33 week growth scan

So today I had my 33 week growth scan and Lacee apparently really liked cupcakes because she has done some growing!!! She now weighs 3 pounds and 5 ounces and is actually measuring at the 11th percentile! This means she is above her curve a little and she gained 13 ounces in 2 weeks! She passed her BPP scoring perfect again!  In case you can't tell we are really happy about this growth.  The doctors were happy too.  Again I asked about delivery and the message is still the same.  If at 37 weeks Lacee is still measuring at 10th percentile or right there at it and all tests are still good then they will allow me to continue the pregnancy.  If she drops below 10th percentile significantly at any point between now and 39 weeks then they will deliver.  I will not go past 39 weeks though.  However that isn't a big deal because I am a repeat C-section so I was to deliver at 39 weeks anyways.  This means I will deliver anytime between 9/29 and 10/13!  Personally I want to make it to 38 weeks or further so I can deliver at Thomasville but if 37 weeks it is then we will deliver at Forsyth.  I got a copy of the growth curve again this time and I also got 5 more pictures which brings us to a grand total of 71 ultrasound pictures.  They even gave us another one confirming that she is indeed a she! I guess its a good thing it hasn't changed! LOL I am posting the 3D pictures they gave us.  She was moving a lot and had the cord in front of her face part of the time so she had a little trouble getting the best pics.  Personally I think you can tell she has gained and her face seems fuller!  

33 week Growth Curve!  As you can see her square is above the 10% line

33 weeks

33 weeks

Pinterest and UTI

I have a confession!  I am addicted to Pinterest.com! A link to my personal Pinterest site is in the "You gotta see these" section on the blog.  It is really cool so beware if you check it out because you might get addicted too!  I know some other friends who have also gotten addicted!

Also yesterday I thought I wasn't feeling good because of how busy I was at the shower on Saturday but then I just kept feeling worse and worse.  Today I still felt really bad and I was pretty sure what was going on but I had to make sure so I drank a bunch of water to see if it helped but it didn't so I called my OB and sure enough they wanted to see me.  And I was right ... UTI.  Dr. Ellis gave me a prescription to clear it up.  I was hoping to make it through this pregnancy with out one but I didn't.  I had one with Nisee which was pretty rough but I think I caught this one early!  This infection is really draining me on top of being pregnant.  I have been resting all evening thanks to my wonderful hubby for watching Nisee and I still feel like I could sleep for days!  Hopefully the meds will kick in and make me feel better tomorrow. 

Lacee's Baby Showers

 So I had awesome showers for Lacee!  My work had me a shower Friday and Saturday was the shower that my family and friends did. Now I did help out with my shower. I baked 3 kinds of cupcakes and made marshmallows dipped in chocolate. To some people this might be tedious but I love baking and working with chocolate so I just thought it was so fun and I got to try out a few new recipes.  Brittany did all the decorations for the shower and she did an awesome job!  My mom also made 2 kinds of cupcakes and Chads mom made mints and the cutest passy favors as well as the rest of the food!

Gifts from my work team!

Table Decorations by Brittany

Table Decorations by Brittany

Napkins!

Close up of center pieces

Tie-Dye Cupcakes by Me ... look for a post coming soon on how these are made

Another picture of Tie-Dye Cupcakes

Pinapple upside down cupcakes by My Mom

Pink Champagne Cupcakes ... recipe altered for sparking grape juice b/c of the whole pregnancy thing! I know alcohol will bake out but icing also called for it.

Closer up of Pink Champagne cupcakes and yes I decorated them as well!  They were a HUGE hit and they tasted great even with the grape juice instead!!

Key Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing by my Mom

French Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing by Me

Mints and passy mint favors by Chads Mom

Chocolate Dipped Marshmallow bouquet made by Me!

Food Table almost done

The Room

Name and Ultrasound Pics

Food Table All done!

Yummy!

Cupcakes

Present Table

Cupcake Washcloth Cake Brittany made!

Diaper Cake by My Sister Tara

Lacee got a lot of stuff over the past 2 days!

Left side

Right side

 Here is the link to the Pink Champagne Cupcake recipe:  Pink Champagne Cupcakes

Cedar Creek Campground and Hurricane Irene

Both my parents and my brother keep campers at Cedar Creek Campground which is the down of Sea Level, NC.  It is about an hour east of Morehead City where my sister lives on highway 70.

To give you an idea where it is at in relation to other areas

Closer up of the location of the town and you can see where the campground is exactly

So when Irene was slated to hit directly on the area they took off down there and they moved the campers inland a little ways but these campers are permanent campers so they aren't moved a lot and so they couldn't take them too far.  They did get them to higher ground and its a good thing they did.  Below are some pictures of the campground that one of my moms friends took.

Where boat landing was after water started receding

this is the steps of the store at the campground

This is the height of the water and yes that is the same fish cleaning station you just saw in the 1st picture

Road going into the campground

Water under the boat

same boat after the water went down

those are the owners houses in the back ground

More of the boating area

Just devastating

More flooding

My parents and brother got word today that the campers were not flooded but as for other damage they do not know.  They also heard that highway 70 is impassable because of trees, flooding damage, and down power lines.  So they don't know when they can get in to move the camper and see the damage.  My sister and Justin headed back to Morehead City today and they got word they will be with out power for up to a week!  My sister starts her new job as a nurse in a few weeks but in the meantime she was still waiting tables at the Channel Marker but due to damages it says closed until further notice.  My friend Brittany's husband Michael is a lineman for Duke Energy and he as been sent to the coast for at least 7 days to work on restoring power.  Please pray for him as he is going to not only be working in rough conditions but he is going to be away from his family and please pray for all those impacted by this storm! 

Fried Pickles!

I posted on Facebook a few days ago that I wanted fried pickles.  Now most of you know that when you are pregnant and you get to wanting something that you generally don't want it you NEED it!  So as the days passed I kept thinking about how great fried pickles would be and so I couldn't take it anymore.  My sister in law Heather said that there was a good recipe for fried pickles in our Mt. Hermon Lutheran Church Cook Book that my Mamaw gave us.  So when I got home tonight I decided we were having them with our hamburgers.

The recipe is really easy but after a few suggestions from Heather I adjusted it.

For the dip you need 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce.  Heather said she adds in Texas Pete to hers. I am not a fan of Worcestershire sauce so I just replaced it with all Texas Pete.  You beat that all together in a bowl.  Then in another bowl the recipe calls for 3 cups flour, 3/4 tablespoon of salt and 3/4 tablespoon pepper.  This time I used just that and I had TONS of flour left so I would recommend using about 2 cups flour and salt and pepper to your taste.  Also next time I make it I am going to use less milk because there was also a lot of dip left and I felt it was a little runny.   Then just dip the pickles and then flour them and deep fry them!

They turned out really good this time but I am a firm believer that I can always improve on something the second time I make it!  Here are a few pictures of my fried pickles.  I serve them with ranch dip which makes them even yummier!!

Prayers for the friends and family of Renee Brown

My mom's best friend Renee passed away yesterday morning from cancer.  Renee and my Mom have been friends for a really long time.  She has been with us on vacations and been to our special events like my wedding and Nisee's baby shower.   So while this is hardest hit on my Mom we all will miss Renee.  She was taken by a terrible disease way to early.  Please pray for those who loved her that they will find some peace!

This was taken of Renee and My Mom on the Fort Fisher Ferry when they came to see me when I was going to school in Wilmington!

32 week scan, 3rd trimester woes, and Hurricane Irene

Today was my 32 week scan and Lacee passed with flying colors again!  She got 8 out of 8 on her BPP and her heart rate was 143. Uterine Artery Doppler also looked really good. I got a few more ultrasound pictures of her which brings our total to 66 now!  I wish that everything was going well and I didn't need these weekly scans but the one good thing about it is all the pictures we are going to have to Lacee before she is even born!  The good news continues about our little girl!  She is such a fighter and we are just so thankful! My next scan is Thursday September 1st and I will be 33 weeks and this one is a growth scan!  Let's all pray for lots of growth!  

I remember when I was pregnant with Nisee she was on my sciatic nerve a lot causing shooting pains down the backs of my legs and I had constant terrible back pain from about 28 weeks on and Oh the massive swelling.  I was so miserable and I complained constantly!  Yet this time I haven't had near the misery I had with Nisee.  My legs are swollen but nothing like with Nisee and my back does hurt but again no sciatica and much less pain and actually in general this pregnancy has been much easier on me.  Yet I would trade it all in a heartbeat!  I would take the giant swollen feet, the sciatica, and the constant pain just to know that Lacee was all fine and growing normally!  I will still probably complain about my swollen feet or my back pain or the general consistent uncomfortableness of the 3rd trimester occasionally.  But even if I complain a little that doesn't mean I am not extremely thankful.  I am super thankful just for the simple fact that we have made it this far for me to be uncomfortable! 

I am sure that everyone has heard of Hurricane Irene!  Well she is bearing down on the NC Coast this weekend.  Earlier this week they had thought she might come up the middle of the state which would have really put a damper on my Baby Shower!  But Irene has shifted to the East.  Just not far enough East!  She is going to hit right at Atlantic Beach area!  My sister lives in Morehead City and my parents and my brother have campers at Sea Level NC which is near Davis Inlet at the southern tip of the Outer Banks.  My Dad and my Brother as well as some friends who also have places down there are all heading down to get the boats and to move the campers to higher ground.  My sister is heading inland as well.  I just ask that you pray for them as well as anyone else who is in the path of this storm!  Irene seems to be a history maker but in addition to praying for the people in the path I am still going to pray she changes course and moves further East! 

Baby Shower Excitement!!!

So my baby shower is coming up this Saturday and I am getting super excited!  Brittany has been sending me pictures of some of the decorations and they are just too cute!  Today I had to go by Target to get a few things and of course I had to go by the baby section!  They had some adorable outfits and I feel like sharing!

Cute Jacket!

Onesie that goes with it the jacket

Cupcake outfit!

Onesie with cupcake outfit

I didn't buy anything of course but these were just too cute!

I also wanted to share a picture of Nisee when I picked her up from daycare today!  She was so dirty! 

So dirty!