Well, this week at work was extremely stressful though I didn’t actually feel that stressed I was in several high-stress situations. I am glad it’s the weekend and I can relax!

Yesterday I had an appt with the pain mgmt dr- she still thinks it’s ligament pain and will go away. Josh and I decided I have to stay off my feet as much as possible now so everything I do is limited. Unfortunately, that’s all that will help my back. I did not want any of the medicine they offered me…they didn’t know the side effects in pregnant women and I would feel awful if something happened even if I would never know that the drug caused the problems. After work we met David, Lydia and their friend Jerry to go to Chipotle and see Where the Wild Things Are. It was an ok movie, little one liked it at first then took a nap- he is like his mommy, sleeping through movies already:-) Ha…

Josh tried to go get me donuts last night at 11:30 because they sounded really yummy, DD had a total of 2 donuts available so that was a bust. But at least he tried to go out for me- I wish every woman, especially every pregnant woman had someone taking care of them like I do. I do not know why God has blessed me so much.

Speaking of blessings, yesterday Josh’s tire got bent in on the Stratus. No idea how it happened but thankfully it happened in his garage at work and not when he was on the highway. What if he would have lost a tire? Oh my, I am just thankful he is ok and that we have an extra car so we aren’t stressed with how one of us will get to work each day. Thank you Lord…seriously

So lots has happened these past few weeks. I found out mid Sept that I was promoted to the OPDL position. Very excited about the change but the transition hasn’t started yet. Hopefully, it will start soon! It is a promotion, but only a small promotion, still the extra $$ is going to pay for house cleaning so I can spend more time with my little man after he’s here. I do not get to work from home on Mondays anymore which was a sacrifice for me so hopefully not having to do as much housework will make up for that.

Josh and I went on a mini-vacation at the end of September. We went to Gatlinburg, TN. One of my favorite places and Josh likes it alright too. On Friday night (we got in around 4 PM) we went to Carinos and did some outlet shopping. We didn’t get a whole lot though because the tax rate down there is too outrageous. We went back to the cabin that evening and relaxed in the hot tub (turned down to 95 degrees so no worries people). On Saturday, we went to a Pancake house in Gburg and tried to see the mountainous views but it was too rainy:( We turned around at the NC/TN state line. We spent a little bit of time shopping in downtown Gburg, had Ben and Jerry’s and I was freezing. I had my shirt, a sweatshirt, jacket and poncho on and was still cold INSIDE the mall. I blame that on being pregnant. Joshie was supportive though, the jacket was his. After shopping for a bit, we went back to our cabin to relax. I took a nap and Josh watched the Matrix. We had tickets to the Hoot and Holler Show that night at Wonderworks. The show was very similar to the show we had seen 3 years earlier but we liked it nonetheless. We stopped at Kripee Kream before retreating back to the cabin for the night. We spent a little more time in the hot tub, drank non-alcoholic champagne and called it a night. Sunday we left- I got sick in the AM which was not fut an all but managed to drive part of the way home for Joshie anyway. We had a good time, cabin wasn’t as great as our honeymoon cabin but I always enjoy weekends away together!

Pregnancy and Healthwise things are going well and not so well. Baby Panda is completely healthy, progressing normally, I’m the right size, etc etc. So that is what matters the most- that he is 100% as healthy as can be. I on the other hand started battling nausea again and my back pain is returning and is worse than before. Last weekend (Oct 3-4) I was in a lot of pain when I tried to sleep. I cleaned our bedroom and being on my feet/moving.bending was terrible. I had shooting pain in my back, hip, and right leg. I also had a lot of pressure in my knee, calf and ankle…so I have an appt with my pain mgmt dr next week. The only thing that seems to prevent the back pain is doing absolutely nothing after work and on the weekends. I can’t be up moving about, cleaning, working on the nursery, etc. That is extremely hard on me, I have the energy (for now) and motivation and can’t do it! My mom has been helping with some cleaning and laundry so that has been a tremendous help! Hopefully, continuing to take it easy will keep my back pain in check and the house won’t look too awful.

Yesterday we had our child birth class and infant nutrition class. Very good stuff…I need to practice my relaxation and breathing techniques and remember all of the good exercises they showed us:-) I really hope I don’t go into back labor…that sounded awful. I was also surprised that the class seemed biased against an epidural but they didn’t really have an official opinion.

On Friday, I met Darren Clem. What a sweet sweet baby!! Holding him made me want my little boy here even sooner, I loved getting to hold him as he “slept”. That was the noisiest sleep I’d ever heard from a baby but it was all precious baby noises. I helped change his diaper and managed not to get peed on (as is the typical concern with little boy diaper changes) but right as I’m pulling the diaper underneath him he manages to projectile poo in my direction. It was hilarious and gross but I guess it makes sense that Bryan’s kid would poo on me. Haha…oh well it was really good practice for baby panda.