Happy baby-nursery!

Finally, we wiggled stuff around in the baby's room the last 2 days, and although we may continue to move 'stuff' around to make it right, we have a REAL nursery without junk in the way. Also, got our diaper pail and cloth diaper bag so we can do things the right friggin way. Awesome.

Also we got a desk for my hubby's computer stuff so that now I have my own desk for paying bills, blogging and sending out cards and such, and he has his, in the living area, so that he can do his stuff and still be with baby and me! Yes!

I take it back..

She had no gas at all this morning and she was just a grinning up a storm for me. Finally! I feel like I got a real all-for-me smile! Yeah!

my motto is

KJ's motto should be.. I only smile when I have gas!

Let the cloth-ing begin!

We finally got 2 diaper pail liners and bought KJ some diapers for Christmas. Soon enough she'll be in the 'medium' size and we'll be washing every other day probably. At this point in time we need to use up the size 1 disposables I bought a big box of, considering she seems to be growing out of them at an alarming rate. What the hell, kid? All the sudden Boom! She's huge!

Anyway, the diaper pail liners came in today, so we need to grab a new trash can and get started. Much better than the rubberma1d snap on lid container I was using.

Bum genius

We got one bum genius diaper from diapers.com along with the disposables I ordered. We tried it out last night, and it was pretty cool. the only thing is you have to stuff it with an insert. Blah. Then you have to dig it back out.

They do, however, have a multitude of sizes that DONT require an insert, and its more like a disposable diaper than the others we have. It may very well be worth it. It was very trim inside her clothes and didn't seem to be any different as far as fit or leakage than any of the others. The best thing is that the damn creator/store is just down the friggin road. We CAN go look at them, see if they have 'seconds' that might be a bit crooked in the seams or something, and perhaps get a good deal. I don't mind the other diapers, but they are hard to get under her clothes... which sucks.

It's happening... ahh!

Her eyelashes have slowly changed color, and voila! You can officially see them against her closed eyes. Dark lashes. Amazing.

Smiles all around..

So far I haven't really gotten a big supply of smiles from miss KJ. She does give a half a grin to her dad when he tickles her lips with a burp rag, or just his finger. When I do that? She screams her head off at me for not feeding her. Go figure.

But... I did get a half a smile (probably gas) when I was bouncing her on my knee. Guess she likes playing horsey.

Meet and greet...

We went Sunday and surprised my folks with a visit for their fortieth wedding anniversary. Saw everyone at church, only one person touched her face, but didnt appear sick and I wasnt about to yell at an old lady... anyway, she got passed around to my family, but they were all healthy. We also met the puppies. Everyone couldnt wait for that.

Willie liked her. He smelled her right away and tried to get into the playpen with her. He sniffed her like crazy and wanted to lick her. His tail was wagging like crazy and we finally had to put him outside so he'd not actually knock the playpen over. The other dog, Cole, was right beside her and didn't make any mention of her at all. Then we were changing her diaper and she made noise, and boy did he pay attention then, he sniffed her foot and later he nosed her hand. I don't think she liked that very much. Too cold. Anyway, she didn't know anything about them, but they will definitely remember and be looking for her at Christmas. They are smart like that.

Just when you think there's a victory...

My sweet baby of the day turned into an "I dont want that, no I dont want that, yes that soothes me for 15 seconds, no I don't want that" baby. In an instant. Her dad got tired of her not going to sleep and dumped her on me. I had just pumped, so I couldnt nurse her to soothe her and she seemed tired and hungry. Great. So I got out the bottle and what little milk was in there and tried to calm her unhappy butt down. It worked, for a while. But when you're sitting there knowing you're a pee away from having absolutely no diapers, and it will take hours to get more cloth ones ready, you have little milk and she keeps spitting it out, but doesnt want to burp, only scream, and you feel so alone, what do you do? Sit and bawl your eyes out right along with the baby of course. What else can you do?

fluffy diaper butt

Okay, so here's the deal. Bought the small size of diaper stuff to try it. I really wanted cloth diapering to work. We got them, got them prepared and I changed her 3 times in the hour and a half before she went to bed this afternoon. Not unusual even with the disposable ones. Not that much more of a problem with the change, I'm sure I'll get better at it. It's just a 2 step process instead of one and you have to wrangle the inner part to make sure it stays in the cover. The only real huge problem is that the diaper and cover is about six times the fluffiness of a disposable. Which is cute, no doubt, but umm, her clothes just aren't going to fit over them. Just looking at it you can tell. So unless she runs around without any bottoms on for the whole winter or wears a size 2T in pants with the cuffs rolled up a foot, it just isn't going to work. Granted, there are other options, and in theory I could buy them, sell these, try them and if it doesnt work, sell them, etc. etc. But right now, I'm exhausted, we barely have breastfeeding down and I think trying this out right away was a mistake. Unfortunately, we already bought the covers and such, which were most of the cost outlay, and they'll only work up to 15 pounds. Heck all of it is only good up until 15 pounds.

I will keep trying, but honestly, what good is it if your baby has to be wrapped in a blanket all day because she can't wear bottoms? I'm frustrated, not unusual for me, especially lately, and its' only been a couple of times, but the guilt is already setting in. I really really really wanted it to work and had no idea that they'd be 'THAT' fluffy. So what do I do? Stomach the guilt and use disposables even if it galls me that we're killing that many trees? Use these until she runs out of the 15 pound limit and go back to disposables after that? After all, they'd pay for themselves in 6 weeks or so, 10 if you compare to the cheaper diapers, and we'll be inside for the most part, so we can keep the heat a little higher and/or use blankets.

What do you think? Am I too frustrated too soon? Bravo for even giving it a try? Leave her nekkid and hose her down?

My little sweetheart...

My baby went to sleep at midnight, she made some noise at 3:30 so I went in and checked on her and put her laundry away while I waited to see if she would wake up.
She didn't so back to bed I went at 4. I went in at 7:30 and woke her up.
She slept 7.5 hours.
I got her up and she didn't cry.
I changed her diaper and she didn't cry.
I nursed her and tried to burp her and nursed her some more, she got hiccups and nursed some more, she sat and looked at me, and I finally went in and got her dressed and put her down in her crib. She stared at all the stuff in there, and she didn't cry.

And now she's asleep.Ahhh.... what a wonderful life!

Keeley is a ...

Mouse
Puppy
Kitten

If you could choose only one, which would you choose? And why...








She's a mouse because we are mice, oh and she squeaks
She's a puppy because she shakes her leg like a dog does when you scratch it's belly
She's a kitten because she spits (like an angry kitten) when she is REALLY hungry and mad because you're not feeding her already, dammit

Guess what I can do?

I can reach out with a hand and grab ahold of something, like a shirt sleeve, and make it impossible for mom to turn me around to feed me. Oh yeah, and pull on a towel that's laying above my head. It's not like I'm doing it on purpose yet, but I found out that there are things to grab on to, cool!

Poll results

Well apparently those of you that voted like KJ's name and also know that she weighs more than the turkey. But I have a sneaking suspicion that that was my husband and he knows we only had a turkey breast for lunch and it was six pounds, WAY less than our growing girl.

Generous...

Besides a shower gift and a welcome to the world gift, my friend S sent a 15 lb box of her baby girl's clothes for KJ to borrow. Umm, yeah, she wouldnt even go through each outfit once, I don't know how her baby did, and she didnt even send ALL the clothes she had.

When I get a chance, I will have to photograph them all to be sure I can get them all back to her. I may separate them in a plastic bag or something to be sure I have them all accounted for. Seriously, 15 lbs. of clothes.

One Month Check-up

KJ -- 11/24/2008-One month check-up
Weight: 9 lbs 7 1/2 oz
Height: 22 inches
Head circumference: 14 3/4 inches
Temperature: 97.4 F

She's got a cool temperature just like mom and dad. She's trying to grow out of 0-3 month socks and she's making really good eye contact the last couple of days. Breastfeeding is improving, although we're still trying to get the hang of 'eating' and not 'eating, napping, eating, napping' so that a feeding takes 2 hours. But we're working on it. Occasionally we sleep 5 hours at night. We also are lulling ourself to sleep so mommy can get some stuff done during the day. Yeah!

New and improved...

real tears came out when my baby girl cried this morning... awww....

but someone HAD to suck the boogies out, I mean she could barely breathe. She didn't thank me for it though. Well, maybe she did, twice now she's kind of lulled herself to sleep once I put her in the crib, just rested there with eyes open and no pacifier and eventually fell asleep. Thank heaven for little girls...

Best or worst

Do you ever feel like your best at the time isn't good enough, like it will never be good enough, like you're never going to get everything done, or at least get close to caught up?

Tracking...

Newsflash:

When we concentrate really really hard we can follow a face or something like a bright blue tube of chapstick with our eyes. Then they go unfocused again. But hey, we are reaching milestones.

Stay tuned for doctor's appointment news this week. We think there's a good chance we've gained at least 2 pounds.

I did it...

A sparse sampling of cloth diapers in teeny tiny sizes is ordered. We'll see if we can make it or not. So far, a lot of other things I have failed at:

Giving birth without drugs
Giving birth naturally
Using no pacifier
Patience
Breastfeeding (still kind of iffy at this point)...

So I'm really not holding out hope. But my husband is all behind it. We'll see how long that lasts.

Thank you for being a friend....

My friend KT needs some help, she got me into blogging, and she's entered a photo contest. I have to admit, among all the frosting and photoshopping, hers is a good, clean photo.

http://www.5minutesformom.com/4857/prego-photo-contest-finalists/

Please consider voting for #8!!!!!!

Christmas time with baby...

Any ideas for what to ask for as the baby's gift? I'm sure the grandparents would like to spoil, but she already has plenty of clothes at this point in time, a tub full of 'toys' she can't play with yet, and enough soap, lotion, etc. etc. to last until she's about 5. Okay, maybe not. But still.

Savings bonds?

We were thinking of doing savings bonds for her and maybe getting her an ornament. At this point in time, we have no idea what we're doing for anyone else, so really, she's the last of our 'worries' as she doesn't respond to anything except food, diaper changes and the occasional snuggle or song if she's in the mood.

Oh and I wouldn't be asking if we hadn't been asked what 'she' wanted or what we wanted for her. This is not a 'gimme' sort of thing.

All things bowel related...

We have pooped through 2 outfits, peed through one, and also peed all over mommy's lap in the last 24 hours. Good grief. What did we get ourselves into? Eh, at least it all comes out in the wash, literally.

What do you think?

My friend Stacy (2 kids who breastfed with no problems) suggested that with every hell that we're going through that I don't need the guilt of breastfeeding or not breastfeeding and basically I need to give myself a huge friggin break.

Bulletin: I tried it yesterday morning and she ate from both sides, sure it took half an hour, but she was satisfied and went to sleep with no problems. Didn't take any longer than the bottle and we were both happy. Ecstatic, really.

2nd Bulletin: I tried it the rest of the day and night and also this morning, each time she ate, and nothing. She won't latch on, she just screams and pushes away like she's being murdered. Yes, I strip her to her diaper, I do everything the LLL people suggest, as well as suggestions from my mom, Matt's mom and my other friends who have breastfed and nothing seems to make her happy.

When we were in the hospital, she had done reasonably well before my milk came in. But she had jaundice and everyone said she should stay on her bilirubin bed the whole time and not even be held or cuddled, just be fed through the SNS feeder which is the little tube you can put on your finger and get expressed milk to run through it and when they suck your finger, they get milk, etc. So we did that, and skipped the breastfeeding, thinking we'd pick it right back up the next day (assuming she'd get better right away), well then she didn't and time ticked by and she didn't get better and she didn't get better, and finally it was time to go home and they said, well we could send you home with a blanket if necessary, but we don't think it is right now, and we said 'blanket?' no one ever told us about a blanket, you mean we could have HELD her all this time? They didn't have an answer about that.

I feel cheated. I really do. Even if she had never gotten breastfeeding in the hospital, I lost all that time with ooey gooey feelings where I could have held and cuddled her and gotten a really good bond with her, and I don't really feel like I have it. All the laughter and joy I had in the hospital is gone, replaced by sadness and frustration. Sure, I love her, but now that we're home (and I'm alone with her), there is no cushion of food delivered, beds made, fresh towels, etc. etc. that I could have taken advantage of holding her, and now I have to do all those things by myself and with struggling to feed her and being in pain 24 hours a day, quite frankly I can't wait for her to fall asleep because I really really need to get things done, and get some rest myself, and I can't do that if she's awake and screaming. Right now, she doesn't do anything but scream or sleep, really. Which is fine, she's a newborn, good GOD do NOT friggin write a message to me and offer me platitudes, I'm college educated, I GET IT. Doesn't mean I can't complain about it.

So here's when I ask what you think. My friend suggested I try to feed her every time starting with breastfeeding and if she won't do it to go ahead and give her the bottle (duh, she has to eat), and to do that for a week, and if I can't get her to do it, then to make a decision then (whether I continue to pump and feed her from a bottle, switch to formula or keep on trying the breastfeeding) as to what to do. What do you think?

And has anyone else gone through this? Your baby WOULDNT breastfeed or you got through it eventually and they did it, and how long did it take, or whatever.

Yikes, again...

The big poo mess is not quite so funny when it shoots across the room like a water hose.
Onto everything. Furniture, brand new carpet in a brand new apartment, you get the picture.
Especially when you dont have any carpet cleaner.

Moving with an infant

Advice on moving with a baby. Moving with an infant. Moving while pregnant. Moving during pregnancy. Been there, done that. Didn't even get a t-shirt, but since I looked for advice when I was about to undertake the adventure and couldn't find anything, I thought I would post some out there for those in cyberspace that might move soon and need the advice. So here goes: as with any move, you should have the boxes labeled as to which room they go in and what is in them. Example: Bathroom: Hygiene. Spare room: Craft items. Nursery: Clothing. Be sure to label anything you KNOW you'll need ASAP when you get there, for example, we always end up eating pizza when we move, don't ask, we just do, so we would label a box with pizza pans and a pizza cutter, because we know we'll end up with it soon after moving. We had most of the nursery stuff in plastic totes, which was really nice because we knew that it all stayed nice and tightly packed in there and nothing needed rewashed or anything unlike maybe with a cardboard box. Skip down to blue text if you already HAVE the baby.

Note: If you plan to move while you are pregnant: WARNING! Pack your hospital bag and keep it with you at all times. Also, go ahead and install the carseat, even if you're not due for a month or so. You may very well need it (I did)--make sure you have at least one newborn or 0 mos. outfit washed and in the bag for going home in and hospital pictures.

We had none of this done and when my water broke, we weren't prepared at all, the carseat was still packed up (at least we knew where it was), I did not have more than one set of clean clothes (we were planning on doing laundry the next day, and had nothing to pack for me to wear), and no pre-washed baby clothes. Most likely, your husband will have no idea which clothes still fit you and which don't (mine packed clothes twice and we still had to go buy some in order for me to get through the last 2 days of hospital stay where I had to be up and walking around after the c-section). Although, please take note: All is not lost: We had family buy and wash some baby clothes, which we used for pictures and taking baby home in. My husband ran out and bought some plain men's tshirts and some yoga/stretch type pants in a larger size and a new package of underwear and a nursing bra straight off the shelf and it all worked out just fine.

Although I must admit, running around with amniotic fluid gushing out and trying to stuff a towel in your pants, put plastic bags and towels on the vehicle seat, and etc. was quite hysterical. I wasn't in labor, yet, though, so I still had a sense of humor. Also charge your camera every couple of days and leave it plugged in and 'with' the hospital bag. The hospital took pictures for us. I'm really glad they did. Our camera and cord were in separate places and was not charged.

Okay, as far as moving goes... Have one box or container that you keep with you or know where it is at all times. Contents: Napkins or paper towels, cups, plastic plates and cutlery, toilet paper, hand soap, a dish towel and hand towel for bathroom washings and kitchen spills. Also very important: Trash bags! Pack this stuff all into your (clean) trash can or laundry basket for an easy carry into your new place. Load your vehicle with bottled water or sodas, and if you have the baby of course enough diapers/wipes/ formula/pre-expressed breastmilk, etc. to get you through the move and a day or two beyond.

Don't forget your pump if you're expressing and a bottle brush and other items necessary for feeding baby at whatever stage you're at-utensils for cereal, etc. If it's just a short move and you'll have time to hit a grocery store, don't worry about food, but if not, keep a cooler out and grab some microwave meals, chips, cookies, cheese and crackers, bagels, yogurt, and other finger foods to get you through a couple of days while you unpack. Bottled juices that don't have to be refrigerated, water, etc. should be stuck in the floorboard of your vehicle.

Go ahead and find out the pizza delivery place nearest to you and pre-program the number into your phone before you move. Chinese, Italian, or whatever else you like instead, we just like pizza. This is where your 'box' comes in, you'll already have enough stuff to get you through the night and ready for the next morning. Tuck some juice and water in the fridge before you go to bed and either plan to run to starbucks, or find your coffeemaker/keep it with you and set it up for the next morning. This is where cash comes in handy, as well. Keep $50 of mad money tucked into your wallet for emergency diaper runs, lunch on the go, etc.

Impractical advice for some, but if you can, have movers pack and move you. Sometimes they can even hold your stuff for a day or two so you can get your new place cleaned to your satisfaction before everything gets in. We have moved twice, once while pregnant with the movers doing everything and once with a newborn and we did everything. Luckily most everything was still in the boxes that the movers packed for us. What wasn't: we put back in. If you plan on moving close together, keep your boxes, bind them together and stick them in a garage or spare closet so you'll have an easier time of moving the next time around.

Feel free to e-mail me with questions or add comments on anything I may have forgotten.

Adventures in Pooland...

No, this has nothing to do with Winnie The... It has to do with taking off a dirty diaper and going to use a wipe and hearing baby girl's belly make 'that noise' --caught the whole thing with the wipe, didn't get any of me or her. All we could do was laugh.

Womb sounds bear...

We LOVE the womb sounds bear, it even helps us sleep. I hate the fact that it 'goes off' though after a while. It's nice that it saves the battery, but sometimes we run to turn it back on so she'll stay asleep or fall asleep. Speaking of which, time to rest for a few minutes while she sleeps.

Squeak, Squeak...

She squeaks just like a little mouse. When she's sleeping and trying to wake up. It's very cute, of course. She makes mom and dad giggle.

Am I screwing her up...

by singing 'seven spanish angels' (Ray Charles/Willie Nelson), to her while I'm trying to get her to sleep? It's the only song I can remember the words to.

http://www.cmt.com/lyrics/willie-nelson/seven-spanish-angels/6136014/lyrics.jhtml

Now I know why...

Kids laugh when people fart. Because quite frankly, it's impossible not to laugh while your baby farts like a fat cow and grins really big about it.

Not as easy as it seems..

Breastfeeding, that is. For sure, I thought with all the milk I had (colostrum, whatever) ahead of time, that it would be a piece of cake. I didnt count on a baby who refused to latch on for more than 2 sucks at a time. Or that would eat 4 or 5 ounces at a time, when really, they're only supposed to have an ounce or two (according to the lactation consultants), and also, she sleeps for 4 or 5 hours when they're supposed to be up eating every two.

My mom came and helped re-pack our kitchen. God bless her, she deserves a medal of honor. She helped me for almost 2 hours, and yes, we finally got a couple of sucks, but not enough to feed the poor baby's belly. She took another or say 3 ounces out of a bottle afterwards. I finally had to pump to get that, as it had been about 7 hours since I had pumped and after almost 2 hours of the baby playing around, let's just say they hurt like crazy.

I am in the position where I feel like breastfeeding would be best for all of us. Dad doesnt have to do more than make sure mom hears the baby or maybe goes and gets the baby, mom just pulls out the prize and offers it up, baby eats for 20 minutes and goes to sleep. Not the pump while daddy feeds the previous bottle of pumped stuff and counting hours to make sure it's still good, or having to warm it up if it had been in the fridge, taking an hour and a half because she continually falls asleep, etc. etc. The nurses pegged her as a 'lazy eater'-- you got that right.

And after being kept awake for almost 4 hours, which she normally eats and goes back to sleep, she wouldnt sleep in her crib and I needed to make phone calls, so I put the little munchkin in her carseat in just her diaper on the floor, and you know what, she's asleep. Little stinker. But I had to make those doctor's appointments before I completely forgot. My health care is important, right?

Lord have mercy, has anyone else gone through this? Because I know my mom probably thought I had 'given up' after 2 hours, but I was sore, swollen and both Keeley and I are soaked in milk from head to foot, plus a pillow or two. So has anyone else had a lazy eater, and did they ever 'grow' out of it? Because I'd like breastfeeding to work, but I don't have 2 hours every 4 hour period to try and get her to end and then end up pumping and bottle feeding her anyway. Does that mean I'm giving up, or just should I try it when I am able to and hope she gets it soon?

We made it....

Through one day! And so far, we made it through one feeding by ourselves! Yeah!
Yikes. One thing at a time, I guess. One thing at a time.

What we're doing now...

http://lil-mousehouse.blogspot.com/2008/11/yikes.html

More stuff...

over at my regular blog...including baby updates...

http://lil-mousehouse.blogspot.com/

Aww...

Just a little aww factor to keep you off my back... Dad and baby taking naps in the hospital...

Keeley Josephine

10-24-08

7 lbs 6.4 oz

20 inches long

12:38 a.m.

oh yeah

and my friend Trish who had her baby a month and a week ago, or so... she was told her baby was almost 9 lbs and really it was almost 8. She went into labor a week late, though, and had to have a c-section because she wasn't progressing after like 10 hours or something. So... just something for me to keep in mind. Even if they say the baby is huge, it may really not be.

And if I'm going to have to have a c-section once the baby decides to come naturally anyway, if the baby really is huge, then why do it early? Why not let the baby be safe, warm, and cozy while we sort all this housing stuff out? Makes sense to me. What about you?

Hmm...

Did I say before that we could schedule an ELECTIVE c-section? Well that's what the doctor said. In which case we could always elect NOT to have a c-section and just let nature take it's course until there's no more course to take.

Will update after the next doctor's appointment and the ultrasound, of course.

holy cow...kind of literally...

Well, my new doctor shed some light on something interesting.. when we had our ultrasound back in June, our baby was at the 99.9th percentile for size. No wonder I'm as big as a frickin barn. The new doctor suggested that perhaps we ought to get another ultrasound and see how big the baby is/if its in the right position/consider scheduling a c-section if the baby is too big. Great. Just great. I mean, we aren't even close to ready. I'm not ready. Not at all. I want 4 more weeks, or 6 with my baby, just me and my baby, giving us a chance to get the house ready, and me a little bit of time that's not completely in an uproar, which is completely opposite of what we've had lately.

The good news is that we like the new doctor. She doesn't seem afraid to make jokes, etc. Baby's heart beat is still in the 150's, and everything else seemed normal. I'm just afraid the baby is like 10 lbs now already and that waiting too much longer will be an issue. Of course, it could just be that the ultrasound was read wrong all along and that I'm just tubby, but we will see.

i haven't slept worth a darn lately, something about not being in my own bed, plus being in my 9th month of pregnancy, etc. etc.

I did get a nap this morning before checking out of the hotel where we were staying, but still, not enough. People always say to get as much sleep as you can before the baby is born... but if you can't sleep, what the heck do you do then? Drug yourself?

Anyway, I had to get 'checked' today--that didn't feel very good but they're talking a fingertip dilated and half effaced, so I guess that means I'm making normal progress no matter what. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated. We'd like to hold off unti Nov. 1st as that's when our BETTER much better insurance takes over.

Ultrasound is Oct. 29th. More updates whenever we can get internet. At least tomorrow we'll have the crib and carseat back in our possession.

Second home...

Starting tonight, the baby will live in another state.

Baby nursery...

On Monday we should be able to start painting the nursery (once we get the keys to the new house!) and prepping for our stuff to arrive the next Tuesday. Matthew will be busy part of Wednesday and Friday, then we have my doctors' appointment on Monday, so the stuff will be delivered Tuesday and in between we'll working on painting, cleaning and just general getting everything ready for our stuff to be in there. In the meantime we think we'll be able to stay in a hotel while we're waiting. Yeah!

6 weeks to go...

Can you believe it? Time keeps flying by. I like to stop and rub my belly and talk to the baby when it's rolling around in there, because I know soon we'll be outside, much louder and much more demanding!

Hostess gifts...

I dont know if I mentioned this before, but for the hostesses of both showers, I gave candles and little magnets I made. For everyone that came to the showers, I made a magnet. And for those with kids, I brought animal shaped magnets that they could take home to them. Kind of a gift from our baby to them for 'showering the baby with good wishes'-- which is what was on the little cards I printed out. I had a few little cards left over, so those went into the thank you envelopes of those people who sent gifts but couldn't be there. Here's what most of them looked like. I ended up with a few leftover at the end, without realizing it. Just a note--if you do magnets with paint on them, don't allow them to stick together magnet to paint. The paint WILL scrape off and/or the magnet will rub off on the fronts, and in your hormone induced state, you might actually get upset and cry over it. Another side note, eraser takes away the magnet scrapes, but if the paint is gone, it's too bad. Bonus points to my husband for only slightly raising his voice at me for crying and then hugging me--and figuring out within about 2 minutes that trying to 'solve' it wasn't going to work. The waterworks were there for a few minutes. Then reality kicked in and I dried up. Poor little ol' me. But they turned out okay. They're handpainted so you have to expect a little roughness to them, right? Right?

Baby Shower #2

I don't have any pictures from this shower, no idea why, but I didn't pack my camera and I guess no one else thought to either. This one was at my home church. Just in the last year they have started throwing baby showers. The church folk were VERY generous. Besides all the goodies, we should be able to buy a high chair, playpen, and nursing pillow, as well as have some left over for clothes or what have you in the next couple of months. Very generous. Oh and there were like 20 people there, which just flabbergasted me. And lots of people who couldn't come (or didn't want to), sent cards or left presents. Woohoo!

One thing they must all like is hooded towels. At last count I had something like 9, and my mom kind of indicated in a round about way that I had at least one more waiting for me at home this week, someone had dropped the gift off at her work. Some other things we had duplicates of, and just put the credit back on gift cards, so we'll be able to get some more clothes or whatever with that as well. I do have pictures of everything, though, which I will probably put out on the google picture site. Once my hubs tells me how to do it.

One awesome thing was our second car seat (that goes from 20 lbs to booster seat, so you never need a new one) from my aunts and cousins, 5 total of which came (out of 8) the 1.5 hours to have lunch with the family and then to the shower. I thought it was really nice of my mom to provide lunch for them since otherwise they'd have to eat super early or on the road. We have been to dozens of events like that where they all live for years and no one ever provided lunch for us. Guess that just shows how considerate she is. They all appreciated it. I know I did. It was nice to be with the ladies of the family, at least some of them, anyway, without the guys butting in.

This shower was again a bit awkward, because they didnt play games at all, I just had to sit and open gifts while everyone else kind of chatted a bit and otherwise watched me. I wish they'd had their food to eat while I opened, especially toward the end it was just cards with either money or a gift card in them, so it was like 15 cards in a row. I just announced the names, not the amounts in case anyone was wondering, I have a bit more tact than that. And I made sure that I sought out the eyes of everyone who brought a gift that was there when I said thank you.

We had brownies and watermelon. Yummy. Needless to say, I felt (and I'm sure the baby will once it's old enough to know) very loved. A lot of the people there had known me since I was 3 years old.

Baby Shower #1

I must admit, this shower went a lot better than I thought it would. I wasn't nervous at all. The only problem really was that I got hot and nauseated and had to take a quick water break. There were 4 games. The ever-present 'don't say baby' game where you stick clothespins on people and then if someone says baby, you take their clothespin and whoever has the most at the end of the party gets a prize. I don't really like that one, because then no one feels like they can talk about the baby, which is kind of the whole point. Then a walk-around with a basket full of goodies and you try and remember what's all in there, and a word scramble, and then this one, where people tried to guess how big around I was. My mom kind of doubled what she thought I was I guess. She took a whole boatload of yarn. I thought that was hilarious. Matthew's Aunt Mary was the closest. Matthew's 2 sisters are the center of the photo here distributing yarn. They're 2 years older and 13 years younger, respectively.

I had 3 friends (Katie, Stacy, Michelle) come, along with Matthew's family and my mom. (Erin also sent a present, yeah!) Here's Stacy (l) and Michelle (r). The one of Katie was too blurry to post. I wish Stacy would blog because I know she's got a lot of fodder for it.

And then there was cake. One that my sister in law made (ducky layer with whipped cream frosting, which was excellent), and another Matthew's aunt brought from the bakery. There was plenty for everyone.

And I guess I ought to post a picture of me, too. Here I am with the lil' sis in law, she's 15, and she was the one that made the cake. Yes, she's about 4 inches taller than me now. We were neck and neck until about Easter and then she just shot past me. We're both barefoot here.

All in all, it was a good time, the nerves settled down right away, I got lots of great presents and got to see some of my dearest friends, which was a great help to my state of mind and made me feel like myself again.

Funny...

Matthew sneezed last night and it scared the baby. All the sudden the baby started wiggling and flailing. I patted my belly and told the baby it was alright it was just a sneeze and it calmed down. Matthew felt bad. Which made me giggle. Like the baby's not going to get startled a million times in its lifetime. But still. Isn't that a sweet thing for a daddy to feel bad for startling his little one?

Hoarding my baby...

I'm not sure I want to share my baby. Period. With anyone. Not even my husband. I'm having too good of a time bonding with the baby that's warm and safe and cared for, as long as I take care of myself. We read and eat and sleep and talk over all the wiggles we're accomplishing in the womb. If the baby is born, I have to share. And do a lot of extra work, don't you know?

So am I lazy, or is it a good sign that I want to have the baby all to my lonesome?

Doctor's visit

Went to the doctor this morning. Had gained 7 lbs. Not a surprise. Saw a completely different doctor again today, but will see him again next time-Oct 1st, and should be my last here.
Baby's HR was 151, my bp was 122/something and my measurement was 31 to 32 and I'm at 31 1/2 weeks so right on target. When I got on the scale to be weighed, though, my belly hit the front of the scale. I couldn't quit laughing for a while. It's probably just my height that made it an issue, but still, pretty funny. The nurse asked me if we were going by the third or the fifteeth and I said, the fifteenth, why does it say the third, and I guess that's what the ultrasound said, but she said because they did the ultrasound a little later then it was off, sure had me going for a minute. She seemed to think I'd be ready for the baby to be out by the third, and i'm thinking, heck, no, we'll only have gotten moved for 2 weeks at that point! Did find out though that it won't be an issue getting our pre-paid delivery charges from the doctor back. So that's good.

umm, OW!

Baby just did a full on whack in all 4 directions, utilizing every limb to stretch or just thump me, I don't know, but it really did hurt quite a bit, and of course I hollered, because what else do you do when you feel like your stomach is going to pop in all 4 directions, and all of the sudden the baby got really quiet, and I felt bad, and said, oh everything is okay, you're fine and it went back to wiggling.

Round ligament pain...

Ouch. Yup, it's just after 3 in the morning and I can't sleep because I can't lay on either side without causing myself intense amounts of pain and laying on my back is bad for the baby. I tried to just ignore it, but there's no ignoring pain like that. So I got up and took some tylenol. Now I'm hoping the pain will dull so I can at least get back to sleep.

Our baby needs a passport...

There's a chance that the baby will have lived in 2 states pre-natal and be born in a third. Good Lord, have mercy.

beep...

My house just threw up 2 baby showers. Please excuse me while I try and clean up.
Oh and by the way, this is a VERY loved baby. Very.

My new sweet baby - Shoemaker!

What do you think about my little new baby Shoemaker?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

It's my party...

This weekend we're heading home early Saturday morning, for a baby shower thrown by my husband's sisters on Saturday afternoon. We'll stay with my folks for church, then have lunch and clown around a little bit, and have a baby shower thrown by the church. Then stay overnight and get Matthew's orthodontic stuff checked on and head back home.

I'm not sure I'm really prepared for all the attention to be lavished on me this weekend. Matthew gives me enough to feel like yes, I'm still pregnant and he is just in love with this baby, so I feel like I have enough. My mother and his contact me often enough...and really, what is there to say otherwise? I'm still pregnant, the baby is doing it's little gymnastics, we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl and we're not blabbing on the names. Once people find that out, they kind of lose interest. For whatever reason, those seem to be the two most important things to people. I guess because it gives them a jumping off point for something to say next.

I did, however, talk to my friend Stacy on the phone last night for almost 4 hours. We had plenty to say to each other. And I asked her questions, which she answered honestly and didn't give me an attitude, like, what is WRONG with you, even though some of my questions were probably odd. I feel reassured that I'm doing normally as possible (for me) emotionally and physically with the pregnancy. Which is nice.

I'm sure I've mentioned I haven't had a whole lot of 'crazy' feelings, in fact I'm so calm most of the time that I hardly recognize the 'girl' I used to be. Which is fine. I don't really feel like a 'girl' anymore. Hard to feel 'childish' when you have a child growing inside you. Also most of the time I feel like having any wild emotions or fits would be, I don't know, inappropriate? What do I have to have a fit about? I'm relatively healthy, I have food, shelter, a loving husband who still would like to be my husband on any and all terms every single day, and lets me know, and who looks forward to parenting this child, not just on being 'a dad'-I'm not neglected, made fun of, abused or otherwise mistreated. I'm living the high life, being taken care of and attended to by a creature who looks, smells, and kisses like my husband, but with an extra 'oomph'-- and I like it! It really is my party, no reason to cry, even if I want to!

A kick in the ear...

While feeling out the baby's 'pokes' yesterday, hubby swore he could hear a heartbeat. So I encouraged him to 'listen' to the baby's heartbeat by putting his head down on my belly (he he). Next thing you know he's saying owww and rubbing his ear--he got kicked in the ear! Ha!

We're getting into a rhythm with what we do now every day, I read a story after lunch and talk to the baby every time it moves around and seems to be awake, do kick counts and giggle at the odd movements. And hubby gives the belly a kiss and says I love you before he heads out the door in the morning and before we go to bed at night, with lots of talking 'at' the belly after work in between.

I swear as soon as he came in the door the other night the baby woke up and started dancing. The saga begins. Daddy means playtime. Sigh. Oh well. At least it should give me a little rest when he gets home from work. After all, he's the one that got kicked in the rear...I mean ear.

What's your parenting style?

Not too long ago, I took a 5 question quiz (I think it was off of facebook) that was supposed to tell me my parenting style. My friend Trisha (currently T-2 weeks from her own due date), took it as well, she was the one that sent it to me. I answered honestly from what I think I would do. The questions were as inane as what would you take as a snack for your kids' soccer team, and none of the answers was I happy with, but I chose as close to what I would do as possible. The results? Well I was glad to know we got the same results, because I think that she will be a fun, responsible parent. But the quiz told both of us that we'd be awful mothers that would be mean to our kids. Umm, what?

But I went to parenting.com today and found another quiz. Based on your personality style. Mine may have shifted a bit over the last few years, I'm probably a bit more relaxed and laid back, but I went off of my old style INTJ. I'm sure you all have taken this type of test before, but if you haven't, no fear, all the initials are there for you to pick from (are you an introvert or extrovert, for example)... and here's what mine says. I'm happy with it. It also offers a one line tip as a kind of 'get with it' for your own style. Go and find your own.

The individual-integrity mother (INTJ)This mom is introspective, defining her own success from within, and is generally confident in her decisions. She's unlikely to be persuaded by her kids' saying "But all the other moms are doing it." She's competent in providing for her kids' basic needs, but she's likely more focused on building their confidence. She puts great importance on independent thinking and self-sufficiency. This mom works hard and takes life seriously; she lives for those moments when she can impart knowledge and offer her kids new perspectives on life. Stay-sane tip: It's essential for you to have a project to call your own. If you don't have a job, try volunteering to meet your need for mental stimulation and adult conversation.

Does wounded animal mean anything to you?...

You know that surprised, awful yelping that animals make when they're wounded and need help? Yeah, I made that last night. Woke my husband up from a dead sleep. Apparently I'd tried to get out of bed without rolling, thereby yanking my hip socket from top to bottom and momentarily causing myself an inordinate amount of pain. After laying still for a couple of minutes I was able to roll out of bed to use the bathroom. I think my body felt sorry for me after that, because that was one of only about 2 or 3 times I had to get up total last night. Talk about awesome.

I apologized to my husband for waking him up. He said? When did you wake me up? Oh really? Okay.

Guess that crying baby isn't going to disturb him too much, now is it?

Bad dreams...

I keep telling myself, it's only a dream. A bad, bad dream, but nonetheless, a dream. I was prepared for vivid dreams, I was prepared for 'something happened to the baby' dreams--which I've had a couple of. I was even prepared for wild, trashy dreams like other women seem to have when they are pregnant. Do I have those? No. Of course not.

I have dreams that my smoke-allergic, very occasional drinker husband, is not only smoking (while I am trapped in the vehicle with him), but trashed out of his mind, driving, mind you, and talking about illicit drug-ridden countries and people that come from them like they're his best friends. The worst part was the fact that it didn't seem like he even cared. Not about me, not about the baby, not about the fact that we were both trapped there with him, but not about himself either.

Of course this is totally wrong, improbable and impossible, but still, it left me shaken up as I woke up and tried to get it out of my head. I'm still a little freaked out, although taking a few minutes to hold him and hear his heartbeat and just be in his presence helped a little bit, and feeling the baby move inside me, safe and sound was reassuring, it still gives me the heebie jeebies. Shudder.

What dreams have you had?

Kick Counts..

We're starting to do kick counts. I did them this morning after taking my iron pill, drinking juice and eating fruit. I got the 10 counts in under 5 minutes.

After a dinner of lasagna and with 'dad' helping out, we took 45 minutes to get to 10. Not sure what the difference was. Usually with 'dad' talking or singing or doing whatever, baby goes nuts. Not today, at least not for a sustained amount of time anyway.

Still, though, we got it, so that's good.

We had plenty right before lunch, when I was getting ready to run to the store (the only thing I forgot yesterday was parmesan cheese to put in the lasagna)...and the belly was ROLLING. Seriously. We'd been seeing poke outs but not the rolls. So it was hilarious. I sat there for a while just watching. I figured we'd have a couple more weeks before we were able to see that. But tonight, being stubborn I guess.

We have a football fan...

Either that or the baby is starting to startle with loud noises. With cheering/clapping at the football game, we got a HUGE reaction. Also with me saying 'baaaabbbyyy' fairly loudly we got a few big wiggles and tonight Matthew was just talking to the baby and the silly thing was just a flipping out like crazy. Guess it likes daddy's voice, a lot. It's a little painful sometimes when reacting to things like that because I get poked in about 4 places at once. But it's fun nonetheless.

no news...

At all.. which I THINK is good news. I figured I would hear by 5 pm and now it's past that, so I think I'm okay, no diabetes = very happy mamma. I'm still going to watch what I eat, but at least I won't be paranoid about every 'sugary' bite now.

Thanks for all the comments.

Lil Mouse (with the swollen belly)...

Pray for no news...

The baby is doing well, Mommy, however is doing less well. Apparently the baby is taking a bigger toll on me than I thought. My blood pressure is a little bit high (I normally have LOW bp), my iron is low (I think my meat and potatoes ancestors are rolling over in their graves), and I'm scared to bits that I'll end up with gestational diabetes. Mostly because there is diabetes in my family --my husband says its not fair to say there's diabetes in his family because it's Type II, whatever. So is it on my side, but I still report it anyway, diabetes is diabetes. Anyway, the point is that if you have gestational diabetes you have 50% more chance of getting it later in life. Wonderful. Yes, candy is my weakness. Occasionally I overindulge, but for the most part, I turn down dessert and I watch what I eat. About the iron issue: My vitamins have 100% of my daily value of iron in them, and the cereal I've been eating has 45%, plus I eat plenty of meat and such (less red meat lately), but I still have to take an iron tablet each day now :-( I'm not too happy about that. Especially since I can't take it at the same time as my other vitamin or it will just flush out. And of course the one thing you can't have it with is dairy products, which I do typically eat three times a day. Sometimes I also have ice cream later in the evening. So what's a girl to do? Right now I take my multivitamin in the evening right before bed. So I guess I'm going to have my cereal with milk early AM, then wait a couple of hours and take the iron with OJ-as citrus seems to help it absorb apparently, then have lunch a couple of hours later. Then hopefully it wont have anything to block it from absorbing. Then I can continue to take my multivitamin in the evening. As for the diabetes, the tolerance test or screening or whatever, if I don't hear anything today then I'm home free. If they call, I'm screwed. Fabulous. I wish they'd call either way, but that's not the way it works. Talk about praying for the phone NOT to ring, no really, please pray for the phone not to ring...

Oh the baby's 'shelter' is 28 cm (I'm at 27.5 wks, so perfect), heart rate is 154, and WE together have only gained 3 3/4 pounds this month. YEAH!!!!!! We kept it within the limits this time. Very exciting. So my 'net' gain is still only 5 3/4 lbs. Happy Dance!

Pink or Blue?

He he. For registering to deliver at the hospital here, we got a coupon for a free Halo Sleep sack. Cool, huh? We ended up over at my dr's appt. early, so we went into the hospital gift shop and picked one up. Or so I thought. I ended up picking up something new with swaddles on it, and the coupon didn't cover that. So we put it back and the elderly lady behind the counter asked us 'pink or blue' --- and I said, we don't know yet. Boy was she confused. It wasn't until Matthew explained that I really didn't answer her question accurately that I got why she was so confused. Of course I did say, well since we don't know we should probably go with blue. And you know, she tried to argue with us and have us come back after the baby was born. You know, the whole point is that you get a freebie just for registering, why should you have to come BACK AFTER the baby is born, when you could go ahead and get it and get it washed and all ready for the baby? What if you forget about it while you're at the hospital and don't make it back before the baby would outgrow it? So I turned to Matthew and said, well what do you think, and he said, well I guess we should go ahead and get blue now so we have something...thereby we have a new Halo sleep sack. Yeah.

Glucose, scary Glucose..

Well this afternoon I have to go get my sugar levels tested. I am FREAKING out about this. My dad has diabetes, my mom's mom had it and of course it runs in both our families. I haven't exactly been a saint in the last week about sugar, although I should have known better. I know it shouldn't really matter and that if I were to attempt to fool the test then I'd be in even more trouble than should I go in normally. However, I didn't drink a regular soda yesterday as I had been doing and when I made cookies this weekend, I ate a couple and sent Matthew to work with the rest. He didn't even get any because everyone else there ate them. Ooops. Anyway, the candy jar is sealed tight and I had fruit and cereal for breakfast (versus orange juice, which DOES have a lot of sugar in it) and I plan on trying to have a decent lunch, unfortunately, my appointment is at 3 pm. I would have much prefered an earlier appointment. However, my hubby has decided that it will be too nice of a day to stay at work and so he's going with me. Yeah! No hour of complete solitary boredom staring at the doctor's office walls while I wait to see if I am going to have GD or not. The honest truth is, I have enough to worry about right now without having to watch even closer what I eat. I already have to be super careful about how much weight I gain. I was allowing myself the few extra calories a day by having some ice cream at night, but when my weight went up to 5 pounds instead of 4 gained for the month, I stopped that. It doesn't really seem fair. I don't even really feel like I'm eating for ONE let alone TWO. Oh well, I know that the truth is you're only supposed to get a few extra calories a day (300), but still. I'm just hoping for a good outcome. I still won't be able to have ice cream every night, but at least I won't be forced into refusing cake at my baby showers...

What's that movement....?

It's time for everyone's favorite new game show 'WHAT'S THAT MOVEMENT!!!!' starring your guest little meece of course. Gender and stereotypes aside, this little mouse has been entertaining the big meeces with 'what's that movement' for quite some time. We started out with gentle flutters, then progressively got more interesting with kicks to the bladder and double and triple pokes, then pokes on both sides of the belly at once.

The last 2 weeks have been particularly interesting, with an odd grinding feeling coming from underneath mama mouse's rib cage. What could that POSSIBLY be? Hiccups?

Daddy mouse to the rescue, he puts his hand on mama mouse's belly and after feeling the grinding movement for himself, he pulls his hand back and with an odd look on his face stammers....I .. I think that was a shoulder.. but... it went like THIS... and draws an odd zig zag pattern on mama mouse's arm. Yes for once we're feeling an honest to goodness turn or flop from the mini-mouse, completely with full body contact. May also be likened to a horse rubbing its' butt on a fence post to scratch and itch it can't reach any other way, or rolling on the ground to do the same.

Stay tuned for next week's edition of 'What's that movement' starring everyone's favorite fetus, little meece!

Well...

While not sleeping yesterday morning, I thought to myself, if I had 2 kids a boy and a girl their names would be what? I came up with an answer off the top of my head.

So I asked my hubby the same thing, while we were taking the new stroller and such upstairs. Guess what? He came up with the same answer.

We decided to leave the other names up on the nursery wall though, just in case we changed our minds, and just to think about it for a while.

But the names we decided on were...

You didn't really think I was going to tell did you? Ha! But here's a nice picture of our new stroller and car seat combo thingy. Black with just a hint of green trim. Probably about as perfectly neutral as you can get.

Stuff being bought for me/us...

Okay so because of THIS, you know I have slight issues with things just 'being bought' for us (being anyone who lives in my body or my household, ya know?). But, much to a lot of my reader's good advice, when the below package arrived by UPS today, I bit my tongue and waited for the culprit to admit what had happened. Which happened very shortly afterwards. My MIL is at it again. And I said, so it WAS you? And she said yes. And I said, well I would tell you it's too much, but you already know that, so instead, I will just say thank you. My tongue is in 2 pieces, but... what can I say? My hubby knew my objections and was in on it. So what am I going to do? Nothing, I'm going to be grateful. There are other more important things going on. See my other blog for the latest. Oh yes, if you can't tell, that's a stroller AND a carseat. Good Lord...

How to name your child...

Well here's a helpful hint for those non-parents, if there are any and read this...
Baby name books don't really help you CHOOSE a name, they help you eliminate names, and thereby I suppose eventually help you choose a name. I went to the library and picked up 2 books. The one that was helpful in a sort of way was "beyond Jennifer & Jason Madison & Montana" -- It's a few years old and the most helpful thing about it was somewhere near the end of the book one particular tip. It was:

Consider that you may have more than one child and whatever you name your first child, you will not be able to use on subsequent children. Same thing with naming your second or third, if you want them to all go together, try not to make them all matchy-matchy (like a family we knew was Jeanna, Nina, and Serena- oh and their middle names rhymed too) or all starting with the letter J (Jason, Jaime, Jenna, Jake) or that sort of thing.

That advice was actually helpful to me as we kept talking about it more and more, if we use one particular name, then we wouldnt be able to use another, as some of the names we have picked out may cross over with middle and first names, and that's just silly. The example they gave was having a girl named Roberta and calling her Bobbi and then having a boy and naming him Robert and calling HIM Bobby. See what I mean? That had really never crossed my mind before.

One thing we did (forgive if I've said this) is to take the names we are considering and print them out in a nice, bright color (like orange) --big enough to be seen across the room-- and tape them to the nursery wall. Then go in at the beginning or end of the day and just look at them. See how they 'look' to you.

One other piece of advice is to 'introduce yourself as your kid' when you go out somewhere. Which I think is stupid. Then people aren't going to know your real name. What WE found was more interesting and useful, was saying, to each other of course, Hi I'm "Tyler's" mom [not a name we are considering, that's my nephew's name]-- and seeing how it feels in your mouth. Or try, this is my daughter "Felice" [again total hogwash]...

Really, though, don't go out and buy a baby name book for $12 (the price of the only one we found in a store)-- go to your library and check one out and use it for ideas, or to dwindle your names down. That's what we have done and so far we're down to 10 combos of names. Not too bad, considering. Oh and be aware, there were at least 20 baby name books on the shelves. Good luck trying to pick one. :-)

Cravings?...

So when are the cravings supposed to kick in? Because I haven't had any out of usual cravings at all. Except maybe for sleep. Sure, there are things now and then that sound good, but not anything that would be out of the ordinary or I haven't, you know, sent the hubby on a midnight run for anything or whatnot. Maybe that's all just televised junk? Did you have cravings? Send your hubby on a midnight taco run or anything? Just wondering. I'm feeling kind of left out here.

I can't see...

Out of my left eye. Thanks to 'thumper' or 'pinky' or whatever we're calling the baby these days. Really it's 'the baby' or 'hey you quit that'--or 'what you want hon?' when I'm being kicked to pieces.

I digress. So I may need a pair of glasses to 'carry me over' during the next 3 months and up to 6 months afterwards. It all depends on if we want to spend the money (could get them for as little as $25) or not. It would be nice not to have blurry vision because all the fluid in my eyes is pressing on my astigmatism.

Did I blog about this on my other blog? I don't know. What I do know is that it was hysterical (and by that I mean I almost had to excuse myself from the exam room because I was dissolving into giggles) because the whole middle of the row looked like DOTS, so I was saying K, dot, dot, Z. That's it. And laughing SO HARD. It really wasn't funny, but then again it was. Because I KNOW they were supposed to be letters, but obviously couldn't see them. AT ALL.

Olympic Torch lighting...

We watched the Olympic Torch lighting last night as a 'family' --Matthew got to feel the baby kicking (it's gotten a lot more thumpy and bumpy with harder kicks lately) and of course was thrilled with the big bumps.

It was a nice bonding moment, just the three of us, as a family watching history being made. Kind of nice.

Where did my bellybutton go? and more tales from pregnancy...

Except when I'm sitting down, I can't see my bellybutton anymore. It seems to have gotten tinier (if that's possible, it was pretty small to begin with) the bigger my belly has gotten, and if I'm leaning to one side, it almost looks herniated or swollen on one side or the other. Poor belly button. I'm hoping that's not a sign that it's going to pop like a Thanksgiving turkey. We will see, I guess.

For the last couple of months, I have rhino boobs. Armadillo, something. By that I mean I would swear that they're plated with extra tough skin. Some of this is relieved by lotion, some not. They also poking out like the proverbial temperature gauges, even though it's warm out. And huge, why didn't anyone say they'd be so huge? One of my friends warned me about 'leaks' - that only started a few weeks ago, and usually it's only at night or early in the morning, it's only one of them, and if I've gotten up to use the bathroom or something and it's taking a while if you know what I mean. Guess my body is preparing for those 1 am feedings. I think my hubby was freaked out at first, I know the first couple of times I was like, what the? because I dont usually wear much to bed, so all of the sudden, my leg would be wet. Then one night I was wearing a shirt and it dawned on me what it was. Now, as with most things, my hubby seems to okay with it. Usually, it doesn't affect him anyway. He's sound asleep.

Lucky punk.

Crib Mattress...

Now that we have the crib in (notice not put together), we went ahead and went out and got a crib mattress. While we were at Target we saw a cute 12 mo onesie in BRIGHT ORANGE. Yeah couldnt pass that one up, especially since it was a grand total of 98 cents! Woohoo. Now that's the kind of prices I love. Being well schooled now in the 'it doesnt matter what the months on there say' (well then why don't they make them go by pounds then) I decided for a buck and with such a cute thing, we had to have it.

Then we went and got ice cream. From Dairy Queen. Yikes. We hadn't done that in quite a while. I had a small peanut butter cup blizzard (my husband finally decided for me as I couldnt face that kind of decision at 9pm) and my husband had a large butterfinger blizzard. Wow. More than $10 for the 2 items. Crazy stuff, man. I ate the whole small container, which I dont know was probably 8 oz. I think the baby liked it. I know I was happy as a little clam. Even happier that when I got on the scale this morning, I'm only weighing a pound over my absolute heaviest, which means I didn't gain 5 lbs overnight from eating ice cream, which was my fear.

Anyway, we're one step closer to having a nursery ready by November. In a few weeks, 2 baby showers are being thrown for me in the same weekend, 4 hours away. This will be a challenge. Just riding in a vehicle that long with the status of my bladder? Is going to be a challenge. We plan to wake up on Saturday morning and head that way for a p.m. shower, then we'll have church the next morning and a p.m. shower at church and then should be a relaxing evening before heading to Matthew's orthodontist appointment at 8 am on Monday, then back home. At least I won't have to work the next day.

That was fast...

We picked up the crib last night. We'll see if we can get it put together this weekend or not. I'm really glad it's Friday but cranky because I've been up (again) for the last 2 hours. What's up with the interrupted sleep?

He!!!

I just discovered that the crib we got on sale is no longer on sale, so we got a good bargain! Yeah!

Oh and here's something I need help with. My mother in law is very into the baby. Which is great. I try and feed her addiction by sending her emails as much as possible. I told her if she wanted to go ahead and look for summer clothes on sale at the end of the season (thinking Sept here) then that would be fine, and the baby could wear them next summer in a 6-9 month size, assuming that 6-9 months means that they should be able to wear that starting from birth, 6-9 months after they are born (May to July for us). Makes sense to me that way. That could be counted as the baby's Christmas present or whatever... Anyway, my husband pulls up a picture of 3 outfits she bought yesterday, 2 perfectly fine, one definitely girly (think a pink skirt), which we asked her not to do since we aren't finding out the baby's sex until it's born... anyway, they looked a bit off to me and Matthew said they are 12 month size so they'd fit next summer, and then we both looked at each other and said 'that doesnt make any sense' at the same time.

Are we wrong or do we remind her that our baby at 12 months will likely be needing warm clothes? She had all her babies in cold months (including one 15 years ago come November), so I know she knows better. She just wasn't thinking.

Fun little items...

I've got large jarred candles for the hostesses of my baby showers, except one, who is 14. I'm going to tie ribbons around the candles and maybe attach a magnet to them. I am making magnets for everyone who attends the showers (just because, I dont know why), little umbrellas that I will paint in various colors and of course will attach a little note that says 'thank you for coming to my shower' or something like that. If anyone has any ideas on wording, I'd appreciate it. If I have the time I may do up some animals for the kids instead of umbrellas.

Also, I need more ideas for something for the 14 year old. She's getting ready to go into high school and she's my hubby's younger sis. So far I have for her a little orange tin with her initial on it and a red journal with her initial on it. Any ideas on what else to get for her? The candles weren't expensive, but I want to give her something that 'looks' equal to her, if that makes any sense. Most adults I think would be pleased to have a hostess gift, no matter what it is, but to a teenager, you never know. They want to be special, different. She's not quite as much my younger sister as my husbands, but I have known her for almost 9 years, since before she went to school even. I've purchased all her gifts, birthday cards, and I always do something like give her a container, powdered sugar, and tried and true frosting recipes when she was in her cake decorating phase, or a basket with beads, wire, wire cutters, and other goodies when she was into making necklaces and bracelets. Or pretty/bright colored towels and hand towels for her bathroom instead of dark brown (leading to a bathroom that looks appropriate for a teenager.) For Christmas last year I embroidered an apron for her with her other gifts. She may not use it now, but one day she very well may get it out and remember when... at the time when they wanted to get her taken out of pre-algebra and into algebra, it was me who went out and bought a white board and colored markers and showed her how to use it as a tool to work out problems without tearing holes in her paper. Months later her mom told me how much of a confidence booster it was for her and how she feels prepared for her next year of math classes because of it. Needless to say I think of her a lot and a lot of her and I want to do something extra nice. Not expensive, just something she will like. To be honest, my brain is fried. I have a couple of weeks, but it's truly all a matter of finding just the right thing. Any ideas? Besides naming our firstborn after her? We already told her that was out.

Ordered Crib...

We aren't buying any of the fancy bedding to go with it, just using a crib sheet and mattress protector, etc. Are considering trying to get a 'dust ruffle' on the bottom made by one of the grandmas with some generic fabric from walmart in some bright colors/pattern. It should be in this week or next. Kind of early, but hubby's getting anxious to get things ready.

Registering at Wal-Mart...

was a royal pain. They didnt have any of the batteries for the scanners on the charger, so we had to stop 4 times to get a new battery. Needless to say we finally gave up. But we do have registries at least started at WalMart and Target, so if anyone is looking to buy us a present, they'll know when we need. Okay, we need everything, but that is beside the point!

And, no, that's not a plea for gifts, it's just a statement of fact. I have baby showers coming up in 6 weeks, and time was running out for us to get everything done. Next weekend we have a company picnic for Matthew's work and also we are visiting one of the area hospitals to see if we like it. It's had a multimillion $ facelift just in the 'baby' area, in fact it's a whole building and it's fairly new so needless to say, we'll probably like it okay. Goodness knows what else we'll be up to in the coming weeks, so at this point, getting it done was probably a good thing.

New picture...

See the new picture to the right of me at 24 weeks. When getting up from a laying position earlier this morning, I noticed that my belly rounded up quite a bit, so I was interested in seeing what I look like in a photo again. I guess it's changed quite a bit. Of course, I'm also wearing a form-fitting tank top and had been wearing flowy tops before. Trust me, the baby is gaining all the weight. High and tight, and round.

Luckily, so far today I feel a ton better, the ligaments must have finished their stretching all out. At least for now.

Oh my aching... appendix?...

I would swear my appendix had grown back and was going bad again this week. It wasn't quite to the 'I can't sleep at all and I look drugged from being so sick' but it was close. Then I woke up in so much pain I almost cried. Then I burped. So I got up and burped for over an hour. Slowly I realized that about half my pain was gone. Note to self: Call doctor and see if you can take over the counter gas reliever, this had been more than 2 days. All other systems were 'go' so not sure why I was so full of bubbles. Glad they are gone though.

Notice I had said half my pain was gone. The other half was still there, and its the kind that makes it tough to roll out of bed (try rocking back and forth 3 times or so before I can heave my 'round' self out of bed.) Getting up out of an office chair is equally painful, as is sitting on a toilet or attempt to clean oneself after using said appliance. The pain is located on the lower right hand side (appendix anyone?) of my gut.

This had now been hurting for 3 days and was making it impossible to do a bunch of walking around during the day, which I have been counting as my 'exercise' daily. So, I broke down and called the doctor. Eh hmm.. I can't take any over the counter gas reliever, but they think I SHOULD be able to do a chest-knee position (kneel on the bed and then curl up fetal style with your chest on your knees) -- umm excuse me? I have this thing called a pregnant belly there. Whatever. The other suggestion was getting in a rocking chair and rocking. Neither one is actually conducive to a work environment. For my 'other' pain, it's apparently ligament pain and I am allowed to take as much tylenol as the bottle says, oh and I can ice it for 10 minutes at a time and sleep with pillows...? Huh? None of those is really going to fix it, but I guess there's not really a fix for it. I expected this kind of discomfort you know like in the last month, not with almost 4 months to go. Yuck.

Oh and a couple of times, I'd swear I was randomly getting water on my shirt, but not aware of how. Research solved that too. At least it's always been once I have my brassiere off at the end of the day and not during the day while I'm at work. Sheesh. Can anyone say moo?

Nursery pictures...

The first picture is the top of the changing table, on it are a lightswitch cover (teddy bear) and 2 "masks" that were discounted from Michael's craft store because the 'holder' had snapped off. I got them for half a dollar US. A close up is also the 3rd picture of the wooden masks. I will paint them, put googly eyes behind the holes and put them on the wall for decoration. Then you can see the see-through bins for holding baby stuff, the bright cheerful pails (also 50 cents apiece, I think), that will hold stuff or just serve for decoration or as toys later on. We bought the puzzle on sale from the 'farm store' -- it's a real wooden puzzle made by Melissa and Doug, I'd love to open it, but I really shouldnt, so it's safely wrapped for now, and then the horse that was the baby's first gift from it's mommy's mommy (my mom).

For his/her next trick...

The baby has figured out how to poke me in more than one place at once. Talk about blowing your mind. This morning it was a one-two poke in 2 locations, one on each side of my belly.

Makes me laugh so much-- I didnt' think it would be nearly that funny. And the look on 'daddy's' face when he gets kicked is hilarious. Of course I'm getting used to it, but he's only gotten to feel it like 4 times now, last night being the 4th and last week being 3 in a row.

I wonder what other new tricks we'll come up with. I noticed we had not had hiccups yet, or at least that I could tell. I wonder when that sets in?

I just about fainted...

When I opened the doctor's bill and found out that the ultrasound was COMPLETELY covered. Wow! So exciting! I had no idea that it would be covered. Woohoo!

Pregnancy Journal and Organizer...

i got this cool little journal thing when we went in for pre-natal counseling, or what have you when we just found out we were pregnant. I was scared to write in it until like the 5th month. Then I decided if I didn't write in it, I never would.

It's a pretty cool little thing, done by the 'What to Expect' series writers, I guess. Anyway, it has spots for journaling, doctors appointments, test results, daddy to chime in, what you've eaten and how much you've exercised (which I am steadfastly ignoring) -- as well as spots for potential baby names and etc.

I like it because I can write 'to' the baby and eventually maybe let the baby read it when it's all grown up!

Just one more gendered thing..

On the shelf at Wal-Mart "Precious Moments book of manners for girls", guess what wasn't there? Oh yeah, manners for boys -- don't most boys need just as many manners as girls? Sheesh.

New tricks...

This weekend, the baby learned "kick REALLY hard so daddy can feel" and "kick mommy in the bladder" -- one is fun, the other, not so much... Matthew can pretend it's not so big a deal, but when he told my mom he got to feel the baby kick, his neck turned red and his voice did that funny thing when he gets emotional. Sigh...

Kicking..

We're starting to learn how to kick so mommy can feel it, and particularly at 3:30 in the morning after a potty break. Silly baby!

uhh... really?

For an entirely non-baby reason I was looking at www.Hanes.com and I found something interesting. They have little girls socks that are sortable (white socks with toes and heels of pink, lavendar, or blue for small, medium and large so if you have more than one girl you can easily get their socks separted), so of course, I clicked over to the boys socks to see what they had (blue green and red maybe?) Nope. White socks with dark grey bottoms (and a S, M, L printed on the bottom of the sock)....so much for equality. What IS it with clothing manufacturers?

Baby names...

Everyone keeps asking us what names we like, which of course we aren't telling. What names do you like? Or what names do you think we should use? Boys or girls? Our last name rhymes with 'fluemaker'--ha ha!

Doctor's visit...

We had our big doctor's visit, as you can see by the pictures below. I finally quit losing weight and over the last month had gained 12.8 oz, and the baby was all measured and such and I was told weighed 11 oz. That certainly was a shock, although we're thinking that perhaps the baby is a week older than we thought? Either that or it's a BIG baby!

We love all the pictures that were taken, especially the 'foot' picture. The 3-d picture was interesting, but of course we didnt get a good snapshot due to the wiggler just laying there and wiggling. Feet and arms going crazy pumping up and down. Can't believe I can't really feel all that punching and kicking yet. I do feel something every now and then, but it's just the odd poke or prod that I can't really grasp that it's happening until it's too late. One of these days I guess.

It was really awesome to see the pumping arms and legs, really brought it home that there really is something in there, not that I didn't know that already, but still, it makes it real to see the movement.

I won't have another dr's visit until end of July and then end of August, when I'll have to do the diabetes test. After that I think I go more often, but at this point I'm kind of glad it's still only once a month. I will from time to time have to see another doctor, but I know for sure my own doctor won't be delivering my baby as she appears to be a little more pregnant than me. I'm hoping that there will be a woman on call and not some beefy fisted dude when I deliver! That's why I picked a woman in the first place! Oh well, we shall see.

Here he or she is!

Profile view, stretching view, foot view!

The Big Day!

Today is the big day! Picture Day! Will post more later!

Turning a corner?...

This weekend I wasn't as nauseous as before. I was able to eat larger quantities. Of course I felt that way last weekend too. Maybe work is making me sick :-)

Favorite Toys...

What were your favorite toys as a kid? Mine were, even way after I was too big to play with them, some simple wooden puzzles, the silly stacking ring things, nested cups again in bright colors that you could stack in different ways and other non-battery operated items.

Why? I guess because #1 there WEREN'T that many battery operated things back then, and #2, because I would have gotten very bored with them after a while. Same way with dolls. They didn't 'do' anything and you could do very little with them. Once you changed their clothes, fed them and played with them a little bit, there wasn't much left to do with them. I never had an in-depth active imagination for 'fake' things. I knew dolls weren't real and never would be. I never really did like Barbies. I think Barbie is a w-h -o--r--e. Well, she's made to resemble a French pros-ti tute doll, so there you go. No, I'm not making that up. She really was made that way. And, if she were a real live woman, well, she'd be dead from being anorexic and if she was still crawling around she'd literally be crawling as her boobs are so out of proportion to the rest of her that she'd have to 'walk' on all fours. Needless to say Barbie and I didnt have a whole lot in common.

I played in the dirt, picked up worms, squished bugs, investigated things in the garden, chased butterflies (never with a net! you'll hurt them!) around, and just made my own fun sitting in the dirt. I'm so sick of hearing kids say 'I'm bored' that I could scream. If I would have dared to utter the words 'I'm bored' -- I would have had so many chores to do it wouldn't be funny. I think I may have been threatened a time or two before I realized that entertaining myself would be much smarter than whining about not having anything to do!

When winter came, we went sledding, played in the snow, got really cold, and then came in and had hot chocolate. In the summer, the creek was always an invite, for squishing mud in your toes and looking for toads/frogs to watch them. When we were old enough, occasionally we got to go 'to town' to go to the pool in the summer. Not much, but some. Then there were always books, I probably read every book that we had 10 times over, but I gained an excellent vocabulary, grasp of language, and deductive reasoning skills. I was smarter than most of my classmates. Mostly because I didnt spend all my time stuck in front of the tv. Yes, I watched tv, but I was always held by the call of the wild outdoors.

I hope I can help my own child/ren hear their own call of the wild, learn to appreciate the simple and make their own fun. I'm sure, like my mother, that I'll have plenty to do in case they get 'bored'!

What's in a name?...

While buying a present for friends in Target, I overheard some whining, crying, old enough to know better kids demanding this toy and that toy. Their mom was whining in response. Telling them to 'hurry up and pick something' -- but NOT that.. It was dinner time. I imagine the kids were starving and the mom just wanted to get out of there. But umm, the kids' names? According to their expertly 'coiffed' via the 80's model mom, Mercedes, King, and Maverick...

What's in a name? Is a name reflective of the parents, the children, or lifestlye?

Certainly in this case it makes me wonder.
What about you?

Cloth Diapering

Note: There's a lot of links here which I hope you will explore, baby or no baby. Who knows? Maybe you'll change your mind on how you will/would handle diapering in the future. Just make sure to come back and check out the rest of the post! Maybe open the links in a new tab so you can mark them for future reference. On with the post!

I was pretty sure growing up that I'd never use cloth diapers, I mean, come on, poop on cloth? Ick. That was bad enough in changing "regular" diapers as a teenager while babysitting. Then I found out that diapers really do cost a lot. I was figuring about a package or two a month, but then I found out that diapers do not all come in the same size package, and they get more expensive for fewer the bigger they get. And they're only in the cheap sizes for a few months. Ouch.

I read this on Lotus's site and figured I should probably get some actual facts instead of just how I was thinking things really are. I'd heard about people cloth diapering, but it was always always in conjunction with a diaper service, where someone else came and took the stink away in a big old diesel hogging truck, used tons of water and other resources. Of course duh (smacks forehead), it never occured to me that gee, you could do them at home (possibly combining poopy or throw-upy clothes as well) in a load and save gobs of money, diesel fuel, not to mention if you were using disposables, well, the trees, oil, and other gunk it takes to make up those things. Also the 500 years in a landfill that we don't really have space for. That would leave burning them, but that releases all those chemicals into the atmosphere, so, well, let's just say I figured that cloth diapering was starting to sound REASONABLE not to mention better for our earth. And of course it occured to me, that duh you can wash the diapers every couple of days, but the trash sits around for at least a week. You have to 'smell' either a trash can or a diaper pail about the same way, so what is the difference? I couldnt figure it out. Then came the old research bug and I found this info. Basically saying I could cloth diaper for what about 6 months of 'regular' diapers would cost. Wow!

So I started researching cloth diapers a little more and came across this site that had reviews on it. I had NO IDEA there were that many kinds of cloth diapers out there. A long way away from the 'walmart' kind that everyone uses for burp cloths now. Crazy stuff. Of course, everyone has their own favorites, so it is really hard to decide what to go with. Several people I messaged from Lotus's blog said that they had their favorites and basically you should go with what you think you want, maybe try a few kinds at first and then really go hog wild with buying stuff once you know. That seems like pretty good advice.

One thing of course I was curious about was the prefold diapers with covers. If you've clicked on any of the links yet (which I highly recommend!) you may have seen that there are hundreds of types of diapers, all in ones (like disposable, but not), pocket, etc etc, but what intrigued me was of course what was mentioned in the frugal diapering link that compared the cost of disposables to prefold cloth. How do you fold them or what exactly do you do? I found that info here.

No late night 'runs' to the store for diapers, just toss some in the wash when you're running low and voila, you don't have to go anywhere, pack up the baby, or lose sleep, you just run them through the machine and poof! New diapers!

Basically, I think I've talked myself into trying cloth diapering, at least for the breast feeding period and perhaps the whole way through. I hate to think of such waste. Note: I'm not knocking those who dont want to or can't deal with cloth, just saying, I think it may be a good option for us. I plan on being a stay at home mom for the duration of diaper years at least. My husband seems to agree on the diapering, at least at the outset. Come to think of it, he doesnt really argue with me much anymore. I think he's finally realized it isn't worth it to argue. Awesome, no? Sure, we discuss stuff, but if its not worth arguing over (life changing) then why do it? We have better things to discuss. Neat, huh?

Side tracked, anyway, I figure if you're already handing the 'yuck' from a diaper, or an exploded diaper, on the clothes, sheets, whatever, then it's probably not any more 'gross' to deal with a cloth diaper on a daily basis. You're already right there dealing with it, right?

Granted my experience here is limited, but that's just what I'm thinking. What do you think?

When did that happen?

I went from feeling fine (sick, but fine), a month ago, to now feeling, wow, I shouldnt really lift that heavy box. What? Me pass up a golden opportunity to show off my muscles? Dangit! Why!?! It keeps straining my "belly muscles" every time I try and do something like that. It's annoying. The whole front of me tenses up and shoots little ribbons of pain across my stomach and ab muscle areas. It's really quite annoying. I don't want to be a helpless thing, I want things to be as close to normal as possible. I just figured if I could get past the nausea, week 16 and counting, that I'd be back to a bit more normal. Where's the promised super duper libido? Where's the promised 'energy boost'?

Ack. Oh well. At least my hubby gets the irony of role reversals. And can laugh about it.

What do you do when...?

Even a glass of water smells bad? And it's not bad?

You can't stand to cook because of the smell?

Your husband ate something for lunch and you can smell it 10 ft away?

Dishes make you gag?

You're at 15 weeks and counting and STILL can't eat a decent meal, cook, or be near your husband half the time?

Anyone else go much over 12 weeks of the awful gagginess? Cause it's kiling me. I can't get anything done.

Doctor Visit...

I did visit the doctor this week. It was a different doctor as mine was on call that day. Which was fine. I didnt like this new doctor nearly as much. She commented on the pedometer (step counter) and thought that was good, but in answering my questions, she was pretty abrupt and it kind of made the other 4 questions I had fly out of my head.

My blood pressure was 'good' according to the nurse. I thought the top number was high and the bottom low, but I guess it's probably well within normal range. I'm just used to my numbers being somewhere in the neighborhood of 117/80. I've also lost 3 more pounds. I'm not sure if that's a total of 5 or 7. I just know that I sure don't LOOK like I've lost weight. At least with the new clothes ( see pic at right) I don't just look 'fat'-- yeah!

I heard the heartbeat for the second time, this time it was a lot slower than the first. Again, I guess that was normal enough. The next time we go, it will not only be our anniversary, we will get to view an ultrasound. Woohoo! We're not trying to find out 'what' it is, but a picture is worth a thousand heartbeats you know? That won't be for another month, but things seem to be progressing right along.

Nursery on a dime...

Here's the scoop from babytalk magazine (free at the local drs office)...

1. Crib-- Buying one at a designer baby store won't get you any more safety-all cribs sold in the US meet the same safety criteria, they're just going to be fancier and pricier. Bottom line: Save your cash for other baby essentials and spend half the price at a discount store. It's just as safe.

2. Changing Table-- Instead of forking over $300 for a fancy dresser/changing table combo, get a kit for $25 (from Target) to attach a changing pad to your own dresser (see if mom kept your old one at home), and in the meantime check with other family members to see if you can get a rocker while you're at it. Don't borrow a crib unless you can verify it does not have any safety recalls on it. Bottom line--borrow and modify furniture to save big $$.

3. Decorating-- Don't go with pastel pink or baby blue on your walls, unless you are willing to move into the room later. Stick with a fun green, yellow, blue or red (ask a 10 year olds advice on the color) or take it totally neutral with a beige or cream and stock up on fun accessories like baskets and toys in colors to complete your theme. That way, you'll have a room that grows with your child into the pre-teen years, when they'll ask to paint their room anyway! Don't spend a bunch of money on carpet that will be ruined or borders you'll have to take down. Toss down a throw rug for cushioned play time and put up some framed pages from your favorite childhood books or invest in wall decals that peel off when the time is right. Bottom line: Keep it simple for a room that will grow with your child(ren), who knows you may have more than one child and use the same room. Do you REALLY want to repaint over cotton candy pink and tear down ballerina borders for your little boy's imminent arrival with a 2 year old running loose in the house? Stick to the basics and keep accessories fun and bright (and removeable).

4. Sleep nekkid -- Skip the $150 crib set that includes bumpers and a blanket you can't use for the first year anyway. Doctors state that a safe crib is just a mattress, a tight fitting mattress pad and a crib sheet. Oh and don't warranty that mattress, it's not worth it. Bottom line: Use the crib sheets as a way to bring color and theme into the room. Skip the frills and put that money towards diapers, or new soft sheets for your own bed!