a moveable feast

we took the breastfeeding class last night and I’m so glad we did. I feel so much more confident in my ability to breastfeed, and less anxious about possible complications or roadblocks. I also liked the instructor for this class much more than I did the baby basics class. she was down to earth and mellow, and so knowledgeable. I think she really did a good job making sure everyone was comfortable, which I think would be hard to do with a topic like breastfeeding.

we learned some interesting statistics and got some great information, but what I think was really helpful was the video where it showed a lactation consultant assisting a new mom with latch. no matter how many times I looked at the pictures in the womanly art of breastfeeding book, I couldn’t figure out what a good latch was actually supposed to look like. so it was really helpful to see one.

I have found a couple of dvds on netflix that are specific to parenting, pregnancy, and labor and delivery. they have been very informative. I think I’ll look to see if I can find any on breastfeeding as well. I’ve become a truly visual learner. while I can still get basic information from reading, I’ve found I really need to see something before I feel comfortable trying it (at least when it comes to baby stuff :P)

we are noticing that the more classes we attend, books we read, and videos we watch, our hospital packing list is getting longer and longer. every new source says, “it’s a good idea to bring _____ with you to the hospital.” J wants to know how we are going to get all of our belongings to and from the hospital, especially since we will be returning with a newborn 😛 I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

little people clothes

my washing machine has little people clothes in it 🙂

and yes, I realize this will not be as exciting in a few months. but this is the first load of little people clothes. and it’s so cute.

more nursery progress

we’ve done some more work in the nursery lately. here is what it looks like now.

see the teddy bear? that is baby girl’s first teddy bear. from her Mimi. and the quilt was made by my old manager. there is so much love for this little girl already.

we used purple curtains instead of closet doors. it allows for more access, and I think it’s prettier.

we found those cute little owl coat hooks at home goods. they may have kick started my owl obsession 😛

I love the pink curtains. and the sparkly clear finials. the rug we bought at ikea. it cuts down the noise immensely, and it’s soft and pretty.

200 days

today I am 200 days pregnant. that seems like a very long time, doesn’t it? but it has flown by. there are only 80 days left until our due date.

I celebrated by having my glucose tolerance test done this morning. I had been dreading this test pretty much the whole pregnancy because the basic glucose tolerance test involves fasting, drinking a super sugary drink that I’m told tastes like flat orange soda, and then waiting an hour to have blood drawn. bleck. then my doctor’s office told me they did the glucose tolerance test a little differently. yay!

I had to fast overnight, then eat a rather large breakfast of 2 eggs, a cup of cereal, and a cup of milk (I’m not used to eating that much at once that early in the morning :P). then have my blood drawn two hours later. much better! so I scheduled an appointment at the quest diagnostics closest to my work at 8:20 in the morning and had breakfast at 6:20. pretty painless process.

keeps your fingers crossed I have no problems with gestational diabetes.

kick counting

numerous sources have told me I should start monitoring baby girl’s kicks. they suggest laying down for an hour, twice a day. they say I should feel at least 10 kicks in that time. also, once I’ve reached 10 kicks, I’m done, I don’t have to count kicks for the whole hour. I took this to mean that an average baby kicks 10 times in an hour. but I was thinking to myself who has time to lay down for an hour twice a day?! and if I were to lay down, I guarantee you, I’d be asleep in less than 20 minutes 😛

our little girl is active. I know this, so I’m not really worried about actually counting kicks to make sure she is active enough, and our doctor has not recommended counting kicks, but I was curious. so I downloaded a kick counting app to my phone. and then as I was sitting at work, I started it up when I felt a good solid kick. and then hit that kick button every time she gave me a jab. fully expecting it to take close to an hour to get 10 kicks.

nope. not our little girl. 5 minutes and 29 seconds and she had given me 10 solid kicks.

I will repeat. our little girl is active. 😛

nursery progress

before paint and flooring.

when we moved into the house last year, it was gross. here is one of the last examples of it. we pulled the nasty carpet up, and tried to cover the red lipstick writing on the wall. we also filled about a million thumb tack holes.

after the paint, flooring,and baseboards were installed

we painted the walls the palest pink we could find. it’s Behr’s barely pink. and it is, just barely pink. the flooring is wood laminate from ikea. i think it’s called antique affect. and then white baseboards. the color in this photo isn’t really showing the white, but it looks beautiful.

daddy, grammy, and grandpa putting together nursery furniture.

we put together the nursery furniture with the help of J’s parents. and when I say we put together the nursery furniture, I mean J and his dad. his mom and I helped a little. but not a lot 😛

our beautiful crib from grammy and grandpa

I love the furniture we picked out. J’s parents bought it for the baby 🙂

changing table

we have moved the changing table from in front of the window, don’t worry 😛

completed dresser

I love that the dresser has two drawers and then an open shelf. we are looking for pretty knobs to go on it now.

I’m pretty sure we have finally decided where the furniture will be placed, and we’ve hung blinds and curtains, and are working on a couple more things. more pictures to come 🙂

pregnancy fitness

the comments I receive from strangers about my bump pretty much run the full spectrum, from “you’re so tiny!” to “wow, you still have how much longer to go?” 😛 but when it comes to people who know me and knew me before getting pregnant, most of the comments include things like “you can only tell you are pregnant from your bump” and “you haven’t gained weight anywhere but in your belly!”

this wasn’t an accident. I have put real effort into this. if you know me in real life, you know that I’m not a super skinny girl. this is because I LOVE food. and I don’t love exercise. when contemplating becoming pregnant, my biggest worry was not labor and delivery, it was not morning sickness, or any other discomforts that might come along with pregnancy. my concern was that I would gain 60 pounds and never be able to lose it all again.

so when I entered my third trimester and got an email from one of the pregnancy websites that I read and it said, “by this point you should have gained 17-24 pounds” and I realized I’ve gained 18, I was very proud of myself. I’m right on target for where I should be. and I put in effort to get here. there are three factors to what I think has helped me be successful so far.

hydration: when I gave up caffeine 18 months ago, I made a huge change in what I drink during the day. I went from drinking mostly sodas during the day, to only drinking water or tea. when I got pregnant, I changed that again to only water. I have a 24 oz. tervis with a handle, lid, and straw. my work is awesome enough to provide machines in every break room that give crushed ice and water. I drink at least 3 if not 4 of those 24 oz. cups of water during my work day and continue to drink water at home. I think this obsession with staying hydrated has really helped me not to retain water weight for the most part, and I know it has helped with swelling. it was a hot summer and I didn’t have a problem with swelling at all, except for my wedding rings in the past few weeks.

food: I mentioned I love food. as much as I want to stay healthy, I also wanted to enjoy this pregnancy, and not restrict myself overly, to the point where I might feel deprived. I mean, I’m growing  a person, if I really want some peaunut butter m&ms, do I really need to deny myself becasue it isn’t a healthy snack? I don’t think so. that doesn’t mean I have indulged in every craving I have had. no way. but if it was a fairly intense craving, or one that had been lingering a few days, I went ahead and obliged it. it has made me a very happy pregnant lady. for the remainder of the time, I have been diligent about making sure I eat smaller meals more frequently, and snack as soon as I feel hungry. I learned early on that an empty stomach is not a pregnant girl’s friend and will only lead to nausea. I have made sure to get adequate calcium (something I didn’t necessarily do before being pregnant), as well as protein (which seemed so much more important now). And I have made concious choices.

exercise: as I’ve mentioned, I’m not big on exercise. mostly because I don’t like to sweat, and I’m a sweater. a little over a year ago, a coworker and I started walking on every break we have at work. 15 minutes in the morning, 15 of the 30 minutes we get for lunch (the other 15 is reserved for eating), and 15 minutes in the afternoon. if we make all three walks, thats 45 minutes of walking per day. now, we haven’t been able to walk all three times every single day. sometimes there are meetings that get in the way, and sometimes errands need to be run at lunch time. but for the past year, we have ben pretty consistent with walking. and I kept it up. even through the incredibly hot summer. I would carry my water with me to make sure I stayed hydrated in the heat.

in addition to walking, I purchased two prenatal dvd sets. they each came with a different disc for each trimester. the cardio/toning dvds are called “Lindsay Brin’s pregnancy fitness.” they look like this (although I got all four in one box):

   .

I got my copy at target, but you can find them at this website.  I really like this workout. Lindsay Brin is a little overly peppy, but not so much that I get annoyed, and she throws out some great motivational facts which really help me keep going (did you know if you work out while pregnant, you will have an easier time getting back into shape after the baby is born? or that women who work out while pregnant can regulate their body temperature better than women who don’t exercise during pregnancy? me either). plus, it is the perfect level of intensity. I feel good when I’m finished, not dead tired, but energzied and productive.

 

the yoga dvd is this one:

 

it also comes with a different disc for each trimester. I don’t really care for the instructor. but the actual workout is relaxing, soothing, and stretches all of those uncomfortably tight areas oh so nicely. I got mine at target, but it’s on amazon too.

 

my goal has been to use the cardio/toning dvd on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and the yoga dvd on tuesdays and thursdays. I have not met this goal once my whole pregnancy. and that’s ok. because we are busy. and preparing for a baby takes a lot of time and energy. and I’m not going to push myself to the point of exhaustion trying to get it all done. this is new for me. this trying to take care of my emotional and physical well being, even if that means giving up something that will actually help those things. because sometimes, when you are done running the bagillion errands you had to run, after you worked 8 hours, and ate dinner, you just need to put your feet up. and that’s ok. especially when you are pregnant.

 

I’ve really been trying to keep a good balance to my life. to not stress. and not take things too seriously. to realize that eating a yummy treat while cuddled up with my husband on the couch watching a movie can be just as important as getting that workout in. and knowing that we have a limited amount of time as just the two of us makes me appreciate, and indulge in those moments more often.

 

and it seems to be working for me so far. I’m no longer concerned that I will gain 60 pounds and not be able to lose it again. and as much as I want to stay as healthy as possible, I’m going to continue with the balance that makes me happy. and if I gain more weight than I originally wanted to, big deal. it will come off. the important thing for me is enjoying this journey.

third trimester!

I am officially in the third trimester now!

I’m having a hard time believing we are already 2/3 of the way done with this pregnancy. I mean, wasn’t it yesterday that two pink lines were appearing on that first response test? I have to say before I get too deep into the third trimester (as I’m told it can get pretty uncomfortable), that I LOVE being pregnant. even through all of the aches and pains and discomforts. it has been such an amazing experience for me. I am so thankful to have had such a good pregnancy.

my second trimester was so much fun. we found out we are having a little girl! and she started moving very regularly. J felt her kick. and we painted the nursery. J and his dad put in wood laminate flooring, and the baseboards were put in. we purchased blinds, and furniture. and just this past weekend, the furniture was put together. we bought a mattress for baby girl’s crib on saturday night. we also bought a super cute lamp. morning sickness all but disappeared. people started noticing I am pregnant and not just hitting the cupcakes a little too hard. and while I still have boughts of round ligament pain when I’m walking at a brisk pace (excercising), I haven’t had any when I’m just sitting for weeks. the biggest problem I’ve had in the second trimester is pretty bad backache. but I definitely count myself lucky that is my biggest complaint.

there are so many things that I’m looking forward to in the third trimester as well. my baby shower. and taking the classes the hospital has to offer. getting rounder especially when sitting and laying down (my stomach spreads out and widens when I do either of these, so I don’t look pregnant anymore :P). and baby’s kicks being visable from the outside. continuing my sewing and crochet projects for baby. meeting our baby girl!  

I am nervous about the elevated level of discomfort I have been promised is forthcoming. as excited as I am for baby girl to come, I am anxious about the process of getting her here. I’m hopeful that the hospital class will help with that. it’s really just a fear of the unknown. I have silly concerns as well. like not being able to shave my legs or tie my shoes.

attack of the pregnancy brain

 

do you keep rice in the house for something other than trying to dry out electronics? I had a pregnancy brain night last thursday. our cpr class was canceled so after working out, I decided to do some laundry. I had the basket, and my water bottle, and my cell phone, and not enough hands, so I just decided to drop my cell on top of the laundry basket thinking I would see it right on top before I started the laundry (are you seeing where this is going?). I got downstairs and there were a couple of things in the living room that needed to go in the laundry, so I scooped them up and threw them in the laundry basket too (yep, burying my phone). got to the laundry room and dumped the basket in, started it up and went to do dishes. about 10-15 minutes later my brain went: where did you put your phone when you started the laundry?! and I panicked. ran back to the laundry room to stop it. J dug his hand around, and sure enough, out came my phone. I was SO mad at myself! we quickly got the battery out and got it in a bowl of rice but it was no use. even after 24 hours of sitting in the rice, it could not be revived.

immediately after that, while cooking dinner I did this:

yep, tapped my arm on the inside of the oven, causing that pretty burn. it was a pretty awful night.

the lucky part of the story? J and I had been talking for months about canceling our cell phone insurance. we have never used it. and we didn’t see the point in keeping it. but we were both forgetful/lazy about this and never did cancel it. thank goodness! it only cost $99 to replace the phone instead of $400. and it was a pretty painless process. ordered the phone online on friday evening, and it arrived on monday. happy to have it back. J’s comment: “don’t wash this one, it’s already clean.” thanks honey 😛

fortune cookie predictions

friday september 14th, J and I had chinese for dinner. usually I get the really stupid fortune cookies that say things like “your good personality will be rewarded sooner or later” and I feel all cheated because I love fortune cookies even though I rarely get a good one. well friday’s was different. I cracked open my cookie and found: “prepare yourself for a change of events in your personal life.” ok. that one I can dig. because we are. then J opens his and finds: “The current year will bring you much happiness.” hmmm. now we are getting more into fortune territory. are you telling me, mighty fortune cookie, that this baby will for sure be born in 2012? I think you are. so I post this photo on facebook. because if there is no social media proof, it did not happen.

and my father-in-law comments and says: “we had chinese today too…and my fortune said ‘remember 3 months from this date…good things are in store for you!’ ”

so apparently, according to fortune cookie predictions, little girl will be born on December 14th. anyone want to start a pool? she will be full term by that point and hopefully healthy, so I wouldn’t have any problems getting her a little early.