Braxton Hicks Contractions

Last night I was having Braxton Hicks contractions. They seemed to be coming about every 2 1/2 minutes around 30 seconds each. I kept feeling them at Paul's aunt's house and didn't think anything of it. Then we were driving back to my grandparent's house and I was keeping track. I kept track at the house, also. They've gone away from what I can tell. They weren't painful. But they were happening more frequently than they should have. I've been drinking only water and orange juice the past few days so it's not like I haven't been keeping hydrated. And I haven't been doing anything strenuous. I'm going to keep an eye on it today and see what happens. If they're happening frequently again today, I may go to the hospital in Nebraska City just to get checked up on.

Until then, I'm going to sit here and enjoy my little chunker doing rolly-pollies in my tummy. His head has finally made its way to my ribs. His frequent kicks have slowed to less but bigger blows. He's run out of room so every time he moves, it looks like I have an alien trying to come out through my belly button. But I love it. I may get uncomfortable at times because of his big head, but I love it.

What's Happening?

So one of the main reasons I switched from a Walmart registry to a Target registry was because Target has farm-themed stuff like crazy. The bedding they have is called How Now Brown Cow by Fisher Price. And I'm starting to worry that they're going to discontinue it. Because I'm crazy, I edit my registry every day (Don't ask. It's a long story.) One day a How Now Brown Cow bedding items is available. The next it is out of stock. Then another item is out of stock for a couple days. Then they're both available again. Well, right now all of the bedding items are out of stock. From valance, to sheets, to dust ruffle, to mobile. I think I'm seriously about to get my heart broken. And of course you can't just buy it off Fisher Price's website. That would be too easy.

I'm absolutely in love with the bedding and this is absolutely driving me nuts. I guess I'll have to wait and see. *sigh*

Aaaah!

I feel so overwhelmed right now. Part of it is baby, part of it is getting ready to go to Iowa for vacation. I think it's understandable what is sressful about vacation. But the baby? Ugh!

First off, time is just dragging by waiting for him to get here. I have been part of a forum since week 8 that is for women pregnant and due in January 2011. I get so anxious seeing most of them talking about the baby dropping and how they have only a few weeks left. It's making me so anxious reading all their posts!

Second, there's still so much stuff I need to get for the baby but I can't get it right now. And I want sooooo bad to start finishing his room. I want to organize, organize, organize. And decorate. And get everything ready. But we have to pay for our vacation first. It's killing me knowing there's so much I still need to do but I can't do it!

Time is going by too slow. I know, when he's born, I'll probably be like, "Oh my! That was a quick pregnancy!" But right now, all I want to do is hold him. A part of me wishes he would arrive a couple weeks early but at the same time I don't because it's best if he "cooks" as long as possible. I jokingly told Paul earlier, "That would be cool if he was born while we were in Iowa!" But then, back to what I just said, he's not done "cooking" yet and plus Mom and Dad wouldn't be there. Other than that, it's a fun thought!

10 1/2 weeks left!

Glucose Results

I passed my glucose test. Woo hoo!

Holy Diaper Heaven!!

Birthing classes are finally over. Dad went with me to class 1, Mom to class 2, and Paul to class 3 (which was tonight). I enjoyed all 3 classes. They were pretty fun! And we also got to tour labor and delivery since we won't make it to the fourth class. Metroplex is pretty nice.

Speaking of Metroplex. THANK YOU! They had too many free Huggies diaper gift packs to give away so we got 18 gift boxes tonight. Metroplex just supplied us with 180 newborn diapers, 288 wipes, and 18 disposable changing pads. In the picture below, everything on the right (top and bottom) is from those gift packs. The entire top row is just the Huggies newborn diapers I have. The bottom row is all the wipes we have and the changing pads.

Since I was counting diapers and wipes, I figured I'd count up what we had total. Here are the numbers:

Newborn: 314

1: 315

2: 208

3: 160

4: 108

Wipes: 1349

That's 1105 diapers!!! Woo hoo!

And with Benton using around 10 diapers a day when he's born, hopefully those will last us a solid month. Oh, joy! I don't have to worry about diapers so soon! Yay!

But yeah, that was my good news for the day. Now bask in all my Huggies and wipes gloriness!!!!! LOL

And P.S. He better be a Huggies baby! :-)

The Beautiful Blimp

Long story short:

"beautiful~blimp"

It is now my signature on my text messages. Why? First off, let me say that I brought it on myself.


It all started when I kept telling Paul "I'm a blimp" every time I felt fat. So he thought it was okay to call me a blimp. Then I'd get mad because he'd say that. Then he'd go "But baby, you're a beautiful blimp." So every time I feel huge, he calls me a beautiful blimp. It doesn't really get on my nerves anymore like it did before. It's kind of fun to laugh at, actually.






So now I am the Beautiful Blimp.



Baby Shower

Yay! I'm so excited! My family back home will be throwing me a baby shower! Woo hoo! They made invitations today. I asked grandma to save me one so I could put it in Benton's baby book. Eeeeek! I'm ecstatic! I hope we get a good turnout, mainly because I just absolutely love being around family - Paul's and mine. There's nothing like being with people you love. Seriously.

Now that I'm done being mushy.....

It's on December 4th at 2:30 pm at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We leave to head back here to Texas the next day. It'll be cool getting to see everyone one last time before we leave and while we're still "child-less".

Jeeze, I feel weird thinking about that. I'm gonna have a baby next time I go back home. Me. My kid.

If you haven't figured it out, I don't think it's quite sunk in that I will be a mother. Holy hell, that makes me want to cry. I'm gonna be a mommy! I'm gonna have a baby!

*deep breath*

Okay.

Back to my point. Baby shower. I'm so excited and can't wait. I feel truly blessed and VERY thankful that my family offered to do this for me. I don't know if I can say thank you enough times.

Thank you! I love you all!

Hospitals (part 2)

I talked to mom last night about the dilemma Paul and I are having regarding the hospitals. She brought up some good points.

1) I've had 2 ultrasounds and neither of those doctors or my regular doctor think there is any cause for concern or any cause for me to be high risk.

2) If they thought the medicine is causing problems, they would have taken me off of it by now.

3) I'm being a worry wart.

I agree with her on everything. She helped me understand that things will be okay. And if I still feel the same when I go into labor, there's no hurt in driving to Temple. So at least for now, the plan is still to go to Metroplex.

I've always wanted maternity pictures taken. I have pictures but they're all of me standing in front of the mirror taking the picture myself with my phone. And I'd really like pictures with Paul before he gets deployed. I asked mom last night if she'd take pictures for us and she said yes. I'm so excited! She has a really good camera that takes awesome pictures. Then I can just take the ones we like and have them printed off somewhere. I can't wait!

Glucose and Hospitals

I nearly died today! Okay, maybe not, but still. I had to take my glucose test today (should have results in a week). I couldn't eat after 1. Then I had to drink that nasty drink at 3. It tasted like a melted pop-ice. Yuck!!!! I hope the results come back okay.

On a completely different and more serious note...

I'm on the fence about which hospital to go to. Scott and White or Metroplex? Originally the decision was dead-set for Metroplex. It's only a 20 minute drive across town. Scott and White is a good 45 minutes away in Temple. The distance played a big factor in where I was going. But, now that I think about it, I don't think Metroplex has a NICU. Granted, I still need to ask and do my research, but I want to have a NICU when Benton is born. Why? First off, we opted out of all the down syndrome screenings and other tests. So we have no clue if he'll have any of that. Second, what if he has some condition caused by my medicine? What if we couldn't tell it on the ultrasound but when he's born, he needs some kind of help? I'd rather be where there is excellent care rather than having to transport him. I know deep down in my heart that nothing will be wrong, but at the same time, I want to be prepared.

I hate to stress myself out over this but this is something I really need to think about. Should I even worry? My baby's health is more important than an uncomfortable ride to the hospital.

Target Registry

I did it again. But this time I really like my decision.

I changed the entire registry from Walmart to Target. With the Walmart registry, I was able to pick out items that were okay to my liking. Well, I was hearing about getting discounts on items off your Target registry after baby was born, so I figured I'd make two identical registries. I got to looking on Target's website and they have barnyard themed stuff like CRAZY!!!!!!!! So, of course, I had to change everything over. I love all my selections I made. And everything is priced very well. So, officially, it is a Target registry now. I deleted the Walmart one entirely.

https://www.target.com/registry/baby/NJMK4LUAKMY3

Third Trimester

Today officially marks the beginning of the third trimester. 7 months. 28 weeks. Approximately 84 days to go. Woooooo hoooo! I get more and more excited every day thinking about Benton - seeing him for the first time, bringing him home, snuggling and bonding with him. I can't wait!

Speaking of bonding: Last night Paul and I were laying on the couch watching a movie. Benton started moving around pretty good so I put Paul's hand on my belly to feel it. Benton kept moving but not as crazy as he just was. So, of course, Paul starts poking at my belly really hard to get a reaction out of him. All of a sudden Benton gave 4 or 5 HUGE thumps against Paul's hand. It was so hilarious. Paul pissed him off.

I'm starting to notice a growth pattern in me and the baby. First of all, in the morning I look small because Benton seems to be laying somewhat flat inside me. By the end of the day he drops all the way down to my pubic bone (which is VERY uncomfortable by the way) and I look and feel like a whale. Another thing I've noticed is my hips. Every few weeks my hips hurt so bad that I can't do anything to alleviate the pain but wait it out. They ache so bad. Then to my wonder, my belly gets larger a day or two afterwards. My hips were KILLING me all day yesterday. Now I'm waiting to add more shirts to my collection of "unwearables."

Paul and I are going to go buy me a huge container of Tums today. I had about one and a hlaf mini travel-sized rolls that lasted me all the way up until last night. But the past few nights, when I lay down to sleep, I get severe heartburn and have to sleep inclined so I can tolerate it.

My drooling at night has increased. I think I mentioned it, but I'll mention it again. I drool. A lot. I'm surprised I haven't drowned on my own pillow yet. Haha!

And with my extra saliva, oddly, comes and extremely dry mouth and throat in the morning. I sound like I have a cold and feel like I smoked a whole pack of cigarettes when I wake up each morning. After an hour and eating or drinking something it goes away. But it's still sucky.

I've loved every part of my pregnancy so far and don't expect that to change. I haven't had a single moment where I've thought, "AAAH! Can this be over yet?!" I'm enjoying every second of it. I have been truly blessed with the miracle of life and I will embrace each and every moment, just as I have.

Registry

I have declared myself officially done creating the baby registry. It was made at Walmart (http://www.walmart.com/giftregistry/gr_detail.do?registryId=86181440199). After much debate about decor and safety and prices and yadda yadda yadda, I have finally made up my mind.

The over-all decor theme is still Western. The main color is brown. Anything metallic is steel/chrome/silver/etc. I'm not going to use the bumper I picked. I will be using a brown breathable bumper with either brown or white sheets and I will have to find a brown bed skirt somewhere else (Walmart doesn't have them in brown). The mobile will be horses. The blankets will be a wide array of blankets, from homemade to store-bought. The curtain will be two brown shower curtains (for some reason I like shower curtains better than real curtains) with silver curtain hooks on a pre-existing black curtain rod. I picked out a green changing pad cover, however, just because I can. And of course, Benton's name is in brown and white on the wall and his initials are in brown on the door.

Other items on the registry are either general "boy colors" or Winnie the Pooh. It's a weird mish-mash but I like it.

Now that I've finished explaining our registry, I have more good news.

I started packing my hospital bag today and I got Benton's coming home outfit.



His outfit is the exact same except it's just the top, pants, and hat. They only had the 3-piece set in the store at Target. Either way, he'll just wear whatever onesie the hospital puts him in. I'll put this outfit over his onesie, tuck him in the car seat, and cover him in his cow-print blanket. OOOOOOH! I'M SO EXCITED!

Belly

27w3d

Bumper

I've been looking at baby things lately to see what else I need for the nursery. I'm still looking at bedding options simply just because I can. I absolutely love my crib bumper that I found at the Goodwill a few weeks ago. BUT...... with a bumper the risk of SIDS increases. The baby can roll over and suffocate if he puts his face up to it. But the bumper helps to keep the baby from getting stuck in the crib slats. They have these somewhat unattractive yet practical bumpers now - breathable bumpers. It's made of this mesh material that also collapses so the baby can't use it to climb out of the crib. So as much as I love my bumper, I'm going to get a breathable bumper. Gotta keep my little guy safe! Maybe it'll look okay if I squish my current bumper in between the matress and bed rail. Or maybe I can hang it somehwere else in the room. Hmmm.....

First Class

Last night was the first birthing class. Dad went with me. It was pretty fun. The teacher (which unfortunately was only teaching last night's class and not the rest), Michelle, was a blast. We had quite a few laughs. We went over how big the baby might be, how long labor can last, what kind of paperwork we'll be filling out, what to bring to the hospital, how our birth partner will help, and some other stuff. I even got a back rub from Dad. Hahaha! The class was supposed to be from 7-9 and it kind of went over until 9:41. Oh well. I got to learn alot and look forward to the next class.

It's Disappearing

I discovered something last night before I went to bed: My belly button is starting to disappear. It looks half the size of what it did before. It's neat because it helps me realize that I'm not fat, I'M PREGNANT!

I'd take a picture of it but you can't tell the difference. It still looks like a belly button in pictures. That, and my belly needs shaved. Can we say "HAIRY"?