Mama Needs a Workout!

I need to get back to focusing on myself.  First things first, I am going to put somewhat of an end to my daily routine that consists of:  summer school, lunch, 3 hour nap, cleaning, TV, dinner, bed.

I have about a month until the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon.  I have kept up with exercising, I am still able to "run" outside, and as of right now am still going to run it on Sunday, September 4th.  The baby comes in 3 1/2 months the half comes in one.  It's me time right now and I have to regain my focus.  I do that best when I make it public.  Put it out there so you guys can judge and bother me about it.

Since it's so hot out I plan on doing all of my miles in the gym during the week with a long run on Saturday down on the trail.  Here's my workout plan for this week:

Monday:  3 miles crosstrainer (Done!  3.1 miles -- 35 minutes)
Tuesday: Kettlebell Cardio (Done!  45 minutes)
Wednesday: spin (Didn't go -- too tired)
Thursday: 4 miles crosstrainer (Didn't go -- talked myself out of it)
Friday: 3 miles crosstrainer
Saturday: 7 mile trail run

Mileage = 

The Name Game

Wednesday, July 20th
Last night we made a master list of 8 names (I threw one more in there after I finished blogging).  As of today, July 20th, Bryan has begun to veto names.  Our daughter will NOT be named: Ava, which was a name on my list. Is it wrong that I want to win?  I have got to shake that feeling, but I'm sure that it's harder for the woman to let go than it would be for the man.  He got to pick out the finish on the nursery furniture, can't I pick the name?  I'm so selfish.  I'm just glad that I am not twenty right now because the names I would be fighting for would have been: Jules McKenzie or Ella Jade.  Both of those names make me cringe slightly at this point in my life.

Thursday, July 21st
Instead of making a new post every time we veto or discuss names, I have decided to just keep the name post private until we have gotten down to the nitty-gritty.  We have gotten the list of 8 down to 5.  I vetoed one of Bryan's names late last night.  I knew I was going to toss it out because this was not the first time he's mentioned it.  The latest name to meet the shredder:  Addison.
One, it breaks my two-syllable requirement.  Two, all I can think about is Addison Montgomery from Private Practice/Grey's Anatomy. Three, it just makes for a really long name when put with our last name, in my opinion.  There is still one more of Hub's names that I need to get around to tossing, but I'm having a hard time doing it.  I know it's his favorite but I just cannot see naming our daughter that so I don't think I can even consider it.  I have been trying.  Calling her by it and all of that, but I just can't get a feel for it.  I'm sure it won't survive the weekend.
What's redonky is that when I chucked Addison his first reaction was, "of course you got rid of one of my names." I then brought up the night before when he got rid of one of mine. It must be done.  Each of our names are going to get slowly slashed until only one remains.

Thursday, July 28th
I could just scream right now.  In fact, I just did.  I want this child to have a name already.  I'm tired of thinking about it!  Our list of four is just not cutting it.  Nothing is jumping out at me, but I also know that I have read that damn baby name book TWICE and the only names I like are already on the list that we can't seem to choose from.  What the hell is the problem here?  Not only that but I have been reconsidering one of the names that was tossed off the list last week.  Did we dump it too quickly?  Bryan said we could put it back on the list if I wanted.  Do I want to?  Kind of.  I like it.  Asking for other people's name ideas doesn't work.  I hate them all or Bryan hates them all.  No one can help us here!  No wonder my mom doesn't have a middle name.  My grandparents probably used up all of their name ideas by the time they got to her (she's #4 of 5).  I don't blame them.  This stuff is no joke. 
Maybe we'll be like that couple that's keeping their baby's gender a secret until it can decide for itself.  We can just not name her and when she's about four or five she can name herself.  If I was able to name myself at four or five my name would have been Jennifer or Brooke.  As of now the torture continues.

Friday, July 29th
This child needs to have a name.  I know she's not here yet and we actually have about three more months to officially decide, but I feel like I need to have her named.  After hanging out with RH this afternoon I discovered two new names that I liked.  Both have since been vetoed.  Now we are left with five names, I forced a vetoed name back onto the list because I can't get it out of my head.  On the way up to NOVA I told Bryan that we're coming up with a name for her.  He'll be trapped in the car... there's no where to hide... muahahahha!  At this point I suggested that we put the five names in order from 1st-5th hoping that we may match up.  I have made my top five list, he hasn't.  He said he needs time to think some more.  I think he's stuck because I kicked his favorite name off of the list.  I completely understand the name block.  I'm just glad that he cares enough to actually take the time to think about what he likes best.  Pretty awesome husband I have.

Saturday, July 30th and Sunday, July 31st
This weekend we visited a lot of family.  What's nice about our families is that different groups of them live near each other, which makes it easy to see many people on the same trip.  This time we were up at my aunt's house who lives 5 minutes from his aunt, uncle, and cousins.  What does this have to do with the baby's name?  Everyone wants to know what it is and we have nothing to tell them!  It's very frustrating.  We should have a name for her, but we don't.  Everyone asking us kind of prompted us to talk about narrowing down the list of six (that's right, we added more because we like torture).  The plan this time was for each of us to put the six names in order from 1st-6th and hope that our top names matched.  On the way home last night I told Bryan that even if he told me to just pick the name myself I wouldn't be able to do it.  I have been between 3-4 names for the past few weeks.  One week I'll think I've got the one that I love and then *poof* out of no where I like another one better.  So, Bryan gave me two choices:

• he can either narrow the list down from six to two
• he can put the list of six in order from 1st-6th

I asked him to narrow the list down from six to two so he did.  What's funny is that his top two are my top two!  Woo Hoo! His #1 was my #2 and vice versa.  I'll be happy with either name.  Now we have to decide which one it will be.

Sunday, July 31st
Houston, we have a name!  Praise the name Gods we have made a decision!  What's nice is if we have another girl after this one, we already have a name for her.  We're just going to use the one that we didn't pick for #1.  I am a little iffy on sharing the name before she is born for a few reasons.

• I don't want to hear any negative comments or see any negative looks about her name.  Out of all of the names on our list, this is the only one that couldn't be found on a top 20 list.  It's not common but we love it.  So let me unleash the teacher by saying, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all (and hide your facial expressions)"  It will grow on you and you'll love it too!
• What if we panic and change our mind?  I'm going to go ahead and put it out there not to monogram or put her name on anything just in case.  I have some deep, dark fear that she'll be born and not look like her name.  Either that or one of us will have second thoughts on it and want to change it.  Probably won't happen though.  I say that if having second thoughts on her name at some point between now and when her birth certificate is made is the only "pregnancy" fear that I have then I'm doing pretty good.

I'm pretty positive that Bryan never wants to name anything ever again after the hell we went through this weekend so her name is most likely here to stay.  Being in the car for 10+ hours gives you plenty of time to think about, talk about, and debate baby names.  I'm just glad that I didn't completely irritate him by wanting to make a decision.  If I did, he hides it really well.
Anyway, Bryan doesn't want to keep her name a secret so I will push my fears and potential irritations aside and share it with you all once we've shared it with our families.

"HI"

I took the plunge today and went with RH to the Lifestyle Center at Chesapeake General to find new bras.  Bra shopping is not as horrible as bathing suit shopping but it is a pretty close second.  The only thing that keeps it out of first place is that the bra is worn under my clothes so I don't have to worry too much about what it looks like.  This bra shopping experience was slightly awkward.  First the lady took my measurements and then brought in bras that were my size for me to try out.  She then STAYED IN THE ROOM and helped me put the bras on!  Ack!  The worker woman saw my ginormous boobs and dinner plate nipples!  On top of that some of those nursing bras are very odd.  In particular the Medela bra was the weirdest!!  I have added a picture of the bra so that my reenactment really gets across to you.  Before you scroll down for the demonstration, please study the picture below.  Pay close attention to the boobie part that's unlatched.

Alright folks, are you ready?  When the lady brought in this bra she said the following, "Make sure that when you're putting this bra on you bend over so that you can pull your breast tissue through the hole.  It makes it easier to make sure you have the right fit."
Did I hear that correctly?  She wants me to tug and pull each breasticle through that fabric hole while the outside is unlatched!?  I don't know about you but I didn't go to the sexy lingerie story to buy a kinky, bra that's not really a bra, boobies flying free kinda bra.  I definitely did not want to wear this kinky, bra that's not really a bra, boobies flying free contraption in front of a complete stranger.  No worries.  I did not get that crazy ass bra pictured above.
That description now brings me back to the blog title "HI".  That is now my bra size 34H/I.  RH and I joked when we first saw it.  It's like, "Hi!  Here are my out-of-control boobs!".  The joke was on me when the sales woman brought in that size for me to try and it fit...

Take Your Pants Off!

Thought I would reel you in with the post title. I'm really just referring to work or in my case, lack thereof.  One perk to pregnancy -- you can go out in public with your pants COMPLETELY unbuttoned and unzipped and it's acceptable.  Not only that but the pregnant manufacturers actually make a piece of fabric so that you an successfully pull it off. 

I thought of this because today I am squeezing into the last pair pre-pregnancy dress pants that "fit".  By "fit" I mean I can pull them all the way up without looking like a stuffed sausage.  Even though I can pull them up, there is no way in hell that I'd be able to zip or button them so I opt for the BeBand from Target.  It's this lovely piece of stretchy fabric that you put over your pants where they're supposed to be fastened and it keeps everything up.

I'm talking about my pants today because I have two interviews after summer school.  I had better get a job ASAP because I think that this is the last time I'm going to be able to pull off these dress pants.  I just got back from my first interview and had to hike them up once I got back to the car.  I hate that pregnancy is taboo for getting a job because I end up sitting in interviews paranoid.

• Is she looking at my stomach?
• Does she know?
• Is she waiting for me to tell her that I'm pregnant?
• What if I get the job, is that betrayal that I kept it a secret?

That's what I think about.  I know, I know.  I'm not required to share any personal information in an interview, but for those of you who are not teachers it's hard to understand the predicament that I'm in.  I have the students for 9 months out of the year.  The first and last month's are used for establishing procedures and then wrapping up/end of year testing.  That leaves 7 solid months to actually teach.  Well, I'm going to be out with the baby for 2 of those 8 months.  It's kind of an asshole thing to do if you ask me.  At this point, having gone a full year without a full-time job, I have to be selfish because savings doesn't last forever.  So my lips are sealed until I sign on the dotted line.  

23 weeks - 161 days

Mango Mansion - enough said

I don't know why but I have had blogger's block this week.  Posting pictures of the nursery is easy since I don't have to say much, but this weekly blog has been plaguing me.  What do I update you with?  What's been going on with me?  With baby?  I guess it's getting harder because nothing weird has been happening to my body like it was in the beginning.  Also, there isn't much new information to put out there other than the fact that she's still in there growing.  Well, time is not going to stand still for me so I may as well just get down to it.

Time Left: 17 weeks (15.5 if I manage to 'eek out a 11/11/11 birthday)

Baby's Name: She's still nameless.  I am happy to say that we've narrowed our name list down from 8 to 4.

Size of Baby: I swear I have posted the mango before but apparently she is the size of a large mango.  More than 11 inches long and weighing in at over a pound.  Do mangoes weigh over a pound?  Hmmm... I love mangoes.  I went there once in college with a fake ID.  That was the one and only time I was brave enough to use one.  I'm such a goodie-goodie.  Our apartment in college was also named the Mango Mansion. Week 23 must have good things in store for me!

Total Weight Gain: I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I'm going to guess that I've gained around 16-18lbs.  I'll post tomorrow with the actual number.  Good news is that it's all in my boob/belly region as far as I can tell.  If I'm gaining weight anywhere else no one is telling me. 
7/27/11:  I was right about the weight gain.  I am up 18lbs.  Starting weight 140, current weight 158.  At first I was a little worried, but then I did the math.  If I were to gain a pound a week until week 40 that would put me at a 35lb. weight gain, which is what they told me to expect.  Since I'm working out and have been doing a better job at watching the junk intake, I think it'll be fine.  I did find out that my scale at home reads about 2 lbs. heavier than the doctor's scale.  I'll use their numbers :)

Movement:  I have been able to feel her a lot more since about Friday.  Before then I'd really only notice her at nighttime.  Now, it can be at any point of the day.  It just depends.  What's weird is that I'm now able to feel her in more than one place at the same time, which means she must be stretching out.  I still swear that I can feel her from the outside, but every time I try to get Bryan to feel her he either can't or she stops moving.  Last night while I was in bed watching TV I saw my belly  jump when she moved.  Pretty cool.  At first her movements would throw me off guard.  I must be getting used to them now because it doesn't surprise me much.  She must have been equally excited to go road tripping with the girls this weekend because she was moving around a lot.

Sleeping:  Still getting up to pee at least twice every night.  This week I have noticed that it's been hard getting to sleep or staying asleep because my legs are restless.  I feel like I have to move around or stretch them.  It's really irritating because I feel like I'm bouncing and flailing around in bed as I try to go to sleep.  Oddly enough I only notice that I have trouble breathing when I'm sitting in a reclined position.  When I'm laying down it's not a big deal.  What does suck is that I have to sleep on my side.  If I lay on one side too long it completely falls asleep.  Fun.  So to recap: getting up to pee, can't fall asleep because of my jittery legs, and have to flip sides.

Favorite Foods:

• Watermelon (duh)
• Chips and Queso (thanks RH -- grrr)
• Bread (bagels and toast)
• Ice cream

Sounds really healthy huh?  Ugh.  Kills me but tastes so good.  The only "good" thing on my list is the watermelon.  To set your mind at ease, I only have one of the other things a day.  Today I've already had my chips and queso.  No more badness for me until tomorrow.

On the healthy side, I've managed to force myself back into some sort of normal workout routine.  Yesterday was day one.  I pretty much forced myself to go to the gym to do the cross-trainer for 35 minutes.  Doing the actual exercising isn't the problem, it's getting my butt down there.  Today was SUPPOSED to be my 5am kettlebell class (fave!).  Too bad my stupid self set the alarm for 5:50am instead of 4:50am.  Slept through it.  I'm trying not to mentally sabotage myself here.  I'm going to go later to lift weights I swear!  I hate lifting weights by the way.  So boring!!  Hopefully there's some group class I can check out.  I just looked.  I can choose from: body pump, spin, or body jam.  I have been wanting to try body jam, which I have heard resembled hip-hop dancing, but every time I've tried a dancing class (cough, cough Zumba) I have completely sucked it up.  Whatever.  I'll either jump into one of those classes or just hit the weight circuit.

11 weeks (for perspective)

My favorite part of this week has been watching Bryan watch me.  Sounds weird, huh?  Let me try to explain.  He is basically fascinated by what is happening with my body.  Yes, the boob growth but also my belly is becoming more noticeable in my everyday clothes.  Sometimes I'll just catch him looking at it.  He's also been putting his hand on my belly more often.  It doesn't irritate me at all.  I think it's really cute because he'll just come out of no where with it.  He also says cute stuff like, "The baby's in there."  Hehe.  Love it.  That is all I will share about our cutsey interactions.  Not everything needs to be blogged about :)

23 weeks

Lastly, I have to talk about my furbabies.  Specifically I want to talk about Kale (aka Fatticus Maximus).  He has been spending a whole lot more time in the baby's room lately, which is a room that he use to completely stay out of.  I don't know if he's in there because the room's now virtually empty or if he knows about the baby.  Dogs know things, you know.  Of course now that I've written down that he's always in there he saunters into the back bedroom to flop his fatness onto the guest bed.  Stop trying to contradict me dog!

Oh Lord.  I thought I was finished with this week's blog and that the only thing I needed to add was my weekly photo once Bryan got home, but I was wrong.  I went online to check out the daily posts and came across a silly one that I have to shit about.   What I came across was a thread posted by someone else who is due the same day as me and therefore is entering their 23rd week.  The question was, "Am I still in my 5th month or my 6th?"  As far as I'm concerned I am 5 3/4 months pregnant right now.  I am using 4 weeks to equal one month.  It's easy to calculate and just makes the best sense.  She, and many others online, are now saying that they are in their 6th month.  How?  You're telling me that month 5 only had three weeks in it?  I seriously doubt it.  I wonder if these are ladies who plan on inducing at 37-38 weeks and think that since they'll give birth before 40 weeks that they are further along.  I don't see how this has turned into such a debate online, which it has.  I just stay quiet online because all of the silly, sensitive women get offended too easily.  They probably would not like my blog since this is where I get to vent out about some of the stupidity that I read.  That 5th or 6th month question was not the doozy of the week.  Typing about it made me remember something ridiculous that I read earlier though.  A lady came on and posted that she ate a handful of jellybeans, feels her baby moving around shortly after, and is now afraid that she "hurt" the baby by eating some jelly beans.  WHAT!?  Are you serious?  These are people that should be required to get a license or at least read a book before getting pregnant.  If a few jelly beans hurt the baby then mine is going to come out a 7-8 lb. gummy bear {sigh}.  Educate yourselves people!  Either that or ask your doctor stupid questions like that.  Don't get mad when the general public slams your idiotic posts.

And just like that I'm back!  Blogger's block is gone!  Sorry for the first part being a little on the vanilla side.  Hopefully the stupid people rambling made up for it.

Ok. Last thing I swear.  I have also decided that I need to start putting myself into cleaning routines.  This Sunday clean-a-thon isn't going to cut it once there's a baby around.  First "chore" I chose to tackle was the dishes.  They pile up but they only take about 5 minutes to do in the first place.  My strategy: keep the sink clear at all times by putting dishes directly in the dishwasher after they've been used.  Once the dishwasher is full I run it at night and then empty in the morning before work.  So far I've been successful for a full week!  It's all about breaking bad habits.

 I wasn't super stoked about posting these, but I wanted to take them so here they are.  Bare belly.

Nursery Plans

Over the weekend while I was reverting back to being a 12 year old girl with my friends at the NKOTBSB concert, Bryan and his BF Tony got to work on the nursery.  Don't get over excited.  They primed/painted the walls and painted the baseboards.  On top of that, they got started on decoration planning.  Tony is a phenomenal artist and offered to paint decorations on her wall.  This has me extremely excited!!  I knew that he was great at art and decorating but had completely forgotten.  So this post is going to be a preview of what's to come.  Think of it as an inspiration board.

Bryan and Tony picked this color - Sea Urchin Green

 The walls are painted but I'm not sure how well you can see the color from the pictures.  Today we were sitting on the couch and Bryan said that it looked like her room was glowing.  Love it!

The proposed color scheme

Tony's initial thought process - we won't be going with dots or multicolored walls

List of furniture and the general layout (Pottery Barn Kids Room Designer)

The list of things that need to be done in the room.

Ceiling - notice the difference?  Can you say, "Dirty ceiling"?

One of the butterfly stencils Tony made so that we can get started on the decorating!

The two of them got a lot of great ideas going this weekend!  I'm so excited to really get this started.  We figured that it'll be easier to decide where we'd like to put the artsy designs when there is furniture to work around.  Until then we're probably going to take the measurements of the furniture and start eyeballing. 

There will be more to come soon enough!

Let Nursery Preparations Begin!

Halleluiah!  We have chosen bedding for the crib.  Sigh.  Finally, I feel like we can get started on something.  We decided to go with butterflies:

Bedding Set

Wall Decal - We'll be changing the colors of the butterflies

And the walls will be a shade of light green.  Here are some samples we picked up last night.  Right now they are against the current wall color (blue).  Now that they are dry I am starting to think that I want to prime a few patches and then paint the colors.  I don't feel like I'm getting a true feel for what they look like.  Also, I realized that the lighting in that room is pretty crappy.  Might be looking for lighting online today too...





Top left is called Sea Glass Green
Top right is called Mint Shake
Bottom is called Green Trance






I think that if we go with one of the darker colors we'll only do one or two walls in it.  We're also thinking about waiting to paint until we get the crib sheet so we can match the color.

5 1/2 months - 22 weeks - 154 days

Spaghetti squash.  If you haven't tried this delish veggie, you must.  Use it in place of noodles.

Bryan has been traveling a lot for work lately so I've been trying my best to keep busy so that my days don't look like the following:  summer school, many naps, possible gym time, dinner, TV, bed, then repeat.  This past week I had dinner and saw the Gin Blossoms with LC and then decided last minute to head back home to visit with my family for a long weekend.  Up there I went on a sober bar crawl and hit the gym for a solid two hours with my workout buddy AR, hung with my sister, went to the community pool, saw Horrible Bosses, and did some shopping before heading back home Sunday night.

Word to the pregnant wise: pack snacks if you are planning on being in the car for 3+ hours.  Your will power becomes weak and vulnerable if you start to get hungry.  On the way up I was still strong so I stopped at Subway.  On the way back I was very, very weak in the will power department so I stopped for a mini Blizzard (Georgia Mud Fudge, yum) and a double cheeseburger and small fry from McDonald's.  Ack!  I can tell you the last time I had McDonald's.  It was when we were heading up to Atlantic City the January of 2007.  I can also tell you that I had a ham, egg, and cheese breakfast bagel.  That's how often I don't go to McDonald's.   That double cheeseburger and small fry was as succulent as I remember.  I call this falling off of the food wagon.

My Future Boy Band Lover

She will be attending her first concert this weekend!  My favorite Phi's and I are road trippin' it down to Greensboro, NC to see the one and only NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!  And Backstreet Boys, but who really cares about them anyway?  Now if this were NKOTB and N'Sync that would be a whole other fanatical story.  I told Bryan that I was going to get a giant funnel to stick in my belly button during the concert so that the sweet musical waves could be collected and shot straight into her little bubble.  Sigh... it's going to be amazing.

Baby Stats:

• Weight = about 1 lb.
• Length = about 1 ft.
• tooth buds are forming under the gums
• eyes are formed but the irises are not colored (that's another debate - will they be green or blue?)

Her pancreas is starting to produce digestive enzymes and hormones for her own little body.  Her inner ear is also almost fully developed, which will give her the sense of balance (hopefully, will not give her multiple ear infections). So, now that's she's able to balance herself a little in her floaty sack she is able to explore what's in there a little easier.  I guess she's doing that Look Who's Talking montage where the baby is flashing his hand in front of his face and checking out his "third arm".  Because besides that I don't know what else she would be checking out in there.  Maybe now that she can move with purpose she'll start to fight me back when I push on her to make her move.  

Speaking of moving, I'm starting to be able to feel her from the outside!  At first I wasn't sure if I was imagining the feeling since I knew she was moving about, but I confirmed it the other night when I was laying in bed.  I thought I was feeling her when I put my hand on my stomach but wasn't sure so I lifted up my shirt to watch my belly.  Sure enough I saw it jump just a little when she moved.  It was pretty cool.  Since Bryan was out of town I tried to record the belly jumps with  my phone.  I thought I was able to catch some of her movements, but when I watched it back I figured out that without being able to feel the movement, I wasn't able to see it on the video.

The Bun Warmer (Me)

The bump is becoming a bit more noticeable especially to those who know I'm pregnant.  What is nice is that I can still hide it very easily if I wear the right clothes.  I had an interview last Thursday.  I felt like it went well but I spent the days before debating with myself on whether or not to tell them about the situation.  In the end I decided to keep it to myself.  I can't risk not getting a job because of the baby.  While it is illegal to not hire someone because they are pregnant, how the hell would I ever be able to prove it?  I couldn't so I chose to keep it to myself that way if I do or don't get a job I will know it was for my talents and knowledge and not because of the little lady.  I can't stop thinking that this has already happened to me.  That I didn't get a job because I'm pregnant.  I hope that it's not true, but that thought will be in the back of my mind because I can't prove it either way.

On a lighter bump note, you're starting to be able to see it better in my workout clothes.  So, when I went to my kettlebell class this morning the girls in my group asked when I was due and we talked babies for a little bit.  It did take them the entire class to get the question out.  I think what gave me away was when I kept calling the instructor over to modify my stations.

*This picture happened while I was blogging. Bryan about died laughing when he realized my boob/belly combo could successfully hold the remote.

I've still been on a serious watermelon kick.  I think in total I have eaten 5 whole watermelons by myself in the past few weeks.  These are the normal sized watermelons, not the "personal" ones.  They are SO good!!  My current record is two in one week.  Other than watermelon I don't really have a taste for much else, which is a pain in the ass when I'm trying to think of something to make as a meal.  Eh, I guess I have been wanting soup too but it's barely worth mentioning. 

I have also noticed that I have trouble breathing when I'm in certain positions.  It's weird because it takes me a few minutes to realize that I have to try harder to breathe.  Kind of a pain.

Touching the bump is still very awkward for me.  My stomach is not "hard" so I still feel self-conscious when people touch it. Now, I have figured out how I would like my stomach touched:

• Use four fingers to place on it
• Poke it
• Push lightly on it

DO NOT:

• Caress the bump with a full palm.  That is very awkward for me.
• Use two hands.  You can't feel her - I promise.
• Place a full palm on my stomach for any reason

Baby "T" Forever?

I never thought that naming a baby would be so difficult and frustrating.  I created this problem for myself as I'm sure all of you ladies have done as well.  We make lists of names that we like even when we're not dating anyone.  Those names get stuck in your mind as the end all, be all of names and we forget that there is someone else who has a 50/50 say.  Argh!!  If you haven't guessed, she doesn't have a name yet.  We have however made a master list of 7 names.  Don't ask what they are because I'm not telling you.  It's hard enough debating with B about which name works best.  I plan on avoiding judgement eyes and wavering tones if someone doesn't particularly like the name that we chose or the ones we are thinking about.  Just don't ask.  We'll tell you when we're ready.  Right now I just hope that she has a name before she is breathing air and seeing daylight.  Anyway, now we are stuck with these seven names, many opinions, and no clue where to go from here.  How do we pick this damn name?  These are strategic ideas we tossed around tonight:

• Choose one out of a hat - this one will most likely NOT be happening
• Set up a "playoff" bracket and have our names go head-to-head
• Trading lists and narrowing each others down to two names, which leaves us with four instead of seven to choose from.
• Calling her one name from our list every day and once we've gotten through all of the choices, eliminate the ones that don't work.  Bryan vetoed that idea before I could even get it all the way out.  

What I did do was type up and print out each full name so that we could see what they look like written out.  I think I'm going to hang them up in the house somewhere for us to think about.  For some reason I doubt that this is going to get us any closer to a name.

22 weeks

Finally!  I have a full bodied, head included, picture!  What sucks is that the damn camera battery was dead so Bryan had to take this with his phone.  End result; blurry.

Over-the-Shoulder Boulder Holder

{Warning: potential TMI below}

That's right everybody, it's "complain about boobs" time yet again!  If I were you I would be worried because the 'girls' are getting their own, private post because I feel like I have a lot to say. Since B got stuck out to sea on a job an extra four days I decided to pack up the dogs and head to my mom's house for a long weekend.  Mom has been bugging me about getting new bras for a while now and I have been avoiding it like the plague.  My DD denial is strong but the fact that I now have side boob, front boob, and cleavage that touches in the middle is beginning to overwhelm my denial.  Fact of the matter is... I'm no longer a DD and there is nothing I can do about it so I gave in.  Having mom offer to buy me a bra or two eased the pain a bit but I encountered another problem once I got into the dressing room.

I have sung the praises of Motherhood Maternity since first stepping foot into one, but today I came across a sales girl who was a little bobo.  On top of that, RF told me not to get bras from Motherhood, but with mom buying I figured I ought to try.  Bad idea.  Just for the sake of the story I currently stuff the 'ladies' into a 34DD.  Can anyone tell me why this woman brought me 40F (F is after DD for you lucky souls who didn't know that letters went after DD).  While the cup size was, sadly, a comfortable fit, I couldn't understand why the damn bras didn't provide ANY support.  If I wanted my breasticles to touch my stomach I would go braless.  Not the case  Also, I am a first-time mom here.  You need to warn me that the straps pop off of the front without warning.  I have never worn or shopped for a nursing bra and was very confused when the straps started popping off all over the place.  Picture that.  Me standing in the dressing room with a bra that's too wide, straps hanging off the back, cups hanging off the front, and me trying to twist and turn to grab the straps and regain control.  After trying on 6-8 different bras I began to investigate the problem.  Well, duh!  She wasn't brining me my size!  I leaned out with a handful of reject bras and kindly (sort of) reminded her that I currently wear a 34DD.
"Well, the shortest band size we carry after DD is 40"

1. How does that help me?
2. Why are you knowingly brining me the wrong size instead of telling me that in the first place?
3. Why does is seem to me that clothing manufacturers believe that pregnant means "fat" or "overweight"?  Yes, I went there but it's true.  My stomach is growing out not and it's not taking the rest of my body with it.  This is the first time that I've had a hard time finding clothes because they're too big.

My back hasn't gained weight and my ribs have not suddenly spread further apart.  I am still a 34 around, I just need a larger cup size.  Six inches is a lot!  I don't know how this woman thought I was going to make a 40 work. 

The story ends with me sitting on the couch with my sister's laptop and my boobs stuffed back into their 34DD suffocater.  Bra shopping now reminds me of bathing suit shopping.  I will dread the next time I am trying one on, which will be quite soon.  The day was not a complete loss.  I got a cute tunic, my very first pair of leggings (against my will), and the first item for the nursery; curtains. 

Yes, they are sheer.  Don't panic.  I am aware that it's best to make the room dark so she can sleep at any time day or night.  These are the decorative curtains.  We're going to either:

• put a thicker, colored drape behind to make the plant design pop out.
• put a ticker, colored drape in front to cover the light while she is sleeping and then be able to open it up when she's awake to let in light and display the sheer drape.

5.25 Months - 21 Weeks - 147 Days

Where to begin?  I have not felt very blogalicious this week.  I think that the excitement of finding out we were having a girl sucked the blogging life out of me.  Either that or it's because the power cord to my Macbook decided it is no longer going to work.  I need stimulation.  It was easy blogging while I was on the couch watching TV, talking to B, and fighting off the dogs.  Now I'm in the back computer room, barely in earshot of the TV, where all that is going on it the ceiling fan.  I'm getting restless just thinking about it.  Not only that but I have, yet again, fallen into summer laziness.  I only work at summer school from 7:30-11:15am Monday-Thursday.  You'd think that I would be at the beach everyday at noon.  Wrong.  I told myself that I was going to go today after I ate lunch.  What really happened was I ate lunch and then passed out on the couch for almost two hours.  Loser!  Now I'm in the boring, lifeless computer room trying to force out this week's blog while looking out of the window to bright blue skies and puffy, cottony clouds.  Why am I not outside!?

Baby "T"

Is officially finished with half of her stay in Hotel Mommy.  We're now on the downhill slide to birth, life, diapers, crying, and exhaustion.  On the up side we are also halfway to being able to put something into those adorable girl clothes that I have bought and that a few friends have given us!
She is now the size of a carrot, which doesn't seem like much of a difference from last week's banana, but who am I to judge.
Baby Center claims that she weighs about 12 oz. now and is about the length of a carrot (10.5 inches).  That must be why I can feel her moving around a lot more.  I can't imagine putting something the length of a carrot inside of myself, moving it around, and NOT being able to feel it.  Her movements are much more noticeable now and they aren't always in the same place like when I first started to feel them.  Like right now for instance I feel her whacking away right underneath my belly button but earlier today I felt her more down by my left hip region.  She's taking over in there!  I hope she never figures out how to swim up to my ribs as I have heard that is quite uncomfortable.
Back to what I said before, Baby Center tells me more about myself during pregnancy than it does about baby development at this point.  The only other changes in Baby "T" this week is:

• she now has eyelashes (hopefully long, lush ones) and eyelids.
• her Ladytown has begun to form down there.

Adventures in Baby Naming - She does NOT have a name yet.  Please stop asking and probing like we're hiding the name in Fort Knox.  There is no name to hide at this point, seriously.  Yes, we have names that are on the potential list, but we are not sharing them.  Why?  Because this naming business is hard and it's something that we need to do on our own without outside influences and opinions.  Sadly, it doesn't matter if you like her name or not.  What's also pretty hard is taking name suggestions from people.  At first it was really helpful.  Made it easier to think outside of the box, but at this point I'm stuck on three names and he's stuck on 3-4 names and that's it.  One of those on the current list is going to be our daughter's name and outside suggestions just hit the brick wall in my mind.   I guess I must be hitting my breaking point because the same thing goes for crib sets and bedding.  Last week when we finished Our Registry I was left astonished that the bedding choices were horrible and I set off on a three-day internet binge in search of the perfect bedding.  I had suggestions rolling in from girlfriends on where to look and things they liked, but I have now hit another brick wall.  I think I found the end of the internet as far as baby bedding goes and anything you send me or websites you suggest, I have been there, done that.  What's good is that from the suggestions and from my own searching  I have found 3-5 contenders for bedding.  The problem is B is out of town yet again which means that we'll have to wait to make new decisions until he gets back either Wednesday or Sunday (I know, stupid time gap but that's what you get when you're working with the military, gotta love 'em).  I still find myself poking around the internet looking for bedding and then I snap out of it.  Preparing for a baby is an addiction.  When does this nesting stuff kick in?  I could easily spend a few hours cleaning the house... if I felt like it.

11 weeks and super skinny

21 weeks - Can you hear me cringing as I post yet another mirror self-portrait?

My Baby Body
I'm starting to have one!  People who know I'm pregnant see it much easier than people who don't.  I went into Motherhood Maternity for some clothes (sadly, I retired some more of my pre-pregnancy clothes to the bin this weekend).  When I walked in the sales girl asked if I was shopping for myself or someone else.  When I told her I was shopping for me she asked the quintessential question, "How far along are you?"
When I replied with,"5 months." The look on her face and the ego boost I got was priceless.

"Where's the baby!?" she responded.  That's when I told her that I run, work out, and such.  She commended me, which felt nice because I usually get the opposite.  "You should take it easy" and all of that.  Whatever, it felt great to hear and I really love the maternity clothes.  So comfy and cute so far.  She suggested that I try the long shirts with leggings or skinny jeans when I told her that I don't understand why everything is so long.  That stuff looks weird on me right now because I don't have much of a belly to pop the shirt out and up.  Leggings and skinny jeans scare me, but I may have to try them out anyway.

I do think that I have found the answer to my dry, scaly belly!  It's an oil spray from Palmers.  The best part?  It doesn't smell like cocoa butter!!  Ugh, I HATE the smell of cocoa butter.  It's like chocolate gone horribly wrong.  Vomit.  For anyone else in my dry, scaly, itchy situation you must go get this!  It's oily at first, obviously, but it dries up pretty quickly and you're left feeling smooth and hydrated.  One friend suggested I rub olive oil on my stomach.  The smell of olive oil isn't all that pleasant so I decided to try this first.  Hopefully it continues to work.
The other things that may happen to me at this point are:

• Increased acne - I don't have "acne" but I do have those stupid, non whitehead forming pimple mounds forming on the gentile parts of my face and chest.  Mainly I'm talking about on my cheeks under my eyes.  You can't do much when they're there except for wait them out and pack coverup on top of them.
• Varicose Veins/spider veins - Praying these don't rear their ugly heads.  My legs are my favorite part of my body and I'd really like to keep it that way.

My Body ImageBack in 2006 right after I turned 25 I joined Weight Watchers.  My starting weight was 149.6 lbs.  Over the next six months I ended up losing almost 20 lbs. which got me down to 130-132 lbs.  I felt great, but still did not have a very good sense of my body image.  I always got those comments like, "You work out enough, how come you're not eating that piece of cake?" or "Man, you always bring rabbit food for lunch".  It sucked.  I worked hard to lose and keep off those 15-20 lbs.  Now I feel like I can safely say that I now understand that I did have a thin, healthy body before I got pregnant.  I don't think I would have ever looked at myself that way if I wasn't.  Looking back at pictures now, even including the 11 week picture that I posted above, I can honestly say, "Wow!  I was as thin as I was striving to be."  Thank you baby for showing me the light and allowing me to understand that I had gotten exactly what I worked for and just could never see it.

That's about it for this week.  I'd like to end with a gallery walk of outfits.  I don't have anyone to put them on yet, but that doesn't mean that I can't get you guys as excited about the little person that's going to be drooling, spitting up, and rubbing her sweet baby smell all over them :)

Thanks girls for spoiling my little lady :)

Too cute onsies from my Auntie L :)

Turkey bib from MW - Blog bib (so appropriate) from AM

B and I bought these a few months ago - they're for a boy but what the hell.  I figure I can slap a cute skirt on anything, right?

 

Lastly, this little cutie petituty is from MW!

Mind Boggling

My mind has been racing with baby since Tuesday afternoon.  I always thought that I wanted to have a boy first, but the more that I think, "I'm having a little girl," the more stupidly excited I get.  My two besties have boys (four in all) and it just seems like all that are around are little boys.  It's really kind of cool that I get to bring the first little girl into the group.

B is gone on another business trip so I am left here with the dogs and my baby brain.  Not the baby brain that forgets everything, but the baby brain that is thinking, "names... bedding... painting... cleaning... dresses... butterflies... ladybugs... giraffes... shelves... storage..." and on and on.  I feel like I need to be doing something!  Honestly there isn't much that I can or need to do right now I just want to.

Unfortunately with a racing mind comes unnecessary rambling... I'm done for the night.

Nursery Obsessed

Baby preparation has been pretty stagnant in our house since B's undertaking of the guest room turned guest/computer room right after we found out we were pregnant.  Since we had every intention of finding out the sex of the baby we figured that putting baby prep. on hold until then would be the smartest thing to do. 

Naturally when we left our ultrasound appointment on Tuesday we went straight to Babies 'R' Us to complete our registry.  A quick tip: do half of your registry, the little things that your hub would know nothing about, with your baby guru (a.k.a your bestie) and then take hub with you to pick out the big stuff like crib, stroller, etc.  It will make your life that much more wonderful!  Of course, warn hub in advance like I did that way he's prepared to be in a baby store for an hour or more.

I was quite impressed with B on this registry adventure.  He tried out the gliders to make sure we scanned the comfiest, he gave his opinion on crib style and color, and debated on which car seat was best.  We were on a roll and then came the dreaded bedding... ugh.  For one, Babies 'R' Us did not have that fantastic of a selection for girls.  For two, I am not a big fan of pink in a baby room.  Sure, I have my fair share of pink clothes but I just cannot bring myself to decorate a room pink.  It just feels wrong in so many ways.  For three, I'm not into frilly things.  Yes, my daughter will be sporting various colors of tutu's and such, but again, to decorate a room... just can't do it.  We didn't pick out bedding, which is what has pushed me over the edge of crazy.  B's lucky he's out of town for work because all I have been doing is surfing various websites looking for bedding that suits me.  That's right, I said me.  I'm going to be in there, I'm going to be cleaning the nursery, and I'm going to pick something that I LIKE!  The bedding is the key to unlocking the entire scheme of the room and I am without it!!  Argh!!  It's making me crazy!  The stupid thing about it is that we can't even go buy bedding if we wanted to so it really shouldn't matter all that much if we have it picked out or not.

My obsessing has now gotten me into a bind.  Theme.  I was set on lavender/green/white with a butterfly theme but apparently no one wants to decorate their little girl's room with purple so finding bedding is somewhat a challenge.  That challenge has now got me thinking of two other potential themes:  red/black/green/white with a ladybug theme and a jungle/giraffe theme.  What a freakin' pain!

During my 3-day internet binge I came across a really cool feature on Pottery Barn Kids website.  It allows you to design a room with furniture.  All you do is choose the shape of your room, type in the room's dimensions, and start placing your furniture.  That site has calmed me because I was getting ready to go into the nursery with a pencil and/or marker and start writing my ideas on the walls.  I'm sure B would have loved to come home to that crazy mess.  Here are some of the set-ups that I came up with tonight.

Well I would have posted the stupid room plans (there are four so far) if stupid Pottery Barn Kids would allow me to save the image in a way that I could share.  Naturally it will allow me to share it with Facebook, but it will not allow me to save the image to my desktop.  I will find a way it's just not going to be tonight.

To end I have to say that I am genuinely excited about this little girl.  You all know that I'm a boy's girl and have never been super girly.  But, I have quickly changed me tone (and my native language.  It seems as though a little pirate has crept into tonight's post).  Hell, you can still rub dirt on girls :)  Sadly, the obsession is getting ready to take on a physical form.  I'm going into the nursery now, at 10:15pm, to start organizing the piles that I made yesterday.

Week 20 Belly Shot

Forgot to post with the big baby girl announcement:

I shudder at yet another mirror self-portrait

5 months - 20 weeks - 140 days

We are half-way to baby time people!

Changes in Me:
Shoes don't fit? I read about your feet growing during pregnancy, but I was hoping that wouldn't be the case for me.  I am a nice, average size 8-9 depending on the shoe.  Now, I have only noticed a problem with two pairs of heels not fitting correctly.  My favorite pair of black heels gave me blisters the other day, which was very unsettling.  I don't like wearing flats with dresses so I'm going to be very disappointed if my feet truly are larger.  I refuse to go buy new shoes.

Weight - 153lbs. (that's a 13 pound gain)

Look - There is a woman in my Tuesday morning kettlebell class who's a month ahead of me.  So, today she's 24 weeks to my 20.  I have talked about her on here before and things have not changed much.  She looks like she's smuggling a beach ball under her shirt and I look like I've downed a few 6-packs too many.  What is up with that?!  I'm not in a super big hurry to be extra sweaty and awkward, but I'm starting to get those looks like, "she's not really pregnant, is she?".  I actually got that this past weekend.  I met a few new people faux camping and one of the girls couldn't believe I was 5 months pregnant.  I guess as long as I don't have a permanent job for next year the baby can keep hiding under my layer of stomach flub.  Sigh.  People say that I'm starting to look pregnant, but I just don't really see it most of the time.

Uterus - is up to my bellybutton.  My ab muscles are being stretched and pushed apart.  Great.  I just established that I actually have some decent abs under there and now they are being stretched out.  Can't get a break.

Sexy? In my book Your Pregnancy week by week there is a page titled You May Be Sexier than You Think (growl).  "What is this all about?" I ask myself.  It's set up like Letterman's top 10 list.  Let's see if I qualify as sexy according to the book:
1. Skin is smoother and softer because of the lotions and creams that you use to prevent stretch marks
-I think I covered "alligator belly" in last week's post so, no to #1
2. You ask for massages and back rubs, which lead to other "sexy time" activities
-I haven't really needed to ask more than normal so no to #2
3. Figuring out new ways to "make love" is an exciting new challenge!
-Um, this is a definite no.  It's awkward and, let's face it, I'm not as quick and nimble as I was 13  pounds ago.  It takes much more effort to throw my body around.  Not sexy people.  God.  Get with
the program.
4. I'm not even posting #4.  It's about sex and using your imagination.  Not even going there.
5. Pregnancy makes him walk like a man.  Pregnancy is a new source of pride.
-What a STU-PID saying.  Pregnancy makes him walk like a man?  What the hell did he walk like before?  Yeah B has that "I'm going to be a dad" glow but that really only comes out when he's
talking about the baby.  Other than that, we're pretty damn close to our normal selves.
6. Curves can be sexy
-Says who!?  I had curves before and I'll have curves after.  Maybe when I get rid of the cellulite on my ass and hips and lipo out the layer of cushion that is covering up my apparently awesome six-
pack we'll talk about my sexy curves.
7. Pregnancy hormones increase your sexual desire.
-This is semi-true, but then I need to re-direct you to #3
8. Your enlarging breasts may turn him on.
-This was also in last week's post.  I was a DD before getting pregnant.  I'm pretty sure anything
beyond that is just considered freakish.  Need I remind you of the dinner plate comment?
9. The level of commitment between you and your partner increases.  Having a child together is the ultimate act of trust.
-I hope no teenaged girls are reading this book because #9 just screams "have a baby with him and
he'll love you forever and never leave!"
10. You're carefree because you don't have to worry about birth control.
-I am so glad that I made it to #10 because I was about ready to rip this page out and burn it.
    Birth control is not something that I spent my day pining over.  Girls, c'mon.  It's not that difficult.
    Depo Provera = 1 shot every 3 months
    Ortho Evera = 1 sticker on your butt once a week
    Nuva Ring = 1 ring a week (and is disgusting!)
    So, unless you're still on the old-fashioned birth control pills there isn't a whole hell of a lot to
    occupy your mind, is there?


Well, thank God that I already know that I'm sexy because this top 10 list would have crushed and destroyed my self-esteem.  That list is something that you could find in a Cosmo quiz.  Fun to read, but not to live your life by.

What's Baby Up to?
I am a member of Baby Center, which is where I go for my weekly updates.  I have noticed that when they refer to the baby they always use the pronoun "she".  This week they are calling it "he".  Maybe the do the first 20 weeks for "her" and the second 20 weeks for "him".  Thought that was random.  Back to baby, it's:

• the length of a banana
• swallowing more (gross - I know what it does in there.  Wallowing in its' own filth)
• producing poo!  Not the "plop, plop" in the toilet poo, the kind that sticks to your butt like glue and you have to use a whole container of wipes to get off.  Fun.  That stuff has 20 more weeks to ferment and get all nasty for us.  I'm thinking that B should change the first diaper.  

Again, another uneventful week in baby growth.  The eventful portion is to follow.  Read on:

Gender Ultrasound!
Yes, it is the moment we've all been waiting for.  If you notice, the voting clock expires at 5pm, which means that I won't be posting until at least 5pm.  If you're on the phone call list you already know what I'm about to share and hopefully you haven't gone and blabbed it to the world (aka Facebook).  If you did let the news babble out of your little mouth be prepared for the repercussions.  Our baby, our news to share.
B and I made it clear that we had decided on what we thought the baby was: girl.  I wasn't sure if I'd be able to lean one way or another, but I have.  Let me just say that this is a slight lean.  I am very aware of the fact that everything else points to boy, but I can't over rule the feelings that it's a girl.

(Drum roll please)

 

 

 

She says, "Hello!"

 

 

 

Profile shot

We don't have a name picked out yet so don't ask. 
Oh and go easy on the pink, we're purple fans over here.