23 weeks...17 to go!

So, the visit to the cardiologist was not so much fun. It was too much craziness to write out, but it was awful and I will be telling my OB not to send anyone else to this particular person who had clearly never seen a pregnant cardiac patient since Med School and whose nurses had no idea what appropriate patient care means...anyway. So, what I took from it is that I have a slight case of Mitral Valve Prolapse. That basically means that my valves (or a valve) don't close all the way causing a bit of leaking between beats. Not a big deal. It is the cause of the flutters and skips (arrhythmias) that I have felt my whole life but that seemed worse in pregnancy. No biggie. Baby Swatloski and I will be just fine. I'll tell you...the visit to this doctor was more hazardous to Beebop's health than any funky heart rhythms I was having. I was a crazed woman when I left.

This past weekend Rick and I attended a Tropical themed wedding in Birmingham. It was a very nice ceremony and reception. Rick and I did our best to dress the part.

Big Al even decided to show up. So, we all took a "Research" picture with him. So, from the left we have Lauren Wilson, Senior Associate Director of the Office for Sponsored Programs (and the wedding Officiant); Big Al; me, Innovation Coordinator for the Alabama Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreneurs (AIME) Center; below me is Robin Rogers, Director of the Center for Green Manufacturing (also Father of the Bride and Rick's former Graduate Advisor); Rick, Licensing Associate for the Office for Technology Transfer; Dan Daly, Director of AIME (my boss); Sandi Daly, Dan's wife.

Today, I am sad to say that I am all alone most of the week. Rick is in Boston at the AUTM (Association of University Technology Managers) Eastern Region Meeting in Boston. He was on the planning committee for this one. See this. I'm very proud but lonely. AppleJack has done a great job of keeping me company though!

We are heading into the 24th week. Here is our shot from 23.

Santa Rosa Beach

We spent this past weekend at Santa Rosa Beach, Florida with the Mims' (mom, dad, Ash and all of the dogs). It was such a welcomed escape! My parents rented a condo at The Abacos...

And we have pretty much decided that this will be a yearly event. It was perfect! Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos. But, we are steadily recovering from our trip. Why "recovering" you ask? Well, here's what happened to Rick...

My husband is 6'4" and weighs 170 soaking wet. Get it? He's skinny. No one knows how he does it. He could (and he did this while I was on Weight Watchers for the Scale Back Alabama thing at work) eat a double Whopper with Cheese from Burger King everyday for a whole week and LOSE weight. It's a gift. But the point is, you can usually see the bones in his feet. And you can certainly see his ankle bones usually. That's how swollen these puppies are. It's not pleasant. So, I had to do this to him...

Paper towels soaked in Apple Cider Vineager. Seems simple. But if you have ever been this badly burned, you understand that to place a cold, wet paper towel on the afflicted area is torture!! Fun times. Now, the rest of his body is fine. So, we're only looking at skin cancer of the feet.

So that's what happened to Rick. Here's what happened to me...

Little Baby Swatloski has had a bit of a growth spurt recently. He decided that we needed to gain 4 pounds last week. And that may not sound like a lot, but when you consider that since March, when we found out we were pregnant, I have only gained 6 pounds. So to gain 4 pounds in one week is to gain 66% of my initial weight gain or 40% of my total weight gain...IN ONE WEEK!!! That's kind of a lot. So, that weight gain, coupled with walking on sand for two days, makes for very sore knees...moaning in pain during the night sore knees...want to cry because all I am allowed to take for the pain is Tylenol sore knees...sore knees that probably originated thanks in part to Barry Lloyd, April Gilligan and Travis Estler (the three colorguard/winterguard instructors I have had in my life). So, the hubs and I have turned into hobblers. We are quite the pair at work.

We have an appointment with a Cardiologist tomorrow. Not a huge deal, but I have a funny heart thing going on the my OB wants to get checked out. Fun times! I'll let you all know how that turns out! But for now, here we are at 22 weeks...

I think I am pretty much always in this shirt when we take our weekly picture. While it is my favorite since it doesn't have bows to tie in the back, or elastic, I do own other maternity shirts. I'll try to spice it up a bit next time. Maybe I will take another one tomorrow...

Playing catch up...

I am so behind...there has been quite a bit going on in our lives over the past few weeks. So...let me catch you up...

Rick's mom came into town on the 24th to paint some canvases for us to go in the nursery. We had such a great visit with her! Here are some sample shots from her stay:

Then we had a huge baby shower at my parents new house in Atlanta on the 28th:

I hung up the gazillion tiny outfits that Baby Beebop received at the shower (after I washed them with dye-free, perfume-free detergent like a good mommy-to-be). It was so much fun! I can't wait to have a tiny man to put them on!

Then we reached 20 weeks:

Then we celebrated the 4th of July weekend by putting together the crib and other nursery stuff:

Then we hit 21 weeks:

And that pretty much brings us to today, my 27th birthday!! They surprised me at work with a FABULOUS strawberry ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery! It's nice to have a husband working upstairs that looks out for you and makes sure you get the exact cake you want on your birthday! :) Rick and I are going to be heading to dinner soon (right after we get off). Then it's off to the house for a little So You Think You Can Dance and packing for our trip to the beach with the fam tomorrow! I can't wait! As for presents...Rick got me our baby monitor that I pleaded with him to get, my parents bought me half of our glider in the nursery (Rick got the other half for his birthday in May), Rick's parents bought me a very nice big girl camera (a Cannon SLR...EOS 20D), my sister got me my very first maternity bathing suit for our trip this weekend and two of my co-workers paid for my wares at the farmer's market today!! What more could a girl ask for??