Learn to Listen

I need to learn to listen to my body better.

I've been very, very unwell for going on three days. I lost 4 pounds the first day.

Thankfully, le bebe is still nice and active.

Rob has been doting on me and I really appreciate it because I've found it difficult to get out of bed with the exception of needing to lose whatever i managed to ingest.

I got some cute pictures at my ultrasound on Tuesday and I will post one when I do my weekly update.

29 Weeks and My Last Baby Shower!

How Far Along: 29 Weeks

Size of baby: Small cabbage (I fail to see how that is larger than last week's cauliflower but I digress...)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: The scale on my daily change said 11 pounds (still) but today it said 13 pounds on a full stomach. 2 pounds in one week means s-l-o-w down!

Maternity Clothes: Previously I had mostly been in maternity bottoms but now many of the shirts Rob bought me a few months ago are starting to fit. Exciting!

Gender: A beloved son!

Movement: Baby is doing his best impression of the Predator and Alien movies. Sometimes he is so aggressive in there it looks like he's trying to claw his way out! If I rest something on my belly he can easily kick or punch it off.

Sleep: Could be worse. In looking at the bright side, I am confident my 15 years of insomnia will help me rather than hurt me when it comes to being accustomed to lack of sleep, keeping odd hours, etc.

What I miss: I would like a martini and to be able to see where I am shaving.

Cravings: Chocolate cake with rainbow chip frosting. I have the frosting I just need to battle the chronic laziness and get it baked. I made some banana bread today and three dozen muffins for church this weekend so I don't know why I can't get my act together for one little cake!

Symptoms: Well, I think my stomach is officially to the point of having less room. The other night I took my heartburn pill at midnight. At 1 a.m. I woke with what I thought was post-nasal drip and when I went to blow my nose I was dismayed to vomit. And I puked big time! It was the oddest thing because my stomach didn't hurt before, during or after but it was full fledged puking. Thank you heartburn and re-arranged internal organs!

Best Moment this week: Two things: 1. I got to hear the heartbeat again and 2. I had my second baby shower. All in all, a blessed week!




***I thought I had a picture of just me and my bump but it must've been taken on someone else's camera. How disappointing! Anyway, these are a small sampling of my lovely friends from church!

Tomorrow

I will post some my weekly pictures and an update from my fabulous church baby shower. Today? Today I need to decompress and get my act together. Someone please hold me accountable to post my picture(s) if I should happen to fail because it will hurt me in the long-run to not have the memories and I sort've need a jolt to snap out of my funk!

A Shower and Showers

I'm getting a 2nd baby shower tomorrow. And it's raining cats and dogs here. I'm going to take my weekly picture in honor of the party because frankly, my hair does not need to see permanence on film. Besides, I don't see much of a difference. Hopefully I will look less angry in these photos; I'm not quite sure what was wrong with my face at my first shower!?!

A Threeeeeeeee Hourrrrrr Tour!

I had my 3-hour gestational diabetes test today. I figured I would schedule it immediately rather than try to put it off.

I will say, the waiting was the very worst part. I brought my bible study book and a magazine to pass the time but it still felt like it dragged on forever.

The first hour I felt extremely sick and faint due to the shock of sugar to my system after fasting, but it really wasn't bad at all. I felt better by hour 2 and by hour 3 I was 90% better.

They told me "no news is good news" so I am praying nobody calls me tomorrow!

Gah!

Well, I failed the 1-hour glucose test. hat means I get to undergo the 3-hour tomorrow morning. I am bummed but at the same time, simply glad for modern medicine allowing me the opportunity to know if there is something wrong. Being on a restrictive diet or having to take (more) shots would be a massive bummer but anything to keep my little man healthy and safe!

We're having a lot of stress related to our insurance, so any warm fuzzies or prayers you have would be appreciated. Basically, the woman who does HR for Rob's former company feels absolutely no pressure or rush to get us the COBRA info in a timely fashion so we have been "deactivated" and it is causing problems. There's more to it then that but I won't bore you.

In more positive news, Rob had an interview early this morning and he is still gone, 2 hours later. I am choosing to look at this as an excellent sign! This is the job he really wants because there are a lot of perks you don't typically see in his industry, such as days that are only 10.5 hours long and some weekends off (unheard of!)

The Good and The Meh

I had another doctor's appointment today. Everything seems to be going on swell! Praise God for that! Le bebe sounded nice and healthy and I am holding steady on my weight, which I was concerned about. I also did my gestational diabetes test. I spend time on The Bump message boards and from the way many people write about it, I was literally expecting hell on Earth but that was not the case at all. My bottle of glucola was very small and tasted like fruit punch. I literally had it down in two sips. Now, I get to wait for the results.

Rob had a job interview today and they are doing a background check. I really hope it works out. The situation is not ideal but we desperately, desperately need for him to find a job. No joke. I paid the doctor $720 this morning, I have to pay COBRA for the month, which is as yet undetermined because his HR lady hates him, and we have to spend $100 on Paris for her seizure medicine tomorrow. Oh, and I have to pick up another prescription, too. Anybody have some winning lotto numbers to spare?

All kidding aside, so long as the baby is healthy, I don't care about money. We are still actively trying to live in a place of faith, not fear. Sometimes we have to gently remind ourselves. OK, maybe we have to do a lot of reminding, but it's all OK, either way.

Is There A Rage Stage?

If there is a "rage stage" I have reached it! I don't pride myself on my patience to start, but things are unreasonably bad lately. In fact, I'm sure the nickname "Captain Crankypants" was coined specifically for me.

Today we went to Wal-mart to make a return, and the woman working the door was rude. Now, she is always rude. She has been rude for the entire 5 months I have "known" her. She is a negative, miserable person, period, so it is not like she was acting out of character. Usually I avoid her or kill her with kindness but today I was forced to interact with her directly and I couldn't contain myself. I marched right up to the customer service department and let it be known what a rotten attitude she has.

Um, doesn't that qualify me as having a rotten attitude, too?

Now, it is Wal-mart so it's pretty safe to say nothing will come of my complaint. But karma sure bit me in the booty for letting her attitude infect mine because I ended up loosing an important receipt. That'll show me!

It wasn't just the Wal-mart witch, either. People have been on my very last nerve for very modest offenses. I? need a chill pill.

Please send sedatives.






(Kidding.)

28 Weeks

How Far Along: 28 Weeks

Size of baby: Head of cauliflower (blecht!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 11 pounds holding strong...hopefully this will have some positive influence on my GD test tomorrow though I'm pretttty sure it doesn't work that way, LOL!

Maternity Clothes: Mostly. Ironically, many of my tops still fit from when I was heavier. Go figure. I pray all those clothes are swimming on me after he gets here!

Gender: A beloved son!

Movement: His kicks and punches are more infrequent but now I can feel when he moves his entire body. It's pretty cool to watch my stomach contort as he does a somersault or stretches out. Pregnancy is the miracle everyone claimed it to be. Getting used to him not kicking quite as often has me on edge but my doctor will explain the kick counts to me on my appointment on Monday so hopefully that will put me at ease a bit.

Sleep: So-so.

What I miss: I miss Rob having a job because that meant I could get a craving on demand (within reason) and now not so much. Frugality for the WIN!

Cravings: We are back onto chicken wings but I can't have any because eating out is expensive. I suppose it is a good thing, actually.

Symptoms: A B-I-G Bebe Belly!

Best Moment this week: Two things: 1. Rob gave me the sweetest mother's day card in existence and 2. my friend from church told me she is pregnant. I know it is simply the season of my life, but I couldn't be more thrilled that I have so so so many friends who are pregnant at the same time. Don't drink the water!

Spoke Too Soon!

Sheesh, I did all the bragging about how the Heparin wasn't bruising me the way it does so many others, and I end up with this:



I'm not quite sure what happened. I know I first noticed it after having done my injection in a public restroom while standing. Maybe I didn't pinch hard enough? I have definitely noticed that the bigger I get, the less fat I have to inject into, which results in more bruising and lots more pain!

Thankfully I am pretty sure it is not a full-blown hematoma. I will ask at my next appointment if I can start injecting into my thigh.

Baby Shower

We were blessed with a wonderful baby shower hosted this past weekend by two of my very closest friends. It was really wonderful to see so many people we miss (quite literally) on a daily basis. We got tons and tons and tons of clothes, towels and blankets. Our little man will be dressed in style!

Unfortunately, I was so distracted by the fun that I neglected to take pictures with my guests. I'm just devastated at that but there is nothing I can do. I keep trying to get better at catching memories on camera but continue to fail. I just keep telling myself it's OK because I am so consumed with how much fun I am having!

The brunch menu was fabulous:

Bacon and spinach quiche
Spinach salad with berries, feta and nuts
Coffee cake muffins
Blueberry scones with lemon glaze and Devonshire cream
Pasta salad
Fruit salad
Assorted cupcakes

Well, I was going to try to post at least a shot from when I was opening gifts, but each one is absolutely awful. Ha! My "Oohing and awwing" face looks remarkably similar to my "Ugh" face so in the interest of not looking disgruntled, just trust me that I had a wonderful time!

27 Weeks

This post is nearly a week late-forgive me, we've been travelling.








How Far Along: 27 Weeks

Size of baby: Cucumber

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 11 pounds holding strong. I dread getting on the scale for week 28 after our trip to California!

Maternity Clothes: Mostly.

Gender: A beloved son!

Movement: His kicks are getting stronger by the day!

Sleep: It felt really good to sleep in our own bed after travelling and for the first time, I only woke up to use the bathroom, not to toss and turn! Honestly, my hips have been hurting very badly so that is what impedes sleep the most.

What I miss: Today? A martini.

Cravings: Surprisingly I didn't have any in California and I seem to be doing OK.

Symptoms: A B-I-G Bebe Belly!

Best Moment this week: Our first baby shower was pretty terrific; I am blessed with such sweet, generous friends!





As you may or may not have ready on my other blog, Rob lost his job. Needless to say, things are a little rough around here. I have a lot to say, but that might not be an option. I have a lot on my heart but I'm trying to remain positive and not live in fear. Our son is healthy and that is all that matters.

Exciting!

This weekend is our first baby shower and we are super excited! We are flying to California tomorrow and while there is a lot to do, it's the type of chores that are exciting, not tedious. Rob got a haircut, I am getting my hair done, and yesterday I got a specialty manicure that will supposedly last many weeks. Since I was laid off I stopped getting my nails and hair done with the exception of two haircuts so this is a fun, big deal for me!

If you're one of my California people, I really hope to see you on either Friday night or Saturday. I'm really excited for my shower because I will (hopefully) be getting to see some of my friends I didn't get to see on my last trip. It was so hard making a shower guest list. There were a handful of friends I wanted to invite but didn't because we aren't super tight and I didn't want anyone to think I was looking for gifts! I was really worried about the guest list because there was a debacle with the printing company (my girlfriend paid an extra fee for them to ship the printed invites directly so they'd be expedited and at least three people mentioned not receiving theirs. So upsetting!) I'm just really excited to see my friends and my mom bought me a new shirt to wear, too! Yay!

Our next shower is in about three weeks. Over fifty people are invited, and I must say with honesty that I only know a handful of them. I am excited for that shower, too, because I will get a chance to meet new people. How strange to think you'll be meeting people at what is typically an intimate event, right? Gotta love a loving church!