Thursday, July 28, 2011

Still Grieving After Almost 5 Years... (07/28/11)

Last night I had a dream about my Uncle Terry, who passed away of a heart attack a couple years ago at 44 years old in Shop Rite. Yes, in Shop Rite, running a simple errand. Out of all the deaths I've grieved over, this has been the hardest for me. I think it's mostly because I never got the chance to say goodbye, literally. Shortly before his death we celebrated a birthday party at a rollerblading rink/jungle gym for kids. When it was time to leave the party he was rollerblading with the kids that attended the birthday party (he was always great with kids). I didn't have rollerblades on and I didn't want to disturb him so I left the party. I want to kick myself everytime I think about that. I grew up wanting him to be in my children's lives. There's something special between him and every child's heart he touches. I wanted him to take part in their lives like he did in mine.

He was a typical "class clown" kinda guy. He was always making jokes and uplifting your spirits if you were feeling down. He'd give the shirt off his back for you. I dreamt last night that the door bell rang so I ran to the door and answered it. Who was there? My Uncle with a huge smile on his face. I jumped right into his open arms and gave him the biggest hug. Then he rubbed my belly. Why am I bringing this dream up? Because I have been having this dream often since I tested positive. I hope this is a sign that he's chiming in every so often up from heaven to see how me and baby Sophia are doing.

As I wipe away my tears that are streaming down my cheeks I will say that I love him so very much and miss him dearly. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him or run into something that reminds me of him. I see a motorcycle and I think of him as he was really big into bikes. I see a clown and I think of him because of his personality. I hear a song on the radio about a loss of a loved one and I think of him. I see a red, curly haired womans wig and I think of him because he went as a stripper for Halloween one year. I see a tiger on the animal planet or discovery channel and I think of him because he had a tiger tattoo. There's many more things that make me think of him or remind me of him but that list can go on forever.

On a lighter and more uplifting note this morning I woke up to find out that we're in the double digits! We have 99 days to go! How crazy is that?! Where in the world has time gone? Tomorrow I'll be 26 weeks and almost in the 3rd trimester. Ekkk!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Dear Braxton Hicks (07/27/11)

Dear braxton hicks,
You suck. That is all.
Yours truly,
Gail

I woke up this morning and while getting ready I felt my belly get really tight. I pushed on it and it was rock hard and I felt slightly uncomfortable. After doing some quick research it sounds like BH. I didn't think I'd be getting them this early. Owell.

I tossed and turned last night (as usual) because I couldn't get comfortable. Between my growing belly and my super sore pelivis/hips I'm lucky if I get 5 hours of sleep...I know, I know. Better get use to it...blah, blah, blah. If I hear that one more time I'm going to throat punch someone. I'm perfectly aware that I'll be waking up every 2 hours for feedings, waking up at 4:00AM and what-not. You don't have to remind me. It's just frustrating that any slight movement in the middle of the night and I'm almost in tears from the pelvic/hip pain. I've talked to my OBGYN about it a few times and they don't seem concerned, perhaps they just think I'm milking it, or they're not taking me seriously. They're just passing it off as RLP but I don't think RLP should be this uncomfortable.

Friday, July 22, 2011

25 Weeks! (07/25/11)

As of Friday I turned 25 weeks. The baby should be roughly about the size of an eggplant; 13.6 to 14.8" and 1.5 to 2.2 lbs. The baby will be about the size of an eggplant until I'm 29 weeks along. The baby is just getting slightly taller and gaining some baby chub each week. Only 3 more days until the double digit count down begins! Right now I have 102 days to go!

That oh-so-handy sense of equilibrium is kicking in, and baby's learning to distinguish right side up from upside down.


Not much to report here. Not last blog post but the one before I made a vow to myself that I'll start nesting and getting ready to move into a bigger room in the house and create a space for Sophia. Well I kept my vow and organized our bathroom and started throwing things away in the other bedroom that we intend to move into. I spent only about 5 hours cleaning and what not and felt like I got hit by a mack truck. My hips, back and thighs hurt so bad I was nearly in tears. So it'll be a slow work in progess with the help of my DH if he cooperates.

I'm officially starting to feel some stronger movement in my belly. Yesterday I was sitting on the couch with my feet up (damn cankles!) and resting my hands, which are folded, on my belly watching TV. She kicked so hard you could see my hands and belly moving. Then I felt a kick closer to my ribs. Times like that I could totally turn the TV off and just watch the movements on my belly! It's an amazing feeling and never gets old. This is probably the one pregnancy symptom I'll miss most once I give birth.

Last night I had my first baby dream while pregnant. I had a dream that I had a smooth premature birth at 35 weeks and she turned out to be beautiful. She had brown hair and brown eyes, very wide-eyed and alert. I kind of felt that "Mother's love" that everyone talks about in my dream when I got to hold her for the first time. It felt amazing. We took her home and she adapted to a schedule and was a very good baby, not too fussy or anything. And the biggest thing of all - we both did well breastfeeding! Then my alarm went off. BUMMER! I can't wait until she's actually here! Is it November yet?

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

6 Months?! (07/20/11)

It just occured to me that I'm 6 months pregnant. Six months pregnant?! Where'd the time go? I thought this would be the longest 40 weeks of my life but the last 24 weeks flew by. I have a little over 15 weeks left. Excited? Hell yes! Nervous? Hell yes! Scared? To death! DH and I can handle it though. I seriously can not wait to hold her, look at her in the eyes and tell her how much I love her. She truely holds my heart and soul already. How is that even possible? She's still growing inside my body daily getting ready to be put on earth - it's mind blowing.

I had my monthly check up yesterday and everything went well. My OBGYN checked my blood pressure, weighed me, measured my belly and listened to the heartbeat (which took forever to find because she's such a squirmy little thing). I asked a few questions and I was on my way. I was only in that office for about 30 minutes which includes waiting in the waiting room to be called. I love that office!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Energy, Where are You? (07/19/11)

I belong to a pregnancy board that has a November 2011 Mom board and there's been talk about 2nd tri energy lately. I'm sad to say that I haven't gotten it and that's the thing I was looking forward to the most. I work a full time job. I work Monday through Friday 7-4. By the time I get home I just want to veg for a little bit, eat dinner, shower and go to bed!

I have so much to do before the baby gets here and I'm starting to stress out about it. We want to move into the guest room/office/crafting space, which is the biggest room in the house, and create a space for Sophia. Before we do that though we need to clear out that room, tear up the carpet, put down pergo floors, start moving in and create small a space for Sophia. I figured it would be great for those midnight feedings! Hopefully we'll get a bigger house in Florida before she gets too big.

Then there's the usual nesting that needs to be done - all the cleaning and organzing each room that comes with it. I need to stop dragging my feet and Sophia should be my motivation to get all this done, which is true! So from here on out, this is my vow, my week days after work will be my veg days and the weekends I'll start working on the house. Top priority is getting the other room cleared out, redone and move into there. After that I'll be attacking the house room by room deep cleaning and re-organizing. This shall be fun. Not!

Friday, July 15, 2011

24 Weeks! (07/15/11)

I'm 24 weeks today! The baby is still about the size of a papaya. The baby is actually the size of a papaya all of month 5 she's just gaining some baby chub.

Baby's skin is becoming more opaque as the fat starts to pack on. And, thanks to the formation of small capillaries, her newly thick skin is taking on a fresh pink glow.


Now that I'm getting further along I'm starting to freak myself out a bit. I still haven't started getting the baby's space ready, haven't ordered the crib or changing table, haven't started nesting yet, NOTHING! Why you ask? Because I have absolutely no stinkin' energy. At all! It's horrible. I would sleep a majority of the day if I could...everyday! Isn't that sad? I was so looking forward to that burst of energy you're suppose to get in 2nd tri but I just never go it.

Next Tuesday I go in for my monthly doctors appointment and I'll have a few questions to ask him during this appointment.

1. Is there something else we can do about my severe back pain?
2. I've been getting some pretty bad pains where my pelvic bone ends and where my thigh bone meets. It hurts to do any kind of movement that requires moving my hips or spreading my legs (ie: getting in and out of my car/bed, getting dressed, shaving my legs, walking, etc.) What is this and is there something I can do to make it more bearable?
3. I've gained 12 pounds so far. Is that too much considering I'm only 24 weeks along?
4. DH and I planned on taking a trip sometime in December to Florida for a short vacation. Would you clear us to fly?

I'm sure I'll think of more. I don't usually have any questions during my monthly visits but this time it seems like all these pains are coming down on me at once. I know I'm pregnant and it's normal to get pains to feel like you're basically falling apart. I just need to hear it from my OBGYN to believe it I guess. *Sigh*

This is nothing baby related but my promotion and raise finally went through at work. It only took 2 weeks which didn't take as long as I expected. My boss made it seem like I may or may not even be approved for it. I'm now making double of what I use to make. Woohoo! Too bad we're closing in exactly 2 months from today and I'm getting laid off. The way I look at it though is atleast I'll be able to collect unemployment and treat that time off as a getting ready for baby vacay (not so much a vacation when you have furniture to put together, painting to do, carpet to tear up, cleaning to do, etc.) and maternity leave. I plan to go back to work around February or March.

Since today is Friday and I'm bored I guess I'll share my weekend plans with you all. DH's Mom moved to Aberdeen, MD because her job got relocated. The original plan was to help her move into her apartment but that got pushed back to next week. However, she planned for a BBQ this weekend for helping her move so we're still going to go to the BBQ. Next weekend we'll return to help her move and go to the Monmouth County Fair. *Sqeeeee* I've been looking forward to that fair for weeks! I'm so excited!! Enjoy your weekend everybody!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Homemade Baby Food? (07/11/11)

Ever since registering at Babies R Us and Target I've been playing with the idea of making homemade baby food. I can't get over spending $0.70 - $1.25/jar when you can easily make it for way cheaper! I can get a bag of fresh baby carrots for $1.99 and that'll make atleast 15 servings - easy! Or I can get a bag of frozen peas for $1.99! It's almost a no brainer. I'm just worried about being able to fit making a batch of fresh pureed peas to last the week in my new busy first time Mom life style.

Here's some pros and cons:
Pros - No weird chemicals, can make custom blends for baby, cheaper, it'll taste/smell better, instead of adding water to thin it out - I can add breastmilk for added nutrition, can make original flavors, can make large batches and freeze them
Cons - Inconvenience, can get messy, can get time consuming

As you can see the pros outweigh the cons. I've been doing some research and I might bite the bullet and purchase a Baby Bullet at $79.92 including shipping. It includes a spatula, batchbowl, 2 short cups, power base, milling blade, baby blend blade, pocket nutritionist book, user manual and cookbook, 2 stay-fresh resealable lids, batch try, 6 date-dial storage cups and storage tray. I'm also looking at the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker at $166.45 including shipping. It includes a 2.5 cup bowl, cooking basket, spatula and recipe booklet.


Not too shabby and it's fairly easy!

Step 1. Wash, peel and pit (if needed).
Step 2. Steam.
Step 3. Puree/blend.
Step 4. Store and freeze.

Resources: wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com and weelicious.com.

What do you guys think?

Sunday, July 3, 2011

22 Weeks! (07/03/11)

As of Friday I turned 22 weeks pregnant. As you can see the baby is roughly the size of a mango. The baby is about 10.5"-11.8" tall and weighs 12.7-20.8 oz.

Baby's settling into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.


It's so hard to believe I'm 22 weeks pregnant already. It seems like yesterday I just tested positive. I created a list of things that need to be done before Sophia joins us and now I just feel overwhelmed. On the bright side, it makes me feel better to have a list of things written down so I feel somewhat organized. Does anyone else have a list of things to do before your baby is born?

You may notice that I changed the layout of the blog a bit. It's still very baby-ish but more girly than the other one. It may be just me but I feel like this layout seems more organized than the last one. I'm pretty pleased with it. What do you think? I also added a "About Us" page. Check it out! I re-did the "Belly Bump Photos" page. I added the links to the other blogs I follow as well. So there's quite a few changes, take a look around and enjoy!