He's almost here!

My great grandmother always told mom that you can't have a baby until you have seen 9 full moons.  Well tonight is officially my 9th...  c'mon son! 

We were originally going to induce earlier this week due to some of the side effects of my gestational diabetes.  Last week my sugar, blood pressure and his heart rate were looking good so Doc said we were okay to give him a little more time to come on his own.  At my appointment Monday, my blood pressure was slightly elevated and my sugar had been a little higher.  Thursday, my BP was just a little higher than Monday and my blood sugar has been pretty crazy this week.  It's not supposed to be over 140, 180 is considered bad, and mine has been north of 265 a couple of times (when that happens I literally can't open my eyes I get so sleepy... and of course I was at work both times).  It is so frustrating because it was after eating meals that were well within my guidelines.  Dr. Pohl says this late in the game it could be due to a number of things including hormone changes.  My body is just not regulating insulin like it should.  I'm going to try and watch it as much as I can this weekend and if he's not here by Sunday night I am going to be induced.  That will be 3 days shy of my original due date and I am very happy to have made it that far!  Doc starts inducing at night so that they can start the medication very slowly and increase it gradually through the night while I "sleep."  I use the word sleep very loosely these days as good sleep has become a thing of the past.  Still hoping he comes on his own this weekend! 

Above are the pictures from my last shower.  It was a combo for me, Ali (Olivia-due 11/14) and Lainie (Lucas-due 11/17).  I would blame my being substantially bigger than the other two pregos on the fact that I am due almost a month before them...  but that would not be the most honest thing I've ever done.  They are both MUCH smaller than me all the time :)  The shower was hosted by Mary Ellen, Shauna, Faith and Cortney.  All seven of our moms and all of the girl's baby girls were there!  It was WONDERFUL to see everyone together.  As a group, we have all been blessed beyond measure in the baby department!  Can't wait for the next three to get here!

If he forgets his name...

...it is not our fault. That was Jason's observation of the completed nursery. What can I say? It's Georgia. People like to monogram and embroider around here.

I am 33 1/2 weeks and getting bigger by the second. At our 32-week appointment, we had a growth ultrasound and Hardin was approximately 4.9 pounds. The next day I got my weekly email from babycenter.com saying "your baby is now 3.5 pounds." Umm... not my baby! The growth ultrasounds are not extremely accurate but based on the measurements from his head, belly and femur, Hardin is in the 64th percentile. That's very good for a gestational diabetes baby. My fasting sugar, taken first thing in the morning, has been higher than normal this past week so they have increased the dose of my medication. According to Doc, it may continue to get worse as I get into the final weeks but we will keep a very close eye on it and adjust medication accordingly. The most important thing is to try and make sure the baby is not reacting to my increased sugar levels. If he gets too much sugar from me, his little pancreas produces extra insulin, then when he is born his blood sugar can bottom out because he's no longer getting the extra sugar. That takes about a week of IV fluids to correct, and I would really like to avoid that at all costs!

Here's a pic of me, Cat, Lillian and Hardin from my family baby shower hosted by my wonderful sister and Aunt Jackie. I had the best time visiting with everyone. The picture below is from my "Athens Shower." Thank you to my beautiful hostesses Teresa, Libba and Amanda!

To say that we are incredibly blessed is an understatement. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of our wonderful friends and family! Thank you to everyone! We appreciate everything so much!

Next weekend is the joint shower for me, Ali and Lainie. Can't wait to see all of the Parkview girls, their mamas and baby girls!

The family players...

One final post while I am on a roll (read avoiding ironing the clothes Hardin got at the shower yesterday). It will probably be much easier to follow my blog if you know who the players are and their nicknames. There are some family members who have already been given nicknames by me, Hardin's cousin Cawley, or my sister's nieces and nephews. I'm sure there will be more to come!

Mama's side:

GiGi- my mom, Gail. To say that my mom was born to be a grandmother is an understatement! She has been grandmothering every kid lucky enough to have met her for years. Along the way she picked up Grandma Gail and we have decided to shorten it to GiGi.

B- my brother, Phillip Scott. I pride myself on my creativity... B is short for Brother. And Big. It came about when my little brother out grew me some time in middle school. He's now trying his best to get smaller than me and looks great! Needless to say we'll be missing him and full of jealousy at the same time!

LaLa- my sister, Lara. Lara's dad remarried years ago and Lara met her step sister, and very close friend, Tabitha. Tab has three kids and they started calling Lara "LaLa" many moons ago. It stuck. Her husband has three sisters and lots of nieces and nephews who call her LaLa as well. LaLa is a fabulous aunt already and I know she will be to Hardin as well!

Jason R. or Lara's J. Great minds think alike I guess because my sister and I both married Jasons.

Maw Maw- my maternal grandmother who lives with GiGi. Maw Maw is not only a grandmother but is a great great grandmother to my cousin's daughter's new baby! Mom's father was Paw Paw, he passed away when I was in middle school.

My dad's side: Although they are no longer with us, I am sure to talk a lot about my dad, his brother Johnny, and his mother Grandmommy. Aunt Jackie is my dad's late brother Johnny's wife. I grew up very close to them and my cousins. We lived less than two miles away in Lilburn. My cousins Cheryl and Sean live in Steamboat Springs. Cheryl is married to Damon and Sean is engaged to Leah. Sandy is Jackie's sister. She is married to Keith and their son, Jonathan, is married to Lindsey.

My mom's side: mom has three siblings, Gary, Danny (married to Donna) and Mickey. Between them I have a ton of cousins... Travis, Casey, Mandy, Katie, Dustin, Ryan, Todd, Lindsey and Destiney. There are a bunch of second cousins after that! Mom's cousin Connie and her family are also very close. Her husband Bruce, daughter Cynthia (married to Rick), Beth, and Bonnie (married to Jack) and their two boys Daniel & Christopher.

Daddy's side:

MiMi- Jason's mom, Becky. After much debate Cawley & Co. picked MiMi and we love it. MiMi is adored by Cawley and very excited to welcome Hardin and a long awaited GIRL, Lillian, to the family. We are happy MiMi has already planned many trips to Atlanta in the near future!

Justin- Jason's brother. He and Jason are very close and share many of the same traits... but are also completely different. I'm curious to see if Cawley or Hardin will inherit the Mac laugh as much as the looks!

Cathy- Justin's wife. I tend to call her Cat but her son calls her Khaki so we'll see what sticks. Cathy has become one of my very best friends, we are all so lucky to have her!

Cawley- Justin & Cathy's first son and Hardin's cousin. Cawley is named after his dad, Justin Cawley who is named after his mom Rebecca Cawley. Cawley is our first nephew and by far one of our favorite things in the world. We have had the best time with him over the past two years and can't wait to see him with his new cousin and baby sister! He is sure to be a major player in the stories.

Lillian- Cathy & Justin are expecting their first daughter 5 days before Hardin's arrival. We are SO excited to meet her and can't believe our little plan to have cousins together worked out! Lillian is named after Cathy's absolutely wonderful grandmother, Lillian Ione, NeNa.

Pop- Jason's dad, Jerry Pharr. Pop lives in Atlanta now and I am sure will help instill the love of Georgia football and all things golf into our little man!

Jason's dad's side: Roddy is Jerry's brother married to Sharon. They live in Dunwoody with their daughters Olivia and Stella. Brittany & Maghan are Roddy's daughters. Brittany is married to Mark and they have an adorable daughter Addison Annabelle. Slick, Jerry's brother, is married to Jane. They have two children, Jeff who is married to Suzanne, with three children Madison, Katie and Max. Terri is married to Bill and they have one daughter Janie.

Jason's mom's side: Lee Cawley, Becky's brother, married to Helen. They have one son David Lee. The Cawleys live in Florida.

MeMa- Terri, Cathy's mom. Cawley is her first grandson and he loves his MeMa! Lillian is being named after MeMa's mom NeNa. MeMa is married to Bud and is mother to Cathy, Jenna and Emily. Her sister Beth is married to Mark. MeMa and Beth went to school with Jason's mom. We spend Christmas with the Ft. Myers crew every year.

DeDa- Jenna, Cathy's sister... do you see a trend with the names? DeDa is one of mine and Jason's favorite people and will surely be loved as much by little man.

I am already finding myself trying to use shorthand for Hardin's name. You may see him referred to as H, little man, or LM.

That ended up being a much more in depth family history than I intended to write! I hope I got it all right. Now you truly know where little Hardin came from :)

I promise there will be pictures on this blog eventually! Nothing much to see (besides a big ole belly) just yet.

Hardin Pharr

I'll start with the explanation of his name and the blog name. Going into the ultrasound to find out if the baby was a boy or girl was a big day. I just knew it was a boy; knew it, knew it, knew it. Daddy, on the other hand, just knew it was a girl! I'm not entirely sure Jason will really believe little man is in fact a man until he is born. That said, if it was a boy, we both knew the name decision was going to be a lot easier than if it was a girl.

Pharr has been set in stone long before I even came into the picture. Hardin's dad is Jason Pharr, grandfather is Jerry Pharr, and great grandfather is Marcus Pharr. We are not entirely sure where the name came from, but MiMi (grandmother-Becky), says that in the old Athens cemetery one of the Mac men married a woman with the maiden name Pharr. One of these days we'll make it over there to find her grave marker again.

The story behind Hardin is certainly bittersweet. We lost my dad, Phillip Hardin, two years before the week we found out little man was a boy. I think that was one of the main reasons I just knew he was a boy. B is also named after dad, Phillip Scott. Years ago B told me he was going to use the name Hardin if he ever had a son. I called him the night before the ultrasound and asked him to be honest and tell me if he would mind if we used the name. We just loved it and thought it was fitting as Hardin is dad's first grandchild. Of course, my sweet little brother gave us his blessing to use the name and that's how Hardin Pharr came to be.

The blog name may change, but for now it is very fitting. Hardin's original due date was October 28th, 2010. At 24 weeks I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. One of the most common side effects is abnormally large babies (fun for me). Because of that, my doctor asked if we would be okay inducing labor one week early. He said the chances of having a cesarean or complications during delivery go up tremendously if we let the baby get too big. So began the balancing act... After discussing the details and weighing the pros and cons, we agreed inducing October 21st would be best. The diagnosis also turned my attention to the scale. I started a special diet to keep me and the baby from gaining too much weight. So far I am doing very well, I am about 2 lbs. above my pre-pregnancy weight. Hardin is consistently measuring a little longer than normal but nothing to be alarmed about.

With the change in due dates, Hardin is now going to be a Libra like me. I have never given much thought to zodiac signs, and still don't, but it's fun to have something in common with the little man. The Libra sign is the balancing scale. While I hope he gets some of the better Libra qualities, I hope he is a little more well-balanced than I can be! B assures me there is no need to worry, and in his own words... "I'm supposed to be the most highly organized sign if that tells you anything." That tells me a lot.

Finally, I think the hardest part of this parenting thing is going to be finding the right balance in our lives. Between home and work. Strict and carefree. Marriage and kids. Saving and spending. School and sports. Mom and dad. Safety and fun... even southern and redneck :) The list just goes on and on. I'm sure we will find our own little  family happy medium, but there are sure to be some bumps along the way!

PS... this blog will be as informal as they come. Just writing these first two posts, I have discovered I will not have time to edit anything. You'll just have to love me and my incomplete thoughts, spelling and grammar errors!

B's headed to Hawaii...

My beloved little B has accepted a job in Honolulu and is moving next Sunday! To make a very short story even shorter, B has been frustrated with his job and the career options (or lack thereof) here in the continental US. A couple of weeks ago he sent out resumes to firms in HI and received a call back the next day. He flew out last weekend to interview and accepted the job this week. I will keep you updated with details as they unfold!

As you all know Scott and I have always been extremely close, so when I got the infamous and lengthy text "yeah" when I asked if he was going to take the job, I was overwhelmed with emotions. Of course I cried like a baby, but even I don't take too much stock in my tears lately... I also cried when Dina left RHNJ. As much as I will miss my B, I have never been as proud of him as I am now. He'll certainly never have to look back and wonder if he could have done something more drastic to improve his life! I am so excited to see what HI holds for him. All I have asked is that he not fall in love with anything that will keep him there forever. Not the water. Not the beauty. Not the women. That's not too much to ask, right?

Scott's big move is also what landed me here. When B does make his way back to Georgia I don't want my little man to be a stranger! The same goes for our family in Ft. Myers and Steamboat! Hopefully this will also keep my facebook baby posts to a minimum, as my little brother has already informed me he will be quick to call me out if I am exceeding the socially acceptable amount of "kid pics."

When the love of your life sits down to read all about her hubby's early years... she'll have B and his big, brave move to thank!