Backyard Visitor

Beau sent this picture to me yesterday saying that this little guy is not so little! He actually kept Shelby indoors so that SHE wouldn't get hurt! Ha! I think he's so pretty :-)

If you can get in to the backyard, then can Shelby get out??

33 Weeks (or What I Know For Sure)

I know:

• Childbirth class is simply terrifying. They should show those videos on MTV and BET in place of rap videos and to high schoolers and WHAM, no more teen pregnancy.
• There is a head in my rib cage. You all know it. I know it. I talk about it all the time. It's like the best tumor in the world! But I wouldn't mind not having it there anymore and would much rather have it sleeping in it's crib. 
• Yes, I said sleeping. I'm holding out for a rare baby who would rather let me sleep than poopie his diaper. :/
• I don't mean to complain, especially b/c I have been blessed with an easy, healthy pregnancy, but I'm SO uncomfortable! I can't bend over, I'm OUT OF BREATH all the time (so lame), tired from the moment I wake up in the mornings, the list goes on - I know, I know, I need to get over it but I'm doing a great job of feeling sorry for myself! ;-) 
• Baby Gray is currently breech. Hence, the head in my rib cage. This could mean good news - a scheduled induction or c-section. As in, we will meet him a week EARLY and it will be PLANNED! Loves it! I'm such a planner that this spontaneous birth thing is really making me uneasy. :)
• I'm increasingly terrified of this labor :-( I hadn't really thought about it once until this past weekend. And I'm REALLY getting scared. So why can't the fact that gazillions of women before me have done this put my mind at ease? 
• We have 46 days until the due date - less than 40 days if it's scheduled. That is close to 30 days, which is a month. Are you following the math?! Where did the last 3 or so years months go?! When did I become an adult?!

This has turned out to be a freak out blog entry - not at all what I planned to discuss! I have funny Beau quotes and fun stories about my parents moving here! I have my upcoming shower that I'm SO excited about and how I can't WAIT to see the women in my family (and friends!) who are all flying in for it this weekend! I have house repair updates, fun friend outings to report on and crazy client stories to tell....so how is this all about my fear about being a......mom? OMG, that's the first time I've called myself that. It's too much!

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

I will leave you on a more positive note! Look at my other babies sleeping in bed with me :-)

A Little Letter

Dear Grayson, 

When your head is grinding into my rib cage and your very active feet pound on my bladder (you're still breach), I don't get mad. I look at this. And then everything is right in my world again :-) 

However, warning you now that when you get upset because you can't bring a friend to dinner or stay out past curfew, I will remind you about what you are putting me through in this last trimester. Love you already!

32 Weeks (or Fattening Up)

That goes for baby and me ;) Grayson weighs almost 4 pounds now and I've gained 23. I'd like to stop here, thank you...

A lot has happened this week! My parents closed on their house and their moving truck arrives this week!! They are officially Frisco-ites. Or whatever we're called. Last weekend Beau and I attended a breastfeeding class and this week we went to the Childbirth Preparation class. After about 12 videos of natural child birth (i.e. no pain meds), I'm proud to say that my mind is going unchanged in the epidural department. Good grief, not judging anyone's very personal decision on how they want to give birth but that is NOT for me. My mom still has regrets about not taking the meds when she was in labor with me. Ha! And that was 30 years ago!....Ugh. 30. That's another story. That birthday is coming up and while I haven't even had time to think about or reflect on my 20s, I'm bummed that I will be 9 months pregnant during it. Talk about miserable and wanting a margarita. I mean, I assume I'll want a margarita. Maybe it will be a glass of pinot. Either way, aint happenin'.

Happy May! I can officially say that I'm having a baby NEXT MONTH! 55 more days. Mama and I are celebrating by going to a chocolate festival today. Kidding, we would be going even if there was no reason to celebrate! :-)

How your baby's growing:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. 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. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

31 Week Update (or 63 days to go!)

I'm now at 2 week doctor appointments - exciting, right?! We went for our 4-D sonogram last week and were disappointed not to be able to see anything! Grayson appears to be frank breech right now, where he is not only bottom down but his legs are straight up and his feet are in front of his face. So, you can imagine how difficult it is to see a baby's face when they have their hands AND feet covering it! ;-) We did get one blurry smile out of it and saw his tongue stick out so it was all worth it in the end. The doc office is letting us attempt a better 4-D experience next appointment. Hopefully, not only will he be flipped but we will have a better shot of our baby. Otherwise, we have about 2-4 weeks after that for him to move head down or the doctor (and us) will start to worry and we need to start considering c-section as a possibility. But no need to worry for now, he could somersault 50 times before then and trust me, it feels like he is!

Off to breastfeeding class! Hopefully, somewhere in that lesson plan is a chapter on how to get over my ooginess about it. Happy Saturday - it's a beautiful day!!

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

How To Cut Shelby's Nails

I'm going to try to get through this without laughing. Beau is the only one that can cut Shelby's nails. My job is to watch. And LAUGH. She is such a squirmer and I love watching Beau try to pin her down [I'm already laughing...]. So I think this is his process....

Step 1: Holding the clippers, place the wiener dog under your arm.
[....I'm dying laughing...]

Step #2: Pin Shelby's head under your chin and grab flailing body until you can get ahold of a nail. Clip really fast. [...hahaha...]

Repeat Steps 1 and 2. Nine more times.  [....hysterically laughing only wishing I had this on video so you can join me...]

Wedding Cake - A Year Later

This will be the last of the anniversary talk but I must provide an update on the all-important Wedding Cake - a year later. It was so delicious! Neither one of us had any cake on our wedding night and I'm really impressed at how fresh and tasty it was a year later. We were also pleasantly surprised when we saw 2 different types of cake within one layer! I vaguely remember making that decision but oh my, it was amazing!

Side note - today marks the 3 year anniversary of our first date! Another reason to eat more cake. :-)

A Golden Girl (circa 1990)

Question of the year - is my wardrobe dated or was Dorothy just REALLY ahead of her time?! About choked on my (second) PB&J when this came on the TV....

Yes, I watch the Golden Girls. Thank you for bein' a frieeeeeeeeend.

The First Four Letters in Beautiful

Today is our 1 year anniversary and Beau has made it so special. He continues to show me how thoughtful and loving he is and I keep learning new things about him. I knew he was special when we met but I'm glad I didn't know just how much....or I really would have been chasing after him ;-)

We celebrated our Anniversary last night since he has a baseball game this evening. We went to Maggiano's and ate dessert at Paciugo's - all was delicious and we had a great time. When I crawled into bed last night, there was a print out on my pillow. You see, when we were dating I gave him a list of questions that I thought would be fun if we answered them together - random questions that don't come up in conversation usually. We never got around to answering them - I forgot about them and life was just too busy for us. Well, he didn't forget about them. He answered them and placed the print out on my pillow last night. A peak inside someone's thoughts and feelings is such a wonderful gift and I love that he shared with me. And I'll just tell you, he thinks pretty highly of me ;-)

This morning, we woke up and began getting ready for brunch with our friends, the Phillips. I heard "Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong playing in the living room (I danced to this with my Dad at our wedding). I went in there to see what he was watching and there was a slide show playing titled "Our 1st Anniversary". He made me a DVD - a look back at the past year - and it is the BEST gift!! Photos of everything from our wedding, honeymoon, the baby's sonograms to even the lightning strike! He is just so thoughtful and I loved watching it with him!

We will eat the top layer of our wedding cake this evening - we don't really remember what it tasted like so it will be quite a treat!

Happy 1st Anniversary, Beau! I love you with both hearts beating inside me right now :-) xoxo

30 Week Update

70 more days (+/- of course)! I'm still feeling great although I feel like I'm running on a treadmill when I talk to people these days - I'm SO out of breath! It's embarrassing. Speaking of embarrassing, I'm apparently quite the sweater. Especially in business meetings. Especially when I'm speaking and all attention is on me. This surprises me b/c I've always been the cold one donning a cardigan indoors even when its 106 outside so shedding clothes and perspiration are not my style! No complaints here since this pregnancy has been a breeze and I still can't relate when moms ask me about heartburn (whew!). I'm also sporting a fine case of restless leg syndrome (I've told you about this but it's gotten worse) and I am officially having Braxton Hicks contractions. We begin our classes next Saturday kicking off a month of education with a breastfeeding class....honestly, we aren't excited. I'll have a full report of any inappropriate jokes Beau makes or awkward moments I have - we're quite entertaining in these situations ;-)

We bought our glider and ottoman and it's SO comfy - typing in it as we speak!Why is it in the living room? Oh, because it's been 5 weeks since the water heater damage and we still haven't had the back of the house repaired! BUT, the flooring order has been placed and we are hoping to have all floors repaired within the next 1 1/2 weeks. THEN, we can set up the nursery! .....again! :-)

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

 

Check Your Pride at the Door

I hit a new low yesterday. Well, a couple of new lows. I'm so glad they throw in that little "unconditional love" verbiage to marriage vows  b/c that's definitely what Beau needs to get through some of his times with me. After trotting him all around the city yesterday to go pregnancy bottoms shopping (this is what happens when you only buy shirts and dresses) and shoe shopping, I was just dying for some ice cream. Dying. The guy behind the counter was quite proud of the 2 extra scoops in the huge waffle cone he gave me and watching my husband's wide-eyed expression was almost as delicious as the enormous amount of ice cream itself. :-) I'm telling you - people love to feed pregnant chicks...

We arrived home soon after just as I realized that I was going to wet myself if I didn't go to the bathroom NOW. No time for anything, no time to set anything down, no time. So I yelled out for Beau to come get my ice cream. NOW. He said, "Hold on, I'm going to go let the dogs out." Oh no, he was already in the back of the house. I ran to the guest bathroom still urgently calling out for him. As he ran and turned the corner, there I was squatting in front of the commode working on a 1-handed squirmy attempt to get my clothes off all while holding the huge waffle cone in the other hand. I wish I knew whose deer-in-the-headlights look was worse but thank goodness he grinned a little bit or I would have been mortified. He simply walked over and grabbed my ice cream cone saying, "This is a mental image I want to try to forget." What? Not sexy? But thanks to him, crisis averted. Whew....

Then, as I contently took back my ice cream cone (only after 1 minute of sheer panic b/c I couldn't FIND Beau and the cone - really, our house isn't that big - I don't know how he disappears), I plopped onto the couch to enjoy the rest of it. I devoured it just in time to notice the MESS I made all over myself. Crumbs on my big belly, crumbs on my boobs, crumbs in my bra, everywhere. And that's when I had the idea. The Hand Vacuum! It went a little something like this....

"Beeeeaaaaaauuuuu, can you get me the hand vacuuuuum?"

Him: "Why?"

"No reason."

He did a double take: "You. Aren't....."

"What?! I made a mess!"

Giving me a what-have-you-become look: "You aren't going to vacuum the crumbs off your pregnant body??"

[rambling begins] "Well...you just don't understand how hard it is to carry around all this weight and I can't get up off the couch very easily....." 

...And then we laughed and laughed. I love laughing with him!

There you have it. Two "check your pride at the door" situations that I never thought I'd be in. ;-)

29 Weeks (or I love Butternut Squash in my belly!)

I really do love butternut squash-anything and now Grayson is being compared to it - what a treat! Beau and I have to really stop and look at each other these days and say, "Um. Hey. In 2 1/2 months, we will have a BABY. In this house. OURS. Forever." It's still so surreal and I don't even think we get it yet!! Here is something else I was slow to realize until today (in the form of a story)...

Stranger: "When are you due?!"

Me: "June 26th. It still feel so far away!"

Stranger: "Do you have your nursery ready?!"

Me: "Yes! Well, wait. I did. But now everything has to be moved out b/c our floors have to be torn up."

I'll spare you the blabbing that ensued about the water heater busting, the damaged floors, etc. Poor stranger. Anyway, this conversation led me to realize that everything we have put together and organized now has to be pulled back out of that room (& closet) to re-do the floors and then we kind of need to start all over. :-( At least Beau doesn't need to reassemble the furniture! It's frustrating to make progress and scratch things off your list and then have to do it all over again. But it could be worse - it could ALWAYS be worse! I'm just excited we picked out all the new carpet and tile that will bring that side of the house back to 100%. Even better than before! I will post before and after pics when we get going!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.