My Goodness!

I just looked at my picture and realized that I have a double chin. Maybe I should lay off the food a little.

For anyone that gets Schwans - You must try the grilled cheese toasters. They are just about the best thing ever if you're too lazy to make your own grilled cheese sandwiches. Plus, I think they taste better anyway.

Comparison Pictures

The picture on the left is from 13 weeks and the picture on the right is from 23 weeks. That's a lot of growth in 10 weeks! Jon has felt baby girl kick a couple of times and The Buddy got kicked yesterday when I was snuggling him. He kind of jerked away from me. Pretty funny! I'm still loving the movement since she's not strong enough to really get any good ones in to my bladder or ribs.

My parents are stopping by on their way to Missouri tonight. I'm going to make the famous graham cracker pie that everyone in my family loves. Both of my parents had birthdays in August. Today is Claudia's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!

Four Months to Go!

I realized yesterday that our baby's due date is in four months. That seems like a tremendously long time and short time all at once. Each day seems long and each night seems longer as I try to sleep (my restless legs only seem to be getting worse despite my knee pillow), but I'm sure once we start having football games to go to, showers, baby classes, and more doctor appointments time will fly.

I'm contemplating signing up to substitute teach. I'd only be able to do it for a few months, but it would give me something to do to make the days pass more quickly. I'd sign up to substitute for high school math so I wouldn't get called every day. However, I'd have to get a TB test and I've read both that risks are unknown to babies and that it's perfectly safe during pregnancy. I guess I could call my OB to see what she says. I'm just not in a rush. If I teach, then I'll have to have a professional maternity wardrobe. I've rather enjoyed not having to worry if I show a little cleavage or my pants look like pyjamas. Plus, I don't know my way around the schools I'd substitute in so that would be slightly stressful. I'll think about it and decide within the next couple of weeks. I'd really rather tutor students, but I'd have to get some kids lined up for that. Do I sound lazy?

Jon's schedule for September sounds like it's going to be wonderful. He's on call on September 1st and that's it. We should be able to go to the September football games and I'll get to see him a lot more. Maybe my cell phone bill won't be quite so scary if I'm not so lonely. I went over by many minutes last month and it has us considering changing our minutes plan.

Last night Jon called and had an emergency favor to ask me. One of his co-residents that is new to the area and single had a dog that escaped and needed to be picked up from the pound. That was a fun adventure. His name is Newton (how cute with Euclid) and he's a beautiful, well-behaved golden retriever that has a very similar temperament and size to The Buddy. They had an exciting time playing in the backyard together. It made me feel more worthwhile to help out with Newton. I realized just how difficult things would be for Jon if he didn't have someone at home he could depend on. Jon isn't home very much so it would be hard to maintain the house, clean clothes, get groceries, get errands done, etc. without me.

My mom and other family members at times have relentlessly been trying to figure out our baby's name. She was convinced it was Gloria because I had gotten tired of responding to every name she suggested and she took my silence as a correct guess. Kind of funny since we had said that it's a name she may not have heard of...I think most people could think of a song or two with Gloria in it so there's no chance that the name is Gloria. Jon and I are going to keep the name a secret even if it comes to out and out lying to people. Considering people know the day we conceived, how many eggs were retrieved, what day we found out I was pregnant, my emotions throughout, and that our baby is a girl, I don't think that it's too much to keep ONE secret. Trust me, you'll love the name and if you don't, then too bad. LOL

Better Late Than Never

Here's my 22 week belly picture - actually 22 weeks and 2 days, but good enough. Jon has had a very busy week and my mom has been visiting since Wednesday night. The baby is kicking much more frequently and stronger and I've been able to feel her on the outside quite a few times. Our mission is for Jon to feel her tomorrow since he has the day off. Hopefully she'll be nice and active.

Pregnant Pirate

Here's my pregnant pirate picture for those of you that wanted it (Emily). Too bad they didn't get a picture when I had on the pirate hat. Hopefully this will do. The party was great fun!

21 Week Belly

I think that the last two weeks have looked the same. That's okay.

Uneventful Appointment

My appointment today was very short and uneventful. I loved the doppler part though. Baby has an attitude! She kicked the doppler and made us laugh. The doctor said that she's pretty strong and she felt the kick through the probe. Her heart rate was 144 BPM.

I did some shopping for a shower gift and clothing for the pirate themed party on Saturday night. How do pregnant pirates dress? I guess some people will see on Saturday night. Argh...

This afternoon I'm going over to Wilton to see all of the female teachers. It'll be fun to be in on their last hurrah before school starts without having to go back to work myself. I'll have to be a good girl and not rub it in too much.

Good Morning Mom!

I woke up this morning when baby kicked me in the belly button (or right below). I quickly put my hand on the area and I felt two more kicks on the OUTSIDE!!!! How cool is that? I can't wait until that happens more frequently and Jon gets a chance to feel her. :)

Breastfeeding Registry Stuff

I've felt pretty good about registering for stuff until today. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to what to register for with wanting to breastfeed. I get a pump through the hospital benefits, but I don't know what kind. Other than that I don't know what to get. Yikes! Also, I don't want to get formula feeding supplies because it seems like having them around would make it that much easier to give up. Hmmm...I guess I'll need to do some research.

There isn't much going on around here. I can't wait until it cools off in a couple of days. I don't even remember the last time we had our air conditioning off.

90% Decided

We think we have a name picked out so feel free to keep giving us ideas, but I think we have it and we both LOVE it. We won't tell anyone though so if you ask I'll just make up something stupid. The only thing I'll say is that it's an uncommon, but not unheard of first name with a beautiful meaning.

I think I've been happier in the last few days than I have been my entire life. Jon and I are really enjoying referring to our daughter. It's so fun to know what we've got growing!

Friday afternoon was a fun time. I did some shopping. My favorite purchase was baby legs (http://store.babylegs.net/), but I also got some really cute clothes. Plus, I started my registries online. We're registered at both Babies "R" Us (BRU) and Target so people will have lots of options. I didn't register for all that many clothes and toys because I figure that people will enjoy picking that sort of thing out for themselves. We listened to The Beatles Rockabye Baby! CD at bedtime and it was fantastic.

Yesterday I went to BRU in Des Moines in the morning and checked out the strollers in person. I even got a personal tour of how to collapse and adjust the travel system we registered for. It's fantastic and attractive too. I decided to get the Target animal bedding because the ladybug bedding was just too pink. I found a pregnancy pillow also that's the shape of a triangular prism (you can never take the math teacher out of me). I bought some more clothes of course and discovered that BRU is a horrible, horrible place on Saturday mornings. I will never go there on a weekend again if I can help it.

The reason I was in central Iowa is because I was meeting my dorm friends in Ankeny. We went up to Ames and ate at Hickory Park and did a lot of catching up. I've really missed being around all of them. We reminisced about watching Dirty Dancing and reenacting the lifts using chairs, running giggling down the hall after watching a scary movie and decorating a friend's room, and other silly stuff. I'm so lucky to have such a fun group of friends. I just wish we saw each other more often!

I got home at bedtime last night and Jon and I stayed up and talked. He was a busy guy yesterday. He got all of the patio stuff figured out, sturdied up the crib, and installed a ceiling fan in the nursery. He was able to take a long nap too. It's so nice that he has the whole weekend off!

My pregnancy pillow worked well and I got a little more sleep than usual until The Buddy took over my side of the bed. He's a naughty one sometimes.

I'd better finish so I can go hang out with Jon some more. He's on call four out of the next seven days so time is precious!

She's looking healthy!

The ultrasound went well this morning and SHE measured right on. SHE was laying on her tummy with her legs under her like a little frog at the beginning. SHE kicked and waved her arms some after a while and SHE was very difficult for the ultrasound techs because of her position. Oh, and SHE is a girl! I'm just so glad that she looks healthy and seems to have all the right parts. The doctor will go over everything with me next Thursday but the techs said that everything looked good. The pictures are pretty blurry so I'm not bothering to scan them, but I'll keep them for the baby book.

We have decisions to make - mainly name and nursery bedding. We don't have a definite girl name so if anyone has a great idea, then you can tell us. I don't like names from the 100 most common list. Emily has suggested Thora....hmmmm....

The reason I'm not feeling lots of kicks is because Thunder has an anterior placenta. The placenta is a little pillow between baby and me so it'll take a little longer for her movements to become more obvious. I was wondering if it was that or my long torso that were causing the delay. It's probably a combination of the two. I'm not worried about it now that I've seen her moving around and looking healthy.

We're going to have a baby girl!!! Let the shopping begin.

You know you want to rub it!

Here's the 20 week picture of my belly. If you look carefully, then you can see the stretch marks on my side. Oh joy! :)

Jon was on call last night and didn't get called. Strange and fantastic! It was nice to get to spend some time together. I still had crazy dreams even without the pager going off.

I don't think I posted this before, but the AFP screening came out negative so it's highly unlikely our baby will have a neural tube defect, Down Syndrome, or various other trisomy issues.

Three hours to go until the ultrasound. I'll post pictures if we get any good ones and I'll call immediate family or Jon will. I hope baby shows us his goods with pride!

Do you need a smile?

Here's a picture of The Buddy's biscuits. Isn't he cute? Okay, so I'm keeping busy for the most part. I ran my errands, got groceries, showered, played with Euclid, started the laundry, and worked on organizing. I'm doing pretty good so far. Waiting is torture!

Halfway to Baby!

20 weeks today!!! 20 weeks to go!!! I'm feeling pretty good and hopeful that the ultrasound goes well tomorrow. It isn't until 11am so I won't be able to update on here until sometime in the afternoon. I had a minor freakout session last night when Jon got home (at around 9 pm after he got called in at about 3 am, poor guy). He comforted me pretty well. I think part of my crazies come from spending so much time alone. I worry about my little one too much. Plus, I'm still not feeling a whole heck of a lot of movement so I get stressed out whenever anyone asks me about feeling anything.

I'm going to keep myself very busy today and get out of the house. I tried to keep busy yesterday. Yesterday I organized the nursery closet, made room for the baby dresser, dusted, baked cookies, and finished a book I'd been reading. Today I'm going to do the laundry, get groceries, run some errands, clean the bathrooms, organize the basement bathroom storage to make room for a freezer, and whatever else I come up with.

I successfully completed my prenatal yoga exercises Tuesday night. I was so proud of myself that I was able to sit still and breathe and stretch without getting the willies. Jon was in the room working on his computer so he got quite the show.

Speaking of shows - I'm addicted to Big Brother 8. This is the first season I've watched it. I hope that Eric doesn't get kicked out this week.

My belly picture might be more interesting this week. I'm up about 11-12 pounds from my initial pregnancy weight so maybe even Mom will be able to see a belly this time. I swear the easiest way to notice the belly is to compare the chest to the outermost belly section. My belly is starting to win.

Rockin' Baby

Check out this website: http://www.rockabyebabymusic.com/web/page.asp?pgs=products I must have Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and The Beatles lullabies. If you have your sound on, then you can check out some clips. I'll be purchasing those today so this isn't a hint for something to buy baby. It's never too early to work on baby's taste in music! Apparently baby can hear us now.

We had a pretty uneventful weekend. Jon was on call both Saturday and Sunday so we didn't really do much. I don't mind when he gets called away to help babies. He's going to be so comfortable with babies by the time ours comes since he's spent time in the NICU and done various procedures on newborns. He'll be in better shape than me! The other day they released a preemie from the hospital that was born at 23 weeks, 6 days. I just thought that was amazing.

Apparently it's going to be a few years before I go back to the movie theater. My legs were so restless and my back hurt so much that I couldn't sit still for the movie. I was just praying for it to be over with soon. It was almost as bad as bedtime. My legs get so restless when I try to sit still or sleep that they kick out like someone is checking my reflexes. It has to be annoying to Jon. He's probably all bruised from me elbowing him and kicking. I feel like I have no control over my body movements these days.

If you would like to get in on the guessing game for sex, birthdate, etc., then you only have a few days left. I'm going to freeze the game on August 9th since we should find out what we're having on the 10th. Here's the link so you don't have to page through past posts. Go to http://www.expectnet.com/. In the top left it says "Invited Guests". Enter the game name as operationivfbaby. From there it is pretty self-explanatory.

Belly Picture

Here I am in all my glory.

19 Week Update

I'm 19 weeks today...I'll post a picture later today or tomorrow. I'm feeling some definite movement here and there. Also, I'm getting some nasty stretch marks on my hips, but still not on my stomach. I don't mind them on my hips too much. In just a week we'll probably know if we're having a girl or boy so I'm getting excited about that. My pregnancy book says that the baby is about 7 inches or so in length by now. It's amazing I'm not bigger given the size of Thunder these days. I slept for a combined total of 11 hours last night so I should have the energy to workout this afternoon. It was heavenly getting all that sleep.

The following paragraph might upset anyone that has dealt with infant death.

One of my online friends is having a horrible day today. She's 22 weeks along and they figured out that her baby's heart stopped developing correctly a few weeks ago. Instead of putting off the inevitable, she's being induced today. The baby may live for a few minutes, but even if she carried to full term there was no chance of life beyond that short amount of time. It's so very sad. She's terribly unlucky because the chances of having that severe of a birth defect is less than 1%. Plus, she's now dealing with what some people would term an abortion. I just can't imagine knowing your baby is going to die for sure and continuing with the pregnancy. Anyway, this is turning really morbid so I'll change the subject. This has been weighing on my mind though.

Jon is on his second day of pediatric surgery and he'll be on call today. I hope that he isn't as busy with this rotation as the last because he's going to be on call 16 days in August. We already figured out he can't talk to me about what he does either because it upsets me. He told me about one case from yesterday and that's enough. There's a reason I didn't want to be a doctor so I don't always want to hear about his day. If that makes me a bad wife, then so be it.

We're planning to have a much needed date night tomorrow night. I don't even remember the last time we went out alone. We'll probably go out to eat and watch The Simpsons Movie. I'm looking forward to it.

That's all for now. Check back later for my belly picture. :)