taken us...our first apartment, our first home, our sweet puppy dog Scout, and our soon-to-be newest addition to the Graham family. I cannot wait to see what God has planned for our next three years!!!At Dos Brisas, the beautiful bed and breakfast where Clay proposed.

June 3, 2006