Week 28

Just when I thought I had BabyCenter's food item pattern figured out - they change it up! This week we are sticking with weight - 2 and a quarter pounds and 14.8 inches long. Emily now weighs as much as a Chinese Cabbage.

Everything seems to be moving right along. I had a doctor's appointment this morning - I got an all clear. I gained a little more weight than she would have liked but she thinks it's because of all of the walking I did this weekend (retaining water). When I mentioned to her that I tried on some new shoes and my normal size didn't fit - she warned me that my feet will probably grow half a size to a full size. After Emily is born they may return to normal, they may not. I really, really need my feet to return to their normal size. Do you know how hard it is to find size 11 shoes??? Blood pressure was fine and the diabetes test came back normal. Woohoo! Dr. recommended we started our search for a pediatrician - I'm not really sure where to begin. I guess we need to figure out which insurance this little girl will be on first (mine or Brad's).

Emily's bedding arrived last week! After learning that Babies R Us no longer carries the bedding we picked out and planned the room around - I found another place that still had some in stock and ordered it right away. I think it looks really cute and I'm happy with our choice. The last piece of furniture we want for Emily's room is a glider. Once we get everything in we'll arrange the room and start putting everything away.

This past weekend we headed down to Fredericksburg for a few days. It was a good weekend with no schedule, no plans and just chilling. We picked peaches, walked around town, played with the dog, took a nap, had dinner on the patio, went to the Crawfish Festival and climbed Enchanted Rock. We spent Sunday afternoon/evening with a good friend of Brad's and his family at their house (just north of San Antonio). Banjo had a good time - she just HATED the car rides. I don't even think I've seen the little dog so tired.

We have another busy weekend coming up - family and friends in town, hanging out with the neighbors, dinner with my brother's girlfriend's parents and our final baby shower! It should be a fun weekend - just busy. I must say - I'm ready for our weekends to be free. Seems like we haven't had a free weekend in a LONG time. Maybe sometime in June we'll put an end to the crazyness.

Week 27

Alright boys and girls - I'm going to keep this short and sweet today. I know the reason you visit my blog each week is to figure out what crazy food item baby is for the week. I will let you in on a little secret - BabyCenter has started alternating weight and length comparisons. Last week (cucumber, 14" long) was a length item - this week is a weight item. Baby Emily now weighs about 2 lbs - about the same as a head of cauliflower. Check out BabyCenter if you want more details.


Another important development this week - Baby Emily's lungs would be able to function (with medical help) outside of the womb. This doesn't mean she's allowed to make her way into the world yet but it's another sigh of relief moment.

Friday afternoon the crib arrived and Brad put it together. It looks good - I'm very happy with our purchase. I also learned that Babies R Us has discontinued the bedding I picked out (grrrr). After I found this out I found another store that still had some in stock and ordered it right away. It should be here on Wednesday.

And I'm done :)

Dr. Update, Craft Projects, Baby Showers and Banjo!

I've got several updates I've been meaning to post for a while and then some updates from today.

Dr. Appointment:
Everything is looking good! Weight gain is on track, belly is measuring normal, Emily's heartbeat was 145 and my blood pressure was good. I had the joy of doing my glucose test this morning. I hope I pass and I don't have to do the 3 hour test. The orange drink wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be - tasted like flat orange soda or a melted orange popsicle. The bad part was my reaction to the drink. It's hard to describe but I felt like crap the rest of the day - I just never felt right and just wanted to sleep. It was a long day at work. And I still don't feel 100% right. I should know in a few days if I passed or not.

Craft Projects:
The bedding set I picked out has some really cute wall pictures with it. I'm too cheap to buy them so I copied the patterns and made them myself. I think they turned out pretty well.


I ordered a really cute name decal to go above the crib. I found a great shop on Etsy - check it out if you are ever in need of decals. There is some really cute stuff posted and custom orders can be done. Check out VinylVineyard

Baby Showers:
#1 - El Paso! My first baby shower was in El Paso on April 24. A family friend from the church I grew up in hosted a shower for me and I really enjoyed it. It was a gift card shower just because it would be hard to travel back with a lot of gifts. Thanks to some very generous friends we got a lot of spending money to Babies R Us (we'll put 'em to good use) and some really cute outfits, bibs, socks and a few other things. I don't have any pictures from the shower but I have a picture of the gifts (and Banjo guarding them).


#2 - Surprise! When I got to work today (after my doctor's appointment) my co-workers had a surprise baby shower for me! It was fun to walk into balloons, streamers, cake and some awesome gifts. They picked a great day to surprise me because I had NO desire to be there after my glucose test. It was really, really sweet of them. I'll still be picking up confetti when I go on maternity leave. Everything is sitting in the Pack & Play - diapers, wipes, wipe warmer, gowns, bottles and several other things.


Banjo:
Banjo is our (Brad will tell you she's his, not mine) dog. She's a mut - we think she's got some Beagle in her - and she's the best dog anyone could ask for. Several people have asked up how we think she'll transition to having a baby in the home - that is one thing we aren't worried about at all. Banjo has always been great with kids and babies. I think she'll be protective over Emily - she's already more protective of me. Anytime we get new baby stuff we set it out and let her sniff it. We are trying to get her used to all of the stuff and also teach her that it's not hers. She's having a hard time understanding why she can't play with the stuffed animals.

...and I'm done!

Week 26 and a mini-rant

We are in double digits people! That's right, there are less than 100 days to go until Emily Kate's due date. Yes, I know that a due date doesn't really mean much and she's probably not going to enter the world on that exact day - but I'm doing a happy dance. As of today there are 97 days to go! Woohoo! And on Sunday (26w6d) I will be in my third trimester - crazy!

This week, according to BabyCenter, Emily is the size of an English hothouse cucumber (about 14" long from head to toe) and weighs about a pound and two-thirds. According to some other sources baby weighs closer to 2lbs. Her ears are developing and she can hear us more clearly now. Emily is practicing her breathing - little by little - by inhaling and exhaling small bits of amniotic fluid.

This week Brad and I have been able to see her move around. Yep, I said see her move. You can see this little human, weighing less than 2lbs, move around in me. We both sat there for a couple of minutes watching my belly move around in strange ways. It was cool and strange at the same time. And for those of your that told me it looks like an alien moving - please don't use that analogy again. I don't like aliens.

In other updates - tomorrow we have another doctor's appointment. I have to have my glucose test (joy) but other than that it should be a pretty routine appointment. After this visit we get to go in every two weeks. And I just got off of the phone with the delivery company - the crib is being delivered on Friday!

In Brad fashion I have a rant for y'all today: Mother's/Father's Day.

I had several people wish me "Happy Mother's-to-be Day" on Sunday and others wish me "Happy Mother's Day". It really got me thinking - when does one become a mother or father? Is it at the moment of conception when someone becomes a mother or father? Or when the pregnancy test comes out positive? Is it the first time you see or hear the little heart beating? Is it when that little baby leaves the womb and enters the world? Is there a moment that makes someone a mother or father?

In my world - Brad and I are already parents. He is a father and I'm a mother. Our lives have changed in these 26 weeks (I guess it's 22 weeks since we've know) and Emily Kate has become the center of our world. I know that our lives will change again (and more than we realize) in about 97 days - but that shouldn't take away from everything we've already done.

I believe those expecting a child are mothers and fathers. I believe a couple waiting for their adopted child to be born or handed to them are mothers and fathers. I believe those that never get to meet their sweet baby alive are mothers and fathers. I believe those that have to say goodbye to their child too soon are mothers and fathers. I could go on and go....but I can guarantee you that these people, in their hearts and minds, are mothers and fathers and they will be for the rest of their life. I'm a mother and Brad is a father.

Brad was very sweet on Sunday and gave me a Mother's Day card. He told me he felt bad that it was a homemade card - but I didn't care (I like this one better). He said he tried to find a expectant-mother's day card for me but didn't have any luck finding one. I think Hallmark got this one right - an expectant mother is a mother! An expectant father is a father!

Better Late Than Never

I finally got around to scanning some of the pictures from our sonogram a couple of weeks ago. Emily Kate was 22, almost 23 weeks along at this point. I know it's hard to see what you are looking at - I tried to pick the ones that were the most clear and point things out on each shot. Enjoy (and thanks for humoring me)!

Profile Shot
Emily is looking up

Profile Shot
Emily is looking down

Profile with Hands in Front of Her Face
Emily is looking up - almost looks like she's praying

Knees and Elbows
She's curled up - knees and elbows are touching

A Foot
Her tiny foot is on the right

25 weeks down...15 to go!

Another week is done and we were productive this week!

Thursday afternoon I left work early (I managed to escape some of the Swine Flu crazyness we were going through at the moment) to run some errands and start my weekend early. My first stop was the grocery store - for some reason I decided to start making freezer meals for us each week. My long term goal is to find some recipes we like and stock up before Baby Emily arrives. I found a blog with lots of great ideas, adventuresinmyfreezer.blogspot.com, to get me started. Friday I started my cooking/preparing mini-marathon. I made Chicken & Rice Wraps, Tater Tot Casserole, Chicken Primavera and Tomato Chicken Gumbo. I ran out of time on Friday but I still have some Calzones and Chicken Bites to make. Brad ate a couple Chicken & Rice Wraps for lunch today and said they were pretty good (yay!).

Saturday we ran a few errands and then Brad started to paint the nursery. I'm really happy with the way it turned out! We picked a very light tan color called Santa's Beard (I thought Santa's Beard was white). I was nervous about the color when I bought it - but I like it now. We put the bookself together, ordered a pizza and called it a night.

After church and lunch on Sunday we watched the Mavs game (sadness) and Brad put the finishing touches on the paint. Then we built the dresser/changing table - that was a pain! All of the reviews I read about the dresser said it was hard to put together and the instructions were horrible - and they were! But we only had to take it apart once to fix a problem. But it's all done and I'm really, really happy with the way it turned out. The furniture looks great and I'm very happy with the quality. We wait for the crib to be delivered, I need to order a glider and pick out a new fan. Then the fun decorating can begin! Once everything is done I'll post pictures. My goal is to have it done by the end of the month - no promises!

In baby development news - this week Emily weighs as much as a rutabaga (yes, another random pick), about 1.5 pounds, and is about 13.5 inches long. She's starting to get more baby fat and grow hair. The updates for BabyCenter aren't as exciting they were in the beginning but if you want more details head over to BabyCenter.