The Prego Shuffle

After getting a good night's sleep last night I had enough energy today to try some exercise. I've been taking walks all along, but I've been missing my aerobics tapes. Anyway, I used the pregnancy workout tape by Kathy Smith that Emily loaned to me. It was a great workout, but "the prego shuffle" was one of the dorkiest raps I've ever seen. Picture six pregnant women wearing unitards trying to rap and not even synchronized. It made me laugh.

My grandma moved today so I'll have to find out how that went. I'm sure my mom will have more free time now...meaning some free time instead of none.

Just a couple of days and I'll be 19 weeks along. I'm up a total of 9 pounds. Hopefully I'll continue to stay at the low end of normal so I won't get too huge.

Nursery Bedding

I think we might have the nursery bedding narrowed down. This first one is from Target and comes with all sorts of stuff. I think it could work for either gender. According to customer reviews the colors are even more vibrant in real life. We would have a lot of color choices for the walls. Plus, I love puppies!

This second one is from Babies "R" Us. I never would have picked it from the website pictures, but we saw it in person yesterday and it's really cute and VERY soft. It has both red and pink in it so it's girly, but not obnoxiously frilly. I doubt we'll use this set since we're having a boy. :)

We had a good time at Gavin's party yesterday. It's so fun to see him walking around. He even put his arms out to me for me to hold him...not the usual. Maybe he can sense I'm a mommy-to-be. Before the party we went to BRU and Jon was very overwhelmed. It's amazing that he can cut off someone's leg and be just fine, but you get him into a store with baby strollers and he panics. I didn't make him stay too long.

I had a bad night of sleep last night and ended up sleeping on the couch. I needed to be able to kick and roll without bothering anyone else. I now have two sleeping positions and I don't like either. My back is a no-no because it cuts off circulation and I've noticed I have a hard time breathing when I lay on my back. My tummy is now big enough to be in the way even if I have one leg up. So that leaves laying on my sides. I think I need one of those bone shaped pillows to help my hips out because they really hurt this morning. I'm not sure where to get one of those though so if anyone knows, let me know and I'll be very grateful. Maybe my hips are just widening and it has nothing to do with sleeping....fun.

I'm Giddy!

Look what I found at Kohl's today! They're tin and rather large so they'll be great in the baby's room. We aren't planning an entire hot air balloon theme, but this will it least bring it in somewhat. Plus it was way cheaper than the wallpaper mural.
We're going to look at nursery stuff tomorrow since we'll be in Des Moines for Gavin's party. I might buy the bedding when I'm in Des Moines again on August 11th since I'll be visiting with some of my Hutton friends then and I'll know (hopefully unless Thunder is stubborn) whether we're having a boy or girl at that point.

I went a little nutzo today with shopping. I have Christmas presents bought for some people. At this rate I'll have the nursery ready and all of my Christmas shopping done by September. Then I don't know what I'll do during the 3rd trimester. I'm sure I'll come up with something. I'm very excited and happy today even though Jon's on call and I haven't seen him much since Thursday. Retail therapy is a wonderful thing.

I looked at my belly pictures critically and figured out I'm actually getting bigger as the weeks go on, but you have to look in the right place. The area above my belly button is starting to stick out. In week 15 I looked bigger because I had just a bump under my belly button, but it's turning into a watermelon now so it's more subtle. I look bigger in clothing than in my swimsuit. What a switch!

18 Week Belly Picture

For your viewing pleasure...not much change as I suspected (although Jon called me buddha).

I think I may have felt some movement last night and this morning. Maybe I'm allowing myself to call it the baby now that I know there is a little heart beating in there.

Big Ultrasound Scheduled

I'm back from my 18 week check-up and all went well. I'm almost completely convinced that we're having a boy. The heartrate was 144 and Thunder was easy to find. They drew some blood for the AFP screening and we'll get the results in a week or so (but they don't generally call unless things are bad). We set up the anatomical scan ultrasound (find out boy vs. girl), the follow-up to the scan meeting, and my next OB appointment today. I can't believe we made it this far and we're almost halfway.

The ultrasound is set for August 10th at 11 am. It was the first available date that had a time open that would give Jon a chance to be there. I'm a little bit freaked out about having the scan on that day since it was my original due date from the baby I miscarried in December. I guess this way I'll get out of the house instead of moping around all day. Hopefully it'll be the day I find out the sex of my first child instead of just a negative, sad day.

I could care less if this baby is a boy or a girl as long as he/she is healthy. I just want to know so I can get decorating! We have the crib put together (thanks to my BIL Matt) and we have the changing table also. I can't wait to figure out the color scheme and get painting. Maybe my moms (mom and MIL) will want to help out with that sort of thing while the dads put in the patio in the backyard in August.

I'll talk with the doctor about the scan on August 16th. My next check-up is September 6th. Thank goodness I'm not teaching anymore so I don't have to take that into account when setting up appointments. It makes things MUCH easier. However, it is strange to not have any school supplies to buy. I've had a first day of school every year since I was 4. Instead I'll be hanging out with the family on August 23rd and I'll be able to be in the air conditioning. Woohoo!

My niece Hailey was here from Sunday until yesterday. We had a lot of fun. We went to Chuck E. Cheese's, went on walks, read books, watched cartoons, went to the library, went to a Nancy Drew movie, went shopping, and went to the aquatic center. Obviously we were on the go a lot more than I'm used to. She's such a fun, smart, cute, helpful kid. She even helped me bring in groceries and with dishes. Her parents are doing something right to have such a great kid (well, actually two, but Macy didn't stay with me). The rest of her family came Tuesday night and left yesterday afternoon. It was a big adventure putting the crib together Wednesday morning, but it only took us three trips to Lowe's (one trip with part of the crib!).

I'll add a belly picture tonight. I doubt I look much different, but we'll see. Jon isn't on call tonight. Yay! His last two days of vascular surgery call are Friday and Saturday. I'll be glad when he moves on to his next rotation - pediatric surgery all August. We're going to our godson's first birthday party on Sunday. I can't believe he's getting so old. Other than that I think things are calming down around here again.

It was a dream

I guess no patient died last night. I don't know if I'll ever get used to these vivid dreams.

17 Week Belly

Here's my belly picture for the week. I don't think I look any different from the last picture except more tan even though I've gained weight. We ended up getting it done afterall because I was still awake when Jon got home.

Jon left me a very cute internet card this morning so at least he's aware of how much he's been gone. He can't help it though. His night was rough. Either I dreamt it or he told me that a patient died last night (not unexpected and not Jon's fault). I'll have to talk to him when I'm more awake.

I have a fun task to do today. I have leftover medicine from my last IVF cycle that I'm donating to someone else. I need to mail it today. It feels good to help others that are in the situation I was in only with great financial need. Hopefully she has the same success. :)

I'd better go finish Harry Potter. Times a ticking and I'll have the next book in about 24 hours.

Irritated

I don't know if we'll be able to take a 17 week picture tonight because Jon still isn't home and he's on call. I really haven't seen much of him this week even though we've been in the same town. It really stinks being single. I've been very grumpy and trying not to be, but it's just not working. I should get to see Jon Saturday afternoon (except he's on call) or sometime on Sunday. This surgery rotation keeps him busy. I really need to find something to do.

I started Book 6 of Harry Potter today so I will be refreshed on the story once I start the new book. I'll most likely finish it tomorrow because I don't have anything better to do. Tomorrow night I have a party to go to, but Jon won't be able to come with because he'll still be working when I need to leave to get there. It'll be good to get out of the house.

I polished up the crib Claudia loaned me and it'll be beautiful once we're able to put it together. It is missing some bolts because it has hex holes and nothing of that shape with it. Hmmm...I would think Jon and I would be smart enough to put it together so there HAS to be something missing. I'll be seeing Claudia Sunday and then next Wednesday so hopefully we'll get it figured out soon. It'll drive me slightly crazy if it sits in the nursery for too long in pieces.

Hailey is coming to stay from Sunday until Wednesday so then I won't be all by myself anymore. Woohoo! Hopefully the weather will be great so we can go to the pool, park, walks, etc. I still can't believe she's almost 9.

Now for the real source of my irritation - Schwan's. I preordered my favorite chocolate peanut butter ice cream and passion fruit sherbet and the stupid Schwan's man was supposed to deliver it tonight. I saw him coming while I was on my walk with The Buddy so we cut it short so I'd be home to receive my delicious order that I'd been craving all day. The stinking Schwan's truck went past my house and didn't stop. How dare he. How dare he! How dare he mess with a pregnant woman's cravings like that?! I had to go to HyVee and buy some sherbet but it just wasn't the same. I felt a little crazy because I was almost at the point of tears. I'm one grumpy pregnant woman.

I'm still not feeling any definite movement. I really wouldn't mind a good kick in the ribs to give me some reassurance. I don't have any reason to think that Thunder isn't doing okay, but I'm a little neurotic at times I admit.

Oh, I forgot to write about Euclid's funny episode last weekend. So he made a girlfriend as you know, but he also slept with a cat. Apparently Amanda, Adam, Bailey, Euclid, and their cat all snuggled up in bed on Saturday night. I wish I had a picture of that! He's a traitor to his own kind.

I'll post a week 17ish picture this weekend since I'm going to give up on Jon getting home tonight. It's time for bed!

I'm Back!

I had a great time with family and friends in FD, but it's also great to be home with Jon again. I missed him! Here's what I've been doing for the last week. This might be a little boring because I'm chronicling this for myself mainly.

Friday the 6th I headed west and stopped at Babies "R" Us and Pottery Barn Kids on the way. I loved all of the stuff at Babies "R" Us. I'm pretty sure I'll register there. I've heard bad things about Target registries so we'll see. Too bad BRU isn't convenient for everyone, but they have online shopping and shipping. I also went to the Brass Armadillo in DM. Wow, what a lot of crap! I was looking for hot air balloon decor for the baby room and didn't find anything. That isn't our official theme, but Jon loves hot air balloons. Here's a link to an expensive item we'd love, but we realize would be silly since we won't live here all that long. http://www.usawallpaper.com/brighotairba.html That's the kind of thing we like - NO PASTELS!!! We also got to see Jon's family before they left on their motorcycle trip. Cathy had my favorite chocolate chip cookies there. Let the spoiling commence!

On Saturday we went to Twin Lakes and hung out with James and others. His girlfriend is nice and cute of course. It was very hot and the water was choppy so we didn't boat all that long, but Jon did get to wakeboard for a while. We just hung out most of the day and everyone but me enjoyed margaritas courtesy of the famous Birkett machines. I didn't mind.

Sunday was spent with Claudia and her crew. We enjoyed Taco Tico before Jon headed back home. Then we went shopping and hung out at Claudia's house. I was tired out from walking around in the mall. Claudia made us an awesome supper with fruit smoothies.

On Monday I went with my mom over to grandma's apartment to help pack her up. We did that on Tuesday and Friday morning also. It's pretty overwhelming since she's moving into a smaller place at Friendship Haven. My energy wasn't very high so I don't know how much help I was, but I got to talk with grandma quite a bit. I babysat Hailey and Macy on Monday afternoon. We went to Kennedy Park and watched Prisoner of Azkaban until their dad picked them up. Mom made my favorite supper of hamburgers, potatoes, and homemade gravy. Yum.

Tuesday afternoon I went over to Emily's house. She got her painting done and it looks great. I'm glad my visit gave her a little incentive. We went to the pool with her kids and the neighbors for a couple of hours. It was very relaxing. She treated us to homemade pizza that night and our parents came over to enjoy the meal also. Anya had to show us all how she can ride her bike without training wheels now.

Wednesday was a lazy day of reading. I took a two hour nap and almost overslept. All of us kids met at the theater and watched the new Harry Potter movie. It was good, but the movies can never measure up to the books. They'd have to be about 4 hours long and I sure wouldn't want that. I'm more excited about getting the book next weekend.

Thursday was my day to hang out with my dad. He took the day off work. We went to Menard's and looked at bricks for the patio we're planning to put in my backyard. He helped out over at grandma's for a little while and then we headed home and spent a lazy afternoon hanging out and taking naps. He made shrimp kabobs and steak for supper. That night we went over to their garden and hung out with the Seltz's.

Friday was a blur...literally. My vision was all screwed up and I had a headache off and on. I ended up sleeping most of the day. By evening I was feeling better so we went to the county fair. EVERYONE went (well, except Jon). I love to have my whole family around me! The food was delicious, horses were pretty, and the monster truck ride was a sight to behold.

Saturday I met Jon in Ames and we went on a float trip all afternoon. We managed to not get all that burned. It amazes me how many of our friends are trying to get pregnant and not having immediate success. I really feel for them and hope that they don't have to go through what we had to. It's just so frustrating. Hopefully there will be a few spring or summer due dates coming up. We stayed overnight in Ames because we were too tired to drive. Euclid now has a girlfriend named Bailey and has been moping around since we left her on Sunday morning. Poor little guy!

We returned on Sunday and spent the day hanging out as a couple. I missed Jon like crazy! This is probably a long enough post for now so I'll end here.

15 Weeks and Kicking?

I could swear I felt a little bit of baby movement yesterday and today. Yesterday I was sitting at the computer leaned over for a while and I felt two distinct little thumps. I think baby was getting squished. This afternoon I was laying on the coach and I felt one little thump. Either I have gas or baby is getting big enough for me to notice now and then. It'll be obvious soon enough.

My other new thing is dreaming about going to the bathroom. I urinate in all sorts of strange situations and then wake up and have to go to the bathroom right away. I don't remember the last time I slept through the night. At this point I only have to get up once though. It would be a really bad idea to put my hand in a bowl of water while sleeping!

Here's my bump's progress. I think I look a lot more pregnant this week.

We ended up having a great 4th of July. I was kind of moping around because Jon was on call and busy until early afternoon. I went over to a party and he was able to be there for most of the time. We were even able to watch the fireworks together. Euclid came with us and we sat down when we found a good viewing spot. The Buddy was a little freaked out.

I probably won't get a 16 week picture taken because I'll be out of town. We're heading home tomorrow to spend a day at the lake with James and his girlfriend. Jon will stay until Sunday. I'll stay in FD until next Saturday morning. My plan is to hang out with my family as much as possible. I've missed them all. On the 14th we're going on a float trip down the river. I think that it'll be okay. Maybe I should check on the bacteria levels of the river before I spend four hours soaking in it?

We've seen two good movies in the last week. We went to Evan Almighty. We're big fans of The Office. If you like Steve Carroll, then you'll be very entertained. Tonight we went to Transformers. I wasn't expecting it to be as funny as it was. Jon was a happy boy. It's time for bed so I'll end here.