Monday, December 28, 2009
our first craigslist gem!
although i've done my share of browsing craigslist, until christmas eve, i'd never actually purchased anything from it. usually what happens is, i browse, i find some stuff, i show kenny, and kenny convinces me it's not worth the time or energy (or the "deal" i think i'm getting) to contact the person, look at the item, transport the item back to our place, etc. however, on the eve of christmas eve, i was browsing craigslist for a glider. now, for those of you who are not/have never been pregnant, those puppies are EX-PEN-SIVE! so i've been looking on craigslist every so often for a deal. well i found my deal!
a woman pregnant with triplets was selling her glider loveseat and ottoman for--get this--$100 to make space in her house/nursery! now, just a little background, chair and a halfs (which are slightly smaller than loveseats) are priced around $800 at the baby furniture stores (and that's the only place i'd been able to find them) and that's NOT including the ottoman. kenny and i daydreamed about sitting together with carter in our chair and a half one day, but eventually snapped out of it and decided that there was NO WAY we were going to hand over THAT MUCH CASH! when i showed kenny the item, even HE couldn't pass up on the deal!
on thursday (christmas eve), we drove out to citrus park, tried 'er out and loaded 'er up! the only small problem was that since it's a glider loveseat, it's rather large--too large in fact, for the nursery. however, we like the idea of making a space in our master that carter can come lay in and we can read to him in for years to come! now we just need to completely rearrange the furniture in the master to make this happen, which is easier said than done since the furniture is so freakin' heavy. here's a pic of our find in her temporary home.
oh, and she even came with a khaki cover for the loveseat and ottoman (not pictured here).
a woman pregnant with triplets was selling her glider loveseat and ottoman for--get this--$100 to make space in her house/nursery! now, just a little background, chair and a halfs (which are slightly smaller than loveseats) are priced around $800 at the baby furniture stores (and that's the only place i'd been able to find them) and that's NOT including the ottoman. kenny and i daydreamed about sitting together with carter in our chair and a half one day, but eventually snapped out of it and decided that there was NO WAY we were going to hand over THAT MUCH CASH! when i showed kenny the item, even HE couldn't pass up on the deal!
on thursday (christmas eve), we drove out to citrus park, tried 'er out and loaded 'er up! the only small problem was that since it's a glider loveseat, it's rather large--too large in fact, for the nursery. however, we like the idea of making a space in our master that carter can come lay in and we can read to him in for years to come! now we just need to completely rearrange the furniture in the master to make this happen, which is easier said than done since the furniture is so freakin' heavy. here's a pic of our find in her temporary home.
oh, and she even came with a khaki cover for the loveseat and ottoman (not pictured here).
Sunday, December 27, 2009
er visits and cowboy boot lamps
today we spent about 3 hours at tgh making sure i hadn't developed a blood clot in my leg after a severe charley horse three nights ago. now, i've had cramps and charley horses before, but the pain always went away after the cramp stopped--the pain NEVER lasted for DAYS, so i called my dad and asked him if he'd ever had such a thing happen to him.
now, you may ask, why would you call your dad, he's a nonpregnant male? well, i remember him having severe cramps in the middle of the night occasionally when i was growing up, so i just wanted to know if he'd ever had persistent pain after a charley horse in the middle of the night. he said that this had only happened to him once, and after a few days, my mom convinced him to go to the doctor and long story short, he had a blood clot in his calf. in his case, the clot was not threatening, the doctor advised him to take some alieve and that was it.
after talking to my dad, i called aetna's 24 hr nurse and talked to her. she advised that i go see a doctor. then i called my midwife practice and spoke to the on-call midwife. the on-call midwife said that i should come down to tgh to have an ultrasound done on my leg to rule out a blood clot.
there's no point in dragging this out any longer...after three-ish hours at tgh, there was no blood clot to be found. maybe i pulled a muscle in my leg during the charley horse?? who knows. all i know is that's three hours of my life i'll never get back and i still feel like i wasted kenny's day off. oh well, it is what it is.
even after our adventures in the er, kenny was still able to do one of the items on his list for today. when we got home, we ate dinner, and then kenny started on carter's cowboy boot lamps! they're partly finished, as in, you can see what they're going to look like when they're ready to use, but he hasn't run the electrical part through yet! i'll post a pic soon!
now, you may ask, why would you call your dad, he's a nonpregnant male? well, i remember him having severe cramps in the middle of the night occasionally when i was growing up, so i just wanted to know if he'd ever had persistent pain after a charley horse in the middle of the night. he said that this had only happened to him once, and after a few days, my mom convinced him to go to the doctor and long story short, he had a blood clot in his calf. in his case, the clot was not threatening, the doctor advised him to take some alieve and that was it.
after talking to my dad, i called aetna's 24 hr nurse and talked to her. she advised that i go see a doctor. then i called my midwife practice and spoke to the on-call midwife. the on-call midwife said that i should come down to tgh to have an ultrasound done on my leg to rule out a blood clot.
there's no point in dragging this out any longer...after three-ish hours at tgh, there was no blood clot to be found. maybe i pulled a muscle in my leg during the charley horse?? who knows. all i know is that's three hours of my life i'll never get back and i still feel like i wasted kenny's day off. oh well, it is what it is.
even after our adventures in the er, kenny was still able to do one of the items on his list for today. when we got home, we ate dinner, and then kenny started on carter's cowboy boot lamps! they're partly finished, as in, you can see what they're going to look like when they're ready to use, but he hasn't run the electrical part through yet! i'll post a pic soon!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
carter has crib bedding and curtains!
after talks with my grandmother about making carter's crib bedding and talks with cheri about how to pick fabrics and visits to every freakin' fabric store in the greater tampa area, i managed to completely stress myself out and make nursery decorating no longer fun.
for kicks, i went to visit my grandmother one day last week to give it all one last shot. the visit just further confirmed that this "project" wasn't going to happen---at least not in the timely manner that it would need to happen in if it was going to be ready by the time carter got here. i left my grandma's and headed home.
as i walked thru the door (completely dejected), i hear kenny say, "hey, have you seen this one before?" i go in the office, look at the monitor and start crying. he'd found the PERFECT set! and, to top it off, it was all on sale!! let me just take a moment and say how wonderful my husband is and how lucky i am to have him as mine for life. anyway, we took some time to really look at all they had available and added everything to our shoping cart that we wanted. i was trying to soak in the number in the "total" line when kenny insisted that we get it all. now. so we did. and it all got here yesterday! here's a picture of the comforter/quilt. all other photos will have to wait until the nursery is finished!
for kicks, i went to visit my grandmother one day last week to give it all one last shot. the visit just further confirmed that this "project" wasn't going to happen---at least not in the timely manner that it would need to happen in if it was going to be ready by the time carter got here. i left my grandma's and headed home.
as i walked thru the door (completely dejected), i hear kenny say, "hey, have you seen this one before?" i go in the office, look at the monitor and start crying. he'd found the PERFECT set! and, to top it off, it was all on sale!! let me just take a moment and say how wonderful my husband is and how lucky i am to have him as mine for life. anyway, we took some time to really look at all they had available and added everything to our shoping cart that we wanted. i was trying to soak in the number in the "total" line when kenny insisted that we get it all. now. so we did. and it all got here yesterday! here's a picture of the comforter/quilt. all other photos will have to wait until the nursery is finished!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
so the predictions are in!!
kenny and i have just finished making our bets on when carter will be here and how big he will be.
the winner will receive one day of no diaper changes.
whoever is the closest to the actual number (on either side) and the best two outta three wins.
and now, for the predictions...
kenny - carter will be born on april 10th, 2010, weighing 7lbs 2ozs, and 18ins long.
mrs. az - carter will be born on march 23rd, 2010, weighing 7lbs 9 ozs, and 21ins long.
feel free to make your own predictions, although you won't be able to claim the prize. ;)
the winner will receive one day of no diaper changes.
whoever is the closest to the actual number (on either side) and the best two outta three wins.
and now, for the predictions...
kenny - carter will be born on april 10th, 2010, weighing 7lbs 2ozs, and 18ins long.
mrs. az - carter will be born on march 23rd, 2010, weighing 7lbs 9 ozs, and 21ins long.
feel free to make your own predictions, although you won't be able to claim the prize. ;)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
24 wks!
so here we are. in four weeks carter will be "viable" and it will be absolutely definite that we will be having a little one here! it's exciting and alarming at the same time. i was telling kenny last night that i'm gonna be a crazy lady when carter gets here. i know i'll be like "is he getting enough food? am i burping him right? is he latched on correctly?" i still have so much to read and learn before he gets here, it's quite overwhelming!
_______________
{{112 days to go.}}___________
how far along: 24 wks 2 days
total weight gain/loss: +17ish lbs--which means i'm slowly approaching the 140s! i haven't weighed that much since like 7th grade--you know, when everyone goes thru that awkward stage. i keep telling myself that i'm not going to weigh myself until i go to the midwife again (which isn't until the beginning of january), but there's always this question that's staring me in the face, so i cave and get on the scale.
waist circumference: 35 inches!
how big baby is: the size of a papaya! about 11.8 inches long and 20.8 oz!
maternity clothes: same old stuff--except for my comfy pink plaid sleep shorts that eaten by the bed in las vegas and were never seen again! don't ask...it makes me tear up.
stretch marks: i'm not sure that i really know what stretch marks look like. there are new somethings i've noticed, but kenny says they look like veins, which he said he read can/will happen. we'll just go with what he says. :)
sleep: i was actually just thinking about this this morning before i literally rolled out of bed. i'm getting lots of sleep these days, since i don't have a regular job. kenny told me last night (for the first time) that he's glad i'm not working so that we're able to still spend time together at night during the week. he's right, if i was still working at sydney's school, i would probably be out by 8pm every night! of course, i still get up about 4 times a night, but it's easy to go right back to sleep.
best moment this week: consistently feeling carter move around in my belly! :)
movement: yes! lots of it! kenny's new position while we're watching tv is with his right hand on my belly. we just laugh to ourselves everytime we feel him move around. :)
food cravings: just the weekly craving right now for a regular iced vanilla chai with 2% and boba from kaleisia.
gender: boy
labor signs: none
belly button: it's in still, but my mom said that her belly button never popped out when she was pregnant with me or my brother. but kenny informed me that my belly button is "a little skewed" these days. you can see in the picture that my belly button is no longer in the center of my abdomen. i swear that it used to be!
what i miss: going to algusto for dinner and being able to order sangria or a margarita :*(
what i am looking forward to: finally getting the fabric decided so that we can start priming the nursery. did you know that you can't just buy primer and get started, you're supposed to get the primer tinted?? who knew?
weekly wisdom: do the kegel exercises--at least that's what i read this morning on thebump. i'm gonna try my hardest to do so, especially since i just learned that they're the muscles involved during an orgasm. i'd hate to mess that up!
milestone: um...i don't know! maybe seeing carter move from the outside?? now THAT will be WEIRD!
Monday, December 14, 2009
fabric shopping
last thursday, my mom, my grandma and i went to lunch together and then went fabric shopping. we wound up in brandon at joann fabrics and found quite a few cotton prints in the colors i was looking for. we really had a great time shopping around, but we didn't buy anything and we didn't find a pattern with cowboys on it, which i think is absolutely necessary for a cowboy nursery!
so on saturday, kenny and i went to calico corners--another fabric store in tampa--in search of a cowboy print. we didn't have any luck at calico corners, which is okay by me since it's VERY EXPENSIVE, but on our way back from calico, kenny saw this other place on kennedy called "that fabric place". we nearly got in an accident pulling into the place and, in my opinion, the people weren't super friendly, but their inventory definitely made the saturday trip to south tampa worthwhile!
we found this print and it very well may be the winner.
here's an up close shot of the cowboy.
they also had the same print in blue, but i'm not a fan. i think the baby blue background would get old superfast. plus, i want to paint the walls and that wouldn't be necessary if we chose the blue version.
i got some input from cheri on saturday evening and she said that if i chose the cowboy pattern with tan background, we could definitely paint the walls blue. however, when she pulled out her color wheel and showed me which shade of blue would go best based solely on that fabric, i was no longer interested in blue walls. i'm currently leaning towards painting the walls green, but i'm not sure that i'll be able to convice kenny of this. cheri said that it's all about what fabric i choose as the curtains and crib skirt/dust ruffle. she said that it would be completely acceptable to do the comforter and curtains in the tan cowboy fabric, but i think that that would be too much cowboy. i guess we'll have to wait and see what fabric(s) i find to do the curtains and skirt. i want to check out this other fabric store, "boca bargoons", and see what they have. maybe they'll have yet another cowboy fabric! my goal is to go to boca sometime this week, but kenny can't go until saturday. i'm just so anxious to get the ball rolling on carter's room! i'm ready to be painting the walls! :)
so on saturday, kenny and i went to calico corners--another fabric store in tampa--in search of a cowboy print. we didn't have any luck at calico corners, which is okay by me since it's VERY EXPENSIVE, but on our way back from calico, kenny saw this other place on kennedy called "that fabric place". we nearly got in an accident pulling into the place and, in my opinion, the people weren't super friendly, but their inventory definitely made the saturday trip to south tampa worthwhile!
we found this print and it very well may be the winner.
here's an up close shot of the cowboy.
they also had the same print in blue, but i'm not a fan. i think the baby blue background would get old superfast. plus, i want to paint the walls and that wouldn't be necessary if we chose the blue version.
i got some input from cheri on saturday evening and she said that if i chose the cowboy pattern with tan background, we could definitely paint the walls blue. however, when she pulled out her color wheel and showed me which shade of blue would go best based solely on that fabric, i was no longer interested in blue walls. i'm currently leaning towards painting the walls green, but i'm not sure that i'll be able to convice kenny of this. cheri said that it's all about what fabric i choose as the curtains and crib skirt/dust ruffle. she said that it would be completely acceptable to do the comforter and curtains in the tan cowboy fabric, but i think that that would be too much cowboy. i guess we'll have to wait and see what fabric(s) i find to do the curtains and skirt. i want to check out this other fabric store, "boca bargoons", and see what they have. maybe they'll have yet another cowboy fabric! my goal is to go to boca sometime this week, but kenny can't go until saturday. i'm just so anxious to get the ball rolling on carter's room! i'm ready to be painting the walls! :)
Friday, December 11, 2009
carter has (some) furniture! now he just needs a crib! :)
a few weeks ago, kenny and i were among a group at chenelle's place having cake from chocolate pi and celebrating her birthday. while at chenelle's, i showed kenny the pieces that her and karl got from treehouse gallery (an awesome furniture store in st.pete). kenny liked their pieces so this past saturday, he went with me to treehouse to take advantage of their 20% off sale for the holidays! (kenny's informed me of the ridiculous markup on furniture already, but if there's a "sale", im there, even if they're still making a crapload of money off my purchases!)
i don't know why i'm always shocked after i go shopping with kenny, but i always am. my head winds up spinning for hours after we go shopping like that! i mean, i'm the kind of person who goes eye shopping first. then if i find something i like, i take a photo of it. then, after a few hours, i go home and look at the photo. do i still like it? then a few weeks later, if im still thinking about the item, i'll go back and look at the item again. if i still like it, then i'll have kenny go with me and see the item. and then, 9 times out of 10, he'll buy the item even if it's the first time he's seen the piece in real life!
i was under the impression that we would be "just browsing" at treehouse and then come home and envision the future location of any pieces we thought would go well in carter's room. yeah, no, that's not what happened. we wound up purchasing a dresser, a bookshelf, a coat rack, and two nightstands! essentially, all the pieces that carter will ever need in his room (with the exception of the headboard that we might go back and purchase in a few years when carter's ready for a "big boy bed").
i think my head spins from the surprise of actually getting something the first time we go look together, especially considering all of the eye shopping that i'd done prior to going to treehouse with kenny. all the baby furniture stores in tampa, orlando, and atlanta; all the chain kids furniture stores in tampa and atlanta; all the internet searches; a trip to treehouse on my own. i've seen a lot of stuff and we knew the pieces from treehouse were EXACTLY what we were looking for for carter's cowboy room!
enough of my blubbering, here are the bookshelf and coat rack. all of the other pieces are still at treehouse, waiting for us to come retrieve them after we prime the walls, and paint the walls, and get the carpets cleaned! they said they'd hold them however long we need them to. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll be in their permanent home before january is up!
the coat rack
the bookshelf
i don't know why i'm always shocked after i go shopping with kenny, but i always am. my head winds up spinning for hours after we go shopping like that! i mean, i'm the kind of person who goes eye shopping first. then if i find something i like, i take a photo of it. then, after a few hours, i go home and look at the photo. do i still like it? then a few weeks later, if im still thinking about the item, i'll go back and look at the item again. if i still like it, then i'll have kenny go with me and see the item. and then, 9 times out of 10, he'll buy the item even if it's the first time he's seen the piece in real life!
i was under the impression that we would be "just browsing" at treehouse and then come home and envision the future location of any pieces we thought would go well in carter's room. yeah, no, that's not what happened. we wound up purchasing a dresser, a bookshelf, a coat rack, and two nightstands! essentially, all the pieces that carter will ever need in his room (with the exception of the headboard that we might go back and purchase in a few years when carter's ready for a "big boy bed").
i think my head spins from the surprise of actually getting something the first time we go look together, especially considering all of the eye shopping that i'd done prior to going to treehouse with kenny. all the baby furniture stores in tampa, orlando, and atlanta; all the chain kids furniture stores in tampa and atlanta; all the internet searches; a trip to treehouse on my own. i've seen a lot of stuff and we knew the pieces from treehouse were EXACTLY what we were looking for for carter's cowboy room!
enough of my blubbering, here are the bookshelf and coat rack. all of the other pieces are still at treehouse, waiting for us to come retrieve them after we prime the walls, and paint the walls, and get the carpets cleaned! they said they'd hold them however long we need them to. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll be in their permanent home before january is up!
the coat rack
the bookshelfcarter's u/s pics from the big u/s!
here are carter's 19 wk u/s pics! i know, im 23 wks now so i've been a bit of a slacker about putting these up, but nevermind that. enjoy!
he's soo cute! but im biased. i told kenny that i think he's gonna have my mouth. :) mouth-shape that is, NOT my potty-mouth. ;)
kenny and i didn't know if we should post this one, but it's such a good toilet shot and it's in 3d i couldn't resist. plus, i've shown it to all of our friends and it's not like strangers read this thing!
kenny's hoping for a little soccer player that he can kick the ball around with. we shall see!
carter's face is a little blurry in this one, but he's so cute with his arms back behind his head! he's just chilling in my uterus with a slight smile on his face! when i showed this one to our hair lady, she said, "now don't be surprised if he insists on sleeping this way when he's out of the womb." it'll be interesting to see if that'll be the case!
and lastly, we have the infamous profile shot that they take everytime. it's not super exciting, but it kinda looks like there's a little less room in there than there was at 13 wks! eek!
he's soo cute! but im biased. i told kenny that i think he's gonna have my mouth. :) mouth-shape that is, NOT my potty-mouth. ;)
kenny and i didn't know if we should post this one, but it's such a good toilet shot and it's in 3d i couldn't resist. plus, i've shown it to all of our friends and it's not like strangers read this thing!
kenny's hoping for a little soccer player that he can kick the ball around with. we shall see!
carter's face is a little blurry in this one, but he's so cute with his arms back behind his head! he's just chilling in my uterus with a slight smile on his face! when i showed this one to our hair lady, she said, "now don't be surprised if he insists on sleeping this way when he's out of the womb." it'll be interesting to see if that'll be the case!
and lastly, we have the infamous profile shot that they take everytime. it's not super exciting, but it kinda looks like there's a little less room in there than there was at 13 wks! eek!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
we have movement!!
this morning was the first time that kenny was able to feel carter kick! in fact, this morning was the first time that i was 100% sure that i felt carter! i'll be 23 wks tomorrow, so i guess we're kinda early for kenny to be able to feel him. i've been telling kenny that he wouldn't be able to feel carter until i'm at least 28 wks, especially since i have an anterior placenta, but i guess i was wrong. the first thing kenny said was, "it feels like a muscle spasm" which is pretty hilarious b/c i read on thebump just last week that that's what most women's others say when they feel the baby move for the first time! it's so exciting! kenny speculated that carter was enjoying 16 and pregnant too and that was why he was kicking so much but who knows! all i know is it's so awesome to know that he's still alive in there! :)
Friday, December 4, 2009
nursery planning
yesterday i talked to my friend becky and my sister-in-law cheri about how one goes about decorating a room. now, i'm aware that i'm not exactly design-inclined--or at least, ive never had the opportunity to design/decorate anything, so i had no problem asking around for some pointers on where to start. now, i've learned a little bit about coordinating fabrics from cheri's beautiful home that she decorated herself and from the wonderful job she did on kenny's home before i was a part of the picture, but i'd never seen her, or anyone else for that matter, in action. what do you decide first? furniture? paint? fabrics? i was completely overwhelmed but really ready to get started on making my vision for carter's cowboy room come to life.
after a nice long chat with cheri, i now have a gameplan:
1) find one fabric i absolutely LOVE
2) find three or four other fabrics that coordinate with the fabric that i love
3) once i have chosen my fabrics, THEN i can pick out a paint color
4) use graph paper to chart out the size of the room i'm working with and then cut out (scaled) pieces of the furniture i'd like to put in the room
5) arrange the furniture pieces on the graph until i find a set up i like--adjust the dimensions of the furniture as needed
6) choose a finish for the furniture that i like and just go with it
i was really hoping that kenny and i could go paint shopping this weekend, since he says that we need to paint before we get the carpets cleaned and buy furniture and really get started. too bad i haven't even stepped foot in a fabric store yet! maybe i'll go today, but it's SO NASTY outside! there's a 100% chance of rain today. gotta love florida!
after a nice long chat with cheri, i now have a gameplan:
1) find one fabric i absolutely LOVE
2) find three or four other fabrics that coordinate with the fabric that i love
3) once i have chosen my fabrics, THEN i can pick out a paint color
4) use graph paper to chart out the size of the room i'm working with and then cut out (scaled) pieces of the furniture i'd like to put in the room
5) arrange the furniture pieces on the graph until i find a set up i like--adjust the dimensions of the furniture as needed
6) choose a finish for the furniture that i like and just go with it
i was really hoping that kenny and i could go paint shopping this weekend, since he says that we need to paint before we get the carpets cleaned and buy furniture and really get started. too bad i haven't even stepped foot in a fabric store yet! maybe i'll go today, but it's SO NASTY outside! there's a 100% chance of rain today. gotta love florida!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
im back!
so i've been a huge slacker these last few weeks--only posting updates every so often--but things should be turning around now that i have regular internet access. we were gone the majority of the month of november, in north carolina, then new york and new jersey, and lastly in the great las vegas nevada for thanksgiving! whew! now we're back in the comforts of our own home and i'm glad! it's great to have my fiber one pop tart and glass of skim milk every morning! but back to the baby...
so i'm 22wks(-ish) now and things continue to gradually expand. i have to hold back the tears every time i have to force another pair of pants or top into early retirement in the back corner of my closet. jk--kinda. but seriously, i know it's okay--it's for the baby. and plus, i don't eat like a cow ALL the time. and even if i did/do, they say you bounce back like nothing after the first one, especially if you breastfeed. im keeping my fingers crossed that carter's a good latcher-oner! speaking of carter, he's about as big as a papaya, according to thebump! here's a visual for the fruit ignorant...
that's pretty crazy! and now, for the photo you've all been waiting for...what carter looks like from the outside...
{{126 days to go.}}
so i'm 22wks(-ish) now and things continue to gradually expand. i have to hold back the tears every time i have to force another pair of pants or top into early retirement in the back corner of my closet. jk--kinda. but seriously, i know it's okay--it's for the baby. and plus, i don't eat like a cow ALL the time. and even if i did/do, they say you bounce back like nothing after the first one, especially if you breastfeed. im keeping my fingers crossed that carter's a good latcher-oner! speaking of carter, he's about as big as a papaya, according to thebump! here's a visual for the fruit ignorant...
that's pretty crazy! and now, for the photo you've all been waiting for...what carter looks like from the outside...
{{126 days to go.}}Friday, November 20, 2009
20 wks---HALF WAY THERE!
{{140 days to go.}}
how far along: 20 wks 4 days
total weight gain/loss: +12.6lbs yikes! i swear it's all in the belly (and maybe a SMALL amount in the boobs)! i can't believe that i will be more than 150lbs before this is over! good thing i plan on breastfeeding--the weight should come right off. ::fingers crossed::
waist circumference: 34 inches! im up 3 inches in seven weeks--yikes!
how big baby is: weighing in at 10.6 oz and 6.5 inches long...carter is about the size of a cantaloupe!
maternity clothes: a few pairs of jeans and a few tops (thanks mom & mr.kz) and then there's the huge bag of goodness from chenelle belle which technically aren't maternity clothes, but i'm using them as such!
stretch marks: not yet thank goodness. i have a feeling though that it'll only be a matter of time. :(
sleep: waking up once or twice a night which isn't too bad
best moment this week: baby-related moment: hearing carter's heartbeat at the midwife after my bad dream last week that he was born REALLY early and was 2.5 inches long and i kept forgetting to feed him every 15 minutes. non-baby moment: getting a bagel and pizza in nyc and seeing mary poppins on broadway!
movement: i think i feel a little bit occassionally, but im still waiting for the big kick in the bladder before i really consider it "movement." when i was at the "big ultrasound," the tech told me that my placenta is anterior which is probably why i haven't "felt anything." whatev, im not worried, ill feel him soon enough.
food cravings: hot now krisy kreme donuts! mmmmmmm
gender: he's ALL BOY!
labor signs: none
belly button: still in, but i think it might be getting shallower :S
what i miss: the frank roll from tokyo sushi, tuna sandwiches, tall one pump cinammon dolce nonfat no whip white mochas everytime i pass a starbucks!
what i am looking forward to: officially starting the nursery! i can't wait to start sewing with my grandma!
weekly wisdom: i always come up empty with this questions, maybe because i don't really understand it.
milestone: first baby "kick"? maybe one of these days...
Thursday, November 12, 2009
IT'S A BOY!! For sure this time!!
yesterday was our "big" ultrasound and in case it isn't painfully obvious by the new blue EVERYTHING, baby z is a BOY! i'm SOOO excited! i know in the beginning i REALLY wanted a girl, but after hanging out with chenelle and one of her families, i just COULD NOT RESIST little boys!
i'll post pictures soon--i just have to get kenny out of his office to scan them in. there is an AWESOME boy parts pic in 3d, but we haven't decided if we will post it yet. regardless, it is SO CLEAR that it will be carter joining our family in the spring!!
kenny was so cute yesterday. everytime i turned around he was looking at the pictures from the ultrasound. he carried them around the house--he must've brought them to me three or four times last night just to look at them with him again. it's so awesome to know that he's just as excited as i am about this--actually, probably a little more so! he's going to be such a great dad--hopefully i'll be able to measure up as a decent mom. lol.
anyway, now it's time for the fun stuff! we get to start planning the nursery! i'm thinking we'll go with a cowboy theme, but we'll see!
i'll post pictures soon--i just have to get kenny out of his office to scan them in. there is an AWESOME boy parts pic in 3d, but we haven't decided if we will post it yet. regardless, it is SO CLEAR that it will be carter joining our family in the spring!!
kenny was so cute yesterday. everytime i turned around he was looking at the pictures from the ultrasound. he carried them around the house--he must've brought them to me three or four times last night just to look at them with him again. it's so awesome to know that he's just as excited as i am about this--actually, probably a little more so! he's going to be such a great dad--hopefully i'll be able to measure up as a decent mom. lol.
anyway, now it's time for the fun stuff! we get to start planning the nursery! i'm thinking we'll go with a cowboy theme, but we'll see!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
the 3d/4d ultrasound
i'm not sure why i'm even bothering to post this, but i figure i should document the womb-life of baby z how it comes...
so we went to meet the baby on saturday and it was pretty anticlimactic, in my opinion. bottom line, it was too soon to tell for sure (again, my opinion). the guy doing the ultrasound said "90% boy" after a LOT of looking and with much hesitation. i think the guy's "gender diagnosis" was premature--that he couldn't completely rule out boy so he couldn't say girl. based on other gender sonograms that i've searched google images for, i think that there's a good chance that baby z is a girl. there has been some talk however, that the dots in the form of a triangle eventually develop into a boy. here's what we got, you be the judge...
i expected there to be a clear "turtle" if baby z was indeed a boy, but it just didn't work out that way. kenny thinks i might be a little earlier than originally thought, as in i'm actually 16wks today (instead of 17wks) and thus the genitalia aren't ready to be determined yet.
it's just hard b/c we told some people and everyone was SO EXCITED that baby z was a boy, but i don't feel that we have conclusive evidence just yet to say so. i'm sure everyone's reactions would've been the same if we'd said that baby z was a she, but i HATE when expectations are not met. i think im truly at the point where either boy OR girl will be great, but it doesn't change the fact that if i'm thinking it's gonna be one thing and then we find out it's the other, im gonna have PROBLEMS with that!! basically, i've decided to pretend that saturday did NOT happen and that it's still 50/50. i have my "big ultrasound" on wed, nov 11th, so i guess we'll just have to wait until then, when a truly trained individual is performing the ultrasound. so i guess no shopping for baby z while im in north carolina and atlanta next week. bummer!
now, moving on to the fun stuff, we did get some good photos of baby z in 3d. here's my fav...
so we went to meet the baby on saturday and it was pretty anticlimactic, in my opinion. bottom line, it was too soon to tell for sure (again, my opinion). the guy doing the ultrasound said "90% boy" after a LOT of looking and with much hesitation. i think the guy's "gender diagnosis" was premature--that he couldn't completely rule out boy so he couldn't say girl. based on other gender sonograms that i've searched google images for, i think that there's a good chance that baby z is a girl. there has been some talk however, that the dots in the form of a triangle eventually develop into a boy. here's what we got, you be the judge...
i expected there to be a clear "turtle" if baby z was indeed a boy, but it just didn't work out that way. kenny thinks i might be a little earlier than originally thought, as in i'm actually 16wks today (instead of 17wks) and thus the genitalia aren't ready to be determined yet.
it's just hard b/c we told some people and everyone was SO EXCITED that baby z was a boy, but i don't feel that we have conclusive evidence just yet to say so. i'm sure everyone's reactions would've been the same if we'd said that baby z was a she, but i HATE when expectations are not met. i think im truly at the point where either boy OR girl will be great, but it doesn't change the fact that if i'm thinking it's gonna be one thing and then we find out it's the other, im gonna have PROBLEMS with that!! basically, i've decided to pretend that saturday did NOT happen and that it's still 50/50. i have my "big ultrasound" on wed, nov 11th, so i guess we'll just have to wait until then, when a truly trained individual is performing the ultrasound. so i guess no shopping for baby z while im in north carolina and atlanta next week. bummer!
now, moving on to the fun stuff, we did get some good photos of baby z in 3d. here's my fav...
Friday, October 23, 2009
after a closer look...
i think that the "bump" i thought i saw might've been a figment of my imagination. oh well...it's not the end of the world. after all, i should be happy that i am four months pregnant and don't really look it. maybe that will pay off in the long run?
in other news...
in preparation of the 3d ultrasound on saturday, i took a few quizzes that tell the gender based on old wives tales. here are the results...
chinese gender predictor = girl
i'm carrying the "extra weight" out front = boy
the hair on my legs is growing faster during pregnancy = boy
i sleep with my pillow to the north = boy
my feet are colder than they were before pregnancy = boy
i refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread = girl
dad-to-be is gaining weight right along with me = boy (sorry kenny)
my mom doesn't have gray hair (because she dyes it) = girl
i didn't have much morning sickness early in pregnancy = boy
i'm looking particularly good during pregnancy (if i do say so myself) = boy (because girls steal their mother's looks)
my chest development has not been very dramatic during pregnancy (sorry again kenny) = boy
the sum of my age at conception and the number of the month of conception are both even = boy
my urine is a bright neon yellow color = boy (sorry if tmi)
my nose hasn't changed during pregnancy = girl
i have been craving fruits = girl
baby z's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute = girl
i like my orange juice = girl
i'm not having headaches = girl
when asked to show my hands, i show my palms = girl
i typically use the handle of a mug = boy
57% chance of a BOY
42% chance of a GIRL
i'm still hoping for a boy, but my intuition still says girl. only 24 hours until we find out! yay!
in other news...
in preparation of the 3d ultrasound on saturday, i took a few quizzes that tell the gender based on old wives tales. here are the results...
chinese gender predictor = girl
i'm carrying the "extra weight" out front = boy
the hair on my legs is growing faster during pregnancy = boy
i sleep with my pillow to the north = boy
my feet are colder than they were before pregnancy = boy
i refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread = girl
dad-to-be is gaining weight right along with me = boy (sorry kenny)
my mom doesn't have gray hair (because she dyes it) = girl
i didn't have much morning sickness early in pregnancy = boy
i'm looking particularly good during pregnancy (if i do say so myself) = boy (because girls steal their mother's looks)
my chest development has not been very dramatic during pregnancy (sorry again kenny) = boy
the sum of my age at conception and the number of the month of conception are both even = boy
my urine is a bright neon yellow color = boy (sorry if tmi)
my nose hasn't changed during pregnancy = girl
i have been craving fruits = girl
baby z's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute = girl
i like my orange juice = girl
i'm not having headaches = girl
when asked to show my hands, i show my palms = girl
i typically use the handle of a mug = boy
57% chance of a BOY
42% chance of a GIRL
i'm still hoping for a boy, but my intuition still says girl. only 24 hours until we find out! yay!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
FINALLY--some photos worth posting!
ladies and gentlemen, look very closely! i think there very well may be the beginnings of a bump!
{{182 days to go.}}
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{{168 days to go.}}
{{182 days to go.}}_______________
{{168 days to go.}}Monday, October 19, 2009
we're gonna see our baby again!
i just booked our first 3d ultrasound for baby z! we should find out baby z's gender this saturday at 3pm! i can hardly wait!!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
so i've been thinking...
maybe a baby boy wouldn't be so bad afterall.
let me back up.
reason #1:
last thursday i spent a day in the life of chenelle. it was awesome!! and exhausting, i must admit. chenelle basically gave me a crash course in babies. she taught me various ways to hold a baby (traditional, football, in front, baby baby), how to change a diaper, how to feed a baby a bottle and "solid" food, and how to put a baby down in his/her crib. she was able to do such things with the twin eight month old boys she nannies for every week day. the keyword in the previous sentence being "boys".
the boys were so cute and so darn reinforcing (obviously they're much older than a newborn so they were smiling and one of the boys is babbling)! it's like you walk in the room and they light up. you talk and they light up. you laugh and they light up. and these are babies that i've only met one other time for thirty minutes! maybe i'm just not used to being around babies or even typical children for that matter. who knows...
reason #2:
friday night, kenny and i were at babies r us and there was another eight month old boy in the portrait area and he was just in love with me! smiles and coos and tons of eye contact! i think im in love with baby boys.
reason #3:
lately all i've been hearing is that boys LOVE their mommys and that little girls really gravitate toward their daddys. i want my baby to LOVE me. hopefully our little one will. scratch that, i know s/he will.
reason #4:
this isn't really a reason, but on saturday, while we were waiting to get our flu shot at target, the man helping us fill out the paperwork predicted that the fetus in my belly was a boy. he seemed like an interesting fellow. he claimed that he's ALWAYS been right in predicting the sex of babies (with the exception of his own offspring). i only added this in the list because he is the FIRST person to say that i am having a BOY! everyone else i know declares baby z is a girl! hell, i think it's a girl. even right now, as im talking dreamily of having a baby boy, i just don't believe it is possible (at least not with this pregnancy). it's just not what we're having. i guess we'll know for sure soon enough. kenny says we can go to "meet the baby" and do the gender determination 3d scan as early as the end of next week! yay!
let me back up.
reason #1:
last thursday i spent a day in the life of chenelle. it was awesome!! and exhausting, i must admit. chenelle basically gave me a crash course in babies. she taught me various ways to hold a baby (traditional, football, in front, baby baby), how to change a diaper, how to feed a baby a bottle and "solid" food, and how to put a baby down in his/her crib. she was able to do such things with the twin eight month old boys she nannies for every week day. the keyword in the previous sentence being "boys".
the boys were so cute and so darn reinforcing (obviously they're much older than a newborn so they were smiling and one of the boys is babbling)! it's like you walk in the room and they light up. you talk and they light up. you laugh and they light up. and these are babies that i've only met one other time for thirty minutes! maybe i'm just not used to being around babies or even typical children for that matter. who knows...
reason #2:
friday night, kenny and i were at babies r us and there was another eight month old boy in the portrait area and he was just in love with me! smiles and coos and tons of eye contact! i think im in love with baby boys.
reason #3:
lately all i've been hearing is that boys LOVE their mommys and that little girls really gravitate toward their daddys. i want my baby to LOVE me. hopefully our little one will. scratch that, i know s/he will.
reason #4:
this isn't really a reason, but on saturday, while we were waiting to get our flu shot at target, the man helping us fill out the paperwork predicted that the fetus in my belly was a boy. he seemed like an interesting fellow. he claimed that he's ALWAYS been right in predicting the sex of babies (with the exception of his own offspring). i only added this in the list because he is the FIRST person to say that i am having a BOY! everyone else i know declares baby z is a girl! hell, i think it's a girl. even right now, as im talking dreamily of having a baby boy, i just don't believe it is possible (at least not with this pregnancy). it's just not what we're having. i guess we'll know for sure soon enough. kenny says we can go to "meet the baby" and do the gender determination 3d scan as early as the end of next week! yay!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
more "good" news!
i called "meet the baby" today to find out how early they do gender determination ultrasounds and the good news is........
they do them at 16 weeks! yes, that means we could know for sure that baby z is a she in as little as five days! i could barely contain myself when i found out. i SO want to know if we're having a boy or a girl so i can plan baby z's room (and figure out if the hutch in the previous post will be coming to our home soon). :)
they do them at 16 weeks! yes, that means we could know for sure that baby z is a she in as little as five days! i could barely contain myself when i found out. i SO want to know if we're having a boy or a girl so i can plan baby z's room (and figure out if the hutch in the previous post will be coming to our home soon). :)
Friday, October 9, 2009
so...things have slowed down a little here. everything is still going well with the pregnancy, but i feel like we're just stuck, waiting for time to pass to find out the gender for sure. while most everyone i know, myself included, am positive baby z is a girl, oh-so-logical kenny insists we not purchase anything else gender-specific until after the fetal anatomy scan at 18-20wks (still at least one month away).
it's T.O.R.T.U.R.E. waiting so long to find out! i told kenny he'd better pray REALLY HARD for a boy b/c everything i've seen that i like for a baby girl is EXPENSIVE (at least furniture-wise). i REALLY want this piece for addie's room! although i might have to get a job just to pay for it. lol. but it's a piece that will last a LONG time and it's so functional and it would fit PERFECTLY in the nursery--yes, i've made him help me measure the wall that would be it's home!
enough about nursery stuff...
great news...i got a phone call on monday letting us know that everything looked normal from the nt scan we had a few weeks ago! yay! i wasn't really worried honestly, but it's still nice to get the confirmation that baby z doesn't appear to have an increased risk for trisomy 13, 18 or 21.
and i've decided to hold off on uploading belly pics for now as there is NO change. in fact, i'm actually smaller now that most of the baby bloat has gone away compared to previous weeks! i guess i shouldn't complain, i still fit in almost all of my clothes, but it's weird to not look or feel pregnant but still be pregnant. whatev.
it's T.O.R.T.U.R.E. waiting so long to find out! i told kenny he'd better pray REALLY HARD for a boy b/c everything i've seen that i like for a baby girl is EXPENSIVE (at least furniture-wise). i REALLY want this piece for addie's room! although i might have to get a job just to pay for it. lol. but it's a piece that will last a LONG time and it's so functional and it would fit PERFECTLY in the nursery--yes, i've made him help me measure the wall that would be it's home!
enough about nursery stuff...
great news...i got a phone call on monday letting us know that everything looked normal from the nt scan we had a few weeks ago! yay! i wasn't really worried honestly, but it's still nice to get the confirmation that baby z doesn't appear to have an increased risk for trisomy 13, 18 or 21.
and i've decided to hold off on uploading belly pics for now as there is NO change. in fact, i'm actually smaller now that most of the baby bloat has gone away compared to previous weeks! i guess i shouldn't complain, i still fit in almost all of my clothes, but it's weird to not look or feel pregnant but still be pregnant. whatev.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
some other things
i was so excited about posting the photos of baby z yesterday that i forgot to add some other little random facts we learned at the appointment.
so, baby z is (was yesterday) measuring 7cm which is right on track for 13 wks, which means that baby z's due date is still 4.5.10 (our 2 yr anniversary). i hope that she either comes way early or way late. but if neither way early nor way late is the case, it would be SUPER CUTE if she's born on april 4th (this year's easter). she'd be our little easter bunny and maybe she'd get bunny ears from the hosptial or something. how cute would that be??
did i mention that her heartrate was 159bpm yesterday? according to the old wives tale, that heartrate confirms my "intuition" that baby z is indeed a girl. :) yay! also, a friend of mine told me yesterday that there have been some studies done that say that the mother's "intuition" regarding the fetus's sex is 70% right. i know that 70% isn't that super great, but i figure if i'm right on the "intuition" and the heartrate, my chances are higher of being right overall.
that's all from the appointment, but on tuesday night, kenny had an idea. he decided that the best way for us to measure my belly growth over the weeks is by measuring it with a measuring tape. he thought that this number would be more telling in my weekly update w/the belly pics as to how much bigger i've actually gotten. of course we didn't have a measuring tape at home, so we went out to cvs and got one. on tuesday night, i was 31 inches around! now i know that there has been some growth---i didn't start out this size, but there's no way of knowing really. i guess we'll just have to use wk 13's measurement as the baseline! i have a feeling that this measurement might not be as much fun to take or share as i get further along.
so, baby z is (was yesterday) measuring 7cm which is right on track for 13 wks, which means that baby z's due date is still 4.5.10 (our 2 yr anniversary). i hope that she either comes way early or way late. but if neither way early nor way late is the case, it would be SUPER CUTE if she's born on april 4th (this year's easter). she'd be our little easter bunny and maybe she'd get bunny ears from the hosptial or something. how cute would that be??
did i mention that her heartrate was 159bpm yesterday? according to the old wives tale, that heartrate confirms my "intuition" that baby z is indeed a girl. :) yay! also, a friend of mine told me yesterday that there have been some studies done that say that the mother's "intuition" regarding the fetus's sex is 70% right. i know that 70% isn't that super great, but i figure if i'm right on the "intuition" and the heartrate, my chances are higher of being right overall.
that's all from the appointment, but on tuesday night, kenny had an idea. he decided that the best way for us to measure my belly growth over the weeks is by measuring it with a measuring tape. he thought that this number would be more telling in my weekly update w/the belly pics as to how much bigger i've actually gotten. of course we didn't have a measuring tape at home, so we went out to cvs and got one. on tuesday night, i was 31 inches around! now i know that there has been some growth---i didn't start out this size, but there's no way of knowing really. i guess we'll just have to use wk 13's measurement as the baseline! i have a feeling that this measurement might not be as much fun to take or share as i get further along.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
baby z -- revealed!
this morning we went for the nt scan and bloodwork. the facilities were really nice, as was the staff. we watched baby z for at least 20 mins during the ultrasound and it was incredible! she was bouncing up and down and very active for the first 1/2 of the scan or so. her arms were moving all over the place--that's when kenny determined that baby z must be a girl b/c she seemed to be practicing playing with her (imaginary/undeveloped) hair. See the third image for a nice arm shot.
towards the end of the scan, baby z turned her back to us a few times--i think that was when she was getting sleepy. the woman performing the scan was getting a little annoyed by baby z's stubbornness to work with her and commented that baby z must be a boy. kenny quickly chimed in: "or maybe she's just like her mother." :) he could definitely be right!
kenny asked the woman performing the scan if she had any guesses on baby z's official sex. the woman took a moment and looked VERY quickly and said that she didn't see anything there, so her guess would be a girl, but that we shouldn't paint anything pink yet. i agree that it's still too soon, so i compromised by "painting" my personal info pink on the ultrasound pics! :)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
13 wks
{{189 days to go.}}
so here we are at 13 wks (and 1 day technically). i added a 3rd shot. this is my view of 13 wks. notice how my belly is no longer symmetrically flat (or round for that matter)! and notice how my feet aren't in the shot when i look down! VERY SCARY for only 13 wks (and 1 day).
_________________
how far along: 13 wks 1 day
total weight gain/loss: well, i started out at 120.2. yesterday (when the photos were taken), i weighed 123.6--so an overall gain of 3.4lbs. but i just weighed myself a minute ago and it said 122.8. so the point, i guess, is that my weight fluctuates. hourly.
how big baby is: about the size of a peach--0.81 oz and 2.9 inches long!
maternity clothes: just the cute shirt in the pictures from a few posts ago, a pregnant lady cami, the sleep shorts in the pictures and a shirt to go with those shorts
stretch marks: nope
sleep: still the same
best moment this week: will be after we see baby z for the first time tomorrow morning at the nt scan!
movement: still none
food cravings: not so much lately
gender: still a mystery...maybe the person doing the nt scan will have an educated guess tomorrow ::fingers crossed::
labor signs: none
belly button: still in
what i miss: not being able to have a cup of regular coffee and a glass of sweet tea from cracker barrell in the same day :(
what i am looking forward to: the nt scan tomorrow! hopefully we'll get a picture of it too that i can post on here...and maybe facebook...and hopefully getting an "all clear" that my blood and the fluid in baby z's nuchal fold is normal!
weekly wisdom: that aetna covers BASIC fetal anatomy ultrasounds but NOT DETAILED fetal anatomy ultrasounds, so i must be careful what i ask for at my next appt when the 18wk ultrasound will be ordered.
milestone: seeing baby z's heartbeat and body and everything at the nt scan tomorrow! i'm SOOOOO excited! hope it all goes well! ill let you know asap!
Monday, September 28, 2009
we have an nt scan appointment!!
after NUMEROUS phone calls this morning, we officially have an appt for our nt scan and bloodwork! we go wednesday at 8:30am! and, the procedure SHOULD be covered by aetna! woo hoo! two good news bits today!
i can't wait to see baby z and make sure all looks good!
i can't wait to see baby z and make sure all looks good!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
to scan or not to scan...
13wks 6days is QUICKLY approaching and thus we must schedule the nt scan and bloodwork if we are, in fact, going to go ahead with the scan.
my vote: yes.
kenny's vote: i see why you want it done and if it's under $xxxx, then yes, do it.
the pros...
1) it's the least invasive genetic screening currently available. it will tell us if baby z has a high risk or low risk of being born with trisomy 13, 18 or 21 (down's syndrome).
2) i will feel much better after getting the results and seeing that things look "normal", as it would be our first look at baby z.
3) it would give us plenty of time to have further testing done if we were high risk. we would have more time to make a decision and have more options.
4) we would have time to prepare ourselves mentally and financially for a special needs child if baby z has trisomy 21.
5) if baby z has trisomy 13 or 18 and we terminate the pregnancy, we will be ttc sooner and potentially pregnant again sooner.
the cons...
1) i'm not sure that the procedure is covered by insurance, so potentially $600+ out of pocket for us. YIKES! i could think of A LOT of things that that amount of money could buy.
2) if i don't get it done, i will wonder and wish that i would have had it done up until the moment that baby z is declared healthy after s/he comes out of my vagina--which is still a LONG TIME from now, as this pregnancy isn't even half over yet.
3) the scan could give us a false negative. WHICH WOULD BE BAD! and i'll probably still have that in the back of my mind until baby z is born.
i'm going to call aetna tomorrow to find out if the procedure is covered. i'm really hoping it is, then we can go ahead with it and i won't have any worries that we're wasting money on an unnecessary procedure.
my vote: yes.
kenny's vote: i see why you want it done and if it's under $xxxx, then yes, do it.
the pros...
1) it's the least invasive genetic screening currently available. it will tell us if baby z has a high risk or low risk of being born with trisomy 13, 18 or 21 (down's syndrome).
2) i will feel much better after getting the results and seeing that things look "normal", as it would be our first look at baby z.
3) it would give us plenty of time to have further testing done if we were high risk. we would have more time to make a decision and have more options.
4) we would have time to prepare ourselves mentally and financially for a special needs child if baby z has trisomy 21.
5) if baby z has trisomy 13 or 18 and we terminate the pregnancy, we will be ttc sooner and potentially pregnant again sooner.
the cons...
1) i'm not sure that the procedure is covered by insurance, so potentially $600+ out of pocket for us. YIKES! i could think of A LOT of things that that amount of money could buy.
2) if i don't get it done, i will wonder and wish that i would have had it done up until the moment that baby z is declared healthy after s/he comes out of my vagina--which is still a LONG TIME from now, as this pregnancy isn't even half over yet.
3) the scan could give us a false negative. WHICH WOULD BE BAD! and i'll probably still have that in the back of my mind until baby z is born.
i'm going to call aetna tomorrow to find out if the procedure is covered. i'm really hoping it is, then we can go ahead with it and i won't have any worries that we're wasting money on an unnecessary procedure.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
BABY Z HAS A HEARTBEAT!!!
yesterday was our 2nd appointment! we saw the same midwife that we saw the first time and she was able to find baby z's heartbeat immediately with the doppler! baby z moved a little when she first found it, but then she found it again for a longer period of time. she said everything sounded and felt normal. i should've told kenny to count the beats so we could calculate the heart rate, but i think i was just expecting for it to not work again. i guess i tend to look at things negatively, but i don't have a negative attitude. it's weird, but i think i just prepare myself for the worst and then i can be excited when it isn't as bad as i originally anticipated. that's how i've been my whole life, so it's not just my thinking about baby z. anyway, while we were listening to baby z's heartbeat, i started laughing (i've read on thebump where some pregnant ladies cry) but my laugh+the doppler=horribly loud sound! it was just SO NEAT to hear that there is indeed something beating in my belly!
after the appointment, we headed to the mall. we started at international, but didn't make it past the restroom at dillards. i decided i wanted to go to westshore instead. "pea in a pod" is nice, but it's TOTALLY a splurge store in my opinion. my thoughts: im only going to be wearing maternity clothes for a few months (hopefully) so why spend so much on a shirt? "motherhood maternity" and "old navy" seem to be better choices for everyday, casual maternity clothes.
we went to MM first and we found some stuff. i tried on everything we'd picked out BEFORE the helpful saleswoman explained what the funny shaped pillow on the bench in the dressing room was for. maybe i'm just dense or am just SO not thinking baby yet, but i made kenny take a photo because it was so flipping neat. the saleswoman said i probably wouldn't be this big until my 7th or 8th month, but that it's good to get an idea of what the clothes will look like at that size.
i was too lazy to take off my capris to try on the sleep shorts, so my white capris are in the photo. kenny picked out the shirt, but i won't be able to wear it for a while. who knows if the shirt will even fit when i'm that big. i think that when i'm at this stage (without the pillow), strangers will just feel sorry for me--they won't even read the shirt. lol.
here's one more pic. notice the lumpiness of the pillow baby. i hope that my actually tummy will not look like that. EVER.
after we did some damage at MM, we went to old navy. ON turned up nada. i did try out a possible jacket for when we go to vegas for thanksgiving. i think it may be cold while we're there, but it's hard to know how big i'll be in that time. maybe i won't need a maternity jacket. i'll keep my fingers crossed!
after the mall, we stopped by the "once upon a child" in south tampa. we didn't see anything we needed right now, but kenny did find a crib for $50. but i shot him down because i'm a little leary about buying a crib that i have no way of knowing what brand it is. i want to at least know whether the thing has been recalled before i drop $50 on it. i know $50 for a crib is a fabulous deal, but i haven't completely decided against the $500 ones i've seen elsewhere. is that wrong? it's like i go back and forth. there's nothing wrong with buying things other people have used, but if it was originally only $150, then i'd rather spend the original amount and get a brand new one. i guess the deal needs to be AMAZING for me to go for it without taking some time to think about it (and take the risk of missing out on the deal). plus, we don't know whether baby z is a he or a she (and frankly my strong feeling of baby z being a she dissipated after hearing the heartbeat), so why rush and buy a white crib when baby z may, very well be, a he.
____________
appointment 2 updates:
weight: the scale at the office said 126! yikes! 4 lbs gained? really? the scale at home said i weighed 124.6 before i left (with the same outfit and shoes on). maybe i'll use the scale at home so i can provide weekly updates with weekly belly pics.
edd: still 4/6/2010, which probably won't change until/unless we get the nt scan which we are definitely considering (more on that later)
next appt: wednesday, october 21st; the midwife will order the 18wk ultrasound to determine fetal anatomy! yay! we should know before thanksgiving whether baby z will be a he or a she! the midwife will also order the AFP if we want it (which i think i might, but i haven't done enough "research" yet)
after the appointment, we headed to the mall. we started at international, but didn't make it past the restroom at dillards. i decided i wanted to go to westshore instead. "pea in a pod" is nice, but it's TOTALLY a splurge store in my opinion. my thoughts: im only going to be wearing maternity clothes for a few months (hopefully) so why spend so much on a shirt? "motherhood maternity" and "old navy" seem to be better choices for everyday, casual maternity clothes.
we went to MM first and we found some stuff. i tried on everything we'd picked out BEFORE the helpful saleswoman explained what the funny shaped pillow on the bench in the dressing room was for. maybe i'm just dense or am just SO not thinking baby yet, but i made kenny take a photo because it was so flipping neat. the saleswoman said i probably wouldn't be this big until my 7th or 8th month, but that it's good to get an idea of what the clothes will look like at that size.
i was too lazy to take off my capris to try on the sleep shorts, so my white capris are in the photo. kenny picked out the shirt, but i won't be able to wear it for a while. who knows if the shirt will even fit when i'm that big. i think that when i'm at this stage (without the pillow), strangers will just feel sorry for me--they won't even read the shirt. lol.
here's one more pic. notice the lumpiness of the pillow baby. i hope that my actually tummy will not look like that. EVER.
after we did some damage at MM, we went to old navy. ON turned up nada. i did try out a possible jacket for when we go to vegas for thanksgiving. i think it may be cold while we're there, but it's hard to know how big i'll be in that time. maybe i won't need a maternity jacket. i'll keep my fingers crossed!
after the mall, we stopped by the "once upon a child" in south tampa. we didn't see anything we needed right now, but kenny did find a crib for $50. but i shot him down because i'm a little leary about buying a crib that i have no way of knowing what brand it is. i want to at least know whether the thing has been recalled before i drop $50 on it. i know $50 for a crib is a fabulous deal, but i haven't completely decided against the $500 ones i've seen elsewhere. is that wrong? it's like i go back and forth. there's nothing wrong with buying things other people have used, but if it was originally only $150, then i'd rather spend the original amount and get a brand new one. i guess the deal needs to be AMAZING for me to go for it without taking some time to think about it (and take the risk of missing out on the deal). plus, we don't know whether baby z is a he or a she (and frankly my strong feeling of baby z being a she dissipated after hearing the heartbeat), so why rush and buy a white crib when baby z may, very well be, a he.
____________
appointment 2 updates:
weight: the scale at the office said 126! yikes! 4 lbs gained? really? the scale at home said i weighed 124.6 before i left (with the same outfit and shoes on). maybe i'll use the scale at home so i can provide weekly updates with weekly belly pics.
edd: still 4/6/2010, which probably won't change until/unless we get the nt scan which we are definitely considering (more on that later)
next appt: wednesday, october 21st; the midwife will order the 18wk ultrasound to determine fetal anatomy! yay! we should know before thanksgiving whether baby z will be a he or a she! the midwife will also order the AFP if we want it (which i think i might, but i haven't done enough "research" yet)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
i can't wait!
i'm SO excited about our appointment today! it sucks that we have to wait so long! it'll be forever before 3:30pm gets here! and what's even suckier is that the only thing we MIGHT experience at the appointment is the heartbeat! the suckier part is that we might only hear it, in case that wasn't clear. :)
i have to remember to:
1) weigh myself with clothes on before the appointment to compare my scale at home with the scale at the doctor's office
2) bring a book for myself and a book for kenny because appointment times are merely guidelines and it takes FOREVER to be seen
3) pack a snack and a bottle of water in my gigantic $7 target beach bag that also functions as a purse since my hunger will be in FULL THROTTLE at 3:30pm...although i did hear that there's a mcdonalds in TGH...hmmm....maybe i'll intentionally NOT pack a snack...
okay, that's all for now. more on the appointment, after the appointment. :)
i have to remember to:
1) weigh myself with clothes on before the appointment to compare my scale at home with the scale at the doctor's office
2) bring a book for myself and a book for kenny because appointment times are merely guidelines and it takes FOREVER to be seen
3) pack a snack and a bottle of water in my gigantic $7 target beach bag that also functions as a purse since my hunger will be in FULL THROTTLE at 3:30pm...although i did hear that there's a mcdonalds in TGH...hmmm....maybe i'll intentionally NOT pack a snack...
okay, that's all for now. more on the appointment, after the appointment. :)
Monday, September 21, 2009
i found this on someone else's blog and thought it was great! from now on, i'm going to update it each time i update my belly pics.
________________________
how far along: 12 weeks
total weight gain/loss: i'll let you know after our appointment on wednesday
how big baby is: about the size of a plum--2.1 inches in length and 0.49 oz!
maternity clothes: just the bella band we bought a few weeks ago
stretch marks: none yet and there better not be after all the $ spent on that cream!
sleep: sleep is good. i could do without the getting up to pee part though.
best moment this week: i guess this means of the past week, so technically week 11, since week 12 just started. hmmm, taking 1-3 bites of kenny's tuna sandwich from panera!
movement: not yet
food cravings: it just depends on the moment. right now, i could go for those guava bites publix makes in the bakery. mmmmmmm. i hate thinking about cravings, because then i want them really bad!
gender: mrs.az: definitely a girl kenny: it's 50-50 right now, but i'll say 60-40 girl
labor signs: nope
belly button: in! is it going to be going out? is this another pregnancy change/symptom that others have failed to mention???
what i miss: getting to have my OWN tuna sandwich from panera bread!
what i am looking forward to: our appointment this wednesday! we should hear baby z's heartbeat with the doppler (if we really are 12wks and all is going well). yea! :)
weekly wisdom: um...nothing comes to mind really...
milestone: none yet...hopefully hearing baby z's heartbeat in two days!
________________________
how far along: 12 weeks
total weight gain/loss: i'll let you know after our appointment on wednesday
how big baby is: about the size of a plum--2.1 inches in length and 0.49 oz!
maternity clothes: just the bella band we bought a few weeks ago
stretch marks: none yet and there better not be after all the $ spent on that cream!
sleep: sleep is good. i could do without the getting up to pee part though.
best moment this week: i guess this means of the past week, so technically week 11, since week 12 just started. hmmm, taking 1-3 bites of kenny's tuna sandwich from panera!
movement: not yet
food cravings: it just depends on the moment. right now, i could go for those guava bites publix makes in the bakery. mmmmmmm. i hate thinking about cravings, because then i want them really bad!
gender: mrs.az: definitely a girl kenny: it's 50-50 right now, but i'll say 60-40 girl
labor signs: nope
belly button: in! is it going to be going out? is this another pregnancy change/symptom that others have failed to mention???
what i miss: getting to have my OWN tuna sandwich from panera bread!
what i am looking forward to: our appointment this wednesday! we should hear baby z's heartbeat with the doppler (if we really are 12wks and all is going well). yea! :)
weekly wisdom: um...nothing comes to mind really...
milestone: none yet...hopefully hearing baby z's heartbeat in two days!
12 wks today!
{{196 days to go.}}so i don't know that there are any noticeable changes from wks 10-12 to the outside world, but i can see a difference when i look at my body! kenny says it just looks like i'm "rocking the beer gut," which REPULSES me. i hate feeling like people are thinking 'wow, she's getting fat,' instead of, 'oh look, a cute pregnant lady.' i just don't want people to think, 'wow, she looks like she's gonna pop,' but that's what they will say one day (hopefully, if things go well and baby z is developing normally) and that will be a good thing.
i'm still trying to figure out which shot i like best for the belly pics. actually, i take it back, i KNOW that I like the one that just shows my belly (the image below), but kenny insists that my face has to be in the photo! we've reached a compromise-- i will post both each time. :)
the ladies on thebump say that around 16wks is when they "popped." i hope it takes me that long. the longer i can go without maternity clothes, the better!
our first purchases for baby z
we picked up this beautiful mirror for twenty bucks at "once upon a child" two saturdays ago! even though we don't officially know what sex baby z will be, i'm pretty positive that baby z will be a she. even if i am wrong, we just couldn't pass up the mirror! maybe we'll get to use it one day and if not, we could always sell it back to "once upon a child."
while we were out shopping, we also picked up this set of books that i knew that i wanted for our baby even before we knew we were pregnant. i had the same set of books when i was small and it was mandatory for this set of books to be a part of our child('s/ren's) library. the best part was the set was a quarter of the price that i saw online and the books look BRAND NEW! i was SO excited about the books--maybe even more excited than the mirror!
we also picked up a few more other books--a few by Dr. Seuss, Peter Rabbit, and a book of songs and short stories. i absolutely love shopping for books! and i love shopping for baby z! i can't wait to start working on the bedding and curtains for the nursery with my grandma! my plan is to start with the baby girl nursery even before our sonogram at 16-18wks. then, if we find out it's a boy, i'll switch to the baby boy nursery. if we finish the baby boy nursery before baby z is born, i'll go back and finish the baby girl stuff. that way, i'll have made one set for each sex. :) we'll see how it goes though. kenny always says, "it's good to have goals." :)
Friday, September 18, 2009
belly pics!
one of the things im most excited about is taking belly pics as the weeks go by. im planning on taking a pic every two weeks or so, but i didn't take my first pic until 10 wks, as there wasn't much of a change prior to then. and, considering the facts that, at 10 wks, baby z is weighing 0.14 oz and measuring in at 1.2 inches long (think prune), all that is seen is baby bloat.
{{210 days to go.}}
{{210 days to go.}}appt 1
we had our first appointment with the midwifery practice on september 2nd. i was 9 weeks pregnant at the time and we were very excited to have our first glimpse at baby z. however, i found out the day before we went that we would NOT be having an ultrasound done until 16-18wks! i was so disappointed and angry! SO MANY other women on thebump have ultrasound pics from as early as 4-5wks and it just didn't seem fair that i would have to wait until week 16 to get my first glimpse at the thing in my belly. i was so upset the night before our appointment that i didn't even want to go anymore. what was the point in going if they wouldn't even be able to tell us if the thing was alive?
surprisingly, i felt a lot better after the appointment and i learned more than i anticipated. the midwife was super nice and answered every single one of my questions (i only had 13), including, why must i wait SO LONG for an ultrasound when other women earlier in their pregnancy already have 2 or 3? it turns out that since im not high risk and im not having any bleeding, etc., there's no medial reason for the procedure. it all makes sense, but i still don't think it's fair and i still really want a pic of baby z.
the midwife did recover some points during the appointment by attempting to locate baby z's heartbeat using a doppler (keyword: attempting). she gave a disclaimer that it would be early to hear the heartbeat at 9wks w/a doppler, so we weren't too upset when she couldn't locate it. she said we should definitely hear the heartbeat when we come back for our next appointment at 12wks (september 23rd).
after the appointment, we went to international mall to look at "pea in a pod." it was premature, but fun nonetheless. the sales lady talked me into this stretch mark prevention cream that costs 35 bucks per 4 oz. and this boob sagging prevention cream that costs even more. im not sure how or why i got suckered into the boob sagging prevention cream since im not sure that my boobs are or will ever be big enough to sag (without augmentation of course), but the stretch mark cream seemed like a wise purchase. little did i know that it'd only take a week to blow through the first 4 oz tub. based on that rate of use, it will cost us $35 x 29 pregnant weeks remaining = $1015 for stretch mark prevention alone! it would be cheaper to just get the stretch marks and have them treated later! with that being said, i've still since purchased one more tube. :) oh, and we also bought a bella band. most of my pants were already feeling a little tight, but the hair tie through the loop trick was still working. it's only a matter of time before i need to use the band though, sadly.
stats from appt 1
WEIGHT: 122 lb
EDD: 4/6/2010 <- according to their calculations. im still saying our due date is 4/5/2010 because kenny's sister and nephew were both born on 4/6! i figure if baby z is gonna share a date with anyone, it should be with us.
...
well, i guess that's all the stats for now. that was a little anticlimactic.
surprisingly, i felt a lot better after the appointment and i learned more than i anticipated. the midwife was super nice and answered every single one of my questions (i only had 13), including, why must i wait SO LONG for an ultrasound when other women earlier in their pregnancy already have 2 or 3? it turns out that since im not high risk and im not having any bleeding, etc., there's no medial reason for the procedure. it all makes sense, but i still don't think it's fair and i still really want a pic of baby z.
the midwife did recover some points during the appointment by attempting to locate baby z's heartbeat using a doppler (keyword: attempting). she gave a disclaimer that it would be early to hear the heartbeat at 9wks w/a doppler, so we weren't too upset when she couldn't locate it. she said we should definitely hear the heartbeat when we come back for our next appointment at 12wks (september 23rd).
after the appointment, we went to international mall to look at "pea in a pod." it was premature, but fun nonetheless. the sales lady talked me into this stretch mark prevention cream that costs 35 bucks per 4 oz. and this boob sagging prevention cream that costs even more. im not sure how or why i got suckered into the boob sagging prevention cream since im not sure that my boobs are or will ever be big enough to sag (without augmentation of course), but the stretch mark cream seemed like a wise purchase. little did i know that it'd only take a week to blow through the first 4 oz tub. based on that rate of use, it will cost us $35 x 29 pregnant weeks remaining = $1015 for stretch mark prevention alone! it would be cheaper to just get the stretch marks and have them treated later! with that being said, i've still since purchased one more tube. :) oh, and we also bought a bella band. most of my pants were already feeling a little tight, but the hair tie through the loop trick was still working. it's only a matter of time before i need to use the band though, sadly.
stats from appt 1
WEIGHT: 122 lb
EDD: 4/6/2010 <- according to their calculations. im still saying our due date is 4/5/2010 because kenny's sister and nephew were both born on 4/6! i figure if baby z is gonna share a date with anyone, it should be with us.
...
well, i guess that's all the stats for now. that was a little anticlimactic.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
finding prenatal care
after making an appointment at my "regular" obgyn, i discovered that i would have to see EVERY doctor in the practice prior to delivery, as they have no way to know who will be on call the day (or night) i go into labor. i decided that i did NOT want to see the doctor that i saw the very first time i had a "women's checkup" (i was 16 at the time and do not have fond memories of the experience), so i asked around and got some recommendations of other obgyns in the area.
one night, after i had already made an appointment with a different obgyn, kenny and i watched the movie "the business of being born." as you might've guessed, after viewing the film, what we wanted in the delivery room changed. before the movie was even over actually, kenny grabbed my laptop and began searching for local midwifes. he found a group of midwifes that delivered at TGH and i scheduled an appointment with them.
one night, after i had already made an appointment with a different obgyn, kenny and i watched the movie "the business of being born." as you might've guessed, after viewing the film, what we wanted in the delivery room changed. before the movie was even over actually, kenny grabbed my laptop and began searching for local midwifes. he found a group of midwifes that delivered at TGH and i scheduled an appointment with them.
part ii
...when i took the test. i was NOT expecting to see a "YES+" so i was pacing around the bathroom, waiting for the verdict. i made it over to the test just in time to see the "YES+" pop up.
it was as though time stopped. i covered my mouth and looked at kenny. he was doing a dance i'd never seen him do before--almost like the rays the roof dance, but with his hands in the shape of fists. i kept repeating "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" over and over as i ran away from the test. i could NOT believe it. i so could not believe it that i took test two when i woke up the next day, and you guessed it, it was still "YES+".
it was as though time stopped. i covered my mouth and looked at kenny. he was doing a dance i'd never seen him do before--almost like the rays the roof dance, but with his hands in the shape of fists. i kept repeating "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" over and over as i ran away from the test. i could NOT believe it. i so could not believe it that i took test two when i woke up the next day, and you guessed it, it was still "YES+".
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
better late than never, right? - PART 1
so...where do i begin? i guess i'll start with we're pregnant. we're 11wks 5ds pregnant to be exact. that makes baby z due on our second wedding anniversay (april 5th 2010).
i'm not gonna lie, when i plugged the dates into the "due date calculator" on thebump, i was VERY upset to see that the baby was due on OUR anniversary. seriously, what are the odds? so i did what any wife would do, i immediately opened a new tab and found a different due date calculator and plugged in the dates. 4.5.10 AGAIN! now i realize how selfish this sounds, and baby z no offense, but our anniversary is supposed to be the time of year that is reserved for us. we're supposed to celebrate our wonderful marriage and how much we love each other during these days. these aren't the days to be planning our first child's birthday parties for the duration of life. but apparently my planning skills are lacking, but i'm getting ahead of myself.
....how i ended up here....
i toyed with the idea of popping my blogging cherry with the topic of my first pregnancy for about six weeks (yes, that would be from the time we found out we were pregnant), but i finally made the decision to do so tonight. here's how it (baby z) started...
on june 27th, 2009 we decided that i would take my last birth control pill. we'd been home for a few weeks after visiting greece and frankly, i'd run out of time. i'd promised kenny that i would consider babies if he took me on another international trip, and he'd obviously held up his end of the bargain. plus, i'd heard so many stories of how difficult it was to "get pregnant" and i (like most females i know) had this horrible feeling that it just wouldn't happen to me--that i was broken in that way. i was planning on the whole process taking months or maybe even YEARS to work for us (maybe we'd get to see another country before it all went down). that was the extent of the "planning" i did. wait, i take it back, i did peruse the ttc boards on the thebump. maybe that's where i "messed up". :)
tuesday, august 4th, 2009, after feeling a little weird on and off for a few weeks and no return of my regular monthly womanly thing, we decided on a whim that it might be fun to take a home pregnancy test to spice up our tuesday. we ran out to cvs and looked for the clearest possible test we could find (that had more than one stick, in the event that i did something wrong or it appeared to be inconclusive). we decided on a digital one that would display either "YES+" or "NO-". kenny had some work to do, so we decided to wait until we took a shower before bed to take the test. i chose this time of day on purpose. i knew from my psuedopromiscous teenage years that you should take the test in the am, with fresh pee. i didn't think i was pregnant, so i figured i'd just take it when the LEAST amount of hormones should be flowing. it was about 10:30pm...
...to be continued...
i'm not gonna lie, when i plugged the dates into the "due date calculator" on thebump, i was VERY upset to see that the baby was due on OUR anniversary. seriously, what are the odds? so i did what any wife would do, i immediately opened a new tab and found a different due date calculator and plugged in the dates. 4.5.10 AGAIN! now i realize how selfish this sounds, and baby z no offense, but our anniversary is supposed to be the time of year that is reserved for us. we're supposed to celebrate our wonderful marriage and how much we love each other during these days. these aren't the days to be planning our first child's birthday parties for the duration of life. but apparently my planning skills are lacking, but i'm getting ahead of myself.
....how i ended up here....
i toyed with the idea of popping my blogging cherry with the topic of my first pregnancy for about six weeks (yes, that would be from the time we found out we were pregnant), but i finally made the decision to do so tonight. here's how it (baby z) started...
on june 27th, 2009 we decided that i would take my last birth control pill. we'd been home for a few weeks after visiting greece and frankly, i'd run out of time. i'd promised kenny that i would consider babies if he took me on another international trip, and he'd obviously held up his end of the bargain. plus, i'd heard so many stories of how difficult it was to "get pregnant" and i (like most females i know) had this horrible feeling that it just wouldn't happen to me--that i was broken in that way. i was planning on the whole process taking months or maybe even YEARS to work for us (maybe we'd get to see another country before it all went down). that was the extent of the "planning" i did. wait, i take it back, i did peruse the ttc boards on the thebump. maybe that's where i "messed up". :)
tuesday, august 4th, 2009, after feeling a little weird on and off for a few weeks and no return of my regular monthly womanly thing, we decided on a whim that it might be fun to take a home pregnancy test to spice up our tuesday. we ran out to cvs and looked for the clearest possible test we could find (that had more than one stick, in the event that i did something wrong or it appeared to be inconclusive). we decided on a digital one that would display either "YES+" or "NO-". kenny had some work to do, so we decided to wait until we took a shower before bed to take the test. i chose this time of day on purpose. i knew from my psuedopromiscous teenage years that you should take the test in the am, with fresh pee. i didn't think i was pregnant, so i figured i'd just take it when the LEAST amount of hormones should be flowing. it was about 10:30pm...
...to be continued...
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