Wednesday, July 29, 2009

29 weeks!

Wow, what a little bundle of energy this little guy has turned into! He's finally tickling the ribs, especially when I'm leaning over. Just today some of his kicks turned into slight discomfort. He's an active one, and just today I called him a tasmanian devil because he was going berserk in there! It's still really fun to watch and I'm still able to sleep through it as far as I can tell. Some joint discomfort is starting to set in, and standing for long periods can get pretty painful. So swimming at my sister's house has been relief to not only the heat, but also to the joints! My hands swelled enough over the weekend (probably from hours of chopping food!) that I had to ice them for a while on Sunday to get my wedding ring off... it hasn't gone back on yet! I realize this is a common problem, but I hope people don't mistake me for an unwed mother for the next few months!

Haven't succumbed to any cravings this week that I can remember, but I've been jonesing for some cinnamon buns.

I guess that's just about all pregnancy-related to report from the last week! Another doctor appointment next Wednesday, so maybe more to say then!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

28 weeks!

Not a whole lot has changed. My Braxton Hicks contractions are by no means regular, but are growing more frequent than before - 10-15 a day that I notice. The little guy is getting stronger, not just feeling kicks but feeling him stick out body parts now! I haven't been able to identify which limbs he's moving or poking with, but hopefully I'll be able to soon! Jack thinks it's his rear he keeps sticking out, so he's mooning us! I think it might be knees - it's just feels so hard sometimes! On Sunday I relaxed out on the deck while Jack went fishing with a friend. Baby boy was especially busy that day and I had a lot of fun just watching my belly get rocked around by his movements inside!

I've finally gotten some use out of my maternity bathing suit! It's been such a crummy summer here with tons of rain and not a lot of heat. At least I haven't been too uncomfortable. Well Saturday was just too nice to stay at home, so Jack and I packed up and headed north about 30 minutes to Moreau State Park. Seems to be the closest place to swim without leeching off family or friends. We had a great time, and the weather was beautiful. The water is still a bit cold so we only went in once, literally inching our way in for quite a while! As we were making our 20 minute entrance into the water Jack came to the realization that it was baby boy's first time "swimming" - but wait, no. That's pretty much all he's doing at this point! We saw so many parents with young kids there, and are very much looking forward to taking him to swim next summer! Monday was another beautiful day and my sister Ginger was gracious enough to let me bum the use of her pool! It felt sooooooooooo good. Perfect temp, perfect day out and very quiet and serene on her farm... aside from the dog bossing the horses around.

Finally had a crazy craving this week. Donuts - 3 kinds in particular: glazed, jelly filled, and of course good ol' boston creme. Jack made an attempt at helping me walk the healthy road and perhaps just choosing one or two but they were all of equal persuasion to me. We happened to be waiting to pick up our Papa John's pizza when the craving hit so I said I should be fine for the evening with just the pizza. Well sweet husband that he is ran out this morning to buy the 3 donuts and left them in the kitchen for me and wrote "Love you!" on the bag. What an awesome discovery this morning, and the best breakfast I've had in quite a while!!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Tiffany May

I'm an aunt again! This makes #12 :) Tiffany May Crossway was born at 7:48 this morning by c-section. She's 7lbs 1oz and 18.5 inches... a little one indeed! Her blood sugar was low this morning and her temperature was a little low, but she was back with her mom by noon. Beth looked and sounded great, despite her claim that this was the roughest c-section yet (her 4th). Her baby cousin was dancing all day... must have been excited to meet her! Jack and I went over this evening to meet her and congratulate Beth and Doug. She looks SO MUCH like her siblings, and I got to see many Kimmy expressions while we were there. She's so alert and had her eyes open the whole time. Although she can't focus just yet her eyes will follow you, and it looks like she is looking right at you even though you probably appear as a gelatinous monster! Baby Boy continued his dancing while I was holding her and I think he bumped her from underneath a few times. He's just so excited to high five her for real! Beth and I used to bump bellies to make them high five. Well little buddy, only 12ish more weeks until you can!

We forgot our camera but took one pic with a cell phone and got another texted to us, and Mom and Dad took a bunch earlier today. So here's a small sampling:







Wednesday, July 15, 2009

27 weeks!

And this marks the beginning of the third and final trimester! Unless he's more than 8 days late, I'm down to double digits. I've been suffering some serious heartburn the last week. I've always been prone to it from tomato-based anything, but now it seems even ice cream can cause it! A few random moments of severe nausea over the weekend as well, but other than that still feeling great. I'm feeling the kicks higher up in the abdomen and further off to the side now that he's taking up more real estate inside! He hasn't reached my ribs yet, so it's of no discomfort to me now. As for cravings - I don't think we went out of our way for anything this past week, but I'm still gobbling up blueberries!

We went to Matt Marlow's wedding on Saturday, and baby boy was loved on by Aunt Tara! It was soooo good to see her. She really wants to guess the name (I doubt anyone will be able to) but I gave her the same hint that we gave Regan - although he's not named after him, it's a character from something. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I had an appointment with the midwife this morning. I did the glucose tolerance screening in which I pounded a 10oz koolaidy orange drink followed up by a blood test an hour later. Not sure when I'll get the results - at least by 3 weeks from now at my next appointment! This kid has given me quite a sweet tooth, so hopefully no gestational diabetes. He seemed to really enjoy the beverage - got him kicking. Lots of pops while we were listening to the heart beat! Although my weight gain is still normal, my belly measured a little small, which I'm thrilled about. I guess you're supposed to measure the same number of cm that you are weeks, and I was 25cm. No matter how huge I feel, I'm told quite often that I'm carrying small, so I'm grateful for that! As I mentioned, my next appointment will be in 3 weeks and after that will be every 2 weeks up until the 36th week. After that will be weekly until delivery! I'm so excited to love on this little guy!!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Childbirth Center tour

Last night we went to an open house at the childbirth center at St Mary's, which is where I'll be delivering (provided it's not super quick and happens at home or on the car ride there!). I thought it would be a good idea to do a trial run for how long it took to get there from here, but totally forgot to check what time we left! We meant to do it on the way home too, but totally forgot to check what time we got home! Oh well, it's somewhere around 15 minutes and it's the closest hospital to us.

They started with a Q&A for a while with a panel of some of the nurses, midwives and doctors there. Most of the questions were helpful but there were a few ridiculous ones. My favorite was when this hippie chick asked if she could bring her own perinatal herbal rinse. Jack couldn't quite remember the question later on so he phrased it "Is it ok to bring my own organic soymilk to wash my baby's head with?" When he whispered that to me I started convulsing trying to keep the laughter in. I think this is the same chick that asked if they could bring the placenta home. EW! There was also this annoying kid sitting in front of us sucking on a bird feather, and reaching through the chair to touch my feet. Seems he hasn't learned about personal space, and bird diseases yet.

After the Q&A we got to tour the birth center. It looks great! They have 6 very large rooms where you go through labor, delivery, recovery and receive postpartum care all in the same room. There are only a few times a year that it happens to be crowded enough that they have to double you up in a room. You can keep the baby in the room with you, or if you need some rest you can ask them to take the baby to the nursery. 2 of the rooms have jacuzzi tubs for you to labor in (not for delivery). 1 other room has a birthing pool - we're not interested. But I'm all about laboring in a jacuzzi tub! They said that the record number of visitors they fit in one room (I think during labor) was 27, and they see no need to break that record. We agree. They have wi-fi there! So I can bring the laptop and keep the blog updated on how many centimeters I am... haha. I wonder if they'd let us bring Guitar Hero and hook it up there. That would certainly distract me from labor pains! The security is pretty impressive there too. You have to be let in and out of the birth center. You have to know the Mother's first and last name to be allowed to visit. As soon as the baby is born they get a bracelet with a sensor that sets off an alarm if they're taken off the floor. Mom and Dad get matching bracelets so they're the only ones, aside from staff, allowed to take the baby from the nursery. That should pretty much eliminate the possibility of getting the wrong baby!

After the tour we signed up for their childbirth classes. Jack still has his doubts about their necessity, but everyone I've asked has recommended taking childbirth classes. And we were thrilled to find out we have the magic insurance card - the entire cost is covered by insurance! I guess it better be covered considering how much we shell out for insurance every month! So we start those at the end of August.

They had a rep there from Babies R Us so we got a gift bag and a couple gift certificates, even though we've already registered there. We were only supposed to get one gift certificate, but Jack sweet talked a second one out of the rep. :)

I have another doctor's appointment which includes the glucose screening test tomorrow, so I'll post about that then!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

26 weeks!

What an eventful week! A few more Braxton Hicks contractions this week, but still painless at this point. The belly button hasn't popped out yet, but it's pretty shallow and feels like it's almost ready to pop after a large meal! As for cravings - nothing too crazy this past week that I can remember. Bagels, but in moderation. Oh and I've finished almost 4 pints of blueberries in the last week!

Jack's family came down for a fun-filled spontaneous visit for the 4th of July weekend. And when I say family, that includes Regan's boyfriend Strom and Catherine's boyfriend Jeremy. Baby boy put on a show and Regan, Catherine and Grandma Tess all got to feel his kicks! Most of the family went home on Sunday but Strom and Regan stayed until Monday. We took advantage of the beautiful day on Sunday and drove up to Lake George, still eager to show off how awesome NY is to Strom. We drove up Prospect Mountain as far as we could. From there we could "hike" or take a shuttle. The shuttle driver said it was just a 5 minute hike so we set out for it. I must admit it was quite steep, but that didn't seem to phase the others. I huffed and puffed the entire way up, turning around to walk backwards for part of it since my thighs burned so much! Lugging around these extra pounds is becoming quite the task! Good thing we didn't set out on a real hike!! Next year Daddy gets to lug baby boy around :) Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

25 weeks!

I'm still pretty comfortable, even with the summer heat hitting. I'm feeling baby boy's kicks pretty good, and even feel him when he's moving now! I'm pretty sure I've had a few painless Braxton Hicks contractions in the last week. From what I read it's very common, and at this point it's totally painless... just weird! No crazy cravings this past week, surprisingly!

Callie Cat is still prepping me for this baby! I feel like I'm potty training. At least once a day I'll plop her in the litter box until I make sure I see her go in it. It's been helping a lot!

Jack and I went to Babies R Us on Saturday and registered! It was a bit overwhelming but also very fun. We picked out all the major items we need and hope for, aside from nursery furniture. As we browsed the furniture they have in-store we noticed a very cute bedding set in one of the cribs that actually swayed Jack away from the Pirates theme he was sure he wanted! So we switched over to Zanzibar, which is a jungle theme. I'll probably have to take up my friend Stacie on her offer to go with me for all the small things I don't know I need. They had a whole wall of bottles and we have no idea what the difference between them is. We also started a registry at Target but there aren't many things on it at this point, so I'll probably go back there for the small stuff.

Having a blast with this little guy already! :)