Checklist

I realize I still have a good chunk of my pregnancy left, but I have been stressed out with all of the usual "to-dos" that come with having a baby.


I am happy to announce that we finally have a pediatrician - Dr. Kreh - with Pediatric Associates of Savannah. I had been worrying about that, even though many of my coworkers said they didn't stress about that until well into their seventh and eighth months. 


When you think about it, we don't have THAT much time left. Honestly. Derek and I have about 100 days left to prepare for our baby, nearly in double digits! 


On Tuesday, we start our first of three separate baby-related classes with Memorial Hospital in Savannah, where I'll deliver. The first "series" is the Baby Basics class. We'll go three times in the month of January, and I'm guessing this will just help us make sure we either don't screw up or at least realize when we've screwed up. After this one, we'll have a class on "Prepared Childbirth" on February 5. It's an 8 hour class, so I'm sure it will be interesting. Then, we have a Breastfeeding class on February 22. I figure that we need all the help we can get, so I'm taking it while I can get it. 


I've already ordered some cloth diapers, but we'll need many more. I'm expecting a shipment of three more to come in sometime soon. I try to get them when there's a special deal on them, and I recently found some by GroVia which have biodegradable inserts that we can flush. I plan to order some of those very soon. 


I just ordered our pack and play:

I loved how this one has pink flowers on it. I wanted to be sure there would be a changer with it, too. We ordered it from Target, and we used an awesome gift card from our neighbors, Megan and Justin (thanks, guys!!) so it wasn't super expensive or anything. 

So onto my checklist:

1) order more cloth diapers

2) buy a glider

3) buy a floor lamp for the nursery

4) get more nursery decor

5) buy a breastpump

6) set up the monitor in the nursery

7) buy baby toiletries 

8) get a doggie gate to help control the pups

9) get more baby gear such as a bouncy chair and swing

10) buy a jogger

Weew... I don't think that's all of it. We also need to choose our Godparents for when she's born and buy her baptism gown and get those classes started, possibly in March-ish. We'd like to take care of that pretty quickly since it's so important to both of us. I also need to "formally" notify HR about my maternity leave so I can get set up for short-term disability.

Notice the word "buy" makes a huge appearance in our checklist. We're also trying to save some more money before miss Stella arrives, so that makes the "buy" aspect even more complicated. You could also add to that list "take a nice trip" but I doubt either of us will have time!

We do plan to go to Atlanta soon for another Ikea and Whole Foods pilgrimage, and I think we're planning to do that on MLK weekend since we're driving into Statesboro that Saturday for Derek's grad program. We'd like to pick up the decor and possibly a rocker/glider there so we can get them on the cheap! 

I know everyone says that you're supposed to wait until you've had showers to buy things, but since we're so far from family and old friends, it makes us both very nervous. Let's be honest, you can't count on others for everything, either. My mom and mother-in-law are currently planning a shower for me in Portsmouth, but I can't be there because of work. I can't fly either because I'll be too far along (remember that scene from Away We Go where the airline turns them away and they end up on a train?). 

Phew! Babies are so much work! 

It'll be worth it, though. Just like all of these sinus problems and back pain and swollen feet (latest awful symptom) will be. Today, I had my feet propped at my desk with my shoes off - very professional, right? :( I had no choice! My shoes were literally cutting into the sides of my feet. 

Speaking of swollen feet, I'm going to get off this computer and go lay down and prop my feet! :) I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year! It's going to be a great New Year's Eve for us - our awesome friends Emily and Marcus are visiting! We're so excited to see them again! :) 

Holy Solanum melongena!

Finally! We have a new fruit/vegetable! I'm so excited! Really makes you think about eggplant parmigiana differently, right?


Well, our little miss Stella is now the size of an eggplant, and Derek and I have been married for (drumroll, please...) seven years! I know, I know. We married very young. I wouldn't have done it any other way, though. I love him so much, and I'm so happy :) 


But we didn't start this blog so I could babble on about Derek and me and our marital bliss. Back to the baby. I figure it's time to show the world just how large I am these days:

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think I look a lot bigger than I did two weeks ago. I guess that explains all of my recent discomfort. I haven't weighed myself, but I will soon. I'm kinda nervous about it, but I'm almost at the point of not caring what the scales say. I figure as long as my legs and arms don't look like big tubes of fat, meaty sausage, then I'm fine. Right? :\

Aside from the crampiness, things are going well. Although, I didn't sleep so well last night, and I attribute that to my sinuses. I've been having a hell of a time with my sinuses lately. I mean, I heard of all that rhinitis of pregnancy bullshit, but this is ridiculous. I wake up in the morning and blow my nose. It looks like someone either punched me or squashed a mouse in my tissue (gross visual, I know, but I'm the one that has to look at it every morning). I was starting to get worried because of the bloody noses and constant state of being stuffed up, but I'm going to give it a couple days and see what happens. 

You know you've been married for a while when your anniversary request is to go buy a humidifier for your bedroom, haha. Derek and I went and bought one today, and I think it will really help. I've had it running, and I think it will clear up the sinus discomfort and sinus headaches. If not, I'm calling the doctor. 

I also picked up a few things for our nursery while we were out. Here's how it's looking these days:

Clearly, it's still a work in progress, but it's looking much girlier! I was very happy to find that lamp at Target - it has cute little owls all over it! We still need to get some more artwork on the walls, and we need to get some more gear. The next big purchase will likely be the pack and play, and we have the perfect one picked out. It's brown and pink by Graco. I also would like to get some sort of a glider/rocker very soon. I had wanted the rocker from my mom's house that my grandmother rocked me in, but I'm worried about my mom transporting it here from Ohio. I am also concerned about it being too hard. I know I'll be spending plenty of time in that piece of furniture, so I want to make sure it's comfortable. We'll see.

I also thought I'd take a second to show you what I'm guessing Derek's parenting style will be like...

I thought this offered a telling glimpse of what he'll be like with Stella - literally letting her do whatever she wants. Maggie spends most of her time licking Derek's face and crawling all over him, so I'm guessing that whatever Stella wants to do, he'll let her. He's a total spoiler, so I'm sure she'll have him wrapped around her finger in no time. 

Anyway, I'm so excited that our baby girl is now the size of an eggplant! My other little tracker says a rutabaga, but I don't really know how big those are since I never buy them. An eggplant is a much easier visual for me. I also read that she's got fingerprints now, and I'm certain she gets hiccups pretty darn often. All of sudden, I'll have these weird, rhythmic bounces over and over. It's pretty cute :)

I'll post more as we continue to develop the nursery! :) So much more to do!! 

Baby-themed Christmas Presents!

Merry Christmas, everyone! :) 


So this year is a very special year for us since we're expecting our daughter, but we know it doesn't even compare to next year when she's actually here. We keep talking about how we'll handle things when Stella gets here and just how absolutely different every Christmas will be from now, becoming more interesting year after year.


I had to take a second to post this because it's so funny that we both bought each other a baby-related item. I had told Derek I wanted a cute diaper bag, and in his search for one that I like, he found some by Diaper Dude. He sent me one that he liked, and I knew I had to get it for him since I KNEW mine would be super girly and pink. I figured he'd look rather funny carrying a really girly bag with a full sleeve of tattoos. 


So, I decided to get this diaper bag for Derek:

He says he really likes it! He said, "Do you think it's a big deal that she's a little girl - like I should have a girly bag because she's girly?" I told him I didn't think so. I figure this way he won't have to worry about looking like a big queen carrying the bag that he got for me:

See what I mean? It's a super girly, Vera Bradley diaper bag. I love it! I think it's super cute, and I think it goes well with my other Stella-related items :) I love how it's lined so if one of her bottles spills over, it's no big deal :D 

Now, we did get each other non-baby items, so we're not baby-obsessed. 

As for how things are going, everything is going really well. Stella has been VERY active! One thing that's rather odd: she's really active in the first half of the day, but she tires by the evening. She seems to be sleeping or only having light movements at night because she doesn't really wake me up anymore. I don't know if she's on the same schedule as me - which everyone told me they are usually awake when we're sleeping - but I'm very thankful that she's letting me get some sleep. 

Her kicks are so big anymore that I can see my stomach bounce with her movements. She's really strong! Derek is always amazed when he sees my stomach bopping around or when he's trying to feel her and she gives him a big jab :) 

One yucky symptom: I had to call the doctor the other day because I was starting to worry about these odd cramps I was having. When I talked to the nurse, she decided that they were harmless, round ligament pains and I need a support band for my enormous bump. Thankfully, my awesome coworker, Christine, had a support band handy (at her desk, no less!) and I didn't have to buy one. Working in a very fertile office is definitely paying off! :) It has helped, and I wore it the other day when I was working out. I was even able to run a little so that made me very happy. I make it about a quarter of mile and I have to stop, but when you do intervals that way, it's a good way to get a workout. 

Anyway, things are going very well - aside from the cramps - but the cramps are technically a good thing since it just means Stella needs more room! 

Lastly, we also want to say to our families that we're sorry we weren't able to visit for Thanksgiving or for Christmas. We both have to save our leave for April, and there was no time for leave. We hope to make it to Ohio for Thanksgiving next year, and it will be great because we'll be able to bring Stella with us! :) We love you all and hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!! 

Crafts Et cetera

Here we are at 24 weeks (otherwise known as six months for you laypeople), and apparently, I look like a beached whale or possibly a hippopotamus. We'll get on to that later...


First, I'd like to start things off all cheery-like, and show what I've been up to this weekend. Since my next class with Ashford doesn't start until Jan. 4, I figured I had some down time to work on something fun. I fancy myself crafty, but I never have the time or patience to do anything. 


I've had my eyes on some cute nursery letters on Etsy, but Derek convinced me that I could make my own. Well, here are the fruits of my labor:

:D 

Derek gets "Most Patient Dad" award for hanging them.

 I was griping the entire time about how crooked they were. 

A closer shot 

I think they're pretty cute, and it let me incorporate the colors I wanted. I wouldn't say we're doing a theme - not fond of those - but I would say that we're at least in a color ballpark, unlike the rest of my house. Usually, I just get all crazy and colorful and go wild. What can I say, I like color. Well, we're sticking to sort of softer pinks - none of those crazy hot pinks - greens, browns, and soft blues. See what I mean? I can't just pin down one or two. I get crazy with it. 


I think that's why I like patterns a lot. It's all crazy and patterned and wild with tons of colors. Makes me happy! I think they turned out really well, and Derek hung them on the wall in her room. I had been thinking about painting something, but I'm going to stop here. I don't want to go overboard, and I know have other decor items that I want to get/still need to hang up. Once the nursery is in a more put together state, I'll take some pictures. 


Speaking of happy, Miss Stella was quite entertaining this morning. We went to the earlier mass - 7:15 - since the 9am mass is usually packed out the door. I was up anyway, so I figured we could go ahead and go. During the homily, she seemed to do what I think was rolling over or shifting, and she ended up morphing my stomach into this weird triangle shape. I could feel her just sitting there in this goofy looking lump in my stomach. I was totally distracted at that point and started kinda smiling and giggling because I felt like I could actually feel her. She was doing it again when Derek was hanging the letters, and he was able to feel her. :) 


Now, on to my complaining... it's unlike me to be too positive for too long, right?


In the past couple days, I've had a lot of people saying things like, "Wow, you're huge." One of my coworkers said, "I wonder why you're so much bigger than Maria (who works in the Registrar's office and we have the exact same due date)." Last night at a cookie swap, I had one person say, "You're enormous! I thought you were maybe due in February or something." There was another pregnant chick there and she is due in March, and I dwarfed her. It was actually embarrassing...


To top it off, the priest who served mass this morning said, "Wow, any day now!" I was like, "heh." I can't even find sanctuary there! :( All things considered, he wasn't Fr. MacNeil - our usual priest at the 9am mass. Oh well... I'm sure he wouldn't have said it if he knew I'd be griping about it on a blog right now. :( 


So WTF is up?! Why am I so damned large? I swear, I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. I eat healthy stuff, and I'm even trying to conform to this stupid nurse's "low carb" mentality (even though I hate meat!). When I go to my doctor's appointments, the doctor says my fundal height is perfect, and I'm exactly where I should be weight-wise. Derek even thinks I don't eat any more than I ever did, except for the occasional snack or 3am cottage cheese run. So what in the hell is going on? Why am I a freaking whale?


Sigh... I know none of you can really answer this. I don't think anyone can. It's some combination of genes, frame-size, weight, and, honestly, bad luck. I had always figured it was because I'm a mere 5'2" but everyone keeps telling me that doesn't matter. I know my mom said she was pretty large when she had me, so maybe I'm to blame her (sorry, Mom). Maybe I was a little too hefty before I got pregnant. Although, I didn't think I was at the time. It's a world of ifs, kids. 


Anyway! Things are going well, aside from the occasional remark about my preposterous size. I feel good, and my heartburn has disappeared for a couple days thanks to the Protonix. I have been making a point to eat protein-heavy dinners, and I haven't been waking up every night needing to eat. I even stayed up until almost 11 last night working on Stella's letters. Overall, things are going well! 


I can't believe it's almost Christmas and our anniversary! I'm looking forward to the long weekend with my awesome husband who listens to me cry over and over and pretty much exhausts himself telling me that he thinks I look great :) 


Oh, and to finish things out - we bought a papaya at the grocery store and had it for breakfast. Kinda weird, I know, but man, it was tasty (and huge - like me!). 

I'm sorry! I had to!

I had to take a second to post my first official "baby girl" purchase!

I was ordering a couple things for myself from Old Navy (a shirt, a dress, and some pants), and I saw this little dress. It was so freaking cute! I kept thinking, "Well, Stella WILL need an Easter dress, right?" Now, I'm  imagining accessories! 

I keep picturing the three of us getting up for Easter mass and her wearing this cute little dress. Who knows? She may not even wear it at Easter, but that's what I had in mind when I bought it. 

It was just too cute! I had to have it! :) I told ya'll she'd be a girly girl! Her mother loves to online shop a little too much! 

Appointment

Today marked my 23 weeks appointment, and everything was good! 


I actually met with my doctor, Dr. Helmken, and that was great! I thought I was getting a nurse practitioner this time, but I was very happy to see Dr. Helmken walk through the door. 


My weight was fine - no complaints. Yes, I'm up 15 lbs from the start, but for being as far along as I am, I won't complain. Dr. Helmken didn't even say anything. Miss Stella had been all bouncy today, so I was interested to see what happened when Dr. Helmken checked her heartbeat.


Stella's heartbeat came in at 135 - very normal - and she was moving so much it was hard to even hear. Dr. Helmken said, "I'm sorry!" It was like we were making her angry!


I got a prescription for the heartburn - woohoo! - and she says my tailbone pain is caused by muscle spasms. I just need to put mild heat on it, and it will be fine. She also said my lightheadedness is very normal now, and she recommended just lying down when it happens. She said it's caused by all the extra blood - up to 50% more than before I was pregnant - putting extra strain on my body. 


I go back in four weeks, and that's my last four weeks appointment!! Can you believe that? After next time, I will be in there every two weeks! We're currently planning another ultrasound at 32 weeks, just assess where Stella is. 


We had a cautionary chat about preterm labor since there's a slight possibility it could be an issue in the future. Dr. Helmken says my uterus is septate (or heart-shaped) so it may think Stella is ready before she really is. I have to watch for the signs, but she said it looks like my uterus expanded as Stella has grown which is a very good thing. Obviously, that makes me very nervous because as much as I'd like to meet her before her due date, I also want her to be here when she's ready. As long as we make it to 36 weeks, we're good. Dr. Helmken was very positive about it, and she said she just wanted to be cautious since we can never be too careful with something so precious. :)


Here's how I'm looking these days:

Yay!

Clearly, my shirts don't fit anymore! I'm wearing one of Derek's t shirts in this picture, and it's even a little snug! The doctor says I'm measuring perfectly, though! Stella was moving around as the picture was taken, so we thought that was pretty funny :) I'm actually in her room here :) We're working on girl-ing it up some, and I'll post some pictures of it very soon!


Overall, I'm very happy with the appointment - I LOVE my doctor - and I'm happy with Stella's progress. Now, we just wait until Jan. 10 when I have my yucky glucose test (boo!) and then I get to go in every two weeks! :) 


We're moving along!! She'll be here before we know it!

23 weeks!

I eagerly rushed in here to check to see what fruit our baby girl is this week, and it turns out she's finally at the stage where she's one fruit for a while. Papaya it is... 


So far things have been going well. In the aftermath of finding out we're expecting a girl, I've been going crazy with the pink stuff! Yesterday, I bought her a new crib sheet with little pink and blue flowers on it so it matches her room a little more. I also can't stop looking at clothes! Everyone says to not buy anything until you've had a shower, and I'm doing my best... I am. 


We were shopping yesterday for a secret Santa child, and I found this Juicy Couture faux fur coat. I grabbed it, ran over to Derek and said, "Stella wants this." He started laughing. He was like, "How old will she be when she can even wear that?" I was like, "Uhm, looks like 12 months, but who's counting?" He was like, "Really? We live in the South..." It was so freaking cute! I guess that's my new thing, "Stella wants it." It's going to be hard to resist buying any clothes until our shower, but I vow to do my best.


Also, I should add that I had an awesome lunch yesterday with my former boss, Ellen, and she bought Stella a Gus stuffed animal! I put it in her room. It really helps balance out all of the OSU stuff we have (and how about the Georgia Southern Eagles beating Wofford last night?!). Thanks, Ellen!! :) 


I have my next appointment tomorrow, so I'm very excited about that. Well, let me rephrase that. I think I'm excited. I'm nervous about weighing in. Everyone has told me that this last period of time was when most of my friends and coworkers gained a little more than the usual. In other words, it's not uncommon to gain a little more at that point. If I had to guess my overall gain at this point, I'm going to pin it at 15 lbs. I always aim high, and I thought I was at 15 lbs around 16 weeks. Thank God I wasn't! 


As far as symptoms go, I'm going to talk to the doctor about the heartburn. I went over the max dosage on Tums yesterday because it was so bad. I'm also having a lot of pain in my tailbone. It's extremely painful, and it makes it very difficult to sit. Other than that, mostly everything is good. The medication has helped my face a lot, so I have no other complaints.


I have been having some awful dreams lately. Two nights ago, I dreamed that Derek and I lived in a place like the Hoth System from Empire, and we had lost our baby. We were trying to find him (yes, Stella was a him for some reason) in all the snow and ice. It was awful! 


Last night, I dreamed that I was talking to Argentinean soccer wonder Lionel Messi (sounds awesome right?) about the importance of the First-Year Experience class at SCAD, and all of a sudden, I had blood running down my legs and I was having a miscarriage. It was horrible. I woke up all frantic and woke Derek up. Thankfully, Stella was going crazy so I knew she was okay and I was able to go back to sleep. 


Then, I fell asleep again, and I dreamed that I was with my college friend Ronanda at a drag queen show and we had all of these frat boys who were trying to rub my belly for good luck. I was running and trying to get away from them! I finally laid down and was crying at the end of the dream.


Bizarre, right?! I'm guessing all of this is normal - the anxiety of being pregnant, pending parenthood, and worrying about the health of our baby. I need some sleep, though! I'm sick of waking up in a frenzy! All of it sounds totally kooky now that I'm awake and blogging about it, but at the time, I was so worried about Stella (or her male Rebellion counterpart). 


Overall, I'm really at the point where I just want April to be here. I want to see her, know what she looks like, hold her, and really get this started. People talk about loving the feeling of being pregnant, but for me, I think I'll be much happier when we have our baby girl here. 


I better go eat some breakfast! I'm starving! :) I'll blog more tomorrow after my appointment. Please wish me luck with the scales! I'm nervous!!! 

It's a baby girl!

To accommodate our news, I've adjusted the blog to be a bit more girly! 

I'm honestly so excited and so relieved to finally know that we're expecting a little girl. I was so sick of calling the baby "it" and wondering who in the world is in there. Now, I can say, "She's laying weird," or "Derek, can you feel her moving?" It's such a relief! 

Ever since the ultrasound tech said, "It's a girl!" I've been in absolute disbelief. I was 200% convinced it was a boy. I had already been looking at boy clothes at Gap.com earlier in the day. There was no convincing me otherwise. I hate to say it, but I actually really wanted a girl and admit that it was for all the reasons anyone wants a girl. I imagine putting her pretty dresses, doing her hair, painting her nails, and having her be a little princess. 

If she's anything like I was, and God help us, she'll be a huge girly-girl. I refused to wear pants until I was five because "little girls wear dresses." I wore old furs that my grandmother Kat would buy for me at Saint Monica's in New Boston. I would have to have everything pink and girly. When I was 8, my dad had hot pink carpet installed in my bedroom just to suit me, and I was a complete prissy girl. Who knows, though? She may be a total tomboy! I'm not exactly super girly anymore! 

I've been in absolute disbelief about the whole thing. I've even double checked the ultrasound anatomy picture with others on the internet. Derek keeps saying that he didn't pay 75 dollars for me to keep wondering what we're having, and I mean, I understand his point. I even asked the ultrasound tech, "Are you sure?" She seemed a little offended. She said, "I've been doing this for thirty years." I was like, "I don't mean anything. I'm just a little shocked." I hope I didn't piss her off.

So here are the shots for all of you to see:

That's the first shot of her lady parts... 

I think that one is a little more convincing.

 I kept thinking that in the other one, it looked a lot like something else... 

Here's a picture of her face

And a few more...

This is a profile shot. 

And so is this one

I think you can really see how much she's grown in just three weeks. Her kicks are really getting strong, so I can tell she's getting very big in there. Based on typical estimates, most babies are around a pound at this point and measure about 11 inches long. A papaya is not a small fruit!

I guess her size could also play into the fact that I weighed myself this morning, and it said I'm up seven pounds since my weigh in last month. That puts me at 14 pounds total - which I wasn't very happy about. I'm going to weigh myself again in a couple days and see if it's still accurate. 7 pounds is a little too much! I didn't think I ate THAT much at Thanksgiving...

I'll have to take another belly shot soon. When I laid down on the ultrasound table/chair/recliner/thing today, my stomach made the weirdest shape. I was all lopsided, and it was clear where Miss Stella was resting. I had never really seen my belly do that before, so it was amazing to see how she can morph my stomach into crazy shapes! Last night, she leaned into my stomach wall and you could feel her sitting there. It was just crazy!

Things are going well, though. Most of my cravings have included: gravy; pizza; burgers; hot dogs. Nothing good for you. Oh, and I think I pretty much cleaned out Publix's pudding section the last time I was there. There's just something so delicious about sugar free pudding... Most of my symptoms are pretty chill right now. I'm mostly dealing with heartburn, but that's to be expected. I'm sleeping okay, other than those nights when little miss decides to do jazzercise in my stomach at 3am. 

Anyway, I need to get to grading! I'm super relieved! Now, I just can't wait to meet Stella in 18 weeks! :) 

Movement and more movement and other baby news

I figured I should go ahead and write another post since yesterday's was so short. It had to be since Derek and I didn't get home until nearly 9 last night! It was fun helping at the swim meet, and we got free t-shirts! Oh, and the Men's team A won in the 400 medley finals, so that was awesome! :) 

Anyway, we actually had a first last night: the baby woke me up because of its movements. The movements right now aren't painful or anything (as I'm sure they'll be in a few weeks), but they are enough that I'll be dreaming about something and then all of sudden the baby's movements appear in my dream. The next thing I know, I wake up and the baby is going bonkers. 

Last night, I dreamed I was talking to someone (I have no idea who now) and I said, "Hey, the baby is moving! Do you want to feel it?" And then, I woke up to the baby having a party down there. It was 3 am. I laid there for a minute, and it kept the antics up. I decided to use the opportunity for a nighttime restroom break. By the time I got settled back in bed, I was hungry. I was like, "This is hopeless." I got up and made a bowl of cereal and ate on the couch. 

I laid back down, and then I had a hard time falling asleep. It was around 4:45am before I was snoozing again. 

I'm fully expecting this sort of thing to get much more intense in the coming weeks. The baby is getting so much bigger and these movements are really getting crazy. Derek has seen the baby make my stomach bounce! In fact, the baby has been all jazzed up while I've been typing this. 

I honestly love it because it reminds me that the baby is there and everything seems to be okay. However, a couple times the baby has ended up on my bladder somehow and decided to repeatedly stomp. It was like, "Oh, I gotta pee. No, I don't. Oh, I gotta pee. No, I don't." It was bizarre!

In unrelated news, we received our travel system yesterday! Yay! I put it together this morning while Derek worked on homework. It's fantastic. I'm really pleased with how it looks and how it works. It's very light and easy to pop open with one hand. I looked for that function thanks to my super savvy coworker, Christine. I am extremely pleased with it so far, but we'll see once the baby gets here since that's when it really matters. 

What we have left to buy at this point:

1) Pack and Play

2) Jogger

3) Highchair

4) Glider

5) Lots of cloth diapers (we have 0 at this point! yikes!) 

6) A light for the nursery 

Now, that's the big stuff. I never dreamed we'd have to buy so much stuff for the arrival of someone who plans to eat my from my boob and weigh under 10 lbs. Hilarious way of thinking about it, huh? 

I think the next purchase will be either the glider or the pack and play since those are more immediate. Then, we'll do the diapers. I figure we can even buy the jogger and highchair after the baby arrives, so I'm less worried about those. The light seems silly, but there's no overhead light in the nursery. We'll need a good floor lamp for plenty of light, and I hope to find a solid one with a dimmer function - also per Christine's handy recommendations! 

I think things are coming along well. I'm ready for Monday to be here! I cannot wait to find out who this is kicking around :) I'm thinking that if it's a boy - Harry - then we'll need to add some more boyish stuff to the nursery to man it up for him. Maybe add some soccer balls or something. If it's a little lady - Stella - then we'll need to get some bright colors in there. 

Regardless, I think I would like to paint a picture to hang in the baby's room so he/she will have it and know that I painted it for him/her. I'd like to start on this after we have a better idea of our needed colors and content. I plan for it to be abstract, and I'd like to buy a large canvas for it. I'd like to add some words - maybe - but we'll see. 

Anyway, I'm so excited for Monday!! I know Derek's office is wishing a big jinx upon us, "I hope the baby's legs are closed and they can't tell!!" As for us, we're hoping this baby isn't modest at all and shows us the goods :) I'll post after we know! I can't wait! 

Super Fun Etsy Purchase!

I had to take a second to share this super fun nursery purchase before I log off my computer for the day:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62937517/true-love-collage-eco-friendly-by-maple

I saw it and I thought it was too cute! I've been so excited to share it! Derek and I are getting ready to go help with a SCAD Men's Swimming meet, so I wanted to get this in since we'll be getting in so late! Oh, I love shopping online over my lunch! I can't wait to get it!!! :) 

Switching Up the Game Plan

This post must be quick since I have a ton of grading to finish tonight, but I had to take a second to update everyone on something.


Well, you remember how I said we wouldn't find out the gender of the baby... ?


The other day I was talking to Derek, and I told him how upset I've been since I haven't had any idea of what to expect. I told him I really wanted to know, and I even went to so far to call the doctor's office about finding out. I thought maybe they had it documented, and when the assistant said it was only documented that the baby's gender is "normal," I started crying out of frustration.


She said I could do a gender scan, and that would be the only way I could find out before my next ultrasound at 36 weeks. So in an act of desperation, I scheduled a gender scan for Monday at 11:30 am. 


I know, I know... I've been so worried that everyone will judge me for not having a stronger will. If you know me at all, you know I'm impulsive and capricious, and that's just the problem here. I've been shopping for gender neutral clothing, and I can't find anything that isn't covered in puke yellow ducks. I have some OSU stuff, but like I told Derek, I can't have our baby wearing pukey ducks and OSU stuff for the first 3 months of his or her life. 


So my impatience has gotten the best of me. I had really wanted for it to be a surprise, but I can't do this for another 18 weeks. It's driving me crazy, and I have to know. 


I think that since Derek and I finalized our names (around 19 weeks), I've wanted to know: are you Harry or Stella? Every time the baby moves (which is a lot anymore), I just wonder who this is moving around. Maybe I'm weak willed. Maybe I'm being a total princess about shopping. Maybe I'm just impatient. Whatever it is, I need to know. It's driving me absolutely insane, and I can't take it anymore. 


Derek is totally fine with finding out. I think because I've been crying and bitching and complaining since our 19 week ultrasound. I imagine he's sick of the drama. Regardless, I need to get to grading, but I figured this needed to be out there.


You can leave your judgments here. I know - I'm a big drama queen and I have to know what's going on. You can say whatever you want.