 |
Methodist Mommies
It's been awhile since I posted, let's see if I can get you caught up... At 28 weeks I took my glucose test and FAILED! I had to go back at 29 weeks and take the 3 hour test! It wasn't awful just boring. I took my laptop and watched movies in the waiting rooms between blood draws. I ended up passing and actually figured out that I had failed the first one because I had eaten a big ole cinnamon roll in bed the night before! Oops!!! We also attended the Mind over Body class offered by Methodist Germantown. We were one of 4 couples and the only ones who had experienced labor/delivery before. I have to say I don't envy those first time moms. It was so overwhelming when I had our first baby. I had so many expectations of how I thought it was going to be. Then ended up with a c section after a day of labor and then was unable breastfeed. It was pretty disappointing but becoming a mom was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. With my 2nd and 3rd pregnancies I relaxed and educated myself a little better and ended up without a c section on either. I bottlefed all 3 of my babies and they have all been healthy and happy. I may try to breastfeed this time around, actually I'm thinking of pumping. I have always had plenty of milk supply, just not good "dispensers" :) Back 14 years ago when I had my first baby, everyone was so hung up on breastmilk only, now it seems that supplementing is acceptable. I have learned to go with the flow and I will not stress over it. I'm going to enjoy my new baby and cherish every second no matter how he is being fed. At 31 weeks we had the 4D ultrasound done. Baby Jude did not cooperate fully. He kept putting his arm over his face and soemhow managed to have his foot covering his eye. We did get a couple of cute pictures of his face after I had to roll on my side and we shook my belly until he finally moved a little. I will have another ultrasound at 37 weeks to check his weight. Our last baby weighed 8lbs 15oz at when he was born at 38 weeks! Well I guess you are up to speed! Happy New Year! Posted by Ashleigh Parker | Comments[0]
I can remember a time not-so-long-ago when I was such a hottie that guys would holler at me "woo-ooo" when I would walk by. These days men and women do it; and it's not because I am a hottie...it's because I am a hugely pregnant woman! Seriously. Even the woman at the Chic-fil-a drive thru today had to let out a "woo-ooo" when I pulled up to the window to get my lunch. Yesterday a man sitting in the lobby of a building I walked thru exclaimed "twins!" as I passed. No, it's not twins. It's just one big baby. Maybe it's because I am short that my belly looks so big. Or maybe it's because I am going to have a GIANT BABY!!! I don't mind the comments. I love them, actually. In my first trimester I kept pulling my shirt up and leaning back a little and asking my husband, "Can you see my tummy?" I could not wait to start showing! In my second trimester I was sure to wear fitted shirts so everyone could see my baby bump. I was so proud! Now there is no doubt I am large with child - or that I am with large child! Too bad I can not post a picture of myself...then you all could exclaim "woo-ooo!". Posted by Cindy Cranford | Comments[0]
Tomorrow is my baby shower! I am very excited to see all my friends and family and to get such a huge head start on all the things I’ll need when Lola comes. My Mom and sister are throwing the party and they have been preparing for weeks. It should be awesome. I have never liked shower games. They are so cheesy to me. So instead we will be serving wine and fuzzy navels! That should loosen up my guests! No, I will not partake of the alcohol. But I am drunk on happiness right now, so I’ll enjoy watching my guests enjoy themselves. As far as what is happening with my pregnant body right now: I am almost to week 31. I have gained about 28 pounds. Up until now, my belly button has stayed in. But as my niece Maddy pointed out, “Aunt Cindy! Your belly button is GONE!!” Today, however, after trying to freak out a good friend of the family by flashing my belly to him, he noticed that my navel has begun to pooch. I hate that! I really hoped my “inny” would stay in! But apparently it is going to pop like a turkey timer! Too bad it doesn’t mean my bun is done - still about 9 more weeks to go. Also happening with my pregnant body: I got my first experience with leaky boobs! I know you might think this would also bother me, but it doesn’t. It makes me happy to know that my body is doing what it should to make a healthy baby! This feels weird talking about, but this is a website for expectant moms, so I should be able to discuss anything related…right? Right! I also had a 4D ultrasound done about a week ago. AMAZING. The pictures are so cool and it really helped me bond with little Lola. I did have a bad experience during the ultrasound. It seems sometimes pregnant ladies who lay on their backs too long can actually get light headed and sometimes pass out due to so much pressure on a nerve in the spine. I didn’t pass out, but I almost did. An awful feeling, but the nurse, my mom and sister helped roll me on my side, applied an ice pack to my neck and then I was fine. Kinda scary, but ended up being no big deal. And the pictures and dvd are amazing! I am really enjoying being pregnant. I am so excited about Lola’s arrival. I am truly blessed. Posted by Cindy Cranford | Comments[0]
This weekend, my friends hosted a baby shower for me. It was such a wonderful day and having so many people there celebrating the upcoming arrival of baby Jude made it so special. We got so many nice things. My daughter came to the shower with me, but my husband and boys were left to wait for us to bring the goodies home. Our 9yr old son has been so helpful with putting everything together. He helped us assemble the crib and last night he put the swing together pretty much by himself. I read the instructions and he did the work. I was really impressed. After being the baby in the family for the last 9 years, he is really getting into this big brother role. He has even decided that Jude needed a nickname. After much deliberation, he has finally decided on Lil J. He has clarified that there are no t's, just "L-I-L J". I guess it could be worse....Skeeter, Bubba, Hoss.... I had a doctor's appointment last week and I'm feeling really good for 27 weeks. I just get tired in the afternoon, but usually after a 30 minute power nap I'm recharged and ready to go again. I go back to the Dr in a week for glucose testing. We have the 3-D ultrasound scheduled for the week of Christmas so that all the kids can go. We are all excited! I find myself daydreaming about what he looks like. I can't wait for the day that he is born and handed to me, so that I can look into his little face. What a sweet day to look forward to:) This Thanksgiving, I have so much to be thankful for: a wonderful husband, our children, a healthy pregnancy, our family, friends and church family that are all so happy for us. I'm so thankful for all these blessings that God has given me. God is good all the time, all the time God is SO good! Happy Thanksgiving! Ashleigh Posted by Ashleigh Parker | Comments[2]
The first three months of my pregnancy I felt terrible. I was extremely tired and nauseas. I never threw up, but many friends told me I might have felt better if I did! At first, I thought my prenatal vitamins might have been making me feel so yucky. I discussed this with Dr. Aycock at Methodist Germantown. I just LOVE my doctor! He gave me a big bag of different prenatal vitamin samples. He instructed me to try different ones until I found the one I liked best. I settled on Neevo DHA. Looking back, I don’t really think it was the vitamins making me feel puny as much as the raging hormones I experienced. From what I have learned, it is completely normal to feel bad the first three months. The body undergoes major changes in hormones. It is trying to build a healthy placenta for the baby and it is hard on Mommy’s body. Plus, I wasn’t showing very much so even though I felt pregnant, I didn’t look pregnant. I wanted my belly to show! It would be like my trophy. The next three months - the second trimester, I felt great. I had plenty of energy. My appetite was good. And my belly began to really develop so people KNEW I was pregnant just by looking at me. I loved that! I was far enough along by then to start SHOPPING! I found that Babytime on Trinity Road in Cordova was the BEST place to select my crib set and other nursery decorations. They have the best prices, selection and quality of anywhere else in Memphis. I chose lavender as my nursery color – because pink is just so…pink! I read in the book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” that the last three months I might return to feeling not-so-good. As I am entering my 3rd trimester now, I realize the book was correct. I am having acid reflux and fatigue. My “trophy” belly is huge for all to see, but it is surely uncomfortable. But I still feel better than I did my first trimester. And after all I went through waiting so long to get pregnant, I can’t complain, really! I am just glad to have my sweet daughter on the way. I will be glad to have her out of my uterus and into my arms! About my doctor: I love Dr. Aycock and the facilities at Methodist Germantown. I switched to Methodist Germantown from Baptist East when I became pregnant. It is more convenient and less crowded. The staff is very friendly and caring. I drive an hour from East Fayette County to get to my doctor, so I want it to be a pleasant experience when I get there. I am also very excited about the new facilities they are currently building and I cannot wait for my tour. I am due February 13 and the new building should be finished in January…perfect timing! I am looking forward to sharing my experience at the new Methodist Germantown facilities on this blog. More later! Posted by Cindy Cranford | Comments[0]
Over the past 6 months of my pregnancy, I have become aware of many “rules” governing the expected behavior of a pregnant woman. The first one was “don’t tell anyone you’re pregnant until after the first 3 months or 12 weeks”. I’m not a rule-breaker by nature, but I am also not one to follow along just because that is how everyone else does it. I shared my news with close family and friends immediately. Some of them even said, “Cindy, it’s too soon.” I know the risk of divulging my secret too soon. If something goes wrong, then I have to tell everyone the bad news…that I lost the pregnancy. But the way I feel about it is this: if something that painful happens to me I will need my friends and family. I will need them to know about my loss so I can have their love and support. Furthermore, the joy they have shared with me in finding out about our miracle baby that is on the way has multiplied the blessing so many times over. Every loved one and friend who finds out is so elated for us and begins to include us in their prayers for a happy, healthy baby. This is a really good thing. We are all sharing in the happiness of this blessed event. If things go wrong, my people will be there to console me and pray for my strength and healing. I kept my whole failed in vitro experience to myself for so long. It was eating me up inside. It wasn’t until I opened up and wrote about it and then shared it that the healing and understanding began. I gained so much love and support by opening up to people. It saved me. Here I am in my 26th week of a perfectly normal pregnancy with a beautiful, healthy, baby girl on the way. I am so glad I shared the news with my people when I did. Good or bad, I need them. I need their love and understanding. And that is exactly what they have given me. To my friends and family – thank you and much, much love to you all. Posted by Cindy Cranford | Comments[0]
Since this is my first blog entry, I guess I need to introduce myself....I'm Ashleigh, a mom of 3 with another on the way. I'm almost 25 weeks pregnant and I'm feeling really good. I feel very blessed to get another chance to do this whole baby thing again! We found out that we are having a boy. His name is Jude. Even though I have done this three times already, I am cherishing the pregnancy so much more. I know it will be my last so I am enjoying every minute of it. I absolutely cannot wait to see what he looks like and hear him cry for the first time. Our other 3 kids are so excited. The boys can't wait to teach him everything he needs to know and our daughter is just as excited! It's been almost 10 years since I had my last baby, so lots of things have changed. There are so many new baby things out now that they didn't have with my first three. I went to register this week and discovered that they now make pacifier wipes....what a great idea! I have wiped many a paci off on my shirt or stuck it in my own mouth or drink to rinse it off. I sure wish I had thought of it....Also, the strollers are SO much lighter than they used to be. I think I remember having a stroller that weighed like 30 lbs ....I just registered for one that weighs only 9lbs! Amazing.... Posted by Ashleigh Parker | Comments[0]
So, I wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant. But here I am entering my 26th week of pregnancy. Miracles do happen. Writing my play, JACK, was a great way to share my experiences as an infertile woman with the world. It literally healed me. Now I expect writing about my pregnancy for this blog will only further enrich my already rich experience as a pregnant lady. My husband Tim and I had quit trying to conceive over 2 years ago. I had even stopped keeping up with the exact dates of my cycles. I had learned that once I got toward the middle of the month if my period had not started, that I was probably late. I just KNEW I wasn't late because I was PREGNANT! I was certain that, after multiple failed attempts at conception including clomid, IUI and even a failed in vitro, that late periods did NOT mean I had conceived. I had a fool-proof way of getting my late periods to start: either wear white pants or pee on a pregnancy test stick. One or both of those would always get my period started within 24 hours. So, it was 10 o'clock at night, middle of the month and no period yet. I decided to pee on a stick. I have peed on hundreds of sticks. Never got 2 lines...never. So I did it. I waited. Then it happened. TWO lines appeared on the stick. I rubbed my eyes. I re-read the instruction pamphlet. I hesitated to get Tim involved. But evidentally I had done something wrong because I had 2 lines! I exited the bathroom and beckoned Tim. All I could say was, "I just got a positive result on a pregnancy test!" Couldn't say, "I'm pregnant" because I just figured the test was wrong. Tim re-read the instructions for me to make sure I had not done something incorrectly. Like the instructions are that complicated - "pee on stick, read results". We were both very confused at this development and the next day rushed to the doctor to have a "real" pregnancy test performed. And the results were the same...POSITIVE! After 8 years of failed attempts at conception, this was such a shock to us. A happy, blessed, shock. Posted by Cindy Cranford | Comments[4] |
Methodist Healthcare is an integrated health care delivery system, dedicated to the art of healing through our faith-based commitment to minister to the whole person.
1211 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38104 • (901) 516-7000
