Weeks 23-26 Baby Update

I had our monthly prenatal apt this morning at exactly 26 weeks. As usual all is well! I have gained a total of 10.5 lbs so far, which is great: not to much and not to little either. My blood presure was 118/72, and all the other quick tests were normal as well. I have to take the glocuse test some time in the next two weeks, I hope I pass the one hour test and don't have to go back for the 3 hour test!

I finally feel like it is now quite obvious to all that I pregnant! The belly is now easy to spot, and I know since most days when I get on the subway and woman (I just think this is because woman are more in tuned to pregnancy then men) will offer me her seat if there are no open seats. Although I still don’t feel right taking someone seat, which may change soon depending on my size and how crowed the train is.

Again this month my only complaint is the nagging back pain. I know I should spend more time at the gym working out my back mussels to make them stronger, but I am finding it too hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning, and I am to tired when I get home from work at night. So I will quit complaining since I could be doing more to keep from being so annoying.

We have gotten a lot done around the house this past month too. The hallway between the bedrooms is now almost complete (well we still have work to do on the stair case side, but hey that can wait for now). I painted the whole thing top to bottom once Greg was done with the drywall. All the trim got a fresh coat of white paint, and the walls are a nice light gray/blue (same paint we used to re-do the 3^rd floor office), and even the ceiling needed some touching up. The new door to the baby’s room now has painted trim all around it. Before the trim went up I fixed up the paint where it got messed up due to construction, and I also painted the walls on the other side of the door where the landing is to the 3^rd floor stairs. It was blue like the baby’s room before, but once the door went in and you could no longer see into the bedroom it looked weird, so I painted it the same green as the kitchen so the space would “flow”.

The 3^rd floor got carpeted this past week (it looks great), so as soon as we have the time we will be setting it up with both Greg and my desks and it will be our shared office space. To show you all how far this space has come check out these before and after shots.

Before - this is what the room looked liked when we moved in in November 2006:

After with the new half wall & carpet:

The guest bed will be relocating to my parents house, and once we get the carpet tiles in (still trying to decide on the right color, going to order from FLOR.com, I think is a cool product) for the large area rug that will be in the baby’s room, then we will be ready to start setting it up as a nursery! Greg had a lot of Amazon.com gift cards as incentive bonuses from work, so we ordered and have since received the crib matters, a gliding chair and ottoman (can’t wait to put it together and give it a spin), and a baby carrier (called a Ergo baby, nifty contraception click here to see what it is).

Here are our weekly bump watch photos for the past month:

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks

26 Weeks

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Wednesday May 27^th was our 2^nd wedding anniversary! With all the work going in the house getting ready for the baby we decided to keep things low key this year. Greg was supper sweet and sent me these pretty flowers to my office. It was a nice surprise since I had just got flower for my birthday earlier this month. Then we went to dinner at The Melting Pot in Boston after work. It is a fondue restaurant and we stuffed ourselves with 4 courses, a cheese fondue, and salad, traditional fondue with an assortment of meats & seafood, then a chocolate fondue desert.

Dear Non-Pregnant Person - Funny guidelines, stolen from another Blog, who stole from Facebook...

I read this on another blog this morning and it spoke to me! OK don’t panic friends and family, I am not posting this to point any fingers or upset anyone. I found this funny and yes that is because there is a lot of truth to it (as any of you that have been pregnant can agree). I reposted this on a message board I frequent and got a lot of “this is awesome” comments, us woman all agreed these are some good rules to follow. Not to worry folks, personally I don’t mind a member of my close family/friends giving me a quick pat on my belly, but if you want to “feel the baby kick” it really is only polite to ask me first, and realize I have no control if the second you put you hand on my belly is the same second he decided to go back to sleep and stop the show (btw it is still to early for this anyways). Oh and god help the first random stranger on the street that tries to touch me, watch out, my reaction will be swift and be followed by some not-so-kind words.

Dear Non-Pregnant Person,

I hope you find these guidelines helpful in your interactions with pregnant women, as failing to follow them may result in serious physical harm. If you are thinking, surely she doesn’t mean me - then you should probably read this twice.

1. The appropriate response to a couple telling you they are having a baby is Congratulations! with enthusiasm. Any other response makes you a jerk.

2. Through the wonders of science, we now know that babies are made ONLY by the mother and father - not grandparents. Unless the baby is in your uterus or you are the man that helped put it there, you may not ever use the phrase “my baby”.

3. On the same note, unless you made the baby as defined in 2, the pregnancy, birth, and raising of the child are not about you. You do not have input. No one wants to hear your opinion unless they ask for it.

4. The body of a pregnant woman should be treated the same as any other body. You would not randomly touch someones stomach if they were not pregnant, nor would you inquire into the condition of their uterus, cervix, or how they plan to use their breasts. Pregnancy does not remove all traces of privacy from a woman.

5. Likewise, no woman wants to hear comments on her weight EVER. A pregnant woman does not find it flattering that you think she is about is pop, must be having twins, looks swollen or has gained weight in her face. Telling her she looks too small only makes her worry that she is somehow starving her baby. Making such comments invite her to critique your physical appearance and you may not act offended. The only acceptable comment on appearance is “You look fabulous”!

6. By the time we are 20-30 years old, most of us have picked up on the fact that the summer is hot. We are hot every summer when we are not pregnant. We don’t need you to point out that we will be miserably hot before the baby comes. Nor do we need to know how badly you will feel for us because we will be pregnant during the summer and how glad you are that YOU will not be pregnant this coming summer.

7. There is a reason that tickets to Labor & Delivery are not yet sold on Ticketmaster. Childbirth is actually not a public event. It may sound crazy, but some women really do not relish the idea of their mother, MIL, or a host of other family members seeing their bare butt and genitals. Also, some people simply feel like the birth of their child is a private and emotional moment to be shared only by the parents. You weren’t invited to be there when the baby was created, you probably won’t be invited to be there when it comes out either.

8. Like everything else in life, unless you receive an invitation, you are NOT invited. This includes doctor appointments, ultrasounds, labor, delivery, the hospital, and the parent’s home. You do not decide if you will be there for the birth or if you will move in with the new parents to help out. If your assistance is desired, rest assured that you will be asked for it.

9. If you are asked to help after the birth, this means you should clean up the house, help with cooking meals, and generally stay out of the way. Holding the baby more than the parents, interfering with breastfeeding and sleeping schedules, and making a woman who is still leaking fluid from multiple locations lift a finger in housework is not helping.

10. The only people entitled to time with the baby are the parents. Whether they choose to have you at the hospital for the birth or ask for you to wait three weeks to visit, appreciate that you are being given the privilege of seeing their child. Complaining or showing disappointment only encourages the parents to include you less.

Sincerely,
All the Pregnant Women in the World

Weeks 21-22 Baby Update

We had our monthly prenatal doctor visit yesterday, and once again it was all good news. These visits are quick, just a check of my weight, blood pressure, and the baby’s heart beat. I have gained some weight for the first time, I am sure all that cruise food helped, it was a little less that what I was guessing, and right on track. The results from our quick follow-up ultrasound at week 20 said all is well with Baby C.’s heart. The nurse always gives me a thumps up when she takes my blood pressure. They must love me, I am an easy customer, never have had to call with a question or concern and everything is always in normal ranges.

The one thing I could do without is BACK PAIN! All I have to is sit the wrong way in my office chair (a very nice high back chair, and I have a foot rest, so it’s not the chairs fault) and that is it, my back hurts the rest of the day. I stretch, I massage, etc. and nothing will stop the pain once it starts. Anyone have a good recommendation for one of those heating pads you warm up in the microwave?

Here are some bump watch photos:

18 Weeks

20 Weeks

21 Weeks

22 Weeks

We have also gotten started on getting the baby’s room ready. Greg and his Dad installed a door to the baby’s room leading from the kitchen and the landing to the stairs that go to the 3rd floor (yes there was no door there before), and installed a wall and door in the staircase hallway that is located between the two bedrooms so we can quickly get from our room to the baby’s room (before we never used this space since the stairwell just had a railing at the top of the stairs that was open to the landing below where the “front” door to the house is). Need a visual? Click here to see this blog post that has a rendition of our home’s layout.

Here are some photos of their hard work! And I mean hard work, our house is OLD = nothing is level!

From inside the baby’s room:
From the kitchen/landing to 3rd floor: New wall, door and sheet rock on the inside of the wall looking up from the stair case:
Here is the hallway looking from the baby’s room to our bedroom:

We also picked out and ordered the bedding for the baby’s room! I found it on the JCPenny’s web site, and it is made by Carter’s (they make great baby’s cloths, so I hope the bedding is of the same top quality). Greg is a dog lover, and since they really don’t make boy bedding with kitties on it (guess it is more a girly thing), it was easy for us to both love this set. We ordered the matching mobile and valances as well. I think the colors will look good with the blue that the baby’s room is already painted.

Even better all the items are on sale, and even better than that it is easy to find coupon codes (I use this site: http://www.retailmenot.com/) for JCP.com. I had to order the valances & mobile separate from the bedding due to low stock/back order issues, I used a code and got free shipping on that order, then when I ordered the bedding last night I found a 15% off the whole order coupon. I love the feeling of getting a bargain.