Baby Belly - 30 weeks

T. Bubba (a hilarious comedian - if you haven't heard him, trust me, you want to get his CD) has said that with your first child you have 3 scrapbooks filled with photos of baby. When the next child comes you have one scrapbook and, well, with the third child, the only photo you have the neighbor took. So is it sad that I have only one photo of Baby Daniell in utero . . . and this is our first child? Yah, I know it's sad. Especially since I'm a photographer. So I understand why I keep getting harassed to post more photos. I will try my best to be better at this. Today my friend - and fabulous newborn photographer - Beth Johnson and I went out to play. While we were shooting, she took a few photos of me and my humongous belly. But to satisfy the masses, I am going to post a few of the photos for you. Enjoy!!

(Sorry for the lack of clarity. Blogger just doesn't work very well!)

29 1/2 week survey

How far along? I will be 30 weeks on Monday. Officially in the third trimester and the 7th month. Wow. I'm officially at the point of going to the doctor every two weeks now.

Total weight gain/loss? I think I'm done talking about this one. I feel like a huge cow. :-( My doctor said I'm doing good - 15 pounds total from my first drs appointment. But the number on the scale does not make me happy. And yes, after this post, don't be expecting to get any more numbers on this subject.

Maternity clothes? I really don't know what this question is asking. Yes, I have maternity clothes. Yes, I am wearing maternity clothes. What else is there to say?

Stretch marks? Well I guess I'm still lucky in this area. None so far.

Sleep? I wake up at least once in the night to go to the bathroom. And then maybe another time or two to change positions. But I guess I can't complain that much. I'm not completely uncomfortable when I sleep (except for being hot). The main issue is that my hands seem to be going numb at night. I'll wake up and my hands will be tingling. Sometimes the right hand will do it while I'm putting on my makeup in the morning. But I don't notice it the rest of the day. Very weird. Doc says its normal and that, unfortunately, there's nothing really to be done about it.

Best moment this week? Finding out that I passed my glucose test! Yippee!! (doing the happy dance). This means no change in diet!!!!

Movement? Yes, I feel movement, but not as much as I was. I brought this up to the doctor at my appointment this week and he had me do another ultrasound because I guess less movement is a big deal. See there? I learned how to cheat the system and get yet another ultrasound!!! :-) Don't worry, that was not my intention. I really just hadn't felt baby during the times I normally do and the movement was really light. But all showed up ok in the u/s. Baby was moving and drinking in the amniotic fluid and looked really cute. Supposedly the placenta is next to my belly wall (not baby) so it may be "hiding" some of the movement from baby. On another note, baby has finally flipped and the head is down low and butt up high. So that hard pressure I feel occasionally as I sit a certain way is baby pushing his/her butt into my ribs. Thanks kid.

Food cravings? Basically everything someone mentions. Ugh. It sucks. I am still craving fruit - fruit has definitely been a theme this pregnancy. But for some reason lately I've been craving sweets (Starbursts, M&Ms, donuts, Sour Patch candy, ice cream, etc.). Not so good. I'm trying to balance out my candy intake with fruit intake. We'll see how it goes.

Labor signs? No. Although Teacher at our birthing class said that a lot of the pressure we feel now are actually small contractions. But no worries, nothing to go to the hospital for. By the way, when do I need to start having bags packed???

Belly button in or out? In. If you've kept up with my previous surveys you know the belly button is a matter of contention for me. I don't want to talk about it.

What I miss? It's football season. I think you know what I miss. That's right. A nice frosty beer in my Alabama koozie. Sigh. And call me crazy, but very recently I've actually wanted to work out. Yah, weird, I know. Maybe it's just because I'm feeling SO huge right now, but a part of me just wants to work out.

What I'm looking forward to? Having my chair come in!! I ordered it August 27 and they said it could be here in 4 weeks. Can't wait!

Milestone? I'm finally starting to look and feel pregnant. I think that's a milestone, right?

Bonus Question - Swelling? YES! I know, this is a question I just added. But I have definitely felt my feet swell and my hands as well. My wedding rings are very tight. :-( I'm sad to think there may be a time I won't be able to wear them if this swelling keeps up. Luckily, it seems I'm the only person who has noticed it. I guess it could be worse and I could actually LOOK like Violet from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

On a completely different note, a lot of people have asked me (or my mom) where I'm registered. So I thought I'd just mention it on here. Baby Daniell's loot is located at BabysRUs and also Amazon.com.

Ready, Set, Birth

Jeremy and I had our first birthing class last Monday night. This was something we debated about for awhile - do we take the class or not? We finally decided to just go for it. After all, I haven't really read much about this pregnancy. Scary huh? So right now, I'm totally unprepared for what's to come. I figured I needed some form of knowledge about what to expect when I enter that delivery room. Plus, I get a tour of the labor and delivery ward by signing up with the class. Extra perk.

So we show up for our class on Monday not knowing what to expect. First, our teacher is NOT what I was expecting. She's got this long hair (unusual for older women .... unless they are a hippy .... hmmmm) and she's so soft spoken. But she was highly recommended by two of my friends. So I keep an open mind. We sit down and start looking through our packet of information. What first caught my attention were the "affirmations." We received two sheets of paper: Affirmations for the Expectant Mother and Affirmations for the Expectant Father. There was definitely some corniness in there, but I still kept an open mind. I won't write out all of the affirmations but they were along the lines of: "Pregnancy is beautiful," "childbirth is a normal healthy event," and "my mate and I are the center of the childbearing experience." But the one that got me - and yes, I DID laugh out loud (I hope that doesn't get me kicked out) - was the one that said "I am able to flow with labor in perfect harmony with nature." Um, excuse me? Yah, right. As I'm shoving something the size of a watermelon out of my who-ha, I do not expect to be in perfect harmony. But heck, what do I know? I've never done this before. Oh and we had to fill out this information sheet. One of the questions asked how I feel about using drugs to help with the pain. My answer: BRING IT ON. Literally, that is what I wrote. I see no reason to lie. So that's about how the class started.

After the other classmates arrived - there are 7 other couples besides us - we went around and introduced ourselves. We are the "out of place" couple in that our baby isn't due until Dec. 1 and everyone else in the class is due early to mid November (and one woman is actually due the end of October). But come to find out that the hospital tour is done on the last class, so at least we know we'll be around to do that whereas some of these other ladies could easily go into labor before then! See? I'm always thinking ahead. Only two of the couples (we were one of them) don't know the sex of the baby. That was pretty cool.

We then split into groups of men and women to discuss the "changes" we've noticed with the pregnancy. The ladies' answers mainly were "we are always hot," "higher libido," "trouble sleeping," etc. The men's answers were more about dealing with our hormonal changes, worrying about the financial aspect, and sleeping less because we aren't sleeping well. It was sort of funny. But that was the fun part of the class. I enjoyed just sitting there with the other women talking about our pregnancy. It was reassuring to know that these other women felt a lot of what I'm feeling.

But after that it sort of went downhill. We sat while our teacher brought out photos of the female body showing us where baby is and how our insides get squished and manipulated as baby grows. Ok, so that part was actually quite fascinating. I mean, by week 34 or so your bladder has completely disappeared. Crazy! No wonder I have to pee all the time. I can't imagine how it will be in another month! But that part also scared the crap out of me - seeing the size of the baby compared to where baby is supposed to make his/her debut? Yah, scary.

Then teacher went over symptoms of pregnancy and what certain things mean and when we should go to the doctor. I guess that was helpful. The most helpful part to me was being told to take note of the time your water breaks and what color it is. I mean, who knew to take note of the color! But if it's green, well then that's bad news bears. I think the thought of green "stuff" coming out of my body convinced Jeremy that we may need to buy a waterproof mattress pad . . . and maybe even something for the couch. LOL Teacher is nice, but she loses her train of thought and therefore repeats herself A LOT. That's just annoying. But the most annoying thing of it all was when she decided to go over the above-mentioned affirmations. She literally read them word by word to us. Maybe it's just us, but at least Jeremy and I feel the same way on this: we can't stand when someone reads to us - when we have the paper right in front of us. We are all adults and, from the introductions, we are all educated. We don't need you to read to us like children. UGH!

Well luckily after that we went into our "relaxation exercises." For this first class we just both laid flat on the floor (interesting to me that she had us do this considering our doctors tell us NOT to lay flat on our back) and then we just did some breathing exercises to relax. I guess it worked. But there were times that I almost cracked up (and come to find out later that Jeremy did too). At one point Teacher starts talking about baby being all safe and comfortable in the amniotic fluid. Well all I could think about is this green fluid filled with baby's poop she had talked about earlier. I almost lost it right there. Jeremy confessed later that he almost started laughing when she was telling us to relax each and every toe: "Relax your big toe, now relax your second toe" and so on and so on. And he envisioned her saying "now relax your 6th toe." I have no clue why he thought this. He's weird. My weird husband. But as we were driving home and discussing all of this neither of us could quit laughing. We were cracking each other up. And it's then that we realized that we may not be able to look at each other in this class - or else we will start laughing .... and get kicked out.

So that was class 1. We'll see how the rest of them go.

What I learned last night

As I sat home alone last night finishing my book and then watching the Auburn-Mississippi State game and the Saints-Vikings game, I learned a few things. Here's what I learned (ok, so "learned" might not be the right word for them all) in no particular order:

1. I need another really good book to read. None of the books I currently have at home interest me right now.

2. Cowbells may be obnoxious, but not nearly as much as Boise State's ugly blue turf.

3. Someone needs to take Newton out before Iron Bowl because he just scares me.

4. Left over pizza is not nearly as tasty heated up in the microwave as it is a toaster oven.

5. However, Papa John's garlic dipping sauce IS just as tasty coming right out of the fridge as it is when it arrives in the piping hot pizza box.

6. Rice Krispies cereal gets soggy really fast.

7. Mississippi State's stadium is REALLY small.

8. I really wanted Mississippi State to win . . . and they didn't.

9. I really wanted the Saints to win . . . and they did.

10. The Favre-ster needs to retire already.

11. I hate Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night games that start at 8 p.m. or later - don't people realize I have to work the next day?!

12. ShootQ is very cool.

13. Baby Daniell is probably going to come out of the womb knowing phrases like "hold on to the damn ball" and "tackle him you f*!#ing idiot!"

14. Never leave a hungry pregnant woman alone until almost 10 p.m. Otherwise, Baby Daniell will also come out of the womb knowing how to say "learn how to use the damn phone!"

15. To others, I probably sound like a very hateful person, but I'm really not. I was just hungry . . . very hungry. And I L.O.V.E. my football.

Speaking of football. There are so many amazing games on tomorrow. Can I hear an Amen?! I am stoked!! Can I also hear a ROOOOLLLLLL TIDE?! Hmmmm, I wonder what new words Baby Daniell will learn tomorrow . . . .

And the transformation begins....

My parents came into town for an extended weekend to experience the 4D ultrasound and also to help me paint the nursery. The saga began on Thursday at NFWC for my 4D. Both sets of grandparents were there and I think seeing the ultrasound made this whole experience much more real for them. The u/s tech was very nice and never caved to my father's wishes to know the sex. But it didn't matter. Seeing how uncooperative Baby Daniell (BD) was, everyone in the room had a good guess at what they thought BD is: boy. Well, we'll see.

Once again BD didn't want anyone to see his/her face. Let me tell you how totally frustrating it was to pay $200 and see BD sucking on his/her foot! (But on the bright side, he or she is very flexible!) Even after going to the bathroom and having a nice little talk with BD (no threats I promise! It was more like pleading actually), BD STILL wouldn't show us his/her little face. I guess that's a little white lie. We were able to get a few unobstructed photos - BD even opened one eye! - but it was still a little disappointing. What a blessing the u/s tech was because she offered to let us come back this week - without charge - and try again. I plan to try either soda or chocolate this time around to get baby moving. Heck, I may even resort to bribing if I have to. We'll see. But despite Jeremy and my disappointment (don't worry, it was only minimal), the grandparents seemed very happy. So that's good.

Here are some photos until the next go around:

(This is BD saying "No photos please")

Friday I went for my glucose testing. That was just a whole ball of fun let me tell you. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I passed so that I won't have to go again for the three hour test. So help me if I have to go back for that one! Although I did get a yummy sausage McMuffin and iced coffee with hazelnut afterwards. DON'T JUDGE ME!!!

When I got home, mom had already primed the room and we got right to work painting. I have to admit, that after a whole day of painting, I remembered why Jeremy and I paid to have most of the house painted. I hate painting! Especially all the detail trim work. I just don't have a steady hand. But somehow we got it done. And I love the color and think it turned out pretty darn good looking!! So if you ever come to visit and decide you want to take a closer look at the nursery, DO NOT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD mention anything about uneven lines or imperfections or I may just have to banish you from my home forever! :-)

So the crib is finally in one piece after several hours of Jeremy constructing, unconstructing, and reconstructing it (BTW, read the instructions before attempting to put a crib together) and the room is painted. The nursery is finally starting to take shape! I'll continue to post photos as more gets completed.

The crib assembled against the newly painted wall:

You can sort of tell the color of the nursery better in this photo. It's a very light beige color.

Something my dad bought at the downtown marketplace on Saturday. Disregard the fact that it's pink . . .

Samples for the nursery. The green paint swatch at the top left corner is the color we are going to refinish the old dresser in. We're going to have two pillows and hopefully the crib skirt made out of the striped fabric. We'll have another two pillows made out of the fabric with the circles. The green fabric swatch on the bottom left is what our curtains will be made out of and the swatch on the bottom right is the material our glider is going to be.


Here is a sketch of what the nursery will (hopefully) look like when finished.

(I really hate Blogger sometimes. In "edit" mode, the text is all the same size and the bottom photos are not cut off. Weird.)

Pillsbury Giveaway!!!

Ok, who doesn't want some yummy Pillsbury chocolatey goodness right about now? I know I definitely do . . . . but maybe it's because I know I can't have it because I have my glucose test tomorrow. Stupid sugar. But after the test, well, the little Pillsbury Dough Boy better beware because I'm coming to find him!

Anyway, if you would like the opportunity to enter to win some free delicious goodness, then go to my friend Amanda's blog here and enter to win!!!!!!!!

http://therearetwosides.com/2010/08/giveaway-pillsbury-sweet-moments-prize-pack.html

26 week survey

How far along? 26 weeks. Only one more week until my third trimester starts. Wow! My next appointment is only 3 weeks away instead of 4-5 and then I'll soon start the every 2 week appointment.


Total weight gain/loss? Ugh. I don't even want to talk about it. I gained 6 pounds since my last appointment. Technically, if the books are correct and I'm supposed to gain 1 pound a week, then I only went over by 1 pound (since my last appt was 5 weeks earlier). But that didn't stop the skinny, blond b!#ch at the doctor's office from saying "Whoa, momma, 6 pounds! Packing on the tonage are we? You might want to watch that or before you know it you'll be as big as a house and they'll have to take off the roof and remove you with a crain to get you to the labor and delivery room." Ok, so she TECHNICALLY didn't say that. But that's what I heard when she DID mention how 6 pounds was more than what I should have gained. Sheesh. Thanks lady. It's easy for you standing there all young and pretty and blond. Yes, it IS important to constantly mention that she was blond. It makes me feel better. I don't know why. Anyway, I bet she hadn't just gotten back from a 7 day cruise (+4 day land tour!) to Alaska where eating was like breathing - it had to be done . . . all the time . . . and in mass quantities. Yah? What the hell was I thinking scheduling a doctor's appointment the week after that trip?!? I must be crazy, er, have pregnancy brain.


Maternity clothes? Just before the Alaskan vacation, my mother in law and I went shopping and bought a bunch of maternity clothes. I feel pretty comfortable now with what I have. And I can finally wear some of the maternity tops and not look funny since I now have my baby bump!


Stretch marks? Not yet....


Sleep? Ok, I guess. I wake up a couple times a night to go to the bathroom and/or to change position, but I guess I'm sleeping ok other than that. I did wake up one day last week with really bad stomach and back pains that lasted for a few hours. I couldn't find a comfortable position to save my life! But luckily it hasn't happened since.


Best moment this week? Well, the best moment of the week hasn't happened yet. I'm anticipating it will be Thursday afternoon when I have the 4D ultrasound done! The best moment I had last week was picking up and putting the crib together on Saturday!! (Well, technically Jeremy put the crib together . . . ). I love it!


Movement? Yup, I'm feeling baby move. Jeremy can't feel him or her yet, so he's frustrated, but I feel those thumps all the time!


Food cravings? Fruit. This baby is going to love fruit! On the cruise I loved these strawberry lemonades they would make - yummy! I've also been in a ginger snap mood recently. Weird.

Labor signs? Nope.


Belly button in or out? So, I thought that the farther along I got, that annoying crease would disappear. You know, baby would just sort of push it out. From the time I was little, this was always my hope - that at least when I got pregnant, that crease would disappear, if only for 9 months. Nope. I was wrong. I think it's destined to be there for the long haul. So, my belly button is still in - hidden in my belly crease. :-(


What I miss? OMG, let me tell you how much I missed alcohol on the cruise. It killed me! I also miss sushi. I mean, the good stuff. I will still get some sushi every so often, but it is always something with shrimp tempura. Which is fine. It's still quite tasty. But nothing like tuna. Yum!


What I'm looking forward to? Painting the nursery this weekend!


Milestone? It's finally 4D u/s time? Is that a milestone? I made it home safely from the Alaska trip - which included a very bumpy ATV ride? Is that a milestone? How about the fact that I finally LOOK pregnant? Not sure if these things are milestones, but they are things I'm happy about.

Stay tuned for photos from the 4D! Here's hoping baby is cooperative and we get some good face shots . . . and NO shots of baby's goods. I've already had a talk with the u/s tech. NO MATTER WHAT, she is not to tell the parents the sex of the baby. I promised to pay her more than my dad. :-)