Pregnancy Journal: Weeks 17-18

Week 17:  

I think Charley knows I'm pregnant.  She has been extra clingy lately.  Normally she is somewhat clingy, likes to be in the same room as we are in, kinda follows us around but usually just lays down and watches whatever we are doing but lately she has been attached to my side.  For example, I'm getting dressed in the morning and she is standing right next to me, like head resting on my knee while I'm standing at my closet where she normally would just lay down on the floor and watch me get ready.  I looked it up and it says dogs get clingy when they know you are pregnant and how they know is because they can smell the increase in hormones in your body.  Interesting!  I'm probably not helping the situation because I give in to her 'clingy-iness' she is just so sweet when she wants to cuddle with me all the time!   We give Charley a lot of attention and praise, I really need to start weening off all the over the top Charley time so it won't be such a big adjustment for her when the baby arrives.  It's hard because we consider Charley OUR baby, she is like our first born!  And we do plan to be conscious to make a point to give her attention and new toys and treats when the baby comes to ease into it all. 

I've always been one that craves sweets but this week my sweet tooth went into overdrive.  Been craving pumpkin bars like no other so I made 4 sheets of pumpkin bars, I KNOW!  What the hay am I going to do with 4 sheets?!  Well I froze 2 of them so hoping I will have a never ending supply of pumpkin bars at my finger tips for the next 2 months.  Then I was grocery shopping and throwing in a bag of snickers, bag of milky ways, bag of chocolate covered pretzels, etc... I wasn't even second guessing it, as I saw chocolate I was grabbing it and in the cart it went.  Then I celebrated finishing grocery shopping with a stop at Starbucks for a piece of pumpkin loaf, like I needed it!  Then I bought the makings for 2 different kind of cheesecakes.  Also bought ingredients for snickerdoodles.  I'm outta control!  At my desk at work I have 3 candy jars that I don't share with anyone, tootsie rolls, starbursts and dove chocolates.  I hit them hard every day.  So get this, the weird thing was, in the midst of this sweet cravings, I wanted Thanksgiving Day turkey this past Sunday at 4 pm so I called every grocery store in the area to see if they had a pre-cooked bird on hand for me to pick up.  No such luck but I did run to the store the next day and bought a frozen turkey to have on-hand.  Apparently I want Thanksgiving Day to come early this year.  

 

Week 18:

I was a little worried this week because I just am not feeling anything but I think it's still a little early to feel the 'flutters' or kicks yet.  But I read online that sometimes at this stage, the baby moving may feel like gas bubbles or bloat and so yep, I've definitely been feeling that. I do feel more uncomfortable when I sleep, I know I'm suppose to be sleeping on my left side but I hate sleeping on my side and so I'm still getting use to that.  Been drinking a little caffeine once a week, really starting to miss that a lot!  Started missing wine a few moments last week when we were out to dinner with friends.  I keep telling myself I only have 5 more months but the reality is, if I do nurse, it's more than 5 more months where I have to watch what I pass on to the baby.  So that sucks!   I don't enjoy pregnancy.  I enjoy dreaming about the baby but so far carrying this baby is not enjoyable at all.  Why can't I just sit on an egg like the birds do?!?!  I'd much rather sit on an egg for 9 months, I could totally handle that!  Most days, I wake up and ask Aaron, you want to switch me for the day and you be pregnant?  I did ask him the other day if it was possible to choose who could carry this baby, would you do it?  And he said yes!  Dang, I SO wish I could impregnate him instead! 

Note to self... never wear this outfit again, not flattering, my butt looks huge.  My butt looks more pregnant than my stomach does here! 

Baby Girl's Nursery

Planning the nursery with a blank slate and putting my own touch on everything has me tickled pink!  I have a vision.  And this vision is Pottery Barn Chic.  The theme is light pink. light gray and white with Pottery Barn bunnies ONLY.  It's slowly coming together but I'm loving how things are turning out so far!  Here is a sneak peak at my vision.

After many paint samples, I think we finally hit the nail on the head on the perfect gray walls.

We spent many hours searching for the perfect crib and this crib is too perfect!  I LOVE IT!  So excited it was a baby girl because I really wanted a white crib, it's so feminine.

Then we got the matching dresser, fits well in the room.

The dresser came with this ugly cheap looking white knobs so I replaced them with some crystal knobs I found at Home Depot, it was one of those touches to make it my own and class it up a bit. 

I ordered this gray rug and it should be coming any day now!  

I really wanted a baby chandelier for the room.  I had a hard time finding a reasonably priced one that didn't look cheap.  I was able to find one that was reasonably priced that I liked and ordered this one on Amazon but it's on back order, sure hope it looks as good as the picture!

We haven't picked out a rocking chair yet but this is the style we like, and we've seen many we like so it should be pretty easy to pick one out.  That is our next big purchase on the list!



Above the crib we are going to do our baby's name with frames like this picture.  Our baby's name is not Ellie but with the name we have chosen, it should work out well to replicate this look.



I'm going to order these curtain ties but question... should I do light pink curtains with  gray ties or gray curtains with pink ties?   I'm leaning towards gray curtains with pink ties.  I can pick out any color for the ties off of Etsy.com.



Plan on getting this shelf at IKEA.  We are heading to IKEA in a couple of weeks.  I have the perfect corner for it.



I LOVE this rocker and it's kinda the inspiration for the room.  I haven't bought it yet, I have it on my registry but I may break down and buy it beforehand.



So we really didn't want a theme outside of colors but then I saw these cute bunnies at Pottery Barn Kids and I think as long as I only do Pottery Barn bunnies in different sizes, it will have a consistent look.  I really don't want to tell people I'm having a bunny themed room because I really don't want a bunch of random bunnies that don't match.  So you've heard it here, bunnies from Pottery Barn Kids only!  My biggest fear is someone getting me a bugs bunny.  That's why I'm super apprehensive to tell people it's a bunny themed room, not every bunny is cute people, and I'm very particular on this.



And last but not least, here is the bedding I've picked out.  It's on the registry so I'm just going to have to wait to get it.  So hard to wait, I just want to complete the room now!




So that is my vision in a nutshell!  Aaron says every day he peeks in the nursery and gets excited when he looks at it.  How cute is he for saying that?  I do too though :)  And it smells so new freshly painted with new furniture!  It's coming together and my Pottery Barn Chic look is just so frickin' cute it makes me giddy like a little girl.

Pregnancy Journal: Week 15 & 16

Week 15:

So this week, I was able to find out extra early that we are having a BABY GIRL!!!  Aaron and I celebrated by going out to dinner at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Latin King and opened the envelope and found out together.  I was ecstatic!  Overall, I really didn't care but part of me really did want a girl just so I can get all my 'girly fun' baby stuff out of my system.  We thought clear up to this day our intuition was telling us it's a girl but that day we both thought for sure it was a boy since they were able to determine so early but it was a pleasant surprise to find out Baby Hyde is a girl!    

We bought the crib and dresser, YIPPEE!  Super excited about making some purchases.  Going to put the crib together this weekend.  We went with white, my vision is very Pottery Barn Chic so can't wait to show off my vision of how it comes together but it's going to take some time before that happens.  

I officially can't 'suck' my gut in.  I stand in front of the mirror and seriously try until my face turns purple and I can't get it to flatten in!  I'm getting a defined bump.  I don't know how I really feel about this.  I know it's all part of the gig but at the same time, I really don't want the bump.  Baby yes, bump no. I've always been a little self-conscious of my weight and am very worried about gaining so please be kind when I do start looking like a blown up balloon, because trust me, I'll be well aware of how big I may look.  And I also have a very strict rule, no one outside of Aaron touches my belly.  I'm serious, no touching, it's off limits peeps!  I'm a pretty open person but this is one thing I am drawing the line for.

So I'm an idiot and posted week 15 picture in week 14 post so here is week 14 and 15 picture to get that straightened out! 

Week 16: 

This week we attempted to start a registry and it was beyond overwhelming!  2 hours in and we had only gotten half way thru the store when I was too pooped to continue on.  I was mentally exhausted trying to figure out the difference in bottles and why with all the bottle nipple sizes.  Wide mouth bottles or normal size, holy smokes I hadn't a clue!  Luckily we were given some assistance in the bottle aisle because that part was very overwhelming. After having a nervous breakdown in the nipple aisle and moving on... who knew they made 2,524,857 different kinds of pacifiers?  We couldn't even figure out what kind of baby gate we needed.  Baby monitors galore.  Heck if I know which is best!?!  To swaddle this way or that way.  Wipe warmers, is it really necessary?  Then we got to the "poop pails" aka diaper genie.  All I know is I want one that traps the odors...ya feel me on that one?!   Swaddle blankets, receiving blankets, burp cloths... why so many cloths!?!  What's up with a million choices for diaper rash creams?  To go with organic products or not?  You see what I'm saying... too much to take in for one day!  It threw me into a huge tizy, I love to make decisions yet I was so undecided!  So I threw in the towel and decided this registry process will take multiple trips to attack one department at a time.  Good thing I'm starting early!  I was so exhausted and Aaron... well it's going to be really hard to convince him to go back and finish after that initial trip.

Pregnancy Journal: Week 11 - 14

Week 11: 

So I'm nervous that the first trimester symptoms won't necessarily go away in the next few weeks.  But I'm hangin' in there!  So I do have a funny story and it's a little personal...

Like I've mentioned before, my breasts have been super sore/hurting. I could tell they were growing but I had no idea how big they have gotten.  So last night I went shopping and knew I desperately needed a new bra because I currently was busting out of the top, bottom and sides, I looked like a busted can of Pillsbury biscuits in my current 32B bra.  

So I went into Soma and asked them to size me and she asked me my current size and she goes "Honey, you need a 32DD."  WTH!?!  I didn't believe her so I told her to bring me a C for starters because that is what I thought I really needed.  I was a busted can of biscuits in that so I tried a D and that fit but it was tight so she brought back that damn DD and sure enough, it fit like a glove. I wanted to cry, most people might love their chest growing but me not so much.  But this morning, I wore my DD bra and it was a glorious feeling to be comfortable for a change.  It's ugly as all get out, they don't make 'cute' bras in that size.  I know I got measured probably a year ago and I was a 32B.  So I think I know know where at least 1 lb of my 5 lb gain is sitting.  I was not prepared for this change! 

Can you believe that?!?!  I'm still in shock.  I went down to Victoria Secret after leaving Soma and didn't tell them what size I was just sized at just curious what they would say and sure enough, 32DD I am.  Funny thing is, with my shirt on, they don't even look that big, I've seen girls more chestier than me but Aaron makes a good point, I'm trying to flatten mine I still look chesty and most girls are walking around with major push up bras on.  I know it sounds like I'm obsessed talking about this but common' if yours got that big within a few weeks, you would be pretty flabbergasted by that change going on in your body too! 

So that's my personal story... newly pregnant first-timers beware!  Now the world knows my bra size. TMI, yes, but i's just a size people.  At least my underwear size hasn't changed. 

Week 12:

Hip-Hip-Horray!  Morning sickness, practically gone.  Fatigue almost gone, 90% of my energy has returned!  HALLELUJAH!  I'm starting to feel 'normal' again.  It's been a long several months of not feeling like myself.  Funny how one day, it's just like a switch that flips on, I woke up and just instantly was better. Except now I'm starting to get the 'pregnancy brain' where I'm becoming forgetful.  And that's just not me, I'm normally very on top of busy life and I'm forgetting plans and my train of thought.  I haven't forgotten anything major yet but please forgive me if I forget something that may pertain to you!   I'm a control/orderly freak so knowing I'm letting things slip thru the cracks really bothers me. 

My second appt went well.  Heard the heartbeat, saw our little friend and even got a 3D image.  

Week 13: 

Really nothing new to update.  Feeling great, everything is going well.  Sleeping a lot better at night.  I am looking forward to my second trimester if this is how it's going to start off. 

Week 14:

We found a Daycare and are all signed up! I think we visited just about every daycare in West Des Moines and the one we choose happened to be the last daycare we visited and it wasn't even on the list, we just stumbled upon it and loved it.  Glad to have that checked off the list this week!  I was feeling a lot of pressure to get that figured out since waiting lists can be so long.  

I started a new job this week at Wells Fargo so I've been extra busy lately!  Kinda why last week's update lacked substance.  I'm working as a Financial Consultant.  Basically I present and go over financials with Wells Fargo technology business managers and budget/forecast their technology products and needs.  I'm liking it so far!   

Aaron painted the baby's room this weekend, we went with a light gray color and it turned out great!  Got the room cleared out and moved our office to the basement and surprisingly, we love our office in the basement much more than we thought we would.  Excited to 'break ground' so to speak in the baby's room.  

Also I have been sporadically doing a new pregnancy workout video called the Tracy Anderson Method.  It's a pretty awesome set that has 9 DVDs, a DVD for each month of pregnancy.  The trainer, Tracy, is pregnant in the video and it's focused on toning the arms and lifting the tush.  Both in which I do need.  I read about this in one of my pregnancy magazines and decided to give it a whirl and I can tell it will keep my rear end in shape for sure.  The downside is the video is an hour long and I just can't stand working out for more than 45 minutes but I'm hacking that extra 15 minutes anyways.  

IT'S A GIRL!!