One Year

I realized this morning when I was in mass that it was a year ago this weekend that I got my BFP. Well I got three BFPs because I tested on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was such a surreal experience that weekend.  Remembering at mass was perfect time and place to thank God for the miracle that is my son. Sometimes I forget to take time in my day to thank Him. But I never fail to cry a happy tear that I have GV.  But especially at these times I remember all of you that are still waiting for your BFP. Please know that I'm still praying for you and wishing that you'll get your BFP.

Today GV giggled for the first time.  We were eating lunch at myParent's house and GV woke up from his nap. Wiki was holding him across the table from Kevin and I. We both started talking and smiling at him and while he was looking at Kevin he made a giggling noise.  We all started laughing but then something upset GV so we had to stop. I'll be waiting for next time.

3 months

So GV is 3 months old now! Wow! He's 13w5d today. Last time I weighed him he was 17.5 lbs already! Yes, I have a "healthy" baby.  Our RIC pediatrician told us it would take 9 months to double his birthweight and GV is going to do it by 4 months probably.

He smiles all the time now (it took him till 7 weeks to actually smile) but of course we couldn't get one out of him when he did his 3 month pictures last Wednesday.

He still hates pacifiers but will happily suck/chew on his or my fingers.

He loves sleeping but hates falling asleep. His morning nap is the surest. He fall asleep on his own and sleep for about 2 hours around 95% of the time. His noon nap is about an 80% probability that he will fall asleep on his own and sleep for 2 hours. His afternoon nap is about 50/50. Sometimes he'll sleep and sometimes he won't. Sometimes he'll put himself to sleep and sometimes I have to hold him (very still) till he falls asleep. Sometimes he sleeps for 2 hours and sometimes I can only get 1/2 out of him. This one is the most annoying because usually I'm trying to clean up and make dinner before Kevin gets home.  And then it doesn't happen because I'm entertaining the kid or holding him and walking around the kitchen island in circles. His evening nap only has about a 5% success rate.  Sometimes I don't even try.  I just wait till 9pm when I KNOW he'll fall asleep. I know I should make his bedtime earlier but when I did it backfired hugely on me and he was getting so upset that by the time I got him to calm down and actually relax enough to fall asleep it was 10:30pm. So we're sticking to 9pm for now.  But once he's down for the night it's usually till 5 or 6 the next morning. This past week he even made it to 7:30 (his usual wake up time) a couple of times.

I'm doing good. At 3 weeks after GV was born I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I want to work on losing some weight between GV and the next one (hopefully!) but I'm waiting till he weans. And yes I'm thinking I'm going to let him self wean.

We are still looking for a house. Maybe I'm just pickier than I thought but I seriously didn't think that it would be this hard - 4 bedrooms, 1800+ sq ft., nice kitchen, garage/off street parking, nice neighborhood, enough yard for the dogs (not that much really) and 30 minute max. commute to work for Kevin. It's got to be out there somewhere.

300

Hello Friends. Yes it's me and I've been a bad blogger. Both reading and commenting. A few days I can blame on not having an internet connection at home but not really since I have an ip.hone.

Things are going well. We're in St.P now in our furnished luxury apartment. We've got the place for the next 30 days, possibly 60 days if we can't find a house in time. Hopefully we will.  I'm a bit worried about our realtor though because she seems like and expert in St.P but when it comes to TPA she is woeful. As in when we said South TPA she gave us Rivervi.ew.  Rivervi.ew is 20 miles away!!! So right now we're concentrating on St.P and if we can't find anything we might ask for a new realtor that specializes in South TPA.

GV is doing fantastic. He's asleep right now, which is great because it's the first time since we moved that he's actually gone to sleep at his bedtime. Of course first he had to nurse for 50 minutes. We haven't had one of those since the first few weeks. He usually only nurses for 15-20 minutes.

The best though is that he's sleeping through the night! Yes! I know I'm jinxing myself by telling you all but I'm super excited about it.  First he dropped his 2am feeding at 6 weeks. Then he dropped sleeping between his 8pm and 11pm feeding. At 9 weeks I got him to sleep again between the 8pm and 11pm feeding but then he would only feed about 5 minutes at 11pm and reintroduced the 2am feed. Then when we stayed at the hotel (10 weeks) after the movers came he was sleeping so deeply that I didn't want to wake him for his 11pm feed. So I let him sleep. And he did! Till like 5am! Woohoo! So he's now gotten rid of the 11pm and 2am feed. Now we just need to work on the last one, the 5am feed. Then we'll be going 8pm to 8am! Almost there! The other night he woke up at 2am cause his legs got caught between the slats in his crib and wouldn't go back to sleep w/o a feeding and I was worried about him reverting but nope, he's still sleeping to about 5am to 6am.  Here's to hoping that it stays this way!

BTW, this is post #300. 

Today Today Today Today

Today is myMom's birthday. She's turning 57. I'm 32. When I'm 57 GV will be 24. If he waits as long to have kids as I did (plus thanks to IF it took a longer than average time to happen) then I will be 65 when I get my first grandchild. It's so weird to think that far in the future. My prayer is that both of us are still around in 2034.

Today is my 2nd Blogoversary. Yep! Two years ago today Dr. P and I came up with a plan to fight PCOS (which I didn't have) with weight loss (didn't happen) and clomid (which worked but 15 months later). My life is so different now. Even from a year ago. Sometimes it's still a bit surreal. Sometimes I just want to hug GV a little bit longer and harder than necessary because I still can't believe he's real and he's here and he's mine (ours). When will that feeling stop? Do I want it to?

Today the furniture people called and said that they're for sure delivering tomorrow. After 15 weeks it has arrived in the RIC and is on it's way to my house. Of course the owner of said furniture store called and tried to get me to make that first payment again before he would deliver the furniture. See I disputed the original charge with VISA after the third time they postponed my delivery date. I then conferenced the CC company who told him that he HAD to deliver the furniture before VISA would release the funds they seized. She very nicely explained that I was not holding onto the money, VISA was and that VISA would release only on proof of delivery. So anyways, GV will finally have a crib and dresser! And he only had to wait till he was 8 weeks old! As a side note the owner of the furniture store was the original owner of my house (it was built in 1992). Small world.

Today they put the FOR RENT sign on my house. That makes me a bit sad to think of moving out of this house. This is our first house. The house we chose together, the house we got engaged in (literally), got married in, struggled with TTC in and then welcomed GV home to.  Even though I gripe about this house sometimes, I don't want to leave.

So about the whole DH job situation, Kevin's last day on the job was July 30th. Fortunately about a week after we got back from Chicken's wedding (June 26th) a recruiter called Kevin and asked him if he would be interested in a job in Ta.mpa Bay (I don't think I've mentioned where in Florida I grew up but it's Tam.pa). Well the job is in St.P which is just across the bay.  So he said sure and a couple of phone interviews later they wanted him to travel down for a face to face interview on July 22nd.  He was only gone overnight (I did fine on my own with GV) and by Friday he had a verbal offer.  So we're moving. I'm excited to be moving back to family and friends. I wanted GV to grow up with family. But I'm not excited about going back to Florida. I don't like the heat, the humidity, the beach or the traffic. But I like having an income, I love my family and I really love that with the new salary Kevin is getting we can afford for me to stay home with GV. My goal is to start freelancing again when GV is about 6 months old.

This weekend is GV's baptism.  We decided to do it at the church we got married at here in RVA.  My grandfather (who is my confirmation sponsor) and Wiki are going to be the godparents. They along with my parents are coming up this weekend. On top of that Mum & Dad are here (till the 22nd) so we're going to have a full house! Well only during the day.  Gpa, Wiki, myMom and myDad are all staying at a hotel. Not a normal thing for my family (we usually cramp into the house no matter how many people) but we only have one bed at the moment (Kevin and I are sleeping on an air mattress) so we made an exception.

I promise the next update will come sooner. I'm still reading, mainly on my iph.one which doesn't lend itself to posting or commenting very well, so keep me updated too!

Sleepy Baby

So I finally got GV to sleep in his playpen without waking up.  The past few days he's been waking up almost as soon as I put him down to sleep. While I love that his favorite place to sleep is in my arms, I'm doing my back in from holding him. So I ordered a mei tai from BabyHawk. Now I'm chomping at the bit to get it.  I knew there were instructions here to make your own but considering that it's taken me 6 weeks and I'm no where near even at least half way done crocheting GV's blanket.  I think pulling out the sewing machine and going to the store for fabric would be just too much.

GV is doing fantastic.  His one month checkup was on Tuesday (5 weeks). He's now 24" tall - 98%tile, 11 lbs 14 oz - 90%tile and his head is 15.5" - 69%tile. He got his HepB shot too. That needle was huge! He did not enjoy it at all and let everyone know with a big wail. But he calmed down real quick with a big hug from me and some comforting words from Kevin. The ped noticed some stiffness in his neck when turning his head to the right, which is why he's more prone to look/rest his head to the left rather than right. She said it wasn't a big deal but we have to do a chin to shoulder stretch and an ear to shoulder stretch. He does not like the ear to shoulder stretch.

In other news, this is my first post from my new MBP! That's right, I got a Ma.cBook Pr.o! So exciting! It's my new mom gift. It was between that and a ip.hone 4. But since I'm not an early adopter type of Mac fan I went with the MBP.

Also some more exciting news: Kevin got a job offer! It's only a verbal offer but the letter is on it's way (hopefully!). Yes it means we're moving. Out of state. I don't want to jinx ourselves though so I'll write more about it on Monday since we should get the letter then.

One Month

Dear GV,

Today you are one month old. Wow! How did we get here? You are such a special baby. Your daddy and I love you so very much. You were worth the wait.

You've had a great and busy month.

• You started in the NICU but did so well that you came out in less than 24 hours. 
• When you came home both Dave and Les were infatuated with you. Dave watched over you and Les was unhappy with us anytime you fretted or cried.  
• You got your first bottle from Daddy at 4 days.  Mom & Nina went out during your 2pm feeding so Dad took care of you.
• Even though we had a rocky start to breastfeeding, you became a champion and it only took you 6 days to get back up to birth weight. 
• Your first road trip (to Florida for Chicken's wedding) was at 6 days. You were a great traveller!
• You met Chicklet for the first time at 8 days! She gave you a big hug!
• You rolled over at 9 days! All by yourself. Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Nina and I were all there watching you do it.
• Your first party was at 10 days. Chicken & J's rehearsal dinner. You slept through the whole thing.
• Your second party was at 11 days. Chicken & J's wedding.  You and I had our first mother-son dance. I cried because I was so happy.
• First beach visit at 12 days. We only spent about 5 minutes there because you and your mommy got really hot.
• Second road trip at 13 days. Back home. Also, you pooped on your mommy. So much poop that it came out of your diaper. Ugh!
• Grandma and Grandpa arrived for their visit when you were 17 days old. Nina missed you so much that she came too.
• Your first 4th of July at 19 days. Grandma was so excited you had three(!) outfits to wear that day. You lost your umbilical cord today.
• You met your Uncle E at 20 days. You also went out to eat for the first time. You did great! Also you pooped on your Dad while he was feeding you. Ha! Ha!
• Because your ped was on vacation when you hit 2 weeks you didn't go for your 2 week checkup till you were 3 weeks old. You rocked the scale at 10lbs 1oz. Someone is a great nurser!
• That day you finally started using your gpants. Mommy wanted to get a picture of the g on your bum, but you didn't want to. So you rolled over. Again and again. About 6 or 7 times. 
• Your first bath was at 22 days. You liked it at first but then wanted to be dry again. Like now. We took way too long to pat you dry.
• Our first day on our own was at 29 days. Nina had gone home long ago, Grandma & Grandpa has left a few days earlier and Daddy went back to work. We had a great day and were very excited when Daddy came home for lunch and at the end of the day.

You are such a good baby. You only get upset when you're hungry.  Much like your dad. Also you don't like having your diaper changed at night. We're hoping that having a wipes warmer will make this a much more pleasant experience. You don't like being hot but you love being outdoors. You don't like being strapped into your car seat but love being swung while in your car seat. During the day you like to be awake after feedings for about an hour or so and then you're ready for a nap. You get the hiccups, a lot. "They" say they don't bug you, but they bug me. You don't like pacifiers. You have 8 and you don't like any of them. I think it's because you don't see the point of them.

Daddy and I love you so much. You are the best part of us.

Love,
Mommy
xxx

The Day Between

So I've been holding onto this post for the past week.  There are so many things that I want to write about but between all the stuff happening, my innate laziness and all our visitors this post is taking forever to finish.  So I will hit publish at the end of this moment of silence and we'll see what happens.

• First, GV is a fantastic baby.  According to sources he looks exactly like me.  He has Kevin's ears though. Pointy Spock ears.  He also has Kevin's wrinkled forehead.  But he has my eyes and nose.
• The gdiapers are going okay.  We used the tiny gpants once we got home from the hospital but then switched to disposables on the way down to Florida and while in Florida. Then it was just easier to stay on them (myMom bought a huge box that we still haven't gone through yet) but finally decided to save them for trips out and about since it's easier.  Now we're using size small little gpants. A couple of leaks and but at least we haven't had poo leaks like we've had with the the 'sposies.
• Breastfeeding is going great. I have a post coming about it.
• We had our first ped appt the day after we came home from the hospital and GV was doing great.  He has a blocked tear duct on his right eye.  He weighed in at 8lbs 6 oz.  She thought it was the lowest he'd get. She also wants us to time feedings during the day to about 2-2.5 hours apart and feedings at night to 4 hours apart.  We often had to wake him up for his day feedings and magically we had to wake him up a couple of times for his night feedings.
• Our second ped appt was at 6 days (Monday).  She wanted us to come in on Tuesday but because we were going down to Florida we had to do Monday.  GV was up to 8lbs 10oz. His birth weight! Also we got prescribed something for his eye. Putting that in was painful, not for GV, for us.
• The trip down to Florida (Monday-Tuesday) went well.  Originally Wiki was going to fly back down to Florida on the Saturday but she didn't so that she could drive down with us.  We had to stop every two and a half hours to feed GV but he did well. We stopped in SC overnight and Kevin had a job interview that morning. It went well (we think) but we're not sure what's going to come of it. Right now there's not actually a position, but they're interested in Kevin. We got to Florida around 1am.  After a quick feeding GV got to spend some time with his grandparents.
• I had my first tear filled meltdown when we started the drive down to Florida. Everytime we got into the car I was really freaked out about how GV's chin would rest on his chest. I thought for sure he would stop breathing and worse I would be sitting right next to him and not know till it was too late.  I tried explaining my concern to Kevin and Wiki but the weren't as concerned as I was and so I burst into tears before we even got out of RVA. But I texted Chicken and she had the same fears I did so she told me to use receiving blankets to prop up his head.  I could breathe after doing that.
• I seriously thought there was going to be a throw down between myDad, myMom & Wiki over who would hold GV first after feedings.

Okay fretting. More later.

Hello My Son, part two

When GV was born he didn't give out that lusty cry (he was making noise though).  They cleaned him up while he was on me and then after a short while moved him to the baby station the check him over.  Because he wasn't giving that lusty cry they were concerned that he wasn't clearing the fluid out of his lungs and fully opening the air sacs in his lungs.  They still couldn't get him to cry out and the decision was made to NICU. Meanwhile Dr. P was seeing to me (2nd degree tear). They eventually let Wiki back into the room (she left when I started pushing) so we all got to see him until they took him away.

In the NICU they gave GV an IV and started him on antibiotics.  Apparently when they stuck him he gave the yell but because they started the IV they had to finish it up. Which is messed up because they gave him the IV because he wouldn't cry out.

Around 4pm they transferred me to the postpartum room but we got to stop by the NICU first. GV was so precious and little in that special bed but then you'd look at the other babies next to him and he was a giant compared to them. We weren't allowed to hold him then but they said when he got moved to the other NICU room then we would get to hold him. We were told that we could visit with him whenever we wanted but that at 9pm he would have a feeding.

We went to the room and updated family and made phone calls and such. Also the postpartum nurse brought the hospital breast pump so that I could start pumping since I couldn't breastfeed right away.  The amount I got was pathetic considering I had those things on my boops for 15 minutes.  But they said it was a good amount.  The NICU nurse had said to send anything down and they would add it to the formula he would be getting at 9pm.  When Wiki dropped it off they had already moved him down to the other room.  We went down for his feeding (we missed it by a few minutes) but I finally got to hold him.  He was so quiet and with such huge eyes. Kevin got to hold him afterwards. Wiki went home after the visit and the NICU nurse said that I should pump for the next feeding but then we would try to get him to latch and nurse for a bit after his midnight feeding.

Hello My Son

On Monday morning, June 14th, around 3:15am I woke up with a bad AF-type cramp.  It passed after a few minutes and I fell back asleep. Then about 30 minutes later I had another one. That was the pattern for the day.  A cramp every 30-45 minutes, nothing bad, just uncomfortable.  So I was looking forward to my OB appt & NST because I thought for sure I would be more dilated or something. I even warned Kevin that I might be calling him after my appt and having him meet me at the hospital.

My appt was at 1pm. Dr. P was at the hospital with a delivery so I saw the on call OB instead. He was horrible. Let's just say that he wasn't the gentlest of doctors when doing the cervical check. I was still at less than 1 cm. The NST was okay. GV didn't really move that much but I had a couple of cramps while hooked up on the machine so I was able to see those and his reaction to them.  Afterwards Wiki and I went to a couple of stores and then met Kevin back at the house for a late dinner. Before dinner, around 7pm, the cramps started to get more frequent and hurt a bit more. They were about four to five minutes apart. Wiki wanted me to call the OB but I wanted to wait. Since I hadn't had any Braxton-Hicks, I wanted to make sure these weren't them.  I knew eating/drinking and lying down could help relieve them so we had dinner and afterwards I laid down on the couch. They slowed to around 8 minutes apart.  But then the cramps changed to contractions. The pain was low (under the belly) but then would move around to my lower back. Plus they went to being 3-4 minutes apart. So finally around 10pm I called the OB. It was the same OB I saw in the morning. Grrr. But he did say that I should go in to the hospital. Kevin finished off the hospital bag and then we got in his car while Wiki drove my car.

Somehow my purse ended up in my car with Wiki so when we got to the hospital they wouldn't do anything because I didn't have my ID or insurance card. Kevin kept explaining to them that my sister had my stuff and the lady kept saying that I needed it before I could go to L&D. They accused Kevin of "freaking out" which he got really annoyed about. Finally Wiki showed up right when the L&D nurse did so she told them she was taking me back while Wiki finished off my registration.  What was especially annoying was that I had pre-registered and gone in on Friday to finish off my registration (in case of induction) and they still wouldn't let me in until they saw my ID and insurance card and asked me tons of questions which I had already answered multiple times.

I finally made it to the room around 10:45pm. I got the first cervical check around 11:20pm and was 1-2 cm. They told me since I had made progress since my appt that afternoon that the on call OB said I could have an epidural as soon as I wanted.  The pain wasn't that bad so I told them not yet.  It wasn't that I didn't want an epidural, it's just that I had a fear of them sticking something in my spine. I knew the pain was going to have to be bad enough that the fear was negated.  Anyways they gave me something that took the edge off but around 1am it wore off and I was ready for the epidural.

They let Kevin stay in the room with me but made Wiki leave.  They did the first part of the epidural (where I think they numb you up) and then when the anesthesiologist tried to do the second part I got a shooting pain that wrapped around my left lower back. I yelled.  They tried getting me to explain the pain and I couldn't very well.  So he tried again and I yelled in pain again with the eyes watering up.  He asked me if I had any back injuries and I told him no. He tried once more and this time it was more of a scream with tears falling.  So finally he decided to try a different location. I didn't feel a thing this time.  Later while I was thinking about it, I do have this thing with my back sometimes.  If I'm sitting and I stretch sometimes I'll trigger a pinched nerve in my back (pain on the left side). So I think he found it. If I have more kids I'll have to find out which vertebrae they should not touch!

Shortly after the epidural (1:30am) they checked me again and I was 3-4 cm.  At this point they told us we could get some sleep since we were just waiting for the dilation to happen on it's own. With the epidural in this was possible so we sent Wiki home and Kevin coverted the couch to a bed and settled in. The nurse came back around 3am for another check and I was at 5.5 cm.  Then when the on call OB showed up at 6am they checked me again (boy was I glad for the epidural when he had to check me) and I was at 6 cm and GV was at -1 position.  They decided to break the sac to help aid in dilation (figuring the pressure of GV on the cervix would help). Right after they broke the bag though I got hit with a sudden wave of nausea and my dinner came back out.  It was the first time I lost any meal during this entire pregnancy.

Dr. P came in around 10am and I was at 7-8 cm.  The nurse was guessing that I'd deliver before noon. But then the infection came.  I got the shakes real bad and my temperature started rising.  GV's heartbeat shot up above the normal range.  They gave me oxygen hoping to bring his heartbeat back down but it wasn't doing anything.  So they gave me some antibiotics and kept a close watch on GV.  They also started talking about possibly having to do a c-section because of the infection but when they checked me again just before noon, I was at 9.75 cm but with an anterior lip. By this time Dr. P was around. They needed the lip to go away before I could start pushing. So we waited a bit and after about half an hour it was gone so I could start pushing. But then GV turned from being face down so Dr. P had to help him reposition. But in less than an hour GV was born. They placed him on me and Kevin and I got to say hello to our son. He was born at 1:20pm, 8 lbs 10 oz and 22.5 inches.

Down but not out

GV is in his playard, being quiet, but not sleeping.  He got the hiccups right after his feeding which woke him up from his feeding induced nap.  He's gotten rid of them but now he'll be lying there awake most of the interval between feedings.  At least he's not crying. Okay, now he's starting to make noise...

Last night was actually one of the best nights we've had since we got back home from Florida. He woke up to nurse, nursed and then went back to bed twice.  With at least three hours between feedings. Then after the third one he stayed up a bit. Kevin has been great about getting up and seeing if he can get him to go back down before waking me up. Kevin has been great about a lot of things. But more on that later.

Okay you can't tell but there was an hour break there because GV started fussing a lot.  So I had to take him upstairs to his swing. But I did manage to get his room back in order.  Since his birth we've just been dumping everything in his room. It stayed a mess because we're not really using his room yet. Once we get his furniture in (still not around!) then we'll start using the room more.

And it's time for his next feeding. Gotta go wake him up now. Well get him up, I can hear him stirring. Can I just tell you how much I love this kid? A lot!

GV is here

Admitted

We're in the hospital, hooked to the machines, contemplating an
epidural. GV is on his way!!

Wiki Weekend

First, GV is still in. He is one day late.

This weekend was pretty low key. Friday we watched the world c.up game then went to lunch. Cousin E left afterward and Wiki and I went to my appt at the hospital.  I had to fill out some forms, answer some questions and then give some blood. They are all ready for me on Tuesday. Afterwards we did a bit of shopping and running errands.

Saturday was more wor.ld cup games and of course the England vs. USA game. Big game in the house.  Kevin thought it was going to be a England over USA 5-0. Wiki was hoping for USA over England 2-1 and I thought it would be a 1-1 tie. Then when England scored in the first 4 minutes, Wiki and I got a bit worried. But we were able to come back. Maybe next time we'll get the win. We finished out the night with a visit to Col.dstone.

Yesterday we went to church (after catching some more world cu.p games) and then hung out here. I'm sure it's gotta be pretty boring for Wiki (who's an always-on-the-go kind of gal) but she's been holding up. 

Today I've been up sporadically since 3 am with menstrual type cramps.  They could be labor pains but I'm not sure.  I've got an appointment at 1 so they can tell me then.  myDad is excited because today is the day he picked in the baby pool.

Wiki has landed

Wiki is on her way to RIC now (probably after stopping for food though). She flew in Norfolk because Southw.est doesn't fly here. My cousin who lives in Va Beach (who I very rarely see) is driving her into town because Kevin wasn't too comfortable with me driving out to get her (around a 2 hour trip each way).  Luckily my cousin was actually free this afternoon.

I still haven't cleared out the office yet.  Maybe she can sleep in GV's room for tonight. I did clean the kitchen floors though! Which was the one thing Kevin asked me to do. He mentioned vacuuming but then didn't bring the vacuum downstairs (it's really heavy and I'm not so good walking downstairs when I'm not pregnant) this morning. So I'll just wait till he gets home or do it tomorrow.

I also managed to finish addressing the birth announcements. I had them preship the envelopes. I also ordered 5 extra in case of really bad mistakes (I believe in white-out as long as you get the name bit right) but somehow my order of 55 + 5 turned into 67. Yeah, not sure about their math. But I'm going to have to order more because of myDad's side of the family. I'm sending it to his brothers and sisters (plus my cousins who actually live on their own) and aunts and uncles but not his cousins. It was still a lot though.

Okay I gotta get back to cleaning.

Appointments and Plans

Today was my 39w appt. Weight was down 3 lbs but Dr. P is not worried about it because the past two weeks I've had some swelling of the feet/ankles/hands and this week not so much.  Next was doppler time! The nurse was able to find his heartbeat pretty fast. 136bpm.  Everything else is looking good. Dr. P did another cervical check and the good news is that I'm no longer closed.  I'm not quite to 1cm, but at least it's open now.

We also talked about next week. The plan is that on Monday I'm going to go in for an NST to make sure that everything is okay with GV. Then Tuesday evening I'll go into the hospital to start the induction process (she mentioned gel) with the hope that I'll deliver on Wednesday. She said that if everything was okay on Monday and I didn't want to induce we could wait until the week after but that in her opinion it was better to induce between 40 and 41 weeks.

Kevin has been talking to GV nightly, reminding him that he's suppose to be coming out now. His preference is that GV is born by Wednesday night, that way we might be home in time for the start of the World Cup. And deffo by the England v. USA game.

BTW, work called me again today. Again a quick fix. 2 for 2 so far!

Two Phone Calls

So the first was from work. They called around 4 pm. Apparently Cupcake couldn't get my printer to work. As soon as he was describing the problem to me I knew what was up and was able to tell him how to fix it in a matter of minutes. But I did give him flak about not being able to get through an entire day w/o calling me.  Even though I told him he could call me. It was still funny.

A few minutes later I got another call. This time from the hospital.  Apparently my OB has scheduled me for an induction on the 16th.  At my 38w appt, Dr. P said that she didn't want me going past 41 weeks. Since I hit 41w on a Sunday she would schedule it for the week before on a day when she was on call.  I guess that day is Wednesday. Anyways, they told me I'd be coming in Tuesday evening.  Plus I have to  come in for a bloodwork & paperwork appt on Friday. So I guess I know GV will be here in a week & a half at the latest!

I'm not sure how I feel about induction. I know it can work but everyone I know who's been induced has ended up with a c-section.  I really don't want a c-section.

Updating...

So I am still here, still pregnant and impatient for GV to make his appearance.  People ask me if I'm ready to not be pregnant and really the answer is no.  Not that I loved being pregnant, but physically, it hasn't been a huge adjustment for me.  I didn't have any of the yucky symptoms that usually come, I've only gained 16 lbs and I'm still just as mobile & agile (with a few extra pains). Mentally it's been a tough nine months. The anxiety and worry have been hard to deal with. Especially since normally I'm a positive happy-go-lucky kind of person.  But I've only flipped out so much that I had to call the doctor once. Since then I've been able to talk myself down from the ledge.

So a few changes:

• I'm now on maternity leave.  Friday was my last day of work!  Because of Kevin's job situation I don't know if I'm going back.  I haven't decided if I want to be a SAHM, WAHM or what.  For now we need the insurance coverage so as far as work knows I'm coming back.
• We have decided to do hybrid diapers. This is where you use an outer cloth with a disposable insert.  The inserts are all natural so you can compost them (or flush them down the toilet). The brand we're using is gdiapers.  They are seriously the cutest thing ever.  I managed to score an awesome deal with ama.zon for earth day so I have about a 4 month supply sitting in GV's room.
• His furniture has still not shown up.  Officially they said 10-14 weeks, unofficially she said it'd be more like 6-8 weeks, but I was hoping it would be here by now. Yesterday was the 6 week mark.
• I finished organizing the kid's room yesterday! It no longer has stuff piled everywhere. I managed to find most everything a spot. Don't know how long this organization is going to last but I'm hoping a little while at least.
• The office is still is a disaster zone but at least everything that is suppose to be in there is actually in there. I have until Friday to actually get everything put away.
• Why Friday? Cause that's when Wiki is coming! She's heading up here for a week and a half.  Hopefully GV will show up earlier during her visit.

Okay, that's it for now. I'll post more later.

37 Weeks

How far along: 37 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs.
Stretch marks: Yes.
Belly Button: In
Maternity clothes: I got some new yoga pants. I really want shorts, but I guess capris will do.
Sleep: Over the weekend I actually managed to stay up until midnight (thanks to movie watching and the Los.t finale) and slept like old times. Maybe I should rethink the whole "going to bed earlier because sleeping has been crap" theory.
Food cravings/aversions: Cantaloupe. At the store. Not so much when we get home with it though.
Gender: Boy!
Movement: My OB wants me to do kick counts in these final weeks. Kick counts stress me out. Really stress me out.
Best moment this week: The nurse finding the baby's heartbeat right away on the doppler.
What I miss: Is it possible to miss coaching because I know it's going to end soon?
I am looking forward to: Ultrasound!! I'm pretty sure the baby is back in the correct position. Hopefully it stays that way until birth!
Weekly Wisdom: As the length of time between OB appts decreases, the anxiety experienced during the time between OB appts increases proportionately. How did I make it 4 weeks between appts for so long?
Milestones: Full term!! Any day now!

36w OB appt

Back to early morning appts. At my 34w appt, I decided to try doing a later time and it was horrible. I had to wait in the various waiting rooms forever!!  Have I mentioned that I hate waiting?  Anyways this appt, I went back to the 8am slot. Everything checked out. My weight has stayed the same, but Dr. P isn't concerned about that. They have me as +17 lbs so far. BP was fine, no contractions yet and urine test came back normal.

A normal appt except for the fact that I had a sheet around me from the waist down. Yep at 36 weeks we start checking the cervix. I also had my strep B test. Before she did the check I mentioned to her that I thought GV was breech again. I then had to explain that I can feel the difference in his positions because he's either kicking my bladder or shoving his feet under my ribs. Dr. P was hoping he was punching my bladder but that still doesn't explain the ribs being left alone. So she checked. And while she wouldn't confirm that he wasn't head down she didn't seem to think he was. So she wants to do another ultrasound next week (btw, I'm at weekly appts now!) before my 37w appt. Then she mentioned the whole c-section thing. I really don't want one. I've never had major surgery or hospital stays so far and I'd like to keep it that way.

Kevin has been getting a lot of meetings and training appts - in preparation for the outsourcing - in the mornings lately so I knew I had to make the appt in the afternoon if I wanted him to go. So next Thursday expect pictures!

36 Weeks

This is from yesterday. All caught up now!

How far along: 36 Weeks 3 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +14.5 lbs. It took me four days to remember to weigh myself in the morning before my shower so the weight might be a little off. But still, down half a pound since last week. Arg!
Stretch marks: Yes. We might get pregnancy photos done this or next Sunday. I'm not planning on any bare belly shots, but if we do I'm photoshoping those suckers out! I don't need these photos to be that accurate.
Belly Button: In
Maternity clothes: I've given up on some of the pants because they just won't stay up. But I've still got a good selection left. Also I'm amazed that my $10 walma.rt track pants that I got years ago would adjust so well to having a baby bump. Who'd have thought?
Sleep: The tossing and turning is not as much as it use to be. Now it's just fighting being hot all the time.
Food cravings/aversions: I keep smelling pancakes and syrup in the mornings...Maybe that's a sign?
Gender: Boy!
Movement: It's become more stretching and pushing rather than kicking and punching. But occasionally the baby gets a good punch/kick in.
Best moment this week: Two surprises in one week! Dave getting cake on her b-day and the baby shower the agility ladies threw for us on Monday.
What I miss: Nothing this week
I am looking forward to: OB appt this week! That's right! Heartbeat on doppler time again! Breastfeeding class on Thursday. Also Kevin is going to a Daddy Bootcamp this weekend.
Weekly Wisdom: Somehow visiting a hospital and going on a tour of Labor & Delivery makes it more real.
Milestones: 90% downloaded finally! Only four weeks to go! Less than a month!

35 Weeks

This is dated May 11, 2010.

How far along: 35 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs. I read in the "What to Expect" book and in the Mayo's that weight gain should slow down or even stop in the final month.  But then other women tell me that their weight exploded in that last month.  So we'll have to see what happens. At this point I'm just gonna eat what I want. As long as I get my protein, calcium, & vitamin in everyday I'm not going to worry about it.
Stretch marks: Yes. There might be more now. Still only in the one area.
Belly Button: Still in. I don't think it's going to come out.
Maternity clothes: My selection of T-shirts that still fit me has been going down. I'm now rotating through about 5 or 6 of them.
Sleep: Okay-ish. Only 5 more weeks!
Food cravings/aversions: Ice cream. But I let Kevin pick it out. Surprisingly he didn't choose chocolate chocolate chocolate. He went with vanilla chocolate chocolate.
Gender: Boy!
Movement: So the little feet have found a great nook under my ribcage. Ouch!
Best moment this week: Getting our diapers from Ama.zon! They are sooooo cute! Also of course hearing the baby's heartbeat on the doppler.
What I miss: A reliable car! Well I guess my car is back to being reliable now that it's got a new battery and tires.
I am looking forward to: Dave turning 10 on the 12th! Also we have our hospital tour this week.
Weekly Wisdom: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs are not enough to fill up on! They're an appetizer at most.
Milestones: Mostly everything is washed and put away!

34 Weeks

This is dated May 3, 2010.

How far along: 34 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs. I was a bit freaked out about last weeks weight gain since it wasn't one to begin with so I might have gone a little crazy with the food. But it puts me back on track.
Stretch marks: So I've accepted those 5 red marks as stretch marks.  What is weird is that it's on the one part of the belly that isn't rock hard or stretched like the top of my belly is.  I'd have expected SM there if anywhere.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: I've discovered that if I put the L-shaped pillow by my feet Les sleeps on Kevin's side of the bed. Score! Gonna have to use this one sparingly though or I'll have an upset husband and dog on my hands. Also an upset me when my hips start acting up again.
Food cravings/aversions: IHOP for dinner last night! Yum-O!
Gender: Boy!
Movement: I freaked out a bit on Friday about the absense of kicks and punches so my wonderful OB office let me come in for a non-stress test (NST). And the baby passed with flying colors! So I've accepted that the moves are just different now.
Best moment this week: The baby defying me at the NST and totally kicking up a storm. Yes even those knowing grins when I told the NP that the baby wasn't moving half an hour ago!
What I miss: Seeing Dave at agility. Apparently she did well (but didn't Q), best performances she's given in a while now.
I am looking forward to: OB appt this week so I'll get to hear the baby on the doppler again! Plus we're finally meeting with pediatricians in the afternoon. Half day at work! Woo hoo!
Weekly Wisdom: You usually have more things for the baby than you think you do.
Milestones: 85% downloaded! Almost to full term

33 Weeks

This is dated April 26, 2010. I know it's a bit late but I've got to catch up. And I'm totally using this as today's post.

How far along: 33 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +12.6 lbs. Down almost a pound from last week. I weighed myself multiple times and couldn't get a number to come up the same twice so I just averaged.
Stretch marks: Those red marks are still there. If it was just a skin irritation (I've got very sensitive skin) then I would imagine they would be gone by now...
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: It's getting better. Slowly.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy! We're starting to call him by name now. Although since for the past 7 months we've been calling him by other nicknames it's a bit weird coming off the tongue.
Movement: Yes! Lots! There's even interaction when I push on my belly.
Best moment this week: Seeing the baby again! The ultrasound was awesome! Also having the new carpet installed! It's so nice!
What I miss: Being able to finish a meal in one go.
I am looking forward to: Agility trial this weekend! Dave is competing again but only on Friday when I'm not there. Maybe this will help keep her focused on her human in the ring and not freak out about her human not in the ring.
Weekly Wisdom: New paint and carpet makes any room look awesome. You don't even need to put anything else in there!
Milestones: More baby books!

Progress

Today I managed to get more done! I finally went through everything that was left in the dining room and threw away what needed throwing, recycled what needed recycling and took everything else upstairs to  the GV's room.  So our dining room table is now clear.  Also the dining room. GV's room needs work though.  Maybe next weekend I'll finish that off.  I've already given the office over to Kevin to finish off. Everything is in there, it just needs to be put away and organized.
 
While Kevin went climbing this afternoon I headed to the store and finally picked up our travel system.  I managed to put together the stroller.  I know you're suppose to wash everything before use but I can't figure out how to take the washable stuff out and be able to put everything back together again. But I figure I've got a little time before those have to be done.  Hopefully Kevin will install the car seat this week and get it inspected. That's the only part I'm worried about since at my last OB appt, Dr. P said that at this point if I go into labor, they wouldn't stop it. We need that car seat in!

Unrestful Night

So lately I've been waking up around 3 or 4 am and haven't been able to fall back asleep. I wake up and my brain is just filled with worries, hesitations and thoughts of the future. It happened again last night around 3am. Took me over an hour, TV and a book to eventually fall back asleep.

But then I had an early start today.  Soccer game. 2nd to last regular season game.  We're also doing a tournament Memorial Day weekend.  It always gets me here how tryouts are before the end of the season.  Our team has tryouts Monday but we've still got 4, possibly 5, more games and two weeks of practice left.  It's all good and well when a player chooses to leave a team but what about those who get cut? I think it's a lot to ask of little girls to suck it up and keep going. And I'm not usually one of those "Everyone Wins" type of people, in fact the opposite. Oh well, I'm missing tryouts/practice this week because of baby stuff so it should be interesting at next weekend's game.

Okay, it's time for Doc.tor W.ho so I'm gonna get going.  Hope everyone had a great Saturday!

30 days!

That's right only 30 more days to go. Hopefully it flies by. Probably not. But I can hope.

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately. It's not just from posting but commenting as well. I have been reading this whole time though! I promise to do better. In fact I've decided that I'm going to post something at least once a day from here to birth.  It might not be interesting but it will be something.  Also I need to publish my weekly updates. I've been holding on to those for some reason.

Just in case you were wondering, the new office is still filled with boxes but most of the stuff is in there. The nursery has most of the nursery stuff but some is still on the dining room table. So we're farther along but not quite done yet. Maybe in 30 days?

The Carpet is In!

The carpet is done! It actually happened quickly once we got off our bums and did it. First we took out a 6"x6" piece from our closet. Then went to various stores on Saturday to find something close. We had two contenders so we scheduled premeasuring for Thursday to get final price estimates. The much nicer carpet ended up only being about $100 more so we went with that. Even though the salesman warned us it could take up to two weeks to get our carpet in, they were able to come on Wednesday. It looks beautiful!
And of course, pictures!

So the ugly grey walls are gone and the horrible mustard yellow walls were covered up.

The room door and bathroom door. We're replacing the outlet covers too.

The nook area.

A better shot of the carpet.

And the current star of the room - the new carpet!

So we're almost done! But the exciting part is that we get to start moving things out of GV's room and into this room. Which means we can move GV's things into his room and out of the dining room. So we can start eating in the dining room again! Score!

Guest Room Office:
1. Get rid of the bed.
2. Put away bed rails.
3. Get rid of the headboard.
4. Get rid of the dresser.
5. Get rid of the nightstand.
6. Get rid of the current tacky $20 Ta.rget book shelves.
7. Replace the TV. — We've decided to hang on to this TV until closer to our moving date. Or when Kevin finds a new job.
8. Clean out my great-grandmother's armoire.
9. Paint.
10. Replace the carpet.
11. Figure out what to do with the PS2 and all the rock band/guitar hero stuff.
12. Move the office furniture & supplies into the room.
13. Buy a sleeper sofa. — Because we don't know what the third bedroom in any new place will be like we're not going to invest in any new furniture. We've already gotten rid of the bed (which was a must!) so any guest that comes to visit us between now and moving date will either be on an airbed in the office or the sleeper sofa in the living room. But at least they get a choice, right?
14. Install nice bookcases. — We're not doing this either. I know it only adds to the value of the house but I don't want to go through the hassle and expense of installing bookshelves in a house we're leaving in a few months.

32 Week OB Appt (and ultrasound!)

So at my 28w and 30w appts, Dr. P was a bit concerned about my uterus measuring a bit large. Especially since my weight gain (+16lbs and +18lbs) didn't correlate with me having an overly large baby. She also noted a growth spurt between those two appts. So she scheduled an ultrasound for the 32w appt to check the size of the GV and measure the fluid around him.

So I had Kevin go with me this morning (it was sooooo hard to convince him ;) ) and we got there slightly late. But then the tech came in and she told us she'd do the checking and measuring first and then would show us him and take some more pictures. Of course Kevin just leaned over so he could watch the screen the whole time. Once she was ready she confirmed that he was a boy (which was slightly hard because he had his legs crossed under him) and also told us that he was in breech position. That explains the number he's been doing on my innards the night before and that morning (and since). Because he was breech, we got a good profile shot of him.

We got to see his hair too!

It's the white stuff all around his head. Then we got to see his heart beating away (she told us the rate but I forgot) and his spine. And then his little feet!

She also showed us his face but the photo for that wasn't good. But we did get another profile shot!

Next was the regular OB appt. Everything is good, no more bloodwork needed. GV is measuring 4.5lbs which is right on target, the uterus is still measuring large so that's probably just me and fluid levels are normal. Next appt in 2 weeks!

BTW, I'm not sure if I said but I passed my GD test! Yay! So we celebrated by going to Col.dstone :).  Also thyroid levels are normal and Dr. P thinks I can come off them 6 weeks post birth.

32 Weeks

How far along: 32 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +13.5 lbs. On track for a total 20lb weight gain! And because I'm a dork, I've done a graph...

Stretch marks: I'm not sure. Under my belly I have these four little red marks (two on each side of the belly) that were skin irritations and now kind of look like stretch marks but Kevin says they're not indented so I don't know if they're stretch marks.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: After a really painful night (which was also bad because Kevin and Les bedrailed me) I was ready to go back to the couch. But since that night it's been good.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!! Because of the job situation we're not going to paint his room or put up the wall border that matches his set. I want to save it for the new place.
Movement: Everyday! I can tell the difference between him moving around and kicking/punching. Also I think he's turned inward because he's regularly making my innards feel beat up on.
Best moment this week: Well the nicest was being invited to join a mom's group by one of the bunco ladies that apparently is by invite only. Also I ordered our diapers from Amazo.n at a great deal. Things are happening!
What I miss: My normal lunch spot (a grocery store)! It's closed for refurbishment and I'm lost w/o it!
I am looking forward to: Ultrasound this week! Kevin is going with me. Also the carpet is going in this Wednesday!
Weekly Wisdom: Stock up on diapers!
Milestones: 80% downloaded! Also we got two after birth baby books from the library - What to Expect in the First Year (which I got at the shower but somehow didn't end up in my suitcase) and the first Babyw.ise book.

31 Weeks

How far along: 31 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs. I weighed myself four times today and got four different weights. Arg that bathroom tile. It's so un-even.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in, but Kevin has said it's looking rounder. It feels shallower.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: Only 9 more weeks and then I can at least sleep on my back.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!!
Movement: Everyday! One morning "Ice Ice Baby" came on the radio and I turned it up. GV then started punching and kicking. I wonder if he liked it or not?
Best moment this week: Finally going to the carpet stores to pick something out! Oh and hearing GV's heartbeat :)!
What I miss: Having a full appetite at dinner. I think I'm just so tired from the day, I just don't have the energy to eat.
I am looking forward to: Bunco is finally back after a month and a half. Also carpet premeasuring is this Thursday!
Weekly Wisdom: Everything is done in small steps, but they add up fast!
Milestones: First bi-weekly appt! Also because Kevin's agility schedule has changed I think we can actually do the hospital tour during the 6-8 week window they want you to do it in.

More Changes

A couple of weeks ago I put in a prayer request because Kevin had a job interview. He ended up not getting that position. But there was still hope. There was going to be a retained position in the organization that was very similar to what he is currently doing. Kevin was very positive about this position. His interview was 3/31. On Tuesday we found out that he didn't get the position. That means that as of 7/31 my husband no longer has a job. This has been a huge shake-up for both of us. One of Kevin's characteristics is that he likes taking care of people. This impacts his ability to do that. Yeah, he might complain about the things he does but he really does love taking care of everyone. For instance, everyday he makes sure to hand me my synthroid and prenatal vitamin. It's his part of making sure GV is taken care of.

So what does this mean for us? Right now it means that we're mostly likely moving this summer. Kevin has a very specialized job in a very specialized industry. So much so that he's doubtful anyone else in RVA would have the same job need. So we would need to move to wherever the next job is.

Our biggest dilemma is our house. See we bought our house in the peak of the boom in 2006. Since then house prices have plummeted in our area. Since we were planning on living here for at least 3-4 more years (until we ran out of bedrooms) it wasn't a big deal to us. Well, now it is. We can't sell the house. We're not underwater or anything, I just refuse to sell if we can't even break even.

A sort of melancholy has come over the house. I'm praying that Kevin is able to find a job soon and that we don't have to move too far away. A few months ago when this was all hypothetical I told Kevin that I didn't want to move farther north or back to the mid-west. I'm still holding out hope that we can stick to it, but the closer it gets to 7/31 I know those areas become possibilities. We've got 113 days.

Generosity & Progress!

I forgot to mention that Sunday evening (while I was at the airport) our neighbor K came by with two brown paper bags full of baby clothes and a "My Br.est Friend" pillow. This is the neighbor that had a boy last April. The clothes were so cute. I talked to her a few days later and she also mentioned that they had a swing, excersaucer, baby hangers and a hanging baby jumper that they were done using. After two boys, they're not going to have any more kids so she's clearing things out. Oh, and she said that she'd give us their breast pump and leave it to us to decide if we wanted to keep it or not. I guess once you get to that stage you just want things out.

I was actually on the phone with Kevin when she came by. He had called me because he had just started re-painting the guest room and realized the color was really really close to white. We had been thinking that some of the butterscotch color would bleed through to make it look darker, but nope. The new paint went on really thick. So he stopped and called to confirm that I wanted him to keep painting. Since I was hundreds of miles away I told him to stop. When I did get home it was really light. My solution? Go back to Low.e's and get the darker color on the swatch card and mix them up. Then this past Sunday he painted. It's done! Finally! The color is beige. I'm so glad that's over.

Guest Room:
1. Get rid of the bed.
2. Put away bed rails.
3. Get rid of the headboard.
4. Get rid of the dresser.
5. Get rid of the nightstand.
6. Get rid of the current tacky $20 Ta.rget book shelves. — These are in the attic awaiting the neighborhood garage sale on May 15th. If I can get someone to sell it for me since I've got a game. Or Kevin agrees to do it.
7. Replace the TV. — Still have the old TV. I got a few interests in it but our schedule has been so crazy that I couldn't ever meet up with people. I'll relist it for this weekend.
8. Clean out my great-grandmother's armoire.
9. Paint.
10. Replace the carpet. — The owner before us replaced the carpet in the master, current office and landing. But not the GR for some unknown reason. Now that we're replacing it, we want it to match the other rooms. But according to all the carpet places we've called, in order to do that they would need at least a 6"x6" sample of our current carpet. They want me to rip up my nice carpet! I'm struggling making myself do it. But I know I've got to this weekend or this room is never going to get done.
11. Figure out what to do with the PS2 and all the rock band/guitar hero stuff.
12. Move the office furniture & supplies into the room.
13. Buy a sleeper sofa.
14. Install nice bookcases.

Sunday Shopping

Wow, I know, I've been slow in getting posts up. But eventually I'll catch up. Or at least give up. Today it's try to catch up.  Okay so day 3 of Florida trip:

Sunday

Woke up bright and early to get ready for church. myDad had to work Sunday so he was gone by the time I had gotten up. Kind of a bummer but that's what you get when your dad works in a hospital. Anyways as soon as we arrived for church, I saw J walking towards us. After mass we went to Crack.er Barre.l. Not really my favorite place but as it's the only "breakfasty" restaurant between church and the house that's where we usually end up. Brunch lasted about two hours and was really great. The last time I saw J was right before she moved to NO - March 2008 or so..

Afterwards myMom, Wiki and I made a quick trip to Bu.yBuyBa.by. That place is huge! It's got everything you could possibly need! Too bad there's not one in RVA. Anyways we then went across town to Chicken's dress fitting. After about half an hour, I picked this dress (Chicken picked the color).

It looks a lot different on me than the model but she's not nearly 7 months pregnant so I think I'm excused. I have to wear this dress two weeks after GV's due date so it should be interesting. The remaining hour and a half at David's was spent giving advice to the other 4 bridesmaids on their dresses. Finally at 3:30 we were all done and I was off to the airport.

We had one last meal together (in which I ruined my printed boarding pass and had to run around the airport to get another one) and then I was back on a plane RVA-bound.

All in all a great trip home but a LOT of running around. I don't think I had the chance to rest really. One huge side effect though!

Monday

So I noticed Sunday night that my ankles were looking a little pudgy. I didn't think anything of it until Monday morning. Yeah, I bypassed the cankle stage and went directly to the huge huge ankles connecting my calves and feet. It was so bad that walking in shoes felt off. So at lunch time I went to C.VS to buy some compression socks. Dude they are expensive! It was $17 to buy one pair! I got these:

It took two days of wearing them from as soon as I got up till I went to bed but eventually I got my ankles back. Chicken has warned me that closer to delivery I will probably have to say good bye to my ankles until up to two weeks after delivery. That I'm not looking forward to.

30 Weeks

How far along: 30 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +11.5 lbs. Yeah I lost a bit of weight this week so I was concerned. According to the doctor's scale I've gained 1 1/2 lbs since my 28w appt. Dr. P says I'm still ideal though so I'll go with that.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: The only thing that seems to help has been sleeping on the couch once. I still tossed and turned just as much but there was no hip pain. But Kevin doesn't like this arrangement though so I've not repeated it.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!! We might start working on his room this weekend!
Movement: Everyday! I've been concerned that they don't feel any stronger, but I can see them on the outside. Kevin has taken to telling the baby to wake up so that he can feel him move. And the other day GV responded! Kevin just had the biggest smile on his face.
Best moment this week: GV reacting to Kevin's voice.
What I miss: Sitting at my desk comfortably. I think GV is positioned so that his feet(?) are right next to my rib cage. It can hurt if I start to slouch!
I am looking forward to: Finishing up the office/guest room.
Weekly Wisdom: I swear GV has a personality already!
Milestones: 75% downloaded!! Time to start getting the big stuff!

Saturday Running Around

Thursday night before I left my friend J emailed me to tell me that she was going to be in Florida this weekend. She lives in NO but her in-laws and stepson's mom live there. She asked if I wanted to get together for an lunch on Saturday and I told her that it would be kind of tight but that I would try. We texted back and forth Friday night and had tentative plans for an early lunch.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early for breakfast with Chicken, Chicklet and fiance J. Then Chicken and I went to get facials. It was okay, but like a professional massage it's something I never have to do again. We also got manicures at the same place. But they only had one manicurist and one facial(ist?) so we had to alternate instead of doing them together. That was kind of a bummer.

One of the reason Kevin didn't come with me on this trip was because he was running a 10K Saturday morning. It was his first road race ever and I was kind of bummed out that I didn't get to be there. But I had knew it was a possiblity since he decided to run in it. Anyways his wave was suppose to take off at 8:42 and he called me at 8:30 saying that he was in touching distance of the parking garage but had been stuck in race traffic for over an hour. So he missed his flight. Luckily they allow you to drop down in waves so as long as he made it to the start line by 10am he would be okay.

Right as I was going in for my manicure J texted me to say that they got in really late (like 3am!) so could we reschedule lunch to the Sunday. Which was good because there's no way I was going to make it out of the salon before 11am.

Kevin had signed me up for race notification to be texted to my phone when he reached the half way point and finish line. They didn't come through so I got more and more worried during the manicure that he didn't make it to the start line. But while I was waiting for the facial to start he called and left me a message letting me know that he had finished with a time of 46:29. Pretty good for his first race! Even though I had warned him about the other people running the race, he was surprised by how much it affected his run.

After we were done at the salon we went back to Chicken's and I hung out there till it was time to leave for the shower. It wouldn't have been worth it to drive all the way back home. The shower was held at a beautiful park on a hill next to a lake. More food (Yay!) and more games. Of which we won two of them! We being me, Wiki and myMom. We got to use our phones for one of the games to get answers and my ipho.ne worked better than Wiki's iphon.e 3GS!

When we got home I laid down on the couch for a rest and then GV started moving and kicking. I called myMom over to feel and we waited. After a few seconds GV gave her a good kick. As soon as myDad walked in the door (from a church function) she boasted about being able to feel GV. So then my sister and then myDad tried. Luckily GV cooperated for all of them and wasn't his usual stubborn self. I guess only Kevin has the hands of calmness. Hope that's true after GV is born!

That evening Wiki and I went back to Chicken's for a hair and makeup party. Chicken is wanting to do both herself (or have a friend do it). So we got together for some pizza and experimentation. Friday night I had gone through all the gifts and figured out which ones I would need right away and which could wait a month (when myMom and myDad drive up for their visit). While we were at the party myMom got everything to fit into one suitcase. And it was under 50 lbs!

So another 11:30 bedtime. But I did get to talk to J and we decided to go to mass together and then brunch the next day.

Friday Surprises

Wow! What a weekend! There's quite a lot to document so I'm breaking this post up by days.

Friday

Because of AirT.ran's stupid luggage fees, myMom and I decided that I would come down with only a carry-on and then they would lend us a suitcase to take all the baby stuff back with me. So I packed Friday morning and Kevin took me to the airport. I was one of the last ones to board and so when I got on the plane the flight attendant told me I would have to gate check my bag because there was no more room in the overhead bins. I said okay and after I made it to my seat realized that I had forgotten to take out my snacks. I was getting kind of hungry so when the FA came through with the drink cart I asked for several of the biscuits they handed out. We landed in Atlanta and I stood waiting for my bag back. Someone came in with a stroller (not me yet!) but no bags were being brought. So I asked the FA and he said that my bag was checked through all the way to Florida! My lunch was in there! I tried asking at the counter but the lady said that since it was only an hour to my next flight she doubted my bag would make it back to me in time. So I had to spend $9 on a sub, fries and lemonade. What a rip off! But both my flights ran on time and they had a promo for free inflight WiFi so that was good I guess.

myDad and Wiki picked me up and they were hungry (it was around 3:00 when we got to our side of town) so we went to eat. I wasn't hungry yet so I had a cookie. Then we went to Sea.rs because Wiki and I needed Chicken's bridal shower gift. They didn't have anything! myDad had to go to his favorite stores, Starb.ucks and the Appl.e Store. Then we hit Targ.et because that's the other place Chicken had registered with. I couldn't see anything I liked there either so that was annoying. Wiki bought Chicken some wine glasses.

After Target we drove home. As I walked in the door, there were all these people standing in the office and when I looked towards the kitchen there were more people! myMom and Wiki had thrown me a surprise baby shower! I was deffo surprised, I had no idea. Of course I looked like a scrub after traveling all day, partly because I knew I was traveling and had no plans for Friday night so I made no effort Friday morning. Wiki had made me a t-shirt that said "Somebody's kicking me" and then had two footprints over the belly so I changed into that.

I tried to straighten my hair a bit but with putting it into a ponytail/bun thingy in the morning while it was still wet and then dealing with Florida humidity I had to give up after a few minutes.

We played a few games: baby bingo, word scramble and word search, TP diapers and this drinking from a bottle game. BTW, if you do this one don't fill up the bottles like myMom did. Only put a little amount. This game is harder than it looks.

Then it was on to the presents. Thanks partly to Wiki and myMom there were quite a few ones! Apparently Kevin was in on it and so we video chatted him in during the gift unwrapping. I think we're all set for clothes!

Also Wiki made me an awesome cake topper - a little mini-me!

We had cupcakes instead of a normal cake.

The party wrapped up after that. After everyone left, we watched a bit of TV and talked. I had told them what name we had picked when I first got home (while trying to make myself presentable) and then swore them to secrecy. I didn't get to bed till about 11:30 which is a rarity for me these days. But I had a jam packed Saturday ahead of me!

29 Weeks

How far along: 29 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +13 lbs.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: myMom got me 3 or 4 outfits which is what I wore all weekend. Also I bought compression socks, but more about those later.
Sleep: Still interrupted. The hips have been really bothering me.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!! So we've got a name I think. We decided before my trip so we could tell Wiki and myParents. I've told a couple of friends but everyone else can wait till birth or closer to it.
Movement: He's been moving all sorts now. I think I can tell the difference between punches and kicks and just general movement. Last week we went to a concert and I could tell he was awake and moving. Then when they put on a James Brown medley between bands he was kicking hard! Kevin was wowed!
Best moment this week: Seeing everyone at my surprise baby shower! (more later)
What I miss: My ankles!
I am looking forward to: Getting the guest bedroom done finally! It's been ages and I'm ready for it to be done!
Weekly Wisdom: Sometimes it takes a while to fall in love with being pregnant. Feeling movement frequently helps!
Milestones: A normal pregnancy symptom - even if it is swollen feet and ankles.

Last Monthly Appt

The OB's office was really busy when I showed up. Usually my appointments are first thing in the morning but this one was at 3:15. They sent me back to the lab to drink the stuff they give you. It tasted like really really really sweet fruit punch. I had to be back by 4:20 in order to draw my blood, but in the mean time I would see Dr. P for my 28w appt.

First I got weighed in. +2 lbs since my last appt, +16 lbs total weight gain. The nurse did the usual and asked the usual questions. Then it was doppler time. I've noticed that I've relaxed a bit about the doppler. I use to get really anxious right before my appts because my fear would be that we would hear nothing. But now I know GV likes to be difficult so it will take a few attempts to find the heartbeat. Maybe it's because I can feel the movement so I know he's okay in there. Anyways, the nurse finally found the heartbeat and after a few seconds there was a loud "whap" and I could feel GV hit the doppler probe. She moved the probe to find it again, did and a few seconds later "whap" again. GV did not like that probe poking him! And she wasn't pressing that hard so he must just be sensitive. Eventually she found a spot that didn't disturb him and we got the measurement. 138bpm. She said as long as it was above 120bpm then everything was fine.

Dr. P came in shortly after that and said everything was going great. My thyroid bloodwork we took at the last appt was normal and my weight gain is "perfect." She measured my uterus and it's measuring large. She said at my next appt, she would measure it again and if it's still large then we'd do an u/s to figure out what's up. She said she wasn't that worried because my weight gain doesn't suggest a large baby. My next appt was set for April 6th! That's right I'm now in the biweekly appts zone!

Afterwards I hung out in the lobby till it was time to get my blood drawn. The sugar must have really hit GV then because he got so hyper! Finally 4:20 rolled around, I got 3 vials of blood drawn and then left. They're also checking my thyroid one last time and Rh something or other. The lab tech said that the results should be in today or tomorrow. While I'm worried about GD, I'm hoping that I've done a good job with my diet so far that I don't have it. Both types of diabetes run in my family and I know that if you get GD you're at a higher risk for getting Type II later in life.

I told Kevin about how I was measuring large and he immediately hypothesized that GV was hiding "Pyramid View" and that's why I was larger. Ummm, no! No twins for us. I think we'll have our hands full with just one. Next he theorized that GV is taking after him, tall and skinny. I like that theory better.

28 Weeks

How far along: 28 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs. Back on track finally.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: It took me an hour and about 8 different dresses from the maternity and plus size racks in Koh.l's but I found a dress that didn't rely on the cuteness of a belly bump as its main decorative piece. Some of us don't have cute belly bumps, we just look like we've overindulged. Plus the dress is springy enough that it will work for Chicken's picnic themed bridal shower and Easter! Score!
Sleep: This past weekend the constant waking up has returned. I'm not sure what's waking me up but it's really annoying!
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!! Still no name yet. And no, we're not any closer. We've kinda shelved the discussion. Don't tell myMom though, she really really really wants to know.
Movement: More movement and Kevin has felt some! He was surprised at the different intensities of the kicks. I think he thought they were all going to be tough punches and kicks instead of sometimes only being a soft flutter.
Best moment this week: Realizing GV has a schedule and "knowing" when he's gonna be active.
What I miss: Nothing!
I am looking forward to: Trip to Florida! Seeing Chicken and Chicklet and my family.
Milestones: 28 Weeks! 70% downloaded!

Sunday Confession

Sunday I admitted to Kevin that I hated the wall color I picked out. I'm not sure what happened but when I went paint shopping, I wanted to get a light beige. After 5 minutes or so, I picked it out, bought 2 gallons and then went home. Sunday as soon as Kevin started, I realized that it was not light beige at all. He finished the first coat (it really needs a second coat) around 3 or 4 and was planning on doing the second coat but I asked him if he liked it and he said no. So then I told him I didn't like it either. Tomorrow we're going to go to the store together and pick out another color. We're gonna go with a lighter color than originally because I don't want him to have to prime again. This way if the first coat bleeds it won't be so bad.

Side Note: The color is only a tad darker than the color of our bedroom, which I love, but apparently Kevin doesn't like that one either.

Next weekend is my trip to Florida. The main purpose of the trip is Chicken's bridal shower and bridesmaid dress choosing/fitting. But I also get to see my sister! Last month Wiki and her boyfriend (of 4 years) broke up and Wiki moved back home. The past year has been really rough on her (she got laid off of work in Feb 2009, lost her coaching gig in September and now this) and she's taking some time to regroup. I've dropped hints about her moving here so you never know!

Last night was my first spring soccer practice. I told the parents I was pregnant two weeks ago, but last night I told the girls. Some of them knew already. One girl asked me when in June because she thought maybe GV would be born near her birthday. But since her birthday is the 26th, I hope not! Practice went well and physically I was fine. That was my biggest concern. 

I do need to talk to my "co-coach" though. He helped me with the team last fall because of the cruise and towards the end of the season he started showing up to practice and trying to take over. He was there yesterday and while I understand that he's going to take a bigger role because we don't know when I'm going to stop coaching, I just felt like the whole time he'd rather I was doing something else. He's going to practice tonight and before he left he started talking about how he knew what he wanted to work on. I usually have a practice plan before I show up so it's a bit disconcerting and distracting when he just shows up and wants to start doing things. If I know he's coming or has something in mind then I can have a plan for that.

27 Weeks

How far along: 27 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +13.5 lbs. I've been watching what I'm eating more. Trying to make healthier food choices.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: I just realized that this weekend is Wicked and that I probably don't have a dress to wear.
Sleep: Les has been sleeping in her pop-up crate the past few nights which has been nice.
Food cravings/aversions: Since pasta has been popping up in our meals so much lately I decided to cook it out of our Prevent.ion cookbook. So instead of splitting 1lb of pasta 4 ways, it's 8 oz usually.
Gender: Boy!!!
Movement: The past two days he's been really active. Also I've been getting these weird "quivering" movements. I wonder if they're hiccups or BH?
Best moment this week: Telling someone I was in my third trimester. It's finally here!
What I miss: Being able to sneeze and not petrified that I'm going to pee my pants.
I am looking forward to: Soccer practice starts this week, we have a tourney this weekend and Wicked on Sunday!
Milestones: Third trimester!!

Guest Room Conversion

On Thursday I had someone email me about the TV we put on craig.slist. We made arrangements for them to come see it on Friday. But Friday evening came and went and they didn't show. However Friday another person emailed me about the TV so I emailed them back yesterday. Hopefully they still want it. Still no bites on the bookcase.

My plan was to finish packing up and clearing out the guest room by Thursday so that we could do the prep on Friday and Kevin could paint on Saturday. Yeah, didn't quite work out. I didn't finish packing and clearing till Saturday morning, then I went to get the supplies (sandpaper, roller refills, TSP and of course primer and paint).

So here's the room we started with:
Side Wall:

Back Wall:

Inside Wall:

Front/Inside Wall Section:

Little Alcove/Front Wall:

To the left of the alcove is the closet. No it's  not that deep! There's crawl space storage in the back and then a standard closet in front of it.

We spent most of the early afternoon cleaning and patching the walls. The previous owner had painted 2 1/3 walls a dark grey color. Even though the room has three windows because we have so many trees, it doesn't really get that much light. The other 1 2/3 were left the builder's white. I'm not sure if they did this on purpose, only had one can of paint (the room needs about 1 1/2 gallons for all the walls) or didn't want to mess with the awkward angles of the alcove. They didn't really do a good job painting so after we moved in I had to go buy more paint (they left the can in the garage) and fix the edges and clean up the trim. They hit the ceiling quite a few times! There were also tons of little nail holes in the wall.

Anyways Kevin didn't start priming the walls till about 4 or so. It's a bit awkward priming because part of the room is unpainted (well hasn't been painted since the builder did it) and the other part has a glossy dark paint.

And it's been killing me to be downstairs while Kevin gets to paint. I actually enjoy painting and am quite good at it. Kevin really doesn't like to paint so I'm sure he wishes we could switch places too.

So progress as of this morning:
Side Wall:

Back Wall:

Inside Wall:

Front/Inside Wall Section:

Closet/Little Alcove:

The real paint goes on today and then it's carpet shopping!