Kicking - its the new Doppler!

Baby Boy is getting consistantly "kickier" - so much that when E asked me the other day if I felt comfortable enough to forgo the doppler, I said "yup- I'm good!"

There's still moments - like when (finally!) watching WhatToExpectWhenYou'reExpecting and seeing (spoiler alert!*) one mom go through a miscarriage - I broke down in tears, just remembering that moment on the table... and had the biggest urge to run upstairs and listen to baby on the doppler... but right then, it's like he sensed my need and gave the quickest little "thump" of reassurance... and I literally said outloud, "Thank you..."

*If you still are needing a spoiler alert for WTEWYE, then you're lame sauce like me and were waiting for it to come on cable... well its on cable! DVR that 'ish!


And then there's the embarassing moment of crying at FootLoose... yes, the cheesy remake of the Kevin Bacon cult classic where the "DANCE IT OUT!" scene was replicated...

*sigh*

But the nursery plans are solidifying (just need to find either the already-existing PERFECT bedding on etsy, or have my mom make it =) and we're about to break ground on remodeling our master bathroom (which will be breaking into the nursery) so things are starting to move!!

Will soon post some awesome (read UGLY) before pictures of our tiny closet bathroom that's soon to be no more!

SERIOUSLY - anyone want a dog?!

After his past escapades - from getting into the garbage (fresh with empty cups of white paint, and coffee grinds - all over the HARDWOOD FLOOR nonetheless), to pulling down Zoey's high-calorie-supplement off the kitchen counter and proceeding to eat nearly the entire tube (which warranted a call to animal poison control, where they wanted to charge $50 FOR A CONSULTATION) this dog, my first-on-my-own-as-an-adult dog...

After the last two days, I've had it up to HERE! (arm stretched so high above head...)

Monday night I come home from work to find Zoey had pooped in her crate (warranting her bedding to need washing and crate to be scrubbed out - thankfully SHE was clean) and Rocco had pooped in the dining room - TWICE (huge WET piles).  And once on MY BRAND NEW bathroom shag rug.  Wet again - it shmeared and the rug had to be thrown in the wash machine...

Somewhere that evening I found the energy to make oatmeal raisin cookies - all soft and gooey in the middle.  (E brought some to work and said his co-workers raved All. Day. Long.)

And last night I come home from work to find, tucked underneath a corner of the couch, an empty chewed-through ziploc bag... lonely on the floor - evidence of oatmeal crumbs.

I think I cried.

Because then I found more Zoey-poop in her crate.

So, SERIOUSLY - anyone want a dog?!


(Ok, not REALLY seriously.  But I am at... the end... of my ROPE...)

And noooow - the time has coooome...

(You know that song right? anyone? Bueller??)

Anyways - we've started some nursery/baby work!

My family has an heirloom cradle that held my two siblings and me, and my two nieces (and probably more family members that I'm not aware of...)

But it's solid wood, and once a few nuts/bolts were tightened (they becamse loose during a cross-country drive last spring!) it stands very securely...

E spent a few hours on it last week refinishing it as well, and it looks just awesome (pictures are with some Android camera phone filter - the cradle is really a much darker wood...)

We also have our first purchased item for the nursery:

We had been perusing the local thrift store last weekend and E spotted this little miniature swing and his eyes shot to mine.  And I knew the words would come next: "Can we get this for the baby's room?!"

It was so cute, and of course I said yes - for $10, who could resist??

So, it's begun... the nursery decorating. =)

And while we tentatively settled on at least a Plan, over the weekend - I'm still clueless as to bedding and colors and fabrics.  So it's a very bare plan. 

It needs some work... lol

Some interesting stuff I've noticed lately:

People ask, AFTER they've manhandled you, "Can I touch your stomach?!"

People ask me, "How's the baby?"
uummm... Good? just carrying on in his fetus ways... In fact he's doing swimmingly.... Get it? SWIMMINGLY? In all that fluid??  (But really, what else do they expect to hear? "Oh he's causing me some MAJOR constipation!")


And a funny story from lunch today at work:
After discussing how the past 1+ year in our new house flew by, another (very out of the loop coworker) raised his head and asked, "So you were in your new house when you got pregnant?"

.... Are you asking me where I had sex when I got pregnant?? Or are you just very late to the conversation and forgot the fact that 1 - I've lived in the house for more than a year, and 2 - have not been pregnant for 13 months...

And I thought I had bad pregnancy brain!

What's Been goin awwwnnn....

Breaking radio silence (why silent? I have no idea, laziness? 1st tri fatigue coming back?)

Happy 18 weeks to me! 2 more weeks until half baked and we get to see our baby boy again at his A/S!

Someone posted the other day on the message boards I frequent that it all felt "surreal" and "like a dream" - how true...

Am I really here, almost half-way through this pregnancy, after such a shitty spring/summer last year?  And how quickly is the year mark of our BFP approaching... I am so so very grateful to have a little boy on his way on this upcoming loss milestone...

Ok enough of the weepy rambling, time for some YAY-CHECK-OUT-MY-NEW-DUDS!  (No pics, but I scored two pairs of jeans from Motherhood Maternity for $9.99 - HOW, might you ask?! I returned a Christmas gift of slacks, and pants were buy one get one 50%... =) woot woot! I now have denim to fit the bump!)

From GAP :

For $14	For $14	For $15!

From ASOS (one of my NEW FAVORITE STORES EVER for maternity dresses... just wait til you see what I got!) :

For $22 (*but inverse colors: white with blue stripes) Can't wait to wear this summer with some cork wedges!	For $28 Will be perfect for nice dinners out and work!	For $28 I'm thinking for baby shower (minus the tights) if I can hold off wearing it until then!	For $31 Will be PERFECT for upcoming cocktail party in March!

 How big is baby??

Baby's about 5.6 inches long and about 6.7 ounces now, and he keeps on growing rapidly. (That's why you're probably feeling so hungry.)   Oh so there's a reason I'm famished every two hours, and it's most likely the whole growing a human thing? makes sense... =P

Can you believe he's yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing? And he's twisting, rolling, punching and kicking too... Daddy can't wait to feel you baby boy, get those kicks stronger!  And we can't wait to see you in two weeks! (though we love to hear you from time to time at home on our doppler!)

Almost forgot bump shots! (disclaimer - don't mind the horribly spotty mirror - I got around to cleaning it last night, PROMISE!)

Monday, at 17w4d



And the fun comparison shots:

morning at 12w	morning at 17w5d! Hi Baby!

Hard Habit to break...

What a Valentine's Day!

It started out quite bumpy when DH brings out a lovely half dead bouquet of (what were once) beautiful flowers...

E had thought, Wednesday night, that the flowers would stay the freshest if he threw them into our refridgerator. 

In our forty-degree refridgerator.

"Because that's where FLORISTS keep their flowers!"

Where obviously, tropical flowers - such as the drooping brown lifeless object on the left - do NOT thrive...

So we laughed all day about how he had given me the "worst flowers ever, from ANYONE."








And then it got a little bittersweet (although I didn't vocalize any of this to Eric...)
You see, you're never the same person after a loss:
Before our 12week NT scan, I wouldn't even consider ideas for "announcements" until after a successful appointment.  You want to be excited, but it's just so hard in the hours right before an ultrasound, you reason "I'll be happy AFTERWARDS!"

So my first instinct was to hold onto the Valentine's Day gift I had for E and give it to him AFTER the elective ultrasound we were scheduled for at 11:30. 

E's gift - a book with things like 'how to change a

diaper in a crowded stadium bathroom!'

right up his alley =)

I wanted to wait until AFTER the appointment to give it to E because, you know.  In case.

In case, god forbid - something is wrong, and you don't want to look back on some silly gift and cringe and now have to deal with said silly gift in the aftermath...

It's the same, I reason, why a PgAL-er mentally thinks through if her workday following an appointment would allow for a "Personal Day..."

But like I said, all I asked E was "Do you want your gift now or after the u/s?" and greedy little bastard said "GIVE ME NOW NOW NOW!"

He's like a 4-year-old on Christmas morning... =P

And the day continued with our oldest dog (remember the red sauce on the living room carpet? and the tea all over me and the couch?!  yea, same dog...) getting into the ENTIRE bag of dogfood, and eating 4 days worth of food...

"What green bag? I didn't shove my nose in any green food bag!"

The icing on the cake was getting into the city, cabbing to South Street Seaport and wandering around a bit trying to find The Bodies Exhibit - only to discover it's "Closed Until Further Notice."

The incredible french cuisine we got for dinner later smoothed it aaalll over -
Sea Scallops and Squid Ink Rissotto (had to watch teeth stains!)
Toffee Pudding (with sugar glass and BACON BITS! was delish!)



Oh, but wait - someone's waving their arms at me frantically...
And what's that you're screaming at me?

Oh you mean you want to know if we're having a boy or a girl??

Silly me, to forget such an IMPORTANT PART of yesterday that it totally eclipsed all of the above!

E cried like a baby when the tech told us...

My mom cried on the phone in Texas...

We got loads of love and congratulations from family and friends on our.....

T-minus..

The countdown app is about to read 00:00:00....

All that's left is hours, minutes and seconds..

The Ugly Cry

The ugly cry has arrived.. and won't leave after hitting hard Friday afternoon during the storm...
The road before mine is a hill.. uphill. (And this is the literal road leading to my house, not some metaphorical "road"... Just so we're clear.) And if you recall, friday afternoon was the dead middle of Nemo and all its glorious snow-covered icy roads.  If you can see where this is going...
I couldn't get up the street in my front-wheel-drive Honda accord.

Cue ugly cry #1.

And then I backed down and tried to get more speed just to get stuck 1/4 up the hill, again.

Cue ugly cry #2.

Oh did I mention that day was the day I accidentally left my cell at home, and so could not get in touch with E, who has a tow hitch and a 4WD pathfinder less than a 1/4 mi away..

And then I drove down to the local grocer's and tried to make the puffy-red ugly-cry eyes go away to go inside and ask to use their phone.. I think I would have scared the shit out of them, appearance aside.. "what do you MEAN you need to use a phone, you don't HAVE one?!!"

So I drove back to The Hill and saw a snow plow just finishing a pass.. and tried again, and baaaaaarely made it up, but MAKE IT, I DID.
Cue HAPPY CRY and fist-pumps of victory.

E knew better than to ask any questions when faced with a blunt but teary, "I couldn't get up the hill" from beneath a cave of blankets..

Yesterday passed with no tears! Just a little pity for our friend who took us on his birthday trip to see a NJ Devils game and his homeboys, the Pittsburgh Penguins, got beat.. hard.


And then this morning. 
Just a regular day, with plans to meet MIL and SIL for lunch and shopping.  And to make some maternity clothes returns.. just a reeegular day.

And then I tried to leave, via my UPHILL driveway... (You see where I'm going with this?)
Needless to say, it was a very ugly cry..
And then I walked back in the house to find my oldest doggie had gotten red sauce out of the garbage, and had spilt it all over the living room carpet, red grease stains and all..

After THAT ugly cry and ensuing cleanup, we were settled quietly on the couch with tea cup, two cuddly dogs and Friends.  You would have thought I'd have learned my lesson a year ago- no lap company while holding dark liquids..

A rogue creak of the house, oldest dog leaps up, tea everywhere, aaaaand
Cue VERY UGLY CRY.

I'm sick of the hormones. And the tears.
And my oldest dog. Anyone interested in an almost-7 jack Russell?!  (I'm kidding.. I think..)

Bad Planning

So you know how I said layered tights / underwear don't work well for a frequent-pee-er? Well it doesn't work well for an abdominal doppler check either...

Yup - at my 16w check up yesterday, I laid on the table with my dress around my waist and tights pulled down low on my hips so the doctor could use his from-the-stone-ages doppler (during which he mumbled "hold STILL kid!" and I thought at first he was talking to me and was about to retort, "I'm LAYING here partially derobed like a teenager in a backseat, sorry if I'm a little squirmy!" ... And then I realized who he WAS talking to...)

And like the whole back-seat virgin-no-more, I was slightly sweaty (lovely) because the doctor's office decided to call me at 3pm and tell me that the doctor had to leave early that evening - I can either reschedule my 5:20 appointment for a MONTH from now (kinda negates the whole purpose, no?) or come in earlier.  Like right now.

So I had to wade through a sea of buses (city and school) and arrived at the doctor's feeling a bit like a warrior having just completed crossing the battlefield...


And continuing on the bad-planning plane - I have an appointment at noon today to complete the root canal that was started pre-pregnancy.  Guess who called at 10am...

NO I cannot leave work RIGHT NOW, 2 hours before my appointment time, because you had a "huge cancellation." 
I will see you at noon!


Because then, after the dentist, I am (finally!!) getting my eyebrows waxed (I have gotten really good at the trick of using white eyeshadow/highlighter lately to give the appearance that "why no, that is not multiple stray hairs falling into my EYELASHES because I haven't been to the salon!"

How about we aim for something inbetween Ms Frida and this:

And then some hang time at home a bit (probably rocking some Guitar Hero) so the dogs get some freedom today before E and I head into NYC for a Rangers hockey game with some of his coworkers...

(Hi Baby!!  You're an Avacado today! And we find out - in ONE WEEK - if you've got an "innie" or an "outie" - Daddy and I are counting down the minutes!!)

Covering the Spread...

With coworkers on both sides of the fence (Boy or Girl?!) and family members asking me if I have a motherly feeling one way or the other...
I think E's aunt has got it figured best:


She predicted boy when we first told her we were pregnant.

Then just last week, she looks at me and says, "Now I'm thinking girl..."

Where most would see someone who has no clue what they're talking about, and they've got a 50/50 shot either way -

I see a woman who's covered the spread...

If it's a boy, she can claim "That was what I guessed first - I KNEW IT!"
If it's a girl, she can claim "Yup, that's what my instinct told me - I KNEW IT!"

Somehow this lady has even the 50/50 odds beat!




P.S. NOTE to future pregnant self - a layer of underwear, fishnets (conservative, for work!) and boyshorts to keep said fishnets up under dress are NOT APPROPRIATE layers for a urinary frequent flier...

Out of Nowhere!

Dear Baby -

Your daddy and I went to see your aunt (and family) out of state this weekend (you and I do NOT do well on 3+ hour car rides!)

Your cousin was just too cute at breakfast yesterday morning - she asked if "the baby eats alot" and when I explained that whatever I eat trickles down to you, she looked at my empty plates (yes, multiple plates) and said "Boy, baby must be really full!"

And overnight, it seems you've made your presence known - I woke up Sunday morning, rolled onto my back and felt something firm - no more squishy "blump" and food-baby... It's YOU, baby!

Your daddy loves to feel the new firmness, and we can't wait to hear the glowing reviews I'm sure you'll get from the doctors at our check up this Wednesday... Disappointingly, we won't actually see you again for another (checks countdown timer on phone) 10 days and 37 minutes!  And on that day, in 10 days, your daddy and I will find out if we're team pink or team blue!

The whole family has told us they'll be waiting by the phones with baited breath, anxious to hear of their new granddaughter/son, niece/nephew, cousin - so you just put those little goods on display, no playing peek-a-boo! (But then put those goods back away for 20 years please!)


P.S. And whenever you're ready (but DO try not to make me wait too long) bring on the "YES-that's-baby-for-SURE!" flutters and kicks please!

Double Trouble??

Quick post before we head to a (very) late Christmas exchange with my sister (and family) out of state:

So with the elective u/s to find out the gender set just one day before my PgAL Bestie, Weaslewam, we decided to go big (or go home!)

On Saturday February 16th, she and I are both going to post reveal videos on our blog (you know, we'll be on the phone doing the whole "Wait, do we hit post ON three?! or One-Two-Three and then post?!")

And then I'm sure it'll be a race to see who can get over to the other's blog first!

I'm still debating over whether to have the tech write down the sex, and tuck it away into an envelope, for E and I to open later... or if I'm just going to scream the second we walk in - BOY OR GIRL?! (and they'll be like, "um ma'am... you're still standing in the entry way - how about we go back into the room and we'll get the u/s going first?")

So - any good ideas for a fun video reveal? (Because as Weaslewam mentioned, we'll be most likely using the same video to reveal to friends/family out of state!)

Have a great weekend! (and a very late Merry Christmas?!)