24 weeks

2012.06.18

Baby bump went to the pool today! Bikini and all, since I refuse to purchase a maternity swimsuit. Clearly, I am pregnant. A skirted bottom or tank top are not going to hide this obvious fact.

Also, we visited with Dr Long and started talking about glucose tests. Next time we go in, I have to drink what I am imagining to be a small water bottle of syrup-y looking orange disgustingness that I will ingest exactly 1 hour before I meet with the Dr. Sounds REAL appealing. Then they will take my blood for the umpteenth time and find out how it is all going. So for now, we just hope for good things. 

24 weeks and "was a hoppin'en hawt stuff":

- baby's little ears can hear very loud sounds, from a yapping dog to a jackhammer. 

- baby's beautiful little face is almost fully developed, complete with eyelashes and eyebrows. 

- and on the home front? baby continues to tap dance her way through my day (and night.)

23 weeks and planning....

2012.06.13

This week we had another "holy cow... this is REAL" moment. We toured the hospital!

For most people, they probably think that we are crazy and a little TOO type A personality, BUT, believe it or not, we had a good reason. One of the things that is really important to me, is that a Chaplin be on duty in the hospital during labor and delivery. So this is a critical factor when making the decision.

With my Doctor, she is associated with one, and only one, hospital, North Suburban in Thornton. However, with my strong desire for a Chaplin, I started to explore some of the other options. I noticed that out Doctor is also associated with a second office that has direct ties to Good Samaritan in Lafayette. Good Samaritan you a say? Why, doesn't THAT sound like a nice, religious hospital??

When we asked our Doctor about it, she told us that she only delivers at North Suburban, and if we wanted to deliver at Good Samaritan, that we would need to switch offices by 32 weeks so that we could begin appointments and get to know our new Doctor. C and I both REALLY like Dr. Long and wanted to see if moving to Good Samaritan was the right move. So with that, we found ourselves touring North Suburban to determine if we needed to keep looking.

We were both a little skeptical at first. The outside of the building is a little older, and looks like it might be more run down. But inside, we were pleasantly surprised. The entire labor and delivery floor had recently been renovated and was extremely clean and calm. There were multiple birthing rooms that were spacious and looked out west, over the Mountains. The recovery rooms were just as nice, looking east, but with plenty of space. They were able to answer all of our questions and all of the other questions posed by the other people on the tour with us. And because we are nerds, we were also really impressed with the hospital also having recently been accredited by The Joint Commission. (Like I said, we are aware that we are nerds.)

Anyway, long story short, you will find us at North Suburban in October welcoming this little lady into the world!

Now, only to what you all really logged on to see: my ever growing belly.

It was a nice day on this day, that surprisingly didn't have us hiding in the air conditioned house. (I don't know how I survived without a/c... Apparently growing up in Seattle made me tough! But then living in Phoenix made me weak. Or the fact that Seattle rarely got warm enough to NEED a/c.... whatevs. I digress) So yea, enjoy the background. Of the shed.

Baby says "YO!"

And what is going on you may wonder?

- They say that the baby is about the length that it will be for a while. But, it is beginning to "chub" up. 

- Baby is beginning to get a little more active, kicking, wiggling, and dancing a little more. (More on that later.)

- me? Just waiting for the baby to get here! While we can't wait, we are also terrified of what will happen when she arrives!

babies need and "need" stuff

So, we tackled registering with no injured soldiers. And now... it is on to more fun and better stuff!

We have been told that the BOB is THE stroller to have. "Worth every penny" is how my friends and people who we don't even know have described this stroller. So clearly, we need to have it for our bundle of baby girl joy. And it helps that even the men that we have talked to also talk this stroller up. And it helps even MORE that REI was having a sweet sale with all BOB strollers on sale. I was definitely on the "well, let's wait and see until it gets closer to the baby being here" while C was on the "let's get it now while it is on sale" train. (I don't know why I was hesitant.... I freak out on a regular basis that we are NOT going to be ready for this baby. Really. Ask C$. Poor guys has dealt with more than his fair share of wife melt downs because she is freaking out about things that we either have total control over, or is completely out of our hands.) In this case, C won this battle, and it was a good battle to win. 

The BOB is now comfortably resting in the basement waiting for it's newest inhabitant to take over. Having been first road tested (and more importantly, off-road tested) by C$ first. 

Isn't he handsome with the sweet new BOB?? :)

Also, we have to plan for this baby's future. She needs goals to aim for, and clearly, as type A overachievers that we are, we are already setting her goals for her. (Duh. Must.have.all.control.) So, when she isn't on the tennis court winning the US Open, or dancing back-up on the Britney Spears come-back tour (times 3), she will be practicing her golf swing with her dad. Thank GOD C$ was able to find a set of clubs that looks like it will eventually fit her p.e.r.f.e.c.t.l.y.

Like I said, babies need and "need" stuff. 

babies r us. or babies r cray-cray...

Just kidding :) kind of.... Babies R Us can be cray-cray...

But really, we did actually go to Babies R Us and register. And surprisingly, it wasn't too painful. I had done some EXTENSIVE research that involved quizzing all of my recently-made-mommy friends and at their suggestion, also read up from this great book called "Baby Bargains". Basically, it give you a run down of the essentials and how the market and average mom rates items based on price, quality, selection, etc. Pretty interesting stuff if you ask me. ;)

Isn't this how EVERYONE spends their free time over a period of 3 weeks? Reading a book about baby stuff and making a super detailed and organized list??

One Sunday morning, I packed up C$ and trekked on over to Babies R Us. I am pretty sure that he was expecting an overwhelming and disastrous expedition, ala wedding registering, but due to my outstanding sleuthing skills, I was able to keep this an organized and efficient trip. One trip around the outside with my list of "must haves" narrowed down to specific item, brand, and model, and we were out in under 1.5 hours! And that included a stop by the baby Nikes to oh and ah over how adorbs they are! Even C had his moment.

Anyway, we realized just how much stuff that babies need and how we are totally and utter terrified of taking care of this child. Hopefully, we can get it together. I did receive a little reassurance from my Montana girlfriend recently when she emailed me telling me that she was poking around the registry and "nice work." At least we know that we are doing SOMETHING right.

22 weeks

2012. 06.04

Nothing too exciting this week. Just growing away!

What is going on your ask? Why, let me tell you! Week 22 in a nutshell

- baby is almost 10 inches long and weighs a WHOLE 14 ounces! 

- baby is the size of a small doll. (man terms: the size of an overinflated football. the description stays as an overinflated football through week 24. Funny... I feel like an overinflated hot air balloon!)

- I am starting to get tired from simple things that I used to do on a regular basis. shopping anyone? (this is my worst nightmare, and I am sure... C$'s best dream.)

21 weeks

2012.05.28

This week, I revealed the secret at work. I made everyone wait until Wednesday when I brought in pink cookies :) Lucky for them, because they all love some free food! My friend had sent out an email asking people to vote between one of three choices. 

     1. boy

     2. girl

     3. twins! (Believe it or not, some people were hoping that finding out the gender also meant that there would miraculously be twins. Miraculously, there were not.)     

Once people guessed, they had to wait until the next day for the email announcing free food! Oh yea, and the baby's gender. It is funny though, I mean, I feel like it is more real, but I think that everyone I work with feels like it is more real too!

What's happening in week 21?

- baby has grown to over 8 ½ inches long and weighs about 12 ounces. (man terms? the length of a beer bottle.)

- baby's eyelids have finished forming this week.

- baby is about the size of a papaya

And me? I really enjoy the "hand on my hip because I am so awkward in photos" pose.

the big reveal

2012. 05.25

Sorry! I know, I know... it's been awhile. Let's try to catch up shall we?

Last time we left you, we told you that IT'S A GIRL! However, we didn't tell you about telling our families!

Since my family is in Seattle, while C$'s fam-bam lives in town (like, 8 miles directly west of us!) we decided to virtually get everyone together. Chris's parents and youngest brother came over with the younger bro's gf for dinner. Meanwhile, I had set up a facetime date (gawd... I love apple) with my family. Once dinner was over, we called up my family and sat C's fam down on the couch. Following some explanation of how some people choose to do a reveal through a cake, but we wanted to do something slightly different (and the fact that C's mom makes a killer dessert that I was not about to pass up), we finally opened the giant box that had been taunting everyone in the living room all evening. Next thing you knew (after I realized that I hadn't cut all the tape on my side) balloons flew out making is very apparent that a little girl would be gracing us with her presence in October.

And just so you get to see our beaming mugs with my crafty-handiwork :)

And as a final note (and to know how amazing I am with my craftiness), AFTER we did this, I saw a picture on Pinterest (my current obsession) of a couple opening a box and colored balloons flying out. Just to give myself a little pat on my own back (not that I can reach it right now...), we did the box BEFORE I ever saw the Pinterest picture. BAM!

4th appointment: do you want to know???

2012. 05.24

Well.... do you? I mean, that's the first question people ask US lately. "Do you know what you are having?!" And as much as I want to respond with "Yes! A baby!" We can actually now answer people's questions with what they want to hear.

But let's back up to the appointment.

C met me at the Doctor's office. (And let me take a moment to point out how AMAZEBALLS my husband has been. He has only missed 1 appointment, and that was because he was out of town traveling for work. So he had a great excuse. Otherwise, he has been with me at every appointment and tries to schedule his meetings around the appointments if he knows when they are. He never ceases to amaze me! Now that we have all sufficiently vommed in our mouths a little bit, lets get on with this story.) He greeted me by asked how I was doing and I responded by telling him that I was nervous. No matter how many weeks into the pregnancy we are, I am always nervous to go to these appointments.

We got inside, and had a seat. Much to our surprise, we were quickly called to the back. (Seriously, how many times have we all gone to the Dr's office only to sit and wait at least 30 minutes before they even call you into the back??) The first part of our appointment was the good stuff; the sonogram! As we were walking in, I asked to use the bathroom. They ALWAYS make you pee in a cup when you are there, so I figured that I would just get it out of the way. That, and I never drink enough water on a regular basis, but I DO think that by loading up on water the morning before my appointment will somehow trick Dr. Long into thinking that I am TOTALLY drinking 90 ounces of water every.single.day. (Let me have live in my dream world) After I got myself situated, I met C$ in the sonogram room.

The technician had me lay on the table, uncover my growing belly, and then smeared some gel on it to get me ready for the big reveal. As she was getting ready to get started, she asked if we wanted to know the baby's gender. I am sure that they look of "duh" was written all over our faces when we told her yes. Next thing we knew she was moving the monitor over my belly.

The first thing that she did was pull up the sound so we could hear the heart beat. When you are listening to the most reassuring sound in the world, they also pull up a visual of the sound waves. For our sonogram, they looked something like this: "beat. beat. beat. BEAT. beat. beat. beat. BEAT. beat. beat. beat. BEAT". Well, the 2 different beats gave C a bit of a shock. He thought that the technician  was going to tell us that we were having twins! I laughed out loud when he told me after. Thankfully, the technician assured us that there was only one baby in there. (Sorry Grandmas). Then, the technician started taking pictures, measurements, and checking to ensure that everything was ok. Little did she know that by doing all of this, she was driving us CRAZY. At one point, she was getting ready to tell us the gender, but our little baby had it's hand between it's legs so the technician wasn't able to tell. So she just keep taking pictures and measuring. But then...... she was able to get a good look because our little babe was moving like crazy and moved its hand while doing the macarena. (Must share my love for a good dance party!)

IT'S A GIRL!

I am sure that there were other things said, but all I knew is that the technician still had more pictures to take, but I was ready to high tail it out of there and hole up in my house not telling anyone the gender until we told our families! The rest of the appointment was pretty standard. Finished the pictures. Met with Dr. Long. Had a couple of questions and made our next appointment. 

I actually left that afternoon feeling like I was pregnant, and not just like I was growing for nothing. It actually felt REAL. As C reminded me, it had always been real. But it hadn't really FELT real. But now it does. There is a little girl that we are preparing for! And now I feel a little more justified when I have to pull "the baby wants/needs/thinks..." card. ;) Also, C$ (and he may not admit it) appeared to me, feel like it was a little more real. He now talks about our "baby girl" and how he is stressed for 13 years down the road. I make sure to point out all of the men out there who have survived raising daughters, including my own dear ol' dad. 

Anyway, enough rambling for tonight. Check out some more pics!

baby's profile

baby's face. Can you see her wittle-bitty nose??

little baby feet!

20 weeks

2012.05.21


Brace yourself... this is the first belly pic!

Up to this point, I haven't "felt" pregnant. And truth be told, I didn't "feel" pregnant even after C$ took this pic and gave me a peek. Eh, I felt more like (and this is my sister's description so don't judge me; judge her.) "a sorority girl." The ones my sister saw at the gyms in college had skinny little legs with bellies from all of the beer that they had consumed 6.5 nights a week.


Anyway, take a look for yourself and see the growing bump! And for those of you that care...


What is happening in week 20?
- baby is about 7 ¾ inches long and weighs approximately 9 ounces. 
- the baby is about the size of a cantaloupe. (C follows a "man" blog that gives him comparisons men care about. This week? Compared to one nice sized boob. No Joke. Check it out.)
- I am starving. Pretty much all of the time. But much to my sister and father's dismay, no I am not on a "see food" diet. 


And yes, the big REVEAL is coming soon. Stay tuned!

snuggling the snoogle

2012.05.11

No, I am not struggling with my spelling.

I first heard about the Snoogle, or the "Snoogs" as C calls it, from a few of my girlfriends. The purpose of this bizarrely naming thing is to help preggers ladies like myself sleep on their sides instead of their backs. The recommended position is to sleep on your left side because it increases blood flow, and as you get bigger and bigger (oh geeze...) it keeps the weight of the growing baby from weighing down on your back and spinal column while you sleep. The girls claimed that it helped them sleep better and prevented a lot of back pain. I have not been sleeping great, and even though I have been sleeping with a pillow between my knees, my back is still a little sore. So last Saturday night (yep, REAL exciting night. I know. And poor Chris knows too.) I drug Chris with me to Babies R Us after an evening BBQ at our friend's one-year-old's birthday party.

We walked into Babies R Us with a mission and determination (mostly because I know that Chris will only go to this store a handful of times during the pregnancy, and this was not going to be a trip that was wasted). I followed the signs and next thing I knew we were in the land of pregnancy pillows, wedges, and Snoogles. We quickly picked out our only option and headed toward the checkout. A few minutes later, we were on our way and headed home.

Once we got home, I started to get really excited about going to bed. Just so I could test out the Snoogle. The 500 pillows that decorate our bed were put onto the floor to make room for my new friend. This thing takes up my whole side of the bed. And much to Chris' dismay, doesn't leave much room for him. The Snoogs is shaped similar to a candy candy cane with an extra tail. I wrap the hook around my shoulders for my pillow, and shove the tail between my knees to support my back. It is the most awkward looking pillow that you have ever seen, but is INSANELY comfortable.

 

It is kind of like sleeping in a nest. I am imagining that this must be what my sister felt like when she was growing up and had all of her stuffed animals surrounding her as she slept.

Thankfully, the girls were right and my sleeping has improved dramatically. I have been getting much more time sleeping, and much more restful sleep as well. Its kind of amazing. But don't kid yourself, I still partake in as many weekend naps as possible. Because really, the uninterrupted naps are only going to last for a few more months.... then I will be woken by a baby's cries, instead of TLC, Lifetime, or Brave on the TV blaring in the background. But, Chris will probably be happy at that point that the "Husband Replacer" (his words, not mine) will hopefully be gone by then.