37 week appointment

I had my 37 week appointment yesterday... no big news to report here. I'm still NOTHING. Not dilated, not effaced (or at least he didn't TELL me I was.) BOO HISS! I at least wanted to be SOMETHING!

So now I go back next Thursday. Hopefully the 38 week appointment brings some better news!

In the meantime, I'm still having lots of Braxton Hicks, and lots of those sharp knife-like pains in the you-know-what. Not to mention, just a few days ago, I started getting occasional crampy feelings that send pain to my lower back!!! Now THOSE suck. It kinda scared me at first, cause I remember my cousin saying she had back pain for a few days, then her little Olivia made an appearance in the world shortly after. But so far, none of the back pain today. Those are just few and far between.

I'm kinda hoping that the full moon this coming weekend leads to Alyson's birthday.... wishful thinking, I know. But it's a nice thought!

(Aly, you can come any time, ok baby girl? Mommy's getting miserable!)

35w3d

Lastnight while sitting on the couch, I noticed I was getting A LOT of sharp pains... maybe this is TMI, but it felt like I was getting poked in the cervix or something. They were just those sharp pains that take your breath away.... then I got a little crampy! Luckily that all lasted for about a half hour then went away.

I don't know whether that was a form of braxton hicks or not. I tried to see if my belly felt all hard through that, but I don't think it did. I think Aly was just positioned to where she was putting pressure 'downstairs.' It was driving me nuts though! So much so that I started looking to see if that was a symptom you experience prior to labor!! Cause hell, I don't know what to expect...lol.

I just keep wondering where I'm going to be or what I'm going to be doing when I go into labor. I really hope I'm at home when I start having regular contractions and/or my water breaks. I ESPECIALLY hope I'm at home for the water breaking part, if that should happen prior to going to the hospital. I don't want to be out shopping at the mall, or walking down the street...lol. All my coworkers say that they hope I go into labor at work. Why, I don't know. But hey, at least I'd be in the right place! Part of me thinks I'd still go home and get a shower, make sure my hospital bag is packed with everything I need, etc... but that's NOW. When the time comes, I just might be changing my mind about that if I'm not at home! Luckily we just live 10 minutes down the road from the hospital, so we should have plenty of time to get things situated once I DO go into labor.

Can you tell I'm getting nervous?! It's that excited kinda nervous though. With each day and week that goes by, I look even more forward to holding little Aly in my arms!

34w6d

I had yet another doctor's appointment this morning... surprisingly I got right in and out this morning.

My blood pressure was still good, so I'm happy about that. I'm even happier about the fact that I LOST a pound since last appointment. (And I feel like all I've been doing is EATING!!) Baby is still growing right on track... I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow and I'm measuring 36.

The exam with the doc went pretty quickly. He looked at my belly and goes, "Stand up... I want to take a look at your belly. Are you really pregnant?" and laughed. It's pretty bad when my DOCTOR isn't sure if I'm pregnant by looking at me....lol. I wore a white maternity top today, but I guess I didn't look all that pregnant when I was sitting down. Once I stood up and my belly very obviously made my shirt stick out, the nurse goes, "OH yeah. Look at that belly!"

So I've got a little belly. Oh well. Baby's fine, mommy's fine...that's all that matters.

One other thing though... once the doctor and nurse saw my belly, I was told to take my belly ring out soon. LOL. (Woops... they weren't supposed to see that!) I've kept it in this long and have had NO problem with it whatsoever, but the nurse goes, "We don't want anything tearing." Believe me, if my belly was about to tear, this thing would have been out a long time ago! I'm not THAT attached to it!

At the end of the appointment, doc said he wants to schedule me for AN ULTRASOUND! WOO HOO! I get to see my little girl again! I haven't had an ultrasound since my 18 week one in Pittsburgh. So next Thursday I'll find out how big my little one is, and if she's head down and ready to enter the world! I can't wait :-)

So that was my appointment.

Today I plan to just do things in the nursery, and do some laundry. But not just ANY laundry... BABY LAUNDRY! I'm on my second load of baby laundry... so far today I've washed up all her receiving blankets, burp cloths, teeny tiny little socks, caps, mittens, and some onesies, and now I've moved onto all the rest of the 0-3month clothes. I'm getting things done, slowly but surely. So why does it still feel like there's SO MUCH TO DO?!

I've started compiling a list of things I need to do....
1. Finish baby laundry
2. assemble pack n play, swing
3. put together stroller
4. carseat in car (and then figure out how the heck to use it!)
5. Get bag packed for hospital (mine AND Aly's)
6. put up curtains in nursery
7. wash up bedding for kid bed
8. Etc etc etc etc......lol

5 weeks (maybe!) to do all this.... better get busy. :-P

Have a great day :-)

33w6d

Well, I had another doctor's appointment this morning... things went pretty well. My pregnant butt gained another 2 pounds since my last visit, but doc didn't say anything about it. That puts me at 15 pounds for the whole pregnancy so far. He said, "That's 1 pound a week... you're doing everything right."

Woo hoo!

Aly was being stubborn this morning and wouldn't let the nurse find her heartbeat. After a few minutes, she settled down and stayed in one spot. Her heartbeat was nice and strong. I've decided that I think Aly is head down, lying sideways with her butt toward my right side. (most of the time, anyway!) I always feel a big hard bump sticking out on my right side, probably her little butt! Also, yesterday she had the hiccups and I felt them down really low, then I could see the right side of my belly moving too... probably her belly. I could tell she was annoyed, because she kept moving around until they stopped. But anyway... I got a little off track there. Back to the appointment.... :-)

I told the doctor about how I've been swelling more lately... he kinda got an "uh oh" look on his face. I showed him my feet and said, "Well, right now, it's just my feet and ankles." His nurse practitioner asked me if it seems to happen more after work. I said yeah, but that even when I'm not working and am on my feet for a short period of time, my ankles and feet start swelling. She goes, "Well, how about we cut your hours down at work?" (Which is what I knew they would probably say...) I told her I really can't do that, because right now I'm working 3 days a week for 12 hour shifts. If I cut myself down to 8 hour shifts, that would make me have to work for 4 whole nights 11pm-7am, then pick up another 4 hours a different night. I am NOT going to be working 5 night a week and be swollen like that. The way I see it, I swell after a few hours at work, so it's still gonna suck regardless of whether I'm at work for 12 hours or 8 hours.

So then the nurse goes, "Well, how about we cut your days a week down?" (Which I'd LOVE, but I can't do...) I told her, "Well, that'd be great and all, but I have to stay full time, since I'm the one holding the insurance benefits...my husband is on MY insurance." If I dropped to only 2 days a week or whatever, that would be considered part time and the amount taken out of my paycheck every 2 weeks for insurance would go up about $400. No thank you.

So as of right now, I'm sticking with the same work schedule. Doc told me he'd just like to see me in a week, to make sure things are going ok. The good news is that even though I'm swelling a bit, my blood pressure was alright. It was 110/something this morning... at least it's not climbing. Then I'd be worried.

Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that things stay alright and that I don't have to go on maternity leave early. I'm just gonna do what I've been doing...watching my salt and drinking water. Doc said "Don't drink TOO much, just ENOUGH." So I'm assuming that's the recommended 8 glasses a day. Still hard to do! Thank goodness for Crystal Light packets!

So that was my morning. I'm just gonna sit with my feet up and relax for now. I have to work AGAIN tonight, then I'm off for a 4-day weekend. Yay!

Here are a few belly shots I took... one was yesterday (the tired exhausted looking one...lol) and the other was today after I got back from the doctor's. (A little more rested.)

33w1d- SHOWER TIME!

Wow, I've been neglecting this blog.

Well, today I am officially 33 weeks and 1 day pregnant. 7 more weeks to go....how crazy is THAT?

This past week I think I've officially entered Cankle land. Yuck. If I'm on my feet for any length of time, they make an appearance. Damn you, cankles. LOL.

Also, I've been getting a lot more braxton hicks contractions...not to mention lots of um, pressure in my hoo-ha. Oh, and lots of sharp pains that go back to my butt! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeow! Now THOSE suck. Is little Aly in there strategically aiming for my most sensitive spots?! :-P She must be getting bored in there, so she's playing a game of "Let's kick mommy where it counts!"

LOL.

In other news... TODAY IS MY BABY SHOWER!!!! I can't wait... I'm so excited. I've been a registry peeker, big time. But I can't help it! :-) The shower is today from 1-3, maybe 4. We're having lots of good food... croissant sandwiches, fruit and CHOCOLATE FONDUE (at the request of the mommy-to-be!), meat and cheese trays, garden salad, pasta/potato salad.... YUM. For dessert, they are making my cake in thirds. One part is going to be chocolate cake with bavarian cream in the inside, another is white with raspberry filling, and the last part is going to be white with lemon filling. Also for dessert we're having raspberry sorbet. Oh, this is a preggo girl's dream. HAHA! :-)

I'll update later with some pictures!

31w6d

Well, I had another doctor's appointment this morning... everything sounds like it's going great. Aly's heartbeat was nice and strong, and I'm measuring at 33 weeks! I jokingly asked the nurse, "So maybe I'll go a week early, huh?!" She said that's not always the case, though. It's still a nice thought!

I've gained 3 pounds since my last appointment. Doc told me I need to watch my carbohydrates.

(sniffle sniffle) But.... but... I love carbs! As I've said before, my major craving is cereal. And of course I eat more than the serving size specified on the side of the box. Carb city, I know. Oh, and bread. I've had such a thing for either bread and butter or grilled cheese sandwiches. I'm just gonna have to cut back... which sucks. I have, IDEALLY, 2 more pounds I can gain before the baby's born... 4 at the most. This is gonna be rough... lol. I go back in 2 weeks, so we'll find out then if I've done a good job.

But anyway.... enough talk about that or I'm gonna get sad. :-P

I called the place where I'm having my baby shower (oops, almost wrote BRIDAL shower...lol!) and gave them an approximate total of guests that are coming. He told me that I can even call him as late as the middle of next week if things change, so that's cool :-)

It's so hard to believe my shower is next weekend already! It's on May 5th. I talked with my mom today and we're going to go to a party supply shop tomorrow and get stuff for the shower... I still need more thank-you cards (we're gonna have guests address their envelopes at the shower and use that as a way to hand out prizes), and we want to buy pink and purple balloons, baby confetti, and some baby shower banners if they have them. We already have baby block centerpieces for the tables, and foil balloons in baby shapes. :-) The owner of the restaurant where I'm having the shower told me if I bring things early, they will put everything out for me. We don't have much to do though, so I'm just going to go over earlier that day and help my mom put everything out. I can't wait!

Well, that's it for now! Have a good night!

31w2d

I've come to the conclusion that little Aly's feet have taken up residence in my rib cage.

The past few nights, I have been getting MAJORLY kicked in the ribs... NOT a good feeling. Her kicks are getting stronger by the day! I've also been getting alot of kicks down low, though they're not as strong... must be her little hands punching mommy all over the place.

Not much else has changed lately... just watching my belly pop out more with each week (or DAY, as it seems sometimes.) It's still hard to get accustomed to the fact that I get short of breath just walking up the steps (or tying my shoes, for that matter), or that I get heartburn so often... or that I move at a snail's pace when getting up off the couch.... or that some of my maternity clothes are getting TIGHT IN THE BELLY! Ugh!

But it's all worth it when I think about holding little Aly in a few months. :-)

30w1d

Just past the 30-week mark. Wow. Only 10 more weeks to go... maybe!! Everyone says, "Oh, you'll go late with your first one," but you never know.

This past week, I've reeeeeally started to feel more pregnant. I'm not exactly doing the pregnancy 'waddle', but getting around is becoming more tedious! I have to get up slowly, or those darn round ligament pains hit me like a ton of bricks. Those suckers about take my breath away sometimes!

My husband was laughing at me the other day... he walked in the bedroom and there I was, sitting on the edge of the bed, attempting (I say ATTEMPTING) to put my shoes and socks on without too much of a struggle. He watched with a smile on his face as I huffed and puffed, finally having to pull on the leg of my jeans in order to get my right leg up on my lap so I could reach my foot. He goes, "Honey.... do you need me to do that?" Not wanting to admit I needed help at this point in the game, I said no, and continued my struggle with my shoes. After successfully putting them on--thankfully my preggo brain got them on the right feet-- I vowed to buy some slip-on shoes, and became very thankful that the end of my pregnancy will come at a time where I can wear sandals and comfy flip-flops EVERY DAY if I want. What a relief THAT is.

Hubby also laughs at my love of cereal right now. I'm the only one in the house who eats cereal, and my cereal boxes have now taken up space in not one, but TWO cupboards. I have at least 8 boxes of cereal in the house right now. I was loving some Oatmeal Raisin Bran for awhile, then Corn Chex and Crispix, then my craving switched to Cap'n Crunch (plain AND with berries)... then Cocoa Puffs, and now I'm back to Crispix. I guess I should be happy that my biggest craving is cereal, and not ice cream or sweets. Though yes, I have had the occasional craving for ice cream... that latest being my infatuation with Edy's Loaded Butterfinger ice cream. That stuff is THE BOMB. It might actually be better than sex. To a pregnant girl who doesn't exactly feel all sexy right now, anyway! :-P haha

Topic change.

I woke up around 5am this morning with the usual feeling that my bladder was going to burst, then found myself unable to fall back to sleep. You know, the usual these days. But man, was my belly ACHING! I had woken up on my side, but I don't know if I happened to lay on my belly during my sleep or what. Then I started thinking, "Maybe it's Braxton Hicks contractions... maybe I just need to drink some water.... maybe something's wrong with the baby... maybe I just need to sit down for awhile..." I feel better now after sitting up on the couch for awhile, but I'm even more reassured by the frequent kicks I'm feeling from baby Aly. She's been sooooo active lately!! Hubby and I went to an indoor arena footbally game lastnight with some friends, and I wasn't thinking about the fact that the music and announcements would be TOTALLY LOUD... lol... and with every song and every announcement, I got kicked. She was particularly affected by the beginning of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train", where he screams, "All Aboaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard! HA HA HA." I don't think she liked THAT one so much. :-) Most of the music was the usual sporting event pop/R& B music, which I'm into but Russ isn't so much. I jokingly told Russ, "Aly must like her mommy's music." :-) I felt bad for the poor girl though... she was probably wondering what the heck was going on outside her comfy little water world.

Well, I hear hubby's alarm going off and have a feeling he's gonna sleep through it if I don't head in the bedroom and wake him up. Have a great day, everyone! :-)

29w1d

Wow, it seems like since the third trimester started, along came ALL the talked about signs/symptoms of it too.

Over the past week, I've been dealing with heartburn...ALOT. I think I should buy stock in Tums now! I had to leave work early the other morning because I was so sick to my stomach. I've never had heartburn before, but now it's come in full force.

Also, I've been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions! I've read so much about people experiencing them, but didn't think I was having them myself. Lastnight I really noticed it though. We were out shopping and my stomach just felt tense all over and very hard...kinda achy too. Then after a few minutes I was fine. That happened a few times afterwards too. None today so far though. I read that they can be due to dehydration or drinking caffeine though... so I've been trying to keep hydrated and drink more water. Come to think of it, i DID drink iced tea with dinner beforehand :-/

Anyway, nothing much else to talk about. My little soccer player/karate master is still kicking away in there. I'm beginning to think she just might BE head down, or getting that way, because her movements seem stronger up near my ribs. When I lay on either side at night, she kicks the opposite side near my ribs like crazy. I just lay my hand up there and watch it jump up and down!

******************************

In other news.... my shower is in ONE MONTH! Actually LESS than one month! I can't wait! We just got our Pack 'N Play in the mail from my husband's aunt and uncle who live in Virginia. It matches our travel system and the highchair and swing we registered for too! :-)

Hubby's mom came over the other day and wanted to see the progress we've (well, I'VE) made on the nursery so far. We were upstairs looking at everything, and she noticed we had gotten a mattress for the kid bed we have in the room. She goes, "Oh, have you picked out bedding yet?" I told her that I had some bedding I loved in the JCPenney catalog. She goes, "Oh really? Well if you'd like, I can buy THAT for you for your shower!" I showed it to her, and she ended up buying the whole bedding set for us... the comforter, bed skirt, and pillow sham, and she also bought two matching valances for the nursery windows! Since the colors in the room are pale pink and purple, we got the bedding in a pale lilac... it's gonna look sooooooooo cute! I can't wait to get everything in the mail, so I can get it all washed and set up in the nursery! I'll be sure and post pictures, like I've said before :-)

Well, I'm gonna get some breakfast... time to feed mommy AND baby. Have a great day!

27w6d

Well, I'm back home... did some shopping after my doctor's appointment.

Does anyone else feel like they wait FOREVER at the doctor's office?! My appointment was for 9:30... I waited an hour just to get called back. The nurse did the fetal heart tones, weight, BP, all that good stuff... then I waited ANOTHER half hour for the doctor to come in the room. Ugh.

Anyway, my doctor said everything came back fine with my 3 hour GTT... so yay I passed! They also did a HGBA1C on me, which came back fine also... thank goodness.

One good thing... my weight hasn't changed from last month! I only have about 5 more pounds I can gain this whole last trimester, so I'm on the right track. I've been eating healthy... lots of fruits, veggies, milk, yogurt, etc. From what I've read, the baby gains about a half pound per week. I figure I have 12 weeks left, so that's 6 more pounds... right on target :-)

Well, I'm off to go visit my parents. I'll write again soon.

27w6d

Well, this morning at 9:30am I have an appointment with my OBGYN. I'll be finding out the results of my glucose tolerance test. I reeeeeeeally hope I passed it. I think my chances are good, considering I was only over by one point on the 1-hr glucola... so we'll see. I'll let you know :-)

27w4d: 3hr GTT

Well, today I went and had my 3 hour glucose tolerance test. I haven't had so much fun in a long time. Ha.

The lady gave me a choice of whether to drink fruit punch or lemon lime. I figured I had fruit punch the first time and it wasn't bad, so I'd take it again.

I thought I'd get the same drink, only twice the amount. Instead, it was the same amount as last time, but twice as sweet. I managed to get it down-- not as quickly as last time, mind you-- and sat there wondering how I'd be feeling within the next 5 minutes. I was ok for a little bit, then gradually my stomach started getting sick. I didn't puke though. I wasn't about to have to start the test all over again. My boring wait in the lab waiting room wasn't totally terrible...the first hour went sooooooo slow but thankfully for some odd reason the next few hours went rather quickly. I got out of there around 11:15am.

I was cracking up though... boy, did that drink wake Aly up! My stomach was jumping up all over the place. She must have been on a sugar high, poor thing. I was getting kicked and punched twice as much as usual. She gradually eased up on the karate as the sugary drink wore off. I can only imagine what she was thinking... "Woah, mom... ease up on the sugar! Jeez!"

In other news.... I got a package of 'goodies' from a girl who I grew up with. She used to live a few houses up from me and is also pregnant with her first baby right now. She's due a month before me. I had bought her a few things off her registry, and she did the same for me! I got it in the mail today and was so excited! I LOVE baby stuff!!! She ended up getting me a few adorable sundresses, a hooded bath robe, washclothes, a bib and a little tote bag. I can't wait to use everything :-)

One more thing to talk about.

My 27th birthday is April 13th, and I have figured out what I would like to do. I told my husband that the best gift in the world would be for us to go have a 3D/4D ultrasound! He initially goes, "Honey, you've had a few so far, and you'll probably have another... why do you want that?" Then I told him how detailed it is, that will will get a DVD and everything... and showed him pictures online of 3d/4d ultrasounds. He goes, "Oh! I didn't know it was like THAT!" So he's all for it now too :-) We'll probably do it within the next few weeks :-) I'm off my birthday weekend, and it's pretty much planned already, so we'll probably do it on a weekday sometime. I can't wait! All we have to do is figure out a good day and then call and set everything up.

Well, I'm gonna go watch American Idol now. Have a great night!

27w1d

Oh, how I dislike you, overly-sweet fruit punch drink. It is because of you that I now have to drink an even sweeter nasty concoction and sit through 3 long hours in a lab waiting room, and get stuck with needles three times during the process.

You suck, fruit punch drink.

Yep, that's right.... I failed my one-hour glucola. But do you know how much I failed it by? One point. ONE.... LOUSY.... POINT. This is the reason I am upset. I have to do the three-hour test all because of one lousy point. The nurse at my OB's office said that the cutoff is 135, and I got 136. I told her, "You've got to be kidding me." She goes, "I know honey, I'm sorry... one lousy point. " I didn't even have a thing to eat beforehand, even though I was allowed to have a light breakfast. I drank Crystal Light, that's it... and still got a 136.

So now I get to wake up bright and early and spend my day off Tuesday in the hospital getting poked at. Boo hiss.

(Fruit punch drink, did I mention that you suck?)

27 weeks

Well, 27 weeks down... 13 to go! :-) From what I've read, I've officially entered my third trimester. Go me.

With the beginning of the third trimester has come extreme tiredness and....heartburn. Heartburn like I haven't had before. I don't know whether I just ate too much at work a few nights ago or what, but I came home from work with this awful feeling in my stomach, and just had the worst heartburn all day. Hubby and I went shopping at Sam's Club and things just got worse. I bought a sprite to try and ease the fire that had started in my chest, but it didn't help much. By the time I got home I was worshipping the throne in the bathroom. Not fun. I do have to say that I felt much better afterward. Guess there just isn't as much room in my tummy as before... things must be getting squashed in there now.

As evidenced by this post at 4am, I can't sleep either. Insomnia is setting in....again. I'm fortunate that as of right now, I'm still only waking up about once a night to pee, but that one time comes right smack in the middle of the night... afterwards, I can NEVER FALL BACK TO SLEEP. Like right now.... I woke up at 3:15 and just laid in bed staring at the ceiling for a half hour, listening to my hubby snore, before I got fed up and came out here in the living room to waste time on the computer. Ugh.

Anyway, enough griping.

Baby Aly has been alot more active lately... and her kicks are getting much stronger. I've read that babies may START moving head down around this time, but that it doesn't always happen yet. She still seems to be doing somersaults in there. I still get that feeling in my belly like you get when an elevator stops suddenly, and your stomach seems to go to your chest. THAT feeling. That's usually when she's rolling around like a mad woman. I still feel tap dancing on my bladder, though lastnight I felt movement up near my ribs AND down low at the same time. She must have been punching and kicking at the same time :-) So I can't really figure out where her head and feet are yet. I've come to the conclusion that the answer still is "all over the place."

In other news... yesterday after we went shopping, I felt so crappy I had to take a nap. I woke up and had a message on my answering machine from the nurse practitioner at my OB's office. Unfortunately, it was 5:30 and the office was closed, so I couldn't call her back to see what she wanted. She told me just to call her this morning sometime. I have no idea what she wants... the only thing I can think of is that it's about my 1-hour glucola results. I hope things turned out ok. The thing is, they have never called me if my results are negative or within normal limits, so I hope this isn't bad news that I failed it. That would royally suck, because I don't want to have to do the 3 hour GTT. Plus, now that my husband's a diabetic, I've been checking my blood sugars occasionally, and they've NEVER been high, even after eating. So we'll see.

Well, I'm gonna try laying back down now. Wish me luck.

26 weeks

26 weeks today!

Baby Aly has been doing great. I notice a lot of kicks about halfway between my belly button and my ribs! It's so weird to start feeling the kicks up higher now, instead of very low.

This weekend I have SO MUCH to do, baby-wise! Tomorrow morning I have to get my 1-hour Glucola done, so I want to wake up pretty early to do that. I was supposed to get it done earlier in the week, but I wasn't feeling all that great. The nurse at the office told me any time this week is fine to get it done, so I'm good.

Also this weekend, My husband and I are supposed to go get the crib, and tomorrow my parents and I are going to finish my registry at Walmart. I already did my registry at Babies R Us, so I'm halfway finished! My parents want to buy my stroller/carseat travel system, so they want to see which one I like. It'll be nice having them with me too, when I register. My mom is getting SOOOOOO excited about everything. Well, everyone is, but her the most!

I got a coupon in the mail from the Children's Place yesterday... I definitely made good use of it today! It's a "$10 off a $30 purchase" coupon. I went on the website and ordered a few cute dresses, a pair of jeans, a little sunhat, and a pair of white sandals!! I couldn't help it. I have no self-control where baby clothes are concerned. Even though I KNOW I have a baby shower coming up in a month and a half!!

Also, today there was a book sale at the hospital. After my shift was over, I went downstairs to check it out, and they had TONS of adorable baby/kids books. I bought a few thicker books with bedtime story collections, and one I bought was a Mother Goose one. It has a moon that lights up in the middle of the book, and Mother Goose talks and tells the stories. When the book is closed, she says Goodnight.:-) Too cute. I couldn't help but get those books too!!! I figure I'm going to be reading ALOT to our baby, so I might as well start my collection now!

Well, that's about it for now. Gotta go do some house cleaning. FUN! (yeah right.)

25weeks

Wow.... 15 weeks to go! (Maybe!) It's so hard to believe. In less than 4 months I will be holding our little baby girl in my arms!!

She had me a little scared a few days ago, though! I don't know whether I just wasn't paying good enough attention or what, but I didn't feel her move much for a few days. Just little taps here and there. I was starting to freak out to my husband... he goes, "Honey, don't worry! She's just taking a break." I know babies have their calm days just like us, but it still made me worry. She was moving around alot yesterday though... lots of kicks to the bladder again too! (ouch!) Today she's been moving around on and off too, so I feel much better!!! She must have just worn herself out. Plus, I know she's running out of room in there, so that contributes to kicking less too! The thing is, now she may not kick as much, but she can deliver some WHOMPS in there too! She kicked right next to my belly button so hard yesterday it made me jump! Maybe she's in training to play soccer now.

Not much else going on lately... I have that one hour glucola on Tuesday, which | think will turn out fine. I've been checking my blood sugar with hubby's glucometer, and in the morning it's been in the low to mid 80's. I ate a PB&J the other day and checked it afterwards, and it had only gone to 101, never any higher than that... so that's a relief.

OH... and it occurred to me the other day that I REALLY need to get the ball rolling regarding registering for my baby shower! My shower is going to be May 5th (the soonest opening they had at the place where I want it... i wanted it in April). My mom wants to send my invitations out by the last week of the month, so I really need to get started on all this. A few of my friends who have babies have offered to go registering with me... they said they can help me pick things out according to what I truly need and will use the most versus what I only THINK I will need and probably won't use. So that will be a big help! Hubby already told me that he doesn't care if I take care of the registry... I don't think he has the patience for something like that! For our wedding, I just let him help with the big stuff. The little stuff, I took care of. I know he would be pacing around and getting upset waiting while I attempt to decide between 50 different types of bottles or baby blankets! He has very little patience where being in ANY store for more than 20 minutes is concerned. Are all guys like that?! :-)

Well, that's it for now. Have a great day :-)

24w2d

Wow...sorry about the lack of posting over the past (almost) few weeks. Alot has been going on, the biggest thing being the fact that my husband was just diagnosed with diabetes.... that was a big shocker, and so that's been the priority lately--getting things in order where he's concerned. His mom developed gestational diabetes while pregnant with him, so he was naturally already at risk for it. Over the past few weeks, he's just hasn't been feeling like himself... he's been tired, headachy, and been drinking water like crazy. At first he blamed it on the fact that he was plowing/salting, and gets all kinds of salt in his mouth when loading trucks up, etc... but things never got any better. Over the past 5 days, the symptoms just increased and our friend (whose boyfriend is diabetic) brought their glucometer over and checked my husband's sugar... it was 326. That day, he was drinking like crazy, peeing like crazy, and had blurred vision. We went to ER and he was started on medication... we go to an endocrinologist tomorrow for his first appointment and then hopefully he can start getting back to normal.

So THAT'S what's been going on. Needless to say, it's caused a major lifestyle change on his AND my part. I never realized all the CRAP we buy at the grocery store that really isn't all that healthy. Plus, now that I'm pregnant and could possibly get gestational diabetes, I really need to be careful too. We've been reading alot of information about diabetes, and figuring out what he can and can't have. I've paid more attention to carb content in foods during the past weekend than I have in all my life! It's amazing how many foods you THINK are healthy, but when you're diabetic, they aren't so healthy. Things we'd normally buy, we just had to pass up. I told him that at least this is teaching BOTH of us how to eat healthy.

I go for my 1 hour Glucola test on 3/13... I'm REALLY looking forward to drinking that overly-sweet orange drink. Um, yeah. After that, I have to go to Pre-admission testing for my anesthesia consult. I guess they'll be discussing my options regarding anesthesia during labor, whether I want an epidural (YES!) or to go natural. (NO!) I have zero pain tolerance, or I'd consider going natural. I give major kudos to mommies who go natural. My worst fear is getting to the hospital too late in labor, and not being able to get an epidural. Hell, I get extremely lightheaded and about pass out with bad period cramps, so I can only imagine what I'd be like during labor without any pain meds.

ANYWAY...

Dealing with little Aly, she's doing great. Moving around like crazy in there. We were playing a little game the other day... I started feeling her kick and figured I was home alone so I'd just talk my baby talk to my belly and see if Alyson reacted to me.

I felt her kick, and pressed down on my belly where she had kicked. She kicked back. Next, I started talking to her, and with each syllable, I'd press on my belly at the same time. I kept saying "Hi Aly" and "I love you Aly" and she went CRAZY! It's as if she felt me tapping on my belly and KNEW I was talking to her. This went on for about 5 minutes, and it had me cracking up. After that, I quit talking and she settled down and was quiet too. All the sudden, I started pressing on my belly and talking again, and there came the kicks, one after another! I love it. Nothing like some baby bonding time...hehe.

Not much else going on, pregnancy-wise. Just enjoying feeling my little one moving all around...not to mention watching my tummy get bigger! I've only gained about 10 pounds so far, and the doctor said I'm doing everything right. My belly is measuring right on target too... it's hard to believe my uterus is about 2 inches above my belly button already! I feel Aly kicking up there all the time. :-) I love all the new feelings and changes going on... something new every week, it seems!

Last but not least... updates on nursery pictures. Here's the progress I've made so far:

Pic of some of the furniture in the room. We still have to buy our crib...


And this is a close-up pic of the letters I bought for on the wall:


Once we get the crib, we'll just have last-minute things to do in there... things are coming along :-)
Well, back to watching Extreme Makeover! More later...

22w5d- Nursery time!

I went shopping last week and FINALLY found a crib set I like. I don't have a pic of it, sorry... I did a search for the set online, but it must be a discontinued set because I can't find it anywhere. It's made by Kidsline, and I got it at Sears... I checked both websites for a pic, but no luck :-(

Anyway, the set is called "Heavenly Hearts" and is a quilt-type pattern. On the comforter and bumper, one square is pink and white gingham, another is little tiny rosebuds, another is purple and white gingham, and another has a cute little heart with flowers on it. (If that gives you SOME idea of what it looks like!) The mobile has little white and pink teddy bears holding either a pink or purple heart. It's adorable. I can't wait to get everything set up!

Since I finally have the crib set, I set out to look for paint and wall border to match it. I found THE cutest border at Lowe's, made by Disney. It's edged in pink, with purple bows that look like a big bow swag all around the room. I did my painting last night, and put the wall border up this morning. Here are pics of the nursery in progress :-)



This one has my boxers Cody and Lucy in it... they barely left my side during all this decorating, and ended up with pink paint on their fur as a result :-)



In other baby-related news... little Aly has been kicking like crazy, more each day it seems! She's not usually that active during the morning, but today she must be practicing for her black belt in karate! Maybe she's just excited that mommy finally started on her bedroom. Yeah, that must be it. Hehe...

Well, that's all for now.

21w5d: I FELT IT!

This morning was kind of a pregnancy milestone, you could say!

Around 4am (yeah, another night of insomnia), I was laying back in the recliner watching tv, when I felt little Alyson kicking me to the right of my belly button. Every few seconds, there was another kick. I put my hands on my belly, figuring I still wouldn't be able to feel the kick from the outside, when I felt a big WHOMP against the palm of my hand. I swear, I was grinning from ear to ear. It was THE neatest feeling to be able to feel those kicks with my hands. She kept on kicking and when I took my hands off my belly and just kept an eye on that very spot, I actually saw my belly move too!!!! Amazing.

She really hasn't been kicking much during the day today, but that seems to be the usual. Just another reason I believe she's a night owl like mommy... she must have all her energy late at night and veeeeeery early into the morning. Seems she's on her mommy's sleep cycle too!

21w4d

I just got home from work. I'm bloated.... my legs are swollen.... and my pants DEFINITELY don't fit me anymore. I didn't make it to the uniform store yet to get new scrubs for work, so I've been getting by these past 3 nights by keeping my pants right below my belly.As a result of that, my pants sag all down and I've been walking on them for 3 nights. Not fun.

Man, I could really use a foot massage right now...

Anyway.....

Baby Alyson has been kicking like CRAZY these past few nights. I've been reading on websites that the baby can respond to his/her mom's voice by this point in time. Well, at work we tape report on our patients for the following shift, and when I was taping my report, Aly was just kicking and kicking and kicking away while I was talking. (Kinda like right now... she must like the Strawberry Honey Bunches of Oats cereal I just ate. hehe...)

Not much else to talk about... just wanted to post real quick. Hopefully I make it to the uniform place soon. I was hoping to go today, but it's snowing like crazy here. We're supposed to get up to 9 inches by tomorrow morning. There goes the whole idea of going baby crib/bedding shopping too. For a few days, anyway.

Well, baby and I are off to take a little nap. I'll update again soon :-)