Mommy has been making progress too with some of the not so fun things to do, like getting insurance lined up, signing up for a Pediatrician, etc. This weekend though is the start of me going through the 34 pages of information I need to fill out for maternity leave. Oh boy!
Curtains, Glider & Infant Care Class Update!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Mommy has been making progress too with some of the not so fun things to do, like getting insurance lined up, signing up for a Pediatrician, etc. This weekend though is the start of me going through the 34 pages of information I need to fill out for maternity leave. Oh boy!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
This morning I woke up pretty miserable. Maybe it is the weather here but I couldn't get out of bed, barely have any energy, could barely stomach breakfast and was exhausted after walking in from the parking lot. Wes and I are supposed to have our Infant Care and Safety class tonight but at this point, I am just hoping I can make it through the work day!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Weekly Update - 34 Weeks & New Belly Picture!
I have been feeling okay lately, some days are better then others, but I at least am still having a few good days and not to the completely miserable part yet haha. I woke up this morning which a sense of calm, which rarely happens. I think because it has finally sunk in that Emma will be here and most likely, at this stage, will not have any major complications. I am still addicted to the baby shows but instead of being scared that Emma will be born prematurely, I now find myself thinking that even if something happened this week, she would be pretty healthy and almost ready for the world. It's becoming more and more real as we approach July and the big day is right around the corner. Who knows...maybe Emma will be a June baby?!?!
This is the latest belly picture from this morning. Now that Wes has to get up and leave before Emma and Mommy are even out of bed yet, I had to try to take the picture myself. So here is we are at 34 Weeks!
How Is Emma Growing?
Emma now weighs about 4 and 3/4 lbs (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers, which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born, are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever! Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. Babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies, which is where I think my morning "calmness" came from.
Emma's senses are continuing to improve; when light peeks in through my (extremely) stretched belly, her tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. And, Emma can now recognize and react to simple songs, so it's time to start practicing our lullabies!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
So, in the mean time, here are two pictures of the crib and wall decal. I love the decal!!
Here is a close up of the wall decal...
Doctors Visit, Babies R Us, Boating & Nursery!
I started the weekend with my normal doctors appointment on Friday afternoon which was pretty typical. As you will probably remember from previous posts, I came down with a case of Poison Ivy a few weeks back and that has been gone for a while now (still healing, but not itchy anymore). However, about two weeks ago, I started developing these little red bumps that I thought was follow on Poison Ivy. Well, they started showing up in random spots not anywhere near my Poison Ivy, like my ankles and arms and even some on my tummy. So of course my first stop was the Internet where I self-diagnosed myself with Prurigo of Pregnancy, which is characterized by many tiny bumps that look like bug bites. They can occur anywhere on your body, but you're most likely to get them on your hands, feet, arms, and legs, which is right where I have most of them. So everyday, I seem to find another little itchy bump and asked my doctor about it on Friday. He didn't seem to have a diagnosis or really recognize what they were, but did some additional blood work to make sure everything was fine. Although the little bumps can be extremely itchy and annoying, Prurigo of Pregnancy appears to pose no risk to the baby. This condition generally starts around the beginning of the third trimester and may last for up to three months after you give birth. Yikes! So we will see what happens! Other then that, successful checkup! We heard Emma's heartbeat yet again and she seems to be measuring right on track. From our last ultrasound, she is about at the 45% growth, so a little smaller then average but right on track to be upper 6lbs lower 7 lbs at birth.
After the doctors appointment my mom and I headed over to Babies R Us to pick up some final items that we still needed like a mattress, changing pad, breast pump, etc. We also ordered our rocker which will hopefully come in next week!
On Saturday, we headed out on the boat for Emma's first boat ride and she loved it! She did great! No problems at all and even ended up moving and kicking a ton right after we slowed down for a break as if to say "Faster Mommy Faster!!" Ha!
The rest of the weekend was spent getting things done around the house and putting together the Nursery. Emma's crib is all set up now with mattress, clean sheets, bumper and fish mobile! Her dresser is also set up and ready to be used also as a changing table. Sheets, towels, washcloths, blankets and clothes are washed and ready for use! Bath tub and bathing supplies are set up and ready for a dirty baby! We were also able to put up one of Emma's decals in her Nursery and we love it! It's super cute and right above her crib (pictures to come soon).
All in all, a great, long weekend! To top it off...Emma made Mommy laugh again last night with her second case of the hiccups!! I love it!!
Friday, May 22, 2009
I told Wes to be prepared because I have a feeling I am just going to complain from this point on haha. Poor guy.
I never thought I would get to this point, at least not this early! I still have seven more weeks to go, each day getting closer and closer to that dreaded summer heat!
I am very much looking forward to this long weekend!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
I am completely exhausted today, and I even took it pretty easy last night and kept the "nesting" to a minimum. Despite the fact that our furniture was delivered and all I wanted to do was wash and put away Emma's clothes. I held off so I could purchase some little organizers and ended up watching a Pirates of the Caribbean movie on TV (the second one which in my opinion is the best one) and headed off to bed. You would think that I haven't slept in days with how tired I am.
I guess it is just going to be one of those days! I am already looking forward to going to bed tonight!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The cake was sooooo goood!!!!
Furniture Is Here!!!
Here is her adorbale crib! It looks much bigger in the room that I remember in the store! It's a convertible crib so she better take good care of it since it will be going to college with her haha!
This is just a random picture of part of her crib, against the paint with one of her crib sheets! Now we just need a mattress!!
My New Enemies...
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Orange Juice
- Snowballs
I tried my hand at making homemade Spaghetti Sauce on Sunday and boy was that a rough night. Not only that, but I made the mistake of taking it for lunch the next day and then we had it last night for leftovers (trying to be money conscious and not just let our left overs go bad in the fridge like normal). OUCH!! Last night I could barely lay down because I could feel the acid just rising in my esophagus. Yuck!
I felt much better this morning so with my breakfast I had a small glass of low sugar Orange Juice...and boy am I paying for it now!
A few weeks ago when it finally got warmer out, I treated myself to a black cherry snowball thinking it was better for me then the Dairy Queen Blizzard that I really wanted haha. I don't know what it was that made me feel so bad, but I felt so sick all night long!! Emma does not like black cherry snowballs for sure!!
I haven't had too many cravings lately...other then the usual brussel sprouts which I still want a couple times a week. I did have a random craving over the weekend of Swedish Fish while on the drive up to PA. Other then that, the cravings have been pretty tame. Last week it was Oatmeal Crisp Hearty Raisin cereal, followed by this week's bagels and cream cheese. Cranberry Juice has been a staple craving since about day one and is still going strong!
Weekly Update - 33 Weeks! Emma's A Honeydew!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
I had to run a few errands before getting to work this morning and Emma was pretty quiet the whole time. Until I got to work that is and sat down at my desk. All the sudden she started moving up a storm (and still is) and I started to feel these really little "pops" on the left, lower side of my belly, which makes sense because she is head down. They are very similar to what it felt like when I first started feeling her move, like little flutters, but they just keep coming and coming, every few seconds! They are really fast! It feels absolutely amazing!
Who would have ever thought that a case of the hiccups would absolutely make my day!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
It's like it is impossible for me to sit down and relax at night, without wanting to clean the kitchen or vacuum or do laundry or organize the Nursery or put together the Pack-n-Play...
No wonder I am always exhausted at work now!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
I actually wasn't feeling well at all yesterday but by the afternoon I started to feel better. When I got home after work I got this complete burst of energy (where was that during the day huh?) so I took Shamus on a walk, did some grocery shopping, ate dinner and was expecting to crash but nope! I was able to go through all our baby shower gifts and separate things we needed to take back and things we were keeping. Then, around 8:00PM I thought it was a good idea since Daddy was still at work to put our Travel System together ha! I was totally motivated! So Emma now has her car seat and stroller all ready to go, and it's adorable! Of course I am feeling it today in my lower back and was exhausted this morning. Haha.
We also got a call last night that Emma's crib and dresser have arrived at the store! So now I just have to call to schedule the delivery!!!
How is Emma Growing?
By now, Emma baby weighs 3.75 pounds (which is exactly what the sonogram yesterday said) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in my tummy! I'm gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to Emma. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. Emma now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (which we actually have a picture of from the sonogram). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Until we get the furniture, we are kind of on hold with the Nursery so this is great news!
Hopefully, Emma will have her furniture soon!! I can't wait to wash and put away all of her adorable little clothes!!
That's My Girl!!
We finished up our Childbirth classes last night with learning about C-Sections, infant care and how to push! I feel much better after going through the classes and have a better idea of what to expect...which is simply the unexpected! Daddy has to stay at work really late tonight for Orientation so I think Shamus and Mommy are going to start packing our hospital bags after dinner. We are now under the 2 month mark!
Monday, May 11, 2009
This was clearly apparent when trying to keep up with my Dad hurrying to the stadium to watch the O's game this weekend. Mom clearly knew that "hurrying" was no longer in my vocabulary but Dad forgot for a moment that his almost 8 month pregnant daughter could not speed it up.
Ahh...to be able to walk at a normal speed again. I think I have also officially given up the high-heels, much to my dismay. I put them on when getting ready to leave the house for work this morning and my feet were throbbing in the 3 minutes it took me to get downstairs, pack my bag and let the dog out. So needless to say, I am wearing flip flops. :)
Playing Catch Up!
- Emma Turned 31 Weeks
- Baby Shower!!!!!
- O's Baseball Game
- Mother's Day
- Wes's First 2:30AM Trip to the Store
- Refrigerator Still Broken
- Laura Finishes Last Graduate Class
- Doctors Appointment (Still Right on Track)
- Manicure & Pedicure (HEAVEN)
Next Things to Come:
- Last Childbirth Class Tonight!
- Hopefully Fixed Refrigerator between 1:00PM and 5:00PM Today
- Sonogram Appointment Tomorrow Morning
- Emma Turns 32 Weeks - 8 Months!!
What a busy few days!! Let's rewind and go back to the end of last week. Emma turned 31 Weeks last week and I purposely didn't post and updated Belly Pic because, let's just say, Mommy wasn't feeling very cute. :) Since she is about to turn 32 Weeks (8 Months!) on Wednesday, I'll save the next update until then.
I ended up taking Friday off of work last week as it was supposed to be a nice relaxing day for Mommy to start to get ready for Emma's arrival. Little did I know that our basement was about to flood earlier that week and the repair company for our Refrigerator was full of 'stuff'. So unfortunately, I ended up spending most of the day on the phone aggravated, but, it was a day off of work none-the-less. I also headed to my normal doctors appointment where everything was again measuring right on track! Then it was off to a Manicure and Pedicure that I had been waiting WEEKS for and boy did that feel good!! That finally put me in weekend mode!! Friday night was a rough night though. Although I went to bed at a decent hour and fell right to sleep, I woke up about 1:30 in the morning MISERABLE because not only was it really hot but my poison ivy was the worst it had been since the beginning. Although I tried to keep quiet and do whatever I could to stop the itching without waking Wes up, it didn't work and I burst into tears once I got back in bed. Poor Wes. So off he went to CVS because we had nothing other then Calamine lotion which clearly wasn't doing the trick. Bless his heart, Wes left at about 2:30AM to go get me some Benadryl and finally, after it sank in, I slept like a log. I woke up all drowsy (but much less itchy) at 10:00AM the next morning. I don't think I had slept that late in years!
Saturday was such a fun day though! It completely made up for a really bad couple of weeks! It was Baby Shower day!!! I had such a good time and can't thank everyone enough not only for coming and for all the gifts for Emma, but just for making it an amazing day!! My mom, Mary, Erin, Lauren and Dana did a fabulous job and I can't thank you guys enough for everything that you did!! Lauren was in charge of the games (which were a big hit) and Dana made the signs so that everyone knew where the food, presents and game room was. :) I actually took a picture of the back of our Explorer when we got home to show you how packed it was!! I was feeling really unprepared before the shower and feel sooo much better now thanks to all the wonderful gifts! Emma got tons of adorable clothes, sheets, blankets, bathing stuff, toys, bathing suits, etc. She even got her stroller/car seat combo, pack-n-play, Baby Bjorn, play place...you name it and little peanut got it!
After the shower, Mom, Dad, Wes, Emma and I all went to the O's game against the Yankees. Although they lost the night before, they creamed the Yankees 12-5 and despite the threat of rain, it was a perfect night for a game.
Sunday was my first official Mother's Day!! Although that is debatable, in my mind it was my first because from the moment someone finds out they are pregnant, they immediately start changing their life based on what is best for the baby. They also immediately start worrying about everything...which is the number one sign of being a mother haha. We headed down to my Mom and Dad's house to go back through all of the Baby Shower stuff and load it up. It was fun to get to go back through everything and show Wes all of Emma's cute outfits. :)
Now it's back to work! Tonight I am heading to our final Childbirth class and unfortunately Wes isn't able to come since he is starting his new job today (GOOD LUCK HONEY!), but luckily I have a great stand in who is willing to come and spend three hours practicing breathing on a hard floor...thanks Mom!! :) Tomorrow it's off to our next Sonogram at 7:00AM (yikes!), but it's always fun to get to see Emma! She is growing like a little weed!! I think that's about it for this week, until this weekend when Wes and I are off to a friend's wedding!!
More to come later this week...hope everyone has a great Monday!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
We headed off to our 2nd out of 3 Childbirth classes on Monday and overall it was a pretty good class. We started out reviewing our 'homework' assignment which was a cross-word puzzle based on pregnancy nutrition. The most ironic part was that as we were reviewing the answers, another mother-to-be came in late with her dinner which was from Arby's. :) I think all the soon to be moms first looked at her like "Well, that's not very good for your baby" then realized how good it smelled and was wishing she would pass around the fries. Haha. After that, we talked a little more in depth about the different stages of labor and watched a video mainly about what the coach or partner should be doing during each stage. I think Wes had his eyes opened a bit about how much work he really has to do to help keep me together! Ha! Poor guy has a tough job! That took a while to go through and after a quick break we actually practiced slow dancing! This is one of the positions they recommend during the first stage of labor and we practiced leaning and depending on the coaches. This was kind of funny because Wes and I are going to a wedding in two weeks and I quickly realized how slow dancing wasn't going to be the same with the basketball belly in between us haha.
We then got into some more breathing techniques and practiced a few labor scenarios. The instructor would start out by saying "Okay, you just arrived in the hospital, you are 3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced." Then we practiced our deep and slow breathing through the "contractions" and practices some massage techniques. Then, she would say "Okay, its been 6 hours and you are now 5 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced." I think we all collectively thought "Man, that took a long time." Haha...so then came some faster breathing and hand massages. The next step was "Okay, its been another 6 hours we we you are 8 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced." I think I actually said out loud at that point "WHAT?!? Only 8?!?!" Haha. I guess I am getting ready for being frustrated that I am not as far a long as I think I am.
We ended class with some quiet time which kind of reminded me of kindergarten but was relaxing none the less!
"Real Fact #122"
Learn something new everyday! Ha!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
To top it all off, I woke up with Poison Ivy, completely unprepared for my final exam tonight with my boss on the way for a three day visit at work.
Someone please tell me tomorrow is Friday. :)
Monday, May 4, 2009
Friday night, I think both Wes and I crashed pretty early. We did however go on our first tour of a day care center that day and buy Wes several new suits for his new job! PS: If anyone needs a new suit, it's buy 1 get one free at Men's Warehouse! The Day Care we checked out was actually at a local church, the church that the Pastor from our wedding is at. Since it was our first tour, its hard to say whether it was good or not because we have nothing to compare it to, but I think we felt pretty comfortable coming out. I think no matter what, I will be a mess dropping Emma off the first week anyway haha. So after our tour and shopping spree, we pretty much crashed at home.
Saturday, I got up early (well, tried to at least) to help out a group of folks from work who had organized a Go Green event at a local Baltimore park. They are having a Mother's Day celebration next weekend so we volunteered to help clean up one of the gardens and plant a tree. It rained a little bit, but not as much as we were expecting! I pretty much came home and immediately took a nap haha.
Sunday pretty much rained all day, but it was our March for Babies! Rain or Shine! Poor Wes was a good sport and still did it with me although he wasn't happy about it haha. We met up with our walking team from work and began our walk in the rain, and ended our walk in the rain. Surprisingly, I made it the full 4 miles! Although by the end, I was exhausted and definitely had sore feet and a sore back. One of the best advantages I have found to being pregnant though, is people are generally much nicer haha! Of course, about 1/2 mile into the walk I had to go to the bathroom as it seemed like Emma was doing a March of her own on my bladder. :) We were right by the convention center where they had folks standing guard to make sure a lot of the walkers weren't coming in. Well I batted my eye lashes and asked if I could use the restroom and got a prompt, NO...but then when I just slightly rubbed my belly to make sure she saw the baby bump, she immediately changed her tune and said "Oh honey! You're pregnant! Go right on in!" Shew! We made it the rest of the way in one piece, came home, and again took a nap.
Then Mom and Dad came up to help Wes with the Chair Rail Molding in the nursery and it looks so good! Mom even brought dinner and dessert (yummy) while Dad and Wes were hard at work upstairs. We have a little touching up to do over the nail holes but we will have an updated picture soon!
Tonight is our second Childbirth class and we did our best to finish our homework which was a crossword puzzle haha. I really enjoy the classes so far so I am looking forward to tonight!