Wow. Only 6 weeks to go. It's crazy. Some of me wants it all to be over, but then I remember when it's over I'll have a baby, which despite how ill I've felt, will be a heck of a lot more work than what Pumpkin is requiring at this point. Ken and I have been finalizing our birth plan, deciding how we want it to go, etc. It gets tricky because my family is HUGE and they ALL want to be involved, but we want a small, intimate birth. So we're making everyone totally mad and only having immediate family at the birth center (which is plenty as far as I'm concerned). The fact of the matter is, the birth center will only hold about 6 people, so our immediate family is really all that will fit anyway. I figure we had a huge family wedding; we can have a small, intimate birth. It will be much calmer, and I will be able to focus on the important parts (labor, Ken, Pumpkin) a lot better. I feel horrible about making everyone mad, but this is what we want, and I'm only going to appologize so much for it. I just really hope the family can consider it from my perpective, and respect what we are wanting.
My Mom and best friend Danielle threw me a shower on Saturday. It was awesome. So many people showed up (over 30!), were so generous with their gifts, and participated in the fun games. Danielle was in charge of coordinating the games, and she had asked Ken a bunch of questions about taking care of a baby, and I was supposed to guess what his answers were. Apparently we need to spend some more time going over basic stuff because some of his answers were crazy. He thought that babies go through 25 diapers a day, and don't sleep through the night until they are a year and a half old (I sure hope not!). Luckily, he said he would change 10 diapers a day, so I figure he can change the first ten, and I'll change any that are left over. I have another shower tomorrow with the family practice office at work, and then the PTs are having another small gathering next month. I'm certainly feeling very loved and spoiled. It's crazy how excited people get about babies. I was expecting a "wedding-level" of excitement, but this is all so much more than I experienced when Ken and I got married. It's very fun.
Pumpkin is getting so big. I'm still not huge when compared to other pregnant ladies, but I feel certainly feel big. My tummy is rock hard, though my belly button isn't sticking out yet. It's getting closer, but not quite there. Pumpkin has very distinct awake/sleep patterns these days. S/he wakes up when I do, then chills out for a few hours, then wakes up again around 10, then is pretty mellow all day until I get ready for bed. Then Pumpkin goes CRAZY! That's when the crazy alien-baby side of Pumpkin comes out. Party in my tummy, which of course keeps me awake. S/he often has a dance-off around 3am which often wakes me up, but I'm able to go back to sleep most of the time.
Anyhoo - things are going well. I'm getting more and more tired from daily activities. We'll see if I'm able to work 40 hours a week until baby comes. I hope I'm able to do it, I just may be an exhausted only-semi-productive blob the last few weeks. Hopefully my office will be ok with that.
Wish us luck.
33 Weeks (almost)
32 Weeks
I promise I wont do a "catch-up" post seeing has how I've been MIA for several months. But, I am going to try to make an effort to keep this more updated now. I'm currently 32 weeks. I'm still sick. I know. You probably think I'm lying, but I'm really not. I'm actually currently trying very (very, very) hard to keep my breakfast down. The juice was a bad choice. My eating stuff is better, but not great. I still have to strategically eat - no veggies, very little dairy, very little protein, no whole grains, limited fruit. So in essence I'm still living on white carbs. Sometimes I can sneak something good in. Yesterday at lunch I had a piece of marinated artichoke heart. I was really excited about it (but of course I paid for it all afternoon, so it was really less sneaking and more self-sabotage). We had our last ultrasound yesterday. Pumpkin looks so much like Ken. I keep getting girl vibes, so this baby really may look just like Auntie Alicia. Of course, I'm probably horribly wrong and it's a boy and will look just like Ken. Pumpkin certainly has a Walker nose, not mine for sure. On one of the ultrasound pictures it looked like baby has dimples! I would love that. I'm getting very excited. Part of it is I'm really looking forward to not being pregnant anymore, since I haven't been very well. Last night was our last birth class. I'm so glad we took the classes. Ken was only able to attend the first two because of his school schedule, but my mom came with me to the last three. I'm feeling pretty motivated about the whole birth experience. I know it's going to be really really hard, but I'm excited to meet this little person. This weekend I'm going to finish up Pumpkin's room. I still need to hang up pictures, decorate, CLEAN!, shampoo the carpets, decide if I'm going to put up curtains or not, make the bed, possibly buy more storage baskets, and clean Ken and I's room. My mom and friend Danielle are throwing me a baby shower on the 23rd, and I need to get Pumpkin's room looking like a baby's room for the party. It's getting there, the furniture is in the right places, and most things are put away, but it still is in need of quite a bit of finessing. Hopefully I'm feeling well and able to get everything done this weekend.
Wish us luck.
Wish us luck.
17 Weeks
I'm definitely starting to have a bump! Most of the time my tummy just looks chubby, but in certain clothes, like the dress above, I look pregnant. In other news, I developed shingles this week. Not so fun. It's a big ugly rash on my chest that itches and feels like a sunburn. Although, a lot of people with shingles have incredible pain, which I have avoided thus far. So despite the shingles, I feel lucky. I'm also supposed to avoid young babies and pregnant women, which I find funny (How am I supposed to avoid myself?). Hopefully this will be cleared up before my 20 week ultrasound and checkup, so that I'm not exposing a bunch of innocent bystanders to chickenpox. As of today I've only gained about a pound since my big weight-loss, which is fine with me. I know I'm going to gain baby weight, but I don't want to gain a bunch of mama-pudge along with it. Anyhoo, things are going well. I'm still feeling comparatively well to a month ago. I'm still throwing up every day or so, and am nauseous for most afternoons, but it's so much better than before. It's amazing how much my definition of a "good day" has changed over the last couple of months. For a while a "good day" was only throwing up 2-3 times a day, and now it's the days that I don't throw up at all, and am only nauseous for hours on end. I'm hoping I'll get rid of the nausea eventually, but it hasn't happened so far. I'm still shocked by how firm my stomach is. I wasn't expecting the "baby part" to be so hard. It's like abs of steel. I'm definitely enjoying my body changing shape. It's certainly different than before, and certainly going to get a whole lot stranger, but I'm liking it.
Pumpkin kicks ALL DAY
So I felt the baby on Friday, and then I didn't feel anything again all weekend. I felt like a dork who had mistaken gas bubbles for a baby. Good grief, what kind of a mother am I? Then I had a latte this morning, and holy cow! Pumpkin has been kicking all day long. It's really exciting, but makes me nervous for when he/she's strong enough to really kick me hard. Gulp. But today, when it's just a sweet, tickling flutter on the left side of my belly (the only side Pumpkin seems to like), I really like it, and am so thankful for a fun reminder that I'm growing a little person from scratch in my belly.
I felt Pumpkin kick!
Today at work, I was sitting there, minding my own business and I felt a flutter/popping sensation in my belly! It was waaaayyy too high up to be gas, and didn't feel like gas at all. I think it was Pumpkin! It lasted for a solid 45 seconds, so I had time to actually feel it, and think about how it felt before it stopped. Very exciting! I wasn't expecting to feel the baby for a few more weeks, but there you go! Finally a fun pregnancy symptom!
Ken Started Classes!
Woot! Ken started classes yesterday for his teaching certification program at the UofO. He was a little stressed, a little tired, but overall he was excited and it went well.
Three cheers for Ken, and his awesome scholastic achievements.
Three cheers for Ken, and his awesome scholastic achievements.