Monday, March 29, 2010

34 weeks= no picture

I know, I know, most people only care about the picture. But for the past week I have been congested and consider myself on top of things if I take a shower. Needless to say, the hair has not been fixed and I haven't touched makeup. I feel ugly enough already with the swelling and HUGE belly, so I have no urge to document the way that I look right now... swollen, huge AND sick.

With that said, pregnancy is still going well. Had an appointment today and everything is right on track and baby is still head down. I go back next Monday to test for group b strep. If I test positive, I have to have an antibiotic during delivery so that the baby won't receive it. Hopefully I don't have it!

Chuck got a lot done on the nursery this weekend... and even some tonight. Shouldn't be too much longer now :) He's leaving town tomorrow to go to DC for a couple days, so prayers for safe travels are appreciated. He'll be back Thursday night.

Sorry this is a "boring" post, but I'm in a "boring" mood. Love all you guys and thanks for reading :)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

33 weeks and some chair railing :)

On Friday, I hit the 33 week point. It's crazy to me how far along I'm getting. Things are still going really well. I haven't had a doctor's appointment since my last post, but after 36 weeks I'll go every week until d-day.


Chuck finished the chair railing this weekend and we bought the paint for the nursery! I'm so flipping excited. I was going to try to post the colors that we picked, but for some reason can't find a sample on their website. Either way, the bottom of the room is a teal color that matches the crib skirt perfectly and the top is a buttery yellow. I think it's going to look great. Chuck has to paint the ceiling/trim before we can paint the pretty stuff, but hopefully it won't take too long. I'm getting very anxious to get everything done.


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Doggie Dynamics

This morning, the dog trainer and her husband came over to help Chuck and I with some of the issues we've been having with the furbabies.

Apparently, I've been lying for a while... because she didn't train with The Dog Whisperer. She trained with someone that trained with The Dog Whisperer. Haha. I guess the girl that gave me Michelle's information was a bit confused. Either way, it was definitely the same techniques that Cesar uses so I don't feel gipped.

We didn't leave the front yard with either of the dogs and they are still passed out like we went on a 5-mile run. It's amazing to me how much the psychological exercise can wear them out as well. Just to prove my point... they haven't moved in about 3 hours:































What we did was very simple really. Her husband went outside and rang the doorbell a couple times and we practiced having the dogs great people WITH MANNERS instead of jumping and licking them. Then we went outside, first with Zoe, then with Belle and just walked around the frontyard with them always being behind or beside us. Which is what I've been attempting to do for the last 3 months. I think what I realized most is that I didn't have quite enough patience.

They brought one of their dogs with them and we also practiced our dogs ignoring that dog, which was a challenge for both of them because they always want to play when they see another dog.

Tomorrow, I have grooming appointments at PetsMart for both of them and Michelle is going with me which I am so grateful for. PetsMart and the vet are 2 of the hardest things I deal with- I don't know how to tell the dogs that there's a difference in the dog park and PetsMart, but there definitely is!!

I can't think of a better way to spend $200. Because now, any time we need help with anything, we can call and they'll help. It gives me more peace of mind with the baby coming to have that trainer in our back pocket so to speak. Yay :)

Chuck's upstairs working away in the nursery. Hopefully I'll have some real updates on that front for you guys soon!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

32 weeks

Friday the 12th I hit 32 weeks. It's crazy to me that I'm just 8 weeks away from my EDD (estimated due date). That in 6 weeks, Baby will be considered full term. I decided to steal something from a friend's blog for this week's update.

Pregnancy: 32 weeks {photo taken at 32 weeks 4 days}

Sleep: I'm still sleeping great. It takes me a little longer to get comfortable and I wake up at least 2 times a night to pee, but I fall back asleep quickly and feel pretty good until about 1 in the afternoon... at which point I take a nap :)

Gender: Unknown

Name: For all of you wondering if Chuck and I have decided on a name, the answer is no, we have not. I have decided on names, but he doesn't appear to share my conviction. Hopefully the baby will have a name when it comes home. Seriously.

Feeling: Honestly? Everything hurts. Joints feel all achy. Swelling started after the road trip home for the baby shower. Wedding rings are officially on a chain around my neck. I had to buy a new pair of shoes because even my Chacos were too tight. Heartburn/reflux is consistently getting worse. BUT I'm trying not to complain too much because I know everything will get worse and that soon I will look on these days and think "if only I had known how good I had it". So that's what I'm trying to tell myself. That I have it good.

Health: Everything is still on track. Baby's heart rate is good. My blood pressure is good. Weight gain is consistent... I think it's too much, but doctor is not concerned so I just try to keep telling myself that it's fine. Doctor checked for me and he thinks baby is head down, so that's good. Now if it will just stay there!

Movement: I've definitely started feeling Baby more throughout the day, but the most active time is when I lay down to go to sleep. My stomach looks like an alien is inside of it. No lie.

Belly: No stretch marks. Yet. I'm not naive enough to think that they might not show up later. Especially considering how big I'm getting. Linea nigra is faint below and around the belly button. Some days it's darker, some it's lighter. Kind of strange.

Next Appointment: Monday the 29th. I start going every week at 36 weeks.

The nursery still has a long way to go. The excuses are a mile long, but ultimately I hope to make major progress this weekend. Feel free to send good vibes our way :)

Saturday we have a dog trainer coming to the house to help me with walking the dogs. I am SUPER EXCITED because this lady trained with The Dog Whisperer. How cool is that? The goal is to be able to walk them with their leashes tied to my waist or the stroller after the baby comes and have NO pulling. A bonus would be getting the dogs to realize that there is a difference in Pets Mart and the Vet and the dog park... they do not get to play with every dog everywhere we go. Oh yeah, and stop losing their minds when the doorbell rings. We shall see.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

What a great weekend

This past Wednesday, Chuck and I left at 9 pm and drove all night to make it to Trussville. We then slept half the day Thursday and felt fully refreshed. All in all, I think driving all night was way better than driving during the day. Of course, I got the easy part. Chuck got to drive through snow with all the semis while I was sleeping, haha.

Overall, the shower was amazing. We had about 20 people come, including my Freds and their mom's from Columbus and family from Montgomery, Columbus and Auburn. I was blown away by how much stuff we got for Baby... it will certainly make things easier and cheaper for us!!

So here's a quick rundown of the gifts:
-high chair
-bouncer
-diaper bag
-waterproof mattress pad
-bathtub and towels, shampoo, soap, etc
-Boppy and boppy cover
-Ear thermometer
-Monitors
-3 hand-made blankets
-Diaper genie
-2 books
-crib sheets
-and about a bazillion onesies, receiving blankets and burp cloths

Awesome, huh? That of course is not including the 3 pairs of identical rattle socks, haha. We also got several gift cards to help us buy the rest of the stuff. AND we have another shower on April 10th, thrown by the marvelous ladies at our church here.

While we were home, we also got to go to Chili's for Leah's birthday AND I got to go to Sara Beth's birthday party. You couldn't ask for a more productive weekend :) All in all, living in Virginia is certainly easier than living in Alaska. I've already seen family and friends 3 times since moving here in June. Of course, it helps that I don't have a job, haha.

Now we get to start planning for all of the visits this summer for everyone to come and see Baby!!

Monday, March 1, 2010

30 weeks and a kinda-versary

This weekend was mine and Chuck's 2 year kinda-versary. For those of you that don't know, we got married on Leap Day... hence the weird name.

For Chuck's present, I got him a discovery flight on a Cesna 172. It wound up being almost as much my present because I got to go with him when I didn't think I would. But he flew pretty much the entire way. I was super-impressed. I think the instructor made corrections 2 or 3 times during the whole hour. Chuck even landed the plane (which was a little bumpy... but still!). I took a million pictures on his iPhone, but have no idea if any of them turned out. We just flew around Williamsburg and Newport News, but it was neat because we got to see our house. He had a really good time.

For my present, Chuck gave me a gift card to a local spa and I get to go get a prenatal massage this afternoon. I am so super excited. My back has been killing me lately, so I'm really hoping this will help. I'll get to do one more later in the pregnancy, so that's cool too.

All in all, it was a great weekend :)

And for those of you that were wondering, I did get my 5 Guys on Friday :)

Now for the picture... I cannot believe how big I am getting. I didn't even think it was possible for my stomach to expand this much. I am flipping huge. But I try not to stress about it because it really does no good...

Just for fun, I'm going to post the 20 week and the 30 week picture.


That is quite a huge difference in 10 weeks. If I get that much bigger before 40 weeks, I will no longer be able to walk. I also think my face is getting fatter, but I'm trying not to think about that.











Overall, I'm sleeping better than I was 10 weeks ago. I've noticed that on the days that I walk the dogs, I sleep better so I'm making a more concentrated effort to do that. I also think it's just because normal everyday activities are much more exhausting. I've gotten to where I take a nap almost every day... but it's completely unintentional. I sit down for 5 minutes to check my email and the next thing I know it's an hour later. But I'm just thankful that I'm still sleeping well and pray that it lasts.

I have an appointment with the OB tomorrow. I really hope Chuck can make it to this appointment with me because I'm going to ask them all the questions I got from the childbirth class we went to. I really don't want to change doctors this late in the game, so I'm hoping I like the answers I get!! But I want to make sure that their views align with ours so that I have every chance to get the experience that I want.

That's all for now! Chuck and I are leaving town Thursday to head home for a baby shower, so expect a post about that :)