Friday, April 30, 2010

18 weeks!

I'm almost halfway there! We had our big ultrasound yesterday, and had a pretty good week leading up to it.

Friday was my mom's birthday. We had dinner at the Salt Lick (YUM), sang the Tillotson rendition of "happy birthday" (basically just a horribly out of tune version), ate some cake, and I very excitedly watched her open my gift- a snuggie! Luckily she liked it. It was sort of a gag gift, but more an "I know someone at home will use this so I didn't waste my money" gift. I went all over the place to find that thing- Walgreens, Target and HEB didn't have them. I finally found a plain blue one at Walmart. Maybe it's a San Antonio thing. Do people in San Antonio not like snuggies? It was a successful birthday, and now mom is off in Florida with her mom and sister for a week long vacation. Wish I was there!

Chris and I joined a bunch of friends at Waterloo Park on Saturday for Lone Star State Jam. There were tons of country artists that we like performing, but unfortunately I couldn't make it very long. It was HOT. I was wearing sunscreen but I still got burnt. I drank water like a fish but I still felt dehydrated. I had a lot of fun, and tried to stay as long as possible, but we left around 4 o'clock (after arriving at 1!). All of our friends were understanding, even calling me a "trooper" for sticking it out for 3 hours, haha. The concert went on for another 6 hours after we left. It was nice to see everyone, I hope the next time we all get together it'll be somewhere that I can float around in the water to stay cool.

We left the concert early because I was exhausted, but also because we had a party to go to later that night. Two of my best friends, Jamie and Kristen, share a birthday and had joint birthday party Saturday night. "Jamie and Kristen's Birthday Cornucopia" was a food themed party where everyone showed up dressed as a food. Chris and I decided to go as macaroni & cheese, and Roger was a "hot" dog. I wish I got pictures of everyone, there were some clever costumes! Jamie was a birthday cake, Kristen was a lemon, Jared was the most adorable gingerbread man, and the best costume was Amy as asparagus. Not just one asparagus, but a whole bundle of asparagus, made from the noodles that you float on in the pool. We had a good time, and slept really well that night. Long day!


On Sunday, I finally mopped the floors! I used to do it every week and I'm pretty sure it had been over a month since the last time I did it. They look so pretty. I actually wore myself out mopping and Chris made me lay down for a while, I guess I overdid it on Saturday because I just couldn't handle anything on Sunday. We watched three movies and stayed on the couch all day. It was wonderful.

In baby news, I'm totally freaked out by my stomach right now. I have never seen a woman's stomach so hairy in all my life. If I'm wearing a tight shirt and lift it up, I have this static cling thing going on where the hair stands on end! Luckily most of it stayed blonde and hasn't gotten wiry or anything, so I suppose it could be worse. My belly button is just weird. I've never really thought about my belly button until recently. A few weeks ago, I discovered a FRECKLE (mole?) in my cavernous bellybutton. It was too deep in there to see before. How did I go 26 years without knowing about this spot? When I poke at it, I get kind of sick to my stomach. Chris thinks it's funny to stick his finger in there because I get so creeped out. Who knew I had a bellybutton phobia? I kind of hope it pops out so I don't have to deal with this cave that shows through my shirts (!!) in the middle of my ever expanding belly.

I finally feel the little princess squirming around on a regular basis! I started to feel tiny little pops and flutters around 13-14 weeks, but most were hard to distinguish from indigestion. By 16 weeks, I was feeling definite movement, but it wasn't regular and hard to describe. About a week ago, I started getting a "fish flopping" feeling, like she was rolling over and over again. Now I can feel her moving, wiggling, rolling, kicking and punching throughout the day from the time I wake up until I fall asleep. I thought it might be annoying (it was a little weird at first, I'll admit), but now it's just very sweet and reassuring. I like my little fish. I'm glad she's having fun in there.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

17 weeks

Chris and I are going to the doctor in ONE WEEK to see the baby and hopefully find out if we're having a son or daughter! It's really all I can think about right now, we're just so excited. I've had a lot of people ask which I'm hoping for, or that they hope it's one or the other. Honestly, I just want a healthy baby. That's it. Boy or girl, I swear I'll be equally as thrilled. Chris feels the same way, we just feel blessed to have a healthy child on the way.

Big news this week. We finally broke down and bought a bigger bed! We packed up our old queen and brought it over to my parents' house, Melissa has been sleeping on a twin mattress for far too long. Now she's got all the room she needs and more! Next, we headed to Ikea (I know, again, I'm in love with that place) and got a king mattress. No bed yet, we'll be getting that next weekend. So now we're roughing it with our giant beautiful soft comfortable huge enormous king sized mattress on the floor. Chris has been sleeping much better this week. Me, not so much, but it's not the bed's fault. Pregnancy doesn't like me sleeping for more than a couple of hours at a time. I'm happy that I'm not disturbing Chris every time I wake up to pee, roll over, readjust, etc. I'm very happy with the purchase, and I am enjoying being able to sleep without Chris' elbow in my face.

Aside from the bed, we didn't have a very eventful week. However, this weekend is going to be super fun! My mom's birthday is tomorrow (Happy Birthday Mom!!!) and we're celebrating at THE SALT LICK. I've been wanting to eat there for months now, and we're finally going. Melissa has work tomorrow night and would miss the party, so we're bringing it to her. I've got a good gift idea for mom, but I won't reveal it just in case she's reading. On Saturday we're going to Lone Star State Jam with a bunch of friends, we've been looking forward to it for a while now. Should be fun! Afterward, we're heading out to Spicewood for Jamie and Kristen's birthday cornucopia- come dressed as food! Chris and I are going to be macaroni and cheese. I'm looking forward to see everyone else!


Oh! I almost forgot- we took baby to his or her very first concert on Friday! Our friend Rowland had extra tickets to see Robert Earl Keen at Nutty Brown, so Chris and I went with Lauren. It was rainy, but we had a good time! Hope baby grows up to like country music :)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Pink or Blue?

Chris and I find out NEXT WEEK whether we're having a boy or a girl! We decided to test some old wives tales and see if they're leaning pink or blue. I have been feeling girl since the beginning, and Chris says he'll bet money on it being a boy. Obviously one of us is wrong. I hope.

The Chinese gender predictor says it's a boy.

Food. Sweet, sugary cravings are said to point to a girl; sour, salty cravings mean you're having a boy. I've eaten a lot of salty snacks, but I don't know if I'd call them cravings. The one thing I can't get through the day without is fruit. Fresh fruit, frozen fruit, fruit smoothies and fruit juice. I want it all the time. That means it's a girl. Some say that if you refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread, you're having a girl. I won't eat it, but honestly the only time I've ever eaten it was in college when I'd eat anything as long as it wasn't moldy. Not sure how well this one holds up. Half a point for girl.

My body. They say that if you are carrying more in your belly, it's a boy. If you've got more weight in your butt/hips, it's a girl. Now, I've always had a little more in the hips and butt, and although they have gotten a little bigger over the past few months, I'm mostly carrying out front. I'll say boy on this one. A round face means girl, but my face is still looking normal (for now), so it's another boy vote. I've had constant headaches, no morning sickness, cold feet and dry skin. That's boy, boy, boy and one more boy. Acne is a sign of a girl, and while it's not noticeable on my face, it's pretty scary on my back. The hair on my legs isn't growing any faster (my stomach is a different story), that's another girl sign.

Dad's body. They say that if dad's gaining weight along with you, it means it's a girl. He looks pretty good to me, but he's not losing any weight, so we'll call this one a tie.

Baby's body. A higher heartbeat signifies a girl. Baby's heartbeat has been consistently in the 160s- that's my girl! Then we have the business of carrying high or low. This one confuses me. The baby is still below my belly button, but that's where most babies should be at this point in the pregnancy. It feels like he's hanging out at the bottom of my uterus, and feels awfully heavy at times, so I'll go with low, and say boy again.

Constant mood swings means it's a girl. Wouldn't it be great if I could blame my craziness on the extra estrogen? Yeah, let's go with that...

Now we come to the pendant/needle/wedding band trick. You tie one of them to a string, hold it over your belly and see if it swings back and forth or in a circle. Problem is, I've heard that swinging back and forth means it's a girl, but Chris has heard the opposite. We're stumped here.

Lastly, I bought an Intelligender test. I know it's not completely accurate, but we wanted to do it. Some people say it's 50% accurate, making it a $30 coin flip, but I've read some reviews and it's supposed to be about 80% accurate in home tests (90% in lab tests). Plus it was fun. It was a little cup full of what looks like Draino crystals, but I'm no scientist. Green means boy, yellow or orange means girl. Our result?
It's a boy!

I know everyone likes to guess, so what do y'all think? Boy or girl?

Thursday, April 15, 2010

16 weeks

Four months! Four whole months. Holy crap. I'm almost halfway there, and I really haven't done much to plan. We haven't looked at daycares yet, that's next on our list. I'll have 6 weeks off for maternity leave, then we'll have to find a place for baby to hang out while we're at work.

Our biggest problem is that it's going to have to be here in Blanco, so we don't have many options. I work in San Antonio and Chris works in Austin, so if we chose a daycare in either city, the responsibility would fall on one or the other. I can drop the baby off on my way to work, and Chris generally gets home by 3-ish, so he can pick up. At least we won't be the parents who drop off first and pick up last, I always felt so bad for those kids! However, with a daycare in Blanco, we're both always going to be at least 45 minutes away if something were to happen. We are lucky enough to have his dad and step-mom minutes from our house, and I know they're willing to help, but it would be nice if Chris and I could be a little closer. This commute is really hard on us, and I wish I could find a way to work from home. I thought there was a job available at work that could have been at least part time from home, but I don't think it's on the table anymore.

On to the fun stuff. I've finally gotten comfortable going out with friends again, and staying out past 6 or 7 (but not really past 10, so don't push it). Chris had last Friday off, so he helped Jerald set up his BBQ tent at Founder's Day. I met up with them after work, and had a pretty good time. I got to see a lot of friends that I hadn't seen in a while, eat some delicious fried foods, and walk around and people watch. My kind of night. We drove back to Blanco around 9:30. On Saturday morning, we went BACK to Dripping Springs and spent most of the day at the festival. I ate more, walked around more, and saw a LOT more people. Heather came by with her husband and son, it was nice to see them. I ran into tons of people that I hadn't seen in years, and got some compliments on my little bump. I was still pretty self conscious about it and thought people were just commenting on it because they knew I was pregnant and they were just being nice.

But then, a complete stranger totally made my day. Chris and I were walking back to the tent from the washer's tournament championship game (which a friend of ours won, otherwise I'm sure the game wouldn't have been nearly as fascinating) and a woman stopped us and asked, "are you interested in yogurt?" Okay, that's not what she really said, but it's what I heard. I guess I had food on the brain. Anyway, she said "are you interested in YOGA?" and I turned around (half expecting a free yogurt sample) and she stepped back and exclaims "oh my gosh, you're P-G!" (which is what Yoga studio owners say instead of pregnant). I was so excited! Someone who didn't know me and had no clue I was pregnant could TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT ME. Hallelujah, I'm not just fat. I actually got some good information from her, too. Turns out there's a little yoga studio in Blanco that works with us "P-G" women. I want to start going on Mondays after work.

I spent a few hours with my fellow prego, Kristen. Oh yeah, John and JB were there too. We walked around a lot and listened to JB sing some awesome karaoke, which included Blackstreet's "No Diggity." No doubt. I love them, it is always great spending time with them. When they left, I headed back to the tent. I really didn't want Chris sleeping in a tent or in his car, I really didn't want to stay out late, and I really didn't want to be the bitch that tells him when to go to bed. So, I went to my mom's house to sleep at 9:30 and told him to call me when he needed a ride home. I figured he'd want to have some time away with me to have some fun with his friends and not have to worry about me. Not 10 minutes after I laid down, Chris called letting me know he was ready to go. And you know what, it made me really happy. He had been drinking in the sun all day, so I'm not saying he's lame or anything, it's just nice to know that the father of my child is a responsible grown man. Not a party animal child. It's just nice to be reminded of that sometimes.

Lastly, I had blood work done on Tuesday. Guess who didn't pass out this time? If you guessed ME, you're absolutely right. Chris came along just in case, but I did really well, you would have been proud of me. Our next appointment is in just two weeks, and we'll find out if we're having a little Jessica or a little Chris, so stay tuned!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

15 weeks

I'm 15 weeks pregnant. That means in 25 weeks, I'll be a mom! I can't wait.

This past week, I went to Ikea for the first time ever, attended a crawfish boil for the first time ever, burnt my ears after sitting in the sun for half an hour, and got to watch the nurse chase my baby around with the Doppler trying to find the heartbeat.

Ikea was amazing, I'd live there if I could. We got out only spending $85 (I could have spent waaaay more but we decided to wait and save money for the new bed). We got some really cute stuff for Audrey's room:I think she'll like it. We're going to get some decals from whatisblik.com to put on the walls, shelving for her toys and a table and chair for her to color and play at. I'll take some pictures when it's finished.

I went to the crawfish boil on Saturday and spent some time with Chris' friend Tim and our friend Karen. It was really great to see Karen, we used to work together at Spawglass (last fall) and I haven't seen her since then. We got there around noon, but after 5 hours of sitting in the sun and listening to the men get less and less sober, I was pretty much done. I went to Target for a while so Chris could stay a little longer and bought my first baby item! (photo coming soon!)
Afterward we went to my parents' house to meet Dan's new girlfriend, Victoria. She's sweet, and she made a bunch of cookies for dad. He couldn't eat them because he gave up cookies for lent, but Easter was the following day so he didn't have to wait long! I heard he ate about 3/4 of the bag, haha.

On Tuesday Chris and I went to another doctor's appointment. I'm starting to feel like I live there! I've got another appointment scheduled for next Tuesday for some lab tests. They're drawing blood. Shudder. Chris said that he doesn't need to go to that one because we're not doing much. Normally that would be the case, but since I passed out last time I'm pretty nervous and would like him to be there. At the appointment last week, the nurse came in to listen to the heartbeat. At first she couldn't find it and for a few moments Chris and I were both a little worried. Then, she found it. Then it was gone. She found it again. Thump, thump. It was gone. She finds it, I feel some more thumps, and baby's gone again. Haha, I foresee many games of hide and seek in our future! It was really neat to feel the baby moving around and knowing for sure that's what I was feeling. I've felt something similar twice before, but I honestly wasn't sure if it was baby or gas. I kept giggling and that made it even harder to find the heartbeat. Finally she said "it's in the 160s" and gave up. Easy appointment, I'll see my doctor again in a month!

Congratulations to my little sister, Melissa! She got her first job at the Salt Lick! I'm really excited for her. I've been craving BBQ a lot lately, and the only time I could get Chris to take me, the stupid place in Blanco was closed. Hopefully I can get him to take me to visit Miss soon.

We have our big ultrasound in FIVE WEEKS. I'm not sure I can wait that long, so I'm looking at a few independent places that do gender ultrasounds. I found one that will do a 2D ten minute ultrasound to determine the sex for $50, and another place that will do a longer 3D session that includes sex determination, a CD of photos, DVD of the session and a few color 3D images for $99. Heather went there when she was pregnant with Eric, so I'll probably take her recommendation and go there. If I do, I'll try to schedule it for May 1st (a Saturday, so we don't have to miss work) when I'm 18 weeks. That's 2 weeks early, and I'll be happy with that!

Here's my 15 week photo! It's not the best, I was having phone issues and this is the only picture I could get uploaded to my computer.

Pregnancy is gross.

I told my sister last week that pregnancy is pretty disgusting, and she asked me why. Here, my friends, is why pregnancy is gross:

1. Gas. Oh my god, gas. I've never been so gassy, crampy and uncomfortable in all my life. It doesn't matter what I eat (but it is a WHOLE lot worse if I eat a fiber bar, I learned my lesson and will not do that again). Luckily it is worse in the evening so I don't have to deal with it at work. A lot of pregnant women are constipated. I'm talking no poo for a week. Why would your body do that to you?? Again, I lucked out here, I eat a lot of fruit so I haven't had to deal with that.

2. Nausea and puking. Now I feel a little bad complaining because I never threw up. Not once! Hate me all you want, pregnant women and mothers, but it's true. I still felt sick for a good 6 weeks, didn't want to eat anything, but had to eat all the time. At points I desperately wanted to throw up because I thought I would feel better, but I just couldn't do it.

3. Hair. Hair everywhere. I feel like Chewbacca when I take my shirt off. My stomach is getting the worst of it and I'm just waiting for it to spread to other areas (My feet? Hands? Shoulders? Where will it appear?).

4. Acne. Ok, ok, I haven't had to deal with it too much on my face, which is nice. If I'm fully dressed and covered up I look pretty good. But, again, when I take my shirt off it's a whole different story (Note: I don't take my shirt off that often, I'm just thinking about warmer weather and how I'm going to wear my bathing suit covered in hair and pimples). My back, my chest, and again, my stomach are awful. My back is the worst, I feel like I'm on steroids or something. Some days are better than others, but some days I want to wear a turtleneck.

5. Hormones. Mood swings. I know it's not physically disgusting, but it's pretty gross when you feel like you can't control yourself at times. I'm not always moody, but at times I can be downright nasty. I always feel bad about it afterwards, but no one really seems to care when I apologize for yelling, crying and throwing my phone down the hallway (then cursing and crying more because it broke and I couldn't find all of the pieces). Although at the time I felt like these actions were completely justified. Pregnant women don't make ice cream runs for their men. The men make ice cream runs for their wonderful, beautiful pregnant partners. Unless you're dating Chris Tyre, Bluebell King of central Texas.

I'm sure I've left some out, but those are the main culprits for me. Anything I'm missing?

Thursday, April 1, 2010

14 weeks

We finally have our big ultrasound scheduled! I was really hoping to get it done in late April, my doctor told me to schedule it between 16 and 18 weeks. However, the place that does the ultrasound won't do it before 20 weeks, so we have it scheduled for May 13th! I'm so excited! It'll be better to wait, we won't have to worry about them making any mistakes, and baby will be looking cuter than ever by then! I'm not sure how I'm going to break the news yet, but it'll be family first, close friends second, and the internets last. :)
We've told friends that we were excited to find out the sex of the baby, and had a few people say "really?" I never really questioned if I'd find out of not. I completely understand how exciting and special it would be to hear Chris say "it's a _____!" the day I deliver, but I feel like it will be just as surprising when we find out in May. I've always assumed that we'd find out as soon as we could, and luckily Chris wants to find out as well. Is that weird? Do more people have trouble decided whether or not they want to find out?

The second trimester has been kind to me. I am still tired, but not nearly as exhausted as I have been for the past two months. Maybe it's the weather. It's been beautiful outside, and I keep thinking of the things I want to do in the next month! We have a busy April planned so far. Chris and I have Friday off, so we're going to Ikea to get furniture for Audrey's room! On Saturday we're going to grill by the pool with some friends we haven't seen in a while. The following weekend is Founder's Day weekend in Dripping Springs, we'll spend some time with Jerald and Stacy (haven't seen them in a while either!). After that is Lauren's birthday, then Lone Star Jam. I'm so happy that I finally have the energy and actually want to go out and see my friends again. This time I can show off my little bump to everyone!

Here are my weekly pictures:

13 weeks, 6 days:


14 weeks:


Camping!


I went camping with Chris and a group of our friends this weekend. We stayed right off of the Guadalupe River. It was beautiful. The weather was beautiful. The company was (smelly and) beautiful. But camping is not made for pregnant women. However, there are ways to make it better, and I will remember this next time we plan a trip. Here is some advice for any pregnant women willing to bear the heat of the day, cold of the night, bugs, spiders, dirt and showerless weekends:

1. Bring an air mattress! Chris brought every blanket we owned to make the ground a little softer for me and I used 3 pillows, but I still felt like I was lying on the ground, and I swear my hips got bruised from trying to sleep on my side.

2. Bring earplugs! Most people like to drink when they go camping. Drunk people think they can sing, and will play the guitar and have group sing alongs until 3am even when the park's quiet hours begin at midnight. (note: the group I went with was wonderful to camp with, it was the neighbors that kept me up)

3. Make sure you get a spot close to the bathroom. It's cold and dark and scary walking across the park to pee at 4am.

4. Bring more food than you think is necessary. Campers/boyfriends will eat anything after pregnant women go to sleep.

5. Plan on getting home early enough to do laundry before you go to bed, otherwise you'll be sleeping with no blankets because every blanket you brought to the campsite now smell like campfire.

That being said, I did have a good time. We arrived kind of late on Friday night and I tried my best to go to sleep, but those damn neighbors insisted on singing Jimmy Buffett into the wee hours of the night. I woke up before the sun on Saturday, but managed to get in a good nap around 10 when everyone was up and eating breakfast. I really wanted to go swimming, but the water was a little too cold and the weather wasn't quite warm enough to justify jumping in. Next time it should be warmer and I plan on spending the entire weekend floating in a tube.


We did some trout fishing, and I think everyone except Marissa caught a fish (sorry Marissa, better luck next time!). Mine might not count because after I reeled it in, it jumped right off the hook. We ended up catching 6 keepers and everyone grilled them later Saturday night. They were a lot bigger than I expected, and I forgot how much fun fishing is when people are actually catching something! I want to go again this weekend. Just fishing, not camping. :)

I left Saturday afternoon to make it to Trianna's baby shower in Austin. I couldn't stay long because I wanted to get back to the campsite before it was too late, and I didn't feel like making the hour long drive back in the dark. I wish the day was longer, because I wanted to spend more time at the shower! It was so great seeing everyone from Rudy's, and it was awesome to see Trianna looking so great at 7 months! I hope I'm looking and feeling that good by then. I got some good ideas from the Tri's shower, Krista and Marissa for my shower in July. By the time it gets here, Trianna will have a little girl to bring along with her! How exciting, I can't wait.

I slept much better on Saturday night (but would have slept better still with an air mattress) and packed up to leave on Sunday morning. We spent Sunday afternoon with Sam, Cindy, Lisa and Jacob. Cindy made an awesome Sunday dinner, then I sat on the couch for a good 4 hours before we headed back home to do the laundry that I should have done earlier.

Some pictures from the weekend: