Where do I start??

The shower was a blast over the weekend. It was so touching to be able to celebrate with so many wonderful women in my family and circle of real world friends. I wish that it could have lasted longer, though, as I did not get the chance to visit with everyone as much as I'd like to.

I got some great stuff. I got the Pack-n-Play which will be our crib until the house is finished. I received the travel system, diaper pail, tons of adorable little clothes, lots of bath stuff, and so much more. My mom is making a quilt for the baby. It's not quite finished yet, but she wrapped it as a "work in progress." It's beautiful, bright colored stars and moons. A friend of the family made a baby scrapbook for me. All I have to do is add the pictures and the journaling. It's beautiful. She has pages for all of the "firsts," plus some seasonal, and other fun ones. I can't wait to get started on that. My best friend gave me a charm bracelet. It's supposed to be for the baby, but it fits me for now. It has a moon and stars charm. She gave me a separate "Mom" charm, so I'll have to get myself my own charm bracelet.
_______

The trip home was a nightmare. It took me 12 hours from one airport to the other. I only spent 2 1/2 of those hours in the air. There was no reason for all of the delays. And the airline personnel didn't seem to give a damn. By the end of the day, I had swollen ankles, sore hips, back and tailbone, and I had a hormonal breakdown. I was so exhausted. I just sat in the Pittsburgh airport and cried. And they didn't give a damn.

I'm so glad that I won't be flying anywhere again for a long time. In fact, I may just start roadtripping it everywhere. It was painful.
_______

I met my new OB yesterday. I had my first appointment. Everything is good. My BP was a little high for me, but still within the normal limits. After my travel day Monday, I'm actually surprised that it wasn't higher. Anyway, I like the doctor a lot. His nurse is his wife, and she is hilarious. He's in a sole practice, so he delivers all the babies. He spent almost an hour with me, doing the basic exam and getting to know me. We reviewed my chart from my previous doc. Oh, he looks a lot like Rudolph Giuliani, which totally cracks me up. It will be weird to see Giuliani at the end of the table when I'm pushing!!

Oh, I have to do official "kick counts" now. Everyday at the same time, I have to lay down (sounds good, right) and see how long it takes for Charm to kick or move 10 times. I have to record everything on a chart to bring with me to my appointments. And if ever Charm doesn't kick 10 times in 2 hours, I should call immediately. I got worried about that, until I did the first count yesterday. It took 8 minutes! So I guess that I should be worried if it takes two hours!
_________

So all is well. Mom and Dad will be coming up in a couple of weeks with all of the shower gifts packed in their van. At that point, we'll set everything up in the apartment for Charm and make more runs out to buy the rest of the stuff that we need. I'm starting my list.

I'm still exhausted and feeling pretty miserable since the other day in the airport. I'm not sleeping well since my hips hurt. So I'm not doing much these days. It's taking longer to recover from the busy weekend than I thought it would. So I'm sitting around working on thank-you notes and I've started crocheting another baby blanket. I hope that I start feeling better soon. I have a lot to get done!!!