34 weeks!

Seems huge. Like I've said, I don't know why but even number weeks seem so big. I am 2 weeks from the big 36 weeks and when I've told baby girl she is allowed to come if she wants. Ok, that can't happen. I can't be a mom in 2 weeks! I can't even imagine being a mom in 6 weeks! I was just thinking this morning that I can't imagine being at/around my due date. I see her coming early but I also see her coming late, so late. She is STUBBORN! so late I definitely could see. But she's also already causing issues so maybe she's anxious as well to come. Saturday all of a sudden her weight hit my pelvis like a freight train. The muscles were SO sore & walking was uncomfortable and even got painful. Very Very Painful! Walking has actually been difficult at times. I thought maybe I strained the muscles when we walked or something because while I understand it's my 3rd trimester & I have a nearly 5 lb baby in there it seemed way too sudden & harsh. I may've been right. The muscles still hurt but when I wake up I'm not wanting to cry in the corner & actually I didn't have pain getting out of bed. The pain, discomfort, & difficulty walking will come back through the day and by night I'll be waddling but oh well. :) That IS pregnancy! Speaking of which I got the good ol' "you wanted this" & even "you knew what to expect" from the hubby. While I knew it'd take a toll on my body & that my back, hips, & pelvis would hurt.....I had NO idea! :) Hubby is SO excited about her though. He also said "I can't wait to see her" which was a 'holy moly' slap in the face. You mean this baby isn't my imagination? She's real & others know about her?! Really?! I don't know why my husband acknowledging that she's coming soon kinda made me take a step back or realize 'um, yeah, she's coming' but it did. Mike use to get mad at me when I'd aggravate her to make her kick me. I am paranoid though & at times I'd need her to move just to reassure me. He did the same thing the other night, he aggravated her to get her to kick him. They say too that they move less later in pregnancy because they're squished. Um, no one told baby girl! She moves throughout the day. She use to be super active at night & sometimes still is but I feel her more during the day when I'm doing stuff than at night. I was always told that walking around put babies to sleep because they're essentially rocked. Nah, that's time to say Hello. Or maybe she's saying Good Night. Anywho!

Ticker Time: The one on her says: 18 1/2 inches, 5 1/2 lbs, & still trying to wiggle. Lungs are almost fully developed. Alright, definitely a wiggler but I can't believe the other 2 things! So, let's see what ticker 2 says: Over 5 lbs & 18 inches long. Kidneys are fully developed & the liver is finishing up. This one would be more accurate for my small flower. Still, I can't believe she's 5 lbs. I can't imagine a 5 lb baby in there. Not happening, just not happening! We won't know her TRUE weight until she's here but in 12 days I will get an estimate of how big she is. My last scheduled ultrasound! Scary but will also mean ONE MONTH til DD. :)

I've been so paranoid lately that something is going to go wrong. We are SO close to the finish line and my biggest fear is to have all this ripped away from me & us. I fear we'll find out she's not growing as strongly anymore, I fear I'll have to deliver soon because of complications, & I fear we won't be holding her in our arms. I honestly can't see myself holding OUR child. I've held countless babies, wishing they were my own, but I can't imagine actually holding our own child. That is & will be so surreal. And I know I've used that term a million times this pregnancy. Sorry, it's still surreal & I'm still in denial that it's truly happening. This could all be a horrible long season of 'Dallas' where it was ALL JUST A DREAM! Ok, it's not. It's real. I just fear something will go wrong & I know the fact it's winding down is putting it more in my face. Enough of debbie downer or paranoid polly! :)

Names: Yeah, we're getting there. Except we don't talk about it. I've discussed this with friends, that actually giving her a name is scary to me. The whole fact of fearing she'll be ripped away. That giving this child a name will jinx us. Stupid I know but it's how I feel. Don't give her a name & you're not attached, it wouldn't be as hard to lose her. Completely not true, I know this, but ugh, whatever! I'm weird & psycho. We're down to 2 names. My husband doesn't know this but I do. His pick & my pick essentially. I know an old high school friend named her daughter one of the names & I have this really weird thing about naming a baby the same as people around me. Well, this friend not only spelled the name the way we will if we choose the name but also spells the nickname the exact same way. I only like the spelling this way & Mike is VERY particular on how this nickname is suppose to be spelled. Grrr! I don't want to name her the exact same name & spelling as someone else. Her name has to be HER name! The other name I know Mike likes but he doesn't like my spelling. *shaking head* I may be willing to slightly, barely, alter my spelling but certain parts are set. Haha! I know I'm making this way harder than it has to be. It's just a name but it's also HER name, I want it to be just right. Definitely making it way harder than it has to be. I'm hoping by the end of the weekend she'll have a name. Or we'll at least discuss it. :)

And that's about it folks. I am 34 weeks & we have 6 weeks til my DD. Yay!

First L&D Visit

No worries, I'm not having this baby yet. I went to my OB appt & my blood pressure was very high. My laying down was higher than they like also so off to the hospital I was sent. Imagine my surprise & worry when I hear "you need to go now" & knowing my dumb husband forgot his phone at home so I was off on this adventure alone. I was sitting making my next appt almost in tears because I was so scared. I'm now on weekly OB visits because of it too. :( Get to the hospital & get admitted which seriously was horrible to me. Just knowing I was admitted to L&D or technically Maternal & Child was so scary. Go back, get in my "triage" bed, & get hooked up. Blood pressure was nearly perfect! 122/82. I should've been able to go home right, my BP is perfect & that's why I'm there right..... Not so fast. Non-Stress test & bloodwork. Baby Girl's hb stayed mostly between 147-154 & she slept most of the time. I would've been released sooner if I just could've peed on command. That was frustrating! All in all I was there for 2 1/2 hrs & trust me, I was beyond ready to leave. The last hr was trying to pee & waiting for the results on that.

Good news! Baby Girl had her FEISTY moments & I do mean feisty. At the OB she kept moving so it was hard to get her hb & she only stayed still for about 10-15 seconds, then proceeded to kick the doppler head to let the nurse know she was DONE! At the hospital she decided to make that nurse play chase & kicked that doppler(I guess that's what the round thing is called) a few times also. She did not appreciate being bothered! Once I heard my BP was normal I was calm, I knew everything would be ok. It is a little crazy surreal to be hooked up to monitors but it is so amazing to get to listen to your baby's hb non-stop for quite a while. I was hooked up for at least an hour.

Sop, after 2 1/2 LONG hours I was released. Blood Pressure great, No gestational diabetes(found that out at OB), No signs of preeclampsia, & no stress on baby. We are Good To Go! Dr. Kacenga(which this is his last week & that makes me so sad because he seriously is the most attentive & thorough doctor there) mentioned partial bedrest but nurse said it's probably not needed right now because all the tests came out great. Obviously if my BP continues to be high at the OB then I might be put on bedrest. I'm pretty relaxed as it is so I'm not worried about that. I was told no more Curves which makes me sad. :( I will miss my ladies! It sucks being pulled off so early (33.5 weeks) but whatever I guess. I just hope I don't have another L&D check until at least 36 weeks. I do not want to do 2 hr visits each week.

So that's all. It was scary but everything was great. No worries at all. :)

33 weeks!

Another weekly installment of what's going on in this pregnancy! I'll tell ya what! Insomnia, Aches, Pains, Exhaustion, & Hyperness. The fact that our little angel is a low hanging out baby has brought wonderful pelvic muscle strain/pain/aches. TMI but I'm about at the point of putting ice packs between my legs because those muscles HURT! She seems to hang out on my right side & kicks the left side. I felt her up in my ribs this morning & maybe she's still there but she's also causing pelvic pain. I've learned that when I deal with insomnia it's a 5 hour sleep time. I sleep for 5 hrs, am awake for at least 2 hours, & then can sleep for another 3ish hours. Those 2 awake hours screw with you for the rest of the day. The nausea is usually always around. Basically every day I will be hungry but nothing sounds good. NOTHING! I do crave fast food but half the time even that makes me think 'yuck'. That's not normal! Well, it's probably normal for the 3rd trimester but for me it's not normal. Haha! :)

Ticker Info: Both say she's 18 inches & she's about 5 lbs. I'll go with the 4.75 lb one because that's more likely.

Um....a 4lb 12 oz baby in me? 18 inches?! You must be joking. Some days I DEFINITELY feel the pressure from her but to think she's that big is crazy. She, that big of a thing, can not be inside me currently. That's just unbelievable. Only 7 weeks to go! Only 2.5 weeks until I'm 8 Months!!! "Oh but you're 33 weeks, you hit 8 months last week". No! I go by the real date, I go by the 11th! I'm a firm believer that pregnancy is 9 months, not 10. I will hit 9 months ON my due date, not at 36 weeks. That is seriously one of my BIGGEST pet peeves!!! It drives me bonkers! *So now you know*(cue music).

All in All, pregnancy is great. It's getting harder, I'm probably slower, but it's all good. We're basically ready for her to come. Well, aside from needing to wash & santize some essentials. But I have 7 weeks left to go & I'll probably be ready by July 11th. With a month to finish up tiny last minute details. :)

32 weeks

I don't know why 32 weeks seems like such a big milestone but it does. I am 32 weeks! Only 8 more weeks to go, less than 2 months. :) Tomorrow is Father's Day & yes, it's still surreal that we're expecting a baby this year. That we have cause to celebrate because Mike is a dad in waiting. :) She's been relatively active this week, off & on. I believe Monday was super active day for her. I felt her somersaulting and just really being all kinds of wiggly. Mike even felt her moving in there. It's been a more uncomfortable week. At one point she was uber low & against my spine. It was hurting to stand at the counter & put together a snack. Yup, she's getting bigger. :)

Ticker info: One says 4.5 lbs & the other says just over 4 lbs. Apparently she's 17.2 inches long (or so).  Almost a foot & a half baby in there. *shaking head in disbelief* I would definitely believe the length if she's tall like daddy. I'm only 5'3.5 now(use to be 5'4.5) but her daddy is 6'3. Will our daughter be short like me or will she be tall like her daddy? I can't wait to find out & I will enjoy watching her grow up.
More pregnancy fun. Insomnia is back. For some reason my body/mind hates the 2 o'clock hour. 4 out of the 5 days I have been wide awake by/around 2:30 in the morning. I generally stay awake til nearly 5 am. After falling back to sleep I'm usually awake between 7:30 & 8:30. Exciting I know. Heartburn has decided to come back quite a bit. Usually it's only mild but it's present quite a bit. Also....nausea!!! 3rd Trimester morning sickness? I've heard of this but it'd never happen to me, right? I haven't gotten sick yet but I was very close the other day. Hopefully it just stays in the nausea phase. It does suck that nearly every single time I eat anything I get nauseous. Food is repulsive most of the time. We were suppose to go to dinner last night & I actually opted to stay in. WHAT?!?! That's not me, I never turn down going out to eat. Ugh. Even now as I write this at 3 am I feel nauseous but it's definitely from the cold water in my hot tummy. A friend had this in her first trimester, I get it in my 3rd. The only upside to 3rd trimester morning sickness (if it gets to that point) is I'd probably not gain a bunch. Woohoo! Doctor only has me at 14 lbs gained. Awesome! :)

Baby stuff is coming along. I've gotten most of the stuff we need. I need to go through a bag of stuff I purposely threw everything into that I didn't want to deal with. I think mostly bath/kitchen stuff. I've washed quite a few loads of baby laundry & I still have lots more to do. I do have the pad & a sheet on the crib. Saving my jungle themed stuff for later so for now it's just a light pink sheet with tiny white roses. Then her 3 stuffed toys sitting very nicely in there. I started to write out everything we have but that's boring & will take forever. We have a lot of stuff. :) And I can say that if she came today we'd be ready. My bag isn't ready yet but we have everything I think we'd need for a newborn. I think! I'm hoping to do a little more shopping with Mike this weekend. Pick out fun stuff mostly, I've already seen a few toys I want but I wanted to get all the essentials first. :)

It's getting closer & closer and I can't wait. Hopefully less than 2 months til our baby girl is here! :)

7 months

June 11th, 2012! I am 7 months pregnant today & you probably can't even tell. 2 more months to go! The day started with insomnia. From 2:45 to about 4:30 I could not sleep. I turned my alarm off & decided to skip Curves. The whole time I was awake I felt little missy moving & grooving. At times it'd keep me awake which was frustrating but what can you do? When your baby wants to move & groove, she wants to move & groove. :) I finally went back to sleep & the vivid dreams started. Unfortunately the last one upset me horribly. I have a friend who in October 2007 passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm. She has visited me in my dreams 4 times before & the last 3 I was aware of her being gone and we talked about it. It's not a regular dream, it's a real time visiting with each other type of dream. This time was different & very odd. I won't go into detail but I woke up completely confused & upset. What did it mean? A friend told me she thinks she (jenny) was just letting me know that she's watching over Baby Girl & I. Maybe that's true, I hope that's what it meant. It's also nice to have a guardin angel watching over your baby. :)

Names: We may be close. Mike had a dream in late December about having a daughter with a specific nickname. We were pregnant but unaware of it. We've gone round & round with names since then. We were watching TV and one of the names I liked popped on the screen. He asked if that's how I would spell it too? Yes, I would. He doesn't like the name so I'm not sure why he was even asking. He asked what her nickname would be with that name? I told him. He likes said nickname. So, ok, take a leap Lisa. I tell him (because I've toyed around with what names go along with this nickname he dreamt of 6 months ago) 2 names that could also use it. He likes both! OK, we have our names right?! I don't know. I like the nickname too & it actually popped in my head when I was looking at a plague a friend made for me/baby girl. It seems too easy though. We've fought time & time again over names, over him agreeing to a name. Then all of a sudden it's as easy as that. "Yup, I like that name & that name". Do I like it though? Do I truly like the name & can see it for our daughter? Why must it be so darn hard! Mike I think prefers one name, a friend prefers another, & my sister prefers an alternative to our second choice. So, there are 3 names floating around but 2 of the names only have 1 letter difference, they're basically the same name. I don't know if I'm having an issue because we're actually close to naming her or if it's because I don't truly love the names. I have a love/hate relationship with the names. And part of me wants to just go back on ol' reliable that I've had picked out since before I got married. But it can't use the nickname Mike dreamt of 6 months ago. Grrrr, it's frustrating. So, I'm giving it time & seeing what feels right. All I know is her nickname will end with "ie". (ex: Kellie, Sallie, Pickl-ie) :)

31 weeks

Here we are for another installment of the week update. 31 weeks! Sleep is hit or miss really. This morning is the first time my insomnia has really hit. And by insomnia I mean being awake enough to actually get out of bed. I'm not including the mornings were I toss & turn for hours. Apparently baby girl has hair because I have heartburn this morning. It could've also been the meaty pizza or the buffalo wings which was oh so tasty. I also think baby girl likes spicy foods because she sure likes to jump around after spicy foods. Another thing she's been fond of lately is laying as low as she can go! Oh, I'm not fighting a rib monster like so many, I am fighting a pelvic monster. I worry sometimes that she'll push or stretch in such a way that she starts labor early. We've had a talk, she must wait at least another 5-6 weeks to make sure she's big & healthy enough. I still find it amazing that she seems to listen to me & respond. Anytime I'm concerned about not feeling her I just talk to her & ask her to move/kick & within a minute she'll do just that. Call me crazy but I swear she understands. Maybe she just likes being talked too but half the time I'm whispering so maybe there is some ESP going on. Mike has asked more about her lately. He'll ask if she moved that day or how much she's moved. She's definitely not as active as she has been but she's still squirming once in a while. I wish she squirmed more so he could feel her. A few judo kicks in the evenings for daddy to feel!

Baby's room/stuff is coming along. I washed a few loads of baby laundry this week. I washed her newborn clothes, socks, hats, mittens, burp clothes, & lots of blankets-receiving & bed ones. I also washed her car seat fabric parts. I need to wash her playmat since the person who I bought it from didn't care to pre-wash it. Yuck! I just ordered replacement parts for my breast pump. All in all, her stuff is coming together. We still need a swing but actually, that might be solved. Now it's time for ALL the little stuff. We do have some of the little stuff already but I know there is a ton of stuff we still need. Shopping trip! I keep wanting to involve Mike in the shopping but he's not big on baby shopping really. Maybe I can get him to tag along on Sunday if I feel like doing the little things shopping.

Ticker Time: Nearly 4 lbs & 17 inches. Holy cow! I figured she'd still be close to 3 lbs & chances are she's about 3.5 lbs right now but still, WOW! Bigger & Bigger she gets. She better stay a little small. I don't want no Jessica Simpson 10 lb baby popping out of me! :)

Well that's about it. Still in amazement that we're about 2 months from holding our very own baby girl. OUR baby girl. Not a niece, not a friend's baby, not staring at a stranger's baby wishing she were mine. Our Daughter! I can't wait! But I gladly will! At least a few more weeks. :)

30 weeks(& a few days)

30 weeks....seriously?! I am in the single week countdown phase now. 9 weeks * days. There are still times when it's not real & it seems like a cruel joke. There are still times I don't feel pregnant because she's sleeping and I don't feel her. My stomach definitely sticks out more & I notice it touching/hitting the sink/counters. Driving my parent's suburban it was very obvious because my stomach touched their steering wheel. Going through ALL of our baby shower stuff it was obvious & overwhelming. We put most of it away & then I'm left with odds & ends, thinking to myself "where the *bleep* do I put these?!". Nesting is necessary, you have to make room for EVERYTHING you need for a baby. The sad thing is we're not even done getting everything. I still need plenty & it seems we have nowhere to put it. Deep Breath, it'll be ok.

Ticker info: 1: 17 inches & 3.5 lbs 2: 3lbs & 16inches. Ok so my baby is on track with the second ticker, I guess I'll go by that one from now on. How I know she's more on with that one, My Sonogram!

I had another sonogram on Thursday & I took my parents. Baby Girl weighed 2lbs 10oz (+/- 6oz). I tell people she stays low in my belly and they don't believe me. Granted she was high for my OB appt on Tuesday & she had to get the HB from my upper belly which was cool. Thursday Baby Girl was curled up low. Always curled up on ultrasound day. She's stubborn too, she's always facing my spine on u.s. day. The tech FINALLY got a good picture of her face which was really nice but that's all we really got to see. The u.s. are for growth so they don't really care about showing you your baby and it's so hard to see anything on it. When they say "that's a femur" you just say "ok..." & trust them. Anywho, her picture. Here she is:

Well, I guess that's about all. Nothing new really. Sleep is still hit or miss and the exhaustion comes & goes. I think baths will soon be a thing of the past because they are starting to hurt. :( I'll probably give them a few more tries before finally switching to showers. :) That's all. Tschuess!