Friday, January 28, 2011

The time my baby got scared and I felt her jump in my belly...

This morning my office hosted a Smoothie Day for our clients. Mostly just an excuse for our boss to socialize and the rest of us to not work until after 9. Except for our part-time traffic lady who was making all the smoothies! Anyways, I got to work a little before 7:30 like normal and was sitting in our kitchen talking to my boss and traffic lady and our first smoothie person showed up. Well, when traffic lady turned the blender on I felt the baby jump in my belly! It must of scared the crap out of her to startle her that bad! It was the craziest feeling ever. I hope she is doing ok in there and not just petrified now, she has been pretty quite on the movement front today. But maybe she is just curled up in even more of a ball hiding from the scary noises, I know I would be!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

This Texas Baby: Week 38 Check-In

 
 BABY'S TASK FOR THE WEEK: Put on some weight, baby girl! The doctor is sending me for another ultrasound on Monday to check in on you. I think she might be a little worried, but isn't telling me that. So, I am not going to freak out or anything until I have a reason to. I am only measuring 35.5 weeks this week, so only half a week up from last week. Our dr said she just wanted to check and make sure you have had good growth from that last ultrasound. There are several reasons I could be measuring small:
  • You are just going to be a tiny little baby, which I am ok with as long as you are healthy!
  • It's super hard to get a good measurement from the outside or even from an ultrasound, so all these measurements could be off.
  • I could just be really good a carrying you inside me. I have a VERY long torso, every time the dr measures my stomach she always forgets how low my pelvic bone is and has to keep scooting down to hit it, so there could just be a lot of space inside me for you to hide vs showing on the outside.
SYMPTOMS: Tired? Check. Uncomfortable? Check. Hard to get a good breath? Check. Ready for you to be here? Check. So worried about you getting here? Check.

CURRENT MOOD: I think I have decided that you are going to be late. Which is ok, but when I keep thinking I only have 2 weeks left it's a little hard to swallow. Know why I think you are going to be late? Two reasons, I have not had any, at least that I have noticed, pre-labor signs. And I hate change, so it figures that you will too, so since you hate change you are just fiiiine staying in my belly as long as you can get away with, isn't that right?

THIS WEEK'S GETTING READY FOR BABY FINISHED HOMEWORK: I got part of my hospital bag packed. I also did just some cleaning and organizing around the house. There is always more to be done, but I am trying to take it easy and not wear myself out.
 
NEXT WEEK'S GETTING READY FOR BABY HOMEWORK: Finish packing up the hospital bag and more taking it easy!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

This Texas Baby: Week 37 Check-In

 
BABY'S TASK FOR THE WEEK: Little girl, do you see that number up there? NOT the 2 number, we'll talk about that one in a minute, but the 37 number? You know what 37 means? It means you are full-term! So if you decided to come today (please don't!) you would no longer be considered a preemie.  I think we both deserve a pat on our backs for making it this far together. While you are considered ful term you are still supposed to be putting on fat, developing brain matter and practicing skills for the outside world like blinking, sucking, inhaling, exhaling and gripping.

As for that 2 lb gain up there... I went to the doctor yesterday and I had gained 4lb since the last visit! Isn't my weight supposed to start leveling off or even go down at the end!?! That is what I have read. All in all, I am still very happy with my weight gain, I think the nurse said I had only gained 20lb since the beginning, and I would like to keep it close to that! I mentioned to a client earlier in the week how I was just ready to be done and she said something like "well you are not that close yet are you?" when I told her 3 weeks away she was SHOCKED. She kept going on about how little I looked. Is there no happy medium? If I was HUGE right now, I am sure I would be getting comments about how big I am. I think a lot of it has to do with society's view on pregnant women and saying "it's ok to eat 3 cheeseburgers, you're pregnant." I did not buy into that when I found out I was pregnant, not to mention I was slightly overweight for my height, no need to add anymore weight on than is necessary. Ok, done with the weight talk!

Speaking of the doctor, she said that I am measuring at 35 weeks, but I am 37 weeks along. So, baby girl, you might just be a bit small when you show up.

SYMPTOMS: So freaking uncomfortable, I am just uncomfortable all the time. Sitting at work sucks, sitting on the couch sucks, laying down to go to bed sucks. Thankfully, once I do get comfortable enough to fall asleep I don't have many problems staying asleep other than to get up and pee once or twice. I am tired of feeling like none of my clothes fit me. I have about two pairs of shoes that fit, I don't even have any flip flops that fit! I really hate complaining about my pregnancy, because I feel like I have had it SO EASY, so I am going to stop now.

CURRENT MOOD: Done. Is that a mood? I am just done being pregnant, done with all the symptoms I have mentioned over the last few weeks. I just keep telling myself it is a lot easier to take care of you while you are in my belly than when you are in my arms!

THIS WEEK'S GETTING READY FOR BABY FINISHED HOMEWORK: We got a lot done during the past week! We bought a whole bunch of medicine cabinet stuff, we didn't even have bandaids before last weekend! I also picked up a few things I needed for my hospital bag, travel size toiletries, socks with grippers on the bottom, the huge maxi pads I apparently am going to need for afterward. I still don't have my bag PACKED but I have a list of everything to go in it. I also have all but one casserole made!
 
NEXT WEEK'S GETTING READY FOR BABY HOMEWORK: Packing of the hospital bag is the only task I am going to assign myself for next week. That and to sit down and relax and enjoy these last few weeks with you in my belly.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

This Texas Baby: Week 36 Check-In

 
BABY'S TASK FOR THE WEEK: Ok, baby girl, we need to have a talk here... It looks like you are measuring a good 2-3 weeks behind where you should be! In fact you don't even weigh 5 pounds yet, and you should be pushing the 6 pound mark. So, the ONLY task I am giving you this week is to PUT ON WEIGHT! 

As, you can guess, I had my ultrasound yesterday and the u/s tech guesstimated that I am actually only 33-34 along, not 36. This is based off your measurements and guesstimated weight (4lb 11oz). Well after that little shocker I went to work and googled like a mad person! Turns out, if I am due 2 weeks later (February 22 vs February 8) that would of put conception right around the beginning of June. Well, that is just not possible! I say that because I got a positive home pregnancy test on June 1st and it's at least two weeks before you can get a positive home pregnancy test, right? Granted my due date/conception date has always been off, if you go based on my last period, which I think a lot of places do, I should be at 39 weeks right now! And my period was over 2 weeks late before I got that positive, any test I took before that was a negative. Ultimately I am just going to have to wait until next Tuesday when I see the doctor to figure out what is going on. Thankfully the u/s tech said that you looked good, we even got you see your sweet face! I figure if there had been any cause for concern she would of sent us to the emergency room or contacted the doctor immediately.

SYMPTOMS: I am one hot momma! Literally. I am hot all the stinking time. I do not envy those moms that have to go through these last few months during the oppressive Texas summers. I have had to run my ceiling fan at work, all while the heater is running and my coworkers are complaining of being so cold. I barely let your daddy turn the heater on at night, he swears this is "the coldest winter of my life", I think he is over exaggerating. I sleep in a tank top and underwear and still end up kicking the covers off! Thankfully today is a nice cold day, the coldest day of this winter season so far (according to the news this morning)! It's only 33ยบ right now! So, this afternoon, when I really start to get hot, I can go for a walk outside and get nice and cooled off.

CURRENT MOOD: On one hand I am super glad I am not due 2-3 weeks later, at least by my calculations, that's like almost a whole 'nother month of being preggers! But on the other hand I am pretty concerned about you being so small and want you to stay inside me as long as you need to plump up. Maybe you are just supposed to be a small baby, shoot, I was barely over 5 pounds when I was born, so maybe you are just taking after me. The u/s tech did keep saying "there is not much room in there!" like she was surprised, maybe I have a small uterus and you are like a fish and only grow to the size of your home! For the next week I am not going to stress myself over this!
 
I did get some good news, I am GBS negative, so that means no hook up to an IV as soon as I get admitted to the hospital!

THIS WEEK'S GETTING READY FOR BABY FINISHED HOMEWORK: I made about half of the casseroles/dishes to freeze for after you get here. Our freezers are getting so full! I hope I have room for the rest of the meals. I think I have about 14 recipes I plan on making them, and a few of them make 2 casseroles. So, if I estimate 6 meals per dish that means your daddy and I will have dinner for 42 to 48 nights! I hope I did my math right on that, seems like a lot more meals that I was expecting!

NEXT WEEK'S GETTING READY FOR BABY HOMEWORK: Ok, hospital bag HAS GOT TO GET PACKED THIS WEEK! Also, your daddy picked up some lists at Babies R Us over the weekend, such as, what to have in the diaper bag and medicine chest, and he really wants to get those done with this weekend too. So, sounds like I have lots of packing and list checking off ahead of me!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Disappearing Belly!

Click to enlarge.
Over the last few weeks I have noticed that when I get up in the morning I barely look pregnant! It's super weird and makes me long for my pre-baby belly (hey! I think I have hit that stage where I just find my belly to be in the way all the time!). So, I decided to play a fun game and take my picture and measurements last night and first thing this morning. (These are the fun things I do with Robert is out of town for the week. Well, this and google things I would probably not be allowed to google if he was home, he banned me from googling about pregnancy stuff anymore, did I tell you that?) Holy difference, Batman! I am 4 inches smaller around in the mornings! That is a lot of stretching my belly has to do during the day.

Apparently this is a pretty common thing, at least from googling (so would not of passed Robert's googling ok...) it seems like lots of ladies have mentioned this same thing. But no one really said what caused it, some said it was from eating during the day or just bloating. For me, I think it is because I tend to still sleep on my back a lot or when I am on my side it is more my side/back. So, baby settles herself down into my body cavity and doesn't fall out of it until I have been up for a while. That makes the most sense to me, with gravity and all, but who knows!

Anyways, just wanted to share one more fun and weird thing about pregnancy I have encountered!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

This Texas Baby: Week 35 Check-In

 
BABY'S TASK FOR THE WEEK: Well baby girl, seems like you are pretty much ready for the world at this point. Sure, your nervous system and immune system are still maturing, but other than that your only task for the next few weeks is to plump up. I suppose that means I'm going to be plumping up too? In fact if you were born today you would have around a 99% survival rate, I don't think it gets much better than that! Since your living quarters are getting more and more cramped by the day, you have probably reached your birth length. I wonder if you are going to be tall/long like your momma and daddy are?

SYMPTOMS: Lack of lung capacity! I have noticed that I have to sit up straighter at work because when I slouch in my chair, like I normally would, you do not like it very much. You let me know know this by wiggling your butt up under my ribs and squishing my lungs even more. So, I will find myself just sitting there gasping for air! Not to mention anytime I go up stairs or anything like that, I will find myself gasping for breath.

CURRENT MOOD: I am torn between wanting you here NOW and wanting you to stay in my belly forever! I imagine by the end of the month I will be begging for you to make your entrance. Who knows you might end up coming a little later than we were expecting! I had a doctors appointment yesterday and after the doctor measured me she told me she wanted me to go get another ultrasound, because I am measuring a little smaller than I should be. This is the first time that has happened, I have always been right where I was supposed to be, but she said it could be just because you have fallen into my pelvic cavity already. So, I go to the imaging center on Monday for another ultrasound.
 
She also did a pelvic exam to see if I was dilated or anything and nothing was happening there! I was really nervous that the exam was going to hurt, I feel like I have read online that it can hurt a lot, but it did not, not sure if it will hurt more once I am actually in labor.
 
I was also swabbed for Strep B, I should find out today or tomorrow if I have it or not, fingers crossed for a negative result. A positive would not worry me or anything, it just means I would have to be hooked up to antibiotics as soon as I am admitted to the hospital and I am not all about that. I want to stay IV free for as long as possible. I have no problem if they get a line ready incase I need an IV, but I have no desire to be hooked to an IV as soon as I am admitted. I want to be able to walk around freely, plus I have read several birth stories where ladies leave the hospital weighing more than when they went in because they were pumped so full of IV fluids.

THIS WEEK'S GETTING READY FOR BABY FINISHED HOMEWORK: Little girl, I am pretty sure you have more clothes than your daddy or I have! We did 5 loads of laundry for you last weekend! FIVE! Granted one of them was sheets and blankets, but still, so much laundry. But now all your clothes have been de-tagged, washed, and hung up or folded. I was super worried for a while about de-tagging all of your clothes, because what if you outgrow them before you can wear them? What if you are a huge baby and all the newborn clothes we have are too small? What if you pop out as a boy!?! These are all valid possibilities (my gender ultrasound was very inconclusive, as in "ummm, think it's a girl...." so maybe I can verify that on Monday!) but at the same time I can live with a bunch of "what ifs" and I think it would suck a lot more to of come home with a little baby and have 5 loads of laundry to do vs having to pack up somethings that don't fit!

NEXT WEEK'S GETTING READY FOR BABY HOMEWORK: I still need to work on packing our hospital bags, but I will get there. I am also planning on doing marathon cooking this weekend to get our freezer stocked with meals we can just thaw and heat up for the first month or so after you are born.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

Oh 2010, you were full of lots of ups and downs, but you definitely ended on a high note!

Early in 2010 I decided to go off the pill so Robert and I could "just see what happens.." Remember the ever personal IM where I told him I did this:


In March we celebrated being homeowners for a full year! We treated ourselves to an nice dining room table to mark the occasion. And we bought a heard of chickens. Haha, not really a heard, I don't even know what a heard of chickens would be called. We bought 19 chickens for eggs and we still have all 19, despite my best efforts to freeze them the day we bought them and dropping them a few times!




Then in April we went on an amazingly fun cruise for our belated honeymoon. We had so much fun on it and visiting Mexico, Jamaica and Grand Cayman, I really want to go on another one!


In May, well what can I say about May... In May I got pregnant. Let's just say it was a bit of a shock. I was not expecting it to happen to easy and fast. Now I feel incredibly blessed that it happened so easy and fast after reading/hearing so many stories of couples trying for years.

At the end of June I turned 27, which for some reason freaked me out a little bit. Lets hope there is less of a freak out next June!

With July came a trip to South Fork, Colorado with Robert's family for the 4th. Colorado is BEAUTIFUL in the summer, it was such a nice break from the oppressive Texas heat. In July we also started telling people about the baby! It was a very busy month, driving all over the state to let all of our family know, but it was so worth it to see their faces!

August brought us fresh eggs from our chickens, finally! It is still exciting to go out there everyday and see how many we have.


September was a month of waiting! Waiting to find out if we were going to be having a boy or a girl! When we found out it was a girl at the end of the month I was a little bummed, even though I am pretty sure I knew it was going to be a girl, I was still hoping for a boy for some reason. Robert was just relieved to find out the baby was healthy. By the way, I am totally excited about having a girl now! Can't imagine it any other way now.

We celebrated our first anniversary in October. Want to know how we spent our 1st anniversary? On the 1-35 corridor! Robert spent a lot of time during October in Arlington for the Rangers playoff games and it just so happened that one of those games was the Saturday of our anniversary weekend. And me, being the AWESOME wife I am agreed to let Robert go while I hung out with my family. Maybe next year we will be able to take a little weekend get away trip to make up for it.

November was the moth of football games! We went to the OU/Tech game in Norman, my first ever collage football game. It was pretty fun. While there we bought our first piece of baby clothing!


We also went to the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game, which was a lot of fun too. Plus it was crazy seeing the new Cowboys Stadium!


December was a crazy month of parties, shopping and visiting family. The month started off with my baby shower (which I promise to show pictures of one day!). Then the rest of the month was spent Christmas/baby shopping. Oh, we also bought a new truck during December! The end of December had Robert and I ringing in the new year at home, with just the two of us and turning the lights off at 12:02. I think my third-trimester tiredness is contagious!

All in all 2010 was a phenomenal year! I mean we had cruises, baseball games, trips to Colorado, 1 year anniversaries, football games and chickens. But lets not forget that the majority of the year was dominated by my belly and the baby growing in it.

I hope 2011 lives up to 2010 if it doesn't beat it. I have a feeling 2011 will bring more time at home, a lot of learning and a lot of stress and I am so excited for it all. I know at this point I should mention what my resolutions are for the year, but I figure my world is going to be turned upside down in about a month so there is no point in making resolutions. I will however share a few things I hope to start/accomplish this year:
  • Get better at meal planning, I feel this will be essential with a baby if I want to maintain any sort of healthy diet. I am going to try and pick out a few "easy" meals every month that I can ask Robert to make so that all the cooking does not fall on me or on me with Robert's help.
  • Learn more about my dslr camera and how to take pictures with it, I want some amazing photos to document my new family.
  •  Relax, stay calm and enjoy what the year has to bring!
Note: sorry there are not more photos, I just had to pull what I have on my facebook!