Little over 2 months

Time has seriously flown by and I know that's so cliche, but its true. The first couple of weeks are kind of a blur. We were having serious sleep deprivation trying to adjust to our newborn schedule. Sleepwalking through feedings, diaper changes, rinse and repeat. Those first couple weeks the little guy mainly slept and looked at us through squinty eyes. Some nights I was up till 4/5 in the morning trying to get him to sleep. Then all of a sudden he started sleeping a few hours at a time and he became aware of his surroundings. He started opening his big gray eyes and focusing on us. That's right folks, gray eyes. He's pulling in some colored eye genes from somewhere. We shall see if they stay that color or change later on. He still prefers the squinty look though. He started smiling around 5/6 weeks. Its the cutest thing to make him smile. When he gives me one of his crooked smiles I just melt. He's been cooing and gurgling up a storm the past couple weeks. Just talking away in baby talk, we have long conversations about buhbuhbooboogoogoogahgah, lol! And I know you will think I'm crazy but he totally put some sounds together the other day that sounded like he said "How are you?", clear as day. My mom heard it too. We were like what the world? I know he was just making noises but it was the funniest thing. Let's see what else? His skin is finally clearing up. First he had newborn rash, then baby acne and then cradle cap. I would have to say the cradle "crap" (as mike calls it) was the grossest. Believe me, I was putting some olive oil on his head and scrubbing that mess off. Don't worry, I wasn't scrubbing hard, I was gently brushing it. He has become drooly McGee lately, have to keep a bib and a burp cloth handy at all times.

We've had 3 doctor visits so far. The first was when he was 3 days old. They just weighed him at that visit, made sure he was eating well. He was also born tongue-tied, it wasn't bad but made nursing very uncomfortable. So we went ahead and had it clipped at that visit. Which made nursing much easier. His second doctor visit was at 2 weeks. Not much happened at that visit, weighed and measured. He gained a pound and half from his birth weight. That should of clued me in he was going to be a big boy. Now his third doctor visit alot was going on. Weighed in at 14.14 pounds and measured 24 3/4 inches (he seems longer, maybe its just all the heft). This was the visit I was worried about because he was getting 4 vaccines. Three were shots and one was given orally. Poor fella, just laying there and all of a sudden he's like, what the world just pinched me, heehee! But he did good, fed him and he was fine. I think he was more upset later that night when I took off his bandaids.

He does really well riding in car. We drove all the way to the beach (3 1/2 hours from Durham) and only had to stop once for a feeding and diaper change. And for the meetings, so far he just sleeps through them. I'm sure that's going to change but for now its great. I haven't attempted service with him yet. I'm building up my nerve to take him out this Saturday. I know I need to get him used to it. But all around I think he does pretty good. He does the usual baby crying when I change his diaper but as soon as you finish he's fine. And if we wait to long to feed him, of course he'll cry but other than that he does really good. I wish time would slow down, because I know this stage won't last long. When I get home from work all I want to do is hold him and play with him. Trying to drink all of him up while I can.

weeks 1-2

weeks 3-4

weeks 5-6

weeks 7-9

This is what its all about 

He's here!

I can't believe it!  After all that waiting, he finally arrived.  We couldn't be more in love with him.  Roman Adriano was born on September 29th at 11:38 pm.  He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 13 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long.  After the doctor talked about inducing I thought for sure I was going to be pregnant for at least another week.  But at that visit she also stripped my membranes and I really think that got things jump started.  If you don't want to read the whole long birth story you can skip to the end and just look at pictures :) 

Birth Story

 I started cramping and having mild back pain on Friday.  By Saturday afternoon around 4/5 o'clock I started having contractions.  They were 10-20 minutes apart.  So nothing too regular to call the doctor about.  Nevertheless I still got things ready for the hospital and had my mom braid my hair up.  I knew I didn't want it in my face just in case I did go into labor.  I tried going to bed Saturday night but the contractions were keeping me up.  So I sat up downstairs bouncing on my exercise ball, laying on the floor and timing the contractions.  Finally around 5:30/6 am the contractions were about 5 minutes apart and the intensity was definitely picking up. I went upstairs and told Mike, took a shower and we got ready to go.  We arrived at the hospital and I got checked into triage.  I was only dilated 3 centimeters but since I was four days overdue and the contractions were consistent they decided to admit me.  At ten that morning the doctor broke my water.  The intensity of the contractions picked up after that, so I asked for some morphine.  I was doing all I could to avoid an epidural.  I wanted to stay mobile as long as possible.  I also asked for intermittent fetal monitoring so I could get out of bed and walk around the room.  Well around 3ish the morphine started wearing off.  The intensity of the contractions was indescribable.  I was literally crying and doubled over in pain.  I tried all the techniques for natural birthing but nothing helped.  So finally caved and got the epidural.  The anesthesiologist who gave me the epidural was good but also a brute.  He said okay I'm going to have put you in this position and you cant move.  So while I'm having these excruciating contractions he flips me over into a fetal position and bends me into a C  which hurt like crazy.  But once he administered the epidural I didn't care. Finally the pain was gone!  I actually was able to nap for a couple hours.   At 5 o'clock they checked and I was only dilated 5 centimeters :p  So the doctor said okay we need to start her on the pitocin.  So the two things I didn't want, an epidural and pitocin I got.  But you know what, whatever needed to be done to get the baby out.  I was ready to have him.  From that point things really picked up, by ten o'clock I was ten centimeters and ready to start pushing.  Even though I had an epidural I could still feel the contractions since they picked up in intensity.  An hour and half of pushing and the nurse said, ok we need to call the doctor. The baby was right there but his big ol' head just wasn't coming through.  The doctor said I needed an episiotomy, ugh.  Well once that happened Mr. Roman was here in a few more pushes.  He had his cord wrapped around his neck which meant I didn't get to hold him right away.  He had to go straight to the warming table and the nurses were working on him for a few minutes.  But once they had him stable they placed him in my arms.  I started bawling the moment he was born.  I couldn't believe this little life I had been carrying for 9+ months was finally here.  During that whole time Mike was right by my side.  He did amazing, helping me the whole time, never complaining, telling me I was doing a great job.  I'm so fortunate to have him in my life.  We are so proud and happy to have Roman here with us.  So that in a nutshell was how our day went.  Here are some photos and I can't wait for Roman to meet all our family and friends.

Not in the mood for a photo

A few minutes old

Finally get to hold my baby

Proud papa

Our family

40 weeks, Day 2

So here we are overdue.  Surprised? Not really.  Saw the doctor yesterday, she ordered a Non Stress Test (NST) and Biophysical Profile to check fetal movement and how much fluid I had.  Everything checked out completely normal. Little guy is measuring just around 8 lbs and he has the fattest cheeks!  The better to nom on :)  It was funny during the NST they need the baby to move and we all know my baby likes to chill.  So the nurse buzzed my belly with this buzzer thingie and the baby was like AHHH! What the heck?! and started moving all over the place.  It cracked me up, poor little guy he was probably having a nice nap.  I saw a different doctor yesterday and she was really pushing me to get induced ASAP.  I told her, mmm, that's ok.  I just barely turned 40 weeks, I'd rather wait at least till 41 weeks to see if he comes on his own.  Plus, since all my tests checked out fine, there's no real hurry.  Also, my regular doctor is totally fine with me waiting till 41+ weeks as long as the baby is doing well.  So I have another appointment on Monday were they will repeat the NST and Biophysical Profile and we'll go from there.

As far as how I'm feeling?  I feel okay today.  Having some back pain and just extremely tired.  I rolled into work 30 minutes late this morning because I couldn't get out of bed and I can't rush at all.  Moving along in my slowest gear.  So glad today is my last day, there is no way I could come in next week.  I can't believe I made it through this week, I really had to push.  Plus I'm really tired of hearing people, your still here, ha!  So I'm going to try to rest up as much as I can till the little one comes next week.  We are just waiting for him to get here.  I saw this picture the other week that pretty much sums if I am having contractions or not yet, ha!

So that's it folks.  Sometime next week we should be welcoming the arrival of little baby boy regina.  I read some good advice on the babycenter website about the first several weeks of being a new parent.  Just thought I'd share it with everyone...

Tell yourself: This, too, shall pass
When you start out, you think, "I'm never going to be good at this," and then it becomes second nature. The child becomes an integral part of your life so that you couldn't imagine a time when you weren't a parent. So relax, enjoy the good and bad times, because your baby grows up so fast. Eventually, every child will sleep more (and so will you), and every child will be more independent. You'll never forget the first time your baby smiles at you or the first time he looks at you and calls you "Mama" or "Dada" or the times he falls asleep on your chest. It makes all the other frustrating stuff pale in comparison.

Can't wait :)

And, for this week's baby bump picture, I decided to do the last nine months so you can see the transformation.  I started the pictures at 8 weeks/2 months till 40 weeks/10 months.

The Final Countdown

...to the due date that is, but that really doesn't mean a thing.  According to my books and online perusing, most first pregnancies go over 40 weeks.  I will most likely be here at this stage for a while, just waiting.  Currently I'm 39 weeks with 6 more days to go.  The doctor yesterday said everything is going fine.  Baby's heartbeat is nice and strong at 148.  He's dropped the tinniest amount, he's now at station -3 instead of -5, :p whoopie-doo!  Only dilated 1cm, which is what I was at last week.  Doctor even stripped the membranes a little and that did nothing for me, not even one contraction.  I went and had a pedi after and still nothing.  Little guy is snug as a bug in a rug.  I had a feeling that he would either come at 38 weeks or 41 weeks.  Obviously he's not here yet, so I guess it's going to be 41 weeks.  At this point I feel like I have pregnant forever, blah.  And yes, I know, he'll come out when he's ready, so people don't have to keep telling me that.  Its really annoying for some reason.  Also annoying, my coworkers and boss asking me every single day, How are you feeling? Ready for that baby? You feel any changes like its getting ready? What are you still doing here?

Umm I feel the same as I did yesterday, if I felt bad I wouldn't be here.  No, I'm not ready for the baby, I want to be pregnant forever.  Since you want an update on any changes, I'll let you know when my water breaks.  I'm still here cause I need money, duh :p  So glad I only have one more week to go then I'm off on maternity leave.  I can do it!  And I'm really not ornery and grouchy all the time I just write these posts at work when I'm at my most irritated.  I'm generally very pleasant to be around.  At least I think I am ;)

Generally speaking this week has been pretty good.  Still tired all the time, I can nap anywhere at this point.  I'm getting plenty of sleep at night but its probably not quality sleep since Mike says I make a lot of noise all night long.  And rolling over I totally look like a turtle, sometimes it takes several tries.  Its not just the big belly but the pain in my pelvis.  Its actually clicks when I move, that's disturbing.  On the upside, I'm so glad it cooled down this week, I actually walked across campus a couple times enjoying the lovely fall like weather. 

As far as getting ready for baby, I don't think we have anything left to do.  The nursery is completely finished, I hung up the last two pictures on Monday, yay!

Mike already has his hospital bag packed and I have mine mostly packed.  Some stuff I can't put in there until we are getting ready to leave for the hospital.  Mike wants to install the car seats this weekend, especially the one that has the base and practice with the straps and all that jazz.  I think we have done all we can to prepare, we are just waiting at this point.

We have another busy weekend planned, going to our friends baby shower on Saturday.  People are telling me I need to dance at the party to get the labor going.  I'll let you know next week if that works ;)  So anyways, I can't think of anything else, till next week! This picture brought to you by Amber since she wanted a bump update.

Last pregnant photo maybe? Nahhh

38 weeks, i'm still here

So, we are still here.  Baby still chillin inside.  My babybump app says he should be the size of a leek and weigh about 6.8 lbs but since we know he was already 7 lbs last week, I'm going with next week's estimate. That would make him a mini-watermelon.  Yes people, I am smuggling a watermelon. We had our last checkup yesterday.  Baby is doing fine, apparently this week I'm measuring on track, so I don't know what the other two weeks were about.  He has a nice strong heartbeat of 145.  I had the foresight to record his heartbeat.  I figured I better do it before he comes out.  I think its one of the amazing things I've ever heard.

Otherwise, nothing much happening. I'm swelling up like a balloon.  Even my big rings are starting to get tight on my fingers.  I'm super tired but also super hungry all the time.  I read an article and basically it said the amount of nutrients or calories I need would be as if I was a professional athlete training for an event.  So that would explain my wanting to eat all the time.  I don't eat all the time but I could ;) if you catch my drift.  I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the whole nursery, so I'll try next week to get that in.  We had a very busy weekend with my cousins visiting and working around the house.  We were the Eddie Gonzales Inc. Paint Crew with Pikachu and Pregnant Lady lol!  Totally an inside joke, sorry, but it cracks me up.  So, that's its folks, till next week (or sooner, muahahaha, no seriously till next week because baby isn't going anywhere :p).

38 weeks, Day 2, doing my Kim K impression, ha!

Sorry if my post is a little rambling today.  My brain doesn't seem to be working right now and I'm having a hard time putting a coherent thought together.  Yesterday at the doctor's office I knew I had a question for her and I literally sat there for two minutes trying to remember what it was, gah! Pregnant brain!

37 weeks, Day 2, 20 more days!

That's what my babybump app says.  I like how its all excited for me with the little exclamation point going on at the end.  So baby is officially considered full term and estimated baby weight according to the app is 6.3 lbs.  But they tell lies because we had an ultrasound yesterday just to check on the little guy and he's more around 7 lbs.  So if we make it to 40 weeks (which we probably will since the technician and doctor both say he is very comfy and not coming any time soon) he may be around 8 1/2 lbs at birth.  He looks like a little chubster already, big, fat belly.  Still not letting us get a good picture of him keeping his hands and feet in front of his face at all times.  So I guess I'll have to suffer through the rest of this month carrying him around.  People are telling me to walk, bounce on an exercise ball, drink raspberry leaf tea or castor oil to get him out.  I'm kinda scared to do the castor oil but I can drink tea and bounce on a ball, that sounds fun.  Probably won't do it at the same time though :p But the people telling me to walk, have they checked the temperature outside?  Its still 90 degrees out and its September 6th.  I'm a hot, sweaty mess walking from my office to the car so you can hang up the walking.  So looks like we'll just be waiting on him to come whenever he feels like it.

His room at least is all done.  We spent our labor day weekend decorating his room and washing his 5 million onsies :p  It took me a whole evening to go through his clothes and organize them by size and then pretty much all day Saturday and part of Sunday to wash, dry, fold and put everything away.  I am quite pleased with the result.  I just have to hang two pictures on one wall above the dresser and we are done.  Here's a picture of most of the nursery.  I'll upload a view of the whole thing next week.

Well I think that pretty much sums up the week.  I can't think of anything else going on.  So I leave you with this parting shot, some people had asked me where my selfie was last week so making sure to include it this week.  I didn't take it at home because I forgot so you'll have to settle with an office bathroom photo :)

Till next week!

9 monthssssss

Seriously? Didn't I just find out I was pregnant? I mean, where has the time gone? Of course, I hear once the child is actually here the time goes pretty fast too. I remember my parents used to tell me all the time, just yesterday you were a little girl. I think I know what they were talking about now.

So I am officially in the home stretch. 4 weeks or so to go. I keep thinking he is going to come early or its more of a feeling really, but the doctor told me yesterday, nope. He appears to be in there for the long haul :p Well Doctor, I don't like your opinion so there, ha! Also, I am still anemic. So now have to remember to take my iron pills twice a day! As if taking them once a day isn't hard enough to remember. Baby measured large yesterday so the doc ordered an ultrasound next week to see how big he is getting. I wonder if he was sitting funny or it could have been the big lunch I had, heehee! Because all my other visits he's measured right on track. But my appetite hasn't slowed down a bit and I'm craving pie all the time. Thank goodness we don't keep it in the house because I can seriously eat two or three slices in a sitting. And don't you dare try to take my slice, I'll cut you.

I'm right there with you Stanley.

We did finally clear out the guest room and some of the office. Went through a ton of things and had a yard sale last weekend. Sold most of the big ticket items and all the little things we didn't sell I took them to Goodwill. So nice to be rid of all that stuff. I was starting to feel like a hoarder. Couldn't even walk in our dining room. We set up the crib, glider and dresser in the nursery. I'm going to finish decorating it this weekend so hopefully next week I can show you pictures, ooohhhh. Only item we weren't able to buy was the futon for the office. But that's because IKEA has it on backorder so we have to wait, boo!

Umm, let's see, what else?  We finished our birth classes.  They were informative and lots of good reminders.  But we'll see how many of them I'll actually remember when I go into labor :p  Baby is definitely riding lower, so I have a good waddle going on when I walk. My right foot stays swollen and feels tight all the time.  I get out of breath getting up from the couch and walking to the kitchen. But that just means I'm that much closer, right?  Baby is moving all the time now, I think he is frustrated because he is running out of room.  No lie the other day I thought he was doing the rumba and shaking some maracas at the same time.  I was like what the world?

 

We are definitely getting excited though.  Ready to meet our little guy and I'm ready to have my body back :)  Since I'm near the end I'll try to update the blog once a week.  See you then!

8 months or ...

8 weeks to go, which is technically two months but not really or 56 days to go.  Which the days part sounds really scary, because I'm like wow!  We need to get crackin' on stuff b/c this baby will be here in no time.  Thanks to the baby shower we had back in May and several bags of baby clothes from a sister in my mom's hall we now have a plethora of baby clothes.  I do mean a plethora.  I still need to get him some cute little fedora hats/newsboy caps, some winter jackets and some cool meeting shoes but otherwise I think we are good till 9 months at least. We have the big ticket items for the nursery, crib and glider.  Still need to purchase a dresser though and little decorations for the room.  Hopefully we can get everything cleared out of the guest room this weekend so we can start setting things up.  I know, I know, I've been saying that for 3 months now.

I have been having more braxton hicks contractions, not all the time, but when I do have them they stop me in my tracks.  I was in the break room the other day, doubled over the table waiting for them to pass, fun times.  So if you add those on top of my pelvic pain I'm just hobbling around everywhere.  I did get a maternity support belt which helps when I'm standing or walking for long periods of time.  This kid is hanging so low I think that's why I have so much pain.  Plus, he's getting bigger, now around 3.75 lbs and the size of jicama.  I like these random fruit/veggies they pick out :p

I picture him like this right now, lol!

We did our maternity ward tour at the hospital.  It was so crazy thinking we will be there soon.  They are supportive of natural birth, they have a birthing ball, jacuzzi to ease the pain and everything so that was good news.  We start our birth classes next week, yikes! We are going to be so busy the next month or so.  Hopefully in September everything will be done so I can just use that time to relax before baby arrives. 

Had an ob visit this morning.  Baby is measuring right on track since belly measures 32 centimeters and the doctor said it feels like he's head down.  That would explain why my uterus feels like its going to fall out sometimes :p  I haven't gained any weight since last visit, yay!  I could technically gain another 10 lbs before he's born but since I've already gained 25 lbs I think I'm good.  Saw a really nice doctor in the practice today, she recommended I go to a chiropractor for my pelvis pain, she said it may help.  Also, told her I've been craving ice like crazy, so they did a hemoglobin test and I'm anemic.  So get to take iron pills in addition to my prenatals, hooray (not really).  Otherwise everything looks great.  Oh and his heartbeat was nice and strong at 167.  

Mike has been a great help, especially during the last couple weeks.  He's always helped around the house with cleaning and cooking but he's really stepped it up a notch just telling me to rest.  I really appreciate the support. We talk about our hopes and dreams for the baby and our worries if we'll do a good job raising him.  Its a lot of responsibility.  So much easier having a dog, we just have to make sure she doesn't bite anyone, lol!  Its stressful thinking about the future and kinda sad knowing it won't be just the two of us anymore.  But I've heard people say when the baby comes you don't miss it, its just another chapter in your life with a whole new set of adventures.  So just going to take one day at a time and do the best we can.  So here's my lovely 8 month, 32 weeks, day 224 pregnancy shot.  Till next time!

Really hard to find an angle where I don't look ginormous (and its only going to get bigger!)

seven and a half

So I have been really slack and haven't updated the blog in a while.  I am now at 30 weeks!  Eek!  Only 10 to go, give or take a couple weeks.  I had all these things I wanted to talk about but I'm so tired right now I can't remember what they were :p  We had our assembly the other week and it was fantabulous :)  We split it up since I had to work one Friday.  So we went to Saturday and Sunday first.  I really enjoyed Saturday, Sunday I don't remember much because I was soooooooo uncomfortable.  The following week was Friday's session and that was by far my favorite, I loved all the experiences, demonstrations and the mini drama.  I thought it was better than Sunday's drama.

Baby is a growing away in mah tummy.  According to Baby Bump he's about 2.75 pounds and the size of a head of cabbage, umm ok. 

kinda looks like the Little Shop of Horrors plant

He bumps and rolls around in there, giving me belly massages.  Every  now and then I see or feel my belly rumble, its a funny feeling.  Some people say they can tell when their baby is on one side or the other, but not this kid.  He loves to chill right in the middle so my belly always looks the same.  A few weeks ago I think I had braxton hicks contractions but haven't had any since.  Back pain comes and goes, depends on how long and how I'm sitting at work.  The worst, though, is the pain I get in my pelvis.  Sometimes when I stand up, I just stand there bent over until the pain goes away enough so I can hobble/wobble to wherever I'm going. I get it anytime now, if I walk too much I get the pain plus a sharp shooting pain on my left side which pretty much slows me down to the speed of a snail.  So walking doesn't necessarily make it go away.   Its just something I have to deal with for a couple more months.  What else, mmmm, oh my emotions are OOC (out of control).  I cried, literally boo-hood because I got tomato sauce on my dress while I was making dinner the other night.  Or I can turn around and bite your head off for no other reason than asking me to repeat myself again and look out if you give me a reason.  So pretty much anything sets me off these days.  I miss being even-keeled.  Things never used to get to me, but now, well.  My road irritation in the morning and afternoon with traffic has gone up ten notches.  Mike was driving one day and this lady cut him off, I totally leaned over and blew the horn at her, I mean I laid on it, lol!  I sure am making this pregnancy gig sound fun, aren't I? But according to my Baby Bump app it says "As your due date approaches, it's a common and very normal time to feel more emotional than usual." So its good to know I'm following the guidelines ;)  People tell me the further I get along in the pregnancy the less hungry I'll be, hmph.  I'm still hungry all the time.  Maybe once he gets so big and there's no room in there but for now I'm all

But that's about it, only 10 weeks to go.  I'll give another update in a couple/few weeks, maybe by then we will have actually done something to the nursery.  I'm a procrastinator to the bone so I do everything last minute.  I didn't take my usual belly shot this month because I keep forgetting.  However I have this shot from July 6th before we went to the assembly and its in the bathroom, so this will have to do.  Till next time :)

quick update

So I wasn't going to post the pictures of the 3D/4D ultrasound but Mike wants me to put them up.  I think these are the best two.  Little guy was being stubborn and had his hands in front of his face most of the time.  At one point he was using both hands to hold his foot and suck his big toe.  Needless to say we didn't get too many good shots.  So what do you think?  I think he is definitely a good combination of me and Mike.  Can't wait to meet the little guy in 13 weeks!

just call me a liar

So a day after I post that I don't really feel the baby move he decides to start thumping around in my belly.  What really got him moving last night was when I was lying in bed and had the laptop on my lap.  Why this would bother him I don't know, maybe the clacking noise of typing on it?  Whatever the case he was bumping along in there.  But when my cat Naya decided to walk across my belly and lay down he was perfectly still.  Must be an animal lover that kid.  Then this morning same thing, little thumps and bumps and now he's painfully lodged in the upper part of my belly.  I pushed a little to get him to move and he responded by kicking me and staying in the exact same position.  Someone has a stubborn streak just like me, we like getting things our way ;)
Also, some friends of ours had recommended for us to watch The Business of Being Born.  So now of course after watching that I'm thinking maybe birth centers with midwives are better. All kinds of confused over here.  So long story short I'm not going to say anymore I'm definitely doing this or not doing that cause who knows until that time comes.  In the meantime we are going to tour both a hospital and birth center and ask my ob some questions.  Hopefully I can make a decision before d-day.  And I'm not excluding Mike from the decision (in case you were wondering why I didn't say we make a decision) but he says its entirely up to me and whatever I decide feels right he will support it.  He just hopes he doesn't pass out when the whole thing goes down :)
With that I leave you with these two cute items I found today while perusing the net. 

Labor and Delivery Gown

Much cuter than that gross hospital gown, blech!  Sold by Pretty Pushers.

And this adorable giraffe pacifier in one.  I need one of these (and he'll probably hate it).

six months...

I literally almost typed seven months.  Don't know what I'm thinking :p  So officially over half way there.  Can't believe I'm already at six months and showing big time.  Not that there would be any doubt of that since I've been told since a young age (mid teens) I have birthing hips.  Seriously, who tells a teenager that?  Umm let's see what's going on this month?  Swollen feet, check!  Weight gain, check! Baby kicking up a storm, no check.  I know, every one is different and some people just feel the baby moving and kicking and rolling a lot sooner than others, but I thought by now I would be feeling substantial movement.  When people ask, I just say yes I do feel SOME movement, mainly in my  lower abdomen still, and he honestly feels like a worm.  That's how I could best describe it, no punches or kicks just a worm moving across my belly.  More like the guys in the black, because he's slow and deliberate about it, not all jerky crazy like the guy in the front.

Sometimes a polite tap on the upper right quadrant like he's asking permission to change position.  Now last week he did jab me in my rib cage, but he must have been having a night terror or something, haha!  Anyways, nothing really new to report.  No we haven't started on the nursery yet.  I do have an idea on how I want it decorated, its just a matter of moving stuff out of the guest room, selling some furniture and painting.  I still have time right, 3 months give or take a few weeks.  I have a feeling he's going to be born and sleeping with Leela at night because the nursery still won't be finished, j/k.  The main question I get asked from people (besides is the baby moving) do you have a name picked out.  Ok, here's the low down, we do have a favorite name and a couple other top contenders but we are not deciding on one name until he's born.  That's our personal decision so please stop asking, have you picked a name yet because even if we do decide on one before birth we aren't giving it up. You'll meet the little guy in a few months anyways.  We just call him baby boy for now.  Please don't be offended. 

On another topic I pre-registered at the hospital where we will be having the baby.  It was pretty cool, all online and everything.  We have a tour scheduled for the end of July.  I still haven't registered for birth class yet, but I know it will be sometime in August.  I have been reading various mommy blogs and a few mentioned the benefits of a birthing center.  So I looked more into them and what that involved.  There is one rather close to us in South Carolina.  But after reading the birth stories (which are supposed to be encouraging) and testimonials I've decided hospital is the way for me.  Just a personal decision.  Don't get me wrong, I plan on going as natural as possible without any drugs but if at some point I need the big needle or other complications arise I just feel better being at the hospital.  So that's all for now, next month I'll have some more updates.  I have my glucose test in two weeks, here's to hoping its negative, we have our 3D ultrasound scheduled for the end of this month and a good friend of ours will be taking our maternity photos in the end of June.  All in all it will be a busy next few weeks. 

I leave you with this lovely parting shot.  I had a cute one where I was smiling but I just like this one better :)

five months

Sorry for the delay.  I'm actually 21 weeks now :)  We had our last doctor visit on April 29th.  Found out we are having a boy.  I really wanted a girl so it was hard for me to be enthusiastic when the u/s technician told us.  I believe my exact words were "Oh. Ok." Terrible I know.  Even though I knew in my heart it was a boy the whole time, I just had a feeling but I was holding out hope till the end that it would be a girl. heehee!  That's ok though I'm warming up to the idea.  And all the moms tell me that I'm going to love having a boy.  They are so much easier and little boys love their moms.  So now I'm on the hunt for super cool boy outfits and hats!  He will be sporting all kinds of cool fedoras and newsboy caps ;)  Still not feeling a whole lot of movement but I am quite the pudge so probably can't feel it through my blubber.  People say "oh it feels like gas or bubbles".  I'm thinking that's not very helpful because I have gas all the time.  Poor Mike, I was already kinda gasey before but now its like times a hundred. Saw this on a blog yesterday and it just cracked me up because I'm pretty sure this is how he feels.

Anyhoo, we had a baby shower this past Sunday in Durham hosted by the proud grandma to be, my mom :)  I know its kinda early but this summer is just going to be so hectic this was really the best time.  So nice seeing our friends and they are so happy and supportive.  We really appreciate it.  There was also some dancing and after doing a very intense merengue with my bestie I had this crazy cramp in my stomach.  So I'm telling mom #2 (Sharon) about it and she says "its prob the baby, is it moving a bit?" I'm like "I dunno, you feel".  So she puts her hand on my stomach and she says "Yes that's the baby, its waving, you can't feel that?" But I can't feel it moving I'm just like dang this cramp hurts. lol!  When he starts doing some actual karate chops in my stomach and kicking me hardcore I'll feel it then.  I'm just slow on the whole feel the baby thing.

I'm still not having cravings for any food in particular.  I am avoiding big, juicy hamburgers and guacamole like the plague because they totally gross me out.  Also peanut butter makes me sick.  Like upset stomach sick.  Speaking more of my stomach, I don't have the most common pregnancy problem, constipation.  Which I guess I should be grateful for but I have the exact opposite.  Never gone the bathroom so much in my life.  I'm like really, again? I just went, arghhh!  What other gross problems am I having that I can share, body odor would be one.  I had to change deodorant and also I have smelly feet.  Never had smelly feet before in my life, always so proud of that fact.  Well no more.  Let's see, any other changes.  Ummm, dryness on my face is getting better, but still have the splotchy skin so wearing foundation every day for coverage.  Oh this may be TMI and if you don't want to read just skip to the next paragraph of the blog but along with a bigger chest comes the problem of having high beams on all the time.  I was in the bathroom the other day at work and looked in the mirror and was like OMG this is so embarrassing!  So now wearing double shirts, keeping my hair down, crossing my arms. ugh! What a pain.

Also having some back pain off and on but nothing I can't handle.  Still sleeping pretty well at night, occasionally I do wake up to go the bathroom and can't go back to sleep.  Its not because I'm uncomfortable but my brain just won't shut down.  I think that's about it.  People ask how you feel?  I feel fine besides a few annoyances I'm not having any major issues.  So I am grateful for a relatively smooth pregnancy so far.  Now that I've put that in writing I'm sure these last 4 months are going to be heinous.  Here's my latest glamour shot. 

Starting to show just a bit, whatcha think :p haha!  Till next month!

goodbye grandma

I know I haven't really talked about it but my grandma tomczak has been battling with gallbladder cancer.  My aunt called me last month saying that the cancer had returned and had spread.  Since my grandma is in her late 80's she wasn't a candidate for chemo.  It would be too much for her.  Me and Mike were able to go up a few weeks ago and spend the afternoon with her.  I am glad I had that opportunity.  We didn't talk much just sat with her.  She knew I was pregnant and was so excited to be a great grandma.  I am thankful for that time.  She lost the battle last night and fell into the deep sleep known as death.  I am glad she is no longer suffering.  I look forward to the time when death will be no more and our loved ones will be resurrected and we can see them again.  She will be missed,  I love you grandma.

four months

Alrighty then, we have now reached our four month mark or 16 weeks.  Changes, I am now hungry all the time.  Before I would be hungry but not like starving now I want to eat all things and when I'm eating I feel like this

But isn't this how we all feel when we eat?  On another note its so nice to finally have energy again.  I was getting really bummed out coming home and just laying on a couch like a sloth.  Even though I have more energy I'm not channeling it into exercising, I'm using it to make delicious dinners hehehe! Last week at 15 weeks I officially started showing.  Not just looking chubby but being very obvious that I'm pregnant.  Which is nice, I like that feeling.  I had the first person just randomly come up and touch my belly at the Kingdom Hall.  I was ok with it though because she didn't let her hand linger or rub, she just tapped my belly like, oh look your belly popped out, and kept right on moving. I can deal with that, any caressing or longer than 2 seconds and I'm like umm excuse me?  I'm trying to think of things to do when its really big and random strangers try to touch it.  I'm not sure how I'm going to react.  Time will tell.  Really not much going on at this point, I'm sure my 5 month post will be more interesting because we will know what we are having and I should be feeling the baby moving at that point.  I'm loving my new wardrobe btw, my mom was very nice and took me shopping.  She probably was just sick of seeing me with my pants unbuttoned and butt crack showing all the time lol!  I didn't realize how hard it would be to find some good pregnancy skirts though.  I can find tons of dresses but I would like a cute pencil skirt.  Well I should rephrase that, I did find some nice ones but I'm not spending $50+ dollars on one skirt :p  Oh and in other news, I traded my lovely red, sporty Mazda6 in for a momobile, a mazda5 microvan :(  You may say, they are only having 1 kid why they getting a van?  Well my friends, we like to take trips and its usually not just me and mike but also my mom and the dogs.  That gets kinda squishy in a sedan especially with a 50lb dog and short of putting the dogs on top of the car that just wouldn't work.  I wanted to be cool and get an SUV but I just refused to pay SUV prices.  Even used SUV's were expensive.  So we ended up getting a graphite gray 2009 Mazda5.  Its nice and we like it.  So anyhoo, that's all I can think of right now, till next time take care! 

4 months and showing ;)

three months

Well technically I'm 13 weeks and 2 days but whose counting?  I have an app on my phone and it tells me how many days I have left and I got stressed looking at it the other day because its now less than 200 days till the baby comes.  I'm like, yikes! I have nothing ready.  We have to combine our guest room and office into one room to make a nursery in the spare room.  Which means we have to get rid of the queen bed and half of the giant desk taking up the office because they both won't fit.  I want to have a yard sale next month and hope I can get enough $ to buy a sofa with a hide-a-bed for the office.  I would like guests to have somewhere to sleep besides a blow up mattress :p but we'll see what the finances allow.  Not to mention decor for the baby room.  I get inspired by looking at pictures of other people's designs but I can never seem to put anything together like they have it.  I mean it took us a year and a half to paint one wall in our living room and you want me to put together a nursery in less than 6 months, ha!  So anyways back to the pregnancy.  I'm not nauseous anymore, just get heartburn like a beast now, burping for days.  Doesn't matter what I eat, I could eat a salad and its the same thing (btw salads are the worst b/c burping lettuce is disgusting).  I'm defin starting to pudge out.  I know I'm supposed to be exercising and eating some kind of healthy but dang I'm tired all the time.  Doctor said that should pass in a few weeks.  I sure hope so b/c I need to get some kind of energy back.  Only other thing that is annoying, besides my pants and skirts not fitting, is the super dry, flaky skin on my face.  I exfoliate, I wash my face with a super sensitive skin cleanser, heavy duty moisturizer and my face just laughs at it.  Its like, oh you want to moisturize, not happening here, go somewhere else buddy.  So  yeah.  Had a check up last week and baby is doing great, measuring at exactly the right size.  My app says its about the size of a peach now, just hanging out chillin.  Definitely a sleepy little booger, couldn't get it to wake up in the u/s for nothing. The technician needed a different view so she was pushing on my stomach, had me flip on my side several times, poor thing I think I mooned her twice :p Finally woke up the munchkin, started flailing its arms and legs like what the heck? I was sleeping people. haha!  Next u/s is in 5 weeks and we'll find out what we are having.  Here's my latest glamour shot, I was laughing at something Mike said.

3 months 1 week

Costa Rica

Ok sorry for my absence.  I haven't felt like blogging lately.  So we recently went to Costa Rica for a good friends wedding.  Since we were going so far for a wedding we figured we'd make a good vacation out of it.  I had it all planned out, we would spend 4 days up in the mountains near Volcano Arenal and then go down to the coast for the wedding festivities.  Well all would have been great if it hadn't decided to rain for those 4 days we were in the mountains.  A constant drizzle to almost heavy rain all day and all night long.  The clouds were so low you couldn't even see the volcano.  The best shot we have of it is the last day and we could only see half the volcano from our hotel room.

We tried to make the best of it. On Tuesday we went to an animal rescue center, Proyecto Asis, and got to pet and hold monkeys and other critters. We also had the opportunity to feed them. It was really neat. Wednesday we went ziplining. I heard the views were supposed to be amazing but since the volcano and lake were covered in clouds all I could see were the trees underneath me. Still it was amazing. Flying along a zipline going 45mph and the lines are over 1/2 mile long. w00t! So the worst day was Thursday. I decided, hey lets go hiking in the rain. It shouldn't be too bad and this lake is supposed to be amazing. Its called Cerro Chato and its an awesome blue-green color. What the websites fail to mention the hike to get there is meant to kill you. Only the worthy may pass. I thought Mike was going to pass out. I kept slipping and sliding in the mud and the stairs. Oh my goodness those stairs that never ended. So we finally make it to the look out point and this is what we see...

Needless to say we were highly disappointed. There was another crazy descent if you wanted to go closer to the lake but at that time we were both like forget it, lets get the heck out of here. Going down the mountain was insane, not only were we going down a giant mountain but the steps weren't real steps, they are just tree roots and logs placed strategically on the path and mostly giant mud puddles. Almost fell several times and was completely wet and filthy by the time we got to the bottom. We couldn't wait to leave that area and get to the coast. The last part of our trip was beautiful. The beach was amazing, it was sunny and NO RAIN! The bride and groom had a weekend of activities planned for the guests. On Friday there was a welcome beach party for everyone. Live music, food and drinks. Of course all I could have was soda :( Didn't want to chance drinking the local water. Saturday we lounged by the pool before getting ready for the wedding. A shuttle took us to the wedding location at Villa Caletas. Where they held the ceremony the view was breathtaking.
 
After the ceremony there was the cocktail hour with live music. The bride and groom came out after they were done taking pictures and did a dance together. When the dance finished fireworks went off because why not haaha! After dinner the live band who did the dance music were really good. Of course at this point I'm completely exhausted because I'm pregnant. We finally managed to get a shuttle back to our hotel around midnight :p The next morning we had to really push ourselves to get up for the catamaran excursion. Everybody on the catamaran were wedding guests, there were about 90 of us. It was really nice and relaxing. In this picture you can tell me and Mike are completely exhausted

The next day we got on a plane to come home. Of course the perfect way to end the trip was to get food poisoning from the hamburgers we ate at the airport :p So that was our Costa Rica experience. It was fun but I'm not sure if we'll go back. I would like to go somewhere next time that isn't quite so hot. I think I'm craving some culture, so I think Europe is in our future :) I leave you with this adorable white face monkey who joined us for breakfast every morning :)
 

nausea

So for the most part I haven't felt too terrible during this pregnancy.  I don't have morning sickness.  I get the gas something fierce haha! But that really isn't anything too new for me heehee.  The worst part is after I eat lunch and dinner I have nausea.  Just a general feeling of yuckiness.  I can't vomit I just feel like I need too.  I eat saltine crackers, they help a little bit.  The other day I drank a sprite, that helped alot, I burped it up.  My mom gave me some fizzy stuff yesterday, that actually worked pretty good.  I need to steal it from her ;) They say after the first trimester the sickness goes away and I really hope so because its not fun at all.  I feel sorry for women who get really sick.  Otherwise everything else seems to be progressing along.  I have a small, miniscule baby bump that looks like a fat roll :)  I go in Thursday for my full baby workup, blood work and all.  Till next time.

Taken on Friday, little over two months.

dreams

So ever since we first found out I was pregnant I started having weird dreams.  And very vivid too!  I would have thought they were real if it hadn't been for the absurdness of them.  They have sort of tapered off the past few weeks but I had another crazy one last night.  I was on a cruise ship but we weren't on the ocean, we were in some kind of marshy, swamp area.  I was on the top deck trying to get to the bottom and saw an old friend of mine, Jamie.  I can't remember if we talked I just remember her being on the top deck.  So I finally make it to the bottom because I have to start work.  I'm at Duke now in the basement in Literature program but it looks like the Atkins library here at UNCC.  My old boss, Tim, says "hi Vanessa glad your back." The phone starts ringing and I'm trying to help this person locate a visiting scholar so I put them on hold.  Meanwhile a student is pestering me about something and another phone line starts ringing.  I'm trying to look through the notes that Cristin left and I finally find out what happened to the scholar and get that person off the phone.  Then its five o'clock and I say bye to my coworkers (who are my old coworkers from Banfield).  Then my alarm went off and I woke up.  How is that for randomness?

On another note, since I'm back working in an office I'll be able to update my blog more often and keep everyone posted on baby news.  So right now I'm at 9 weeks 2 days.  Haven't really had too many symptoms, the past couple weeks I was feeling nauseous after eating lunch and dinner.  Just queasy on my stomach.  That feeling has subsided this week so doing pretty good.  I don't have any good tummy shots right now, I just look chubby, lol!  Anyways, till next time :)