31 weeks: four oranges

Thirty One weeks: 3.28.12





Photo Thoughts: It's hard to hold four oranges at once. And I really do love my 'new' clothes my friends have let me borrow.
 
Size of baby: Very random. Four oranges according to BC and still a squash or maybe even a pineapple. But I'm going to use that bad boy around 33 weeks-ish. I guess not all of the remaining fruits are totally random but this week...four oranges is just a funny choice.

Cravings: Nothing really. I fought off an urge to have a glass of wine last week after the stress of a sick toddler and moving came to a head. Mostly because I knew I'd be asleep in 0.2 seconds, not because I was really that worried about it affecting baby girl. Very much looking forward to a day I can have a glass of wine and not feel guilty and also not fall asleep immediately. Wonder when that will be?

What I love: Being just 9 weeks away from d-day. This is no joke, guys, she is going to have to come out sometime very soon!

What I'm looking forward to the most: The birth itself. And nursing. Both of those things have been on my mind a lot this week.

Worries: I wasn't too happy with baby girl last week when she scared me with very obvious Braxton Hicks contractions. I even got out the contraction timer on my phone and they were consistently every 9 minutes apart. But then I decided to just chill out a bit and drink water and it did get better. It was also a night (early morning?) when I was lugging my sick boy around and a little stressed, and as many of you commenters said---second time around the body knows what to do and gets prepared a little sooner. I still want to ask my OB about the BH contractions on Thursday when I see her and hopefully she does not care at all.

What is different this time around: With Truman's pregnancy at 31 weeks, I was getting a chubby face, I finally bought my own maternity wardrobe, we had just attended our childbirth class and found out we were going to get five freaking baby showers. This time obviously no showers and no classes and luckily I have amazing friends who have upped my maternity wardrobe very nicely this time around. Also, I think maybe my face is not yet *that* fat and my bump is just about caught up to last time. For being 31 weeks I feel both more prepared and somehow less prepared than last time. I guess more prepared because I just don't stress about all of the little details this second time around. But less prepared because baby girl does not even have a nursery set up yet and only has about 10 outfits to wear for her whole life. I realize it will all come together in good time and I'm hoping the next 9 weeks provide for lots of nesting/baby prep time.

Symptoms: My skin to the right side of my belly button is KILLING me at times! I keep checking for a stretch mark but there is nothing---just really sensitive skin. I vaguely remember something like this from last time but it was much higher up my belly. Getting BH contractions also goes down as a symptom. And it's still odd to feel so clumsy when changing positions.

Sleep: Still, no issues. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I ever had true sleeping problems even with Truman's pregnancy. Count me lucky on this one!


Movement: I love it. She's wild and the movements are definitely more rolls and vague jabs instead of jumpy little kicks. I've been worried that she won't get head-down in there but this week I swear most of her movement is up under my ribs, so maybe her feet are finally settling in a bit.

The belly: It's there and I know it's just going to get bigger in the next 9 weeks but man, it already feels pretty big! My belly button actually pops through some shirts now. I can definitely feel the baby across my entire torso now and she seems really high up there. This is a week when I love the baby bump and can't help rubbing it at times.

Milestones:  She is a big girl in there at 16 inches and almost 3.5 pounds. I remember my two friends Erin N. and Erin R. saying that week 31 was the MOST movement they'd ever felt because after that the babies run out of space in there. I believe it and also cannot believe it's my turn to be at the 31 week mark when the Erin's were JUST HERE, it seems.

Amusing comments from the general public: Mostly good this week, actually! While furniture shopping I had one lady ask when I was due, and when I told her she said, 'You look SO good for being that far along.' Then the next dude at a different store had an interesting approach. He asked when Truman was going to be a big brother (since T was with us) and I told him 'end of May.' The dude stopped for a second and asked, 'Of what year?' Never heard that one before!

Best moment of the week: Sort of a rough week around here with Truman being sick and Nate working a ton, and with the realization that we are moving NEXT WEEK on Friday. I think the best moment was probably on Sunday when Truman really turned a corner and started feeling good enough to laugh and play again. Everything before that was just crap but we are hanging in there, and very thankful that Nate and I didn't get the Virus From Hell.

House renovations, more painting...

Yep, still painting over here. But it's almost done, HALLELUJAH, and it's time for another house update.

1. Our white woodwork!

I always brace myself a bit when talking about painting our woodwork white and Nate thinks I'm highly sensitive to it, since nobody really disapproves as strongly as I fear they will. As I said before, I know that keeping original dark woodwork is really important to some people and I respect our home's style and age. However, after living in a home from the 1920s for 4 years, knowing that all.this.wood is just NOT our style and doesn't fit our vision of our house, I knew I'd want white woodwork whenever we bought a house. It's brighter, more modern, and cleaner to me although I'm sure some disagree. And it was also a HUGE pain in the butt to convert it all, as expected, but oh so worth it. Pictures first, then details:













So we still have to paint all of the actual windows but we are waiting to do that until we can take the time to really care for these ancient babies. And it's a lot of work just to paint the frames on the outside since we don't want to paint them shut, and with old windows you have a lot of really different parts to consider. We plan to really clean them, caulk them, replace some weights and maybe some of the glass, too. So whenever that happens we will also paint the remaining parts of our windows. Also, we have yet to do any doors and for now, most of them are still off the hinges. And of course, the entire kitchen woodwork is still natural for now but that's nothing compared to the huge list of 'to paint' projects that began this process. And we DID keep the built in buffet and windows above it natural in our dining room, and I really do love it that way.

If you are at all curious on HOW we did this massive project in a few weeks, I'll briefly touch on that now. I kept track of how much time we spent on this woodwork painting project because I just knew it would be insane. I was right: 8 hours of just prep work, 12 hours to spray the primer and first coat of paint, 5 hours to caulk the cracks, and then 20 freaking hours for me to paint ONE final coat with a brush. That's 50 hours, folks. And a few fits of rage were thrown in there for fun.

To prep the wood we sanded it all down really well with sandpaper, then wiped it down with a damp cloth and then a tack cloth. Then Nate demanded to use his spray gun for the primer, since that isn't something I could do by hand anyway in my pregnant state, so we had to tape off all of the walls and cover the floors very well. Nate had his first breakdown with the sprayer when using the primer because it was a LOT harder than he thought to get in all the nooks and crannies with different angles on the gun. We waited 24 hours for all of that primer to dry and then Nate agreed to do the first coat of latex paint with the gun, too. Like I said, his two coats took 12 hours and my one coat by hand took 20 so you do the math. After the sprayed coat of latex was done, we realized we had to caulk the cracks in the woodwork or it'd look horrible. This caulking business was my LEAST favorite part by far. So tedious and annoying but it really did make a huge difference, just like all of the articles online said. You can see why we had to do it in these pictures:



So after that was done, I had to sand it down a bit again. And then I got to work on my brushed coat--and really, even with the expensive Benjamin Moore Advance paint we used, it needed a THIRD coat in places to really look nice. I'm a pro with cutting-in now, what can I say? I absolutely love how it all turned out and during Nate's day of 'I will not do this anymore because my sprayer hates primer and I might kill someone before painting this stuff by hand' attitude, I was really nervous we'd made the wrong decision. But once that primer and the first coat were on, my heart really skipped a beat when I came downstairs and I almost cried (again, for the third time that day) seeing it all come together. The white wood makes it feel like home to us. And I hope we never, ever have to do a 'full paint' project again. Touch ups over the years are fine, but man---that was rough.

2. Sunroom ceiling:

This wasn't too bad considering the woodwork debacle. But I really wanted the ceiling in here to make the crown molding pop. Can you even tell the ceiling is two shades lighter than the walls? I hope so. :)



3. The baby's nursery:

Remember how her woodwork was yellow, and I hated that with a passion? Converting it all to white, to match the rest of the upstairs bedrooms, was quite the task. It was my first taste at painting woodwork and so I knew what awaited me downstairs in the future. I think it took a total of 10 hours just to do her room, but maybe that included lots of daydreaming breaks as I pictured my baby girl coming home to this room:)





And I might as well throw this in here, too--- the rug that will be in her room looks like this:



And fabrics have been purchased for my mom to make a quilt, Roman shades, a bedskirt, and changing pad covers!!



I'm so excited to see it all come together I could barf. Still have to paint the crib a hot pink, find a rocker, and make a few art pieces but it's really not TOO far off anymore. Just seeing the room totally painted is a huge step and that rug makes it even prettier. Many more updates on her room will surely come along soon enough.

So yeah, lots of freaking painting. Have to do the woodwork in the kitchen, the kitchen walls, the half bathroom walls, and the upper full bathroom walls and trim. But honestly, I'm thinking most of this will have to get done once we move into the house. Because, um, we are moving NEXT FRIDAY if I haven't freaked out enough about that on this blog. Can't wait...slash...am scared we might die in the process.

Keeping it real re: sick days

I just need to vent a bit, which is something I rarely do on here anymore. Hope you don't mind.

Any mom out there understands how awful it is to take care of a sick child. Anytime Truman even has a slight cold I automatically have two thoughts that swim through my head constantly: 1. I am so thankful that Truman is almost always healthy, and any illness we've encountered has been relatively minor compared to what some children and families have to endure. And 2. Priorities fall into place because nothing else matters half as much as getting Truman well again. Not work. Not house stuff. Not any of the other seemingly important things on the To-Do list that were so stressful just days before a sickness hit my boy.

I dropped Truman off at daycare on Monday to the news that 3 of the kids there were out that day with fevers and hand/foot/mouth disease. And so began the anxiety, the waiting for any signs of the stupid illness that nearly broke us all last August, the over-analyzing every fussy moment and inspecting every body part for tiny red dots. I was on edge and anticipating all of the chaos that this illness would mean for our family, especially when I got the text from my friend Erin that Henry now had it. And even more when Lori herself called on Tuesday night to say SHE had not even been spared, and that she couldn't take any kids on Wednesday.

I was happy that Truman was one of three kids still well and I continued to pray that he would be spared. I pushed all of my Wednesday patients off until Thursday afternoon the best I could, so Nate could have Truman on one of his shorter days at work, and I could still see some patients. Then Wednesday Lori called to say she still couldn't work on Thursday. And on Thursday she called to say she was even worse and was out for Friday. Now things were just getting scary---Lori has never had more than one sick day in a row, and apparently all of the affected kids were still really sick, too. Five freaking days after it first hit.

But Truman was still well, so I tried to make the best of the situation. I'm not going to lie, though, the stress of rearranging my work schedule to accommodate the lack of childcare was starting to wear on me. As a working mom---and one with a very flexible work schedule---I know that part of the deal is going to be balancing my career with my parenting job. Most of the time I feel very well-balanced in this task and am grateful for having the job that I do, when it needs to be shifted around for our family life. But then there are the times when I resent Nate for having a more rigid, more demanding, full time job that very rarely allows him to take time off to help with childcare. And I resent not being a full time SAHM because although it still sucks to care for sick kids when you aren't working, it just adds another dimension to the suckiness when you do work outside of the home. I feel guilty for missing work if I'm home with Truman and guilty if I work instead of being with Truman. I worry about letting my boss, my patients, and my co-workers down if I put my family life first and I worry about being a bad mommy if I put my job first. It's a lose/lose situation and the constant pull between my job as a PT and my job as a mother is really difficult to manage at times.

After a near break down to Nate on the phone Thursday, I guilted him into taking Friday afternoon off so I could actually see the patients that needed me that day. I made it through my late day on Thursday night and came home to my boys in great moods. Things were looking up and I was feeling really lucky that Truman was still well. Maybe he'd miss the bug all together!

And then Friday morning happened. He was fine when he woke up at 5:30--happy, playful, active. I took a shower and was getting ready to take Truman with me to Target and the coffee shop when I came out to the family room to see him laying on the couch, whining, and looking really lethargic. Crap. I took his temp and it was only 99.9 but he just looked sick to me. He ended up falling asleep on the couch which he NEVER does and I went ahead and gave him Ibuprofen just in case something was starting. He slept on my chest for about 1.5 hours, which again, means something is totally off with my son. I never get those cuddles anymore and I definitely didn't mind but I knew it was only because he felt so crummy.



Nate got home at 1 on Friday and our schedule was completely off because of the early nap that day. T was fussy when the meds would wear off and just wanted to lay down and watch TV. I left to see my patients and had that horrible sinking feeling that I should be at home with my baby, and my mind was elsewhere while I plugged through my six patients. Truman did okay for Nate, taking another 2.5 hour nap and then requesting to go to bed at 6:30 that night, before I even got home. It wasn't my finest evening: I was tired from a long day with patients, hormonal from pregnancy, stressed about the house and money and the fact that we are moving in two freaking weeks and have SO much to do, and worried about my boy.

At 1am Truman cried for me and was completely burning up when I went in there. His temp was now 101.8 which is super high for him and he was just crying and saying 'Owie, mommy' over and over. Break my heart now. I gave him more meds and laid with him for an hour while they took their sweet time to kick in. At 2 he started sweating it out and felt a lot better, to the point that he was ready to play in the family room. What the heck--might as well make the most of the rare moment when he is actually well enough to be happy and playful. So we were up from 1 until 4:30, playing, watching enough Thomas and Elmo to make one want to vomit, and giving the dog some treats. Apparently Truman is very giving when he's sick:) He fell asleep on my chest again at 4:30 and although I was so beyond tired at that point, I knew that was one of the sweetest moments in the recent past. Moonlight coming in from our windows, the house completely quiet except for the sound of my child breathing sleepy breaths, with his sweaty little head on my chest. Definitely one of those moments when I'd like to freeze time for a little, just to soak it in some more, but instead I settled for snapping a few pictures.





He was up again at 5:30 and then stayed awake for good by 6:30, so I'm pretty sure I got about 4 hours of broken sleep---something that might not seem like a big deal to those new moms out there, struggling with newborn sleeping habits. But for this mom who hasn't gone to that 'sleep deprived/everything is so awful in the world and it will never get better' place of mind in the past year, it was pretty rough. So freaking tired the next morning that I even got wild enough to make my cup of coffee with actual caffeine---well, a 'half caff', but still pretty crazy.

And now, Truman will point to his throat and say, 'Owie' and he wanted me to look in there with a flashlight. Sure enough, the red spots have appeared. He officially has hand/foot/mouth and of COURSE he gets it 4-5 days after the other kids. Which means not only did last week suck because of lack of childcare, but next week will suck because he's sure to be sick at least 4 days total. All he wants is popsicles, Thomas, water, and mommy. And he just wants to wear his sandals at all times, refuses to take off his Thomas jammies despite the snot/sweat/drool all over them, and won't take a bath for us.

Just to drive home that point that this virus is truly sent from hell itself, Truman just woke up from his nap crying hysterically while I was typing that last paragraph. Not sure how I got him back to sleep but for now, he is resting again. He is truly miserable and I feel so helpless. I feel guilty (theme of this post!) for even saying this, but I can't help but worry that my days are numbered, too. As he coughs directly on my face and while I lay on his sickie sheets with him I just know I'm going to get hit with this stupid thing, too. And how awful will THAT be if both me and T are down for the count and I can't even take anything good to reduce my fever. Nevermind that last night when we were up in the wee hours of the morning, I felt like I was having true Braxton Hicks contractions for the first time which totally freaked me out. Drinking lots of water and attempting not to jump to any conclusions seemed to help and baby girl is forgiven for now, but man---isn't it a little early for pre-term labor scares?

Enough of my complaining and rambling. Just wanted to type all of these thoughts out while they are still fresh because I'm sure there are other moms out there who can empathize with the misery of a sick child. I really hate to be so negative and whiny because I know we are still so blessed and a measly little virus is not the end of the world. It could be so much worse. And the stress of balancing motherhood with a very good career is really a good problem to have, I suppose. But days like these are not like anything I anticipated before I actually became a mom. Hoping that Nate and I are spared and that Truman kicks the bug in it's nasty little butt before we all morph into zombies from sleep deprivation. Fun times!

30 weeks: A Basketball Fruit (?)

Thirty Weeks: 3.21.12

Photo Thoughts: Well, isn't that a nice basketball fruit up there? Couldn't deal with hunting for an appropriate fruit at the store and I feel like my belly resembles a basketball at this point, so I went for it. Mad props to the high school basketball 'has been' Julia of my past. She'd be so proud. Also, I felt extremely cute in my work clothes on Monday so I set up the tripod and went to town---a first for this pregnancy, but I'm glad I did. Sometimes a full body shot gives you a better idea of my belly size than just a giant close up of my bump. And looking at these pictures, I guess I do sort of look 'small' for 30 weeks, huh? The torso. It has to be the torso. And I'm glad I'm not huge--plenty of time for that.


Size of baby: Um, a 'cabbage' according to BC and a squash or a cucumber according to TB. Have done all of them. And therefore, had to think outside of the box. These last 9 weekly shots might get a little tricky.

Cravings: Not a whole lot this week. I still love to eat but little girl is still giving me a break from constant hunger pains.

What I love: Hitting my 30's! Yep, this is my golden week of pregnancy when my weekly progress matches my age. This pregnancy feels extremely real to me, just so you know.

What I'm looking forward to the most: Cuddling my girl. Nursing her. Dressing her. Watching her with Truman. Mostly all of it.

Worries: Nothing, really. I love weeks like this.

What is different this time around: At 30 weeks with Truman I had experienced a major belly growth spurt, was getting really annoyed with the general public's comments on my bump, and was shocked at how active Truman was in the womb. This baby girl is also pretty darn active this week, I'm still mostly annoyed with the general public, and although my belly is still pretty big I think it's sort of evening out compared to my first pregnancy.

Symptoms: It's getting pretty hard to move in any direction but forward. Meaning, getting up from the ground, sitting up from the couch, bending over all cause me to grunt and moan and feel pretty ridiculous. But otherwise, I'm still feeling awesome and cannot complain.

Sleep: Love it. No issues. Thank you, God.

Movement: Crazy amounts. I have yet to get a decent video of her punching my insides but it's pretty freaky and I wonder if other people can see when she is going nuts. Probably not. They are usually too busy deciding what idiotic comments to make about my bump instead.

The belly: Round, hard, and carried pretty high this time around. Belly button is pretty much out. No stretch marks but still with the itchies. And my linea negra is coming back to life! I feel like it never really left anyway.

Milestones:  For me: my golden week! For baby girl: she is over 15 inches long, almost 3 pounds, and is at the max for her amniotic fluid this week. So weird to think she is really gearing up to be on the outside.

Amusing comments from the general public: The usual suspects, such as but not limited to: 'When are you due? Oh, you are really small. You aren't even showing.' One patient changed it up and asked how many more months I had until baby was born. Putting it like that really made me think, and when I said 'Two-and-a-half more months' I shocked myself with how CLOSE that seems. And of course, she was shocked, too. Whatevs.

Best moment of the week: A few things: first, my OB appointment last week on Thursday. BP is still fabulous, weight gain is fine and still a little less than where I was with Truman, my OB is amazing, and we are now into the bi-weekly appointments! Also, she gave the thumbs up to having a birth photographer in the room and I just can't even think about that without getting incredibly excited. Secondly, I got 16 new maternity tops lent to me from two of my girlfriends. Is there anything better in the world than expanding your wardrobe, for free, right when you are in a slump with everything in your closet? I think not.

House renovations, take three: The Kitchen (ie the motherlode)

I feel it's time to give you a sneak peek of our beloved baby in the new house: the kitchen remodel. But first, let me clarify because there have been a lot of questions about this---we are NOT living in the new house yet. We spend nearly every waking hour there each weekend and go over there every week night once Truman is alseep (in-laws listen to our monitor for us) and because of this amount of insane work we've completed, we have officially scheduled the moving van to come on Friday, April 6! This is VERY exciting you guys. It's going to be our house---the one in which we actually live, instead of the one that we just work on all the freaking time. There will be tons of projects to do once we move in, for sure. But at least our kitchen and bathrooms will work and I'm hoping to have most of my painting done at that point, too.

So anyway, about the kitchen. It's not done yet but man, it's getting there. So let's just jump right into some mind-boggling before and after pictures. Well not 'after' pictures, really, but a 'current' picture to show the progress we've made. Ta-DA!!!

Before:

Current:


Seriously. Look at more before and current pictures with me:




Whoops. Still have a lot of work to do on the back wall, huh? That's okay, plans are under way for an awesome storage/mudroom area. And yes, that is a laundry shoot you see for the giant hole in our wall. Can't cover that baby up anymore!


Are you as excited about this as we are? I cannot believe it's starting to look like a real kitchen.  Would you like to know what all we've done so far? More pictures, first.

During the renovations:





And now for the details. At first, I wanted to ditch all of the existing cabinets and start from scratch mostly because I hated the country 'loopy' detailing on the cabinets and the upper row just seemed like too much wood, too. But after some major soul-searching, we agreed to keep the cabinets, pop off the ugly trim, add more modern trim, and then add glass to our upper cabinets. I had to push for that glass (which isn't yet installed, but it will be soon) and the little frames inside the holes and I'm SO glad I did. I love it so much I could barf. And I totally stole this idea from Pinterest, of course.

We hired our handy-man neighbor to convert all of the doors on the cabinets to the newer trim and he also cut out the hole for the glass. Then Nate and my in-laws did all the sanding, repairing the wood, priming, and painting 3 layers of white paint on both the bases and the updated doors. We used Benjamin Moore's Advance latex paint and one of BM's oil based primers after a lot of people online have reported that the Advance stuff is fabulous for painting cabinets. It's freaking expensive paint though, man, but I suppose it's worth it. The crew did the primer by hand with a brush, but then Nate became obsessed with his electric paint sprayer and did the remaining coats of latex paint with that baby. HUGE time saver, my friend. Messy, and not my style, but it did save them days I'm sure.

Cabinets:




We ordered our hinges online and love them, and then we finally found knobs and pulls that we adore after looking for freaking weeks. We ended up finding those at Home Depot in the back 'fancy designer' section of the store where there are no prices and you can't find the same things online without using them. We figured the pulls would be way out of our price range but after a few phone calls we discovered they are going to be just fine, and should arrive in about 2 weeks! I don't want to show you a picture just yet though because I'm sneaky like that. But we love them.



Countertops:


Yes, we went with granite counter tops. I realize that is very trendy and we did consider many other types of stone but kept coming back to the properties of granite. We found a little 'mom and pop' family owned shop in town and had a freaking BALL looking through the giant slabs of granite in their warehouse. Seriously. So much fun, and it was hard to choose but we picked this 'Colonial Gold' after leaning towards a lighter shade that would tie in our maple floors to the room. Originally I thought I wanted a super dark black color, and then I thought I wanted really REALLY light gray, but this is a happy medium that I'm glad we selected. Can't wait to see it pop even more with a great wall color and back splash!

Appliances:






Ah, our stainless steel appliances are one of my favorite parts of the kitchen, obvi. First of all, we have a freaking DISHWASHER which we have gone without for the past 4 years. It's high time to enjoy this puppy, right? We also got a new fridge with an ice maker (again, an upgrade from what we have now!), a gas stove (another upgrade!), and a fancy new washer and dryer for the basement (huge upgrade because they are massive and I can't wait to do gigantic loads of laundry in them). We got all of our appliances from Sears and got great deals on each---some from the 'outlet' store, or 'scratch and dent' place and some from the real Sears. We are going to take our current stainless microwave with us when we move and put it above our stove to complete the kitchen appliances.

So what's left to do? Well, besides the entire back wall of storage we also have to prep and paint all of the woodwork in the kitchen to be white. So the 3 windows and 3 door frames along with baseboards will be converted soon. Then I will probably be the one to paint the walls in there, and I'm deciding between a pretty khaki color or maybe even a gray or light aqua blue. Nate plans to polyurethane the cabinets with at least one coat to really seal them off and keep our pricey paint protected. Then we'll add the pulls/knobs, do a simple white tile back splash, and I want to make pretty curtains for the windows, too. Nate still has to install the faucet we purchased and I'm pretty sure they have more plumbing to do for the dishwasher, but overall it's really coming along! Oh, and I'm not sure if any of the pictures show the HIDEOUS overhead light in the kitchen but that puppy is going bye-bye as soon as I get the green light to shop around.

And that is that. Our beloved baby at the house that is really more of Nate's child than my own. I just give my opinions and demand certain things to be done (like the glass upper doors---but can't we all agree that was a good call on my part?) then I step aside and let the rest of them do the hard work. I didn't even pick out any of the appliances and allowed my husband to make those big decisions. Don't worry, I'm still there working my pregnant butt off but it always involves painting or cleaning up other rooms. More posts on that coming soon. But until then, I'm just going to keep staring at pictures of our kitchen. :)

29 weeks: Butternut Squash

Twenty-nine weeks: 3.14.12







Photo thoughts: I thought I hadn't worn this tank top before, but whoops. I did. At 26 weeks. And man, look at the difference in just the past 3 weeks...



Size of baby: A butternut squash according to BC, or just a squash (for this and the next 3 weeks) according to TB. Happened to have a squash downstairs so I didn't even have to shop especially for the fruit baby this week!

Cravings: Still feeling surprisingly content with food lately. I mean, I love sweets and really don't limit myself at all with food but I'm not as famished as before.

What I love: I want to take a second to reflect on something that I've been thinking a lot about this week. You might remember that the beginning of this pregnancy was a freaking nightmare. I had spotting, then a scary amount of red blood one day that soaked through my pants at work. My ultrasound that day showed a baby with a beautiful little heartbeat, but as my OB said, she was still really worried about this baby. She had never seen a baby make it with such a large subchorionic bleed like mine. A few weeks later, during my weekly follow ups when this baby girl was plugging right away like a champion, I asked my doctor more about my bleed. She showed me her formal report from that scary visit at 6 weeks and in plain old black and white she had written, '....most likely a pending miscarriage.' My baby girl was not supposed to make it. The odds were stacked against her and the future of this pregnancy was really, really bleak. I still remember feeling a sense of hope though, and I have no idea how I was able to hang onto anything positive at that point. But I did. And here we are, in the third trimester, with a baby girl that apparently likes to cause drama. And I could not be happier for this amazing gift. I love being pregnant. And I love that after such a rough start I've had a wonderful pregnancy so far. Not a day goes by that I don't feel thankful and humbled by this entire experience.

What I'm looking forward to the most: meeting our baby girl in 11 weeks-ish. Amazing.

Worries: Didn't make time to worry much this week. I guess as I inch closer to my 34 week mark, when my BP suddenly sky-rocketed last time and all hell broke loose with monitoring me for pre-E, I am a little anxious that it will happen again. But my OB claims there is only a 25% chance of history repeating itself so I'm trying not to think about it too much. I really think now that I'm only working 20 hours per week instead of 40, and I'm not nearly as physical in my job, maybe my body stands a chance to avoid the stress that might have caused pre-E? We shall see.

What is different this time around: Last time at 29 weeks I had my first experience throwing up during pregnancy, I had to stop running three days per week because I realized I was actually having contractions during my runs, I'd gained 25 pounds already, and my belly was looking legit! This time I still haven't actually thrown up, I'm definitely not running, I've gained about 22 pounds, and my belly is still much larger than it was the first time around (but maybe not SUCH a big difference anymore). I remember taking that 29 week belly pic last time down in Missouri---can't believe I'm already this far along right now, since that picture sort of seems like yesterday in a way.

Symptoms: A little bit of acid reflux at times, a sore back if I over do it, and it's definitely a struggle to sit up from laying down. I mean, really---for 29 weeks I have it pretty good right now.

Sleep: Love. Still quite comfortable and may require an occasional nap at times.


Movement: She's still shaking her stuff in there. I notice that she does a lot of really fast/crazy movements, rapid-fire-style, and it sort of makes me wonder what in the heck she is doing. I want to ask my OB at my appointment this week if baby girl is even close to being in head-down position yet. I have a feeling she isn't.

The belly: Getting rounder by the day. My belly button is as out as it's ever been and the skin around it is super itchy. No stretchies just yet....hang on there, skin of mine!

Milestones:  She is 2.5 pounds and 15 inches long and for me, personally, this is a fun day because it was Truman's original due date (Pi day!). Also, we are inching up on my BFP anniversary with baby Wren on 3/24. It's amazing to think it's almost been an entire year since that pregnancy began. Not really looking forward to hitting the other milestones with that loss--like the day after my birthday when we found out baby Wren was gone, or the anniversary of when I started the failure drug cytotec to induce my miscarriage (Mother's Day weekend), or the anniversary of when I started gushing blood and had to go to the ER (June 1), my D&C on 6/13, etc. It's sort of nice to think that at the tail end of those milestones, I should have baby girl in my arms to get me through the pain.

Amusing comments from the general public:  I had one really sweet patient ask me when I'm due (which still catches me off guard at times, like---wow, I guess I'm really pregnant!) and when I told her 'end of May' she was shocked. She said, 'You are so tiny!' I explained that this is my second child and I am showing even more this time, but that my long torso helps tremendously. She followed that up with 'I have a granddaughter who is tall and thin like you and she never shows much with pregnancy either.' And THAT, my dear public commenters, is a nice way to tie up a conversation about a pregnant woman's belly. Very sweet and not rude or demeaning. I'm happy to have a pleasant experience every now and then. :)

Best moment of the week: This whole week has been such a blur since we've been at the new house each night and all weekend long, working our fingers to the bone. But I think overall my highlight would have to have been this amazing weather we are having. It's supposed to get up to 70 sometime this week and our entire family is soaking up this glorious sunshine while it lasts. Can't wait until its officially spring, and I'm really looking forward to having baby girl during a great season of the year, too.

28 weeks: Cauliflower Girl

Twenty-eight weeks: 3.7.12







Photo thoughts: Thinking that outside pictures will be few and far between now. And how do you like my wife-beater tank? Trying to avoid wearing the same tops in pictures is getting difficult already. Geesh.

 
Size of baby: Whoops! I think last week was supposed to be a cauliflower and this week was supposed to be the cabbage, according to BC. Look at me making up my own timeline!

Cravings: Well, I finally feel full, you guys. As in, last week I was not famished 24/7 and could actually go without snacks and sweets. Maybe baby girl is giving me a break on her growth spurt or something? But for the first time in months, no true cravings.

What I love: Still in that honeymoon stage with this pregnancy because I just love it all right now. Especially being in my third trimester. It's for real, folks!

What I'm looking forward to the most: Snuggling my newborn. Nursing her. Staring at her face for absurd amounts of time. Maternity leave. Being a mom of two. Seeing Truman as a big brother. Shall I go on?

Worries: It's been a pretty sane week around here! Too busy with house stuff, birthday stuff, and out of town visitors to worry. Even when painting the ceiling of a room in our new house this weekend, I didn't automatically assume that stretching my arms over head for countless hours would hurt baby girl. I just knew it would hurt my neck and she will probably be just fine. And yes, in case you were wondering---I wear a mask and my OB did say painting the house is 100% fine as long as it's ventilated in there. Look at me, not worrying this week!!

What is different this time around: With Truman's pregnancy I was complaining of an itchy belly, running three days per week, had a bad cold for a while, and was interviewing pediatricians for Truman. Oh, and being the ever-annoying over-achiever with nursery decor. It's funny because this week I had my first pregnancy cold and it was AWFUL, just like with Truman. I'm definitely not running or doing nursery related things but our found-pediatrician is still amazing and I'm glad I don't have to hunt for another one. Overall, week 28 with both of these pregnancies seems pretty similar!

Symptoms: This is sort of gross but I must document: flossing my teeth causes my gums to bleed in a scary way. I looked it up and apparently it's not uncommon to have sensitive gums during pregnancy but man--my 6 month check up is approaching in a few weeks and I'm sure my dental hygienist is just going to love me this time. Sick. I also had a cold for about 24 hours this week and thought I might die without taking a decongestant. But somehow I lived to tell the tale.

Sleep: Yes. Lots. Had my first night when my belly felt uncomfortable for a bit when I was trying to get positioned in bed. But really, I have no problems passing out like a rock every night. I might get up at 3 am to pee occasionally but not even that happens every night. I'm lucky so far, I know.


Movement: She is a superstar mover in there. My mom and Memaw even got to feel her jabs when they were visiting this weekend! She is still up high and down low and sometimes all over my torso. I really do hope she settles into the head-down position sooner than later. Isn't she getting a little big to have room to swim around like a fish?

The belly: Round, big, and no joke. I love it. Belly button is sometimes out and sometimes in. No stretchies but the itchy skin is still there.

Milestones:  Baby girl is 2.25 pounds and 14.8 inches long (very random numbers this week, in my opinion). She can blink her eyes and maybe even see some light that shines into my uterus (??). Basically, she is a real baby now and I picture her packing on the pounds from here on out.

Amusing comments from the general public:  Nothing new this week, thank goodness. But the chick from last week is still ringing in my ears. I forgot to mention that after she told me my face is pudgy (but she can tell I'm normally thin----thanks, biyatch) she proceeded to ask me if I'm a runner. What? I do get that question a lot when I'm not pregnant and usually I can answer with a solid 'Yes, I am'. This time I stammered out that I normally run when not pregnant but have been taking it easy for these 9 months out of my life and stick to walking instead (did not mention that this baby was basically a 'pending miscarriage' with a giant bloody episode at 6 weeks that has left me somewhat paralyzed in the exercise department. It's really none of her business anyway, if I'm running or not). Then the psycho lady went on to tell me about how she knew of a woman who ran on the treadmill next to her at the gym until the day she delivered. (Big whoop. Good for her.) And then the lady tells me that said-pregnant chick was back at the gym two weeks after giving birth. Sounds a little overdone to me, but maybe that's just my laziness/defensiveness talking. I was literally trying to walk out the door the entire time my best comment friend was telling me all of this because I wanted that awful conversation to end immediately.

Best moment of the week: Truman's birthday party, seeing my family from Missouri, getting a lot accomplished at the house, and realizing that it's freaking March already. Busy but fun times!

11 things

Andrea tagged me on this post and I figured I'll play along instead of 'resting my eyes' on the couch while Truman naps:)

The Rules
1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in the post you were tagged in
4. Create 11 new questions for your tagees to answer
5. Tag them on Twitter, Facebook or your blog


11 Random Things About Me

1. This is really great for me to do because I have a '100 things about me' tab on my blog that is BUGGING me lately. As in, I wrote it when I started my blog 5.5 years ago and now so many of those 'things' are outdated it's just ridiculous to even have it up there. I mean, a lot of my old posts are sort of cringe-worthy but I guess that is what happens when you blog for so long. Stuff changes. Hence the 'transition'. :) {ALSO, this is not an appropriate 'thing' about me for these 11 things but whatever. At least it's random!}

2. If I had to pick my favorite song in the entire universe, I think right now I'd choose Bon Iver's 'Holocene'. I started listening to his album last summer after my miscarriage and this song in particular gave me chills and made me cry every time I heard it. It still does, really. The lyrics are haunting and amazing and the melody is one of those that will never, ever get old to me. The phrase 'And at once I knew I was not magnificent' means so many different things for me, as I'm sure it would for you, too. Last year, it represented the harsh dose of reality I experienced with my loss and how I was humbled beyond expectation, begging God for guidance and mercy and hope. And now, I know I'm anything but 'magnificent' because of this amazing gift of life growing inside of me. Again. Thank you, Lord, for this gift I surely don't deserve.

3. On a lighter note, I am sort of hard/gangsta-like because I can recite every lyric to 'Gin and Juice' and other various rap songs. In fact, one time I dressed up as Nelly the rapper for some sorority event when every other girl went the cutesy/girlie/fairy route. Like I said, I'm pretty hard core.

4. I was a lifeguard during many high school and college summers. And yet, I also almost drowned once in high school. Not in a pool, but in some muddy river when I got sucked under a bridge through a metal culvert. Pretty freaking scary, really, but since I was a naive 17 year old I don't think the experience shook me up as much as it should have done.

5. I'm pretty Type A and anal-retentive about a lot of things. For instance, I cannot stand to have any unopened mail in my in-boxes. I have about 4 email accounts (all appropriately divided for specific purposes/people, of course) and I will immediately open, respond, or 'star' the emails instead of just letting my in-box hold unread mail. I always unsubscribe from mass emails/advertisements because I cannot stand for those to clog up my in-boxes either. Zeroing out my in-boxes is really like a sickness for me and I'm not even in the 'business' world, where you actually do get a lot of emails during the day.

6. I'm also a compulsive list-maker and I live/die by my To-Do lists. I will definitely add a task on my list that I just completed, just to cross it off and feel that accomplishment. I get a little panicky when my list starts to mount up and I feel infinitely better about life when I've crossed everything off. Does this make me a psycho?

7. I'm tall at 5'10" and my husband is 6'3". My mom and grandma are also both 5'10". They told me I had to marry a tall man and my mom has told me many times that it's one of her biggest pet peeves when short girls marry tall guys. I think that is because it takes one more tall guy away from the tall girls and is simply unfair to us giants:). She also said I should marry a 'last born' in the family and not a first born, since I'm a strong-willed first born and we go best with the more laid-back babies of the family. She was a psychology major and really into birth order----and whoops, I married another first born. At least he's tall? (and since my whole family loves Nate as much if not more than me, I think they will forgive me for this oversight)

8. I'm a picker. As in, I LOVE to pop zits and pull hangnails and pick Truman's boogers. Yes, I'm one of the gross moms in the world but I can't help it. Should have been a dermatologist or something.

9. I'm reading the Hypnobirthing book right now in attempts to learn how to avoid another panic attack during labor. I would really REALLY like it to be more zen and calm and enjoyable this time around. If I don't have to be induced, I'd even go so far as to say I'd love to avoid an epidural if possible. But I'm not totally committed to that idea just yet because I definitely do remember the feeling that I was going to die during childbirth from the pain ( I still say what I experienced during my 40 hours of induction could not have been anywhere near 'normal'. I'm hoping it wasn't the norm, at least!). Apparently this author of the Hypnobirthing book says my intense pain was because of fear (and probably the insane amounts of Pitocin coursing through my veins)---and I will admit I was totally freaked out by the intensity of my contractions after my water broke. So this time around I'm hoping for less of a Cursing-Like-A-Sailor/OMG-I'm-Going-To-Die mindset and more of a This-Is-Going-To-Be-Okay mindset. But if my anxiety does get the best of me or if I have to have Pitocin, I will not hesitate to ask for drugs. For real.

10. I am really horrible at math, which is funny since my dad is a CPA. I mean, it's really bad and I hope our kids always ask Nate for help with their math homework. Nate loves to tell everyone the funny story from when we first started dating and I admitted my hatred towards numbers. There was some comment from me about how I could get confused about whether 75 and 15 was actually 100, or if it was really just 90. I don't really remember this comment but Nate sure does and loves to rub it in my face. Whatevs. Math is not my strong point, but I think the more artsy/creative stuff is (and Nate doesn't have anything on me in that department. Hmph. Take that, fellow first born 'overacheiver' husband of mine!)

11. I went to a private grade school/middle school, public high school, and a private college. Nate and I both feel strongly about sending our kids to 'good' public schools and I sure do hope they choose state colleges instead of pricey private ones. Student loans really suck.

11 Questions from Andrea

1. Massage or facial? Massage. Hands down. I think I've only had one facial in my life but a ton of massages and could really go for one right now.

2. The one facebook-ism that gets on your nerves (eg. cliche status updates, game requests, kissy face photos, etc). Oh, definitely the annoying 'ambiguous/mysterious' or 'fishing for questions' posts. Like, 'I'm so excited!.....' or 'I wish I could tell you a secret but I can't' type of thing.  I realize the entire concept of Facebook is sort of attention-seeking but it bugs me when people beat around the bush hoping they will get comments about it.

3. Be honest. What's your biggest insecurity? Hmm. Usually my small boobs but right now they are pretty gigantic, and will surely balloon out even more in the next few months. Yay for pregnancy and breastfeeding!

4. One word to describe your life AT THIS MOMENT. Changing. You know, the new house and new baby thing will do that to life.

5. Did you have any odd habits or preferences as a child? I was the strangest kid ever. I think I mentioned on here before that I played in sandboxes with yellow dishwashing gloves because I hated the feel of sand. And my parents had to do Easter egg hunts on the sidewalk for me because the feeling of grass on my feet was too much to handle. Maybe I had some sensory/tactile issues?

6. On what side of the sink do your dishes pile up? Well, both, since we don't have a dishwasher right now. The right side holds dirties and left is clean ones that are drying. Did I ever mention that our new house will have a new dishwasher for us? Dying thinking about it.

7. What's the most embarrassing thing in your fridge right now? Nothing 'embarrassing' just yet. But this question makes me think about when I had a giant urine collection jug in our fridge every week for about a month when they were checking for Pre-Eclampsia with Truman's pregnancy. God, I hope I can avoid that whole thing this time around.

8. What websites and in what order do you visit them every morning? Emails, Facebook, Google Reader, Pinterest, Blogger. Not really every morning, though, more like throughout the day on my phone. (which, by the way, I still say Andrea NEEDS a smart phone more than anyone else I know. Life changing, girl!)

9. Did you (or do you) have a myspace page? Not anymore but I totally did have one. And it was beautifully personalized. :)

10. Would you ever sky dive? Nah. But at one time I was ALL about it for some reason.

11. Post the last thing you pinned on Pinterest. It's been awhile! Where have I been? But this is my most recent one and I love it. Does anyone else think that Pinterest is being taken over by chevrons? Love.

Source: etsy.com via Julia on Pinterest

11 new questions from me:

1. What would you do if you won $1000 right now?
2. What inspires you? (very vague, I know).
3. Where in the world would you go if you had an all-expenses paid vacation gifted to you?
4. Favorite season of the year and why?
5. Favorite place to shop, online or in store?
6. If you could meet any celebrity, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
7. What is your worst habit?
8. This or That: Wine or Beer. (Mmmm, salivating). And why?
9. Name the three things you'd grab from your house in a fire.
10. What's your favorite trait about yourself?
11. If you had to eat one thing every single night for dinner what would it be?

 Hmmmm, who to tag? How about:
Erin at It's All Happening)---(since she has nothing else to do with a brand new baby at home:) But since she is a super-blogger maybe it's not totally ridiculous to think she might muster up the time for this?)

E@Oh! Apostrophe

Rachel and John

Allison at A Little Blueberry

Lauren at LiveLaughLove


Or anyone else that wants to join in the fun, or leave a comment with answers!

House renovations, take two: Painting up a storm

My biggest project in our house thus far has definitely been painting. Nate hates to paint and so he's mostly focusing all of his time on the kitchen, which is fine by me because pulling down cabinet doors and fixing up wood holes sounds awful to me. I love to paint and volunteered to tackle the massive project of transforming our house with a little COLOR on the walls. Plus painting every other conceivable surface out there, but we'll get to that in a minute. I love picking paint colors even though it's pretty stressful for me, too. Nothing like painting the interior of a 1700 square foot house in just a few weeks to make a lady crazy, right? But we have to have the paint done before we move in---it just makes more sense to do it before furniture and people are in the way. Want to see what I've done so far?

MAIN ROOM transformation:

This was the room that had all cream colored walls, crown molding, and ceilings. Along with blue carpet. It's also basically huge which is great for when we live in the room, but not so fun while painting every surface of the room. At 24 feet by 13 feet, it's easily the largest room of the house and where I forsee us spending most of our time. Wanna see the true before picture again?

Bam.


I decided to go with Behr's 'Cloudy Day' for the wall color, and picked two shades lighter for our ceilings in there (which was basically 'Wave Crest' plus another 25% shot of white). Next came the fun part of removing ALL of the hideous window coverings including about 5 types of rods and screws and hinges on each window. This was not fun, guys. I wiped off all the walls and woodwork and got to town. I think it took me about 5 hours to paint these walls with some help from my mother-in-law on the edging (I prefer rolling it on, she likes edging, therefore we are a perfect pair.). The ceiling and crown molding paint jobs took another 5 hours. Ick. And so?

Main room walls during the painting day. Also, note that the ceilings are still white at this point and the crown molding still 'creamy'. Which, to me, is such a waste because the crown molding is SO pretty--why not make it pop out more?


Main room after walls and ceiling painted, but before crown molding turned cream into white:


And after the crown molding was transformed by the white. Isn't it insane how the ceiling looks a lot less blue with that white against it?


During the crown molding paint job:




All that is left to pain in here is the dark woodwork :::dodging the stone-throwing from the crowd again, as I type that phrase:::: I really do think it will be amazing with bright white wood everywhere though. It's very 'us' and I know it's going to suck big time to put in the hours for painting wood work. But I really do think it will be worth it!

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DINING ROOM transformation:

After a lot of debate, I decided to keep the dining room the same color as the family/main room. They flow together very nicely so it makes sense and plus, this dining room will be one that keeps some of it's dark woodwork (the built-in and the windows will remain) so I'm sure that will make the blue walls look totally different than the main room. I wanted to paint the ceilings in here, too, but it sucked so bad in the main room I just can't bring myself to break my neck in there again. Plus I ran out of paint although I thought I bought enough of the 'Wave Crest' ceiling shade for the two rooms. I take that as a sign from God that the ceilings might remain cream colored in there. We did paint the crown molding bright white though. 

Built-in buffet before paint and before I hacked away those ugly curtains:


And after the paint. Also shows a nice shot of our new floors! Never mind that the buffet is a huge storage area for us right now.


After blue goes on the walls, looking into the sunroom. But this doesn't show the crisp white crown molding just yet. It's there but no pictures to show it off.


Only remaining paint project in the dining room will be the baseboards and door frames. Plus those French doors that lead into the sunroom. Sigh. Lots of painting still ahead. I believe it took us about 3 hours to paint the walls and another 1.5 hours to do the crown molding. That stuff is no joke with all of those little twists and turns but I love it. :)
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SUNROOM transformation:

I haven't gotten any great pictures of our sunroom to show you just yet. Must work on that. But this is the room that I painted Behr's 'Peridot' green and I just sort of like it. I am hoping that with white woodwork I will love it though. I have yet to paint the crown molding a bright white and I think I will actually muster up the energy to paint the ceiling two shades lighter than the walls, which is Behr's 'White Willow' color. It's only 10x12 so it can't be THAT bad, right? 

Before painting walls, and before floors:


After painting the walls green, and after floors are refinished:


Painting this room, including the rolling and edging, only took us about 3 hours. Gotta love smaller rooms.The ongoing paint projects in here: crown molding, all woodwork, and ceiling (plus French doors).

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BEDROOM transformations:

I don't need to do much else besides the walls in these three bedrooms. I'm not going to bother with the ceilings, and I'll probably just leave the crown molding the off white color. The other woodwork is all white, except for the baby's room---for some unknown reason, they painted that entire room a pastel yellow that is really ugly, if you ask me. So I guess I will be painting her woodwork white in there. Luckily the other two bedrooms are already the color I'd choose for the woodwork, though.


Master bedroom:
I chose Behr's 'Honey Bird' yellow for our room. It's a bold choice, probably the brightest room of the house, but it's going to be SO awesome combined with our gray and white bedspread. There's nothing like a warm, inviting color in the master to make this a fun room. It took me about 3 hours to do this room.

Here is the true before, carpet and all:


During painting day:


After! The floors aren't stained/finished here, though. And I swear the real color is not such a bright 'highlighter yellow'. It's actually quite pretty in real life (aside from iPhone pictures).


Truman's room: 
This is turning out to be the room that is the thorn in my side right now. I wanted T's room to be a nice, pale gray. And I KNEW it would be hard to nail the right shade but I was still too cheap to actually buy samples first. As soon as I put Behr's 'Gentle Rain' color on  his walls, I panicked. I really thought it looked lavender and I was seriously thinking about returning the entire gallon and starting from scratch. But I kept plugging away because Nate and my mother-in-law (and everyone else that I've shown) swear it's a fine gray, not too purple. I'm still not 100% convinced, though, and I'm hoping that by adding T's bright colored accents in there I barely even notice my pet peeve wall color. Truman didn't yell 'PURPLE' when he saw it, either. So that's a great sign. It took me 3 hours to do this room (apparently that is how long it takes me to do most of these rooms)

Before:


During the painting episode:


After painting, floors only sanded but not stained in this shot:

It really does look purple in this pic, huh? In real life I don't even think it's *that* bad.

Baby's room:
This room also took me 3 hours to paint and I actually did it one night after Truman went to bed. I picked Behr's 'Wildwood Spring' which is a pretty robin's egg blue to me. I just really hate that I still have to paint her woodwork white because it almost looks white in this 'before' picture from online. I wonder if the owners repainted the whole thing after this picture was taken and went with the yellow instead. Should have asked me first !! :)

Before we moved in:


After I painted the walls, but before floors were stained, and before I bother to paint the woodwork WHITE and not this ugly yellow:

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So that's that. A ridiculous amount of painting on my part, huh? I just added it up and that looks like about 27 hours of straight painting and I'm not even done yet. I really do enjoy painting, thankfully, but man---it's a lot of work! Luckily, with my trusty mask and lots of fans I am still following doctor's orders and not killing my baby from fumes or anything.

Really not looking forward to prepping and painting all of the dark woodwork on the first floor. But I think I have convinced Nate to help with this large task. And I didn't mention the kitchen at all just yet, since that is it's own separate project and painting the walls won't come until much later. We also haven't touched either bathroom or any of the hallways with paint. Not sure I have enough energy to bother right now anyway.

Off to paint some more...