Things "they" never told you about pregnancy

This has been a true learning experience alright! Everyone always hears what "they" say, and everyone always has an opinion of how things are or will be. Here is my list of things that "they" never told me about being pregnant.

1. Cramps, cramps, and more cramps - These were daily up until about week 8. Then they came once every few weeks. I was always under the impression that once you were pregnant the cramps would leave and not come back until after your period resumes post childbirth. Was I wrong! Now that I am almost 38 weeks along, I find out that the cramps are actually the contractions I am anxiously awaiting!

2. Sore boobs - That is an understatement! It is more like vice grips clamping down on them and not letting go for about 20 minutes. Or maybe standing out in subfreezing temperatures having water squirted on your chest. This occurred nightly up until week 10. It became rare during the 2nd trimester and now here towards the end, it is several times a day!

3. Heartburn - I have never been one to complain much about heartburn. Now that my stomach is in my armpit, it is almost certain that if I do not take a Zantac 150 each night (okayed by my OB and Peri) I will wake up in excruciating pain. Even if I do take one, the pain is still there.

4. Nausea and Vomitting in the final weeks - I have never, ever heard of anyone getting this nauseous and gagging with each movement in the day. Bending down, walking into a public restroom, breathing, eating, standing up, sitting down, wearing my seatbelt, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, putting on shoes and socks, etc. can all cause gagging and our nausea. I thought this was suppose to happen in the beginning, not the end!

5. Oh the muscle pain! - Most women I hear complain about backaches. The only muscle causing me trauma is the left inner thigh muscle that travels up into the groin area. It throbs, throbs, and throbs, throughout the day and night. There are times I cannot move it is so painful. The only position that keeps the throbing at bay is laying partially propped up in bed.

I know there is more to share, especially when the labor parts starts full force. I will add more when the time comes! :)

To Infinity and Beyond!

37 Weeks and Counting!

This wonderful rendition was created by my husband. He was bored. It is quite disturbing to me. You can really see the "humps" that represent our son's body parts. I wasn't all that willing to share this photo with everyone. However, it makes Mark laugh.

It looks as if we are in the final stretch of our 10 month journey. The baby and I both have perfectly clean bills of health. This is only a problem for me because I am ready to stay home and rest up, and no one is willing to write a doctor's note for a healthy woman. Go figure! Ian has consistantly scored 8 out of 8 on the biophysical profiles I have each week. There have been 4 so far. He is practicing his breathing and is moving quite nicely. It is interesting to see his belly and chest rise and fall as he is mimicking breathing.

The nursery is finished. Woohoo! I keep buying more and more baby clothes. The car seat base is installed in the car (thanks to Suzy's wonderful boyfriend, the local police officer, Adam). We have taken a tour of the hospital. My bag is packed. If Ian decides to come tonight we are ready for him, at least in the physical sense.

Mark has been working on a web services project that will allow him to send a single text message to a server that will send the text message to anyone we list in the program with a cell phone. He wants this to be his way of letting everyone know when the big event happens. Those without cell phones will get a call via Mark, Suzy, my mom, or Mark's mom.

Thanks to all of you that have given or sent the wonderful gifts I have received over the last 2 months. Thanks to the many of you that helped out tremendously and purchased much needed things off of the registry. Thanks to the many tips and tricks that have been passed along.

33 Weeks 1 day

Lots of cool stuff this week.

Last week we went for a 3D-4D ultrasound. Our little man was not in a great position for pics (head down, facing my spine). The best pic was of an ear. The company offered us a redo session this past Tuesday night. This week he was facing my abdomen, therefore we were able to get some cool pics/video of his face. I know the below video may be difficult to decipher. Just remember, his forehead is at the top of the screen, his nose is in the middle, and about halfway through the video he will move his hand so you can see his mouth.



His hand was up around his face alot. He may be a thumb sucker. In any case, we were happy to see those chubby cheeks and full lips.

Here are the latest nursery pics. I had a great baby shower last weekend, given by my good friends Suzy, Kacey, and Carol. The loot was plentiful and I was able to come away with many things for the nursery. This weekend Mark and I are going to Savannah for a shower there, given by my Aunt Lisa. I am looking forward to seeing many of my friends and family.

The only big ticket item needed for the nursery now is a glider and ottoman.

Here are some pregnancy progression pics. Here is my February pregnancy pic.

I will post more after the shower this weekend.

Nursery Trauma

We received the furniture back on the 17th. However, they sent the right furniture with the wrong finish. What we ordered was the cherry finish and the company sent a natural finish. The furniture was beautiful, but there just was not enough contrast in the room. It made the room look WAYYYY to yellow. In the pic below, the natural looks gorgeous. But walking into the room at night with lots of lighting, you are knocked down by the brightness. I went back to BRU and they graciously corrected the order.

Last night the correct furniture was delivered and the incorrect furniture was picked up. While the delivery people were pushing the chifferobe up to the house on the furniture dolly, rushing I should add, it falls and cracks a corner. So now we have 2 of the 3 pieces of furniture we ordered.

Mark and I put the crib together today. I have to say it is quite a nice piece of furniture.

So at this point the only furniture to add is the chifferobe and a chair of some sort. I can't decide if I want a regular La Z Boy, or if I want a rocker glider.

Of course I have already started buying cute little boy clothes. I have to give Mark credit, he purchased the first 3 pieces of clothing for the baby. But...

Here is the difference between Mommy and Daddy.

Daddy Clothes:

Mommy clothes:

We will have a 3D and 4D ultrasound Thursday evening. The next update should be soon there after with pics and video. As soon as I can, I will post my pregnancy progression pics as well.

A Few Views of the Nursery in Progress

I finished painting tonight. The furniture arrives tomorrow. After all is set up I will post more pics.

The yellow is not as bright as it is in the pictures.

Here is some artwork I found at JoAnn's today. I thought that they were cute and would add some bright colors to the room.



We had another appointment with the perinatologist yesterday. It looks as if I will be giving birth to a moose. He is measuring 4 pounds at this point, about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Of course this measurement is based only on his head circumference. Mark and I both have big heads and there is usually some margin of error with these measurements. As I calculate it, if his growth rate is 1/2 pound a week, he should be about 8 pounds when he joins us sometime in March. That is really not bad considering my brother and I were 9 pound babies. Mark was only 6 pounds, so I am really hoping for that margin of error. :)

Oh yes, I almost forgot, he is still a boy!

27 Weeks 3 Days

I know it has been sometime since I have updated the blog. Things have been getting exciting around here. Now that the new year has approached us, Mark and I will be ordering the furniture for the nursery soon. We made an agreement not to make any big purchases until January 1. It made Mark feel more comfortable about the pregnancy and not getting all caught up in the excitement and then something tragic happen. It is not that something tragic cannot happen at this point, just playing it safe. Ian has a better chance of survival at this point if he comes early.




We have rearranged all of the bedroom furniture. My old bedroom furniture joined the old living room furniture (the 70s couches Michelle, Cully, and I had in Savannah) in the in-law suite downstairs. Jaime's bedroom furniture (we are housing it until she returns from Japan) was moved to the middle bedroom so that we could use the back bedroom closer to our bedroom for the nursery. Our main color of choice was a pale yellow. The room was originally painted a dark taupy color. It was quite a drab room. It has now starting taking on a different personality. Any accents will be done in a sage green. I chose the James Giraffe collection (not to be confused with Jeffrey Giraffe, the spokestoy for Toys R' Us).






The most exciting thing to happen occurred today. Our little man has been moving around a lot! It is very exciting, yet very strange and "alien"ish at the same time. Well today, he moved around and kicked hard enough for Mark to feel the movement! It was truly amazing!

For any of you expert mommies out there, check out my registry and let me know if there is something I have left off that will be life saving in the years to come.

Ian's 22 Week Ultrasound

Here is a short 5 minute clip of the ultrasound from 22 weeks. Thanks Alicia and Ron for transfering it for us!