Catching Up with the Allen's

It's been a while since I posted on the blog. Life just seems to get away from us sometimes! Recent happenings:

• We had an OB appointment last Friday and all went well. The baby is hopefully on it's way to turning head-down (he/she was kind of sideways or "transverse" last month) and my weight and measurements are on target. I've gained 35 lbs! We spent a lot of time talking to the doctor about what our expectations were for the labor and delivery of the baby and the doctor shared her philosophy on medical procedures and what is necessary and what is not. We seem to agree on most things, which is important if I am to follow through with a natural birth with no medical interventions.
• Gloria and Charley; Seth's brother, Travis, and his two girls, Shawna and Kate; and Travis' friend, Casey, made a trip to Columbia last weekend to help us with some home improvement projects. I'll be posting some pictures of the work in progress once I actually get the camera out and take some pictures. Did I mention, it's been a busy week? The biggest project (which still needs some finishing touches) was building new wooden front porch steps over our existing, crumbly, concrete ones. I love the new entry way! The men did a great job working in the rain.
• We met with a doula, DeeDee Farris-Folkerts, and hired her to attend our birth as a personal birth coach. Her website is http://birthrhythms.com/ We are very excited to have found a doula, and DeeDee has over 12 years experience, in addition to being a midwife (although we did not hire her for that purpose). She will be instrumental in coaching both me and Seth through a natural, gentle labor and delivery.
• We're heading to Oklahoma tomorrow so I can hang out with my Mom, sister Jennifer, friend Rachel and her Mom for a ladies luncheon. It should be fun, I've never been to the restaurant that we're eating at. It's called The Market, and apparently it's a retail store and a restaurant, all in one. We can shop after we eat-- a perfect place for a ladies luncheon. Seth will hang out with Dad for lunch and meet up with the ladies at the Dimon residence for further refreshments and socializing. Then we'll have dinner at home and hopefully Jennifer and Jacob will join us. Then it's back to Columbia on Sunday--we'll hopefully be on the road around noon, if not before. It'll be a short trip, and our last one before the baby comes!

I hope to have pictures for the next post. Stay tuned...

-rebecca