Sunday, April 25, 2010

oh funsies!

today we got the nursery fully set up - everything has been painted/assembled/put in place, but clothes had not been folded and put away, sheet put on the mattress, items not organized and made a home for. but today after church and some home-made hummus, i finally got around to doing just that. i pretty much love "nesting" - although i still need to purchase some dreft (although i hear all's free and clear is a perfectly suitable alternative for less the price), wash it all, and refold it/put away/etc.... i suppose i should have done that first, but i wanted to get the room looking good before my parents arrive this weekend, and i still have 5 months and 3 weeks to wash them, so i'm not too worried.

in other news, ben claims that i'm now a furnace due to pregnancy. i wasn't aware that this was a side-effect, and i really don't feel all that warm all the time, but i have to admit, i get very warm while at work, when i get moving around too much (like while vacuuming the baby's room), and supposedly while i sleep - again, according to ben. maybe that whole "bun in the oven" thing actually has something to do with pregnancy. maybe i really am baking my baby :p

Saturday, April 24, 2010

great success!!!

today i close at the coffeeshop, and ben had off, so we went "garage saling" bright and early at about 7 a.m.

our awesome finds for the day include a nipple washer (for baby bottles, of course... once we get to those), a very gently used evenflo car seat that looks a lot like this except in brown/tan coloring, and an old-school xylophone! this thing has to be from, like, the 60's? i'm sure of it. okay, maybe 70's or 80's. it's definitely one from "back in the day" that was built to last. i love it.

i'm officially (if we're still going by the 10/16 due date) 15 weeks today, which means baby mushroom is the size of a navel orange (4 inches and 2.5 ounces, roughly). we have our next appointment this wednesday, and i'm so stinkin excited to see our little baby again. :)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

is THAT what it is? :\

today i started getting these shooting/cramping pains right around my tailbone or what seems like the base of my spinal column and where my butt joints into my leg? (not my hips, it's a slightly strange location, to say the least). just walking would put me in a limp. thankfully it didn't last long, but my boss noticed it, and asked how i was doing. i told her about the pain, and mentioned how i wasn't sure, but had heard that some pregnant women get sciatic pain, and maybe that it was it? she confirmed, that yes, that's probably what i'm feeling. awesome. although it's really not that bad, and it didn't last for long... just more practice for labor pain, right? :p

meanwhile the exhaustion still seems to be an issue. granted, i'm now working close to 40 hours a week, which is fantastic for our finances and getting that nest-egg built up before my little egg finally hatches, but boy am i tired! i seem to remember hearing that the 2nd trimester is usually when women feel their best and the most energized. but i gotta say, while i do feel great, my body definitely didn't get the memo on that bit about extra energy.

baby is still only the size of a lemon, and we currently have (about) 5 months and 24 days to go - i have a countdown on my computer... my preggo-brain is definitely not that good anymore. :p

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

a quick hello and a little bit of creepiness

last night i dreamt that coffee beans (straight up - not chocolate covered or anything) were a great snack food, and i kept them in my pocket and ate them throughout my dream. maybe i'm around coffee too much?

this morning has been terrifying. nothing to do with the baby. everything to do with evil bugs.

as i posted on facebook:

"i had a brush-in with a brutal bloodsucker (not talking twilight, here folks): found something in my hair in the middle of the night, couldn't figure out what it was, stupidly decided to leave it till morning. ben's alarm goes off, "ben, check this out for me!" thankfully the dumb thing was only matted in my hair, not my skin. no matches were required, and ben was valiantly victorious! (i hate ticks.)"


and just five minutes ago:

"i found the cat mangling a spider the size of a giant raisin. i could SEE it's fangs. from over a foot away! and of course the cat just wanted to torture it, not eat it, so i had to find a way to catch and flush it (since ben's at work). barf."


so yeah, i called ben in a fit of terror, and told him that we need to bug-bomb the house.

i can't stop running my fingers through my hair to make sure there are no more creepy-crawlies. i'm now terrified of my shoes, as i only discovered the evil spider because the cat kept trying to attack my slippers - which were no longer on my feet at this point. i lift up the one she's closest too, and clinging to the bottom of it is a 5 legged spider (i'm guessing she had already removed 3 of its legs. she's pretty awesome like that).

i think it's time to get out of the house and spend all day inside somewhere else that's not bug-exposed. or perhaps i should just buy one of those tick/flea collars for dogs and were it around for awhile. that wouldn't harm the baby, right?

eeeeh. what a morning. :\

Saturday, April 17, 2010

other weirdness

it's time for more symptoms of pregnancy that i knew little to nothing about prior to embarking on this adventure:
  • facial hair. now granted, what i've got growing has nothing on the bearded lady at the circus, but i definitely have a very fine (as in, lack of thickness) set of peach fuzz mutton chops... i'm not even sure if ben can see it, but looking in the mirror, in just the right light, i can see it, and that's enough to make me feel like wolverina (because wolverine is a guy, and i'm not a guy). ben's boss thinks i'm having a boy, because supposedly, facial hair is from the testosterone, thus i must be growing a boy.
  • also on the "this is what i think you're having" poll, i've had one friend tell me it's a girl, though with no reasoning, i've heard "boy" in response to the fact that i've had no morning sickness whatsoever (minus the popcorn incident, of course, but that doesn't count), and i seem to remember someone else telling me "boy" because i'm carrying low? i don't really buy into all the old wives' tales gender predictors, although the facial hair could make a little bit of sense, i suppose. but carrying low? i've heard that one is off anyhow, but on top of which, i'm frikkin 6 feet tall. i'm pretty sure wherever my bump is, it'll look low. having said all that, i don't really mind when people tell me what they think i'm going to have; it's entertaining. but i won't put any stock in it. one of two options, i'll be happy with either as long as it's not both in one (i'd really hate to have to decide if my child will be a "jamie lee curtis" or if maybe baby should be a "james leon curtis"... just sayin... not that i wouldn't still love my child if that was the case, it would just be an overly uncomfortable predicament.)
back to the weird symptoms...
  • my nails seem to chip/tear a lot more easily. i thought hair and nails were supposed to grow quicker and longer during these 9 months. my hair seems to be doing alright. my nails sometimes seem troubled. (although i am finding when i keep them painted, they're a little sturdier. makes sense.)
  • i can crave food that makes me gag, and be hungry even when i'm nauseous. exhibit A) i finally found a can of tuna not too long ago, made a tuna melt, and the smell was horrendous to me. but i scarfed it down, anyway.
  • if my throat was an airport, and my gag reflex was equivalent to terrorist threats, i'm pretty sure i'd be on red alert almost 24/7 - just getting over another cold and (sorry if this is a little gross) my congestion is lingering both in my sinuses as well as the back of my throat. in attempt to clear out the menacing mucus, i've tried hacking and coughing and making noises you thought only lumberjacks could make, but often this ends in me gagging and almost puking (even though it's not nausea-related). and as for other things that make me gag (although often it's psychologically, not always physically), even the cat licking herself gives me the creepy-crawlies, the smell of cat litter grosses me out, gore in movies is now repulsive, and any kind of chemical fumes (smoking, paint fumes, old-lady-cologne, etc.) have become a personal offense. i mean, i know i've always been a little squeamish when it comes to blood, but i feel like i'm being overly-sensitive, and yet i can't seem to control what irks me these days. and these things don't send me running to the bathroom, but my thought center certainly goes there. like i said, it's weird.

in other news, baby is the size of a lemon this week, which confused ben, because he believes that peaches (baby's size last week) are bigger than lemons. maybe it's length, not overall volume? regardless, it's fascinating to think of our little mushroom wiggling fingers and toes and testing out new movements and functions and swimming around in there, just chilling out... but i still feel so "normal" (ie, not feeling pregnant), that sometimes i have to keep reminding myself that he/she is in there. i'm greatly looking forward to finally feeling movement, which i've heard is around 20 weeks? (i'm 14 as of today.)

lastly, we keep collecting more stuff for the baby, this time via my mom. it was "amnesty day" back in their town, where people put all the stuff they don't want anymore out on the curb for free, and since it's a pretty nice town, you'll often find pretty nice stuff, and in really good condition, which is crazy to me, because who hasn't heard of ebay?! although that does take time and effort, and i'm really grateful that people are either really lazy or really generous with their stuff, because this is what my mom found for us:
  • one toddler bike seat that fits over the back wheel of a bike (i have memories of riding in one of these as a small child and LOVING it!)
  • one portable crib for us to use at their house when we come to visit
  • one Peg Perego Prima Pappa High Chair Roller, which i had never heard of, but according to my mother, they're uber high end, and it has all these amazing features, like an adjustable height, a tray that removes single-handedly, a seat that reclines if baby falls asleep, wheels for rolling that also lock into place, and it's collapsible! (i never thought i'd get so excited over a high chair.)
and she got it all for free!!!

i think every town should have an "amnesty day."

Saturday, April 10, 2010

"don't stop believing" ....

it's still hard to believe that there's a little baby growing and developing and being created inside of me, that in 6 months and 6 days (approximately), i will undeniably be a full-time mother (regardless of whether i have to go back to work, stay home, am asleep, etc.), that there is currently new life just waiting to pop out when the time is right.

(i wanted to write "poop out," but that would not be the correct wording in any sense of the term...)

this cold seems to not be nearly as disastrous as my last one, which is quite the relief. i'm starting to wonder if just the simple combination of a weaker immune system combined with the stressors of traveling are enough to give me a head cold... although i don't think that's what happened with the last one, it seems very possible that with this one, i was just wearing myself down too thin... thankfully we're on vacation, and i did close to nothing the past two days.


interesting things happening for baby this week:
"Baby's now the size of a peach!
Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords...savor this, their nonfunctional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with his head now only one third the size of his body. And intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy -- much more convenient. "

pretty neat, little mushroom! pretty neat! :P

Thursday, April 8, 2010

who doesn't love pizza?

me! well, when it's my face, that is. :\

pregnancy hormones must be soaring right now, because i've never had so much acne in my entire pubescent career. and while the dr. told me the neutrogena stuff i'd been using prior to pregnancy is still okay, i googled salicylic acid, and i'm not entirely convinced... and i'd like to believe that it's just the fact that there's more moisture in the air here in minnesota than there is in wyoming, but i doubt that's the case.

i feel like the 15 year old boy with cracking voice that works the grill at mc donalds.

and i have another head cold.... it doesn't seem nearly as bad as the last one i went through that took over a week to get over, and at least we're on vacation so i can take it super easy and hopefully get better before we have to drive back. sinus congestion + mountain passes & changing elevations = disastrous recipe for ruptured ear drum... eep.

everybody's at work/school right now, and ben's visiting friends in iowa. i'm going back to bed. :)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

FINALLY!

easter sunday has come and gone. we made the announcement to family with the decoy "house tour" video that ben and i had made just for the occasion. after all the family knew, i was free to tell the world! (although, on the way over from wyoming, i delighted in the fact that i could tell complete strangers - at subway, when the girl behind the counter asked what i wanted, i replied with "we're going to share the $5 footlong with the ham, but i'm pregnant and paranoid. could you nuke the ham for me?" it was glorious... both the freedom and the sandwich.)

so now everybody knows. (hi everybody!)

and also on the way over, when we stopped at the crazy horse monument and had lunch in their restaurant, in a moment of hormonal crazed awesomeness, i cried over a patty melt. it was my first ever patty melt. and it was definitely worth the tears.

as for baby mushroom, many of ben's relatives had guessed that i might be pregnant before we even said anything. apparently my bump is not just bloat and pudge as i thought it was. apparently my bump is apparent to everyone as just that... a baby bump. oh and it thrills me. here i'd been feeling so self-conscious, so frustrated with what i could only see as extra fluff around the middle.

currently baby is the size of a plum. and i love plums.
we're currently still visiting with ben's parents/siblings... it'll be nice to take it easy for a few more days.