Here She Is!!

I wanted to do a quick post for everyone so you could see my friends Ryan and Mike's B-E-A-UTIFUL baby girl Miss Isabella Jane Pace that I have been talking about! Mike, Ryan, Mo and I have been joking about how she and Shawn will grow up together and fall in love...ha ha. That's a long shot, but it sure is funny to joke about, especially when Mike says, "If your Shawn breaks my Izzy's heart I'll have to break one of his legs!" I told Mike he wouldn't have to worry about that because I would get to Shawn first...believe me I know how to discipline(plus NO ONE is going to hurt my son or I'll hurt them)!

Isn't she adorable with those Chipmunk Cheeks?? :)

I Don't Like Bad Weather!!

There is A LOT of bad weather coming through Alabama today and tonight, and unfortunately I have a fear of it. Now since I have been pregnant it hasn't been so bad. The hormones that I have running through my body have greatly helped my anxiety, and so I'm ok for now. I'm watching Jerry Tracey (since NBC is one of the 5 channels we can pick up with no cable), and so far the worst of the weather is in Tuscaloosa and where Mom is in Montgomery. Mo, of course, is at work until 10pm so I'm home alone...ugh. Luckily, our apartment is on the very bottom level so if any bad weather (tornado's) did head this way I think I'd be pretty safe (knock on wood).

Other than checking the weather every 5min lol, I have been cleaning. I think I may be having "nesting syndrome". I know the day for Shawn to be here is VERY soon. Last night I could not sleep and was up until 5am with severe stretching of my stomach and possibly a few scattered Braxton Hicks contractions. I did, however, get plenty of sleep since I finally fell asleep at 5:30am and woke up at 1:30pm.

I wanted to mention some upsetting news that I found out about 2 nights ago. I good friend of mine from Hoover High School, Ann Noble Carlton, passed away of heart failure. She always had problems with her heart, and she was a tremendous fighter. She was one of the sweetest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and she will be greatly missed. Please keep her family in your prayers. It was a very untimely passing but at least Heaven has a beautiful new angel to celebrate about, our Nobel Ann!

iPhones can be Confusing

I got my iPhone today and it is awesome! It is an "off" brand but who cares? It has all kinds of cool things it can do...I'm surprised it doesn't clean the house and cook me breakfast! Of course the problem with these phones is that there is SO MUCH you can do with it that you don't know where to begin (which is where a manual would be helpful). WELL, since we got this phone on E-bay, and it comes from Hong Kong, it came with a tiny set of instructions (mostly in Japanese or something) and so I have had to guess at how to set-up everything. Luckily I'm pretty good with electronics. Eventually I'll get the hang of it...it really is the best Valentines present I've ever received...Thank You Mo!

I hope some of you have had the pleasure of checking out "The Cutest Blog on the Block". Their backgrounds are great! I'm really enjoying mine right now, it's so much better than just the blue (even though I did like the butterfly...maybe I'll find one to match this new background)!

I Figured it Out!

I finally figured out how to make my blog look cute! If you want to do the same thing to your blog page follow these VERY EASY steps (Mom) lol.
1. Go to the top left corner of my page and click on the link to, "The Cutest Blog..."
2. Go to Free Backgrounds.
3. Pick out the background you like the best and click on it.
4. Follow the VERY EASY instructions they give you on how to add the background to your page.
5. After that is completed, if you find, like I did, that you have a problem with font colors on your page, then go to customize fonts and colors and change the colors to match your new background!
6. Enjoy!

I was very very excited to figure this out so I can have a cute page too and I didn't have to pay for it! We honestly just don't have the money right now (since Baby Shawn is almost here)!

I am officially in my 9th month now, I'm 36 weeks and a day. Today Mo took me to my doctors appointment. I found out that I am 1cm dilated. I had to do the last set of my lab work, and get a Rohgam shot which is for mothers who have a negative blood type when the baby could have a positive blood type. I got a free diaper bag and a breastfeeding kit that had all kind of freebies in it and some formula in case it takes me a little while to properly breastfeed Shawn.

Anyway, tomorrow morning I get to pick up my iPhone at the post office! Then Mo and I are going to Dad and Karen's to babysit the movers while they finish up their house closing with the Realtor. Well, that's all for now...enjoy your new backgrounds if you choose to get one!

Officially Married!

These are some pictures of my niece and nephew (Mo's sister Shazia's twins) Iman and Walli (they were eating their favorite...Cheetos). They are older now, but Walli looks JUST like Mo did when he was a baby...so we think that Shawn may look a good bit like Walli (and Walli is fair skinned too)...aren't they adorable??!!

Oh and...We are officially married now!

Mo and I went to the courthouse today and got married at 10:30am. We will be getting the actual license on Wednesday. It doesn't feel any different though of course, but I am happy that I can change my name now so we can be Mr., Mrs., and little Syed. After we got married we went and had a yummy meal at Ruby Tuesdays!

Other than that awesome news I have had Braxton Hick's contractions for the first time today. Just to be completely and utterly honest I thought it was bad gas lol. I know that my labor contractions will be much worse, but I'm trying to mentally prepare myself as much as possible. Shawn is kicking MUCH harder now since there is more baby than amniotic fluid. I thought that at this point he wasn't supposed to be doing a lot of kicking but more "rolling"...seems like nothing can cramp his style lol.

The things I have left on my To-Do-Before-I-Go-Into-Labor list are:
1. Pack mine and Mo's hospital bag (I already packed Shawn's!)
2. Write out my Birth Plan (yeah...procrastination is my middle name)
3. Mail out my Baby Shower Thank-Yous (before Mom kills me)
4. Read Baby's First Year front to back
5. Have the nursery and the house deep cleaned
6. Relax (at some point)

Hopefully this list isn't too unrealistic...and hopefully I don't go into labor in the next few days or it WON'T happen for sure (at least not the reading or the cleaning).

Well, that's all for now folks!

To Whom it May Concern

First off my friend Ryan's baby (Izzy) Isabella was born yesterday around 12pm. She is 6lbs 8ounces and 18inches long (what an itty bitty Izzy)! I don't know when they induced Ryan but I do know that she was 5cm dilated at 10am and then had Izzy 2 hours later (seems fast to me). She obviously got an epidural since she was giggly and talking when her hubby Mike called to tell us she was in labor. Ryan is doing very well. She and Baby Izzy will be going home to Talladega tomorrow. I guess I won't be able to see Izzy because Ryan and Mike did not mention to us yesterday to come by and see her (we didn't want to invite ourselves if Ryan was tired) and then no word from them today either. I guess pictures will have to do for now.

Yesterday I called the courthouse about Mo and I getting legally married. Mo and I were married "religiously" July 23rd, 2008. In his culture that is enough to declare us man and wife (even before the legalities are taken care of). So since we still needed to get "legally" married we set it up for Feb. 23rd (this Mon.) at 10:30am. I'm very happy to finally be able to attain a marriage license for us and legally change my name.

We only have 4 more weeks (if that) until Dinky Doo arrives! I'm the last of the Security Officers Wives to be giving birth. I'm also the last person (that I know) this year to be giving birth to a 1st child. I'm so IMPATIENT! I just want him to be here so I can hold him and love on him in person and not through a ridiculously enlarged belly! I also hope that some people that I know (I won't name names and NO it is NOT you Mom) can give me helpful advice when asked instead of force-feeding their "I-know-more-about-babies-so-do-as-I-say" BS down my throat. I'm a new mother so I have to learn my baby first (I hope this person gives me a chance or I'll have to tell her to LEAVE)!! Sorry had to vent for probably the 5th time today lol.

Well, tomorrow Mo works 6am-2pm (which is a nice change), and we will be going over to Dad and Karen's old house (maybe for the last time) to watch the Oscars. I loved "Slum Dog Millionaire", but I hope that some other movies and actors get Oscars too! I sincerely hope that Heath Ledger wins the Oscar for "Supporting Actor" (and I'm almost 100% that he will given the circumstances). That way his daughter can hold on to that Oscar proudly for her fathers last great work before his untimely death.

I guess that's all for today. Stay tuned for more updates (just probably not tomorrow lol).

Busy Bee's a Bloggin

Here are some pictures of Baby Leith asleep in my lap as Amiee prepared for their departure today (read on). He is a beautiful baby and he made me feel and look like a Mommy already! Please forgive the un-showered, "I just woke up" look.

Today was a busy day for Mo and I. First we had Amiee over at noon washing some clothes because her washer broke again (poor thing!) and they are in the process of moving too! She brought over Baby Leith and we played, washed clothes, and I made biscuits and eggs...it was yummy! Then I had a doctors appointment at 2:45pm (Shawn is doing very well). Mo and I got to take a small tour of the facilities at Brookwood Medical Center so I could see where I will be giving birth. Normally you have to take a class to see that, but the nurses realized that I was only 4 weeks away (so class was not an option) and graciously showed us around. The staff there is amazing and I love my doctor (Dr. Banks). After the Hospital trip we went to Babies-R-Us to use our gift card. We did not receive a baby monitor at our baby shower so we used our gift card to purchase a nice set of montiors (Fisher Price Lights and Sounds Montior). After that we went to a discount shopping/grocery store called "ALDI" that I'm sure a few of you shop at occasionaly (best prices around). We had to get some french fries to cook with our turkey burgers I made for dinner. We had a few friends over...Liz, Nic, Steven, Amiee, and Matt. We ate and watched Kung Fu Panda which is quite hysterical. I also found out today that my friend Ryan should be giving birth to Isabella either this morning or afternoon. It turns out they had to go ahead and enduce her due to her blood pressure (Pre-Eclampsia) symptoms.

Right now, since it's 1:33am and everyone has finally left, we are winding down by checking e-mails and I'm sure we will play our favorite game on Pogo.com called Word Whomp...it's a lot of fun (Mom I think you should check it out it's your kind of game). Other than that tomorrow is another off day for Mo which is fabulous to me (I love spending time with the greatest guy in the world)!

Muffin Fingers...

These are some pictures of me before the pregnancy...and the Muffin Fingers lol. This is the, "Ode to the skinny days". As you can see I love to "goof off".

All I do these days (since two days ago) is eat! Ever since I hit 35 weeks I can't breathe well, I'm a bump-on-a-log, and I eat and eat and eat! This morning I woke up ravenously hungry and raided the fridge and pantry. I loaded up my bowl with the Lucky Charms off brand (Marshmellow Matties) and a ton of 2% milk and scarfed it down very quickly. Then about an hour or so later I was hungry again so I made some black bean and rice soup with some whole wheat honey bread. I again scarfed that down and thought it should at least hold me till 8pm...WRONG! About an hour after that I was hungry AGAIN so I decided to make some whole wheat banana nut bran muffins. There was enough batter for 10 muffins. When they were done I set aside 4 for me with some milk, and I put the rest in a container for dessert tonight (after our whole wheat ground turkey pasta) or for breakfast tomorrow before my doctors appointment. So I ate my 4 muffins and kicked back to check some mail and watch the weather since we have some storms coming through Alabama tonight. About half way into my e-mails, just as Jerry Tracey said, "These storms will last through rush hour traffic and well past DINNER time" my stomach growled! I went and grabbed the rest of the muffins and I am currently making the keys on the keyboard greasy and sticky from Muffin Fingers. I hope it's Shawn packing on the pounds and not me...Dr. Banks is going to kill me tomorrow if I've gained more than 4 pounds. Ugh.

Other than that my friend Ryan who is scheduled to have her little girl (Izzy) Isabella a week before I have Shawn...might be having Izzy tonight! She told me yesterday on Myspace that when she went to the Doc they found out she had all the signs of Pre-Eclampsia, but that her BP level wasn't too high (at the time). Apparently this morning it was a bit high so she went to the Doc. My husband Mo works with her husband, Mike, and according to Mo they were doing blood work and talking about enducing soon if needed. That's a very scary position to be in, but at least Izzy is far enough along right now to be perfectly fine (36 weeks). Please pray for the Pace family anyway...Thanks!

Well, I guess that's all for now. I decorated my page a little yesterday thanks to the support...Does it look better? Oh, and Mom, you are officially the "Bird Woman"!! Ha Ha!

Help me Customize Please!!

After joining SITS and going to visit everyone's pages to comment I realized something...my blog page is BORING! I know how to do HTML on Myspace and Facebook (I'm a pro)...but not here. I know how to start customizing and adding gadgets, but I don't know how to get the really fancy templates that everyone seems to have. Mom and I tried to figure it out, but it seems that I don't have the new templates, just the generic ones. If you can help me in any way please feel free (I'm good with computers, and with a little simple direction I could figure it out)!

Other than that there is not a whole lot of news here. My upper back has been hurting (muscle maybe)? Shawn is finally starting to move around real good for the day (so I don't have to be paranoid anymore). Mo has been working 2-10pm for the past 7 days (and one more day tomorrow) and I feel like I am going to pull my hair out! When I went to CVS today to pick up my heart medication I also picked up a $5 copy of Baby's First Year by Playskool and started reading it. I figure there is no harm in being overly informed (if that's even possible).

Well, that's all for now. If you can help me customize please comment. Other than that I am off to meet Dad and K for our weekly Tues. night mexican at Pablo's!

35 Weeks and Counting

I went grocery shopping today at Wal-Mart (the store taking over the world). I guess since it's President's Day everyone decided to go shopping (it was just a normal grocery day for me). So of course since EVERYONE decided to go shopping at the same time everyone was rude and pushy and had no regard for anyone but themselves (not even a hugely pregnant woman like myself). I was there for about 45min I guess because I left my list at home (ugh pregnancy brain). It wasn't until the very end of my trek through WallyWorld (the overly populated check-out line) that I realized I was starting to feel dizzy and disoriented. Luckily I had the strenght to make it to the car, blast the cool air, and drink my delicious Tropicana Orangeade that I am addicted to (I'm sorry Mom I wish they had diet for you!!). When I got home I realized that I had "over-done" it and would now have to promise myself not to go grocery shopping again alone (I'm offically too pregnant now)!!

Other than that I am tremendously happy that today is Monday! Ha, I bet you never thought you'd hear that one. Well, you see, Moday night is House/Heroes night so I'm stoked! Last week all we got was Heroes (which was awesome) but I missed House (re-run)! House was the 1st TV show out of House, Heroes, and Lost, that I really got into. I was watching The Office and 30 Rock too...but I realized that without cable it's hard to follow ALL of your favorite shows (so you narrow it down to what your friends watch at their houses and what you can borrow on DVD from your Dad lol). Anyway WooHoo for the new episodes tonight (and Wed. on Lost)!

Last, but not least, I went and saw Dad and Karen's new house that they will be moving into Feb. 23rd. They went for their final walk-through yesterday and I joined them (well they were feeding me dinner afterwards and I had nothing else to do). The house is in a sub-division called Timberlake and YES there is a B-E-A-UTIFUL lake out there that some of the residents have the privelege of seeing out there back windows (but not Dad and Karen). It doesn't matter anyway because their house is ridiculously packed out with the finest of everything! The people that lived in this 3-year-old house before them spent thousands of extra dollars to put in EVERY amenity known to man-kind. It's a 5 bedroom, 3 bath house with a 3 car garage and a car port that fits 2 more cars. It has 2 porches (one open wrap around that you can access from 3 of the bedrooms and living room, and one sreened in porch that you can access from the kitchen). It also, amoung many many other wonderful things, has a surround sound system built into the walls and all gormet kitchen appliances. Like I said it's ridiculous! They got the house for 40,000 dollars LESS than the asking price, and the people that bought their house gave them EXACTLY their asking price so what a deal huh!!?? They already had an amazing house...but it just wasn't amazing enough (they had to go all "Greystone" on us ha ha).

Well, I guess that's all for now! Oh and I joined SITS today!!

Luckily He Doesn't Read My Blogs!

The monkey on the left (yeah the stuffed one lol) is what I got Mo for Valentine's Day! I wish I could have gotten him something more, but I was spending HIS money to get it (since I'm not working) and it just made me feel bad. The same thing happened with Christmas and his B'day...ALWAYS HIS money (even though he tells me very seriously that it is OUR money). Eh, I feel like if I laid around all day and did all the fun things I wanted, including sleeping in, while he works his butt off keeping the Galleria safe...it's HIS money. Sure I don't JUST lay around...I wash the dishes, the clothes, I put Shawn's nursery together, I organized the closet (I'll get around to folding and putting the clothes away too), AND I almost always have dinner ready for him when he gets home. However, all that is split between days and I don't think it's worth the $12 an hour he makes by chasing and banning crimnals, patrolling, going on emergency medical calls, AND being in charge of 10 other employees every day for 8 or more hours! So, if I do get him a present I have to make sure it's something cute but cheap (heartfelt...and we LOVE monkeys) and did I say cheap yet lol?? PLUS how can I get him anything else when he spent most of his money on getting me an iPhone!!! He got me an iPhone for V-Day! He is crazy, but sweet...he said everyone had a nicer phone than me (except for Mom since she doesn't have a phone but SHOULD at least for emergencies)!!!

Well, getting off that tangent I have been having a lot of fun counting Shawn's kicks and awake time. I narrowed his schedule down to this (it's almost the same day to day):
1:30am
3:45am (yeah I stay up late it's sad)
7:00am (although I only noticed this once since I am usually asleep)
11:30am
1:00pm
3:30pm
6:30pm
8:30pm
and 11:30pm (and then his cycle begins again)!!
I think that it is amazing that he keeps a schedule too! This way I can rest assured that he is being active and I don't have to be worried! Like I have said before I have high levels of anxiety (which luckily have stabilized nicely thanks to pregnancy) that make me worry a lot so I have to know that Baby Shawn is ok for the sake of my sanity!

I'd love to continue blogging since I feel like I have so much to say, but I need to finish my Baby Shower Thank-You's before Mom kills me! Hope you enjoyed!

Good Riddance!

Today was an eventful day (by my standards). I made a lot of important phone calls, did house hold chores, and even sold some furniture on craigslist! Mo and I had posted a bulletin on craigslist about 2 months ago to get rid of an oak wood dresser that we no longer had room for. We had a lot of people who were interested, but when they would come by to "look" at the dresser they wouldn't have the right form of transportation, and then they never called us back because the holidays hit. So yesterday I put the dresser BACK on craigslist and I sold it today! It's gone out of my dining room now (we put it there so it was closer to the front door and out of Shawn's nursery)!! We also have a lady coming to pick up our rocking chair lounger this Saturday. We made good extra money and now we can celebrate Valentine's Day however we want without worrying about it!

Other than that I'm about to go watch either The Notebook, Steel Magnolias, or 2 Weeks Notice and eat some ice cream!

About My Pregnancy and MVP

I thought that I would share about my heart condition, and how my pregnancy went just in case it can be helpful to others or just amusing.

As I said in my last blog I have a heart murmur called Mitral Valve Prolapse with Dysautonomia. Now this is a very common heart murmur among women. It is a struggle to live with and, at times, can be quite debilitating. The hardest part of MVP is the struggle with panic attacks, low blood pressure, and angina. All in all the panic attacks are the worst. Sometimes it gets so bad you don't want to leave your house, be in large groups of people, or drive depending on where and what set off your attack. One thing that people with MVP have to give up is caffeine...so yep you guessed it CHOCOLATE! Now how ironic is it that this murmur MOSTLY effects women and WE have to give up chocolate! That is the one special treat that makes us forget about all our woes (mostly men) and has a natural calming effect...so much for grabbing a chocolate bar during those panic attacks! OK, so I filled you in a little bit about my MVP so that explaining my pregnancy symptoms will make more sense.

My 1st Trimester:
I found out that I was pregnant at 4 weeks (July 16, 2008). I knew that I felt different that month, I just knew I was pregnant. I did that classy thing (HA ha yeah right) and went to CVS to purchase a pregnancy test. I was so incredibly eager to know that I went ahead and tested right there at the store (yeah like I said CLASSY). That test screamed PREGNANT before I could wait 2 minutes!! So, I went home in a daze and called my hubby to tell him the news. He did not act surprised (his family has some 6th sense about pregnant women lol). When he arrived home we bought another test just to make sure (and YES I was pregnant). The next day I called the doc's office and set up an appointment for July 30th. At the appointment they did an ultrasound and I was 6 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I got to see my little "rice baby" as I called it since the little thing was no bigger than a grain of rice. Dr. Banks tried to talk to me and explain ALL the things that I might go through...but even that wasn't enough to prepare me. It was about 2 days later that the morning sickness began. It was HORRIBLE! Nothing that I could eat would taste good, and even if it had it would be coming back up soon anyway. My heart was racing off the charts, and flipping and skipping beats left and right. My anxiety was at an all time high and I couldn't take as much medication because of the pregnancy. My second check-up with Dr. Banks (August 13th) went alright. I had another ultrasound and I was 8 weeks and 1 day pregnant. At this point everyone but a handful thought that I was going to be having a girl. I don't know why they just did. I continued to be sick and my poor husband was working 40 hours and taking over my house wife duties lol. Finally football season rolled around and every Saturday we got to go to my Dad's house to watch us some good 'ole ALABAMA FOOTBALL ROLL TIDE!!! I went back to the Doc's office September 4th for a Downs Syndrome check and all the results came back normal Praise the Lord!! Alabama continued to win their games and finally when my 12th week rolled around I could start to breathe easier and keep food down (for that I was grateful).

My 2nd Trimester:
Two weeks into my 2nd trimester I was feeling FANTASTIC with all kinds of energy! Mo's Mom and middle sister Shazia (and her twin babies) came to visit us for the Muslim holiday called Eid. Mo's Mom made some spicy food and that was the first time I felt my baby move (Tues. September 30th 15 weeks)! I had another routine check-up with Dr. Banks (October 2nd). He just checked baby's heart beat and sent me home very pleased that I didn't look "green" anymore. Alabama STILL continued to win their games and finally the big day for me, my husband, and Baby Dinky Doo (as my mother had affectionately nicknamed it) arrived. October 23rd I was 18 weeks and 2 days pregnant. We showed up at the Doc's office hearts racing for our baby's anatomy test. Now, like I said, almost EVERYONE thought that this child was a girl...so me and my husband did too from our "brain-washing" lol. We had decided on names already, but mostly we were deciding on how to spell the girls name we chose which was Sunnie/Sunny Marie (my middle name) Syed. Now if it was a boy he would be Shawn Danish (Mo's middle name) Syed. It came time in the ultrasound to find out if it was a boy or girl and I laughed so hard when I saw I was having Mr. Shawn lol. There was NO DOUBT that my baby was a boy! His daddy was so proud. We were ecstatic telling the family (who mostly were shocked but delighted). Alabama continued to win their games, I continued to feel fabulous and took over my house wife duties again PLUS some, and the holidays were approaching! Mo and I threw a Halloween party and a Christmas party with a turn-out of 20 people or more at each. The Holidays, my 23rd Birthday and my routine appointments (November 20th and December 18th) seemed to fly right by and then I was in my last stretch of pregnancy! Oh and Alabama beat Auburn for once in like seven years and they were #1 in the country too (until Florida...ugh).

My 3rd Trimester (so far):
My 3rd Trimester started off with my WIC appointment. WIC is a government program that helps Moms and their children to better afford milk, eggs, cheese, and so on and to keep them healthy. Basically you have these coupons you get every month to buy milk, cereal, juice, eggs, cheese and peanut butter or dried beans. This program is truly a blessing as it has helped many young families who struggle to afford the new lifestyle with baby. Also at this point in my pregnancy I noticed that I was starting to slow down and feel tired and restless again like I did in my 1st trimester. I had a Doc appointment January 8th (29 weeks and 2 days) and Shawn was doing very well. Dr. Banks told me that at this time I was going to start coming in every two weeks to see him. January 18th Mo's Mom and Dad came in town from Chicago to spend some time with us since my Baby Shower was January 24th. I had another routine check-up January 22nd (My Mom's B'day) and then two days later it was Baby Shower time! My Mom, my Cousins Rachael, Jessica, Sarah, and Jennifer, my Aunt Brenda, my Friends Jennifer, and Liz, and my Mom's Friend Susan ALL HELPED put it together! It was jungle-themed after the crib bedding that Mo and I picked out. Mo's youngest sister Shanilla came into town from Chicago too for the shower and I was able to meet her for the first time. The Baby Shower was WONDERFUL and Shawn is completely set for whenever he arrives...he is spoiled already! At the last appointment I went to February 5th Dr. Banks and I had a good laugh since Shawn was moving around so much! He loves to rest his feet on my ribs...ugh. Other than that I have felt and seen a baby hand and foot and I can't even begin to describe the joy it brings to my heart and my husbands.

So now I have about 6 more weeks to go and I am VERY impatient. The nights are getting longer with more frequent trips to the bathroom and tossing and turning from leg cramps. I'm monitoring Shawn's movements and he is on an interesting little schedule lol that will absolutely keep me and his daddy up all night when he gets here. My next appointment is February 19th and I'll keep you posted...until I blog again!!

Panic!

I had a bad dream last night. I keep having these "bad" dreams or "nightmares" a lot since I have been in my third trimester. It's always a dream where I am in danger of being hurt to the point that I wouldn't survive, and in turn neither would my baby. I always wake up crying and wanting to wake Mo up to, but usually I just get over it and go back to sleep in the hopes that I don't dream anymore, or if I do that it's about the first glimpse of that sweet little baby boy face I'll be seeing soon.

My friend of 3 years Amiee called me today too in a state of panic. Both of us have bad panic attacks and have for years. I have a heart condition know as Mitral Valve Prolapse with Dysautonomia that gives me the attacks, and we think Ames (as I call her) may have it too. Ames gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Leith last year at the same time I should be giving birth to Shawn this year. Basically Ames just needed some company and moral support because when you have an attack it can be quite debilitating. When you have a child I imagine it's even scarier, but it does give you more of a reason to calm yourself if you can't self-medicate. Luckily Mo and I got there in time to save the day and as always Ames was incredibly grateful and made us turkey hotdogs (instead of making us eat flax flakes and blueberries with Leith ha ha).

So now I'm about to go relax in the bath and maybe get rid of these achy pregnant muscles of mine. Mo and I are due at Pablo's (a Mexican restuarant) at 6:00pm to eat with my Dad and my Step-Mom Karen...until next time!

Oh and the picture is of me and Ames pre-baby days lol

The First of Many

Since this is my first post let me fill you in about me. My name is Shannon Stewart Syed. I am 23 years old and I live in Sweet Home Alabama so I was born and raised a grit (girls raised in the South). I love my mom Debbie Yarbrough (who is the avid blogger from: My Noggin Bloggins), my dad Ricky Stewart (who wouldn't know how to write a blog to save his life lol!), and Jesus (yes you guessed it we are country fried chicken eating Baptists lol). I am married to the most wonderful man in the world Mohammed Danish (pronounced Don-ish) Syed. Now Mo (as I call my husband) grew up in Chicago all his life and his family is Muslim (duh). So you can see that there should be great distances between us, but there aren't. God has a sense of humor and alas...we are perfect for one another!

Mo has grown up around babies ALL his life. He is the youngest in his family (currently 26 years old) with three sisters preceding him. They and his mom Shama raised him up proper and he knew how to treat a woman and care for a child by the age of 12 (no joke folks). It's like he and his family have this way with babies that I have never seen before. A child can be crying and if Mo, his mom, his dad, or his sisters hold it the baby is magically fine!! Now on the flipside my family knows how to raise kids...but we have short fuses ha ha. I grew up around my baby cousins, but I wasn't encouraged to take care of them the way Mo was his. So here I am 34 weeks pregnant and it seems like my husband will know what to do MUCH better than I will...but he says different. He says it will come naturally to me and that he can already tell that I will be a wonderful Mom...I hope he is right!! One thing I do know...I LOVE my Baby Shawn and he is still in the womb! Every time I feel a flutter or a kick I get so excited and start talking to my baby. He is the best present God has ever given me besides my husband and wonderful family and friends...I couldn't ask for more!