sore spot

I can't sleep because of my back hurting and some braxton hicks contractions so I'm online tonight/this morning reading lots of pregnancy message boards! Something jogged my memory about some pregnancy related pain I was having a few weeks ago that I forgot about because it went away! Just thought I would back track a little a document it. . . you know, for the sake of historical records.

Around Thanksgiving (Nov 25) I had a REALLY sore spot on the side of my belly. Not on my skin, but underneath/inside there on my uterus itself! It was really tender to the touch like a bruise and also hurt pretty bad when I would have a contraction. I'd never heard anybody complain about this before, so I of course immediately assume it's the worst case scenario- my placenta is separating from the uterine wall and DISASTER is coming!

Turns out, people get these "sore spots" and it's just a result of the baby putting a lot of pressure on one part of the uterus and stretching it a little too fast. It went away within probably a week of me noticing it and hasn't happened again since- good riddance! I guess the moral of the story is- if you're pregnant now, or are sometime in the future- everything that's happening to you is probably pretty normal!

36 week appointment

I had my first cervical exam this morning! My doctor said the baby's head is very low, (I guess that's why I'm waddling), but I'm not dilated at all yet. She said he'll probably cook another couple of weeks. Sorry if you were betting on a New Years birth! Although I'm getting anxious for him to be born it's probably best he stay put a little longer. They did a group b strep swab and took some blood today too. I had a REALLY good phlebotomist- I barely felt it at all! She did ask if I was having a boy or girl and then told me she has a 33 year old boy who's still a troublemaker. . .

Another appointment next Tuesday- we'll see if anything changes!

35 weeks!

Things are starting to get uncomfortable this week! Mainly I think it's because I'm not sleeping quite as well as I was. Add in an extra potty break and tossing and turning to an already choppy night of sleep! It's perfect timing to have Christmas break right now. It will be so nice to rest and enjoy the holiday without being on my feet too much! Speaking of feet- let the swelling begin. I noticed a couple of days ago that my once loose wedding ring is now quite snug and I have to loosen my shoelaces a little more for my tennis shoes to be comfortable.

Daytime heartburn is making a more frequent appearance and it's nighttime compadre is here to stay. Overall, I think I'm had it pretty easy in the symptom department though- and it will all be worth it in just a few short weeks!!! One thing I'm very happy with is how low my blood pressure has stayed throughout my pregnancy. It's been at or under 120/70 virtually the whole 8 months so far. I'm lucky I haven't had to change my diet or go on bedrest or any of those inconvenient things. My mom is coming over today to help me sort through baby stuff and decide what I still need to get before he arrives. It will be fun to look at all the cute clothes again!

almost there. . . (Christmas break & baby!)

I made it within three days of Christmas break without getting sick this fall! I guess I shouldn't have been bragging the other day that I hadn't been sick in a while and reminded the powers that be to afflict me with strep throat. I'm bummed to not be at school today because I've missed a lot recently already, plus I had tutorials and test makeups scheduled along with our science department happy hour tonight :( I thought about coming in for a half day this afternoon but I'm really glad I didn't try that because I'm still feeling pretty gross.

I'll have some catching up to do and lots of loose ends to tie to finish the week out, but at least I'm not infecting others and wearing myself down trying to be there today. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow morning miraculously healed and ready to tackle Thurs/Fri! One thing Tyler and I are REALLY looking forward to is seeing his sister Lauren's new house! They closed today on a pretty one-story in Edmond, OK on a big lot and I can't wait to head up there Saturday to see it! The car ride probably won't be pleasant with this baby boy's feet in my ribs, but it will be fun to visit and help them get organized.

I've spent a lot of my sick day home on the computer researching whether we should put the baby on Tyler's health insurance or mine. There are so many variables to compare- premiums, deductibles, copays, out of pocket max, blah blah blah. A lot to think about! Our goal is to get this sort of thing, along with installing the car seat and getting the room ready, finished by Jan 1. That way even if baby Gump comes a little early we'll be in good shape. We got to see a cute little newborn bathed and bundled up in the nursery at one of our childbirth classes and it got me really excited to meet our own baby!

We've been talking a lot about it and have decided we're going to announce the name to everybody on his birthday. It's fun to have that little secret between just the two of us (plus it leaves us the freedom to change our minds on the spot!). It will be fun to introduce him in just a few weeks :) Even though my throat is really hurting and I'm stressed about a few things, I have to say- life is good. I've got BOTH my cats inside snuggling on the couch, my best friend as my husband, and a baby on the way who I know will change our lives for the better. I think it will be a very merry Christmas.

33 weeks!

7 weeks to go til this baby is full term and ready to come out! Well, I guess they say they're full term and ready at 37 weeks. . . but going the full 40 sure would be nice for my schedule and plan at school. I went to breastfeeding class Saturday morning which was really informative- but also a little intimidating! It is quite a daunting task when you think about all the time and effort required combined with all the common mistakes and pitfalls. I know it's a challenge for some people but I'm willing to work hard at it, so hopefully things will go well.

Childbirth class starts Tuesday night for a four week series! I've been doing a little reading and research and I'm interested to hear about this particular hospital's norms and procedures. I'll let y'all know how it goes. . .

CATastrophe at the Gumps' house

I am so happy to say that both my cats were warm and cozy last night sleeping at the foot of our bed. For those of you who don't know- I accidentally shut Boyd outside on Thursday night while misting our evergreen wreath with water. He likes to stand in the doorway and sniff the outside air, so when I shut the door I must have bumped him out instead of letting him back in and didn't notice for about 2 hours that he was gone. He is terrified of the traffic noise that comes down our street and is pretty skittish in general so I'm sure he had no idea what to do or where to go as I sat about 6 feet away in my recliner watching tv! (OH, the guilt.)

We have had to have two cats put to sleep in the past year- one in December of '09 and one in February of '10, so I immediately panicked and got really upset, thinking I would never see Boyd again. Tyler and I searched for a couple hours out in the dark and the cold, but couldn't find a trace of him. We put out boxes of towels and some of our clothes for him to sleep in if he came back since it was so cold, and set out some food since he never had a chance to eat dinner. During the night I got up a couple of times to peek my head outside and call his name, but I only ended up attracting other strays from the neighborhood- one of which came right inside the house!

I ended up having to go to school in the morning and I'm sure I looked great with my swollen eyes and red face from crying all night. The awesome AP secretaries arranged for subs to cover my next 2 classes during their conference periods so I came home to keep looking for Boyd. We had some flyers printed at Kinko's and my family came out to help spread the word and look for him. THANK GOODNESS my brother came because while my mom, sister, and I were out hanging up flyers on doors, he got under the house and just before he was about to give up- saw a cat under there!

I was a little hesitant to get excited because it could have been any cat, but I was definitely starting to have some hope that my worst case scenario might not play out! As it turned out, it was Boyd under there and with some serious maneuvering of my brother under the house, and coaxing from us on the outside, we were able to catch the scared little fellow. He proceeded to crawl up inside a sleeper loveseat we have in our bedroom and stayed there for a couple of hours.

Tyler and I are sooo relieved not to have to deal with losing another cat. Perhaps the only member of the household not thrilled with his return is Vlu- she's been hissing at him and has bopped him on the head several times already! I think he might smell weird to her or something. Hopefully they'll work it out in the next few days. In the meantime, I will be MUCH more careful when misting my wreath!

practice run to the hospital

Sooo. . . Tyler and I got to go test out the Labor & Delivery floor at Centennial Med Center Monday night! I ran a bunch of errands Monday and did a lot around the house. . . apparently a little too much because I started having pretty frequent contractions that evening.

I was just relaxing in the recliner watching Oprah and noticed my Braxton Hicks contractions which normally only happen a couple times per hour had started coming every 10-15 minutes or so. This went on til probably 8:00 amidst watching tv, then eating dinner at Chuy's (YUM) and driving back home. From 8-10:00 they started getting even closer together, probably every 7 minutes or so. My doctor said to call if I had more than 4 b.h. contractions in an hour so I figured at 9-10 an hour she might want to hear about it! I called the after hours line and spoke with another obstetrician at the practice. She said she was pretty sure I wasn't in labor (here's where I expect her to say just go to sleep and it'll be fine) but to go ahead and come in to the hospital to get checked. What?

Poor Tyler had gone back to work after dinner that night so I felt bad dragging him to the hospital with me, but neither of us wanted to risk having the baby early so I'm glad we went and got checked out! They hooked me up to the baby monitors for heartbeat and contractions and checked my cervix. I wasn't dilated at all so that was good news, but she said I have an irritated uterus. They weren't sure what was causing it but watched me on the monitors for probably another 45 minutes until the contractions had slowed down and weren't as strong. I had a few that were probably only 3 minutes apart!


My mini-contractions on the bottom chart & baby's heartbeat on the top.

After a while the nurse told us to go home, call back if it started again, and follow up with our doctor. I haven't had them nearly as frequently in the days since then and I've been trying to do a little less and rest a little more during the day. We'll see what happens Tuesday, but I think everything is back to normal as long as I take it easy and don't let that darned uterus get irritated again. . .

long awaited nursery pictures!

Here's the progress we've made so far on our little baby's room! He'll be in the sun room which is actually connected to our bedroom by french doors so I'm sure I'll be hearing every little squeak and cry. I haven't put anything away yet from the shower so the changing table and bookshelf will be filling up quite a bit more in the next few days!







The cats really want to come in and play under the crib.

Oh yeah, and here is the cute OU diaper cake that Ashlee made for my shower!

31 weeks & baby shower

I'm nearing the dreaded days when my small t-shirts will no longer be wearable without me showing an inch of belly above my pants, (a minor example pictured above). Probably not school appropriate, huh? I had such a good time at the shower that my wonderful friends Ashlee and Erin put together and I can't wait to look back through all the cute gifts and books! They asked everyone who came to bring one or two of their favorite childhood books so we could start a little library for baby Gump. I think it's awesome because Tyler and I both like to read a lot and hopefully our little boy will too! We had delicious food and it was neat to have family and friends from different parts of my life together to celebrate. Here's a new belly pic!

29 weeks!

Ouch! Getting bigger. . .my skin is stretching and hurts, especially when I sneeze. If anybody out there has their belly button pierced- beware! That section of skin the piercing went under is being pulled super tight and I now have a jagged red stretch mark right in the middle of my stomach!

On to better news though, I'm feeling the little guy move a LOT lately and when he's really stretching out you can see my belly move as a elbow or foot protrudes. I can definitely tell when he's upside down because he's starting to stick his feet up under my ribs- mostly when I'm sitting hunched over with bad posture and he needs more room I guess.

Tyler and I got back from NYC today! He did really well in the marathon and we got to see lots of the city. I experienced the subway for the first time and had some GREAT pizza in Brooklyn courtesy of a recommendation of my coworker Megan. The plane ride there on Thursday was a little uncomfortable- I wouldn't recommend flying any more pregnant than I am right now. My ankles and feet were so swollen by the time we got off the plane!

We went to FAO Schwarz in New York City and bought the baby a couple things which was really fun. They had some super cute board books so we picked out one about dinosaurs and I got some Winnie the Pooh plush chimes for the car seat handle. It will be fun to look back at those things and remember our last pre-baby trip! I really need to take some nursery photos, but here is an updated belly profile in the meantime. . .

26 week belly

yuck!

So I thought I was avoiding a few of the unpleasant pregnancy side effects, but it seems they are beginning to show up. . . It looked like I flossed my teeth with a knife tonight my gums were bleeding so much! Apparently your blood volume increases up to 50% throughout pregnancy and this combined with hormonal changes makes your gums tend to bleed more easily. Yikes!

I also purchased my first package of TUMS over the weekend- what a memorable milestone. It's pretty random when my heartburn gets bad during the day. Sometimes I haven't eaten anything spicy or greasy at all! (For example, a turkey sandwich???) At night I have to try to eat early though because as soon as I lay down to go to sleep anything still in my stomach starts to burn into my esophagus. Anyway, I just try and think of the tums as sweet tarts. . . which they are vaguely similar to.

P.S. We just have a couple of shelves to hang in the nursery and I'll post pictures soon!!!

crochet!

I learned how to crochet last weekend with a combination of different youtube videos and websites. It's fun- but time consuming! I got very little work done for school last weekend.

First thing I made was a "granny square". . . which actually turned out to be fairly complicated for a first try at crocheting, but it went alright! You can make a bunch of these and piece them together to make larger things.

Next I decided to start a blanket for our baby boy! I'm making it pretty big and made sure to get yarn that can be washed and dried so he can use it for a long time. I had to learn to single crochet, double crochet, and how to change colors without knots. It was also a little tricky to figure out how to alternate between single and double crochet rows while keeping the edges straight, which if you've tried before you probably know what I mean.

I'm doing 3 rows of single with the green alternating with 4 rows of double with the blue. Single crochet is easier but it is a tighter stitch, so it takes longer to get a substantial sized blanket. Double crochet is harder and takes longer per stitch, but a row is twice as "tall" as single crochet so your blanket gets bigger faster. Anyway, I didn't want to do the whole thing the same so I'm combining them.


Hopefully I will keep working on it slow and steady til January since I know it probably won't happen once the baby's here!

24 week belly

22 week belly

My t-shirts are getting a little tight around the middle lately! I've resigned myself to wearing only maternity pants from now on I think- my normal pants (even totally unzipped) aren't quite as comfortable anymore. I officially have an outie belly button now so space must be running low in there.


The baby has been moving a lot more in the past few days! Sometimes it's more of a dull feeling of him tumbling around but a lot of times I can feel some pretty distinct jabs on the outside! I don't know if it's feet, hands, elbows, or what, but he's definitely practicing some moves.

My mom and I went to Allen Outlets over the weekend looking at baby clothes and had a lot of fun! We got a few things that were good deals and I'm excited to add them to my growing stash of stuff for the baby. They had SO MUCH cute Halloween and Christmas stuff at Carter's but I figured buying things over a year in advance may be premature. . .

We have the bedding for the crib, but I'm going to wait until some frames I've ordered come in before I take pictures of the nursery. We have a quilt and some shelves to hang along with some super sweet drawings from an artist on Etsy!

baby boy announcement party!

Here are some pictures from having our families over labor day weekend to announce it's a boy! I made devils food cupcakes and filled them with blue icing, so everyone bit in to find out. We had the sonogram pictures for people to look at and party hats for people to wear according to what they thought the baby was! It was a lot of fun and we really appreciated everyone making the trip!

21 week belly

20 Week Sonogram!

Here are a couple of the good sonogram pictures from last Friday's appointment. He's a big boy! The sonographer said he's measuring 10 days ahead of schedule so it's looking like he may arrive more like the 13th of January instead of the 23rd! The first one shows the front of his face with one arm under his chin and one next to his face.

This next one shows his profile with his belly on the left and head on the right with his hand by his face like he's sucking his thumb.

The best part was getting to see him move around while we watched on the screen! Sorry, no video to share though :(

20 weeks!

We had the much anticipated 20 week sonogram on Friday and found out the sex of the baby! Tonight we'll announce it to our families then spill the beans to everybody else. It's fun to know and be able to seriously start thinking about names and clothes and all that! (I've already bought a few things :)

Here is my 20 week belly picture. It is definitely growing. My sister in law Lauren bought me some very cute maternity clothes and brought them over yesterday- I'm glad to have some more options when I get dressed in the morning! Now I just have to hope my pant size doesn't change so I don't have to go through all this hunting all over again.

I'll let y'all know how tonight goes and hopefully post some pictures of decorations and food I'm making today- yay!

19 weeks!!!

6 days til the big ultrasound! It's actually come up pretty quickly considering I'm so antsy to know girl or boy. We started school last week and lots of my students have been asking me what I'm having (along with the grocery store cashier today. . . who I thought was asking what I was having for dinner). It's fun to be back in the swing of things but also challenging to be standing a lot of the day. I've seen several students from last year who've heard the news and have come by to scream at me so that's been fun to see their excitement!
One thing I'm not ashamed to do is snack during class so I've been eating often during the day. Something nice about my schedule this year is that since I have 3rd period conference I can take my time eating lunch :) Here is a 19 week picture- I took it a little later in the day than I usually do though so we'll see if it screws up the size progression to next week.

We're having a little get together of immediate family next weekend to make the boy/girl announcement and I'm excited to have everybody over for dinner and the surprise! (Plus the excuse to have cake)

18 week picture

17 week update

I'm ready to be 20 weeks already! Three weeks from yesterday we'll find out the sex of the baby. I bought some baskets at Michael's to put under the changing table or in the cube dresser we have and I'm ready to fill them when some clothes or bibs or something! I said goodbye to my summer yesterday, so now it's just a Saturday and Sunday in between me and the start of the school year- WOW. I am ready to get started because the sooner school gets going, the sooner we find out if it's a boy or girl!

We have a LOT of stuff for the baby already, which is good because once school starts I have a little less time to shop and browse online. Tyler's mom, grandma, and my parents have generously bought us some nursery furniture and a carseat/stroller set that I'll post pictures of soon. One thing I bought for myself (which may sound pathetic and cheesy) was a fetal heart monitor that you can use to hear the baby's heartbeat other than at doctors appointments. It was cheap and got good reviews so I went ahead and ordered it last week. It works like a charm! I'm going to try and post an audio clip on here if I can so y'all can hear too.

I don't think there has really been a difference in my belly size this past week so I'll wait until next Saturday to post a new picture.

tie dye!

A few weeks ago, I went down to the lakehouse in Corsicana with my mom, grandma, aunts, and a few cousins. My Aunt Becky surprised me with a pack of white 3-6 mo. onesies to tie dye for the baby! Everyone dyed a few shirts that weekend, but here are the ones I got to take home. (the one on the left is a shirt for me. . . which I wear. . . a lot.)


Some may have to be set aside for the next baby depending on if this one is a boy or a girl but I think they're all really cute!

15 1/2 week appointment

I think it took longer for us to drive to the doctor today than my actual appointment was! Basically all the she did was ask how I'm doing, answer a couple of questions, and use the doppler to find the heartbeat again. This time (unlike a month ago), the minute she put the sensor on my stomach we could hear the heartbeat loud and clear, so that was reassuring and fun to hear! I think she said it was 152 bpm today, compared to 160 bpm before and that it will keep getting lower each appointment as the baby grows.

Now it's time to start the countdown 'til we know the sex of the baby! The 20 week ultrasound is scheduled for September 3rd at 9 am. . . but we might keep it a secret just a little longer so we can tell our families all at once!

14 1/2 weeks

1 week til my next appointment! I feel like it's been a while since I've been to the doctor so I'm excited to go next Wednesday and get checked out. I think it will be a lot easier to hear the heartbeat this time so that's something to look forward to. Tyler and I ordered a crib and changing table this past week as well as some cute little painted animal scenes to hang in the nursery.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/trafalgarssquare?ga_search_query=trafalgarssquare&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

I'm antsy to get started decorating the room! I think we will wait another 5 weeks before going all out though so we can make special touches according to whether it's a boy or girl! (We'll find out in early September.)
I'm still trying to hold out before spilling the beans about the baby to everybody, but it's getting harder as I get bigger!

13 1/2 weeks

This week has been pretty lazy for me! I've been soaking up the last few days of nothing to do and gearing up for getting my AP summer assignment sent out, professional development/meetings next week, and hopefully getting things organized up at school. What happened to July?!?
Tyler and I are excited to go to Austin tomorrow for Kevin & Jordann's wedding this weekend! It will be a lot of fun to get out of town together for a couple days and see some friends we haven't been around in a while. I've been putting it off, but today I really need to try on some dresses and figure out what the heck I'll be wearing to the wedding! It's strange when the rest of you is the same size except your belly, but I can't bring myself to buy a formal maternity dress since we don't go to many fancy places.

Here is the current belly picture- not sure if I'll keep doing one each week once school starts, but for now I've got the time!

12 1/2 weeks

If you've been wondering, the reason all my posts are # 1/2 weeks instead of full weeks it's because my doctors appointments have been on Wednesdays and that's halfway through the gestational week I'm in. So anyway, I've just gotten in the habit of noting progress halfway through the week instead of waiting til Sunday!
Here is a 12 1/2 week belly picture taken on photobooth like the last one. I feel a little bit bigger this week and haven't even tried to wear jeans or my size 2 shorts probably since the end of June. I'm thinking today I might go through my closet and find out what fits (or has potential to fit later) and pack up the stuff that's already too small. Five pounds can make a big difference!
I've bought some great cotton dresses from Target and the San Marcos outlet mall when I was down there on Tuesday and Wednesday so hopefully those will last me at least a couple of months! Dresses are definitely the most comfortable thing to wear since there isn't a waistband.

baby belly 11 1/2 weeks

So, I've been feeling a lot bigger lately! It might not look like much in a picture but I sure am uncomfortable in any kind of fitted pants or shorts. It's still early to buy maternity clothes though so I think I'll get one of those Bella Bands (or a knockoff) that you can wear over your pants without having to button them.

I can't wait til it actually starts to look like I have a pregnant belly instead of looking like I just ate a ton of Mexican food. . . which the odds are, I probably did :)

11 1/2 weeks

Here we are in July- almost done with the first trimester and had another doctors appointment again this morning! This time I turned in a bunch of paperwork, medical history, consent forms and that kind of thing at the beginning of the appointment. Then a girl who is working under Dr. Michelsen as a PA-in-training came in to try to find the heartbeat using the doppler.

We didn't have this done at the last appointment because it was too early so I was excited to be able to hear it after seeing it in June. The PA let us know that it's VERY common to not be able to find the heartbeat this early on since the baby is still very small at 1 1/2 inches (or the size of a fig according to babycenter). It's still a little nerve wracking though as they move the doppler around and around and around without hearing anything, but she assured us they only find it this early about 50% of the time.

Luckily our doctor came in and after a minute of searching was able to find the little heartbeat! Tyler and I both got to hear it, (about 160 bpm if you're interested- compared to my 60 bpm!). She said they'll use the doppler every time to check on the baby since they won't do an ultrasound at each visit. Next was blood work- not too exciting.

I've been feeling pretty good lately- not much nausea since the 8th or 9th week when I was on APPA and feeling kind of crummy. I am sooo sleepy though! I can't get enough naps which works out well since it's summer time :)

I'll have a quick routine appointment in early August, and then in early September we'll get to find out if it's a boy or girl! That will be my next scheduled sonogram. It will be hard to wait 8 weeks, but the anticipation is fun too.

(FYI: Not very many people know yet that we're having a baby so I'm just discreetly updating my blog but took the URL off of my facebook page. I'll put it back up when we want everyone to know and my posts will already be done! Look at me planning ahead.)

7 1/2 weeks

We had our first doctor appointment on June 9th (the week after school got out). Tyler came with me, which was fun, and we were anxious to get "confirmation" of the pregnancy. First they did a urine test and said the test came back positive, so the doctor told me they were going to do an ultrasound!

We got to see the teeny tiny baby, then only 12 mm long from crown to rump. Amazingly it already had a heartbeat which we could see thumping away on the screen. The doctor said he/she had great cardiac activity and everything looked good! In the picture, most of the screen is my uterus, the black area is fluid, and the fuzzy white part in there is the baby!


Tyler and I wanted to wait a few weeks to tell the good news so we kept it to ourselves for a month before announcing it to the grandparents. It was fun to have a secret just to ourselves for a while but it was also so great to see our parents' & siblings' reactions.

baby gump!

Surprise! We're expecting a baby on January 23rd, 2011! Tyler and I found out in the middle of May and have enjoyed keeping the secret to ourselves for a while. Now we're excited to share it with everybody!I know, I know. Who's the incompetent person who HAD to have the digital pregnancy test? The "which line is darker/is there a line at all" ones are difficult to interpret! Especially when the line is verrrrry light and you think it might just be an imaginary line in your brain. In the end, Clearblue came through with a black and white yes or no, and it was yes!!!