Week:19

Well it's Tuesday again... and you know what that means. Another week along... 19 weeks today! Pretty exciting! I was downtown Portland for a conference the last two days and I caught a glimpse of myself in a storefront window and I looked very pregnant. But alas! I didn't feel ugly or fat... I felt... hot. VERY different than how I have felt in recent weeks, thank you very much hormones. Finally though I feel like, there is no ..."is she pregnant?" accompanied with sideways glances... there is no mistaking this belly. And I like it.

Oh! Guess what else? My body is making up to 50% more blood! No blush on these rosy cheeks! I'm au naturel baby! <---- see what I did there?

I could feed a small starving village of Vampires

This week our little monster is said to be about the size of a grapefruit. Whoa. They grow up so fast! Why, it was just yesterday it was the size of a poppyseed... With the increase in size I've noticed I pee more, again. Zofran continues to be my friend, and this little baby is a night owl. 

So, now that my condition has become more and more evident... the comments flow in steady waves. This is not me complaining, this is me being amused. Everyone has a pregnancy / pregnant lady / scary baby story they feel compelled to share. And you know what? To be honest, I've sought some out online because I enjoy the nitty gritty. It's probably why I do what I do. I read somewhere that for like the first week after birth blood just dribbles down your legs, and that taking stool softeners is SUPER important because, well, not only will you have a new bundle of joy, but you may have a few raging hemorrhoids as a consolation prize!! Yay!! I've heard some really good tips too, like, lanolin for the nipples will be great, ( I imagine it's like Bag Balm for udders ) and vegetable oil around the 'ol StarGate so it can stretch properly and not rip in a bazillion places. I'd rather my StarGate doesn't look like the exit of a carwash...

Ouch. 

What are some of the awesome things people have shared with you? Of course I've gotten the "It's a boy because... / It's a girl because... " and the person goes on to point out a physical feature of mine that has tipped them off. Also questions like, "Do you have a midwife?" or "Are you doing a home birth?" Legit questions that people really want to know, not just a segway for them to tell you about how strongly they feel one way or another, just people genuinely curious. Which is nice. 

We've decided to deliver at the hospital I work at. For a number of reasons. It's where my doc is, it's where I work, we're equipped with a NICU... etc. Some folks have asked, "Aren't you concerned you may see someone in the halls that has SEEN you?" Not really. I figure they look at their patients like any other patient, I have girl parts, like girls do, and if they get to witness my screaming bundle of pain slide out into the world then cool :) and if something goes wrong and they're there to help, I'm grateful. :) Maybe if I rip to all Hell they can throw in an extra stitch at no extra cost... "Employee Discount" and when I see them in the halls at work I'll high five 'em. 

Is next week here yet? I sure would like to know what sort of baby is brewin' in there... Until then, I leave you with:

Food Porn

Refrigerator Raider

Here we are at week 18, and for the first time during this whole pregnancy, I can honestly say, I'm starting to feel comfortable. (I hear this doesn't last) I've been trying to figure out whether I truly am more comfortable in my own ever-expanding skin, or maybe I'm just getting used to what is going on here. Either way, it's nice.

Emotions are still tricky at times, I will admit. Last night my husband and I were watching a documentary on big cats in Africa and there I was sobbing like a little girl when they showed an older mommy lioness walking off to go die alone. The music was going and she was old and hurt from a fight and she held out long enough for her little cub to get accepted into the pride. Once the cub was accepted, she hobbled off, all by her lonesome and laid down. Her cub kept sniffing around for her and it was one of the saddest things I had ever seen! Tears were flowing in steady streams down my face and I was hoping my husband wouldn't see me. But, of course, he did. I felt like a child and he was so sweet, put a hand on my leg and gently said, "It's ok, she's an old girl, it's her time. Her cub will be fine." I thought that was very sweet, exactly what I needed too. I feel like at the beginning I was a ball of fire, and now I'm a big soggy pile of wet toilet paper.

But physically I'm fine! I can feel this little hooligan move around every day, although it's not strong enough for Kris to feel yet. I still get up at LEAST 3 times at night to pee. And the bloody noses, every time I blow my nose, I get this:

The trashcan in the bathroom looks like I'm perpetually on my period and throwing my soiled "feminine napkins" in the trash face-up and open wide for my guests to gaze upon.

You're welcome.

The clever app on my phone estimates my hooligan to be about the size of a dragon fruit this week. Have any of you ever seen a dragon fruit in person? I, myself, have not. So I did a google search, because telling me its that size means nothing, except paints a cool picture in my head of a fruit that is spiky and breathes fire and probably rides a motorcycle and listens to death metal... So I typed in my question "What is the size of a dragon fruit?" and what the all-knowing Google told me is it's roughly the size of my hand, or the size of an apple. Next I searched images and this is what I got:

That's some bad-ass fruit right there and that dude is excited.

Two weeks from today we will learn which reproductive system our hooligan is equipped with. I am pretty excited about this. Kris is pretty excited as well. I have it all planned out, of course, because my little white-knuckled hands need to iron-grip some control over something... We are going to our ultrasound appointment and will have the doc conceal the revealing ultrasound picture in an envelope. We will have dinner with his family that evening and open the envelope all together. I love surprises, well, good ones, anyway. So I'm really looking forward to this. Originally I didn't want to find out. I wanted to wait until the baby was born, but Kris really wanted to find out, and over time, I started to want to find out too. I've heard from other moms that they felt more of a bond after they could refer to it as he or she while it's still in the womb. Honestly, I'm pretty stoked to find out because if it's a girl I can just go nuts buying all the Hello Kitty stuff that secretly I want and say it's for the baby :) 

Last, but not least, it seems this little hooligan has started to pop out a wee bit. Although there are times where I've seen people look at me, well, my belly, and look away, and look again, perplexed. Feeling as though they can't ask because that would be offensive. I still feel like a fat girl at the gym. I feel like people see me working out and they're like, "Good for her!"  Meanwhile I'm on the elliptical sweating my ass off and the whole time thinking, "I'm hungry!!!" 

Money Shot

With that said, off I got to the kitchen to grab a snack. Until next time...

Little House on the Prairie

.... so here we are, week 17, and according to this app I have on my phone my little monster is estimated to be about the size of a navel orange. Mmmm, orange... Is it weird that I want to eat whatever fruit it's said to be the size of? Does that say something about my psyche? I guess at least I just want to eat the fruit, not like I want to eat the placenta, not that there's anything wrong with that...

Moving right along... So some of you guys know that Kris and I put an offer on a short sale months ago. Great house, 5 acres, out buildings... Dead end road, etc. but due to a minor set back, we're still waiting. Well, maybe starting over. I have to admit, I was really depressed about it for a few days. It's taken me awhile to wrap my head around the idea of focusing my energy into fixing some stuff on our current place that needs fixing anyway and to realize we may be bringing our little bundle of joy to our current home.

I just have this insatiable desire to nest! To get a room ready, pick colors and all that extra stuff that isn't absolutely necessary but fun to do. I have to take that energy and channel it into tiling a bathroom and doing yard work, which doesn't sound near as appealing, but needs to get done anyway. You see, I have this thing where when I want something badly enough I bulldoze my way through any obstacle to achieve it. Which, can be a good thing and a bad thing.

So in the meantime I'm going to be focusing my energy on these other things. I still find myself doing research on baby stuff and conducting field tests... I'm sure this lady in Nordstrom's today thought I was certifiably crazy because I was petting the diaper bags and mumbling mental notes to myself.

I've also been listening to people's advice as far as is it on to drink a glass of wine now and then or is it (gasp!) absolutely a no-no?! Man are there some strong feelings about this. I could probably classify this as one of those Great Debates. A woman I work with told me about this stuff:

It's basically white grape juice. Really sour white grape juice. 

Meh, I know many a woman who has consumed a glass of wine here and there during their pregnancy. I think it's fine, their kids turned out just fine. As for myself, I think I'll just wait it out. 

One thing I don't mind indulging in? 

Saint CupCakes

(worth EVERY calorie)

...yes, I ate them all. 

                                                                                                 ...no. I do NOT feel bad about it. 

So while I'd rather be that pregnant girl who is far away in La La Land waltzing about her perfect home picking out colors and fabrics for her nursery I'm going to roll my sleeves up. I'm going to tile my little bathroom, do yard work, patch some holes in this ship and continue sailing. Oh, and smile :) 

Excited "R" Us

So, I'm a day shy of 16 weeks :) Tomorrow this little hooligan residing in my belly is estimated to be the size of an avocado! ...mmmm... avocado... must find a way to use that in my dinner tonight... sorry. These days I am a little bit focused on food. My appetite is about as big as I am lately.

I have recently begun the daunting task of researching baby products to make sure the things we buy are worth our money and will last a very long time. There is a TON of baby stuff out there! I've started asking mommies out there for their opinion on items, what they use a lot, and what they bought and never needed. Of course, there are the common sense musts that you can NOT go without; stroller, car seat, etc. I'm excited to get that stuff, but what I'm curious to know is the extra stuff that may not directly come to mind. Here are some of the results of what I've heard so far.

Some of the definite Must-Haves:
 - Bottle Brushes (to clean out bottles)
 - Boppy (to give the arms a break while breast-feeding)
 - Rocker with ottoman for those 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am feedings
 - Lanolin for the 'ol nipples

Some of the things people never used:
 - Diaper genie (supposed to keep the old poop rags from smellin' up the joint)
 - Bottle warmer
 - Bottle sterilizer
 - Sunshades for the car (probably wouldn't need that in the Pacific NW anyway)
 - Wipes Warmer

I throw the same question out to you, readers from afar. Are there items you could swear by and items that did nothing but add to the chaos in your life?

One of my besties and I headed to Babies R Us today to do some hands on research of some of the products I've been researching online. I must say, for the most part, a lot of the reviews I've read were pretty spot-on. Although, while we were there she showed me a myriad of other things I hadn't even thunk about yet. She has a son who is now 6, so it was really nice to have a personal assistant with recommendations and past experience help me carefully consider what will go on the registry and what is not worth anyone's money.

One tip she gave me that I have to remember not to forget... does that make sense? ... Well, whatever, anyway, she told me the worst brand of diapers, in her opinion, were Luvs. The best? Pampers. I hope costco sells Pampers because I'm sure this kid will be a non stop poop factory.

Field testing the Chicco Travel System

...not sure I'm mature enough to be having a baby...

Babies R Us are geniuses, they give wide-eyed, bewildered first time moms this little booklet with a Registry Checklist. Silly me, I figured I should research a travel system so that I can get a excellent quality stroller, car seat and car seat base all in one. Not according to their checklist. According to their checklist I not only need a travel system, I need: Traditional Stroller, Lightweight Stroller, All-Terrain / Jogger Stroller, AND a Double Stroller.

Hmmm.... I doubt that. At least, not right away. Think I'll stick with the Chicco Keyfit 30 Cortina Travel System in color scheme Fuego, thank you very much. ;-)