Car seat shopping

Car seats are a mandatory thing to have when leaving the hospital and for the next 12 years of the child's life. Every car seat has pros and cons that make it hard to decide. When you think you found the "right one", one user's bad comment makes you think twice. I decided to go to babies r us and try out the three I narrowed it down to: Graco 35, Chicco 30, and the Britax B-safe. All are about the same price. After feeling like the Britax fit my body best, I researched the price on Amazon. Turns out, Amazon had it for $45 less than babies r us. When my mom met me to help me look at car seats, she was surprised to find out I had made my decision and found a better price. I look forward to using this infant car seat for the first 35 pounds of our baby girl's life.

31 week update

I am actually doing my 31 week update on time! YAY!
How far along? 31 Weeks
Total weight gain: A staggering 35 pounds. I'm pretty sure I will gain a total of 45 pounds for the whole pregnancy. That means I will have to lose 65 pounds to get back to my goal weight. This should be an adventure!
Maternity clothes? The shirts are all fine, but the pants are starting to get tighter. Only 7 1/2 more weeks of having to fit into my work pants.
Stretch marks? there are some random ones in different places, but none on my belly!
Sleep: sleep is difficult. When I am not awake from rolling over multiple times throughout the night, I am awake from my active brain. No fun!
Best moment this week: We put up the crib and decorated the baby space. I am so pleased with the results.
Miss Anything? I miss not hurting whenever I stand too long, or bend over to put on shoes, or simply breathing at times. That is why I am choosing an epidural.. I'm a wimp when it comes to pain.
Movement: more like shifting around rather than kicking. Sometimes, she flutter kicks for about 15 seconds. Really crazy to watch my stomach when she does that.
Food cravings: I am getting full a lot quicker these days, so my food cravings are reduced since I can't fit much in at one time.
Anything making you queasy or sick: the smell of steamed vegetables. Also, I was watching a show about the best BBQ in America, and I about threw up.
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs: some (review previous post)
Symptoms: Heartburn, out of breath every now & then, stomach pains, and starting to feel like I have to pee but then not much comes out (aka baby is resting on bladder)
Belly Button in or out? It is still somewhat in.
Wedding rings on or off? off. I now have to wear my fake Target ring.
Happy or Moody most of the time: For the most part, happy, but when it comes time for me to eat, I am one grumpy person (ask my sister about that!)Looking forward to: my prenatal massage at Watercourse way this week. Thank you, Nick, for the wonderful Christmas gift.

Observation hospital tests

The Braxton-Hicks contractions have been starting earlier in the day and lasting until bed. I started wondering if it was normal. I spoke to the advice nurse and she advised that I go to the labor and delivery department at Sequoia hospital (where I will deliver in the near future). This was a bit unnerving for me, but I know they prefer to be safe than sorry. When I got to the hospital, they put two straps around me: one to monitor the baby's heart rate and I guess the other is to monitor my heart rate (?). I sat for an hour and a half listening to baby "Z"s heart rate. It was really interesting to hear that when I felt some pain (which I found out were contractions), her heart rate increased. It turns out that I have about 3-4 contractions per hour. The RN's stated that this isn't cause for concern, but I do need to be more aware of how frequently I get them over the next few weeks. My only thought is "Please don't deliver before we are able to find someone to cover me at work." I guess one of my worst nightmares is for me to have the baby before fully training someone and coming back from maternity leave and have to clean up and re-refine my job. Also, I would like to have a baby shower while I'm still pregnant! :)

Baby space

While Rachel is here in town, I felt very strongly that she should help me decorate the baby space. I am sad that she won't be here when the baby actually arrives, but I want her to be a part of getting things ready. What better way then to get her creative expertise! She found the wall painting idea in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. We went with the color that the magazine stated, but it turned out a bit lighter than the magazine. I still love it. Then we painted polka dots on the wall to add some fun! The crib set up was fairly easy and we bought a great mattress from Costco (thank you dad for the gift cards to Costco to enable us to purchase the mattress). Rachel made the baby a blanket for Christmas, which now sits right on top of the crib. The end result: a masterpiece that was made even more special because my sister helped me do it!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I forgot to do the 30 week update, so I will summarize by saying all is about the same as the 29 week update! I have been, however, experiencing Braxton Hicks at night time after a long day. I would compare the contraction in my stomach and lower abdomen to the tightness you get in your chest when you have an allergic reaction: tight and uncomfortable. She is now getting big enough that my lungs feel they have to work harder for me to take deep breaths when lying down.
The past week has been wonderful with my sister in town. It has been great seeing her everyday and doing.. anything. Even trips to Target have been fun. We also decorated the baby space! I will do another post with the wall painting change, the crib, and the crib sheets. Rachel had an awesome idea from the Pottery Barn Kids magazine and made it happen. Rachel truly is amazing!
For the New Year, not many resolutions were set. I couldn't set the standard resolution of "lose 15 pounds" since I can't start doing that until after baby arrives. I did set a year long goal to not only lose the baby weight, but also get down to the weight I was when I met Nick (I am really aiming high). If I gain 10 more pounds by when baby comes, I will have to lose 60 pounds by December. Hopefully, the first 30-40 will be a breeze with breast feeding and your body's natural weight loss after having a baby.
My only other resolution is to be a good mom and enjoy the time off I get to spend with her. When I go back to work in September, I know I will feel remorse for leaving her, but I will do my best to look back at the first 6 months as a success.

Christmas

What a fun Christmas weekend. It involved lots of family time (both mine and Nick's family), opening of many presents (some we asked for, some were a surprise), and lots of happiness. I love Christmas! I can't wait to bring up our baby girl into our family. She will be loved and adored by all.

29 week update

Christmas is almost here! Only 4 more days! Rachel and the kids are in town. My, how they grow! When I was little, I used to roll my eyes when family members would always tell me how much I've grown. Now I know what they are talking about! Today, my mom, Rachel, Izzie, Lexi, and I are going to the Nutcracker. It is a gret Christmas tradition to really get me uber excited for the holiday (like I need more reasons to be excited). Also exciting- I am 29 weeks along! Approximately 11 more weeks!
How far along? 29 weeks
Total Weight gain/loss? So embarrassing. If it wasn't for the fact that I am growing a (hopefully)healthy baby, I would be bummed for the 30 pound weight gain so far. Waaaaaaah!! My goal is to be one of the moms that takes full advantage of nursing and losing the weight rapidly.
Maternity Clothes? My work maternity clothes were cheaper than normal, so that explains why they are starting to lose their form. Oh well. I only have to make them last for 11 more weeks.
Stretch Marks? Just out of sight from anyone to see, and not too bad.
Sleep? I will never get it again, but I would love a full night of uninterrupted sleep.
Best moment this week? Rachel and family coming to town! I am glad she will be here until after New Years.
Movement? All the time... except when I am trying to have other people feel her move.. then she ends up staying still. It's almost like she is shy alreay.
Food cravings? Things I'm not supposed to eat: cheese, sour cream, etc.
Anything making you queasy/sick? The smell of boiled or steamed vegetables (like brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, etc).
Belly button in or out? Almost flat.
Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy Happy Happy!
Looking forward to: Christmas!