Little Acrobat

It's official. We are giving birth to an acrobat. I don't think I can put into words how much, hard and often our baby moves, kicks and flips. There are probably 4 hours in the day when it sleeps. Every other waking moment it is performing for a circus in my belly. The other morning I was in a nice slumber enjoying my last few months of sleep, when out of the blue at 4:45AM, our little one decided it was time to practice kicking and flipping again. This proceeded to go on for another 2 hours until my alarm went off at 6:45. Needless to say I had been awake for the entire time. There is just zero way I can sleep when something is punching and kicking so forcefully in my stomach.

That same morning, we got up and headed to the Dr's for our 24 week check up and gestational diabetes screening. As the midwife went to look for the heartbeat, our little one literally jumped to other side of my stomach. Our midwife said "my, I was going to ask if you had felt it kick yet, but I just got my answer. This little one is ACTIVE!" Seeing as I haven't been able to sit still very well my whole life, I guess I'm the one to blame. Looks like he is taking after mom in that way and we are going to have our hands full!

Given how active our babe is, both my grandma and our midwife think it must be a boy. For some reason they both believe that babies who are active MUST be boys. After all, little girls are sweet and calm right? I'm not so sure I'm buying it, but hey, we'll see soon enough. In the meantime I'm going to try and relax, play soothing music, take baths, anything I can do to calm down Mr or Miss Acrobat.

Turkey's Done!

So its official.....my belly button has popped. I should have known it was coming...I had some strange pain behind my belly button last week (so much so that I even asked my friend Brandi what the heck it could be) and literally the next day, I looked down and my belly button was out. Now, let me clarify, although you may think otherwise given the title of this blog, I luckily do NOT have a deep belly button, so really it just looks flat vs. poking out. That said, I'm a little nervous that it is already out and I still have 4 months to go. My sister told me this weekend that I'm going to have a HUGE baby considering how big I am already and I'm not even due until early April. Awesome. Now I will say that all along I've been praying for a big baby as everyone tells me they sleep better, eat better, etc. the bigger they are. However, to hear someone tell you that you are basically huge already and still have a lot of growing to do was pretty darn frightening. However, considering my sister had big babies, I myself was a big baby and Josh was also a big baby, I think our destiny is pretty much set for us. Come on 9 pounder! See below for a picture of my LARGE 23 week belly.




In other news, we are officially 23 weeks and 6 months pregnant today. It is unbelievable how time flies in your 2nd trimester. I can't believe we only have one more month in these "glory days". Then comes the 3rd and final trimester. I'm honestly glad it is going fast...I am just overjoyed with meeting our little one and the date can't get here fast enough!

Tylenol Only

So I've been meaning to post about this for awhile, but among all the other little adventures surrounding this event, it has fallen by the wayside. So, low and behold, here comes my feelings surrounding all the drugs that you can't have when pregnant but supposedly are OK for you while you are not pregnant...WTF?! How is that just because I'm carrying another life around all other drugs (Tylenol aside) suddenly become unsafe? Doesn't my own life count for something? Even if I'm without child, should I really be putting these things in my body if they could potentially harm a baby? This is something I have a real issue with.

Some things to ponder:

- Why is Tylenol OK when pregnant and Advil is not? I'm thinking I probably should not be taking Advil ever again. Clearly it has something harmful in it.

- Why is sweetner NOT OK when pregnant but all other times it is a free for all? Um, no thank you. If it could kill my child, I better not indulge myself.

- Why is only one cup of caffeine allowed when pregnant but all other times the caffeine can flow. Again, clearly caffeine has harmful effects so I think I'll enjoy one cup a day for the rest of my life.

- Prior to getting pregnant I was a huge proponent of Pepto Bismol...I literally called it the miracle drug. Well, imagine my disappointment when I reached for my trusty drug at the first sign of some stomach pains in the first trimester and there in big bold letters on the side was "NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE WHO ARE PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING". UGH! My so called miracle drug is apparently a killer drug. I guess that is why i called it the miracle drug...clearly if it can take care of 90 different ailments there is probably something pretty lethal in there. Pass!

Well Tylenol, you have just acquired a new brand advocate. Our entire medicine cabinet is now full of Tylenol only drugs. Nice Work.

Our Little Thumb Sucker

So last week we had our big 20 week apt and just as everyone said it was by far the best apt yet. For about 15 minutes we got to see every angle possible of our little one and it was awesome. From the heart to the brain to the feet to the lips, everything looked great and it was amazing to see how much he/she had grown. Our little one is weighing just under a pound at this point and is the length of a banana. It must be in there pretty snug as I feel it move all the time now (which I love by the way). Here are some other pics from the ultrasound:




I wish I could tell you what the sex of the baby is, but Josh and I somehow managed to stick to our guns and not find out. Let me tell you, when that ultrasound tech said she knew what we were having, it was all I had in me not to make her tell us. Later that day I even contemplated tracking her down and making her fess up. I know we will be glad we waited, it is just hard to keep it a secret when someone else out there knows. Luckily she told us that as many patients as she sees a day, the chance of her remembering beyond 24 hours was slim to none. Guess it is a mystery again :)

We are officially 21 weeks today which means we have about 4 months left before we get to meet this little guy or girl. Every day we get more and more excited and feel more and more blessed.

Bottles, Bottles, and More Bottles

Well, we did it. We finally faced our biggest fear and walked into Babies R Us this weekend to register. I've honestly been postponing it for as long as I thought we could as I was dreading the experience. I've heard so many horror stories of couples taking 3-4 hours because the choices were overwhelming and they had to read every single label to make a decision. Well, I was bound and determined this would NOT be us. Knowing a) Josh's attention span and b) that his Dad happened to be with us, I knew we were in trouble. Luckily, I will say that while ours was not the best experience I've ever had, it was also not the worst. I had done some planning ahead of time which I think really helped. 2 things that helped us survive: Baby Bargains book (http://www.babybargainsbook.com/babybargains/default.html) and an email from my mommy friend Julie who just went through this process a little over 2 years ago. I cannot say enough amazing things about this Baby Bargain book. It literally goes over every item you are going to need and provides a letter grade on each brand as well as a recommendation. It also goes as far as providing a sample registry in the book (although we did not see this part until after we were 80% done). This was our saving grace. Rather than read every little thing, we could easily open the book, see the one they recommended and scan. Done. The problem arose when they had a recommendation for a specific brand, but not a specific type within that brand. Ex: the book highly recommends Graco pack and plays. What it fails to say though is that at Babies R Us, there are NINE different Graco pack and plays. WTF! They all look the same except for the price so how the heck are you supposed to chose. Well, enter mommy friend email with brand recos. Ahh, bliss. When the book was out of recos, we turned to our email and voila. 9 out of 10 times this worked. Don't get me wrong, there were still many moments when Josh and I were fighting over the fact that the baby DOES need toys to hang from the stroller and yes we DO need a mirror for the back seat. But hey, in the end, I must say that I'm lucky we did a little planning ahead of time. I'm still convinced, however, that they should give you an "I survived my 1st baby registry" shirt on your way out.

Almost Half Way

We are 2 weeks shy of being half way done with our pregnancy....crazy! At 20 weeks we have our big ultrasound where the doctors check for the sex (although this won't affect us), how the baby is growing (organ size, etc), placenta and umbilical cord and whether or not the due date is still accurate (this will be interesting to see if its changed. Our last ultrasound we were measuring a little ahead of schedule, so we'll see). We can't wait! It is perfect timing too as we will then be hopping on a plane to go to Virgina for Thanksgiving where we can share all the news with Josh's family. On that note, I just found out today that I am going to get not 1, not 2, but 3 Thanksgiving meals...SCORE! I honestly could not be more excited about this given the circumstance. On 11/18, my work will be doing our annual Thanksgiving day lunch (#1), on actual Thanksgiving, we will be feasting with Josh's family (#2) and on the Saturday after Thanksgiving we will be having a belated Thanksgiving dinner with my family so that my whole family can be together (#3). Of all the year's to have 3 dinners, this one could not be more perfect...I think someone is watching out for me and my hunger.

Here are my latest belly bump pics. The first one is from 5 weeks when we had just found out we were pregnant. The 2nd one was taken this morning at 18 weeks. Amazing what just 13 short weeks can do. I'm scared for the next 13 weeks!

The Stuff Nobody Tells You

So in my first 17 weeks of pregnancy, I've learned a LOT of things that nobody ever tells you about. I'm sure that I will continue to learn a lot, so I intend for this post to be an ongoing segment on my blog. Here are the top 5 things I've learned thus far (the good, the bad and the ugly):

1. Nobody ever prepares you for how bad the 1st trimester really is. I'm not sure if it is because it is such a short part of your pregnancy, or if the joys of the child make you completely forget what you went through those first few months, but I'm here to tell you that it is rough! I was even a "lucky" one who did not get physically sick, so I can only imagine how terrible it is for those who can't keep anything down. For me it was the constant feeling of a hangover day in and day out. Headache, nausea, exhausted, food aversions, mood swings, etc. Think of it as being terribly hungover and PMSing at the same time. Horrible!

2. Some where along the line, someone forgot to inform me that starting around 14 weeks, you begin to have frequent nosebleeds, and your gums bleed every time you floss. What the heck?! I guess the extra blood flowing through your veins is bound to come out somewhere but geez.

3. I've always known that sleeping on your back and stomach was a no no but no one ever said anything about needing to sleep on your left side only. Apparently sleeping on your left side positions the placenta in a way that it provides the most nutrients for your baby. Now, I've always been a back sleeper so that was hard enough, but when I wasn't on my back, I was on my right side facing away from my lovely snoring husband. So, needless to say, shifting to my left side was an adjustment. Thankfully I quickly realized that earplugs were my saving grace!

4. No deli meat! You already know where I stand on this so I won't go into any more detail.

5. This next one is a personal symptom that does not happen to everyone, but again, I had never heard anything about it prior to being pregnant. Around month 2 I started sneezing excessively and now I sneeze a minimum of 20 - 30 times a day!! Apparently it is pretty common and it is due to a condition called Pregnancy Rhinitis. Sounds made up right? Wrong! According to Pregnancyinfo.net, "Pregnancy rhinitis is actually one of the most common discomforts associated with pregnancy. Like morning sickness and backaches, thousands of pregnant women experience pregnancy rhinitis every year. In fact, it is believed that between 20% and 30% of all pregnant women will suffer from pregnancy rhinitis to some degree."

The Calming Heartbeat

I don't think there has been anything more satisfying than hearing our baby's heartbeat. It's difficult to describe but without being able to feel the baby move yet, its hard to believe something is really in there. Even with my growing belly I sometimes (especially now that I feel great), completely forget that I'm pregnant, or worse, worry that something is wrong. However, when those appointments come around and you are able to listen to the heartbeat, it makes everything right in the world again.

We had our 16 week appointment yesterday and as usual, we were very anxious. Once our Dr. put that doppler on my stomach and we immediately heard the heartbeat we both felt this overwhelming sense of calm. Ahhh.... My friend Caroline told me recently that you can rent the dopplers and that way check the heartbeat on your own at any time. I think we might seriously look into that. Having that bit of reassurance could go a long way right now.

In other exciting news...I thought last week that I felt my first flutter. I wasn't quite sure until today when the Dr. was getting ready to hear the heartbeat and I told her where I thought the baby was (due to the flutter) and I was dead on! So exciting. It pretty much solidified my flutter feel as a baby movement and not just horrible gas. No ultrasound picture this time, but we'll be sure to keep those and the belly pics coming as we get them.

My First Sober Wedding

First of all, let me start off by saying this title is a little mis-leading. I'm not usually drunk at all weddings. However, I do usually enjoy a good wedding and along with that some good vino. Two weekends ago one of my closest friends got married and it was officially my first zero alcohol wedding (not counting the weddings I went to prior to the legal drinking age).

This was truly an experience. Let me start by saying I love to dance. And weddings are the best place for this. However, what I learned the other weekend is that without a little alcohol to get my blood flowing, my dance moves are terrible. My mentality going into the night was to just pretend I felt amazing (not dead tired), pretend I had a little alchy in me (not stone cold sober) and dance the night away like I normally would. Well, I succeeded in all of these, but when I stepped out on that dance floor without an ounce of "feel good medicine" I froze. I couldn't think of ANY moves. I did a standard back and forth motion and while I watched as my friends around me came up with a thousand different moves I was completely at a loss. It was sad. And depressing. Luckily they were all too drunk too notice ;)

Here are some pics from the wedding night.....a little bump is forming!

The Deli Meat Debate

So lately I've been struggling with the "No deli meat" rule of a pregnant woman. First of all, I've done some research, and of the 310 million people living in the United States only 2,500 become seriously ill with listeria each year. I mean, that is roughly the same chance as if an airplane were to fall out of the sky and land on me. Second, I don't go to the sketchy gas station down the street to get my deli meat, and I'm pretty sure Whole Foods is a clean, safe, hormone free environment. Third, my sister had a baby just 5 years ago and no one seemed to care about deli meats then. In fact, no one even questioned it. Fourth, have you seen the TLC show "I didn't know I was pregnant?". If not, you HAVE to check it out but that is another story. Anyway, they don't know they are pregnant up until they give birth (to healthy babies I might add) and I'm willing to bet that they munch away on deli meat sammys the entire time.

As for me, I've decided that if I crave a sandwich and I know where the meat is coming from, then I'm going to indulge. After all, there is nothing worse than depriving a pregnant woman of something she is craving.

My Dog Can Smell My Pregnancy From A Mile Away

According to Babycenter.com, "It's common for dogs to go on alert and become overprotective of their expecting owner from the very beginning of her pregnancy. Other dogs will treat their pregnant owner with more attention and care than usual."

In my experience, the above is an extreme understatement! Yes, I'm absolutely 100% in love with my dog, but she has become completely obsessed with me lately. For instance, in the past it was perfectly normal for me to wake up in the early morning to go to the gym, all while she was sound asleep on the floor aware of my being up, but not in the least bit interested. She could care less that I was awake at an ungodly hour because all she knew was that it was NOT time to get up. HOWEVER, in the last few weeks my alarm will go off as usual, I'll barely get my feet on the floor before she shoots straight up runs over to me and proceeds to follow me around the entire room while i get dressed for the gym. Lately she has even gone as far as literally coming into the closet with me. And this is just the morning. Imagine how the entire day goes. It essentially involves her following my every footstep and greeting me enthusiastically every time I enter the room even though I have just seen her 5 minutes prior.

Now many of you might think this is sweet, but let me tell you, when you have something following your every move 24 hrs a day it gets super annoying. For once, I would like to go to the bathroom without a companion.

This is a picture of Josh attempting to get a picture of JUST me and my little bump, but look who popped in unexpectedly. Heaven forbid if Josh tries to get me alone for 10 sec to take a picture.





Have any of my other mommy friends every experienced this? If so, would love to hear how you dealt with it. I think I need to join a support group....

The Next Adventure in My Life

So its been awhile since I last posted....honestly I did not think I would blog again but we have some exciting news that I figured was worth sharing in a blog journey. We are pregnant! At this point we are just about 13 weeks and therefore the terrible nausea and crankiness that I experienced in the 1st trimester has waned...sort of. So, what better way to kick off the next 6 months than with some blog action.

First things first, lets look at the little peanut. Below is a 12 1/2 week ultrasound pic. Now the first thing you may say is whoa, that baby has a huge head! Well, that's what I said anyway, but rest assured the doctor told me it was normal and nothing to worry about...phew! According to babycenter.com our baby is about the size of a lime and is learning reflexes this week...how crazy is that! Also, the intestines have grown so fast that they currently protrude into the umbilical cord...gross. Ok, enough babycenter.com.



Things are going well. We've "turned the corner" so to speak and now my days are filled with eating, sleeping, eating and well eating. Its really amazing that something so small demands so much extra food. Just the other day my Dr. asked "So, are you eating small frequent meals like we talked about?" To which I replied "Yes, I'm eating LARGE frequent meals all the time" :)

This week we visited our first daycare facility....holy cow, daycare. That is a whole other world. We loved the place, but seriously nothing is more of a wake up call about becoming a parent than walking into a daycare with a 100 screaming kids...as soon as we walked in, Josh smiled nervously and said a bit shakily "they are so cute". I could tell what he really wanted to say was "holy crap, what have we done!".

Next week I'm traveling for work...should be interesting packing 17 meals along with me to ensure I don't starve to death.

LAWD!