Wednesday, August 26, 2009

30 weeks!

Well folks, 10 weeks left, which, as of tomorrow is only 70 days! To celebrate the fact that I am 3/4 of the way there, I have taken a new preggo pic of my big ol' baby belly!



Boy...that belly is WAY out there these days! The baby moves around a lot, and the movements are very strong. Last night as I was getting ready to sleep, the baby was rolling around, punching, kicking, etc. The baby has also gotten into the habit of what I think is sticking a foot up into my left ribs and causing severe cramping and a general feeling of being uncomfortable.

I am still waking up between 3 and 4am for a pit stop, and then can't fall back to sleep for at least an hour. Every other night, I'm up 3 or 4 more times for pit stops. Haven't had any baby dreams lately. In fact, I can't remember any of my dreams lately. Sleeping comfortably is a challenge. My pregnancy pillow definitely helps the situation, but I guess I shouldn't be looking for miracles! I think I'm getting enough sleep for the most part, some days are of course better than others.

The nesting has still been in full force, but during the week gets toned down quite a bit at home since a lot of my energy goes into work and getting my affairs in order for when I go on maternity leave. Adam and I will work on the kitchen at some point this week, but since he's in school and I'm going to Sam's first football game tomorrow night, and then we're having dinner with friends on Friday, it will have to wait until Saturday morning. Adam's old college roommates are coming up Saturday, so we'll be finishing up a few other cleaning items in the house as well.

I guess that's good for my update...now on to Boss's weekly update!

Your baby's height and weight haven't changed much in the past week, but the big news is your baby's brain gain. Until now, the surface of your baby's brain was smooth. Now, your fetus's brain is taking on those characteristic grooves and indentations. The reason for this change in appearance? Those wrinkles allow for an increased amount of brain tissue — a necessary change as your developing baby prepares for life outside your womb, and the street smarts he or she will need.

Another big change at 30 weeks pregnant: Your baby's bone marrow has taken over production of red blood cells (before, tissue groups and then the spleen took care of producing the blood cells). This is an important step for your baby, because it means he or she is better able to thrive on his or her own once born (with a little TLC from you, of course).

So it's in with the new (brain cells, red blood cells) and out with the old (lanugo). Much of the lanugo — the soft, downy hair covering your baby's body — is beginning to disappear now because both fat and the brain are regulating your baby's body temperature (so no need for that furry coat anymore). But you may see a few leftover strands of fur on your newborn's back and shoulders.

That's it from me tonight. I hope you all have a great rest of the week and an excellent weekend!!!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Where did my weekend go?

Wow! The last two days went by so fast!

We started the weekend off by having our good friends - Josh, Katrina, their sweet baby boy Jack, and of course their dog Stella - over for dinner on Friday night. It's always good times when they come over! The dogs play all night long, we have good food, good conversation, and I get to hold that sweet little boy!

Saturday morning Adam and I relaxed. He played his computer game and I read and watched movies. In the afternoon, we went to help my grandma Sharon move into her new house. She sold her house in Lodi and bought one in Minden, close to the high school Sam will go to in a year (Freshman stay at the middle school and don't move up to the High School until their Sophomore year). What a gorgeous house! If you followed the link, the pictures are from when the old owner lived there...I'll eventually update after she gets a little more unpacked. She has amazing views of the mountains from her living room, dining room and kitchen. It's on a nice quiet street, which is considerably different from her last house. I think she is going to be very happy here. There's lots of places for her to go paint, and she's already starting to make friends with her neighbors. Adam and my dad worked hard helping the movers move the heavy stuff out of the truck. Mom and I focused on getting the kitchen set up so Grammy can at least eat! We worked pretty hard, and ended up getting home around 8:30. I went and laid down at 9pm and slept until about 9:30 this morning!

Adam's parents were going to come over today so Adam and Doug could work on our backyard sprinkler system and then go golfing. Sally and I were going to hang out and discuss baby blankets and other baby stuff. Turned out it was raining this morning, and we heard it was supposed to rain through out the day, so we ended up postponing until another weekend. Adam and I were able to get through some of my huge house cleaning lists and finished the living room, dining room and entry way. We also started working on the kitchen. All three areas are de-cluttered and de-trashed, vacuumed, swept, mopped, windows cleaned, dusted and just look great! I'm so glad we got more done from my lists. I was starting to worry some since we hadn't really started on the lists, and we are only 74 days away from the baby getting here. Plus, Adam's old college roommates are coming up to visit us next weekend, so we really did need to get started on cleaning so we weren't doing a crappy job next weekend. I just hope we can maintain the rooms and not let them get back to the disaster zones they were. We've done a pretty good job on our bedroom that we cleaned last weekend, so I'm hopeful!

I hope everyone else has had a productive weekend. I think I'm ready to go take a relaxing shower and then head to bed for what I hope is a restful evening of sleep (especially since Sundays are usually pretty restless for me!). Have a great weekend everyone!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Kind of productive weekend

Well, we weren't as productive this weekend as I was hoping we would be, but we were still a little productive so I guess I should be a little bit thankful for that!

Yesterday morning, we both woke up pretty early and did some cleaning in the garage. We loaded up the truck with a load for the garbage dump...taking boxes, my old broken desk and other random stuff that has been taking up space in our house/garage. We also took about 7 large garbage bags of old clothing that we have been carting around for at least 4 years to Goodwill. We actually have an open space in our garage!!! Amazing!

After what I feel was a well deserved two hour nap, Adam and I packed up the car and met my mom, dad, little bro and his friend up in Tahoe at a beach called Sand Harbor (one of our favorite places) to celebrate my dad's birthday. It's technically this upcoming Wednesday, but we wanted to have more than just a dinner after work. We stayed for about six hours, enjoying a little bit of swimming, good food, games and a beautiful sunset! What a nice way to spend our Saturday afternoon!

This morning was not as productive as yesterday. Adam woke up pretty early, as usual, and being the wonderful husband he is, let me sleep in. After enjoying a very lazy Sunday morning, we decided it was time to get busy. We put together the baby's bassinet/play yard. It's pretty awesome! Here are some pictures of it assembled and in our room.






So, it is a play yard, but serves as a bassinet (with a vibration mode) as well as a changing table for late night diaper changes, which includes a soft light so you don't have to turn on an overhead light and wake the baby. This thing also plays music and has a sound machine with waves, rain and a few other ones to help calm the baby! What's even MORE amazing about this thing? They normally cost about $180+, and we got this bad boy for only $40 at a garage sale!!! The people only used it for about 4 months!

In order for me to want to put this in our room right now, we had to do some pretty hefty cleaning. Our room is always the last room we clean, so we had stuff EVERY WHERE! We started with stripping down the bed and putting everything on the bed so we could vacuum, throwing out the garbage and what not. We had tons of laundry that needed to be folded, however, the dogs have been sleeping on it, which means its all covered in hair and needs to be rewashed. We started on it around 2:30, and still have a ton to go! We will in no way finish that project tonight, so we'll have to work on it a little bit each day this week. I have to admit, it will be much easier to work on it load by load instead of the enormous mountain we have right now! Honestly, now that the laundry is off the floor, the room is pretty clean, so it will be easy to keep it up now.

After that, we tried to put together the baby swing a friend gave us. We quickly realized we were missing some key pieces, so I called my friend and turns out she still has them. She lives in San Diego, so we'll have to wait until she comes to visit in September before we can move forward with putting that together.

Then it was on to the kitchen. We unloaded and then reloaded the dishwasher, wiped down counters, and then discussed a new project. Our tupperware cabinet is extremely hard to keep organized, as is our pots and pans cabinet. So after taking some measurements, we went to Lowes and looked at organizing systems that slide out of the cabinets. Unfortunately, my pregnant mind spaced it and left the measurements at home. So we ended up getting a system for the pots and pans cabinet, and a temporary solution for the tupperware cabinet. We haven't installed them yet, so I'm not going to fill in the details just yet.

After Lowes, we did our grocery shopping for the week and got Papa Murphy's pizza. Now we are relaxing again, with laundry thrown in every time a new load finishes the cycle.

The weekend sure went fast...I wish I had a few more days to continue getting stuff done...I do this every weekend. I relax too much, it goes by too fast, and then I wish I had done more around the house. Oh well. The best part of the weekend besides dad's birthday? I read that I am now supposed to count the baby's kicks a couple of times during the day and started this last night. The baby is supposed to kick at least 10 times during a one hour period (when you are actually counting, not every hour). That little one kicked 40+ times in one hour!!!! I'm sure the chocolate milk I drank to get the little one excited helped things along...but good golly miss molly!!!! The baby continued it's kicking and punching this morning, and I stopped counting after 10 kicks/punches/rolling overs that happened in the first 5 minutes of paying attention. I love it when the baby moves around like that...really is the coolest feeling ever!

Hope you all had a great weekend and have an excellent upcoming week!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

28 weeks!

Well, tomorrow I hit 28 weeks and my third trimester! I just can't believe it! I know I say that pretty much every week, but every week I'm always amazed that I'm one week closer to my due date.

Today I had my 28 week appointment. I had to see one of the other doctors in the practice because my doctor is on vacation. We went over my Glucose test that I took a few weeks ago. Passed with "flying colors"! So glad! That has been one of my fears is getting gestational diabetes. I have gained 4 lbs this month, which puts my total at 7 pounds in 28 weeks. Not too bad! In fact, the doctor was very impressed that that was all I had gained. She also said that whatever I have been doing nutritionally and vitamin-wise was really working well and to keep it up. My blood pressure was great, iron levels really good, and all my other levels for whatever else they check for were also really good.

My measurements all came back normal for 28 weeks. The baby is weighing in this week at 2.5 lbs and about 16 inches long. I got to hear the heartbeat again! Baby is beating 145 beats a minute. During my last appointment, the little one was moving around a lot and the doctor had to chase the peanut around. Today, it's like the baby was taking a little nap. Didn't move once during the entire appointment! I will probably take a new preggo picture sometime this week to share.

Here's what www.whattoexpect.com says the baby is up to this week:
Are you dreaming about your baby? At 28 weeks pregnant, your baby may be dreaming about you, too. Brain wave activity measured in a developing fetus shows different sleep cycles, including the rapid eye movement phase, the stage when dreaming occurs.

By now, your baby, who weighs in at about two and a half pounds and stands — or rather lies — at almost 16 inches (measured head to toe) has added blinking to his or her growing bag of tricks. (Outside in the real world, blinking is necessary to help keep foreign objects out of the eyes.) Other impressive new talents being added to your baby's roster in the womb include coughing, more intense sucking, and, perhaps most important, better breathing.

The good news is that babies born this week, though premature, have an excellent prognosis because their lungs have reached the point (for the most part) of maturity — so you too can breathe a little easier now. Of course, it's still best if a baby doesn't check out of that uterine hotel just yet — there's still a lot of growing and maturing to do over the next 12 weeks.

Hope all is well with all of you and that you are having a great week!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Movement

Adam FINALLY got to feel the baby move yesterday!!! It started with us doing our morning ritual of snuggling, since that is one of the times the baby is active is when I'm waking up. He thought he felt the baby move, but was so unsure that he didn't really want to count it.

After that, we got up and went about our day. We went to Reno for Sushi (don't worry, I only had shrimp rolls!) and registered at Baby's R Us. I had a haircut scheduled for 4:30, and unfortunately it was only 1:30 by the time we were done registering, so we went to the Atlantis Casino and played Pai Gow Poker for a few hours. I'm glad we did...I got a Royal Flush on Fortune Bonus and won $150!!!! For the first time ever, we walked away from the tables up $200! We went to my hair appointment in very high spirits, and then had dinner at Chevy's.

I ate way too much chips and salsa, so when we got home, I laid on the couch to take some of the pressure off my tummy, and I could feel the baby gearing up for some big movements. I told Adam "you need to put your hand on my belly right now!" As soon as he did, that baby started kicking something fierce!!! Adam said he definitely felt that! Yay!!! I'm so glad he has finally felt the baby move! I think it puts a few things into perspective. So, lesson learned, the baby likes Chevy's! Can't say I blame the little one!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! I know we are!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

13 weeks left!

Wow! Only 13 weeks left in my pregnancy! I think I've finally hit the panic of we only have a few months left and we still have soooooo much to do! We still have to finish up the baby's room....there is extraneous furniture in there that has to be moved out so we can finish setting up the baby furniture. We can't move that furniture until we move other furniture that is in the office, which we can't move until we clean out the garage!

There are baby clothes to wash and put away. There is a registry to finish creating. There is a baby shower guest list to put together. There is an ENTIRE house that needs an overhauled cleaning. There is gardening to do, both in the front and the back. There is a backyard wall to finish and a new fence to be built.

And that is not even my entire to-do list! This next weekend will actually start a little bit early for me since tomorrow I will work a 14 hour day. I'm working a half day on Friday and will use the afternoon to clean off my old desk (that is broken) in our office so we can take it apart to make room for the new desk we bought a few weeks ago. If I get through that project before Adam comes home to help me take apart my old desk and put together my new one, then I'll start unloading the bookcase in the baby's room so we can move it into the office, and maybe even move the bookcase itself off the wall where the changing table is going. I could also put all of the boxes of diapers away in the hallway closet...which could use a cleaning out anyway. All the sheets, extra blankets, etc could all use a bath.

Oh God...somebody stop me now!!! If I keep thinking about it, I'm not going to stop creating my list!!!

Since I am stopping myself from creating an impossible to do list (which I'm sure I will create at a later time...like 20 minutes from now), let's get on to Boss's weekly update:

Week 27 of Pregnancy: Baby's Sense of Taste and Sound

Most babies this age, yours included, still like to snuggle in a slightly curled position inside the uterus (thus the term "fetal position"). Even so, beginning at this stage, your baby's length will be measured from top of head to toe — which makes your baby nearly a full 15 inches now. And at just over two pounds, he or she has doubled in weight from four weeks ago.

Your baby's auditory development (hearing) is progressing as the network of nerves to the ears matures. And even though the sounds your baby hears are muffled (thanks to the creamy coating of vernix covering those ears), he or she may recognize both yours and your partner's voices. So this might be a good time to read and even sing to your baby (or rather, your belly) — and a good chance to start boning up on those nursery rhymes and lullabies you'll need to be repeating (and repeating) pretty soon. And while you're at it, here's another way to have some family fun at 27 weeks pregnant: If your partner presses his ear to your belly, he might be able to hear the baby's heartbeat.


Your baby's taste buds are very developed now too (with more taste buds than he or she will ever have outside the womb, actually). Need a taste test? If you eat some spicy food (you hot mama, you), your baby will be able to taste the difference in the amniotic fluid (but keep in mind that you'll have different mealtimes, with your baby's coming about two hours after yours). Some babies will even respond to that spicy kick by hiccupping. And although hiccups (which feel like belly spasms to you) may seem like they're disturbing to your baby, he or she isn't stressed at all. It's just one more sensation that babies need to get used to.

Baby!!! I can't believe how big boss is getting! Although, I guess I can since I feel that little bugger moving around ALL THE TIME! The kicks are getting harder and more frequent...although poor Adam still hasn't felt the baby move yet. Soon though, I'm sure of it!

Hope you all are having a great week and a productive weekend! I know I will be!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Quick update

It's been a very long and busy week and I worked about 6 hours today, so this is just going to be a short update.

Baby is moving around a lot! Adam still hasn't been able to feel the lil' one moving yet. Every time he puts his hand on my belly, the baby stops moving. Poor Adam! He wants to feel the baby move so bad!

There's only 95 days left until my due date. I can't believe we're already in the double digits of time left! It's gone by fast...with the slow times mixed in, of course! I keep getting bigger and bigger, which I know is supposed to happen, but still feels a little insulting. It won't be forever, and I know that. I guess the good news is I continue to look more and more pregnant, and not just over weight.

We had dinner with my good friend Libby and her boyfriend, Mike, tonight. Mike's mom recently moved to Dayton (20 minutes east of us), and they are up here for the weekend visiting her. They stopped in Carson to see us for a few hours before continuing on to see her. It was really nice to see Libby! She and I lived together for our Senior year in college, and that was a total blast! One of the best roommates I've ever had, besides Adam!

Tomorrow, our friends Josh and Katrina, their new baby, Jack, and our other good friend, Edward, are coming over for a bbq. Jack has been feeling better after a week of being on a biliblanket (click here to go to Katrina's blog for more info). Last weekend when they came over, Jack just wasn't a happy camper, and they left right after dinner. Hopefully they will be able to stay a little longer and I can hold the little guy some more! He's just such a little cutie pie!

That's about all I have energy for tonight. I'll try to do another post either tomorrow or Monday...I've just been so dang busy, which results in being exhausted by the time I get home that I haven't had the energy to update this last week. Hope for the best and hope you have a great weekend!

 
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