A conversation with my niece

I spent the day yesterday with my Mom, my 8 y/o nephew and my almost-6 y/o niece. It was a great day. We went miniature golfing and got ice cream. They start school next week so they're getting all the summer fun in they can handle. I was talking to them about all the sports and activities they do...soccer, baseball, softball, cheerleading, gymnastics, etc. I asked my niece to show me her favorite thing to do in gymnastics. I used to do it too and we usually do her new tricks together as she learns them. She showed me her bridge (where you bend backwards and put your hands on the ground. She said it was my turn. And I had to tell her I couldn't do it this time. I said that with the baby in my belly, I couldn't bend my body back like that.

Holy big eyes of amazement.

She looked at my belly like "oh my gosh I GET IT! Aunt Maria is HAVING a baby". My SIL had told them both that I was having a baby and that it would come after Christmas. I think my nephew may have a clue as to how it all works, but my niece apparently didn't. I think I'm the first pregnant lady she's ever seen in person and until today she probably thought I was just getting fat. LOL. Maybe she thought I'd pick up our baby at the hospital or something. She just stared at my belly in total wonderment. I can't wait until she'll be able to feel it moving and kicking. That will just make her giggle.

It was such a cute moment and I wish I had a picture of her face. Priceless.

19 week appt

I had my regular peri appt yesterday and all was good. My blood pressure was an amazingly low 108/80. I was so relieved. The appt was pretty quick, they just listen to the heartbeat and send me on my way. My big u/s is a week away so that's what I'm really anxious for.

I've also gained 7 lbs. As far as I can tell that's pretty good. And now I don't feel bad about the daily milkshakes :)

Yesterday my Mom told me that as my shower gift my parents are buying us our nursery furniture. I wanted to cry. On top of everything else they give and do for us, and throwing me a shower in a few months at a very nice place, this gift is just amazing. I'll never be able to thank them enough for helping to pay for the FET cycle and now for being so generous to my baby that isn't even born yet. I think loads of hugs and kisses will be in store for Mom-Mom and Pop when this child comes!

19 weeks

We ended up spending a few hours Saturday morning organizing our closet. Not a fun weekend activity, but I'm glad it's done. We have so much extra room now I think we can fit all of our stuff into that one closet...thanks to the organizers and to Ed getting rid of dozens of items that he hasn't worn in years. Why must men save things with holes in them anyway???

In baby news, our nugget is the size of a mango - 6 inches long and 8.5 ounces. I still listen to the heartbeat every day, and my bump is ever-growing...



I still have some random days where I don't feel so great, and my sleeping schedule isn't perfect, but all in all I'm doing great :-)

I can't believe I'm 19 weeks pregnant. It feels like I'm playing make-believe or something. We have ten days left until our Big U/S so maybe if we can find out the sex of the baby and can start saying "him" or "her" it will make it feel more real. Will I really have a baby at the end of the next 21 weeks???? I pray I'm that lucky.

Argh.

Why can't husbands just do what they're told? I mean, seriously.

We have a walk-in closet in our bedroom and the layout is all messed up. There is so much wasted space. So today I took advantage of the Back to School sales at Target and got some nice closet organizers and baskets. When Ed got home from work I asked if he could help me assemble them tonight so I could get everything organized tomorrow. He said sure. I don't want to waste our weekend doing it and I want to do it while he's not home cause he'd just get in the way.

So it got to be past 9:00 and he finally agreed to start working on them. He opens the one box, see the screws and stuff and says it's too much to do tonight. He'll do it tomorrow. Then he goes to bed.

WTF?

No he di-int.

That just messes up my whole plan. I don't have a thing to do tomorrow so it was the perfect day to be locked up in our room getting this done.

Now I'm going to have to do it myself. And that's tough b/c some of the shelves are long and it doesn't seem like a one-person job. Wish me luck that I don't injure myself :)

Spreading the Baby Dust

My brother and SIL just found out they're having a baby! They have had three miscarriages in the past 18 months and today they saw a heartbeat (6w 1d). I'm praying this one sticks for them!!

18 week belly shot

Here is me in my cotton candy colored maternity shirt. It might be bright, but is in COMFY!!

I don't know if I posted this or not, but Ed said to me, "It finally looks like you're pregnant and not just eaten too many cupcakes." He's a funny guy :-/

It happened to me.

I have always heard mothers talk about it. They laugh about it. Cry about it. Complain about it. Share embarrassing stories about it. It's part of their pregnancy tales when mothers compare who had a worse experience with symptoms.

But I never thought it would happen to me. I though it was silly and a total exaggeration.

But tonight, it happened to me. And someday soon, it may happen to you...when you least expect it.

I peed my pants a little when I sneezed.

LMAO.

My first visit to BRU

I haven't been in Babies-R-Us in I don't know how long. My SIL took me there yesterday and I had butterflies walking in the door. I can't believe I'm actually going to that store to shop for MY baby. It's truly amazing to me.

We spent like two hours there just wandering around oohing and aahhing at all of the cuteness. Baby clothes are so soft and adorable and little girl clothes just make me melt. They have bibs with the cutest sayings and I'm really hoping we find out the gender at our Big U/S in three weeks. If it's a girl, I will buy them out of everything pink! I fell in love with nursery bedding sets and checked out the stroller and car seats and stuff. I was just thrilled to be there.

My SIL bought a few cute gender-neutral outfits for us and I bought a cute bib. I just couldn't go away empty-handed!

My SIL also told me about the cake her friend is going to make for my shower. It's so sweet (of course the name on top will be different...

Good news all around!

First off, thank you all for your support. You're such a wonderful group of ladies!!!

I called my peri's office this morning and they said to come in for peace of mind. They did a quickie u/s and Nugget was just where s/he should be and moving arond a lot. Perfect!!!!! My dr. did and internal exam and said my cervix was long and closed so the bleeding wasn't coming from my uterus, and there was no new blood. Awesome. There were no signs of where it was coming from so she said to just take it easy for the next 48 hours. Phew. Now I just need to relax. Wish I could have some wine to help. LOL.

And I also got a call about my sequential screening results. This was part two of the blood work and we got great news...risk of Downs is 1:10,000, risk of Trisomy 18 is 1:10,000, and risk of neural tube defect is 1:3,000. Excellent results!!!!

And lastly, I think I felt Nugget move!!!! I've heard it feels like popcorn or "quickening" and that is just what I felt. I know it could have been gas, but after the bad night I had, I'm going with it being my baby moving :D

Ah, today is SO SO SO much better than yesterday!!!!

17 weeks

And I'm spotting.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Of course I ran right for my doppler and could find Nugget's heartbeat right away. But I'm still freaking out. The spotting was brown, but I also have cramps and the spotting was fluctuating between light and heavy.

And things were going so well. Dammit.

I'm going to call my peri tomorrow just to get everything in my records. I'll tell them I found the heartbeat and hopefully they'll then tell me that means there is nothing to worry about.

How ironic...Nugget is the size of an onion now and just like an onion, my eyes are all teary today.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Surgery is scary.

Even for dogs. But Jimmy is doing fine :) He's still a bit groggy from the anesthesia and pain medicine, but he's eating well so that's a good sign. It's so funny to see my normally very energetic dog just want to sleep all the time. It's quite peaceful, but I miss my ornery puppy.

Kristin...you were right...he's already back to licking his butt so all must be good. LOL.

I've been having a lot of shooting pains in my stomach lately. I use my doppler almost every day so as long as I hear a heartbeat I try to stay calm. I know the pains are just from everything stretching and moving around inside me, but it still makes me nervous.

I have a new client for my dog walking business. A family has an 8-week old yellow Lab puppy and he's just adorable! His feet are too big for his body so he flops around alot, but man there is nothing like puppy breath. All you dog lovers know just what I mean :) Makes me want to get a little brother or sister for Jimmy.

Still in the dark.

First off, please keep say a quick prayer for my dog Jimmy. He's going in for surgery tomorrow and of course I'm very anxious. He will be put under general anesthesia and I'm hoping he doesn't have a bad time with it (Katie, reading about Wilson is making me very nervous!). I'll be without him all day tomorrow so I'll have to think of something to do to keep my mind occupied so I don't fret about him all day.

Well, I didn't get an u/s at my appt today. My peri said as long as the heartbeat sounded good (which it did) there was no need for the u/s. So we have no idea what gender Nugget is. Bummer. I was pretty disappointed. But then I scheduled my Level II for 9/4 (a whole month away) and that is giving me something to look forward to. I"m sure the month will fly but from where I'm sitting now it seems like an eternity. The best part of the visit was finding that my blood pressure is down to 100/80....Woo-hoo!!!!

In other baby news...Ed and I went grocery shopping over the weekend and he spent most of the time laughing at me. Apparently I look quite funny when I bend down to get stuff from the bottom shelf. He just doesn't understand that my belly is getting big and firm so it won't squish when I bend over. I wasn't the most graceful sight I'm sure. And I also have started to waddle. I still gag when we get close to the meat department and I won't go within five feet of it. He just laughs as I turn green. I'm so glad to be so entertaining ;)

Ed is also quite thrilled that our baby is currently the size of a beer can (about 4.5 inches long). I have the size chart on our fridge that shows what fruit/veggie baby is the size of each week. He has crossed off this week's avocado and wrote "Bud can" in its place. He's also pretty entrigued with the fact that Nugget is peeing inside me. I swear he turns into a seven year old boy whenever pee/poop/farts are mentioned. Oh the things that make men laugh.

Anywho, I'm still puking every day but at least some of my nausea has subsided. Getting sick just jumps out at me randomly, and especially when I brush my teeth. I'm glad to be hungry again and I've actaully gained 3 lbs so far this pregnancy. I chalk that up to my sudden interest in ice cream again. I couldn't eat it for the first trimester, but suddently around 14 weeks I've needed a milkshake every night. That reminds me...I ate the last of our ice cream last nigh. DAMMIT!!!! I guess I'll be calling Ed to get me some one his way home from work :)

Is 16 weeks to early????

I have another peri appt tomorrow at which I'll be 16w 2d. Do you think that's too early to find out the gender? I read things online that say it's possible, but will I be that lucky? Depending on which Old Wive's Tale I listen to, they tell me boy or girl. There is no definitive answer. My own intuition is girl, but that may just because I'm dying to dress up a little girl in all those adorable clothes. LOL.

First and foremost we want a healthy baby. And in all honesty I don't have a preference of boy or girl. Ed would love a boy. It would be the fourth generation to have his name and he'd love to carry on his family tradition.

All of this anxiety could be moot if we go in tomorrow and we can't tell. But if the dr. can see, I'm going to have her write it down and put it in an envelope. That way Ed and I can open it together at home, both being surprised at the same time. My Mom is going with me and I'm sure she'll be examining the monitor, but she'll just have to keep her opinions to herself :)

Hopefully Nugget will be spread eagle and we'll get a good peep show!!!

Play if you wanna...

Answer with one word only:

1. Where is your cell phone? Off
2. Your significant other? Love
3. Your hair? Curly
4. Your mother? BFF
5. Your father? Rock
6. Your favorite thing? Dessert
7. Your dream last night? Sexy
8. Your favorite drink? Milkshake
9. Your dream/goal? Motherhood
10. The room you're in? soon-to-be-nursery
11. Your hobby? Dogs
12. Your fear? Miscarriage
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Vacation
14. What you're not? Forgetful
15. Muffins? Blueberry
16. One of your wish list items? Lottery
17. Where you grew up? Philadelphia
18. The last thing you did? Ate
19. What are you wearing? PJ's
20. Favorite Gadget? MP3
21. Your pet? Jimmy
22. Your computer? PC
23. Your mood? Anxious
24. Missing someone? Grandmom
25. Your car? Sorento
26. Something you are not wearing? Socks
27. Favorite Store? Outlets
28. Like someone? Nugget
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? 8:00
31. Last time you cried? Yesterday

I won't actually tag anyone here, so feel free to do this if you want to ;-)

Busting Out

My boobs are getting to be ginormous. I have only two bras that can still contain them, all the others are like putting them into bondage. Of course, Ed is super excited and can barely keep his hands off them (which is a shame for me b/c they're kinda tender and sore). It's almost like I've had implants b/c when I lie on my back they don't budge. They stand firmly at attention. I guess I should be thrilled to have perky 16-year old boobs again :)

And that's odd because I never thought my boobs weren't "perky". But now that I see how they are now...we'll that's REALLY perky. LOL.

We have a family BBQ tomorrow and lately (well, for the past 7 weeks) they make me nervous. I just hope there are no foods that I have aversions to and that I don't get sick on the long car ride. The fun thing about family parties now is that everyone is very chatty and excited about our baby. It's so nice to have good vibes floating around me instead of people walking on eggshells after one of our miscarriages.

I tried to find baby's heartbeat this morning, and after 10 minutes without success I almost had a heart attack. Luckily Ed was still home and he found it in about two minutes. Needless to say, Nugget is grounded today for hiding from Mommy. I was thinking of witholding our daily ice cream but I thought that was a bigger punishment for me than for Nugget :D

I hope you all have a great weekend!