34 Weeks

Can you believe there are less than 40 days until Rivers is here?! I'm so excited!! This week has been great. I had my final baby shower, hosted by my sweet aunts and amazing cousin, and it was wonderful! We had family and friends from all over attend - Shay's grandma came from Camden, and his aunt Donna and cousin Katie even came all the way from Charleston! And, the Rice Family was so sweet to come even though they have a wedding in less than a week! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends and I can't wait for baby Rivers to meet everyone.

Here are some pics from the shower - notice the curly hair! I happened to have my haircut appointment yesterday morning and she offered to curl my hair for the party. As most of you know, this is a very rare occurrence with my stick straight hair, so yes, it is me in these pictures :)

Aunt Cindy, Heather, Me and Aunt Jan, the Fabulous Hostesses!

I thought this was so cute - since I'm allergic to roses my corsage was made with little baby socks rolled up to look like rosebuds!

Rivers should weigh almost 5 pounds by now (believe me, my stomach certainly feels like he weighs 5 pounds!) and he should be about 18-20 inches long. About the size of a canteloupe. He is now filling out his skin with fat and working on developing his lungs - what a busy baby! My book also says that his fingernails have reached the end of his fingers by now! I can't wait to see those tiny little fingers!!

This week Shay and I have our "Caring for Baby" class that teaches about bathing, diapering, and all that other good stuff we need to know, and on Saturday we have our big childbirth class. So I'm sure we will be experts in baby care by the end of next week. Ha!

I'm feeling pretty good - definitely am getting more tired and you would not believe the size of my feet and ankles! I've definitely got some "cankles" kicking over here :) I even had to wear flip flops to work one day this week because none of my shoes fit! And you all know how I feel about my shoes! I have been working on keeping them elevated for most of the day and am using every old wives' tale in the book to keep the swelling down. But I guess if swollen ankles are my only complaint I'm doing pretty good!

Showers, Nursery, and a NAME!

Since my last post a lot has gone on! First, my dear, sweet Greenville friends threw me an absolutely perfect baby shower on Sunday. I had a wonderful time and got such wonderful things! Who knew there were so many cute boy clothes...and even shoes!...out there? Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who hosted and attended. I love you all! Here are some pics:

The beautiful hostesses: Jamie, Lindsey, Meg, Me, Hope, Whitney, Katie and Katie. Believe it or not, there are THREE pregnant girls in this picture, but I think my belly wins the size prize :)

The yummy food and beautiful decorations. The shower was hosted at my good friend Meg's house.

Mommy to be with the grandmommies to be!

We also have made good progress with the nursery. Both of our window treatments are up (navy roman shades and new blinds) pictures are hung and we even found a navy rug for the room. We still have a few things to do, but every day it's getting closer to being complete! Soon all we'll be missing is a baby!

Speaking of baby, little baby Koch FINALLY has a name: Rivers Koch.We still haven't settled on a middle name, but we are just glad that we finally have something to call our sweet boy. We hope you love his name as much as we do!

I went to the doctor today and measured AHEAD of where I'm supposed to be...see, I knew it! I measured 33 weeks, so July 9 is the due date. He is estimated to be about 4 pounds (about the weight of a pineapple) and 17-18 inches long. He is situated diagnoally right now, which is an improvement from completely sideways, but not quite head-down yet. I did find out that the little hard round area I always feel is his little bottom! I feel much better knowing I haven't been poking at his head this whole time. I can feel him all the time now, even when he's not moving or kicking. Just pressing down on my belly I feel little hard places and can feel him. It is wonderful to know that he is right there, growing and getting ready to meet us!

I have my next doctor's appointment in three weeks, and then I'll start going every week until delivery! I cannot believe how fast this is flying by... Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your spring! Lots of love! Laurie

Happy Mothers Day!

I had a great surprise at work Friday - mom and dad sent me flowers for my first Mother's Day! It was very sweet and they are beautiful! Thank you mom and dad. And Happy Mothers Day to all the mommies-to-be, new mommies and especially my mom and Shay's mom. Sorry everyone, but we have the best moms in the world! :)

I had my latest doctor's appointment 0n Thursday, and everything is going great! I'm measuring at 30 weeks (okay, okay, maybe I should have listened to the doctor and kept my due date a week later) and little baby Koch's heart rate was normal at 153. I will start going to the doctor every two weeks now, which is just more reinforcement that the baby is coming soon!

30 Weeks

What a wonderful week this has been! First, we finally have carpet! The carpet was installed in the nursery on Wednesday night, and since then it has been a whirlwind of baby preparations. Thursday night after the Drive game, Shay and I picked up nursery furniture from my mom's friend Kim. The furniture looks great and we are SO thankful to the Redmonds for letting us borrow it! Thank you Kim!!!

Then, on Friday, I had my first baby shower! My wonderful friends at work threw me a shower that was way beyond anything I had expected. The theme was turtles, just like our nursery, and it was sooo cute. I got so many wonderful gifts and had a great time having fun with my awesome coworkers outside of work. Thank you St. Francis ladies!!

The Hostesses with the Mostestesses, "Work Shea" and Somer

Precious Centerpiece

How cute are these cupcakes?? I didn't want to eat the turtles because they looked so real!

Diaper "Cake" Made by Somer. I've been told all these diapers will last about a day and a half :)

Today was also a great day. First, I cashed in the gift card that my sweet husband gave me for Christmas and got a prenatal massage. My back is very happy! Then, Somer brought by a crib mattress (how generous are my friends?!) so I got to get the nursery together! Here is a sneak preview:

The crib!

Extreme Closeup of the Bedding

Wall Art and a pic of Baby Shay :)

The changing table

I still need to get our window treatments up, and I need to get a rug, but I think it's all coming together!

I'm still feeling good, and baby Koch is still moving a lot every day. I have gotten to the point that I can sort of tell what I'm feeling when I touch my stomach - I'll feel a knee or an elbow every now and then. Sadly, Baby Koch still has no name, and I'm now thinking it's going to be a game time decision. We will let all of you know if we have a name before then! 10 weeks to go!