…love Jillian

It was a big weekend for baby.  Friday, I had my 28 week check up and we did our pre delivery visit at the hospital.  Then yesterday morning we had our 3D Ultra-Sound–it was so nice getting to “see” our sweet baby girl again.  I will post more on that later this week but for now, I have an official announcement:  WE FINISHED THE NURSERY!

And now that we’ve finished the nursery (complete with Bedazzled letters) I have two choices:  to continue keeping our sweet girl’s name a secret and NOT show pics of the nursery or just say, “to hell with it,” and tell everyone!  Well, after mulling it over and talking it over with Hubs, I’m just way too excited to keep the nursery/name under wraps for 11 more weeks so without further ado….

We decided to name her:

Elizabeth Arelene to be exact.  We named her after both of our Grandmothers and keeping it a secret was so hard!  Every time someone refers to her by name; my heart totally melts and I’m so relieved to start calling her Baby Elizabeth since “Baby Carter” just seems so generic.  It’s amazing how she is already so much a part of our little family and we are so excited to meet her.

So anyway, after the 3D Ultra sound and a little help from Baby Elizabeth’s Grandma and Grandpa, we finished up her nursery!  I’m so pleased with how it turned out.  My mom did an amazing job of storing all my stuffed animals from my childhood room and after a little spin in the washing machine and a couple Downey sheets they smell and look brand new.  I’m so happy to decorate with pieces from my childhood and am looking forward to making all new memories with my own daughter.  Before we started the nursery was just an empty brown room.  We knew about Baby Elizabeth when we bought the house so we just left it alone til now.   

BEFORE:

And some AFTER:

This is where the baby sleeps:

Curtains:

 Cross Stitch Blanket Hubs’ Mom made:

 Extra Sparkly Wall Decor:  

 Changing area (we still need the changing pad):

Shelf with Decals Grandma Made:

 Chest:

I loved every minute of painting, shopping, decorating and spending time with Hubs and Mom/Dad.  Also, I never realized how much I would love bedazzling all things girl!  It was definitely a team effort and I’m so proud!  I sure hope Baby Elizabeth like sparkles AND jungle animals….

P.S.  I have more pics trapped on a camera but I can’t get them off so I will post more tomorrow!

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This week has been sooooo much better than last!  I got the results from my 3 hour glucose test and I passed with flying colors!  Our baby furniture is being delivered tomorrow AND I was able to sneeze without crying because my butt hurt—we are on a pregnancy up swing :)

Over the weekend my Mom and I decorated the wooden letters for Baby Carter’s nursery.  We went to Michaels and picked out a million different kinds of sparkles/ribbon.  They turned out so good!  They are super girly and I want to post pics but since we’re keeping the name a secret; posting them is next to impossible.  Baby’s name is rapidly becoming one of the worst kept secrets and I’m starting to think we should just tell.  Also, when someone mentions her by name it makes my heart melt–so maybe we will share her name in the coming weeks. 

The nursery is coming together nicely.  Mom has been coming over during the day to touch up the trim, paint Little Miss’ closet and just touching things up in general.  Sure, I’m going to be a mom but I think that “Mommies Touch” is something that comes over time and my mom definitely has it.  Oh, and my favorite part?  She’s been doing laundry!!!!!  (There is just something about laundry, washed with love by your mom that makes it so much better than when you do it yourself.)   

So, with the painting complete and the furniture being delivered I’m hoping we can get some serious decorating on this weekend!  I can’t wait!  I’m as anxious to see how the nursery turns out as I am to see what our sweet baby looks like….

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It’s official.  Baby Carter has more dates/appointments on the schedule than I do.  Between Dr’s appointments every two weeks, a pre-delivery visit, a 3D Ultra sound, AND a birthing class: she has taken over my calendar.  I’m not complaining though.  Every minute the world is appreciating what a monumental and important event Baby Carter is; is a moment I don’t want to miss.

Originally, I was kind of on the fence about birthing class since I have a tendency to get freaked out and it’s not like the baby isn’t coming out if I skip out (on the reality check that is) birthing class but today when I called to make our pre-delivery visit appointment I decided to go ahead and schedule the birth class anyway.  It’s only a one day class, so I thought, why not?  It can’t hurt.  And at least then, I can get my imagination in check…

Today was also the infamous glucose tolerance test.  I didn’t think the drink tasted that bad but Little Miss didn’t like it one bit. I suppose I’m not the only patient to come in all defeated-looking with an almost empty bottle of glucose juice because they just got me another one and said, “Good Luck!”  Thank goodness  I managed to keep that one down!  Everyone needs keep their fingers crossed it comes back A-Ok because I’m slowing getting addicted to Fruit Roll Ups and a GD diagnosis would probably put a damper on my Fruit Roll Up/Watermelon addiction…so seriously, everyone keep their fingers crossed!

Doc says I’m measuring right at 26 and half weeks and my weight gain is good.  I’ve only gained 3.5lb since my last appointment 4 weeks ago.  When I was growing up I always said I would gain a million pounds if/when I got pregnant because it’s the only time it’s cool to get huge but now that I’m here, I have no idea how women pack on 40 lbs and still  move around.  I’m already noticing a huge difference in my ability to roll over at night and sometimes just walking up a flight of stairs winds me.  I think I might just be lucky though, because if I have unbearable indigestion or can’t keep anything down, watermelon almost always does the trick, but if I switched the watermelon for chocolate cake it’s highly likely I would have already gained 50lbs.  So, I’m going to thank my lucky stars Baby Carter hated Devils Food cookies and loves all things fruity.

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After my earlier post I got to thinking about some other things that are going on in life that (believe it or not) are NOT BABY RELATED!

First, we are finally getting the rest of the work done on our house this week.  After the big hail storm back in April our insurance company decided we needed a new roof, garage door, screens, gutters, and (thank the lord) our deck stained.  But our contractors were a little slow to get it finished.  Sure, the roof (aka the most expensive part) was scheduled and replaced right away but they have definitely been dragging their feet on the rest.  Tuesday, our deck was power washed and hopefully they will be back to stain it tomorrow. And I think our screens are scheduled to be replaces this week too!

Also, I managed to score a “Photo Enforced” Driving Award.  Seriously, the light changed just as I was at the line and isn’t it better to just go through the light than risk slamming on the brakes and causing a multi-car pile up involving a pregnant women?  Apparently not, because KCMO did not hesitate to mail  a ticket for $100 accompanied by photos of the alleged infraction.  The worst part of getting a ticket?  This does not boad well for my ongoing argument with Hubs about who is the worse driver.  Seriously, he drove on the wrong side of road.  Not once but twice.  I mean, suuuuuuuure he was going well below the speed limit but let’s be real; driving on the wrong side of the road totally discredits his, “slower is safer” platform.  But for now, I suppose any traction I gained with the “driving on wrong side of the road” instances was lost the moment I opened that stupid piece of mail.  Can someone ask Hubs for $100 for me :)

And speaking of $100, the same day my infamous ticket arrived I got a bill from my primary care physician for an office visit I made over a year ago.  It turns out since we discussed getting pregnant during the appointment my insurance is refusing to pay.  Apparently, discussing trying to get pregnant is the same as a fertility issue.  Isn’t insurance stupid?  I mean, unless someone from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of KC is reading this post and then I meant, how awesome is it that I’ve only had to pay a one time $20 co-pay to my OB-GYN?  I guess it kind of balances out (but let’s not tell them.)

Oh, and now that I finished that paragraph I realize that the preface of this post is officially null and void since I’ve talked about “getting pregnant,” “trying to get pregnant,” and “co-pays at the baby doctor.”  Anyway, let’s get on with the “Non Baby Related” topics, shall we? Actually, now that I mention it, I really only have one additional non baby related topic and that particular topic deserves it’s own post entirely—so I will save it for tomorrow.

In the meantime, I have a whole plethora of baby related things to talk about, like the nursery (should I post step by step pics or wait for one exciting before/after,) our baby name (and how I’m having an increasing difficult time keeping it a secret,) how I feel like I need to get a crackalackin (yes that’s a real word) on updating my registry, and deciding weather or not I should take a birthing class.  Should I prepare myself for what’s to come OR should I just wing it? I have a feeling Little Miss is coming out whether I take a birthing class or not so I’m kind of on the fence about birthing class.  (Oh, and while I was writing that sentence I thought maybe I should have said, “we,” but in my next thought I thought “we” won’t being pushing the little bundle of joy out of a key hole, I am, so I decided to stick with “I”  Although, it is entirely possible Hubs might want to be prepared for what’s to come.  Maybe I should ask him what he wants to do—perhaps he can be the swing vote.

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1. It turns out my dream life and real life are starting to get a little fuzzy.  I’ve been dreaming about the most mundane unimportant stuff.  Conversations with co-workers, weeding the garden, being lazy with Hubs.  When I wake up I feel like I’ve lived an entire day and have to remind myself that the conversation I had with one of my customers was totally not real and the baby is not yet here.
2. When my friend Erin was pregnant last summer she told me that she thought her life was going to change AFTER baby arrived and she surprised at how different her life already was—I thought I understood, but now, at 25 weeks, I’m realizing I had no idea what she was talking about and I can’t believe how different MY life is…it’s unrecognizable.  Sometimes, I feel like my life will feel more normal after Little Miss Carter arrives but something tells me that my life will never be the same and I might as well get used to THIS life.
3. Speaking of 25 weeks, I feel like we (baby and I) are in a nice pregnancy groove.  Not too many dramatics, just an ever expanding belly.  I’m well over halfway, I’ve only gained 13 lbs and on SOME mornings I can still see my ankles (Winning!)  Her movements are getting strong and sometimes it feels like she is grabbing my insides and pulling them to the other side.  Seriously, it feels like she’s saying, “is this button that makes you get up? No?  Ok, what about this one?  No?  Hmmmm.  Weeeell, what about this one?  Yes!  I did it!”
4. Hubs’ big race is this weekend and we are camping in Lawrence so he can just get up and walk over to the start.  My good buddy Laurie, her Hubs, and their little one are coming too.  I am super excited and nervous, you know, since I get up every hour and go to the bathroom.  I’m afraid it’s gonna be a long night but it’s only supposed to be in the low 80′s so hopefully that will make it a little more enjoyable….
5. My parents came over this last weekend and we scratched a lot of chores off our list.  Turns out another set of eyes focusing on our overly soaked backyard and we finally got the mud pit dried out.  Hubs and Dad changed out a bunch of boards on our deck (since it’s suppose to be stained this week), and we got some bushes planted!  It was a very productive day!  I use the term “we” loosely since Mom and I went shopping for curtains, stuffed animals, and some other odds/ends for the nursery while the boys did the manual labor.
6. On Sunday, I got up and went to Blue Springs Lake with the family.   It was sort of strange being at the lake without wakeboarding or skiing or tubing or doing something ‘exciting’ but it was still fun.  I guess I’m still getting acclimated to the lower key nature of life these days.  In fact, I had to practically beg my Dad to even let me get on the boat.  The bouncing motion of the boat made him nervous but hopefully with a successful trip under our belts he will relax just a little….

In case you were wondering how my life is different; every bullet point thus far has circled right back to baby.  Having a baby, growing a baby, or getting prepared for baby–it’s all consuming!  And I suppose it’s only going to get more baby oriented when I have an ACTUAL baby!

I take that back!  I do have one unrelated to baby topic, I had a humbling and unbelievable moment with Maggie.  She was the first one to poop in the house.  I know, right?  I still can’t believe it myself.  After all the evidence (here and here) I would have bet my life Tyson would have been the first one to poop in the new house.  I could just see the satisfaction in his eyes (and if we are being honest, Hubs’ eyes too.) Turns out Miss Mags wasn’t feeling good and actually had a couple more incidences later that day (in the garage.)  So, in her defense—SHE WAS SICK!  But it doesn’t change the fact that Maggie will forever hold the title of, “First to Poop in the House.”   Heartbreaking.

Actual Conversation:

Maggie:  I’m sorry Mom.  I wasn’t feeling good.  Don’t be mad.

Me:  Oh, Maggie!  I’m totally not mad.  Are you sick?  (Cuddles)

Tyson: Tyson 2012!

Tyson: Voooooote Tyson!

Tyson:  Tyson for President!

Maggie to Tyson:  Next time, I’m gonna poop on your face.

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This weekend was busy.  On Saturday, Hubs and I got up, went to the Farmers Market, had breakfast, picked up his race packet, looked at baby furniture, got our piggies done, and made dinner for his mom and aunt.  It was a busy day.  But it was nice to spend the day together.  Then on Sunday, I went to a dog show with my parents and had family dinner while Hubs stayed home and did chores.  On Sunday night, we took some time to discuss Hubs racing/training schedule and hopefully after the Lawrence 70.3 there will be some relief on the triathlon front. 

I started working on the nursery last night too!  All of her bedding is here.  We’ve settled on paint, furniture, and a name (well, I guess a name doesn’t really have a lot to do with the nursery other than hanging it up on the wall, but still, we’ve picked a name.)  So, we just needed to get started.  Last night, I started painting the trim in her room.  Painting the trim is a slow go but I have someone coming to hang chair rail this weekend so I want to have at very least the trim paint done.  It’s coming together very nicely.  I can’t wait to post before and after pics.

Also, Week 23 is officially underway:  And she is really moving around too.  Babycenter.com sends a weekly email telling me all about the baby each week.  This week it said that she is around 11 inches long and weighs about the same as a large mango (around 1lb.)  They also said baby is getting used to our regular noises (like barking dogs, vacuum, music. TV) and that when she arrives she probably won’t mind those noises at all.  It never occurred to me that she could hear Maggie and Tyson’s schedule of barks.  Every morning when the kids pile up at the bus stop outside our house and after school when they insist on riding their bikes back in forth in front of our house….she’s getting used to that schedule/annoyance.  Maybe Maggie’s barks help remind her what time it is because right now she keeps a pretty regular schedule—when I wake up at 8ish (to the sound of unrelenting barks until the bus actually arrives) in the morning, I can lay around for 10 or 15 minutes and feel her boogie.  Then she must go back to sleeping, or cleaning, or growing eyebrows because she just kind of stops, when she stops; I finally get up.  Sometimes around lunch time she gets going again.  It’s like she’s reminding me it’s time for eating.  And again at night, around 10 she has a one man dance party going on.  Her movements are getting stronger and occasionally if I’m lying still I can actually see her moving my stomach. 

Sometimes, I still can’t believe there is a baby in there.

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Yesterday I went in for my 22 week check-up.  I was a little bit nervous considering the good ole doc got after me about the weight gain on my last visit.  He said, “NO MORE more than 4lbs in the next 4 weeks.”  In all honesty I didn’t think I had gained that much (and I’m still blaming it on the late afternoon weigh in) but when I got on the scale I was pleasantly surprised to find I LOST 3lbs in the last 4 weeks.  What a relief!  He seemed pleased and again advise to gain no more than 4lbs in the next 4 weeks.  Which I think should be doable since Little Miss Carter only seems to like Eggos, salad, and watermelon—everything else is turning into quite the gamble for Mama Bear!  Her heartbeat is still 150 and she is moving around like crazy.  I also got the talk about Braxton Hicks vs. REAL labor pains.  Which made me start thinking about Baby Carter’s Exit Strategy.  I’m getting super nervous about that one.

Speaking of delivery, today I was delivered some disturbing news about our much anticipated baby furniture.  When we ordered last weekend Nebraska Furniture Mart  told us 8 weeks but when they called with an actual delivery date they missed the 8 week mark by oh, 11 weeks—-meaning the baby would already be here!  So, after a nail biting day of waiting to see if they would even allow us to cancel without paying the ridiculous “restocking fee”—they finally agreed.  (Which brings me to a whole other group of questions about restocking fees when the furniture isn’t even close to being made yet.)  Anyway, I think I might have found something I like equally as well and as it turns out—a little less expensive!  Maybe NFM did us a favor after all?  Hopefully, my experience with USA Baby will be better…so far they have been greeeeeat!

So with the actual delivery date of our furniture (and really, the actual arrival of baby) is uncertain, one thing is for real:  The most adorable baby bedding and decor that arrived on my doorstep today—just when you think a day is going down in the books as crappy; a purple elephant with a pink flower headband makes her appearance at just the right moment!

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Ok.  So, I know I said I wasn’t going to overload this blog with ‘baby this’ and ‘baby that’ but let’s be real; my whole life is all about baby right now.  What I CAN do.  What I CAN’T do.  I spend every minute of every day and sometimes night thinking about this bundle of joy—it’s all about the baby. 

This weekend Hubs and I made the long trek over to Nebraska Furniture Mart to look buy baby furniture.  It was mighty stressful.  I mean, why does the most expensive stuff have to be the only one I really like?  Hmmmm?  So, after dragging Hubs around and around and around the crib department we decided to wonder through the kids department.  Back to cribs.  Over to kids.  Back to cribs.  And just when I was about to have a monumental breakdown, we looked down and saw the catalog full of everything we were looking for: 

Hello, crib, dresser/changing table, and chest!  It was exactly what I wanted so we put in our order (in white obviously) and it should arrive in 8ish weeks!  Also, it’s part of a collection so as Baby gets older and needs a desk or something accidently gets ruined (I hear kids have a tendency to do that once in a while) we have the ability to order additional pieces.  One major decision and purchase down.  I slept so good on Saturday night and I woke up feeling refreshed, happy and settled knowing that one more thing was crossed off our to-do list. 

But then on Sunday, while I was left to my own devices all day, I got to thinking about bedding again.  And with such a pretty set of furniture coming for our little girl; I started thinking that I might have made a rash decision in picking the hot pink and green jungle circus.  Sure, the original bedding criteria went like this:  Pink Giraffes or Blue Giraffes and I initially found something I really liked but managed to talk myself out of it because it was more lavender than pink and our little one was going to need PINK PINK PINK!  But after bumping into the lavender one again on Saturday and mulling over the paint for the hot pink one I started feeling like I was getting carried away.  I mean, does this baby really need hot pink and green walls with hot pink lions everywhere?  (Yes, people, this is the kinds of stuff that occupies my mind these days.) 

Hubs was super helpful though, when I woke him up at 12am (because of my inablity to sleep or think about anything else) to ask his opinion, he said and I quote, “Sure.  Either one will be fine”  Followed by, “shhhhh.”  So, I got up, finished the last of the devils food cookies, washed the cookies down with a small can of mandarin oranges (see I’m health conscious) and finally, somewhere around 1am dozed off in a pink vs. purple death match that only a neurotic, crazy pregnant person would take so seriously.  Today, I’ve decided to take the hot pink circus back and get the lavender one cause seriously, I can’t take another night of tossing and turning…..over bedding.

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Life is so good right now.  We have a new house, our jobs are going great (although, that is quite a turn of events from how I was feeling about my job a mere 3 months ago) and we have a sweet baby girl on the way.  I couldn’t imagine things going any better. 

I’ve already posted about the ultrasound but I just can’t get over it.  People have babies all the time and in the grand scheme of the world, this baby is but one, however, I still feel like this is the most important news and the world should just stop in celebration.  I’m shocked CNN has no interest in the life Hubs and I are creating!  Seriously, CNN, this is big news!   

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I feel like a completely different person than I did 3 days ago.  And I can’t imagine ever doing anything more important than growing and loving and protecting this baby.  Up till now, my life has been filled with a lot of happy times and also a lot of loss (A brother and 3 generations of grandparents on my moms side) and I couldn’t ever imagine an event whose enormity would  ever over shadow the feeling of loss and resentment at the world for making it so damn hard.  But somehow, this does—this makes me realize that while the world can be a cruel, hurtful, and unrelenting place—it can also be kind, forgiving, and incredibly generous.  

Here’s hoping that the next 5 months go as smoothly as the first and we find ourselves laughing at how much we thought we loved this little girl 5 months ago.

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After what seems like a freaking lifetime we finally had our ultra sound today.  I’ve been counting the days for weeks and minutes for days just waiting for the moment to find out if this bundle of joy is pink or blue.  I’ve been fairly certain that a pink ball of cuteness would be inhabiting our (currently bare) nursery in five short months, however,much to my dismay everyone else  thought differently—if votes count in the decision; the odds were definitely stacked against me.

When I finally  crawled up on the table and we started looking at this tiny person growing inside me I realized that it didn’t matter if it was a boy or girl.  It was a BABY!  At that moment, my pregnancy hormones got the best of me (or I realized that I’m actually going to be a mother) and I started crying.  I mean, we were looking at our baby. Our squirmy unable to sit still baby!  (Which I’m certain had nothing to do with the Diet Mountain Dew I had drank a few hours earlier.)  How could anyone care about boy or girl when you are looking at the little rail road spine and beating heart and those tiny hands popping up everywhere?  It’s was a little itsy bitsy person!  I fell in love in that moment.  I mean, sure I’ve always felt a little attachment to the surprise waiting inside but today I actually fell my heart swell with love and I can only imagine how I will feel the day this little person gets here!

By the time we finally got to the part about boy or girl I had almost forgot that that was the primary reason (at least for me) for us to be there.  I’m pretty sure the doctor does them for an entirely different purpose—probably all the reasons that I had stopped worrying about boy or girl first place and started checking out every inch of this tiny person.  I was just so relieved that I had somehow managed to get all the organs in and in the right place.  That is, until she said it was a GIRL and all my “motherly intuition” (if you can call it that) proved right!  Then I was overjoyed all over again with happiness and excitement….I’m going to have a daughter!  It is so bizarre to even say that, but for now, it’s time to fill the nursery with all things pink and make sure everything is ready for her when she comes home!

Oh, and Maggie was relieved that the girls are gonna start dominating the vote in this house!  Hubs and Tyson don’t stand a chance!

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