36 weeks

Well it sure has been an eventful 2 weeks! Hurricane Ike blew through last week and left Houston in quite a state of disaray. Because of where our house is located, we decided not to evacuate and just "hunker down." We ended up with Dow's grandfather and Dow's dad's outside dog at our house. It was interesting to say the least! When the storm actually blew through it was really scary and really hot! All night long the wind was blowing so hard and it sounded like the house was going to just fall apart. We lost power about 7:30, before it was even raining, and we did not have a radio or anything to have any idea what was going on. Luckily after the storm had passed we were able to hook up a generator and have the tv going and several fans. That made it much more comfortable. Our power came back on the next night around the same time so we were incredibly lucky to only be without it for 24 hours. The majority of people in the greater Houston area are still without power over a week later! I am just so thankful that Liam decided to come during this disaster.
My Mom and Dan were also here last week which was so wonderful! They were originally supposed to fly in on Saturday morning (as the hurricane was hitting) but were able to reschedule their flight for Monday. We were worried that they might not get in because the airport had been closed but they made it. Mom and I were able to get a lot done to get ready for Liam. We got the stroller and carseat, bassinet, and bouncer seat so I am feeling much more ready. I was panicing that I was going to go into labor and we were not going to have a car seat to bring him home in! We were supposed to have our baby shower today but because of the hurricane we ended up cancelling it. I have been out shopping all morning trying to get everything we have left. We also celebrated my 27th birthday; luckily one of my favorite restaurants across the street was open and Mom and Dan took us out. It was so good but I paid the price with heartburn all night. I am at the point now where Tums don't even really help. :) We also got some more clothes for Liam; this baby has got more clothes than he could ever wear. I really hope the next one is a boy so they will get some more use.
We also had a big doctor's appointment on Wednesday. They did an ultrasound in order to see how Liam is positioned and to get a feel for how big he is. Well it looks like he is big; they are estimating that he already weighs 7.5 lbs! They took lots of measurements and basically used some formula to come up with this. I have been researching a lot online and seem to find one story after another where people were told their baby was going to be huge and they turned out to be normal sized so I don't know how much faith I am putting into it. The doctor seemed surprised and immediately started talking about a c -section. This has definitely had me upset because that is not what I wanted. On one hand, I don't want to try and and have a normal delivery, end up in labor for 30 hours, and then have to have a c-section anyway (I have heard that the recovery in situations like this is brutal) but on the other hand I don't want to schedule a c-section only to find out that the baby is normal sized and then regret not trying. I guess at this point we are just going to take it one week at a time. I go back to the doctor on Monday and they will do another Fetal Non-Stress Test (they did one on Wednesday too) where they basically hook you up to monitors and monitor the baby's movement, contractions, heartrate, etc. But there were several good things that came out of all this. We got to see Liam for the first time since the gender ultrasound at 18 weeks. He is so cute! They took lots of pictures for us and even flipped over to the 3-d for a few shots. I have posted the pictures so you guys can see. He looks like he has some pouty lips and some big fat cheeks. We can wait for him to get here so we can kiss on them! The other good thing is that I may have worked my last day! The doctor said she would fill out the insurance paperwork for me to be out until the baby comes. Woohoo! I don't want to get too excited until everything has been completed but I sure am hopeful. Well that is all I can think of for now; he will be here before we know it! Decided to suck it up and take bare belly shots for the last month because I know everyone is dying to know what it really looks like. :)