Friday! Hooray!

I thought today would never get here. And it's dragging by so very slowly. :(

Yesterday it occurred to me that while I've taken care of plenty of babies, I've never been solely responsible. I use 'solely' very loosely, of course. I have the best partner for this. But I've never felt this kind of pressure to know so much about taking care of a baby. It's one thing to provide supplemental care for a baby that's already being raised by someone else but to have to provide everything? Skeery.

Things we need to do before Izzy is born:

1. Rearrange the bedroom to accommodate a crib. I know we have plenty of space for it, it's just a matter of finding the BEST place. Mustn't be right by the window or by a door or in a draft.

2. Put bookshelves in the bedroom/get books out of the spare room.

3. Childproof cabinets! Can't put that off till she's crawling around or it'll never actually get done.

Blogger is stupid

I don't know why, but I can't publish properly. Which isn't going to stop me from posting. It just won't go anywhere. Apparently.

Week... uh... 23?

I think that's right. Time flies!

Izzy has been moving aLOT lately. There are still days when I don't feel pregnant but as she starts to move more consistantly and with more purpose, it's harder to ignore. :) Bedtime and during tv-watching is teh best. I swear she's doing somersaults in there or playing jump-rope with her umbilical cord.

That reminds me. Have to do the cord-blood thing. Sucks that it's kind of expensive but I really do think it'll be a good idea. I'd rather pay 3600 or so to give her the best possible recourse should something crazy go wrong than not have that lifeline and need it. I'm sure she'll be fine but if we have another baby later on who needs those stem cells, it'd be great to have it all stored away.

A week and a half till my birthday party. :) I'm excited, I think. I like any excuse to be silly and demanding.

Marching right along...

Peanut is moving right along. About 13 ounces now and probably 10 inches long, head to heel. At the same time as I'm amazed by how much larger I'VE gotten, I can't believe Peanut is that big already. Growing like a weed!

Tomorrow is a second ultrasound to figure out exactly what showed up on one image. Could be nothing, could be something... apparently it takes a Maternal/Fetal Medicine Man to figure it out. Doesn't look like the boy can take time away from work for this appointment but I don't think he really has to. Just more pictures of the cutest little Peanut ever!

Kimberly is having a boy according to her ultrasound today. I know she wanted a girl and I was really hoping we'd both have girls... would have been lots of fun. Oh well. They'll still be ridiculously close.

Joel and Stacey had their little boy on Tuesday. Levi was incredibly talkative about the 'beebee' and announcing everyone's names. He's almost got mine down... if you know what he's saying. heh. He's convinced that everyone has a beebee in their tummy, even him. Ridiculously cute child. He'll be jealous of the attention the babies get but I really do think he's going to be excited about all the new playmates.

Work is becoming quite tiresome. Yesterday I was in a funk all day and couldn't pin it on any one thing. I'm not worried about the dr appointment tomorrow and knowing the gender of our little one is crazy exciting (no more IT!)... just couldn't shake the FUNK. Today is a bit better but I think the lack of truly restful sleep is just getting harder to deal with. Once Justin has a car and can be here every day, I might try working shorter hours and see if taking a nap or just being able to sleep in will help. I don't like feeling run-down for no reason.

Goodbye, February!

I wanted to just write about my pregnancy right now but I can't help hearing the mad ukrainian here yell at someone on speaker-phone. He's not yelling because he's mad, he just likes to yell. Current recipient of the yelling is a guy who JUST told him that he's not working today. Still, the ukrainian yells... "you got a piece of paper? something you can scratch on? you need to write this down 'cause otherwise i know you gonna forget by tomorrow." Irritating to listen to all this.

30 minutes ago, this person was leaning over my shoulder telling me what to copy and paste because he didn't have time. It's done now and I don't think he's done anything in the meantime. Oh well. It was something to do.

Ok. On to the pregnancy stuff.

4.5 months done, same to go. Lots more baby-squirmings lately. People are starting to say 'wow, you really ARE showing!' heh. They all thought I wouldn't because I was so small without a baby in there. Sillies. Baby is making her/his presence known whether I like it or not. Not keeping me up at night, at least. When I do wake up, I don't typically feel anything unless I get up and use the bathroom and then toss and turn for a while. My movement wakes the baby up rather than vice versa. I read somewhere that he/she is already on a 'newborn schedule'... if that's so, then this baby is gonna be up when I am and ready to sleep when I am. That would be amazing.

Ideas for the nursery are slow in coming. I think I want to use Cicely Barker artwork primarily: Something classic and pretty. I don't want to go all out with cutesie stuff and then feel like I need to change it in two or three years. Three framed prints on a wall with gauze or cambric ribbon swooped over them... Something like that. And I wouldn't feel silly doing that in our room while the baby's in there with us. I figure the first 6 months or so he/she will sleep in our room. I might change my mind at some point, of course. But I think it'd make sense to do it that way.

Having a baby is surreal and so natural at the same time. Natural for some pretty obvious reasons, I suppose. It's what the female body is made for. But on a personal level, it just feels like what I am meant for. It's been an enjoyable pregnancy so far. Discomforts are certainly there but the feelings of contentment greatly overwhelm them.

I know the boy has worried in the past that having a baby will mean that he won't get as much attention. I hope that's not something that happens. I don't think it will. Maybe that's why I want a girl so much. I know he'll just fall in love with a daughter and as long as we're both enjoying the baby equally, it shouldn't be hard to make adequate time for each other. A baby, in and of itself, is not my goal. A baby with HIM is.

18 weeks!

End of this week will be 19 weeks. And then on the 6th, I have an ultrasound which will hopefully tell us if we're having a boy or a girl. Don't be shy, Peanut!

I hope I don't end up with alot of stretch marks. Or if I do, I hope they go away quickly. That's one thing I've never looked forward to. I don't know anyone that really would, though. heh. Maybe Baby will be nice and compact and not make me get all stretched out. So far so good! Some people say they can't tell I'm pregnant. I think that's because they assume I already had this belly. Meanies.

Blah. Nothing going on. I need to plant the canna rhizomes I bought the other day. Pink! They're going in the back corner of teh yard behind the maple tree/swing set. Not sure what I'll put in front just yet. Maybe some sage and then dianthus? So hard to pick between plants.... I just want a yard full of color.

Pregnancy fun...

Things I could do without:

People asking if it's a boy or a girl. If I knew, I would fricking tell you, wouldn't I? Gender is not something that will go away. I don't have to wait for it to 'take' to let you know. Lay off me.

People asking if I've been sick. Are there that few normal questions one can ask a pregnant woman? How about "wanna hang out?" That's a good one.

"Have you gained any weight?" SERIOUSLY. If you know me, you'll see that I've gained weight. If you don't know me, you shouldn't be asking.

Itchy skin. I know it's from the warm baths and the winter and shaving... but it SUCKS. I want to fill a bathtub with shea and cocoa butter and just soak in it for a while. :)

Things I love about pregnancy:

Little squirmies inside. It's only gone on for a week and it's sporadic but it's OHMYGODSOFREAKINGCOOL.

Boobage. And I hear that the best is yet to come. Hooray breast milk!

Not being jealous every time I see a pregnant woman. And I see aLOT of pregnant women these days.

Backrubs and booty rubs and boob rubs... pretty much all the rubbing. My boy is awesome at it. :)

*******************************************

At 124 pounds, I am officially 7 pounds more than I have EVER weighed. And 117 only lasted about a week anyway. I know it's not alot and I have been told that it's closer to what I should weigh all the time than 111 was but still. I suppose I should just enjoy 124 being 'fat' for me. I'm sure I'll put on plenty more and I'll look back with fondness on my 124lb. body. Hopefully, I have a happy baby who loves being outside and I'll walk off all the baby weight quickly.