Wednesday, November 30, 2011

27 Weeks

One more week down.  Time is really starting to race by!  Tomorrow is December!!

Baby business is going pretty well.  He seems to be growing every day (or at least my belly seems to be growing more every day).  He's moving around a ton.  They say I could be feeling him hiccuping, so I'll be on the lookout for that :)  Sleeping is continuing to be uncomfortable.  I just can't seem to find a position that I want to sleep in (besides the not allowed position of on my back).  I've tried so many pillows in different places, but to no avail.  It probably doesn't help that I have a dog glued to my side.  And if I move her, she just comes right back.  I need to have Chris take a picture of her one morning to you can see how she insists on sleeping most nights.

I have my next doctor's appointment on Friday, so we'll see how much we've grown :)  I think after this appointment, I may have to start going every two weeks!  Oh, and I passed my glucose test and I am not anemic!  Hooray!  I can still eat sugar and I don't have to take extra pills.

I found this funny labor prediction site online.  Here are my results.  We'll have to see if they come true :)  Funny part is that I didn't say I was having a boy, so she guessed that part right, at least.

Madame Zaritska, using her mystical powers, has the following prediction:
The day you deliver, outside will be windy. Your baby will arrive in the middle of the night. After a labor lasting approximately 13 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 5 pounds, 6 ounces, and will be 17-1/2 inches long. This child will have light gray eyes and a little patch of brown hair.

Some exciting news: Chris' cousin Jeremy and his wife, Alicia, had their baby girl this morning (about a week late, too!).  Welcome to the family, Aliya!

New belly picture coming soon!  I don't really want to take it right now while I'm on the train.  People might look at me funny :)

Monday, November 28, 2011

26 Weeks (and two days), Thanksgiving and Chris' birthday

Whoa, what a packed few days it has been. Wednesday I turned 26 weeks!  That's 2/3 done! We took a picture yesterday, so here I am at 26 wk 1 day.

What do you think? Any bigger than last week?



Yesterday was thanksgiving and Chris and I cooked our first full thanksgiving dinner. I think it turned out pretty well, too :) We made turkey, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes (we love our carbs) and Swedish corn pudding (a Snider family tradition). My sister, Janet and Eric and Cheryl, Chris' mom, all joined us. My sister made green bean casserole and Janet made sweet potatoes and brownies. It was such a tasty meal :)

Pictures from the day below:
The table, kind of set...I was excited to use my pretty napkins for the first time, however I wasn't quite sure how to put them into the napkin holders :)

Chris carving the turkey

Bethanne decided to dress Daisy up
Eric and Chris passed out after dinner


Chris' birthday also happened to fall on thanksgiving this year, so we had one more thing to celebrate :) He opened his presents at about 6:30 in the morning like most newly turned 31 year olds :) We had to prep for our meal so it wasn't the most exciting of birthdays, but we did have Portillo's chocolate cake with cool candles that burned different colors :)

(I meant to publish this Friday but didn't do it 'til Sunday, my bad)

So, continuing for the rest of the weekend. Yesterday was pretty low key. We pretty much hung around all day. Today we went to church and then afterward we went to Babies R Us to register. I found a little ornament for expecting parents. Isn't it so cute:


Chris also found a little Cubs shirt for John that he just couldn't resist :)

Sorry this is sideways.  If anyone knows how to flip pictures in blogger, advice would be appreciated :)

After we got back, I ran to Old Navy with my mom and sister. I got John a little fleece one piece thing for cold weather (I'm afraid in February all the spring stuff will be out and I won't be able to find cold weather stuff for him). It has little teddy bear ears on the hood. It's too cute :)


Chris had an afternoon of sports and I just hung around. Overall, it was a great weekend, especially since mine was 5 days.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Weekend Activities

We had a semi busy weekend and actually got some things done! 

On Saturday, I was up bright and early to take Daisy to the groomer (she was so shaggy, it's not even funny) and head over to the lab to have my glucose test done (you don't make an appointment, so the earlier you get there, the better).  I got there at 7:15 and had to wait 45 minutes to have my test done.  Boo.  They pricked my finger initially to get a fasting sugar reading.  Then they gave me a sugary drink to drink.  Now, from what I've heard everyone say about this drink, I was expecting some thick, syrup-y, most disgusting thing I'd ever ingested drink.  However, it was nice and cold and tasted like fruit punch.  I drank it down with no problem (it helped that I was pretty thirsty, too) and didn't feel nauseous afterward like my mom said I would.  I had to sit there for an hour to let my body process the sugar, and then they drew blood...this time for real because they also do another CBC to check my iron level to make sure I'm not anemic.  So I should hear sometime this week if I passed.  If not, I have to go back for a 3 hour test to determine if I have gestational diabetes.  Fingers crossed that doesn't happen.  And I really, really hope I'm not anemic.  I don't think my intestinal tract could deal with having to take iron pills, if you catch my drift.

After that, I went with my mom to visit my grandparents and an old family friend, Lois.  We had a very nice visit. And while I was gone, Chris started cleaning out the baby's room.  He said he threw out 6 bags of trash and it didn't even look like he made a dent.  WHAT?  Oh well.  I need to start working on my portion of stuff in there, too.  Hopefully I'll find some time this week to take care of some stuff (I'm off starting Wednesday, whoo hoo!)

Speaking of the baby's room, last week Chris and I ordered his furniture!  We're so excited to get it :)  We got one of the those convertible cribs that turns into a toddler bed, then a full sized bed, which means the furniture we just bought is the furniture until he moves out of the house.  Sweet.  We had a little bit of a scare when we went looking at furniture last weekend.  We're browsing, checking stuff out and the lady at the store proceeds to tell us that it takes 8-12 weeks for the furniture to arrive.  Chris and I looked at each other, panic stricken.  12 weeks?!?  So we were like, ok, we have to order this, like, yesterday.  But we got it all taken care of (and we are both happy with it, bonus!).

Saturday night we went out for our friend Laura's birthday.  We had dinner at Carmine's, an Italian restaurant in Chicago.  We had a great time...it was fun to see everyone.  Too bad the pregnant lady needed to go home and go to bed, so we missed the going out after dinner part.

Sunday we went to church and then went to finish registering.  Can I just say, registering is not fun.  It's pretty stressful, actually.  They give you a checklist and everything, but still, I've never done this before, I don't really know what I need and what I don't.  Thankfully, I have friends with babies who can help me out on that front :) 

After that, I was super sleepy, so we came home and I took a nice nap on the couch while Chris watched football.  We had a pretty lazy day the rest of Sunday.  We probably should have been preparing for Thanksgiving, but we'll leave that 'til later :)

PS...OMG!  100 days to go!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Pop goes my belly

25 Weeks

So, I've popped.  I feel like I've suddenly gotten huge.  Since Chris took a long time to tie his tie this morning, he didn't get to take a picture, so I'll have to take one later.  But seriously, he's suddenly there. 

So how am I feeling now (besides huge)?  Well, I've noticed that if I sit hunched over or when I'm laying down, sometimes I need to take deep breaths.  They said that would happen.  He's taking over my lung space.  Movement has picked up.  I'm starting to feel sharper body parts as opposed to little bumps...it's like an elbow or a knee jamming into my stomach and then wiggling around.  Luckily it has not yet become uncomfortable (except for when he decides to dance on my bladder or cervix -- NOT FUN).  At church on Sunday, you could see my stomaching bumping from the little party John was throwing inside.  Apparently, he likes to rock out to church music.

Heartburn is happening still, but it's not getting worse yet.  I've been trying to take the recommended precautions to help head it off, at least for a little while.  I'm trying to eat more often, not drink mass amounts of water on an empty stomach, chew non-mint gum (did you know mint can make heartburn worse...and your saliva can neutralize stomach acid, thus the chewing of gum to produce saliva), and keep my tums close by my side.  Ice cream and chocolate milk help, too :)

We've been making headway on the getting ready for baby front, as well.  I signed us up for a childbirth class yesterday.  Because of our work schedules, we aren't able to take the one that meets for an hour over a 6 week period.  Instead, we get to spend an entire Saturday learning about the joys of labor and delivery :)  We'll get a tour of the hospital, too.  I'm hoping we also get snacks.

We've also started registering (there's not much on there yet...hopefully we'll get the rest of it done, soon) and we picked out furniture for our little guy's room.  Too bad his room STILL isn't cleaned out.  Soon, I promise.  It's kind of crazy thinking about how his arrival really isn't that far away.  And can you believe Thanksgiving is next week??

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

24 Weeks

Whoa, 6 months!  Can you believe it?  I know I can't.  Just 4 more to go (since technically, it's 40 weeks -- I have 16 weeks left).  My little countdown to the right will soon be under 100 days! 

I'm still feeling good.  One bad thing, though.  Heartburn has started, I think.  In the past week and a half, I've had it 3 times.  You're probably like wimp, what's 3 times, but I NEVER get heartburn...I think I can count on one hand how many times I've had it before now.  And frankly, I don't know how people deal with it -- it's awful!  And what a horrible thought that it's probably just going to get worse.  My friend, Gina, told me to get a big bottle of tums and carry it with me at all times, because I'm going to need it.  I've started to notice kicks up under my ribs during the day at work, and the heartburn usually starts around midday, so I wonder if it's our little Johnny actually kicking the acid out of my stomach that is causing it.  Thanks, buddy :)

Can you believe the holidays are almost here?  Starting after this weekend, I feel like things really start to pick up and we're not going to have time to take a breath until the new year.  And then the baby is almost here!  I knew that would happen once November hit.  We've got to find time to decorate John's room sometime soon, though. 

Belly pic coming soon...

Friday, November 4, 2011

Doctor Visit #6

Today I had my next appointment. Everything is looking good. I gained 5 pounds this month, whoops, a pound more than ideal. John's heart rate is at 154 beats and I measured at 26 centimeters. Remember when I said that it's supposed to be 1 cm per week? Well, that means I should be at 23 cm +/-2 cm. So apparently our little Johnny isn't so little. I asked the doctor what that meant and she just said it meant he was growing well :) My mom and Maggie came to the appointment so they could hear the heartbeat. The doctor was having some problems getting a good reading because he was moving around so much :)

I have to go next week for my glucose test. What happens is I fast for 3 hours, then go get my blood drawn. Then they make me drink some nasty sugary drink and wait an hour, then draw my blood again. If my sugar level is good after that, then I'm all good. If it's high, I could have gestational diabetes, so then I have to go for a three hour test to know one way or another for sure.

You may not know this about me, but I can sometimes freak out about things that otherwise sane people may take in stride (if you've ever seen me when there is the threat of a tornado, you know what I'm talking about). Anyway, my ever present tummy ache fulfills many of the symptoms of preterm labor. Yesterday I was totally convinced that I was going into labor. Well, shocking, I wasn't. I just had a stomach ache all day. Just to be sure, I asked my doctor today how to tell the difference between a stomach ache and labor. She explained much clearer what preterm labor would feel like, way clearer than the books, whose job I think it is to scare the crap out of you. Now I know and this will save me plenty of moments (or hours) of panic.

And here is the belly at 23 weeks 2 days:

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

23 Weeks

We've made it to 23 weeks! John has been kicking up a storm, sometimes so strong that we can see my stomach move. I tried to get a video of it last night, but of course he wasn't cooperating then.

I'm still feeling pretty good. Sleeping is getting increasingly uncomfortable and I pretty much always have a stomach ache (gotta love gas), but if those are the worst of my complaints, I think I'm doing pretty well.

We've been trying to make decisions about baby stuff (Only 17 weeks left!!). We picked out bedding this weekend. It's got whales on it and is super cute :) We still need to get his room cleaned out though, it is currently a disaster.

Belly pic coming soon (I'm on the train right now. It would be quite a sight for me to try and take one now).

P.S. I had some more interesting dreams last night. In one, I was helping out this homeless guy. I got him some food and I was going to give him some money but I couldn't find my debit card to withdraw money. In another I was at the Quarry (the ghetto old one with the blue bottom and chain link fence. Batavia people will know what I'm talking about). My brother was there and he brought Daisy for some reason and then he lost her. I was so angry at him but he told me not to worry because there were some salt caves under the Quarry and she was probably hanging out down there. And then she came swimming up to us. And I think there may have been one about boogers. It was a busy night.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Dreams

Pregnancy can bring on some very odd dreams.  It's even more odd for me since most of the time, I can't remember my dreams.  For your amusement, here are just a few that I've had since I became pregnant.

Just last night, I had a dream that I was in the hospital to have surgery.  I had a new doctor who was going to perform the surgery, who was studying under my OB/Gyn (although I was not pregnant in the dream, nor did the surgery have anything to do with girl parts).  I waited and waited, but no one came to do the surgery.  So finally I was like this is stupid, I'm leaving.  But when I tried to leave I found out the hospital was on lock down because they had been doing some kind of experimental treatment with radioactivity on athletes (??), and it had leaked, so we were all potentially radioactive.  They were performing tests on people to see if they could leave.  Basically, if you hadn't become totally stupid, you were fine to go.  I was totally fine and trying to leave, but then this army general looking guy was trying to make me stay, so then I had to escape.  I was running away through the parking lot when I woke up.

I've had a few marriage ones, too.  One, for some reason, our marriage certificate had expired and we needed to get married again.  The oddest part was that the wedding was at my OB/Gyn's house and she was performing the ceremony.  But then she said she couldn't do it because Chris had been divorced before.  They had even had a cake, but they wouldn't let us eat it because we couldn't get married.

I also had one where we were getting married again.  I was upset because I didn't like the wedding dress I was wearing and just wanted to wear the one I wore for our first wedding.

Way back in the beginning, I had one where my friend Jessica and I were competing at the state gymnastics meet.  My old gymnastics coach was there and she was yelling at me and told me I had to do bars (now, if any of you know anything about my gymnastic ability, you know that bars was always a joke of an event for me -- in high school, I was even told I could skip that rotation at practice and just do floor or vault again instead).  I didn't have my wrist bands for my grips, so I had to borrow Jessica's which were like 3 inches thick, so I could barely get my grips on.  Also, there was a huge mat under the low bar that left like a foot of space.  I asked the judge if I could move the mat because I couldn't mount if it was there, but she told me I couldn't.  My coach yelled at me again and told me my feet better not touch the mat (which was impossible, since there was only about a foot space between the mat and the low bar).  And then it started raining in the gym.

I know there are more random ones like these, I just can't remember them anymore.  I've heard a lot of people have dreams about giving birth and the like, but I'm not even pregnant in any of my dreams.  It has been fun for me, though, to actually remember them.  I think Chris just thinks I'm crazy :)