The Toucans' Nest

On Going Back to Work

2011-09-09T09:26:00.001-04:00

Hi all, it's been awhile. I'm (very) slowly getting used to this being a mom thing, and working back in all the things I used to do pre-baby!

For the last month, I've been back at work on a part-time basis, working every other day (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). It was wonderful to have an on day and and off day. I always joked though that I didn't actually know which days were my "days off"!

Working part time temporarily was fantastic--I loved having the mix of being able to spend time with my son and still have days where I can have actual adult conversations! I thought about asking to switch to part-time (which maybe down the road I still will consider), but I realized something.

It's very hard to do my job well when I only work every other day.

This week was my first week back at work full-time. It's hard. Some of the days it wasn't so bad, and some days, I feel like I don't see my son... like the days when I come home and he's sleeping (I am lucky to have a champion sleeper!)... the days when he'll only wake to nurse before it's back to bed for the night. Those days are hard.

And, I must admit... I like being his favorite person. If I'm there less, will that title go to someone else?

Silly things to think, I know... but I think them.

That's my inner turmoil. I know I need to work (I cannot even imagine being a stay-at-home mom full time!), but how can I not miss this little guy?

(photo taken last week)

Maybe I'll just get used it... and we'll make weekends extra special fun.

Baby D's Smiles (Finally) Caught on Camera!

2011-08-30T17:21:00.003-04:00

Baby D tends to give me the 'ol blank stare whenever I point the camera in his face. Luckily, Grandma was around to make him smile while I finally caught some of the cuteness in action!

P.S. How do mommy bloggers keep up with their blogs? I feel like I've had a few posts planned/half-written, but no time to write them down or finish them!

A Story in Pictures for Your Monday Enjoyment

2011-07-25T15:07:00.003-04:00

A true story...

Things I didn't know before having a baby... you know when your baby poops. How?! You hear it!

We're Still Here!

2011-07-20T16:52:00.005-04:00

We're still alive! I have a whole new found respect for stay at home moms-- I mean I've always known it was hard, but I have no idea how stay at home moms manage to do anything but just watch the kids.

Anyway, I've been working on more of Baby D's birth story, as the story doesn't end after the baby is born. It's been a little hard trying to figure out what I want to say... having a preterm baby definitely takes an emotional toll, and I'm still working on how best to tell the story.

Anyway... I thought I'd catch you up on some photos of the little guy. We've been taking weekly photos (just like the folks on Young House Love). We kind of missed the first week because Baby D was still in the hospital, but so we have a stand in photo instead. =)

So here's Baby D--- weeks 1 through 8 (OH MY GOSH, I can't believe he's 8... actually as of today 8.5 weeks old already!):

On Friday, the little guy turns 9 weeks, and we're heading to the doctor's office for his 2 month visit. I think that the shots he'll be getting might be more traumatic for me than it will be for him...

And then next week is my last week of maternity leave. =( I cannot believe how fast time has flown!

Labor and Delivery, Part 2

2011-06-22T10:04:00.003-04:00

Previously: Labor and Delivery, Part I

So, where I last left off... I found out that I wasn't peeing my pants, and the doctor just told me that the baby was coming TODAY.

Thoughts that raced through my head:

I was at the hospital with no hospital bag... in fact, I hadn't even packed one yet.
We didn't take any birth classes (on purpose), and we were supposed to talk about birthing techniques and make a birth plan with our doula... tomorrow.
I hadn't fully planned out my maternity leave at work... I had 2 meetings scheduled to discuss maternity leave... that day.
Statistically, as a first time mom, aren't I supposed going past my due date? NOT 5 weeks before?!
But, I'm not ready yet!

Oddly enough though, I did have my point and shoot camera in my purse so I will share all the not-so-glamorous photos of labor and delivery day.

{Hubs is not ready yet, either!}

So, I asked the doctor (who, by the way, was still down examining my nether regions)...

Me: Wait, we're not going to try to stop the labor?!
Doctor: No, you are 35 weeks and your water broke. It's safer to just move things along. You are actually 4 centimeters dilated already. Are you feeling your contractions?!
Me: No...
Doctor: Don't tell anyone that you got to 4cm without feeling anything.
(this is me not telling anyone... except the 5 people reading my blog... haha).

And with that, they moved me from triage to my own room and started me on antibiotics (because I never had that Group B Strep test!).

{calling my mom}

While I called my family, I heard Husband called our doula (I highly recommend having one if it fits the budget, btw)...

Husband: Hi Maria, this is Colin. We're going to have to cancel our appointment for tomorrow. Tiffany's actually in labor right now... yes, we would still like you to come if you can.... Ok, see you later.

And then after all the phone calls and initial commotion, it got boring.

Hubs asked me how I was feeling, and my reaction...
...still shocked. At this point, I was still not really feeling contractions, so we took the opportunity to take our last picture together before baby...

{I like how I looked disheveled already and I was barely "in labor"}

and had a little "breakfast"...

... and sat around and waited...

{ok, Hubs sat around, and I was ready to get this show on the road!}

By 12:30, my contractions were still only feeling like a small tightening knot in my stomach, and the doctor had come in to check... I was still only 4cm dilated. They told me they wanted to start me up on pitocin to get labor started (since we think my water broke the night before). I was a little nervous about this because I wanted to try to give birth as naturally as possible. I also didn't want to be hooked up to the IV the entire time (I had just finished my antibiotics IV for the Group B Strep and wanted to be rid of all tubes!), and I had heard that using pitocin could make it harder to forgo the epidural (which at this point I was still open to, but wanted to try before I gave in). So, I asked the doctor for more time to see if my labor would progress naturally.

It didn't. In fact, over the next hour, I stopped feeling contractions all together. Our nerves were starting to set in... because my water broke, they wanted to have the baby out within 24 hours (from when I think my water broke) to limit the chances of infection. At 2pm, I gave in and the nurse came in to start me up on the pitocin.

{starting the pitocin... let's get this labor started!}

Almost immediately, my contractions started to pick up in intensity. After a little bit, the doctor came in again to check my progress and to strip my membranes. My water had broken, but up until this point, it was a more of a slow leak. Once my membranes were stripped, I felt the gush that you kind of assume happens when your water breaks.

I am so glad that my water didn't break with a gush. That was kind of gross.

By 4pm, the contractions started to get uncomfortable, and we called our doula, Maria, to come the hospital. When she showed up at 5:30pm, they were starting to get really uncomfortable. I really started to doubt whether I could do this naturally.

{Note the smiling face--this was forced. I was starting to get pretty uncomfortable at this point. Also note: pitocin dose behind me is at 10... this is the highest it got. Labor progressed really quickly after this point}

The first thing I asked our doula, Maria, was, "Is this active labor?" (read: "is this almost over, and is the worst of it?"). Her response, "No... but we're getting there. In active labor, you won't be able to have conversations in between contractions"

Then to my husband...

Me: I don't know if I can do this.
Husband: You don't have to. We can get the epidural.
Me: I'm scared of the needle.

And then shortly after that, I stopped talking.

To get through the pain, I was standing and leaning forward clinging to my husband for support. As you can imagine, being hunched over in this position for awhile started making my back hurt. My doula suggested another position (at this time, I can't remember which one), and warned me that the first few contractions after changing positions hurt the most. She was right...it hurt, a lot, and not so logically, I wanted to immediately go back to the position I was in before (and thus being in a new position again, those contractions were bad).

The pain was getting pretty bad, and I kept saying, "I don't know how much longer I can do this!" Maria quickly explained that many women want to get the epidural because they fear being in active labor for 8 hours. And then she told me based on our telephone conversations earlier in the day, and what she saw in the short time she was at the hospital, that she had a feeling our labor would be quick. She then quickly suggested that we check to see how far I had progressed. "If it's a good number, then we'll see how it goes. If it not as far along as we want to be we can think about the epidural."

I agreed, and it was back to the bed. I was at 8 cm. The contractions were coming really hard now, and I turned my side and clutched my husband's arms and buried my head. Maria kept saying, "8cm is good!" But I really wanted it to be 10cm so it could be over. Because of the change again, the contractions really hurt, and I literally cried out, "I don't want to do this anymore!"

What I didn't realize at the time was that the team of doctors and nurses were actually starting to get set up for delivery around me. Maria coached me through the next few contractions, by counting. And then she said to me, "I never say this to any of my clients, but I feel really confident saying this to you. Your labor is progressing really fast. I think you'll be pushing within 30 minutes. An epidural would take at least 40 minutes, and you would still feel all the pressure you are feeling down there. That won't go away."

All of a sudden, I settled into the zone. I wouldn't exactly say that I didn't feel the contractions anymore, but I was so focused in getting through each contraction that I entered some kind of trance-like state. At one point, Maria asked me if I wanted to get checked again. At first I said, "No, I don't want to change positions again." Then she asked me again, and I got checked.

And then the doctor said the most wonderful thing you could possibly say to woman at this point, "You're at 10cm, and the baby can't get any lower. We're ready to push."

Hallelujah!

23 minutes later, at 7:52pm, Baby D was born. The NICU staff was on hand to do some quick checks on him before we got to officially meet him...
Unfortunately, we only got to spend a short time with him before he had to be whisked away to the NICU for the full battery of tests...

Up Next: After Delivery

Due Date!

2011-06-21T12:36:00.002-04:00

Today was our due date, and the little man is already 4.5 weeks old!

{Bathtime - taken with my phone}

It's hard to believe that we've already had him for a whole month! Because he was a preemie, we've had a visiting nurse come to our home weekly to check on his weight. As of last Thursday, he was already up over 2 lbs over his birth weight! He's putting on weight pretty fast, and sometimes I think all the weight is going straight to his cheeks!

Labor and Delivery, Part 1

2011-06-08T12:20:00.001-04:00

I strongly believe that one could never be fully prepared to birth a child.

With Baby D deciding to make his way into the world 4.5 weeks early, I definitely wasn't prepared...not even remotely close. In fact, the morning I went to the hospital I was certain I was just overreacting, would get checked out really quick and later head to work. But let me rewind for a little bit to Thursday, May 19th. That's the evening I technically went into labor. I just didn't know it yet.

On Thursday afternoon, I had my OB appointment. It was the last of the 2 week appointments and I was about to start visiting the Dr's office weekly. Everything looked good, and my doctor told me I'd be getting the Group B Strep Test the following week because the test results are only good for 5 weeks and most first-time moms tend to go past their due date. Jinxed.

And then she jinxed me again,

"Everything about your pregnancy is normal--almost too normal."

Famous last words.

That evening I was planning on attending a Boston Pops performance, but decided I was feeling really tired and spent the night in. I was a literal couch potato all night. Around 9 or 9:30pm, I decided to head to bed. [I guess it's worth mentioning that throughout my pregnancy I was terrified of peeing my pants. I would go to the bathroom all the time to prevent such an occurrence.] I went to the bathroom no less than 3 times before going to bed. And I remember thinking that my underwear was a little damp. I just assumed that I peed myself a little bit... because that's just part of pregnancy, right?!

I got up again around midnight to hit up the bathroom again. This time, slightly worried. Is it possible that I peed myself again? I decided I was overreacting and just went back to bed.

Friday morning came, and I began to get ready for work. I felt a trickle run down my leg. I thought it was little weird, hopped into the shower, and continued to get ready for work. At some point, I decided that I should just call my doctor's office... you know, just to be sure. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, this is probably really silly, but I think I might either be leaking amniotic fluid or peeing myself, but I'm just not sure.
On call nurse: Ok. I just have to ask a series of questions, and I'll contact the doctor on call and get back to you.

To my surprise, 5 mins later, she calls back and tells me the doctor said to go to Labor and Delivery to get checked out. At this point, I felt a little stupid.

I am pretty sure my husband was slightly annoyed with me... especially because I told him I was pretty certain I was just suffering from incontinence and I couldn't make up my mind if I should go to the hospital or not. He said, "Ok, let's go to the hospital, but get all your stuff ready for work." (My office is actually located very close to the hospital). So, off to the hospital we went.

{picture actually taken a week or so before during our hospital tour
... at least we took the tour before delivery!}

We got to the hospital and headed up to Labor and Delivery. We got to the front desk and had to fill out all the forms. There was another couple waiting. I thought to myself, "I feel stupid... they are in real labor and I'm here because I can't hold my bladder anymore."

Nevertheless, we got called into the triage room where they made me change into a hospital gown and hooked up to the machines to monitor contractions and the baby's heart rate. At this point, I not only felt stupid, but I started apologizing to the nurse and my husband for even being there.

Eventually, the attending doctor came in to check me out. She explained the process of how she was going to check if my water broke. First she was going to look for fluid, and then she'd swab me with a long q-tip. If the tip turned blue, it was amniotic fluid. She took a look and said, "Oh, my friend, I think your water did break-- I see fluid. And then she showed me the q-tip. It was blue.

"You're going to have a baby today."

Wait... what?!?!

{actually, also taken the day of the hospital tour}

I quickly went from feeling stupid to feeling complete and utter shock.

To Be Continued...

Three Years Later

2011-06-07T13:09:00.004-04:00

Photo Credits (top to bottom): Robert Mirani, Chris Chen Studios, A Brilliant Photo

(Three year photos hopefully to come!)

As we move on to Year 4, this little guy, who graced us with his presence 5 weeks early...

Baby D last week at 9 days old

...will inevitably challenge to our relationship. But, if the last three years are any indication, we'll handle it beautifully. Husband, I truly love you more and more each passing day. Happy 3rd Anniversary!

37 Weeks/11 Days

2011-06-01T22:45:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we would have been 37 weeks, so in honor of the momentous occasion (and because I wasn't able to take it at 36 weeks while Baby "D" was in the hospital), I'm closing out my bump pictures.

(35 Weeks --> 37 Weeks/11-Day Old Baby D)

And (selected) photos of the whole progression...

(click to enlarge a little)

Today is also my birthday, and my first as a new mom! I kind of expected the first to be next year, but Baby D is home with us now, and that's a good enough present in itself! In any case, Husband changed all of Baby D's diapers today, and I had a little post-natal massage (which I actually had originally booked as a prenatal appointment!). All in all... a good day. =)

Where Did the 35 and 36 Weeks Updates Go?

2011-05-27T17:38:00.009-04:00

Hi again, blogosphere!

I went missing for a couple weeks, but I promise it's for good reason...

I was running behind on my 35 week update, and before we got to 36 weeks, this little guy decided to show up...
Everyone meet Baby Dubbs! Baby Dubbs was anxious to say hello and arrived last Friday (at 35 weeks and 3 days). Talk about a surprise, no?

So, how's this for my "36 Weeks" picture?
Anyway, we're all doing really well. Baby is healthy but because he's a bit premature, he's still in the NICU at the hospital for observation to make sure he's 100% okay to come home. Here's hoping to he gets discharged this weekend! =)

I'm off to the hospital now to go visit the little guy (thank goodness, we live close!), but I promise once we're settled in at home I'll rehash our labor story!

Two Milestones Today

2011-05-17T08:43:00.005-04:00

Today, we hit the 35 week/35 days left (until due date) mark!

... and I forgot to take my belly shot this morning. Oops.

I guess it's because I had more important things to celebrate. Happy 29th Birthday to this handsome fella!
I love you, Husband!

Weird Revelation

2011-05-13T15:37:00.002-04:00

I just looked at my one of my (too many) pregnancy iPhone apps, and 1 thing stuck out...

39 more days!

um... 39 days until my due date. That's shorter then lent!
(I'm actually not Catholic and have never given up anything for lent, but I went to Catholic school).

34 Weeks

2011-05-11T07:59:00.000-04:00

1 more week down...
I'm starting to feel really pregnant now (not that I didn't feel pregnant before)... it's oddly very, very real.

I can't fit my rings on in the morning anymore, so I just don't bother.
When I get home after walking from work, the first thing I want to do is put my feet up.
Said post-walk feet and ankles are pretty swollen when I get home.
I can't bend down to pick things up off the floor anymore. The other day at work, I dropped a plastic fork on the floor. When I went to pick it up, I almost fell over. Not going to be doing that again. Next time I drop something on the floor, it's staying on the floor. Too bad.
Strangers are really comfortable asking me when I'm due.
And the real-est thing (oh, yes, I used that in a sentence)... we went on a hospital tour last night. We even cooed at the tiny babies in the nursery.

The scariest thing that I realized is that I, myself, was born at 4 weeks early, at 36 weeks, and that milestone is 2 weeks from now*.

*As a first-time mom, I realize that statistically I'll likely go late, but then again... I was the first baby for my mom too. I guess you just never know!
**Also, I'll be setting up a baby pool for fun soon. There will be a prize... I just need to figure out what that will be. Stay tuned!

My (Almost a) Mother's Day Gift

2011-05-09T18:43:00.005-04:00

Yesterday on Mother's Day, I was busy preparing a Mother's Day brunch from the couch (I brought my cutting board to the living room so I didn't have to stand). I went to bring my potatoes to the kitchen when I saw a lovely hydrangea plant sitting on the dining room table.

The accompanying card reads:

Hi Mom!
I telepathically told Dad to get these for you!
See you soon!!!

Love,
"Baby Dubbs"
(I blurred out the name because Baby's real name was on the card!)

Baby Dubbs is so smart...
... or maybe my Husband is just too sweet. =)

Baby's due date is June 21-- a couple days after Father's Day. I'm really hoping that Baby Dubbs will make his appearance in time to celebrate his Daddy! =)

7 (ish) More Weeks.

2011-05-04T09:31:00.000-04:00

With each passing week, I'm starting to think, "eeek! We're getting close!" I also start doing the internal countdown in my head-- 7 weeks until our due date, which means Baby Dubbs will be here in approximately 5-9weeks! That lower end of 5 weeks sounds super-uber close, doesn't it?! While I'm really anxious to meet the little one, I can't help but think... "I need time." and "Baby, please stay in there longer."

I'm pretty sure these thoughts will come back and bite me in the butt.

At least this week, we finally started transforming the office to Baby Dubbs's room.

We painted this room just last year, and since the color will work for a baby boy's nursery, we decided to just keep it. I like Minty Green anyway. =) Of course you know since we've emptied a lot of this room (except the shelves on the wall), the rest of our place (namely the new designated office area in the living room), is a disaster area (i.e., the depths of despair). More updates to come.

In other news, I'm still getting larger by the day. Somehow (okay, I mostly blame water retention), it looks like I've gained 4 pounds in the last week. eep.

I thought the midwife might yell at me at my doctor's appointment yesterday, but nope. She says I'm still doing ok, but might want to concentrate on more protein-rich foods and less carbs. Carbs are definitely my weakness. Anyway, official weight gain = 26 lbs. She says from here on out I probably won't be gaining weight as rapidly (I hope it's true, because the numbers are getting scary!).

Anyway, about that water retention... my rings are tight. I stopped wearing my engagement ring and my real wedding band, and have been wearing my "vacation/backup" wedding band all week. My "fake" band (it's a simple gold band that got cheap from Overstock that I wear on beachy vacations so I don't get sand stuck in my real band) is a quarter size larger than my real band, but now it's starting to feel snug at certain points of the day. It makes me sad. I don't like being ring-less!

With 7ish weeks left should I buy (an even cheaper) stand in wedding ring?

32 Weeks!

2011-04-29T07:41:00.000-04:00

32 weeks!
I feel large. While you can't tell from my pictures (because they are taken from the side), but I'm pretty sure I have sprouted hips.... and thighs... and butt. I know this mostly because my looser pregnancy jeans have started to fit more snugly around my thighs and butt. And no, I didn't shrink them in the dryer (I wish that was my excuse!)

Another new development this week... heartburn and acid reflux. Fun stuff. I shouldn't complain because it's really not that bad. I've learned though that I can't eat anything past 8pm otherwise I will wake up in the middle of the night with a lovely burning sensation in my esophagus... or I have to sleep sitting straight up. Neither are fun, so we just avoid eating and drinking after 8pm-- much easier.

Anyway, it's a new "month" and I'm 8 months pregnant (if you count 1 month as 4 weeks), so here's a little pregnancy recap... watch me grow!
Is it sad that I can't remember being smaller?! I only just know that I was smaller because I pictures to prove it. hahaha.

Dudes, time is flying by!!!

31 Weeks...

2011-04-26T08:26:00.000-04:00

... and officially beginning to lose the belly button war.
Ok, so I totally started writing this post last week, and then I just stopped because I lacked the motivation. Also, the couch just looked really comfy. Anyway, I'm not quite sure if I was going to make any other comment about my belly button... but I'm assuming belly button comments aren't all that interesting anyway! ;-)

Today, I actually hit 32 weeks, so that update will be up later this week (I hope). But for now, let's play a little catch up.

I'm guessing I probably also partially didn't post this update because between 30 and 31 weeks, nothing too exciting happened. I had another doctor's appointment. I peed in a cup. They took my blood pressure, and then they told me I've gained 22 lbs. Everything pretty much looks normal, which I guess when it comes to doctor's appointments "uneventful" is probably what we're aiming for! =)

On the home front, there hasn't been any progress. Husband's actuary exam is Friday (!!!), so I basically barely see him these days... nevermind, having time to move around furniture and setting up the nursery. It's getting me a little anxious because we haven't set up anything in the nursery yet. This most likely stems from me seeing other ladies with completely finished nurseries who are where we are in pregnancy, or even behind us! I think I need to stay away from the internet (ha! like that will ever happen!).

I think eventually I want to write a post on maternity clothes, but I think I need to find time to take some pictures other outfits. I realized when I posted this bad cellphone pic, it's the only preggo picture I've posted that hasn't been in my standard weekly picture outfit consisting of jeans and white tank!

I am a goober!

2011-04-22T23:46:00.004-04:00

I forgot to mention last week that my sister bought Baby Dubbs his first pieces of clothing. Old Navy had some onesies in the clearance section for a dollar-something (score!).

Here's Baby Dubbs modeling one of his new onsies...

{blurry cellphone pic}

I am a goober.

Also, my boobs look huge (for me).

Also, I owe you a 31 weeks update, but I've been lazy. I took the picture a few days ago, but I've just been to lazy to post it. Instead I'm posting goober-ish pictures.

It's coming though... eventually. =)

30 Weeks!

2011-04-14T08:27:00.001-04:00

30 weeks down, and 10 (+/- 2) weeks to go!

Baby's gone through a little growth spurt this week, don't ya think? ;-)

We had an appointment with the midwife on Friday, and everything's still looking good! I'm measuring right on target. She felt my belly a little and informed me that Baby is head down already, and could already tell that Baby's been hanging out on my left side. I had a feeling that hard bump that juts out now and again was Little Boy's bottom! It's kind of crazy... now every time I feel him pressing up against my belly, and I can actually feel his little body--kind of weird, and so awesome at the same time!

Despite a busy week, this week's update is short! But I've already written about our furniture delivery (yay! for not sleeping on the floor!) and stroller purchase... and that's all I can really remember right now! =P

Stuff for Baby Dubbs!

2011-04-13T07:38:00.001-04:00

Before this weekend, we had only bought 2 things for Baby Dubbs-- a crib and a mattress. And we haven't even set anything up because we've been also working on setting up our bedroom!

We bought our 3rd thing for Baby on Friday... and ooh, was I excited for this one!

{fuzzy iPhone photo taken at an angle because I was too close}

an UPPAbaby Vista Stroller! We looked at and "test drove" a ton of strollers at our local Magic Beans (they let you take the strollers outside for a test run), and the UPPAbaby Vista was the stroller that best fit our city-living needs AND was one of the few strollers that my tall Husband doesn't kick the bottom of-- Did you know that most strollers are designed to fit the average size women (people approx 5'4"- 5'6")?!

The only thing we didn't like about the Vista was the almost $700 price tag (eeeeep!). Fortunately, I found out that UPPAbaby is a Boston area based company, that has a local factory store that sells "refurbished" strollers at a pretty hefty discount. I say "refurbished" in quotes because some of the strollers there are actually brand new! UPPAbaby has a policy where they won't ship out a stroller 2x, and thus if they send the wrong color to a store and it gets sent back it goes to the factory store and is discounted rather than resold at full price. Awesome, no?!

The catch... you have to go get the stroller in person (they won't ship)... during the factory's limited hours (T-F, 1-4:30pm). And you never know what's in stock at the time. There's no wait list, so you pretty much have to call ahead of time to see what they have available and can put a stroller on hold for only 24 hrs. In any case, we got lucky. I called on Thursday, and they had our top choice color (red) available! On Friday, we brought our stroller home! Husband put the stroller to immediate use...

{Husband's cellphone photo}

...to help transport cat food and kitty litter!

Anyway, enough about strollers... other things for Baby Dubbs...
My mom currently is working on a slew of projects for baby... some of which include baby bedding! Here's a little sneak peek of a little package of fabric that I received last week...

{bad iPhone picture}

I bet you can guess from this photo that Baby Dubb's nursery will be full of color! =) But that's all you get for now... I'll wait for Mom to finish some projects so I can show them off!

Speaking of showing off some of Mom's finished projects... my mom made the cutest booties for baby!

{another bad iPhone photo}

Crocheted Baby Converse! Mom's been taking an intermediate crochet class (which she tells me is less like a class and more of just a place to crochet with other women), and she made these cute booties at the first class!

Slowly, but surely, we'll be ready for Baby! =)

The State of the Nest

2011-04-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Our bedroom furniture has finally arrived, and we are finally finished with sleeping on the floor in the living room, and our clothes are currently in actual drawers instead of in trash bags in the baby's future room. As soon as we finish getting everything out of the 2nd bedroom, we can started on the Baby's room!

Before/In Progress shots (note that before sleeping on the floor in the living room, we were sleeping on the floor in the bedroom!):

Hello, purple! I love it.

Obviously a little more to do in here... needs some accessorizing still, but I'm just happy to be in the bedroom again! =)

ETA: Husband has just read this post and said, "haha, we look like homeless squatters."

29 Weeks!

2011-04-06T08:44:00.001-04:00

Um... so much for me showing you pictures of the State of our Nest... I still haven't loaded them.
oops. I blame my 3rd trimester fatigue/laziness. =P

That, and we're still sleeping on the floor in our living room because our bedroom furniture still hasn't arrived. That's about to change soon though! I called up the furniture company to check on our furniture status (it was supposed to be delivered to our place by yesterday actually), and they said that it just had come in and they needed to inspect it.

I totally pulled the preggo card. (shame on me?) They told me they couldn't deliver the furniture until NEXT WEEK. Um.. I've been sleeping on the floor and living out of plastic bags for two weeks, and you told me I'd have my furniture in my house by now. Oh, and I'm pregnant.

30 minutes later, furniture company calls back and says, oh, why yes, we will deliver your furniture on Friday. Woman on the phone thought I was going to have a panic attack and go into labor or something. ;-) Seriously, thank goodness because...

...girlfriend is getting bigger by the day...
And it's hard to get out of bed that's on the floor!

Trying to think of what else is new in this week, but in reality, not much has changed (aside for my size ;-) ).

I did start out the morning fantastically though... I went down to buy myself some breakfast from the cafeteria this morning, and a woman said to me, "oooh! I love your belly!"

So, thank you random woman by the cafeteria... I'm in such a good mood now! =)

28 Weeks and the 3rd Trimester!

2011-03-31T09:32:00.001-04:00

Omigosh... bring on the 3rd trimester!!!

Some quick hits:

Unofficial weight gain (according to my home scale, not the Dr's office): +17.5 lbs
Waist size: +?? inches (actually haven't measured recently)
Belly button status: Surprisingly, still "in" (by my standards). I don't think I mentioned this before, but I was actually born with an outtie belly button. It's a little numb, that's always actually never stuck out beyond my stomach, and when I had my belly button ring in, you'd never even know that I had an outtie. So... when I got pregnant, I assumed that since I already had and "outtie," my belly button would stick out in no time! Currently, it's still hanging on and almost even with the rest of my stomach now.
Craving: Sweets still--lots and lots of sweets. Appetite is starting to calm down a bit though.
Feeling: tired again. Also, slightly freaking out that this baby is coming soon-ish! ;-)

Ok, weekly update time:

Not sure that I look much bigger this week, but I feel much, much bigger this week. Over the weekend--almost like a light switch--all of a sudden, BOOM! I felt huge. My stomach just feels so, so much heavier. I'm still walking home from work (It's a smidge over 1.5 miles) everyday, and I think it has progressively taken longer and longer to get home. Sometimes, how long it takes depends on how I'm feeling that day. Yesterday, I was exhausted, and it seemed to take me f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get home.

On the home front, we're currently sleeping in the living room. Semi-convenient now that I'm exhausted again and have been falling asleep watching TV. Bed is currently on the floor pushed up against couch. Hooray for not having to move far! So... why are we sleeping in the living room? Because we just had our bedroom painted before the new furniture gets here. I haven't loaded the before/in progress pictures yet, so I'll show you those another time...

Because of the bedroom status, Baby Dubb's room is at somewhat of a standstill (all of our clothes are in plastic bags and got moved out into his room for the time being). My mom will be starting some sewing project soon though, and I just ordered fabrics for that! I'm pretty excited about those projects! Thanks, Mom, for being crafty and retired! ;-)

That's it for now. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually show you pictures of our place in progress (it might be kind of scary though...) ;-)

Pregnancy Weight Gain (Of Another Sort)

2011-03-25T08:30:00.000-04:00

Oh, pregnancy weight gain... aren't you a pesky little thing?

Oh no, I'm not talking about my own weight gain (I'm supposed to be packing on the lbs!).

I'm talking about the Husband complaining about his pregnancy weight gain! It totally makes sense, you see. Husband eats what I eat. So, when I indulge in the extra dessert , so does he. He didn't really seem to mind.

That is, until he bent down and split his pants open.

{OMG!}

Remember this picture?

{Taken around Week 4}

Perhaps we should have been documenting his "growth" with a weekly picture?
Haha, I'm just joking. Husband (while he has admitted that he's put on a few lbs), is really not any bigger than he was at the beginning of our pregnancy. He did, however, really split his pants open (though most likely due to the fact that he's had those dress pants forever and they were already falling apart at the seams... not due to weight!).

*NOTE: No, I'm not being mean (okay, maybe a little). This post was published with Husband's permission. He's fun like that! =)

27 Weeks!

2011-03-24T08:12:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe this is the last week of the 2nd trimester! Time is FLYING!

I guess the most obvious thing about this picture is... haircut!
Dudes, I was in serious need of one. My hair had gotten pretty nasty. A couple days ago at work, I looked at my hair and just thought, "eww." I called up the salon down the street and begged for an appointment for right after work. And presto-chango, I cut it all off!

We had our last monthly appointment earlier this week (we're on the 2 week schedule now), and I had to take the big 1-hr glucose tolerance test. I must admit I was not looking forward to it. For starters, I heard that the orange syrup tastes like crap. And, of course, I was also worried that I wouldn't pass.

Good news, orange syrup stuff didn't taste so bad... it tasted like flat orange soda with a little too much syrup (and I think it helped that mine was ice cold!). And the even better news... I passed! Cupcakes for everyone! (okay, sorry, just cupcakes for me).

Everything else at our appointment looked good... I've been told that I look on the smaller side, but I'm measuring right where I should be! Ha!

It was mentioned my weight gain of the past few weeks has been a little rapid, though I'm still doing okay overall. Oops, must be the cravings catching up. Official weight gain = 17 lbs. I know I'm still in a good range, but it just sounds like a lot to me. I need to stop being so vain... and layoff the cupcakes. ;-)