The Video...

Yes, quite interesting. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but it was not exactly pleasing. The main reason for this is knowing that Mallie and I will be going through that soon. Mallie is a strong person, stronger than she may think she is. It will be a test of wills though. The question is will I act "calm and in control," like the teacher says the birthing partner must be? I can see me running around like a wild maniac. Screaming, "Just relax Mallie. You have to relax!" Let's hope that I can be as strong as my wife during this time.

Well, the video was pretty good... I was a little surprised that the mother in the video was completely naked! I plan on having at least the top part of my body covered.... I would like to wear really long socks too, or leg warmers. But for sure I am going to wear a sports bra and hospital gown! For some reason, I just do not want to be totally naked, it probably does not even matter once you are there, but I am a shy, type of girl...

I can not believe today is Feb 29. I was thinking how interesting it would be to have the 29th as your birthday... Your song could be Forever Young. Technically. I really can not believe that tomorrow is March 1st. How 2008 is flying by.

Michael is having knee surgery today, so hopefully everything goes well with that. My mom is going to go and babysit Charlie b/c he has strep throat... :(
Happy Friday to everyone... TGIF.

Well, my wedding rings (and all other rings) no longer fit. I got a new wedding band yesterday that Brandon picked out, and I love it! I am hoping that I do not outgrow it too.

Tonight we have childbirth class #2. #2 is the video. I am nervous about Brandon watching this, I think that he will turn red and look away. I guess I can not blame him, it will probably be pretty intense.

I am looking forward to some friends coming this weekend from out of town for my baby shower. I am looking forward to being with the friends that live here too. It should be a nice time.

Gates's Room... All finished!

I think we are totally done with our baby's room! Some sales woman said to me today, "I bet you are having a boy!" I said, "No, actually it is a girl." I am not having the best of luck with salespeople lately, but at least she did not make fun of the name Gates. So I love the nursery and am really hoping that the 1% chance I am having a boy, does not come about! If I do have a boy, I hope he likes pink!!!! Without further ado....

these balls are over the changing pad. this is a closeup, and below is an outshot... it looks pretty stimulating and magical, we thought that Gates would really love to look up at it when getting her diaper changed! (44 glass balls) :)
Chair, and on the wall is a plate with a frog prince on it.

These letters are above the bookshelf... The bunny is a music box!

Thanks Steve for the idea of putting the shades on the lights, it really softened it up.... as always, Steve was right....
Thanks also, to Steve and Mark, they gave this AWESOME picture to little Gates, and I know she will love it!!!!
Mirror belonged to my great-grandmother, was in my nursery and Brandon refinished it and it will be 5th generation.... notice the bottom....
I hope she is not an albino, because I will feel bad for putting these words on the mirror... (no offense to any albinos out there)

A day in Paris

Today my mother and I went to Paris to visit my grandfather. In addition to seeing him, there was a birthday party for my great aunt. It was a nice family kind of day, as my mom ran into 5 of her first cousins, some of which she had not seen in my entire lifetime!! Soft Hair was doing better and is, again, over pnemonia. My great aunt is in the nursing home after having a stroke in December. She is not doing very well, but everyone is keeping her company and trying to keep her comfortable. Keep her in your prayers, as well as her husband. As my Soft Hair said, he is just lost. I can not even imagine being married to someone for so many years, and having them suddenly fall ill, quite ill. Lost seems to be the best word to describe what he must be feeling. I think that must be how Soft Hair felt when my grandmother died too.

another funny story

Another funny story that might be helpful to any man that is planning on EVER being in any sort of operating room....
Apparently when you have a c-section, the "support person" is given a white zip up outfit to wear in the operating room. So, the nurse handed the daddy the WHITE zip up outfit to put on before he joined his wife. It was a sudden c-section, so I guess things must have been a bit rushed. All the nurses and doctors and everyone was in the operating room, and in comes daddy!!! He was naked underneath the WHITE, see thru, zip up outfit!!!! Apparently, everyone was quite distracted and it made the task at hand a bit more difficult. Soooo, if you are a "support person" and ever handed an outfit such as this, please put it on OVER your clothes!!!! I wish, really wish, I had a picture to post along with the story!!!

I love my support person.

Well, last night we had our very first childbirth class! It was very comforting to know hear some of the other soon-to-be mothers and their stories! I was comforted to know there are other moms that are still throwing up! I had completely stopped during the 2nd trimester, but that lovely feeling has returned, and possibly it is worse... It probably is not worse, but it feels worse....
The class was really neat, and we learned some interesting breathing tricks. The teacher was funny and really stressed what an important role the "support person" has! He has to make sure that the lady is relaxed and feeling good. Brandon looked a little nervous when she was explaining some of the labor signs and symptoms!
We had to go around the room and say what the best part of being pregnant was and what was the worst part. For me, the worst part is being sick and uncomfortable. The best part is that we are going to have a baby, and people are extra nice to me!! Brandon almost made me cry right there in front of everyone... His best part is the change that has come over me the last 7 months and how happy I have been.. (really I did not know I appeared all that happy :) ) His worst part is daily ice cream runs, and daily back rubs. The teacher told him that he would have a head start with all that practice and that would ease the labor. He said, what the ice cream???? badabing Brandon! always the jokester.

Today, I went to the doctor. I am 32 weeks pregnant, and everything looks good. My blood pressure was higher than ever before, but it is still normal. I think we have decided on a pediatrician and now all I need is some sort of nanny... Any nannys out there???

From the Dad!

Well, the dad gets to chime in every now and then…right? I've been amazed at the transformation Mallie has gone through. You always hear of "the glow" that an expecting mother has. Having witness it, I can say that it is true. Another thing you hear a lot of…mood swings. My response to that is, "Just live with Brandon Oakley". I'm sure you will end up with some mood swings of your own! While we're on the subject, how about cravings? If she likes (by likes I mean LOVES) ice cream, does it make it a craving when she's pregnant? Let's just say that I wish we would have bought stock in Blue Bell.

Tomorrow marks yet another milestone. Yes, it's time for child birthing class. Wasn't this called Lamaze class back in the day? All I know is anything that involves a pillow and a blanket should be called naptime. Some of the fathers around the office are saying the videos are pretty horrific. Great. It's already stressful enough. Worrying about the money and time and the overall question…am I good enough for this precious gift?
Oh yes, don't forget to take a look at the lunar eclipse tonight!

Waiting in anticipation

I am waiting, and anticipating all sorts of things about Gates. I can not wait to meet her and hold her and see what she is all about. I think that there is another member of our little family that is anxious about her arrival as well.

This is our dog, (1 of 2) Scrabble. Every second she gets, she goes in the baby's room and checks it out. I hope she is just sniffing around and getting familiar, and not urinating and marking her territory! It does seem to me that she knows something is going on. She acts so funny whenever we go in that room. The other dog, Duncan, is less anxious. I think he is going to really do well with the baby, and I pray everyday that Gates is already used to his loud, loud bark!

8 years of pure joy..... HA

I hope everyone had a GREAT Valentine's Day! I sure do miss the days of making a little bag/box and delivering valentines to people! I hope they still do that today. Do they? Is this wonderful little holiday still around in our schools? Or is it like Halloween? Two of my favorite things as a kid were trick-or-treating, and then the Valentine party at school!!!!

I returned to work yesterday(after being sick), and yesterday marked my 8th year anniversary with American Airlines. I got to see my friend and former roommate at the airport and it was our anniversary as friends too! We lived together in a little, messy, hotel room for 6 1/2 weeks during F/A training, and then we went off to Boston!!! She is now in LA with the famous people, and I am in Dallas with the Texans..... Texans are much less crazy! It seems like those 8 years went by fast. I can not believe all of the experiences that I have had over the last 8 years that I never would have had if I never became a flight attendant. I always see these f/as that have been flying for 35 or 40 years and wonder how (or why) they still fly..... They probably feel like that time has flown by too, I guess!!!!!

so many medicines

Today, I am feeling much better! I am still congested, but no more fever. It is so funny being sick and pregnant. I am NOT one of those people that is careful and all cautious about the medication that I take. I mean, if I have a headache, I take pills. I do not suffer b/c my body is a temple and should not have medicines in it. This go around, I do feel as if I need to be more careful and not take quite as many things as I normally would. I guess that was not apparent to Brandon. He is such a nice, sweet, husband. I took some tylenol sinus (appoved by my doc), and then some robitussin (also approved)... and then I HAD to take some afrin nosespray. I explained to him that although my doctor did not permit Afrin, Amy's bf, Alison, (who is a gyno) said it was ok. Also, the internet, and Jenny (as good a source as the internet) seemed to think this was just fine, and since it would bring me instant relief, I was doing it!
Basically, he looked at me all cute and sweet and told me to just be careful, that I did not need to do anything... brace yourself here, this is very unPC..... heath ledger like.
I feel sad about Heath's death, but it is a good example of responsible medicinal use....

Beware

Well, yesterday I got to feeling bad. At first, I thought I was just having some sort of allergy/asthma attack b/c a dust storm was coming. The dust storm never came and now I am sick. I was just bragging, how my vitamins kept me so well, when Brandon had the flu. I guess I will just become one with my bed and hopefully feel better in a couple of days!
I did watch a good hallmark movie and have 3 more lifetime's recorded.

Showered with Love!

Barbara, Sandy, Mom, and Leta!

Yesterday was my first ever baby shower! Three of my mom's wonderful friends hosted a lovely shower for me and my baby. I am a big believer in celebrating people's special times and sharing important milestones with your friends. I must say that after yesterday I felt so loved and so lucky to have so many people in my life to share such milestones. As any mom (or pregnant lady) will say, these are such emotional times and we will take all of the support we can get!!!

I love hearing the stories of the new moms and the advice that they can offer. Jenny and Katie (both new moms) told me that when someone brags about how great something is.... They are not telling the truth!!!!! This is in reference to these seemingly perfect moms that have seemingly perfect little infants (you know who you are, and your cover is blown!!!) The other piece of information that they passed along, is that I just need to expect the first 3 months to be tough. So, I am preparing, as best I can, for the baby's arrival and trying not to get too overwhelmed. Now, this is hard for me and I have already cried 2 times today, but I am making more of an effort to NOT freak out....

Mallie and Jenny, This is a very good person to have in your corner on the mommy front.

Holly and Mallie, Thanks for the little blanket!!!

growing, growing, growing....

Well, my dear friend Jenny, suggested I put my pregnancy progress photos on my new blog, so here I go.... Just so you know, I only have months 3-6. I am 7 months and 1 week pregnant as I sit here, but have yet to take a picture. Something about my face looking like a puffed up version of itself, is preventing me from smiling.. :)

Nursery

Brandon and I have been so busy and having so much fun working on Gates's room! We think that she is really going to love it as much as we do!! I guess there really is something to this "nesting" thing for pregnant ladies, as it does make everything seem so real and near...
I wonder why "nesting" in her room is so much more fun than "nesting" my kitchen or bathroom!!!!! :)