My Beautiful Baby Shower

My baby shower was ABSOLUTELY lovely !!! My sister did an amazing job and I loved every part of it just like I love every part of her!!! Her decorations were so cute...Bears !! Imagine that, cute little baby bears and lots of the color blue, mixed with some green and yellow. She had the cutest favors on the tables, including blue baby feet confetti with hearts, multi colored baby blocks that were adorable and super cute bear containers filled with mints. The cake !!! OMG the cake was beautiful, it almost looked like a wedding cake it was so gorgous with Welcome Baby Gaynier and blue bears....oh yeah, and it was my favorite...chocolate !!! Yummy !! The food was wonderful and she got this fruit basket bouquet thing that was one of the coolest things i've seen, and it was super yummy too !! It even had chocolate covered strawberries in it. Abby knows I love my chocolate !! We played some fun games, and people got really cute prizes, we enjoyed a great lunch and visiting with each other !!! Then it was time to open presents !!! I am so thankful for all the wonderful gifts we received, we got alot of great stuff...and we'll use it all !!! Baby Bingo was a hit among my family and friends too...thats always fun to play while the mommy-to-be is opening gifts. It really was a great day, and I was so honored to have so many of my family and friends come to share in the day. My best friend Anita brought her 5 week old twins and they were a hit too !!! It was so great to see everyone and I so appreciated everyone taking time out of their busy summer schedule to be a part of my special day. It really means alot to Doug and I to be so loved and know that so many wonderful people are excited for us to have this sweet little baby boy. He will definitely be loved. My sister did an amazing job, and my sweet niece Sydney was a huge help and I appreciate everything they did. My Aunt Bessie and Aunt Barb also contributed and helped Abby and Sydney, and their hard work and love showed brightly!!! Doug and his mom were honored guests as well, and it was great for all of us including my mom to be sitting together and taking in the festivities.

I feel bad that it took me so long to blog about such a wonderful event and special day. It is the end of my semester and I've been super busy with school so that had to be a priority. This is my last week of class and boy am I ready for it to be done!!!!!

A big special hug and kiss goes out to Abby and Sydney for giving Doug and I such a sweet baby shower. Thank you to my Aunt Barb and Aunt Bessie for their hard work, my mom for just being my mom, and all of my family and friends for coming to the shower and being a part of the day.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of my other family and more friends at our second shower given by my wonderful mother in law. I can't wait to see everybody, it should be another great day for Doug and I !! I can't believe how fast time is flying....Baby Gaynier will be making his grand entrance in only a few more weeks !!!! OMG!!

Hospital Tour

Apparently, there were a lot of people that were "busy" earlier this year. It quickly became noticeable when many hospital employees thought that they were going to have job security in the near future. Most everyone mentioned how our tour group was a pretty big one. There were probably about a dozen or so moms-to-be.

The tour started off venturing by the store and food areas for those that have not been to Royal Oak - Beaumont before. Then off to admitting/triage (3rd floor). Many of you pros out there probably already know all of this, but it is definitely at least new to me. If you get the "green light" from triage (public), you are then shuffled over to the delivery room (private) to wait for the grand entrance. After the big entrance, you are then shipped upstairs to the 6th floor to your room (private) for the remainder of your stay.

After going through all of the patient elevators, we sat in the garden area (enclosed) and had cookies and water to give us time to pull our thoughts together and to ask questions. The tour was a great chance to see the rooms (less the O.R. if a C-section is needed) and get acquainted with a few staff members. Royal Oak -Beaumont is definitely a nice hospital and has great people working in it.

Amy feels a lot better now after seeing the facilities (added to our library) and is getting more anxious about our child's arrival. I'm not saying see won't still feel anxiety during the next trip, but at least she will have been there before and will recognize the surroundings. We are hoping that we get to see the few people that we met on the tour as they were very nice and helpful.

The next visit could be the big day!!!

We are starting our childbirth classes this week. Good thing Amy won't need to study for the child birth class because this is her final week of school. Next class (online) starts at the end of August.

Baby Pool Is Here!!!

With the time of the much anticipated arrival of our little bundle of joy growing close (10 weeks), we have decided to launch a baby pool so that everyone can participate. All you need to do is click on the label on the left and the pool page will be launched for your input. We have upgraded the site so that it is more secure and also so that there is no web ads or pop-ups, etc. If there is, please let us know ASAP so that we can contact the appropriate people and obtain a refund.

The prize for winning the pool will be bragging rights around the family, office and/or friends. Currently, there is a limit of five guesses per person. This should be plenty as you should be able to get it right on the firt try... right? ;)! Okay, so it isn't quite that easy and I know that I won't be able to get it right either. Registration is not required, but if you don't, you will not be able to edit your guesses or get updates and announcements, including the birth announcement through the site. It will also notify you of the winner, etc. Again, we have set it up so that you should not be getting spam, etc. from the site.

I have noticed that the link is a little slow in loading the pool page, so please be patient... This should be a fun and innocent game to gain bragging rights of knowing when our baby will arrive along with the length and weight.

Good luck to all!! We're not sure when we will no longer allow guesses, but we are tentatively planning on doing in around Labor Day Weekend. So, get your guess(es) in now!!

Week 30 Doctor Appointment

These doctor's appointments seem to be back to back now !! Another goes down in history...I'll start off with the good news, my glucose tolerance test came back totally normal. So no worries there! Apparently all the sweets i've been craving and eating hasn't affected me so thats great news for the baby and me!! I get to keep fulfilling my cravings....hmm...I really want a 7-11 Cherry Slurpee now !!!

Back to my appointment, the doctor checked the usual stuff, listening to my baby boy's strong heartbeat. She had to chase him around a little bit, I warned her that he has really been moving and he wouldn't be still while she was trying to count the beats. I thought it was funny until after a few minutes when she pushed hard on my stomach to keep him still long enough to do her count. She almost made me pee my pants. She also measured the baby bump and assured me I was exactly right where I should be. I gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks, which they were happy about.

Now the not so great news, I pointed out my very swollen feet to the doctor and she asked if I had injured my left ankle because it was so much more swollen than my right and she said it looked "funny, like I did something to it". I assured her I hadn't and she decided she wanted me to make an appointment for an ultrasound/doppler at the hospital to check my circulation and make sure I didn't have any blood clots. I also shared with her that I had been experincing some heart palpitation episodes and a couple times actually had some pretty uncomfortable chest pains. I was ready to hear the standard response that I had come so accustom to.... It is normal and we expect you to feel heart palpitations, but instead, she seemed concerned and wanted me to make an appointment to see a cardiologist. This was a little unsettling, and even more so when she urged me to make the appointment right away because she wanted me in to see the cardiologist before my next appointment which is only two weeks away. I can report that I had my ultrasound/doppler appt today (they got me in really quick) and it looks like everything is fine. The technician was able to tell us that there wasn't any blood clots and the results would be forwarded to my doctor.

I had called the cardiologist Friday right after my appt to schedule an appt and they weren't able to get me in until Aug 20th. Needless to say that wasn't going to work, my doctors wanted me in sooner, so I called back this morning and was able to get an appt for next Thursday Aug. 2nd....right at the crack of dawn!!! 7:45am...I am so not a morning person but Doug is thrilled that it is first thing in the morning!!

I will certainly let everyone know what the outcome is. I'm sure everything will be fine, so please just keep us in your thoughts and we'll keep ya'll updated. Thats all for now !!! Hmmm...I wonder if Doug will go to 7-11 and get me a Cherry Slurpee....I really want one !!!

Our Child Is On The Move!!

Amy has been feeling the baby move for a while now and sometimes teasing me with it. She would supposedly feel the baby move, so I would put my hand on her belly right where she puts it and nothing would happen. This was happening for about a month or so. I think Amy and our son were just teasing me ;)! Well, about a week ago I was able to feel him a little bit and whoa! Now I can really feel him go. He is pretty active this evening after Amy finished an exam. I think he was doing back flips or something in excitement because mom was done. Either that or he knew that his dad was going to get his mother some ice cream with hot fudge. We are really going to get this little bugger movin'!

Amy has the ice cream now and the baby may be feeling the effects of it. He seems like he is stretching and then pausing while pushing on his mother's belly at his biggest stretched moment and is still pretty active. I think this is the most active he has been and definitely the most that I have been able to feel him. To those that have had kids before or close enough to a pregnant woman, you know that this is a pretty crazy and wild feeling. I never knew what to expect, but I will say it is pretty weird, but at the same time a great feeling. It's almost like you don't want to keep your hand there because you are afraid you might hurt him. I doubt that you can by doing that, but you do wonder...

On a side note, Amy's feet are starting to swell pretty bad as it has crept up her legs. She has been drinking a lot of water to help. We have the air on in the house and the air is cranked so much that she is cool at work, so it is not due to the heat. Swelling is normal, but she will have the most recent swelling checked at her next scheduled appointment this Friday. The last time there was a large amount of swelling, the doctor said it was okay. This was after being on our feet all day for three days in 90 degree heat at the race track a month ago. We'll just have to wait and see how this plays out as they are watching her more closely due to hereditary concerns.

Baby's Room Taking Shape!

My room is looking like a baby's room now! I think mommy and daddy did a great job picking out the wall color and furniture. Dad said that when they delivered the furniture, the guys mentioned how well the furniture and the walls matched. Dad told them it wasn’t by design, but it did work. I hear the color is a little different, but it still sounds nice. It’s a good thing the furniture came early because the wood smell is pretty strong although it doesn’t really affect me yet. We are still waiting for the hutch for the changer, but mom is going to let dad put that on after “she” gets tired of changing me on it. My aim may not be so great, so she would rather be safe.

Here's a little video of when mom and I first saw my room with furniture in it.

Furniture Delivery?

As you know my mom and dad were a little disgruntled over the weekend at not being able to get my furniture as was planned. At least I got to hear my grandpas' and grandmas' voices along with some other relatives I haven't met. Now we had to wait for the call earlier today.

What call you ask? The one that was supposed to happen between 11 and 12 this morning. Oh yeah, the call the store forgot to make. Well, my mom ending up calling the store and then had to leave a message. She never got a call back, soooo she called again. I guess mom's work was really busy because the guy said he tried a few times and then just called our home number (yes, there was a message when we got home). He said that the earliest they could deliver my furniture would be Thursday. Mom was like "what???", especially since she just talked to a main man at the store and said that we would be set for Saturday. Come to find that main dude put the cart before the horse. The schedule was open for Saturday, only because no one was working on Saturday. To shorten the story, my furniture will be put in my room on Thursday while I am at school with mom. I certainly can't wait to see it.

Oh! I must have my mom's "baby brain" because I almost forgot to tell you about the other furniture. When dad got home and got the messages, he found out that the glider and ottoman for my room are in too. So, while mom was on the phone, she asked if they could deliver that as well on Thursday. The man on the phone (Shed, I thought this was something you put junk outside in...) said that it wouldn't be a problem and that he would call the other store and get the paperwork. He was a very nice man!! I can't wait to feel mommy jump for joy when we get home Thursday from school from seeing my furniture. I'm sure dad will have pictures to show on the baby's room link... ;)! He might have to wait though because I overheard mom telling dad not to put the crib together until she was home and could take pictures of him putting my bed together. She wants me to be able to see it happening when I get a little older. We'll see if "anxious" daddy will be able to wait for mommy...

I Have Become A Human Pin Cushion!!

Another doctor's appointment and I have to say this one was a doozie!!! I asked my mom to go with me this time to give Doug a break. Plus, he had taken the previous day off work to attend a fun work function with me and I want him to try and save as much time off as possible for when the baby comes.

Back to the doctor's appt....I knew I was getting another one of the wonderful Rhogam shots so I ghad that to look forward to. I also knew I was going to be taking another glucose tolerance tests. Yep!!! That meant another great tasting cocktail!! Needless to say I was a little anxious the night before but managed to get some sleep, get up in the morning and head into work for a few hours. I was super busy and the morning flew, I didn't even have time to get nervous or anxious about the appt. I drove home and met my mom and we were off.

This was the first visit for my mom, so she was super excited to see exactly where my doctor's office was and was amazed at how close it is. I had told her it was really close but I guess the 3 minute drive really proved just how close it really is. Upon arrival to the office I was given the yucky orange stuff to drink, and was told to drink it down as quickly as possible. With mom chanting "drink, drink, drink" I managed to get it all down in just a couple of minutes stopping only twice to gag!! I think mom was proud :-). Then it was time to just wait. We were told that in exactly one hour I would have blood drawn to complete the glucose tolerance test and we would be seeing the doctor during that waiting time. My mom and I took advantage of the time we had and got caught up on things and enjoyed a nice visit. Then we were called and mom followed me to the scale....I lost another 2 pounds!!! The doctor says I shouldn't be concerned, that the baby appears to be doing fine and growing so apparently he is getting everything he needs from me. Now was time for the big moment that my mom had been waiting for, hearing the heartbeat. This is always my favorite part and I was excited for my mom to finally hear her grandson's heartbeat. Wooo..wooo...wooo...woooo!!! There it was was!!! It was nice to see how this sound made my mom smile!!! Baby boy had a strong heartbeat of 150 (which is what it should be) and the doctor measured my belly and said it was also exactly what it should be. We only spent a few minutes with the doctor hearing once again that all of my "concerns" or "worries" are normal and are to be expected so we were sent back to the waiting room to count down the minutes until I was called to the lab. At exactly one hour from drinking my cocktail I was called back. My mom stayed seated and asked me if I wanted her to come...I giggled and said "If you plan on being around during my labor you better get used to seeing me get poked!!" The nurse, and everyone else in the waiting room laughed and mom quickly got up and followed behind me. On the way down the hall she made a comment that she was ready for me being in labor and would be fine, I just smiled, but found it very humorous that when the lab tech pulled out the needle and was just about to poke me for the blood draw, my mom promptly turned her head and looked out the window !!! I of course had to pick on her and give her a hard time but it was all in good fun. We both thought it was funny. That was poke one....they took 3 tubes, which included the glucose screening as well as a hemoglobin screen to check my iron level. There's a little concern that I might not be getting enough iron and it may be causing me some dizziness I have been experiencing. Then another needle was prepared, and I had to basically stand up and bare my booty for the shot. Poke number two....jeez that stuff burns going in!!! I proudly walked out with a band aid on my butt and another on my arm. Mom and I left the doctor's office and once again I had a feeling of accomplishment.

They are now scheduling my doctors appt's every two weeks... yikes...that means we are getting closer to the baby's grand entrance. I can't wait!!!! My mom and I rewarded ourselves by going flower shopping and then went home. Now it's more waiting...I should be hearing from the doctor's office regarding my tests in about a week. Until then and my next blog (Doug will of course be blogging sooner) hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Oh !!! Can't wait to see everyone in a couple of weeks at my first shower given by my sister. It should be alot of fun and I am so excited i can hardly stand it. See Ya !!!!

Where's The Furniture?

So, after my dad busted tail all week to get my room painted again, where's the furniture? Dad spent Friday afternoon and night painting the final coat on the trim and doors and cleaning things up including steam cleaning the floor. On Saturday, dad was outside cleaning the truck and mom was planting a few flowers. Just to be a little anal (wonder if I will get this trait?) dad suggested to mom that she call The Baby's Room to see if the furniture was in the store as requested. After all, we had set up for a few people to help pick it up and carry it into the nusery. Much to our shagrin, it wasn't!!! It was still in the warehouse which of course wasn't open on weekends. By this time, dad could tell that the conversation was going way too long and decided to trail mom and I to see where we were at. He didn't hear the conversation, but he knew it wasn't good.

One and a half weeks earlier... Dad called to check on my piece of furniture that wasn't in yet (hutch). He quickly found it was backordered and that the store would deliver it for free. While on the phone, they asked if he wanted the remaining furniture to be transferred to the store. Of course, he asked how much notice they needed because he didn't feel it would be right to have it sitting there for weeks. The lady (no name), said that they needed a week. A quick calculation of timing (dad's good at that) and he knew that it was only 1-1/2 weeks until we were planning on picking it up and said to transfer it. No problem, right?

Back to present... So mom gets off the phone and dad's blood pressure was beginning to elevate since he had just spent every waking minute for the past week on my room so everything would be just right for the furniture (okay, so maybe every waking minute might be a stretch, but he was working on four other projects at the same time). A quick discussion with dad and mom about the store conversation and mom called back (I think dad might have been afraid that he would blow his stack because he had already talked to one goof ball at the store). So, mom's on the phone and everyone was asking what the name was? I didn't really understand because I don't have a name yet and it sounded like mom kept talking to different people. Finally, this guy with a deep voice once again asked about a name. I think he must have been some boss guy or something because mom said something about being kissed and being schmoozed. Okay, so I am a slow learner and finally figured out that the name asking was for the idiot at the store that didn't do the paperwork. I'll have to check into this kissing thing in a few months... So, since I am beginning to ramble, let's just say that the order for free delivery on the hutch was transferred to the rest of the furniture and we are hoping to get my furniture delivered next Saturday. If I am not on the Saturday route, then they said they would take it to the store on Tuesday. I am thinking dad is going to tell mom that they will need to find another day to deliver it for free when we are home...

Fortunately, dad being on top of things and going with his gut, mom called The Baby's Room and found that my furniture wasn't where it was supposed to be... Can you imagine if the 10-1/2 of us showed up at the store and they didn't have the furniture there???? Oooohh!! I would have seen fireworks twice in the same week... ;)!

Under The Gun!!

Yep, the time is VERY near for getting the nursery furniture which means the nursery needs to be painted. With that, the first coat of paint of the first color went on the walls last Saturday morning. Dad was up at 5:45 am doing some last minute prep and began painting. It didn’t take much for him to think that he should wake up mom around 7:20 am to see if he should stop painting fresco cream. Fresco cream is similar to an orange creamsicle, but more peachy in color. Mom said to continue while she was wearing a funny look on her face. Well, the room was done shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, the color didn’t continue to grow on mom and dad… The color was so bright that dad kept going into the nursery to turn the light off! Needless to say, it very much brightened up the room was just too bright for our liking. Not too mention the baby might not be able to sleep because it was so bright.

Mom was the biggest proponent of repainting the room, but didn’t want to spend the money to have dad repaint. Dad simply asked, “What don’t you like about the color?” Mom quickly responded with that it is too feminine. Dad quickly said “Well, we need to change the color then!” If it would have been because mom wasn’t sure what the room would look like with everything in it, things would have been fine, but this seemed much more than just stressing on how the finished product would look... So, after much discussion and pulling the paint samples back out and actually getting a few more, caramel sundae was latest choice. After once again being up early, dad was able to repaint the room with two coats on before traveling to an afternoon Tiger game with mom’s company who is celebrating 40 years of business. Upon returning from the Tiger game (and grocery shopping at a local store that is closing), dad was able to tape and get the first coat of trim and doors done.

The stage is now set. One more coat of paint on the trim and doors tonight and then hopefully getting the floors steam cleaned tonight while getting the room somewhat back together tomorrow morning, the room should be ready for the furniture to arrive Sunday morning. This all needs to be done tomorrow before heading to Ohio for a family gathering as we will be bringing back mom's neice and nephew for a sleepover. The furniture is all in except for the hutch which is still on back order for a few more weeks and the chair that was ordered should be in around the same time. Looks like we/dad won't be painting the room while mom and baby are in the hospital waiting to come home...

50th Wedding Anniversary

A grand gala, not to be missed, happened this past weekend in Kalamazoo. It was for the Golden Anniversary of my Uncle Rudy and Aunt Marie who were married on July 13, 1957. There were many in attendance (I am guessing a little over a hundred, but I wasn’t counting…, sorry!) from over the years, including family and friends.

The evening started off with cocktails and munchies while guests were promptly greeted by the “Golden Couple”. This was followed by Joe’s, believe it or not, short (in comparison) toast to his parents, family, wedding party and attendees. Most of the original wedding party were able to attend and be honored by sitting at the head table.

As dinner was wrapping up, a presentation of Rudy and Marie’s life was shown. It started from when they were born and continued through the years detailing how they met and grew their lives together. This incorporated the growth of their family including both children and grandchildren and the various places they have lived. The production was put together very well and was very entertaining to those in attendance. A collection of life to cherish forever.

The remainder of the evening was filled with great conversation, smiles and laughs, dancing to a polka band and just great celebration of life with those in attendance. If you weren’t having fun, then you weren’t at the party!!

The night was topped off by one of Joe’s (“wisest” son of Rudy and Marie) friends playing the guitar and harmonica while many of the remaining guests sang along to many old time favorites. One of which was Happy Birthday which was sung for the “wisest” of Rudy and Marie’s children. He (Joe) was born on July 1, 1958. A little quick math and you can see that Rudy and Marie had a lot of “fun” during their first year of marriage.

Uncle Rudy and Aunt Marie - Congratulations on your monumental accomplishment of reaching 50 years of marriage. This is something many can only aspire to achieve and is greatly admirable!!

Labor Day Weekend - 50th Reunion Dilemma

As some of you may or may not know, my dad was/is in a fraternity in college (Mu Kappa Mu / Phi Kappa Tau) and remains very active as an alumnus. He is currently serving on the Alumni Association’s Board of Trustees (previously held office of secretary and president while on the Board) and makes somewhat regular trips back to his alma mater, with his most recent being right before Easter.

This coming Labor Day weekend, the fraternity will be celebrating 50 years of brotherhood with an event filled weekend. Reunions occur once every five years and were started with the 25th in 1982. Dad has not missed a reunion since becoming a member in the spring of 1987 and attended his first reunion that fall (30th). Planning for the reunion began four years ago by the Board and was initiated while he was in his presidency. The last reunion saw approximately 170 members out of about 700 attend. The 50th reunion is not the one to be missed.

The dilemma is an obvious one… I am due to arrive on October 2, 2007 and my daddy would return four weeks and one day before my scheduled grand arrival. Dad has told me that he would not miss my arrival for anything in the world. I would like for him to be able to attend this reunion thing he keeps talking about, but I can’t guarantee when mom will be kicking me out of here. If I take after my dad, I could be really early and if I take after my mom, I could be really late. I guess if MTU wasn’t 550 miles away and they had an airport that had regular flights to the metro Detroit area; the time of my arrival would be less debated. I would really like to see both my mom and dad’s faces upon my arrival. Will you please vote to help mommy and daddy make the right decision?

P.S. If you feel strongly one way or another, you can vote as many times as you would like.