2 months

     Well, are little girl has turned 2 months old already.  I can't believe it's been this long, but at the same time it feels like she's been with us forever.  Let me say that she has turned into a diva the past couple of weeks.  She's has got me wrapped around her little finger.  She wants to be rocked, but only if she's upright.  She'll eat, but only when she feels like it.  She'll eat a bit, and then rub her eyes, stretch a bit, and then eat some more. I'll give her credit on the eating part.  Since I was able to breastfeed her, we had to go to formula and she has had a rough time on it.  We've tried 3 or 4 different kinds, and they finally put her on soy.  She seems to be doing much better on it.  Thank goodness.  It killed me to see my precious baby in pain from gas.  There has been two times, when she has scared Jarrod and I.  Both times, she was laying all peaceful and just burst into a screaming fit.  This wasn't her normally crying loudly. It went beyond crying.  You would have thought someone had bit her.  She screamed for like 10 minutes and then finally calmed down.  We still don't know what it was. She wouldn't eat, sleep, or be rocked....just screamed.
     But, oh my goodness, she has her good moments too.  She loves the mornings (just like her momma).  She is just the happiest little thing in the morning.  She smiles all the time now, and we are just ready for her to break into her first real laugh.  Right now she squeals when she gets excited.  She is trying so hard to talk.  I seriously think she is going to start talking before she crawls  =)   She loves looking at the walls and really likes our tree pictures we have up.  Future interior decorator maybe??
     I go back to work in three weeks and we still don't know what we're going to do for daycare.  Cutting it too close maybe??  We're just torn with what to do, and we are still hoping that God is going to just give us the answer, one way or another. She is scheduled for her 2 month wellness check on Wednesday and start her vaccine shots.  Something else we aren't sure about.  Man, being a parent is tough work.  It's easy making decisions for yourself, but when it's your child's world that your affecting, it's so much different. 

 

 

Decisions, Decisions...

So, I have a little less than 2 months before I'm suppose to go back to work and I'm so lost in what to do.  There are just so many choices and paths that we could go down come the new year.  I was holding Jesalyn this morning and I just thought to my self, there is no way I can hand her over to a day care all day while she's still so little and young. So, then I have to decide what to do.  We've always talked about Jarrod staying at home with her and maybe picking up an evening job.  I've been with my job for so long, it seems like I should stay where I'm at.  We've also talked about moving.  But where to? is the next question.  Yes, we miss Nashville like crazy, but it's so much more expensive there.  I would have to get a pretty big raise/promotion to be able to afford living there.  We've talked about moving back to our hometown.  It would be less expensive to live and we would also have our family close by.  But then, the town is so small, would we be able to find jobs?  There are just so many questions and things to think about.  I'm really trying not to stress.  Normally I would be pulling my hair out cutting it this close and not having the answer, but I'm trying to just have faith.  There have many times in my life where I just knew things were going to fall apart.  Like when Jarrod and I got married, I still don't know how we paid all of our bills with what we were making at our jobs, but somehow it all worked out. I believe God had His hand on us, and I believe He's going to help us with this too.  So many times in my life, I've stressed with situations just knowing that it was all going to fall apart, but I've always got through it.  I'm just waiting to see how this whole child care thing is going pan out. 

In other news, we gave Jesalyn her first bath the other night.  She cried during the whole thing.  We had her in her tub.  The tub part has this hammock thing for newborns that keeps them out of the water.  I think she just got cold and that's why she was crying.  We lowered the bottom part of the hammock into the water last night and bathed her, and she didn't cry once. I actually think she kind of liked it.  She held on to my finger for dear life though.  She looked a bit scared like she wasn't so sure what was happening, but I think she like the water.  The pictures below are from the first bath.

 

We tried to catch her smiling the other night:

One month later...

November 9th.  I can not believe that it has been one month since my little girl came into this world.  While one month seems so long ago, there are times when it seems like it was 6 months ago.  So much has happened since that Friday night, Jarrod and I's lives have changed so much.  Everyone tells you when your pregnant that your world is about to change and you think you're prepared, but you really don't know until the day comes and that itty bitty person is here and looking to you for everything.  Don't get me wrong, I love being a mom, but it really is some hard work. The sleepless nights, learning to always breath through your mouth when changing a dirty diaper, and wishing with all your might that your newborn could momentarily talk so that she can tell you why she's been crying for the past 15 minutes when you've done everything possible to make her happy, are all worth it when she's laying there peacefully asleep hanging on to your pinky with her little hand.  Jarrod and I just love her so much.  There are times when she's sleeping in her bassinet and I just have to pick her up and hold her. 
All in all, she has been a very good baby.  She mostly only cries when she's hungry, but when she's hungry watch out!  She can out scream anybody.  If you get her belly full, she'll just lay there looking around quietly.  From the moment she was born, she was already trying to lift her head up.  There are times when I'm holding her, she looks like she is going to get up and crawl.  She's still pretty small,  All of her clothes are still a little big on her, but she's definitely putting on some weight.  We go to the ped. on Wednesday and they'll weigh her.  I'm guess a little over 6 pounds. 
I  had my one month check up today and the doctor is having me get some blood work done to find out why she stopped growing while I was pregnant.  He told me that when he delivered the placenta he noticed that there was a "dead spot" on it.  This means that at some point, it cut off the circulation to Jesalyn.  This is why she stopped growing.  The blood work should tell us why this happened.  She is healthy now and it shouldn't effect me or her, but if I ever get pregnant again then I'll need to know why this happened to prevent it from happening again.  I'm just so happy that they decided to induce me when they did before it caused any damage to her.  So on Wednesday, I get to go have 15 tubes of blood taken.  Yes, 15.  Let's just say I'm not excited =)
The last 4 weeks have been amazing.  I know the next 4 and so on are going to be just as memorable.  I can't wait to see that first "real" smile and hear her talk for the first time (we've been working on "mommy".)  So many firsts to come. 
And because I know I can't publish a post without a picture:

Few pictures...

 

First week back...

Okay, so I know that I've been home for more than a week (actually two weeks yesterday) but I just had to write about my first week back from the hospital because it was such a rough one and I'll want to remember the story some day.
I came home from the hospital on Sunday (the 11th.)  We got home and it was all kind of surreal, but Jesalyn was being her perfect little self.  Just sleeping soundly and when she woke up she just looked around.  She didn't fuss one bit.  And then it got dark, and my sweet little angel turned into a screaming machine.  I'm so serious.  She cried the ENTIRE night, so hard that her little voice was hoarse.  Jarrod and I took turns trying to calm her down.  We would finally get her asleep and lay her in her basinett and she would wake up screaming again.  I just could not figure out what was going on.  In the hospital she didn't cry but like twice. The only thing I could figure was that as the nurse was walking us out to the car on the day we came home, she flipped the "on" switch secretly located on Jesalyn somewhere and set the timer to go off as the sun went down.  We finally got through the night with, I would say, a combined total of 45 minutes sleep. 
She just so happened to have a follow up appointment on Tuesday so Jarrod and I took her together.  And this is where my bad week got even worse.  To make a long story short, the pediatrician basically came in and said "your starving your child."  Now, I don't know that those words actually came out of her mouth, but she might as well said it.  Apparently since Jesalyn had been home she had lost 9 ounces (she left the hospital at 5 pds and that day she weight 4pd 8oz.) Now, I'm not saying that the doctor didn't have a right to be worried and that she shouldn't have told us that she had lost so much weight.  I'm actually pretty embarassed to be writing all this, but I've heard alot of other moms say they experienced this same thing and felt horrible too.  So anyway, this doctor is saying everything possible to make me feel like the worse mom ever and I just start bawling.  I think I cried for 2 days straight.  I don't care what the case is, you don't tell a brand new mom just home from the hospital, hormones going crazy, that she is starving her baby.  There are so many other ways to address the situation and get your point across. 
So what happened?  Well, I am breastfeeding, or trying to at least.  At the hospital she was doing pretty good latching on, but she wouldn't stay very long and it's hard to know how much she was getting.  I'll spare you all the details but when I got home it was extremely painful (on the pain scale of 1-10, it was a 9) to breastfeed her. I cried just about everytime I tried to feed her. I think she was having problems latching, and then when my milk fully came in, she couldn't do it at all. So, she just wasn't getting enough food.   I talked to a lactation consultant to try and help and it helped a bit, but Jesalyn just kept getting frustrated and wouldn't eat.  I didn't want to go to formula, I had decided to breastfeed and I had felt like I was a horrible mother who couldn't take care of her child.  I had all this milk that had clearly come in and I couldn't get it to my baby (nothing came out when I tried to pump.)  The lactation consultant told me that babies lose weight when they came home and she did not need formula.  After about 3 hours of trying to breastfeed that night, and my baby crying because she was hungry, Jarrod and I decided that feeding our child was more important than HOW she was fed and we fixed her some formula.  She drank the whole thing and fell to sleep.  I was bummed that it wasn't breastmilk, but relieved that my little girl wasn't hungry anymore.  That night she slept really good. We had to wake her up every 2 hours to eat so that she could put some weight on, but between feedings she slept like my little angel again.  We had to go back to the doctors office the next day for a weight check and she had gained an ounce.  A week later she had put on almost a pound since the first visit.  My milk has since released some and we are still trying to breastfeed and I'm able to pump some. So we are doing formula and breastmilk both and that seems to be working out alright.  The goal is to switch purely to breastfeeding but that depends on baby sug. 
Gotta cut this short (I've been working on it off and on for 2 hours.)  Gotta a little one to take care of now =) and she needs my attention. I'll close by saying that I had always heard the breastfeeding was hard, but I had no clue. I read some other people blogs on it the other day.  They were having some of the same issues I was having and it really made me feel somewhat normal, like I'm not such a bad mom afterall.

I'll get more pictures up soon.
...thanks for reading...

Birth Story

Thought I'd try to get this in while Jesalyn is sleeping.  On the Friday they induced me (Oct. 9th) I woke up at like 4:00 in the morning.  Just couldn't sleep anymore. I got ready, Jarrod got up and everyone at the house (mom, sister, and best friend E stayed over) was up to see us out the door.  It was a rainy morning and I had my flip flop's on.  The one's I fall in all the time.  And wouldn't you know it, I slipped coming down the stairs and landed on my tailbone.  Luckily, nothing else was hurt, but Jarrod was scared to death. 
We made it to the hospital at around 6:00 and they took us to the room.  As soon as we were in there, I was told to put on my robe and they would be in to get things started.  No small talk, were just gonna do this thing.  I don't know what I was expecting; a 30 minute conversation about how I was feeling.  So I put on the oh so pretty gown and waited for the nurse to come back in.  It didn't take too long, but long enough that I noticed the ugly wallpaper on the walls and the scuff marks on the ceiling.  Seriously, why would there be scuff marks on the ceiling?  Later that night during the active labor, Jarrod and I came up with some ideas (just to lighten the mood.)
So, the nurse came in and told me she was going to get my IV put in for the pitocin.  No problem right? Wrong, Apparently, my veins like to roll.  Let's just say it took 5 needles and 3 nurses to get my IV in and going.  It's been 9 days since I've been out of the hospital and both my arms still look like I've been beaten up. The nurse hooked up the pitocin and said things should get started soon. The doctor came in around 8:00 and broke my water.  I started having some small contractions shortly after, but nothing serious.  "So this is what cramps feel like"  Everyone keep telling me that the start of labor feels like menstrual cramps.  I have always been lucky enough to not have them, so now I know.  Family and friends came in and out of the room for a while.  Jarrod was in there the whole time with me.  They started getting a bit stronger and the nurse suggested I get up and stand for a while.  She brought in the birthing ball.  That seemed to help and make the contractions stronger and closer together (the whole point of labor right.)  By this time it was like 1:00 or 2:00.  I was having to breath through the contractions.  Surely I was dilated more. Nope.  Each time the nurse came in, I hadn't dilated but to like 2-3 centimeters, but my cervix was thinning.  This is good too, but I really wanted those centimeters.  At one point, I got up to use the restroom and we noticed that my IV was leaking. We had noticed it earlier, but didn't really think much of it.  Jarrod finally went and told the nurse and come to find out, the pitocin had fallen out.  My body had been doing most of the work on it's own.  I was glad to hear that, but knew that I probably had lost a few hours and that now that she was hooking it up, the pain would get much harder (she had turned it up a bit ealier, thinking it was still plugged in.)  I was right, the contractions started getting much harder.  The nurse came in later and said that since things were going well, she was going to unplug me and let me shower and then walk around the hospital to move things along.  That shower felt so amazing. Seriously, why can't we just have babies in the shower.  After that, me and my posse (Jarrod, mom, sister, and E) walked circles in the postpartum area, stopping every minute or so for a contraction to pass.  We passed all the rooms with babies in them and I just kept thinking, this will all be over and I'll be in there with my little girl.  After 45 minutes we got back to the room (it was 6:00 at this time) and they came in to check me.  I think I was like 4 centimeters at this point but the contractions were getting harder and harder.  A couple of hours passed and they came in to check me; 6 centimeters, but the pain was pretty bad.  The nurse gave me some kind of drug for pain and man it made me loopy.  If I would have been able to get up, I would have punched her for giving it to me.  Supposedly, it was suppose to dull the pain a bit.  All it did was make me feel like I was in a fog.  Well that, and stopped my shakes.  I started getting the shakes really bad. I couldn't stop my body from shivering. It was kind of scary, but apparently a common thing during delivery they never tell you about.  By this point, I was seriously wanting the epidural but scared about it and the complications that can come with it.  Jarrod said a prayer and we called in the anesthesiologist.  I was at 7 centimeters by this point. A little upset that I didn't do it completely natural, but proud of myself for making it this far.  Once the epidural started working, I couldn't believe how fast the pain disappeared.  I could still feel some tightening (I wasn't completely numb) but the pain was gone.  A nurse came in around 10:20'ish to check me and said "oh, I don't feel a cervix! It's time to start pushing."  And as Jarrod said, the bed started folding down like some kind of transformer and it was time to get the show started.  Jesalyn was born at 10:43 and when I heard that first cry, it was like the room and the whole world pushed the pause button.  It was all so real. Jarrod cut the cord and they put her on my stomach. All we could say was how pretty she was. 

Jesalyn Kay Pruitt

Okay, so I know I've been a bit lax on the whole blog but man this baby thing just takes up so much time =) But she is so worth it!! I appologize for not updating the day of the delivery but I was planning on having my sister do it but didn't give her the information to log on. I'll do my best to get everything recorded on here. Maybe not today, but over time for sure.
So, yeah, my baby sug is here! And she is just as perfect as I knew she would be. We named here Jesalyn (Jes-uh-lyn) Kay Pruitt. She was born at 10:43 pm on Friday October 9, 2009. She weighed in at 5pds 3oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Jarrod and I are so happy we can hardly stand ourselves. From that first cry, we were hooked =)
I'll be honest when I say that this week has been a pretty rough one, just getting adjusted to everything. I'll go into it in detail later but I've learned that it's the small things that really matter. From waiting for her first poop to waiting to the milk to come in, it's been pretty emotional, but things are starting to take shape and I can actually say that I can see that things will even themselves out and the routine will start.
Well, I know it's short, but I've got a lot to catch up on so I will go for now. I'll get my labor story and all the oh so fun stuff that has happened this week up later, but I just wanted you all to know that Jesalyn is here. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. And because I know your all dying to see: a few pictures:

 

 

 

Today's the Day...

In about one hour, Jarrod and I will be leaving to head to the hospital to have our little sug. I got up a little earlier than my alarm just because I couldn't sleep. This is the story with Wednesday night too, but Wednesday I just laid in bed staring at the ceiling. So, I figured this morning I would just give in and get up earlier, get a nice long hot shower and take my time getting ready and I have to say I'm glad I did. So, how do I feel? What are my emotions? Exactly the opposite as I thought they would be. My head is trying to tell me to get ready for the crazy day that lies ahead, but the rest of me seems to be pretty relaxed. I feel like yeah, I'm going to have a baby today (all chill-like.) =) Normally, I'm the opposite. My body is going crazy from nerves and my head is trying to calm me down. Granted I'm not actually at the hospital yet, not hooked up to the monitor and machines, but I'm just going to face that when it gets here.
My sister has got her laptop with her and I think there is internet access at the hospital so we'll try to keep you posted today, it will probably be someone other than me writing but we'll do our best.
Thanks so much to you all for your thoughts and prayers today. I know that's the reason I'm doing so well right now and will continue to the rest of the day.
*I'm gonna be a mommy today!*

...Stay Tuned....

Induction

So, I went in to my doctors appointment today, planning for a normal visit. I figured he would check my cervix and tell me that I've dilated a centimeter and to keep an eye out for any labor symptoms. That's not at all what happened. I had my doctors appointment with the diabetes doctor first and everything seemed to be going good until the checked her weight. 5pds 9oz; that's in the 10th percentile. This worried me. I knew she was small, but that's just too small. The doctor said that yes, it was very small but all the other things checked out: amniotic fluid, heartbeat, and they even checked the umbilical chord to make sure it was doing it's job and that was fine. But, he told me to go ahead to my regular doctors appointment (scheduled right after this one) and he would talk to me about everything else.
He did check my cervix and kept saying "you have a very favorable cervix right now." I had no clue what this meant, so I had him explain. Basically he said that it's softening up and that I'm 2-3 cent. dilated already. Also, he said the baby is pretty far down so everything seems to point to being ready for labor.
I asked him about the weight of baby sug and he said he's glad that everything else seems to be good, but that they are not sure why she isn't gaining much weight. "So, we are going to have you come in Friday morning and start you on some pitocin." This maybe me do a double take. Is he saying what I think he's saying? "And then what?" I asked him. "And then, I'll probably break your water, stop the pitocin and see what you body will do on it's on." Again, I'm thinking, this sounds like what I'm thinking, but why won't he just say it. Make it completely clear for me. So I said "So, your saying Friday is the day. Like, if I needed to call me family to come, it would be Friday?" He verified that yes, Friday is the day. So, yeah, I'm being induced on Friday at 6:00am He said the reason they are going to this before my due date is because if I keep going and she doesn't gain any weight, the amniotic fluid could start decreasing (I'm not sure why this is) and there's a chance that I could have to have an emergency c-section, which I don't not want. When he checked my cervix, he said he did something to move things along so I guess there's a chance I could still go on my own today or tomorrow, but regardless I'll have a baby by this weekend.
I'm getting pretty nervous. I'm excited too. I'm so ready to hold her and see her, but goodness gracious it's about to happen! Ready or not =)

...thanks for reading.....

Labor signs?

Well, tomorrow is my last day of work and let me say I've got some mixed emotions about it. I've got two weeks of vacation and then, hopefully, my baby girl will be here. My initial reaction is super excitement. I've been counting down the days that I get to leave for a while and just relax without having to worry about all that my job requires from me. But on other hand I know myself and I know that for the first 3 days I will be cleaning and getting all the laundry finished up, the next day I'll probably just relax and do nothing, but then, after that...the next however many days until the baby comes I will just be walking around the house trying to find or think of something to do. I don't do "nothing" very good. I have to be busy or I go crazy. I know I should be resting and getting caught up on my sleep, but I don't do "napping" well either. I'll lay down, completely exhausted but my mind races until I just have to get up. I've thought about cooking some things up to freeze for after the baby comes. First thing on the list.....muffins! Oh my goodness, carb-loaded muffins just sound so good right now...chocolate chip, pumpkin, orange, oatmeal, coffee.... just give me the carbs and no one gets hurt =) Honestly, the diet is a pretty good diet. I'll probably stick to it some after I deliver, with a cheat day here and there. Of course I mean after the 2 week binge of eating everything that I've been craving. I probably gain double the weight I've already gained just from the junk food =) But then, I'll get back on track . Speaking of the diet, I stepped on the scale at my last appointment and guess what? Yep, I have lost more weight! Another 5 pounds. Again I asked the doctor about this, and he's not worried. "Cutting carbs from your diet will actually make your body eat up any extra fat that your carrying" is basically what he said. "As long as your eating healthy and the baby is growing, I'm not worried." Now, there are a few things that I will change in this diet once I deliver. I will probably cut back from some of the meat I'm eating (haven't decided if I'll go full-veg again). I know that while some things are low carb, they are still unhealthy. The other thing I will do is incorporate alot more fruit into my diet. Fruit, which is healthy for you, apparently has alot of carbs in them, so much so that I can't eat a whole apple now without it raising my blood sugar.

As for the pregnancy symptoms, I've been doing okay. There's been a couple of times where Jarrod and I have started timing the contractions. I've been getting quite a few of them, mostly at night. Last night there were a few really bad ones, ones that radiated down to my lower abdomen. In the past, they have stayed primarily in the upper abdomen so this was a new symptom and a couple of them hurt whereas the ones I usually get didn't. The other main symptom that I've been having is I feel like, pardon the descriptiveness here, my pelvic bones are splitting open. I know this is normal, and a good sign that she is starting to drop, but man if I sit down for more than 5 minutes I can't walk at all. I'm talking a slug would beat me in a race. My coworkers laugh at me when I get up to use the restroom at work because I'm sure my walk looks like a waddle amped up on steroids. All this to say, I can tell my body is starting to prepare itself for delivering this baby girl, which is a bit nerve racking, but also pretty exciting.
....thanks for reading....

Full Term & Full of Questions

I am now 37 weeks along which is considered "full term" according to doctor speak.  What this means is that if I go into labor at any point, they will not try to stop it.  Although my doctors, both of them, have said that 40 weeks is where they would like me to be so that baby sug gets as much growing and developing done as she can.  I've got one week of work left and then it's vacation time until I go on maternity leave.  Crazy!
With all this racing up on me, I've got so many things going through my head.

-Am I strong enough to do this "labor thing" without an epidural? My momma did it, but she's one tough woman.  I mean really, she split her leg open all the way to the bone with a knife once and put 2 band-aids on it and kept working.
-Am I strong enough to do this "labor thing" at all, even with an epidural?
-Will I feel like I've failed if I take an epidural?
-How hard is breastfeeding really going to be?
-Daycare!  Oh my goodness, daycare!  How stinkin' expensive I'm finding it to be.  Should one of us just stay home with her?  Can we afford that? Can we afford day care?  How do I feel about some stranger being responsible for my baby?
-Who's she gonna look like?  What kind of personality will she have? 
-What are we going to name her?  Seriously.  What are we going to name her?

Those are just a few of the things swimming around in my head. 
At last weeks doctor's appointment, during the ultrasound, we got to see more hair on baby sug.  According the lab tech, she has lots of it and she said its pretty long.  Guess I need to get out and buy some bows huh?
As anxious as I'm getting about meeting this little girl, there is a part of me that kind of wishes she could just stay in there forever, safe from the world.  I've been brought to tears twice this week by feeling her moving around, almost playing with her. I'll put my hand on my stomach and feel her leg or foot and then she'll move it away and bring it back.  Jarrod and I already love her so much, I just can't imagine what it's going to be like when she finally gets here.

...thanks for reading...

Vacation Week

Well, I'm on vacation this week and so far it's been pretty good. I've been busy enough to not drive myself crazy but not too busy. Just kind of taking things as they come. Yesterday I washed all the baby clothes and have put them away. Today's task is to clean out Jarrod and I's closet and finishing packing the hospital bags. I just don't know what baby outfit I want to bring to bring her home in. I had a doctors appointment this morning. Baby sug is perfect as a peach. She always gives the doctors a bit of trouble, as far as not wanting to move at the times that they want her to, but she always comes around when she feels like it =)

Doctor gave us a 10 out of 10 again. Everything seems to be going just like he wants it. She now weighs 5 pounds and 2 ounces which is still in the 40%. Doc says this is exactly where he wants her.

Her movements are still rolls with a few kicks here and there, but the coolest thing now is when I can feel her move on my hand and know what body part is moving. Last night I was cooking supper and felt her move on my right side and so I put my hand on my stomach to feel her and felt this long skinny bulge. My guess is it was an arm or a leg. Once I touched it, I felt her move it away. It just makes it so real. There is a little person in me!

Something I've noticed about myself since becoming pregnant is how relaxed I've become. I've always been a VERY type A personality with a whole lot of impatient mixed in. But since I've been pregnant, especially towards the end, I've calmed down quite a bit. Now, I'm not saying that I've done a complete 180 or anything. I still completely flip out when the trash gets full or the living room gets too much clutter in it. But, I've just noticed a bit more mellowness coming out of me. I think a lot of this has to do with being forced to slow down. You just can't rush through the grocery store in 10 minutes when your 8 months pregnant. You only move as fast as your body can waddle, so I've learned that if it takes 45 minutes to pick up a gallon of milk and a package of string cheese then so be it. I've also been trying to just enjoy the slowness of each day (especially this week) because I know that it's about to get busy and hectic.

I've recorded a couple of videos of baby sug moving in my tummy but am having difficulty loading them. I'll keep working on it and get it posted as soon as I can.

...thanks for reading...

35 weeks photo

7th Inning Stretch

Man, this week it has hit me. I'm going to have another little person that I'm responsible for around in less than 2 months. I'm not sure what finally did it. The fact that my doctor keeps telling me that the goal is that I go to at least 37 weeks (that's 2 weeks away!!!) or that when my best friend came to visit me this weekend and then left, that was the last time that I would see her without having a baby. It's just getting so close, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't freaking out just a bit. I have a week of vacation next week and I'm planning on washing all her clothes and getting them ready. Jarrod and I are going to get the hospital bags packed this weekend and make the trip to Saint Charles to get her diapers. We are planning on using clothe diapers and you can't find them everywhere. I'm not talking about the old school clothe diapers that are basically burp clothes. These are high-tech diapers that have a liner in them that comes out. I'm sure you all think I'm crazy for using them, but we are hoping that in the long run they will save us some money.
Those things were really the last big things on the "to do list" that we wanted to get done and once those are done it's just kind of a waiting game. As far as the little things that we still need, we've got the basics that she'll need for the first few months. So, it's all coming together. I go into her nursery and even though it's all put together, it seems so empty. In another 5 weeks, there is going to be so much life in there, it just seems strange. It makes me want to smile, laugh, and cry all at the same time. I'm trying to take the advice that I've been reading, just enjoying this time with Jarrod as a couple. I know that once our little baby sug gets here, it will be so different. Not bad, but different, so I'm just trying to treasure everything I can now.

...thanks for reading...

Update

How far along?: 34 weeks today

Total weight gain/loss: At least weeks appointment they told me I had lost 5 pounds so that brings total weight gain to 17pounds. Doctor's not worried as long as I'm eating healthy and baby sug is growning.

Stretch marks?: None yet, but month 8 has brought many other ailments. I'll spare you the details, but believe me when I say I'm paying my dues =)

Sleep: Yes, I'm getting it, but still not fully through the night (but I hear that I should just get use to that.) Everyone tells me to get as much sleep as I can now and to nap when I can, but I'm just not a napper. Can't do it.

Best moment this week:Finding a sugar-free, low-carb pumpkin spice cake recipe. You might not think it sounds good but eating it made me feel like a real live human being, able to eat sweets.

Movement: The moves have moved more to rolls now than kicks. She starts her big-time moving at about 8:00 at night. Every time I get up to pee in the middle of the night, she thinks she has to get up too.

Food cravings: I'm finding some sweet things I can eat now, so the cravings aren't quite so bad, but I'm still waiting for the first slice of pizza. Just can't make that low-carb.

Labor Signs: None really

Belly button in or out?: Still in, but slowly getting more shallow.

What I miss: Buying non-maternity clothes. All the fall clothes are coming out and I can't shop for any of them.

What I am looking forward to: The smell of new baby skin.

What I am NOT looking forward to: Labor

Weekly Wisdom: Do what you can do, when you can do it. If you put yourself on a time frame, you'll drive yourself crazy.

Milestones: Starting to get the hospital bags together. Nothings packed, just kind of getting somethings together.

33 weeks, 4 days

Not a whole lot new to report. I had an appointment with my doctor on Monday (not the diabetes one, the other one) and I had lost 5 pounds. He didn't seem to mind. From what both doctors have told me, as long as baby sug is growing and healthy and I'm eating healthy, the weight part doesn't really matter. I tried to tell him that I would gladly give the 5 pounds back if I could just have some real dessert but he didn't buy it. Speaking of dessert, I've tried some low-carb ice cream, not bad but definitely not an Oreo concrete from Andy's. And my "bowl" that I eat it out of is one of those tiny saucer things that you mix oil in for bread dipping. But hey, I'll take what I can get. I also have been trying to experiment with other things. My friend Diane mentioned chocolate chip pumpkin bread the other day and I swear my mouth started drooling (see you all want it now too right?) So I searched and searched. I found a sugar-free, low-carb pumpkin spice cake. Sounds oh so appetizing huh? =) Anyway, I gave it a try and it actually wasn't too bad. Fall is the best time of the year for me and I LOVE anything pumpkin so I might actually make this recipe again.
As for baby sug. She's doing great. Last doctors appointment that they weighed her at (which was last week I think) she weighed 3pd 14oz. He said that was in the 40th percentile with was perfect. Diabetes can cause huge babies so under 50% was fine. Jarrod has been having his talks with her at night. It seriously is one of the cutest things ever. She'll be sleeping or not moving much and he'll stick is mouth on my stomach and start talking or singing to her and she just goes crazy. She actually elbowed(i think it was an elbow) him in the mouth the other day =)
It just doesn't seem real. We finished our last Lamaze class this week, which is just another sign we're getting closer. We've started on the hospital bags, not going crazy or anything but we have a corner where we are starting to slowly collect things. 34 weeks this coming Saturday. In less than 2 months she's gonna be here!
Baby shower was a few weeks okay. Thanks for all of you that were able to come! Here's a picture we took of Jarrod and I.
...thanks for reading...

32 Weeks 4 Days

How far along?: 32 Weeks and 4 days. Only 7.5 weeks to go. Doesn't seem real.

Total weight gain/loss: Three weeks ago I had gained 23 pounds. Haven't been weighed since then

Stretch marks?: Nope, not yet. Keep those fingers crossed.

Sleep: It's getting more and more harder to roll over. I'm getting to where I need to grab a hold of something to help me roll. Jarrod has been good with helping me with that. Still getting up to pee every night.

Best moment this week: During an ultrasound, watching my little girl stick her leg up over her head and grab a hold of her toes with her little hand.

Movement: She's not a big time mover. Every time I go in for my monitoring (once a week) they have to give me cold water to get her going. She normally moves all night though. Definitely has her daddy in her.

Food cravings: Oh my, where does the list begin. Anything sweet, since I can't have any of it. Cravings that are allowed on my diet, ice. I LOVE to chomp on ice.

Labor Signs: The braxton hicks have started in. Luckily there aren't too many that the doctors are worried.

Belly button in or out?: Still in, but slowly getting more shallow.

What I miss: Sweets, bread, muffins, ice cream, you get the idea.

What I am looking forward to: Knowing what my baby girl is going to look like, and knowing what we are going to end up naming her =)

What I am NOT looking forward to: Labor! Being at home indoors while I get use to the new lifestyle.

Weekly Wisdom: Make sure you have a great partner at home to help you as you get further along. Everyday chores just wear you out and take all your energy. And, Lamaze class is great, even if you do end up with an epidural.

Milestones: Hitting that 8 week mark. For some reason, it always thought that once I got there, then I was close.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

So, it’s been a couple weeks since I’ve updated on here, so I thought I should probably get around to doing that. How’s my life been these couple of weeks? I’m glad you asked. We’ll start with the pleasant stuff first. I had my baby shower this weekend (pictures coming soon, I promise) and it was wonderful. There was a great turnout and it was amazing to see all the people there who are excited to see baby sug arrive in October. Speaking of baby sug, she’s been kicking around a lot and I still can’t over how much I love to feel this. My mom and sisters got to feel her for the first time this weekend too and it was such a joy for them to get to share in this excitement.

As for the not so fun stuff, I hate gestational diabetes. No, I abhor it…okay, so I know this means the same thing but the latter just seems to fit better for my situation. A little background: before I was pregnant I was a pretty healthy eater. Organic fruits, vegetable, whole grains, not too many sweets. I tried to be healthy as I could. Once I got pregnant, I craved everything that was “bad” for me. I wanted sugar, and I wanted it all the time. And I thought, you know what Jamie, as long as you don’t eat it all day long you deserve to have a little indulgence and so I did. And then BAM I get hit with this cruel, cruel disease. Now, I not only can’t have the sweets, I can’t even eat the healthy whole grains that I use to eat. Jarrod and I went to a little coffee shop the other day and I got my typical decaf latte (with no sugar) and I look across the room and here’s this lonely guy on his laptop eating probably the worlds best chocolate muffin known to man. Y’know the one, all chocolate with chocolate chips on top. I almost laughed, because here he is, in his own little world probably doing something work related on his computer, mindlessly eating this bundle of goodness with no clue that 3 tables over is an 8 month pregnant woman who wants nothing but to walk over, take the muffin, shove it in her mouth (think cookie monster) and then politely walk away. Instead, I just sat there calmly sipping my latte with a grin on my face (and maybe a little drool.)

Last complaint, I promise. I feel very lucky to not be experiencing much back pain, but oh…my…goodness. Just about every other day, I feel as if a 300-pd man is standing on my pelvis. Now I know baby sug is getting bigger and the pressure is sure to increase, but I mean there are some days I can’t even walk it’s so bad. I explained it to Jarrod like this: imagine someone kicking you as hard as they can in the groin. Now, get up and walk. This is what I feel most days. They tell me it’s normal, but I just don’t know. I just tell myself, it’s increasing my pain tolerance and I can normally deal with it.

…thanks for reading…

30 weeks

Not every pregnant woman will do this, but since I've had some family members and friends say they wanted to see the "pregnant belly" and I have not found any stretch marks yet, I figured I would go ahead and post these. 'Cuz if they stretch marks come, it's safe to say there won't be anymore bare belly shots. I was exactly 30 weeks here:

Gestational Diabetes

Well, I went in for my 30 weeks appointment on Thursday and the doc gave me the news. I failed my 3 hour glucose test, which means I now have gestational diabetes (diabetes you get only during pregnancy.) He told me that it was something that I could control with my diet but that I had to see a specialist on Friday to go over all the nitty gritty. So Friday morning Jarrod and I got up early (Jarrod got to go with me) and headed to the new doctors office. Now, I'll preface with saying that I love my doctor. While he's a little short on time when I see him, his nontraditional ideas on vitamins and vaccines and shots are on point with how Jarrod and I feel, but his office is pretty much the same as any other doctors office. When we walked into the new place, I felt like I was walking into a spa. There was a fountain in the lobby and probably the most comfortable furniture I have ever sat in. I guess when your considered "high risk" they want you as comfortable as possible. So I get all signed in and they take me back to do an ultrasound. I was only expecting a sit down with a doctor to go over my new 'diet' but any chance I get to see baby sug is quite alright with me. It was amazing as always to get to see her moving around in there. Her face is starting to fill out some and she was head down! Lets hope she stays like that. We even got to see some hair sprouts coming out of her head. The lady said this is when hair first starts to grow so it was so cool to see. Now if only we knew what color it was going to be =). After the ultrasound they hooked me up to a fetal monitor to watch for movement and contractions. I was on this for like 30 min. It was so neat to see her little heart beat raise a bit as she started moving. At first she was a bit quiet and the lady brought in this stimulator device that she said she could put on my belly to wake little girl up if she stayed quiet too long. As soon as she showed it to me, baby sug started kicking up a storm as if saying "alright, I'm awake! Just don't put that thing near me!" It was hilarious. The doc finally came in and told me all the things I could and couldn't eat and told me that yes, I am going to have to test my blood sugar 4 times a day. But, to my surprise the prick of the needle wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He also went over all my results from the morning and gave me a 10 out of 10. He said the babies weight is in the 50 percentile (perfect), the amount of amniotic fluid in my uterus is perfect (diabetes can cause too much fluid) and the heartbeat and movement was perfect. They tested my blood sugar while I was there and it was 88 (anything below 120 is good) so they said I'll pretty much be just fine as long as I keep to the diet they give me. But, I do have to see them once a week to go through all the tests again. Fine with me. I love seeing my little girl during ultrasounds and the fetal heart monitoring will just ease all my concerns that I might have.
Oh, and the doctor said I could have sugar free ice cream, but I just haven't brought myself to do it yet.

...thanks for reading...

Not Pregnancy Related

So, this post has nothing to do with the pregnancy but I just had to put it on here. We went to a wedding this past weekend in Chicago. It was a beautiful wedding and I really enjoyed visiting Chi-town. I got to go to two of my favorite places in Chicago, IKEA and Caribou Coffee. Best coffee ever...even in the decaf version.
Today's post stems from the funniest thing I saw all weekend. We were at the reception for the wedding. Jarrod, my sister, and I were all sitting at one of the tables watching all the dancers get their groove on. The DJ was playing a complete random mix of music (mostly all requests). For example, he went from "Mustang Sally" to the Chicken dance song (seriously, that song needs to be banned from all speakers). Well, the song "I kissed a girl" came on. At this point, most of the 'older' adults left the dance floor and the younger crowd came up to dance. All of a sudden Jarrod bursts out laughing. I asked him what was so funny and he just said "turn around." I look across the room and sitting at one of the tables is a white-headed man somewhere, in his 60's-70's singing the song. Now, I'm not talking about just bouncing his head to the beat, he knew every single word, chorus and verse! I mean, it wouldn't have surprised me one bit if he had gotten up and joined the rest of the 'youngin's" on the dance floor. We wanted to get a video but there was just no sly way of doing it, but I guarantee you would have laughed right along with us.

i said no pregnancy news, but I took my 3hour glucose test this morning (not fun!). I post the results when I hear them.

...thanks for reading...

The shrinking town

So I went home this past weekend and every single person I ran into has lost 30 pounds! Okay, so maybe they didn't. Surely an entire town of 5500 couldn't have all lost weight at the exact same time, which just so happens to be the same time that I'm pregnant. Alright, I know everyone didn't lose weight, but it sure felt like it. I've heard many of pregnant women talking about how when they are approaching their last few months of pregnancy, they feel like they balloon up and just get huge. Now, I know I've definitely gotten bigger but I just have never felt huge (not yet anyway). Everyone else just looks really really skinny. I just want to look at them and say "Come on now! Shouldn't you be eating more? Your just all skin and bones!" And then I tell myself "Jamie, these people, all these people, are not underweight anorexic's. They are all just fine. You were this size once. But, right now your carrying a child inside your belly. A growing human being that is relying on you for substance and health. Once you birth this child from your own body, you will be smaller too, and hopefully one day not too far away, you'll be their size again."
Yes, I have to give myself pep talks sometimes because while my mind messes with me every once in a while, I do have a bit of common sense left...plus it's cheaper than hiring a therapist. =)
So, if you haven't heard, I went in for my glucose test last week and failed! =/ Yep, so now I'm a big 'ol mess. I have to go in next Wednesday to take the 3hour test. I've hear so many bad things about this 3hour test. I'm just praying I can keep the icky glucose down and that the pricks of the needle from drawing my blood 4 TIMES doesn't hurt too bad. Did I mention I'm a mess. The nurse didn't tell me to do anything different until the next test, but if you know me I'm a planner. I'm already looking up what I can and can't eat for gestational diabetes. I mean, if I end up having this, I don't want to go a whole week and chance doing any harm to me or more importantly baby sug. But, most of the websites say to talk with your doctor for the best diet for you. So, I'm just doing my best to stay away from as much sugar and simple carbs as possible until I can hear some results. And yes, this means giving up my ice cream & oreos's. Oh, the horror! I'm looking on the bright side though. This is forcing me to be healthier and even if I don't end up with it, I might just stick to this healthier diet.......with a bowl of ice cream every now and then ;)

....thanks for reading.....

Update

So I have to admit that I stole this from someone else's blog but I liked it so I'm gonna use it.

How far along?: 27 weeks and 4 days. Almost to that 3rd trimester mark!

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure. I have an appointment tomorrow. Kind of scared. Too much ice cream and oreos I'm afraid. =)

Stretch marks?: None that I've found yet. Mom said she got hers around 8 months. Lets all cross our fingers together they don't show up.

Sleep: Crazy crazy dreams. They all seem to be bad too except for the one I had where baby sug (her nickname) was moving around in my tummy and stretched her hand out and grabbed my finger. Also, pee count is up to about three times in the middle of the night.

Best moment this week: After being scared to death for two days that I didn't feel her move that much, she started kicking up a storm. ahhh..sigh of relief.

Movement: She seems to move a lot...most days, and I can't get over it. I love the feeling!! Sometimes it feels like she's doing somersaults in my belly. As long as she land butt up, she can do it all she wants

Food cravings: Ice cream and oreos. I have a bowl at least once a day.

Labor Signs: None, thank goodness. Just lots of pressure in my lower abdomen. Doctor says that's normal though.

Belly button in or out?: In, but I really want it to poke out. =)

What I miss: Not having to pee 3 times an hour. And running. Other than that, I am loving this pregnancy thing.

What I am looking forward to: While I love being pregnant, the further I get, the more impatient I am with wanting to hold her in my arms and see her for the first time.

What I am NOT looking forward to: one word: labor

Weekly Wisdom: Take lots of pictures and write everything down. You'll want them later.

Milestones: None. But I go in for my glucose test in the morning. Lets cross those fingers again. I'm not ready to give up my ice cream just yet.

27 weeks

So lets just say that I've slowed down in the past couple of weeks. All that energy that I had just 3 weeks ago has pretty much disappeared. I'm not to the point of total exhaustion yet, but I'm so not going to the gym three times a week anymore. Walking up the stairs to my apartment makes me completely out of breath. I've pretty much relied on Jarrod for that mountain of a walk up the 13 stairs we have. It goes something like this: We stand at the bottom of the staircase and I just stare at it for like 2 minutes, preparing myself and body for the journey ahead me. And then we begin. Jarrod goes first and I follow behind. I normally grab the top of his pants while he walks me up, slowly, as I try desperately not to 'shuck' him in front of the entire apartment complex. Once at the top, there is normally another minute or two of pause while I catch my breath. It's all over in about 5 minutes, but let me tell you, that's a really long 5 minutes. On my good days I'll pick up my 5 pound weights and do a few upper body exercises but thats about the extent of my exercise. I was reading on the internet the other day about this woman who ran the Boston marathon at 26 weeks. I wanted to cry. Man, I wish I was that tough. I've always wanted to do marathons and never trained myself hard enough before I got pregnant and here she is doing it at the end of her second trimester.....show off!!!

I've also been somewhat obsessed about the movements I'm feeling from baby girl. I know you're not suppose to technically start doing "fetal kick counts" until 28 weeks, but I'm so worried she's not moving enough. Some days she'll kick up a storm and then other days I hardly feel her at all. Those days she doesn't move much scare me to death. Is this normal? I was having some stomach pain the other day and called the doctor just to make sure it was just stretching and she asked me if I had felt the baby move that day. "It all sounds normal" she says, "but if you have any of of these symptoms, or notice a decrease in movement we'll just have you come into labor and delivery to be put on a monitor." That's the last thing I needed to hear. If y'all have any advice on this, I would love to hear it. I'm 27 weeks tomorrow. What's normal? When should I call?
On a lighter note, while my belly is getting bigger each day, I see no stretch marks yet and I can still shave my legs =) It takes some special manuevering, but those legs are hair free!
...thanks for reading...

Quick update

This pregnancy is moving right along. It seems to be speeding up the further along I get. I don't know how that is, but people warned me it would happen. Saturday I will be 25 weeks and while that's just a little over half way, I have a crazy feeling the last three months go the fastest. I'm actually not doing too bad getting things together. We've pretty much got the nursery done. (That just sounds so weird to say. I have a nursery....in a few months, I'm gonna have a baby, I'm gonna be a mommy.) There is is still a few odds and ends that we need to do and then I'll post some pictures.
The purchase of the week was a breast pump. That's even crazier to me. I'll admit, this contraption kind of freaks me out. It had a dvd that came with it and you know I had to watch it. It's been said time and time again, but these women really did look like cows being pumped, having all these wires coming out and this battery pack plugged into the wall. Now I know it's natural and I've always said I was going to breastfeed, but I'm a bit nervous. I've heard horror stories of women who couldn't stand it and I've heard stories from moms who said it was the best bonding experience they've ever had. The one thing they've all said is, be patient. Guess we'll see. I'm hoping that when I hold my little girl in my arms for the first time, it will all just be a natural feeling.
I've officially felt her kick now. I think it started a few weeks ago. I absolutely love it. I could just lay there all day and feel her moving around. Jarrod felt her for the first time Sunday. Every time I would have him put his hand on my belly, she would stop moving. I secretly think she does this on purpose and is laughing her head off in there. But the other day we were laying down watching tv (I was behind him) and she kicked really hard and he felt it in his back. Hopefully the further along I get, the more he'll be able to feel her. There really is something special about being the woman, the mom, who gets to carry her child around with her for the 9 months and feel her move and kick. I can only imagine how I'll feel when I see her little face for the first time.
...thanks for reading...

It's a girl!

Yep, we're having a little girl. Jarrod's already talking about hows she's just going to have him wrapped around her little finger =) The sonogram was so amazing. She's not just a little peanut anymore. The doctor said everything looked perfectly normal. Her weight was a bit small (39 percentile of other babies) but that it was absolutely nothing to worry about. She kept her mouth open almost the entire time, which the nurse said was funny because normally they'll just yawn and that's it but not her, she's gonna be a talker =) There were a couple of other pictures that were cute. She had her hand up under her chin in one and then another scratching her head. Jarrod thinks this means that she is already contemplating the mysteries of life, even in the womb (takes after her dad.) Alright, enough talking here's the pictures:



Girl!

Half way there

So, everything they say about the second trimester is true. I've had so much more energy. I've actually been able to keep up my workout routine at the gym, with some minor alterations. I tried jogging, but I got out of breath way to fast and it just felt "wrong," so I went with my gut and I've starting walking on an incline instead. Still lifting weights, I've just lowered the pounds and upped the reps. I've also tried cycling on the stationary bikes. Jarrod has picked up this new exercise, and by the time he's done he has sweat all the way through his shirt, so it's gotta be burning some calories right? I'm doing all this, not to lose weight of course, so far I'm right on track with the amount of weight I'm suppose to gain. But, I know if I stick with the program now, it should help me to shed the baby weight once I have him/her. Plus, I've done this routine for so long now, I can't just sit idle for 9 months (and it helps me to feel better about eating that Snickers bar after lunch =)
Another great thing about the second trimester is that I haven't touched a saltine cracker in about 6 weeks now. No more morning sickness. I didn't even have it that bad, but it was bad enough to remember. And the migraines I use to get once a week has cut back to like once a month.
But with the beauty of the second trimester, comes some pain. My lower back has been hurting pretty bad lately. I think part of it is because I sit at a desk all day at work and that seems to put more pressure on it. I don't know if it's my uterus trying to grow and stretch or if the baby is laying on it. My mom said that when she was pregnant with my sister, she had back pain because my sister wouldn't move from her back. I tried the exercise everyone kept suggesting. The yoga pose where you get on your knees and arch and lower your back. That really seemed to help a bit. I've never had a problem with charlie horses but oh my goodness, did I get one the other day. One in each calf. They hurt so bad. Someone told me it's a sign of potassium deficiency. Guess I need to get some bananas. Jarrod has been the best husband I could possibly need. He rubs my back when its hurting, and the other night when I was screaming out of pain from my calves he came in and rubbed the muscle until it loosened. He's gonna be a great daddy =)
I'm 22 weeks today, and it seems like I still have so much longer to go in my pregnancy. My sister asked me yesterday when I could come home for a baby shower. "I gotta get planning." she said. A baby shower? Isn't that something you do later on? And then it hit me. I'm over half way there. There is so much that has to be done. We've bought the baby bed, but have no idea what we are going to do with the nursery. People keep asking me about daycare. "Have you thought about what daycare you're gonna use?" "Have you started pricing daycare's around you?" "You really should start early." Daycare? I'm just trying to get to my next ultrasound! My next ultrasound: I go Wednesday for the "big one." I'm so excited and so incredibly nervous. As long as the baby cooperates we'll be able to tell if we're having a boy or girl =) But this is also the ultrasound that they look for problems/issues and see if they can notice any obvious deformities (we decided against the genetic tests.) I'm sure it will be fine, but I'm just waiting for Wednesday and waiting to hear those words "everything looks great!" Needless to say, my head has been spinning the past few weeks. But you know what? I wouldn't change it for anything.
...thanks for reading.....

"March of the Penquins"

So, I've noticed that I've started doing the "pregnant walk." Not constantly, but there will be times when I catch myself doing it. You've seen it. The woman you see across the store, that if you blink too slowly you might think was a penguin dressed in woman's clothes. So, maybe walk is the wrong word. I believe the correct rhetoric would be waddle. Now, the first time I noticed myself doing it I was suprised. First, because I was actually waddling and second, because it was so dang comfortable. It made me wonder why pregnancy does this to you. And I've narrowed it down to a few things. One, I've noticed that if I sit for too long my lower abdomen almost cramps up so the waddling is mixed with a kind of limp from the pain of putting one foot in front of another. Two, maybe the waddling is almost a natural walk but only looks like a waddle because you have all this weight out front in your stomach that is moving side to side with the motion of your legs. And three, its a well known fact that as you get bigger, you tend to stick you belly out a little more due to the extra weight and plus you want people to know you really are pregnant, not just putting on pounds. This jut of the belly paired with the arch it creates in your lower back also makes you more apt to waddle. So, whether is one or all three, something is starting to make me walk less like a human and more like a penguin. And to top it off, if you know me very well you know I've always walked with my feet slightly pointed out anyway. Maybe I just need to buy the black and white tux and "go with it." Hey, penguins are cute right?? I mean people actually paid money to go to the movies and watch them 'march'....or waddle =)
In other news, my friend Diane tagged my to list "7 things" about myself. I haven't forgotten, I'm just trying to come up with some ideas.

...thanks for reading...

Just a few pictures

19 weeks I must have just eaten because I look way bigger here than I do a week later.



Bad picture but Jarrod was in it so I had to put it up. (20wks. half way there!)

Do the clothes make the man (or woman)??

Well, maybe not completely, but they sure do help! I finally broke down and bought some maternity clothes. I came to two conclusions. 1) I absolutely love maternity shirts. The actually make your tummy cute and are cut to compliment your growing...uh hmm...assets =). 2) I completely HATE maternity pants. Yes, they fit better than normal pants and give you some extra room in the pregnancy belly but lets be honest, they just aren't that cute.
So, today I had on my new maternity clothes and I was helping a customer and the lady asked if I had kids. I told her not yet but I was due in October. She was shocked and said I quote: "You don't look pregnant." I almost hugged her! Now, for the record I'm enjoying being pregnant and I don't even mind looking a bit prego but I was still a little traumatized from last weeks comment from that horrible horrible lady asking me if I was expecting twins. Needless to say, I'm loving my new clothes!
I've been scolded for not having enough pictures on here. I'll do what I can to get some more up...if your lucky I'll model the new wardrobe =)
...thanks for reading...

Say what?

So, I just have to get it off my chest. Today at work I was helping a lady at my desk. "So when's your baby due?" she asks me. At first this caught me off guard because this was the first time that a stranger had commented on my pregnancy without me saying anything (assuming I was pregnant by looking at me.) So I replied to her and told her October. "Oh," she says "are you having just one baby, because your getting pret...." she cut her sentence short, but I knew what the end of the sentence was:...pretty big. "Nope, just one." was all I could say. "Well, it must be that your just smaller, that's why your really showing." I knew she was just trying to cover up what she had just done to a pregnant woman and her fear of being as fat as a bus.
Now, who in their right mind would say that to someone. That might almost be as bad as asking someone how far along they are when they aren't even pregnant. I'm really trying not to let it get to me. I mean, 2 weeks ago I had people telling me that I didn't even look pregnant, and now I'm having twins?!? Surely I haven't grown that much in 14 days. Well, I googled "17 week pregnant belly photos" and I'm either the same size or smaller than most of those photos. So either, this lady was crazy or she didn't do the math in her head to realize how far along I was....or at least that's what I'm telling myself.
On another note, I'm pretty sure I felt the baby move. But that will be for another day, it's time for a walk =)
...Thanks for reading....

Baby bump

For those of you dying to see the first "baby bump" photos"

12 week Check-up

So, I had my 2nd doctors appointment today. I'm now 12weeks and 4 days preggers. My doctors appointment was scheduled for 9:00 am and I was there at 8:55 sharp. I barely even sat down and the nice little lady called my name to bring me back. "Wow, that was quick." I said. Boy did I speak to soon. She took me back to the room...the one with the stirrups for your feet in it. Now, I didn't have an exam or anything so I'm guessing they just stick you in that room every so often so you can get use to the contraption. It's almost daunting. They should put a sign on it that reads: Just You Wait! But, anyway. So I was sitting here in this room flipping through a magazine waiting for my doctor to come. And then I got finished with that one, and started on another, and another, and..well..you get my point. I thought, next time I'll bring a novel, I've always wanted to read Grapes of Wrath a second time. So, long story short I was in the room for an entire hour, but on the bright side, I got a 10min. nap in.
When he finally came in, he went through my blood work from the last visit. Everything checked out good...except my Vitamin D levels. A good reading is 60, I'm at 10. Eek! So, now I get to choke down a tablespoon of cod liver oil everyday. Not tasty. And then right before he left, he said "Oh yea, I gotta hear the heartbeat." How could he forget that? This is what I've been waiting for for 4 weeks now. So, I got to hear the heartbeat. It was all kind of rushed, but I heard it and it was beautiful.
Waiting in the doctors office: 1hour
Actul appointment with the doctor: 5min.
Hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time: Priceless!

...thanks for reading...

Nuff said.....

"Many pregnant women begin to feel that as they're gaining pounds, they're losing brain cells.....Researchers have found that a woman's brain-cell volume actually decreases during pregnancy. This is only temporary, your brain will plump back up a few months after delivery."
*What to Expect When Your Expecting*

See, I'm not going crazy. Losing my mind, maybe but not going crazy.


...Thanks for reading....

Cannoli Cravings....

So the number two question everyone asks me (second to when can I see a baby bump) is "have you had any weird cravings?" I wouldn't say that I've had weird cravings, but I have noticed times that if I didn't eat a certain food and that exact moment I just might drop kick someone in the face =) The first time I experienced this was about week 5. All day at work all I could think about was a McDonald's cheeseburger. Now this is funny on another level, because prior to pregnancy I was not a meat eater, couldn't stand it. But this particular day that is the only thing that I could think about. I got off work and drove, mouth literally salivating, directly to McDonald's only to find a line out to the road! I thought I would die. You mean I have to wait in this line for 7 min.? Clearly they don't know they're is a pregnant women in this drive-thru! I finally got to the speaker and ended up leaving with a double...ate the whole thing in about..oh 60 seconds. And man was it good! A couple of weeks ago it was Pizza Hut boneless chicken wings. The cravings are weird. I have to have what I want right now, but then after I eat it I don't want to look at it or especially smell it ever again. Haven't eaten a cheeseburger or wings since.
For the past three weeks I have been craving cannoli's, this heavenly of an Italian dessert. I have called and went to every bakery in Columbia and there are no cannoli's in this town. I even looked for just the shells (I'm a baker, I can make the filling,)... nothing! How can one town be completely void of an entire food?!?! Well, Jarrod and I went home this past weekend and on our way back to Missouri stopped over by St. Louis and found a Dierberg's. Maybe, just maybe they would have this dessert and put me out of my misery. Bakery had nothing, but the lady told me they had the shells in Isle 3. God Bless you Isle 3!!!!!! So, needless to say I fixed me up some cannoli's last night and man were they delish!!

in other news. "baby bump" is slowly growing... maybe more to the cravings mentioned above rather than the little person growing =) Not big enough for pictures, but I'll get them up soon.

...thanks for reading....

Can I have your name please...?

So, month three has started out interesting. One of my best friends on this planet, E is her name, came to visit this weekend. I noticed that all weekend crazy stuff was coming out of my mouth. Not gibberish or anything, but just stuff that didn't make sense. I would think one thing and the exact opposite would come out. Or a sentence that had the verb in the noun spot and a noun in the verb spot would somehow come out of my mouth. I just could not talk. Well, after a long day of browsing, with a little bit of shopping, we decided to stop for some coffee ( I had decaf.) I was placing my order with the cashier lady at Kaldi's. So that she could call my order out when it was done she said "can I have your name please?" Now, that is a simple question right? I mean, I've had the same name for almost 27 years now. I just kind of stared at her for a moment. I'm sure this moment was only a couple of seconds, but it felt like several minutes. I don't know if I couldn't think of my name or I was just drifted off somewhere else. Eventually I responded. Yes, you can have my name, it's Jamie. She was nice, but I definitely heard a chuckle come out of her.
So, I hear that stuff like this happens when your pregnant. Losing things, forgetting stuff.
This pregnancy is gonna be fun. I can already tell it!!

The Rumors are True...

What? You haven't heard the news yet?? Then that means the few people I've told have kept the secret. Thanks. But it's time to spill the beans......We're having a baby!! Yep, its really real. I didn't believe it was so until the first doctors appointment (yesterday.) Well, i knew it was real due to the 3 pregnancy tests I took, but it didn't sink in until yesterday. Jarrod and I got to see the heartbeat. That was the craziest thing in the world. I just wanted to reach out and touch the TV screen.
So, I'm 8wks 6days along and my due date is October 17th. The first 7 weeks were easy. I wasn't sick or anything, just really tired. I remember thinking: This is pregnancy? Man, this is easy... and then week 8 hit. The queasiness has started. Its not as bad as some people (God bless you mothers out there that had it rough,) but if I don't eat every 3 hours I definitely feel it.
So that's the news. It seems to be the case that whenever you have a baby, you have to start a blog, so here I am. Hopefully those of you that I love out there that I can't see every day can stay connected through this. I'm gonna try to posts to some pictures later. No baby bump yet, but oh I'm sure it'll come =)