Dylan will be here soon...

Due to recent high blood pressure concerns at my last appointment, my doctor has decided to put me on bed rest and induce me on Wednesday, May 19...so Dylan should be here in a few days! And the funny part is that May 19th also happens to be our 3-year wedding anniversary! This was certainly unexpected, especially since we had already talked about possibly inducing on the 31st if I went past my due date...but ready or not, here he comes. I went in for one more ultrasound this afternoon and he is already measuring at 8 1/2 pounds, so that makes me very thankful that we are not waiting until the 31st...who knows how big he would’ve been then!?!? I’ll be checking in to Labor & Delivery at 5pm tomorrow night and be induced Wednesday morning...we can’t wait to hold our baby boy in our arms finally!!!

About 3 more weeks to go!!!

I can’t believe how fast time has flown by...Dylan is almost here! Our lives have been absolutely crazy these past few weeks trying to get ready for him and with the school year coming to an end. Keith has had his hands full lately with UIL competition (where his band received Superior ratings on stage and in sight reading, by the way), ensemble contest, instrument drives, and their upcoming Spring Concert. I’ve been keeping busy with finishing referrals, ARDs, paperwork, our end-of-year checkout list, and now packing up my room. It’s always a crazy time in the year, but being pregnant at the same time is definitely slowing me down. Its a miracle I can get myself out of bed every morning!

As far as Dylan is concerned, we’ve been doing plenty there too! A couple of weeks ago we took a childcare class where we learned baby CPR and all the basics about feeding, burping, bathing, sleeping, etc. It was very informative! We also took our Lamaze class too and we definitely learned a lot!!! Keith and I feel so much better about the whole labor and delivery process and we actually feel pretty ready for it. Of course now that I know what to expect, I’m definitely getting anxious about it. But I know I’ll have an excellent coach in there with me and he will help me during it all! Today we took the Baptism class so we can get Dylan baptized in the Catholic church...we’re hoping to have it done during the summer since all of our family is out of town and it’ll be easier to get everyone in. I also have most of my hospital bag packed, so we’re just waiting for some contractions! I’ve had a few here and there, but nothing to get too excited about. He should be here by the end of the month, so keep posted!!!

So many updates, so little time!!!

Wow, time has really flown by since my last update! So many wonderful things have been happening lately, its hard for me to keep up! First of all, we finally decided on my name for our little boy! I let Keith pick the name (with my approval, of course), and we decided on Dylan Cole Marshall. We both really liked Dylan and Cole, so we just decided to use them both!

In the past couple of week we’ve also had 2 baby showers...one in Brownsville with my family and one in Houston with Keith’s family. We received so many wonderful presents at both showers and are very grateful for everyone’s generosity. Dylan really is going to be surrounded by such loving family and friends...he’s a very lucky little guy! And with all the new presents and gift cards we received we were finally able to start working on the nursery! Keith was amazing and painted the room all by himself (he wouldn’t even let me be in the room for more than 10 seconds)! We also got all the furniture in and bedding/decorations up, and I think it turned out great! Our only problem now is keeping the cat from thinking all of this is for him...he’s already been caught on more than one occasion sleeping either in the bassinet or in the crib.

 

Another thing we did over Spring Break was go in for a 3D/4D sonogram...we wanted to have one more sneak peek of Dylan before he gets here! He looked amazing and we got some great pictures of him!!! He was a little shy at first, but that didn’t last too long. We were able to see him open his eyes, smile (with adorable dimples), stick his tongue out, cross his arms, and play with his feet. We also counted 10 fingers and 10 toes, and we were even able to see some hair on his head. The technician said the reason our pictures came out so good was because mommy was very hydrated...at least I’m doing something right! It was really great to get to see Dylan again, and with all the wonderful baby showers and the nursery being done we’re definitely getting excited (and possibly a little scared)...either way, we can’t wait!!! About 8 more weeks to go...

Snow Day and Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! What a crazy couple of days! Last Sunday Keith and I went to Target and bought the dresser and changing table for the nursery. He’s already put them together and are stored in the guest bedroom, until we begin putting the whole nursery together. We ordered the glider/ottoman and that will hopefully be here tomorrow. Grandma & Grandpa Simmons bought us the crib/mattress and that will be here in March!

 

On Thursday Keith flew out of town to his convention in San Antonio and that was the day Mother Nature (or Jack Frost) decided to bless us with a record-breaking 11.5 inches of snow! It was amazing, it literally snowed all day and night! Unfortunately Keith wasn’t home to play in the snow and build a snowman with me, but I still enjoyed it. And to make things better, we didn’t have school on Friday, so 3-day weekend! Luckily he was able to come home today so I don’t have to be alone for Valentine’s Day. For his present I got him a couple of trombone and UNT onesies for the baby...I wonder which one will be his take-home outfit???

Baby Marshall has been very active lately. I don’t think he likes it when I put my hands or arms on my stomach, so he makes it a point to push them away when it bothers him. He also seems to favor my right side...so many times I’ll look down at my stomach and see my right side bulging out as opposed to my left side, so I assume he’s just hanging out on that side. At times like that I wish I could see what he’s doing in there...

Getting ready!

We got our first baby present in the mail today...so exciting! My mommy bought us the stroller for the baby and Keith put it together tonight. Aside from my growing belly, it definitely makes everything seem more real! I’ll be flying home the last weekend of February for my baby shower in Brownsville, then we’ll be driving down to Houston in the middle of March for our shower there. We’re planning on starting on the nursery while we’re off for Spring Break. We have to move the furniture that’s in the guest bedroom (future nursery) into the office, which will be the new guest bedroom. Then we’re going to paint the walls and put together all the furniture so I can work my decorating and organizing magic. I’m so excited to see how its going to turn out! It seems like we still have ages to go before he gets here, but its really only about 16 more weeks!

I have really been feeling him move lately, seems like he’s training to be a gymnast in there! He loves to move in the mornings, when I’m sitting at my desk getting ready for the day. I’ve also started seeing him move from the outside...its the weirdest thing looking down at my stomach and seeing it twitch and move. Again, just making this all seem more real! I am so ready to be this baby’s mommy!