MKL Weekend= Baby Weekend!

 MLK Day meant a four day weekend for my husband and a four day weekend for me!

He had Friday thru Monday off and I had Saturday thru Tuesday off.

WAHOO! 

Normally we would go out of town but I requested my shower to be the weekend before because I knew this would give us plenty of time to do the stuff we needed to get ready for Bug's arrival.

So this weekend while I was running around returning items which we got duplicates of and arranging stuff in bug's room, I gave Joe a to do list.  

On his list were the following

1) Install Car Seats- our inspection is next weekend

2) Install the baby Monitor

3) Install the Foscam

4) Install the Baby Gate on the main level

5) Help me install shelves in bug's room

So on Thursday night he installed the car seats which took all about 15 minutes.  

Hopefully he did it right and we will find out next weekend when we get them inspected.  

We ended up going with Graco Snugride 35 because one of our friends is letting us borrow their snap and go stroller for the first couple of months.  It is big but fix well in our cars.
I love that Clemson sniffs all the baby stuff out.  

Friday Joe had off which was great because I came home to the baby monitor being already installed and him working on installing the Foscam.  We opted to go with the AngelCare Monitor because Joe is concerned about SIDs.  We got the AngelCare Delux which came with two monitor systems.  One in now in our room and one on the main level.  He said it took him about 15 minutes to install and most of that was moving the mattress and putting something under the monitor pad.  

He also worked on setting up the Foscam which is a wireless video monitoring system.  

Our friends had used this and loved it and Joe loves the idea of being able to see bug when he is at work.  This was trickly and took a little time to set up.  However now with the uFoscam app which was $4.99 I can view Bug from work, shopping, etc on my phone and so can Joe.  

Friday night after I got home, we went to work on putting the shelves up in bug's room.  We had a couple things that we were given as gifts that I wanted to display.  I picked up the shelves at Target on sale for $18 and it took Joe about another 20 minutes to hang them.  

 Finally, on Sunday while I was out running some errands he installed the baby gate for the main level.

We registered for KidCo Angle Mount Safeway Gate because our neighbors had use this with good success in their house and it had great safety ratings.  

We received two as gifts but decided to just install one right now.
I know this is something we will not use for a while, however, I liked the idea of starting to use it with Clemson to help training him not to run down to the door whenever the doorbell rings.
This took Joe about 1 hour by himself, but he did an awesome job!

As we were sitting in front of the TV watching the news Monday night we both were exhausted and realized how much we did this weekend!  

Thank God for long weekends!!
Thank God for husbands who are handy... =0)

My "Crap- We are having a baby" moment

When did it really hit you that your life was about to change with this new little addition to the family?

I can tell you exactly when it hit me.  

January 13 at 1215am.

On January 12, my two best friends threw me the most amazing baby shower which I still am in awe about.  It is so amazing how much love this little boy has surrounding him and he is not even here!  Joe and I are so lucky for our friends and family, and to be honest the shower caught me a little of guard because in a way it was overwhelming.  More to come on my shower later...

We headed home with multiple cars packed full of stuff and decided to just place everything up in bug's room for the time being that way i could slowly start to go thru it over the next couple of weeks.  I walked into the room before I went to bed and was a little overwhelmed at the task that was in front of me.  Joe and I headed to bed with a full  house of house guest including my best friend Keely, and Joe's parents in our other guest room.  

Out of a dead sleep at 1215, I hit Joe.  Joe of course thought it was "go time," and I quickly explained it was not.  I just looked at him and said "Crap we are having a baby!"  He of course laughed at me and stated that he was happy that it finally hit me at 32 weeks.  I guess it was seeing all this baby stuff that made it a reality for me- we were going to have a baby!!!

What was your moment when you realized that your life was about to change?

31 week visit

Again I am late bug in writting this but ALOT had happened this month!

Now 33 weeks, it is starting to hit me that you are going to be coming soon, whether we are ready or not!  

My 31 week visit happened two weeks ago and to be honest it was non eventful.  

Which is a good thing.  

We passed our glucose test- WAHOO!  I do not know but this was one thing I was really worried about.  The place I am receiving my care makes everyone do the 2 hour test, but fortunately since I have no risk factors, the midwives let me do the one hour test.  My iron was also fine which is good because I have not been taking my iron pills because well I forget!  

Fetal Heart Rate was 150s.

Fundal Height was 30- 1 below normal but my midwife is not worried about it and neither am I because I was small and still am small and this means that you might be a little small.

Weight gain- 2 pounds!  I was so proud of myself for this because my 28 week visit was right before the holidays and I did not want to be one of those women who gained alot of weight between the holiday visits.  So I tried very hard to eat right and exercise like crazy.  

I am now speed walking/light jogging on the treadmill 4 times a week for 40 + minutes and find that it helps me be less sore and also less cranky =0)

Total weight gain at this point 9.5 lbs.  

Position-  Bug you are head down and have been for some time, thank you for behaving!    

Moving-  You move like clock work.  6 am,  2pm, and 7-9 pm, and occasionally at 3 am.  

Things I have noticed since last visit

-I am starting to feel pregnant and officially have a belly.  

-Pica- yes I have developed PICA and love the hospital ice!  

-No real food cravings other than fruits and veggies.  

-I am a sleeping champ- this has been my only pregnancy discomfort so far.  I can sleep anywhere with anything going on.  I love it!

I got a surprise from one of the doctors at my work.  One day I was on Labor and Delivery and it was not very busy so she told me to come down to the Prenatal Assessment where they do the high resolution ultrasounds and they would take some 3 D pictures of you.  I was expecting 1 or two pictures, but 30 minutes later I walked out with about 20 photos.  I got to see what you looked like and am amazed and can not wait to meet you- however your father has stated that you have to stay into 37 weeks.  

I totally love you and you are not even here yet.

Clemson has taken to hanging out in your room like he knows something is going to happen  and he like to lay his head on my belly every nigh before bed.  

We have our next visit on next Monday around 34 weeks and hopefully I will do a better job of blogging.  But lots of things to come including my amazing shower, my not so Zen pregnant Laura moment, and our new nesting addition.  

Traditions continue

When I was born my father made me a needlepoint picture that was in my nursery and my room while growing up.  It has pretty much stayed with me where ever I have moved since I turned 21. 

So when we found out we were having a baby there were three things that I knew I wanted from my childhood:

1) My needlepoint picture

2) My yellow baby blanket

3) My mother's yellow kids rocking chair. 

The needlepoint picture was framed in an old metal frame that was actually starting to rust. 

I loved the idea of either doing a white or yellow frame with either a white or yellow mat.

My goal here was to complete this project with very little expense. 

The picture itself was an interesting size and also the mat- and I refused to pay for custom framing.

So I watched for my Micheal's coupons and sales. 

I was able to find a black frame that worked- of course no white which was on sale and then I had a 40 % coupon so I ended up paying around 8 dollars for a 40$ frame. 

Score one for me.  I think found some white board that we had at home which I used to make a mat out of. 

The plan is to either paint the frame with Yellow or White.  I am waiting to see how the rest of the room turned out to determine if the room needs more color.

So Joe painted it with Rustolum White Paint a couple weeks ago.
I truely love this paint because it makes things so easily!

Joe also painted some smaller frames that were previously black so now they are white and a basket that we received as a gift that was natural wood color.  I decided to paint it a bright yellow to add some color to the room.  I am either going to use it for diapers or for toys.

I heart spray paint!

Here are the finishing touches.

I put picture of bug in them for now.
1st Trimester
2nd Trimester and 3rd trimester.
Eventually will be replaced with newborn photos. etc. 

  WoW

2012 Was  A Year!

As my hubby laid in bed last night and relived our year, we decided that we did ALOT!

It was amazing and we are so lucky to have the opportunities we did.

Just a  quick photo recap....

 New Years 2011-2012 in London, UK with the our friends!

The Best New Years ever!

Followed by a trip St Augustine Florida mid January for some warmth.  

March started off rough with me being re-ended and ending up on muscle relaxes for a week.  

But then.....

 

Joe turned 30!!!!

Old man =0)

 April was a little sad with Joe's parents heading south to retire in Florida.  

However we partied it up-

 Celebrating both our 3rd Anniversary and my 30th Birthday in Hawaii in May and June!

 June/July was a summer of Friends- literally our house was full with visitors almost weekend!!!

Then I came down with a little bug.....

Hello Baby OH!

 Our annual Labor Day visit to Maine on Little Diamond Island. 

September Clemson Football Game with our friends!!!

 

Our big Europe Trip to Rome and Paris- booked Pre-Bug.  

An amazing trip.

 In October we found out that we would be having a little boy!

OH BOY!

 Smaller trips followed to St Augustine Florida for a much needed girls weekend and then Thanksgiving in Florida with Joe's family.

I am officially done with traveling!

 

Christmas we finished off the Year in NOVA with my family.  

We were fortunate to witness so many engagements, babies being born, friends graduating and people moving!!! 

2012 was amazing....

But with bug on the 2013 will be even more eventful. 

Here is to saying goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013!

Maternity Clothes... 101

So the bump finally popped! 

It took 27 weeks but I now at 30+ weeks
I officially feel pregnant and I am starting to run out of wardrobe options. 

So I decided to email one of my friends with regards to her pregnancy wardrobe three weeks ago.

She made a couple of recommendations for me. 

-  Buy a couple basics

-  Shop at places that do not sell Maternity Stuff

-  Borrow if possible

-  Find outfits in our closet that can work pregnant and non pregnant.

I do not want to spend a lot of money on my pregnancy wardrobe because the reality was that I have only 3 more months to be pregnant and also I can wear scrubs at work everyday so I am very fortunate in the fact that I do not have to purchase "professional/work" clothes. 

So I started out last weekend by visiting one of my friends who was nice enough to let me borrow a couple of basics. 

-1 Long sleeve pregnancy black Shirt from Target Maternity

-1 Pregnancy Sweater from Motherhood Maternity

-1 Pregnancy Dress from Motherhood Maternity

-1 Pregnancy skirt

- 2 sets of pregnancy leggins

I then really looked thru my closet and found that I have 3-4 sweater dresses that would work perfect with Maternity leggins.  I also had 2-3 sweater that worked well with jeans and a couple of shirts. 

I also borrowed a Target Maternity Pregnancy Sweat Dress from another friend. 

So Saturday afternoon, I headed out to H&M on a recommendation. 

I will admit that I have never ever been into this store. 

I walked in with an open mind. 
I left with a sweater dress and a regular dress that I am hoping I can wear to my shower. 

Both cost me 40 dollars. 

Neither were pregnancy items but they way they were cut, they were perfect and have lots of wiggle room. 

Then on Sunday, I headed to Destination Maternity to shop for a really nice pair of Jeans. 

Since I do not have to spend a lot of money maternity clothes, I knew that I wanted to buy 1 nice pair of Maternity Jeans.  I felt a little guilty about spending this much money on jeans but when I reminded myself that I had not purchases a single piece of clothing since July so I did not feel bad because 4 months of not purchasing a single item justified it in my mind.
 I decided on a pair of 7 for All Mankind Maternity Jeans in Petite once my hubby pointed out how cute my butt looked.
DONE and DONE!!!

This was my splurge!!!

Any pregnancy pieces of clothing that you loved? 

28+ weeks

Late again but the holidays decided to get in the way.  

Over a week ago I had my 28+ week appointment.  

Life so far in the third trimester has been a piece of cake!

At my appointment I did my glucose test which to be honest I was dreading just because I had been craving so much fruit which has natural sugars in it that I thought for sure I was going to be diabetic.  So I got there at 1pm to drink my orange drink which to be honest was not bad at all.... 

Hello Sunkist- It was almost like a treat!

I then waited for an hour and had my blood drawn and rhogam given because my blood type is negative.  A shot in the butt- nothing says Happy Holidays more!

My 28 week appointment itself was uneventful.

Blood pressure is good.

Up 6 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight so now Joe can get off my back.

Measuring 27 weeks via fundal height- a little small but as my midwife pointed out- 

"You are small!"  Thanks for the obvious statement there.

Fetal heart Rate 150s

I did find it funny when she was listen to your heartbeat bug that she commented on how strong my abdominal muscles where and why that is probably why I am not showing more.  I came back with "Well that is what happens when you throw up for 4 months straight!"  Which got both a chuckle out of her and the nurse.  

The rest of the visit was pretty normal.  

Their discussion points I had already pretty much figured out.

At a 28 week visit they discuss

1) Peditricians- Check already done!

2) Circumcision- Check already discussed

3) Probiotics to help decrease chance of GBS- Check already purchases and have been taking daily

4) Cord blood banking- no thank you- I am not a believer in this! 

Now that we are in the third trimester they want us to come in every 2 weeks- this is craziness.  

So fortunately I asked the midwife if she would be ok if I made it ever 3-4 since I live in Fairfax with the knowledge that I would call if I had any problems.  They were very agreeable to this which made me very happy! So our next appointment will be in three weeks from our last or two weeks from now.  

I got a call a couple days later from my midwife letting me know that I passed my glucose test with flying color- WAHOO!!!

Some notes about the third trimester so far:

For the most part I really have no complaints.  

I find that I am still having a hard time eating full meals and have accepted that from now on I am just going to snack when I am hungry and not eat when I am not.  (Again poor Joe who will be eating dinners by himself.)  The meat aversion still continues as well as my cravings for fruits.  

I am becoming a master sleeper.  

I can sleep anywhere- the car, the couch, and I can sleep 12+ hours a day if I have the time.  The nap has become my favorite thing to do.  

Pregnancy clothes- well it happed.  

At 27 1/2 weeks I broke out the Maternity Jeans and the other maternity clothes that I have.  I have only purchased a couple things which I am hoping will get me thru the pregnancy.  Maternity clothes shopping can be very frustrating- I went into find a long white t-shirt that I could wear as an undershirt or with my sweaters and basically nothing fit because I am so short!   Fortunately I think I am going to try Target after the holiday craziness has stopped.  

Bug- Clemson I think offically knows that you are coming.  

I went looking for all of his toys two weeks ago and found it funny that he had brought them all up stairs to your room.  So I moved his dog bed in there and his toy bin.  

Your room is now his favorite place to sit.

So cute!!!

 

Joe has started talking to you at night and whenever he goes to feel you move, of course you stop moving.  This totally makes me laugh!

 

We are slowly getting your nursery put together - more to come on that later.