Answered Prayers

Last week, my sister Katie officially announced that she is pregnant. This is their second child and she is due on October 1st. This baby is definitely an answer to many prayers as they have been trying to get pregnant for over a year.

You can see her blog post about it Here.

We are all really excited about this newest addition to our growing extended family. My parents are going to double their grandchild count from two to four by the end of 2009 (and who knows, Karen might not be far behind us with another little one!) I told my Mom that they will need to build an addition onto their house to hold all of us!

I am also particularly thrilled about this baby since that means that Jacob and his cousin will only be 3 months apart. And, since Katie and I only live about 10 minutes from each other (and she is a stay at home mom), we will have lots of time to spend together as the kids grow. Now, we just need to get Karen & Brian and Mike & Blakely to move to Fluvanna county also and we will be all set (Hint, hint Karen & Mike!!)

27 weeks, 2 days....

Wow, I have not been very good about posting lately.  Lots of things are going on but I guess since we have been so busy, I haven't done much blogging.

Let's see if I can remember what has happened since my post from last week.  I guess the biggest thing to point out is that - oh my gosh!! - we have less than 90 days until Jacob is expected to arrive (and of course, it could be even less!).  I am so excited to think that in less than 3 months, he will be here.  I say it all the time, so I will say it again.....even though we have a lot of things to get done before his arrival, I can't wait!!!

Good news is that I think I have finally gotten my heartburn under control.  If I remember (yes, I forgot two times this week and boy did I pay for it!), I need to take one Zantac tablet in the morning before I eat anything.  Also, I need to take it with as little water as possible, not the "full glass of water" that is says to take it with on the box.  I read somewhere that heartburn is caused by stomach juices (yuck!) building up and moving upwards into your esophagus.  So, it only makes sense that drinking a lot of water can just add to the "juice" in your stomach and can cause additional discomfort. So far, the days that I have taken the pill in the morning have been pretty much heartburn-free.  I have woken up in the middle of the night with it a few times this past week, but for the most part it has been A LOT better than it was before.

Sleeping still remains a problem.  Last Tuesday night was the worst - I woke up twice to pee, had a really painful cramp in my calf muscle about 3am, and had heartburn!  Also, I just can't seem to get comfortable most nights as my arm/hands keep falling asleep, my hips/back hurt if I am not in the right position and I get really hot and have to tear off the covers in the middle of the night!  Keith is now baring the brunt of the "uncomfortableness" too because apparently I have started snoring the past two nights.  I know that I would snore every now and then before I was pregnant, but he says it is now constant and really loud!  I feel bad for him and certainly don't want his night to be disrupted too.  Of course, there is nothing that I can do about it.  I told him he should record it one night so I can hear what it sounds like!!

Another not-so-good thing I am experiencing these days is back pain.  It is a different kind of back pain than I have ever experienced. I have had lower back pain before but this is pain in my upper back, mostly on the right side.  It has been happening in the evenings, especially if I have been on my feet a lot during the day.  Not much helps it go away, although last night I asked Keith to rub it a little and that did help.  I am assuming this, like all the other symptoms, is going to get worse and I am not looking forward to it.

Lastly, another "great" (not really!) thing that happened this week happened yesterday. When I was getting out of the shower and drying off, I happened to look in the bathroom mirror and notice that I have some really awful looking reddish stretch marks starting to appear on my stomach. YUCK!  They are ugly and I can only imagine how bad they are going to look as my belly grows more and more.

A truly GREAT thing that did happen this week involves our furniture and Jacob's room.....more to come on that!

Update...26 weeks & 2 days

This was another very busy week and by Friday, I was pretty much exhausted. I did not sleep well this week as I have been having some really crazy dreams and, of course, still waking up to pee at least once in the middle of the night.  I also had really bad heartburn all week and for the first time, I was woken up by it a couple of nights.  I called the doctor's office on Wednesday to find out what the nurse suggested I do to help the heartburn and she said that I should take the Xantac or Pepcid in the morning before I eat.  Previously I was taking it after the heartburn appeared - in the hopes of getting it to stop and not return - but that wasn't helping.  I followed the nurse's directions on Thursday, Friday and today and it worked!  I forgot to take it yesterday and right after breakfast, I had awful pain.  Needless to say, I won't forget again!!

Speaking of yesterday, the neighborhood that we live in was having a neighborhood-wide yard sale where individual homeowners could have yard sales and "advertise" in a flyer that was available to anyone that wanted it.  I thought it would be interesting to go out and see if I could find any baby clothes for Jacob. I was hoping that my sister Katie was going to be able to go with me, especially since I know she is always looking for good deals on clothes for Pierce. Unfortunately, she was not available to go, so I was on my own.  I don't have much experience with yard sales but I figured I would go to a few houses that were advertising baby/kids stuff specifically.  

I left the house around 8am, stopped at six different houses and returned home around 10:30am.  At one house, I paid $12 for 3 maternity tops, 2 nursing gowns, and two pairs of slip-on shoes that will help with my expanding feet! The second-to-last house I went to ended up being the best!  I was able to get two boxes of clothes for $20.  One box was 2T/24 month summer clothes for Pierce and the other was 6-9 month fall/winter clothes for Jacob. The box for Jacob contained 8 one-piece outfits, one footed outfit, 12 pairs of pants, 4 shirts & 2 hats. Not bad for $10, huh?  Here is a picture of all the cute clothes I got:

We are still slowly progressing on getting Jacob's room cleaned out.  We spent some time yesterday going through more stuff and today, we went to Lowe's and got some shelving for the garage. Hopefully Keith will be able to get the shelving up next weekend so we can organize all of the stuff that is in the garage that we have moved from inside the house.  We also bought another plastic bin at today so some of the things that I don't want to throw away - like some knickknacks, pictures and stuff from our wedding - can go down in the crawl space. I think we are definitely making progress but we need to get it all done soon because the best news of the week is that OUR FURNITURE IS READY FOR PICKUP!!!

Like I said in my last post, my parents graciously offered to buy us a crib and changing table. Then, last Sunday, my mom called to say that my grandma, aunts and a few cousins that live in Rochester wanted to all go in together and buy us the dresser and bookcase that matched.  Of course, we were overjoyed! Keith and I feel so blessed to have such wonderfully giving people in our lives. On Friday, my mom called to say that JCPenney had contacted her to say that the stuff she ordered was in.  I called the store and found out that all four pieces are in!!  Keith and I are going to pick them up tomorrow and Tuesday (since it will take two separate trips to get everything to our house).  And, hopefully we can finish getting everything out of Jacob's room so that next weekend, we can start putting the furniture together. YAY!! I will be sure to post pictures of the nursery as it starts to come together.

Trouble sleeping....

For the past few weeks, I have been having trouble sleeping.  Most of the trouble stems from the fact that my bladder is waking me up at least once in the middle of the night, usually around 3am.  Even when I pee right before I get in bed, I still have to go during the night.  It is quite annoying, but I guess it is just a side effect of this exciting thing called pregnancy!

The other troublesome part of sleeping these days is the fact that I am - or should I say WAS - a stomach sleeper.  My favorite pre-prego sleeping position was laying-on-my-stomach, arm-under-the-pillow, one leg straight and the other bent at a 90-degree angle.  I am not sure exactly what to call that position but I definitely called it comfy when I was able to sleep that way.  Now, being pregnant, laying on my stomach is not an option so I am stuck with he laying-on-my-side position (the left side is supposedly better for me and the baby).  It's not that I don't like lying on my side, but when that is the only option you have, it gets old after awhile!  

I still lay with my arm under my pillow (whichever arm is on the side that I am laying on) but now the problem is that I wake up with one of my hands numb. And, not just a little tingly but all out numb....as in, I can't feel it at all.  It is a very strange feeling and, at first, I was a little worried.  Now, I just chalk it up to the fact that I am laying on my arm and that is the reason for it.  

Back in January, I bought a "maternity pillow" from Bed, Bath & Beyond.  It is called the Snoogle.  I didn't use it for awhile, but this past weekend I started using it and it has really helped!!  As you can see from the picture below, there are two different ways that you can lay on the pillow.  I think it really helps to have the support either on my back or under my stomach. Also, having the pillow between my legs helps my hips and back.  I would highly recommend it for all pregnant women!  Keith, on the other hand, might disagree with me since the pillow takes up a lot of room in the bed and it also isn't very "cuddle-friendly". A few nights ago, he tried to cuddle up to me and I think he got more of the pillow than he did me. haha 

A co-worker of mine told me that sleep troubles when you are pregnant are just God's way of preparing you for the sleep deprivation you will have once the baby arrives.  I certainly think that makes sense, but why wouldn't He want you to get all the sleep you can get now??  I think me and God are going to have a talk about this one.....

First published prego photos...

We have been taking bare skin belly photos for some time now, but I am not comfortable showing those, so these will have to do.  Keith took these last night as we were heading over to a friend's house for dinner.  I am still not "showing" as much as I would like to be at this point, but I am definitely starting to "poke out" a bit, especially above my belly button.  Enjoy the photos!

Front view.....

Side view....

Update...25 weeks & 1 day

I know I say it all the time, but I am going to say it again....Time is flying by!!....and actually I am not really upset by that.  Yes, we have a lot of planning to do before Jacob arrives.  And, yes, I am enjoying sleeping in on the weekends and being able to do things like shop, go out to dinner, meet up with friends, and sit on the couch watching my favorite shows without having a baby to deal with.  But, in all honesty, this week made me realize that I am definitely ready for the next "chapter" in my life to begin.  Part of this feeling came from the fact that I had a busy, somewhat frustrating and non-so-good week at work (that's a whole 'nother story!).  I know that life with a newborn or toddler or growing child will not be easy, especially in the beginning when Keith and I try to adjust to a new lifestyle.  But, I truly believe that my mind and heart are both ready for Jacob to arrive and I am excited to see what the future holds.

This week, Keith and I were able to accomplish two very important tasks related to Jacob's arrival.  We went to Target on Thursday night and finished up our registering,  We are now registered at both BabiesRUs and Target and I think we are both happy with what we have chosen (although we both admit that we have no clue if we picked the right kinds of things!).  A funny story from our trip to Target.....we are standing together in an aisle in the baby section looking at "stuff" and Keith says to me, "We need burp cloths right?" and I say "Yes, but let's just get these cloth diapers over here instead.  I think you can use those for burp cloths."  So, I go to point the scanning gun at the Gerber cloth diapers that are hanging up and he says "Wait, let's choose this kind instead...they say 6-ply and those others don't".  I said, "Well, what is the difference?" and he says "I don't know, but it just sounds better." We both laughed and I scanned the "6-ply cloth diapers".  I guess that is pretty indicative as to how our registering at both stores went.  We picked out some things that we pretty much knew we needed, but there were a few other things that we added just because "it sounded good". haha  I am hoping that we aren't the only first-time parents to do that!!

The other important thing that I am happy to say we did was to finally make a decision on the furniture that will go in Jacob's room.  I was getting frustrated and a bit stressed that we hadn't found a crib & changing table that we (more so, I) was happy with.  We had looked at BabiesRUs, in both C'ville & Richmond, but just couldn't find a set that matched that I liked. Thankfully, on Tuesday night, when I went to JCPenney to exchange some maternity clothes that I had ordered online, I saw a "Rooms Babies Love" catalog and I picked it up.  I thumbed through it when I got home, assuming that I wouldn't find anything I liked since I had already looked on jcp.com, but low-and-behold on page 13 there it was.  A full set called "Hartford by Rockland" that included a crib, changing table, bookcase & dresser (all the pieces that I wanted for his room) that were in the style & color that I was looking for!!  I was so excited and couldn't wait for Keith to get home to show him.  Needless to say, he wasn't as excited as me....mostly because he is a man and most men just don't get that excited about things like furniture.  Also because he saw the price tag associated with these items!! But, he was happy that I found something that I liked and he liked them too!

We are super blessed because my parents have insisted on buying the crib & changing table as a present for us.  I sent the information to my Mom yesterday and last night she called to say that they had both been ordered.  In order to save on shipping (it would cost $150 extra to have them shipped directly to our house!!), they will delivered to the JCPenney store in C'ville and we will go pick them up when they arrive.  My mom said that the website said it should be 4-7 business days so I am hoping they are here in the next week or so.  I guess that means we really have to get moving on cleaning out the rest of the "stuff" from Jacob's room, but I will be happy once the furniture gets in there and it starts looking more and more like a baby's room.

We have decided to forgo getting the dresser and bookcase right now.  I still very much want to get them, but we are going to wait and see if Keith's mom would like to purchase one of them as a gift or if we can save up some more money before we make such a big purchase.  Also, we already have an "older" dresser that used to be in our guest bedroom (that is now in the garage) and Keith thinks it will match the crib & changing table, so he wants to explore the option of using that one instead of buying a new one.  (I like new stuff...and I want them to all match "perfectly"......so I am not too keen on using the old dresser, but I am willing to entertain the idea, for now).

All in all, this was a very productive week.  From a physical standpoint, I am still having awful heartburn that just doesn't seem to want to go away.  I have also had some trouble sleeping lately.  On a positive note, I have felt the baby move more and more.  Since this post is getting pretty long, I will do additional posts about the sleeping issue and the baby's movement in the next few days.  Until then.....I hope everyone is having a great weekend!! 

24 Weeks Pregnant....

Today marks 24 weeks pregnant!! Yippee!  Like I have said numerous times before, I can't believe how fast time is flying by.  We still have A LOT to do!  I am not in the "panic" mode yet, but I can see how the due date could sneak up on us so I need to make a list and get organized.  

Last night my mom said to me, "Is his room ready for the crib and changing table to be delivered?"  I said, "oh heck no". She said, "You better get moving....it's March!" I think we have made a significant dent in the cleaning of Jacob's room, but we still have a long way to go, as you can see from the pictures I took this week:

In other baby news this week, I went to my regular monthly pre-natal appointment yesterday afternoon.  I saw Dr. Owens, who I had never seen before.  I was very pleased with her as she was super friendly, enthusiastic, talkative, and very informative. She made me feel good about how this pregnancy is progressing and she seemed to generally care how I was feeling and how our baby was doing.

My biggest fear about going to this particular appointment (and probably every one from here on out) was the weigh in.  As I have mentioned before, my appetite has significantly increased and I find myself eating a lot more than I did a few months ago.  I was really scared that the nurse was going to say that I had gained more than the recommended amount.  The funny thing is that when I first got on the scale in the examining room, the weight that showed up on it was definitely wrong!  It was showing that I was down like 10 lbs from where I was a month ago and I knew that just couldn't be right.  When I mentioned it to the nurse, she said that they had been having problems with that particular scale so we moved to a different room and (whether good or not), this scale was much more accurate.  The good news is that I have only gained 2 lbs in the last month and 9.5 lbs total!!  YAY!!  I am right on track of where I should be at this point in my journey and Dr. Owens was very pleased.  Now if I can just stay on track with my eating and get a little more (or any! haha) exercise, I will be good to go.  I know these last 3 months are going to be the most weight gain, so I am trying not to worry too much about the weight, but I don't want to end up gaining so much that I am miserable either.

Another notable thing from the appointment is that my blood pressure is back down to "normal" at 110/80.  I personally think that last month's rise was a fluke thing and hopefully I won't have to deal with high blood pressure issues as I progress.

Dr. Owens did have a hard time finding Jacob's heartbeat.  It probably only took her about 30-45 seconds to find it, but to me it seemed like forever!!  Once she did find it, I said, "OK, that scared me" and she said "that happens a lot, but it still is scary".  I must admit I do like to hear the doctors and nurses say things like "that happens a lot" just so I know that what I am experiencing is not unusual, but it still scares me when things like that happen!!  His heartbeat was a strong 154 beats per minute (a little higher than usual, but still within the normal range).

Dr. Owens also (kindly) informed me that I will start experiencing some not-so-nice side effects soon such as leg cramps at night, heartburn (which I have already been experiencing daily!), and back ache.  Woohoo - can't wait! haha

Well, since this post is becoming kinda long, I guess that is all for now.  I did go back to the Physical Therapist on Wednesday so I will post again about that.  We have a busy weekend planned - we are in Richmond today and will be in DC tomorrow - so I will try and post more on Sunday when we return home.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.

March came in like a lion....

This past week, when the weather people were forecasting a "big" snowstorm for our area, Keith and I both said what we always say...."We will believe it when we see it".  Well, this time they were actually right (which doesn't seem to happen very often!).

Yesterday, the snow started falling slowly around 3pm and by 5pm, there was a light white dusting on the ground - probably about an inch.  They were calling for 4-7 inches total in our area, but Keith and I were still a bit skeptical.  When we went to bed last night around 11pm, the snow probably amounted to 2-3 inches. 

When we woke up this morning, we were pleasantly surprised to see that we had gotten 6-8 inches!!  Keith instantly wanted to go out and take a walk in it (he LOVES snow & cold!!).  After much urging by him and a lot of complaining from me, I decided to go out with him.  I must admit, it was nice to walk around the neighborhood (except for the wind in our face on the way back).  It was really peaceful walking on roads that not many cars had driven down - we actually walked down the middle of the road using the tire tracks so we didn't have to wade through the piled up snow on the side of the road.  I think we were only passed by 2 or 3 cars the entire time we were out there - which was probably about 45 minutes.  

Unfortunately, even though it is Spring Break for the students, the University did not close. Lucky for me, my boss said not to try to come in since the coaches are all on vacation. Keith was not so lucky since the library was open. He is also scheduled to work on the Reference desk tonight until 9pm.  He didn't leave until about 11am, but he did go in.  He ended up having to take my car because he couldn't get his out of the driveway - it got stuck and the wheels were spinning when he tried!  What an eventful day!!

Here are some pictures that we took while we were outside:

Our house from the end of the driveway

A picture of us upon our return from the walk

Me in front of the house.  

I was tempted to make a snow angel, but I decided against it!

Keith even took his morning cup of coffee along with him.

23 weeks pregnant!!

Well, I certainly haven't done a very good job of blogging this week.  I guess it is partly because nothing super exciting has happened and partly because I have been busy.  Work has been busy as we start to prepare for Spring Football and Keith and I have kept pretty busy doing who knows what!  It just seems like we are very rarely home these days!!

I am very excited to say that I am 23 weeks and 2 days prego today!! Wow....last week sure did fly by!  Nothing exciting has really happened with me or with our little bambino growing inside me. There have been a few times over the past couple of days where I think I have felt him moving inside me. Honestly, I am not really sure how to differentiate between his movements and gas.  I think I felt more of a "flutter" type thing this morning and I am assuming that is him and not just my stomach making noises.  I have been told that his movements will become more apparent to me over time, so I am just patiently waiting for that time to come!!

Yesterday was a big day for Keith and me - we went to BabiesRUs and started our baby registry. I must admit I didn't really know all that was going to be involved in this process. I knew that we needed to choose big things like our bedding set, pack and play, high chair, stroller, car seat, etc.  but I didn't realize all of the "little" things that we needed to pick out.  There are so many different kinds of bottles and blankets and bathtubs and breastfeeding accessories....it was a little overwhelming!!!  All in all though, it was a good experience!!  

We still have to decide on what crib and changing table we want to get.  We have a crib that we both like and I found a changing table that I like (Keith is less opinionated about it) but the problem is that they are made of different wood colors - the crib is Espresso and the changing table is Royal Cherry.  I have searched and searched for similar items that are the same color, but I haven't been able to find anything that I like.  We are planning to go back to BabiesRUs in the near future - possibly to the Richmond store (which is bigger than the store here) - so hopefully we can find something that matches well that we both like.

I am starting to wear more and more maternity clothes as my "regular" clothes just aren't fitting right. I haven't been able to wear regular pants for a few weeks now, but was trying to wear regular tops until this past week.  The problem is that the regular tops look tight and make me look like I am just fat (or that my clothes are too small) and the maternity tops are too big.  I guess in the long run, I would rather wear something that is too big with the hopes of "growing into it".  I am sure it won't be long before I am complaining that nothing fits and I feel huge!  Until then, I just seem to be wearing the same few shirts over and over again. Hopefully my co-workers aren't noticing! haha

I guess that is all that has really been going on.  I have another PT appointment this Wednesday afternoon & a regular monthly pre-natal visit on Thursday.  I will be sure to post about those towards the end of next week.