2 month doctor visit

Sorry no pictures today, didn't get a chance to take any and post them. But wanted to update on Molly's visit to the peditrician. She will be 2 months on Sunday so we went to the doctor yesterday. She had her first round of shots, yucky. 2 in each leg and another she took orally. Lots of stuff for a little one. The shots themselves weren't so bad, she cried a little bit when the doctor gave her the third one but when it was all done I fed her so things were good.

Then we went to Lisa's house for lunch and saw Erika, Brady and Teigue who were visiting from San Diego. I haven't seen Erika since Chicago about 6 years ago. Time goes by so fast. So that was fun having two little ones with us for lunch. After lunch, Molly got a little on the fussy side. She didn't want to eat much and just screamed her little head off. Hopefully it didn't scare Lisa from having babies! So we headed out and Molly slept most of the way home. Once we got here, she started screaming again but still had no interest in eating, which is totally not like her. So I figured it was vaccine related and put her in her swing so she would be comfy and it calmed her down immediately. She slept there for a few hours and then on my lap and John's lap until about 10 pm when she went back to the swing. She finally woke at 5:30 am and was ready to eat and has been back to normal today.

Other than the visit was good, she is up to 9 pounds 11 ounces and is still on the 25 percentile track so the doctor was happy. I thought she might be over 10 pounds but not quite yet. She is longer too, she's now 21 and 3/4 inches.

Ok, time to feed the little one, it's been 2 hours!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We did. It was Molly's first, and even though she didn't really know what was going on she is enjoying her new toys and loves looking at all the stuff. She was a little cranky Saturday night at Uncl e Gerry's and then again Christmas Eve at Aunt Cathy and Uncle Jim's house because it was past her bedtime. We brought along a travel swing which worked a little bit but not quite as good as her regular swing. I think if it were quiet it might work, but with all the activity it was difficult for her to stay asleep. But we had a great time and everyone loved seeing little Miss Molly. She certainly is a cutey!

Now on to going through everything to figure out what we got. I need to do a serious inventory of Molly's clothing situation to figure out what we have and what we need. She's starting to grow out of some of her 0-3 stuff but isn't quiet ready for 6 months yet, so I have to find some 3-6 month clothing, which isn't easy but I think Kohl's has some.

Just when things were going well...

I woke up Tuesday morning with mastitis, which is an infection of a milk duct. Not fun at all. I woke up at about 5 am with severe pain and by 7:30 am I had a fever of 100.1, and it kept going up from there. The highest was 102.9, that didn't feel so good. The doctor put me on antibiotics which I started Tuesday at dinner time, but the fever kept up until this morning. It is finally back down to 97.9. Yeah! I am feeling so much better but I know I still need to take it easy. I just feel like I have so much to do, so many presents to wrap. But we still have a few more days, at least all the shopping was done already and my last package just arrived from UPS so no worries that things won't be here.

The excellent news of the day though is that Molly actually took a nap in her crib! Yeah!!! I was able to take a picture of her sleeping and I even videotaped it. It was a short one, about 20-25 minutes but that is fairly typical in the morning if we haven't gone out. She takes much longer naps if we take off in the car or at the mall in her carriage. So I think we are making progress. One day she won't be a swinging baby anymore.

And congratulations to Vicky on the news that she is having a little boy! Such fun!

A family photo

Well that was an adventure :). We'll try again tonight maybe, but this one came out pretty good! Molly isn't having much fun in her bouncer chair right now so this looks like its going to be a short post.

Christmas is coming quick!

Yikes I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away and Molly is 6 weeks old! It has kept Molly and I extremely busy which is why there haven't been many posts, but check out the sweet smile I was able to capture this morning. She's such a cutie.

Last week we spent a few days shopping, Molly loves the mall. Tuesday we got her pictures taken at JC Penney. Of course she screamed as soon as it was her time for pictures, so we went for a walk around the mall and came back. I fed her, changed her, and finally she fell asleep and we got some sleeping photos. At least they aren't of her screaming, like the one I took here.

Thursday was a rough day. We went to Westfarms and visited Becky, which wasn't the tough part. Molly was a little more cranky than she normally is when she's in her carriage but I think its because it was so loud there. Much busier than Meriden. I don't think I ever noticed that before. So we got some shopping done there, and then came home. Molly ate and got dressed up so I could go to my 6 week postpartum doctor visit. I can't believe its already been that long! The doctor visit was long. We waited over 90 minutes to see the doctor. Poor Molly was hungry, I had to feed her in the room while we were waiting, which was tough since I was in one of those paper gowns. And I could tell she had a dirty diaper but with the gown on it would have been impossible to change her, and I didn't want to change it and have the doctor walk in right in the middle. Anyway, we finally saw the doctor and everything is fine. Someone remind me not to take the 3:30 appointment if I have to bring the baby with me.

We had a good weekend, fairly relaxing. Grandpa came down for a visit for his birthday and we got our Christmas tree. Hopefully we will put it up tonight, but John might go shopping at Westfarms so we'll see. I suppose its better to go shopping tonight than to wait even longer, although I'm sure any nights will be crazy up there at this point.

Not sure of our plan today, although I may attempt to return the boots I bought because they are too big. I am having serious shoe issues. My feet grew and haven't shrunk, so I have no shoes or boots to wear. I found one pair of brown shoes that fit well, but haven't found any black so I can't wear anything black. Very difficult to get dressed in the morning.

Happy 1 Month Birthday Molly!

It's kind of weird that Molly's birthday is on the 31st because some months she won't have a birthday! I guess that only matters in the first year :). I can't believe she is already a month old. At times it seems like yesterday and at times it seems like she has been with us forever (in a good way.)

Monday and Tuesday she pretty much screamed whenever she was awake, which is not typical. I could still get her to sleep but I felt so bad that all of her awake time was so miserable. We went to the lactation consultant/aprn at the pediatricians office yesterday to make sure everything was ok and it was. She now weighs 8 lb 8oz so they are happy and said we are doing great. Those days are so hard on us though more than her I think. I feel bad because John tries to soothe her and right now she prefers me to sing and sway her back and forth, which gets tiring. I can tell John feels frustrated he can't get her to stop, but its ok. Soon enough she will want nothing to do with me and I'll be the one feeling bad.

On the good side, she slept from 10 pm to 5:30 am last night. Woohoo! Sure she is still in the swing but the doctor's don't seem to mind so why should we?

I also included a picture of the coyote John saw the other morning crossing the bridge behind our house. I told Molly she can't go out to play on her own, Tigger doesn't seem to care about my warnings. Hopefully he knows to stay close and we just have to listen for him when he wants to come in so he isn't crying too much.

First Thanksgiving

Molly celebrated her first Thanksgiving! She was such a good baby, she let all the aunts hold her until dinner and then hung out un her carrier during dinner and barely made a peep. By the time we were almost done she was getting hungry again and she had her second bottle ever, it was like she's been taking them forever! Of course being the bad photgrapher that I am I didn't even get a picture with the turkey outfit on so hopefully someone else can send us one. I am a dope, maybe I should just dress her up again :). Then it was on to Grammie and Poppy's house where she slept the entire time so everyone came over the next day to see her. Cousin Nicholas is now about 8 months and looks like a giant in comparison.

Here are a few pictures. One with Aunt Mary and cousin Elizabeth, and another with cousin Katherine.

Our big excitement of the weekend was Molly had her first babysitter! It was Jenn H.'s birthday Saturday so we all went out to dinner and Molly stayed with John's parent, it was fun but I have to admit it was hard to relax. Not that I was worried about her, I knew she would be fine but I knew once we got home we probably had an hour or two minimum before sleep, and that's because she is so good. I couldn't imagine if she didn't sleep well. Anyway, it was nice to get out and I am sure I will get used to it.

Our Little Fatty

First, I am sorry I haven't been keeping up with the posts. Molly and I are still getting used to things and I know it only takes a few minutes so I will try to be better about it.

Ok, so where are we. Miss Molly is 17 days old!! Amazing, isn't it? The time is going by so fast. For Molly's first two weeks home, John stayed home with us and oh boy did that fly by. Fortunately I am feeling really good and Molly has continued sleeping really well (knocking on wood) so I was ready for him to go back. Today we are ending our first solo week and I can't believe it is over already.

This week we went for Molly's 2 week checkup and she gained 8 oz! She is up to 7 lb 2 oz, which is 4oz over her birth weight. The goal is to be back at the birth weight by 2 weeks and she passed it! She has also grown 1 1/2 inches and is now 20.5 inches.

Molly continues to be a good baby, although she has her moments. Most afternoons she prefers sleeping on me rather than the bassinet these days, and isn't such a big fan of swaddling anymore. If she is swaddled at all it has to be with one arm out so she has access to at least one hand. Yesterday we went to the mall for about 45 minutes, that was fun but she got cranky so we left. I wasn't finding any good christmas outfits for her anyway. I think I may try to go out for a bit tomorrow to see if I can find one. I am afraid if I wait much longer they will all be gone.

Ok, I think we are going to walk around the block!

6 days old!!!

Can you believe Molly is already 6 days old? The past 6 days have flown by. I could barely believe last night was Sunday and we are already into another week. Things are going very well so far. Also amazing :). We have been quite busy, we have had some visitors and everyone just loves Molly, she is so cute! And we have been very well fed by our parents and family..so much for losing that baby weight! I figure I can indulge for a little while, although not being used to all these carbs I find myself very full very fast. Still enjoying my desserts for a change though! Oh and that garlic bread was tasty!

Molly is eating well, we go to the pediatrician tomorrow so we'll find out how she is doing officially then but I can't imagine she isn't gaining weight already. She eats and eats. And she sleeps and sleeps! And would you believe she actually sleeps at night? Two nights in a row with only one feeding and she sleeps the rest of the time. I can handle this so far :)! I keep my fingers crossed though and hope everything stays the same.

Happy Birthday Molly Katherine

The big day finally came! Molly Katherine was born on Halloween, Tuesday, October 31 at 2:43 pm. She weighs 6 pounds 14 oz and is 19 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful! More to come :)

The final stretch

I'm still adjusting to the time change thing I think. It's messing up my eating schedules, and Saturday night seemed like the longest night in history! An extra hour is NOT what a woman needs when she is 39 weeks pregnant :) it only makes labor seem farther away!

So yeah, still no baby. I was pretty uncomfortable over the weekend. Saturday I was in a lot of pain, not really contraction pain although I did have a couple here and there but my inner thighs were killing me. By the end of the day I could barely open my legs. I couldn't even climb in and out of the car, I had to sit and then twist in. Ouch. But Sunday morning I was a little better and although the pressure was still there, they didn't get as bad on Sunday. Last night I had what felt more like a few real contractions and thought maybe things were really going to start, but after about an hour or two they went away and I'm obviously still here. They felt like a painful tightening in my lower abdomen that rolled down into my pelvis and made everything down there painful and swollen.

My exciting news from the weekend though is that we got a camcorder! I am so excited :). I've wanted one for a while and we decided to go get one before the baby came. Yeah! No, John is not going to tape the whole birth, yuck. Just the before and after. Sorry if there is anyone who was really interested in seeing it. So I spent yesterday afternoon figuring out how to use it. It records to mini tapes and to a memory card so I'll be able to transfer stuff right to the computer to share with everyone. And there is a way to transfer stuff from the tapes to the computer as well but I need a DV wire and I don't have one of those so I'll have to get one eventually.

So that's it from here....my next appointment with the OB isn't until Wednesday, which seems like a lifetime away but I know it really isn't. I just have to find some things to keep me occupied until then.

Still here

We're still waiting. Not too much new from here. Yesterday was my most uncomfortable day yet. We went to the stores in the morning which was good, they say walking is good. By the time we were done I had leg cramps in my calves and the inside of my thighs weren't moving much more than an inch or two as I walked. I took that as a good sign that things are progressing, I hope. By the end of last night I was having some more little cramps here and there, but again, nothing consistent. So we went to bed and woke up and not much changed over night other than my legs feel much better this morning so far, although I can still feel the pressure and know it will be back soon.

We are going to get a camcorder today, yeah! I'm excited. Hopefully I picked out a good one, I don't know much about them so I hope this one gets the job done. We are getting the Canon Elura 100. It's on sale at Circuit City, as long as it takes videos of the baby, I can put them on my computer, fix them up a bit and send them out is all I really care about. It will be good for vacations as well.

That's it from here...we'll let you know if anything more exciting happens!

12 more days

Still here...today I was extremely tired. Not sure why. I went to bed early last night and think I slept relatively well, other than getting up just about every hour to use the bathroom. I suppose that could disrupt someone's sleep. But I'm so used to it by now it doesn't even phase me. I woke up very drowsy and a little bit nauseous but forced myself up so I could go see the endocrinologist. She told my numbers were great and she didn't expect me to have any problems at all after the baby is born and I don't have to go for any more visits. Yeah. Then I had a high number after lunch. Oh well.

I also went to my OB yesterday, same old story there. Non stress test, baby moves around, heart rate goes up and down just like they want it to and I leave. They will check me next week to see if I'm dilated at all. She also told me that because I have diabetes they won't let me go too late, which I already suspected but she confirmed. My next appointment, if we need it, will be Wednesday and I'll be 5 days away from my due date. I don't know if they will schedule something then if I still haven't gone into labor. I guess we'll see.

As for signs that I'm going into labor, I really don't know. I had some contractions this morning I think, but nothing really bad. It was a little difficult walking into the doctor's office and then I stopped at the store as well. I just went really slow, and some old man kept looking at me funny. I really wanted to ask what he was looking at, hasn't he ever seen a really pregnant woman before? But who knows, maybe he is worse off than I am and wasn't even really looking at me but just staring blankly. Anyway, again, another reason why I'm better off not spending too much time in public. By the time I got home I was exhausted and took a nap. Walking around isn't as painful, and I keep just having little cramps here and there. One day these things will become regular.

Tick tock...

Yup, I'm still here in case anyone is interested :). Just watching the calendar and wondering when...I have no idea. I tend to have more cramps and contraction type things at night but during the day I have been fine. I actually feel better than I did a few weeks ago and have quite a bit of energy. Maybe that is a good sign.

These are some pictures of us on the Staten Island Ferry from last weekend. We went to my cousin Nate's wedding, it was a lot of fun. We took the ferry over to Manhattan Friday afternoon and had dinner at South Street Seaport with my friend Amanda. It would have been nice to go up to Midtown or something, but I was tired after walking just a few blocks, and we were lazy and took a cab back to the ferry.

I finished work on Thursday, which is sad but good. I'm glad I will (hopefully) have a few days to get some things done and get the house in order before the baby arrives but it is still sad leaving. I don't think it has really sunk in yet that I'm not going to be going to work anymore.

So that's it for now...I think I'm just going to take it easy for the rest of the day and make some dinner. And I'm going to try avoid going to too many more stores, people are really starting to annoy me for the littlest things. Maybe I'm just cranky today.

Happy Birthday to the soon-to-be Daddy!

Yup, that's right. Today is John's birthday! The big 38! Wow is that old...haha :). We don't have too many big plans, I think we are going to dinner. And we'll have some cupcakes. Yum. I figure I can maybe have half of one...maybe...

We have the cutest baby!

Ok, so I might be a little biased...but how cute is this baby??? The pictures are a little fuzzy, sorry...but they came out so good! And it is already 6 pounds 11 ounces! Oh my! I think at the stage they say they grow about a 1/2 pound a week so I think I'm ready to deliver anytime now. Really.

A beautiful Sunday!

Wow it is absolutely beautiful out today! What a lovely fall day. I hope next Saturday is this beautiful for Nate and Jenny's wedding. I can't believe their wedding is next weekend...this time has gone by so fast! Yes, we are still planning to go. I feel really good right now so hopefully nothing changes between now and then. I'm sure it won't and everything will be peachy.

Here are some pictures of the variety of diaper bags we now have! Yes, I got a bright pink bag. But according to my fashion conscious friends, I was told I could not pass up the deal and HAD to get it. I figure if we have a boy I can use it as a beach bag, no one would question a bright pink bag at the beach, right? Anyway, it's a Lilly Pulitzer, which is apparently trendy and VERY expensive but I got it on clearance at Marshall's. Yeah. The other is an Ima Rosenbloom, which is also supposedly very trendy and sold at Mimi and Nordstroms. Also on clearance. Yeah again. It's more purse like, which I think will be nice when I don't want to carry everything with me. The last is John's backpack from Lands End, and also for us to use when we go on longer day trips. We actually got it in Fern Green, which wouldn't save for some reason. I didn't think John wanted to carry pink or flowers. Who knows, maybe the downsizing won't work and I'll end up using this one all the time anyway. A girl can hope to be trendy, right?

We had our child birth class all day yesterday at the hospital. It was really good. The nurse was wonderful, she has been there for 44 years! John asked if she remembered delivering him..haha. But seriously, she probably was there for at least one of the Schmitz babies being born. I think if anything, it answered simple procedural questions for us...which gives us both peace of mind knowing what to expect. They have all private rooms, which will be nice but they don't do everything all in one room like some of the hospitals do now. I can definitely see a good and a bad to both. I can imagine it is nice to get settled into one place, but she made a good point that it will be nice to be in a quieter area once delivery is over. But its a pretty good set up, we have our own private birthing room, with two operating rooms at the end of the hallway for emergency or planned c-sections if necessary. John can come with me in there too, I know some hospitals don't allow that. After birth, we stay in there for about 2 hours with the baby and then they take it to the nursery to give it some meds and clean him or her up for about 3 hours while we rest and move to postpartum, which is just around the corner. Sounds good to me :). The baby will room in with us 24 hours, unless for some reason they need to do tests. All the postpartum rooms are private as well, some being significantly larger than others, hopefully we get a big one.

Today we go back for a 2 hour class on parenting...John thinks he's already an expert because of his child care class he took at Notre Dame. If it was anything like the one I took...I think I could use a refresher course :).

We have a crib!

Yeah, I'm so excited :). We went to the store yesterday to pick up the crib and the bureau. The crib is all set up, we just need to go get the mattress which I may try to do today. The bureau is still in the garage, John is going to call Bri to see if he is interested in "moving furniture" sometime this week. Hopefully he will be, although we may actually make him use those muscles this time. Then all the baby clothes will have a home and we're ready to go!

Time to get the crib!

I think John put the final coat of paint on last night, I'll have to double check that there isn't one more. I don't know much about painting. But that part is basically done, so we are getting the crib and the bureau on Sunday! I called last night to schedule pick up for the crib, and they just confirmed with me that both items are in. Woohoo! Who would have thought the nursery would actually be ready before the baby arrived? :).

Everything else is going pretty well. I have good nights and bad nights sleeping. The past few have been good nights, so I'm feeling energetic today. I'm sure that won't last long. My glucose numbers have been ok, I'm really hoping that I don't have to go on insulin for the last couple of weeks but I have a feeling I might. The nurse had me switch my timing for testing, and I'm doing ok with it, one dinner went over a little. But now my fasting numbers are a little higher than before, I'm not sure why. Maybe because I test earlier my timing is off with my after dinner snack and that affects my fasting? I don't know. At this point I can only do what I can do. I'm not excited about having to take insulin, but I can only control the numbers so much. My meals I can control what I eat, but the fasting numbers are tough...It seems silly to me to go on insulin for only a few numbers going over in a week, but the doctors are much more strict with pregnant women than they are with regular diabetics. My regular OB said she can tell I'm sticking to the diet though because I've lost 3 pounds in the past 5 weeks...which is great. 3 less to lose later...but the specialist is tough, and we'll see what she says next week.

A nursery?

Yeah, we thought that might be a good idea. So here we are at 34 weeks---42 days left and John is painting! Yeah :)!!!!! Here are some before and during pictures. Hopefully soon we'll have the after pictures! With the bathrom *almost* done we decided it was time to tackle the nursery and then go back to the bathroom once the nursery is ready. A couple coats of paint and we can go pick up the crib. Wow. Now we just have to wait for the bureau to come in so I can empty the laundry basket full of baby clothes!

46 days...but who is counting?

That's right, only 46 days left until my due date. The time has gone by so fast. And we're almost ready...yeah right.

Fortunately we have almost everything we need due to the incredible genorosity of our friends and family who gave us so much at the baby shower last Sunday. It was such a great day, and I'm still sorting to see what is really in all of these bags and boxes! Maybe I'll work on that a little bit tonight, before Grey's Anatomy is on of course. Season Premiere night!

Some of you may know that I was having more than a few cramps during the shower, I apologize for being the "slowest present opener every", or so I was told. But every time I moved there was pain. Sitting at least was better than walking around and trying to do stuff. The cramps continued a little bit Monday and Tuesday, since then I haven't had too many, just a few here and there. Sunday was probably the worst, good timing.

I talked to my doctor about my cramping and he said that it sounds like BH contractions and that is normal. He said I had one contraction while I was hooked up to the machine today while having my non stress test, which he said I may or may not have felt. I asked if it was normal to have BH down low and he said that contractions can be felt anywhere on the stomach, and said that you really can't describe it any particular way to describe everyone. A lot of what I have read says they start on top and go down and he said, nope its very normal for them to be down low and stay there. Everyone is different. So that was very reassuring. He also mentioned back sleeping, and said there is nothing wrong with it as long as it is comfortable, which isn't anymore for me...but he was using it as another example of things you can read about how damaging it could be and it just isn't true.

I also asked him about the levels that my doctor is requiring me to meet for my blood sugar, and he said he thought they were a little conservative and that he didn't think a few numbers here and there would warrant insulin but he also said things can change as the pregnancy progresses so not to be surprised if it is harder to keep numbers in check. She called me Tuesday and told me if I had too many more high numbers after dinner we may have to consider insulin. Yuck. He also said that if all my other numbers were fine I probably would only have to take it for dinner time, which makes me feel a little bit better about it. I go to the specialist Monday morning so hopefully I can stay off the insulin...I've been doing pretty well this week.

So overall it was a good appointment, I didn't gain any weight again. Woohoo! I am now measuring 34 cm for 33 weeks...so it looks like I jumped a little in the past week. And baby was moving around just the way its supposed to be.

Checking in

Sorry I haven't been around much. Time is going by so fast and there is so much to do! Everything is going well. I continue to take my blood sugar levels 4 times a day and have been able to manage everything with diet and a little bit of exercise, emphasis on a little bit. I am hoping that if everything goes well again this week, the doctor will reduce the number of times I have to test each day. I would probably still want to test at night since dinner is what can throw me off a little, mostly because it's hard to eat the same things over and over again for dinner and I need a little variety. Variety can cause trouble, but so far so good.

I had my first non stress test yesterday and that went well. I have to go weekly from now on. Basically they strap you to a machine which measures the babies heartbeat and movement. The doctor I went to yesterday was happy with the results after about 15 minutes, but I've heard one of the other docs will likely keep me there for an hour. Ugh. Fortunately, I only have one appointment with her. Everything is still measuring well, and I didn't gain any weight this week. Yeah :)!

Sunday is my baby shower, more yeah! I am very excited. It's going to be fun, although a bit crowded at the house but we'll manage. I'm just happy so many people are able to come. And, although some might argue that I shouldn't have to clean for my own shower, I've been quite content getting lots of organizing and cleaning done. I guess it's putting those nesting instincts to good use and I don't just look crazy since there is a reason for it. John has made great progress on the second bathroom, I think everyone will be rather impressed. And some how I think we're actually going to be able to go to the football game on Saturday. Talk about good time management.

In honor of Britney's new baby, I thought this would be the appropriate Baby song of the week.

I passed!

I had to send my blood sugar levels for the past week to the nurse and I passed! I got a call from the nurse's aide this afternoon and she told me my numbers looked good and I don't need to make any changes. Woohoo! So for now what that means is that I stick to the diet that I am on, which is ok, and keep trying to fit in some exercise. I have to admit that is the hardest part. My inner thighs have been hurting a bit, and I get tired. I know exercise might help, but its so hard to motivate if I'm already tired and hurting. At least I have to walk to get my lunch most days so that is better than nothing.

Only 9 more weeks to go and we are slowly progressing. John is getting a lot of work done in the bathroom, he finished tiling the floor this weekend and is going to work on getting the walls up this week. Then the toilet and and sink can go in next weekend. It will be so nice when it is all done. After the shower, we will put our focus on the nursery. I am sure I've said this before, but it is mostly cleaned out. We decided to keep one of the older bureaus, I think it the color will be close enough to the crib and bureau we bought. We just need to get some new handles on it but home depot didn't have any for some reason. I think John's parents are coming over to get the mattress to the bed this weekend, and then we will be all set to paint.

Tomorrow I am going to meet with a pediatrician, I'm not even sure which doctor it is but it is the practice that my OB recommended. John isn't able to come, he had a meeting scheduled so hopefully they seem good and I don't have too many doubts about them. I guess I should come up with a list of questions to ask just in case. Then I have a check up with my OB. Should be routine...but I wonder when I'll start getting ultrasounds to check on the size of the baby.

Fun appointment

I had my appointment yesterday with the endocrinologist so I can start taking my blood sugar levels. It was going to be a pretty busy day, I had the appointment at 9:20 and then had to head to Hartford as we were hosting a fundraiser for the Senate President. I had gone shopping the night before so I had all the beer, wine and paper supplies for the event in my car, and had already organized the ad book and most of the paperwork needed for the 4 pm fundraiser so I wasn't worried too much about time.

Until, at about 9:50 as I was sitting in the doctor's office and start feeling not quite right. I ask for a glass of water, but it doesn't help and I continue to get that clammy feeling and feel like I might pass out. They take my blood pressure, which was 118/64 when I came in, and it was down to 90/54. My normal blood pressure is 100/60 so I'm not sure how much lower 90/54 is, but they were concerned. They give me a little bit of orange soda to try to make me feel better and it does for a minute but as soon as the APRN starts talking about stuff again...I start feeling sick again. Finally I just had to lay down for about 15-20 minutes until I was back to normal. The nurse told me not to go to work, and John had to pick me up for the doctor's office because she didn't think I could drive. What a mess.

So I had to call work, my boss picked up all the stuff from John, which was so nice of him and Vicki (our office manager) had to take over for me here. Everything worked out fine, fortunately I was pretty organized. It pays not to wait for the last minute to do stuff :).

It was nice to have a day off though, I really didn't do anything and my body felt so relaxed and recovered. None of that late day/evening soreness and tiredness that I am used to. I even went on a cleaning spree before Brian H. came over to "move furniture." Brian was going to help move some stuff down to the garage and out of the soon to be nursery, but the rain never stopped so he had to settle for a couple Sam Lights. So Jenn H., if you are reading this and hear that Bri needs to "move furniture", you're welcome to join him next time!

As for my levels, I think I'm doing pretty good. At least so far...so hopefully it continues this way and I am able to stay off insulin. The nurse recommended pretty much the same diet as I was already doing, so now I'll just find out if the food I'm selecting are the right choices. Apparently all carbs aren't equal. It's still hard to fight off the cookie urge, especially when there are some tasty ones left over from last night from Congress Rotesserie...yuuuum. Oh well...Only 9 1/2 weeks left....

Baby Dreams

So I think last night was the first time I actually had a dream where I saw the baby. I think it was a girl, but not positive. I actually had two dreams.

First I had a dream that I was going to have the baby on Monday. I went in for an appointment and they did an internal and said, wow look at that you're 3 cm dilated! Looks like you're going to have your baby on Monday. I freaked out and said that can't be, I'm not ready...the baby isn't ready...it needs to be in there longer. Then I looked down and could see that I had dropped, my belly was way way down. But they didn't seem concerned at all that the baby would only be 30 weeks. I started crying and didn't know what to do, I was going to call John but for some reason I couldn't and got all overwhelmed because I knew I had stuff going on at work this coming week and so much stuff wasn't done. And I didn't want to walk anywhere or do anything that would encourage labor so I was just stuck in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Then my logic started setting in and said, well how come you aren't admitting me now to slow down the labor and putting me on bed rest? They still didn't care. Baby was coming on Monday.

So then, later on I had a dream that I was somewhere with Vicky and Becca, who is about 15 months old, and I was trying to put both of the babies in the backseat of my car with the car seats, but they weren't installed correctly...they were only tied in with a seatbelt and the LATCH wasn't connected at all. Fortunatley Vicky knew how to fix it. But then my baby was just on the seat with a seatbelt at one point, and its butt kept falling through the crack into the trunk, very strange. Finally, both babies were in their car seats and I realized I hadn't nursed in a while and my baby was hungry but I could tell that Vicky was getting frustrated with me because I was taking so long to do everything. Finally I said we could just go home and I would feed the baby there and hoped the baby would be ok until then. Baby wasn't crying but just looked really weak and I was afraid I was hurting it by not feeding it right then. I think that's about when I woke up.

Very strange indeed. I think the first one stems from the conversation with my boss yesterday where he said he figured by about the 2nd week of September I'll be completely miserable driving back and forth and will want to go part-time, and he thinks I'll end up delivering 3 weeks early. Yikes...oh and he thinks I'm having a boy. I guess the other one is also just a fear of not being ready and the fear of being a mom and doing everything right...needless to say it doesn't make for a good nights sleep.

29 Weeks

Here's my latest belly shot. I'm not sure that I look that much bigger than last time, but the doctor tells me its perfect. So that's all I care about.

I just got back from my doctor appointment. It took forever for them to see me!!!! I am used to going in the morning and I'm one of the first appointments, but today I was at 4 pm and it as 4:50 before they took me. Ugh. But its a Tuesday, so they were happy to actually be done a little after 5 :). The doctor expressed his frustration that we aren't able to get me into a see a specialist faster, they finally got me an appointment for Friday, September 1st which is still 9 days away. He did recommend that I call to see if the dietician or a nurse could see me and train me on how to take my sugar levels before next Friday so at least I can get started. I'll still have to meet with the actual doctor next Friday, but its a start. When I got home I actually had a message from the specialist, so we'll see what they have to say tomorrow.

It looks like I will be at the doctor quite a bit. I am already into my 2 week visits (which is normal, they told me last time I went I would start 2 week visits next time), and then at 34 weeks I think he said he would begin non-stress tests weekly, unless I have to go on insulin. Then non-stress would begin at 32 weeks, weekly. And I can expect an u/s every three weeks to make sure the baby isn't growing too fast...so I'm not sure when that begins, because there aren't that many weeks left! And he told me to expect to go to the specialist weekly, at least at the beginning so they can check my levels.

Besides all that, he said the baby seems great. Still measuring on target, and the heartbeat is still pretty fast so he predicts its a girl. The baby has turned so I'm not breech anymore (I was at my 20w u/s). The head is down, butt is on my left side and legs are on the right. But I think the butt switches sides because the hard lump moves. Baby was moving all over the place when he was trying to get a heartbeat, which I guess is a good thing.

Now if I can just get Tigger and Mountain Kitty to stop fighting life will be good. They have taken to actually chasing each other around the neighborhood, ok, more like Mountain Kitty chasing Tigger, rather than just his regular stalking.

It's Official

I told one of my bosses today that I plan to take at least a year off. We've been talking about for a long time and over the weekend John asked me when I planned to tell them I was taking a year off. So I figured since she was in, I might as well get it over with. She handled it pretty well....I can't believe I'm really not going to be working next session. It seems strange to even think about not being there, but hopefully I like staying home. I am sure I will. I never thought I would be a stay at home mom, but I am looking forward to it. Now I just can't wait for the little one to actually be here :).

Time is going by so fast though, and from what I've read there is a chance that I could deliver earlier than my due date because of gestational diabetes. I guess babies tend to grow faster, so a lot of times they come early or the doctor induces you at 38 or 39 weeks to avoid a large baby. I guess we'll see...

I'm still waiting to hear from the doctor about seeing a specialist. I called this afternoon and they were still having a hard time getting me into see someone in a relatively quick timeframe. You would think that doctors would have slots just for patients with gestational diabetes, but I guess that would make too much sense.

Good news first....

The good news is that we had an ultrasound on Wednesday and the kidneys actually shrunk so the baby is no longer considered a risk. Yeah :)! It was measuring right on target, heart beat was 155 bpm and they estimate the baby weighs about 2 pounds, 9 ounces right now. They told me that meant the baby was in the 35th percentile. I asked if that was ok, and she said yep, you don't want to have too big of a baby. I agree.

So on to the bad news. I failed my 3 hour glucose test which means I have gestational diabetes. I guess it doesn't surprise me that much. I know that my fasting levels were normal, and I think the tests that show whether or not I've had a problem for long than now came back ok as well so it should just be gestational which means it will go away shortly after the baby is delivered.

I will find out much more next week when I have my regular appointment on Tuesday and they are trying to get me into see a specialist so I can learn how to test my blood sugar levels and also more about an appropriate diet for me. For now, I have to do a revised South Beach type diet, I guess more along the lines of Phase 2 from what I've been reading so I can still have the right kinds of fruits and right kinds of carbs (not like the beginning when you cut out everything for 2 weeks to lose weight.) But it's a little more difficult, since I have to limit juices now, but can't have regular soda and can only have 1 diet drink a day (nutrasweet and splenda aren't recommended when you are pregnant.) So I'm not sure what that means I can drink other than water, and I'm going to keep drinking my milk because I know I need calcium. And I'm not sure what the story is with sugar free snacks, because a lot of them use nutrasweet or splenda as sweetners as well. I've already begun making a list of questions to take with me to the doctor.

Hopefully I am able to keep my levels at a normal range by changing my diet without having to go on insulin. That is definitely a motivating factor in eating the right way, that's for sure.

So that's it...I'll be doing so low carb grocery shopping today :). We are also going to Tile America to pick out tile for the bathroom so John can start tiling. Tomorrow is going to be a rainy day so I see lots of cleaning and organizing in my future.

New Hampshire

Here we are on the Kancamagus Highway at one of the Scenic Overlooks. It was very pretty. It was so nice to get away for a few days, even though it went by really fast.


And it was fun to see all the kids. We went to Polar Caves, the Flume and Story Land. Woohoo :)! Preparing for all the fun kid things we'll get to do once the baby arrives! Here are a couple pictures, John, Elizabeth and Thomas on the Bamboo Chute and John and Sadie on the Observation Deck at Polar Coaster.






Things are going ok here. On Wednesday before we left I went to take my 1 hour glucose screening test. I passed the fasting portion but I failed the 1 hour test so I need to go back today for the 3 hour. Hopefully it goes well. I haven't had any carbs since yesterday morning, and I figure if the bagel yesterday morning really affects it that much I probably do have a problem. Ugh, I'm already hungry though. This is going to be a long morning. My test isn't for another 55 minutes.

Tomorrow we are going for our follow-up ultrasound at the hospital to make sure the kidneys are still doing alright. Hopefully all is ok in there. Baby is definitely growing, I can tell by the lovely stretch marks I have. I've been putting some cream on them, but I'm not sure it's preventing anymore. I guess they say they can get pretty itchy after a while, so cream is good for them anyway.

So it's a busy week here, and a busy week at work as well. There are two fundraisers I am working on, one Thursday and another Friday. Thursday's is coming together well, now we just need to get a few more people to Friday's event.

Our 1st Anniversary

Time goes by so fast. A year ago at this time, we were outside Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church for our receiving line....it was a beautiful day last year and another beautiful day today! Our wedding was so much fun, I miss it sometimes....I wish we could do it all over again. Everyone was so happy and having a great time. It's not very often that you are able to have all of the special people in your life in one place at one time.

Our big anniversary plans? We've been taking it easy, watching the Red Sox game. Looks like they might actually pull off a win today. Then we are going to dinner at Carmen Anthony's. Neither one of us have ever been there so I hope it is good, everyone says it is. We had thought about going to Block Island for the day, but honestly I'm happy we decided not to go. Baby has been kicking me an awful lot and I've been getting tired. So a day of doing nothing is perfect.

I thought about trying on my wedding dress....but something tells me it wouldn't fit right now. I guess the goal is to have it fit again next year :). I'll just have to settle for the defrosted wedding cake. I already tried the frosting and it tasted yummy.

And Happy Anniversary to everyone else: Amy & Chris, August 5th; Mr. & Mrs. Hannan, August 6th; Dan & Dawn, August 8th; and Mary & Matt, August 10th!

98 more days....

Yes, we have passed the 100 day mark! I can barely believe it. I remember when we passed the 100 day mark when we were planning for the wedding and the next thing I knew we were in Hawaii....

My appointment last week went well. Everything seemed normal, I gained 4 pounds. My weight gain hasn't been too bad, but I have to admit seeing it creep up and up is very scary. I'm already motivated to get to the gym. The gym we go to has babysitting facilities, $1.50 an hour! How great is that? So once the baby is 3 months, I'll be able to go there in the mornings or John and I can both go after work. At least I can talk a good game now, we'll see how I feel when we actually get there :).

Here is a picture of the crib (or at least one similar) we hope to get. There are so many decisions to make about furniture and baby gear, but I think we are almost done. Maybe. Now we just need to empty the guest room and turn it into a nursery! We'll be working on that a little bit tonight. We have the dumpster for one more day and then the roofer is taking it away, does that mean he will actually be done with the roof? I'm not holding my breath.

My next appointment will be my sugar test to check me for gestational diabetes. Hopefully that goes well, I am going next Wednesday, the 9th. Then we head to New Hampshire for a few days, and get to go to Story Land with Avery and Sadie! I can't wait :).

Sorry I have been MIA lately. The week just flew by! Here is the picture of my latest belly shot at 25 weeks. I've been having some trouble uploading photos, but finally got this one up here. I can't even believe I only have 14 1/2 weeks left to go! There is still so much to do.

But we are making progress. The closet in what will soon be a nursery is almost all cleaned out, well other than my clothes of course, they need to go somewhere! But all the shelves are cleared off and all the stuff is off the floor so there is actually room to put baby stuff. Yeah :)! I've been researching cribs for the past week or two and think I've limited it down to 3 choices. John and I will go to USA Baby over the weekend to see what he thinks. The ones I like will take 8-10 weeks for delivery, so we need to order it soon!

I have my monthly appointment today, so we'll see how everything is going. I don't expect much of a change from last month. I think I've gained another 3 or 4 pounds, which I think is normal. Hopefully :).

And we are getting our new refrigerator today! I am very excited about that. It's going to have so much room in it! Now we just need a new stove, dishwasher and dryer and we'll be all set :).

Aches and pains

By the end of the day today my legs and my back were killing me! I couldn't wait to get home and lay on the couch. I didn't do anything overly strenuous, so I guess this is just one of those pregnancy things. I took a tylenol a while ago but it doesn't seem to be helping. It seems like my cough might finally be going away, I only woke up once or twice last night coughing. The past few nights I was up non-stop coughing and had to attempt sleeping sitting up. I am the only person who can catch bronchitis in the middle of the summer.

I am still in search of furniture for the nursery that I like. I found what I am looking for, but from what I've read the brand isn't very reliable. I like the look of it, but it has bad reviews as far as quality. I guess that is why it was somewhat affordable. I can understand it not lasting forever, but if its going to arrive with missing parts or already looking used or damaged, that doesn't work for me.

It seems like the heat wave has ended for now, it's actually pleasant in the house tonight. It was so nice to come home from work yesterday and jump in the pool. It cooled John and I down and we weren't forced into the bedroom at 7:30 pm like we were Monday night.

Ok, time to find something for dinner. Not really hungry considering I'm all achy.

Summer is here

Oh yeah, it's hot. I have some sort of cough/sore throat thing going on, aggrevated by my asthma which has been flaring up with all this humidity. Not so much fun. I am going to the doctor this afternoon though, so hopefully I will get a refill on my inhaler and I'll be good to go. I'd like to be home right now either sleeping in the air conditioning or in my King Kool Lounger.

Last night I went to register at Babies R Us with Vicky, it was fun but it took up a lot of energy! It was nice to have someone who already knows what is going on tell me what I need :). You would be amazed how difficult it is to decide on some of these things...who would think picking out a stroller would be more difficult than choosing a name for the baby?

The baby has been kicking like crazy lately, especially right before I go to bed. Two nights ago it was moving around a lot, so I had John try to feel again and he finally did. He was excited, I don't think he believed the kick last week was real. But it can get going for 5 or 10 minutes now, which is much more than before. It used to just be 2 or 3 movements and then gone...it still catches me off guard though, especially if I'm in a meeting and all a sudden I feel the squirming. I just hope I'm not making funny faces!

Hopefully I feel better tomorrow so I can get some stuff done around the house and then head out to the pool!

The fun and not so fun never ends

Since I've been back from the beach, I still haven't been able to swim in our pool. Fortunately, it hasn't been TOO hot after work, so I haven't been too upset about it. We've had a nice breeze the past few afternoons. I am really hoping the pool guys came today, I meant to call to make sure we were on the schedule and forgot.

Yesterday I ended up going back to the doctor, I woke up with some spotting. I haven't had any since week 10 or 11, so I figured I should call to find out what was going on. The doctor had me come in right away to make sure the cervix wasn't starting to dilate or there was a separation of the placenta from the uterus, but all is well. Cervix is still tight and no separation, so the cervix was irritated some how. Maybe it was from that crazy game of croquet and all the dancing over the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, Lisa's wedding was fabulous! And I am so jealous that they are in France right now. I would so love to take another real vacation before the baby comes, but I'm just not sure where to or when we would fit it in. John is trying to save up his time for maternity leave, which is more important but vacation sounds so lovely.

Other than that, baby is doing well. Lots of movement these days. We had our first class at the hospital last night, it was pretty good although I wish we had introduced ourselves to some of the other couples. As it turns out, the couple next to us lives in Hamden, we followed each other home. All I know is their names are Abby and Rudy...not much to go on. Maybe we'll run into them somewhere else.

Week at the Beach

I am finally home after spending the past 6 days at the beach, what a nice break! It was the usual fun, along with a Girls Beach Day to celebrate Lisa's last week as a single chick. Yup, she's getting married on Sunday! Woohoo. And, we got to meet Nolan in person! That was quite a treat. He was so well behaved, and it was nice to see Amy as well :).

John also felt movement for the first time while we were down there, it was nice to be able to just relax and have nothing to do so we were able to lay in bed and one morning little peanut was pretty active. Movement has become much more regular over the past week, and John finally felt it. He thought it was me pushing, but it wasn't :).

It is so nice that it is summer, I just wish I could go in the pool! The filter is broken again, and the stupid pool people never get it right. They are supposed to come back tomorrow to fix it, but that means we have to wait another day to shock and vacuum. Maybe we can swim Sunday morning before the wedding?

Tigger went to camp while we were at the beach and was so happy I was home. He slept next to me all night which is rare, he usually can't be bothered. I guess he does love me after all.

Oh, and I had my monthly appointment last week, I've only gained 13 pounds which isn't too bad. We have our first class at the hospital next Tuesday night, I hope we get a tour at that one. And I finally started registering a little bit, and Vicky has agreed to go with me to register for all the little stuff....I figured someone with a little bit of experience might be useful!

Belly shots

Ya know, belly shots has such a different meaning these days. Still fun but in a much different sort of way......

Here is the latest. One on its own and the progression, 12 weeks, 17 weeks and 21 weeks. Yup, it's growing!

Everything is Good

We just got back from our Level II ultrasound at the hospital. Here are the pictures of the ultrasound, the baby wouldn't look at us but we have a nice shot of its arm and hand. The doctor was very nice, and it was comforting to know that a doctor was taking all the measurements. Not that the tech doesn't know what is going on, but at least the doctor can determine if there is a problem or not rather than passing on information to someone else to look at. The baby's kidneys are measuring perfect today, each about 4.5 millimeters. He said anything above 5 millimeters is when they start to be concerned, so we are excellent. And all of the other measurements are also on target for my due date, they all looked between 20 w 3 days and 21 w 5 days. I am 21 weeks and 2 days today. He is having us come back in 8 weeks just to make sure everything is still looking good. He said if this were my first ultrasound and he got those results, he wouldn't think anything of it but since they were a little big at the first one he thought it would be best to check on them in 8 weeks.

So that was a big relief. I go to my obgyn on Friday for my monthly check up to see how much weight I've gained...eeks.

Madge Rocked!

Amazing amazing amazing! Wonderful show! We were in for a little bit of a surprise when we found out that there was NO AIR CONDITIONING!!!!! Apparently it "affects her voice" and doesn't have air at any of her concerts, and despite the fact that we were watching the show from the rafters, we still had a wonderful time. We certainly weren't disappointed. Though I'm laughing as I'm reading some of the reviews from people on the courant.com website. People complaining because she didn't do an encore...she does the SAME show at every concert...and although I had thought Holiday was on that list and it hadn't been played yet, I was wrong and we got the whole show. And people complaining because she was controversial, she sang Live to Tell from a big silver cross and had foul language. Um, SHE'S MADONNA!!! What do you expect??? I wouldn't expect any less :). Here is the set list:

Future Lovers / I Feel Love (Medley)
Get Together
Like A Virgin
Jump
Live To Tell
Forbidden Love
Issac
Sorry
Like It Or Not
Sorry Remix (Video Interlude)
I Love New York
Let It Will Be
Ray Of Light
Drowned World/Substitute For Love
Paradise (Not For Me)
Music / Disco Inferno (Medley)
La Isla Bonita
Erotica/You Thrill Me
ucky Star
Hung Up

The Biggest Star

I thought a change in music was appropriate to prepare for the big concert Sunday night! That's right, I was recipient of the "Best Sister of the Year" award after buying tickets for Melissa and I to go see Madonna in Hartford. Can't wait for the show!

Here is a much better picture of the baby. The first one came out very dark, and I added in some features! Yup, this is the baby's first headshot. So cute! John thinks this picture is a little scary, and the baby looks like a skeleton. Maybe it will be born on Halloween?

Everything is going pretty well, I read some more about the kidneys and I'm hoping it isn't anything to worry about. I'm wondering if they just wanted to send us for Level II ultrasound because we didn't have any of the other tests done. Amy and a few other people told me they know other people who have been told this at their ultrasound and everything turned out fine.

I am starting to make some progress in the organization area. Saturday I plan to do a lot more. I don't want to buy any baby stuff until the room is ready. We are holding off at registering for now, Babies R Us is in the process of cutting its ties with Amazon.com so a lot of the major items (including almost every decent car seat) is listed as "unavailable." I guess they aren't really out of stock, but they don't want anyone ordering them through Amazon since it is so close to the conversion. Hopefully after July 1 everything will be back to normal and the registry will be better than it has been in the past.

20 Week Ultrasound

We had our 20 week ultrasound this morning, baby has grown a lot! I will add a picture tonight when I am home. Most things were normal, although the kidneys appear to be on the "high end of normal" so we are going back for a Level 2 ultrasound next Wednesday. The ultrasound tech said it could be nothing, and that they looked normal when she first saw them but then as she kept looking they appeared larger. I guess if they still appear large next week they will continue to monitor them through the pregnancy and at birth they can do a procedure to make sure they are working properly. But she also said that the amniotic fluid level is normal, which means that the kidneys must be working. So that is good. Everything else is measuring normal, baby weights 11 ounces and all of the measurements I saw on the chart had us between 19 and 20 weeks so that is just about perfect. We saw 4 fingers and a thumb on each hand, one of which appeared to be in the mouth. It wasn't straight on, but it looks like we have a thumbsucker already!

I couldn't help but look to see if I could figure out the gender...I'll have to look at some others online and compare them to what I saw...it's just so hard not to speculate. We definitely would have been able to tell though, its legs were wide open when she was measuring the femur, but after that she focused mostly on the heart, brain and the kidneys, probably because they are most important but I also told her we didn't want to know so maybe she stayed away from that area? Who knows.

As for the belly, my belly button decided it wanted to start popping out this morning I guess. We got to the doctor's office and I laid down on the table and John says, "Look at your belly button!" Yikes, it was half way out! It wasn't even like that last night. But I was able to push it back in for now :).

Red Sox vs. Yankees

Here they are! Dan, Dawn, Avery and Sadie...stars of this month's Hoffman Honda Decades Magazine! Don't ask how this happened, something about Dan entering a contest to get free gas or service or something....next thing they know the photographer is on the way to the house to take a picture of them in all their "gear." Don't expect to see them wearing these outfits again anytime soon, they were promptly returned to the local sports shop :). Oh, and just so everyone knows...John and I have already converted Avery to a Sox fan, we're still working on Sadie. For those of you who don't know, Avery (5) and Sadie (almost 2!) are our nephew and niece, Dan is John's brother and Dawn is our sister-in-law.

Well it was a lovely weekend here. A little on the warm side, but it's nice that summer has finally arrived. We bought an air conditioner for the bedroom and that was a nice treat last night. Made sleeping very comfortable.

Saturday was Jenny's shower, my cousin Nate's fiance. It was very nice and she received lots of beautiful presents. Can't wait for their wedding in October, when I will be about 36 weeks! Hopefully we don't have a Staten Island baby!

My 20 week ultrasound is tomorrow. I am very excited to see the little peanut again! It's been so long, even though I've been listening quite often. And its moving around a lot more now, movement has definitely settled in. Hopefully in a week or two John will actually be able to feel it too. The othe day when it was moving around already and I pushed and felt a little a push back...but since the movements don't last that long its hard for him to catch anything yet.

Ok, time to get to work.

The Pool Is Open!

Woohoo! The pool is finally open. Still not swimmable, but the filter is running and we'll shock it on Saturday. Maybe by next weekend we can swim? Let's hope! Now I just need to learn some water aerobic exercises so I can attempt to stay in a little bit of shape over the summer. My legs could use a good work out. I am very impressed with Amy being back into a size 6 already! Way to go :).

We are going to the US Open tomorrow at Winged Foot. I am very excited, this will be my third US Open. Weather should be beautiful. My first open at Bethpage it rained and rained and rained some more, thank goodness we had those nice corporate row seats so we could sit and drink beer and watch it on tv and only come out when we wanted to see someone live. Shinnecock was hot hot hot. Tomorrow should be perfect.

Oh and yes, this is Tigger, our crossed eyed baby. Cute isn't he :)?

Anniversary Dinner and the New Baby

Today we celebrated John's parents 40th anniversary! We realized that we are exactly 40 years apart in our anniversaries...so when we are celebrating our 10th they will be on the 50th. They renewed their vows and then we went to a nice dinner, it was fun seeing everyone. Especially our new nephew Nicholas who will be 3 months on Friday. He is sooo adorable, and so well behaved, which leaves me to believe that our baby will be a screamer. We'll see :). Hopefully someone will send us a picture of Nicholas and I can share it.

It's been a busy weekend, yesterday we went to my cousin Leah's college graduation up in Massachusetts and then stopped at our friend Lisa's bachelorette/going away party in Hartford. I some how managed to stay awake until after 11 pm and we didn't get home until after 11:30. It was fun to see everyone though, seems like no one goes out much anymore. We're all getting old and responsible.

A quick update on the belly, it feels like it is growing. A lot. I just have these weird stretching pains which don't always feel so good.

I am adding a beautiful picture of one of the sunsets from our honeymoon. It's an old photo, but pictures make the blog look better.

Ok, time to go relax.

Flutters???

I think maybe I felt it...I am sitting at my desk and all of a sudden I realize that I am having a weird feeling in my stomach. Very much the fluttering feeling people talk about...of course not followed by any type of kick or anything so it's hard to tell but I think it might have been the baby! I just had some orange juice too, which they say can get the baby moving for some reason...it must like the sugars. So we'll see if it continues :)!

18 Week Check up

I had my 18 week check up this morning, everything is going well. She said my uterus is touching my belly button now, which is right where it should be. And I've only gained 7 pounds so far. Yeah :). Baby's heartbeat was 155 today, a little bit slower but again, she said right where it should be. I go back in two weeks to have my ultrasound, yeah! She asked if we were going to find out the sex and she said almost everyone ISN'T finding out these days. Isn't that strange? Seems like such a reversal of what has been happening in the past few years. Maybe everyone is deciding it is nice to have a surprise.

I stayed home sick yesterday, I felt yucky all day for some reason but I am back to normal today. Felt like some sort of stomach bug, the thought of food made me really nauseous for a good part of the day. Although the cupcake I had tasted pretty good :). Now I am back to work and need to get going on reports and all these fundraisers. Whether I come back to work or not, I am NOT going to miss fundraisers. They are such a pain. I think the legislators are doing us all a big favor.

Sharing the Belly

You may notice the title of our blog has changed. There was some concern expressed about showing my belly on the internet, so I figured I might as well be as forth coming as possible and let people know what to expect. Feel free to share yours :). Just kidding, really we don't want to see it, unless of course it is a nice pregnant belly. Which we encourage.

It has been a relatively quiet, rainy weekend here in CT. Which is good, I cleaned and organized my "closet", some people call it the guest room. This will soon become the nursery. What we will do with three dressers and a bed I haven't quiet figured out yet, but we'll get there. At least I finally have all of my non-pregnancy clothes in storage and only maternity clothes left. Makes things much nicer and I don't have to fumble through clothes, having wishful thoughts that they might actually fit.

Ok, time to get ready to go to church. I'm already late.

Vacation Pictures and more

I hope some of you are actually checking out my blog :). Like I said, knowing that some people might actually take a look is going to motivate me to update it more frequently. And I think I should add some more pictures, even if they aren't baby related. This is a picture of the view from our hotel window at Disney's Hilton Head Resort. Very nice. And here is a dolphin we saw on a boat tour I took with my mom and step-dad while John was golfing. Now I just need to figure out how to put two pictures on the Left side. Hmmm.....

Now that I am almost 18 weeks, I have become obsessed with feeling the baby. I know I probably have another week or two before I feel anything since this is my first, but I keep reading how all these other women are feeling kicking and moving already at this stage and it's driving me crazy! I did rent the Baby Beat Doppler ($25 a month!) though, which is wonderful. For the time between my 14 and 18 week appointments and without having any movement yet, it has definitely given me peace of mind more than once. Even though I keep getting fatter, which should be a sign by itself that everything is ok, it is so nice to just pop that doppler on and find the heartbeat beating away. The baby has a fairly fast heartbeat, it doesn't have an automatic read (an extra $20 a month) but it was 165 when I went to the doctor at 14 weeks and I would say that is still pretty consistent. Maybe a slight bit slower, but still in the 150s. Some people say that is a girls heartbeat, I guess we'll find out in about 22 weeks :).