babymoon part 1 - getting there

About 4 days before we were leaving on our babymoon Drew started to complain that his finger hurt. It was really red by the nail and getting pretty swollen. As a non-medical professional, I declared it "not good."

I tried to get Drew an appointment with a doctor, but that's impossible on 3 days notice. He decided to soak it, apply Neosporin, and hope for the best. Until Friday. Then he decided it hurt too much and would ruin his vacation, so he went to the ER.

As it turns out he had a staph infection (yikes!) and needed to have some major antibiotics pumped in. I'm glad he went to get it treated before our trip -- but the giant bandage did make it a little harder to pack the car.

Drew was pretty sad to have a bum finger...



but then I reminded him that we were heading to the beach and he perked right up.



The next morning we started loading our pile of vacation essentials.



It all fit!



Only 9 hours in the car and we would be there!

24 weeks

Drew and I are home! We spent the last week on the New Jersey shore with Drew's family (aka - our babymoon) and just made it back.

There will be lots more on that trip soon, but for now I want to squeeze in my 24 week report, even though I'm technically 25 weeks today. We didn't have internet for most of the week, so I got a little behind!

The bean definitely got bigger this week, but that might just be due to all the snacks and boardwalk food we ate. Oops.

I still love the 2nd trimester and am really sad to see it winding down. Baby boy (!) is about 1.5 lbs now and is 13 inches long. He's packing a strong punch and let everyone at the shore feel him move around.

Drew took our weekly photos down at the ocean this week -- aren't they beautiful?!

How far along: 24 weeks
Net weight gain/loss: up 7lbs since getting pregnant
Maternity clothes: pants and some shirts
Stretch marks: no, yay!
Belly button: still an innie
Sleep: so glad to be back in my own bed tonight
Baby movement: lots and lots -- he's very busy in there
Food cravings: caramel corn from the boardwalk, check
Food aversions: nothing -- bring on the food
What I miss: beer and drinks with everyone else at the beach
Looking forward to: starting the baby quilt
Best moment this week: telling Drew's family that the bean is a BOY!
Milestones: baby bean has hair

gender reveal - FAQs

I got a couple of questions after revealing the baby's gender and realize they were all things I meant to mention in the original post and forgot. So here you go!

First, Drew and I had intended to wait until the birth to find out the gender...originally. As time went by, I realized that the 20 week ultrasound would be my only chance to find out and I started to feel a little pressured by that. Part of me really wanted to know! I'm a planner and I had a strong to desire to put a name with the baby, buy some clothes, get a coming home outfit, etc.

I began testing the waters with Drew and he was still against it...at first. After we talked about it for a couple weeks, he decided to go with it and let me have my way on this one. I'd like to think it was a team decision, but I know in my heart he gave in to what I wanted. Thanks, buddy.

Now we're both happy to know and don't regret finding out at all!

Secondly, we do have a name picked out and we use it around the house all the time! This is pretty dangerous. We want to keep it a surprise from our friends and family and using it sometimes is just asking for trouble. If we make it another 4 months without slipping up, it will be a miracle. Oh well, worse things have happened.

I even have the letters of his name ready to hang above the crib, but I have to wait until the grandparents are all done visiting this fall! :o)

From what I've heard from other moms of boys, there's nothing like the love that a little boy has for his mommy. I'm really looking forward to that.

the big gender reveal

Exactly 36 days ago, I found out the gender of my unborn baby.

Drew and I knew that we had this vacation planned with his family and decided to keep the secret until we were all together. We thought it would be fun to surprise everyone at once, rather than make a series of phone calls -- so we kept it to ourselves.

I wouldn't recommend it (although the surprise part was super fun!).

This was such a hard secret to keep! Because they read this blog, I couldn't tell you all either.

But now the secret is out and I want to fill the rest of the world in on my exciting news.

The bean is no longer he/she...he's a BOY!

Here's the ultrasound photo that convinced us.



I promise this is the last time I'll be posting my little guy's 'goods' on the internet. I think it's ok as long as he's still in utero...right? :o)

Drew and I are so excited to have a little guy on the way. We have a name picked out for him, but that is definitely going to remain a secret until his birth day.

Love you little boy! Keep growing strong -- we'll see you in December!

babymoon - prelude

Drew and I leave for our babymoon / family vacation tomorrow morning!

This will be our only vacation before the baby comes, so I decided that it's a babymoon.

:o)

We have both had pretty hectic work schedules over the past few weeks and are really looking forward to having some quiet time together. I'm envisioning lots of meandering walks on the beach, sleeping in, and eating tons of bad-for-you-but-delicious food.

Hopefully this family journey to the shore will become an annual tradition. If it does then next year the bean will be along for the ride!

That will certainly be a different experience than this year, but just as great -- or better!

baby shower invitation

Look what arrived in my mailbox yesterday...

an invitation to my baby shower!

I have already been blessed with one beautiful shower given by my Mom and sisters and now my mother-in-law is throwing one for me as well.

The bean and I are so lucky.

It will be such a fun time -- we can't wait!

you can call me sugar

I passed my blood glucose test!

After chugging down 5 ounces of the super sweet orange drink I got my blood drawn and the doctor called to tell me that the results were normal.

Yay!

No gestational diabetes for me or baby.

The drink wasn't as bad as I had heard, but it was pretty nasty. Especially on a sensitive pregnancy stomach. It kind of tasted like Kool-Aid that someone didn't dilute enough.

I read the label to see what exactly was in it (I do work in a science lab after all) and was shocked to see that it contains 50 grams of glucose in 5 ounces. 50 grams!!

I weigh stuff like glucose all the time, so I have a pretty good visual of what kind of pile that is.

{It's big.}

Anyway, just wanted to share the great news!

I'm in the clear for pregnancy related tests until around 30 weeks when they look for Group B Strep.

I also found out yesterday that once I hit 28 weeks -- only 5 weeks away! -- I have to see my OB every 2 weeks. Does anyone else start this early? What in the world will we do every 2 weeks?? As it is now -- weight, blood pressure, pulse, urine, baby heartbeat, questions, done.

Badda bing, I'm outta there in 15 minutes. After my 45 minute commute to the office.

Don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful that things are going smoothly and I have quick check-ups on the bean. It's just another one of those pregnancy things that caught me by surprise. I guess a few more drives to the office is worth peace of mind!

:o)

nursery drama

Why is there drama with every project I undertake?

Why?

Is it just the pregnancy hormones making things seem like a bigger deal than they really are?

Of course, I have a story.

Back in May my mother-in-law and I went shopping and ordered my nursery furniture. Seeing as how baby bean isn't due until December this was really early, but we did it for a few reasons.

1) my in-laws live about 8 hours away from us and aren't able to visit very often
2) the furniture store said it would take 10-12 weeks for the items to arrive
3) the nursery is an empty guest room, so if it fills up with baby furniture a few months before baby arrives it's no big deal

Considering all of these factors we decided to go for it and place the order! You may remember back in June when I posted about the great stuff we picked out. I was really excited, but prepared for the long haul of waiting.

Fast-forward 12 weeks -- the maximum time they said it would take -- and I get the call, our furniture is in! Yay!

Of course, this store doesn't deliver on Saturday and will only give me a 6 hour window of delivery time possibility, so I have to take a 1/2 day of vacation from work to be home. This is a little annoying, but not a huge deal. After all, we are getting everything at once and I'm really excited to have the rest of the day at home to arrange things, make up the crib, etc.

The big day arrives.

The guys bring in everything and start assembling the crib. All is well until they go to put a stabilizer bar on the bottom and IT DOESN'T FIT. That's right, my brand new crib came with a bum bar.

My worst fear is that it will be another 12 weeks before the crib can be finished being assembled, but when I call the store they assure me it will only take 2 weeks to get the new bar. But...

They won't give me a more specific delivery time unless it "works out with their schedule."

What the what??? They're the ones who sent a defective crib to my house. They're the ones who wasted my vacation time. If they think I'm going to take more vacation to be home from 12-6pm in 2 weeks that's nuts.

I told them this (nicely) and they agreed to "do what they could." Still not very helpful and quite frustrating.

Fast-forward 2 weeks. The new bar has arrived! They can come Tuesday after 3:30! Perfect, I can rearrange my work schedule and be home then without taking vacation.

Yesterday when the guys come to put it on we're laughing and joking with each other. Having a great time getting this put behind us. Then...

IT'S NOT THE RIGHT BAR. It doesn't fit.

I was torn between crying and yelling. I'm actually proud of myself for keeping it together and being nice to the delivery guys. It really wasn't their fault. I insisted that they call the store right then and find out what we could do.

Fortunately, the store simply gave them the wrong bar and had mine back in the warehouse. The guys went to get it, put it on my crib, and we're good to go.

I'm a big fan of good customer service and I have to say that Berg's Baby & Teen in Cleveland stinks. They carry beautiful furniture and have (mostly) reasonable prices, but their customer service is terrible.

Not only was my order messed up twice, but they gave me a hard time about the delivery. I really think they at least owe me a phone call apology -- maybe some kind of freebie as well. It's a family run business local to Cleveland and I'll absolutely tell my baby-having friends about all of this hassle.

Things happen and orders get messed up, I understand that. If they had been apologetic and gracious I never would have said a bad word about it. In fact, I probably would have commented about how helpful they are. That's not the case.

All in all, I'm very grateful to have such a lovely room for the bean. It's all here and in 1 piece so I'm going to put this whole experience behind me!

Once we get all of the "details" put up in the nursery I'll post some photos. I know you're dying to see the crib that gave so much drama!

23 weeks

23 weeks pregnant is a happy place to be!

Along with all the increasing movement I've been feeling from the bean has come an increasing sense of reality about what's happening here.

Prepare yourself, but...I think I might end up with a BABY once this pregnancy thing is over!

Novel, I know.

Honestly for a long time I understood mentally that I was pregnant, but was pretty skeptical that I'd ever actually have an infant at the conclusion.

I think one of the first questions I asked my OB went something like, "So, what are the chances of a baby coming out of all this?" I kept waiting for someone to tell me that there was a mistake and I wasn't actually pregnant.

But they didn't!

Now we've made it to 23 weeks, baby bean is moving, my belly is getting bigger, and I had to buy new bras. Nothing gives a splash of reality like changing bra sizes. {TMI, sorry.}

Anyway, there's a baby in there! See...

The bean is very busy getting ready for his/her first beach vacation next week. Pass the sunblock...or the hurricane shutters...we'll see what happens.

How far along: 23 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: up 7lbs since getting pregnant

Maternity clothes: yes, odd things I didn't expect to need...maternity swimsuit, swim cover-up and capri pants.

Stretch marks: not yet

Belly button: still s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g

Sleep: didn't get up once last night = awesome

Baby movement: yes! I can tell when the bean is awake -- my whole belly moves

Food cravings: cheese and broccoli potato from Wendy's (had 1 and need another soon)

Food aversions: not too much. Very hungry these days.

What I miss: bending over without getting the wind pushed out of my lungs

Looking forward to: the beach!

Best moment this week: finding maternity capris for 60% off

Milestones: baby W can sense movement and dances with me!

mango tango

Were we a mango before? It feels familiar.

At any rate, this is a bigger one than before. The bean is a little over a pound! He/she is also about 11 inches long.

At 23 weeks, the baby can hear what's going on outside -- songs on the radio, lawn mowers, Daddy's voice, etc. A lot of that noise is muffled and distorted (obviously, since it has to travel through skin, fat, organs, and amniotic fluid) but the bean can hear me really clearly!

Baby W also has a more developed sense of movement, so he/she can feel it when I dance around or rock in our new glider. No Tilt-A-Whirl for us, thanks.

Over the past few days the baby movement has become even stronger and more distinct. The other day I was laying in bed and definitely saw my entire abdomen move. Baby likes to dance!

Before I got pregnant, I thought the whole "feeling something move independently inside me" thing would be a little creepy, but it's really, really not. It's amazing. I love it.

T-minus 5 days until baby's first beach vacation.

can't sleep

It's 5:56am and I've been awake for over 2.5 hours.

I woke up at 3:30 to go to the bathroom and haven't been able to fall back asleep.

What is this, training for once the baby comes?

Husband is away for the night and I think that's throwing me off.

Plus, my computer has been giving me an updates error message and I chose now to obsess about it.

Running lots of virus and malware scanning software -- I hope they find something to fix.

I'm tired.

5 days and counting...

Work days, that is.

Drew and I go on vacation next Saturday!

We are so ready to go. Drew has had a pretty crazy schedule at work the past few weeks and we could really use some down time together.

Before we get to leave I have a ton to do. My next OB appointment is on Monday -- hopefully there will only be good news out of my glucose test. I get to hear little bean's heartbeat again! Then there's packing, baking, shopping, etc. You know, the usual pre-vacation stuff.

It's totally worth it.

In the meantime, let's enjoy this weekend!

Here's a picture of my little cutey to get us started right. :o)

laugh a little

The past few days I've felt a lot of sadness in the lives of my blogging friends. Maybe it's just the blogs I read, but recently several of them have carried hard news of loss, grief, stress, and worry.

Even though I don't know you in real life, I feel deeply for your pain and wish there was a way for me to help lighten your burdens.

Then I remembered Gladys.

A few months ago I posted a You Tube video of a clip from the Ellen DeGeneres show that's hilarious.

I think the world needs another visit from Gladys.

There are quite a few people who see this blog now who didn't the last time I posted this, so if you haven't seen it you need. to. watch.

Laugh a little and let some of the stress go. I know the hard things are still there, but hopefully Gladys will brighten your day like she has mine.

Sometimes what you really need is an 80 year old woman from Austin, TX to make you smile.

Thanks, Gladys.

And to all my fellower bloggers who are in the midst of hard situations right now, please know that I think about you and am praying for peace and joy in your lives.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
The LORD has done great things for them.

The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are filled with joy.

Psalms 126:2-3

I wish there was more I could do, but for now...watch and laugh.



{This is kind of long, so if you're short on time, fast forward to 3:30 for the best parts}

butter me up

Let me just start by saying that the grocery store and I have a love/hate relationship.

As in, I love food, but hate the grocery store.

At least, I hate it most of the time.

Yesterday was the worst of times, but also the best of times. There is a really long story that came out of yesterday's shopping adventure that I'm going to save for later.

First, the story of Mr. Butter.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

I'm shopping for a few things after work (a terrible time to go, by the way) and get in line to pay. The man ahead of me only had a few items, so I assume that it won't take long. Oh, silly girl.

Well, the cashier starts scanning his items and suddenly stops. I look up to see what's slowing us down and notice her holding 1 stick of butter.

Honestly I thought his box of butter opened somehow and the sticks spilled out, so she was trying to collect them back together.

Nope.

It was alone.

This man was trying to buy 1 stick out of a 1 pound box of butter.

For those of you who don't grocery shop (ever) I'll paint the picture for you. Butter comes in boxes containing 4, 1/4 lb sticks. 1 box costs $1.78.

In order for this man to buy his 1 stick he would have had to:

tear off the safety label

open the flaps

shake out 1 stick

replace the remaining 3 sticks in the box

close the flaps

replace the box on the refrigerator shelf

What part of this process indicates that you can buy 1 stick at a time?!

It's not a bar of chocolate for goodness sake.

The cashier seemed to be in shock that someone would try such a maneuver and told him that he couldn't buy just 1 stick. This didn't go over well. He became indignant and insisted on seeing the manager.

Meanwhile, my sorbet is melting.

The manager (of course) tells him that sticks of butter within a package are not individually marked, so you can't buy just one. This annoys him and he declines to buy any. All of that and he didn't even really need the butter!

Have you ever had adventures in grocery shopping? I like it when I can leave the store with a funny story and actually think it's funny. A few months ago when the pregnancy hormones were peaked I would have raged and fumed, but now I just laugh.

The other story to come...

22 weeks

Another week is in the books. The time has been passing really, really quickly. We're at 22 weeks now!



I wrote a post last week about how much I love all of the kicks baby bean has been giving me and I still do! The kicks have been getting stronger and more consistent over the past week. Feeling the bean move is by far the coolest thing I've ever experienced.



Next Monday is another doctor's appointment. This time...the dreaded glucose test!

I've heard horrible things about how gross the drink is, but I think I can handle it. I mean, c'mon people, I'm facing childbirth in less than 20 weeks -- how troubling can drinking 500mL of orange fluid really be?


If I'm not tough enough to down a shot of glucose-spiked beverage then what hope do I have of successfully evacuating an 8 pound baby?

I can do it!

{thanks, Rosie}



Here's to no gestational diabetes!

How far along: 22 weeks
Net weight gain/loss: up 6lbs since getting pregnant
Maternity clothes: pants exclusively, some shirts, lots of dresses
Stretch marks: none, thanks Mama Bee
Belly button: very clean (and wide)
Sleep: even better since I got a body pillow
Baby movement: rockin' and rollin'
Food cravings: cheese and broccoli potato from Wendy's (still need 1 of these)
Food aversions: not much. Hungry these days.
What I miss: my coordination. Still. Broke something else this week. Grr...
Looking forward to: that potato from 3 items up
Best moment this week: seeing and feeling more kicks from Baby Beckham or Hamm
Milestones: the bean can hear my voice and is starting to recognize it

baby squash

The bean is now 22 weeks old!

One of my sources for "food comparisons" stops at 21 weeks (why??), so we're down to 1.

This week the baby is the size of a spaghetti squash. Oh, randomness.




I can't say that I've ever seen, let alone eaten, a spaghetti squash, but I'm sure they are both delicious and adorable.

The bean is out of ounces folks, we're talking a full pound now! He/she is about 11 inches long as well.

Since I only have 1 food photo for you, I decided to supplement with a fetal development illustration. Not as cute, but much more technical.



I find it hard to believe that this picture is accurate. The baby here looks pretty squished in, but my bean manages to kick, punch, and roll all over in there. There has to be more wiggle room, right?

Baby bean is starting to grow teeth buds under his/her gums and can hear everything I say! We chat a lot.

can't get enough

The baby bean has been kicking like crazy recently.

I don't know what happened over the past 2 days, but I've really noticed an increase in both frequency and intensity of the kicks. It's amazing!

Honestly, I feel so connected to this little being. My bean is a real person in there! I've known it was a baby for the past 21 weeks, but there's something about feeling it move and respond to me that took the reality to a whole new level.

I could stay this amount of pregnant for a long, long time. There are a couple reasons for this.

1) I'm not too big yet, so sleep and living in general aren't a problem.
2) I'm big enough that I look pregnant, which I find really satisfying
3) The baby is moving so much that I can feel it from the inside and out -- I love that!
4) I don't think about my body image at all. It's so freeing to know that I'm gaining weight and getting bigger for the best possible reason I can imagine. I feel strong and powerful to be able to do such an amazing thing!

Today is a really happy day for me. I can't stop smiling with every little kick I feel. I love my baby more than ever. Does it get better than this? I know it does, but I'm having trouble imagining it now!

I wrote all this down so in a few weeks when this same baby is keeping me up all night I can look back and remember how naive and dreamy I was. And hopefully rekindle some of it!

Or maybe when he/she is a teenager and is too embarrassed to be seen with me, I'll read this again and remember our sweet beginnings.

I love you baby bean, no matter what.

There's a song I first heard in college and liked, but didn't really start to understand until now. It's by Sara Groves (whom I highly recommend):

You Cannot Lose My Love

You will lose your baby teeth • At times you'll lose your faith in me • You will lose a lot of things • But you cannot lose my love • • You may lose your appetite • Your guiding sense of wrong and right • You may lose your will to fight • But you cannot lose my love • • You will lose your confidence • In times of trial your common sense • You may lose your innocence • But you cannot lose my love • • Many things can be misplaced • Your very memories be erased • No matter what the time or space • You cannot lose my love • • You cannot lose • You cannot lose • You cannot lose my love • •


I think I've started to get a glimpse of how God feels about me. That's pretty cool.

showering the bean - part 2

My sister, Erin, sent me some photos she took at my baby shower last weekend and I wanted to post some for you all to see!

The amazing spread of goodies

These snacks are especially impressive when you know that my Mom and older sister, Jenn, brought most of this stuff in their car from Raleigh to PA. Erin lives a bit closer, but still had to travel an hour to get here!

I just love the last name chicks and cupcake stand!

This was a clever idea -- they put the shower invitation inside a matte for everyone to sign. It's framed and sitting in the nursery now.

Surprise!

I think Drew and Chris (my brother-in-law) both really like baby showers.

Dad wasn't sure if he was allowed to be here. So sneaky. We gave him some snacks.

The bean and I got so many wonderful gifts -- here's a quick peak at some.

Baby Bjorn for all those times when I'll need 2 hands and baby bean isn't interested in being put down. I hear that's often.

Beautiful diaper cake with lots of bathtime and feeding goodies!

Yay, Snap 'N Go stroller. I love how lightweight this is. The larger stroller that my parents got for us doesn't accept the infant car seat, so this will be perfect for those early trips to the mall. Where else can you go with a stroller in snowy January??

I mentioned this before, but I love, love this Pack 'N Play. What a gorgeous pattern! Everyone was very impressed with all the "bells and whistles."

Thanks for a wonderful shower girls!

21 weeks

I popped!

Or the bean did? My belly did?

At any rate, Drew and I really noticed last night that my belly is way high and really out there. The baby is now a few inches above my belly button! I don't know exactly when it happened, but it was sometime between Sunday and Tuesday nights.



Unfortuantely, you can't really tell in this photo. I am wearing a loose shirt, so you'll just have to take my word for it. I love this blog -- now when my little sister is pregnant with her first baby and asks me when I "popped" I can just flip back through here and find Week 21!



Over the weekend I was thrown a wonderful shower for the bean by my Mom and sisters. What a great way to start the week. So far being 21 weeks pregnant is awesome!

How far along: 21 weeks
Net weight gain/loss: up 6lbs since getting pregnant
Maternity clothes: pants exclusively, shirts sporadically
Stretch marks: none, yay!
Belly button: still stretching as the baby moves up and out
Sleep: pretty good although I really need one of those pregnancy pillows soon
Baby movement: more consistent and stronger -- Drew could feel lots of kicks the other night!
Food cravings: cheese and broccoli potato from Wendy's
Food aversions: nothing -- I think I'd eat paper, if it had caramel sauce on top.
What I miss: my coordination. I'm klutz central these days.
Looking forward to: shopping for a nursery lamp this weekend
Best moment this week: baby shower with my family!
Milestones: the bean is getting stronger and kicking more consistently

in the dark

Yesterday was an adventure.

For the last hour of my work day a fierce thunderstorm rolled in --- then rolled back out. It was pretty strong, but didn't last long and I didn't really think much of it. Just another summer storm.

I was really happy the rain was over by the time I walked to my car. It turns out that would be my lucky break of the evening.

As I was making the 10 minute walk to my car I noticed a lot of leaves and branches down along the road and an awful lot of backed up traffic. Having this much traffic stopped in the road as I walk to my car is really rare, so I was starting to get concerned.

When I got to my car I found a giant fallen tree limb covering the driveway. Awesome. Of course there's no one else around, so I have to (somehow) haul it out of the way so I can leave.

Ok, heavy labor done and I'm on my way. I get into the massive line of cars on the street and eventually get out of the way. On the commute towards home I see more and more big limbs down and start to think that maybe this storm was bigger than I thought.

I had planned to go to the grocery store after work to shop for the next 3 weeks and stuck to it. I hate grocery shopping, but what are you going to do -- we need food. The thought of a delicous spaghetti dinner when I get home spurred me on.

An hour later I roll up to my garage and can't figure out why my garage door opener isn't working. Then it occurs to me...we have no power.

Again, awesome.

I was able to unlock the side garage door and open the main door manually -- thank goodness!!

But then I remembered that I have a car load of groceries and no working refrigerator or freezer and my mood plummeted again.

All I could do was put them away as quickly as possible and hope the power came back on soon.

The time is 5:15.

Drew called me at 8:00 and said he was coming home. At this point I've eaten the only thing that wasn't refrigerated (Pop-Tarts) and am starving. The stove, microwave, etc are not working. So much for my spaghetti. I had him stop for something to eat, but by this point I'm past hungry and just cranky.

It's starting to get dark and the fact that we still don't have power is starting to annoy me. We found a couple candles and flashlights and decide to read in bed by battery power.

Here comes the good part.

We weren't laying there for long before the baby started kicking up a storm. He/she loves it when I lay down. Since we had nothing to distract us, we just laid there and felt the little movements while telling the baby stories. It was so nice! Drew hasn't been able to feel movements much, but last night he got the whole show.

I guess my day ended pretty well, all things considered.

:o)