Pregnancy Tracker - 36 weeks

Well here I am - officially at 9 months.  The best month....and yes, that's dripping with sarcasm.  Anyone who is around me on a regular basis can tell you that I'm hating life right now. Yes, I'm excited for the baby.  And yes, it's fun putting everything together as we prepare for a new life.  But I HURT.  I don't remember this magnitude of pain with Carter.  Pregnancy amnesia?  Quite possibly.  But it doesn't lessen my pain this time around.  I know my body is preparing for a regular birth, as it doesn't know any better.  I just wish I could get some sort of reprieve.  Tylenol is a joke.  It doesn't even dull the pain.  Lying down feels the best, but let's face it, I'm a working mom.  Lying down isn't a regular part of my day.  Ever.  I'm hoping these last few weekends can be filled with rest in preparation for the chaos that is about to be my life.

Here's what babycenter.com says about the pregnancy at 36 weeks:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Now that your baby is taking up so much room, you may have trouble eating a normal-size meal. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point. On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to "drop" down into your pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is your first baby. (If you've given birth before, it probably won't happen before labor starts.) If your baby drops, you may also feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen (oh yes), which may make walking increasingly uncomfortable (oooohhhh YES), and you'll probably find that you have to pee even more frequently. If your baby is very low, you may feel lots of vaginal pressure and discomfort as well (check, check, and check). Some women say it feels as though they're carrying a bowling ball between their legs!

You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are more frequent now. Be sure to review the signs of labor with your practitioner and find out when she wants to hear from you. As a general rule, if you're full-term, your pregnancy is uncomplicated, and your water hasn't broken, she'll probably have you wait to come in until you've been having contractions that last for about a minute each, coming every five minutes for an hour. Of course, you'll want to call right away if you notice a decrease in your baby's activity or think you're leaking amniotic fluid, or if you have any vaginal bleeding, fever, a severe or persistent headache, constant abdominal pain, or vision changes.

Even if you're enjoying an uncomplicated pregnancy, it's best to avoid flying (or any travel far from home) during your final month because you can go into labor at any time. In fact, some airlines won't let women on board who are due to deliver within 30 days of the flight.

Project 2011: Through His Eyes, Part 12

I apologize for this one being so late!  We have been swamped at home and work since Friday, and I just haven't had a chance to get this one up.  Without further delay, here are last week's pictures from Carter:

We had another coloring marathon night - he caught me trying to color his butterfly.

 After which I gave him this face

 We have the old stroller out, trying to sell it.  Not sure why it was picture worth for him though.

 He snapped one of my brother and his girlfriend when they stopped by for a visit.

 Two bad guys.  He's in this phase right now where he will tell me he's going to fight the bad guys, and then he will extend his arms and say:  "look at these huge muscles on my arms mommy!"  It's an absolute riot!

 And the bike.  He has this sucker totally mastered now - I can't wait for nicer weather!

Baby Love, My Baby Love

Today was the baby shower.  We gathered friends and family, and my Aunt Taunya, with the help of my mom, put on a fabulous shower for this baby girl.  It was such a fun day and I'm so glad I have so many wonderful, loving, and funny women in my life.  We snacked on fruit and veggie platters....and later filled ourselves up on cheesecake and chocolate cake.  We played games.  We opened gifts.  So many fabulous gifts!  I've never seen so many adorable baby girl clothes in my life!  She will be one well-dressed little girl, that's for sure.

Now that the shower is over, I feel like the real countdown has begun.  Time to get everything into place.  Time to return to Babies r' Us with all of the great coupons and grab all the remaining necessities.  Time to finish the baby's room.  Time to make lists and pack hospital bags.  I'm this side of 30 days now, so any day could realistically be THE day.  There's nothing saying she will wait!  ;)  Better to get everything taken care of and in place NOW, rather than scrambling later.

Thanks to everyone who made it today and for all of the gifts - I had such a great time with all the ladies!

(some of the gifts.....well, what I could fit on top of the dresser and in the crib!)

Pregnancy Tracker - 35 Weeks

First off, I would like to point out that the tracker on the top of my blog has changed to reflect the correct amount of days I have left.  This has thrown off the pregnancy in "weeks", however.  It shows 36 weeks, but I'm really at 35.  I wanted the "days left" to be accurate with the surgery date though.....which is the week before my actual due date of April 28th.  Make sense? Or am I just rambling?  ;)

No huge changes from last week - TUMS are still my best friend.  And this belly is out of control!  It's everywhere I need to be.  I had some serious cramping last Friday night, which I addressed with my doctor at the check-up this week.  It definitely wasn't contractions - it was a steady, intense pain for about 30 minutes.  Carter was soooo sweet too - I was on the couch, crying my eyes out, and he brought me a blanket, covered me up, and gave me a kiss.  Such a sweet boy!  Anyway, my doctor reminded me about what I should be doing if contractions do start up, so I'm pretty much on high alert since the cramping.  And the swollen ankles have set in too - totally sexy!  My wedding ring doesn't fit anymore either - bummer!  I've gained a total 18 pounds, which is half of what I gained with Carter.  But let me just say, this girl is READY.TO.BE.DONE.  The baby shower is this weekend, so as far as I'm concerned, after that's over, this baby can come any day!  ;)  My brother put in the first guess for weight for the baby at 6 lbs 13 oz.  AND, for those who like to torture me......we have officially picked a name.  And no, we are still not sharing. You will find out the name when you come to meet her.  :D

Here's what babycenter.com says about the pregnancy at 35 weeks:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore (uh, I beg to differ!), but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight. 

Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.

Here is the belly, at 35 weeks.

 And my shirt says this:

 And just for shits and giggles:

Eric has this strange ability to push his stomach out beyond what should be possible for a man in good shape.  Don't ask me how he comes across these.....unique.....talents.

Project 2011: Through His Eyes, Part 11

Here are this week's pictures!

He is obsessed with his cars right now.  Constantly lining up his inventory, or smashing them, or racing them.

 Coloring time!

 He was helping me make dinner - he eats more of the olives than I actually slice. Sneaky kid.

 Some more items from the baby's room.

Movie Review: The Lincoln Lawyer

Not too long ago, I did a book review for this book.  The movie came out Friday, so we had a date night last night with my parents to see this movie, since my dad has also read the book.  The movie followed the book extremely well, and there really aren't any glaring differences from the book.  I thought the casting was excellent, and of course, Mr. Matthew McConaughey was his usual steamy self.  He played the part well.  It was also nice staring at Ryan Phillippe the entire movie as well!  I definitely recommend this movie, regardless of whether or not you have read the book.

Pregnancy Tracker - 34 weeks

34 weeks?  Where did the time go??!!  In 5 weeks, we will be holding our little girl.  Eeeeeee!!!!  It still seems very unreal to me, even though everything is coming together.  We got in the dresser, so her bedroom is that much more complete now.  The baby shower is next weekend, so I'm excited to see all of the new things she gets.  Nothing like spoiling a baby!

I'm fairly certain she has flipped, and is now head-down (normal positioning).  I had to stay home from work on Monday because I was dealing with so much nausea from all the movement of her flipping.  I guess we'll confirm at my next doctor appointment if my suspicions are true. 

I'm still feeling incredibly cramped for room - naturally.  The last month or so is the absolute worst.  Standing up or lying down are about the only positions that are comfortable to me.  Sitting is the worst - extremely painful.  Unfortunately, I sit all day at my job.  So that doesn't help.  By the time I'm ready to go home for the day, my ribs and back are on fire from the pain.  And trust me, the Tylenol does nothing......doesn't even dull the pain.  :(  I just look forward to the hospital stay, when I get the good drugs.  ;)  I'm also experiencing extremely painful groin pain - which I'm told is the (TMI alert) spreading process.  Basically the birth canal getting ready for delivery......which drives me nuts since I don't be delivering the baby that way.  But my body doesn't know that, so it goes through the normal prep.  The normal prep, though, is excruciating.  I don't remember having this pain with Carter.  Chalk that up to pregnancy amnesia.  ;)

Here's what babycenter.com says about the pregnancy at 34 weeks:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable. Now's the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy.

Series Review: Big Love {Season 1}

I will be completely honest with you, no one is more shocked than I am that we are watching this show.  I had zero desire to watch it and would cringe anytime someone we knew would even talk about it.  The subject (mormon polygamy) completely outrages me, that's no secret.  Sure, I have read books about the topic (as I have summarized on here), done research, and participated in countless debates.....but to actually sit down and commit to an entire show?  No.  Wasn't going to happen. 

And then all the girls at work started talking about it and I admit, I was intrigued.  A little bit.  Though I still fought the urge.  I finally gave in and added the first series to our Netflix queue.  And let me tell you, I'm pleasantly surprised.  The show is good.  Like, GOOD.  We finished the first season last night and I'm quite excited to continue on with subsequent seasons.....though I am bummed that the show is currently on its last season (#5).  Eric and I often have to pause the show so we can have little mini-discussions and/or debates about what's going on with the show (since he was raised in the mormon religion).  We had an especially long discussion after the very first episode, when HBO had some little facts about polygamy displayed in the credits......one specifically stating that in America there are approximately 40,000-50,000 people currently engaged in polygamy.  Eric was floored by this statistic.  I found it to be much lower than what I would guess is an accurate number.  Nonetheless, I told Eric he was pretty naive to think this particular way of life was abandoned back in 1900-ish when it was "outlawed".  I reminded him of the FLDS sects/compounds that are raided regularly. 

Regardless of my feelings about this highly-debated topic, the show is good and we will definitely continue on with the remainder of the series.  Check back for more updates as we progress through each season!

Project 2011: Through His Eyes, Part 10

Here are last week's pictures!

Working on letters:

The "girly" hammer.  I had it out to change out the batteries in his camera.

I'm not sure what he was trying to get in this picture - the laundry I needed to fold?

Super blurry!

At the baseball field.

He was totally fascinated with watching this dog play fetch.  It was a speedy dog, that's for sure!

We were supposed to have more pictures this week, but our plans for feeding the ducks yesterday were cancelled due to my not feeling well.  I know, mom killed the day.  :(  Stay tuned for more!

Spring Fever

Even though it wasn't exceptionally warm outside today (that breeze made it quite chilly), we still ventured out to find a baseball field close to our house.  We didn't have to go far, though I'm not a fan of the grass fields.  But it worked for what we wanted to do today, which was to practice hitting with Carter.  I can't wait to get this guy started in Little League!  Having been a player, spectator, and coach, I'm not sure how I will handle being the parent of a little player, just watching from the seats.  But I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there!  Here are some pictures from today.

For the brief amount of time we were at the field, we had a lot of fun.  I can't wait to continue to teach Carter more about baseball - he seems really excited to play it, so hopefully he's equally as excited to learn the rules and strategies as well!

Pregnancy Tracker - 33 weeks

Well here we are - 33 weeks into this.  It's no secret, these last few weeks have been HARD for me.  The difference between this pregnancy and when I was pregnant with Carter?  REST.  Or a lack thereof.  Being pregnant with a 3 1/2 year old is night-and-day different than just being pregnant with your first child.  With your first child, you get to relax any time you want.  Example - the minute I would get home from work when I was pregnant with Carter, I would be in my jammies, hair up, and either lying down on the couch, channel surfing, or I would be in bed, going to sleep for the night.  The house didn't fall over if I didn't make dinner.  I could wake up on the weekends and lounge....ALL.DAY.LONG. 

Now?

Not so much.  The minute I get home from work, sure, the jammies still go on and my hair goes up, but that's when the paralegal duties stop and the mommy/wife duties start.  Dinner.  Bath.  Playing.  Teaching.  Brushing teeth.  Cleaning up.  Putting kid to bed.  And sometime around 9:00, I finally get to relax for the first time!  Oy!  It's a whole different ballgame this time around.....let me tell ya.  And while I still do enjoy being pregnant, it's hard this time.  These past few weeks, I've been in constant pain.  As in, the minute I wake up, it begins.  It doesn't stop until I fall asleep.  Back pain.  Rib pain (since she's breech, I'm pretty sure it's her shoulders, and THAT feels oh so good digging into my ribs).  Every.waking.moment.  Tylenol does nothing.  Tylenol has always been a joke to me.  Unless it's Tylenol #3....which I'm certainly not allowed to take!  My walking has slowed down.  Yes - I believe the waddle has set in.  I hate dressing up for work now.  I can't wait for warmer weather....even just a tad....so I can wear capris, a loose shirt and flip flops to work.  It's already approved.  I just need spring to show up and stick around so this can happen.

Things around the house are slowly coming together as well.  The crib is put together.

And I bought this super cute bouncer on Craigslist for a whole $15.  It's soooo cute and it was way too good of a deal to pass up.

The dresser in Carter's room was bought to match the crib (when he was a baby), so we'll be moving that dresser into the baby's room.  I have a bedframe and matching dresser on order for Carter.  So his room will also be receiving an upgrade.  I also dug out all of Carter's baby toys that I kept.  I need to stock up on batteries - that's for sure!  So we've been buying (and selling) as the paychecks allow.  I think the plan is to stop for a bit to see what the baby gets at the baby shower.  Then we will take another inventory at that time to see where we stand.  It is a huge relief to have most of the big items already saved from when Carter was a baby.

Here is what babycenter.com says about the pregnancy at 33 weeks:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Because We All Know I'm One of THOSE Girls

I've been married for 2 1/2 years now.  And to this day, I still get crap for hyphenating my last name.  It's "not how things are done".  It's rude.  It's disrespectful.  And on and on.  So today, while browsing the web on my lunch hour, I came upon this article on Yahoo! News.  Of course, I would like to share it with my readers for the simple reason that it really touches every point I tried to make to all those nay-sayers when I didn't FULLY change my name.  Frankly, I don't understand why it matters to anyone else.  Yes, it bugs Eric - to this day.  However, the fact that I hyphenated doesn't make me any less invested in my marriage.  It doesn't make me any less of a wife (in my opinion).  It doesn't change my love - both for my husband or my family as a whole.  And if you disagree with that, I invite you to take a step AWAY from my marriage and focus on your own.  (sorry, but true)  So, having said that, feel free to read this article.  Or don't.  I won't be offended.

Hyphenated married name fight heats up on Facebook

Conversations with my man about our future always produce juicy material that I turn around and exploit for purely editorial — and, OK, sometimes basic entertainment — reasons. A recent chat about hyphenating my last name kicked up dust as we talked about my dreams of finishing (which means I’d actually have to start) my PhD within the next five years.

In the heat of my daydreaming, I took my would-be name for a test drive. “Dr. Janelle Harris-Williams,” I swooned like a giddy extra in the “Beauty School Dropout” scene of Grease. Boyfriend 4.0 jutted his bottom jaw, something he does when he’s about to serve up a verbal smackdown. “Harris-Williams!” he scoffed. “I think you mean Dr. Janelle Williams.”

Seems he takes offense to the idea of me tacking his last name on to the one I already have. The move — according to him — says I’m wishy-washy about my commitment and (gasp) that I’m not ready to leave my family and be a wife. When I introduced the subject for discussion on Facebook, turns out plenty of folks from both genders side with his opinion. I didn’t tell him that, though.

There is no level-headed reason why a woman should have to abandon her family’s last name in order to prove her fidelity and allegiance to her man. None whatsoever. The concept is as archaic and patriarchal as, oh I don’t know, forgoing your dreams to be an apron-sporting housewife a la June Cleaver or pretending to be an airhead to appease your guy’s fragile ego. Puh-lease.

According to the recently released 2010 Real Weddings Survey from The Knot, only 6 percent of newlywed women opted to hyphenate their names — the same number reported on the stats from the year before. Responses from the roughly 20,000 brides polled overwhelmingly favored taking their hubby’s name, to the tune of 86 percent.

So it’s not necessarily a fire-hot trend. So I’m in a bit of a minority. At least I’m not flying completely solo. “We definitely see the conversation because everyone has an opinion on it. No one is really right because it’s such a personal decision,” offers Anja Winikka, an obviously brilliant individual who happens to be an editor at The Knot. “As years go by and couples wait longer to get married, more women are choosing to hyphenate because of their careers, especially when people are looking for them on Google.”

Indeed, those of us who have worked hellishly to build up some steam in our respective careers also have professional grounds to hold on to our original surnames. If Eva Parker or Jada Smith had a new flick coming out, the crickets would be chirping and we’d gloss over them like they were as generic and nondescript as Jane Jones. But add the “Longoria” and the “Pinkett,” respectively, the bells and whistles of familiarity go off, and the general public might contemplate going to see the movie. Might.

Because the average age of the American bride is now 27 (up from 25 last year, but who’s counting?), many women don’t want the hassle of converting their longstanding professional identities — email addresses, monogrammed attaches, and all — to a whole new name. "Most of my clients are businesswomen, speakers, or high-level professionals and have built a brand with their names,” says Christine Pembleton, an author who is also president of the aptly named relationship coaching firm, Ready to Be a Wife. “However,” she adds, “I had no problem changing my name. In fact, it was one of the things I looked forward to when I got married." Hmph.

So exactly what does a man have to give up in order to marry a woman? Yet we’re expected to disassociate ourselves from the very families who shaped us into the women men fall in love with and want to marry. If I had been born male, I would’ve had no choice but to carry on the Harris name. But because I have an innie, not an outie, I’m forced to show my Post-Marital Pride by sloughing off part of my identity.

Not I, said the brown cow. Can’t my hyphen rep for both my past and my future — and have a nice ring to it in the process?

Written by Janelle Harris for CafeMom's blog, The Stir.

Movie Review: Stone

I wouldn't go so far as to say I had high expectations for this movie - but I did expect it to be good considering it had De Nire and Norton.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was one of the lamest movies we have seen in a long time.  There were parts that were intriguing, from a psychological standpoint.  But that was about all the movie had going for it.  It was a huge let-down, and Eric and I were both thoroughly disappointed when the credits started rolling.  Don't waste even $1 renting this movie!

Project 2011: Through His Eyes Part 9

I have very few pictures this week, due to the fact that the camera was "lost" for quite a few days.  It was actually in Carter's room, but as you can see from the pictures below, his room is a disaster zone.  He spent many hours cleaning his mess - mostly because he would get distracted and play/read instead of clean. I understand the distractions - it happens to the best of us.  But nevertheless, it's why he spent over 2 hours one night doing nothing but cleaning.

Here are last week's pictures:

Yes, I'm the mean mom who snaps a picture with his own camera while he's cleaning his room.

We also stopped by Babies r Us and I let Carter pick out everything we bought.  It's his sister - he has a say.  ;)

And he's huge on chapstick right now, so I bought him a small pack of his own, which stays in my purse.  You never know where that chapstick will end up (pockets of pants in the washer/dryer, anyone?).

And the last one he took was of his fish "tank".

Pregnancy Tracker - 32 weeks

We have arrived at 32 weeks, which is the start of 8 months.  After the scares last week, I'm happy to report that the blood sugar problem is very much under control.  No more passing out feelings!  Though I have to eat the minute I wake up in the mornings, most often with just one eye open (I'm NOT a morning person), it's soooo worth it as opposed to the shakes and noodle legs, etc.  The back pain and rib pain are still very much a constant, and I count down the hours until I can get home from work and lie down on the couch.  The couch or my bed seem to be the only places that fully relieve the back/rib pain.

I had a check-up this week - everything looks and sounds great.  The baby is currently breech, which, since we are doing a c-section, isn't a problem at all.  We discussed an additional procedure at the time of the c-section, and officially got that on the books.  And we also discussed a few other questions that have been weighing on my mind.  I love my doctor.  He's just so reassuring and I feel 100% at ease with his care and treatment.

Here's what babycenter.com says about the pregnancy at 32 weeks (8 months):

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus (gee, ya thing?!). You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb (oh great). She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Here's an 8 month picture.  Hubby and I are heading out this weekend with the camera to grab a cute shot I have been putting together in my head.  Hopefully it comes together nicely!