26 weeks - 1 day late

Yesterday we had our 26 week appointment. I had another 1hr glucose test (please pray I pass...) and an ultrasound. Last time, we weren't able to see all 4 chambers of the heart, this time it was in full view. Tech also confirmed that baby is indeed a girl (thank goodness, b/c we bought all kinds of stuff). Baby weighs approx 1lb 15oz and is measuring at 25w5d. Heartbeat was at 158bpm. My blood pressure did go up a little...to 118/66 and I gained 6 lbs! Though I'm still down 3 lbs from my starting weight. OB was a little concerned about my rapid pulse, and sent me for an EKG. Will get the results from that soon, but the tech that did it said everything looked normal to her. So that's good.



Other than that, we took our car in yesterday because of some issues...thank goodness we are still under warranty as the work that needs to be done would have totaled over $2k in parts alone. Gotta get the vehicle baby ready! I have a loaner in the mean time...a F0rd Taur.us. Not a bad car, but I miss my SUV.



I've updated the Baby Pics link on the sidebar to include the u/s pics from yesterday...they aren't the clearest, but it's the best I can do!

100 days to go

I was looking at my little ticker on the sidebar, and realized that I have 100 days to go...tomorrow I will be in the double digits! Holy Cow! The last 180 days have flew by! Baby girl will be here before I know it.

DH and I went to the BRU store to register this weekend. These little babies require so much gear! I swear my registry must be 12 pages long. My shower date it set...March 22nd. This is all happening so quickly. Am I ready to be a mom? Will I be a good mom? These 2 questions have been floating in my head lately. DH and I spent SO much time working on getting pregnant, the thought that baby girl will be here soon really is scary...and exciting!

25 weeks

Today marks the 25th week of this pregnancy. Here's what's been going on:

• Weight gain is still minimal if any. According to my scale at home, I've gained 0.2 lbs since my last OB appointment.


• I'm sore. I'm feeling the RLP now. When I stand, my uterus feels so heavy...almost like it's going to fall out of me! I find myself walking around with my hands under my belly just to get some support (and my belly isn't even a quarter as large as what Denise was carrying around, girl, I don't know how you did it!)


• My back also hurts. My sciatica on my right side is acting up.
• My nose hurts. I've had a "mucous" issue the last few months...something my OB said is normal. So I'm constantly blowing my nose...that combined with the dry air at home and work, have cut up the inside of my nose. I actually have scabs! (I know TMI, sorry!)
• Baby girl moves mostly at night when I'm getting ready for bed. I love lying down in bed and feeling her moving around.

Other than that, not much else has been going on. DH is still working on the nursery...pics will be forthcoming.

Controversial...

I know this subject is controversial...but I wanted to get opinions. My cousin's 2 month old daughter just received her 2 month shots on Saturday. On Sunday, the baby had a seizure. She now has to undergo an EEG to measure her brain activity to see if the seizure caused any damage. When my cousin went online to do some research, she found that a side effect to one of the shots was seizures. This was not disclosed to her when she brought her daughter in for the vaccinations.

My question to all of you is...what is your take on childhood vaccinations? Are you vaccinating? Why or why not?

The pediatrician that we've "chosen" (we actually haven't chosen yet, but are meeting with this dr next week) has a policy on the importance of immunizing children. They firmly believe in the CDC's vaccination schedules. I'm not so sure and neither is DH. Our viewpoint is that we would vaccinate our daughter, but only with what he and I have had as children. These "new" vaccines scare me a little too much. I mean, the one vaccine has only been licensed since 2000...all of us born before 2000 turned out ok.

I'm not looking for anyone to preach to me about vaccines...I just want to know your reasons for vaccinating or not.

Snowy photos

Here are pics taken today. The brightly shining sun makes you think it's nice out...till you walk outside and your nostrils immediately freeze!

Our front walk...shows how much snow we have!

Too F'ing Cold!

It is bitterly cold here today. -14 degrees without the wind chill factored in. If you want to know what the wind feels like, it feels like -40. Exposed skin can freeze in 10 minutes in this weather. My poor dogs went out this morning to do their business, and nearly froze their paws off. Today was one of those days where I didn't even have to call them to come in. They were waiting by the door! I dried their paws the best I could and got all the snow from between their toes. But you could tell their poor paws were hurting. They need boots...but I'm not about to spend $50 on a pair of Mutt Luks.

As for the drama of the other day...DH's mom sided with me when DH had to explain why the envelope had been reopened. That made me feel good. To know that I wasn't just hopped up on pregnancy hormones. DH did apologize...so things are back to "normal".

I missed my 24 week entry yesterday. Work was crazy busy. But I'm starting to get excited. Excited AND apprehensive. I want to be a good mom to this little one. I know I will be, but I also know there will be times when I don't think I'm a very good mom. The reality of baby girl is starting to set in the more and more I feel her moving. My older dog, Sox, got a taste of baby girl the other day. He was lying with me with his head on my tummy...I felt baby girl kick and he must have as well because he jumped and looked at me like "What the hell was that??". He then proceeded to get comfy with his head on my leg instead.

Baby girl will be here in less than 16 weeks!

Upset

I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones or what, but I'm really upset right now. See, today is DH's mom's birthday. We had bought a card for her and I had it on the table and went to the bathroom. When I came out the card was sealed. I asked my DH if he signed my name on the card and he said NO! That she wasn't my mother...and that I don't put his name on my parent's birthday cards. I told him that I always did....he's even signed most of them himself. I told him I couldn't believe that he wouldn't have put my name on the card! We've been married 3 years! The worst part was as I was walking away, visibly upset, he says, "I didn't think it was important!". Of course, I took that as I'm not important enough to have the privilege of signing HIS moms birthday card. I went upstairs, and I guess he steamed the envelope open because he brought the card up for me to sign. He had signed the card "Love your son, C". How was I supposed to sign that? So I just wrote my name and gave him back the damn card. I guess what I'm really upset about is how he continues to think in terms of "I, MY, MINE" instead of "WE and OURS" I know it's a petty thing to be crying over, but I'm really upset about it. Plus the fact that he saw I was crying and didn't bother to say anything. Just left for work. Am I overreacting to the card incident? Or would you be upset too?

Wow!

If you look over on the sidebar there are 2 links...one for "Baby Pics" which contain all the ultrasound photos I have to date, and one for "Belly Pics" which contain pics of the growing waistline. I just uploaded updated belly pics and was looking through them all...and WOW...I actually look pregnant! Though I still have a "B" belly and not a "D" belly. When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't think I look pg...just fat, but in looking at the photos...I have to say that, at that angle, I am definitely showing. I guess since I was a bigger gal to begin with, my body image was skewed into just thinking I looked fat.

I have some pics of the outfits we bought baby girl, and one of the disaster of a nursery (no progress since the paint was put on the walls) but it took forever to upload the belly pics b/c blogger kept giving me internal errors...so I'll have to post those another time.

Any former girl scouts out there? For some reason this morning, as I was working, I started singing this song. I have no idea what even made me think of it. Then I started thinking of all the other songs we sang in scouts...and baby girl started doing a little jig! I actually think it's kinda funny that I even remembered the words!

Still here

Sorry for my lack of posting over the weekend...things were busy around my house. Baby girl is moving around...but she must have flipped over because her movements aren't as "strong" as they were before. As long as I feel her at least once a day, I'm ok.

I'll post more later when I have more time...

A little worried...

Baby girl has been quiet the last day or so. I haven't felt much movement. I'm a little worried about it. Though I'm sure she's ok in there, I can't help but worry...

She usually moves around after I eat, but not today...I've felt only a few faint kicks early this morning and nothing since. Did you have lulls in baby's movement?

Painted

Baby's room officially has paint on the walls! DH spent all day yesterday painting, and all that remains is a few touch ups, to put the trim and doors back up, put the blinds back up, and clean up! Woo Hoo! We went with a neutral beige color that looks awesome with the white trim and doors we have. The next steps are to put the crib together and start positioning furniture in the room. Right now, baby's closet has everything piled in it, so I'd love to start organizing!

23 weeks!

Holy crap! Only 17 more weeks to go! It seems like only yesterday that I got the call telling me my beta numbers...and here I am, sitting at work, feeling my little girl move around...and let me tell you, she's an active baby! Her placenta is slightly anterior, so I feel alot of kicks in my lower intestinal area (like in my rectal area) but I wouldn't change it for anything.

I've been feeling a tightness in my belly lately, that I can only think might be BH. They come maybe once or twice a day and only last about 15 - 30 seconds. I have to mention this to my OB on the 28th when I see him, but I don't think it's anything to worry about? Do you?

DH is home today, and is finally going to get some paint on the nursery walls. We still have to put the crib together to make sure we have all the screws and springs (remember, this crib was purchased in 1976 so some screws may have been lost). I'm really antsy to get in there and start arranging things how I want them. Nesting? Maybe...My need to be organized? Most likely.

Happy Belated New Year!!

5 days into the New Year and I'm finally getting around to posting.

New Years was great. DH and I hadn't really made any plans as we wanted to stay around the house...but we told some of our friends that if they had no other plans, they were welcome at our house...needless to say, 4 couples showed up. We had a great time. Ordered some pizza, drank ALOT of beer, well, they did, not me, played some Texas H0ld em. The last of the group left just before 2am. I was DEAD TIRED! But I wouldn't have changed the night for anything.

New Years Day was spent on the couch...literally. We didn't leave the house, and DH never even got dressed...just lounged in shorts and a T shirt.

We went out yesterday and purchased some baby items. Tar.get and K0hls had a clearance sale, and I picked up some cute little outfits for Lucky. We also went to a store here in IL called 0nce up0n a child. It's basically a resale shop, but they also have brand new stuff that big box stores sell them when they have overstock. I ended up getting a Med.ela double pump for 1/2 price. It's never been used, and it was such a good steal I couldn't pass it up. We also went to the big box baby store and purchased our Eddie Bau.er travel system...on clearance. It was marked down because it was used in a display, but all parts and books were there, so again, couldn't pass it up. My mom was a little angry that I had made the 2 large purchases...said I should put that stuff on my registry. OK, I bought a pump...I would NEVER ask someone else to buy me a pump...talk about awkward. And the travel system was reduced...there are plenty of other things we will need for Lucky when she comes. Which brings me to...

Have any of you moms out there used a sling to carry your baby? Not an infant carrier, but the sling type. If so, which ones did you like/not like. C0nsumer Rep0rts didn't rate the slings very highly, but I really have my heart set on trying attachment parenting (no disses please) and carrying baby. Plus, it would make nursing in public a hell of a lot easier and "private". And please also, tell me what really is necessary to have right away and what can wait...I don't want to go overboard, I really just want the necessary items at first.