Busy Beaver

Wow. This week has flown by. I’m not even sure what all I did but it’s Friday and the sun is out (halleluiah!) so that makes me happy. Wade and I have decided to tear up the bathroom with a little home improvement project. I say “little” but what I mean is tear out the ugly sky blue tile flooring and replace w/ new porcelain tiles and tear out the nasty, moldy wall surrounds and leaky faucet in the shower and replace w/ new bright white shiny walls and new faucet. Once that is done we are going to get the tub refinished. Supposedly this is comparable in price to getting a whole new tub installed but a lot easier.

Unfortunately we have family coming this weekend so they may have to see some of this going on. (Don’t read that the wrong way; I’m glad to be having company, I’m sorry for them to have to deal w/ this while they are visiting us.) We are working on a limited time frame w/ Nugget coming in 11 weeks or less. (Holy shit!) We’ve got a lot that needs to get done in that time and not a lot of free weekends to do it. So tonight Wade will hopefully get the old wall surrounds tore out and be ready to start installing the new walls tomorrow. Assuming all goes well (which w/ our old house NOTHING ever goes as easily as it should) we could technically have the shower done before our company even gets here since they aren’t arriving until Sunday. Wouldn’t that be grand? We’ll see how that goes. I will post before and after pics for those interested in home improvement gone awry. :)

Wade’s graduation ceremony is Monday morning which is why we are expecting family here. My dad, Wade’s mom, step-dad, sister, grandma and grandma’s boy toy are all coming. It will be nice to get to see them all again and celebrate Wade’s huge accomplishment. I am so proud of him!

A quick pregnancy update: at my last OB appointment my doctor recommended doing kick counts once a day. I’m supposed to count the number of kicks I get in one hour and if it is 10 or above we are good to go. If I don’t get 10 kicks in an hour then I should contact the doctor and they can run some tests to make sure nothing is wrong w/ Nugget. I started doing these on Tuesday. I kind of forgot to do them Fri-Mon… Oops. Anyway, Tuesday I got to 10 kicks in like 10 minutes so I stopped b/c I was done. Easy peasy. Wednesday I decide that I’m still going to continue counting for the entire hour just to see how many times Nugget blasts me w/ her ninja moves. I counted 59. And I know I missed some b/c I was at work and got distracted. 59! How can some people have a hard time getting 10 an hour and I get basically 1 each minute? Thursday was a bit less but still a ton with 37 kicks in an hour. And today Nugget assaulted me with 45 kicks. She’s a busy little beaver in there doing who the hell knows what.

Needless to say I’m a little scared of what is coming out of me. She is one wiggly mother fucker for sure. Some of her kicks and rolls are so strong they take my breath away. I think we’re going to have our hands full.

Also I've noticed I now have pregnancy fat face. This was not a welcome discovery. In fact it downright blows ass chunks. But at least it's the freakin weekend.

Happy Friday Asshats!

xoxo~

Nugget's 28 week photo shoot

Here is our little Nugget in all her glory posing during her 28 week photo shoot. What do you think? Does she look like me? Haha! I may be biased (actually I KNOW I'm biased) but I think she is adorable already.

The ultrasound went great and everything looks normal with Nugget. She is measuring approximately 2 pounds 7 ounces and is in the 45th percentile for size. Everything is average! Which in pregnancy I think is a good thing! :) However my placenta has only moved 2 cm away from the cervix so we have to go back in for another ultrasound in 4 weeks to see if it has moved any further.

Here she is yawning. You can see her tongue. I think it looks like Edvard Munch's "The Scream".

What do you think? Do you see the likeness? :)

I also took the liberty to show you exactly what you are looking at just in case you are not well trained in looking at these ultrasound pictures (which I know most people aren't and think they just look like blobs). :) So below you will see exactly what you are looking at. Isn't she lovely?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm heading down south today after work while Wade is staying home and hopefully cleaning our house. I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one. :)

Happy Friday!

28 week update

I thought I'd do another one of the updates since I haven't done one since 21 weeks. We have an ultrasound today at 1:30 to check on my placenta previa. I am so excited to see how much she has grown and changed since our last one at 19 weeks! I'll be sure to post a pic or 2 once I get them uploaded.



How Far Along: 28 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 22 pounds (eegads!)

Stretch Marks: None. Thank the baby Jeebus. I hope it stays this way!

Sleep: Also none. Well, not a lot at least. I toss and turn all night. It is impossible to get comfortable and just when I do little Nugget seems to wake up and kick the shit out of me. Not nice Nugget. You are in time out!

Best Moment This Week: Husband of the year got me a mani/pedi and massage for Mother’s Day! My 2 neighbor girlfriends got the same thing from their hubbys (they are so sneaky) and so we all 3 get to go together for some girl time! Could they be any sweeter? I don’t think so!

Movement: A ton! She is so strong too! I see pokes out of my belly all the time now and I wish I knew if it was her foot or elbow or knee or what! And I felt her having hiccups for the first time on Monday! She’s an active little booger and is tossing, turning and kicking constantly!

Food cravings: Um, anything and everything? Yeah. Just give me food. Although sometimes absolutely nothing sounds good even though I'm famished. Go figure right?

Labor Signs: None! Yay!

Belly Button in or out? I guess it’s safe to say it is officially out since the only time it is still flat across is first thing in the morning before I eat. After that it is out constantly and when I laugh it pokes out about an inch further I swear. I think it is a whole nother belly in it’s own right it’s so big!


What I miss: Same answer as last time. My wine, beer, margaritas, martinis, etc. But I also miss my chin, ankles and waist. :)


What I am looking forward to: Besides our ultrasound today at 1:30, heading to Des Moines this weekend to participate in the MS Walk. Thank you so much to all who have contributed! I still haven’t reached my goal of $800 so if you want to donate there is still time! Click here! I’m hoping I can make it the 2+ miles no problem and with minimal potty breaks. I think I can!


Weekly Wisdom: Speaking of potty breaks, when you have to pee, go. Don’t hold it. It can get down right painful and also cause the fear of God that you may piss yourself in public. Also, it’s amazing what a little elevation can do to lessen cankle swelling. Ugh.


Milestones: I’m in the home stretch – the 3rd Trimester! Little Nugget can now open her eyes and she weighs approximately 2 ½ pounds and is nearly 16 inches long! Only 12 more weeks... (There is some sarcasm in that last part). :)

xoxo~

Until Next Time...

Well folks, it’s been a long, tough week. I’ve been MIA and it wasn’t for a pleasant reason. Friday, April 23rd I got an email from my dad saying that Paps was not doing well and wasn’t sure if he would make it through the night and that they were headed to see him. It blind sided me. I knew Paps had been having some issues but I had no idea that he was so sick. I left work, packed up some stuff and Wade and I headed down to Beatrice, NE.

I thank God that we made it there in time to get to see Paps before he passed. He was not able to communicate at that point but he opened his eyes a few times and I think he knew we were there. We had no idea how long he would be alive in the state he was in. As one of our doctor friends said “it could be a day, it could be a week”. So we left Saturday afternoon and headed to Des Moines. Saturday night at 11:15 pm we got a call that Paps had passed. Brutal. Why didn’t we stay just a bit longer? Was he alone? Did he know we had been there? Why hadn’t I called him last week like I’d planned? Why couldn't he have made it just 3 more months to meet his great-granddaughter? Some questions we will never have the answers to but you have to just push them aside and tell yourself that Paps knew he was loved. And even though I wasn’t always the best granddaughter (I should have called more often, sent more cards, etc, etc) I think he knew that I loved him. I have to believe that. Otherwise it will eat at me for the rest of my life.

I stayed in Des Moines with Kara and Todd and Wade unfortunately had to travel back home to be on a flight to New Jersey on Monday. Paps’ funeral was Wednesday and it was a very nice, small service. Then we traveled to Galesburg on Friday where I met back up with Wade.

So we finally got home after nearly 10 days away last night at 8:30. Possibly the longest week ever. I’m exhausted. I had my first baby shower on May 1st that I want to tell you all about but it will have to wait.

Little Nugget has another guardian angel watching over her now. I miss you and love you Paps.

This pregnant bitch be walking

All righty guys. It's that time again. Time for a reminder! In 2 weeks I will be in Des Moines doing the MS Walk. All proceeds go to help find a cure for MS!

If you would like to donate to me please visit my page! Also, as an update as to how huge I am I have posted below a picture of me in all my glory. In 2 more weeks I will be even bigger. It's amazing how fast I seem to grow but I have no fear that I will be able to complete this walk. It may just take me a bit longer due to multiple bathroom breaks and fat, uncoordinated feet. :)

Just for comparison sake (b/c I love to look at past pics when I am wearing the same thing and gawk at my hugeness) here I am at 20 weeks vs. 26 weeks (today). I think it's safe to say I've grown just a "bit". :)

Thanks everyone!

xoxo~

Lah Tee Dah

Not much new to update you guys on this week. We went out to Stella’s Restaurant last Saturday to celebrate Erika’s 30th birthday and enjoyed their rooftop patio. We even closed the bar down which has been unheard of in my pregnant state! I drove the drunko’s through a T Bell stop at 2 am which I was needing just as badly (if not worse) than they were. I was starving and inhaled those tacos like a fat kid eating cake! We’ve done the drunken T Bell late night drive thru too many times to count but this was my first time being the sober driver! A totally new experience! :)
I think I’ve been hungrier this week than any of the previous ones which is amazing b/c I didn’t think that was possible. I’ve been eating non-stop it seems. In fact the peanut butter Twix bar I just ate was quite tasty and I wish I had another one already. Amazingly I’m still in the acceptable weight gain range. Not sure how that happened but I’m up about 19 pounds which at 26 weeks ain’t too shabby.

Then last night Wade put up the new blinds I bought for Nugget’s room. They are white faux wood. A lot cheaper than the real deal and I think they look just as nice. Now I just need to get my mom to shorten the drapes I bought and then we can hang those as well! Other than that we still need to get a rocker/glider, a rug and some bedding and then this nursery will be damn near complete! I’d say we’re ahead of the game and that makes me one happy camper! And if anyone can recommend a rocker/glider that they like that won’t break the bank please let me know. Wade doesn’t like the traditional glider look, and I’ve got to say I agree w/ him but it’s all I’m finding that isn’t a ton of money. So does anyone know of any gliders/rockers that don’t look like those “traditional” gliders? Leave me a comment if you do!

Bad habits die hard

My Dearest Little Nugget,

You have made Mommy realize that her bad habit is in fact much, much larger than she ever thought possible. You see, Mommy always knew she had this flaw, however you have shown Mommy just how huge of a problem it really is and you aren’t even done brewing yet. (Look at Mommy comparing your gestation to beer. How typical!) Just look at you! Showing Mommy that she needs to get control of herself when you’ve still got 15 weeks left to brew, um… cook in there! What a talented little Nugget!

You see, Mommy has a weakness for shopping. Mommy has always known she had this problem as she LOVES to shop and has at times spent way more than she ever should on a pair of shoes or purse. However ever since Mommy got pregnant she stopped shopping for herself b/c, let’s face it, maternity clothes kind of suck. Plus who wants to spend a shit load of money on clothing you can only wear for a few months? (Also, swear words are bad. Don’t say shit.) So Mommy has taken her shopping habit to a whole new level and has spent way too much time and money shopping for you. Needless to say you will be one sharp dressed cookie, however this money could probably have been better used say, towards your future college fund perhaps? (But really, what fun is that?)

Anyway, Mommy found the cutest little Ralph Lauren cardigan last night that she couldn’t pass up. She got a helluva deal on it too. And she justified it to Daddy by saying that you could wear it with ANYTHING b/c it’s white w/ a little pink Ralph Lauren polo pony on it. Daddy’s response was less than stellar. It went something like this:

Mommy: “Check out this adorable little cardigan I got for Nugget! It was originally $30 and I got it for $10! Can you believe it? She’s going to look so cute in it!”

Daddy: “Umph. Cool.”

Mommy: “She’ll be able to wear it with everything! It’s a steal!”

Daddy: “Yeah, b/c I’m really concerned about her matching and coordinating.”

Mommy: (Gasp!) “Well you should be! What are you going to do? Dress her like a clown?”

Daddy: “Yep. A clown sounds about right to me.”

Needless to say Nugget, your Daddy likes to think he has good fashion sense but really the only reason he ever looks coordinated at all is due to your Mommy. Don’t worry. Mommy won’t let him dress you like a clown as long as she’s around! Unless it’s for Halloween. Hmmm… Mommy thinks you’d probably make the most adorable clown. Mommy will have to remember this in October.

Love you to pieces,

Mommy

P.S. If you could let Mommy get more than 4-5 hours of sleep each night that would be wonderful and Mommy would forever be grateful. This crap ain’t cutting it. Also, please let up on Mommy’s bladder. Mommy’s afraid she will pee herself while out shopping for you and that would be horrendous.

I've got a, I've got a pocket full of sherbert

I know, I know. My posting is seriously lacking lately. It’s just that I don’t have anything exciting to share with ya’ll. I think I’ve definitely reached the boredom stage of pregnancy. I can’t play volleyball this summer, I can’t drink, I can only minimally work out now since I tire so damn easily, I’m congested, I feel huge yet know there is still so far to go (15 more weeks still!!!!) and I’m exhausted 95% of the time. Also I feel like I'm waddling. Sometimes my hips will hurt and when I start walking I can feel myself waddling but it hurts to walk normal. Not hot, I know. But whatever. I did score this cute ass onsie that says "Rock Me" on it w/ some baby leg warmers. How's that for cute? And Nugget's wardrobe is growing faster than uncontrolled herpes so it's a good thing her dresser came in over the weekend!

My MIL bought me a pregnancy “journal” before we even became pregnant b/c as she said “it was on sale”. Ha! In it there are spaces to fill out how you are feeling and how much weight you’ve gained and how big your belly has become. Today I measured my belly from the widest part around and I am just shy of 35 inches. I feel as big as a planet. I think things are going to start orbiting around me soon in their own path w/ my gravitational pull. And I’m not even going to tell you how much I weigh b/c even though I know putting this weight on is for a good cause (grow little Nugget!) it’s still hard to see that scale keep rising higher and higher and higher.

Currently I am craving strawberries. Or even just strawberry flavored stuff. Strawberry pop, smoothies, ice cream, slushies, taffy, desserts, anything. I can’t get enough of it. Strawberries are like crack to me. Luckily I convinced Wade to buy me some strawberry sherbert last night so I’ve got a bucket full of sunshine in my freezer just waiting for me.

This past weekend the weather was BEAUTIFUL. Perfect really. We spent the majority of it outdoors and I even got a little sun. I gave my car a thorough cleaning in and out, read a book on the deck, went to the gym, took Kobe on a walk and helped (by helped I mean watched) Wade and Keith unload rock into our garden we planted last spring. (Thanks Keith!!) So the garden is finally complete. Although 2 plants didn’t come back so I’ll need to buy something to replace them. The damn rabbit ate them into the ground. Of course you realize this means war you wascally wabbit.

We did get to go out and be social Saturday night when a group of about 16 of us met for dinner at Buca di Beppo’s. Good time and delicious food. I even had a small glass of wine. I think I can still taste it b/c it was so good. :) Other than that nothing new in our neck of the woods. How bout ya’ll? Was your weekend weather as nice as ours? I’m hoping this coming weekend will be equally as nice and my allergies stay away! One can dream, right?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I passed my glucose test w/ flying colors so one less hurdle and pass me the chocolates.

Cheers!

I talk a lot about food. Weird.

Nice belly button, eh?

Over the Easter weekend we traveled down south to Des Moines to see family and friends. We were lucky and Wade’s mom and Z could make it as well as Todd’s parents and grandpa, so our Easter dinner was the biggest it has been in years! It was great! The food was to die for. I really must learn how to cook. I just hate the cooking part of it all and would love to skip directly to the eating part of it. :)

On Saturday afternoon my mom, Kara and I went shopping. What was supposed to be a quick stop at Kohl’s for their tax free day ended up being a couple hours and my maternity wardrobe doubled in size and little Nugget’s wardrobe tripled in size. This little girl is going to have more clothes than me soon! But damn is she going to be well dressed! (And hopefully I will be too now that I have more than 4 shirts to alternate between each week! Yikes!) Kara saw my belly button for the first time and her response was less than stellar. I believe it went something like this: “Ewwwww…” Yeah, not cool Kara. You just wait until it’s your turn to pop one out. You’re not getting any of my stylish hand me downs. :)

Nothing like standing next to your twin sister to remind you how big you've gotten.

This week will be pretty uneventful. Wade has to travel to Auburn on Wednesday and I have a fun glucose test to take at the OB’s on Thursday. I’m dreading it. It is a test to screen for gestational diabetes. I’m mostly dreading the outcome. I’m fearful that I have it and then will have to alter my diet which as of now consists of a lot of fried chicken, Dr. Pepper and pasta. Yum! But I’m also dreading the stuff I have to drink. Supposedly it tastes like flat orange soda. That I can tolerate. However some women get nauseous from it and actually throw up. Please God, don’t make me throw it up. Ew.

Also, our dresser should be in by Thursday this week so Wade will have a fun weekend project! It’s a good thing b/c I’m running out of closet space for all of little Nuggets clothes already! Oops!
How was ya’lls Easter weekend? Did you get some tasty food like me? I’ve got a baggie full of close to 50 Airheads in my desk from my Easter basket so if this test comes back saying I have gestational diabetes I’ll be pissed.

What’s going on? I have no clue.

Several times in the past (and even more so now) I have heard about a thing called “pregnancy brain”. Basically it means that pregnant women become very forgetful, spacey, and tuned out as to what is going on. There have even been studies done about this so called phenomenon. Most recently I read an article disclaiming the fact that pregnant women get such a thing. In the study they had women take a “test” before, during and after pregnancy. They concluded that the women did not suffer from such a thing as pregnancy brain since they scored just as high on the test while pregnant as they did not pregnant.

I will stand here today and reject their findings whole heartedly and pledge that such a thing as pregnancy brain is true and does totally exist.

A pregnant woman’s brain is no dumber than when she is not pregnant it just functions differently. Things that would normally be a non-issue suddenly become near impossible to figure out. For instance the other day while talking to Wade about the stain we put on our deck which has completely come off in less than 2 years of wear I said “This stain is a shit hole”. What exactly does that mean? Wade cracked up. It made no sense. I realize that. But I basically wanted to explain my dislike for how shitty the stain was and my brain could not keep up with my mouth (similar to how I am while drunk). Would I have called the deck stain a shit hole if my brain weren’t working on overdrive already? Probably not. I probably would have said something much more intelligent like “This stain worked like shit” or “This stain is the equivalent of shit”. See? MUCH more intelligent.

However, due to my brain not functioning at it’s normal level of intelligence my mouth spoke before my brain could register what it wanted to say and I said something stupid. I also have a harder time coming up with the words that I am thinking of. Usually adjectives. So the terms shit, crap, awesome and good are used a lot more at this time. (This also explains the awful grammar and punctuation used throughout this post. Screw it.)

My take on the whole pregnancy brain theory is this: Pregnant women are not dumber, they are just overly stimulated with too many things at once and therefore cannot whole heartedly be involved in things as they used to.

Things that may be taking up the brain space of a pregnant woman:

- When is breakfast?
- Why is my face broken out worse than it was even in high school? I look like a pepperoni pizza.
- Yum. Pepperoni pizza…
- I’m so friggin tired. At least now I’m a pro at using my concealer to cover up my under eye circles though.
- Where is the nearest bathroom?
- Am I gaining too much weight? Am I gaining enough weight? Weight, weight, weight!
- Is my boob leaking?
- What is that smell? And how can I even smell things when I'm so stuffed up?
- Aw, the baby just kicked. So sweet. Love it!
- Oh shit! The baby just karate chopped my bladder! Where is the nearest bathroom???
- When is lunch?
- Dear Lord I’m tired. I wonder if I could take a nap under my desk like George Costanza…
- This shirt is too tight. Mental note to go shopping for more maternity wear. (Mental note forgotten immediately)
- Did I take my prenatal vitamin today? Crap. Did I take it yesterday?
- Need to visit child care centers.
- Need to find a pediatrician.
- Need to remember to ask about child birth classes at my next OB appointment.
- Need to buy crib, dresser, glider, bedding, car seat, high chair, etc etc etc.
- Is it safe for me to eat this? Can I drink that? Am I getting enough folic acid/calcium/vitamins?
- My feet are swelling. I have cankles! Must drink more water to keep swelling down.
- Gotta pee. Like now.
- Ow. Heartburn. SOB.
- Ow. Can’t walk. Hips feel like they are popping out of place.
- Ow. My sciatic nerve! Back/hip/leg pain!!!
- Ow. Round ligament pain. Can’t breathe. Hurts. Too. Bad. Curl into fetal position if possible.
- When is dinner?
- How does everything I eat end up on my shirt now?
- Holy shit the baby must be having a dance party in there. My belly is moving like crazy. It’s like an alien is inside me. That is creepy. Ew. Weird.
- Damn! Where did all this peach fuzz on my belly come from? Nasty!
- Frick! Is that a stretch mark??? It rubs the lotion on it's skin.
- I need to make a list of the 8 million things I need to do before this baby gets here. (Forget to make list)
- I wonder if that car seat I registered for is safe enough? Mental note to check consumer safety info on it. (Mental note forgotten immediately)
- Ah-choo. Shit. Just snissed myself. (Note: I have not actually done this yet which is amazing since I seem to be sneezing way more than ever now that I’m pregnant, but I hear it is a VERY common problem.)
- Which leads me to kegels. Remember to do kegels. Kegels, kegels, kegels.
- Do we have any ice cream?
- I need to go to the gym to stay in shape.
- Too tired to make it to the gym.
- When is bedtime? Now? Great. Must remember not to sleep on back.

Any pregnant ladies or moms feel like adding more? I KNOW I am forgetting a lot. It’s my pregnancy brain. I can’t help it.

Also, I apologize for not being out and reading/commenting on blogs lately. It seems all my free time is spent in a tired dazed coma like state. I am hopeful that I will come out of this fog at some point. Hopefully soon. Keep your fingers crossed.

(Oh also, news flash. Ricky Martin finally came out of the closet. Big surprise there. It’s about time Ricky. You weren’t fooling anyone.)