Stressed.

So far today, I've managed to water all our plants, scrub/spot clean my carpets, vacuum, sweep, mop, clean out our closet, and clean all three bathrooms. It's 8:45am. Why, oh why, aren't you asleep instead, you ask? I'm feeling a bit...stressed. And when stressed, I tend to become a domestic goddess, steam-cleaning carpets and whipping up fresh-baked bread for the masses. That's just how I deal.

Why am I stressed? Yesterday, addressing my long-running list of errands to run and calls to make, I called over to our littlest kitty's vet to see if they had any product I could use to treat where the cat has been spraying in our house. Despite her being a girl, and being spayed, for whatever reason, she's started to spray ALL OVER THE UPSTAIRS OF MY HOUSE. It's so bad, I've been considering finding her a new home until after the baby's born, assuming that she was 'acting out' due to my pregnancy, since it's started and progressed since then. WRONG. They told me they really thought I should bring her in, and though I put up a fight (the exam alone would be $40), citing her 'asshole behavior', I thought about it and decided to pay the office a visit yesterday afternoon. Thank God I did. I'm apparently the biggest bitch pet-owner in the history of the world. This has been going on for months, with me getting more and more angry and punishing her by putting her out in the garage in isolation. Since it seemed to help initially, it was even further reinforced in my mind that it was behavioral, and I just spent about half my time screaming at her for making me clean our carpets on a daily basis and being generally frustrated. It's not behavioral. It's medical. Poor little darling has a UTI, a kidney infection, blood in her urine (it's not detectable by eye, or of course I would've brought her in), kidney stones, the whole shebang. When the doctor came in to tell me the results of her urinalysis and lab work, I ended up sobbing about how sorry I was and having the vet hug me and assure me that she doesn't think I'm a horrible mother. Awesome. Way to add insult to injury. I just feel SO bad. I had NO idea that there was anything wrong with her - she's always seemed to do it defiantly. Now, she's had a massive shot of pain meds and antibiotics, has to be on a prescription food to dissolve the stones, has twice daily antibiotics for the next three weeks, and is on anti-inflammatory meds that have to be crushed up in her food.

Since then, she now has a new little pet bed, has gotten lots of love and kisses and positive reinforcement, and we have a chocolate cake and a spotless house. Moral of the story: If your cat is spraying, especially if she is an otherwise sweet animal, do not threaten her with a new home. Take her to the vet :(

I'm so sorry, baby kitty!

The Name Game.

I hate to disappoint you all, but Baby B's name will NOT be revealed until after she's born. Yep, you heard me. Sorry folks, I'm just not interested in anyone's opinions about it, and it's shocking to me who thinks they get a say. We had it narrowed down to five, then four, then three, and now we have a couple to take to the delivery room to see what we think 'in the moment'. And nope, not even going to tell you which three, but I can assure you two of them haven't been mentioned before :)

Now if the next 94 days can just fly by (although that's to my due date, she's really only got 89 more to cook before the induction, if he keeps it at 12/28!!!!)

Dr. Elise Kibler

This won't shock you at this rate, with the amount of mind-changing I do on a regular basis about things that aren't actually important, but I've changed my mind about Baby B's pediatrician. Something about Dr. Treybig just feels off to me (only as a fit for our particular situation and family, not generally. I'm sure she's lovely), and so I've opted to go with a different pediatrician instead, associated with the same practice but at the North location that is closer by our house. I've decided to go with Elise Kibler.

I think what it was about Dr. Treybig was that she doesn't do prepartum visits. Something about that really bothers me. I get that she's probably very busy, but how can you expect me to trust you with the most important thing in the world, my newborn, if I've never had the chance to meet with you and talk with you about your thoughts/opinions on important things like vaccination schedules, etc? Dr. Kibler's line was immediately answered, and they scheduled me for a prepartum visit on 10/15. Her receptionist was also really nice and patient. Since she's still associated with Capital Peds, I still get to take advantage of the extended night and weekend hours, as well, just at the other location if necessary. Win-win, I think!

Again, anyone with any thoughts or experiences with this provider they'd like to share?

Baby B's Going-Home Outfit.

D just does NOT get it. He cannot understand what the hell is so important about the coming home outfit. Which is ok, because he's a guy, so he doesn't need to get it. I 'get it' enough for both of us. To me, it's more of a keepsake than anything else, especially seeing how other mom's have treated their going-home outfits (stored in airtight containers, kept in a special place and not handed-down, etc.) I understand that Baby B won't give two craps what she's wearing out of the hospital, but this is FOR ME, ya hear? He just doesn't get it.

Anyhow, we spent a good hour this weekend at Babies R Us looking for a coming home outfit to no avail. I think it should be some darling two-or-three-piece set, complete with matching hat and booties. I mean, for Christ's sake, this is her debut into the outside world, how she'll first be photographed in our home, how our meticulous pets will first see her (you may think I'm joking, but I have a cat that's a force to be reckoned with, and it wouldn't kill us to try to get Baby B looking so adorable he just can't help but love her...or at least not hate her). Anyhow, we got nowhere. When D said, "Why can't she just come home in a onesie?" (uh, it's winter buddy!), and then added "I thought babies just wore onesies and sleepers. I thought they didn't start dressing like real people until 6 months or so?!", we left Babies R Us with me in tears (I should take this opportunity to confess my hormones were a bit over the top this weekend).

Anyhow, to make a long story less long (since it no longer qualifies as short, that's for sure!), here's what I mustered up while searching through her clothes we already have:
What do you think of this? So far it's our only option. It's NB sized, aka 5-8lbs, so we'll have to take a backup 0-3 mos. outfit in case of my own little case of gigantababy, but I'm hoping (more like praying) it'll fit! It's warm enough, give or take a blanket or two (it's TX, folks, not Alaska), and I have a cute little pink hat to match. Now I just need shoes! My only complaint is that I think the outfit she wears home should have been bought by US, and this was given to us, but it still hasn't ever been worn, so that should work, right?

Belly Shots: 26w2d!

I almost forgot this week!
I'm happy (?) to report there doesn't look to be too much change from 24 weeks, or even 22 weeks really...yay me! Baby B is growing, though, rest assured. She can make my whole belly move now! I'm just trying to keep on top of my pregnancy weight gain. As of this morning, I've hit 15lbs! Wah wah. From what I've heard from other new moms that started out underweight-to-average-weight, that's not bad at all, though. Even if I do put on the 1lb/week for the remainder, which I've managed to stay at or under so far, I'll still be under 30, which was my doctor's goal for me.

See you (or rather, you'll see ME) again at 28 weeks!

Prenatal Massage.

Call me spoiled, but massage is one of my absolute favorite things in the world. I would rather go and get a massage than have groceries for the month. Thankfully, however, it's been quite a while since I've been faced with a choice like that (oh, how I don't miss college finances!), so I think I'll have my cake AND my massage, also.

Anyone had a prenatal massage yet, or in the past? I am seriously considering scheduling one in the next few weeks, especially with ACL on the horizon and all the innumberable aches and pains that accompany being on your feet for three straight days at 27 weeks...I must give a quick shout-out to D, though, who rubs my back on a nightly basis. You're not doing a bad job, by any means. That being said, there is always luxury to be found in laying down for an hour in peace and quiet and having someone devote all their attention to your every sore, tired and stressed-out muscle, is there not? Hell, I'd paid for the use of the table alone, since I miss laying/sleeping on my stomach so bad it hurts, so it's totally worth it.

Anyone in Austin or nearby have a recommendation for a great prenatal massage therapist? I've tended to go to Milk & Honey in the past when I couldn't get in at the now-closed Austin School of Massage Therapy (90-minute massages for $25 - no joke. That's how I became the addict I am today.), and they have what I think is a good deal at 90 minutes for $135, but I'm definitely open to suggestions!

26 Weeks!

How your baby's growing:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

How your life's changing:

Are you rushing around trying to get to childbirth classes and prepare your baby's room while still taking care of all your other daily tasks? Make sure that you also continue to eat well and get plenty of rest. Around this time, your blood pressure may be increasing slightly, although it's probably still lower than it was before you got pregnant. (Typically, blood pressure falls toward the end of the first trimester, and it tends to reach a low at about 22 to 24 weeks.)Preeclampsia — a serious disorder characterized by high blood pressure and protein in your urine — most often shows up after 37 weeks, but it can happen earlier so it's important to be aware of the warning signs of this condition. Call your caregiver if you have swelling in your face or puffiness around your eyes, more than slight swelling of your hands, excessive or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles, or rapid weight gain (more than 4 pounds in a week). With more severe preeclampsia, you may experience other symptoms. Let your caregiver know immediately if you have a severe or persistent headache, vision changes (including double or blurred vision, seeing spots or flashing lights, sensitivity to light, or temporary loss of vision), intense pain or tenderness in your upper abdomen, or vomiting.If your lower back seems a little achy lately, you can thank both your growing uterus — which shifts your center of gravity, stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, and may be pressing on a nerve — as well as hormonal changes that loosen your joints and ligaments. Plus, the extra weight you're carrying means more work for your muscles and increased stress on your joints, which is why you may feel worse at the end of the day. Walking, standing, or sitting for long periods, as well as bending and lifting can all put a strain on your back. A warm bath or hot compress might bring relief. (Some women, though, find cool compresses more comforting.) Try to maintain good posture during the day, avoid activities that require bending and twisting at the same time, take frequent breaks when sitting or standing, and sleep on your side with one or both knees bent with a pillow between your legs, using another pillow (or wedge) to support your abdomen.

Capital Peds.

So, I have *tentatively* found a pediatric group and pediatrician for little Baby B! YAY!

I was hoping to find a group with:
a.) a great reputation
b.) less traditional attitudes (aka no old geysers forcing has-been child-rearing practices on me)
c.) flexible office hours
d.) a larger group, in case our particular doctor isn't available and Baby B is sick

Capital Peds seems to meet and exceed all my expectations, and so far I'm very happy with the attitude of the individuals I've spoken to on the phone. I'm leaning towards Dr. Sandra Treybig as Baby B's pediatrician, pending a callback from her nurse about her feelings on an alternative vaccination schedule. (NOTE: DO NOT GET ME WRONG. I HAVE EVERY INTENTION OF VACCINATING MY CHILD. I just have a vaccination allergy myself, and want to introduce Baby B's vaccinations on a slightly different schedule than the norm in case she has a similar allergy, so we know what it is she's reacting to.)

Anyone heard anything, good or bad, or have any experiences with this doctor they'd like to share?

The Numbers Game.

Some great numbers for today!

First off, I'm taking my 3rd sick day ever since I feel like shit, and the rest and down time seems to be really helping :)

Second, 100 DAYS LEFT! And that's to my actual due date - since I'll likely be induced on 12/28, only 95 more days of being pregnant! HALLELUJAH!!!

Another great one? 3 months until I take my maternity leave! Sadly, maternity leave basically only amounts to two to three weeks for me, with the elective third week being unpaid, but after a little dose of some time off today, it's better than nothing, eh?!

YAY!

Gigantababy.

Holy shitballs!



According to Dlisted.com:

SUMO BABY WILL EAT US ALL! Seriously, that tiny baby next to him looks concerned.

An Indonesian woman gave birth to a 19-pound baby, a record in Indonesia. Gigantababy was just 4lbs shy from beating the world record. Doctors think the baby boy's massive size is due to the fact that his mother has diabetes. Gigantababy is completely healthy and is eating non-stop. Durr.

You can tell your vagina to stop shaking and crying, because he was born via c-section. Although, you know that Indonesian woman's vagina was bawling just like gigantababy in the picture above, because it thought it was GAME OVER. It dodged a 19lb bullet.

Click here for the full article.

Excuse me for the short post, but I think I'm seconds away from passing out after seeing that!

Dextromethorphan.

My OB and my pharmacist seem to be at odds about this particular cough-medicine ingredient. While my OB assured me that Robittusin is just fine during pregnancy, my pharmacist told D when he picked some up for me that, especially considering how far along I am, that I shouldn't take anything with Dextromethorphan in it, which crosses just about everything off the list. To make matters more confusing, I'm pretty certain I've heard negative things about this medication before, which leaves me more confused than ever. I put a call in to my GP to see what he has to say about things, but no call back yet. Apparently the whole of Austin is sick :(

Anyone out there with any opinions? For now, I'm toughing it out with cough drops and an extra-strength Tylenol every eight hours, but I know I'd feel better with something a little more heavy-duty!

Sick.

I feel like complete and total crap. I had a cough a couple weeks back that luckily, though it lingered, didn't turn into anything, and so yesterday morning when it picked back up I didn't think much of it. By the afternoon, however, it was getting worse to where a cough drop was an absolute necessity, and by 4PM I felt absolutely horrid. I am lucky to be able to say that D has superior taking-care-of-me-when-I'm-sick skills, so I was able to rest up last night a bit, but sadly I still felt like crap each time I woke up last night and all day today.

Unfortunately, I also agreed to babysit this evening before coming down with this little bug or whatnot, so I'm babysitting for at least another couple hours before I can finally run home and crash. Such a bummer.

Fingers crossed it's not the flu. I'm quite achy, but my wrist is also acting up, so it may be round ligament and other pregnancy pain rather than classic body aches of the flu. Here's hoping!!!

Oh yeah!

She's definitely, 100%, paint-the-room-pink and toss-the-receipts girl, according to both techs during my 3D/4D ultrasound (what's the difference, BTW, between 3D & 4D?!).

On another joyous note, and I'm not just saying this because I'm her oh-so-biased mother, but she's beautiful. She looked very peaceful and delicate, and was extremely responsive the entire time. The techs also commended me on my superior water drinking habits since there was a great amount of fluid and it made the pics very clear and easy to get. We got a great take-home DVD and around 40 photographs on a disc - can't wait to show D! He didn't go since he thought it was 'creepy', but he's interested now :) She was yawning up a storm, since it was in the middle of her usual nap period, and we got a nice shot of her giving a little 'grin', yawning, and stretching her arms and rubbing her still-closed eyes. So cute!

We may opt not to share any of the photos, since we've already announced her sex and taken the biggest surprise out of her birth. We're also considering not sharing her name, but both are still under review...we'll see. I'm feeling a bit stingy with her lately, especially knowing that in a few months when she's born I'm going to be tossed by the wayside and everyone's going to want to hold her and touch her, and I'm not really that kind of a person that wants to share their new baby with the world!

FREE 3D/4D Ultrasound TODAY!!!

SO...Friday, in the midst of my 'Is she really a girl?" whack attack, I got a call from Clearview Ultrasounds, asking if I would still be interested in being a volunteer to get a free 3D/4D ultrasound in exchange for allowing them to use me to run a 'refresher course' for a sonographer on - you guessed it!- gender identification. No shit.

I had heard from one of my fellow blogging friends, Emily, that this was going on, and had called in the day before hoping to get in on the action. Unfortunately, at the time of my call they had filled all their slots, but I laid on the charm and the man seemed to go for it and ultimately took down my name and number, promising to call if they had any openings. I figured I would never hear from him again and went about my day, completely forgetting until I got the call! What perfect timing!

One hour, fifteen minutes to go, and I'll get to see what little Baby B looks like at 25w2d!!!! Most of the elective ultrasound companies recommend that if you're going to get a 3D/4D that you do so between 24-30 weeks for best view without baby being too squished, so this is perfect! And will allow for 100% clear gender determination. Here's hoping Baby B is still a girl, and that my hormones have just spiked and left me with a case of the crazies!

25 Weeks!

How your baby's growing:

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

How your life's changing:

Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks, a second tube of blood may be taken at the same time to check for anemia. If blood tests show that you have iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type of anemia), your caregiver will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement.

Have you started thinking about baby names yet? Choosing a name is an important decision, but it should be a fun one, too. You may want to consider family history (Great Grandpa Zeb), favorite locations (Venice, where you honeymooned), or cherished literary or film characters (Greta, Meg, or Atticus, for example). Check out a couple of baby-name books to help you brainstorm, too.

Hmm...

Now that I'm looking over all my recent posts, with her room and bathroom and girl-oriented things, I have become nearly hysterical that God forbid she is actually a he. OMG I need it to be 10/7 so I can have another ultrasound!!!!!!!!

Anyone wanna check out the gender scan pics to tell me what they think?! This is the link.

New Stuff Since Yesterday!

You'd think that in a 24-hour period, this list would be small. It's actually quite huge.

First off, here's the latest nursery update:

Oh yeah, those are curtains! I'm so psyched. $15 at Target. Cha-ching!

Then, seeing as how I was off early and celebrating and already at Target, I decided today would be the day I finally got my stuff together on her bathroom. Here's the update there:


While these pictures suck, thanks to awkward bathroom angles, I love love love this set. In the end I decided to go with this so that a.) it wouldn't be all kid-ded out, since that's really, really not my style, and b.) I got that robe and matching washcloths at my shower and loved them, and decided since I like EVERYTHING to match to go with a multi-print, multi-color theme. I love it! Now I just need to paint :)

Lastly, but also very exciting, my diaper bag came in the mail last night!!!
It's fantastic :) I will definitely be a hip mama, and haven't seen anything like it ever before in person, so that's exciting also! It's also much larger than I imagined, and will hold just about everything, with a matching diapee & wipee pouch and thermal bottle insulator to boot:

The only thing we need now (which the emergency card in the diaper bag so graciously reminded me this afternoon) is a name! Not going to be in a post 24 hours from now, though, I can tell you that!

Thank You!

Just a big, BIG, BIG thank you to everyone in our lives, whether it be our longtime friends, our new blog friends, our friends and family far away; just everyone that has touched our lives during this extremely exciting and yet somewhat scary time! We are so very lucky to have you all in our lives!

A HUGE thank you to everyone that came to our baby shower for your beautiful, wonderful, useful gifts! Between that and the clothing we've gotten from women I've babysat for over the years (I told you this could be a lucrative career choice, mom!), we are set!!! All we need now is diapers! :)

"So a pregnant woman walks into a liquor store..."

Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right? Story of my life.

This week has been absolutely jam-packed so far, including many long, long 12+ hour days, not including the billions of errands I've needed to run. Besides making some exchanges at Babies R' Us - we got four of the same thing, etc - I've also had to try to arrange for us to get our money back on our park reservation, since it got rained out (SUCCESS!), and try for the first time in my life to return liquor, which brings me to the title of this blog (Also a success!).

Being a young-ish mom-to-be, I find myself in these semi-awkward positions sometimes, where I want to still be able to hang out with my friends and show them that I, in fact, am not slipping off the radar despite my parent-to-be status, but I find myself invited to places that may be deemed...inappropriate.

Take for example one of my very best friend's going away parties. At a bar. Luckily, this was back in June, so if you didn't know I was pregnant, my belly wasn't going to be ratting me out, but still, I felt a bit...taboo...hanging out in a bar. Not to mention it was the bar where I've gone balls to the wall for the past few years, which made it feel even weirder. Fortunately for me, one of the bartender's there happens to be one of my other very best friends, and I know many of the others quite well, so I didn't even have to ask for a cold bottle of water before I found one in my hands...love those guys. This was probably the least inappropriate-feeling of all these 'incidents'.

Then, a few weeks later, another friend of ours had a birthday party at a bar off West 6th Street, Union Park. It happened to take place the day after my car accident, so I was already feeling like total crap, but I definitely wanted to make an appearance (especially after having missed it the year before due to my brown recluse attack - geez Louise!), so we went anyways. This wouldn't have been a big deal, since half the population of the party was our close friends that all were aware of my pregnancy, but since the other half weren't and we were up on a rooftop balcony area, everyone was smoking. Since I think it's a d-bag move to make a big stink over strangers smoking around me, especially at a bar, I just ended up feeling really uncomfortable and then leaving early as to not expose Baby B to nasty secondhand smoke. Wah. Even then I still wasn't really showing, so no nasty looks from strangers to deal with just yet.

That's changed now. I am obviously pregnant, and not just a few months gone, but my friends (as they should, given that they're all early twenty-somethings) continue to have events at bars, and I continue to struggle with how to handle this scenario. Clearly when I go I'm sitting around drinking water, so it's not like I'm doing anything bad, but is there something inherently messed up about a pregnant woman at a bar? I digress. All I can say for sure is that it makes me uncomfortable, and this extends out of the bar to any event centering around alcohol. A couple weeks back some friends of ours had a back to school party, and seeing as how I managed to stay awake long enough to attend, I was hellbent on going. As I left babysitting, I was telling the mother, who happens to be more of a friend than an 'employer' how awkward I felt going to this keg party, despite it taking place at our friend's apartment and mainly being our close friends. Her response (keep in mind she was more than a little bit tipsy)? "Because you feel fat?" Hahaha...well, now I do.

How do the rest of you handle these situations? I know some of the older moms-to-be probably don't run into this as often, but I have many friends in undergrad and graduate programs, and hang out with a pretty young crowd that I don't want to isolate myself from just because I'm pregnant. I'm going to need all the support I can get from my friends once Baby B is here, ya know?

Nursery Pictures Thus Far!

While it's not quite finished yet (we still need a bookcase for the wall without anything on it, curtains to go next to her valance that doesn't quite span the window, and to hang some art/picture frames/etc!), it's definitely getting there, especially considering that her room was vacant for most of this house's existence!

Here's what we have so far:





It's starting to look pretty good, if I may say so myself :)

Darling Mummy.

I cannot tell you how much I love Darling Mummy and their infamously adorable t-shirts. This one is particular is my fave:

(I know this image sucks, so let me translate. It reads, "Mamacita needs a margarita.")

That's so MY style!!! They have some other great ones as well - promoting things like recycling with the slogan, "Don't be trashy," and peace with the peace symbol captioned with, "Teach your children well." Love. Them.

Quick tip, though. Buy buy baby sells them for $19.99, as opposed to the $32 price tag attached to the Darling Mummy website. Just a heads up :)

Productivity.

By now, you probably get the idea that I'm a pretty productive person. To be honest, there are days when I run more errands than I believe most people must run in a month...but that's just me. I have a difficult time relaxing, especially when I know that there are things that need to be done, so I prefer getting off my bum and doing them to sitting around and dreading them. "Never put off til tomorrow what can be done today," became my slogan around age four. No joke.

Lately, however, I feel really, obnoxiously self-righteous about it. Take for example yesterday. I'm running around picking up thank you cards, exchanging some duplicate gifts I got, etc, when I stop to put gas in my car (I've noticed this in other scenarios lately, but this is a prime example of my newly inflated sense of self-worth) . While the other cars all sat there waiting impatiently, huffing and puffing at how many gallons it takes to fill my car, I started to feel outraged at their lack of sympathy. I'm pregnant AND I'm pumping gas, I thought to myself. Cut me a damn break, you a#$holes. This has been happening a lot lately.

While I've never been one to buy into the 'pregnancy as a divine experience for a woman' (see just about every previous post if you need confirmation), lately I have started to feel a bit like everyone else that's JUST at the grocery store shopping, or JUST walking down the street has nothing on me. Try grocery shopping while carrying around a hyperactive baby, kicking at your stomach and bladder like they're training for an in-utero kickball tournament, I silently sneer at the hurried man behind me in the checkout. I know it's ridiculous, but can I blame hormones? Or the fact that I've recently adapted a slight waddle to take the pressure off of my aching back and now walk around feeling pissed off on a regular basis that I've taken to waddling, or that I am refusing to waddle and therefore my back could snap at any moment? I digress.

Belly Buttons & Such.

While I know this should be the least of my worries at this point, there has been something constantly weighing on my mind lately: When is my belly button going to pop? (Note: This is meant to be asked in a horrified, dreaded manner, not in a state of anticipation!)

So, experienced ladies, when does this usually happen? Does it hurt? Does it happen gradually, or overnight? I think mine has maybe been rearranged slightly lately, which makes me even more certain that it's going to happen soon. Damn it.

Also..it goes back, right? How long does it take? Does it return the same, or as a shadow of it's former self?

I'm pretty certain I liked my belly button (and flat stomach, clear skin, levelheadedness, etc!) just the way it was, thank you very much!

24 Weeks: Belly Shots!

Not too much different than the last one :)

Baby Shower - 9/12/09

Today did NOT start out well. For starters, seeing as how September is the second hottest month of the year in Austin and we've been in the midst of a serious drought, we planned our baby shower at a park, not wanting to have to host 50+ people in our home. Sadly, when we went to sleep last night it had been raining for nearly 24 straight hours, and while we prayed it would be quick and short-lived, we awoke to a torrential downpour throughout the Austin area. Oh crap.

We went to scope out the park site, hoping maybe it was raining at our house but not there (stranger things have happened!), but no such luck. After much debate and hmming and hawing, we decided to go against our best judgment and change the location to our house.

Surprisingly enough, the end result was BEAUTIFUL! We were nervous about the parking situation, seating for that many people, and having the house be a disaster area, but I can honestly say now that it's all through that it was wonderful, and we had zero issues, besides some probably pissed off neighbors since we had 30+ cars lining our street. Oh well. Everything else went down without a hitch, and we got some absolutely beautiful and essential gifts. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who came out in the rain and 'showered' us...we are so incredibly thankful and grateful - I have no words. We're so honored to have such amazing, supportive people in our lives :)

Here's some pics from the big event:

I don't know how other people do things, but to me it's not a party without booze :)

Let's just say that childless single women and gay guys aren't that great at Baby Word Scrambles...this went on FOREVER!
Our insane gift table! Holy cow!
Present time!
One of the many random piles of baby things we had to sort through and put away after the shower :) - definitely one of the best parts. A finished room pic to come soon!!!
I just want to reiterate how thankful we are to everyone who came and/or was there in spirit. We appreciate you all SO much and are so infinitely thankful to have you in our lives to share this joyous event with! I can't wait til she gets here :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

24 Weeks!!!

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

How your life's changing:

In the past few weeks, the top of your uterus has risen above your belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball.

Most women have a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between now and 28 weeks. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related high-blood-sugar condition. Untreated diabetes increases your risk of having a difficult vaginal delivery or needing a cesarean section because it causes your baby to grow too large, especially in his upper body. It also raises your baby's odds for other complications like low blood sugar right after birth. A positive result on your GCT doesn't mean you have gestational diabetes, but it does mean that you'll need to take the glucose tolerance test (GTT) to find out for sure.

The Longest Day EVER - 9/11/09

Yesterday whooped my ass. Seriously. We baked and frosted and decorated TEN dozen cupcakes from scratch..holy schnikes! On top of that, in case that wasn't a monumental enough task, we also painted baby's room and prepped for the baby shower....here's some pics from our adventures. I was DEAD tired by the end of the day.


We had to move everything out of our fridge to accomodate them on the big shelves :)
Before...
After...
It was a very long, very productive day.

Baby Swing!

This was a baby shower gift from the D's, the wonderful family I work for :) So cute, and arrived just in time for my mom and I to set it up together - yay!

Baby's First Ralph Lauren :)

Thank you, Greener family, for this oh-so-adorable outfit! Can't wait to see her in it!!

H1N1 Controversy...Yet Again!

I had made up my mind, which takes a miracle these days. I had decided that I would get the seasonal flu vaccine, despite my objections, for the benefit of passing on the protection to Baby B. I was not, however, planning to get the H1N1 vaccine. It's too new, I feel, and I'm not wanting me OR Baby B to be one in a massive group of guinea pigs. No, thank you. My doc, however much I like him usually, feels differently. So much so, in fact, that him and other S&W OBGYN's have decided to enforce a rule that if you refuse either vaccine, you must wear a mask during all your remaining appointments throughout flu season (aka through to my 6-week postpartum appointment, which side note: I can't wait for!!). While I would've liked to say, "Go to hell, you're not going to humiliate me into taking a vaccine I am skeptical of," I instead sat there smiling like an idiot, still high off the commendation for my minimal weight gain. I'm such a sucker for flattery.

What should I do? Any and all thoughts/opinions/suggestions welcome :)

BabyFit!

I recently stumbled upon BabyFit, a magnificent website tailored to help moms and moms-to-be keep track of their caloric intake, as well as their intake of certain important nutrients. As a former nutrition major, I have seen few programs that are FREE and SO wonderful, with such a large database of foods to input. Had a Sonic Chicken Strip Dinner last night and want to calculate and offset the damage? No problem! No task is too much for Babyfit! I'm really, really loving this website. It also breaks down your percentage of carbohydrates, fats and protein, and compares them in daily, weekly and monthly charts. For someone who is really trying to control the amount of weight they put on during the next few months, this is a godsend. The only better way to use it, I foresee, is when I'm trying to take these pounds back off. I'm so glad to have found this site, and definitely recommend anyone watching their figures, pregnant or not, to check it out!

24-Week Appointment!

Lots going on this morning (and today in general)! I went over to Scott & White Round Rock to pre-register, since I was up there anyhow, and found out that we have to pay for delivery ahead of time. Wah. The amount we'll owe, however, is much less than I was expecting, so it's still a situation where we're coming out ahead...it just sucks that our balance is due by 10/31. Happy Halloween to us...

While I was there, I went for a nice tour of Labor & Delivery. The hospital is brand new, as in less than three years old, so it's all beautifully done and updated. I will go ahead and just say that the tour was the first time in my pregnancy where I wanted to run screaming at the thought of delivery. Something about being there in that room, hearing about the bottom portion of the bed coming off and looking at those stirrups...oh my. It was all I could do not to burst into tears while hauling ass down the hallways. The good thing, though, was that the staff was awesome, the rooms were nice and it was shockingly un-busy. It was completely silent in there! Wow. If it weren't for the mandatory room-in of baby, I could see myself getting some damn good sleep in there! Also, there is a pull-out bed, so D won't have to leave my side. Sorry, honey. You're not going anywhere. It was a pretty quick tour, but good to know that L&D has their own personal anesthesiologist on hand 24/7, because I'm not really a waiter, if you know what I mean. If you aren't ready to give me my epidural the second I want it, I will find you.

After that eye-opening experience, it was off to my 24-week appointment. I've been a bit under the weather with a cough and all that jazz (thanks S & P!), but my doc said it's most likely viral and to just grab some cough medicine and tough it out. Thanks, doc. All was well with my weight and bp and other vitals, and Baby B's heart rate was going strong again at 149. Dr. R actually commended me on my low and slow weight gain, which is what EVERY pregnant woman wants to hear, especially when she bursts into tears every time she steps on that damn scale...so that was nice. Hopefully I can keep it up! This past month was the most difficult so far, with me being hungry, oh, I dunno..every ninety seconds? I can't help it! Baby B likes what Baby B likes! As for next time, I'll have the dreaded glucose tolerance test (like chugging all that sugar is going to help keep weight off - pssh), as well as an ultrasound to make sure I'm not having any issues with my cervix, thanks to previously surgeries and complications. While I'm not psyched about the GTT, the ultrasound balances it out, right?

Anyways, 24-week picture to come on Saturday. Can't wait until my mom gets in this evening!

One More Day!

Tomorrow night my mom is coming into town to visit and help throw my baby shower - SO exciting! She hasn't been to Texas since my college graduation four-and-a-half years ago, so it's high time I must say! Makes me feel less guilty about my once yearly trips ;)

I'm VERY excited to see her, and to be honest, have some help with the baby shower. While technically I'm not throwing it, as I've mentioned before I've had to do all the planning up until now since she doesn't know any of my friends/the area, so it'll be a HUGE relief to have someone else to set up, have decorating ideas, etc. We're also planning to paint the baby's room and finish putting the nursery together, so expect mucho picture uploads by the time she leaves on Sunday!!

I also can't wait to show her around Austin, since she's spent minimal time here, and as such can't understand why I'm so in love with this place. Hopefully I can show her a lovely enough time that she'll move here...yeah, right. Wishful thinking, I suppose. With the baby heading full force towards us, it'd be GREAT to have a set of grandparents nearby, but oh well...I'm giving up that dream.

Just 24 more hours til she's here!

Our First Baby Shower Gift!

My baby shower is coming up this Saturday (I know it's early, but that's when my mom could fly in to Austin, so that's that!), and we've received and put together out first present. Here it is, in all it's glory:

Thank you SO much, grandma & grandpa (Baby B's Nana & Papa)!!!!!! This is absolutely wonderful and extremely useful! Loving the colors as well - it matches our bedroom comforter perfectly, and is gender neutral in case I decide to ever put myself through this again and we end up with a boy...not looking likely, though!

It also has a removable changing table that inserts, but that's not shown here because we couldn't get the cats to stay off of it for long enough to snap a picture, and I'm trying to not get cat hair on any of her things :)

THANK YOU!!!!

Baby's First Longhorn Football Game!

And so that you can learn even more about me, I am obsessed with college football. Not in a general sense, but because I went to UT, and the Longhorns KICK. ASS. Nothing more to say there :)

Here's some pics from our season opener last night against Louisiana-Monroe. We rounded out the first game at 59-20, and with Colt McCoy hitting the 10,000 passing yard mark. Hook em! I can't wait to take Baby B to next year's season opener!

The Texas flagged rolled out pre-game :)

Mack Brown & the boys:
Linin' up on the field!
Stuffed Bevo :
Hook 'em!

Memories

I've limited this blog mainly to stuff about baby, so a lot of you don't know all that much about me. Here's a little something to remedy that.

Much to my surprise, given my feelings about living there alone at the time, some days my heart aches so much for NYC I can't even stand it.

Here's some pictures that I can barely look at without them taking my breath away. Not sure why the sentimentality these days - I blame pregnancy hormones.

See that Gap ad? That was my apartment.



My old, extremely convenient subway stop:


I lived on top of this bar (or in it, if you want to be brutally honest. NYC was hard on me at the time).


The view across 72nd St, between Amsterdam & Columbus Avenues. Yep, that's Buttercup Bakery, the sister to Magnolia. Delicious. No wonder I put on a few pounds in NYC!

Paint!

It's official - we've purchased the paint for Baby B's room! Thank you mom and dad for the Home Depot gift card for my birthday - I've been waiting to use it for just this occasion, and it REALLY helped!

We decided to go with Behr's 'Be Mine' (the paint color I was favoring in the images here. Painting won't commence until Friday because I desperately need my mother's help, having never painted so much as a canvas or measly piece of construction paper, but pics will be up soon after!

23 Weeks!

How your baby's growing:

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

How your life's changing:

You may notice that your ankles and feet start to swell a bit in the coming weeks or months, especially at the end of the day or during the heat of summer. Sluggish circulation in your legs — coupled with changes in your blood chemistry that may cause some water retention — may result in swelling, also known as edema. Your body will get rid of the extra fluid after you have your baby, which is why you'll pee frequently and sweat a lot for a few days after delivery. In the meantime, lie on your left side or put your feet up when you can, stretch out your legs when you sit, and avoid sitting — or standing — in one place for long periods. Also, try to exercise regularly to increase circulation, and wear support stockings (put them on first thing in the morning) and roomy, comfortable shoes. You may be tempted to skimp on liquids to combat swelling, but you need to drink plenty of water because staying hydrated actually helps prevent fluid retention. While a certain amount of edema in your lower extremities is normal during pregnancy, excessive swelling may be a sign of a serious condition called preeclampsia. Be sure to call your midwife or doctor if you have severe or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles, more than slight swelling of your hands, swelling in your face, or puffiness around your eyes.

Nesting - Several Months Early!

Having gotten home early today, I decided to take to the front yard/household and do a bit of fall cleaning. While I've always been a very, VERY, tediously clean person, today's extraneous cleaning tasks must qualify slightly as nesting, right? Here's only a few of the projects I've tackled:

*Cleaned out the kitchen cabinets, rearranging the tea cabinet, tupperware and bar cabinet to make room for baby bottles/snack traps/etc. I even had the good sense to put it next to the sink, where the bottle drying rack, etc. will be placed! Hooray!
*Planted flowers in four pots out front and one out back on our new back patio table, which I set up a couple of nights ago.
*Watered said flowers, as well as those in the ground (since we've broken the previous heat record this summer, it seemed necessary for their survival)
*Taken out all trash cans and cleaned them out as necessary.
*Taken out recycling, which I'm happy to announce we produce nearly fourfold an amount of as we do actual trash. Way to be green!
*Swept out the garage, front porch and back porch.
*Cleaned out under the kitchen sink.
*Caught my scrapbook to present and finished off the latest book. A new one will begin tomorrow, as usual, for the first football game.
*Paid nearly all bills for September :)!!!!!!!!!
*Baby-proofed the outlets.

Dude, I rock. I've only been home two and a half hours!

On a side note, my back hurts.

The World's Most Awesome Diaper Bag!

I am totally in love with this diaper bag. Nothing makes or breaks being a hip, trendy mama vs. an out-of-touch, frumpy mama to me like a diaper bag. This screams, "I'm not JUST a mother now. I'm still 25!" to me. Love it! Praying I get it for my baby shower :)