And I love you, I love you, I love you like never before

So Saturday Jason and I went to 4D Picture Perfect with our parents and 2 of my sisters to see our little Bebe. I was super excited/nervous about this! Excited because, well, obviously. I wanted to see my baby! I hadn't seen her in NINE WEEKS and I was dying to see her move. Nervous because I really needed her to move and give us some pictures since I wouldn't be able to come back to redo the ultrasound. I'd been drinking a gallon of water to help my amniotic fluid be clear for the past 5 days, I didn't eat at all before the scan, and I brought my container of OJ to drink in case she was uncooperative (despite the inevitable Reflux it would give me). I even had Jason load up the song that never fails to get her moving when it comes on my play list: "Under the Sea." I was ready as ever!

giving us some smiles
The people at 4D Picture Perfect were absolutely lovely, and if you're having a baby in the South Florida area I highly recommend them! We all went in and gathered around various flat screen televisions set up to display my uterus to my family and I got up on the bed area and bam! There was my little girl! Right away we could see she was still a girl, so that's 3 for 3! Then we saw her heart beat (143bpm) and that made me happy. The tech informed me that her back was to us and she was in a Transverse Lie position. This means Bebe is lying sideways across me with her head on my right and her butt at my left. Probably explains why I can still button (some) of my jeans! Anyways, she said Bebe looked like she was trying to move head down, but I'm going to ask my Dr about it anyways.

Cheeks, lips, nose, ears. And see those little sideburns? Those are mine exactly
So I drank some OJ and laid on my side and Bebe shifted a bit and gave us a profile shot! She's so beautiful!!! The first thing the tech said was that she had a full head of hair! Which made me feel so justified in this awful Reflux I've been having, let me tell you. Then we saw big round cheeks, full lips (that my sister called 'Shiloh lips'), and an upturned nose! She was still being a little stubborn, so Jason held his iPhone to my stomach and played "Under the Sea." You think it's silly that a fetus can have a favorite song? It's not silly. As soon as it started you could see her moving her arms to it! I even felt her kick a bit too! It was such a riot and we were all laughing about it. I moved around a bit and we got to see Bebe stick her whole hand in her mouth. Considering we saw her sucking her thumb at 11 weeks, I guess she's got a bit of an oral fixation! She kept sucking on her fingers throughout the session. Hopefully this means she won't have too much trouble latching when she's born.

Sucking on her fingers!
At the end Bebe decided she was done and rolled over to show us her back and that was the end of that! We got some pictures, a CD of more pictures and a dvd of the ultrasound! Afterwards we all went out for breakfast and exclaimed over how cool the whole thing was. I always feel so relieved after I see her and can know that she's okay and happy and safe in there. Now if only she'd turn, because she's getting a little big to be laying like she is. Kinda makes my stomach and lungs and ribs feel a bit out of place!


Bebe's ultrasound, for those who have a lot of time on their hands, haha!

29 wks (1d)

See that? One day. Boo ya. But that's not the exciting part of this weeks blog. The exciting part? I PASSED MY GLUCOSE CHALLENGE!!! Actually, the lab tech's words were "you passed with flying colors." I'm so happy. I celebrated by picking up a pack of sour jolly rancher candies at the service plaza as we drove through today's monsoon on our way to visit our parents for the weekend. Guys I was so nervous. Mostly because I really really really didn't want to take that 3 hour monstrosity. But also partly because, hello, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners? Oh, man, if there was ever a time to be pregnant I sure picked it! So today I have been saying silent, and not so silent, bouts of praise for my unhealthy habit of consuming vast quantities of sugar pre-pregnancy conditioning my body so that the even higher volume of sugar I've been consuming during pregnancy has been processed flawlessly. Yay body, for supporting my need to bake brownies at midnight and eat them all within three days. But the excellent test results weren't my only good news today. Today I ALSO had my crib and dresser/changer delivered and set up!! Guys it's GORGEOUS. And I'm still going to resist showing it to you because there's still a lot of work we need to do in the nursery. Like Jason has to paint the pole holding the window valance white as well as the shelf and the mirror frame. Then we have to hang it all, plus other artwork (like THIS gorgeous picture my wonderful Mother in law bought for me after I exclaimed over it for an hour). Oh and find a little bookcase that matches our furniture. Ahh! So much to do!

And only ELEVEN WEEKS to do it in! That's right ELEVEN WEEKS. How am I already 29 weeks pregnant? WTF happened? Wasn't it just May 4th yesterday? It feels like it. Bebe weighs 2 1/2 lbs. now, making her about as much as a Butternut Squash (mmm, my favorite soup)!! And is just over 15" long - a huge change from the poppy seed she was when I first became aware of her existence. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to grow and develop. And remember when her head used to be the same size as the rest of her body? Well the body caught up and surpassed it and now her head is growing more to make room for that expanding brain that Jason is passing down to her. Trust me. She wants his brain. I was cleaning out things today and threw away a ton of old report cards. When Jason asked if I was sure I didn't want to keep them I told him if they were thrown away there was no chance of her finding them and thinking those were acceptable grades. Her bones are growing strong and I need lots of calcium - fortunately pregnancy has made me lose my lactose intolerance. That's right. It was there and dairy made me sad. And now? Poof. Gone. I can eat whatever I like and feel peachy. Thanks Bebe! I'm enjoying unlimited access to large glasses of Carnation Instant Breakfast, cold bowls of cereal, and thick Greek Yogurt on a daily basis. Not to mention my love affair with cheese. Ah, cheese.

Lucky for all you readers, you will likely get a mid week update this weekend!! I have my 3D ultrasound TOMORROW and cannot wait to see that little face I've created again. It's been NINE WEEKS since I saw her last and this is just not acceptable. Also, please send some positive vibes for a few hours of good weather Sunday evening so I can enjoy my Maternity Pictures!! Thanks!

28 wks (2ds)

(Note: though I am posting this on 28wks 4ds, I actually wrote this on 28wks 2ds)

Oh 28 weeks! There's argument about when the 3rd trimester starts - some say 27 wks, some say 28 wks, I think officially it's around 27.3 weeks - just like the 2nd trimester, but I'm going to say it started last week, just because I started my 2nd at 13 and not 14. Yay for consistency! To celebrate our 3rd trimester Jason and I have gotten serious about this baby being here in the next three months. We started our childbirth classes! Wednesday was our first one and it was pretty informative! We learned that to introduce our cats to Bebe we should bring 2 washcloths with us to the hospital and rub them on the baby before putting them in a plastic bag and have someone bring them back to our house at some point before we bring her home and let the cats each have one and to smell it and get used to this new scent that will be coming into our lives. Apparently I'm also releasing someone hormone scent they can smell that lets them know I'm pregnant - which would definitely explain the way Daisy Belle follows me around like I'm made of kitty treats. It will apparently get stronger as I get closer to delivering, meaning Daisy will be even more attached to me then. Interesting! Also learned about the 5-1-1 rule for when I start going into labor (don't go to the hospital until contractions are less than 5 minutes apart, lasting for at least 1 minute each, consistently for 1 hour). The other couples in our class are also super nice. There are 5 couples, so it's a nice, small class which I like. Of course, we completely failed the first pop quiz of lamaze. Since I registered on line I just had the barest information of the class. Someone from Winnie Palmer called me to collect my payments and gave me directions to the building, but that was it. So we get there... and all 4 other couples have like, 5 pillows. And we didn't. Apparently you were told to bring pillows when you aren't anti-social like me and call for your appointment as opposed to doing it on line. Oops? So when everyone did their floor exercises I sat on the couch and glared at Jason as he tried to fill in the blanks in my workbook with smartass answers. Fortunately this is a 4 week class, so I have a chance of redemption for next Wednesday!

I also had my 28wk Dr's appt yesterday and it was the last of my monthly appointments! From now on I will be going every other week - starting November 1. This week was also my dreaded Glucose Challenge Screening. I was fortunate enough to not be going to a Dr who requires you to fast. This would be more ideal if I wasn't spazzing out about what to eat before my appointment since, in my typical fashion, I of course looked up "what to eat before Glucose Challenge" and saw everyone saying "no bread, no fruit, no dairy, etc" and "high protein - eggs and ham" and "don't forget to eat because if your blood sugar is too low it will mess up your numbers!" Why is this bad? Because I HATE eggs and ham. I will not eat them in a box, I will not eat them with a fox. Mostly eggs. Everything about eggs makes me nauseous (this has always been the case. I have TRIED to like and eat eggs, but they just make me gag) - the smell, the taste, the sight, the idea of where they come from and what they are... all of it. I can only handle them in baking and in chinese food where I can't taste or smell them. Even with French Toast it has to be made right because if I can taste the eggs it ruins it for me. Anyways, ham isn't AS bad. But I still prefer bacon (which we didn't have) and just am not that big a fan of ham. So I wake up and I'm FREAKING out because I have NOTHING to eat. So I end up taking Jason's tavern ham lunch meat and frying a few slices in a pan and munching on that so I had something. It was gross. It was even worse because I had a cinnamon roll sitting in my fridge staring me in the face and mocking me. So we get to the Dr's and they give me THE Orange Drink. The one I have heard such horror stories about. The bane of pregnant women's existence. The evil one. I'm told I have 10 minutes to drink it, so I nod and steel myself... and gulp it all down in under a minute. I have to confess? It was not that bad. I was prepared to drink some syrupy sweet concoction that made me gag and vomit. It tasted exactly like flat orange soda. And while I'm not a huge fan of orange soda in general, I can tolerate it. So it was no big deal. After finishing it I couldn't eat or drink for an hour, so Jason and I chilled out. I got to see the Dr (my regular Dr was on vacation so I saw another Dr I've seen a couple times there who I really like) and she measured me (I'm measuring exactly 28 weeks!) and found Bebe's little heartbeat (147bpm). We talked a bit about Delayed Cord Clamping (which I'm very interested in, since we are not banking cord blood) and I was really happy to hear that she had done it several times and most Dr's in the practice didn't have any problem adhering to that wish (provided it is a normal childbirth with no complications that require immediate action and I haven't received pitocin, which I am wanting to avoid like the plague). After that successful appt I read my Kindle while Jason played on his iPhone until I was called back to have my blood drawn. I'll receive my results within the week! Wish me luck because I love my chocolate way way too much to be on any sort of GD diet!

And yet ANOTHER exciting development of week 28 is that Jason and I have FINALLY started painting the nursery!!! And by "Jason and I" I mean "Jason" is painting the nursery while I am watching and typing this up. Poor Jason's first ever painting project on his own has been complicated by the color/pattern that I want but he's doing a BEAUTIFUL job despite the stresses of leveling and painters tape. I am so excited for it!! I have an appointment scheduled for our crib/dresser combo to be delivered and set up Friday the 28th as well! Once all that is done I can begin my favorite part: DECORATING. I'm going to resist posting pictures of our Nursery progress until it's all done and then I'll do a big nursery reveal post with lots of pictures of the before, during and after process. So stay tuned!!

This week Bebe is almost 15" and weighs 2 1/4 lbs. - making her equal in weight to a Chinese Cabbage. As for me? I'm +16 lbs. from pre-pregnancy and weigh as much as a LOT of Chinese Cabbages. I know it's for an amazing reason, but it's really freaky to get on the scale sometimes since I'm not used to being happy to see my weight go up, and have (usually) been good about keeping a consistent weight. I still have jeans from High School, for example (actually, my "fat jeans" from my Junior year of High School I can still button even now. But, to be fair, these jeans have had 10 years to stretch out and become really baggy. My skinny jeans no longer fit). I'm trying not to think about it until after she is born, and then I can focus on it. But back to Bebe! She can BLINK now! Which isn't intentional, so much as it is reflexive, but it is still exciting. She also has EYELASHES and my fingers are crossed that she inherited them from her daddy (who has gorgeous, to die for, eyelashes). Her brain is continuing to develop billions of neurons (that she is hopefully also inheriting from her daddy) and her body is beginning to fill out as she puts on some baby fat to make her all cute and chubby. But not too chubby. Mommy doesn't want to push out a 10 lb. baby.

27 wks (5ds)

I am in my third trimester and I feel sick. I'm talking reflux like you wouldn't believe, back spasms and being just generally worn out and exhausted. Right now I am nauseous, probably from all the stomach acid, and I just want to curl up somewhere warm and soft. It's been a busy week, again! But good busy! Thanks to my husband and his amazing parents we have constructed a fence around our yard this weekend. This makes me so excited, because now when Bebe's born we can lounge out in the backyard on nice days. And yesterday Jason and I took our tour of Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies and it was, can I say, amazing. As Jason put it, "this place is more like a hotel than a hospital. It doesn't even smell like a hospital!" And it really didn't. The rooms are all private rooms, with bathrooms and large tubs in each of them. Medical equipment is hidden behind paintings and wall decor that moves like it was designed by Q from James Bond. The entrance to the building has you waking through this waterfall corridor thing and the waiting area is this giant spherical shape Jason described as "Sea World meets Death Star." Up in recovery I get my own room again, with a private bathroom and shower, and this crazy room service menu that's all included. Jason, who hates hospitals and is hard to impress, was in awe about the entire place. As am I! As far as hospitals and delivering babies are concerned, this place seems pretty top notch and I'm excited!

This week Bebe is 14.5" long and weighs 2 lbs. - making her as heavy as a head of cauliflower. She apparently has regular sleeping and waking schedules, but I haven't quite figured them out yet. Then again, I don't have regular sleeping and waking schedules so I would not be shocked if she didn't either. Oops :\ But she's opening and closing her eyes now, and she's sucking on her fingers and toes. Her brain is in high development - as are her lungs. If she was born now they would be capable of functioning... with a lot of help, of course. Apparently hiccups can begin around this time so I'll be on the watch for those! Tomorrow is also my first childbirth class too, so with any luck I won't be so late next week!

26 wks (6ds)

I'm sorry I suck at these. I have company right now and she's been very distracting! But I am doing my patented "let me crank this out 1 hour before my next week starts" thing. 26 weeks has been good!! I did Epcot again and survived walking around from 1pm-9pm and then dinner and leaving at 11pm. And today I spent 6 hours walking various malls. So I'm doing really well! I spent a really awesome week down visiting the parents, as well. I've been a busy little bee, I promise I haven't been neglecting this out of laziness!! Bebe's been spoiled this week!! I got my first gift from my Secret Stork (like a Secret Santa, but it's between pregnant people) and it was a really soft green, pink and white striped blanket and a Bunny Bank that looks so cute with her bedding set! Then when my friend Gina visited she brought a BEAUTIFUL little footie onesie with tiny pink and gray Eiffel towers and poodles and a little matching stuffed poodle dog. Then later bought a seriously adorable dress from Janie & Jack that I can't wait to dress Bebe in when she fits in 6-12 mo. clothes! Not even born and already being spoiled. She's also being just as active as ever and as I write this is twitching and moving about inside. Though she typically does this after I've had a busy day. Speaking of busy I went out and got a shirt and dress for my maternity shoot in a couple weeks, a new bra (I have officially gone from a 36B to a 38D, omg), and 2 long sleeved cotton maternity shirts for the upcoming fall/winter. It's so weird thinking how close I am to the end of this.

Speaking of close, Bebe is now 1 and 2/3 lbs. and 14" making her as long as an English Hothouse Cucumber. The networks in her ears are getting really developed and she can hear other voices when I'm having a conversation with them. Which means she has heard a lot of Gina this week! She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid that helps her lungs develop and learn how to breathe. She isn't a boy, but if she was then the testicles would beginning the long journey to descend into the scrotum. But that doesn't matter here! The most important thing is that at 26 weeks her chances of survival outside of me is now up to 90%!! This is such a relief! Basically? Good week.

25 wks (4ds)

So in direct contrast to my last post, I actually took this picture Saturday and wrote this today since I had no time to sit down and write this. I'm down visiting the parental units for the week! I'm excited, because my family is finally getting to see me looking pregnant - and my Mom got to feel Bebe kicking finally too! The other night at dinner my sister was astonished to hear that I would, in fact, be getting bigger. Much bigger, sorry to say. As my second trimester comes to it's final two weeks (oh dear God, how is that possibly true?) symptoms are starting to come at me hard. Like the fact that a few days ago there was a tiny damp spot on my shirt. I was like, "Really, you have at least 3.5 more months before this is necessary, let's not get over eager." Fortunately, my mammaries listened and they've been good for a few days now. But then there was Epcot. So those who know Jason and I know that our weakness is Disney. It is what we always give each other for Christmas/Birthdays: Renewal of our Annual Passes. And one very big reason why is the Annual Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. THis year it runs September 30-November 13 and we literally wait all year for it. Last year we were trying to get pregnant during that time so when I would find out I wasn't pregnant (this happened twice during the festival run time) Jason would take me there to cheer up and let me drown my baby-less sorrows with Toasted Cherry Coladas at the Puerto Rico booth or champagne at the Dessert booth. This year no such sorrow drowning is necessary and I consider it Epcot's personal baby gift to me that they do not have Puerto Rico and it's Toasted Cherry Coladas this year to taunt me. Instead I have been salivation over the idea of Belgium's waffles and berry compote and Ireland's chocolate lava cake and Canada's cheddar cheese soup. We had been counting down to September 30, so when that day came we hauled ourselves over there in excitement. We started in France where I enjoyed a milk chocolate creme brulee and made our way to Belgium for my waffles and Jason enjoyed some mussels in garlic cream sauce and a beer. It was super hot so I'd already gotten a water bottle and finished it while we lounged in the grass and then in a shop to cool off before heading to Hops & Barley so I could get a lobster roll. I sent Jason inside to the Liberty Inn to get a table and waited in line - ordering another water. All of a sudden my vision just went spotty and darkened. So I opened the water bottle and chugged half of it, but it didn't help. By the time I got my lobster roll my hearing was fuzzy and my vision hadn't improved. I kept thinking "I am going to pass out and Jason will never know and I just have to get inside and I'll be fine." So somehow I managed to walk from the stand to Liberty Inn and saw him and sat down and put my head down and oh my goodness did it suddenly hurt. Eventually it passed and I ate my roll to have food that wasn't technically considered a dessert. We went next door for the 30 minute America! presentation thing because it was dark and air conditioned and I felt a lot better by the time it was over. I had a ravioli in italy after, but needed substantial food so we at pizza at Via Napoli and I was able to walk back to the car after with no problems! But oh my goodness, what a way to start my beloved festival. When I go next week I'll be sure to eat plenty before attempting to eat every dessert they offer there.

Aside from a brief foray into lactating and botching the Food & Wine opening, I'm still doing good and can't believe how close my third trimester is! We have plans this month to put up a fence, paint the nursery and get our crib delivered so I feel a little more in control of everything. And next month I have my shower (November 12)! With showers come, of course, registries. Let me tell you all how Target is the bane of my existence and probably run by minions of the underworld. I registered at Babies 'R' Us first, but decided Target seemed a good supplementary registry so registered there. Then. Oh, then. They completely changed their website and it is EVIL. It refused to let me log in or send me my password and when I called I was told to create a new account and registry and it would be merged. It never was. So I re added everything from my old to my new. Well then my old registry popped up in searches and I couldn't access it so I called AGAIN and they deleted the other registry. Yay. All is well and good. Of course until I tried to add something to the registry. It popped up with the "This item has been successfully added to your registry!" thing but when I actually viewed my registry? Nope! NOT THERE. Hours later and this is still the same thing. I tried logging out and back in. I tried different browsers. I tried different computers. Nothing. By this point I had a migraine and was close to tears. Eventually Target stopped letting me see my Registry at all and instead sent me Error messages. Which is when Jason lost his patience with me losing my patience and declared "Oh my God, just register at Amazon!" This advice proved to be my lifesaver. Amazon was quick, painless and easy. I could even use their Universal Wish List to register for things only available at Target without actually registering at Target! Of course Target refused me access to my registry so I could delete it for almost two weeks, but eventually i got in and it is gone as well as my headache! My hatred of Target was only cemented when I went there to try and purchase and send a gift to my cousin for her wedding and after three days I still got an error message whenever I tried to select the item on her registry. I gave up and used her other registry without difficulties. Burn, Target.com, burn.

But frustration hasn't been the only thing I've experienced lately. I recently registered for all Jason's and my pregnancy classes! They're offered through the hospital I'm delivering at, Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies, which makes it super easy. Our first class on the 17th is the Hospital Tour and then Wednesday we start our first of a Four Week series of classes called 'Preparation for Birth.' Then after we finish those we have a Basic Infant Care class. Two weeks after that is our Pre Natal Breastfeeding class, then next week is a class where we learn about early infant illnesses and things, then finally the next week (12/21) is our last class which is Planning a Positive Birth. I'm sure you'll all hear about these as I take them and share about them when they happen. But I'm really excited to begin classes! It makes it seem real that this is actually happening and SOON!

How soon? Well at 25 weeks Bebe is 13.5" long and weighs about 1.5lbs, making her around the size of an eggplant. She's long and skinny right now but she'll be filling out more as the weeks pass. Her hair is really starting to come in and apparently if I could see her I'd be able to tell what color and texture it is. This is still a topic of conversation and Jason and I are venturing to guess that she'll be born with darker hair and it will lighten to a dark blonde color similar to Jason. I'm hoping she has his hair's tendency to curl as well. My mom still thinks she'll be a redhead like my sister and my uncle, but we'll see in 15 more weeks I suppose!