FRIDAY

Paul took it off and we went out shopping to various places and to do errands. Already wrote about that.

SATURDAY

After talking to Mom B. (my MIL) on Friday, we made plans to go visit Mawmaw in hospital Saturday. We met Angie at Chili's for lunch and to give Mom B. more time to get ready. After we ate and sat around chatting for a while we took my car and met Mom B. at the MICU. Mawmaw is not well -- she quit breathing and thus her heart stopped but they have her on a respirator and she's hanging in there. However we're all convinced that her body is simply starting to shut down. She's been in hospital more than not since Thanksgiving. Paul and I are more worried about his mom -- the strain of it all and then struggling with Mawmaw's living will and trying to decide what to do.

We took turns 2 at a time to go in to see her and when I went in I found Paul kneeling on the floor holding Mawmaw's hand and combing her hair. He kept up a steady stream of pleasant conversation and Mawmaw was responsive enough to squeeze his hand. I talked to her for a bit and then I had to sit down and just be quiet for a while because I didn't want her to hear me cry, if she really could hear and understand us.

We're both happy we went though. I never had the opportunity for last visits with my own grandparents when they were in hospital under similar circumstances so I was glad I got it for my grandmother-in-law. Paul seemed much happier and was pretty jolly on the way home. The sense of closure helping him with his feelings, I suppose. It helps mine. I know if she dies, she'll be buried back in WV next to her spouse and given my due date being so close, neither of us would be able to attend.

SUNDAY

Baby shower was at 1 or 2 PM. I couldn't remember but we arrived a little before 1:30 and found Mom B. and Whit circling around trying to find my mom's house. So we beeped and they followed us over. Everyone else was already there including my Miami extended relatives. As soon as I walked in the door camera flashes started going off and I joked I must be famous.

Angie, Donna, and Mom did a fabulous job with the food, decor, games and whatnot. I can't wait to see pictures! The biggest surprise was the cake -- I'd been wondering what they wanted baby pictures for and it turns out they had baby photos of me and Paul screened on to the cake. It looked amazing!

We ate first -- fruit, veggies, pinwheels, nuts, cheese, crackers and other savories for appetizers. Two kinds of salad, turkey, arroz con pollo, pasta for entrees. Various drinks but I stuck to water. I sat at the outsdie patio table with the in-laws for a bit and then after I ate I sat around the picnic benches with my Miami relatives for a while. I noticed my cousin's daughter flirting outrageously with my nephew -- this amused both Paul and me. I don't know if Justin picked up on it or what but I'm sure it was an ego boost.

Eventually all the chairs were put into a circle and we played 4 games. The first was like hot potato where we had to pass this box around that contained some bloomers. When the music stopped, you unwrapped one layer. The person to unwrap the last layer had to put on the bloomers. The kids had a good time with that one. One boy cousin was panicked at the thought of wearing some panties so he fllluuuuung that box every time it came near him. Our nephew ended up with the last layer and the "bloomers" ended up being a flower mini-bouquet on a pin.

The next game was to guess what baby would look like and make baby from Playdoh. Paul and I had to judge the best baby and that person got a movie pass as a prize.

The next game was where Paul and I had to sit back to back and play "Who wants to be a parent?" like "who wants to be a millionaire." We got gifts for each "level."

The last game was the fishing game where you had to fish out plastic toy baby related things (rattles, stroller, pacifiers, etc.) from a punch bowl with a safety pin on a string. I beat Paul with 11 items to his 9, but Greg was the winner with 13. He gave Paul the prize though -- a new tackle box. The kids liked that game too and even after it was over they still kept playing fishing with the bowl.

Then we opened presents with cake and I handed out M&M party favors before everyone left. I did all the thank you cards -- so my mail stash gets bigger and bigger. I really MUST get to the post office this week!

MONDAY

We went for a detailed u/s this morning. My belly is a bit sore form all the pushing down with the wand thing and baby was squirmy all morning before and during the exam so in a minute I'm going to try to get a nap now that she's quiet. I had a rough night and not enough sleep!

All her measures and things are fine and healthy except she measures about 7.5 lbs and that puts her 3 weeks ahead of her age. We got to see things we hadn't seen before like her kidneys, the chambers of her heart, hair on her head, etc.

The u/s tech. went to get Dr. Something and he told us our u/s looked fine other than her weight/size so when we next see our OB to ask if this is going to be a problem, if we need more u/s to keep an eye on her, if we need to talk about inducing at 38 weeks rather than letting her go to 40 wks, etc.

I'm not terrible upset over it and neither is Paul. We'd both prefer letting her come on her own, but if we have to talk about inducing, we'll see. One thing at a time.