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Friday, February 20, 2009

First Outfit, Hat and Other Ramblings!

One of my coworkers bought our little girl her first outfit! I couldn't resist taking a picture and posting it, so here it is! (The shirt says "Bee Happy" on it.) It's newborn size so hopefully she'll be able to wear it right away. Oh, and that's the baby blanket that matches her bedding underneath it.

When we found out we were having a girl, my husband made one request ... that she have a Cubs hat to wear home from the hospital. We got on Ebay last weekend and found a newborn size baseball cap that will be perfect. Here it is!

My parents are coming to town on Sunday to help move furniture around to "make room for baby." =) The queen bed that's in the nursery now will go to the other spare guest room along with the night stand (a round table w/a cloth on it) and the chest of drawers is heading to the basement. The king bed that's in the other guest room is moving to the basement along with the dresser and nightstand. And, finally....a dresser that's in the basement now will be brought upstairs to go into the guest room since it will match the queen headboard better than the one we did have in there. If you haven't figured it out, we have lots of spare furniture! lol...

They are also bringing us a glider and a jogging stroller that my brother & sister-in-law are giving us that they no longer use. The cushions on the glider are cranberry, but I have an ivory chenille blanket I'll throw over it and it'll be fine. My parents are also buying us the crib mattress as an early shower gift, so we'll get that this weekend, too. They've offered to help put the crib together, but we'll see if we have time since they're only here for the afternoon.

Last weekend I cleaned out the closet in the nursery so that's taken care of. A lot of stuff got taken to the basement or pitched. I found things that had been boxed up from 4 moves ago and had no business even making it in the house when we moved in two years ago! lol....

The bedding came with a valance for the window but I'd prefer full-length curtains instead. There is a large east-facing window in her bedroom and even with wood blinds, it's still very light in there and the valance wouldn't block out any light whatsoever. I found some curtains online (Wal-Mart) which are supposed to block out sunlight, quiet outside noise (in our low-key neighborhood that's the garbage truck), and also heat/cold. They received really good reviews so I ordered a pair of light pink panels. I wanted ivory but they didn't come in that color; only sand and beige which I didn't think would look very good since the bedding doesn't have those colors in it. They're supposed to arrive sometime during the week of March 2.

I rescheduled my lamaze classes to begin April 20. My doctor prefers I start when I'm 28 weeks along, so I had to move it back. I'll be just starting my 29th week the night of the first class.

Things are going well with me. Still having some stretching pains at night but I don't think they've been as bad this week. I've also slept a little bit better, too. The scale is going up and up and by leaps and bounds which I'm not liking, but I can't exactly try to not gain weight! I'm hoping it does slow down though because as of yesterday I've gained almost 18 pounds. I had another 4 pound gain this last week and 3 the week before. I'm halfway through my pregnancy though so maybe that's not so bad? My doctor didn't seem concerned last week and she said she'd tell me if I was gaining too much too rapidly. My next appointment is March 12.

She's moving around and "dancing" a lot. I put my husband's hand on my tummy last night in bed and he was able to feel one of the kicks a little. I told him in a couple of weeks he'd be able to feel it better. I also *think* I saw my tummy move the other night in the bathtub when she kicked a couple of times! I kept staring to see if it moved again, but it didn't even though she was still moving around.

I guess that's it for now. Hope all is well with each of you. =)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

It's A.......

You can thank Mother Nature for this early post! Our trip back home this weekend was canceled because pretty much the whole state of Nebraska is expecting to get 4-8" of snow! It's supposed to start tomorrow (Friday) morning and we planned to leave in the afternoon. My mom called last night and said she didn't want us driving back and risk having an accident.

So since I already called and told her the news, it's safe for me to go ahead and tell you! =) We're having a -- wait, are you SURE you want to know and not be surprised later?? hahahaha.... Before I tell, someone asked if we'd be sharing the name and the answer is probably not. Although we might change our minds later on. Okay, are you ready?? It's a .... oh, one other thing! I bought the bedding set on my way home from the appointment! Yay! I can't wait till the nursery is all decorated and complete! Hopefully our little girl will love it! Eeeeekkkk! =) Did you catch that? It's a GIRL!!!!

The ultrasound went great...she was uber active! The tech was having trouble getting good pics because she was moving around so much. She said, "You've got a wild one in there!" lol.... We were able to see all four chambers of the heart and it beating. My husband finally got to hear it in person, too. It was thumping at 157 beats/minute. She showed us the kidneys, stomach, spine, brain, etc. Everything looks perfect and no signs of any problems. We are ecstatic!

We celebrated by stopping by Granite City. The hubs had a big mug of beer and I enjoyed a virgin blood mary followed by a glass of milk. =)

I took pictures of the ultrasound pictures since I don't have a scanner here at home. I didn't want to make you wait till Tuesday when I'm back at the office. She gave us two pictures that were taken in 4D but the "picture of a picture" thing didn't work very well, so I'm not posting them here. You could see a cute button nose though, so perhaps she'll get my nose and not her daddy's. ; )

Here's our daughter's first picture (it isn't perfectly clear since she didn't stay still for ANY of the pics...but it's the best we have!). Beautiful, eh? =)





Monday, February 9, 2009

Baby Bump -- 19 Weeks

Okay, so here's the much anticipated first pictures of my baby bump. One is a true side shot; the other one my upper body is twisted a bit so that's why they look so different. You can still see the indentation a little from where my two bellies haven't quite meshed (at least I can) but I tried to disguise it by not pulling the camisole tightly down. I've also posted the pic that was taken the morning I found out I was pregnant for a comparison. You'll also notice that the side picture was taken before I fixed my hair and the 'twisted' one was taken after I was ready to be seen in public. lol....



Seventy-two hours from RIGHT NOW I will be at my doctor's office having the ultrasound! Stay tuned!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Classes and Other Stuff

I was perusing the hospital's Web site earlier today and decided to check out their Lamaze classes since my doctor requires it. At first I was thrown off because I didn't see anything called Lamaze. "They have to have them," I thought so I started clicking on the classes they listed and finally found what I was looking for, "Prepared Childbirth Education -- Emphasis is on making childbirth a positive experience and to allow you, as a family, to take an active role in your birth experience and in your care at the medical center." It doesn't say a thing about breathing techniques, which is what I think of when I'm told to take a Lamaze class, so hopefully this is what I'm supposed to take. I had to laugh at the "positive experience" part because really, how positive can it be pushing something that big out a hole that small?! lol.... EPI-DUR-AL. Enough said.

Anyway, they suggest taking them during the 6th to 7th month, which, believe it or not....is next month already! The class is 4 weeks, meeting once a week for 2 1/2 hours. I'm going to be very good at breathing after 10 hours of this stuff! ; ) Our first session is March 16 when I'll be 24 weeks along.

I still have to sign up for a breastfeeding class but I don't know at what stage they recommend those. The hospital's site didn't really say, other than it's just a single session and spouses/partners are encouraged to attend. I can see my hubs reaction to that already, "I seriously have to go to that?" ; ) I hope he isn't the only spouse that shows up. lol.... My pediatrician's office also offers breastfeeding classes and I'm thinking I'd rather go to theirs....same length and cost....because I have to go to their office a few days after we get home so their lactation nurses can see how we're doing. If I go through their class, I'd already be familiar with them. Plus, it's closer to our house.

As for me, I feel really good during the day but nights are getting worse. I'm having more trouble getting back to sleep after I wake up (to go potty, which is often) because of the round ligament pain. It used to go away shortly after I got back into bed but now they're lasting up to half an hour. I read today that at 18 weeks your uterus is the size of a cantaloupe, so that explains why the tendons and ligaments are causing 'growing pains' from stretching to accommodate the size. They eventually go away (supposedly), but I don't know at what point. From my experience thus far, as soon as one 'bad' thing subsides, something equally unpleasant is right around the corner! lol...

We find out the gender NEXT WEEK on the 12th! (Insert high-pitched squeal here!) I probably won't update my blog until the 16th because we are heading back to my parent's house on the 13th for the three-day weekend. My mom has discovered this site so I'm afraid to announce it before we tell them in person. I say "discovered" because I never told her I started this baby blog. She had the old weight loss blog address but I knew she never checked it, so I wasn't worried at all that she'd go to it and stumble onto the news that we were expecting. However, last month out of the blue she decided to check my 'old' blog to see if I had written anything there, and viola! There was the link to the baby blog. Her comment was something like, "Gee, I could've known the news long ago!" lol... Anyway, she checks this out every now and then and I don't want the surprise to be ruined. I know you'll all understand the delay. I'll post some ultrasound pics AND a belly pic at the same time, so you have something to look forward to! ; )

Hmmm....on SECOND thought....I could have it all written and just save it as a draft...and publish it from their house that night or on the 13th! We'll see if I have time to get it done before we head out of town.

Until next time....good luck on your weight loss/exercise efforts and to the two of you TTC...I'm sending some baby-making vibes your way. ; )

p.s.

I think I've been feeling the baby move here and there a bit. Not positive though.....could just be gas bubbles. ; )