8 Months

Well, a lot has happened recently. I don't exactly know where to start! It involves a surprise baby shower, taking time off work, high blood pressure, a trip to the hospital and bed rest! Like I said, it's been pretty eventful. Let me start with the fun stuff:

I have some of the best co-workers ever right now. No lie. Think about it. I have been pregnant the entire time that I have been working at the Fidelity branch in Sacramento. They don't know fun, easy going, helpful Lindsey. They know grumpy, moody, sick, swollen, tired Lindsey. Somehow, they still found a reason to love me and for that, I am grateful. Rachael, one of the best co-workers ever, told me that the "Girls" in the office (there are only a few of us) wanted to take me out to dinner before I left on leave. I thought that was a super nice gesture. So we set a date in mid-January to go out to dinner after work. When I showed up at Chili's, I walk in and they are surrounded by gifts....baby gifts! That's right, these girls threw me a baby shower and they were not messing around. I was completely overwhelmed with everything they'd given me. It was a lot of fun, but I spent most of the time trying not to cry because I was so overwhelmed by their generosity!

Here is my car filled to the brim with gifts.

And here's a shot of everything, although the bags are still full of things! Huge boxes of diapers, a brand new stroller and car seat, bathtub, bouncer, diaper genie, clothes, wash clothes, pacifiers, a diaper bag, blankets, and enough clothes to dress this baby for a year! It was an incredible blessing!

The week after the shower, the doctor decided that it was time for me to stop working. I am SOOOOOOO grateful to not be working anymore. It was a huge stress on me physically and emotionally because it's such a fast-paced and high stress job. Monday was my first day off of work and I have to tell you that it's been pretty boring. I don't watch much TV and movies aren't my thing. I love to read but I have carpal tunnel because of the pregnancy so holding up a book makes my fingers numb. It's been pretty awesome. That brings me to: High Blood pressure! But first, here's a picture of me at 8 months!

I feel like a monster, but it's nice to know that this journey is almost over. Let's just pray I don't get much bigger!

Any way, on Tuesday I went to my weekly doctor's appointment. They took my blood pressure and said it was a little high. I had my appointment, and then they took it again to see if it had lowered. Now keep in mind that Jared usually comes to my appointments, but he had to work that day so I was by myself. Any way, they took it again and it was HIGHER! Like 160/100. Not good. So then they put me in a room, and make me lay in the dark for 15 minutes to try and get it down. It goes down enough that they feel safe letting me go home, but they tell me I have to come back on Thursday and have it tested again because they need to watch it. Needless to say, it was a little stressful. I try to take it easy, but anyone who knows me knows that I am not very good at just sitting still. Jared couldn't come to the appointment on Thursday either, so he had me call my mom to come with me, just in case there was a problem. I thought this was a complete waste of time. I knew that the blood pressure was just a fluke and I would go in Thursday and be just fine so it would be a waste for my mom to come with me. Jared prevailed and I called my mom to accompany me.

Boy am I glad that I did! I got there Thursday, no bag packed (positive thinking, right!?), and ready to take my blood pressure and go. No such luck. They took it and it was high. I sat down and rested in a room for a few minutes and they took it again. Now it was even higher. I started to cry. Never in a million years did I think that I would actually be admitted to the hospital and all of a sudden it hit me that they might induce me and I was NOT READY for this little boy. His room's not done, we haven't taken classes, we don't have anything packed, definitely not ready.

The doctor had me monitored for 6 hours with my blood pressure being taken every 10 minutes. It was stressful and that DID NOT help me get my blood pressure down. After a while it did go down and stay somewhat steady, but only when I was laying and completely sedentary. Even when I got up to use the bathroom or adjust myself, it was enough to drive my blood pressure back up. Thankfully, because it was low enough when I was laying down, they decided that a C-Section was not necessary and that I would be put on bed rest. Not confined to bed, or the hospital, THANK GOODNESS. Even though I wish I could be out doing lots of fun things with my couple of weeks off work before he comes, I am grateful that I do have that time to prepare myself emotionally for the entry of this little boy into our family.

Phew, how's that for a re-cap of what's been going on? I know it's long-winded, but I needed to get down how I have been feeling. Scared. Blessed. Grateful. Confused. Frustrated. Bored. All of the above! I just pray that this little boy will be safe and that I can keep my blood pressure low enough to not have to expedite his journey into this world!