3D/4D Ultrasound

WOW, we had a fun time today at the 3D/4D ultrasound appointment! Rick, the technician and owner of the business, was very friendly and he spent more than the allotted time with us to get Payton to cooperate. After drinking some HI-C fruit juice and two trips to the bathroom, we were able to get some good shots of her chubby little face! She was head down (good news) and her legs were bent up next to her ears, so we had some funny shots with her little feet in them. Anything you see on the far left side of the picture next to her face is her foot! The umbilical cord was shadowing her face in many of the shots, but we finally got it out of the way to provide for a better picture. Also, the dark shadowing above her face is not hair...although, I'm sure she has plenty. Hope you enjoy these shots (and my commentary)!

Peaceful Sleeper

"Little Chops"

Pretty Girl - look at those kissable lips!

She's grinning!

Sweet Payton Joy

31 weeks, only 9 weeks to go!

So many thoughts fill my head these last few weeks. Many of them good but some of them a bit anxious or uncertain. I hear that is normal with all pregnant women, so I just try to keep them at bay and truly exercise the scripture from 2 Cor. 10:5 that encourages us to, "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." To me, that means praying instead of worrying and then trusting that God is giving us this child as a GIFT from Him to raise and provide sound wisdom to in this earthly life. I can rest in that knowledge, and I just keep telling myself that she is a GIFT of JOY!

We have been attending child birth classes for four weeks now, and we only have two remaining. I have decided that they are meant to prepare new parents for "worst case scenario" and, in effect, have been contributing to my anxious thoughts! I do not want to walk into child birth being completely unaware and naive, however, so I have decided to take it ALL with a grain of salt. I understand what "could" happen but I am not going to focus on that. I'm going to focus on the natural progression of things to occur in their own timing. Women have been having babies for centuries and way before any medical interventions were created. God designed our bodies for this so I trust in His wisdom and perfect construction of MY body to handle it.

What sends my emotions for a whirl is when I see a newborn meeting his/her parents for the first time and their reaction to it, or when I see the mother put her new baby to breast for the first time. I cry EVERY time without fail. I have never been such a sap before but, then again, I've never been pregnant before either! Yeah, everyone says it's due to the raging pregnancy hormones, which I believe, but I think it's more than that. I think it's God preparing me to become a Mother by giving me that sensitivity toward the little one about to enter our world and change it drastically - forever! Having such a huge change would not be nearly as enjoyable or tolerable if you did not love that baby with every fiber of your being. I think THAT is what is happening, and I think it's wonderful.

I also love being able to share my thoughts via this blog without having to justify anything I say! So maybe THAT is why people become writers!?! They just need a safe outlet to share their many thoughts/opinions/decisions/research/etc. with the world and not have to listen to people's responses. What a great idea! It is rather liberating when you think about it like that. I do, of course, welcome any comments from my posts, so please feel free to leave comments on this site!

One last thing: our house is NOT ready for baby girl's arrival just yet...we still have to lay hardwood in the nursery; assemble the crib, dresser, and changing table; put all the wonderful clothes we've received away (which can't happen until the dresser is in place); lay new carpet in the living room; and buy a new couch, chair, dining room table, and chairs. It seems like a daunting task, and if we don't get to the carpet and new furniture before she arrives, it will be totally okay. These are just the goals we have made for ourselves. Goals are healthy and they propel us into action, right?

So that's the latest update on our lives as of today. Thank you for reading about it and thank you for caring about us and praying for us. We need each of you, and we really love having you in our lives! 9 weeks to go...and counting. :-)

Babymoon...finally!

I just returned from a blissful three days in...Las Vegas! One might wonder, how is Las Vegas blissful? Well, for a woman who is seven months pregnant who lounged by the pool during the day and ate at nice restaurants during the evenings, that's how it was blissful!! Michael attended a VMWare conference this week and invited me to tag along and keep him company in the evenings. At first, I wondered if I would have any fun but the minute I realized that Las Vegas is in the desert with 90 to 100 degree weather this time of year, I realized I'd be a fool not to take him up on his offer! I immediately started daydreaming of slathering SPF 30 across my big belly and lapping up every minute of that desert weather that I could handle! The pool was HUGE, and I swam laps and did tumbles in the water and it all felt SO good to me and PJ. I do believe water exercise has been an essential element in my pregnancy that I have been sorely missing. I just do not have a swimming pool at my disposal in good ol' Nashville, so I was happy to oblige myself in the Balley's Casino pool and sunshine.

On Monday night, I actually won $10 at the slots, and then we went to the top of Mandalay Bay Hotel into the VIP Foundation Room to see the most exquisite view of the strip...

And then we saw the Cirque de Soliel show, KA, on Tuesday evening. Our seats were right in the middle of the stage midway back - Michael spared no expense on that purchase!

Coming back to work today was not easy, however. The time change really got to me since I arrived at 12:30am CST to Nashville last night. I have been a zombie all day today but man, it was SO worth it! So I'm quite thankful to my precious husband who thought to invite me along on his work trip and allow me to enjoy pure indulgence just one last time before Baby Ghaffari enters our world and changes it forever - for the better!

Our trip to Italy earlier this year was wonderful yet very exhausting. I'm so happy to say that our trip to Vegas, however, was truly a "babymoon" getaway that allowed me to rest, relax, and read to my heart's content! Now on to the business of becoming a mother...stay tuned!

A Special Memory

When Mother was still with us back in February of this year, I was alone with her one morning. I was doing her hair and makeup for the day, and we were having a nice mother/daughter chat. Michael and I had decided to go off birth control, and I STRONGLY felt like I should tell my Mother. I didn’t want to tell anyone else, but I decided to tell her. I'm not kidding, it was like I had told her we were already pregnant!! She ooh’d and awe’d and got all excited! She started asking about the colors of the baby’s room and she said, "Well, you know I DO things when babies are on the way." She shared different ideas with me about making a blanket or crocheting little toys, etc. (She was big into crocheting since she was hoping to pick up the hobby again to help her pass her days at home.) I told her that nobody else knew and that it was our little secret!

So in a way, I did get to tell her about our pregnancy…it just hadn’t quite commenced yet. Now that I retell this story, I realize what a blessing that special moment between us really was. I thank God for allowing me the opportunity to share our decision to have a baby with her even though we were not pregnant yet. But to her, it had already happened so, in a way, she got to celebrate with us after all.

DMS Test

I had the lovely privilege of drinking some awfully sweet, orange flavored cocktail this morning before my gestational diabetes test. They said that they would only call me if I tested positive for it. It has been over three hours and I still haven't heard from them yet. I wasn't too worried about it, honestly, but it's still nice to hear the confirmation verbally.

Something that I wasn't aware of that interested me is that I had to get a RhoGAM shot today because my blood type is O negative. If the baby's blood type is positive, and if it interacts with my blood type at any time, it could mean serious problems! So they gave me a shot today to basically neutralize my blood type IF it were to mix with the baby's. I will get another shot after delivery. I'm not worried about it but I found it interesting that I needed that shot in the first place. Oh the joys and discoveries of pregnancy! For more info, read about it at: http://www.rhogam.com/

I am looking forward to my first baby shower in Missouri next weekend! It just solidifies little baby Payton's impending arrival into our world by sharing and celebrating with special friends and family members. It should be a good time!

Braxton Hicks...who knew?

Just two days ago, it was a beautiful Monday morning, and I excitedly took our precious pup, Maya, out for her morning walk. The cool, crisp air exhilarated me, and I felt like a million bucks! Not only that, it was my day off, which always gives me a crazy high since I get the whole day to myself to do whatever I need and/or WANT to do. Who doesn't love that?

I felt so good, I decided to jog for a few feet but soon after had to stop as Maya needed to do her "business." We briskly walked around the neighborhood with an occasional jog in between only for a few feet. Now, mind you, I am not a jogger usually but I just felt strong and happy and wanted to bounce around if only for a brief moment or two. After about 20 minutes of high intensity, heart rate increasing walking, my tummy started to tighten. It did not hurt but I could tell it was very, very firm and somewhat uncomfortable. I slowed my pace for the last ten minutes and finished the walk home. I did not really think too much of it since I immediately started stretching to cool down and drank at least 24 oz. of water.

About one hour later, I decided I needed to thoroughly vacuum and dust my hardwood floors in the bedroom, kitchen, dining room, foyer, and hallway as well as vacuum the carpet in the living room and the tile in the two bathrooms. First, I used the Swiffer Vac (which is pretty awesome for quick jobs) but decided I need the stronger vacuum cleaner to do a more thorough job. So I basically cleaned all of that surface area - TWICE. The whole intent was to mop and shine the hardwood but I could not do that until I cleaned them first (but of course). After cleaning and leaning, bending and twisting, sitting and squatting, for about 1.5 hours, guess what happened? My tummy tightened up again and made me stop completely! I was SO frustrated because I still needed to MOP everything (the whole purpose for the entire project). But alas, Baby G had other things in mind. I had to relegate myself to the fact that my body was tired and needed to slow down.

Needless to say, I experienced my first real Braxton Hicks contractions twice that day! I've read all about it and it's nothing to be concerned about unless it happens more than four times in one hour and if one feels pressure really low - neither of which applied to me. BUT I did learn that I hate having to stop mid-project! It's just going to take a little longer to accomplish these household tasks when I'm pregnant. Either that, or Mr. Michael will have to pitch in more often!

I did get the floors mopped the very next day, by the way. A clean floor makes me happy, and the shining hardwood was very gratifying. :-)

What's in a name?

Today is August 1, 2008. I cannot believe we are now 22 weeks pregnant - more than halfway through the pregnancy! I have been feeling baby G wiggle and squirm around every day now since her first kick just this past Sunday. It's unbelievable how quickly things are changing inside my body. I'm overwhelmed by the miracle of it all!

I've had a few people asking us about baby G's name, so I wanted to share with you all the reason behind the name we've chosen for our baby girl. We have always known that our first child's name would be my maiden name, Payton. Since the Lord is blessing us with a girl whose arrival comes during an otherwise sad and difficult year, she has been a true gift of joy not only to me and Michael, but also to my whole family. Her birth just nine short months after my Mother's death symbolizes God's grace and love to us, His children. It is the cycle of life, and I am so blessed that MY baby is the one to come into this world on the heels of her Grammy's life. Therefore, we are naming her Payton Joy Ghaffari!