Bumpalicious

I have been chastised for not keeping you fine folks informed of how my belly is growing.  That is largely due to the face that up until recently, I just looked like I've been putting on weight, not growing a tiny person.  Not really thrilled to show off the "look how fat I'm getting" photos.  However, in recent weeks, my belly is rounding out in such a way that I am beginning to get questions about due dates and genders, leading me to believe that I am looking more maternal and less "hefty", shall we say. 

Christopher and I intended to take a photo of my belly every week from about 7 weeks onward, but that didn't exactly happen.  We do have lots of photos, but no one for every week.  Here are a few for your belly-gazing enjoyment:

8 week bloat. Not sure it counts as a bump yet.

14 week semi-bump.

Starting to be more baby-shaped at 19 weeks.

20 weeks!  Definitely bump-like now!

Not only can you watch my belly grow, you can also observe my hair transformations over the past few months.  I'm working on growing it out, and it keeps getting lighter. Maybe I'm anticipating spring.  I do wish that I had lost more weight before I got pregnant because I know that would have made it much easier to tell when my bump was actually expanding versus when my chub was expanding. Although, at my last doctor's appointment, I was still losing weight because I keep not having any appetite and continue to be queasy frequently.  At last check, I was down around 7-8 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight.  Don't you worry, I'm sure I'll be making up for lost time soon.  :)

So what do you think?  Do we have a baby bump, or are we just looking pudgy these days?  I know in about 10 or 12 weeks I'll be wishing for less tummy, but for now I'd like to have something to show for my efforts!

It's a...?

Today was the big 20 week ultrasound!  It took the technician over an hour to take all the pictures and measurements that she needed, so we enjoyed spending the time watching our little one.  Luckily, Peanut was cooperative and gave us a good gender shot, so now the fun planning can begin!  Sorry folks, I can't spill the beans just yet about the gender. Our families are coming to visit in two and a half short weeks to help out with some projects for the baby, and we're planning to have a Gender Reveal party then, so no public announcements that could spoil their surprises! 

Based on the measurements, Peanut seems to be growing right on track, and they estimate that our little wiggler weighs about 13 oz right now!  We definitely have one active kiddo on our hands. The tech kept having problems getting the pictures she needed because Peanut kept moving and squirming around. Thankfully they let me go to the bathroom in the middle of the scan because between the kid poking from the inside and the tech poking from the outside, I was definitely ready!  I was so glad that Christopher got to be there today.  He didn't get to come to the last one, and while pictures are great, there's nothing like seeing that teeny baby stretching and kicking and watching its little heart beating.  We both got teary watching that screen!

Just like last time, they gave me a CD with still photos from the scan, but since they were looking for detailed things today, everything is so zoomed in and pretty much unrecognizable, at least it was to me.  Here is one of the less obscure pics that will not reveal a gender.  Take your best guess!

Another sweet profile of my Peanut!

New Look!

How do you like my new header?  Chris made it for me last night after I was complaining that I didn't think my blog was very cute!  We brainstormed for a few minutes, then he just whipped it up in about an hour.  Handy to have a graphic artist around the house I guess.  We've also been talking about way I could increase my readership around here, since I'm fairly certain there's about three people who read my blog, and two of them live in my house.  Chris suggested I go into a little more detail about some of our choices and decisions for the nursery, my pregnancy, and anything interesting that comes up along the way.  To avoid starting with an internet overshare on my philosophy of pregnancy, I think I'll start with the nursery.  That seems safe, don't you think?

Let's start from the beginning. Our goals for the nursery were few and (sorta) simple: First, it had to be easily undo-able, since we're renters.  We don't know how long we'll live here, and I don't want to invest time or money in things that we can't take with us, or that we'll have to undo when we leave, like a crazy awesome paint job.  Second, it had to be frugal.  We know that nurseries don't stay that way forever, and since we're hardly rolling in dough, we wanted to invest our money as wisely as possible.  ($800 crib?  No thanks.)  Third, we'd like it to be as eco-friendly as possible while still fitting within our other goals.  I'll probably come across on the blog as a tree-hugging hippie earth-mother, but that's only partly true.  I'll sacrifice a tree now and then for frugality and convenience.  Sorry.  With these things in mind, here's a few of our nursery choices thus far:

The Crib:  
We chose the Delta 3-in-1 Winter Park Convertible Crib from Target.  Originally we had our eye on a very similar looking crib from Burlington Coat Factory (yes, they have baby stuff--who knew??) for a fairly similar price.  We needed something that would be gender neutral (no canopy beds or racecar beds yet), and something that came in a medium warm finish to match the existing furniture in the room, that being the armoire and the cubbie shelves.  There we go being frugal again.  No sense buying a whole room full of furniture when we only need a crib.  The Winter Park crib seemed to be generic in style and correct in finish.  It was one of the less expensive cribs we found that wasn't also ugly like a butt.  Then Target went and put it on sale for $100 a month or so ago, and I couldn't help myself.  It was a done deal. 

The Paint:
This was an area where we opted for the "green" choice, not the frugal choice.  We decided on the Olympic Premium paint in Stonington. We wanted a no VOC paint, which means no weird chemicals off-gassed by the paint, and no paint-induced fume highs, and the Olympic paint was our best (if not only) choice.  It wasn't the cheapest paint we could find, but overall, it didn't break the bank.  (Here's where I have to make a little confession.  The paint wasn't entirely a nursery-based decision.  We had previously painted most of the apartment in the same paint and color, and had some left over so that's what went in the nursery.  The VOC reasoning still stands, but there's nothing magically "baby" about Stonington.  It was the best taupe for the rest of the place, so it went in the nursery too. )  Back to the paint.  As far as quality goes, it seemed to go on easily and cover fairly well.  We did have to do two coats, but I'm not going to blame the paint on that because we are certainly novice painters.  My artistically inclined husband decided a flat finish would look best, so I rolled with it.  In other parts of the house, a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser seems to take off any smudges just fine.  And it was a nice neutral color that was pre-approved by the landlords. Yay paint.

I think that's a good stopping point for today, don't you?  I don't want to spill all my secrets at once, and besides, that's about all the decisions we've made for the nursery.  Wouldn't want to get too carried away with progress, would we?  More decisions will be made in the near future, since we find out Monday what the gender of our little Peanut is!  Counting down the minutes!  Until then, are any of you planning a nursery?  Painting walls?  Trying to live cheap and green?  Let me know!

Nursery Progress!

This has been a way busy week and a half for us. Our second bedroom previously functioned as Chris's office and my crafting room, as well as a catch-all for everything else we own. Well, that is now Peanut's room, so we've having to do a lot of shuffling around. Last weekend Chris's dad Woody came and helped us put a fresh coat of paint on the walls. Since we're renting, we went with the same generic taupe that's in the rest of the apartment, but it's clean and fresh and better than the dirty smudgy white that was in there. Here's some photos of the empty room, with its brand new paint and freshly cleaned carpets:


The room seemed so big when it was completely empty! I just knew I would have way more space than we needed for a tiny baby. I mean, how much stuff could they need, right? :) We started putting the furniture back in once the paint and carpets were all dry. I can actually start to picture it now!

This chair has been in my family since I was a kid. It's moved to a few different states with me, and now I can't wait to cuddle my Peanut in it!

We're planning to use these cubbies for storage, and we're also going to put a changing pad on top instead of buying a separate changer. What do you do with those after you're out of diapers anyway?View of the "front door." This little armoire will be full of tiny little clothes before I know it!Obviously the crib isn't assembled yet. I haven't even bought a mattress for it. But it's going to be on that wall where it's leaning when all is said and done.Mom, Peanut, and Violet relaxing and taking in the view of the "new" nursery!

Recap

My sister kindly reminded me yesterday that I have not blogged in quite a while. Apologies. Although I am nearly 18 weeks along, well into my 2nd trimester, I am still completely exhausted most of the time. Combine this with working full time in a semi-physical job and trying to be somewhat of a wife, there hasn't been a lot of spare time when my eyes are open. I'll try to do better.

I am still getting queasy at least once a day, although I'm getting better willpower or less severe nausea or both, because I haven't thrown up quite as often the past few weeks. My belly is getting bigger, and more bump-like! (Yay for finally moving out of the "too many doughnuts" phase!) I can still wear a few of my pre-pregnant tops, depending on how they're made. My pants haven't had a prayer in a few months though. I find I look more pregnant and less tubby if I wear fitted tops, and I especially like the maternity tops with the rouching on the sides. Here's a recent photo, taken last Sunday before church:




The biggest problem I'm dealing with at this point is sleeping. I pretty much haven't slept well since the beginning, waking up a few times an hour for no good reason. Now add to that the fact that I have to pee at least once a night, and I'm trying to train myself to sleep in a different position, tired is just part of life. My mom says that will get better in about twenty years.

Speaking of sleep positions, this caused a slightly more alarming problem recently. I woke up one day last week with a tightness/slight pain in the right side of my chest that I brushed off to sleeping funny. As the day went on, the pain got sharper and it became difficult for me to breathe. My shoulder started to feel stiff and heavy, and I began to worry. I called my doc's office to let them know what was going on, and they recommended going to urgent care or the ER immediately. Great! So I went to the closest urgent care to my work, where they cleared me of everything except a possible blood clot, which normally they would xray for, so they sent me on to the local ER for more tests. Double great! After several hours of poking and testing, it was determined that I had costochondritis, and inflammation of the cartilage between the ribs and the sternum, likely because of my new side-sleeping position. Hot compresses, tylenol, and patience, they said. Still very painful, but so much easier to deal with knowing that I'm not dying!

I feel like this has been a very negative post, and for that I apologize. I really don't feel like I have a bad attitude, the past four weeks have just brought on some "different" experiences for me. I'm still very excited about the baby and the pregnancy, and in the scheme of things, I think I've had it pretty easy. We're in the process of cleaning out the office, which will become the nursery. Progress!! And our big ultrasound is scheduled for the 27th! Just about two more weeks now until I can start really planning things!!