Rejected by the cats...

So today I was officially snubbed by my cats! Well, not all of them. Usually when I come home from work and open the door I have 3 cats sitting waiting for me expectantly... and if nothing else within about 5 minutes they are all there, wondering if I had food for them. So today I come home and find Sebastian asleep on the couch. I had groceries which I put away... and still no cats! Sebastian was staring at me from the couch, but making no moves. Concerned I went upstairs to find Caligula and Hesiod fast asleep on the bed, ignoring me!! They aren't even harassing me right now as they usually do. In fact the only cat who has harassed me tonight is Laia, which is odd because shes the one that usually stares at me! I feel so unloved!!

On a baby related note it seems like every day this little guy gets more and more active. I didn't really start feelng official movement until about 18 weeks... and even then it was on and off. Slowly i've felt more and more, but it seems like the past few days i've been getting a lot more beaten up down there! I've actually been able to feel some movement on the outside now, which is awesome. Of course he refuses to kick whenever my husband is around. For example last night we were on the couch and we sat there for about 20 minutes... then i got up to use the computer and he started kicking again. Stubborn baby! Sleeping through his ultrasound and refusing to let his daddy feel kicking. Apparently hes going to be just like his father... ;)

Gotta Love Consignment!

So apparenly in Maryland there are quite a few consignment events that are geared towards babies and kids. There is one called weecycle and another called totswap. I heard about weecycle from a friend of mine who had been and went to the one up in Harford County about a month ago. Today was the Anne Arundle County one, and since I know now its a boy I decided to head on over. Its only 2 dollars to get in (all money is donated to the food bank) and you never know what you are gonna find. While I don't really need a lot in the way of clothing, i still wanted to look. I found some absolutely adorable baby clothes. The best was a 4 piece set with penguins on and a onesize with a dragon. While I know my friend is going to lend me tons of clothing, I still want to buy some things that are mine. Then I went to look at the maternity clothing. My dressier work pants are getting snug around the belly as they are the below the waist pants. I totally lucked out and found 2 pairs of pants, 5 dollars each, and they fit PERFECTLY and have room to grow! I was thrilled! I've tried the local thrift stores for maternity clothes with no luck and was worried I would have to go to the motherhood store and buy more, but nope! I should be set for quite a while now. I'm planning on going to the totswap event in Timonium in November. I'm hoping they'll have a larger selection of furniture items.

And even better is while I was gone my husband got the first coat of paint up in the nursery. It looks GREAT. I was so worried that the color I chose would look too green on the wall, but its perfect. Its so subtly green... it just gives the room a hint of color. Its gray and rainy out now so now photos, but i'll take one tomorrow. I think it would be okay with one coat, but we're going to do a second just to be sure. I'm getting so excited now!!

Now I have to go do homework for my classes. Not fun, but it needs to be done. My one class has a test... which i've kinda studied for a bit. Its open notebook, but that doesn't mean its going to be easy. After the test I can relax for the rest of the evening. =)

Hormones gone wild!

So this week seemed to be a rough week. I don't know if it was a combination of a bad work week, hormones, other stress, or something else, but by the time I got home yesterday I hardly had the energy to do anything. My typical Friday night includes me sitting at the computer catching up on a weeks worth of TV. I watch all my TV shows online so I was really looking forward to The Office, Fringe, and Ugly Betty (I cheated and watched Glee on Thursday). So I start with the office, which was hysterical. One of the funniest episodes they've done in a while! Then i move on to fringe to find... no new episodes till November! Dissapointment number one. Then I discover that apparently Ugly Betty now comes on Friday night, not Thursday! So.... no Ugly Betty either. I almost cried! So I ended up sitting on the couch watching Amelie, a nice sappy romantic movie with a happy ending. 

Of course my husband comes home and thanks to my raging hormones and his general stress over "oh my god, we're really having a baby" we've been fighting over all sorts of stupid things recently. Really, in hindsight, they are really dumb and we both know it. So, of course last night we are both trying extra hard NOT to get into a silly fight which makes it even harder (weird logic, I know!). We just ended up in bed early talking, not about how stressed and frazzled we both are but about things like how long my parents will visit in March and laughing at the cats doing silly things like playing with our feet under the covers. So this morning I get up to discover that last night after I went to sleep he went out and got me some flowers and one of those oh so tasty Starbucks Frappachino drinks (the bottled ones). Chocolate and flowers, the perfect gift for your pregnant hormonal wife. =) Sometimes he knows just when I need something like that. 

Half Way There!

So I am officially at the half way point. Well, assuming this little guy makes his appearance on time of course! How odd is it to suddenly realize that I am more than half done with being pregnant?? In some aspects it feels like this has taken forever to come, but then I feel like time is flying! Even scarier is the fact that the point if viability is 24 weeks. What does that mean? If something happens and I give birth after 24 weeks the chance of survival is high compared to before that. Not that I think anything is going to happen, but its just another timepoint on the pregnancy rollercoaster to look forward to.

Here is my growing fat bump:




Not an amazing picture... i apologize! I think i look about the same as I did before, but some people at work are saying its more obvious. And I got my first person ask me today if I was pregnant! Shes also pregnant amusingly enough! Shes 16 weeks, so that means that come early next year there will be two pregnant women waddling around the building!


So I guess the next milestone I have to get past is the glucose test. I am looking forward to this the least... going in for fasting bloodwork, drinking what most describe as a disgustingly sweet sugar solution, sitting around for an hour, and then getting the bloodwork done again. Fingers crossed I pass, otherwise they make you do a 3 hour test! EEP! And, I have my hospital tour coming up next month. Even though we aren't planning on using the hospital I told my husband I wanted to go tour and make sure we know what to expect if we go there. Never say never!

To all the people who have read my blog!

So as I have stated, TOTALLY new to this blogging thing... so I JUST discovered today people have actually left me comments! I stupidly assumed i'd get some sort of e-mail or something if people commented. I'm slow!! So, I just wanted to say thanks for reading and commenting!! It motivates me to update more often. =) This blogging this is completely addicting!

Hormonal Ramblings

So the hormone thing... yea... I thought I had my hormones under control however the past few days they seem to be all over the place, and directed and no on in particular. Little things set me off like someones annoying cell phone ring or my husbands slightly exasperated tone of voice... and then after getting angry I feel the urge to cry. I wasn't this bad in the first trimester! On the radio on the way home they were talking about this 18 year old boy who died of H1N1 and then played "The Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance and I was almost bawling!

Its like ever since the ultrasound Monday my body doesn't know what to do with the hormones. Before Monday it was so easy to forget I was pregnant. Sure, I had photographs of a little blob on a screen, my stomach is getting bigger, and i felt naseous a lot... but now? I feel movement! I can actually feel him moving around, squirming, getting comfortable. And its a HE... I know its a he... and he even has a name. Its strange... before Monday I knew I was pregnant, and I was attached but seeing him on the screen and knowing that he's a he... its just given me a totally different level of bonding.

I'm quite aware I sound like a crazy woman right now... as I said, hormones! Its a hard feeling to describe... I mean, i've been excited and happy since day one of finding out I was pregnant. I think at first i tried not to get too attached after having a miscarriage in March. But, once we saw the heartbeat and heard it I knew everything was fine I did get attached, but not to this level. Its different now i've seen him and felt him.

I am going to stop my strange hormonal ramblings now... because I am tired and am going to curl up in bed with a book instead of finishing my homework. I'm tired, hormonal, and want a good nights sleep. homework will still be here for me to finish tomorrow night.

Oh, on a random note i've officially had my first experiences with bladder squishing. Up until now i've thought maybe he was pressing on my bladder sometimes, but it also could just be needing to pee. This morning it was definitely him. I was fine and then out of no where it was like "if my bladder is full i would have just peed myself". I only know this is going to happen more and more often so I am preparing myself....

Cats + Baby Items = Cute Photos

So a few weeks ago I got a baby swing for 5 dollars. Actually what i got was a cosleeper crib for 75 dollars but since i didn't have exact change for the woman she threw in the swing for the extra 5. Apparently the music on it doesn't work, but other then that its fine. Sounds great to me! So at this point in my house there is no where to store said items but the living room.... the nursery is under construction. We could store it in the basement, but things down there tend to smell weird and musty so i'd rather not. So, living room it is. Of course now the cats have decided they want to sleep in it... go figure! BUT... in typical cat fashion they like to jump out of the baby items before I can grab the camera! Not today however! Caligula was caught looking cute in the baby swing!




Trying to look innocent but i know better. I don't mind too much as the stuff still has to be washed/cleaned anyway. And it is in his living room after all.

And the verdict is...

Boy!!





No question about it. =) Its a boy! He slept through the entire ultrasound despite the fact I drunk some fruit juice and eaten a breakfast bar before leaving the house. I had to get up and move around so he would flip over so the tech could get all his measurements. Of course it didn't last long... he quickly moved back into the position he was in before. Go figure! Maybe I should have had some coffee before?


My husband, my friend, my parents... actually EVERYONE was shocked to hear its a boy. We all thought girl! It was such a surreal experience seeing my baby on the screen... i mean, I know i'm pregnant but it gives it new meaning now I've seen him. Watching him move and seeing him there made it all more real. I can hardly wait to meet this little guy in a few short months (because really March 10th isn't that far away!).


Here is my other favorite picture from the ultrasound. Hes fast asleep with his hand over his face. =)

Oh, I almost forgot...

Enjoy an amusing cat video! My 13 year old prissy cat who hates cat toys has been caught on video playing with one. You can also see Sebastian at one point sitting there with a very confused look on his face.

The big day...

So, today is the big day! I have to admit, I am freaking out! I was fine last night and then this morning when I woke up I started to get nervous. Sometimes knowing too much information is a bad thing! I keep having all the worst case synarios going through my mind... i know deep down everything is perfectly fine with this little guy (or gal) but in my mind I can visualize all these horrible birth defects that pop up. Damn me for being a science major! Damn my science teacher in high school for her slide show of serious birth defects! So, off I go to hopefully find out if this is going to be a little boy or a little girl! This baby better cooperate... i don't want to have to wait another 4 1/2 months to find out! ;) I'll update later this afternoon!

To vaccinate or not... that is the question

So now I am pregnant everyone has to give me their 2 cents about EVERYTHING. You should do this, you should do that... and while I listen to all their advice and smile and nod, most of it gets shoved back in my head never to resurface. When a girl at work asked me if I was getting a flu shot I simply said "no, i've never had one before, i'm not worried". Then she asked me about the new H1N1 shot and again i replied "no, i'm not too concerned. I think that its played up a lot by the media about how bad it is". I still stand by my thought that the media is hyping up H1N1. I'm not going to deny people have died from it, some of them young children and pregnant women with no prior history of anything, but do we really need to read about every single death on the news? Anyway, back to my point. I am a healthy person... i eat generally healthy food, i exercise on a pretty regular basis, and I honestly haven't been sick in a long time. Everyone says your immune system is weird when you're pregnant, which is why you need a flu shot. Again, I told myself "i'm healthy, i've never had the flu shot, i'm fine". Then i got a cold.

The cold itself was not too horrible in the scheme of things. I felt pretty crappy for a few days, drank lots of H2O and OJ, and ate lots of soup. No fever or anything, just your typical sore throat, runny nose, etc. But its lingering in a way my colds normally don't, which is making me nervous. While i feel fine i am still finding my nose is a little too stuffy for normal... and i'm still sneezing a little more often. Yes, the last two could very well be pregnancy symptoms (who knew a stuffy nose and sneezing were pregnancy related things!) but they have been worse since having this cold. And then there is the fact that many people I know have had the flu recently! Now, these are people who work with kids, have kids, are around kids a lot. Honestly I hardly ever see kids! But, my husband does... and he brings home those germs.

So now I am stuck... do i get the shot or not? I was completely against getting any sort of flu shot and now I am sitting here seriously weighing the pros and cons. I know the science behind making the H1N1 vaccine is the same as the regular flu, its just a slightly different strain of the virus. I also know they are offering a thermosil free vaccine, so I can get it without that additive. Also, the protection I get from the vaccine is passed along to the unborn child... so why wouldn't one want this? Well, for starters after you get the vaccine your immune system can be lowered slightly causing you to be more susceptible to a regular cold. Also there are side effects that are cold like that can occur. And of course no one really knows how effective this is against the H1N1... in theory it should work, but really? they don't know much. If i wasn't pregnant I wouldn't give this a second thought... but now? It really is a different mindset knowing you have to think about what your doing to your body for the sake of someone else...

I guess at my next doctors appointment i'll bring it up with the midwife and see what they think.

My Blogging Background

So this is the part where i fess up and say i'm really pretty new to this blogging thing... in some aspects i've always been a little behind when it comes to technology. I've always had a decent computer, partly thanks to the fact that my brother is an IT guy. Not that I know nothing about computers... I know more than the basic internet, word, e-mail, etc. But, computers i've always been up to date on... its everything else I am behind in! For example, i got my first real cell phone plan when i was 21. Yep, you read that right, 21. While my friends had cell phones in high school my parents refused to pay for them because we didn't need them... and I had to agree. When i went off to college there was the internet as well as these wonderful inventions called calling cards! Anyway, my mom called me 9 out of 10 times. Then my junior year of college I moved into an apartment with no home phone, so I broke down and got... the cell phone. However, here is something you may find shocking... i got rid of it 2 years later when the contract expired! Why? I had a home phone and NEVER used the thing. In fact 99% of the time it sat in my purse, turned off. About a year and a half ago I decided to reenter the cell phone world because my husband worked nights all over the place and this way we could keep in touch easier. Still, my phone is far from fancy... it was the free one with the plan! Not that I am anti technology or anything... for me most of the time I just don't need it. It was the same with blogging... who would want to read what I had to say? Of course i did start journals... but most of the time they became privet affairs that were more rants about personal things that I didn't want the world to read rather than a true blog. Most of the time only one, maybe two people read it because that is all I would allow to read it. But no longer! I am entering the real blogging world! I shall have a real blog with posts for all to read! Of course its still taking me a while how to use all the fun features... i'll get there eventually. =)

A movie recomendation

So last night I watched the movie "Away We Go". It was a small budget movie that came out a few months ago. Based on the previews I thought "oh, that looks cute" but i found it to be MUCH better than I anticipated. The plot of the movie is a couple in their mid 30s is pregnant and are trying to decide where to settle down and raise their child. They go on a cross country adventure visiting their friends and family in different locations, trying to figure out where to settle down. Each person they visit has their own interesting family style... some more hysterical than others! I don't really want to give away too much because its a REALLY good movie. Ultimately they realize what they do and don't want to be as parents and realize there was only ever one option for where they were going to live. Its cute, sweet, and funny. It has John Krasinski from The Office in it and his character in the movie is a lot like his character in the office: sweet, funny, and a little dorky but will do anything for someone he cares about.

It was interesting in a sense watching the movie and seeing such extreme parenting styles. While in each of the parenting styles there are aspects you can relate to or agree with (mostly...) there are other aspects that have you sitting there laughing because its so off the wall its funny. And while watching it, I found myself questioning my own ideas about parenting. While its something Scott and I have talked about a lot, its something I think you have to keep talking about and keep discussing. Of course i'm not naive... i know that no matter how much you talk before having a child once you do have the child things change. But I just get the impression that especially today people don't think about what kind of a parent they want to be. I don't know if that makes sense... its just something i've been thinking about lately. It also makes one think about their parents and how they were raised too. I have to give my mom a lot of credit because in the scheme of things she had to be both parents most of the time. Looking back even when my dad was here, he really wasn't. My dad tended to play favorites more, whether he realized it at the time or not. He tended to play favorites to the baby... for a long time that was my brother and then suddenly it was our other half sibblings. I guess I never fully appreciated how hard it must have been for my mom. Its a bit of a scary thought sometimes realizing that in a few months you'll be somebodies mom and have to make those calls...

This post probably doesn't make much sense as i'm exhausted. But, in a nutshell, go rent "Away We Go". Its worth it! =)

Things the pregnancy books never tell you...

I'm starting to learn that those lovely pregnancy books never tell you the whole story. While i'm sure they are quite useful in some respects, in others i've found them a waste of time. Or maybe i'm just reading the wrong books! So far, this is what i've discovered:

1. Despite what the books tell you about weight gain, your pants will probably be too tight around 8 - 10 weeks. Yes, some people are lucky and can wear their regular pants for a long time, but from what i've read most people start needing maternity pants around the 10 - 12 week mark. The books will tell you that by the end of week 14 your pants "may be a little snug". MAY be a little snug??

2. Your breasts can start leaking as early as 17 weeks. Yep, NO book mentioned this lovely problem! At first i thought maybe I was just drooling in my sleep. Nope, not drool! I quick google search reassured me this was completely normal. How comforting!

3. Aches, cramps, twinges, and the like are normal. I freaked out on more than one occasion because I had these dull achey cramps... aka, growing pains. Who knew!

I'm sure i'll discover more things along the way... but so far those are the big things i've discovered that aren't mentioned at ALL. Yea, its neat to read about the baby development stuff... but I keep having things occurring and rushing to the book and finding... no answer! Oh well!

The fat stage...

So far I've been pretty good about updating this! We'll see how much longer that lasts. ;)

So i'm at that weird phase where people are looking at me going "is she gaining weight or is she pregnant?" I've even gotten the double take from a few managers. Now, i was never one of those people who was rail thin by any means. I've always had to work hard to keep myself in shape... eating right, exercise, that sort of thing. But the way this pregnancy is going i'm not getting that beautiful baby belly... instead i'm just getting fat squished in different directions. And its not because i'm not gaining weight, believe me, I am! I'm up 15lbs from when I had my first doctors appointment. It just seems that the 15lbs is going everywhere... my butt, my thighs, my stomach (upper and lower). I look at photos of women with these cute obvious baby bellies and wish I had one. Instead, I look like this:



I keep telling myself that soon enough i'll have that nice round baby belly... for now, i'll just have to live with the looks. I guess if i wore one of those flowey maternity shirts maybe it would look more obvious.

This time next Monday i'll hopefully know if this little sweet potato (because according to my weekly e-mails it is now the size of a sweet potato!) will be a boy or a girl. Fingers crossed they decide to cooperate!