Baby Bump Moments from Week 16

• Sorry, no I don't have a baby bump pic to post. Maybe later on in the pregnancy (with clothing).
• Someone (other than Danielle) noticed or at least verbalized my baby bump today. How cute (and a little embarrassing).
• I felt my SIL eyeing my baby bump today and I felt a little self-conscious. Although she's not actively ttc, she wants a baby and recently verbalized that she's jealous of my pregnancy.
• SugarPlum is moving around like a little Mexican jumping bean today. Maybe he/she knows something I don't.
• I've been really good about laying off the potato chips for the past 5 days. It was getting a little out of control. Should I be concerned that I bought Lays potato chips to hand out to the kids trick or treating tomorrow?
• I had a really good conversation with my older brother last night. We were on the phone for 2 1/2 hours and just chatted about everything any anything. He's such a good brother. Part of our conversation was about seeking the approval of my parents. I admitted that sadly at the age of 30 I still do this and I'm not sure why. I'm realizing that it takes a lot of effort on my part and with a baby coming I need to stop. My brother has a really laid back philosophy that whoever wants to be involved in my life will be and those who can't move past their own opinions, etc will just miss out and that's on them. I wish I could adopt that attitude. I'm sure this will take up my entire therapy session on Tuesday.
• I left work early yesterday because I didn't feel all that great. I was exhausted and worried I was coming down with the flu or cold. Today, I came to work even though I'm still exhausted. I went to take a quick nap in my car but forgot which floor I parked on, found the car and realized I forgot the car keys. Mission aborted!
• I need a good book to read. Any suggestions? Nothing too heavy or pregnancy related.
• We have 12 days until we find out the sex. Danielle's mom wanted to come to the gender appt with us but I really wanted it to be just Danielle and myself (if we decide to do a 3D/4D u/s later on in the pregnancy then she and Danielle's sister are more than welcome to attend) but for this appt, I felt like I just wanted to share the moment with Danielle. Is that selfish? Anyway, rather than just telling her the news over the phone, I came up with the idea of us meeting her mom for lunch that afternoon and giving her a gift bag with a onesie that says "what happens at mema's stays at mema's," flowers for her desk and a scratch off that announces if it is a girl or boy. I think the scratch offs are kinda cool bc Danielle's family loves them (real ones) around Christmas, birthdays, etc.

Movement

A few days ago I started to feel SugarPlum move. It happens mostly when laying down. Talk about such a cool feeling. I can't wait until Danielle can feel it as well.

Week 16: Prenatal Appt

We met with Mr. Midwife this morning for yet another great prenatal appointment. We got a prescription for b/w to test for spina bifida and drum roll..... a prescription for the big u/s. We've been waiting to get this "golden ticket." I can't believe 3 weeks, we'll find out what we're having (granted the baby cooperates). For the record, I suspect that it's a boy.

I'm down 2 more pounds (11 total). Our teachable moment in this appointment included Mr. Midwife giving me a mirror and bringing Danielle down to his level to look at my cervix. He explained the process of the cervix thinning out and becoming effaced prior to childbirth. I haven't checked out my cervix since ttc so it was pretty cool. We were able to listen to SugarPlum's heartbeat. Earlier in the week I started to have some anxiety about how SP was doing in there. I had to reassure myself that the likelihood of m/c at this point is low, that we had a healthy u/s 3 weeks ago, etc but sometimes the anxiety just kind of creeps up out of no where. I wonder if it ever goes away.

Thanks for the feedback on Gracie's bum issue. We are in the process of identifying a Vet for her. She has an appt at a clinic next week for other issues so hopefully they can address this as well.

Scratching Items off the List

Tonight my friend and I attended the Baby and Maternity Consignment Sale. Tiffany was a great help with carrying items, helping me weed through stuff, and helping me stay on task. She was the perfect person for the job. We ran into Pleasantly Furious and her partner while we were there. Although we didn't get to sit and chat, it was nice to meet in person and put a face to a name.

I'm pretty pleased with my purchases:

• Fisher Price Little Lamb Swing: $65 (retails for $160)


• Bouncer: $9


• Hands Free Breastfeeding Pump support: $10 (retails for $40)


• Child sized rocker: $3 (plan to buy or make a cover)


• Sealed High School Musical Board Game for Tiffany's daughter: $5

Gracie Question: She keeps scooching her ass along the carpet, like in that carpet commerical. Why?

Random Moments from Week 14

• I went to the bathroom at work in dire need to pee and completely forgot the code to get in. I had to run down three flights to use one that didn't require a pass code. I always had a slight disbelief about "pregnancy brain" and knew I would never be a victim of it.
• Danielle and I are attending a "Plan and Scan Workshop" tomorrow at BRU. Afterwards we plan to start our registry. Virtual shopping is always fun.
• It was Danielle's birthday yesterday.
• A conversation between Danielle and myself. Me: OMG, you have to come to this huge consignment sale with me next week. It's suppose to be huge. Danielle: what's a consignment sale. Me: (I explained). Danielle: So what you're saying is that you want me to attend a huge baby garage sale? Me: Thanks. Thanks Danielle for cheapening the whole experience. I took back the invitation and our friend Tiffany is coming with me instead.
• Last night I wasted 30 minutes of my life watching "Mall Cops" on TLC and laughed so hard. Good times!!!
• I lost another pound. I'm now down 9 pounds compared to my first prenatal visit. I'm eating though. Weird!!!
• I interviewed for a position with better hours than what I'm working now. I doubt I'll get it bc they inadvertently told me that a lot of supervisors were applying. That intimidates me but keep your fingers crossed for SugarPlum's sake.
• I confess that sometimes feel guilty about blogging about my pregnancy. I know that when I was struggling with ttc there were times I had a hard time reading pregnancy blogs and just skipped over them on my blog roll. I will understand if anyone has to do that with me.
• I find that I'm losing a connection with one of my friends. When I'm asked what's going on with my life, I talk about my pregnancy. I hate that I may be turning into one of those people. However, right now, there isn't much else going on in my life. God, that's sad.
• Slice and Gracie are GROSS!!!! Our cat, Slice, throws up about once a week. Mostly bc he ate too much or ate too fast. Well last night he threw up a large amount. I was looking through the mail at the time and figured I'd clean it up after I was done. I went to go clean it and Gracie had eaten 3/4 of it!!!! Ew!!!! I mean who the hell eats someone else's vomit? Talk about dry heaving. I thought I was going to puke just at the thought of her eating it. Well on the bright side, it was less for me to clean.

Who are you?

I've turned into this hormonal woman who chokes up, tears up and cries over the silliest things which range from overdone french fries, tv shows, and the pet parade. I sometimes feel like I'm having this out of body experience where I'm like "who are you?" It's very weird and quite honestly, a little scary.

I never thought I'd be one to have cravings but sure enough Sunday night started the desire for Fish Tacos. Of all things, Fish Tacos! I'd never had one in my entire life. It didn't help that Throw Down with Bobby Flay featured the most awesome looking fish tacos that night. I live in Pittsburgh though. The Mexican population is about 100. There's no way in hell I'm going to get an authentic fish taco to save my life. However, my friend and her 4 month old baby stepped in this afternoon and met me at Mad Mex for their version of the taco. Although it was tasty, it ranked a 2 on the authenticity scale. But at least it soothed me for a while.

There's nothing much going on in the land of baby right now. We are just anxiously awaiting the time when we can find out the gender. In the meantime, I've researched car seats, strollers, and carriers. There are so many to choose from and it's very easy to get overwhelmed. This week's research will be focused on baby monitors. I've read that if you buy a certain kind on a certain frequency you can hear or see other people (who do not live in your home but rather in your neighborhood). The idea of that truly freaks me out. Several years ago, someone tried to break into our home while we were home and so the idea of someone knowing I am home alone with the baby is very scary. Any baby monitor suggestions are more than welcome.

A Treat

Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day so we took a drive to the Outlet Mall which is in the next county. My goal at the mall was to buy a Fall coat which I found in GAP. It was not my goal to end up with two Coach purses, which I did. Spending that much on a purse is so out of character for me but they are so pretty and I consider them as investments of becoming a Yummy Mummy!

Today we took Gracie to her first Howl-O-Ween Parade at a local park. It was a fundraiser for a local animal shelter. Here are some Photos

Week 13

Week 13 has brought about my appetite. While I can only tolerate small meals, I enjoy them oh so much.

Week 13 has brought about an itch to shop. Okay, who am I kidding? That itch started weeks ago. I've been able to manage the itch simply because alot of items seem so gender based and because we don't know what we are having, it makes it hard. However, I did buy a four pack of baby legs from www.babysteals.com for $20 with free shipping. They usually run $12 for just one so I couldn't pass up this deal. I bought the blue set knowing that it would be easier for a girl to pass them off than a boy to pass off the pink. I can't wait to get them.

First Tri Screen Take II

It took a while but SugarPlum finally cooperated long enough for the doctor to take measurements. Without calculating the formal numbers, which we'll get on Monday, the doctor said that everything looks normal.


Gracie went to the groomers this morning and got a new haircut with cute Halloween bows. I swear that chicky gets treated to the salon more than I do. I bought her a matching orange sweater but she feels a little spastic in it and won't walk, no make that move. She just stood there frozen until I took it off her. BTW, she's doing much better staying off the couch. Thank for your suggestions.

Finding the Shelf

Mr. Midwife does it again...with each visit, he continues to affirm that my decision to use him was the right one. We met today for about 45 minutes answering my questions and then moving us to the exam room to weigh me, get my bp, and listen to the baby.

I've lost 8 pounds since learning of my pregnancy. The irony in all of this is that I couldn't lose 8 pounds to save my life when I wasn't pregnant. So now I'm around the same weight pre-cruise which was in January 2009. Danielle and I put just about the same things in our mouth and sorry Danielle, but she put more in her mouth than I did and she only gained 1 pound and I gained 9, WTF? Ha! So I'm down in weight but in the middle of the week my appetite returned and although I'm still cautious about my weight, I seem to be enjoying every thing I eat (maybe a little too much).

Today, we got an extra little treat after hearing the hb.... Mr. Midwife told us that by 13 weeks the uterus/baby should be in x position and he felt around for it. When he found it he had Danielle come to the table so he could teach her how to feel for it. He told her to feel for the "shelf" and she was able to find it (located on the lower right side above my pubic bone). It's small things like that, that make the appointments so special.

Gracie in her terrible 2's?

Fall is here. There are two perks to this time of the year: The fall line up on tv and extra snuggling.

This week Gracie has been driving me up the freaken wall. She learned to jump on the couch and she's up here all the freaken time, yapping in my ear, moving around, crawling all over me and yesterday just standing there barking incessantly only at me. My patience is really being tested. I never wanted her up on the couch in the first place and now we have to work really hard to help her unlearn this behavior. It's very frustrating.