Birth Story

I would say I’m sorry for my lack of blogging lately, but I really don’t feel I should need to apologize as a brand new mother of my first baby!  I finally had a few minutes here to create a post, so I’m taking advantage to share the birth story with you.

On Wednesday morning, June 22nd, at around 7ish, I thought my water broke.  I could have sworn my water broke.  I called the doctor and told them what I was experiencing, and was sent in to the hospital to get checked out.  The nurse tested the fluid and said it was positive for amniotic fluid (she tested from an external source, however).  Apparently washing with soap can cause a false positive.  The doctor checked me and said I was not leaking fluid, and I wasn’t very dilated or having contractions that I could feel.  He did order an US to check my fluid level, because if it was low he would have kept me there.  My fluid level was good, so I was sent home.

By noon that day I started to feel back pain that I realized was actually contractions, but they were coming very far apart and sporadically.  As the evening progressed, they started to come a little closer together and were unmistakable as contractions.  I was having all back labor.  At first it wasn’t so bad because I used to get bad backaches and knew this feeling, so I was able to handle them.  By 1:30am they started coming 5 minutes apart.  I waited the hour to call the doctor to see if they stayed at 5 minutes apart and steady, so at 2:30am I was calling the on-call doctor and being sent into L&D again.  I was checked and monitored, and I was sure enough having steady contractions, and I was just about 2 cm dilated, so I was admitted.  I was still handling the contractions well, but once they got my IV in (oh my God!  they tried 4 times, and bruised me badly!) they started Pitocin.  By around 6am I was dilated at 4-5 cm, and still handling contractions well.  After this, the times get a little fuzzy for me, but later in the morning I asked for Nubaine to take the edge of the contractions.  Since I hadn’t slept since 7am the day before, the doctor also ordered another drug for me which knocked me out.  I slept quite a bit and actually had trouble waking up.  Good stuff!  When I finally did wake up, the contractions were coming closer together and with the high dose of Pitocin I was on, I asked for the epidural.  I was 7 cm dilated when I finally got it at 12:45pm, after waiting almost 45 minutes from when I asked for it, and I was so scared it wasn’t going to work properly.  It finally kicked in and worked probably a little too well!  I couldn’t move my legs on my own for the life of me!  At some point I know they put an internal monitor on the baby for his heart rate, and they did give me an antibiotic since there was question of me leaking fluid, but I’m fuzzy on when that all happened.  The doctor also had to break my water – no mistake in what that felt like now!  By 3pm I was fully dilated and ready to push.  They did have to knock back the epidural a little so I could push better, but it worked out great.  I felt some of the contraction to know when to push, but I didn’t feel any pain down below.  So, push I did…for 3 hours.  He kept checking my progress, saying he’d let me go a little while longer, but baby Bean was somewhat stuck in there.  It didn’t come down to a c-section, thankfully, but I was exhausted, and I was feeling sick, so at one point we thought we might have to use a vacuum assist to get him out.  Luckily my last few pushes were good enough and pushed him right out quicker than they could even stop me to suction his mouth and nose!  Bean was born right on his due date at 6:13pm.  See the previous post for his stats.

I did have internal tearing and lots of internal bruising.  I apparently lost a decent amount of blood and had to be given 2 injections of medications for the blood loss.  I was also packed up and catheterized for a good 24 hours due to the bleeding, so unfortunately I could not get out of bed and missed out on Bean’s first bath and such in the hospital.  I am feeling much better these days, but still not 100%.  My tailbone was bruised and that still bothers me when I am up on my feet for too long or when I sit on certain chairs. 

So, I had a rough delivery, baby was born with a conehead from being stuck, but he’s worth it and I love him so much!   :)

Here he is!

Favorite Kitty Pic Friday!

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="http://stephscreativelife.blogspot.com/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHe-niZhfEaKY6MAUwqTd_3c5MQp501sz1jPEA_seJhPXG5ie1W1Z5sDhRHez3qg8fxQ1pmHfTRhFpjhGosOx733H7zggKjzU-ITHwvDXF6GRfizjAP5E2LfAOUqKJ60KARciSZzt74vM/?imgmax=800" /></a></td></tr></table>

This post was previously scheduled, because yesterday, June 23rd, was my due date!  On Wednesday morning, I could have sworn my water broke, but apparently it was other stuff, my fluid level looked good on an ultrasound, and I wasn’t dilated enough to warrant admitting me, so I was sent home.  All the rest of the day, however, I began to actually notice some slightly stronger contractions (and I seem to be experiencing back labor…), but again, they were few and far between, so I scheduled this post then, in case anything did happen that evening and I wouldn’t have the chance to blog at all.

Here’s my choice this week:

Dusty hard at work – or hardly working!  LOL   I’m leaving him in charge of my blog during this time of very early labor and/or childbirth, so if things are quiet, you know why!

Have a great weekend!  Hopefully the next time I get to blog I will have Bean to show off!   :)

Serioiusly?! Thursday

I’m linking up with Mrs. to Mama again this week.  If you haven’t checked out her blog yet, please go do so, and link your own post to this fun weekly blog link up.

Seriously?!  Hubby and I ordered a new video camera.  It was a very quick, on the spot decision, but it was a good deal from Amazon, and the purchase made a lot of sense.  If you’re interested, we got the Kodak PlaySport camera.  That way, once Bean does make his appearance, we have a small, cell phone sized camera that we can constantly keep charged and take with us everywhere to record those silly moments and milestones.  However, USPS will be delivering it.  If you read my previous Seriously?! Thursday post, you know my dislike/hate relationship with the postal service.  This issue comes down to our delivery guy – he’s the laziest, most careless postal worker I have ever seen.  I won’t get into everything he does that irks me, or else this post would be way too long, but let’s just say I’m hoping the camera gets here in one piece.  Seriously?!  Why do they have to ship expensive items like that via USPS?  Though, UPS hasn’t been great with their deliveries to us lately either – we’re lucky if the packages even make it onto the front porch…luckily the delivery guys seem to have good throwing arms to get it that far!

Seriously?!  I’m now a week away from my due date.  On Sunday I got hit with some sort of head cold/congestion.  It’s a little better today, but I’m still not 100%.  I get so stuffy I can’t breathe, my ear was so clogged I felt like I only had 50% hearing, and I called the doctor’s office on Tuesday to see what I could take for relief, and they told me plain Sudafed.  Sudafed wasn’t quite doing the trick, and can raise my blood pressure.  Today, the doctor recommended switching to an antihistamine, like Claritin.  I took one earlier, and I can actually breathe at the moment!  But really?  I went the whole 9 months without even a sniffle, and now right before I’m due, I get hit with this!  I want the baby out now, but I don’t want to make him sick either.   :(

Seriously?!  Bad, stupid drivers.  Enough said.

Seriously…  I haven’t done Favorite Kitty Pic Friday in at least 2 weeks.  I have just been very busy and it slipped past me.  I will try my best to get one up tomorrow – I make no promises though…

Seriously…  I’m as ready as I’m going to be for Bean’s arrival.  He can come out any day now.  I’ve been so done with this pregnancy for weeks now, but this last week is frustrating.  I’m tired of not being able to do stuff, being uncomfortable, and feeling like I’m going to be pregnant forever.  I thought Bean was going to be a boy before we knew for sure, and I was right.  I also thought at the beginning that I would go late, but I’m really hoping I’m wrong about that!  And since I know you all want to know  ;)   I just may go late, and have to be induced.  My check at the doctor today revealed I am effacing well (didn’t get a percentage number), but not dilating much.  He said the effacement is good and shows that I would be receptive to induction if it becomes necessary.  I just hope that’s not the case.  If Bean doesn’t come on his own, we’re looking at the 28th for induction.  I do have to go for a non-stress test on Tuesday, and then I have my regularly scheduled appointment on Thursday.  Apparently, even though he has been saying my BP has been good, today he felt it was a little high, and though he only ever told me the lower number was good, apparently my upper number has been borderline high.  So, with little progression, no contractions, and borderline high BP, off to the NST (unless Bean decides to make an early exit!).

Seriously…  Whether Bean decides to come now or by force on the 28th, I will have a baby and be a mom in less than 2 weeks!  So surreal…

Well, Hubby and I are off to Red Lobster tonight to celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary!  Today we have been married for 4 years, and in July we will be together as a couple for 12 years.  Happy Anniversary Hubby!   :)

Seriously?! Thursday

Seriously?!  USPS – I have a PO Box for my craft stuff, and for my Tiny Twinkle Toes business stuff (in order to keep my home address unknown to strangers).  Apparently my renewal on it was due by the 31st of May, and I don’t keep track of that enough to just know all by myself with no reminder.  Usually I get a reminder e-mail from them of when it is due, ahead of time, as well as a notice in the box.  This time?  An e-mail telling me it was overdue/late and if I didn’t pay in the next 4 days, they would close it and it would no longer be mine!  I double checked my old e-mails from them, and the box itself – I usually got a payment reminder early…not this time in either case.  I use USPS because otherwise, what else am I supposed to do?  But seriously?!  They aggravate me to no end a lot of times!

Seriously?!  I bought a new watch from Wal-Mart, since my lovely Eeyore one got hit with a baton and cracked the crystal.  A “big girl” watch as Hubby called it, since it didn’t have Eeyore on it for the first time in many, many years.  I read the instructions on how to set the time, date and moon phase.  I set the correct time, the correct date, and checked the moon phase so I could set that appropriately.  When I tried to set the moon phase, it moved a little, then stopped moving to the next one.  Broken.  I’m not paying full price for and keeping a semi-broken watch – so I had to take it back.  Problem is, when I bought it, it was the only one like that that I saw.  Now what do I do for a watch – I’m very picky with what I wear.  Seriously, just my luck…

Seriously?!  I had my sizing ultrasound last night at just one day short of being 38 weeks along in this pregnancy.  When I scheduled the appointment, the woman told me I had to drink 32 oz. of water an hour before the appointment time.  What?!?  I had to do that before when it was earlier in the pregnancy, but at 38 weeks??  I can barely hold 8 oz. of fluid for even just one hour, not an hour plus the time it takes to do the ultrasound!  That’s just ridiculously impossible…it was unbearable when I went for my 20 week gender ultrasound.  Turned out that I didn’t really need to have anything in my bladder, which is good, because in waiting for the tech, I just couldn’t wait for the bathroom any longer!  I was also expecting to be told that the baby was measuring somewhere around 9 pounds already and to expect to birth a 10+ pound baby – estimates can be up to 12 oz. off in either direction, but it looks like Bean is measuring around 7lb. 9oz. (gestational age at 38w3d)!  Not so bad!

Seriously?!  The heat.  It went up to well over 90 degrees today, and tomorrow is supposed to be worse, with 50% humidity.  I have things that need to be accomplished outside, and there’s no way it’s getting done in weather like that!  Also, the baton group has a performance tomorrow evening (where one group of girls will be performing a fire routine!) – I hope we all make it through and no one passes out!  I am going to try to remember to take some ice packs and cold squirt bottles, but I tend to be forgetful lately, so we’ll see if I actually do that.  My ankles are definitely going to be swollen tomorrow night!

I think that’s all I have for this week.  Hope you all have AC or cooler temps where you are!

Maternity Photos!

I went running around/shopping with my parents yesterday, and then we all headed over to the local museum grounds to have my dad take some maternity photos for us.  Apparently, I did too much on my feet yesterday, because by the time I went to bed I had pitting edema in my right foot, which has not happened before, even though I do swell up a lot.  If you don’t know what pitting edema is, it’s when you have swelling to the point that if you push on it with your finger, it will leave a lasting indentation.  I ended up having to sleep mostly on my left side (supposed to help with kidney function and fluid retention) with my right foot propped up on a couple of pillows.  It’s better today, but still somewhat swollen.  I have to try to keep it up as much as possible this weekend, but I have stuff I want to get accomplished too, so it’s hard to figure out a good balance.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite shots from yesterday’s session (taken by my dad).  It is funny, though, that we saw our wedding photographer over there taking someone else’s engagement photos!  Hopefully she’s not offended that we didn’t call her – we’ll be seeing her in about 6 months for new family portraits instead.

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was officially 37 weeks and 1 day for these pictures.  3 more weeks to go!  Though, at this point, my doctor says he hopes I go into labor soon so I can stop feeling miserable and uncomfortable, and I wouldn’t mind going a little early now either!  Car seat is installed, some baby clothes are washed, hospital necessities are starting to come together, nursery only needs a few decorative finishing touches – I’m pretty ready!

Seriously?! Thursday

I’m linking up with From Mrs. to Mama today for her Thursday post.  I found her blog through someone else’s blog that I read, who also links up to this weekly post.  I checked out her blog as well, and just became one of her newest followers too!  I’m not sure if I will link up with this posting every week, but today is a start.   :)

Seriously?!  CSN stores through Amazon.com.  I don’t think I will ever deal with them again after this mess.  They listed a Graco Snugride car seat base in beige.  That’s exactly what I needed.  I ordered it, and when they sent me an e-mail to confirm the order, it said “tan” – not what I ordered.  And yes, there is a difference in the colors.  If I really wanted the tan one, I could have ordered it directly from Amazon for $10 cheaper and no shipping!  Long story short, they said it was a mistake on their part, I requested to cancel the order, but somehow it already shipped out (before I even confirmed the order?!), and they refused to contact UPS to have the item returned to them before it reached my doorstep.  I was told I would receive a full refund of the item cost and the shipping I had to pay, and would not have to pay to ship it back to them.  Today’s e-mail said I would only receive the refund for the item.  They got a response to that, and I’m hoping they cooperate as they said they would, and I won’t have to contest the charge with the credit card and report them to the BBB. 

Seriously?!  Our health insurance.  Again with the refunds.  We were owed $96 on a claim.  They sent us the check.  I didn’t take it to the bank right away, but once I did, I got another $96 check.  We were confused, so we looked into it.  The first check bounced, and they were replacing it.  Problem is, my bank charged us a $12 fee for a bounced check.  How does a major insurance company bounce a $96 check (due to insufficient funds!), seriously?!  Now we’re back and forth with them to get the $12 refunded as well.  All this makes me tired!

Seriously?!  This weather lately.  Crazy storms and tornadoes in places that don’t usually get hit by them (Philadelphia, Allentown??), and even the temperature.  It didn’t really feel like we had a real spring.  It felt like it went from cold, to chilly, to now super hot!  Those nice temperature days were few, and when we did have them, it rained and rained and rained.  The rain makes it feel chillier.  Then today it was just about 90 degrees here!  My AC is on in the house, but for some reason our upstairs doesn’t seem to cool down as much as it should.  We’ve made it better, but still not great.  I’d rather summer than winter, but I can’t stand the heat right now.  We have a lot of things to accomplish outside, and between the rain and heat, it’s not getting done as quickly as it needs to be done.

Seriously?!  I’m 36 weeks pregnant today!  This is not a rant one, but just unbelievable.  When thinking about it in weeks, the weeks seem to fly by, but when I think back to October when we found it, it seems like so long ago.  I’m not so sure I’m ready for the delivery part, but I am ready to not have this huge belly in the way anymore.  I can’t sleep well (up anywhere from 4-6 times a night for the bathroom – seriously?! – now every 1.5 hours), I can’t bend over and pick things up, I can’t even get up and down from sitting very well anymore. 

Seriously?!  Taco Bell – or, rather, the lady at Taco Bell.  I wanted to get their current Big Box meal for Hubby, but he wanted some substitutions.  Before ordering, I checked the prices of things to make sure his substitutions were the same price as what is supposed to be included.  According to their menu, all prices were the same.  I asked for my first substitution, no problem.  As I started to ask for my second substitution, she already was giving me a look like I was a royal PITA, and then told me no, due to the price.  I tried pointing out on their menu that it was the same price, but she still refused.  I think she just didn’t want to deal with the substitutions…

I think that’s all I’ve got for now, thanks for reading my rants!  Today feels like Friday.  I don’t have to worry about one more work day or anything, but it feels like a Friday.  Hubby and I do have stuff to do outside, but this heat is unbearable!  At least I don’t have to cook today!   :)

6 Weeks To Go!

I am now 34 weeks along in my pregnancy (well, 34 weeks and 4 days to be exact), and I feel huge.  I went to the doctor a week ago, and I don’t go again until this coming Thursday.  Apparently I have started to measure a week ahead, according to their tape measure.  I’ve been very nervous this whole time about having a big baby, and now I find out I’m measuring a week ahead and the doctor said he might just be growing a little too well.  I have no real baby measurements at this time though, because they can only figure that out through an ultrasound, and my OB would like to wait a couple more weeks to order that since babies can gain approximately a half a pound per week at this stage.  He’d like to wait until the beginning of June to get measurements so that we are a little closer to the end.  At this point, he hasn’t mentioned anything about inducing early depending on size, since we don’t really know a size, but I’m wondering if we will have to go that route.  I’m really hoping to avoid a c-section as well, but since we don’t know Bean’s measurements for sure or what position he’s in, I know a c-section is always a possibility. 

My ankles and hands started to swell up for the first time on Easter and swell daily since then.  They usually go down at least a little bit overnight, and my blood pressure has been great (I even monitor it at home with my own cuff on really swollen days), so we’re not too concerned about that at this point.

I have a really hard time getting up and down from chairs and in and out of the car.  I’m still driving myself places, but it’s becoming somewhat of a hassle.  If my belly really does expand any farther over the next couple weeks, I won’t be able to drive myself anymore because I will no longer fit behind my steering wheel!  I have really short legs, so I have to have the seat closer to the wheel in order to reach the pedals and see the road.  I have already put my seat back a little, and I don’t feel comfortable putting it back even more.  Rolling from one side to another in bed is even more of a chore now.  I have to get up literally every two hours to go to the bathroom overnight – nature’s way of preparing me? 

Bean’s movements have become much more than the typical thumps from kicks or punches that I was feeling before.  These days he seems to get hiccups more often, or at least I feel them more often, and he’s very squirmy.  The squirms are somewhat uncomfortable at times, and one day it was so bad it gave me a sore spot!  I’d much rather feel him moving though than not, because I get very nervous on his “quieter” days.

I still have reflux and heartburn issues, only sometime it’s a lot worse now because my stomach is even more squished in there.  Tums usually does the trick along with laying on my left side.  My craving lately seems to be pancakes.  I have eaten pancakes about 4 times in the last week and a half.  At least I never got really crazy cravings so far, and I haven’t sent Hubby out at weird hours or anything for food I needed right that minute. 

We had our 3D ultrasound at the beginning of April, and that was an awesome experience.  Bean was pushed up against my placenta the whole time though, so it was hard to get a full face photo, but it was still a good experience, and I’m very glad we decided to do it.  Here’s what our little man looks like (I think he’s going to be a cute one!):

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have decided on a full name for him.  As of now I think I will still only refer to him as “Bean” on here though, just as I only ever say “Hubby”.  The nursery is just about complete.  It still needs the wall decals put up, a photo frame or two hung, and just some organization of the clothing and toys we received and bought.  The crib is all ready, even though he won’t be sleeping in there right away, and the changing area is all set up.  We have the Pack N’ Play all put together and waiting, and the swing is even set up in the family room already.  The only really major thing that has to be done yet is installing the carseat in Hubby’s car, and the extra base in mine.  We have to order the extra base online, and Hubby already tried to install the carseat, but had a lot of trouble getting it level, so we will be heading to AAA at some point to get carseat assistance.  Other than those few other minor things, we are pretty good with our prep for his arrival.  I always thought initially that I would deliver late, especially because I came almost 2 weeks late.  Now, with him possibly measuring bigger, and all the June babies I have read about being born now already, I’m not so sure if I will make it to my due date.  Father’s Day is the 19th this year, and it hit me yesterday when I was looking at cards – I came home and told Hubby he might have an official first Father’s Day this year already if Bean comes even 4 days early!

So, I know this post might have seemed like I was complaining a lot.  I’m 34 weeks pregnant, feeling huge, swollen, and uncomfortable – I’m allowed to complain!  But that does not mean I’m not very excited to meet Bean and wish I wasn’t pregnant – I’m very happy to be pregnant, and can’t wait until he’s here now!  :)

Painting While Pregnant

I believe I mentioned on here before that Hubby and I were going to tackle the biggest paint job of our entire house last weekend while we had my dad’s help to get started.  Well, after a (slightly longer) weeklong process, we finally have all the walls in our front living room, entry, entry hallway, staircase, and upstairs hallway painted.  All that’s left to do today is the touch ups.  I started off this project, with some of Hubby’s help, one week and two days ago by sanding rough spots on the walls, spackling any divots and imperfections, and fixing nails pops that got missed on the first go around.  That fixing didn’t end completely until this past Thursday.  The walls were terrible!  Every time we thought we had things pretty fixed up and prepped for paint, we’d find more to fix.  So, last Saturday the upstairs hallway got painted, on Sunday the staircase got painted, the entry hallway was done on Monday, and then the front living room and entry were finished up between yesterday and the day before.  Hubby did end up doing the majority of the work, because painting that much surface area at 28/29 weeks pregnant is even harder work than normal.  I feel bad about that because I wish I could have helped more, but my body just couldn’t take any more than it withstood already.  He had taken this entire week off for this project and a few appointments we had scheduled, and now he says he’s actually looking forward to starting work again on Monday because he will be more physically relaxed.  Except for now we have to clean a majority of the house by Friday afternoon and I most likely will need a lot of his help for that too.  The house is a mess to begin with, but adding in all the painting and sanding we’ve had to do, it really needs a good clean up.  And I say it has to be done by Friday afternoon because his parents are arriving that evening to stay with us for the weekend since my baby shower is next Saturday.  So, needles to say, it’s been a very busy and tiring week, and the next week isn’t looking much better for me.  Between the painting and the appointments, and the location the appointments were in, I need a good break, but I probably won’t get that until Monday the 18th!  The appointments we had to go to included my 3D ultrasound, which was an hour away, and Hubby’s last oral surgery follow up, which was also an hour away.  Both trips took us to good shopping areas as well, so we ended up doing some of that with our time too.  I know I missed my Favorite Kitty Friday post, as well as Getting to Know YOU post (I also missed some big blog hop party this week too), but some days I couldn’t even tell you what day it was, and when I wasn’t helping with the painting task, we were not home, eating, or sleeping.  I will be very happy when this is all done and I can relax a little more.

To give you insight as to how behind I am on things, my Google Reader count is up to at least 625 unread items, there are at least 40 unread e-mails sitting in my inboxes, and I missed doing those posts this week.  Hopefully I will be able to start catching up on things, like trying to do at least 2 posts this week.  I would like to do a post about my 3D ultrasound too, but we’ll see how the week goes along.  We also started our Prep for Childbirth classes too, so that’s been thrown in there as well.  I can’t wait until Monday the 18th…

One last thing before I forget – I read this blog:  http://www.lifeofsaucyb.com/  Every Monday, she does a “Make Me Laugh Monday” post where she posts a picture of her cat, and accepts caption ideas.  On Thursday of that week, she will pick the commenter who made her laugh/who’s caption she likes best, and this past week my caption was chosen!  As a reward, she has my blog button featured on her sidebar.  Please check it out, and enjoy her blog!

Decisions, decisions…

Wow, I’m actually getting a post in before Favorite Kitty Pic Friday this week!  I scheduled that post for tomorrow very early in the week in order to make sure it got posted this week since I didn’t get to do it the last 2 weeks.  But I thought about something I wanted to post, and I figured I better do it now or it will fall to the wayside.

I have made some decisions lately, and there are still a few decisions I have to make.

1. I have decided not to peek at my baby registries.  This is very hard for me because I’m so curious and would love to know what kinds of things we are getting and what necessities might be left for us to purchase.  I did end up seeing a couple items that were purchased because it was early on after shower invitations were sent out and I was still adding/removing things from the registries.  Also, my mom can’t really keep a secret, so I even know who the one item is coming from.  Which is one of the reasons I know about my shower as well.  It was never planned as a surprise, because we had to coordinate scheduling with the out of town in-laws, but she would never have been able to keep it that way anyway.  She says she would have been able to, but she blurts out everything at some point, and I’m absolutely sure I would have figured it out somehow either way. So – no more looking at the registry.  We’re done adding things to it at this point anyway, and I need some surprises from this shower!

2. I have decided that the “joys of pregnancy” are not always so joyous.  Sleeping is becoming more difficult since I have to sleep on my sides and apparently want to sleep on my back more than I ever thought I would want to or ever did in the past.  My hips hurt so much throughout the night and it feels like I’m a beached whale when I try to get up for middle of the night bathroom trips or even (especially!) just to roll over to the other side.  I have reflux issues.  I’m somewhat of an emotional person, but lately, “somewhat” emotional doesn’t even begin to describe it.  I notice I get irritated sometimes at stupid things, and so much more that I watch on TV makes me cry.  The show “One Born Every Minute”?  I bawl during every episode.  I used to be able to watch those shows in peace, but now I just cry all the time.  What am I going to be like when I finally have Bean??  One emotional mess coming up!

3. We have decided to have a 3D/4D ultrasound done.  This was up in the air for us at the beginning, mostly due to cost and the fact that it wasn’t a necessity, but furniture and such is.  Well, since we are well furnished now and it was all gifts, we decided to go for it and get a peek at Bean in there.  I have to schedule it yet, but I’m hoping to do that tomorrow and will hopefully have it done in about 2 weeks – depending on appointment availability.

4.  We have decided to take on the biggest paint job of our whole house in about 2 weeks.  Due to the layout of the house, we kind of have to use one color for the front living room, entry, entry hallway, staircase, and upstairs hallway.  It’s such a huge undertaking that we have recruited my dad’s help for a weekend, and Hubby will even take the week off work to continue and finish the job.  We decided we wanted to get at least this paint job completed before Bean arrived, because after that who is going to feel like taking on that huge job, and it will be done for when he starts crawling around and can touch walls with messy hands and such.  Right now those areas are still painted with contractor grade paint, which is not scrub-able at all.  If we get it painted, it will be easier to clean, and our house will finally start to look more finished.  We will still have some more rooms to paint yet, but those are smaller easier rooms and can be done anytime then.

5. We decided to go on a trip in August.  The baton group that I teach for is going to one of the Jersey shores for almost a week to perform on a stage right at the boardwalk.  I’ve taken this trip many many many times, but this will be our first with a newborn, and depending on when Bean decides to arrive and how he ends up entering the world, we’re not sure if this is going to be ok, or not such a great idea.  Guess we’ll have to wait and see!

6. We decided Hubby should have his wisdom teeth removed last week.  He had it done last Friday and is still in some pain from the one extraction site.  That particular tooth hadn’t really come up through the gum much and was actually sideways in his jaw.  I feel really bad when he’s hurting because I told him he should have it done after hearing all the reasons from the oral surgeon why it would be a good thing to do now, even though they weren’t bothering him now.  He goes back tomorrow to have things checked out, so hopefully his pain is all normal and there are no infection issues or anything.  I can’t remember how long I had pain when I had mine done, but I seemed to luck out with my surgery – no swelling or bruising, and I don’t remember the pain being that bad or lasting longer than a couple days.  So, hopefully everything is ok with his mouth. 

And for the decisions yet to be made:

1. We have a first name picked out.  Everyone seems to like it.  We’re still not 100% committed to a middle name though.  At least, we have not both said we are 100% committed to it, though I have a feeling we will end up going with it.

2. To circumcise or not to?  That’s the big question…

So, that is all for now.  Look for my Favorite Kitty Pic Friday post tomorrow, and next week I might have a video for it instead of a photo, if I can figure out how to add in a video that has to come from Hubby’s phone.  It’ll be a funny one though!

Getting to know YOU is back!

Mannland5 decided to bring back this great post opportunity!  If you were a follower from the start, you might remember me participating in some of these – maybe not every week, but the ones I felt I was able to answer.  She posts questions you answer about yourself, create your own post, and then link your blog on her blog.  So here are this week’s questions with my answers:

1. if you won the title of miss america, what would your platform be?  world peace, of course!   ;)  Isn’t that every beauty pageant contestants platform?  I don’t think I would even know what else to say…maybe something against animal abuse?

2. outdoorsy or indoorsy?  a little of both.  We used to go camping a lot when I was younger, but we had a trailer and the campground had a bathroom with showers and all, so it was a little cushy for camping.  I am indoors a lot, but I still like to go hang out on my porch or patio on nice days, and hopefully this year we will get some more use out of our fire bowl on the patio.

3. pajama's out in public..classy or tres tacky?  You will never see me out in pj’s…the only way would be if something terrible happened and it was the only clothing I had to wear period.  I like to go out in comfy clothes a lot, but that’s what cotton/yoga/dance pants are for (and track suits, if that’s what people still call them).

4. what's your favorite room in your house?  I guess the family room, since that’s where I spend most of my time.  But I am loving how the nursery is turning out and that may soon become my favorite room!    :)

5. nook, kindle, or book?  I still only read from real paper books.  Mostly because we only have one Kindle, which was Hubby’s Christmas present, and the books I have lined up to read I bought before we owned a Kindle.  If I were to ever switch formats, it would be Kindle.

6. would you rather wear the same outfit for a week or not brush your teeth for a week?  Neither, especially if the same outfit wasn’t allowed to be washed.  I’ve gone a lazy/sick day at home without brushing my teeth already, but even then I still usually tried to bathe and at least put on clean underclothes.  A whole week though?  Not going to happen.

7. what's your favorite blog at the moment?  Um, not really sure.  All the blogs I read offer different posts, and each person is obviously different, so it’s hard to pick a favorite.

8. lately i've been daydreaming about.........?  Having my baby boy here safe and sound, and what life will be like then.   :)

If you would like to participate, just go to the blog address in the picture, read her post and create your own!  I’m looking forward to adding this back to my somewhat regular posts, since at the moment I only have one weekly post for sure, and I even skipped that one this week again!  Hubby had oral surgery on Friday to remove his wisdom teeth, and it was a long day, especially since we had to travel an hour to the office.  I also ended up in 2 different grocery stores and Target to pick up soft mushy foods and medicines.  I’ve been kind of pooped out this weekend.  I do have to go clothing shopping badly, since on Thursday I started to feel very pregnant all of a sudden and started realizing a lot of the clothing that I was still able to wear is now not fitting so well anymore, but I’m conflicted between staying at home today and going out.  It seems nice out, so I want to go, but I like to go out with Hubby, and he’s not feeling up to an outing today.  So, now I go off to figure out what to do with my day…

My Weekend…

I totally skipped my weekly Friday post of my kitty pictures, but I was hardly home at all that day, and the rest of the weekend was the same.  Saturday we went to Babies R Us to buy the crib mattress, ate lunch with my grandmother and uncle, I had a baton lesson to teach, and until all was said and done for that day, it was late, I was exhausted, and my hips and pelvic bone were hurting very badly.  Sunday we went out of town to a “Planning for Baby” show, where we learned a few good things, but I was having other issues that day, didn’t sleep well the night before, and in the end didn’t really think it was worth my entire day with the discomfort I was having.  We were supposed to get a FREE gift (supposedly worth about $139)…yeah, big gimmick there.  I expected things along the lines of free pacifiers, bottles, blankets, diapers, samples of bath products, etc. and maybe some coupons to fill in the value.  Our “free” gift was 3 vouchers to send off to receive different coupons.  These were not gift cards you would receive, just coupons.  AND YOU HAD TO PAY A MINIMUM OF $15 IN SHIPPING FOR THEM TO SEND THEM TO YOU!  I’m going to pay $15+ dollars to receive unknown coupons I might not even be able to use?!?  I don’t think so!  The point of the seminar was to explain crib, highchair, and monitor safety and products, and of course, try to sell you the products he was promoting.  We knew it was some sort of sales pitch going into it, but we wanted that free gift, and weren’t doing anything else that day.  They were trying to sell Babee Tenda cribs, feeding tables, and some other brand of motion monitors.  I never heard of this brand before, and apparently you can only buy it through these shows or on their website, and it’s a company that’s been around for many many years, but the whole day was not worth the discomfort I ended up having, especially since we weren’t buying anything anyway, and our “free gift” was that ridiculous.  I ended up with so much discomfort (not pregnancy related – other issues I’ve been dealing with for years) and nothing seemed to be helping last night, that I didn’t sleep well again last night, and after a previous night of wrecked sleep and an hour lost, I am exhausted today.  I hope to have a very good night of sleep tonight with as few interruptions as possible!  So, that was my weekend.  If you receive an invitation for a “Planning for Baby” show in your area, where they will offer you discounted items and a “free gift” worth $139, check into it more before you go, and unless you want to purchase Babee Tenda items, stay home!

Favorite Kitty Pic Friday! (on Saturday – oops!)

I know the post is titled “Favorite Kitty Pic FRIDAY!”,  and it’s already past 5pm on Saturday, but at least I’m getting it in this week, even if it’s late.  I can’t even make excuses as to how busy I was yesterday.  I did have one thing to do – I went for my one hour glucose test to start checking for gestational diabetes, but that obviously didn’t take all day.  No, I was just lazy otherwise.  Same as today.  We are headed out very soon to shop for curtains, shelves, and a dimmer switch to replace the regular light switch in the nursery – Hubby thought we were going earlier this afternoon.  My nap on the sofa changed that.  I would really like to know when this nesting thing kicks in, or if it ever will for me, because my house is a complete wreck and I have no desire whatsoever to do any kind of cleaning.  It’s bad lately, and it really needs to get done, but day after day I just really don’t feel like doing it and now my house looks like a tornado came through.
Anyways, I have a couple pictures for this post this week.  These were just taken on Thursday night, and this is a rarity to see these days:

They snuggled up on the recliner with each other!  Usually when they are this close to each other for a certain amount of time, it turns into an epic battle and one of them (usually Jasper) gives up and leaves the area.










They stayed like this for quite some time!  No fights, nothing.  Jasper passed out (obviously) and I just thought the way Dusty was looking at him in this picture was too cute.  And then, eventually…
Dusty gave in and relaxed too.  :)   It was so sweet to see them together like this.  They used to snuggle all the time when they were kittens, and gradually outgrew it.  Like I said, if we do ever get them together, it usually ends up in a battle for the spot they’re in, and Dusty typically wins.  He may be much smaller, but he’s feisty!
I’d like to do at least one nursery post soon, but I’m thinking I’ll split it into a couple parts to show the progress we’ve been making on it.  Hopefully I’ll get to the first one within the next few days!
Have a great weekend everyone!  :)   And wish me luck that I passed my one hour test (though, I’m not having any expectations – I’m very nervous I failed…)

Favorite Kitty Pic Friday!

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Happy Friday!  I totally missed doing this post last week (and thanks to my newfound lack of memory, I can’t even remember why I missed it!  Thanks pregnancy brain!), and I had other posts I wanted to do this week, but I feel so behind on everything at the moment.  My Google Reader was up to almost 400 posts unread (!), my laundry feels very neglected along with dirty dishes and all other housecleaning (when’s this nesting thing supposed to kick in??), but we did accomplish something this past week.  The smaller amount of the work I did has taken up all of my energy too.  We prepped the walls of the nursery, picked out a paint color, painted, touched it up, and now it’s ready for a good clean out of all the paint supplies, vacuuming, and finally furniture!  I plan to do a post about that later though…
So, that has been my week.  My hips are not thanking me for it, and I don’t seem to have the energy for much more right now. 
Here’s my choice for the week:
Oh, Jasper, the positions you put yourself in.  This is how he washes his belly (amongst other things…) and I actually found out it’s called the “Buddha position”.  He certainly has the Buddha belly for it!  (Don’t mind the mess around him – this was back at the apartment, and probably right around putting up the Christmas tree.)
Hope you all have a nice weekend!  Today seems pretty dreary here, and I really need to get that room cleaned up for the furniture to go in this weekend, hopefully.  Have a great Friday!

Spoiled Bean!

I said the other day in my latest baby update that we already purchased a few things for Bean, but I would save it for another post.  Well, tonight is that post, and Bean is getting spoiled already!    :)

The very first thing we bought was the crib set we wanted because we saw Babies R Us drastically reduced the price.  We ended up with the other stuff we wanted for the nursery as well, because it turns out that that particular theme was actually put on clearance and would no longer be available very soon.  We picked out a gender neutral theme, especially since we didn’t even know what Bean is at the time we bought it.  So we ended up leaving the store that day with the crib set, window valance, wall decals, and mobile, all for about $120.  We took advantage of the clearance and also had a 10% coupon, so we got all 4 items for less than the original cost of the crib set (a whopping $190!!  our bedding wasn’t nearly that pricey and there’s more material involved!).  We decided to go with a Classic Pooh theme, which looks a little like this:

(Shows the mobile and valance – we didn’t get the diaper stacker, though it’s on our list, and we didn’t get the wall art or lamp.  We already have lamps in that room and we bought the wall decals instead.)

I saw a few other Classic Pooh sets on Amazon, but I’m very glad we got this one.  I really really like it and I think it will look great with the furniture we picked out.  Speaking of furniture, my mom just informed me tonight that my grandmother has offered to buy Bean’s crib, and my uncle has offered to buy the 2 dressers/changing table!  That was very unexpected, but very appreciated, especially since we picked out furniture that costs a lot more than the original pieces we looked at.  We won’t have those pieces until we paint the room, but here’s what they look like:

 

The color isn’t quite right on the last dresser picture.  The real life color is most similar to the crib and changing table/dresser.  We decided to go with a piece like that because even though just having the pad on top of a dresser without rails holding it in place makes me a little nervous, we figured this was more the lifetime way to go.  The crib converts into a toddler bed, daybed, and full size headboard/bed.  The set is by Babi Italia.

We also bought a few pieces of clothing already!  Target had some stuff on sale last week, and Old Navy had a sale this week, along with a coupon that I got from Facebook.  So we bought this little sleeper from Target:

Hubby loved it!  So we just had to get it.  We got it in a 6 month size because Bean will be born at the beginning of summer, and since it’s long sleeves and long pants with feet, we figured this was better for fall/winter, and he will be 6 months old around Christmas.  If he fits into it sooner due to his growth and size, it will still work out for fall!

 

 

And then I was perusing Old Navy’s website and found these adorable onesies that I decided I just had to go to the store and buy during their sale with my coupon:

Purchased the 0-3 month size in this since it’s light weight and will hopefully fit him through the summer months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this one, which we purchased in the 3-6 month size, hoping to get some longer wear out of it.  We figured if it still fits him in fall/winter, we can always put a little sweatshirt over top to go out since it’s short sleeve.  But if Bean was going to have at least one piece of clothing that says he loves his daddy, he was definitely going to have at least one pertaining to me!:

I absolutely love these two items!  They also seem a little more gender neutral to me, so I could picture a boy wearing them or a girl, if we ever end up with one of those one day!   :)   I have always thought koalas were adorable, and to see them on these things just made it even cuter!

We also bought a navy blue sweatshirt there off the clearance rack in the 6-9 month size for next fall/winter.  Who could pass up an Old Navy baby hooded sweatshirt for $3.99?? 

I hope I have been buying appropriate sized clothing, especially since we have no idea how big Bean will be when he’s born, or how quickly he will grow.  Any advice you have on that topic would be appreciated (so would knowing if the sizes I already bought seem to make sense)!

That’s all for now, and might be for a while, or until the shower, unless someone else advertises a good sale or throws another coupon my way.   ;)

(Photos courtesy of Babies R Us, Target, and Old Navy’s websites)

Half Way!

I’m officially 20 weeks and 3 days along in my pregnancy, so half way there (unless Bean decides to come earlier or later)!  We went for the 20 week ultrasound this past Thursday, and everything (according to the tech) looked normal and good.  We also found out gender, and surprised my parents on Saturday with this:

 From the moment they opened the cake box, my mom blurted out, “It’s a girl!”  She saw lots of pink, and even though there’s yellow and blue represented as well, she just kept saying it had to be a girl.  So, I had my dad cut into it to reveal if my mom was correct, and it’s officially a…

My mom’s response was classic…  As soon as she saw that blue icing, she yells out, “Oh S%#*T!”.  LOL – classic and typical response from my mom.  She wanted a granddaughter I guess, mainly she said because she “doesn’t want to get peed on!”, but I don’t think she really minds.  My dad didn’t have a preference either way, but he said he was hoping it was a girl for my sake, because he knew I wanted a girl, and I’m into dance and baton twirling and all things girly.  But I think he’s happy to have a grandson.  He was along the day we went to Babies R Us to add some stuff to the registry, which was before we knew the gender, and he saw a bib that had a car on it and said “Lil Dude”, which he decided that if we were having a boy, he was just going to have to get that bib.  Well, according to my mom, after he found out it was a boy, he continued to talk to her about going for that bib!   :)   Not sure if it really was purchased yet or not, but I see a Lil Dude in my future!   :)

As for hubby and I, as I mentioned before we both wanted a girl because I know a little more about dealing with girls and such, and he liked the fact that he could rely on my knowledge of girls.  But from the very beginning, as I stated before, I just knew it was going to be a boy, even though he thought girl because of a dream he had.  I later had a dream that reaffirmed boy to me – we were eating dinner and Bean was a little older, old enough to eat a bowl of peas on his own.  All of a sudden he decides to smush his face down into the bowl of peas, and the dream ended.  Bean was not wearing anything but a diaper during this dream, and there was no indication otherwise that it was a boy, but in the dream I just knew he was a he!  So, hubby feels a little bad about being wrong I think, but I just knew it all along.  Did I want a girl?  Yes.  Am I disappointed it’s a boy?  Not really.  If I had my heart set on girl and thought that all along, I might feel that way, but I’m just happy now and can’t wait to meet him!  Hubby even said Bean was allowed to dance and twirl baton if it’s something he really wanted to try of his own free will.  Maybe we will still have a little tap dancer in our future anyway!   ;)

The tech took all the measurements, and really walked us through what she was looking at.  We saw his brain, kidneys, stomach, liver (I think?), mouth and nose, arms and legs, little feet, and of course his heart, which was beating at 156 bpm – everything looked normal.  She said I have an anterior placenta, which explains my lack of feeling big movement yet, especially coupled with the fact that I have some extra padding to begin with.  I swear I felt something around Christmas, but not much at all.  The days leading up to my US, I felt some more, but it felt very faint, and I would feel it in 2 different spots, so I really wasn’t sure what was going on.  Turns out the twitches I was feeling higher to the side of my belly button are kicks and the twitches lower beneath my belly button are punches.  Bean’s head seemed to be way down low in my pelvic area, and he’s sort of diagonally upside down in there with his feet on the left side of my belly button area.  Let’s hope he stays that direction and doesn’t turn around to breech!  She said he weighs approximately 11 ounces now, which from things I read is right along where he should be.  I am really hoping he grows big enough, but I also am hoping not too big because I really don’t want to have to go through a C-section for that particular reason.

 You can see his spine just below the word “stomach”, but unfortunately he was laying sideways, so we were basically seeing the front of his face, which on these scans doesn’t show much detail.  She tried to get him to roll over so she could get a side view/profile picture, but he just wouldn’t cooperate there.  At least he cooperated here:

 

Definitely a boy!

It’s fun adding stuff to the registry now that we know what he is, but we are still sticking to some neutral things, for a day that #2 may come along, and might be the opposite.  We did buy a few things already, which set the theme for the nursery.  More to come on that in another post though!

Poor Kitty Update

So, if you remember last Friday’s post about Jasper’s foot/claw, here is the update on him.

You’ll notice this looks very similar to a photo from the last post – but it was taken tonight, and his foot bandage has changed to purple!  Let’s put it this way – Jasper basically declawed one of his own rear toes, and the vet ended up having to help him complete the job.  When he originally lost his claw, we knew the quick/nerve ending was still there, and the tech I spoke with on the phone also knew this.  She had said we didn’t need to bring him in unless he started to look infected.  Well, on Monday I made my daily check, and there was a tiny bit of clear fluid coming from the wound area along with a bad smell.  It didn’t look bad, but I was starting to worry that an infection was beginning.  We decided to wait until Tuesday to call during regular vet hours, after checking him again and seeing no change.  Still leaking a tiny bit and still smelly.  They got him into the office Tuesday afternoon, and the vet I really like there was on duty to check him out.  She said it would have been better if he would have just ripped off the entire claw with the quick right off the bat – it would have bled more at the time, but wouldn’t have been so sore and open to infection.  She didn’t say he had any major infection going on already, but was worried about it getting to that point and progressing to needing his whole toe amputated.  Luckily there was no major infection yet, but he did need a minor surgical procedure to snip that remaining quick off.  I was really only expecting to take him in for a check and some antibiotics!  My poor baby.  :(    They sedated him, snipped off the nerve ending, and gave him an injection of antibiotics.  We were sent home 45 minutes later with a very dopey and wobbly kitty sporting his brand new purple bandage and some pain meds.  With how many times he managed to kick off my bandaging last week, I was sure this wouldn’t last long, but knew it had to stay wrapped until tonight.  They certainly did a good job of it!  He kicked and kicked, but that thing stayed in place!  Now I know why – Jasper now has a little less fur on that leg!  So as of right now, he’s perfectly fine, seems to be walking ok, is back to eating and drinking like his normal self, and wants nothing more than to lick that toe.  We are stopping him as much as possible, and he will have that antibiotic in his system for another day or two, so hopefully he won’t develop an infection now.  We will be keeping a close eye on it though.

In other news, I ended up needing to go to my doctor this evening for an itchy skin issue, so he just made this visit count as my next scheduled visit that I was supposed to have in two weeks (turns out somehow I was not in their schedule for two weeks from now, even though I had the appointment card, so it worked out!).  My quad screen test was negative for Down syndrome, in fact my results put me at lower risk for any issues than the norm.  Yay, good news there!  He gave me my ultrasound order for 2 weeks from now, and I will be able to find out if Bean is growing well and if I’m right or hubby’s right on gender!  I’ll be scheduling that appointment tomorrow, and since we were out and had to go to Target for a prescription cream, even though we don’t know the gender yet, we still had some fun adding some necessities and gender neutral items to our registry!   :) 

Favorite Kitty Pic Friday will be back on track this week.  Have a good week until then!

PS – If you haven’t done it yet, vote on baby Bean’s gender on the right sidebar!  2 weeks to go!

My poor kitty…

Today’s “Favorite Kitty Pic Friday” post is not labeled as such because I wouldn’t call this a favorite picture.  I did, however, want to share with you what my day consisted of yesterday, and since it involved Jasper, I figured it could just replace it this week.  There will be pictures in this post, and Favorite Kitty Pic Friday will resume normally next week.  Just a warning – this post may be a little graphic in my description of things, depending on what bothers you and what you think is graphic.

One of Jasper’s favorite places to be lately is the couch/sofa.  He either is snuggled up on a blanket right next to me or sleeping on the back of the farther end of the sofa.  Yesterday he decided to snooze there…and then the rest of the day began.

He was sleeping away on the back of the sofa while I was sitting here watching TV and browsing the internet, when all of a sudden he jumped, spazzed out, and landed himself on the window sill trapping himself between both layers of curtain.  I was certainly surprised and yelled out.  I didn’t think to check him right away because my kitties have little freak outs all the time.  Hubby came down right away because he heard me yell out, and asked what happened.  As I was telling him, he was checking the sofa for holes and managed to find this:

 His entire claw!  Well, then I began to panic and asked hubby to retrieve him off the window.  I was checking his feet for where the claw came off, and found it right away – he was bleeding very badly… 

I grabbed a tissue right away to try to clean him up, and saw that he had nothing left where his claw should be.  I never dealt with this before, and luckily I had the vets number within arm’s reach.  I covered his toe with the tissue and called the vet immediately.  After explaining what happened to the tech (I think he started to roll off the sofa while he was asleep and woke up scared) and figuring out that he tore off the nail completely, leaving the quick/nerve ending exposed, she said we didn’t have to bring him in because they would only do what she was telling me to do.  I had to quickly grab some cornstarch to apply to the wound to stop the bleeding, then try to bandage him up at least until today or so to keep the area clean and covered so he wouldn’t lick it.  We only have to call them back and bring him in if the toe/foot starts to look infected, otherwise, just keep it clean and let it heal.

So, I bought my first set of baby socks yesterday…for my cat.  Have you ever tried to bandage a cat’s limb before?  Not fun.  And as a former Athletic Trainer, I have some skills bandaging wounds, but a cat – totally different and a lot harder.  Luckily I do have these skills though, because otherwise we would really have had a problem and would have needed to take him to the vet.

Here he is after getting all wrapped up the second time – lounging on his second favorite area of the couch.  After the first time we wrapped him up, we put him in the carrier until I could run out for more bandaging supplies and socks.  When we let him out of there, he had already managed to start to unravel the first wrapping, so we re-did it and put the sock on him all the way up past his joint, hoping it would stay on better that way.  It did for just a little while.  Pretty soon he kicked it straight off his whole foot!  The vet tech said we needed to keep it covered though, so we tried again…and again.  I lost count now how many times we tried until we gave up for overnight since we wouldn’t be able to stop him from flinging it off anyway.

 

 

 

This is him lounging in hubby’s lap after one final try at bandaging.  (And yes – we still have our tree, along with all our other Christmas decorations up.  I was stressed and busy before the holidays, and have been taking it easy since.  Maybe we’ll work on that this weekend…)  He looks so defeated.  He was very unhappy with the whole thing, and every step he took he tried kicking off the bandaging.  I felt so bad for my fur baby, I even bought him a special treat for dinner last night.  Which made me realize I am going to have one spoiled child when he/she is sick!  So, he managed to kick off the sock and bandaging one last time shortly before bedtime, and we gave up at that point because we couldn’t do a lot while we were sleeping anyway.  He did lick at it, we tried to stop him, he slept on the bed with us most of the night, and seems his normal lazy self today.  Other than the fact that he doesn’t like when I touch his foot to try to check on the toe.  I will need hubby’s help for that since we might have to clean it up today.  Hopefully he heals well and fast, and we won’t end up having to make a trip to the vet!

In other news, I ordered a fetal heartbeat doppler earlier this week, and it should arrive today!  We were very torn about ordering it, because we have been so nervous this whole pregnancy to begin with, and not being able to find the baby’s HB with it may make us worry more.  So, hopefully we have luck with it, and it will help us to feel more at ease.  Have a great weekend!

Christmas, New Years, and New Addition

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays, whatever you may celebrate.  I did in the end, even though Christmas didn’t feel quite as Christmas-y this year.  And now I’m going to do this post in complete backwards order from the title because the latter is just more exciting!  It’s kind of lengthy, but please read on, I promise it’s interesting!

If you’re reading this on Google Reader, you won’t see the new addition to my blog.  If you are looking at my blog page and haven’t noticed it yet, look to the right, just below my little about me section – I’ll give you a minute to scroll…

For those of you that aren’t looking there, not only do I have a new little addition to my sidebar, but it’s about the new little addition to our family – I’m expecting my first baby June 23rd!  We have known since mid-October, but I waited so long to post on here because I was nervous, wanted to make sure everything seemed to be going well, and had other people to tell in person first.  I am at exactly 16 weeks today (starting my 17th week, depending on how you like to measure the time).  We told our parents and grandmothers on Thanksgiving, the people in the twirling group the week after, and the rest of my extended family got the announcement in their Christmas cards.  I am sad that my baby will never get to meet my grandmother, but I feel better that she at least knew about it before she passed away.  And before I get into the rest of it, since we don’t know if it’s a boy or girl yet, we have nicknamed the baby “Bean” for now (though I have a feeling that nickname will stick even after he or she is born!).  Now to catch you all up!  My first trimester was surprisingly easy.  I had absolutely no morning sickness at any point in the day.  There was only once or twice I felt the slightest bit nauseous, which cued me into having a snack and made it better.  I did have the fatigue, big time.  I’m not working, and yet I still had no energy to get off the couch.  I did have a couple weeks where I was starving, all the time.  I would eat, and within an hour or so, I felt like my stomach was totally and completely empty again.  The most troublesome issue I’ve had is hair loss.  I have been losing a lot more hair than normal, to the point my hair is A LOT thinner.  It has been very disconcerting, but I have been told that even though it’s not a common issue, it does sometimes happen, and even if there was a different cause other than pregnancy hormones (yes, I did have my thyroid tested when I had my pregnancy blood test and all was fine), there’s not really anything that can be done for it at this point.  Now that I’m in my second trimester, it seems to have lessened a little, but I’m wondering if it’s just because I have less hair overall!  My first appointment was at 8 weeks, and I’m seeing a doctor that my good friend went to since my regular GYN doesn’t do maternity care.  We like him a lot, and though he answers questions quickly, he gives all the right information and I never feel rushed.  I had my first ultrasound the same week of my first appointment, and it was so awesome to see Bean’s little heartbeat, at a racing 171.  Even though I was officially 8 weeks for that scan, I measured 7w5d, so really not too far off!  I tried scanning the printout we got, but it came out too dark and you can’t see anything at all.  My first blood test came back perfect.  By the second visit, around 12 weeks, we thought we would hear the heartbeat.  Unfortunately that did not really happen, though the doctor said he was able to detect it for a second, but couldn’t keep on it.  That made me a nervous wreck!  I just kept telling myself that he didn’t seem concerned, sometimes it’s hard to hear it that early, and if he was concerned he would have sent me for another ultrasound or something.  As the weeks have gone by, the fatigue has started to wear off, I’ve had other not-so-pleasant pregnancy digestive issues, and I’m currently suffering from pregnancy congestion.  I’m not sick, but I got the stuffy nose and slight bleeding after blowing.  My mornings in the winter were already miserable due to sinus drainage – now multiply that by about 8.  I have good nights and bad nights of sleep.  It’s a comfort thing – I’m trying to stay exclusively to sleeping on either side now, even though I end up on my back at some point most nights, and my doctor said I don’t have to worry too much about that quite yet, but some nights I only get up once for the bathroom and sleep the whole night soundly.  Other nights, like last night, I get up multiple times, can’t get comfortable, and feel like crying.  I’m hoping for a really good night’s sleep tonight, because I felt exhausted today.  I did buy the Boppy body pillow, and it has definitely helped, but it’s still not the answer to a perfectly sound night every single night.  I dread that my sleep is only going to get worse as I get bigger and my hips start to really ache since I’m already having so much trouble.  I also have been getting the round ligament pain.  The first time I felt it, it was awful, and a few days before my second appointment.  It didn’t last long, my warm shower seemed to help, and I knew it wasn’t any kind of cramping, so I didn’t call, but my doctor assured me that’s what it was at the appointment.  I still get twangs of it sometimes, but he said it should start to diminish, and at least when I get it I know what it is now and it doesn’t feel as bad anymore.  My cravings have been slightly weird for me.  First I couldn’t seem to get enough oatmeal.  That lasted a week or so.  Then I was on a slight waffle kick, but again, only for a short time.  Then it progressed to pickles, then green olives, and now most recently it was spinach and artichoke dip and tortilla chips.  I used to eat a little of that dip if my in-laws got it, but I never really chose it.  It just wasn’t really my kind of appetizer.  Over the last few weeks I must have eaten it at least 4 or 5 times!  There was one night I wanted it for my dinner, just the whole thing of it all by myself!  I didn’t do it, but I did eat at least half as an appetizer.  So for the most part as of now I have been wanting salty foods.  That would be hubby’s part of Bean because I usually have a sweet tooth myself.  And if you believe in any of the old wives tales, it means I’m carrying a boy.  So my most recent appointment was this past Monday.  He said I definitely got bigger and was measuring where I should be, my blood pressure was good at 126/74, and we were able to get Bean’s heartbeat with the doppler this time!  A wonderful 148 bpm and the best sound I ever heard!  Hubby recorded it but I don’t know the best way to add that sound clip on here, and he just went to bed.  Maybe in the next post or next update.  The next thing I have to go for is the quad screen test, which will show my chance of the baby having Down syndrome and other issues.  If the results come back good, I have my next appointment on the 31st, and I will schedule the regular ultrasound for shortly after that where we can find out the gender!  If the results come back with an increased chance of any issues, I will have to schedule a specialized ultrasound and go from there.  So I hope the results are good, but either way, we can find out if Bean is a boy or girl around the beginning of February!  I’m excited for that, but my gut tells me it’s a boy.  Hubby thinks it’s a girl, especially after a dream he had recently.  Some pregnant women get gut feelings and they are 100% right.  My gut could be wrong, but I think it’s a boy at this point and I also feel like I will go past my due date.  Just my feeling as of now – we’ll see how correct it is as time goes on.  I also got a belly band for my current jeans not long before Christmas, since I was having trouble buttoning them, and it fits great, but at this point I’m starting to notice a definite change in belly size, and I bought my first pair of maternity jeans the other night, along with 2 shirts.  That’s the other thing.  You will not see belly pictures on here until I am either pretty huge, or possibly not at all.  I was heavier to begin with, and I’m not fond of how my belly looks.  Right now I know I’m getting bigger because of baby, but I don’t show like the typical slender pregnant woman.  To the outside world, I just look like I ate way too many Christmas cookies in my time.  So, no pictures until I look distinctly pregnant, possibly none at all.  I’m taking them for my own recording, but that’s as far as they’re going for now.  So at the moment, that’s all I have on that for now.  After Monday’s appointment, I finally felt like I could let it all out, and even started looking at maternity clothes and cribs!  Now I’m excited and extremely happy!  Not that I wasn’t before, but I was totally overwhelmed with nervousness.

My Christmas was nice.  We went out for our usual buffet lunch, and back to my grandmother and uncle’s to exchange gifts and play Wii games.  Hubby and I exchanged in the morning, and his card made me cry.  In a good way, but these hormones really get me sometimes!  (I cried at the jewelry commercial of the couple with their baby up late at night for baby’s first Christmas!  Totally bawled…)  My parents and I chipped in together for a Kindle for him, and I also got him pj’s, and a bottle of 43 (booze).  He got me the Polar Express DVD, soundtrack, and illustrated book (I have been wanting the CD for 3 years now, because I love that movie, and he managed to find all 3 for a great deal on Amazon – the book was also partially for Bean), along with a jigsaw puzzle, a mat for the puzzle (something else I’ve been wanting forever), and a coupon for my choice of one pregnancy luxury item (example, a foot spa or other item for pampering).  My parents gave me/us a double crock pot, a Target gift card (for maternity clothes, but unfortunately Target doesn’t carry clothes for my body, so a new Wii game it will be!), and a camera bag for our new Fugi Film FinePix 1800.  Other gifts were cash and restaurant gift cards.  We bought my dad a tripod for his camera (same one as ours), a BJ’s membership for my mom, and other gifts for everyone else were made up of games, gift cards, clothing, wine, chocolates, and other goodies.  We did get a picture frame for his mom that is carved wood with the saying “Grandma’s Angel” for her first picture of the baby, and I made my aunt some jewelry that she absolutely loved.  I will do a whole separate post on that later, since this one became too long. 

New Year’s was spent at my in-laws.  Yummy food, relaxation, nothing too exciting there.  Overall a good holiday.

I apologize for the long post.  Hopefully everything made sense.  Since I haven’t done any announcing on here about the baby or updates, I had a lot to say!  I will eventually put up a poll for gender guessing, and will leave it up until we find out, but I have to figure out how to do that first!  Look for more updates to come, but I’m not sure how often I will do them yet.  Any advice you have on great baby products, furniture, must-haves, etc., are greatly welcomed since I am starting to look at that stuff now and I feel overwhelmed by it all.

And now it’s time for bed…